I'm not like this idiot, well like I guess sorta...(3/10/14)

Hey Mother!

Sorry this is getting to you so late. We just didn't have the will power to wake up early this week to chat with you guys, but I promise that next week we will get it on. Okay, I am going to start off by answering you questions before I get all distracted. Do they have Costco in Sweden? No, they don't. The don't even have Wal-mart. The only store that they have here that we share would be IKEA. I really like it though, I really am in a completely different world. Sweden is crazy. I have like "holy crap I am in Sweden..." moments every single day. Okay so transfer calls go out this Friday, I don't know if I will be transferred but I do know that I will be stressing about it this whole week! I will know next week. I did not go to the service for Elder Bailey, they could not allow everyone to travel in because the chapel wasn't big enough, so only people that knew him on the mission were given permission. It was a really sad week here. It is just something that you never think is going to happen. It's just another one of those moments where we have to have trust in the Lord that we have a plan. We have this investigator who is like the sweetest person ever. When she found out she called us right away and totally we telling me how cool it is that we have the Plan of Salvation. She then told me that she knew that God just needed him to be a missionary on the other side. She is like the greatest investigator ever. I really hope I am able to help her come closer to Christ through Baptism.

This week was really good. We have had a few things that over the last few weeks we had going into bad habits, like a little lazy with a few small things. So this week we made it a special effort and we saw like really great things come from it. We have had a great amount of teaching this week, and we really were able to help a few people! This week was very rewarding. The work in Linköping is going forward at a very fast rate.

Holy cow the weather here has be beautiful. Swedish people love to talk about the weather. All I have to say to get a conversation going is "Wow, it a really nice day!" Or "Can you believe how cold it is?" I will generally always get a pretty big response from that. The times that I don't are really awkward. I am not kidding sometimes when I try to talk with people they will straight up look me in the eyes and like just not respond to me. So that is dumb. Swedish people can be very awkward but you kind of just have to learn to love it and laugh at yourself sometimes. When I get like hard core rejected, I just laugh right then a there. Then I just assume they think I am insane. It's a really good time. Something that I LOVE to do that really messes with the people here is sing on the buses. Just like a side note, the buses here are always so quite. NO ONE talks. Like the bus can be 102% full and not one person is talking so I just like start singing really to my self and my companion gets embarrassed so I get louder and louder then the whole bus is looking at me. It just is so awesome. Don't worry. I am not like this idiot, well like I guess sorta.

So in not so good news, my knee is getting really bad. I have these pills that are supposed to reduce the swelling and then I put this cream on it and I have these wraps but the fact that I walk around all day on it just means every night it hurts a little more than the last. Today it was terrible. But don't worry I am still pushing. Just pray for me. I don't want to have this hinder any work that could be done here.

You guys are changing the house so much I don't think I recognize it when I get home. I cannot believe that I have been out almost 7 months that just doesn't seem real to me. I just want to stay forever. Okay maybe not forever but a long time for sure. I love it here so much. I didn't think that I would like Linköping at first just coming from a small branch and going into a smaller branch but I have really been able love this branch. I am so excited for the work that is going to take place here.

This week has been great. I am so excited for this upcoming week and I am so excited for what the future holds. Thank you for all you do for me. I can feel the love that I am getting for back home. Continue to pray for the people here. The Lord is real. He loves us. All of us. Pray to him. The song 'A Child's Prayer' comes to mind.

Heavenly Father, are you really there?
And do you hear and answer every child's prayer?
Some say that heaven is far away,
But I feel it close around me as I pray.
Heavenly Father, I remember now
Something that Jesus told disciples long ago:
"Suffer the children to come to me."
Father, in prayer I'm coming now to thee.

Pray, he is there;
Speak, he is listening.
You are his child;
His love now surrounds you.
He hears your prayer;
He loves the children.
Of such is the kingdom, the kingdom of heaven.

I love that song. I sing that song in my head probably once a day. We need to strive to have the faith of children. So pure and so true. Love you so much. Have a great week!

Äldste Farnworth 

Exploring the woods on P-day

We made a fort:)

Pray for the Missionaries... (3/3/15)

This week has been really a lot. It has been a good to really learn to rely on the hand of the Lord. I was thinking the other day when I got

the news about Lexi's accident I was really having a hard day and I just kept saying through my head, "There is nothing you can do, there is nothing you can do." Then I totally thought about how I can do the most important thing for her. I could pray. So I prayed and prayed ... and prayed some more. After I had prayed I had to turn it over to the Lord. I knew that I could focus on that and still do my work here like I should be. When I gave it to the Lord it wasn't like it is was gone. In the way that I didn't thinkit of it all happening but it was gone in the way that I knew if there was anything that I could do to change the situation the Lord would do that for me. I felt peace for the rest of the week. It wasn't like a feeling of 'she is going to be okay...' but more like I would accept what God's plan was for her. I am so thankful that she is getting better! I am truly grateful for what is happening now.

