08/19/13-Week 28 in Indiana [Week 5 of Transfer 5] "A Week of Miracles!"

HI!! :D

This week has been so great! :D It has been full of miracles and laughs galore. I love being a missionary!! Yesterday we had what this ward calls a 'cottage meeting.' Susan and Saranna came and it was so fun! It was hosted at Brother and Sister Minch's home! [they are the ones that we have been working with lots and have just barely been coming back to church. They were less active for a good 20 years]. We watched "Finding Faith in Christ" with them. I love that movie. Each time that I watch it, I can't help but shed a tear because the Spirit is so strong! But after the movie, Brother Kennedy (our ward mission leader) asked what people's favorite parts were. Mine is always the part where the people bring the lady who committed adultery to him and he tells them that whoever had no sin among them to cast the first stone. And they all leave, except for him. Because they all sin. And he tells her that he does not condemn her. Our Savior is forgiving. He is the savior of the world. His whole purpose is to forgive. We must never think that he won't forgive us. As long we come to Him with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, He will forgive us. He loves us beyond what we can understand. I am so grateful for His atonement and His love. 

But, the funny part of the story is when Brother Kennedy asked if anyone saw something new that they had never noticed before.... Susan said "yes! I never noticed the pottery in the scene when Jesus is healing someone." Elder Day [one of the Elders in our ward] looked over at us and started to chuckle. We couldn't help but try to hold back our laughs. I just love them :) They make us laugh so hard. Saranna was very hyper the entire time we were there. And to make it exciting, we had a member there who kept making puns out of everything Saranna said. Sister Minch made the comment about her "fat, stinky cat" and how she didn't want it to come down stairs, and the member said "that would be a 'cat'astrophe!!" Later, Saranna bumped the TV and a picture frame fell and almost hit her. Then the member piped up and said "you almost got framed!!" and Saranna was laughing so hard. Then he told us a joke about how his dog could talk. He asked the dog what was on the tree trunk and it said "bark!" He asked the dog what was on top of the house and it said "roof!" He asked the dog what sand paper felt like and it said "ruff!" Susan was laughing so hard. She could barely eat! It was great fun :D Sister Colton and I were laughing pretty hard too. It was just great.

But!! This week was GREAT!! We have seen so many miracles! We taught Wayne (our investigator set to be baptized on Sept 28th) about the Word of Wisdom. And it was the easiest lesson ever!! We were really nervous because we had no idea if he had any problems with anything, but he took it so well! We asked him if there was anything he thought he might have a problem with and he said, "No, I only have a cup of coffee every once in a while. So that shouldn't be a problem." What?? This never happens!!! Wayne is so prepared. We are so excited for him!! It was a great experience. 

Then we had dinner with the George's [members] and Sister George had a friend over for dinner, Linda. She is about 70 years old and is very good friends with the George's. As we had dinner, we had really good conversations, and at the end we offered to have a spiritual thought. We pulled out the Family Proclamation and read the 3 paragraphs where it talks about the Pre-Earth life and about our purpose here. We explained to her that God has a body of flesh and bone, and that we lived with him before, but we could never become like Him without gaining a body. So, he created this world for us to come to and to gain bodies and to learn from our mistakes so that we could return back to him. After explaining this she said "That makes complete sense!" At this point, Sister Colton and I just stared at her in awe and had no idea what to say. We were thinking..."what do we do now?? No one ever says this!!" Eventually, after getting words back, we continued to teach her. At the end, we asked her if she would want to learn more and said said, "Yeah, I would like that!" Again, Sister Colton and I just stared at her in awe for a few seconds. Moral of the story: We found an amazing new investigator that Heavenly Father just placed in our laps. We have return appointments for the next two weeks with her. We were just smiling ear to ear and asking ourselves "what just happened?!"  as we got into our car. It was amazing!! The Spirit was so strong. Linda was searching, and when she heard the gospel, it just clicked. Oh man. It was so cool.

Then!! We had a lesson with Mary and Scott. And we were actually able to teach them! You see, people here in Indiana realllllllllly like to talk. And so it was always hard to get them to stay on topic and get through an entire lesson. Mary was always confused with what the Book of Mormon was, she thought that Nephi building the ship was Noah......but! we were able to actually teach her the Restoration from start to finish. And they understand it! They know what the Book or Mormon is! And they understand why we are different. The next morning, She asked us to bring over another copy of the Book of Mormon for her husband Scott to take on the roads while he drives! It was great. They have been reading it. AND THEN! We took Mary on a church tour. And she loved it! We had Sister Bair come with us and she was a great fellowshipper. She used to be Catholic [like Mary] and was able to really connect with her. Mary said that she felt the peace and spirit in the Chapel. AND THEN!!! She came to church! We were sooooooooo excited. After Sacrament Meeting, I asked her how it was and she said that she felt that the speaker was talking just to her. Like he knew just what she needed and was speaking to her. She said she got a little teary-eyed a couple of times. It was so wonderful!! Family and friends, the church is sooo true!! AND THEN!!!!!!!! She came to Sunday School, and guess what the lesson was on???! Tithing. Really? Her first Sunday here and they talk about Tithing. but guess what??! She took it so well! She is already prepared and okay with paying when she is a member. What?! Heavenly Father just knows what these people need. It was so amazing! I can't even explain how wonderful it was. 

