MIRACLES IN LOCKDOWN - 03/30/2020

Cute package from my mama!!

WELL my friends, I AM TELLING YA, every time p-day ends we find out more!!! SO just tune in next week to find out what happens today!! Just kidding hahaha BUT last Monday, we had a Zoom Mission Call and found out we are in LOCKDOWN. AH HOMIES. This is all just wild!!! SO here are the restrictions for the whole of the UK... we can only go outside to exercise (one time a day), go to the grocery store (when it is ABSOLUTELY necessary), AND to go to the doctor's (if it is an emergency). SO basically Sister Lundkvist and I are going wild in our flat and we are not very good at this whole stay inside 24/7 thing because we have so much energy ALLLL the time!!! BUT ALL IS WELL. I am just grateful to go through this crazy adventure as a missionary and I am grateful for all the incredible miracles that the Lord is blessing us with!!!

This week was a good week! We have been gaining contact with a lot of people that use to be taught along with some returning members which has been good! I feel like every day we are like 'AH what are we going to do????' Then it ends up being the craziest day ever and we feel like we don't have time for everything we want to do!!! SO that is nice because it keeps us busy! BUT don't get me wrong, we still have our moments of going crazy and being bored out of our minds so that is an adventure but we are grateful to be alive and well and we are just counting our many many MANY blessings. Our mission has seen SO many miracles!!! In the last week, we have put 13 people on date to be baptized

!!! It is incredible! No matter how hard this all is, we have been able to gain contact with prepared people and it is amazing. I LOVE SEEING PEOPLE COME CLOSER TO JESUS CHRIST. IT IS AMAZING!!!

Exercise time is so fun!!

Well, this work is still amazing and I still love it! I just can't help but think about how grateful I am to still be out on my mission and my heart is with everyone that has had to go home or be reassigned. I have constantly thought about a scripture in the Book of Mormon and it is Alma 26:27 and it says..

"Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold, the Lord comforted us, and said: Go amongst thy brethren, the Lamanites, and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success."

It has reminded me a lot of this time! We are all having moments where our hearts are depressed or we are feeling down but in those moments when we turn to the Lord and keep pressing forward with patience then we WILL have success in any way we need. The Lord is there and He is aware of every single one of us and every trial we have in this life and He wants to help us!!! I am so grateful for that and I hope you all know that the same applies to YOU. I LOVE YOU ALL. I HOPE YOU ARE SAFE. I pray for you constantly. Have a good week!!!!

LOVE YOU ALWAYS,
sister farnworth

"WHAT IS THIS RIGHT NOW?" - 03/23/2020

 Mission Zoom Call!!

 HELLO EVERYONE WELCOME BACK TO THE LIFE OF SISTER FARNWORTH HERE IN THE GOOD OLD EMM. The title of this week are the five most said words by Sister Farnworth in the last 8 days, hope you enjoyed it! This week has been a wild week and if you were to ask me a year or even a month ago if I would have thought any of this would have happened I would have laughed and said a big no!! SO, in other words, THIS IS WILD. Let us just begin on this adventure we have been on in the last week, ready? Me neither but we'll start anyways hahaha buckle up! This is going to be a long one!!!

OUR OUTSIDE ADVENTURES!!

OKAY, so approximately 2 hours after saying goodbye to our families last week we got hit with the "you can't talk to anyone face-to-face anymore" text. SO we weren't in isolation BUT all we could do is walk from our flats to the chapel and then home... we couldn't talk to anyone or make new friends or just have any social interaction (me and my companion had a little freak out hahaha we NEED social interaction) or anything OKAY but we could still go outside as much as possible so we had our first (of many) Zoom Mission Phone Call and got told to take walks to get air, BASICALLY, to go outside as much as we can which was great we were all for it!! THEN we obviously couldn't stop talking about how crazy it all was BUT THERE WAS MORE AND WE JUST DIDNT KNOW IT. WELL the next day was great, we walked to the chapel, spent sometime there, it was nice! THEN the next morning during our good old personal study we got hit with the "do not leave your flats unless absolutely necessary" text. HAHAHA WHAT. So we couldn't leave our flats unless it was for exercising time or to buy groceries or to do little acts of service SO yeah, not 100% isolation but I think I am seeing it in our near future!

