All is Well in this Small Part of Zion We Call Lexington Park

Hello Mom!!

Wow!  This past week was so great!  We have been having such an amazing time here in Lexington Park.  The trees are full of color.  The leaves are falling.  It is getting very chilly.  Our investigator got Baptized!  It was so awesome.  She was just beaming the whole time, especially after the ordinance.  Bishop asked her how she felt and all she could say was, "I am just so very happy right now."  And yesterday during church I had the amazing privilege of confirming her.  And then her husband got up and bore his testimony in front of everyone and it was LEGIT!!  I love that family a ton!  And they are always so happy to see us whenever we stop by.  As for special things we do at baptisms... I can't really thing of any.  Snacks at the end?!  :) That's always good! Ha ha

Okay.  Now its time to talk about football.  I AM SO STOKED!  Brian is killing it!  Same with the others in the ward.  All you Farmington 5th ward guys congrats!  Elder Farley loves you!  Ha ha keep on working hard and don't lose "THE STOKE".  Keep on fighting to the end, because you have to get the District and STATE title!  It is so sweet that we are ranked #2.  Mind blown.  I am very proud of those guys. Especially my little brother.  Good thing I am taller or I would have to call him a BIG brother ha ha.  and... Destroy PV.  Enough Said.

The ward here seems to be slowly picking up on the missionary effort, but they ARE!  Which is the important part.  We are starting to do role-plays with them, showing them how easy it is to share the gospel. And when you role-play you are able to get the awkwardness out a little bit and feel more confident in inviting you friends, families and strangers.  And I know it works because missionaries do role-plays all. the. time.  ha ha.  Elder Gomez and I are having a great time though.  We are getting along and working hard to improve the area and stay accountable as the Lord's servant.  He is just a little green still, so he doesn't understand and like all the rules. ;)  But he will get over it ha ha.  Oh!  And the P. family are on date for the 16th of November still so pray for them and us so that we can teach them according to their needs!  We are hoping for a lot of success in the near future here!  So all is well in this small part of Zion we call Lexington Park.  Keep up the GREAT work in Farmington and everywhere else!  I love you all so much and am so happy to be part of this Gospel.  It is SO true and everyone needs it in their life.  Even if they don't know it yet. :) 

Love your Elder, 

Sean

Hey Dad!

Thanks for the letter with all the good news!  I am still so stoked that we beat Aztec.  And it sounds like we had a good win against Kirtland. How was Kirtland this year anyway?  I am pretty excited for Facebook on Saturday to hear how the Scorps do!  We must beat PV!  I will be wearing the shirt mom sent me for the white out to bed Friday night!  And Brian is tearing it up!!  14 TDs already!  Wow.  He is a stud.  I really think Brian has the natural talent, desire, and ability to go further with a football career.  He is a stud!  And tell Kyle Reynolds to put Clafton on his butt for me :D  It looks like PV needs their annual reminder of who runs F-Town!  Go Scorps!

Go Scorps!! 

The missionary work is going well. The baptism went really well and it was a real blessing to be able to confirm her. I have never done that before, and honestly I felt pretty calm when giving the blessing... not to nervous at all.  We are still teaching Chris and Daniel P.  They are on date for the 16th of this month so we are hoping they can BOTH be ready for that date.  We are also teaching a 86 year old man who goes by Rocky.  His wife is very active but he is atheist.  However, he has a three book series called "the gun of Joseph Smith" and he can defend the Book of Mormon better than most people I know with pure evidence and proof!  Not even with a testimony from the Spirit.  But I believe that the Spirit has touched him in many ways.  He just hasn't fully recognized it yet.  So pray for the P. family and Rocky C. 

I am very happy to hear that all is going well with the missionary work in the ward!  Keep being the good example you are for them.  I know that You, Mom, and Brian are such great examples for our ward.  Just keep up what you are doing and don't forget to do the little things.  Because when we get away from daily scripture study, family and personal prayer, and other things like that- we tend to not have the Spirit with us as strong as we used to.  But I know you are all doing so great :)

The weather here is getting chilly fast!! But we are enjoying the opportunity to be wearing sweaters a lot!  I love the leaf colors out here!  SO many trees and really amazing colors.

