There is Beauty All Around!

Dear my wonderful family and friends!

I need to thank all those wonderful people who all took the time to write me and encourage me and inspire me this past month. Yesterday I received one of the greatest packages/ gifts I believe I have ever been given! I could not be more grateful not only to my mom, who it looks like sent some pleas to family and friends to write me and then put it all together and send it, but also to each of you who actually took the time out of your crazy busy schedules to update me and inspire me with your own hand written letters! So again I say, THANK YOU! :) I could not appreciate it more! I have some of the greatest friends and family alive.:) Mail doesnt seem to make it through the Liberian Postal service very well, so in the past year on my mission, i believe I have gotten only a handful of letters, 6 to be specific. Yesterday I got so many I couldnt read them all in one evening! :) A missionary could not be happier to get so many unexpected letters! :) Life is good in this neck of the woods :)

One theme that has been playing on my mind this week comes from a song in our hymn book. "There is Beauty all Around, when there's love at home." Our mission has been eager and focused on finding those families, prepared by the Lord, to be blessed by the wonderful message of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are searching for those that will fully receive us, and act on our message. We are praying to find husbands and wives, properly married and willing to come and join with us with all of their hearts. It is a difficult search not only here in Liberia where the poverty is so severe that marriages are often too expensive for the average couples, and thus rare to find, but all over the world where unmarried couples are living together in a world so full of sin. What I have come to find this week is the miracle that occurs when we put our unwavering faith in the Lord that He will lead them to us, and us to them.

I have seen many miracles this week in our search to find those "Branch Builders" as we call them in Liberia. "Nothing happens in missionary work until you find someone to teach". The trick about Liberia is that if you want to do missionary work your own way, you will find that all of your time will be full of teaching appointments because Liberians are ALL willing to sit down and hear what you have to say. ALL DAY every day we can teach if we want, because the Liberian culture is so religious that all have, if at the very least, a peer pressure to know the bible and be religiously educated. Sure, this is missionary work. But we are striving to "find those that will receive us", and more particularly, we are striving to find those who the Lord knows will strengthen his branches here in Liberia. Trying to do the work the Lord's way is difficult here because so many are willing to listen, just few are truly willing to act.

If you want to come to Liberia and baptize 100 souls in your two years, its definitely possible. I have heard of missionaries who have pushed baptizing 175 souls in their two years here. But that is because anyone who has not been baptized here is easily convinced of going and getting dunked because they understand what Christ said that "unless a man is born of water and the spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God." Thus, our retention rate can be pretty low if we are not careful. Sincere people who want to do whats right join the church, but then fall away because of the weakness of the branches and simply because what we teach in our church is difficult! Its not easy being a latter day saint! so many fall away.

I hope I have painted a bit better picture of what the work is like here. This week I have loved watching the Lord lead my companion and I to those prepared to receive us. Sincere prayer always seems to lead to wonderful result. We have, not surprisingly, been led to educated, married and future branch leaders this week. In one particular setting, we were sitting with a woman for the first time after she noticed us help one of her young sons get a mango out of a tree (by chunking a rock at it to make it fall down... haha service in many forms here!). After a few minutes of talking with her, we recognized her immense faith in the savior and her dedication to him and her current church. As my companion spoke, I sat back completely baffled at what I could possibly say to touch this woman and help her feel the spirit, without prompting a long confusing/ detailed/ scripture filled discussion about the apostasy and restoration. What could I say that would trigger this woman's interest, what would touch her heart. 

I said a faith filled prayer not only for my companion, but for myself that the Lord would fulfill His promise to me as His servant and put the words in my mouth in the very moment that I need them. As my companion turned to me, I took a breath, still searching for the right words to say, I saw a beautiful African Sunset behind the woman we were teaching. The words, "There is beauty all around when there's love at home." ran through my mind as i marveled at this breathtaking view. I began speaking on the beautiful creation of the family and its divine origin. I spoke on revealed truths about restored Priesthood Keys with the authority to bind families together for time and eternity. I told her of the comfort I felt knowing that MY family was bound for eternity and the Joy that knowledge gave me. As my companion and I taught her in those few minutes that evening, we were able to teach her glorious truths from the message of the restoration. We didnt have to go into "lesson one" mode, but rather we helped her specifically understand something dear to her heart and something that most definitely allowed her to feel the spirit and recognize us as divine messengers of truth.

Throughout each day, the Lord will place those who will be touched by the gospel in our path. We dont need to feel intimidated or apprehensive. We dont need to be forceful or rude. But we do need to strive to be like one of the ultimate examples of faith, the missionary Ammon, who converted entire kingdoms because of his faith.

I felt the beauty of my wonderful family this week as they expressed their love and encouragement to me from letters home. I am able to trek through each day under the hot African sun because of their faith filled prayers on my behalf. I lay down at night so thankful that I have such a strong wonderful family and it helps me see the beauty of the earth. I strongly believe that the Lord is preparing Families to enter into his Church, and he will lead us missionaries here in Liberia to them.

I stood at the bank of a large river, maybe a quarter mile wide, this week and once again marveled at the beautiful county i am in. Its really nice to get out in my area and admire beautiful scenes, out away from the populated and filthy inner city. I am grateful to be a missionary here. The work is of course rigorous and demanding, but we are taken care of here as missionaries! The mission gives us ample money to feed ourselves, we live in one of the safest compounds I can think of, and we are respected amongst almost all Liberians as men of God (even if they do beg us for money, not preaching, all day long because of the color of our skin). I dont feel suppressed or as if I am living in some extreme conditions out here. We're taken care of by a watchful, tender Lord.

Life is good. I hope that now that I've got mail that I can get to work on replying to ya'll! :) Ricks family, I'll see what i can do to reply to the Scented Trees. I appreciated those. maybe i can find something africain scented in return... although you may not like it... haha and a shout out to my buddy Ty Jenkins who had me grinning ear to ear from his note! And of course a triple quadruple thank you to my mom who wrote tirelessly, be in on the mountain, in the plane or... next to the sea... wrote and gathered all these great letters. Thank you :) Im a happy camper this week :) Til next week my friends!

-Elder Fairwell