Hello!

This has been a CRAZY week! I keep laughing every time something new happens because poor Sister Owen doesn't even know what a normal week is like yet. Good thing she is an amazing missionary, or else this week might have been a shocker! We have been having so much fun and have been working hard in Lakeview! Mom- the typical length of time that we should stay together is 2 transfers, meaning that I would end up being in LV for 5 transfers or 71/2 months. Who knows what will happen though, because we have EIGHT sisters getting here at the end of this transfer. This transfer is also a really short transfer- ends on March 20th- because of the MTC trying to get rid of missionaries as soon as they can. In fact, a new spanish speaking missionary came to Nebraska in the middle of Zone Conference this week, so President left at lunch to go get him from the airport and then brought him straight to Zone Conference! The MTC told President that they will be sending them as soon as they can- regardless of if it's at the beginning of a transfer or not!

We have had maybe 15 hours in our area this week. Maybe. Between Zone conference and the TC, it is motivation to work really hard in the time that we have in our area. Matt and Elyssa continue to amaze us with their wilingness to change and repent in order to move toward baptism! Their previous wedding date, as you may remember, was scheduled for Spring 2014. Well, they had a big announcement to tell us last Monday night, which was that they are now officially getting married in May- they have told their parents- and they want Bishop to marry them at the church. They are ony inviting immediate family and "church family." I was hoping that I would have a picture to send home of them with us and Bro Hall this week, but I am still waiting for it to be sent to me!! We had dinner and a lesson last night at their house with Brother Hall and the Stahelis in our ward, and the Spirit was so powerful. It's all because they are seeking it out in their lives. They want it more than anything, and Heavenly Father has blessed them so much because of their pure desires.

We also had a miracle on chat this week! I have had many powerful experiences on chat where we have seen miracles happen, but nothing like this before. We were online, and a young man named Dylan came on- he was from England. He told us that he has been researching the church on his own for a little bit now from Mormon.org and that he agrees with the things that he has read so far. He had found the Book of Mormon online- all the way through 1st Nephi in 2 days (sounds like Matt) and wants to join the church "if that's ok". We invited him to be baptized, set a baptismal date for him, and then invited him to go to church and sent his information to the local missionaries in Leeds, all within about 30 minutes! We are so excited to keep in contact with him and see him progress and have a BAPTISM in England all the way from Nebraska!

SO....Thursday started an eventful weekend for us. We knew that we were going to get a huge storm, and sure enough, it hit about noon. We were at the TC, and we got the word that we were going to close at 6, and then the storm got worse, so we closed at 5. I was driving down the hill (all of Nebraska is a hill) to the apartments by the Trail Center, but couldn't get the car turned to get into the parking lot, so we had to drive to the bottom of the hill and turn up the next street. Now, keep in mind that the Malibu DEFINITELY isn't 4WD, and we were pretty sure at this point that our tire has a slow leak in it because we had filled it up like 2 days before and it was already low again. Plus, I grew up in Arizona. In case you forgot that. So, back to the story. Driving. Uphill. Steep hill. In the snow. We DEFINITELY didn't make it up the hill hahahahah. We ended up leaving our car, with, at this point, it's very flat right front tire, in the grocery store parking lot and walking back up to the apartment to stay! That night and the next morning, our cars were grounded and we weren't allowed to out except for to shovel, so we had some awesome time to study. Cherised time, for sure.

Yesterday, I learned from Matt and Brother Hall that you can throw noodles at a cabinent and it would stick if they were done. I told them that it was so cool that it would make my email home, so there you are.

We have our first day at the Kanesville Tabernacle this Thursday!!!! I am so excited to get over there and to learn more about the Tabernacle and the Mormon Battalion. It will be such an awesome opportunity for us. At this point, we are only there once every 2 weeks, but soon we will be there about once a week and still at the TC about 3 times a week! At least, unless I am called to go full proselyting soon! Who knows, that's the best part about the mission! It's all in the Lord's hands, and we just get to do His work.

I love you all!

Love, Sister Farnsworth

Some Pictures!

