Well, as you've heard, Sister Jones and I stayed together in Loess Hills! We were both really excited that we are staying together for another transfer, and hopefully, by the end of the transfer, we will get more people in our ward with people coming back to school! This week has been a CRAZY one with transfers, a concert in the park on pioneer day, and a concert last night in Council Bluffs. We had really great turn outs for both concerts, and it seems like everyone really enjoyed both of them! The miracle of it all is that even though the concert last night was two days after transfers, I only lost one of the missionaries that had been singing in them. Unfortunately, he had kind of a big part in them, but it worked out great!

 

On Wednesday, I didn't actually go to the concert in the park because someone had to serve at the TC! So Sister Kirby, Sister Whittaker, Sister Holt, Sister Harrison and I served while everyone else was down performing. It was a lot of fun to be all together, even though it made me nervous to just let them all figure it out haha! From everything I've heard and the videos I've seen, they all did a great job. Made me SO proud.

 

About a week ago, we got a call from a member in the Skyline ward (west omaha by Lakeview) and she told us that one of her employees wanted to meet with us. When we tried his house, a guy opened the door and said that he wasn't Josh, and that he was moving that week. Well, she called us back a few days later, and said that WAS Josh, and that he just got scared. HAHAHAHA. He's this huge guy, and there is no WAY he could have been scared of two 21 year old girls, but he was. So, we went back (he was really sheephish and embarassed), and got to know him. He's had a really rough life, but he is so ready to turn everything around and knows that he is missing something, so he talked to his boss who he knew was Mormon about what to do. He is set for baptism at the end of the month, but we will be turning him over to family ward missionaries because he has kids. It was a really funny experience, but more than that, it was really cool to see how members want to do missionary work and how they can really make a huge difference in people's lives simply by being good examples.

 

Thursday night, we served at the clinic with Dr. Fischer and then he had us over to his house for dinner to celebrate "the August birthdays" which really just meant Sister Whittakers bday (and mine). It was so much fun, and I LOVE that we have family here in the people we meet. Speaking of family...the sisters who have been serving full proselyting but were called to the Trail Center all got transferred back in (Sisters Anderson, Brown, Gaede, and Jarman) and it has been like being home with all of them back. I never thought I would be this close with the people I serve with, but it is such a huge blessing.

 

Last thing...when the new sisters and elders come, they get a tour of the trail center. Sister Whittaker and I were asked to take it, so we went to greet them at the door when they got there. A new sister named Sister Peterson (she's serving in Lakeview now!)walked through the door and as soon as I introduced myself, she got really excited and said "I READ YOUR BLOG!" ahhahahah. Glad to know that my blog is followed by people who are blessed enough to come and serve in NOM.

 

I love this place. I love being a missionary. I love the people in Iowa and Nebraska SO MUCH.

 

I hope you know that I love you all too.

 

Sister Farnsworth

Hello!!!

Well, you've made it through all the "wedding" stuff! It was fun to see pictures of everyone who was at the Utah reception. We got through our first concert out here! It went so well. I'll tell you all about it, since that's pretty much all I can remember from this past week. It's all a blur. I'll start with by talking about exchanges though!

So this week, I got to go to Millard on exchanges (which is right by Lakeview). It was really weird to be out in my old "stomping grounds" in West Omaha. I was serving with Sister Brough, who I have been working on all the concert stuff. We had a BLAST. We saw so many miracles, all day long. Right before our dinner appointment, we went to try someone that a member had referred to the sisters in Millard. The woman opened the door and started to turn away. I SWEAR she said "Oh shoot" or something to that effect when she saw us (which is my absolute favorite thing). But, she started talking to us and we just made some small talk and told her who we were etc. Then, she said they had to go, so we asked if we could come back and see her and her husband (who had also come to the door by this point) on Tuesday. They agreed, and just before we left, I asked if we could share a scripture. I grabbed the Book of Mormon out of Sister Brough's hand so I wouldn't have to dig through my purse, and opened the Book of Mormon, having NO IDEA what I was about to share with these people. It had to be life changing because this lady was not really loving us yet. So I flip open to Alma, and knew immediately that wasn't right. I flip one more time, and end up in Mosiah 4. I said a quick prayer in my head and felt like I should read Mosiah 4:9. Her husband had been fidgeting with keys and his hat and EVERYTHING possible, and she was ready to run out the door, but as I began to read that scripture ("Believe in God, believe that He is....) they both held very still, and afterwards, she said "those are the exact thoughts I have been having." It was SO powerful to see how much Heavenly Father loves each and every one of us and He knows exactly what His children need, even if we don't. He prompted the members to refer their friend, and He led us to them at a time that they would both be home. He told us exactly what to share that would help them receive the restored gospel! I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY.

