Week of Dec. 28th

Dear Mom,

I am really sorry but I have been stuck in the apartment for 2 days straight because of the snow storm and also due to me being sick (my companion gave me whatever he had and I threw up out of my mouth and nose... not fun) So I have nothing new to say, so I will just answer your questions. It is getting warmer here and we should be able to make transfers. It was super cold yesterday and the drifts forming don't really help either. It was really great to talk to you guys on Christmas as well. I thought it was a really great experience! And I loved it a ton! Tell Hannah that I said hi and also tell Sarah Hill to write me! Hyrum is a little splotchy as it is! Brooke Kendall could write me too as well as her brother! Those are really great scriptures! I am sorry for your migraine and I hope it all gets better. I have been feeling the same way! But I love you guys and hope that everything goes well this week so I can send you a big long letter of all the adventures I have had this upcoming week :) Love you bunches!

Elder Farley

Christmas PJ's, Sweater and Star Wars socks!

Celestial Tennis - With a Volleyball?!

Week of Christmas

Dear Mom,

I wasn't able to go to the caverns because of a lot of things getting in the way and people not understanding punctuality. But I will try next transfer if possible. The ward is great but we are always on our best behavior because they have a history of embellishing stories. We haven't gotten any snow yet! It is crazy! I don't like it... It is crazy that I don't have much time left! We watched for the Christmas Party in the mission "It's a Wonderful Life" And I am making that a family tradition! Every Christmas, my family is watching that movie. It is such a clean, funny, and uplifting movie! I am skyping on Friday at 12 if that is ok with you! I got the Christmas package so I will wait until Friday to open it! I am super proud of Bryn and Brie! Love them to death! I can't wait to talk to all the siblings and you guys on Friday! Why does Luna run off? Is she on a quest to find me perhaps? ;) I am trying to have a work-out plan so I can get swoll by the end of my mission ;) What happened with your goal?(Losing weight!)  I am grateful for a ton of things, I am most grateful for my family, the gospel, and my knowledge. I read the article (Boyd K. Packer December Ensign) and I think that it is an important thing to remember and I printed it out as well I believe. But anyways I love you and the shortness of my letter is due to the fact that I will talk to you in 3 daysanyway so I will answer all of your questions when we talk! I love you so much and hope the best! Keep fighting for the faith!

Love,

Elder Farley

Week of December 13th

Dear Mom,

That is awesome! We still don't have snow and we won't receive snow this week! It is really warm usually with occasional cold fronts! I still have my coat and gloves, don't worry. Thanks for the Christmas package, I have to approve my address so that the package will arrive so we will do that today! I am going to the Carlsbad Caverns today as well! I can't wait to do White Elephant gifts with you guys, the mission has given me some fantastic ideas for that :) I can't wait to hang out with Dallin as well. Hopefully Jordan and Trevor get married before I come home, that would be the hope at least. Cool talks about charity, I think Benadryl is the better option most of the time. That'll put you to sleep. I don't know all the details exactly regarding Christmas but I will let you know on next Tuesday for sure! I will use my skype as well since I remember my username and password. I don't think I can send the video but I am sure Sister Heap can! I hope BYU does good! 

So answers to your questions, My week was really good, we got to go to the ward Christmas party and do church tours for all of the non-members that the members brought. That would fall under my favorite teaching moment. The funniest thing that happened this week was when I ate a rose as a dare from Elder Whitesides! It wasn't that bad tasting. Elder Whitesides sucks... just kidding, he is a really "happy" kid who loves the work and is easy to get along with! The best thing was free IHOP! we usually eat at member's houses. I have learned that the law of tithing and consecration are serious matters and you will be blessed more if you strictly live them. Thanks for the support and I love you guys so much! You are the best!

Love, 

Elder Farley (MERRY CHRISTMAS!)

Week of December 6th

Dear Mom, 

I know that is a perfect shirt! That is why I got it :) I think I haven't been doing the noise lately according to my companion. I just ignore it now and just wake up before it goes off to save me the annoyance. So Sarah dropped us because she looked up Mormons online and said she would rather stick to her "Catholic" beliefs so I guess it was just God testing to see if we would talk to her anyways. Ashley and Ramon are sick as well, but they are still progressing as much as they can.

Ephraim's rescue is a great movie, in fact, my companion and I are going to dance for the Christmas Party of the mission to the song "Drowsy Maggie" It is ok because I know that I have a lot more potential as myself than I would trying to be someone else. Thanks for the compliments, I did go to the zoo and It was so cool, I have some pictures. I threw up on Saturday due to food poisoning but I am ok now. It sucks when everybody is sick but that is a sign that winter is coming. speaking of winter? Did you guys see the new Christmas video? Both are amazing, look up "A Savior is Born" and "Why we need a Savior" they go hand in hand. Well hopefully we don't run into each other at an airport until 6 months from now. That is hilarious with the soccer player, Bryn is such a punk! Bryson and Caden will pull through I am sure of it. But this would be my letter, I will show you the pictures! Love you so much and hope for the best week ever!

Elder Farley

Week of November 29th

Dear Mom,

I have an awesome picture of a shirt that someone made for me! It will blow your mind! My companions do annoying stuff as well so I see it as an equal, Elder Whitesides sleeps through his annoying alarm which forces me to get up and turn it off at 6 or 6:15 instead of 6:30 like we are supposed to. I have been working on how to be a good example to those around me and have been trying to do that as well. We didn't have enough time for the zoo so I am going today! Ramon and Ashley are doing great, we have more baptismal dates but the coolest story is while we were teaching a kid named Joshua and I was distracted by a noise and I looked over and saw a black car backing up towards our car and I was wondering to myself, I wonder if they are going to make that, She didn't and I went over to see the damage. Slight scratch but the person was a 25 year old and fairly beautiful woman and I she was super nice and willing to cooperate and while my companion was doing the insurance stuff, I started to talk to her and I found out that she had 3 kids so I talked about eternal families with her and she invited us back for yesterday. We went over and everyone in the house liked us and she and all her nieces and nephews and kids sat and listened to the plan of salvation and they all asked great questions and she prayed at the end and we have a return appointment with her tomorrow, superbly prepared and legitimate, plus one of her nieces wrote us a note saying "Thank you for teaching us about God and what we can do for God!! and the exclamation points were little crosses! How awesome is that!

