Día 195

Last Monday I cut my hair all by myself. Cool right? The only problem was that the #2 clipper that Elder Mejia has isn't quite the same as the #2 clipper that Elder Johnson always used on the sides of my head and the back... so it ended up really really short. I then had to cut the top pretty short as well so as to not look foolish. All in all... I'm pretty sure my hair is shorter than it has ever been in my life with the exception to when I was born. Elder Mejia has taken to calling me G.I. Joe, and when we had district meeting, one of the Elder Nuñéz saluted me. However, as my mom always said, "the difference between a good haircut and a bad haircut is about 3 weeks."

Wednesday was a fun morning. I had to go to the offices in San Fernando and do a whole bunch of paper work... things to be legal in this country. Funny enough... it was the same stuff I did when I had recently arrived. The problem was that they thought those papers were good for 6 months, so they didn't move on to the next step yet... and the papers had expired... so with my tourist visa of 3 months... I've been illegal here for about 3 months... it's probably fine. Next week I should be going to Retiro to finish up everything and hopefully I will at last be legal here.

This past week was just about the same... we taught a lot of lessons, but we didn't find very many new investigators, and Adrian was the only one who came to church yesterday. Adrian is living with a sister from the ward and they have a couple children together. He's attended church a ton of times and the only thing that he needs to be baptized is to get married. For some reason he's scared, but we had some really spiritual lessons with him this week. A Mormon Message that is probably my favorite is "Escoged Hoy" by President Eyring. I'm guessing it would be something like choose today, but it probably has a different name in English. It's really great. 

Carlos, another investigator, was really excited to come to church, and he's progressing really well. The only problem was, his neice had her 15 year old birthday party Saturday night at his house. 15 years old here is really big for girls for some reason. The party started at about 9:00 PM... and when we passed by to pick him up for church at 9:00 AM Sunday morning, the party was still going on. He was also a tad bit drunk... but he felt really, really bad for not being able to come to church and was crying as he apologized. I think this week we'll work a little bit on the Word of Wisdom.

I know I'm in Pablo Nogués for a wise purpose and the Lord wants me here right now. I have faith that as we continue working hard with patience we will be able to see success in this area and help the Lord in His vineyard. 

I love you all. Que la fuerza les acompañe.

Elder John William Garrett

Día 188‏

This past week was good, but kind of tough. We've been teaching a lot and finding new investigators, but only one went to church yesterday. We've been struggling with finding investigators that are really going to progress, but we're not getting down on ourselves. We're just going to have faith and keep working hard and trust that the Lord will help us find the people that He is preparing. In my personal study this morning I was studying in Preach My Gospel in the chapter about finding people to teach. This week I am going to say hi to everyone that I see, and if they respond back to me nicely I'm going to talk with them. You can always talk to people about their family, whether they have a good one or bad one, and you can always relate the family to the gospel. Anyway, that is something I'm going to try to do different this week to find more people to teach.

Friday was "El Día de Amor"... which no one really celebrates here. An old lady in the ward asked me if I had a special someone waiting for me at home which I replied to her no, and she said, "OK... feliz día de amor igual" (happy valentine's day anyway) haha. Friday night we had a family home evening with a less-active family who moved back to Chile yesterday, and when we got there they had made tacos for us. They were really good. We watched the movie The Testaments... but their DVD didn't work too well and would skip 5 seconds every now and then... so the 65 minute movie lasted about 40 minutes haha. It was a lot of fun anyway.

 

I don't have a whole lot of time, so this is it for this week. I love you all! "Que la fuerza les acompañe."

 

We had an asado yesterday, an Argentine barbecue. It was awesome.

 

Love,

Elder John William Garrett

Día 181

Well, this past week was really good. We taught a lot and found a lot of new investigators that we committed to baptism. I have found that whenever I'm stressed out or a little down, what always makes me feel happy is teaching and helping people come closer to Christ. I have the best job in the world.

We found an awesome little family named Romina, her daughter Wanda, and her sister Florencia this past week. They are super great and are really eager to learn and to follow Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, they went out of town this weekend and were unable to go to church, but we're excited to continue working with them this week.

This morning we went to the Buenos Aires temple as a mission, which is why I'm writing so late. It was a really great experience, one I won't forget. It was a little different... as everything was in Spanish, but it was cool to see that it's the same everywhere. It's the House of the Lord. The Spirit is so strong in the temple I love it. I was able to feel really strongly how much my Savior loves me and all the people that live in this mission.

It rained a lot this week, which meant a lot of mud. I had to scrape dried mud off of my shoes this morning before shining them to go to temple. Something cool is that I talked with an Elder from Uruguay, and after a while he asked me where I was from, to which I replied Utah. He thought I was joking. He didn't believe me. He asked many other Elders where I was from and they told him I was from Utah and he still didn't believe me. He said that I have a Porteño accent (how people talk in capital). It made me feel pretty happy.

 

This Friday is Valentine's Day. I'm not really sure if they celebrate it here... but I'll be celebrating it by hitting 6 months in the mission. That's 1/4. Bump Day. Crazy right? Time has sure flown by for me, I don't know about the rest of you. I guess I will mirror my best friend Elder Taylor and say that El Libro de Mormón is my Valentine.

"Que la fuerza les acompañe." - Yoda

Elder John William Garrett

Día 174

Well, my first week in a new area is complete. Provincia definitely is different from Capital. I am in the fields. In news this week, I was bitten by a dog for the first time, in the leg, so that was exciting. Not to worry, it was a soft bite and didn't draw any blood or anything and I'm not hurt or dead. I'm sure the dog thought he was playing.

Also, it rained a whole lot this past week, which is awesome because it takes away some of the heat and the humidity. However, being in Provincia with all dirt roads means that we've been trudging around in mud. After dancing around on the dry patches for a few days, I finally decided it was time to break out my never before worn boots from my suitcase that I have never opened because it has only winter stuff. Dressed in boots, I trudged fearlessly around Pablo Nogués in the rain and mud yesterday as my companion danced around... haha.

Some other interesting stuff is that I no longer have Hermana Schaffauser to wash my clothes for me, so I will be having to wash my own clothes and then hang them out on the clothesline in the back yard patch that we have. Also, there are about 30 members in the ward and none of them like to bear their testimonies. As a result, after hearing the testimonies of the bishopric and the missionaries yesterday, the Bishop started pointing at people in the congregation to come up and bear their testimonies... haha.

This past week my companion and I worked really hard to have "lessons taught to investigators with a member present." Before I came, the most lessons that this area had had was 19, and this past week we had 26, so we were pretty excited about that. We went out with a few recent converts and members to talk with friends and people that they know, which was very successful. I was able to commit 6 people to baptism, but unfortunately no one came to church yesterday because it was pouring in the morning.

 

We're working hard and I know that we will find the people the Lord is preparing to receive us. I know I have been called of God to preach His gospel. I know that I am where I am for a reason, to further His work in Pablo Nogués. I know that the gospel changes lives. In my almost 6 months in the mission I have seen the changes and miracles that take place when someone gets to know and accept the gospel. The gospel has changed my life. Joseph Smith saw God the Father and His son Jesus Christ. Through him the same church that Jesus Christ established was restored to the earth. The Book of Mormon is the word of God. I know it. If you don't, my invitation is to read it, meditate on it, and ask God, and I know that when you do, you will always receive the confirmation that it is true. I know because I've received mine many times. Conversion is a process, and I definitely believe that I have a stronger testimony now than when I left home. I love you all and I wish you all the very best.

Love,

Elder John William Garrett