Dear Family & Friends,
I will admit, I am ready to leave the MTC and see what my mission has in store. What can I say? You can only stay here so long. I feel bad for the Japan Missionaries in our residence who have been here for 6 weeks, 3 more to go. They aren't very fond of us for some reason. Too loud or something, I am not sure. They just said they haven't liked the English Missionaries the last 6 weeks. As much as I am going to miss my District being one and always doing things together, I know there comes a time where we will part for two years and that time is this Wednesday. That's right. I have already been on my mission nearly a month now and I leave for California on Wednesday, the 15th at 11:50. I think I may have P-Day the Tuesday before. My flight leaves around 4:15pm and we arrive in Sacramento around 5:30pm. Quick flight!
I have learned some about myself this past week. I guess more significantly is that my teachers, District, and other missionaries who have heard my testimony have told me that I am very bold when bearing my testimony; I don't sugarcoat, just say it how it is and as it is the reality of it all. They tell me every time that when I hear my testimony, it is something they can't argue against, deny, or that they know what I am saying is true. One Elder who acted as an investigator said that I know how to relate to others and "get to the heart" of it all without needless teaching. I started to notice that that is where my companion and I differentiate when teaching. He tends to explain everything he knows about the gospel principle being taught while I strive to keep it simplified so that they, as investigators, understand without feeling bombarded with information. Afterall, I am a very simple man.
Guess who I got to hear on Tuesday? President Russel M. Nielsen was the speaker for Tuesday night's devotional! He spoke on the Atonement, missionary work, and striving to become more like Christ. I cannot remember all he said, but the spirit was so strong! Afterwards, we went to our classes to talk about it and our Branch President, President Samuelian, came into our room and said he felt a strong prompting that he was suppose to speak to us instead of the original class he planned to meet with. He had even written on his hand earlier today the change of plans and arrangements. Sure enough, we found out why he was promoted to meet with us. By the end of it, all of us had shared very personal parts of our stories that led to why we are here and why we have a testimony and we were all in tears. I spoke of a time I had a dream after EFY when I saw ,y younger self, at about age 14, which was the age where I began to fall away. I remember looking at a smiling face, which turned to confusion and wonder when he realised it was me standing in front of me. The words I spoke were of simplicity: "Don't you quit, young man...you keep going....you keep trying. Know that he loves you and atoned for you, so that you could make it to where I am now. I love you and I know you can do it." I then told my District "Did you notice that I never spoke of the things that young boy would go through, the sins he would wrestle with, the hatred he would have, the sadness he would experience at the funerals of his friends, the fact that he would leave the Iron Rod, turn some away from the church, or that he would have severed his relationship with Christ. Not once did I say it, because I came to know that it was because I went through tough times, I am able to be the missionary I am today. As much as it hurt to know that that young boy would be darkened, I knew he had to endure it to be stronger and wiser today. So this I tell to all of you who will no doubt go through tough times: Don't you quit, you keep going, you keep trying. I love you all and I know you are stronger than you realize." Tears everywhere, it was a mess! Turns out we were the only District in the Branch to have been crying XD
Investigators this week were not nearly as well haha because we taught Laree twice and then she stood us up, Vann and Greenwood, as well as two sisters and has not responded to emails. As for Oscar? Yeah he started liking us and accepted our message well, but flew down to El Salvador to be with family for 7 months. So yeah!
Alright, let's take a little break so I can talk about some funny or nice awesome moments outside spiritual classes and devotionals.
The first week here, I had a dream where I saw Elder Greenwood's girlfriend walking up to me with flowers. Yeah, sounds bad already. Anyways, she walks up to me and tells me to give the flowers to Greenwood. That's it. Yep. So I tell Greenwood and he looks at me and says "It is nice to see you are loyal even in dreams. I appreciate it man." So I learned that Greenwood says as much about me as I do him in our emails, so he gets a package from his girlfriend that has Skittles and Twix. On The Twix, is a note that reads: Elder Farley, thanks for being such a great friend to Greenwood. Best of luck in CA! Elder Vann got mad and shouted "What? I am his companion for heck sake!"
