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| Hot Chocolate and Free Wifi for P-day |
Not sure where the subject line came from but here you go!
Hola familia y amigos!
MISSIONARY WORK IS THE BEST.
This week has been fun because Hermana Barrera doesn't have any girls and she loves doing hair so we went to her house and she did our hair twice this week! It is so fun. It's the best language study ever really.
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| Hermana Barrera |
We visited cute Miss Thelma again, that's always a sure highlight of the week. Especially because she always remembers the "Mac" part of my name, but she (like most people here) cannot remember the "farlane" part. There's always some version of "Macbellin" or "Macduffel" or something like that!
The Eastman family is so awesome. We went to their house for dinner on Tuesday and Sister Eastman made this amazing chicken broccoli cheese cracker thing and I had to use some serious self control to not eat the whole pan. They are such a fun family!! Fun fact is that Brother Eastman has a direct line to Sacagawea (my iPad says that spelled right but IDK) so we talked about that and all our different heritages. Lately we have been inviting all of the families that we go to visit to fast and pray for a specific missionary opportunity or for someone they can bring to their home for a dinner/FHE/activity/etc. This Sunday was fast Sunday so we are praying to see some awesome miracles from this! The Eastman's (and really all the other families) are so on board and this ward is the best.
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| Super bowl (Hna Moore, Sister Smith, Sister Bass, me looking like a crazy person, Sam, Sydney) |
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| Game watchers |
Then we ate with them again on Sunday after church! We were signed up to eat with the Smith's but we ended up having Super Bowl munchies together with the Smith's and the Eastman's and a bunch of other families in the ward! Hermana Moore and I just hung out in the kitchen with Sam, Joe, Syndey, Sister Smith, and Sister Bass and some other sisters so that we wouldn't watch the game but we could still eat! And let me tell you about some of the delicious foods we ate (this is more for my sake so I can remember to make them all when I get home):
- grapes with whipped cream, cream cheese, powdered sugar and nuts
- Parmesan chicken cupcakes (it's like breaded stuff with chicken parm in the middle and marinara on top. So good)
- Classic BBQ weenies - ritz dipped in cream cheese, cheddar cheese, green onions, and bacon dip
- sourdough bread with cucumbers and the sweet green herb seasoning stuff that I can't remember
- cheese dip- peppers with cheese and bacon
- bean dip- cheese ball (my fave)
- Sam's brownies
- cake- ritz with peanut butter dipped in frosting
- a second (and third. And fourth.) serving of the grape stuff
- strawberry cake- dipped Rice Krispies
- muddy buddies with pretzels
- brownies with marshmallows on them
- more grape whipped cream stuff
and probably some other stuff but I can't remember! :) It was a great way to end Fast Sunday. :)
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| AARI!!! |
Saturday was fun because Aari got baptized! I don't remember if I have even written about Aari before. She is the CUTEST. Her parents are long-time members and she has been adopted by them and recently turned 8 so we helped teach her the lessons so she would be ready for baptism! It was so much fun. We taught about 2 lessons every week for the last little bit. I really enjoyed teaching Aari and being in the Seay's home. They have a very sweet spirit and are so loving. We were nervous for her baptism because it was also the ward temple day! Most of the people that know Aari were planning on being at the temple that day. But it turned out so awesome! They ended up having about 40-45 people there that morning with still a big group that went to the temple. Sister McArthur gave a really good talk on baptism and what that means and why it is so important to follow this example of Jesus Christ. She used the 4th article of faith to explain the steps. Then she did the whiteboard trick and explained that at baptism, we are clean from all the marks or sins we made during our life. But once we are clean, it is possible to be dirty again, which is why we have the Atonement. She did great. Then after the baptism Sister Eastman gave a great talk about the Holy Ghost and how we need that guidance but especially the comfort when times are hard. I love the ladies in this ward! They are great examples to me. And I'm so thankful for Aari and her decision to follow Jesus Christ. It is something that is so simple that an 8 year old understands it but so profound that it will make a huge impact on her life the more she learns about it.
After her baptism we had a few minutes to do some regular missionary work and then we went to Amber's baby shower!! It was so fun and cute. We helped cut out a banner (I have never seen such effort put into a baby shower before) and they had hand painted cute little pictures and signs and all sorts of cute baby stuff. Most importantly they had tacos and cheesy potatoes and cake. And we got to see Genevieve and Eric again! :) (also Desiree, Sam, Cindy, etc. etc. :))
We had one of the best zone meetings I have had yet on my mission. The leaders were awesome but mostly the Spirit was so strong there and I learned a lot! (I had to do the Accountability to the Doctrine on Lesson 3 and President and Sister Wakolo were there... Scary haha.) We learned about making studies more meaningful and things we can do to bring the Spirit, and especially being worthy to have the Spirit and receive revelation for our investigators during those study hours. And when the zone leaders asked President Wakolo what he does to feel the Spirit during the day (we were talking about trying to keep the Spirit with us not just in studies but in the car and everywhere we go) he said that he doesn't listen to any kind of music, ever. NOT EVEN MOTAB. Haha! All of our faces were probably hilarious! Naturally we didn't listen to music for like three or four days after that. And we decided that we will just be slower to turn on music and be prayerful about it, too. It has actually been really nice to be able to ponder and meditate on the lesson or on my own thoughts as we drive. But sometimes the music does help us focus our thoughts and actions on the Savior and brings the Spirit when we feel distracted. :) I love the Wakolo's! They are very inspired and have the strongest sweetest spirits. It is a pleasure serving with them here.
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| Bing a dorky baker with cupcakes |
We have been wanting to (as always) continue finding new people to teach. Hermana Moore had the idea to try to contact a former potential investigator. We were nervous because it was a spur of the moment thing and she lives pretty far out from us so it could either be awesome or a waste of miles to drive all the way out there. We decided it was a prompting that we needed to follow so we drove out there and she wasn't home! We waited out in her drive way for a little bit trying to figure out why we had been prompted to go to this area. I got the feeling that we needed to knock a few of the surrounding houses, so we did, and no one was home. I kept saying to myself "this is the last one and then we will go" and then we would knock the door and I would feel like we needed to keep knocking and knocking! It gets exhausting when no one is home or if they are they really really do not want to listen to you. But for some reason the whole time we both felt really good about being in that area! At the end we felt prompted to give a pass along card to some construction workers (yes it was very awkward to walk onto a construction site and give a Christmas pass along card. But the Lord works in mysterious ways!) and then as we went back to our car, we met a guy who lives by himself and is all boater, snowboarder, fisher, partier, etc. kind of dude and we shared with him a little bit about what we believe and we decided to send the elders there later. It was so interesting as we were leaving we both felt very good about the hour we spent there. No one really accepted anything or was interested in progressing, but we both felt good about just having been there and left little cards in doors and stuff.
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| Eutaw?? Utah?? |
I am grateful for the testimony I have gained this week of the restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I am grateful for the sacrifice of Joseph Smith and those who were in the early church made and the ancestors that I have who accepted the church early on so that I could be here and be so blessed. Hermana Moore and I have had to testify a lot of Christ being the head of one true church. He loves us all very individually and I am just very grateful for the safety and security that is found in this church lead by righteous Priesthood holders being guided by Jesus Christ himself. I know that because of His pure love and the love of Heavenly Father, I can be with my family forever. I can be happy now and in the eternities! I am so grateful to be serving here and for the opportunity I have to share my testimony with those around me here in Arkansas!
I love you all! Thank you for your prayers and support! :)
Hermana Macfarlane
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