September 28,2015 WEEK SIX

Pretty busy week… almost as busy as this next week is going to be!!! It's a real blessing to be able to work on transfers each week 6 of a transfer with President Snow and learn how revelation works and moving different missionaries around on the board to see what might work. It took forever to get everything straightened out with 10 new areas opening up and 30 trainee coming in. We have a net gain of 20 missionaries coming Wednesday! I felt like it was March Madness! If only we had revelation for filling out our brackets in March right? :)  We finally were done at about 1:00 AM on Saturday morning.

Singing Called to Serve NLVM Style:)

Role Playing some introductions with some of the Temple Square Sisters who are new to our mission

Sister England took this shot in front of the church: 

Me, Sawyer and the Sister Training Leaders

So Elder Sawyer and I and the MSTLs challenged the zones to break their zone records for all of the key indicators for a week. We said if any of them did, they could pie us in the face. Sadly for us, Paradise/East zone were the ones to do it. So today, we headed over to their zone to get pied. (I'll send the video later). It wasn't cool when the pie crust was in our ears and hair but it was for a good cause…

I guess ???:)

Paul got baptized this week! Elder Rockwood and I taught him when I was in my last area. He is the dad of a part member family that all started about a year ago when he ordered a Book of Mormon online because he has always been interested in studying every religion. All of his kids got baptized over the past year and he finally he did this week! He is one of the coolest guys I know!

Paul and Elder Rockwood in their white... ready for Paul's baptism

I've been thinking a lot about the Sabbath Day lately and the importance of keeping it holy. There isn't any fence sitters in Christ's church. You're either in or you're out. Keeping the Sabbath Day holy and going to church EVERY week, not when it is just

convenient for us, is so essential in being truly converted. Especially right now as the Apostles and general authorities have been making a push to teach this principle more to us. God is trying to tell us something by them doing that. One of my favorite scriptures that talks about the Sabbath is Isaiah 58:13. "If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:"

It's clearly written in the scriptures and told to us by modern prophets and apostles that this is important to the Lord! Remember what is says in Preach My Gospel, "When a community or nation grows careless in its Sabbath activities, its religious life decays and all aspects of life are negatively affected. The blessings associated with keeping the Sabbath day holy are lost."

There's always something more we can do to make our Sabbath more of a "delight"!

I love my mission!

Elder Faldmo

        

This week... September 21, 2015

My Week… September 21, 2015

This week was pretty dang good! We had 2 exchanges. The first one I was with Elder Pienaar, he's from South Africa and has a sick accent! He's a ZL up in the North Zone. Also, we had one with some Spanish Elders. I went to their area and it made me a little sad that I'm not in a Spanish Ward right now, but it's all good. It was good to knock some rust off my Spanish. I was with Elder Merrill and he's from Canada!

Last night we had dinner with Brother Hunt in our Ward. He mentioned he was from Southern Utah in Mesquite and that he had family in Enterprise. I asked him if he knew any Terry's and he said he did! He knew Pat Terry (who is now Pat Holland). He also said he went to Dixie and I asked him if he knew any Hursts and it turns out that he went to college with Grandpa Ross! #smallworld

This week is week 6 so we will be busy with working on transfers and all of that jazz. Some cool things that will be going on next transfer are Coach Wagner's son from BYU-Hawaii is coming to our mission, also we have some Nauvoo missionaries that are coming here for the winter along with some more temple square sisters, and next transfer is a zone conference one so it'll be dang crazy!

The Elder next to me is Dad's college coach's son... Elder Wagner:)

The Gideons are doing great! They came to a fireside last night and loved it! They will be baptized in October!

This is Jake and he's sharing his light with everyone!

Jake, the one who just got baptized a couple of weeks ago, is on fire! He's giving Book of Mormons out left and right and is coming out to teach with us all the time. He just got called to be a Ward missionary!

Elder Faldmo

My Mission Experience... September 21, 2015

I will try and send a bigger email about my week later!

Hey guys, so last Monday in our meeting with President was one of the most spiritual experiences I've had on my mission. He gave us his report of the conference with all of the other mission presidents and their wives in the SW Area of the U.S. Elder Robbins, Corbridge, & Foster of the Seventy were all there. Elder Foster trained on leadership and empowering missionaries and people in our stewardship. He told the story from Harold B. Lee when Pres Lee was working in the worldwide banking industry. To pick a new president, they sent the top 3 executives out of their area or division to work in a different area or division. Whoever had the former area that thrived and had the most success after they left was chosen to be the new president. President Snow elaborated on that and told us, "As a leader, it's not about what you can do, it's about what you can do through others." Elder Foster said, "it's easier to run a mission than it is to inspire one." Who cares if as an individual we have the greatest missionary skills in the world or are the the best at something or get the most baptisms. If we can't get the rest of the missionaries to do the same, we are failing. Obviously everyone has agency but this applies to all aspects of life. Dad, it applies to your Ward mission team. Mom, it applies to your college students and Young Women. Grandma and Jason, it applies to all of Hurst General Stores Inc.

