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 24th, 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
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 24th, 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
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