¿Donde ha ido el tiempo?

This past week I hit the year mark, which was pretty surreal. What a blessing it is to be serving the Lord full time in "la mejor misión en el mundo, La Gran Misión Buenos Aires Norte." I'm loving so much my time here and I'm really excited for the time I have left to keep working hard and seeing the gospel change people's lives. No one can tell me that the gospel isn't true. Nothing can change lives like the gospel can. I've seen it over and over again. I know that God lives and loves us. He hears and answers each one of our prayers, maybe not when we want Him to, but the answers always do come. Jesus Christ really is our Savior and Redeemer, and He knows EXACTLY what we are going through and how to help us, if we will but confide in Him. I love Him. I know that He loves me. I love the people here in Buenos Aires. I am so grateful for all of the support that I receive from home, so thanks to all of you as well. You are all the best.

Elder Hansen and I hit the one-year mark

 

This week was great. We found new people to teach, thanks to our recent converts, and the work is going along really well. Marcelina is progressing a lot and has cut her cigarette-use down a lot. She went to church yesterday and loved it and then went to a Family Home Evening that we had last night in Hermana Gladys' house and once again loved it.

We had a miracle the other day when we went to contact a referral but couldn't find it. We mistakenly clapped a house that wasn't hers and found Lorena, who just happened to be the mom of a teenager who was baptized last year. She was going to church with her son but then she got pregnant so she stopped going. She wants to go back and be baptized. Miracles happen. The Lord really is guiding His work and leading us to the people that He has prepared. The Spirit helps me find investigators... it teaches... basically all we do as missionaries is stay worthy of the Spirit and put in the effort to work hard. It is incredible to feel as an instrument in the Lord's hand.

This week I ate an interesting Peruvian dish that is supposedly really expensive in Peru. It was some fish that was cooked in just salt water, rice, and platano, which is from the banana family but isn't banana and actually tastes somewhat like potatoes. It was pretty good. I'm pretty sure Hermana Llerena put a picture that she took of us on facebook.

Today I played ping-pong for the first time in over a year. It was a lot of fun.
 

"Que la fuerza les acompañe."

Love,

Elder John William Garrett

Aventuras con viejos amigos‏

This past week was really wonderful. Monday we got a call telling us that it would not be P-day but that we could write to our families for a short time anyway. That was because on Tuesday about 40 Elders had to go to Uruguay because they were illegal. This probably requires an explanation of how we become legal here. Due to visas taking a ton of time, the church is no longer trying to get them to be here. What we do is we come here on a 3-month tourist visa and then work on a bunch of papers to get our "DNI" or Argentine identification, making us legal citizens. They only last for a year and we have to renew them, but it's pretty cool. Anyway, the paperwork for a bunch of Elders was taking too long and their tourist visas had already expired, making them illegal in the country. The Quorum of the 12 doesn't want us to be illegal in the mission, even though the government here doesn't really care. Being representatives of Jesus Christ, it is best to be legal. So anyway, about 40 Elders had to make a short trip to Uruguay and back to leave the country and get a new tourist visa to re-enter Argentina. All of their companions got an extra long P-day to tour Capital. 

Puerto Madero

Being legal and my companion illegal, I got to spend the whole day in Capital. They gave us quite a bit of money for lunch, which was really cool. I spent the day with Elder Hansen (who is in Pacheco, and also came to Argentina with me), Elder Johnson (who was in Constitución when I was there), Elder Stout (my companion from the MTC), and Elder Davis (who was in my last zone for 6 months with me). We went to Caminito, the Boca Futbol Stadium, Once, el Obelisco, la Casa Rosada, and Puerto Madero. I had already been to all of those places when I was in Constitución, so I pretty much retook fotos I had taken 8 months ago. The funnest part was probably just spending the day with old friends. To go to Caminito and the Boca Futbol Stadium we had to pass through Constitución, and it was so surreal to be back there and realize that I still knew the place like the back of my hand. I really love that place.

I found Rafael in Capital... didn't even know there was a
 new ninja turtles movie coming out

We had interviews with President Ayre this past week. He is pretty much the best Mission President there is. What a priviledge to be serving in the world's best mission with the world's best Mission President. He's from Holiday, Utah, and at the end of my interview he asked me to remind him where I was from because he thought he heard a little bit of a southern accent. I told him I was from Kaysville and I have probably just been speaking Spanish too long ha ha. It's really hard to speak english now.

