Hello Everyone!
How is everyone doing this week? Well its pretty good here. It has finally snowed and we only have a few inches here, but people have no idea how to drive in the snow. They drive like crazy still! But it's been a pretty good week.
I am currently on the 2nd day of the 12 days of Christmas you guys did for me. Thanks for that. Its awesome. I love the 1st day too. A bunch of stuff I don't need haha. I actually could use some of the stuff though. I have read your letter Whit, and Markie and his families letters. They are great. Hey by the way, Happy Birthday Big A. How was it? I think that's awesome you are starting to play the guitar now. I was close to your age when I started too. You're gonna be a pro when I come home and I'm going to be horrible. You'll have to reteach me. And Cassi you will have to write me a letter in cursive some time. You guys sound real busy. Oh hey I will still send you a picture of my investigators I just have to get the baptism first.
Speaking of that, yesterday we started to teach one of our investigators sons. He was taught by other missionaries in the past, but then they changed the boundaries for missionaries to cover and he kinda got lost and forgotten. Well we taught him yesterday and he is awesome. He is about 15 or 16, but he goes to church every Sunday with his friends and he goes to seminary too. He pretty much knows and believes everything already. So I kinda put him on date to get baptized for January 2nd. He said that he would want to. The problem is when his dad got home he was pretty mad and stormed upstairs. We are hoping it wasn't because of us. We are actually teaching the dad today and I hope all goes well with him. But the son is going to talk to his parents about baptism and if they approve then he is good to go.
Also we had another great lesson with Adrian Sandavol. Our exchange was one of his best friends and it went really well. Adrian was really happy and last night he said, "I'm actually learning guys!" We committed him to read the Book of Mormon everyday. I hope he does it. That's the only thing holding him back right now. If he can gain a testimony of the Book of Mormon everything else will fall into place. But he is so close to being baptized. If all goes well we might try and set a date for him to be baptized too.
So we missed the Christmas Devotional this week. Our members recorded it and we were going to watch it with them but one of their grandkids was playing with the tv and it didn't record. I think it replays and they rerecorded it, but we have no time to watch it now. I heard it was really good. We did have a dinner with the Stake Presidency this week because we exceeded the Stake goal of 70 baptisms. We got 73. So they had all the missionaries in Pasco over for dinner. It was really good and a lot of fun. I think next week the Stake President is going to have all the missionaries over for Christmas on P day. That should be great too.
Not much else has gone on this week. Unfortunately many of the appointments we had set from last week canceled on us. It just goes to show the up and downs of missionary work. One week can be the best week of your life and the next week it can all go shooting down. But this week hasn't been that bad and we are still teaching. Another big downer is Vien kinda dropped us again for the second time. Her family is just giving her the hardest time about things and I think that's the reason she doesn't want to meet with us. She is still friendly and hopefully her neighbors can keep in close contact with her.
We have also done some tracting this week, as usual, but this week we have run into a lot of Anti-Mormons. They answer the door and we introduce ourselves, but then they all almost say, "Oh we know who you are." and then they slam the door on us. We also tracted into a guy and we said we are sharing a message about Christ. He then said, "Ya well I believe in Christ, but not the same one you do." We then asked him who he believed in and he didn't know what to say so he just slammed the door. Hopefully you guys don't feel bad. I think its funny. I am actually starting to enjoy tracting. We have some funny experiences with people. We can also have some great conversations with people right there on the door step. But referrals are still better than tracting.
Hey Lynds I did hear about that new church geneology program the church has. I heard its great. I want to get into that when I come home. Just a side note I guess. Ya that's pretty much it for me. I didn't get transferred and neither did Elder Cashin so we are here for another transfer. Still no news on my visa. Any news from you? Oh and I got a letter from Mavis Wright and the Hylands. I will be writing them today. Tell them thanks for me too.
Well that's it. I love you all and have a great week.
Love,
Elder Garrick
Countdown
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
December 9, 2009 Week 17
Hey everyone!
How is everybody doing this week? I hope all is well with everyone. So let me start with the usual of the letter then I'll get into the good stuff. I have not yet gotten my swine flu shot haha. Seriously it is just really hard to get it. We don't have any stores in our area and no way to get there. And I have been asking everyone and they are all telling me that the shot made them get the swine flu and I'd be better off not getting it. I pretty dang healthy right now. I don't even have a cold.
Hey Congratulations Nick and Bonnie! A little boy thats awesome. And his name is Grant? Is that right? Well I like the name. You'll have to send me a picture of him. And thats so good that Pete got into Washburn. It seems like everything is falling into place for you guys. Those are the blessings you get for staying faithful you guys. I'm sure the fam will be sad to see you leave, but at least its the best program for ya.
So it is so so so cold here. It has been in the single digits all week and the high sometimes gets up to 20 degrees. A member in the ward gave me a coat that I wear underneath the coat dad gave me. So that keeps me pretty warm. That scarf is a life saver and the ear muffs I got. Ya I wear ear muffs and a scarf. Never thought I would until I came out on my mission. But I am going to get some thermals today at wal mart because my legs are freezing. Unless that's one of the presents you sent me :)
Speaking of presents, thanks so much for the packages you all sent me. I got all 3 packages and I also got JoAnn's Christmas package and I got her chip package last week. You guys are awesome. That tree idea was great. We hung it up and put all the ornaments up too. Thanks for all the great notes everyone made in them too. We took a picture and we will send them off to you sometime this week. I do have some questions/comments on the presents though. First off thanks for the CD player and Josh Groban CD. It's so good. We have listened to it everyday since. So I guess I have to wait to open all the presents until Christmas huh. Except for the 12 days of Christmas ones. I already listened to that tape. That was great, thanks guys. I didn't know if I should listen to it now or on Christmas but I figured I'll talk to you on Christmas so I might as well listen to it now. The kids are talking so well now. Thanks for that picture you guys sent me too. The twins have changed so much. They look exactly like Makai. Its like you have triplets, just one is bigger and a boy, but they look exactly like Mak. That pictures great though. I hung it up in my room.