Thanksgiving was great! We watched Ephraim's Rescue and Saratov Approach at member's homes and I started crying when the kids girlfriend died, I don't know why but that scene literally depressed me for 2 days afterward. Such a good movie though. So which one is Uncle Mark? And why did they get divorced? I can't wait to hang out with Dallin and speak French with him. I got dad's talk and I printed it out so I can read it :) Those are some great scriptures and Insights, thank you so much for sharing them. Tell Sage that I said congrats! Jamaica is a great place :) I will be here still for Christmas so send that package :) Can't wait to talk to you as well :) Thanks for your support and I love you guys bunches! The gospel is true, the book is blue, and Jesus is a mormon too! :)

Elder Farley

Week of Thanksgiving!

Dear Mom,

So my new address is 1404 W. Church St apartment D, Carlsbad, New Mexico 88220

That is really odd, but President should get it all fixed in no time. Assistants tend to drive me a little nuts and I certainly hope I am never asked to be one. Sorry for the trouble. I am excited because now we have a new baptismal date for Ramon and Ashley, they are awesome and are so serious about learning and making changes in their life. I just think Elder Lund is hilarious and I am going to miss him a ton! I still make that weird noise in my sleep sometimes so It is a blessing that all of my companions don't give me too much grief over that! This is going to be my first time to the Caverns and I am excited! I am going to the zoo today and I will send pictures next week! Elder Whitesides is from Idaho, LOVES trucks, and is a little querky but he is a great guy who wants to do good, I am super old in the mission as 75 percent of the mission is younger than 6 months out, meaning that I am an ancient of days in the mission haha. Elder Whitesides is a year out on his mission. 

Thanks for looking at the colleges for me, I just want to get a business degree so people will take me more seriously in my business. I can't wait for the Christmas call! I have so much to tell you guys! That is a really good message and it can be applied to missionary work, usually the people we think will receive our message usually won't and the people we think will be stuck up and not interested are the ones who end up converting to the gospel. Very nice thing to remember throughout life! Brie told me about the football game and she said it was hilarious, I miss being with you guys but it has been nice to spend 2 years away to see how much I can grow. That is a great goal, I have read the entire missionary library so now I am branching out to reading verses line upon line and precept upon precept and I have learned tons more from doing that! The gospel is a wonderful and really cool thing! HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

So a summary of my week would be, I got a Permian High School hoodie on my way out of Odessa because it is a very famous high school. We got told a funny story during my last dinner by the member about playing where's Waldo on his mission where they find a woman with Alzheimers that they knew and they would tally up the board. Carlsbad is super beautiful in my opinion, desert mountains and a river! We do a lot of service at a Senior Citizens center. We are putting up Christmas lights for members already and helping people prepare for the season! Love you so much and hope you guys have a great week!

Love,

Elder Farley

Elder Lund - previous companion - he makes Austin look so small! :)

Elder Whitesides - current companion - still small! :)

Week of November 15th

Dear Mom,

Sarae's baptism was amazing! She loved it and she told me afterwards that after she got out she was shivering but she felt a presence right next to her and she felt peace! She was a little late to her confirmation yesterday but that is ok haha! She is now a member of the true church and she was so excited! I know that she will grow up to be an awesome member! Her direct family aren't members except her older sister and her aunt and uncle so they bring her to church. Her parents aren't in the picture, she has a catholic grandmother who loves mormons so it is all good :)

I had a headache and the cold but I have gotten over it along with the sty. I am getting transferred to Carlsbad East to be with Elder Whitesides so it doesn't really matter anymore about who I am teaching here! I will send you my new address next week! Brie and I will have a blast doing that together! We had a really funny moment where I was sleeping and my companion sat-up and looked at me and pointed at the floor next to the bed and said with a "stoner" voice, "Is this my side of the room?" after 5 seconds of silence he laid back down saying "Sweeet" and then did a Chaaaaa laugh and then went back to sleep. I started laughing so hard! That is a bummer that everybody is disappearing but that is the classic life of a missionary! We had a regional conference where everything is going to be changing in our area of the world. With this project, we can go up from 40 baptisms a month to 400! That is going to bless this land a ton!

It is getting super cold here! I am not anticipating it! But I am stoked to go visit the Carlsbad Caverns! That has been my mission dream so I get to have it come true! I was super worried about my friends in Europe when I heard about that! I don't understand why America just doesn't destroy ISIS, we can do it if we really cared! I realized that they are the hardest people to develop charity for and I realized that having charity for them and knowing that they will not go to the celestial kingdom don't have to conflict with eachother. I learned that you can still show love for them even though you know the end for some of them. I am glad that Jesse is doing alright! If you could apply to Dixie, Utah State, or University of Mexico City or Guatemala City University that would be cool :)

Oh yeah, Funny story, while I was teaching Sarae the Word of Wisdom I started to say "So Sarae, we shouldn't put bad things in our body, which means we shouldn't drink tea or coffee, smoke alcohol or drink tobacco..." I just hope you find solace knowing that your son could be mentally challenged :) My favorite scripture right now could be the 7th Chapter of Moses when Enoch is called by God to be his prophet! I love you guys and wish the best and I do have a bunch of pictures!

Your son,

Austin Farley

Week of November 8th

Dear Mom,

I am doing great! Sarai is getting baptized this Saturday so pray that it all goes well. She is the sharpest little girl in the world. She knew more truth as a 9 yr old than scholars have been arguing with for centuries! I am not eating any more candy for the rest of my mission for sure! I ate being unhealthy! I was sick all week and get this, I have another sty in my eye! so we are going to go through this all over again! But I still had a great week! We haven't really met with Damien but Sarai is definitely legitimate! I love Brie so much, she told me about the cheerleader joke I said back home, she is adorable. My carpal tunnel has gotten better, still a little sore but it got fixed for the most part! Exchanges are pretty much the same as a trio because I am always with the extras :) We just have fun because with 3 missionaries in the same car there are never any dead moments!

My favorite experience this week was walking up to the lady at the doctor's office this morning and saying "Hi, I would like to schedule an appointment with.... uh....(struggling to get out of the mind blank I just went in) She says "The doctor?..." and I "Yeah, that's the one." I hope that you find solace in knowing that your son is an idiot. haha I felt like the bad guy in Meet the Robinsons in the scene when he was trying to schedule an appointment. I wished I had a bolo hat robot telling me what to do at that point!  So, I actually have been in contact with old friends and I think that things will go great between me and them so I am not worried at all about home life really. The weather has been getting colder and that isn't fun in the slightest.

