Happy New Year!!

I would really prefer to just send pictures of this week and call that my email, but I figure that would get me in trouble, right? So I'll do an overview. Like last year, Christmas on the mission was SO good. It was really different from last year but really great! We visited members and had a big breakfast with all of the sisters, and then we ended our night by caroling around the Trail Center with some sisters and elders that serve nearby. It was a perfect way to end the night. Tonight for New Years Eve we will be deep cleaning the TC and getting rid of all of the gingerbread houses! Hallelujah. I LOVE gingerbread, don't get me wrong. But after a month + of it, I am SO ready for it to be out of the TC.

This week was a little slow for me..caught a little flu bug that kept me in the apartment on Sunday and Monday, but luckily for us, being in a trio worked to our advantage again and my companions left me at the TC while they went out into the area. They saw a lot of miracles and set our two new investigators for baptism! Being a missionary is the greatest.

So, do you remember me telling you about Tom? He is the one that the assistants were teaching and I took him on tour last Christmastime? And then 3 other times throughout the year with different sets of elders each time? And then I got transferred into his WARD? Heavenly Father is so good. So he is planning on getting BAPTIZED on Saturday. Sorry for the allcaps every other word, but I am so hoping this happens. He is so nervous, but during Sunday School this week he leaned over and said, "I just need to replace my fear with my faith." BAH. Best moment for a missionary ever. I love that. We are praying that he will keep remembering his faith, not his doubts.

We are also praying that Hailey and Lindsey get to be baptized this week. Their little brother Brandon is 8 and we have been teaching him the lessons so he is prepared to be baptized since his dad just gave him permission to be baptized. His sisters have a different dad and he hasn't given them permission, but we are really praying that a miracle will happen and his heart will be softened enough to allow them to be baptized like they want! We love them so much!

This week will be another really good one. Can't believe it will be 2014 tomorrow! This morning in my personal study I was working on brainstorming out personal goals for the year. In my talk last week in church I talked about how in Luke 2:52 it says that Christ grew in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and with his fellow men. Those 4 ways show us what categories we need to set goals in: mental, physical, spiritual, and social. That's what I plan on doing in the next few days, and look forward to what the Lord has in store for me this year!!!!!!!

I love you all so much! Have a great week!

Sister Farnsworth

                                                   Where Study Time happens!

Merry Christmas Eve!

Christmas Eve is my FAVORITE day of the year. I think it's because of all of the traditions in our family on Christmas Eve. And anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE tradition. And parties. 

This week has been so great- we had Christmas Zone Conference! It is a lot different than other Zone Conferences. There are still great trainings and the Spirit is SO strong, but there are a lot of musical numbers, and we have a little "talent show" with skits and such and a white elephant gift exchange. President and Sister Weston also gave each missionary a little book that was a compilation of conversion stories that we had all written before last ZC. Some were personal conversion stories, some were of people we had taught, some were of people that we had just met and learned from on our missions. It was such a neat Christmas gift. I love the Westons SO MUCH!!

We also got a new car to share with the other sisters in our ward, which is nice because it means we don't have to car fast (go without a car....for at least two meals?? ahhah missionary joke. I'm really lame don't worry about it if you didn't get that). It smells like new car. AKA the best smell ever. 

Saturday morning was our ward's Christmas breakfast and SO many of the less active members we have been working with came! It was so good to have them in the church building where they could feel the Spirit and feel of the love of the ward. We also had some investigators and potential investigators there which was awesome. The ward, as usual, was incredible and reached out big time to help everyone feel welcomed and loved. Afterwards we went over to Brother Vaterlaus' house (Ward mission leader) and wrapped boxes to put food from the Bishop's storehouse in to deliver for Christmas. I dont' know if any of you have ever wrapped just the outside of a box that doesn't have a top, but let me tell you, that was a challenge. Mahlstede and I had to use some serious geometry to figure it all out. Sister Jensen hates wrapping. Moreso she just struggles wrapping and ends up cutting random scraps of paper and taping it on. Hhahaa. It's the best, she is so funny!! After that we organized all of the food into each box and got to deliver some! It was the BEST way to start the week of Christmas. It got me thinking though...I don't know how moms wrap everything for Christmas. So much to wrap! So we offered to help our Relief Society President wrap all of her gifts for Christmas. She let us, which was awesome for us because it was fun to feel like Santa's elves, and it was awesome for her because it saved her a ton of time to have 4 people do it instead of just her! So grateful to actually do helpful service!

Sunday was really wonderful. I had to speak, but I think it went ok. I also got asked to accompany someone in Sacrament meeting that I had never met before and when the meeting started I still didn't see her anywhere. Luckily she walked in right before the talks started, and everything went really smoothly. At least it was good to distract me from worrying about my talk that I hadn't really written and I had 20 minutes to fill with.....hahaha. That night we went caroling around the TC's neighborhood to invite people to come see Gingerbread. It was a blast.

I could go on for another HOUR about this week, but I'm sure you all have a TON to do because it is the day before Christmas! Love you all so much.

I just want to bear my testimony of my Savior. I know that He was born, that He lived, and that He died because He truly understood our Father's plan and He loved us enough to help us return. I love Him, and I am so grateful to do His work.

I love you all, and hope you have a VERY Merry Christmas!

Love, Sister Farnsworth

A Great Week!!

I feel like I end up just scratching my head (not because of lice) with every single week that passes by because I have NO idea where the week went. Each week seems to go faster and faster! We have had a blast this week. Our whole week was pretty much spent either at the Trail Center or preparing William for baptism! I guess I'll start there and go backwards through the week!

