June 27th 2011

my week was long and hot...haha. but it was still pretty fun, I met some interesting people and some great things happened at the end of the week. Idk, Lately sundays have already been feeling good, but its still does. Its definitely more relaxing because we don't have to bike to church and the majority of the day I'm dry. Its also the best feeling to see people we've been teaching come to church. There's a guy, he's been a member of the church for quite some time now, but hasn't been attending for over a year. He has a big drinking problem and has been continuing to make excuses as to why he can't come to church. Well, he promised us that he'd come A few weeks ago, and yesterday to my surprise I saw him, he was all cleaned up and sitting in the chapel, early, with one of the ward missionaries, they're good friends. I was so happy to see him there, its kinda to describe. Plus earlier that same day we had a lesson with a young investigator who we had just recently been referred to and contacted. her names courtney and She's 20. Her boyfriend was a less active member and told her about the church/the book of mormon, and now he's in the middle east for the military. So we met with her last week and she was extremely open to the gospel. So yesterday I invited her to be baptized and she accepted right away, she is now in line to be baptized on the 31 of july. It would be sooner but because of her schedule, we can only teach on sundays, so it takes a bit longer. But that was super exciting and I can't wait for that. She will probably switch over to the singles ward soon, but even if we don't get to baptize her, its still exciting.
Yeah, I'm pretty sure thats what it was called, the psalm of Nephi. Yeah, you're right, we don't have memorized discussions anymore, we use preach my gospel. Its nice because we get to teach according to the needs of the person. The order of the pmg lessons is: The restoration, the plan of salvation, the gospel of jesus christ, the commandments, and then the laws and ordinances of the gospel. However we don't necessarily go in that order, we can switch everything around depending on the impressions we get. But generally we don't deviate from the lessons, we just change the style in which we teach them. Its kinda fun though, because you don't have to stick to a memorized script.

I'm not sure what we're doing for the fourth, we might be having a get together but idk. I'm curious to see what its gonna be like on the fourth, probably pretty crazy with all the people getting drunk and stuff. Hopefully there will be a good firework show.
Well, I should probably get going now. Thanks for writing, and I'll talk to you again next week.
Love, Elder Farnsworth

June 20th 2011

So far so good on the weight. Ive been about the same all the way through, and hopefully that will continue throughout my mission. I guess we'll see. but at least i can exercise in the morning. We get fed every night for dinner, unless someone cancels, so thats pretty nice, and for lunch I normally have chow mein noodles. Its pretty good, its cheap, and easy to make.
I'm starting to get better at talking to strangers, although sometimes i tend to say the same thing to people, so i'm working to mix it up a bit. Another thing ive been trying to do is memorize more scriptures, thats always been hard for me, but i know i can do it and i'm excited to get started.
Thats a great scripture, I love mosiah 4! its so good because it gives such a good explanation as to the joy that you can receive by obeying christ and making efforts to change and improve. But you're definitely right, all the joy comes from god, so its always important to keep him in mind and be thankful.
Lets see, its hard to pin point my favorite scriptures in the book of mormon, but one of them is 2 Nephi 4: 26-35. Its one of my favorites, because its helped me in hard times. But there are so many more that are just as good. I finally understand what it means to feast upon the scriptures. There are some days i just wish I could study all day, there's so much i want to know and understand. Because I know if i have a better understanding of the scriptures my teaching will improve and i'll be able to help people more effectively. Sometimes its frustrating when people won't listen, but I knew it would happen and when somebody actually does take the time to hear us, it makes up for everything else, i'm so thankful for that.
Right now i'm in 3 Nephi. Sometimes its hard to do my personal study cause i'm studying for other people, but ive been trying to keep it up, and slowly but surely I'll finish it. sometimes its hard to believe people who say they've read the book of mormon and don't believe it. It just doesn't make sense Because everytime I read it I get that much more convinced of its truth and it makes me want to read more. Who knows though, I guess some people just aren't ready.
Love, Elder Farnsworth

June 13th 2010

I finally understand what people say about their missions, that a day feels like a week and a week feels like a day. Its so true! The MTC was jammed packed with things but like you said, it almost feels like a dream. It all just happened so quick. Sometimes I have to remind myself I'm In california on a mission. Its hard to believe even for me. haha. Even though I feel like a missionary, i guess its just that i'm still so new at everything. There was already a bike for me, so that was pretty nice, its a blue mountain bike and has been working well so far. Sometimes it kinda stinks having a bike cuz i get a sore butt all the time but on the other hand its really rewarding because I get to reap all the blessing that come from teaching people on the street that I normally wouldn't had I been in a car. My people skills still need a lot of work, but I'm getting better, talking to strangers is hard but im slowly and surely beginning to feel more normal. Every minute counts, sometimes I feel like I could have better used my time in some situations but Im trying to do better, so hopefully I'll be an expert at Missionary life in no time. That's great that d's been reading the Book of Mormon, If only more people out here could be doing that. Haha. But the people are great, they just need a little convincing, or at least the invitation. I haven't quite figured out how to do pictures yet, thats why I haven't sent anything. But I'll try and figure it out so I can send some stuff in the weeks to come. Thanks for writing, and I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Love, Elder Farnsworth

June 8th 2011

So the MTC was awesome, I really enjoyed everything about it and my district was awesome we definitely got along well. Its crazy how fast it went by though. So now im in california! My Trainers name is Elder Morrison, He's from Moses Lake Washington and has been out for 19 months. I'm Serving in the Ortega Ward And I live right next to Lake Elsinor in our bishops guest house and its really nice. California's definitely not the big city i had imagined, its mainly just desert where I am but its still pretty cool. My area is a biking one so Ive been able to talk to more people, it was pretty scary doing my first OYM, i just wasn't really sure what to say, but it worked out in the end. On my first day I gave someone a blessing, it was a member, but it was still pretty nerve wracking, I wasn't sure what to do, but my companion said I did a good job, so I'll just stick with that. Its been fun tracting everyday, it definitely makes you step out of your comfort zone, but i'm kinda starting to get used to it in the week and a half that Ive been here now. Apparently the Stake activity is only about 20-30% so rather than teaching investigators, my companion and I have been teaching more less active members, its surprising what some people do. And for email, it took forever for me to email because of transfers and my P-day is on Mondays now. I look forward to hearing from you next week! Love Elder Farnsworth