Fwd: Hi Jodi

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Hey Mom and Dad,

I will try and answer some questions first...

As missionaries we are not allowed to travel out of our mission to go to temple trips. That would be pretty nice if we could.

My new companion Sister Meyers is amazing! She is from Provo, UT and goes home one week before Christmas. She will be going back to school at BYU in the winter. I love being her companion. I learn so much from her and it is really nice because we both know exactly what to do out here on the mission and we both understand and speak so it is really nice. We are a great team and I know we will be great together.

We had our branch Halloween party on Saturday and it was a success! Everyone who came absolutely loved it. We had games such as "fishing in the dangerous sea", pin the nose on the pumpkin, halloween bingo, and of course musical chairs. We also had pumpkin carving that they could do if they wanted. We also made lots of chili (that is a favorite dish that the members always request) and had dessert. It took a lot of work but was a lot of fun.

It's good to hear you had a great conference. This Sunday President and Sister Wilstead came to visit Blagoevgrad. They gave talks and taught third hour. It was so nice. Everyone was on their best behavior and everything ran smoothly.

This week we were able to have some good lessons with some new people. We taught a woman named Katiya and her boyfriend Giorgi. They are so nice. They are just the people who are kind to everyone and respect us a lot. I really hope everything goes well with them. They have Fall break right now so we won't meet with them until next week. I am sure this city will be pretty vacant this week but I'm sure we will find some great people!

I hope all is well back home! I love all of you so much. THANK YOU FOR YOUR LOVE AND SUPPORT. I hope you have a great week.

Love,
Sister Farnsworth

On Sun, Oct 28, 2012 at 10:54 PM, <dmamaquail@aol.com> wrote:

Hi Jodi,

Are you allowed to go to the temple trip in Germany? That would be so cool. How do you like your new companion Sister Meyers? Where is she from and when does she leave for home? I am sure you will be an excellent final companion!

Did the Hindu missionaries speak English or Bulgarian? Did you already have your Halloween party with the branch? How was it?

We just got back from Stake conference and we had a General Authority there. His name was Eduardo Gavarret. He is from Uruguay. He talked about how important it was for us to strengthen our families. Last night at the adult session Brother and Sister Greer from the Kennewick mission spoke. Sister Greer related an awesome story about a new convert. She said how she and president Greer got a phone call from a couple of their missionaries and they wanted them to come out and interview a man to be baptized. So they drove to the chapel and only saw a man who looked homeless and then the missionaries arrived. They introduced this man as Van Keys. They said that Van was full of the spirit and was a pleasure to speak with. The interview was completed and Van was baptized. Van said how he had gone through terrible things in his life including addictions and now because of the missionaries he had found the true church and would have loved to have found it 10 years earlier when he remembered that the missionaries came to his home but he would not answer the door. Sister Greer went on to tell more about Van and it was an amazing story.

Finally she related that a brother in his ward was going to give a talk in church and asked Van if he would be a part of his talk by bearing his testimony. Van was delighted and agreed to help. However, on his way to church that morning Van had a heart attack and died.

We never know how much time we have left on this Earth, so we should never procrastinate the day of our repentance. 

It was a great conference. I hope that you are having a wonderful time on your mission.

We love you and think of you often.

Mom and Dad

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october 15th 2012

Hey Mom and Dad,

I am glad that you were sent pictures from our zone conference! Could you send me a copy of that? I think they forgot to forward it to us because I have not seen it yet.

I just began to watch conference! We watched the Saturday morning session in church yesterday. So far it is amazing! It's crazy seeing how I understand so much more now compared to the last time I watched conference in Bulgarian. I am so excited for all the young men who can serve at 18 and all the young women at 19! I think that is amazing and I'm sure we will have many more missionaries out in the field. Be sure to keep me updated with all those preparing to serve a mission. If any of them need some encouragement, tell them to DO IT and they won't regret it.

I also enjoyed the talk from President Uchtdorf when he talked about spending time with the ones you love. Taking in everything that comes and be happy and thankful. It is such a good message to keep in mind as we go throughout our normal routine. Everyday we can find something new to be grateful for.

That is so exciting that Grandma and Grandpa Brown are coming to visit for Christmas this year! Oh I miss them so much. I miss everyone so much. I am happy that you will be spending quality time together.

It is definitely fall here now. The leaves are changing colors and falling all over the place. I can only imagine what it looks like back home especially on the street next to the schools with three different names (hathaway... i can't remember the other ones).

I am so happy that things are going well with your classes at school this year! Sounds like just the students that you need. I hope they keep up their hard work.