There isn't much to say about the baptism because it was pretty picture perfect, which is a relief because it seems that every other baptism I've had something goes wrong haha. William was so sweet and excited and nervous! We spoke on the gift of the Holy Ghost and wrapped boxes inside of one another and as he opened each one there was a blessing that we get from having the Holy Ghost. It was so fun, and the little kids at the baptism loved it as much as William did!! Ha. The ward found him an apartment to move into that same day. I LOVE THIS WARD! They are so incredible and really know how to selflessly serve.

On Friday, we got to go to the temple! It was so wonderful, as it always was, but it really just made me so grateful to have the blessing of peace in our lives. I always feel so incredible peaceful when I am in the House of the Lord, and I always leave knowing that much more that He loves me.

We sang at a homeless shelter in downtown Omaha with about 6 other sisters. We just took one of our little keyboards and speakers and threw together a little concert, and it was so so so much fun. I am so grateful for the Spirit that Christmas music brings...even if it isn't a hymn, the Spirit still is there! So many of the people who lived there and the people that were serving dinner came and talked to us and thanked us for singing, which was a perfect opportunity to invite them up to the Trail Center for Gingerbread. It is crazy that gingerbread houses can be such a good missionary tool! It's also crazy how much we sing in this mission...between singing at all of the Christmas concerts, singing in church with the other missionaries in our ward on Sunday, and singing with our district in Zone Conference tomorrow, we are keeping nice and busy with the music!

We are teaching so much that we are going on splits pretty much every day....probably 4 or 5 days a week. It is keeping us really busy, but that is the BEST kind of busy! And Papa would probably tell me that it's good that I'm staying busy so I can stay out of trouble, right? Right. I love it, because this is the way that I like to work, and the Lord really is blessing our area.

I love you all so much! Thanks for all you do for me, for your letters, and Christmas cards!

Love you!
Sister Farnsworth

#gotlice

Hello!

WOW WOW WOW. This week has been absolutely crazy. We have officially made it into “winter” in Nebraska….the other day when we got in the car it said 0 degrees, and I’m pretty sure it just said that because the car doesn’t display negatives. Or wind chill. It is COLD and is definitely beginning to look a lot like Christmas. How in the world did that happen? Wasn’t it July yesterday? Seems like it. I got our family Christmas card yesterday (and didn’t appreciate seeing my release date on the page) but loved to see your beautiful faces smiling up at me! I’m also so grateful for the testimonies I have received so far. They have made me laugh and cry and I am so thankful to my Heavenly Father for letting me have such wonderful people in my life.

In the news department for the week….JACOB GOT BAPTIZED! I had the biggest tender mercy on Friday, when, as per usual, Sister Brough called me and said we were supposed to be putting on a concert at the Kanesville Tabernacle in a few hours. So, we threw stuff together and headed to the concert. It felt like going home because when I was serving in Loess Hills I lived right up the street from the Tabernacle! We were only 2 songs into our little concert when Jacob walked in! BEST SURPRISE EVER. I knew at that point that I wasn’t going to be able to make it to his baptism because I was on shift at the TC, so it was so good to get to talk to him and see how happy he was and how excited he was for his baptism! Sister Harris and Sister Jensen (my old companion, not my current companion) said that the baptism was incredible and that he was beaming all day.

In other news, WILLIAM IS GETTING BAPTIZED ON SATURDAY! Talk about white Christmas! He has changed so much, and he is SO prepared. Did I tell you how we found him? Our recent convert Johnney (pronounced John-ay) lived at the Open Door Mission (a shelter) before he was kicked out for being baptized. Don’t even get me started on how sad that part is. He invited one of his friends William from the shelter to his baptism, then he started the lessons, and has just instantly gained a testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel. He keeps saying that if he would have had the commandments his whole life, he would have been so much happier, and that now he can become the man that God wants him to be. We love him SO MUCH. 

The most important part of our week, honestly, was all about Liz. Bishop Jevne gave us an address of a new move in to the ward and asked us to go find her. Sister Jensen was on splits with a member of our ward, so Sister Mahlstede and I went to find her. It was really dark and in a humble part of Omaha, and so when she saw two people walking up the street she started backing into her house until we called out and asked if her name was Liz. She came closer, and then started bawling and hugging us, telling us that us being there was an answer to her prayers. We walked into her house (in the basement) and found a completely unfinished basement with no carpet, no walls other than the support beams, and no water supply other than her shower, so she washes her dishes and everything else in the shower. She has four-year-old son named Ricky that is autistic, and has my same birthday, and we hit it off so well. I LOVE THAT KID. It is scary because it really isn't a good situation with her husband, so we are trying to do everything we can to help her in that regard. 

We got a phone call Sunday morning that she couldn't come to church because Ricky got LICE. Hahaha Mahlstede and I just stared at each other for about 5 minutes straight with panic on our faces. Ha. Not really that long, but it felt like it. Luckily, Heavenly Father knew that was going to happen so He placed Sister Clements in our ward. She is a cosmetologist who also just happens to have a lice killing business. She went with us yesterday and taught us how to help her so we could get through Ricky and Liz's hair quicker. She was so busy but just dropped everything right away to come serve. That is the kind of ward I am serving in right now!!!! So blessed. So we learned how to get rid of lice and helped her do that, and then took her bedding and washed it so she would have clean bedding to sleep on that night with clean hair. 

I love being a missionary. I love getting to serve in the ways the Savior would serve if He were here, especially at this Christmas season. The Spirit is so strong because it is His season, and I love the opportunity I have to share His good news. 

I love you all! 

