July 25, 2011

Dear everyone,

So this week was insane. I spent about just as much time in Mar del Plata as I did in my own area which was actually nice because it was out of the ordinary. But at the same time, however, it was hard because we didn't have a lot of time to get work done in Balcarce. Why'd we spend so much time in Mar del Plata? Well Monday we went to Centro so Elder Blackhorse could buy souvenirs and we stayed the night because Tuesday he had a meeting and right after we all had District Meeting. Then we went back again Thursday for another meeting he had with President for all the leaders, we stayed the night, and Friday all had interviews with President. It was a little funny because we did all this so Elder Blackhorse could get trained and informed on new things in the mission...and then leave!

So yeah, in the mission there are a lot of funny terms that missionaries use. Elder Blackhorse is my "dad" and I am his "kid." I "killed" him because I was his last companion. He "died" because he finished the mission. And I was "born" here in Balcarce.

So Elder Blackhorse and I had some lessons the last few days with all the people Elder Blackhorse had taught and baptized here in Balcarce and it was great. At church he spoke in Sacrament Meeting and we took a ton of pictures after church. And he left that night. It was super weird for me because I felt like I was going home too haha but I just started! Anyway, I miss him a lot. He taught me a ton and I am super grateful to have been his companion. I was very blessed and we had a lot of success and a LOT of funny times. We became really great friends so it was weird saying goodbye. And especially because everything I know in the mission IS Elder Blackhorse. So it's weird wandering around with someone else. Elder Blackhorse told me we'll be walking around in a day or two, I'll mention an inside joke we had, Elder Davidson won't understand, and I'll remember he left haha. It already has happened.

But every missionary goes through this the first time they change companions in the field so it's fine. My new companion is Elder Davidson from Idaho. He has two transfers left in the mission. He's super nice and from what I can tell, we won't have a problem working super hard and having success. He's stoked to be here in Balcarce. It's possible, then, that* *I may leave Balcarce after this transfer. If not, Elder Davidson will die, I'll leave after having completed 4 transfers here and the new missionaries who fill our spots will go in "blind," or in other words not know anyone or the area OR I could stay 5 transfers from what I heard. Apparently Elder Arnold told president that we should be staying in areas longer instead of transferring so much. We'll see. I don't mind either way at this point.

Anyway, that's about it. Transfers were cool though, seeing all the missionaries in the terminal and talking to them. Change is a good thing. It helps us learn and grow because we have to adapt to the changes and learn to handle situations properly. A couple elders in my district had a LOT of problems this transfer getting along. It was tough to watch. But at the end, they resolved their differences, apologized, and realized how blessed they had been to work together. They had 6 baptisms together in one transfer, and both learned incredible lessons about compromise and working together. One of the Elders told me last night that he realized that every moment in the mission is an opportunity to learn. And that every companion we have is sent to us for a reason by the Lord because He knows who what need and what we need to learn. And there is no better place than the mission field.

Elder Blackhorse is gone and I miss him, but I'm supposed to learn something from Elder Davidson and that I'm sure of. And so we go.

-Elder Ryan Garrison

Pictures sent July 25, 2011

July 18, 2011

HI

:( Sam died? (Ang and Jorge’s dog)  I am super sad to hear that. Angela and Jorge, I love you and am so sorry.

Anyway, this week was a little more difficult. Of those 12 investigators that we found, 6 have already dropped off our list. But that's the mission and that's how it goes. Actually mom, President has what are called our "norms of excellence" pretty high. The mission has been improving and improving since President Detlefsen came. The norms of excellence are our weekly goals as missionary companionships. Our objective is to have 20 lessons (half with a member present), 15 new investigators (roughly 2 a day), 5 people in the chapel on Sunday, and with all that, we should have 1 baptism weekly. Easier said than done of course but we're promised that if we are obedient missionaries, work hard, follow the Spirit and President's council, we should be able to achieve them.

Anyway, back to the week, I did divisions with my zone leader Elder Wilkes, who is hilarious, has had more Latino companions than English speaking ones, and speaks with a perfect Paraguayan accent, and we were in Balcarce. I learned a lot and it was super interesting, like it normally is on divisions, to work with someone else and see how they teach and interact with people. We found a man named Mario, a door-contact that Elder Blackhorse and I had done, and taught him the first lesson. But he dropped us the next time Elder Blackhorse and I went back! Super nice guy, but unwilling to open up his mind!

