Elder Ballard!

Csaladom!!!!

How is everyone doing? I can't believe I am already halfway through the MTC already! Only 3 more wednesdays left! Crazy! Last Friday was our halfway point through the MTC so we decided to celebrate....we had chips and salsa. We finished all the chips but had a lot more salsa so we decided to play rock, paper, scissors to see who had to chug all the salsa that was left. Sister Broadhead was the lucky one who lost - she always loses in that game! and so she the lucky one to chug it! Then sister Fresh decided that she wanted to do something crazy so we found some snickerdoodle cookies and she played chubby bunny with them. She had like 4 cookies in her mouth and looked like she was ready to explode and then sister Broadhead decided to pour some chocolate in with the cookies. Bad, bad idea! haha! Food went everywhere! It was so funny! It was nice to have a good laugh! My companions are awesome!

The highlight of my week was last night's devotional! ELDER BALLARD came! And we got awesome seats! They don't tell us who is coming beforehand and so we were just going to go to the overflow but at the very last minute seats opened up on the 3rd row back right by the door the speakers come in and leave at. It was such an amazing talk and one that I really needed. A couple of things he said was that the greatest missionaries are those that really come to know Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and His Atonement. He said the more we focus on the Atonement as missionaries, our power to do the work will increase. He said as we come to know the Savior that we will not shirk one minute from our work even thought it may be very difficult at times - which is exactly what I needed to hear! It just made me realize how important the Atonement really is in every aspect of our lives, not just as missionaries. He also said that he believed there were 2 reasons for the missionary age change 1 - the world desperately needs the message that we have to share 2- that the Lord is preparing this generation to lead the church for generations ahead. He said that we would face trials an temptations that they never had and we were really going to need a solid foundation. It was such a great talk! Then he left us with an apostolic blessing that was really cool. When he was leaving, we were watching him go out the doors and we couldn't see him very well, so I and my companions moved out to the little isle and peeked our heads out to get a better look. He had already finished waving to everyone but I think he saw us out of the corner of his eye move so he turned back around and laughed and waved to us. It was awesome! We knew it was to us because no one else was in the little aisle way. It was awesome! I love the apostles!

Something that also really stuck out to me was that I know enough. Too be honest, this week I was really ready to come home. I have never been so mentally exhausted. Hungarian is a beast! But I am not going on a mission to learn Hungarian. I am going on a mission to testify of my Savior, Jesus Christ and for the sacrifice that He made for each and every one of us here on this earth. Only through Him can we return to live with our Heavenly Father and enjoy the blessings that He has. I know that my Savior lives and that the Atonement is real. It provides us with the chance to start over each and every day. Sister Fowers - she's in my district came up with a really cool analogy. We have started doing csak magyarul - only Hungarian language all day. The other class has the Hungarian flag underneath their name tags and every time they use English, they have to hole punch their flag -the hole of shame - showing that they messed up. Sister Fowers likened that to the Atonement - you start the day off with a clean paper and then you make mistakes and get hole's punched in it. At the end of the day you have all these holes of shame covering your flag and there is no way possible that you can make it whole again. You cannot take those holes away. But the Savior can. He can provide us with a clean piece of paper and a chance to start over again. He gives us that opportunity and we have to be willing to take it and do the best that we can with it.

Another one of my favorite moments this week was watching the new Mormon message by President Eyring called Mountains to Climb. It is awesome! I would definitely recommend watching it! At the end of the video, he said: each day our challenge is to access the power of the atonement so that we can truly change. That is the power of the atonement, helping us progress and become better that we were yesterday. To try a little harder to be a little better and try to become more like the Savior. He also said: if the foundation of faith is not embedded in our hearts the power to endure will crumble. this is fontos - important!!!! I have found that faith really does have a short shelf life - you have to constantly be refilling and strengthening your faith each and every day.

I know that the Savior lives. I know that He loves us more than we can even comprehend. I know that He is always there with His arms opened and extended towards us - He just wants us to come towards Him and feel of His love towards us. I truly believe that it is through the hardest of times that you really come to know more about the Savior and how vital He is to each and every person on the earth. I can't believe I will be in Hungary in less than a month! It will be a great opportunity! I am so excited for it! I love you all and I hope everything is going well back home! Remember who you are and who you stand for!