We had 8 investigators at church yesterday. The Bowers family, Susan and Saranna, and Mary. It was wonderful. Going to church as a missionary is so much different then going before. As a missionary you are all stressed about how they are taking the messages and if they feel the spirit...but it always turns out! They always love it and feel the spirit. The Church is True. 

This morning I had a wonderful experience during my personal study. We had a less-active pretty much bible bash us this week. He was throwing scriptures at us every other second from the Bible and not allowing us to talk. The spirit fled and we tried to get out as soon as possible. After leaving, there was a bad spirit with us, and we just felt off. I prayed to Heavenly Father to remove the evil spirit from us and help us to have his peace. And of course, He restored it. But I continued to ponder over the comments and questions that were made. I still held strong in my testimony, but I wanted to understand what he meant better. This morning as I was studying for an investigator, Heavenly Father lead me through a scripture chase all over the scriptures. He showed me the reasons why things were certain ways, He answered all of the questions I had. he truly hears our prayers. Even if they seem small and insignificant, they matter to Him. He loves us!! :D 

We had a lesson with Angie and Greg. They were a referral from a Sister Lloyd [who just moved to Arizona]. And it was amazing. We taught them about the restoration, and the spirit was so strong in their home. We bore strong witness of the godhead, of Joseph Smith, and of the Book of Mormon. Angie was very attentive and would ask questions and ponder. But throughout the lesson, Greg did not keep as much eye-contact or seem as interested. But as we bore our testimonies, you could see the spirit touch his heart. At the end he told us that at first he was a little hesitant. But he said "I know that you girls truly know that this is true. You can see it in your eyes." We told him that we wouldn't be out here if we didn't know it was true. No one can deny a true and heart felt testimony. And let me tell ya, If I didn't know that this church was true, I would have been home MONTHS ago. But I know that this is the only true church on the earth. This is the only way back to our Heavenly Father. We are the only church with the Authority from God to make things "count" or "transfer over" when we pass from this life.

It has been a wonderful week!! I love this gospel. I feel so honored to be a representative of my Savior at this time. I know I have much to overcome and do, but with the Savior, all things are possible. If you ever doubt something about the church, don't be afraid to ask our Father in Heaven, and then go search. Search in the scriptures, search in your heart. He WILL answer you. I can promise you that as a representative of Jesus Christ. He hears your prayers. He loves you. He has always answered my prayers and concerns. You matter to Him.

I love you all!! Thank you for all of your love, support, and prayers.

All my love,

Sister Farr

08/13/13-Week 27 in Indiana [Week 4 of Transfer 5]

Hi there!

So! First things first. I got peed on by a dog this week. It was.....a fun experience :) bahaha. Next, I had a Peanut Butter and Jelly....cake. Yes, a cake. It was delicious! The Zumbrun family is so much fun. We had dinner with them again. My favorite quote from a story from them: someone asked their brother: "If you could have any superpower, what would it be?" he responded: "Immorality!!" his brother turned to him and said: ".....uhhh..you might want to talk to the Bishop..." ..... "bahahahha" (he meant immortality). It was really funny. :D Sister Colton and I couldn't stop laughing. They are just too fun. 

Third, I had a GREAT birthday!!! I got packages from you all and it made it the bestest birthday. I must say, I felt loved :) And I LOVED Dawn's "200 things why I love you most" thing. I may have cried just reading #1 with the web song. Yes, I might sing that to myself out here when I can't fall asleep :) [and Sister Colton and I may or may not have eaten the red velvet cupcakes for breakfast the next morning...they were sooooo good!!] 

I love you all!!!! It was great. I went to the Peacock's for dinner and they sang me happy birthday and everything. They are pretty much our family away from home. I love them!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have some exciting news though!! 5 baptismal dates for September!! Wahoo!! First is Wayne! He is progressing so quickly. he feels like he has finally been getting an answer from Heavenly Father that it is true! He likes the spirit that we bring, and reading in the Book of Mormon has really helped him come to know. He has been praying so much and constantly hoping to find out, and he is!! It is so hard when you have an investigator who is trying to know if the message you bring is true, and they pray and pray, but feel that they never get an answer. That is how he has felt for a while now. But he told us last time that he felt that God was telling him that it was true!! What?! Hooray! We are just so excited for him :) 

Next, the Bowers family has a baptismal date! It is for Sept 7th. They have been working with the missionaries for quite some time now and they are ready to get baptized. So, really, we did no work, we just came in picked them back up as investigators, and they pretty much asked us to give them a date. It was GRAND!! They are so ready and so excited :) I can't explain how happy I am for them! We had a lesson last night, and they were just so much fun. They are starting to open up to us more and get comfortable with us as their new guides. I love this work! Even though, you go out day-to-day and feel like you are doing nothing, the Lord blesses you and as you look back, you realize all that you have learned and become. 

