Heat Wave Panic and Transfers

Hello everyone! I hope you have had a fantastic week enjoying the nice
summer weather.

Summer suddenly exploded here- almost literally. I never understood
why English people don't like the heat until this week.

Tuesday was probably the hottest and sweatiest day of my life. It was
only 30 degrees Celsius (80 Fahrenheit) but the 62% humidity was not
cool. I have never felt so much humidity before! It makes everything
so sticky.

Because hot weather is so unusual here, no one has air conditioning.
Even in homes people sweat, sticking to their couches while fans
circulate the sticky air. i don't think I had ever been so sweaty and
gross. I just want to send a massive shout out to all you missionaries
out there serving in hot climates. You are champs. I am taking a lot
of comfort in knowing that the summer will probably be over in a few
weeks.

People here are so not used to heat that they literally panic. In
short- I've never seen so many half naked people. It seems that the
culture here when it is hot is to rip off your clothes until the bare
minimum and head off to the beach. it has been a long time since any
of us here felt so much vitamin D enter into our bodies, so everyone
takes advantage of it while they can.

Sorry that most of my emails are about the weather. I'm not
complaining, but I just can't help but observing the unusual changes,
as the weather is never consistent here!

We had the opportunity to have interviews with President Stevens this
week. I always love interviews because I come away feeling so uplifted
and full of energy! When I'm with the Stevens I just feel like I never
want to leave.

Transfers have come, and it seems that sister Kerr will be leaving me!
It's so sad she only got to spend six weeks in the blessed land of
Sittingbourne. She will be going to Watford to be a sister training
leader! ( my third companion to become a sister training leader.) I
will be staying here and training a new missionary! I am excited for
this next adventure. I can't wait to meet my first daughter tomorrow!

As I've been writing this, I've been keeping an eye of this massive
spider the size of Texas that has been sneaking around the library
floor. I've actually just lost sight of it- so I'm hoping that it
won't jump out and scare me. Hopefully I'll survive.

I just want to say that I love being a missionary, and I love this
work. The church is true!
Love you all!
- Sister McFarland

Zoom Zoom

Hello all! I hope you are all enjoying the nice summer weather!
It has been very hot this past week, which has been nice for a change!
Although now I'm learning How to deal with the sticky humidity.

The past month the Elders in Gravesend have had our bikes. Theirs got
stolen, so we let them borrow ours (on strict conditions) until they
could get new ones. Well, we finally got them back this week and have
been enjoying the freedom of being able to zoom around town with ease.

 One of the highlights of our week was being able to bike on the
island. Now, the island is not My favourite place in the world. In
fact I try to avoid it as much as possible because it is a bit dodgy
and just all around a weird place. Yet with the bikes, we were able to
ride along a pathway on the beach to a different town on the island
that we hadn't worked with before. And the bike ride was so much fun
and so beautiful! (See pictures below)

Not too much has been happening in our area recently. It seems like
most people we meet are atheists! Because things were going slow, and
we were tired of going three weeks with having no one on date- we
decided to set a goal to invite one person to be baptised everyday. We
were so diligent with our goal, and refused to let the day end unless
we had invited someone to be baptised! One evening we had just left a
members house at 8:30 and we only had half an hour to invite some
one to be baptised. I remembered that we had a potential investigator
named Lewis who lived not too far away. So with our faithful bikes we
were able to zoom over to his house, and knocked on his door at 8:50.
He was home, and we were able to have a quick 10 minute lesson with
him where we invited him, and he accepted, to prepare to be baptised
next month!  Feeling like champions, we biked home off into the
sunset, praising God all the way home. God really does bless us when
we are faithful in our goals,and when we doll that we can, he fills in
the rest.

This week marks an historic event. On July 22, 1837, the first
missionaries arrived in Preston England. They had remarkable success,
and started a legacy for missionary work on this island. On July 22
2015, Sister Kerr and I left the MTC and entered the mission field,
and stared on this marvellous work.
Shall we not go on in so great a cause?

