Merry Christmas a week late!

This week was nuts. With a capital N-U-T-S. We had a division on Tuesday with Bella Vista, Hermana Harper and Hermana Douglas. I stayed in Salado with Hna Douglas, and we had a pretty good day. We contacted a ton of people, and I was able to get to know Hna Douglas a little better.

And then...Wednesday was normal, Thursday we had a multi-zone Christmas conference, which was just amazing. I do have to say though, when we watched the slide show with all of the crazy mission pictures, I just lost it. After seeing the picture of the little old lady just walking down the street with a full grown dead chicken in her hand...haha, I was like...well flip, this is my last zone conference. I am not trunky, but I am worried about leaving this place I have grown to love so much. I know that I'll survive, thousands already have, but it stinks.

On Saturday and Sunday was when we weren't able to do a lot of finding. We had to go empty the pila with buckets, which was A LOAD of fun, even more so when we turned around and saw that a piece of the ceiling had fallen off and into the font, and there were black worms in the font... I thought when I saw those and tried to squish them and the head was still moving...I was like..."how much do I love Gabby??"(the kid who got baptized).  I just took a breath, imagined that this font was like the pond up at the Andrus reunion and that I had survived until now, and we got it emptied and clean and worm free.  Heck yes.

We had the baptismal interview and then the end of year dinner with the ward. A fun miracle that happened was that my comp and I were outside and we saw a middle aged couple and their teenage daughter, dressed in Sunday clothes, standing awkwardly outside the church. The girl went inside and then came back out, which was weird because I had never seen them before, so they weren't members. So therefore, we went to contact them and they asked us if there was a meeting going on. We were like, well no, but there is going to be a huge dinner! Turns out that they had gone to their pentecostal church but the doors were shut, so when they saw that ours were open and that there were people, they decided to go see what was going on. We invited them in, and they stayed for the whole evening. We and the elders had put together a spiritual thought at the beginning, and we were praying that they could feel the spirit. The elders got their reference, and they are going to go see what happens!! Does that count as an attendance?;) haha, no, but it was a good night.

Sunday morning, baptism, church, ward council, there are a ton of people affected by the rising river and flooding from all of the rain so the ward has put together a relief effort, and it was amazing to see these people work in unity to help others. It was a good feeling.

Other than that, it was a good, spiritual week.  I love being here in Paraguay, I love the people and all of the experiences that the Lord has let me have.  I love you all and I hope that you have a wonderful New Year!

Love,
Hermana Farish

Rolls Dude!

Dear Everyone,

This week went so well until I opened up my email and realized that Josh will be leaving this week...what in the weird!! I know that he will be an amazing missionary and will be able to help so many people.

We had an awesome week this week, lots and lots of rain, but it was fine.  We had zone conference on Thursday, and it was a little different than usual.  President McMullin spoke about the dangers of pornography, and how, in a world where it is shown everywhere, we can protect our minds, spirits, testimonies, and companions.

He told us to close our eyes and make a video.  We were like...what?  But he had us think of the day when we will be sealed in the temple.  He said, you need to plan every single detail, from the paint on the walls of the sealing room, to the chandelier.  He told us that if we can make this our goal, if we can have this video playing constantly in our minds, we will not have a problem with the pornography, because we know what awaits us in the temple, on the day that we are sealed to someone for the eternities.  We will be able to look away and not have that temptation, not even go near that line.  It was a powerful reminder of what we can accomplish, and what needs to happen in order to get there.  I am so grateful for the gospel and the knowledge that we have.  It is so...so...dunno, so precious a gift.

This week we found a lady named Jessica, we did follow up on a street contact, and we were able to talk with her for a few minutes.  She is a single mom with a 3 year old girl who has severe brain damage due to a leak in the bag that the baby was in while she was in the tummy(sorry, I don't remember what it is called in English).  She is amazing and we are planning on helping her out a lot.

I am surprised how much I thought of home this week.  Everyone asks me how much time I have, and when I say 11 months, they are like..AHHHH you are almost done, are you so excited and blahblahblah, and I have tried so incredibly hard to not think about it.  Today my plaque fell off in the bus and I was freaking out.  I felt so...off without it. I am trying so hard not to be trunky, because I know that I will regret it afterwards.

The popes visit was ridiculous.  There are reruns still playing on most of the channels of all of the miracles he did...and how is it that he can heal people?  I have been trying to think it through but I can't figure it out.  There is the scripture that talks about how all of the people who said to Jesus that they had done miracles in his name but he didn't know them...no se.

I am doing fine, loving life, working hard.  Sometimes I feel so inadequate that I let my faith down a little, but I am working on that.  In Palma Loma I learned patience and humility, and I am here to learn about faith.  It is so interesting how there is something specific to learn in every area.  I cannot even express my love for these people.  I love helping them, I love feeling the spirit with them, and I love them so much.  I love being a missionary, and even though it is the hardest thing that I have ever done.  It is so worth it, so incredibly worth it.  Thank you for giving me this opportunity to come here and learn how to be a good servant of our Lord.

Also, Eduardo, from Palma Loma will be baptized this week!!  Junior also will be baptized this week!!!  Also, Vicente, was a reference from a member, has a date for the 1st of August, we will see how that goes!!

I love being here, I love the cool weather, and I hope that you all have a good week!

Love,
Hermana Farish

My "Homemade" Rolls

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

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!

Fat Joke of the Century

Hola Familia,

Judging by everyone's emails, this week was kind of crazy for you guys!  I am so glad that everyone is doing fine and that Emily received her call! That is so awesome!

