A Week of Goodbyes

June 30th 2014

Hello, and happy almost July! Man, it’s kind of rough when there are 5 Mondays in a month because you run out of money and miles! We have to drive like 25 miles round trip to get to the library and we are only supposed to drive about 40 miles a day, so it puts a cramp in our miles! Anyways, that was just the topic of our conversation on the way here!

This week was slower than last, but it was good!

We had a specialized training on Wednesday with the Weavers to say goodbye to them, it was really neat and we basically just had a testimony meeting! Their last day was on Thursday, so it was kind of sad saying goodbye to them, but I will see them soon enough! On the other end of the stick, President and Sister Blatter landed on Thursday and he is officially our new mission president! We had a conference call with him last night and I can just tell he is going to be so good for this mission! We are having another specialized training this week, basically just too officially meet them! So that will be fun!

This week we have been over to Brigida, Eva, Joan, and Maria's home everyday to teach them and prepare them for their baptism! On Friday when we went over there it was our last day with Maria there. She flew back to Pohnpei on Saturday to live there. She liked it here, but it’s just not home to her, so she is back home! We didn't get to talk to Maria a lot because of the language barrier, but she faithfully sat in on all of our lessons and she even said the closing prayer a few times in her language! It was really neat to "get to know her a little bit" with few words! But I love her and her few words! we said goodbye on Friday and she gave us each a hug and then she just held tightly to our hands and looked at us with tears in her eyes and was able to extract the few words she does know In English and she said "Thank you, I love you" it was such a tender moment and I know that she will talk to missionaries again one day, and that she will actually be able to talk with them in her language! She has felt the spirit of the gospel, now she just needs to hear it!

Other than that, we had to push back Brigida, Joan and Eva's baptism because Brigida is so set on fully living the word of wisdom that she wants to live it for 10 days before her baptism instead of just the required 5. So she and her family will be baptizedon July 12th. What a wonderful birthday weekend it will be :]

Yesterday at church we had a little miracle! We got a voicemail in the middle of church and it was a guy names tom, he said he was on his way to church and bringing his kids. He said he met with the elders a while ago and has been meaning to come back to church for a long time and that was the day he did it! So he showed up and took his kids to primary and nursery and we talked with him, he said he was baptized at 8 but was ex communicated. He wants to come back and have us meet with his girlfriend also, and he really just wants his kids to be brought up correctly and with good standards! So that was awesome! We will meet with them this week! :] 

I love you all!

Love, Sister Falkner!

1. I have this theory and I had to get a picture to prove it. My theory is that Washington is just a whole bunch of Christmas tree farms gone wrong, there are Christmas tree farms EVERYWHERE!!! and not all of the tree's are purchased, so they just let them keep growing and this is what you get, see the different layers of trees? yupp..

2. Just a lovely photo..

Can I have one of those books?- Monday, March 17th 2014

Hello everyone! Happy St Patrick’s Day!!! :]

This week was wonderful for so many reasons! The sun is shining and on Wednesday we got to go out and do our nightly tracting without a coat for the first time this season!! Yay!!! :]

So, this week we had a lesson with a lovely lady named Julie. I believe I told you a little bit about Julie previously, she was drunk when we knocked on her door and she thought we were 7th Day Adventists and we had to break the news to here that we were not.. Anywho, Mormon or not, she wanted us to come back because she is "searching" so this week we went back and we took Sister Lorenzen. (She is always just a fabulous fellowship) The lesson went so well, we taught her all about the Restoration, the Priesthood and the Book of Mormon. I was explaining to her the importance and greatness of the Book of Mormon and she cut me off, looked at me and said "Can I have one of those books? I want to read that!!" Oh how my heart smiled! I love the Book of Mormon so much and it makes me so happy when people want it!! Julie asked questions about the Word of Wisdom and we told her that we teach 4 lessons and that was part of the 4th one, so that if she would continue to meet with us we could talk about it later, and she just lit up and said "Okay, when do we go on to level 2?" We are meeting with Julie again this Wednesday and we will be 'going on to level 2' I am really excited to be meeting with her again!

