Hey Mom and Dad,
Where to start? First off, thanks for all the updates on things! That's interesting about the change in the movie...that is a pretty funny movie. Also give my congrats to Rianne and Kevin! Wow. I am surprised and happy for them. Do you know when they will get married?
I had a great week. Weeks are going by really fast! On Tuesday we went out to a part-member family's house in their village. They live about 40 mins away from Plovdiv. It was quite the adventure. We took a train and then walked 4 kilometers to their village. It was really nice. We enjoyed being there with them and you could see they were happy to have us there. They made us a lot of food! It was really good too. They are from Armenia, so a lot of the food they made was Armenian food. Yummy.
We had a really goodlesson with a new man we met named Giorgi. He is in his mid-late 30's and is a 2nd grade teacher. It went very well and the spirit was very strong. He told us how he is searching for the truth.
We also had a good time contacting this week. We met this woman and her daughter on our way back to our apartment. We started talking and found out that they spoke perfect English. They had been going through some hard times and wanted to heear more about what we believe and how it can help them. We talked for awhile on the street and before we left we gave them a hug. You know that when you can end meeting someone on the street with a hug, it was good.
Church yesterday was amazing. There were so many little miracles happening here and there. We had been praying that a lot more people would come to church. We have a big building here in Plovdiv but it isn't filled with people on Sundays. Well, yesterday right as the meeting was about to start, so many people started coming in! People that we had prayed to come, came! I was leading the music up at the front and could see the sacrament room filled with members and non-members! It was amazing.
Also we were able to meet with a young woman that we had been trying to get a hold of for weeks! So many great things have happened this week.
I can't believe that the end of another transfer has come... I feel as though I just got to Plovdiv. On Friday or Saturday we will receive transfer calls. I am pretty sure I will stay here in Plovdiv (which I'd be happy about) but you never know what will happen...
Well, That's about it for me. I hope you are all doing well. Have a great week! Remember who you are and that Heavenly Father loves you!
Love,
Sister Farnsworth
Monday, April 22, 2013
Monday, April 15, 2013
April 15th 2013
Hey Mom and Dad,
This week went by very fast. We did so many things this week. We went into Sofia for my passport work and then on Wednesday we had zone conference in Plovdiv. We had some lessons and then we had a fun night for the young single adults. On Sunday, we were able to continue watching this Sunday sessions of General Conference.
Zone conference was great this week! I learned so many new things. We started of zone conference with learning about how to work with church leaders. This was a very important subject to talk about. We were taught by the assistants to the president (Elder Adams and Elder Hammond). We had a great group discussion of how we can really work with the church leaders and gain a good relationship with them. We have many new members in the church here in Bulgaria, which is exciting! However, we know that the new members need a calling right away! I don't know why, but sometimes the leaders here are a little reluctant to give them callings. We talked about how we can help encourage our leaders to give everyone callings.
We then learned some great things from Sister Wilstead. She taught us about "The Role of Angels." We learned many things about how we can recognize angels in our lives. We learned that angels comfort, protect, and strengthen us. I loved this lesson from Sister Wilstead. It taught me that even when I have moments when I feel alone, I am not. I always have my Heavenly Father and his angels all the time.
Then we were able to be taught by President Wilstead. He started off ny saying he had a great and important scripture to share with us. He said it was Luke 17:32 which reads, "Remember Lot's wife." After we read it we were all a bit confused. He explained that this statement is very significant. When we think about the history of Lot and his family and how they were told to leave all that they had. They left, but as they were just about to get out of sight of the city, Lot's wife turned and looked and turned into a pillar of salt. It's not the fact that Lot's wife looked back, it's the fact that she wanted all the things she had left.
President Wilstead related that to our mission. We are doing so great in our mission right now, we need to remember to stay focused and keep going!
Overall, zone conference was amazing. I learned many things that I want to remember for my whole life.
Our young single adult fun night was great. We had many investigators there playing games with us. It is a great way to get the members and investigators together and socializing.
I love General conference. I am not quite sure if I can pin point a favorite...but I really like Neil L. Andersons talk on Sunday morning. He talked about missionary work and how we all should be missionaries! I am glad that Dad got challenged to give away a Book of Mormon. We gave that challenge out to the branch here a few weeks ago. It has been great hearing the stories of the brave members sharing their testimonies to their friends and essentially giving them salvation. Sharing the gospel to others is the best service one can give.
We had some lessons this week. We had an interesting lesson with a woman. Everything went very well. Then after the lesson our branch president told us that the woman we met with has been around the church here and there for about 10 years...and that she had been dating a spy to spy on the church about 5 years ago or something.... very weird and interesting the people you can come in contact with on a daily basis here.
My companion, Sister Wild and I are working diligently to find more people to teach and learn about the gospel of Jesus Christ. Things are great. Life is amazing.
I hope you all have a great week. I love you all very much. Keep reading your scriptures!
Love,
Sister Farnsworth
This week went by very fast. We did so many things this week. We went into Sofia for my passport work and then on Wednesday we had zone conference in Plovdiv. We had some lessons and then we had a fun night for the young single adults. On Sunday, we were able to continue watching this Sunday sessions of General Conference.
Zone conference was great this week! I learned so many new things. We started of zone conference with learning about how to work with church leaders. This was a very important subject to talk about. We were taught by the assistants to the president (Elder Adams and Elder Hammond). We had a great group discussion of how we can really work with the church leaders and gain a good relationship with them. We have many new members in the church here in Bulgaria, which is exciting! However, we know that the new members need a calling right away! I don't know why, but sometimes the leaders here are a little reluctant to give them callings. We talked about how we can help encourage our leaders to give everyone callings.
We then learned some great things from Sister Wilstead. She taught us about "The Role of Angels." We learned many things about how we can recognize angels in our lives. We learned that angels comfort, protect, and strengthen us. I loved this lesson from Sister Wilstead. It taught me that even when I have moments when I feel alone, I am not. I always have my Heavenly Father and his angels all the time.
Then we were able to be taught by President Wilstead. He started off ny saying he had a great and important scripture to share with us. He said it was Luke 17:32 which reads, "Remember Lot's wife." After we read it we were all a bit confused. He explained that this statement is very significant. When we think about the history of Lot and his family and how they were told to leave all that they had. They left, but as they were just about to get out of sight of the city, Lot's wife turned and looked and turned into a pillar of salt. It's not the fact that Lot's wife looked back, it's the fact that she wanted all the things she had left.
President Wilstead related that to our mission. We are doing so great in our mission right now, we need to remember to stay focused and keep going!
Overall, zone conference was amazing. I learned many things that I want to remember for my whole life.
Our young single adult fun night was great. We had many investigators there playing games with us. It is a great way to get the members and investigators together and socializing.
