I Had Tacos!

Dear family and friends,

I had some legit tacos for the first time in 7 months today!!! I was so happy. This less active person invited us over to eat tacos with her and her husband (who isn’t baptized yet) to eat tacos, Dominica style. So even though it was p-day we said yes to help build our relationship with them to get her back in church and to get him baptized and to eat some good tacos!! I had like 8...they were so good. It is pretty funny the little things I have become grateful for on the mission ha ha. And I think my stomach has grown..I eat way too much now. I ate 15 pieces of pizza the other day as well; no wonder I am gaining weight!!

I am glad to hear the Justin is coaching the church ball team. I give him a shout out for leading us through the years!! They better win stake, just like we always did. That is so crazy that they are all home now, and it is crazy that I have already been out for 7 months!! I feel like I just got here, sometimes ha ha. Transfers are a week from tomorrow so we will be receiving calls on Thursday or Friday. And I am pretty sure I am leaving. But I don’t want to go!! I have grown so close to so many of the members and my companion and Elder Spencer who I was friends with before the mission back in like sophomore year. But I will of course do whatever the Lord has in store for me.

So my favorite miracle came from a door knock!!! We knocked this man’s door over a month ago and never heard anything from him ever again and have tried calling but he never picked up. But then one day we were close to his house and Elder Pearson suggested we go try again and so I thought ok, why not. We knocked on his door and he was there and let us in!! We had just a basic first lesson with him and he really likes what we taught and what we have to say. We have another visit with him tomorrow and have high hopes to put a fecha with him. It was just a miracle that we got in on a door knock. Because ever since President asked us to start knocking more doors, I hadn’t seen success. But now we have a least a little piece of success!!!

Other than that, we worked our butts off this week. We are trying to build this place back and have been going crazy. So we will see what this week brings, hopefully something good!! One thing that is way funny is that we live down the street from a university and there are some American students that are here for a study aboard and they walk by our piso everyday when we are there eating lunch and they always wave at us, especially the girls ha ha it is pretty funny. We just wave back and smile.

Hope all is good back in the states, this church is truly amazing!!! I love you!

Elder Farah

Elder Farah Finds Fun on P-Days

We all knew that Elder Farah would somehow find a basketball in Spain!

The coolest pairs of Elders in Spain.

                         Elder Farah is in love with his City of Zaragoza but transfers are coming...

No me gusta los trens...

Buena’s Dias!

We had interviews this past Thursday and they were great! I just love seeing President Pace and his wife.  They truly are amazing people.  I love just talking with them and being with them.  Even though our interviews are only like 15 minutes long, they are so amazing and the spirit is always so strong and I get the chance to receive revelation and advice from him on what I can do to be better and how to be a better missionary!! It is so great. But the only thing was with the trains again.  We went to buy our ticket home because we were in a different city and our train was to leave at 5:00.  And that is the ticket we asked for, but they gave us tickets for a train that left at 4:50 - and we arrived at like 4:45.  So we ran to try and catch it but missed it, and by the time we tried to catch the one at 5:00 it was too late.  So we had to wait for like 2 hours to catch another one, it was frustrating at first because these good old Spaniards aren’t the nicest here sometimes ha ha but we made it fun and it was nice just to laugh and talk with my companion and the other two elders.

So we found this man named Tony who is a less active. He came to church on Sunday and he was so happy, he even came in a nice shirt and tie. But we asked where his wife was, because she isn’t baptized and we want to baptize her, and he said she couldn’t make it this time and he looked so sad, but told us I pray that she can come next week.  I have developed so much love for this man, and on Sunday I could see it in his eyes that he wants his wife with him at church and baptized so bad. It was a miracle to see how much this man really loves church and wants his family in it, and how much he missed attending meetings. We need to get his wife and whole family in the gospel.  I really would love to see this family together in the gospel; I love this man so much.

Other than that, we are just pressing on with the 1000 baptism goal. Transfers are in 2 weeks and I will probably be heading out, and I don’t want to go! I love the people here so much in this beautiful city and not to mention our way super nice piso now ha ha.  But I will go wherever the Lord wants me to go.  I am excited to find out what the Lord has in store for me.

