I will never forget you, Sweden. (8/3/15)

To explain what the last few days are like as a missionaries, it is almost surreal. I would say that it is mostly reflection of what the rest of your missions had been. It happens almost daily that you realized something new that shortly you will have to live without. Sweden is the greatest, I feel honored to be able to call this place my home. Some of the most important people of my life live here, and also those that have impacted me the most. 

#Farnworth #Blackbjörn

This week wasn't different than the last few weeks we have had. We work so hard and we were busy! It was insane. I loved it. I went on splits with Elder Blackburn, it was probably the funniest splits of my mission. Seriously, we had a blast! We spent the entire time with the sisters visiting people, we took a train ride to Värnamo to visit Carina the first day, it was super cool. I love meeting and teaching with her! The second day was the adventure day, we went out to the island to visit and less active family. We messed up with the boat time so we ended up being there about 2 hours early. The whole island is just a tourist location. The house are deep into the island, so just looked around. Took some really awesome picture I will have to send a few! 

But overall it was a great couple of last days, I have had some friends and people I have worked with before coming to Jönköping before I leave. That seriously has meant so much to me. It is amazing how much of an impact one can have on so many people! Ottilia came on Wednesday and that was completely awesome!! 

This man is an amazing guy!

Saturday was a really really good day! We had  a baptism here in Jönköping!! How coo is that? It was someone that the sisters were working with, Dudas is his name. The cool part is that he asked me to baptize him!! It was a perfect way to end! I felt so honored to be able to do that for him! It amazes me the faith that people have, he is such an example of honest desires to follow Jesus Christ. It was a very special experience. 

Pre-baptizing Selfe
#soneeded

Nothing can contain us..

Sunday was just a weird day. I'll be honest, my least favorite part of my mission is the goodbyes. At the same time, I so grateful that there are so many people that I hate saying goodbye too! It is tough but it really shows how lucky I am. Well the Jönköping ward is awesome, they were all tough to say goodbye to. Just as I thought I was close to be done, making it through without getting to emotional, I have this little boy from the Salo family run up to me and grab my leg. He is in tears and he mumbles that he doesn't want me to leave. He got me there! We then had dinner at Christoffer and Carro Rönndahls house! Is was so nice and perfect I love them!

We are all kings and queens.

My mission has changed me, that is something that is clear. I am not the person I was, not at all. I am so much better. Last week, in district meeting, we talking about the chapter in Alma. Where he talks about being boastful in the Lord. That is exactly how I feel. I am boastful in who I have become, but not through my own effort but rather the efforts of the Lord. He has changed me and made me the person I am. It wasn't always easy and not always super fun, but looking back now. I am SO happy he did it.  I love my mission, I love everything that has happened. I found this poem: I love it so much!

I want to thank everyone who has played a role in where I am now, it was The Lord directing my change but he used so many amazing people! I have had the chance to create friendship that not even 5000 miles can separate. Both members and missionaries, I am thankful for you all. I hope that you all know that I am eternally grateful for you all! I love you and I will never forget you, Sweden. 

I am so excited to come home and see all the family and friends. I am so blessed to have so many to come home to! I love you all!

Äldste Farnworth

"You never lose with the Lord." (7/28/15)

Batman Selfie with Brink

This week was a week of accomplishment! If you thought it felt weird before, you have no idea now. It feels like everything just suddenly fell into place and I just no longer nervous at all! I am just excited for what the future holds for me! It has helped a lot that these last few days have been seriously perfect. We are working hard and loving what we are doing. I can't even believe that it is all changing soon! The work in Jönköping, as you have probably notice, is a bit different. We have a lot of young members and a lot of youth investigators. We have worked hard to really try to create situations where these two types of people can blend together and it really has shown amazing results! It is so cool to see friendship that can be created so quickly through the gospel. It is a major reason that I love Jönköping, we have a lot of fun and we see really amazing things happen.

A watch from Elder Pearson and
my handmade reindeer bracelet. 

The closer we get to the end of a transfer I swear that is ALWAYS when things start to happen! It drives me crazy, it always happens. We have had some really nice things happen this week. The top part for me would be the baptismal interview I was able to give. His name is Dudas and he is a really good guy. He is the Sisters' investigator here in Jönköping. He really has a huge heart and a great spirit, he is a little older, about 75 but he really seems to understand the principals of the gospel! Looks like you are never too old to change you life and follow Christ! He showed me it's truly never too late! The interview was a amazing experience for me, when we got to the part of who will be baptizing him, I ask him and he responded: "Well, it would have to be you!" It was super nice of him to trust me to do that! So this Saturday I will be baptizing Dudas! I am very very excited for him! Should be a great ending! 