I had a great exchange this past week with a sister named Sister Ward. She actually went home this past Saturday. Lets just say that I learned A LOT! She is an amazing missionary. She is a powerful teacher and is full of the spirit. I am so grateful that I got to spend just a couple of hours with her. I learned so much! But she went with me to our lesson with Shelby, which was great! In our lesson with Shelby, she really opened up. She is recognizing the spirit and wants to know more. We found out more of what she knows about the Church and were able to teach to her needs. We taught her a lesson to her needs about eternal families and tied it into the plan of salvation. She really lit up and understood what we taught. She even gave us a referral to her grandparents who are very catholic (and that is the last thing I thought would ever happen!). It is amazing to see how the spirit works. Shelby told us that she has definitely feels the spirit as we are with her. She told us that she understands why we need the Book of Mormon...she just gets it!! That is the power of the spirit. It helps them understand. If I didn't have the spirit, I would be doing nothing out here. Nothing would even matter. But, with the spirit, all things are possible. But, Sister Ward is such a Bold missionary. She tells people how it is, but in a loving way. She knows how to talk with everyone. She can teach people to their needs. It was just so great to learn from her! She chose to come up to us for an exchange out of all of the other sisters. The President asked her to go around to just a few sisters and she felt prompted to come to us. I definitely learned so much! I have so much more to do and become. But I am just going to take it step by step and the rest will work out.

I learned something really cool about grace this week. I learned it from the talk called "His Grace is Sufficient" by Brad Wilcox. I have had a difficult time understanding grace as a missionary. People here have a very different concept of it. They think that because Christ did everything for us, we can pretty much "sit back and enjoy the ride". They don't have to do anything. But, he compares the way grace works to a mother and her child with piano lessons. here is what he says:

"Christ’s arrangement with us is similar to a mom providing music lessons for her child. Mom pays the piano teacher. Because Mom pays the debt in full, she can turn to her child and ask for something. What is it? Practice! Does the child’s practice pay the piano teacher? No. Does the child’s practice repay Mom for paying the piano teacher? No. Practicing is how the child shows appreciation for Mom’s incredible gift. It is how he takes advantage of the amazing opportunity Mom is giving him to live his life at a higher level. Mom’s joy is found not in getting repaid but in seeing her gift used—seeing her child improve. And so she continues to call for practice, practice, practice."

When we do things for Christ, when we follow him, we are not paying him back. We are "practicing" or in a sense, we are showing our appreciation to Christ for his incredible gift. His grace can and will transform us if we let it. Something he also said in his talk really hit home to me. He said: "The miracle of the Atonement is not just that we can go home but that—miraculously—we can feel at home there." 

It is an amazing talk!! If you haven't read it...read it. The Savior and His atonement...it is just incredible. We truly don't understand everything that the Savior did for us. And we never will. All we can do it try to show him how much we love him and appreciate Him for all he has done for us. We must forget ourselves, and do what he wants us to do. That is the only way to true happiness.

We had Zone Conference yesterday, and it was GREAT! Oh man. I love meetings. I know I am a weirdo, but I just love them! They get me so fired up and ready to go and conquer the world. Yesterday President Porter made a statement that brought me a lot of comfort. He said that I don't necessarily have to "want" to do this work. All I have to do is be willing and to do it. He made the point that even Christ, as he began the atonement didn't necessarily "want" to suffer all of our pains and punishment, but he was willing and he did it. We must align our wills with God's will. That is the only way to true happiness. Being a missionary has been so hard for me. I am exhausted every day. I have to push my self every day. I often just want to curl up in a blanket and watch a movie. But, I don't. I focus on WHY I am doing this. Missionary work is the work of Salvation. Because we have been so blessed to be members of this church, we have the duty and privilege to go out and share it with our brothers and sisters. I feel honored to be able to be a missionary now. I am learning to LOVE this work. This outpouring of missionaries is a fulfillment of prophecy. If you read in D&C 88:72-73. We are the Elders (or Sisters..) who the Lord is sending to "hasten [his] work". The prophecy that was made over 150 years ago is being fulfilled right now!!! And we are a witness to that. And I have the honor of being part of that force of missionaries. I just get filled with such gratitude when I think of it. I am truly humbled. The Lord allowed me to be sent here to earth at this time to be a part of the great work. He knows us, He loves us, and He wants the best for us. Sorry if I sound all preachy! I just get so excited when I talk about it. :D I just love this work!!!!!

Our dear Sister Kennedy (our Ward Mission Leaders wife) makes the BEST chocolate cake!! Today, she had us over and she showed us how to make the chocolate cake. It is sooo good. I will have to make it for you when I get home! It really is my new favorite recipe. mmmhmmm. 

I also wanted to make you all aware that Sister Porter (the mission president's wife) has a FaceBook page for the mission! She posts LOTS of pictures on there constantly (namely, tons yesterday from Zone Conference). The page is called "Ohio Cincinnati Mission" So, look it up and you can get updated about things that are going on and find fun pictures! :D 

I love you all! Thank you for your letters and your support! It means so much to me. I hope that you all have a wonderful week. I know our Father in Heaven loves us and watches over us. As long as you put Him first, everything else will work out. I LOVE YOU!!

Love,

Sister Emilee Brooke Farr

08/05/13-Week 26 in Indianna [Week 3 of Transfer 5] "Roller Coaster Week"

Hello!

