September 10, 2012

Hey,

THIS WEEK WAS AWESOME. We had the opportunity to see a live transmission of the Cultural Activity in Buenos Aires Capital on Saturday night in celebration of the rededication of the Buenos Aires Temple. Elder Eyring, Elder Ballard, and Elder Christofferson were there to speak and watch it. It was so great. They had thousands of youth in a huge soccer stadium doing traditional dances from Argentina with video clips of other Stakes from all over the country doing the dances as well, filmed in their own city plazas, etc. I felt a lot of pride for Argentina, I seriously love this country. We got to go because we brought Mariano, our investigator, to the activity and it was a great opportunity for him to see how big the church really is. Not only in Santa Rosa because the whole Stake went, but also in the entire country and world. He really enjoyed it and actually got pulled away to sit with some of the other young single adults! So we just let him get to know more people.

Then yesterday, we got to participate in the rededication of the temple. The church building was "turned into a temple" and we needed recommends to get in the building. It was so spiritual. I noticed the difference immediately upon entering. That it was no normal Sunday. The best part however was seeing all of my converts there! Marìa and Marcos and their children and Catalina and her siblings. It gave me such a feeling of gratitude and love to the Lord for seeing them there. It was, after all, as if they were in the temple. They told us later that they liked it so much they stayed for another session later on in the day. They will definitely be going to the temple next year. I have also heard from the Llaupi family through letters that they have the goal to go next year as well and continue actively attending church. When I get the excuse to call the Viedma Zone Leaders, I will ask them if they went to the temple rededication as well. I love them all so much. Each one of my converts. That, I think, would be the biggest blessing, were they to end up in the temple next year to get sealed for time and all eternity as families.

In the rededication, the Temple President and his wife spoke, Elder Arnold who is the Area President, and Elder Ballard and Elder Eyring. It was very spiritual and all the members were very emotional because the temple has been closed for over two years. They have not had a working temple in their country and have had to travel to Uruguay to go to the temple. However, now their temple here in Argentina is three times as big and up and running. I imagine that I will be able to go through just before leaving to the States.

Anyway. Elder Howard and I are now just anxiously preparing everything for Saturday because Mariano Romero will be getting baptized as well as Mònica Gutierrez (the sister of Marìa and the mother of Catalina) who is super excited! We already planned the baptismal interview and last night had a super spiritual lesson with her and her family in which her sister Marìa participated and added so great comments and testimonies. We taught the whole family about the Sabbath Day, the Word of Wisdom, and tithing. They are so happy now that they have the gospel in their lives. They have seen dramatic changes in their family relationships and in their relationships with our Heavenly Father. They all willingly accepted to live the commandments, those who have already been baptized and Mònica who will now be doing it.

So please pray for Mariano and Mònica so that nothing goes wrong!! And for the Santa Rosa Stake in general because Elder Howard and I are super excited. We have 11 baptisms planned for this Saturday in the Stake!! That is a ton. The Stake is working hard to push and split in two and that is what we all desire. That real growth of the Kingdom of God here in La Pampa.

Thanks for the letters and everything!

Elder Garrison

September 3, 2012

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

August 27, 2012

Dear Everyone,

 

Speaking of money, I have spent a lot of it this month though because I do not get fed in my ward. I am not in America that's for sure. We ate lunch with the bishop twice this month and he, who is awesome, is the only one who has fed us this month. Which is great because we all love him. He lived in the states for over 8 years studying in Utah for his Masters and in Ohio for his Doctorate. He and his wife feed us super well and the bishop spoils us with several recipes that he has brought to Argentina for the States. But anyway, since he's the only one, money is tight and seeing as Elder Howard and I also ran out of Zone Funds and then had to travel to General Pico, I had to dig into my wallet for personal money and now am flat broke!! I only ate rice this week. Welcome to the mission :) Don't worry though we asked for more Zone funds and I am waiting on reimbursements which will add up to 450 pesos but I think we'll hit September before I am reimbursed. I bought more rice today for 4 pesos.