A few days later, Hannah who everyone calls my girlfriend, sends me a package which has Skittles and Twix which says "Dear Elder Farley & Elder Greenwood, here are some treats..." My companion says the exact same thing Elder Vann said earlier XD Sister Gray tells us the next day after we told her what happened "Your bromance is my favorite thing."
Another quick funny moment. After gym-time, Greenwood and I were walking back to residence and Hawkes and Vann were telling us to hurry it up and that we need to walk faster, but we did not listen. They were way ahead of us and we were taking our time, just in time for two sisters to offer us Krispy Kreme haha! They came up to us because we crossed their path and said "Do you Elders want doughnuts?" Safe to say, the other two were not happy that they missed their chance to get doughnuts. I just said "This is what happens when you take your time."
Speaking of gym, I have grown to like Volleyball. I could see myself turning it into a hobby and I honestly would not mind playing it for college if I got good enough. I have gotten so much better at it and it is really fun! A few sisters amd elders always ask Greenwood and I if we are going to be playing that day.
Okay, another weird weird dream. Weirdest one yet, as voted by the District. I was in Africa with another person, no idea who. We came across this village, with mud huts and very skinny people. Starving it looks like. Their village chief comes up to me and asks for food to feed his people because a famine had swept their land. I reached into my pocket and out came one chocolate chip cookie, which I gave to the chief. His eyes went wide with a smile across his face "This, this will feed my people for days!" Confused as heck, I turned towards my friend and he gave me a box of cookies out of nowhere, which I in turn gave to the chief, who then said "Now this, this will feed my people for weeks, months!" Apparently, the village had small stomachs and would eat little bits of it and call it a meal. They would cut one cookie up into 16ths and eat one piece every day or so. I woke up because Hawkes turned the lights on. Elder Rowe says he knows the meaning of my dream. Here it is:
This is Elder Rowe, here's my interpretation. The cookie represents the Gospel. Now even when Elder Farley shares the gospel a little bit, it can feed a whole bunch of people for some time. However, when he shares more of the gospel with more people it will feed them for much longer and will feed more people, just like sharing more cookies. We don't know if these people have to be African tribal folks though, that's the only problem. We'll see.
Yeah, so that is his philosophy. On the topic of dreams, Sister Barnett asked me this morning if I sleep well and I responded that I keep waking up randomly and she said "That's because you keep appearing in my dreams! We went ghost hunting on a lake, me and you and some other person and an orb came towards us from the glacier mountain and it was sketchy but for some reason, because I knew you hunted ghosts, I felt safe and it turned out to be a fun hunt!" Sister Gray then looks at me and says "I had a dream about you too! We were fishing on a lake, just me and you and I think Greenwood. Can't remember. Anyways, we were on a boat and it was fun." Vann looks at me and asks "Why is it only you?" XD
On a bad note, we had a heated debate last night, and Hawkes and I kind of fought on it, but it's whatever. I just brought up some verses in Mosiah where it looked like it supported a trinity view and was seeking a discussion to explain what it meant, in case we met Christians who may ask, but it ended up heated because Hawkes took offense when I later said "The members are not perfect, but the gospel is." I saw it as we accept faults but we strive to be better and he looked at it as we are the perfect church, no fault, just perfection and told me that I needed to start loving the church, which I never said I did not. But yeah, it got heated, but we ended up resolving it to an extent.
To end on a spiritual note, during class yesterday, we watched a video "Christlike Attributes" which showed many words to describe Christ while showing his life time. Afterwards, we were asked to write on the board which had written in big letters across the top "Because of Christ..." and when prompted, to write what is possible in our lives because of him. I have a picture attached and ask that y'all ponder these words and watch the video yourself. It is truly inspiring. I love you all!
With Love,
