10/01/13-Week 35 [Week 5 of Transfer 6] "Exxxxchanges!"

Hello all!!

Katlyn & Zackery's Baptism

It has been a good week! First off, I thank you all for your prayers and support! It helps us sooo much! We had a cute baptism this week :) Katlyn and Zackery Lane were baptized. And they were sooooo happy! It was so sweet and adorable. They were practically jumping out of their seats waiting for all of the talks to be over. Every prayer they told Heavenly Father how excited they were. I just love them! Their baptism went great. They even sang "I am a Child of God" for their musical number with their grandma. It was adorable! I just want to adopt them. Not really...but they are adorable. They are determined to go to the temple in a year to get sealed as a family. That will be a great day for them. 

This week has been full of exchanges! On Tuesday, I was down in Cincinnati, Ohio for a mission leadership council. It was at the mission home and we had lots of training's and discussions. I learned LOTS! I have so much to do. I just have to take it day by day or I get really overwhelmed. But all will be well! I don't know why Heavenly Father wants me as a leader in this mission...but I am just trusting in Him. He knows best. Then on Tuesday-Wednesday I went with Sister Fletcher (the sister assistant pretty much - she is the head STL). We saw lots of miracles! One funny thing that happened, was we were out trying to talk with everyone and we were headed back to our car. Sister Fletcher and I heard some banging from an inside window and it just sounded like a kid whacking a table (we were at an apartment complex). Sister Fletcher said, let's go knock on their door! So as we walked to go inside of the building, we hear "Bon jour!" We saw a little kid standing in a screen window to a balcony and we both look at each other confused and yell back "Bon jour?" Then we hear a lady start talking really quickly in french. We yell back.." We don't speak french!" She stopped talking and said "Oh.." then we yelled back, "Do you speak English ?" we heard a "Yes!" we commented, "where are you?? We can't see you!" Then this lady comes out of the screen door and starts talking in french again. I get out that she wanted to know if we were Jehovah's Witnesses, we explain that we were Mormon and had an interesting conversation with her. Eventually we found out that she is the sister of one of the people Sister Fletcher is teaching. She said she wanted to come to church, and they got a return appointment for the next day. It was pretty hilarious and crazy. Then we had another interesting lesson...we taught a kid while we walked his rottweilers.....let's just say that is an interesting environment to teach someone. There wasn't enough room for all of us to stand next to each other, so we would kind of switch off standing next to him and teaching. I couldn't hear what Sister Fletcher taught him,and she couldn't hear what I taught him. But apparently the spirit helped us because he said he would get baptized if he came to know it was true and they got a return appointment. The Lord works in mysterious ways... :) THEN on Thursday we had an exchange with Sister Colton and her companion Sister Standage. I went up to Fort Wayne/Aboite area with Sister Colton. We had...an interesting day. First of all we gave both of our phones to our companions who went back to Huntington..so we were phone-less. So we had to go to a members house to use their phone and leave them a message of where to meet after the exchange. Then we were talking with everyone that we could see! But we had a frustrating experience with a man we ran into. He was anti..big time. He tried to be sly and hope we didn't notice what he was saying, but we caught on. He was pretty much telling us that he hoped we didn't go to hell and that Jesus would have mercy on us because we seemed like nice girls. He told us that we had a different Jesus and just went off....all with a HUGE smile on his face. But...we weren't dumb and caught on. Anyways, he just kept going and going. He talked about the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith, the Godhead, the kingdoms of glory, blacks and the priesthood, polygamy, everything really. And it was interesting because everything that he talked about I knew the answer to. I had already searched it out. So finally after we got to talk for a few seconds, I told him that I had all of the answers to his questions, but he wasn't willing to listen so I wouldn't take the time to explain them. I started to bear my testimony...and he literally laughed at me as I did it. It was one of the hardest and most humiliating moments of my life. I have had plenty of anti-mormon people bash on what I believed, but no one had laughed at me yet. Let's just say we didn't stay too long.  It just reminded me of this part of a talk by Jeffery R Holland:

"When you struggle, when you are rejected, when you are spit   upon and cast out and made a hiss and a byword, you are standing with the best life this world has ever known, the only pure and perfect life ever lived. You have reason to stand tall and be grateful that the Living Son of the Living God knows all about your sorrows and afflictions. The only way to salvation is through Gethsemane and on to Calvary. The only way to eternity is through Him—the Way, the Truth, and the Life."

I just love that talk. I stand with my Savior each and every day. When people reject me, they are really rejecting him. I love standing as a witness of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. There is no greater place that I would rather be. 

Then we had an amazing experience on Monday night. We had dinner with the 2nd counselor of the Bishopric and they had a part-member family over for dinner. After dinner we shared the Plan of Salvation. It was SUCH a spritual lesson! The spirit was exploding..it was so cool. Then at the end of the lesson, the nonmember husband asked US if we would teach him the lessons.(!!) How cool is that? We were kind of in shock. It was great. Amazing things are happening here.

There were many miracles we saw this week! And they just keep coming. We have another investigator, Sherry, getting baptized on October 26th. So keep her in your prayers! I love all of you!! Continue being disciples of Jesus Christ. I love you all!!

Sister Corbridge & Sister Farr

Love, Sister Farr

09/30/13-Week 34 [Week 4 of Transfer 6] "Numbers!"

