August 13, 2012

Hey there everybody! 

Well, another week has past... and I have officially past the one year mark of my mission! I didn´t do anything out of the ordinary to celebrate my one year mark... but I woke up at 2:30 in the morning feeling really sick, so I had a fun first day of the second half of my mission walking around with a really upset stomach, climbing all the stairs and the hills here, but it was wonderful!

Elder Hughes and are are still working as hard as ever. It takes quite a bit of energy to teach someone every aspect of the mission work as well as being a translator and private spanish tutor. My kid needs to learn though that spanish will get a lot easier if he just tries to speak it! Haha, but he is finally getting over his culture shock, but now he is finally realizing that Chile is not like the MTC and that pretty much nobody here speaks english. Haha, I´m doing my very best to support him in all and to teach him everything to help him out, but it is going to be a long process.

Yesterday we had a really spiritual experience in one of our lessons. While we were teaching one of our investigators about the Word of Wisdom, she had the courage to rip up her cigarrets and throw them out the window... but that was the easy part... we had to help her get rid of her coffee. She didn´t want to at first for a couple of reasons, but after a testimony and with the help of the Holy Ghost, we finally got her to understand the importance of living this commandment... but she still didn´t want to get rid of her coffee because she didn't want to offend her brother. Her brother was in a different room and we asked her to ask him if we could just take the coffee so it wouldn´t be a temptation. She didn´t want to because she was afraid that he would get all mad. So I called her brother and simply asked if we could take the coffee, and he said yes without a problem! Hahaha, I know that the power of the spirit is with us. So we walked out of that lesson with a grand victory over the evil, and with a trophey of coffee!

This morning all the Zone and District Leaders had a big mission conference with the Mission Concepción (norte), so I´ve been up since like 5 to get ready and to travel, and so for most of my P-day I have been in a meeting, but it was really good! I love you all so much and I hope you are all well! Happy 46th Birthday tomorrow Mom! I love you so much! Thanks for being such a fantastic mother!  I love you all so much! I hope that you all have a great week! We have 7 investigators with baptizmal dates for this month... but we need a couple of miracles to pull them off! I love you all so much! Have a great week! Take care! 

Con mucho amor,

Elder Garrett

August 6, 2012

Hey there everybody!

This past week has been full of excitement, adventure...and I'm exhausted! So this week I received a bunch of responsibility, and so here I am, really tired. Haha. This week I said goodbye to Elder Santos. Even though it was a tough cambio with him, I was able to learn a lot and grow as a person and a missionary. I wasn't really nervous to start training until right before the new missionaries arrived, the assistants told us that if we don't do well training, someone else would pick up where we left off with the training...or rather, someone else would get switched with us as trainers. But I am sure that I have been doing a good job up until this point and that I will continue training well. So last Tuesday all of the trainers met up to have a little meeting and to receive instructions of the training period. Training takes 12 weeks or 2 cambios, so I will be with my new comp for at least that long.

My new comp is named Elder Hughes. He is from Washington (state) and is a convert to the church. He was baptized a year and a half ago and is the only member of his family. He is 19 years old and decided to come on a mission because his life was saved by the missionaries that taught him. He is a great companion, but he doesn't speak very much Spanish. It is taking a lot of energy to have to teach him spanish, show him how to do everything and to teach almost everything in the lessons...but he has a great spirit and our investigators like him. I just have to get him to understand that if he can start speaking spanish more often, he will learn it faster! :P Haha. But he is really great. I'm training at the same time as two other Elders that were in my MTC district...Elder Humpherys and Elder Wilcox. It was so good to see them all!

Well, this week we have had a lot of success with our investigators and the work here in our sector. We put a goal of 10 baptizms for this month in our sector, and so far we have 8 baptizmal dates for this month! We are working so hard to make sure that all of our investigators can progress and get baptized...sometimes I feel like we don't have enough time to do everything! But I know that when we are doing our part, God will help us out with the rest. So we are going to keep working really hard here to help out our investigators.
Being a district leader is also taking a bit of energy out of me, but I am glad for the opportunity to learn and grow as a leader and as a person. i have to get up and give an hour and a half long class and to help other missionaries with their investigators and such...sigh, I'm glad that prayer really helps out.

