An Old Yellow House

played futbol with this young sprout. he was the only one brave enough to take a pic with the american haha we played with about 5 other niños

25 Feb 2013

Pretty intense little week! Not sure if you have heard already, but they will be splitting the Mexico Hermosillo Mission in two and creating the Mexico Obregon Mission! this will take place in Julio, but that was pretty big news for me! It snowed some more in Cananea. Although it was droppin a few snowflakes here and there, there was a bunch of hail and cold cold rain. At one point in the day the wind was blowing so hard that chunks of ice were flying sideways and stinging our faces. Hah! Good thing about Cananea snow storms is they never stay for too long. the clouds left the next day and the sun straight melted all the remaining snow. Cananea was a swamp of mud. we had some fun with that!

We have been working with Luis, his wife Dennia and their son Bruno. They are a sweet family with huge potential and great faith. Luis is exercising his patience while waiting for an "answer" to his prayers. He is searching for his testimony in regards mostly to Joseph Smith and the Restauration. He loves our visit and makes us feel like part of the family. PLEASE keep this family in your prayers! In my missionaries opinion i believe they are part of the "white" in the phrase "the field is white ready to harvest". At least that is what I hope for! :)

I had a very special, spirit guiding, personal experience this week during one of my morning studies! I have been reading a book called The Continuous Atonement by Brad Wilcox. It is a super awesome easy read that I look forward to reading every morning and night. Anyways, I woke up right at 6:30, turned on the heater and started reading. After a half hour or so reading this book, I turned to another great read, you may have heard of it, its called The Book of Mormon. I was reading in Alma and it was like BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! haha like i was just reading a list of answers that my Father in Heaven had prepared for me. But this isnt the super sweet part. I woke my companion up at 10 and we began to plan for our day. Elder Liddle began this planning session with a prayer and during this prayer I saw in my mind very clearly an old yellow house. A house that Elder Villegas and I had visited one of my first weeks here in Mexico. We knocked the front door and nobody answered, and we never went back. It was a clear as day. To tell you the truth I really thought nothing of it. None the less, I suggested we visited this house first thing after leaving our apartment.

We walked up to this battered old yellow house and knocked the door. We were greeted by 14 year old Mayra and her Mother Gracia. The mother is an inactive member who is a relatively recent convert, and hasn't been to church in 5 years. We shared a quick message about faith (Ether 12:4,6,12). We concluded with our testimonies and while testifying I expressed how I had a special feeling this morning, a feeling where we needed to come to this house but I didn't know why! In response to our message Graicia explained to us, through her watered eyes, that she had quit her job 2 days before our visit! She had worked at this job for 5 years, and was unable to attend church because of it. She told us that she had nearly forgotten about church and if it wasn't for us and our visit she probably would have never found the desire to return back to church. She said thank you probably 40 times before we left!

Never before on my mission had I had such a spiritually guided experience. I was glad I was able to be a worthy receptor of the spirit on that morning, as I was following mission rules and studying as I should have been. I was glad we visited that old yellow house, and were able to help the lives of la familia Vasquez! I have said it before and I'm sure I will say it countless times throughout these next 18 months, there is no greater privilege than to be a missionary for this church. The days are tough and the work is hard, but there is no greater joy we missionaries are able to feel daily through our labors. I love my church, my God, my Redeemer and my family! My brother Elder Urry and his family are in my prayers this week. love you buddy, smile through through the trails, you are the man! Have an incredible week

-Elder Farrow

P.S. I have taken missionary-sleep-talking to a whole other level. This week Elder Liddle woke me up at 3 in the morning as I was on my knees, next to my bed on the cold tile floor, saying a prayer out loud, in Spanish! hahah I dont remember a thing. I love it.

Howdy

Feb. 18,2013

It seems like it was just Wednesday that I was writing you my last email! Oh wait, it was. After a slow start to this week Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday were great days. We worked hard to get some solid stats even though we missed out on some working hours. We had really good lessons with some new investigators and we hope to see them progress in the upcoming weeks. But, probably the highlight of my week was on Saturday night. After a long day of work we stopped by the house of Luis and his family. Only to make a quick visit and invite them our District Conference (our stake conference), maybe share a scripture then leave for other plans.

