Nationals Baseball Game!!

Elder's Peterson, Farley & Johnson - Nationals vs. St. Louis

Hello Momma,

So today is another day of emailing from the Library of Congress.  We came over here right after the Nationals Baseball game!  But we lost... :( boo.  Even Bryce Harper didn't perform well.  But it was super hot and my arms are lobster red!  We were in the nose bleed seats but it was nice.  And today is an all day Pday too!  So it will be nice and relaxing.  But last week on Thursday I got really sick and had a sore throat that was even worse than the one I had in the MTC!  My tonsils were GIANT! Bigger than I have ever seen them before.  So I was pretty much bed ridden for two days because I had a fever and was aching all over.  I am still a little sick with a cold or something now but the sore throat has finally passed :)  I am sorry that everyone has been so sick at home.  I hope the weather gets better and all of you feel better as well. 

As for the work here it has been surprisingly good for how sick I have been!  We have continued to teach our investigator Amanda and she is still on date to be Baptized on the 11th of May!! She is amazing!  We have taught her about 5 times already and she went to church last week.  She has a little 5 month old boy named Sebastian, named after her husband, so we call him Jr!  We are trying to get her husband to church too so hopefully that goes well.  We are still working with Faith and we are seriously like her sons.  She was devastated when she heard that Elder Anderson would be transferred so soon!  So we don't really know what to do with her except  love her.  She is really sweet.  So we are doing well here in the Derwood South area and have no idea what is going to happen as far as transfers go so I guess we will just have to wait a week.  Oh and I haven't gotten really any mail/packages so I will keep an eye out for those things you sent.  Also, I am almost at like 400 pictures so I will send that SD card to you this week.

I am so excited for Daniel and Mitchell!  Give Mitchell a GIANT hug this weekend at his farewell for me and tell him I wish him the best of luck!  I know those two are going to be amazing missionaries for the Lord. 

Side note... Have you heard of Celtic Thunder? Faith says I look exactly like one of the guys in it!  I want to know if I have a doppelganger!

As for my bike issues... we went to Dicks Sporting Goods last week and brought an extra rim that the APs gave us but found out that it was a size 27 when I needed a 26!  So stupid!  So I just put my old one back on.  It will be fine-its not even that bad!  But we found a Costco with an outside food court that isn't too far from our area so last P-day I got Pizza and a berry smoothie!  I was so stoked! 

So... let me think of what we did this past week.  I went on exchanges with my district leader and we actually had a lot of success setting up appointments and we even snuck into Leisure World and found this less active lady who is SUPER awesome.  She moved there last November and has no transportation so she just never made it to church but we set her up with some members to get a ride and she is committing to go every week now!  She also was baptized by a Farley 12ish years ago in Virginia I think!  He was an older Elder Farley though.... like a Senior missionary couple I guess. Pretty cool though. Besides that I don't have too many stories this week since I was on my death bed!  Oh but I did take a sequence of pictures over three days on what my tonsils look like so you can see how giant they were!  I am ripping those things out when I get home. 

Ha-ha I am so mad because I swear I had another couple things to tell you but I can't think of them.  But I am really excited to call you on Mother's Day!  That is going to be great!  :) 

 

I hope everyone is doing great and hope everyone is healthy and safe!  If anyone has crazy news send it my way! 

Love you!

Love your favorite missionary,

 

Elder Farley

P.S.

I will send some pictures this week to make up for the last weeks I have been slacking :/

Hello Everyone,

 

Today is a beautiful day here in Maryland!  I just got out of the Temple and walked to the Stake Center to write e-mails in the Family History Center.  I wish the Dust Bowl hadn't hit Farmington!  It sounds no bueno.  I hope it clears up soon-I know I wouldn't handle that well with the allergies that come with it!  The cherry blossoms and other blossoming things around here had gotten to me a little but my allergies aren't too bad.  I am just loving the humidity and the green!!

 

I was glad to hear everything for the most part is going well at home!  I cannot wait to see the kitchen when it is all finished!  And thanks for sending out those white shirts :)  they are much needed and appreciated!  It is really crazy to me that everyone is about to head out on their missions now and even more are getting their calls. It makes me happy to see so many of my friends making the choice to go out and serve the Lord!  I can't wait to hear from them :) 

 

But wow.  The whole Boston Marathon thing was crazy!  We had a few people in our ward that were there when it happened and we saw it on the news when we stopped by a members house.  This world is going to.... not such a good place.  The second coming needs to come pretty soon.  "Some people even think He is in office now"-says one of our former investigators.  "Yeah right buddy... pretty sure that is the exact opposite."  But I promise he isn't a former investigator because of his political views... he chose to break up with us. 

