#27 Still in Buduburam

Dear Friends and Family, March 8th, 2010

Well, considering that I sent an e-mail late last week, there isn't really anything new to report. I'm being moved out to Buduburam proper, as President has just found an apartment out there. It'll probably be just in time for transfers. We also know I'm definitely staying, and there is a good shot I'll be training. I don't particularly want to, but it would be a great opportunity to fight the "slipping" that generally tends to occur as time goes on. (things like leaving 15-20 minutes late, coming in early when late appointments fail, etc.)


I've been reading this wonderful book "My Kingdom Shall Roll Forth" that was part of the Church Curriculum during President Kimball's time. It's been incredibly eye opening. Surely, the Lord is involved in every stage of this Church. In an age where programs and departments and committees are viewed as solutions, the Church has remained remarkably simple. All the Divine Intelligence of the Cosmos has boiled down to 1.) Family Home Evening 2.) Home Teaching/Visiting Teaching 3.) PEC [ a priesthood meeting ] 4.) Ward Council and 5.) Missionary Coordination. Please, give me half a second, cause I just got excited about it again. These are in order of importance, in my mind, at least. A family becomes incredibly strong through effective, constant FHE. This strength is compounded as families overlap in the HT/VT programs. These are reported, overseen, and improved in PEC. All the auxiliaries, in their very structure, are devised to strengthen the original family unit, hence the distinction of child, youth, adult, and then Missionary Coordination brings in the new blood to be taken through this process. Anyone can make a system that functions. A good designer makes it in as few parts as possible. And God is the very best, let's be frank. Unfortunately, we don't have anyone home teaching here, and I guess that no one is having FHE. PEC and Ward Council, which we always have, now have nothing to strengthen! Why can God reach down from the Heavens and give us perfection, and still we stubbornly remain defiant ?!

I digress. We set a goal of 19 for this transfer as a district, which is completely unheard of for 4 missionaries. Elder Bo. and Elder O. are doing great work and are teaching 12 people. We have 7. Our ZLs were worried we were trying to grow too fast. It's my hope that we'll keep finding people to teach, transfer after transfer, and that the next missionary who comes will be looking at a well-oiled missionary machine in this ward. I've loved that aspect of being a DL. Elder McGrath said "19? You're kicking Kasoa's tail, Elder Farnbach." That was cool. On the other side, I've been having a lot of stress in interviews. I've had to say no 2 times so far, and have had to make some serious judgment calls that no 19 year old should have to make. Abortion, Adultery, Fornication... HELLO!! I'm an efraba (small boy). I don't know how to deal with this stuff! Clearly the Lord is behind this, because no other organization is built on the backs of teenagers.


OH! We just found out that Sis. Swary, our YW leader, was the missionary who baptized Elder Bo.'s parents 20 years ago!!! How cool is that? I can't imagine meeting a 2nd generation from the family you baptized, especially knowing he is serving a mission himself.

Not much else to say. We went to the beach today, which was not really worth it, because of the distance. I'm not traveling while in Kasoa any more. I'm always on the fringes of the mission.

President came to our Sacrament meeting. A man bore his testimony. Unfortunately, it was all "Praise the Lord! Amen, Hallelujah!!!" That was uncomfortable. The members love that stuff. They miss it from their old churches and have never really understood why we don't do it.

Anyway, I love you all very much. I've been thinking about everyone this past week, and I can't wait to share all my stories and experiences so far. But, I still have 11 planners [ pocket calendars that cover 6 weeks ] left to gather said experiences (almost single digits!!), and I want to have plenty.

Love,
Elder W. Farnbach