So...concert stuff. I got to go to LAKEVIEW for church on Sunday so Sister Owen and I could leave to Lincoln as soon as we got out of church. It felt like going home. I missed all of my wonderful family in that ward. After we got out of church, we went and visited some people, and then met up with the other elders and sisters at Sister Whittaker's church building. We had borrowed the transfer van (a 15 passenger van) to take out there, and luckily, almost all of the elders that I have singing in the concerts are Zone Leaders so they are all cleared to drive the van. We had a really fun drive out there (about 1 hour and 15 minutes). I had everything planned out by the minute basically for our whole night, including a few minutes to eat the sandwiches that I had brought with us because all of us had been out at church, meetings, baptisms, lessons etc. all day long. We got there, had about an HOUR to practice everything and do all of the sound checks with the missionaries in Lincoln who were participating and had never practiced with us before! So crazy that we were able to make everything work. You know you're being helped by Heavenly Father when...haha. Right before the concert, I had Elder Pese and Elder Tatafu go and sing "prelude." Really, they just performed a mini concert before. Reminded me of Elder AIONO! They were so good, and then we started the concert! Everything ran really smoothly, and the Spirit was so strong. UNTIL....the video that we play (Elder Holland's testimony of the Book of Mormon) stopped working mid-video because it needed to buffer. It started taking a long time, so Sister Whittaker told Elder Pese to get on stage and start playing something, and as he started running up the stairs she said this isn't Farnsworth approved, but hopefully it will work. hahahahah. He played the most BEAUTIFUL song and then came off and said "I hope it was ok even if it wasn't Farnsworth approved." I laughed so hard. They all call me Mama Farnsworth. I was so proud of all of them...they all have worked so hard to make sure that this is the best it can be, and it is really paying off now. We have a concert in the park this Wednesday for pioneer day, and then Council Bluffs next Sunday. I'm just praying now that all of the sisters and elders stay in their areas this week with transfers coming up....we have a concert 2 days after transfers. YIKES.

Well, I love you all so much. You are the BEST family a sister missionary could ask for.

And, mom, I just got both packages. You're an angel.

Sister Farnsworth

Katie's Wedding

                                                      Look closely in Katie's hand!

Hello!

I can't believe how BEAUTIFUL everything was for the wedding! The pictures, the decorations, everything. Of course...I can believe it, because it's my mother, and my sister, and all of the wonderful people that I love so much who put it together. Even if you did put a picture of me on a popsicle stick...I still love you all so much!!!!

This week was great. I did fine on Thursday, probably because we were so busy that I didn't have time to think about it too much. Tender mercy of the Lord. Friday was a little harder actually, being in the temple. Before going back to the dressing room, I stopped in one of the gorgeous Winter Quarters temple sealing rooms with Sister Peterson and we just kind of sat there in the doorway for a second, thinking about how sacred the temple was and that my BEST FRIEND- my little sister- was just sealed by the power of the priesthood the day before. I am so grateful, like Dad said in his email, to have the priesthood in our lives and in our family. It was also so good to hear about how many family members came!!! We are so blessed. 

This week, I got to go on exchanges to Elkhorn with Sister Samuels (the Urry's cousin, and Sister Whittaker's companion!) and we had an amazing time! We found some really prepared people, and had some great lessons with their investigators. It is really fun to be able to go to other areas and have different companions for the day because you get to have a lot of different experiences that you never would in your area or with your companion. Plus, you always see miracles out the wazoo when you are on exchanges. Maybe because the Lord compensates for you not knowing where you're going, not knowing anyone you talk to, not even staying in your own house. Hm....sounds like my WHOLE mission actually. Sheesh. Have I told you lately that I love being a missionary????