Sister Farnsworth

#longletter

Hello! Happy Transfer week and Happy Thanksgiving week! This week has seemed like a complete whirlwind and I hope that I can remember everything that I need to tell you all! Before I get started….MOM. Thank you so much for the incredible “advent calendar” and thank you so much to everyone who wrote notes and put such thought into what they wrote. So far I have opened one from Papa, Amanda, and Kevin, and I am so excited to read everything else that I will read. I have the BEST family and friends in the world! I also got my cute stocking from Kate and Sid. Best siblings EVER.

Well, my last week in Loess Hills was an eventful one. We were so busy that it was a struggle to try and see everyone that we needed to, especially because I figured that I would be getting transferred and wanted to say goodbye…even if they didn’t know I was leaving. Sister Harris called last night and told me that Jacob passed his baptismal interview and that he is excited for Saturday! Can’t wait for him, and hopefully I will be able to get to go to the baptism. In other YSA ward news, Chris blessed the Sacrament on Sunday, which I am SO bummed I missed. It would have been the best thing ever, but I have had so many incredible moments with him that I can’t complain!

Thanksgiving was awesome, as every holiday I’ve had on my mission has been. We did our deep cleaning in the morning (we have to do that before every transfer) and at around 10, I got  the phone call that I would be getting transferred to Old Mill to be companions with Sister Jensen (a different one than I was companions with before) and Sister Mahlstede!!! I guess the Lord likes having me in trios! I FREAKED out because I was so excited. Then I called Sister Shimokawa to tell her I was coming to her ward. Then she texted you haha. We headed to the Trail Center not long after that because we had been asked to take the 31 new missionaries on tour of the TC before our Thanksgiving dinner. The new missionaries are INCREDIBLE and I am always so grateful to get to take them on tour and feel of their enthusiasm and of their spirit. We had a great dinner, put on an impromptu concert (what else is new when Sister Brough and I are in charge of the program ha) and got to watch Ephraim’s Rescue!!! If you haven’t seen it yet, make sure to see it ASAP. And if you haven’t seen 17 Miracles, make sure to watch that first! Best. Movies. Ever.

Sister Jensen is from Virginia and has been out for a year this week! She and Sister Harris were in the MTC together. It is so fun to be companions because we have served around each other for a long time and now we finally get to actually be companions. Sister Mahlstede has been out 5 months today, and we have been really good friends ever since, so it is a DREAM to get to serve all together. I am already completely in LOVE with the Old Mill ward. The people I have met already are incredible and I just keep learning that I will love more and more people!

Transfers were Friday morning and then we have hit the ground running ever since. It is so great to come into a ward where missionaries have done such great work already!! We live down at Willit which is the apartment complex right down from the TC, so that is awesome! Means we have a place to work out every morning, so you KNOW I'm happy. We have had some of the funniest moments in my 4 day in OM. I have been in tears every single day since I've been here from laughing. Old Mill goes from downtown Omaha all the way up to West O (about 5 miles from Lakeview!!) so it has a crazy range of people. I have already found "family" connections....the name Farnsworth seems to scream "ask how we're related" so I've collected family my whole mission. I love it. 

Well, as sad as I was to leave Jacob right before his baptism, the Lord blessed us to be able to have a huge miracle in Old Mill! The sisters had been teaching a guy named William for just over a week before I got here, and had invited him to be baptized on January 7th. On Sunday, his second time at church, he bore his testimony that the church was true and that he wanted to be a part of this church and this faith and this family, so he wanted to get baptized! He is so prepared, so we moved his baptism up to December 14th. Not this upcoming Saturday, but the one after that. I know that the Lord has prepared so many people in this area, and I am excited to go and meet them and to help those we are already teaching progress and find the joy that the gospel brings! I'm sure that we will see a ton of miracles, especially because we can go on splits really easily and double our time in the area! Love it. 

Gingerbread is going really well! I don't really understand how people have the creativity or patience to put them together, and I look at gingerbread the same way I shop....5 minutes in and out, but I know that this is a tool to get people to come and feel of the Spirit of Christ and of the pioneers. We had 748 visitors Friday, 919 on Saturday, and over 500 on Sunday. So amazing! 

Well, I love you all so much! I am so grateful for all of you and your Christlike examples to me. I hope that this December, as we all get ready for Christmas, that we are doing something each day to bring ourselves closer to our Savior, and especially to bring others closer to Him. I know that as we do that, we will be able to feel the real joy of the season! 

Love you the moon and back!

Sister Farnsworth

                                   Sister Farns, Sister Mahlstede and Sister Jensen

A Special Request!!

I have a Christmas wish from all of you....The only thing I want from Christmas is for each of you to write down (or type) your testimony and a time in your life that you have felt close to Christ. If you don't want to put it in an envelope, send it to my mom, because I don't want these in lame email form. We're talking LETTERS here.

 

LOVE YOU!

Hello!

This week has been INCREDIBLE. Oh my goodnight. Seriously it has been so good. I hope that everyone's weeks have been good!

We have been through a bit of a roller coaster preparing Jacob for baptism. He doesn't think that he is ready for all the good that can come to him in his life by joining the church, so he has struggled as he has been learning to believe that he can be happy. We had an incredibly powerful lesson with him last night though. He had a blessing and there was no way that he could deny that this is what he wants in his life and that he is ready for baptism. We love him so much and are so excited for him!

Hi Farnsworth Family. Its sister Anderson (Basically Sister Farnsworth's best friend). I just wanted to say hi and I love your daughter so much! She is an INCREDIBLE missionary!

 

Friday, I got to go on exchanges with Sister Whittaker!!! We have been joking about that and talking about that for our WHOLE missions, so it was a blast to actually be able to go out with her. She is an incredible missionary, and we saw so many miracles all day. I am so grateful for the example she is to me (and that we have so much FUN together!). We taught back to back lessons from about 12 until 830 at night, and it was so fun to get to be in a family ward again....wonder what transfers will bring!  

