Dear family and friends,
A big hello all the way from Costa Rica! Another week has gone by and sometimes I can´t believe that I have been away from home for almost 4 months now. To a missionary who has 23 months that may seem like nothing, but it is a lot for me, and I am so grateful for every week, everyday, hour and second of my mission. It is such a blessing to be a servant of the Lord. Well this week was full of adventures and new things just like all the rest. This week was great, in our area and in the mission as well. Last Tuesday we had a zone conference and discussed a new way of setting dates for baptism throughout the whole mission. President Galvez instructed us on how to invite someone to be baptized with a specific date on the first time meeting with the missionaries, its amazing, we learned how to do it even as a contact at the door, in the street or wherever we find people. At first I was skeptical, thinking, how is anyone gonna want to listen to us, if we invite them to be baptized at the first time we meet them. But oh was I wrong. A lot of people here already believe in God, and believe that if he tells them that this is the right way, they will follow, and I am surpised how many people really say yes to our invitation to be baptized on a specific date, even on the first visit. We were told to do this with every person we meet and every person we contact, and if they say no, then they aren´t ready, and we must keep searching for those the Lord has been preparing. We have done a lot this week in Tibás to find people and challenge them to baptism. We have been teaching many lessons as well and a lot of people have been accepting our invitations. We are hoping and praying everything works out and we are continually working with these people to bring them closer to Christ. It´s crazy to think about it, that we are asking people to be baptized the first time we meet them, but in reality, why shouldnt we? Our purpose is to bring people closer to Christ and help them receive the Gospel through their faith in Him, repentance, BAPTISM, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and Endure to the End...we are here to baptize, and I say that with more intent than just to have numbers increase in church membership. We are here to bring people to Christ by inviting them into the door of baptism, giving them an amazing gift and lifelong guide, and providing them with a ward family and strength in knowledge to persevere until the end. We will see how all this works out and I will continue to fill this in. As for now, with all this challenging, it looks like we might have about 6 or 7 baptisms scheduled for Tibás on the 26 of Feb. but we will see how this all works out.
This week (particularly last night) I really gained a perspective as to why I am here. We have this family of investigators, I have mentioned them before: Elvis, Carolina and Tania. We have been working with them since my first week here, and we have given up once on Elvis, and once on Carolina, but for some reason we are always pulled back to them. We felt that we had seen no progress, but little did we know right before our eyes they were progressing and the Lord was beginning to stir up something in their hearts and helping them to slightly make a change in their lives. At first our priority was Elvis, but he ended up not showing up a lot of times, so we taught Carolina, his mom, and his sister Tania, at first we taught them the first lesson and invited them to be baptized, she loved the message but replied saying she was already baptized and doesnt see a need to get baptized. We continued to visit them, but everytime we went they would ignore us or not be home, so we gave up, and like I said, things happened and we ended up teaching Elvis again, he had a date for the 5th of Feb to be baptized, but told us he had somethings in his life he has to work on and change before he can get baptized. He went to church one time and hasnt gone since, but we are continuing to work with him. And yesterday before church we stopped by their house becaus they told me they were going to church on Sunday, so we showed up and they were all asleep but Tania said that they would be ready and in the chapel by 9 o clock. We waited, and waited and waited before Sacrament and they didnt show up..but at 1030 while we were in class at church, In walks Carolina and Tania. We were floored, becuase we were not expecting them to show up, especially Carolina a member of the Evagelical religion which is very strong here. She had a great experience in church and said it was really beautiful. We showed up at their house last night and were only planning on sharing a short message before our dinner appointment. In our times before with Carolina, she had always ALWAYS refused to pray in front of us, and we had always asked her to pray so she could know and feel that this was the right path for her to take. Last night, we shared the importance of another baptism, by the proper authority and by the proper way of immersion, we bore powerful testimony and witness that this was the way that God wanted her to take, and we shared amazing scriptures to back up that which we were saying. The spirit was tangible. After this, we invited her to pray and to ask God right there, right now in front of everyone if this was the true church and the way to go. After a little hesitation she finally said yes! And as we all kneeled together in her little humble home, she poured her heart to God and asked him through her sobbing tears if she should get baptized. I felt it, my comp felt it, Tania felt it and we know Carolina felt God answer her prayers. I have never, ever felt the spirit so strong as I felt it there. After the prayer we got up off our knees and sat in silence as she read a scripture we shared with her about the fruits of the spirit. We testified to her that she had her answer, that God has answered here prayer, and we all just witnessed it. We testified that the spirit was in strong abundance in this home, and that he was testifying of our message and the truthfullness of it. She agreed to a baptismal date on the 26, but said that she still needed to think and pray about this. We agreed and left on a super spiritual high.
Its lessons and experiences like those that remind me why I am here. I longed for her to receive an answer, not because I wanted another baptism, not because I wanted the numbers and I wanted the whole mission to know that our zone made our goal, but because I truly desired the welfare of her soul, I truly desired for her to feel the way I felt 16 months ago. I truly deeply wanted her to find Christ, to follow him for the rest of her days, and receive the blessings he has in store for her and her family. That lesson made me realize I have a lot to learn, but I am so excited to do it. It will take work, but I have never felt more energized than I did after that. I know why I am here, I am here to be an instrument in the hands of my God. I am here to bring His children back to him so they can both rejoice and be eternally happy.
Family and friends, I know at times in my letters, I have shared how difficult this experience has been, but I want you to know that without a shadow of a doubt, I know why I am here, and I ABSOLUTELY love being a missionary. I dont want to be anything else right now. I dont want to wear anything else than a shirt and tie and a tag with my Saviors name placed right next to my heart. I dont want anything else right now. I know I am in the right place. I know I am meant to be here. He wouldnt send me here if he knew I couldnt do it. He would never set his children up to fail. But he is not going to just give me it so easy and on a silver platter, it requires work and perseverance, just like every other member of the Church.
This experience has been hard, but as I think back on it, I wouldnt change a THING, not one day would I take out and replace with one better, they really all work together and make it all worth it.
I know that God answers our prayers, I know that he hears us, and he knows the desires and intentions of our hearts. We are his children, and I know that. I know that this Church and only this church has EVERYTHING possible to bring about the salvation of Gods children, and again, I find no shame in saying that, because I know, with NO doubt, that this is the way, and there is no other name given than Jesus Christ whereby we can be saved. I know that, and I am so happy for that knowledge. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet, I know that Thomas S. Monson is a prophet, I know that because I know God loves me, and he loves us, and he wouldn´t want us here in this dark and dreary world without a guide and a map leading back to our safe home.
I love you all, I love this work and I love my Savior Jesus Christ and my Heavenly Father.
Stay strong and always remember I love you.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Monday, February 7, 2011
7th week update
Hello Family and Friends,
Not much has happened this week really. We had a crazy first three days of the week, Monday we found out about changes in our district, they whitewashed an area and since my comp is District Leader we had to travel to an area named Zurqui in order to know the Hermanas and their investigators for the Elders who were coming in on Wednesday. So we traveled about an hour or so to Zurqui on Monday, and Tuesday, also Wednesday after changes meeting. Thursday my comp had a meeting in Los Yoses with the President because he is DL so he went with a Trainer from our zone and meanwhile, I was left to be senior comp with a missionary from El Salvador, who speaks no english and had only 4 days in the mission...that was nervewracking, but all went well. His name is Elder Hernandez, he is a great missionary, he is 26 years old, and is a convert of one year, I see a lot of myself in him and I admire his desire to serve righteously, and with all he had. Friday and Saturday was nothing really different, we walked, and walked, and walked, trying to find people to teach. We´ve hit a rough spot, we have investigators but some of which are not progressing, and our area is very hard and very difficult. But we had FHE with a member family last thursday and with a family of investigators, and we watched a movie called On The Way Home. It was a great movie about how through trials and adversity, the family can find peace and happiness through the gospel of Jesus Christ. The spirit translated the meaning for me, and it was very strong and powerful experience. We are working with that family to get them married and baptized! We are doing all we can but often times they are never home! Very frustrating but all is well. Tomorrow we are going to contact all day to find more investigators and more people to share this message with.
Well, thats stuff on the mission side, not much really, each day is a new experience. I am deeply grateful for all your love and support and amazing letters of support. I truly can use every word that was said to me in each of those emails. I understand that no body is perfect, and that includes missionaries. But I feel so grateful to the Lord, to the Prophet, to my Savior to all who made it possible so that I could be here. And I would hate to lose their trust. Absolutely hate to lose their trust, because they confide in me, they trusted me to go out and to be responsible for some soul out there who needs the gospel of Jesus Christ. I am terrified not to obey, because I always want to be available for the blessings that I so desperately need. I am doing my best here family, to stay obedient, to do everything in my power to be the disciple my Savior expects me to be.
I learned here, and more in the past couple weeks that Satan is real. He is real, and he is there, but only as much as we let him. I dont remember if I shared this with you or not but I remember something Sister Lucero at the MTC shared with me, she said ¨When we acknowledge that Satan exists we just give him power. When he gets power we begin to doubt outselves and let him in. I believe that there is just opposition.¨ How true that statement is. Satan is there, and he will always be there as many times as we give him permission, and we unconsciously give him permission when we agree with the thoughts he puts in our heads of ourselves, other people, and the world. I know that there has been a few times I have let him in, and I have let him tell me that I have failed as a missionary. I have let him make me think that I had already ruined my mission, that I couldn´t redeem it and that there was nothing I could do to learn spanish or to help anyone. He made me believe that I had let my Heavenly Father down. And honestly, he has made this experience harder than I believe it needed to be.. I know it has to be hard, I know there has to be opposition, but I dont need to give in to it. Because when I do, I let him win, for those of you who know me personally, you know how stubborn I am, and how much I would HATE to let him win. I´m trying everyday to not acknowlege the negative feelings toward myself or towards the work. ANd I am allowing my Heavenly Father to take the reins of this work, because it´s His, and it´s not Satans right to destroy it. It´s bigger than him, its bigger than me, and he cannot win.
I want to share with you a story that I read only 30 minutes ago, but I believe is very applicable to me now, and can be applicable to anyone who faces trials and adversity.
"One day the mule fell into the farmer's well. The farmer heard the mule 'braying. After carefully thinking over the situation, the farmer decided that neither the mule nor the well was worth the trouble of saving. So, he called his neighbors together and told them what had happened...and asked them to help him haul dirt to bury the old mule in the well and put him out of his misery.
As the first shovelfuls of dirt began to rain down on the old mule; he became hysterical! But as the farmer and his neighbors continued shoveling and the dirt hit his back...a thought struck him. It suddenly dawned on him that every time a shovel load of dirt landed on his back...HE COULD SHAKE IT OFF AND STEP UP! This is what he did, blow after blow.
"Shake it off and step up...shake it off and step up...shake it off and step up!" he repeated to encourage himself. No matter how painful the blows, or distressing the situation seemed the old mule fought "panic" and just kept right on SHAKING IT OFF AND STEPPING UP!
You're right! It wasn't long before the old mule, battered and exhausted, STEPPED TRIUMPHANTLY OVER THE WALL OF THAT WELL!
What seemed like it would bury him, actually blessed him...all because of the manner in which he handled his adversity.
We need to take our problems and shake them off and use them for a step
upward !!! When we face our problems and respond to them positively, and refuse to give in to panic, bitterness, or self-pity...THE ADVERSITIES THAT COMES ALONG TO BURY US CAN BECOME A BENEFIT AND BLESS US!
Remember that FORGIVENESS -- FAITH -- PRAYER -- PRAISE and HOPE...all are excellent ways to "SHAKE IT OFF AND STEP UP" out of the wells in which we find ourselves!"
