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.
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
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