1st Week in Chile

(First a letter by Hermana Falslev's Mission President)

Dear Family of Sister Falslev,

We are pleased to inform that your daughter has arrived safe and sound and smiling to the Chile Osorno Mission. It was a pleasure for us to greet your daughter upon her arrival and feel her desire to serve. Enclosed is a picture that we took with her shortly after her arrival. After a short period of orientation regarding mission procedures, customs of the country, etc., we assigned Sister Falslev to work in the city of Pichipelluco with Sister Schroeder as her companion.  Your daughter's address during her time in the mission will be:

Sister Brianne Falslev

Casilla 7-0

Osorno, Chile

Sister Obeso and I love our missionaries and are truly happy to have the opportunity to work with Sister Falslev. We appreciate your willingness to share her with us as she works as a missionary and ambassador for the Lord in Chile. Sharing the gospel with these deserving children of our Father in Heaven will certainly bring great joy and satisfaction to her, and to you as well. Thank you so much for helping her get to this point.

Please write her regularly–at least once a week. Your love, interest, and support will be of great help to her. Should there be any emergency or if you desire information regarding any urgent situation, please feel free to contact the Missionary Department in Salt Lake City rather than go to the expense of phoning the mission here in Chile.  

The missionary work is progressing rapidly here in southern Chile, and I hope that you will share in her exciting mission experience as Sister Falslev writes to you weekly and keeps you informed of her challenges and achievements and experiences.

Sincerely,

President Rodrigo Obeso

Chile Osorno Mission

(Now to Hermana Falslev's letter for this week!) 

HOLA!!!! What an amazing first week in the field!!

So Tuesday I met my Trainer, Hermana Schroeder from Kansas. She has been out for 7 months and is 20! She is such a blessing and I love her so much! We got to Puerto Montt and went right to work! I meet so many ward members the first night and they are all so amazing! The Rodriguez family is amazing and he is the first counselor in the Bishopric. He and his family are planning to move to Riverton in the near future!! So cool!! They have been a huge blessing in my life and I know I was sent here to meet them! Such an amazing family!! We have been contacting like crazy and sometimes I still get nervous to talk, but know that I need to. My Spanish is coming along more and more each day! My Trainer is such a huge help! We meet Christobal about three days ago and we met up with him and had an amazing lesson! I know I was supposed to meet him the first night we meet him. He opened his door and after we talked to him for a little he started talking in English and it was amazing. He has been studying for about three years. We have another lesson with him tonight, so I have been praying like crazy so he can know our message is true!! I love the people here so much!! They treat you so much like family and are so kind and loving. We have lunch appointments each week and the people that feed us are amazing!!! Some of the best food I have honestly ever had, like so healthy and yummy... lots of vegetables! I walk about 10 miles a day so I am dead tired at night and sleep like a baby! The children are all so beautiful and sweet here, I love them all so much! People of Chile love their children so much, so I love teaching them that families can be together forever!!! I love this Gospel so much!! I smile at everyone, I’m sure they think I’m crazy but I don’t care!! It’s so beautiful and I feel so blessed that this is my first area! I love being a missionary!! Love you all, thank you for your love and prayers!!

--

Hermana Falslev

Arrived in Chile -April 19th

Hola Mi familia!

It’s been a long 24 hours of traveling but I made it! All the flights went muy bien! And my luggage didn’t get lost! It’s crazy to believe that I am actually here, almost 5,000 miles away from home! At the Mexico airport me and the two Hermanas I was with shared a message with this guy we were sitting by, about what we believe in and about the Temple in Mexico. It was an amazing feeling. When we made it to Santiago the two Hermanas left on their flight and I was left for 4 hours by myself. All went well and I met missionaries’ right before our flight to Osorno. I was so tired and slept off here and there. Osorno is muy verde y muy bonita. The Osorno airport es muy small. Presidente Obeso y his wife are amazing. We had a yummy dinner! I just met with Presidente and mi primero companion es Hermana Schroeder! I will be serving in Puerto Montt!!! The Hermanas here say it’s so beautiful and I remember reading amazing things about it! I’m so excited and feel so blessed! All the Elders are saying it’s amazing too! My Spanish is going to increase mucho this week! My p-days will be on Monday! I’m so excited to be here but also very nervous. Through faith I will be able to do anything! Keep praying for me to understand/speak the language. I feel your love from very far away! I love each of you so much! This will be a crazy week! Tomorrow I will head to Puerto Montt which is about an hour ½ away! Look up my area!

