Life Is Good

Life with an American comp is interesting, I speak a lot more English, that is for sure, but the member's attitude about the missionaries has changed a lot for the better and we are working like crazy to keep everything going okay.  Hermana Fardos will be heading home in March, one transfer after me, so she will kill me and then DIE:)

I am doing great, learning a lot, and just going and going.  One thing that was really hard for me this week was yesterday, we went to go get a less active family to bring them to church.  But when we entered in the house, there was a really gucky feeling, dark, and they said they wouldn't be going to church.  We left there and were talking about it.  The dad and the two teenage sons have problems with pornography and drinking.  They have an 8 year old sister there who is really kind of strange. When you go to say hi and to give her a kiss on each cheek, she doesn't want it, but she does want to be touched...I don't know how to explain it but we are pretty sure that she is being sexually abused. That feeling was so dark and yucky, it makes me so sad.  It just made me think more about the atonement and how it is all powerful, and even in cases like this, this little girl will be okay.  So many of these people are living in a nightmare, and have been for so long, and you just want to help them but...ahah I walked out of there thinking "I am too young for this!!!  What in the flipping world, I am so traumatized."  But seriously, that darkness was really bothering us, and then we went to church to take the sacrament.  It was there when the darkness left and the light of Christ came back.  We are planning an interview with the bishop so that he can take over, because that is WAY out of our league. Blech.

To answer your questions, I am good.  I know what I am doing at least half the time, which is huge, and I think that I am getting to the point where I am realizing what I have been able to do thanks to the Lord and His help.  The parents of one of my converts will be baptized this Saturday in Palma Loma, and Eduardo was just called as the ward secretary and now has the Melchizedek Priesthood. and his stepmom and sister are going to be baptized...life is good.  It is interesting to watch the chain of events.  Even if we aren't there to witness them, it is awesome to just hear about them and to know that you had a small part in making it happen:)

My goals for the next 3 months are to just keep going, to reach my potential as a missionary and as a servant of God.  Every six months I have made new goals and written myself a letter to start the new goals, and 3 months ago I wrote those goals and to finish strong with no regrets:)  I love the people of Paraguay and I want them to know it, and that their Heavenly Father also loves them, even more than they can imagine:)

One thing that I am really enjoying at this point of my mission is the new study guide of Preach My Gospel.  This last week we have been able to study the atonement as a mission and it has made such a difference in our teaching and our contacts.  We made a goal to talk about the atonement in every one of our contacts.  Yesterday, we were making visits and we passed a house of a really active member who hadn't gone to church yesterday, and we decided to see why.  We entered, and it turns out that last Wednesday a guy with a machete broke into her daughter's house and tried to kill them.  We were like "oh my heck", but then we talked about the atonement, and we used the scripture Alma 7:11-12 to kind of explain what we wanted to say.  This week of studying just the atonement has really helped me to understand it better, and how it can help us to keep going and keep enduring.  We also read a talk by Elder Bednar, called, "The Atonement and Our Journey Of Mortality".  Near the end it said something really awesome that I just loved.  Something that we can apply to our daily lives. Enjoy, and I highly suggest reading the rest of the talk.

"The Savior has suffered not just for our iniquities but also for the inequality, the unfairness, the pain, the anguish, and the emotional distresses that so frequently beset us. There is no physical pain, no anguish of soul, no suffering of spirit, no infirmity or weakness that you or I ever experience during our mortal journey that the Savior did not experience first. You and I in a moment of weakness may cry out, 'No one understands. No one knows'.  No human being, perhaps, knows. But the Son of God perfectly knows and understands, for He felt and bore our burden before we ever did. And because He paid the ultimate price and bore that burden, He has perfect empathy and can extend to us His arm of mercy in so many phases of our life. He can reach out, touch, succor—literally run to us—and strengthen us to be more than we could ever be and help us to do that which we could never do through relying upon only our own power."

When we feel like no one else understands what we are going through, when we feel like we are 100% alone, we have someone who had to go beneath everything and everyone so that He can lift us up again and give us that push that we need to start up. I love the Atonement, and I love the effects that it has on our lives and on the lives of everyone.  It is pretty shweet:)  I love you all and hope that you have a good week!!!

Love,
Hermana Farish

Ai Húepate (FLIP in Guarani)

Bueno...

We had a huge miracle this week.  Eduardo, after two months, will be getting baptized this Saturday! He came to church yesterday, and we had an amazing lesson with him afterwards.  He was so prepared, and it was a huge blessing from the Lord that we even found him.  Something else that was a blessing was Teli.  She is the ex-partner of Eduardo, and she was born into the church, but never really had a testimony.  She decided that she didn't want anything to do with the church when her dad, who was a returned missionary and active, committed suicide.  We began to talk with her and read the Book of Mormon, and she is now active.  It has been such a blessing to be able to work with her and Eduardo.  Teli told us yesterday that she has changed so much, as well as Eduardo.

This just adds to my testimony of the Book of Mormon, that it was inspired and that it is a precious gift from our Heavenly Father.  I know that He loves us because he gave us the Book of Mormon to help us change our lives and the lives of those who surround us.  We began reading it as a mission to help us learn to better use it to help the people we teach. As I read it, the phrase, "The Book of Mormon is the keystone of our religion," came true!! Elder Neil L. Anderson gave us a promise when he said:

"First, find scriptures in the Book of Mormon that you feel and know are absolutely true. Then share them."

If we have a strong testimony of the Book of Mormon, we can know for certain that all of the other points of doctrine iin the church are true.  It is absolutely essential.   I was thinking the other day...I have come to depend so much on the book of Mormon, and when I finished it, I was like...Now what??  Read it again, and again, and again.  It is something that will never grow old.

My biggest challenge this week was to not work with the "Its the last week of the transfer" mindset. It surprised me a lot how much I struggled with it.  But it all worked out, with Eduardo's baptism. I may not even be here, but igual no mas.  We find out our transfers tomorrow, but I have no idea what is going to happen.  President is kind of unpredictable. One thing that was hard as well was that a lot of people said that I would be the sister training leader, and I was like...um no...it was kind of like...it could happen but I would prefer that it didn't.  And I didn't get a call yesterday, so whew, we're in the open.

Speaking of time, can you believe that it has been 11 months?  It has gone by SO FAST...Marcus Alton (he's in the south mission) heads home this change...everyone is going  home!!  Have you seen Susan Hutchins?  She should be home by now...this is so nuts.

Anyhoo, I love being a missionary, and Eduardo's baptism makes all of the stuff we have to put up with worth it.  I was thinking the other day, I love Paraguay.  Its like my type of life now.  I am so used to it that I can't imagine it any other way.  I didn't ever think that driving, or asphalt roads as a normal thing, or being on time on a regular basis would scare me...whoops.

Apart from that, not much happened, lots of rain, lots of...no se what. We find out transfers tomorrow, so we will see what happens!!  I hope that you all have a wonderful week!

Love,
Hermana Farish

Happy Birthday Family Diaz!

Head Lice and All That's Nice....NOT!

So...We had an interesting week, good, but interesting.

First off, on Wednesday, we had a mission-wide conference with Elder Gonzalez, a member of the area presidency.  It was an awesome experience, with a lot of emphasis on the Book of Mormon.  The only downer was that our phone was robbed while we were on the bus to Asunciòn, so we had to go to the police station on Friday to get a denunciation and all that.  Note: DO NOT, under ANY circumstances, make a joke about robbing something in a police station, even if it happens to be a pen.  Bad idea.

