Why Hello!

Hey everybody!!

this was a pretty crazy week as far as my weeks are conserned :) haha ofcourse we were just doing the same ole thing but it was just good! No update for my shoulder.. Dr Linjinquist called to see if I had heard anything from yall which i hadn't and I haven't read any of your emails yet so you know as much as me :)

The work has been going really well! It was the county fair this week which in Idaho is a huge deal... lol like the whole town shuts down to go watch things like pig wrestleing... which is really crazy.. also extremely.. country? haaha they make a massive mud pit then they grease up a big ole pig and you and your team have like 2 mins to catch it and put it in this bucket thing... hahahhahaha they have like all age groups! haha its a bi deal to be the pig wrestleing chapion in these parts!  Haha Everyone wanted us to make a missionary team for it because it would apparently be a great way to find people to recieve the gospel lol... we turned down that offer but it just funny.. People around here are to funny! I've noticed that I've deffinitley become more ascstomed to small country towns and stuff but I don't think I'm a cow-boy rancher quite yet lol.

 

 

We had some awesome teaching experiences this week! we Set a baptisimal date with Terrian Jenkins!!! holy cow that was the craziest thing ever! She has just completely through the Atonement 180 changed her life around am I'm so glad I got to be apart of it! Hahaha she had to set it for September 7th at 7'oclock because its the luckiest time lol. She wanted to do it on the 7th month as well but she didn't want to wait and she said that the 9th month can be just as lucky! It was just a super powerful lesson with her! We read Mosiah 18 8-10 with her and asked her what was holding her back and she said absolutely nothing that the Lord couldn't help her with! She has been super invloved in relief sosiety and wants to be called to be a ward missionary! haha she got a copy of PMG last week so she could learn our tricks so she can start warming her friends up to us! haha she is so funny! She is like the toughest lady ever and she NEVER cries but when she was telling us how grateful she has been for all of the missionaries that wouldn't give up on her and for how the perfect message of the gospel helped her come form the darkest place anyone can be to liveing in to constant light :) she was tearing up a little :) she's so awesome! She says that because of the darkness she saw she can see so easly the dark from the light and she is staying as far in the light as she can!! Its been crazy to see the change in her even since I got here! She used to be kinda sad and still had a darker countenance but now she is the happiest person ever and  her whole countance just seems to glow!!! its super cool!!! Deffinietly one of the miricles of serveing a mission!

I got to go on exchanges in the Spainish area this week! Which was super tight! I can testify now of the gift of toungues. I started the day off not understaning anything but as we sat and taught and talked to those people in Spainish the craziest thing happened! I could totally understand what they were talking about!! ahahaha like not every word at all but I understood what we were talking about. Especially when we got into Gospel topics and our lessons! that was way cool! I learned enough from E Grajalaz to bear my testimony of Christ and Joesph Smith and the Book of Moromon and just stuuf like that! which was so cool. I was super nervous to say anything at first but when It came my turn to testify I felt the spirit super strong and the words just came out smoothly and I know they understood them and felt the spirit to! haha they said my spainish was good but they were just being kind. It deffintiely wasn't eloquint but it just was a testimony builder that you don't have to speak all fancy, If it comes from your heart and its true the spirit will wittness the truth of it!!

We had a bunch of other really cool lessons! Cage the 13 year old we started teaching accepted an invite to be baptized and is just waiting for his brother to get some time to come up and baptise him!! way cool! he reads and prays ever night! Yup! it was a good week! The fair got in the way of a few lessons but we worked aroung it and were deffinitley blessed because of it! Me and E Perdue started asking every single member we talked to at church for referals and we got quite a few of them! that was super cool! haha and everyone we asked at least said they would be thinking about it and working on it! The culture of our wards is slowly becomeing more missionary minded and we are doing everything we can to move that along! I Know that the work is going to explode out here super soon!! We have transfers next monday and I'm really hopeing to stay 1 more with E Perdue but We'll see!

I love what I'm doing and I love you all!! Thank you for the prayers and support!

Love Elder Macfarlane!

Hey-yo people :)

Que onda mi amigos!

This was a really good week! But holy cow there was a bunch of stuff that reminded me of home! Its kinda funny though that even when I get reminded of home I don't get home sick anymore. Which is nice! I've been really blessed in that has never really been a big problem for me! My shoulder is feeling fine! I have no updates on my end really.. I got to go to the temple on Thursday that was awesome! I had the opportunity to just sit and pray and think about a bunch od things and the more I prayed and asked about my shoulder surgery the more at peace I felt about the whole situation which was really awesome! I kinda just got the answer that Heavenly Father wants me to take care of my self, and that I will still be his servant during my surgery and I'll get to go back after! I also got the feeling that if I would use my faith and work with my situation he would lift me up and help me magnify my calling even if I'm not 100%. So that was cool :) haha I've been really worried and hurting at the idea of having to leave and take a break right when I'm getting the hang of all this but now I'm much more at peace with the idea! Thank you for the prayers! I've definitely felt them! Its pretty crazy the difference they have made! haha my testimony of Heavenly Fathers lover for us has definitely been strengthened!

Any ways the week was awesome! Our fireside last night went really well!!! we had the whole stake center packed with people all the way to the back of the gym and up on the stage!! People seemed to really get involved and I thought me and e Perdue pretty much beasted our part ;) haha whats pretty crazy I realized that before my mission I got super nervous top talk just in our sacrament meetings and now I wasn't nervous at all last night and there was over 700 people there last night!!! haha I can definitely tell that even us English missionaries get gifts of the spirit because I was able to just speak clearly the words that came to my mind and joke with everyone and it was a good time! haha I'm sure I'll go back to getting super nervous after my mission! But anyways for the closing hymn of the fireside the missionaries sang the first verse of called to serve and then the congregation joined in the second verse! Holy cow!!!!!!! The spirit was almost over powering! As soon as we started the second verse everyone started to stand up and you could look out over the audience and there was a lot of people with tears in there eyes singing about our mandate to spread the gospel. That was definitely one of the more memorable moments of my mission so far!

