T-minus 11 Days! - Sanford, Maine

Allô mes amis!

It's been yet another chilly week her in Sanford, Maine. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't excited to get back into the hot places of the world. Only a week and a half until I can escape the frigid winter! 

This week we had some more exchanges with the Somersworth Elders. Elder Sears and I went off to a bunch of places he loves around Sanford because he served in this area a year ago. It was really fun to find all of these cool shops that Elder Greene and I haven't been able to discover.

Then on Friday we had exchanges with the Zone Leaders. They showed us some awesome ways to make the most of our finding through Facebook. Since we're not allowed to talk to people on the streets or in stores about the Gospel (unless they ask us), we tend to feel pretty limited in what we're able to do. But with those Elder's guidance, Elder Greene and I were able to find quite a few new people to teach in those three hours!

On Saturday we had another lesson with our friend Mike who we put on date for baptism last week! We had Colby, who was just called as a ward missionary, join in on the call. We talked a bit more about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Towards the end, completely unprompted by us (but totally prompted by the spirit), Colby asked if he could share something with Mike. He shared the story about the reservation he had with baptism just a short month ago. He talked about how hard Satan worked against him to get him to reject baptism and, ultimately, how the joy and peace of the Spirit rushed over him when he did get baptized. He also talked about how much better his life and attitude towards life have been in the last month since his baptism. It was exactly the thing that Mike needed to hear. While saying the closing prayer, Mike thanked Heavenly Father for putting Colby in his life. I've hardly felt the spirit more strongly during a lesson than I did in that one.

We have this lady in our ward, Sister Minks, who we meet with every Monday and talk with here in there other times throughout the week. She calls us "her boys" and we've really become her emotional support. Yesterday she was having an extraordinarily bad day. So we gave her a call and talked for about an hour until she was feeling better. She thanked us incessantly for everything we do for her. This morning we found out that her daughter had a close to fatal accident. So we went and dropped off a gift for her to do whatever we could to help her out. We've since found out that all is well which we're super happy about! But it feels great to be able to help her and serve her.

For those of you who haven't yet, I implore you to read the two volumes of Saints books the church has released so far. I've been reading them over the last few weeks and I've found a love and passion for church history that I couldn't have had otherwise. Reading about the people and events that have shaped the church over these last two centuries has been invaluable to my testimony and I know that it will strengthen yours just the same. There's my invitation for the week. If possible, get reading!

I hope you all have a fantastic, spirit-led week!

Avec amour, 

Elder Farr

Thousands of Pounds of Cheese and a Bruised Leg - Sanford, Maine

 Ça a été une bonne semaine mes amis! 

It's been a jam-packed week my friends! To start, last Tuesday I got to have my first exchange! We swapped comps with the Somersworth Elders and I got to spend most of the day with Elder Wright. He's an awesome guy and we had such a blast. The times where all four of us were together was just about the most fun I've had on my mission so far. I love these Elders. 

On Thursday we had our long-anticipated distribution day with the Sanford Backpack Program. Two or three times a week, Elder Greene and I work with the program to put together and distribute bags of food to kids at the local high school and middle school. We usually put together around 200 bags for the high school and around 50 for the middle school. But this week, a giant truck from Salt Lake came in with 75,000 pounds of food. Other contributors brought the total up to over 90,000 pounds! We had about 1,000 large boxes of various kinds of food. 

Elder Greene and I signed up to help out for the whole day rather than just one or two shifts which ended up being from 7:45-6:45! So from 7:45-3 we loaded the boxes with all of the different kinds of food (outside in the freezing weather (aka not great for an Arizona boy)) and then from 3-6 we distributed the boxes to the line of cars that came through pretty steadily for those 3+ hours. Then, after the cars had all come through, we had more butter and cheese left over than expected so we spent those 45 minutes loading the remainder into the Backpack Program's vans.

By the end of the project, the sun had been down for about an hour and I was so cold and sore that I could hardly make my way back to the car. When we got home, I wrote a very shacky journal entry and knocked right out. I can confidently say that I have never been more physically exhausted in my life. But it was a really cool experience to endeavor on something so big. And, I made the news!

On Saturday, a couple of great things happened! First is that I finally, after months of cancelation and unfortunate scheduling, was able to join another in-field French class! This was my first time having any conversation in French in a couple of months and it was great! In these classes, they put you in different breakout rooms and have you talk about whatever you want with different missionaries for 10ish minutes at a time. The coolest thing happened in the first breakout where, when I said I was from Mesa, the Elder I was talking to turned back to his companion and asked if he knew me. When the companion came into view, it was none other than Elder Braeden Smith, a guy I went to school with! What are the chances that I would run into someone, in an online class, that I knew from my tiny school with a graduating class of about 100 each year.

After that class, Elder Greene and I had a lesson with our friend Mike. I've been leading a lot of the lessons lately including this one and I had the awesome opportunity to invite Mike to be baptized. He readily accepted! It was such an awesome experience to personally extend that invitation for the first time. Mike is such an awesome friend. 

Yesterday, Colby, a friend who joined the church a few days before I got to the area, was set apart to be a ward missionary! Colby has been as rock-solid of a convert as anyone could ask for. Since his baptism, he has shown up to church every week and he's now blessed the sacrament multiple times too! We can't wait to start getting him in on calls so he can share his awesome testimony!