Borås Par-tay!

We had splits with the Borås elders this week. I went up to Boras with Elder Stoeltzing, an old companion from my Linköping days! We had so much fun together. It was really cool that we were together when we were both so young, we shared an area in Stockholm when we are in the middle and now we were able to compare where we are now, closer to the end! It is amazing how much you notice that someone has changed! He is an amazing person, I loved to being with him and talk with him. We went to help a member paint their house while I was there. It turns out that member was someone that I met in Skövde 2 years ago! We both recognized each other and it was a present surprise! We ended the night with a little fire by the lake with the Sisters there, had a little goodbye time. It was a lot of fun. We took some good pictures and called it a night!

I can't even explain what this picture means. #victory

This week has been full of members, and I LOVE it. The ward is way too good to us here. They make sure we are fed and support us in our actions! I love it, it is such a positive missionary atmosphere. I just love it. The Rönndahls are like amazing, we had gotten canceled with a dinner earlier in the day and I just thought I wanted to spend my last nights eating with members. So I thought of who I could ask if we could come over. Right away, the Rönndahls came to mind. Of course, they were awesome and said yes, but it doesn't stop there. I then realized with the splits and travel the Borås elders would have to take we would not only have us 2 but also them too, when I asked if it would be okay to have them come too, being now 6 missionaries, including the sisters. He simply replied: "Det är Lungt, alla kan komma :)" which means "That is okay, everyone can come!" It like meant a lot to me, I don't know how judgement day will go, but I am sure they will get some extra points somewhere for how nice they are to the missionaries. 

Suiting up for some Volleyball!

I am writing on Tuesday, because we had a pretty awesome Zone P-day in Göteborg yesterday! It was so AWESOME. We played Volleyball, like it was the greatest thing ever. Holy cow, I love volleyball. We were 24 so we split up into 4 teams and then had a tournament. It was crazy fun!! The team names were: Titans (my team), Gold Team, Booty Kickers, and Celestial Crew. We made it to the semi-finals against Gold Team, and lost 24-26... It was such a good game! Oh man, I was very excited and loud. My team was boss and we performed very well. It was a super killer Pday and we had so much fun. Our Zone consists of two districts, we had a quick best of 3 games, district vs. district... Those games we killed. It was so much fun. Overall it was the most jam-packed fun P-day anyone has every heard of. 

We are so cool, we can't even. #boråswannabes

I am so excited to come home! But I still have time to do good! I LOVE my mission, there is a lot of reflecting that has happened lately. I know there will be plenty of time for more on my 12 hours of flying I will be doing. But I am proud of the mission I have served. I am way more grateful for it though, as much as I feel I have put into it, work hard or sacrificed I KNOW that I have received so much more back. All of the people I have met alone has truly made every single struggle worth it, one hundred percent. Something I often tell people is a simple phrase that is: "You never lose with the Lord." That phrase had carried me through the hard times. No matter how much we feel something takes from us, or how much give up.. We will always receive so much more than we put in from the Lord. He is full of mercy and I am a living witness of that. He is the light at the end of the tunnel. He is the Good Shepherd, leading us home again. I am so thankful for this faith I have worked so hard to grow.  

The last week. Here we go! I am so scared but so excited! I hope it is just as great for you guys! I love you all! 

Äldste Farnworth

We are really doing so much! (7/20/15)

The coolest picture. Ever.

We had the coolest P-day in the world. It was really awesome! We went down into a cave! Like it was really cool. The whole district came down Sunday night and we got up early and discover the world under the world! It was crazy cool. We took a million and a half pictures. After being in the cave, we climbed the mountain that had the cave under it! We had a Fika and sang some songs! It was really cool. Like P-days in Jönköping are legendary! It is always a day to remember!

We have done enough work this week to fill 2 normal weeks! We are really doing so much! At the beginning of the transfer I made a goal as District Leader that I would go on splits with every elder in my district. Usually District Leaders only go on splits with each companionship but I really wanted to go with every elder. So I planned it out at the beginning and it looked like an easy goal to accomplish but of course, life happened and it got really hard! We had a lot of training meetings this months and things that created weeks that we couldn't go on splits! With 4 elders in the district it was becoming very complicated really quickly. The last two weeks we went hard to try to fit in an extra splits with Göteborg missionaries, and get on track to complete the original goal. Basically, we have travel more in the last weeks than I have ever before! On a late train last Saturday Night, I was thinking to myself: "Why am I putting myself through all of this?" 

