Surprise Visit

Tuesday we got a call from our district leader that President and
Sister Stevens and the assistants to the president would be coming to
our area for an hour. Elder Williams didn't give us any more
information about it, so the more I thought about it the more stressed
I got. The next morning though, I decided that they surely wouldn't
drive all the way out to Canterbury for no reason, and it seemed too
unorganised to be really happening. I was absolutely convinced that
Elder Williams was pulling a prank on us. So we went about our day as
normal, and I felt quite clever that I had discovered that it was all
just a joke.
But... later that day we got a call from the AP's, telling us that
they were in our area! I couldn't believe it! Haha but it worked out
well and we had a good time with them. Sister Stevens stayed with us
while the others went to be with the elders. We went finding with her,
and it was incredible. It will probably be the only time I get to go
street contacting with a general authority. We spent the whole time
finding with her talking to Miss I-already-have-a-bible.

Last Monday I got to visit a castle for the first time! We went to
Rochester and spent the day learning about medieval history. I was so
excited about visiting my first castle I think I was annoying the
other visitors.  I love how much history there is in England. There is
so much to learn and such a beautiful culture here! 🇬🇧

I wanted to share one of my favourite quotes this week by Ezra Taft Benson:
"The Lord works from the inside out. The world works from the outside
in. The world would take people out of the slums. Christ takes the
slums out of the people and then they take themselves out of the
slums. The world would mold men by changing their environment. Christ
changes men, who then change their environment. The world would shape
human behaviour, but Christ can change human nature... Yes, Christ
changes men, and changed men change the world. "


I love you all, and I hope you have a great week!
Love Sister McFarland

The Stakeout

Keys, Book of Mormon, phone.

The three basic things that we always remind ourselves to grab before
we go anywhere or do anything. Yet this weekend, when we neglected to
say our routinely used chant, we left our phone in the library.
Later during the day when we tried to make a call- I realised that the
phone wasn't in my bag in its normal, comfortable pocket. We assumed
that we must have left it at home during lunch. After we remembered
having it at the library, we raced back to get it before the library
closed. But, we didn't run quite fast enough! When we got there, it
was already closed until Monday morning. Suddenly the panic started to
set in as I realised that we had no way to contact anyone! Sister Topp
and I rotated between hysteric laughter and crying as we analysed our
crazy situation. We walked to our ward mission leaders home and asked
to use his phone. Luckily we knew our district leaders number and were
able to let him know the situation.  I don't know how missionary work
happened before phones! It was so stressful to not be able to call our
friends about coming to church, or to talk to anyone. It was so weird
to be so cut off from everything! So this morning Sister Topp and I were first
in line when the library opened to see if we had left our phone here. After a
long wait at the front desk, we were finally reunited with our good old brick
phone! Hallelujah! Prayers were answered, and I have never been more
relieved to have a phone.

Yet, apparently we are not the only ones who didn't have a phone! One
of our dear investigators doesn't have a phone, and we lost contact
with her and haven't been able to see her in a long time. We were
determined to find her, so we organised a stake-out. And contrary to
what all crime solving movies and T.V. Shows will dictate: stake outs
are really boring. We took our dinner hour and also our time to do
twelve weeks (a study course for new missionaries) in a park opposite
her house. We sat there and studied, and tried not to make it too
obvious that we were staring at her house. The more itchy my legs got
from the grass, and the darker it got and the more mosquitos that
started eating us confirmed it was time to go home. Yet there was
still no sign of Mirabela. We left, and still haven't been able to get
in contact with her. So please pray that we can find her again!

Other events this week include a new member who just moved into the
ward from Scotland who came teaching with us, and her boldness and
Scottish accent re activated a less active we had been working with
for months in under 20 minutes, Sister Topp falling off her bike,
going to London for the 3 week new missionary meeting, and finding a
family to teach!

Missionary work is great. I love it!
Shall we not go on in so great a cause?

Love always,
Sister McFarland

13 is a Lucky Number

Howdy y'all!
Can you believe that I hit my 13 month mark this week? It's so crazy
to think I have been out this long. I am becoming an old missionary.

Tuesday worked out so well because we had an exchange with Sister
Phillips and Sister Swann, who are our sister training leaders. They
are both in the same group as me, so we could all celebrate our 13
month mark together! We were all in the same district at the MTC, so
we had quite a reunion.

We have changed the way we do exchanges, so instead of one
companionship staying and the other going to the other area, both of
us travelled to Ilford and then split up with the STL's during the
day.  I got to be with Sister Swann, and it was just so much fun being
reunited with my old companion. We served together 6 months ago in
Ashford, and we kept reminiscing old memories. Man, I just love that
girl! Every exchange we have a "teacher training" and an exchange
evaluation, where we set goals for our improvement. It was such a
spiritually uplifting time for me and I loved it.