Thanks again for emailing me Dad!  I am so thankful for your strong testimony that keeps me going strong and helps me never lose hope.  I love you and our family so much.  Let them all know that I do.  Keep doing the Lord's work and I will too!  :)    I love you Dad.

Love your boy,

Elder Farley

Fall in Southern Maryland!

Baptism in the Calvert Ward

Hello Momma!

This past week has been very eventful and very fun!  This past Saturday I was able to baptize a lady from the Calvert Ward.  She and her friend got baptized on the same day at the Calvert chapel.  It was a really awesome experience. We also have been teaching our investigator from Peru a ton as she is getting ready for her baptism.  She had he baptismal interview last night by Elder Loveless and she is still doing great and is going to be baptized November 2nd at 10:00 am.  Another miracle has been the P. family.  We watched the Joseph Smith restoration video with them and extended a baptismal date for the 16th of November and they accepted!  Also, Chris P. told us that he has felt like Joseph Smith before, wondering which of all the churches here on earth is the true church!  

Elder Gomez and I have been seeing a ton of miracles.  It just goes to show that working hard with obedience and faith really is the best way to do this work.  Work can be fun!  Dad was right :)  I am loving it here.  I hope I get to stay in this ward past Christmas.  Now that our Bishop is back the ward is really starting to come together.  Work is getting done.  

I am loving the fall season.  So far we have already carved pumpkins, scraped ice off our windows, and are listening to Michael Buble's Christmas album.  And its funny because I remember last year at this time my roommate Jacob Parker was starting to listen to Christmas music and I was ticked! Ha ha I did not want to listen to Christmas music until December because I knew it would ruin it for me if we started listening to it early.  But now I love it!! Sorry Jacob!!  Ha ha.  Anyway, the leaves are changing and we are having a wonderful time down here in Southern Maryland, serving in the best mission in the Universe! 

Southern Maryland in Fall

Keep on sharing the gospel and looking for missionary opportunities!  You all are the best!!!!!  

Love your son,

Elder Farley

ps:  We went out to a ranch for P-day.  Fed some horses too :)  This big guys name is Buddy!

Buddy & Elder Farley

Monday P-Days!!

Laser Tag in Lexington Park

Hey Momma!

This week has been really great.  Our bishop in the Lexington Park ward is home from deployment in Afghanistan, I have already done two baptismal interviews, our investigator is ON DATE!, and I have not single-handedly destroyed the mission yet as District Leader. :) But being District Leader has been great! Weird because my roommates salute me every now and then.  But awesome because I get to know the missionaries in the district a LOT better.  I love the missionaries here :)  They are all super great.  The other cool thing is that I get to go to leadership meetings and see President and Sister Cooke more along with the other leaders in the mission!  Dang, a lot of the leadership has left to go home and more will be going soon.  It is weird because so many missionaries are on different stages of their mission and then all of the sudden they are DEAD! But not really dead just dead from missionary life. The only down side as a district leader is when they call in super late and I get less sleep.  But it doesn't matter because I am always tired!  Ha-ha Missionary life will do that to you though I guess.  My new companion, aka my son/Elder Gomez, is doing great!  He is really picking things up and working hard.  He also likes to work out and get JUICED!  So we are going to be giant! 

I will be honest though, I really don't have a ton to write this week.  But I just want to bear my testimony to everyone on missionary work and this gospel:
I know with all my heart that this work I am engaged in is the work of the Lord Jesus Christ.  I know that He directs it through Thomas S. Monson and that this work "shall go forth boldly, nobly and independently" and it will NEVER stop until Christ comes again and says that this work is finished.  This IS Christ's church and I know with all my heart that it was restored through Joseph Smith.  Not reformed, not changed in anyway... But restored exactly to how it would have been when Christ was in His earthly ministry.  And that same priesthood He had, is here on earth again.  I know this is true.  And it is because God has answered my prayers over and over again, reassuring me that it is the TRUTH.  

Never let up.  Never give up.  Reach out to others as Christ would.  Love others as Christ would.  And you will never go wrong.  :)  I love you all.  Keep working hard to invite others to this great gospel :)

Love your favorite missionary,
Elder Farley

A Trainer & the DL in Lexington Park!

