Day 69

This has been an incredible week. Last Monday was interesting. We played futbol with a bunch of kids from the ward. It was pretty much my first time playing futbol, so I didn't know what I was doing. Also, there were always people shouting stuff at me, but it's in Spanish, and I couldn't understand what they were shouting, so it was definitely a funny experience. After we got done playing futbol we played a little basquetbol. I was really excited to show them that I do play sports and dazzle them with my "skills." However, playing basquetbol with Latinos is a lot different than basketball in the MTC. They don't know the rules or anything about how to play... they think the rules are the same as futbol, they don't understand fouls, and I was confused if we were playing basketball or rugby, to be honest. Also, none of them really know how to shoot, so they would just chuck the ball at the backboard and every now and then get lucky. It was hilarious.

On Wednesday we had a meeting in San Fernando at the offices with all the trainers and new missionaries with Presidente Ayre. It was incredible. I had come to realize that I was too worried about my struggles with the language. As I was worried about this, I became more and more discouraged, and little things started to bring me down even further and further. I haven't really been happy since I got here. However, during the meeting Presidente Ayre reminded us of our sacred calling, and our right to receive revelation and divine help. He also said that we don't need to worry if we can't speak perfect Spanish, when we are doing the right things, the Spirit can testify through us just as easily as through our Latino companions. After the meeting I decided that I wasn't going to be sad and discouraged anymore. I decided that I was going to be happy, and always be smiling, and have the same enthusiasm for the work that I had when I entered the MTC. As a result, I have seen small miracles happen this week. As I'm happy and enthusiastic, I have begun to not be scared to open my mouth and speak and testify. As I'm happy the Spirit is with me more. As I'm happy I have been able to help strengthen others. Also, as I am happy I have actually had an easier time understanding what people say, and speaking with people, not only about the gospel. This meeting on Wednesday changed my mission for me. I've had incredible lessons with less-active members and investigators since that day, starting with Indio on Wednesday. We taught the Plan of Salvation, and I taught half the lesson. I was able to testify about the joy and happiness of this plan of happiness, and it was more powerful because I actually was happy and Indio was able to feel the Spirit.

Friday was quite the interesting day. We had companionship exchanges, so my companion went with the district leader Elder Buxton to his area, and Elder Buxton's companion Elder Cutipa came to my area with me. That meant that I was "in charge" of the area because Elder Cutipa didn't know his way around or the people. I don't really know my way around either... but we got around just fine. It was a really good day for me. Elder Cutipa is from Peru and doesn't know any English at all, so I was forced to speak in Spanish and try and understand what he was saying. Elder Cruz, my companion, knows some English, so when I don't understand something, occasionally he explains in English, but when I didn't understand something Elder Cutipa said, he would explain it in Spanish. It was actually fantastic, and I was able to understand a lot. Since the people in the area only know me and not Elder Cutipa, I was forced to take the lead in the lessons and talk more, and it was wonderful to see that it wasn't hard and I can communicate more than I thought. That night we also had a talent night at the chapel with the ward. It was to start at 7:30, and in Argentina I guess that means that everyone should come at 8:30. There are four of us Elders in the ward, so we shared a spiritual thought, did a couple of silly boy scout sketches that miraculously the people thought were funny, and then Elder Cutipa and I had to leave in order to get back to the pension in time. It was a successful evening though, and Carmen was able to attend and loved it, so that was good. Her baptism is supposed to be this Saturday, so we are hoping that she will feel ready, because her big issue lately is that she doesn't feel ready.