This week has been a little CRAZY! We have been having some major crises with our investigators. We had some ups and downs. But we also saw some really amazing miracles. We had some investigators this week who have been having a lot of financial problems and haven't been able keep up on their rent. So their power and their gas were shut off. We went over to their home and the mom was sitting at the table, and from the moment I looked at her, I knew that something was wrong. The light was out of her eyes. I sensed something. So, we asked her what was wrong and she told us all about their financial troubles. It was really sad. I have learned a lot about how to manage money on my mission..funny enough! But we talked with her and broke down how she could make it. Sister Colton just took off and started speaking like a motivational speaker and pumped her up! We watched her slowly get up out of the hole that she was in and saw the light come back into her eyes. Sister Colton and I had just been praying and praying this past week. And we saw the ward pull together and the Lord bless them! We had a sister in the Relief Society come and take all of the food from the fridge and the freezer and take it to her house to keep it good for them. The Bishop ended coming and helping them out financially through the church. People have pitched in to help them have a garage sale to raise some money this weekend. It has been really amazing to watch. It was a very stressful week for us though! We are a little burnt out. But we keep praying and praying.

Also, we are sad to say that Saranna has decided not to get baptized on August 23rd. She decided that instead of getting baptized with her brother Jeremiah, she wants to wait for her mom. But her mom won't be able to get baptized until next spring/summer because of some personal problems...so she will have to wait for a while. We tried to talk with her and help her to understand how important baptism is. We wanted her to understand that the longer she waits, the harder it will get for her to be baptized. Satan creeps into our life when we are in limbo. When we are just waiting and have no motivation or goal. Sometimes it is hard to see people choose not to follow what they know, when you have done everything that you can to help them. We will just continue to pray for her and try to help her mom work through her problems so that she can get baptized earlier. I know that miracles are real. Heavenly Father has a plan for them. Even if I don't see it at this point, I know that He loves them and has blessings in store for them as they work to obey Him.

Also, last week we did a Young Women/Young Men activity! Well, I showed them all the crafts that I have made for teaching. I have made apostasy cups (for teaching the restoration), a Plan of Salvation cut out, and a Gospel of Jesus Christ flower to explain the principles of the gospel. It was really fun to talk with the youth who are hoping to go on missions. We got to tell them some cool stories and help them to get excited about serving a mission. We have taken some of the laurels out teaching with us, and they have really liked it! I wish that I would have had sister missionaries to go out with before I came, it definitely would have been an eye-opener.

We are hoping to give the Bowers family a baptismal date this week! They have been working towards baptism for quite some time now and they seem to be ready. Brother Bowers has stopped smoking, and that was really all that was holding them up, so we will be working with them! We are excited! A family!!!! :)

Also, great news about Wanda!! (from Indy) She is on the compassionate service committee there and she is doing great! She loves it. I am so happy for her and her family. I loved to see her progress and become the amazing women that she is. I never realized that when you serve a mission, I am not just a missionary to these people for 18 months. But I am always "their" missionary. They will look to me and reach out to me for the rest of their life. I always have to be that example to them of how to Endure to the End. The work of Salvation is one that is a life-long commitment. And I feel honored to be a part of that.

We have been doing a lot of service too! Sister Lloyd was a member here who just moved this week to Arizona. And this week we painted A LOT! It was so fun. It has been amazing to watch her progress. She used to be less-active. But this past week as we spent quite a bit of time with her, she has become a little missionary! She talked with her friend who was there helping her paint as well, about the temple and gave her a pass along card. She even talked with her neighbor and told her neighbor that she would send the missionaries! She has grown so much. I have come to realize how important the spirit and service are! I have seen it transform many people here in the Huntington ward. Not only Sister Lloyd, but also Sister Rydell. She is a recent convert (RC) of 2 years and we have been in her home a lot helping her clean. She had an accident last year which resulted in her loss of memory. She only remembered being 17. She didn't even know her 5 kids. It was hard for their family. Since then, they haven't been the same. But we have been in her home working with her to strengthen her, and also her teenage daughters. We have seen her come back to church and smile more often. Also, not just Sister Lloyd and Rydell, but also the Ahrens. They were inactive for quite a long time. But we have been working hard with them. We went over there a couple of weeks ago and helped clean and vacuum. Then we went over again and helped stain the deck. And this past week we went over and helped them treat the wood in their home. And we will go back this week to help them again. We have just seen Sister Ahrens transform! She is coming back to church, and she is smiling much more. At first, she seemed sad and uncomfortable around us, but now, each time we see her, she lights up and is happy. I can't explain to all of you how important it is to serve our brothers and sisters. Serving them can be the way that we can get to their hearts and soften it. It is amazing. I have seen many miracles come as a result of serving.

Also!! This week we had some great experiences with some investigators. Jeanie...we had a great lesson! She has been taught by missionaries for a good 3 years, but we had a break through this week. We asked her a lot of inspired questions and she just opened up!! It was amazing :) We are hoping to bring her into baptism too. Without the spirit, we would be useless. The spirit is sooo key!!

Funny story.........we had an investigator ask us on a date this past week. Let's just say that we dropped him and passed him off to the Elders. Oh the joys of being a Sister Missionary!! Ha Ha!

