Sometimes it Rains.

We are just getting into the rainy season here in good ol El Sal. What does that mean? plastic bags and umbrellas!

When it rains here it rains hard. do you remember the pics I sent you from the Delights.(las delicias) last time we were in the rainy season? we haven`t quite hit as bad as it was there, but we are starting up. Everything is clowdy and its dumped rain like 3 times.

I love rainy season because everything gets so SO green. anything and everything can and will grow.

The problem is that there will be lots of mosquitos. I`m gunna get ready with a backup supply of OFF just to make sure they don`t eat me alive.

This week we almost had a miracle baptism. Do you remember Maria? The lady that we found that was progressing so well and then just stopped because her old church scared her? well we visited her again on Tuesday, read from the Book of Mormon with her a little while and then she said she actually did want to get baptized. she had all the attendences, so we called the district and zone leaders and got permission and everything to baptize her on Saturday. We visited her Wednesday and Thursday was the interview. she passed with flying colors and was excited for Saturday. Then we came back Friday. She told us right away that she didn`t want to be baptized. She told us she would be lying to God if she got baptized again. We tried to explain and teach and do everything we could, but I think someone from her old church had visited her again and scared her pretty bad that she had to go back there or she would be lying to God. So our almost miracle baptism ended with her telling us not to come back. Ouch.

But life goes on! We found a couple really solid new investigators that we will visit this week and we still have our 3 weddings that we are trying to get solid for the end of this month. We also found a less active family, the Cruz family, that were baptized almost a year ago and are really really positive to come back to church!

We showed up right in time yesterday to help them move some big rocks in their yard that the sister couldn`t move cuz she is super sick and that the brother couldn`t either because he has a slight physical disorder. God answered their prayers through us and we helped them really quick and taught them a lesson. The sister asked us for a blessing and we felt the spirit very strongly in their home! they have an seven year old boy that`s about to turn eight in July(only one month older than Adam!)

And so,

Although sometimes it rains,

The sun always comes out to shine again.

Sorry I don`t have a lot of time to write more, but remember

The church is true.

Have the greatest of weeks.

I love you.

Elder MacFarland

On the Lord`s errand.

Let`s talk a little about mangos.

I don`t think I ever had eaten a mango before in my life. Do we have mangos in the states?

but the problem is.

I love mangos. 

so here in El Salvador we are just getting into the full swing of Mango season, so I feel like you all deserve a description of how you eat mangos here.

First, there are the green mangos. They are the ``unripe`` mangos that supposedly they only eat here. They are kinda sour but they have a very very addicting taste. they are delicious. you eat them with lime and salt and hot sauce. don`t bite the pit though, it is VERY bitter.

There are mango trees EVERYWHERE, and so they are very cheep and I might eat too many. 

Second there are the ``ripe`` mangos(orange) Mango season is just starting, so they haven't quite really all ripened yet, but for the first time in my life I ate a fresh mango. Turns out you have to peel it like a banana. huh who knew? they are very delicious. 

Can you buy mangos in the states?

Ok now that my little sidetrack is done.

This week I learned just a little bit about what it means to be on the Lord`s errand. Have you seen President Monson`s biography movie that is called ``On the Lord`s Errand?`` If not I encourage you to watch it one of these Sundays to learn a little more about the great life of our great Prophet.

President Monson talks a lot about following the promptings of the Spirit. When the Lord commands, obey. This week we made a goal to visit more less active members and to help them feel the Spirit more in there lives. 

tuesday we had to go to a doctors check up for my rash(don`t worry Mom, he said everything cleared up well!) we got home late and only had a couple of hours to go visit people. We had had planned to go to visit a certain family in the branch, but it looked like we weren`t going to have time to go and visit them. But I felt, we HAVE to go visit that family. My comp felt the same and so we went. 

They let us in and we small talked for about half a minute, and then the Sister started telling us about her week. A family member had passed away and she needed someone to talk to. She had been praying that we would come over. Mostly, we just listened as she talked it all out. She has been through the temple, and so she knows and has a strong testimony of the plan of salvation, but its still hard to lose a loved one! We listened to her and gave her words of comfort, and we asked if she wanted a blessing. We gave her and her daughter a blessing and by the time we left they were feeling comforted and peaceful. The Lord had worked through us to calm their hearts and bless them! I was so humbled by the whole thing.

We had a couple other similar experiences that just made us wonder at the power of the Lord. His hands are in everything we do, and he has a perfect plan for all of us.