Then it hit me, this is the Gospel to me. I believe we are here to help each to create relationships that strength and help people grow. That is where all the motivation has come from for me, it has been the satisfying feeling after I leave an elder that I just spent the last 24 hours trying all I could to help that person gain something. In church yesterday, I opened the thought to more that just a missionaries example. I realized that we are really here as people to help each other get back to God. God isn't here physically on the earth, he doesn't call us when we are having a rough time, or send us a happy text when we are sad, but he has sent us. He has created people that can do those things. That is one of the most important things I feel I have done out here in Sweden, I have been there for the people the Lord has trusted me with. Not just non-members but everyone. It has been the clearest form of happiness I have received, the feeling of knowing that I helped someone. That is why we are here. 

Starbucks... Mmmm.

On Wednesday, we spent the day in GÖTEBORG. I love that city, like a lot. We were there for a Specialized Zone Training, with President and Sister Beckstrand. They are great, we have such a good time when they are there. The whole training was about the Book of Mormon. It was really cool. We talked about two chapters the whole time. 2 Nephi 9 and The Book of Enos. It may sound like we are just becoming really repetitive in that but it is so cool! There is SO much to learn in there! I felt like the whole training was really good and it gave me a lot of energy to finish the last stretch of my mission really strong! I also did something that I thought I would never do at a Missionary meeting... I actually sang! A few people got a little group together from the district together and we sang a really great version of I Need Thee Every Hour. It was like SO amazing, I loved singing and it really seemed to help me feel the spirit better so it was really something that was awesome. 

We have this member named Williams here, he is a really great guy! We found out that the missionary that he always talks about wanting to meet again, the one who baptized him, was Elder Smith! My really good friend who is currently serving in Göteborg, so while we were up there we asked the President if they could come back and do a work over exchange in Jönköping so that they could meet again! President approved and the split was on! Elder Smith and Elder Jones were here! It was fun to have Elder Jones here too, he was my companion like a few months ago here! So he was really excited to come as well!!. 

Leaving the human zone... In style.

The other splits we had this week was with the Skövde Elders, Elder Walker came here and we had a pretty great time. We went to Värnamo and taught Carina! I loved it, it was like one of the best lessons I have had in a while, we taught the Restoration. All we did was read from Joesph Smith- History! There is so much goodness there, I really like it cause it is very simply said. Everything that he felt or experience is written so clearly. It took us a long time to get through it all because we were stopping and discussing it so much, I just got a lot of amazing insights from that! It was really great!

At church yesterday, it was a tough day for the ward. There is a member here that was diagnosed with Acute Leukemia, he is the greatest guy ever! It was really hard to hear that, he is so young and has an amazing family. There is a lot of Family-like mentality with the church here in Sweden, so it was really cool to see how much the members here care and as a ward wanted to willingly do those things that we can to help them! I love that part of Sweden, everyone here is family! 

I am excited to have another great week! I hope everyone has the same! I love and miss you all! 

Äldste Farnworth

Argumentatively the greatest selfie ever. (7/13/15)

Just the view from my bedroom #nbd

The end is no longer something that I am seeing the future, the end is something that I am officially in. It is the now. It's funny, I feel like I am just as nervous to come home as I was to come out. I feel like it is the great unknown and what I am living now it the normal. I love my mission, I love everything I do and the hardships I face and have faced. I see everyday as a chance to start new through the Atonement, I see the hope and the pure joy that the Gospel can bring to anyone that is willing to except it. I love this so much, I really was hit with the fact that I am getting to the point that it will all end. I think for the most
part that people believe that is it just a happy and exciting time, don't get me wrong it is awesome, but it is a waterfall of emotions. I am just trying to take them all in and process them! I am choosing to go forward to with faith in God that he has a plan!

So many strawberries.

This week was amazing, I am starting to just love everything that I do! I swear, the Lord is saving the best for last! It really has been an amazing week! We started this week with a super awesome-packed P day, we went to this big strawberry farm. It was like huge, we went and basically picked a ton of strawberries! You would pay for what you wanted to take with you but while you were there picking you could eat as many as you wanted, so we really took that seriously, we ate the day away while we chatted and had a great time! We ended with a BBQ and Volleyball, so yeah, I am not sure that day could have been better. 