 

The Church is so strong here and the members have such a strong desire to serve our Father in Heaven! we are really blessed to be here at this time and to be a part of the work of salvation for the children of God! We also had a bunch of awesome lessons this week! Kara Scott who is an incredible investigator who has had such a hard life called us and said she wants to set a goal to be baptized! she has been reading the assignments we've given her and praying hard about making this change in her life and she said that the most incredible feeling of peace came over her! we are going to set a baptismal goal for September with her this week! Terrian came to all of church yesterday!!!!!!!!! which was freakin cool! she said that August is her new start and for now on she is coming to church every sunday!! the bishop and members of the ward were so warm and welcoming!! holy cow I love that woman! she is so awesome and I am amazed at how the light have Christ as illuminated her life and brought a great change in her! heck ya! It people like her and Kara and a bunch of the others we get to teach that make this so rewarding! I've really found lately when I try my hardest to absolutely forget my self and do what the Lord wants me to by serving with all my heart I have been filled with desire to do this work and love for my peoples :) Chase is still on track to get baptized on the 24th and he commited to live the Word of Wisdom!

That's about it for my week! thanks for all of the love and support! Keep me in the loop about whats been going on ok?? haha I love My savior and his work! Its just freakin cool!

Have an stupendous week!!!!
Love E Aaron mac!

Buenos Dias!

Hhaha Hola! como estas!?!
I'm a missionario de la espanol now lol! haha it was a fun week! mi districo esta fantastico! its kinda weird having 5 spainish missionaries in my district but its cool! District meeting was super fun! I spoke in all the Spainish I knew and I probably offended sis Maese(who is from a actual mexican family that  speaks only spainish..) haha but I had a good time!

Elder Bennett was in Twin for 3 weeks - we hung out all day on P-day! I love that lil guy!!

It felt weird being a district leader which is just one of those silly missionary things but still... Hahaha I'm going to get to go on exchanges with the Spanish elders in the Spanish area! I'm excited to pick up some more words! We went to a legit Mexican place for lunch and I ate my first Leguo! Which is cow tongue! haha the texture felt super weird.. but it tasted pretty good! this place also serves Tripas which is pig intestines! nice! 

   The week was super good though! we had a few awesome lessons! C is comeing along and I'm really thinking that we'll set a Bap date with him soon! If he gets dunked soon I'll get to go with him to the temple and see his family get sealed! that would be so sick! We helped T move this week. She is this super awesome lady who has been in and out of jail for most of her life. So while we were helping her move I accidentally dropped a picture of Christ on the ground and I kept on taking other things out of the truck. She immediately ran over and picked the picture up and cleaned it off and said "I'm sorry buddy" :) That picture was the first thing to be put up in her house<3 That was the most incredible feeling. Her love for the Savior is so strong because she has had to lean on him so much to lift herself up and change! She is so awesome! If her parole officer gives her permission she will be baptized her very soon!

We started teaching a new family this week! Their names are M and L. They are super cool! M is a member and L was raised Baptist! We talked to them for like an hour on Saturday and holy cow they have had a colorful past! haha matt has been to jail a few times and used to be involved with a pretty rough crowd. They are really trying to turn their lives around though! They are getting married this week! we invited them to hear the lessons and they said they would love to! L will definitely get baptized and it would be so cool if Matt could get worthy to preform the baptisim! We'll see though! We have 3 sets of kids who are getting really close to baptism! they are so awesome! most of these kids have a better knowledge and desire then I did at their age! The Ms V(15) and E13) are really cool! We had a lesson just all about why the gospel of Jesus Christ is so important! That is like the first time I've taught someone who had like no idea about the Atonment before but completely understood what we taught them! It was awesome! the only thing slowing us with them and alot of these kids is that they trade off between divorced parents during the summer. I feel so bad for them because you can tell it hurts a bunch having their families separated.. I think  that it has brought them to search for love from their Father in Heaven though so that is way cool. We teach in alot of homes that our ether broken or just messed up. We teach alot of people that have been to prison and have been involved with some serious stuff. Its incredible :) I love this kind of work! The Lord prepares people to hear the gospel. Just like in the BOM with the Zoramites people in humble circumstances turn to God for help and he is so willing to open his arms to them and forgive them and heal them. Its the most amazing feeling to see the spiritual scars a person caries with them heal! Some of these ex-convicts are such spirtual power houses because they have tangibly felt the physical and spiritual healing powers of the Atonement.

My faith has grown so much and my desire to help these people continue to learn and grow has changed and grown so much. I am really trying to allow love to be my motivator for all of my actions. And its not easy thats for sure! I get tired and I get cranky and sometimes I even feel lazy ;) haha but the more I try to love the people I am called to minister to, the easier it is to fight off all of those negative emotions! its been cool :) I had the opportunity to speak on Sunday and it was so awesome! I had the spirit give me so much of my talk right there on the spot! It is the most amazing feeling to know that the Holy Ghost is with you and can guide and direct you. I really do want to always be worthy enough so that the Lord can use me as a tool when he needs to!

I love you all so much! haha I've been missing home and all of you this week but I've felt alot of peace and comfort to helping me out! I'm 11 months today!!! aint that crazy!!!!! hahaha let me know how yall's weeks be going ok??

Love E Aaron!