Miracles and Festival of Lights

Hey Mom! 

This week had a lot packed into it- and this upcoming week even more so!  Sorry if I end up jumping all over the place in this email.  

First off, it sounds like things are going well at home!  I am excited for you vacay! Have fun and eat some shaved ice and garlic shrimp for me - haha!  The missionary work back home sounds like it is going well.  It always helps to have some hard working elders who are excited about the work.  It is also great that you will get to see Rachel and the Parsons!  Tell everyone I say hi :)

A couple weeks ago we gave a blessing to a girl, who is the daughter of an inactive member.  She had a problem with her appendix & gallbladder and was in the hospital for a while.  We went into the hospital both silently saying prayers that there would be a miracle.  We had a good visit with her and her mom. (who actually loves us and feeds us almost every weekend)  Her recovery time was multiple weeks and she even got transferred the next day to Baltimore to have work done.  We gave her a blessing and left and it was almost another week when we saw the family again for dinner.  There was great news!  She was coming home the next day!!! She had an amazing recovery and still would be recovering at home but came home WAY before she was suppose to be released from the hospital!  So that was a really awesome miracle :) Heavenly Father definitely heard our prayers and even the mom and father(who is not a member) noticed and commented on the help of the blessing!  :) that alone made my week.

This last week we also got to help put some lights up for Festival of Lights at the Temple Visitor's Center on the trees!  It was pretty cold and our instructor was kinda.... Out of control, really excited but a little overbearing.  It was a cool experience though.  We were also able to share a lesson at a youth District meeting for two different wards.  It was modeled after our missionary district meetings, but simplified and focused on the youth.  Elder Tavana and I taught about how missions are all about service and following our Savior.  We shared a short video about the ancient apostles leaving everything and following the Lord.  After the spiritual side we had a Q&A about missionary work and life.  At the end we showed an old 'District 3' video about the life of a District Leader!  Haha it was pretty funny :). Oh and we went to the White House too! It was great haha- but it one of those Grandpa Farley things... "I've already been there, why would I want to go again?" Haha

Today for Pday we played our annual missionary Turkey Bowl.  It was better coordinated this year with pre-selected teams, team colors, flags, and cones to mark the field.  We even had a bracket!  The talent was evenly spread so the games were all really good and fun! We even had Zack come down and play with us!  He played college Lacrosse so he is a pretty good athlete.  Then on Thursday we will play again for our ward turkey bowl!  Tomorrow after district meeting we will be helping cut turkey for the homeless with Salvation Army.  Hopefully we will have some more lessons this week as well!  I am loving it here in the Kentlands area with Tavana.  We are having fun, enjoying working with the members and trying hard to find those elect souls!  

I hope you will have a great time on the islands.  Be healthy, happy and safe!  I'll do the same :) love and miss you!

Love your boy,

Sean

Getting Ready for the Festival of Lights!

Elder Farley & Elder Tavana

Hey Momma,

Glad to hear Brian is doing well :) Especially since he can stay nearby the Parsons!  That would make me happy!  He is such a stud- it's great to know he is improving quickly on his Spanish too.

This week was pretty fun! We got to see a few members and spent time with our recent converts.  But I would say that one of the highlights was moving a 830lb gun safe and then a couple hours later moving two refrigerators- one of them we didn't even use the dolly and just picked it up and carried it from the basement to the garage!  Haha I guess members tend to ask Tavanā to do service for than other missionaries... I have no idea why ;) haha

The temple has the Festival of Lights like I was telling you before, and the lights are only half way up!  So they are asking us to come help during the week to put up the lights!  That should be awesome besides that fact that it is getting chilly.  I am also glad I am close this year so I can bring members and investigators to come see the lights and the performances.  The DC temple is breathtaking around Christmas at night.  About 100,000 people come inside per year- and that doesn't include all the people who drive up just to see the lights from the outside.

Oh!  I almost forgot!  So for thanksgiving we are going to the Markoff's farm where everyone who attends dresses like Indians or Pilgrims.  And of course, since I actually know Native Americans, I am going to be an Indian :) NM pride! So that is going to be super fun! Can't wait!

We had a conference where Elder Katcher, who spoke in Conference this fall, came and spoke in each zone for half the day.  It was a great experience to meet him and learn from him.  He even did random interviews afterward and Tavanā got picked! Haha he said it was a great experience to talk one-on-one.  The coolest conference however, was with Elder Katcher and all members of each ward council in the mission(plus the missionaries)!  It was a ton of people!  We all got together in our ward council and the conference was interactive.  All the stake presidents were there as well as Elder Gerard, who is the area authority.  It's fun to know all those men from being around President.  Anyway, that was a great experience for me and I feel like it really helped unify the wards.  That's something I feel like makes wards super successful.  If the leadership is unified and works together for a common purpose, then the ward catches on and gets excited to accomplish that same goal or purpose.  It works as missionaries too! When the leaders are good examples and know there purpose, the rest of the mission follows.

