January 21, 2013

Dear Everyone,

So I'm staying here in Maldonado as Zone Leader with Elder Furlong for my last transfer. My ninth transfer as Zone Leader. In reality there were few transfers in our zone. Other than the three missionaries that finished their mission, only one of the sister missionaries left the zone. They were the easiest transfer ever, especially because we are here IN Bahìa Blanca.

I love being here. The missionaries in our zone are super obedient and we are seeing a lot of success. My companion and I have been doing splits with the District Leaders and holding training meetings every other week with them. It's been a really fantastic experience working with them and supervising the work in the zone. This week, we traveled to Coronèl Suàrez (3 1/2 hour bus trip one way) to teach the District Meeting. This transfer we have a lot of plans to inspire and motivate the missionaries to up the level of their obedience and work so that the miracles of the Lord can be seen in each one of the areas in the zone.

As for here in Maldonado, we are working hard with the Claudia Vargas`s son, Elìas. He is 9 years old and has now gone to church with his mom two weeks in a row. So he'll be getting baptized on the 2nd of February. He is super fun to teach because he is very smart yet very stubborn. For example, he got tired in church and told his mom he was going home. There was no way to convince him otherwise and he just left and walked like 10 blocks home all alone. The best part about teaching him is that he always has friends over so we have taught like 5 of his little friends all of which are like 10 or 11 years old. They understand the Gospel so well. We've been working on getting over to their own family`s houses to teach their families.

The Roldàn family is having a hard time though because they are facing a lot of opposition. Their family members are very negative toward the church and Marcelo and Daniela allow themselves to doubt way too much. Thankfully, there is a family in the ward named the Bustamante family that has been inviting them over to share Family Home Evening, etc. They have helped them a lot and because of their help, Marcelo and Daniela went to church this week. We're just having a hard time getting them married.

Well I'm excited for this transfer! Elder Furlong and I have set a lot of goals and we're going to give it our all. Today we cleaned the house for like 4 hours. We want to be as obedient as possible and work as hard as we can. I am so thankful for the blessings that the Lord has given us and for the opportunity to serve Him here in this mission.

Thank you all for your support and prayers! Please pray for Elìas and the Roldàn family!

Love,

Elder Garrison

January 14, 2013

Dear Everyone,

I'm sending new pictures of baptisms. This week we taught the rest of the lessons to Alejandra Contreras, had our district leader travel in from Pedro Luro to take her interview, and set up her baptism. So yesterday at six in the evening, she was baptized in the Church of Jesus Christ. She was super happy and the members really helped out so that she felt comfortable. One gave her a gift and others made sure that there was food to share for after. The baptismal service was short and simple and very spiritual so Elder Furlong and I are super happy.

The Lord has His plan. He works miracles. And as long as we are obedient and follow His will, we will see those miracles in our personal lives. Who would have thought that so long ago, when on the bus, I felt impressed to hand out pass-along cards, the woman who later stopped us in the street to thank us for the card would have then, through a long process of trials and temptations, eventually enter into the waters of baptism and follow the Savior`s example. In fact, I would never have done that had I not first seen Elder Arias do so on the way to District Meeting the first Tuesday of last transfer. I love being part of the Lord`s work because it really is His and He is has all power. It reminds me of what the Stake President in Santa Rosa said when he came to our Zone Conference saying that this work is a work of miracles. We choose to be part of it or not.

This week Elder Furlong and I worked very hard. We had a training meeting with the District Leaders so that they could be more efficient and fulfill their assignment in the best way possible. We then had a Zone Meeting with all the missionaries and taught them how to achieve doctrinal conversion with those that they teach, basing everything we taught on the scriptures and Preach My Gospel. We also did splits with one of the District Leaders later on in the week. We learned a lot from each other and were able to help him take more initiative, be more bold, and testify with power and authority. The Zone is doing great so we are super happy. We are hoping to have 15 baptisms this month. So far we have had 5. We should hit our goal.

Elder Furlong and I were also asked to give talks in Sacrament Meeting about the missionary work and I decided to share what Elder Holland shared with the missionaries of the MTC two years ago, a talk that really helped change my perspective when I was in Pehuajó. I think it was a big success because many of the returned missionary members showed up to our baptism that evening.

So I am loving it here and I thank everyone for writing and supporting me. Please pray for my investigators.

Love,

Elder Garrison

January 7, 2013

Hey.

This week was great. For New Year`s we went and visited some investigators after leaving the internet cafe. Then, we went to visit this family in our ward that invited us over. But we had to be home by 10 o’clock though and that is when they typically START eating dinner. So this family was doing a huge BBQ and we sat and talked to them for a while until they took us home and gave us a whole entire chicken, several chorizos, a huge tupperware container of potatoes, salad and shredded carrots and a huge fruit salad dessert. It was awesome.

