First Flat Tire!!

Hello Family and Friends,

First of mom, those CTR brass knuckles are a must next transfer!  Hopefully I get sent to Anacostia, which is the SUPER ghetto area!  And it is good to hear Elder Johnson and Peterson are alive and well.  I hope they are on bike like me.  I got my first flat tire on Friday!  So we walked forever on this highway just singing church songs until the other Elders from our ward came and picked us up.  

 

 

This week has been crazy!  It went by so fast but at the same time there is too much that has happened to write about.  And I have an appointment in 15 minutes!!! Ahhh! Well anyway, Maurice hasn't been returning out calls so that is a bummer!  But we got to teach this lady, Michelle who Elder Anderson and Elder Hart taught the first two lessons to.  She has committed to be baptized on April 6th and I am so excited!  I also extended the invitation to her so that was a great experience! 

This week we were watching our Preach My Gospel videos and we had an idea to get our ward members more active and excited about missionary work.  We have written a letter that asks them to invite the missionaries in their homes and let us teach their families lessons from PMG.  We then will be able to meet all the members, get to know them better, and hopefully get more referrals!  So we are excited about that!  And our Black MAMA, Sister Saunders, told us we needed more ward activities because the ward was boring.  So we are taking her advice and planning a big ward dinner night... not really sure about all details yet but I will keep you updated.  Oh and Sister Saunders is an old woman almost in her 80s who kinda adopts us and has us call her our Black Mama.  She is so sweet and she gave us tons of food!  She has pictures of all her "babies" (missionaries) who she has been taught by or been in the ward with her!  She is so kind and I can't wait to meet with her more! :)

Well that's about all the time I have!! I love you all and will talk to you soon!

Love,

-Sean......Elder Farley

 

I wonder if this is what Elder Farley means by "This week has been crazy!"

These must be the other "Elders" from the Ward. Looks like a good time!!

 

Love Knocking Doors!!

Hello Mi Familia, 

First I will answer all of your questions really quick:

-I am on a bike

-I am assigned to the Derwood South Area in the Derwood ward.

-My companion and I one of the two companionships in the ward.  The others are Elder Morris and Elder Hart (Derwood North Area)

-Our dinner calender used to be super full but since Derwood got split into N/S we have like half.

-Our District Leader is Elder Long.  But yes, he is super nice and funny!  Our ZLs are very cool too!  They all are helpful and really great missionaries as far as I know!

-Tracting is the best!  We go out A LOT since we are white-washing (starting a new area) and we have to get a lot of new investigators!  But we have a lot of potentials so that is good!  My fear of tracting is gone.  I love knocking doors. Some people are nice, some won't answer, and some do not want anything to do with "MORMONS"!  Ha-ha

-We are in an apt. building in the Pear Tree apartments. 

-We have McDonalds, Subway, Wendy's,Cafe Rio, Five Guys close by.

-We have a washer and dryer in our apt. it is SO NICE to have it there!

-And my companion and I get along great!!  He is super funny!! He is really scripture smart and a great teacher so I am learning a lot from him!  

-I go to the church to e-mail you in the clerks office!

-And I need a hydration pack

So I hope that answers all of your questions!!  I am doing great out here!  There are so many people from different countries and races.  There are a lot of black people here! They are my favorite because almost none of the white people listen to us!  Stupid white people... ha-ha.  

My first night here we met this black guy named Maurice who answered the door shirtless with two little kids hanging onto him.  He was so cool!  We told him we had a message about Jesus Christ and he was like, "Aw yeah! Come on in!"  I was so stoked!  It was late so we shared a short message and got his info to contact him later.  We have had a few more experiences like that tracting as well but most of the people don't answer when we come back or return our calls!  It makes me angry!  THIS IS YOUR SALVATION!  Ha-ha... maybe they will listen one day.

President M. says that there is this thing called the rule of 7's.  Which means on average it takes about 7 times for a person to come in contact with the church before they want to listen to the message.  So we are just one of those 7 most the time.  Which is fine with me because I know I am helping someone else :)

I love missionary work!  Waking up at 6:30 and bed at 10:30 is perfect for me!  Oh and we have a weight set in the apt. so I love waking up because it means I get to workout!! I love it!  And I love helping people out even if they are not ready to hear our message!  We moved two houses already and one wasn't even a member!  

We do a lot of GQing, which means Golden Question.  So basically it is just talking to people by asking them thoughtful and meaningful questions to start a conversation with them, whether it be on the street, at a house, our in a store.  It is really nice to meet so many people that are from so many different places!  I am taking my companions challenge at getting pictures of license plates from all 50 states!! He has a Hawaii and Alaska one so I am hopeful! 

Oh and if you send anything please no more candy!! I am trying to look like Tom Hardy, not Buddha. :) thanks!

Anyway, thanks for all the prayers, letters and e-mails!  It is so good to hear that everyone is doing so well!! I miss you all and cannot wait to hear from you next week!! 

Love you all!!!