They invited us in then invited us to dinner! haha they are actually pretty well to do and live in one of the bigger houses I have been in here in Cananea. Anyways, we went to this "sushi" restaurant and I had un rollo mexicano. It had rice, steak, chile, and other stuff. It was not sushi haha but I ate it all. At dinner the started asking us questions like, "where did we come from? why are we here on earth? and where do we go after we die?" like seriously they were these exact questions almost word for word. we told them... once we go back to your house we will have a chat about a special little plan that God has for us! ;) so we went home and taught a pretty powerful Plan of Salvation lesson. Definitely the best I had taught this lesson during my time in Mexico. Luis¨s wife was just asking question after question and we were following up with answer after answer. After we testified of the truthfulness of our message we invited them to district conference. They were a little hesitant because their son Bruno was pretty sick. We explained priesthood blessings and how if we have faith in Jesus Christ what is said in the blessing, in time, will come to pass. Of course they accepted. Elder Liddle and I placed our hands upon his head and Elder Liddle gave a very powerful, in tune, spiritual blessing. Once again we were able to witness a real priesthood stunner. He looked up at us with a smile that I will never forget. man I love the mission

Long story longer, they woke up early and went to our district conference. it was in Agua Prieta, about an hour drive, but they made the sacrifice none the less. Later after conference both Luis and his wife expressed to me of the spirit they felt, especially during the special number the choir put on. I was ecstatic they enjoyed the session and Elder liddle and I have great hope for this young family. We will continue to visit them and I will fill you in as time goes on.

Other than that, a pretty normal week. I am pretty sore from all the walking we did, and I got a haircut. hah its the shortest my hair has ever been since birth. Nanny,sorry about all those years of whining about wanting to keep my hair long, i like short hair so much better haha less maintenance. Its all part of this missionary life that I love. Fam and friends, just know that I couldn't be happier. the life I live as a missionary is pretty crazy at times, but I am worthy, happy and learning lots. I know in my short time here I have changed for the better and more than anything my testimony is growing. exponentially growing!

Have an amazing week, and never forget to remember the nails. Have fun on the cruise ladies! love you all

Elder Farrow

XOXO Happy Valentines Day

 1. The one and only Daniel! the afternoon after he received the priesthood blessing!
2. A pretty sweet view from the back side of Cananea Vieja

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13 febrero 2013

hola mi familia y amigos. I hope I didn't get you too worried mom when I didn't write you on Monday! Yes, I traveled to Hermosillo, just to tend to some immigration ID card things. Its all good and hopefully it will be my last trip to Hermosillo for a while. It is the most winding stretch of a 5 hour buss ride you could ever imagine! I have been reading Jesus the Christ and was able to enjoy some hours of reading. I love the crazy insights i get from reading it, Its like a couple dozen light bulbs turn on above my head every chapter I read. Anyways, I am safe and back in Cananea as of this morning,

Anyways, this week was pretty solid. Elder Liddle and I have been having fun getting to know one another and I have learned that this guy is a stud! We have been blessed here in Cananea with sun, snow and everything in between haha we never know what to wear in the morning because the weather changes every 30 minutes. We have been walking our tails off lately, and have been doing our best to teach as many lessons as we can!. I have been setting crazy personal goals and working hard to complete all of them. some are little, others will take longer time to complete. I'm intense haha what?!! I was able to give several blessings these last couple weeks but a blessing this week really stood out to me!

We are teaching a couple named Terry and Daniel, I have spoken of them before. They are a super poor, humble and grateful people. They are pretty hard to find here in this pueblo because they sell firewood and they bounce around from place to place during the day selling it all. However, at about 3pm on Thursday we found them on a street corner. We saw that Daniel was limping pretty bad, we asked him what happened and he said that when he was cutting down a tree in the mountains that the tree fell on him and crunched his leg. He lifted up his pant leg and we could see how bad it actually was. His ankle was all mangled and covered in dried blood. It was clearly in VERY bad shape. They asked us to come by their house later in the evening, and we shuffled around our plans to their request. at 7ish we knocked at their door and Terry let us in! we made our way to their bedroom where we found Daniel layin down on the bed. We opened with the prayer and immediately felt the spirit! (maybe it was the wood burning stove on my side, nearly roasting the left side of my face to a sizzling golden brown, but I don't think so) We read parts of Alma 32 and again we talked about the importance of church and baptism. before closing we asked Daniel if he wanted a priesthood blessing. Without a millisecond of hesitatin he said yes. Elder liddle first anointed with oil, then i followed with the blessing. I felt prompted to say in the blessing that if he had faith in Jesus Christ that his leg would be healed by morning and he would be able to walk without affliction or irritation the next day! It was a pretty long blessing. I closed the blessing in the name of Jesus Christ and I swear the Holy Ghost could have been standing right next to us because we felt His presence so strong in this small bedroom. With tears in Daniels eyes he thanked us, We left their home almost 2 hours from the time we walked inside. The best part of the story is when we saw Daniel the next day he really was healed. When we walked towards him and his wife next to their overflowing truck of cut wood Daniel had the biiiigest smile on hims face. He was even getting a little cocky and tried a heel clicker in front of us hahaha he sure wasn't completely healed, because he really felt that!

