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

December 14, 2015 Christmas Conferences, YSA success, and.....Thorne fell into a hot tub‏

Hey everyone here's just a quick update of how we're doing:

We had 3 Christmas Conferences this week. The first was all of the Henderson zones, then out of valley (Kingman/Lake Havasu Zone), then we finished the week off with the Las Vegas Zones 

President Snow, Elder Thorne & I in our matching ties, and Sister Snow

Elder Thorne and I trained at all of them on Revelation through Church attendance. We also had a guest appearance at all of them by Santa Snow and a talent show (our mission has the most talented missionaries btw)

We are teaching a lot of people and one of them is getting baptized at the end of this month. Her name is Mary and she's a foreign exchange student from Russia. She just got here a month ago so she's still learning English and culture. She lives with a member family and is going to BYU-I next fall! She's super prepared! We were teaching this guy by a pool this week. He was a little under the influence of alcohol. We got done with the lesson and Thorne takes a couple steps back forgetting that we are by a pool and splashes right into the hot tub.... 

He said he was just showing the guy how baptism works but I'm not buying it.  The drunk guy said he looked like a model after he got out who agrees??

Elder Faldmo

Me, Elder Thorne, Sister Snow, Sister Training Leaders & President Snow

December 7, 2015 Raining Miracles...

Elder Thorne and I LOVE President Snow!!!

Things are going great here, Elder Thorne is a stud! He rains miracles all the time. We are having a lot of fun serving in a YSA Ward. We have a lot of RMs in our YSA Ward that are really good missionaries. We are teaching a lot of people that are our members friends right now
and that's how it's supposed to be! Our Ward is going to be constantly changing because of people leaving and coming at the end of every semester. We have a couple of UNLV athletes that are in our Ward that served missions that help us out a lot when they aren't busy with their athletic season.

Elder Thorne and I are very tired all the time. During weekly planning we were talking about some things and fell asleep...while we were talking! Yeah we don't sleep a lot. It's all good though!

We love being here right now, time is going by super fast so we're kinda just soaking this up! We feel super blessed to be companions right now! Everyone here is pumped for the BYU Vs. Utah game! Elder Thorne and I figured out we were both at the Las Vegas Bowl together when we were kids when BYU played Oregon!
#HYPE #ELEVATE #Win4Taysom? #NLVM

Bowlers & Comps... Midwest Guys

President Snow took us bowling today!
Elder Faldmo

November 30, 2015....Giving Thanks for Great Things Happening in Vegas!

Happy Thanksgiving!

For Thanksgiving, we went to President Snow's house and Sister Snow cooked for us! Before and after our Thanksgiving meal we met for about 6 hours to discuss and come up with the 2016 Nevada Las Vegas Mission Vision. 

Our Planning for the Nevada Las Vegas Mission 2016... big plans!

It was cool to bounce off each other's revelation and come up with vision and plan for our missionaries and members in the valley for 2016!



Our post Thanksgiving Meal Meeting Mess with the Snows

Elder Thorne and I are starting to build up our area and are teaching some really cool people right now! One of them is named Andrew and he's down here in Vegas because he's one of the managers for Rand Paul's campaign for Nevada. He's a super smart guy and very sincere and understands everything really well. It's really fun to teach people like him!  On Saturday, Thorne had a baptism to go to from his last area so I needed a companion for a couple of hours so I got Will Edwards to help me out! And then the Clarks came to my sacrament meeting on Sunday and
Will Clark poked his head in but didn't see me so they left :(

I hope you all are doing great! Love ya!

Elder Faldmo

November 23, 2015 @mammafaldmo

Hey everyone sorry I didn't have any time to write today! We had meetings that went long.
But, our week was good! We're starting to get things rolling here in the young singles' ward and
are excited for all of the new people we are starting to teach! We had 3 back to back exchanges this week since it's only a 5 week transfer and so we have to squeeze in the exchanges around their interviews and the Christmas Conferences. One of them, I was in the
North Zone with my former companion Elder Rockwood. I love that guy!

Happy Birthday on Thanksgiving to my wonderful mother! I love you Mom! #RockinRobin

All is well here in Vegas! Happy Thanksgiving!

Let me know what ideas you have for me and Elder Thorne's Christmas Card!

Elder Faldmo

November 16, 2015 Week 1 of the transfer down...

What's up people!?? 

Faldmo and Thorne here. 

