Blanc Frère! - Affery, Côte d'Ivoire

 Well, its been a couple weeks since I've been able to talk to ya'll but I'm in Côte d'Ivoire now! It's been a crazy couple of weeks so buckle up!

My last few days in Sanford were jam-packed with goodbyes. It was pretty hard to leave that amazing ward and area so soon after I had the opportunity to join it. I said goodbye to the other Elders in Sommersworth after a couple final exchanges. I said goodbye to Colby after Elder Greene and I took him out for icecream. I said goodbye to Bishop Shaw after he excitedly drove to our apartment to drop off a really old Ensign with the history of the church in Côte d'Ivoire. And I said goodbye to Elder Greene after one last road trip to Manchester. 

The day before I left to Côte d'Ivoire, I had the awesome opportunity to see my parents for a couple of hours so we could swap suitcases. It was hard to say goodbye to them for the second time but I'm so glad to have had that brief time with them again.

On Friday March 5, I left to the airport with President and Sister Beck, said goodbye to them, and boarded a plane to Charlotte. In Charlotte, I had a 4.5 hour layover so I found a chick-fil-a and had one last chicken sandwich. I then flew from Charlotte to Atlanta where I met up with a bunch of other missionaries also going to various missions in Côte d'Ivoire! I also got to meet Elder Card in person which was awesome! The flight from Atlanta to Paris was around 8 hours so I slept most of the way. Then in Paris, we had just enough time to go through security and get our documents re-verified before our final flight took off. And then, before we knew it, we were on a plane to Abidjan!

The first thing that hit me when we got off the plane is the humidity. I'm a little more used to it now but that first night was brutal. It's, quite literally, heavy.

We stayed in a hotel that night that, by some miracle, had air conditioning. The next morning was Sunday so we went to church in a chapel right next to the construction site for the Abidjan temple! As we walked up to the chapel, my eyes were filled with tears realizing that I'm finally  here.

After church we had some training at the mission office for a few hours and then we were off to our zones. We drove through the crazy traffic of Abidjan which was brutal but we eventually made it to the Zone Leaders' apartment in Adzopé. The three of us from my flight group that came to Adzopé stayed the night there with a bunch of other Elders. Many of which had come in the night before and were also waiting to head out to their areas.

On the following Monday, I got to meet my companion, Elder Kamenan. He's from Côte d'Ivoire which means he only speaks French. So that's been a fun challenge to figure out this week. After a few days, I came to find out that he's a pretty goofy guy. He's a good companion. 

The other two Elders in our apartment are Elders Dent and Christensen. Elder Dent served on reassignment in New Hampshire just like me! And Elder Christensen was one of the Elders in my flight group here. It's pretty rare to have three Americans in one apartment. 

Our area is in a village called Affery. It's only been a week but I've come to really love these people, language barrier and all. I've also come to love the work. In fact, being in the apartment is my least favorite part of the day. I'm the most happy when I'm out among the people and the culture, as crazy foreign as it may be.

Last Monday was so crazy busy that I didn't have a chance to write at all. This ending my many-week-long streak of weekly's. But I'm here now so I suppose that's what counts.

I'm not gonna lie, it's been a crazy tough week. And had I written this email a couple of days ago, there would be a completely different tone. I never quite understood homesickness until I came here. I've been, in literal terms, sick from how much I miss my family and my country. But I'm gaining a strong testimony of how Heavenly Father blesses us for our sacrifice. 

I've already written way too much so I'll probably get into some of the nitty-gritty details of Ivorian culture next week. But there is one thing I want to share that's been brightening may days here. In Côte d'Ivoire, it's always hot. And nobody has air conditioning so everyone is always outside during the day. So every day when we're walking down the winding dirt roads of our village, there are loads of kids who yell out "blanc frère!" as I walk by. It's become second nature now to respond with a wave or a "bonjour!" or "bonsoir!". It really makes my day. Elder Kamenan says "You are star!"

(Unfortunately, the internet here is really bad so I can't send pictures)

Arrival in Côte d’Ivoire!

(From Mom Melissa):

After 34 hours of traveling Elder Thomas Farr has made it to Côte d’Ivoire. Kent and I can’t be any happier. He is smiling so big under his mask. Sleep well Elder Farr. There is great work ahead.

President Beck saying good bye

Arriving in Côte d’Ivoire

Visit from Mom and Dad - Sanford, Maine

 (From Mom Melissa):

We made it to Boston/ Cambridge Massachusetts last night. The weather was nice so we walked around our hotel for awhile. We then woke up this morning and headed up to exchange luggage with Elder Thomas Farr.

