December 10, 2012

I´m 21.

Yesterday a member family that fed us lunch made a huge cake for Elder Forbes and me because he turned 21 on Saturday. That was cool.

And today was great. Yesterday we had transfers and so it was Elder Arias’ last day in the mission. Today, he was in the office and we asked special permission from President Parreño to go to lunch. We were going to go with the Brustle family (remember them from Pehuajò? They now live in Bahìa Blanca again) but they couldn't go eat with us because they had to work. So they came to the office to see us and it was the most happy feeling for Elder Arias and I to see them again. They said their goodbyes and then Elder Arias and I went to downtown Bahìa and ate at this all you can eat restaurant called Bamboo. And then we said goodbye. CAPO.

As for transfers, I am still in the Maldonado Ward but Elder Forbes left. It was super hard to say goodbye to him because we had such amazing experiences together. We learned a lot together and really grew spiritually. We learned huge lessons about unity, obedience, planning, faith, charity, hope, patience, and following the Spirit. I will always be grateful to Heavenly Father for having been with Elder Forbes. But just guess where he went...Pehuajò!! Hahaha he was super excited to go and meet Elder Arias and my converts and work super hard so that the branch there can keep growing. My new companion is named Elder Furlong. He was in Santa Rosa for a transfer and I was his Zone Leader. And now he is a new Zone Leader and I am going to train him. I’m super excited.

Elder Caraza and Elder Cabrera, the two other missionaries that had been in the area with us left and now Elder Furlong and I will be the only ones here. So all of their investigators are ours now. I am positive that there are people there who can get baptized. Plus all the lunches will be ours...kind of a big deal.

As for our investigators? Elvira Dumrauf is on fire. She was telling all the members on Sunday about her baptism. She even said the prayer in Gospel Principles class. She is very excited and is super faithful about her prayers and reading the things we leave her. As for Claudia Vargas, she is progressing very well. We taught her about obedience and showed her how she needs to follow the will of the Holy Spirit. Unfortunately, she did otherwise on Sunday morning. We had a very spiritual lesson with her yesterday in the evening and she was really repentant. Unfortunately that puts her baptism back a week but we'll get there.

Satan is working hard in the world against those that have testimonies of Christ. That is why we must overcome our natural man, follow the influence of the Holy Spirit, become holy through the Atonement of Christ, and become even as a child. It is the only way to find peace and happiness in this life.

Well, that is it. Thanks for the birthday wishes!! I love you all.

Love,

Elder Garrison

December 3, 2012

Big news. Change of plans. Here`s the scoop:

The change in age for missionaries has caused changes in the MTC program and now the missionaries will be spending less time in the MTC. Seeing as there are going to be changes in the MTC, our transfers are going to get shifted starting after January 2013. All missionaries will be going home three weeks early because of the shift in transfers. EXCEPT the first group scheduled to go home after January who goes the 5th of March. They will now be going home the 26th of March.

So I am going to be here in Argentina three weeks extra!

Sorry. But that means more time to baptize.

As for my package? They told me it`s there in the office but I don't get it until tomorrow! We have Zone Leader Council.

As for this week, it was fantastic! Elder Forbes and I had some amazingly spiritual experiences with new investigators that we found. We have been working hard in our studies in the mornings to achieve unity in our teaching so that we can teach with one voice and the hard work has paid off. This week we had dozens of lessons with new people that understood the lesson, accepted all of our invitations to read, pray and be baptized once they knew it was true and who then prayed at the end the lesson. Elder Forbes and I always keep quiet after the prayer that they offer and the Spirit just fills the room up. Almost all of them would then look at us and then start to cry. It has been amazing.

Saturday we worked as hard as we could to get these people to church but what happened is that none of them made it. Instead, we found two new people on Saturday that did in fact go to church.

The first is Elvira Dumrauf. She is a little old lady that a different missionary and I contacted on Friday and we found out she had been baptized several years back. But it was winter and the Elders had problems filling the baptismal font and had to baptize her in cold water. She got very sick and very mad at them and never went back to church. Therefore she was never confirmed and is going to need to get baptized again. But in the lesson that Elder Forbes and I had with her the following day, the Spirit guided us and she just sorted of calmed down, understood the need to get baptized again, and accepted it. After accepting her baptismal date she said, "What do I need to bring I can't remember what I brought last time." After she offered the prayer, she tried to start talking but I put my finger to my lips so she would just pay attention to how she felt and she just burst into tears asking forgiveness for having been so mad and said she`d go to church. When we got to church a half hour early the next morning, she was already waiting outside.

The other is Claudia Vargas. We contacted her like a month ago in the street super far from her house. As we were walking down the street on Saturday at about 7:00 pm wondering what we could do that would be the most productive because our plans had failed, Elder Forbes saw her house and said, "We`re going here." So we taught her! Her house burned down at the start of the year and her husband left her a few years back to raise their 8 children alone. We taught her and she felt so good that after the prayer, the same thing happened. The Spirit touched her heart. She promised she would go to church the next day and when we called her in the morning she said, "I`m on my way right now!"

So we`re going to be working super hard so that Elvira and Claudia can get baptized this month of December. I am super excited! The Lord tries our faith and our patience to see if we will continue hoping and faithfully obeying His will. That is what He has done I think and now we are seeing how His hand has touched these people’s lives and is blessing us more than I can even describe in one letter.

I am thankful for the opportunity to serve Him and represent His Son here in Argentina. Why do I need to stay 3 weeks extra? Not sure. But there must be a reason and I am excited to find out what it is.

Please pray for our investigators so that they can overcome the obstacles that will surely be placed in their way.

Love,

Elder Garrison

November 26, 2012

Dear family and everyone else who reads this,

This week was full once again of trials. Satan is subtle and astute and is working hard to stop the progress of the work of the Lord.

