Dear Mom,

I am excited for my first Thanksgiving on the mission! It is super cold here too! In Utah there isn't as much wind as in the panhandle! That is really awesome and I am so proud of the girls!(Soccer) You should really send that Album to me for Christmas!(Nashville Tribute to Jesus Christ - Redeemer) That sounds really cool! Our plan is to eat dinner at a members house and go to this ward function called the Turkey Bowl where the ward plays football so that should be really fun! And I honestly do not really know what I need for Christmas, maybe more ties, a French to English Dictionary and a How to speak french book, and letters from everyone in the family as well as Hyrum. We are teaching this girl named Josie who is a Less Actives girlfriend and she is doing well and reading so that is good.

That sounds like a really fun game! I should definitely try that! (Rollick) That would be weird to go back to a new house but if you do move, MAKE ABSOLUTELY SURE THAT MY BOX OF STUFF I WOULD LIKE TO KEEP IS NOT LOST OR DAMAGED POR FAVOR! I don't want to turn out like the RM in the movie haha! I will be skyping you guys on Christmas! So what happened this week is that I am learning French again with the French Book of Mormon because there are French Immigrants in a nearby town that I could possibly get sent to so I don't want to be caught off guard, I am also learning Sign Language because there is a member who can't speak so he speaks using sign language. We taught this lady named Summer the Atonement because she is going through hard times and she cried and was definitely touched by our lesson. There is also something called the HE IS THE GIFT Initiative which is a Christmas way for missionary work! It should get a lot more interested people for sure! I also ran into a Guatemalan Bishop Yesterday who knows Elder Young in Quelzaltanango! so I got a picture with him and sent it his way! Then while we were teaching a 10 year old kid he said that people keep antiing him for his LDS beliefs, that just made me sick that people would target them so young! Dennis got baptized so I now have my first baptism so I am excited!

So how is everyone doing? I hope all is well! Love all of you guys and wish the best!

Love,

Elder Farley

Short but sweet!

Dear Mom,

I will definitely keep you guys in my prayers! That sounds like a really awesome Family Home Evening! Pampa is going well, Members are feeding us and taking care of us. We are having a great time here, It snowed and they cancelled church and I was like WHAT A BUNCH OF PEE-WEES!!!!! (It only snowed 3 inches!) We love to go to Hastings and play the "Who can find the most appropriate music game" Haha did you tell the boys to write me? We are having a great time and I have seen a lot of miracles with Less Actives coming! Plus I have the potential to learn ASL, French, and Italian along with my Spanish as there is this deaf less active, and there are french immigrants in Dumas which is nearby. Tell everyone that I love them and wish the best! Sorry it is so short! I forgot my journal and I am forgetting a lot! But I promise it will be better next week! By the way, I love you guys so much and thanks for the great example even if I wasn't the best son. Love you bunches!!!!  Para Siempre Dios estoy con voz!

Love,

Elder Farley

Week of Nov.10th - New area Pampa

Dear Mom,

I am loving Pampa and I am having a blast with my companion Elder Barnett, he is from Connecticut and he is just like me haha except not as crazy and he doesn't hunt. 

I am not going to lie I am a little agitated that my letter to Sadie was lost... Just have her send me her e-mail and I will write her on the computer. That is good that Brie loves them, I love hearing from her too! The boys need to write me so I can write a good letter back to them. I am not hearing from any of my grandparents. Tell Grandpa I will make my rightful claim on them (great grandpa's guns) when I get back haha. 

I hope Dalton progresses too!(This is his investigator who lost his wife in a car accident)

Don't worry, I write in my journal every night! I love studying the scriptures a lot! I haven't run into many pastors in Pampa so that is good! Texas is beautiful in it's own way (especially sunsets!) and Luna is just so excited that she gets to go into the mountains haha! I am glad that Caden could get back in touch with Dexter.

 I heard that the senate finally got cleaned out of all of it's filth (I wish :)and Obama is nearly helpless in regards to political power. That is a huge blessing for once!

Pampa is a cool city, I like how it has rolling hills instead of just flatness.

 I think that is a great idea for FHE, hey if you don't mind, next package you send include a THT craft if that is possible.

 I have obtained an Apocrypha and it is interesting, now I just need to find a Lectures on Faith and then I will have a complete library! Pampa also has a Farley Street which I claimed! We even have a new investigator on that street who is pretty legit, he asked us a question that led us to teaching the Plan of Salvation and he loved it. His name is Tom Granger. Some people have the idea that we worship Joseph Smith but they just don't want to listen to truth and that is fine I guess. This less-active named Mendell Garcia has Gold Coins that depict events from Christ's life that is worth 240,000 in american money! Then we taught this guy named George Davis where we read 1st Nephi 3 and he compared Lehi with Moses and he enjoys reading the Book of Mormon now!

