Last Blog Post

Well this is the last email I will write as a missionary.... Its so crazy to think that 2 years has already come and gone. What a great experience its been though!!! 

I wish I had something amazing and profound to say but.... sorry to disappoint, I don't haha! I really have loved being a missionary for these past 2 years.  My mission has been the hardest thing I have ever done, but the most fulfilling and amazing thing I have ever done. My testimony of the gospel and of Jesus Christ have grown so much. I know that these things are all true! I am grateful for the opportunity that I have been given to help and serve other people and to watch them accept the gospel and change their lives.  And you know what the best part of it all is? It doesn't end! Missionary work is one of the most important things and we all have the duty to share the gospel! 

I am thankful for all the love and support that I have been given since I have been out here. I really do love you all and I am so grateful for your prayers and letters and everything! I can't wait to see you all on Friday.  Have a great week :) 

LOVE YOU

Elder Farnsworth

Second to Last

Hey everyone, hows it going? 

It's crazy to think that this is my 2nd to last email that I will send.  The time really does go fast, and it's all so bitter sweet. 

This week was a good week here in Selkirk though.  We were able to teach quite a few of our investigators and less actives so that was good. We got to go out to a members house in a place called fisher branch.  It's about an hour and a half away.  We spent 3 days out there helping on their farm and a bunch of their neighbors and things farms as well. It was a good experience to be able to go out and do some service and meet a bunch of people. we were able to teach some of them so that was great as well. It was kinda crazy, we stayed in this members house, but its a real old farm house and it doesn't really have running water, so we were using the old out house, and for a shower we had to use a bucket to fill the bath tub, then just bath in there.  Needless to say you don't get very clean. It was fun though.  Made me really grateful for all the amenities that we have. OH also I got my first tick this week.  Then I got a second and third hahaha.  It was tick city out there so that kinda wasn't fun but all in all it was a great time! 

Lately we have been reading the Book of Mormon as a mission and we have been highlighting where Jesus Christ speaks or whenever it talks about Christ or the gospel. We highlight when it talks about faith, repentance, baptism, the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end. This whole process has been amazing. It has helped me to see the Book of Mormon in a new light and really come to understand it even better. I challenge each of you to read the Book of Mormon but try something new with it, maybe read with a question, or a problem. Maybe go through and highlight all where it talks about Christ or the plan of salvation. I promise that it will help you to see it in a new light and strengthen the testimony that you have of the book. I love the Book of Mormon. I know that its true and I know it will bring us closer to God and Jesus Christ.  I can't even express how much I love that book and how important and amazing it truly is. ALWAYS read it... I promise it will strengthen your conversion and help you every single day.  We need to be praying, and reading our scriptures everyday, no excuses. If you are having problems or struggles in your life, if your doubting things -- read and pray, go to church and you will be amazed at how much better you will feel and how much help you will receive. 

I love you all!!!! I gotta say I am getting excited to see you all next week... just a little excited.... haha.

Love you all!!! 

Elder Farnsworth

In the News

Hey everyone, how was the week? Our week here in Selkirk was pretty good! It was super rainy this week so that kinda stunk but I guess it is better than snow eh? 

Things are good though.  We did a bit of service this week.  We also did some good old tracting and things like that to find some new people to teach.  Nothing too exciting yet, but miracles are coming! We did make the news paper so that was really exciting.  We are famous now haha, not really the members were all really happy but other than that no one has said much... it was great though, a good way to get the church out and noticed in the community. 

We had a great Sacrament Meeting this Sunday.  A lot of people got up and bore their testimonies and they were all so powerful and inspiring.  This branch here is amazing!  The spirit here is so strong and all the members are so unified.  I love serving here. It is  a great place :) That's about all for this week, nothing too crazy exciting.

I was reading a book this week and it was talking about Joseph Smith and the restoration of the gospel and it really reminded me how amazing and true all of this is. I know that Joseph Smith is a prophet.  I know the gospel is restored and we have modern day prophets and apostles that hold the priesthood. The Book of Mormon is true!  These truths are so important and each one of us needs to constantly remind and reaffirm these things for ourselves.  We can never loose sight of what is most important.  Life is crazy and busy but we always need to take time to think and ponder about the gospel and strengthen our testimonies. 

Love you all!  Have a great week!

Elder Farnsworth

Garage Sale

Hello everyone, 

This week we did a ton of service. One of the members here in our branch actually lost their son in a car accident like 3 years ago.  He was only 7 and his friend Gracie died like a year after him.  Anyways they hold this huge garage sale in honor of them and donate all of the money made to charities and things within the community. This garage sale is HUGE.  They have a huge hockey arena just filled with stuff, so we got to help with going through all the donations and sorting them and putting them on tables.  Then on Saturday we would help people out to their cars and things with all their boxes. What a job haha.  We did this for like 4 days and we were exhausted!!! It was such a great experience though. We were around tons of the church members and we got to see and talk to and get to know so many people within the community.  It was a great opportunity for us!!! 

I love these small towns and branches. They all support one another and get involved with such great causes.  The best part too... we might even make the news paper haha! We got interviewed and got our pictures taken so that would be huge here if the missionaries made the paper.  Hopefully it happens! 