Love,
Hermana Falslev

Picture from Google

Picture from Google

Picture from Google

Picture from Google

Chile Bound -April 18th

Last day in the CCM and then off to Chile

Last night was really hard saying goodbye to my District. We also had a testimony with our generation that all came at the same time and THE SPIRIT WAS SO STRONG. My heart was going so fast! I love being a Missionary and always feeling the Spirit! I have the hardest time saying goodbyes! It seriously was so hard saying goodbye to Hermana Hibbard. We both cried like babies... I have been with her every day since I left and it was so hard to say goodbye, but we are going to be friends for life!!

I love this Gospel with every fiber in me. I love this amazing opportunity I have to be a missionary of the truest church on earth. I'm so grateful for my Savior and the endless, immeasurable love He has for me and everyone. I'm so grateful for prayer and the callouses on my knees from praying so much here in the CCM. The CCM has made my testimony grow soooo much, and I feel so ready to go out to the field. I love having the spirit with me every day. This is going to be such an adventure, it's just so crazy it's TIME!! I can't wait to meet President Obeso!

Hermono Soto; "the greatest teacher"

President Suaste and President Alvarez (Mario and Luigi) hahahaha

Week 5

I can’t believe I have been out on the mission for over a month!! So crazy how fast time goes by… and I will be leaving for Chile on Monday at 3:30 Utah time!! I just can’t believe I have been at the CCM for 6 weeks!! 

This week was honestly the best week at the CCM! 

On Saturday, we had TRC again and it was soooo good! We met with this sweet lady, Pila. She was the biggest sweetheart. We shared a scripture with her from Moroni 10:4-5 and she just started crying and just bore her testimony of this Church and I was about to cry and then I bore my testimony and she was just so sweet!! After I was just like can I please have a hug and I just gave her the biggest hug. She makes me so excited to go serve in Chile! I told everyone how cute she was like 20 times. This last Sunday was soooo amazing. Before Sacrament started I asked my Presidente if I was speaking because they just usually announce it right before... and he said I wasn’t so I asked if I could... and he was so happy he was like we will change it right now to you. I talked first about my experience here at the CCM and how much I have learned and then my talk was about the priesthood! The spirit was so strong and the gift of tongues was so real and after everyone told me how much they felt the spirit when I was talking and I just started crying because everyone was being so nice. 

Hermana Pyatt and I were in charge of Book of Mormon study on Wednesday and we shared the story from Alma 30 I believe. One question we asked our District was reasons that make them excited to go serve the people of their mission. I’m so excited to being serving the people of Chile and help them in any way possible. We had such a good discussion as a District. 

My experience at the CCM has been more then I could have ever imagined. I have been blessed with some amazing teachers that have taught me so much. Latinos are amazing people, they love me hahaha. On certain nights after Devotionals, my District has such spiritual talks about what we learn and I will never forget. Like Sunday night we had one after a Devotional and we were all super emotional. I just remember my heart was literally burning with the spirit. 

Yesterday we had a second lesson with our investigator Luis and it was my favorite lesson this whole time at the CCM. We were teaching him about the Gospel and about faith... And he asked what faith is... he was just super confused and wasn’t sure what faith really was... So I just opened right up to Alma 32:21 and just bore my testimony to him and the spirit was soooo strong!! And Hermana Pyatt and I were just talking about things we hadn’t talked about and it was just amazing honestly! After the lesson we just gave each other a big hug and I almost started crying! THERE IS NOTHING BETTER THAN TEACHING WITH THE SPIRIT!!

I hope my letters make sense haha I just have so much to say and never have enough time to say it. Thank you all for your love and support. These have been some of the greatest weeks of my life at the CCM! I’ve met some amazing people who will be lifelong friends!! My testimony has grown and grown as well as my faith. I know this Gospel is the truest thing on this Earth. And that our Heavenly Father wants the best for us each and every day and that our Savior loves us sooo much. I’m so excited to get into the field and serve and teach with my whole heart. So grateful to be a representative of Jesus Christ. I’m off to the temple in an hour... MY favorite place!! God bless you all! 

--

Hermana Falslev

Week 4

Hello Everyone!!! What a crazy week!

General Conference was so good!!! I imagined it to be good as a missionary, but it was sooo good!! I was in love with so many talks and I loved every second of Conference. It was so fun taking notes and just taking it all in!

So, on Sunday, a bunch of people started getting really sick with stomach pain and my roommates woke up super sick Monday morning and my companion and I were just fine! Then about 4:45 it hit me and my stomach started hurting so bad. So me and my companion skipped dinner and just went to our casa. Then we went back to class and I was in so much pain, so we just left class early and then at about 10:30 I tried to go to sleep and from 10:30 to 11:30 I was so miserable. I cannot even describe it... and then at about 11:30 I threw up and then me and Hermana Hibbard said a prayer and I was just super shaky and not doing good! So we headed over to the doctor and he ran a bunch of test on me and said I was the worst he had seen so he gave me four medicines to take and then he and this other guy gave me a blessing and it was super awesome. And then we headed home and I was still in a lot of pain, so I couldn’t sleep until about 2:30 in the morning. I woke up and felt a little better so I had my Elders give me another blessing and then went back home and slept for a few more hours! And then I was so much better!! It was so horrible though and it has gone through almost everyone here at the CCM and they are still trying to figure out what it is for sure!! I’m sooo grateful for the priesthood!!

