April 11, 2016 #NLVM

Hey everyone! 

A donde van tan peinado? Sorry for not writing a lot last week but I really just wanted to play basketball so yeah.

This week was quite a good one. We are teaching a lot of people and a lot are progressing and coming to church.  I was able to go back to my last Ward for another baptism last Friday! Tamara got baptized and after the baptism Shannon, her sister, who Thorne and I taught and they've been teaching still is going to get baptized in June right before I go home after she gets through some personal stuff.

Me and Elder Thorne with Tamara after her baptism!

The 2 exchanges I went on this week were with Elder Angele and also another one with Elder Dixon. Angele is one of the DLs in our zone and it's been a neat experience to help build him and see him grow. He's from Little Rock, Arkansas and the only really active church member of his family and he only really became active in church right before his mission. He has made big progress and has become a really good leader. Dixon is from upstate New York but grew up in Aberdeen, SD!

Elder Angele and I found another ceramic donkey on exchanges. For those of you watching at home that makes 3 burros this transfer. We knocked on the door, the guy answered and said "sorry guys I'm not interested" then I said "no worries, but can we take a picture with your ceramic donkey?" Then he said "absolutely you can!" 

One thing I learned in my studies this week was about the Atonement and grace. 

In Hebrews 4:15-16 it says:

15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

Christ was tempted with everything that we are tempted with and still without sin.  In order to partake and access the atonement we need to "come boldly" "obtain mercy" and "find grace".

Those are all things that we have to do. Jesus will never force the atonement on us... it is up to each of us to learn about it, accept it, and apply it. It's a simple and perfect, yet difficult at times.  It is the path back to our Heavenly Father. 

Service at ThreeSquare was great this week

I love the process of growing so much! Spiritually, temporarily, mentally, physically, emotionally, all of it! It's so cool how life breaks us down and Christ can build us back up to something better than we were before. I know that we truly can be perfected in Christ.

#Elevate 

Love you all!

Elder Faldmo

April 4, 2015 Quick Update

Hey Fam!

Best part of the week was by far conference. My favorite talk was the first one of the whole conference, President Eyring. 

I came into this conference super prepared with questions and this Eyring's talk answered all of them along with some of the hymns in that first
session. I literally don't remember a word of what he said but just remember that I got a ton of spiritual promptings from him. This stuff is true!

I'm pumped to study all of the talks again this week! 

 Love you guys!

Elder Faldmo

March 28, 2016 La Pascua‏

Happy Easter everyone!

So most wards have a special sacrament meeting planned out for Easter and all the bells and whistles ready to go. For our Ward they didn't have anything so in Ward council yesterday on Easter Sunday, they told us we had to speak because they didn't have anyone else. So yeah I don't really know what I said but I talked for 15 minutes about the resurrection. It was pretty cool
because I was able to share my experience and testimony about knowing how the resurrection was real. From experiences at Grandpa Ross' funeral and also another funeral of a young boy here on my mission Heavenly Father has let me know through His Spirit that our bodies and
our spirits will actually come together again and be glorified, perfected beings. It's a step that we will be able to take to be able to become that much more like our Father in heaven. It's a pretty wonderful truth that we have a full knowledge of thanks to the restoration.

Elder Merrill my companion is a boss and it's a lot of fun to serve with him. We are teaching some pretty special people right now so I hope we have a big April to follow up with what we did in March. North Las Vegas is the place to be and there are a ton of miracles happening every day.
We just have to want them, pray for them and most importantly WORK for them. "Work, work, work, there is no satisfactory substitute, especially in missionary work." -Ezra Taft Benson

I'm so grateful for my mission and the opportunity I have to grow in so many different ways every day. I'm starting to learn to see every situation/problem/weakness as a opportunity rather than an obligation. We just need to realize what we're thinking about when our effort is low. When effort is low it's probably because we see things as an obligation rather than an opportunity to grow into what God wants us to be. The way we think about things in our life is everything.

I hope March Madness is going well and all of your brackets are busted and Remember everyone when you're shopping to "See Hurst First" :)

Here's a picture of me with another ceramic donkey.

Elder Faldmo

March 21, 2016 TRANSFERS

Hi Everyone!

Before anything I want to say congrats to Dakota Valley Basketball!  It's so good to hear how much success they had. I'm proud of Big T for finishing strong and being a leader! I miss it so much.