My companion and I have had our fair share of trials, the Gutierrez family is having its fair share of trials, and zone is as well having its fair share of trials. My companion and I are doing everything possible to lift the zone up and get things moving efficiently. We had another meeting with the district leaders to talk about our progress and necessary changes that must be made if we hope the Lord will continue to bless us. Obedience is key if we hope to have the Lord on our side. As well as many other things we have talked about to make sure that no time is wasted. We are checking up constantly and hoping that the zone can be an example for the whole mission and that the missionaries can really come to understand more profoundly their purpose as representatives of Jesus Christ.

The Gutierrez family is struggling because the desires of one are not as strong as the desires of the other and that worries Elsa, our investigator, because she does not want marital problems based on her decision to follow Christ. She does not feel strong enough to go forward with a commitment so important if her husband is not willing to make such commitment with her. We have tried to help her act with faith and confide in the Lord's infinite power and perfect plan but unfortunately this week she decided to be acted upon by the will of Satan and did not go to church. It was very hard for my companion and me.

Regardless, we continue working hard and the blessings of the Lord come. Gladis, an investigator of ours, the sister-in-law of Gabriela who we recently baptized, showed up to church this week and the members helped her with her little baby girl and talked to her and she had a good time. Now all we have to do is help her get married to her husband. In my area most families are formed before marital vows are made. And then the poor children get left with broken families because the low-commitment societal values lead to separation of the parents. And if not, they just never bother to get married because of some superstition that if they do, suddenly they'll split up a year later and get stuck with legal problems concerning the divorce process.

So this week my companion and I have a lot of plans to work super hard and make sure that more people go to church! Please pray for us and for our investigators! Especially the Gutierrez family so they can move forward with faith and not doubt.

I know that the Gospel and Jesus Christ is the only thing that can save our families. I know that He lives and invites all of us to follow His perfect example. We must become like Him. We must follow His commandments. And if we do so, our Heavenly Father will bless us infinitely beyond our comprehension. Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life. Of this I bear testimony.

Thank you all for writing.

Love,

Elder Garrison

November 19, 2012

Dear Everyone,

This week we had trials. There will always be trials. There needs to be opposition in all things because if not, there is no progress, nothing is learned, and nothing is gained. The Lord has blessed me with an amazing companion that is an example to me. We have been become closer and more unified as teachers and had dozens of spiritual experiences this week. Through dedicated obedience, hard studies, and diligent work in the street we have overcome many challenges and seen many miracles. I have never had such powerful lessons in my mission. The Spirit has been very present in our lessons and is guiding our steps in each moment. The trials have helped us grow, and we are super excited for this week because we are going to give it our all.

Our main focus is a family that my companion found on splits here in the area. I was in another area with a District Leader from Nicaragua named Elder Galan and while gone, my companion found a family named the Gutierrez family. They are named Luis and Elsa and their sons are Ezequiel and Damian. The husband was baptized 31 years ago, but his wife and son are not members because he fell away from the church after his teenage years. We have had very powerful lessons with the family this week and have a lot of hope for them! They do need to get married but miracles will happen. Their confidence in us is slowly growing as is their understanding of the doctrine. We called several members and set up appointments with them so that this week we can pass by the Gutierrez family with them. That will help them get excited about attending church and overcome social barriers. Please pray for them.

This week we have lots of plans for the zone and for the area so that we can have lots of success. The zone is on fire, and we are on track to achieve our goal of 20 baptisms this month, something almost never seen here in Bahìa Blanca. The Lord has been merciful with us and is blessing us as we continue obediently dedicated to His work.

A scripture that I liked this week was Alma 42:29. Alma tells his son that he must worry about his own sins so that they will lead him to repentance. I think that too often we focus on the weaknesses of those that surround us and fail to recognize our own mistakes. May we all be humble and recognize our own weakness. Through Jesus Christ we can overcome them and become strong. Of that I can bear testimony.

Thank you all for your letters, prayers, and support!

Love,

Elder Garrison

November 12, 2012

Hey,

Yeah no one here in Argentina knew anything about the whole Obama-Romney election. Or if they did, they didn't say anything to us. Which is weird because even the poorest person will call us murderers and tell us to "stop bombing innocent people." (Haha as skewed as their opinion is, at least they know something). I would have thought that someone might have heard something. Especially since they always ask, "And Obama? What do you think of him?" And we have to tell them that we don't talk about politics. But no one said a thing. So the truth is I had no idea who had won until opening my emails.

People here in Argentina don't know much about the Mormons. Either they try and convince US that all the churches are the same saying, "Look you`ve got the Jehovah’s Witness, the Mormons, the Evangelists, and the Catholics but guys, God is one and he is with us all no matter where you go." Which is wrong. So it`s either that or many other religions just say that we are a church of the devil. That is why it surprised me this week when the taxi driver that took Elder Forbes and I to our house after the Leader Meetings was like, "Guys I am not going to join a religion that some adulterer started. I am not going to follow some guy who had 19 wives." Hahaha we said, "Sir, you have been misinformed, Joseph Smith did not have..." And then he cut us off because he just wanted to fight. I felt like the missionaries in the States must have conversations like that all the time. It is too bad that people rely on outside sources for information on the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. "Ask the missionaries, they can help you."

This week my foot hurt a lot. But Elder Forbes and I still worked super hard. We found tons of new people to teach and taught an amount of lessons that Elder Howard and I probably took 2 to 3 weeks to teach in the Santa Rosa 4th Ward. My area is on the edge of Bahìa Blanca and is all dirt streets. The people are super religious and there is a different church on almost each block, it`s insane. We see missionaries and members of other churches every day. But with all that, the people still let us in and want help from God. Plus it is almost summer and with the heat, everyone is outside in their yards in the shade every day. It is super easy to contact people and find new people to teach.

This week, Elder Forbes and I had a baptism. It was super great. We had to work hard to help the investigators overcome trials and everything, but the feeling in the baptism is always worth the effort we have to put in. They are named Adela Varela and her daughter Micaela Robinson (the children here take the last name of the father but the women do not change their last name when they get married) and also Gabriel Bonomo. A lot of members went and also investigators which were Gabriela and Adela`s family members as well as some people that the other two missionaries invited.