 

However, this week has been great because last Sunday we found this amazing investigator named Mariano Romero. We had found this kid named Daniel a few weeks back that is studying History. He doesn't believe in God though and just listened to learn about the history of what we teach. However, last Sunday we dropped by again and after once again explaining to us that he had no interest in the whole baptism thing because he just likes history, he introduced us to his next door neighbor, Mariano, who is studying English and needed spiritual help. It was once of the best lessons Elder Howard and I have taught. We were super excited for him! I asked if he understood and believed the things we had taught him and he said, "I want to. This is what I have always been looking for." So since then we went by several times and taught him the first three lessons, introduced him to members, and he has seen changes in his life already! He had no work and then on Friday he was called for a job. He is rather shy but very humble hearted so he accepts what we teach and recognizes that it comes from God. He is also brilliant so he understands the doctrine that we teach him instantly. He went to church yesterday and loved it and is definitely on track to accept baptism and change his life.

 

I love being here because it is so worth it to see the changes in the lives of those who willing accept the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He is willing to bless us if we doing our part. When we obey the commandments, our lives can change and be full of happiness, understanding, and peace in spite of whatever problem that we may have. I know that Jesus Christ lives. He is the light and the life of the world. If we come unto Him, He can heal us and free us from sin and all that holds us back from being truly happy. His Gospel has been restored in these latter days and now we have prophets and apostles on the earth just like before. It is so simple to understand if one just reads the scriptures that the Lord has given us.

 

Thanks for your prayers and support! Please pray a lot for Mariano.

 

Chau,

Elder Garrison

August 20, 2012

Okay,

So this week was okay. An elder that lives in my house, Elder Bledsoe, that is working in the same ward as me is having huge back problems (and it is not getting better nor are the Argentine doctors having much luck figuring out what's going on...) so we were doing splits almost every day with his companion, Elder Yarger, to help them out with their investigators that got baptized on Friday! However on Friday Elder Howard and I had to travel to General Pico to do a couple baptismal interviews for our District Leader, Elder Parra (who was with Elder Arias after I left Pehuajó), and things got complicated so we ended up getting back at 8:30 at night and missing the baptism! We were bummed seeing as we had helped teach them and had seen them in church every week. And then on Saturday, Elder Howard and I had made all the arrangements so that two small buses could take all 30 of us in La Pampa to Bahía Blanca. Twelve missionaries had to travel in from other cities and we all left together at 5 in the morning.

Elder Howard and I and all the other Zone Leaders (the Pehuajó zone, the two Bahía Blanca zones, and the Viedma zone) had an hour long meeting with President Parreño, his wife, and Elder Viñas, a Seventy of the First Quorum and Second Counselor of the South America South Area Presidency. It was fantastic. He is an ex-bishop, stake president, mission president, church educational system worker, and just about everything else possible. He, like Elder Arnold last year, had such a powerful and spiritual presence I could just immediately tell that he was a man called of God to preach His gospel. He spoke to us about how to help the missionaries in our zones to have success and to reach their goals. He helped us understand better certain points of doctrine, as well as explained about goal setting and the reason we do it. His knowledge of the scriptures and the gospel inspired me to keep studying and applying the doctrine in my life.

That was at 9 o’clock. Then at 10 o’clock, half the mission was crammed into one big cultural hall in the church building where the mission office is (home sweet home...haha) and we had a huge conference where the Assistants, President, Sister Parreño, and Elder Viñas spoke to us. Elder Viñas told us very clearly that his message was not his; that it was from God himself. He said that what he was going to teach us was exactly what President Monson had asked them to share and that as the representative of Jesus Christ on the earth in this moment, his inspired message was exactly what Heavenly Father wants us to hear right now. He spoke about the church growth in the South America South Area and about what we as missionaries can do to contribute to "real church growth." Let's be honest. I am in Santa Rosa which is a Stake, but technically according to the numbers doesn't even qualify to be one. He said he could count on his fingers how many stakes in the Area currently QUALIFY to be one!!! And it's true. So there is a lot of work to do.

Our ward is doing pretty good though! Our converts are going to church, Marcos Herrán blessed the sacrament on Sunday in his suit and everything, and his sister-in-law, Mónica, who Elder Howard and I are currently teaching is DEFINITELY going to get baptized in the next couple of weeks. She came to church yesterday dressed up in Sunday dress! We have a lesson set up with her and her already baptized children at 8 o’clock tonight and we are going to challenger her to get baptized. She'll accept.

Anyway other than that there isn't too much news because we had a pretty unproductive week with all the complications in our area/zone! Thanks for the letters! Please pray for Mónica and the Lucero family who didn't manage to get to church yesterday!

Chau,

Elder Garrison

August 13, 2012

Dear family and friends,

This week was great!