I think that the prophets are inspired for what they said and it is time that God's army mobilizes against Satan's troops. I also know that everything that I stand for is true, and I want to be the kind of person that as Nephi can have enough faith and diligence to hike a mountain and talk to God for a few hours and never be shaken by satan's snares! I love you and want the best for this entire week!

Share with me a favorite scripture if you want! How is Luna? How is Bryson? Lori? Alec? Hyrum? Sarah? Anyone haha Love you!

Your firstborn

Week of Nov. 1st

Dear Mom,

I can not believe either how time is flying! And don't beat yourself up about Halloween because you need to make sure you decorate for Christmas now! :) Shane is still being stubborn about the WOW, he is definitely an alcoholic but we will still work with him! We have some new investigators like a kid named Damien who is a football player for Odessa High School and he is really legit, we are also starting to teach a 9 year old girl who wants to be baptized. She bore her testimony of prophets and the Book of mormon yesterday and that blew my mind that a non-member went and bore her testimony before a lot of people did. The district is doing better, just one more elder to work on and we will have it all under control in due time :) What Dallin told me is that, Gods only care about the future and Lucifer only cares about the past because he has no future, so he tries to make us do the same, Gods on the other hand are able to comtemplate a glorious future and thus don't care about your past if you choose to move forward. Tell Jesse and Kason and Hayden and Hyrum that I love them so much and am glad to see all of them growing. Love is the strongest emotion that we can feel for someone, another word for pure love is called Charity. Charity is the most beautiful thing in the world and the reason we are all here living in this world. Once we obtain charity, we can move on to Celestial Glory. Haha I love Caden so much, and I always tell my companions that throughout all of our time together, I will say many things. But the sentence that will never ever come out of my mouth will be "I have common sense" So I am sure the same is true for Caden.

So this is the story of my week. Marlee Satterthwaite told me that she just got engaged which blows my mind! I also got invited to have my honeymoon in Mozambique by a member that is moving there because he will host anyone who comes and he said that if I wanted to go hunting there just to give him a call. He told me that it is much cheaper to get a hunting license in the country so I might take him up on his offer in a couple of years. I learned in Galatians chapter 5 about how just a little leaven can leaven the whole lump. Which means that only the slightest degree of disobedience can lead to whole disobedience in the future, so we need to keep ourselves clean and pure to have fun in this life. We have been going on a lot of exchanges! With every elder in the zone! Hard work indeed! I bought a water bottle that keeps the temperature of the water the exact same the entire day and it has blessed me a ton! We also had a great Trunk or Treat with the ward and we wore moustaches since that was the only "costume" we could have... We had a mission Tour with Elder Foster about how we need to use agency with care and how it allows us to grow if we let it change us for the good. I found out that my last companion has gotten worse and has pretty much reverted back to Catholicism which is not good. We had a great Halloween and we have received 30 lbs of candy from Brother Kelly haha. That is pretty much my week :) I love you guys and pray for you guys continually in my heart. Thanks for the pictures! Love you

Elder Farley

Week of Halloween

Dear Mom,

If it is any consolation to you, my internet is doing just fine. My companions get mad at me all the time (not really) because after they say something sad I will immediately say "If it's any consolation, and then I realize that I have nothing consoling to say, so I just say it how it is." Trust me, we have a lot of funny moments. I also got diagnosed with Carpal tunnel in the right arm so I wear an arm brace every night for the next 4 weeks to correct it. I also got my first heartburn attack at the Stake President's house while he was showing us his collection of 1st edition book of mormons and Bibles that he has spent thousands on. Shane is doing well, still stubborn about the Word of Wisdom. We have dropped Jeff because we fell into his friend zone, but we will continue to see him every now and then. We are now teaching a few other people but for the most part we are worried about our zone and their disobedience. We have a lot of good ideas to help them improve though.  At this point in my mission, I am fine in both languages. I am so proud of Jesse and I have faith that he will do good!
 Dallin sent me a letter that changed the course of my mission so tell him thanks for me. I ended up giving my companion a concussion a couple of weeks ago if I haven't already explained it. We have had 2 floods and a lot of rain lately! It was crazy! I also received a revelation during my studies when I read about Christ and the Samaritan woman. I realized that if you look at it, mormons are Jews, Christians are samaritans, and muslims and hindus and atheists are Gentiles. We tend to think that we are better than our brethren because of their degenerate beliefs and doctrines but they are still our brothers and sisters and we should see them as Christ saw them. Christ, being a Jew, still did not care that the woman was a Samaritan. So we need to do the same. That is my favorite moment is receiving that insight. My favorite candy is Mike and Ikes and Rolos. Everything is doing great clothes wise. But if you could send me pictures of the family that would be great!  I love you guys and want everything great to happen to you guys! Sorry for the shortness of my email but I feel that we are now equal :) I love you!

Love,

Austin Farley

Week of October 18th

Dear Mom,

My favorite fruit is Guanabana, Tuna tastes super good but has too many seeds, and star fruit is a little tart at first. Guanabana is a fruit that only grows in Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. Super good, tastes like gummi bears sometimes and peach at others. I liked the Popcorn quite a lot, we joked how my parents were cruel for sending me a bag of air in the package and started saying that it was witchcraft how I would reach into this "empty bag of air" and pull out colored popcorn ;) (The bag was Camouflage :) ) I found out that I prefer mammals to birds as well. Those geese were so obnoxious. Jeff and Shane are the two main people we are teaching. Jeff is your stereotypical Texan who we watched Meet the Mormons with and that was really enjoyable with him. He said he felt the spirit and would read the Book of Mormon more. Shane is a really great guy who is our neighbor who gives us free barbeque, we are trying to help him live the Word of Wisdom. He is a really funny guy. Elder Moschetti is from Syracuse and his strengths are that he is super focused and Elder Lund is from Washington and he is super personable. I am really content with my mission and know that I have changed a lot and will change more. I don't really look at the next 8 months but more what I am going to be like when I get home. It really inspires me to make improvements daily.