This past week we've had lots of strange and spiritual experinences, but one stands out more to me than the rest. We visited a person in our ward that was really really really sick and we visited her to give her a blessing. Her name is Barbara and she is 17 years old and the only active member in her family. She really wanted to go to Seminary, school, work, etc. but she couldn't last week because she was really sick. So we passed by to visit her and her family and to give her a blessing. While I was giving her a blessing, I felt like I should say that in the morning she wouldn't have any symptoms and that she would be perfectly healed. She was coughing up blood with her sickness and other not so fun things. But i felt impressed to say that and then after the blessing we left and she went to church yesterday...it was fast sunday and she got up and bore her testimony and bore her testimony of the power of the priesthood. I'm so glad that I could use the priesthood worithly and that she was healed. The things that I said from the spirit really came to pass and she was grateful. I'm glad that I can bless the lives of other and to serve them. I'm glad that I am living worhily to heal people, and I am so grateful for all the love that our Heavenly Father has for us.
I love you all so much! The work is going great here and we are working hard! Hope you all are well! You are always in my prayers! Take care until next week!

Con mucho amor,
Elder Scott Garrett

July 30, 2012

Hey there everybody!

This past week flew by so quickly, and it ended on a wonderful note! 

We started the week out with a lot of opposition, because we had a baptizm planned for Saturday, and it seemed like everything that could have happened to make things harder for us to get everything planned and set up, it did. Luckily I just thought that it was ridiculous and I could just laugh about it! For example, we ran out of minutes on our phone, so we couldn´t call anyone to set up appointments and to see how things are going. The gate to the church didn´t want to open, so we had to jump the gate. It was super cold and rainy for part of the week just to make things a little more interesting. The water heater in the church didn´t want to work, we didn´t have lights in the church at the start of the week.... so many things! Not to mention we had to go to other sectors for intercambios, and we had a mission conference, it felt like we were so short on time.

But in the end, things turned out super great! The day of the baptizm it was a nice bright sunshiny day. I was able to open up the gate to the church. We had plenty of members that offered us to use their phones to call people, and the organizations helped out a lot. The lights turned on a little before the baptizm at the church. Unfortunately the water heater never started working, but we were able to fill up the baptizmal font no problem. And we finally recieved power in our house too after a week! Hooray! 

Matias Hernan Rivas Rivera. I had the opportunity to baptize an amazing 11 year old who spiritually speaking, is very mature. He was well prepared long before we got there to teach him. I love his family so much and it is great that we could reactivate his parents now! So he will have a lot of support as he continues to grow with his family! He is excited to turn 18 so he can serve a mission! But wow was the water cold! Poor kid, he had to be dunked under the water completely! But we felt the spirit so strongly and we felt the warmth of our Heavenly Father`s love for us.  

This week was also the last week of this cambio! And that means.... Cambios!!!!!!! I knew a little bit about my cambio a little early in the week when we went to the mission conference... Presidente Martinez pulled me aside and told me.... well, that I would have a grand opportunity. He told me that I would be training! O.o :)  I am super happy! I can´t wait to train! I have no clue who my companion is or if he is going to be a gringo or latino, but I am so happy that the Lord has given me this opportunity to grow and to train someone in the mission field! I´m going to stay in the same sector, so I am happy about that too, so I will be here with my new companion for 3 months longer! I also recieved the great responsiblity to be a District Leader now... I´m going to be in charge of 5 other missionaries! I´m going to have to do a lot, but I know I can´t do it on my own, but I am so glad that I have learned to rely on our Heavenly Father to help me out! I know I will be okay... I´m a little stressed because it is going to be a lot of responsibitly, but more than anything I´m super excited and super excited to work really hard with a newbie! It´s going to be great! We have the potential in our sector to baptize 6 people in August! 

Well, Tomorrow I will meet my new comp, fresh off the plane, and next week I will complete 1 year in the mission... time is flying by so fast and I love being here serving the Lord. My mind is all over the place, but I am glad that I can focus myself and help my investigators and that I can keep on working! I love you all so much! I know that this church is true. I know that when we have the spirit with us, we can have unexplainable experiences that are going to make an impression in our lives forever. I´m so glad that I am worthy to have the priesthood and to have the rights to many of God´s gifts so that I can bless the lives of others. I love you all so much and I miss you always. I love you too Caralyn! I hope you are all well and that you can always remember that true eternal happiness comes from choosing the right in all moments! Until next week! Wish me luck!

