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