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

Day 17

First of all, thanks for writing letters to me. It's really nice to hear what's going on in the "real world." Ha, just because we are kind of in our own little world where we just study and we don't ever leave the gate except for when we go to the temple!

This has been a pretty good week. We taught three new "investigators" this week. The first one wasn't too great... because we only had about 10 minutes and so we felt really rushed and didn't have much time to talk about anything. The other two however were fantastic. Since I'm the senior companion, I've had to be the one who leads the lesson and does more of the talking I guess, and these two lessons were wonderfully. They felt so natural and I was able to just talk with the people and get to know them and feel the spirit and figure out the best message for them. Both times I was able to pretty easily communicate my thoughts and share my testimony and ask questions in the Spanish language. It is incredible to think how much I have already learned and accomplished in just 17 days! I feel really good about how I'm speaking and understanding... and then a missionary whose native tongue is Spanish comes up and talks to us and I have no idea what they say... oh well, it'll come.

 

 

Well, this is the district! From left to right: Elder Borchert (Colombia), Elder Zollinger (Buenos Aires North), Elder Garrett, Elder Stout (Buenos Aires North), Elder Valdez (Argentina Resistencia), Elder Webster (Resistencia), Elder Mossman (Resistencia), Elder Buckles (Resistencia), and Elder Stratford (Resistencia)

 

Well... the food here is actually fantastic. I had heard that it wasn't good, but whoever said that clearly should not begin a career as a food critic. We are fed so well here. I usually eat cereal for breakfast... but don't worry mom, that is the only meal that I eat cereal. Lunches are usually sandwiches or hamburgers, and whenever it is something I don't want to eat I just go to the custom made wrap bar and get anything I want. It's like Subway but... tortilla style haha. Dinners are usually fantastic as well, we've had steak a few times and stuff like roast beef and pasta and all sorts of good stuff. Hopefully I don't get fat here... I haven't weighed myself... and I don't think I've gained weight... but I'm scared to check. We usually play basketball or volleyball for our gym time so that's really fun and a good cardio workout I guess... walking around in Argentina should keep my in shape right?!

My companion is pretty great. Like I said, he's 20, and spent the past two years at West Point in the army so... he walks really fast and he just assumes I'm right behind him. He has a much easier time getting out of bed in the morning than I do, and he says that's because I don't sleep "hard enough"? I'm not really sure what he means by that... but whatever. He also sings nonsense words all the time... sometimes in Spanish... and sometimes just in English... which is fine, but it's just the same thing over and over and over and over again. 

This past Tuesday Neil L. Anderson came and talked to us and it was so incredible. The spirit that that man brought into the room was unbelievable, and I know that he is a special witness of Jesus Christ. He talked to us about love and sacrifice and it was an incredible talk. One of the memorable quotes was, "we sacrifice for the things we love, and we love the things we sacrifice for." It's a thinker for sure! Probably the best part of the devotional however was when he bore his testimony. He said something along the lines of, "I bear witness that he lives because I am his special witness." It was just really incredible and it gave all of us a big boost for the week. After the devotional got over, these security people came in and said something to our Mission President and then the Mission President got up and said we couldn't leave yet. We were all thinking, "oh no, is there a bomb or something?" Turns out it was just raining really hard and there was lightning all around us, so we sang about 5 hymns and Elder Andersen walked around and shook peoples' hands. He left when he was about 3 feet from me, so I didn't get to shake his hand, but you could definitely feel how strong his spirit was. They let us go when the lightning stopped... but it was still pouring outside so we got completely soaked. None of us thought about bringing umbrellas because it was a beautiful day when we left.

Anyway... something interesting happened this last Sunday. Our Branch President asked my companion and I to be the next zone leaders because the current zone leaders are leaving on Tuesday. We've only been here 17 days and there is another district that has been here a whole week longer than us... so... I'm not really sure why we have been called to be the zone leaders, but I am definitely humbled and excited for the opportunity to serve and try and set a good example for the other elders in the zone. 

That's about it for this week.  Everyone keep writing and tell my friends to write!

Elder Garrett

 

First P-Day

Wow, life in the MTC is pretty different from what I thought it would be. As soon as I got dropped off we took our luggage to our rooms and then went to class. The teachers only talked in Spanish. I was totally lost for the first couple days, and I really wish I had studied Spanish in high school. Oh well! On the third day we were told that we were going to teach an investigator... in Spanish. I studied pretty hard the first two days, and then when we sat down with the investigator, I didn't understand anything that we talked about. The next four times we taught him however, I was able to understand a lot more of the conversations, and I was able to answer questions and add my thoughts to the discussion. I feel like there is so much I need to learn in the language, but looking back I have already learned so much and I just need to be patient with myself. I've definitely received a lot of help from the Lord. We've been speaking Spanish as much as we can ever since day one, and it's just incredible how much growth I have already accomplished.

