30 Junio 2014

Hello Family! 

It's been a truly miraculous week on the island of Carti Tupile. Hermana Hastings and I have been blessed to see so much progress in the small branch here. Yesterday we almost doubled the highest recorded sacrament meeting attendance with 91 people! We have one of the smallest islands with missionaries, but we now hold the record. We're pretty proud haha When I first arrived to the island, we struggled to have an organized sacrament meeting, but we now have a full second hour of meetings each Sunday. We have a separate Sunday School class for adults, young men, young women, and primary. And the numbers are growing each week. If that's not progress, I don't know what it. And that's just the beginning of it all. The work here is exploding!

Hermana Hastings and I have been able to search out and connect with many people that had kind of been forgotten or flown under the radar prior to us being here. We have found so many less-active members who are now becoming more and more involved. Many people who simply put their head down and passed the missionaries before now greet us and get a huge grin on their face when they see us. Before, it was difficult to get into many of the houses, now we can't walk from one end of the island to the other without getting invited into a few houses. In these past few weeks we've especially been working with the priesthood holders. My goal upon first arriving to the area was that the branch could become more self-sustaining and independent of the missionaries. I expected it to happen gradually and slowly as each generation grew stronger, but we are seeing it happen right before our eyes. We are both very satisfied with the work that is being done here. And we are both very grateful that the Lord has allowed us to be his instruments in accomplishing this progress. I had a beautiful experience this past week in which the Spirit quietly but very powerfully confirmed to me that these people are the reason that the Lord asked me to serve a mission. I know that I am in the right place, doing the right thing, with the right people. Few things are more reassuring than knowing that you are on the path that the Lord has prescribed for you. 

In these past weeks I've been thinking quite a bit about a small passage of scripture in 2 Nephi 2.

 25 Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy.

It is a short and very simple scripture that is packed of doctrine and one of the most important principles that I believe we can learn in this life. Why are we here? We are here to find joy. That is our sole purpose here. I'd like to point out that Nephi uses the word joy in comparison to happiness. I would suggest that joy implies an eternal happiness. I would ask each one of you then, and invite you to ask yourselves the same, are you fulfilling your purpose of being happy? Is it the kind of happiness that will last through the eternities? If not, why? Search for whatever obstacle, be it sin or something else, that is impeding your joy. Find it and get it out of your life. We cannot afford and we have no reason to be miserable. 

I know and  testify that Jesus Christ, our Savior, lives. This is His restored church and the gospel is the means that He provided for us to attain our purpose of being eternally happy. He repeatedly invites each on of us to repent and come unto Him. He has already taken our obstacles upon Himself, we don't have to carry them any longer. Leave them behind, don't look back, and come unto Christ. When following the teachings of Christ we are happy, and men are that they might have joy. 

I love and miss you all! Make it a wonderful week!

Go Foward With Faith,

Hermana Falslev

23 Junio 2014

Hello Family!

This morning, after our seminary lesson, we had the biggest storm I've ever seen on Tupile. There was so much rain and the wind was so strong that even while standing in the middle of the chapel we got soaked because the wind blew the rain right through our "walls". All we could do was find a dry spot and take shelter for about half an hour. It kept raining, but the wind finally eased up. Upon emerging, we found a bit of a mess caused by the wind, but nothing a bit of tidying up can't fix. When we walked out of the chapel we found a bit more damage. The island held up pretty well, but a few house walls had come down. We helped clean up and make a few reparations, and the island was as new. Rome may not have been built in a day, but Carti Tupile was :) It's humbling to see what a bit a wind and water can do.

Despite the blustery days, the work continues to move forward in the branch of Carti Tupile. Many wonderful things have happened this week. To start the list off . . . BAPTISM! Three incredible youth from a beautiful family were finally baptized after about 3 months of work. We planned the serve countless times, but we were never able to get enough Melchizedek Priesthood holders to the service. IT's a good thing I have a testimony of the restored authority on the earth, or I probably would have baptized the kids myself. However, in the wise words of William Shakespeare, "All's well that ends well." With the help of some visiting elders, the three were finally able to take the essential step and fulfill their desires of being baptized. 