A request from me: Thank you all for emailing me sooo much!!! It brings me so much happiness :) But because I am so loved, I don't have quite enough time to get to everyone. If you want to, I am sure that you can write me your emails, but do them through Dear Elder so that I get them in the mail (and they are free for you) and then I can use this time to send you this email. I don't know if that makes any sense...but I hope it does! I love you all!!!! Thank you again!

Oh!! AND It is my Birthday this week!!! :D :D I will be 20. I am excited. 

Love you!
Sister Emilee Farr

07/29/13-Week 25 in Indiana [Week 2 of Transfer 5] "This Week-Miracles!! *Faith*

Helllllllllooooooooo.

My apologies for last weeks email. I pushed send when I literally had 1 second left. So...the ending was a bit crazy because I didn't have a lot of time to re-read or anything. I only have about 15 minutes to write this email, so lets get down to business!

This week at church was amazing again!! We had 8 less-actives to church :) It was so wonderful. I spent a lot of time in Indianapolis trying to get people to come back to church, and I did not have much success, but here, we are seeing success from the time and effort we put into meeting with people. I have learned the importance of being bold with people. As a missionary, and as people in general, it really does no good to beat around the bush. When we go to people's homes who haven't gone to church in years, they obviously know why we are there....so we just tell them! Hey, why haven't you been at church?! Okay, not that harsh, but in the same sense.....someone has to eventually ask. And we have seen some real miracles come of it. Sister Davis came again this week and it was great!! Sister Lloyd came teaching with us this past week to her house, and they got along soo well! They just clicked automatically (but the sad thing is that Sister Lloyd moves this Friday....to Arizona........) Sister Davis hasn't gone to church since she was....15 or 16 and was only a member for 3 or 4 years. So, when we had the lesson on the Word of Wisdom in Sunday school, Sister Colton and I were biting our tongues. But, she took it so well!! She was very open and receptive to it. The spirit is a miracle worker, I am telling you. She wants to get her 3 sons into church too. She has a 18, 16, and 14 year old. We are hoping to get them involved in Young Mens and help them get some good friends. She is just on a roll!! I am so happy about it. :D

The spiders here are ridiculous. Sister Colton and I have killed our fair share of spiders. But there was a funny story with one this last week that I didn't get a chance to write about. We have spiders who are currently living in the side mirrors of our car. Mine's name is Charolette, Sister Colton's is Hank. Now, there is a story being Charolette's name. 
   
Sister Colton and I were laying in bed one night talking about our neighbor. You see, that night, after getting in, we were trying to destroy the spider webs on the side of our cars. We were attacking them with our water bottles and using all of our "master spider-killing" skills to get rid of them. We prodeeded to do so for a good.....3 or 4 minutes. As we walked up to our house, our cute old neighbor, Art, walked out with a container of cantaloupe (they always give us food) and said "have a spider??" We said...."yes..." (realizing that he was watching us the whole time as we were attacking our car. Hahaha! Apparently, it is a normal thing here in Indiana to have spiders living in your mirrors. So great. :D

But, we found some new investigators this week! Shelby is married to Casey, who is a less-active. They recently got married in June and we have been trying to meet with them for a good 2 months now. But they have been cancelling and rescheduling with us the whole time. Well, last week, we finally got to talk with her! We sat down and just asked her what she expected with the missionaries coming to talk with her. Just getting some basic background. Eventually the conversation lead to families and to eternal families. We talked with her about the nature of God (she was raised Catholic) and about how we have a Heavenly Mother. The spirit was sooo strong in the room! I bore my testimony about how I knew that we not only have a Father in Heaven, but we also have a loving Mother, who cares about us all. The spirit testified so strongly. We told her about the temple and how she and Casey can go and get sealed. It was just a beautiful lesson! I wish I had time to go into all of it. It was a lesson completely guided by the spirit. We went in there expecting to teach her something completely different, and ended up coming out with a new investigator. It was a miracle!

This week, Sister Colton and I experienced a miracle with our numbers...I guess you could say. Sister Colton and I put forth a lot of faith in setting our goals last week, and we didn't know if it was possible to reach them. But with faith, we met our goals and exceeded many of them. I know that as we rely on faith and work our hardest, no matter how impossible it seems, the Lord will always provide a way. He is on our side. As we are doing all that he has asked us to, he will never leave us alone.

He loves all of us! He watches out for us. I am so grateful to him for everything.

I don't have any more time. I love you all!! Thank you for all you do!!

Sister Farr

07/24/13-Week 24 in Indiana [Week 1 of Transfer 5]

Hello all!

Yes, we have started a NEW transfer! Wahoo. I know I didn't really tell you about that, because I figured we were staying. And we are not!! We are getting split up!! Weird right? Just kidding!! (<-makes me think of Jess) We are staying. I know, you were surprised for just a second. But no, we are staying here in Huntington in our cute little yellow house.

This week has been crazy! I bet that you are wondering why I did not email you on Monday, and I bet it just ruined your whole day not to hear from me. Just Kidding again (<-Jess). But it was sure long for me to chug through these past few days! But since Transfers is tomorrow, they changed preparation day to Wednesday this week. So, no I did not die, (well...maybe kind of, but not literally) I am doing well! My random health things have gotten much better this past week. I am very grateful for the prayers that you have said and the support you have given me, I am doing much better!