I hope the missionary work back home is going great!  Dad is such a hard worker and very dedicated so I know that things must being going good :) I hope that everyone realizes they can be missionaries in their own way.  It's pretty much just being more Christ-like.  For those who are members and have fallen away; we can reach out to them and invite them to spend time with us at church, at home or for any sort of activity.  The same thing goes for those who are not part of our faith.  We can always reach out to our neighbors or friends for all kinds of outings or activities.  All it takes is the faith to ask... The faith to invite.  It's simple and all of us can do it.  Missionaries and non-missionaries alike.

I love this gospel and hope to LIVE this gospel with my whole heart all of my life.  It truly is the only thing in this mortal experience and through the eternities that can bring us lasting happiness that no one can take away.  I know that the gospel I preach is the Lord's, and that it blesses all of God's children.  I love it and I am glad you are a part of it mom, along with Dad and my siblings.  I love and miss you.  Be safe, healthy and happy!

Love your first missionary in the field,

Sean (EF1)

PS Tell Dad thanks for the email :). I love hearing from him- but this week the email is to both of you.  I was trying to do both, but we were around a ton of missionaries today and I can't focus because everyone is talking to me.  So I will still probably train next transfer and it will be a trio for a couple weeks until Tavanā leaves.  Which should be great!  And I didn't get the package yet, but I am excited :) I will probably try to send stuff home before the end of the transfer so my kid doesn't think I am tricky and also so I don't make him homesick! Also, Summers new dog is super awesome!! I want to "squeeze the crap out of her!"(in the words of Summer Postak).

Loving the Kentlands and Serving with Elder Tavana

Hey Momma,

Thanks for the email!  I love the photo of you, Dad and Rachel!  It is really nice quality too! Pretty funny that they do that!  I know what you mean by feeling that the weeks are going so fast... This week flew.  I am loving the Kentlands and serving with Elder Tavanā.  This Pday we got Bodda and Thornton to come and lift with us and their roommates and companions!  It was like a whole football team came in and took over LA Fitness haha.  And Tavana's first name is Devin.  I am excited to show you around the mission- let me know what the dates are when we are coming back out here, then I can tell some members here.

Glad to hear things are going well at home!  I sent you a video of me singing at the Night of Music this last Sunday, so you can show that to the family :) we sang "Be Thou Prideful"
We are having a blast here- the work is hard, but the members are cool and we are really trying to get them excited to participate in sharing the gospel.  It's great to know there are some hard working missionaries back in the 5th ward at home! Dad needs some hard working kids to keep up with his fire!  We are having some success with the Recent Converts son.  We had a night where we stopped by and he had us come and hangout in his room and just talked about a lot of stuff.  Mostly the Godhead and the difference between the trinity, also evolution and Adam/Eve.  We even got to share our conversion & reason why we came out on a mission.  He is a really awesome guy.  He is the one we lift with sometimes in the morning.  And his parents are the coolest :)  we also have a couple other people we are trying to make contact with, so hopefully we will have more success this week.

In a few days we are having a general authority come to train the mission.  Elder Katcher.  So that should be really awesome!  The Festival of Lights is also coming up and since I am not in Lexington park like last year, I should be able to go a lot more!  There is even some talk about elders helping out in the VC to get more referrals... Because the elders are much better at getting referrals than the sisters ;) haha just kidding... Kind of.

I got to hear from Brian this week!  It sounds like he is doing well! I can't believe he has been out for quite a while already. He is such a stud- I love hearing from him.  :) it makes me happy to know he is in a good place doing great things- even if it will be a while until I see him again.  I think about a lot of my friends who are on missions as well!  I have been blessed to be around a lot of awesome kids.

This week I have had some really great studies.  It is kind of funny how being on my mission has made me LOVE studies.  I enjoy learning and re-learning the principles of the gospel.  Even when I only get to study a little each day I still feel that it helps me grow closer to Jesus Christ.  Keep on studying and looking for opportunities to share the things you learn :)

I love and miss you momma!  Stay healthy, happy and safe!

Love your boy,


Elder Sean B. Farley

In Kentlands as a Regular!

Dinner at the Mission Home

Hey Momma!

