A deep and abiding faith in the Lord Jesus Christ led Alan and Elizabeth Farrell to their first year as mission leaders in the Peru Huancayo Mission.
President Alan Farrell said, “One of the powerful testimonies I have is that if we simply turn to the Lord with all our thoughts, He will take care of each of us, each of His children. Don’t doubt, don’t be afraid.”
As their two children, Jane Farrell and Joshua Farrell, serve in Spanish-speaking missionary work at the Viña del Mar Mission in Chile and the Oklahoma City Mission, their witness grows stronger. President Farrell said that being both a Spanish missionary and an ambassador for Christ has brought them nothing but blessings.
called to serve
Back in March 2024, the Farrells’ son Joshua was called to a Spanish-speaking mission in Oklahoma and began serving in August of the following year.
At that time, three other family members were also impressed and expressed a desire to serve in the mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Jane Farrell was too young to serve a mission at the time, but she wanted to serve as soon as possible to avoid being separated from her brother for an extended period of time. Alan Farrell, the bishop of East Mill Creek 12th Ward in the Salt Lake East Mill Creek North Stake, expected to have two years left in his calling.
“We thought this was going to happen someday,” President Farrell said of the possibility of serving a mission with his wife.
A month after her son started his ministry, Elizabeth Farrell was mowing the lawn when she got a phone call asking to meet with her husband. She said of the interview, “I was a little nervous. We looked at each other and thought, ‘What was this for?'” Because we had no idea,” she said.
A few weeks later, the couple received a call from Elder Quentin L. Cook’s secretary requesting another interview.
After the conversation, Elder Cook put aside paperwork and asked the couple to serve as mission presidents and evangelists. Their thoughts quickly turned to their daughter. My daughter had one year left in high school and wanted to serve a mission.
They shared their concerns with Elder Cook. “Right then he said, ‘You know, she can serve a year early,'” Elizabeth Farrell recalled.
“Why don’t you go?” she said. “Josh was just excited to be able to serve (Jane) and just cried with joy that he was able to fulfill his mission and serve the Lord and help people come to Christ.”
Jane Farrell began her home MTC experience on June 16, 2025. It was two days before my parents were to report to Provo, Utah, for the annual seminar for new mission leaders.
A new meaning of “family”
“So the whole family is serving at the same time,” President Farrell said. “It’s a lot of fun, because the topics are always about the purpose of ministry, how to bring more people to Jesus Christ, and talking about what we’re doing. And it’s very interesting.”
“The Lord graciously helped everyone to have that experience at the same time,” he said.
President Farrell explained that Jane and Joshua Farrell sometimes call parents during class and ask them to testify to bless those they teach. “Even though we are far away, it has brought us closer together in the cause of helping people, inviting them and helping them come to Christ,” he said.
In Sister Elizabeth Farrell’s patriarchal blessing, there is a line that refers to “all” of her children. The mother of two was perplexed by the expression.
“But now we have missionaries, just like all these children. We just love them. We say to them, you are forever family,” President Farrell said.
“Now our family is much larger and everyone is serving,” the wife continued.
“I am so grateful that President (Jeffrey R.) Holland has assured me that your family will be blessed,” she said. “And Josh and Jane, we had a strong impression that even though they were both done and we were still here (in Peru) for about two years, the Lord was going to keep them in His hands.”