This week went by really fast for me. We had a lot of lessons with Radostina. She is still doing well and I feel the spirit each time we teach her. We also had a "fun night" with the branch on Friday. It was pretty fun. It's so funny how much they love "American" games. Things are going well here. I can't believe that transfer calls are this Friday. I think I will stay here in Blagoevgrad since I just got here. I am happy to stay because I love the people and life is great! So next week I will tell you who my new companion will be.

Thank you for all that you do and all of your prayers. I love you so much. I hope you have a great week!

Love,
Sister Farnsworth

p.s. I love you.

october 9th 2012

Hey Mom and Dad,

Glad to hear that you have been having a good time back home. It's neat to hear all the new updates on everyone. I loved the pictures that you sent!
Did you enjoy conference? We still haven't been able to watch it. We watch it this Sunday in Bulgarian. However, President Wilstead (Our mission president) told those of us who haven't seen it yet about the new change with when missionaries can serve. I think that is amazing and so many more people will be going on missions!

Yesterday I got back from Zone Conference in Sofia. It was quite the experience. The spirit was so strong and it just boosted my testimony that our leaders are called of God. There are some changes going on in our mission right now that will make us so much stronger. I am so grateful for this opportunity to serve right now and get to see this great improvement in this mission. There was a quote that was shared in Zone Conference that I really enjoyed, "The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph, what we obtain too cheaply we esteem too lightly."-Thomas Paine. I feel like this hits a mission on the dot. I also feel that we can take this quote and use it in our everyday lives. We need to work hard always.

I feel so pumped up from Zone Conference and it's hard to explain. I just know that whatever I am doing that is good can always get better. I especially have an increased love and gratitude for this amazing opportunity to be a missionary for the Lord. I have the name of Jesus Christ on myself everyday and I want to make sure I am being the best representative of him "at all times and in all things and in all places". I love knowing that I can be clean through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ and live with you all again after this life. The best thing about being a missionary is that I get to teach that to people all day. Even though it shouldn't just be when I am a missionary. We have a knowledge which is priceless that we need to share with everyone. I am so grateful that I have you both as parents and examples. I am grateful for my siblings and their example to me. I am thankful for my good friends and their great standards. I am so happy.

To say the least, Zone Conference was amazing. This week I just had was pretty amazing as well. Things are just going well. Our investigator, Radostina is doing great. I love her and her desire to change and become a member of this church. We also have been meeting with her daughter, Iva who is 13. Lessons are going well and the spirit is always there to testify.

I can't wait to watch conference and hear the words of our latter-day prophet. I hope this week will be great for all of you! I love you so much.

Love,
Sister Farnsworth

October 1st 2012

Hey Mom and Dad,

So to answer a few questions... Yes, luckily the bowling alleys over here add up the scores on a screen. Yeah they look like our bowling alleys... just the small old ones. Yeah there are two American Universities here but they are both called pretty much the same thing.

That's cool you are taking a train to Seattle! Take pictures and send them to me! I still want to see pictures from the cruise!

Wow, I don't even know where to start this week. I feel like I have so many things to say that I won't have time to write everything. For starters while contacting I was able to meet some really cool people and already have some really good lessons with them. Then, we had a lesson with one of our investigators and he brought his old neighbor to the lesson. It was quite the surprise! I was not expecting that at all.. but more the merrier! We talked a little bit about baptism that lesson. Two days later we had a meeting with just the woman and she told us that she had been thinking a lot about what we said concerning baptism. Then she told us that she wants to be baptized and wants to continue meeting with us and learn more about the church!! It was incredible to say the least.

Saturday we had Young Womens with two young girls in the branch and we were making cards for everyone in the branch to focus on the value "good works". Later that day the Elders, Sister Bingham and I were going to visit an inactive woman who has not been to church in a long time. So we made sure to all write something special on the card for her. We delivered the card to her and shared a message and told her how much everyone misses her at church and that she should come. She promised that she would come. Yesterday she came to church and she bore her testimony! The spirit was so strong.

Yeah, these are the main highlights of the week! I had a great week! All week I kept turning to Sister Bingham and saying, "We are so blessed sister!"--I like how I sound like a missionary when I say that ha ha.

Today we are going to Rila Monastery. It is a very big tourist spot and should be very interesting! Oh yeah.. next week we have Zone Conference in Sofia and are spending the night from Sunday to Monday. My preparation day will not be until Tuesday. Just so you know.

Well I want you all to know that I love you so so much!! Thank you for all the prayers. I am really excited for conference coming up! It should be another great experience(I just hope I can understand more this time ha ha) Have a great week!

Love,

Sister Jodi Farnsworth