I love General conference. I am not quite sure if I can pin point a favorite...but I really like Neil L. Andersons talk on Sunday morning. He talked about missionary work and how we all should be missionaries! I am glad that Dad got challenged to give away a Book of Mormon. We gave that challenge out to the branch here a few weeks ago. It has been great hearing the stories of the brave members sharing their testimonies to their friends and essentially giving them salvation. Sharing the gospel to others is the best service one can give.
We had some lessons this week. We had an interesting lesson with a woman. Everything went very well. Then after the lesson our branch president told us that the woman we met with has been around the church here and there for about 10 years...and that she had been dating a spy to spy on the church about 5 years ago or something.... very weird and interesting the people you can come in contact with on a daily basis here.
My companion, Sister Wild and I are working diligently to find more people to teach and learn about the gospel of Jesus Christ. Things are great. Life is amazing.
I hope you all have a great week. I love you all very much. Keep reading your scriptures!
Love,
Sister Farnsworth
Monday, April 8, 2013
April 8th 2013
Hey Mom and Dad,
I got your letter and package! Thank you so much! I really appreciate it! Everyone loves the shirts!
Well, this week was pretty busy. We had an English sign-up night, Institute, a Relief Society party, and of course our regular missionary work.
English sign-up night didn't exactly go as planned. It was too bad, but not very many people came. There might be people who end up coming for the actual course. We will see.
Institute was pretty good. We had a few investigators there with some members. It was good to see the members act as missionaries as they answered the concerns of our investigators. I think having more young people coming to institute will be a great way to find more people to teach.
We had a relief society party. It's still interesting thinking about how they do parties here whenever I think about how they would do parties back home. They are very different. They both work, it's just different.
Oh yeah, on Sunday we were able to watch the morning and afternoon sessions of General Conference! It was great! It was so great to listen to the general authorities speak. I could really feel the spirt as they testified. It also was great to hear about how many missionaries are out in the field and all those who will be out soon. I think it is so great that all these young adults are serving the Lord, along with the couples.
We have been having a lot of rain lately! So we have been doing a lot of tracting in blocks. The funniest things always happen... One very old man told me I needed to learn 7 more languages and then come back and speak to him. It has been fun. We had a few good lessons as well. We are hoping to meet with more people this coming week. Although it seems as though we have many other things we need to do.
Tomorrow I go into Sofia for more passport work and on Wednesday we have zone conference! So many things happening.
I hope you are all doing well! I love all of you very much! I hope you all have a fantastic week! :)
Love,
Sister Farnsworth
I got your letter and package! Thank you so much! I really appreciate it! Everyone loves the shirts!
Well, this week was pretty busy. We had an English sign-up night, Institute, a Relief Society party, and of course our regular missionary work.
English sign-up night didn't exactly go as planned. It was too bad, but not very many people came. There might be people who end up coming for the actual course. We will see.
Institute was pretty good. We had a few investigators there with some members. It was good to see the members act as missionaries as they answered the concerns of our investigators. I think having more young people coming to institute will be a great way to find more people to teach.
We had a relief society party. It's still interesting thinking about how they do parties here whenever I think about how they would do parties back home. They are very different. They both work, it's just different.
Oh yeah, on Sunday we were able to watch the morning and afternoon sessions of General Conference! It was great! It was so great to listen to the general authorities speak. I could really feel the spirt as they testified. It also was great to hear about how many missionaries are out in the field and all those who will be out soon. I think it is so great that all these young adults are serving the Lord, along with the couples.
We have been having a lot of rain lately! So we have been doing a lot of tracting in blocks. The funniest things always happen... One very old man told me I needed to learn 7 more languages and then come back and speak to him. It has been fun. We had a few good lessons as well. We are hoping to meet with more people this coming week. Although it seems as though we have many other things we need to do.
Tomorrow I go into Sofia for more passport work and on Wednesday we have zone conference! So many things happening.
I hope you are all doing well! I love all of you very much! I hope you all have a fantastic week! :)
Love,
Sister Farnsworth
Monday, April 1, 2013
April 1st 2013
Hey Mom and Dad,
So when I went into Sofia for passport work, I got the letter you sent me! Thanks so much! I loved it.
Just to clarify... when I go into passport work, that means that I am going to get a new card that says I can stay in Bulgaria. I need my passport with me so they can write down information, that's why they call it "passport work."
I hope you all had a great Easter. They don't celebrate Easter here this year until May 6th.... I have no idea why it is so late! We had a great fast and testimony meeting. Some of the new converts in the branch bore their testimonies and it was really powerful. It is so great seeing people change their lives and strengthen others by bearing their testimonies.
This week was great. We had our big institute fireside. It was pretty stressful getting everything set up, but it was great. We had guests from Moscow, Russia and Kiev, Ukraine. When the guest from Moscow spoke the man from Ukraine had to translate it into English and then a member who knows perfect English had to translate into Bulgarian. I thought it was pretty cool! They gave a great presentation on Joseph Smith and the start of the church in America. They talked about how you can be truly happy even when you don't have the material needs you want. It was a really good message and the spirit was very strong. We are really hoping that we can get institute big and strong here. We need the youth of the church to unite and become friends.
We had some great lessons this week. My favorite lesson this week was when we taught our new convert about Temples. She absolutely loved it. I love being able to show people pictures of temples and explain the importance of them.
Well I hope you all have a great week! I can't wait to see General Conference this weekend! make sure you all take great notes! I love you all very much.
Love,
Sister Farnsworth
So when I went into Sofia for passport work, I got the letter you sent me! Thanks so much! I loved it.
Just to clarify... when I go into passport work, that means that I am going to get a new card that says I can stay in Bulgaria. I need my passport with me so they can write down information, that's why they call it "passport work."
I hope you all had a great Easter. They don't celebrate Easter here this year until May 6th.... I have no idea why it is so late! We had a great fast and testimony meeting. Some of the new converts in the branch bore their testimonies and it was really powerful. It is so great seeing people change their lives and strengthen others by bearing their testimonies.
This week was great. We had our big institute fireside. It was pretty stressful getting everything set up, but it was great. We had guests from Moscow, Russia and Kiev, Ukraine. When the guest from Moscow spoke the man from Ukraine had to translate it into English and then a member who knows perfect English had to translate into Bulgarian. I thought it was pretty cool! They gave a great presentation on Joseph Smith and the start of the church in America. They talked about how you can be truly happy even when you don't have the material needs you want. It was a really good message and the spirit was very strong. We are really hoping that we can get institute big and strong here. We need the youth of the church to unite and become friends.
We had some great lessons this week. My favorite lesson this week was when we taught our new convert about Temples. She absolutely loved it. I love being able to show people pictures of temples and explain the importance of them.
Well I hope you all have a great week! I can't wait to see General Conference this weekend! make sure you all take great notes! I love you all very much.