My investigators are doing well and I am scrambling looking for how we are going to do 3 weddings this change. I really hope they all go through.

(1 alberto and his wife who wants to wait like 3 months)

(2 manuel and isabel)

(3 some old investigators we found in the area book this week named Jander and William who accepted a baptismal date and to get married!)

Life is good. I love being a missionary.

Christ lives.

He loves me. and you.

Have the greatest of weeks.

Elder McFarland

Conference in General

HOLA VOSOTROS!!! 

COMO ESTÀIS?!?!?!?

(Crowd goes wild)

Let`s here it for General Conference!

(crowd goes even wilder)

What a great weekend huh?

I especially loved all of the talks. 

I`m doing really well

My investigators are doing well too!

Alberto is pretty much an active member, but yesterday his soon to be wife told us she`d rather save up a huge ton of money for a cool wedding party than get married any time soon, so I don`t know when that will happen. One day they`ll be a family all together in the church though. We invited them to pray as a couple about it and we`ll see what God tells them!

Alberto`s daughter has been to church like 4 times now. She loves it! We are helping her to recieve her answer so she can be baptized. We are hoping that will happen this Saturday or the next! Her name is Christina and she is 13(really close to Hannah`s age!)

Manuel and Isabel are doing really well. This last week I didn`t drink any coke and Manuel succesfully quit coffee for the whole week! He says it wasn`t even that hard for him, and that he`s gunna keep it up! Isabel is having a harder time with it, but we`re getting there! We`ve got some things to work out this week so they can get married and baptized, but they are progressing alot!

Mariah Lopez has kinda stopped progressing. We haven`t been able to get ahold of her a couple days so we`ll have to see where that one goes.

Jose Franco has been sick, but he continues to progress.

so that`s the cool things that have been going on here.

oh yeah and I`m going to a volcano today

So that`s pretty sick!

Conference really strenghtened my testimony(as always) and helped me so SO much

After conference I gave a priesthood blessing to a sick member. I can`t really describe it in words, but my testimony of priesthood power was doubly strenghtend yesterday.

I hope you have the greatest of weeks, and that you know that I love you.

Elder McFarland

Let Eli Pray Right Over Southern Yemen

If mom  can figure out this subject line, so be it.

ok I´ll tell you.

Turns out I'm a leper. (L E P R O S Y)

Ok not really but here are the pictures

you can't really tell from the picture how fun it was, my face was all swollen and the rash and my chest and legs kept getting redder and more swollen, but I didn't get a picture at my ugliest. (sorry)

But please don´t worry I have returned to my normal color and not swollenness.

This isn't a very long group email:

I don't have a lot to say this week. other than the Leprosy, things were kinda slow. 

but miracles never cease from happening.

So first is some bad news. Although we sent for the papers we needed two weeks ago, and we aren't going to point any fingers, we did not get the papers we needed for Alberto´s wedding. He and his soon to be wife were obviously pretty upset about that, but actually they are the first miracle we saw.

They were way more understanding and loving than they could have been, and now we have re-planned their wedding for the 16th and we are hoping to be able to get through to the wife so she can be baptized alongside her almost husband!

Another miracle is that Manuel and Isabel came to church!! That and we have a deal where if they quit coffee I´ll quit coke(haha I never drank it before the mission and I might be a LITTLE bit addicted) that's two times in church and counting!

Another miracle is Holy Week(La Semana Santa.) It´s like spring break here where they celebrate Easter for a week. And even though you've probably heard about Holy Week before, you don´t really know what it is until you´ve lived it in a Latin country!

Also it's fun to say I'm a leper even when I'm not really one.

ate. In which I get a much needed pedicure.

Time flies like a baseball bat that an amateur(but really strong) baseball player lets go and the peak of his swing. 

Can you believe I`ve been gone 8 months? Me neither. ate months is a long time. 

This week was amazing for a variety of different reasons. there are a lot, but I`ll just start from the top.

We went to the Temple this week! we got to do a session and it was amazing! When I was in the Celstial room, I didn`t want to leave. I was praying and asking the Lord for strength and guidance and I could feel His love so powerfully guiding me and teaching me. I love the Temple. It is like a little piece of Heaven here on Earth. Please take advantage if you have a Temple close by that you can visit often

Another Tender Mercy this week was being able to see my great friends from the mission. In the Temple, we got to do the session with one of the other Zones in the mission, Laico. Right now in Laico is my best friend in all the mission, Elder Ostler! If you don`t remember we were in Sonsonate 6 moths together! Also at a multizone conference I got to see a large majority of my missionary friends. Elders Hallman, Gee, Garfield, Gardner, to name just a few.