Brother Watson before he left the Trail Center

Sister Coats before leaving
 

Hello!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi! This week has been AWESOME. Lots of mixed emotions with transfers, but so many exciting things have happened. It was great to meet Sister Coat's (Alex's) family, and hard to send her off, but I am so excited to see the amazing things that she will do! Plus, now I have Sister Owen, and she is INCREDIBLE. I love this girl so much! I know you already heard from Sis. Ellsworth that she grew up in New Mexico (Albuquerque) but I'll tell you more! Her family now lives in Maryland- Annapolis. She graduated from BYU in August with a degree in History, but is thinking she might go back to school and do nutrition. GET THIS- she is ALSO gluten intolerant. Maybe Heavenly Father is preparing me to have gluten intolerant children. I know lots about it now. She is also dairy intolerant and a vegetarian, which is awesome because I am going to learn how to eat REALLY healthy and stay in great shape! She is a really powerful teacher and I am so grateful that I have this opportunity to learn from her.

You will never guess what happened before she got here. While she was in the MTC, her mom was googling our mission, and found MY BLOG and sent Sister Owen a clip of the letter about going to the temple with the Watsons. At the end of it she said "wouldn't that be crazy if she was your companion?" Well, Mama Owen- Here I am! If you are reading this, your daughter is absolutely incredible, and I am so lucky to be her companion!

We have had lots of exciting changes since Elder Cleverly got here. Some not major, like not having to wear a cardigan or blazer when we are at the Trail Center. We also now have set Pdays every week- always Monday! We get to take companionship tours, and the focus is really on teaching the Restoration of the Gospel using the principles of Preach My Gospel, which I absolutely love. The biggest one happened this past Saturday at training though, which is....we get to serve at the Kanesville Tabernacle!!!!!!!!! That may not be that exciting to you. Let's try this again. Re-read it, and imagine being SUPER excited about something. Ok, that's better. I have wanted to serve at Kanesville since I got here, but only senior couples have served there until this point. President Weston and Elder Cleverly have been thinking about it and trying to figure out the logistics, and with all of the new sisters that we will be getting very soon, we can handle working there too! We are so excited for this new change and the chance to learn more about Kanesville so we can know the pioneers on an ever deeper level.

Matt and Elyssa are doing awesome- Elyssa called us the other day and we talked to her while we were driving home from the TC. She told us that she had spent all day with her very Catholic step-mom who was asking her all about the church and Elyssa said that she was able to tell her a lot of the things "we" believe. WE. She already considers herself LDS. I guess that makes sense, when Matt introduced himself to Sister Owen by saying "we're basically baptized already." They are hilarious. We are having dinner with them tonight at Brother Hall's house- best. night. ever!!!!!!!! I feel so blessed to be around these amazing people all of the time! Matt's daughter Aurora was here this weekend from Kansas City, and she came to church. She LOVED primary.

Ann also came to church this week! Last week we saw her, and she said it was the first time that we have ever talked to her about baptism that it made sense to her why she needs to be baptized. I have no idea what we did any different than we have ever done- in fact, I think it was EXACTLY the same, but her heart is more ready and open. She has come to church twice now, which is a huge deal with her anxiety, and she has been reading the Book of Mormon daily. I'm praying that she will continue to progress!

I love you all so much! Have an amazing week.

Love, Sister Farnsworth

Last Week with Sister Coats

Well, as you well know, this is transfer week! President called this morning, and I am staying in Lakeview and Sister Owen is coming over to be with me! It is going to be an awesome transfer and I am really excited to learn from her and see lots of miracles! I am so grateful to be staying in Lakeview for at least this transfer, I love it so much!!

We have continued to see lots of miracles in Lakeview! After church on Sunday, Matt was driving home so Sister Coats, Elyssa, and I were just talking about how church was and about how she is feeling about the gospel. She told us that this past week has been the worst week that she has had in about four years, and that she knows it is because Satan is trying to stop them from getting baptized, but it just makes her want to get married and baptized even more. The tentative baptism date right now is April 13, but I think it will probably get moved up even more than that. They are just nervous about telling their families that they are getting married this month instead of next year! They are so incredible, and it is so fun to teach them because we are such good friends with them now...they know that when we teach them something that is hard for them to accept (like when we tell them they need to repent haha) it is out of love and it is because we want them to be happy!

Tonight, we are going to see lots of people in our 3 short hours of proselyting time. We are even seeing Brother Hall, and instead of having a member go with us to visit (since we have to take another female with us) we are taking Matt and Elyssa and then going to their house to teach them! Hahaha we are taking our investigators on a team up with us to see our recent convert. Awesome.