So, first of all, it has been great! Sister Colton and I have been praying a lot recently for the Lord to help us find someone who we could baptize in this next transfer, and he surely has. Saranna has been given a baptismal date of August 23rd! She will hopefully bet getting baptized with her brother, Jeremiah. It will be wonderful! We are very excited. Speaking of their family, we have had some wonderful fellowshippers! We invited Sister Miller to come teach them with us this past week, and she willingly came. But when we got there, they were running around like crazy because they had a house inspection. So, they asked us if we could clean. Sister Miller was sooo open to just cleaning the house! She stayed there with us for 2 hours and cleaned and taught a lesson with us. Then, when we said we had to go after the lesson, she got up and said "Well Saranna, lets go and finish your room!!" and went back and still kept cleaning. We don't' know how long she stayed, but we know that she helped them sooo much! She is wonderful. Also, Sister Bair helped us so much. We were trying to get a member to go with us all day, and no one could. Then, last minute Sister Bair texted us and offered to come. We went to give Susan a lesson about Enduring to the End, but after talking with Susan a little bit about her finances, Sister Bair suggested to us that we teach her about Tithing instead. So, according to the spirit, we taught Susan about the law of tithing. Sister Bair was perfect for that lesson! It was something that she struggled with when she was becoming re-activated and she could bear a very strong testimony! It was wonderful. The Lord knew that we were going to be teaching another lesson that night, and he knew that Sister Bair needed to be the member to come with us. There is always a reason for everything!

Also, we did service last week at a less-actives couples house. We were outside in the HOTT (104 degrees) weather painting their deck and stapling chicken wire up around it. Let me tell you, it was HOTT! It reminded me of Stadium of Fire when you are just hot and miserable and soaked from head to toe...yeah...it was crazy. Except, no one was coming around with sprayers to cool you off. Not so fun. But at the same time, we had a blast! We ended up talking with them at the end for a spiritual thought, and we found out that the brother doesn't have much of a testimony of the Book of Mormon at all. He just joined the church for the politics. It was really heart breaking for us. I could literally feel the sorrow of the Savior in my heart. To the point that I started to cry as I bore my testimony to him. It was a hard moment for me and the Savior as he expressed his great desire for him to come unto Him. But we will work with him to resolve all of his concerns and get him back to church.

But! Church this week was GREAT! We had 7 less active members there (the Ahrens, the Minches, Sister Lloyd, Sister Rydell, and Sister Davis), who we have been working with and 5 investigators! SO great!

Thank you for all of your prayers and concern again! I love you all!!!!

 

Love, Sister Farr

07/15/13-Week 23 in Indiana [Week 6 of Transfer 4]

Hi there.

It has been a wonderful week here in Huntington, Indiana! It started out with a grand opening of a zone training!!! It was an amazing zone training. Our Zone Leaders trained us on how to have more joy in the work. And to be honest...I have been struggling with that. It is hard to be a missionary! It is hard to feel successful when you aren't seeing many fruits from your labor, but they talked about how we can find more joy. When we walk down the street, we want people to notice how happy we are! We don't want to be fake happy, but genuinely happy. They mentioned something... being happy can just be for a short time, but JOY is eternal happiness. They talked about the difference between changing your personality and changing your habits. Everyone has a personality, they were born with it. Since we were babies we have had our personality. But we have created habits that have been interwoven with our personality. I don't have to change my quiet personality..I just have to change my habit of never talking. It has been a real eye opener for me. Whenever people would say "just be yourself!" I would say "You don't understand! Being myself and being a missionary.....are complete opposites! I can't be a missionary and be myself." But I have learned more of how I can be myself and be a missionary. I am working to change my habits. I am trying to change the habits that pull me away from Christ, and making them more like the Savior.

Something funny about Indiana....don't try to use hairspray to hold back your fly-aways..the hairspray is just flimsy. It doesn't get stiff like it does in Utah. It does...really nothing. haha. Also, some other funny news. Sister Colton and I have been living without AC for the past 5 weeks!!! We thought that we had the window air conditioner on "cold" and it has not been working. It has been just blowing around hot air. So we have been dying in the humidity! But this week when it got to the point where we didn't know we could stand it any longer, we went to the temperature knob and....vuwala....it turned! And it made the air cold....so we have been living in a few days of bliss :) Air Conditioning is such a wonderful blessing!

Lets see...Sister Kewish and Saranna have been doing well! I don't know if I have told all of you about them before. Sister Kewish and Saranna have been investigating the church for a little over a year. They have had a year filled with challenges beyond what I can even imagine. The trials they face would have tore me to the ground. But they are coming out strong! We have been teaching them every single day. Lifting their spirits. We have been able to see the light come back into their eyes! The spirit is once again in their home. It brings Sister Kewish to tears when she talks about how much she is grateful for the gospel in her life. It has changed her. She has been trying to overcome smoking for the past couple of months and has been having a rough time. We challenged her to now only smoke outside. And it has been helping! They are both progressing wonderfully! They understand the gospel of Jesus Christ. We talked about Baptism and what it means and how important it is. And they are just so ready and excited to be baptized. It will be a moment in their life that they will never forget! Their ultimate goal is to go to the temple and be sealed as a family. Sister Kewish's husband died a few years ago, and she wants to seal her and Saranna to him. That is the ultimate goal! Bringing families together for eternity! The work of Salvation is wonderful.