I know I have felt the burdern of my trials and problems feel like they were weighing me down, and burying me, suffocating me, but in the end I know that it is through the gospel of Jesus Christ that I can draw from to get the strength to shake it off and step up. I know that there has to be opposition family, it´s all part of the great and marvelous plan of our Creator. It´s how we handle this opposition that depends on our success. It´s not in our Fathers plan to fail, we live in a failing world, but were NOT sent here to fail. Our Father knew that there were times we would come close, and he knew that there were times when we feel alone and like there is nothing to do to get out of this hole or "well" that we´ve found ourselves in. I know, because I have experienced it, that there is redeeming power in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and in his Atonement. There is power beyond our ability to comprehend available in the Gospel. We have the tools, we have the strength to rise above our struggles and our times of hardship in this world increasing in wickedness.
I know that my Redeemer lives. I know him as my dear eternal brother. I know that he is always at my side. I know that I can find peace and amazing happiness in the scriptures, in prayer, in church, in studying about my Savior. i know that they are all easily available to all of us. I know God is pleading for us to return home, and I know that we have hundreds of other brothers and sisters on the other side of the veil cheering us on in this time of sorrow. I know that God knows us. I know that we were saved to come here this day, to bring about the great work of our Father. I know without a single doubt that this Church is the true and LIVING church on the earth today. I know that, and I am so happy to have that knowledge.
Family, I am so grateful to each and everyone of you, you are all in my prayers! I pray every day that God will pour out his blessings upon you and bless you as he has blessed me. I pray that you will keep that faith and lose the fear. The two cannot exist together, and our Father works according to our faith. I have forgotten that here, and I can see as I reflect on it all the times I had faith were the times when my burden seemed lighter, when my knowledge seemed increased, when my confidence grew, and when my surety increased of a Savior and of a God who love me, both live and stand looking over me, blessing me and guiding my paths continually. I love you all family! I hope all is well! Thank you again from the bottom of my heart!
Elder Falor
Not much has happened this week really. We had a crazy first three days of the week, Monday we found out about changes in our district, they whitewashed an area and since my comp is District Leader we had to travel to an area named Zurqui in order to know the Hermanas and their investigators for the Elders who were coming in on Wednesday. So we traveled about an hour or so to Zurqui on Monday, and Tuesday, also Wednesday after changes meeting. Thursday my comp had a meeting in Los Yoses with the President because he is DL so he went with a Trainer from our zone and meanwhile, I was left to be senior comp with a missionary from El Salvador, who speaks no english and had only 4 days in the mission...that was nervewracking, but all went well. His name is Elder Hernandez, he is a great missionary, he is 26 years old, and is a convert of one year, I see a lot of myself in him and I admire his desire to serve righteously, and with all he had. Friday and Saturday was nothing really different, we walked, and walked, and walked, trying to find people to teach. We´ve hit a rough spot, we have investigators but some of which are not progressing, and our area is very hard and very difficult. But we had FHE with a member family last thursday and with a family of investigators, and we watched a movie called On The Way Home. It was a great movie about how through trials and adversity, the family can find peace and happiness through the gospel of Jesus Christ. The spirit translated the meaning for me, and it was very strong and powerful experience. We are working with that family to get them married and baptized! We are doing all we can but often times they are never home! Very frustrating but all is well. Tomorrow we are going to contact all day to find more investigators and more people to share this message with.
Well, thats stuff on the mission side, not much really, each day is a new experience. I am deeply grateful for all your love and support and amazing letters of support. I truly can use every word that was said to me in each of those emails. I understand that no body is perfect, and that includes missionaries. But I feel so grateful to the Lord, to the Prophet, to my Savior to all who made it possible so that I could be here. And I would hate to lose their trust. Absolutely hate to lose their trust, because they confide in me, they trusted me to go out and to be responsible for some soul out there who needs the gospel of Jesus Christ. I am terrified not to obey, because I always want to be available for the blessings that I so desperately need. I am doing my best here family, to stay obedient, to do everything in my power to be the disciple my Savior expects me to be.
I learned here, and more in the past couple weeks that Satan is real. He is real, and he is there, but only as much as we let him. I dont remember if I shared this with you or not but I remember something Sister Lucero at the MTC shared with me, she said ¨When we acknowledge that Satan exists we just give him power. When he gets power we begin to doubt outselves and let him in. I believe that there is just opposition.¨ How true that statement is. Satan is there, and he will always be there as many times as we give him permission, and we unconsciously give him permission when we agree with the thoughts he puts in our heads of ourselves, other people, and the world. I know that there has been a few times I have let him in, and I have let him tell me that I have failed as a missionary. I have let him make me think that I had already ruined my mission, that I couldn´t redeem it and that there was nothing I could do to learn spanish or to help anyone. He made me believe that I had let my Heavenly Father down. And honestly, he has made this experience harder than I believe it needed to be.. I know it has to be hard, I know there has to be opposition, but I dont need to give in to it. Because when I do, I let him win, for those of you who know me personally, you know how stubborn I am, and how much I would HATE to let him win. I´m trying everyday to not acknowlege the negative feelings toward myself or towards the work. ANd I am allowing my Heavenly Father to take the reins of this work, because it´s His, and it´s not Satans right to destroy it. It´s bigger than him, its bigger than me, and he cannot win.
I want to share with you a story that I read only 30 minutes ago, but I believe is very applicable to me now, and can be applicable to anyone who faces trials and adversity.
"One day the mule fell into the farmer's well. The farmer heard the mule 'braying. After carefully thinking over the situation, the farmer decided that neither the mule nor the well was worth the trouble of saving. So, he called his neighbors together and told them what had happened...and asked them to help him haul dirt to bury the old mule in the well and put him out of his misery.
As the first shovelfuls of dirt began to rain down on the old mule; he became hysterical! But as the farmer and his neighbors continued shoveling and the dirt hit his back...a thought struck him. It suddenly dawned on him that every time a shovel load of dirt landed on his back...HE COULD SHAKE IT OFF AND STEP UP! This is what he did, blow after blow.
"Shake it off and step up...shake it off and step up...shake it off and step up!" he repeated to encourage himself. No matter how painful the blows, or distressing the situation seemed the old mule fought "panic" and just kept right on SHAKING IT OFF AND STEPPING UP!
You're right! It wasn't long before the old mule, battered and exhausted, STEPPED TRIUMPHANTLY OVER THE WALL OF THAT WELL!
What seemed like it would bury him, actually blessed him...all because of the manner in which he handled his adversity.
We need to take our problems and shake them off and use them for a step
upward !!! When we face our problems and respond to them positively, and refuse to give in to panic, bitterness, or self-pity...THE ADVERSITIES THAT COMES ALONG TO BURY US CAN BECOME A BENEFIT AND BLESS US!
Remember that FORGIVENESS -- FAITH -- PRAYER -- PRAISE and HOPE...all are excellent ways to "SHAKE IT OFF AND STEP UP" out of the wells in which we find ourselves!"
I know I have felt the burdern of my trials and problems feel like they were weighing me down, and burying me, suffocating me, but in the end I know that it is through the gospel of Jesus Christ that I can draw from to get the strength to shake it off and step up. I know that there has to be opposition family, it´s all part of the great and marvelous plan of our Creator. It´s how we handle this opposition that depends on our success. It´s not in our Fathers plan to fail, we live in a failing world, but were NOT sent here to fail. Our Father knew that there were times we would come close, and he knew that there were times when we feel alone and like there is nothing to do to get out of this hole or "well" that we´ve found ourselves in. I know, because I have experienced it, that there is redeeming power in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and in his Atonement. There is power beyond our ability to comprehend available in the Gospel. We have the tools, we have the strength to rise above our struggles and our times of hardship in this world increasing in wickedness.
I know that my Redeemer lives. I know him as my dear eternal brother. I know that he is always at my side. I know that I can find peace and amazing happiness in the scriptures, in prayer, in church, in studying about my Savior. i know that they are all easily available to all of us. I know God is pleading for us to return home, and I know that we have hundreds of other brothers and sisters on the other side of the veil cheering us on in this time of sorrow. I know that God knows us. I know that we were saved to come here this day, to bring about the great work of our Father. I know without a single doubt that this Church is the true and LIVING church on the earth today. I know that, and I am so happy to have that knowledge.
Family, I am so grateful to each and everyone of you, you are all in my prayers! I pray every day that God will pour out his blessings upon you and bless you as he has blessed me. I pray that you will keep that faith and lose the fear. The two cannot exist together, and our Father works according to our faith. I have forgotten that here, and I can see as I reflect on it all the times I had faith were the times when my burden seemed lighter, when my knowledge seemed increased, when my confidence grew, and when my surety increased of a Savior and of a God who love me, both live and stand looking over me, blessing me and guiding my paths continually. I love you all family! I hope all is well! Thank you again from the bottom of my heart!
Elder Falor
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Hello family and friends! Week 6
Hello everyone back in the good ol USA!
I hope everything is going well where you are! Things are good here in Costa Rica, its a hot afternoon here in Tibás and today has been a crazy day and this has been another crazy week. Today I had my first changes meeting, it was good to see how they normally are, because when I came to CR it was different because of Christmas, the mission is HUGE and there is so many missionaries I still dont know yet. We had a great time singing together my all time favorite hymn Llamados a Servir or Called To Serve, hearing counsel from our inspired President, and listening to the final testimonies of those finishing their missions. Obviously I didnt have changes, but Elder Nuñez in our house had changes and the Elder that replaced him is from El Salvador, I just met him like 6 minutes ago, so I still don´t know his name, but he seems pretty chill.
I learned a lot as usual this week. The biggest lesson I learned here is something that has been a lesson learned in progress throughout my whole mission thus far. And Its something that all people a like that apply in their lives. It´s giving your all, even when immediately you cannot see the results, it´s always acting in diligence to everything, even when you don´t understand. It´s putting in all you got, and you fail again and again, but you can rest assured knowing you did all you could, you put in your 100% and you gave your all. Many times I find that I do all I can, I speak in spanish all day long, as much as I can, I read spanish books whenever I get the chance, I study my grammar, I read the scriptures in spanish, I fast, I pray, and sometimes it seems my spanish has hit a plateau. I have not yet figured out how to communicate the way I want to in spanish just yet, and that is so frustrating to me. I love to feel the spirit, and I love to communicate with the spirit to those around me, and I have not been able to figure that out yet here, and sometimes, I just cry and think I have failed at being a missionary. But in the midst of this time of struggle, a voice in my head says, just do all you can, just give all you have, and in my time, I will pick up the slack. I know I say this a lot, but I cannot stress the reality of this promise, and the availability that is in it for ALL of us. Give all you can, work with all diligence, use every bit of energy that is supplied to you for that day, and if at the end of the day you feel like you´ve failed or you havent done any good, stop thinking that. Whenever we give all we can to God, to our fellowmen, to the Gospel, to the commandments, or to a good cause, we HAVE NEVER FAILED! We cannot fail when we are among good works. It´s a promise that I keep having to remind myself of daily. That even though I cannot communicate, I know that if I do all I can, that one day, that tiny light at the end of this tunnel Ive found myself in, will grow and increase in size, and I will be able to fulfill my purpose as a missionary, and in 21 months, I can return home with honor, knowing I did ALL I absolutely could, just like Billy Betz would say "leave it in the pool!" I´m going to leave it all in Costa Rica.
