December 19, 2011

Dear Family and Friends,

Yeah no worries I recovered from being sick really fast. And now I tell everyone I get sick from tap water. Then they give me soda. I feel guilty because that makes me happy. Haha.

Anyway, Christmas is coming! You can hardly tell here. Because it's ridiculously hot and humid at all hours of the day. Including night time. Our fan broke last week so we're currently suffering as the office sends us money to buy a new one. This week was great. We didn't have very many lessons but we found several people that could very easily start coming to church and get baptized.

Like this little 10 year old girl named Fernanda Arce that came to church with the Branch President's family last Sunday. We taught her last Sunday and set a baptismal date. She was super excited and we were going to work with that family to help her.

Then out of nowhere her family moved.

So we did everything possible and had the Branch President's family do some calling and they found out where she moved to! We passed by Friday and asked her if she'd like to get baptized on Sunday and she said yes. So we taught her everything else super fast, had our District Leader travel in for the interview Saturday and she was baptized yesterday! We were very happy.

All the members are seeing changes. It scares us though because now they now want changes they are definitely not ready for. Like change from 2 hours of church to 3 hours of church before they even have someone to teach primary (the primary kids current spend the first hour watching videos and drawing on chalk boards and they are a third of the attending members). But we're working with the leaders, helping them understand the vision as well as the need to take certain steps before achieving that vision (like finding a primary teacher).

This week is going to be sweet because on Thursday, we'll be in Mar del Plata for SUPER P-DAY. To celebrate Christmas. And on Sunday, we're going to try and baptize the granddaughter of a member that brings her almost every Sunday. We finally had a chance to teach her this week!!

I am excited and the Lord is truly blessing Pehuajò. And all of your prayers are definitely helping us! Thank you all so much for your letters and I apologize if I didn't have time to respond to a couple! Mom, I will call on Saturday to set up a specific time for Sunday. We get 15 minutes to do that the day before. So if some strange number calls, that's me. I AM FREAKING EXCITED. My companion and I are trying to not get "trunky" thinking about it hahaha. I would also like Jake, Maddy, and Carly to come listen! So someone, tell them when I am going to call.

I love you all!

Talk to you Sunday!

-Elder Ryan Garrison

December 12, 2011

Dear Everyone,

I'm sitting here laughing because you all said that you hoped I had a great birthday...let me explain... This week, everything came against us all at once. I think Satan is a little unhappy with the success we've been having here in Pehuajó.

It started with me finding a FROG in the shower Thursday morning. I basically shouted because I stepped into the shower and something on the floor started jumping toward me! Obviously I had no idea what it was at first because I didn't have my contacts/glasses but after I realized, we chased it out of the house with a broom. After I showered, my companion was afraid of catching some sketchy frog disease and started pouring chlorine everywhere!! And then he showered!! The problem was is that with the hot steamy water he started to inhale chlorine vapor!! Smart move. So he got super sick and slept all day. Then, we went out in the evening even though he still wasn't feeling so great because we felt like huge sinners not having worked all day. Well we went to see these investigators that we have that almost got baptized a few years back but never could because they are living together but not married. (I believe Jesus was quite clear about not doing that).

We taught them the Plan of Salvation.

They gave us water.

I drank the water.

THAT WATER WAS TAP WATER!! Which here in Pehuajó has arsenic and like 50 bazillion other harmful chemicals. So I woke up on Friday morning at 4 am more sick than I have ever been in my life. Long story short, I ended up having to call President Deletsen's wife, and then the mission doctor, and then go to the hospital where they put me on one of those drip things that flows into your blood stream, and then take all kinds of medicine.

I drank water all day and then for my birthday I ate plain crackers all day and stayed in the house.

But the Brustle Family loves us so Sunday morning when we passed by to go pick up investigators together in their car (we go each Sunday morning an hour before church and drive all over with them to invite investigators to church) they pulled out a cake and sang to me! So I did eat Argentine cake after all :)

Well that was my week! Thank you all for the birthday wishes, I am 20 now and feel the same. My week was sad but this week we are going to work super hard and find more people to baptize!

As for skype, yes it is available here. I have to find out if it's allowed. I have heard of missionaries using it in my mission but that doesn't necessarily mean anything! Anyway, I'm super stoked to be able to talk to everyone because it sounds like you'll all be there! :D :D :D

BYE

Elder Ryan Garrison

December 5, 2011

Wow. She sent me a package?! That's the coolest thing I've ever heard. Tell her thank you so much and I will let you know when I get it! I have very little time again but this time because I was reading Tanner's letters. They are super funny and it's hilarious to hear about his experiences in the same country as me. His English is terrible! I can see when he uses Spanish grammar to speak English!

