It’s crazy for me to think that it’s the 4th of July tomorrow. It’s always been one of my favorite holidays. I am just sad that I don’t get to run into the street and get taffy this year…probably better that way, I think I am a little old for that. Hahaha! This week was super incredible! My companion and I had the chance to go on a mission funded trip to one of the Zones that is in the jungle. President Herrera sent us because we are trying to set up ways that we can directly pay doctors and other various things that will help the missionaries out a lot. Our Penchanista’s husband owns a nice big Kia car that he uses to take tourists to various places, so we were able to pay him to take us all the way on the 5 hour journey to Quillabamba. The trip was pretty cool, there were lots of things to see as we drove over some of the highest mountains in Peru and past some various ruins and such but besides that the trip was awful because it is literally switch backs, and twists and turns the entire time. I got pretty dang car sick and almost vomited due to high intensity trip (this is coming from someone who has gone on some pretty dang intense roller coasters), but I made it to the nice paradise of Quillabamba without any throw up thankfully. As we were there I was able to enjoy some freshly picked mangos, bananas, and many other fruits that grow there. But perhaps the most interesting is that I slept without any blankets or anything because it was so hot!!! After going on our trip to Paradise we came right back to Cusco and got back into some super hard work!
This week we also taught the family I have been updating you all on and I have to say that they are starting to progress pretty well. We sadly have yet to have them accept a baptismal date but the good news is that they are starting to have far fewer questions than before. I just know that it has been through continually having the Spirit present in the lessons that they have really began to understand and become more receptive to the things that we are teaching them. The Spirit really is the teacher because no matter how well of a teacher you are, if you don’t have the Spirit you cannot convert anyone.
Now I just wanna share a really quick cool story from this week. So being here in Cusco, we frequently receive calls from tourists who are sick and need a blessing. This week, we had that vary thing happen. My Companion and I received a call to give a blessing to a woman that was here doing humanitarian work. We were not able to go to give the blessing immediately because we had a meeting. As we sat in the meeting I kept getting the prompting that we needed to go give the blessing. Finally as the meeting ended, we hurriedly went to the house she was staying in (she was staying with just a normal Peruvian family who doesn’t speak any English and aren’t even members of the church, not quite sure how that happened). As we knocked on the door of the house, we were greeted by an older Peruvian man. We told him that we were here to give a blessing to a woman that was supposedly staying in his house. He told us that just a few minutes before she had been taken in an Ambulance to the hospital. Completely shocked, we quickly turned to leave but as we did so the man said something very interesting to us. He said “You know, another man just like you two came here just 10 minutes before asking to give a blessing to this woman as well, maybe you can catch up to him.” Puzzled as to who this man was since we were the only ones who knew the lady needed a blessing. We asked what this man looked like he said he was a white man just like me, but shorter. Curious to know who this man was and to quickly get to the hospital we began sprinting to the hospital.
We arrived at the hospital and asked for the room of the lady. We were guided to her room and as we entered we saw this woman laying sadly in her bed but noticing that it was the missionaries, her mood immediately changed. She told us how happy she was to see us and how grateful she was that we came. We gave her a blessing and as I pulled my hands off her head, I noticed that she was sobbing. We then stayed and talked with her for a few minutes and realized that she didn’t hardly speak any Spanish or let alone know how to communicate with the doctors who were helping her. Realizing that she would need more than just a blessing we were able to translate and help the doctors with communicating to her. The interesting thing is that I don’t know what would have happened if we hadn’t of gotten there when we did because the doctors were about ready to kick her out of the hospital because they needed her passport and insurance information that we were able to communicate to her. As we said goodbye to the woman we asked her if we had been the only ones she called for help. She told us that we were the only ones that knew and that she needed a blessing.
Still to this moment, I couldn’t tell you who the white man was that passed by the house she was staying in because we were the only ones who knew she needed help. All I know is that if we had been at all later then we were, this women would have been in serious trouble. I have realized that the Lord was trying to tell me while I was in the meeting that I needed to go right at that moment to give the blessing. I sadly just ignored the prompting until it was convenient for me to go. I have learned throughout my mission how important it is to follow the promptings of the Lord, but through this experience I have learned that when you receive a prompting you need to act right at that moment because if not, the Lord will find someone else to do it. I have promised myself that the next time I will never fail to act on a prompting of the Lord at that moment I receive it again.
