March 25, 2013

Pictures from Elder Garrison received today!

 

March 18, 2013

Dear Family and Friends,

I don't know if I am given time next week to write letters or not! So I think it is safe to assume that yes, this will be the last time.

This week was great. In the zone we had 6 baptisms which is fantastic! Our goal for this month is 15 and we already have 10! That is what we achieved in February! So everyone is on fire. We brought 36 people to church for the second week in a row, too, which is much more than usual. President Parreño called my companion and I on Saturday night congratulating us for what we've been doing in the zone. It was super special. It is great to understand that all these numbers and statistics represent the changed lives of the sons and daughters of God that have now received the blessings of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ in their lives.

My companion and I had the opportunity to sacrifice almost three days in our area this week traveling to far away parts of the zone to do baptismal interviews of the people who were baptized this week and to do splits with the missionaries of those districts to see how they work and train them so they can work even better, finding more quickly and teaching more efficiently the sons and daughters of God that He places in their way.

We also were asked to participate in the Stake MTC for a Day activity for all of the youth ages 14 to 25 preparing, or not, to serve a mission. We went out on splits with them and did contacts in the street, knocking doors, and sharing the gospel with all of the people we could see. It was great.

Juan Peralta is doing fantastic. He is constantly reading the Book of Mormon. We gave him the chronological seminary cards so he can understand the history of the scriptures better and he was stoked. He is now marking his scriptures with a pen and highlighting his favorite parts. He also reads daily from the Gospel Principles manual as well as the Lorenzo Snow manual that is being used this year. He always talks about his new friend Lorenzo because he LOVES the book. We have seen a powerful change in his attitude, his perspective on life, and his ability to grow spiritually as he follows the Lord. He shines with light and understanding because as he studies and learns, he grows in knowledge and wisdom. His baptism was announced for this upcoming Sunday and he will have his interview either Thursday or Friday (along with the other 4 people in the zone getting baptized this week). He is super stoked and even did a special fast with us this last weekend in order to completely leave behind his addictions.

Thank you for your letters and support! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE pray for Juan!!

I love you all.

I know that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world, the Son of the Living God, and the light and life of the world. I invite all, as His servant, to come unto Him and be saved. He lives and He reveals His will today through living prophets and apostles in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the only true church on the earth.

Love,

Elder Garrison

March 11, 2013

Ryan comes home on Wednesday, March 27^th.  He’ll be arriving at 9:24 a.m. on Delta, Terminal 3.  You are welcome to join us!

He’ll be speaking in the Preston Ward on April 21^st at 9 a.m.  Please spread the word!

Dear Everyone,

This letter is going to be short I apologize.

This week was fantastic. Elder Furlong and I had the Zone Leader Council on Wednesday, then we had our zone leadership meeting and Zone Meeting on Thursday, did splits with some of the missionaries that are having problems on Thursday and Friday, worked super hard Saturday to make sure that everyone would go to church on Sunday, and then gratefully were able to get Juan Peralta to church again and he is doing great. His baptismal date was changed to the 24th because of Ward and Stake activities as well as Stake Conference so he'll be getting baptized Sunday the 24th in the evening. He is doing great and is testifying and sharing with his family and friends, he put the picture of Jesus we gave him in a frame and now it's on his wall, and he reads the Book of Mormon every single day. We've showed him a ton of church movies and he loves to see the temples and the movies about Joseph Smith.

This week is going to be crazy as well though because we have to travel to Coronel Suarez and to Pedro Luro for baptismal interviews! The zone is doing awesome and the Lord is blessing us for our obedience and hard work :)

Thank you for your emails and support! PLEASE pray for Juan!! He needs it.

Love,

Elder Garrison

March 4, 2013

Hey,

So this week we worked super hard to help our investigators progress.

Juan Peralta, who we've been teaching for about a month, had had some problems, and that is why he didn't show to church last week. The first time we met Juan, it was an interesting experience. One of those experiences that really only happens in the mission. Our lesson was, to say the least, not very normal. The only thing we managed to teach him was that he needed to read the Book of Mormon and pray. If we tried to talk about prophets or Christ, he just wouldn't have it. Yet slowly, Juan began to change. His faith grew as his knowledge increased. We could see the change in his very face, which in a way shined with light and hope. He went to church three times and loved it, telling us he would walk home with a huge grin on his face not even knowing why. And then fell. He hit rock bottom. A 180 degree change from one day to another.

We did whatever we could think of but there was no change. He didn't make it to church even though he said he'd go anyway. And since then, we have been helping him, one step at a time, and the reality is that now he is doing even better than before. He has overcome all of his addictions and is fighting hard to resist temptation because he continues to feel the cravings. He is reading the Book of Mormon daily, whole chapters or more, and went to church on Sunday. Elder Furlong and I have really seen miracles in the life of Juan but now what he needs is that last push to have his baptismal interview and make it to his baptism.

We have firm faith that if we are obedient and if Juan does his part by continually and faithfully reading and praying on a daily basis and does not give in to temptation, that he will make it. Please pray for him! He needs it.

Other than that, no one else seems to progress so we are going to continue finding new people to teach this week. We have to give it our all.

I know that Jesus Christ lives. He is the Savior of the world. If we build upon Him, a sure foundation, we will not fall. His church is on this earth. As is His Priesthood power. The more I study and live the doctrine, the more I come to know that it is true. I testify that the scriptures bear testimony of His divinity and the reality of His mission as our Redeemer.

