Hola

Hello my dear family! Yet another week here in Panama full of rain, sun, and miracles :) In all honesty, this has been an exhausting week, but I´ve been blessed to see the hands of the Lord in many ways this week as well. This Saturday a man named Artie Aguilar was baptized. To put it simply he is just so good. His faith is so strong and has taught me a lot. It has been clear to see that the adversary has been fighting extremely hard against this baptism because every step we took had interference. I´m physically, emotionally, and mentally exhausted from fighting back, but the experience that we were able to have with this dear man has lifted me up spiritually. It´s been such a blessing and it has increased my love for this work and these people even more.

One of the smaller concerns that we had with Artie was that he would have to stop drinking coffee. He told us that he had tried to stop drinking it before, but he always had horrible headaches before. However, this man with incredible faith told us without hesitation, ´´I`ll stop, I´ll really do it´´ He received a priesthood blessing and the elder who gave it to him told him that it was dependent completely on his faith. I had no doubt that it wouldn´t be a problem for him. We visited him slightly before his baptism and he told us that he had no problem leaving coffee. He didn´t have any headaches or anything. Faith is such a powerful and beautiful principle!

Also, Artie loves the Book of Mormon! We had a wonderful experience when we first introduced it. We handed it to him and he simply looked at us with amazement. When we told him that it was his, he didn´t believe us. He just sat there and stared at it with awe for a while. He truly understands that this book is inspired by God, and he couldn´t believe that he could hold it in his hands. It made me think, how often do I take this sacred book for granted?

A few other little things from this week: I tried a Nicarraguan (sp?) dish the other day. It consists of yuka, chicharron (pig skin) and a spicy salad on top and you have to eat it with your hands. It was actually pretty good. Also, a pleasant little panamanian bug decided it was okay to bite me. It´s called a maya....I think. I´ve had a large mark on my leg the entire week. No worries . . . I´ve had it checked and it´s not fatal, merely ugly and extremely irritating.

Well, I don´t have much time this week, but know that I love you all and I love this gospel!

Go Forward with Faith,

Hna Falslev :)

6 Months

Hello my dear family! I hope you are all doing wonderfully :) Well, earlier this week I hit my six month mark! That seems so crazy to me! That means I´ve already finished a third of my mission, time is flying by so quickly!

I´ve learned a lot this week. I love that each week I feel like a better missionary, like the Lord is refining me more and more. As I learn more about how to teach and how to follow the Spirit I can be a greater blessing in the lives of those that I am serving.

Earlier this week I was reading an old conference talk (I don´t remember which) about the Spirit. The Spirit is so crucial to all that we do, not only as missionaries, but as Children of God with a goal to live with our Heavenly Father for eternity. I was thinking that if we have a goal to live in the sacred presence of God for the eternities, we better take advantage of the small pieces of divinity that we receive here on the earth. We have to become accustomed to having the Spirit with us at all times. We should always strive to have it with us and become comfortable with it because if we are not used to the Spirit I imagine that we will extremely uncomfortable in the sacred presence of a Deity. The Spirit is such a beautiful gift! I like to think of it as a piece of our true divine home that we get to have with us during our temporary existence on the earth. That´s why we feel so comfortable when we have the Spirit - it´s home :)

I believe I´ve already mentioned our investigator named Artie before. He is so good! He truly is just a good man, with a faith that I´ve never seen before. He has a 100% trust in God, he simply doesn´t doubt. He really has taught me a lot and inspires me to be better. Earlier this week, after a lesson, he looked up to the sky and said, ´´Heavenly Father, thank you for putting these angels in my path, I don´t know how to thank you´´ Moments like that are what make every minute of this mission worthwhile :)

I love this gospel with every ounce of my being, and I know without a doubt that it is true. I know my Savior, and I love Him.

I love and miss you all!

Go Forward with Faith!

Hna Falslev :)