Me, Stephanie and Elder Smith and her baptism

Transfers are this week on Tuesday. We got our transfer doctrine on Saturday and Elder Smith will be leaving me :( and going to the Ensign Spanish Ward in the East stake. He'll be by the Stratosphere and around that part of Vegas. He's been the funniest companion I've had
so far and it was a lot of fun to serve with him. I'm staying here and my new companion is Elder Merrill! I served around him in my last area. He is from Cardston, Alberta Canada and went to BYU for a year before his mission. He has been out for about a year and a half and is a knockdown 3-point shooter :) He will be my companion most likely for the rest of my mission, he's gunna kill me!

This week I was able to go back to my last area to the Robindale YSA Ward (AKA RobSquad) for Haley's Baptism! She is best friends with a member of our Ward named Tatiana and one time we were at Tatiana's house for dinner and we asked her if we could teach any of her friends and she's said, "yeah I'll text one right now." (That's why YSA wards are so bomb.) Anyway, Elder Thorne and I started teaching Haley and a couple days after the first lesson, Haley, her friend texted us and said she didn't want to continue to learn because she didn't like the church's
stance on gay marriage cause she had a few friends that were but thanked us anyway. A few months later she changed her mind and decided to start learning again and decided to be baptized! I'm grateful that the church and gospel are true because we don't really convince
anyone we teach, the spirit does it on it's own and we are just here as missionaries to carry out what the Spirit teaches.

Haley's Baptism Day

Ok one more cool story... Last night, Smith and I were teaching this guy named Martin. He's has an alcohol addiction and really wants to stop. We were teaching the Restoration towards the beginning of the lesson when he started telling us about his problem he got really emotional. We
talked about how God knows him personally and knows who he is. We read over that part in the pamphlet as we taught him that simple truth and it hit him really hard. He just read that sentence over and over again to himself, "God knows you personally and loves you more than you can
imagine." We asked him if he had ever heard that before and he said "no" and started to cry again. We continued talking about this truth throughout the lesson and when we were almost to the end he wanted to go back to the first page just so he could read that sentence again. It helped me be more grateful for the knowledge of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. Without the restoration we wouldn't have a full understanding of that simple, yet profound truth. God is our literal Father in Heaven-- not  just some blob floating around. He knows us perfectly and knows how to heal us through His Son's Atonement. Martin learned that last night and accepted a date to be baptized. 

This stuff is too good!

I love you all!

Elder Faldmo

They like their burro here in the North!

March 14, 2016 A donde tan peinado?‏

Hey Friends & Fam,

About a month ago, a priest in our Ward and I were out and about and a lady named Mixdrey opened her door and invited us in. Mixdrey and her daughter Ana were baptized this week! They are two of the most solid people I've taught on my mission. Mixdrey is already almost done reading the Book of Mormon and Ana cancelled her school and is going to go on a mission in
a year. Shoutout to my friend Sylvia for talking to Ana and helping her via text and answering some of her questions!

Elder Smith, Mixdrey, Ana and I all in white:)

I was also able to go back to Henderson this weekend for Debra's baptism! She is the mom of a part member family that Elder Rockwood and I taught a lot when I was with him. All of the family has gotten baptized one by one. Now they are going to be able to go to the temple and become a forever family in a year!

All of us at Debra's baptism

Elder Smith and I are loving serving the Spanish speakers here in El Rancho. My listening and understanding is almost all the way back to where I was a year ago with Elder Felix so I pretty much know everything everyone is saying and my speaking has gotten a lot better too these past few weeks. Elder Smith is a Spanish genius!

S/O to Christian Clark, Matthew Gay, Jake Hasler, Josh Pollard and Kyle Howard for coming to see us this week! Love you guys!

Me with the Provo All-Stars!

Also S/O to Elder Thorne's grandpa for getting baptized this week!

I'm excited for these last 3 months of my mission. We boutta sprint to the finish line no regrets! So much to do!

Me and Elder Rockwood with Brown family the evening of Debra's baptism.  They are one of our favorite families in Henderson!

Sorry for the bad quality of some of the pictures! 

Love you all!

Elder Faldmo

March 7, 2016 March Madness!