This week we met Marcelina, one of Mabel's friends. Mabel is so great. She is so happy and wants to share the gospel with everyone. She told Marcelina she wanted her to go to church and stop smoking and be baptized. She's awesome. Marcelina is probably the funniest little woman I've ever met. It is so fun to visit with her. She really wants to learn a lot and be baptized, and after teaching her the Word of Wisdom, in one day she had gone down to just 1 cigarette, and the next day she hadn't smoked at all. We asked her why she was doing it and she said that it is because God doesn't want her to smoke and she needs to be baptized. She's great. It is so incredible to me to see the way the Lord guides his work. He led us to Juan who led us to Mabel who led us to Marcelina. As a companionship we like to laugh that all of this is a blessing that comes from eating lunch, because we ran into Juan on our way to a lunch appointment.

I know that this is the work of the Lord. 

"Therefore I endure all things for the elect’s sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ  Jesus with eternal glory (2 Timothy 2:10)." This is the best work there is. I love it so.

"Que la fuerza les acompañe."

Love,

Elder John William Garrett

I'm not going to lie, this was probably the hardest week of my whole life. I'm not sure that I will fully be able to describe my feelings from this past week, but I'll do my best.

On Tuesday my companion got really sick again, so after hardly eating lunch, he went back to the pension with Elder Hansen, and I did exchanges with Elder Coyoy so we could keep working. The only problem was, we had to work in both of our areas, so we didn't get as much accomplished in either area.

On Wednesday my companion still wasn't better, so we had a member come and stay with my companion and I went on exchanges with both Elder Coyoy and Elder Hansen, which was nice to keep working, but we had to work in both areas and didn't get as much accomplished.

I was getting very stresed out, because with confirmations and baptisms I had to make sure to be visiting my investigators every day to make sure that all was well for the weekend. I had my zone leaders who were getting a little bit upset because my numbers weren't as high as usual, even though I was doing honestly all that I could. Every night I got home to the pension exhausted and had to plan all by myself, because my companion didn't even feel well enough to leave his bed.

Thursday was the 3rd day with my companion being sick, and I had to go on exchanges with members. That morning we woke up without power and without water, only adding to my stress. Also I couldn't shower, so that wasn't very nice. I did exchanges for half the day with Jonni Robles who had just gotten back from his mission to Brasil the day before (he was still speaking somewhat of a Portuguese/Spanish, so it was a bit difficult to understand him), and the other half with Alexis Robles, his younger brother. I got back to the pension a little bit late that night because I couldn't find a member that could accompany me home and I couldn't go by myself, and I had my leaders getting upset because I got home late. I arrive at home and find that we still don't have power or water. I then ask my companion how he's doing, and he tells me he's feeling pretty good. I asked him if he had been taking his pain killers and he said he had been. I asked him how many he had taken and he said 4. With those pills, he was only to take one every 6 to 8 hours, and he had taken 4 in just 12 hours. He had been in a lot of pain and had just been taking the pills whenever he felt the pain, and the member didn't realize it. That only added to my stress. Then the district leader calls to talk about how my day was and the cell-phone dies and there is no way to charge it because we don't have power.

When the cell-phone died, I just about fell apart. All week I had to fight to get out of bed in the morning because I just felt like I couldn't keep going on by myself. Every day I had been praying and really just talking with my Father and telling him that I couldn't continue, that it was too hard, that I felt just like a lost little kid. However, as I prayed I really found that the Spirit was guiding my prayers, and in the midst of all of my trials I always found myself telling Him that I knew the trials were for a reason and I would keep pushing forward, but I needed His help.

I grew a very strong testimony this week of diligence and enduring to the end. Every time when we think we just can't go any farther, that life is too hard, that we are incapable of completing a difficult task, if we just get up the next morning and keep going, the Lord will always bless us. Many times He tries us just to see if we will be diligent and patient. I also grew a firm testimony of the importance of companionships. We were called to serve in 2 for a reason. Working all week without my companion was probably the hardest thing I've ever done. I also know that this principle doesn't just apply to the mission, but to life. God has indicated that we are to go through this life in a companionship, and I know that marriage is an essential part of His plan of happiness.

