June 11, 2012

Dear Everyone,

Okay so we baptized little Julieta!! It was great. I was surprised at the turnout actually for the baptismal service. Her mother made a huge cake (and Argentine cake is awesome), the Primary prepared hot chocolate, and the Relief Society brought tortas fritas (which are little fried scones). A lot of our other investigators went too which was great because most people that see a baptism end up getting baptized because it is always such a spiritual experience! We put on the Restoration video while my companion (who baptized Julieta) and Julieta changed and our investigator Yarco looked at me after and said, "That was great. I am finally starting to understand what you guys have been teaching me." Good sign. He was going to get baptized this upcoming Saturday but things got complicated with planning it so, unfortunately, it's going to have to wait another week. But he at least has now decided that he is going to do it!!

So the week was good! We also taught many other people who have a lot of potential, including this man we found right at 8:30 on Sunday night. We ran out of plans and I said, "Well, Elder Sànchez, where does the Spirit tell you we should go." He responded, "Hmm..." and we went, knocking doors here and there until we saw one door with the windows lit up. When the man answered, I introduced us and started to talk to him and he said, "You guys came by a while back, one of you is from Mexico, right?" That's when my companion realized that he and Elder Scoma, his last companion, had already knocked this door and, not being able to teach him in that moment, had passed by several times in the following weeks, trying to teach him but never finding him again!!

Well once again, he said he was busy but this time, we insisted upon taking only 20 minutes of his time before having to return to our house at 9. So he paused, and then let us in! I don't know how it all came together so well from that point on, but the 20 minutes lesson we shared with him was SO spiritual, he accepted everything we taught him. As we talked openly about our families and showed pictures, he opened up and began to tell us about his whole religious history and when he finished, I felt inclined to tell him that this was the moment to start a new chapter in his life and find the truth and that it wasn't just chance that had led us to his door for the second time. We could see on his face that he recognized the truth of that, and he accepted the invitation to pray to know if our message was true so, on our knees, he offered the closing prayer His name is Pablo and I have a lot of hope that he will be able to come to church and learn to know the true teachings of Jesus Christ and, one day very soon, be baptized in the true church.

Hahaha and sometimes in the mission, we find ourselves with people who are not too receptive. A few hours before we found Pablo, we contacted the house of this 23 year old guy that we had talked to in the street a few days before. His brother answered and let us in and before we knew it, another brother was inviting us to accompany him in "the presence of God" that was to be found in his bedroom where he and some friends were praying. I was like, "Um..............Can we share a very important message with you guys instead?" And he said no, that he would like to pray with us in the presence of God..... So...we went. We got to his room and I immediately felt an awkward knot in my chest upon seeing his friends sitting on the bed, apparently crying, overwhelmed by "the presence." It was obvious; however, that those emotions did not come from the Spirit because the Spirit was not present. When we sat down and started to talk, they immediately began to interrogate us about Joseph Smith and began to angrily deny that he could have seen Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. So, I asked for their Bible and, Alma-and-Amulek-style, we declared the true doctrine, explained the meaning of the scriptures, and testified of the truthfulness of Joseph Smith`s sacred vision. They wouldn't have it though, constantly interrupting with excuses, even when they could see the reason behind our words and feel the Spirit testifying of truth. However, they will not forget.

I have a strong testimony that the Lord loves His children and that this is His work. He prepares each one of the people out there to receive the message of the restored gospel. I know that if we allow Him to help us and guide us in this life, He will provide for us in our moments of difficulty. All He asks is that we outwardly show our love and faith in Him by keeping His commandments.

Thanks for the letters and pray for my investigators! CHAU.

Elder Garrison