Me with my Uncle Jason (mom's brother) ... All the Hursts in Vegas for ACE show

 

March Madness is in full effect and North Las Vegas is on fire! I love serving here and the energy that's in our zone right now. This week Elder Smith and I went to MLC at the mission office and got some good training from our boys Clark and Thorne. They trained on strategic planning and always looking 3-4 months ahead in the future for your zone.

I was able to go to the temple this week with Elder Sawyer to be there for Leona's first time at the temple doing baptisms! He and I taught and baptized her when we were companions. She had her own family names and was able to do their baptisms and confirmations!

Elder Sawyer, Leona and me

The Ace Show was in Vegas this week and so that means every Hurst and their dog was here to be at it. I was able to see my Uncle Bruce and Aunt Holly and also my Uncle Jason and the mom's friends and Uncle Jason's in-laws the Smiths! I love you guys!

Aunt Holly, Uncle Bruce, me and Elder Smith

Everything is going well here! Elder Smith and I are working hard and having a lot of fun!
Love you all!

Elder Faldmo

Me, mom's BFF Marjie from HS and Elder Smith

February 29, 2016 FAM BAM

Missionary March Madness... in the North. Laying out the brackets for my zone.

Hey Fam,

First off S/O to my cuz Wilhelm Clark for tonight and his first playoff game! #OHS

Thanks for all of your prayers, my health is 100% and I'm good to go and I have feeling in my face again! I'm on some meds that are helping my nerves recover so it's all good. 

Elder Smith and I are having a lot of fun. It's a perfect area with an exponential amount of work and solid members and people to teach. My Spanish is getting better day by day too. One person were teaching is named Octavio. He has already read the Book of Mormon, Doctrine &
Covenants, Pearl of Great Price, and Teachings of Howard W. Hunter book. We're just waiting for approval from the first presidency for him to get baptized. 

Another person we are teaching is Maexdrey. She's from Cuba and is almost done with the Book of Mormon. Elder Sawyer is
teaching her daughter in the YSA Ward by the temple and she's getting baptized soon too and wants to serve a mission! 

On Tuesday we had interviews with President and Sister Snow. I love them so much! President Snow gave me some good advice about college and my career after my mission. I just feel bad for young kids that dream about coming to this mission and don't get to. #NLVM 

I was on exchanges in the Nellis Manor Ward this week. That's the Air Force Base Ward. There was a member named Brother Coombs that came out to teach with us. He said he grew up in Orem and I asked if he knew any Faldmos. He said when he was younger he would collect fast
offerings from Nana and Papa's house and he said his brothers knew some of my uncles pretty well. 

I studied King Benjamin's discourses this week in Mosiah and learned a lot of cool things from those few chapters. My favorite verse from those chapters is :
"13 For how knoweth a man the master whom he has not served, and who
is a stranger unto him, and is far from the thoughts and intents of his heart?"
To understand Christ, we need to serve Him. To serve him we must serve others. 

(See Mosiah 2:17)

Love you all!

Elder Faldmo 

 I met a guy with a sick mullet this week. I told him I would grow one after my mission! Can I mom? You can't see it very well in the picture but this is him haha

February 22, 2016 Somos gabachos‏

I had a super fun and busy and crazy week, especially Saturday.  So I started Saturday with my

long, lost friend Dustin Marsden who was down from Idaho with his sales team took us to breakfast. 

Me & Dustin... not really smilin' --see end of letter

Then after that, I was able to go to the temple for Makay's endowment session!

I'm grateful to serve in a mission where you can stay close to all of your converts! It was a really cool experience and she deserves all of the blessings she got! President Snow also came to it and I was sitting with him in the chapel in the temple before the session started and he told me that in July 2017, there will be a 3rd mission opened in Las Vegas! I'm super pumped! That was what we all wanted to do when we got here and it is going to happen now!

Then later that day I was able to go back to my last area for Jason's baptism! He was someone Elder Chambers and I found on exchanges a little over a month ago and he's one of those people who is just ready for the gospel and he accepted it right away. He's going into the military and so there were lots of people from  of his unit and some of his officers that were at the baptism. Naturally, one of the songs was "Onward Christian Soldiers."

Jason in the white shirt... 

Our district volunteered at three square food bank this week!