Other key points and knowledge given by President Snow include:

-Building Relationships is SO important Here in our mission we call them coalitions but the skill of being able to earn someone's trust so that they will do pretty much anything to help you is a huge part of leadership and a skill I have been pounding

on myself to try and master. I compare this to any type of coach. A good coach will take the skills that his player has and magnify them so that everyone is being used for what they are good at. In all of my wards I need to know the skills of all of my members to match them up with people we are teaching. I need to know what they do for work and also their work schedule so I know when they usually are available to come out with us.

The 4 keys to building relationships according to Elder Foster are:

1.) never gossip

2.) always express love

3.) share feelings (and I might add to that have robust dialogue when needed)

4.) feed the fish (always give spiritual food)

-the brethren care about us missionaries a great deal

President Snow talked about how much love he felt from the 3 men from the Seventy who visited our mission. He also referred back to Elder Quentin L. Cook's quote from about a year ago. He said, "The SW U.S. area is the most important

area in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints." It is the most concentrated area in the whole world with Priesthood holders. The average ratio for Melchizedek

Priesthood holders for the world is 20 to 1 but here it is 8.8 to one. The Lord is putting more holders here to fulfill those important callings in Wards and Stakes than anywhere else to help it grow and grow and grow.

President Snow closed with a quote that is very sacred to me and something that hit me pretty hard. "I don't think that this is by accident to be here in this mission at this time. You were chosen to come here at this time to be valiant missionaries in this area in this, the Nevada Las Vegas mission."

And if I might add to President Snow's quote to say that it is no accident that he & Sister Snow are here either.

Can you find me?  This was everyone at the mid 12 week training...

I'm grateful to be here in this mission at this time. I'm trying to soak up all of the learning I can before these 2 years are up.

Thank you for all of the support and prayers.

Love,

Elder Faldmo

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

August 10, 2015 Sawldmo...

President Snow making sure we still take in some of the terrain that's a part of of the 

Nevada Las Vegas Mission!

Hey Fam!
First off Happy Anniversary to my wonderful parents, David Norman and Robin Hurst Faldmo. I'm grateful for your height! I love you! It was your wedding anniversary and my year anniversary in Vegas this week!

We saw a ton of miracles this week and are seeing a lot of blessings right now. The Bermuda Ward is on fire right now! Sunday was a pretty crazy day. We had a ton of investigators show up to church! Elder Sawyer & I taught Gospel Principles and the topic was The Signs of the 2nd Coming. One of our investigators named Jacqui that is really fun to teach but hard cause she has so many questions, anyway, she  commented in class and told us she wanted to be baptized! She raised her hand after another member was sharing about their experience when they were baptized and said, "Alright, I'm convinced! I'm ready!" Later we were talking about missionary work and asked the class how many of them are converts and she said, "I almost am!"

Also, a random family of 5 walked into church and said that they want to be taught so we are starting to teach them tonight!

This older lady named Leona just moved here from California and she said she wanted to find church again. She told herself that she would go to the first church she saw when she got here and the first church she saw was the chapel down the road from our chapel. She walked into
church last Sunday and the missionaries in that Ward taught her this week but she lives in our boundaries so we taught her last night and she's a hoot. She is one of the most fun people to teach on my mission. She asked us what sacrifices she had to make to be baptized and we talked about the Word of Wisdom and she said, "no coffee or tea?" And we said nope. Then she said, "dang, but can I still have my kool-aid? I need me some sugar still!" Yes Leona, you can have kool-aid.

We also started teaching this kid named Jake this week. His friend Robert, who is a member in another Ward invited him to church a few weeks ago and then invited him to listen to us! We taught him the restoration this week and he will be baptized in September! Robert is going on a mission in September too so hopefully he will be able to baptize him before he goes. Jake said that that would be good for him to prepare Robert for his mission so he can get used to it haha I went on exchanges this week with Elder Chase Carroll. He's from Gilbert, AZ and went to high school with cousin Kenzie Hurst! He goes home in a week so he said he will take pictures at her farewell for me :) we're excited for you Kenzie!

