This week was quite a week. On Tuesday we had to go to the hospital because Elder Guerra had an appointment to check on something. All in all it took out 6 hours of our day because Zárate is pretty far away from everything. The cool thing was that we got to eat lunch at a nearby Subway, which was delightful.

On Wednesday I got to go on exchanges with Elder Caifual in my area. Elder Caifual has been out on the mission for 3 months. He is from Chile, and is a fantastic missionary and friend. He has a lot of energy and is really grateful to be a missionary. I learned a lot from him and enjoyed the day a lot.

On Friday we had a special meeting with the Stake President, Presidente Frias and Presidente Ayre to talk about the missionary work in the stake. The meeting was in Baradero, so President stopped by to pick us up and take us there in his car. He also brought my ex-companion  and great friend Elder Fabila to accompany him, so I got to spend a while with him again, which was great. After the meeting, President brought us back to Zárate and he left Elder Fabila with us, so I got to do exchanges with him! My two companions, Elder Núñez and Elder Guerra, worked together and I got to work with Elder Fabila again! It was so much fun and so great to be with him again. He did the baptismal interview of Ezequiel and he passed it. 

Ezequiel,  Elder Núñez, Andrea (his mom), Elder Garrett and Elder Guerra

Ezequiel was baptized on Saturday and confirmed on Sunday. It was a really great baptismal service and there were even refreshments! Woohoo! We baptized and ate cake, it was great.

Well, that's about it for the week! Que la fuerza les acompañe!

Love,

Elder John William Garrett

La Gran Misión Buenos Aires Norte

This last week was a little difficult here in Zárate 1. Every member that was supposed to accompany us this week fell through. Almost every appointment that we had fell through as well. However, all is well. The work continues.

We've been working a lot with a less-active member named Andrea these past couple weeks. She was baptized last year and was really faithful until her brother died and she got really sad and depressed and stopped coming to church. We've been helping her and her family come to church again, and teaching her son Ezequiel at the same time who recently moved in with her. The family is progressing a lot and Ezequiel really loves reading the Book of Mormon and went to mutual this past week with the young men. He is preparing to be baptized this Saturday.

We have also been working a lot with Paula and her daughter Julieta. Paula was a former investigator of mine from my time with Elder Fabila. We had stopped teaching her basically because we could never find her at home. Last week we found her in a member's house and set up an appointment with her. While as her time was not when Elder Fabila and I were teaching her, it appears that now is her time. She is progressing a lot and is really excited about everything. Her daughter Julieta is also progressing really well and they both went to church yesterday. Julieta and Paula are even inviting their friends to listen to us and come to church.

We've been hitting it pretty hard with exercises lately, running every day and lifting weights, so that's been fun. I guess that is what happens when your companion goes home in a transfer haha.

I love you all!

Elder John William Garrett

La Gran Misión Buenos Aires Norte

Semana de Records

This week we decided to try something new to get the whole zone really pumped up and excited. We asked the secretary to send us the records of each area of lessons taught to an investigator with a member present. We then energetically pitched the idea of breaking the records this past week. I'm not going to lie, some of them were really high, but, as we always say, "nosotros ponemos nuestros propios techos, el Señor no pone techos." Basically meaning that we set our own limits, in missionary work there really aren't limits, we can accomplish what we put our minds to. At the end of the week the majority of the areas had set new records. It has been pretty incredible to see the blessings that have come by pushing ourselves as much as possible. We're really pleased with how the zone is doing and know that they have realized that they can really do whatever they set their mind to, we look forward to more success in the future. 

We had a pretty good week in our area. We were working really hard and talking with a lot of people, but in the middle of the week we decided we needed to be more effective, so we went to visit a few less-active members and recent converts and immediately found 4 new investigators who accepted baptism. 

We have been working a lot with a less-active member named Andrea. She has 5 children, but only 2 of them lived with her. This past week one of her other children (Ezequiel) moved in with her and he told us he wants to be baptized. He's really excited and is always reading the scriptures, going to mutual, and is excited to be a missionary some day. 

Making empanadas

I love you all! Thanks for everything!

Love,

Elder John William Garrett

La Gran Misión Buenos Aires Norte

Wow, what a week. This week we worked really really hard. Our ward mission leader Matías Gonzalez came with us almost every day and we contacted a lot of his referrals and found a lot of great people to teach. We taught a lot of lessons this week, and talked with more people than ever before.

On Wednesday we had the Leadership Council Meeting in President Ayre's house and it was great. I got to see Elder Fabila again and it was great to see him. He did a lot for me and we're great friends, I'm sure we'll stay friends for many years. After the meeting got over, Elder Núñez and I got a surprise and it was... a new companion! We are now in a trio. Our new companion is Elder Guerra, who was my companion about 9 months ago in Pacheco. They closed his area for some reason and sent him with us and his companion with the zone leaders in Vucetich. It's taking a little getting used to, it's the first time I've been in a trio in my mission. It's a little interesting as well because he isn't a zone leader, but we're doing our best to really include him in everything we do so that he can be a great leader in the mission in the future. 

Elder Guerra, Elder Garrett, Elder Núñez

Due to us now being in a trio, that allows us to talk to a lot more people during the day, which is great. We decided that if we three are all teaching the same person with a member then there are just too many of us and we make them feel really pressured, so while one of us teaches someone with a member, the other two go and talk with as many people as they can around them to keep finding new people to teach. We taught a lot of people and found a lot of new investigators this way, and we're excited to keep working hard and inviting everyone to come unto Christ. Unfortunately, we were expecting a lot of investigators to come to church on Saturday and Sunday and no one came. However, we're not discouraged and are going to keep working hard this week to find new people to teach.

On Friday we had interviews with President Ayre and afterward had exchanges with the assistants. I stayed in my area with Elder Pereira and Elder Guerra while Elder Núñez went to the offices with Elder Fabila and Elder Stout. It was a lot of fun and I enjoyed working with and learning from Elder Pereira.

This past week I spent quite a bit of time contemplating on and writing questions for the coming General Conference. All of my questions and concerns were talked about in conference. I know that the Prophet and the Apostles and the Seventy and that every calling in the church really comes directly from God and that God speaks to His children through His servants. I know people always encourage others to write questions before conference, but I had never done it before this last one and it was incredible how all of my questions really were answered. I invite everyone to do it. I know God lives and loves us. I know that His Son Jesus Christ resurrected on the third day and that He lives. He guides this, His only true church. He loves us. I know He does. I have felt His love every day over the course of my mission. I know He lives.

Today we went to San Pedro with the zone and had the best Pday ever. We played futbol (like always) but then played games with eggs due to Easter. We played catch with eggs and kept getting farther and farther until the last egg was drop. Elder Guerra and I won. Not that it was a contest though. We also raced with an egg on a spoon held with our teeth. It was fun. Overall it was a smashing success because everyone participated and had fun. 

I love you all! 

Love,

Elder John William Garrett

La Gran Misión Buenos Aires Norte