April 23, 2012

Dear Family and Friends,

Thanks for all the pictures!! I love getting pictures and this time, everyone sent me some. Perfect. It sounds like everyone is doing great.

Congratulations Steph for graduating from BYU! I am super proud and happy.

Elder Calarco and I had a fantastic week. We have been working super hard and are seeing miracles. The Llaupi family got baptized yesterday and they are super happy about it!! We finished teaching them the rest of the lessons this week and they had their baptismal interviews with Elder Hoyos. The oldest daughters still didn't want to get baptized yet but we´re now thinking that they will want to. I'm sending pictures of the family´s baptism as well as pictures of José Luís Acosta who got baptized last week.

José Luís was confirmed yesterday and then immediately received the Aaronic Priesthood. He came in shirt and tie and everything!! He will start blessing the Sacrament next week and his brother and father and a neighborhood friend, who came to church with him yesterday, are getting baptized in two weeks.

I am unsure but I think that more than 80 people were in church yesterday which is AWESOME. Especially awesome because remember María Llanquilef? She is the little old lady we baptized right when I got to Viedma. She introduced us to a family of 5 that lives in a little city

28 kilometers away called San Javier. They come from San Javier to come to church! We had been teaching them periodically and they finally came and loved it!

I have learned a lot this transfer and learned many valuable lessons about diligence and obedience. I have also learned much about my own weaknesses and flaws and how, if we seek His divine help, the Lord can bless us and help us in spite of our mistakes. I am really grateful for the experiences I am having here in Viedma and for the blessing of the gospel in my life. I have seen many changes in the lives of people as they have changed their lives and come to know the teachings of Jesus Christ, our Savior. I am grateful to be His servant and bear His name. The Church of Jesus Christ has always been a missionary church and I am so happy to be one of His missionaries because I love Him.

I come to know Him as I read the scriptures. Each day I learn more and more about His gospel, His teachings, and His perfect example of humility.

Thank you for your letters, your support, and for your prayers! I love you all.

Elder Garrison

April 16, 2012

Dear Family and Friends,

YOU SOLD THE HOUSE. Hahahahaha. Well, okay. It's sort of typical. The missionary leaves. The family moves and changes everything. Cool. I'll be fine as long as they're cool that I go and see it one more time.

So this week was so insane!! We started off going to Bahìa Blanca for the Leader Council meeting. It was fantastic. I saw Elder Arias and it was like seeing my long lost brother. They baptized several people that we had taught together and he gave me some pictures of them. One, Manuel, is 17 years old and already preparing to serve a mission. I was super stoked. The meetings with President Detlefsen were awesome. It is always very inspiring to listen to him and learn from both his experiences as well as from the things he shares with and teaches us based on the inspiration of the Holy Ghost.

When we returned, our first day, we went to visit the Llaupi family that we have been teaching for a few weeks. I'll explain. When we had first arrived in Viedma, a member told us to pass by his grandma and cousin. We got lost looking for the apartment and ended up in the building across the street. That's how we met the Llaupi family. They had been progressing pretty slowly but still were seeing changes. The father finally went to church with a few of his children last Sunday. So when we returned from Bahìa Blanca, we went with Kevin and his parents and as they got to know each other, the family shared their testimonies. But after we said a prayer to start the lesson, the family awkwardly avoided telling us that they didn't have their copies of the Book of Mormon....And the Spirit told us they had thrown them away in the garbage. And RIGHT in that moment, their preacher came to visit. And then we knew why they had tossed the books.

So the preacher walks in, slaps his Bible on the table and says, "So we're talking about the word of God, huh? Well let's do some talking." And I'm sitting there, heart absolutely pounding, palms sweating, thinking, "WHAT are we going to do now? Heavenly Father please help us save this family..." And right then, a thought came to my mind. A phrase President Detlefsen had said the day before, "Elders, if you have knowledge of the Old Testament and the New Testament, you can confound men, show them we are talking about the same gospel, and introduce the true doctrine of Christ."

