Diving Catches!

July 27, 2014

another amazing week has passed. I am so very thankful for the support i have in my family and I have loved your advise about finishing up strong. Please don't worry about me! you can trust in Elder Farrow that he is going to step up his game even more in these last precious weeks. I am very happy.

Whenever the Mexicans want to get your attention they say "la neta es que", its like saying "the truth is my friend". and sooo i tell you all... la neta es que this week was a real toughie. we are passing by some trials here in our area and pray diligently to overcome everything here in Peñasco. Something that really really drew my attention this week was the little tender mercies of the Lord. We found little hidden blessings every single day this week. check this out! digamos que we are playing baseball and the second baseman lets a ground ball slip right threw the middle of his legs for an embarrassing error, he gets down and pretty sad. Then suddenly his shortstop makes a beautiful diving catch or a solid double play to pick him up and lift the spirit of the2nd baseman! perhaps lately my companion and I were a little down this week, but the the Lord was making diving catches all week! He lifted us up daily as we found new people to teach and people even were inviting us into their houses. God truly does try our patience sometimes!

I love the mission so much and am really having the time of my life. My comp is great and keeps me laughing all day. sometimes i feel like I have too many blessings, or I dont deserve the blessing i recieve hourly. The sun is sooo hot haha no maches it is really heating up here and sometimes I get molested by how much I sweat. I show up to the lunch appointments at 2 as a wet towel haha I am loosing lots of weight. But yeah all is dandy and I am lookiung forward to another event filled week. Today in my District meeting I "capacitated" (Grandpa moon I know that's not a common English word, but that's all I know how to say now haha) about working with the members and asking them for names. I only hope my family is workin hard in the missionary work over there too! I love you lots

Remember the Nails,

Elder Farrow

1. An awesome little family. "hidden blessings!"
2. A big frozen fish haha

Bouncin Back!

July 21, 2014

I feel that as my mission is coming to an end, I am finally getting strarted! I have asked myself recently if God is happy or satisfied with the work I have done, and I haven't gotten an answer yet. He just keeps on telling me, keep on working hard Elder Farrow! He expects much of me! I am having the time of my life. and enjoying every single minute of my time here in peñasco. and dang, it was an awesome week. One of our greatest logros was brigging the Valdez family to the church for 3 weeks in a row. there were very menos activos but now they are showing great faith and making huge sacrifices to keep the commandments. actually they have played a big role in helping Yuliza, their neighbor, prepare for her baptism. Yuliza has been to church 3 times also and we pray and fast so she can be baptised the 9th of august.

Among our successes this week we couldn't ignore other downfalls that kinda bummed us out. even after 2 years of missionary work, the words "we don't want anything to do with the church" hurt so bad sometimes!! it has been harder for my compánion. he is experimenting with missionary downfalls, and I have tried my very best to teach him positivity and faith. I strongly believe that the true measure of our success is based upon how many times we can bounce back from failure or regection!  

I was able to do 2 interchanges this week with 2 different companionship's this week. I felt like an assistant again. working hard in someone elses area is a blast. Sunday at church my companion and I had a special moment in the 3rd hour when we taught in primary. we taught about prayer and used scriptures in Mosiah 24:9-14 to explain that we can say prayers in our head and in our heart. we asked all the kiddos to fold their arms, close their eyes, bow their heads and pray. it was silent!! haha after a solid minute i told them they could open their eyes. A beautiful spirit entered the room and all the primary teachers were in tears. It was sweet, and helped me understand more fully the intimate connection we have with our Father in Heaven. He does hear and answer our prayers. He has answered mine, and we wait patiently so He answers the prayers of our investigators. based on His time and their faith.

lately my testimony of Christ and His gospel have been bouncing off the walls and been growing so much. learning of Christ has strengthened my soul and filled my heart with appreciation for my family! I love you guys so much and work daily to show my love for my Father in Heaven. You are always in my prayers my good family. I hope you have an awesome week =)

Mucho love,
Elder Farrow

A Chosen Missionary

July 14, 2014

A lot happened and it was a spiritual strengthening week for sure. I was definitely blessed with some answers to some personal questions I have been having lately! I know very well that God is aware of his missionaries. I am grateful to be in His hands.

