Voy a Tener un Hijo!

This past week I was in a trio with 2 other Elders, Elder Hatch and Alegria in Punata, since my companion left to Venezuela last Monday. It has been a very evenful week though, and lots of things have happened!

Here are a few fun facts: This past month, my zone, called Jaihuaico Alalay, had the most emergency changes in the whole mission. Most of these due to missionaries like my companion, leave because of Visas, and other changes. My zone was also the highest baptising zone by far, with 20 baptisms! Thats very unlikely with so many changes, but 4 of those baptisms have come from my companionships, which is cool!

I was in a trio with 2 other missionaries all week, and we baptised 2 more! One of the investigator's stories is really sad.  His wife left him like last year, so he and his daughter lived alone after that. And then about 4 months ago, he was in a  car accident with his daughter.  He now only has one leg, and his daughter was in critical condition until last Sunday when she passed away. So now he is in the hardest time of his lifeand nobody in his life, but he was so excited for his baptism! We had to have 2 people in the font to make sure he didn't drown.

So last night we got the call for transfers, and since I have no companion, there was definitely going to be a change for me.. And now I'm going to have a son! In mision terms, that is.  I am going to train a new elder, and he will be getting here on Wednesday!

Elder Potts III

jacob.potts@myldsmail.net

Bolivia Cochabamba Mission

An Elder recorded a video of how the filled up the font last week!

2 Bautismos, 2 Semanas

My internet time this morning got cut short, but I'm back for a minute to finish writing about the week! Sorry everyone!

So, as the title states, we baptised again on Saturday! Making it the 2nd baptism in 2 weeks! This past one was a complete fiasco, and almost didn't happen.  But luckily it all passed ok, and today, I took my companion to the airport to go to Venezuela. :(

This past Saturday was a very eventful day.  As you know, there is a baptismal interview that all investigators must take before the baptism, and this is done by the district leader.  This interview was scheduled for Saturday morning, with the Baptism starting at 4.  We go with the DL to Bryan's house, and he's not there. Neither is his family. We don't have a number to call either, or even a celll phone to try and call, so we sit and wait for a bit. After a while, we realize they arent coming then, and went to lunch.  After lunch, we tried again going to their house. I might add that they live very far, and each taxi to their house is 5 Bolivianos each way.  The second time around, still nobody. So we leave to recruit investigators to attend the baptism, and then go back to the house a 3rd time. STill nobody. It's coming up on 3 o'clock at this point, and our hopes are dying.  Close by, there was a calling center. SO we go there, and call all of our contacts to try and find a number for the family. Finally, we call another investigator, Soledad, and she happens to have the mothers cell phone.  We call, and find out she is in Cochabamba with the whole family! Apparently she though the baptism was later that day. So they rush back to Cliza, and arrive about 4 o'clock, ready to go to Punata to the capilla.

We all get in a taxi, thinking everything will run smoothly , right? Wrong.  One night's rain caused 2 different roads to flood, making the route to the capilla impossible. You'll see how bad it was in the pictures.  So instead of going there directly, we couldn't. Even the alternative route was underwater.  It took us going another hour out of the way to get there, but we finally made it. Now, the baptism has to go through, right? No more tricks or twists in the story...

Until we get in the water.  The water, by the way, is fresh river water. Freezing and slightly murkey.  The baptismal font didn't want to fill, so we fed a hose through the window hooked up to a machine t o pump water in in order to fill the font.   As we get in the water, bryan, who is 12 years old and very scrawney, is overcome with shivers. Probably part of it because of the nerves, the other because of the freezing cold water.  I say the prayer, and dunk him... And his foot comes up! We hadn't explained the whole process of doing the ordinance twice if the whole body isn't submurged, so he was already to leave.  I quickly explain, and he doesn't want to go under again! He's ready to leave the font! So finally, I explained that I'll do it quickly the second time, and he agrees.  Finally, the bapstism goes through, and evenyone can relax!

And now, my companion is gone, and I'll be in a trio until next week, which are the cambios! I'll have a new companion, and new stories to account! 

Heres the only road to the chapel building on the day of the baptism.  It took over an hour in a taxi on an alernate route, just to get there.

This is Byan, the first of his family to be baptised! His foot came out of the freezing cold water when he went under, so I had to baptise him twice.

 We are working on marriage paperwork for his parents so they can get be baptised also! This will be the first full family in my area to be baptised! 

Elder Potts III

jacob.potts@myldsmail.net

Bolivia Cochabamba Mission

A Christmas Miracle!