Saturday morning was the grand opening of the gingerbread festival. It was CRAZY. The mayor of Omaha and 2 of the stake presidents came for the opening and had a ribbon cutting ceremony. It was a little insane the night before because we had to get everything completely ready, not to mention that the PR people had asked the sisters to have an hour worth of music to perform while people were looking around....needless to say it was a lot of work and a lot of prayers, but it worked perfectly! That's what happens when Heavenly Father is in charge! It feels a lot more like Christmas than the week of Thanksgiving around here though!!!

 

We have seen so many miracles this transfer in Loess Hills. I am so grateful to be able to be an instrument in the hands of God in bringing His children to Him again.

 

I love you all so much! Thanks for being the best family and friends a sister missionary could ask for ;)

 

love you!

Sister Farns

Hello!

Hello! Hope everyone’s weeks were good!! I am THRILLED right now because we have good weather still today. Last week it decided to snow a little bit and I was scared that would mean that winter was officially here. I just knocked on wood so I don’t jinx it, but we are still holding strong here in the Midwest! Hallelujah. In contrasting news….we are setting up for Christmas today at the TC! Gingerbread starts on Saturday, so the Christmas tree and all the decorations go up this afternoon. I love it. Marisa would absolutely HATE serving here because we get into the Spirit of Christmas wayyyy too early for her taste.

Did I tell you that our bishop here has asked me to play the organ for church? I can’t remember if I did, but it made me REALLY grateful that Dad had called me to be a ward organist all those years ago, and that Mom had forced me to learn the piano when I was such a brat about it as a kid. As I was sitting at the organ, thinking about all that gratitude yesterday (as I butchered “High on a Mountain Top.” I seriously can never play that song) it reminded me of Brad Wilcox’s analogy that he uses in the talk “His Grace is Sufficient.” Jen….tell him how grateful I have been for that talk on my mission. It has applied to about a thousand different situations beautifully. If any of you haven’t read it, here is a link to it: http://speeches.byu.edu/?act=viewitem&id=1966

I just wanted to share the part that I was thinking about yesterday with you!

Christ’s arrangement with us is similar to a mom providing music lessons for her child. Mom pays the piano teacher. How many know what I am talking about? 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.

If the child sees Mom’s requirement of practice as being too overbearing (“Gosh, Mom, why do I need to practice? None of the other kids have to practice! I’m just going to be a professional baseball player anyway!”), perhaps it is because he doesn’t yet see with mom’s eyes. He doesn’t see how much better his life could be if he would choose to live on a higher plane.

In the same way, because Jesus has paid justice, He can now turn to us and say, “Follow me” (Matthew 4:19), “Keep my commandments” (John 14:15). If we see His requirements as being way too much to ask (“Gosh! None of the other Christians have to pay tithing! None of the other Christians have to go on missions, serve in callings, and do temple work!”), maybe it is because we do not yet see through Christ’s eyes. We have not yet comprehended what He is trying to make of us.

This week has been full of learning and growing experiences. There are things that I have been through on my mission that I know Heavenly Father needed me to experience because I could not have learned my lesson any other way. He truly does know how to help us become who He needs us to be. Some of you may know that I have been a little sick lately so I had an endoscopy done. That night, with answers finally in hand, I asked Heavenly Father what He would have me do in order to change- to learn what He would have me learn in that moment. I just had this overwhelming feeling that He knows me and loves me, and that as I turn my will over to Him, that I will be able to have complete joy in this life. I love my Father in Heaven and I am so grateful to Him for providing my Savior to be here with me every step of my way. How cool is it that He has let me serve Him and His children!?!?

I love you all so much. I am so grateful for you and for all you do for me in my life!

Love you!
Sister Farns

LOVE!

Hello! Have I told any of you lately how much I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY....oh wait, I'm pretty sure I say that every week. I seriously can't get over it though. I love being a missionary so much. I feel so blessed to be able to serve my Savior as one of His representatives.

The theme of my email this week really is love. There are so many people that we are working with that I just LOVE with all of my heart. Church on Sunday was incredible. We had 7 less actives at church. SEVEN. It was incredible. And did I tell you that Sister Pettyjohn (my companion who went home to have shoulder surgery) came back last week!?! Don't even get me started on the things that Chris did this week. Or how great Jacob is. Haha, ok I'll just tell you everything.

Cute Sister PJ is so great. Her "thing" is that if she likes you/you do something good, you are a "woof" (like a dog) or if you do something bad you are a "foo." If you are REALLY cool you are a best woof. Well, my friends, I am a best woof. Made my life.

Chris is so stinkin funny. He saw some other sister missionaries teaching a lesson at his apartment complex, and they saw him for like 2 seconds before he SPRINTED off in the other direction. I think they were really confused because they know him, so they were trying to figure out why he was running away. He comes back 5 minutes later with his scriptures, his baptism and Aaronic priesthood certificate, and a copy of the Book of Mormon to give her and shares some of his favorite scriptures. Oh man, proud mom moment for sure. Seriously he is so cute. I asked him if he is happier since he was baptized and he got teary and he said "so happy." and then he said, no that's not right, "I'm GREAT happy." If you all understood sign language that would make more sense, but it was the cutest thing I've ever heard.

Jacob brought his new snake to our lesson last night. It was so cool!!!! He is still progressing so well, and planning on serving a mission. I am so impressed with him and how humble he is and the wonderful questions that he asks.

