Surprise Baptism! - Burlington, Vermont

It's been a crazy week mes amis!

So this week we had a surprise baptism! One of our friends, Victoria, had her baptismal interview on Thursday and we got to talk to her after. Then she asked if we could move her baptism to Sunday the 24, a week earlier than what we had planned. So we called our mission president and our branch president so we could get approval from the area seventy to hold the baptism (part of the new covid guidelines is that all baptisms have to be approved by the area seventy). By some miracle, we got it all approved in less than an hour and we were set to have a baptism!

Part of our last-minute preparation was putting together the program. And because of the limited amount of people we can have in the room for a baptism I was asked to give a, fairly last minute, talk about the Holy Ghost which I excitedly accepted. Then on Sunday, we were driving to church when we got a text from our Branch President asking if we could sing a musical number for sacrament meeting. Unfortunately as missionaries we aren't allowed to sing in meetings for covid reasons. So we had to tell him that we couldn't. So instead, he asked me to give a talk!  

So on Sunday, I pulled together two (somewhat impromptu) talks and, in my opinion, I think they both turned out pretty well! I love to teach and I love to share the gospel so it was a lot of fun getting to share so much. 

The spirit was stronger in that baptism than most anywhere else. At the end, Victoria shared her testimony and it was so powerful. We're all so proud and excited for her. 

Last night, I got a call from President Beck letting me know two things:

1. That, unfortunately, the Ivorian embassy has closed due to covid and I may not be able to have my visa approved by March 10. So it seems I'll be in New England a little bit longer than expected. 

2. That this Thursday I'll be moving to a new area in Sanford, Maine. This one came as a shock considering I've only been in the mission field for 3 weeks. So I'll be getting a third trainer here in the states. I'm excited to meet him!

Today, for Elder Mansell's last pday, we visited the little sliver of NY in our area and explored the ruins of some awesome forts from the French-Indian War! I'll include some cool pictures :) 

Elder Mansell gave his "golden truth" to the mission yesterday which is basically a summary of what he's learned on the mission. He said that he neglects to use the words "my mission" because it's really "the Lord's mission". We aren't here serving for ourselves, we are here entirely on the Lord's errand and we are committed to serving him and helping to fulfill His mission. 

It's been a good week, a lot of change is coming up and I can't wait to tell y'all all about it! 

Bonne semaine mes amis! 

Winooski mural

 Some cool angel wings

We put the wrong soap in the dishwasher

Victoria's baptism!

A cool lake

A cool painting

Cool British Fort

Restoration work is, in fact, in progress 

Cool mountains! 

Our Encounter with the Trash Man - Burligton, Vermont

Its been an eventful week mes amis!

I apologize for my rather short email last week so here's some more information for y'all: 

My companion is Elder Dart and he's from Utah. He originally served in the Philippines speaking Tagalog so language study is pretty wild with the two different languages. He's been a super fun trainer and I've been having a blast getting to know him.

The other companionship in our apartment is Elder Mansell and Elder Bird. Elder Mansell is going home next week which he's pretty bummed out about. 

Elder Bird originally served in Barbados speaking English. He's an amazing missionary and teacher. He has a way of explaining the things of the gospel that surpasses just about anything I've heard before. On Wednesday we I had the fantastic opportunity to spend a few hours teaching and learning with him and it was awesome.

On Tuesday night, Elder Bird got a surprise call from our mission president, President Beck, asking if he could come down to Manchester to be one of the president's assistants! The thing was, he would have to leave on Thursday, two weeks before transfers. So we got him all packed up and drove to New Hampshire to send him off with the APs. It was a sad day for all of us. 

So now we're back to a trio with Elders Dart and Mandell as Zone Leaders and me, just about as new to the mission as someone could get. 

One of the friends we're teaching is named Victoria. Victoria was being taught by the missionaries about a year ago but didn't end up getting baptized. But last Sunday, Elders Bird and Mandell took her to see the baptismal font and she said "I've been here, I've dreamed about this place." So now she's scheduled to get baptized in a couple of weeks! We had another lesson with her on Saturday where she shared a bunch of scriptures she'd been studying. One of the passages was Jacob 5 which, frankly, all three of us Elders were too scared to try and understand. We were all crazy impressed with her understanding, she's teaching us a lot. 

I've gained a very strong testimony this week that this is the exact mission and area where I'm meant to be right now. As excited as I am to get out to Cote d'Ivoire next, I now know that Heavenly Father needs me, specifically, as a tool to aid in the spiritual progression of specific people here in Vermont. 