As for the pedicure, it wasn`t actually a pedicure, but there is a member in our ward that cuts toenails, and I had an almost ingrown toenail, so  I went this morning to go check it out. She cleaned up all my toenails and it was actually really awesome!

Our investigators are doing really awesome! 

Alberto is getting married this Wednesday! He wants to wait to get baptized until things at work slow down(the reason the marriage is this wednesday is because the wife wants to do it before we leave because she has gotten to know us, but is really catholic and isn`t going to get baptized yet, and she told us if they didn`t get married with us here she didn`t want to do it.(transfers are next week and you never know.)) so long story short he will get married wednesday and baptized the 2 of April!

Manuel and Isabel are still working things out. If it was for Isabel they`d already be baptized and active, but we are still working with manuel to get it all ready so they can get married and all that fun stuff

Mariah Lopez needs an answer to her prayers. Her old church visited her this week and she decided she wants to go back there just because its whats comfortable and  what she`s always known. Prayers are needed and appreciated!

Franco is still pretty much an active member. Working with him to get it all worked out so that he feels a desire to be baptized!

Edgardo and Emilio are doing well but facing problems. The goal is that next week the two of them will bless the sacrament and go to the temple to do baptisms!

I am happy and safe and well. I love being a missionary. I love the Lord. I have a testimony of the Atonement of Christ. He lives and Loves us!!!

Have the Greatest of weeks yall!

Elder McFarland

Let`s start from the very beginning, a very good place to start.

I was born a poor black boy in the heart of Detroit. Time's were tough but I was tougher. Work, school, and an overtime graveyard shift helped me provide for my family and my struggling single father who had a ``slight`` alcohol problem. 

Ok maybe the beginning`s too long ago to start.

How bout the middle. 

So I started this week with a headache. It may have been from the sun or the stress, but it wasn`t a ton of fun. Work and Water helped me to get through it though. 

So Tuesday we talked with Emilio and Alberto. If you remember, last week I was fairly sure Alberto would get baptized last week and Emilio would need a lot of time. 

Haha.

Emilio was going through some pretty rough stuff. His girlfriend was really angry with him for going to church and wanting to be baptized, and she was tempting him and filling his mind with a lot of anti mormon stuff. He decided that he deserved someone that was going to support him and ended the relationship

he said these words at his baptism on Saturday. `` I have been through a lot of trials as I have been preparing for this day. It came to the point where I was forced to choose. My girlfriend, or Jesus of Nazereth. I chose Christ.`` 

Spiritual fire!! He was so ready and Saturday was an amazing day. He shared with us that he felt the spirit super strong cleansing him after his baptism. Sunday he received the Holy Ghost and the Aaronic Priesthood(The stake presidency was there on Sunday for branch conference and they helped speed up the process!) Next Sunday Emilio wants to go out and visit with us and bless the sacrament and we are going to take him to the temple to do baptisms. He is 35, so in a couple of months if he prepares he can get the Melchezedek Priesthood! His dad is an old guy who is a new member in the ward, and it was great to see the look in his eyes when his son was baptized!

As for Alberto, we hit a roadblock (but don't worry we got around it.) turns out the missionaries before me had just assumed he was married to his partner. (and you know what they say about that Dad;) but luckily his almost wife is really cool and wants to get married(she`s also really catholic too. we're gunna start teaching her ) so we`ve been scrambling to get all the papers together and they're going to get married the 23 this month. Alberto`s baptism will either happen that day or soon thereafter. He`s been coming to church a lot, but these next two weeks he has to work fixing a school while the kids are out on spring break. 

Manuel and Isabel are sweet. Manuel is a little behind spiritually speaking. They are progressing a lot though! We challenged them this week to get married, and Isabel is totally on board, but we are still waiting for a response from Manuel. Pray that they'll receive their answers!

Maria Lopez came to church again! She has been receiving answers and has told us that she want`s to stop jumping between church and church and know which is from God. She will be baptized hopefully at the end of this month!

As for Edgardo? He`s still doing awesome, he went out to work with us this week and he is learning a lot really fast. He is such a smart kid and I know he's got great things in store for him. anyone know a good talk about missionary service being our duty as priesthood holders?