We also had Zone Conference this week. Which is always a stressful event for us as Zone Leaders but everything went super well. There are 28 missionaries in my zone this transfer and I LOVE being able to help them as a leader. I have learned a lot being Zone Leader about how to love, how to teach, and how to correct others when necessary. It has been a very edifying experience and I am grateful the Lord gave me the opportunity to be one. President wanted this Zone Conference to be a very inspiring one to start off the year with and it definitely was. So our zone is doing super good this month. As a zone, this Sunday we took 41 people to church. I have never seen a zone do that. There will be a lot of people entering into the waters of baptism this month and the next.

As for our investigators, they are doing great. We have been teaching this woman named Alejandra Contreras for the past couple weeks. She has been coming to church every single week and this Sunday she even came dressed in Sunday clothes. She will be getting baptized this coming Sunday.

As for the Roldàn family, they are progressing super well. They go to church each Sunday and we pass by daily to teach them something small. Marcelo is stopping smoking and he went today to do the paperwork for his national identification document that he needs so that they can get married. So by the end of this month or early February they should be getting baptized.

As for Claudia who just got baptized, she is doing great. We taught her about temple work, missionary work, the organization of the church, church callings and then a few days ago, we started teaching her son who is loving it! So she is going to start bringing him to church and he will be able to get baptized :)

We have tons of people to help get baptized and so little time to do so! And each person has some sort of obstacle to overcome to be able to get baptized but we're working hard and being obedient so that the Lord can bless us with His Spirit and the success that we desire.

Thank you for your prayers and support.

Love,

Elder Garrison

December 31, 2012

Okay,

So this week we had a baptism! Claudia Noemì Vargas got baptized. Elder Forbes and I had found her about a month ago. But in reality we contacted her in the street I think my first week here in the area. After teaching her for the first time, we taught her almost every day for a whole month. She had her interview this week when the missionaries from Pedro Luro came in for District Meeting on Wednesday and on Saturday she was baptized. I'd send pictures but this computer doesn't have a SD card drive. The baptism went great, too. Marcelo Roldàn went to the baptism and so did the Rebolledo family that we are teaching.

We showed the Restoration movie while Claudia changed after being baptized and the following day in church in Gospel Principles class, Marcelo said that he had felt that it was true as he watched the movie. He and his wife Daniela are doing great. They had a trial on Saturday because they live day to day using money that Marcelo goes and makes each morning. Saturday morning however, his bike wheel popped and he couldn't go and work so he told he wouldn't be able to go to church on Sunday because if he did, they wouldn't have money to eat so instead he would need to go and work. We prayed and started the lesson and I asked Marcelo what a commandment is and why God gives us commandments. He responded well saying that it is something that God wants us to do and that they protect us from spiritual and physical harm. Then we helped them see that the commandments aren't just a sometimes thing. They are given to us so that we live them always. We challenged them to put their faith in the Lord and go to church anyway, promising that the Lord would provide. Miraculously they did so.

The whole time they were in church with us, I could see the stress in Marcelo's eyes and the Spirit kept driving me to ask the leaders to help them. So we talked to our ward mission leader, explained that we had challenged them to put their faith in the Lord and come to church without worrying. He simply said, "We must be the means by which the Lord will bless them." He made some calls and he and his family took some food over to Marcelo and Daniela. They were more than grateful and are constantly strengthening their conversion both socially and doctrinally.

As for the Rebolledo family, Luciano`s records already came in so now he just needs to be interviewed to receive the Aaronic Priesthood and he can then baptize Mariana his wife. That could all happen super quickly but they are going on vacation so we'll have to wait a little. They'll be back soon though and she will surely be baptized by the end of the month.

We are also teaching this woman named Alejandra Contreras that has some mental sicknesses but is proving quite faithful and firm in her decision to come to church. My companion and I feel bad for her because it doesn't look like her problems have existed since birth but rather are a result of abuse. Regardless, two weeks in a row now she has come to church, participated, and we have been teaching her almost daily and she always makes it to our appointments. She is progressing well and as we continue to see a strong enough commitment for us to organize a baptismal service, we will do so.

Thank you for your support, letters and prayers!! Pray for these people!!
Chau,
Elder Garrison

December 24, 2012

Dear Everyone,

Well this one is going to be short but a lot happened this week.

This week we had our Christmas activity. We sang hymns in the central plaza of Bahìa and a news crew came to film it. All the members said we were on TV.

Elvira Dumrauf that was going to get baptized was doing great. She had her baptismal interview on Wednesday and all was going well until she got to her house on Friday and she told us she no longer wants to go to church and does not wish to be baptized. We were shocked. There are always trials of faith the last week before someone gets baptized but the awful truth is that Elvira refused to tell us the reason why she decided not to get baptized. She did everything. We read the scriptures, followed the guidance of the Spirit, listened patiently, were bold and direct and even fasted. But she refused till the last moment to tell us why she changed her mind and therefore, we could not help her.