Yesterday was "el dia de la Madre," or Mother's Day in Argentina. It's kind of interesting, because in every other country in the world Mother's Day is in May, but not Argentina, here it is in October. A lot of members asked us when we got to call our families, so we had to explain that we call in May and not October. After a while being asked the same question over and over, Elder Cruz just started telling people that we already called in the morning, jaja. We had an excellent rest of the day. We taught a lesson with Carmen, a different Carmen who lives in the Villa, who is in old investigator. We talked a lot about prophets, and the Book of Mormon, and I was able to contribute a lot to the lesson. She decided that she wanted to come to church next Sunday, and she accepted a baptismal date as well. At the end of the lesson I felt prompted to tell her that we don't want her to go to church and be baptized for us, but we are representatives of Jesus Christ, and He is inviting her to follow Him. It was a really great lesson. Much later that night we went to contact a gentleman we had met a few days previously. He wasn't there, and as we were waiting we saw an older woman across the street with a dog that was staring at us. Elder Cruz wished her a Happy Mother's Day, and then she came over and started talking to us. Her name is Nelly, she's 68, and she is incredible. We shared a little bit about what we believe, and mostly just talked to her about her. She doesn't work on Sunday's, she wants to go to church next week, and she accepted a baptismal date. Incredible. All of this happened because Elder Cruz felt prompted to wish a stranger Happy Mother's Day. 

I had an awesome experience this morning. We are encouraged to pray a lot to know if the Book of Mormon is true, even if we have done so previously. I finished the Book of Mormon again this morning, and afterwards I prayed for about 20 minutes to know if it is true. I received a powerful witness of the divinely inspired book, and it was actually all in Spanish. I know the book to be the word of God. It was translated only through the power of God, through a person that was humble enough to be a tool in the hands of God. This book can help bring us closer to Christ more than anything else can.

Something cool is that I've been dreaming in Spanish for about a week now, and I am thinking in Spanish pretty much all the time. It's amazing what can happen when you decide to be happy, decide to enjoy the mission, and have a positive attitude.

Elder Garrett

Day 62

I guess technically today makes 2 months in the mission since it is the 14th, even if this is technically my 10th week. Time flies doesn't it?

I had a cool experience with personal revelation this past week. On Sunday during our daily planning session we prayed to know what our goal for numbers of new investigators should be on Monday. I received the number 3. Later on Monday we met with this man who works in the building of a member, and we asked if there were others that could join us and he said his two boys could, ages 8 and 10. We were able to teach them the first lesson and Indio was very receptive to all of it, and all three of them accepted the commitment to read and pray about the Book of Mormon and be baptized. In other words, 3 new investigators, which was the number that I received the night before. It was a pretty cool experience for me.

On Tuesday we went to the Zoo Temaiken. It is in Escobar I believe, and we had to take many buses, trains, and run a lot to catch all of them. The running wasn't very fun due to the broken up sidewalks, but we got there and all was well. We were about half an hour late to the mission conference due to trains that were cancelled, but we were able to catch most of it, so that was good. The zoo was incredible and really big. We spent 3 hours there before we left. I bought 1/2 kilo of ice cream... I shared some of it, and I don't know how guilty I should feel because I don't know how big of a measurement that is... not sure if I want to know... We didn't get back to Constitucion until around 8, so we didn't have much time to visit people which was too bad. By the time it was time to return to the pension and go to bed we were totally exhausted, but it was a fun day.

I had a cool experience on Thursday with the ward family Danilenko. They are from some country around Russia and only speak Russian with the exception of one of their children who has learned some Castellano. I'm not entirely sure why they are in Argentina, but it was a cool experience to share a message with them in Castellano, have the boy translate it into Russian, and really see that the Spirit testifies in every language.

Friday I spent all morning in San Fernando and San Isidro working on some papers to become legal in Argentina. A bunch of the other new missionaries were there as well, so it was nice to see some familiar faces from the MTC.

I've eaten some really good food lately, and some food that hasn't been too good. I'm finally used to eating a gigantic lunch and not eating dinner, so that's good. The only problem is, now when I finish my plate and feel really good about myself that I accomplished the feat I am stuffed. Then the Hermana dips me up more food. It's a challenge to eat it all, but I'm trying my best. I guess having more food than I can eat is better than not having enough food to eat right?

