Good News! I'm Still in Malawi!!

February 16, 2015

Good news!!! I didn’t get transferred! I am still in MALAWI!! And my area is doing super well!!!!! Hopefully I’ll be here in Lilongwe when it becomes a District depending on when that happens. President said it would be sometime in March so there’s a good chance I’ll be here for that! I am very grateful to stay!! We have a lot of progressing investigators!! Man mission is the best!!! I am so happy I’m in the ZLM (Zambia Lusaka Mission)!!

I’ve learned a lot of great things this week in my studies and have focused on how to love to the Savior. We know in the scriptures that the first great commandment is to love the Lord. The crowning characteristic of love is loyalty. So how are we loyal to Him? We need to remember to trust that our Father’s ways are not always our ways. And we have to remember that He loves us and wants what is best for us.

Loyalty is so important. If Jesus Christ wasn't loyal to our Father in Heaven, he might not have performed the atonement. If Joseph Smith decided that the Lord required too much and decided to be lazy or slothful in his duty, the Church might not have been restored. The list can go on and on. Loyalty is CRUCIAL. Loyalty is doing what the Lord would have us do, being swallowed up in the will of the Father. I was thinking, if I'm not loyal, its not like I’m Joseph Smith or Jesus Christ! BUT I am a DAUGHTER of GOD. We can be EXALTED if we are LOYAL. As members of the Church of Jesus Christ Of Latter day Saints, WE ALL have CALLINGS whether it be visiting teaching/home teaching, Priesthood responsibilities, nursery, primary, missionary…so many callings, so many options. AND SO MUCH RESPONSIBILTY! The worth of one soul is so important and if we fulfill our callings, we can help others. And if we don't, we can definitely hinder the growth of someone else. I am grateful to be a missionary that’s for sure and the chance it gives me to work on being completely loyal.

Another thing I’ve been thinking about is the Law of Consecration. Consecration is key to salvation and we all have made a covenant in the temple to be consecrated. The prophets of old--EVERY single on--lived a very consecrated life. ABRAHAM was willing to kill his son, Joseph was willing to do what’s right even though he was put into prison, and Joseph Smith suffered in jail. I feel like LOYALTY and LOVE are key to becoming a consecrated missionary and that is what I’m striving for. I am grateful to be a missionary and grateful to be learning so much. I will be a better person. I will be who the Lord wants me to be and go where the Lord wants me to go. I will not look back at my mistakes but move forward trying my best to improve. I will be a consecrated missionary!

I LOVE YOU ALL!!!! YOU ARE THE BEST!!
(I'll try and switch computers to send pictures!!

Love you!!!

Sister Falco

Lots of fun pictures this week. No details about the photos, except for "Goooooood People" on a few of them! She looks so happy!!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Carly sent Mom the BEST GIFT EVER for her birthday...lots of photos!! Enjoy!

 Weekly meeting with the Elders!

Sisters Quaye & Falco 

 Sister Quaye and Sister Falco

 At the airport for the Mission Leaders Conference

 Sister Quaye

 Sister Muthengi

 Sister Proctor

 Sister Quaye--"Love this Woman!!" (notice Carly's socks...)

 Sister Rasband

 When it rains, it pours!

Love seeing a big of their apartment!

Best Week Ever!

February 9, 2015

Hey Family and Friends!!!

This week has been one of the best!!! We hit our goals and even exceeded most!!  We had so many investigators at church and we had more than we planned with dates! Boom it was the best!!!! It was a great week!!! We taught Alice, the more educated lady, finally!!! She is SOOO sweet!!!! She wants to join!!!!! Woot woot!! She is a busy lady but hopefully we will be able to see her soon!!!! Sorry I meant to send more pictures this week! But I am on a bad computer so that will not be possible. I will try to do better each week! Just for you mom!!

Well this week I have been studying in Preach My Gospel and also the topic of chastisement. I have loved studying it. I realized that this life really is a blessing and a place for us to learn and grow. I have learned so much. I am grateful for all that we have been blessed with! I’ve learned there are two ways the Lord chastises us. Either through words, whether it be through others advisement or through reading our scriptures and then also trials. And as I studied chastisement, I realized that it’s a time for us to be able to be sanctified or purified from our flaws. We need to be humble and we need to be teachable. I feel like so often we have the tendency to not take correction very well. We need to remember and realize the Lord is just trying to strengthen us as we experience trials and are chastised.