Those are some great tests and I think I have passed 4 out of 5. I am trying to pass test 3 but it is hard when the Assistant to the President tells the zone leaders with you present that they are the best missionaries in the field, which I found a little offensive at first but I got over it when I realized that that elder wasn't perfect and he could make mistakes too. Tell Hayden Noel to e-mail me, I would love to hear his advice! Where is everyone going exactly? I will write a letter to Jesse today when I have time! I teach only English right now but I still speak Spanish every now and then. It honestly has just become second nature to me, I will just find myself accidentally eavesdropping on a spanish conversation and understand literally 100% of what they are saying. It is really interesting that you get to speak something when you really show that you are willing to put down everything to speak it. I am still wearing the same shoes because I want to be the first missionary to go through the entire mission with the same exact pair of shoes haha (I know that is not a first but it seems like it) We drive mostly because our area is Huge! I miss Taylie, sadly she will have no clue who I am when I come back! Gives me something to work on when I get home. Thank you so much for your support and love, I will pray for everyone and work hard this week! I am also swearing off Caffeine completely. Love you!

Elder Farley

Week of Oct. 11th

Dear Mom,

Before I start, guess what, I found Star Fruit, Dragon fruit, and Guanabana at a market in Odessa! I am super excited! I got the package and my companions are enjoying it more than me haha Elder Moschetti loves Twix and Elder Lund loves Cheetos :) Tell Bryn and Brie that I am so proud of them! They should really take soccer seriously for when I come back and school them (I have been training with Mexicans.) I miss Luna so much! I am definitely going to give her a lot of attention when I get back! I noticed that 3 things distract me a lot when I am out here. 1. Cute puppies, 2.adorable 2 year old children and 3. Cute girls...  But I can control myself with the third one rather well. Not so much for the first two. I never thought the rule where you can't hold children wasn't going to be a temptation but they are so darn CUTE! Especially mexican babies! Grandpa needs to send me a picture of the Elk he got in Deseret!

Tell Brigham that I am proud of him and hope he gets fluent in Thai pretty soon! I know that that language will bless him after the mission if he truly applies himself. That is so sad to hear about the Laytons! I will keep them in my prayers. My week was great, I was just crowned as the Finding King by the zone because I went on a couple of exchanges and everyone's minds were blown by my ability to socialize really quick with people and teach them gospel principles in non-awkward ways so that was a morale booster. We went and did service at a member's farm where they have every single bird you can think of (Ducks, Chickens, Geese, Turkeys, Pigeons, Guineafowl, and Doves.) That was some fun service, Elder Lund and I started calling the turkey over and it came over to us and when the moment reached it's peak of bond between animal and human between the bird and Elder Lund, it randomly bit his finger and booked it the opposite direction! Hilarious!

Then We waited 2 hours on an oil-change which wasn't fun at all, so we were just in the waiting room while an hour program about Medical Marijuana was on haha. We attended a baptism that was super spiritual, he came out of the water bawling and crying, it was awesome how happy he was to have what happened to him happen. We also keep helping the Asian neighbor with her computer and that isn't fun at all. I also met a guy from Mozambique, so we talked for quite a while yesterday at church. 

My favorite moment was the Baptism, Funniest was the turkey, Aha was when I realized that the Jordan River in Utah is named the Jordan river because just like the Jordan River in Israel flows from the Freshwater Sea of Galilee and ends in the Salty Dead Sea, The Jordan river in Utah flows from Freshwater Utah Lake to the saltwater Great Salt Lake! Teaching moment was contacting about families and talking about the Family Proclamation. Most grateful for my family. I just do normal stuff and basketball on Preparation day honestly.

I love you guys so much and I hope you have a great week!

Love you,

Elder Farley

Week of Oct. 4th

Dear Mom,

I am glad that you said that, it makes me love and appreciate you more! My week has been way better. I can now be a missionary and not be worried about what the guys with me have to say. President Heap and I are working through everything and I signed the contract already. I loved General Conference! due to Jeffrey R. Hollands talk I just want to tell you that I love you so much and want to let you know that even though I wasn't the best son, you were the best mother for me. even in your worst moments you taught me life lessons that I wish I would have realized sooner. I loved Bednar's talk on how even though the prophets are experiencing physical crosses, they have mastered their spiritual crosses and are the most inspired men we have! Also Uchtdorfs about not complicating discipleship hit me hard! I also loved his quote "If you tell a man that there are trillions of stars in the universe, he will believe you. But when you tell a man that there is wet paint on the wall, he will touch it, just to be sure" Haha I loved that quote. Also Eyring's about his grandfather's faith and diligence in magnifying his calling. Great lessons from many inspired people.

I think that puppy is so cute! But not as cute as my Luna, (of whom I feel remorse for the skunk accident) I hope she is having more fun now. So how involved are you with Sarah Hill? How involved are you guys with her parents? with Hyrum? I am also staying for 6 more weeks! Yeah! So let the packages come rolling in :)  I am feeling a lot better and I am ready to get back to work. I have learned that forgiveness of oneself and of others is like clearing snags out of a river stream. My goals would be to be exactly obedient without becoming a pharisee (which means be stern but loving at the same time) I feel like I have been to lax with disobedience of others because it is their salvation that they are effecting, not mine. But I need to change that thought. So Elder Lund is hilarious, me and him just to weird voices to eachother all the time (Such as me doing my impressive batman impersonation and being answered by a legit bane impression) haha. Elder Moschetti is funny too, he is from syracuse and he is a really hard worker. The restaurants are a BBQ named Jack Jordans (I have inherited my Dad's and Your criticing problem) and Wing Stop. Kind ove like Buffalo Wild Wings but with less Tvs. I love you guys so much! I hope Hyrum writes me too! I will pray for Brie and you. I Think that I am now trunky from seeing that buck haha.

Anyways, love you and hope the best week ever!

Elder Farley

Week of August 23rd

Dear Mom, 

My week has been good! I am getting a new companion in Hobbs named Cruz-Garcia :) He is from Mexico and I know him already he is a cool guy :)  I blame you for giving me the migraines :(  I am just glad school is over and done with with me. I think the devotional would be a great idea! I am so glad the restaurant finally opened! I will look and see, there is a mall so maybe?(Asked if he could buy shoes there)

I am so jealous of Bryn right now! (mainly because I can't ride horses right now)-(She went on an overnight horseback riding thing with her friends) Also, why do you buy so many horses?! Yeah, we might have had a member offend Mario and Alejandra during the tour that we had because they didn't come to church or the activity we invited them too and it was after a member said something that could of been taken negatively about Catholicism. That is always a bummer!