 

So we went out with the AP's last night and we even made them tacos for dinner before we went out to work!  I got a few pointers and some advice for missionary work and I really enjoyed learning from the experienced!  We have had tons of bike problems recently though so I have to go get my back rim fixed because it is all bent now.  And Elder Anderson had gear problems and a flat.  So the devil is trying to get at us but he better go try somewhere else because we made it to all our appointments by walking and we loved it!  Ha-ha :) We kept trying to get the Assistants to tell us where we were going or who we were going to be assigned with but their lips are sealed shut!  So its a mystery :0  but I am exited!  All the missionaries I have met are awesome guys!

 

So everything is going really well here in the Washington DC North Mission!  And we have three people on date for baptism!  Yay!  I will write you more about them later.

 

Love you all!

 

Love,

 

Sean

Conference...Amazing!!

I hope you like Elder Anderson and I with our twin day pictures! The shirt is a semi-quote from Bryce Harper (the LDS guy on the Nationals BB Team. Some guys tried to offer him beer on the team and he said, "That's a clown question bro." He is a stud...so we like him!!

Hey Momma and my family!

How is everyone doing!  I hope well.  General Conference was amazing!  I seriously have never enjoyed it so much in my life.  I wrote so much from every talk and I feel like I just got so much more out of it!  I hope everyone felt the same.  Anyway, I guess I better start off by answering some of your questions mom:

So Easter was great!  I think... ha-ha I can't really remember that far back!  Each day and week goes by so fast but there is SO MUCH packed into it that anything past a week is forgotten and in my journal ha-ha.  But I'm remembering it being very good! And for Easter dinner we had a West-African dinner at a ward members home!  It was really crazy but cool!  I actually really liked the food.  

Now for this ward, I guess it is kinda hard to compare to ours but there are so many nice people here that I love talking to each week!  We don't really have a lot of appointments with them all but seeing them on Sundays is nice. So our Bishopric has the cutest bishop ever (if that is okay to say ha-ha).  He is a pretty old guy with snow white hair and he shuffles around with a smile everywhere he goes.  I don't want to say I have my Fav 5 of member families.... but I do!  One is definitely the Waldorf family who had us for 3 meals and 3 sessions of conference!  It was awesome!  We also had 1 session over at Hermana Lulu's home! :)  So conference was a great weekend!  I got so much out of it!  And as for my favorite talk... thats a hard one.  Either Bednar's or Holland's! They were so bold! 

Concerning my bike slacks... Yes it would be nice to get a couple new ones that are thin!  It is getting pretty hot here! So, yes please :) and I also will need a few more of those short sleeves. And don't worry the pants I trashed were not suit pants. 

Thanks for all the updates on good old Farmington!  Dad told me about the crazy winds and the rain now.  It's good to hear that that desert is having some rain!  Too bad the fruit trees are going to get killed by the cold.  And I am glad rain made you want to make some cookies for me!  Grandma B's sounds SOOO GOOD!  Ha-ha I hope that kitchen is done soon for the sake of those tasties. 

It surprised me that the Jeep blew up!  That is madness-but I know GP was probably happy to get a new car!  I am glad we didn't have to give up "Tommy" for that blow up.  :)  And I really can't wait for more pics of my new nephew!  But don't tell Caiside, I don't want her to feel left out!  Tell her "Uncle Sean loves her!"  

It is funny to me how much is happening or has happened since I left!  I still can't believe Eli Hatch is getting married so soon! It seriously blows my mind.  If you get a chance tell him to write me or something so I can see how he is doing.  And I want a wedding invite ;) ha-ha... but seriously.  As for Danny-boy,  I hope he gets better soon!  He has to get out fast so he can tell me about the MTC there!  Tell Sister Lacey to tell him I say hi and tell him he will get better faster if he watched Julian Smith, Sean Farley's Football Highlights, and Ftownheroes on youtube. :) 

Oh!  And yes!  I love that story President Monson shared!  We were laughing so hard!  He is quite the character!  It is comforting knowing that the Prophet of God is such a personable person and you can really tell he loves all of us.  And thanks for following up with me about FHE and everything!  I love to see you all growing closer to Heavenly Father-you all are amazing! Keep reading, praying and doing all you can for the church! (Some of those talks about families and marriage were super awesome!  I hope you and Dad liked them!)