Let me just say that I love it here!  Elder Tavana is so great and we are having a blast in the ward. We don't have anyone very solid that we are working with, but Bishop wants us to visit every member before Christmas!  So we are going to town. You should look up The Kentlands in Maryland.  It is this community where there is this old town feel... Everything is super close.  Theater, restaurants, dentists, doctors, cleaners, supermarkets, and even clothing stores!  It is super fun to go around and see both active and inactive members there.

I have had the chance to meet a lot of great people so far this week.  There is a recent convert family who are legit!  They have a 23 year old son who we go lift with in the mornings and he is way chill. We have become pretty good friends- so hopefully we will get the chance to show him the wonderful blessings of the church!

I can't wait for you and Dad to come out here next spring and meet all the wonderful people I've met here and to see the great places I have been around in Maryland and DC!

Oh... Just a little side note: today we lifted and played football with the Assistants for Pday.  The good news and bad news: Bad=we timed out 40 yard dash times and I am SLOW!!! Haha Good= I benched 315lbs :D YES!! It was a good day!

Anyway, we have interviews for our temple recommends tomorrow- can't believe it has been 2 years since I went to the temple the first time!

It is great to hear that everything is going well back at home :) I am glad you feel better now Mom so you can go the gym again!  The gym is great!  I have a new appreciation for staying active and healthy since I have been out here.  I really wish I could pass on ever dessert, but the members are too nice and loving to deny their great food!  I will just have to run more haha.

It is great to know you and Dad were able to see Rachel!  Hope you told her "hi" for me.  I miss and love all my siblings a ton :)

This week we plan on seeing a ton of people and hopefully finding some new investigators through members and as we talk to everyone we see and meet!  It is suppose to get a little warmer than it has been, but we can definitely tell that the cold fall weather is upon us.  I love the fall.  Being cold here is better than the hot and humid.

Well momma... That's about it for this week.  I will be sending an sd card to you finally so you have some pictures again.  Thanks for everything you send out to me! I got all the packages/letters and postcards you sent!  I always love the little notes from you and Dad.  I have gotten pretty behind on letters the last few months! Sorry everyone- I still love you all! Haha

Quick thought: Elder Tavana and I have been sharing a lot about how we can all do our best each day to remember our Savior in everything we do.  All of us make mistakes and have trials and weaknesses, but we all can put a little more effort in being more like Christ.  He was and still is the perfect example for all of us.  He knows exactly how we feel, what we struggle with and even our every thought.  We can turn to Him and our Father in Heaven in prayer at anytime for the strength we need.  Our challenge to each person we share this with (including you :) ) is to look for something you can do this week to be more like our Savior.  Elder Tavana had a great, simple one: to SMILE more :) and I am striving to serve those around me more!  So as we go about this week I pray that everyone who gets the chance to spread this to pick just ONE WAY to be more like Jesus Christ.  I know that this will not only help those around us, but it will also help us with our individual relationships with our Lord and bring a greater peace and purpose to our lives!

I love and miss you momma, but I know this is the place God needs me and the place I want to be so that I can share what I know with all my brothers and sisters who will listen! I hope you and the family (and all our friends) will be safe, happy and healthy!!!

Love your boy,

Elder Sean B. Farley

After doing service with the Chinese program Elders.....they're all tuckered out!

Last Week as AP...Headed Back into the Trenches!

Folded 400+ by myself....It was ROUGH!

Hey Momma!

1st things FIRST!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!  I hope you had a good day :) how does it feel to be "33 years old"!?

You are so great mom!  I hope you know that you are loved by all of your kids so much! Thank you for always be so helpful and doing everything for us!  Your service you do for us has been an amazing example of Christ-like love to me!  :) keep on sharing your wonderful testimony and charity with others!

It sounds like things are going pretty well back home, besides hearing that Farmington lost both Aztec and PV :/  but it is good to hear the Iluminada and Horace wrote you!  I need to write her back.  It's makes me so happy to hear how well they are doing!

Things here are going great as well!  It's crazy to think how fast this transfer has gone by.  Elder Malugin and I have already been together for almost 3 months, and it's only felt like 3 weeks!  The Transfer is right around the corner and we have lots to do! It's funny how the craziest week is also the most fun. It will be great to see all the new kids come in again and be able to do some training for them.

We had a HUGE "Why I Believe" this Sunday, which is mainly for all the Recent Converts of the church.  The event is held at the Washington DC Temple Visitors' Center every 3rd Sunday of the month and recently it has been so big because President has made a huge emphasis on the importance of the meeting.  This last one featured the Castows, who were the pastor and preacher couple from two different churches that are LDS now.  They were taught by AJ and were in the Deseret news- remember that?  Anyway, they were AMAZING speakers and they really brought the Spirit.  Not to mention that there was standing room only in the HUGE auditorium.  Needless to say, it was an amazing night!  I can't wait for us all to come back out here to visit the mission!  It will be so fun to show you around!

