My First Baptism, having fun in Provo, and my back.

This week was awesome. We had our “First Transfer” training on Tuesday, and it was a great learning experience. I learned a lot. It was focused on the first vision, and President Chambers gave some really interesting insights. I would love it if you all took some time to read over the first vision. We need to know the first vision like the back of our hands. We need to have a strong testimony of that. Because if we don't believe that Joseph Smith really saw what he saw, then everything is meaningless.

When we were putting away the tables, I hurt my back. I hurt it really bad. I tried to ignore it for a while, but then it got really bad. I couldn't even stand. So I called the missionary nurse and she gave me instructions on what to do, and she hit really hard on rest. So I spent all Wednesday in bed. My back still hurts, but she mailed me a paper with certain back exercises that will help it to heal. I didn't know I could hurt my back! I thought only “old guys” could hurt their backs! Its lame! I've been standing really hunched down, and its hurts to stand up straight. I think I look so stupid, but it’s getting better.

On Friday, I went on an exchange with Elder Kennedy ​​, who serves in the Portuguese mission. His area covers the whole valley. So for most of Friday I was in Provo. It was so hard not to walk home and say hello. While we were driving I saw Brandon driving the minivan, and I think Mary was with him. He was laughing, which was good to see. We were literally a street down from my house. It was crazy. I also saw Jessica Larsen!

Elder Kennedy

Driving in Provo with Elder Kennedy

Today has been a busy day, and we only have about a half hour to email, so that’s why my email is all choppy.

I had the opportunity this week to perform my first baptism! I was super afraid that I wouldn't be able to do it because of my back, but I was watched over. It all worked out, except when I immersed her, I fell in with her. I looked up to see if I needed to re-do it, but I didn't because she was completely immersed. It was embarrassing… it’s a good thing that didn't really happen =) . It all went perfectly fine. I was so nervous though, my heart was pumping like crazy out of my chest.

Baptism of Brianna with Elder Flinders

Baptism of Brianna with her Aunt, Uncle, Cousins and Elder Flinders

Remember a couple of emails ago, I told the story about the night where we had two minutes to be home and I decided to ask Elder Flinders to turn around for the second time? Well... on Saturday we found out a little more to the story. When we were eating dinner at a member’s home, one of the teenage girls was talking about how she knows that God answers all prayers. She told us that one night she had been praying really hard asking Heavenly Father to send the missionaries to her friend’s house. The next week, she found out that the missionaries had visited her friend! She said, “When I found out I started to cry.” Guess who those missionaries were? Yep, it was Elder Flinders and Elder Garver. That’s pretty cool, if I don't say so myself.

Being out on a mission is the hardest thing but the most fun thing I have ever had to do. I have never laughed so much in my life. If you've ever been around my mom, she is always laughing, and she laughs hard. That's exactly what is happening to me. I'm always laughing. It’s so much fun.

This is a picture of the "house rules" where we live. The landlord’s wife typed this out. There are so many things wrong with this paper:

House Rules

Missionary life is so much fun. Here are some pictures of the other missionaries:

This is Elder Alvarado:

Elder Alvarado

Elder Alvarado is all over the place. He's super hyper active, and he has decided that he doesn't need to take medication for it. He is a very funny guy. He can't sit still, and is ALWAYS talking.


These are the Spanish sisters, Sister Torres, and Sister Danielson. They are teaching me Spanish, and I'm really starting to get the hang of it.

Spanish Sisters -- Sister Torres, and Sister Danielson

We have a funny game we play with the Spanish Sisters. One of the first weeks of the transfer I found this plastic thingy on the ground. It is one of those oval solar power panels from a yard decoration. We were talking with the Sisters and when we left, I handed it to Sister Torres and walked away. A couple days later they brought us over a cake (we give each other food that we don't want, that members have given to us) when we were eating it, we found the plastic thing in the middle of the cake. It was in a plastic bag, of course. They had cut a hole in the bottom of the cake, and hid the plastic thing in it. That was the beginning of the game. It's so much fun. We have gotten pretty sly and clever. We figure out ways to give it to them without them knowing. Just about an hour ago I slipped it into one of their purses. So we are winning!