This week was fantastic here in Pehuajò. The Pedalino family got married! Well the parents haha. And then the Branch through them a party and there were tons of people there! They were baptized Saturday evening and confirmed members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and received the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands yesterday during church. The Branch is getting really excited and we are seeing a lot of progress in the weaker members as their testimonies are strengthened and a lot of progress as well with the leaders in the Branch. The Brustle family (from Bahia Blanca) goes out with us for 5 hours every Sunday to visit people with us and share their testimonies of the church. They are incredible and help so much in the lessons we teach.

I turn 20 this week and my companion completes a year in the mission field. So yes we will be doing some celebrating :D And the members found out about my birthday and are going to make cake :D Argentine cake is so much better than dry american cake so I am pretty stoked.

Anyway, thank you all for your support and your letters. Mom and am excited for your success in your new job! The Lord blesses us always when we patiently bear our trials. I know He loves us and that is why He restored His church and His authority through a prophet.

Dad, I got your email, thanks for the update! I am super stoked to talk to everyone on Christmas! You'll have to call me Elder Garrison though because I am not entirely sure I'll respond to Ryan anymore...

I love you all!

Chau

Elder Garrison

November 28, 2011

Dear everyone,

Argentina had another holiday on a Monday and we spent a half hour searching for an internet cafe that was open! Ridiculous. Ask any Argentine why they got the day off and they won't even know. Hahaha. It cracks me up. The more I'm here, the more I love it!

I have had so much to say recently I'm not sure if I have talked about Marcela, the lady we have been teaching here in Pehuajó. Well regardless, she was baptized this Saturday in a super old, portable baptismal font by the first counselor in the Branch Presidency. It was incredible. She went from a completely different life beforehand full of several life styles that can make even the strongest person feel worthless, identityless, and a lack of self-confidence, to a happy, shining light to all those around her. The baptismal service was incredibly spiritual and I could literally see the light in Marcela's eyes after she had been baptized. The Lord is constantly blessing us here in Pehuajó with miracle after miracle. Elder Arias and I struggle to believe it at times.

This week on Friday, a couple that we have been teaching is getting married in the morning. There little daughter got baptized in July and then they stopped going to church. But we passed by and they are very prepared. The whole Branch is going to come and support them at the wedding and throw a party later on in the night. I am going to lend my suit to the man, Hector, and the member that moved in from Bahia Blanca who is now Relief Society President is going to dress up the lady, Alejandra. And Saturday night, we are going to have a baptismal service for them!

Dad, my mission has 9 zones. Three in Bahia Blanca, three in Mar del Plata, Santa Rosa, Tandil, and Olavarría. I am part of the Zone of Olavarría which yes, is 3 hours away in a bus. Super far. My district is Trenque Lauquen, Pehuajó, and Carlos Casares. We are the farthest from anything here in Pehuajó and practically part of the Buenos Aires South mission! For that reason, Pehuajó has a bad reputation amongst the missionaries for being a place where very disobedient missionaries get sent to end their missions alone hahaha.

Being with Elder Arias is great. I literally do speak Spanish all day long. I have no choice. I am learning a lot and my accent is improving too. And my English is hurting! The only problem is that his silly Chilean accent rubs off on me.

We thankfully, we have a good relationship and talk about everything and anything that happens. We try to stay on the same page in everything and support one another so we don't go crazy here all alone in Pehuajó!

Mom, you are right about change. The thing Elder Arias helped me understand the other day is that if I don't progress individually here in the mission, if I don't give it everything I've got while I'm here to become a stronger person, when I am released and the authority of being a missionary goes away, I will go back to being who I was when I left. And if that happens, it will be too easy to fail in the future when life throws some change at me. But if we are spiritually prepared, our temporal circumstances will never affect our testimonies. And if we are spiritually strong and obedient, the Lord will bless us both spiritually and temporally. We just have to exercise faith. And if we do, we will always have the strength to cope with change.

Well, that's about it. Mom, I'm working on getting my rain gear from Bahia Blanca so we'll see. As for Tanner's letters, yes, send me a few!! Everyone gets to read about me but I feel like I know nothing about anyone else!

And I can't believe it either! December already. I am almost 20 years old and like Dad said, almost a year ago, he came and got me from BYU and I opened my mission call. Y así es.

Thank you all for your letters! I love you all and will continue writing and sending letters as soon as I get money.

Chau!

Elder Ryan Garrison