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