Well...Life Goes On

So first is first.  Eduardo DID NOT get baptized. Hardest thing I have passed on my mission yet!! Everything was good, we picked out his clothes Monday, tried them on, practiced with him, we picked who wanted to do what for the program and the font was even halfway full until I got a call at 4 o clock on Wednesday, 3 hours before his baptism. He says that he talked to his friend and his friend just told him, if you are going to do it, do it good. And then he said he felt something tell him no. And I tried telling him that it doesn’t matter what anyone says, God has given him his answer plenty of times and has worked so many miracles to clear his path towards baptism and that he can’t deny it. And what God says goes, and we need to do what he says with faith and confidence in him.  I was a little fuerte, but in a loving way because he knows this is true, he just got scared and I have no idea why!! He was so good!!! And so ready and had made up his mind and everything!! But such is life, he says he wants to wait on everything, but we all know how waiting goes. So we will be still, but it sure was a tough pill to swallow.

Then we went to Barc to pick up my comps residency card, and that took forever!! Like 3 days because we are so far away so the week wasn’t that good.  But we just will hit it hard this week and enjoy Thanksgiving in a box from my good mother!!!

My miracle experience came from church on Sunday. It was the primary program. And the spirit they brought was incredible. The songs they sang and little parts they had memorized was such a sweet experience. The spirit was so strong in that meeting from these 9 little kids that were up there. All of the parents were crying and everyone else could so feel the spirit. It was just such a miracle to me that these kids are so pure and can bring the spirit just as well if not better than everyone else!!! We did sing ALL 9 verses of follow the prophet as a rest hymn...it is still stuck in my head...they sang it just to kill time ha ha. 

Well happy turkey day folks, I will be spending it eating with my companion in our freezing piso ha ha love you all!!

Elder Farah

Jolines - Break Out The Ponchos (That We Can't Have)

I have never tried to love rain and cold so much in my life, and this is just the beginning!!! And we have zero heating in our piso, so it is interesting trying to stay warm, I sure do drink a lot of hot chocolate now (thanks mom). But it is all worth it, and lots of missionaries are getting hit with bad weather. Just in our mission we are getting the worst of it!! Ha ha.

Eduardo will officially be getting baptized this Wednesday. Por fin!!!! I am so stoked, they announced it in church and he came and is all ready to go, I can’t wait. I have been praying my guts out for this one and have never wanted it more than now.

The miracle of knocking doors...We were talking about it one day and we thought that the best way to knock doors is in a mass amount, as quickly as possible to talk to lots of people. And then when someone answers, to try to get in. We knock doors to baptize people, not to get a return visit or a number. So that made me think a little bit. So we knock as many doors as fast as possible and when someone opens we just simply say, “We are missionaries and have a message that will change your life, can we come in?” And we make a motion towards the door, and kind of force ourselves in sometimes (it gets pretty funny) And it is working!!! I have just changed my mindset to thinking that I want to go in that second and invite them to be baptized. And my faith has grown a lot. We found four new investigators this week from knocking, it was such a miracle. And when we get in, there are normally a lot of people sharing the piso!!! Having the faith to knock and think I want to get in to baptize helps a lot. But it has just come from being bold, something I would have never done at the start of my mission. But it still is way tiring and we knock hundreds upon hundreds of doors, but they Lord blesses us for having faith, being bold, and working hard.

Well I think that is all, transfers are this week again already, so who knows if I will stay or go, I have no idea!! So we will find out Saturday. Love you all!!

Elder Farah

The Spanish conquistador

Yeah Buddy

A rainy day outing in Bilboa.

So the weather has changed, it is like Oregon on steroids. It is cloudy all day and downpours whenever it feels like it, then sprinkles, then downpours, and then all over again. No wonder this place is so clean, green, and beautiful!!! But we walk out without umbrellas and our rain coats every day. So it is terrible!! But all worth it and it is not too cold yet, until December and January comes around. But I think we get more blessings working in the rain and cold :)

I was reading about the atonement in Preach My Gospel and it said “Everything unfair about life can be made fair through the atonement, “and that hit me so hard. Yes life can be rough, unfair and we have our struggles and especially in the mission but Christ died for me and for everyone and through that one event, life is fair and beautiful. What a miracle that Jesus Christ is our savior and redeemer and just from that one line changed me instantly!! Life isn’t fair, but with Christ and his atonement, it is!! 

Eduardo....huge miracle and probably one of the most powerful lessons I have ever had.  We did a fast with him as part of fast Sunday and he did it for the first time. We fasted for him to have more courage and so that his mom’s heart would be softened. Monday we have the visit. We pray. I ask him how his fast went and this is what he said “It was hard, but I did it, and I told my mom I am going to be baptized and she didn’t get mad and now I am super happy and content that she respects my decision and I want to be baptized” I sat there in shock!!!! FASTING IS TRUE. Before for me it was just a day to go hungry, but now I have been so humbled by the power of the fast. It works miracles. So not this week because of his work, but next week he will be baptized. WOOOOO!O!O!O!O!O!

Jazz are terrible, ducks and cougs lost. Sad day!! But the church is still true.

Love you all!!

Elder Farah

Winter is Here

Ok so winter has arrived, and it is like living in Oregon but on steroids.  It rains every day and it is going to get worse I hear.  A little cold, but the real frost will be here in a month I hear. Gotta love being a missionary!!! And so we have had to hit the doors and I forgot how much that just drains you being on your feet from like 6 to  10 but it is all worth it and we have seen some miracles from it. 

We had one of those days last week were we went 0/5 on citas, they all fired and it was raining cats and dogs like pais vasco does all day every day in the winter. So we had been knocking doors for a good 2 to3 hours. N0 success. But the last building we knocked around 9:30 p.m. on the second to last floor, we found a family that we are going to visit tomorrow and they were super excited. Sadly we couldn’t go in because there wasn’t another man. And then we made our way to our piso. It was like 9:50 when we got to the door. The rain had stopped so we had ten minutes to contact on our street. So we did and we got 2 numbers from that!! The point is up until like 9:30 p.m. we had zero success all day, and then we saw the miracles. It just makes me laugh because it is always the last contact or the last building that you see the miracles after working so hard all day and being dead tired. Up till ten we fight the war!!! 

Eduardo is so close. We had interviews with President Pace so he was in Bilbao (about 30 minutes from Las Arenas) and so I called him to have him and his wife come join us in the visit with Eduardo. We killed him with the spirit!! President is incredible and so is his wife, she has learned Spanish while being here. So Eduardo fasted and came to church yesterday and we got a visit with him tonight. crossing them fingers....

Halloween was boring here. Not much goes on. But we ate a candy bar to celebrate. No worries. OK love you all!!! I’ve started to carry around an extra pair of socks in my maletín, they get wet sometimes. 

Elder Farah