Hola!

My dear family!

How are all of you?! I can't believe it's almost August. First of all, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Chris on Sunday! I hope it's a wonderful wonderful day and that you guys have a good time celebrating. Eat an extra piece of cake for me :)

Last Tuesday we were able to attend a temple session as a zone. It's such a blessing to have a temple that we can attend as missionaries, even if it's not very often. I love the temple SO much! It truly is the House of the Lord. It's a place where we can receive peace, direction, and strength. I encourage you all to take advantage of the fact that you have multiple temples so close to you. It's such a blessing from our Heavenly Father.

Also . . . we had another baptism this week! Raul Carrillo was baptized yesterday afternoon. Raul is a perfect example of someone who was prepared by the Lord to receive the gospel. I'm learning more and more that I am simply an instrument in the hands of the Lord, a vessel to carry the good news. This is His work. He prepares people in His time and then leads us, as His representatives, to them. I wish you could meet all of the wonderful people that I get to interact with everyday. They have such a special place in my heart. I love them so much!

As I've mentioned previously, it rains monsoons here in Panama. In fact, it's pouring right now. Yesterday we had one of the bigger storms I've seen since I've been here. And of course, my compa and I were caught right in the middle of it. Being the brilliant people that we are, we manged to fashion a cover of sorts out of some plastic. That, paired with our umbrellas, kept us relatively dry . . . Until a large truck drove through the river that was forming on the road. You might think it possible to simply avoid the wave of water, but nope. The waves caused when cars drive through the deep water on the roads here are argueably large enough to surf. So, to sum things up, we got drenched. At that point, there's not much you can do except laugh at yourself. So, we had a good laugh and continued on our way.

One of the members in our ward here is Kuna. She grew up in San Blas, some of the islands here, and continues with many of the traditions from the culture there. She's invited us to go to her house today to learn more about it and learn how to make molas. Molas are made of beautiful stitchwork that is specific to San Blas. I'm excited to learn! :)

We are so incredibly blessed to have this gospel in our lives. We get to live with the knowledge that we have a loving Father in Heaven and a Savior. How wonderful is that?! I was studying the Light of Christ this morning. The Light of Christ is just what the words imply: enlightenment, knowledge, and an uplifting, enobline, persevering influence that comes upon mankind because of Jesus Christ (bible dictionary). That's such a beautiful gift. I know that it is through Christ that we are made whole and happy. Living this gospel and putting Christ in the center of our lives provides us with direction, joy, and light. I know my Savior, Jesus Christ lives! I love this gospel, my Savior, and all of you so much!

Go forward with faith!

Hna Falslev :)

BAPTISM!!!

First of all, I apoligize for not writing yesterday. We rearranged our p-day so that we can attend a temple session this afternoon.

This has been a wonderful week. To begin, I had my first baptism on Sunday! We began teaching Maribel my first week here. She's been an extremely positive investigator since the beginning. She has a sincere desire to be baptized. Unfortunately, she has to work out a divorce with a man in Nicaragua and many other complicated details before she can be baptized. But she has a righteous desire and the Lord is helping her. BUT....we were able to baptize her daughter, Miurel. Miurel is a beautiful, shy, sweet 9 year old. I love her so much and it was a very special opportunity to watch her make her first covenant with her Heavenly Father. The joy that brings is difficult to describe.

As if that wasn't enough, we were able to witness a miracle yesterday. We've been planningthe baptism of Leandro Santimateo for quite a while. We've had to push is back multiple times because of difficulties with the marriage papers and such. Also, we were supposed to have a lunch appointment with him and his soon-to-be-wife yesterday at noon, but we didn't get home from our service project until about 5. we called them with the intention of apologizing and cancelling because it was so late and we had other appointments. But when they answered the phone we both felt strongly that we still needed to go visit them. We apologized for our tardiness and explained that we were on our way.

So, Maxima from the beginning has acted indifferent as we teach Leandro and said that she wants nothing to do with the church. She always sat in and listened to the lessons though.We kept praying that she would have a change of heart one day. well, during our lesson about the Plan of Salvation last night, she asked if she could get baptized on the same day as Leandro. We were overwhelmed with surprise and joy. Her heart was changed in what seemed like an instant, but we can look back and see that the Lord was helping her step by step the entire time. There were countless things that we thought were working against this baptism, but those things were actually working towards a greater cause. Goes to show how narrow our view can be. All things were working together for the salvation of one of God's children--one of the 99. The Lord has an eternal perspective. We need only trust in Him and in His timing. My heart is so full of gratitude and joy that Maxima has decided to be bapized. We work with so many people, praying that they will accept the good news of this gospel. Moments like that make all of the hard work worth it. Bien vale la pena....well worth the pain. I'm so grateful for this opportunity to take part in the work of the Lord.His work will go forth to all the world. All He asks is a worthy heart and willing hands. We're bringing the world HIS truth...it's a beautiful thing!

We have a service project every week. It's always something that requires hard manual labor of some sort. I really look forward to them though. There is something so satisfying about getting dirty and working hard. Yesterday I ended up completely covered in mud. It was so fun! Also, the little boys in the family that we were helping were running around and laughing with us. There is nothing better than the laughter of a child. When a child laughs it's with an unrestrained kind of joy, it's pure. Yesterday was a wonderful day.