The church building is tiny though. When you walk in, you are in the Sacrament Meeting room. There are doors on the opposing wall which are the classrooms and then on the right side in the corner a tiny hall with the Bishop Office and bathrooms. That`s it. There were only 48 people in church on Sunday and that`s about normal. So there is a lot of work to do here! I am excited.

Please pray for us so that we can find more people to get to church so that they can get baptized!

Love,

Elder Garrison

November 7, 2012

Hey

Sorry I didn't write the other day. We had a leadership meeting. We usually have this meeting once a month and it is usually on a Tuesday. But this time, we had it on Monday and Tuesday, two days long. It is really needed because we have a lot of missionaries. I think more than half the mission has less than a year in the mission. We jumped from 160 to 216 and it keeps climbing. With the age change for missionaries, President and Sister Parreño said that we are expecting to hit 250 within a few months. So almost everyone is new. I almost don't even know anyone anymore. 

Sadly, since May, we've been scaling downward in success. And really it's not the fact that there are tons of new missionaries because even a new missionary can have success right off the bat. But the mission has changed a lot. I got to my new zone and there were some big problems we had to resolve with some missionaries. However this leader meeting was super powerful. It kind of hit us all when we saw the graphs and the need for improvement. The assistants talked about what needs to be changed and one of those things is our efforts to find new people to teach. So they challenged us all (about 60 leaders) to go and find 2 new people that night. So from 4 to 9 on Monday we all went to work here in Bahìa Blanca. We found 92 new people in 5 hours (Which usually took the 32 of us in Santa Rosa a week to do). Then on Tuesday we all shared experiences and several missionaries who are headed home were asked to bare testimonies (Elder Arias included) and it was super spiritual.

Elder Forbes and I then had the job of setting up a Zone Meeting here in our zone to teach the whole zone all that we had been taught and to inspire and motivate them the same way. We had to plan last night and this morning starting at 7 but it came out SO well. We had a meeting with the district leaders and then one with the zone. Some of the sister missionaries just burst out crying at the end, it was a super special meeting.

Anyway, we're all super stoked because we want to achieve our goal of 20 baptisms this month in the zone. And 1000 baptisms in the mission by year`s end. And I also had long talks with Elder Arias about achieving my personal goal so there is a lot of work to do!! The worth of every soul is great in the eyes of God.

This week, Elder Forbes and I are going to baptize three people that are named Adela Varela, her daughter Micaela Robinson, and another girl named Gabriela Bonomo. They've had their trials but they have overcome them. They already had their interviews as well and so they'll be getting baptized on Saturday!!

Another miracle that happened this week was that Elder Forbes and I had to take a bus to our area (because we live SUPER far away) and while on the bus I gave every single person a pass-along card. Then at 4 that day, this lady called us over in the street and thanked us for the card I gave her on the bus. Turns out she used to live with a member family and used to go to church with them. She never believed because she was a Jehovah’s Witness but now she believes and wants to get baptized!! She went to church on Sunday which was Stake Conference in a faraway church building but she went alone anyway, on the bus, and was there the whole time!! She is getting baptized next Saturday, the 17th.

Anyway, I love the area. We found 25 new investigators this week so we're on fire. Elder Forbes and I get along super well and I have a feeling that we are going to have a lot of success.

Thanks for the support and the prayers! I know that this is the work of Jesus Christ. He lives and directs His church upon the earth through living prophets and apostles who have been chosen by Him and ordained with His Holy Priesthood power. Thomas S. Monson holds all the keys of that Priesthood just as Peter did thousands of years ago. Nothing has changed. And even if men with all their might try to change God and His sacred scriptures, He will not change. The Book of Mormon is evidence of that. Read it.

Love,

Elder Garrison

October 29, 2012

Dear everyone,

 

So this week was crazy. We had a zone conference to plan and organize as well as a baptism to plan and organize. And conveniently they happened to be the same day. Well the zone conference came out perfectly. Elder Howard and I were worried because the Stake Presidency asked us to hold our zone conference in a different church building than normal. So we had to go to a faraway church to set up, get tables from our building to the other, and figure out how to set everything up seeing as there is no screen for the projector. But it all came out well, and we used the wall at the back side of the stage as a screen.

 

The conference was great. President Parreño interviewed us all and he and his wife and the Assistants shared fantastic presentations. Elder Howard and I were seeing a big problem in the zone that everyone was pretty down and needing to get pumped up. This I explained to President Parreño in my interview. And after several other interviews that he did before the meeting, he decided to change what he was going to talk about. He showed us 2 Nephi 2:14 that shows that the Lord created all things in the heavens and on the earth. He explained that we have been made to act, not be acted upon. That Satan, as he had tried to tempt Jesus in Matthew 4 to forget who He really was and to change His nature, would try to do the same thing with each one of us, tempting us in every way possible so that we change our nature and become an object to be acted upon. He challenged us to be strong and to do what we were created to do. He challenged us to not forget our "nature as missionaries" which is to invite all to come unto Christ. It was very inspired and very inspiring.

 

As for the baptism, Federico was having problems all week long. Satan hit him with everything he could. Federico had HUGE fights with his wife over the 12 year old daughter and was super distracted. Regardless, we worked as hard as possible to help him get excited about Friday, teach him what he needed to learn, have his interview and get him baptized. We fought until the day OF. I left with Elder Yarger while Elder Howard stayed at the other church. We filled the baptismal font in an hour flat which was a miracle and when I called Federico, he was doing bad. He had told us he did not want to sign his baptismal record. I had to be very firm with him on that call because he had promised us that he would think about it. Well I told him he was failing God, us and himself. That he had always told us that he didn't have friends because they always stabbed him in the back. I told him he was doing the same to God, us and himself. I told him we was allowing the devil to win and that he was laughing as the Lord cried because he preferred to lose his eternal salvation over a signature. I then asked, "Will I see you at 6?" And he responded, "Yeah we'll see." So I just dropped to me knees and begged Heavenly Father to bless him.

 

He showed up 5 minutes later and told me he was getting baptized and that he'd sign his baptismal record. Miracle. It was fantastic. When we passed by after church yesterday, he was super happy. Just as excited as he was when we first came by. He hasn't fought with his wife since Friday. I saw the real power of the Atonement in him.