We are really trying to continue to take advantage of the nice summer heat and atmosphere that it brings to Sweden! There are a lot of people there that take all of there vacation days at once, and in Sweden, everyone gets a minimum of about 25 day off (working days) So a very common excuse we have gotten from a lot of people is simply: "Sorry, I won't be available the month of July. I will be taking my vacation then." Like there is not much to do when they say that, Swedes love to escape the country they live in and often go to Italy, France, or anywhere that is slightly warmer. It is pretty funny! It does have a big effect on the type of work we do and we are trying to just spread goodness in anyway we can! 

This lady is the best!

We have this lovely friend named Victoria, she is the coolest. We often have meals with her, I am sure I have sent home pictures with her before. If you can't remember I will send some more. Anyways, we have been working with her for a little while now and I just love it. She is so much fun to be with! On Wednesday, I feel like I got a little bit of a taste of what Zachary had the luxury of having on his mission: a "mamita."Victoria offered to come and make us lunch at the church, it is true that we get fed in Sweden by people quite a bit but it was just really funny having here talking about how we can make a lot so we can have extra to take home. She made this awesome food, and when I told that she was making me feel like I was a missionary in Chile enjoying the benefits of it. It was really fun. She thought that it was funny too. 

Argumentatively the greatest selfie ever.

I went on a wonderful exchange this week. We switched with the Boräs Elders, I took with me Elder Blackburn back to Jönköping. It was seriously so awesome. I had a great time, hopefully he felt the same. It was really cool to be with him, it was a little weird when we realized that he has been in Sweden the same amount of time that I have left... ahhh. We talked a lot about life and such and all that stuff that you talk about when you are meeting new people. Pretty quickly we found out that we have a lot of the same interests. It made it really fun, we spent the day with Saneeka, she followed us on our lessons and the whole day I was really impressed with Elder "Blackbjörn" (Blackbear), that is what I call him. He is like really going to do amazing things while he is here, he is already like so much more prepared then I was when I was in his shoes, so it was cool to see that. All-in-all we had a boss time, surely a highlight of the week.

The dream team

In the mission right now we are focusing on The book of Enos and 2 Nephi chapter 9. I have been studying them a lot lately, and they have so much amazing things in them. A daily 1- hour personally study just isn't enough. I feel like there is so much in the scriptures that we will never truly understand. I find myself re-reading verse 5 or 6 times before I truly start to grasp what the Lord is trying to tell us. How awesome is that? It makes me so excited to see and that we have such a great time and chance on this earth to learn and grow so much as people. We are simply here to learn and grow, that is pretty nice.

America... You have to compete with this. #goodluck

The Members here in Jönköping continually are getting better and better to us, the relationships I am forming here are quickly becoming those relationship that I know won't end when my time here ends. I love it here so much, I love the people, I love the language, I love this country. I am ready for life to continue on in the States but I am also so sad to see this part of my life coming to an end. It has been so good to me. We have a killer week, again, set up and I just can't wait to start! I love you all, I miss you all. I'll end my saying I know God lives, and I know that we Loves us. All, as his literal children, because that is what we are. 

Ha det bra allihopa!

Äldste Farnworth 

They were climbing UNDER the train!! (7/6/15)

Summer is so awesome!
#classicmissionarypicture

Well this week we have been holding on with white knuckles! We have just been going and going and going! You always know it is going to be a great and fast week when you are completely booked by Monday evening. We were ready for it though! To give you an idea of how much we travel, I think I could honestly say that we spent 15 hours on Trains, and Buses this week! It is totally crazy. 

We got a referral for this guy named Olof. He apparently was really interested in the gospel and we were really excited to go and meet him. He only sent his address, so we went to Eksjö to contact him! After 2 hours of travel and tracking down his address in the warm Swedish summer heat, we came to the conclusion that he does not exist. It was tough break but the address didn't match up at all. We didn't want the whole trip to be a waste and we decided we were there for a reason. We contacted and taught a few people about The Book of Mormon and it was a really nice visit to be honest! I loved it. One lady that really meant a lot, after we had given her a Book of Mormon, I felt really strongly that she needed to know that she has a Heavenly Father that LOVES her and knows exactly what she is going through, it was definitely that small moment that stuck with me. Hopefully it was what she needed too! Trip to Eksjö = successful. 