The only excuse that I have for doing something so stupid is that we had stayed up late the night before (gasp!!!) combing out lice, which we found when we got home from the conference.  We knew that some of the families that we visit had it, but we had always just hoped that being lice free was one of the perks of being a missionary, but, as it turns out, nope. So...our p-day is spent washing everything we have!  Yaaaaaayyyy!!!!

Second off, Happy Father's Day to all of the dads out there!  I am so grateful to my dad for always being awesome, being someone who is willing to cry with me and afterwards makes an awful joke, which is the best part:)  (Editor's note: the jokes are actually very funny...)

As far as investigators go, we are progressing a lot with Eduardo.  We read with him Alma 32, and he finally decided to believe and stop doubting everything.  His date is still going for July 11th, we are praying like crazy.

We found 2 families this week, and we hope that they can also accept what we have.  One family is totally Evangelical, and they attend the greatest of all of the great and abominable churches, the Center of Family Worship.  What fun.   But the mom, Gloria, knows a ton, and it is so nice to talk with her and have the opportunity to bear my testimony of the things we have and we know to be true.  There isn't anything better:)

Other than that, we are still going, still working, and loving the cooler weather.  The Pope is coming here the beginning of July, so we will see how that goes.  Everyone here is freaking out, all of the roads are being fixed, the trash is being picked up, and everything looks 100% better.  We are always saying that he should come every year so that everything is always fixed and ready.  I was thinking, what would the world do if they had advance notice of the Second Coming?  What would we do if we knew the day and time that the Savior was going to come?  How would we prepare?  Would anyone even care? What are we doing now to prepare ourselves for His presence?  Alma 5 talks a ton about preparing ourselves for the Second Coming and the judgement. We use it to teach inactives.  It is a little strong, but it goes right to the heart.

   16 I say unto you, can you imagine to yourselves that ye hear the voice of the Lord, saying unto you, in that day: Come unto me ye blessed, for behold, your works have been the works of righteousness upon the face of the earth?

   17 Or do ye imagine to yourselves that ye can lie unto the Lord in that day, and say—Lord, our works have been righteous works upon the face of the earth—and that he will save you?

   18 Or otherwise, can ye imagine yourselves brought before the tribunal of God with your souls filled with guilt and remorse, having a remembrance of all your guilt, yea, a perfect remembrance of all your wickedness, yea, a remembrance that ye have set at defiance the commandments of God?

   19 I say unto you, can ye look up to God at that day with a pure heart and clean hands? I say unto you, can you look up, having the image of God engraven upon your countenances?

   21 I say unto you, ye will know at that day that ye cannot be saved; for there can no man be saved except his garments are washed white; yea, his garments must be purified until they are cleansed from all stain, through the blood of him of whom it has been spoken by our fathers, who should come to redeem his people from their sins.

   22 And now I ask of you, my brethren, how will any of you feel, if ye shall stand before the bar of God, having your garments stained with blood and all manner of filthiness? Behold, what will these things testify against you?

I hope that we all can ask ourselves these questions, so that we can be prepared now, with pure spirits.  I know that we will feel and do so much better if we can start now. 

Tyson Boyer will be coming home this next change in August.  I am not sure what day exactly, but I will let you know when I know.  I think I may send a package home with him:)  It isn't really all that weird to have him as my zone leader, there are so many people from St. George that it is normal now. Aaron Fielding is doing pretty good as far as I know, and he will be heading home here in a few months.

This is the last week of this transfer, so...we will know next Tuesday what is going to happen with our lives, with the actual transfers on Wednesday.  I honestly don't know what is going to happen. An Elder told me the other day, "You are going to train again and stay in Palma Loma for 2 more transfers!!!"  I was like...????  I am pretty sure president wouldn't do that to me, but we will see what happens.

I love you and hope that you all have a good week! Sorry this was so long!

Love,

Hermana Farish

The Elder on the telephone pole is Elder Boyer, throwing a styrofoam lightsaber to try and knock the keys out of the tree...an Elder threw them up there..no idea what he was thinking:)  What would we do without the Elders?

Sisters that have served in Erin's current area, Palma Loma

That Awkward (Food) Moment

Dear Family,

Well, I would tell you what we did all week, but it doesn't matter because it rained. Flip...but I'm not bitter:)

Haha, no, it was a good week, with lots of stuff going on.

The zone conference was really good, we learned a lot about having faith in contacting and how we can better meet our goals.

One thing that really hit me was on Sunday in Sunday School.  We were reading in Mathew 25 about the parable of the ten virgins.  We talked about the different ways that we can fill our lamps and obtain more oil so that it lasts until Christ comes.  One thing that I thought was about the mission, and how in 1 and a half years or 2 we get a ton of oil, but we have to work hard so that we can maintain the oil that we gain.  It is the same with our lives, and the things that we do.  For example, we get oil if we read our scriptures once, but it isn't going to do any good unless we read them again and raise the level of our oil.  If we do what we need to do on a regular basis, we are going to be as prepared as we possibly can for the second coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  I love being here, and I am grateful for this experience that will help me to become the servant that the Lord expects me to be.

Dad and mom, yesterday we taught the Law of Chastity, and the investigator didn't want to accept that living together wasn't the right way to start off a marriage.  I told them about you and mom, and how, thanks to the fact that you are keeping your covenants and that you kept yourselves clean before marriage, you are married still, and you will have your eternal family.  I was able to bear a strong testimony of marriage and of keeping yourself pure.  It was awesome, and thank you for your strong example of love and commitment to each other.  I want to be like you guys someday and have the relationship that you have.

I am now VERY grateful for the winter clothes I brought.  It says that it is only like 50 degrees, but with the rain and the humidity it feels a lot colder.

Our week went fine...it is so frustrating to work all week, have investigators lined up to come, but then it rains and floods to the point that the people can't leave their homes, and there are only 23 people in church.  Eesh. 

 

Interviews went really well, President McMullin has so much patience.  We had an interview as a companionship first, and he took one look at me and said, "Hermana Farish, Palma Loma has sure stretched you good."  I was like...um...yep. that's one way to say it.  Afterwards we were split up and I had to go first.  We talked about lots of things, it went really well, and I think he was relieved that we had a good companionship and that we don't have any problems.  Something that made me feel good was something that my companion told me after her interview.  She said that President told her that she had a really good companion, who was humble and worked hard.  For me, that was just awesome. Long story short, (I will write you and tell you the whole dumb story) something happened here in Palma Loma that helped me to realize that being prideful was definitely one of my weaknesses, and that I needed to work on that, so to have him tell my companion that was nice to hear.

On a less spiritual note, on Wednesday we ate with Hilda, a recent convert.  She is so awesome, and I love her to death.  The soup broth tasted fine, but I was a little iffy on what the meat was (you would think I would know by now).  Anyways, I was just eating, enjoying life, when Hilda told us that we were eating mondongo, which is cow organs.  I kind of just stopped eating and prayed, and then just kept going.  Thank goodness for water.

I love you and hope that you have a good week!
Hermana Farish

with WAFFLES and stuff

Dear Family,

We had a crazy crazy week.  BUT.  It was awesome, a lot less rain, which was definitely a blessing.