Funny story: on Saturday, I was backing Elder Greene up to make sure he wouldn't hit a nearby car in the parking lot. One miscommunication led to another and I ended up getting my leg pinned, and a little squished, between the two cars. I've got a pretty gnarly bruise on my leg and a bit of a limp. But I walked (or limped) away from it okay and now I've got a good story out of it! And my leg kept both the cars safe so there's no damage there. I look kinda like a pirate when I walk which is pretty fun. I'm having a good time with it.

Anyway, it's been a real good week mes amis and I can't wait to tell y'all all about the next one! 

Passez une bonne semaine et bonne Saint-Valentin (tardif)! 

A selfie I took while writing this because I didn't take enough pictures this week 

A surprise Heritage reunion (Elder Braeden Smith)

I'm Going To Cote d'Ivoire! (For Sure This Time) - Sanford, Maine

Bonjour tout le monde!

This week consisted of a whole lot of service and a whole lot of being stuck inside. 

Our stake president asks that we get in at least 10 hours of service each week which means that almost every day we're out doing some form of service!

For one, every week we go and help out at this church and help prepare meals for people. But this week there wasn't as much food prep to be done so we spent a couple of hours clearing out their whole pantry and sanitizing it shelf by shelf. Once we were done, we reorganized everything inside of the pantry. It was definitely a big job.

One service opportunity that we get two or three times a week is with the Sanford Backpack Program, which puts together big bags of groceries and hands them out for free to kids as they come out of school. We usually start out with close to a couple hundred bags and are usually down to just a dozen or so by the end of it. It's a fun opportunity and just about the only time we get to be around people. 

This week we were locked down for a few days for some snow storms so the only thing we could do outside was go on walks. So Elder Greene and I went on many. These walks felt less like casual strolls though the park and more like intense endurance challenges where we tried to see how long we could last in the cold, dark, Maine winter. One of these walks, all but the road was covered in knee-high snow. So, rather than dejectedly returning to our apartment, we braved through the blizzard and marched through that knee-high snow. We've yet to turn back on a walk and we don't plan on doing so in the future.

This Sunday, I was asked to bear my testimony in church, marking the third time I've been asked to speak in church since arriving in New England a little over a month ago. It was nice though and we got to hear some awesome testimonies. 

Big News! Last Wednesday, I received word that my travel plans for Cote d'Ivoire have not only been restored, but that I'll be leaving even earlier now than before! So instead of leaving on March 10, I'll now be flying out on the 5th! That's only 3 1/2 weeks away! So it seems I'll be in Cote d'Ivoire earlier than expected and the only thing I can say is what a blessing. In less than a month I'll be serving in the place where I was originally called to serve with the people whom I was originally called to serve. I feel so blessed and grateful for this opportunity and to be able to spend so much of my mission over there. 

This week, I really focused on gaining a greater appreciation for the people we read about in the Book of Mormon. I can say with full confidence that these were real people. They were all just regular people who, by the power and blessings of God, were able to accomplish such extraordinary things as we read about in the Book of Mormon.

I love you all, and I hope you have the best week. 

Avec amour,

Elder Farr

A close call from the Summersworth Elders at district council

 After weeks of searching and trying location to location to
no avail, I was finally able to get some Chipotle

The cold, windy, and frankly uncomfortable Maine beach

Bonjour from Sanford! - Sanford, Maine

Bonjour tout le monde!

We had transfers this week! And, after only three weeks in the field, I was transferred to Sanford, Maine. Elder Dart likes to paint the covers of Books of Mormon and he wanted to paint both Elder Mansell and me one to take with us. But, since we didn't think I'd be transferred, he hadn't started mine yet. So, in an astounding 30ish minutes, he painted me this awesome painting on the cover of my Livre de Moron! (I'll include a picture) 

Anyway, I'm now in a very nice area with a fantastic ward that feeds us VERY well. Everyone I've met thus far is super friendly which is awesome!

My new companion is Elder Greene. He's, you guessed it, from Utah. He's a super friendly guy and together we share an apartment that's big enough for three or four companionships! Gotta say, I've been pretty spoiled with my last two apartments. 

Something about this area that's quite a bit different from the last is that we're not only allowed to, but are encouraged to do loads of service. So at least every other day, we're out serving people all over the area! Which sure beats being on Facebook all day. 

Another thing we get to do here that we couldn't in Vermont is deliver Books of Mormon to people! So much of our week has been spent delivering the word of God to many of our friends' houses. One of them even told us to leave him a week to read the whole thing so we can talk about it. That's some amazing commitment right there. 

I'm having a lot of fun in Sanford, I've heard from many an Elder that this is or was their favorite area on the mission and I'm beginning to understand why. 

Joseph Fielding McConkie, son of Bruce R McConkie, once advised that if we learn to love the Prophet Joseph Smith, we will become better missionaries. I have taken that advice to heart over the last couple of weeks. I have been reading, watching, and listening to as much as I can to learn. More about Joseph Smith. I can now say, with full confidence, that I love Joseph and know that he was a true Prophet of God. 

John Taylor once said that “Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Seer of the Lord, has done more, save Jesus only, for the salvation of men in this world, than any other man that ever lived in it.” I stand by that quote and testify of its truthfulness in the name if Jesus Christ, amen.

Bonne semaine mes amis!

Me and Elder Greene

Le Livre de Mormon Elder Dart painted