Empanadas... pizza... asado... empanadas... pizza...

This last week was really good. I'm pretty sure I prayed more than ever in my life this week for Beto. On Friday he passed his baptismal interview. He has stopped smoking and drinking completely. We taught him the Law of Chastity, the Law of Tithing, and the Word of Wisdom again in about 2 minutes because he understood it all and didn't have a problem with keeping them... usually we have to teach each one of them for a whole lesson. He really is one of the most converted people I know, and he is a lot happier than ever. He is a different man than the person he was when I met him. He was going to be baptized on Saturday, but he wants his mom and his son to be present, so due to General Conference this week he will be baptized on the 12th and confirmed on the 13th. We are really excited and praying very hard for him. Also, he buys us dinner just about every day. We've eaten a lot of empanadas, pizza and sandwiches. Also yesterday we had an asado. I tried morcilla again (blood sausage) and it wasn't as nasty as the first time.

So... funny thing about the Paraguayan family... on Monday we had a very spiritual Lesson 3- The Gospel of Jesus Christ (Faith, Repentance, Baptism, The Holy Ghost, Enduring to the End). So spiritual that all present would want to be baptized. So spiritual that Cristian and Edgar remembered that they were baptized 6 years ago in Paraguay. We were somewhat skeptical, because whenever people tell us they've been baptized it's usually in another church. However, they proceeded to explain about the baptismal records with 3 different colored sheets and the baptismal font and everything. I shot a text to the mission offices and they looked them up in the church records and found them... so they're already members. It was kind of an interesting experience. The good news is that we have 2 more young men in the ward, bringing the grand total to 4 haha. Their cousin Isaac is really great, but he told us that for now he isn't really interested in baptism, and he would like to wait. We are excited to find many new investigators this week.

Something interesting yesterday is that it rained a lot, and not very many people came to church. The sister that teaches the gospel principles class didn't come, and the Bishop told me to teach the class. It was a new experience for me, but I think I did alright. 

Anyway, I hope all is well in the United States, Chile, Taiwan, México, the Philippines, wherever y'all may be. It's still getting a bit cold here... a different cold... a humid cold that penetrates to your bones... it's rough... it's only Autumn. However, I'm pretty sure I'm happier than I've ever been in my mission. It's a good day to be a missionary and wear the plaque on my chest.

Love,

Elder John William Garrett

Está empezando a hacer frio...

This past week was really, really good. Last Sunday we sat down with Beto and wrote down when he has desires to drink alcohol. He starts drinking when he gets really stressed, so we asked him what helps him to be calm. We then wrote down all the things that help him calm down (other than alcohol of course), and then what he can do to avoid drinking. It was really good for him to just recognize all of these things, and it really does help to write it all down. It's crazy how smart Preach My Gospel is, right? Afterwards he went 4 days alcohol-free. Unfortunately, he then relapsed and drank a few glasses of wine. However, the next day he spent the whole day thinking. When we visited him that night he told us that he had realized how good his life was without alcohol and with the gospel, and when he relapsed, he realized how bad his other life was. He has been focusing even more lately to avoid drinking. The other day two friends dropped by his house and wanted to drink, so he told them that if they wanted to they could. They were at his house until about 2 in the morning drinking alcohol. Beto drank 4 liters of Coca-Cola... haha. He's also been making detours everytime he has to drive somewhere to avoid passing by the bar where he used to go to drink. He has a baptismal date for this Saturday. We are praying a lot for him, and are really excited. He is probably one of the most converted people I know.

The Paraguayan family is doing really well. They are the mom, Nicol, Cristian (age 17), Edgar (age 14), and Isaac (age 19 and cousin). Nicol works in Constitución (what a coincidence right) in a hospital that I passed by almost every day for 4 and a half months. Unfortunately, she works there and stays in Constitución from Thursday to Monday... so she can't come to church. However, we've been working a lot with the boys, and we've had really great lessons with them. We had a really spiritual lesson on Saturday talking about the Book of Mormon, and in the lesson we all knelt down and Edgar prayed and asked if the Book of Mormon was true and if the church was true. It was a time when I really felt like Edgar was talking with God. Afterwards we helped him recognize his answer, and he was astonished. Sunday morning when we passed by to bring them to church, Edgar was all ready to go, and Cristian and Isaac were asleep. However, We went with Edgar to wake them up, and in the end all 3 of them went to church and all really enjoyed it. Andres Irigoyen was really happy with us as well... because yesterday for the first time he wasn't the only person in young mens haha.

Friday marked the beginning of Autumn in Buenos Aires, and beginning that day it started getting cold. It isn't as cold temperature-wise as in Utah... but the humidity makes it feel really, really cold. It is about 65 degrees in our pension when we wake up because we don't have a heater yet. I had to open up my cold weather suitcase this past week and I've taken to wearing my sweaters lately. The only problem is... it is cold until about 1:00 pm, and then it is hot again, and then it is cold again around 7:00 pm... 

Anyway, overall it was a really good week. We are seeing many blessings and miracles in Pablo Nogués. I love you all. "Que la fuerza les acompañe."