We have been struggling with investigators here in Palma Loma, mostly because our focus has been on strengthening the ward and helping them to function well.  ANYWAY, we have been so blessed this week, we put 2 baptismal dates, which to be honest, isn't a whole lot, we need to do better, but we are really excited with what we have.  The first one, Eduardo, was a contact from months ago. We had a lesson with him on Saturday, and we put his baptismal date after watching the talk by President Uchtdorf called, "How to obtain a testimony of light and truth."  It was so powerful, and the Spirit was so strong.  Eduardo's main concern is feeling the spirit, it is really hard for him to feel it and to be able to recognize what it is telling him.  When we listened to this talk, the Spirit was unmistakable, you couldn't miss it.  There are 4 things that this talk tells us to do in order to obtain our own testimony:

1) Search and study the scriptures
2) Meditate, think, ponder,
3) Pray sincerely with true intention
4) LIVE what we are learning.

We were able to bear a strong testimony to him that if he will do these things, Heavenly Father will give him his answer in a way that will be recognizable to him.  We are so excited to help him to progress, the Lord has blessed us so much.  And we had waffles for lunch, which just topped off the day as a success:)

ANNNNDDD......wait for it....the bishop's wife is ACTIVE!!!! yayayayayayayayayaya!!!  We are kind of really excited.

Other than that, we had an open...church on Saturday, where everyone could go and see what the Mormons really do.  I honestly think that the best thing was watching the members get together and work to make it happen.  They did it, and it looked so awesome:)

I hope that everything is going okay with work, school family, callings, and the other hundreds of things going on.  Hermana Betancourth wrote me and told me that she doesn't want to be home. When she got home she found out that her niece had been sexually assaulted and when her dad found out he almost died of a heart attack, and she didn't know anything until she got home.  Her mom died when she was ten, and...it made me sad.  She didn't want to leave, and more than ever she wants to be back here in Paraguay.  I miss her a lot, we went through a lot together.  It hurts to hear her talk like that.

On Sunday, we received a call during lunch from one of the relief society counselors who said that the president wasn't going to be able to make it to the training of the visiting teachers, and there wasn't anyone to help, so we went and helped with the training of the visiting teachers, which was a party and a half:)

This week was the first week that I really felt cold...I kind of laughed because I received a letter from a friend in Canada, and she said that they were dying of heat with 30 degrees, and here I am dying of cold at 50:)  I usually study with a sweat shirt and go out with lots of layers, because during the day it is pretty warm but at night we are dying.  The humidity is RIDICULOUS.  I still love my companion. I feel like this week was the first week when we were teaching as equal partners.  Before, I had always led out and had always looked for the scripture to share or whatever, but this week she is holding her own, and is doing really well.  As far as the area goes, I hope the president gives me one more transfer, but now that I say that I think I am going to go this transfer.  Dangit.  I honestly don't know what is going to happen.  We think that we are going to finish training and then president will take out both of us and put in elders.  Dunno.  And honestly, I don't think I have done that much here...I think president sent me here for a clase de humildad (humility class).  I think the biggest changes that have happened here in this area have been in me:)

Something that makes me really happy is when the members come and tell us that they gave a Book of Mormon to someone or that they talked to someone about the church.  I think it is so awesome because if they are talking with people about the church, it is because they have a strong enough testimony.  Woohoo!

Anyway, that is basically all for this week.  I hope everyone is doing all right!

Love,
Hermana Farish

Would you just look at that light:)

Dear Everyone,

This week just flew by!!! It seems like every week just goes by faster and faster.

We had transfers this week, and I stayed in Palma Loma to finish training, going on 7 1/2 months here:) Who knew, Right?:)  Name that movie!!!:)

We had a crazy change in Palma Loma, we had a whitewash, which means that they took out the other sisters in the other half and put in elders.  At first, we were a little bummed, but I think that this is what Palma Loma needs.  They are pretty chill, Elder Ramirez from the Dominican Republic and Elder Jewkes from West Jordan.

We had a couple of rather large miracles this week.  We have been working for about 2 months with a family where the mom, Teli, is inactive and her partner, Eduardo, isn't a member.  Teli grew up in an active home, was sealed with her family and everything, but her parents separated and afterwards her dad committed suicide.  After that, she didn't really want anything to do with the church, and on
Sunday, (drum roll please!!!) she and Eduardo walked up to church, hand in hand with their 4 year old son.  I was like...AAAHHHHH!!! You need to get sealed!  Of course, my opinion doesn't really hold a lot of ground, but..igual no màs, it would be awesome:)  We are working with Eduardo so that he can read the Book of Mormon and gain a testimony of the doctrine as found there.

Another miracle is that we looked up another member's referral, and found the Diaz Family.  We had a couple of amazing lessons with them, but they weren't able to come to church because of the rain:(

I was actually thinking this week, I am so old.  There are so many new missionaries, and after being here in Palma Loma for 7 months, I am very used to being the person who knows what needs to happen, or where the people live, or all that.  I thought the other day...how crazy is that.  Seriously, the time is FLYING, and Hermana Betancourth finished her mission last week, and my trainer goes home this transfer.  SANTA VACA.  Seriously, I am like freaking out.  When Hermana Betancourth
came early in the morning she was going to leave, she stopped by to tell me goodbye and it was SO HARD.  I learned to love her so much and I miss her a lot.

I am loving the mission, it is my life.  It is my comfort zone, and it is so freaking hard.  But I figure that if it is hard, Heavenly Father thinks that I am strong enough to get through it and learn something
important.  I love talking with people, and having a new missionary as a companion has showed me how far I have come, and how Heavenly Father helped me to overcome all of my many fears.  I love these people, even if they are drunk, on drugs, lo que sea, les amo.

De la historia familiar, si, estamos trabajando mucho con ella.  Casi cada domingo llevamos a los miembros, menos activos, conversos recientes, quien sea, porque si ellos hacen su historia familiar, se
van a ir al templo, y todos necesitan esta experiencia. Nuestro presidente de misiòn nos dijo que usàramos los folletos de mi familia en los contactos.  Me gusta mucho eso porque es diferente, y las personas no lo esperan:)  (In essence this paragraph says that they use family history to work with the members to help them make it to the temple, and also use the familysearch booklet "My Family" in their contacting.)

Saturday night, we had cleaned the church and our lessons fell through, so naturally, it started to rain and it was the biggest lightning storm that I have ever seen.  We had one hour left and we were trying to follow up on some contacts that we had made.  We were kind of bummed, and we were the only people on the streets, so, to cheer ourselves up, we just started to sing a hymn that talks about light (I don't remember which one) and when we got to the part where it talked about how we always have light in our lives, there was a rather huge lightning strike, and I said, "would you just look at that light"  My companion looked at me like I was nuts, and then we just started to laugh and we were able to go to another lesson with an investigator who ended up giving us food, which was just great.

Anyway, the point is, sometimes we are in a time of darkness and storms.  There are things that happen that are scary and we feel like we are alone and that there isn't anyone who pays us attention or who we feel like understands us.  However, there are always blessings.  Sometimes they come in a form that we don't expect, but they are ALWAYS there.  I was reading in 1 Nephi the other day, in chapter 18, and it is when Nephi is tied up on the ship for so many days, and nothing that he or his family does can change the hearts of his brothers.  I love Nephi`s reaction to this trial.  he says:

14 And on the fourth day, which we had been driven back, the tempest began to be exceedingly sore.
15 And it came to pass that we were about to be swallowed up in the depths of the sea. And after we had been driven back upon the waters for the space of four days, my brethren began to see that the
judgments of God were upon them, and that they must perish save that they should repent of their iniquities; wherefore, they came unto me, and loosed the bands which were upon my wrists, and behold they had swollen exceedingly; and also mine ankles were much swollen, and great was the soreness thereof.
16 Nevertheless, I did look unto my God, and I did praise him all the day long; and I did not murmur against the Lord because of mine afflictions.

