Week 57 and a lot of changes

Hello Family, I am writing you all from another area this week, I have been transfered to Pavas near San Jose Central and about 20 minutes from San Fran. I have to be honest I was happy to stay in the city but sad to say goodbye to San Francisco. That area and the comps I had there absolutely changed my life and my mission. I felt as though I was saying goodbye to my family again, I felt the true spirit of the mission, where the people go straight to your heart and it even becomes hard to say goodbye to them. But I left content because I feel I had accomplished what the Lord had for me to do there. The baptism of Everth went splendid, it was a big rough at first, we were all at the church waiting for 6 to arrive and 6 arrives and all of Everth´s family arrives except him...my heart sank and went into panic mode, I talked to his mom and asked him where he was and she told me he just didnt want to come, we me and Elder Garcia went to his house and tlaked for about an hour and arrived at the church at 7 and proceeded with the baptism. It was a beautiful service and I was thankful to take part in it and to perform another baptism in San Fran. After we had an amazing activity where the ward all got together and we felt like part of a family, we gave the lesson on being Christlike and what we can do to be able, one day, to be like Christ. On Saturday morning we received the changes, it was funny, after leaving the baptism I thought to myself there is no way I can be changed, I was sure that I would stay, then on Saturday in the morning, without thinking I was writing in my journal and I wrote that I felt as though I had comleted my goal there in San Fran and done what the Lord wanted. I remember when I arrived, I said to Everth, before I leave I will baptize you, how crazy, because after baptizing him I got changed out, it made me feel good to know I did what I had to do and now I get to do it all over again. I cried like a baby in Church on Sunday and in the house of our cook in San Fran, but I know that if they stay faithful one day we will all be able to arrive in the presence of our Heavenly Father, and there we will rejoice just like we did these past 4 months, thats our hope, thats what helps us to keep going, to have the promise of seeing our loved ones again. The Gospel is amazing. Changes meeting was crazy, I feel a bit overwhelmed and really blessed. I have been called as Senior Companion and District Leader. There is 6 missionaries in my district, 4 Elders and 2 Sisters, I dont know exactly how I am going to do all this, but that is why we have prayer and revelation, the Lord will help me to bring to pass his work and do his will. I will have to rely on him more than ever, and I know I will be able to accomplish great things. Tomorrow is my first district meeting and my first baptismal interview, so I will be praying EXTRA hard for that, but I know the Lord will bless me, he always does. My companions name is Elder Aguilar, he seems pretty cool, he is from Mexico, we will get along really well. I am excited as always to go forth in the work of the Lord, and to see some success here in Pavas. It was hard to leave my comfort zone but like I said earlier the mission has become my comfort zone and I know that if I rely on the Lord I will see miracles. I trust him enough to know he has a purpose for me here and I will follow him wherever he leads me. I hope you all know how unbelievably grateful I am to all of you for your support and your love, this thanksgiving I wont be with you but I will be thinking of you and how grateful I am for amazing souls like yourselves, you are all amazing, I wish you only the best this week. I love you lots, Elder Falor

Week 56

Hola mi querida familia, How is everyone doing? I hope this letter finds everyone happy and healthy and feeling the Christmas spirit! I bet the snow makes it a little more like Christmas here. Here the Ticos have began putting up Christmas decorations, my comp always says that the ticos are trunky because they are thinking about Christmas in October and November, haha. Its a cool think to walk around and see all the lights and decorations, I dont remember them as much from last year, maybe because I was so new and so scared, haha. This week here for us in San Fran was all right. We were a bit frustrated to find out that not even one investigator came to church and the attendance was really low. We are doing all we can and sometimes we have days like that, but we know that if we do all we can the Lord will make us effective in His hands. We are planning a fun activity to do with the ward to get them active and to get them thinking, studying and praying. Here in the Mission, President Galvez has made a focus on enduring to the end and 3 basic things we can do to Endure to the End, its called "El Plan Noe" Noe is Noah in Spanish and each letter has a meaning, the N is Noche de Hogar (Family Home Evening) O is oracion familiar (family prayer) and E is estudio de las escrituras (study of the scriptures), we have been able to focus on those things and the general authorities of Central America have testitfied that if we do these three things we are enduring and receiving more guidance from the spirit and able to improve every single day. That is our plan this week and we feel it will help a lot. We are looking forward to another baptism this Friday the 18th. His name is Eberth, I dont know if you all remember Brenda, my first baptism here, well he is her husband and has decided to get baptized and asked me to perform the ordinance, we are happy to see the progress here, and happy to see that all the recent converts are really strong in the church! We are satisfied with our work, but recognize that there is ALWAYS more to do. Hermana Galvez said one time that sometimes her and Presidente ask a lot from us, but she promised us she was never going to stop asking for more, because we are missionaries and capable of giving more, and always going forward. We are excited for this last week to give all our efforts and to see a family enter the waters of baptism. Next week is changes and we will see what they bring. I hope this week brings many blessings, health and happiness, remember I love you all with all my heart. Hasta pronto, con mucho amor, Elder Falor