To add to the happy news, the youth organization is making incredible progress! A recent convert was recently called to be the Young Men's President. He's been so proactive in his calling, and we've seen the fruits of his labors in both his personal testimony, as well as that of the many young men on the island. He's been organizing activities for them, such as soccer tournaments and scripture chases. They've responded marvelously! This Sunday we had 18 young men attend! We usually have a decent number of young women with two or three young men, if we're lucky. They didn't even fit in the room and had to split. We're so grateful for the work he's doing, and we're really excited about a strong rising Priesthood generation.

As far as comical highlights of the week go . . . This morning, as we were taking advantage of the pouring rain to do our laundry, one of my t-shirts fell into the ocean. Don't ask how, these things just always happen to me. To put it simply, I ended up staring over the banister at my t-shirt 10 feel below me, with no easy way to reach it. Refusing to accept defeat, I climbed over the banister with a quickly-invented contraption to reach down to the ocean. A few desperate attempts later, I triumphantly climbed back over the banister with my shirt in hand. Mission accomplished. 

Everybody here is so kind to us. We're frequently given fish or some sort of food item (generally a strange sea creature). The other day a less active member saw us walking and called us over. He asked us if we had ever tried something. We hadn't ever even heard of whatever he was saying, so we said no. He told us to follow him. Curious, and slightly worried about what we were getting ourselves into, we followed him to his door. He told us to wait for a minute. Upon returning, he handed me a giant red sea crab. The sea crabs are very different than the blue river crabs and much more fierce looking. Unfortunately, he forgot to inform me that it was already dead, so I had a minor heart-attack and almost threw it on the ground. As usual, they all just laughed. After calming down, we thanked him and took it to Lily, who helps us with all of our sea creature gifts. It turned out pretty tasty.

All in all, another wonderful week in the service of the Lord. I love and miss you all! Make it a marvelous week!

Go Foward With Faith,

Hermana Falslev 

16 Junio 2014

Hello Family!

We've had an extremely rainy week here in Carti Tupile. And there's nothing like being shaken awake by the sudden crack of thunder at3:30 in the morning. I truly think that Hermana Hastings and I lose about 5 years off our lives each time it happens. Though heart-shaking at times, we do love the storms, and are grateful for the water. This morning we woke up to pouring rain, which is my favorite sound to wake up to. We crawled out of our hammocks and washed our hair using our rain-collecting invention . . . it's the small luxuries in life that make us happy. As I headed over to the other side of the chapel for seminary Hermana Hastings walked up to me with a sheepish grin on her face. I already knew what she was going to tell me. She had locked the keys in the bathroom . . . again. I just giggled and started climbing up to the small opening above the doors. This morning in seminary we taught Alma 6-7. Alma 7 is one of my favorite Book of Mormon chapters about our Savior. Few things bring me more satisfaction than testifying of Jesus Christ to my seminary students. I find so much joy in teaching them about the role that the Savior has in their lives and helping them to gain a personal testimony of Him that will bless them for their entire lives. Each day we are placing another block on their foundation. I pray each day that they will all remain strong long after I'm gone.

After seminary we headed to Lily and Miriam's house. It was still rainy outside so we all sat in their house together, as usual I was in a hammock with a few children piled on top of me. We love visiting them because they have completely accepted us as a part of their family. They love us so much and we love them right back. We shared a typical Kuna breakfast with them. We had cocoa, which despite the name is not the same as hot chocolate. We also had bread, which is baked fresh each morning. We were fortunate and got to in first this morning, so we were blessed to enjoy hot bread with our cocoa. Bread and cocoa has become my favorite breakfast. After spending a while with our favorite family we headed back to the chapel. Once there, Hermana Hastings headed in to begin writing her family. I got nice and cozy in my hammock and started studying a bit. After a while I got kind of bored, so I started inventing. I began digging around the depository and found almost everything I need to create another funnel system to collect water from our other rain gutter. It's a bit tricky because I'm lacking a few tools, but that's never stopped us before. I was excited about my new creation, so I decided to share it with Hermana Hastings. She started laughing and told me that she's never met another sister like me. Everybody tells me that, so I've gotten used to it by now.