Carmen was able to come to Church on Sunday, and she loved it. I believe she has gone before when she was in Uruguay, but it was cool to have her come with us, and we were also able to review the first lesson with her. Right now she feels like she isn't prepared for baptism and wants to review all the lessons, so we're doing that and hopefully she will feel prepared within a couple more weeks.

Unfortunately, Gady, one of our progressing investigators, told us on Saturday that she doesn't want to meet with us anymore. She has a lot of doubts, and her mom and Jehovah's Witnesses have been telling her all sorts of crazy stuff about our church. There isn't really anything we can do other than testify of the truth and invite her to find out for herself, but right now she doesn't seem to be interested. Perhaps with time she will come to know the truth, and maybe for now we have just planted a seed.

I have really come to appreciate the importance of faith in this work and not getting disappointed or frustrated when I don't understand what people say. I find that when I try my best to be positive and happy all the time, it is easier to understand and I am able to feel the Spirit more. This is something I've been working a lot on lately.

Elder Garrett

Día 55

This was a really great week. Some interesting things about Argentina that I have discovered this past week, is that there are all sorts of extremely old, rusting cars everywhere that have just been abandoned for years and people steal parts of them. It´s kind of interesting. Also, the apple juice here actually tastes like apples, so that is really awesome, and much different from the U.S. No one follows the lines on the road, so I´m just glad I´m not driving the buses. Also, there is music from the states being played everywhere... so that´s interesting. A lot of it is the new stuff, but I also hear a lot of Elvis, and Grease is playing right now in this internet café. (and now Billy Joel)



Sister Ayre, Elder Garrett, and President Ayre at the Mission Home
 

We pretty much walk everywhere, but occasionally we take buses when we are going to an area that is a long ways away. Pretty much we are always walking though, and I´m pretty sure I´ve lost weight. I´ve had to tighten my belts, so that´s interesting. Our pensión is pretty big, but not too glamorous. It serves its purpose. We´ve got beds, so I just have my sleeping bag laid out on the mattress, and then I sleep with a sheet and a blanket on top. My companion is pretty great, he makes pancakes almost every morning, and we eat them with dulce de leche... we pretty much eat everything with dulce de leche though... that´s how people can tell that we aren´t from here. My shaver ran out of power and I didn´t have a power converter, so I didn´t shave one day and then borrowed one from the other gringo in our area. He goes home in December, and he said he would give it to me when he goes, so that´ll be nice.

 

Overall it has been a really good week. I still don´t understand a whole lot of what people say, but it´ll come, and I think I´m understanding more than the first week, so that´s definitely progress. Conference was absolutely fantastic. I got to watch it in English with 3 other gringo missionaries. It was almost like we stepped out of Argentina for 2 hours each time. We didn´t get to watch the Priesthood Session, because it is at 9 o´clock here... so that´s too late for missionaries. I think we´ll be watching it in a zone conference soon. Something funny happened this week, I had a member tell me I was really handsome, because I don´t look like a gringo. I guess that´s a good thing, but it´s also a curse, because the people here assume that I know how to speak the language because I don´t look like the other gringos in the zone who all have blonde hair and blue eyes. Oh well. 

 

 

Elder Garrett and Elder Cruz

We were supposed to have a baptism for Carmen yesterday, and Elder Cruz told me I was going to do it. I was really nervous. Unfortunately, Carmen didn´t come to conference like she said she was going to earlier in the day, so we didn´t have a baptism. Also, she isn´t going to go to church on the 20th because it´s mothers day here, so we probably won´t be able to baptize her for a couple weeks. We´re doing our best to find people to teach, but it´s difficult because once we find people that are interested, when we go to their house for the appointment, they are never there and we can´t find them again. I´ve really grown to appreciate the importance of patience in this work, because it definitely isn´t easy. I know that there are people out there who are looking for the message, we just need to find them. 

