This week was really good. On Wednesday I went on exchanges with Elder Vasquez in Lima and I learned a lot. That day we fixed two main goals: to teach 10 lessons with a member, and to find a complete family. We worked really hard that day and found many new investigators, but we didn't find a complete family until we taught our 10th lesson at about 8:00 pm. It was pretty incredible that in order to find that complete family we had to complete with our daily goals such as lessons with a member. It was a really fun day and I enjoyed learning from Elder Vasquez.

On Friday we had the first ward activity in the Zárate 1st Ward in probably many years. When I first got here the relationship between members and missionaries wasn't that great, but we've seen a lot of progress lately. To make a comparison, my 2nd week here we had a ward activity and only 2 people other than the missionaries came. On Friday we had about 60 people come, which was a smashing success. The Relief Society President taught the lesson and we were in charge of the games. Everyone had a lot of fun and on Sunday everyone was talking about the activity. It was a really great activity for the recent converts and investigators, as well as they were able to interact with the members. We were really happy with how it turned out.

Saturday night Brenda was baptized. She is a super family friend of the Ramirez family that was baptized a couple months ago. It was a really special service, because Julio gave the talk on baptism and testified that he knew that this is the truth. Laura gave the talk on the Holy Ghost and her testimony was really powerful. Then Hermana Hemi, Hermana Carter, Elder Fabila and I sang "Señor, te necesito" (I Need Thee Every Hour). We started off extremely shaky, but after the first part we pretty much nailed it and everyone was crying. It was great. After the baptism we went to Brenda's house and ate pizza with the Ramirez family and Mati Gonzalez (our Ward Mission Leader). 

Yesterday we met a taxi driver who is really interested in the church, is married, and has 3 kids... we have an appointment with him tomorrow.

I love you all! Thanks for writing me! Thanks for your support! Have a great week!

Love,

Elder John William Garrett

"Sigueme"

The weeks are flying by!! It is so crazy to be once again in an internet café writing home! Today I hardly have any time because we had to travel to capital so our companions who are finishing their missions could buy souvenirs, and we have to go back to Zárate in about 10 minutes. 

Brenda is progressing really really well. She is going strong with every commitment that we have given her and accepted the law of chastity and the word of wisdom very well.. Yesterday at church she was telling everyone that she is getting baptized this Saturday and she was really excited.

On Sunday morning we found some people in the street and invited them to church and they came with us! They had gone to church before in Jujuy (Provincia de Argentina) and really enjoyed it. We are going to be working with them this week.

This was a very spiritual week for me as we had a leadership council meeting with all of the zone leaders in the mission and had a zone meeting. We had an incredible experience in the zone meeting where the Sister Training Leaders of the zone did an activity. We were all blindfolded and we had to follow Sister Hemi's voice who was saying "sigueme" while Sister Carter was trying to lead us astray. At the beginning we were all in a pack and it was really hard to hear Sister Hemi and I didn't want to be led astray just by following my friends, so I decided to separate from the group. When I did I felt really alone, but after awhile I could hear Sister Hemi's voice telling me to follow her and step by step I did and made it to "the Celestial Kingdom." Everyone felt the Spirit very strongly and we learned a lot. In order to follow the Lord in this life, we need to pay very close attention, because he isn't going to shout at us to follow him. Many times we will feel all alone because our friends or those around us aren't doing what we are doing. However, if we will but have the courage to be different and to follow the Good Shepherd, he will always come looking for us. He doesn't want a single lamb to be lost. It was really hard, but when I made it to the desired destination I was so grateful for my patience and courage to be alone and I imagine that that may be what it is like in the end. This life is hard, because it is a time of trial. The Lord is testing us to see if we will but be faithful to Him. However, in the end, every sacrifice will be worth it. I love the Lord. I love His work. I love being a missionary.

Love,

Elder John William Garrett

Todo miembro un misionero

This week we had a special zone conference with Elder Zeballos from the Presidencia del Área Suramerica Sur. It was a really great conference. He mentioned that if you can speak English and Spanish, you can communicate with 80% of the members of the church, and if you speak English, Spanish, and Portuguese, you can speak with 90%.  Good thing I've got my friend Scotty, who can teach me Portuguese. I think what I most liked about the conference was something that he and his wife talked about. They cut an apple open and asked us what half an apple has to do with missionary work. When you cut an apple, it is when you can see that an apple has seeds and you can count them, but you will never know how many apples can be grown from the seeds of the apple. It's interesting that in missionary work we can see and measure some of the results of our labor, such as the number of lessons we teach, how many investigators come to church, or how many baptisms the Lord allows us to participate in. However, we will truly never know the impact that our small actions may cause. The Lord uses small and simple things to accomplish His grand purposes. I feel like a very very small and simple thing as a missionary. It amazes me that the Lord trusts so much in an imperfect, small, simple 19 year-old like me. It is such a privilege to serve the Lord full-time.