He was hurting, the ship and everyone on it was about to drown, and even with all of that, Nephi never let that interfere with his relationship with Heavenly Father.  Afterwards, Laman and Lemuel
finally realize that they need to change something so that they don't die.  In verse 20 it says,

20 And there was nothing save it were the power of God, which threatened them with destruction, could soften their hearts; wherefore, when they saw that they were about to be swallowed up in the depths of the sea they repented of the thing which they had done, insomuch that they loosed me.
21 And it came to pass after they had loosed me, behold, I took the compass, and it did work whither I desired it. And it came to pass that I prayed unto the Lord; and after I had prayed the winds did
cease, and the storm did cease, and THERE WAS A GREAT CALM.

I know we have storms, we have trials, things we can't control, like Nephi.  But if we can look for the blessings, and praise our Lord all the day long, he will bless us and give us the strength to endure until we have that great calm.  I love this gospel, I love the Book of Mormon, and I love sharing it with people so that they too can have that calm in their lives. I hope you all have a wonderful week, and that you can always look to your Lord and praise him for all of the blessings that He has given you.  I love you all!

Love,
Hermana Farish

Diporri tiempo!!! (There's no time!!!!) (Guaranish)

Hello Everyone,

I don't have too much time this week but this week was amazing, with lots of miracles and hard times, but that's just part of life I think:)

We had divisions this week with the hermana training leaders, and it was AWESOME!!! I went with Hermana Taboada from Peru to her area, and Hermana Francani stayed in Palma Loma.  It was weird to leave her but I learned a lot...we got soaked!!!

Sorry, no time, but I love you all and I hope you have a wonderful week!!!

Love,
Hermana Farish

Righteousness IN YOUR FACE!!

Dear Everyone,

This week was cold, wet, and wonderful.  I so enjoyed talking to my family.  I have been so blessed, and I loved being able to hear your voices and see your faces:)  Sorry for the hardcore spanglish.  We joke around that we have to switch the memory chip for one hour to be able to speak straight English for 50 minutes:)

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!!! I have been so blessed with wonderful examples of mothers in my life, with my mom, my grandmas, my aunts, neighbors, everyone.  I am so grateful for your wonderful example of being steadfast in the faith and raising families strong in the gospel.  It is something that will influence me for-e-ver.

This week we have the opportunity to go to the temple in Asunciòn!!! I am so excited, it will be like a spiritual battery recharge.

Mom, I loved talking to you, it made my day, seriously.  I loved just listening to you and seeing your face:) I hope everything is going okay, and that you are doing fine with the billions of things that call your attention every day.

I hope that this Skype experience was better than the last one.  It is SO HARD to press that little red button to end the connection, but I was happy to get going again. I was so nervous to talk to you guys, I don't even know why.  Weird.

My companion was able to talk to her family.  Her parents are members and she is an only child.  Her mom had been inactive for 6 years before she came to the mission, and her first Monday in the field, she received a picture of her mom with her dad in front of the chapel. She was so happy:)

Anyway mom, I hope you have a wonderful week and that you remember that I love you and will always be grateful for everything that you have always done for me:)  You are the perfect mother, and even though you don't think so, I know that Heavenly Father loves me because He sent me to you:)

Elder Ballard said,

"Today, more than ever, we need faithful, dedicated sister-saints who … have hearts that are fixed, who trust in the Lord, and who … are willing to save souls and build the kingdom of God.”

I know that you are like that, faithful, dedicated to the Lord, and willing to work to save souls and build the kingdom of God.  I have watched you all of my life and I hope you know that your influence will be with me for eternity, and I am so grateful to you and your never-ending patience:)

Last night after talking on Skype, we left to begin working and a FHE fell through, so we went to see how everyone was after the huge storm the night before, and we felt prompted to contact a reference from a member.  We had already gone twice and nothing, but we decided to go again and see what happened.  We went and we were able to meet Lidia and Lisandro.  They have been married for 30  years, and we had a wonderful lesson with them, talking about eternal marriage and the importance of the authority of God on the earth.  Lisandro said, "it would be ideal." I know that it is the ideal, that we will not be able to get anything better here in this life.  We have been so blessed with the knowledge of the Atonement and the restoration of the gospel.  This knowledge is priceless, and for me, there is nothing more that I would rather have.  We can overcome anything with the knowledge that we have.  This couple accepted the baptismal invitation, and we are so excited to go back and talk more with them.

Other than that...not much really happened.  I freeze to death at 70 degrees, and I am so excited to keep working and recognize the Lord's hand in my life.  I love you all so much, and invite you to think of someone you know who could use the gospel.  We don't know who is prepared and who isn't, so we need to give everyone a chance.  Think and pray about this person or family, and give the reference to the missionaries so that this family can have the comfort and the security that comes from the knowledge that we have.  In D&C, it talks a lot about the importance of opening our mouths.  In D&C 24:12 it says:

12 And at all times, and in all places, he shall open his mouth and declare my gospel as with the voice of a trump, both day and night. And I will give unto him strength such as is not known among men.

In D&C 60:2-3:

2 But with some I am not well pleased, for they will not open their mouths, but they hide the talent which I have given unto them, because of the fear of man. Wo unto such, for mine anger is kindled against them.
3 And it shall come to pass, if they are not more faithful unto me, it shall be taken away, even that which they have.

There are lots of promises here, and even though we may have fear of man, I can tell you that we just have to do it.  Just do it.  And you will see the blessings that come from opening your mouth and sharing the priceless knowledge that you have.  I love you and hope you have a good week!

With love,
Hermana Farish

Portuguese Shoulder Massage

This week was interesting...like a mental illness.

We started out the week really well, working like crazies. Wednesday we had divisions with the other sisters in the ward.  One has been sick for about a week, so I went with her companion to work in her area for a few hours to alleviate the cabin fever a little bit.

I am doing fine.  This week was really hard, mostly because I just felt like crap.  It is one of those things that I felt crappy enough to justify staying in, but I wasn't dead either.  SO, we went out and worked. and we kind of saw the fruits, but the entire mission is struggling with baptisms, and we are just under a lot of pressure to get baptisms going again.  I am still trying to figure out the right way to do it, and it changes with ever person we talk to.  Dangit.

Thursday, we both woke up with fevers, and we had to go in to Asunciòn to Migrations so that my companion didn't get deported;) We got back in time to go to lunch with the cow tongue lady, and we realized that the meat she gave us was a little old...my companion threw up when we got home to study, and we still are having problems with nausea.  I am seeing a pattern here..???  I guess we just have to pray harder the next time we go:)

Friday...nothing too crazy, we are working a lot more with the members, that was one of our goals.  I read something today from a speech from President Utchdorf when he spoke at the University of Southern California, and he said that lots of times, people are our enemies when we don't completely understand them.  I was like...oops.  My attitude hasn't been all that great with these members, and I would always justify it with the appointments that always seem to fall through, or the fact that Ward Council is like WWIII.  But, that isn't okay.  Charity is so important, and I have a LOOONNNG way to go.  In Moroni 7:48, it says that all those who are true disciples of Christ must have charity...que pucha.

One miracle that happened this week is that we found Paula again!  For those who don't know, we contacted her daughter, Liz, in March and had a couple of wonderful lessons with her and her mom, Paula.  Paula set her own baptismal date, and we were so happy....and then we couldn't find her again, and a couple of other things happened that kind of gave us the vibes of rejection...but last week we passed by her house and the door was open, so we were like...okay, one more time.  So we clapped, she let us in, and on Saturday we set a new date, and she is beginning to read the Book of Mormon, and I am hoping that everything is as it seems and that she has real desires to turn her life around.