It´s starting to get warmer here.

I love you all.

Elder Garrett

Day 48- I am definitely not in the MTC anymore

I am definitely not in the MTC anymore. Also, this computer is really strange. A lot of the keys are different, and the keyboard is in Español, so it says that all of the words I am typing are misspelled... oh well.

Anywho, I arrived safely in Buenos Aires. It is actually quite cold here, and I wear a sweater most every day. Once we arrived in Argentina I realized that I really didn´t know Español like I thought I did... because I couldn´t understand anyone at the airport. After the airport we were picked up by a double-decker bus by Presidente Ayre and Hermana Ayre and the Assistants. We went on a tour of the city, went to the temple, and then to the beautiful mission home. It is really nice, much nicer than our apartment. We had a lunch of empanadas which was fantastic, and then we had a whole bunch of information thrown at us  from Hermana Ayre and the Assistants regarding the mission and such. It was so long and a lot of us were so tired from the flights that many fell asleep throughout the time. When I finally got my turn to have an interview with the mission president, it was when we had to leave really soon, so I only got about a 3 minute interview with him, which was too bad. Presidente Ayre is a fantastic mission president, and I´m really lucky to have him. Cool story, South America was dedicated for missionary work in my mission in the 20s or 30s I believe, and we went to the place where it was dedicated. In other words, yes, I am serving in the best mission in the world. After we were done with all of our meetings in the mission home we went to the chapel by the President´s house and received our companions. My companion is Elder Cruz from México. He is 19 I believe, and he has 5 months in the mission. I am pretty fortunate to have a latino companion. We then got in taxis and went to our respective areas. I am in Constitución, which is right in the capital. When I got there, we were sharing the pensión with two other Elders, Elder Cutipa from Peru and Elder Buxton from Orem, but they moved to a new pensión on Saturday. Let´s just say that when I arrived, it made me realize how spotless my room was at home. Elder Cruz and I spent a lot of time today cleaning and organizing everything so it is now clean.

Argentina is definitely not Utah. One thing that is crazy is that we usually don´t have breakfast, lunch is around 2 at member´s houses everyday, and they eat dinner around 10 here, so we only really eat one meal a day. Also, lunch here is a huge meal that lasts for about 2 hours, which is something I´ve had to get used to. The first 4 days I didn´t finish my plates because I wasn´t used to eating that much at that hour of the day, but by Saturday I was able to eat it all, so hopefully I am getting accustomed to it. We walk everywhere, and excercise every morning, so I don´t know that I´ll gain any weight here. As a matter of fact, if I gained weight in the MTC, it´s gone, because my pants are quite a bit looser than they were in the MTC. The sidewalks and roads here are interesting... they aren´t maintained at all, so they are all sorts of broken up and you really have to focus on where you walk so you don´t trip. Also, some sidewalks are kind of tiled, and some of them are loose, so when it rains, like yesterday, water gets trapped underneath, and when you step on the tiles it squirts up your pantlegs. It was quite an adventure yesterday, because you never know which ones are "trampas". We went to McDonald´s, the 4 of us in our area for lunch today, and that was interesting. I got a Triple Mac, which they don´t have in the States. Also, the Coca Cola is actually really good here, whereas in the states I am not much of a fan. Apparently the water in our pension is safe to drink, but I still filter my drinking water. I should not have complained about doing laundry at the MTC, because at least I had a washer and dryer there. Today I washed my clothes in the bathtub and they are currently hung all over the pensión drying. Also, it´s so weird, there are lines on the roads, but the cars don´t follow them, they just go wherever they want, so I´m glad that I don´t have a car and I just walk everywhere.

As I said, when I got here I could not understand anything. I still have a really difficult time understanding. I could probably respond to people if I knew what they said, but I´ve got no idea. The accent here is a lot different from the accent of my teachers in the MTC who went to México and Alabama. It´ll probably take me a while to get used to the way people speak and get to the point where I can understand them. The members are quite patient with me and do their best to help out, but the children are really tough to understand because they talk much faster, not as clear, and they assume that I understand them. Español is definitely going to be a work in progress, but I know that I can do it. It´s just kind of frustrating right now not being able to understand people like I would like to.

