"This all seems like a dream..."

Dear Family and Friends,

This all seems like a dream that I am actually serving in a different city. I'm finally in Balti! It's a dream come true I guess you could say. I've heard so much about this city and how well the missionary work is going up here, and they're right. The missionary work is going VERY well up here. In fact, my first day as a missionary here we had the baptism of that one lady I told you all about. I was also the one to interview her (interviews in another language are quite an experience!), and she wanted me to speak at her baptism, so I got to speak and it was awesome! She's going to be a great addition to this already incredible branch. The day after her baptism we dropped by to see how she was doing and she read us the testimony she wrote in her personal copy of the Book of Mormon which was thanking God for sending the Elders to her to show her the path that He wanted her to take. Heavenly Father sends missionaries to do just this: to help His children find their way back on the right path to eternal life. What a blessing it is to be a part of this work.

 Balti!

Sunday was my 2nd favorite day of the week. Do you all remember Boris (my investigator) from the MTC? Well guess who just happens to be the branch president of the Balti branch? Boris! When he walked into church on Sunday I thought to myself, "Holy cow, this is the man that my MTC teacher (Brother Holt) was." He shook my hand and told me that he was glad to finally have me serving in his branch and that he was happy to see me. Also, they LOVE Brother Holt here. After Sunday school, a sister looked at me and announced, "Hey everybody! This is a student of Elder Holt!" Everyones' reactions were hilarious because they bombarded me with questions about how he's doing. For Priesthood it was just me, Elder Westover, and two other Brothers. I loved it and all we did was read 3 stories from the Liahona. There's such a good feeling here, and the members help us out so much with missionary work. It makes everything a million times better when we all work together to help the branch grow and get stronger. I love the members here! I can't wait to get to know them better. We finished our Sabbath Day with some knocking and used the survey again. Question 6 works like a charm! We found a father who took a Book of Mormon and said that we could come back anytime. It's great to have a Russian companion again, especially since it's Elder Westover. He's a fantastic companion.

I personally, love this photo. Look how happy she is!

Well. That's all for this week since it was transfers, and a lot of travelling was involved, but I am loving every second of being up here. We have a handful of good potentials (which include 2 families) and hopefully this week we can get some new investigators! I love you and hope you have a happy Thanksgiving! Don't eat too much food ;)

-Elder Farnworth

Random quote and fact of the week:

"You are what you believe." 

And the Book of Mormon has no culture, that's why anyone in the world who reads it can relate to what is written. Plus, it's the word of God and the word of God applies to everyone!

The baptism.