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

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 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 :)