For the third week in a row, Elder Howard and I have managed to teach a lesson with a member of the church present almost every single day. So we are seeing the results of our efforts and really excited for our investigators that are progressing very well toward conversion and baptism in the Church. When we teach lessons and the members help us out by bearing their personal testimonies, those whom we teach change because they see not only two missionaries with testimonies of what they teach, but also a normal person, many times their neighbor, who also believes what we are saying. Every time I have involved members in the lessons, it has been much more successful. We also had some cool experiences getting into some houses and teaching new people for the first time about the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Every time we get into a new house to teach someone new, we teach the first lesson about prophets, Jesus Christ's earthly ministry, the fall of His church, and the restoration of that church in modern days by a prophet called of God, Joseph Smith. We knock a lot of doors here in Argentina. We are encouraged to work with the members and doing that has proved to be very successful but when we are not working with members, we fill our time knocking doors. Up until Viedma I had seen no results from that. What changed is that now we work together with the members to help those people gain testimonies.

For example, just like in Viedma with Agustín Casanova who talked to us in English, here in Santa Rosa Mariano talked to us in English in the street and now has gone to church for a month straight with his family! So this Saturday, his little sister Milagros Ivonne Lucero got baptized! Elder Howard and I were very excited because she is super cute because she knows everything, and just bursts with excitement about the Gospel. She always has great stories about praying to be able to sleep better or how she wishes every day were Sunday so that she could go to church. And she is only 9 years old!! We were also excited because not only did Ivonne's brother and sister go to the baptism, but so did the mother, Marta! AND she went to church yesterday for the confirmation. She loved it so much she even expressed her desires to get baptized which is what we were hoping for, seeing as the bishop had expressed his worries about baptizing only the 9 year old. But something told both him and us to do it, knowing that the rest would follow her footsteps.

Also this week, we were able to teach Catalina Navas mother (we baptized Catalina two weeks ago). The grandpa set up a Family Home Evening on Monday and we taught using 1 Nephi 8 about the Iron Rod. It was great and I was just straight up with Catalina's mom about how she needs to do what her three oldest children have done and follow Christ because He is waiting for her to follow. He is knocking at her door, waiting for her to open. Then, on Saturday after the baptism, we went over again and read from 2 Nephi 2 about the fall of Adam which leaves us subject to both physical and spiritual death and how the Messiah, Jesus Christ, saved us from that. We must follow His commandments, however, if we hope to be saved.

I asked her to offer the closing prayer and she was very hesitant. But when we insisted, she did it. It was soooo spiritual that after she finished I said, "THIS is the Spirit of God." And there was this dead silence for about 10 seconds. Catalina's mother just cried because the Spirit was so strong. We left immediately, explaining that our only desire was to help her follow Christ and she showed up to church the next day. She'll get baptized soon :)

Thank you for your support! Please pray for Mónica, Marta, Mariano, and Nicolle!!

I love you.

Chau,

-Elder Garrison

August 6, 2010

**I asked Ryan how his shoes, clothes and suitcases were holding up….

Dear Everyone,

So my shoes and clothes?

The shoes I have on right now have huge gaping holes in the bottom of the heal. Like I described, the dirt roads just beat them up and they get destroyed. Viedma was right next to a river, El Río Negro, so all the streets were pebbles that just killed my shoes. So these ones just opened up on the bottom and slowly are wearing away hahaha. I'll be fine for a few months though, and I have my other pair of shoes to use too. I'll make it. My suitcases are fine. I take care of them. They just sit in my house and when I travel, the buses store them underneath the bus. And my clothes, yeah my shirts are old and my pants all sewn up for many rips but it's all fine.

This week we got transfers. I don't know if I mentioned that in my last email. So I was really feeling that I was going to leave. I spent so little time in all of my other areas (just 2 transfers each time) so I felt like my time was up. I was actually thinking I might get transferred to be Zone Leader in Necochea with a missionary named Elder Clegg. But I was wrong! Hahaha turns out Elder Clegg was made Assistant to President. And I just stayed where I am. So I will be here in Santa Rosa at least one more transfer with good old Elder Howard. But being Zone Leader, we have to be in the bus station to make sure all is well so Elder Howard and I were up almost all night sending off and receiving missionaries. Ten missionaries from my zone left and ten came in to replace them! It is going to be interesting getting everyone on the same page. But I am excited to be here still. I may have felt like my time was up but there is still so much work to do here. The ward seems to be changing now because the 4 of us missionaries are bringing new people to church every week and everyone is getting excited. Plus, we set up this activity on Saturday of Lehi´s Dream in the church. We blindfolded everyone and sent them on their way through the hallways to be tempted as they wandered along holding onto the chord we ran all through the church until they got to the huge tree Elder Howard made that was in front of the pulpit in the Sacrament room. It was awesome. We even used the stage as a great and spacious building.