We had some funny experiences while tracting this week too, we wenton Friday night with Amy, a 16 yr. old from the ward, she is just really great and the greatest thing happened, and the weirdest! I’ll tell the greatest first! We met this guy R.C. he was out in front of an apt complex that we parked near so we started talking with him and telling him about the Book of Mormon and my goodness, it happened again!! "Can I have one of those books, I want to read that" People, the Book of Mormon is God's word! We are so lucky to have it!!!! :]

Now for the weirdest thing.... we met this guy, I don’t even know his name... but we knocked on his door and he said he wasn’t interested so we left, but as we were leaving he asked if we knew Brandon Flowers, and if we knew if he was really a member or not, we said we didn’t know anyone by that name and left. THEN!!!! We are a block away, still knocking and he followed us!!! He asked if he could take our picture to show to his friend Brandon that is the lead singer in the band the Killers. I said "that’s kind of creepy" hoping he would come to the realization of his request and back off... but he didn't and Sister Stokes, Bless her heart said "sure" so he took our picture and may or may not have posted it to this Brandon Flowers Facebook page... then he continued to follow us so we had to speed walk to a new tracting place!

Okay, I know... this is getting long... but one more thing!!!

This week we had stake conference! It was amazing!! We had Elder Baxter of the 70 come and speak to us. He is from Scotland and it was very funny! The Saturday session was great, he talked a lot about knowing the difference between the Lord telling us that we have a higher potential to reach and Satan telling us that we aren’t good enough, I thought it was really helpful to a lot of people, me included! The Sunday session was really interesting! Rebecca came and got a ride with Sister Clark. Sister Stokes and I were in the Choir so we sat up front but we could see Rebecca in the back with Sister Clark and her eyes were glued to Elder Baxter, and she was crying! Unfortunately she had to leave early to take care of her son but we will meet with her soon and see what she felt. (Other than the Spirit) An ironic thing that happened during the Sunday session, Elder Baxter left a blank in the program to ask people to come up and bear their testimony and it just so happened that one of the people he picked out of the congregation was a young man that was visiting our church for the first time! Ahhh, that would be scary! But he came up and spoke about his beliefs and it was really interesting!

Sorry, this is so long! I love you!

Oh and we had transfer calls this week, Sister Stokes and I are staying together in Sequim! Yay!

Love, Sister Falkner!

Sequim, a retirement town: February 10th 2014

February 10th 2014 Good morning everyone! This week is pretty good, I really like it here in Sequim. It’s definitely an old person kind of a town, but I like it! Most people come here to retire! I'd say minus the little kiddos (which there are like 7) the average age of the ward is 70.. hah but I like it, they are all so sweet and generally home all day so they are able to help us out a lot!! My new companion is Sister Stokes, she is great! She has been out for about 10 months and is 25, so it’s nice! I really like being transferred, I don’t know if that’s a good thing or not, but I really enjoy it! Before i came on my mission i was pretty terrible at saying goodbye but I’ve gotten pretty good at it recently! One of my favorite things about the church is that no matter where you go, or who is there, the teachings are the same and it always feels like home! I love that so much, it makes being transferred so much easier to handle! This week we found a new investigator, her name is Debbie! She is so sweet! We knocked into her, taught her a little lesson and set up and appointment for the next day, the next day we went back and taught her the restoration and she took it really well! She wants to come to church with us sometime. Hopefully that means soon!!! :] she even made us lemon bars for our visit! It’s like she knew that was a way to my heart!! Mmmm! well, all is well here, I hope all is well for each of you! I love you dearly! Oh and by the way, I gave the wrong zip code last week so my address is really 435 W Cedar St. #4 Sequim WA 98382 feel free to write me ;]
All my love,
Sister Falkner!

Photo 1. Sister Stokes and I

Happy Valentines Day this week! My favorite scripture about love is this... John 3 :16
For God so loVed the world that he
                    gAve His
                 OnLy
           BegottEn
                 SoN
                     That whosoever believeth
                     In Him should
                     Not Perish, but have
                     Everlasting Life

Monday, December 23rd 2013: Do as He would do. Love as He would love.