We´ve got quite a few investigators, but we haven´t taught a whole lot of lessons this week because whenever we go to visit them they either aren´t there, don´t have time to visit with us even though they said they would, or they have decided that they don´t want to talk to us anymore. We´re doing our best to find people to teach, and I know that there are people out there that are prepared to hear the message of the restored gospel. I know that there are people that need to hear it from me, we just need to find them, and we will. I have already had a few experiences that have been really great where I have been able to bear my testimony to some investigators and less-active members and they have said that that was exactly what they needed to hear. It is so nice to be able to help people come closer to Christ, and I´m pretty sure I´ve got the best job in the world right now.

Overall I´m healthy and happy. The Spanish will come. I love you all.

Elder Garrett

Day 38

Well, this has been a good week. On Sunday when Elder Stout and I were meeting with the Branch Presidency, we were discussing a lot about our own district, and an Elder in it who hasn't really been focusing at all and goofs off all the time. As a result, President Stewart decided to do some companion exchanges, so Elder Stout is now the companion of Elder Borchert, and I am the companion of Elder Zollinger. This is kind of an interesting situation for us, because Elder Stout and I are still the zone leaders, but we aren't companions. Oh well. It seems to be working out well though, and I've really enjoyed getting to learn from a new companion.

We had a cool experience on Wednesday in TRC. We were talking with an older gentleman, and I was able to make all sorts of connections with him and it was really fun to talk to him, and it wasn't so much a lesson about faith and prayer as it was a discussion (which is pretty good because we've been studying Spanish for about 5 weeks). After we were done with our time in TRC, our person asked us if we knew Spanish before we came here, and we told him we didn't.  He was really impressed with our abilities, so that boosted our self-esteem quite a bit. It was really cool because when we got here Elder Zollinger and I were the two elders who had no Spanish knowledge prior to the MTC, and we were able to carry on a conversation with someone for 45 minutes in the language.

 

This week we had "In-Field Orientation," which lasted from 8 until 5 on Thursday. It was really long, but really helpful, and it was good to talk more about finding people to teach and working with members and the ward (or branch) leaders. Mostly it just got me excited to leave on Monday.

 

I was able to see a lot of friends this week, which was really awesome. I see Nalany Resek a few times a week because she works at the cafeteria on the West Campus, so that's pretty cool. I saw Sister Aubrey West on Thursday at "In-Field Orientation," because she leaves this next week to go to Tennessee.   Because the orientation was at the main campus, I was really hoping that I'd be able to see Elder Scott Taylor, but I felt like the odds of seeing him weren't very good. We ate lunch and dinner at the main campus, and during lunch as I was waiting in line I was looking all over for him. Finally I found him... right in front of me eating lunch with his district. It was so fantastic and exciting to see him and talk with him for about 5 minutes. Unfortunately, neither of us had cameras so we don't have a picture of it. Last but certainly not least, as we took the bus back to the West Campus after the orientation, I got off and found Kindi Nybo waiting to get on the bus. It was so wonderful to see her even though we didn't get to talk long because she had to get on her bus. Probably the weirdest thing about seeing people that I knew from high school though is that I can only shake the girls hands. Fortunately, Elder Taylor and I were able to enjoy several hugs together.