The Robles Family with the missionaries

Anyway, amidst the trials and stress of the week, the weekend turned out quite lovely. Carmen was baptized, and I don't think I've ever seen a family so happy in my life. It was truly an incredible experience to see Alexis baptize his mom and see how happy they all were. Mable was also confirmed a member of the church, and Juan attended church and we are helping him so that he can be confirmed this week. I know that the Lord blesses us as we do our best to overcome challenges. I love Him and His work. Even during this extremely difficult week in the mission, I never once thought about giving up entirely and going home. I know why I'm here. I know this is His work. If it wasn't easy for Him, it won't be entirely easy for me either. I love Him.

Love,

Elder John William Garrett

Una semana de enfermedades y milagros

This past week started off with a miracle. About 5 years ago the missionaries found the Robles family, parents Javier and Carmen, children Jonny (now age 18), Alexi (16), Liz(6), and Maylen(5). Jonny and Alexi were baptized (Jonny now on a mission in Brasil), but Javier and Carmen were not. Carmen has wanted to be baptized ever since she came in contact with the church, but her husband Javier, hasn't had that same desire, thus keeping her from getting baptized. Turns out they secretly got married on July 18. We met with Carmen and she will be baptized this Saturday. We're working on Javier.  I know that families can be together forever.

Tuesday after lunch my companion, Elder Guerra, got pretty sick with the flu. The mission doctor told us to stay in the pension so that he could rest. Tuesday was a really boring day. We slept... watched some church movies... and wrote in our journals. It wasn't too eventful. Wednesday he was still sick, so we made a lot of calls and finally found two members to go on splits with us. Brother Juan Carlos stayed in the pension with my companion for 7 hours... he is about 70 years old. My companion told me that it was a pretty boring day. I went on splits with Alexi Robles for about 3 hours, and then he had to go home, so Elder Coyoy and Elder Hansen (from Pacheco 2) came and picked me up to take me with them. That was the first time going on splits with a member for me and it was probably the weirdest feeling ever to not have someone in a shirt and tie and name tag next to me. It was also a little interesting because I still don't exactly know which buses take us to our area... so we ended up taking the wrong bus and had to walk a little bit. Fortunately, Elder Guerra was better on Thursday.

On Friday, Mabel and Juan had their baptismal interviews and passed them. They were so excited for their baptism on Sunday. The only problem was that then they all got the flu. On Sunday when we passed by their house to bring them to church we found out that they had been at the hospital until 3 the night before because Mabel's grandson was quite a bit sicker than the rest. Even though they were up until 3 the night before, they were still up and getting ready to go to church when we arrived. That is... everyone but Juan. Juan didn't want to get out of bed. He said he was tired and his whole body hurt. I told him, "Juan, you need to go to church to be baptized today!" He then got up, changed, and we went to church. In the end we went to church with Mabel and her children: Juan, Roberto (who is mentally handicapped), and Maria with her two sons (one of which was still ill). It was incredible to see the faith that they had to go to church even though they weren't feeling well and it would appear that they had every reason to stay home. 

Baptism. Santiago (child of Maria), Roberto,
Elder Coyoy, Mabel, Elder Garrett, Juan 

They are a very humble family. It was honestly heart-warming to see how genuine their love is for the Savior and their desire to follow him. It was so cool to see Roberto going around and greeting every single member with a kiss on the cheek (I'm not sure if I've mentioned that, but that is how people greet each other here in Argentina. Not just guys and girls, girls and girls, guys and guys, everyone greets like that. It was pretty weird when I got here, but now it's kind of normal. I know it isn't normal in the US though. As missionaries, obviously, we greet women with a handshake.) Anyway, it was heartwarming. Then Juan and Mabel were baptized. Juan asked Elder Coyoy to baptize him because he came with me on exchanges to visit them, and Mabel asked me to baptize her. It was a really great experience. Later on that day we visited them and the whole atmosphere of their home had changed.  Juan bore his testimony and expressed his love for God and his desire to keep learning and be a missionary like us, and the Spirit was really strong in that moment. It was a great week.

Exploring Tigre

Today we went to Tigre to check it out and see what there is to see. We went with Elder Coyoy and Elder Hansen. It wasn't that cool because we didn't really know where the siteseeing spots are and it was cold and windy... but we took a few pictures anyway. We then went to a "Pizza Libre" (all-you-can-eat Pizza), so that was fun. We paid 40 pesos a person, but you are forced to buy a soda (1.25 liters) for every 2 people, and the sodas were 40 pesos each, which is a ton of money. You can buy a 2.25 liter soda for about 10 pesos, just to put it into perspective. Because they charged us so much for the soda, we made up for it by eating more pizza. I think I ate more than ever in my life. 

