December 14, 2010 - Week 70

Good Morning Everyone!

Well I just got my 12 days of Christmas package. I set up my tree and my presents and hung up all the ornaments of our family. That was so neat. I can't believe how much everyone has changed! We are all getting so old. It was great. I spent all morning putting it up and reading the notes.

Well this week has been a good one. My week always changes depending on how I feel today haha. We are still doing our best to find new investigators this week. Many of our current investigators just aren't progressing and for many, it is time to move on. It is always sad when you have to make this decision. We will still keep in contact when we have the time, but I don't know if we'll make them a priority. I went on a couple exchanges this week. One was with Elder Schneider. I went over into their area and guess what....its a biking area! Oh Gheez! The dreaded bike. You will not believe how many hills there are in Vancouver too. Nothing is flat. And to make things even harder, it was the rainiest day of the year so far. Elder Schneider and I rode as rain is just pounding us in the face. We were drenched! It was actually a lot of fun. Elder Schneider almost turfed it a couple times. We decided that after lunch it would probably be best if we dried off and walked. It was a good exchange though. Work in their area is really struggling right now. We weren't able to find many people, but I hope I was able to lift his spirits and help him. The members that they live with are actually related to the Eldridge's. They know Scotty and Chase. I think the wife is Scott's aunt. Yesterday I went on exchanges with Elder Torgeson. He is a new missionary this transfer. I brought him into our area. We had district meeting that day and then had to help some other missionaries with some service. I really wanted to go out and do some missionary work, but we only had about 2 hours until we had to exchange back. We decided that we would go find. I don't know what it was, but people were just not happy yesterday haha. Door after door was slammed in our face. One guy opened the door and then noticed there were missionaries on his doorstep so he tried to shut the door as fast as he could. It just so happened that his door came out and the guy was just slamming his dog in the door repeatedly. The dog was just yelping, but I guess he didn't notice because he was so worried about having to talk to us. I told the guy what he was doing. People are really funny sometimes. So I could tell that Elder Torgeson was getting discouraged. Man I'm just used to it by now. I thought it was funny. I told him that we just haven't found who the Lord is preparing. We went to a different neighborhood and tried some more doors. Still rejection. We see a lady out getting her mail and we go talk to her. Turns out, she is the care taker for an elderly woman in our ward who we have been meaning to go see. We walked with her to Sister Cole's house. Paula, the care-taker, has actually been reading the Book of Mormon and had questions. We explained to her what it was and shared with her in the Book of Mormon when Christ is about to be born and he announces his own birth to the people in America and they see the star. She thought it was amazing. She actually lives in a different ward, but she wants missionaries to come over, so we will pass her over to them. As we left we saw a man sitting at the bus stop. We talked to him a little bit about the purpose of our lives. He said he has always wondered what our purpose is. We got a return appointment for Saturday. As we walk away and back to the van, Elder Torgeson has a giant smile on his face and says, "Missionary Work is Awesome!" It was a good day.

We are still meeting with Nicole Gentry. She is the person who was referred to us by some members. She has a 15-month son and she herself is only 18 years old. She is doing awesome! She has come to church twice and got to meet President and Sister Greer. Sister Greer sat by her all of church and helped with her son. She is willing to do anything, because she just wants to change her life. Just like any investigator who makes this commitment, opposition always occurs. She recently found out that her best friend has cancer. We also met with her last night, and her parents have kicked her out of the house. She said it wasn't because of church, but that this happens frequently and she feels its time to leave for good. Her fellowshippers are her boyfriends parents. Her boyfriend is a member, but not very active and isn't too supportive of her at this time. It is amazing the type of faith that she has. We talked to her last night about tithing and how it's not really about paying money, but showing your trust in the Lord. Really the gospel is always about faith in the Savior. Everything that we do requires faith that we are willing to trust God, more than we trust ourselves, and then we hope that His blessing will come down on us and He will provide for us. Last night we talked about tithing, but it was so much more than tithing. Nicole is strong and is receiving help from the ward. She has committed to be baptized on December 26th and it will be a white Christmas for her.

I have been really studying about faith, hope, and charity. They are so important. Again I go back to hope, and the hope of eternal life. The Spirit truly does bless us with a portion of heaven. When we are close to Christ, we are touching heaven and we can feel and see that in our lives. Thank you for your talk you sent me from President Eyring and Christmas. To be bound together in love with our families and having that love last forever really is eternal life. The greatest gift we can receive. We open up the corners of this gift each day, more and more, as we feel of His Spirit, and share of His love. I hope you're all doing well this Christmas season. It is such a great time to think of the Savior and what he has done for us. I love you all and have a Merry Christmas.

Love,
Elder Garrick