Now, to describe the subject line, a member gave us a reference for a lady named Blanca, which was awesome, apart from the fact that she neglected to tell us that Blanca lives with a very large, very drunk black Portuguese man. So...we went to contact the reference, and the guy motioned us to come in...with my last companion we had always tried to avoid him because he was always drunk or on drugs.  Anyway, we walked into his yard, and he began to speak to us in Portuguese...we were like...HUH?  ?¿Voces fala portugès? (do you speak portugese?? in Portuguese)  Anyway, he led us to Blanca, and it made me sad. She is like 50 years old, and is a drunk.   I think she had a stroke or something, because she had some physical defects.  This guy takes care of her, and makes sure that she is okay.  We weren't really sure what to do, and the guy was still speaking in Portuguese, so we asked if we could say a prayer.  We said the prayer and we all stood up, and all of the sudden, the guy told me to take off my backpack.  I was like...wwwhhhaaattt?  He asked me again, and then put his arm around my shoulders and told me that he had been a soccer coach in Brazil and wanted to give me a massage.  Yeah um. no.  Red light.  My companion took hers off and was going to hit him with it, but thankfully it didn't get to that point:)  So...just picture that in your head.

We also had stake conference, but since it rained really hard there weren't a lot of people there.  There was literally three or four feet of water in some places in our area, so our bishop didn't even end up going, because his house was completely flooded.

Anyway, I hope everyone is doing well, I love you all, and have a good week!

Love,
Hermana Farish

9 Months in the Mission!

Me and Hermana Francani (Right)

Tender Mercies of the Lord

This week has been full of lots of experiences, some good, some not so good, but from all of them I have been able to learn a lot about my purpose as a missionary and how I can listen to, recognize, and follow the guidance of the Spirit.

To start off, we found 2 atheists this week, which is really weird, because the majority of the people in Paraguay claim to be Catholic.  In my personal opinion, there is no such thing as a real atheist, because as we began to talk to them, we found one that believes in Satan, which is ridiculous because if Satan exists, so does God, and the other one was an inactive that was born in the church, but after her father commited suicide, she stopped believing in a loving God, which is reasonable, and we had a wonderful discussion about the tender mercies of the Lord, and how, every day, there is something, however small, that the Lord has given us.  Her husband isn't a member, and we look forward to working with him in the future.

We focused a lot more on following up on investigators and street contacts this week, and it paid off. We found Juana, a lady who lives in the chuchiest (fanciest) house that I have ever set foot in here in Paraguay.  I was totally out of my element:)  We talked about how faith is so important and how, through the gospel of Jesus Christ, we can become worthy to be in His presence again and be an eternal family.  Hermana Francani did the baptismal invitation,  I was so proud of her:)

Another miracle was that we found Paula again.  She was the lady who asked what she needed to do to be baptized, and set her own baptismal date, and then we never found her again.  We passed by late last night and found her:)  We shared a quick message on hope through the atonement. We will have a lesson with a recent convert who was a drunk before she was baptized on Wednesday, so that she knows that there is still hope for her son, who is trying to get rid of his drug addiction.

We were also able to meet with a family that was going to be baptized almost two years ago, but because of something that happened with the bishop and some other members, they decided not to, and since I arrived here in Palma Loma, we have been trying to meet with them, and finally they let us in on Friday.

Something interesting about all of these little miracles was that they all took place after a REALLY long day, and most of the time during the day is the hardest time.  I have really seen this week that when we work hard throughout the day, and when we have enough faith, Heavenly Father will give us blessings.  We talked with all of these people when we could have done something else that maybe wasn't as wise of a use of time, but we have seen the tender mercies of the Lord, like it says in 1 Nefi 20, that the Lord will shed His tender mercies on all of the people who have the faith sufficient to put in Him.

I know that the Lord loves us, and I know that He wants us to be able to achieve our full, divine potential.  I know that it is hard, and sometimes, it can be the last thing we want to do, but it is in these moments when we have to exercise our faith in Him and His ability to perform miracles.  I love you all so much, and hope you have a good week!

Love,
Hermana Farish

My "Hija", Hermana Francani

Death By Flood

This week was interesting.  We had a lot of things that kind of messed up our normal proselyting time, but whatever.

Hermana Francani experienced her first torrential storm in Paraguay, and she did great.  One thing that I have never experienced was when we were eating lunch with a menos (less) activo, and it began to rain even harder.  This member happens to live next to a river, which is just great, because as we were eating, I felt something on my foot and turns out the water was rising in the house.  The family didn't even do anything because apparently it always  happens and there isn't anything they can do, so they just wait and hope that the water doesn't rise too high.  Brings a whole new meaning to a house flood. We left REALLY fast, because the water was rising and it was already to our knees. Turns out there was like 3 feet of water in this member's house by the time the water stopped rising.

Training is really fun, and I have honestly felt the enabling power of the Atonement in my life. Thank you for your prayers and for all of the support that I have received in the last 8 months.  My favorite moment of the week is when we can take the sacrament.  Literally, it is another baptism, another opportunity to clean our spirits and start over.

One miracle that took place this week was with a recent convert, Antonia.  She has one year as a member, and to be honest, with Hermana Betancourth we were struggling hard core with her. Sometimes she went to church, sometimes not, and most of the time, she lied to us a lot, making up a lot of excuses.  BUT.  We had a lesson with her yesterday, and we planned on picking up reading where she left off in the Book of Mormon, and turns out, she was reading in 2nd Nephi 31, which is a wonderful chapter where Nefi talks about sincere repentance and baptism.  We read verse 13, which says:

13 Por tanto, amados hermanos míos, sé que si seguís al Hijo con íntegro propósito de corazón, sin acción hipócrita y sin engaño ante Dios, sino con verdadera intención, arrepintiéndoos de vuestros pecados, testificando al Padre que estáis dispuestos a tomar sobre vosotros el nombre de Cristo por medio del bautismo, sí, siguiendo a vuestro Señor y Salvador y descendiendo al agua, según su palabra, he aquí, entonces recibiréis el Espíritu Santo; sí, entonces viene el bautismo de fuego y del Espíritu Santo; y entonces podéis hablar con lengua de ángeles y prorrumpir en alabanzas al Santo de Israel.

After we read this, she just began to cry, and looked at us and apologized for always lying and not going to church.  She really felt it (FINALLY) and we were able to talk about some of her doubts and help her realize that everything was going to be okay and that she could start over.  The atonement is wonderful, FYI.

And yes, I am happy.  I am happy when we work hard and I fall into bed thinking it is the most heavenly thing in the world.  Interesting how that works, right?  At first, I was so incredibly stressed, but...I took the sacrament and all is well now.  For the first time in my life, I can literally feel the strength of the Lord in me.  I can feel that when I am working, He is giving me the strength to know what to say, how to respond to the doubts and preguntas (questions).  Especially con mi hija (with my greenie). (hardcore spanglish, not even going to try).  Enserio, when I talk with her and she has a problem or a question or doesn't understand something, I can feel the spirit with me, helping me to know what to say so that she can feel better.  I have never relied on the Spirit so much in my life.  I have to say, it is a wonderful feeling.

Anyway, everything is really good, and I am loving the learning, making mistakes, and learning from them.  I love you all so much and I hope that everything is going well at home!

Love,
Hermana Farish


Ummm...awkward, I just realized the scripture was in Spanish, Here it is in English!  SORRY!!

