Yessenia // Puerto Octay

23 January 2017

Wow another week has come and gone in the mission! I cannot believe how fast time is going… Every week just goes by faster and faster! This week was HOT!!! My feet have the worst tan lines hahah. Everyone thinks it is so funny! 

This week was so good, just like always. I really never have a bad week. Some are tougher than others, but they are all good! I want to talk about Yessenia.. our new investigator from Heaven above. This woman is an angel! We knocked on her door about two weeks ago and yesterday we finally had a lesson!! Her boyfriend was sleeping in their house which is really small, so we went to a park and her two little boys (they are so cute and so well behaved) played at the park while we had a lesson with her. We just got to know her and talked to her about why we are here as missionaries and what we share. 

She began to tell us about her life and how she practically raised her little brothers because her parents were never around.. She told us about how when she was 15 two Elders knocked on their door and shared a video about the Book of Mormon and she just couldn't believe that about 20 years later we knocked on her door... She told us about how her former relationships have ended horribly and that her boyfriends would hit her and treat her horrible. That her two sweet little boys have never had a dad figure in their life. And she told us how her two boys have to stay home alone all day while she is at work for 12 hours... They are only  5 and 8 years old… She had so many questions for us and the spirit was so strong.. I started sharing my testimony to her about our Heavenly Father and how much he loves her… and that He has a perfect plan for her… And we are here to share this beautiful message with everyone. She started crying and crying and telling us that she wants to hear what we have to say.. As she talked I could feel so strong the love that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have for her. That she is so ready to hear what we have to say.. She is so beautiful and so happy even though her life is super tough… I felt the spirit so strong this day on this little park bench… ( I feel like this is all over the place but you get the point that she is amazing).

I love this sector with my whole heart... It has had a HUGE impact on my mission! HUGE! 

Yesterday we didn't have any citas and so we walked and contacted in the hot, hot weather! But at about 7 we took the food things that we had from Hna Isom and took them to their house… They invited us in and we had a good long visit with President and Hna Isom! We talked about our investigators and I gave president the idea to post pictures of the baptisms that we have as a mission every week and now they are doing it… He loved all my ideas I gave him and they were writing down all I had to say haha.  These two are the greatest and love me and Hna Hanosek so much. I cant even tell you how fun it was to be able to sit and talk to them on a Sunday night! SUCH  A BLESSING TO BE THE CLOSEST MISSIONARIES TO THEM! 

We went to the lake in Puerto Octay today and it was soooo beautiful!! Hope you enjoy the photos! 

I want to give a huge shout out to my little brother… He is playing some amazing basketball!! It breaks my heart to be missing it all because I have watched him play since I can remember! Love you so much Peyton and the coolest cousins Bracken and Mason!! Keep it up… I love hearing all about it!! I love you all so much!! 

So so so excited for this week with the whole mission coming together!! 

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Hermana Falslev

Hna Yolanda (left) walking with our investigator Maria to church what a happpppy moment!!! 

A Week of Tears and Cheers

16 January 2016

Holllllaaaaa! What another great week in Chile Osorno! Bueno we had some tears this week as our investigator Vivana told us that it is not her time to come to church. We had an awesome lesson with her and then at the end she told us that it isn't her time. My heart broke and after the lesson me and Hna Hanosek just hugged and cried… This is the first time that my heart has literally been broken… We have so much love for Viviana and her cute little kids… I know that we planted a great big seed in her heart and she has the picture of Jesus hanging up in her house. 

On Tuesday the coolest thing happened! Hermana Isom called us and said that she and President had a bunch of extra food and wanted us to come pick it up at their house. So we went right before Ward Council… So we were on our way and this couple was walking in front of us and the girl hurries and stops us and says "hola hermanas soy miembro de La Union" So turns out that she is member and she wants us to teach her boyfriend that just moved here! And it turns out that he lives in our sector! If Hna Isom would not have called us we would not have found them! We are going to have a cita with them this week! We are going to teach him and then they are going to get married in the Temple! Haha. It was so cool! We got to the house of the mission and told Hna Isom what happened and she thought it was the greatest thing ever! I love her so very much! Little miracles and blessing in the mission are the best! Heavenly Father has the best plans up His sleeves waiting to see if we are going to obedient enough to receive them! We are having a hard time getting our investigators to church!! If you guys have some advice I would love to hear it… I feel like we have tried it all… I’m about to have to take them by the hand. I don't know if they are scared or what! We are really going to focus on this, this week! Our investigators are so amazing and progressing so well just missing the MOST IMPORTANT THING! I’m so grateful for my mom and for her testimony of attending church. I have loved going to church ever since I was a little girl.. :) Thanks Mom! 

