Merry Christmas!!! :D Today is Christmas Eve... Tomorrow is Christmas Day... And the next day I get to Skype my family!!! :D Woop woop!
So I've been really feeling the Christmas spirit this week and we decided that we were going to give heaps of service! And guess what, we did! We went and visited Tim, a 65 year old southern boy, and helped him paint some steps on his deck. It was really fun! For three days this week, Elder Coats and I helped out this really nice recent convert from Vanuatu, Vern, and his family move out of their house in Narooma and moved about 10 minutes away to Kianga, which is about 5 minutes away from where we live in Dalmeny! :) He's the only member in his family. His family consists of himself, his wife Anna, two sons Mitchel and Micheal, and one daughter Laura. They are from Vanuatu. They are all super nice and all love us. Micheal is 18 and doesn't want to join the church because of a bad example from a church member that he knows that lives up in Darwin. Mitchel (10) wants to get baptized one day because his dad is baptized, but he doesn't want to go to church or follow any rules. Laura is about 7 and really wants to be baptized, she loves coming to church with her dad and loves being with the missionaries. Anna is very religious and is happy with her Anglican lifestyle but enjoys us being around. Now they live close to us and live right down the street from the senior missionaries, Elder and Sister McAra, so we can visit him and help him out all the time!

Elder Coats and I met a super nice couple this week, Dan and Liz. They have met almost every set of missionaries that have been in this area over the last 10 years and they said they're not interested in changing their religion, but they'd love to have us over and listen to what we have to say. They are both super nice people and I feel like they would be really good mormons! The difficulty is that he, like the majority of Australians, LOVES his alcohol and smokes heaps. But we'll see what we can do to help him out (:

Saturday was a day of firsts. Our recent convert, Kathy, and her husband Wayne invited us to go out to eat at this place called JJ's and it was super good! I'd never been there before because it's super expensive but they said this was our Christmas gift, New Years gift, and part of Wayne's birthday gift! While there I tried two new foods! Oysters and Squid. The oysters were pretty good, but they were seasoned a ton! Wayne said he's going to give me one right off the rocks some day. He did it to Elder Coats and he said it was NASTY! But I'll try it (: The squid wasn't at all what I expected, it tasted a little like my mom's fish sticks back home! So that was pretty cool (: I had Vegemite for the first time a week or two ago and I don't really know what to say. It wasn't as nasty as Americans said it would be but it wasn't as good as Australians say it is either. I wouldn't have it on a regular day if it was up to me, but if it was given to me, I would still eat it.

At church last Sunday, I was asked to play prelude music... that means Elder Macfarlane, playing church music, on the piano, in front of people. But it went surprisingly well! I switched between about 5-7 Christmas songs and only played the melody and alto lines. But yeah, I didn't absolutely fail so I was happy :)

Yesterday we had a mission-wide Christmas party. So all 208 missionaries in the Australia Sydney South mission were there and it was sweet! We started off the party with a morning devotional where we sang a bunch of Christmas Hymns and listened to a few missionaries speak on various subjects. One of my favorite talks was by a Elder Langi from Samoa. He spoke on being an example. It was really cool to me because I've been thinking about this a lot over the last week or two. He specifically talked about his oldest brother and the example that he set for Elder Langi and how much he loved his older brother. It made me think of my little brothers and the example that I am for them. I am setting an example for them no matter what I do, good or bad. Thinking about them makes me want to be not only a good boy who listens to his parents, although that's incredibly important. I am striving to do something more, to be a righteous young man in the eye's of our Savior Jesus Christ. He has given us Commandments that he expects us to follow, He has given us prophets for us to follow, He has given us parents and siblings for us to follow and learn from, He has given us so many things that we can learn from and grow. When I do all of these things to the best of my abilities, people see it, my friends see it, my family sees it, I see it. When doing the things that the Lord has asked us to do, you are setting a great example for others to follow.

Everyone has role models that you want to model your life after, wouldn't it be cool if you were the role model for someone else? Your siblings, your kids, your parents, your friends, your teachers, your employees, that random worker at Costco who knows you by name. You could be setting an example to someone around you and you don't even realize it. Actually, I can guarantee someone is watching you. Be that perfect example to those around you, help someone pick up their purse, give someone a hand at work, brighten someones day by simply smiling at them. Your simple action could start a chain reaction.

I love you all and wish you a very Merry Christmas from down under! :D

Elder Macfarlane