29 October 2012

 Baptism in Santa Barbara

HOW IS IT GOING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well this past week was so so good!  We had two baptisms!  It was really humbling to see a mother and a daughter come into the church together and make a covenant with God!!  It was so so cool. Yesterday after their confirmation they were actually glowing, and you could tell the difference the spirit really made in their lifes.  Everyone at church was complementing them on how they looked like angels and they were radiating the spirit.  It was a really good past two days.

I'm loving Santa Barbara, the people here are really nice but they also really need the gospel too!  haha. Halloween is in full effect here.  People are running down the streets in costumes already!  Last Friday we were being followed by this giant bunny ..... for like a block and a half ... it was really funny!   Oh the things that happen in Santa Barbara!!!! It’s so fun here!

We have this couple that we are working with, we are doing service for them, what we are doing is basically re-doing their back yard that used to be this beautiful garden.  It’s a lot of fun and a lot of hard work.  Last week we were shoveling dirt for what seemed like forever!!!  We leveled out part of his yard so we can put down a path way to his garden.  But the really cool part of this story is that the husband in the couple isn’t a member.  We have been teaching him the restoration while doing service for him!  He committed to read the Book of Mormon and is excited about it!  Now we just got to get him to church!

It’s hard work here in Santa B, tracting and talking to people really doesn’t work that well .... SO FRUSTRATING!!!  But we are gaining the trust of the ward members, yesterday we got a really nice complement from the bishop about the work we have been doing!  I hope that we will be able to see some referrals from it!  The work here in Santa Barbara is going to explode here soon, I have a feeling!  I can’t wait!

I’m doing great here in paradise, things with my companion are great, and the things with the ward are going fantastic!

I love you all!

Elder Garrett

22 October 2012

HELLO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Santa Barbara is just like the movies .... all the rich and famous people live here or come and shop here on State Street!!  It’s interesting sharing the gospel with someone who possibly could own a billion dollar corporation ... but everyone needs the restored gospel!!

Elder Hofheins is my companion, he is from Beaver, Utah.  He has been on his mission 9 months now and is a really good missionary.  We get along well so far haha. 

We have a baptism this Saturday!!  Actually two baptisms this Saturday!!!!  It’s a mother and a daughter their names are Vivian and Shaba, they are from Nigeria!!!  So so cool!  They have been living the gospel for years!!!  So once they heard about the restored gospel they ate it up and believed it before they even prayed about it!!  It is interesting how I have only known them a week but I already love them sooooo much, they are both very special people and are going to be fantastic members.

We also have this couple, Linda and Keith, we have an appointment with them on Thursday this week, they are solid as a rock and called us almost crying because they couldn’t make it to church!!  It was nice to see someone who cares about the gospel and wants to embrace it.  It’s going to be good!

So right now I’m emailing you from a mac store on state street!  haha there are so many people here, but it is really fun and a new experience!

Oh I live with a member, his name is Bob!  We live in an apartment under his house.  The place is called the hobbit, the ceilings are only like 6.5 feet high, and some places only 6 feet high ... I have to duck or I dome myself!  (yes I'm getting a little taller!!!)  I really like living with a member!  It’s like having a safety net just in case something goes wrong you know?

Well family I love you all!!! 

Mom and Tracy, enjoy Jamaica and congratulations!!

I miss you all so much and will write next week!!

Elder Garrett

15 October 2012

HELLO!!!!!!!!

So I'm getting transferred!  I'm going to SANTA BARBARA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm not really sure how to spell my new companions name but I think it is Elder Hoffines.  I will let you know next week some time!

I am sad to leave Santa Maria though, I have grown to love this place and the people!  I am so surprised how much I have grown to love this place in such a short time!  It’s going to be hard to leave but I'm sure I will grow to love Santa Barbara just as much!

Things this week were great!  We found a new investigator named Mike.  We knocked into him and before we even could say anything he asked us to come in and talk to him.  It was nice!  He is a Catholic and has questions ... one of the questions was why are there so many churches and is there one of them that is true!  We taught him the restoration and we left him the Book of Mormon and he was so excited to read it!  I hope that he actually does and takes to heart the promise found in it!  I know if he just trusts the lord enough and listens to Him he will be able to know for himself if it’s true!  It is such a good feeling to know that I'm part of the true church of God and that I'm helping others come unto Him!

