Week #60 - Are you a chicken or a pig?

HOLA Como están? 

WOW, this week has been really good for you guys!!! It sounds awesome!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAVIS!!!! I have to tell you the truth...on the 20th of September I remembered that it was an important day.  I thought to my self, "I feel like today is really important" , but I couldn´t remember why.  I am so sorry DAVIS, but I still love you!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Now to answer your questions:

1- Yes I did receive your package and I loved it!!!!!  We don't have an oven but I have been eating the chocolate just by itself and its awesome!!!!!  Thank you so much!!!

2- Apply to BYU and SUU, Southern Utah University, and the reason why is because I want to see what happens if we apply there.  I want to play Rugby.  I have no idea why, but the other day I have felt this huge desire to play Rugby, so I thought that BYU and SUU would be good because they have Rugby teams. So lets just see what happens when I apply!!!!  But if its too hard to apply there you don't have too.

3- Well, I just spend my money on things like: food, transportation and the lights in our house and that's all i have to pay!!!

Now for my week:

But first with Senaka!! Even though it breaks my heart its alright.  That just means there is a girl out there who will love me even more!! Ha Ha Ha. ;-) No, but that is really cool that she is getting married.  I feel really old because a lot of people that I grew up with are married or are on their missions!! So the truth is that I feel really old!!! BTW, do you guys have any counsel about my future wife?

OK now my week:

Well, this week was super good.  We had Stake Conference and I heard some POWERFUL talks by my Mission President and the Temple President and from the Stake President!! 

On Tuesday we just worked like normal.  We talked with Augustina and with Andres and let me tell you, they know this stuff is true!  They basically taught us about the atonement.  They have been reading the Book of Mormon so much and I was amazed that she taught us the atonement!!  The only thing is that she feels scared to be baptized because she feels like it will be bad for the other church that she attended!! So, please pray for her. 

On Wednesday we went to every sector in our zone and we knocked on doors all day!!! It was fun but the truth is that my legs hurt afterwards.  I enjoyed a good day of knocking on doors though!!!

Thursday we worked just like normal but something sad happened.  While we were walking, this man who looks very sad and looks like he lives on the street was looking at us.  We walked past him and when we said "hello" he said to us "hello Elders."  Just to let you know, no one here says Elders so we stopped and talked to him and he said that he has been living on the streets since he was young and that he would rather die than live on the streets.  He said that often he has prayed to ask God to take him up to heaven!!  He also said that he is a member of the church but he was inactive!!! So I said to him, "The Lord loves you, he cares about you, he wants to help you.  I promise you, as a servant of the Lord, that if you return back to the church you will have food on the table, you will have clothes to wear, and shelter and you won't have to worry about living on the streets."  Then we set up an appointment to teach him and give him old clothes that we found in our house.  So the next day when we had scheduled the appointment, he didn't show up!! I was really sad!  But we did all we can to help him and if I see him again I will help even more than I could this time.

Friday we just worked like normal--it was a pretty average day!!

Saturday we had Stake Conference so we just stayed all day basically in the church for the priesthood session and the adult sessions!! They were awesome!!!

Sunday we did the same.  We went to Stake Conference!!!! I heard a story that I really liked and it goes as follows: One day a little chicken and a little pig got together and the chicken said to the pig, "Lets eat breakfast.  I will put in the eggs and you put in the bacon." They agreed and the pig followed through and was killed for breakfast and the chicken only gave some of her eggs.  Which one are we?  The chicken or the pig?  Do we do everything in our whole being to serve the Lord or do we only do a little, enough to say we did something? I want to be the pig!!

Well, this was my week.  It was a super good week.  I hope that you guys can feel my love and feel my testimony because I know that JESUS was literally that pig from the story.  He literally died for every single one of us!!  So now we must do our part !!  My worst fear for after the mission is that I come up short and that I will not be the man that God needs me to be!! That is my worst fear. 

LOVE 

Elder Farley 

BTW, the kid who is in that picture with me is Elder Merritt.

Garrett and Elder Merritt

I am a pig!  I will give it my ALL.

Week #59 - "Naked Mole Rat Like Reflexes"

HOLA! Como están?

Answers to questions:

1- Okay, there is an explanation to why I emailed you on Tuesday.  You see, for all of my mission, everyone that I meet is either going to BYU or SUU and EVERYONE has been telling me to switch over to one of those schools. BUT I have always been forgetting to tell you about it.  I feel like its a curse because I try so hard to remember the things I want to write but I always come up short and forget until after I have written my email to you guys!!  So Tuesday we were in a place of computers, because we had to send a couple of things to the office, and I remembered right then.  I thought about waiting until Monday but I knew I was going to forget so I just wrote that quick email so you guys would know and so I would not forget again!! Well, that is the truth to why I wrote on Tuesday!  Sorry if it scared you guys.