Now, I am pretty secure here in Paraguay with my physical appearance and all that, but today we had a zone activity with something that we weren't sure if we should be ashamed of,  or if we should just go with it, so we just went with it.  We had a BOUNCY HOUSE at a zone activity.  Eesh. We had a blast!  At one point, there were three North American sisters (all about my size) trying to climb to the top of the slide through the slide.  Well, we got up there and all of a sudden, the top part started to cave in.  We were like...haha, it is just because the other hermana is coming!  So we sat there at the top of this giant bouncy slide and all of the sudden, the top part started to collapse all of the way, and the slide TIPPED OVER...just because we were sitting at the top.  We totally fell off the side when it tipped over. we were embarrassed a little bit...but, at least there were three of us so we could all take a little bit of the blame:) But still, we tipped over a huge bouncy slide, who can say fat joke?

Another experience that made me giggle was on Thursday, when we went to lunch, turns out there was a huge party going on, and one of the moms who came brought her two twin boys, her ONLY children, with a nanny for each one.  I just giggled inside as the mom talked about how hard her life was, and I was thinking, "You think your life is hard?  You should see my Aunt Laurie.  She goes DEER HUNTING with twins and 3 other small children. So there:)"  Laurie, you are awesome!  As well as all of my aunts, my grandma, and my mom!  you are all such wonderful examples of dedicating your life to your family.  It makes such a difference!

I have been thinking a lot about the whole love and charity thing.  I was reading in Moroni 7, and it says that the true disciples of Christ are the ones who have the true charity.  So, you need to tell mom that she can't kill you, because she needs to have charity;) (I sent her a singing Valentine in front of A LOT of people), and also, it says in this verse how if we want charity, we need to ask for it, because for most, it doesn't come naturally.

In preach my gospel it talks about how the Atonement was done because of the love of Jesus Christ, not only for His Father but for us as well.  Everything that we do as servants of Christ is because of our love for Christ and our appreciation of what He did for us.  If we don't feel the need to do it, it is because we don't have charity.

As far as my contacting, I am still struggling.  I contact, but it isn't nearly enough. We have so much to do that a lot of the times I use the excuse we don't have time or we need to go.  But the other day I felt an impression to talk to a teen girl, and in talking to her we found a less active and an old investigator.  So, I need to contact more, and not "quench the Spirit", because that is what I have been doing.  Just relax and feel the Spirit and have my priorities straight.

As far as the work goes, we had zone conference on Tuesday, and we were there all day because we had interviews with President McMullin.  They went really well, and we had some interesting conversations.  The focus was on goals and on the desire to make goals, work to meet them, and all that.  We went to the AP and he sat us down and said, "When you begin to have relationships with someone who could be your future spouse, at what point in your relationship will you set goals?"  We were like....WHAT?  ELDER.  Number 1: We don't say or talk about the "M" word in the mission. Number 2:  Why on earth would we tell you? Yeah, that was slightly awkward at first.

Something that I really liked from this conference was that we talked about desire. They gave us a talk by Dallin H. Oaks, which talked about how our desires determine our priorities, our priorities determine our choices, and our choices determine our actions, which determine our salvation.  Really, if we want something badly enough, we will be able to accomplish it, with the help of the Lord, and lots and lots of work.  I love being a missionary, and even though sometimes it really just stinks, I know that nothing will happen that I will not be able to overcome, because we all have a loving Heavenly Father who knows us and our weaknesses perfectly.

Also, something that I just realized is that this week makes one year since I opened my call!  The time is going by so flipping fast.  Random question...is my plaque in the church?  How weird...19 years of my life i looked at all of the missionary plaques...weird.  Everyone is just growing up so incredibly fast and moving on and making choices.  Loca es.

I love you all and I hope you have a good week!

Love,

Hermana Farish

Bajar la cana con amor

Hola mi familia!

How is everything?  Everyone still doing okay?  This week was really, really, really eye opening.

First off, to explain the subject line...bajar la caña is basically to chasten...literally translated it is lower the rod/stick, but when you baja la caña you are scolding someone.  This happened twice this week, both with lessons that will always stick with me.

I read a talk from the 2013 priesthood general conference that is called "Is it I, Lord?"  by President Uchtdorf.  It talks about how when we receive counsel or advice, we can't look at others and say, oh good, that sister or brother needs to hear this, or needs to change this.  Nope.  We need to look at ourselves first, and ask the question, Is it I, Lord? What can I do to change and become better?  What can I do to better serve Thee?

We had a zone conference on Saturday, and it was slightly depressing, but awesome.  I had read this talk, and then we had our conference.  Our mission is still trying to adjust to some major changes that took place at the beginning of the year, and as such we aren't doing as well with baptisms.  We only have 19 thus far in January, which is really really low for our area in the world. To put it in perspective, our goal is 72. Presidente McMullin was really worried, and he bajò la caña.  But with love.  I am so lucky to have him as a mission president, he knows how to bring the Spirit so that it can testify to our hearts.  The whole entire time, he spoke about our desires, and if really we have the desire to work and give our all to the Lord.  The question, "Is it I, Lord" was in my head the whole time.  What can I do to help and be better?

I decided that I am going to tell all of you what I am going to do to change and be better, so that you can ask me next week and check up on my progress:)

I am going to contact like crazy.  Talk to EVERYONE, not just the people who conveniently meander in my path. It has always been a struggle for me, and we have slacked off.  So, I am going to work to have the courage to open my mouth even more.

Anyways, today we had a zone activity, that involved water balloons and sports.  I wanted to stop running in the heat and playing rugby with water balloons and pull a Jacob and start a water fight, but that wouldn't have turned out well...so...yeah.

We had changes this week, but I stayed here in Palma Loma!  Another cambio here to work and find people to help:)

I hope you all have a good week and are obedient!

Love,

Hermana Farish

The Zone

Sisters..."In the Zone"