This week was great!
We are teaching this young man Freddy, he is awesome! He has been reading the Book Of Mormon very steadily and enjoying it, we met with him this week and taught the plan of salvation, he enjoyed it and at the end of the conversation we got on the topic of jeeps and cars, and he has a Nissan Skyline that he takes to the SEMA show is Vegas, it was really cool to be able to make a connection with him and I feel like he thinks we are a little bit more on the normal side now, rather than just strange girls that wear skirts everywhere and can’t be anywhere alone with a boy! hahah we had a hard time meeting with him at first because he is a single male, but we meet at his friends house who is a member, and it works out really well!! :]
We also began teaching this young man David this week, he is really cool and is unsure where it has come from but has said he is getting a random curiosity for the Book of Mormon, so that was cool. Our lesson went really well and we brought Hannah with us, Hannah has been a member for about a month now so it was really cool to see her bear her testimony to him! They are both progressing really well! We have been out caroling every night this week and people LOVE it!!!! They are so much nicer to us at the doorstep than usual and it really gives them a chance to feel the true meaning of Christmas! So I have really loved that, even though I now have a cold and I raspy voice, it is for a good cause!! We moved 3 people this week; I can’t imagine the stress of moving a week before Christmas but hey, to each their own! It felt good to do some physical service!
On a total side note, this week we had to drive to the collision repair center because my comp got in a little accident with the ditch on the side of the road before I got here, so I told her we need to get it taken care of, anyways, as we were leaving the collision repair center there was a jeep dealership across the way and I saw the new Grand Cherokee, I am SO disappointed in jeep.... they went from having the most beautiful SUV on the market to the most horrendous looking THING!! Ehhh! And they are putting gold grill slots in the JK's now? That was gross! Man! Anyways!! Sorry, random tangent!
I didn't get much time to tell you about last week so I will briefly update you, last week we had the Mission Christmas Party! It was a blast and very spiritual too! We had been reading the Book of Mormon as a mission and we read the last chapter together that day, it was really neat! The first picture is President Weaver and I at the Christmas party!
I invite all of you to add a little Christ to your Christmas this year and at least read these scriptures on the appropriate day; I’ll even make it easy for you and put them on here!
Today, Monday Dec. 23rd Isaiah 9:6
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
(Notice the comma between Wonderful and Counselor and that all the other names have an adjective before them, but this is not saying He is a wonderful Counselor, He is Wonderful, and a Counselor!)
Tuesday Dec. 24th Christmas Eve 3 Nephi 1:13
Lift up your head and be of good cheer; for behold, the time is at hand, and on this night shall the sign be given, and on the morrow come I into the world, to show unto the world that I will fulfill all that which I have caused to be spoken by the mouth of my holy prophets.
Wednesday Dec. 25th Christmas Day!!! :] Luke 2:10-11
10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

Sorry this is so long, but I love you all!!!
HAVE A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!
Love, Sister Falkner

And the last picture is our cute Christmas tree and presents!!! :]

Monday, December 16th: A Picture Says a Thousand Words, and I'm Outta Words!

1. Hanging Lights up for a member :]

2. The Elders and Sisters of the Olympia 4th ward! We decorated the tree!

3. Sister Palmer and I!! :]

4. I love this!! Remember Christ this year!!!

Transfer calls were on Saturday and we are staying together! Yay!

Have a wonderful week! I love you all!

