74???

I had a really awesome experience this past week. I finally got around to purchasing a notebook to take notes on my Book of Mormon study, something I've been wanting to do for quite a while. It was incredible to see how quickly I received personal revelation after deciding to take notes. I started at the very beginning ("a very good place to start" according to Maria in "The Sound of Music"), and read a scripture that I'm sure I've read the most out of all of them:

1 Nephi 1:1 I, Nephi, having been ^aborn of ^bgoodly ^cparents, therefore I was^dtaught somewhat in all the learning of my father; and having seen many ^eafflictions in the course of my days, nevertheless, having been highly favored of the Lord in all my days; yea, having had a great knowledge of the goodness and the mysteries of God, therefore I make a ^frecord of my proceedings in my days.

I then continued to read the chapter and came upon:

1 Nephi 1:20 And when the Jews heard these things they were angry with him; yea, even as with the prophets of old, whom they had ^acast out, and stoned, and slain; and they also ^bsought his life, that they might take it away. But behold, I, Nephi, will show unto you that the tender ^cmercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of ^ddeliverance.

I vaguely recall as a child hearing that one writing style in the Book of Mormon is that the first and last verse in the chapters are connected. As I read these verses I made a connection. In verse 1 Nephi states, "having been highly favored of the Lord in all my days," and in verse 20 he states, "over all those whom he hath chosen." It appeared to me to be about the same. Then in verse 1 he states, "having seen many afflictions in the course of my days," and in verse 20 states, "the tender mercies of the Lord." It came to my mind that it was the same again. Many times in our lives we talk about "tender mercies" as small blessings, but I have never thought about "afflictions" being "tender mercies." I testify that the afflictions and troubles we face in our lives really are "tender mercies of the Lord." It is through our trials that we learn and progress. It is through our afflictions that we come to understand how much we truly need the Lord in our lives. It was incredible to have made these connections on Saturday... because it ended up being one of the hardest days of my mission thus far and I was really grateful for what I had learned that morning. The Lord truly knows what he is doing.

Something awesome was that yesterday we had 74 people attend church... quite the change from the 25 who attended my first Sunday in Pablo Nogués! The Lord is incredible.

I love you all!

Elder John William Garrett

¡Felices Pascuas!

I forgot to mention last week that this week is transfers, so I wouldn't be writing on Monday but on Tuesday... woops... sorry. Last night we got the call that Elder Lopez and I are staying together here in Pablo Nogués. We are really excited to stay here and work together more. I know that the Lord is directing this work and if I'm to stay here a 3rd transfer it's because I have unfinished work here. I know that there are people being prepared to receive us and that I have things to learn in Pablo Nogués.

Beto is doing fantastic. He has a real hunger to learn about the Gospel. It's unlike anything I've ever seen. He participates actively in church and asks a lot of questions. He asked for a manual to be able to understand The Book of Mormon better. He had an interview with the Bishop on Sunday to receive the Priesthood and passed it, so he will be a Priest. He's 45, so he gets the Aaronic Priesthood first and then a little while later will get the Melchizedek, and be ordained to the office of Elder. His daughter Candela will be baptized soon, the only problem is that she was enrolled in a Catholic school and has to do some sort of classes there and since she already committed to doing that we just have to wait until she gets done in May. His wife Lili really enjoyed church last week and has been visiting with us when we go to their house, and I have a feeling it won't be long before she joins her husband in the waters of baptism. Last Monday we had an asado with them which was fantastic. I tried morcilla (blood sausage) for the third time and this time it wasn't so good. Maybe I should've stopped after the second time when it tasted alright. We've had a lot of members failing us for lunches lately... but with Beto feeding us dinner practically everyday we've decided that's alright so that we don't get fat. Yesterday we had a really great lesson with Beto and Lili where we read "The Family: A Proclamation to the World." They really liked it and Beto said he is going to buy a big one to put on his wall.

Pizza and Empanadas in the pension

We found some new investigators this week through Sister Reyes, a sister that we reactivated. We had been teaching Clara, a friend of hers who was super great and accepting everything. She understands what we teach really well and was excited to go to church. Unfortunately she went somewhere Saturday night and got home Sunday at 4 in the morning and we were clapping her house for half an hour and she never woke up. It was unfortunate, but we just have to trust in the Lord and keep moving forward. 

This past week was really spiritual for me. I think it was Wednesday night, we were walking home from an appointment, and we live in the boundary of our area, so it was about a 30 minute walk. Elder Lopez was kind of having a hard time and getting discouraged because it was a somewhat difficult day. Then I found that I was talking and talking, and scriptures and General Conference quotes were popping into my head and flowing out of my mouth. After about 15 minutes of that my companion felt a lot better and thanked me. I told him not to, but to thank the Lord. I know that it was a time when the Spirit really was teaching my companion through me. I felt the Spirit so strongly and I felt the love that the Lord has for my companion and for everyone in Pablo Nogués. It was a really awesome experience. Then I was really caught away thinking and tripped on a crack in the "sidewalk"... woops.

