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
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
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