February 27, 2012

Dear Family and Friends,

I love Viedma. It's actually really cold here already. It has rained 3 of the 7 days I've been here. Rain like I've never seen. In Arizona, it pours for maybe 30 seconds at a time. But here in Viedma, it pours very hard for hours at a time. Thankfully, when it's done that, it's slowed down and cleared up by the time we leave the house in the morning.

Pehuajò was a very, very beautiful city. It was green, clean, and kind of rich. Viedma is really gray and dirty. My area is rather poor and has some super sketchy neighborhoods that we've been told to avoid at night. But the people are very nice to us. It is strange though, coming from Pehuajò where many people had literally never heard of the Mormons, to Viedma where they all know who we are. But Elder Calarco and I had a fantastic week all the same! We found 16 new investigators that are awesome and are working really hard to set up a baptism for every week. We started this week with finding a miracle lady named Marìa who has an amazing amount of faith. We didn't really think about the possibility of baptizing her this week until we were in our weekly planning session and I realized she had been to church several times in past years and could be baptized. So we did it. We passed by with the Branch President, and he himself committed her to be baptized on Sunday. She came to church and the members took her in quite well and all of them stayed after the meetings to see her baptism. She was super happy afterward :)

But we gained the confidence of the members very quickly and things are going to improve very rapidly here in America branch. The Lord has a lot in store for this little branch.

As for my zone, dad, There are 4 missionaries in Branch America, 4 missionaries in Branch Centro, 2 missionaries in Patagones, and 4 Sister missionaries in San Antonio Oeste. In my mission everyone travels in buses.

So no, we do not have a car. That'd be nice but it's actually not necessary.

The only baptism interviews that Zone Leaders do are those of the converts of the District Leaders. One of the District Leaders lives in my house and the other lives on the other side of the city so it's no problem; we just take a taxi using our Zone Fund.

I'm super grateful for having been with Elder Arias. He taught me things every day that have helped me change my outlook and understanding of the mission and of the gospel in general. I am here to save souls. Christ said that (this isn't going to be verbatim because I memorized it in Spanish not

English) "he that is not born of water and of the spirit cannot enter into the kingdom of God." It's simple. Unless a man is baptized by the proper authority of God in His church, he cannot receive salvation. It's not about numbers, it's not about looking good, and it’s not about anything personal. It's about teaching people and giving them the opportunity to enter into the Kingdom of God. Christ showed us His humble example when he, the Son of God, was baptized by the proper authority. I have a firm testimony of that.

Thank you for your prayers and supportful letters! I love you all, Elder Ryan David Garrison

February 20, 2012

Dear Family and Friends,

The week in Pehuajò was fantastic. We had a lot of work to do and worked super hard on a daily basis half running all over the place to fit in all of our lessons. We had been teaching the husband of a member that attends church regularly since we arrived to Pehuajò. His name is Vicente. He has wanted to get baptized but had problems smoking. The other problem was that he works in another province for two weeks at a time and we rarely saw him.

But the last time we saw him, we talked seriously about his baptism and set a date for it for the 18th. At the same time, his grandson, Jonathan, was going to be baptized. We fasted and prayed like never before and had his wife do so as well. We passed by daily and taught Jonathan and kept them excited for the baptism. Monday was the set day that Vicente was to quit smoking.

Well, all went well and we had a miracle! Vicente and Jonathan were able to get baptized this Saturday and were confirmed members of the Church yesterday during church by the laying on of hands. Vicente got really attached to us and when he found out I was leaving got super sad and asked me if I would baptize him (that's what we had planned anyway because he is a big guy) and so I, for the first time, got to perform the ordinance of baptism! It was an awesome experience!

But for about two weeks, Elder Arias and I knew that President Detlefsen was going to turn the District of Pehuajò into the Zone of Pehuajò. He announced in the meeting that Elder Arias went to, that he was going to receive many more missionaries and was going to spread them out and create two zones out of two districts, one of those being Pehuajò. So knowing that, for two weeks I knew that I was either to leave Pehuajò or be a Zone Leader. Both of those possible outcomes scared me.

Well. I'm a Zone Leader now.

But I am not in Pehuajò! We received transfers on Friday and I was sent to Viedma.

So yesterday at 12:50, I left Pehuajò. It was really hard. I felt like I was leaving behind a part of myself there. I'm not sure I had felt in my life what I felt upon leaving that little town of Pehuajò. I grew so much in my time with Elder Arias, working harder than I ever have and seeing so many miracles and blessings from the Lord. I grew spiritually and learned valuable lessons in diligence, patience, obedience, love, and having the correct attitude. We could have easily arrived and gotten depressed about the situation. But we worked and worked and worked, trusting in the Lord.