13 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, I know that if ye shall follow the Son, with full purpose of heart, acting no hypocrisy and no deception before God, but with real intent, repenting of your sins, witnessing unto the Father that ye are willing to take upon you the name of Christ, by baptism—yea, by following your Lord and your Savior down into the water, according to his word, behold, then shall ye receive the Holy Ghost; yea, then cometh the baptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost; and then can ye speak with the tongue of angels, and shout praises unto the Holy One of Israel.

I Received My "Baby"

Sorry about last week everyone!  We only had half of the normal time so I wasn't able to respond to anyone.  We ran to the hospital in Asuncion to see a recent convert. Sorry about that!

So....my mission has taken a rather large turn for the...crazy weird.  We had transfers this Tuesday, and I was told that I was going to train.  Aaaannnndddd....I almost died of a heart attack.  But I am good now.  I received my "baby" on Wednesday, Hermana Francani from Bahia Blanca, Argentina. She is AWESOME.  She is thirty years old, and one year away from graduating from law school...needless to say, I was really, really intimidated.  But she is so amazing, and it has been so interesting to me to look at her, and see where I came from.  She came from a ward that has had a lot of the same problems as Palma Loma, and thus we see that President McMullin is inspired.

We were able to have another lesson with a family that we found last week, Daniel, his sister, and his three sons.  They are SUCH good people, and we hope that we can help them to progress and to recognize the importance of the gospel in their lives and the eternal perspective that it gives to them.

I was reading in Alma 1 this morning, and it was talking about all of the tribulations that happened with the people of Alma y Limhi, and then later with all of the persecutions in Zarahemla.  One verse really hit me, and I love the promises that it gives to the faithful who patiently wait out and endure well their afflictions:

      25 Now this was a great trial to those that did stand fast in the faith; nevertheless, they were                 steadfast and immovable in keeping the commandments of God, and they bore with patience the         persecution which was heaped upon them.

They had patience, and they understood that even though they received trials, their Heavenly Father still loved them and was with them every step of the way.  They PUT THEIR CONFIDENCE IN HIM.  Mosiah 29 and Mosiah 7:33 also talk a lot about that.  With this whole training thing, and it is the first time as senior companion, I was really overwhelmed.  But when I just put it in the Lord's hands, He helped me to have confidence, and to remember all that I have seen, learned, and experienced, so that I can help this sister learn how to stand on her own two feet as a missionary.  I love that feeling.

UM...not really much else happened, apart from...wait for it....THE BISHOP'S WIFE CAME TO CHURCH!!! WOOOO!!!!  But really, we were so happy to see her finally come to church and take the sacrament for the first time in who knows how long.

Yah, life is great, I hope that everyone back home is doing fine.  From reading your letters, it sounds like everyone is so incredibly busy.  I hope you can always find time for the Lord and for the things that should be the most important:)  I love you!

Love,
Hermana Farish

My "Baby", Hermana Francani

Oh. My. Chipa. (AND Marriage)

First off, I saw Josh's email in my inbox and the first line said, DEAR ELDER FARISH...I just about had a heart attack.

Secondly, So....we almost died of a chipa overdose.  Seriously.  IT WAS BAD.

Here in Paraguay, something that is REALLY popular Easter week is chipa.  Chipa is a type of bread that is kind of hard on the outside, but on the inside, when it is warm, it is SOOO good, and the inside is soft and salty.  I loved it before this week...haha, not really. For Paraguay, Passover week is the week to make chipa, and almost everyone we talked to gave us chipa.  We were DYING by the end of the day!  Something we laughed about afterwards was when we emptied out our backpacks at the end of the day, and all day we had been sneaking chipa in because seriously, we couldn't eat it all. We had a MOUNTAIN.

And, general conference was just AMAZING. The first day, it was slightly awkward sitting in a room full of missionaries listening to EVERY SINGLE PERSON talk about marriage and family.  HAHA, but really, it was so nice to listen to the general authorities, and listen to the comfort and inspired counsel that they have for us. I loved the talk by President Uchtdorf, that talked about the grace of Christ, and how we will receive while we are doing all we can do, not BECAUSE of all we can do. Also, I loved something that I am sure the entire Mormon population loved as well, when Linda K. Burton said, (in Spanish, I don't know in English) "Tu me levas, yo te levo, y ascenderemos juntos"...something along the lines of "I lift you, you lift me, and we will ascend together."  How cool is that?  We have to help each other always, especially in relationships like mission companions, marriages, and families in general.  We can't be selfish...dangit.

Saturday night, we found a new family!  We had contacted the dad during the week, and we had planned to go to their house Saturday, and we almost didn't find it.  When we found it, at like 8:30 at night, he saw us, called out my companion's last name, and we had a wonderful lesson with him, his three sons, sister, and teen nephew.  We talked about the plan of salvation, and Daniel (the dad), would like to establish a relationship with God, with him and his sons.  We were just like...hey! We can help you with that!  We had finished our fast as a district on Saturday, and we had fasted to find a family!  And what do you know, Heavenly Father found us one:)

Anyways, I hope you have a wonderful week, and I hope you are all doing well!

Love,
Hermana Farish

Hermana Betancourth and Hermana Farish

Fish Eyeballs and 70 Degree Weather

So...this week was kind of a weird week, but I don't have a lot of time so I will sum it up.

First off, I ate 3 fish eyeballs. Does that mean that I finally have the true love of Christ?  I ate fish eyes to avoid offending someone?  Eesh.

We had an amazing zone conference on Thursday, which focused on using the Book of Mormon to teach and help people resolve their doubts.  I love going so much.  I think that they honestly recharge our batteries...help us to keep going.  Really, the Book of Mormon is so perfect, and I know that if we have problems or questions, if we read the Book of Mormon on a regular basis and study it sincerely, we will be able to receive revelation. There are a lot of examples in 3rd Nefi that talk about how when Nefi read the Book of Mormon, he always meditated in what he read, and then afterwards was able to receive personal revelation.  In D&C 88:118, it talks about how we need to read from the best books and we will receive answers and inspiration through faith and sincere study.

Zaida is a little bit better...she is on a tournament handball team, and her team was going to play on Sunday mornings, and we told her to pray about it and she did and her games were switched to Sunday afternoon, which still isn't all that great, but at least she can see the results of her prayer.

I have been thinking lately that I am so imperfect.  I cannot even express to you how imperfect I am. It seems like every time I think I have something going well, Heavenly Father humbles me again and helps me to realize what I need to work on...dangit.

We tried to go back to Paula, and got flat out rejected.  She doesn't want to talk with us anymore, and we have no idea why.

Other than that, really, this week wasn't all that crazy, just working in the wonderfully cool weather with a light rain...summer is over!!!!  WOOOHOOO!  Is it bad that I have to wear winter clothes because I am freezing to death and it is only 70 degrees?  Bad sign.

My birthday was awesome!!!  So many people did so many things to help me have a good day, and I loved every second, it was perfect.  I woke up to a decorated desk and my companion singing happy birthday with a candle and pancakes.  I was so surprised.  I straightened my hair Wednesday night and woke up the next morning to a beautiful light rain...it was awesome.  Seriously. We ran to the zone conference, where the zone sang to me happy birthday, and then afterwards my district leaders surprised me with brownies and a singing, moving candle.  We always laugh because they are like the presidents of the relief society...because we are all sisters.  But hey, they do a pretty good job:)

After the zone conference, we went to Hilda's house for lunch, and I had worn a skirt she gave me...it is really nice looking and comfortable...she gives us so much it honestly makes me uncomfortable. We just found out that she will be moving to a different stake.  I hope she keeps her testimony strong.