A few nights ago I was standing in the center part of the chapel staring out at the black ocean, burying myself in my own thoughts when Juan came up and started talking to me. He asked me what my house in the United States is like. He even asked me if there are zombies there because he had seen a movie about zombies in the states. That made me giggle, then I explained that zombies aren't real, even in the states. After clearing that up the mood changed as he looked up at me and asked me why I have to go back home. My heart sank a little bit because I hate to think about leaving the ones I've grown to love here. I explained what it means to be missionary and that I still had some time to be here with him. He told me he wants to be a missionary too. I told him that he would make an excellent missionary. Being the wonderful and curious 12 year old that he is, he then told me that he wanted to meet God and asked if I had met him. I explained that God is our Heavenly Father and that we do know Him and He knows us. I explained that we lived with Him before and that we have to live so that we can live with Him again. Then he turned to me and said, "Do you know why I don't always come to church on Sundays? It's because I don't have shoes." I just smiled, put my arm around him, and told him that we'd take care of it for him. I told Hermana Hastings and she was all for it.

The next day we went shoe hunting. Not many shoes are sold on the island, so it was a bit difficult, but we ended up finding some perfect shoes for Juan. We were so excited to give them to him. During a Friday night activity we pulled him aside, told him to close his eyes, then placed the shoes in his arms. Words cannot explain the expression on his face when he opened his eyes, true joy and gratitude such as that cannot be put into earthly terms, it's merely felt. He immediately jumped on me and gave me the best hug I've ever had. He was so grateful and our hearts were so full! He told us how happy his mother would be and told us that he's be in church on Sunday. He was one of the first people to arrive on Sunday, in a white shirt and his new shoes. And we love watching him play outside with shoes on his feet. As if that wasn't rewarding enough, his mother, who was previously extremely closed off, has completely changed her attitude toward us. She always smiles when she sees us now and even invited us in the other day. I'm surprised my heart hasn't burst from the joy it's felt so frequently amongst these people!

To end, I'd like to share a scripture that I read this past week that has taken on a much more significant meaning in these past few months. 2 Nephi 10:21-22:

21 But great are the promises of the Lord unto them who are upon the isles of the sea; wherefore as it says isles, there must needs be more than this, and they are inhabited also by our brethren.

22 For behold, the Lord God has led away from time to time from the house of Israel, according to his will and pleasure. And now behold, the Lord remembereth all them who have been broken off, wherefore he remembereth us also.

I know that those who inhabit Kuna-Yala are a chosen and special people. The Lord is mindful of them, and the restored gospel of Jesus Christ will continue to grow and flourish on the islands of San Blas. I consider myself extremely blessed to be here serving them and loving them.

I hope you all have a marvelous week ahead of you! Love and miss you all!

Go Forward With Faith,

Hermana Falslev

10 Junio 2014

Once upon a time a naive little girl was sent to a far away island. Each morning, while the island was still asleep, she lifted herself from her high-hanging hammock and walked over to the open walls to take in the sunrise-filled ocean. She fell in love with that ocean.

Outside of those open walls lived a peculiar people. They spoke a different language, wore different clothing, and ate strange food. Though from different worlds, each moment of her day was spent in the midst of those people. She taught them, she served them. They taught her and they served her. She fell in love with those people.

Some days were hard, fruitless, and seemed to be without end. Sometimes she was tired and simply didn't understand the hearts of the people. However, upon counting the victories, big and small, she understood that the work was not her own. It was the work of a grand and loving Father. It was a marvelous work which changed the lives of those that she had learned to love. She fell in love with that work. 

At the end of each day she climbed into her high-hanging hammock. Listening to the ocean, thinking of the people, and satisfied with the work, she drifted off to sleep with a grateful heart and a simple smile. 

Occasionally, I feel like I'm living a fairy-tale. I sit and contemplate this incredible experience that the Lord has blessed me with and am filled with gratitude. Obviously the cultural experience is right up my alley, and I enjoy every minute of it. However, even more so, I thank my Heavenly Father for allowing me to meet these wonderful people. I have loved people in all of my areas, but never before in my life have I felt such an all-encompassing and overwhelming love for someone like I do for the people here. My connection to them is so strong, and I can't help but think that they are all the reason that I needed to come on my mission. I needed to meet them.

The Lord continued to bless us this week. We've had unbelievable amounts of rain in the last two days (which is why I'm writing on Tuesday instead of Monday . . . solar power complicates things). We recently improved our water collection system to be even more efficient, so we now have all of our water jugs filled with drinking water. I started playing with some of our seminary kids during the last giant rain storm. We started out playing soccer, then it turned into a game of splashing and puddle-jumping. We had such a good time together. I think one of my favorite parts was when I looked over and saw one of the grandpas watching us with a giant smile on his face. I love playing with these kids. 