December 30th:

Well, just to start off I can't tell you all how great it was to be able to skype with all of you on Christmas! I had been looking forward to that for months and months! I will tell you all though that I enjoyed every minute of it. After I left, it felt like the entire 2 hours or so happened in less than 5 minutes.

Needless to say, I was very sad after that. All of my thoughs were of back home, and of all of you guys.  For the first time in my mission, I didn't have the same drive to do the work like I have had before. Especially with my area being so tough, the day after Christmas couldn't have been harder for me.

My companion and I did what we knew we should though, and got up, studied, then went to work like normal.  We visited a woman who we have been teaching since the day I got here, who's the son of a member of the ward.  She has always told us she can't be baptised because she doesn't want to stop drinking Chicha. It's always the same story when we go there, and she tells us she's not ready.  Until Thursday.  We knocked their door, and she answers.  The first thing she tells us, is she is ready to start over in the new year, and be baptised!! So, with the help of her son, and us, we prepared her completely, and baptised her on Saturday!  MY companion did the ordinance, and I confirmed her on Sunday!

If you don't remember, my area has been the cursing grounds of the mission for a long time.  There has been one baptism here in the previous 5 years, or more. There is no record of any other members being baptised since the early 2000's until now. SO this was a big day in the area for us.  We had many people show up to the baptism, including president, and the new convert, Sinda's family!

Fotos to come after!

So Dad gave me a great idea to bring my journal to internet and write to you all the things I write in my journal. SO here is an interestingSunday, from Novermber 3rd, 2013:

"I just want to kill over dead after what happened this morning.  Last night, 7 told us they would come to church with us and be waiting in the Plaza early, and in the morning, zero were there.  Eli said she couldn't because her mom got there late to the tienda of movies, maribel was still sleeping when we called her, since she worked until 3 am the night before, but she said she would still come. The rest didn't contest the phone. 9 O'clock rolls around and we're still waiting in Cliza. Sacrament meeting is starting. Then 9:30, still waiting.  Finally, Eli gets ready and we leave to Punata in Taxi. While arriving, Maribel calls and says she is waiting in the plaza in Cliza. So we told her to get a trufi to Punata.  We catch 10 minutes of Sacrament meeting, then ran to the parada of trufis 6 blocks away to get Maribel and her daughter and show her to the church.  Meanwhile, my stomach is about to put me into a fetal position.  So we get back to the church a second time and both Eli and Maribel stay for 2nd hour of church, then leave.  We took maribel to the parada again and returned to church a 3rd time, for thiird hour.  I was poope, but we got 2 people to attend church today!"

Elder Potts III

jacob.potts@myldsmail.net

Bolivia Cochabamba Mission

Stuck in Cocha

December 16th

It's been an interesting week here in the mission. The first part of it was spent stranded in the city because of a lack of public transportation, but everything is back to normal, or so they say. There were rumors going around last night that they would go on strike again, but this morning there were trufis to take for us. What is interesting is it's not just Cochabamba, its all of Bolivia. And the most ridiculous part of the whole strike is that it's all over 20 centavos.  That's the equivalent of a few cents.  A couple of maestros in Cocha decided they think the price of a trufi ride should go fron 1,50 to 1,70 bs, and since they are with the government, the whole country jumped on board.  When the president rejected their appeal, they all decided to stop driving, and create blockades in every part of the city with their trufis.  So that left me, and 5 other elders all stranded together in the city last Pday.  We weren't able to get home Until Wednesday.  At one attempt to get home, we got in a trufi not owned by the government who promised to take us to Cliza, but for 40 Bolivianos a person ( that is ridiculously expensive, but we had to get back.)  We got in and dodged our way around blockades in the city and then finally got towards the outskirts of the city and reached the highway.  As soon as we thought we were home free, we hit miles and miles of stopped traffic, and hundreds of people walking back to the city. Realizing there was another blockade ahead, we got out and joind the rest of the people and walked our way back to the city. Finally on Wednesday, we were able to return to our area!

On Friday night, while walking back to the house, we got a phone call from our distric leader.  My companion answered and had a very startled look on his face, as if his blood was going cold. I got nervous too, but didn't lnow what was going on.  After he hung up, he was silent, the finally told me his visa came. He will leave Tomorrow to La Paz to sign some paperwork, and then after he will be gone.  This was sad news for the both of us.  He has been my best companion by far in my mission, and told me many times he doesn't want to go to Venezuela.  We found out on Friday and on Tuesday, 4 days after, he will be gone.  It's even harder for him at this time because it's so close to Christmas, and he won't know anybody when he gets there.  We are both trying to delay his flight to Venezuela until at least after Christmas!