This week the Ramirez family has helped us a lot with the work! They invited their friend Brenda to their house to listen to us. She is 20 years old and has a 2 year old child named Jazmin. She is progressing really well and has a baptismal date for the 14th of March. We also met Juana, the mother of Brenda, who we feel will soon accept the message. We still need to contact Nico, Guadalupe's 14 year-old friend, and his family. The Ramirez family is progressing so well in the gospel. Julio blessed the Sacrament for the first time yesterday and it was so humbling for me to see. We met the family almost 2 months ago, and Julio has already blessed the Sacrament, they are doing family history work, and they are inviting their friends to come to their house and learn about the gospel. They are a very special family and hold a very special place in my heart.

Saturday was an interesting day. Elder Vasquez and Elder Jones called us because Elder Vasquez had had a problem and needed to go to the hospital, but they were supposed to have a baptism in a few hours. Elder Fabila ended up going to the hospital with Elder Vasquez and I went with Elder Jones to the small Lima Branch. When we got there, the pool (because they don't have a church, they meet in a house) was only half-full, and the water wasn't coming out of the hose. We ended up having to fill up the pool with buckets of water. Then it was 7 o'clock and the investigators were no where to be found. We waited and waited and finally went out to try and find them. We found them and got back to the church at 8 o'clock. Laura (28) and her daughter Sabrina (8) were baptized. Elder Vasquez was going to baptize Sabrina, and so Elder Jones asked her if it was alright if he baptized her. She didn't want him to. She wanted me to. So I ended up baptizing her. It was a fun experience.

Muchísimas gracias a todos por lo que hacen por mí. Les amo mucho y siempre los tengo presente en mis oraciones. Cuídense mucho. 

Con amor,

Elder John William Garrett

Una semana interesante

This was an... interesting week. Last Sunday while looking for a lost frisbee, I gave Elder Fabila a boost to look up on a high shelf and he fell and accidentally hit me in the head above my ear pretty hard with his elbow. My head hurt a lot, and the next day when I woke up, not only did my head hurt, but I couldn't move my neck at all. I talked to Sister Ayre and she sent me to the hospital, so we got there at about 8 pm Monday night. The doctor told me that I had a traumatismo de cráneo (not sure how to say that in English) (Head trauma). They gave me a shot (of I don't know what) and a few hours later I could move my neck a little, but it still hurt really bad. They gave me some pills to take for a few days and they told me that I had to rest 48 hours. We left the hospital at about 1:30 am, and arrived in Zárate at about 3 am. I'm doing fine now, my head and neck aren't bothering me. The best part of it is that Sister Ayre said that the mission pillows aren't good for my neck, so she told me to use some of the zone money to buy a good pillow:) The worst part of it was that we couldn't work on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday.

On Wednesday and Thursday we finally moved from the tiny apartment to a much bigger apartment. The secretaries said that it is the best apartment in the mission. It has a nice kitchen, living and dining room, with a room to study, and a bedroom. It also has 2 air conditioners, which is fantastic. It would be more fantastic if it were still summer here, but it is already starting to cool down. The bad news is that we had to finish up the moving on Thursday morning, and in the afternoon we had a bunch of meetings at church and weren't able to spend time in our area finding people to teach.

On Friday we were finally able to work in our area and we taught 15 lessons in one day. We were able to find a couple new investigators that seemed really great and that wanted to be baptized. It felt so good to finally be able to get out in our area and work.

On Saturday and Sunday Elder Fabila was sick and there weren't any members who could do divisions with us, so we were once again confined to the apartment and we couldn't work. Sunday afternoon when we were in the apartment, Elder Sanchez and Elder Lanas arrived because Elder Lanas was also sick, so he stayed with Elder Fabila and Elder Sanchez and I left to go work for 3 hours in my area, which was a nice break from being in the apartment. 

Then, last night when I got home, I wasn't feeling too great. I spent the rest of the night throwing up, so that wasn't very fun. I now feel pretty good though, so I'm excited to work hard after Pday gets over and find new people to teach! The truth is... this week was pretty horrible because we hardly got to work. It is so boring just being in the apartment. I'm really excited for this week and positive that we are going to find many people to teach!  This is the best work there is! This is the most important work there is! 

Que la fuerza les acompañe.

Love,

Elder John William Garrett

This past week was really wonderful. Elder Fabila and I are staying together another transfer as zone leaders here in Zárate, and we are really excited to keep working hard and helping our zone reach its potential. We had a really excellent zone meeting on Thursday and we could feel the Spirit very strongly.

This past week was a little rough in that we weren't able to find many new people who wanted to progress. However, we are going to keep working hard this week. On Sunday after church we cornered every member and asked them for referrals and in the end got about 20, so we're pretty excited. Our ward mission leader Mati is the best and is helping us a lot. 

The Ramirez family is progressing really well and yesterday we were helping them do some family history work so that they can take names to the temple when they go next week. They are so incredible. On Saturday Elder Fabila, Julio, and I bought matching ties to wear on Sunday which was pretty cool. He is going to bless the sacrament this week.

