Nick, his companion Elder Vaele and the Alao family

Dinner after general conference

 Savannah's baptism

Elder Harry (Vanuatu), Elder Naidu (Samoan), Elder Tafengatoto (Tongan),

and Elder Fisihoi (Tongan)

After priesthood session of conference

What is the hardest samoan word to pronounce?

Tagoiaega is probably the hardest samoan word I've come across thus far. That is Lisa's last name, the 14 year old girl, who got baptized last week! Her name breaks so many rules! Aren't you not suppose to have more than two vowels in a row? This one has 4! Once you learn how to pronounce the letters though, the language is not too bad, even with difficult names like this. The only thing that's hard is memorization, trying to remember what words mean and what word to use in certain situations. I still feel quite useless  in the Samoan language. I've gotten pretty slack about my language studies the past month or so too which is probably why I feel like my Samoan is useless. That's something I want to work on next week, more focused language study.

What do you like most about being a missionary?

Definitely the amount of spiritual impressions I get on a daily basis. As I go out and teach more and more, I feel I am getting better at noticing and following the promptings from the spirit as they come. Sometimes the results of following those impressions are incredible for those we teach, aand sometimes it seems like only I benefitted from following the prompting, but regardless, simply having those spiritual experiences are incredible gifts and testimony strengtheners for me. Another thing is not having to worry about anything other than those I serve, that's also a very nice touch. I was thinking about this the other day. All I do all day is think, worry and pray for those around me. My happiness, my sadness, my frustration, and my joy all come from my desire to serve others and seeing others accept or reject the gospel of Jesus Christ into their lives.

When was your greatest joy on your mission so far?

It has been serving in the Liverpool 2nd ward. There isn't one event or one person that has caused this joy. Just serving in an area where so many people have been prepared by the Lord to hear the gospel and who are willing to make changes and commitments in their lives is what makes me so joyful. Last week I was able to witness Lisa Tagoiaega get baptized and see her parents watch with tears in their eyes as they watch their daughter show faith in our Savior and Redeemer by being baptized. This weekend I was able to see two primary children get baptized who are part of a less active/returning family with similar reactions. Next weekend I get to see Ben Tauiliili make the same covenant and hopefully the rest of his family soon to follow in the next few months. My joy comes not of my own actions, but it comes from seeing the righteous actions of others as they choose to accept the gospel.

Elder Macfarlane

 Nick's district

 Nick ate coconut and drank coconut water and sugar cane

 Half of Nick's zone

 Elder Vaele's last temple trip before he dies (goes home)

 Nick's district at the temple

Lisa's baptism and her bishop

A part of a letter....no blog post

Incredible things are happening here too, I'll write all about it next week! We have a baptism on Saturday this week!! :) Her name is Lisa, she is 14. We should have another 4 or 5 in the next month too, hopefully! Also, having a pool table back home in MN payed off! We started teaching a new less active family a few weeks ago and they are coming back to church, making changes in their life, and seeing blessings that come from those changes. And guess what was the ticket for all of that? Pool :) Islanders are really good at pool (like insanely good) and they always make fun of palagie's for being useless. But I played a game against my companion, beat him. Then played against the father of the family and I won, then he won, then I won the tie breaker! He was very impressed and said that we could stay and teach the family as long as he can first play a game of pool, best two out of three with the white boy, me. We're pretty close in skill level, but I think the Lord helps me a bit because I've made some pretty impressive shots...and as a result, this less active family of 15 people are starting to come back to church!! :) Great stuff :) Maybe ping pong or fooseball will come in handy too later ;)

This last week was great! I don't have much time, so this will have to be quick! I'll just talk briefly about the highlights! First of all, transfers were this past week and I'm staying in Liverpool with Elder Vaele another 6 weeks! This is Elder Vaele's last transfer then he goes back to Samoa! Next (see we're flying throught the highlights) highlight is that we picked up a new investigator that is doing really well. His name is Alvin and he's the partner of one of our less-active members, Ragi.  They are both trying to make changes in their life and to be good examples for their child, Esau. Alvin likes what the church teaches and wants to learn more. So excited for him. :)
Another investigator, Lisa, is doing well too! We set a baptism goal for the end of the month with her and she's excited! We're just going to wait unitl her parents move to Australia from New Zealand at the end of the month and then she'll get baptized. SUPER excited for her. :)
And finally, the new movie Meet the Mormons is coming to Australia! AND we're allowed to go see it if we bring an investigator with us! We have been inviting EVERYONE we work with! It's gonna be great! I hear that it is a very motivating movie and very good. If you haven't seen it yet, go look it up! Stay strong my brothers and sisters! Keep moving forward with faith in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!
Love you heaps!
Elder Macfarlane

Malo soifua lou susuga! Ou te fiafia lenei pa'ia fa'aSamoa! Hello there everyone! Life is going well and I'm loving the Samoan ward! I apologize, it's been awhile since I've written anything here but there's no need to fear, I will repent and be better at this! :)
These past few weeks have been incredible! About a month ago our Area President, Elder Pearson, came to visit and then last week a member of the Quorum of the 12 apostles came, ELDER BEDNAR! He is my favorite apostle to listen to during General Conference because he is extremely intelligent, but he explains things so simple it's incredible. One thing that we believe in our church that is different from other churches is that there is a living prophet today who speaks the teaching of God and helps guide the people, just like in biblical times. Similarly, we believe that there are also 12 apostles on the earth, again just like Jesus Christ had in the Bible, who help assist the prophet in guiding the world to follow our Savior, Jesus Christ. Elder David A Bednar is one of those 12 apostles! That's like Matthew (from the Bible) coming to visit you and personally guiding you to follow the Savior and help others to do the same.
There was so much I learned from that conference I can't even begin to describe it, nor would I have the time to. I was lucky enough to experience this about a year ago with another member of the 12 apostles, Elder Russel M Nelson. And again almost 17 months ago with Elder Dallin H Oaks. Meeting an apostle and being able to personally visit with him is a once and a life time opportunity and I've had it three times! All were very wise men with very inspirational things to say, which I may share with you in future weeks. But today what I want to share more than anything is the spirit that was felt during each of these experiences. The spirit, also known as the Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit, testifies of truth and helps us know good from evil. When Elder Bednar walked into the room, the whole room went silent and this incredible feeling of peace overcame me. I'm not usually one to get all emotional with this kind of stuff, but I was almost brought to tears just seeing him and watching him walk to the front of the room. I know that man is a representative of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He testified about how much our Father in Heaven loves us, such a simple topic. But he said it with so much power and sincerity, you could feel it in your heart that it was true. We truly do have a loving Father in Heaven who knows each and every one of us by name. He knows our strengths and our weaknesses. He knows what we need to experience, so we can become the son or daughter of God that he intends us to become. He is there for us, all we need to do is allow Him to help. Let him come into your life and bless. you. If you feel He already is a part of your life, that's great, strengthen that relationship! You can always improve, you can always grow. Go throughout this week looking for opportunities and ways to strengthen that relationship with our Savior and act on them.
I love you all heap! Stay strong and keep moving forward! :)
Elder Macfarlane

*A short message from a letter-no blog post*


Sorry this week is a very small letter. It was a pretty frustrating week with not much happening, but this upcoming week should be better. We've been doing really well these past few weeks so I think this was God's week to smash us with trials so we humble up a bit, so next week we can smash again ;) haha the Samoan in coming along slowing, I'm comfortable with basic introduction, conversation, and random commands, but that's about it. I think I just need to be more diligent in having focused language study each day and trying to apply the new words/phrases I learn.
Love,
Elder Macfarlane