Yesterday, Sister Colton and I were able to witness some wonderful miracles.  Saranna had been sick for quite a while. She wasn't able to hold down any food nor liquid. Sister Kewish was getting worried and asked us to pray for her. We went over after church and asked if they wanted us to ask the Elders in our ward (Elder Price and Callister) to come over to give her a blessing, and she said yes. We called the Elders (and another member of the congregation) to come over and give her a blessing. As they did so, I felt the power of the Priesthood flood into the room. The spirit was so strong! Although she did not immediately stand up and act completely fine, she was able to eat some food and slowly heal. I know that the power of the priesthood is real. It is the power of God on the earth today. It is here for our benefit. We should never be afraid or hesitant to ask for a blessing. God will never reject us from obtaining the blessings of the priesthood if we merely ask. I just love this gospel!

My body has recently started to fight back against the stress level of missionary work! I have been having some problems with my ankles. As I mentioned last week, our mission president asked us to run for 30 minutes every day. Before, when Sister Colton and I were running just a mile every other day, I started to have some bruises appear on my ankles. My ankle bone hurt and shot pains up my calves. Unsure what it was, I prayed for strength and kept running. This past week, it has really started to act up. It started to swell. I evetually called Sister Porter and asked her what to do. She told me to wear a brace and take tylenol for the swelling for a couple of weeks. Then yesterday, I asked for a blessing. The Elders gave me a blessing and promised me that as I was obedient to the rules of the mission, that my ankles would heal themselves. They promised me that Heavenly Father was aware of my problems. He knew what I was facing and he would help me. I have not been full on running for a couple of days, but I have been walking as fast as I can. I know that as I continue to do my best, Heavenly Father will bless me. That is the miracle about obedience. When you are obedient, no matter how impossible it seems, the Lord will always bless you! Sometimes the rules we are given seem pointless and ridiculous, but there is always a reason behind it. Our Heavenly Father never asks us to do something without promising us a blessing. He will always provide. I think of it like this: If Jesus Christ leads you to a cliff and asks you to jump off, he will either catch you at the bottom, or teach you how to fly. We just have to take that first step, and jump! He will do the rest. He will catch us. He will teach us how to soar above our greatest expectations.

Do you remember Mary? The one we helped pick things up in her yard after the tornado?? Well, this week she became an investigator!! She has been reading the Book of Mormon and had a lot of questions! She was really confused about when the Book of Mormon started. We went over there last night and talked to her about what it was. She had questions all about the Plan of Salvation. She asked questions about the Restoration. like "How do you know which church is true?" "Where did God come from?" "Where did we come from?" "Why does the Bible only talk about the people in Jerusalem?" Question after Question...she has been prepared to receive the gospel! Even if she doesn't get baptized in the next month or so, she has been slowly prepared for quite some time!

---My computer died...and I lost half of my email. I had lots of juicy info..but I don't have time to re-type it all :( Soo.....---

Basically, Elizabeth said yes to baptism if she came to know it was true!! Horray! I found out some cool news from Sister Cordner this week!! The Elders in the Indy 1st ward looked up Eddie (HQ referral I taught in the library who was doing a project on the LDS faith and had questions about Tithing and Fast offerings and stuff. I had asked him if I could share my testimony at the end and he said "sure." then he told me that my body language told him that I really believed what I said) and they talked with him. He said that he is doing another project on the Book of Mormon so he has more questions, but he said that he remembered my testimony and that it really shook him up, in a good way! Cool huh! It made me feel good :) At least I did something right! The spirit is so key. I know that it wasn't me that softened his heart. It was purely the spirit. All I did was testify of truths, and his spirit was touched. It was a cool experience for me, and it is cool that it left an impact on him.
:)

Also, the package that I got this week was WONDERFUL!!! Thank you dearly :) We ate the cookies right up and may have gained 20 pounds.... it's okay though. But.....Sister Colton and I would love to get some.......letters. We excitedly run to check the mail each day and have been finding lots of cob webs...not very many letters...

I love you all!!! :) I am sorry that I don't have very much time. 

Here is another picture of my fast growing hair! 

 

And of the corn here...it is so tall!

I send you my love,

Sister Farr

07/08/13-Week 22 in Indiana! [Week 5 of Transfer 4]

Hello there. 
This week has been...pretty great! But yes, desolate. Since it was the fourth of July weekend, everyone was gone! I can't tell you how many doors we knocked on to find no one there. It was kind of ridiculous. It was one of those weekends where you wished you could just stay inside and watch a movie and eat some ice cream...but ya know, we just pushed through it and now the work will move forward again!!