This weekend was stake conference and Elder Palmer of the 70 came to speak. North Stake is exploding right now. The zone broke the mission record for new investigators last week and then we broke our own record this week! The people here are so prepared! The Lord is blessing us hard core right now and everyone is working really hard.

I was able to reunite with Elder Thorne on Tuesday! He came to my area for exchanges and it was good to be with him for the day. He's finally made his decision and is going to try and walk on at the Y for football!

Elder Thorne & I on exchanges in front of the Loveshack!

So I got this weird disease this week that we think is Bell's Palsy. I'm kinda paralyzed on the right side of my face. It's actually been a blessing because it's helped my accent a lot for Spanish! I think It's starting to fade away... but I'm going to see a PA on Thursday just to make sure everything's ok.

"Handing out so many Book of Mormons, we need a new case

My right face can't move, call it 2 face" -Drake

"Rapping for me is like performing surgery, 

I don't want you to see me when I get my hands dirty 

but I want you to see the final product."

-Elder Smith
Love you all!

Elder Faldmo

February 15, 2016 ¿Que milanesas que no bisteses, ya pensaba que tú morongas?‏

It was a good week #2 here in the land Northward. We did everything we could to "...fortify against the Lamanites, from the west sea, even unto the east; it being a day’s journey for a Nephite, on the line which they had fortified and stationed their armies to defend their north country." (Helaman 4:7)

We went on 2 exchanges with 2 of the District Leaders in our zone and their companion's this week.  On one of these exchanges  I went with my MTC companion, Elder Bunch! If anyone has any questions about technology, ask him. He is going to make a lot of money doing whatever he's going to do after the mission. This is our first time serving in the same zone on our missions, so it was good to catch up and talk about the things we are going to do to finish strong.   We had a pretty cool experience with a family that we taught in my area. 

So we are teaching this guy named Luis who was in the Mexican Mafia. He has a pet pigeon. No we're not talking like President Monson owned pigeons, it's just a pigeon that came off the street. It doesn't even have a cage. But I've gotten used to it and we're buds now. 

Some other awesome people we are teaching are Maexdre & Ana. They are a mother and daughter and from Cuba. They came to church and loved it! Maexdre read all the way to Alma 5 in 3 days. Then, on her own terms, she drove to the temple to look at it! 

All in all, things are going great! I love serving with Smitty and we are having a fun time getting Spanish back up to speed!

Have a great week!

Elder Faldmo

This is my companion Elder Smith with a savila plant a lady randomly gave us after we knocked on her

door:)

 

February 8, 2016 #Number1North

Hey Fam!
I'm having a blast serving back in El Rancho with Elder Smith! He's the funniest companion I've had and we are having a great time together. I don't know of I told you last week but he's from Vienna, Virginia right by DC. He went to BYU for a year before his mission. He's also an amateur rapper. 

So there's probably too much work here for us. We actually need like 2 more companionships for our ward.  In order for us to cover it like we would like to, it would be great to have it like it was the first time I was here. But we aren't complaining about that FOR SURE, we are just running around all day every day finding and teaching. We have the most functional Spanish Ward in the valley and they are extremely supportive.

The Lord is blessing the North Zone a ton right now. This transfer we are "#KnockOutNorth: KO'd for KI's" (key indicators). That's our zone vision and Elder Smith and I rolled it out this week at our Zone Council. We are focusing on finding for the month of February and already broke our zone
record for finding this past week! Our local leaders are all on board and we have a great Ward Mission Leader and if we stay humble and hungry some positive outlying things can happen these next few months! #Number1North 

Already broke the zone record... KO'd for KI's and Knocking Out Satan too!

At ZTC I trained on "knocking out Satan" and how we need to remove the obstacles and temptations in our lives that allow him to be in the ring with us so we can win by KO.

My Spanish is doing ok right now. Still knocking some rust off but through fasting and prayer we're going to get there. Like 90% of the people we talk to are Spanish speaking so that makes it easier to progress faster with the language. It was cool to come to church yesterday and see the Rubio Family, a family Elder Rivas and I baptized.  They were all there and very active. I'm going to get them to the temple before I leave here! I love serving in the ghetto areas. People are so humble and crazy! :)

So it is with us, North Town is the place to be for missionary work and seeing miracles everyday! This has been one of the best weeks on my mission!

Elder Faldmo