Hi :D

You may wonder why the title was Numbers...well you see, Sister Corbridge had a very funny dream last night. She had a dream that it was the second coming and Christ was here. And she was running around to try to find President Porter to tell him about how she didn't think she was ready and worthy for him to come and she needed his help. All he said was, "Well, get me your numbers for the week! Christ is here, I need your numbers!" So, Sister Corbridge was running around trying to find people to teach and report her numbers to the mission president. People were chasing her and shooting her with arrows....and all sorts of stuff. It just goes to show that in the mission they really stress getting your numbers! Sister Corbridge and I had a long discussion about numbers last night and how they stressed us out...and then she had that dream. I don't know if I explained it well enough, but it was a funny dream :) But speaking of numbers! We had 12 Member Present lessons this week. and over 30 lessons this week. It was crazy!! We were running around like crazy people! But we had some amazing miracles.

Sister Farr, Saranna Kewish & Sister Corbridge

FIRST!! Saranna got baptized this past saturday :) It was amazing! Sister Corbridge and I were standing at the side of the font with her towel in hand and watching her go down into the water, we were overcome with the spirit. We started to cry. I just realized how wonderful this is for her. She has waited for this day for a long time. She needed that clean feeling. A feeling of relief. I love that little girl so much! She just seems like my little sister. She is the long lost little sister I never had. Sister Corbridge and I went and bought her a dress for her confirmation and did her hair on Sunday morning for her confirmation. It was such an amazing weekend! I am so grateful that I have been able to be a part of her conversion process. 

And a miracle happened at her baptism too! Our investigator Wayne came! We haven't met with him in over a month, and finally got to meet with him this past Wednesday. We had a good lesson with him about the sabbath day and invited him to come to Saranna's baptism, and we would have a lesson after. I never actually thought in a million years that he would come! But he did!! He came!!! It was amazing! People talked to him and he said he really liked it. Then after the baptism, we gave him a church tour and showed him some pictures and took him into the chapel. The spirit is so strong in the chapel. Sister Corbridge and I had him come up to the front of the chapel for our lesson, but before we started, we sang him "I am a Child of God." Now, we don't have the best voices in the world, but as we sang that song, the spirit flooded into the room. He started to have tears come into his eyes, and it was amazing. Oh my goodness. That lesson was so full of the spirit. I can't even explain it. I love this work!! :D Hopefully he will continue progressing and never forget the feelings he had as we talked with him in the Lord's house.

Garbage Can Smash Down

We have continued to clean in the Kewish's home this week :) I attached a picture of me standing inside of their garbage can trying to smash the bags down. It was great fun! We have been going through lots and lots of boxes. They are supposed to move this week!! It will be...an adventure..;) but we have killed so many crickets...it is ridiculous. Now, every time I hear a cricket, I jump. I think I will forever despise crickets...

Then!! This upcoming week is the baptism of Katelyn (9) and Zachary (8). I am sooooo excited!! Each time they say a prayer they always thank Heavenly Father for us coming and teaching them. They tell Him how wonderful their lessons are, and they always tell Him how excited they are for their baptism. It is the cutest thing. Sister Corbridge and I are always just beaming because it is so cute. I love those little kids. Bah! I just love this work!!

Our investigator, Shelby, knows it is true! We had another lesson with her this week and she really wants to get baptized. She is reading in the Book of Mormon and she says that she knows this church is true! YAY!!! The only struggle she has right now is getting work off. She works at a dog kennel  and their dog groomer quit and people haven't been showing up for the sat/sun shift. So, she ends up getting called in. Please pray for her and her job! She is scheduled to get baptized on Oct 26th, but if she doesn't come to church for the next 3 weeks, she will have to move the date. But we know that through Christ, all things are possible. We just keep praying and doing all that we can to help her. She is so sweet. 

We have been teaching a girl named Janette (13). She is friends with one of the youth in the ward and has come to church a few times and comes to the youth activities. We had a really neat experience with her this past week. She is usually quite rambunctious during our lessons. She is adorable and cracks us up, but it can be hard to help her to focus. But this past week as we taught her the restoration, it was amazing to see her entire demeanor change. We told her the first vision and she just went calm. She stared at us with big eyes and you could see the the spirit was so strong inside of her! She was intently listening and was soaking up every single thing that we said. It was so neat!! The spirit is amazing. The spirit teaches the truth, it comforts, and it testifies. Without the Spirit in this work, we would be doing nothing. No one can come to the truth without the spirit. 

I am just loving my mission! It is a lot of hard work. I am so exhausted every day. We miss our breaks occasionally because we don't have enough time in the day to get things done! But to see the Spirit change people. To see them come unto Christ. To see the gospel fill in the holes in peoples' hearts. It is just incredible. There is no other work I would rather be doing. This church is true. It is the only true church on the earth. I am so grateful to be sharing it with the world!! I hope you were all able to watch the Relief Society broadcast this past Saturday! If you weren't.....GO WATCH IT!!! :D We must do as they say...keep our covenants. 

Thank you for all of your support! I need all of the prayers that I can get! With my new calling, I am very much overwhelmed, but I know that God has called me here for a reason. I love you all!!!

Love, 

Sister Farr

09/23/13-Week 33 [Week 3 of Transfer 6]

Hi! How are you?? :D I am good! 

This week has been a week of miracles! We had 14 member presents and I can't believe it. We have been struggling to get over 6 for the past few months, and then all at once Heavenly Father blessed us so much! We have had so many appointments, and we have been having a really hard time getting members involved. But this past week, Sister Corbridge had the idea to do a mass text to the members of the ward with all of our appointments for the next day and ask which ones they could come to. We had a huge response to that! It was really amazing. Our prayers are being answered. I know that Heavenly Father is in charge. He is blessing us beyond what I ever thought possible. I am so grateful to be a part of his work.

