So Tanner is home already. That is unbelievable for me.
Let me know how he's doing when you all see him and tell him I say hola.
Hahaha. And actually I did hear about the hurricane. A member family told us
about it worried that our families may have been involved. Good thing we live
in the desert.
This week was interesting. Elder Howard and I and all the
District Leaders in the zone went to Bahìa Blanca for a leader meeting. It was
great. I saw Elder Arias, Elder Calarco, and several other missionaries that
have become my good friends in my time here. It was crazy though because the
large majority of the other Zone Leaders go home within the next two transfers!
With so many new missionaries coming in my mission is changing. A good two
thirds of all of them have less than a year’s time. And all those who have a
lot of time are already going home. They talked to us a lot about being leaders
that can be counted on with our examples and with our dedication to the work.
After the meeting I went out to work in Bahìa Blanca with
Elder Calarco which was a blast. I love working with him. Four months may have
gone by but it was super normal to work with him. When we ended up back in the
office, we snatched the last ice cream bar from the freezer and while we were
eating it in one of the church rooms, the BRUSTLE FAMILY walked into the
church!! Remember that family that helped Elder Arias and I in Pehuajó so much?
It was them! I almost tackled Brother Brustle because I was soooo happy to see
them. Things got complicated with his job in Pehuajó and so they had to move
back to find work. We talked for a good while.
Anyway, the rest of the week we basically wasted MOVING.
We had to move houses and it was a disaster and took forever. We lost a ton of
time since not only did we move; we had to clean the house which had been used
by missionaries for the past 4 years. But Elder Howard and I still saw miracles
this week!! Mariano Romero, our investigator is reading and praying every day!
He has seen so many blessings of work and peace this week and is rapidly
receiving his testimony. We gave him the Book of Mormon in English and he was
stoked. He also put his picture of Jesus that we had given him on the wall of
his tiny apartment. We have already taught him everything, even about temples
and he is super excited for his baptism. In fact, we are already planning on
teaching his sister who lives in our area. He went to church yesterday which
was Fast and Testimony Meeting and loved hearing everyone's testimonies.
Also, Mònica Gutierrez, the mother of several youth
converts has changed too! She is now reading and praying with her children
several times a week and is also receiving many blessings. We had a fantastic
lesson about what faith is and how the Lord tries our faith before blessings
us. So after that, I tied it in to baptism and had her imagine just how many
MORE blessings are waiting her if she could just put her faith in the Savior
and follow His example. So Elder Howard said, "Mónica we have a baptismal
service the 15th of September. Will you do it?" And without hesitation she
said, "YES." Super awesome. We'd baptize them this week but the
Buenos Aires Temple Re-dedication is being transmitted by satellite to the
whole country and there is no church on Sunday. So the last weekend of the
transfer (and possibly my last weekend here in La Pampa) the both of them will
be baptized!!
The ward is on fire and everyone is super excited. With
all the baptisms and the super strong testimonies that many of the converts
shared from the pulpit on Sunday, there is just a new spirit in the ward and in
church on Sundays. I am so happy to be here in Santa Rosa. There have been many
trials for me but I know that the Lord had His reason for sending me here and I
just have to trust in Him and His plan.
Please pray for Mariano and Mónica! And for Elder Howard
and me because seeing as we lost so much time last week, this week we are
giving it all. Thank you for your letters and support, I love you!
Elder Garrison
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