04/14/14 - Week 61! {Week 2 of Transfer 11} "Happy!"

Hi friends :)

This week was really amazing! We found so many new investigators...11 to be exact. That is the most I have EVER found on my mission. The standard of excellence on the mission is 4! We have been asking the Lord to find the elect, people who will progress in the gospel. People who will keep commitments and really hold onto the gospel. And the Lord has blessed us!! We were talking to everyone and asking for referrals from everyone, and we just saw miracles happen. I love this work. I love our Father in Heaven. He is truly amazing. He is so involved in our lives.

We have a lot of investigators right now, Sister Parker and I are starting to get a little overwhelmed with all of the people we have. It is a good problem to have I would say! But we are going to try to make sure we are taking care of the people the Lord has already given us. We have around 35 investigators right now. A lot of them are in the same family! (<-well, they are groups of families..) They come a lot from Part-Member families too. In one specific family, we are teaching the mom (LA), dad, and daughter. Then we are teaching the mom's two sons who are also less-active. And then their girl friends! Yesterday we had all of them at church. It was only 3 investigators, but also 3 less-actives were there. It was amazing! We are so excited about how the work is going here. The ward is lighting up and we are getting the trust of the leaders here. Sister Parker and I never want to leave! :)

We had a part-member family refer us to their neighbor who has been going through a lot of hard times recently. We had stopped by a couple of times, but no one ever answered. Then on Thursday, we stopped by and they were outside working on their van. We went right over and started talking to them. They talked about how they had been doing the wrong things in their lives for awhile, but they were ready to start over and change. We talked about how the Church of Jesus Christ was on the earth today and about the spirit. We talked about eternal families and how they could be married for time and all eternity in the temple. They looked at each other and said, "We should do that." It was so sweet. They told us that they took it as a sign that we had stopped by. They were just so happy. It was neat to see that the Lord had prepared them. We are going to go over there this week and teach them more about it all. I am so excited for them!

I love the power of the priesthood. I have had lots of blessings in the last few weeks.....lots. Maybe about 5 to be exact. Mostly just for guidance. I am learning so much about myself. I am learning more about what our Father in Heaven wants me to be. I know that the power of the Priesthood is real. Use it! That is why we have it. No other church on earth has it. So we better feel blessed and use it when we need it. It is just allowing God to bless us. I am grateful for worthy priesthood holders here. I am grateful that I have a worthy father who holds the priesthood and one day I will have that same priesthood in my home through my husband. I just cannot express how grateful I am for it!! Last week, Sister Parker and I had a crazy experience. We had been facing a lot of opposition from the adversary since we went to the temple. I can't go into much detail, but we just felt unsafe spiritually in our apartment. We felt darkness and evil...especially from our laundry room.  We called on the Priesthood and they came to our apartment right away. They could feel the difference. They could feel that it was off. At that moment, we all knelt down and they blessed our apartment. We felt the darkness get cast out. We felt angels around us protecting us. They proceeded to give us individual blessings and it was the most amazing experience of my life. Literally. I have never felt so much power in my life. I felt like Heaven was literally in the room. It is something I will never forget. The fear and sadness we felt just minutes before they came was dissipated. The whole spirit of the home changed. I was blessed with protection of angels. And I know that my grandfather and my dear friend Jared are protecting me. I feel them near. The power of the devil is real, but the power of God is much, much stronger. I love this gospel. It opened my eyes to how our investigators feel in their homes. They have the devil there all of the time. And they need the gospel to cast him out. I love this gospel so much!! Our homes can be as sacred as the temple. :D

I am also so grateful for the Book of Mormon. It is the word of God. I am reading it again, but this time slowly. I am digging deep. Really applying it to my life. I challenge all of you to use it more in your life! I got an email from Kodee and he said this: "I hope you are using all the gifts God has given us, especially the Book of Mormon. I have seen so many miracles come as I have read and taught from that book. Concerns of investigators melt away and the Spirit is so powerful. My days go much better once I have read from the Book of Mormon. Don't take it for granted. I invite you all to make the Book of Mormon a more important part of your life. It will bless you!" I invite you all to do the same thing!! Read the Book of Mormon. It will bless your life. Our Mission President has told us that the Book of Mormon tells us that even the Bible is true. It is a second witness to all that Christ has given us. 

I love you all! Keep smiling and remember that if hard things are happening, that means that good things are to come. Remember, opposition in all things (2 Nephi 2:11). When you are faced with challenges, miracles are only on the way. I have started to just hope for that as a missionary. Because we face a lot of opposition. When someone is getting baptized, when we have a really bad week, when we are going to find someone really amazing, almost ALWAYS the miracles are proceeded with a trial. The witness doesn't come until AFTER the trial of your faith (Ether 12:6). So keep your head high. The miracles are right around the corner. Whether they come in this life or the next, for followers of the Savior, they will always come. When we are being obedient and doing our best, the Lord will bless us. So, be obedient and do your best!! The blessings will come pouring down. If you ask my artist of a companion, Sister Parker, she would talk about art and how with every bright spot, there is always a shadow. The brighter the light, the darker the shadow. Well, that is the same with our life. The harder the trial, the greater the miracle. So just push forward. Remember: "Come what may, and love it."

All my love,
Sister Emilee Brooke Farr

and about the pictures......On Monday last week, we went to 5-Guys for lunch with our district. So Sister Parker and I took some crazy pictures that I hope you enjoy :) haha. Then we saw this guy riding his bike and it was SUUUPER tall. Sister Parker creepily took a picture of him...hahhaa.