After this amazing experience, we came down the stairs to find an
interesting scene in the chapel foyer: The STL's investigator, who
Sister Topp and Sister Phillips had just been teaching, was lying on
the floor, while sister Phillips was sitting next to him and trying to
call someone on the phone while Sister Topp was holding the door open
so that he could get some fresh air. We rushed over to help, but
thankfully when we got there he was already coming back to normal.
Apparently though he had not been having an "Alma the Younger"
experience, but was recovering from a seizure that had happened
unexpectedly during the lesson. He rested for a while, and then felt
recovered enough to return home. So thankfully he is going to be okay!
But it definitely made it the most interesting exchange I had ever
been on! But, reflecting on this experience and that it happened on
our 13 th month mark... maybe 13 really is an unlucky number.

The past two weeks we have been teaching our friend Janet. But not to
be confused with the other Janet I wrote about a few weeks ago; this
is a new Janet, from Scotland.  Anyways, this Janet came up to
us on the street and said: "Hello, I'm new here."  Shocked that
someone had approached us, we set up a time to teach her again. During
our second lesson, she told us about how her son and ex husband were
baptised, and kept talking about the many missionaries she had met in
her life. I asked her if she had ever thought about being baptised,
and she told us that she had been baptised when she was 14! Haha that
threw our whole lesson plan out the window. She has been inactive for
over 30 years, but is now making the effort to come back. She came to
church yesterday and loved it.

Well, it's definitely been a crazy week. I love being a missionary!
I love you all! Hope you have a fantastic week!

Love always,
Sister McFarland

1) Exchange
2) 13 months
3) We love weekly planning

Practice Makes Perfect

Hello everyone!

This week has been great for Sister Topp and I. We smashed the week
and had lots of blessings.
A key lesson that I have learned throughout my life is that practice
makes perfect. And missionary work is no different! In order to get
better at missionary work, we must practice it. Sister Topp and I have
been doing multiple role plays a day, mostly of finding situations. I
feel like an actor because all week I have been impersonating random
people in the street for Sister Topp to "stop"  and even once sent 
her out of the flat so she could practice tracting on the door.  Being
out for a year has given me a lot of situations to imitate, so It's
been really fun, and we make it an adventure everyday.  I have
actually been learning so much from doing role plays, and have felt it
help me a lot!

I love being a missionary! The church is true, the book is blue, and
we go out two by two.

Love,
Sister McFarland

1) our kitchen/bedroom
2) Pocahontas grave

Deja vu

About a year ago, I remember sitting in the mission home for the first
time: my heart pounding and armpits sweating as I worried about the
start of my mission, who my first companion would be, and where I
would be going. I don't think I have felt that nervous in my whole
life! Luckily my my worrying was pointless, because I loved the
beginning of my mission. I hadn't felt that nervous since until last
Wednesday when I sat in another room of the mission home with my heart
pounding and armpits sweating as I waited to find out who my first
greenie would be! Although I felt a lot of excitement as well.
As I waited on the other side of the door, I reflected a lot on how I
felt on my first day and how my new companion must have been have been
feeling on the other side. I also thought about what my trainer, Sister
Top, must have been feeling when she was waiting to meet me.
After we walked into the room, singing  "Called to Serve" in the loud,
boisterous "England London mission style" way, the time came to meet
our new companions!

As President Stevens called out the names of the new missionaries and
who their trainers would be, my jaw literally dropped when I heard :
"Sister Topp will be trained by Sister McFarland!" I mean, what are the
odds that my trainer and my trainee are both named Sister Top?
(granted with different spellings.) I couldn't believe it. I'm still
trying to wrap my head around it!

Sister Topp is great. She is from Coventry England. She has actually
been called to serve in the Hawaii Honolulu mission, but is serving
here while she waits for a visa. I am so excited for this next
transfer and the adventures we will have together!

A few weeks ago we had a ward activity where we watched "Meet the
Mormons." We had a new friend, Janet come and she just loved it! After
the movie she told us that since she has moved out here, she has been
looking for a new church to go to. She said she felt so good in the
chapel that she would talk to her boss about getting every Sunday off
because she wants to come every Sunday! We saw her this week and
invited her to be baptised. Her response? "I'd love to! I really need
to get baptised. Is the 27 the only service you are holding?" She is
so sweet and so prepared.

This truly is the Lord's work, and we are so lucky to be a part of it!
Shall we not go on in so great a cause?
Love,
Sister McFarland

Pictures
1) all the new missionaries and trainers
2) Sister Topp and I head home!
3) I just love horses.