It is really surreal that Sister Coats is leaving, and I will miss her a lot! I have learned so much from her, and I am so excited to see what wonderful things she will do next! In answer to your question mom....Sister Coats was from Heber, but her family moved during her mission. Don't get any bright ideas.

I got my valentines day package, and the cookies were PERFECT. Let's try that experiment again...it was a successful one. I also got a Valentines package from Nan, and a present from Irene. THANK you so much for those!

I hope that Katie and Sid travel safely this weekend and that you guys have fun! I'm putting EVERYONE in charge of bugging them until they send the letters that they wrote me, because they wrote them 2 weeks ago. Well, it's 55 degrees outside, and not a cloud in sight, so I am going to go enjoy Omaha. I love you all dearly. Talk to you next Pday (which, I'm assuming, is on Tuesday)!

Love, Sister Farnsworth

Hello!

Well, somehow another week has passed. Daddy asked when transfers are- I will find out who my new companion is a week from tomorrow. So crazy, because I feel like I just got here and it has already been 3 transfers. Especially strange since next transfer will only be 5 weeks long. That is so exciting to hear that Moana's...niece(?) got called to NOM! Is she coming to the TC? I know that we will be getting several sisters that are called full-proselyting, so I wonder if she will be one of those! I talked to Ciara Parker who is one of the BYU volleyball players and she said that her friend will be coming here too! So many sisters coming...I can't wait to meet them all!

Someone should probably write this down, because this is the first year in my LIFE that someone else has told me who was playing in the superbowl because A: I had absolutely NO idea and Secondly: I didn't really care enough to ask. (Marisa, that a: and secondly: was for you) Um. Can we note the signifigance of this moment?!?! I'm a changed woman. Changed, I say! Don't worry, we were at dinner at a member's house and they told me.

This week was WONDERFUL! I got to go on exchanges with Sister Brown, and that was a dream come true. She is from St. John's and her family lived in the Colonies too! Crazy, right? We have wanted to serve together since the day we met, but that will probably never happen because she will be training for the rest of her 8 months here. Sad. So, we enjoyed our time together!

We saw Matt and Elyssa THREE times last week. I wish I could even begin to scratch the surface of all the things that I want to tell you about our appointments with them, but it wouldn't be possible! They are so prepared, and I am so grateful for them because they are such evidence of how much Heavenly Father's hand is in our lives! On Monday, they met us at the Trail Center. We had a great tour with them and taught them the Restoration as we walked around the gallery- the best way to teach about the pioneers is through the message of the Restoration! Towards the end of the tour, Sister Coats told them that Satan would work hard against them as they are trying to move towards baptism. They both really understood that because they have had challenges come into their path as they have tried to progress. We went into one of the theatres to watch the Restoration DVD and right as the First Vision was about to be shown, the TV turned off. TURNED. OFF. We were panicking, trying to figure out what to do, and finally we got it turned back on, but they didn't see any of the first vision. Elyssa told us on Wednesday that right before that, she had been praying to know if this is the right path for her, and that was evidence that it was because it showed that Satan was trying to work hard so she didn't see that! Wednesday we had a lesson at the church, and Friday, Sister Brown and I went to their home with their friend Jen who is a Relief Society pres in Sister Whittaker's ward. Elyssa said that while she was at work, she was picturing in her mind a scenario of someone asking her what religion she is. When she pictured that, her immediate response was "I'm a Mormon." She said that when she felt that, she had this SWELLING feeling inside her. You can imagine how much I was freaking out inside as I calmly (yeah right, when am I EVER calm) asked her to open to Alma 32:28 and read it out loud. I was grinning. They are amazing. AMAZING. I love how the Spirit speaks to our investigators- SO clear as to not be misunderstood! They are both wanting to get baptized, but it will probably be a little bit longer than Feb 22nd when they get baptized because they have to get married! Not too much longer though!

I am so sad that Sister Coats will be leaving next week, but I am excited to meet her family when they come, and SO excited for you all to meet her. Her homecoming will be February 23rd at 9 am in Spanish Fork if anyone wants to go! She is an incredible missionary and I have been so blessed to be able to learn from her and grow with her. She has great things up ahead of her, and I am excited to see all of the wonderful things she does! I am excited to work hard our last week together and see miracles!

Papa and Grandma- Thank you SO much for the CD and for my letters as always. I don't know what I would do without you!

Love you to the moon and back! Hope you're having a good time like I am! :)

Sister Farnsworth