Week #65 - Wowing us with his Spanish

OH, Hey Family!!! Como estan? Ha ha...get ready with Google translate because I feel Spanish coming on...........

(I had to reword a few things so they made sense.  I did use Google translate and Cory the translator to help me.  So, some of it probably isn't translated word for word because we don't think he wrote it right.  We took the liberty of guessing at what he was trying to say. I hope we were close.)

Entonces voy a contestar tus preguntas primero (I am going to answer your questions first)

1- quiero ser los dos, un productor y director de películas yo puedo ser los dos cierto? (I want to be both a producer and director of movies.  Is it true that I can be both?)

2- si tengo otro uñero pero fui a los doctores y lo quitaron entonces ahora no tengo pero tal vez en el futuro (Yes, I had another in-grown toenail, but I went to the doctor and he removed it.  I don't have one now but maybe I will in the future.)

3- no pude no se si hay aquí en Ecuador (No, I haven't bought Epsom Salt yet, I don't know if they have it in Ecuador.)

4- pues esta semana encontramos una familia para enseñar y son excelente, ellos son pilas y quieren escuchar a nosotros, pero no están casados, entonces el milagro seria que asistieron y les encantaron la iglesia, entonces eso seria el milage (This week we found a family to teach and they are excellent.  They are charged and want to listen to us, but they are not married.  The miracle would be that they attended and loved the church.  That would be the miracle.)

5- si esa semana hicimos servicio, hubo esta caja de cemento y un hermano de le iglesia necesitaba destruir la caja entonces fue muy difícil pero la destruimos y le ayudamos con ese proyecto, y solamente hoy día siento bien porque seo fue tan difícil dolió mucho (This week the service we did was there was this box made of cement and a brother of the church needed to destroy the box.  It was very difficult to destroy the box and to help him with this project. Only today am I starting to feel better because I got sore from this very hard job.)

OK NOW you guys can turn off your google translate jajajaj (Ha, ha, ha) Did you guys like that?

Now for my questions

1- Can you guys send me P90-X?  The reason is that I want to be buff. Jajaj!

2- (This is just a heads up) For Christmas can you guys send me ties?  I would like ties from the missionary store and I would like CTR ties and CHRISTMAS TIES!! That would be awesome!!!

3- How are my friends, that are in their missions, doing?

4- What other schools have really good film programs?

5- What do you guys think about my career choice?

6- You guys are cool!!!

Ok, now for my week-

Well this week was good.

Monday we helped this brother in the ward break this huge cement box and boy that was hard!! Finally today I am not feeling sore!! But I felt good helping him break up the box!!

Tuesday we had District meeting and I helped my district understand the importance of finding new people to teach.  I also gave them a challenge to find 7 new investigadors this week.  I think that they didn't complete this challenge but we got close because we found 5 new people this week!!  I really wanted to find 7 people but we came as close as we could. Tuesday was cool.  We also helped a brother in the ward move two huge refrigerators down some stairs.  These stairs were so narrow and I was so scared to bring them down!!  I was scared because I was the one carrying them down the stairs!!  That scared me because there were no rails to hold on to so I could have fallen off at anytime.  But I didn't so that was good!!

Wednesday is the day where we worked to find 5 new people to teach.  We worked really hard this day and it was fun.  The two families that we found are called the family Agiurre Ortiz and the family Alvarracin. I hope they can progress really good.

For some reason on Thursday, nobody was home so unfortunately we didn't have much success.  But we were able to make pizza with a family who are less active and we really enjoyed that.  It was fun and the pizza was good.

Friday we worked hard trying to find more people to teach and that was what we did all day.

Saturday we couldn't do much because we had a Stake meeting that we had to attend and it was about Emergency Preparedness.   We were there but we as missionaries didn't do much, so I wasn't too focused on it! Jajajaja.

Sunday we went to church and thankfully the family Aguirre Ortiz attended church with us.  That was really cool because it was the Primary Program and that was cool for them to see!!

Well that was basically my week.  I had fun. 

Well, keep safe and always remember who you are and remember that I love you.

LOVE

Elder Farley

Garrett's well marked scriptures

These stairs are treacherous--Yikes! Scary!