It was realllly weird not dancing in the Stadium of Fire this year. On the 3rd and 4th I kept thinking randomly "I am usually dancing right now..." or "I bet they are standing in the portals right now...." I guess I always knew that one day I wouldn't do it...but I have since I was 7! They had to ship me off to Indiana to get me to stop! ;) But! My mission president is making up for that loss of exercise......Our mission president came out with a new rule for us.....we have to run for 30 minutes every morning. Not just exercise...........run. Really?? Oh man. It kills. I am not a runner, and now I have to run or I am being disobedient. It is taking a lot of faith on my part to actually do it. I have done it every day and I will for the next year and a couple of weeks...until I am off of my mission. Hopefully I will come to enjoy it one day. But I better not gain weight now! I mean...I am running.....for 30 minutes....and I want to kill over and die after. hahaha. Ask me to dance for 10 hours straight? Sure! Ask me to run for 30 minutes....uh....heart attack. But I did have a pretty cool experience with it! You see, Sister Colton and I have been running a mile every other day for the past month and I have been getting bruises on my ankles from it. After we have run the mile, my ankles are sore and achy all morning until I put some Deep Blue Rub on it (I love DoTerra..:D). So, when I learned that we had to run for 30 minutes, I had my doubts about my ankles. The first day we did it, my ankles and feet started to hurt pretty bad, but I said a prayer as we ran. I asked Heavenly Father for his help. I was trying to be obedient to all that our mission president has asked of us, but I know that my feet and ankles are not physically capable of it...but I knew that through the Atonement of Christ, all things are possible. Since that prayer, I haven't had any problems with my ankles. The bruises are still there, but they don't throb. It has taught me a lesson of obedience. When the prophet or our Heavenly Father asks us to do something..and we think that we are an exception to the rule..we have to realize that we aren't. We must be obedient in all things. 

We are blessed when we are exactly obedient. 

 

I was able to meet President and Sister Porter this week! It was pretty great! He said something that I thought was very profound that one of the 12 apostles said to them when they were in the MTC. "The movement of this missionary work is just as impactful as the first vision, the Book of Mormon, and the Priesthood being restored..." or at least something to that effect. Holy cow...just think about that! This missionary push is just as impactful on the church as the restoration of the priesthood." He called it the Class of 2013. That is incredible. All of us must find those brothers and sisters who do not have the gospel! It is our responsibilities as members of the church. But we can't do it alone! Not without the help of our Father in Heaven, Jesus Christ, or the Holy Ghost. People NEED the gospel. We have to bring them closer to Christ in all that we do. It is very intimidating to look at in the face, but taking it day by day, I can do this. 


Jeremiah...... I told you last week about our investigator who pretty much knew the Plan of Salvation and loved the Book of Mormon. Well, this week he told us that he would consider himself a "Mormon" in belief terms because we go back even before Christ. But he still wants to get baptized in his father's church because his father is his hero. Noo..Jeremiah! You don't understand! What will make him more proud is for you to seal your family together for eternity! We tried to explain the priesthood to him, but he didn't quite understand it. But, he is gone on business for a month or so. Hopefully something will sink in as he is driving the diesel truck around. He just needs the gospel! Well, everyone needs the gospel! But it is so hard when you come so far and you know that they know it is true, but they won't change. :/
 
I had the BEST dinner appointment at the Zumbrun's home this week! They have 12 kids in their family and we pretty much had a buffet for dinner. Sister Colton and I have gained 5 shadows at church from that... Sister Colton and I were the first people to get our food...and the last people to finish our meal because they were asking us sooo many questions! They were asking us "why....why...why" and "As a missionary can you.....what about this?....." It was sooo adorable! I just LOVE children. It was my favorite. They followed us around everywhere and asked us question after question.

Elizabeth is doing great! We were starting to teach her more of the Plan of Salvation this past week when she asked us "how do you know which church is the right church?".....does that sound like Joseph Smith to you? Because it sure did to us! So, we changed our lesson to the Restoration and told her all about Joseph Smith and how he had the same exact question! It was so amazing! She soaked it all in and said that she would pray and read about the Book of Mormon. The spirit is just amazing. I love this work! The spiritual rush that you get when you teach someone or bring them the gospel, is something that you can't describe.

This week I had some really cool experiences with my Patriarchal blessing. I have been feeling as though I don't matter in this work. I have felt like no one would notice if I weren't hear. So I went to the Lord and I read the personal revelation that is held in my Patriarchal Blessing. I read it with the question of "What is my purpose/calling in this life?" I found it. We all have callings. We all have specific talents and gifts to help us fulfill that calling. More than anything I want to make my Father in Heaven proud and the way that we can do that is by obeying Him. He loves us beyond comprehension. All he wants is for us and alll of our brothers and sisters to return to Him once more. We are all children of God. Every single person you talk with, see, drive by, everyone. Is a child of God and has the potential to become like Him. But if we don't open our mouth and share that with them, they will never know. Don't be afraid to share the gospel! Share it with your friends and families. This is the last time that the Lord is calling his servants into the Vineyard and we better take care of it. If I can do it, anyone can do it. But it is all through the Lord. I cannot do this by myself. I would have come home by now if it weren't for my Savior, Jesus Christ and the Spirit. He will help us. We are doing His work, after all.
I know what you are thinking. 'I am not a missionary'....but you are a child of God. And we must help our other brothers and sisters know that they are too. 

I am out of time! I am doing well. I am pushing forward. and as always, I love you all!!

Sister Emilee Farr