April 28, 2015 - A whole new world!

Daddy, I hope this letter makes sense... #dontjudge 

Armadale is such an opposite to Wembley. 

It's honestly hilarious, but I absolutely love this place just as much as the last. The people here are just amazing.

Let me just tell you a bit about my week... 

When I arrived at the flat, the first thing I noticed was a baseball bat under the bed...... Apparently it is an interesting neighbourhood but we have 5 police officers in the ward, Heavenly Father's protection, and a baseball bat under the bed, so we're safe. (; We've only had one person knock on our door early in the morning since we've been there, but it was a holiday so that was to be expected, and they went away after a couple of minutes. 

The second thing I noticed was the 

COCKROACHES IN THE KITCHEN. 

Apparently they LOVE our flat, so that has been interesting. Sister T laughs at me because when we get home, the first thing I do is go to the spray and KILL EVERY LIVING BUG IN THE KITCHEN. We did some major cleaning in there this morning so I think they'll die down. 

Other than that, the place is lovely.

But the best part about Armadale is the people. The people are beautiful.

We knocked on a couple of doors this week. Every single house we went to, we had a very lovely discussion with the residence and each one of them wanted to learn more about Jesus Christ, How their families can be together forever, or what our purpose is here on earth. As we explained our purpose as missionaries and what we do to help people come unto Christ, everyone we talked to seemed to want to learn more. We have appointments with each of the people we met last week and also an opportunity to help someone clean their house and serve them a bit tomorrow. We feel so blessed to have so found people seeking to know. We saw the Lord's hand in the work as we asked for His help in finding them. 

In the words of Lindsey Woolf: Heavenly Father gives us the best referrals. 

Teaching is so different with different companions, but I'm loving sister Tukuafu. 

Sorry, can't get it to turn correctly. FHE with Sister Tukuafu.

She is a hard worker and an amazing missionary. The love she has for everyone inspires me and lifts me. I am so thankful for her. She is 23, and the oldest of 8 kids. She comes from NZ but is originally from Tonga. Everyone says I'm going to come home brown because of all of my Poly companions. (: hahaha. 

What I have learned this week is that EVERYTHING comes back to faith. Faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, Faith in Heavenly Father, Faith in the Book of Mormon. I love reading from the Book of Mormon every single day with a purpose (we are reading it as a mission and looking for references to Christ). It is a blessing, because the words of the prophets and missionaries speak to my concerns and those of the people we teach so clearly. We never have to answer a single question from our own knowledge (thank heavens), all we have to do is open the scriptures because the answers are all there. It all comes down to the same thing, though. Faith. We can not repent fully if we do not have faith that we can be and are forgiven.

In Mosiah 4,  " the Spirit of the Lord came upon them, and they were filled with joy, having received a remission‍ of their sins, and having peace of conscience, because of the exceeding faith‍ which they had in Jesus Christ who should come..." Then king Benjamin said to them:  "even at this time, ye have been calling on his name, and begging for a remission‍ of your sins. And has he suffered that ye have begged in vain? Nay; he has poured out his Spirit‍ upon you, and has caused that your hearts should be filled with joy, and has caused that your mouths should be stopped that ye could not find utterance, so exceedingly great was your joy."

 Same with prayer- we can not pray with real intent if we do not have faith that someone is listening. We can not bear testimony with power if we do not have faith that the Holy Ghost will confirm those truths to those we speak to. And we can certainly not gain any sort of knowledge or wisdom from the scriptures if we do not have faith it is written by men of God, who had His authority. That is why, as missionaries, we invite people to do things to increase their faith, and  they, inturn, decide for themselves what is true. Faith makes all things possible.

My testimony has been strengthened this week when I met an 8 year old boy and his mum. The sweet boy is someone the sisters have been teaching for a while and I now have the privilege to teach him and his mum. His father is a Satanist, and every couple of weeks he goes to visit him. This last time he was there he shared with his dad about the premortal life. He was reading the beginning of Genesis in the Simplified kid's version of the bible and was telling his dad about what he read- the fallen angel being named Lucifer, and the creation of the world. We hadn't taught any of it, it was just something he said he read about and knew it was true, so he taught his dad. When his dad told him he was wrong, he shrugged it off. We asked him if he still believed it was true. He said yes. We asked him why. He just said he knew it. We asked him if he ever prayed about what he read, and he said no, that he didn't need to pray about it. "I pray every single night when I'm at mum's house and I never ask him if what you are saying is true because I already know it's true". We smiled and invited him to pray about it, just to be sure. He said he would. He is probably the most amazing 8 year old boy I've ever met before. He comes from a background of great adversity and yet is so faithful.