I want to watch Mulan when I get home! It has been stuck in my mind for two weeks every night as a dream and I want to get it out! haha Love you guys and hope you guys have a great week!

 

 

Week of August 16th

Dear Mom,

Sorry that I didn't write you yesterday, I had a huge migraine :(

Thanks for all the love and support you give me now than when I was in the house. My advice would be to listen to him. And let me talk to him as well.  Awesome, as part of my wordly package I also want Jurassic World, The last Hobbit, and any other great movies that came out while I was gone :) I really do hope that the restaurant opens and Dad can just be done with it!

I love Brie to death! I miss her so much! Tell her that she is my favorite youngest sister in the world! Tell Bryn that although I wasn't the best brother, let's face it, she wasn't the best sister. I have to look at that every monday morning when I do my laundry haha ... In regards to Bryson, have him talk to me personally and I will talk to him. Also the best way to help is listen from where he is coming from. Because honestly I always felt as if you and Dad were looking at it through an 80s point of view rather than a 2013 point of view and also that it was a well if the guy who grew up at the same time as me agrees than it must be right haha

my favorite people to teach are always mario and Alejandra! they are always ready with questions and always ready to learn! Yeraldy corral challenges me because she is just a rebellious teenager who wants to get gauges and a tatoo but still be temple worthy at the same time. I teach nearly completely in Spanish. Haha I love the reyes family, their son is actually in the Ogden Utah mission.

I don't hear from my companions at all, too busy for me I guess, but thanks for all the advice you have given me, let me send a picture of my shoes. We cover all of the county of Lea in New Mexico. Love you so much and hope you have a great week!

Love,

Your birthright son

Dear Mom,

I love you so much too! Don't worry about what happens to me on the mission, if I am doing the best I can then it won't affect me later on. Thank you for the story! I haven't seen 17 miracles or saving ephraim or the other side of heaven so if you can get those movies by the time I get back that would be stellar! I have been talking to Dallin lately, how is his family doing right now? Remind Dallin to keep studying the French language everyday he can.

Because I am in the Bible Belt, my mind is always drawn to 2nd Nephi chapters 27 to 30 always. Especially 2nd Nephi 29. But I just can't believe that Nephi and Jacob saw vividly people bible bashing, claiming Freedom in the Grace of Jesus (which means do whatever you want because you accepted Christ as your lord and savior) and all the turmoil that would go on in the Southern United States! It definitely develops my testimony being here! I have definitely been working on my humility lately and I still have a way to go but at least I have firm footing!

(I told him how slow everything was sung in a sacrament meeting we attended...) I HATE when people sing off key in sacrament meeting, it is truly Torture! It's like it is a competition to see how many tone-deaf people you can get into one room ;) haha

I learned that training a horse is a lot easier than training an Elder haha so I will take you up on the offer to break the horse for you haha. So has Dad opened the restaurant in Ogden? Where was I for this? Nobody told me if so! Thank you so much for the letters! I loved them so much! I really see it as a blessing!(His ability to pick up on languages) I will keep your advice definitely! (Whatever advice I sent in his letter! ;)

I tried Liver for the first time, surprisingly tastes like Venison. I attended a funeral for a less-active member and we gave the dedicatory prayer. I also got to ride in the Limo and I had my personal Umbrella-man (I felt so special) After that we went to a chinese restaurant and I watched for 40 seconds as Elder Ramos could not figure out that the sign said pull as he was struggling with all his might to Push it haha.

So that is what happened this week! love you so much! Have a great week!

Elder Farley

Week of August 2nd

Dear Mom,

I am not going to lie to you, but this week has been a little stressful. My District Leader asked why I always correct everyone around me about every little thing (old habit I guess) Anyways, he told me to listen to my companion instead of correct. So I let my companion take the lead and it completely backfired in my face with an entire weekend of enduring disobedience. I feel like I am breaking your horse right now.

On the Bright note, I went to the temple 2 days ago and my first session in Spanish. Surprisingly made more sense in Spanish than in English...

You always learn something new every time for sure! The Familias are doing good (Good job on the Spanish ;) ) We are trying to get them to attend church but it is a little difficult. Hopefully, you will be buying me a car as a homecoming present right? ;) I miss watching Bryn's soccer games and Cole's too! I have grown to love soccer a ton on my mission!

Tell Dallin that I miss him a ton and that I am going to speak French with him when I get back so he doesn't lose the language. I got to bear a testimony yesterday and I love to speak Spanish. I like that hymn as well.(Be Still My Soul)

Something I learned from Brother R is that sometimes, people are going to make you mad, disrespect you and treat you bad, Let God deal with the things they do, cuz hate in your heart will consume you too. Very powerful phrase in my opinion and has been the drive of my mission for over a year. Trust me I have also learned a lot of patience here as well.

I don't remember any accident on the 4th of July? I was attacked by a members dog because I stood up to quick when Argentina lost the Copa America soccer tournament because that was my team and he tried to bite my leg but was to fast for his mouth to open so he hit his nose hard on my leg haha.

My bike is fine, my shoes that aren't the clompy ones are the one's that may need to be replaced. I want to keep in contact with the Corral family because I promised the kids I would take them to a movie when I finished my mission haha. I will try to get pictures sent next week when I take them!

Love you and wish you a very good week! Love you!

Week of July 26th

Dear Mom,

Thanks for the scripture, I enjoyed that a lot. I am so proud of Jesse and all the other guys for serving missions! I hate subway too! I always get sick when I eat there! I honestly just let people take the gospel for what it is. Our week was very busy and successful, we taught a ton this week. A lot of cool lessons like Mario and Alejandra, they are so close to getting baptized. My favorite experiences this week have been a BBQ that we went to with investigators and members. Elder Ramos cooks, I need new shoes maybe. We do normal stuff and basketball on P-days. I hope the vacation goes well. How did they buy a new car? I am so glad I don't have the cavalier anymore. I still love Jim Gaffigan haha, we should spell it with a g, trust me I came up with colonel.

So what I learned the most is that I want to learn languages! I love it! Learning Spanish and French is the greatest source of fun for me right now and I am happy to speak 3 languages now!

I have an assignment as well, How do you think you can draw closer to God right now?