There is a place called Pirate O's in Draper, and when I was on the exchange we went there. I bought some chocolate covered bugs! I ate one of the crickets! I couldn't eat anymore though.

Chocolate Covered Bugs

Chocolate Covered Bugs

I really hope you all keep reading your scriptures! Please, please, please read your scriptures and pray every day. It’s so vital. I love you all!

Elder Garver

Hard but Fulfilling

This week was hard but fulfilling...

I haven't told much about my actual missionary work, but we've been doing well. We are super busy. We have a couple investigators, but today I want to focus on Brianna.

Brianna is from Korea and she is 18. The second day I was out we went and taught her a lesson. We had to use one of the ward members to translate for us. She only speaks Korean. It was really interesting. We've been teaching her a lot, and now her Aunt is translating for us. Brianna lives with her Aunt, Uncle and cousins. They are a super fun family. Her uncle, Brandon, just got baptized this March. He's an awesome guy. Apparently he read the Book of Mormon in two weeks and you won't believe this, but he's almost done reading Jesus the Christ! It’s super cool. Her cousin just got baptized too. So we've been teaching Brianna, and I have a lot of fun. I'm really excited every time I get to teach, and I make sure to add humor. Elder Flinders is kind of a monotone, straight faced, kind of guy so I try to make up for his lack of enthusiasm. They are always laughing when we are there. We found out that the day after Brianna left Korea and came to America, her family back in Korea started taking the missionary lessons! Her sister and mother got baptized last Friday! Brianna is scheduled to be baptized next Saturday the 24th, and she has asked me to baptize her! It's going to be awesome.

I should start counting how many times per week I shake people’s hands. For some reason, a lot of people try to crush my hand. It's like they are trying to show off how strong they are. Unfortunately for them, my hand isn’t that easy to crush and I'm always up for a challenge :)

Grandma Bellon would really appreciate this: my favorite snack in the whole world is Greek yogurt and apples. About a week ago, I bought some plain Fago Greek yogurt. When I got home I tried eating a spoonful, and I just about spit it out. It wasn't very good at all. I had to figure out how to eat it though, because I didn't want to waste any money. So I started scooping it out with apple slices. It’s delicious. Too bad Greek yogurt is so expensive. I need to be careful I don't eat too much. I buy the biggest containers I can get, and yesterday I ate half a container in one sitting. It’s the best snack ever.

I love doing yard work, so I help out any chance I get. Our land lords are older, and they have a large yard. This past Friday we helped plant stuff and cut up branches. The entire time I was wishing that I was with Papa doing that stuff. Brother McAllister (our landlord) is a nice guy, but he's just so...... boring. I miss helping out at Nuna and Papa’s house. I'm super glad I had a chance to work with Jeff, because I have learned so many skills that I can offer people. The other day I helped a guy work on his sprinklers.

I'm pretty sure everyone already knows this about me, but I shoot myself in the foot a lot. I've got an embarrassing example. We were out tracking, and we said hello to a lady on her front porch. She was obviously annoyed with us. We asked her all the normal questions, including if she was a member. She told us she was. It’s really easy to tell if they are active members or not, and we usually ask them if they have had a chance to attend regularly. I asked this lady that, and as I assumed, she told us she hadn't. The whole time we were talking with her, she wasn't afraid to portray how annoyed she was of us. At one point she told me she really isn't going to go to church, and I replied, "Yeah, I could tell." Oh man that was the dumbest thing to say. Luckily Elder Flinders jumped in and finished the conversation. When we were walking away, I said to Elder Flinders, "Did I really just say that?" and he just started busting up laughing. I wasn't meaning to tell her that I could tell that she was less active; I was just meant to tell her that I could tell that she was annoyed with us talking with her. <Shrug>, Oh well.

The Dunford Bakery is in our district, and since Elder Flinders is the district leader, we can go there. We've only gone once, and when we went up to the register they told us that it was all taken care of. It was awesome. I'm going to make sure we don't take advantage of them, but it's comforting to know that whenever we are having a bad day or something, we can always stop by at the bakery and pick up a donut.

