Hi Everyone!
I am doing well. This past week has been so fast though... I feel like it was just barely my last p-day. We had in-field training this past week for 9 hours straight. That was a bit boring.. but I made it through! I honestly can't remember much of what happened this past week here. It is just the same thing day in and day out. Classes, Lunch, Personal Study Time, Companionship Study time, Zone Teaching, Progressing Investigator teaching, more study time, more study time, additional study time, TRC teaching, more food.. so nothing too crazy to talk about.
But one thing that was really cool is that we had great success with our investigator named Andrea!! When we first started to teach her, she was an atheist She didn't believe in God and she thought that you just made it up in your head. She was a challenging person to try to teach. But after much teaching and prayers she ended up saying that she would try to see if He was there again. This past week we had an amazing experience with her. We had invited her to read Alma 32 about Faith and it went so well! We came back and she had verses marked up and she got lots of insights from reading it (big surprise for us). Then when we were there I had a prompting to have her pray and ask God if He was NOT there instead of if He was there. We knelt down in a circle with her and she prayed. It was a powerful prayer and experience even though it was simple. After she ended her prayer we just sat in silence pondering and letting the spirit testify to her. After about 30 seconds we asked her what she felt, and she said she felt 'calm and warm and just full of joy'. We asked her where she thought that feeling came from and she said 'probably from God'. Then we asked her what she thought He was trying to tell her and she said 'that He is there'. WHAT?!?! The power of prayer is so amazing! It was a wonderful experience for me and for her. She now knows that God is there. She has a testimony of Joseph Smith and of the Book of Mormon. It is so powerful what the spirit can do. We are not perfect teachers, but the spirit will make up for those things that we forgot to say or if we said it wrong. I know that Heavenly Father is helping me in my teaching and I am so grateful for that! I wouldn't be able to do this if it wasn't for Him and His son Jesus Christ.
I had a great fast Sunday yesterday! I took a challenge from my teachers to bring in questions about things I had and see if they were answered. I want to let you all know that every single question I had was answered, even those that were in my heart and I didn't know I had. It was completely amazing! I never thought of church being a place to find answers to the questions that you have. I hope that all of you will try it out! Find questions that you need answers to and take them to church with you, I can promise you that they will be answered, if you are listening. I was able to bear my testimony during Sacrament meeting and also in our district meeting. Of course I cried, but I always do :) One thing that really touched me during church yesterday was that after sacrament meeting was done, the Branch President came up to me and told me that if he had the authority to call two coordinating sisters, he would have called me and he told me that I would have been an amazing leader. He told me to take that knowledge as I head out to the mission field... I just thought that was so sweet of him to tell me! It made me feel really good. Heavenly Father has reached out in many different ways to let me know that He is proud of me and that He knows that I can do this.
It was so fun to see Kevin and Mari and the kids yesterday! But it broke my heart that I couldn't go over and really talk to them. Our Branch President told us that if we saw family, we had to wave and walk away.. we aren't allowed to say anything to them really. But I loved seeing their smiling faces!! :)
The temple is so amazing! I have loved going each week. I know that it is the House of the Lord. The spirit there is so strong and the peace you feel when you enter the doors is overpowering. It has been a big blessing to be able to attend every week..even if I have to get up at 5:30 am to go. ;) But I hope that you are all taking advantage of the great blessing of the temple. We have so many here and we need to be attending them more often. I won't have one when I go to Indiana and it will be hard for me. So all of you need to go extra for me!! :)
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| Emilee walking at MTC - photo courtesy of Mari Farr |
So I leave tomorrow morning at 4 am!! I have to wake up at 2 am.. wish me luck! But I plan on calling you around 6:00 am. I know mom said 6:30, but I think I will need to call earlier because I think my plane boards at around 6:45 am.. I don't want to only talk for a few minutes and have to leave.. I hope that is okay with everyone! I am so excited to talk to all of you.
I miss you all so much. It has been especially hard this week as I have been preparing to leave the MTC and head out to teach real people in Indiana.. but I know Heavenly Father is strengthening me in ways that I didn't expect. He truly does love His children. Heavenly Father is protecting me and strengthening me so much. I have felt His kind spirit and loving arms wrap around me when I need Him most. I have a very strong testimony of our Savior, Jesus Christ, and His atonement. I know that He loves us and that He is so merciful if we just turn to Him. This church is true! Never doubt that.
Thank you to everyone who sent me packages this week! It helped me a lot! I loved the "greenie" package from the Hamners! It was so cute and had green everything! Then Miss Johnson (aka Jenni Bitter) sent me some amazingly delicious gingersnap cookies (which I have been chowing down on). The package with all of the letters was SO sweet! I am keeping the rules and just reading one every day. That was such a cute idea :) Thank you everyone!!
Also.. sorry if there are any spelling mistakes.. I don't have any time to read back through the email. It is literally a 30 minute heart attack!
I love you all!!
Sister Emilee Farr
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