Okay so yesterday was zone conference. It was a lot of fun. We had a little talk from President Belnap and then we did a Christmas program. The assistant president of the mission and his wife did the Christmas story and there were a few missionaries who sang and played instruments and stuff. Then we had a slide show that a missionary put together. then we had a great lunch of ham and potatoes and other good stuff. And then we got to watch Forever Strong. It was a really good movie. I had never seen it before. And ya I saw a couple people that I knew, especially Dave Cole. He's in like every scene. But it was a ton of fun. We got a letter from the 1st presidency, a copy of the slide show on CD, and a picture of the mission with Elder Holland (although you can't see anyone in the picture because we are all so small). It was great. I also got to see a lot of the elders from my old district and zone and I saw Elder Olsen and Elder Smith. Elder Olsen is doing pretty good.
Alright so onto the best part of this email. 2 Sundays ago Elder Cashin and I decided to do a fast for our investigators and just for our missionary work. And the blessings just poured out to us after that. I will name off everything that happened. First was the Storms who we tracted into and then he came back and apologized and told us to come in. We taught him again and he is really interested. We also met a former investigators family and they want to learn more too but after the holidays. We had an awesome lesson with another investigator and the spirit was way strong it was amazing. He doesn't believe that Joseph Smith saw God and Christ face to face. We talked about Moses and how he did too. He got really emotional and said he will pray about it. Huge progress for him. Then we went to see a potential investigator. When we showed up he was really excited and we taught him for 3 hours! We have another appointment with him this week. Vien wants to take the lessons still and she came to the Christmas party. She is also going through a really hard time and we had a fantastic lesson with her too. She was just bawling during our lesson, but we were able to help her through the Book of Mormon. She doesn't get the concept of prayer so we taught her that and she is going to do it. We called the people who went to Elder Holland and two of the members are working with the people. We found out there is a part member family and the wife who is a non member wants to take the lessons. I got a coat on the coldest day of the year so far. At church a lady called us up and said she wants to take the lessons again. We have no idea who she is. Ya this week has been way good. I didn't even think about it until recently but I know its because we fasted. Anyway I hope everyone is good and that they are having a fun and happy holiday season. I love you all.
Love,
Elder Garrick
How is everybody doing this week? I hope all is well with everyone. So let me start with the usual of the letter then I'll get into the good stuff. I have not yet gotten my swine flu shot haha. Seriously it is just really hard to get it. We don't have any stores in our area and no way to get there. And I have been asking everyone and they are all telling me that the shot made them get the swine flu and I'd be better off not getting it. I pretty dang healthy right now. I don't even have a cold.
Hey Congratulations Nick and Bonnie! A little boy thats awesome. And his name is Grant? Is that right? Well I like the name. You'll have to send me a picture of him. And thats so good that Pete got into Washburn. It seems like everything is falling into place for you guys. Those are the blessings you get for staying faithful you guys. I'm sure the fam will be sad to see you leave, but at least its the best program for ya.
So it is so so so cold here. It has been in the single digits all week and the high sometimes gets up to 20 degrees. A member in the ward gave me a coat that I wear underneath the coat dad gave me. So that keeps me pretty warm. That scarf is a life saver and the ear muffs I got. Ya I wear ear muffs and a scarf. Never thought I would until I came out on my mission. But I am going to get some thermals today at wal mart because my legs are freezing. Unless that's one of the presents you sent me :)
Speaking of presents, thanks so much for the packages you all sent me. I got all 3 packages and I also got JoAnn's Christmas package and I got her chip package last week. You guys are awesome. That tree idea was great. We hung it up and put all the ornaments up too. Thanks for all the great notes everyone made in them too. We took a picture and we will send them off to you sometime this week. I do have some questions/comments on the presents though. First off thanks for the CD player and Josh Groban CD. It's so good. We have listened to it everyday since. So I guess I have to wait to open all the presents until Christmas huh. Except for the 12 days of Christmas ones. I already listened to that tape. That was great, thanks guys. I didn't know if I should listen to it now or on Christmas but I figured I'll talk to you on Christmas so I might as well listen to it now. The kids are talking so well now. Thanks for that picture you guys sent me too. The twins have changed so much. They look exactly like Makai. Its like you have triplets, just one is bigger and a boy, but they look exactly like Mak. That pictures great though. I hung it up in my room.
Okay so yesterday was zone conference. It was a lot of fun. We had a little talk from President Belnap and then we did a Christmas program. The assistant president of the mission and his wife did the Christmas story and there were a few missionaries who sang and played instruments and stuff. Then we had a slide show that a missionary put together. then we had a great lunch of ham and potatoes and other good stuff. And then we got to watch Forever Strong. It was a really good movie. I had never seen it before. And ya I saw a couple people that I knew, especially Dave Cole. He's in like every scene. But it was a ton of fun. We got a letter from the 1st presidency, a copy of the slide show on CD, and a picture of the mission with Elder Holland (although you can't see anyone in the picture because we are all so small). It was great. I also got to see a lot of the elders from my old district and zone and I saw Elder Olsen and Elder Smith. Elder Olsen is doing pretty good.
Alright so onto the best part of this email. 2 Sundays ago Elder Cashin and I decided to do a fast for our investigators and just for our missionary work. And the blessings just poured out to us after that. I will name off everything that happened. First was the Storms who we tracted into and then he came back and apologized and told us to come in. We taught him again and he is really interested. We also met a former investigators family and they want to learn more too but after the holidays. We had an awesome lesson with another investigator and the spirit was way strong it was amazing. He doesn't believe that Joseph Smith saw God and Christ face to face. We talked about Moses and how he did too. He got really emotional and said he will pray about it. Huge progress for him. Then we went to see a potential investigator. When we showed up he was really excited and we taught him for 3 hours! We have another appointment with him this week. Vien wants to take the lessons still and she came to the Christmas party. She is also going through a really hard time and we had a fantastic lesson with her too. She was just bawling during our lesson, but we were able to help her through the Book of Mormon. She doesn't get the concept of prayer so we taught her that and she is going to do it. We called the people who went to Elder Holland and two of the members are working with the people. We found out there is a part member family and the wife who is a non member wants to take the lessons. I got a coat on the coldest day of the year so far. At church a lady called us up and said she wants to take the lessons again. We have no idea who she is. Ya this week has been way good. I didn't even think about it until recently but I know its because we fasted. Anyway I hope everyone is good and that they are having a fun and happy holiday season. I love you all.