2- Can I ask you what your dreams were? Because I had a couple of dreams this week too.  Everything is good.  I am just trying my best to be the missionary I need to be!!

3- Our District Meetings were good this week.  My compañero is the District Leader so he asked me to give to some training--which I did.  It was awesome!!  Yes, there is a good chance that I will get another chance of being a DL but I have no idea if the Lord needs me to be a DL.

4- This week I was able to work normally with my toe.  I just had to wear a flip-flop about half of the week!!  It was kind of funny.

5- For my birthday my zone bought me a cake and we ate it as a zone--it was fun!

6- The highlight of the week was...I have no idea! This week was really good!! The whole week was a really good week with lots of highlights!!!

Now I will tell you about my week!!!

My week was pretty standard. We just worked and testified a lot!!

Tuesday we celebrated my birthday as a zone, which was really cool!!  The whole day felt really weird because I had to tell everyone that I have 20 years now!!!  Wow, that made me feel so old!!  Something funny that they do here in Ecuador is that when its your birthday they make you take a bite of the cake.  When you do, they smash your face in the cake!!  So, in the zone, when they smashed my face in the cake, this huge chunk came off and was on my chin and it almost fell off and landed back in the cake, but because of my naked mole rat like reflexes, I didn't let that happen!!! (What in the world are naked mole rat like reflexes?)

Wednesday was my actual birthday but it was just a normal day.  We just worked and taught a lot of people!  We have these investigators that are named Augustina and Andres.  They are both super cool.  They know what they are learning is true. They themselves went to church we didn't have to remind them!!! They are both super pilas (???strong, charged???)!!!

Thursday we went on splits, so I went to work with a guy in our ward and we went to visit this family.  She told me that she doesn't want to listen to our message anymore because she feels she is mocking the other church she attended.  I told her that this will be the best decision of her life!! I testified with all of my heart that she shouldn't turn back and that she should go forward!!  Then I gave her the scripture, 3 Nephi 11 to read!!  After this I felt really bad because I didn't want to loose her as an investigator!!!

Friday we visited her again and she said that she DOES want to continue with us!!! WOW!!!  I was so happy!  We visited her with the Relief Society president and we all testified that what she is doing is right and what she is doing will bring blessings and that through this gospel she can be sealed for time and all eternity with her husband who has passed away!! She is AWESOME!!!

Saturday was a normal day.  We just taught and walked around and we also met another family named Taranjo.  They are black.  We were just walking down a street and this man stopped us and he was a member and he told us that his friend (the Dad of the family Taranjo) needed to listen to the gospel!!  So we got their number and we set an appointment with them.  It was way cool.

On Sunday morning they called us and said that they wanted to go to church.  When we got there, they were waiting for us at the door!!!  WHAT?? How cool? So they attended church and they loved it!!!!  The rest of the day was normal, we just testified to everyone!!!

I didn't have a chance to study the signs of the times because frankly I don't have time to study about this topic!!!

Today we went to the ZOO so I will send some pictures of the ZOO.

ALSO THANK YOU ALL FOR WISHING ME A HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! I LOVE YOU ALL!

Well now my questions:

1- Mom, what were your dreams?

2- Were Morgan and George there when G-ma and G-pa got home?

3- When does Michelle get her mission call?

4- The Sanuks that you sent are way too small, why? Is it for a reason or something? I can't really understand.

Well, this has been my week--just know that I love you all very much.

LOVE

Elder Farley

Week #58 - Happy Birthday Garrett! 20 years old

After a year of speaking Spanish, Garrett is forming his sentences in English the way you would form them in Spanish.  He is going to have to relearn all of his English grammar when he returns, but for now, I am just so happy he has immersed himself in the Spanish language.  I highlighted my favorite "Spanish/English" sentences from this week's email.

HOLA!!!!! Como están?

I AM turning 20 this week--that is crazy!  I am so old!!!  Dang, I never thought I would be 20 years old.  I really never thought this day would come!  I am so old!!! GGGOOOOOSSSSHHHHHH!!!!!  But thanks for the thoughts and the very distant hugs and kisses!!!

Well, now my answers to your questions!!!

1- No, I haven't received your birthday package yet, but I am hoping that tomorrow I will get it!!!  If I do, that will be perfect timing.

2- No, I haven't received the package from DearElder.com either, but if I get it tomorrow that would be so convenient!!

3- Getting my toe-nail removed went a lot better than I thought it would go!! I will explain it later in more detail.

4- Yes, I know that guy. He is a goof ball!