Love,
Sister Farnsworth
Monday, March 25, 2013
March 25th 2013
Hey Mom and Dad,
Thanks for all the updates! It's great to hear about all those going on missions and coming home from missions! Everyone should serve a mission!
Well, it was another great week in Plovdiv! Zone Leader Training was amazing! It was a bit different not having to travel at all. It was great seeing everyone in my zone. We learned a lot about planning our time wisely because after all, this isn't our time, it's the Lord's time. We were able to have personal interviews with President Wilstead. It was really nice being able to talk with him. There are so many great missionaries here. i feel incredibly blessed to be serving with all of them. Sister Wild and I were the last ones to have our interviews on Wednesday. President and Sister Wilstead were so nice and took us out for dinner. It was great getting to know them on a more personal level.
The environment is so great here. We are all working as a team to try and get goals accomplished. President, Sister Wilstead, Sister Wild and I had a great conversation about Senior Missionary couples. We talked about how great of a need it is to have more couples out here on a mission. I really want to serve a mission when I have a husband and am a bit older. I would be willing to go anywhere...but I would request Bulgaria.
We have been working on getting the YSA bigger here in Plovdiv. We have many YSA but they are either not active, or just have a hard time getting to know people. We have been preparing for a big fireside this Thursday for them. We will be having guests from Moscow (they are the area coordinators or something for YSA). We hope all will go well. It's been pretty difficult trying to get it all organized and ready... but we know it's worth it. The youth are the future of the church and they need to be strong.
Tomorrow I will be going into Sofia for passport work... it's hard to believe that it's time for me to do that again.
Oh yeah, last Friday we got special permission to go to Pazerjik! It is a city about 40 minutes away. They have many women there and no visiting teachers. So Sister Wild and I spent our day visiting many Sisters and getting to know them. It was great seeing how excited these Sisters were to see us there! It was a great and successful day. Visiting and Home teaching are very important! Everyone needs to do it!
That's about it for this week. I hope you all have a great week! Remember that you can always be a missionary even if you don't have a tag! I love you very much.
Love,
Sister Farnsworth
Thanks for all the updates! It's great to hear about all those going on missions and coming home from missions! Everyone should serve a mission!
Well, it was another great week in Plovdiv! Zone Leader Training was amazing! It was a bit different not having to travel at all. It was great seeing everyone in my zone. We learned a lot about planning our time wisely because after all, this isn't our time, it's the Lord's time. We were able to have personal interviews with President Wilstead. It was really nice being able to talk with him. There are so many great missionaries here. i feel incredibly blessed to be serving with all of them. Sister Wild and I were the last ones to have our interviews on Wednesday. President and Sister Wilstead were so nice and took us out for dinner. It was great getting to know them on a more personal level.
The environment is so great here. We are all working as a team to try and get goals accomplished. President, Sister Wilstead, Sister Wild and I had a great conversation about Senior Missionary couples. We talked about how great of a need it is to have more couples out here on a mission. I really want to serve a mission when I have a husband and am a bit older. I would be willing to go anywhere...but I would request Bulgaria.
We have been working on getting the YSA bigger here in Plovdiv. We have many YSA but they are either not active, or just have a hard time getting to know people. We have been preparing for a big fireside this Thursday for them. We will be having guests from Moscow (they are the area coordinators or something for YSA). We hope all will go well. It's been pretty difficult trying to get it all organized and ready... but we know it's worth it. The youth are the future of the church and they need to be strong.
Tomorrow I will be going into Sofia for passport work... it's hard to believe that it's time for me to do that again.
Oh yeah, last Friday we got special permission to go to Pazerjik! It is a city about 40 minutes away. They have many women there and no visiting teachers. So Sister Wild and I spent our day visiting many Sisters and getting to know them. It was great seeing how excited these Sisters were to see us there! It was a great and successful day. Visiting and Home teaching are very important! Everyone needs to do it!
That's about it for this week. I hope you all have a great week! Remember that you can always be a missionary even if you don't have a tag! I love you very much.
Love,
Sister Farnsworth
Monday, March 18, 2013
March 18th 2013
Dear Mom and Dad,
Thanks so much for sending a package and a letter!! I am so excited. I will let you know when I get it! Sister Haddock sent me a letter! It was so nice. She is an amazing woman.
This week was very busy and great! We had many lessons with people who have great potential. It is exciting to meet all these new people and teach them the gospel of Jesus Christ. However, everything led up to the baptism on Saturday!
Our investigator, Valentina got baptized this Saturday. It was such a great experience. Leading up to her baptism she was ready in every way, but was still having trouble with coffee. She had reduced her intake but still needed help stopping. She asked one of the Elders for a blessing. After the blessing she didn't even crave coffee. She would always tell us how good she felt! It's amazing seeing so many blessings all around us. When Saturday came she was prepared and ready to follow Jesus Christ and to be baptized.
Not only Valentina got baptized on Saturday! There were 3 others as well. Two of them were from Pazerjik (a city about 30 mins away) and one of the Elder's investigators! It was a big day!
Sister Frame and Christensen came from Blagoevgrad because Sister Christensen helped teach Valentina. Then I had a great surprise... Vili and Irina from Blagoevgrad came along with them!!! I was so happy and surprised to see them. The church was so full that day. There was such a strong spirit.
What can I say? There is so much work for us to do. I love being a missionary and helping these people change their lives!
I am doing well. Everything is going great. We have Zone Leader training in Plovdiv on Wednesday. That should be exciting. It is always great seeing everyone in the zone together and growing and learning how to be better missionaries.
I love you all so much. Thank you for all your support! I feel the love :) I want you to know how special you are to me. I hope you have a great week! Look for blessings all around you. They are everywhere.
Love,
Sister Farnsworth
Thanks so much for sending a package and a letter!! I am so excited. I will let you know when I get it! Sister Haddock sent me a letter! It was so nice. She is an amazing woman.
This week was very busy and great! We had many lessons with people who have great potential. It is exciting to meet all these new people and teach them the gospel of Jesus Christ. However, everything led up to the baptism on Saturday!
Our investigator, Valentina got baptized this Saturday. It was such a great experience. Leading up to her baptism she was ready in every way, but was still having trouble with coffee. She had reduced her intake but still needed help stopping. She asked one of the Elders for a blessing. After the blessing she didn't even crave coffee. She would always tell us how good she felt! It's amazing seeing so many blessings all around us. When Saturday came she was prepared and ready to follow Jesus Christ and to be baptized.
Not only Valentina got baptized on Saturday! There were 3 others as well. Two of them were from Pazerjik (a city about 30 mins away) and one of the Elder's investigators! It was a big day!
Sister Frame and Christensen came from Blagoevgrad because Sister Christensen helped teach Valentina. Then I had a great surprise... Vili and Irina from Blagoevgrad came along with them!!! I was so happy and surprised to see them. The church was so full that day. There was such a strong spirit.