Afterwards we just worked, and then at 7 a less active family gave us dinner and sang happy birthday again to me, in Guarani, Spanish, and English.  Afterward I was able to go home and open the wealth of gifts..seriously, it was SO fun to open the packages.  I loved the letters and Lindsay's giant heart, and I kept every single one of the post-its...I don't have enough charity to share the pretzel M&Ms, I think that will come in the next life:)  And the clothes that grandma sent fit me perfectly....I may have to lose like 5 pounds for the brown skirt, but everything else was perfect.  I laughed when I saw the new shoes, and then looked at my shoes after 8 months in the mission..eesh.  I am not sure I want to wear any of the clothes because they are so nice...:)

Anyway, I hope you all have a good week.  I am sorry that this is so short and rather odd!

Love,
Hermana Farish

My companion decorated my desk for my birthday!

Hilda helping me celebrate my birthday.

My birthday cake after zone conference

Blowing out my singing candle!

Awesomeness All Around!

We had another really crazy week...things are just insane!

To start off, on Friday, we had an amazing experience.  The mission planned an open house for a chapel in our zone, and we were invited with 3 other companionships to head over and give tours of the chapel.  We weren't sure at first how it was going to work out, but by the end, it was awesome! 

The tour started out with a recording, the one that you listen to in the visitor's center when you are in front of the Christus.  Afterwards, there were banners talking about the life of Jesus Christ, the prophets, the Book of Mormon, and the family.  It was short, but so powerful.  After that part, the people were led to the baptismal font, where elders dressed in white were waiting to explain baptism to them.  All of the auxillary organizations were there, with presentations about their specific organizations.

At one point, not a lot of people were coming in who weren't members, so we went outside to contact people and invite them to participate.  We contacted 2 youth, and it was AWESOME.  We began with the Christus, the life of Jesus, and all of that, and when we got to the family, I asked the boy about his family and it turns out his mom died about a year ago from cancer.  I was able to testify to him about eternal families, and how our message and the Atonement of Jesus Christ made it possible to see his mom again.  The Spirit was SO strong, and they gave a ton of references to the missionaries, and set up an appointment for the missionaries to visit them and their families.  Even if this open chapel was only for these two people, it was SO worth it.

On a slightly less spiritual note, we totally felt like temple square missionaries.  Seriously, we were specifically told to look professional, and with the whole tours of the church thing...we had a good time with that...laughing all day.

Also, Hilda and Zaida were baptized this weekend!  We were so happy, they both have been working with the missionaries for almost a year.  Hilda was struggling a little, because there were some nasty rumors going around that we pay people to get baptized...eesh.  Lots of people were bashing her and just doubting her decision.  But, she made it through and was able to take this huge step.  She doesn't really have ANY support from her family, and we hope that she will be okay.

Zaida's parents came to the baptism, and had a wonderful experience.  One of the members of the ward put on the video of the Restoration, and the mom of Zaida began to cry, and also cried when the missionaries sang "A Child's Prayer" for a musical number.  It was such a special experience!:)

I was reading this morning in Mosiah 4 about repentance, and when the people began to feel their worthlessness, and how they had to humble themselves and give their hearts to the Lord.  I loved when it talked about the joy that filled their souls after they received the remission of their sins.  In Alma 36, Alma is talking about his experience with repentance, and how, even though his pain and anguish was deep and bitter, it didn't even come close to the sweetness and depth of his joy when he knew that he was clean, pure, and completely forgiven.  I challenge you all to take advantage of this repentance process, humble yourself before the Lord and feel of this joy:)  I know it works, and I know that it helps us to be better and be happy.  I love this work, it is what I love to do, and I hope that we can all press forward and remain firm in what we know to be true:)

Love,

Hermana Farish

Hilda before her baptism

Zaida before her baptism

Whew!

Dear Everyone, 

Not gonna lie, when we found out we didn't have changes, we were kind of bummed, especially with the whole situation with the ward, but we have seen so many miracles this week.  I made a goal with myself to do something for my companion every day of this change.  And it has made SUCH a difference.  I began to make her bed, or make her breakfast when she didn't have time to make something, or little things like that, and it is so amazing to see the difference in our relationship.  We are good friends now, and it is so much easier to bring the spirit into our lessons when we testify and support each other.

On the subject of Jacob 5 and the pure love of Christ, I was also reading there this week, and I was thinking about our ward.  There have been so many disasters, so many people hurt or offended, that the people who have been here for a while don't really feel the spirit or see the true reason behind the gospel.  The youth are amazing, and we have some awesome converts and some less actives with some great potential.  I was reading in Jacob 5 and it was talking about how the main, old natural part of the tree died and the only things growing from the still living roots were young, tender branches (youth).  In order to save the tree, the master of the vineyard grafted in wild branches (converts and less actives), that eventually gave the same fruit as the natural branches gave at first.  So...we have to find people to baptize and reactivate.  No pressure.  

We had a lesson with a member couple yesterday, and it was on charity.  We asked him, "brother, how would you describe charity, the true love of Jesus Christ?"  And he said...tithing.  TITHING!  We were like...um, yeah, so you just failed that little exam, like big time.  This same member has been like persecuting a less active..ready for this story?

So, about 4 years ago, there was a member lady who spoke to this brother about tithing, and apparently he began to talk about her tithing problems the next day in SACRAMENT MEETING:  so, naturally, her daughter threw her shoe at him in the middle of sacrament meeting.  What would you do?  Anyway, for the last 4 years, they have been bothering this sister, like not allowing people to serve her, to the point that they told the missionaries that they couldn't visit her.  So, we went to visit her.  When we went, we clapped, she came, and asked us, "Do you know how to sing?"  We said...yes? and she said "do you know the hymn Come, Come Ye Saints?" and we said...yes? So she let us in.  We started to ask her questions, and she told us, "You aren't here to ask questions, just to sing."  So we said a prayer and began to sing Come, Come Ye Saints.  About halfway through the song, she just started to cry.  We finished, said a prayer, and left.

We went back this week and just got blown away.  Me not so much, but my companion was ripped apart.  We went back and clapped, and then she came out and just started to rip into us.  Not even us, almost everything she said was aimed at my companion.  She called her an idiot AT LEAST 10 times, and began to tell the both of us that we were just little girls here and that the only reason we came was because we didn't have anything to do at home, and really no one was going to listen to us and just a bunch of CRAP.  My companion began to cry...and that NEVER happens.  We were like...okay...?  We are pretty sure that she is just trying to put on a tough face to the world, as if to say that she doesn't need anyone else, including God.  Flip.  We were kind of a little traumatized, but we are going to go back and just love the heck out of her...can you say that?  We just hope that we have the spirit and that somehow it can touch her heart.

This week got me thinking.  Really, what have I done here?  I feel like just another person, trying to do good in a world where they want the bad because they don't know any better.  A sister finished her mission about 3 weeks ago, and when we finish we have to answer some questions, one of which is what have I left to Paraguay?  And I thought...hmm.  I don't even know.  I feel like I haven't done ANYTHING.  I am working, walking in the sun, sweating to death, and all for what?  There are still so many people who need what we have, and every time someone gets close to being baptized, Satan begins to attack like crazy from all fronts.  Not gonna lie, I was kind of depressed.  But then I found a quote from Mother Teresa that says, "My work is a work of love, not statistics." I was like...WHOAH.  We are working with lives here, almas (souls) y su salvaciòn (and their salvation).  It doesn't matter what we do if we do it with love and the desire to touch the hearts of other people, and help them change their lives.

