7 Months

How are you all?! This week was a little crazy due to changes, which always involve meetings, hauling around luggage, more meetings, and doing our best to adjust to a new situation. I am still serving in Pedregal, however I have a new companion named Hermana Lopez, from Guatemala. That makes 3 Chapinas and 1 Mexicana for companions :) She actually came in the same group as my previous companion, Hermana Perez, so she has about 4 1/2 months in the mission. I think that we can do a lot of good for our area together. I had a difficult   time believing that I hit my 7 month mark yesterday! Time flies when you´re having fun ;)

It´s been really cool to see a change in the members in the last couple of weeks. A challenge that we have in all of the mission of Panamá is working with the members. In each ward it is our goal to develop a relationship of love and trust with the members, it can be difficult at times. However, I have begun to see a change in some of the members that I thought would never open up. One hermana sat down with me the other day and told me EVERYTHING. She told me that she felt a really special connection with me and that she has a lot of trust in me. I love it when we have opportunities to work with the members like that! That´s when miracles start to happen :)

I studied the principle of fasting recently. I came to this conclusion . . . Our mind and our body give us certain temptations, and by completely avoiding or denying everything our body tells us for a little while and only focusing on what the Spirit tells us, we learn the difference between spiritual promptings and temptation, which in some situations can be hard to discern. Fasting really has little to do with food. We come closer to God when we fast and we recognize His Spirit in our lives even more. I now understand fasting in a whole new light and am looking forward to starting the new year that is coming up with a fast :)

My dear family, I love this gospel and I love you all!

Go Forward With Faith,

Hermana Falslev :)