2017

Just a little quote from a year ago.

""HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!

I can`t believe that the year went by so fast. Well, it seems like the
year was divided in 2 main parts. The slower part and my mission. I
don`t know what it is about serving the Lord that makes time fly
faster than... I dunno.... that comparison died... but really really
fast!

I have a lot of great goals this New Year! This week is transfers too,
so its going to be a new year, new transfer, new goals. I`m really
motivated to go out and get things done!!!

This week we worked so hard, it was amazing.""

Haha little Elder McFarland was so adorable and small. Such a cute little greenie. 

haha, but really, I've been a little more reflective than usual this week with the whole "The Year's Ending" and whatever. Really I can remember Las Delicias with Elder Torres like it was just yesterday, but at the same time it feels so far away. There is a lot of life that separates Greenie Elder McFarland from Financial Secretary Elder McFarland. Zaragoza. Santa Elena. Belmopan. Miramonte. So many people and so many places that I have met this year that sometimes I don't even really know if I believe that my life is real. From the Mayan ruins of Belize to the rundown apartment building in El Salvador to the small country city of Sonsonate, sometimes I get really nostalgic thinking about all of the memories that I´ve made this year. I wish I could just freeze time and experience each and every one of those memories again. But not just in photos, I wish I could go back and be the same person that I was then, and learn all those lessons again. Really it makes me savor every single minute of being a missionary and serving the Lord.

Ok reflective moment over. 

This week was really great. Pretty much after Talking with my family on Sunday Night we went back to the area to a couple of Dinners that the members had invited us to. The Joaquin family and the Ticas family gave us some REALLY good food!

Tuesday we had an appointment with Claudia Maldonado(Mom of a recent convert, you should remember her :) and we were planning on teaching more of the Sabbath Day to her, but when we got there she offered us some ice cream. I took one bite and I knew it was coffee. After an awkward moment when we told her we didn´t drink(or eat in ice cream form) coffee she started to ask a lot of questions. At first we started trying to answer them all at once, but I decided that it would be better to say a prayer and start from the beginning. What followed was probably one of the greatest lessons we´ve had with her. It was more like a conversation than a one sided lesson, and she was very open with us. We have already known for a long time that she doesn´t like pressure or restrictions, and we have been wanting to bring that one up but we kept saying "later when she´s more ready." and stuff like that. Turns out God knows best and it was time. We had a great talk about how the commandments are NOT just restrictions and prison bars. They are guidelines given to us by a loving Heavenly Father to help us get blessings from Him. Far from being harsh rules forced upon us, they are patterns of life that WE CHOOSE to follow so that we can get back to HIM! We explained to her that the Word of Wisdom was part of the Restoration, and that the real question is whether or not Joseph Smith was a Prophet, and that we were NOT going to force her not to drink coffee, but that she could pray, study, and put it to the test and then make the choice herself. She also expressed a few other questions and concerns that we helped her understand.

Also we found another part member family this week that is super positive. More to come on the ALVAREZ family, please keep them in your prayers!

Anyways, I wish you all the HAPPIEST OF NEW YEARS!

And I hope you know I love you all!

Elder McFarland