February 4, 2013

Dear Friends and Family,

This week I have been studying the New Testament in depth, using Jesus the Christ to help me understand.

I have been fascinated by the teachings of Christ during his mortal ministry. Something that caught my attention a lot was in chapter 22 of Matthew when the Pharisees and Scribes are trying to trap Jesus in something he says so that they can have a reason to accuse Him of some crime. The Pharisees send some of their disciples to ask Him a question and they ask if it is lawful to pay tribute to Caesar. Had Christ said no, they would have accused Him of treason and speaking out against the Roman government that was in control at that time and had He said yes, they would have accused Him of not being a faithful son of Abraham and set not only the multitudes against Him but also the Jewish Sanhedrin which would have used that as reason to kill Him.

Christ asks them to show Him a coin and then asks them whose image is on it. Caesar’s of course. He then commands them to give unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s, and to God that which is God’s. It is interesting because not only does He cleverly respond to their question, but also He teaches a lesson. In Genesis it says that man is made in the likeness and image of God, our Father. Just as Caesar’s image was stamped upon their money and belonged to him, the image of God is stamped upon the soul of each and every one of us and therefore we must dedicate our whole soul to Him. I know that if we love the Lord with all our heart, might, mind and strength that we can become like Him.

This week, we have been teaching this kid named Juan Peralta. He lives with a bunch of his friends and they all are about my age. Juan has had a hard time in life and really feels empty. He has opened up to us a lot since we met him and slowly has gained a lot of trust in us. Yesterday he went to church. He says he wants to surround himself with a different kind of people and said he loved church a lot. He felt comfortable, enjoyed the classes, and over all said he wants to keep coming. He has a baptismal date for the end of February so Elder Furlong and I are really hoping that he can make it. He is now preaching to his friends. His faith is growing. And as it does, so does the light in his eyes.

Federico Oruè who we found last week also went to church again. He is progressing super well. He likes this so much that even though he works all day and the only time he has to go to his land and work on building his new house is after work, he told us he wants to dedicate his lunch hour to meeting with us and learning more. I am confident that the Lord has prepared the way for us to meet him. But in reality, the Lord has prepared the way so that HE could meet US. He needs a change in his life and his faith is growing as he reads, prays and attends church. Faith without works is dead. He is showing his faith and as he does, it increases.

Elìas Arias, who was going to get baptized this week, is going to have to get baptized next week instead because there were some complications and our bishop wants to wait until next week. So, that we will have to do. He'll make it, though. He is super stoked and comes to church with his mom each week, who is doing great herself and reads the scriptures almost daily. She is almost done with the Isaiah chapters in 2 Nephi.

Our convert Alejandra is super happy these days. We went over all of our lessons with her for a second time and she is on fire. She is reading the Book of Mormon constantly, always goes to church, and is absolutely brilliant.

Anyway, this week we have a huge leader meeting in my mission with Elder Viñas of the First Quorum of the Seventy. It should be great. Then the following day, my companion and I will hold training meetings with our District Leaders and then a big meeting with the whole Zone to transmit everything that Elder Viñas teaches us. I am excited.

Thank you for your letters and thanks mom for the quotes from Elder Holland. They were great. Pray for my investigators if you can!

Love,

Elder Garrison