So as you all know, people in my area can hardly ever attent church because of the Feria, or the big market that comes to the area every Sunday.  In order to get baptised, they have to attend church at least 3 times. So this is a huge problem for us.  Luckily, we met a new investigator this past week who works in some sort of government offices in Cliza.  He explained that the only reason the feria is on Sunday is because the city has been assigned that day.  After explaining our situation, he said it's not impossible to get the day changed.  They 2 next closest pueblos, Arani and Punata, have their ferias on tuesday and thursday.  What we would have to do though is creat a petition, and appeal to the local government.  Our arguement wouldn't just be so that we can get investigators to attend church, but so that everyone in Cliza can attend church on Sundays.  It's a long shot, but with our new investigator, it's not impossible.  We are advertising and explaining in our FHE's on Sunday nights, and our English classes on Fridays.  At this rate, the word can get around, and we will see how it progresses!

Elder Potts III

jacob.potts@myldsmail.net

Bolivia Cochabamba Mission

Past Two Weeks

December 9th:

All of you returned missionaries will understand when I tell you about Zone Leaders.  There are ones who are more relaxed, and others who literally walking rule books, Not that that is a bad thing.  Last week, we arrived at internet a little bit late, and internet is only between 10:30 and 12:00 here.  To the zone leaders, that means down to the minute.  I didn't want to send a huge letter mid sentence, so I just saved the stories for this week also.

So remember our investigator Nilda?  She got her test results back for her cancer to see if it is dangerous or not and.... she's going to be just fine! SHe has an operation ina few weeks that she is nervous about, but everything should turn out fine.  We still visit her every day, and loves hearing our messages.

3 Sundays ago I went to the hospital with a stomach infection.  My companion and I both assumed that would be the last trip to the sodpital for a while, but we were wrong.  Remeber the Holiday called Dia de Peaton? Where the prohibit to drive cars for an entire day.  Well, this is especially problematic for us, since we live in a tiny pueblito 20 minutes from the capilla.  The always seems to fall on a Sunday too, just our luck.  The night before, we slept with other elders near the capilla, but we had to find a way back to our area after church.  So, we came up with the idea od asking members of the ward to borrow bikes to go back.  My companion really wanted to go back on bikes, and since that was the only option, we did.  We got 2 bikes and made our journey back.  About 20 minutes into the trip, my companion hit a pot hole, and lost control of his bike.  He skid about 15 feet on the asphault before stopping.  The 2 members with us, and I rushed over to him, but he was having a tough time walking.  We hiked him up to a seat of another bike, and had to walk to bike about 3 kilometers to the local clinic.  Somehow, the clinic was full, and we had to take him to the hospital to get treated.  Luckily, nothing on him is broken, and all his wounds are superficial.  We were able to leave the hospital that night, and he is almost back to being 100% healthy! 

Last night coming home from the Christmas devotional was an absolute fiasco.  As you all know, missionaries normally don't have a ton of on hand cash to throw around. So at night, when there are no trufis to take, we fit as many elders into a taxi as we can.  Last night was no different, and we fit 6 elders into a 4 door taxi, and left.  About 10 minutes into the taxi ride, the taxi broke down.  Apparently the gas pedal disconnected and he couldn't go anymore.  We all got out to start helping him reconnect it, but we had no tools, or really any knowledge to fixing it.  The only thing we could find in the taxi was a piece of string...  And while this was not my idea, the taxista and some elders cooked up a plan to connect the throttle  with the string to make a very ghetto way of driving.  They fed the string from the engine through the hood, and then through the drivers window.  After, we all piled back in and were actually quite suprised at how smooth he was able to drive with the gas pedal on a string!

Miss all you guys! Write me soon!

Elder Potts III

jacob.potts@myldsmail.net

Bolivia Cochabamba Mission

Spreading the Word

It's been a full week of events and new ideas here in Cliza, and it's making my companion and I super excited for the weeks to come!  Things are progressing here greatly!

