Serve with all your Heart

Something that I have been thinking a lot about is what it means to serve with all your heart. To me the mind is so weak. It can be controlled and distracted with the change of one thought. All the mind needs to change is a simple desire. But where does the desire come from? Oh yes, it comes from the little organ that keeps that body moving, called the heart. In the Scripture Study Guide under the word heart it says (loosely translated) "Symbol of the disposition and the willingness of man and in the ideas the fuente de todo emocion y todo sentimiento." I am sorry but I really don't remember anything about English.

 

This is a big thing. the heart, serving with all of my heart is something that I can definitely improve on. The heart has a lot of room for love. A lot of room for all kinds of love. But as a symbol of the scriptures it shows our willingness and also our attitude with the things that we are given.

 

Sometimes I feel like we sustain the challenges, we accept them, but we don't enjoy them. I regress to one of my earlier sayings. REVEL IN THE TRENCHES. That is when you see if your heart is really connected with the will of God, when you get a challenge in whatever form it comes and you love it.

 

Step by step we will one day be truly converted. 

 

Love always,

Hermana Farner

You will become the mansion I have designed you to be

And so we see that time really does fly in the mission. Have been doing all sorts of introspection this past week as on Wednesday I will be hitting the halfway mark of the mission. I can't believe that so much time has passed. I can clearly remember flying to Mexico and flying to Chile and my first day, and my first day in El Monte. Man it is crazy to see how God just picks you up and drops you into the best experieces ever and we get the chance to enjoy them or not.

 

I seriously do love Chile. I have finally let go and just love the food, the people, the culture, the clothes, and especially the Gospel. As I have gotten closer and closer to God I have become to realize that I am really not all that I thought I was. Which those at home I am sure are cheering their heads off for. "Finally Seattle realizes she is not all that!" haha :) But I have learned so much about my talents, my strengths, my weaknesses and not a new category, my new strengths that God has helped me create. It is great to see a progressing investigator, I can explain how it feels. So just imagine what God feels like to see us progress. We are His most important investigators.

 

I have been thinking a lot about a quote I heard in a movie about Joseph Smith when he was talking to Brigham Young as he was helping build the temple in Kirtland, Ohio. He had recently called Brigham as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve and Brigham was having a hard time with that. And as he is working, Joseph comes up to him and says, "Brigham, don't you worry. God is not building a temple through you. Through building a temple, he is building you." And that is what I feel like my Savior is saying and has been saying throughout my entire mission. "Hermana Farner, you are not that great of a missionary. You are a just a shack of a person right now. You don't have it all. You are not perfect. So go do your best, and I can promise you that at the end of this time if you work hard, you still won't be perfect but you will become the mansion that I have designed you to be."

 

I have a strong testimony that my Savior loves me. That controlling our minds brings us success and having patience with ourselves and with others is the only way that we can make it in this life and have something waiting thereafter.

 

Love you all so much and hope that all is well :)

 

Love, 

Hermana Farner

WHAT?!

Can you believe it? I am 11 days from being halfway done! WHAT!

This week was an interesting one as we are going to Santiago twice a week. It is what we call a 2 hour travel there and back. We take a rickety old bus all the way to central station 1.5 hours and then we take another 30 minutes in the metro. I can honestly say I know Santiago and the whole western half of Chile like the back of my hand, Santiago reminds me a lot of the lovely city of Seattle and the weather is very, very similar and the people dress the same. I could live in Santiago; but it is really, really expensive, sadly.

 

I love the way the Lord gives us things that we have never experience to broaden our perspective of what life is really about. This week we were able to find 3 more people who have accepted to get baptized. I really believe the Lord is blessing us in a way that we hadn't ever thought of before. I will be honest when I say that there is nothing I would rather do than walk all day and enter a house and tell them that they can have eternal life.

 

I have never been so happy in circumstance that are so dark.  I thank you Mom and Dad for raising me well. It has blessed me more than you know.

 

Love you all so much!

Hermana Farner

Patience and long-suffering

Luckily I learned with my first companion in the mission that the audience always changes. I am learning and have learned a lot in the first week about my weaknesses and how important it is to be calm. haha :) I cant tell if I am going insane or if I am finally losing my insanity and craziness that I have had my entire life and becoming more calm. We will see what the time brings. :)

 

Presidente Barreiros told me that he got a really strong impression that I should be with Hermana K because I would be the one that would help her have a successful mission. I really pray that I will be able to show her the right way to do the mission. We will see what happens.

 

Learning a lot about the different types of patience that are found in our lives. Some people are patient with themselves but not with God nor with other people. Some people are patient with God and His blessings and not with others or themselves. I believe I am patient with myself (yes mother I have made it my strength ;) Thanks to the Atonement it is one of my greatest attributes) And patient with God and his timing, now I just have to learn how to be patient with others. I have improved a ton but it is now up to the deeper meaning of patience and why the word patience and long suffering are together. We can be patience by guarding how we are feeling and living through it, but in order to be long suffering we have to like it. That is my next challenge. I have been studying Alma 7:23-24 to help me get there. Pray for me!

 

Love you lots!

Hermana Farner 

 

PS  Thanks for the package Mom and Dad