The sisters gave us some cd's to listen to in the car, and one of them is the Frozen soundtrack. Before we got these cds, we had been listening to Vocal Point. They have some pretty good music. Elder Flinders hasn't seen Frozen​​​​ because it came out while he was serving. He's asked people what it's about, and it’s really funny to hear him summarize what he thinks the movie is about. I've given him a pretty good explanation though. In the song, "Do You Want to Build a Snowman?" there's a part where Ana says to the painting "Hang in there, Joan", but when listening to the song, you don't know that Joe is a painting. Elder Flinders asked me yesterday, "Who the heck is Joe? Why isn't he in anymore of the songs?" It was pretty funny.

Right across the street from where we live, there is a place where people joust. We've only seen them practice, but people have been thrown off their horses before. Here are some pictures for your enjoyment:

Jousting across the street:


This is where we park at night, and I have to back him out every morning:



Last week I didn't have enough time to put my whites in the dryer, so I had to hang dry them:

This is what our closet looks like, my side is the right side of the middle piece:

This is at the end of the day when we do planning for the next day:

The library where we email:


A picture of the zone leaders:

And a hilarious photo I took while driving:

Elder Flinder's Version of "Love is an Open Door"

Okay, can I just, say something crazy?

 I love crazy!

All my life has been a series of doors in my face (TRACTING)
And then suddenly I bump into you (INVESTIGATOR)


I was thinking the same thing! 'Cause like
I've been searching my whole life to find my own place (GOSPEL)
And maybe it's the party talking or the chocolate fondue


 But with you...
 But with you

 I found my place...
 I see your face...


And it's nothing like I've ever known before! (HOLY GHOST)

The Gospel is an open door!
The Gospel is an open door!
The Gospel is an open door!

 With you!
 With you!
 With you!
 With you!
The Gospel is an open door...

 I mean it's crazy...
 What?

 We finish each other's-
 Sandwiches!

 That's what I was gonna say!

 I've never met someone-


Who thinks so much like me!
Jinx! Jinx again!
Our mental synchronization
Can have but one explanation

 You-
 And I-
Were-
 Just-

Meant to be!

Say goodbye... (REPENTANCE)
Say goodbye...

To the pain of the past
We don't have to feel it anymore! (BAPTISM)
The Gospel is an open door!
The Gospel is an open door!
Life can be so much more!

With you!
With you!
With you!

With you!

 The Gospel is an open door...

[Missionaries:] Can I say something crazy?
[Investigators:] [giggles]
[Missionaries:] Will you get baptized?

[Investigator:] Can I say something even crazier? Yes!

God wants us to be as happy

Well, this week I slacked off on taking notes for stuff I could email about. So this week’s letter is going to be a little shorter. But no worries, next weeks will be adventure filled.

Let me try and think of things I can write about...
First- let me explain one of the things that we run into a lot, I'm not sure if I explained it last week. Because we are in Utah, everyone knows about Mormons. We talk with a lot of people who are less-active. They pull the "two face Mormon" excuse. Basically they say that they don't agree with the Mormon Church because all the members are hypocrites. They act one way at Church, and another way during the week. As a Utah native, I am all too familiar with this. I can empathize with them- to an extent. Too many people get offended because of that and they choose not to go to church anymore. But that's a weak excuse, in my opinion. People need to remember that the gospel is true, no matter what others do. If they have sufficient faith, they need to stop thinking about what other people do, and start thinking more about what God wants them to do. Its super disheartening, because I know that they know the church is true. It's really hard to help them because I don't have any new information for them. They all know about the church. They all have read from the Book of Mormon. So the best thing we can usually do is testifying.

One of the things I have noticed as I teach lessons and talk to people about religion is my demeanor. It’s amazing how calm I am. Every time we talk to someone of a different faith, they get really worked up and try to prove us wrong. Sometimes, my companion gets worked up as well. But I'm blessed because I don't. There is no reason for me to get worked up. I know for myself that the gospel is true. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. People can criticize my beliefs all they want, it’s not going to make me change. There is no convincing someone who doesn’t want to change. People tend to think that religion is something you can debate. They have the "to each his own" attitude. Or the "as long as you are a good person you will be saved". For a while I wasn't sure how to express to them that there are commandments to help us be happy. But yesterday, I had a great conversation with a guy and we were both edified by the Spirit as I testified.