This week has been really good. In a weird way. Not a week that I loved the whole way through but a week that I am super glad I had. There was just lot of different aspects of the work here that can be very tiring as a missionary and as a person. I love it though. We have this lady I told a little about last week. Her name is Mahin, and she is so nice.

My knee is really hurting. That isn't right English but honesty I don't know how to speak much English anymore. Swedish is just completely taking over everything. I could compare it to a bully in the school yard.

Swedish just takes over everything and destroys all traces of anything in the way. Needless to say my English is going to need some help. I am at this stage where I just become social awkward ... I like know enough Swedish that it is starting to effect my English but not enough Swedish that I can give up on English. For example, sometimes I forget the word that I am trying to say in Sweden but I also forget the word that I am trying to say in English. So I just look dumb. This happens about once a day. 

Anyways, where was I? Oh so my knee has like fluid built up in the knee cap. I was going to go to the doctor but Mahin is a doctor so she just told me what to buy and what medicines I would need. It was nice. They are helping me to be able walk around everywhere all day but it still kills at night. It's getting better though so things are looking up!

On Saturday, I went the university with Elder Hills. We didn't know how far it was going to be so we just walked and walked and it turned out to be really, really, really, far. We made it fun though. I really enjoyed it. Most of the pictures on this post are from that day. Actually they all are. We were lost and we were looking at a map and this guy came up to us and asked if we needed help. We said yes. So he helped us on our way and we told him that we were missionaries and we explained what we do as missionaries. Then after he told us he believed that there is no God, he invited us to this HUGE college party that is going to happen that night. He was way like not understanding of who we were. He asked if we wanted to come and drink and stuff. We gave him a firm no ... it was pretty funny. Super cool that he contacted us. That usually doesn't happen in Sweden.

Yeah so overall I give this week about a 6 out of 10. Not the best but not the worst! There is room for improvement! I really love it here so much. I just can't believe that I am here. That blows my mind. I love Sweden. I love the Swedish language. And I can't wait to be able to come and show you all how cool it is.

I pray for you all. I love you all. Pray for the missionaries, we need those prayers everyday. Love you all so much! HhHave a great week! Be happya look for ways to make someone's else's day everyday.

Äldste Farnworth

The Tree of Life in The Dome Kyrkan

The Dome Kyrkan of Linköping,
 the second biggest 'Dome Kyrkan' in Sweden.

Loving This Week (3/24/15)

This week went by so fast. But I was able to slow it down long enough to take some pictures. Or at least one. We have made a lot of progress this week! I am proud of what we were able to do! The work is moving forward. It has been a hard few week though, not the work that I am used to, but that was Skövde and this is Linköping. They are different, really good but different. Our apartment is officially "home." As in I cleaned the entire thing, top to bottom, side to side. It was easily the worst thing in the entire world but now I can stop feeling like I am going to get a disease every time I walk into the bathroom. So I can shower in peace. I will have to take pictures of the apartment and send them soon.

So we have this member that we are like really close with. She is so awesome, and as we were leaving her house from having Fika her friend comes in and totally knows who we are. So we set a time to meet again the next week. So Elder Hills and I were on splits and we had a really good lesson. I guess that she has met with missionaries before and she has read the whole Book of Mormon. She told us that she also knows that it is true! When we asked her to be baptized she told us that she had no problem with it, but that she was very busy right now. She doesn't want to get stress out with the goal hanging over her head. So I want to challenge her to be baptized in a like a few days. No goals, just faith. I know she is ready. I am excited to see the miracles happen.

I was talking with this old friend of mine who is transferred and she said something that was really cool. She gave me some really good advice. She told me that "It is only when we sink the lowest can we raise the highest." I love that. I am not saying that I am at a low point but I just like that because that is why I love this Gospel. It is here for us ALL the time not only when we are "good" and "high" but when we mess up and have bad days. It is there for us always. I have really had to depend on my faith that I know that Christ is there and he is listening to me. This belief has gotten me through some of my darkest days here.

Another important thing that I have learned and everyone who learns a new language will know is something you have to suck up your pride and ask for help. I have applied this to all aspects of my mission. The Lord can't physically be with us now, but He has sent people to help us just as He would if He were here with us. We can't do everything by our self. We can't return back to our Heavenly Father without Christ and we can't make it through this world without the help of others around us. He loves us so much He gives us trials. But on the other side He loves us so much He allows us to have people to help us through them. We are so loved. We are so blessed. The gospel blesses lives. We are so blessed.