Oh, and we also got to go down the Lexington Park to help President train in both LPs and Patuxents Ward Councils!  It was great to be down there again!  It was about this time last year when I was called to be District Leader and to train Elder Gomez! Haha the good old days...

Tomorrow is the temple trip since they were not able to take a group our size on the normal Wednesday departing temple day.  Following our trip we will have out mission picture!  We are doing it early this year so that it will be ready well before the Christmas season.  It is getting a little chillier here and the leaves are changing and falling.  We went out before p-day ended and ran some routes on the football field near the Cooke's home(the high school were Joe and Elizabeth go).  It was fun to run down the field and to switch off as receiver and QB with Elder Malugin.  He is a really good athlete and I imagine he will try out for Basketball or Football when he goes home.

I guess it must just be the season or the Spirit or something, but I am just having a great time out here! Haha I am pretty excited for another transfer and all the great things that come along with it!  I most likely will be leaving to go back in the field- I guess we will find out! I will be sad to leave but I know I will have a wonderful time in the field if it does happen.

Well- that's about it for what's going on mom.  Again, I hope you had an amazing birthday!  I love you so much and I am so happy that you and Dad are so engaged with the gospel and missionary work!  Keep on studying hard and always share your testimony... It is such a power tool :)  the gospel is true, and as long as we do out best to share it, Heavenly Father will help with the rest!  Be healthy, happy and safe!

Love your boy,

Sean, aka "EF1"

2014 AUSA Convention

AP Life...Always Driving!

Mom!!

I am super happy to hear the trip was a success and that you made it home safely!  Thank goodness there weren't any crying kids haha... Whenever Elder Malugin and I hear kids crying or yelling we are always like, "SHUT THAT BABY UP!" Haha it's just a joke and no one hears us, but we are semi-serious. :)

Dang, all the castles and sights of Germany sound sweet!  I am excited for the pictures.  I remember some of the stuff when we went back when Brian and I were little.  The Autobahn sounds sick!! Well... Besides the photo cop! Wtheck?!  That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard!  Dad was saying how you could go 90 and people would be cruising past you! That's so sweet!! You go 65 mph on the Beltway here and you can get a $100 ticket!  

Too bad about Brian's situation.  Getting called about leaving and then... PSYCH! You are staying! Haha the madness of transfers... I understand.  He will learn a lot having two transfer with Elder What'shisface.  I have learned SO much from each one of my companions, even when we might have not gotten along 100% of the time.  EF2 is a stud and I know he will be fine :) after his mission I will take him with me to order all my food at the Mexican food restaurants!... I miss Si Seniors! Haha

It is sad that I will probably only have two more weeks with Elder Malugin- I think I will be going back out in the field.  Which is GREAT!  But I will also miss the craziness of the AP life and the fun I have had being comps with E. Vladimir Malugin, the Russian. 

We had quite the week we interviews, iPad checks, and pre-preparing for Transfers... The preparing really will start this week.  There is a okay sized group coming out, but not even close to the last couple of groups.  It's really fun to see all the new missionaries come in :) it is also really crazy seeing how young the mission is.  Not only in age but in "mission age" haha.  Everyone I knew is gone and now we are the older guys. 

Today we went to this AUSA convention in the city!  President Cooke took us since you have to be escorted by someone in the Army (or Military I guess).  It was so awesome! :) It was like Dad's giant dental conventions but for without the dental chairs and tooth brushes, and more tanks, helicopters and guns! Haha we had a great time with President as he led us around the city and even made it like a mini tour.  He knows the city pretty well- especially the Georgetown area.  Seriously a once in a lifetime chance to spend with a full Pday with your Mission President!  After that we went to a Ethiopian restaurant for a late lunch.  It was super funny because I had eaten with Ethiopian members before in college park and they eat with this sponge-like tortilla bread instead of using eating utensils. When they brought the food President just sort of looked at the lady like, "where is my fork and knife?" So I sort of showed them how to eat it and they caught on fast... But MAN does that stuff fill you up!!! My stomach is still expanding!  The trip overall was amazing.  It was so fun to have President show us his favorite parts of the city along with when and where he had been at certain times in his career.

