Monday, January 19, 2015

january 19, 2015... and then there was one (week left)

i’m so nervous to type this email. bear with me. 

good
in the branch we have two girls that are preparing to serve missions! this week we went on splits with them to cover more ground and be able to make it to more appointments. i loved the simplicity of their teaching and testimonies… sometimes as full time missionaries we complicate stuff.
at the church on sunday
so ya, this countdown exists on my wall.  you are here
we have a branch mission leader now! yay!
MY LAST WEEKLY PLANNING! HIP HIP HOORAY! weekly planning is NOT my fav
bad
everything was all set for franciele’s baptism... we even marked the time and everything, it would be on my last Saturday here on my mission. but, once again she didn’t go to church and once again another  baptismal date fell through. 
awk
the dreams i’ve been having lately... 
first there was one where i completely forgot about my last interview with president and i had already left my mission but then he showed up and all of a sudden there was a tornado coming and no one knew what to do and i had to save everyone...
then there was another that i got home and no one would give me a cell phone! hahhaa (some things never change.. apparently i’m still worried about my cell phone).. and then in the dream i was super bugged because i left two cell phones with my family and they gave them away to random people and wouldn’t let me get a new one. 
Shout Out to Talli and the Poulsen's!  We have the BEST makeup in BRAZIL!!!

it’s awk that the britney spears song lucky keeps going through my head “what happens when its STOPS”… #cleanthoughts #iamachildofgod......andhehassentmehere
ok folks, that's a university of north dakota proud dad in sao borja, brazil!
awesome
had one of the best zone meetings of my mission this week. it was during this meeting that i could feel a sweet confirmation that my mission is ending… and it’s ok.  i felt that I truly learned the gospel principles that they were teaching at our zone meeting. i have lived them. it was a great meeting but there were some teary moments at the same time. this truly is the end.
got to see my vida loka LD again at zone meeting
everyone wants to be taller than elder heans... she's on a chair people

this week i finally gained the testimony i’ve been search for of the importance of fasting
my companion is an angel
she is just the best!

ok, so I feel ready to write this very spiritual and life changing email but it’s just super hard with our time limits haha. plus i spent a lot of my time doing this in my email to president just barely and i told him what i learned in every area i have served in rio grande do sul. i promise i will get back and write one wrap up post when I get home with all that’s lacking in this short email now. 
this week really has been great. i wish i had time to tell and explain everything that has happened. 
this past weekend we fasted for our investigators to progress. and for the most part they really are. but through this fast, the Lord showed us where we needed to focus our efforts and where not to waste our time. HE’S the best! 

anyways. seriously don’t have time. seriously love you all. seriously can’t believe this is my last time writing from the darn lan house dying of heat and always being pressed for time. but i wouldn’t change it for the world!!!! 

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the true church on the face of the earth!. joseph smith was a prophet. God and his son, Jesus Christ, truly appeared to Joseph and called him to restore the Christ’s gospel to the earth. we have a living prophet today. his name is Thomas S. Monson. he too, speaks with God and receives revelation for God’s children in this day. he leads and directs us with all the difficulties and challenges today so that we can return and live forever with our Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and our families. i know of the love our Heavenly Father has for us. i have felt it more than ever these past 18 months. He loves me, but he loves you as well. and he loves the people i teach, pass on the street, even the people that reject us. our brother Jesus Christ died for us. he paid the price for our chance at eternal life. but it’s us who will decide where and how we will live after this life. we have the wonderful gift of agency that allows us to grow here on earth. 

my mission wouldn't be complete without wearing traditional clothes from the south 
roupas de prenda:)
i hope that i’ve been able to say something that has helped you throughout this year and a half. it’s changed my life, but it’s not the end. i have a lot more work to do. there’s lots of more people i love that don’t have the gospel, and i feel responsible to give them the chance to change and to feel this as well. 

i’m so grateful for all of the support i’ve received. i am seriously blessed. at times i feel embarrassed and lots of time unworthy. the letters, emails, packages, and love that was sent to the south of the brasil is overwhelming. i hope that i can repay you all someday. 

but most of all i hope that each of us can truly live this gospel. that we can be examples for those who don’t have these truths. and i hope that one day we can all meet in the celestial kingdom, in a state of perfect happiness, with our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. 


i love you all. have a great week. 
one last time...

xoxox, sister faldmo 


Monday, January 12, 2015

the beginning of the end... January 12, 2015

don't try this at home people....
only the best of companions feed each other worms...
good
I LOVE TEACHING THE PLAN OF SALVATION—THE PLAN OF HAPPINESS. it’s my favorite. especially when we explain the atonement. 
bad
gave my last talk in church as a missionary :( but i loved how it went. i talked about alma the younger and the sons of mosiah and how what made the difference for them in preaching and sharing the gospel was them having a real testimony and how we as members need a real testimony to be converted to His work before we can teach others. 
awk
hahha it was elder barros birthday and he’s annoying and doesn’t like sisters (kidding-- but kinda not. he’s a good missionary. he’s way sarcastic but it’s funny) so we ignored him all day on his bday and then left a little surprise at their house (which by the way, is WAY nicer than ours) aka a big pink banner and balloons. when we were hanging it up this little girl in the road asked, which one of the mormon’s birthday is it today? and then asked if we were mormon too hahaha. 
i can still make a pretty great bday sign:)
also… we taught their neighbors that live in the front. 3 guys. we asked them if they had already heard of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?  they said, “yeah, like 50 mormons live here in the front (because we are always coming and leaving with transfers so they think a ton of elders live there-- but it’s just 4 hahha)
when i show my family pic to a member and she says, “so you have 5 siblings???... but i say “no i have 4”... “but there’s 5 here”... “no, one is me”... and then i had to show her which one was me. guess i’ve changed a bit on the mish… haha
we’ve taken like 4 boxes of cigarettes away from our investigators these days.. why does everyone smoke?! (and then we awkwardly don’t know what to do with them and they accidentally stay on our desk for a couple days hahah)
the countdown on my wall.... trunky? NEVER!
awesome
and continuing on in our series of... the colored houses of southern brazil... here we are passing a yellow house:)
and a nice turquoise house:)
we literally had lunch on the farm this week!!!!  but there was a cow like 5 feet away from me as i was eating ... beef. #awk. 