This week I found how small we really are in this great work. Jeffrey R. Holland said to us missionaries at the MTC that the work of the missionaries is bigger than himself, its bigger than all of us, and how true is that. We may choose to excercise our agency, but the Lord might have other plans in store for us as missionaries. An example of this is what happened on Sunday night. All of our citas fell through, our feet hurt from walking ALL over our area, we were hot, and sweaty, and super tired. We decided to stop byone of our investigators that we found on the 25th of December, Jose and his family. We had only taught them once, and tried to stop by numerous times in the weeks to follow but they were never there, my comp said to me that we were gonna pass by Jose and his family, and if they werent there, this would be the last time, we don´t have time to keep going over there and having them not keep their citas with us. We walked the entire way, from Cinco esquinas to La Florida (opposite ends of my area) just to see these people, not knowing for sure if they were home. We showed up at their house, and to our surprise they were home. We shared a wonderful lesson of the book of mormon. Although my spanish was still pretty broken, I felt the spirit lifting my up and being my stepping stone to relay this message to them. They had some doubts after our first meeting, but we settled them telling them that Yes, mormons do like to dance, listen to music, eat meat, and watch TV. Haha. The message that we shared was beautiful, if I do say so myself, but on the most part of the Book of Mormon. How beaufiul that book is, what a weird statement, but true. We have true tangible proof of Gods love for His children, in zillions of copies, and hundreds of languages, available for every willing heart and mind. I love the Book of Mormon, it is the reason I am here, to declare the God lives, that He still communicates with us, that we have a prophet, that we have a Savior, full of love and grace. That our God loves us enough to prepare a plan of happiness, of salvation for all of His children who live worthy to receive it. That our families, our most precious possesions here on this earth, can last even after we all pass through the veil of death, that we never have to say goodbye to our families for longer than only a short period, and we know that after every goodbye, a hello is soon to follow. How wonderful this message is...honestly, we are so lucky.
Well family, I am doing great, each day is a struggle, but like i always say, the Lord brings me back, always. Just when i feel I cant give more, I am comforted, just when I feel I can´t walk another step, I am filled with energy, Just when I feel I can´t understand another word, I get a glimpse of the gift of tounges and the reality of that promise. He´s there for each and every one of us family, not only missionaries.
Well family, as always know that I know what I am doing is true. That I have not a doubt in my mind that the message of the restoration, the message of the plan of happiness, and all the messages we share are divine and from a loving heavenly father, not to tie us down, but to protect us. and to essentially, bring us everlasting happiness, more happiness than anything the world can offer. Know that I know our Savior lives, and know that I know Him, and He knows me, and you, all of you. Know that He suffered, unbelievable amounts of pain on our behalf, and he did it willingly, and he died, only to be resurrected so that all of us could receive this gift, of having a perfect immortal body. Know that we have a prophet, a living mouthpiece between heaven and earth, and his name is Thomas S. Monson. I know, and pray that you know that God is here, that the veil between heaven and earth really is quite small, heaven is closer than we think, and we can find it if we fall to our knees and offer up the desires of our hearts. I know, without any doubt that the Gospel of Jesus Christ literally is the Gospel of Jesus Christ established by him, and restored to the earth in its entirety through the prophet Joseph Smith, and through Joseph Smith, we have the fullness of the Gospel in the Book of Mormon. The words in those pages are divine, and from God, they are inspired to help with our days, we can apply them in any circumstance, trial or anything we face, we can draw incredible amounts of strength from that book, I know I have in these short 6 weeks in CR. Know also family, that I love you. With a love that I can´t quite describe, a "you dont really know what you have until its gone" kind of love. I appreciate you, you all mean the world. You´re in my prayers, continue on in faith, and continue being the great people I know you are and can be. I love you! Stay strong!
Until next week,
Elder Falor
I hope everything is going well where you are! Things are good here in Costa Rica, its a hot afternoon here in Tibás and today has been a crazy day and this has been another crazy week. Today I had my first changes meeting, it was good to see how they normally are, because when I came to CR it was different because of Christmas, the mission is HUGE and there is so many missionaries I still dont know yet. We had a great time singing together my all time favorite hymn Llamados a Servir or Called To Serve, hearing counsel from our inspired President, and listening to the final testimonies of those finishing their missions. Obviously I didnt have changes, but Elder Nuñez in our house had changes and the Elder that replaced him is from El Salvador, I just met him like 6 minutes ago, so I still don´t know his name, but he seems pretty chill.
I learned a lot as usual this week. The biggest lesson I learned here is something that has been a lesson learned in progress throughout my whole mission thus far. And Its something that all people a like that apply in their lives. It´s giving your all, even when immediately you cannot see the results, it´s always acting in diligence to everything, even when you don´t understand. It´s putting in all you got, and you fail again and again, but you can rest assured knowing you did all you could, you put in your 100% and you gave your all. Many times I find that I do all I can, I speak in spanish all day long, as much as I can, I read spanish books whenever I get the chance, I study my grammar, I read the scriptures in spanish, I fast, I pray, and sometimes it seems my spanish has hit a plateau. I have not yet figured out how to communicate the way I want to in spanish just yet, and that is so frustrating to me. I love to feel the spirit, and I love to communicate with the spirit to those around me, and I have not been able to figure that out yet here, and sometimes, I just cry and think I have failed at being a missionary. But in the midst of this time of struggle, a voice in my head says, just do all you can, just give all you have, and in my time, I will pick up the slack. I know I say this a lot, but I cannot stress the reality of this promise, and the availability that is in it for ALL of us. Give all you can, work with all diligence, use every bit of energy that is supplied to you for that day, and if at the end of the day you feel like you´ve failed or you havent done any good, stop thinking that. Whenever we give all we can to God, to our fellowmen, to the Gospel, to the commandments, or to a good cause, we HAVE NEVER FAILED! We cannot fail when we are among good works. It´s a promise that I keep having to remind myself of daily. That even though I cannot communicate, I know that if I do all I can, that one day, that tiny light at the end of this tunnel Ive found myself in, will grow and increase in size, and I will be able to fulfill my purpose as a missionary, and in 21 months, I can return home with honor, knowing I did ALL I absolutely could, just like Billy Betz would say "leave it in the pool!" I´m going to leave it all in Costa Rica.
This week I found how small we really are in this great work. Jeffrey R. Holland said to us missionaries at the MTC that the work of the missionaries is bigger than himself, its bigger than all of us, and how true is that. We may choose to excercise our agency, but the Lord might have other plans in store for us as missionaries. An example of this is what happened on Sunday night. All of our citas fell through, our feet hurt from walking ALL over our area, we were hot, and sweaty, and super tired. We decided to stop byone of our investigators that we found on the 25th of December, Jose and his family. We had only taught them once, and tried to stop by numerous times in the weeks to follow but they were never there, my comp said to me that we were gonna pass by Jose and his family, and if they werent there, this would be the last time, we don´t have time to keep going over there and having them not keep their citas with us. We walked the entire way, from Cinco esquinas to La Florida (opposite ends of my area) just to see these people, not knowing for sure if they were home. We showed up at their house, and to our surprise they were home. We shared a wonderful lesson of the book of mormon. Although my spanish was still pretty broken, I felt the spirit lifting my up and being my stepping stone to relay this message to them. They had some doubts after our first meeting, but we settled them telling them that Yes, mormons do like to dance, listen to music, eat meat, and watch TV. Haha. The message that we shared was beautiful, if I do say so myself, but on the most part of the Book of Mormon. How beaufiul that book is, what a weird statement, but true. We have true tangible proof of Gods love for His children, in zillions of copies, and hundreds of languages, available for every willing heart and mind. I love the Book of Mormon, it is the reason I am here, to declare the God lives, that He still communicates with us, that we have a prophet, that we have a Savior, full of love and grace. That our God loves us enough to prepare a plan of happiness, of salvation for all of His children who live worthy to receive it. That our families, our most precious possesions here on this earth, can last even after we all pass through the veil of death, that we never have to say goodbye to our families for longer than only a short period, and we know that after every goodbye, a hello is soon to follow. How wonderful this message is...honestly, we are so lucky.
Well family, I am doing great, each day is a struggle, but like i always say, the Lord brings me back, always. Just when i feel I cant give more, I am comforted, just when I feel I can´t walk another step, I am filled with energy, Just when I feel I can´t understand another word, I get a glimpse of the gift of tounges and the reality of that promise. He´s there for each and every one of us family, not only missionaries.
Well family, as always know that I know what I am doing is true. That I have not a doubt in my mind that the message of the restoration, the message of the plan of happiness, and all the messages we share are divine and from a loving heavenly father, not to tie us down, but to protect us. and to essentially, bring us everlasting happiness, more happiness than anything the world can offer. Know that I know our Savior lives, and know that I know Him, and He knows me, and you, all of you. Know that He suffered, unbelievable amounts of pain on our behalf, and he did it willingly, and he died, only to be resurrected so that all of us could receive this gift, of having a perfect immortal body. Know that we have a prophet, a living mouthpiece between heaven and earth, and his name is Thomas S. Monson. I know, and pray that you know that God is here, that the veil between heaven and earth really is quite small, heaven is closer than we think, and we can find it if we fall to our knees and offer up the desires of our hearts. I know, without any doubt that the Gospel of Jesus Christ literally is the Gospel of Jesus Christ established by him, and restored to the earth in its entirety through the prophet Joseph Smith, and through Joseph Smith, we have the fullness of the Gospel in the Book of Mormon. The words in those pages are divine, and from God, they are inspired to help with our days, we can apply them in any circumstance, trial or anything we face, we can draw incredible amounts of strength from that book, I know I have in these short 6 weeks in CR. Know also family, that I love you. With a love that I can´t quite describe, a "you dont really know what you have until its gone" kind of love. I appreciate you, you all mean the world. You´re in my prayers, continue on in faith, and continue being the great people I know you are and can be. I love you! Stay strong!
Until next week,
Elder Falor
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
5th week update
Hello all my family and friends,
Well, an you believe another week has come and gone already, I cannot! This first change has gone by slow, but fast at the same time. Today was an irregular pday, no surprise to me though, because I have only had 1 regular pday this entire change. My comp and I had to wake up at 5 this morning in order to travel to the Mission office so that me and some other missionaries could go to the US embassy of CR and sign some papers for our residency. So, needless to say, it´s been a long day, that we spent in the middle of busy San Jose. This week was crazy, a long with the rest, and just like I always tell Elder Montierth, I am never ceased to be amazed here, either I see something I have never seen before and it´s totally crazy, or I am amazed because of the love I can feel from Heaven. Both of these things happen quite frequently, if not every single day. We had divisions this week, everyday except yesterday. It was crazy! One day I am working in Tibás, where I am Sr. Comp, have to make appointments, talk to people, and call the shots, lets just say I was nervous, but it all worked out well, and then the next day I am working in the Leon 13 with Elder Montierth, and then we switch it up again. But I learned a lot this week, who knew that there was so much to be learned. Nevertheless, I am always learning here, whether it be something new I learn in Spanish, the gospel, myself, the mission, the world, all of it, I am learning new stuff.
On my first Sunday here, my Comp, the Bishop of our ward and I traveled around our area in order to get familiar with the place, we ran across a man my age, his name is Elvis, I may have mentioned him before, but at first glance when he answered the door, I´ll be honest, all of us thought this was going to be another rejection, but we were pleasantly surprised to see him let us into his house with open arms, we, along with the bishop, shared a small message with him, his sister Tania, and his mother Carolina. We met with them a lot throughout the coming weeks here, but we could never usually meet with Elvis, but we continued to teach Tania and Carolina, after the first lesson, we invited them to be baptized...Carolina replied saying that she didnt want to, that her brother was a pastor of another church and she wasnt interested. We continued to set appointments with them, and everytime we showed up, they would ignore us, or turn off the lights and tv when they saw us coming. So, we thought there was no more we could do, and we stopped visiting them. But this week, as Elder Nuñez and I visited a family of the boy who I baptized this week, (who are next door neighbors with Elvis) the mother, Edith told us that her neighbor Elvis and his family was interested in the Church. We were taken aback because they stopped showing interest, but we set a time to stop by them and see what the deal was. On divisions one day, Elder Montierth and my comp Bertrand visited them, and Elvis was there, they taught him the first lesson, and set a baptismal date for Feb 5, he also said he wanted to go to church and maybe even serve a mission. Elvis came to church on Sunday and he absolutely loved it, and seems firm in his decision to get baptized on this date. This experience was really cool to see how it progressed, and I learned alot from this experience. I learned that the Lord has His own time table, as I´m sure we all know, He works His ways, on His time, and we have to be patient in long suffering, like it constantly says in the scriptures, until his works come to pass. They will always come to pass, and the Lord always fulfills his promises. This decision showed me that God really does prepare people to hear this message, He works, in HIs time, a small change in their hearts, and allows it to swell inside them, until they are ready to receive the Lord´s messengers.