 

But now I have left Santa Rosa. It was hard. Like leaving Pehuajò and Viedma. They called Saturday morning and gave us transfers and I am now Zone Leader here in Bahìa Blanca, Maldonado Ward with Elder Forbes from Utah.

 

This week was Stake Conference and so it wasn't announced that I was leaving like they would have done in church any other Sunday. No one knew until after the meeting. So I took tons of pictures and said my goodbyes. The Gutierrez and Herràn families freaked out. The grandma kept kissing my hand and Marcos wouldn't let go of my shoulder, telling me that their lives had changed thanks to the gospel. I love them all so much. Federico took it well but it was obvious that he was sad. Mariano Romero fed us lunch Saturday and was pretty bummed that I was leaving. But he'll be alright, he is very strong in the gospel and he and Marcos were sustained to receive the Melchizedek Priesthood. I didn't cry though until I said goodbye to Bishop Pilati. It just sort of overcame me when I hugged him goodbye. He has done so much for us.

 

As for saying goodbye to Elder Howard and Elder Yarger, it was tough but I'll see them soon.

 

I will never forget La Pampa. I was there for almost 6 months after all and I fell in love with every aspect of that Santa Rosa. The people, the missionaries, my converts, the city itself, everything. But this starts a new chapter in my mission. And funny thing: Elder Arias is a district leader in my zone! Hahaha. I spent the day with him.

 

Anyway, thanks for the letters and pictures!! Pray for me :)

Love,

Elder Garrison

October 22, 2012

Dear family and friends,

So this week was great! Our investigators are doing awesome. Federico Herrero is actually doing so well that this Friday is his baptism. It is going to be complicated because we have Zone Conference that day but we couldn't baptize him on Saturday because this week is Stake Conference and there is a Priesthood meeting at 4 and a general adult meeting at 7. So we couldn't have a baptism while the whole stake is absent. But Federico is super excited. The cool thing was that this week he showed up to church with his wife! She hasn't even listened to us once because she works ALL DAY EVERY DAY. And her only day off is our day off. So it was cool because she went to church with him. Federico is super funny. Elder Howard and I love him a lot. He always reads and always prays and gets so excited when we teach him. He loves the church and the movies we show him and it's been a blast. Lucas Santos, a 19 year old that is going to the Buenos Aires Norte mission next month is going to baptize him because he has gone with us a few times to see Federico.

As for Estelia, the lady we taught at her door, we set up an appointment with her this week and taught both her and her husband. They need to get married but when we talked about it, they were all for it. We had seen the husband a few days before and commented that we would help and he got excited. He is a hard working guy that has a scruffy beard and whose hands are always dirty. He drives this horse drawn carriage around town and hauls stuff for people. He didn't go to church like he promised but we'll get him there sooner or later. Regardless, Estelia did go and she was all dressed up in church clothes when she showed up! She loves it. All the other Relief Society sisters helped her around, sat with her, etc. She already wants to be baptized and pay tithing so she is progressing well. If she can get married in less than two weeks, she'll be baptized immediately after.

As for the missionaries that we had met, we haven't seen them.

As for our converts they are on fire!! Marcos Herràn gave the class in Priesthood yesterday. We had gone by to help him prepare it and it came out GREAT. He did a very good job and all the other brethren helped by participating and commenting on the topics that he was sharing. It was a blast to be taught by him who we have been teaching. He feels great too and is so very humble now. He is a very different man. As for Mariano Romero, he is actively participating with the Young Men`s program now and goes to church and the Young Single Adult activities all on his own. He goes to Institute each week, stake choir, and everything. This week Elder Howard and I gave him a picture frame with his baptism picture in it. We also helped this 15 year old, Gabriel (the son of Mònica that we baptized which means he is the nephew of Marcos and Marìa) he had to give his first talk. We helped him prepare it and the kid spoke for 12 minutes about service! It was great. Federico and Estelia loved the talk.

So that was my week! I love Santa Rosa so much. It is very satisfying to see the ward grow and change. The stake is growing a lot and all the youth are super excited about going on missions. It is a great atmosphere. I love it. Transfers are this Sunday so we'll see what happens! I have been here almost 6 months I think. I bought some souvenirs today just in case. I never buy stuff in my areas!

Thank you for your support and for your prayers.

I know that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world. He was and is and lives. He is the Great Creator of this earth and dwelt on it during His personal ministry, establishing His church and doctrine which, once lost, have been restored and once again can be found in their fullness in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. If we establish ourselves upon that rock of our Redeemer, we will not fall. The Book of Mormon is the proof and evidence that our Heavenly Father has given us to know that that is the truth. I know it is true, and I invite all those that do not know to ask God in the name of Christ if the Book of Mormon is true. He will answer.

Love,

Elder Garrison

October 15, 2012

Dear Everyone,

 

This week was great!!

 

1. On Monday night, we received a call from this kid named Daniel who said he had meet Lucas Santos (a 18 year member heading to Buenos Aires Norte in a month) and they wanted to learn about the church and participate. So I set an appointment for the following day and when we got there, it turns out that Lucas wasn't the first contact he had had with the Church. He and his friend Victor had a copy of the Liahona magazine from General Conference last year. They had read it and marked it up and everything. We were very surprised to meet someone like this. Well, it turns out they are from Córdoba and they are from a Christian foundation that they had been sent to establish here in the province of La Pampa. So, they are missionaries. But full of questions and very interested in what we believe and why! We aren't sure what their true intent is in meeting with us, but after the first lesson, they accepted the challenge to be baptized in the Church of Jesus Christ and since then have been reading the Book of Mormon. They attended church this Sunday and enjoyed it a lot so we'll see what their real desire is when we see them again on Tuesday. Regardless, if they feel the Spirit (which they definitely felt at church) they can become converted and come to know that the Church is true.