Con mucho amor,

Elder Garrett

July 23, 2012

Hey there everybody!

My goodness this past week went by fast... and I´m quite grateful too... I´m ready for a new cambio. But things went pretty much fantastic for us this past week in the work, regardless of my companions attitude :/

We worked really hard this past week to help our investigators realize the importance of going to church. In the end, all of our hard work paid off! We ended up having 6 investigators show up! ^_^ That doesn´t happen very often, so we were very happy! This last week has been a little crazy too... we have been without power in our house since thursday morning because the mission office forgot to pay for our lights since April... so finally they shut off our lights and we are just waiting until someone in the mission office can solve this little problem. It has been fun to use candles and flashlights though! I feel like a missionary from the old days! Haha, it is quite an adventure!

This past week I had some really funny stories of things that have happened, but unfortunately we are running a little short on time today... my comp was getting his hair cut by an investigator... haha! It turned out... nice? :P Anyways, did you know that "Schmidgt" had 100 wives! It´s true! It´s in a book! :P  Haha, it is so funny when some chileans try to pronounce Joseph Smith´s name when they don´t know his name. Schmidgt was my favourite this week. It is amazing what happens when the spirit is in the midst of a conversation, because at the end of the controversy, the people end up changing their minds and want to listen to us! And I am glad that I think some conversations are hilarious and that I don´t get mad! ^_^ It is better to be a happy friendly person instead of arguing. 

Well, this last week we have been preparing one of our investigators to be baptized, and this next Saturday he is going to be baptized! His name is Matias and he is 11 years old! He is so excited to be baptized and he is so smart and spiritual! I just hope nothing strange happens this week to make the baptizm complicated... it seems like something always happens! :P  But that is just because someone doesn´t want our investigators to be baptized... but I know things will work out A-okay! Anyways, I hope all of you are well back at home! The weather is acting up a little here again, but good thing I like the rain! I love you all! I love you too Caralyn! Thanks for all the prayers from all of you! This week I find out my cambio, wish me luck! Love you all!

Con mucho amor,
Elder Garrett

July 17, 2012

Hey there Everybody!

This past week seemed to pass by so quickly... and I´m quite glad too! i´m getting a little stressed... well, not stressed.... but I don´t know what to call it.... with Elder Santos. I´m just doing my very best to hang in there with him for these last two weeks of the Cambio. It is my final push to just deal with what he does and then perhaps I can have a little release from his sillyness.

We had a lot of intercambios this week... or that´s to say, when we are with a different missionary for a day. I got to work with our Zone Leaders and also the President´s assistants. So that was quite a fun time. This past week we had 7 baptizmal dates lined up, 4 for this month, and 3 for August... but in the end, 3 of our investigators won´t be able to get baptized this month because there are problems with the husband of one of our investigators. A lot of the work that we have been doing this past week has been to strenghten the families of our investigators and of the members here... it seems that there are so many problems with so many families here... but I am glad to see the happiness that this Gospel brings to the lives of others, it truly is amazing!

This past week Elder Santos and I got a lot of responsability dumped on us from the Bishopric, which wasn´t a big deal at all for me! ^_^ We were incharge of a Ward Family Night and we had to plan the lesson and the games and invite a bunch of people. We had about 8 investigators at the activity and their families, but they all showed up before the members. How silly! But the activity worked out really great and our investigators loved it and they were able to know some of the members a little better. We were also given the privelege of giving talks in Sacrament Meeting this past Sunday too. It seems so easy to give talks now, because I am talking about the gospel to people everyday in houses, in the street, in buses, etc. I´m not sure if I could do it in English though! Haha, that would be a little difficult.

We also were also able to do a lot of service projects this week. This has been a very tiring week... and it doesn´t help that my comp snores so loudly at night! It´s hilarious, but I like to sleep too! :P  This past week the weather has been so fantastic here in Talcahauano. It has felt like springtime all week... and sometimes it has been so nice that I could go out into the street without a jacket or sweater! ^_^ I´m pretty sure the weather is just making me think that it isn´t winter... and then it will return with a vegence! I´ll just have to wait and see! Yesterday was a Holiday to worship the Virgen Mary... it was quite strange to see people parading in the street following a statue of the Virgen Mary. Very strange if you ask me!