We were talking with a guy named Brian, and he was telling us that he didn't agree with how the Mormons portray God. Of course he brought up the whole "two face Mormon" topic, (we get that a lot) and he gave us this example:
"I don't believe that if I drink whiskey God will send me down to hell. I am a good person. I believe in living a good life. There are plenty of Mormons that go to church, pay tithing, and act like saints when they go to church, but go home and beat their kids. They are the ones going to hell. I don't believe that there is just a heaven and a hell. I believe in an instance heaven. A heaven for each person according to what they did on earth. I'm not going to hell just because I drink whiskey and smoke some pot every now and then. You Mormons say I will. I don't believe God is that much of a jerk."

I could understand what he was saying, and I knew how to explain to him the Church’s beliefs. It was super cool because I could feel the Spirit testifying through me, and I could feel us both being edified. The entire time that I was testifying, Brian would be nodding and saying "that makes sense."

I said something like this:
"We have a lot of similar beliefs Brian; I totally understand what you are saying. I also believe in something similar to an instance heaven. We believe that there are three kingdoms, the Celestial, Terrestrial, and Telestial. I know that when we go before God at the judgment bar, and if we didn't live lives that would qualify us to live in the Celestial kingdom; we aren't going to be begging God to let us go there. If we want to smoke some pot, and drink whiskey, we won't want to go somewhere that doesn't let us smoke pot and drink whiskey. We will want to go to a place that does allow it. When we stand before God, we won't be begging Him; Jesus will be begging us to change, to want to live the commandments. When He asks us to change, and if we don't want to change, we won't feel comfortable to change. We won't feel comfortable in the Celestial Kingdom. But I just want to tell you that the Celestial Kingdom is the best kingdom of them all. It is the place that we will feel the happiest. Pot brings a certain type of pleasure, but it doesn't bring true happiness. This book that I'm holding in my hand right now has the guidelines, rules, and directions to true happiness. God wants us to be as happy as Him. He has given us this way. Yes, there are rules that we have to follow. Yes, there are times that we don't understand those rules and we don't want to follow them. There are times where breaking those rules seem to promise more happiness than if we kept them. Brian, just like you, I believe there is an instance heaven. I believe that we will go to a place that we have earned. We will go to a place where we feel most comfortable. Not where we will feel most happy, but where we feel we deserve to go. I can promise you that if you follow the rules, and live your life according to the plan that Heavenly Father has given us, we will be worthy to live in the Celestial Kingdom, where we can feel the most happiness. It's hard sometimes to follow the rules right now, but they are rules for a reason. They aren't rules just to hold us down, but to help us grow, and become happy. I can promise you that if you live the commandments, you will be happy. I know I am."

I love you all!
Keep reading the scriptures, and following the commandments. I promise it will make you happy.

Elder Garver

What phobia?

Boy oh boy I have a lot to write. I really hope I have enough time to type it out. I'm super stressed about that. This is the only time that I feel stressed though. Everything else is just super fun. First let's start with the title:
Most of you don't know but I have a super hard time eating at other peoples houses. Its just a phobia I have. I sometimes have even have a hard time eating at my grandparents or cousins house. I just get skirmish for some reason. Anyway, I've been extremely blessed. I can eat anything. Its crazy awesome. I HATE instant potatoes, but I ate an entire scoop of instant mashed potatoes with some gross looking chunky gravy. It looked repulsive, and at home I probably would've thrown up after eating just one bite, but I don't have that problem anymore! Its super cool. I'm very blessed.