I left behind several investigators that will be baptized this week and next week but here I am in Viedma after my 12 hour bus ride!! My companion is Elder Calarco, from Corrientes, Argentina. He has the same amount of time in the mission as me but has already been Zone Leader for two transfers so he will be training me. Elder Arias who had been a Zone Leader when we left Bahìa Blanca together to go to Pehuajò, also taught me on a daily basis valuable lessons in leadership but I feel rather unprepared.

Please pray for me and for the new zone of Viedma!

I love you all and thanks for the letters!

Chau,

Elder Garrison

Pehuajó Branch

with Elder Calarco in Viedma

February 13, 2012

Dear Family and Friends,

Thanks for all the letters! This week was interesting because Elder Arias and I weren't in the area very much due to all the traveling we did. I had some great experiences though doing splits with two younger missionaries in Olavarrìa and being able to spend the day helping them and working in their area. It was interesting because in the mission, I focus so much on progression and becoming better. So the neat experience was being with them and seeing a huge contrast.

On Saturday, our investigator, Nelida Isabel Bolaño was baptized! Our recent convert, Hector, received the Priesthood a few weeks back and has been passing the Sacrament in church each week. So we asked him to baptize Nelida seeing as now, having the Priesthood power and authority of God, he can do that. And we found Nelida because he sent us by her house! So it was a great experience for the both of them.

This week in my studies, I really enjoyed the teachings and testimony of Abinadi (I have no idea how to spell that in English anymore, I think that's right) that are found in Mosiah 11 through 17 in the Book of Mormon. He explains a lot of doctrine about the Law of Moses and bares an amazing testimony of the Savior and His role in fulfilling the Law of Moses and bringing salvation to the children of men. I have also been studying in Preach My Gospel about the key role of the Book of Mormon in the conversion of a person to the Restored Gospel and about the powerful witness it bares of Jesus Christ. So read it because it's true!

This week we have 3 people that could be baptized if all goes well! They are Vicente Mesias and his grandson Jonathan Castro. Vicente is having struggles quitting smoking but if he manages to do so for several days, he and Jonathan will get baptized on Saturday. The other is this 14 year old kid we found named Juan Gimenez. He is a STUD! He's super awesome. He is reading the Book of Mormon and is in 1 Nephi. He has come to church twice now so pray for him, and the others, so they can get baptized!

Have a great week!

-Elder Ryan Garrison

February 6, 2012

Dear Family and Friends,

I'm in Olvarría right now because my companion has a meeting in Bahía Blanca tomorrow. And so they're putting me in a trio with the companions of the other missionaries that are also going to the meeting.

I travel a LOT in my current area. I'll explain. Every Monday, we take a bus at 11 at night to Trenque Lauquen for District Meeting in the morning. We get there at 12 and I sleep on a mattress on the floor. Then in the afternoon, we come back to Pehuajó. Every two weeks, we come to Olavarría for a Zone Leader Meeting that Elder Arias has. We leave at 12:30 in the morning, get in at 3:30 and sleep...on mattresses on the floor. That's all regular traveling. Then there is all the unexpected stuff like right now.

This week was great though! There were 28 people in church and 6 of them were investigators! I have never had more than 3 investigators in church at one time. And here in Pehuajó we had 6. This next Sunday, Nelida Bolaño, a lady we found through our recent convert, will be getting baptized. She is very, very poor. She lives with her son, Juan, who has mental disabilities. They have several dogs and a bunch of chickens and they all share a bedroom, I think. But she is incredibly dedicated and faithful and is progressing very well! We are very happy for her. And Hector Pedalino, our recent convert that sent us by her, is going to baptize her!

And if all goes well, the following week we could have up to 7 people if they come to church and everything. So pray for María and Roberto so they can get married, for Vicente so he can quit smoking and get baptized together with his grandson Jonathan, and for Juan They all came to church yesterday. Then there is Antonela and Humberto. They didn't come to church, unfortunately. They are struggling to progress. Antonela is 17 and Humberto is the husband of Rosa who just got baptized. They both smoke and struggle to make it to church Sundays. But if they change that, they can get baptized.

It's so important that they can get baptized though! Christ said that nobody can come to the Father but by Him. He set the perfect example for us. He humbly obeyed the will of His Father in every moment of His life, including when we was baptized, regardless of the fact that he was sinless and perfect. How much more important, then, is our need to be baptized, being imperfect? Much more. That's why we work so hard to help our investigators develop their faith in Christ and get baptized like he did.

Thanks for the support and for the letters! I love you all!

-Elder Ryan Garrison