01/21/13 - First Week at the MTC

Hi Family!

I love you all! I am just having my first P-day and I am doing so great! I love it here so much. I am so happy all of the time, and I did not expect that at all. The spirit is so strong and it is constant. I know that my Heavenly Father has been helping me so much more than I ever could have imagined. I know that I have soooo much to learn about before I will be a really good teacher, but it is coming along.

We taught our first lesson this past Friday to an investigator named Dave (he is really our teacher, but he role plays as someone else). It went pretty good.. I could definitely feel the spirit so strong as we testified, but we have to get him more involved and ask him more questions. Then we had another lesson on Saturday with James (another teacher role playing) but that one didn't go as well. We are definitely still learning. The past few days have just been crazy!! They have felt like 4 weeks and 2 hours all at once! We are always doing something. The only time you really have to sit and think about other things is when you are eating. But that is good I guess, then I don't get homesick. And I haven't been homesick yet!! Yay...

My district is amazing! We are all super close and are really good friends. We make each other laugh, feel the spirit very strongly, and just have the best experience we can here in the MTC. There are 6 elders and 6 sisters.. crazy right? The proportions are equal.. not expected. Their names are: Sister Clark (my companion), Me, Sister Brand, Sister Stewart, Sister Hatori, Sister Saunders, Elder Allsop, Elder White, Elder Bahr, Elder Sabin, Elder Huey, and Elder Gainer. They are just great. I cannot even begin to explain how grateful I am to my Heavenly Father with blessing me with such great people to be surrounded with while I am here. Without them I know that I would be having a very hard time.

MTC District

Each day we wake up at 6:00 (or sometimes earlier depending on when the other sisters in our room are waking up). Then we get ready and have personal study time from 7:00 to 8:00. Then we have breakfast until 8:30. After that we typically have more study time with our companions or personal study.. yes, lots of studying. Then we have classroom instruction for 3 hours and then lunch. Then we will have Zone teaching where we role play as the investigators that other missionaries teach. Then we have more studying, more classroom work... other orientations... dinner.. studying..planning session..getting ready for bed... then lights are out at 10:30 every night. But let's be honest.. I don't fall asleep until about 11:00. My body is not accustomed to falling asleep that early, but I am using my Lavender oil that Dawn gave me, which definitely helps!!

I have had a sore throat for the past few days, and now it is going into my lungs. My companion, Sister Clark, has it too. But it isn't anything bad. I am just stuffed with cough drops the whole day. We have already eaten 2 bags of cough drops.. haha. But other than that my health is doing great! I am happy and feeling awesome.

I thought that you would all be proud to know that I actually ran a mile for gym time on Saturday!  Yes, me. I ran a mile :) haha. And the sisters in my district did a killer ab workout that one of the sisters used to do on swim team. So we all woke up really sore the next day for Sunday, but that is okay.

The food here isn't the best, but it isn't too bad. It is pretty much like regular old cafeteria food. We typically have 3 choices to choose from for each meal and Sister Clark and I try to choose the one that is probably the healthiest out of them.. if that is even possible. And I bet you would be proud to know that I have not had fries every meal. But they have amazing cinnamon granola here. That is what we eat for breakfast every day. We put bananas with it, and it is heavenly. I highly suggest looking for it somewhere at the store and trying it. Other than that I haven't found a meal that I really enjoy. But I think that is more of an Elder thing.

I truly love this gospel. I know that it is true. I love the rush that comes from testifying to other people about how I know it is true. I love telling other people about what I know. It gives you a feeling that I can't describe in words. I can tell all of you that I know without a doubt that this is the true church. This gospel is absolutely amazing. It is perfect in every way. I am so grateful for my family and my friends and all that they have done for me as I have been growing up. Without all of you, i wouldn't be in the place that I am today. This mission is such a blessing in my life. It is teaching me so much about all of my many weaknesses. I have so many that I need to work on, but I know that through the Lord my weaknesses can become my strengths. It will take a lot of effort and faith and patience with myself, but my Heavenly Father deserves the best missionaries He can get. I know that He loves me and each and every one of you. Just pray to Him and tell Him the desires of your heart. I know He listens. I know that He cares. I have felt His love and support more this week than I ever have. And that may be because I have prayed for it more than ever before. He is there for us. Even if we don't recognize His help, He is there. He cares. I just want you all to know how much He loves each of you individually. I can feel it in my heart. 

I hope that you are all doing well! I loved getting letters and emails from all of you! You guys are all in my prayers every day.

Love you all!!!!

Sister Emilee Farr

01/16/13 - First Day at the MTC

Hello Family!

I have come to the finish of my fist day! I am doing really well! Surprisingly well to be honest. I haven't cried since I left the car. I have been so busy all day long! They ran us to our room to drop off our luggage, then we went to our classroom to met our district AND guess what mom!? My Companion is Sister Jackie Clark!!! The girl that those ladies told me about in the temple. She is really amazing! We get along perfectly. We are able to talk easily and it is easy to be around her. I am really grateful that she is my companion! I can tell that we will work great together. :)
Then we went to a missionary orientation with the presidency. It was really good. I felt the Spirit strongly. One thing I really liked was that they said that without Christ's atonement, we couldn't do this work. It is very true! Our Savior is really everything  Without Him we would have no purpose. We were challenged to read the missionary handbook and memorize our purpose as missionaries by Sunday. Sister Clark and I have already memorized our purpose. :)
Anyways, I am doing well. Today has been a lot of orientation and "deer-in-the-headlight" moments, but very good. We had a cool teaching activity tonight where we met as a group and had to try to teach different investigators. We were with a bunch of other missionaries, but it was really difficult and kind of frustrating. They kept asking questions and arguing, in a way, with us. But it taught me that each family and person is different. They each need different things. I have lots to learn! But I can do it.
I am doing great! Much better than I expected I would be. I can feel your prayers and my Saviors strength. I love you all so very much! You are all so wonderful and supportive. Remember the Savior and that He loves all of you. Again, I am happy and well!
I LOVE YOU ALL!!!
Love,
Sister Emilee Farr

PS. My p-day is on Monday, so I will write you more then. They just wanted us to write you now and let you know we are okay.

An Unexpected Calling

On November 21st, 2012 I received my mission call to the Indianapolis, Indiana mission. I report to the Missionary Training Center on January 16th, and I will be speaking English. I have always dreamed of serving a mission, but never thought it would actually happen. There were too many things that had to fall into place.

You see, my best friend and boyfriend is currently on a mission in the Philippines. And if I went on a mission, I would have left right before he returned from his mission. Which means 3.5 years away from each other...who wants to do that? I sure didn't. No thanks. 

Also, I am a year and a half away from completing my Bachelor's degree. I could be finished with my degree by the time I [most likely] got married. And thus I could provide income for my husband and I as a newly married couple. 

Oh my naive self... I thought I had everything planned out perfectly for the next few years. I had each year scheduled with school, trips and adventures. Little did I know, the Lord had a different plan for me. On October 6th, 2012 President Thomas S Monson announced that sister missionaries can serve missions at the age of 19 instead of 21. Right away I knew that I was going to be serving a mission. I got an interview with my Bishop that week and was on my way to completing my papers.

Needless to say, about 2 months later I was called from my Heavenly Father to be his servant for a year and a half. I am sure there will be struggles and heartaches. But the blessings that I will receive from dedicating my time to him, will be far greater than the challenges.