Love,
Elder Garrick
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
December 1, 2009 Week 16
This is me at the Columbia River
Me and Brother Raul Diaz. He is a member and is awesome. We visited him regularly. He is great.
Hey everyone,
Wasn't sure what to title this one so I just did Dec 1st. Clever, eh? Well I thought I would just go down my list of things I wanted to talk about and answer for ya. Thanksgiving was a lot of fun. We couldn't do anything the whole day so we had a 3 hour personal study time. That was nice because I feel like one hour is never enough. Then we went over to the church and sat in the library and watched church videos. We got invited to a Thanksgiving dinner with one of our part member families we are teaching, the Sandavols. They are an awesome family. They have a little boy who is 1 and a little girl who is 3. We had it with their whole family and it was over at the church. The food was great and then after we all played volleyball. Then we went with another member family and they took us to the buffet. Holy Cow! By then I was so stuffed. I felt so sick. I felt like I was going to burst. But that was about it. We have leftover’s from the Sandavols so I have been eating that. How was everyone else’s Thanksgiving? How about Lynd’s b-day and JoAnn's surprise b-day?
So hows the snow? It hasn't snowed yet in Washington. It is getting really cold though and it is always foggy. Plus the sun goes down at like 3 o clock and it gets colder after that. I'm not yet sure when we will call on Christmas. Our zone conference is on Dec 8th and I'm assuming we will find out then. I heard the U lost to BYU. Bummer! Guess it was a really good game though. Over time right?
There is a kid in my ward right now who just got his call to Salt Lake City South. So you may see him. His name is Venou. He is a convert of about 1 year and his parents kicked him out because he got baptized and is going on a mission. Pretty amazing huh? So this week at church I had to pass the sacrament and then speak. I guess it was kinda crazy with the holidays because a lot of people were out of town. So they didn't have enough people to pass the sacrament so they asked me. When we got done passing the bishop gets up and says, "Well I guess one of our speakers isn't here. Elder Garrick will you come up and speak to us." So I ran up and spoke. It actually went pretty well. I talked about Alma and learning from our experiences. I always think of a few things I could speak on if I ever get called on like this. Another thing that was pretty cool was yesterday in District Meeting. Our Zone Leaders came and sat in with us. We practiced doing role plays and listening to the spirit to try and resolve people’s concerns. One person had a concern and the person teaching just had to ask questions and listen to what they should talk to them about. The zone leaders went and it was amazing. Then it was my turn. I won't go into detail with everything but everyone answered the other person’s questions and concerns without even knowing what they were. Crazy huh? So I was on some spiritual high after that. We went back to our house and prepared to go out. I gave a prayer and asked the Lord if he would help us find someone new to teach who is searching for the truth. I kept a prayer in my heart the whole day and I was searching for this person too. We contacted a few people who had previously taken the lessons. No success. Then we decided to just tract. We knocked on this guys door and talked to him a while. He didn't seem too interested so we left him with a card a moved on. We do about 2 more houses and then I drives up behind us and says, "I'm sorry that was very rude of me. I should have invited you in. I'm in a program that was founded by Glenn Beck and I remembered that he is Mormon too. Would you like to come in?" Pretty cool huh? So we talked to him and his wife. This program thing Glenn Beck made is about keeping God in our constitution because people are trying to take Him out. The Storms, this guy and his wife, have the exact same beliefs as we do. Like seriously, exact same. So we are going back tomorrow to teach them a little more. What an answer to our prayer. Just goes to show that if you ask with a sincere heart, God will answer.
So you guys had a few more questions I will answer. My teaching is pretty good I think. My personal teaching goes pretty well. There are 3 main lessons we teach: The Restoration, The Plan of Salvation, and The Gospel of Jesus Christ. There is a lesson 4 on Commandments and we try to combine that in our first 3 lessons. Sometimes we teach it separately. Then lesson 5 is for after people are baptized. It’s actually supposed to be the ward who teaching lesson 5 but people don't really know what to do so we end up doing it too. I have given another blessing. Only one though. It went good. And our service has been slim lately because there is not much to do for anyone anymore. We always ask people but they have nothing for us. I have 2 more weeks until the end of this transfer. It ends Dec 13th I believe. But I'm thinking I will stay here for another transfer. Rarely do you stay in an area for only one transfer, that only if you are having major problems with your comp. Hey I thought I'd wish Cassie and Sue and Beckey a Happy Birthday. Also thanks for the card Spence and Beck. Yup I guess that is it for me this week. I hope everyone is good and I love you all. Until next week.
Love,
Elder Garrick
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
November 24, 2009 Happy Thanksgiving!
Hey everyone!
Hows everybody doing this week? So I wrote a letter to the fam and I just sent it off today. Mom I answered many of your questions that you wanted me to answer but there were a few that I thought you might want right away so I'll answer them now. Q3 It does get pretty cold here. There is no snow yet, but I think they expect some soon. The biggest killer is the wind. There is such a cold wind chill here. And it blows way hard against you. I have been wearing that scarf that you sent me and I pretty much wear those sweaters everyday. Q4 ya my razor is still working. My facial hair is coming in nice haha. I decided I'm not gonna shave when I come home so I can be a grizzly man. Q6 my shower sponge is still good and if I need another I can get one at Walmart Q7 things that I might need....well if I could get some thermals that would be nice. My pants are really thin and don't really keep the cold out. Ummm...I have been using the Perfect Pushups that Elder Cashin has when I work out. They are awesome. But maybe if you wanna send me those for my Christmas gift. Maybe some shoes too because my nice Sunday shoes are getting torn up. And if there is any way you could send talks on cd by like John Bytheway and maybe even a cd player. You could just send one of the old ones that are in my room. But music is also pretty lax here. As long as its uplifting its approved. So we can have lyrics and all. Some missionaries stretch it to normal music, but I might want to stick to church music still. But if its uplifting, send it on over. Ya the Josh Groban cd would probably be good. Also chips are always a plus. So I think that answers the questions that I didn't answer in my letter. And you don't have to send me all that stuff its just ideas. But the thermals are probably the most needed.