What can I say? There is so much work for us to do. I love being a missionary and helping these people change their lives!
I am doing well. Everything is going great. We have Zone Leader training in Plovdiv on Wednesday. That should be exciting. It is always great seeing everyone in the zone together and growing and learning how to be better missionaries.
I love you all so much. Thank you for all your support! I feel the love :) I want you to know how special you are to me. I hope you have a great week! Look for blessings all around you. They are everywhere.
Love,
Sister Farnsworth
Monday, March 11, 2013
March 11th 2013
Hey Mom and Dad,
Well, I am very happy that you received the letter! I am glad you like the pictures. Sorry if you got confused with the name on the back of the picture. I am pretty sure I wrote her name in Bulgarian.
Thanks for your effort to write me an actual letter through the mail. It means a lot to get "real" mail. Speaking of which, I got a big letter from the young men and young women in the ward. That was a nice surprise!
Things here in Plovdiv are great! The work is amazing.I love being in an actual church building. It still isn't quite like the buildings back home, but it is very nice. I am still in the process of meeting everyone and getting situated. I still get confused with where I am and what not. It is actually pretty refreshing to not know exactly where I am all the time. Plovdiv is a beautiful city. It is a very old city as well.There are many tourist places here. Remember last year when we had our mission conference and I sent you pictures of the old amphitheater and other things? Well that is where I am. We even have a medium-size mall here. I also really enjoy being companions with Sister Wild. She is really cool. I sometimes find myself saying "British" words and sayings every now and then.
This week we had quite a few lessons. The majority of the lessons were with young people. Our goal is to try and get a strong Young Single Adult program started here. We have Young Single Adults but they do not socialize with each other. So we are going to help with getting that in order. That way when we bring in our young investigators there will be other young people there.
We have an investigator named Valentina. She is so sweet. She will be getting baptized soon! She is 31 years old and is amazing in every way. I think it is amazing the people that I have the opportunity to meet while being a missionary.
Let's see... other than that... I am doing well. Thank you for all of your prayers. I love all of you very much. I hope you have a great week!
Love,
Sister Farnsworth
Well, I am very happy that you received the letter! I am glad you like the pictures. Sorry if you got confused with the name on the back of the picture. I am pretty sure I wrote her name in Bulgarian.
Thanks for your effort to write me an actual letter through the mail. It means a lot to get "real" mail. Speaking of which, I got a big letter from the young men and young women in the ward. That was a nice surprise!
Things here in Plovdiv are great! The work is amazing.I love being in an actual church building. It still isn't quite like the buildings back home, but it is very nice. I am still in the process of meeting everyone and getting situated. I still get confused with where I am and what not. It is actually pretty refreshing to not know exactly where I am all the time. Plovdiv is a beautiful city. It is a very old city as well.There are many tourist places here. Remember last year when we had our mission conference and I sent you pictures of the old amphitheater and other things? Well that is where I am. We even have a medium-size mall here. I also really enjoy being companions with Sister Wild. She is really cool. I sometimes find myself saying "British" words and sayings every now and then.
This week we had quite a few lessons. The majority of the lessons were with young people. Our goal is to try and get a strong Young Single Adult program started here. We have Young Single Adults but they do not socialize with each other. So we are going to help with getting that in order. That way when we bring in our young investigators there will be other young people there.
We have an investigator named Valentina. She is so sweet. She will be getting baptized soon! She is 31 years old and is amazing in every way. I think it is amazing the people that I have the opportunity to meet while being a missionary.
Let's see... other than that... I am doing well. Thank you for all of your prayers. I love all of you very much. I hope you have a great week!
Love,
Sister Farnsworth
Monday, March 4, 2013
March 4th 2013
Hey Mom and Dad,
So I don't really know why you didn't get the email until Wednesday... I did write you on Monday. I got a few messages though that said there was something wrong with the connection... weird.
Things are great here in Plovdiv! It's really weird not being in Blagoevgrad anymore. I got so used to everything there. However, it is very nice to be able to have something new and much more places to go since it is a bigger city. I like being with Sister Wild. She is from Chorley, England. I am trying to get use to all the funny words she says, it's really fun though. The apartment is nice. It is the perfect size for two people. The best part is that we are literally 30 seconds away from the church. Oh and here in Plovdiv we have an actual church house! It was so crazy to have church on Sunday in a big building! I am really excited for all the great experiences I will have here in Plovdiv.
So far I have just been trying to get to know everyone here in the branch and our investigators. There is a lot of potential here and I am excited to keep up the great work.
Yesterday we were out contacting and ran into a man who lives in Washington. I asked him where and he said Vancouver! I told him I was from there also! His last name is Naydenov (he is the owner of the gymnastics place by the mall). Anyway, we had a great conversation with him. Apparently he is here for buisness. He said he could send something to you for me. So I am gonna write a letter and then he will either send it, or drop it off... it's so crazy that I met someone from there. Well.. he told me that he actually lives in Camas right now. So just so you know.. be expecting something.
March 1st was Grandma March Day! Just like last year everyone had there red and white bracelets to hand out to everyone! It was great seeing everyone so happy. On Saturday we had a branch activity. It was a folk night and we learned how to do some traditional Bulgarian dances. I loved it!
Things are going well and I am safe, no worries. I am really happy that spring is here and the sun is starting to come out. I still have a hard time understanding how time goes by so fast and things change so quickly. It reminds me that I need to always be striving to do the right thing, right now.
I hope you all have a great week. I love you all very much. Keep up all the hard work!
Love,
Sister Farnsworth
So I don't really know why you didn't get the email until Wednesday... I did write you on Monday. I got a few messages though that said there was something wrong with the connection... weird.
Things are great here in Plovdiv! It's really weird not being in Blagoevgrad anymore. I got so used to everything there. However, it is very nice to be able to have something new and much more places to go since it is a bigger city. I like being with Sister Wild. She is from Chorley, England. I am trying to get use to all the funny words she says, it's really fun though. The apartment is nice. It is the perfect size for two people. The best part is that we are literally 30 seconds away from the church. Oh and here in Plovdiv we have an actual church house! It was so crazy to have church on Sunday in a big building! I am really excited for all the great experiences I will have here in Plovdiv.
So far I have just been trying to get to know everyone here in the branch and our investigators. There is a lot of potential here and I am excited to keep up the great work.
Yesterday we were out contacting and ran into a man who lives in Washington. I asked him where and he said Vancouver! I told him I was from there also! His last name is Naydenov (he is the owner of the gymnastics place by the mall). Anyway, we had a great conversation with him. Apparently he is here for buisness. He said he could send something to you for me. So I am gonna write a letter and then he will either send it, or drop it off... it's so crazy that I met someone from there. Well.. he told me that he actually lives in Camas right now. So just so you know.. be expecting something.