Long story short, I asked him why there were so many churches today. He responded by telling me "Because there are a lot and they talk about different things." So I asked why repeatedly and when he finally, audibly said he did not know, my companion and I explained that we had been called of God to teach this message and we would explain why. We said that upon understanding, he would see the need to get baptized in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the only true church upon the face of the earth. As we began to use the Old Testament to explain the need of a prophet in the church of Jesus Christ, he suddenly "had to go." My companion testified and told him to stay but he refused. I recommended he read Hebrews 7 which talks about the Melchizedek Priesthood. He explained he did not have his glasses, and left.

Miracle. Brother Llaupi cried when he offered the closing prayer, explaining to the Lord what he had felt during our visit, and when we passed by the next day, had gone looking through the dumpster for the books.

But it doesn't end there.

On Friday, we popped up and the daughter was outside crying. She explained that her mother had told her dad to leave. They were getting separated! We went inside and the teenage daughters were wandering around, sobbing. Turns out, the father had received his answer. He stared us in the eyes and said, "I know this book is true. I don't understand anything you have taught me, but I know it is true. My wife however, does not want to get baptized." She was afraid of getting rejected by their families. So we had another powerful lesson, she accepted getting baptized, they committed to pray together that night and to read the Book of Mormon together, and to not get separated!! They went to church yesterday and the 5 of them are getting baptized this Sunday!!

And that's not even the half of what happened this week. To keep things short, our miracle on Sunday was that Josè Luìs Acosta, a cousin of one of the kids that said hi to us in English, got baptized yesterday. Since he started coming to church 3 weeks ago, he has made a 100 percent change in his life and is already going out on splits with us to share his testimony! He's 20 and I freaking love him he's such a stud!! Future missionary. And then his cousin, the one who talked to us in English, is getting baptized this Sunday with the Llaupi family. His name is Gabriel Hernandez.

Talk about blessings! The Lord has His hand in Viedma. As Joseph Smith said, "No unhallowed hand can stop the work of God." I know that the Church of Jesus Christ has been restored for all of His children in these latter days. If we are humble and willing to search for and accept the true, the Lord will guide and bless us.

Thank you for your prayers! Pray specifically for the Llaupi family and for Gabriel this week. They need it. I love you!

Love,
Elder Ryan Garrison

April 9, 2012

Mom, I love you. Thank you for sending me a package :D And Happy Easter to everyone.

This week was great!! We failed in finding new investigators (we only found

6) but it was because we were so focused on the Casanova family.

They got baptized!!! It was a very happy day. Every day this week we passed by to teach them the commandments. We spent lots of time updating the members on their progress and asking specific members to come with us to each lesson. Because they had been reading the scriptures daily and doing their family prayers every night, they accepted everything we taught them right away.

Thursday, on divisions I went with Elder Cross from Idaho and we taught the Word of Wisdom. We NEVER knew but it turns out the dad smoked! We were still waiting to find SOMETHING not perfect about these people. However, he accepted everything and said he would quit!

The problem? He had 3 days before his baptism and a smoker can't get baptized until they quit. So when he expressed his desires to quit, we offered to give him a Priesthood blessing. He accepted and has not smoked a single cigarette since! He gave me his pack and lighter without us even asking. Miracle.

In their baptismal interviews, my district leader Elder Hoyos from Salta, Argentina was able to talk to them individually about their experiences and later explained to Elder Calarco and me what they had said about their conversion to the restored Gospel. The mom, Carolina, had always wanted to the family to go to a church but the father always said, "nah...someday in the future maybe we'll go...or something..." And then one day, he came home in a bad mood, cursing and everything, and she explained to him that God loved him and blessed him and had no need to be mad. Well that same day, my companion and I met Agustìn and gave him a pass along card with a picture of Jesus which he brought home explaining to his mom that we'd be passing by to teach them. The father was very skeptical but as he began to see changes in their home, realized it was true. Agustìn said that he didn't realize before, but he had always felt empty and lost. The first time he went to church, he was filled with so much happiness, he knew it was true. He says he now feels complete. And Jennifer, the daughter, said that during the Saturday afternoon General Conference session, one of the talks helped her so much, she felt a huge burning feeling in her chest that was so strong it made her cry. That's straight evidence that the Holy Ghost testifies of truth.