My new comp... Elder Thorne

We just are getting adjusted to the YSA Ward. It's different for sure because we can't teach everyone we meet now but it's a lot of fun. We didn't think our mission would be the first time we attended Institute but this week it was! It's really cool to teach people our own age. 

We found some success ballin' in Sunset Park this week! We play 2 on 2, beat them, and then teach them. One guy said he was filming us and he said he put it on YouTube!

When you become Elder Thorne's companion, you learn a couple things. First off, your diet sucks, and also your abs get used to being sore. I am happy to be with someone that pushes me  to be my best!

We got very little sleep this week so we are glad week 1 is over! Airport runs and training the new missionaries was a success though. 

Thorne & I training the new missionaries in the mission home this past Wednesday

Ready for flu season...

We are excited to focus a lot more on our area now and to find, teach and baptize!

We love you all!
Elder Thorne & Faldmo

November 9, 2015 New Comp, New Ward!

Hi people, there are some changes here. THE Elder Tyler Daniel Thorne will be my new companion and President is switching our area from the Bermuda Ward to the YSA Ward for our stake. I'm really excited for this new Ward and having Elder Thorne as my companion! Along with the fact that our sisters are friends at BYU and our families will be together this weekend in Missouri for the BYU game makes it perfect timing. President said he could call his parents to tell them so we prank called his mom and we made it seem like he was in trouble and was struggling and then we broke the real news to her and Kim was not happy with us... Sorry Kim! :)

I just want to give a special shoutout to Elder Sawyer. He has been in me of my favorite companions and is one of the greatest missionaries & leaders out there. I have learned a ton from him! The mission is reaching new heights because of him. I'm glad he's finally getting a
good companion after being with me - he is headed by the temple to be with Elder Chambers! :) And he's from right by Flathead Lake in Montana so only the best come from there or serve there right Grandpa Ross?

We had MLC this week and we rolled out the 7 Fundamental Components of Leadership: 

Stewardship Trust

Leadership Presence

Model Area

Charity

Exchanges

Delegation & Working through Others

Strategic Planning

We did this because once missionaries come into a leadership position, they don't always know what specifically they need to work on or do. We made a manual for these fundamentals and all of the leaders in the mission will have them to study.

Yesterday for church it was a special conference broadcast for the North America Southwest Area of the church and Elder Oaks, a member of the Relief Society Presidency, and 2 of the 70 spoke to us. Elder Corbridge was one of them and he is coming to our mission in January!
Elder Oaks (remember when he slept in our basement Mom and Dad?) gave an amazing talk and testimony. He emulated Christ as he spoke and I know he is one of the few special witnesses of Him on the Earth today.

This church is Jesus Christ's church on the Earth today. It's let by Prophets and Apostles. Christ talks to us through them. If we read the scriptures at all, we shouldn't be surprised if they tell us things that are contrary to the world or being "politically correct." I've received revelation and understanding through personal prayer about the recent handbook addition about kids with same gender parents. It's all from God and true.

Here's a picture of our last district meeting of this transfer!

One of my last pics of me and Elder Sawyer as companions

Love you all a bunch! 

Elder Faldmo

November 2, 2015 So happy for Melisa!

Melisa got baptized this week! 

It was one of the most spiritual baptism programs that I've been to on my mission. Her little sister Kelliany gave a prayer and Melisa shared her testimony at the end it and was pretty dang cool. Our gospel principles teacher, Brother Lata, baptized her and also, her baby she had about a month ago was blessed right after she was confirmed on Sunday!

Week 6 of the transfer starts today! It's going to be a little difficult to figure out transfers because during next transfer, there's going to be a new stake formed in Henderson! There's going to be some changes, but good changes! Las Vegas' wards and stakes are growing more and more week by week. This is what it's all about!

On Tuesday we had our ward's Trunk-or-Treat and the Bermuda Ward is nuts. There was a 10 year old DJ for it from the Ward and it was the first time I have been at a church function with strobe lights, smoke machines, and Drake playing. We had a lot of investigators there so hopefully they didn't get too scared.

President Snow doesn't want the missionaries out on the streets on Halloween so in the evening everyone came for a mission get together and we watched The Cokeville Miracle and every zone had to do a skit about the "worst member present lesson." Anyways it was cool, I got to see Thorne, Chambers, Wasden, the whole gang. So I guess I was with Elder Thorne the same time Abby was hanging out with his sister in Provo on Saturday.