March 1st was Grandma March Day! Just like last year everyone had there red and white bracelets to hand out to everyone! It was great seeing everyone so happy. On Saturday we had a branch activity. It was a folk night and we learned how to do some traditional Bulgarian dances. I loved it!
Things are going well and I am safe, no worries. I am really happy that spring is here and the sun is starting to come out. I still have a hard time understanding how time goes by so fast and things change so quickly. It reminds me that I need to always be striving to do the right thing, right now.
I hope you all have a great week. I love you all very much. Keep up all the hard work!
Love,
Sister Farnsworth
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
February 27th 2013
Hey Mom and Dad,
It's good to hear all the great news! I am happy to hear that there is now a Vancouver WA mission! That's amazing!
So we got transfer calls on Friday. I found out that on Tuesday I will be going to Plovdiv to serve with Sister Wild. I am really excited. At the same time I am pretty sad about leaving Blagoevgrad. Yesterday for church they asked me to bear my testimony before I left. It was intense. Everyone was crying. I started tearing up as well. The people here are amazing and I have grown to be good friends with all of them. I don't like saying goodbyes.
It was heart breaking having to tell Vili that I was leaving. She is taking it pretty hard. However, I know that we will keep in contact and hear from each other more.
I am really excited for Plovdiv. I have heard great things about it! It will be my first big city here in Bulgaria! Also, it is the only city with an actual church house. It will be quite the change!
This week was great! Sometimes I don't know where the time goes. We had a great lessons this week. Martin and Evgeni are awesome. They know Vili now because she has been coming to our lessons with them. They are growing a lot, they are just looking for an answer.
We had a great lesson with Sedska! She came to church too! We had a member named Vanya in our lesson with her. We talked about God and how he loves each of us and knows us individually. We asked her if she knew the Book of Mormon was from God and she said yes! Things are going well with her!
Young Women's was great. We played little "minute to win it" games with the girls and they loved it! I am going to miss them a lot!
Zone Leader Training was great. We talked all about the Holy Ghost and how we need to have it in all that we do as missionaries. Then we talked about how we can help our investigators know how to feel the promptings of the Holy Ghost. It was a good learning experience. It is helping be become a better missionary.
I cannot believe that I have been with Sister Frame for 10 weeks and now the transfer is over! She has been a great companion. I have learned so many things from all the Sisters that I have served with. I am excited to learn more things with Sister Wild.
It is also sad that Sister Tate will be leaving tomorrow for America. I will miss her.
I hope everything is going well for all of you! I hope you have a great week! Remember who you are. I love all of you very much!
Love,
Sister Farnsworth
It's good to hear all the great news! I am happy to hear that there is now a Vancouver WA mission! That's amazing!
So we got transfer calls on Friday. I found out that on Tuesday I will be going to Plovdiv to serve with Sister Wild. I am really excited. At the same time I am pretty sad about leaving Blagoevgrad. Yesterday for church they asked me to bear my testimony before I left. It was intense. Everyone was crying. I started tearing up as well. The people here are amazing and I have grown to be good friends with all of them. I don't like saying goodbyes.
It was heart breaking having to tell Vili that I was leaving. She is taking it pretty hard. However, I know that we will keep in contact and hear from each other more.
I am really excited for Plovdiv. I have heard great things about it! It will be my first big city here in Bulgaria! Also, it is the only city with an actual church house. It will be quite the change!
This week was great! Sometimes I don't know where the time goes. We had a great lessons this week. Martin and Evgeni are awesome. They know Vili now because she has been coming to our lessons with them. They are growing a lot, they are just looking for an answer.
We had a great lesson with Sedska! She came to church too! We had a member named Vanya in our lesson with her. We talked about God and how he loves each of us and knows us individually. We asked her if she knew the Book of Mormon was from God and she said yes! Things are going well with her!
Young Women's was great. We played little "minute to win it" games with the girls and they loved it! I am going to miss them a lot!
Zone Leader Training was great. We talked all about the Holy Ghost and how we need to have it in all that we do as missionaries. Then we talked about how we can help our investigators know how to feel the promptings of the Holy Ghost. It was a good learning experience. It is helping be become a better missionary.
I cannot believe that I have been with Sister Frame for 10 weeks and now the transfer is over! She has been a great companion. I have learned so many things from all the Sisters that I have served with. I am excited to learn more things with Sister Wild.
It is also sad that Sister Tate will be leaving tomorrow for America. I will miss her.
I hope everything is going well for all of you! I hope you have a great week! Remember who you are. I love all of you very much!
Love,
Sister Farnsworth
Monday, February 18, 2013
February 18th 2013
Hey Mom and Dad,
Good to hear about all the people returning and going on missions. Serving a mission is a great thing.
Yes, I am still in Blagoevgrad. I find out this Saturday what will happen for transfers. Vili is doing great! She is still wanting to serve a mission. She taught us a lesson this week and also was a member-present in one of our lessons. She is amazing. She told the young women in our branch that she wants to serve a mission and they smiled so big! They were so excited and gave her hugs. Vili is a great example for these younger girls!
Finally our investigators Martin and Evgeni got back from their long break. They are back here to study. We were able to have a great lesson with them. We caught up on where they are at. This whole break they have been reading out of the Book of Mormon and have been praying. It made me so happy to hear that they have been doing these things. Also, Martin had been meeting with some Elders in the city (pazerjik) where he is from. He knew so much! They are both 20 years old and are students at the same university as Vili.
On Saturday we had the opportunity of going to Stara Zagora for a baptism. Two people that Sister Frame taught were getting baptized. It was pretty exciting! Getting there was pretty crazy. We left Blagoevgrad at 6:30 am to Sofia. Then we needed to catch a bus from Sofia to Stara Zagora that left at 8am. Normally it takes around 2 hrs... a little less to get to Sofia from Blagoevgrad... so we were a little nervous but had faith that we would make it. Also we had called the bus station the night before and said they only had a bus at either 8am or 10am. This was a problem because it takes around 3 hrs to get to Stara Zagora from Sofia and the baptism started at 12pm.
Well we got to the bus station in Sofia right at 8 am. We saw the 8am Stara Zagora bus leaving and we ran after it! We stood in front of the bus asking to get in and they said no because it was full. So we went inside the bus station asking almost every teller if they had a bus at 9. They all said no, only at 10 am! Then I went to this random teller and asked and they said that they had one at 9am!!! The only thing is that it would drop us off a little outside the city. It was the best we had so we bought the tickets! We had the missionaries in Stara Zagora stall the baptism as long as they could... we got there late but walked in right as they were singing the opening hymn! We only could stay for a little over an hour before we had to catch a bus back to Sofia and then to Blagoevgrad. We did it and it was amazing! (Ok, so it doesn't sound very intense when I write it out, but it was!)