Falslev Nover

Week 4 in the MTC

Szervusz Csaladom!
How is everyone doing? Thanks for the pictures jason. Nice job picking out the ring. I am still waiting to here the story.....haha! Your house looks really really nice! I bet it is nice to be all moved in.
 Well this week at the MTC has been quite a rough one for me but it has been awesome! Last thursday we had to teach 3 20 min lessons all in Hungarian in the same day and that was really stressful. One of them we were teaching our 'investigator' who is one of our teachers taking on a role on one of the investigators they had during their mission. We don't have any actual investigator because hardly anyone speaks hungarian that 'a not mormon in Utah. Then our other 2 lessons were the TRC where BYU students (RM's) come in and we just teach them as members and give a 20 min lesson. So we had been preparing for these 3 lessons for over 2 days and we felt really good about them. I could pretty much remember the whole lesson and felt really good about going in. Then when we got into the first lesson, I forgot a lot of the lines and could only remember a few of them. The second lesson was even worse - I couldn't even remember the simple things that I had learned on day 1. It was so frustrating! The only thing that came to my mind was "Tudom, hogy Jezus Krisztus a megvaltonk es szabaditonk" I know that Jesus Christ is our savior and redeemer. It is amazing how much power simple words can have. That is the only thing that I could say but I meant it. I don't think I have ever borne such a powerful testimony before and it was just a few simple words. That was a really neat experience. It's amazing that the spirit works so strongly. I love being a missionary because every day 24/7, I get to feel the spirit and feel the love of the Savior. I get to testify and constantly focus on the Savior every day that I am here. What a wonderful opportunity!!!
 The language is still coming slowly....unfortunately after the TRC I still could not remember ANYTHING that I had learned in the MTC about Hungarian. It was really frustrating but I was able to recieve a blessing and get some extra help which has really helped my Hungarian start to come along. My companions are the absolute best! We just have so much fun but are able to really focus and get a lot done. I don't think I could have hand picked better companions than the ones I have. They are amazing!!!! We work really well together. It is going to be really hard when we won't be able to be companions anymore.
We also had quite a few funny moments in our lessons this week...a lot of words are very similar to each other in Hungarian. So Sister Fresh told one of our investigator's that she could only find her life in the BOM rather than she could find blessings and happiness in the BOM. Sister Broadhead also told our teacher that she was sterile instead of excited. There are just a lot of funny mistakes you can make if you don't conjugate the word right.
 This week has probably been the hardest week I've ever had so far in the MTC but it's also the week that I feel like I have grown so much closer to the Savior. I know that my Savior lives and that He gives us trials in our life for our own benefit. A lot of the times we may create a lot of unnecessary trials in our life but Christ is willing to help us out with those too. Being on a mission is a lot harder than I ever imagined, but it is also more rewarding that I ever thought possible. I cannot describe how wonderful it is to be apart of a work that will not fail. It's amazing to see all the missionaries here working and striving harder to become more like the Savior. I know that my Redeemer lives and that the Atonement really does work. Through the atonement, we can become stronger and do more than we ever thought possible. The Atonement helps us to work harder than we ever have and accomplish so much. It helps us lift and raise up others. I love being able to recieve revelation everyday and being able to recognize how the Lord is blessing me and guiding me in my life. I know without a doubt that this is where I need to be and this is the work that I need to be doing right now - it is the most important work that any of us could be doing right now. Bringing others unto Christ lasts for generations and eternity - nothing is more important. I love my Savior and I know He lives.
I love you all and hope to hear from you soon! Have a great week!!!
Falslev Nover

