Frame Your Life with Faith

18 Agosto 2014

Hello Family!

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

11 Agosto 2014

Hello Family!

Let's see what I have to tell you all about this week.

We have continued to visit our neighboring islands. We've decided to focus on the biggest neighboring island, called Sugdup (Soo-e-doop). We only visit it about once a week, seeing as it is difficult to travel between islands. The branch counselor has been kind enough to lend us his canoe the past two weeks, on the condition that someone who knows what they are doing accompanies us. This past week, our friend Roderick volunteered to help us. Roderick is a 19 year old who is visiting his grandmother here from the city. He's always been a good friend of the missionaries and was happy to help us. At first, we were a little unsure about him rowing the boat . . . he is a Kuna, but he is still a city boy. Once he got the hang of it all again we departed from Tupile and made the quick trip to Sugdup. While there, he helped us with some of the older members who don't speak Spanish. It was a great help to us, not to mention great practice for when he becomes a missionary himself.

Another highlight of the week is when we had a sports day with all of the youth and the branch president. We all ended up playing kickball. At the beginning of the day it was extremely hot, but then, in a split second it seemed, we were hit by a short rainstorm. It cooled down instantly and made running the bases a little more interesting, but fun nonetheless. Within 15 minutes the sun was out and we were all sweaty again. I love playing sports with the youth here. Everybody gets really into it and has a good time.

Another day worth mentioning is the day that we got to eat pineapple AND watermelon! One might think that we get lots of fresh fruit out here, but we actually don't get much fruit at all. There are very limited resources out here. Our only hope is when a shipment comes into the island port. The other day, while visiting Lily, one of the port workers came in huffing and puffing. He told us that a new shipment had just come in and that it had pineapple and watermelon. The goods tend to go quickly here on the island . . . there was no time to waste. We jumped up from the hammocks and went directly to the port. We were one of the first. We bought one of each. We then headed back to Lily's and shared with her, her grandchildren, and a few lucky enough to pass by at the right time. They all loved it and just kept asking for more. Mu, Lily's mother, was especially excited. It truly is the small joys in life. Who new that a few slices of fruit could make so many people so happy.

Speaking of the small things, I'd like to reiterate something that I'm sure I've mentioned previously. That is, the importance of daily scripture study and prayer as well as weekly church attendance. I know that these things may seem so minuscule and are easily looked over in our busy lives, but we MUST make time for them. With an eternal perspective they are grand and life changing things. It is these same divine daily decisions that will make all the difference in the eternities to come. We cannot allow the daily tasks that the world hands us to overshadow these daily tasks that the Lord has given us. Put the Lord first . . . before co-workers, friends, a messy house, or any other item on your to-do list. It will not be in vain, I promise you that. I testify that as we read and pray daily and attend all of our church meetings weekly our testimony will be strengthened and the divine guidance of the Holy Ghost will be more easily recognized.

I hope that you all make it a marvelous week, full of divine daily decisions :) I love you and miss you all!

Go Forward With Faith,

Hermana Falslev

4 Agosto 2014

I hope you've all had a wonderful week! It's been a good week here. Today began with a small parade around the island of all of the younger school kids. Today is a cultural day, so all of the school kids are in their mola, the traditional Kuna attire. They were adorable! Then we had a wonderful turn out for seminary, as we taught Alma 40. After teaching seminary in the morning I spent about 2 hours washing all of my clothes. Afterwards I was tired, hungry, and my knuckles were a little raw. However, my clothes are now all hanging to dry and smell like spring :) Then we went to visit Lily, who shared one of her fish with us. It was a good start to the day.

This past Saturday we visited Sugdup, a neighboring island to Tupile. The rule here in Blas is that if you can see it, it's in your area. Missionaries hadn't visited the other islands for a very long time. My comp and I decided to change that. Unfortunately, we do not have a boat, so I was left to use my persuasive skills to convince an hermano to lend us his canoe. When I asked him at first, he looked at me skeptically and asked me who would be going with us. I told him that it would just be us. He just raised his eyebrows. Fair enough . . . two gringas in a canoe by themselves could end badly. I could understand his thinking. However, we needed to get to the other island. After some smooth talking, and perhaps some help from the Spirit, we got him to say yes. Then we ended up convincing a youth to go with us, so he felt a little better about it.

We arrived with nothing but a list of names that we had found in the church system. We arrived and started asking around and exploring a bit. You'd think it'd be easier to find people on an island . . . false. Kunas aren't very helpful when it comes to such an endeavor. However, we were determined and persistent. We found many less-actives. We found an older woman who was one of the first Kunas to be baptized. She is rather ill and really enjoyed the visit. Then we found a younger woman who got baptized with two of her brothers when she was a teenager. She now has a family of her own. Nobody else in her family is baptized. We're really excited about working on the other islands. They are completely unexplored territory. Sounds like time for some adventures :)

Shortly after arriving to the island and coming up short with some people searching (it's like a treasure hunt really) we found ourselves standing in one of the little short-cuts of the island, debating what to do next. Out of nowhere a little girl comes up, stops, and looks up at me. I smiled at her and said hello. She grabbed onto my hand. I asked her if she had talked to missionaries before. She nodded yes. I asked if her family were members. She nodded yes. I asked her if she could take us to her house to visit them. Her hand still in mine she started walking, pulling me with her. We followed her around a few corners.

Then she stopped. I asked her if we were at her house. She shook her head no. I asked if we could go to her house. She shook her head no. I looked at my companion, both of us slightly confused. Hermana Niebla asked me if she had been guiding me or if we had just been walking together. I told her that she was definitely guiding me. The little girl then looked up at me, said goodbye, then skipped off. Perplexed, I looked around, we were on the other side of the island, next to an old library. We walked a few steps, then found an old man who ended up guiding us to the house of one of the members that we had been looking for.

Perhaps she was just a little girl who wanted to walk around with us, but I've learned here on the mission that coincidences don't exist. I told Hermana Niebla that I thought that the little girl was supposed to lead us. Whether it be toward the old man or away from some sort of danger, I know not, but it was a cool experience nonetheless.

Well, I just heard the call for the 'congreso' meeting, which means I must go. I hope that you all have a marvelous week. Remember to always search for the tender mercies of the Lord. I love you all!

Go Forward With Faith,

Hermana Falslev