How grateful I am to be a messenger of the Lord. Even though I cannot speak or understand all of the language yet, the spirit translates for me, and the spirit is fluent in all languages, and he can find me, even in a small tiny shack in Costa Rica. I´ll be honest family, everyday here is uphill, Its not easy, and there are times where I really question if I have it in me, but what reassures my doubt is my friends and family back at home. I thank all of you with all that I am for your love and your support. I can truly feel it, as if you were all here with me cheering me on in the sidelines.
Yesterday was an example of this, at 630 on the dot as we woke up for the morning, the phone rang, it was one of the members of the ward, my good friend Carlos Vargus. He informed my comp and I that we would be talking in Sacrament meeting, at first, my stomach sunk, and then, it ended up in my throat, and I got so sick and nervous, I sat in my bed and I questioned, how I was going to do this, I barely speak spanish. I love to give talks, and I love to express myself, but how will I ever do this in Spanish. I jumped out of bed and frantically wrote a talk on Missionary Work (how convenient huh?) I didnt have much more time to dwell on my fears because we had to go and get Elvis and Tania ready for church, we ran there and headed to the chapel and before I knew it I was at the pulpit, with 75 people, all fluent in spanish, staring at me. And I was expected to speak in front of them. I worried, and worried and worried that I would make a mistake, but I had a feeling in my heart, testify to me, that if I trusted in God and had faith, yeah I might make a mistake, but the spirit would translate, and the spirit is 100% fluent in Spanish. I spoke, made a few mistakes, but left the situation feeling totally spiritually refreshed, and lots of people came up to me afterwards and thanked me for my words.
Family, friends, and everyone I love so very much, I learn something new each and everyday here, and I am always so excited to share them with you, because I see the way that my life is blessed, and I want the same for my beautiful family and friends. I know that if we live worthily, we can have the blessing of the Holy Ghost with us always! And in moments like these, we have to trust in our actions, thoughts, and our God, to know that if we did our part, HE WILL DO HIS! He will do His part family, I know it. Because without His part, frankly, we´re nothing. I recall one of my favorite scriptures that says for with God nothing shall be impossible. How true that statement is. Often times, I wake up and see the day ahead of me as a HUGE mountain, and I question how I am ever going to climb this, I turn to Luke 1 and read that scripture, and immediately am brought back to square one. And at the end of the day, without fail, when I reflect on what we accomplished, the words of one of my favorite songs comes to my head, ¨sometimes that mountain you´ve been climbing, is just a grain of sand, what you´ve been out there searching for forever, is in your hands, and when you figure out Love is all that matters after all, it sure makes everything else, seem so small¨ Those few words have saved me here. As well as my love and faith in God. I pray everyday family that we can all have more faith, more hope and more love in our lives, because God is anxiously waiting to bless each and everyone of us, to make our lives a little more easy, to lift our burdens just a little more, to make ends meet one time, to put those feelings of joy and happiness in my heart, he´s just waiting for us to do our part. I pray that we can all do our part.
Well everybody, a big thank you again! From the bottom of my heart! I am so blessed to have you all in my life! I draw upon your strength daily! Remember that I love you, each of you. Remember that I know that what I am doing here is divine, its a call from a Prophet, its the work of the Lord. I know its true, I know without a shadow of a doubt that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Kingdom of God once again on the earth, restored by a prophet, Joseph Smith, I know we have a prophet today Thomas S. Monson, I know that if we heed the words of our living Prophet and apostles and follow the words of Christ, that uphill climb will get a little bit easier, I know it. I know that God hears our prayers, and he answers them in His own time, we just have to be patient. I love you family, so much! Keep the faith and lose the fear! With all the love I could possibly give,
Elder Falor
Well, an you believe another week has come and gone already, I cannot! This first change has gone by slow, but fast at the same time. Today was an irregular pday, no surprise to me though, because I have only had 1 regular pday this entire change. My comp and I had to wake up at 5 this morning in order to travel to the Mission office so that me and some other missionaries could go to the US embassy of CR and sign some papers for our residency. So, needless to say, it´s been a long day, that we spent in the middle of busy San Jose. This week was crazy, a long with the rest, and just like I always tell Elder Montierth, I am never ceased to be amazed here, either I see something I have never seen before and it´s totally crazy, or I am amazed because of the love I can feel from Heaven. Both of these things happen quite frequently, if not every single day. We had divisions this week, everyday except yesterday. It was crazy! One day I am working in Tibás, where I am Sr. Comp, have to make appointments, talk to people, and call the shots, lets just say I was nervous, but it all worked out well, and then the next day I am working in the Leon 13 with Elder Montierth, and then we switch it up again. But I learned a lot this week, who knew that there was so much to be learned. Nevertheless, I am always learning here, whether it be something new I learn in Spanish, the gospel, myself, the mission, the world, all of it, I am learning new stuff.
On my first Sunday here, my Comp, the Bishop of our ward and I traveled around our area in order to get familiar with the place, we ran across a man my age, his name is Elvis, I may have mentioned him before, but at first glance when he answered the door, I´ll be honest, all of us thought this was going to be another rejection, but we were pleasantly surprised to see him let us into his house with open arms, we, along with the bishop, shared a small message with him, his sister Tania, and his mother Carolina. We met with them a lot throughout the coming weeks here, but we could never usually meet with Elvis, but we continued to teach Tania and Carolina, after the first lesson, we invited them to be baptized...Carolina replied saying that she didnt want to, that her brother was a pastor of another church and she wasnt interested. We continued to set appointments with them, and everytime we showed up, they would ignore us, or turn off the lights and tv when they saw us coming. So, we thought there was no more we could do, and we stopped visiting them. But this week, as Elder Nuñez and I visited a family of the boy who I baptized this week, (who are next door neighbors with Elvis) the mother, Edith told us that her neighbor Elvis and his family was interested in the Church. We were taken aback because they stopped showing interest, but we set a time to stop by them and see what the deal was. On divisions one day, Elder Montierth and my comp Bertrand visited them, and Elvis was there, they taught him the first lesson, and set a baptismal date for Feb 5, he also said he wanted to go to church and maybe even serve a mission. Elvis came to church on Sunday and he absolutely loved it, and seems firm in his decision to get baptized on this date. This experience was really cool to see how it progressed, and I learned alot from this experience. I learned that the Lord has His own time table, as I´m sure we all know, He works His ways, on His time, and we have to be patient in long suffering, like it constantly says in the scriptures, until his works come to pass. They will always come to pass, and the Lord always fulfills his promises. This decision showed me that God really does prepare people to hear this message, He works, in HIs time, a small change in their hearts, and allows it to swell inside them, until they are ready to receive the Lord´s messengers.
How grateful I am to be a messenger of the Lord. Even though I cannot speak or understand all of the language yet, the spirit translates for me, and the spirit is fluent in all languages, and he can find me, even in a small tiny shack in Costa Rica. I´ll be honest family, everyday here is uphill, Its not easy, and there are times where I really question if I have it in me, but what reassures my doubt is my friends and family back at home. I thank all of you with all that I am for your love and your support. I can truly feel it, as if you were all here with me cheering me on in the sidelines.
Yesterday was an example of this, at 630 on the dot as we woke up for the morning, the phone rang, it was one of the members of the ward, my good friend Carlos Vargus. He informed my comp and I that we would be talking in Sacrament meeting, at first, my stomach sunk, and then, it ended up in my throat, and I got so sick and nervous, I sat in my bed and I questioned, how I was going to do this, I barely speak spanish. I love to give talks, and I love to express myself, but how will I ever do this in Spanish. I jumped out of bed and frantically wrote a talk on Missionary Work (how convenient huh?) I didnt have much more time to dwell on my fears because we had to go and get Elvis and Tania ready for church, we ran there and headed to the chapel and before I knew it I was at the pulpit, with 75 people, all fluent in spanish, staring at me. And I was expected to speak in front of them. I worried, and worried and worried that I would make a mistake, but I had a feeling in my heart, testify to me, that if I trusted in God and had faith, yeah I might make a mistake, but the spirit would translate, and the spirit is 100% fluent in Spanish. I spoke, made a few mistakes, but left the situation feeling totally spiritually refreshed, and lots of people came up to me afterwards and thanked me for my words.
Family, friends, and everyone I love so very much, I learn something new each and everyday here, and I am always so excited to share them with you, because I see the way that my life is blessed, and I want the same for my beautiful family and friends. I know that if we live worthily, we can have the blessing of the Holy Ghost with us always! And in moments like these, we have to trust in our actions, thoughts, and our God, to know that if we did our part, HE WILL DO HIS! He will do His part family, I know it. Because without His part, frankly, we´re nothing. I recall one of my favorite scriptures that says for with God nothing shall be impossible. How true that statement is. Often times, I wake up and see the day ahead of me as a HUGE mountain, and I question how I am ever going to climb this, I turn to Luke 1 and read that scripture, and immediately am brought back to square one. And at the end of the day, without fail, when I reflect on what we accomplished, the words of one of my favorite songs comes to my head, ¨sometimes that mountain you´ve been climbing, is just a grain of sand, what you´ve been out there searching for forever, is in your hands, and when you figure out Love is all that matters after all, it sure makes everything else, seem so small¨ Those few words have saved me here. As well as my love and faith in God. I pray everyday family that we can all have more faith, more hope and more love in our lives, because God is anxiously waiting to bless each and everyone of us, to make our lives a little more easy, to lift our burdens just a little more, to make ends meet one time, to put those feelings of joy and happiness in my heart, he´s just waiting for us to do our part. I pray that we can all do our part.
Well everybody, a big thank you again! From the bottom of my heart! I am so blessed to have you all in my life! I draw upon your strength daily! Remember that I love you, each of you. Remember that I know that what I am doing here is divine, its a call from a Prophet, its the work of the Lord. I know its true, I know without a shadow of a doubt that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Kingdom of God once again on the earth, restored by a prophet, Joseph Smith, I know we have a prophet today Thomas S. Monson, I know that if we heed the words of our living Prophet and apostles and follow the words of Christ, that uphill climb will get a little bit easier, I know it. I know that God hears our prayers, and he answers them in His own time, we just have to be patient. I love you family, so much! Keep the faith and lose the fear! With all the love I could possibly give,
Elder Falor
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
4th Week Update
Hello Family and Friends,
Well another week has gone by, and I dont really know where it went! I´m sorry I don´t have a lot of time this week, which is sad because I have a LOT to tell you! Tel Grandpa Dave Happy Birthday! And tell Amy Happy Birthday as well! I love them both!
Mom, to answer your questions, sorry, I didn´t send my camera card, because I didnt have time, so dont worry, I have my card here. I´m pretty sure the new camera should make it here by changes which is Feb 2. When we travel to the temple and zone mtgs and such we take a bus into San Jose and then into the city further to our meetings. A lot of times we walk, but anywhere outside of Tibas we take a bus.
This week was crazy, it disappeared so quick I don´t even know what happened. But I can definitely see the Lords hand at work in my life every single day.
The baptism on Saturday was really great, It started off crazy because one Elder in our House, Elder Nuñez wanted to move the piano from the Sacrament room into the Baptismal room and he got so excited in doing so he tipped the piano over and broke it, haha! It was crazy, but only something that would happen to him. This baptism was a cool experience because it was a 4 person baptism, 1 from our area in Tibas and 3 from the Sisters area in Zurqui. Each one of the Elders in my house baptized a person that day! I baptized Daniel from Tibas, and it was so great! I was nervous but as always the spirit brought me back to square one and helped me through. I am continually seeing the changes the Lord makes in my life, each day, little by little, a little more of the old me is chipped away and I am becoming more of what my Heavenly Father wants me to be.
