24 June 2013

Hi family!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So the emailing schedule here is going to be a little different.  I will be emailing somewhere between 12 and 2 so don’t freak out if you don’t get it sooner, haha.

So the new area is really nice!!!!  I’m really liking it and my companion.  He is from Tampa, Florida and has been out 6 months!  He knows what he is doing though so that is really nice, I don’t like having a companion who doesn’t know how to teach or talk to people.  So all in all things are going great!!  We don’t really have any investigators but soon we will!  This up-coming week we made a goal to find a family.  This area has been slow for a while, it needs something positive to happen!

My companion was asked to go around and work on the cars for the new mission, so we got to go around with the assistants all Saturday and see all the elders and sisters.  It was really cool!  We also got to meet the new assistant that came in from the other mission and see the new mission office!  It was a really fun day!

Oh yeah we share this ward with another set of elders.  It’s cool!  We get to focus on a smaller area, which is really nice!  We are in a car so the heat isn't too bad here.  The dinner appointments are really fun with all four of us!  It’s almost like we are on exchanges with the other elders.  I really like it. 

The district here is small there are only six of us.  The four in my ward and then there are two about 45 miles away from us ... in the mountains.  So we don’t see them that much.  But I’m really excited about it!!!

We got sick!!! That was fun! Haha, but we are both doing better and we made it through it!!!

I realized a lot about the new mission, that it is going to be a very, very successful mission.  The missionaries that are here (in Bakersfield) for the most part are really young.  They know how to do the work and have gotten most of the baptisms for the mission.  So this mission is going to be a very good one!!  I’m glad that I’m here and get to see a part of it!!! 

Well family I love you and hope that you are doing well!!! 

Elder Garrett

Note:  Since Elder Garrett is going to be in a new mission his address will be changing.  Here is the new address:

California Bakersfield Mission

3512 Coffee Road, Suite B

Bakersfield, CA  93308

17 June 2013

Hey family,

Well I am getting transferred ... to Bakersfield ... so I guess that I’m staying in the Bakersfield mission!  That is cool, I’m going to get to start a new mission! I’m going to College Heights ward, it’s in the same stake as Tehachapi.  My new companion is Elder Alverez, he was trained by Elder Wenz!!  I have been in his district before, I’m excited to work with him!

The other thing is that my companion is also getting transferred ... he was really mad about it.  I personally think it will be a good thing for this area.

We found a new guy to teach, right as we were leaving ... haha.   His name is Doug, he called Salt Lake asking for us to come by and teach him.  He came to church yesterday and loved it and now he is reading the Book of Mormon.  He is really prepared and ready for the gospel. 

Oh yeah I got called to be a district leader.  It really surprised me!  Around 9:30 last night the assistants called and asked me to be one.  I’m going to be in a district of 8,  I know most of the missionaries in the district so that will make it so much easier.  But I’m excited to see what happens.

Not much new is happening ... I’m excited to go to my new area, it’s going to be a good change. I’m really sad to leave Tehachapi though, I have come to love the people here in a way that I didn’t know I could.  This place has changed my life. 

Well family I’m so sorry this is short but I have to go do laundry and pack ...

Hope all is well with you!!!

I miss and love you all!!!

Elder Garrett

10 June 2013

Hi

Another week is gone and I’m amazed how fast it went!!!  Time seems to have just gone away, for example the other day were out visiting less actives and I looked at my watch and it was one in the afternoon then all of the sudden I looked at my watch again and it was four!!! It blew my mind haha. Time is an interesting thing on the mission. 

We still did tons of service this week.  We moved branches for this old man for around a hour, he was really nice.  His wife died about two years ago and you could tell that he really just wanted someone to talk to so, we sat there for about 40 min or so just talking about his family and his life.  He is a really nice guy and I’m glad that I was able to talk with him.  I really felt the spirit and I recognized that Christ did the same thing when he was on earth and if he was here right now he would be doing the same thing.  It was a good feeling to feel like the savior!

We finally, after a month, were able to sit down with Reed (the one who came to church a month ago), we taught the restoration and it felt like he was teaching us, we would ask a question about the point we wanted to talk about and he would share his feelings and it would be the exact same thing we were about to share with him, so we shared some scriptures to back up the things we shared and he loved it and told us he thinks it is true!  We asked him to get baptized but ... he said he wanted to wait for his family (they were out of town) to set a date, but he really wanted to get baptized ... I was so excited to hear that!!!  I hope that he really does and that his family accepts it too!!  Because this family really needs the gospel, they would do great in this church. They have two little kids, I think they are 6 and 4.

Next week is transfers. I’m excited to see what mission I’m going to be in. I really would like to go to the coast again I miss that place!!!

We moved this lady Saturday.  We showed up and nothing was packed ... my heart broke!!  But thankfully we just had to move the big heavy stuff.  The hardest part of the whole thing was moving the stuff around the big things.  So it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be.  The lady was really glad that we showed up and moved the stuff she couldn’t.  It is always nice seeing the joy that comes from service and I’m convinced that the person that serves gets the most out of it, as of late I feel like a different person through service, I feel closer to the Savior and I feel closer to the people.  It is a great principle!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I hope things back home are going well, things out here are good!!!

I miss you all and love you tons!!!!

Elder Garrett

3 June 2013

Hi

This week was a long one!!!!!!!!

Once again we did so much service which kept us really busy!!!  On Tuesday morning we went and helped some really old lady move, Wednesday we went and helped clean up this guys back yard, Thursday night we went with the priests quorum and helped clear up this widow’s property, it was fun! 

I really like the priests in the ward, most of them are getting ready to go on their mission so they like to spend time with us and ask us a lot of questions about the mission and what it is all about!

So we went by this potential investigators house, his name is Adam. We knocked for a little bit and finally this lady opened the door, it was his mom!  At first I was kinda worried she was going to get really mad at us for knocking on her door so much, but she was really nice!!  We talked to her about what we had already shared with her son and that this is a message for families. So she asked us to come back.  Oh and the reason we couldn't talk to Adam is I guess he got jumped and is really messed up.  He was walking down the road with his ex and some dude came up and punched her, and then he punched Adam ... it was really sad to hear about.

We went on an exchange on Saturday.  We went with our zone leader Elder Belchoir, he is from Mozambique!!  He is a really good missionary!  I learned a lot from him about the resurrection and the priesthood.  Oh and he is going to be going to BYU so I told him to stop by and say hello, so don’t be freaked out when there is a guy from Mozambique on the door step soon!  He will be there for summer semester.

I got the two packages full of cookies ... thank you!  I shared them with some other missionaries and every one really liked them!!!

I taught gospel principles again this week, it was on baptism.  It was nice because the nonmember that was there last week was there again.  He had been asking me about baptism and the need and importance of doing it in this church last week.  So I was able to help him clear up some misconceptions on why we do baptisms and why it is needed.  After class he came up to me and said "soon".  I was so happy!!!  I love this man and would love to see him make covenants with God!  I pray all the time that he will have his heart touched by the spirit, I think my prayers may have been answered yesterday :)

Well family, I love you and I’m glad that I’m part of your family!!!  You are a good one :)

Elder Garrett