Mi Querida Familia!

 

Good morning family! I hope all is well and that you are all having a spectacular day! It's another beautiful day here in Santa Librada. We just got finished with lunch at Hermana Oda's house. Her food is delicious, and her chicha is absolutely divine. We actually have our P-Day on Wednesday this week because we're going to the temple, but President Carmack prefers that we still write on Mondays so that he doesn't get calls from concerned mamas and papas, so here I am :) It's been a good week. The Lord truly teaches me more and more every single day, I love it! :)

I want to share a scripture that I came across earlier this week--2 Nephi 25:26. It says, ''And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophecy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.'' I absolutely love this scripture! Nephi is not talking about a passive life here. He's talking about a life that is actively and completely built around our Savior, Jesus Christ. We've been promised in Helaman 5:12 that if we establish ourselves around Christ we will have a sure foundation and we WILL NOT fall. We CANNOT fall when Christ is our foundation, in any and every circumstance.

I want everything I do to be a result of my faith in and love for Christ. I know that by following, learning, believing, and trusting in Christ, I can become like Christ. That's so incredible! And how can I represent Christ if I am not like Him? As missionaries our objective is to ''invite people to COME unto Christ . . . '' The word 'come' implies that I have to already be where Christ is. I have to be with Christ before I can invite others to come unto Him. In other words, I cannot invite people to live this gospel unless I am first living it whole-heartedly myself.

I know that Jesus Christ established the way for us to live, and I know that His way is the only way that leads us to the joy that will come from living with our Heavenbly Father and our families for eternity. We've been promised eternal happiness and we've been shown the path that we need to follow to achieve it. We simply have to do it :)

I have such a love for this gospel and there is no doubt in my mind that it is true. I KNOW that our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ appeared before Joseph Smith, and I know that through Joseph Smith the plentitud of the gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored. We have this gospel in our lives because God loves us and wants nothing more than for us to return to live with Him. We're so blessed to have this gospel in our lives.

I love you all SO much and hope all is well. I've learned that if all else fails, count your blessings because it's hard to not be happy when we take the time to realize how blessed we truly are. Much love to each and every one of you!

Go Forward With Faith!

Hermana Falslev :)

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It's Raining, It's Pouring

 

Hope all is well back home! :) So last Monday we spent our P-Day in the city. First we went to Hard Rock.....Oh. My. Heavens. That food was so delicious, and the best part was that it wasn磘 chicken and rice! After lunch we went to see La Cinta Costera--a beautiful stretch of the ocean along the edge of the city. Even though the day started out nice and sunny we ended up getting caught in yet another torment because . . . well, that磗 just what Hna Rodas and I do :) We were already dripping as we were walking back to the bus stop, but we found comfort in the fact that at least our heads were dry. As we were pointing out this silver lining we were walking along a skinny little bridge on the side of the road. It磗 really skinny and long and once you磖e on it there磗 no way to get off until the other end. At that moment we saw one of the big city buses coming our way. Our fate was sealed and we knew it. As usual, there was a river of rain water next to us. When it rains as hard as it does here it literally creates rivers. We磖e talking like 3 feet deep with strong currents. We simply braced ourselves and did our best to cover ourselves with our umbrellas. After it passed we poked our heads out from under our umbrellas....let磗 just say that our heads weren磘 dry anymore. Another car passed shortly after the bus, but once you磖e already dripping it really doesn磘 matter.

So we eventually made it to the bus. We stood on the crowded bus, dripping, for 2 hours. We got home around 7:30 and were still wet and freezing. We changed into warm, dry clothes and started walking to our dinner appointment. As we were walking we were talking and laughing about our day. I began to say something along the lines of, 创If I get splashed by one more car today . . .创 Sure enough, at that exact moment, the only car around for blocks hit the only puddle in the all-but-dry street as I was standing next to it. Luckily it only got my feel wet, but it磗 experiences like that that remind me that Heavenly Father has a sense of humor too :)

On Friday night we got a call from the Hermana Leaders asking if I could come to their area and help them with an inactive couple that only speaks English. It was definitely an interesting experience. It took a while to get used to having a full conversation in English. It was also strange to be the only missionary out of 4 who could take part in the conversation. Hna Rodas could say a little bit, but I had to translate for the other Hermanas. I felt like I had stepped out of Panama for a while.

So there磗 almost always a lightning storm going on here but it磗 usually really far away, like behind the clouds, so you don磘 hear any thunder, you just see the whole sky light up. It磗 REALLY cool to see. However, yesterday the storm was right on top of us. There was a stretch of thunder that was ear-splittingly loud and lasted for a good 15 seconds. It was so loud that every single car alarm in the area started to go off. My comp wasn磘 a fan, but I found it fascinating.

Well, my time is running short. I know that this gospel is true. It磗 perfect. For any lack that we have or for any blessing that we want, there is a commandment and a corresponding blessing that the Lord has promised us. Obedience=Blessings It磗 simple, but the Lord has promised us that it磍l work every single time.

I love you all SO SO MUCH!

Go forward with faith,

Hermana Falslev :)