Love,

-Elder Farley

1st Week in Washington, D.C

Hey Family,

Today has been really nice but crazy too!  We woke up at 6 and I got some of the Elders to get a workout in down in the basement of the Mission home.  We got up and ate some breakfast egg, potato, and meat combo.  Sister Matsumori made it! She is a really great cook! But I do miss your cooking a lot more.  Anyway,  after we all got out of the mission home we went to the stake center (where I am writing from now) and met our trainers!  My comp is Elder Anderson!  He has been out for around 13 months and he is from Wyoming. He seems to be a pretty nice guy and he even put my bike together, since I wouldn't have had any luck in doing so!  Oh and his B-day is March 19th! Pretty cool huh? So its going to be a back-to-back party here starting St. Patty's Day! Ha-ha...We are pretty much all unpacked!  Thanks for everything you sent!! I have opened it all and I even made my bed (pat on the back for me!).  

When we got to the stake center we all met our comps then went into the chapel and saw the transfers happen where everyone meets their new companions!  It was pretty cool!  An Elder who is leaving today, and who was the old AP, said goodbye and his whole family was there to pick him up!  It was pretty cool.  I talked to him yesterday and I guess he met Shelby Hadley at EFY a long time ago and he went to San Clemente a lot back before the mission!  His name is Elder Bigelow and he is a very nice guy!  We had a good conversation about T-Street, the Pier, and good ol' Pedro's Tacos!  Ha-ha small world! 

Last night was a lot of introductions and learning about our mission which, by the way, is the best mission in the world... just so everyone is clear!  Ha-ha I love the area.  There are ZERO landmarks though... so it will take a while to adjust!  I will send some pictures soon!

The rest of last night was filled with interviews and even a testimony meeting!  It was really nice!  President Matsumori had us close our eyes as he recited the First Vision to us! The spirit was SO strong! It was really nice!  He told us that he knew we had been waiting thousands of years for this moment here on earth to serve as missionaries.  Somehow I know that's very true!!  Everyone here is so nice and I love this area. 

My area is Derwood South, which as of today (I think) is a new area since the Derwood area got split to a North and South now!  Gaithersburg, Maryland is the actual city that the area is in.  Our apartment is nice, I think! The Spanish Elders had it last and left it messy but we plan on cleaning it tonight! We've heard since the split of the area we lost some investigators so we are going tracting tonight!  I am nervous but I think it will be alright! 

This transfer is only 5 weeks, so as a trainer and greenie we have 2 transfer periods together!  About 11 weeks total.  Elder Anderson and Elder Farley taking over DC/Maryland!  I am excited to learn from a seasoned Elder!  He seems like he knows a lot so I guess we will see how it goes.  Also, our apartment used to have a two pairs of companions in it but now its just us!  So it is very roomy but Elder Anderson says that it is usually more fun with another pair of comps because there are more people to hangout with and talk to. But maybe its for the better so I will be able to focus more these training weeks!  

After we got most of our things unpacked we went to Cafe Rio, yep...life is rough out here... with some other Elders who picked us up!  We ate there and then drove to the stake center to write our e-mails and then we are going to go shopping so I will have some food!  Yay!  Besides that, that's pretty much it!  Can't wait to go out and work and help my Heavenly Father find all those brothers and sisters who haven't heard this great message yet!  

Thanks for keeping me updated on everything!!  I heard a Katy Perry song in Cafe Rio and was thinking, "MUSIC! I like this!" ha-ha but it's pretty nice to be away from so many worldly things :) I am excited!  

I love you all!  I will write down any crazy things that happen in my journal so I don't forget to let you know about them next Wednesday!  

Love, 

Elder Farley

p.s. Thanks again for all your letters, packages and cards!  I am so thankful I have such a supportive and loving family!! Talk to you all soon!!! 

Last P-Day at the Provo MTC

MTC Week 3

Elder LaVecchia, Elder Farley, Elder Johnson, and Elder Peterson

Hello Momma and my Family,

I can't believe today is the day!  Only like.... 10 hours and he head to the airport.  Or somewhere around that time.  I still have to pack since we are doing laundry right now! Ha-ha but I am sure that I will get it all packed.  After all I can't expect you to do everything for me mom ;).  It won't be the prettiest packing job but it will be good enough... I imagine it will be like how the surfer in Endless Summer 2 packs; just slamming everything into each bag!  And then I have to weigh it all!  Speaking of weight, I have seemed to maintain a steady 180lbs.  But I am working out everyday, so I am trading that fat for muscle.  Tom Hardy, I am coming for you! Ha-ha. 

On Sunday we sang Praise to the Man for Sacrament Meeting and we have an Elder, Elder White, who plays like a CHAMP on the piano.  He plays by ear and is like a semi-pro composer of something like that.  I showed him the magazine of GM and told him she was a Pro singer; he thought that was pretty cool!  But it was pretty good! We are the oldest district here since everyone in our zone left last week, so the young grass-hoppers are having a hard time saying goodbye to us!  I left Elder Workman (one of the younger district Elders) with one of those tiny picture of me and wrote on the back, "Elder Farley loves you forever." Ha-Ha! He was stoked, it made me laugh!