This week we had a miracle baptismal date! We met with a part member family (parents with 2 children) and they want to get baptized. But they need to get baptized in a matter of weeks because they want the grandpa to baptize them, but they move very soon. So, we met with them for the first time and they are so excited to get baptized! We talked with them about when, and we scheduled it for 2 weeks later - October 5th! Needless to say, we are going over almost every day to help them be prepared. They are so cute. In every prayer, the daughter, Kaitlyn, prays that they can get all of their lessons done so that they can get baptized. It is the sweetest thing. It will be amazing!

Then another one of our investigators, Sherry, is doing great! We gave her a baptismal date a few weeks ago, and she said maybe. She is reading the Book of Mormon almost daily, and is starting to get a testimony of it. Then this past lesson on Friday, she said that it went from a maybe, to a probably. Then Sister Corbridge stopped by on Saturday to see her mom (who recently got baptized) and she said that Sherry had a dream the other night that told her to get baptized!! So it went from a maybe to a probably to a yes! Miracles are happening here! 

Then we had another miracle! This past Wednesday we went to Young Womens and answered a bunch of their questions of how to respond to friends. It was a really great experience! We were able to help the youth out and have some spiritual experiences. But in the middle of our question and answer session, a girl (Janette, 13 yrs old) who I didn't recognize raised her hand. She said "What is the Book of Mormon?" A little shocked, I smiled, and answered her question. I wasn't sure how much she knew and if she was friends with someone. Then a little bit later, she raised her hand and asked "What is the Doctrine and Covenants?" Again, I looked at the young women, confused, but answered her question as simply as I could. At the end, we wanted to go up and talk to her, but all of the Young Women flooded us, and she slipped away. So we texted one of the YW leaders, and found out she was not a member. Then, on Sunday, she was there at church!! During Sunday School, Brother Colwell came up to us and explained that she went to school with his son and that she came to church last week, and came to mutual, and then came to chruch again. And she told him that she wanted to learn everything she could about our chruch. Missionary intervention? I think yes. So after church, we pretty much cornered her inside of the Young Womens room and talked with her some more. We offered to teach her more, and she said yes of course! We told her that she could invite her family to come and learn also. It was a complete miracle! It will be amazing!! Ah! I just love this work.

Then this week, Saranna will be baptized!!! Yay!! It will be a wonderful week. I am so so excited. We have been going there every night and having her read a few verses every night. Her reading level is behind, so we promised her that if she read the Book of Mormon every day, Heavenly Father would help her to learn to read faster. It will be wonderful. We have been doing lots and lots of service at their house this week too. They are supposed to move next week..... And it has been lots of fun going through....lots of boxes. They have...lots of stuff in their garage. And there were spiders and crickets all over the place!! Eeek! We jumped lots and lots. But we are proud of Susan for getting rid of some stuff. It is hard for her to do that. So, to make some of the bags fit in the garbage can, I jumped up inside and smashed them! It reminded me of being a kid.

So yes, it has been a great week :D I am so excited for all that is happening here. Huntington is exploding! We currently have 4 baptisms scheduled and hopefully 3 more scheduled this week. Heavenly Father's hand is in our work. I just love this work. :D It is so worth it! I can't believe that I am almost half way. It has flown by so quickly. I will see you all sooner than you know it.

Keep relying on our Savior. He will bless you and help you through every single thing that you are facing in your life. If you pray and follow Him, He will direct you. I am a firm believe that obedience brings blessings. No matter how weird the rule may be, if you follow it, you are promised to be blessed. I have seen that so many times on my mission. I can't even explain it. I love you all! The work of the Lord is moving forward.

I attached some pictures :) One of me and Sister Corbridge smiling away...and one of my hair! It is getting super long! I send all of my love :)

Love,

Sister Emilee Brooke Farr

Sister Corbridge & Sister Farr

09/16/13-Week 32 [Week 3 of Transfer 6]

Hi!!!

I have been out for officially 8 months today. I just can't believe it. It feels like I have been gone forever...but at the same time it feels like I just barely left. It is crazy. I hope that the time is flying for all of you back at home too! I know that I am loving the work I am doing! It is all worth it. The young women came and heart attacked out apartment this week :D It was adorable! It made us feel loved!

Bowers Family Baptism

First things first :D The Bowers were baptized on Saturday!!! YAY!!!!  It was wonderful. Sister Bowers was really nervous and tense before she was baptized. She was overwhelmed and you could tell she had been crying before they came. She was just trying to hold it all together. But after they were given the Holy Ghost (they did it at the same time because Brother Bowers had to work on Sunday), she was just beaming. She put her arms around her kids, she smiled more, she was just so happy. It was amazing. It was a great day for their family! This is what this work is all about. Bringing families together forever. I am so happy for them and the dedication they have put in to get to their baptism. They have taken one of the biggest steps that they ever will in their life. 