Ok....random highlight of the week is that we had a volleyball night with some less actives, members, and investigators, and I GOT TO SET UP A VOLLEYBALL NET AND PLAY VOLLEYBALL. Who ever thought that I would be so excited about that? Haha. It was actually a great success and a lot of the people we had at that night came to church for the first time since I've been in the ward. Love it.

I have been thinking about the priesthood and how grateful I am to have it in my life. I want nothing more than to always seek out the blessings of the priesthood in my life and for my family, and to believe in the miracles and the blessings that come along with it. I am grateful to have been able to witness so many miracles on my mission through the power of the priesthood! This week, I am going to study from the priesthood session of this past conference. Will you study with me??

I love you all to the moon and back :)

Love, Sister Farnsworth

                                               Allison with Sister Harris...and beautiful fall leaves

                                                      The Snake Whisperer!

Some Pictures

                                                     Chris with his Priesthood Certificate

                                                             Jacob and his new suit

                                                      Allison with Sister Harris on Pday

Another Week Gone By!

Oh my heaven's above there are so many things that happened this week that there is no way that I will be able to cover ANY of them so I will write this in "highlight" form ala Syster Blomquist.

Monday was preparation day and we carved pumpkins at the Bielefeldts and I got a new watch. Yes, I busted ANOTHER watch on my mission. What is THAT all about? No idea. That night we made cookies with one of my favorite less actives in the ward. She is trying to get to the temple, and she is incredible. Seriously, I love her.

Tuesday we were at the TC all day. I got to talk to some of my favorite people on chat (shout out to Brittney P. if you're reading this! Love you!) but other than that it was a rather uneventful day. You can tell that is starting to get slow.

Wednesday was Sister Owen's birthday! Oh my good night I can't even explain how much I love that girl. Maybe it's something about your firstborn? Mom....I'm sure this is how you feel about me. Haha just kidding, Kate and Curt are pretty cool too. We were at the TC all day again, so we got there early and decorated everything all cute for her. It was a really great day, and then they got to come and spend the night at our house in CB because...

Thursday was Zone Conference! Happy Halloween to us! It was even more fun because Sister Harris and I got to drive our car with Sisters Owen and Bowles to Sioux City which is about an hour and a half away. I MISSED ROAD TRIPS. Zone Conference, as it always is, was incredible. I received so many answers to prayers, and every single time I leave Zone Conference I feel recharged. Love it. Afterwards, we drove back to the TC for our Halloween party (we aren't supposed to be out on Halloween night) and made cute little cards like last year. Sister Owen is SO FUNNY. She dressed up as me. She stole my clothes, put her hair in a bun, found glasses like mine, and even had my name tag. She put blocks on her shoes to make her tall too. So funny. LOVE HER.

Friday, we had a surprise temple trip, which was the BEST because it was Sister Harris's birthday! I am so grateful that I get to be companions with her because she is so much fun! We had such a great day, and there is no better place to spend your birthday then the temple!

Jacob is doing so well! I am sending pictures of him and Chris from church yesterday. I'm like a proud mama with them haha. Also, I'm like that with everyone!?

I'm sure I'm leaving a billion things out, but the bottom line is I love you to the moon and back.

Have an incredible week!

LOVE,

Sister Farnsworth

Hello!

Well, I hope I don't disappoint anyone this week, but I don't have a WHOLE lot to write about. Spent a ton of time at the Trail Center, which was awesome, but means that I don't have many "missionary stories" to write home this week. It was fun to see pictures of Curt at homecoming. How in the planet earth did he get so old? Several girls in my ward here think he is cute.....is he seriously old enough that girls in the singles ward could be crushin on him? Sorry to embarrass you Curtsey.

This week will be a really fun one. It is Zone Conference week AND Halloween, so the TC schedule gets crazy. We are here all day Tuesday and Wednesday, then we have Zone Conf in Sioux City and our Halloween party on Thursday, so we aren't in our area until Friday. It will be CRAZY, but it is guaranteed to be a fun week, especially because it is Sister Owen's birthday on Wednesday, and Sister Harris's birthday on Friday. PARTY.

Yesterday was an awesome day at church! Jacob is such a solid investigator...how am I always so blessed? Jacob has just really continued to press forward and we are almost finished teaching him all of the lessons. It is really incredible because he struggles a lot with depression, and he has been able to see a change in his life, and particularly in his depression, as he has read the scriptures and felt the Spirit more in his life. How incredible is it that something as simple as reading the scriptures can "heal our wounded souls" like it says in Jacob 2??? You all know how much I love words....mom would laugh at me because no one reads like I do....but I have NEVER found more beautiful and comforting words than in the pages of the Book of Mormon, and especially as I've been on my mission.

We taught Jacob the law of chastity last night. Hahahah it's always the best lesson to teach because everyone (including my companions) are always so awkward about it. I guess it's worse when your investigator is a 21-year-old single man. It went really well, but he was about 900 different shades of red at the beginning. Classic. It was really neat to see, though, that as the Spirit entered his heart, that he calmed down SO much. Ha, see, the Spirit even helps with awkwardness. Hallelujah.

We have a lesson with some new investigators tonight! We found them when we were visiting a less-active member of our ward named Ryan and they were really excited about learning more. Will update you next week on how it goes!

I guess this week, I have just felt the power of the Spirit in my life and the lives of those we teach. I know that as we do the things that help us have the Spirit in our lives, we will be able to recognize more peace and strength to do the things that we have been asked to do. It won't make the hard things go away, but like Daddy always told me, it'll "make you tough" enough to overcome. I love serving the Lord and getting to feel of the power of His Spirit every day.

Love you all so much. You have no idea what you mean to me.

Love you to the moon and back :)

Sister Farns

Happy October!