Have a great week. I am praying for you all so much. Thank you for all the prayers.

Äldste Farnworth

This is the picture of the week, We found this thing in the middle 

of the forest when we were walking. This is why I love Sweden.

We have been going like 100 miles a minute (2/17/14)

This week was a good week, I had a lot of fun. I am really starting to enjoy it here in Linköping. Last Monday we moved the other elders out of our apartment so now we have this huge apartment all to ourselves. It has 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a dining room and then a huge family room. I am not complaining. However, I still sleep on a twin size bed, so yeah my life isn't completely perfect...

We have gotten a ton done this week. We got 3 new investigators and we just have just been going like 100 miles a minute. I am super proud of this week. The work here is just like super different. In Skövde was just different, not saying that either are bad just like can't be compared. I really am starting to love it here. This last Sunday was really crazy, we had 7 members at church. It was really crazy. So I taught Sunday School, that was really interesting and I taught about the Abrahamic Covenant... I had no idea what that even was. I first had to prepare the entire lesson in English then start the fun process of switching the language to Swedish. That was pretty crazy, I ended up only teaching about 6 people and 3 of them were missionaries. So that wasn't that scary but I really just didn't like that. Then after church a guy comes up to me and asks me to talk next week in church. That is the thing that is pretty cool about small branches, the missionaries are treated like members of the ward. It is super cool because it makes you really care about the area more.

I went on Splits with Elder Hills on Wednesday, that was a ton of fun. We got 2 new investigators and just really had a good time. We just really get along really good.

I am sorry I haven't taken any pictures of this place. Elder Hills and I are going to take picture this week I promise. I will also take them of the apartment. This week is going to be so good. Sorry this email is a shortie again, I just sit here and get so distracted. Next week I will really try to be focused and get the email done. I promise. I love you all and I will be writing more next week!

Äldste Farnworth

I really like Linkoping... (2/10/14)

This week was full of a lot of change. I am not in Skövde anymore. It has been really good though! I love it here! It told a little bit to get over all of the change but once I put more trust in the Lord he helped me find peace right away. It has been great. The area now is a bit slower, but Elder Landeen has done a bit of good stuff to set up the area to be really amazing. So yesterday was the first time I had been to church here and it was weird because the church isn't like a church, it is in the basement of a building that has a dental office in the upstairs. I really think it is cool, because I really learned a lesson from it, I learned that is doesn't matter where you are or how you are receive the gospel, like the spirit is all the same.

Church is church. The branch is really cool here. I really am excited about it! We have a really strong week planned. I just can feel that the Lord is going to guide us to those who will give us success. I am super happy. On Friday, we were doing weekly planning. I wanted to set up a lot for this upcoming week. So I just called a ton of potential investigators and set up a ton of stuff, so I am thinking that this upcoming week is going to be freaking sweet. I am really going to push my hardest to be the best I can be here. I see a ton of potential here.

 I live with 3 other Elders and I really like them all. We have a ton of fun. We talk a ton and I am really getting to know them super good. Their names are Elder Hills, who is my district leader, Elder Steen, his companion, and then my companion Elder Landeen, who is my old history teacher's nephew... So that is weird. ALSO do you remember that girl named Holly that I was friends with? She got married to that guy?

Well ask Jacob if you don't know her. Well the guy that she married is my companion’s cousin. We found that out the first night. That was pretty funny. We have gotten along super good. I am really happy.

I am looking forward to the package. I can't wait to get it. I am totally fine without the picture, I don't know what else I need. I am pretty happy. I really like Linköping. It's gonna be a blast. I don't a ton of time for email, but I love you so much and I am sorry but I haven't taken any pictures yet but I will take some this week and get them to you as soon as possible. I love you and hope you have a GREAT week. I am praying for you!

Äldste Farnworth

Transferring to Linköping (2/3/15)

First off, Happy 48th Birthday Dad! I am so excited that I will be home for your 50 birthday! That will be fun! Hope you are feeling better!

So I will be transferring to Linköping. Before you go around telling people, let me tell you how to pronounce it. In Swedish the "i" makes the "ee" noise AND the "köping" sounds like "shiping" SO like in English it's Leenshiping. So you can know correctly tell people that your son is in Linköping. Okay so I think you should send me an audio file of how you pronounce it. That would be funny.