Oh, let me tell you about the beast I discovered this week. It was the size of my hand and it is exactly like the spiderish thing in Harry Potter 4 when they learn the unforgivable curses. Look for it in the movie because I simply don't know how else to explain it. It was terrifying.

I met a woman yesterday that couldn't believe that I've only been in Panama for 4 weeks. She said that I speak/understand Spanish like I've known it for years. She thought I was from Costa Rica because my accent sounds like a native Spanish speaker, not somebody from Utah. That made my day. I'm beginning to understand pretty much everything. The Lord has helped me so much.

Our stake had a pioneer activity with the primary to celebrate Pioneer Day. They were all dressed up like pioneers and made little handcarts. It wasn' t quite the same, but I felt like I was in Utah for a little while. It was a lot of fun. Also, the primary children here are all fascinated by the idea of snow. They ask me about it all the time. Who knew Utah could be so exciting and interesting?

Well, know that I love you all. I have a testimony of how this gospel blesses families. This gospel is meant for families. I know my Savior, Jesus Christ. I know that He is my Redeemer as well as my brother and friend. I have a firm testimony of His Infinite Atonement.

I love you all so much!

Go forward with faith,

Hna Falslev :)

2 Months

I want to begin this letter by stating firmly that I detest cockroaches. I've made my peace with most of the other 'creepy-crawlies', with the exception of spiders of course, but cockroaches are wretched creatures that should not exist. They're big, much faster than you'd think, AND they fly. Mother Nature sure has a sense of humor. I encouter a new beast almost every time I enter the bathroom. I'm going to have to start going in there armed with more than just my shampoo and a toothbrush :)

On Saturday mmorning we met as a zone for a service project. We were cleaning up the yard of an investigator -- using machetes of course, because using any other tool would be illogical and silly. We soon discovered that this small yard was infested with frogs, of all sizes. We also found some large spiders, much to my disliking. I never thought I'd say this, but I kind of miss the spiders in Utah.

So, everybody here loves to feel the missionaries. One of our investigators was kind enough to provide us with a second lunch. Guess what she served us....pig tail! That's right, that curly thing on the end of a pig! Note to self -- no, note to everybody -- that is not something that is supposed to be eaten...EVER!

Also, we returned home one night to discover that the other hermanas accidentally locked the keys in the house, meaning that we were locked out of the house. I had quite the adventure climbing over the fence in a skirt to resolve the problem. But, alas, I was triumphant!

If you'd like a small glimpse into my day, watch the scene in 'Up!' when Russell first meets Carl. He's very persistent, he's practically Hna Rodas and me. We ask a lot of the people we see if they need help with anything, usually it requires asking multiple times. Our persistence usually pays off, and we get an opportunity to teach them. Anyway, watch that scene, it's comical how similar it is :)

Since we're out in the sun all day, I've gotten some awesome tan lines. Everybody here still loves to call me 'blancita' though. Although, I think that may be partially because it seems to be physically impossible for anybody here to say my last name.

On Sunday night we had the opportunity to take some of our investigators to see the temple. Leandro and Maxima are preparing to be married (after 50 years of being together) so that Leandro can be baptized. Maxima says that she doesn't want anything to do with the church and tries to act disinterested, but she always listens to the lessons. I think she's warming up to the idea. Leandro is a 77 year old man with a very simple, but very solid testimony.

President Carmack, the new mission president, met us at the temple. He came with his 12 year old daughter, Annie. I like talking to her because she reminds me of Alyssa. President Carmack talked to our investigators about the work that is done in the temple. The Spirit was so strong. I have such a love for the temple, and I know with a surety that it is the House of the Lord. The Panama temple is one ofthe most beautiful places I've ever been. I'd be cool if we could travel there as a family one day.

Well, I've hit the 2 month mark. That means I'm already 1/9 of the way finished. It's hard to believe. I'm learning so much. One of the things I've been thinking about this week is that the natural consequence of obedience and selfless service is power from God--power to do that which I cannot do on my own. There's a lot of things that I can't do on my own, but I know that I can rely wholly upon the Lord to make up the difference, every time.
My dear family, I love you all so much. I hope you're all doing well and know how much your Heavenly Father loves you. I testify with all of my heart that this gospel, the gospel of Jesus Christ, it true. I know that living it invites happiness into our lives. We are happiest when our Savior is in the center of our lives.

I love you all!!

Go forward with faith,

Hermana Falslev :)

Panama!!!

My dear, dear family!

I hope you are all doing wonderfully! Well, I'm adjusting to Panama. I'm understanding more of the language every day. They speak very 'effecient' Spanish here. They drop the endings of the words, and they only stop to take a breath when it's absolutely necessary. Throw a little bit of Jamaican and Chinese in with that and it proves to be quite the challenge, but I'm learning. I may not come home speaking Spanish, but I will come home speaking Panamanian.

