HE'S HERE!!!!!

Waiting for the train....

HE'S HERE!!!!!!

The train... with our new companions on it....

Wednesday morning at 8:45 the train from Bucharest got into the Chisinau station. Elder Monroe and I had absolutely no idea who we were training until they got off the train and told us. My new companion (a.k.a my son) is................................................................................................................................................................................................... Elder Westover! He's from Weiser, Idaho, loves basketball, he's left handed, and his Dad is a nurse anesthetist. I don't know about you but that sounds exactly like me! He has some serious MTC fire, and it's helping so much. We've talked to a lot of people and he's willing and ready to talk to anybody and do anything to start a conversation. What a fantastic companion that I get the amazing opportunity to train. He has no fear and is getting to know the investigators, members, and missionaries really quickly. He even blessed the sacrament yesterday, had a bunch of requests from members thrown at him, almost had to give a 5 minute talk, and he handled it very well. I don't know how he's doing it, but he is!

Elder Westover and me!

We had a lot of cool experiences this week. There was one day where we didn't have enough time to go back home, so we decided to drop by a less-active family and give them a picture that was given to us by the Whiting's (former missionaries that served in Moldova). We went to the wrong apartment at first, and I thought we weren't going to find the right place, but then my memory kicked in and right as we were about to ring the doorbell, the door opened and the mother was pleasantly surprised to see us. She was leaving to a meeting somewhere, so we caught her right in time! We gave her the picture and she had me translate the English that was written on the back. As we were leaving, she helped us know what transport to get on to go back to the church and she expressed her gratitude for us stopping by. When we got back to the church, we met Dima and his friend Anna and had a lesson about the importance of the Book of Mormon. Dima wasn't paying any attention to what we were saying.... but his friend was. We were able to give her a copy of the Book of Mormon and invite her to read from it every day. She said she would! My companion shared Heleman 5:12, which is an AWESOME verse, and then bear testimony of it's truthfulness and how this book really will strengthen our faith in Christ. It was a powerful lesson, and it was Elder Westover's first lesson in Moldova! 

A lot of contacts happened in the park next to our apartment too. One guy was fishing, we saw him catch a big fish, so my companion said, "молодец!" and the guy turned around and said, "Hey, you two are really happy guys." Well of course we are! It's because we have an amazing message to share with you! Another time was when we were walking home with Vlad, and a guy next to a cotton candy machine asked if he could talk to us. We did, and at first it seemed like he just wanted to argue, but he really had a sincere question. He ended with saying how happy he was to meet some believers like us and he also wished us success. Multiple times we had people randomly call us and want to meet up too, so that's been good!

"Satan will send you people and God will send you people, the only difference is that God's people will keep commitments." - Presidnet Utchdorf. Before Brother Whiting (a former Moldovan missionary) told us this quote at a district/zone meeting, I had NEVER thought about this. A big bright light turned on in my head about being able to tell who has been prepared to receive the restored gospel: they'll keep their commitments! Well, I kind of already knew that, but now I know that Satan is also trying to send me people that will keep me from finding God's people. Elder Westover and I have a lot of potentials that we should be meeting with this week, and we're excited to get some new investigators.

Funny experience of the week: "Who is Nephi's dad?" - Me. "Moroni, Alma, my dad, M&M." - Dima. ......And this was right after we read 1 Nephi 1..... I couldn't help but laugh. 

Anyway! That's it for the week. I'm having a ton of fun with Elder Westover and we're working hard to find, teach, and baptize. I wish you could all be experiencing the missionary life right now, but I hope you all know that I love you, pray for you, and think about you every day! Have a wonderful week.

-Elder Farnworth

P.S. Thanks for the band-aid note Aunt Connie! It made my day when my companion handed it to me right as he got off the train.