Well for Thanksgiving we are going with some members to a buffet. So we are going to pig out there. We got asked by one of our part member families if we want to come over for dinner too. So we might go eat with them before the buffet. I think we will be okay. Don't worry.
Hey tell Glenna Bird I got her letter and I sent her a letter back. Also tell JoAnne I got her letter and she mentioned something about a package. I haven't gotten anything from her yet so I don't know if I just haven't received it yet or if she hasn't sent it out yet. I'm gonna write her today.
How was dinner with Elder Wright? Is he doing okay? I wonder how it would be to serve in slc. I guess he is in a companionship instead of a tripanionship now huh. That's good. Well this week was a little taste of ethnicity for me. I went on exchanges with the zone leaders and they are Spanish speaking. I went with elder Godinez in his area. It was way fun. He's a cool kid and he is actually the only one going home this transfer. But we went around to a lot of his investigators and I just sat and watched because I had no idea what they were saying. At the end I would bear my testimony and he would translate. But it was cool. He is a great missionary. We went and saw one of his investigators who is going to be baptized soon. He had to leave, but we talked to his parents who are both members but haven't come to church in a while. The mother was distraught. I guess her dad lives out of the country and he is dying and she doesn't know if she will be able to see him. But E. Godinez talked to her and she was just bawling the whole time. I asked what happened when we left and he said that she needed to come back to church because when things like this happen you need a reservoir of faith and right now she is dry. Pretty bold huh. Well she agreed and said that she would come back to church and she and her husband are going to take the temple prep classes so they can go to the temple. It was crazy because I could feel the spirit the whole time we were there and I had no idea what was going on. It goes to show that you can feel the Holy Ghost even if you don't know what's happening. But we went to some Mexican store that some members own. They gave us Etoli, I think that's how you spell it. I bet Daniels had it. I thought it was hot chocolate. It tastes like you have tortilla's, beans, and corn all blended into liquid form. It was okay, not the best thing to drink but it warmed us up. So ya that was exchanges.
E Cashin and I realized from our exchange that we need to shorten our visit times with people and make them more frequent throughout the week. That way we can help people keep the commitments they say they will keep. Well the other experience we had was on Sunday. There is this Vietnamese lady who speaks very little English. She has been taught in the past, but she just doesn't understand everything. But a kid in the ward just got back from his mission in Texas speaking Vietnamese. He got all excited when he heard there was a Vietnamese lady in our boundaries. So we went and taught her. Again he pretty much talked to her and elder cashin and I just sat in confusion. But it went really well and she understands things a lot better with him there. So those are the two things that happened this week. Our work here is kinda getting tough. The investigators we have don't really want to do anything to find out the truth. I don't know if they really care. Many have been investigating for years, so we have to approach things a different way so they have a desire to learn and also a desire to do things. Oh hey E Cashin does have good family support so you don't have to worry about him. I guess you could send something small, but I think he'll be good for Christmas. Also I don't think your pictures went through on your email Lynds. It was all weird when I opened it up. Guess I better go. Love you guys and have a great thanksgiving.
Hows everybody doing this week? So I wrote a letter to the fam and I just sent it off today. Mom I answered many of your questions that you wanted me to answer but there were a few that I thought you might want right away so I'll answer them now. Q3 It does get pretty cold here. There is no snow yet, but I think they expect some soon. The biggest killer is the wind. There is such a cold wind chill here. And it blows way hard against you. I have been wearing that scarf that you sent me and I pretty much wear those sweaters everyday. Q4 ya my razor is still working. My facial hair is coming in nice haha. I decided I'm not gonna shave when I come home so I can be a grizzly man. Q6 my shower sponge is still good and if I need another I can get one at Walmart Q7 things that I might need....well if I could get some thermals that would be nice. My pants are really thin and don't really keep the cold out. Ummm...I have been using the Perfect Pushups that Elder Cashin has when I work out. They are awesome. But maybe if you wanna send me those for my Christmas gift. Maybe some shoes too because my nice Sunday shoes are getting torn up. And if there is any way you could send talks on cd by like John Bytheway and maybe even a cd player. You could just send one of the old ones that are in my room. But music is also pretty lax here. As long as its uplifting its approved. So we can have lyrics and all. Some missionaries stretch it to normal music, but I might want to stick to church music still. But if its uplifting, send it on over. Ya the Josh Groban cd would probably be good. Also chips are always a plus. So I think that answers the questions that I didn't answer in my letter. And you don't have to send me all that stuff its just ideas. But the thermals are probably the most needed.
Well for Thanksgiving we are going with some members to a buffet. So we are going to pig out there. We got asked by one of our part member families if we want to come over for dinner too. So we might go eat with them before the buffet. I think we will be okay. Don't worry.
Hey tell Glenna Bird I got her letter and I sent her a letter back. Also tell JoAnne I got her letter and she mentioned something about a package. I haven't gotten anything from her yet so I don't know if I just haven't received it yet or if she hasn't sent it out yet. I'm gonna write her today.