Church! We had 3 investigators at church yesterday!!! I couldn't believe it! The Elders had 3 also. We had a total of 6 investigators at church! I was so happy! Martin and Evgeni stayed for all 3 hours! It was a great Sunday.
Tomorrow we will be in Sofia for our Zone Leader Training meeting. That should be fun.
Well I hope you all have a great week!! Thanks for all you do. I love you all very much!
Love,
Sister Farnsworth
Good to hear about all the people returning and going on missions. Serving a mission is a great thing.
Yes, I am still in Blagoevgrad. I find out this Saturday what will happen for transfers. Vili is doing great! She is still wanting to serve a mission. She taught us a lesson this week and also was a member-present in one of our lessons. She is amazing. She told the young women in our branch that she wants to serve a mission and they smiled so big! They were so excited and gave her hugs. Vili is a great example for these younger girls!
Finally our investigators Martin and Evgeni got back from their long break. They are back here to study. We were able to have a great lesson with them. We caught up on where they are at. This whole break they have been reading out of the Book of Mormon and have been praying. It made me so happy to hear that they have been doing these things. Also, Martin had been meeting with some Elders in the city (pazerjik) where he is from. He knew so much! They are both 20 years old and are students at the same university as Vili.
On Saturday we had the opportunity of going to Stara Zagora for a baptism. Two people that Sister Frame taught were getting baptized. It was pretty exciting! Getting there was pretty crazy. We left Blagoevgrad at 6:30 am to Sofia. Then we needed to catch a bus from Sofia to Stara Zagora that left at 8am. Normally it takes around 2 hrs... a little less to get to Sofia from Blagoevgrad... so we were a little nervous but had faith that we would make it. Also we had called the bus station the night before and said they only had a bus at either 8am or 10am. This was a problem because it takes around 3 hrs to get to Stara Zagora from Sofia and the baptism started at 12pm.
Well we got to the bus station in Sofia right at 8 am. We saw the 8am Stara Zagora bus leaving and we ran after it! We stood in front of the bus asking to get in and they said no because it was full. So we went inside the bus station asking almost every teller if they had a bus at 9. They all said no, only at 10 am! Then I went to this random teller and asked and they said that they had one at 9am!!! The only thing is that it would drop us off a little outside the city. It was the best we had so we bought the tickets! We had the missionaries in Stara Zagora stall the baptism as long as they could... we got there late but walked in right as they were singing the opening hymn! We only could stay for a little over an hour before we had to catch a bus back to Sofia and then to Blagoevgrad. We did it and it was amazing! (Ok, so it doesn't sound very intense when I write it out, but it was!)
Church! We had 3 investigators at church yesterday!!! I couldn't believe it! The Elders had 3 also. We had a total of 6 investigators at church! I was so happy! Martin and Evgeni stayed for all 3 hours! It was a great Sunday.
Tomorrow we will be in Sofia for our Zone Leader Training meeting. That should be fun.
Well I hope you all have a great week!! Thanks for all you do. I love you all very much!
Love,
Sister Farnsworth
Monday, February 11, 2013
February 11th 2013
Hey Mom and Dad,
This week went well. It started out great with a lesson with Vili. We had her teach us a small portion of the lesson with us. She is so powerful! We got her a Preach My Gospel for herself. She is so excited to prepare to be a missionary!
Then on Tuesday I got a call saying that on Thursday and Friday we would be doing Sister exchanges! I was so shocked! This is the first time they have done something like this for sisters. I went to Sofia to be with Sister Roper and Sister Coryell came down to Blagoevgrad to be with Sister Frame. It was amazing and a great experience for all of us. There are only about 2 weeks until the transfer ends! I can't believe time has gone by so fast! Who knows what will happen next...
Church was great! We had 25 people there!! That's so many!! It was great to see our little building full of people and the spirit was so strong.
Other than that nothing too much. It snowed a little bit more today. I was a bit disappointed because I want spring to come early!
Last night we were tracting (which we do almost every night) and Sister Frame and I were discussing how crazy it is that we are both here together going into old broken down communist blocks, knocking on complete strangers doors! We laughed at how weird it seems. However, we know how important our message is, and we want to share it with everyone!
I hope you have a great week! I love all of you very much! Keep reading your scriptures!
Love,
Sister Farnsworth
This week went well. It started out great with a lesson with Vili. We had her teach us a small portion of the lesson with us. She is so powerful! We got her a Preach My Gospel for herself. She is so excited to prepare to be a missionary!
Then on Tuesday I got a call saying that on Thursday and Friday we would be doing Sister exchanges! I was so shocked! This is the first time they have done something like this for sisters. I went to Sofia to be with Sister Roper and Sister Coryell came down to Blagoevgrad to be with Sister Frame. It was amazing and a great experience for all of us. There are only about 2 weeks until the transfer ends! I can't believe time has gone by so fast! Who knows what will happen next...
Church was great! We had 25 people there!! That's so many!! It was great to see our little building full of people and the spirit was so strong.
Other than that nothing too much. It snowed a little bit more today. I was a bit disappointed because I want spring to come early!
Last night we were tracting (which we do almost every night) and Sister Frame and I were discussing how crazy it is that we are both here together going into old broken down communist blocks, knocking on complete strangers doors! We laughed at how weird it seems. However, we know how important our message is, and we want to share it with everyone!
I hope you have a great week! I love all of you very much! Keep reading your scriptures!
Love,
Sister Farnsworth
Monday, February 4, 2013
February 4th 2013
Dear Mom and Dad,
Good to hear that you went to the temple before it closes! I really miss being able to go to the temple. Glad to hear Andrew is back from his mission. Time goes by so fast.
You are right about the mission being a mini lifetime. I have learned so much since I've been here and I know I will learn even more.
We had another great lesson with Vili. We talked about temples. Everything just clicked with her. Especially when we brought up eternal marriage. She said that everything that we do in the temple makes sense and she wants to prepare for the temple. Also, she mentioned about serving a mission again. She tole us how we as missionaries saved her (we know it was Heavenly Father) and she wants to save someone else. Vili is such a great example to me. I wish you can all meet her someday.
We decided to try something different this week and wnted to go contacting with some members in our branch. So we went out contacting with Vanya and Sedska on different days. It was so great having them come with us and testify! It was great that they could explain how they are members of the church and know that it is true. They invited everyone we talked with to church. They were so excited because everyone assured us they would come. Sunday came and none of the people showed. They were a little dissapointed but they told us how much they respect us for what we do everyday, and that it's hard work. They told us that they want to come with us again! So we will be contacting with them again. I love doing this because we are helping the members of the branch be missionaries.
We had a great young women's as always! We played some games and Neli (the non member who wants to be baptized but has to wait for parent approval) Told us how she wants to be a missionary after she is baptized! These young women are great!