Then we found lots of new people to teach this week! We had a really cool experience on Monday  night. We were going to have an appointment with the Bowers family, but they had to cancel, so our back-up plan was to go tracting. I will be honest, I don't really like tracting...but I said "Well, God must have someone on this street that He wants us to find." So, we started knocking doors. First we met Matt. We talked to him about families and how they can be eternal. At first he wasn't too interested, but as we bore testimony, you could see the light come into his eyes. We will be going by this week and meeting his wife too and their kids. We will teach them and then they will get baptized and then they will go to the temple and get sealed!!!! It will be wonderful! Then we knocked on this door, and a kid came to the window and asked us what we wanted. We told him that we were missionaries and he ran to go and get an adult. Then a few minutes later of hearing some talking back and forth in the other room, he came back and said "8:10pm would be a better time." We said "Okay" but weren't sure if we really should come back. So we kept tracting. Then at around 8:10, I just thought, "well, why don't we just try and see if anyone is home." So we went back and actually ended up talking with Cindy and Carrie. They don't live there, but they happened to be there right at that time. They asked us questions about the after life and wanted to know more. So we got their number and will hopefully see them this week! God works in mysterious ways. Then we met a girl named Mandy who actually knows Sister Bowers from High School. We had a good conversation with her and she was very nice and friendly. We gave her a card and encouraged her to look into our website. Later that week when we were at the Bowers home for a lesson, Mandy texted her and told her that we had come over (Sister Bowers and her have been best buds since High School). She said that we were really nice and she thought that she would actually look into the church a little bit. Sister Bowers said that she can give us a call. Then her friend said "maybe I will be a Mormon..." Sister Bowers was really surprised because I guess that Mandy has had some really awful experiences with churches. She never thought she could get Mandy to go back to church. But, she may be interested eventually! We really saw so many miracles from that night! It was incredible. We had an amazing time talking with people and sharing with them God's love. This is His work. And I most definitely can't do it without Him. I learned a lot about how my attitude plays into how successful my work is. The more positive and willing I am, the more God will send miracles my way.

Saranna is still on check for her baptism!! It will be in 2 saturdays! Wahoo! She is ready. Yesterday we went over to review the Plan of Salvation with her because she said that she was a little bit confused. We asked her "what do you remember about the Plan of Salvation" and she literally blew out the ENTIRE plan of salvation. Start to end, without our help. She knew about the war in heaven, about the spirit world, the different degrees of heaven, EVERYTHING. It really blew our mind. It was incredible! She may be a little bit behind socially, but she is brilliant. It really was amazing. We just said "well! I guess we don't need to teach you anything!! What were you confused about again??" It was really cool. I am so excited for her! It will be a wonderful day for her. 

We also will be teaching some children of a less active starting this week :D She wants them to be baptized before the middle of November so that their grandpa can baptize them before they move. It will be so much fun! She has an 8 and 9 year old. I am so excited! I love working with kids!! I am excited to be able to bring a family united again. Then in a year, they can go to the temple and all get sealed together!! Horray!! Forever families. That is what it is all about. 

Sister Corbridge and I are getting along so well! We are just the best of friends. We have only known each other for a week and a half, but I feel like I have known her all of my life! We have just connected so quickly it is amazing. I am so grateful that she is my companion this transfer! I wouldn't be able to do my calling if I didn't have her as my companion. She helps me so much. She makes me laugh and we just have a blast together. We are so much alike. The only bad thing is that we cannot control ourselves in the store....we just buy everything. We are going to gain so much weight. Hopefully the running every morning helps...If you have any healthy-yummy food ideas, please send them our way!! We need some ideas. 

I love this work! It is crazy hard. I am so exhausted all of the time. I haven't been sleeping as well as I would like, but I will make it. Things could always get worse. I am so honored to be able to do this work. I know that this is the Lord's kingdom. It all fits together too perfectly. We know our purpose here. We know where we came from. We know about our divine potential as Sons and Daughters of God. We need not doubt our worth. Our Father in Heaven loves us beyond anything. He loves us more than any of His other bazillion creations. He finds the most joy in watching us follow Him. He is our Father and He loves us. All He wants is for us to follow Him and return to live with Him. He has done everything for us. The least we can do for Him is show him appreciation for this life and follow Him. We have to stop thinking about ourselves and our comfort zone or what we like doing, and start thinking about what He needs us to do. This is His time that we are on. And we must use it well. I hope that you are all doing family prayer and scripture study every single day. There is a POWER in the Book of Mormon. One that I cannot even describe. I have seen it change lives. And it can change yours. Just take the time for Him and He will give everything to you. Do Family Home Evening every week! You will be blessed because of obedience. I love you all! I know this gospel is true. Rely on Him and all will work out.

Love, 

Sister Emilee Brooke Farr

09/09/13-Week 31 [Week 2 of Transfer 6]

Hi :D

This week has been great! My new companion is amazing. Her name is Sister Kaelei Corbridge and she is from West Valley City, Utah. We get along so well! We are already best friends. I am so excited to be able to serve with her. She is so sweet and yet so bold. Sister Colton is training Sister Standage in the Fort Wayne area (only 30 minutes away). She is covering part of our ward and the Columbia City ward. So it will be great!! I am actually over her a sister training leader. So we will talk weekly and go on exchanges. She will do great! And YES, I did see Sister Ashby at transfers :) I ran up to her and gave her a hug! But...I did forget to take a picture...sorry! But she is doing wonderful!

We were personal contacting the other day and we started to talk with this guy who was outside with his dog. We started a casual conversation, and then he had to start to walk away to chase down his dog. I didn't know how to make him come back, so we started to walk down the block some more. But Sister Corbridge said "No! I am not going to leave without talking about the gospel with him." So she yelled, "Hey, can I ask you a quick question?" And he came back over. We found out that he was Jewish, and he really wasn't too interested, but we at least planted a seed. I was so proud of her! She is amazing. I was too awkward to say anything more, but she was determined to share a message about Christ with him. 

Our first lesson together was with Shelby (the part-member family). We had our lesson at the church and a member (Sister Bullock) was there with us. We taught her about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It was a great lesson!! AND at the end, Shelby pretty much asked us how she could become a member. So basically she asked us if she could get baptized. What?!! [It reminded me of Jackie from the District.] It was so amazing!! Our member started to cry a little bit and I was so overcome with the spirit. We committed her to baptism and she said yes. We are going to give her a baptismal date this week. We are very excited! Now we just have to work to get her husband more on board. 