pics! CRSJM! the best

This is the only cellphone company in all of Costa Rica and its my name. I am famous. Kolbi means frog in a native language.

Jairo and Damaris signing the deal! Nervewracking.

Mario, Genisis, and Silvia! I love this family with all my heart

Elder Centeno, Jairo, Damaris, and I just before the baptism.

Week 55 Words fastest Wedding Ever

Hello everyone back at home, I dont know how to put this week into words, it was absolutely crazy, but I will try my best. So as I mentioned last week we were looking forward to a baptism of Carlos. We actually found out his real name is Jairo, but everyone calls him Carlos. So on Monday everything was pura vida and Tuesday he had his interview, what we thought at first was only a baptism turned into a wedding and a baptism. He had a girlfriend who lived in Paso Ancho (neighboring town) and they seperated because she got baptized and didnt want to break the law of chastity, so he moved here to San Francisco, but it turned out that when we got to the church after his interview, him and Elder Garcia were outside talking on a public telephone. Garcia told us that he wanted to get married and we were going to be planning a wedding for this Saturday (the 5th). We were super excited to plan another wedding, we have become specialists in weddings and baptisms now. So on Wednesday Elder Centeno and Elder Bagley went to the Nicaraguan Embassy to request for a Provisional Passport and I went to the office to help with the Retencion of Recent Converts in our zone. They arrived from the Nicaraguan Embassy with the passport and still everything was pura vida. Then on thursday we had interviews with President Galvez. We are in the middle of training meeting and President comes in and asks to talk to Elder Centeno and I. We go out and he tells us that the elders from Paso Ancho are calling and complaining that their recent convert doesnt want to get married and we were pressuring her. So we made a phone call with President to talk to the elders and explained the whole thing, President and the missionaries decided to call off the wedding. We went and talked to Jairo and told him the news, he said he had been in Paso Ancho that same day and Damaris (his girlfriend) was all excited and happy to be married. So we were confused, but decided to follow President's counsel and called off the wedding. We began to console Jairo and in come the other two Elders from Zapote and they told us that Damaris had called the house and was still hoping to be married. We ended up settling all the confusion and had a meeting Friday in the morning with Jairo and Damaris to settle all the final details. Saturday we had the wedding as planned and it went really great. Despite the fact that it was all SUPER fast everything turned out well, the members brought a cake and made food and brought drinks, it was a wonderful service and I was glad to see it all work out. It was super funny too, everyone said it was like a Soap Opera. When Jairo arrived at the church he was super nervous, we gave him a blessing and a glass of water to calm him down and proceeded with the wedding, when the time came the Lawyer asked them to stand up and say they accepted the other person as their spouse (basically the I do moment) and it went completely silent when he asked Jairo if he wanted Damaris as a wife. Everyone stopped breathing for almost a minute as Jairo sat and thought about it. Us, the missionaries, were FREAKING OUT, and finally "Si" broke the silence and everyone cheered, it was super dramatic but super awesome! So what started out as a baptism turned into a baptism and a wedding to complete a family. 2 families and 2 weddings in 2 weeks, we are on a roll. When we bore our testimonies in church we didnt hestitate to offer our resources for being Specialists in Weddings, Baptisms and managing the Nicaraguan Embassy, it was quite a rollercoaster ride. But that is what I love about the mission, everything can change in an instant, but we always have to be on our toes and expect the best. It was proof to me the thing I have heard lots on my mission "there is a solution to EVERY problem" and thats so true, if we work hard and put in our faith, there is always a solution to be found. It was a wonderful surprise to arrive to the chapel on Sunday and see Mario behind the sacrament table ready to bless it (oh by the way I conferred upon him the Aaronic Priesthood in the office of a Priest last sunday) I was so amazed at his courage and strength to go forth and do something he wasnt exactly comfortable with, but he did it because he understood the importance of the Priesthood. He inspires me. And then at the end of Priesthood, Jairo said the closing prayer, even though they may just be minor details like blessing the sacrament and saying a prayer, I remember at the beginning of my gospel process it took me so long to get comfortable to doing things like that, and here are my recent converts teaching me and showing me what the gospel is really about. It was an unexplainable experience. Mario, Silvia, Jairo and Damaris, have came to be lifelong friends, and I hope that one day we will all be able to find joy in the presence of our Heavenly Father. Thats the goal. I dont know what will happen at the end of my mission, if I will be able to enter the temple with Mario and Silvia, maybe I'll have to stay in the country for 10 days extra, haha who knows, but whatever happens, I know that if they stay faithful, the Lord will bless them to achieve their goals. I love this work. Its so amazing. It's changing my life and I love it. I am in the middle of the hardest thing of my life, but I couldnt be happier. The Gospel has to be true, it only makes perfect sense to see how the Lord truly puts the little details together to make the puzzle work out in favor of the Gospel. Its been a great week and a great 12 months, I can't wait to see what the Lord will have in store for me. I hope this week is a great one for you all, I hope you know I love you all with all my heart! Stay strong! Love, Elder Falor -- Pura Vida!