Pizza Libre

I hope all is well wherever you may be. I love you.  "Que la fuerza les acompañe."

Love,

Elder John William Garrett

Milagros son una realidad‏

This past week was really great. We had a really incredible miracle happen on Friday. It was lunchtime and we were waiting outside a member's house after clapping our hands for them to come out, when a man comes walking by. We smiled and said hi to him. He then asked us who we were and we said we were Missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He told us his name was Juan and he wanted us to come by his house to talk with him. That doesn't happen very much. We asked him where he lived and he gave us kind of a vague address by just telling us the street name and that he would wait for us at the corner. Anyway, we ate lunch (noodles and meatballs, it was pretty great), and then we had a few other appointments we had to go to. When we had some free time, we decided to pass by to see if we could find Juan. We met him at about 1:00 and passed by at 5:00 due to the other appointments. He was still waiting for us. When he saw us he told us he thought we weren't going to come by. He took us to his house and told us he had told his mom that we were coming by and she was really excited. We met his mom, Mabel, and it turns out that she had been visiting her mom in Tigre and had been meeting with the Sister Missionaries there. She was going to be baptized but then her grandson got sick at home in Pacheco and so she came back home. She told us she feels like God put us in Juan's path so that she could keep learning and so that she could be baptized. She has a baptismal date for this Sunday. Juan is really great also and really loves to learn, and he also has a baptismal date. Saturday when we passed by for another appointment with them they were there waiting for us and really loved it. We had made plans to pass by for them to bring them to church at 8:15 on Sunday... and when we passed by at about 8:10 we found Juan in the street and he told us he had been waiting for us for about 20 minutes and thought we weren't coming...haha. They loved church. 

I have a strong testimony that this work isn't mine. It is the Lord's. This experience really confirmed that for me. He is preparing people to receive me. He is also preparing people to receive each and every one of you. This morning I was studying President Uchtdorf's Priesthood Session talk from this past Conference titled, "Are You Sleeping through the Restoration?", and my favorite part is this:

"This is one of the most remarkable periods of the world’s history! Ancient prophets yearned to see our day. When our time in mortality is complete, what experiences will we be able to share about our own contribution to this significant period of our lives and to the furthering of the Lord’s work? Will we be able to say that we rolled up our sleeves and labored with all our heart, might, mind, and strength? Or will we have to admit that our role was mostly that of an observer?"

I encourage each and every one of you to pray for experiences to share the Gospel. The Lord is preparing people for you. This is His work. This is His church. This is "[His] work and [His] glory-- to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." President Uchtdorf states, "There is too much at stake for us as individuals, as families, and as Christ’s Church to give only a halfhearted effort to this sacred work."

I love you all very much.

"Que la fuerza les acompañe."

Love,

Elder John William Garrett

 

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, on Tuesday we had a special devotional in Vicente Lopez with the whole mission. It was a great meeting and we talked a lot about miracles. Towards the end of the meeting we talked about how here in La Gran Misión Buenos Aires Norte, we know how to "get the ball in the net scoring the goal of a baptism"... something like that. Anyway, we then ate hamburgers and watched the Argentina/Switzerland game on a big projector screen. It was pretty cool. Luckily Argentina won and we won on Saturday so we are now in the semifinals of the world cup. It's nice when we win... because then everyone is happy and willing to talk to us.

 The fantastic 4 (Elder Fuentes, Elder Garrett, Elder Popoca, and Elder Johnson)
watching the world cup

So, unfortunately, the baptism of Edgar fell through because he goes to Constitución every weekend to be with his mom. However, on Wednesday we met a woman named Cynthia, single mother of a 10-year-old son and 6 month old daughter. About 7 years ago she talked with the missionaries and read quite a bit of the Book of Mormon... but just didn't feel something she wanted to feel. She told us she really wanted to try again, and she told us that she wouldn't be able to meet with us until Saturday because she was really busy all week. When we passed by on Saturday she had been in the hospital all day with her daughter, and had hurried home to be able to meet with us. Good sign right? We got to know her a little bit and then started teaching. She is honestly golden. She had attended many churches in her life, but always felt that something was missing... she just didn't feel right. As we taught her the restoration, she was able to feel the Spirit so strongly that she had tears in her eyes, and told us she feels like she's found the path. I know that the Lord is who is preparing people for me to teach. I really don't do anything, the Spirit does all the work. It was a great lesson, and she is really excited to learn more and go to church. Unfortunately, she had to take her daughter to the hospital yesterday morning and was unable to go to church this week, but she committed to going this week.