In Heaven... surrounded by ice cream

Another great thing about this past week was that it was Semana Santa (Holy Week) leading up to Easter. We had many times when random people in the street would stop us and ask us if we believe in Easter. It was a great opportunity to testify of the Living Christ and the truthfullness of His Resurrection. On Sunday in Sacrament Meeting the Bishop randomly called me up to bear my testimony, so that was a cool opportunity. I know that my Savior lives. I know that He suffered for each and every one of us individually and that He knows how to comfort us and help us better than anyone. He died for us, and on the third day was resurrected. He lives. I know it. I have felt His love more powerfully in this time in the mission field than in any other time in my life. He is my Savior, Redeemer, Brother, and Friend. I love Him.

ClubAtletico Boca Juniors

On Sunday we had the farewells of the missionaries who are going home this week. I was able to see and talk to Olga from Constitución again, and it was so great to see her and see that she and her family are staying firm in the gospel.

Something cool the other day was that I was reading the book Our Legacy and I read a part that says that President John Taylor died in Kaysville, Utah, so I was able to show Elder Lopez that Kaysville really does exist.

I love you all.

Elder John William Garrett

8 Months?

This past week was really great. Last Monday we got a call from the zone leaders telling us that we are now going to be contacting 20 people every day. Well, we didn't make it quite to the 20 each day, but we did our best and found quite a bit of success as we found 10 new investigators. Overall, it helped us focus a lot more on our purpose, and it was a really fun week. 

The big news this week was that Carlos Alberto Escobar was baptized on Saturday. He asked me to baptize him, and it was an honor. It's miraculous to see how much of a difference the gospel of Jesus Christ has made in his life, and I know this gospel is true. God the Father lives. Jesus is His Son, our Brother, and our Savior. I have prayed more times in these past 2 months than any other time in my life so that Saturday could come. It was really cold on Saturday, and when we filled up the baptismal font we realized that there wasn't any hot water in the church... Beto and I froze. It was honestly colder than any other water I've been in. However, after the ordinance when he was submerged in the water and left, we were both warm in the water, it was quite the experience. He then hugged me and thanked me for everything I've done, and I thank the Lord for all He has done for Beto, because I know that we really just have been instruments in His hands. Beto brought 12 family members to the service, it was a pretty awesome sight. He also brought his own refreshments... which was good because the members only brought one small cake. He brought 12 liters of soda, and a whole bunch of cookies, alfajores, and pastries. Then all the members left and his family stayed to clean up. It was quite the day. His family also calls me Batman and my companion Robin, so that's cool. When he came to church yesterday he was in slacks, a white shirt, and a tie. It was quite the sight. He was confirmed a member of the church and I am so happy. I imagine that the happiness I feel is only a fragment of the joy that our Father in Heaven feels, along with Beto's deceased father. 

Yesterday was a really good day as we brought 5 investigators to church, and had 8 less-active members show up that we have been teaching. It made me really happy to have the chapel quite a bit more full with 59 people in attendance. 

Today I realized that I completed 8 months in the mission. It is honestly incredible how fast time flies. I know the church is true. Joseph Smith saw God the Father and Jesus Christ. Thomas Spencer Monson is a prophet of God. We are always only a prayer away from God. I love you all.

Love,

Elder John William Garrett

 

A week of rain

On Wednesday I had a really spiritual experience when we did exchanges and I went to Vucetich with Elder Arce, my district leader. We were visiting with a couple less-active members and it was great, a nice fun lesson. Then their mother, who had recently lost a son, arrived and a whole bunch of other family members who were all crying as they came in and embraced each other. The environment in the room changed drastically, and then all the members of the family (there were probably 12 or so) all turned to Elder Arce and I expecting us to share something to console them. It was quite a responsability that I felt upon my shoulders. We opened with a prayer and then shared some scriptures in Alma 40 about the spirit world and the resurrection. You know you are teaching by the Spirit when you are learning in the lesson as well. I was able to testify that God knows us better than we can possibly imagine, and that we've all been sent here with a mission. When we've accomplished what we were sent to do, our Father takes us home. With all the people who passed on without having the chance to hear the Gospel, He needs many, many missionaries on the other side. However, that doesn't mean that our loved ones are as far away as we might think. The veil really is very thin, I can testify that this is true. My grandfather Bruce Garrett was a hero to me, and his death is something I have always held very close to my heart. There have been many times in my life when I have felt his presence and his comfort. He's not gone. I know it. It was a really incredible spiritual experience, and I was really grateful to have done exchanges that day.

Beto is doing super great, at this point we're just waiting and planning his baptism for this Saturday. He's very prepared and excited. He told us the other day that he whipped out his Gospel Principles book and was studying it with his family, so that's really cool. It has been truly miraculous to see the change the gospel has made in his life. The Gospel of Jesus Christ changes people. The Atonement is real.

General Conference

General Conference was fantastic, I feel like I get a lot more out of Conference in the mission. I loved the talks by Elder Holland, Elder Bednar, President Uchtdorf and President Monson most I think. We will all have to defend our faith one day, and we will need to have courage and courtesy. It is our load that helps us to press forward and progress in this life. Instead of being grateful for things, we should all be grateful in our circumstances. What this world really needs is love. These men truly are inspired and called of God. I pray that we can all study and delve into these talks to learn and comprehend even more what our Father wants us to know in this time. I know that the same God who called them has called me to be a representative of His Son. I know He lives. 

Elder John William Garrett