I also studied about being cheerful. I found my favorite verse ever! 2 Nephi 10:23. BE of GOOD CHEER for we are AGENTS! Pretty sweet, right?!? Usually when we feel out of control, we aren’t happy. But again, that’s when we need to trust that God knows best. Easier said then done of course. And as I studied trust a little more this week, I realized we gain more trust as we repent and realize our sins and utilize the atonement in our lives. I find it so interesting!! All these topics relate so well. CONSECRATE thine afflictions for thy gain!!!

Well, that’s all for this week.

Love you!!!!!!!

Sister Falco!!

Conference with Elder Carl Cook, Visiting General Authority

Lilongwe and Blantyre Zones

Two Posts in One--Wifi Problems @ the Falco's

We've had internet problems the last week and a half so you get a bonus today...the last two emails Carly's sent. :) Enjoy!!

January 19, 2015

 

Dear Family and Friends,

Well this week has been a blessing with some unique experiences. I am very grateful to be a missionary!!! The Mission President came for interviews this week!! It was very sweet!! He is one of the best people I know!!! BEST!!! Thanks mom for giving them a package. Sister Erickson said it was very sweet.

When I met with President, we talked about the goals he has for the mission especially concerning obedience. Our prophet has set a standard but our mission president wants to exceed it! He said our success is determined by our attitude, as we are obedient. When obedience becomes a blessing instead of a burden he believes that we can reach the goal of 750 baptisms. He also shared how he believes that the Lord’s hand is in this work. I believe it. It was such a blessing to be a part of MLC and to REALLY feel the spirit so strong.  . .I’m not ready to go home anytime soon J.

 

He also asked me what my personal goal was this year. I told him I want to be a consecrated missionary and devote all my time and attention to the Lord. And he said that he has gotten that response from basically every missionary because he believes that the Lord has really been working with the missionaries here and humbling them so we can reach that goal as a mission.

 

I’m in a threesome for the next four days with a future missionary from Malawi. She has been called to Uganda!! She was set apart when the President was here since we don’t have a Stake or District. I’m very blessed to have these experiences on my mission. This email is short because we spent most of the day buying her clothes for her mission.

 

I am happy to be a missionary. Keep reading your scriptures and praying.
Love you!

Sister Falco

____________________________________

 

January 26, 2015

 

Hey Family and friends,

Honestly, this week has been one of the hardest but best learning experiences of my whole mission. First of all, I have been very sick the past three days but am feeling a lot better. I had a fever of 102.7 on Saturday. They tested me for malaria and I don't have it. The doctors were out so I didn't get tested for anything else. I am pretty sure I had strep. While I was sick, Sister Muthengi had to go to the hospital, too, so I had to get up while I was very sick and drive her to the hospital. It was really hard but I feel better so it’s all good.

 

There were some other things that made this week very difficult but I need to not share them to protect the privacy of others. I did learn that YOU TRULY HAVE TO LOVE EVERYONE. And so often someone’s troubles come from their insecurities. I spent many hours on my knees and had to rely completely on my Savior. I do feel blessed for the opportunities like this that cause me to learn and grow. I’ve felt every emotion this week and being sick was just a great way to top it off.

The Lord has also blessed us like crazy this week!! We had nine investigators at church!!! We taught nine lessons and two of them were with people that are educated, financially stable and can help establish the church!! One of the guys even came to church in a car! I was talking to him while waiting outside during one of the classes and he said, “You can consider me already a member!” Such a blessing! I hope we can get him baptized before February 15!! We had a baptism scheduled last Sunday but the man had malaria so it will happen when he’s better!!

 

So all in all, it’s been great week!! I can't wait to teach the people especially those who can help in the growth and establishment of the church in this area!! I’m grateful for the hard times. I feel like when I go through trials I can see how the Lord blesses me even more after the trial. Mission just gets sweeter after a hard trial and realizing all that I’ve learned and experienced. For example, the first three baptisms we were supposed to have ALL fell through. And then the Lord blessed us with the Lunguzi family. The family that will forever be faithful and forever help the church grow. I am so grateful. It’s amazing. Heavenly father loves us. Even as we struggle he is just trying to teach us and make us stronger. I am very grateful for all that I have learned on mission!!

