Wednesday, July 31, 2013
So Many Miracles
Hello
From LA!!!
Well
this week was pretty crazy to figure everything out. It is a whole new world up
here. It is so beautiful. Everything’s green and it is the richer part of
Spain so it is very pretty. The only thing that worries me here is the branch.
There was a good 30 of them in church maybe and they are all really
struggling. They are all a little sad and have given up hope a little bit
because this area hasn’t seen a baptism since September of last year. Every
time I told someone I was excited to be here and work they all looked at me
funny because they know it is difficult to have 0 baptisms. The Branch president
is 26 years old; he is super young and got called at 23. So we just need
to pick up the animo and excitement here, I tried to bring that on Sunday to
cheer these people up. But it is definitely very different. And the
church is located on a plaza with like 4 bars. The church was there
first, and now it is surrounded by bars. Pretty funny.
But
my companion is great; he is just starting his third transfer, so he has about
4 months in the mission. He is still learning, but he is already great.
Elder Frederich is from Kentucky. The best part is that he has no
fear talking to anybody and contacting the world. So we have been talking
to so many people trying to pick it up. We just got to do work and go
hard, this place has baptisms waiting
Alright
well we have already seen so many miracles together in this short time but I
have a huge one to tell you. We found a Peruvian family of 6, a pareja and 4
children from 17 years old to 23. We went and visited the mom one day, and just
had a visit with her so then I told her that we were going to come back and
teach her and her husband and her family. I was really bold and kind strong
with her and just invited us back the next day to see the family, but she liked
the idea. So we went back and the 2 kids wanted to listen to us and so
did the husband. We taught the restoration and focused alto on Jesus Christ and
baptism. We invited them to be baptized and they accepted. So 4 fechas right
there!! The only problem is that the dad said that if we are going to do this,
he wants to do it as a family. PERFECTO!!! So Tuesday we are going back and
hope to put the other 2 on date, a family off six being baptized would be a
huge miracle. But I know it is going to happen, and this is what the branch
needs. We are praying so very hard to have this family get baptized, we are on
our way!! A family of 6 getting baptized would change this area, and make
a lot of noise in the mission. We already made a lot of noise this week.
We
also put another Bolivian lady with a fecha as well, she is so prepared.
So right now we are working with 5 fechas, just in the first week!! And
we have a lot more people that we are working with from the contacts we made
this week. We sent our numbers into the office and they were shocked with
the numbers we put up in one week. This place is changing, and we are
going to baptize so many people. We are gonna make some noise here and in
the mission!!!
My district is
big, 4 hermanas and 4 elders, so ten of us in total and a senior couple that is
up here in Las Arenas so I guess 12 in the district. They are a big help
for the ward and have been fixing so much. And I really like my zone
leaders, I knew them from before in the mission and we are working really good
together with lots of unity.
Other than that, I
am just trying to get comfortable here in this beautiful city. The piso
is trash....no more brand new pisos for me ( ha ha welcome back to reality).
I just ask that you all pray for the Parado family to be baptized on the
17 of August as a family. We’re going after the grand slam!! Love
you all and have a great week
Elder Farah
Castellon en mi corazon
Bon Día!!!
Well I have finally moved
from Castellon. After 6 months of working there, I am now in an area
called Las Arenas. LA son!!! But I am so sad to have left Castellon, so many
people cried on Sunday and Monday when I was saying good bye to everyone
(myself included). The bishop even had me share my testimony in sacrament
meeting at the end and I might have almost lost it. It is incredible how close
you grow to the ward during a mission. They are like my family and I love them
so much. I really didn’t want to go and I came here to Las Arenas
dragging my feet. The train ride was so long yesterday, 3 hours to Barcelona
and then 6 to Bilbao. The members didn’t want me to go. I passed by
like 15 houses Monday and I still was missing people and they all
gave me so much stuff. I poured my heart out down there, and did it
for the people. They always gave me the animo to work hard and do it for
them. They all said that they will miss me and my stupid jokes and how
nice I am to everyone.
It was like a paradise up
there, eat with the members everyday, brand new piso we found, and all my
peeps. And of course this last week we had the best week of the entire
transfer, taught over 20 lessons and have 2 fechas with more on the way,
and found a bunch of people. But I am glad that I left my Chileno with
lots of work now, he was pretty nervous to be in charge. But it is not
what I want, it is what the Lord wants and he needs me in Las Arenas now.
Up here is a huge
change. It is a branch of like 30 active people. The city is
beautiful, but the work is really hard. And there have been 0 baptisms in
the ward all year so that says that the work is really tough up here!! And the
piso is a typical old Spanish piso, really old, and it is just me and my
companion Elder Fredercih. He just finished training and has 3 months in the
field and he is from Kentucky. But he is a great missionary and a very
nice kid. We are going to be fine together. But it is a grinder
area, and it will rain everyday in the winter, and has random downpours at any
point during the day now. It is hot, but not near as hot as Castellon. We
will see how this goes, I just wanna get the first thing down and get familiar
with my area, but I will never forget about Castellon.
Elder Farah
Monday, July 15, 2013
It's Getting Hot in Here...
Dear Family and Friends,
My miracle from the week was yesterday. We went to visit
this member who now isn’t able to come to church because she has work.