I went to see the cherry blossoms today!  Took a TON of pictures and a few videos.  So I will be sending the SD card home soon!  We took some awesome ones!  :)  Elder Anderson and I are going to have a great last few weeks!  I will miss him a lot-he is a great guy!  He was making me laugh after you sent us those comp ties because he was like, "Tell your mom that I want all the comp ties you get for the rest of your mission because I am your FATHER!"  Ha-ha yeah right Elder Anderson! But he says thankyou!! :)  ALL my comps are going to love my mom more than their own!! jk

Thanks again for everything, I hope I was able to answer all of your questions!  I love you all and thanks for all of your prayers and love you send my way!

Love your favorite missionary,

Elder Sean Farley 

Companion Ties!!

Cherry Blossoms? Almost!!

Hey Mom,

Wow!  A lot has happened in the last couple of weeks!  I am glad to hear and see that Ryker is doing okay.  It was funny to see the picture with Jonny holding him and Caiside on the couch and she looks all sad!  Time to learn how to share Caiside!

It is so weird how I have only been out for two months and already so much has happened!  A lot of my friends have their calls and a few are even putting their papers in!  Madness.  But I just wanted to thank you for those pictures you sent!  I love the pictures of Brian at MORP!  Kid is a stud.  And the picture of my new nephew of course!  I will continue to take as many pics and videos as I can... some days are just better than others.  And by better I mean that some days I just go crazy and others I forget ha-ha.  But I am glad the videos worked well and that you got the SD card. 

Dad, thanks for the e-mail! It is always good to hear from you!  Thanks for your last e-mail too! Sorry I wasn't able to get to it, it was kind of a crazy morning last week.  But Barbra is doing well and we are actually teaching her on Friday.  We took her to the Visitors Center and had a tour on the Book of Mormon and also watched the Restoration movie!  It was great! SO everything is going well and we even got a few new investigators! I am glad Rachel is doing so well!  Tell her I said hi and I love her too!

So as for good 'ol Maryland, it is still a little chilly but the trees are starting to bloom.  Hopefully this next week I will have some good pictures of the blossoms.  Yay! I can't wait for warm weather! Today we went to the mall in Wheaton and then went to a members house and played ping-pong all day almost!  They had a boxing bag too so we enjoyed that.  Now we are all in the library close to our apartment.  Tonight we are going together with the other Derwood Elders to eat at a members house and then we get to bike all the way home!

So I don't have any crazy stories this week.  We are just continuing to work towards finding those elect children of God! 

I love you all! Thanks for all your encouragement! 

Love,

Elder Farley

PS: I got the Easter boxes, they were great :) thanks so much!! I love the shirt and everything!! Also those Easter books were a hit!!!  I gave them all out but one....which I kept and Elder Anderson gave up his to an old lady in the ward (our Black Mama) Sister Saunders.  So those were great!  Thanks so much!! You always send me the most thoughtful things!

Oh just for further packages can you send protein or cliff bars instead of candy? haha like the chocolate macadamia or peanut butter or just those good ones :) I know its still kinda sugar but at least its protein! 

Bruce Lee is ALIVE & WELL!!

Hello Momma!

 

Today we are AGAIN at the Library of Congress.  We went with a big group of missionaries to the Lincoln Memorial to do sunrise pictures, so I got up at 4:45 this morning to bike to the Metro. I felt like a zombie.  And it was freezing walking to the memorial building.  But the view was awesome and the "Rocky Balboa" run up the stairs was legendary! Don't worry we took plenty of pictures as we made Forrest Gump jokes (which kinda died off since we didn't remember too many from the scenes in DC).  Oh and Elder McDonald is with my old MTC comp Elder Johnson! I thought that was pretty funny/cool.

 

 

 

I am glad you got the bracelet I sent you.  The member that gave it to me said I need to send it to my girlfriend and it would ensure our relationship or something like that ha-ha but Elder Anderson and I wanted to send it to our Mommas since we are single.(Forever Alone-cough cough.) ha-ha plus I love you and miss you a ton!  And for those people that are asking for my mission address, I don't mind if you tell them-but more stationary would be wonderful.  I like the ones with my name at the top. It makes me feel important ;) ha-ha.

 

Okay, what the heck is wrong with my Danny-boy Lacey?  Don't tell Ty- he will just say to drink more milk, "it cures everything!" But in all seriousness I hope he is doing okay!  Tell him I said hi!

