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
No comments:
Post a Comment