Then we had a new investigator fall into our laps this week. We have been doing tracting and personal contacting and such trying to find new investigators. We find a lot of potentials, but no one will set up a return appointment with us. But on Friday we went to go and teach the daughter (Sherry) of our recent convert (Sister Townsend). Sherry's boyfriend showed up and sat in with the lesson. He was very interested and intrigued by our doctrine. He had all sorts of questions about the Plan of Salvation and the Restoration and the Book of Mormon. It was very cool. Sister Townsend said that they have been talking about it for the past couple of days still. It is amazing how Heavenly Father just places people into our hands. We have been working as hard as we can and been getting discouraged, but then Heavenly Father blessed us with a new investigator without any real effort on our part to find him. It was very cool. I love Heavenly Father.

So my new calling is going to be a little bit stressful. As a Sister Training Leader I will be going on lots of exchanges and making a lot of phone calls. Every night after nightly planning at 9:30-10:30pm I am pretty much on phone calls. We have conference calls every Monday, Thursday, and Sunday with all of the Zone Leaders, the Assistants, and President and Sister Porter. We announce how our zones are doing and then we announce our numbers over the phone to the whole mission....let's just say it is a little uncomfortable. It makes you feel awful when you don't have very high numbers and everyone else has really high numbers. I just have to tell myself that I have to do my best and it will all be okay. For leaders we are supposed to get 6 new investigators every week (so far our average is 3) and 85% of our lessons should be with a member present. Currently only around 30% are. This is going to be hard to say the least. I am definitely being stretched to my limits. Also, President Porter wants all of the missionaries to read the Book of Mormon by Thanksgiving and highlight every time it talks about the Godhead in red, Miracles in blue, and the story line in yellow. We are supposed to read 9 pages every day.....and we can't do it during our studies. We can only do it during our lunch or dinner breaks, our morning time when getting ready, and after getting ready for bed. But considering that I am always on calls after nightly planning until 10:25pm, I don't think I will have the evening. It is going to be a big sacrifice to find time. But I have felt a lot more peace as I have been doing it. I have been really really stressed the past few days, but as I have started to read the Book of Mormon every spare moment, my stress level is waaaay down! It is incredible how the Book of Mormon does that. I just love that book :) And it is beginning to look like a rainbow! I know it will bless me so much.

ALLLLSO! Sorry about the mix-up with baptisms. The Bowers are actually getting baptized this Saturday :) They had to change weeks because of Brother Bowers' work schedule. But they passed their interviews last saturday and are set to get baptized! We are so excited. They are excited too. But also very nervous, you can tell. I am so excited for this step in their family. They are looking towards the temple and are so excited to be able to get sealed. Bah! I just love this gospel. Forever families are the most important unit in all time. I am so grateful to be a part of this great work. It is simply amazing.

Linda is also doing great! She had us over for dinner at her house this last week. That is something that Sister George (her neighbor) thought would never happen. She thought that Linda would learn for a little bit and then kind of stop. But no! She asked Sister George if it was alright if we came to her house for dinner and a lesson. And it went great! We taught her about the Restoration and she understood it perfectly. She pretty much told us about how corrupt her old church was as she went back through the history. She realized herself that the authority must have been taken. Oh man..It was great. We gave her a Book of Mormon and she was really excited. She got a new head lamp by her bed and didn't have anything to read yet. But she said that now she was going to read the Book of Mormon in bed! :D She really was quite excited. :D :D But some sad news, her husband has lung cancer, and was given 2 months to live. Keep her in your prayers. She cancelled her lesson this week because of those health problems. Hopefully she will be able to pull through. I love her so much.

Kewish news: Saranna should be getting baptized on the 28th of this month! Horray! She has moved it because she didn't quite feel ready. But this time we told her that she needed to be dedicated to it. She agreed and we are going to be dropping sticky notes by every day now. We are very excited for her. Keep them in your prayers too :)

I am loving my mission! It is the hardest thing I have ever done, but it is also becoming the best thing I have ever done. This gospel is true. This is the only true church on the face of the earth with the fullness of the gospel. Our Savior loves us and watches over us. We are all children of God and must never forget that. He loves us. 

I love you all!! Keep growing closer to our Father in Heaven. Pray daily. Read daily. and Thank Him every step of the way. The best is yet to come!!

With all my love, 

Sister Farr

09/04/13-Week 30 in Indiana [Week 1 of Transfer 6]

FAMILY AND FREINDS!!!

I must just say that I am a little crazy today. You see, my stress level this morning sky rocketed. 

I have news for you!!! Transfers:

I am staying in Huntington, IN.

I am training again.

AND I am now a Sister Training Leader for my Zone (a mix between a zone leader and district leader thing...)