Fast and testimony meeting was amazing! The spirit was so strong. Vili bore her testimony and so did Meri ( one of the YW). These people are so new in the church, and yet their testimonies are so strong.
We taught Relief Society yesterday. It was great. The topic was "The Worth os Souls" it was great having a conversation with the woman about how we are all God's children and we all are unique and special.
I really love these people here. I really wish that you all could meet and become acquainted with these marvelous people. I am so happy to be here right now to serve these people.
Thank you for all of your love, support and prayers. I am so blessed to have you in my life. I hope you all have a great week! Stay strong and read your scriptures!
Love,
Love,
Sister Farnsworth
Monday, January 28, 2013
January 28th 2013
Hey Mom and Dad,
So to answer a few questions... President and Sister Malm aren't our mission president and wife. They are the area general authority. They are Swedish and live in Moscow. Our mission president is President Wilstead and Sister Wilstead. They are from Southern Utah.
Vili knows a lot of English but we speak to her in Bulgarian. It is still hard for her to form sentences. She is attending our English classes/discussions we teach. She is great!
Well I don't have much to say about this week. We did a lot of contacting. We are on the look out for people who are interested in the gospel. We are starting from scratch. I hope that soon we will find some great people to teach.
We had a great time at Young Women's this week. We have been doing a lot of fitness activities lately. On Saturday I lead them in a AB work out called AB Ripper X. It was a lot of fun. They are so great. We have a girl named Neli coming each week who is not a member but loves what we do each week. She asked us if she could invite a friend for next week. I love Young Women's!
Church was great. Sister Frame gave a talk and did a great job.
I hope you all have great week! I love you and you are all in my prayers.
Oh yeah... I am pretty certain that June 11th will be my release date. I don't know anything about when you will get information. I guess you will need to just stand by and wait.
I love you.
Love,
Sister Farnsworth
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
January 22nd 2013
Dear Mom and Dad,
Well this week was great. We did a lot of contacting trying to find new people to teach.
We had a lesson with Vili. She is amazing. We talked to her about missionary work and service. We told her about how we get callings in the church and we can serve that way. Then Sister Frame asked her how she herself could be a missionary (as in serving people in the branch and helping us with lessons). Well... she then shocked us and told us she wanted to ask us how she could me a missionary and serve a mission! She told us that she had just started thinking about it and wants to know everything she has to do. We were very happy for her. We told her that sh first needs to be a member for a year and then she can turn in papers! It was so exciting to talk to her about serving a mission!
We were not able to meet with Kiril this week because he left for Italy. He should be back soon. So hopefully we can meet with him this week.
Yesterday we had Zone Conference. Wow, it was amazing! It was so great to have President and Sister Malm(They are from Sweden but live in Moscow, Russia right now) there. I learned so much. We learned so much about how much potential we all have. This life on earth is so incredibly short. We need to make the most of it and be the best we can be. We also talked about being true learners through faith. We need to have the Holy Ghost with us at all times because the Holy Ghost is the true teacher.
We just got back from Rila Monastery today! It was fun to go again. It was really cold up in the mountains but very pretty.
Another thing I found out... so when I first got here in Bulgaria somehow our missions got changed to 19 months for Sisters and 25 months for Elders. That is because there was a lot of changes with how long people were to stay in the MTC. Anyway, we found out that they got together and fixed that to make it go back to 18 months and 24 months. This means that instead of me coming home on July 3rd (like I thought). I will now be coming home on June 11th.
Well I hope you have a great week! Keep up your hard work. I love all of you and pray for you all the time!
Love,
Sister Farnsworth
Well this week was great. We did a lot of contacting trying to find new people to teach.
We had a lesson with Vili. She is amazing. We talked to her about missionary work and service. We told her about how we get callings in the church and we can serve that way. Then Sister Frame asked her how she herself could be a missionary (as in serving people in the branch and helping us with lessons). Well... she then shocked us and told us she wanted to ask us how she could me a missionary and serve a mission! She told us that she had just started thinking about it and wants to know everything she has to do. We were very happy for her. We told her that sh first needs to be a member for a year and then she can turn in papers! It was so exciting to talk to her about serving a mission!
We were not able to meet with Kiril this week because he left for Italy. He should be back soon. So hopefully we can meet with him this week.
Yesterday we had Zone Conference. Wow, it was amazing! It was so great to have President and Sister Malm(They are from Sweden but live in Moscow, Russia right now) there. I learned so much. We learned so much about how much potential we all have. This life on earth is so incredibly short. We need to make the most of it and be the best we can be. We also talked about being true learners through faith. We need to have the Holy Ghost with us at all times because the Holy Ghost is the true teacher.
We just got back from Rila Monastery today! It was fun to go again. It was really cold up in the mountains but very pretty.
Another thing I found out... so when I first got here in Bulgaria somehow our missions got changed to 19 months for Sisters and 25 months for Elders. That is because there was a lot of changes with how long people were to stay in the MTC. Anyway, we found out that they got together and fixed that to make it go back to 18 months and 24 months. This means that instead of me coming home on July 3rd (like I thought). I will now be coming home on June 11th.
Well I hope you have a great week! Keep up your hard work. I love all of you and pray for you all the time!
Love,
Sister Farnsworth
Monday, January 14, 2013
January 14th 2013
Dear Mom and Dad,
I really do not know where to start this letter.... So much happened this week.
We were able to meet with Kiril two times this week! Our first lesson went very well. We asked him if he had grown to know if things were true in the church or not. He told us how at first he was a bit skeptical, but now he feels good about everything. We then had a lesson with him about ordinances and talked to him about baptism. He still doesn't understand the reasoning behind proper authority. We are trying to work more on that.
Vili is fantastic!! She is now a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints! To re-cap: Wednesday we got the font sent to us. We set it up on Friday morning then we filled it. To fill it we connected a hose to the toilet and ran it down the stairs where the font was. We had a surprise visit from Vili and her aunt. They were so concerned because Vili doesn't know how to swim. We told her that it was not neccesary that she knew how to swim. Then they both wanted two men in the water with her just in case she were to "drown". They were very nervous about it... so we got it approved. We had a baptizer and a "helper" ready to pull her out of the water in case the other person fell in too! She came an hour before the baptism and she dressed in her suit. She looked like an angel! We got some great pictures. The program was amazing. Sister Framne played a beautiful rendition on the piano of "I Need the Every Hour and Abide With me Tis' Eventide." The spirit was so strong. Then we all went down stairs for her baptism. She successfully was baptized on the first try! While she change, Sister Frame and I gave a short lesson on the gospel of Jesus Christ. We finished the program and had refreshments. It was great. She told me that everything was perfect...she only wished that her mother could have been there and Sister Meyers.
