December 10, 2012

I´m 21.

Yesterday a member family that fed us lunch made a huge cake for Elder Forbes and me because he turned 21 on Saturday. That was cool.

And today was great. Yesterday we had transfers and so it was Elder Arias’ last day in the mission. Today, he was in the office and we asked special permission from President Parreño to go to lunch. We were going to go with the Brustle family (remember them from Pehuajò? They now live in Bahìa Blanca again) but they couldn't go eat with us because they had to work. So they came to the office to see us and it was the most happy feeling for Elder Arias and I to see them again. They said their goodbyes and then Elder Arias and I went to downtown Bahìa and ate at this all you can eat restaurant called Bamboo. And then we said goodbye. CAPO.

As for transfers, I am still in the Maldonado Ward but Elder Forbes left. It was super hard to say goodbye to him because we had such amazing experiences together. We learned a lot together and really grew spiritually. We learned huge lessons about unity, obedience, planning, faith, charity, hope, patience, and following the Spirit. I will always be grateful to Heavenly Father for having been with Elder Forbes. But just guess where he went...Pehuajò!! Hahaha he was super excited to go and meet Elder Arias and my converts and work super hard so that the branch there can keep growing. My new companion is named Elder Furlong. He was in Santa Rosa for a transfer and I was his Zone Leader. And now he is a new Zone Leader and I am going to train him. I’m super excited.

Elder Caraza and Elder Cabrera, the two other missionaries that had been in the area with us left and now Elder Furlong and I will be the only ones here. So all of their investigators are ours now. I am positive that there are people there who can get baptized. Plus all the lunches will be ours...kind of a big deal.

As for our investigators? Elvira Dumrauf is on fire. She was telling all the members on Sunday about her baptism. She even said the prayer in Gospel Principles class. She is very excited and is super faithful about her prayers and reading the things we leave her. As for Claudia Vargas, she is progressing very well. We taught her about obedience and showed her how she needs to follow the will of the Holy Spirit. Unfortunately, she did otherwise on Sunday morning. We had a very spiritual lesson with her yesterday in the evening and she was really repentant. Unfortunately that puts her baptism back a week but we'll get there.

Satan is working hard in the world against those that have testimonies of Christ. That is why we must overcome our natural man, follow the influence of the Holy Spirit, become holy through the Atonement of Christ, and become even as a child. It is the only way to find peace and happiness in this life.

Well, that is it. Thanks for the birthday wishes!! I love you all.

Love,

Elder Garrison

December 3, 2012

Big news. Change of plans. Here`s the scoop:

The change in age for missionaries has caused changes in the MTC program and now the missionaries will be spending less time in the MTC. Seeing as there are going to be changes in the MTC, our transfers are going to get shifted starting after January 2013. All missionaries will be going home three weeks early because of the shift in transfers. EXCEPT the first group scheduled to go home after January who goes the 5th of March. They will now be going home the 26th of March.

So I am going to be here in Argentina three weeks extra!

Sorry. But that means more time to baptize.

As for my package? They told me it`s there in the office but I don't get it until tomorrow! We have Zone Leader Council.

As for this week, it was fantastic! Elder Forbes and I had some amazingly spiritual experiences with new investigators that we found. We have been working hard in our studies in the mornings to achieve unity in our teaching so that we can teach with one voice and the hard work has paid off. This week we had dozens of lessons with new people that understood the lesson, accepted all of our invitations to read, pray and be baptized once they knew it was true and who then prayed at the end the lesson. Elder Forbes and I always keep quiet after the prayer that they offer and the Spirit just fills the room up. Almost all of them would then look at us and then start to cry. It has been amazing.

Saturday we worked as hard as we could to get these people to church but what happened is that none of them made it. Instead, we found two new people on Saturday that did in fact go to church.