How was dinner with Elder Wright? Is he doing okay? I wonder how it would be to serve in slc. I guess he is in a companionship instead of a tripanionship now huh. That's good. Well this week was a little taste of ethnicity for me. I went on exchanges with the zone leaders and they are Spanish speaking. I went with elder Godinez in his area. It was way fun. He's a cool kid and he is actually the only one going home this transfer. But we went around to a lot of his investigators and I just sat and watched because I had no idea what they were saying. At the end I would bear my testimony and he would translate. But it was cool. He is a great missionary. We went and saw one of his investigators who is going to be baptized soon. He had to leave, but we talked to his parents who are both members but haven't come to church in a while. The mother was distraught. I guess her dad lives out of the country and he is dying and she doesn't know if she will be able to see him. But E. Godinez talked to her and she was just bawling the whole time. I asked what happened when we left and he said that she needed to come back to church because when things like this happen you need a reservoir of faith and right now she is dry. Pretty bold huh. Well she agreed and said that she would come back to church and she and her husband are going to take the temple prep classes so they can go to the temple. It was crazy because I could feel the spirit the whole time we were there and I had no idea what was going on. It goes to show that you can feel the Holy Ghost even if you don't know what's happening. But we went to some Mexican store that some members own. They gave us Etoli, I think that's how you spell it. I bet Daniels had it. I thought it was hot chocolate. It tastes like you have tortilla's, beans, and corn all blended into liquid form. It was okay, not the best thing to drink but it warmed us up. So ya that was exchanges.
E Cashin and I realized from our exchange that we need to shorten our visit times with people and make them more frequent throughout the week. That way we can help people keep the commitments they say they will keep. Well the other experience we had was on Sunday. There is this Vietnamese lady who speaks very little English. She has been taught in the past, but she just doesn't understand everything. But a kid in the ward just got back from his mission in Texas speaking Vietnamese. He got all excited when he heard there was a Vietnamese lady in our boundaries. So we went and taught her. Again he pretty much talked to her and elder cashin and I just sat in confusion. But it went really well and she understands things a lot better with him there. So those are the two things that happened this week. Our work here is kinda getting tough. The investigators we have don't really want to do anything to find out the truth. I don't know if they really care. Many have been investigating for years, so we have to approach things a different way so they have a desire to learn and also a desire to do things. Oh hey E Cashin does have good family support so you don't have to worry about him. I guess you could send something small, but I think he'll be good for Christmas. Also I don't think your pictures went through on your email Lynds. It was all weird when I opened it up. Guess I better go. Love you guys and have a great thanksgiving.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
November 17, 2009 - Week 14
Hey everyone,
Well we had breakfast with President and Sister Belnap today because our zone is doing really well and we are having a lot of baptisms. So that's why I am emailing so early today. It usually wouldn't be this early. I haven't gotten any emails from you guys yet but that's okay. Again time is short but I am going to try and write a lot. I'm a fast typer. I got all your mail and it all came at once so Thursday was like Christmas to me. It sounds like Halloween was really fun. I want to see that pumpkin Daniel carved. Did it turn out okay. It also sounds like the AutoRx party was fun too. Remember when I got second place haha. And then everyone thought my shoes were part of my costume. Nope they were just my regular shoes. Crazy that was only a year ago. Can you believe that Thanksgiving is next week? I'm still talking about Halloween. Hey dad your costume sounds great. I hope you guys took a picture of that too. I'm sure Lyndsie did.
That's kinda sad that Christmas will be changing this year. But I guess it has to happen some time and a good time to do it is while I'm gone because it's going to be different for me. Mom you sound real busy. Hows your feet doing? The kids sound like they're changing so much. Just from the letters you write me I can tell that they are talking a lot more. Weird. Alright the U is tearin it up too. The TCU game will be pretty big. If they can beat them then the U will probably rise pretty high. Thanks for the updates. How are the Jazz doing this year?
Well this week has been pretty awesome. On Saturday Elder Holland came to the mission and spoke to us. It was so cool. We got a mission picture with him and they are going to print it off for all the missionaries. Sister Belnap said she might just send it home for Elder Olsen and I if we are gone. Then we walked into the Gage building (my old area) and we all got to shake his hand. It was awesome. Also Elder perry of the 70 came and Elder Neilson, President of the 1st Quorum of the 70 came as well. They were all great talks and they really hit hard on teaching with the spirit and then living up to the covenants you have made even after your mission. Elder Holland said that we should not even think about going back to "Real Life" after our missions. We need to take everything we get from our missions and take it home with us. He said a mission is as close to real life as you are ever going to get. It really made me think about life in terms of eternity. Our life here on earth is such a short time compared to the overall picture. And once we pass away from this life we have so much more to do and learn. And it will all be centered around the things I teach and learn on my mission. So the mission really is the closest thing to real life, in terms of my eternal life. He also came and spoke at the Pasco's Stake Conference so we got to hear him twice. They blocked off the whole chapel area for investigators. There were over 100 investigators who came to hear Elder Holland speak. What a miracle. E. Holland said three things about the church. He talked about in Acts where Peter heals a lame man. The man stands up and rejoices and starts leaping and jumping for joy. Then he also talked about when Christ healed a blind man with the clay. And when people came to talk to the blind man he said in my own words, Once I was blind but now I see. From these two examples he said 1. you can't deny the truth, the man simply said, "Once I was blind but now I see." You can't get anymore truthful than that 2. the blessings keep coming. Those who are faithful in the church, the blessings just keep coming, just like the lame or blind man. 3. then he said that this is God's truth and it will never go away. People thought if they could get rid of Jesus it would all go away. Others thought if they could just get rid of Joseph Smith it would all go away. But Christs church is still on the earth and it will never go away. So those are 3 powerful things Elder Holland talked about to over 100 investigators. The spirit was so strong and we are going to capitalize on this event because those 100 investigators had to of felt the spirit.