We have also seen some miracles in our area lately. I don't know if I've mentioned this, but serving in a single's ward is HARD. Especially when the focus of the mission is working with members and we have, on average, about 12 members in church every Sunday. BUT, we are starting to see the members really get on board and get excited about missionary work! Tonight, we are in charge of Family Home Evening, and are having a missionary night...kind of like a district meeting with our ward. It should be a lot of fun, and will hopefully help them see that they are the ones that will make the most difference in this work, not us! That was the whole point of the missionary broadcast a few weeks ago...to help us see that we are just here to help facilitate the member's missionary work. It's kind of hard to wrap our minds around because we are in the mindset that we are the ones that are supposed to find, teach, and baptize, but now we will be the helpers! I love it!

Tonight, we are going to have a big dinner over at Dr. Fischer's house. I don't know if you remember me telling you that we serve at a free clinic every now and then with him? He isn't a member of the church, but is a really close friend to the Trail Center and we have all grown really close to him. He lives in Sister Whittaker's area, and she is teaching him, along with the elders in her area- Elder Wadsworth and Elder Bellows (from AZ). He bought ALL of the stuff to have Cafe Rio pork salads and brought it to me so I could cook because last time we ate over there I told him I wanted to cook this time. He's the best. We are going over to do service first- picking apples in an orchard- and then we will have dinner. Probably some musical numbers too because that's what we do here haha.

This upcoming Sunday is our first official concert, in Lincoln! Then, on pioneer day, we have a concert in the park in Florence, where the TC is. The Sunday after that is our concert in Council Bluffs. Things are about to get REAL crazy here. Wouldn't have it any other way. In fact, probably wouldn't know what to do with myself if it wasn't crazy!

Sister Seamons came here this week! She was with a group of seminary and institute teachers. It was a lot of fun to get to see her and she actually ended up in the tour I took. It was kind of a crazy tour because we had a ton of groups in the gallery at the same time and we only had about 20 minutes (it's usually about a 45 minute tour) to see everything, but it was a lot of fun to get to see her.

I love you all so much! I hope that this week is another great week, and that the reception in Utah goes as smoothly as the one in AZ did!

Love you to the moon and back!

Sister Farnsworth

                                            Allison with a surprise visit from her cousin, Lexi

                                                  A cute pic after helping Sister Shimokawa

This week....

Well, sounds like Dad and Curt's trip was a lot of fun! It's really interesting to me because my mission is so close to home, and I will probably be back here within a few months of going home, but I can still imagine how amazing it will be to come back and see people flourishing like Dad was able to! I bet it was really cool for Curt to be able to see those places too as he prepares for his mission! It was also so fun to hear that Katie went through the temple! Like you both said, I can't believe it has been over a year since it was "my turn" and now my little sister gets to love the temple as much as I do! Probably less than a year until it's Curt's turn. Crazy! Dad said time feels like it's flying! That's because we are all having so much fun ;)

This week has been SO CRAZY. We have had a lot of really cool experiences, but also some just plain wierd ones. For instance, yesterday, we went down to the Air Force base with our Relief Society president Kynzie who just happens to be in the Air Force. We were going to try and find some people that we knew lived on base but we had never met before. When we got there, we took off our name tags because our Bishopric (all military) told us to. I FREAKED OUT. Not out loud, but inside I was freaking out because I felt so so so awkward without it on. You wouldn't think it would make that much of a difference but it sure did. We couldn't figure out which building any of the people lived in because they were marked differently on the roster than on the building. So we were walking down hallways, searching for their names since they are all marked on the outside of the room who lives there. That doesn't sound creepy or anything...haha. These people stopped and asked us if they could help us, and they just happened to know that one of the girls we were looking for was upstairs visiting someone! Coincidence?! I don't think so. That was way cool. Right as that happened, we noticed that someone else we were looking for lived in that exact same hallway. MIRACLES, people. There are about 5 dorm halls with about 200 people living in each hall. MIRACLES. So we talk to the girl, and then went down to talk to the other guy, and as we are talking to him, he passes out. And we have to catch him. I hope he's ok...we will have Kynzie track him down again today and make sure. So if that isn't bizarre enough, add to it the fact that we serve in a singles ward, and are looking for people between 18 and 30 years of age. It leads to us getting hit on. A LOT. Seriously, I have never been flirted with so much as in the past 3 weeks of my mission. That sounds like I'm being really arrogant or something, but I'm serious. It's weird. And super funny because I am super awkward in the first place, and then you add on to it that I'm trying to teach these people the gospel, and they just aren't having it. Oh man....we laugh a lot.