Love,

Elder Farley

Week of July 19th

Dear Mom,

I am doing good really. Sometimes I get physically tired. So this week we taught Brian the Gospel of Christ by playing jump for Jesus, a game where you draw a line in the dirt and then draw a square representing Jesus Christ and they have to jump to him but it is too far away. So you draw more squares such as faith, repentance, baptism, holy ghost, and enduring to the end until they reach Jesus Christ and you teach about the squares as you go along. Then we finished 1st Nephi with Mario and Alejandra and they are "in the oven" to get baptized. They always are excited to say prayer and read with us. We taught Giselle about why we read the Book of Mormon and I promised her that I would by her a little diary if she read everyday of the month. Then we are teaching the wife of a member and she is contentious. She always has something to attempt to argue with me about, whether it be homosexual marriage, the everyone needs to be baptized in the "mormon church" speal, and the correct way to pray. I just patiently hear her out and teach accordingly but she is super stuck in Catholicism. Then we are working with a Less-Active woman and re-teaching her all the lessons to get her re-familiarized with the church. We have been working with a lot of less-actives lately due to that. And that is who we taught this week.

My favorite experience this week was when I came up with a theory on the gospel which in a simple way to put it, states that everything is a form of life. If it has cells, molecules, or electricity running through it. Then it is alive, everything is connected by strands of the Light of Christ which makes a web of light. When we use something for the right purpose, respect others, and respect all life we connect ourselves with that person, object, or lifeform. Creating a bond. The more things we bond with and connect ourselves with, the brighter the web becomes until the world becomes a celestialized sphere. I call it "the Christian Nirvana complex"

The best thing I ate this week was fajitas made by a mexican. The worst was a double combo of Seviche (a shrimp cocktail in clam and tomato juice) and Papaya Juice... Funniest thing that happened was when my companion wanted to go to subway and he wouldnt stop asking me so I drove him there and on the way I was like "subway is pretty far away, would you like sonic? No. Ok would you like Church's Chicken? NO! Subway! Ok. And when we got there, we walked in and he looked at the menu for 2 minutes and turned around and said, "I don't want Subway anymore..." My patience level sky-rocketed that day. I simply didn't say anything, got in the car, and drowned my misery in Music haha. It wasn't that bad, but it was still funny. Most Spiritual was when I realized my theory. Transfers already happened and nothing changed.

I love you guys and I will try to get buff by 20 weeks from now! Love you!

Elder Farley

Week of July 11th

Dear Mom,

The Battle fares well, wearying but victorious. Nothing scares me except for giant spiders....

I loved the package, 27 pounds of food now gives me the excuse not to go shopping :) I do need money now that you brought it up. And I have a new assignment, What is the difference between a commandment and a principle?

I am really touched about the moments that Bryson and Caden had, I had a dream a couple nights ago where I was told by many of our ancestors that played major parts in history such as Commander Farley of the French Navy, Charlemagne, Grandpa Farley, Richard the Lionheart, and many queens and kings and duchesses and dukes that I have a very important bloodline built up of people who have worked hard for the restoration in some way or another. And that I should do absolutely nothing that would destroy or lessen it's worth.

I don't have much to share this week but feel free to ask specific questions and I will be glad to answer them!

Who are you teaching right now? How are they coming along? 
What is your favorite moment from this week? 
Are you still enjoying your area? 
How do you and Elder Ramos get along other than the time thing?

Teaching Brian and Brianna, Ariana and Daniel, Mario and Alejandra, and they are doing very well. Slowly but surely. Favorite moment from this week is when someone somehow found a way to incorporate hot rod quotes in our normal conversation. I am loving Hobbs, and Elder Ramos and I get along for most of the time.

Elder Farley

Week of July 5th

Dear Mom,

I am really sorry to hear about Great Grandma Evans, I think it is a lot better for her though.

I am really happy to hear about the restaurant doing well!

I can't believe a year has passed by either. 

(Our Nativity reading assignment)

So the reason why the Shepherds came was 3 reasons, they were humble enough, Christ is the lamb of god, and Christ is the ultimate shepherd. Wise men came for the 2 or 3 witnesses, Christ would be wiser than all, and his sacrifice would be worth more than gold, frankenscence, or myrrh. God was providing an eternal example of Christ's mission.

What happened this week is we saw a moth the size of a sparrow in the church and that was terrifying for President Heap and his assistants haha, I had to lure it out of the church. 

I have come to accept the World Cup as an integral part in my life as well as all soccer cups, they are so fun to watch while eating dinner on the 4th of July! 

We are working really hard with less actives, and we have the chance to be a ward if our attendance is a little higher so we are working super hard on that! We have gotten the branch directory nearly filled out with information. I have learned to love service a ton, I always can't wait for the day we get to give service, makes me really trunky for a real paying job. 

I am riding my bike a ton this week because we constantly give rides to the other elders and it kills our miles. 

I am getting a little bit bothered by latin american timing, my companion is a little bit slow at literally everything because it just doesn't matter to him because time isn't a necessary thing over there. 

I think I am taking the whole robot thing from dad because I can't sit still without studying spanish and french, reading, biking, driving, teaching, and talking. I never feel good napping or anything anymore. I have developed a love of hard work because it is so much better as a use of time. I have also developed a love of charity and consecration and I want to apply both when I get back really bad! I also miss tithing... It sucks that I can't get that blessing right now, I guess 2 years out of 20 counts but it just doesn't feel right without green stuff in my hand knowing that it will build a temple someday.

So I want you guys to send me- everyone of you, a way that living 1 certain commandment has blessed your life a ton! That would be great to hear!  Love you guys a ton! HUMP DAY!!!!!!

Elder Farley

Week of June 28th

Thanks for the scriptures, Tell Brigham that he needs to teach me thai when he gets back! Thats the good thing about having many friends, I have the opportunity to learn Portuguese, Thai, Mandarin, and Cebuano because I have friends in those places haha. So Rey passed away this week due to an anuerism, Hayden got baptized, and the shoes arrived and I love them. I am so sorry mom! But we are getting our time cut bad! I promise you a full letter next week! Love you so much and wish you the best!

Love,

Elder Farley

Week of Father's Day!

Dear Mom,

I just want to let you guys know that I love you and Dad so much! The shoes fit perfectly, the cookies were good, and I liked the cotton candy mike and ikes, the root beer not so much :) You nailed it right on the dot with Jacob 5, next assignment, Read the Nativity and tell me why it was those certain people who came to see the child and why he was born under the lineage of King David. I really liked the poem you shared! It makes a lot of sense! One way I noticed to make a good companionship and mission is living the law of consecration. It takes away so much stress and selfishness.

