BUENOS DIAS FAMILIA!

Hope you´re all doing well! And I hope Alyssa had a wonderful birthday, sounds like you guys had a lot of fun :)

It´s been a good week here in Panama, full of lots of sun and rain. On Thursday we had a zone meeting and President Carmack came so that we could esach have a interview with him. He is so wonderful and perfect for this calling. After my interview him he offered a prayer. It was a very inspired prayer. I felt like every one of my concerns was mentioned, even if he wasn´t aware of them. When I opened my eyes after the prayer, I looked up to see him crying. Then he explained to me that there are angels guarding my companion and I. He said that maybe she and I can´t see them, but he knows that they´re around us. That was interesting because earlier in the week Hna Rodas and I had mentioned the same thing. There´s a part of our area that is especially dangerous called La Quinta. We have both felt that angels walk with us while in that area.

I walked out of my interview with President Carmack with an overwhelming awareness of the love that my Heavenly Father has for me. I could feel SO strongly of the love that He has for me, like He was next to me. I know that He is aware of me individually, as His daughter. I know that we can each have a very personal relationship with Him if we seek it.

Remember Leandro and Maxima who got baptized about 2 weeks ago? Well we´ve been working with their family, which is huge and they almost all live in our area. They have 8 kids who all have multiple kids. We´re so excited to work with them all because this gospel is specifically meant to bring families back to our Heavenly Father. There is one granddaughter in particular who is interested. Her name is Jazi and she´s 13. She was almost always at Leandro and Maxima´s when we taught the lessons. We found out last week that she came specifically because we were there. She started asking her grandparents when the Hermanas would be there. I would be so happy if we could get their whole family into the church! :)

Also, we have an investigator named Margarita. We met her during my 2nd week here. We taught her a few lessons, but she wasn´t incredibly interested, so we didn´t visit her too often. Last week we were walking by and she told us that she wanted us to start visiting her again. She has changed a lot and seems to really be interested now. We taught her the Restoration again and she really has a desire to know if it´s true. And at the end of our lesson she asked about the after-life. She told us that if we get reincarnated she wants to pray that God changes her into a butterfly, because butterflies are always so happy :) We were more than happy to share with her that you don´t have to be a butterfly to be happy after this life haha :)

Well, we´re about to head off to a place called Cinta Costa near the city, which means we have a long bus ride ahead of us. I´ve seen pictures and it looks really pretty. We´re also going to go to Hard Rock for lunch.....that means I get to eat something other than chicken and rice WHOO HOO! :) I´ve learned to love it, but variety in life is nice :)

Know that I´m happy and doing well. Know that I know that we have a Father in Heaven who loves us more than we can comprehend. We´re so blessed to have this gospel in our lives. It provides us with so much joy and direction. Got has a plan of HAPPINESS for each and every one of us. I love you all so much and hope you´re all doing well! I send lots of love your way every day!

Go forward with faith!

Hermana Falslev :)

Photos Aug 2013

Just another week in Panama

How are all of you?! I hope you´ve all had a wonderful week! And . . . HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Alyssa on Friday! I hope it´s a fun day for all of you.

Well, I don´t have much to report this wekk, just another week in Panama. I suppose that merely being in Panama is exciting enough though :) Panama is such a beautiful place. The sky here is always so clear and vivid. Yesterday the sunset was so pretty. The entire sky was a magnificent mix of orange and pink. Then the moon came up and was a brilliant white sliver of white in the midst of it all. The word for sky is the same as the word for heaven in Spanish. I think that´s justified because the sky here truly is heavenly and spectacular.

Also, there´s a group of wild loros, parrots, that has decided to live in a group of trees along our running route, so we get to watch them fly over our heads every morning. It´s really cool, they´re such beautiful birds.

I´ve also had the chance to experience some new food this week. At the beginning of the week, one of our investigators gave us fish...the whole fish--the scales, the bones, the eyes--all of it. Also, yesterday at lunch I sat down to behold a huge bowl of almejas--clams. I´ve never been much of a fan of seafood, but they weren´t too bad. And it was pretty entertaining to watch one of the elders try and eat them. Also, the fruit here is delicious!!! I tried something called a mamòn the other day. It´s a little fruit that has a green cover that you bite softly to break it in half. Then you suck out the fruit in the middle, which is an oddly textured pinkish/clear thing. You chew on that for a while, then spit out the pit in the middle. It´s strange, but really good. I´m also becoming gifted in the art of eating mangos. It´s extremely messy, but that´s part of the fun. Mangos are definitely some of my favorite things to eat here. I also love papaya. Almost every house here sells things called duros. Duros are basically popsicles, but better. They put homemade chicha (fresh fruit juice) in a little plastic bag and freeze it. We found a house that has duros made out of fresh papaya, coconut, or pineapple. Oh Nely, those things are good!!! Hna Rodas and I get one every time we´re in the area. They´re perfect for the middle of the day, when the sun in strong. It´s been especially hot the last couple of days.

