Zambia Mission: 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!)