Elder John William Garrett

Día 216

Wow, this past week was really good. It was my first week being a senior companion, and I was pretty nervous about it. However, I have a firm testimony that God hears and answers our prayers. I have received a lot of help from Him and I am very grateful. Elder Lopez is a really great companion. We were able to have a lot of success this past week. We taught many more lessons this past week than any other week in my mission, we found many new investigators, and we even have members sending me texts asking if they can accompany us to visit people. Last night we also received a referral from the mission offices, which we have never received in my time here. It is honestly astounding how much the Lord blesses us when we strive to be exactly obedient, when we are diligent, and we have faith and trust in Him.

Beto is doing well, he really wants to be baptized and be a member of the church. He has been changing a lot, and I've noticed it, he's noticed it, and his family is noticing it. It's kind of a new experience for me, because I've never had to help someone overcome an addiction before. However, thanks to Preach My Gospel I've gotten a lot of tips. We put into practice one yesterday in a lesson with him and it was really great. He's got the desire to change and he is changing a lot. He really is an inspiration. He wants to live with God and his dad when he dies, and he wants to have his spirit right with God.

Yesterday we were also able to meet a family that we met by coincidence. We went to visit some members that we don't know in the ward list. They don't live there anymore, but we met this family. They told us that they were about to be baptized in Paraguay about 8 years ago. We asked them why they weren't, and they said it was because they moved to Argentina and didn't know where the church was. We're really excited to meet with them tomorrow and see how it goes.

We truly have been richly blessed this past week, and I have never been more aware of the Lord's hand in my life. The church is true. I love you all. "Que la fuerza les acompañe."

Love,

Elder John William Garrett

 

Día 210

This past week was really good. We had an awesome lesson with Beto. It was probably one of the most spiritual lessons of my whole mission. In the end it was getting pretty late and we needed to leave to get back to the pension on time, so we told him we were leaving him 2 Nefi 31:5-12 as homework. However, he began to read it out loud, and we felt prompted to stay. It was really weird, because I've never felt prompted to get back to the pension late. However, we stayed, and after he finished reading, we asked him what he understood, and he said he knows he needs to be baptized. It truly was a wonderful experience.

On Sunday after church Beto drove us to his house and we ate some huge fishes that he caught last week, I'm pretty sure it was the first fish I've eaten in over 7 months. Later that night we went to the farewells in San Fernando, and it was really wonderful to see Elder Cruz and Elder Fuentes, my old companions. What was even better was seeing Olga from Constitución. She cried when she saw Elder Cruz and I, and it was really special to see that she and her family are active members of the church, and she is even the Secretary in the Primary Presidency. It was a wonderful day.

Elder Cruz, Olga and Elder Garrett

Today we had transfers, and Elder Mejia left for Villa Ballester. I'm still here in Pablo Nogués, but this transfer will be a bit different as I'm Senior Companion. The truth is that I'm very humbled. My new companion is Elder Lopez from Honduras, who has 4.5 months in the mission, but is going to turn 20 in July... so I'm about a year younger than him. This transfer is going to be really good, I'm really excited.

Anyway, that's about it, but I love you all.

Love,

Elder John William Garrett

Día 202

Dear Loved Ones,

This past week was really good. We worked really hard, taught a lot of lessons, and found quite a few new investigators. On Tuesday we came in contact with Antonela, daughter of a member, and her husband (or partner, I forget if they're married) Juan. Antonela is really intellectual and logical, so we've had to take a bit of a different approach with her. Thank goodness for the Spirit. We've had good lessons with them, and they both accepted baptismal dates. The next day we passed by and Antonela had read part of the Book of Mormon, prayed, and received an answer. She had a dream, and in the dream she was going to church. When we passed by yesterday she was all ready to go and waiting for us. Juan worked all night on Saturday and got home around 9:00 in the morning when we went by to pick them up, and he came too, it was really wonderful.

You may recall Carlos, or "Beto" as everyone calls him, our investigator who was drunk when we passed by to take him to church last week. Well, this past week we had really good, Spiritual lessons with him. He even told us that he wants to go to church because he wants to, and that he really wants to find peace and rest for his soul. Anyway, Friday and Saturday we were unable to see him because he was out of town. We sent him a message Saturday night reminding him about church, but he didn't respond. We sent him messages Sunday morning and he didn't respond either. Anyway, since we passed by for Antonela and Juan to go to church, and had to wait for Juan to get home, we arrived at church around 9:40. As we walked in and around the corner we saw Beto there with his daughter. Turns out he got there at 8:40 before the rest of the ward, so that was pretty cool. He answered every question and doubt in Priesthood Meeting and Principles of the Gospel. If you didn't know it, you would've thought he was a member. It was truly a blessing, and we were really really excited.

This past week I was a little under the weather, but only a cough, so nothing to worry about. Something really cool that happened was that many less-active members that we have been visiting came to church yesterday, and yesterday we had about 65 people at church--a lot better than the 25 when I got here. Also, an Hermana in the ward started gifting us free milk which is great because it's expensive, so we bought a bunch of cheap cereal and I've been very happy to be eating my frosted flakes in the morning.... or the knock-off brand that is called Skarchitas or something like that.

I love you all.

Elder John William Garrett