I also have the potential to learn 5 languages on my mission, English, Spanish, French, Italian, and ASL. I had this 30 minute fluent conversation with someone from Honduras about Honduras so that was fun. I was asked to give a talk an hour before church started which I gave about how we can draw closer to our Heavenly Father and the Bishop said I did a really good job so I gained his trust there. Anyways I am really loving my mission and I hope to hear back! Love you!
Elder Farley
(The pictures below are his farewell to Spearman pictures.. unfortunately, I have no idea who any of them are!! Maybe he will clarify next week for me?!)

Week of Nov. 2nd

Dear Mom,

My week was good, I am getting transferred to Pampa, Texas with Elder Barnett. Pampa is the city I always went on exchanges with when I was with Elder Williams (the black elder). I already know a lot of the Less actives there so I think it will be a good opportunity. I went to Jacqueline's funeral this week as well to show support to Dalton.(these were investigators, she died because of a car accident where she fell asleep at the wheel) I can't believe I went to a Baby Blessing, a Wedding and a Funeral all within my training! The mission really is a cataclysm of life. Halloween was great! We spent it in Lubbock listening to Elder Pino of the 70 and having our mission tour! It was a great day! Elder Pino was talking about "Getting out of the Boat" like Peter and told us stories about when Thomas S. Monson was a mission president. It was really inspiring!

I also finished the entire Bible! From Genesis 1 to Revelations 22, I am finished with the book! Now I am studying some gospel topics and then on to the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, Pearl of Great Price, Preach my Gospel, Jesus the Christ, Our Heritage, Our search for happiness, True to the Faith, and then start over again! It has definitely taught me a lot and if anything, the Bible supports our beliefs just as much as the Book of Mormon does, the only reason that Baptists, Catholics, First Christians, Church of Christ, and other denominations say Paul the Apostle contradicts Jesus is because Paul contradicts their creeds and doctrines which they believe to be Christ's doctrine so it makes all the sense in the world as Paul truly spoke on behalf of Christ and never contradicted him once!  Estella and Dennis are like freight trains when it comes to keeping commitments for baptism!

Well I tried that Jalapeno Pecan Brittle and honestly it is really good! I also had prickly pears (cactus fruit) which is honestly a very tasty fruit! The only problem is that they are full of hard seeds that you need to swallow whole. So I am obviously getting strange food on my mission still.

Anyways, I have reached the level of fluency that people will ask me if I am from Portugal, Brazil, Spain, or France because I guess I have a really European accent which carries on to my Spanish which makes it look like I speak Portugeuese as my first language or French is my first language! Haha I told them that I learned French before my mission so I am still working on my accent.

Rebecca is doing great and she finally came to church in the 7 months she has been taking missionaries and she said she loved it! Dalton is doing good, He is really letting God work in his life and he is feeling a lot more peace than he said he would if we weren't in his life. I haven't taught Guillermo yet and sadly I won't as I am leaving Spearman.

I am honestly shutting down pastors left and right but they still won't stop. Hopefully it will get better in Pampa. Did I inherit the guns? Tell everyone that I said Hi! The questions that I need you to answer next week are:

1. Did I inherit the Guns?

2. Did you get the letter to Sadie

3. Did Brie get my letter?

4. Does anybody else want me to write them?

5. Will you have Luna in front of the computer so I can freak her out from Skype?

I feel great! I don't feel homesick and I don't feel any regret! I just feel as if the mission is just part of my life! Don't worry, I haven't resorted to Ramen yet, I mainly eat staples like bread, eggs, milk, salad, beef, chicken, and every week I make a big meal like Meatloaf, Sloppy Joes, etc. Next week for example, I am making Taco Salad for my companion and I. I find the fact that none of the other missionaries will contact an attractive college girl pretty hilarious, because I just go up and get to know them and then see how interested they are in the gospel and so far 2 college girls have been interested and are progressing so there you go. I just love sharing the gospel to all these wonderful people that will listen! PASTORS... Pastors are the things that frustrate me the most, It is a miracle that I haven't pinched that nerve that knocks a full grown adult unconscious yet. My goal is to become fluent at Spanish, get at least 5 people to church every transfer, have 1 progressing and or baptized every transfer, and finish the entire standard works by the end of my mission. I want you to pray for Dalton for comfort, Dennis for protection from evil, and Elder Barnett for enthusiasm.

Anyways I love you and wish you all the best!

Love Elder Farley