We did a lot of different stuff this week, we had divisions where I went with Elder Montierth from Idaho into the Leon 13 and we taught a bunch of cool lessons. The people are great and they are so humble and willing to let us in and hear our message. I spoke a little more and was able to understand almost everything. I´m getting to the point where I can understand everything gringos can say in spanish, now I have to work on the Latinos, they are a little more difficult.
But I am doing great, some days are harder than others, but like I said before, in every situation, I am brought back to square one, back where It´s most important, where I can refocus on my purpose and start over better the next day.
The time really is flying by, I have been in Costa Rica for a whole month now. And I can´t believe the things I´ve done, the things I´ve seen and the way I´ve changed. I have seen such a change that the gospel has wrought in my life, I can´t wait to see that change in the lives of those that we are teaching.
Sunday was great, we had a confirmation for Daniel and he is now a member of this amazing church! What a privelege to be members of God´s Kingdom on the earth. I don´t think any of us realize the amazingness in that sentence, we are involved in the most divine work. We have all been saved, for this time, this place to be here and help in the work of the Lord in some way, some how. I´ve realized how much work needs to be done, and you don´t always need a call from the prophet to get the work done. Work can be done in every area of every stake, ward, branch, group, etc. We had a Stake meeting for Estaca Toyopán on Sunday, all the missionaries and stake leaders met at the stake center and discussed the stake goals for 2011. We have made some big goals for the wards to help out in missionary work, to continue to build the kingdom. It affects me a lot because I have a feeling I will be in Tibás for another 5 months. We also ate dinner, hot dogs with cabbage on them, strange, but tasty! And its always fun to get together with our zone.
I absolutely love the Missionaries in this mission. Like everyone, they have their problems and their challenges, but each of us are striving each day to be better than the last, and in reality, that´s what the Lord asks of each of us. To become more of a Disciple of Christ today, than I was tomorrow, and to keep moving forward. I don´t remember who said it, but someone said that we aren´t going to get anywhere standing still, sounds like a simple statement, but when thought out is far more profound. We are never going to reach our potential, waiting for God, family, friends, coworkers or so and so to make the change in us, we have to put in the work, and the others help along the way. In that long path back to our Heavenly Father involves work. This church is work! And we are not ashamed to say that, because our Father in heaven has blessings in store for us beyond our ability to comprehend, but we must work. We must strive harder and harder each and everyday to make that change inside of us, to bring a little piece of us closer to our Savior. Who gave his EVERYTHING for us.
Today was splendid! Absolutely splendid! It was my one month check up, that they call in the mission. Where all the Elders and HErmanas that came in my group meet together in the Church in Los Yoses, where we met with pres Galvez and the Assistants and discussed the last month, and how to improve the next 21. Pres Galvez is great and truly inspired, he definitely has the spirit with him and does such a great job to lead this mission forward. After that, we all gathered in a bus and drove into the city Coronado (which is just as beautiful as Coronodo in San Diego) up to a huge mountain that over looks the entire country. We gathered in some mans back yard and looked out at the view, which was mostly clouds, President Galvez continues to tell us that this property, years ago, was the place where President Boyd K Packer himself stood and dedicated the Land of Costa Rica for the preaching of the Gospel in Costa Rica. I was floored at this experience! This dedicatory prayer offered by Pres Packer, allowed me, to stand at that exact spot years later, to preach the gospel to this people. As the man shared his story of this great experience, he talked about how Pres Packer really wanted to see the city, but the clouds were taking up the view, right as Elder Packer began his prayer, the man said, there was not a cloud in the sky, the Heavens literally opened up, and God himself dedicated this land for the preaching of the Gospel...It is no mistake that I am here...It is no mistake that the Gospel is being preached in Costa Rica. There is no mistake in this earth, except those made by man. God really is in charge, he is there, and he knows everything, deeply and intimately, beyond our imagination. As the man shared this story, the hairs on my arms and neck stood up, and I had goosebumps as the spirit testified to me of the truthfullness of this story. He said as Pres Packer finished the prayer, the clouds moved in again, and it began to pour rain. We stood at the exact spot where Pres Packer himself stood, where 10 years earlier, lightning had struck, perhaps, giving a sign that someday, this spot, would be very important to the people in this Country. Since that day, the face of Costa Rica, and the face of the Church in this country has changed in miraculous ways! It was a way cool experience, but unfortunately, My camera broke all the way and I wasnt able to bring it, but I have pics from my comps camera that I will send sooner or later. After this we traveled to Pres Galvez´s house and had an AMAZING lunch! and got our mail! Which was great to receive a package! Thanks so much!
Well family, the work continues, like I say every week. It doesnt stop, it doesn´t get easier, it just gets more and more worth it. Moments like Baptisms, feeling the spirit so deeply touch your soul in a lesson, people saying hi to you on the street, someone accepting the message, makes all the suffering, the walking, the misunderstandings, the yelling, the hatred, it makes it all worth it. This work is definitely work. For those people who said Oh man, costa rica! Thats a vacation for 2 years, not a mission. You are really wrong, there is work to do, even in a country as beautiful as this. And the work of a Missionary doesnt stop, it doesn´t let up, because this isnt temporary, this is eternal work that we are performing here. We are leading people to the narrow gate and onto the path back to their Father in Heaven.
I love this work. Even though its hard, I love it, with all that I am. I know this Gospel is true, I know that God lives today and he is the same, today, yesterday, and forever. He never stops loving us, ever. I know in our times of weakness, we may feel that the Heavens have closed, and God has ceased to bless us, and we might as well give up. I urge you, family, friends, or anyone who feels that way, to stop, and realize the potential you can gain from this experience. They are all for our good, every moment. The heaven´s are not closed, far from it. They are open and ready to receive all who fall at the feet of the Savior.
I can´t begin to comprehend the blessings and miracles I have seen here, and they are not huge giant miracles just because I am a missionary, they are little pieces to the puzzle that are continually being revealed to us and helping us see that God is with us, every single step of the way.
Family, I pray for your health and safety each and everyday, I know that God hears my prayers, and I hope you can see the blessings God gives you, the blessing of another day, another day to learn, grow and progress as a Son or Daughter of a Heavenly Father. I hope you all feel my love, and I hope you all find great joy and happiness this next week, and next 21 months. Please please, remember I love you, I am thinking of you CONSTANTLY! each one of you are here with me, you walk behind me on the sketchiest of streets and you are in the back of the bus with me, and you are even with me in the tiny houses of our investigators. I feel your presence and I am deeply grateful for that.
Stay strong family, remember I love you!
Until next week, Elder Falor
Well another week has gone by, and I dont really know where it went! I´m sorry I don´t have a lot of time this week, which is sad because I have a LOT to tell you! Tel Grandpa Dave Happy Birthday! And tell Amy Happy Birthday as well! I love them both!
Mom, to answer your questions, sorry, I didn´t send my camera card, because I didnt have time, so dont worry, I have my card here. I´m pretty sure the new camera should make it here by changes which is Feb 2. When we travel to the temple and zone mtgs and such we take a bus into San Jose and then into the city further to our meetings. A lot of times we walk, but anywhere outside of Tibas we take a bus.
This week was crazy, it disappeared so quick I don´t even know what happened. But I can definitely see the Lords hand at work in my life every single day.
The baptism on Saturday was really great, It started off crazy because one Elder in our House, Elder Nuñez wanted to move the piano from the Sacrament room into the Baptismal room and he got so excited in doing so he tipped the piano over and broke it, haha! It was crazy, but only something that would happen to him. This baptism was a cool experience because it was a 4 person baptism, 1 from our area in Tibas and 3 from the Sisters area in Zurqui. Each one of the Elders in my house baptized a person that day! I baptized Daniel from Tibas, and it was so great! I was nervous but as always the spirit brought me back to square one and helped me through. I am continually seeing the changes the Lord makes in my life, each day, little by little, a little more of the old me is chipped away and I am becoming more of what my Heavenly Father wants me to be.
We did a lot of different stuff this week, we had divisions where I went with Elder Montierth from Idaho into the Leon 13 and we taught a bunch of cool lessons. The people are great and they are so humble and willing to let us in and hear our message. I spoke a little more and was able to understand almost everything. I´m getting to the point where I can understand everything gringos can say in spanish, now I have to work on the Latinos, they are a little more difficult.
But I am doing great, some days are harder than others, but like I said before, in every situation, I am brought back to square one, back where It´s most important, where I can refocus on my purpose and start over better the next day.
The time really is flying by, I have been in Costa Rica for a whole month now. And I can´t believe the things I´ve done, the things I´ve seen and the way I´ve changed. I have seen such a change that the gospel has wrought in my life, I can´t wait to see that change in the lives of those that we are teaching.
Sunday was great, we had a confirmation for Daniel and he is now a member of this amazing church! What a privelege to be members of God´s Kingdom on the earth. I don´t think any of us realize the amazingness in that sentence, we are involved in the most divine work. We have all been saved, for this time, this place to be here and help in the work of the Lord in some way, some how. I´ve realized how much work needs to be done, and you don´t always need a call from the prophet to get the work done. Work can be done in every area of every stake, ward, branch, group, etc. We had a Stake meeting for Estaca Toyopán on Sunday, all the missionaries and stake leaders met at the stake center and discussed the stake goals for 2011. We have made some big goals for the wards to help out in missionary work, to continue to build the kingdom. It affects me a lot because I have a feeling I will be in Tibás for another 5 months. We also ate dinner, hot dogs with cabbage on them, strange, but tasty! And its always fun to get together with our zone.
I absolutely love the Missionaries in this mission. Like everyone, they have their problems and their challenges, but each of us are striving each day to be better than the last, and in reality, that´s what the Lord asks of each of us. To become more of a Disciple of Christ today, than I was tomorrow, and to keep moving forward. I don´t remember who said it, but someone said that we aren´t going to get anywhere standing still, sounds like a simple statement, but when thought out is far more profound. We are never going to reach our potential, waiting for God, family, friends, coworkers or so and so to make the change in us, we have to put in the work, and the others help along the way. In that long path back to our Heavenly Father involves work. This church is work! And we are not ashamed to say that, because our Father in heaven has blessings in store for us beyond our ability to comprehend, but we must work. We must strive harder and harder each and everyday to make that change inside of us, to bring a little piece of us closer to our Savior. Who gave his EVERYTHING for us.
Today was splendid! Absolutely splendid! It was my one month check up, that they call in the mission. Where all the Elders and HErmanas that came in my group meet together in the Church in Los Yoses, where we met with pres Galvez and the Assistants and discussed the last month, and how to improve the next 21. Pres Galvez is great and truly inspired, he definitely has the spirit with him and does such a great job to lead this mission forward. After that, we all gathered in a bus and drove into the city Coronado (which is just as beautiful as Coronodo in San Diego) up to a huge mountain that over looks the entire country. We gathered in some mans back yard and looked out at the view, which was mostly clouds, President Galvez continues to tell us that this property, years ago, was the place where President Boyd K Packer himself stood and dedicated the Land of Costa Rica for the preaching of the Gospel in Costa Rica. I was floored at this experience! This dedicatory prayer offered by Pres Packer, allowed me, to stand at that exact spot years later, to preach the gospel to this people. As the man shared his story of this great experience, he talked about how Pres Packer really wanted to see the city, but the clouds were taking up the view, right as Elder Packer began his prayer, the man said, there was not a cloud in the sky, the Heavens literally opened up, and God himself dedicated this land for the preaching of the Gospel...It is no mistake that I am here...It is no mistake that the Gospel is being preached in Costa Rica. There is no mistake in this earth, except those made by man. God really is in charge, he is there, and he knows everything, deeply and intimately, beyond our imagination. As the man shared this story, the hairs on my arms and neck stood up, and I had goosebumps as the spirit testified to me of the truthfullness of this story. He said as Pres Packer finished the prayer, the clouds moved in again, and it began to pour rain. We stood at the exact spot where Pres Packer himself stood, where 10 years earlier, lightning had struck, perhaps, giving a sign that someday, this spot, would be very important to the people in this Country. Since that day, the face of Costa Rica, and the face of the Church in this country has changed in miraculous ways! It was a way cool experience, but unfortunately, My camera broke all the way and I wasnt able to bring it, but I have pics from my comps camera that I will send sooner or later. After this we traveled to Pres Galvez´s house and had an AMAZING lunch! and got our mail! Which was great to receive a package! Thanks so much!