Personal scripture study time

I love Garrett!

Garrett and Elder Zelayaran making pizza with a less active family

Week #64 - Ingrown toenail #4

Hola como están?

Well, I will start off by answering your questions:

1- We didn't get to go see Angelica this week because I had to rest from my ingrown toenail.  We didn't go out to work much because of my sore toe.  

2- The picture that you saw of me on Facebook was from a little while ago.  The Stake here had an activity about family history work and there was like a little place where you could take pictures with those mustaches, so all of the Elders took this picture.  I thought it was sweet!!!

3- Yes, I am happy.  I am exercising and yes I feel healthy.  Everything is alright with me--there really is no need to be worried about me.

4- Yes, I will take pictures of my planner and my scriptures, but can I know why you want to see those pictures?

This week was pretty normal.  We were in the house all day because of my sore, ingrown toe nail that was taken out last Monday.  So all week we were resting.  On Thursday we started to work but we really couldn't do that much because we didn't have a good start of the week.

The only cool thing that we did this week was on Thursday I had a super bad headache and I was thinking about why my head hurt so badly and then I took a poop and right then my headache went away!! JAJAJAJA jk--that is just a joke.

No, but sorry this week was normal. I am super glad that Hayden is OK now!!  That is the news that I wanted to hear and I am super happy that Hayden is doing great!!!!

Well, sorry that this week was lame.  I am really sorry.

My questions:

1- So did you guys apply to BYU for me?

2- Just keep me informed about Hayden.

3- I love you guys a lot! 

4- Sorry that this email is really lame.

5- But I love you guys.

6- With all my heart.

LOVE,

Elder Farley

Week #63 - Deep Doctrine Study

HOOLLLOOOA!! Como están?

Well, I will start off by answering your questions!!

1- I thought that a movie producer and a movie director were the same thing.  But I could be wrong.  I am known to be wrong at times!!  Ha Ha! J/K!  What is the difference?  I need to know what the difference is so I can chose which one I want to become.

2- Things went good in my district this week.  I am worried about the sisters that are in my district because their sector is super hard so I am doing all I can to help them.

3- I still have no doubt in my mind that everything will be all right with Hayden.  We, as Latter-day Saints, are the chosen people of God.  We are literally his army.  If we show him our true desire to serve he will do what's best for us!! D&C 84: 88. 

4- The whole week was filled with small, seemingly insignificant things that have caused me to increase my faith.  Every day is a gift and we need to make the most of it or we will loose it.

5- Mom, I love you more than you could ever imagine.  Thank you so much for everything.

Well, now for my week:

Last Monday we went and played paintball.  That was fun but my toe hurt really bad afterward (BTW, I have another in-grown toe-nail) but it was still super fun. Elder Vance and Elder Sink have becomes such great friends here in this zone. They are great guys!  So we played paintball for a while with a lot of members of the wards.

Tuesday we had district meeting and I shared my training about GOD and who He is so we as a district can teach the people about God so they can know who is the TRUE GOD is! (John 17:3)  We talked about that for a while and that went really great and then the rest of the day was really good.  Nothing else really happened!!

Wednesday we found a new investigator.  Her name is Angelica.  We had some free time so we started contacting, going door to door.  Because I am a pretty funny guy, I stopped to make a joke with a dog. :-)  As I was talking to this dog, I looked into the house that was right next to us and I felt prompted to talk to the women who lived there.  This was Angelica and she is super cool.  We shared with her about the family proclamation and she has been reading which is really good!!  She couldn't attend church because she was busy on Sunday so hopefully she can this week.

Thursday was just a normal day and we really didn't do anything too special.

Before we went to lunch on Friday, me and my companion were talking to the Elders that live with us (Elder Merritt and Elder Robinson) and we were talking about deep doctrine stuff like space and time and how God travels and Kolob like stuff.  That was a crazy conversation, but it was cool.  So after that, I told myself that I would study Moses!! And that is what I did!  WOW that is some heavy stuff!