5- Yes, we do have a DVD player, so I will be able to watch the movies you sent me.  Don't worry, I will make sure to bring them home after the mission!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!HAYDEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love you buddy! You have fought the battle and you won!!! I love you buddy!  Just know that I prayed for you everyday!!! I am so thrilled that the tumor is now dead and that we won't have any more problems with you and the cancer!!!  But the truth is that I knew from the beginning that everything was going to be okay.  I had no doubt!  Through this experience I have learned that the Lord makes everything in our lives happen for a reason. I believe this was meant to happen for a reason.  I am thankful to the Lord for this opportunity to grow and become better because without Hayden's cancer we would not have grown nor would we have become better.  I love you guys--especially you Hayden!!!

Well, my week is as follows:

This whole week one of my Zone Leaders (who is a little bad in the knees) and I just rested because the doctor told us that we had to rest!! So, we didn't really do anything other than that!  Then on Friday the doctor took out my toe nail--for the third time!!!  But surprisingly a miracle happened!!!  The first two times that they took out my toenail it hurt so bad.  It was the worst pain that I have ever felt in this life so far.  So, coming up to this third time I was freaking out because I didn't want to experience that much pain. So I was praying this whole week that I could withstand the pain and that through this mini operation my toe could be healed for good!!  When it was time to have the mini operation, I was really freaking out.  Right before he injected my toe I closed my eyes and said a silent prayer.  Literally 2 minutes later I opened my eyes and he was done!  I didn't feel a thing!!!!!!  I was so surprised by this miracle so I thanked God for this tender mercy.  That was a really cool experience!!  When we put our trust in God, He takes control and everything turns out better than we think it can be!! 

Well, that was basically my week!!!  Oh, one more thing...This week we had a baptism.  Her name is Michelle Mina.  She has 11 years and it was really cool.  BTW, the guy who is baptizing her is the Bishop of my ward. 

I love you all.

LOVE,

Elder Farley

Being brave for his toe-nail removal

Garrett and the doctor who removed his toe-nail

Garrett must be in charge of filling the font for Michelle's baptism

I love the one shoe and one SANDAL

Michelle Mina's baptism.  I love Garrett's sandal.

Lovely Ecuador

20 year old Garrett

Bishop and Michelle Mina

Week #57 - In-grown toenail removal #3

HoooOLLaaA! Como estan mi queirda familia!!! (Hello!  How is my dear family!!!)

Well like always I will answer your questions!!

1- Yes I have received the package with my new scriptures and I love them.  They are like new and I love the feel of them!!!  Just to let you know I gave my older English scriptures to an Elder here!!  That's why I wanted new ones.

2- The sector that I am in is called Los Vergeles.  But its like across the street from my old sector (Orquideas) so basically I am in the same sector and I know where everything is.

3- I get along with Elder Arcos just great.  He is awesome!  He is also from Quito so that is way cool to talk about.  But yea, he is way cool.

4- Yes, I saw a new film when I went to the temple last week, but it was the same one I saw at Christmas.

5- No, I haven't seen any general authority or anyone like that for a while.

6- Yes, I can get you a plantain press, but I thought you guys were going to pick me up at the end of my mission so I figured we could wait until then and you could buy it here. 

Well, now my questions!!

1- How could I become a temple worker after I get back from the mission?

2- Can you guys send me the movies, "17 Miracles" and "Ephraim's Rescue"?

3- We should start doing a study game!!! What I mean is that each week we have a topic and we all study that topic and then we share our thoughts on that topic.  How does that sound??

My week-

Tuesday we just worked, looking for new people to teach, and we went around to meet a lot of the members.  So this day it was really chill!!

Wednesday was changed, so actually we don't work this day anymore.  All we do is look for new people!!  So, as a Zone we went around to each of the sectors and helped look for new people!!  That was really cool!!!  We found a lot of people. I talked to about 200 people and about half of them slammed the door in my face--I loved it!!!!  We talked to a guy who is a preacher of a baptist church and he said that he has read the Book of Mormon and he has talked to the missionaries before but never got baptized because he is a preacher.  So we will see how that goes.  I will have to talk to the sisters about him because he is in their sector!!

Thursday we got ready to go to the temple so we went around to everyone to invite them to the ward temple trip!! 

Friday we went with the ward for their temple trip.  That was so much fun!  Me and my compañero helped baptize for the dead, and I probably baptized 100 or even more!!!  I loved that so much! I love the temple because I can feel a glimpse of heaven, and that gets me excited to get to heaven!!!

Saturday we went back to the temple to be with some of my converts that were in Quevedo.  We got to see them and say hello and that was alot of fun.  I miss those guys!  Quevedo was really cool--I loved them and the city!!!

Sunday was a normal day at church, but it was way cool!!! I love the mission--its the best!!!

Well that has been my week.  Today I am going to the hospital to get my toe-nail cut off again because I have a really bad in-grown toe nail.  We will see how that goes!!!  Well I forgot my camera so I can't send any pictures!!!  But just know that I love you guys with all of my heart!!

CON MUCHO AMOR (with much love)

Elder Farley