It's a bummer he couldn't! Wouldn't even give the Book of Mormon a chance! So many people just judge it without even opening it. Which reminds me of this 81 year old man that Elder Blackhorse and I talked to this week. We were searching for this family that we found in the Area Book (all the records of investigators in our area), and talked to this man who was standing outside. He told us that he didn't believe in God and that all of that was pointless. I asked him what his definition of happiness was and, to say the very least, he was a little disillusioned and believed in what the world defines as happiness. I felt really bad for him. 81 years of life and that was all he had to say. He wouldn't even give God a chance because he had already allowed himself to take a road in the other direction and was so far down it, he was blind to the fact that what he thinks is happiness is just a fleeting moment in the whole scheme of things! That's why the gospel is so great. It gives us identity. And not only do we not have to live 81 years of life BELIEVING there is no purpose, there actually IS one.

So if we give the Lord 100% dedication, we will receive 100% what we need. Maybe not what WE think we need, but what HE knows we need.

Anyway, I will be in Mar del Plata more this week than Balcarce. In fact, I spent P-Day here again. Elder Blackhorse has 2 meetings on two separate days, we have interviews with President on Friday, and we have to travel to Mar del Plata again on Sunday because that's when Elder Blackhorse is off.

Thanks for all the letters everyone! I really appreciate it. I'll write back as soon as possible. Remember is takes like 3 weeks to receive and 3 more after I send a response.  Oh and we lost 15 minutes of computer time waiting for open computers. I can't respond to everyone this week. SORRY.

Chau,
Elder Ryan Garrison

July 11, 2011

HI FAMILY

So I'm in Mar del Plata right now! Elder Blackhorse is District Leader and has a meeting with the Zone Leaders tonight so we came in last night. Because the Elder Arnold conference a few weeks back was pretty expensive, Elder Blackhorse didn't go to his bi-monthly Leader Meeting in Bahìa Blanca because they didn't want to spend MORE money on more conferences! So all the Zone Leaders went without the District Leaders and here we are in Mar del Plata to find out what is happening in the mission. Best part of that is? We spent the day in Mar del Plata with the Zone Leaders and went to BURGER KING. It was super expensive but the best thing of my life! I got a BK Stacker with FIVE patties. And fries that tasted like American food. It was fantastic. Trust me. Its weird being here and thinking something as simple as Burger King is SO incredibly expensive! Anyway, Centro (downtown) of Mar del Plata was super cool (tall buildings, tons of traffic, and all that). Unfortunately, we're not supposed to look like tourists so I didn't take pictures.

This week was pretty nuts. We found TWELVE new investigators! Twelve!! It was crazy. Only one of them came to church though. His name is Marcos Martinez and he is 19 like me! We went by and "picked him up" haha and he went! Our goal for next week is to really involve the members like Elder Arnold told us, by having THEM go pick up the members and bring them to church for us! That way they have friends, feel comfortable, and actually GO to see if they like it.

It's interesting how clean cut the gospel is though. It's really simple. And there is no need for confusion. Obey God's commandments and you will be blessed with happiness, knowledge, comfort, peace, strong family relationships, and the ability to overcome any life challenge that will come your way. Don't obey God's commandments and you get none of that! No promises! The hard part about life is using your ability to think for yourself and your ability to choose by choosing between Christ and being obedient, or Satan and being disobedient. Because it will always be easier to choose the easy way out, the world's way, to sit down on the side of the road and just give up, to give in to temptation and to allow yourself to lose your agency, and essentially your identity because you want to blend in with the world and the world's standard of happiness. But true happiness comes from living the gospel. From striving every day to become better, to pick yourself up when you fall, to push forward diligently. And IF we are diligent, we'll receive the strength, and the desire, to continue obeying God's commandments. We will fall, but we will have Christ to lift us up and help us come out better, stronger people. We will be blessed more that we even realize in this life, and more than we can even comprehend in the life to come. And each one of us, even the very weakest, has the capacity to overcome the world's temptations and follow God's plan. But that's why we have choice. So we can prove that we WANT to. And that we'll push away our natural desires and live the way God wants us to. I have seen so many people do that here and can honestly say I am very glad to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and a missionary helping people to find this truth and happiness in their own lives.

That's what I've realized this week. And needless to say, I absolutely love it here. I'm even feeling pretty comfortable with the language now and even writing my weekly letter to President Detlefsen in Spanish. However, I'm still having trouble understand what people say to me. Especially when they aren't Argentine. Four of our new investigators are Paraguayan. And Elder Guzman that lives with us is Chilean and mumbles a lot. But I know that as I trust in the Lord and do my part each day, I'll be able to master the language and become a better teacher and servant of the Lord.