 

Once again, however, the Lord is giving Elder Howard and me investigators with knowledge of the scriptures and I feel like He is doing this because we are studying the Bible very well and connecting it with the Book of Mormon. It says in the Book of the Mormon that the two books will grow together to confound the false doctrines of men. And that is what our goal is. For example, these two thought Jehovah (in Spanish it does not say "Lord" in the Old Testament, it just plain says "Jehovah") anyway, they thought that Jehovah was the Father and not Christ (a Jehovah’s Witness doctrine). So when we taught them the Plan of Salvation they got a funny look on their face when we said that Jesus Christ created the earth under the direction of the Father. Well once we showed them John 1:1-3 and Hebrews 1:1-2 and Ephesians 3:9, they realized that it was that way. The lessons with them have been very spiritual and interesting.

 

2. Federico Herrero is progressing a ton! He is reading the Book of Mormon and is on chapter 8 already! We read with him and he also reads on his own. The other day we taught his brother-in-law because he was over at his house when we showed up. His name is José. When José got super interested in what we were teaching, Federico felt excited and realized that what he is doing is a good thing. He even helped José to pray, encouraging him and everything. Federico had trouble getting to church because his motorcycle broke the day of!! He had left to buy parts for it and wasn't there when we went by to walk with him to church. But about 10 minutes into Sacrament meeting, the last hour of church, in he walked!! Elder Howard and I are excited for him. He should be baptized next week.

 

3. We contacted this lady named Estelia. She answered her door and we were on the sidewalk, behind the wall of her front yard. When she opened the door, she stood there glaring at us hahahaha. So we began to talk to her and after a few minutes, we had her in front of us, showing her scriptures, asking her questions and getting to know her. Turns out she has never been baptized in any church! So we gained her trust and helped her feel the Spirit and challenged her to come and participate in our church and to be baptized if she felt it was right. We gave her a pamphlet and taught her to pray and left. Saturday when we went by she said "Don't get mad but I didn't read! However I AM going to your church tomorrow." So we stood and talked to her, once again just outside her house, and got to know her 14 year old son. Once again the Spirit was present and we helped her to realize that if she showed her faith, the Lord would bless her even more than he currently does. She promised to go to church, said a prayer with us and yesterday showed up to church with her son, Agustín!! She loved it SO much. She said she will be coming to church every week and left with a big smile on her face. Turns out she knows María Gutierrez, our convert.

 

So Elder Howard and I are very excited because with our investigators and those of the other two missionaries, there were 10 new people in church yesterday! And the attendance boosted up to 68. AND it was testimony meeting. So the Spirit was very strong and all those present felt it. I know that if each one of the new people can allow that Spirit to guide them and direct them in life, they will feel that the Church of Jesus Christ is the true church of God upon the earth and they will be motivated not only to get baptized but also to continue onward to receive all the blessings that our Heavenly Father wants to give them.

 

Mariano Romero is now first counselor in the Young Men’s Presidency and he and Marcos Herràn are going to receive the Melchizedek Priesthood in two weeks after Stake Conference!! So they are progressing very well. Marcos is giving a class this next Sunday, his wife María is a primary teacher, Mónica Gutierrez got up and bore her testimony on Sunday and so they are all progressing very well! Our Bishop is doing a great job with that.

 

On the downside, we did have to drop Sergio because he would not progress. He wouldn't read the Book of Mormon and was always drunk. It was very sad for us to do that because we had come to love him so much. Someday, he will accept the gospel. We had a VERY spiritual final lesson with him in which we read Ephesians 4:11-14 and 2 Nephi 33:9 to the end. We were straight forward and loving and on our way out, he looked at us and said, "Onward soldiers. Those of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will always be welcome in my home."

 

Anyway, that is how the work is going here. Thank you for the letters! I love you all. Please pray for our investigators.

-Elder Garrison

October 8, 2012

Dear Family and Friends,

 

So this week was great. The First Presidency has asked us that every time we have leadership meetings with our mission president, that the following district meeting should instead be a zone meeting given by the zone leaders so that everyone could receive the same information that we receive in the meeting, applied specifically to the zone’s needs. So the whole zone got together in the stake center on Tuesday, and Elder Howard and I taught all 30 of the missionaries. It was fantastic. We taught about what President Parreño and the Assistants had taught us and applied it specifically to the zone. We used D&C 11:21 (which is also something that Elder Viñas had spoken about) and mixed that with what President Parreño had taught us. He taught us that God has given us many tools to be able to do this work. He took out of context a verse from the Book of Mormon which is Alma 60:21 and explained that we cannot "sit on our thrones" and expect the Lord to bless us if we do not make use of those tools he has given us. So using that, Elder Howard and I talked of two tools that the Lord has given us to effectively teach our investigators: the scriptures and Preach My Gospel. No one in our zone is using the scriptures well in their lessons. We invited all to study them with the purpose to help their investigators and make use of them in their lessons. Every one of them needs to be able to convince a person that our church is the true church using just the Bible. And then, with that knowledge, introduce the true and FULL doctrine found in the Book of Mormon. How can we expect them to believe us and understand the doctrine if we can't back it up with the scriptures? Preach My Gospel helps us develop necessary teaching attributes and contains the doctrines, principles and commandments that we are to study, believe, live, love, and teach. That is how we obtain the word of God. Then we spoke of obedience and companionship unity which allows the Spirit to be with us and add clarity and power to our message. If we seek first the word of God and are worthy of the guidance of the Spirit, we will then have the power to convince men (Doctrine and Covenants 11:21).

 

That was a workshop on how to achieve Doctrinal Conversion with an investigator. Then we hit Social Conversion, which has to do with working with local members and leaders so that, as Gordon B. Hinckley said, each new convert can have a friend, a responsibility, and be nourished by the good word of God. We talked about how important it is that they collaborate with the members so that the investigators can fully convert to Christ and His church and have a lasting conversion as they develop relationships with the other members of the church.

 

I really liked the meeting because as zone leader, I really don't have time to directly teach the missionaries in the zone. And I love to teach. Elder Howard and I normally only teach the district leaders so that they can convey the message properly. Unfortunately, that doesn't always happen. We taught them during the hour before the zone meeting and spoke of that using 3 Nephi 19:5,8 when the 12 Disciples of Christ among the Nephites teach the gathered multitude all that Jesus had spoken the day before without changing even one word!