Well family, the work continues, like I say every week. It doesnt stop, it doesn´t get easier, it just gets more and more worth it. Moments like Baptisms, feeling the spirit so deeply touch your soul in a lesson, people saying hi to you on the street, someone accepting the message, makes all the suffering, the walking, the misunderstandings, the yelling, the hatred, it makes it all worth it. This work is definitely work. For those people who said Oh man, costa rica! Thats a vacation for 2 years, not a mission. You are really wrong, there is work to do, even in a country as beautiful as this. And the work of a Missionary doesnt stop, it doesn´t let up, because this isnt temporary, this is eternal work that we are performing here. We are leading people to the narrow gate and onto the path back to their Father in Heaven.
I love this work. Even though its hard, I love it, with all that I am. I know this Gospel is true, I know that God lives today and he is the same, today, yesterday, and forever. He never stops loving us, ever. I know in our times of weakness, we may feel that the Heavens have closed, and God has ceased to bless us, and we might as well give up. I urge you, family, friends, or anyone who feels that way, to stop, and realize the potential you can gain from this experience. They are all for our good, every moment. The heaven´s are not closed, far from it. They are open and ready to receive all who fall at the feet of the Savior.
I can´t begin to comprehend the blessings and miracles I have seen here, and they are not huge giant miracles just because I am a missionary, they are little pieces to the puzzle that are continually being revealed to us and helping us see that God is with us, every single step of the way.
Family, I pray for your health and safety each and everyday, I know that God hears my prayers, and I hope you can see the blessings God gives you, the blessing of another day, another day to learn, grow and progress as a Son or Daughter of a Heavenly Father. I hope you all feel my love, and I hope you all find great joy and happiness this next week, and next 21 months. Please please, remember I love you, I am thinking of you CONSTANTLY! each one of you are here with me, you walk behind me on the sketchiest of streets and you are in the back of the bus with me, and you are even with me in the tiny houses of our investigators. I feel your presence and I am deeply grateful for that.
Stay strong family, remember I love you!
Until next week, Elder Falor
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
3rd week update
Hello all my amazing family and loved ones,
Here I am at the middle of week three here is Costa Rica. The time has just flown by, some days I don´t feel that way though, but either way, the work of the Lord continues, whether I´m ready or not. I can feel and see such a change in myself. I´m not the same person as I was 15 months ago, nor the same person you dropped off at the curb of the MTC in October. The Lord continually pushes me, just to the point where I think I can´t handle it, and then I learn and discover something new about myself, and the Gospel, the world, everything. I still struggle alot with my confidence at times, but I am a way different person than I was. I am now walking the streets of CR and saying hello and talking to random people, when before, I got anxious to talk to the cashier at Kmart. I know the Lord has SOMETHING up his sleeve for me. I haven´t yet figured out what he´s doing but I know in time I will reap the benefits of all this.
This week was CRAZY! As was the other 2. Each day is filled with new surprises, new goals, new hopes, lots of work, and lots of WALKING! My comp and I have a baptism on Saturday for a boy named Daniel who is 9 years old from Nicaragua, I might be the one to baptize him too! Crazy! We are really excited for saturday, our zone has made some big plans and have about 30 baptisms scheduled for zona Toyopán.
So last sunday my house fasted, because we had been having trouble finding people to teach. It was a rough fast, because I haven´t fasted and then walked and worked so hard while fasting, but I made it through, and at the end of the day on Sunday, we still hadnt found a family to teach. So we decided to make one last stop at a house that we had stoped by like 6 times that week to teach the family but they were never there, and this time they were there, we werent planning on teaching right there, but they invited us right in and we taught them, and they were very receptive of our message. The spirit was so strong, I shared the message of the Restoration and the first vision with them and at the end of the lesson, the father accepted our invitation to pray at the end with us all, and as he said an innocent prayer for us and his family, the spirit was SO strong, It filled my soul with joy like you wont believe. We are really hoping this family accepts our message and invitation to be baptized. So that was a cool experience, Its amazing to see, in action, in all reality, that the Lord really does uphold his promises, and right before our eyes!
I had another experience last night, as we sat in this TINY TINY TINY home of one of our long time investigators for our area, her name is Ivania, her and her husband, Aristides, have wanted to get baptized for quite some time now, but need to get married first, and move out of their house, so we visit her and her son Loudy and daughter Paula quite often and keep them spiritually on their toes until they can get baptized. Ivania and Aristides have been having problems with their landlord, she is very violent with Loudy and has a bunch of dumb rules for Ivania to follow, and though I couldnt understand all of what she said, I sat there in this tiny house, and looked at these people, I couldnt understand, I had only known for 2 weeks, but I had such great love in my heart for them, I KNEW with all that I am, that they were Children of a Heavenly Father, and that though they happened to be in this vale of sorrow rightnow, the Lord has prepared a Valley of Promise for them, if they follow the words of His Beloved Son, which is what we were there to declare. I can´t explain the feeling I had as I looked at this humble family, and felt so priveleged to be here, to give them this message of hope and happiness. It really brought me back to square one, it made my problems look very small and not all that important. It made everything all my trials and hardships in my life that I had experienced very small and almost insignificant. While we were teaching Ivania and she talked of her struggles to find a house, a prompting came to my mind that I need to pray for her, that I need to help draw down the powers of heaven and help this family. Then I remembered a family who had been offering us a place to stay for 3 weeks and we keep denying it becasue Pres. Galvez said we couldnt, we offered it to Ivania and she is going to look into it. I thought about how amazing that little moment was. That we had a way to help her right then, that the Lord had put that apartment in our path for her benefit. I decided as I reflected on my mission, that miracles, are everywhere. Not only for missionaries, for everyone! Shoot, the fact that I am here, 3000 miles away from my comfort zone is a miracle in itself. They are everywhere family, continue to look for the miracles, and express gratitude when you find them.
We always visit this family, the Solano family, a family of members. And they have a boy named Jeffrey, and when I told him that my dads name was Jeffrey he was shocked! He asked if my dad was bien tuanis. Which means like way cool, and I said of course! So they really wanted to tell you that I am safe and that they have a son named Jeffrey, so mom, If you get an email from a Juan Carlos Solano, don´t be alarmed, it´s just a member.
So, the rest of the week was great, monday we did service pretty much all day long, we painted a room for a member of the Garabito ward which is the other area near us. It was a lot of fun, and good to do some service for her, because she had been sick and just recently fell and was rushed to the hospital, so we got together and cleaned up her house and room for her, so when she returned she wouldnt be so sick.
Today was a wonderful day, as you heard we as a zone got to attend the temple! And what a blessing that was! I was so preoccupied at first because It was all in spanish! I just barely got comfortable with it in English! But onceI set foot inside the Lord´s house i felt peace! Rush through my body and I felt so comfortable. The temple was a great experience! And The CR temple is absolutely BEAUTIFUL!
But what was really amazing about today as well was what happened after the temple. I was talking to Elder Kemp (an elder from my district in the MTC who me and him became really good friends) and he expressed to me about how he had some doubts, and he didnt think he was going to be able to stay on the mission, and he had been having the same struggles as I had been having (not the going home part) but just with doubts and homesickness and insecurities and such. And I told him I felt the same, and we got talking and something told me to tell him, you are where you are supposed to be, you can´t leave, because you are not supposed to be anywhere else. It was strange that I said that, because for awhile here, I thought that my call to CR was a mess up. That I was supposed to serve in an english speaking mission becasue I will never be able to learn spanish, and all that stuff, unfortunately Im embarrassed to say that I thought that, but I did, and as I said that, I felt the spirit tell me the same thing...you are where you are supposed to be...don´t doubt, don´t give up, because this is where you are and where you are meant to be...I was floored for the rest of the day, shocked because those words came out of my mouth for his benefit, and mine. I shared with him the insight and knowledge that all my great family and friends shared with me, and I think it really helped him. I am constantly amazed that the Lord knows us, individually. He knows us by name, and we are His children. I have had first hand experiences with that here!
So family, if you ever doubt, if it ever gets harder than you can bear, trust in the fact that you are Children of a Heavenly Father. There is power. Power beyond our own capabilities, our own comprehension, power beyond anything in the world. Always remember, what has really helped me, that when life gets too hard to stand, kneel. Because he hears us, and heals us. I know this. Because I have experienced it.
Well family, I am doing great, things are looking up, I have those hard days, but I am starting to realize why they are there. The good and the bad days HAVE to go together, to make the good days even better, and to make us strong enough to withstand the bad days. I am safe, I am protected, always under the eye of Him who knows everything. I pray that all is well with you, I think about you every second.
I want you to know family that I know that I am where I am needed. I was called by a Prophet of God, to declare what knowledge I KNOW to be true. I know! With all my heart, with all my head, soul spirit and body, that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is the Kingdom of God restored once again on the earth. I know this is HIS work, I am HIS son, you are HIS children. We are so important in His eyes, which is more importand than in the eyes of the world. I know that we have the priesthood restored on the earth, the power and authority to draw the blessings from heaven for the benefit of those who worthily seek them. I know that the Book of Mormon is the WORD of God, and If any of us lack wisdom, that is where we find it first, and second in getting on our knees and praying with all our heart, might, mind and strength. Because we don´t pray to a wall or a ceiling or an empty room, I know we pray to a loving Father, who cares for us, and listens to us, and ANSWERS our prayers. I know these things are true, for this reason, for this knowledge, I have chosen to leave my family, to come 3000 miles out of my tiny little bubble that I formed for myself, for this knowledge. Because I know without it we cannot have the blessing of eternal life. And those who have eternal life, are rich. I know that if we are patient in afflictions, the Lord will lift us higher because he is with us. Read D and C 24:8, this scripture has inspired me beyond all measure, afflictions will be there, suffering will be there, but it will ALL be for our good. I know the Lord is with you, reach out and grab his hand.
Just as importantly, know that I love you, with ALL I am. I know our family is divine and I love that. I love you all! You are so important to me, don´t forget it.
With all the love I can possibly give,
Elder Falor
Here I am at the middle of week three here is Costa Rica. The time has just flown by, some days I don´t feel that way though, but either way, the work of the Lord continues, whether I´m ready or not. I can feel and see such a change in myself. I´m not the same person as I was 15 months ago, nor the same person you dropped off at the curb of the MTC in October. The Lord continually pushes me, just to the point where I think I can´t handle it, and then I learn and discover something new about myself, and the Gospel, the world, everything. I still struggle alot with my confidence at times, but I am a way different person than I was. I am now walking the streets of CR and saying hello and talking to random people, when before, I got anxious to talk to the cashier at Kmart. I know the Lord has SOMETHING up his sleeve for me. I haven´t yet figured out what he´s doing but I know in time I will reap the benefits of all this.
This week was CRAZY! As was the other 2. Each day is filled with new surprises, new goals, new hopes, lots of work, and lots of WALKING! My comp and I have a baptism on Saturday for a boy named Daniel who is 9 years old from Nicaragua, I might be the one to baptize him too! Crazy! We are really excited for saturday, our zone has made some big plans and have about 30 baptisms scheduled for zona Toyopán.
So last sunday my house fasted, because we had been having trouble finding people to teach. It was a rough fast, because I haven´t fasted and then walked and worked so hard while fasting, but I made it through, and at the end of the day on Sunday, we still hadnt found a family to teach. So we decided to make one last stop at a house that we had stoped by like 6 times that week to teach the family but they were never there, and this time they were there, we werent planning on teaching right there, but they invited us right in and we taught them, and they were very receptive of our message. The spirit was so strong, I shared the message of the Restoration and the first vision with them and at the end of the lesson, the father accepted our invitation to pray at the end with us all, and as he said an innocent prayer for us and his family, the spirit was SO strong, It filled my soul with joy like you wont believe. We are really hoping this family accepts our message and invitation to be baptized. So that was a cool experience, Its amazing to see, in action, in all reality, that the Lord really does uphold his promises, and right before our eyes!