Funny moment to close this out: 

A few days ago the three of us were going down to drop our trash in the trash room of our apartment complex. When we opened the door, there was a man in the corner of the room dumping trash, let me describe him:

He was wearing a purge-style mask with an American flag print on it, had a very askew American flag bow-tie, had probably a dozen beaded necklaces around his neck and one necklace with a whole lot of bottle caps pinned in the sash and a big Volkswagen emblem, seemingly ripped right off of a car, attached at the bottom, he also had very large rainboots and moved very much like Golem from Lord of the Rings. 

We, very cautiously, made our way past him to dump out trash when he shouted, "Are you those Mormons?!" To which we responded, "Sort of!" He then lifted his mask which revealed quite the striking goatee. We then proceeded to have a (and I use this term very generously) regular conversation about the restored gospel. He didn't take to it too well but it was an interesting experience regardless. 

Anyway, it's been a great week and I'm keeping super busy. I can safely say that this last week has gone by quicker than any other week in my life. They say time flies when you're having fun and I absolutely am. 24/7 I am focused on the gospel and it's the greatest and most important thing I could be doing right now. 

The church is true, the prophet is called of God, and the fullness of Jesus Christ's original Gospel has been and continues to be restored to the Earth!

I love you all! Bonne semaine! 

Elder Bird's "last supper"

Snow!!

I'm in Vermont! - Burlington, Vermont

Its been a crazy week mes amis! 

Last Monday, I got an email with flight plans to fly out to New Hampshire the NEXT DAY!

So, after a day with some very speedy packing, I said goodbye to my family and got on a plane out to New Hampshire!

I'm now about a week into the field! I'm serving in the Montpelier YSA area that covers all of Vermont! I live in an apartment with my companion, Elder Dart, and another companionship. We live up in a little suburb of Burlington called Winooski and its such a cool little town! 

Im loving being able to finally serve in the field! My first night with my companion, we had a lesson! I feel super comfortable with the work and with teaching which is a huge blessing! 

On Wednesday, the four of us got to visit the place where the Prophet Joseph Smith was born! It was so cool to be able to visit such a special place and to see a church history site that I hadn't seen before!

All of the other Elders are at least 18 months in to their missions so I'm definetely the new guy. We have a lot of fun hanging out and serving together every day and I am so grateful to have them all as examples!

Sorry this one is so short but I'll try to include some cool pictures to make up for it :)

Flying to the New Hampshire Manchester Mission

(From Mom Melissa):

He’s off. After 9 long weeks Elder Farr is headed to New Hampshire on reassignment and then onto Cote d’Ivore. We are so excited for his new adventures. It was a hard goodbye. I held up pretty strong until these 2 brothers said goodbye. They were both pretty emotional. We can’t wait to see Elder Farr grow on his mission. I am so grateful for modern day technology. So we can communicate with him. See ya in 22 Elder Farr

The Night Before Leaving Home

 (From Mom Melissa):

Several years ago I remember looking over at a dear friend in our ward Heidi. Her son was leaving on a mission. He had just given a beautiful talk. I had 2 little boys by my side. No little girls were part our our family at the time. I was living and loving the boy mom life. I couldn’t believe how calm she was. She had sweet tears in her eyes. Tears of being proud. Her son was leaving. And she was so happy. I remember after the church meeting walking over to her and giving her a hug. I also remember saying I can’t imagine how I will feel having my son leave. Her words always stayed with me. She said” you will be able to do it and you will be so glad they are out serving”. I am there. Tonight we prepared for Thomas to fly out tomorrow morning. My mom heart is so full. My little 3 lb baby who I fought so hard to bring into this world is spreading his wings and flying to New Hampshire and then in 9 weeks will fly out to Cote D’Ivore. Tonight I go to bed with gratitude Thomas is going to go out and serve. We love him. He will definitely be missed by Kent and I and his siblings. But we can talk to him every week. That takes the sting a bit away.

I'm going to Côte d'Ivoire! (soon) - Home MTC, Mesa AZ

 Bonne Année!

This week, I've got some good news and some bad news:

The bad news is that I still don't have any flight plans or tentative dates for my travel to New Hampshire, so I'm still waiting at home. On the bright side, I'm making the most of the extra time with my family.

The good news is that I received a call from my Mission President in New Hampshire letting me know that I'll be flying out to Côte d'Ivoire on March 10th! I'm so grateful to be able to go to my original assignment so soon into my mission! I can't express how much of a blessing this news is and I am more excited than ever to get out there and serve.

That's all for this week.

Bonne semaine!

Bonus pic: My Lego Star Wars collection as of Christmas, beautifully displayed on the entertainment center for all to see :)