Week 9 -- Simon Bolivar

Jenny's notes are in red.

¡Hola!

    Buenos días or Buenas tardes depending on the time of day you read this.  Let me answer your questions: Pues (well), I do email Presidente Amaya and no he doesn't email me back. The mission rules on music is as follows; we are allowed to listen to any church music so yes, Christmas music and EFY CD's would be awesome.  Yes, I am studying that much (4 hours/day) except for some days when we need to travel to Milagro to try and marry somebody (I was seriously cracking up at this sentence, but once I stopped laughing, I realized that what he means is that he tries to help a couple who is living together get a marriage license).  The sisters that threw me a birthday party are part of the branch I serve in.  Yes, I am keeping that in mind and I watch out for it so don't worry. (We reminded him to keep his heart locked as he works with girls in any way on his mission.) No I did not receive the package with the camera cord and ties--I am still waiting for it.  Mom, I am a missionary so of course I took a picture with all the people we baptized and yes I wrote about them in my journal.  Yes I do meet with my district each week but our zone is really small so we actually meet as a zone and we meet cada martes (every Tuesday) in Milagro which is an hour away from Simon Bolivar.  On P-days we usually go to Milagro to shop and get something to eat at the mall.  For laundry we pay a sister in the branch to do our laundry and for food I usually try not to eat on P-Days because every day we eat at a member's house and they feed us so much.  I am always stuffed from lunch! No, I have not been getting the letters from you guys. Mom, I know you are dying to see pictures but I cannot send pictures--I am waiting for the camera cord that you sent.

    Pues, my week this week has been great!  On Martes (Tuesday) we went to Milagro for our zone meetings and after that we went back to Simon Bolivar for lunch at a member's house.  They feed me so much food that I think I am getting fatter!  The food isn't that bad--I actually really like the food. Miércoles (Wednesday) after study we went to lunch and then we had to go way down across Simon Bolivar to talk to a sister about marriage.  They want to get baptized but they aren't married so we have got to get them married first.  We have been trying to get them married for 2 weeks now.  This week we will get them married so they can be baptized on the 12 of Octobre. Also for that same Saturday we have 5 people who said they will get baptized.  Their names are Elias, Javier, Simon Macias, Genesis, and Asteria.  Asteria is the one we need to get married.  On Thursday we studied and then we went to lunch.  After lunch we proselyted like all day then in the afternoon we meet Elias and taught and challenged him to baptism.  Friday we studied, ate lunch, then we waited for the zone leaders to come so we could take them to Genesis so they could give her a baptism interview.  Saturday Elder Mercado was sick so we kind of took it easy and just proselyted. Sunday we went to church and after church we went to lunch and then we taught people and we found Javier and I challenged him to be baptized. So that was my week.

       A cool experience that happened this week was that the Venesuela familia in our branch was sick so we gave them all blessings.  There are four of them--Harold the father, Marialla the wife, Gabriel the 12 year old son and Sofia the 9 year old daughter.  We gave them a blessing and it was my first time giving a blessing in Spanish. Usually I do the anointing part and Elder Mercado gives the blessing part but this time he said in broken English "you do" referring to the blessing part.  So he did the anointing and I gave the blessing.  It was a cool experience.  I was a little scared because it was in Spanish but the spirit over came and was able to give the blessings just fine.

Now it's my turn to ask questions: 

  

1- how was Mexico?

2- how is the family?

3 - can you do the track thing for me for BYU-I? 

4-  can you send some pictures of the family?

5- can you send me MO TAB Christmas music and 2010 EFY and 2011 and 2012?

6-  when is the Front sight thing?

Well, that's all I have so until next week...Chou!

LOVE, 

Elder Farley  

Week 8 -- Simon Bolivar

¡Hola! 

Family, let me begin by answering your questions; Yes, I did receive your packages and I loved them a lot! Thank you.  Yes, I did give Lanaya's gift to President Amaya.  He seemed really happy to receive the gift. To tell you more about Elder Mercado--he is 21 years old.  He is from Colombia and he loves music. He sings everywhere he goes.  He knows very little English but enough to communicate with me.  He has been out on his mission for 5 months now. What do I eat? Well, my first meal was this orange soup and it was super hot, and in the middle of the soup was a fish's head staring right at me.  It was gross but I still ate it. Usually I eat rice, some sort of meat and soda. It is actually pretty good, but that first meal was bad.  We travel around Simon Bolivar by walking and bus. Simon Bolivar is a big area.  The city is pretty cool--there are banana fields and cocoa trees and sugar canes everywhere. The people are very nice.  They all live very humble lives.  They all have dirt floors and tin roofs and its blazing hot but they also all have a flat screen TV and an I-pad so its kinda funny.  Those two people that I challenged to be baptized were baptized!  I performed one of the baptisms and his name is Carlos John.  It was really cool baptizing him.  Simon Bolivar is about 2 hours norte from Guayaquil.  My training is mainly just getting use to the schedule and understanding the principles of the gospel and learning Spanish. Yes, I am very happy and yes I can't wait for General Conference. Does that answer all of your questions?

