Happy Baptism Day

Feb.9-Incredible Week

This past week was incredible. The highlight of the week was Thatos Baptism! He was so excited and it went perfectly! His Mom was so happy and was crying... We have reactivated her and his brother and sister just in the past couple of months!

Mj got a call friday morning from her new work place informing her that they were moving to a new place and that because of that she would have to work that sunday. Because of that we will be having their baptisms this week!

We reactivated a sweet guy named Lesego this past week! He is a professional soccer player and  lost his way with the busyness of life! We also got an amazing new investigator named Lucky! He is such a blessing...  He has been a "Church Hopper" and is wanting to find the truth!

In 1 Samuel 3:3-10 it tells the story of the Lord speaking to Samuel and him not recognizing the voice and thinking that it was Eli. How often does the Lord try and prompt or speak to us and we don't recognize His voice? With how busy the world is if we are not paying close enough attention we will miss those promptings. Let us put first things first and always act on the promptings we receive!

Elder Farnes

Exchanges and P-day fun

Scary night-someone was on the roof and shining lights into the apartment on this night! Eek!

Feb. 2-Temple Trip

This past week has been incredible! Mj, thelma, and thato all passed their baptismal interview this past week and will be baptised this sunday!

We were able to get a new investigator family of sisters from a member this week. They have been to church before and love it! One of the first things one of the daughters said is that she needs to be baptised and join the church! They are super prepared!

We had a temple trip on Friday which was so amazing! I absolutely love the temple and am so grateful for the opportunity we had to go there! I am so grateful for the revelation that we are able to receive while there.

We also had a soccer tournament with a few of the wards and we had a missionary team. Needless to say the missionaries lost... haha. It was a great opportunity to get a lot of non members to a fun activity though!

I went on exchanges this past week with Elder Worton. He is such a sick guy and we will be rooming together later on when he gets back but while we were sleeping we woke up to a few people running around on our roof and then flashing their lights in the windows trying to see what we had inside! It was pretty scary, but everything is good now!

In Mosiah 7:33 it talks about being delivered from Bondage. We can look at bondages as trials, challenges, addictions, or any small thing holding us back or restraining us. In there he gives us exactly what we need to do to be delivered and I love a few of the words that are used. The main ones I like was "He will" and "According to His own will and pleasure". The "He Will" helps us to recognize that we are nothing in these situations.. there is no way to overcome them except if we trust the Lord comletely and allow HIM to deliver us. The Second suggest that patience is key, we need to be willing to be on the Lord's timetable!

I love you all so much!

Elder Farnes

Jan.26-Best Place in the World

Another wonderful week in the best place in the world! Everything continues to move forward! One of the big highlights from the week was the fireside. It went perfectly. We discussed unity, played a game and had some refreshments. We had a great turn out from members, investigators, and less actives and the ward is wanting to do it every month!

Mj, thelma, and thato are all having their baptismal interviews on Tuesday. They are all part member families and it will be exciting to have them all baptised together!

Basadi and Sunday are back on track! We had a great lesson with them about our purpose as missionaries and the doctrine of Christ and they are more serious about making those steps forward than ever before!

We had an old man named Samuel that we have been working with for a couple weeks come back to church on Sunday. He can't even remember the last time he came. He is such a sweet guy and has been a member for about 20 years!

A less active named Jerry that we brought back to church a week ago introduced us to his friend and is fellowshipping him! The work is rolling forward!

In 2 Timothy 3:12 it talks about how ALL that will live Godly and in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. I am grateful for the opportunity sometimes to go through persecution for HIS sake, to be able to always represent HIM!

I love you!

Elder Farnes

Jan. 19-Members Helping

Everyone is officially back from vacation!!! I am so excited to have everyone back... it now will be even tougher to fit everyone into our schedule. But what a great blessing that is!

Our Investigators are all doing great! Everyone is progressing well and we are seeing the hand of the Lord truly change their lives. The only struggle we have right not is with Bemba.... he has had a few set backs and is really wondering if joining the church and be baptised is the right thing for him in his life right now. We are seeing him on Wednesday and he said he will come with his answer. Keep him in your prayers!

Members are continuing to do incredible missionary work. We had a couple members bring their friends to church and we also had another guy named Lucky that randomly decided to come this morning! After Church we went out again with the Leaders and visited Less Actives! We were able to get 2 more back this past sunday and have even more to see now!

This next sunday after church we are having a fireside to help build unity within the ward and to help people to bring friends and less actives back to church so we are telling everyone we see to come! It should be a great activity!

In Thessalonians 5:19 it says "Quench not the spirit." Is there anything in our lives that "quench" the spirit? Even just a little bit? Or maybe something small that will keep us from receiving even more of the spirit. In all our lives there is always something that can be done to better ourselves and enjoy more fully the companionship of the Holy Ghost. Make those changes today. Miracles will happen.

I love you all so much!

Elder Farnes

Jan. 12-Miracles

This past week has been a week of miracles!! Throughout the whole week we have been able to see the hand of the Lord in my life time and time again! People are progressing like never before, the LA work is moving along so quickly, and we have been getting a lot of referrals and member missionary work is being done!!

We got a call on wednesday night from a member of our ward who had a friend he wanted to introduce us to. To introduce us to him he decided to set up a pick up game of basketball! It was a ton of fun and we were also able to talk to a few of his other friends!

Friday night we were able to go and see the Chiloanes. We were able to paint their house earlier that week and came back to teach! They started right off with telling us how they want to be sealed together as a family this year! They were so excited and are going to meet with Bishop to get them started on the right path!