My companion's name is Elder Stout. He is 20 years old and he's spent the past two years at West Point. He's been taking me to the gym to lift weights a lot, so maybe I'll be muscular when I get back? Haha, I guess we'll find out. We get along really well together. The only problem is he walks really fast since he was in the army, so often times he takes off and assumes I'm right behind him when I'm not. He also sings random phrases in Spanish all the time that make absolutely no sense... haha... oh well. We work great together, and we've been learning so much. I have loved studying the gospel all the time, and it seems as if when I really study the gospel hard, the Spanish comes easier for me.

On Sunday we went to a devotional with Vai Sikahema. He played football for BYU and in the NFL, and is a sportscaster in Philadelphia. He talked about all he has done in sports and all of his achievements and his awards, but the best thing he has ever done is going on a mission to South Dakota. It was a really cool experience and really made me appreciate the importance of the work even more.

The food here is actually really good, but I still get cereal for breakfast most everyday, haha. I've seen many of my friends here. Elder Day and Elder Anderson's classrooms are in the same building as mine, so I see them quite frequently. I've also seen Elder Mollinett, Elder Rian Lucas, and Sister Smedley a couple times. We don't really get to chat for long, because we're always studying, but it's nice to see them anyway.

Since we're studying so hard all the time, it's nice to get out and exercise, and P-day today has been really nice. We got to go to the Provo temple today, and it was a really special experience.

After our devotional on Sunday we had the opportunity to watch a video called "Character of Christ," which was a talk by Elder Bednar. It is an incredible talk. It is all about how Christ was constantly turning outward and never inward, and how we should do the same. During the talk I received some great revelation as a result of the scripture in Ether 12. I came to the realization that if I could speak Spanish right away like I would like to, there would be no trial of my faith. My faith has grown a lot in the short time that I have been here, and I know that I will be able to be an effective missionary if I work my hardest. At choir practice on Sunday the choir director said something that really impacted me. He said something along the lines of, "If you're afraid you can't do your work, you're right, you can't. Thank goodness it is God's work and he is only asking you to help Him do it." It was quite eye opening for me, and I know that I can do anything with God's help. 

My district is pretty cool.  There are 9 of us and 5 are going to the Resistencia Argentina Mission, 3 to Buenos Aires North, and 1 to Colombia. We work hard and have a lot of fun together. We do our best to follow all of the rules all the time so that we can be blessed with the gift of tongues. I think it's working, because we have all improved a lot, and many of the other missionaries here are shocked that we've only been here 1 week.  If we work hard and follow the mission rules we'll be blessed.

I know that the Spirit and the gift of tongues is real, because I have definitely felt both in my short time at the MTC. The teachers told us that the MTC is second in spirituality next to the temples, and I really believe that.

Yo sé que José Smith es un profeta verdadero, y nosotros tenemos un verdad profeta en la tierra hoy. Yo sé que por medio de Jesucristo y su Expiación, nosotros podemos volver a vivir con nuestro Padre Celestial. Yo sé que Dios tiene mucho amor para nosotros, y él quiere ayudar nosotros. Se amo!

Elder Garrett

Augusto 17

Well, yesterday we taught an "investigator" for the first time in Spanish.  I didn't understand anything that my companion and he talked about.  I was pretty disappointed, because I had been speaking really well in practice.  The problem is when the investigator talks to us... ha ha.  Today we taught him for the second time and this time I understood most of what we talked about, and I was able to communicate a lot of my thoughts to him.  Whenever I get discouraged with my Spanish, I have to remind myself that I knew none before, and I've been here for 4 days.  I know I can do it and I know the Lord has been and will continue to help me be the best Spanish speaking missionary I can be.  My companion has been helping me a lot and I have been improving quite a bit.  Every night my head hurts because of all the studying.

I know that serving a mission is what I should be doing and I know that I will receive much help from God.  I mostly just need to be patient with myself.  This is very hard, just like Dad said, and I'm really grateful for his letter.  After tomorrow, I can only write letters/emails on P-Day, so I won't be able to write again until  Friday.  However, I can receive and read letters every day.