I love this kid!

We went on exchanges with Skövde again this week! I love Elder Harrison! This was my second time going with him and he is just the straightest shooter! Gosh, he is the best. We had such a good day and we really talked a lot, there are too many good things to mention about that day. There is one crazy thing that happened though! We had to take a train that evening from Skövde to Göteborg to stay the evening for Zone Training the next day, and while we were stopped in Falköping (a city outside of Skövde) there was this crazy incident with these guys that would refuse to let the train leave. How? They were climbing UNDER the train!! I have never seen anything like that in my life. It was totally insane, it was all happening right outside our window so I took so pictures, but they probably wouldn't be the best to send. I don't want to have any problems. It was crazy though! 45 minutes we waited for the Police to come and stop them so we could leave! Of course, elder Harrison and I made a bigger deal of it among the other missionaries.... But hey, when not to much crazy stuff happens in Sweden you got to take advantage of stuff when it comes!! Haha 

#nohashtagneeded

I think Beach Volleyball is officially my favorite sport. Jönköping loves to play, we play all the time. I ain't complaining one bit! It is really awesome, the Friday Night Activity that missionaries do has simply become Volleyball. It is so much fun! We finally have summer here so it is really nice! I don't mean to brag but I am like pretty awesome at Volleyball! Just sayin' 

This week was AMERICA'S birthday! I am sure this is not news to any American reading this but to everyone else! We had the greatest celebration ever! All the Americans in the ward gathered and we met at the Strömberg's house! The best part? The Strömbergs are from England! I thought it was quite ironic that we were celebrating our independence from England with the very Brits themselves! It was actually really a lot of fun! British people have really grown on me, I might even say that I am starting to like British people. The party was a lot of fun, we sang the National Anthem and had American Flag cake and just had a blast! I am so grateful we have such amazing people here to allow us to have such a good time!! 

#SabbathDaySelfie

Sunday was the Holy Day. It usually always is, but this Sunday was just awesome. I love church so much. I am seriously going to miss coming to church in Sweden. Everything just sounds so much better in Swedish. I'll be the first to say that! We had testimony meeting today, which I just love. There were so many people that have amazing testimonies, including Saneeka! I loved hearing her speak, it was really cool! She is awesome. I gave my testimony about God be our Loving Heavenly Father. I just feel so strongly about that right now! I feel like I need to be sure that EVERYONE knows that before I leave! I really have come to know that He is not just the all-knowing, all-seeing being that watches over us all the time, but he is a loving and compassionate father that knows us, loves us and wants what is best for us! I have come to know this through hardships and trials that I never thought I would face but the knowledge I have now makes all those Hardships and trials something I am thankful for. I love my Father.

The coolest flower ever... Löjtnantshjärtan!

Äldste Farnworth

När du vill någonting verkar hela universum för att du ska uppnå det. (6/29/15)

Goodbye Buddy!

Well this week was another week of change but it is something that I have never dealt with before. It is the official beginning of the end. My last transfer, I find myself thinking every once in a while what I think will happen in the next transfer and then I catch myself and realize: "oh, I am just going home" My brain can't seem to wrap itself around that logic. Which is like whatever, it will come hopefully. I feel that the Lord is blessing me with a lot of strength, in the last days of the last transfer we had I really was concerned how I was going to be able to finish but as soon as I picked up Elder Dickson and the day continued on I got this new strength that is different but something that I think will be able to carry be until the end. I am really excited for these next few weeks! They should be amazing! Jönköping is going to be a great place to end!

Elder Pearson, Me, Saneeka, Nikolas
Zombies!

It was harder then I thought it was going to be to say goodbye to Elder Pearson, it was like the coolest person ever. We had a little things that were different, actually we were quite different but we really became good friends! He is a really amazing missionary and it was so much fun to spend so much time together. The last few days together were really fun. We had a good Family Night with the Salo Family, we invited Saneeka to come with us and we helped them a little with a few thing then we played this epic zombie board game. It was really awesome, unfortunately, the zombie force was too much and we died. But we were so close to winning! I feel like I could make a gospel connection to the whole situation but maybe that wouldn't be the best thing. I was a great night though, I am super thankful to them for being so awesome. 