so yeah. my life is good. things are… ending. lots of lasts. but i’m chill. just hoping and praying that one of our investigators gets baptized this transfer. we are teaching some really great people but lots of them smoke or need to get married. i was really sad because we set a baptismal date for one of our investigators for my last Saturday, but then he didn’t go to church yesterday so now he can’t be baptized on the 24th. we only have one more investigator that qualifies or could possibly be baptized while i am still here :( so we will do our best to have everything work out for the baptism of franciele my last saturday. 
i love my companion. sister alvarado is perfect. 

sister alvarado... how can i be so blessed to finish with her? two weeks
we get along so great. maybe more than we should because we get distracted easily talking together hahaJ and we are always hungry! haha. but the mango juice keeps us slim! don’t worry haha. 

anyways. i feel good. we are starting to get the hang of things here and have gained the confidence and trust of the members here in Sao Borja... just in time for me to leave haha. but at least i can leave things good for the next transfer and for whoever comes after me. 

i loved speaking on sunday because i could share lots of the things our prophets and apostles said in conference. what they spoke is so relevant. we really need to study conference talks ALWAYS.  many of them talked about our own personal testimonies of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, the prophet Joseph Smith, and our Savior. i invite you all to evaluate your own testimonies and search for how you can strengthen what you already know, then pray for opportunities to share that knowledge. 

i love you all!

xoxo sister faldmo

Monday, January 5, 2015

January 5, 2015... tchau 2014... feliz 2015!‏

good
  • so i’m addicted to mango juice! we make it every morning! its my favorite! but i’m super worried about how i will maintain this addiction at home???... 
  • our teaching group is getting better! we actually have people to plan for and who are ready for us to teach them!!!
                     
sister alvarados my comp and i decided while we are walking to take pics in front of all the different house colors in southern brasil:)
  • solange and the fam always take care of us and invited us last minute to have a little churrasco with them on new years eve
    i figured i better get a pic with churrasco before i left... this is southern brasil folks!

bad
  • the emails the mission has been sending me lately… they’re all about going home. today i had a mini breakdown. is it really ending???
    this is how i feel about ending my mission

awk
  • the difference in number of people at church from when it’s raining and when it’s not… the numbers were double this week!  #norain

awesome
so here we are... hot, sweaty, besties, finally companions for ONE day! #inthetopfiveofhappiestdaysonmission
  • the news of the week is---- I FINALLY GOT TO BE COMPANIONS WITH SISTER SHUMWAY! ok it was less than a day but thanks to her being perfect and fancy and our sister training leader and what not we spent new year’s eve together. it was perfect. where do i begin?
  • i gave ALL of our good plans to my comp and sister ramos, the other STL because i didn’t want her to them to worry about clapping doors and what not.. but it left sister shumway and i with almost nothing and the little we had fell through (it was NYE.. unfortunately people would not listen to our message about our Savior)
  • we got lost in the middle of a horse jockey place trying to contact a referral .. we thought we had found his house but then we noticed it was actually a horse stable...
  • we ate 20 reais worth of ice cream during our dinner break
  • we walked sooooo much
  • we got rejected sooo much
  • we laughed soooo much
  • and... she was trying to be sooooo obedient and sleep even though the midnight fireworks even though here it seems like we are in world war 3… so at midnight i jumped on her bed, gave her a hug and a midnights kiss (on the cheek duh) and it’s summer in brazil, we’re sweaty and gross.. poor thing. it was my first new years kiss!!! bahahha. hers too i think. 

feliz 2015!!!!

anyways.. 
so thats about all i’ve got to say.
i’m trying to make new year’s goals but it feels impossible given my situation. i only have spiritual goals haha. my life i'm about to enter seems like it's pretty crazy. i don’t know what to think about, what to plan, what to do. but i’m good. i’m still focused here in brasil.  even though I’ll admit, i started a countdown on my wall today hahhaa. 
yesterday i realized it was my last testimony meeting here in the south. i cried a little. i wanted so badly to share my testimony but there was lots of members bearing testimony so i left it to them. but then i got what i asked for because after church they asked me to speak next sunday. hahah. 

so i love you ALL lots. i love this gospel. i love God. I’m happy. sorry if I seem that i can’t even concentrate and write a good email anymore. haha.  have a fab week and don’t forget to send your last minute letters TODAY!
haha


xoxoxoxoxoox sister faldmo
found this happy moment on sister alvarados' camera of christmas day with my family!
sister alvarados' camera has this really weird lens that makes me look like this:)