No Subject

 My dear family!
 I love you all so much and hope you are all doing well :) It´s been a good week here in Tocumen. It amazes me that I already love the people here so much.
 We´ve been working with a less-active member who went through a difficult time with her family and has since completely cut-off her relations with the church. When we first began meeting with her I got the impression that she had a strong testimony of the gospel, but had become very cynical and closed-off. Each time that we´ve invited her back to church she says no, she´s not ready. We´ve been working to gain her trust and do all that we can to help her. This week we went to visit her. I could instantly see that her demeanor had changed. You might even say that she was looking forward to our visit. After sharing a short message and talking with her for a while, before we had even mentioned church, she said, ´´Hermanas . . . I´m going to go to church this Sunday . . . .I´m going to be there.´´ She seemed much happier and relieved. Like the burden that she had allowed to weigh her down for such a long time had finally been lifted. I´m really hoping to see her in church this Sunday. She´s such a good person, she simply needs to be loved and guided back to the gospel that she already loves. I´ve really enjoyed working with the less-active members in the wards that I´ve served in. They´re always wonderful people, you just have to show them a little bit of love :)
 Also, we´ve been teaching an older man named Artie. He has been battling Alzheimers for almost a year now, which sometimes makes it a little difficult to teach him. He rarely remember the things that we teach him, he even frequently forgets who Joseph Smith is, but he has one of the strongest testimonies that I´ve ever seen. He love the gospel! We´re working toward his baptism this Saturday. It´s just further evidence to me that the gospel of Jesus Christ overcomes the trials of the world.
 On Sunday I was asked to speak in Sacrament meeting about missionary work. It was a good experience. I spoke about how this work is not only for missionaries, it´s not just missionary work - it´s the work of the salvation of each and every child of God. I spoke about John 21:15-17 in which Christ explains that if we love Him we must ´´feed His sheep´´. We are so blessed to have this gospel in our lives. Each and every person needs to feel the relief and joy that we receive through this gospel. We have what they need. We have to share it. It is our responsibility to share the gospel, it´s what God expects of us. It´s a big work, but it´s the work of the Lord and if each member of the church is doing their part we will see miracles!
 I love this gospel so much! It´s a blessing in my life every day.
 I love and miss you all!
 Go Forward with Faith,
 Hna Falslev :)

CAMBIOS

Querida Familia!

Well, I found out last night that I´m going to have changes. I don´t yet know anything about my new area or my new companion. On Wednesday we make the long bus ride to Cardenas where each of the missionaries who have changes meet and await their fate :) After a short meeting they will tell us where we are going and who our companions are. I know that changes are inspired directly from our Heavenly Father. I recently re-read the talk ´´Come What May and Love It´´ by Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin. It is such a wonderful talk!! It has really helped me to develop my trust in my Father in Heaven and in His will. I love this talk because as we learn to accept the will of the Lord, we will eventually come to love it. We will understand that God truly has a plan for us and we can trust that it will always be the best for us. In this talk Elder Wirthlin mentions four steps to accepting and loving the will of the Lord. 1)LEARN TO LAUGH Laugther truly changes our perspective. A smile is one of the most powerful tools that we have. As we enter each situation with a smile and a positive attitude our eyes will be opened to the countless blessings that the Lord has for us 2)SEEK FOR THE ETERNAL God´s perspective is much grander than our own. As we widen our view we will gain a greater understanding of the trials and blessings that we are given. God has so much happiness planned for us--not only in this life, but in the eternities as well. 3)UNDERSTAND THE PRINCIPLE OF COMPENSATION The Lord compensates the faithful. If our eyes are single to the glory of God and we make living this gospel a priority, we will never lack. We will have all that we need....and more. The plan of God promises much more than mere contentment and comfort, we are promised eternal JOY! We will be compensated for any sacrifice that we make to follow the will of the Lord. 4)PUT OUR TRUST IN OUR HEAVENLY FATHER AND JESUS CHRIST If all else fails - TRUST. Trust in our loving Heavenly Father and patiently wait for Him to enlighten our understanding. As we accept the will of the Lord we are demonstrating our love for Him and telling Him that we trust Him. We are imperfect, but the Lord is without fault. We can trust that His will and His plan for us are flawless as well. Trusting can be easier said than done, but I know that all will be well as we exercise our trust in our Beloved Savior.

Well my dear family, I love you all so much. You are each some of the grandest blessings that my Heavenly Father has granted me. Thank you for the support and the examples that you all are. Much love :)

Go Forward With Faith,

Hna Falslev :)

Oh....and HAPPY HALLOWEEN :)

The Work Is Moving Forward

Dear Family!

This has been a great week, and I´ve been blessed yet again to see miracles from my Heavenly Father. The highlight of my week was on Friday, when I was able to accompany Leandro and Maxima, two recent converts that I´ve mentioned before, to the temple as they entered for the first time to do baptisms. I was asked to help in the baptistry as a worker, so I was able to watch as they both entered the baptismal font. Tears of joy streamed down my cheeks as I was blessed to watch them take part in temple work and see the joy on their faces. This gospel has truly changed them. Maxima is a different person completely, always smiling. Afterwards, we were able to talk to them about the rest of the work that is done in the temple, the sacred work that seals families together forever. They still are working faithfully towards the goal of being sealed in the temple next August. I hope that I´ll be in an area close enough to the temple that I can attend.

Also, I was so excited that they asked me to help out as a temple worker. I loved it! And it really made me want to work as a temple worker, especially in the baptistry when I get home. I love the temple!!