Speaking of weather, here´s my funny experience for the week: Last monday we were waiting for the elders to call about changes., so we left to wash our clothes a bit later than usual. When we walked out the door it was really hot and really sunny. About 30 seconds after leaving our house, a huge storm hit. The wind started really strongly, then the buckets of rain followed shortly after. Everybody was running into their houses, then there were the crazy missionaries who had their laundry swung over their shoulders. It´s a 10-15 minute walk to the laundromat, so we were completely drenched by the time we got there. We rung out our skirts as well as we could, then went about washing our already wet clothes. We just sat and laughed at ourselves . . . we do that a lot. And we´re pretty sure Heavenly Father got a good chuckle out of it too :)

I´m loving the memories that I´m making here in Panama, even the simplest ones will remain with me for a lifetime. I´m so grateful for the opportunity I have to serve here.

I love and miss you all so much! Hope you´re all happy and healthy and happy :) MUCH LOVE!

Go forward with faith,

Hermana Falslev :)

Bautismo . . . otra vez!

First things first, I hope Chris had a spectacular birthday yesterday! I sent lots of good wishes your way. Also, HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to mom and dad tomorrow. I hope you guys have a wonderful day and are able to do something special because being sealed in the temple for eternity truly is something to celebrate. I'm so grateful that we have an eternal family, thank you!

I've finished my first change out in the field. I just found out that I'll be staying in the same area for my next change as well, and with Hermana Rodas again also. I was very pleased to hear that. I feel like there's so much more that we can still do in the are of Santa Librada.

Also, I'm very happy to report that Hna Rodas and I had 3 more baptisms yesterday. Leandro and Maxima, who are now happily married, are also members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints! They have plans to enter the temple on August 4th of next year.

Robert Carrazco was also baptized yesterday. Robert is a 28 year old who had a very difficult start in life. In the school that he attended as a child, the children were forced to traffic drugs, with frequent death threats if they didn't. Obviously that doesn't exactly provide a wholesome environment to grow up in. He got involved in a lot of bad things. His brother was baptized about 7 years ago and is actually serving an LDS mission in Nicaragua right now. His mom was baptized about 6 months ago. We visited his mom often, but he was never interested in joining the discussion. One day, about 4 weeks ago, he came into the room holding a hymn book, and sat down, ready for us to begin the lesson. That Sunday, he came to church and he's been to church every Sunday since. About 2 weeks ago, they called me up to the pulpit in the middle of Sacrament meeting. I don't even remember what I said, but I know it was simple. When we went to visit him later that week, he said that I had said something that made him decide to be baptized. We were shocked! To give you a picture of Robert--his hair is longer than mine, he is covered in tattoos, and has more piercings than I can count. We've been working really hard with him, and he was finally baptized on Sunday! Whoo-hoo!

So this week I've been studying 'hope' a lot. I think hope is such an interesting concept. In the world, hope is something abstract, intangible, and uncertain. However, in the gospel, hope is an extremely powerful, positive feeling of CERTAINTY and trust in Jesus Christ and His Atonement. The combination of faith, hope, and charity is mentioned frequently in the scriptures. When we have faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, we have a concrete hope in the promise of exaltation and eternal life with God and our families. Faith and hope are both motivating forces. When we have them, we are inclined to act--or in better terms--to serve, to have charity towards others. When we act on the faith and hope that we have, the Lord blesses us with more. It's a continuous cycle of progress and learning. It's wonderful! Also, everybody has enough faith to start this cycle. It all begins with a sincere desire, that's all the Lord asks. And, if we want more faith, we can ask for it! The Lord will help and bless us.

I love Ether 12>4 which says,''Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with a surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God.'' Isn't that a beautiful scripture! It basically sums it all up.

I know that this gospel is true. I know that faith in Jesus Christ and hope through His Atonement are spectacular gifts from God that come through studying and living His word and His gospel. With those principles comes happiness, which is really what this gospel is all about!

I love you all TTHHIIIIIIIIIIIISSSSSSS much *imagine me stretching my arms out as far as I can*

Go forward with faith (and hope and charity)