At church on Sunday we had over 130 people. They haven't gotten numbers like that for a year or more! We counted 9 non members that came as well as 13 less actives!! 5 new people decided to show up and we are meeting with all of them this week! 2 husbands and wifes and a guy that is married to a member!

Mj's sister also came to church on sunday for the first time. She has been joining in on the lessons, but has had no desire to progress! After church she ran up and told us that she wants to be baptised with her sister!!

The Lord is really blessing Hospital View and I am so grateful for it. We are so busy now that we have to squeeze people in to make sure that we see all that we need to. I am so grateful to be a missionary and to have the opportunity to serve others! This is HIS work!

Elder Farnes

Jan. 5-Happy New Year

This past week has been great! New Years is the best as missionaries because a lot of people want to start fresh and change things up in their lives! We decided to take advantage of this by doing a lot of less active work. We have been going out with a guy in our ward that knows everyone and it has been incredible. We have been just getting to know them and let them know we miss them and care about them. We were able to set return appts with all the people we met and are excited to start getting some more members active!!

Investigator wise things are going great. There are still a few people out of town on Holiday, but we have quite a few progressing towards baptism! Bemba is an incredible man and is on date for February... He has some ideas of his own that we have had to discuss, but he feels strongly that Joseph Smith and his story is a miracle in his life! MJ came to church yesterday :) and loved it! We had a fellowshipper lined up for her and she got along great with the ysa! We met with Ruben and his partner this past week and discussed marriage.. it went well and now the decision is up to them!

New years eve was really fun this past week! We got together with a couple other districts and had a big braii and played a lot of games!

In Phillipians 4:6-7 it talks avout how we need to turn to God in ALL that we do! Nothing is too big or too small to go to Him for. It then gives us the promise that IF we do so that we will receive peace... peace which passes all understanding and which will keep us strong! I am so grateful for the opportunity I have had to learn this lesson on mission and to completely trust Him in all that I do. I am so grateful for the peace that really does come, peace which the world cannot give! I love you all so much!

Elder Farnes

Dec. 29

This past week was really great! Christmas was one of the best yet and it was awesome to be able to skype you guys!!

We got an awesome new investigator this past week named Bemba. He is from the DRC and just randomly decided to come to church! He has really been prepared to receive the gospel and was definitely led by the Lord to come! A lot of our investigators have gone back to their homelands for the holidays, but they are still progressing well. We are keeping in good contact with them often. Elder Smalley and I have been doing different competitions this past week to find new people. For example one day it was a competition to give out the most pass along cards or to get the most return appts with a male over 20. It has been working great and should have some solid new people this week!

With New Year's day this week in mind I love a scripture from Luke 2:52. This scripture talks about how Jesus grew. It focuses on 4 main areas with - Spiritual, Physical,. Mental, and Social. I am so grateful for New Years Resolutions and for the opportunity they have to stretch us and make us into more than we ever thought we could be!! I love you all! Have a Happy New Year and let's make 2015 the best year yet!

Elder Farnes

Mission Conference

Hospital View Christmas Party

Dec. 22-Merry Christmas!

MERRY CHRISTmas!! :) This past week has been incredible here in Hospital View!
Thabo was confirmed a member of the church, received the priesthood, and already called as the 2nd councilor in the sunday school presidency! He is so excited and can't wait to serve the Lord! We had an awesome lesson with Basadi and Sunday before they left for a few weeks on temples and how they can be sealed to one another! They were so excited and motivated to do whatever it takes!

We had our ward christmas party this past week which was tons of fun! It was a great opportunity to get closer to the members and to get to know some of them a lot better. I think them being able to see us as regular people has helped some of them to trust us more! We were able to get some investigators, recent converts, and a less active family to be able to come!

At this time of the year I have been reflecting a lot on the Saviors birth and life! We have been sharing a lot of messages with people about gifts and why they are so special. I am so grateful for the gift that God has given us (John 3:16) and with all gifts it is up to us to receive it or not! Let us receive the gift of Christ this season! Lets experience the "true" reason for the season! I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to be giving the Savior the gift of myself at this time, to be able to give Him my everything!

I love you! Merry Christmas!

Elder Farnes

Thabos Baptism

Dec. 15-Thabos Baptism

Another great week here in South Africa! The highlight of the week had to have been Thabo's baptism. I have never seen him so excited... he wouldn't stop smiling! He has grown so much and was definitely prepared for that step in his life. He was able to bring his girlfriend and his mom to church with him and they loved it as well. In Gospel Principles class she stopped me and asked what she needed to do to be baptised! She said she has seen an incredible change in her son and wants the same in her life! 

On friday we had mission tour with Elder Cook from the Seventy. It was a really great conference and I learned a ton. The main theme for the conference was "Converted Unto the Lord" and we went through a lot about the changes that are needed for an investigator as well as ourselves to put off the natural man. Something that stood out to me was when he talked about our personal studies. He told us how if we are studying for ourselves we are limiting the revelation we could be receiving and being selfish. I am excited for the revelation to come as I put all my study efforts into the people we will be seeing. 

While I was studying for some of the investigators what really kept coming to me was the "WHY" in all the things that we do and how to make sure the people we are teaching understand that for themselves. If they understand the why, the will figure out the how! I was studying about the Sabbath Day for Sunday and Basadi and we decided to focus on receiving their own personal revelation through church attendance. We read Moroni 6:4-6 (the why) and then discussed how they can make church more meaningful for them. I love a quote from Pmg that says "Our Sabbath day behaviour is a reflection of our commitment to honor and worship God." I am so grateful for the sabbath day and the opportunity I have to receive answers to my questions and solutions to my problems while I am there. 

I love you!

Elder Farnes