Later that night we had to empty the font. That was interesting. We had a siphon to get the water out but it was not working very well and we did not have much time... so what did we do?! We used buckets. Luckily the young women in the branch are amazing and on their Saturday night wanted to help missionaries bucket out water! It was quite the experience.
Yesterday was great. Vili was confirmed and I gave a talk. I talked about enduring to the end. I think it went well... but not too sure.
Other than that... this week has been mentally, physically, and spiritually exhausting. I loved every minute of it. I love all of you so much!! I hope you have a great week!
I want to thank many people today. I have had so many examples in my life that have made me the person I am right now. Out here in Bulgaria I have met some amazing people who have helped me through a lot. When I didn't know what to do, they did. It was hard seeing Sister Meyers leave and then Elder Olmstead... and before that, Sister Child. However, I am so grateful for the example they set for me and all that they do.
In life we always have people that we can look up to. People who have the ability of being so "Christ-like." My family has been one of the greatest example to me. I want all of you to know that I love you and appreciate all that you have done for me. I hope to become better and better each day.
Mom and Dad... Keep going to the Temple. I think it is amazing that I have two wonderful parents who understand the importance of temple attendance. You both are amazing and I love you.
I hope you all have a great week! Keep praying and reading the scriptures!
Love,
Sister Farnsworth
Monday, January 7, 2013
January 7th 2013
Dear Mom and Dad,
That's cool to hear that it snowed, and that it stopped before school started. It also started snowing here, a lot. We got around 5 inches this morning. New Year's was quite the holiday here. on Saturday there was a huge parade that lasted around 5 hours! People were dressed up in traditional Bulgarian clothes and also many other costumes. Some people were wearing outfits that looked like an abominable snowman, others were wearing very interesting masks. Apparently it was to drive bad spirits away for the new year.
Things seemed to go by fast but at the same time really slow this week. We finished all the lessons with Vili and she is getting baptized this Saturday! She is so cute! Just to re-cap...she is 20 years old, a law student and has amazing faith. Before her Interview with Elder Sanft (the District Leader) she was very nervous. She came out of the interview with a big smile on her face saying, "I passed! I am ready to be baptized!" We are so happy for her and want to make sure the baptism goes very smoothly.
This week will be very busy because we have our "English sign-up open house" on Friday and then on Saturday, the baptism! It will all be great!
I was getting a little nervous with Kiril this past week because I could not get a hold of him. However, Saturday he called and explained he had been out of town all week because of work. So we will meet with him this week!
There are a lot of great things happening out here in Bulgaria. Sometimes you go through a period of time when it seems, feels, and looks like you aren't really making a difference. Then all of a sudden things work out! It just goes to show that we are the Lord's servants and things will happen in His time, not ours. In 2 weeks we are having Zone Conference. This time President Malm will be there. He is the Area General Authority for Bulgaria. We are preparing to learn from him.
Let's see we had Young Women's this Saturday again. Our girls are so cute! They love Young Women's and are determined to get the Young Women's medallion. Every time they see us they let us know how much they love Young Women's and how it is the highlight of their week!
Hey Dad... thanks so much for writing me! I really appreciate it! That is so exciting to hear that the amount of missionaries coming out into the field is doubling! There is so much work to do. I am grateful that I can be apart of it right now.
Keep doing what you do! You are amazing and I love you and admire your example! Make sure to read the conference talks out of the Ensign! One of my favorite's from this conference is, "The First Great Commandment" by Jeffery R. Holland.
I love you all! Thank you for all of your love and support! I think about you often and pray for you always. Have a great week!
Love,
Sister Farnsworth
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
January 1st 2013
Dear Mom and Dad,
It was amazing being able to skype with you on Christmas! I absolutely loved it! It was great seeing everyone and hearing your voice! It brought back so many great memories. After we skyped we went back and had a nice Christmas dinner. We made chicken, mashed potatoes, vegetables, fruit salad, pumpkin pie and cookies. It was quite the dinner!
Vili is amazing. She will be getting baptized on January 12th. We told her that she can decide what the program will look like for her baptism. She is so cute and has everything picked out with the hymns we will sing, who will give talks and the musical number. Every time we meet with her we try and have a member present in the lesson. All of the members love her and have grown a friendship with her.
Kiril is doing well. We had a good lesson with him. He is reading the Book of Mormon and is already in Helamen. He admitted to us that at first when he started meeting with us he was skeptical. However, as he has continued to come to meet with us and read the Book of Mormon he feels it is true. I asked him if he knew Joseph Smith was a true prophet. He wondered why I asked him that because we talked about the sabbath day. I told him that he needs to pray and really know for himself if Joseph Smith was a true prophet because then he would know that are church is the only true church with the authority of God. He said he would pray to know.
The holidays are great! However, it makes it a little more difficult when everyone is gone out of the city for the holidays! It will be nice for everything to be normal again. Here they celebrate New Year's as a bigger holiday than Christmas. It is absolutely crazy! Today there was absolutely no one on the streets. Nothing opens until at least one. Also, people dress up and walk around the streets with masks and wigs... it's very interesting.
If any of the stores open ... we will go do some grocery shopping and get some relaxing in... hopefully!
Well that's all I can think to say today. Thank you for everything. I love you all so very much. I miss you and appreciate your love and support. Happy New Year! Make 2013 amazing centered on becoming better disciples of Christ.
Love,
Sister Farnsworth
Vili is amazing. She will be getting baptized on January 12th. We told her that she can decide what the program will look like for her baptism. She is so cute and has everything picked out with the hymns we will sing, who will give talks and the musical number. Every time we meet with her we try and have a member present in the lesson. All of the members love her and have grown a friendship with her.
Kiril is doing well. We had a good lesson with him. He is reading the Book of Mormon and is already in Helamen. He admitted to us that at first when he started meeting with us he was skeptical. However, as he has continued to come to meet with us and read the Book of Mormon he feels it is true. I asked him if he knew Joseph Smith was a true prophet. He wondered why I asked him that because we talked about the sabbath day. I told him that he needs to pray and really know for himself if Joseph Smith was a true prophet because then he would know that are church is the only true church with the authority of God. He said he would pray to know.
The holidays are great! However, it makes it a little more difficult when everyone is gone out of the city for the holidays! It will be nice for everything to be normal again. Here they celebrate New Year's as a bigger holiday than Christmas. It is absolutely crazy! Today there was absolutely no one on the streets. Nothing opens until at least one. Also, people dress up and walk around the streets with masks and wigs... it's very interesting.
If any of the stores open ... we will go do some grocery shopping and get some relaxing in... hopefully!
Well that's all I can think to say today. Thank you for everything. I love you all so very much. I miss you and appreciate your love and support. Happy New Year! Make 2013 amazing centered on becoming better disciples of Christ.
Love,
Sister Farnsworth
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