Ancestors and Elder Corbridge visit January 27, 2016

Hey everybody here's a quick update of what's going on with me the past week or so:

These past few days we have had the opportunity and the blessing to have Elder Lawrence Corbridge of the 1st Presidency of the Quorum of the Seventy and his wife with our mission. It started with a special MLC on Sunday night and then 2 mega zone conferences on Monday and Tuesday.

Front Row: Sister Corbridge, Elder Corbridge, President Snow and Sister Snow.  

Me with Elder Thorne and sister training leaders in the back:)

While Elder Corbridge was here I had the chance to be interviewed personally by him and get some 1-on-1 time. He is probably the most intelligent person ever with the scriptures. One question I posed to him in my interview was "how can I avoid temptation after my mission?" and without delay he responded with D&C 45:57:

"For they that are wise and have received the truth, and have taken the Holy Spirit for their guide, and have not been deceived--verily I say unto you, they shall not be hewn down and cast into the fire, but shall abide the day."

Here are a couple of other things I learned from him these past few days:

    * The bad news is that the Lord requires everything. Our time, talents, and interests. The good news is that the Lord only requires everything.

   *D&C 64

33 Wherefore, be not weary in well-doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work. And out of small things proceedeth that which is great.

34 Behold, the Lord requireth the heart and a willing mind; and the willing and obedient shall eat the good of the land of Zion in these last days.

Greatness is the compilation of many small things done well. Day after day, obedience after obedience, workout after workout (Spiritual or Physical). 

Last Wednesday was the Worldwide Missionary Broadcast for all of the missionaries throughout the world. We were able to hear from a few of the apostles (Anderson, Bednar, Oaks) and others from the Missionary Executive Council.  It was titled "Teach Repentance and Baptize Converts." I loved it because all of the talks and trainings were on the 8 fundamentals of missionary work or from the Missionary Guide Preach My Gospel. It's all about the fundamentals for whatever we do in life! 

I also was able to go on exchanges with Elder Chambers this past week! I'm so grateful for the mission and the friendships we develop because of it! I can't wait to watch him play at BYU after the mission!

So I have become quite fascinated with my ancestor named Thomas Sirls Terry. A member from a Ward I formerly served in is a descendant of him also and gave me a huge book with all of Thomas and his family's history.  Here are a couple of my favorite Thomas Sirls Terry quotes from his journal:

"When famine and starvation stared me in the face, and hunger had so weakened my mortal frame, that when at my labor I would have to sit down to rest in order to gain strength... still I hung on to my faith and integrity in the Lord ... and when a mist of darkness had darkened the horizon of truth and when the prophets of God, who were slain for the testimony which they bore, by the wicked friends of hell, and when destruction seemed to the total overthrow of the whole church, my faith was still in the Lord, and would serve the God of Israel and would never let anything shake me from my firm position in the commandments of Christ. Therefore, my dear children, let nothing of an evil nature persuade you from a righteous course through life, and always carry out your righteous decrees and be firm in your determination."

"I was a Mormon, and was determined to gather with the Saints. Although it was critical times with the Saints as they were driven from Nauvoo the year before, the church was on the move, and they had no home, and more than this, but a very few friends. But their God was my God and if they died, I could die with them."

I'm grateful for the spiritual strength we get by learning about our ancestors!

Elder Faldmo 

January 18, 2016 "No Bad Days!"

This week was pretty eventful. On Tuesday to Wednesday I was down on exchanges with Elder Taylor in Lake Havasu City! The city slogan is "No Bad Days" and after a day there it's hard to believe that there could be bad days in Havasu.The people there are super nice and there

are a lot of members of the Church there too! Elder Taylor is from Alaska but he was born in Penguitch! The same place Grandpa Ross was born. He might play baseball at Dixie after his mission. I also went on exchanges on Thursday with Elder Wasden, my former comp!

I also got an exchange in with my man Elder Chambers

On Saturday, we had 2 baptisms. The first was Landon. He is dating a member and his whole family is Baptist. It was hard for him a little bit because of that, but Elder Thorne was able to relate a lot to him because his mom's whole family is all Baptist too. S/O to Kim Thorne for
being a trailblazer!  