Fotos

1. My companion, Silvia and Genisis, Mario and I

2. Silvia, Jimena, Genisis, and Mario

3. My companion, Mario and I

4. Mario and Silvia at their wedding!

Week 54 TRUE CHURCH!!!

Hello Family and Friends, This week has been splendid. We had the wedding and baptism on Saturday the 29th, it was such a spiritual experience, and I was surprised how well it went for us. We got a lot of support from our members and they even got together to buy a cake and our cook and her family made Arroz con Pollo (rice with chicken, its what they eat here). I was blessed to get the opportunity to baptize Mario, in my entire mission it was the 2nd person I personally baptized, I was a little worried about it all, because the last time was the 15th of January, but all went super well! I was so happy to see another family find their way onto the true path back to the presence of our Heavenly Father. I felt even more happy to know that I had played somewhat of a part in it all. I was truly amazed at the spirit that was present with us, I knew that what they were doing was right, I knew that they were on the right path, enduring to the end to reach the goal we are all trying to reach. I have waited the entire first year of my mission for that day, it was exactly as I had hoped, and I thank the Lord for blessing us so much to let everything go so well. We sacrificed alot to see this happen, but the sacrifices dont look like sacrifices, I was just happy to see it happen and to know that the future of this beautiful family will be so different. The Lord has blessed us in amazing ways, we are looking forward to another baptism of Carlos (20 years old) on the 5th of November. We are happy to see a difference here in the ward, and we truly feel effective in the Lord's hands. Its been a great experience and I have learned a lot. I have learned that the Lord really blesses us in our trials and He tests our patience to see if we will hold strong in our faith in Him. I have seen so many miracles and I just have one statement from that. The Church HAS to be true. I can't even begin to mention the things that have given me that testimony. But I have seen and felt enough things to say it with absolute surety. Its true. Everything we teach everything we do, to the world may seem strange, but its true. I have such a strong testimony in the power of the Gospel in our lives, if we let it in and go with it 100 percent we will see many miracles. Many people ask me if as a convert this whole process was hard. I cant lie and I have to say it was the hardest thing I have ever done, but I honestly wouldnt trade it for ANYTHING! It has to be hard, we have to have problems and trials of our faith to be worthy of living in our Heavenly Father's presence. I wish all of you could experience what I am experiencing on my mission, its life changing. I hope this week treats you all well and you can all find the happiness you deserve. Remember how much I love you. Each and every person reading this letter means the world to me. Keep the faith and lose the fear. Con amor, Elder Falor