This week was rather psycho.  We only had one normal day of work, and lots of other activities.  We had a Zion's Rescue on Saturday in another ward, so we spent the morning over there.  A Zion's rescue is when all of the missionaries and youth from the stake come to one ward and we do splits with the youth and go to the less actives in the ward.  I was able to be with two awesome young women, and it was fun to help them make contacts with people.  It kind of reminded me of when I was training and was scared to death of contacting...it helped me to see a little bit of progress:)  We were able to find 2 less actives and had an amazing lesson with one of them.  It was such a good experience to help these young women learn how to give their testimonies and help to bring the spirit into the lesson.

One awesome thing (okay, 3 awesome things) that happened this week was that we were able to teach Paula again, the lady with which we spoke last week about the Atonement.  We finished talking about the plan of salvation, and how the things that we do in this life (like baptism, for example *cough, cough*) have a huge impact on our eternal progression.  When we finished, she asked us, really quietly, "When would I be able to be baptized?"  We were like...um...this has NEVER happened before...someone is asking to be baptized!  We were on cloud nine for the rest of the day!  

2nd awesome thing-our ward has been struggling with the whole unity thing for a long time, and this week, we had an amazing attendance at the ward family night, we almost had the whole congregation there, with less actives and investigators.  We had lots of games, soccer, ping pong, Zumba...it was pretty great.  And what was even better was that it wasn't because of us.  Some of the members had called or texted some less actives and lots of members to come, and it worked, and now people are starting to build relationships with the other members, something that hasn't happened for a really long time.

3rd awesome thing-we had 5 investigators in church! Hilda Ojeda and Zaida Rodriguez will be baptized this weekend!  Hilda is 67 years old, and has an awful open wound on her leg from diabetes, and she came to church, and in gospel principles, she totally bore her testimony, and for us as missionaries, we were so happy that she has begun to develop her own faith in the prophets and the Book of Mormon.  We are teaching her to read by the Book of Mormon, and really, we can see the Lord's hand in her progress!  Zaida is 13 years old, and we are a little skeptical with baptizing younger people, but she came to church by herself, and has really shown that she has a testimony and wants to progress.

My trainer was just called to be one of the sister training leaders of the mission...how cool is that?  I was really blessed to have her as a trainer, especially as I hear of all of the horror stories from other people.

Oh yeah, I wanted to tell you, last week when we went to visit a new investigator and we started to talk about the Atonement, and this lady was so incredibly stressed about her son and his drug addictions.  She told us that she had basically lost hope.  And I felt prompted to share with her the story of the Atonement.  That thanks to the Atonement of Jesus Christ, her son can repent and move on.  It was SO powerful, and she just started to cry.  The Spirit was there, and in this moment I was so grateful for my own personal testimony of the Atonement that allowed me to relate to this woman.  It would have been so easy to simply judge her, but to have a testimony that fit her needs was a wonderful feeling.  This was an amazing revelation for me...just that sometimes, when we have trials, they are just things that we need to overcome so that we become stronger and less judgmental, and become more like the Savior. 

Anyway, it was an amazing week, and we will have two baptisms on Saturday, just the blessings of God arriving so fast that we just don't have room:)

I have been thinking a lot about how the mission has changed me.  This is my goal, that I can permit God to change me so that when I return, I will be a faithful and useful servant to Him in all aspects of his kingdom.  I hope that I will be changed, and that I will be someone that has charity for everyone.  I found a quote from Elder Nelson, and basically he says that the decision to serve a mission and the understanding that we obtain will determine our spiritual and eternal destiny, as well as the eternal destinies of our posterity for generations.  I hope that this experience will be like that: something that will change me so that I will be what God needs me to be.  I have a LLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGG way to go.  Dangit.

Also, I wanted to tell everyone thank you for the mountain of letters that I received last week, I had letters that were sent before Christmas...I don't even know how that worked, but it gave me a "heart attack!!":)

I love you so much, and I hope all is well at home.  I hope you have a wonderful week!  Be happy and be grateful in ALL CIRCUMSTANCES!!! 

Lovelovelovelovelovelovelove,

Hermana Farish:)  

oh my heck i love you!:)

Ward Activity

My "Heart Attack!"

The Hand of the Lord

Dear Everyone,

Really, this week the Lord has blessed us SO much.  We have begun to see the fruits of our labor here in Paraguay.  When we found out we didn't have changes, we were kind of bummed, especially with the whole situation with the ward, but we have seen so many miracles this week.  I made a goal with myself to do something for my companion every day of this change.  And it has made SUCH a difference.  I began to make her bed, or make her breakfast when she didn't have time to make something, or little things like that, and it is so amazing to see the difference in our relationship.  We are good friends now, and it is so much easier to bring the spirit into our lessons when we testify and support each other. 

So to start off, a family that we found in Marambure (my last area) with my trainer was baptized this Saturday.   Maria Lopez and her husband were baptized, and with more of her nine children to follow.  We worked with her when I was still in training, and she and her husband were baptized this Saturday!   One thing that was cool was that she had talked with the missionaries before, but after a couple of visits just started to hide from them.  When we began to visit her again, we found her when she was very sad, and when she needed something to hold on to. So, moral of the story, even if someone is to the point that they hide from you, they always have potential, it just has to be the right moment.  We had 5 new investigators this week, and EVERY SINGLE ONE seems like they have potential for baptism.  Here in this mission, it isn't really that hard to get people to commit to baptism, but it is very rare to find someone who really feels that it is important enough to change their lives and repent of their sins.  We found a lady named Paula, who was visiting with the elders before, but when they put in hermanas, they didn't return to visit her.  We had an amazing experience talking about the Atonement, and I loved the feeling that we had while we were with her.

Another miracle was that Hilda came to church AGAIN this week!  We tried to put a date for her baptism, but she didn't want to commit, so we decided that we wouldn't visit her as much and just give her some time to think and pray about her desires and her decision to be baptized.  We honestly weren't expecting her to come, but hey, she came.  It was such a wonderful feeling to see that she acted on her faith and is ready to take more steps and progress.

A funny thing is that I went swimming!  On accident.  In a hidden hole underneath a rather large, deep, lakelike puddle.  I had invested in flipflops so that I wouldn't get my shoes as wet in the dirty water so much, so I had my flipflops so I wouldn't get my shoes wet, and my companion headed around the puddle but got to a point that she couldn't cross.  So I, being the good companion that I am, walked over to help her cross and turns out, there was a hole.  So, wearing my flipflops so my shoes wouldn't get so wet, I stepped right into a hole and went into the water up to my waist.  And on top of all of it, I GOT MY SHOES WET.   Dangit.  Well, I just thought of what my mom always told me...you can laugh or cry.  So, we laughed like nuts.  And washed my clothes REALLY well.

Anyways, all in all, it was a good week.  I was reading in Jacob 5, with the allegory of the olive tree, and something caught my attention.  Always, the master of the vineyard was doing things to help his plants to grow.  Nourishing them, pruning them, digging around them, always aware of what is happening and what the needs of His plants are.  It is the same with our Heavenly Father.  He is always with us, helping us, pruning us, cutting us down if needs be, and always aware of what we need.  I know that He is here at our side. That is His work and joy, helping us to achieve our exaltation so that we can be happy with Him FOREVER.  I am so happy to be here working, and I know that if we are worthy, He will be there, always working with us to progress and help others do the same.

With love,

Hermana Farish