Sorry for the novel but they are so AWESOME I could go on and on about them!

We had 11 investigators in church, several of which are members of the other family we are teaching which is the Llaupi family (shah-oo-pee).

Pray for them!! They are going to get baptized the last weekend of this month :D

Anyway, I'm off to Bahìa Blanca for the Leader Council meeting. I will see Elder Arias there. Legit. He baptized like 15 people this last transfer in Pehuajò since I left. A family of 11 and a few other people. Next thing I know they'll be building a church building there!

I love you and appreciate your support! Thank you so much for your prayers and letters and love.

Chau,

Elder Garrison

April 2, 2012

Dear Everyone,

Conference was awesome!  Mom, in the other countries outside of the states, they have translators that speak over the speakers and translate everything they say. Just like on the world news. It comes in by satellite to the Stake Center and so all the members come and watch it (unless they are rich and have a computer and internet which enables them to stay home). We spent all week talking up the conference with our investigators, especially with Agustin and his family, the Casanova family. It is very excited to daily teach a message about modern day prophets and then actually have the opportunity to invite those you teach to come and listen. It would be like in Book of Mormon times, wander around and rally up the non-believers to come pitch their tent in front of the temple and listen to King Benjamin talk from his tower. I watched in English with the other American missionaries in another room though. The transmission came in both languages on separate channels.

My favorite talks were those of Elder Holland, Elder Uchtdorf, and Elder Anderson. Elder Holland and Elder Uchtdorf talked about very key things. I like what Elder Holland said, "Be kind. And be grateful that God is kind. It is a happy way to live." And then Elder Uchtdorf talked about being merciful because "ALL of us depend on the mercy of God." And then Elder Anderson's testimony of the reality and divinity of Christ's mission was VERY powerful so I liked that. But frankly, I liked all the messages and took pages and pages of notes. (I missed the Prophet twice because they messed up when recording the Priesthood Session and it cut off and then Sunday morning, there was a storm and the transmission cut off right in the middle of his talk).

The entire Casanova family came, though!! The daughter, Jennifer, got really involved with all the youth in the Branch (because there are tons of youth) and so she was there for both sessions both days. She is 16. Agustin forgot Saturday, felt super bad, and was there all day on Sunday. And their parents came, dressed in their Sunday best, for the final session on Sunday. They sat with the Branch President and his wife and loved it! The whole family is getting baptized this Sunday. They are set on it. Jennifer saw a lady get baptized on Saturday (an investigator of some missionaries of my zone) and that night when we passed by the family, she explained to all of them how is worked and said, "So we're all getting baptized next Sunday on the 8th!"

The Lord has really blessed my companion and me with such a miracle, an entire family who has converted to the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. It is excited to see the changes that have taken place in their attitudes, their family relationships, and their desires to do good things and see good results. They feel the Spirit, even if at times they may not realize it, and know that this is true. It has helped me see the fruits of living the gospel.

I know that this is the true church of Jesus Christ. It has a prophet and twelve apostles, divinely ordained of God with His Priesthood authority.  They receive revelation for the entire world like the prophets and apostles of old. They ARE witnesses of Christ. We live in a world of changing values and more than ever, there is a need for a prophet of God to guide us and teach us the will of our Father in Heaven. Think about it, a man with the same calling as Moses walks this earth and has direct communication with Heaven. Even if a person were to not believe that, how could they ignore it and not, at the very least, want to find out for themselves?

I know it's true.

Thank you for your letters and support! Pray for the Casanova family so they can be baptized this Sunday and be happy! I love you all.

Elder Ryan Garrison