We just got back from a cute place called Vala's pumpkin patch. Think Disneyland mixed with Gardner's Village. Darling. We had so much fun. Corn mazes, little go-cart things, pumpkins, the works. You would all have loved it.

I can't even begin to tell you how blessed I feel right now to be teaching Jacob. Oh my heck I can't even explain how much we love him. Last night in our lesson (Plan of Salvation) we asked him if he has any questions about anything we have taught so far. Mind you, we haven't even really taught the Word of Wisdom, but he heard about it during General Conference a few weeks ago. So his question that he asked was if he was allowed to have chocolate because it has caffeine in it. He has stopped eating chocolate and drinking all forms of caffeine, just in case. JUST IN CASE. Our Bishop also pulled us aside and told us that Jacob paid his tithing this week. He is so prepared, and he is so excited for his baptism. I just love getting to be a part of this work...the Lord's work. There are too many things that happen every day that couldn't possibly be "coincidence." I know that He directs every part of our days! How blessed are we!?!?

We had an investigator drop us this week- Matthew- and it is always so interesting to me when that happens. It's always really sad and kind of frustrating because I just LOVE the people that we teach so much and you know how much this will bless their lives, so it's hard to see them not accept it. Every time it happens though, it is an opportunity to bear testimony that they have felt the Spirit and that they know it's true. In a weird way, I love those moments because I get to bear pure testimony that this is Christ's church. I know that in a way that I could have never imagined before my mission. His Atonement covers every part of our suffering, our sin, our pain, and our trials. He loves us more than we could ever imagine. I love being able to share with the people in Nebraska and Iowa (and for that matter, people from all over the world that come into the TC) that I have felt and been changed by the truthfulness of His good news.

Sister Harris and I are still partying it up in the singles ward. Tonight for Family Home Evening we are helping to build our ward's gingerbread display. Let the countdown begin to gingerbread....just one month!!!! A big shout-out to my dear sweet best friend Ms. Matilyne Fitzgerald on her BIRTHDAY. Love you so much chickadee.

Next week will be an eventful one....zone conference and Halloween (party at the TC included) all in one week. So excited for that! Zone conferences are always a highlight in the mission.

LOVE YOU ALL. Happy fall....we are really seeing some beautiful fall trees here. Definitely my favorite part of the year in Nebraska

Sister Farnsworth

                                            Allison & a member in the singles ward, Ashley 

Hello!

I can't even think about a single thing that happened this week. How sad is that!?!? We really did see so many miracles this week. It is amazing to see how much this area has grown and changed. It is like a different ward completely. The work is exploding, and I am so grateful!!! I love Heavenly Father.

Saturday was the departing sister's last shift at the Trail Center, and they put us all on shift together. It was so fun to be together, and Sister Whittaker's friend Brad came into the Trail Center on his way to interview at different medical schools. She asked me to go on tour with her, and it was so much fun! I love her, and it has been so fun to be together for so long. MTC comps for life ha.

Sunday was incredible. We had the most inspiring ward council I have ever been in. Our new Bishop has a vision for this ward that we are so excited about. Then we had our new investigator Jacob at church with us, and had some less active members of our ward there too! After church we had a lesson with Matthew, who is set for baptism, then went over and had a lesson with Chris. OH MY GOSH I can not believe how much I love that kid. He was in tears as we talked about him preparing to go to the temple and receiving the Priesthood. He is so humble and prepared to do all that Heavenly Father needs him to do. Ah. love him.

After that, we headed up to Iowa Western to see some of the girls on the soccer team there. They have 2 teammates that are interested in the gospel and have been asking lots of questions, so it was really neat to be able to talk to them and help them start to see the vision for them and their friends. We also got to meet two kids that are members but aren't active that we had no idea lived here. SUCH miracles. Our last lesson was with Jacob at a member's house. We didn't feel right about moving forward to the next lesson, so we let him ask any questions that he wanted to ask or that he was been wondering about. I have NEVER met anyone asks more humble, sincere questions than he does. As he asked questions, he started asking more about the Doctrine of Christ (faith, repentance, baptism, the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end) and he decided that he was ready to set a day to be baptized. All on his own. He is incredible. His one barrier before last night was that he was worried that his family would not be supportive because they are all atheist. He talked to several of his siblings about if they would support him if he got baptized, and they all said yes, and even said they would come to his baptism!!!!! God answers prayers, my friends!!!!!!!

I remember writing a letter to David when he was on his mission and saying that I had this belief that I couldn't really receive answers to my prayers in the same way, say, returned missionaries could. I really thought that. (Don't know if D remembers writing me back, but somehow I have that letter with me on my mission, strange.) What I've realized since I've been here is that RM's ability to listen to the Spirit as God answers their prayers has absolutely nothing to do with actually being a missionary. It has to do with praying more, and studying the scriptures more, both of which you do more while you're on your mission. However, regardless of our circumstances, we can ALWAYS read and pray more. When we do that, we do like it says in 2 N 31:3...we learn the language that He talks to us in. Will you all read that scripture this week and then try to discern how the Lord answers your prayers? I promise that He does answer, and that if we seek out His voice, we will hear it.

I LOVE being a missionary. I love you all so much and I am so grateful for your prayers and support!

Love you! 

Sister Farnsworth

Hello!

Well.....time flies when you are having fun. I seriously don't know how another week could have possibly passed since the last preparation day. Madness, I'm tellin you. This has been a BUSY week in the mission. Last night, we were texting our ward mission leader (who was home in Utah) and he asked how we enjoyed conference. We responded by saying that conference on the mission is almost better than Christmas, and he texted back almost immediately saying "You're exactly right. The revelation just rains on you. It's crazy." Hahahah I laughed so hard, but honestly, that is exactly how I felt. I had every one of my questions answered, and even some that I didn't realize that I wanted to ask were answered. Heavenly Father is so good to us. So good to me. 