We also taught Gabriel, he is doing great and actually is progressing!  It is nice to see how excited he is about the book of Mormon.  He read the introduction and first Nephi chapter one. He really liked it and said he can’t say that it’s not true and he can’t say that it is yet but he is willing to find out if it is or not!  I hope he continues to progress!  He said something interesting as well, that ever since he was young he always wondered if Christ was only the Christ of Jerusalem.  He said he had a feeling that he wasn't and that he is everyone’s Savior!  I'm so happy for him that he has found an answer to a life-long question he has had! 

So the Book of Mormon has done some pretty amazing things for people!  I'm so humbled and happy that people are willing to allow it to help them in their own life!  It is so great to see people read the book and to learn how they truly can come closer to Christ and to see what they are willing to sacrifice to do so!  Being a missionary is such a blessing and I'm so glad that I'm serving the Lord!

So what are the plans for Halloween??????

I love you all and hope that things are going well for you!!!

I miss you tons!!! 

Love Elder Blake Garrett

8 October 2012

Hey,

Well conference was amazing!!!!!  I can’t believe that missionaries can head out so early!!  That is so exciting.  There will be so many more missionaries now!  The work of the Lord is going to progress so much faster!  I'm excited to see the blessings that come from this revelation!  I just hope that I don't have to be companions with one of the 18 year old!! ha ha.

We got a referral!  Nell, she has been to church and felt the spirit tell her that she needs to be baptized and she apparently watched conference and loved it!  We also found out that she wants a young man who is leaving on his mission in November to baptize her!  So things are going to be picking up in this area really soon!  I really am excited to start meeting with her and help her faith in Christ grow and help her grow a relationship with Him!  There is no greater feeling than helping someone come to the true knowledge of Christ’s gospel!

Last night we went to this family’s house for dinner, they live about 50 miles east in the mountains... It is a fun drive!  It is mostly canyon roads and some dirt roads!  My companion didn't like it as much as I did though!  But here is the cool part we had GOAT TACOS!!!!  The family raises goats and sheep.  It was really good!!  Apparently they slaughtered the goat on Saturday and cooked it over a fire on Sunday morning and we ate it Sunday afternoon!  It was so cool.

So after priesthood session, this member Bro. Keck came up to me all excited and happy and said "I want to introduce my son-in-law... PARKER GARRETT...."  I was about to pass out! ha ha.  It turned out that it’s not the Parker that we know!  It was just funny!  My mind was going crazy!

Well I want to end this email with two things ... First, take to heart the things Elder Holland said! Ask yourself if you love Christ and then do something about it!

Second! WRITE ME SOME DANG LETTERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

I love you all and I hope all is well with you!

Your son, brother, and future step son ha ha

Elder Garrett

1 October 2012

HELLO FAMILY

How’s every one doing???

  

Things out here are going great! Tuesday we were able to go to the temple!!!!!!!!!!!!  I love that place.  The peace found in there is amazing and indescribable.  Sorry I forgot my camera today so I won’t be able to send pictures ... but next week I will. The LA temple is huge! I really like the Moroni on the top too. The only problem is the traffic on the 405 ... wow.  It is nice to get that spiritual rejuvenation!

The work is starting to pick up again! It seems like we will have a good week and then a bad week, and then a good week, and then a bad week, and then a good week ... you get the idea!  So I’m hoping that this coming week is a good one as well!  We got a referral from the bishop in our ward.  It is a lady named Nel, she went to church last week and said that she loved it and asked bishop when she could get Baptized!!!  We haven’t had the chance to meet her because she has been sick and out of town, but I’m really praying that this is the person that we have been looking so hard for!

I have been reading the New Testament a lot lately.  I love the stories of Christ!  I have really come to recognize how He has truly set the perfect example in all things ... not just how to treat people, but how to teach, how to act, and how to search for the spirit! I have a deep love for the Savior, He is amazing!  I love Him!

Yesterday at church this lady in the ward bore her testimony on personal sacrifice.  She explained that the only way to really receive all the blessings of heaven is to sacrifice enough to become humble.  I have heard this a thousand times over the past year but for some reason this Sister’s testimony really touched my heart.  I felt the love of the Savior and I know that I’m doing what the Lord wants me to be doing because I’m sacrificing, and I can feel the love of the Lord and I feel his blessings.

I’m so excited for conference this weekend!  I know that something special is about to happen!!!  The prophets of the Lord are going to tell us what we can do better, they are going to tell us how we can feel the Lord more in our life, we will be told how to truly feel happy!  I can’t wait to listen and feel the spirit!

Well family I love you so much!  I hope you know I miss you and I pray for you every day!!!!!!

Love Elder Garrett