Love you all and I hope you have a fantastic week!
Chose the right!
Love,
Sister McFarland

How Do You Measure a Year?

I have been a missionary for 365 days, 52 weeks, 12 months, ONE YEAR!
I cannot believe how quickly the time has gone. I sorta panicked the
other day when I realised that I had been out for a year, and that I
only have 6 months left. But amid the mid-mission crisis and stresses
about what I have/haven't accomplished this year, and through the many
tears that have been shed this week over it, I've thought of a few
valuable lessons I have learned during my adventure here.

I have learned:
* To love the people in England
* How to ride a bike in a skirt
* How to love the rain, even though we have a love-hate relationship.
* Not to call your trousers pants
* How to interpret even the thickest of English accents
* Kind of how to figure out London's tube system
* How to teach gospel principles lesson, or any lesson, with no preparation
* That marmite is to be used in small portions
* How to cope with bi polar weather that can't make up its mind.
* That boldness can be my friend
* Learning about diverse cultures from around the world
* To trust in the spirit
* How to find English humour hilarious
* That squash and juice are not the same thing.
* Confidence
* How to really study the scriptures
* The importance of fire safety, especially when cooking. (I still
haven't cooked with oil since the fire.. Haha)
* That the atonement is there for each one of us

And so so much more! I have learned so much this past year, and have
so much more to learn.

So in reflecting on how I can measure this year, the answer is that I
can't measure it in days, weeks or months, but rather on all of the
amazing experiences and memories that I have made here. As a wise man
once told me "count the blessings, not the days." 
I sure love The gospel, England, and I sure love all of you! 🇬🇧
Love,
Sister McFarland

“Suddenly, in the space of a moment, I realized what it was that I
loved about Britain - which is to say, all of it. Every last bit of
it, good and bad - Marmite, village fetes, country lanes, people
saying 'mustn't grumble' and 'I'm terribly sorry but', people
apologizing to me when I conk them with a nameless elbow, milk in
bottles, beans on toast, haymaking in June, stinging nettles, seaside
piers, Ordnance Survey maps, crumpets, hot-water bottles as a
necessity, drizzly Sundays - every bit of it."
- Bill Bryson

God bless America!

Hello everyone! Happy 4th of July to all my fellow Americans.I hope
all you at home are enjoying some parades and fireworks today! As this
is my first Independence Day in our mother country, I am feeling very
patriotic today. 🇺🇸 You can bet your bottom dollar that I have been
singing the national anthem all day and am wearing red white and blue!

Thank you all for the birthday wishes! I can't believe that I am 20
years old now! Wednesday was a great day because we got to go to
London to have a special training from President Kearon, the Europe
area president. Sister Kerr got the whole visitors centre, along with
half the mission, to sing to me while we were there. I was super
embarrassed, but I really appreciated Sister Kerr trying to make my
day so special! President Kearon is a phenomenal teacher. I loved the
conference so much and learned a lot! I wish I could type out
everything that I learned there, but it would take too long. But I
felt the spirit so strongly during that conference. When we came home
to Sittingbourne, we had dinner with some members, who surprised me
with a birthday cake. It was so sweet of them! Even though they
thought I was turning 21 instead of turning 20 haha

Well it seems like I should stop writing so much about the people we
find, because as soon as I write about them they disappear! Lately our
teaching pool has been changing rapidly, as we find someone new, then
a few days later they drop us. Nothing is consistent in life anymore!

My poor companion has had some health problems this past few weeks. We
went to the doctor last week because she had a really bad, irregular
rash. She was able to get some prescription medicine that took away
the rash, but has some terrible side affects,which have been giving
her migraines and making her nauseous. So please keep her in your
prayers!

Sorry for the short email this week. But for all you Americans out
there I hope you have a great holiday! For my English friends, I hope
that you have a great day as well. 

I love you all so much! I hope you have a fantastic week.

Love,
Sister McFarland 🇺🇸