Farrow family and friends, I know that Christ lives and that he is aware of every one of us. I know that miracles exist and when we really strive daily to live the gospel of Jesus Christ daily we can be strengthened. We can be uplifted and edified. And more than anything we can feel of the love our Father in Heaven, and His son has for us. Yeah there are speed bumps on the straight and narrow path, but we look ahead and remember that faith is always pointed in toward the future we will feel of this unique eternal love. I know this church is true and I know that God is looking down on us every moment of the day. I am so lucky to be a missionary here in Cananea. I am staying positive through the ups and down and putting my trust in the Lord always. I love you all and hope you have a wonderful Valentines week!

Much Love,

Elder Farrow

P.S. Uncle Dave thank you so much for your email. It was along the lines of my thinking and I appreciate every word! It really clarified a lot of things about this doctrinal "doubt" that this brother has. Thank you! love you Uncle!

We are the Elders, the mighty mighty Elders!

elder liddle and I making a bomb green salsa en la casa de la familia Sanchez. ill send you the recipe! no pica nada

4 de febrero 2013

Hello Family! Tomorrow I complete 5 months in the mission! how crazy is that, time absolutely flies. I wish it would slow down sometimes! often I don't have time to slow down and smell the frijoles! but holy cow, i have loved every bit of these last 5, the ups the downs and in betweens! This week was a great one! You know I have a new companion, his name is Elder Liddle, he's from Orlando Florida, he has 13 months on his mish, plays lacrosse, he's the youngest of 5,  likes to cook, and wants to be a lawyer. He and I have some things in common and I'm looking forward to serving with him for at least the next 4 weeks until cambios.

Part of my duty as a missionary is to strengthen the area where I am assigned to serve. This week I took great pride in visiting lots of inactive families, and meeting tons of great members. Members who just need a little extra motivation to go to church and change some old habits. Elder Liddle and I printed off a new branch list. with an 11 page list of over 400 names we knew we had our work cut out for us. We got to work. met the Zabala family, Rodriguez family, Perez family, Gutierrez family and lots of others. We did have a hard time finding some of their homes, but all were very receptive to our visits. only the Zabala family went to church this week, but we are going to keep on working!

A quick story! it was late, haha well like 7:30, but we had plans to visit 2 household before we went back home. the thing was they were pretty far away from each other. after talkin a bit I told Elder Liddle. "Hey! if we run we could probably do both lessons!" so I kinda took off on a little jog, Liddle rolled his eyes then followed, and passed me on my right in a full out sprint haha we ran 20 minutes to one house, taught a quick lesson on the Love our Father has for each of his children (1 nephi 21:14-16), then hustled another 15 minutes to the other house and taught a similar lesson! I'm out here on the Lords time and I'm not gonna waste one minute! One good thing about having an American companion, is that he knows alot of the same movies I grew up with. Earlier in the day we were chattin about Remember the Titans, sooooo as we were running through the streets of Cananea that night we were chanting, "Everywhere we go... People wanna know... Who we are... So we tell them... We are the Elders, the mighty mighty Elders!" HAHA! This gave us a little ounce of inspiration and kept us running at a pace even Usain Bolt couldnt keep up with!

All is well in Cananea. Considering my companion knows nothing about Cananea, I was a tour guide this week and took him all over the place. I seriously know every corner, nook and cranny of this old town, and never got even the slightest bit lost. Interesting how much you really learn in such a short time. Still no news about Victoria, hope all is well with her and she is still in our prayers daily. other investigators have left town and we have had to send them off to other missionaries in other areas. We teach a family who cooks 300 donuts every day and sells all of them. So yes, I learned to cook and eat donuts mexican style.

I love this gospel, and my calling as a missionary. I love serving others and making habits that I will keep for the rest of my life. My patriarchal blessing gives me tons of strength and I try to live my life in such a way where the promises it contains come to pass. Each day I strive to be the missionary my family is praying I will be and my Father in Heaven NEEDS me to be! Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Farrow!

Send a Valentine...or a note to:

Elder Farrow
C/O Elba Lopez Nunez
1231 E 18th St
Apt B
Douglas, AZ 85607-1788