The first is Elvira Dumrauf. She is a little old lady that a different missionary and I contacted on Friday and we found out she had been baptized several years back. But it was winter and the Elders had problems filling the baptismal font and had to baptize her in cold water. She got very sick and very mad at them and never went back to church. Therefore she was never confirmed and is going to need to get baptized again. But in the lesson that Elder Forbes and I had with her the following day, the Spirit guided us and she just sorted of calmed down, understood the need to get baptized again, and accepted it. After accepting her baptismal date she said, "What do I need to bring I can't remember what I brought last time." After she offered the prayer, she tried to start talking but I put my finger to my lips so she would just pay attention to how she felt and she just burst into tears asking forgiveness for having been so mad and said she`d go to church. When we got to church a half hour early the next morning, she was already waiting outside.

The other is Claudia Vargas. We contacted her like a month ago in the street super far from her house. As we were walking down the street on Saturday at about 7:00 pm wondering what we could do that would be the most productive because our plans had failed, Elder Forbes saw her house and said, "We`re going here." So we taught her! Her house burned down at the start of the year and her husband left her a few years back to raise their 8 children alone. We taught her and she felt so good that after the prayer, the same thing happened. The Spirit touched her heart. She promised she would go to church the next day and when we called her in the morning she said, "I`m on my way right now!"

So we`re going to be working super hard so that Elvira and Claudia can get baptized this month of December. I am super excited! The Lord tries our faith and our patience to see if we will continue hoping and faithfully obeying His will. That is what He has done I think and now we are seeing how His hand has touched these people’s lives and is blessing us more than I can even describe in one letter.

I am thankful for the opportunity to serve Him and represent His Son here in Argentina. Why do I need to stay 3 weeks extra? Not sure. But there must be a reason and I am excited to find out what it is.

Please pray for our investigators so that they can overcome the obstacles that will surely be placed in their way.

Love,

Elder Garrison

November 26, 2012

Dear family and everyone else who reads this,

This week was full once again of trials. Satan is subtle and astute and is working hard to stop the progress of the work of the Lord.

My companion and I have had our fair share of trials, the Gutierrez family is having its fair share of trials, and zone is as well having its fair share of trials. My companion and I are doing everything possible to lift the zone up and get things moving efficiently. We had another meeting with the district leaders to talk about our progress and necessary changes that must be made if we hope the Lord will continue to bless us. Obedience is key if we hope to have the Lord on our side. As well as many other things we have talked about to make sure that no time is wasted. We are checking up constantly and hoping that the zone can be an example for the whole mission and that the missionaries can really come to understand more profoundly their purpose as representatives of Jesus Christ.

The Gutierrez family is struggling because the desires of one are not as strong as the desires of the other and that worries Elsa, our investigator, because she does not want marital problems based on her decision to follow Christ. She does not feel strong enough to go forward with a commitment so important if her husband is not willing to make such commitment with her. We have tried to help her act with faith and confide in the Lord's infinite power and perfect plan but unfortunately this week she decided to be acted upon by the will of Satan and did not go to church. It was very hard for my companion and me.

Regardless, we continue working hard and the blessings of the Lord come. Gladis, an investigator of ours, the sister-in-law of Gabriela who we recently baptized, showed up to church this week and the members helped her with her little baby girl and talked to her and she had a good time. Now all we have to do is help her get married to her husband. In my area most families are formed before marital vows are made. And then the poor children get left with broken families because the low-commitment societal values lead to separation of the parents. And if not, they just never bother to get married because of some superstition that if they do, suddenly they'll split up a year later and get stuck with legal problems concerning the divorce process.

So this week my companion and I have a lot of plans to work super hard and make sure that more people go to church! Please pray for us and for our investigators! Especially the Gutierrez family so they can move forward with faith and not doubt.

I know that the Gospel and Jesus Christ is the only thing that can save our families. I know that He lives and invites all of us to follow His perfect example. We must become like Him. We must follow His commandments. And if we do so, our Heavenly Father will bless us infinitely beyond our comprehension. Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life. Of this I bear testimony.

Thank you all for writing.

Love,

Elder Garrison