Birthday Week and Some Pics!

This week has been so good! I feel like every week is a BLUR though. Is it seriously Monday again?

We had another concert last night, so a lot of work went into preparing for that! It was the Omaha stake's concert, so I think there was pressure because it was the concert that is right here in our "home turf" if you will. At first, we were even more nervous because there weren't very many people there at about 5 minutes before the start of the concert, but it was completely full. People are just late apparently. Something I will NEVER understand. Anyways. We were really lucky because President allowed the elders that are serving far away to come in and sing for this concert, so Elders Tatafu, Pese, and Wadsworth all got to come in for last night. Reunion much!?!? Because this was our 4th concert, I think it has started to feel comfortable to the missionaries that are participating in them so everyone is doing SO well. We only have one more- Sept 15- and then they will be all done. So sad. I guess it will only be done until we start having Christmas concerts though, so it's not that sad!

Have I told you lately that I HATE Satan? Our amazing investigator Chris has really been hit hard this week, as always happens before someone gets baptized. He was supposed to have his baptism interview this past Saturday so he could get baptized this week, but the night before his interview, he called and said "I'm not ready. I can't do this right now." Of course, inside, I was freaking out, but I asked him to come up to the Trail Center and talk to us. We had a really powerful lesson and then watched the hour long Joseph Smith movie in sign language, but he still said that he wanted to feel more comfortable at church so he wanted to wait until September 21st instead of August 31st. It is such a hard balance to not push them, but to help them see that they are ready to be baptized!!!! AH. It kills me. It's ok though. We will just continue praying for him and helping him see his potential, and hopefully he will get baptized even sooner than that because I don't want Satan to have more time to distract him!

We are having a tri-stake FHE tonight with all of the singles wards in the Omaha and CB area, and we are so excited to bring our investigators out to meet people, especially since our ward is so small!

I love you all so much. Thank you for the birthday cards and letters that I have already received- I have the best family and friends ever.

LOVE YOU!

Sister Farnsworth

                                                           Pic from the 4th of July

                                                           Sis. Farns and Sis. Brown

                                                                   Concert in Lincoln

                                                              on the way to Lincoln

                                           Aug birthdays dinner with Dr. Fischer and Marsha

                                               more travelling pics  (Sis Owen in the center)

                                                              Sis Whitt and Sis Farns

                                                    Sis. Jones at a thrifty store in Old Market

                                                Sister Cleverly and Allison celebrating bdays!

Hello!

Welllll......I'm honestly drawing a blank here folks. My week has been one awesome learning experience after another, but it's not anything that honestly would be very exciting to any of you. And we've all read boring missionary letters before. Let's be honest. You don't want that. I'll see what I can do.

 

I guess my main excitement is just all about CHRIS. He is so incredible. He came to church for the third time yesterday...making him eligible to be baptized! He has completely quit smoking too. How amazing is that!?!? I think about the habits that I have in my life (not that it's exactly the same as smoking) and think about how hard it would be to completely stop those habits because someone told me to. I know that it has to be because he has a testimony of the Restoration, because otherwise, it really wouldn't be worth it. We gave him a copy of the Restoration DVD, and when we asked him yesterday if he had seen it, he said he watches it a lot. BEST investigator ever. Ok. I could never ever say that because it wouldn't be fair to all of the other people that I love so dearly in Nebraskie and IoWAY. But really, he has such pure intent. We asked him yesterday (mind you, this is pretty much all in sign language) if he knew Joseph Smith was a prophet. He said yes. So we asked him how he knew that was true. He said, after thinking only about 2 seconds, Well, I read the Book of Mormon every day. That's true. So he has to be a prophet. AH. I walked out of there with Sister Jones and our teamup and just freaked out! I kept saying "I'm never going home." Ashley- the member that was with us- just laughed at me because she's been back from her mission for about 2 years and understands the feeling. There is NOTHING like this work.

 

I think it is important for us to understand that there are different ways to access the Atonement and that we all have to do it in different ways depending on the stituation we are in. Sometimes it will be just praying and asking. Sometimes repenting, fasting, getting a priesthood blessing, taking the Sacrament, and whatever other ways that Heavenly Father prompts us to use His Son's sacrifice for us. I'm learning that every day. Each and every person, each and every situation, really requires us to ask our loving Father in Heaven how He would have us heal or change or grow. And then, we have to go about it- ACT- in the way that He tells us to do it. There is no generic answer because we are all made individually by Him. He knows what we need. It's like it says in 2 Nephi 31:3. He will always speak to us according to our language and our understanding because He knows it perfectly as our Creator. I wish I could take you all to the wagon wheel with the odometer in the Trail Center right now so I could explain how the pioneers really understood this concept. Ok, I'm rambling.

 

I love serving the Lord. I am so grateful that He puts specific people in our paths so that we can learn from them, be supported by them, and grow as we serve them. He truly is our Light, and if we can rely on Him and His Atonement more fully, we will be able to have peace in this life and the life to come.

