September 29, 2014

General Conference X3 (this is his third G.C. while on his mission) That is right. I am so so so excited and grateful for this upcoming weekend and for the opportunity we have to hear from our beloved Prophet President Thomas S. Monson. I encourage each of you to prepare spiritually and apply the counsels obediently. There are many blessings awaiting. Can´t wait to hear what you think of conference! 

Well fam, it was incredible hearing from you again today. I sure love you a bunch! T, I am so happy for you and B!! What an incredible time in your lives. I pray that you have a wonderful week and a beautiful experience at the temple! You are more than prepared! Thanks once again for all of your love, emails, prayers, and support. It means everything. As for this past week here we go.

This past week was a good one, but pretty CRAZY! On Monday my comp came down sick - it is that time of year again. On Tuesday he headed to Malaga to take care of his residency so he could be legal here. I was able to work in Jerez with one of my best mission friends Elder Brewer, but it was so rough not being in our area working until Wednesday morning.

Wednesday morning, Elder Brewer and I came back here to work the morning together. We were able to meet with J, and have a very spiritual and successful meeting with him and lesson on the law of chastity. The Lord works in incredible ways! After the lesson he obviously had some questions, but he had an experience that night that confirmed his testimony of this sacred law. On Saturday, when we visited with him again, he told us what happened. He told us that Wednesday night at school he began talking with one of his classmates. It turns out that this classmate is his same age and he just came up to him and really just told him about the trial he was having right now. He told J that he had a kid and was having a hard time with his studies, and really just doing anything. He mentioned that things didn´t go well with the girl friend and now he has custody of the child. It is not at all that the child is a problem, but the timing and circumstances of everything.  J told us that right then and right there he thought of what we taught him and knew it was true. He is still looking great for his goal of the 18 of Oct. He is incredible. The Lord is really blessing us!

Other than that, the rama here is doing well. It really is on an upward slope. Onward and upward. They need a lot of attention because of the lack of Priesthood, but that is what we are here for - to help. I am grateful to be here. 

Sorry this email is so short, but that pretty much sums up the highlights of the QUICK and CRAZY week! I love it here and am grateful to be here; also SUPER excited for conference.

We are so blessed. 

Have a wonderful week!

Elder Farrell

September 22, 2014 - Welcome Elder Bates!

Well family, here we are again! This past week was a busy one, but a good one overall! I know that my emails home are getting shorter and shorter, but I always include the highlights! I hope you are all doing well, it sounds like you are! Thank you for all that you do for me!

As I mentioned, this past week seemed to be pretty much of a blur. But I do remember some of the highlights, which started on Tuesday! On Tuesday I headed to Malaga to pick up my new companion. It was so fun traveling to Malaga with some of the other missionaries, and then to finally arrive and meet the new group! It was a big group of 25 this time, all full of faith. It was pretty powerful to see them as we were waiting to be assigned companions. 

waiting to be assigned companions

It is always a nerve wracking experience as President Deere calls the Junior comp up first... then waits.... then says who the trainer will be. "Elder Bates... you will be trained by...... Elder Farrell " 

Elder Farrell with Elder Bates

It was a good time. Elder Bates is a good guy! He is the oldest of 4 kids in his family. He is from Denver Colorado, and reminds me just of Grant. He is a really smart kid who knows what he is doing. We were able to bond quick as we talked about LP and BYU ball on our long journey home! He is a good guy! We enjoyed his first week together! As we were there I was also able to see Elder Hanneman from LP, great to see him!

Other than that we had a lot of random highlights here and there. On Wednesday evening we were able to have a great consejo de rama. Things really seem to be looking up here when it comes to the leadership of the Rama. We were able to set some firm goals and activities that we will be carrying out here in the next few months to not only help the Rama but the work here in this area.

On Saturday morning we were able to visit with J! It has been a little tougher to visit since he began school again this Monday. We were able to talk about his fecha and we were able to move it to the 18 of October so that we can finish all of the charlas. He feels a lot better about that and is ready to move forward. 

This past weekend as Elder Bates and I were heading back to the piso to finish our comp study we saw some people pointing a camera at us. Confused we just kept walking... after passing them, they called out... "hey are you busy" in English. We ended up turning back and talking to them. It turns out that it was a missionary that served here 10 years ago. I asked where he was from. Cedar Hills. Unfortunately, I don’t remember his name, but small world!

This past weekend we had Stake conference here in the Cadiz stake. It was SO spiritual and powerful. We have got some good members over here. Shout out to Elder Adamson who gave a wonderful talk on follow up. I was pretty prideful he was my best friend up there speaking.