Anyway, time is almost up, thanks for the emails and pictures too! I took out the 25 mom (or at least 100 pesos) and I'll buy a watch in Balcarce.
And Elder Blackhorse finishes on the 24^th, Mom. So two more weeks. It'll be weird for sure when he goes and I end up with some new kid. But I'll be fine.
That's it.
I love you all!
BYE

-Elder Ryan Garrison

July 4, 2011

HAPPY DAY OF INDEPENDENCE!

Yeah it's the 4th of July. Surprisingly, nobody here cares...

So you all need to collaborate on your emails a little more hahaha.

I mean, I don't think I REALLY understood the whole powerout deal very well so it's a good thing I read it so many times! If I hadn't, I might be lost in the dark on that one.......... . . . . . . .  .   .     . But speaking of power outages, although that sounds terrible (and superrr hot), be glad you don't live outside of the States where power outages are far more frequent! Half of Balcarce was out a couple nights ago. So it was super sketchy walking in the streets.

But everything sounds crazy like normal! Thanks for the pictures dad. You all need to send me more so I can actually see this stuff! But I hope the fourth is awesome for you guys! I'm super jealous that you're all in the Springhill Suites again haha. Jen and I had a lot of fun there.

So random stories from this week because nothing super cool really happened except for knocking a bajillion doors: We contacted this reference that the other missionaries received and it's this like 60 year old man who is the EXTREME example of a hilarious Argentine. And he's rambling on about how they live in the greatest country on the planet and says, "Look, we have the best soil for agriculture in the world. You can throw a potato in the ground, and it'll grow potatoes, you can throw an orange in the ground, and it'll grow oranges, you can throw a woman in the ground, and it'll grow women!!" I laughed a lot. Crazy Argentines.

River, the most famous, and the richest soccer team in the country, dropped down in rank from being up with all the "A" teams to the "B" teams and people all over the country were rioting. We were headed to a family to teach them when River was at that moment playing the determining game, when suddenly some man came out of his house ahead of us and started screaming a bunch of stuff I couldn't understand at the sky with his hands held up. Elder Blackhorse said it was better I didn't understand haha. But that River had scored. However, they ended up losing. And one of our investigators, Leandro, who basically dropped us because he does not want to change, said he cried when they lost! Crazy huh?!

And last, we did divisions and while I was in Mar del Plata with another Elder in our district, Elder Blackhorse found us a new investigator. But when he and I went back, the husband of the woman they had found, who had ignored them the last time and went into the kitchen, came out and started yelling at us calling us hypocritical Americans for walking the streets preaching about Bibles and such while murdering people in Iraq. If you think people are politically ignorant in the States, try coming here! It was sad because he couldn't allow us to explain that as missionaries, we don't represent our country, we represent Jesus Christ and that all we want to do is help them come closer to their Savior. He was too blinded by his ignorance and hate to even give us the chance to say that and in the end, told us to leave. I've have had a lot of people slam doors on my face and a lot of people lie to us several times in a row because they don't have the courage to just say no, but that guy made me super sad because he couldn't let go of his pride and just listen! Regardless, we move on, finding those who DO want to listen, and who DO want to allow the Savior to change their lives.

Like Martin. Who is going to get the Priesthood in the next couple of weeks!! And now, thanks to Franco (the oldest of the three boys that were baptized) and his mother Analia (the aunt of Martin), we are going to teach Martin's brother, Juan Cruz who is fifteen years old! They say he wants to get baptized. At first, Martin said he didn't have any interest, but after talking to Franco and Analia, Juan Cruz decided to come to church and BAM, there he was yesterday! So we are going to teach him and he'll probably get baptized on the 23rd of July (the last weekend of Elder Blackhorse's mission). The Lord's hand really is in this work and it is amazing to see the faith of people like Analia, her boys, and Martin, who are so willing to share the gospel because they have seen the changes that take place upon applying the principles of the gospel in their lives!

I'm excited :) So, mom, don't worry about distracting me with stuff about home, no matter how much I would like to meet Jackson! I want to hear what's going on!

I love you all, thank you everyone who writes me. Make sure everyone knows where my blog and address are posted. The 25 bucks for a watch would be nice Mom, thank you!

BYE

-Elder Ryan David Garrison