That´s pretty much it for this week.  In 4 days I will land in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

 

Yo sé que esta obra es la obra de Díos, y yo veo tu mano en mi vida cada dia. Tengo un gran testimonio de mi Salvador, Jesucristo, y estoy muy agradecido por tu expiacion y la oportunidad que nosotros tenemos mejorar nuestras vidas y volver y vivir con Díos para siempre con nuestras familias eternas. Yo sé que José Smith fue un profeta y El Libro de Mormón es verdadero. Lo contiene las palabras de Díos, y cuando nosotros leemos este libro, podemos llegar a ser mas cerca de nuestro Padre Celestial. Estoy muy entusiasmado traer este mensaje a las personas en Argentina en cuatro dias cuando yo llego. En el nombre de mi Salvador, hermano, y amigo, Jesucristo, amen.

 

Elder Garrett

Day 31 (that's a month)

Well, today believe it or not is day 31 in the MTC. That means a month. I guess technically it is a month tomorrow since today is the 13th... but still. I've heard that the days are long but the weeks are short and that is definitely true.

We moved to the West Campus on Tuesday. I love it. Our apartments in Wyview are so nice with two bedrooms (a companionship in each), a living room, a kitchen, and our own bathroom. We go to class in the apartments at Raintree, so our classroom is in a living room. It's kind of different, but it's all good. We get to cross the street to go to class, go to the creamery every day, and go to "Brigham's Landing" on P-days. It's a lot more free over here, and it doesn't feel so much like we are locked in. Overall, it's a pretty great place. I did get a new address turns out, but my mail will still be forwarded if it is addressed to the old place. Here it is:

Elder John William Garrett

SEP 23 ARG-BAN
2023 N. 900 E. Unit 888
Provo, UT 84602

As far as the language is concerned, I´m feeling pretty good about where I am. I don´t know everything, but it is coming a lot easier to me and I am better able to share my thoughts and feelings. As I just try and listen to the investigators and ask inspired questions, I find that I don´t have to think about what to say and it just comes out, and fortunately for me it has been coming out in Spanish.

I've had some really incredible experiences this past week. Last week we got a new district, and one of the Elders, Elder Hall was having a really really tough time. He gave up a lot to be here, he's about 20 and he was never very strong in the gospel to begin with. He's really missing his family and his almost fiancée. He emailed his family last week that he wanted them to come and pick him up. Anyway, on Sunday after our Temple Walk, Elder Stout and I decided that we should talk to him. We sat down with him and talked for about an hour. He did most of the talking and we mostly listened, which I have realized is how missionary work should be anyway. If we just listen to them and ask inspired questions we will always be told what to say, and I definitely felt the Spirit talking through me during the discussion. I was able to share some things about faith and some scriptures that I didn´t know I had memorized. Elder Stout and I asked him if he would like to receive a blessing, and he said he would. I had the privilege of giving the blessing, and it was one of the coolest experiences I have ever had. The Priesthood really is the power of God and I feel very privileged to hold that sacred power. After we got done talking with him he said that he felt a lot better, and he hasn´t gone home so I think he really is doing better. It definitely wasn´t because of anything I did though, because it was quite obvious to me that the Spirit was working through me.

Another cool experience I had was on Wednesday night. Every time new missionaries come into the MTC, they have this "teaching experience," where a large group goes into a big room with an investigator. These are mostly converted members, but they are playing their own conversion story, so it is a lot more real and some of the stuff they say is stuff that is very recent. Two missionaries come in and kind of get to know them and get ready to begin teaching, and then right when it starts getting really good, the mediator pauses it, makes the missionaries leave, and turns the rest of the time over to the new missionaries to talk with the investigator. Well, Elder Stout and I were chosen to be some of the missionaries in the beginning. Our first investigator was really good, we got to know her and asked her a lot of great questions that allowed us to talk a little bit about the gospel. When we were going for round 2, it was with a person named Daniel. The sister missionaries that demonstrated with him in the first round said he was really mean and he yelled at them and that the spirit wasn't there at all and it was just a horrible experience. This gave Elder Stout and I a lot of confidence as we would be going in to visit with him in about 5 minutes. Elder Stout and I prayed a lot to feel the spirit and be able to be led with the things we said and the questions we asked. As we went in there it was totally fine. We got to know Daniel really well, we learned a lot about him, and I was really disappointed when the mediator made us stop and leave, because I felt like Daniel would be one of those golden investigators. This really strengthened my testimony on the section in Preach My Gospel that is "How to Begin Teaching," and how important the first five minutes with an investigator really is. It surprised me how much it can really make or break the experience with the investigator.