Well also during this week we had some great lessons with two of our investigator families. One is the Raddy's. Actually since I last emailed we have taught them twice. The last time was last night. We have had two fantastic lessons with them. We read about the tree of life last night and asked them if they want this love for their whole family. The dad said that with work he can't make it on Sundays. Elder Cashin for the first time listened to the spirit and read 1 Nephi 3:7 and promised him that God gave us a commandment to go to church and He will provide a way for it to happen. He said he would pray about what he should do. They are a great family. They have 4 daughters and they all want to be baptized, its just the parents holding them back. The oldest daughter bore testimony in sacrament and she also expressed that she wants to go to the temple and do baptisms for the dead. She is 14. Our other lesson has been with this lady named Vien and her son Michael. Vien was previously Buddhist and has just converted to Christianity. She currently goes to a baptist church, but knows very very little about Christ. We have had to take things really slow. But we talked about a lot with her and she said that she has never felt the spirit. So I shared Moroni's Promise with her and I asked her to look for what Moroni has promised us. When she read it her eyes got real big and she said, "OH!" She said that she would pray to know if the things we taught her are true. She is doing really well. Her Son is incredible. He is only 7 but he sits with us and participates and asks us questions. He said he would pray too and he asked his mom to read the scriptures and to pray and then he told his mom he wants to come to church with us. She was kinda of hesitant so we are doing a church tour with them this week. I think it will go very good. So those are my big things for the week. The work here is great. Like I said, last night was the first night Elder Cashin has taught with the spirit. He told me last night that he has been so worried about being senior companion that he hasn't really focused on the spirit. Hes a real good kid. He is really shy and he said that I'm a really good teacher and he wants my help. So like I have said in past emails I know we can learn a lot from each other this transfer. And my high hopes for the area are actually getting higher.
I hope everyone at home is doing well. I'll try to write some letters today. Its been hard because planning has taken so long I haven't had any free time. Today we are going to play basketball and soccer too. It should be good. Well I have like 10 minutes left and I want to email some pictures home so I guess I'll send this off. Love you all and have a great week.
Well we had breakfast with President and Sister Belnap today because our zone is doing really well and we are having a lot of baptisms. So that's why I am emailing so early today. It usually wouldn't be this early. I haven't gotten any emails from you guys yet but that's okay. Again time is short but I am going to try and write a lot. I'm a fast typer. I got all your mail and it all came at once so Thursday was like Christmas to me. It sounds like Halloween was really fun. I want to see that pumpkin Daniel carved. Did it turn out okay. It also sounds like the AutoRx party was fun too. Remember when I got second place haha. And then everyone thought my shoes were part of my costume. Nope they were just my regular shoes. Crazy that was only a year ago. Can you believe that Thanksgiving is next week? I'm still talking about Halloween. Hey dad your costume sounds great. I hope you guys took a picture of that too. I'm sure Lyndsie did.
That's kinda sad that Christmas will be changing this year. But I guess it has to happen some time and a good time to do it is while I'm gone because it's going to be different for me. Mom you sound real busy. Hows your feet doing? The kids sound like they're changing so much. Just from the letters you write me I can tell that they are talking a lot more. Weird. Alright the U is tearin it up too. The TCU game will be pretty big. If they can beat them then the U will probably rise pretty high. Thanks for the updates. How are the Jazz doing this year?
Well this week has been pretty awesome. On Saturday Elder Holland came to the mission and spoke to us. It was so cool. We got a mission picture with him and they are going to print it off for all the missionaries. Sister Belnap said she might just send it home for Elder Olsen and I if we are gone. Then we walked into the Gage building (my old area) and we all got to shake his hand. It was awesome. Also Elder perry of the 70 came and Elder Neilson, President of the 1st Quorum of the 70 came as well. They were all great talks and they really hit hard on teaching with the spirit and then living up to the covenants you have made even after your mission. Elder Holland said that we should not even think about going back to "Real Life" after our missions. We need to take everything we get from our missions and take it home with us. He said a mission is as close to real life as you are ever going to get. It really made me think about life in terms of eternity. Our life here on earth is such a short time compared to the overall picture. And once we pass away from this life we have so much more to do and learn. And it will all be centered around the things I teach and learn on my mission. So the mission really is the closest thing to real life, in terms of my eternal life. He also came and spoke at the Pasco's Stake Conference so we got to hear him twice. They blocked off the whole chapel area for investigators. There were over 100 investigators who came to hear Elder Holland speak. What a miracle. E. Holland said three things about the church. He talked about in Acts where Peter heals a lame man. The man stands up and rejoices and starts leaping and jumping for joy. Then he also talked about when Christ healed a blind man with the clay. And when people came to talk to the blind man he said in my own words, Once I was blind but now I see. From these two examples he said 1. you can't deny the truth, the man simply said, "Once I was blind but now I see." You can't get anymore truthful than that 2. the blessings keep coming. Those who are faithful in the church, the blessings just keep coming, just like the lame or blind man. 3. then he said that this is God's truth and it will never go away. People thought if they could get rid of Jesus it would all go away. Others thought if they could just get rid of Joseph Smith it would all go away. But Christs church is still on the earth and it will never go away. So those are 3 powerful things Elder Holland talked about to over 100 investigators. The spirit was so strong and we are going to capitalize on this event because those 100 investigators had to of felt the spirit.
Well also during this week we had some great lessons with two of our investigator families. One is the Raddy's. Actually since I last emailed we have taught them twice. The last time was last night. We have had two fantastic lessons with them. We read about the tree of life last night and asked them if they want this love for their whole family. The dad said that with work he can't make it on Sundays. Elder Cashin for the first time listened to the spirit and read 1 Nephi 3:7 and promised him that God gave us a commandment to go to church and He will provide a way for it to happen. He said he would pray about what he should do. They are a great family. They have 4 daughters and they all want to be baptized, its just the parents holding them back. The oldest daughter bore testimony in sacrament and she also expressed that she wants to go to the temple and do baptisms for the dead. She is 14. Our other lesson has been with this lady named Vien and her son Michael. Vien was previously Buddhist and has just converted to Christianity. She currently goes to a baptist church, but knows very very little about Christ. We have had to take things really slow. But we talked about a lot with her and she said that she has never felt the spirit. So I shared Moroni's Promise with her and I asked her to look for what Moroni has promised us. When she read it her eyes got real big and she said, "OH!" She said that she would pray to know if the things we taught her are true. She is doing really well. Her Son is incredible. He is only 7 but he sits with us and participates and asks us questions. He said he would pray too and he asked his mom to read the scriptures and to pray and then he told his mom he wants to come to church with us. She was kinda of hesitant so we are doing a church tour with them this week. I think it will go very good. So those are my big things for the week. The work here is great. Like I said, last night was the first night Elder Cashin has taught with the spirit. He told me last night that he has been so worried about being senior companion that he hasn't really focused on the spirit. Hes a real good kid. He is really shy and he said that I'm a really good teacher and he wants my help. So like I have said in past emails I know we can learn a lot from each other this transfer. And my high hopes for the area are actually getting higher.
