Cloud 9

July 29, 2013

hello family! this week was awesome. The truth is that when I arrived here 3 and a half months ago, opening up this area was a definite trial for me.  I consider my first couple weeks in Hermosillo the most difficult weeks that I have had here on the mission. I have been blessed to see the fruits of my labor in these last couple weeks. Yesterday in church just over 150 people were in attendance, and 12 of those 150 where our investigators! When we started here, the ward only had about 70 of so members attending on Sundays. Also among those 150 were several non-active families that Elder Castro and I have been working with!

 Perhaps only people who have served a mission can comprehend what I am about to say, but my companion and I have so much love for our investigators, non-actives, and ward family. As we young people set off to serve others in foreign lands and leave our families at home, we are gifted new families and even more people to love. It is a strange thing to think that I even have a place in my heart for the random strangers I see in the street. If you asked me what I liked most about missionary, I would tell you that it is opening up my mouth to complete strangers and testifying to them the importance of Jesus Christ, families, and the necessary steps we need to take to reach our highest goal of eternal life. You would not believe the kind of responses I get. Some look me straight in the eyes and tell me I'm wrong, others interrupt me before I can finish and tell me they are Catholic, others give me the time of day but don't want anything to do with us, and then there are those who listen well and want to hear just a little bit more. Those are the ones we want to find, those are the ones that will progress.

Sunday really was one of my favorite days of my mission! The week was pretty solid. However, we did have one terrible day haha Thursday was blazin hot and because of one thing or another all of our plans fell through. Either the people were not home, were busy, or asked us to come back another day. We had very little success Thursday, but we had a good laugh while returning back to our house. Its just like that sometimes and one can only hope and pray that the next day will be better! lo and behold Friday was alot better :)

There is a parallel correspondence between the heat here in Hermosillo and our level of productivity. As the temperature rises our faith grows and the ward begins to understand their importance in missionary work. With the augmenting heat, our investigators progress and prepare them selves for their baptisms. haha am I weird? Its all good. Thank you for you love, support, emails, and attempts to send me packages. My family is my rock and my motivation. You are all in my prayers, and I hope you all have an incredible week.

Les Quiero a Cada Uno de Ustedes!
Elder Farrow

P.S. The memory chip on my camera has a virus! it wont let me open up and see my photos when I connect it to the computer. I know they are not erased cuz I can see them on my camera! Ill try to get it fixed. This week I will use the other camera so I can send some pictures! haha flapple