Here in the mission the elders and sisters are really working hard on their 20 lessons a week, along with focusing on key indicators and keeping great records.  With our iPad checks with the ZLs we check the content of the iPads while the Zone leaders review their day planner and area book.  That way everyone is being accountable and obedient :D

The mission is the best.  Life is the best!!  I just love seeing the little miracles that Heavenly Father puts in our paths each day.  The world distracts us so much... And I think what it distracts us from, more than anything, is the little blessings that keep us going.  I hope that all of us can look for the little things that The Lord blesses us with.  It's the little miracles that keep us going so that we make it to see the big miracles!  I meet people everywhere I go that open up a conversation for me to share the gospel.  Even if it is just a little bit... I have an opportunity to help them draw closer to Christ. We all have those opportunities.  The question is: do we take them?  God gives them to us... The rest is up to us!  

I love this gospel and I KNOW it is true.  How else could an organization leave its proselyting up to a bunch of kids and see success from it?  It must be true ;) haha I know Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love us infinitely and know us perfectly.  I know that we all have a Savior who died so that we would have the chance to repent and become better- even allowing us the opportunity to live with our Heavenly Parents and earthly families again.  I love you all so much and I am so happy you are safe.  Keep up the great missionary work- and keep reading PMG!

Love your son,

Elder Sean Farley

Thanks for the packy mom :) that tie is awesome, and you know my weakness: Carmel Apple suckers!  Love you both so much!

General Conference was Amazing!!

Hey Mom!

It is great to hear from you and Dad in Germany!  Sounds like it is a really fun trip.  I am sad that Dad wasn't able to meet people from his mission, but it is super cool that he is able to visit old areas show you where he served.  I am inspired to try harder at keeping a journal.  I was doing really good at the beginning of my mission; writing 2+ pages a day for about 6 months!  I have slacked off on that goal a little, but there is always repentance, right? :) 

It is also good to hear you were able to watch conference on your iPad.  Isn't it so great that we live in a time where we can watch Conference LIVE on a handheld device?!  Seriously, what a blessing! General Conference was so amazing this go around- like it is each six months.  I love how the talks are always simple teachings of the Gospel that are understandable for everyone.  Just like how the Book of Mormon prophets would speak "plainly" to their people, the prophets and apostles today also speak to all our understanding and in a way that we can still be astonished and touched by the Spirit of God.  I enjoyed many of the talks and I am excited to re-watch and listen to them over this upcoming 6 months.  There are many things I can repent for and change in my life, even in the little ways, so that I can grow closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.  I love how Richard G. Scott spoke about praying to Heavenly Father.  How God wants to hear everything from us!  He loves us so much that He wants us to always allow Him to be with us throughout our whole day.  But Father in Heaven will not force us to do so, so we must use our agency wisely turn to Him.  I also thought it was intense when he said that daily scripture study is more important than homework, sports, and even SLEEP!!!! haha He is a boss. 

Well, things are going great here in the Best Mission in the History of Life!  Last night we had a FHE at the Cooke's home/mission home for the French program.  They had some couples come over and even the Ward Mission Leader for a lesson, game and treat!  It turned out well and it actually the first ever French FHE.  In the past it has been only English and Spanish.  Now Chinese and French have been included! 

This week Elder Malugin and I will be giving a training to the Zone Leaders about how to work with iPad issues and how to set them up for the new missionaries in the field.  This way the missionaries will go through their zone leaders for any apple device issues (not us, anymore) and they will be trained and ready to go!  That will help us out a LOT actually... so we are stoked.  

-Oh and my toe is a lot better and I got the bandage off... it looks kind of crazy, but it feels a TON better :) stupid ingrown toenails! 

We have a lot more time this week for exchanges now that Zone Conferences are over!  We will have interviews throughout the week for various zones, excluding the Visitor Center sisters since President interviewed most of them already.  I am super excited to be out and about with President to go see the missionaries and to also go out and teach with them.  Elder Malugin and I might also be doing a multiple day exchange with some elders, so that will be great!!  

Being an Assistant has really been a tough, but wonderful experience for me.  I have had two amazing companions and have been with an outstanding mission president.  This will mostly likely be my last before I go back into the field again.  It will be good to be "normal" again for my two last transfers, but I am sure going to miss being with Elder Malugin the Cooke Family.  Good thing the transfer still has a little over 3 weeks!! :D Going to make them last!!

This week is going to be great :)  Each day I hope to "try a little harder to be a little better."  I know that as we look back on where we are in life, no matter what point of our lives we are in, and we can improve!  I am excited for these next six months leading up to NEXT General Conference... and I plan on being a better person then, than I am now.  :)  I love and miss you Mom and Dad!  Enjoy the trip in Germany and be safe!! Keep up the great missionary work, and even look for some German folk to introduce to the gospel over there!  

Love your Washingtonian son,

Elder Sean Farley