I hope everyone at home is doing well. I'll try to write some letters today. Its been hard because planning has taken so long I haven't had any free time. Today we are going to play basketball and soccer too. It should be good. Well I have like 10 minutes left and I want to email some pictures home so I guess I'll send this off. Love you all and have a great week.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
November 10, 2009 - Week 13
Hello hello everyone,
My time is short now. We only have an hour to email now and I have actually spent a lot of time writing other emails to people. So I will have to be really fast and brief. I guess I better write more letters now. So the mission office sent all the mail you sent me to Benton City. My old district leader calls me up and says, "Do you know an Aeiko Nakamura? Do you know a Whitney Klc?" So I really have no idea if I am ever going to get those letters you sent me. I think Roy Bird sent me a letter too. And Lyla sent me a letter that I got. Tell them thanks, but tell Bro Bird that I haven't gotten his yet.
So I have no idea whats been going on at home. How is everyone? I actually do not have the address of the house I'm staying at right now sorry. I will get it and I'll try to send out a letter to you tomorrow so you can have it. But for now send it to the office. They straightened everything out so it should come to me now, but I'm a little worried about the other letters if I will ever get them. So Pasco is great. Everyone is really nice and more open to listen to us than in my other area. This is E. Cashins first time as a senior comp and I think he was having a lot of problems with his old comp and they didn't do much work. So we are just going around trying to meet everyone and determine what we can do for them and where they are at in their progression, if there is any at all. E. Cashin seems to be very shy so I am going to try and help him with that. It's good because this transfer I want to be super bold. I've come to realize that I don't have to be scared of anyone. Who cares if they turn me down. Who cares if someone thinks I'm wrong. I've been reading a few talks about being bold and I'm going to apply it to my work. Oh that book Danny Bird suggested about becoming a bold missionary, our members have it so I'm reading it and it is so good. Our members are awesome too. The house is really nice. We have the basement to ourselves and everything is really nice. And the wife does our laundry haha. She is really nice. Ya I really like this new area. E. Cashin and I just have to work at being bold together. We don't have much of the same interests, but he is a nice kid and he wants to work hard so he is fine with me. I think we can both improve and grow a lot this transfer and hopefully work some miracles.
Oh by the way, I'll tell you a little about E. Cashin. He is from Platcity, Missouri, but he lived in St. George Utah for 14 years. So he is pretty much a Utah boy like most missionaries. He did not do any school before he came out because he was working to save up for his mission. I really admire that. He made some big sacrifices to come out. He is the oldest of his siblings and is the only boy. We are kinda opposites. I'm the only boy but the youngest. But ya he stresses out about a lot of stuff and I just have to calm him down. I'm a little more laid back than he is haha. But ya we are teaching a few people. I haven't really taught any yet. Most of our appointments are for this week so we are going to be really busy. We did teach a lady who used to be Buddhist and is really unfamiliar with Jesus Christ. We taught about the plan of salvation, but we only had 30 min and rushed it. We probably shouldn't have, but we set up another appointment and we are going to take it a lot slower and answer her questions and focus more and more on Christ. We should do that all the time anyway.
Oh Elder Holland is coming on Saturday. He is speaking to the Pasco stake too so I get to see him twice. I am really excited for that. It sounds like there is no new news with my visa huh. That is good news that the 12 wouldn't permanently reassign that other elder. I really want to get there. I saw Elder Olsen at transfers and we had a good talk. His comp just went home and now he is getting a new one. I hear that his new comp is kinda hard to work with. He wants to get to India too. He sent me an email that his mom sent him. I guess they are trying to work with the Indian govt as best as they can but it didn't say much else.
Well I love you all. My time is running out soon. I hope everyone is doing good and hopefully your letters get sent to my right address from now on. Sorry if I haven't replied to some of your letters, but I want to get them before I write back. Maybe I can when we go see Elder Holland. But that's on Saturday....OH boy. I guess I'll have to wait for those too.
Hey those Halloween pictures were really cute. All the fat babies were really cute. I can't believe you let Mak and Isabelle paint pumpkins. That's a big risk haha. How'd that go? Well gotta go. My time is really low now. I'll send this out and make sure it gets to you. If I have time I'll try to send some pics. Love you all and until next week
Elder Garrick
My time is short now. We only have an hour to email now and I have actually spent a lot of time writing other emails to people. So I will have to be really fast and brief. I guess I better write more letters now. So the mission office sent all the mail you sent me to Benton City. My old district leader calls me up and says, "Do you know an Aeiko Nakamura? Do you know a Whitney Klc?" So I really have no idea if I am ever going to get those letters you sent me. I think Roy Bird sent me a letter too. And Lyla sent me a letter that I got. Tell them thanks, but tell Bro Bird that I haven't gotten his yet.
So I have no idea whats been going on at home. How is everyone? I actually do not have the address of the house I'm staying at right now sorry. I will get it and I'll try to send out a letter to you tomorrow so you can have it. But for now send it to the office. They straightened everything out so it should come to me now, but I'm a little worried about the other letters if I will ever get them. So Pasco is great. Everyone is really nice and more open to listen to us than in my other area. This is E. Cashins first time as a senior comp and I think he was having a lot of problems with his old comp and they didn't do much work. So we are just going around trying to meet everyone and determine what we can do for them and where they are at in their progression, if there is any at all. E. Cashin seems to be very shy so I am going to try and help him with that. It's good because this transfer I want to be super bold. I've come to realize that I don't have to be scared of anyone. Who cares if they turn me down. Who cares if someone thinks I'm wrong. I've been reading a few talks about being bold and I'm going to apply it to my work. Oh that book Danny Bird suggested about becoming a bold missionary, our members have it so I'm reading it and it is so good. Our members are awesome too. The house is really nice. We have the basement to ourselves and everything is really nice. And the wife does our laundry haha. She is really nice. Ya I really like this new area. E. Cashin and I just have to work at being bold together. We don't have much of the same interests, but he is a nice kid and he wants to work hard so he is fine with me. I think we can both improve and grow a lot this transfer and hopefully work some miracles.