The blessings of having faith are insurmountable. 

There are so many reasons not to, and it seems to be popular to need proof for everything you believe in, but in order to live the life we were created and intended to live, in order to produce the most success and happiness we could ever achieve in this life, we must develop faith. That is why it's the first principle of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

I am thankful for the faith and testimony God has given me.

 

I love the people here.

I love Armadale. 

It's cold but the people are so warm and lovely. 

I wouldn't choose to be anywhere else. 

 

I can't wait to talk to you soon. NO I do not have an accent, Emmalee. (: SORRY. I'm still not sure who or when I will call, or anything but we'll try to give you a heads up next week? I honestly didn't realize until this morning how sooooooon I get to see your cute/handsome faces. (: Just make sure you put shadow outside before you call... (; KIDDING. 

Love you!
Sister Falter

April 20, 2015 - When you get a little bit too into character...

I hope this email makes sense... #neverpassedthetypingtestinelementaryschool 

This week we had zone meeting. The Zone Leaders planned an awesome Iron Rod activity. Everyone was blind folded and was put onto a long rope (AKA the iron rod which symbolizes the word of God). They were told not to let go until one of the zone leaders told them they were done, and they had reached the tree of life (aka God's love and caramel apples). Previously, they called us and asked Sister Leleiciuao to be the great and spacious building aka temptations and evil influence. Our responsibility was to get people to let go of God's word. Long story short. we got into our role. There were only a couple of people who actually made it to the end of the iron rod, whether because we tricked them into letting go, they were confused, or they didn't pass the obstacles along the road. One of the people we tricked was our mission president, and he was pretty upset that he didn't make it. It was a fun activity, but in all honestly it felt so ugly to be the great and spacious building. Every time someone got to the end and accomplished their goal, everyone cheered and I wanted to as well. As we talked about the way we all felt, the way everyone else felt as they "fell off" or when they made it, we were all determined that true happiness came from accomplishing your goal.

I loved the reminder this activity gave us, of how important is to stay focused on God, and His word. President Lindsay and the others knew the voices they were hearing and believed our words, and that was what made them let go. But the most important thing, the thing that comes first, is our Saviors teachings. His voice is the only one we can trust. And that's why it is so important for us to come unto Christ, so that we can recognize His voice in our lives and be confident that He is leading us down the right path. Sister Lindsay cried as she shared with us her experience of making it all the way, and how absolutely sure she was that the path would lead to happiness. And it did. 

(Here is the link to the scripture story about the iron rod: https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/1-ne/8?lang=eng )

This week was amazing. 

We taught an amazing sister from Egypt. She was so interested about the Book of Mormon, because many of the prophets' names are familiar to her. As we taught her for the first time, you could tell she wanted to come closer to Christ. She wanted to progress. Throughout her life she's been involved with several churches and has always had a strong rooted faith in Christ. We taught the restoration of the gospel and the Book of Mormon. Prayer and the Godhead. Prophets and the Sabbath day. We saw her almost every day this week. She joined us at Church yesterday and had an amazing evening at a members home as well. She expressed a desire to be baptized and to get involved with missionary work. We absolutely love this lady, and can't wait to see her experience the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ, as found in the restored gospel. (:

On Friday we had the 'slow day' where we parked the car and rode our bikes. We had a couple existing appointments, and one of them was a 2 hour bike ride away. I HAVE NEVER FELT MY LEGS BURN THAT MUCH IN MY LIFE. I felt like I was back on the swim team. There were MANY uphills, but on the way back, we came down. (: We stopped at the Karaitiana's (members in the ward that we LOVE) on the way there for some snacks (tim tams and hot chips) and it boosted us for the last stretch. After the appointment, we started home. I didn't think I was going to make it but I was praying for strength. At the peak of exhaustion, I heard a noise... It was my tires. Both of them. Turns out that stick I ran over was actually a thorn bush. (: We had an hour to get home, two flat tires and at LEAST a 40 minute bike ride to go. The Elders weren't far, so they dropped off one of their bikes and we hit the pavement. Curfew is 9:30 and we were sure we couldn't make it, but we rode like the wind. A couple of shoes went flying but eventually we made it. We checked the clock when we got home, and it was 9:30 on the DOT!!! 

It was an exhausting day, full of miracles. We found 4 new people to teach, and taught some previously existing investigators. God was with us in the work. 

We have had a third companion with us, Sister Drew, since Wednesday. She has been an awesome addition to our little companionship and the ward is calling us the three nephites on bikes. hahaha. She's from Canada, and has only been out for 5 weeks but her teaching is powerful and she has brightened our week. (: I love my companions.