We have been taking a lot of photos and I have been working extra hard to take ones to make you happy mom! Also, thanks for the pictures you sent and the cookies and treats! Everyone was thankful and say THANKS!  We have so much food and candy it is insane!  So we are putting it in our Narnia holes! Narnia holes are holes in the top our our closets that are secret hiding spots for the new missionaries that come in after the old ones leave!  We only got a can of Root-Beer!  Lame right!  But we want our new Elders to have a great experience! So we are packing it with TONS of fun stuff.  I am even debating putting a Elder Farley or a District 47-A picture in there! Ha-ha... we will see.

This whole week has been packed with so many spiritual experiences that have built us all as missionaries and have gotten me excited to go and help the people of DC and bringing them to Christ!  We were promised in one devotional that to "Start worrying about someone elses lost brother/sister, and someone else will rescue mine." It was a really cool quote and it made me realize the importance of missionary work even more!  How we serve our missions shows our true character inside and makes us into the people we will be for the rest of our lives.  I strive to become like the Savior and in gaining His attributes, especially charity for ALL those I come in contact with!  I am nervous to do it, but so very excited to go meet real people!

Oh! Okay Brian, I know I said I wouldn't mark my scriptures with all those MANY different colors but I want to now! Ha-ha, sorry... so could you send that same little card that you use to mark you scriptures? And also the scripture mastery card that has all the scriptures on the single card.  Those would be helpful!  I have a phone card so I don't know if I should send the one back to you or what... so I will just hold onto it until I talk to you tonight! (Which I am so STOKED about!)

Well I better get back to work.  I need to check and double check that I have everything that I need to take to WDC!

I will send the SD card with all the pictures on it but i will also upload a few just so you can see some now! (p.s. I got a Computer/Reader for my SD card! Woohoo!)

Thank you to all who have sent me letters, cards, and packages! You are ALL so thoughtful and supportive! Thank you and I will try to write you all soon!

I love you all and cannot wait to hear from you!

Love,

Elder Farley

p.s. Love is ACTION! :)

 And tell Daniel and the Lacey's that I saw Nick C.!! I have a picture of him too!

 Elder Nick Carvajal & Elder Sean Farley

One Week to go!

MTC Week 2

(Elder Farley & Elder Johnson)

Hello Mother, Father, Sisters and Brothers!

I miss you all! Today I am trying to write EVERYONE who has written me since I found out I can only write and e-mail on P-Day.  What a rip off ha-ha... but I guess it is good! That way I don't miss you all so much throughout the week!  I am kept super busy here everyday and I am doing all I can to study an learn the doctrine that will bring the investigators I meet to Christ! I am so excited to meet REAL people and not actors... even though the actors are pretty good! 

This week has been so much more fun than last week! It has gone by fast and I have been loving every minute of it! I read a e-mail from Tyler Cahoon and he said he LOVED the MTC because of the endless amounts of food! Ha-ha! I was laughing so hard! I am trying to stay away from eating too much so I don't get fat! But he seems to be doing well except for getting bitten by dogs 3 times! He said he wanted to punt all the dogs around town because non of them are on leashes! He is so funny!

Oh! Tell Grandma I said Happy Birthday(sorry I am late)! And I also am glad to hear Uncle Vaughn made it to town safely!  It is a bummer he wasn't living with us when I was at home! He makes me laugh non-stop just like GP!  Oh and some of my friends want pictures of me so maybe could you send some pictures of me.  Also I have to sneak one into Elder LaVecchia's bag so he will have a smile on his face once he gets to Las Vegas! Thanks a bunch!

Oh and I received my travel plans so I will get copies of them today and send them to you today so you can know everything that is going on! We leave Monday night from SLC at 11:33PM and arrive in WDC at 8:50AM!  We fly to NYC and then go to DC from there. And for the card reader and phone card... I will get them today as well :)  I am SOOOOO glad you got those pictures too!!! I was super worried! I will send more from this week too! We took some good ones!

Elder Johnson is going to WDC along with Elder Peterson.  Elder LaVecchia is going to Las Vegas, Nevada. Same as Landon I think!! So cool!

(Sean's Roommates)

Thank you so much for all the packages and letters! It is awesome to be raining champ of letters in the District! It makes me laugh when people say they wished their moms were like you! ;) Because my momma is the best! Also could you maybe send a long sleeve t-shirt to WDC because I need a extra tee to wear!

(Sean's District)

And thank you for all of the stories you tell me about throughout the week! It is fun to hear so much about your week and everything that is happening in the ward and in F-Town! It is crazy how long I feel like I have been away from there!  But I have been feeling the Spirit so strong here and am SO EXCITED to go out and serve all the people of WDC!! This work is amazing and I know God will shape me into a great missionary if I have faith and rely on Him!

Tell everyone I love them and say hi! If I missed anything in this e-mail I will write it to you in a letter!

LOVE YOU!!!

Love,

ELDER SEAN BACHMAN FARLEY