Oh by the way, I'll tell you a little about E. Cashin. He is from Platcity, Missouri, but he lived in St. George Utah for 14 years. So he is pretty much a Utah boy like most missionaries. He did not do any school before he came out because he was working to save up for his mission. I really admire that. He made some big sacrifices to come out. He is the oldest of his siblings and is the only boy. We are kinda opposites. I'm the only boy but the youngest. But ya he stresses out about a lot of stuff and I just have to calm him down. I'm a little more laid back than he is haha. But ya we are teaching a few people. I haven't really taught any yet. Most of our appointments are for this week so we are going to be really busy. We did teach a lady who used to be Buddhist and is really unfamiliar with Jesus Christ. We taught about the plan of salvation, but we only had 30 min and rushed it. We probably shouldn't have, but we set up another appointment and we are going to take it a lot slower and answer her questions and focus more and more on Christ. We should do that all the time anyway.
Oh Elder Holland is coming on Saturday. He is speaking to the Pasco stake too so I get to see him twice. I am really excited for that. It sounds like there is no new news with my visa huh. That is good news that the 12 wouldn't permanently reassign that other elder. I really want to get there. I saw Elder Olsen at transfers and we had a good talk. His comp just went home and now he is getting a new one. I hear that his new comp is kinda hard to work with. He wants to get to India too. He sent me an email that his mom sent him. I guess they are trying to work with the Indian govt as best as they can but it didn't say much else.
Well I love you all. My time is running out soon. I hope everyone is doing good and hopefully your letters get sent to my right address from now on. Sorry if I haven't replied to some of your letters, but I want to get them before I write back. Maybe I can when we go see Elder Holland. But that's on Saturday....OH boy. I guess I'll have to wait for those too.
Hey those Halloween pictures were really cute. All the fat babies were really cute. I can't believe you let Mak and Isabelle paint pumpkins. That's a big risk haha. How'd that go? Well gotta go. My time is really low now. I'll send this out and make sure it gets to you. If I have time I'll try to send some pics. Love you all and until next week
Elder Garrick
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
November 3, 2009 - Week 12
Well ldsmail did it again. I had a huge emailed typed out and ready to send and something happened and it got lost. So now I'll have to be fast. Sorry about that.
So the story on transfers. I have been transferred. On Saturday President left a message and said I would be going to Benton City with my current District leader Elder Bart. I was super excited because he is a great missionary and Benton City is total farm country and I'd stay in the same district so I'd have unlimited time to email. Then yesterday (Monday) president calls again and tells me my transfer has changed. I'm going to Pasco with Elder Cashin who has been out 6 months. I guess E. Cashin has been having problems with his current comp so prez decided to make a change. Elder Smith is really happy these days and excited about working. Maybe that is why I was assigned to serve with him. He just needed that fire brought back into him. Hopefully he stays that way.
Well Halloween was okay. We did nothing really. Tracting was forbidden and we ended up going to the Halloween party and then over to a members house for dinner.
Have you had dinner with E. Wright? I wonder how he is doing? I guess E. Olsen has had a great trainer, but he is going home now so Olsen is getting a new comp. He is really anxious to leave too. Any news on my visa? If the first ones haven't gone through yet, I doubt I'll leave in January. This visa thing is killing me.
That's cool about your new Bishopbric. You can tell the ward that I approve. All those guys are amazing and our old one was great too. Sounds like the U is still tearing it up. How about the Jazz? Mom I haven't gotten my swine flu shot, but I have gotten my seasonal. I guess they're all out of the swine flu shot. I think I'll be okay. Havent gotten sick yet.
Well today I'm getting a haircut and then we are going to play a little basketball and then go bowling. So it should be a pretty fun day. Well seriously my last email was so much better, but I have to go now. I don't know how the email will be in Pasco so this might be my last time I get to email the whole day. I hope everything is good though and I love you all.
Love,
Elder Garrick
So the story on transfers. I have been transferred. On Saturday President left a message and said I would be going to Benton City with my current District leader Elder Bart. I was super excited because he is a great missionary and Benton City is total farm country and I'd stay in the same district so I'd have unlimited time to email. Then yesterday (Monday) president calls again and tells me my transfer has changed. I'm going to Pasco with Elder Cashin who has been out 6 months. I guess E. Cashin has been having problems with his current comp so prez decided to make a change. Elder Smith is really happy these days and excited about working. Maybe that is why I was assigned to serve with him. He just needed that fire brought back into him. Hopefully he stays that way.
Well Halloween was okay. We did nothing really. Tracting was forbidden and we ended up going to the Halloween party and then over to a members house for dinner.
Have you had dinner with E. Wright? I wonder how he is doing? I guess E. Olsen has had a great trainer, but he is going home now so Olsen is getting a new comp. He is really anxious to leave too. Any news on my visa? If the first ones haven't gone through yet, I doubt I'll leave in January. This visa thing is killing me.
That's cool about your new Bishopbric. You can tell the ward that I approve. All those guys are amazing and our old one was great too. Sounds like the U is still tearing it up. How about the Jazz? Mom I haven't gotten my swine flu shot, but I have gotten my seasonal. I guess they're all out of the swine flu shot. I think I'll be okay. Havent gotten sick yet.
Well today I'm getting a haircut and then we are going to play a little basketball and then go bowling. So it should be a pretty fun day. Well seriously my last email was so much better, but I have to go now. I don't know how the email will be in Pasco so this might be my last time I get to email the whole day. I hope everything is good though and I love you all.
Love,
Elder Garrick
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