 

Anyway, this week we didn't have much success teaching Sergio unfortunately. We had trouble finding him, and he has stopped progressing very much because he has just hit a wall. He has no true desire; it appears, to stop drinking even though he might say it because he does not fulfill his commitment to read the Book of Mormon. He sticks it in the cupboard and does not read it. We haven't seen him for 4 days now, and he isn't in his house ever and always seems to be busy when we call. He did not show up at church like he said he would.

 

However, last Sunday we started teaching this guy named Federico Herrero. He is awesome! We have taught him almost every day since. He just got married to this girl that works in the grocery store across the street from our apartment called La Anonima but they aren't getting along too well. He wants to up and do something extravagant like move to France or join the army or something because he truly is not happy. As we have taught him, he has come to realize that he really isn't happy but what we have helped him see is that even were he to change his surroundings and circumstances, nothing would change. He himself needs to change, and he needs to find God. Now he understands that as he repents and follows God, the guilt will go away and he will find true peace and happiness. He is reading and praying and progressing very well. Using the scriptures and verifying his understanding with questions we have helped him learn the doctrine which we then apply to him so that he can see in what way knowing all that we teach him will benefit him. He has felt really good and his prayers are improving a lot. They are sincere, and heard. He came to the last session of General Conference and didn't understand much of anything but he said he liked hearing the prophet speak. He is recognizing the Spirit and if he continues as obediently as he is doing so, he will be baptized on the 27th of this month! PRAY FOR HIM!

 

I LOVED conference. I saw some other themes as well, mom. The work is VERY urgent. Many of the talks were about missionary work and sharing the gospel, service, and protecting the family from Satan’s advancing attacks. The Prophet was very straightforward in Priesthood Session about sharing the gospel. He said, "Brethren, this is OUR responsibility." And with that, closed his talk. I read in a talk that Elder Ballard gave at BYU recently that nothing that existed in Sodom and Gomorra is not happening among us today. And then yeah, many talks were focused on becoming truly converted and changing our nature to be more like the Savior. I especially liked Elder Holland’s talk. He gave that exact talk to missionaries in the Provo MTC in January of 2011 before I entered. President Detlefsen showed us that talk my first week but it was translated, and I did not understand it. Then, Elder Arias showed it to me in Pehuajò, and it changed my mission. It is an amazing talk. This one he gave had a slightly different angle taken, seeing as it was for the whole church and not just the missionaries, but it was just as powerful.

 

I know that the Church of Jesus Christ has been restored upon the earth. His Priesthood keys are held by President Thomas S. Monson, a living prophet, and each one of his counselors and Twelve Apostles.

 

Thank you for your prayers and letters!

Love,

Elder Garrison

October 1, 2012

Este...

This week went by super fast. Elder Howard and I went to Bahía Blanca for a Zone Leader meeting and lost two days in our area because we left Monday morning and returned Tuesday night. Then on Friday, we had to travel to General Pico to do a baptismal interview. We were trying to have as much time in our area as possible so we left at 3 in the afternoon in a bus, got there at 5:30pm, Elder Howard did the interview, and then we took the 6:10pm bus back, arriving at 8:40pm. We were cutting it all super close but we needed to get back to Santa Rosa! We spent 5 hours on a bus just for the interview but regardless it was all worth it because she had an amazing testimony of the gospel and was able to get baptized the next day! It is an amazing thing to interview a person for their baptism and hear them explain the changes in their life as they came to know the restored gospel. So the stake here in La Pampa is on fire because in total, 18 people were baptized this month and that means 106 people have been baptized this year. The stake goal was 80 so everyone is super excited, seeing as we already passed that and still have three months to go! The members are excited because they have the hope of spitting the stake in two. The Church of Jesus Christ is growing here.

We worked a lot with Sergio this week even though we lost a lot of time in the area. He is progressing well. He trusts us a lot and recognizes that we are servants of God. The first time we taught him he told us, "I see a lot of light in your eyes." He has so much knowledge and love for the Bible; however, it has been hard for him to accept the Book of Mormon as the word of God. But Elder Howard and I are slowly but steadily showing him parts of it, reading it with him, and explaining the background of the book so that he can have that desire to know if it is true. He made it to church this Sunday and I think he liked it. Of course, it was nothing like he expected seeing as he is used to lots of loud singing, shouting, clapping, hallelujahs and amens, and pastors "casting out demons by the laying on of hands" as they are such fans of doing here in Evangelist churches. We explained to him beforehand the importance of the Sacrament and the importance of reverence. He felt good and everyone said hi to him and shook his hand and introduced themselves. He was caught off guard by the changes I am sure but with time, he will feel that it is true if he has not yet felt it.

We are working with him so that he can overcome his desire to drink. He is an alcoholic. And is always drunk. Of course, that would stop him from feeling the Spirit very much at all and will hinder him from really feeling that the church is true until he can sober up. We are praying constantly for him so that he can stop, inviting him to read and pray constantly. He is a little stubborn but we are bold, yet loving, so that he can understand how important the Book of Mormon is and how much it will help him to overcome his addiction.

Pray for him!! He is awesome and I truly hope that he can make it to his baptism on the 20th. This week is General Conference so he'll be able to see how big the church truly is and that there are prophets and apostles on the earth today.

This week we also found tons of other investigators that we are going to be teaching and hopefully they will make it to church on Sunday! Thanks for the letters and support!! I love you all.

Chau,

Elder Garrison

September 24, 2012

Dear Everyone,

This week was good! Like I said, Mònica Gutierrez and Mariano Romero got baptized. They were super happy. We had a big Family Home Evening on Monday with the Gutierrez family and the ward mission leader and his wife. Elder Howard and I taught them about the importance of daily prayers individually and as a family, the importance of reading the scriptures daily as well, and the need to keep the Sabbath day holy by going to church. Then they gave us a ton of pizza and soda to take home. Awesome. On Wednesday we went to teach the restoration to Marcos and Marìa again and it went super well. We did an activity to show them how the Great Apostasy happened and then they gave us two cakes to take home. Awesome.