Elder Israelsen and Sister Falslev

Sister Fresh, Sister Falslev, and Sister Broadhead

Sister Fresh, Sister Falslev, and Sister Broadhead with Hungarian Flag

Largest group of missionaries to go to Hungary

The sisters that are going to Hungary

Week 3 in MTC

Szervusz Csalad!
 Jason and shelece:
CONGRATULATIONS JASON AND SHELECE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is so awesome! I am so happy for you both! You guys need to tell me the details of how you proposed jason and send me pics and everything! I kept waiting for the letter telling me how you proposed and I just got a "hey I got engaged" - at least I know it really was from Jason. Anyways, I am soooooo happy for you both! I am excited to have shelece officially in the family! And in the temple....prayers are answered! I sure do love you both!
 Well this week has flown by! It has been a great week! I found out my companion...sister Broadhead knows of the Israelsens. Her cousins are in Young Ward and I guess they have told her how awesome the Isralesens are and what hard workers they are - yep that would be them! Her cousins last name is Wildens. Small world!
So this week has been a week of miracles! It's amazing how much the Lord has blessed me! Yesterday we were going to teach our investigator Lilla and I was so beyond frustrated. We had our whole lesson and I could not memorize ANY of the lines and I still can't even begin to translate words because I don't have any of the conjugation charts memorized (we have 17 charts to memorize) and you can't directly translate Hungarian. Anyways, I was so stressed and just overwhelmed. So we went and taught our lesson and I just prayed the hardest I have ever prayed before. It turned out that our lesson didn't even go the way we had it planned because she wanted to know how God could hear and answers every person's prayer. She didn't know that God loved her specifically. It was the most amazing experience because all of the sudden I could remember just enough vocabulary and enough verbs to tell her that God did know her and that He would answer her prayers if she just prayed to Him. It was a huge miracle and just reassured me that the Lord does hear and answer prayers and that He is helping me with the language. I am slowly getting it and I do struggle quite a bit but I am learning so much and gaining a stronger testimony of the Savior because it is so hard.
 I also decided to finally start reading the BOM in Hungarian this week. I didn't want to do it because I had no idea what any of the words were or how any of the congugations worked so I thought I would just get really frustrated and discouraged when I read it. Well I decided to try it and it worked! I have learned more about grammar reading the BOM than I have ever been able to understand sitting in class 6-8 hours a day. That is now part of my favorite part of language study because I understand it! The BOM really is so powerful no matter what language it is in.
I just love being a missionary! Everyone here is so happy and so radiant with the light of Christ. Our zone has gotten really close....we are with the Finnish, Estonian, Adriatic missions and they are all just awesome! So far the sisters have outnumbered the elders by 2 but today we are getting 12 new elders and only 2 sisters so we won't outnumber them anymore. It is INSANE how many missionaries are here! The lines for food are SO long! The majority of our meal time is spent waiting in line...usually we just have about 5-10 minutes to eat. (so needless to say all the snacks you have sent me have been VERY helpful! We've already pretty much eaten everything! haha!) It is awesome that so many young people are so willing to go out and serve the Lord. I love being a missionary and being part of the Lord's work. I watched a devotional by Elder Holland on Sunday and he talked about how we are to Preach HIS gospel. And not only should it be HIS gospel but it needs to be MY gospel as well. Everything I eat breathe and sleep. When we work together as a team with the Lord we become much more powerful missionaries.
 I hope everything is going well! That is exciting that Jason got engaged and same with Connie! I am so happy for them both! When is Connie getting married? How is everything else going back at home?
 Love you all! Happy Valentines day tomorrow everyone! I am so blessed to have such a wonderful family!
 Falslev Nover

"Our theme off of Mulan, "let's get down to business to convert the HUNS!!!" (Hungarians!)

Elder Israelsen (cousin) and Sister Falslev

Sister Falslev, Sister Broadhead, and Sister Fresh

Sister Fresh, Sister Falslev, and Sister Broadhead with the Hungarian Flag

MTC WEEK 2

Szervus Csalad! (Hello Family)

Time is flying by so fast in the MTC! I can't believe it is p-day already. This week has been a great week. I love the MTC!!!! It is amazing to feel the spirit here and to see so many young people learning about Christ and learning how to teach others about Christ. My favorite part about the MTC: every Sunday and Tuesday night we get to have devotional and before the devotional starts we get to sing songs. It is amazing how powerful all the missionaries singing together is! We really are going to make a difference in the world.

The language is still harder than ever. My companions have been AMAZING and have been still tutoring me so I get the language. This week we learned the longest word that our teacher knew of in Hungarian....I forgot to bring it with me and I have no idea how to say it let alone spell it. It is 42 letters long though! It's quite the word! We learned that Hungarian has 25 cases on top of all the conjugations too and they have been really hard to memorize! I am slowly getting it though :) We teach pretty much every day in Hungarian...this week we will teach 8 times. It is really frustrating not being able to understand a word the investigator says and then they ask you a question and you have the answer but you can't communicate that to them. It is really hard but it makes me appreciate the little language I do learn much more. I can only say a few things in my testimony, but its the most important things and that is all I need right now. It will keep coming.