Our week of work was interrupted by a meeting in Hermosillo.   My companion and I had to go to on Thursday. It was a special meeting for the new missionaries that are in their training. I remember a similar meeting I had as a greenie almost 2 years ago.You would think that President Hernandez would get tired of assigning me topics to speak in his meetings, but yet again I was able to prepare 30 minutes of capacitation on WORKING WITH MEMBERS!! hah it is something that we as missionaries are always hearing from our leaders, and I decided to take another approach. I explained to them how in missionary work there are chosen investigators and there are also chosen missionaries. A chosen missionary is a missionary that the members trust with their friends and loved ones. I had fun with it.

Coming back to Peñasco we finished the week of with a solid day of hard work. We knew that we had lost 2 precious days of work while traveling and in Hermosillo and that we needed to invite tons to church on Sunday. We did just that. We left the house early at  9 in the morning and returned at 9pm sharp. I feel very blessed to have a young companion that loves to work.  He is motivating to me which is good.

All is well. My testimony of the atonement has really grown in the 2nd half of my mission. With confidence I testify daily of His divinity and healing power. He fills the hearts of missionaries with joy! Being consecrated and dedicated has never been more fun. I want to be perfect and put my trust in the Lord day after day after day.

I love my family! thanks for your prayers. they never go unanswered.
Remember the Nails,
Elder Farrow

1. I ate dat
2. Superman!! hahh my buddy. kids here bath and play in big tubs of cold water to cool down.

WOW! that just happened :D

Jammin! haha Mas Cerca Dios de Ti :) Himno 50!

Add captionLa Hermana Bastida y su hija Monica! they were a great help to us this week

 La Zona Peñasco!

La Familia Lopez Guerra! Lupita, Andrea and Jose :D

On Mon, Jul 7, 2014 at 7:22 PM, Blake Farrow <blake.farrow@myldsmail.net> wrote:
Family! otra semana nos ha pasado que si fuera un sueño! I cant believe how many tender mercies and how many blessing we were able to see this past week. taking a breath after a long days work you take a deep breath and say "WOW! that just happened." The Lord is surely working side by side with us! we were blessed to see 3 miracles this week. Their names are Lupita, Andrea and Jose. all three entered the waters of baptism this week :D trust me they had their share of opposition and truly had their personal and family battles with Satan in order to reach their goals, but they did it! I love their family so much, Lupita is a single mother who has sacrificed a lot to be baptised. They were also supported tons by the sister missionaries in the branch here and I am grateful for them too!

Like any missionary week, we had our ups and downs, but definitely stayed positive. If i were a boy scout again, I think I would have earned my bicycling merit badge like 9 times this week, we ran into some serious bike trouble. but all is well and we keep rolling on. We worked a ton with members this week and continue to be impressed by the faith of these great members. the majority of the saints here are converts and most have less than 10 years in the iglesia. they all remember very well their missionaries and are super willing to help us. especially when they can see two young missionaries with fire in their eyes and huge desire to serve. We try our very best to show these members how much we love being missionaries. It has honestly been a blast training Elder Corona. I have seen lots of progress in him, and he will be a great leader here in the mission.

My cheeks hurt from smiling so much this last hour. First seeing baby Emery laughing and then seeing my beautiful sister Brooke all chimpmunked up after getting teeth pulled. I have no doubts all is well in the USA. Sadly I was not able to celebrate tons the 4th of July, even though we are close to the border, there want much celebration :( but who cares, I feel Mexican now anyways haha I love it here in Peñasco and look forward to a solid week of work.

I have a burning desire to find, teach, baptise and master the Spanish language. I bask in the opportunity to be constantly serving others! i have a very pure testimony that joy is the result and prize of hard missionary work. I love this Gospel and my family. I am at peace

Always Remember the Nails,
Elder Farrow

1. La Zona Peñasco!
2. La Familia Lopez Guerra! Lupita, Andrea and Jose :D