The Cat Scavenger Hunt!!

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ALSO since our chapel is more than 30 minutes away, we have had to sit in our flat all day and have video call lessons on our data and oh MY GOODNESS. Let me just paint a picture for you, okay SO imagine the two most extroverted people in the whole world in a flat all day. Yeah, rough amiright? BUT that is okay!!! We have been making the best of it and we just do weird things to make ourselves laugh LIKE Sister Lundkvist doing some toe touches, making up some words to the cup song, getting out the bikes and riding them back and forth in the lounge area, learning some judo, putting our chairs in the one place where the sun is shining through the window and SO MUCH MORE. BUT the best part is just calling people and talking about the gospel!! AH there is so much fear in the world so just having lesson after lesson (because everyone is cooped up in there flats so why not yanno) has been amazing! AH it is so amazing. OH ALSO we saw some miracles to brighten our time in the flat! OKAY so since we couldnt have social interaction face-to-face and we don't have facebook, we have had to text every single contact in our phone! We made some friends by doing it but there was one who was just a miracle beyond miracles! SO let me tell ya, there was this man we texted and we just sent the usual text telling him we are the new missionaries in Shrewsbury and whatnot AND he just responded and said that he hadn't had contact with the church in MONTHS but only a few hours earlier, he went to his friend's house (who is a member of the church) and the friend gave him a Book of Mormon and said that getting this Book will get the balling rolling THEN AN HOUR LATER WE TEXTED HIM. WHAT. I am telling you, God is SO aware of His children!!! It is amazing!!! We were able to video call with him a couple of days later which was amazing, he is so incredible!!! He doesn't live in our area anymore so we will pass him on the elders where he lives but it will be good!!!! BUT it was an amazing miracle!!!

BUT that is not all, we were just living the best lives you could live while inside most of the time! THEN we woke up on Saturday morning with a text of the most recent update from the church and a text from our Mission President saying he doesn't know what is next but he will keep us updated! SO tears soon followed as the idea of going home popped in my head but I didn't want to dwell on that so we went on a walk for our morning exercise and our Zone was doing a scavenger hunt and take a picture with a cat... here are some photos! BUUUUT yes then we lived our best life and worked hard and did missionary work so we didn't have time to think about any what if's (even though there were members texting us every 10 minutes telling us we were going home) THEN we had another Mission Zoom Call and found out we are not going home and life is GOOD. AHHH what a blessing. I mean, anything can change at any second but as of right now, I am not going home and that brings me peace.

THEN on Sunday we had a few devotionals with members and they were all lovely! The last one we had with members was one of the sweetest. We were talking and getting to know them at the end and they were asking about our families and how we feel and we basically just shared thoughts and bore testimony and the husband said "you two are very strong missionaries, huh?" We were both shocked and he just told us "he could tell". It was so kind! Definitely made both of our lives! So SO nice!

Fun pics w Sister Lundkvist!!!

WELLL that was our week. It was an adventure and this is a time in my life that I will definitely never forget!!! BUT with everything going on this has also been one of the most Spirit-filled weeks of my life! One thing in particular that has stuck out to me a lot this week was a talk I read a little bit ago at church when I was in Manchester! There is a story in it about a man who was diagnosed with bone cancer three weeks after he got married. Elder Bednar went to visit him and asked him multiple questions with one being "Do you have the faith not to be healed?" NOW YOU SEE, we know that it is so easy to have the faith for this to all be over tomorrow but is it as easy to have the faith for this to continue longer than we want?? Definitely not but we truly need to accept the Lord's will and timing in everything we do, especially during this time! I am 100% confident in my Father in Heaven and I know He has a plan that is so much greater than mine. I know that whatever He needs me to do, I will do it will a smile on my face even if it isn't what I would want to do. My heart is with all the missionaries or people that have been affected because of this in any way and I love you! I know this is all happening for a reason, all we need to do is trust. We are not alone. Our Saviour is walking through all of this with us and can give us the strength we need to keep on going. A scripture that had come to my mind a lot is in Alma 26:27 where it says...

"Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold, the Lord comforted us, and said: Go amongst thy brethren, the Lamanites, and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success."