So on Sunday, everyone saw us differently. The bishop even mentioned it in his testimony and spoke of his conversion story, inviting all those in the meeting that had not yet been baptized to do so and inviting all those that have already been baptized to endure to the end. Ivone, our investigator is going to be baptized this Saturday and her siblings Mariano and Nicolle are getting there. Mariano is closer and the Bishop agreed to baptize him with his sister this week if we can get him to accept. He has desires to change and continue forward faithfully but part of him allows the devil to make him doubt and think he isn't ready yet and that he doesn't know enough to make the right decision.

The other missionaries are going to baptize an older couple the following week as well. So with so many new people and success, the members are seeing us differently and starting to get excited about working with us. Elder Howard and I are doing our best to invite a member to go with us to a lesson every day. That way, the people that show up at church for the first time already know people and feel for comfortable.

This week we're in a different internet cafe so I will send pictures. Please pray for Ivone, Mariano and Nicolle! I know that this is the true church of Jesus Christ. He lives and loves us and invites each one of us to follow His example, starting with baptism by the proper authority in His church, so that we can be cleansed of our sins and return to live in the presence of our Heavenly Father once more. That is what Ivone and her brother and sister are going to do and the happiness that can be felt and the Spirit that testifies of truth allow me to contently see the changes in them day by day as they follow Jesus Christ.

Thank you for your letters and support!

Chau, nos vemos,

Elder Garrison

July 30, 2012

Dear Everyone,

So what does it mean when it does "dust" or "smoke" as the weather forecast? It means I will be enjoying some of the novelties of living outside of the states. Argentina is dustier than Arizona. No one paves the roads because if you want a paved road on your block, you and all of your neighbors have to get in on it and pay for it. And it's also a super windy area. So it is basically always dusty outside. The dead center of the city always has all paved roads (and that's my area) but as you head to the outskirts, its all dirt roads. Two of the Elders that live with me have no paved roads in their area.

And smoke? They burn all of their trash. It is not unusual to see a pile of trash on the side of the road that has been lit on fire. Also when they do yard work, they take all the leaves, sticks, garbage, etc. and light it on fire. Or when a piece of land is vacant and they want to use it, they just light it up. Kind of interesting.

As for the weather here in Santa Rosa this winter, it's been pretty weird. Everyday it's super freezing in the morning. We have to turn off our gas heaters at night because of the risk of fatal gas leaks. So we wake up pretty cold. But by the time lunch is over however, it's too hot to wear a coat. Yet when the sun goes down, the temperature just drops in a matter of minutes. Last winter in Balcarce, it was freezing all day long.

So anyway, this week was awesome. Catalina Soledad Navas got baptized this Saturday and she was super happy and so were Elder Howard and I! Everything came together very well and the whole family was there to support her, including her nonmember mother, and many of the members as well. A 19 year kid named Alejandro, who is a ward missionary, baptized her. Also, the Elders who live in my house but work in another ward invited their investigator who liked it so much that she decided to get baptized this next Saturday!

Also this week we had members come with us to a bunch of lessons so that was super successful. The Lucero family kids came to church again (Nicolle, Mariano, and Ivone) and they loved it. I was excited for them. We have been going by their house almost every day (que pesados) but it's what works! We made them little signs that they taped up on the walls that remind them to read the Book of Mormon every day, they all offer prayers in the lessons now, and I am pretty sure that they will get baptized on the 11th of August. We pray for them constantly and are always thinking of better ways to help them and teach them so they can understand and apply what we teach. I love to watch them change and grow. Sometimes their answers to our questions surprise me because they are progressing so much.

However transfers come in this week on Friday. So we'll see what happens! Ever since my first area, Balcarce, I have only been in my areas 2 transfers. So if I keep up the trend, I'm out of here. I think that is why I feel like I am going to leave. But we'll see, perhaps Elder Howard and I will stay together just a little bit longer.

Thank you for your letters and support! I love you all. Please pray for my investigators!

Esteeee.......

Elder Garrison