My favorite moment with dad was when we were eating at a Chinese Buffet and this mexican family was eating at the table behind us and they were speaking Spanish and I asked dad if people had to translate what they were saying to English in their minds and they are just good at speaking in code haha. 

Tell Bryn that I am super proud of her!(Making a premier soccer team) And tell Brie that I am really sorry for her!(chipping 3 teeth at a soccer game!) I think trek will be good for Bryson and Caden! I will pray for great grandma and grandpa. 

So what happened this week, Hayden will be baptized this weekend!

New Mexico is way too hot, I am so tired of needing water every hour because I am dehydrating! 

Ivonne is leaving for Mexico for an entire month so I might not see her again if I get transferred. 

I learned that the way we can gain respect for other religions is realize that the men who started them were inspired men but weren't exactly prophets. I personally believe that Muhammed was called of God to found Islam, I personally believe that Siddharta Gutauma was called of god to found Buddhism, I personally believe that Confucius was called of God to start Confucianism, I believe that Martin Luther was called of God to start the Reformation. These men were called of God to lead his children during times of Apostasy as forerunner "prophets" to the real deal, Joseph Smith. Without their efforts, none of our brothers and sisters would have the restored gospel. They all knew that someone greater than they was going to come, even the founder of the Baptist faith claimed that a prophet would restore the true church and that he was just a forerunner. Muhammed claimed that a holy man would prepare everyone for when Jesus comes down from heaven. Confucius and Buddha claimed that one more inspired man would give the people everything they need to know to achieve Nirvana (peace) These men were all inspired with the knowledge that they were able to handle at their time and cultures. It makes me sick when self-proclaimed christians and muslims fight eachother when Christ taught to love all of our brethren and Muuhammed taught the Christians were to be treated as spiritual brothers of Muslims. They are judging the whole based on the actions of a few misguided telestial souls. We need to stop finding the faults in other religions but find the truths that they have. 

That is what I learned this week!

I love you guys and hope all goes well! Please pray for me that i will be obedient always and be a effective tool in the Lord's hands.

Love,

Elder Farley

Week of June 7th

Dear Mom,

Jacob 5 is a little more deep but you are on the right track with the figurative meaning. Elder Ramos has been serving in the Dominican Republic for a year and is just barely in the US and I am his second companion in America. I hope all of that goes well!

So what happened to me this week was that Miah from Pampa got baptized! Some of the hottest days happened, with the hottest being 120 degrees. My Spanish is improving a ton, we have a baptsimal date for Giovanni who is the son of Jose Fransisco. Had Diarhhea in a cute less active girls bathroom so that sucks! Got pulled over because the cop thought I was texting and driving but it turns out that Ivonne called me and I wasn't sure if it was illegal or not in New Mexico to call while driving so I was giving the phone to Elder Ramos, So he let me go with no problems.

Sorry, I don't have a lot to say,  I do like letters from Brother Stirland though so give him my address, just not the ward newsletter. I promise I will write a lengthier letter next time! Love you guys a ton!

Love,

Elder Farley

Week of June 14

Dear Mom,

 

Every time I send an e-mail I accidentally type in Mom instead of Sheri for the e-mail. I hope Camping and Trek goes well for you guys! Yeah I was so excited when I found out about Miah!

Elder Ramos and I are getting along well! But we still need to find common ground on time. I have never met anyone as chill and laid back as Elder Ramos but we can work on that.

Tell Bryn I hope it goes well for her, and yes I was hit hard in Pampa with allergies but I got over them. Sugar Cookies would be nice if you have them? Yeah the weather was awful but luckily all I got was a goosebump from opening the car door to fast for my head.

 

I got pulled over this week, he thought I was texting but it was me handing the phone when someone called to Elder Ramos, he let me off without anything and he appreciated my honesty. I am also teaching French to some cute girls in the Branch and that is going really well. I am also learning Swahili and as strange as it seems it is more easy to learn than Spanish. Mimi Napenda kuongea Kiswahili is I love to speak Swahili. Jambo! Unaendeliaje is hello how are you! I want to see JURASSIC WORLD SO BAD!!!!!!!!!!!!  And that is what happened to me this week!

 

Did you figure out the allegory yet?

 

Love, Elder Farle

Week of June 1st

Dear Mom,

 

Guess what! I am getting a new companion! Elder Heaps and Elder Porter are both leaving and I am getting an Elder straight from the Dominican Republic! I am so excited to teach him both English and Real Spanish.

So the doctrine of Barabus and Jesus is the fact that the symbolism is us as Barabbus and Christ as himself. We are destined for execution as the consequence of sin is death and we are kept in a prison of sin. But as Jesus Christ payed the price for the sins, we as Barabus are freed from Prison and will not die permanently. Barabus ran out of the city without looking back as we are to run from our sins and never go back to them. We look back as Christ is walking up the hill and paying for the sin we have made. We then see as his body and his blood are sacrificed for us and we are thus made partakers of that gift. I am not exactly sure what happened concerning after that, but I am sure that Barabus thought to himself just what happened and realized who it was that saved his temporal life. And if we think that there is no way God will forgive us for the things that we do (with the exception of denying the holy ghost) then we need to look at the first person that Christ saved through the atonement, who was Barabus.

 

I am so confused on where the time has gone! I am already 1 year done and halfway to being a responsible adult... that's no fun! I would like a 10 size pair of shoes if you can find one. We are teaching some new people such as Jesus Hidalgo, Jesus Borracho, Carlos y Alondra, Ariana y Daniel, Laticia y Oscar, Rey y Norma, y La Familia Ibarra. They are all really cool and I am sure that some of them will take the step in the next few transfers! Our Recent Converts are super active and they love coming to church. Ivonne is going to Mexico for a month next week so I am going to e-mail her every week to stay in touch with her.

 

So I have a really funny story that I think Caden in particular would enjoy.

So we were riding our bikes down the street and Elder Porter and I started joking about Dollar General and I started talking in a raspy voice to act like a chain smoker who you would expect at a Dollar General and Elder Porter as a joke tried to hand me a water bottle and as I reached to grab it I ran into a telephone pole cable that someone put in front of me... Those things are invisible by the way. I didn't react in any bad way at all, I just sat for 10 seconds got up and told my companions "There is a cable there" and got on my scratched up bike and headed off. haha

 

So my next assignment is to find out why Jacob 5 was put there in the first place and find out what Zenos was talking about exactly. There is something called Dualism which means a literal and figurative meaning behind something.