Love, Sister Falkner

Happy Days, All Is Well: December 9th 2013

Let the Christmas season begin! :] The Christmas devotional was amazing! I loved the part about the Hymn "Far Away on Judea's Plains" the lyrics are so great! It is a happy day, and all is well! We have God to thank for so much and He brings so much peace into our lives!! I also really loved what President Monson said about The Spirit of Christmas and if you take off the last syllable it is simply The Spirit of Christ! I hope and pray you can all feel His Spirit this wonderful time of year!! Some fun things happened this week! I got to go on my first exchange since being released as a Sister Training Leader and it was a blast, Sister Scott came to my area, she is from Ephraim and is good friends with one of my sister Britt's old Laurels. So she knew my family a little bit already! I was praying so much that I would learn from her and our short 24 hours together and I did! She has such an incredible testimony of the Book of Mormon, we went over to visit Suzi and she was having terrible withdrawal symptoms from the medication she is coming off of, she was pacing and sweating and just could not sit still, it was kind of scary to see her that way, but we asked her to sit down and we began to read the Book of Mormon to her from page 1, within the first few verses she was completely calmed and brought to ease! It was amazing! The power of the Book of Mormon is real!! I decided I wanted to try something new this week and we did it while I was on the exchange, we went Family History tracting, we took our ward Family History Representative with us and we went tracting in a 55+ community, everyone was so friendly, which was surprising because it was a "no soliciting" community, but they all love family history and wanted to hear about it, so that was great! It went well for a trail run! We also had our ward Christmas party this week, Suzi and Freddy came, they are the main two people we are working with. Suzi is being baptized on January 1st and is doing so well at working towards her goal; she is pretty much already a member! It’s great! She is Duane's wife, technically we gave Duane to the elders, but I still get to teach him and he is just a really great guy! I like him a lot! He reminds me of my big brother Sam!! :] (on a side note, Elder Bing, that is serving in 4th ward with us, he really reminds me of Ian! haha) but Suzi is doing well and she loved the Christmas party, she brought her daughter Katy and Katy brought her boyfriend Steven, so we are hoping to be able to work with all of them soon enough! :] Freddy is awesome! he is 19 and is in the marine core, we met him my first week here and he has since already read the first 120 or so pages of the Book of Mormon, he is enjoying it and he also came to the ward party, he is good friends with an inactive member but the great thing is that his friend is willing to come to the activities with him so that he doesn't feel alone, so they were both at the Christmas party. when we got there, I saw Freddy with an apron on and putting ice in all the cups, I laughed and said "Freddy what're you doing?" he just looked at me and said "well, I’m just helping" Freddy is really awesome and he continued to "just help" the rest of the evening by serving everyone their lasagna and cleaning up afterwards! He is praying about baptism on December 28th. That's the exciting part of my week! It has been around 15-20 degrees this week, it is REALLY cold!!!! But we are managing! It’s a very different kind of cold here, it penetrates to the bone and there is nothing you can do about it but shiver! Hah Anyways! I love you all!!!

Love, Sister Falkner

This is pretty much all the snow we get here! So far! hah. We will see if more is coming!

Leftovers For Life: December 2nd 2013December 2nd 2013

December 2nd 2013

Happy belated Thanksgiving my loved ones!!! :]

I hope you all had a great day and truly reflected on how blessed we are in the wonderful life!

Thanksgiving as a missionary... well we were told that we could have as many thanksgiving dinners as we could fit in one day, or our tummies. hah! So we started our day off by being picked up at 11:30am and we went to our first dinner at the Smiths home. Brother Smith is a member and his wife is not, but she suggested that he invite us, it was very nice and there were a few of their friends and family there as well, the elders came along too!

After that we went over to Suzi and Duane's home for our 2nd dinner! They are so great! Suzi just got out of surgery this week but she wanted to feed us so badly that she made it work! They were all exhausted from the cooking and baking and moving furniture to make some space for us, but they pulled it all off and we had a wonderful thanksgiving dinner with them and their friends and neighbors! :] the greatest part of the day was at their home. Two really wonderful things happened!

1. We all went around the table and said what we are grateful for, Suzi said she is grateful to be joining the true church, she is being baptized on January 1st :] then she practically bore her testimony about the church and how blessed her life has been since meeting with us, it was so special! THEN!!!! Duane said what he was grateful for and he said "I'm grateful for you guys (looks at all us missionaries) ya’ll ain't gonna convert me though... (awkward silence) I'm just kiddin' we'll see!" it was great! Duane will be baptized soon enough! He is being prepared! Then he prayed for the food which was a huge step for him! It was so fabulous!!!

2. The next best thing of the day was the homemade butterscotch cheesecake Duane made! I had been saving room for it all day!!! He was going to make a white chocolate cheesecake, but he found out I wasn't eating chocolate and changed the recipe for me! It was so dang delicious!!

Later on in the day we went over to another family’s house, the Klumkers, they are a really great family!! We had a nice lesson with them and got to enjoy some pie, it was really nice! They have a very "Homey" house! It felt good to be there!

The rest of our week was good, I haven't been feeling very good, but I’ll get over it!

We found this really sweet old lady named Anna this week! She is 96 and wants to read the Book of Mormon before the end of the year! We are meeting with her on Wednesday; hopefully she remembers who we are! :]

I love you all! We are now in the month of December, or as we call it in the mission, the month of Christ!!! :] Always remember Him and what He did for you!

Love, Sister Falkner

http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=2874125972001

Sister Palmer and I on Thanksgiving!!

We were grateful that the sun was shining!!! :]