Saturday I studied Moses 1 verses 1-11.  Even though it was some short verses, I learned a lot about God!!  This week I also have studied a lot about the plan of salvation and I have learned some great and interesting things!!!  I will have to share them with you on a different occasion.

Sunday we went to church and everything was cool.  It was a normal day.  It was just fun going to church and talking to all of my friends that I have made here!!  I LOVE Ecuador so much!  It has forever become a part of my life!!!

Well, that is basically my week.  Sorry if my report is lame and sorry I can't send pictures this week.  I forgot my cord to send the pictures and this computer is old.  But whatevs? 

You guys are forever in my prayers! 

My questions:

1- What is the difference between a movie director and a movie producer?

2- Is there anything in particular that I should keep in mind this week?

3-Have you guys been working out because you look amazing?

4-Can you guys do me a favor?  Can you research about BYUI and see what they can offer for a movie producer or movie director education?

LOVE

Elder Farley

I found this picture on Facebook so I don't know what it is about.  I am just happy to see Garrett!

Week #62 - Garrett-- The future Movie Director/Producer

Hola Familia!!!

Como están? 

Well, I will first start off by answering your questions.

1- My companion, Elder Zelayaran is really cool.  A little weird, but he is cool.  We get along good!!  He was born in the church and both of his parents were missionaries so its a little easier to train him!!  But he is cool.

2- I LOVED the native Spanish speakers in General Conference because it is not the same when there is a translator! But I loved that new thing they did!! Did Dad understand when that guy spoke in Portuguese? Did he understand ALL of it? Because I understood all of what they said in Spanish--ALL of it!

3- What is that movie? (Meet the Mormons)

4- We didn't have a District Meeting this week.  We got special permission to watch a movie for our meetings and we watched Ephraim's Rescue (such a great movie).

5- I guess my district is called the district of Elder Farley. :-)

6- My biggest struggle this week was just trying to get everyone to go to church to see General Conference.

7- My biggest success this week was when some of them came to the church to watch General Conference.  :)

Well, now I will tell about my week.

This week was pretty normal.  We really didn't do anything too cool.

Basically we just invited the whole world to come to General Conference and we got about 3 investigators and 7 less active people to attend!! So that wasn't that bad.  Really that was basically our week.  Sorry that it was lame!!

But I did LOVE conference.  I got some GREAT personal revelation!  This week we had a meeting with President Riggins and he told us that we need to start teaching about God and who he is so the people can follow the TRUE GOD (John 17:3).  So this week we taught everyone about who God is.  As I was teaching this week,  I was feeling badly because I wanted to teach with power and authority like those missionaries in the Book of Mormon.  So, I was feeling just a little down because the people weren't willing to follow the real God.  But after Robert D. Hales spoke I realized that I just need to study more about God and I need to find out who he is so I can teach the people with more power!!!  So, that is what I will do this week!!

Also in this conference I received personal revelation about my future career.  This is actually a funny story.  On Saturday, in the morning session, I received this huge feeling that I needed to be a movie director.  So for the whole day I was doubting my answer and I decided that I wasn't going to do it.  But when Henry B. Eyring spoke he said, "When you receive personal revelation, accept the answer and then do what it says."  So when I heard that I kind of shrunk down in my seat and I said, "Ok, I will be a movie producer then!!!"  Ha, Ha, Ha!  I thought that was kind of funny!!

I also realized something else interesting.  This conference I was thinking about Dad and Mom.  I was thinking about what GREAT parents they are.  They are the best!  Not only are they great parents, but they are GREAT members of the church. I was wondering why they don't have higher callings, because they are great examples and can be great leaders.  Then I realized that they were released right before Hayden got cancer.  They were released when we didn't know about his cancer and now the Lord has made it so the only worry that they have is Hayden.  I think the Lord has something in store for our family that is very special and through this trial you guys will learn important lessons and in the future, when Hayden is healed, you guys will have the opportunity to be GREAT leaders in the church.  Now this is just something that I was thinking about.  I don't know if this is true, but I THOUGHT THAT WAS INTERESTING.

Well, that was basically my week.  Sorry that it was lame!!

My questions:

1- Did the Farley men go to priesthood together? Did they go to eat afterward?