The sports anchor for the news here is LDS did a story on Elder Chambers who's going to play football for BYU after his mission. It was really good publicity for the church and us missionaries. President Snow showed us all the video on Saturday. Here's the link! 

https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.lasvegasnow.com_sports_lineman-2Dpostpones-2Dfootball-2Ddreams-2Dfor-2Dmission-23.VjLQQoF7xSo.mailto&d=CwIFAg&c=z0adcvxXWKG6LAMN6dVEqQ&r=idOlFJ2N_8fwSkfDftdFdW8AAEQYSZ-H79fZytIjRRw&m=gUvkzbQNYYq8ew1VrN-FIri4H1pYi4o2lfgg0Ki29zY&s=Ubb3HTEDQzJJAB-AFhuDdh_2thzR_fjT_NwBmWYMJ6k&e=

My Ponderize scripture for this week is... 

Matthew 11:28-30

"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

Love you guys!

Elder Faldmo 

October 26, 2015 #Tier3MissionaryWork

Happy Birthday this week to my buddy Elder Dustin Marsden serving in Tampa right now, happy 21st Dusty!

I was able to go on an exchange in my last area, Black Mountain, in Henderson this week and got to see some of my favorite people again! The Daltons, Boyles, Swartzlanders, Vizzas, Browns, & Rapps. I got to teach some investigators that I taught when I was there and I was with
my former companion Elder Felix (I was with him in Monte Bello) who is serving their now!

We finished up with Zone Conferences for this transfer and they were a success. President Snow had his coordinating council with all of the Stake Presidents who came to our zone conferences this transfer and we are moving exactly where we want to as a mission to work closer with
Ward and stake leaders and members! #Tier3MissionaryWork

Melisa is so solid right now and is getting baptized this Saturday! Her baby is going to be blessed this Sunday, the same day as her confirmation. She's loving all of the fellowship she's getting from the Relief Society and the new friends she's making. Remember we need spiritual conversion and social conversion!

This week I "ponderized" D&C 13. Isn't it wonderful we have the Priesthood on the Earth today? Oh if you guys really want to learn some cool stuff go read Oliver Cowdrey's account at the end of Joseph Smith History!

This morning, President Snow took Elder Sawyer and I and the MSTLs to the Old Eldorado Mine which is owned by the Werlys, members of the Church, who bought it 21 years ago. It's by Searchlight, NV. It was an abandoned mine and they fixed it up, put electricity in it and now
have people come from all over the world to take tours. They've had a bunch of movies, music videos, and commercials filmed there too. 

Old Eldorado Mine with the STL & Pres Snow

 

Tryin to pose like the Luke Bryan did for his album cover at the mines

Hey Fam I'm taking you there after the mish!

Love you all!
Elder Faldmo

October 19, 2015 WHAT YOU CAN DO THROUGH OTHERS...

Just me and my cous Jordy

Eldorado/Lake Mead Zone Conference

Another great week in Vegas! A lot of good things are happening now in our area and in the mission!

First and foremost, CARTER FURLONG, congrats on getting baptized! Of course, when I go on my mission, my friends start getting baptized :)

We had two Zone Conferences, one was a combined one with the North Zone and the Central/Sunrise Zone so I saw E. Chambers and Rockwood there! The other one was in the Eldorado/Lake Mead zone which is the zone that Elder Thorne and Wasden are the zone leaders for.

I got to see one of my best buds and cousins Jordan Hurst this weekend! She was in town for her friend's wedding and she took Elder Sawyer and I out to lunch. She filled me in good on all of the John & Beth Hurst Bunch news. I love you Jordy!

Melisa is the young single mom that we are teaching, and she is going to be baptized on the 31st! Krysta has been a super good fellowshipper for her, even though she's not in our Ward but they were both in the same situation before their baptism so they can relate to each other
really well!

Also, this lady at church who has been coming the last few weeks came up to us at church and asked us to be baptized! We thought she was a less active member who just started to come back but apparently she grew up in the church but somehow was never baptized.

Love you all! if you're a leader or a parents or a human or anything, go read Moses and Abraham and think about leadership and how Heavenly Father leads! President Snow told me and Elder Sawyer to do that about a month ago and it's changed my life!

"It's not about what you can do, it's about what you can do through others!" -President Snow

Elder Faldmo