I have questions:

1-  Sorry about my spelling--this computer has sticky buttons and the letters are faded off the buttons

2- How is Chase? I want more details.

3- How is Adam? I want details.

4- Can you send me a couple of CD's of Christmas music?

5-  Just fill me in about home and how life is?

Let me tell you more about the baptisms.  Well, on Sábado yo baptized Carlos John and that was really cool. I am not going lie--Sábado was really hard!  We walked all day with no one to teach and I was carrying two bags that were full and the sol was killer.  I paid the bus driver $5 dollars when it really costs .80 cents and he didn't give me change back so it was really hard.  But after the baptism I felt a lot better because that is why we are here.  We are here to invite others to come to Christ through baptism. Entones that was our first baptism. Our second was early Sunday morning. We woke up at 5 am so we could drive an hour to Milagro to baptize a woman named Yajayra.  Elder Mercado baptized her and it was super cool. I am amazed that I have had three baptisms and I have only been here for 2 weeks.  That is kinda cool! 

I am not fluent in Spanish yet but I am trying.  Yesterday this group of sisters threw me a birthday party and they asked me to teach them in English.  It was really hard because the last 2 months I have been teaching in Spanish so that was kind of interesting.  I don't have anything else really--I just want to become fluent in Spanish asap.  I love you guys.  Thanks for supporting me on my mission. 

LOVE 

Elder Farley 

Week 7 -- Simon Bolivar -- Garrett's first area

¡Hola!

Hello I am doing just fine!!!  I did not get your packages--I am still waiting for them.  And I did not tell anyone about my birthday because it's just a birthday.   To answer your questions, I am serving in a place called Simon Bolivar,  It's northeast of Guayaquil and it is super hot and humid here.  But it's ok. I live in an apartment and its a pretty bad apartment but it's probably better than how the people live.  The people are just absolutely amazing!  I love the people even though I can't understand them.  It's still amazing.  My compañero is Elder Mercado.  He is from Columbia and he is sooo funny to listen to.  He is awesome! President Amaya is awesome from what I could tell because I don't understand Spanish, but he seemed great.  My daily schedule is that I wake up at 6:30 and do some exercise and then get showered and get dressed then study for two hours then go out and start teaching the gospel for the rest of the night.  I love it! Our church is a little branch of about 30 or 40 people.  It is super small even though our area is super big.  I heard that my mission  is the highest baptizing mission in the world.  I don't know our address but I will find that out and get back to you.  My birthday was fine-- it was just a day.  Some experiences that I have had are as follows: my first Saturday here we had a baptism of a lady named Anita.  I didn't teach her but still we went to the baptism.  This Saturday and two Saturdays after, we have baptisms of people that I invited to be baptized so that is kinda cool. 

Another experience is that on Thursday night we were giving a member a blessing with oil and when we were done she said she felt like there was three people giving the blessing, but there was only the two of us.  I got super excited when I heard that.  A couple of other experiences are that every night I help this teenage girl named Lesly with English homework.  I am just so happy to be here in Ecuador teaching the people.  That's about it for my week so far. I live in a jungle pretty much.  Tell the family that I love them and I will write you next week.

LOVE,

Elder Farley

The blue outline is the boundaries of the Guayaquil North Mission.  Simon Bolivar is marked with an "X".  It is just northeast of Milagro.

Also, we got a glimpse at Garrett's Key Indicator Report for last week and it was amazing to us that he and his companion were able to accomplish all of this in Garrett's first week there.  I guess I should realize that with the Lord, nothing is impossible! :-)

Key Indicator Reporting
9 Sept - 15 Sept
Simon Bolivar
Elder Mercado, Elder Farley

Investigators baptized                                   1
Investigators confirmed                                 1
Investigators with a baptismal date                3
Investigators who attended Sacrament          4
Lessons taught with a member present          9
Other lessons taught                                     12
Progressing investigators                               3
New investigators                                         2
Lessons taught to new converts and less actives   7

Week 6 -- Elder Farley arrives in Ecuador

We finally received an email from the mission office telling us that Garrett arrived safely. Yeah!  We also received a letter from Garrett, a letter from his Mission President, President Amaya, and some great pictures. It seems as though his spirits are high and that he is very excited to finally be in Ecuador.  From now on we should hear from him on Monday's since that is his P-day.  Enjoy!

