January 30, 2012

Elder Farmer holding Liahona (Ensign) magazine with picture of his cousin, Sister Kelsey Farmer (cute red head) LDS General Conference/Salt Lake City Temple Square, October, 2011

January 30, 20012

Good week here in the southern hemisphere. This week improved because now Elder Salmon knows almost all of the investigators, members, and area, so we can work more effectively. On Wednesday we had a multi zone conference with the President. He sent out an email about 4 weeks ago and warned everyone that a companionship would be selected on that day to do a 5 minute practice teaching the atonement to an ¨investigator¨ that we would meet that day. So everyone has been studying and focusing on the atonement to prepare. Needless to say, Elder Salmon and I were selected on the spot to participate in the practice and teach in front of about 60 other missionaries. It was a great learning experience and I feel good knowing the president picked us. We spent the whole morning at the conference studying and discussing the atonement; something that we will never be able to fully comprehend but is so powerful when you use it according to peoples needs.

On Thursday Elder Sims hit one year, and it is a tradition in Ecuador and Peru that whenever there is a birthday or accomplishment like this, you crack an egg on the person’s head or throw flour at them. So that’s what we did. I’m sending the picture of the aftermath when Elder Sims charged us with his head and rubbed egg on all of us. Quite hilarious to watch someone smack an egg on someone’s head. In other news, we’ve got a baptismal date for next Sunday for the grandma of Luis and Kiara. I think that does it for this week. Love you fam. Que Dios les bendiga en todo lo que pase en sus vidas. Elder Farmer

January 16 and January 23, 2012

January 16, 2012 We finished the last change strong and baptized someone for the third week in a row. The Lord blessed us with the baptism of Luis´ sister Kiara who is 14 years old The whole family actually attended church and I’m sure in the next change their brother Lindenber with be baptized too. I love that family. In other news, Elder Iribar and the beat-boxing elder, Elder Delgado, are shipping out tomorrow. We don’t know where yet though. We find out those details tomorrow. Tomorrow is the moment of truth. I’ll either get my new companion there at the meeting, or find out that I will be training and get my new companion Wednesday when the new people arrive. It’ll be a good experience nonetheless and we have lots of potential for this next change in our area. Summer is in full and as I write this I am literally dripping sweat off my face. We’re in a poorly ventilated internet cafe, complete with the typical tin roof. Aka, its an oven. Haha. Weird to think you´re all dealing with snow right now…

January 23, 2012 The word on the change is I am in Lopez Albujar for at least 6 more weeks. My new companion is Elder Salmon from Tagna, Peru. That’s the southern most city in Peru I think, so he came practically point to point. He has just over 6 months in the mission and arrived in the same group as Elder Iribar. So far we’re good. Now that I’m the only one that knows the investigators and the area I’ve been leading a lot this week and I feel quite comfortable. We started a little slow in this change but we’re going to find a lot of new people this week. A big problem is that the majority of people here are not married. They get pregnant at a young age and then just never have the money or time or desire to officially get married. Instead, they call it a ¨compromise¨. We’ve got four people we’re teaching that are not married but are really good people. It’s a big difficulty but we can’t just deny them the gospel and the opportunity to grow. Tomorrow I hit the 5 month mark. Aka, the mark that I’ve been looking forward to since before the mission when Justin said at 5 months he had a pretty good grasp on the language. I need to stay focused on the blessings you have in the moment instead of always worrying about the future. The mission is good, fam. Love you all, Elder Farmer

January 2 & January 9, 2012

Baptism on January 8, 2012 of Luis by Elder Ryan Farmer

January 2, 2012
Hello Family: This is going to be a good year and I’m sure the Lord has some awesome stuff in store for me. Church on Sunday was great . . . after church we baptized Diego (12) AND Yeiko (14). They are the kids of the inactives that we found about a month ago. The mom and dad got baptized about 15 years ago and met at a church activity. We were originally going to baptize Diego on Thursday and Yieko on the 15th of January, but the parents wanted them to be able to do it together and on a Sunday so that the Dad could attend when he doesn’t have work. So we did so, and the Dad still didn’t end up coming, but it was a great chance to have the Mom back in the church after many years of being inactive. Maybe she’ll start attending the sacrament meetings soon, too. I was able to baptize Yeiko and finally put those white pants to use (a good thing that a brought because unlike other missions, baptismal clothing is very hard to find here) a really spiritual and powerful experience to submerge someone in the water.
Love you all and Happy New Year. Elder Farmer

January 9, 2012
Helloooo Family: Great successes this week and many blessings. On Tuesday, Luis returned from Ecuador! On Friday, he had his interview with the President and it went great. He left saying, ¨I don’t know why but I always just feel strong when I’m around people like you guys; like I can do anything.” He expressed to the President his desires to one day be a missionary and has been just has awesome as before he left. I had the privilege to get my chest wet again and baptize him on Sunday. He bore a great testimony after about the power of prayer and the changes he’s made. We are teaching his sister and grandma and have plans to baptize them in the coming weeks. Finally, we have another family that has been taking lessons for about 5 months now but the dad just started listening when I got here. They are fasting and praying hard to find a answer and insure their decision to get baptized. It would be really great for Elder Iribar if they were to baptize this next Sunday because it’s almost a guarantee that he’ll be transferred and he has known them for a long time. Next Tuesday will be the day we figure out where Elder Iribar gets changed, and what happens to me. I could change areas, stay and train, or stay and have a different companion. This is the last week of being a little ¨trainee¨ and I will soon see the next chapter of the mission. I’ll be praying hard for Grandpa’s surgery and the health of both gma and gpa.
Love, Elder Farmer