The church is true!! I love the Gospel!! Live up to your potential by living the Gospel. Look at your patriarchal blessing to determine what your potential is and do everything you can to fulfill the promises there.

 

Love you all!!
Sister Falco

Photos: MLC Group Shots & Lunch

Mission is so SWEET!

January 12, 2015

 

Hey Family and Friends,

This week has been a huge blessing and a huge adventure. First off you should be thankful that I have written you the past two weeks! Haha!! The power goes off in town for like an hour. And the Internet has been so bad since the rainy season. I don’t know if it is because of the rain or if it’s just by chance.

Well I figured out my major for sure, Business Accounting or Finance. Why? Because MLC (Mission Leader Conference) was so sweet and I think I would be happy in the business world. And the math part that President showed us just made me happy and made me realize how much I actually do like math.

(Mom Note: Carly flew to Lusaka, Zambia where the Mission Home is to attend the Mission Leader Conference this past week.)

Well MLC was easily the best experience of my life. Well maybe not the best. But it was up there. It was incredible. Zambia is super RICH compared to Malawi. It’s like going from Kaysville to London. Well maybe not that dramatic but it was so different! I can’t even imagine how different it will be to be able to go from Zambia to Home.

 

I have the best mission president ever. He’s so sweet. I can’t explain it. It’s the best. I don’t really want to go home!! Oh by the way I am pretty sure I will be going home in December not November. I asked my mission president and I told him that I just want to be home before January and he said that I will be going home probably with Sister Proctor in December. So that’s sweet! MLC was two days of meetings. ALL DAY LONG. It was GREAT though!! We talked about a standard of excellence (which is when I basically decided that I wanted to go into business accounting or finance). MLC was the best experience. I wish you all could be flies on the wall. It’s so hard to explain. I haven’t felt the spirit so strong for such a long time. I even woke up in the middle of the night so excited and couldn’t fall back to sleep because I would start thinking of everything I had experienced the day before. It was the best!!!! It truly is a blessing to be a part of the Lord’s church and the Lord’s work. I loved being reminded of the real purpose of why I am a missionary. It’s the best. I am grateful that I understand this--it makes hard days or hard times much easier. We talked about having our will match our Heavenly Father's will and if we really do this, its hard to be upset or have hard days. I am truly grateful for all that I have learned! Mission is so SWEET.

 

The presentation that I did on communication went well. It was great!! Everyone participated. ALSO these missionaries that I am surrounded by are SUCH GOOD PEOPLE. It’s just a blessing to be surrounded by people who are JUST GOOD. I wish I could just be surrounded by those people my whole life. I guess you just have to marry someone who is a good person and then you are surrounded by a good person your whole life.  :)

I love you all!! Keep going to church reading your scriptures and laughing through the hard times. :) Take life seriously, but remember we have the atonement when we make mistakes or go through hard times.

LOVE YOU!!!

Sister FALCO!!!

 Sister Falco & Sister Proctor

Sisters @ Miission Leader Conference

A "Bright" Story

Bad Mom here...this is a week late. We unexpectedly went to California to see Carly's grandparents. Her Grandma passed away on Saturday. :( This week's email coming soon.

January 5, 2015

Family and Friends!!

Well mission was sweet this week!!! My favorite thing happened when we were teaching this sweet guy named Bright!  He is from Caderbay (Mom’s note: I think he lives outside the boundaries of the branch and so is unable to attend a branch because of distance). We were teaching him at the church one night. We were helping him better understand the Book of Mormon so he can help others better understand it in Caderbay. At the end, I was really curious how he felt not having the church where he lives so asked him. And he said "I feel like I’m on an island sometimes, like I want to tell someone something I read in the Book of Mormon and then I remember that there truly is no one here that knows what the Book of Mormon is. I want to be able to share my experiences with others but I can't."