Throughout the week we have been having a lot of summer time activities, we are trying to create easy environments to have people invite in people! It has been really fun to do it, we played Volleyball, had a few picnics, and just had some great meals! I love Jönköping and it is so fun the work we do here. We have some of the most amazing people that we are working with and we are finding new people every day! I love this chance I have to come out and make such strong relationships with so many AMAZING people. In this week I have really seen that my connection with Sweden will not die when my name tag comes off and I leave. There are people in this country that I know will effect me for the rest of my life. I love them so much and I get so much love from them. It seems with the people that we are working with, that just as much I have something to teach them, they all have something to teach me. That thought alone has changed the way I interact and treat people, we all have something to learn from every single person we meet. Of course, it can't always be a huge life changing thing but it can change us if we allow it to. 

Sweden wins the beautiful prize... again.

Church was really cool, like it usually is. First off, I love that we have an "investigator" basic doctrine class... It is the best! I learn so much! haha I think it is funny to say that but really like that class make me think and realize the little things that are so obvious in the church. I think it is really awesome. We talked about keeping the Sabbath day holy, something I have never really questioned or worried about but after this class I like understood for the first time what it really means and why it such an important commandment! Christer, the ward mission leader, is a really good teacher. He is so passionate about he gospel and I think it is awesome. 

Elder Dickson, Saneeka, and Me!
#selfiefaces

These are probably going to start getting shorter and shorter, not because we aren't doing thing but simply because I am getting a little bored of writing. I will throw a few pictures up and that will make up for the lack of text.  The last little thought that I want to share is the power of ones self will. I firmly believe that we can do whatever we want and we can achieve anything we are willing to fight and never give up on. We have been giving everything we need from a loving God, we just need to do all we can and never give up.

 There is this quote from a book I was told that has become a good motto for me, in Swedish is says: "När du vill någonting verkar hela universum för att du ska uppnå det." and in English: "When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it." we can do anything that we really put our minds to. There are so many moments I have seen that this is true in life and on my mission. I know that God has a plan for us and he wants us to be happy and fulfill our dreams! He is our loving Father, why wouldn't he want what is best for us?  There are things that I wanted to gain on my mission that I never thought I could achieve about half way through I realized I was the only thing stopping me for achieving them. Once I stopped limiting myself and started letting the world help me to change I have seen miracles and absolutely amazing things. We need to believe in ourselves. We need to change our thinking and realize that we are children of a King! We can't afford to forget that! 

I love you all, I am thankful for everyone in my life that is helping me achieve and become the person I want to be and helping me achieve all the great things of the world! My time is coming to an end soon, but I am excited and convinced there is a lot more for me to learn and grow from! Hopefully, you have a great week! Don't worry about Elder Farnworth because I am just fine! 

Äldste Farnworth

The Lord sent Carina to the missionaries at this time to strengthen me. (6/22/15)

Hello Family!

Majstången
(The May Pole)

This week has been a week to remember. We have had a lot going on and we did it all! It was a good week. We can start with the biggest holiday I would think that Sweden has other than Christmas, maybe. Midsommar! Basically they celebrate that it is the middle of summer and that it is actually here, I think it roots from the sad fact that winter is so terrible they literally feel the need to celebrate that it is gone. Hey, I don't blame them one bit! We had the chance to go to Göteborg and be with a lot of missionaries! It was like, really fun. We had a lot of energy, I think we took most of the Swedes by surprise but we really celebrated that day! They have this giant pole that is like the center of the holiday, and it is like symbolic for a lot of different things. I think the most common interpretation is that the pole it like fertilizing the earth for the summer. A rather awkward symbolism but tradition is tradition. I will insert some pictures and you will know what I mean. We had a great time and enjoyed the beautiful city of Göteborg and great weather! I have like a lot of pictures, so we will see which ones end up getting sent out! 

We dressed in black to honor
Elder Cushing's last
district meeting

Other that the little vacation to Göteborg this whole week has been centered around Carina and getting her ready for baptism. She definitely chose the intense course, only having less then two weeks to teach her everything cause us to have these really long lessons with her, I don't think I have met too many people on my mission that would have been able to be taught that way but she is a special one! I can't believe it. To paint you a picture of what I mean, when it came to 'the commandments' lesson we taught them ALL in 3 hours. Oh man, it was an amazing lesson! You would think that would be more like a checklist lesson, but it was really a huge testimony builder for me. We had really good discussions about all the commandments and after teaching them and testifying of them it was really cool to see my understanding of them widen. I swear, at times I think that the Lord sent Carina to the missionaries at this time to strengthen me, it would be a successful move on his part. She really has been such a light in out lives.