Mariano has gotten super involved in the church too. He goes to the Young Single Adults activities and Stake choir too. He loves it. Yesterday, the bishop has his first interview with him and Mariano asked him if I could confer the Aaronic Priesthood upon him. So for the first time ever, I conferred the Priesthood upon someone. He is now a priest and will be able to serve, prepare, and bless the sacrament as well as baptize! He is on fire.

However, seeing as Elder Howard and I had no more investigators after baptizing them, we got to work this week and found a ton of people this week! The area is very small, half of it is downtown, and the Zone Leaders have been in it for years so basically no one lets us in. So I remembered what Elder Araya and I had done in Bahìa Blanca: offer free copies of the Book of Mormon at people's doorsteps. No one says no to free. We did that and tons of people let us in this week!

We found this one guy named Sergio Ramirez who basically has the Bible memorized. Good thing Elder Arias got me studying it though because we were able to take all the knowledge this man has and help him realize that the church is true. Also, he is a member of the Pentecostal church. Like the Llaupi family from Viedma. So I knew exactly what doctrines he had confused.

However, he didn't make it on Sunday!! He wasn't home before church when we dropped by so we left in the middle of church to go by his house again and this time found him. He said, "I can't go because I have to go NOW but I have to talk to you guys about your church. Today." So we met up at 6 in the church and HE asked US when he is getting baptized after we taught him the plan of salvation. He already knew it without having the restored gospel!! Most people think: Earth life, death, Heaven or Hell and that's it. But this guy knew what he was talking about.

So please pray for him!! He needs it. And will be an incredible member once baptized. And pray that Elder Howard and I can find more people waiting for the gospel. Like families.

Thank you for writing!!

Elder Garrison

PS - Carly I wrote you but today I got the letter back with a "Return to Sender" sticker. Cool.

September 17, 2012

*Julie’s note:  Ryan’s mission instructions said to wear glasses because of the possibility of serious eye infections in Argentina.  So before he left we filled a prescription for glasses.  He took the last couple pair of contacts he still had so he could use them while in the MTC.  Unfortunately, his correction is very strong and when he got to Argentina, he was having a very difficult time using the glasses while out on the street.  He had no peripheral vision and was concerned about walking around and crossing streets with crazy drivers! 

 

We buy 4 pair of contacts for one year at Costco for about $239.  Since he’s been gone a year and a half, we suggested he go to an eye doctor to get a new prescription we could fill in the U.S.  The first doctor he went to said he could not give him the prescription, but that he had to order them for him at a cost of 2 pairs for 680 pesos (over $500 U.S.).

 

Hola,

 

Mom, I went to have the contactologist (hahahaha) take my prescription and it was pretty similar. I figured he wanted to make money off me too (rich American with shirt and tie) but what happened is that I told him I had to wait to pay and when I went outside, I realized that there was another contactologist place next door! So I called the member that has been helping me and turns out I went to the wrong one. So I went in to the second one and he told me it would cost 800 PESOS for each one! Which is way more expensive. And that no matter what, all contacts are imported from the States and that due to the new import laws here that it is taking 30-40 days for them to arrive. He said he can't give me a prescription either. But when I showed him the contact boxes he got confused and asked who told me I have to wear 4 pairs a year. I said, "....uh the eye doctors?" He then explained that a lot of people in Argentina buy the exact same toric lenses that I use and that they only buy ONE PAIR for a whole year but technically, because of the special material of the lenses, it should actually last that long. So he, wanting to know if they were doing it wrong here in Argentina or if they are ripping me off in the States, invited me back into his office (which was a miracle because he was super short with me at first). He took a look at my lenses and told me it looks like I put them in yesterday. That they're in great condition. He said that if my eyes start bothering me to come back and he'll help me out but that it isn't necessary to buy more...The only thing he recommended was buying a higher quality cleaning solution. I think I'll take his word for it. I am sure to avoid lawsuits or who knows what that in the states they make me buy 4 pairs. He ended up being super nice and I doubt he'd have said that if it weren't true because he could have lied and made tons of money off me.

 

So this week Mariano Romero and Mónica Gutierrez got baptized!! We had super great lessons with them both this week before their baptisms. The both of them saw many blessings and many trials this week but they were overcome and both of them made it to their baptisms. Mariano is super excited because the whole time we taught him we prepared him for what comes after baptism. After the meeting with Elder Viñas was put a new focus on our teaching and it worked out fantastically. Mariano is already prepared to receive the Priesthood and knows that his goal someday is getting to the temple. We focused a lot on what covenants are and why we make them with the Lord and so he is ready to make more covenants and continue in the gospel. Oh and we asked Bishop Pilati to baptized him because he had never baptized anyone! He was excited and did it perfectly. Monica was so happy after her baptism that she just cried and cried upon coming out of the water. Her father baptized her. The whole family was there to support her (and Mariano) and it was super cool to see them all there. It has been a long chain of baptisms all year long up until Mónica. Her sister-in-law and two children also attended the baptism so we are going to see if we can teach them. Hopefully! The husband is definitely against it. But maybe we'll see a miracle.

 

So I thought I was leaving! I have been here as long as I was in Balcarce, my first area. Since Balcarce I had never again been in an area for three transfers. So now that I have been here for three I thought I'd be out of here. Wrong. I stayed! For at least another month and a half I will still be here in the Santa Rosa 4th Ward. And not only that, I am still with Elder Howard! Hahahahahaha. We were together in the MTC, in the office, and now here! We are loving it though. We get along super well and it has been a great learning experience for both of us. We set a lot of goals for this transfer and we are excited to find more people to bring the gospel to.

 

Anyway, thanks for the letters and support!