Speaking about food, poor Elder Flinders... I don't think he knows how to cook. The other day, I had spent about a half-hour making a cheesy potato omelet. It barely fit on my plate. I sat down and as I dove into my beautiful meal, I looked over and Elder Flinders was eating a bowl of cereal. Poor guy. Anyway, I've been taking care of him since then. I've taught him how to make an omelet, Spud sandwich, grilled cheese, stuff like that. I didn't shop very well last week because all I got was 2 dozen eggs, a bag of potatoes, and a block of cheese. But we made it work. Anyway, after I'm done emailing I'm on my way to shop for some better stuff.

Speaking about Elder Flinders, (I'm going to start all of my paragraphs like that), He's a lot like Brandon. A lot. We are basically a Yin and Yang companionship. I'm super outgoing, and he's pretty quiet. This week we have a companionship goal to become more like each other. He's as stiff as a board, and sometimes I'm a little too silly. But we are working on it. It's super fun.

Every morning at the beginning of companionship study, we start with a prayer and then a hymn. Oh man we are bad. It's so funny. I can barely get through without cracking up. Elder Flinders likes to think himself as a good singer, but he's usually off key. So its funny to hear him sing. He likes to sing a lot, especially since he's getting more comfortable around me. I am horrible at singing. But I admit it. I think I'll record a companionship study for you guys sometime.

Actually I'm not going to start all my paragraphs like I said I would. Anyway, we live pretty close to the SLC airport so we see a lot of planes throughout the day. Occasionally wave to them, because they are in descent so they are pretty low.

I do a lot of weird things, and Elder Flinders is a pretty good sport about it. He really needs to loosen up though. But he will :) I'll help him. By the end of the night he is pretty silly. Most of the stuff he says isn't really funny, but he thinks it is, so I laugh along. I have a feeling that is how it's going to be with him. He probably doesn't get any of the things I think are funny, either. We do get along well though.

I found my favorite type of dog. He's such a cute little dog. He's a Maltese Poodle. He's super soft and fluffy, hypoallergenic, super light, and he doesn't bark. I love that little dog. His name is Oliver.

I'm not sure if I already told you guys about our Korean investigator. Her name is Brianna. She only speaks Korean. So when we teach, her aunt translates for her. Anyway, we took her up to Temple Square yesterday, and went to the visitors center. It definitely was a good experience for her because she now knows what the Holy Ghost feels like.

Being out here, I'm always happy. I'm just so grateful to be a missionary that there is no reason for me to be sad. I'm pretty happy go lucky. At temple square, while we were waiting for Brianna to arrive, we talked with a lot of sister missionaries and did the usual conversation (where are you from, how long have you been out, etc.) Some of the sister missionaries were actually pretty snobby and pessimistic. When they left, I expressed my confusion to Elder Flinders as to why they were in such bad moods. He told me with a smile, "Everyone isn't as positive as you are Elder." So that felt pretty good.

On our way home, while we were on the trax, some guy tried to scam us. It was so cool that I knew right away that he was scamming us. That's one of the benefits of being a missionary, you can truly rely on the Spirit and follow the promptings. I was prompted to whisper to Elder Flinders that this guy was trying to scam us. Here's what he did...

He walked down and sat across from us and started talking on the phone. He had a couple napkins and kept wiping his forehead with it. As he talked to us on the phone, he did his best to look extremely distressed. All of a sudden he started talking louder, (because he wanted to make sure we heard him.) He said, "No that's not the Bishops job, I'm on my way to the hospital, just stay calm. A.... I know, we just need some priesthood holders to give her a blessing, we only have a half hour left, she is really sick, (He's not telling us this, he's telling the person on the phone this. The person on the other line would obviously know that she was sick, and that they have a half hour left). He then goes on to tell her that he won't have enough money to pay for the baby formula, (which apparently is supposed to cure this baby from the disease that has put it in the hospital) and that he needs 36 dollars. If only he could find some priesthood holders that would give him the money. He said that he was getting off the next stop and was just going to stare at the ATM because he didn't have any money. It was actually pretty entertaining.

Tracking here is hard. Because everyone knows who we are. They don't necessarily know what we believe, they just know that we are "Mormons."