Farley Family,

                Receive a warm greeting from our part. It pleases us to inform you that Elder Farley has arrived to the mission field without any complications. We are very happy to receive him in the Ecuador Guayaquil North Mission. Attached you will find the following: One picture with President and the other missionaries from his group, one picture with his trainer, a letter written by your son, and a letter from President Amaya.

Thank you for the support that you give to Elder Farley.

Ecuador Guayaquil North Mission

THE CHURCH OF

JESUS CHRIST

OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS

04-228-4323 | 04-229-3859

2012960@ldschurch.org

Guayaquil, 14 September 2013 

Dear Farley Family,

After his experience in the MTC we had the wonderful opportunity to receive Elder Farley at the airport along with other missionaries in his group, we shared together a welcome lunch, and special moments starting his mission. He received instruction on the rules of the mission and the correct manner to work, he met his first companion, Elder Mercado from Colombia and was trained in the "Plan of First Twelve Weeks, "according to the direction we received from the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve. With great pleasure I am pleased to report that the development of the Plan of Twelve Weeks has been so far a great experience with excellent results.

Every Monday in his preparation day he has the opportunity to write to family, we hope you will encourage and support him. So you can contact him, his email is:

garrett.farley@myldsmail.net

Your son is doing very well, we care for him and he is progressing, he is an excellent missionary and has performed admirably, we express our gratitude for having prepared him to serve the Lord and supported him. For Sister Amaya and I it is a great privilege to have him in the mission and have the opportunity to help and guide him in this sacred process of developing his potential so he can serve the Lord the best he can. You have done very well, Congratulations. The Lord will strengthen him, help him and guide him through the Spirit, of whom Elder Farley will have to depend on as never before in his life.

Sincerely yours, and May the Lord bless you.

President and Sister Amaya

President Amaya and Elder Farley

Elder Farley and Elder Mercado

Ecuador, Guayaquil North Mission (or part of it) -- Garrett is in the middle behind President Amaya

Letter from Garrett to us...

Hello Family-

I am here in Ecuador!  Finally after 18 years of waiting I am finally in my mission field.  I flew out of Mexico to Bogota, Colombia and from there to Ecuador.  All of the Elders and Sisters that I have met are awesome. The Mission President is awesome!  He talks a million miles an hour and I can't really understand him, but esta bien.  I am so excited to begin my work.  It's going to be LEGEN -- wait for it....-- DARY. LEGENDARY!!  I am just super excited to be here in Ecuador.  There are a lot more native Spanish speakers than there are American's and it's kind of hard to understand them, but esta bien.  Todo es bueno!! The CCM was awesome!  I loved every second of it.  My companion was awesome!  My district was awesome!  I love my mission this far.  I can't wait until I get sent to an area and with a new companion and we begin the real work.  I just want to say that every one of you guys are a big inspiration to me.  You guys are the world to me!  I want to thank Dad for his example and his example of serving a mission.  It helped me a lot! Thank you all for supporting me.  You guys are awesome!  

So, that is about all that is new with me.  I am just here in Ecuador doing the Lord's work. Tell me about you guys.  How is the family--both immediate and extended?  How are my friends?  How is my pet lizard? Has the world broken out in war?  I want to know about life back home.  Well, I have got to go.  When you get this letter, I will be somewhere in Ecuador preaching the gospel in Spanish and I am going to love every second of it!

Love, Elder Farley

Week 6 -- Leaving for Ecuador Tonight!

¡Hola!

Can you tell Adam my e-mail address so we can email back and forth on our missions? Also tell Adam that I am going to get him some soccer jerseys in Ecuador.  Also tell him that I love that picture of him and that he looks soo beautiful :) (I can't tell if he is being funny or just getting his words confused. :-)), and I wish I was there to hear his talk.  It sounds like it was an amazing talk.  I am really going to miss Adam! I have also noticed a change in Adam this last year.  He is one of my BEST friends and I never want to lose contact with him.  Um... now about Chase... Is he really CRAZY? What has he been doing to make him crazy? You should start him up in some improve classes and comedy classes when he gets older, because he and I are going to have some comedy battles! I am serious about this, I am not even joking.  Has Chase been doing anything that makes you think he misses me? 

