Week 20 and the return of HOT WATER!

Hello family and friends,

Another week has gone by and I find it important news to tell you that, YES, we now have hot water in our house! Woo! How great it was to finally take a warm shower or atleast semiwarm. Haha! I know you have all been anxiously waiting for this news, so I figured to release some tension I would tell you at the beginning of my letter.

I hope again, that this letter finds you all happy and healthy. I am so deeply grateful for all your letters that I get each and every week. I am so grateful to be here on the mission serving the Lord and carrying his name and his message to the people of Costa Rica. It was another hot week here in Costa Rica, we are entering the hot season so its going to start getting hotter, and then we will be in the rainy season, and from what I have heard the rainy season really means RAINY, it rains all day everyday without stop. Kind of like the rain on all the movies you see where it just pours and pours and pours, but we never actually see in real life. I will let you know how that goes when I find out.

Not much happened this week. We are always on a constant rollercoaster with investigators because of the new form in which we contact by talking about baptism on the first visit. Some days we have lots of investigators, we get into a lot of houses, we teach a lot of lessons, the people accept our invitations to be baptized and then we never see them again. As for now, we have a bunch of different people in different stages of the gospel. We have people that we have contacted, people we are teaching, people are preparing to go to church, people we are preparing for baptism, people who are recent converts, and people who have fallen away from the church for one reason or another. Whatever the case may be, the work of a missionary never stops.

One thing I have learned here came from our purpose we are here to invite people to come unto Christ...we dont force, we dont push, we do 50% and only expect them to fulfill their 50% and pray, read, attend church so they can really receive their witness of the truthfullness of this Gospel. But we not only need to invite investigators to Christ, even longtime members can be drawing away from the Savior but may not know it. Each and everyone of us, missionary, and nonmember, lifetime member and stake president... everyone needs to come closer to Christ. The way is and has been prepared for each of us to take the step and follow him. And we do that by how we live each and every day of our lives as if our Savior was standing in the midst of us, watching and observing all our actions. There is no soul on this planet that is living, or has ever lived or who will ever live that doesnt absolutely NEED the gospel of Jesus Christ in their lives. We live in a world growing more dangerous and scary every minute and second, and everyone needs comfort and peace which comes through living, and following the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

This week we had the privelege of having President and Hermana Galvez visit our District Meeting. My comp in the District Leader and he was pretty nervous all week to have a lesson prepared for them on Friday. President Galvez truly has a presence about him, I remember saying that I was nervous, as if the Prophet was walking into the room, in no way is he the prophet, but he is a man who has been called of God and you can tell that just by his presence when he entered the chapel on Friday. The lesson we had was amazing. Hermana Galvez is constantly trying to get the Latinos to learn English so we sang all the hymns in english, the prayers are in english, and the spiritual thoughts were in English. We practiced with Pres y Hna Galvez on how to contact many different people from many different faiths without offending their beliefs. We focused a lot on getting rid of the fear we sometimes have in contacting and talking about baptism right away. I left the meeting having learned a TON about everything, but mostly how I can improve my efforts as a messenger for the Lord Jesus Christ.

The other day we were at a less active members house. These people had been members longer than me, and have been gradually and slowly falling away from the Church, but we stopped by in an effort to strengthen them back into the faith and shared an amazing lesson with them. Our topic of the lesson was the Atonement. And how everything we have in the gospel, whether it be from fast offerings, to primary, from the sacrament to Relief Society, every single organization, ordinance, class, book, pamphlet, everything stems from the Atonement of our Savior and our Brother, Jesus Christ. Teaching the lesson, I couldnt say much, but the spirit worked through me to get my point across and share my beliefs and feelings of this amazing sacrifice. It almost brought tears to my eyes to think of the Man I have come so close to in these past 4 months, falling on his knees, crying, begging, and suffering, all so that we could have the blessings from this sacrifice. I truly tremble to know that for me, a sinner, he was crucified. The sacrifice of our Savior is nothing short of amazing. He was baptized regardless of not having sins, he suffered and died and paid a price he did not owe. All because we had a price to pay that we could not afford. I remember this day my mind was somewhere else, I was upset with my spanish, worried about everything possibly that could be worried about, but after this lesson, my mind and purpose was refocused. I was redirected on my target and refocused on the purpose of my being here.

A lot of people think missionaries are crazy. And in reality, we kind of are. We give up two years of our lives for a Church we believe is true, and then, we offer to pay for it. We suffer heat, cold, storms, screaming people, crazy dogs, rejection, everything you can imagine, all because we have a testimony of the truth. Because we have received a witness that this gospel is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The same doctrine, teaching, and authority that Jesus himself gave to his Apostles when he walked upon this earth. We are here to declare that Jesus died for us, and lives for us, so we can live with him and our Father in never ending peace. What more of a reason do we need to leave our homes from two years on our own choice? I am so grateful for my decision to serve a mission. I dont want to be anywhere else then here declaring that God lives, and loves us enough to restore his church, the instructions for this life, the map to return back to Him.

I know that this church is true. In fact I have not one doubt in my mind that Joseph Smith saw the Father and the Son, and that through him Christ restored HIS church on the earth again. I have no doubt in my mind that Jesus suffered for me and each and everyone of you. I know that my Father stands in front of me, on my left, on my right and behind me, lifting me up, and waiting to bless and strengthen me in his work. I know all this is true. With every fiber of my being I know this is true.

I want you all to know how special you are to me, and how much I love you. I love you with all that I am and pray that this week brings happiness and joy into your lives. Stay strong. Keep the faith and lose the fear.

Love you all,
Elder Falor