Anyways, we are getting one of our amazing investigators, Matias, prepared for his baptizm next week... but I personally think that he was prepared from the first day that we met him. He is 11 years old and is super humble, super smart, and super mature and spiritual for his age. Everything he reads in the Book of Mormon he remembers, and he can pull out amazing principles out of the stories we leave and he understands every little bit of what we teach him. He is a great example for his less active parents, and I am sure that he will be an amazing missionary one day! I´m so glad that I have been able to teach him.

Well, that is about all that happened this past week. I love you all so much and I hope that you are all doing well! Happy Birthday to my little Sister Karley yesterday, 15 years old! Wow! You are getting old little sis! And Happy Birthday tomorrow to my big sister Britt! 23 years old! Hehe! Well, I love you all so much! I love you too Caralyn! I hope that your grandma is doing okay and that all is well! Until next week!

Con mucho amor,
Elder Scott Garrett

July 9, 2012

Hey there everybody! 

Another week... wow, it went by quite fast! I hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July! I didn´t do anything special because we didn´t have any time and my comp is from Chile... so it would have been kinda lame anyways! Haha. But that´s okay! I am so grateful for all of the freedoms we have in the United States, because sometimes the things here in Chile don´t make any sense! I´m glad that the U.S. has many freedoms! Don´t take for granted what you have!

Well, this past week I saw a lot of people from the first ward I started in the mission. It was great to see them and they were all impressed with my spanish! Level up! Haha! A youth from Esmeralda actually wants to go teaching with us on Wednesday! How great! It´s going to be just like old times!

Well, the situation with one of our investigators and her husband hasn´t gotten any better, but we are still praying that a miracle will happen! We are doing all that we can to help her and her family out, but with really personal things in their relationship, we just have to trust that the Lord will do his part and that a miracle will occur. But aside from that difficult situation, she and her children love the gospel and want so much to be baptized. So we are just going to do what we can.  Up to this point we have 6 baptizmal dates set, so we are working hard so that all of them can get baptized. And we are constantly searching for more people to teach and to help them recieve the blessings of baptizm. 

I recieved an email from Kyle Gummow today, and he said that missionary work is so much different than how he imagined it! During the mission you can definitely tell what needs to happen and where the things need to improve. And more than anything, we always need the help of the members to find new people and to help our investigators out. Without the members, missionary work can function, but on a very low rate. As members we should help always with mission work, even if that means inviting friends over for a Family Home Evening or to a church activity, or even just sharing a testimony with the people we know. And then the members in the end can help the missionaries to have people to teach! 4 of our investigators that are going to get baptized are because the members helped us out in the work!

This past week has been pretty nice most of the days... aside from a few days of rain, the rest of the days have been like early spring, with crisp air, sun, and a light breeze! It is so much nicer to walk around in the hills and by the sea when there in sunshine and it is a little warmer! This sector is so beautiful, I am always amazed at the creations that God has made! We can always take a little time to look at all the things in this world and to see how blessed we are! And how blessed we are even more if we have the gospel in our lives. 

There are about 5 members in our ward here that are gravely ill and one grandpa actually died... so there are a lot of things happening in this ward. But when we pass by the houses of the members that are passing through these difficult times, you can definitely tell that they understand, that although it is difficult, in the end of this life, it really isn´t the end. How grateful I am to know that if we are doing the right things in this life, we can live eternally with our families and we can return to live in the presence of God. Our neighbors who are members are passing through one of these moments... the husband had a brain stroke in one of the most fatal parts of his brain... but is alive and is recovering. His wife is so faithful and is so optomistic in this time of crisis, and I have see how a family really can be united when someone has a crisis in their life. I know that this gospel is true. And I am glad that I can be a missionary to help these people out. I´m so glad that I have the priesthood and that I can use it to bless the lives of others. ^_^ 

Well, I hope that you are all well and that things are going great back in the States. Things are just fine here in the south, just a lot of cold! I´m doing my very best to help all the people I can here in Chile! I love being a missionary! It is a lot of fun to talk to the people here and to learn about their lives and to teach them the gospel. I love you all so very much! I love you too Caralyn! I hope that your grandma is doing better! I am praying for all of you always! Take care! Until next week! Tomorrow I complete 11 months O.o Time is flying by! Until later! 

Con mucho amor,

Elder Scott Garrett