The person in charge of Taylor's Blog (mom) has been very busy and is very sorry for taking so long to update this for the month of April, There has been a lot of avitivity for Elder Bell and he is doing great!!!! Enjoy the updates and again I am sorry for being so slow this month..........scroll to the bottom to start with his update from 3/30/15, photos to follow soon :)
WELL WHERE DO I START WITH THIS WEEK??? (4/27/15)
It started off weird, the first thing that happend was we went up to Ingenio where there is a Trout hatchery, and we ate a bunch of fish. Really we went up there because Mike, our investigator from the States worked up there. So when we got there we found him pretty drunk. I was a little discouraged but wasnt judging him. He ended up losing his job that day.... He was pretty upset. We were able to talk to him when he was sober and he actually went to church with us this past Sunday! He has been searching for a very long time for an answer to his many questions about God, and he told us yesterday that he thinks he has found his answer to one of them. He has been reading a lot in the Book of Mormon, and he says it is helping him understand what he needs to do to repent and get over this guilt that he has for the things he has done. I know that it is helping him a ton.
Another thing that happened this week. We have a less active member who is such a great lady. She has two young kids and lives with her partner. Anyway, one day she told us that she didnt want to live there anymore and she was being verbally abused by her partner and his son. That she was a worthless peice of garbag and that his ex-wife was way better than she is, etc. Anyway, we counciled her to pray to God for an answer of what it is she should do. The next day in the morning when we were getting dressed, we recieved a phone call from her saying she needed help. I was really worried, so we went down stairs from our apartment and asked the Relief Society President to go with us to her house. This less active member had hurt her back during the week and it was hard for her to walk. She asked us to take her to the Health Center that they have here in San Jeronimo so she could get looked at by a doctor. Anyway we went to her house and her Partner answered the door as if nothing was wrong. We told him we had come to help THEM go to the Health Center to have her looked at. He told us, after we had helped her down the stairs, that he was too busy, he needed to feed his animals and that his wife is ALWAYS sick and he doesnt have time for her whining...... I was just in a state of shock of what I was hearing. We tried explaining to him the importance of her having her husband by her side and always helping one another in their times of need, he wasnt having any of it. He went inside and left us all standing outside just baffled at what we had heard. Then the Relief Society President said she couldnt take care of the two little ones and that they should stay there with their dad... The little boy, about 4 years old started to cry hysterically saying, "NO PAPA MALO PAPA MALO!!" Which means, dad is bad or mean... I could help by start crying because my heart litterally ached for this whole family. The mom wasnt getting the support she deserved from her spouse, the children were afraid to be alone with their father, And here were two missionaries that couldnt do anything to fix this situation. We then help our less active member go to the Center and get looked at. We bought her a juice and crackers as she waited for the results and we went back to the house and prayed that she would be able to have the strength to take her two kids to a safer place where they arent scared of anyone.
This is only one of the few experiences I have had while on my mission that has helped me realize, how good I have it at home, how awesome my family is and how grateful I am to have the parents and siblings that I have. I sure hope you all can look at your families with a new perspective, that the family literally is ordained of God for all of us to grow and help one another in their trials and sicknesses. I have learned so much about the family in just this one week it has been awesome! But my heart does ache for those people who do not have the families that they deserve to have, like the family of this less active and her two little children.
I love you all so much. Take care this week. Remember to love all, but especially your family and the people you hold dear to your heart!
Love you all so much,
WHAT A WEEK THIS REALLY WAS!! (4/20/15)
First off, We thought this week would be better because I wasnt sick anymore and that we would be able to work really really hard this week. Then we found out my companion would be going to Lima for 3 days to finish up his paperwork and become legal here in Peru. I guess that is important. (Not that important in the States but I guess I am in Peru right) SO I was a little discouraged trying to find a member to acompany me through these three days. It was absolutely impossible. And it was looking like we weren't going to have work in our area for 3 days. Then, Elder Ochoa called me, an Assistant to the President, and said he would be coming to do divisions with us the day before Elder Jimenez left for Lima. I was relieved!! But, he had no idea he would be staying with me for 3 days. I am EXTREMELY grateful that he was able to come with me for 3 days. I can honestly say that in those 3 days, I learned more from him than I did in 3 months of my training. As sad as that is, it is true. He taught me how to REALLY study and to search for meaningful questions. It was something I truly needed and had been looking for the previous week. Luckily for me my prayers were answered.
The next thing I would like to share with you all is this. Right now we have a GRINGO investigator. Crazy right? In the middle of freakin Peru of all places, there is a gringo that speaks English. Today we are giong to teach him for the first time. He is the ex army ranger and has done some crazy stuff in his life to say the least. But the thing we are going to focus on, is that he feels he is out of the reach of the Grace of Jesus Christ. For the past few days I have been studying and trying to find an answer. And I did find one. NO ONE, I repeat, NO ONE is out of the reach of the Grace and Mercy that Jesus Christ can give us. Through his atoning sacrifice, We can all recieve his grace and be cleansed through his blood. BUT, we must have the faith in him that 1) He exists and 2) that he really can help us with our needs. Through the faith we have in Him we start the process of repentance. Something that Mike doesnt quite understand yet. But that is why we missionaries are here. To help people build their faith unto repentance and then be cleansed through the ordinances of Baptism and Recieving the Gift of the Holy Ghost.
I am really grateful that of all people to be in San Jeronimo at this time, I am here to do my best to help him get rid of the guilt and anger that he has for the things he has done. But not only him, all the investigators that we have. (15 new investigators this week! Heck ya!) It is a process that takes time, but with patience, diligence and faith. ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE.
Thank you all for the support you give me. I love you all very much and am grateful that I have you all back home!!