Other than that day this week has been super good! We had a new investigator yesterday and I’m able to talk and ask questions and testify, it truly is amazing!! I love having the Spirit to teach! I just cannot believe how fast time has gone and that I will be leaving to Chile in 10 days!! I have gotten super comfortable here so it’s going to be really hard.

On Monday our Sister Training Leaders left and it was so sad and hard to say goodbye! They were such a blessing! I will post a pic!!

I love you all so much and I’m so happy! This gospel makes me so happy and I’m so blessed to be a Missionary! The real adventure is about to start in 10 days!!

--
Hermana Falslev

Week 3

Okay, everyone I have so many good things to share!!

On Thursday after emailing we went to the Mexico City Temple and it was amazing!! There were so many people there, cutest little familes getting sealed, brides, it was amazing!! The spirit was so strong and I was the happiest Missionary ever! It was so amazing to be able to go to a temple in a different country!! I cannot wait to go back and just wait ‘til you see the pictures!

On Friday Hermana Pyatt and I got to do a demo teach thing with our teachers... she was the investigator and I was the companion with my other teacher!! My teacher turned to me and was like you need to testify to her about prayer and then ask her to be baptized and she gave me a big smile and I was freaking out because I had no notes... I felt the Spirit so strong, like it was crazy how strong the spirit was! AND I did it! And my whole district told me I did a good job. It was such a good feeling!! I was so happy! I love my teachers so much!

On Saturday we had TRC for the first time which is when real investigators come in and we have 20 minutes to teach them a leccion. Coolest thing ever. Our first leccion was with one of our teacher’s sister and her boyfriend which he has only been a member for 1 month and he was so cute and so happy! And then our next leccion was with this guy from Colorado. We walk in there and talk to him a little bit of Spanish and then he was like I want to be taught in English... I WAS SO HAPPY!! I talked his ears off I think haha. He was such a cool guy and he said he’s had a really hard life but that he is going to but in his mission papers really soon! He was so open with us and after we teach them we have them fill out a piece of paper and he said the nicest thing! I love TRC and can’t wait to do it again!

Easter Sunday!!!! Oh my goodness Easter Sunday was so good. We had Fast Sunday due to Conference this week... So everyone had to bear their testimonies and I was soooo nervous. Elder Kirkland turned to me and was like if I get up you have to go after me okay... And I was like no way so he got up and I felt the Spirit so strong so up I went. I started it out just fine in Spanish and then I started to cry since I always cry bearing my testimonio haha. And then I told an experience in English and then ended in Spanish. I had a few people crying no biggie haha. So then I’m feeling all good because I got it over with and then good old Presidente Suaste stands up and says what the closing hymn will be and then says we will then have Hermana Falslev say the closing oracion... hahaha the nervousness came back but I did dang good... all in Spanish!!! whooo!!!

Tuesday this week we had a third leccion with a new investigator Juan... And right before we were about to go give the leccion I felt the Spirit so strong to change our leccion to eternal familes because Juan loves his family so much... so we did and this is how the leccion went... we shared a scripture from first Nefi and then we SANG families can be together forever and I literally almost started bawling because the spirit was so strong!!! And then Hermana Pyatt and I showed pictures of our families and I started bearing my testimony and started crying and his face was so cute just listening to me!! You guys it was such an amazing experience! The Spirit is so amazing!! We then asked him to be baptized and he accepted!! I love teaching lecciones so much!

Wednesday we played volleyball outside and I got some good sun!! District 13c leaves this Monday and I am soooo sad! My Sister Training Leaders are amazing! And today I memorized the Joseph Smith First Vision!! I’m so happy about it haha.

Mexico has been smelling so bad lately haha you walk outside and it’s just bad haha. But seriously this campus is so beautiful!! Love it so much!!

I can’t believe how fast time is going we are on our 4th week what the heck! I only have two weeks left and it’s sometimes over whelming!! I love you all and cannot thank you enough for your love and support! Being a Missionary is so amazing and I love Spanish and my teachers, and my District, and my companion and just having this opportunity to serve the Lord. I’m so happy!! Please send me letters! letter@mtcmexicocarepackage.com
IT MAKES ME SO HAPPY!!

Much LOVE!!!!!

--

Hermana Falslev