My companion knits ALL THE TIME.

Dear Friends and Family,

It's O degrees Celsius and it hasn't even snowed yet..... Now what's up with that?! We're actually grateful for that though because it's supposed to be the worst winter ever here so hopefully we don't get icicles hanging from our nostrils in a couple weeks. Which reminds me, we're getting TWO NATIVES on the 10th. I may or may not be training one of them..... President hasn't really told us what's going to happen. Our second Thanksgiving was wonderful! We got to go down to Chisinau and eat a huge meal at the Schwartz apartment with all the Moldova missionaries. After we stuffed ourselves, with the approval of President Hill, we got to watch Fiddler on the Roof (One of Dad's favorite movies!) But of course, Thanksgiving isn't all about the food and relaxation, it's about our countless blessings that we have received from our loving Heavenly Father and it's a time to spend with family and let them know how much we love them. So, I want you all to know how much I love you and how grateful I am for your examples to me.

Thanksgiving at the Schwartz apartment in Chisinau.

Anyway! English has really been an effective finding tool for us. We actually got a new investigator from it this week. His name is Denis, he's an 18 year old young man who really wants to quit smoking and has been meeting with us often. We are going to start helping him to make reading the Book of Mormon a daily thing and hopefully he will recognize the feelings from the Spirit that our message is true. At one of our lessons, right as we sat down he asked, "What do you guys think is the worst sin?" Well, we told him about denying the Holy Ghost, but the answer he was thinking of was smoking. This helped us to know that he's wanting to make some major changes in his life. We told him, "You know, us teaching people English is a great thing, but there's more to what we do. We're here to help people change their lives and come unto Christ." So we went over the Word of Wisdom with him and promised that with Christ and God, quitting smoking is possible. The next student was a woman named Cristina and she has a child and a husband who knows English pretty well. We went over the Plan of Salvation pamphlet with her and at the end she asked a question that I had been waiting for, "What separates your church from all the other churches in the world?" It was a time where I got to testify of a living Prophet who speaks with God today, the fullness of the gospel and the keys of the Priesthood which were restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith, non-paid leaders, and that Jesus Christ is at the head of this church. She simply nodded her head and said, "Yeah. Well. Thanks for the lesson." We invited her to church, but she didn't come. People have their agency.... As missionaries, we invite and help. So now we just have to keep inviting and helping the people we teach come to church.

Our church..... Next to Babylon Cafe.

We visited some really great members this week too. The first one was a man whose wife is a Baptist. His name is Brother Valentin. We had a lesson outside in the cold, but right when I pulled my Bible out to share some scriptures, he looked at it and asked, "Where did you get such a beautiful, small Bible?" We asked him if he wanted one, and he did. (So when we were down in Chisinau we got one for him.) I read Proverbs 3:5-6 and when we finished reading, he looked up and said, "You read my mind. Never have these verses been so applicable to me than today. Thank you." On Sunday, we wrote a little note in his new Bible and he was like a child on Christmas when we told him that it was a gift from us. He put it in his suit jacket pocket and said, "Look, I'll put it here and every morning when I wake up I'll read a verse out of it." I love the members here! I would do anything for them. 

There are a million other things I could tell you, but I don't have all the time in the world. I hope this is sufficient for this week. I love you all and I hope the transition from the holiday break back into school and work isn't too painful. 

-Elder Farnworth

My companion knits ALL THE TIME.