Austin is HOME!!

 July 1, 2022

After two long years Austin made it home from his mission to Tacoma Washington! We are so proud of this We can all learn from him. We all can do hard things!! Way to go Austin. Well done.

 

Well this is it

 June 28, 2022

My last email. I can't believe it's already almost over! I will be returning home this Friday and I don't know how I feel about it. I'm obviously excited but it's been sad saying goodbye to so many people this week.

Anyways... this week was awesome!

On Thursday, We went on exchanges with the APs and that was a ton of fun. It was only for half a day. We visited a lot of people and had some cool lessons.

Friday was crazy! We had MLC and it was my last one. At the end, we had a small testimony meeting for all the departing missionaries and it was powerful. We also had our departing interviews!! It didn't really set in that I was leaving soon until then. It was at the mission home and it was great. 

Yesterday we had a really cool lesson with a couple returning members. We also had FHE and played water balloon volleyball! That was epic. That was my last time seeing the ward which is pretty sad. I love those guys

Elder Macfarlane 

Pic 1: Water Balloon Volleyball 

Pic 2-3: Last MLC

Pic 4: My good friend Doc

Zions Camp/ Off Site Zone Conference

 June 14, 2022

This week was sooo awesome!! It was a special week. We spent a LOT of time outside and doing tons of fun activities. It was the best!!

On Wednesday, the entire MLC met up at a church owned facility called Zions Camp. It was so fun. We recieved a little bit of training from President Metts, but most of the time we were doing different games/activities. The purpose of the different activities were to improve our critical thinking as a mission... and also to have a little fun. One of the leaders there, Sven, talked to us about the importance of prayer and always having a prayer in your heart. He is a spiritual beast. They had tons of "team building" exercises there and the MLCs job was to learn them cause we would be doing them with our stewardship later in the week! One of the activities was a HUGE wall that we all had to work together to get over. We were in groups of probably 10-12. It was so fun and a little stressful sometimes. Apparently one of the other groups had President Metts in it and they got him over the wall!! There is a video of it somewhere and it's hilarious. You don't see you mission president getting launched over a wall very often 

The training we received on Wednesday was super good. President talked about looking back. We did an activity that demonstrated how hard it is to walk in a straight line while looking backwards. The point he was trying to make was how hard it is as a missionary to move forward if we are always thinking of home or looking back to our old life. It was really good. He shared with us that we currently have 200 missionaries in the mission, and 50 will be going home in the next 2 months!! Thats crazy. I'm in that group. He basically invited us to press forward and not leave the mission with a culture of looking back. I never really thought about how as leaders, we can effect so many other missionaries.

Friday was also SO fun! We went to Zions camp again!! It's like a 3 hour drive there and back so it was a lot of driving. We had zone conference with half the mission. They kept calling it Off Site Zone Conference instead of Zions Camp for some reason. We all thought that was odd but funny. We did similar activities that we did on Wednesday but we were in charge of leading it. I think everyone had a good time and learned quite a bit. It was eye opening to me. I realized how young the mission is cause I don't know very many people anymore!! Its a little sad but that's just how it goes. People move on and new people come in. The best part of today was the end. They had all the departing missionaries give their final testimonies. President Metts called on me first!! I was caught off guard at first but it was good. It was a very spiritual moment for me. Not just giving my testimony, but hearing the testimonies of others and of some of my close friends I've made out here. The spirt was present and I could really feel it.

God is good and he loves you all!!

Elder Macfarlane 

Pic 1-3: Zions Camp

Pic 4-5: Interviews 

Week Long Exchange

 May 24, 2022

These past two weeks have been crazy!! My companion got covid and was quarantined for 5 days! It wasn't super bad. The mission nurse said I was good to go and didn't have to stay inside which was nice. It actually works out great because one of the elders I live with got sick too, so me and Elder Brown (who was the other healthy one) spent the week together. It was basically a 5 day exchange lol. We did mostly YSA work but we also had a couple lessons in the South Hill area. It was a lot of fun! 

On Sunday, we went to both wards which was fun! I served in the south hill ward about 6 months ago so it was fun to be back for a week. I got to see a ton of families that I LOVE in that ward. Bishop was shocked to see me when I walked into ward council haha. 

We did a TON of service this past week! As a district, we helped dig 12 super deep holes for a new fence. We unload 2 uhauls too which was great! I've learned to really love doing service and helping people who need it. It's taught me to be a hard worker!

Lastly, we had Elder Cordon visit our mission! He's in the 70. It was sooooo good! We had a zone conference, mlc, and mini mlc with him! He shared a LOT of stuff and the spirit was so strong. I liked when he talked about becoming a lifelong disciple of Jesus Christ. He said that one day our plastic name tag will come off and that's when we have to make a crucial decision. We can chose to put on a tag inside our hearts that can never be removed... or not. It's up to us. I liked that message a lot. It was also funny cause he aggressively took an elders name tag off (as a joke) and everyone busted out laughing. Elder Cordon was super funny and I liked his relaxed but confident personality. He also shared about how our missions are our "mini life." If we are obedient and dedicated to the Lord, that will transfer to after our missions. But the same is true for the negative. If we are lazy and rebellious, then that's how we'll be when we go home. You're desires aren't magically going to change. Live your "mini life" in a way that is pleasing to yourself and more importantly, pleasing to the Lord. I like this message cause I got to kinda review on how I'm treating my mini life and what I could do better. The spirit taught me so much. It's been a great couple weeks!!