Jose Franco is still progressing, but I don't know what else we can teach him. He almost counts as an active member, and I'm pretty sure he finished the Book of Mormon this week, but he is still waiting for answers and doesn't want to get baptized yet. I think we're going to invite him to fast too to get an answer. The members have been helping us a lot with him. One day he`ll get there, just at his own pace!

Please pray for the Sol Zarco family. they are a struggling family of 3, the two parents and an autistic 10 year old. They are members, but because of their struggles haven't been coming to church. We need to help them feel  God`s love and help them out of this hard time!

Pray for The Ibarra Family, Hugo Juarez, Melany, the Zalazar family, and the Rivas family. Oh yeah and the Ramos family and the Galdames family. They are less actives that need your prayers too!

Thanks for your prayers.

This missionary is having a lot of fun and working really hard. 

Sometimes, our plan and God's plan aren't the same at first. But just remember that His plan is perfect, and although we think we know what we need and want, He knows better. 

Lose yourself and go to work!

It works!

I know that Christ lives and that he loves us!

The church is true!

have the greatest of weeks and remember that I love you!

Elder McFarland

Faith or Fear

This week I got a letter from myself. what a tender mercy and a miracle!

Let me explain, no wait, there is to much... let me sum up(shout out to those who remember this movie quote.)

its actually not that complicated just my mom was inspired to send me a copy of my notes from my farewell talk and there was something in there that I really needed to hear. Just goes to show that God works in a million and a half different ways, and that miracles still exist.

And seriously it was cool to get advice from myself. 

This week has been really great! The Zaragoza branch is starting to wake up and to get the work moving again!! We`ve had some really powerful lessons in a few of the member`s homes with our investigators where everyone leaves uplifted and that is just about the best thing ever!

Edgardo couldn`t get the priesthood yet because of stake conference, but he is still just about the coolest guy in the world. We have been working a lot with his dad too, and he is progressing, but at his own pace. One day they will both be strong priesthood holders and anchors of faith in the Branch!!

Alberto always tells us he feels so ready for his baptism this saturday. I know he is. He is making a great change and you can see the light in his eyes every day! But he has a huge trial this week right before his baptism because his work situation is really really difficult all of a sudden and has to work almost 24 7. Pray for a miracle. We need your faith! Don`t worry though, we will provide the works!

Emilio is super cool but his girlfriends isnt. Emilio`s dad described her as the devil(his words, not mine) because she always is tempting him and telling him not to go to church and not to obey the commandments. We need another miracle there this week too!

Manuel and Isabel are strong as ever, but they too are facing a proelem this week. The only time they have water in their faucets is Sundays in the morning. We are scanning our brains looking for a way to help them to be able to water their HUGE garden and come to church. Also they need to get married.

Jose Franco is in Helaman in the Book of Mormon. Still has a lot of questions and problems to answer and resolve, but he says he feels at home in the church and with the members, so I know he will get his answers soon. The members have been a good help with him!

This week we had an area conference via satelite that was way off the charts inspiring! Elder Neal L. Anderson spoke to us... IN SPANISH!!! The gift of tongues seriously is real folks. Elder Anderson served a FRENCH speaking mission, and lived in Brazil speaking PORTUGESE a few years, and still managed to give an amazingly powerful talk in SPANISH. Woah. 

One of the big topics of the conference was Faith. Faith is the sure confidence that God will fulfill his promises, even if we don`t know how it is even possible. It is knowing that he will bless us if we keep his commandments and doing the right thing even when it is hard.

Fear is the opposite of faith. Fear is what makes us stop relying on the Lord and stop keeping his commandments. Fear is what stops us from acting on the Faith that we know we have. 

I`ve noticed something about myself and about life this week. Anyone can do the correct things when its easy. Anyone can sail a ship on calm waters. But when its hard? That`s when our faith is really put to the test. That`s when we(and especially me) sometimes stop in our progress and start to fear and fail. Our footsteps fail on the surface of the stormy seas and we start to sink. It is in these perilous times that we need to remember who is there with arms stretched out to save us! To cry out to One so great that even the winds and the waves obey His will! 

And in the midst of the howling winds and crashing waves, may we have the Faith to hear the words: BE STILL!

I testify that Jesus Christ lives! He loves us and he will never leave us alone! He will lift us up and set our feet back firmly planted on the surface of the water. Together, we can walk ever onward glorying in His name, until the day that he presents us before the Father as one worthy to enter into the Celestial Kingdom!

His Church is here upon the Earth!

He speaks to His prophet!

He is Risen!

He loves you!

I do too:)

Have the greatest of weeks yall!

Elder McFarland