July 9, 2012

Dear Family and Friends,

Steph tells me that there are six missionaries in her ward! That is insane. And they are apparently having a lot of success if people are frequently getting confirmed in church on Sundays. I can hardly remember convert baptisms in our ward. Ever. When was the last time there was one?

We are going to have a baptism this week though! If our last in an hour goes well, that is. They are named Marcos and Marìa Herràn. They are the parents of this kid named Enzo that Elder Sanchez and his last companion baptized. They have been going to church weekly now for a good 2 to 3 months and have been progressing slowly toward baptism.

Last monday, Elder Howard and I left the internet cafe and went to teach them in their home. They shared an experience of last week that they had had and we applied that to our lesson which was about how God calls prophets to guide us and teach us His will. Marcos had admitted the week before his doubts about whether Joseph Smith had really been a prophet. He said he felt great in church and had seen significantly big changes in his life starting the moment that they began going to church but that he couldn't really accept the whole Joseph Smith thing. Well we taught about prophets, using the Bible and the Book of Mormon, and then explained that we'd like to show them a short video about Joseph Smith. He then started to explain that no movie would change his mind and that all the churches were good and that we all worship God in our own individual way (a typical ideology here in Argentina and probably everywhere in the world) and that God will save us all in his kingdom at the end (I still wonder where they pull that out of the scriptures).

So I told him, "No Marcos, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the ONLY true church on the face of the earth. And any other church that professes to be a church of God without His divine authority is blaspheming before God. We respect them for the service they do and for bringing many to believe in God, but frankly, they are false." He then just wanted us to put the movie on haha because the Spirit was testifying of the truth and he knew it. However before doing so, we expressed our love for them and our desire to help them. THEN we put the movie on. It was very spiritual. And at the end he looked up and asked, "What was my baptismal date again?" When we responded, he said, "I am getting baptized."

Since then, the only problem we found is tithing. Today we are having a second lesson about it and a member is coming with us. Pray for them please! Thanks for your letters! I love you all! I didn't have too much time today because it was a holiday and everything closes in this country on holidays. Thankfully the internet cafe opened up anyway but late.

Chau,

Elder Garrison