2- What did Morgyn think of GC?

3- Do you think that what I received was personal revelation? or no?

4- How is Harris?

LOVE,

Elder Farley

All ready for General Conference.  Sunglasses?

Handsome Garrett!

He must be going for a "Men in Black" look.

Paintball fun on P-day

Week #61 - District Leader and Trainer

HOLA!!!! Familia, Wamilia, Tamamilia...Como Estan?

D&C 84:88 " I the lord am with you" (basically is what it says).

I know without fear, doubt, or questions in my mind  that we lived with God.  He knows us, he loves us, we loved him, we worked with him, we lived with him, we laughed with Him, we cried with Him, we learned from Him, we fought for Him, we won the war with Him.  NOW that we forgot everything and as we are walking by faith towards our beloved father to live once more with our Celestial Dad, He with his son are fighting for and are fighting with us as we come back home to Him. He has provided the means, he has provided the path, and he is helping us through this journey. We waited THOUSANDS of years for the opportunity that we have now.  The LORD WILL NOT LEAVE US ALONE.  He loves us too much.  Together we have worked too hard to get here. No matter what happens just know that the Lord will lift you up and through GOD and JESUS CHRIST we can be perfected!  Just know that you guys are never alone.  He sent Christ to fight with you!

Well, I will start off by answering your questions:

1- If you really want to send another pair of Sanuks you can, but you are not obligated to send them!!

2- No we haven't seen the homeless man again, but I have been looking for him.

3- We are going to watch General Conference in the church and BTW I can NOT wait to see Conference General.

Now I will tell about my week:

Monday we received a call from the Zone Leaders that my compañero was going to be transferred.  But he wasn't going to have to change until Wednesday, so for Monday and all day Tuesday we were saying goodbye to everyone and we were packing his stuff. So basically that is what we did all those days!!  They also called me to be District leader and I am going to train a new missionary!!  So I am a District Leader and a trainer!!

Wednesday we went to the head stake center called La Kennedy where we had a meeting all day and we meet our new compañeros.  So my compañeros name is Elder Zelayaran.  He is from Peru, Lima and he has not even a week in the mission.  I will probably be with him for 3 months but I don't know, lets just see!  This meeting that we had was really powerful!  Something that president said that really impacted me was, "you can be a disobedient missionary and baptize, but you can still go to hell".  WHHHAATT!!!!  That was so powerful because he said it in English and man the spirit was so powerful.  Dang, you guys should have been there!!!

We came back late in the night so I didn't have much time to work with Elder Zelayaran, but on Thursday we worked and we passed by the house of Hermana Augustina and she is just breaking my heart. She is still having doubts about the only true church so we told her to ask her pastor if her church has 1 prophet, 12 apostles, and the power of god in the priesthood.  She did just that and her pastor said that they do have all of that (which is a lie).  So she doesn't want to listen to us anymore, which is just killing me because she KNOWS that this church is true.  She just doesn't have the courage to join and I don't know why.  So that was way hard!  To help her we are trying to get her to go to General Conference so we will see what happens.

The other family that we are working with is called the Familia Tenorio and they attend church almost every week but they just never have time to hear our lessons.  Also, the owner of the house won't let us come in the house.  But we are going to work with them in these next couple of weeks.

Other than that we are just trying to be the best missionaries that we can be.  I am trying to be the best example I can be.  

Thank you for the advice about my future wife.  I will definitely put that in first place when I get home!

Now for my questions:

1- How are you guys feeling about this surgery?

2- How is Hayden doing through this?

3- How can you guys apply the atonement of Jesus Christ in this situation?

4- And for Cami- Alma 5:14, she is a light if she can at least just smile.  She will become an angel to those who need a better day, and by her smile she can change that, because she has a beautiful smile.  3 Nephi 19:25 says we can have the countenance of Christ in our lives.

Well family I love you a ton, and just know that God will provide!!

Les amo mucho, estan en mis oraciones cada dia, y siempre siempre tengan fe, Fe es poder (I love you a lot and you are always in my prayers everyday and always, always have faith.  Faith is power.)

LOVE,

Elder Farley

New Companion: Elder Zelayaran