We have been finding new people to teach every week since I got here and its been a huge blessing because this sector isn't very big, but we keep very busy! Something that a few of our investigators have had questions with is the apostasy! They don't really understand why Heavenly Father would have His children lost for such a long time! So I have been studying and praying to help them understand and I have received an answer so strongly that the apostasy was necessary! I’m so grateful that we can pray and study and receive answers from our Heavenly Father. 

I’m so excited for next week!! The whole mission is coming together which never happens in this mission because it’s so big! We will be hearing from Elder Gary. E. Stevenson! I will get to see all of my companions!! Whooo! I’m so excited! We are working and studying even harder so that we can receive personal revelation from an Apostle of the Lord! 

Love you all and thank you for all your love and support! THE MISSON IS LIFE CHANGING! AND THE GREATEST JOURNEY IN THE WORLD! THIS IS THE CHRUCH OF JESUS CHRIST! He loves us and knows us all personally! Have the best week and stay warm! 

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Hermana Falslev

10 Meses!!

9 January 2017

Today is my 10 month mark... WHAT! I cannot believe it! I truly believe this was one of the best weeks of my mission. I have so much I want to say, so here we go. 

This week we had intercambios!!! I stayed in the sector with Hermana Parkinson from Clearfield, Utah… She is from the same group as Hermana Cook and Tripp, so it was sooo fun to work with her. We are so much alike and had the best time together! The night that we were together… I had no plans to visit Paul and his wife Karen… They are both from Columbia! And we were really far from their house when I had a strong feeling from the Spirit, that we needed to go to their house. We headed to their house and it was perfect timing! They were watching a movie and were actually excited to see us! We didn’t have much time because it was after 9, so we shared a video of the family with them! And the spirit was so strong in their house… after watching the video we got to know them a little bit and then we shared why we are here and our purpose as missionaries… Karen was talking to us and it was so amazing, but Paul was a little bit more quiet… I looked at Paul and he was acting super nervous and was rubbing his hands together. Then he told us, “Okay, I need to tell you guys something…” (at this point I knew he was feeling the Spirit super strong). He told us how when he was about 20 years old, he was super involved in the Catholic Church and was about to devote his life to being a missionary for the Catholic Church. When one day he lost all desires… he still, to this day doesn't know what happened… He told us how now he goes to the Catholic Church here and there, but doesn't really like going. Then time passed and he met his wife and they had Sebastian (6) and moved to Chile about 4 years ago. He has a good friend that lives about 40 minutes from Osorno that is LDS and served a mission. Paul then saw me and Hna Hanosek walking in our sector a lot and wanted to talk to us but decided not to, but then one day we knocked on his house and he felt like it was an answer from God. We set up a cita but ended having to sing Christmas songs that night so we missed the cita and just this week, finally, we had a lesson with them. He told us that he feels this is what he has been missing… And me and Hna Parkinson could not believe what he was saying…This man has been searching for the truth and we found him!!! They are really looking forward to receiving the lessons and learning more! This family is so ready for the gospel! I have been praying and thinking of them constantly this week that they accept this message with open arms… They are amazing! 

We had even more amazing miracles this week, but there is just too many that I could probably write a short book! 

But something super amazing happened just today in the postoffice! We were waiting in a line and the man in front of us was mad so he left haha. And so I asked the lady in front of me how long she had been waiting and she looked German but there are a lot of people from Germany that live here, so I thought she spoke Spanish but no… So I asked where she is from and she said... DENMARK… What are the chances… She is here for a month with her husband traveling… I almost started crying to tell you the truth. (For those of you who don't know, my heritage is Denmark). I told her all about how Falslev is a small city in Denmark and she knew where it was!! I asked her if she had heard of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and she said yes and that they live super close to a church house! WHAT! I then talked to her husband who was about 6”7’ and super nice… He said that one of his family members also migrated to ?Utah and now they live in Layton and are members of the Church… I then asked if he had ever talked with missionaries and he said no, but that they have knocked their house before… I then invited him to go to the church and start talking to the missionaries! The possibility of this happening was very slim… They had super strong accents, but could speak perfect english and they said everyone speaks perfect English in Denmark… I’m so glad I got a picture with her hahah. It was the coolest thing ever to talk to them! 

This week has honestly changed my life and I think my testimony has doubled. I love this work more than I could ever describe. I know that obedience brings joy and miracles. I know this Church is true and that our Savior loves us all so much and wants us to come unto Him! I FEEL SO BLESSED. We found 6 new amazing people to teach this week, me and Hna Hanosek really are like sisters and I got to see Hna Arroyo and Tripp today and I got to meet my people from Denmark and invite them to listen to missionaries! I hope this all makes sense haha. I have so much to say all the time.

Love you all! 

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Hermana Falslev