Right now is a time more than ever that our hearts can be depressed BUT I promise that if we turn to our Heavenly Father in prayer and patience, he will lift us so we can have peace and joy with everything going on. I love this gospel and I love this work. I am thinking about you and praying for you always! I would love to hear from everyone to make sure you are all doing okay!!!! HAVE A GOOD WEEK.

LOVE YOU ALWAYS,
sister farnworth

WHAT IS GOING ON!!!!! - 03/16/2020

No more floods!!

Me and a lion!!

HELLO MY BUDDY OLD PALS. WELLL, this week has been the definition of WILD. Church has been canceled until further notice, we have been having lessons over video call on WhatsApp and over the phone, AND we have had to buy lots of food to prepare for whatever is next! AND IT IS CRAZY! Hahaha, I don't know what is next but I do know that there is a plan that is so much greater than ours and there is a purpose for everything in life!!! SO WE ARE STILL SMILING.

MY CUTE FRIEND IN ST. HELENS GOT BAPTIZED!!!

LOVE SHREWSBURY!!!

Other than all of that it has been a good week!!! The flooding has come back for a second but it got better again. HMM, also we had a lot of good lessons with our friends and were able to have a lot of spiritual experiences while having a lot of fun!!! I love Shrewsbury so much and I never want to leave this place. IT IS AMAZING.

WELL this email is going to be short and sweet BUT I know there is SO much going on in the world and seriously my heart breaks for all the people that have been affected by the Coronavirus, whether it was being sent home early from their mission or being in quarantine or getting the sickness. I am thinking and praying for you always. I know I said this scripture only a few weeks ago but it just applies so much now. It is in 1 Nephi 11:17 and it says:

17 And I said unto him: I know that he loveth his children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things.

YOU SEE, no one knows why all of this is happening and it is hard and scary but I know, without a doubt, that God is so aware of us and He loves us!!! I know that there is a plan that is so much bigger than we know and it will all be okay. I love you all so much and I am praying for you more than you know!!!! I love you and I hope you all are happy and healthy! Have a good week and stay safe!!!

LOVE YOU ALWAYS,
sister farnworth

fun pics with sister lundkvist !!

 

THE FLOODING IS OVER, I REPEAT THE FLOODING IS OVER - 03/09/2020

Service Project for the flooding!!! We sorted out like 192784936 plumbing things SO FUN :')

 HI, MY SWEET BABES. That is RIGHT!!! The flooding is gone and we are grateful!!! Now we have service projects left and right SO YEET. WELLLLLLL also I am so sad because tomorrow I hit ELEVEN MONTHS. AH, WHAT? Isn't that insane??? Time is flying and I am BIG SAD about it, I don't know if anyone could tell BUUUUT I never want to go home, especially now!!! HAHAHA also I don't have the coronavirus but y'all this thing is wild and we had to shop for food this week and then two more weeks in case we go into quarantine hahaha TALK ABOUT WILD. It was the hardest shopping trip of my life LIKE I felt like an idiot stocking up on toilet paper and rice and pasta BUT what can ya do!!! ANYWAYS We have so many miracles here in the good old Shrewsbury!!! LIKE SO MANY. Like AHHH the Lord is so aware of His people!!! OKAY, IT IS SO GOOD.

ZONE CONFERENCE!!

LET US BEGIN!!! So every month, we have this thing called the 'Why I Believe Devotional' and you see, we couldn't go to the last one because no friend to come with. At first, we were sad but then we met this friend and HE WAS SO GOOD. We were both flipping out after because we knew he was the reason we weren't supposed to go to the devotional :') WELL fast forward to later in the week and we met with him and oh my goodness. The whole time, I just thought about how it wasn't a coincidence that we met him and I told him and he kept saying the same. AH God is so aware of His children, I love it. I LOVE THIS GOSPEL. Since then, he came to church and we are meeting again before our Book of Mormon class this Wednesday SO it was such a miracle!!! AHHH I LOVE IT. We also had another friend come to church which was amazing! Let me tell ya, there is no greater feeling than someone coming to church! It is so amazing to see these people come closer to God and Jesus Christ. I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY.