Thanks for all the support!

Love,

Elder Garrison

February 25, 2013

Dear everyone,

Elder Furlong and I didn't pay our gas bill for a really long time. So on Saturday morning, the mail man came during our companionship study and we received a suspension notice. So today we went downtown super early to pay for the bill first thing in the morning so we wouldn't get stuck without hot water for at least a week, waiting for them to turn our gas on again. Thankfully, our gas wasn't cut.

Well, since we were already almost there, we went to the mission office to talk to the Assistants who call us each Monday morning so we can pass our weekly zone report. And while there, a couple of the office missionaries had to go get a missionary that was coming in from Viedma to see President Parreño. I thought it was probably some missionary needing an interview. But I was wrong. Turns out it was a member of the church that is from Viedma (a district) and is leaving on a mission today and was to be set apart by President Parreño. It was Kevin Hernandez. Good thing we didn't pay our gas bill or else I never would have seen him. He was a member that went out with Elder Calarco and me to visit our investigators. He was key in the conversion of many people who otherwise would never have accepted the restored gospel. When I saw him it was like seeing the Brustle family from Pehuajò. He`s now headed to Guayaquil, Ecuador to spend two years of his life serving the Lord.

This week Elder Furlong and I worked very hard, trying to maintain the progress we`d been seeing in our investigators. We`ve been passing by frequently, checking up on them, and moving on with the lessons so they can continue understanding the doctrine. Yet in spite of our efforts, no one showed up to church on Sunday. It was hard. We sat there during the three hours kind of put out and feeling relatively useless because there was no investigator to help feel comfortable, etc. The rough thing is that when the people we teach don't go to church, they begin to doubt and find themselves facing hard trials with little faith to back themselves up. So this week we are going to see how they do and we will have to continue looking, tirelessly, for new people to teach.

Something that I studied this week that I really liked was when Christ arrived at Jerusalem for his final week of life. The following morning while on his way from Bethany to Jerusalem, he was hungry and saw a fig tree. Fig trees first produce fruit and then their leaves come out. This fig tree was full of leaves but had no fruit. So Jesus cursed it, and it dried up and died. James E. Talmage explains that Christ has already showed his apostles his power to restore life three times on different occasions. Here in this moment, he showed them his power to take life. He wanted it absolutely clear in the moment that the Jews rejected him and the Roman soldiers nailed Him to the cross that had He wanted to, he could have stopped it at any moment. He is the Son of God and the Creator of this world and had in Him the power to put a stop to His sacrifice. Yet he did not. He gave His life freely and voluntarily. And in spite of having died, He had power to take up His life again and so He did.

He has power over life and death and for that very reason, overcame both sin and death for us. I am grateful for that. And for the blessing I have to represent Him. I know He lives.

Thanks for the letters and prayers of support! Please continue praying for our investigators.

Love,

Elder Garrison

February 18, 2013

Dear Family and Friends,

 

This week flew by super fast.

 

Elias Arias was baptized this Saturday by our Ward Mission Leader, Mauro Valdebenito, a 20 year old in our ward who should be going on his own mission soon. It was interesting to see how even Elias, who is 9 years old, had trials of faith this week to prove himself and make it to his baptism without doubting in his faith. Claudia, his mother, is the woman that was baptized in December and her whole family goes to an evangelist church. When Claudia`s house burned down at the beginning of last year, three of her older children went to live with the grandparents because now there is little room in what is left of Claudia`s house. Because of that, the family goes back and forth every once in a while to visit each other and the grandparents were not too excited to hear that Elias was to be baptized in the MORMON church. He got super worried because of their negative comments and began to tell his mother that he no longer wanted to get baptized. Thankfully, Claudia was able to comfort Elias and he decided to go through with his decision to get baptized.

He no longer cares what they say because he is SO happy after his baptism. He keeps telling his mom that he feels happy now and is continually smiling since his baptism. And even though his aunt and grandma told Claudia that "she had given her son up to the devil," he is content with his decision and she continues firm in her decision to continue attending church.

Juan Peralta is also doing excellent. He reads the Book of Mormon every day as well as does his daily prayers. He went to church for the third time this week so we'll be setting up plans for his baptismal interview so we can make the plans for his baptismal service. He is growing in faith, knowledge, and hope as he reads and prays and learns more. It is a great feeling to see his growth and see the change of heart he has had as the Spirit works in him and his desire to do good continually grows. He really is one of the chosen, prepared by the Lord to receive the restored gospel.

I have really gained a strong testimony in the mission of the real need to constantly search diligently in the scriptures. They bare testimony of Christ and guide us to Him. He is the salvation and if we search diligently in the scriptures, we will be filled with His light. I love to read the scriptures because I know that inspired men wrote them and there is no other source of knowledge that can better help us to achieve our eternal potential than the scriptures. Not science, not any worldly wisdom, not any secular education as important as it may be. The scriptures have been given to us and they invite us to come unto Christ, the fountain and source of all righteousness. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. It is a book of divine revelations that help us believe in Christ, come unto Him, and believe the testimonies of the apostles found in the Holy Bible. I invite all who read this to search diligently in the scriptures and to come unto Jesus Christ.

Thank for you your prayers and support!

Love,

Elder Garrison