Elder Bell
WELL THIE WEEK WAS KINDA KRUDY. (4/13/15)
I was sick monday night until Thursday morning. I had a nice little stomach bug. Never threw up but definitely felt like straight up crap. I was stuck in our room for those days so it was nice to finally get out and do some work. My companion and I get along very well. I am really glad to have him especially after the last one. On Saturday night there was a party just outside of our Pensions house and their was a band there (like always here in Peru) with their trumpets and drums and their weird made up instruments. Anyway, We were standing in the little store of our pension just dancing away HAHA the husband of our pension is going to try and send the videos they took of us doing our crazy dances. This week really wasnt as productive as I would have liked but we learned alot and were able to have some good times after being sick. We have some really awesome investigators right now, Maribel and Amanda. We share our lesson with them last night in the dark... because the lights went out in the ENTIRE city. Which was interesting definitely. Things always happen here that I never thought would, like teaching a lesson by candle light but most of it in the pitch dark. Just such a different experience Peru is haha.
Nothing more from this past week it really was uneventful so I hope you all stay safe and have a good one. Til next week!!
Elder Bell
HAPPY EASTER!! (4/6/15)
Hello everyone!
Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and a wonderful Easter Sunday. Saturday night, after the Priesthood session of General Confrence, Elder Jimenez and I were lucky enough to spend the night at the home of the Assistants. Were I was able to taste a little bit of Sister Hendersons, baked potatoe soup, (Which was absoultely heavenly) and to talk and laugh with the 4 assistants here in our mission. The following morning was Easter Sunday, I quickly got dressed and went down stairs and began reading the final few chapters of Matthew, that describe the Last Supper, the betrayal of Judas, and the suffering of Jesus Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane and on The Cross. But most importantly, is his Resurrection. How can we know that such a thing actually happened? Well, it is amazingly simple, but yet, so deep and profound. How do we know that when we go to sleep at night, that we will awake the next day? Or the car we are traveling in to go to work or the grocery store will start? I can sum it all up in one word... ok two, Faith and Prayer. What is it that Jesus did in the Garden? He PRAYED unto his father, and again on the cross he prayed for the very people who had crucified him.
Having faith is not easy. saying a prayer is. In this life we are here to learn our purpose, magnify it and help others to search and fulfill their own purposes in this life. This life is not easy. Nor was it meant to be. The one perfect person who lived in this world, was beaten, spit upon and murdered. But through all the pain and sufferings and namecalling, he still had atleast two things, Faith, and Prayer. As a missionary, we go through many similar situations that Christ went through, the name calling, the being spit upon, and the countless hours and tears spent on our knees for those we only met yesterday. But if Christ can go through his life, suffering and being made as if a joke, I can continue to knock on doors and ask people to come unto the only perfect person this world has ever seen. And they like us, can be perfected in him, and return to their Heavenly Father after this long and hard and difficult road we have traveled.
I am so very grateful for the many blessings in my life, like my family, the gospel and my friends. I have everything I need to return with my family to live with that one being that gave us life, Because he lived, died and rose from the dead, I am assured that I will to, with my family and all those that I truly love and will come to love. He lives, I testify that he lives, I see his works and miracles here in Peru and I have seen them in my life back home. I am so grateful to be a part of this work to help other people and in the process grow to become what God needs me to be here on the Earth.
I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week!
Elder Bell
WHAAT A WEEK!!!! (3/30/15)
Well, first off I just want to say, this has been one CRAZY weeek!! First off, our transfers were delayed one day, I was a little upset to say the least but I made it through that rough transfer!
Second, this is a bit longer, about 3 weeks ago I had a dream, Elder Fawson, then an assitant to the President, came to me and said that I was going to be training this transfer. I told him No way, I am not ready for such a responisbility, I dont know if i can do it! He insisted again, Elder Bell you are going to train this transfer. When last Monday came and went and I didnt recieve a call from the mission President I thought well, maybe some other tranfer right? We came to find out Tuesday that there was a nasty landslide over the highway from Huancayo to Lima. So the missionaries that were coming in didn't have a pass to get through. They didnt end up getting here until Thursday most of them. Anyway, Wednesday afternoon, I recieved a phone call from President Henderson asking me I would train this transfer. I almost crapped my pants not going to lie. For the first time in my mission, I actually remembered a dream that I had had. And here it was coming true right in front of my eyes. So yes... I am now a DADDY!! I have a son, Elder Jimenez, he is from Chile. Such a crazy week right?
So I am training this transfer.... Such a responsibility. I didnt recieve the training I had hoped for, so I really hope that I am able to help Elder Jimenez start this thing off right and be a successful missionary.
We have had a bunch of success this past week too. We have 6 investigators with dates for baptism this coming 25th of April and are hoping that all of them continue with their committments and learn more and start to love the gospel like I do. I know that everything is possible. I also know that we can recieve little tid bits of revelation apparently too!! Such a cool experience.
I have been able to think alot about the family this past week. We have a couple that have 2 kids that are preparing their marriage for the 25th and then after we will do their baptisms the same day! We have really been able to focus and think about them and how we can help their ENTIRE family with the gospel. It really is simple. When we apply the teachings of Christ in our lifes and in our families we will have more happiness and more fun times with each individual of our families.
This coming weekend we get to listen to the prophet and apostols speak to us and I hope you all are as excited as I am to listen!! i know we will be recieving some needed guidance in our lives and if we listen and apply we will be able to feel the happiness that God wants us to have here in this life.
I love you all, I sent some photos of the zoo, and today of our activity as a district. We went to a Catholic Cathedral that was really old, really all they did was talk about the first "Father" that was there, and how the missionaries were killed by the Incas, that isn't really the history I learned in school, it was really the other way around, but it was a cool place to go and visit none the less.
Love you all and I will write again next week!
