A Missionary's Netflix

Nee how! (Hello!) I hope you have all had a good week.

This week our finding approach has been like this:
Sister Chou teaches me how to say something in mandarin as we walk up
to a group of Chinese students.
Sister Chou: "Excuse me, but my friend here is trying to learn
Mandarin. Can she practice saying something to you?"
Sister McFarland: ( begins to sweat and laugh nervously as everyone
stares at me) *insert a poorly pronounced sentence in Mandarin*
Chinese students: (stare blankly)
Sister Chou: (whispers what I am trying to say to the Chinese students)
Chinese students:  ahh! (As they finally understand) and begging
speaking fluent Mandarin to Sister Chou.
A few minutes later, we exchange contact details and set up a return
appointment. Even though I can't speak Mandarin at all, they at least
appreciate that I tried! Its been quite interesting, but has yielded
good results.

Sister Chou celebrated her 21st birthday on Wednesday.  In the
morning, the elders gave us a lift in their car and let Sister Chou
sit in the front seat. We also went to a Chinese buffet for lunch. We
had a dinner appointment, and the members surprised Sister Chou by
having a "Happy Birthday" banner, and brownies with candles so we
could sing to her. But it was also Sister Chou's 3rd birthday in the
church, as she was baptised on her birthday 3 years ago! So amazing.

We had interviews with President and Sister Stevens this week. That is
something that I love, that we get to have 2 interviews, one with
the mission president and one with his wife. I love them both so much.
They just radiate Christlike love in everything that they do. I always
leave interviews on a spiritual high, more pumped for missionary work
than a pumped thing.

 I don't know if any of you have seen the new bible videos that the
church has made about the life of Jesus Christ, but they are so nice!
They are really well done. Sister Smith and I started watching them in
Southend and loved them so much that we would download them on our I
pads when we had wifi, and then watch them later that evening after
planning or during dinner. We call it "a missionary's Netflix" because
it's as close as we can get!  Well Sister Chou and I are still
carrying that out and enjoying our "Netflix".
Something exciting happened in the England London mission this week,
is the whole mission got new phones! This new phone includes several
exciting features: including an indestructible case the size of a
brick, a sick fin to make it more aerodynamic, and even a camera.
Every missionary has been trying to get used to them and how they
work.

I love being a missionary! I know the church is true and that God loves you!

I love you all and I hope you have a great week!

Love,
Sister McFarland

Living on a Prayer

"Ooh! We're halfway there... Oooh! Living on a prayer! "
Hey folks! This week was monumental for me as I passed my 9 month
mark! I am now halfway through my mission. It feels very weird. I
remember when my trainer, Sister Top, had her 9 month mark and I
thought that day would never come for me. It seemed so far away. But
it came far too quickly! Time really does fly!

But despite being such a big moment for me and a crazy period of
mid-mission crisis, the week was exceptionally ordinary. I am getting
more used to Norwich ward. There is a large YSA here which is new to
me. It's completely different for me to be involved in institute,
family home evenings, and other YSA activities as a missionary. That
combined with the large university here makes me feel like I am back
at university again!

This week we met an amazing new friend named Jackie. She is a student
here from China. While she was on holidays in France, she visited an
old church there and felt so peaceful and calm. Now, she is really
interested in learning about religion and wants to feel that spirit
again! She even asked us: "What do I need to do?" We are so excited
to get to teach her more this week. She is so prepared!

My Chinese is still going good. I have added to my vocabulary "Where
are you from?" And "I am from America." Yesterday we visited a recent
convert who speaks little English. Sister Chou taught the lesson in
mandarin while I played with her children. Her son is so cute! He will
talk to sister Chou in Chinese, and to me in English. And sometimes he
speaks in a mixture of both, leaving us both very confused. After the
lesson she fed us some delicious Chinese food, and I will be forever
grateful for my father who taught me how to use chopsticks so I 
didn't embarrass myself too much.

I loved general conference last week, and finally got to see the Sundayafternoon session. I loved what elder Holland said about coming
back from conference on a spiritual high, but then having to face
tomorrow. We are so blessed to have modern technology that allows us
to re watch and read conference anytime we like, so we can keep that
wonderful spirit with us all the time. I would like to challenge all
of you to remember what things you felt at conference by continuing to
study the words of our inspired leaders.

My new address is:
40 Anchor road, NR3 1NR, Norwich, Norfolk, England

I love you all! Have a great week!
Love,
Sister McFarland

Beautiful Norwich

A New Area, A New LIfe

Hi everyone!