The sisters serving in the Greenview area (one of the areas that Sister Harris and I cover) called and asked us to come to the stake center to watch conference on Sunday morning because they had an investigator that they wanted to turn over to us. His name is Jacob! We watched conference with them and then had an impromptu lesson in the foyer. He is so solid, and we are really excited to start teaching him. He will hopefully be coming to FHE tonight. Speaking of which...guess what we are doing for FHE tonight. Decorating Christmas cookies while we plan our ward's gingerbread display. Hahaha. I LOVE THIS PLACE. Where else in the world is there a calling to be a ward gingerbread specialist!? Best thing ever. During our lesson with Chris last night, he told us that he downloaded the Gospel Library app onto his girlfriend's phone and he invited 8 people to church. Oh my heck I wish you could all know Chris. He is my favorite person. I am laughing just typing this because I can't help but laugh (and cry sometimes) just talking about him or being around him. AH. Hahahah he was like "well, if I'm going to be a missionary, I need to practice, right?!" Yes, Chris, you're right. He's the best. 

During the Saturday afternoon session of conference, we were watching it in the basement of the Trail Center, and Sister Jensen (one of my old companions) came down to get me because there were people upstairs that wanted to talk to me. That's always interesting, because I never have any idea who to expect. It was so fun to meet Paul and Debbie's friends! They were awesome and obviously love my family, so I loved them right away. Thank you so much for the sweet card and gift, Aunt Debbie! You're the best. So excited for you guys!!!!!!!!!! Couldn't Michael have been just a bit more patient???? Haha just kidding, 

This week, we are at the Trail Center every day except for Wednesday and Sunday. It will be busy, but the Lord will bless the area as we are not in it. Serving at the Trail Center and having a proselyting area has really taught me to develop my faith in the Lord and know that this is His work- He can do it without us but He allows us to be His servants to help make us into the men and women He needs us to be.  How grateful am I that He has allowed me to be here?! 

Sisters Kirby, Brown, and Jarman have their departing testimonies a week from tomorrow. I'll miss them like crazy!

Love you all so much! Have a great week!

(p.s. This month- October- in the mission, we are studying Chapter 1 of PMG if you want to join us ;))....double chin smiley face

LOVE YOU!

Sister Farnsworth

A short little note.....

I got this little email today from Allison.  It seems that on Monday, they were shorted on their email time and she got to get on to the computer!  Here is a little note she had to share.  I wonder if she is loving her mission??

The Spanish sisters brought in their investigator Ana from Honduras and a team-up that grew up in Mexico. I swear that Nebraska is this strange melting pot place. I don't understand. Side note...I also took some people from Switzerland on tour yesterday. Anyways. Cute Ana was probably in her 60s and so humble and sincere. I think I loved her instantly. How can you not!? Anyways. It was so neat to take on her on tour, letting the sisters and the woman from their ward translate as we went. I don't know how much she understood of what I actually said before it was translated, but there were times that I knew that her heart understood even if she didn't actually understand what I was saying. I know that the Spirit works that way...that we can communicate even without knowing the same language at all. I invited her to read the Book of Mormon daily to help her in her process of becoming converted to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and invited her to be baptized after watching the movie God's Plan....did you all do what I asked and go to your local visitor's center so you could watch that? It's a killer. She nodded yes through her tears- it was such a sweet moment and I was so grateful that those sisters asked me to take their tour. It was so humbling. I love serving here. I. LOVE. IT.

And then I got Papa's letter today with some quotes in it that I read about 20 times and then read them aloud to anyone who would listen. I think about 5 different sisters have asked that I typed them up so we could put them in our copies of the Book of Mormon to read on tour. I may or may not have the most popular grandfather on the planet. 

Hello and some Pics!!

 I think I have caught up on all of the pictures that I needed to send for the past few weeks. So happy that we finally came to the Trail Center to email so we could send pictures! Sounds like the week was SO good and that you all did an awesome job hiking the Grand Canyon! We had a really good week too. The Lord is just blessing our area so much and I am so grateful that I get to be able to witness all of the miracles that have been happening. We had THE most eventful (and I mean literally event-full) weekend. It was a lot of fun, but it also just wiped me OUT.

We started on Saturday morning with my alarm clock going off at 340 so we could be out the door by 440 to serve food at a pancake breakfast in downtown Omaha. We were doing it for the Kiwanis club that Dr. Fischer and Elder Cleverly are in together, and Sister Harris, Sister Whittaker, Sister Kirby, and I were on the 5 am shift. It was POURING rain, so we were really grateful that there was a big tent covering us. There is a guy here named "The Pancake Man" and he travels and makes pancakes at events and fairs and things of the sort. His grill was about 10 feet long. It was crazy. As we poured all of the syrup into bottles- quite the difficult task, I'll tell you- we met one of his assistants. Pancake Man Steve. He is a young single adult that lives in Council Bluffs. WAIT. WHAT!? A YSA that lives in Council Bluffs?! Those are my favorite kind of people to talk to right now! Ha. He asked us all sorts of questions about being missionaries, and we gave him our phone number and invited him to the bonfire we are having tonight for Family Home Evening. We are praying that he will come, and I think he will because he has been texting and asking about it! What a miracle. See, blessings come for sacrificing sleep to serve, especially at 5 in the morning.

