The holidays are FINALLY over

Dear Family and Friends,

The holidays are FINALLY over. And what does that mean for us? People are back from the villages for school and work, and so our work has improved a lot.

A lot of great things happened this week. On Tuesday we went over to Nastia's with a member and on the bus we realized that we forgot the restoration video. So we sent the member to Nastia's apartment by herself so she could keep her busy until we got back. Right as we got to our apartment, we got a call from the member telling us that Nastia had to leave in 30 minutes so we didn't need to go back. Later in the day we asked her what happened and she said that they started and ended their "girl talk" with a prayer. Setting expectations at it's best! Luckily, Elder Streletski and Elder Westover were able to go back while they were on an exchange and teach her about the restoration. They told me that she said, "Well if Joseph Smith saw God and Jesus, then he must be a prophet." Well, yeah, of course! Just like every other prophet. She also said that she was seriously going to come to church this week and how she needs to be there 15 minutes early. Sadly, she was unable to come but she made sure to let us know that she was sorry she couldn't make it. We have such great investigators!

Us and Ion. We visited a place where they house invalids and they were really funny people. We enjoyed talking to them and giving them backpacks from a member who lives in Italy.

The next day..... We put up.... A window. Yes, all four of the elders, with the direction from Sister Valea, put up a large window on one of her friend's houses. "такое бред!" Elder Streletski kept saying this as all 7 of us were attempting to put up a window. And none of us had any previous experience with this kind of stuff. But in all seriousness, these people really needed the window. Before, it was just a piece of plastic and so it made it really cold inside. Now, a window is beautifully placed and it is helping them to stay warm. After we finished, Sister Valea invited the couple to go see the church and so we all walked there. They expressed their gratitude for what we had done and how much it meant to them. We are here to help each other because that's what Christ did, and if we are to be members of His church, then we need to remember to always serve those around us. 

 17 And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn ^awisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the ^bservice of your ^cfellowbeings ye are only in the service of your God.

I also had an exchange with Elder Monroe the same day and it was great to be back with an elder I had served with for 6 months. We did a lot of stop-by's to potentials and a lot of them were nice, but we weren't able to teach them more about our message. At the end of our exchange we went back to the church for sports night and I saw that the other elders were teaching a young man that I recognized. After a few seconds I realized, "What the... That's Denis!" He came back from Bulgaria early and surprised us all. It was so good to see him again and he's such a happy guy.

Speaking of Denis, we had a lesson with him a few days later and he seemed really down about something. We taught the rest of the commandments, he accepted them, and then when we asked him if he would obey the laws of God he said, "Well. It will be kind of hard if my parents are against me being baptized." He had called them the night before and apparently they weren't too happy about it. At one point it seemed like he was about to cry, which almost made me and my companion tear up. Elder Westover was able to share a great experience that I think helped him a lot. We also told him that there have been many members, especially in Moldova, who have gone through the same thing. We testified that God would provide a way for him to be baptized, and that everything would turn out the way it's supposed to. Each of us offering silent prayers at the end of the lesson was a powerful experience for me of how prayer really is a two-way communication between us and our loving Heavenly Father. As we were walking home, I got a prompting that a member from Orhei, who went through the exact same thing, should call Denis and tell him his thoughts and feelings about his own baptism. The Orhei elders just happened to be going to this members house when we called and they said that it went really well. If it's God's plan for him to be a bishop, or a stake president in Moldova later on in his life, then He will provide a way for Denis to become a member.

There's a mission home in Balti!

Sister Valea is such a golden recent convert! She gave her first talk as a member on Sunday and the congregation loved it. She told some really funny stories, but at the same time shared her testimony about how grateful she is for a church that focuses so much on serving others. She is helping us SO MUCH with our missionary work and she has such a high energy for it. And she's not the only one. There are so many members here who are doing the work together with us. In fact, we gave her a visit Sunday night and told her how another member didn't have any wood for his furnace, so she gave us the keys to her other house (which has lots of wood) and told us to go over and take as much wood as he needs. The best part is is that she doesn't want him to know that it's from her. "It's our little secret, okay?" Gee, being around her makes me want to be a much better person! 

I couldn't ask for a better place to serve in the entire world. I'm loving it here, and a lot of exciting things are happening. We were hoping that Denis would be baptized this Friday, but we'll just have to wait a little longer. That's okay though because we're not in charge, God is. Thank you all for your emails, pictures, and prayers. 

Love you!

-Elder Farnworth 

Funny experience of the week: We decided to stop by one of our potential investigators that lived in the same building as Nastia, and this is how it went: "Who's there?" - Little brother of potential. "The missionaries. Is саша home?" "No." "Well. When will she be home?" "Um. She's on the toilet...........саша!" Right as he started calling for her my companion turned to me and said, "This is awkward, let's get out of here! We'll come back in 30 minutes." It was so funny that I couldn't stop laughing. We went back after thirty minutes, but she was still "busy." 

A reception place. It was really foggy and it looked cool, so we took a picture.

PS:

"Dear Elder Farnworth,

It looks like the closest release date to your two-year anniversary of entering the MTC is July 9. Let's plan on that date, OK? I have changed it in the system." - President Hill

I'll be home on July 9th! Just wanted to let you all know.

LOVE YOU!

-Brian