On Wednesday this past week the Bishop notified us that we would be having a Missionary Sacrament Meeting. The four of us missionaries and our ward mission leader had to give talks, and we did a special musical number of "We'll Bring the World His Truth." We each sang parts of the song solo, which was pretty nerve-wracking. The members said it sounded good though. I was really excited to give my talk, especially now that I have... a considerable amount of time on the mission and can speak pretty well. I planned a really great talk about the real reason of why we do missionary work, planning to talk about the creation, the fall of Adam, the Atonement, and some other thrilling topics. I was supposed to have about 15 minutes to speak... but I was the last speaker and I was left with just 5 minutes. It was probably one of the most spiritual experiences that I have had. During Sacrament Meeting I said a prayer and told the Lord that I had studied a lot and prepared a lot of material for my talk, but that I wanted Him to guide me to say what I needed to say. In the end, I gave a completely different talk from that which I had prepared. I was a little nervous walking up, but when I was in front of everyone I was completely calm, and the words just came flowing out of my mouth without even thinking. I mostly testified of the Savior using Moses 1:39, Mosíah 5:8, and D&C 18. Anyway, it was an incredible experience, and I definitely felt like the Lord spoke through me.

Thanks for all the support! I love you all! Que la fuerza les acompañe!

Love,

Elder John William Garrett

New Transfer and New Zone!

Today was transfers, and I have a new zone! Well... somewhat. Elder Fabila and I are staying together in Zárate, but there were 4 missionaries from the zone who finished their missions and a few others who got transferred, so it is a pretty new zone. We are so excited to stay together in this zone and excited to have a lot of success together! 

This past week was somewhat of a challenge in that we talked with a lot of people but no one wanted to progress in the gospel. We were going to have 2 baptisms on Saturday but they both decided not to get baptized at the last minute, so that was a bit disappointing. Oh well. There are more people that the Lord has prepared waiting for us! If there is something that I have learned in the mission, it is to be optimistic. Every day we are rejected. Most of the people tell us "no." However, all of the "nos" are worth it when someone says "sí." I know that the Lord is guiding this work and that He will guide us towards those chosen children of His, all we have to do is live worthy of the guidance of the Spirit and work diligently.

I had a couple of cool experiences this past week. On Sunday Julio received the Priesthood. It was a really special experience for the whole family, and they are still progressing really well towards their sealing goal. I love them so much! On Sunday we had the despedidas in San Fernando and I saw Joel from Pablo Nogués. He was a less-active 20 year-old. We worked a lot with him about 10 months ago and on Sunday he hugged me and said, "thanks to you guys, I'm preparing my papers to serve a mission." I also got to see Ana who we baptized in Chacabuco about 2 months ago, and her parents are getting married on Febuary 25th and are going to get baptized! 

It's a good day to be a missionary. Que la fuerza les acompañe.

Much love,

Elder John William Garrett

This week was pretty good. We are a little disappointed that we weren't able to find more progressing investigators, but we are ready to find a lot this week! This week as a zone we are going to focus a lot in expanding our circle of members to teach more lessons and have more progressing investigators. We are going to be focusing a lot on getting to know and working with more members, teaching short effective lessons with super strong commitments to see if the people really have the desire to progress in the gospel. In the past 6 months in the barrio Zárate, almost all of the converts have been children under the age of 12, and we feel that with this new focus so that they progress, it is helping us help others to become converted. It is incredible to see the difference as we focus a lot on the desire of the people to progress and we see them fulfill their commitments. There is a special spirit about them. This past Sunday a few of our recent converts had the opportunity to share their testimonies and it was really incredible to hear them testify of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon and the church.

In the first week after the baptisms of our investigators, all of them were faced with many challenges. Abril, the 9 year-old daughter of the Ramirez Family spent half the week in the hospital due to an illness that is going around. It was incredible to see that the family coped with these problems by reading the scriptures and praying together. Whenever Abril was in pain she would ask her mom to read to her from the Book of Mormon.

This week we have Antonella as a very strong possibility for baptism. She is the 19 year-old niece of an active family in the ward (her uncle was even a stake president), and she lives with the family. She has been attending church every week for the past 8 months but never had the desire to be baptized. These past few weeks we have been stopping by each day to help her gain a testimony of the Book of Mormon and it is really incredible to see the change that is taking place in her. If all goes well she will be baptized this week.

Today we had an activity as a zone and we played futbol and ate pizza. I think I'm improving with my futbol skills, Elder Fabila is helping me a lot. Julio, the father in the Ramirez family, came to play with us and had a great time.

I'm doing really well. Elder Fabila and I get along well together and we are having a lot of fun while working as hard as we can. I'm really learning a lot from him. I am grateful to have him as a companion, he is a fantastic missionary and a great friend. I'm doing all that I can to improve each day and help others become the best missionaries they can be.

Que la fuerza les acompañe!

Much love,
Elder John William Garrett