Last week I left Southend with a heavy heart. Sister Smith and I
packed our stuff all up, and wrote 3 lengthy pages of notes about
the area for the new sisters. We left the flat and headed off to
London for transfers. It was quite interesting trying to carry two
suitcases each through busy London, and through the underground
during rush hour. But I found out that if you look blonde and helpless
then someone will almost always help you carry your suitcases up the
stairs.
After a three hour drive, I felt like I had come to a different world
of Norwich Norfolk! Norwich is so beautiful! It is a very old city.
There are lots of old buildings, cobblestone roads, and pieces of old
walls and castles from probably hundreds of years ago that no one has
bothered to take down. I love English towns! There is a big university
here full of Chinese students, who make up our whole teaching pool.
These kids have been taught their whole lives that there is no God,
and that they only can believe in science. Now they have a chance to
hear the gospel and they are so prepared. We teach so many Chinese
people that I have started to learn mandarin! Just some very basic
phrases like "How are you?" "The weather is good," " Book of Mormon,"
etc. It's quite interesting!
My new companion is sister Chou from Taiwan. I am still going strong
with having no companions from America! She has 2 transfers left on
her mission. In fact her 16 month mark is today!
Often in our lessons and finding situations, the investigator doesn't
understand a word or phrase, so then Sister Chou will explain it in
more detail in mandarin, and then they both go off in Chinese for a
while I stand there in confusion like a potato. After a while,
the conversation comes back to English and then I can pick up what
part of the lesson we are in.
General Conference was so amazing! I loved all the talks so much and I
felt the spirit so strongly. Sister Chou and I had to go on splits
because they had one room playing in English and one playing in
Chinese. I haven't gotten to listen to the Sunday afternoon session
yet because of the time difference, but I am excited to watch it! I
know that God speaks to his prophets, and that we will be blessed as
we follow their inspired council.

I love you all so much! Have a great week!
Love,
Sister McFarland

The Unthinkable

Happy Easter! I hope that everyone has had a wonderful Easter.

 

This week has been one of the craziest of my mission. We have been so busy, and also spent a surprising amount of time traveling, getting things sorted for Sister Smith to go to America. but despite the business and traveling a lot, we finished the transfer strong, and saw many miracles. 

Before Sister Smith leaves to America, she wanted to have as many English foods as possible. For dinner the other night we made one of her favourite English foods, Eggs and Soldiers. Which is half boiled eggs with toast cut into narrow strips to dip into the egg yolk. but when we peeled the eggs, we discovered that they were under cooked. So I just thought we could pop them into the microwave to finish them off. Bad idea! One of them exploded in the microwave, and the whole flat smelled of egg. the second egg exploded in my hand when I picked it up and poked it...covering us both with eggs. At least I didn't start another fire... haha! But lesson learned. 

We had an AMAZING week! We found so many prepared people and saw so many miracles. We have started working with two wonderful families, which is so exciting. We just found so many people who are so prepared to hear the gospel. We worked so hard for Sister Smith's last week in the England London mission. After a great day yesterday, we had a dinner appointment in a member's home. When we got there, I asked if I could use their toilet, where I took some moments to kneel down in their bathroom and say a prayer of gratitude for the miracles which we have seen. I was so excited for this next transfer because we had so much planned and so many people to work with.

But then the unthinkable happened... We got the news that not only will Sister Smith be leaving, but I am being transferred to Norwich! We are getting whitewashed. Something that usually happens when an area is struggling and needs some revival, which ours definitely hasn't. Quite the opposite, we have seen great success the past six weeks. Even worse, the new sisters will get here in 2 weeks time, so for two weeks the elders here will be taking over our area. I was absolutely heartbroken! I thought for sure I would be staying. After the call I just sat on the floor and cried. I am going to miss this place so much! It will be so hard to leave all these wonderful people, especially when things have been going so well. Gerry is going to be baptised next week, and I am devastated that I will miss that. I will just have to trust in God and take a leap of faith that everything here will be okay, even if I am not here to see it happen. 

So today has been really crazy, trying to pack and say goodbye to everyone. I'm still in denial about leaving... I don't want to go! I am going to miss this area terribly, and it will be so hard to not be able to see the people we have found progress. I am sure I will have lots of adventures in Norwich with Sister Cho. 

Have a wonderful week! 

Love, 

Sister McFarland 

Pictures: Buckingham Palace, Royal Albert Hall, giant chocolate Easter egg, Sister Smith and Sister McFarland

Puffy Baptism

Hello everyone! The reason I am emailing Tuesday is
because today we had to be in London for sister smith to get her visa
to America. So we got permission to switch our P- day to today
instead!

This week we had the amazing miracle of seeing Ella get baptised. We
have been working with their family for a long time, and it was so
great to see Ella take this important step in her life. We had a
pretty good turnout from the ward to support her, and like all Mormons
love to do, we had a 'munch and mingle' afterwards. But the best part
was being able to see Ella so happy. We stood with her mum in the
doorway to the bathroom, and when she came out of the water she had a
huge smile on her face and she just shone with the spirit. When we
talked with her afterwards she said she felt really 'puffy' and warm.
:) she was confirmed Sunday and her twin sisters were also
blessed. It was a really spiritual sacrament meeting. Ella got to be
confirmed twice because the first time they got some of the wording
wrong.