Sister Colton is leaving and training!!! [I feel like a proud little mom:)]

So, keep sending me letters at:

337 William St #1

Huntington, IN 46750

Anyways. When we saw that President Porter was calling this morning. Sister Colton and I wanted to throw up. We both had thought that we slid past the radar and didn't have to train. BUT! At noon today, they dropped the bomb on us. I have to say that when I was asked to be a Sister Training leader I started to cry a little bit. My last companion, Sister Cordner, was one. I am so grateful that I was able to be with her for a transfer and get an eye into the life of one. But I am so nervous to actually be one now. I feel so inadequate. This past Sunday the Zone Leaders called me and told me that President Porter requested that I come to the Missionary Leadership Council (there were pictures of that on Facebook). I wasn't sure why because normally only Zone Leaders and Sister Training Leaders go to that. But, I said sure. While I was there, I felt so inadequate! Those missionaries are so amazing. They are really good at just talking to people. They have amazing ideas. They are definitely leaders. As I sat there I got overwhelmed with everything that I have to improve on. I am nowhere near perfect. I have no idea how to be a leader. President Porter said that he wouldn't normally call me because I am so quiet, but Heavenly Father has chosen me to do this. I just have to rely on that. I have to remember that this is a call from my Father in Heaven and Jesus Christ and that all things are possible through them. I am going to need a lot of extra prayers and support. I know that by myself I am completely incapable of doing this work. But I have to rely on my Savior, and He will get me through. I am just going to pray really really hard every single moment! I am not sure how to do this, but I know my Savior does. And as long as I rely on Him, it will all work out. 

Oh man. Anyways, this week has been really long!! Since Preparation Day was not on Monday, it has just kept going and going and going!! But, we are finally at the end. We had some amazing things happen this week!!

This past week we stopped by to visit a less-active family. We have met them a couple of times just on their door step, but have never been able to get into their home. This past week, we met them at the door, and they told us to come back during the day. So a few days later, we stopped by, and we got in! We talked with them and found out that they have seriously been thinking about the need to come back. They told us that the last time that we stopped by, it sparked a conversation with them at the dinner table with their 10 and 9 year old. They talked to them about what baptism was and realized that they have a great responsibility for their children. They are coming to understand that they have to teach their children the Gospel. We had a really good lesson with them. We talked about how the gospel is a lifelong commitment. We are to be examples of our Savior for the rest of our lives. We talked with them about Peter in the bible where he is commanded to leave his ores and his fishes and feed His sheep. When we are baptized, we are commanded to leave behind out ores and our fishes. We are asked to leave behind all that we thought we loved before, and become disciples of our Savior Jesus Christ. And it is not just for a few months or a year or so. But it is for the rest of our life. This gospel is a gospel of Becoming. Not just knowing. But yeah, so we talked with them and they are going to pray and think about having their children taught and brought into the church. We are very excited! They are so prepared.

Then we had a GREAT lesson with Shelby. She is still doing wonderful! She should be coming to church this week!! We are going to do a church tour tomorrow night at the church and commit her to baptism at the baptismal font. We are very excited! She has prayed every night to know if the church was true. And she said that she feels that God is telling her that it is true! We are so excited. We also went to her grandmother's (Lorraine) house and taught her about the restoration. It was a really good lesson. She had lots of questions about the differences between the churches. She has noticed the things that are going wrong in the Catholic church, and is searching for more. She asked for a Book of Mormon because she wanted to read it. She didn't want us to come back yet, but she wanted to search through it on her own. And then she told us that she was glad that we came and talked with her more about what her granddaughter (Shelby) was learning. And that now she is just fine if Shelby decides to join the church. Yay! We were worried about her family. But it seems that everything will work out right. She is moving along wonderfully!! :D

Next Saturday we have 5 baptisms! The Bowers family and Saranna Kewish. We are so excited for all of them! Saranna is very excited and she knows that this church is true. Her mom, Susan, is the only thing that is rough for her right now. Susan has been having a REALLY rough week this past week. We are really worried about her. Keep them in your prayers please!! Things have been very rough for Susan and she has been in a very deep depression hole. Everything has been building up since Saranna's baptism is coming up, and it has been too much for her to handle. Keep them in your prayers please!! But Saranna seems to stay upbeat. We think it may be partly because that is how she copes; by not really letting it sink in. The Bowers are doing great! They have had a ton of trials this past week too. Their daughter was in a car accident and Satan has really been working hard at them. But they are pushing through it all. They refuse to give up. We are very excited for them! We are just working with members to be in contact with our investigators more. They are struggling just coming to lessons with us, so we are praying they have the missionary fire work within them. Hopefully they catch the missionary wave!

Funny story. This past Sunday, Sister Colton and I tried to make Sister Kennedy's legendary chocolate cake. But let's just say.....you shouldn't use a glass pan. We baked the cake during our lunch break, and then at dinner we came back to frost it. After we had frosted it and it looked delicious, we broke our fast and ate it. And it was......not so good. Apparently it hadn't cooked all of the way through. it tasted like eggs...half way cooked. So, Sister Colton and I thought that maybe we could just stick it back in the oven for a little while longer (with frosting and all). Let's just say it was a bad idea. After baking it for almost 30 more minutes, it was now a crusted, eggy, soggy mess. It was quite the adventure. I guess I am just not supposed to bake on my mission! I will take it as Heavenly Father trying to put me on a diet ;) But it was quite hilarious.