Surprisingly there are a lot of people that aren't members. Most of them go to non-denominational churches, or a baptist church, and they are filled to the brim with false doctrine that their pastors tell them. I've definitely had to remember that I'm finding the needles in the haystack. Talking with these people gives us an awesome opportunity to be able to testify boldly. Its amazing how closed minded these people are. I have a good experience that illustrates this point...

We walked up to a home and a lady answered her door. She was very kind to begin with. After we found out that she was going to such and such church, I was very interested in learning more about her beliefs. I was very sincere and asked her a lot of genuine questions. I listened very intently. I was very calm and was actively engaged in the conversation. I nodded and smiled as I listened to her tell her beliefs. She was calm as well, and also kind. She was very happy to share her beliefs. After listening to her, I expressed that I wanted to share my testimony. She wouldn't let me. Every time I started to say something she would interrupt and tell me that I didn't know the truth. I have a testimony. My testimony is something no one can take away from me. People can't tell me what I believe or not. I don't tell them what they believe either. Its frustrating when I listen to her, but she doesn't listen to me. But I was determined to share my testimony. I was very bold, I didn't yell, but I was bold and strong as I declared what I believe and know. It was very interesting to see how quickly she changed and how uncomfortable she felt. Elder Flinders says that they get uncomfortable because they can feel something when we testify. They don't want to acknowledge it, and try to get away from the topic. Its quite interesting.

I also had an opportunity to give a blessing. We were walking up to our dinner appointment and a car started honking to us. We turned and looked and they were waving us down. They asked if we were missionaries, and if we could give one of their family members a blessing. We went over there, Elder Flinders did the anointing, and I did the sealing. As I blessed him, (40 year old spanish catholic guy), the spirit was super strong. We all knew that it wasn't me talking. It was Heavenly Father talking to him. It was a great experience.

This past week was a little rough in the sense of finding people to teach. It can get discouraging, but discouragement makes ineffective missionaries. So I always make sure to start singing a song, or give myself a pep talks. Yesterday, I fasted for the opportunity to find people to teach. I really wanted to share the gospel with more people. I also fasted to be able to recognize the promptings of the Spirit. Well, yesterday, my prayers were answered. After visiting temple square, we were super pumped to find a family. We went everywhere, talked with everyone, but still no luck. At 8:56, we were driving home, (we have to be home by 9:00) and I saw a couple cleaning their minivan out. I asked Elder Flinders to turn around, and told him I wanted to end the night with a bang. Well, after turning around, we got out of the car and walked up to the couple and asked if we could help. They could only speak Spanish. We could only speak English. So it didn't work out and we walked back to the car. I was still praying to find someone else. I had my window down, and as we were pulling out I heard a couple teenagers laughing. I looked over and saw a group of four teenagers sitting on their porch. As we drove away, I thought we should turn around and talk to the teens. But I started to second guess myself, and decided to keep quiet. But the thought persisted (I never thought I would be able to tell a story like this =) ) I looked at the clock and it was 8:58. I had already made Elder Flinders turn around once, I didn't want to do it again. But I just had to. I just had to try one more time. I said, "I know I'm being annoying, but lets turn around again. Lets go talk to those teenagers." He didn't even notice the teenagers, so I had to tell him where to go. We walked up and started talking with the teenagers. (I'm running out of time, so I'll have to give a little less detail.) We told them about the Book of Mormon and Elder Flinders gave a little summary using the pictures at the front of the book. They were super receptive. It was awesome. As I watched them, I knew it was an answer to my prayers. After Elder Flinders finished, I bore my testimony along the lines of "I know Heavenly Father loves us all and He wants us to come back to Him. He wants us to know what is right, and what the truth is. He loves us. Jesus loves us. When I read the scriptures I feel so happy. I feel at peace. I feel calm. There's a warm feeling inside me. Heavenly Father wants us to always have that feeling. As we have been sharing our message, have you guys felt that feeling? Me too! That's the Spirit! Will you guys read from the Book of Mormon and pray to know if it is true? I promise that you will feel the same feeling you are feeling right now."

That was awesome. I'm running out of time. I'm sorry for not emailing you all personally, but I will when I have time!

Love you all!!
- Elder Garver