Midsommar in Selfies

The baptism service on Saturday went so well! Of course, I was stressing the whole time like I do, but everything went really smoothly. One thing I always notice is the literal glow that the baptismal candidate has around them after they have been baptized, it is like really clear that they are so close to Christ and God in that moment. It is a pretty amazing moment. The next day in church, I was given the chance to confirm Carina a member of the church and give her the Gift of the Holy Ghost. It was really special. I just feel overall very honored to be apart of this whole process! 

Pretty Baptism Picture

To be honest, this week was full of those things, and a few member meals here and there! On Monday, we had the best Family Home Evening. It was with the Salo family, and it was about the Creation. Namely, the bugs of the earth. Basically we talked about how God created everything that is and then we went out and caught a whole bunch of spiders and bugs and watched them eat each other. Sounds pretty gruesome, but it was awesome. I love that family so much! The only other things that I can think about is Transfer calls came on Saturday and I will be staying in Jönköping my last 6 weeks! In mission speak, I will be "dying" here! I am really excited I think it will be awesome to have this be the last place I serve! This transfer is the official beginning of the end. The worst part is that I will be saying goodbye to Elder Pearson and Karin (our imaginary friend), we have becoming really good friends! He will do great things in Sweden! I am so happy I was able to serve with him.

I also saw that Jacob got his mission call and I got so excited because I know these people that are from there in Gävle and they taught me a few things in Albanian, it is like the coolest language ever!! He is so lucky and he is going to get his own little experiences and I just love it all so much! I am so excited for him. Gosh, he is such a stud and he is going to be the best missionary! I am a proud older brother! 

I love you! We will talk soon, I hope everyone has a great week!

Äldste Farnworth 

For you, my mother. (6/15/15)

This week has gone by so fast is it insane! We have been going and going and going! We have really done a lot and it is super cool. I really feel like we are doing a lot of good and really it is helping the people here a lot.

The best selfie of my life. 

We spent the week with a lot of other missionaries, we went on Splits with a pair of elder from the city of Borås on Wednesday, I was with Elder Carrigan there and it was a lot of fun. He is a pretty young missionary but he is really awesome at teaching! I was very surprised it was a great. We had a good time with the sisters there also, sister Stoughton and sister Giles. They were all so great. It was a really fun day!

We then went to Skövde for districts meeting which was themed with  "What is our drive as missionaries?" it was a really good meeting. I love teaching those so much. I really feel like our district is really close and we get into some really great discussions and just have a great time. After district meeting we had a Taco party and a party is was! We had the best tacos in the world. All-in-all I think that our district is the best.

Cleaning the font like a boss!

After that we had a great time with the Zone Leaders when they came for splits on Saturday also! I took Elder Stanett to go with me to visit Carina! We taught her the Plan of Salvation and it was such a great moment. I really love teaching her cause he understands the importance of it all! She is so amazing  and so close to the spirit. Such an great opportunity to have her as someone to work with. She is still planning on being baptized this Saturday and we are just running around trying to ensure that it is the best day for her! What a huge blessing she is to us. She loves to send is these little picture quotes every once in a while and I love getting them! She is so close to Christ and yesterday in church she really expressed that she is simply being baptized to show her God that she wants to follow him 100%. It literally strengthen my testimony to be around her and be able to enjoy the spirit she brings!

For you, my mother.

Last week I got an email from my mother which was a fun one. She told me to cut my hair, now I don't know if you all know me who reads this but my hair is very important to me. It is truly amazing the control a mother can have over her children from thousands of miles away! She simply told me that if I loved her... I would cut it. After being completely wishy washy about the cut, on Saturday I decided to sacrifice all that is near and dear to me to show that I Love My Mother. She is pretty great and I hope that it is clear to everyone now that, I love her! Of course, I am very dramatic about this all, but hey, why not.

Always end up buried at
Beach Volleyball.

We had a sick night with a bunch of members and Victoria this week! We played a little board game that was really so sick! This ward is just full of some of the best people here that want to create situations that friendships can come out of. I think that is such an important part of missionary work is allowing the members to be apart and creating long lasting friendships that regardless of what choices people make concerning the church, they know that they will always have a place that is full of friends. That is the gospel to me, have people that are wanting the best for you. Having a support team and a family.  The world is a hard place, there are tragedies that happen all the time and having someone or somewhere to turn to can mean the world. That is part of our role here on earth, to be that person people can turn to! Something I am taking home with me for sure. I always want to be that person people can turn to and always receive support and strength.