Elder Thorne, Landon & me

Lora's family walked into church a few months ago and she been progressing ever since! Her parents got baptized a few weeks ago and on Saturday she and her little brother got baptized.

Elder Thorne, Lora and Me-- Photobomb by Lora's little brother:)

Today, President and Sister Snow took us to the Valley of Fire! It's right by Overton and looks similar to Zion National Park and Dixie Redrock. There was some slot canyons that we were able to go through.  It's super cool and a perfect time of year to visit it!

Thorne and I sporting our KC championship T-shirts 

Happy Birthday this week on the 22nd to my father David! Love you dad! Thanks for being a great example of hard work and consecration!


Elder Faldmo

January 11, 2015 The Story of Bryan Mandujano‏

This was one of the best weeks of my mission! 

Mostly, for the fact that Bryan Mandujano got baptized! For those of you who don't know, I
started my mission in North Las Vegas in a Spanish Ward named El Rancho. While there, Elder Rivas and I were working very closely with Bryan. Over the course of the last year and a half since I left El Rancho, a few crazy things have happened to bring Bryan to last Saturday... His baptism. Here is his story.

This week Bryan Mandujano and his wife got baptized. He is a true example of the love our Savior has for all of us and that our Savior's hand is always extended to us... no matter how far we think we are. Bryan was found by missionaries about 19 months ago. He has always had a sincere desire to follow Christ and be baptized but he has struggled with substance abuse and addictions for the last couple of years. Missionaries have taught him constantly  and tried to help him for the last 18 months with dozens of potential baptismal dates which all failed because of his relapses. Many of us who taught him even began to question and lose faith that he would ever be able to overcome his addictions. At one point, it even got to where his girlfriend had a plane ticket to leave but at the last minute decided to stay with him. With their newborn son she felt she couldn't break up the family.

Things continued on for about 3 months after that. Just 1 month ago, Bryan was in the car with one of his friends that is a member of our church. They got in a really bad car wreck and his friend died because of the crash. Bryan was in a coma for a month and they weren't sure if he
would make it,  but he did come out of it. When he woke up he had limited use of his body and had permanent damage. However he said that during his coma, his friend who had died in the crash came to him and told him he was ok. His friend told Bryan that he didn't need to worry about him because he was in spirit paradise waiting for Bryan because he had made the covenant of baptism. Bryan immediately changed after that. From that point,  he started progressing for real and since his first meeting with the missionaries. He finally was clean of drugs for the first time! All that remained for hi to enter into the covenant of baptism was to be married to his girlfriend Maria. This past Saturday Maria and Bryan were married and
baptized directly after the wedding. For the past 18 months many missionaries have worked with Bryan and Maria and he finally has entered the fold. Bryan and Maria are now striving towards an eternal family through their future temple sealing and overcoming all the odds against them!

Maria, Bryan & their baby boy surrounded by many of the missionaries in the Nevada Las Vegas Mission that have taught and helped Bryan



This stuff it too good! I love this mission! #NLVM

Love,

Elder Isaac Faldmo

January 4, 2015 DRIZZY DRAKE

What's up everybody??  we've had a pretty great past 2 weeks!

We rolled out the 2016 mission vision at MLC this week. President Snow played "Started from the Bottom" by Drake at the end of the presentation and threw on a KC Royals hat and the whole room went nuts. It might have been the greatest moment of my mission so far.

Reason #472657 why President Snow is the coolest mission president out there. 

I thought Elder Chambers was going to flip a table and Rockwood was going to pass out. It's a pretty fun time in the mission right now. There's a ton of work being done here. We're reaching

new heights here in the NLVM! We're just trying to #elevate our way to Tier 3 missionary work here in Las Vegas!

Mary got baptized on New Years Day! She's a foreign exchange student from Russia and is still working on her English but it's been cool to see her progress in the Gospel through trials in her life. Her host family are all members and she's going to go to BYUI next fall.

Elder Thorne, Mary's host family and me

I grew a lot spiritually in 2015 and I'm excited to keep progressing here in 2016! It's time!
Let's get to work!

Elder Faldmo