Elder Farley with Elder Gomez

Hey Family and friends!

Well, this week was another transfers meeting and today I got to meet my new companion!  Elder Gomez! He is from Tyler, Texas and he is a country boy!  He is great.  And he is actually a visa waiter, who will be going to Belem, Brazil.  I am really excited to train.  I am nervous, but I know Heavenly Father will help me out.  On top of all that I am now the new District Leader for the Lexington Park District. Freak!!!  SO pray for me.... but mostly my district.  I hope I can be a good leader for them.  I will do my best to follow Christ's example. 

Family Photo- Papa Anderson, Son Farley and Grandson Gomez

As for the work in the area, we actually had a break-through with our investigator. She is married to a recent convert of about a year and she is from Peru.  She kept saying she would maybe get baptized once I got married... ONCE I GET MARRIED??? So that was quite the barrier for us helping her towards baptism. But out of nowhere she messaged me on Facebook and said she is ready and wants to be baptized soon! Like in a month!  So I am super excited to hear that :)  We are going to see her tonight, and what is very helpful is that Elder Gomez speaks Spanish!  SUCCESS!! 

Well, I will keep you all updated on how everything goes!  I am so excited for the area. I really love it down here.  Our bishop is back this week from his 6 month deployment and tonight we are eating steak at brother Weitzner's. Oh! our new roommate with Elder Fuller is now Elder Lanham! Wohoo! :)

I love the gospel, and I love missionary work!  It is the BEST thing I could ever do and I plan on doing it for the rest of my life :)

Love you all!

Let the Lessons Begin!!

Love,

Elder Farley

Conference...it was the Bee's Knee's

Elder Jensen and Elder Farley "October Twinin' Ties"

Hello!! 

Conference... it was the Bees-Knees.  That is all that needs to be said.  Ha ha but seriously all the missionary work talks were legit!  All I want to do is go around saying "Exclamation Point!" after everything when I heard S. Gifford Nielsen's talk.  BAM!  And then Elder Bednar's talk about Tithing was super awesome too. He laid down the law like a champ.  Needless to say... conference was great. Anyone who hasn't watched General Conference needs to go watch it on LDS.org!! Now!  Ha ha.

Anyway, the work here is going great.  We had four investigators watch Conference and we picked up another investigator last night.  She is a non-member who is married to a less-active member and they have a 7 year old son.  They are awesome!  They are very nice to us and are welcome to us sharing the Gospel with their family.  Last night we watched "Finding Faith in Christ", which is a wonderful shorter film that depicts Christ's life wonderfully, and they seemed to really enjoy it.  Afterward we bore our testimony of Christ and how reading the scriptures and praying would help their family come closer to Him.  When I testified of the scriptures, I was only going to talk about the Bible since I supposed she had no clue about the Book of Mormon yet, but the Spirit told me to testify of the Bible and Book of Mormon.  So I did!  We then got to explain to her about the Book of Mormon and what it is and where it came from.  Then we set up a time to come back and share the Restoration lesson with them!  I am so STOKED for them!  I really hope they all come to accept this great message and decide to come into the Fold :)  I just love doing missionary work.  If anyone wanted to know.... The Missionary life is the best.  Hands down.

I am super excited to hear about the win over St. Pius X!!  Ha ha, I just can't get away from football.  I love hearing how Brian and the team are doing.  Keep it up Scorps!

Okay everybody.... So Facebook is officially being used in the Washington DC North Mission!  Crazy right! But that doesn't mean I can just chat it up with everybody... unless its about the GOSPEL :)  Then we can chat all the time!  If anyone has any questions or interests in our religion and would like to know more from their friend Elder Farley, then hit me up on the FB!  

The work is hastening.  And this IS the Lord's work.  I know this gospel is true and that the Book of Mormon is true.  I am so very thankful for a Heavenly Father who has provided a Plan of Salvation for us so that through Christ and His Atonement, we can live with Him again.  And not only that but we can live with our families forever!!  And that is just the greatest gift I could ever imagine!  

I love you all and am so thankful for your prayers and support!  You are so great! :)  Keep working hard and sharing the gospel with the world!  

Love, 

Elder Farley

Building a Mini City of Enoch

Hey there Momma!

