The Character of Christ

October 26, 2015

Dear Family and Friends,

The Lord truly loves me and is making me become a better person everyday and for that I am forever grateful. I am confident that He is fully aware of me and I am confident that there are no coincidences in my life. I pray to stay worthy of the spirit always.

I read an incredible talk last Monday that taught me about the character of Christ. It was by David A Bednar (The Character of Christ, BYU Speeches). I reflected on it basically all week. As told in the Joseph Smith Translation, Elder Bednar pointed out that when Jesus was tempted and in the middle of a hard trial, he thought of John who as in prison and sent angels to comfort him. It also talks about the famous story of Him healing Peter’s ear after the agony of the atonement. Everyone should read this talk! It’s made me reflect on the examples I have in my life of this. And of course mothers are all a great example of loving their children no matter what circumstance they are in. But I also thought of the story of Grandma Boo when she was so sick with cancer and my Mom visited her and found her cooking soup for a sick lady in MY MOM’S neighborhood. I started reflecting on myself and felt that I was pretty good in this area. Hahahahaha The Lord humbles you quickly. . .

On Saturday night I got very, very sick. In the middle of the night I had a fever of 103.2 and I felt like I was going to die. My mission president’s wife ended up taking me to the hospital. Eventually the fever subsided. However, during this I realized how impatient and selfish I was during my sickness. Everything irritated me. I realized I have a lot to work on before I can emulate the character of Christ. And I realized that the character of Christ is a little more difficult to apply than I thought. But I also realized the importance of applying this principle and I hope that I will be better at applying this principle of still being aware of helping others amidst suffering I am in. If we are suffering it’s so easy for us to cave in and be selfish. The natural man is real. But the atonement is also very real. I am grateful for the lesson the Lord taught me. I will continue to improve and continue to do my best as I rely on the atonement. The Lord tends to have to humble me a lot.

Something that blows my mind everyday is the mercy of Christ as well. I’ve seen where I think the Lord probably wants this person to learn a lesson from this trial and then boom the Lord lifts the trial away from them. I really love being a missionary and I love seeing the Lord’s hand in the lives of those I teach.

As for an update on our investigators…Samson should be baptized next week. John is missing in action.L Grace didn’t come to church because her member friend didn’t come. We are teaching Sandra and another guy named Duncan. Life is sweet sharing the gospel with them.

I love being a missionary and I LOVE LIFE!

Love…Sister Falco

Pythons & Geckos; Pleasure & Joy

October 19, 2015

 

Dear Family and Friends,

I AM SO GRATEFUL TO BE A MISSIONARY!

We had a great zone activity today. It was a ton of fun! We went to this place and got to hold a python. That was pretty cool!! We got to also hold a gecko and chameleon! So cool! I also got to stand in an enclosure with these little crocodiles. It was so, so fun! I’m grateful for a fun day!

We have had an interesting week. John, the one who was progressing is doing really well. He had to take exams this Sunday so he missed church. But we will see him tonight. He’s a great guy.

We have another investigator named Grace. She seems to be doing pretty well. I really hope that she continues to progress. She is a member referral. Super cute! Super fun, but she has many concerns.

I have been studying the concept of joy versus pleasure. It’s interesting how much Satan imitates joy. This topic has made me ponder a lot about life. Joy enlarges the soul. It comes when we give our will to the Father. It increases our ability to love and increases our ability to become like Him. Joy comes when we are selfless and causes us to seek to do more good. Joy gives us security and confidence. Our ability to feel increases and makes us want to improve. The world however teaches that joy is boring or unpowerful.

 

Pleasure on the other hand is something that can depress the soul It decreases our ability to love and our mind will eventually become like Satan’s--selfish, constantly feeding on itself, and seeking to do more evil (past feeling). Insecurity will arise and lead us to seek more pleasure. We become numb and our ability to feel decreases. We seek to justify our actions and seek the praise of world. The world teaches that pleasure is joy. They are very very similar. Yet the end result is completely different.

 

We talked today about crocodiles and watched a small video on the deserts of Africa. For the animal’s source of water, there are only small water holes and crocodiles live there. Animals must take risks to drink the water--risk being eaten by crocodiles as they approach the water holes. This made me think and as I pondered, I realized that sometimes we seek to drink the living water, but instead we drink the water where there are many risks (pleasures) and we eventually get caught by Satan. When in reality we could be drinking water from Christ and continue moving and increasing in knowledge and wisdom.

I love Neal A. Maxwell these days!

Love you all!
Sister Falco

Lots of fun photos this week...Lusaka Zone Conference and fun Pday!

Hanging out with Alligators (baby ones!)

Chameleon!

Holding a Python!

 Sisters on Pday!

 Love My Companion!

Brave Sister Falco!!

 Lusaka Zone Conference

Cultivate an Unquenchable Appetite for Learning

October 12, 2015

Dear Family and Friends,

"Cultivate an unquenchable appetite for learning."