We were on shift right after the breakfast, so we went to the TC (and I was LOOPY already. Seriously. Slap happy....haha MMAT). We then left our shift early to go to Hung and Kevin's wedding. Remember our recent convert from May?! She was such a beautiful bride, and I can't wait to go to their sealing! They had asked us to serve the food at their reception, so we did that. Felt right at home. Then we went straight from there to the Relief Society Broadcast. Whew.

Sunday was not AS crazy, but still pretty dang busy. We served at the TC in the morning, and it was one of those weird mornings where we don't have a single tour come until 11 and then we got 5 tours at once. There are only 6 of us on shift, so it gets a little frantic when that happens. After our shift we went straight to church. It was fast and testimony meeting for us, and Chris got up to bear his testimony. Let me tell you, nothing makes you more happy (or nervous) than watching your brand new recent convert bear their testimony in church. BEST. I was laughing so hard though because he made us STAND UP. He got up and said "I want to thank my two sisters for getting me on the right path. Stand up sisters. I was like NO! haha he just said STAND UP." So then he talked about getting baptized and what it meant to him, and then he made "his four friends" stand up and talked about how much they have helped him. Ah he is so darling. Haha. He brought his girlfriend, and we are going to be teaching her on Tuesday! Miracle! Then, at night, there was a fireside put on by our church, the Remnant church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and the Community of Christ church. Sister Thomas brought her friend Pauline that we went to come home to kanesville with, and she really enjoyed it. In fact, afterwards, she asked us to come to her house on Tuesday. Such a huge MIRACLE! Sister Thomas was freaking out haha. I loved it.

Well, Sister Pulley is here. Do you remember the Pulley's- my ward mission leader and his wife from Benson? She came to pick us up so we can go to her house and make cupcakes! So much fun. I love that I have made such good friendships here and that I can keep these friendships for life.

Like Papa said, I know that sometimes it's hard to tell if I love my mission or if I even like being a missionary...so let me reiterate. I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY. I love doing this work because it is the Lord's work, and as I do it, He is molding me into the woman that He needs me to be. I will never be able to be grateful enough for all that He has done for me.

I love you all! 

Have a great day!

Love, Sister Farnsworth

Allison and Sister Anderson

Allison with Chris!  Love that sign language!

With Sister Whittaker on their one year mark!

Allison with her companion Sister Harris 

Family!

HELLO!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE BEST MOM ON THE PLANET EARTH.

Well, the big news in the Loess Hills ward is that we got a new Bishopric yesterday! We will miss Bishop Bendorf and his awesome counselors, but we are really excited for Bishop Johnson and all that is ahead of us. Singles ward bishoprics are an interesting thing because they are with the people in the ward way more than a reguar bishopric...church, weekly FHE, activities almost every weekend, and the list goes on and on. So, needless to say, people get pretty attached. We are really praying for our new Bishop and are excited to see what ideas he has for the ward. I'm sure that he will have ideas that will be answers to the prayers we have been saying for months now about how to help the ward grow, how to help unify it, and how to serve those members that are struggling. I love this little ward.

 

Chris is doing so well. He is such a spaz, and it makes me laugh so hard every time we are around him because he gets so hyper! He never ceases to surprise me, though. Yesterday at church, he handed me his nook, and he had downloaded the gospel library and had the lesson for Sunday School open already. Best feeling ever. Plus he said he wants to go to the temple soon! Too bad it is closed for cleaning for 2 weeks. Hopefully that means we will get to clean it, at least!

 

Hung, our recent convert from May, is getting married this week! She is SO CUTE. Sister Thomas in our ward threw a bridal shower for her at the church on Saturday and some girls from the ward came. It was really neat because her mom and sisters came, and they are really against her being a part of the church, but they were willing to come to the church and are even coming to the wedding on Saturday when they told her they wouldn't come if it was at the church. We are so happy for her. She really wants some church "books" to read to help her get to know the gospel better. I'm not sure what would be most helpful really. Maybe even one of those kids Book of Mormon readers that help you get to know the stories better? Any ideas?

 

Council Bluffs ALWAYS cracks me up. The most interesting people you could ever imagine live here. We found a new investigator last night that is getting married in two years(?) and the reason they are waiting for so long is to plan their neon themed wedding really well. Normal.

 

We aren't serving at the Kanesville tabernacle anymore, which is a bummer, but it slows down in the fall and winter and the hours change to 10-5 instead of 930-7 with two shifts. I'm grateful, because I don't know how to sit still anymore, but I will really miss the Tabernacle. Good thing I live up the street from it. The quilt show has been going really well, but it ends next week! Where has September gone?! We heard yesterday about the project we will be doing on Halloween night (do you remember the 12 days of Christmas thing I sent you last year? This year will be way cute.) and it was announced that Gingerbread starts November 23rd. YES.

Our Trail Center Training this week was about the training that Elder Robbins gave to all of the Zone Leaders (and Sister Training Leaders)  in the mission. He said that because we have 100% agency, we have to take 100% accountability for every situation that we are in. For instance, I can't say (as a missionary) "Oh, shoot, I woke up at 6:35. My alarm must not have gone off." Even if my alarm didn't go off, it was my responsibilty to do as I promised the Lord and be obedient by waking up by 6:30. So, to be more accountable, maybe I turn my alarm up louder. Maybe I set two alarms. Maybe I have my companion set her alarm clock too. You get the idea. Too often, we blame, we procrastinate, we lie, we rationalize etc. He made a list of those actions and then called that list the "Loser List". The Savior never went to that list, so we shouldn't either. So it has been my goal to be completely accountable for everything that happens in a day. It has helped me as I account to the Lord every night and has helped me to see what I can improve on, and how I can become His servant. I love being a missionary!

 

Well, that's all I've got! From Council-tucky, Iowa, I LOVE YOU. Have a great week!

Sister Farnsworth