Looks like a lot is going on back at home!  Conference this week, Dad is Ward Mission Leader now, we beat Valencia and have St. Pius this week... Things sounds great!  I am really excited for you all to go to conference this weekend!  I cannot wait!  My second conference on the mission and its only been a year since President Monson announced the missionary age change!  That is so crazy.  I am so grateful for the experience I have had with Conference on the mission.  It is so awesome to be 100x more focused when watching it ha ha!  I am especially excited for Holland to throw down like usual :)

It sounds like the Halloween decorations this year will not be limited in any way.  I love seeing all the Fall/Halloween decorations up!  It reminds me of all the fun parties we had back in Farmington at our home.  Good times... plus Brian is going to be THOR!... I am stoked to see those pictures.  Oh and I cannot wait for G-ma famous cookies :) 

Well WAAAAY down south there is a couple Elders named Elder Jensen and Elder Farley and they are building a mini-city of Enoch!  And they don't care how long it takes!  Last Friday we had interviews with President and he told us that he wants missionaries to be in areas for a lot longer than they have been in the past so that the trust in the ward can increase a lot more.  I am excited.  A lot of progress is being made here.  It may be slow... progressing from a walk to a jog.  But soon we will be sprinting like Usain Bolt up in here!! I love this area/ward!  This past week we got three new investigators!  Two are a father and son who are having a pretty rough time but they are turning to the Lord instead of the world which is a GREAT first step.  Also a recent convert's wife is starting to show interest and we are teaching her tonight about what a blessing is and how it works then we are going to give her a priesthood blessing of comfort since they are also going through a tough time.  I am so STOKED for the work that is going on down here in Southern Maryland.  Also, our WML(Ward Mission Leader) is the man!  He is helping us so much.  We are doing a lot of member work, trying to help them get pumped about the work and become missionaries in their everyday lives.  So things are going great!

I KNOW this gospel is true!  I love serving as a missionary and recognize the blessing it is to serve at this time where the work is moving so quickly.  I KNOW this Church is the true restored church of Jesus Christ and I know that He runs it through the Prophet Thomas S. Monson.  I love the Gospel.  I love my Father in Heaven and the blessings that He has given me.  I love you all and am so thankful for all that you do for me.  Never get discouraged.  Never lose hope.  Keep strong and put your Faith in the Lord and His might work :)  

Love,

Elder Farley :)

This Is the Work of God, people!

Hello!!

Today was a pretty great day!  We went to the Temple and so the whole ride up, which was two hours, I tried to catch up on letters.  So it looks like a three year old was writing them... eh.  Oh, well.   The Temple was great, as always!  I love the Spirit that we are able to feel there.  It is so great to be on a mission and to be able to grow closer to my Heavenly Father and to participate as a missionary for our Savior.  I love it so much!  As for the work here, it is going well.  We are working with this less active family whose kids are not members.  They are really sweet and hopefully we will be able to meet them soon and teach them about the Plan of Salvation!  We are also doing a lot of work to get this area organized and running well.  We are also striving to get the member work going and to get people STOKED!  This is the work of GOD people!  Lets get the message out to our friends!  As soon as I get to use Facebook I will be joining all of you as a member missionary :)  

So one of the days this week we were went out on bikes to save our miles since we were coming short.  We started biking to dinner and these people rode by yelling, "JESUS! JESUS! JESUS!"  Then we rode up to them at the stop light and they were super stoked about how we were on missions and stuff.  We wanted to talk more but the light turned green and we had to move.  Right after that we see this guy poke his head out of his car and he yelled, " GET A REAL LIFE!"  I don't know why it was so funny but I started to laugh so hard!   It makes me chuckle a little that people think we are wasting time.  This is the best experience of my life.  I would change it for anything.  

As for things back at home... it sounds like it was a bit of a rough week with the double losses.  BYU and the Scorps :(  But I know we will bounce back this week and destroy Valencia!  I can't wait to hear about it!  Also, tell the Farleys, both Danny's family and Uncle David and Ann, that I say hi!  

Sorry for such a short one.  We have to get going!!  But I love you all and I am always praying for you.  Keep up the hard work!

Love,

Elder Farley