Unfortunately, I am getting transferred. I'm going to southern river zone/stake. Armadale. I am with another amazing sister who is Tongan. I don't know her well but I do know she is a hard worker and I am excited to grow from this experience. Incredibly sad to leave, though. I love this area and our investigators. The members are amazing. Going to miss it here. 

There is this amazing member, Taui, in the ward who plays the piano and organ like I've never heard. He is a prodigy of music, I swear, but is very humble about it. He asked me to sing I know that My Redeemer Lives in Sacrament meeting this week. As I sang it, I was reminded of home. When I sang it just before I left, and at Lindsey Woolf's farewell. When I sang the words, I was reminded of my testimony of the Jesus Christ. The part that stood out to me was when the words say: He Lives, My Savior, Still The Same. 

As I've learned about the Savior, studied his life, His Atoneing sacrifice, His Grace, His love, I've been amazed to learn who my Savior is. That He Lives, and as many times as I've sang the song, I finally understand that THAT specific line means that He has the same amount of love, and serves me the same now as he served the people when he was on the earth. As he was growing and ministering and as he visited the Nephites.

I am thankful for this knowledge and mostly for my testimony. His grace is Sufficient. He loves me still the same. Oh Sweet the Joy this Sentence Gives.

I know that my Redeemer Lives. 

I love you. Pray for me in my new area this week. 

Thank you for your support and love. I feel it every day. 

<3 Sister Falter

April 13, 2015 - And then sometimes you muck things up...

..... so this week was interesting. (: One of the best weeks, however. Looking back on it, I see the miracles and blessings that came from all the crazy days and exhausting evenings of work and planning. The subject of this email is referring to a moment this week where things did not go as planned. Many of you may have seen a video my mom may have posted. I've gotten several emails of people who have watched it, so It's probably on the blog or something. Thank you for your complements and all the kind words, that was so fun to sing with Elder Aiono. Glad you got all the pictures and videos. Well, back to the story, Sister L and I were asked to sing in Zone Conference this week. Teach Me To Walk In the Light. One of my all-time favorite hymns. It was so fun preparing for it and we were confident it would sound good............................and that is where we went wrong. We were so focused on sounding good that we forgot to focus on the people we are singing to, and what we wanted them to feel. It's usually what my earnest prayer is before I sing, that it will invite the spirit and touch someones heart. Well, we mucked up the song. It was actually one of the top 3 worst performances of anything I have ever done. We forgot the tune/harmony and were beat red by the end of the song. It was noticeably bad. We were so embarrassed. My sweet companion and I were humbled that day. I'll probably never be asked to sing again, but hey maybe that's a bonus. (; I learned from that experience so all is well. Needless to say, there will not be a video of that song (: hahaha

This week was one of those typical missionary ones where we talked with everyone we met and got a lot of rejection, and mostly people were uninterested. We've been finding the joy in the journey and we still saw miracle after miracle happen. From kindness of strangers, to safety and protection while we were out of the flat, meeting people at the right time and place - good things happened all week and kept us going. 

On FRIDAY I was able to speak at the baptism of Noah and Jacob Breznanski who I taught in Baldivis Ward. (: 

It was a beautiful day getting to see old friends and watch those sweet boys be baptized. I am so thankful for that opportunity I had. In General Conference, we were taught to never get used to the Atonement, no matter how much we learn it, no matter how much we teach it, to never make it a casual thing. It is not a casual thing, and I am so thankful that the Atonement of Jesus Christ makes it possible for us to repent and be baptized so that we can receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. I used to be excited for baptisms, and especially family and friends, but now that I understand how important it is, every single baptism the members and missionaries mention is precious to me. I am thankful for that!

As a mission, we fasted on Sunday that the Lord will give us the Spirit and increased faith to find those who need the message of the gospel this upcoming week. Elder Eyering's talk on Fasting was a perfect way to prepare for it. On Friday we are all parking our cars and talking to everyone as we ride our bikes to and from appointments. We are excited for today and the rest of the week to meet so many new people. (: 