Yesterday my teacher told us a story about Satan. She said that he was having a garage sell and had a whole bunch of things on sale for a really good price: adultry, gambling, drinking, drugs, etc. Everyone was shopping and buying them because they were such a good deal. In the back of the garage though, there was a tiny little clear box with a sign that said not for sale. In the box was a tiny little wedge labeled: discouragement. She explained that that is all Satan needs to get to us. If he can get in that little wedge of discouragement, then everything else comes and it draws us farther away from the Lord. It really hit me hard that I can't get discouraged and have to just keep trying my absolute best. It will come with time.

Camrie left the MTC yesterday! I am super sad she is already gone but I am so excited for her! She is going to be the greastest missionary! I just love her to death! I've also got to see Jordan Galbraith and talk to him a bit. I also got to see Benson twice this week! I can't believe we actually saw each other with so many missionaries here. It was really cool to see him! I also got to sit by President Erying's granddaughter at a devotional and that was pretty neat. She is going to Ukraine and will be here for just about as long as we are. It was really cool hearing stories from her!

Wednesday's are pretty much the best days ever....we get to go to the temple in the morning and then we have breakfast afterwards. It is sure nice to have a break from the MTC food.

My district is so awesome! We have really been starting to get closer and work together to understand the language. Sometimes that is a good thing and sometimes it's a bad thing because we like to talk a lot and sometimes we lose focus. We are going to make a new goal starting this friday that we can only speak Hungarian for the whole day. That will be hard but it will force us to really start using the language so we will remember it! It's crazy how fast everything comes at us! But it's so good to be totally focused and busy.

On Sunday, the first counselor in our branch presidency came and spoke to the girls. He told us about his life and some of the challenges he has been through. He talked about how getting married in the temple was the best day of his life and then about 7 years ago, his wife was going in for a small surgery and they found cancer all over inside of her. She fought through it for 3 years before she passed away. It was probably the highlight of my week because the spirit was so strong and it put into perspective the trials I was going through. I really have been so blessed with such a wonderful, supportive family.

I have grown so much over the past two weeks! I know that the Lord is very aware of where I am and what I am trying to accomplish through Him. I also know that Satan is very aware of that also. I know that Jesus Christ knows each of us individually and is watching over us, pleading with us to come unto Him and receive Him into our lives. It amazes me time and time again how patient and loving the Lord is to us. I know that the atonement is real. It gives us power beyond our own to accomplish miracles. It is through small and simple everyday tasks that we are able to bring about great and marvelous things. The MTC is the best place I have ever been. You get to see the light of Christ shining so brightly in so many young people. There is no other place in the world that you can find so many young people who are so kind, so happy, so full of life and love, and testifying of the Savior. The spirit it so incredibly strong here and I love being able to see and feel that every day. It is hard but at the end of the day I have seen so many miracles and tender mercies that the Lord has given to me. I've really come to realize more and more each day that although trials are hard and not a whole lot of fun, they are what really bring me closer to the Savior and humbles me enough to rely on Him and the Atonement. I am growing to love my trials that I go through because it is making me stronger. During our devotional last night there was a quote I really liked: Love and Faith are like a muscle in my arm - the more I exercise it, the stronger it gets. If I put it in a sling, it will deteriorate and become useless. I realized that I do need to exercise my faith and charity towards others. It may be a little sore as I start to exercise it, but it will become strong and I will be able to use it to let the Lord work through me. I am so happy for the opportunity to be a missionary. There really is nothing I would rather be doing than serving a mission and coming closer to the Savior right now. I am so grateful to the Savior for letting me have the experience I am having and for being patient with me as I grow. I LOVE this gospel. I know it brings joy and happiness and peace into our lives and to our hearts. Everything will work out as long as we keep our eyes on the Savior and listen for His voice.

I hope everything is going well back home! I love you guys a lot! I am sure incredibly blessed to have such a wonderful family! Thanks for all you do and thanks again for the package and letters!

Szerettetel

Falslev Nover