Then!! We had a great lesson with a Less-Active, Adesa. She was raised in the church, but her family went off and on. This past week we went back to teach her the Restoration again, and she had a non-member friend there, Sierra. It was a perfect opportunity! We taught the restoration to them both and the spirit was so strong. Adesa started to get a little teary-eyed when we recited the first vision. It was an incredible lesson. Her friend wanted the Book of Mormon and wanted to read it. We are so excited! Heavenly Father is leading the elect to us. Our investigators are literally just falling into our laps. It is nothing that we are doing. We are just trying to be obedient and diligent and follow the spirit. And He is truly doing the rest :)

There have been many other miralces this week. The work is wonderful and moving forward at such a fast past. I can testify that this IS the Lord work. This is the only true church on the earth. We have the fulness of the gospel We have the Authority from God. We have living Prophet who talks with God and Jesus Christ and leads His church today. I am so privileged to have the opportunity to be a missionary at this time. I hope that all of you are looking for missionary opportunities!! They are all around us. Our brothers and sisters need our help to find the Father in Heaven again. To make it back to Him. And it is our responsibility and privilege to help them along the path. Oh man! I love this gospel. The church is SO true. I can't even handle it sometimes. Just reading the scriptures and truly studying them, there is no doubt in my mind that this is the true gospel on the earth. Joseph Smith was just a imperfect man who was called to do a perfect work.  The Book of Mormon is the way to know. We must not forget that whom God calls, He qualifies. We may not be perfect, but his Chruch is. His gospel is. He translated the Book of Mormon and that is the proof that he was called of God. That he was a Prophet. If you have any doubts, take Moroni's challenge and read and pray about the Book of Mormon. That is what we, as missionaries, tell people every single day. Just like Elder Holland told the world in the last general conference, if you don't know this church is true yet, you can lean on my testimony until you can gain one of your own. I just love this gospel. I know I keep saying it, but it is true. We are so lucky to have it. Not just part of it is true, ALL of it is true.

I love you all! Thank you for your prayers and support!!

Sister Farr

08/26/13-Week 29 in Indiana [Last Week of Transfer 5]

HI :D

First off, next week is transfers. I repeat, next week is transfers. Which means, next thursday, I may be in a completely different place!!! So.....send your mail to my apartment address in the next few days, or just start sending them to the mission office address and they will forward them to me (the address for the office is PO Box 11671  Cincinnati, OH 45248). And!! Next week my P-Day will NOT be on Monday. P-Day will be on Wednesday. So now worries when I don't send an email on Monday :) I have not died :) Just hold tight for Wednesday. hahahah. That is all of the business. On to the good stuff!!

I got to meet an Apostle yesterday! I met Elder Dallin H. Oaks. He was coming to Cincinnati to do some work with the new stake presidency they called, but he had a special meeting just with us missionaries. It was AMAZING! Sister Colton and I had to wake up at 4:30am to get there in time. Yes, we were exhausted. But it was worth it! We drove up with another set of sisters and had lots of fun. What was even coooooooler is that I got to sing for Elder Oaks in the little missionary choir. Now, there is a funny story behind this. Last Friday, Sister Colton and I had just finished having lunch with a member and we get a call from our Zone Leaders. They tell us that they have a HUGE favor to ask of us. We say, sure! how can we help you? Then Elder Petersen asks us to sing "I Know that My Redeemer Lives" right there. So, confused, but used to being exactly obedient, Sister Colton and I look at each other quite puzzled, but start to sing to him. When we get to the Chorus we start to trail off and stop and ask "now...why are we singing this??" (you know, because we didn't really take a second thought before). Then he says "That was great!! You just auditioned to be in the choir for Elder Oaks." We both looked at each other and started to laugh. You see...Sister Colton is tone deaf. So, she doesn't really.....sing with choirs. But Elder Petersen is persistent and eventually gets me to say okay. Then later, the Assistants call and ask me again. But anyways......it was amazing. The spirit was so strong as we sang that song. I just felt so honored to be able to sing. Alllllllllllso, when Elder Oaks was about to get to the building, the Senior Couples told us that he wanted to have a picture with all of us so we all started to file out of the chapel into the gym where they had some bleachers. Sister Colton and I run to the restroom quickly, and when we come back we get in the back of the line to go in. Right as we do so, the Assistants run to the door that we are standing next to and say, "He's here!" They hold open the door for a few seconds and Elder Oaks walks into the building. The first thing he says is "Hello, Sisters!" We reply in a shrilled "hi!!!!!" We probably looked star struck. He said he would be right back to shake our hands. When he came back, he was waiting for his "companion" he called him. But it was a member of the 70, Elder Bennett. He tried to have a casual conversation with us, but all we could do was laugh and nod our heads. I had completely forgot who I was, where I was from, and why I was there. (you know that feeling when someone really.....popular comes and talks to you?? And you have no idea what to say or do?? yeah, that kind of feeling). It was pretty great. Then they started to shake our hands....and I got to be first!! :) Oh man. It was an incredible day yesterday! It was full of.....9 hours of driving and Elder Oaks. Sooo great :D

Anyways, on with the rest of last week!! I have some very exciting news. Remember Saranna? Well, her baptism would have been last saturday :( But! Her brother, Jeremiah got baptized on Saturday. And right before the service, she came up to us and said "I want to get baptized :)" We both jumped for joy! She decided that day that she wanted to be baptized on September 14th! So, she is ready and excited for that day! All we have to do is teach her some last few commandments and she will be set to go!! Oh man it was a miracle. Also, good news with her mom, Susan!! She has truly had a change of heart. We went over on Tuesday to have lunch with her. As we were talking afterwards she started to explain to us how she no longer had a desire to just spend her money. She has struggled with budgeting since she was in her teenage years. And that is something that has been the source of many problems for her. If you gave her cash, she would spend it!! But a few weeks ago, her family had to go without power and gas and everything because of bills not being paid and it really hit her. Now whenever she sees money, she just thinks about her children and how they need it. She has had A CHANGE OF HEART. You know, the change of heart they talk about that is manifest when someone has truly repented?? Yes. She has truly gone through the repentance process. I am so proud of her. As we told her that she was having that change of heart, she gasped and clasped her hands over her mouth and began to cry as she realized that she was truly changing herself for the better :) It was amazing. Miracles do happen. 