This week I was able to do exchanges with one of the sisters! Sister Tupuna. She is an amazing missionary and that exchange was her last one on the mission. She goes home next week!!! :( I was so blessed to be with her, and to feel her spirit as she taught and testified. It is amazing to hear the conversion stories of all the missionaries I serve with. It is a theme that everyone has had their own tests and trials and most importantly, their own confirmation from the spirit that has lead them to serve. She taught me about how to share a bold testimony by example and I feel like I am a better missionary because of that exchange. The spirit was with us as we talked to everyone. One girl we passed looked anxious. It was late and we were walking down the street near our flat. She told us she was fine and almost walked away but Sister T asked her a question and they started talking. We found out she was nervous because she had never been on this street before and felt unsafe, so we talked to her and made her feel comfortable as we told her all about the friendly people that lived there. We told her what we do as missionaries and she was shocked because she had just come from a friend's home where they were discussing their lack of belief and how it was starting to bother them, and she felt like we were an answer to the questions she has been having. She lives out of our area but was happy to give us her address and contact information for other missionaries to come teach her. I was so happy to have met her that night. (: It was a tender mercy. 

There is some amazing families in this ward. We've gotten close to a few, and are meeting new families every week. One family we visited gave us a giant costco box of noodles and eggs just because. Little did she know we were out of food and waiting for Monday to do the shopping. (: Tender mercy. 

We had the opportunity to watch conference. It was amazing to hear from our leaders and especially our prophet. I know he is called of God to lead and guide the people of this time on earth. His words radiate truth and light and I am thankfull for the council and opportunities all the talks gave us to improve and receive more blessings from our father in Heaven.

I love you, 

I miss you. 

Sorry this was so short and quick. 

Happy Birhtday PJ!!! And mom's is coming up too!!!

LOVES 

Sister Falter

December 2014 - March 2015 - Pictures from the first 3 months in Perth.

April 7 - Easter Sunday and baptisms scheduled!

This week went by too quick. Almost like this emailing session. Sorry!! Not a ton happened because we had so many meetings and conferences but it was a spiritually enlightened week.

Leading up to Easter was so fun for us. We get to share the message of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and His beautiful gift of life to us with everyone. And we did! We stopped people on the street and shared the message with members as much as we could.

We had the opportunity to sing in church on Easter Sunday. O Lord, My Redeemer. It was a gorgeous song and the pianist is amazing. We sang from our hearts and the spirit was so strong. No surprises here, but I didn't get through the song without tears. It was fun, though.

We had the opportunity to see the General Woman's broadcast (a few minutes of it because of technical difficulties) and the parts we saw were beautiful. 
(Here is the link: https://www.lds.org/general-conference/sessions/2015/04?cid=HP_SU_4-5-2015_dPTH_fGC_xLIDyL1-B_&lang=eng)

It was all about families and it made me realize how much I adore and love my family, and also how we are all one big family, because we are all children of God. I'm thankful to be sealed to my mum and dad and all my brothers and sisters, and sealed to Heavenly Father. I am excited this week to watch General Conference and to sustain our Prophets and Apostles. (: It is an honor and a blessing to do so. We had a chance to take one the best member missionaries in the ward to see one of our investigators and share about prayer. It was so cool to see the members so excited about the work. They are awesome and we just love them.

We got a huge box from the Easter Bunny in America full of love and chocolate kisses. There are decorations and easter eggs all over our flat. (: I love the easter bunny! <33

(The Easter Bunny had a fun time putting together this package for Sister Falter and Sister Leleisiuao. Emmalee and Mum filled 60 plastic eggs with treats. As requested, the package was full of a fresh supply of YOLI, plus lots of chocolate kisses, 2 loaded Easter baskets, Nutella-to-go, white cheddar cheez-its, and some other fun treats.)

I got an email from my last companion, Sister Iosua-Fiu and guess who is getting baptized this week?!! NOAH AND JACOB! <3, the two boys we started teaching together. I am so excited to go down to Rockingham on Friday to see them and to watch them be baptized. I am so proud of them.

My joy is full this week. I am thankful for the pouring down rain and the beautiful clouds. I woke up this morning and thought I was in Washington. (: I am so thankful for my Savoir Jesus Christ, and His resurrection. It brings so much comfort into my life, and peace knowing that He has me taken care of. 

I read in Moroni 9 today: My son, be faithful in Christ.... may Christ lift thee up, and may his sufferings and death, and the showing his body unto our fathers, and his mercy and long-suffering, and the hope of his glory and of eternal life, rest in your mind forever. And may the grace of God the Father, whose throne is high in the heavens, and our Lord Jesus Christ, who sitteth on the right hand of his power, until all things shall become subject unto him, be, and abide with you forever. Amen. (Verses 25-26: https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/moro/9?lang=eng)

I love being a missionary. I love living the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

There's always joy in the journey, and I hope you see all the joys in yours this week. I'll be looking hard for mine. (:  

I am thankful for you all. <3 

Love,
Sister Falter