Here a bit of a cool story:  Wednesday night of this week, at about 9 oclock, we went to go visit one more person before we turned in for the night.  About a block before we got to the investigators house, we saw smoke coming from a different house, but just assumed it was from an oven, since there was only a tiny bit. So we kept walking, and knocked the door of the investigator... as he answered the door, we turned back, and there was a cloud of smoke so big nothing was visible! The house was burning down!  We rushed over to the house, asking the number for Bomberos, or the fire department..  Cliza is so small, there is no fire department. So everyone ran down a few blocks to a small river with buckets to put it out, us included.  What makes it worse is the house also has a furniture store in it. So everything was flammable, sofas, beds, closets, chairs, all made of wood and cotton.  The fire suprisingly got put out relatively quickly and nobody was hurt from it.

The family I told you about last week, Family Vasquez, lost their Dad last night.  All our efforts are going towards them now.  All of the kids are under 18, and there are 4 of them.  We are working hard with the ward, and have scheduled for the ward members to bring them food every night of the week.  They also owe the hospital a large payment for the hospital stay, but we are still working on a solution for that.  Evelin, who is 16, told us last night the only reason she is at peace is because of prayer.  Also telling us she never prayed before we started teaching her.  They are all being comforted, by the ward and the Lord, although this is probably the hardest time of their lives.

Last week in a conference, President Dyer told us we should always invite our investigators to kneel and pray with us.  To the point of even saying it would be a sin not to pray on your knees with them.  I initially took this as some strong counsil, but decided to put it into practice.  Ivan, who is one of our investigators with a baptismal date for 2 weeks in the future, lacks the permission from his mom, who is very catholic.  We also visit her, and teach her too.  After asking permission for his baptism, and inviting her to baptism too, we ended with a prayer, and asked them to kneel with us.  That alone brought the spirit so strongly! I know his mom felt it also, and she said she would talk with Ivan before giving the permission.  We are still waiting for the word though.

I'm starting up an English class again here, and because of the people I know, it's going to be big.  We have an open shop right on the square to teach, thanks to our pensionista, and I recently met someone who works for the television in my little Pueblo, Cliza. He said if we make a commercial, we can play it for one month for 20 bolivianos. So we might be making a commercial for it and everything!  This could be big for the church. I know not everyone will get baptized, but everyone will know about the church. I'm really excited for it all.

Elder Potts III

jacob.potts@myldsmail.net

Bolivia Cochabamba Mission

Investigators, Blessings, and Baptisms!

My area is still tough, but things are progressing amazingly. We now have a gigantic pool of investigators, and we have figured out that confedence in us is the key to having success in Cliza!  A few of my investigators have some pretty tough stories, but we are helping them in every way we can.

There is a family that we are in need of a lot of help. Their dad is in a coma and is in the hospital, and they are struggling without him. They have 5 kids, and we are teaching them all.  The mother is always in the hospital to stay with their dad.  Without a father at home, they have very little money, and no head of the house to look to.  Also, the medical costs have exceeded over 90,000 BS and they are unable to pay for it.  The dad can't leave the hospital until the pay the cost, so they are in a very tough situation. All of the children are girls, except for one. His name is Fabian, and he is 16.  Recently we have found out that he has been involved in gang activity for the past few years, but wants to change, telling us we are this.  After explaining to importance of families, and the role of a father, he has come to realize that he has to play that role now since his father is sick.  We have gotten together with the ward, and they are coordinating to be able to bring food to their house for them.  They will do this each day of the week for them, and our help.  After teaching the children, 3 of them have baptismal dates and attend regularly.  The only issue will be permission. Their parents are very catholic and closed minded when talking to them.  They are, however, very greatful for the ways that we are helping them.

This week we have gained much confedence of one of our investigators, Nilda. Before, she would not open up to us, so we did not know how to help her. Finally, she has come to trust us enough to tell us her problem. She has a type of skin cancer, but does not know how to tell her family. She is waiting to find out if it is dangerous or not before she tells her family. Now that we know this about her, she trust in us a lot, and tells us any updates. We taught her the plan of salvation after that, and explained how God has a plan for each of us. Because of her, we have realized that trust is one of the most important things to have with investigators.

The sister of this investigator with cancer is named Ely.  She is probably the best investigator I have probably ever had, for one main reason.  She is born and raised in Cliza, and literally knows everyone.  We are great friends now, and she loves hearing our lessons.  Through her, we get at least 3 or 4 references every single day.  All we have to do is accompany her to the store, and on the way we run into her friend, take out an appointment. Then we get to the store, and she introduces us to the store worker.  Everyone she knows, she introduces us too.  She has some doubts about the gospel, but when it comes to references, we couldn't have anyone better than Ely.

Elder Potts III

jacob.potts@myldsmail.net

Bolivia Cochabamba Mission