I had another experience last night, as we sat in this TINY TINY TINY home of one of our long time investigators for our area, her name is Ivania, her and her husband, Aristides, have wanted to get baptized for quite some time now, but need to get married first, and move out of their house, so we visit her and her son Loudy and daughter Paula quite often and keep them spiritually on their toes until they can get baptized. Ivania and Aristides have been having problems with their landlord, she is very violent with Loudy and has a bunch of dumb rules for Ivania to follow, and though I couldnt understand all of what she said, I sat there in this tiny house, and looked at these people, I couldnt understand, I had only known for 2 weeks, but I had such great love in my heart for them, I KNEW with all that I am, that they were Children of a Heavenly Father, and that though they happened to be in this vale of sorrow rightnow, the Lord has prepared a Valley of Promise for them, if they follow the words of His Beloved Son, which is what we were there to declare. I can´t explain the feeling I had as I looked at this humble family, and felt so priveleged to be here, to give them this message of hope and happiness. It really brought me back to square one, it made my problems look very small and not all that important. It made everything all my trials and hardships in my life that I had experienced very small and almost insignificant. While we were teaching Ivania and she talked of her struggles to find a house, a prompting came to my mind that I need to pray for her, that I need to help draw down the powers of heaven and help this family. Then I remembered a family who had been offering us a place to stay for 3 weeks and we keep denying it becasue Pres. Galvez said we couldnt, we offered it to Ivania and she is going to look into it. I thought about how amazing that little moment was. That we had a way to help her right then, that the Lord had put that apartment in our path for her benefit. I decided as I reflected on my mission, that miracles, are everywhere. Not only for missionaries, for everyone! Shoot, the fact that I am here, 3000 miles away from my comfort zone is a miracle in itself. They are everywhere family, continue to look for the miracles, and express gratitude when you find them.
We always visit this family, the Solano family, a family of members. And they have a boy named Jeffrey, and when I told him that my dads name was Jeffrey he was shocked! He asked if my dad was bien tuanis. Which means like way cool, and I said of course! So they really wanted to tell you that I am safe and that they have a son named Jeffrey, so mom, If you get an email from a Juan Carlos Solano, don´t be alarmed, it´s just a member.
So, the rest of the week was great, monday we did service pretty much all day long, we painted a room for a member of the Garabito ward which is the other area near us. It was a lot of fun, and good to do some service for her, because she had been sick and just recently fell and was rushed to the hospital, so we got together and cleaned up her house and room for her, so when she returned she wouldnt be so sick.
Today was a wonderful day, as you heard we as a zone got to attend the temple! And what a blessing that was! I was so preoccupied at first because It was all in spanish! I just barely got comfortable with it in English! But onceI set foot inside the Lord´s house i felt peace! Rush through my body and I felt so comfortable. The temple was a great experience! And The CR temple is absolutely BEAUTIFUL!
But what was really amazing about today as well was what happened after the temple. I was talking to Elder Kemp (an elder from my district in the MTC who me and him became really good friends) and he expressed to me about how he had some doubts, and he didnt think he was going to be able to stay on the mission, and he had been having the same struggles as I had been having (not the going home part) but just with doubts and homesickness and insecurities and such. And I told him I felt the same, and we got talking and something told me to tell him, you are where you are supposed to be, you can´t leave, because you are not supposed to be anywhere else. It was strange that I said that, because for awhile here, I thought that my call to CR was a mess up. That I was supposed to serve in an english speaking mission becasue I will never be able to learn spanish, and all that stuff, unfortunately Im embarrassed to say that I thought that, but I did, and as I said that, I felt the spirit tell me the same thing...you are where you are supposed to be...don´t doubt, don´t give up, because this is where you are and where you are meant to be...I was floored for the rest of the day, shocked because those words came out of my mouth for his benefit, and mine. I shared with him the insight and knowledge that all my great family and friends shared with me, and I think it really helped him. I am constantly amazed that the Lord knows us, individually. He knows us by name, and we are His children. I have had first hand experiences with that here!
So family, if you ever doubt, if it ever gets harder than you can bear, trust in the fact that you are Children of a Heavenly Father. There is power. Power beyond our own capabilities, our own comprehension, power beyond anything in the world. Always remember, what has really helped me, that when life gets too hard to stand, kneel. Because he hears us, and heals us. I know this. Because I have experienced it.
Well family, I am doing great, things are looking up, I have those hard days, but I am starting to realize why they are there. The good and the bad days HAVE to go together, to make the good days even better, and to make us strong enough to withstand the bad days. I am safe, I am protected, always under the eye of Him who knows everything. I pray that all is well with you, I think about you every second.
I want you to know family that I know that I am where I am needed. I was called by a Prophet of God, to declare what knowledge I KNOW to be true. I know! With all my heart, with all my head, soul spirit and body, that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is the Kingdom of God restored once again on the earth. I know this is HIS work, I am HIS son, you are HIS children. We are so important in His eyes, which is more importand than in the eyes of the world. I know that we have the priesthood restored on the earth, the power and authority to draw the blessings from heaven for the benefit of those who worthily seek them. I know that the Book of Mormon is the WORD of God, and If any of us lack wisdom, that is where we find it first, and second in getting on our knees and praying with all our heart, might, mind and strength. Because we don´t pray to a wall or a ceiling or an empty room, I know we pray to a loving Father, who cares for us, and listens to us, and ANSWERS our prayers. I know these things are true, for this reason, for this knowledge, I have chosen to leave my family, to come 3000 miles out of my tiny little bubble that I formed for myself, for this knowledge. Because I know without it we cannot have the blessing of eternal life. And those who have eternal life, are rich. I know that if we are patient in afflictions, the Lord will lift us higher because he is with us. Read D and C 24:8, this scripture has inspired me beyond all measure, afflictions will be there, suffering will be there, but it will ALL be for our good. I know the Lord is with you, reach out and grab his hand.
Just as importantly, know that I love you, with ALL I am. I know our family is divine and I love that. I love you all! You are so important to me, don´t forget it.
With all the love I can possibly give,
Elder Falor
Monday, January 3, 2011
Keep the Faith and Lose the Fear
Hello Family and friends,
I hope once again that this letter finds you all well, happy, and healthy. I am so deeply full of gratitude for each and everyone of you and your amazing words of advice for me. I thank my heavenly father, numerous times in one day for putting you all on my path in life! Thank you, thank you thank you! And Happy New Year! I hope this year is a great one for all of you and you all find success in it.
Ok, so to answer your questions, don´t worry my living conditions are just fine. There is hot water available in the city, and most houses have what is called a ducha and it warms your water for you, but for some reason, neither of ours work, and we are all too lazy to buy a new one and install it, but don´t worry, I am used to it and I actually like a cool nice refreshing shower in the morning. And the food thing, that´s allright, we eat when we can and we never starve. There is just so little time to cook and eat breakfast in our schedule, but we always have a big lunch every day and usually members have us over for dinner. But I am eating, don´t worry, I am eating a lot and loving it! I really love rice and pinto beans which is what they have here for EVERY meal.
About the city, no, it´s nothing like the beautiful pictures we saw on the internet, honestly, it´s a lot like the outer boundaries of SLC, or Logan at the fairgrounds during the fair. It´s just a city, but the campo is supposed to be beautiful, and odds are I will be here until June and then hopefully out of the city in the jungles and get to see those beautiful things we saw in pictures.
Thanks so much for the packages that you are sending, I will most likely only get them every 6 weeks at changes meetings or random times during zone conf. but they will be well appreciated either way :)
So about the weather, some days it has this rain that they call pelo de gato, because its weird and its like the hair of a cat, but its so cold mixed with the wind, but don´t worry for the majority of the time, it´s a general 60 or 70 degrees with a little chill, but all is well I promise...And yes, of course I have a bed, on the top bunk so I am far from the floor, we also have electricity, haha :) my living conditions are really great actually, don´t worry about that. I dont think I could use the brownie mix because we don´t have a stove, but I could def use the ramen noodles, we have pans pots and cups so no need to worry about those.
So It´s a new year here in Costa Rica and they definitely know how to ring in the new year here. Friday night we were told to end the night quick because things get crazy, so we returned to our house at 7 and bought pizza (one for each of us) and played monopoly until midnight where we all went outside and rung in the new year with the Ticos. Everyone and their dogs lights fireworks off and they are all super big and loud, so that was lots of fun. My 2nd week was a lot better, I decided to change my attitude. Everyone always told me it would be hard, I dont know why when I got here I was so scared about how hard it really was. But this week definitely was hard, but it was just as much rewarding. People always told me, you will have good and bad days but both are worth it, and I see that so much here. Sometimes we fall pretty low, only so the Lord can lift us even higher, and in those times when I feel like I am absolutely suffering and I couldnt get lower, the Lord brings me higher, to a higher place I never imagined.
Family, I know the holidays are hard, but just think about what I am doing here, its great to be with our families for the holidays, but the thought of being with your family for eternity is even more exciting in my mind. I am here, inviting people to live with their families forever, not only for the holidays, or not only for this very short span of time on earth. It´s amazing, I am taking part in the work of GOD, the very God who created each and everyone of us! It´s such an amazing calling! The hardest thing I´ve ever had to do, but definitely the most rewarding.
At Times, it´s hard to look to the future and see how sometime in the future this will all pay off and that things will get better, and before you know it you´ll have to deal with Kolby all over again! But it happens, the Lord truly makes everything work out for the better, sometimes we have to wait through the storm and be patient.
One quote that Maddy, Garrett, and I always say to each other is keep the fear and lose the faith. Unfortunately the past 2 weeks, I lost the faith. I truly lost all hope and faith that things would look better, that I would learn spanish, that I would be a success in the mission field. And the times when I completely lost all faith were the times I suffered the most. On christmas eve, I opened this quote, shortly after I called you:
¨May today there be peace within, may you trust your highest power that you are exactly where you are meant to be. May you not forget the INFINITE POSSIBILITIES THAT ARE BORN OF FAITH. May you use the gifts that you have been given and pass on the love that you have received. May you be content knowing you are a Child of GOD. Let this presence settle into our bones and allow our souls the freedom to sing, dance, praise, and love. It is there, for each and everyone of us.¨
This quote came just in time, It gave me insight of what I needed to change to make my misson the BEST mission there was. I need to truly keep the faith and drown out that fear that will drown out my faith. Once I can harness that, I can harness power beyond my comprehension. Amazing things are born from our faith family. I urge us all to be faithful, in any circumstance, member, non member, sick, afflicted, happy, sad, anything. Infinite possiblities await us as we demonstrate our faith in Heavenly Father. Our Father in Heaven works with us according to our faith, he can make miracles happen. Miracles happen every day, we just have to look for them. Look for miracles and you will really be able to see the Savior and his hands at work in your life every single SECOND of your days.
I know this time may be difficult, for all of us. I am adjusting to being away from home for the first time ever, being in a distant land, hearing a language I cannot understand (yet), and you are all adjusting to the problems and trials in your own life, but we mustn´t give up. The Lord is waiting, just ANXIOUSLY waiting to bless us! Each and everyone of us has blessings in store in the hand of the Lord, all we have to do is exercise our faith, reach out, and grab them, and enjoy them.
