06/17/13-Week 19 in Indiana [Week 2 of Transfer 4] "Bird Pooh."

Helllo all.

First of all: HAPPY FATHERS DAY, DAD!!!!! I love you! Although I couldn't be there with the family yesterday, know that I love you and thought of you. But being away from home made me think of my Heavenly Father more and how it is also His Fathers Day. I love you!

Now, let me explain the title. You see, as missionaries they tell you to talk to EVERYONE. Literally. Sometimes it is really hard, because I feel awkward confronting people who are already doing something, but I have learned quite a few things. Heavenly Father always helps me. So! We were talking to these two ladies, Melinda and Christy who were outside talking. We walked up and starting talking to them a little bit. We asked them about their religious background and started to talk about the restoration. I had just finished telling Joesph Smith's Vision to them and then low and behold, I felt something wet hit my neck and my foot.... I got bombarded by bird pooh! I had a streak down my dress and a couple drops on my shoe. [bahahahha] They said "God works in mysterious ways..." and laughed. I asked them straight up if they thought that the bird poohing on me was a sign from God that it wasn't true. They just said "I don't know..." with a smirk on their face. But I just bore powerful testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith and the spirit just exploded. It was really cool! Even though they didn't become interested, I still have no doubt that Joseph Smith is a prophet. I mean, who knows...maybe one day in the future when more missionaries come knocking at their door they will say, "Hey, I talked to one of your missionaries before! And a bird poohed on her..." Then they will have a fun discussion about that with each other and end up getting baptized. I am going to keep my hopes high. haha.

Also! I have a mighty fine tan line on my feet from my shoes...and I am starting to get calluses on my knuckles from how many doors I have knocked on. I guess those are pretty good signs that I am working hard! It has been a crazy week! We have been driving all over the place and trying to talk to everyone that we see outside. We had 10 other lessons just with people outside on their porch or at their door step. There are lots of really cool people here in Huntington! They are all so nice and willing to talk. The hard part is getting them to have a specific return appointment with us so that they can become investigators. But, we have been increasing a lot of people's faith! We helped one girl, Jenna, believe that God was in her life. We got a new investigator, Amy, who is a mom of 3. We helped a girl named Mary pick up tree branches in her yard............That reminds me!!!! I had my first tornado experience this week!!!!!!!

STORY TIME. This past Wednesday night, there was bad weather headed towards Indiana. People had been telling us about it as we were out and about. And that night, we heard lots and lots of rain and thunder...then the lightening came. We looked outside and the sky was just lighting up every which direction! It was literally like fireworks. I can't even explain it. I have never seen anything like it in Utah. Then we were about to get in bed when we get a text on our phone that says "Tornado Warning! Take cover!" We look at each other, unsure of what to do....and then we hear the tornado sirens go off. We look at each other and start laughing....out of pure terror. We grab our blankets and pillows (and maybe I grabbed my stuffed animal...), the phone, water bottles, a flash light and hid in the closet underneath the stairs in the middle of our house/apartment. We stayed in there......and stayed there....and stayed there.....unsure of when it was safe to come out. Then we heard this loud train noise....I said "Is that a train!? That stupid train! It is going to get picked up by the tornado! And hit our house!!" We continued to stay in the closet and then the sirens went off (about 30 minutes later). We stayed in there for a while longer and finally texted the elders in our ward and asked them what we should do. They told us to kneel in companion prayer and then go to bed. We did...and we were safe! However, I found out the next day (talking with Mary) that the really loud train sound we heard....was the tornado going over-head.......It was supposed to touch down a couple streets down from ours, but ended up going farther. AAHHH!! I survived a tornado!!!! Thanks to Heavenly Father. It was a crazy experience. The next day there were tree branches everywhere and it was just crazy. There wasn't too much damage to anything, I don't think that anyone was hurt in Huntington, but it was something I will never forget. I felt like Dorothy in the Wizard of OZ. haha.

We have been going around trying to help as many people as we can and talk with them. It has proven to be quite successful!

We had another experience this week...you see we found a new investigator, Kevin. He was outside on his porch when we were walking around, so we went up and talked to him. He seemed sooo prepared! He was listening to us. We told him pretty much the entire restoration, we talked to him about the plan of salvation...everything! He asked a lot of really good questions and seemed like he genuinely wanted to learn more about the gospel. He told us that we were "blowing his mind" when we were answering all of his questions.We got a follow-up appointment with him and gave him our cell phone number so that he could get a hold of us in case he had questions. We were really excited!  He seemed really interested. Then the next day we got a text.....it said...."are u guys single?" crap. Really???! Really? So we explained to him that as misisonaries we don't date...and we ended up giving him to the Elders. I guess that he wasn't as interested in the gospel as we thought he was. That was exciting....haha.

Anyways, I don't have any more time. The work is going good! Training is hard, but I am relying on Heavenly Father. It is great!! Thank you all!!

Love, Sister Emilee Farr