 

And wow... that Spring Formal sounds bomb.  Must be nice Brian.  But It is good to hear I am still remembered in good old F-Town!  It's nice to hear that everyone is doing so good!  And Uncle Vaughn is a boss. I am glad he is adjusting so well!

 

It is also nice to hear that my SC amigos are doing well and all on missions or going on missions soon!  I know they are all making great choices in their lives.  

I can't believe Sister M betrayed us and put that video up with us singing!  I told her she better not! Ha-ha Oh, and speaking about being betrayed... I have a awesome story for everyone today:  So on Thursday we were headed to our usual lunch appointment with Sister Domonique and we were stopped by a Vietnamese guy.  He started talking to us and then out of nowhere was like, "Look at these hands!  What do you see??"  And me, being innocent and not realizing the dude was a loony was like, "um... a callous?" He said, "NO! What do these hand mean?"  I answer again, "hmm... does it mean you are a hard worker?" Ha-ha and then he looks at us both and says..."I am Bruce Lee."  I instantly realized this was about to be the best conversation ever!  He went on and on talking about how he was re-incarnated and how he lost his awesome fighting powers in the re-incarnation but that the spirit of Bruce Lee was inside him.  He then went on talking about how his father and brother betrayed him and broke his arm because they we jealous that he was left handed and wanted to make him right handed.  He turned to Elder Anderson and asked who was the most evil man on the earth.  And Elder Anderson was like, "Cain?... maybe the devil?"  And "Bruce" was like, "No! David." Who he said was his dad. So we were then super confused.  I guess his dad's name was David or something.  And then he said that his dad was the most evil man on the earth and he is "George W. Bush"!!! So I guess his dad is George W. "David" Bush.... It was so awesome.  Best crazy person we have met so far!  So that is my crazy story for the week.

 

We also have a new investigator named Barbara!  She is amazing!  We met her on Friday (she was a text referral) and we taught her the first lesson after finding out she had received a Book of Mormon already and had been reading it every night on her iPad.  It was so sweet!! So she came to all three hours of church and now we are teaching her another lesson tonight at the Temple Visitors Center!  So that was a miracle for sure!  I am so excited to finally meet someone truly interested in this great message.

 

Thanks for the picture of Ryker, mom.  Summer looks great and so does the new baby!  I am so happy for the family and its new member.  Ryker is a lucky boy to be around such great people.  I will look forward to pictures with him and Caiside during my mission.  I can just see Caiside now.... She will really have a change getting used to sharing and not having all the attention as a only child.  I feel like somehow I barely remember when Brian was back from the hospital.  I didn't want that little monster taking any of my thunder!  Little did I know that he was a semi truck packed into a little baby.  Kinda like a mini Arnold. He caused destruction for days!  ;) But look at us now.  We are the best of friends!  So I know that Ryker and Caiside will do great together.

 

Well my family and friends... I have written a lot.  And I want to get out to see the city!  I love and miss you all.  Thank you for all the support and prayers.  I am praying for all of you as well!

 

Love your favorite missionary,

 

Elder Farley

 

p.s. I will send the SD soon!  My goal is to hit 300 pics!  Almost there!  Sorry mom-hope that's not too many to check through.

 

Elder Snow Man

 

Also, as a little side story: We made a snowman this week when it snowed like crazy and we left a Book of Mormon in him and a lot of Pass-a-long cards stuck all over him. When we came back the next day they were almost all gone! Along with the Book of Mormon. That probably isn't a normal missionary thing but... well we are getting creative.  Plus no one was even home around the area :)

 

Love you all  Bye!

 

Happy Birthday, Elder Farley & Elder Anderson!!

Hey Momma,

Thank you  and to everyone else that has sent me letters and packages for my birthday!  It was the best birthday ever. I seriously thought a few elders want me dead (over exaggeration) because of all the stuff I got.  The other Derwood elders were freaking out when I opened all my packages.  They were like, "Elder Farley you have gotten more mail than I have received my whole mission!" Ha-ha so it is really nice to feel so loved and remembered out here!  

I am glad that Hermana LuLu sent that picture to you!  She threw us an awesome Birthday party (Elder Anderson and I).  She is like one of the nicest people I have ever met!  So we went over to her place a couple hours before the party and helped her cook and bake the cakes and brownies.  Then a bunch of other Elders came that are from our Zone and some other ward members and friends of LuLu.  Hermana LuLu even had birthday presents for us!  So it has been a wonderful week and a great birthday, that's for sure.  

