26 November 2012

Hey family!!!

So transfers happened ... I’m still going to be here in Santa Barbara, Elder Hofheins is leaving.  My new companion is Elder Tincher!  He is really cool, I have known him since the MTC.  I’m so excited to be companions with him!  Things here are going to start to pick up and work is going to get done!!!  Something cool is that Elder Wenz was in the same home stake as Elder Tincher, small world!

This week we just talked to every one!  It was really fun to just be bold with every one and tell them about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ!  We met some really interesting people who actually listened! What a blessing.  I’m hoping some of the people will let us come back, hopefully!

We are working with this lady named Elizabeth, she used to smoke two packs a day but now we have her down to 3/4 of a pack!!!  She is doing great!  It is so fun teaching her about Christ and what he can do for her an actually see the miracles happen!  She is doing great and soon will be done smoking and will be able to get baptized!

Thanksgiving was so great, we had one dinner one Thursday at this huge house, needless to say it was good.  I felt kinda out of place cause it was so fancy!  But it was good.  Then on Saturday we ate another dinner at this part member families house.  We ate the NORBEST turkey and it was fantastic!  Thank you for the turkey dad, haha!  I really missed you all that day!

Things are going great, I love you all and hope things are going well with you!

Love Elder Garrett

PS ... You all should write me some letters!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

19 November 2012

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How are all of you doing?

Well this week was a wet week! It rained alot! I loved it. The only down part to it all is riding a bike in the rain on a street that really isn't big enough for two cars let alone two cars and a bike! So it's an adventure! haha. All part of serving the Lord right? haha

We had a decent week, we got a referral from a member for a part member family! It was so awesome to actually get a referral from a member and have the referral be interested!! It's a less active member that has a girlfriend and they just had a baby and are looking for something more in their life, We are meeting with them this week!!! I can't wait to help them come to the realization of eternal families! It's gonna be good!

So we were teaching this lady named Elizabeth, we teach her on her patio, and like I said earlier it was a rainy week, so we called her and asked her if she still wanted us to meet with her, She said yes! So we ended up having a lesson! The first half of the lesson was dry and everything was going well. We taught her about through Christ she can be cleansed from sin. So yeah we were reading a scripture out of 2nd Nephi  and all of the sudden it started pouring and every ones stuff was getting wet ... we didn't know what to do ... so we kept on teaching hahaha!!!!! It turned out to be a really good lesson ... but everything got wet.

We usually go do service for this part member family, but because of the rain we had to cancel. Anyways I guess the husband non member got sick and the wife was talking to him about blessings and how they can help ... so he asked her if she would have us over and give him a blessing!! So we went over and taught him about the priesthood and how blessings work, and gave him a blessing! He said that he loved it and felt really good during it! We were thinking duh ... but we explained what that feeling was and how he could feel it more. Now we have dinner with them on Saturday and he is really happy about seeing us.

I'm so grateful for all of you and all that you have done for me.  I miss you all so much and think about you often. I am going to miss you all so much on thanksgiving.  But so you know I will be eating with someone and I'm sure it will be great!!! (stop worrying mom) haha.  I hope you all have a great week and that you eat alot of turkey for me!

I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH

Elder Garrett

12 November 2012

Hello family!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This week was a long one!!!

My companion was sick and we had to stay inside all week ...... It was so boring but it was cool because I got to read the scriptures so much.  I have learned so much and I feel like I’m a better missionary because of it.  So blessings come from boredom!!

I’ve been studying the atonement.  The coolest thing I think I have learned is that while repentance takes sincere heartfelt sorrow and pain, those feelings aren’t there to have us pay Christ back for his sufferings.  It’s to show appreciation to the Lord.  For some reason this principle really stuck out to me and has helped me understand Christ’s atonement even more than normal.

I really don’t know what else to say ... things here have been good.  The weather is great!  It’s like 60 and people are freaking out because it is cold!  I’m just grateful that I’m not in Utah and in the snow!!!!! haha

I’m sorry that this letter sucks so bad.  I just don’t know what to tell you!  We have interviews with President Castro on Wednesday, I’m excited for it.  He always teaches us something so great.

Oh by the way, an Elder Stanley from Roosevelt, Utah who knows Josh Libberton is in my district!  And he says hello.  This world is a small one!

I love you all so much and I miss you tons.

Elder Blake Garrett

(Sorry I cannot get it to rotate and stay that way)

5 November 2012

Hello family!!!

Well this week had its ups and its downs ... but that's the mission for ya!

We taught a few lessons to some of our investigators.  One of them named Elizabeth is trying to quit smoking and we are helping her cut back bit by bit until she doesn't want to smoke anymore! Hopefully it works.  We have been teaching a lot about Christ’s atonement and what it can truly do for her if she uses it!  My favorite one we shared with her is when Christ is walking down the street and a lady touches his robe and is healed.  When we read that with her, her face lit up and she was so happy. The gospel really does help people’s life and will change it!

We also taught this lady who we passed over to the singles ward, named Nichren.  We taught her with the elders that cover that ward so there were four of us there.  It was powerful to have so many testimonies of the restoration!  The lesson went well and she told us that she would be baptized!  It was really good.

Oh man riding bikes here is insane!!!!  Especially because we live on the side of a mountain!!  I'm pretty sure that everywhere we ride is up hill, but that's OK with me!  I'm getting into better shape and I have been a lot happier!  I love being on bike, so much better that being in a car with air conditioning ... who needs it, haha!

Halloween was really fun!  We tried to tract but people thought we were dressed up in a costume and that we were too old to be going around getting candy!  So it didn't really work ... later we made homemade root beer and went to the trunk or treat that the wards were throwing!  I love Halloween as a missionary and I'm sad that this is my last one.  We had to be in at 8 pm and apparently Santa Barbara gets kinda crazy on Halloween!  We avoided some areas, but all around it was a great day!

So Saturday I went on an exchange with my Zone leader, Elder Foy.  I really like him a lot, he was in my district when I first came into the mission.  Anyways we worked in the singles ward (his area).  I had the most spiritual moment of my life!!!  We were teaching this young lady named Dorothy, we had the ward mission leader with us and we taught at the church.  We started sharing the restoration and things were going so well!  She was understanding, we were asking questions and sharing scriptures.  It came down to the end, when we asked her to be baptized on December 15^th and then she started laughing so loudly!  I didn't know what to do .... I was in shock.  But eventually it got quiet and she looked up and said that "she had been coming to church for two months or so and has tried so hard to have the courage to meet with the missionaries, and that she had been praying about baptism and if she should do it."  I was terrified and thought that she was going to say NO!  But she said, "One night I was praying and I heard a voice as clear as we are talking now tell me to be baptized before the end of December." It was so so powerful.  Elder Foy started to cry and I was fighting back tears and the spirit was testifying to everyone!!  So she is getting baptized on December 15th!!!  This work is so true and God is there preparing people to receive this gospel!

It was a very good week all together and my testimony has grown so much!  I love this work and I know that it is true!

I hope that everything is well with all of you and that you had a great week!!!!!

I love you all so much,

Elder Blake Garrett