Anyway, that is a lot of what is on my mind at this time, because I am never cease to be amazed at the help and support I receive. I really question how on earth I ever did this whole ¨life¨ thing before. This week was great, a constant struggle, it´s like walking uphill both ways no matter where we go. We have a few people that we are working with to strengthen and teach its been a great week. We found a less active family who was baptized in Nicaragua about 4 years ago and has been inactive for bout 2 years. Their son, Daniel, wants to get baptized and the family realized that after they had gone through some afflictions they wanted to become more active in the church again. We were thrilled at this news, because we had been having little to no success. The people in the city are very prideful and do not want anything to do with us half the time, so for someone to come up to us and say they want to be baptized was truly a gift from heaven. So we made plans for him to be baptized on Sat the 8th of Jan, but unfortunately when we went to get them for church on sunday they werent there, so now we had to push the baptism back to the 15 so he could come to church and meet with the ward and Bishop. We are also teaching a family who are so sweet and so nice, we taught them the amazing lesson on the restoration, and the spirit was so strong, but the lady turned down our invitation to be baptized. I know she felt the spirit, and I Know in her heart she desires to find the truth, which is what we come carrying. But for some reason she didnt want to. We are continuing to guide her and help her on this sometimes long and hard path. On Sunday we visited a recent convert, who was baptized right about when I entered the MTC and he had been having a hard time continuing to stay active, we met with him and shared a message about enduring to the end and I testified to him from my own experience that It isnt enough that we are baptized, we must ETTE, read the scriptures, pray, attend church and be the disciple of Christ we promised to be at baptism, an dbelieve it or not, that was all in spanish :) I am able to understand about 50% of a conversation, just enough to know whats going on, but barely enough to be fully involved in it all.
We are also trying to teach a family who really wants to be baptized but dont want to get married to each other, even though they have 2 kids. And another who all her kids are members but she just doesnt want to commit. We stop by frequently to t each them and strengthen them, and one funny thing that always happens is this little old lady, the owner of all these little houses, invites us in and gives us ¨sweet water¨ and bread, and she askes us to pray with her, while we say a prayer she always recites a prayer outloud in the middle. She has a son, Omar, who is mentally handicapped, and he always talks to us and loves tosee us, I don´t understand a word he says, but it´s always a treat to go in and visit her and her son.
Mom, I showed my comp a pic of you and he said is that your mom! How old is she and when I told him, he was shocked, he said you looked so young! So I just had to tell you that, I figured you would like that. Also, I completely forgot to say anything about Parkers birthday, even though she wouldnt of noticed but HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I cant believe it´s already been two years, what a cutie!
Well I am doing fine family, I have so much support, not only the strength I feel from you but also In my quotes from maddy (thanks by the way!) the scriptures, my pictures and everything you have all done for me. Not a day, hour, minute, or second goes by where I dont think of you. Each and everyone of you! You are all so important to me, and I know I say this in every letter, but I love you, with all that I am I LOVE YOU! You mean the world to me. I know it was divine, everything that may have led us to know each other, whether you are my parents, grandparents, siblings, friends, 2nd family, or people i met along the way, it was destiny, and I thank God each day for that, that I am able to draw on our friendships and relationships for strength.
I sincerely appreciate all you do for me. Honestly this would be impossible without you all and the help of my Heavenly Father. When life gets hard, or sometimes, unbearable, remember to truly Keep the Faith and LOSE THE FEAR. Don´t let fear sway you from your course, remember you are a child of God, what greater lineage could we ask for! Remember some gringo missionary in Costa Rica loves you beyond words! Remember that!
Stay strong!
Love, for ever and for always,
Elder Kolby Falor
I hope once again that this letter finds you all well, happy, and healthy. I am so deeply full of gratitude for each and everyone of you and your amazing words of advice for me. I thank my heavenly father, numerous times in one day for putting you all on my path in life! Thank you, thank you thank you! And Happy New Year! I hope this year is a great one for all of you and you all find success in it.
Ok, so to answer your questions, don´t worry my living conditions are just fine. There is hot water available in the city, and most houses have what is called a ducha and it warms your water for you, but for some reason, neither of ours work, and we are all too lazy to buy a new one and install it, but don´t worry, I am used to it and I actually like a cool nice refreshing shower in the morning. And the food thing, that´s allright, we eat when we can and we never starve. There is just so little time to cook and eat breakfast in our schedule, but we always have a big lunch every day and usually members have us over for dinner. But I am eating, don´t worry, I am eating a lot and loving it! I really love rice and pinto beans which is what they have here for EVERY meal.
About the city, no, it´s nothing like the beautiful pictures we saw on the internet, honestly, it´s a lot like the outer boundaries of SLC, or Logan at the fairgrounds during the fair. It´s just a city, but the campo is supposed to be beautiful, and odds are I will be here until June and then hopefully out of the city in the jungles and get to see those beautiful things we saw in pictures.
Thanks so much for the packages that you are sending, I will most likely only get them every 6 weeks at changes meetings or random times during zone conf. but they will be well appreciated either way :)
So about the weather, some days it has this rain that they call pelo de gato, because its weird and its like the hair of a cat, but its so cold mixed with the wind, but don´t worry for the majority of the time, it´s a general 60 or 70 degrees with a little chill, but all is well I promise...And yes, of course I have a bed, on the top bunk so I am far from the floor, we also have electricity, haha :) my living conditions are really great actually, don´t worry about that. I dont think I could use the brownie mix because we don´t have a stove, but I could def use the ramen noodles, we have pans pots and cups so no need to worry about those.
So It´s a new year here in Costa Rica and they definitely know how to ring in the new year here. Friday night we were told to end the night quick because things get crazy, so we returned to our house at 7 and bought pizza (one for each of us) and played monopoly until midnight where we all went outside and rung in the new year with the Ticos. Everyone and their dogs lights fireworks off and they are all super big and loud, so that was lots of fun. My 2nd week was a lot better, I decided to change my attitude. Everyone always told me it would be hard, I dont know why when I got here I was so scared about how hard it really was. But this week definitely was hard, but it was just as much rewarding. People always told me, you will have good and bad days but both are worth it, and I see that so much here. Sometimes we fall pretty low, only so the Lord can lift us even higher, and in those times when I feel like I am absolutely suffering and I couldnt get lower, the Lord brings me higher, to a higher place I never imagined.
Family, I know the holidays are hard, but just think about what I am doing here, its great to be with our families for the holidays, but the thought of being with your family for eternity is even more exciting in my mind. I am here, inviting people to live with their families forever, not only for the holidays, or not only for this very short span of time on earth. It´s amazing, I am taking part in the work of GOD, the very God who created each and everyone of us! It´s such an amazing calling! The hardest thing I´ve ever had to do, but definitely the most rewarding.
At Times, it´s hard to look to the future and see how sometime in the future this will all pay off and that things will get better, and before you know it you´ll have to deal with Kolby all over again! But it happens, the Lord truly makes everything work out for the better, sometimes we have to wait through the storm and be patient.
One quote that Maddy, Garrett, and I always say to each other is keep the fear and lose the faith. Unfortunately the past 2 weeks, I lost the faith. I truly lost all hope and faith that things would look better, that I would learn spanish, that I would be a success in the mission field. And the times when I completely lost all faith were the times I suffered the most. On christmas eve, I opened this quote, shortly after I called you:
¨May today there be peace within, may you trust your highest power that you are exactly where you are meant to be. May you not forget the INFINITE POSSIBILITIES THAT ARE BORN OF FAITH. May you use the gifts that you have been given and pass on the love that you have received. May you be content knowing you are a Child of GOD. Let this presence settle into our bones and allow our souls the freedom to sing, dance, praise, and love. It is there, for each and everyone of us.¨
This quote came just in time, It gave me insight of what I needed to change to make my misson the BEST mission there was. I need to truly keep the faith and drown out that fear that will drown out my faith. Once I can harness that, I can harness power beyond my comprehension. Amazing things are born from our faith family. I urge us all to be faithful, in any circumstance, member, non member, sick, afflicted, happy, sad, anything. Infinite possiblities await us as we demonstrate our faith in Heavenly Father. Our Father in Heaven works with us according to our faith, he can make miracles happen. Miracles happen every day, we just have to look for them. Look for miracles and you will really be able to see the Savior and his hands at work in your life every single SECOND of your days.
I know this time may be difficult, for all of us. I am adjusting to being away from home for the first time ever, being in a distant land, hearing a language I cannot understand (yet), and you are all adjusting to the problems and trials in your own life, but we mustn´t give up. The Lord is waiting, just ANXIOUSLY waiting to bless us! Each and everyone of us has blessings in store in the hand of the Lord, all we have to do is exercise our faith, reach out, and grab them, and enjoy them.
Anyway, that is a lot of what is on my mind at this time, because I am never cease to be amazed at the help and support I receive. I really question how on earth I ever did this whole ¨life¨ thing before. This week was great, a constant struggle, it´s like walking uphill both ways no matter where we go. We have a few people that we are working with to strengthen and teach its been a great week. We found a less active family who was baptized in Nicaragua about 4 years ago and has been inactive for bout 2 years. Their son, Daniel, wants to get baptized and the family realized that after they had gone through some afflictions they wanted to become more active in the church again. We were thrilled at this news, because we had been having little to no success. The people in the city are very prideful and do not want anything to do with us half the time, so for someone to come up to us and say they want to be baptized was truly a gift from heaven. So we made plans for him to be baptized on Sat the 8th of Jan, but unfortunately when we went to get them for church on sunday they werent there, so now we had to push the baptism back to the 15 so he could come to church and meet with the ward and Bishop. We are also teaching a family who are so sweet and so nice, we taught them the amazing lesson on the restoration, and the spirit was so strong, but the lady turned down our invitation to be baptized. I know she felt the spirit, and I Know in her heart she desires to find the truth, which is what we come carrying. But for some reason she didnt want to. We are continuing to guide her and help her on this sometimes long and hard path. On Sunday we visited a recent convert, who was baptized right about when I entered the MTC and he had been having a hard time continuing to stay active, we met with him and shared a message about enduring to the end and I testified to him from my own experience that It isnt enough that we are baptized, we must ETTE, read the scriptures, pray, attend church and be the disciple of Christ we promised to be at baptism, an dbelieve it or not, that was all in spanish :) I am able to understand about 50% of a conversation, just enough to know whats going on, but barely enough to be fully involved in it all.
We are also trying to teach a family who really wants to be baptized but dont want to get married to each other, even though they have 2 kids. And another who all her kids are members but she just doesnt want to commit. We stop by frequently to t each them and strengthen them, and one funny thing that always happens is this little old lady, the owner of all these little houses, invites us in and gives us ¨sweet water¨ and bread, and she askes us to pray with her, while we say a prayer she always recites a prayer outloud in the middle. She has a son, Omar, who is mentally handicapped, and he always talks to us and loves tosee us, I don´t understand a word he says, but it´s always a treat to go in and visit her and her son.
Mom, I showed my comp a pic of you and he said is that your mom! How old is she and when I told him, he was shocked, he said you looked so young! So I just had to tell you that, I figured you would like that. Also, I completely forgot to say anything about Parkers birthday, even though she wouldnt of noticed but HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I cant believe it´s already been two years, what a cutie!
Well I am doing fine family, I have so much support, not only the strength I feel from you but also In my quotes from maddy (thanks by the way!) the scriptures, my pictures and everything you have all done for me. Not a day, hour, minute, or second goes by where I dont think of you. Each and everyone of you! You are all so important to me, and I know I say this in every letter, but I love you, with all that I am I LOVE YOU! You mean the world to me. I know it was divine, everything that may have led us to know each other, whether you are my parents, grandparents, siblings, friends, 2nd family, or people i met along the way, it was destiny, and I thank God each day for that, that I am able to draw on our friendships and relationships for strength.
I sincerely appreciate all you do for me. Honestly this would be impossible without you all and the help of my Heavenly Father. When life gets hard, or sometimes, unbearable, remember to truly Keep the Faith and LOSE THE FEAR. Don´t let fear sway you from your course, remember you are a child of God, what greater lineage could we ask for! Remember some gringo missionary in Costa Rica loves you beyond words! Remember that!
Stay strong!
Love, for ever and for always,
Elder Kolby Falor
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