So this week has flown by so quickly I can barely remember what happened. It was a great week. We have worked very hard to do all that we could to help the next missionaries have a smooth transition. We had something really cool happen. We have this man named Issa, who has been investigating the Church for some time now. We went and saw him this last week for the first time in a little while. He was very nice as before, this time when we got to his house he told us that he had friends that he had been "preparing for the Mormons." We are excited to meet his friends and see if they were interested in the church. We met a little Armenian family. The mother is the only one who can speak English or Swedish. So as we taught she translated key points to the rest of her family. She said that she was very interested in learning more, and being baptized. When I asked if she would want to create a baptismal date as a goal to work toward, she said that she needs to read the Book of Mormon first, but she said that she is thinking that she would want to take that step to come closer to Christ. It was so exciting! I am so happy to have been able to found her and then allow the new missionaries the chance to teach and bring her and her family to Christ. It was a great reminder that the Lord is preparing people out here.

In my personal studies this week I had some really great experiences. Last week, I made the goal to really put 100% into my studies for this week. I went out and bought a new study journal that I could place my thoughts and in the first day I could feel the difference. It was super cool to see that when I put in a little extra work the Lord see's that and really helped me feel so much better with everything. I am really excited to go to my new area.

Just to help you understand what kind of branch it is. It's small, Skövde has about 35-40 active members. Linköping has about 15-20, It's gonna be a lot smaller. I am really excited to get there and start working. One of my friends is becoming a assistant to the President so I am so excited for him. He has like 6 weeks left so that is really cool! I don't have tons of other news -  just that! Hope you all have a great week! Love you all so much!

Äldste Farnworth

Sister Berggren, My other Swedish Grandma. Seriously love her

The Lord is Mindful of Me (1/27/15)

I would like to start this out with a big HAPPY 14th BIRTHDAY TO MEGAN!!

This week has been a really good week. I just feel like I wrote my
last letter. So much has happened this week. The time is just speeding
up because the Skövde chapter of my mission is coming to an end! I am
super nervous and really excited to get a fresh start in a new area. I
really have been working on the trust that I have in the Lord. This is
a huge amount of change. I know that the Lord guides all the transfers
so that is comforting to me.

So let me just tell you that I have the best companion in the world.
It was Wednesday, I have been sick all week. It was the worst on
Wednesday, and we went to the middle of nowhere to do some service.
When I say the middle of nowhere I mean a hour ride on a dirt road to
a small ranch. It was insane. Anyways, I was just not doing good. The
long ride didn't help and after that I was not in the best mood. So when we
got home I had the plan to get in the shower and go to bed. So I got
home and went straight to the shower. When I was finished. I could
hear Elder Simmons in the kitchen and I thought "How sweet would it be
in he was just like making me a Kladdkaka (Swedish Brownies)?" I
dismissed the thought right about and figured he was making himself a
snack or something. Then I walked into the kitchen and he was making a
Kladdkaka! When I asked what it was for, he says: "I thought you would
want a Kladdkaka tonight." Yes this is a true story. He is pretty much
amazing. I am so lucky. We have a ton of fun. I am sorta sad that we
only got to be companion for a little while.

I have been super sick this week! It is terrible. On Thursday and
Friday I lost my voice. That is something that has never happened. I
am sure Elder Simmons was sort of happy about that. He got a few days
of quiet. Teaching in Swedish is hard enough, then if you add on
having to do that with little or no voice it's just almost impossible.

We had a super fun Swedish lesson this week. It was all about Swedish.. duh. I have been telling the members that I will be leaving and it is making me really sad to see this place go. I feel like this is my family. I love them all so much. I can't think of what it will be like with other members. At the same time I am so excited to be able to go to other places and see what other wards and branches hold! I just feel very positive about the future! I can't wait to see what the Lord will do with me.

I feel like I am growing so much spiritually. I have my Father in Heaven and my Brother Jesus Christ to thank. As well as my amazing family. I feel so lucky. I could spend a whole day writing down all the blessings and miracles that I have seen while I have been out here.
There is one thing I KNOW. The Lord is mindful of me. He is mindful of all of us and wants us to be happy and grow! Trials are blessing! Hard
times are growing opportunities. I love this gospel. I love my mission. I love all of you. I pray for you daily. I hope you pray for
me, I pass on the blessings for me right onto those who need them
here. We have the chance to do so much good through prayer. It works.
He is listening.

Have a great week. Dad, I hope you back feels better. You need to
remember you aren't Superman, and you have limits! Just kidding. You
basically are Superman. I love you so much.

Keep on Keeping on!

Äldste Farnworth

The Single's Family Night Group. Left to Right, Henrik, Elder
Simmon, Me, Pouyeh, Ståle.