We had interviews with President Weston this week, which was awesome! I love getting to learn from him, especially when it is just one on one like that and he can tell me things specifically for my area. I am so grateful for the priesthood in my life, and especially in my mission. It has blessed me so much, and as I've been able to teach people about the priesthood, and the difference that authority can make in their lives, I have realized again and again how essential it is for us to have.

It was a fun week of seeing people. Was it just last week that the NZ boys came?!?! Feels like forever ago. It was so fun to have them there and take them on tour. Then, I had some people from past wards I've served in come into the TC. And on Saturday, just before I was about to leave the Trail Center to go into my area, I saw someone I thought looked mighty familiar. Oh wait....that's because it was my COUSIN. It was so much fun to see Lexi, and I'm so glad that she got to see the Trail Center and go to the WQ temple. It is a beautiful temple. I always joke with one of the counselors in the temple presidency that I'm coming back here to get married one day. Just kidding.

Have a PERFECT week with the wedding. Know that I love you and that I will be thinking of you on Thursday! I love you all so much and am so grateful to have such a wonderful family supporting me. You will never know how much it means to me!

Love you!

Sister Farnsworth

A Big Week!

Well, this week was the big one! We had our first concert last night, a "dress rehearsal" of sorts because the real concerts don't start for another 3 weeks. We invited stake presidencies, bishoprics, and the senior couples in addition to President Weston and the temple president. We had a pretty good turnout, and I think that it went fairly smoothly for a first run without much practice other than last week! As we have planned for these concerts, we have prayed about each and every decision that we have made- which songs, who should sing, what the script should be- and it has been so neat in each and every instance to feel Heavenly Father lead us and guide us to the decisions that HE wanted us to make. That's why it was so much better than I could have ever done on my own, or even that we could have all done without Him. There are definitely things we want to change before the concert in Lincoln, but we are excited to get started!

I'm excited to meet the NZ boys on Tuesday- I will be here from 9-3 so hopefully they will come when they are supposed to! I unfortunately won't be serving at the TC when the Wanlass family comes in! I'm bummed, that would be neat.

Today, we went to a place called Fort Atkinson that was a real military fort WAYYY back when. It was really cool, and then we got to go see where Summer Quarters was- where Brigham Young lived, and Heber C. Kimball's land wasn't far from there! I love being here, where my heritage lived and worked and served. Even when it isn't about someone I am directly related to, I am so grateful because without them, we wouldn't have what we have...the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ. In the concerts, we are showing the clip by Elder Holland called "Safety for the Soul." Will you all go on to lds.org and find that Mormon Message this week? Last night, as we watched it, it struck me again (for the billionth time) that this is Christ's church. This is His work. I LOVE IT.

Being in a singles ward is the funniest thing of all time. I'm a super awkward missionary, but in a "normal" setting for me....a singles ward is what I was used to before my mission. It's so weird. I really love it though, and we have found some great people this week- 2 from member referrals! Member missionary work! I hope you all got to watch the broadcast. I know Papa mentioned it in his last letter! I am so grateful that we have this opportunity to work, more than ever, with members and that we can really change how we do His work so we are doing it in His way.

I love you all so much.

You are the best family and friends anyone could ever ask for

LOVE YOU

Sister Farnsworth