I love you all, write me!!

Elder Farah

p.s. some of the visa waiters are starting to come in and our mission is starting to turn upside down, especially with the all sisters.  But the Elders are starting to come in as well. I wouldn’t be surprised if I am training soon....pray for me!! Ha ha

Hukuna Matata

Buanas Dias el pais de america!  

Well, this week got freezing. The wind really kicked up and it has been super cold the last few days. So we have been layering up to try and to stay warm. I am so glad that we have our new piso with heaters and warm hot water. And now that all the holidays are finally over, we can work without any interruptions. Elder Pearson and I have been working so hard and I come home so dead every single night, we are trying to really get this place going again. We don’t have a whole lot right now; we have a lot of potential people that we are trying to get in with now that the holidays are over. But I am still so happy, it is crazy. Every day so many doors get slammed in our face, but we just keep smile on our faces and keep going.

It is funny the questions we ask people when they are slamming the doors in our faces such as what type of advice do you have for 2 young kids or where is the closet person who believes in Christ? Ha ha. I felt like I started to go through the motions a little bit, so I prayed for help to really realize how important my calling is. And my prayers were answered!! I am so happy doing the work, and get excited to go out and work every day! Prayer really is so powerful, I love it so much!! All we have to do is ask and the Lord will bless us. If we ask with faith and with a sincere heart, he will bless us. Prayer is so powerful and I am so grateful that we have it in our lives and that we can talk with our Heavenly Father. 

Mercedes, our recent convert, left for Peru today and we are so sad!! We had one last visit with her before she left and she just told us how we reminded her of her kids and how we are everything that she wants her kids to be. And how happy she was that we found her and how she has felt such peace every since we started visiting her. She just told us how we were always so happy and always inviting the spirit into her home. She is so amazing and we were sad to see her go. She will be a great member in Peru. 

Well, we have started attacking the goal of 1000. Wish us luck, lots of work to do!! We have interviews with President Pace this week and I am so excited to see him. I love being here, even though this country is absolutely nuts and I see crazy things every day. What an adventure this is.

Love you all!!

 

Elder Farah

The 1000 Goal!

Happy New Year!!

Ok so first things first, our mission goal for the year. We ended up with 484 for the past year and our goal was 600. Came up really short but that is still a ton of people! I remember that President Pace said he sees 1000 in his time as a mission president, but I thought that was during his term and that it would increase by increments. Well let’s just say that after a meeting with the zone leaders and his wife, the spirit testified to him that 1000 should be our goal for this year. He said that the spirit confirmed to him that the Lord is more worried about what we are becoming, rather than where we are coming from. So there you have it, our goal for this year is 1000 souls unto Christ. Can you believe that?! He is crazy, but I love him. This is the only time in my life that I will be a full time set apart missionary for 365 days of the year. Ha and it is only fitting that I get to tackle this goal of 1000. So we ask that in every prayer, that you ask for the Spain Barcelona Mission to achieve 1000 baptisms this year!! Thanks :)

So our friend Mercedes got baptized on Friday night. Then she invited us over for dinner on Saturday night with a member family. It does not get any better than that. Being able to enjoy our time with her and see how she has changed so much only in the last three weeks, was incredible. That dinner was incredible and one of those experiences that I will never forget. It is moments like that, that make the mission all worth it. I am forever grateful for that tender mercy that the Lord let me and Elder Pearson experience. I am so grateful I was able to a part of her baptism, and to see that change in her. Not to mention the food was great!! I love her so much, and she even gave us little key chains and leather bookmarks from Peru!! She is so nice.

I am not going to lie, this is the first time in my life I am happy the holidays are over!! It was really frustrating to do the work with all them going on because nobody wanted to meet with you or anything, which is understandable. But a new year, with new goals, and a giant goal of 1000 baptisms. Bring it on, and GO DUCKS!!!!

Love,

 

Elder Farah

p.s....the letter box is a little empty these days, I would love to hear from you guys!! Ha ha