Zambia Mission: December 2015

December 7, 2015

Dear Family and Friends,

The Lord is able to do all things.

I have been reflecting on humility. Humility is something that I feel is misunderstood by many. I feel the best definition of humility is a repentant soul, someone who is trying to improve and trying to do better. I wish I was more humble. I feel that sometimes I take pride in my work as a missionary or sometimes I take pride in the things I achieve. I really wish I were to reflect it back to the Lord more and to give more credit to the Lord. I hope to improve. And I hope to be better! I hope to have more humility and more love towards those I come in contact with. I feel I really need to be more humble also as I pray and as I seek to receive answers from my Father in Heaven.

As my mission is coming to a close...

I am grateful for the chance that I had to serve as a missionary.

We have dinner tonight and zone meeting tomorrow and then I will be on a flight to Utah.

The emotions I feel as a missionary...first, I think I have gone numb to the idea of going home. I wouldn't say I am in denial but I just feel that it isn't real. I know I am really getting on a plane tomorrow to Utah and I will never be a full time missionary again. The first part of that sentence "I am getting on a plane tomorrow to Utah" is exciting" but the second part, "I will never be a full time missionary again" is probably the hardest reality I've ever had to be face in my life. I know it has to happen. But it's hard. It's hard because I have grown to love mission. Not just the people, but missionary work in and of itself. I have grown to love the hours upon hours I am allowed to analyze and understand the gospel more fully. I am grateful for the time I have been given to serve people and to be able to get to learn how to love more fully. Mission is nothing what I expected; it is so much more. You see God's hand literally everyday of your life as He opens doors and allows you to teach, and you see Gods hand literally everyday as you see the miracles in the mission field. Every day is full of miracles and I am going to miss seeing the miracles as the Lord hastens the work. I am going to miss seeing doors opened and miracles happen as we teach. I am going to miss seeing and loving the people who I come in contact with. I am going to miss praying so hard for your investigators to come to church. I will even miss the hard days when things don't go exactly the way you might have planned. I am going to miss the hard days when the Lord is teaching and allowing me to repent of my will and helping me to be swallowed up in His will. I have found a Lord who is more patient with me than I will ever be with myself and I pray that I may be able to be someone who is more patient with others as the Lord has given me an example to follow. I have been made well aware of my flaws and my imperfections but I also have been made well aware of my potential and who I may become. I am grateful for every minute that I have been a missionary!

The thing I guess I can take home with me is the memories that I have of the wonderful people I have come to know, the small gifts and souvenirs I have been given, the many photos I have taken but above all else I pray to take my testimony home and to build more and more upon it. I pray that I may be able to withstand and continue to live my life as the Lord would have me do. I pray that I may be able to be who He expects me to be. I will keep the Sabbath Day holy, and I will strive to be more and more self reliant (spiritually, emotionally and physically). And when I fall short of what He asks, I pray to rely more and more on the Savior. I have a deepened understanding of God and who He is and I have a deepened understanding of who I am and I pray that my testimony will continue to deepen as my life continues. I pray to be the mother and wife that the Lord expects me to be. I pray to be a good mother that will teach my children the Gospel and that I will learn patience and I will learn to be more God-like as I learn to teach my children. And I pray to be a wife the supports and sustains my husband in all that he does righteously. I pray to be someone who will love my husband with the pure love of Christ with the least selfishness that I am capable of. And I pray to be a better daughter who loves and appreciate my parents more fully. I pray that I may be a better sister, as I seek to love and sustain my brothers as they may face difficulties. I pray to be able to be able to love my family more deeply whether it be my current family or my future family. I pray to be able to be a more righteous mother and wife.

I am grateful that the Lord was able to bless us with two baptisms this week. Duncan and Mbanga Ngila. The Lord has once again blessed us to see these two enter into the waters of baptism. They both were miracles brought about by the Lord.

I love being a missionary! I definitely recommend it to all or any who may have the desire to embark. And I would pray that any who do go, will see that you serve Him with all your heart, might, mind, and strength. And as you do these things you will see your area change, and also yourself change. Although I would never claim to be a consecrated missionary, the battle of being consecrated has brought a change in me. And the battle of being a consecrated missionary is one that is difficult but its worth every ounce of pain that you might face as the world is being chipped away from you. They never said mission was easy, but it was worth it.

I pray to have the same attitude of being a consecrated individual. Doing whatever the Lord asks of me, I pray that I may be able to face challenges and difficulties with the desire to do what the Lord asks, to become who the Lord asks. I pray that I will use my time and talents to build up the Lord's kingdom, because the worth of every soul is great in the sight of God. And the Joy is great as we help people to come closer to our Father in Heaven. The battle of conversion is noble whether it be for yourself or for others.

Love to all...

Sister Falco :)

PHOTOS:

1. Claire Farewell

2. Claire's Cute Kids

3. Eating Mangoes with the Zulu Family

4. Grandma Teke -- only THE BEST!

5. Last Day @ Church

6. Likongi Family -- only the Best Family!!