Elder Macfarlane 

Pic 1-2: District Service 

Pic 3: The Squad 

Pic 4: MLC with Elder Cordon

Fun Activities in the YSA!

 May 10, 2022

Hey everyone! These past 2 weeks have been awesome. We had some really good lessons. Teaching young single adults is so fun! It's very different than teaching someone who's a lot older or a lot younger.  I feel like it's just so raw and sincere. I love hearing these 20 year olds testimonies and helping them out with anything they need. We had some way cool activities too!

We had a:

- "Grill and Chill" which was basically a ward BBQ

- FHE at our bishop's place 

- Institute (with tacos!)

- Temple Trip

They were all a blast.

We had interviews with our mission president which is always good. We gave a training on finding joy in the work. I think it went well and a lot of the missionaries in the zone liked it. We did stations this time which was genius! We only had to give a 10 minute training (instead of 2 hours) and then just rotate a bunch of times. It was a success.

Last thing is we have a member of the 70 coming to the mission this week! His name is Elder Cordon (...or something like that). We have a mission tour conference with him tomorrow. I'm excited. We had a zoom call with him yesterday with all the leadership. It was only for an hour or so but he's nice. It's fun to see how his personality is different than other people that have come to the mission. He's a lot more chill and kind. He's great! It's cool how everyone is a little different but we all can be united in gathering scattered Israel! Love you all!!

Elder Macfarlane 

Pic 1-4: Disposable camera pics from my comp 

Pic 5-6: Temple Trip

BUSYBUSYBUSY

 April 26, 2022

Hey everyone! Things are going great here in the ysa ward! I feel like I'm back in college sometimes haha.

On Friday we went on exchanges and I got to go back to the fife house! Thats where I lived for 6 months in chambers creek. I was with Elder Ekins and he's a hard worker and a baller. We get along well. We played a lot of bball in those 24 hours! We played in the morning twice and with a couple nonmembers/less actives Friday night. I was pretty tired afterwards. It was a fun exchange.

On Saturday, we had a service project in Sumner. It was with the ysa ward. We had this giant mound of dirt that we moved to a bunch of flower beds in the backyard. There's pics at the bottom. We had like 5 wheelbarrows going back and forth and it was a lot of work but fun. I like service a lot, especially as a missionary.

We had a crazy busy Sunday and it turned out to be a lot of fun! I had to give a talk in sacrament meeting. That was a little stressful cause I'm not a big public speaker. It went well. It helps being a missionary and having to talk to people all the time haha. I talked about the Love, Share, Invite talk by Elder Stevenson from this past conference. Before sacrament meeting, I got to see a couple members from the south hill ward that I was really close to and that was so awesome!! I served in South hill about 5-6 months ago. After sacrament, we had another meeting with all the youth in the stake. It was called Light Up Your Life. It's basically mission prep with a new name. Me and my companion and the STLs were in charge of giving a 45 minute training. The topic was on talking with strangers. We do that quite a bit as missionaries. I was pretty scared/nervous at first cause there were a TON of youth packed in the relief society room. I was proud of myself after it was all over because I would never have done that before the mission. I'm grateful for those opportunities to push me out of my comfort zone (which happens a lot as a missionary). The last thing was on Sunday night we had Come Follow Me with the ysa and my comp and I had to lead the discussion. It went well and my companion really helped me out. We read through/talked about Exodus 18-20. Some good chapters. That's it :)

Staying busy. Hope you all are doing good,

Elder Macfarlane 

Pic 1-3: Service Project 

Pic 4-5: Glow in the Dark Volleyball (I only wore the earing for the picture haha)

Happy Easter!

 April 19, 2022

HAPPY EASTER!

We had transfers this week and it back in South hill! I was not expecting that. I'm serving in the YSA (young single adult) ward now which has been sooo fun. I actually love it. We do activities like 4 times a week and they are always a good time. I'm slowly getting to know everyone and learning people's names. I already got assignments to give a talk next week. That was fast haha!

We don't really knock doors or anything in the ysa. It's been a little bit of an adjustment but not in a bad way. We drive a lot more and contact people who are between the ages of 18-30. We had a couple really cool lessons this week.

Also... We went to Zions Camp with all the leadership in the mission. That was the BEST! I got to see so many past companions and it was just a blast. It was kinda like a mini zone conference. We did a service project where we walked down these trails and snipped a bunch of bushes. That was the best part honestly. Getting to catch up with old friends and laigh our heads off. After the service, we spit into teams and did a treasure hunt thing. It was down pouring but that didn't stop us! So fun. It got more serious/ spiritual after that. We received a training about living in the moment. It was very good and talked about not hoping for the next transfer or thinking about that plane ride home too much haha. I learned a lot from it and the spirit was so strong. During the entire day, I felt like everyone was so kind and accepting and just having a good time. A day to remember for sure.

For pday today we went to the temple 

Miss you all,

Elder Macfarlane 

Pic 1-3: Eatonville 

Pic 4-5: Zions Camp

Pic 6: Seattle Temple