But just recently her son has arrived from Venezuela and so I really want to
teach him. We have been trying and trying and trying to see him but for
whatever reason he wasn’t home or was really shy to talk to us. But I know that
this woman has a lot of respect for the Bishop. So in our priesthood meeting Sunday
morning before church I asked him to come with us after church in the afternoon
and he said “no problem, con gusto,” so we went and visited them. And all I got
to say is that the Bishop is a powerful man and is so involved in the work
here. He talked with this lady and her son and bore pure testimony to this kid
that we share a message that changes lives, and then said the Elders will be
here Tuesday to visit you and he accepted. I was in shock!! I know that we
found this new investigator because of the Bishop and his help for us. I love
the Bishop here; he is such a great man and is always asking us about our work
and wanting to help. And it didn’t hurt that me and the Bishop get along really
well. I respect him so much. That
is one of the great things about being in an area so long; you get to build
great relationships with all the people.
So transfers are next week, and this Saturday night we will
find out where we are going. I hope I stay one more transfer!! One more would
be like the max amount of time; 5, that is pretty rare around here. The ward on
Sunday all told me I had to let them know Saturday night what happens. This
one might be rough!! But I will just do work this week and not worry about
it.
Other than that our Colombian kid came to church and everything,
and we saw him once last week before he got sick for a few days. He has a
few doubts; he is just scared of changing from Catholic to Christian because
his whole family for generations has been Catholic. So we just need to
work with him a little more, but I still really think he will be baptized. And
he loves all the things that we do in the church, because if you really take a
second to think, our church does a ton!! It is just all pure love, service and sacrifice
that we do for our Lord. I love it.
The sun has been pretty hot, and we are right under it.
And I just sweat nonstop. And when we are in buildings knocking
doors in the stairwells it is like an oven because there are no windows, just lights
and concrete so it is pretty toasty. But anything for the Lord!! And it
is only going to get hotter, and with the humidity of Castellon, it can make us
pretty soaked, but no worries.
Hope all is well and everyone is enjoying the summer. Love
you!!
Elder Farah
Monday, July 8, 2013
Hace Calor....
Wow, I have such an amazing miracle to share with you guys!!
The day of interviews, right before president got to the church we were
out contacting because we hard extra time in the park across the street. I saw
this kid looking at us with a smile so I thought maybe he had talked with the
missionaries before. So I went up and contacted him and he said we had never
seen or heard of us so I said ok we would love to talk with you. We set the
visit for 2 days later in the morning at the church. He showed up and we set a
fecha with him!! He is 21 years old from Columbia. He said he wants to leave
the bad influences of the world. He even asked if it was disrespectful to have earrings
in our church. And I was hesitant to say anything because it was our first
visit with him, but then he just took them out and apologized for having them.
It was amazing!! Then he came to church the next day (the sauna that we have
with our broken a/c) then even came to choir later that day and loved every
second with it. And by him coming to choir and church he was able to get to know
a lot of the members and meet the bishop and everything. It is amazing that all
this happened because I opened my mouth and said hola. I pray that he will be
baptized and it could be my first baptism from a pure contact!! It is just
the Lord blessing us for all of our hard hard work
It is just getting super-hot here and we just sweat all day
every day, I wake up sweating sometimes and then when Ii pray on my knees I
sweat, it is pretty funny. But it’s all good; I just have to pass these 3
months and then take on the freezing cold in the winter. And interviews
with president were way good; it is always so good to see him. He thanked
me for all the work I have done here in Castellon so far, I have experienced a lot
and I have seen this place change so much!! Form the groundbreaking of the
church, to the new elders, the baptisms and all the good stuff.
This week also went by really quick, I have been doing exchanges
with the district lately (one of the things I have to do) to try and help them
out and get them working hard. This week they all really improved and all
have fechas, so things are going good.
Alright I love you all, pray for us to have clouds in the
sky every now and then.
Love,
Elder Farah
P.S. the picture is the extent of our Fourth of July, it was
a very uneventful day....a member made the treat for us.
Monday, July 1, 2013
Que Pasa!!!
Que pasa!!
So it is finally starting to get really hot here in Spain, and we still
are going to get a lot more heat. But that is all part of the adventure!!
We just sweat a ton, but no worries. I was finally able to leave my bed
this week on Wednesday; I was stuck in it for like 4 days. I would have done
anything to have watched a Disney movie or something ha ha. I was so happy just
to be able to leave and work again, I felt so useless in the bed doing nothing.
But my miracle from this week has to be about the people in Teruel. As
you know we go out there with some members of the ward the last Sunday of every
month to hold a small sacrament meeting with some members out there, and there
is always friends there as well. I just am so astonished by how much faith
these people have and how much they love this gospel. Even though the sacrament
meeting is held in a house, with 20 people mas o menos, they are so grateful to
be able to receive the sacrament and have such incredible faith. What examples they
are to me. And maybe sometime soon they will open a small branch out there.
That is really all from the week, we are just working really hard to
pick this place up and find new people!! But we saw little miracles here and
there this past week and we arelooking forward to working hard this week now
that I am not stuck on the toilet....
Happy Fourth of July to America, obviously here that holiday doesn’t
exist. But I love this work!! And my opportunity to be here!!
Love,
Elder Farah
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