Yesterday we went to visit an elderly less active sister named Winnie
in hospital. She was in a room with 5 other patients and their
families. When we found her bed, she was surrounded by a loving
family, was unresponsive and couldn't open her eyes or talk. Most of
the family left the room so we could visit with her, but her daughter
who is also a member stayed with us. I sat down in the chair and held
her hand, but I honestly had no idea what to say to her. We told her
how much Heavenly Father loved her. Then Sister Smith had the idea to
show her the Easter initiative. I just stared at her like she was
crazy, I mean, this woman couldn't even open her eyes! But we held the
iPad close to her ear so she could hear. She nodded contently as she
listened to the words, and I really think it comforted her daughter as
well. It really hit me how inspired the Easter initiative is. We
visited with her daughter for a while then decided to sing to Winnie
before we left. For those of you who know me, you know that I am not
the most confident in singing in front of people. I held Winnie's hand
and wouldn't look up and felt so self conscious of all the other
nurses, patients and families in the room listening. But after singing
"Love One Another",  I looked up to see that there was not a single
dry eye in the room. Sister Smith and I looked at each other, both of
our eyes wet, amazed at the overpowering spirit that filled the room.
Then Winnie smiled, nodded, and put her hand to her heart.  The spirit
in that room was so strong, and I knew that Winnie felt it too. Today
we just received the news that Winnie had passed away later that
night.

After that experience, we found out that another one of our
investigators had had her baby, and was in the same hospital!
Coincidence? I think not. Her name is Souyma and she is from India.
She is so sweet and Sister Smith and I gush about her all the time.
Her English is pretty good, but she still struggles with my name. So
she calls us Mac and The Smith. :) We stopped by to see her and help
her carry her bags out to the car so they could go home. Oh my
goodness, her baby was so adorable and it took all my willpower to not
pick her up and cuddle her right there. Sometimes missionary rules are
difficult.

I love you all! Thank you so much for your love and support. Have a great week!
Love,
Sister Mac

Pictures
1. Ella's baptism
2. Yes, Sister Smith and I got matching pyjama trousers. :)

A Child's Prayer

Hello everyone! I hope you have all had a nice week and have enjoyed the sunshine.

 It is amazing to see how quickly the weeks are flying by. I can't believe that this past week I passed my 8 month mark! Sometimes being on a mission feels like a treadmill. When you start out it is really slow and doesn't feel like it is moving at all. Then as you increase the speed, it gradually gets faster and faster until your legs can't keep up anymore as you frantically try to slow it down.

We have been working with a lovely family, the Comptons. The mum is less active, and has 3 little girls. The oldest, Ella, is 9 and is going to be baptized this Saturday! She also has 6 year old twin girls, Anna and Eva. I love teaching this family; they are so sweet and so fun. We usually feel extra blessed after we leave because all of the girls want to say the closing prayer, so we have at least 3 prayers before we go. Last week, Eva said one of the closing prayers, and she prayed that we would find lots and lots of people to teach. Both Sister Smith and I felt the spirit so strongly as we listened to her pure and childlike faith. There really is such a power in a child's prayer. This past week we have really felt that, as we found so many people who had been prepared to hear the gospel. We are so excited for the coming week to be able to start teaching these people. We were excited to go back and tell Eva how much her prayer helped us this week.

On Wednesday we traveled to London for zone conference. We felt very lucky because that was the day it just chucked it down with rain, and we got to be in the nice, dry chapel most of the day. We talked a lot about the atonement, and the real meaning of Easter. The spirit was so strong during the conference. As a missionary, I have grown to love and understand the atonement so much more, and this Easter time is the perfect time to reflect on the atonement. There is a new Easter initiative called #hallelujah. It really brings the true spirit of Easter, I would really encourage all of you to watch it and share it! 

While at the conference, the dreaded news came... The visa came through! Sister Smith will be leaving me at the end of the month.  I'm sad to see her go, but know she will do great in the blessed land of Arizona. So to all my friends in Arizona: watch out! Your getting one of the best missionaries ever! I am really going to miss her when she goes.

Every Wednesday evening we have a sports night at the church. It is a great way for investigators, members, and less actives to get to know each other better and to have fun. This last week however, we didn't have our sports clothes because we had just come back from London. We played football (soccer) and volleyball in our skirts, which actually ended up not being too bad. It was heaps of fun.

I love you all so much! I hope you have an amazing week.

Love,

Sister McFarland 

Pictures 

1. Making an all American breakfast to celebrate the visa

2. Today for P-day we got ice creams and walked along the sea front :)
3. This is part of our district (left to right) Elder Nelson from Texas, Elder Lapi from Albania, Elder Nakaima from Japan, Sister Smith from England, Elder Isaksen from Norway, and me from the 'Cuse.

Happy Mother's Day!

Hello Everyone!

It was mothers day in England yesterday, so happy mothers day! Our investigator Gerry told me to tell you all happy mothers day from him. Haha, I thought that was very sweet.

We are going to go to Hadleigh Castle again today. I am very excited and it feels so good to wear trousers! 

I am feeling much much better, although I am still coughing. Uncle Fong is an old Chinese man who was baptized last April. He speaks no English. He was really worried about my cough and kept telling me to go get medicine. He is so cute! You can tell how much we love him because we call him uncle. In fact, the whole ward calls him Uncle Fong. 

Sorry it is such a short email this week. Everything is going great!

I hope you have a really good week! 

love,

Sister McFarland