MY ZONE-THE CHESTER AND NEWCASTLE ZONE

We also had Zone Conference and homegirl was just so emotional. I LOVE THE BOOK OF MORMON and I am so grateful that God has given another bit of His word to study to know Him and His Son!!! IT IS INCREDIBLE. At the very end, anyone was able to go up and bear testimony so I went up and I had to take a good 60 seconds because the waterworks came (hehehe I am officially your classic sister missionary... whoops) BUT the spirit was so strong. I loved it!!! I LOVE MY MISSION.

No more flooding! We can see the pavement!!!

HAHAHAH also something funny that happened this week was we woke up on Saturday morning and our flat was FREEZING and we were like hmmm?? THEN my comp went to take a shower and it never got warm SO we were like flip AND LOOKS LIKE OUR BOILER WENT OUT. So we were all panicked but we had to go so we went and did our daily duties then got home that night and we were like oh flip we have church tomorrow and we HAVE to have a shower so we went to our neighbor (who we are also teaching) and asked if we could use her shower, honestly the funniest moment of my life but she is so sweet and let us so it was good! I will never forget that night!!! THE JOYS OF BEING A MISSIONARY.

I don't even know what else happened this week BUT it was wild and such a good week!!! I love this work SO MUCH. I say that every week but honestly it is not a lie! That doesn't mean it isn't hard because TRUST ME. I have my hard days/weeks but whenever it gets hard I think of this scripture in Alma 26:27 AND IT SAYS:

"27 Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold, the Lord comforted us, and said: Go amongst thy brethren, the Lamanites, and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success."

YANNO this can apply to anything in life, sometimes things happen and I CAN PROMISE that when we look to the Lord and continue in patience, he will give us success. NOW success is not always how we want it but it is always how we need it and that is incredible. I LOVE YOU ALL and I pray for you always, I hope you are all doing SO GOOD. HAVE THE MOST FANTASTIC WEEK!!!!

LOVE YOU ALWAYS,
sister farnworth

MORE FLOODS AND BROKEN BRAKES - 03/02/2020

Walking my broken bike!

FLOOOOODDDSSS!!

 OKAY FOR STARTERS CAN WE JUST TALK ABOUT HOW QUICK TIME GOES???!??? I feel like I was writing y'all like two seconds ago BUT what can ya do!!! ANYWHO THE BIKING DAYS HAVE ENDED FOR THE NEXT WEEK SO THAT'S A BIG RIP. hahahaha just kidding but it has sucked not to have our bikes because my brakes broke AS I WAS RIDING DOWNHILL. It was honestly the scariest moment of my life but I lived hahaha we had to walk my bike to a bike shop then home so it was an ADVENTURE and a half but we love it because I am alive and well!!! BUT enjoy the photo's of me walking my bike!! ALSO, the floods got worse and the streets all over Shrewsbury were flooded so all the roads were closed and it was an ADVENTURE hahahaha but we love the rain!!!

American Restaurant (the owner is from NY)

PRETTY OLD SHREWSBURY

WHAT ELSE HAPPENED THIS WEEK. We had a little movie night and watched the Restoration which was so fun hahaha we had hot chocolate and popcorn so life was good!!! ALSO, we saw a lot of little miracles which is always the best! I love Sister Lundkvist and I definitely feel like I am being more myself and I can feel the Lord's hand in everything that we do SO WE ARE HAPPY. I don't have much time but I just want to share a really good experience we had this week SOOO we were visiting with some members that lost a loved one and we just were able to talk to them and bear testimony that we can see our loved ones again and I don't even know but it was one of the most spiritual experiences of my life and I just love it!!! I LOVE THIS GOSPEL and I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY. IT IS SO GOOD.

MOVIE NIGHT!!

AH also this week we have studied a lot on the Restoration for our zone conference coming up and for a talk we have to give in church which is a blast and a half BUT I just love the gospel and I love the fact that the restoration is still happening!!! IT IS AMAZING. I LOVE IT SO MUCH. I know this is the gospel of Jesus Christ and I am so blessed to have it in my life!!! I love my Heavenly Father and my Saviour and I am so blessed!!! I love you all so much and I hope you are all doing so amazing!!! I pray for you all constantly and am grateful for you all!!! HAVE THE BEST WEEK.

LOVE YOU ALWAYS,
sister farnworth