In other news, this week I tried something called "cambombia". I don't honestly know what it is called in English. It's a strange sea creature that lives in a big shell. It didn't taste too bad, but our jaws were tired after eating it because it resembles the texture of a rubber tire. Yet another bizarre food to add to the list. All part of the experience I suppose :)

Unfortunately, the battery is beeping at me, so it appears that my time is up. I miss and love you all! Make it a marvelous week!

Go Forward With Faith,

Hermana Falslev

2 Junio 2014

Hello Family,

It was great to talk to you and see you all on Skype even if it was a bit postponed. Better late than never I suppose.  Skype creates an otherwise nonexistent connection between my two worlds that is a bit strange for me, but good nonetheless. It's good to see that you all seem to be doing well, and it was fun to be able to sing to Nathan for his birthday. Like I said, it was one of my seminary student's birthday as well on Saturday. We had a small celebration with him and some of our other students and his family. Kuna celebrations vary quite a bit from those in the states, but the general idea is the same. 

To be honest, this week kind of feels like a blur, and I'm not entirely sure what to write about. Maybe if I just start typing things will come to me :) Here it goes . . . so earlier this week we went to the river again. We went to do laundry and visit the cemetery once again with Lily and Miriam. We really enjoy going to the river, but the rainy season has made the bugs almost unbearable. At the river there are millions upon millions of a little tiny bug called "chitras". They are microscopic and appear to be nothing more than a little black spec. However, small as they may be, they bite . . . and they bite hard. They suck your blood and leave little red spots on your skin for a while. Fortunately, they don't seem to bother me as much as Hermana Hastings. Mine go away completely within an hour or so, but my poor companion suffers for a few days. I think she has some sort of allergy or something. Poor girl. The silver lining to the river is always the tasty things we find in the jungle. I think I ate a total of 5 delicious mangos that day as well as two cacao pods. I'm convinced that cacao is similar to the manna sent down from the heavens . . . it is so tasty. We have to be sure not to bite into the seeds though, or else our tongue gets covered it a purple explosion of bitterness. That was learned by experience, but will never happen again. 

Remember Ata, Lily's husband who died about a week and a half ago? Well, they've been investigating his unexpected death and have found a few mysterious and intriguing details. As you already know, the drug trade frequently travels right up past Panama and through the San Blas islands. It's hit our little island pretty hard. Well, Ata was part of a group of leaders from our island that put a stop to one of the bigger movements from one of the other islands. They recently found out that the alcohol that he took with him fishing was poisoned. They are all in the process of clearing up the situation, but in the meantime many of the leaders here have left to Panama. That story wasn't to concern you, we're perfectly safe where we are, but it certainly was an unexpected twist to the situation. You just can't make these things up.

Hermana Hastings and I have made it a habit to assist the island's government/religious meetings once a week, called Congreso. We've been trying to gain a bit more support from the Saglas, the Kuna leaders, so we've been working hard to give them support from our end as well. It's all in Kuna, so not much is understood for the span of two hours, but it's the thought that counts, right? Many people bring something small to entertain themselves. I've begun re-reading "Jesus the Christ", my companion this last week took to watching a spider spin it's web on the ceiling, many Kuna women sew mola, and we were very pleased to see that many youth that attended brought their Books of Mormon to occupy themselves! Nothing makes me prouder than seeing the youth walk around with a Book of Mormon in their hand. Many of them are finishing up reading it completely for the first time. Oh it is wonderful!

Speaking of the Book of Mormon, I'd like to restate my admonition from last night on Skype. While talking to you I received a very strong impression to invite you all to read the Book of Mormon if you are not already doing so. I know it seems simple, but I have gained a firm testimony that consistently reading the Book of Mormon is one of the most important things that we can do to strengthen our foundation in Christ. Each and every time that I've watched somebody fall, we ask them if they are reading their scriptures. Their answer is ALWAYS "I don't know what happened, I just have a really hard time reading them now." Read the Book of Mormon each and every day. It is our armor, quite literally. We cannot afford to go without it. I know that the Book of Mormon is a true and inspired book, written specifically for our benefit. I promise each of you that as you read it each day, you will be protected from the fiery darts of the Adversary. Put it to the test.

I miss and love each of you! Thank you all for the support and example that you provide me!

Go Forward With Faith,

Hermana Falslev