I'm really starting to develop a lot for the people here. I can't always understand all that they're saying, but I love them, especially the children. The children are so precious. We're teaching a few families with very young kids. It's interesting to watch their faces as we teach the lessons. I think they recognize the Spirit that is there, especially when we sing the hymns. I love teaching that families can be together forever. It's such a blessing that we have the eternal perspective that we do.

The food here is wonderful, there's just a lot of it. I make sure my companion and I run every morning :) As we were running this morning we got caught in a storm. Luckily, we made it home before it got too bad. The rain is indescribable. It's sometimes a bit painful to be in because it's like someone is throwing buckets of water at you. It's really cool to watch/listen to though. The thunder/lightning storms here in the jungle are magnificent.

This week we contacted some very devout Catholics...lucky us :) Those conversations always end up being comical at the least. They struggle to accept the Restoration. One woman even condemned Hna Rodas and I to hell because of our belief in the Book of Mormon after her 30 minute rant about the Bible. I suppose it was kind of her to let us know, it takes the guesswork out of life haha :) We simply smiled, bore our testimonies, and wished her a happy afternoon. Not everybody is that extreme, but they do enjoy discussing doctrine. We're currently teaching a Catholic woman named Celia. She knos it's true but is afraid to act on her faith. For many of these people, baptism means changing something they've been taught for their entire lives. That can be scary, but when the truth is confirmed upon our hearts by the Holy Ghost, it becomes a causative force that motivates us to align our lives with Christ. Faith is a principle of action, THEN power. Sometimes we mix that sequence up and ask for the power to act. It doesn't usually work that way. The Lord magnifies the efforts that we make in faith--but there must be something there for Him to magnify.

God loves us and always will unconditionally. When we are obedient and exercise our faith, we are changed, not Him. Our eyes and hearts are opened to be able to more fully comprehend His love that was already there.

I love you, each one of you so much. It sounds like you're all doing well and are happy. Nothing could bring me more joy than knowing that you are all being blessed so much by our Heavenly Father. MUCH LOVE TO ALL OF YOU!

Go forward with faith,

Hna Falslev :)

I've made it!!!

Dearest Familia! I feel like it's been a lifetime since I've been able to email you. Hermana Ward was supposed to have emailed you about our safe arrival on Tuesday, hopefully she did. If not, I'm alive and I'm in Panama! I woke up at 2:30am on Tuesday morning because we had to leave for the airport at 4. After spending way to much time on an airplane, I landed in Panama. We were greeted by Presidente y Hermana Ward, then we took our things to the temple apartments wehre we would be staying the night. We sat through orientation, then we were able to attend a session at the temple. That was such a blessing. That Panama temple is very small, but it is unbelievably gorgeous.

The next morning we had a meeting with the entire mission because Presidente and Hermana Ward are leaving for home today. Then we were assigned to our tainers and areas. My comp is Hna Rodas. She is from Guatemala and is 22 years old. She's been in the mission for 3 months. She's very obedient and is very patient. I've been blessed to have her. She also spèaks a little bit of English, which is helpful sometimes. The Spanish here is nothing like the Mexican Spanish that I learned in the CCM. THey speak very quickly and they drop the endings of all the words. Hna Rodas even said that she couldn't understand anything her first week here--and Spanish is her first language! It's very difficult, but I'll get the hang of it. I understand more every day.

I've been assigned to the San Miguelito, Santa Librada Area. I'm literally living in the middle of the jungle and the area I'm in doesn't have a lot of wealth. The house I live in has proven to be an adventure. I'm currently coexisting with lizards, spiders, and every other bug you can think of...and then some. I always joked that I was going to get a pet lizard :)

It's also very very very hot. Did I mention it was very hot?! We feel sweaty and sticky all the time. It'll be interesting to come home in the middle of winter after I've gotten used to the heat. I might curl up in a warm blanket and never come out :) We are entering into the rainy season here. I though it rained a lot in Mexico, but that was nothing. I would venture to say that a 5 minute storm here dumps the same amout of wather as all of the storms in Utah combined.

We have a pretty big area, and we walk a lot. Basically I was ALL day, but I like it :)

We also have some very promising investigators with baptismal dates set for later this month. The biggest obstacle here is that NOBODY gets married...ever. This just happens to be something necessary for baptism, so we're working with a lot of people. I'll keep you updated on their progress.

On Saturday morning we had a service project. We were supposed to carry cement blocks and bags of other building materials to a location wehre a house was to be built. We arrived to find out that we had to carry them up a steep stone stairway of about 200 steps. Being the brilliant young adults that we are, we formed a n assembly line and had a wonderful time. At least we got a chance to work of some of the many many pounds of rice that we are fed each day. The members take turns providing our meals and they pile it on very high. I've eaten more rice in the last 6 days here than I ever have before.

To some things up, I feel like I've jumped into a completely different world. It's difficult, but it's good, and each day gets better. Also, the people are wonderful. I've spent time with people in very humble circumstances, but they are all so giving and loving. They have good hearts :)

Family, I love you! SO MUCH! I know I'm so blessed to have you all. I hope you guys can feel the love that I send your way every day.

MUCH LOVE TO YOU ALL!

Go forward with faith,

Hna Falslev :)