So, yesterday we had the farewells in San Fernando for the missionaries that are going home. I was able to see a ton of friends from my time in Constitución, and the highlight was seeing Olga. Olga was married, had Graciela, got separated from her husband and got together with a guy named Dani and had her son Dani. Anyway, I had the privilege of baptizing Olga, Graciela, and Dani when I was in Constitución, and we saw Dani, the dad, every now and then, but he wasn't living with them. We always invited him to participate in the lessons, and he usually accepted.  I remember him jokingly offering me some wine on Christmas Eve.  Yesterday Dani, the dad, was in San Fernando, and I found out that he was baptized last week. Olga is working on getting divorced from her first husband, and she is going to get married to Dani and they are going to work towards getting sealed. I don't think I've ever been happier. The church is true.

 

Dani and Olga :) Families can be together forever

I love you all.
Elder John William Garrett

Una semana llena de locos

Well, this week was pretty great. Fortunately we made it through the week without hospital trips. We were able to find many new investigators this week who accepted baptismal dates. Unfortunately, yesterday morning it rained... and... well... no one leaves their houses when it rains here. However, we have many investigators who are very promising. We met a sweet old lady named Ines this past week who was so grateful that we gifted her a Book of Mormon. She has been reading it every day and she really loves it. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God.

We found a teaching record of a woman named Martha that we visited this past week and she accepted everything. She and her mom attended church in the past, and we are really excited to work with them this week. We also contacted a family friend of the Gomez family this week and found a woman named Cynthia who met with the missionaries about 12 years ago and read the Book of Mormon with something like 15 family members, so we're really excited going into this week, and I know we'll have a lot of success.

It's proving to be quite the experience being a trainer, because I've been forced even more to take the lead in... well... everything. It has really been a confidence booster as the Lord has shown me, that if I trust in Him, I can do anything. He's shown me that if I open my mouth, He will fill it with the words the people need to hear. He's shown me that I don't need to feel insecure about my Spanish, because He can bless me with the gift of tongues. He's shown me that if I trust in Him and follow the promptings I receive, He will guide me to the people that are waiting for me and my hijo. As says my mom's favorite Primary song, "He gave me my life, my mind, my heart: I thank him rev'rently for all his creations, of which I'm a part. Yes, I know Heav'nly Father loves me."

So... we had some pretty funny experiences this week... the first was with this old man named Juan who greeted us really excitedly in the street, so we decided to talk to him. He started preaching to us and a whole bunch of things. He told us some stories very animated-like and it was probably funnier when I was there... but I'll tell you anyway. The funniest was when he said "'Che Juan,' me dijo, 'vamos a decir 'amen' todos juntos muy fuerte!' 'Sí Pastor' le dije, 'uno...dos...tres...AMÉN!'" When I told him we had to go, but asked if we could leave him with a word of prayer he told me, "NO, no tenés que pedir permiso para orar, tenés que decir VAMOS A ORAR HERMANOS" haha... it was probably funnier for my companion and I than for all of you... but yeah. The other time we were walking in the street and this guy yells to us to stop. He starts running after us and I thought, "oh great, we're going to get robbed"... however, the guy came running at us with a Bible in his hands. He asked us if we had anything to gift him to read, so we gave him a pamphlet about the Restoration. He then said a whole bunch of things like, "Tenés una novia? Las chicas son bonitas no cierto? Hay chicas en la iglesia? Puedo ir a la iglesia? Puedo vestirme así con camisa y corbata? Te dan ropa en la iglesia? Yo quiero una placa así con mi nombre también." Hey friend, I ask him, where do you live? "Por ahí! En una casa! Con mi hermano! Maxi! Yo vivo en mi casa!" Then my companion told him we had to go and he asked if we would pray for him, so my companion said a prayer, and when he finished, he started hugging us one at a time and saying "te quiero mucho amigo, te quiero mucho." When he was coming at me I thought he was going to kiss me on the mouth... so I had to turn my head and kind of give him a hug. Unfortunately I was unable to escape the kiss on the cheek... it was a pretty crazy day. I'm pretty sure he was drunk.

Anyway, I hope all is going well in the US, Brasil, Taiwan, Las Filipinas, México, Francia, wherever y'all may be.

Love,

Elder John William Garrett