Then we had a really great experience with a less-active this week. We met him outside on his doorstep and just had a casual conversation. We asked him about his background with the church and about his non-member wife. He was very nice and happy to see us. Before we left, we asked him if we could say a prayer. He kind of looked at us a little funny, but said "sure!" During the prayer, for some reason, we blessed him to have help in his work. It was just a simple prayer to help them. A few minutes after we left, we got this text: "Thank you for your prayer!! I so needed it. Seconds after u left I was called for an interview. Thank you again sisters! Wow, God blows my mind! I've got to get back to church!!!" Sister Colton and I looked at each other in amazement. We had no idea that he needed any help with finding a new job. We had no idea he was looking for a new job. But as I prayed, I just had the thought to pray for his work, so I followed it. I know it was all our Father in Heaven. Heavenly Father truly is all knowing. He is our master. He loves us and cares about all that we do! He cares about everything in our life. No matter how big or small. The Spirit can truly lead us in all that we do! The small whispering's of the spirit will lead us in ALL things. It may seem insignificant, but it can truly bring about miracles. 

Shelby is progressing!! Last time we committed her to read the Introduction of the Book of Mormon, and we came back and she had read all the way through 1 Nephi 3. Now, that may not seem like very much, but for a non-member it is INCREDIBLE!! We were so happy. She really, truly wants to know. She is recognizing the spirit and she really wants to know. We are hoping to ask her to get baptized this week! Wish us luck :D

We went tracting the other day on Gay St. We were debating on going to a Less-actives house, but we had meant to tract that street for a couple of weeks now and hadn't got to it. So, we decided, that obviously God had someone there who He wanted us to talk to. The first house we knock on, a girl comes out. And she quickly tells us that she is an Atheist. We started to ask her about why she was and about her history. After her telling us that she was raised Catholic, and she just felt that God never told her that He WAS there, she just figured he didn't care about her. As we kept talking with her, she started to just ask us random questions about our religion. Questions about God that probably stump most people. But, we had all of the answers. She talked about how the Bible had been changed. We brought up the Book of Mormon. She talked about how the Bible was written so long ago and we needed current things. We talked about a living Prophet. She talked about pretty much the dispensations, and we talked about the restoration. She asked about our purpose here. We told her about the Plan of Salvation (briefly). It was so interesting to sit there and have her ask us all of these questions, and for us to have all of the answers. You could tell that she had obviously stumped some other religious people in the past, but she was puzzled to why we kept having the answers. It finally came down to the point where we asked her if she wanted to know if God was real. And she told us that she didn't see the need to. She had no desire. We tried to bear testimony to her, but we could tell that she didn't have any true interest. She was very polite and animated when she spoke, but not quite ready to accept God yet. It was a really cool experience though. We knew that God had sent us to talk with her that day. To show her that He truly does have all of the answers. That there is "logic" behind His ways. It was a testimony building experience for me, because I realized the same things too as we responded to her questions. Friends and Family, the gospel is true. This is the ONLY true church on the earth today. We are lead by a living Prophet. He receives guidance from our Savior through the Spirit. Through prayer. Through searching the scriptures. That is the only way to know. Through Him. I just love this gospel!! :D

We had so many great lessons this week. Our investigator Linda is also progressing. She was the one that the George's invited over for dinner and we taught her a brief overview of the Plan of Salvation and she said "wow, that makes sense!" She is 70 years old. And she could feel the difference. This week we had dinner again and taught her the full Plan of Salvation. She just kept saying how much it made sense. She said she never really understood the whole catholic way of thinking. But she understands this so much better. The George's are a young family and have made such an impact on Linda. She knows that they love the gospel and that it makes them who they are. They have played such a HUGE role in her progress even this far. They have prepared her. Never underestimate your impact in someone's life. You are an example to all of those around you. Others
notice when you follow the Savior. They notice when you have the spirit. There is something different about us. It is because we are members of His church. He is our master. We have the fullness. And we have the responsibility to bring it to others. (side note: You have to look up the talk "Missionary Next Door" It is AMAZING!! I am going to do it when I get home. listen to it.). We have another appointment to teach Linda more about the church this upcoming week. If it wasn't for the George's we would have never taught her. Members are SO important. We (missionaries) can't do it on our own!

I also had another wonderful experience this week. I was having a rough morning and was just down on myself. I was thinking of all of my inadequacies and wondering if I will ever be good enough to make it to the Celestial Kingdom. I wanted to make Heavenly Father proud, but I just thought of all of the mistakes I have made and it felt impossible to make him proud. I was letting Satan into my head. After companion study, before we went out for the day, I asked Heavenly to tell me if He loved me. I figured He wouldn't tell me through a huge overwhelming spiritual manifestation, but I told Him I wanted to know. And I would be looking for His answer. We went about our day, and it was actually a pretty good day. As we came in for Lunch, we looked in the mailbox. And low and behold I had a letter. From my best friend. In the Philippines. (I haven't  had a letter from there for almost 5 months). When I saw it in the mail, I knew that it was Heavenly Fathers way of saying "I love you". Heavenly Father has always answered my prayers through other people. He answers our prayers in different ways. I have always wanted him to answer me through a big spiritual manifestation, but that just isn't how He does it for me. But he has sent many angels into my life to show me of my Father's love for me. Each of you have been an angel for me in my life. Thank you for always supporting me and helping me make it through. I love you all!!!

Sister Farr & Sister Colton

Stay close to our Father in Heaven. He will tell us what we need to do to get back to Him. Because, that is ultimately our goal.  

I love you all!!! I keep you in my prayers :)

Sister Farr