I love my mission, it has taught me so much I am learning and grow every day! It amazes me what can happen when I allow the Lord to mold my life and my character. He is my shepherd and my light. I love him and trust him enough to allow him to guide me to where I need to be. I know this to be true. I love you all! Thank you for the endless love and support I receive everyday! I have so much to be unbelievably grateful for.

Hope you have a great week,

Äldste Farnworth

I know that the Book of Mormon is a true book from God. (6/8/15)

There were a lot of moments in this week that I feel like as a missionary you know that they will come or things that you can see others doing but you never really truly believe that they can happen for yourself.

This sign is great

The Sun was up this week! It is FINALLY feeling like summer time! I can so happy with it, not only is the sun out but the warmth is coming too! I mean, it is about time, we are almost half way through JUNE! We are enjoying it though and it makes mostly every part of missionary work a little more enjoyable. We have really enjoyed this week! We spent a few days down in Göteborg for a Zone Conference! It was really good and it was so nice to get that little break and be able to "recharge" the batteries a little. The Conference was really good, they really did a great job at helping the missionaries feel what they were trying to teach us. I really liked Sister Beckstrand's talk, she spoke a lot about The Atonement. That has become my favorite topic in the gospel. I think has a lot to do with my companion as well, Elder Pearson feels really strong about the Atonement and most of the lessons we teach are based all around the Atonement. I really gained a lot from the Conference and really gave me a drive to finish the rest of my mission with a strong desire to let this be known. 

Fun Conference Pictures

The Conference was also special because I was able to give my farewell testimony to those who were there. One of those things I knew would come at some point in the future but never really pictured it ever REALLY happening. It was an amazing experience to be able to tell the younger missionaries how thankful I am to have the chance to serve here and grow in the ways that I never thought that I would. It was really a great moment for me to see the growth I have made here. I can very clearly see that I am not the person that came into this mission, the Lord has truly changed me into who he wants me to become and I am so grateful for it. I am excited for the time I have left to really give the Lord everything I've got! It will be a good few months!

I love this kid.

This Sunday was probably the highlight of the last few months for me. It was so amazing, we had a multi-stake Conference with Finland, Sweden, Norway, Scotland, and Ireland. It was amazing, Elder Holland spoke and I just can't believe how amazing his talk was. It really like changed my entire testimony. He spoke about the Book of Mormon. I haven't been so strongly impacted by a talk in that way in a very long time. It really satisfied my every thought and potential doubts I have had about the Book of Mormon. He talked about the times in his life that he has received testament of the truthfulness for himself considering the matter. It made me also take sometime to reflect when or if I have received such a promised testimony and I remembered very well that in the MTC about 2 years ago I had! Having that experience and having Elder Holland build upon that really brought me to realized that I can not deny that I know that the Book of Mormon is a true book from God! It was such a joy filled moment when I was able to say that and have no thoughts of doubt or anything that could convince me to think otherwise. 

Miranda with the Bishop! Awesome.

There is this lady that we have recently gotten in contact with, I think I have told a little about her, she hasn't had anything to do with the church in probably 20 years and then she emailed the bishop about wanting to come back after her daughter had a religion fair at school and brought back a Book of Mormon. It sparked the flame that she had within her and she wanted to have it back. She came to church last week and then again yesterday. Yesterday, we found out that she actually took her name of the church records when she was younger. This made her actually really excited because it meant that she would be able to be re-baptized and have that chance to start fresh and begin her life as an active follower of Jesus Christ. We met with her and it was so cool. She is very excited to be baptized and we set the date for the 20th of June! We are really excited for her! We have a just a little amount of time to teach her and prepare her for the step she is going to take but we are confident that she will be ready and you can already tell that her desires are pure and that the Lord will be there with her. I am pretty excited about these next few weeks we show see a lot of good stuff!

Skövde in the different seasons of the year!

Well that is about it this week. Only good stuff! I love it here and am so grateful for the people I have a chance to serve here, at times I feel like they help me more than I help them! Hope that you are all doing well and you have a great week!

Look for the good, you will find it!!

Äldste Farnworth