Joyeux Noël! - Home MTC, Mesa AZ

 Joyeux Noël mes amis!

This week was my first full week in "missionary limbo". I still don't have any information as to when I might be able to leave but I have faith that I'll be out in the field soon enough.

But more importantly: Christmas! I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas, I had a great one. As much as I want to be out in the field, I am very glad that I was given the chance to spend another Christmas with my family. We had the opportunity to continue a lot of Christmas traditions, some of which with a bit of a Covid twist.

As far as missionary-oriented activities, I was able to participate in my first out-of-MTC French class. It was really cool to see how well I could fare in conversation with some fluent French speakers. I can't properly express my love for this language. 

I hope you all have another fantastic week.

Au revoir!

 Me and my family on Christmas morning
(sporting our new Christmas PJs)

The Farr kids with Santa (socially distanced, of course)

Au Revoir Napoléon - Home MTC, Mesa AZ

 Bonjour encore mes amis!

I've had quite the eventful week so buckle up!

So to start, my district and I had a few more nightly zoom calls just to hang out and it was super bittersweet to say goodbye. It's hard to believe how quickly our six weeks together flew by. I miss them but I am so happy for us all to be on this next leg of our missions.

For those of you who haven't already heard, our dog of nearly a decade, Napoleon, sadly passed on Monday. Throughout the MTC, he would make his way, by some miracle, down the stairs to lay at my feet or on my lap as I had my classes. He was, in a way, my MTC companion. It was really hard to realize that I wouldn't get the nice little goodbye I had imagined before I left for the field. He was a great dog and I love him very much, I am so happy that he is where he is now and I can't wait to see him again.

BIG story time: As part of my preparation to go out into the field, I was required to get a Covid test within 72 hours of my flight. A few weeks ago, my parents came back with positive Covid tests (they are both recovered and well in the clear now and all of my siblings' tests were negative), so the results were especially important. Unfortunately, despite my best efforts (aka spending two hours on hold with the testing facility), my test results didn't come back soon enough and I got a call from my stake president letting me know that my flights have been cancelled and I will instead fly out a few days after Christmas. The next morning my test came back negative. As disappointed as I am to not be out in the field quite yet, I'm glad for the blessing it is to be able to spend a couple more weeks, and Christmas, with my family.

But all of that chaos aside, it's been a very happy week. I'm glad to be able to spend the time that I have with my family and I know that, even if a little later than expected, I will be out into the field soon enough. 

I love you all, the church is true, and have un Noël fantastique!

See you next week :)

Napoleon

We Say Goodbye to Keith and Our Pet Monkey - Home MTC, Mesa AZ

Bonjour encore mes amis,

The MTC is officially over and I am so grateful for the experiences I have had over the last six weeks. That said, I am absolutely stoked to fly out to New Hampshire on Wednesday. I had the opportunity to meet my mission leaders over video call and I am so excited to begin serving in the field.

I learned so much this week. We had some super awesome spiritual discussions over the week and I can say for certain that I have felt the spirit more this week than in any other week in my life. Never have I been so spiritually filled. I am so happy to be a missionary.

At the very end of our final class yesterday, we were given a few minutes to kind of write out what we want from our missions. I wrote a lot about personal goals I want to meet and the kind of person I want to be by the end of it all. It made me, and I'm sure a lot of my district-mates, understand that feeling successful on our mission has nothing to do with how many people we are able to convert and everything to do with the personal changes we are able to go through. I am not perfect. Nobody is. But I am ready to dedicate the next two years, and then my entire life, towards coming closer and closer to Christ and his example.

It's always hard to say goodbye to people you care about. I have come to truly love these people and this whole thing feels very much like the end of an era. The hardest thing I have had to do in the last six weeks is logging off of those final zoom calls. That gives me a lot of excitement for the connections I will make with people in the field over the next 23 months.

Elder Card and I had the opportunity to teach a couple more TRC's this week. We had one in French a few days ago and, while it was pretty rough, it was super cool to see how we were able to throw out our planned lesson to try and teach our ami what the spirit told us she needed to know. That was a huge testimony builder for me.

The district got to do a lot of fun things together this week. Of course we have our regular hangouts but I think the comedic highlight of the week for me was a Kahoot that Elder Card and I made for class. We were assigned to lead a grammar review for the class and decided to make a Kahoot (for those of you who don't know, a Kahoot is basically a quiz game that lets you create quizzes for whatever the class needs to learn/practice). We spent two hours in companion study that morning figuring out how we could make the Kahoot as entertaining as possible, random stock photos and all. In case you were wondering, it was a huge hit. We had a lot of fun with it.

Two more things to explain some of the below pictures:

1. A big inside joke among the district was started by my fantastic companion, Elder Card. The joke was centered around his dream to one day have a pet monkey (things are funny in the MTC that aren't funny anywhere else).

2. There's an MTC employee who watches the videos of our classes to make sure we stay on track. Somehow, we found out his name is Keith. Over the weeks, we have all become more and more obsessed with Keith. We don't know him, or even what he looks like, but maybe that makes it better. We've had many a one-sided conversation with Keith, personified by the little blinking red light in the corner of all of our classes. Anyways, we had to draw and label the human body in French and affectionately named him "Keith". We love and miss you Keith.

The next time you hear from me, I will be a few days into my stop off in New England. Needless to say, I am beyond excited. Please pray for my French, lol.

Au revoir et bonne semaine mes amis,

Elder Farr

The district's last class with Sœur Rutter

The district's last class with Sœur Moore (feat. her classic "é" accent dab)

Me threatening the district in a monkey mask

Keith

The New Sœur Stevens - Home MTC, Mesa AZ

Bonjour mes amis!

One month down and I have to say: never has a month gone passed for me quite as quickly as this one has. It's astounding, really. In only a week, I will be officially finished with the MTC and will be preparing to report to the field!

I am loving being a missionary! I know I say it basically every week, but missionary work is the single most important thing I could be doing right now. I am stoked to get out and serve in New Hampshire.

This week went by very quickly for me. Class always felt like it started and then ended immediately after. French is getting fun. And by fun, I mean absurdly complex. But I know that I have been and will be blessed to keep up with all of the new information.

Elder Card and I were able to teach a few more TRC's this week. One was in French and, like last time, was strongly mediocre. We're starting to catch on though, which is good. We also taught an English TRC with this guy named Collin. It was our first time meeting with somebody for a second time and we're looking forward to a third lesson this Monday. One of my greatest blessings as a missionary is the joy I find in teaching. It brings me so much light. I am stoked to be teaching for the rest of my life.

The district is great. Our more casual hangouts tend to be the highlight of my week. I'll include some pictures below so you can get a little peek into what goes on in those zoom rooms. 

Story time: A few days ago, we were taking a ten minute break in the middle of class. After the break, we were all starting to turn our cameras back on when Sœur Stevens' camera popped on to reveal, not the sister missionary we all know and love, but to a clearly bearded man. The thing was, Sœur Stevens was set to lead that day's discussion. So the "New Sœur Stevens", in the highest voice they could muster, began to lead the discussion on her behalf. The caliber of laugh that escaped my mouth was unreal. Anyways, that was just about the highlight of my week.

I love you all. I love the Gospel and can say, with more confidence than ever, that it is true. I hope you all have a fantastic and spirit-filled week :)

Bonne semaine!

A regular district hangout

The district with MANY strange objects

Then New Sœur Steve