August 25, 2015 Happy Transfer Week

Hi Friends and Family,

First off Happy Birthday to my beautiful brown eyed sister Maggie! I hope 13 treats you well :)
Sorry for not writing last week! It was transfer week so very busy. We had 16 missionaries go home and 25 come in! Only 1 from Iowa though, Sister Campbell. Her dad came to our seminary class once a couple years ago at the Hemmingsen's. He works for the Seminary
department for the church. We had a ton come in from Idaho (one from
Shelly who knows Dustin Marsden!) The hardest thing about transfer week is running on low sleep.
Wednesday we got up at 3 AM to take missionaries to the airport and didn't get to sleep till around 11 or 12 that night! It was fun though I loved every bit of it! It was a little tough too cause a lot of missionaries in the group that just went home had a huge impact on my
mission. (elder brown, Norton, Perrins, Carroll, etc.) 

I just love working so much! This past week especially, we don't get a ton of time to proselyte so it's so relaxing when we do have those few hours during the day to find and teach and prepare people to baptism.

Jorge and Jennifer got baptized on Saturday! 

We love Jorge and Jennifer!

They are going to be some solid members of the church! Also, their son Angel is 7 and turns 8 in November so Jorge will get to baptize his son. He's getting the Priesthood this Sunday. The thing that really turned for Jorge and his
conversion was his willingness to keep the Sabbath Day holy. One Sunday about a month and a half ago, he was at work on Sunday and told his boss, "I can't do this anymore I need to be at church so that's where I'm going to go." and then he left work and came to the last hour of church in his work clothes. His boss still let him keep his job and gave him Sundays off after that. Also, because of that, our Ward Mission Leader who works on Sundays after church told his boss
that he needs Sundays off to be with his family and go to church and
his boss gave him Sundays off too. Pretty neat stuff! 

School started this week for all of the kids here so Sunday night, Elder Sawyer and I gave blessings to all of the kids that we are teaching and any homes that didn't have the priesthood so every kid could have that blessing before school started! I know my dads blessing to me before school started helped me out a ton! Love you Dad! 

 Love you all! 

Keep working hard! 

 Elder Faldmo

Went for a walk with Jorge and Jennifer Garcia family around the temple... they have their eyes on the prize.

September 7, 2015 MLC, Baptisms, Tanner Mangum, & Steph Curry

Family!  This week was grand!

This is Kerry Wilson in the picture on the left of Elder Sawyer and I

First of all, Kerry Wilson & Jake Summers were baptized on Saturday. Kerry walked into the church about a month ago and was all in with the church and wanted to be baptized. He taught ballroom dancing at BYU in the 80s and is surprised he didn't join back then. He is originally from Australia and has one of the coolest accents ever!

Jake Summers has became one of my best friends over the past month or so. We met him through his friend, Robert, who is leaving this Wednesday for his mission in Virginia. Robert's dad is the 2nd counselor in our mission presidency. Jake is probably one of the most humble guys know and just wants to learn and do what is right. He will be going to Chicago in February to enter into the Navy! Hey mom and dad we're going to visit him when I get home ok? He got baptized on Saturday too! He wanted Called to Serve to be the closing song at
his baptism cause he loves missionary work! He already has given a Book of Mormon to his friend. 

Elder Sawyer, Robert, Jake and me... So great to be a part of teaching this great guy!

 We had MLC this week where all of the Zone Leaders and STLs come and we have trainings and discuss some things about the mission and Elder Sawyer & I gave a training called "Get Outta the Boat!" It was about leadership and we compared it to the qualities of the Apostle and leader Peter when he chose to "get outta the boat" and walk on water with the Savior. We related it to being mission leaders and doing everything we can to help out stewardship progress as missionaries. Get outta the boat people! Walk on water and when needed ask the
Savior for help!

We found a super solid family on Saturday. They are really prepared and told us that we were a sign from God. It's a single mom with 4 kids. We're really excited to keep teaching them!

I had a amazing experience fasting this week. I gained a stronger testimony of how powerful fasting is. I know we can receive a ton of revelation through fasting and a lot of extra strength from God through obedience to this law. When Moses received the 10 commandments
(which was revelation) it was while he was fasting. I love the law of the fast!

I also went on exchanges with Elder Thorne! He's a stud and a super hard worker. It's crazy that our sisters are friends now too!

Ok tender mercy of the week:
We were walking in this apartment complex on Saturday and this guy recognized us as Mormons and swings open his door and says, "hey guys come in here!" So we go in his apartment and he showed us a replay of the last play of the BYU Nebraska game! He wasn't interested in
listening to us but I'm sure the Lord will bless him for telling us to come inside his apartment at that moment :)

I also met a Steph Curry look alike this week! I'll send a pic.

I love you all!!

Elder Faldmo

September 14, 2015 Moroni 9:6

This week was pretty fast paced and a lot of fun! 

This week was the Mission Presidents' Conference for all of the mission presidents in the Southwest Area of the U.S. Elder Sawyer and I picked up all of them and their wives up Thursday morning and took them to their hotel and then took them back to the airport on Sunday. It was the first time on my mission I didn't go to all of church because we had to leave after sacrament to get them so I felt pretty weird. I met Elder Matt Gay's mission president, President Mortensen,
and his wife and I got a picture with her and she sent it to Elder Gay haha. Also, their daughter is in Abby's Ward and friends with her at BYU. Also, Elder Foster, Corbridge, and Robbins of the Seventy came too! On the way to their hotel we passed the Thomas and Mack Center! It brought back memories of a few years ago when Dad, Abby, Will, and I came here for BYU's conference tournament. It was a lot of fun to meet all of the mission presidents but let's be honest, we got the best here with President D. Jack Snow and Sister Peggy Snow! :)

 We had 3 exchanges this week. For one of them I went to my last area in the Black Mountain Stake and for another one I went down to Kingman, Arizona. Kingman is like another mission down there. It's such a different culture, the first lesson we had was at this house in
the country with horses and cows outside I felt like I was back in the Midwest! Everyone is so nice there it was crazy! Also it was the first time on my mission that we had a lesson at "Land Plot #41" and a dinner "right by Mile Marker 7" 

Here is is HURST FAM... The ACE in Kingman:)

 That family I was talking about last week, the Gideons, are still doing great! They have an older sister who just moved in this week too! She's 22 and really interested in the church. She's due to have her baby at the end of this month. The oldest brother Xavier and their mom had to work, but the 4 others came to church and loved it! There is 3 daughters, who are 22, 15, and 14 and 2 sons who are 18 and 10. Jake Summers, who got baptized last Saturday has been a huge
fellowshipper for them. He comes out with us all the time now to lessons and got the Priesthood this Sunday! I love that guy so much! 

Here she is... one of the greatest ladies you'll meet!  Leona!

Our girl Leona got baptized on Saturday! She might be the most funny lady I have met. She has gone through a lot in her life and she is so grateful to be a member now. She found the church after walking into church about a month and a half ago after praying and telling God that
she was going back to a church and stopping at the first one she sees and ours was the first one!

Really though, there's nothing better than serving a mission! I love it here so much and like I've said before, I've never been happier! I'm learning more and more everyday. This is the truth, nothing else to it.
#NLVM #Win4Taysom

Elder Faldmo