Now I have some questions:

1- Can you send me more washable ties from Pomeroy's?  I started with 15 or so and now I only have 7.  I made some bad trades--but whatever!  Can you send me some more ties, like 6 or 7 more ties?  You can make it fun and take everyone to the store and have everyone pick a tie that they think I might like.  I just need more ties!

2- Can you send me the address of the Tempe Arizona mission?

3- How is Dad's business going?

4- On a scale of 1 to 10 ten, with ten being the best, how good looking am I?

Now I will tell you my flight plans. I leave tonight at 9 and I am flying with 11 other missionaries.  The plane doesn't take off until 2:15 and we fly to Bogota and then to Ecuador.  I will be there for the rest of my mission! I will probably arrive in Ecuador at 12 ish or so. That's about it for all my flight plans. I just can't wait to get to Ecuador and start my real work as a representative of the Lord Jesus Christ.  I know a mission is where I am meant to be.  I have loved every second of it so far and I can't wait for Ecuador and for the opportunities there.  I love you, I love the family, and I love this gospel.

LOVE Garrett-

Week 5 -- Mexico CCM

(Jenny's notes are in red)

¡Hola Mi Familia!

Wait hold up!  Tell me more about Austin.  He is one of my best friends, if not my BEST friend, and I gotta know more.  To answer your questions, Sí estoy un poco nervioso sobre ecuador (yes I'm a little nervous about Ecuador),  pero yo sento muy listo por Ecuador (but I am quite ready for Ecuador). I don't know anything about my flight plans, nor does anyone who is going to Ecuador.  We are all being patient.  Yes, I should be able to email the guys in my district once we all leave.  I don't know anything about using Facebook on my mission. The most memorable experience in the CCM would have to be when it was my first week here and we heard a devotional by Elder Holland (no, he didn't come here, it was a video) and he said some really inspiring things about being a missionary.   I am sorry I really don't understand your question about gun shots?

I have some questions for you:

1- You tried to teach me that (forget yourself and go to work) before I left?

2- How is Adam Peugnet?

3-How is Chase?

4-What did you send me for my birthday?

5-Is Davis wearing my shirt in those pictures?

6- Did you guys get my letters?

7-Can you send me a cord that I can download pictures with?  I don't have one and that's the only way I can send pictures,  I have been borrowing other's cords?

Now I will tell you some things that have happened to me the last couple of days. 

Today I went to the temple again and that was super cool.  I love the Mexico City temple.  It's pretty neat. If you and Dad ever have a chance to go to the Mexico City temple, defiantly go--it's sweet! When do you and Dad go to Mexico to visit the Wagner's? 

Can you possibly send me pictures of Austin?

I will tell you another experience I had.  Almost every night in our casa, which holds 12 people, we have huge tie trades.  We all trade each other for ties and it has turned into quite the thing. Last night we had 50 + people at our house and we were all trading ties,  I have got some sweet ties that I traded.  I am not going to lie, I am a little addicted to trading ties :-)  I even tried to trade ties with President Pratt, our CCM Mission President.  Man the thrill of a good tie trade is awesome!  

Um that's about all I have for now.  Nothing really happens here--every day seems the same.  I can't wait to leave for Ecuador.  Sorry if this email wasn't as good as others, it's just that really not much has happened to tell you about.

Love, Garrett

Dad-

Did you really think that my thoughts were really thought out and presented clearly (he is referring to his last email)?  As much as I would love to call you guys when I am in the airport, I don't think I am going to. I want to be focused on my mission and I am afraid that if I called you guys that it would distract me from my missionary work. I do want you guys to know that I love you and appreciate everything you guys do for me. Thank you for those words of advice.  I am expecting that to happen and I am fully prepared for it (he is referring to some advice Cory gave him about the frustration he is going to feel the first few weeks he is in Ecuador).  Today at the temple we started a conversation with a native Spanish speaker and I didn't know a thing she was saying!  But I tried my best and I did alright in communicating with her.  Even though I stink at Spanish, when I teach lessons I can feel the gift of tongues just flooding out of my mouth and I know that it is God helping me and that I am teaching by the spirit.

When are you putting a permanent sprinkler up at the ranch? When are you killing the cows? I kinda wish I was there to see all  my hard work again. Did anyone else (his friends) get their mission calls?

We'll that's all I have for today. I love you Dad and I love the example you have given me through everything.  Are you guys still going to come to Ecuador after my mission is over?

LOVE, Garrett.