Service. It just makes you feel all good inside!

Dear family and friends,

There is so much to tell you this week. So hopefully I can fit it into this email.

Monday started out this great week. We went to go stop by a potential during P-day, and right before we left the apartment I grabbed two copies of the Book of Mormon so we could give one to this potential. On the bus on the way over there was an old man staring at me and pointing at the copies of the Book of Mormon I had in my hand. At first I thought he was pointing to something behind me, but he was actually pointing to the Book of Mormon. So I sat down, asked him if he had ever heard of the Book of Mormon and he said he hadn't. I handed one of the copies to him, gave him a brief overview, and invited him to read it. He said he would, and so my companion hurried and handed him our card before we had to get off the bus. You may be thinking, "Well, what happened after that?" Unfortunately, we're still waiting for him to call. But I just thought it was a cool experience because the potential that we stopped by actually wasn't home, and that the Book of Mormon didn't end up in the hands that we thought they were going to end up in. God works in mysterious ways!

We finally started the quit smoking program with Nastia this week and it was so funny what happened when we handed her the Declaration of Independence (a paper that participants sign before they start the program.) We had a member read the manual because Nastia gets frustrated when we read Russian, and after we handed her the paper, the member continued on without waiting for her to sign it and so Nastia said, "What are you doing?! This is a very important moment in my life!" We all laughed pretty hard, but it showed us that she was very serious about the step she was taking to change something in her life that's she's been wanting to change for a long time. The next time we stopped by she told us how she had been carrying around mandarins in his purse to help her resist the temptation to smoke, and about how many peels had accumulated since then. She's doing great!

Denis is still coming to church every Sunday, but we're really wanting him to make the decision to get baptized earlier. So, we read a lot of verses about procrastinating the day of our repentance/baptism and the consequences that come from that. As soon as we finished, my companion turned to him and asked, "Do you get the message we're trying to tell you?" His answer, "Yes, I understand." He's still unsure though. But we won't give up! He's a great kid and could help this branch out a lot.

A recent converts birthday was this week, so she had us come over and learn how to make gulipsy. It's about time I learned how to make a Moldovan dish! We also got to meet her sister and her niece. After we sang happy birthday, she said, "как красиво!" and blew out the candles. She cried and as she always does, thanked us for everything that we've done for her. Best birthday party I've ever been to! We also got to give people donated wheelchairs the same day. There's nothing more satisfying that seeing a big smile on someones face from an act of service. It just makes you feel all good inside! 

Sister Valea's birthday.

Us at Sister Valea's making gulipsy.

Oh yeah, there were also 31 people at church on Sunday. That's the most people I've seen since I've been here in Balti. We hope that it goes up from here because this branch is ready for a growth spurt. Okay, I almost got everything in that I wanted to say. If any of you have not read Jesus the Christ, read it as soon as possible! I've been reading it a lot lately, and I am amazed with the detail given about Jesus' life and how much it has strengthened my testimony of Him. I don't know why I didn't read it earlier in my mission. If any of you are struggling with your testimony, always remember the primary answer of "pray, read your scriptures, and go to church!" That's the key! Thanks for your mails, and I hope you have a wonderful week.

Love you!

-Elder Farnworth

Gulipsy! One of the three main foods of Moldova.