February 11, 2013

Dear Friends and Family,

Finally, this Saturday Elìas, the son of Claudia, will be getting baptized. We are super excited for him. He has progressed little by little. He is slightly stubborn and difficult to teach because he is only 9 years old but we try to make it as fun and interesting as possible for him so that he can understand the Gospel at his own level.

Juan Peralta, the kid in the picture I sent home last week, is progressing a TON. He is super awesome, we love him. He defends the church a lot and basically tells everyone that they need to go to the Mormon church. He reads and prays daily and his faith is growing little by little. His prayers are getting better, and now he is finishing them in the name of Jesus Christ. One of our challenges with him was that of helping him develop faith in Jesus Christ.  But as he read and began to understand the plan of salvation, he has come to have more faith in Christ. This week he explained to us that he loves the way we view Christ in our church. It inspires him to believe and to strive to be like Christ. Juan even expressed his desires to be "an Elder," hahaha, so we are pretty stoked. He went to church yesterday and everyone talked to him and helped him feel comfortable. He said he had waited all week, "anxious for it to be Sunday again." He said that in church he feels welcomed and not judged. If all goes well, he will be getting baptized in the next couple weeks.

This week we also had a meeting with Elder Viñas from the Area Presidency. It was fantastic. He didn't come with a prepared message; he instead stood up in front of us and answered our questions for about 2 hours. It was fascinating. He explained that as leaders in the church, we are like the signs that they place to mark the trail and that stick up through the snow when the trail is covered. But he wanted us to understand that as a leader or as a missionary or even as a Seventy of the Lord, we are not the way…Christ is. At the end he bore his personal testimony, explaining that he knows that Christ lives and that he knows many things that he can't tell us but that he knows them. He said he is less than the dust of the earth and is simply an instrument in the hands of God.

The following day, my companion and I planned meetings and taught our zone of 29 missionaries all that our Mission President, the Assistants, and Elder Viñas had taught us. We also had a meeting with our District Leaders to teach and train them and show them how we'd apply everything we had learned in our zone. It went well, and we are very excited because we are seeing a lot of success here in Bahìa Blanca! The Lord is blessing us for our hard work and we are seeing the miracles that He works through us.

Thanks for the letters, the prayers, and the support!
Love,
Elder Garrison

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

January 28, 2013

Dear everyone,

This week was great. Our investigators Marcelo and Daniela gave us some referrals, telling us to pass by Daniela's sister because she had been asking a bunch of questions about the church that they didn't know how to respond.

So we went searching for this house and ended up finding these two guys named Cristian and Federico. We went in and taught them really fast about how God is our Loving Heavenly Father and that the Gospel of His Son Jesus Christ blesses us. Seeing as we didn't have time to teach more, we tied that into baptism and invited them to get baptized in the true church of Jesus Christ. They accepted.

After the closing prayer which was offered by Cristian, Federico gave us his address and his phone number and started going on about how he and his girlfriend want to get married and how they needed to decide if they'd get married in his church or hers. He said for that reason it was good we came by. So the following day we passed by his house and found out that "her church" is really OUR church. She had been telling him about the temple! AND they want to get married there. Her whole family are members of the church but no longer attend. So we started visiting them each day, teaching the two of them with her mom, and on Sunday, they went to church!

Also, we found this family of three who are named Gabriel, Dina and Luz. The cool thing is that their last name is Dedios (of God). They are progressing super well too. Other missionaries had visited them a year ago but didn't do a very good job at keeping the appropriate distance so when we got there all they wanted to hear about was America, our lives, tell jokes, etc., etc. So we talked a little but then subtly and slowly got onto the subject of religion and taught them. The lesson was fantastic. The mom doesn't believe in God because she has had a hard time since her parents died and none of their older children from past marriages visit them, etc. But as we taught them, they understood well. So well in fact that Gabriel asked us if the other religions get mad at us for saying that the Church of Jesus Christ is the only true church on the earth (most people have SUCH a difficult time understanding that...). Anyway, they read and prayed together that night and when we went by again, the mom had changed COMPLETELY. They were waiting for us with jello, got super excited and interested in the lesson, and at the end, she did the prayer.

Last, we found this group of kids, ages 18 to 22 years old that all live together and play the guitar. They are super awesome. They all listen to us and participate. One of them is already reading in chapter 14 of 1 Nephi. He read from the first page of the book to chapter 13 in one night. They all have profound needs and doubts so it isn't the easiest thing to teach all four or five of them at once but my companion and I are excited to help them get to church and everything. They were going to go but all slept in.

I am so grateful for the opportunity to be here serving a mission. I don't think we'll ever understand the magnitude of how important it is to obey the commandments of our Heavenly Father until we actually return to His presence. But I am positive that if we keep them, as much as we may not fully understand the importance, our hearts will change and our lives will be blessed as Heavenly Father cares for us and blesses us for our obedience. I have seen it again and again in my life and in the lives of others. I am confident that if we obey with a willing heart, He will bless us.

I'm as sure of that as I am that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true. It's the only church that has a living prophet and twelve apostles endowed with the power and authority of the Holy Priesthood and called of God to teach and guide us on the earth today. That is how Christ established His church before. Why would it change today? It's that simple.

Thank you for your letters and prayers of support!

Love,

Elder Garrison

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