So Grateful to Be a Missionary

NOVEMBER 16, 2015

Dear Family and Friends,

I am so privileged and grateful to be serving as a missionary. It’s hard to express my feelings; to explain just how grateful I am to have served a mission and for the growth that has taken place and the knowledge that I have been blessed to receive from my Heavenly Father. It is easily hands down the best thing I have ever done for my life!!

I feel the perspective of the Gospel helps us to love more fully. I love what Parley P. Pratt said about love when he was referring to his wife, “I have loved before but I knew not why. But now I loved with a pureness and intensity of elevated, exalted feeling which would lift my soul from the transitory things of the groveling sphere and expanse of as the ocean.” I really loved the quote from him and I feel it helps us to love more deeply.

I also have been studying the topic of character. And I really hope to always have a good and strong character. I love that the ‘greatest battle of life is fought within the silent chambers of the soul. A victory on the inside of a man’s heart is worth a hundred conquests on the battlefield of life. To be a master of yourself is the best guarantee that you will be a master of the situation. Know thyself. The CROWN of Character is self-control.’

Our area is doing great. Good people progressing. Hopefully we will baptize at least one before I go because I love them all so much but if not, it’s okay. I just love them all. I would love to see them enter into the covenant soon! I feel all of them are progressing really well and I don’t see anything that would stop them from being baptized.

Love you all!

Sister Falco

This is me with Sister Grace!! LOVE THIS WOMAN!! She is an investigator but she is more like a friend!! I love her so much!! We always laugh and crack jokes, and she is the best!! I hope to see her baptized before I go home but if not it’s okay. All is well!! I really hope to stay in touch with her also I come home!! I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!! And meeting extraordinary people that influence my life so much :)

This is me with Sister Claire. SHE IS THE BEST!! So devoted to the Church! I LOVE HER SO MUCH!!! She just makes me so happy when she comes to the church! She is a recent convert and she is so cute.

My companion, Sister Claire, me, and Sister Natsala Tapewa (a member)and they are the best!!!

The next two are of me and Sister Nyacho-- Also a very good missionary!!! She is the best! Always makes me happy and I love being with her!! She is great!!!!!!!She lives in the same house with us!

Grace & Grace

November 9, 2015

Dear Family and Friends,

I AM SO GRATEFUL TO BE A MISSIONARY. I love it so much. It’s the best. I won’t even try to explain the JOY that I feel as a missionary. It is easily the best decision I have ever made. To be honest, I know everyone keeps telling me that I am coming home soon but it doesn’t feel like it at all but its okay. I feel maybe it will hit me later. Or maybe I will follow the example of Jeff and I will say it didn’t really hit me until I got on the plane ride home. I don’t know but anyways I really am grateful to be a missionary.

Duncan is doing really well. He came to church. It was great. He seems to be really enjoying the gospel discussion classes and loves contributing a ton. He seems to really enjoy church and seems to be someone who is very social so its sweet--he fellowships himself. It’s difficult to meet with him now since he started working all day long and doesn’t get home until 20 hours. (Mom note: I think that means 8 pm.)

Grace came to church. She is doing really well. We had a sweet lesson this week on the atonement and it was really, really good. We will see. She is one of those investigators that is really hard not to love I am really grateful for her and I am grateful for all that she does.

I studied about grace this week…actually that’s a lie--I studied it for one day. Something I liked is that grace is not about filling in the gaps, it’s about filling us. Sometimes when we don’t use the enabling power of the atonement, we don’t feel good about ourselves. The Gospel is a choice for us to live on a higher plane and we don’t actually understand the joy that comes from living on a higher plan if we choose not to live the Gospel. When the Gospel seems tedious, maybe we should be praying for new eyes and a changed heart. We have not yet comprehended what He is trying to make of us. When we feel burdened by our callings, temple work or service, we may need to reevaluate ourselves and learn to enjoy them more fully.

The repentant sinner must suffer for his sins but this suffering is different than punishment. Its purpose is to change us. We look at justice and it is complete punishment, but the atonement makes it possible for this pain to mean more than punishment but actually progression.

Also I feel there is a stark comparison between the way Satan refines us to be evil and the way our Father in Heaven refines us to be good. If we look at the scriptures, Satan desires to sift us as wheat and gradually sifts away our good, but you could say that Heavenly Father does the same thing. He slowly takes away our bad, but it’s our choice on who we will yield too. And that is why it is so important that we consistently receive revelation for the unseen forces are more knowledgeable than us and they will bring us down to destruction. As we receive revelation, we will be able to yield to the spirit and become a better person.

I love being a missionary.

Sister Falco

So Grateful to be a Missionary

November 2, 2015

Dear Family And Friends,

I am so grateful to be a missionary!

I really don’t know what to say this week except it’s been fantastic. I actually was pretty sick all week but I am feeling a ton better! I am really grateful for every moment that I have as a missionary. Something that I have been studying this week is humility. I feel humility is just repentance.

We had an amazing day on Sunday! We had a baptism, which was really good!! And we had a pretty good amount of investigators at church! It was great!! Duncan, one of our investigators, even bore his testimony during Fast and Testimony meeting. That was pretty cool!! One of his comments: “THIS IS THE REMNANT CHURCH”. It was pretty awesome! I felt really nervous but really excited when he went up to bear his testimony! It was really, really good and really, really sweet!

Brian came again to church. He is such a funny guy! He is great and he brought two friends with him so that was pretty sweet! Patrick, one of his friends, seems to be progressing well. Brian is, too, but he is moving back to South Africa.  That’s the only concern with him…but the church is in South Africa!! J

John is still “missing in action”! Hopefully we will see him soon. hahah That’s about it! Grace is still progressing but slowly. She is a member referral so its nice because she has an awesome support system but she seems to not be sure if the church is true or not. So we are still working on her to achieve that testimony. Hopefully we will see her progress and gain a testimony while I am still here!

“No Tracting November” is a little different but its going sweet! I am
grateful to be a missionary.

I was rereading my journal this morning and ah I love mission so much. I am so grateful for every moment. Hard and good. I am grateful for everything. I have grown so much and I have learned so much and I am grateful for everything. Mission has built me into the person that I am today.

I love being a missionary!
Love…

Sister Falco

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