I then felt prompted to tell him “Heavenly Father loves you" and then felt prompted by the spirit, "Tell him this is not coming from you but this is coming from God." I then testified to him how much Heavenly Father loved him. It was so awesome. I don't know how to explain it. I know in lessons I have felt the spirit and knew what I was saying wasn't coming from me but this was different. I KNEW it was from Heavenly Father. I have felt love for investigators but I don't know if I have truly ever felt and KNEW the love that Heavenly Father had for this man and KNEW that I was speaking on behalf of Him. I KNEW Heavenly Father wanted Bright to know. It was literally the coolest experience I have ever had. It was one of those moments when you don’t want it to end. And Bright knew it was from the Lord and not me. It was so sweet!!!! I don't know how to best explain it or if my words will ever be able to describe how it really felt. It was so powerful. Heavenly Father allowed me to help Bright know how much HE truly loved him and how truly proud HE was of him.

On a less positive note, working in my area, which is a poorer area, has been hard for me to adjust to. Not because they are poor or that the circumstances are different. I don' t mind going to the toilet in a hole in the ground. Haha! It’s just that the people we teach don’t have the leadership or language to really help establish the Church. BUT I know that every soul has great worth. And I know I need to develop more charity for these people and see them as our Heavenly Father does. And we’ll keep looking for good people and keep working hard!! It’s all good! And I know that if someone is truly converted they can strengthen and build the church! We just need to find them!

My new companion is sweet!!! She is so funny!! She’s super bold and doesn't put up with investigators that aren't serious. She’s also really sweet and bold with me too. I love it. I really want to improve and she helps me. We have a sweet relationship, one built on trust so any correction feels like love and concern. I hope that I will be able to keep this attitude throughout my whole life…trying to be the best I can be and willing to take critism and actually act on the critism given. She’s sweet. I love this woman!! I want to serve with her forever! But we’ll probably be split in February.

We are teaching at MLC (Mission Leader Conference) on communication this Wednesday. SUPER SCARED. But it will help me grow and develop my confidence in being in front of people. I’ve been thinking about why I’m so scared and it’s because I’m afraid of what people think which isn't good. I'll try not to be scared and just do it. I keep thinking of Jeff’s quote, " Communication is the key to life." You are the best Jeff!! Such a wise wise guy!!

Investigators are doing well.

OH there was this HUGE rainstorm and HUGE windstorm that destroyed many many houses in my area. It was horrible. Most of our progressing investigators houses were hurt and then many of the recent converts.

Well anyways!! That’s all for now!! Wish I could explain how cool mission is! Everyone should go!!

Love you all!!
Sister Falco :)

New Area, New Companion

December 15, 2014

Hey family and friends!!!!!

Hope all is well with everyone!!

Well, this was my last week in Area 47. It’s a great area and I am really sad to leave it but it’s all good!! I am very grateful to have met the people that I did. And, we found some pretty sweet families this week which is super nice!!! Man I can't believe I am leaving!!! But at least I can go on exchanges there. J It will be great!!

We had MLC (Mission Leader Conference) and it was very good!! It was a lot of fun. We did it on the Internet with Skype. President Erickson is the best!!!! He is so cool! We talked about starting a “Standard of Excellence” in the mission. This hasn't been done here before but our mission president is ready and will create it with the APS or maybe start in January. Oh--for the next MLC, we will be flying to LUSAKA, Zambia instead of using Skype. This will be sometime in January. It should be sweet!!

We really did have a week of miracles!!!!! James, an investigator who was avoiding us and lives in Area 47, randomly showed up to church this week!! It was so SWEET!! Like such a miracle!!!!!! And then some random guy that the elders contacted in Mtsiliza showed up at church and he LOVED IT!! Another miracle!!! And then this guy who we have been teaching in Area 47 finally came to church too!!  His name is Brother Beeto and he is so sweet!! I am so grateful that we had the opportunity to teach him. He put his Book of Mormon in a protective case! Sunday was the best—really a miracle Sunday! I am truly grateful that my last Sunday in my area was so good!!

This transfer is kind of weird because I’m staying in the same zone and apartment just working in a different "area”. I don’t know how to explain it!! It feels like I haven't really left and that’s kind of nice.

I am now companions with Sister Quaye!! She is from Ghana and is the best!!! I am really excited to be with her!!:)

Well I think that wraps up this week!!

I am truly grateful to be a missionary. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else!!!

I love you all!!

Sister Falco