We were so excited to see where he lived and the area of Maine. We took Elder Farr and Greene out for lunch and visited and ate in the car. It was fun getting to know Elder Greene. We said our goodbyes and then headed out to Portland Maine and Cape Elizabeth. The wind was blowing hard. So of course I was freezing. I don’t love the cold weather. There was snow on the sand of the beach. That was insane to me. We stuck our hand in the Atlantic. The lighthouses were beautiful. Tomorrow Elder Farr flies out to Côte d’Ivoire. We are so excited for the next adventures he will have.

Au Revoir Amérique! - Sanford, Maine

 Je pars en Côte d'Ivoire cette semaine! 

Well, this is it. My final week in New England. Next time y'all hear from me I'll be in Côte d'Ivoire!

This week was pretty good! We did a lot of service and I said goodbye to many of the people who we regularly serve with throughout the week. I'm sure I'll have a lot more of those goodbyes over the next few days. 

On Tuesday I went to my first and only Zone Conference here in New England. It was awesome to get to see so many other missionaries in person for once.

I've already had many of my final lessons with our friends. It's hard to say goodbye so soon but I'm so beyond excited to finally get out to Côte d'Ivoire.

Yesterday Elder Greene and I both spoke in Sacrament Meeting! We were asked to talk about Loving Thy Neighbor, the Second Great Commandment. I pulled from many examples of the Savior to talk about how we need a combination of service and forgiveness to follow this commandment. I also got to talk a lot about the early latter-day saints and how their example shows us how to serve and forgive one another. 

At the end of my talk, I was asked to bear my testimony in French. Which is usually an end-of-mission thing but, oh well. So I did my best with my very broken language skills. I'm excited to get out there and really be surrounded by the language. 

This week I finished reading the second volume of Saints. It goes through church history up to the point where the Salt Lake Temple was dedicated. As I said when I finished the first volume, I implore any of you who have not already read them to read them. And any of you who have, reread. There is so much good in knowing the good and the bad of church history. All of the great triumphs and, occasionally, brutal missteps throughout church history have something different and important to teach us.

Today we had district pday and held a little funeral for me and Sister Spencer, who's going home next week. I'm really gonna miss this district. 

Well, I suppose that's all. A week from now I'll be writing y'all from Africa which is, for lack of a better phrase, mind-boggling. I'm so excited to get out there. I'll need all of your prayers for sure. 

Until then! 

Elder Farr :) 

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 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 :)

A Gumball Machine of Blessings - Home MTC, Mesa AZ

Welcome to week two of my weekly emails. I promise to be on time from now on :)

This week was a blast. This was my first full week as a missionary and I am loving it more than ever. The language is super difficult but the spirit is so strong. That's kind of been the theme for me this week. Strong feelings of peace amid world-shattering stress. 

But before we get into all of that, I received some super exciting news earlier this week! I have been reassigned to the New Hampshire Manchester Mission! I'll leave the week of December 16th. Which is perfect because I packed for two years on the equator with an average low in the 70s and average humidity of 87%. But jokes aside, I'm super excited to serve the people in New Hampshire (and some parts of Maine and Vermont). 

My Companion, Elder Card, and I started teaching TRC's this week. For anyone confused, TRC stands for Teaching Resource Center and it basically provides us missionaries-in-training opportunities to teach real people about the gospel. We did two of them and they were both super cool experiences. We got some feedback and it seems we did pretty well. Hopefully we'll be able to say the same when we start teaching in FRENCH later this week. 

Speaking of French, we are moving through the language super quickly. Sometimes it's really hard to keep up honestly. Luckily, I have my district mates struggling by my side. I've gotten to the point where I'm decently comfortable praying in French. I can hold a very basic conversation and I'm right at the brink of being able to form my own original sentences. Luckily, I love the language and am motivated by the fact that I'm not learning it for me. I'm not learning French so I can have a cool party trick, I'm learning French to be more able to share the gospel. What a fantastic motivator that has been.

The district is becoming more and more tight-knit every day. Twice this week we spent our (extremely limited) free time on a zoom call just hanging out together for 2-3 hours and we've committed to do so at least 3 times a week for the rest of the MTC :)

The other day during class we were told to grab the most random item we could find in a minute. So naturally I ran upstairs to grab the gumball machine we keep in the corner. After we all returned with all of our random items (pic below) we were told that we had to relate our items to the gospel somehow. My analogy was that, just like a quarter in a gumball machine, we have to put in some effort and faith in order to receive "those sweet, sweet gumball blessings."

Spiritual thought: In 1st Corinthians 12:27, it says "Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular." In class, we talked about how, no matter what shortcomings we may have or what spiritual gifts we long for, we each have a specific role to play in our Heavenly Father's plan. I can testify that this is true so long as we make the effort to fulfil His vision for us. 

My district with some random objects (feat. the aforementioned gumball machine)

A photo taken on my dad's birthday 6 years ago and 3 days ago in the same Outback :)