I seriously love this work and all of the miracles and blessing I see in my life each day. I love the Lord and his Gospel so much and desire to bring it to as many people as I can. I have such a short time left here in the mission field and want to use all the time I have left to serve in whatever way the Lord needs me to. I love you all so much! Have a happy and safe 4th of July and don’t forget to run and get the taffy in the street since I won’t be there to get it. Hahaha!
Love,
Elder Fawcett
This week we also taught the family I have been updating you all on and I have to say that they are starting to progress pretty well. We sadly have yet to have them accept a baptismal date but the good news is that they are starting to have far fewer questions than before. I just know that it has been through continually having the Spirit present in the lessons that they have really began to understand and become more receptive to the things that we are teaching them. The Spirit really is the teacher because no matter how well of a teacher you are, if you don’t have the Spirit you cannot convert anyone.
Now I just wanna share a really quick cool story from this week. So being here in Cusco, we frequently receive calls from tourists who are sick and need a blessing. This week, we had that vary thing happen. My Companion and I received a call to give a blessing to a woman that was here doing humanitarian work. We were not able to go to give the blessing immediately because we had a meeting. As we sat in the meeting I kept getting the prompting that we needed to go give the blessing. Finally as the meeting ended, we hurriedly went to the house she was staying in (she was staying with just a normal Peruvian family who doesn’t speak any English and aren’t even members of the church, not quite sure how that happened). As we knocked on the door of the house, we were greeted by an older Peruvian man. We told him that we were here to give a blessing to a woman that was supposedly staying in his house. He told us that just a few minutes before she had been taken in an Ambulance to the hospital. Completely shocked, we quickly turned to leave but as we did so the man said something very interesting to us. He said “You know, another man just like you two came here just 10 minutes before asking to give a blessing to this woman as well, maybe you can catch up to him.” Puzzled as to who this man was since we were the only ones who knew the lady needed a blessing. We asked what this man looked like he said he was a white man just like me, but shorter. Curious to know who this man was and to quickly get to the hospital we began sprinting to the hospital.
We arrived at the hospital and asked for the room of the lady. We were guided to her room and as we entered we saw this woman laying sadly in her bed but noticing that it was the missionaries, her mood immediately changed. She told us how happy she was to see us and how grateful she was that we came. We gave her a blessing and as I pulled my hands off her head, I noticed that she was sobbing. We then stayed and talked with her for a few minutes and realized that she didn’t hardly speak any Spanish or let alone know how to communicate with the doctors who were helping her. Realizing that she would need more than just a blessing we were able to translate and help the doctors with communicating to her. The interesting thing is that I don’t know what would have happened if we hadn’t of gotten there when we did because the doctors were about ready to kick her out of the hospital because they needed her passport and insurance information that we were able to communicate to her. As we said goodbye to the woman we asked her if we had been the only ones she called for help. She told us that we were the only ones that knew and that she needed a blessing.
Still to this moment, I couldn’t tell you who the white man was that passed by the house she was staying in because we were the only ones who knew she needed help. All I know is that if we had been at all later then we were, this women would have been in serious trouble. I have realized that the Lord was trying to tell me while I was in the meeting that I needed to go right at that moment to give the blessing. I sadly just ignored the prompting until it was convenient for me to go. I have learned throughout my mission how important it is to follow the promptings of the Lord, but through this experience I have learned that when you receive a prompting you need to act right at that moment because if not, the Lord will find someone else to do it. I have promised myself that the next time I will never fail to act on a prompting of the Lord at that moment I receive it again.
I seriously love this work and all of the miracles and blessing I see in my life each day. I love the Lord and his Gospel so much and desire to bring it to as many people as I can. I have such a short time left here in the mission field and want to use all the time I have left to serve in whatever way the Lord needs me to. I love you all so much! Have a happy and safe 4th of July and don’t forget to run and get the taffy in the street since I won’t be there to get it. Hahaha!
Love,
Elder Fawcett
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