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

Tres tres - Home MTC, Mesa AZ

 Bonjour mes amis!

This week was packed with new concepts both French and with things of the spirit.

I'm gonna be honest. French is getting really hard. It's a miracle that I'm able to keep up at all and I know that that is only possible through the lord and the gift of tongues. This Thanksgiving, I am especially grateful for that gift and for my MTC teachers who push us hard enough to use it.

Earlier this week, Elder Card and I taught another TRC in English. I've come to realize just how much joy teaching brings to my soul. For those of you who don't know, I'm planning on, after my mission, going to school to become a choir director. Teaching is something that has always been very fun for me and I love being able to teach something as important as the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Thanksgiving was great! One of the greatest benefits of attending the MTC from home is that I could spend Thanksgiving with my extended family. Being able to play hours of card and yard games with my cousins brought me the greatest joy. I am so grateful for my family, every day. (And for Thanksgiving dinner, of course.)

Last week, President Nelson gave an invitation to make social media our own personal gratitude journals. He was absolutely correct when he said we would be happier by the end of the week. Making a post every night about a different thing I was grateful for made me realize just how many things I have to be grateful for. Far too many to fit into only seven posts. I am thankful for the Prophet and his inspired invitations.

I'll close off with a picture of my district and the craziest accessories we could find in under a minute :) 

Bonne semaine!

Tout Va Bien - Home MTC, Mesa AZ

 The MTC continues to be a rollercoaster. What I said last week about "strong feelings of peace amid world-shattering stress" rings ever truer for every week I progress. In the best way possible, I am drained of every energy I have. I love missionary work and have latched onto it easier than I ever expected before the mission. I am looking forward to being out in the field after these last three weeks of the MTC.

I love French. While difficult, it is such a beautiful language. In the last couple days I have been more motivated than ever and have been really diving into this language. The more I learn about it, the more I fall in love with French.

Elder Card and I taught our first French TRC this week. While it might not have been any A+ lesson or anything of the sort, having that experience has boosted my confidence in the language tenfold. I know that as I continue to devote my time to missionary work, I will continue to be blessed to pick up this language.

I love my district. We take quite a bit of time to just hang out and it's so much fun. The experiences I've had with my district over the last three weeks squash any concerns of loneliness I might've had coming up to the mission. We never cease to make each other laugh. 

I've been using a good amount of my free time multitracking some of my favorite hymns in French. It's been a great way for me to keep singing while also learning some extra French. At the bottom I'll attach the first of many tracks I've recorded these last few weeks. It's a French translation of "It Is Well With My Soul" I recorded on my first P-day. (Fair warning for any French speakers, my pronunciation is exactly what you would expect from a fourth day French student.) 

We talked a lot about the true nature of repentance this week. The main takeaway for me was that repentance is ANYTHING that brings our personal path closer to Christ's path. When somebody says that they need to repent, it tends to carry this negative connotation. But repentance, while important, does not need to be made into this big ordeal. Repentance is in the little things, be it going to church, reading your scriptures, remembering to say your prayers. There is no limit to the frequency or form of our repentance. 

Yesterday, our dear Prophet, President Nelson, shared a fantastic message about gratitude that made me shed many a tear. If you haven't already, please take a few minutes to watch it here.

Au revoir!

Video: "Tout Va Bien" or "It Is Well With My Soul" (CLICK HERE)

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 :)