Claudia Vargas, however, is doing awesome and her baptismal service was announced in sacrament meeting and she will be getting baptized this Saturday at 6 o clock. She is very excited and has had a huge progress. We gave her church magazines, the Family Proclamation, the Living Christ and she is already on chapter 13 of 1 Nephi in the Book of Mormon. She defends the church against negative comments from her family members and loves going to church.

Besides that, we have the Rebolledo family and the Roldàn family that both went to church on Sunday and they are loving it. The Rebolledo family is part member because the father was baptized as a child but his wife is not a member. Her name is Mariana and she wants to get baptized as soon as possible. As soon as her husband’s records get transferred to our Ward, the Bishop will interview him so he can get the Aaronic Priesthood and then he will be able to baptize Mariana, his wife. The Roldàn family need to get married to get baptized but finally this week the husband, Marcelo, made it to church with his wife Daniela. We helped him get clothes and the members have helped a TON, donating clothes and going with us to visit the family so they all went to church on Sunday and loved it. When we went by their house in the evening, we could feel the happiness and see it in their faces. The Spirit of the Lord is changing their hearts.

So Elder Furlong and I have a lot of work and the attendance in the ward is slowly increasing. The Lord is blessing us and even though we have had trials, we have seen many many miracles this week and continue being blessed by the mercy of the Lord. I know that this is His work and that He sent His Only-begotten Son to save all mankind from the fall of Adam. Jesus Christ is the Son of God and He lives. His church has been restored and He is currently revealing His eternal gospel through living prophets and apostles. If you don't believe it, ask God yourself and He will let you know that it is true through His Holy Spirit.

Thank you for the letters and prayers of support! I love you all and wish you a Merry Christmas!
Love,
Elder Garrison

December 17, 2012

Hey.

This week was great. We have had trials but regardless, the Lord has blessed us with success and miracles.

Our investigators are progressing very well. Elvira Dumrauf who I already told you all about (the one who already got baptized but then was never confirmed a member of the church) is preparing for her baptism this Sunday after church. She loves to go to church and always lights up when she gets there. The members always sit with her and make her feel welcome. We have been going by her house almost every day for the past two weeks now and many times she is sitting on her patio outside with her Book of Mormon, waiting for us. This Sunday she offered the prayer in Gospel Principles class again and started crying as she thanked Heavenly Father for the opportunity to be baptized next Sunday. She has truly felt the Holy Spirit and has allowed it to change her heart and prepare her for this moment. The baptism will be held right when church ends so all the members will be there to support her.

As for Claudia Vargas, this week she made it to church. We also pass by her house daily to teach her a principle or two and read the Book of Mormon with her. We teach her using both the Bible and the Book of Mormon so that she can understand the fullness of the doctrine of Christ. As we have used both books to teach her the doctrine, the principles, and the commandments, she has grown spiritually and so has her desire to follow Jesus Christ. I love to study the scriptures and memorize everything I can cram into my head so it is very fun to teach her because she used to go to an evangelist church and has knowledge of the scriptures. This week we taught her a lot about prophets and her eyes widened when she saw that Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Peter, and Paul had seen the Lord either before His birth or after His resurrection. We talked about how these men called of the Lord, had received the Holy Priesthood, and had been ordained to receive revelation, prophecies, and commandments for all mankind. Then we went over the restoration of the gospel through the prophet Joseph Smith again and tied it all into how Thomas S. Monson is the Lord`s chosen living prophet, seer, a revelator today.

The new family that we are teaching is one the other missionaries found before getting transferred (now Elder Furlong and I are the only missionaries in the area). The family is the Roldàn family. They are named Marcelo and Daniela and have two little children named Elizabeth and Ezequiel. They live in a very humble house and have desires to change their life. It is hard to teach them because they don't always like to understand but now two weeks in a row, with the help of very charitable members that pass by in their cars, Daniela has arrived at church with her two children. We`re trying to help her get married to Marcelo so that they can get baptized.

We have many other people that we are teaching as well as many other miracles that we have seen this week, like a family that showed up at church on Sunday of which the man is a member and his wife is not but wants to get baptized. So we have a lot of work to do! The Lord has blessed Elder Furlong and me for our obedience to His commandments and the rules of the mission. So I am really excited to continue working hard this week to see more miracles.

Tomorrow is our Christmas activity. All the missionaries from Pehuajò, Santa Rosa, and Viedma are coming into Bahìa Blanca to celebrate with us (ironically those are my last three zones). We are singing as a choir in the central plaza of the city right in downtown and then there is a talent show and probably a devotional. It should be a good experience.

Next week I'll have more details about calling/skyping on Christmas but make sure to let me know at what time would be good for all you guys and then I'll let you know what time I can call.

Thanks for the prayers and the support!

Love,

Elder Garrison