I also went on exchanges with Elder Rockwood this week in my last area! It was fun to teach some of the same people that we taught together there last transfer.

S/o to President and Sister Snow for taking us to Hoover Dam this morning! Besides the fact that it reminded me of Lake Powell it was really fun! (I'll send pics later) Also to Sylvia for giving a killer talk on Sunday at church yesterday I heard!

Elder Sawyer and I sporting our shirt given to us by our Ward Mission Leader.

 

Overlook at Hoover Dam with Elder Sawyer and the Sister Training Leaders

Love you all! Keep sending me pics of all of your great adventures!

Elder Faldmo

August 3, 2015 Miracles and Scorpions...

We had a bunch of great things happen this week!

President Snow and I with a new missionary from the Philippines, Elder Balajadia, that just arrived to our mission!

Yesterday we found another golden family. They just moved here from Carlsbad, CA. They have had LDS friends in the past and have gone to different churches but never found the right one. We were knocking on a door in their apartment complex and they saw us outside their window
and the mom sent her son out to try and talk to us but we left too quick. To try and track us down, they looked up the temple and called it but it was closed for cleaning so they thought they'd never be able to talk to us. Then, later in the day, the oldest daughter went to the
laundromat and on the floor she found a tattered Gospel of Jesus Christ pamphlet with the number of the Singles' Ward Sister Missionaries on in and called them. Then the sisters called us and we called the family and went over that night. When we went over, they
told us this whole story and then today they came to church and loved it! After church, the mom didn't want to come out of Relief Society because she didn't want her kids to see her cry. It was really good weekend to say the least. They now have a baptismal date and are excited to continue to learn!

On Tuesday, we were getting into our car and Elder Sawyer sits down in the drivers seat and he felt something on his back and thought it was his seat being really hot and burning him-- summers in Vegas! So, he leans forward and reaches back to feel the back part of his seat and something else hurt his finger and so he gets out of the car and we look and there's nothing there so we go to our next stop. When we go to get back in the car, on the mat there's a scorpion sitting there! It was on my side so I freaked out!!! Then we tried and catch it and it got away in the cracks of the seat, but we had an appointment to go to so we had to get in the car! So for the rest of the day, I was sitting in my seat, scared to death that the scorpion would get me or run up my pants or something. Then at the end of the night, we went to a guy in our Ward who is an exterminator. He sprayed our car for us. The next morning the scorpion was dead on the floor so we got it! Now it's the mascot in our apartment.

So, I hate scorpions but I LOVE snakes:) This one belongs to someone we are teaching.

I love you all! Keep up the good work!

Elder Faldmo

July 28, 2015 Fam Jam

Hey everyone!

S/o to Sylvia for going to the temple for the first time and completing the special ordinances for her grandparents. I'm sure it was a great experience!

Had another amazing week! First off, on Wednesday I went on exchanges with the one and only
Elder Chambers. We went to his area in the North (my birthplace for my mission) and had a great day. Also, we had dinner with the one and only Loveman! The rest of the country better watch out when Elder Chambers is playing as an offensive tackle for BYU next year!

On Saturday I got to go to lunch with my cousins the Clarks and Gallaghers! It was good to see all of the cousins and that night, Christian (formerly known as Elder Clark) came out to teach with Elder Sawyer and I! It was so much fun to teach the gospel with my cousin who I haven't seen in over two years. We had some good experiences in the ghetto! right Christian?

Our investigator Jorge was a champ this week. He came to church 2 weeks in a row about 2 months ago but then he got a job that scheduled him working on Sunday. He loves going to church and has been trying to get a new job and finally this Sunday he couldn't take it anymore without
going to church. So, he told his boss in the middle of work that he had to go to church, he left work, and just showed up for the 3rd hour of church. Then last night we had a lesson with him and his girlfriend and they told us that they wanted to get married as soon as possible and now they have a
marriage and baptismal date. Jorge is the man! All he wants is for his family to be sealed as a family for time and all eternity. I'm so grateful for the restored gospel and the knowledge that we have to give us more peace and direction for our lives. Jorge knows where he wants to go but now, unlike before, he knows exactly what he needs to do to get there.

Also we had 2 zone conferences this week. One was in Lake Havesu. We had to get up at 3:30 in the morning to get there... The lake wasn't even warm. Just kidding... but it was a good drive. President Snow has the lead foot of Dad so we got home quick. I got half trunky cause it had the same scenery as ion the way to lake Powell.

I love the mission life! Crazy spiritual, busy and fun! Love you all!
Elder Faldmo