I hope you've all had a marvelous week. I loved seeing the photos from Manti and Alyssa's birthday. Alyssa, you look so grown up and different! I couldn't believe it! I hope you all enjoyed the cake, it looked delicious :)
It has been an eventful week here on Carti Tupile. Each year Tupile hosts a basketball tournament for all of the school children ages 11-12. It's a pretty big deal here. Our kids have been practicing every day for the last 5 months, and everybody gets excited about it because Tupile has a reputation of winning. Well, the day finally arrived and our tiny island was suddenly filled with mountains of children. The tournament began on Friday and lasted through Sunday. The games would begin at 7 o'clock in the morning and generally went until about 6 o'clock in the evening. There were so many people! And each time that the Tupile children were playing everybody was there, screaming and yelling. Both the boys' and the girls' team playing very well, but we fell just short of first place. It was a little disappointing for all, but we all enjoyed the tournament nonetheless.
More exciting news! District conference is coming up at the end of the month and it's on Tupile this year! Since the San Blas branches are all so far apart, there are two separate district conferences. We share ours with our closest islands, Tikan Tiki and Nargana, though both are still at least 2 hours away. District conference has never been held on Tupile before, so we're excited for the opportunity, it also means that more of our members will be able to assist.
As part of the conference we have been preparing a small choir of some of our seminary and institute students. We will be singing a hymn in the Kuna dialect! There aren't many hymns that have been translated into dialect, but there is an older member on our island who translated a handful of them with another man many years ago. We found them on some hidden away pieces of note paper and asked if we could make copies of them and sing one at the conference. He was really excited about it. It sounds beautiful and it has been fun to learn it with them.
I recently began reading the Book of Mormon again, with the goal to finish reading it in Spanish one more time before finishing my mission. Each time that I read about Nephi I am astonished at his unwavering obedience. He never questions the Lord, he just does. He acts with a sure faith in God and with a hopeful attitude. The other day I was paralleling Nephi's obedience with that of his brothers, Laman and Lemuel. Something occurred to me . . . Laman and Lemuel were always obedient as well. They did was their father asked them to do. They left their home in Jerusalem and traveled into the wilderness. They even obeyed and went back to retrieve the records, as well as Ishmael and his family. They were obedient, as Nephi was. However, their attitudes differed greatly from that of Nephi. They always complained and acted begrudgingly. They did not understand the will of the Lord, and much less were searching to align their own will with the Lord's.
Obedience is necessary, without it we cannot progress or reach any eternal goal. However, we must watch our attitudes as well. Our actions may be obedient, but are our hearts equally obedient? Is our will aligned with the will of the Lord? An obedient heart makes for a happy disciple of Christ. I know that as we obey, with a willing heart, we will be granted a greater understanding of the Lord's purposes and a stronger testimony of the gospel.
I love you all so much! I am so grateful for each of you! May you all have a wonderful week :)
Go Forward With Faith,
Hermana Falslev
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