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

General Conference!

April 5, 2022 

Wow. This week was amazing!

First off, we had general conference which is always so good especially as a missionary. I've learned to take notes while listening cause it keeps me focused. There were so many good talks. My favorite was President Nelson's about keeping positive spiritual momentum. It's so true. It's much easier to continue a habit then to start a new one. That was beneficial for me to hear as I'm coming closer to the end of my mission. Gotta keep up the daily prayers and scripture study!! It's so easy but so important.

We watched conference at 3 different members homes. That was awesome. One of them had a bunch of Legos for us to play with haha! I felt like a kid again. My comp loves Legos so that why they did it. I can assure you... he was in heaven.

We had interviews with our mission president this week. That also went so good! We had to give a training to the whole zone (2, 2 hour sessions) and it was so much better than last transfer. We were a lot more prepared. Our training was on "Your Devine Growth and Potential" and everyone really liked it. I always get a little nervous beforehand. I think that's normal. Definitely out of my comfort zone, but that's missionary work in a nutshell haha.

We had MLC on Friday. Elder Echols and I made sure to bring our Pizza Planet shirts so we could get a picture together. I’ve forgot it the past 2 transfers, but finally remembered this time!

We played basketball a couple times too which definitely was a highlight of the week :)

Love ya,

Elder Macfarlane 

Pic 1: Me and Elder Echols with matching shirts

Pic 2-3: Interviews with both districts 

Pic 4: General Conference & Legos

Pic 5: MLC