It has been good to hear so much from the family and to see that everyone is doing well!  I am especially glad to hear that Uncle Vaughn is enjoying his job at Webb!  I am glad he is there in Farmington close to our family!

So this p-day is really exciting because I am for the first time ever in DC!  Right now I am in the Library of Congress writing e-mails on research computers!  We went earlier this morning to go and get research cards and they are like picture IDs that let you get into the back entrances!  They are way cool!  So after we e-mail I will be going to some museums and just enjoying the sites with Elder Anderson and two other Elders from another area.  I am so pumped!  I also took a serious picture for my ID so I look like a murderer. Ha-ha kind of like my BYU-Idaho ID!

Oh, and the story about my bike crash.  It was pretty awesome actually.  So we were going to Sister Rainey's home for a dinner appointment and I was flying down this street to get there.  I was a little ways behind Elder Anderson and saw him take a left turn onto the next street.  I was pretty confident in my speed around the corner but soon I realized it was WAY too fast so I hit the brakes.  Then my back tire sorta started doing a skid and I was done!! Ha-ha so I did a base-ball slide with a bike between my legs for a good 10 yards then instantly popped back onto my bike. It was like the Olympics when the gymnasts stick there landing.  I don't really understand how it happened but it looked cool I am sure.  And Elder Anderson got a kick out of it!  So we kept biking to the house and when we locked up our bikes I looked down and saw my white thigh!  I tore right through my slacks and gave me a good scab and bruise.  So that was probably one of the top stories for the week!  But I am totally fine. I will go a little slower on my bike and remind myself that I'm not in the Tour De France. :) 

Riding the Metro

On the work side of this week we haven't had too much success.  We have continued to set up appointments but they continue to dog us.  But I am not worried.  As long as we continue to go out and find and teach I know someone will be ready to hear and accept this great message. 

Well, everyone is wrapping up and we are about to head out so I will talk to you next week!  Thanks again for all the mail :) Love you all!!

Love,

Sean - Elder Farley

The DC Temple is Amazing!!

Hello Momma,

Wow!  Sounds like an eventful week!  I can't believe Brian's phone flew off the top of the Xcellerator!  He probably did it on purpose to get a new one ;) haha just kidding Brian!  That sounds like a fun trip though.  And it must have been nice to see Pat and Jeremy!  I hope they are doing well!  

So this week has been kind of a blur. I got a couple letters during the week then found out that the Assistants have a bunch of letters and packages for me, so when we went to go get them they were GONE!  Turns out the ZLs came by and took them and who knows when we will see them again.  So a little annoying but oh well.  At least we got to go to the Temple today and do a session!  The DC temple is amazing!  It was a really great way to start off P-day.  After that we even got to meet with one of our investigators to take him on a Visitors Center tour!  So that was really nice too.  Our investigators name is Hallsey and he is 81!  Elder Eyring (President Eyring's brother) was our Temple V.C. tour guide and he did such a great job.  He is one of the most humble and spiritual people I have ever met!  Our P-day was mostly missionary work and now writing letters.  But I don't mind at all.  It was way better to share it with an investigator than just going out and playing basketball or something.

Last night was the Night of Music and Inspiration at the Temple's Visitor Center.  My companion, Elder McDonald, Elder Queen and I all performed "I Feel My Savior's Love"  and the whole night was SO great!  So surprisingly I have been singing a lot.  Give a special "THANK YOU" to Grandma from me for all the singing lessons.  

We have 3 investigators that I have gotten to really meet and progress with.  One is on date to be baptized next month!  We have SO many potentials it is insane!  So we have been spending a lot of time following up with them and trying to set up appointments. I am enjoying the work and REALLY enjoying the people.

A little info on the ward... Our bishop is Bishop Lewis and he is the sweetest and nicest guy I have ever met. And he is a stud at missionary work.  Our mission leader is very good too!  He is very involved and helpful.  AS for the food calender... eh.  Ha-ha it isn't filling up too much but that's okay.  Food is for slackers. ;) I am sure it will fill up soon enough.  The people that feed us are the BEST anyway so we are happy with that. 

Thanks for everything and I cannot wait to get those letters and packages that are being held hostage. They said I have like 10!!! Probably over-exaggerating but everyone knows me now in the mission and are like, "are you Farley? Someone loves you!" and I just say, "thats my momma!" haha so I don't know when I'll get them because the ZLs live kinda far.  At latest, Monday.

Love you all!

Your missionary, 

Elder Farley

Playground Time