 

Anyways I love you guys and hope the best, did you get all the letters out? Love you, be safe, be smart, and be faithful.

 

Love Elder Farley

Week of May 24th

Dear Mom,

I find it really crazy that Brie will be 11 by the time I get back home! Everyone is growing up way too fast! 

Trust me, I had a way more interesting week than this past one. President told me that I am going to be Senor companion next transfer so now I get to refresh my driving skills.

Priesthood blessings are amazing! I have really developed a testimony on the priesthood by reading the scriptures, giving and receiving blessings, and reading my patriarchal blessing. The Atonement is a really neat thing when you get down into it.

46?! Wow you are soooooo OLD! I can't wait to hear stories from the good ole brick phone days when I get home, speaking of which, I have a brick phone, I will send a picture in this email. Tell Bryn(first talk Sunday) and Kason (Became and Elder) I said congratulations!

So this week I found out that I hate tennis shoes! I rolled my ankle twice this week during two different games of basketball and I was in crutches for 3 days until I decided to be a man and walk on it despite the pain! It is fine now but I would like high-tops in the next package if that would be ok with you guys :) Can you believe that Andrew (his cousin, seving in Mexico) got to visit the Aztec Temples? That is insane to think about! I am so jealous! I also found out that I am really into MMA and Worldwide Boxing associations, maybe because I am hanging around too many Mexican guys. Quien Sabe (who knows) I ran my first 5k in my life yesterday and I was so sore! It was a mission 5k and it was awesome! I also went to Cabela's and it was awesome! I got this alarm clock that does an Elk bugle for an alarm and I am so happy now! That is pretty much what has happened this week and I had a blast!

My Assignment, read the account of Jesus and Barabbus and tell me how it applies to the Sacrament, it will blow your mind!

Love, Elder Farley

Okay - proof he's still a teenager! Argh! Smashing the bread!!

Baptism!!

It's raining and we love it!

District Meeting, awkward pose!

The indestructible mission phone - proving that The Church is aware that they are still teenagers! :)

Week of May 17th

Dear Mom,

That is awesome! (I was telling him about some home video's we watched when he was little where he told me he could spell Monkey 'all day long'!)Tell Bryson and Caden that I said happy birthday! Also did they get my letter? My companions say that they can immediately tell if I am going to do or say something stupid by the look I have on my face so that is a good thing that I kept that look haha! Tell Uncle Layne that I said thanks and also tell him that I can now have a Spanish conversation with him without just saying Si to everything he says haha. Tell Bryn and Brie that I am so proud of them and their achievements in Soccer! I ended up giving the machete to the mission home to take with me when I go home so we don't have to worry about that anymore. I also got the package and I loved it! thank you so much! 

So this week was crazy! Jose Fransciso just got baptized and confirmed yesterday! Ivonne bore her testimony about her baptism and it was beautiful as well! I also just had a click and now I understand French grammar again, so now I can study in Spanish and French so that I can talk to both Andrew and Dallin when we get home! My companions say that my Spanish is amazing and my French is impressive, I can teach simple lessons in french and I can expound on doctrine in Spanish. I woke up with a bloody nose on Saturday and that freaked me out so I had no trouble with sleeping in on that day! We also taught a guy named Dale Johnson who just really wants to know the truth and he was sincere! I could see that guy being the Bishop of the English Ward one day! Then later that day we met two guys that were high out of their minds! They came up to us and shook Elder Heap's hand and said "this must be the warrior tribe leader!" It was hilarious! then one got so close to Elder Porter's face that he might as well should of kissed him and said "Tell me something negative and then turn it positive" We referred them to the English Elders telling them how legit some two guys are that live on Dunnam Street. We hope they get the joke haha! We finally made contact with a less-active family named the Ibarras and invited their daughter and mother to church because they are members. Turns out that Ivonne is the daughters cousin and she brought her to church. Her name is Anahi and she is a very Immature high school girl that has a very Kim Kardashian voice. She is super attractive though it is a struggle deciding if you are going to put up with her or focus on the Mom instead. 

So yesterday while I was sitting with Ivonne, Anahi and her mom show up and Anahi is wearing a super immodest silver pencil skirt, and a shirt that sort ove looked like a greek toga because it was bare on one shoulder. Then she sat down right next to me a little uncomfortably close... Long story short, I had Ivonne switch me spots when she came back from bearing her testimony. At least she came to church though and said she loved it!

So we took Anahi and Ivonne to Gospel Principles and I started to teach the lesson when an old man walked in asking if this was gospel principles and that he was just visiting. He said he was a mission president in Durango and lives in California. So I continued to teach the lesson in Spanish and bore my testimony and after the lesson ended he stood up and walked up to me in front of my companions and the girls and asked me if my last name was Farley, I replied yes and he asked me "Did you know a Wilford "Buck" Farley?" I replied that he was my grandfather and he started to burst into tears. He told me that his name was Jim West and that he and grandpa were good friends in BYU and that they were in a bunch of bands together! He also explained that he sung at his funeral and that he thinks about my grandpa everyday. He also told me that he was just called by grandma last month and that while he was driving to Midland, Texas he had the impression to go to the Hobbs Ward and he walked in on time to the Spanish Branch. He said that he needed solace that Wilford's name wasn't being ruined and that it carried on and that I was an answer to his prayer and he told me that when he meets Wilford on the other side (being 77 years old) that he would tell him that he should be proud of what I am doing. 

After church, we went to the Diaz family for dinner and they served Papaya Juice and I just learned that I HATE Papaya! I have never had anything that smelled, tasted, and looked like my own vomit. The Cold soup was already spicy and it made me need a drink but every time that I put the cup to my lips I would put it right back down because the smell would overtake me haha luckily the attention was diverted by Elder Heaps when he subconsciously blew on his already cold soup. We had a really good lesson on prayer and sister Diaz cried when she was bearing her testimony on prayer. We teach the lessons pretty equally and we have amazing companionship unity! We have had super crazy rainstorms and I love it! I love the rain and looking at lightning in the TLM! So that is how my week went so I hope you enjoy it! Please tell me how you guys loved the Papaya story haha!

Love you guys!

Elder Farley