 

Sorry I'm kind of boring this week. Last week felt like FALL. It was gorgeous here. This week we're going to get back up to about 93 with humidity on humidity. Oh well. Like Mom said in her email, its no 113.

 

Love you all!

 

Sister Farnsworth

Hello!!!

Wow. Kind of like Mom said in her email today...has another week really gone by? Is it REALLY time to bore you with my letters again? Sorry, guess you're stuck reading this! The week has been good. I think that every week I am surprised by how many things happen that I never expected to have happen on my mission. For instance....we were at Iowa Western and happened upon the dorm where all of the male athletes live. It felt like I was at work at BYU again. Made me laugh really hard. I also am just surprised all of the time about how much FUN I have. Sister Jones and I laugh. A lot.

 

This week was not super eventful...we had a really successful week full of huge miracles, but I can't say that any one thing was worthy of much time spent on it in a email....

 

Chris- our investigator who I get to sign to- is the BEST. When we were teaching him on Tuesday, we were talking about the Book of Mormon and he said that he feels like he is having a conversation with Heavenly Father when he reads it. At the end, when we talked about his baptism, he was like "Why are we waiting until the 31st? Why not the 24th??" Haha.....ok sure why not? He is awesome. I don't think he will be quite ready by the 24th because he needs to quit smoking, but I know that Heavenly Father will help him get where he needs to be.

 

I think that the Trail Center is starting to slow down just a little bit, but that is ok because the quilt show starts in just a few weeks, so we will get lots of people in for that too! I have been reflecting a lot on God's plan for each and every one of us lately...about how we have the life we have, the year we have, the day we have because God knew that would make us grow in the way that He wanted us to. I can't comprehend it, but I am grateful for it. I am especially grateful that He is giving me, day by day, the exact mission that I need to have.

 

I love you all so much. I know this is a super short email, but I am going to try and send some pictures, and knowing how fast the internet goes at the CB public library...I'm going to need some time for it.

 

LOVE YOU!

Sister Farnsworth

Hey!

I have no idea how I am going to summarize this week in one email. Part of me just wants to say it was AWESOME and leave it at that. But then you would be really mad at me, and I try to avoid that as much as possible haha. SO I will start with Wednesday.

So all of the sisters that were called to the Trail Center are back from their full proselyting transfers, so Sister Brown and Sister Jarman (who I am really close with) are sister training leaders for this area now. Which means that every transfer they have to go on exchanges with all of the companionships they are over. Which MEANS that I got to spend half of the day with Sister Jarman and half of the day with Sister Brown. We saw so so so many incredible miracles. I have never had a day like that my whole mission. Just one person after another that we found and taught and less actives were home that we have never met, and I had so much fun, and I could go on forever and ever and ever. At the very end of the night, we found some guys grilling, and we even got to try Iowa corn!!! Just topped off the night, because we are CONSTANTLY walking by one corn field or another, and I still haven't tried any of it. Lame. It was so good! Also, I am going out for steak today (for Sister Whittaker's bday) for the first time on my mission. I'm in Omaha. Omaha Steaks anyone?!?

We also had a huge miracle in church on Sunday because people are starting to come back for school! We had over 30 people there. OVER THIRTY! I wanted to cry I was so happy. AND, investigator, who is deaf, came to church on Sunday too! Did I tell you that he is deaf! I love Chris so much. Even if he laughs at me alllll the time because apparently I'm super funny? I don't know, I don't get it. His mom is a member who lives out in Shenandoah and the Elders referred him to us. He has never been interested in church before but he is so ready now for a change in his life. The members were so good to him at church yesterday and I know that he felt really welcomed there! My signing is ROUGH because I haven't signed in basically a year, but it is getting better. He doesn't give me any slack though- he signs as fast or slow as he wants to.

I am so grateful lately, as I have taken tours at the Trail Center, to feel of God's love for people and see just a little piece of how He feels about them. I don't know if I've mentioned how busy it is in the summer, but I think you can probably imagine. Especially this last Saturday. We were SLAMMED. But each individual tour, I was able to just take a minute and LOVE them. Sheesh. I love being a missionary.

On Saturday, Elder and Sister Watson (the previous directors of the Trail Center) were here in Omaha to see the play that we have out here called "Come Home to Kanesville." He got permission from President to take all of the sisters who were here with him out to lunch, so Sisters Jasper, Vance, Jarman, Kirby, Brown, Whittaker, Holt, Anderson, and I went out with him and his wife. It was so much fun, but also really weird to think about how many sisters we have in the mission now, and that none of them were here 6 months ago. Bizarre. We now have more full proselyting companionships than Trail Center companionships, and just a few months ago, we didn't have any full proselyting companionships. The Lord really is hastening His work. I am so grateful to be just this small part of it, and that He has trusted me to take care of this beautiful part of the vineyard in Council Bluffs, IOWA. I am so blessed.

I love you all so much. I'm going to echo Syster Blomquist's emails, and tell you to GO TO THE TEMPLE. It really is the Lord's house, and we need to make time to go there often and feel of His love for us and for all of His children.

I love you to the moon and back!
Sister Farnsworth