Well, yesterday I had to go to the police station to get fingerprinted. We weren't really sure what it was for, but we found out today when we went to the Travel Office that we are getting travel visas and our travel plans should be in our mailboxes today. We should get our real visas within the next three months while our travel visa is good, so... I'm going to Argentina! I'm really excited because I wasn't sure if I would be going right away.

That's about it, I love you all!

Elder Garrett

Day 24

With my new zone leader responsibilities I haven't been able to write in my journal since Monday... so hopefully I will be able to remember what has happened this week! Elder Stout and I usually spend some time each night going around to the other districts and asking them how their day was and if there is anything we can do for them. With doing that and getting ready for bed I haven't had any time to write, so hopefully I will be able to catch up today.

 

I got my first hair cut this past week and that was pretty exciting I guess. She cut my hair quite a bit shorter than I anticipated... but there isn't anything I can do about it now! The highlight of the hair-cutting appointment was definitely at the end when the hair-cutter took a vacuum hose to my head to vacuum up the hairs that had been shaved off. It was definitely a new experience.

 

Elder Stout and I seem to be getting better at teaching each time we have the opportunity. Sometimes I struggle planning lessons with Elder Stout because he is always just constantly talking and throwing out doctrine ideas and I can't feel the Spirit. Lately however, I've been able to get us more focused on the investigator, what happened the last time we taught them, what they felt last time, and what we can do this time to really help them come closer to Christ. This is something I've been working on quite a bit, and I seem to be making a lot of progress. It's hard sometimes because you think, well we taught the first lesson last time so let's just teach the second lesson this time, but we need to keep in mind that our job isn't to teach people every lesson. Our job is to help others come unto Christ, and we can't do that if we don't know what they really need in their life. Elder Holland said something along the lines of, "if we will just listen to our investigators and really focus on them, something they say will always highlight a truth of the gospel." It's hard not to be thinking about what to say next when the investigator is talking, but I haven't had as hard of a time with it as others, since that was something Andra really stressed when we were in theatre. If you focus on your scene partner, then you know how to react and your lines make more sense than if you never listen to your scene partner and you just recite your lines. I've found that it is the same way with investigators learning the gospel. Another thing I have learned a lot lately is that investigators don't know the gospel like we do, because we've been learning it since Primary. We need to be able to explain gospel concepts in very simple ways that are easy for the investigator to understand, and even more importantly, we need to help them discover how they can apply it to their lives. Yesterday Elder Stout and I had a lot of success with this, because we planned a lesson and then we completely changed the lesson when we got in there because we felt like our investigator needed to talk about prayer. It was a really cool experience.

 

The Spanish is coming pretty well now, and the things that we have been studying when we have study time without the teacher, our teacher has been saying that we won't be taught that in class until the last week we are here. It's really encouraging to know that we are quite a bit ahead of where we should be. I still can't communicate everything I want to say when it comes to teaching, but I am able to communicate quite a bit.

 

This past Sunday I got a picture with all of the Elders from Davis High, so I'll be sending that hopefully. It was crazy to see how many there really are here.

 

 

I guess some more news is that on Tuesday we will be moving to the West Campus (Wyview). My mailing address will be changing, but I'm not sure what it is yet. Hopefully I'll be able to get it to you soon, but I'm not sure. I'm hoping that mail would get forwarded over there, but I don't know about that either. It should be nice though, the apartments are a lot nicer and we will be able to go to Jamba Juice and some hamburger joint on P-days.

 

Anyway, that's it for this week, I'm over half-way done in the MTC!

 

Elder Garrett