Elder Garrison

September 10, 2012

Hey,

THIS WEEK WAS AWESOME. We had the opportunity to see a live transmission of the Cultural Activity in Buenos Aires Capital on Saturday night in celebration of the rededication of the Buenos Aires Temple. Elder Eyring, Elder Ballard, and Elder Christofferson were there to speak and watch it. It was so great. They had thousands of youth in a huge soccer stadium doing traditional dances from Argentina with video clips of other Stakes from all over the country doing the dances as well, filmed in their own city plazas, etc. I felt a lot of pride for Argentina, I seriously love this country. We got to go because we brought Mariano, our investigator, to the activity and it was a great opportunity for him to see how big the church really is. Not only in Santa Rosa because the whole Stake went, but also in the entire country and world. He really enjoyed it and actually got pulled away to sit with some of the other young single adults! So we just let him get to know more people.

Then yesterday, we got to participate in the rededication of the temple. The church building was "turned into a temple" and we needed recommends to get in the building. It was so spiritual. I noticed the difference immediately upon entering. That it was no normal Sunday. The best part however was seeing all of my converts there! Marìa and Marcos and their children and Catalina and her siblings. It gave me such a feeling of gratitude and love to the Lord for seeing them there. It was, after all, as if they were in the temple. They told us later that they liked it so much they stayed for another session later on in the day. They will definitely be going to the temple next year. I have also heard from the Llaupi family through letters that they have the goal to go next year as well and continue actively attending church. When I get the excuse to call the Viedma Zone Leaders, I will ask them if they went to the temple rededication as well. I love them all so much. Each one of my converts. That, I think, would be the biggest blessing, were they to end up in the temple next year to get sealed for time and all eternity as families.

In the rededication, the Temple President and his wife spoke, Elder Arnold who is the Area President, and Elder Ballard and Elder Eyring. It was very spiritual and all the members were very emotional because the temple has been closed for over two years. They have not had a working temple in their country and have had to travel to Uruguay to go to the temple. However, now their temple here in Argentina is three times as big and up and running. I imagine that I will be able to go through just before leaving to the States.

Anyway. Elder Howard and I are now just anxiously preparing everything for Saturday because Mariano Romero will be getting baptized as well as Mònica Gutierrez (the sister of Marìa and the mother of Catalina) who is super excited! We already planned the baptismal interview and last night had a super spiritual lesson with her and her family in which her sister Marìa participated and added so great comments and testimonies. We taught the whole family about the Sabbath Day, the Word of Wisdom, and tithing. They are so happy now that they have the gospel in their lives. They have seen dramatic changes in their family relationships and in their relationships with our Heavenly Father. They all willingly accepted to live the commandments, those who have already been baptized and Mònica who will now be doing it.

So please pray for Mariano and Mònica so that nothing goes wrong!! And for the Santa Rosa Stake in general because Elder Howard and I are super excited. We have 11 baptisms planned for this Saturday in the Stake!! That is a ton. The Stake is working hard to push and split in two and that is what we all desire. That real growth of the Kingdom of God here in La Pampa.

Thanks for the letters and everything!

Elder Garrison

September 3, 2012

So Tanner is home already. That is unbelievable for me. Let me know how he's doing when you all see him and tell him I say hola. Hahaha. And actually I did hear about the hurricane. A member family told us about it worried that our families may have been involved. Good thing we live in the desert.

 

This week was interesting. Elder Howard and I and all the District Leaders in the zone went to Bahìa Blanca for a leader meeting. It was great. I saw Elder Arias, Elder Calarco, and several other missionaries that have become my good friends in my time here. It was crazy though because the large majority of the other Zone Leaders go home within the next two transfers! With so many new missionaries coming in my mission is changing. A good two thirds of all of them have less than a year’s time. And all those who have a lot of time are already going home. They talked to us a lot about being leaders that can be counted on with our examples and with our dedication to the work.

 

After the meeting I went out to work in Bahìa Blanca with Elder Calarco which was a blast. I love working with him. Four months may have gone by but it was super normal to work with him. When we ended up back in the office, we snatched the last ice cream bar from the freezer and while we were eating it in one of the church rooms, the BRUSTLE FAMILY walked into the church!! Remember that family that helped Elder Arias and I in Pehuajó so much? It was them! I almost tackled Brother Brustle because I was soooo happy to see them. Things got complicated with his job in Pehuajó and so they had to move back to find work. We talked for a good while.

 

Anyway, the rest of the week we basically wasted MOVING. We had to move houses and it was a disaster and took forever. We lost a ton of time since not only did we move; we had to clean the house which had been used by missionaries for the past 4 years. But Elder Howard and I still saw miracles this week!! Mariano Romero, our investigator is reading and praying every day! He has seen so many blessings of work and peace this week and is rapidly receiving his testimony. We gave him the Book of Mormon in English and he was stoked. He also put his picture of Jesus that we had given him on the wall of his tiny apartment. We have already taught him everything, even about temples and he is super excited for his baptism. In fact, we are already planning on teaching his sister who lives in our area. He went to church yesterday which was Fast and Testimony Meeting and loved hearing everyone's testimonies.

 

Also, Mònica Gutierrez, the mother of several youth converts has changed too! She is now reading and praying with her children several times a week and is also receiving many blessings. We had a fantastic lesson about what faith is and how the Lord tries our faith before blessings us. So after that, I tied it in to baptism and had her imagine just how many MORE blessings are waiting her if she could just put her faith in the Savior and follow His example. So Elder Howard said, "Mónica we have a baptismal service the 15th of September. Will you do it?" And without hesitation she said, "YES." Super awesome. We'd baptize them this week but the Buenos Aires Temple Re-dedication is being transmitted by satellite to the whole country and there is no church on Sunday. So the last weekend of the transfer (and possibly my last weekend here in La Pampa) the both of them will be baptized!!

 

The ward is on fire and everyone is super excited. With all the baptisms and the super strong testimonies that many of the converts shared from the pulpit on Sunday, there is just a new spirit in the ward and in church on Sundays. I am so happy to be here in Santa Rosa. There have been many trials for me but I know that the Lord had His reason for sending me here and I just have to trust in Him and His plan.

 

Please pray for Mariano and Mónica! And for Elder Howard and me because seeing as we lost so much time last week, this week we are giving it all. Thank you for your letters and support, I love you!

 

Elder Garrison