I feel my dependence or my desire to have meaningful studies is so good on mission, but I am so afraid I will go home and lose my desire to learn all that I can about the Gospel. Obviously I won’t have as much time, but I really hope my desire to grow in the Gospel and in my knowledge will continue to increase.

The relationship we have with God places us in a situation to advance in knowledge. He places laws in order for us weaker intellignences to become as He is. I really, really love that quote. I feel if we fully understand our potential to become like Him and that He wants each of us to become like him, that is his sole purpose or brings Him so much joy. This should help us trust him and more fully love and follow him.

“The nearer man approaches perfection, the clearer his views and the greater his enjoyments.” I really love this quote as well. I feel the more knowledge we gain, we are motivated to live on a higher and see life through a clearer window. Knowledge is the way we can move from grace to grace. We can only progress as we gain knowledge and I feel really blessed to be a missionary. It’s the perfect place to have all the time in the world to gain knowledge and apply it.

Well we have some sweet investigators!

Grace…She is darling! So cute! I love her so much!! She is a member referral. She came to church a little while ago… and then stopped and then showed up last week.

John… He went to school to take an exam…so we’ll probably move back his baptismal date.

Samson… He should be baptized on date! Its fantastic!

Joel is doing well. He didn’t come to church, which isn’t good, but he is doing well and seems a lot happier. 

I don’t know what else to say…except that the Church is true! And I love being a missionary. It’s never been better. My companion is great!!

I love you!!!! ALL!!

Sister Falco

The Power of Faith/Overcoming the Natural Man

October 6, 2015

Dear Family and Friends,

Mission is great.

Joel is doing so, so well. He is just so much happier. I have never actually seen a difference in my recent convert’s happiness level, but with Joel, it is so obvious. He is just happy. We always catch him reading the scriptures or the Liahona (Ensign magazine) when we didn’t plan to see him. It is so, so sweet. I love it and I love him. He has become a new person--a ton happier and I am so grateful to witness this happiness.

We have a golden investigator named John. He is so sweet. He was referred to us by a member. He has been to church and agreed to be baptized October 25^th. He seems pretty committed. We have only taught him once but he has been to church twice and he wants to be baptized. I see so much goodness in him.

Ask and it shall be given you.

The power of faith is so important. When it comes to things like my goals, I tend to rely on my own strength. I know I could be a lot more effective if I understood that God is here to help me.

Prayer takes SO much faith. I find myself not praying for something unless I believe the Lord will assist me. I feel that’s my weakness and I feel the Lord is here to assist me to overcome the natural man. As a missionary, the Lord has tried to teach me this principle over and over again, but the truth is I feel my faith has been weak. My strengths are in diligence and hard work.

I’ve been reflecting on my experiences--small examples where the Lord has taught me--like when I lost my retainer and was too stubborn to pray about it or when the Lord taught me to rely on him in Blantyre as we prayed to find a father to teach. The Lord is teaching me now as I ponder my experiences.

I have had MANY days of repentance because the natural man is real. Have I ever prayed to resist temptation? Rarely. I can’t say never, but I can say rarely. And If I have prayed to resist temptation, did I actually believe it would help or did I believe I was on my own to resist it. I definitely believed I was on my own to resist it.

I truly have seen the Lord’s hand in my work as missionary as I have seen the Lord literally bless us with families or people to teach. I have had a prayer of faith for missionary work and I know the Lord has assisted me as I have taught. I feel the Lord’s purpose of allowing my prayers to be answered the way they have has been to teach me the importance of relying on Him and I have sometimes missed the point.

My whole mission I have felt I was on my own to overcome the natural man, but I am not. I will incorporate overcoming the natural man through prayer, and really have faith in my prayers.

All I know is the Lord teaches us a lot through our experiences if we take the time to ponder them. I keep reflecting on my experiences and I feel I rarely learn the lesson, until way later once I reflect on it. I feel the Lord requires us to listen all day long. Listening is part of pondering. As we strive to understand, the Lord is able to speak to us and teach us. Yes the scriptures instruct but pondering I feel is really listening and discerning our Fathers intentions for our lives. And why he has us face not just trials but even blessings.

We’re doing as missionaries a “No-Tracting-November” … There is a big push to work with members! I am excited to do this. I feel it will really help the missionary work go forward J.

I really loved what the APs said at Zone Conference. They talked about the importance of leading and helping others to have an eternal perspective. They used the example of a mountain and how when we becomes Godlike we see from a higher perspective, we live on a higher plane and we desire to help people to also be on a higher plane. It was very powerful and it related to what Sister Quaye and I were talking about the night before--how when you understand the Gospel, you are able to gain more perspective and understand/perceive the world differently and see things more calmly. I loved the APs perspective on helping others get to the higher plane as well.

Well I truly love being a missionary. I will do my best to be the best tool for the Lord.

Love you all.

Sister Falco

  

"Last Zone Conference - It was the worst day ever. 

No one should be allowed to talk about me coming home."

Sister Falco, Sister Natsala, Elder Barrett, Elder Ford

Note: Carly refers to her companion as Sister Natsala even though we met her family in Uganda and they are the Butali's...the African way