This Sunday my heart almost burst with joy as I watched two inactive members walk into sacrament meeting. One is a mother of 3 who hasn´t attended church for years. We´ve been visiting her for so long, and she finally came to church and brought two of her children with her :) The other is a 17 year old named Victor who hasn´t been to church for about a year. He used to always leave when we came to visit his house (we have lunch there with his mother every Friday), but he slowly started to talk to us. And now he makes sure that he´s there every time. He has really started to trust us. He suddenly started coming to the ward activities and we were shocked when we saw him walk into sacrament meeting on Sunday.

I could physically see the change in these members faces. As they are beginning to once again live the gospel and accept it fully into their lives, I can see the light and the happiness illuminating their lives. It brings me so much joy! I have developed a deep love for both of them as I´ve visited their houses and beared my testimony to them.

I know that this is the work of the Lord and that He is very heavily involved in all of it. He is moving His work forward and blessing the lives of His beloved children more and more each day. My heart is full of gratitude that he´s given me the opportunity to be even a small part of it. I love this gospel and I love my Heavenly Father.

Love and miss you all lots!
Go Forward With Faith,

Hna Falslev :)

(no subject)

Well, it´s been yet another week full of many miracles and many blessings. This week many of the less-actives, recent converts, and investigators that we´ve been working with attending church on Sunday. One in particular that I was excited about is named Ramon Carrillo. He´s a recent convert and he´s been having a lot of difficulties lately. We haven´t been able to talk to him for quite a while now for various reasons. Finally we were able to find him and talk to him on Friday and invite him to a group activity that night. AND HE CAME! He later told me that the spiritual message in the activity was a very direct and clear answer to his prayer. He was so happy :) Then he came to church on Sunday too!! He´s such a wonderful person who has one of the most contagious smiles I´ve ever seen; he simply needs to make some changes in his life. It´s truly been miraculous to see the Atonement of Jesus Christ at work in this man´s life. I´ve learned so much about the beauty of the Atonement as I´ve seen this man apply it. This gospel is incredible!

So after church on Sunday we had to walk through a monster of a rainstorm.....like there aren´t words to describe this torment. The six missionaries in our ward arrived at our lunch appointment completely drenched. In situations like that you really can´t do anything other than go with it and laugh about it afterward.
We spent a lot of our time this week working on a service project. A member asked if we could help him to clean a house. We thought that would be a simple enough project and happily accepted the invitation to help. We arrived to find out that he is actually completely renovating a house that should probably just be destroyed. It turned into a week-long project. The house has already come a long way, but not without many hours of hard manual labor. After the first day, after 9 straight hours of scrubbing and scraping we returned to our house. I walked in, dropped my bag, and layed down on the floor. I physically couldn´t move. We were all so exhausted! I can honestly say that I´ve never been so exhausted in my entire life. I do enjoy the service projects however, and they truly are one of the best ways to share the gospel :)
 One last thing . . . I read a talk this week that really changed the way that I look at the gospel. I´m going to include the link and suggest that you all read it if you can.
 http://www.lds.org/new-era/2012/08/his-grace-is-sufficient?lang=eng Much love to you all!
Go forward with faith!
Hna Falslev :)

Buenas!

Well, first things first, we had changes last Wednesday. I'm still serving in my dear Santa Librada, but I have a new companion. Her name is Hna Salguero and is from Guatemala as well. She only has 3 months in the mission, so we're learning together :) She told me that she was really nervous when she found out that she was going to have a North American companion, but then everybody told her that Hna Falslev is the Norte that already knows Spanish so it was okay haha :) One elder actually told me that he thought that I was Latina when he first met me, but that may in part be because I'm no longer very white.

On Tuesday a sister in our ward from El Salvador taught us how to make pupusas. We had a lot of fun making them, AND they were delicious. It's like a taco . . . but better :) This week I also tried chiceme--a yummy drink made out of corn. I also tried pepinillo--a little green fruit that is without a doubt the most sour thing that I've ever put in my mouth. Yup, that won't happen again any time soon.

I believe I've already told you guys a little bit about Leandro and Maxima. To put it simply, they're my miracles :) The change that I've seen in them is difficult to describe and incredible. My heart starts to swell just thinking of it :) They're so special. Well, we went to visit them last Tuesday because Hna Rodas was leaving for changes. They began to express their gratitude to us for bringing them this gospel. Maxima said, You've given us everything. You gave me a bible, a Book of Mormom, and a hymnbook. Then Leandro said, No, they gave us knowledge, they gave us happiness and hope. What more could they possibly give us?! I wish that you could hear it in his voice. Moments like that make every single trial that I've had here worthwhile. The gospel of Jesus Christ has changed their lives and I've been very blessed to witness it. The amount of love that I have for them is overwhelming. I'm convinced that it's simply the love of God being transmitted through me to His children here in Panama. I'm very grateful to take part in this blessed work. It's awe-inspiring to see what can happen when someone decided to fully accept the gospel of Jesus Christ. IT'S MIRACULOUS!

Go Foward with Faith,

Hna Falslev :)