The most exciting and touching news of the week happed Saturday. As we arrived to a members’ home to eat before heading to Stake Conference, our phone rang. I didn’t recognize the number so I answered it. "Hey Elder Farrell, it is Elder Evans here, I have someone who wants to talk to you..." He handed the phone over, and it turns out it was O!!! "Farrell! Quería que supiera que acabo de bautizarme" "I wanted you to know that I was just Baptized" It was so touching to talk to him, I am so so happy for him!! At the end of the phone call he started crying and said, "I want you to know that you have a new brother, if you ever need anything, I am here for you" I love that man, and am so so happy for him!

 Elders Webb and Letts

I love this work. I love you all.

Have a great week.

Elder Farrell

September 15, 2014 - Trainer

Trainers Meeting

Well hello there family and friends! I am sorry my emails have been so quick and short lately... I guess that is just what the end of the transfer is all about... haha trying to fit everything in! This one is going to be another short one for lack of time, but we did have some highlights this week that I need to include!

Update on our investigator. He is unreal! He is still progressing so much! This past week we were able to meet with him two times and have some very spiritual lessons with him! He is really looking forward to the 27 for his baptism and doing all that he can do to prepare himself. In his prayer he included, "Por favor ayúdame para que este listo el día 27" (Please help me be ready on the 27) We kept good contact with him and we were able to play soccer again with him and one of our other new investigators too! We played a good 5 on 5. Si, se puede;) Sunday was a good day, when our investigator came running around the corner with his white shirt and tie. He is so prepared. Thank you for your prayers, and please keep praying for him.

Well our other new investigator of the week or may I say Cornelious!? I don’t know if I mentioned him last week, but he stopped us in the street and asked if we were the Mormon missionaries. A little surprised, and very excited, we replied YES!! We were able to meet with him this week a few times and teach him the first few lessons. He is unreal and he is American. His story is a little long, but basically he was born on the naval base in Rota, but has lived in Florida the last 13 years. He is married and has two kids. Anyways... as he welcomed us into his house, we walked into America!! Wow... it was good to be home for a sec. He took us to his kitchen and showed us his American food from Chef Boyardee to the Otis Spunkmeyer muffins he gave us on the way out. The part that hit me the most was when we walked into his family room and I saw American news anchors I recognized... haha man it has been awhile. I think he was equally excited to see another American;) Besides all of the excitement, the lessons really went well. The spirit was really strong and we are looking forward to meeting with him again this week.

Well tomorrow I head to Malaga to pick up my new comp! I am so grateful to get a new guy and really try to help him get used to this missionary thing. I guess we will be learning together. This past week we had a trainers meeting and I was able to see Ben, Elder Patterson, and a bunch of my best mission friends. Its a good time!

Anyways, I promise to be better next week! Know that I love you, and miss you, but I am happy to be here! Have the best week!

Elder Farrell

September 8, 2014 - ¡Si, se puede!‏

Hello there family and friends:) Happy Pday!! Well right now I am sitting in Jerez writing you, right next door to my good friend Elder Adamson a.k.a Ben! This is the first Pday we have had together! It is still weird to think that we are in Spain! So awesome. I love the kid! Thank you so much for all of your great emails today, I sure love hearing from you! As for this week, it was a great one!

First of all the update on our investigator! The kid is incredible!! Honestly, it is incredible to see how much the gospel can change people and their lives. I have seen a huge change, even his face, I can just see more light. On Wednesday we were able to meet with him and talk to him about the progress he has seen over the past month or so and how he feels about everything. All he said, "Siento Seguro" I feel sure. That is exactly what the gospel is, an anchor for us in this life. We have changed his fecha to the 27 to give him a little more time to prepare. Things are still looking good for him! On Saturday we played fútbol with him and a bunch of his friends, it was so much fun! On the second game we were down 9 to 3 playing to 10... we were able to come back and win... haha for this... si se puede! (Yes, you can!) That is the motto of the week! It was so much fun to meet some of his new friends and to answer some of their questions as to why we are here, and what we are doing. I sure love the mission. 

This past week we had a zone training where we were able to see all of the missionaries. It was so much fun and one of the most spiritual conferences we have had! This past week we also had some surprise visits from the sweet senior couple from the naval base in Rota. Their names are the Guffeys and they have been out for about 3 months. On Wednesday after our cita we had a few missed calls from them. As we called them back they told us that they were in the McDonalds waiting to take us to lunch! It was so much fun to get to know them. They are our grandparents here on this side of the mission. For the special zone conference they brought us all breakfast burritos. We sure love them!

We are still seeing a bunch of miracles here and we are excited to see what the Lord has in store for us. On Friday President Deere called me and told me that I would be training this upcoming transfer! I am so excited to see what the Lord has in store for us! Who knows, maybe I will get Elder Hanneman from LP?! haa... well sorry this is such a short email, but there are just too many missionaries in here today and it is too much fun... haha just know I sure love you all so much!! I will talk to you next week!

Much Love,

Elder Farrell