Other than that this week was just kind of normal we had an exchange on Tuesday so that was good.  Church on Sunday was great too.  This branch here has some of the greatest members.  I love serving here in Selkirk.  It is amazing how each area on your mission has an impact on you.  I am so grateful that I had this opportunity to serve and have all these great experiences.  What a blessing! 

Well I hope you all have a great week.

Love you all!!!

Elder Farnsworth

Short and Sweet

Hey everyone, 

I don't have too much time today so this will be short. This week was a good week though, we taught quite a few new people and we also were able to do a bunch of service this week which has been great. It is amazing to see how service can soften peoples hearts and really help them to open up.  We have mowed lawns, done gardens, pulled weeds, all kinds of different things! I think I may be a professional gardener by the time I get home! 

Other than that things are going great, the weather is good and the work is good.  What else can you ask for! I am so thankful for the opportunity to serve a mission. It is the best!  Lately I have been reading the conference Ensign and I love those talks. I know that the words are inspired. It truly is modern day scripture. I challenge all of you to read over the conference talks again, its amazing the things we can gain when we study the words of the living day prophets and apostles. 

I love you all. Ii hope you have a great week! 

Elder Farnsworth

Transferred to Selkirk

Hello,

This is an update for two weeks:

Two weeks ago I got a transfer call to move to Selkirk.  The call came in at 6:00 PM and I had to be on a Greyhound bus at 8:00 PM.  I had two hours to pack and say goodbye to everyone.  The bus ride from Flin Flon to Winnipeg was 12 hours long.  I did not get any sleep on the bus so by the time I got to Winnipeg I was so tired.  I got a new companion that I am training.  His name is Elder Moore.  He is also a visa waiter who is going to Macon, Georgia speaking Spanish.  We were sent to Selkirk and we are whitewashing.  When we got to the apartment that the other missionaries left six weeks earlier, it was in horrible condition.  Dirty dishes everywhere and the floor furnace and broken and there was water all over the wood floor.  So the floor had started coming up and was covered in mold.  Needless to say, we lived out of our car driving back and forth to Winnipeg for three days.  The apartment finally got somewhat cleaned up, but then my comp got sick and we could not leave the apartment for a couple of days.  It was a crazy week.

It was great talking to everyone on Mother’s day. 

Well week number two in Selkirk was much better than our first week.  So this week we worked really hard on trying to find and build an investigator/teaching pool. We have a ton of potentials and things but no one really solid yet.  We are praying and working hard so hopefully this week we find some good people to teach.  We did get a new apartment this week so that has been really nice, it’s like brand new inside.  It has a washer and dryer and all that good stuff and it’s even cheaper than the old one so that has been a big blessing! 

My comp isn’t sick anymore either so that is also a huge blessing.  Thank goodness for that.  We were able to get out and meet quite a few of the members as well so that has been good. the members here are so good, there’s a lot of younger people and families and they are all great people, I am excited to get to work with them a little more. 

On Saturday we were able to go to Winnipeg and we had a special zone conference where we heard from the Presiding Bishop, Gerald Causse and also from one of the 70s, Elder Spackman. Elder Renlund and his wife were here but they had to go to a different part of the mission so we didn’t get to hear from them.  It was such a good meeting. Bishop Causse talked a lot about the atonement and also how it is truly the center of everything.  He said each of us need to repent every single night.  We constantly need to be trying to get better and overcome our weaknesses. Elder Spackman spoke a lot about how difficult missions are but, we will receive wonderful blessings when we serve faithfully.  He also spoke about how we need to always have a prayer in our heart.  We always need to be praying and asking God for help.  If we pray and rely on him we are promised that he will answer our prayers and give us the things we need.   It was a great conference.  I love hearing from the leaders of the church.  What amazing people.  I know they are all called and chosen by God! 

Well I hope everyone has a great week, I love you all, thanks for all your support and prayers! 

Elder Farnsworth

Follow your Promptings

This week was great :) We were real blessed this week and saw quite a bit of success. We were able to find quite a few new investigators this week so that was great. We did some tracting and things like that and we also have a bunch of potentials so that is pretty exciting as well! 

I had the prompting early on in the week to go and see a former investigator named Donna. We had heard that she had just moved back in town and stuff. So we tracked her down and went to see her. It was great! We had a really good first lesson and then we went back two days later had another lesson and invited her to be baptized on June 1st.  She said yes! She is really excited for her date and we even got to teach her brother and her aunt as well, so now we have a family. It was such a great blessing. Its so important when we have a spiritual prompting to always follow it, it will pay off and we will see miracles! 

Other than that this week has been great weather wise. It has been sunny and nice, almost all the ice on the lakes have melted and the people are out walking around like crazy! We have been walking a lot the past little while and have talked to quite a few people so that has been good :) We go on walks and things with some of our recent converts and have little lessons.  I am telling you Flin Flon is a beautiful place. There is so many trees and rocks and its like living in a mountain. There are lakes and paths everywhere,  it's great. 

I hope everyone back home is doing well. It is crazy to think that its already May.  Time goes by so fast. I hope everyone has a great week and a happy Mothers Day. Love you all! 

Elder Farnsworth