Such A Great Week!

I had some great experiences this week.

First some little funny things that happen through out the week,

I keep dreaming that my favorite suit is getting ruined. Its horrible!

When I brush my teeth I tuck my tie into my shirt, and I often forget, so many times I have walked into the store or church with my tie tucked into my shirt.

Every dinner I eat at I get up and clean my dishes and my comps, and last night the host said to me, "Kudos to your mom! Thanks for helping!" It felt great!

We spoke in sacrament meeting again, and I went up there and completely blanked. I stood up and said, "Uh... well... lets see... I'm sorry. I don't know what I am doing."
It was pretty bad, but I quickly recovered and had a great talk after that.

Elder Walker talks A LOT, and I usually stay pretty quiet or we fight to speak. When I have a thought, I've gotten pretty good at timing it and waiting for him to take a breath. He's mentioned a couple times that I need to be careful not to interrupt him, and I'm trying, but its almost impossible to say anything! Its okay, I only need to talk when I need to. There was a district meeting council on Wednesday, and so all the district leaders companions went out and tracted together. It was crazy how shy all the missionaries were. We would knock a door and they would say something like this: "Hi, we are just coming around, uh *gulp*, to talk about Jesus Christ, we uh, are you a mormon? Well we uh, I know the Book of Mormon is true, can we talk about it?" I'm not even joking, it was bad. I'm extremely grateful that I've been able to sit back and watch and learn from Elder Walker, because when it was my time, I was able to shine! The missionaries were more than willing to let me do the door approach. I'd say,
"Hello! I'm Elder Garver, and we are missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints! What was your name?"
"Joe"
"Nice to meet you Joe! As you probably know, we as missionaries spend our time sharing the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, would it be alright if we shared a quick message with you?"
"Uh I'm actually on my way out to the store."
"Oh okay, well we don't want to keep you, can we set up a time that we can come over and teach you and your family about the restored gospel?"
"No, we are never home, this is my only day off"
"Ah man! Have you ever met with missionaries before?"
"Yeah I've done it a lot of times"
"Awesome! Did they give you a Book of Mormon?"
"Yeah I've got a couple"
"Great! I'd encourage you to pick it up and read some of it. The Book of Mormon means a lot to me, and it brings so much happiness in my life. I know that as you read it and apply the teachings taught in it, life will be even better than it is now. I know its true because I have prayed about it, and the Holy Ghost has testified to me through feelings and thoughts that it is the word of God. Will you pick it up sometime today and read a little bit from it?"
"No, I'm not really interested, I like my life the way it is."
"Ah man, well if there is anything we can do for you, here is our card, we'd love to do some service for you, and if there is ever a time that you'd like to learn more, don't hesitate to call us!"
"Okay thanks"
Elder Walker has taught me a lot, I'm definitely his apprentice.

During lunch we play chess, and the first couple of times Elder Walker would just whip me. Slowly I've been getting better, and we are good opponents. Last night I finally beat him! I am white:

I'm so excited to go to the temple, I decided I'd make a paper chain: (bad picture)

It is so beautiful here in Draper. I love the mountains, they are magnificent. I can see the whole city, because we are on a hill, its just beautiful. The sunsets are also amazing. Its just such a beautiful place. 

Missionary work is hard work, these are the sisters haha: 

This took me a couple weeks, but I made a collage out of ensigns: 

Last experience,

Elder Walker and I were walking to an appointment when we crossed paths with a man walking his dog. He stopped us and asked us if we could answer him a simple question. He pulled out a wallet and gave us each a paper that he had typed up that was anti-material. He asked us a question that was set up in the fashion that no matter what the answer was, we would be wrong. I felt very uncomfortable, and I wanted to get out of there. Elder Walker said, "We cant answer that with just a yes or no question--"
The other guy cut him off and with a raised voice said, "Oh my gosh, its just a simple question!"
Without all the details, he tried to bash with us, and was just freaking out. I tried to testify and leave, but he didn't want to hear my testimony. I did everything I could to get out of the situation, but Elder Walker was just standing there listening to all the criticism from the guy. I didn't want to bash, and I wasn't feeling the spirit. Eventually he left, and I said to Elder Walker, "We need to talk about this, I didn't know what to do." Before he answered me, he walked over to a lady that was watching us, and sitting on her porch. I remember her getting up during the argument and going inside for a minute and then coming back out. When we walked up to the lady, I saw that she went in to get her bible. Elder Walker really lovingly crouched down, and sat on the heel of his feet, (she was sitting on the ground) and asked her about her bible. She said it was her mothers. He asked her if read it often, and she confirmed. He said, "Can I show you one of my favorite scriptures?" and then he flipped to James 1:5 and read it to her. He told her that if she had any questions about anything, to do what the scripture said. He apologized for what she saw, and she said "Don't worry, I see people like that all the time trying to mess with you guys. Why can't they just leave you alone?" He set up an appointment for us to come back.

After her, we walked over to the other people who were watching, and Elder Walker did a similar thing.

As we walked away, he told me that both those people were not members, and he had been trying to set up appointments with them for months.

I told him how uncomfortable I was in the argument, and told him I didn't feel the spirit. He told me, "You always have the Spirit unless you do something that will drive it away. Just because he didn't have the Spirit, doesn't mean that you don't. If you stay calm and composed, and don't get worked up, you will have the spirit."
That really made sense to me.
Then he told me, "I usually don't like to stand there, but I noticed that people were watching. When someone is yelling, people usually watch. I like to stand there and show the people who are watching that we are disciples of Jesus Christ, and we don't egg on contention. If we stay composed, we get a lot of respect from those watching us."
That was an awesome lesson that I learned from him.

I love you all!
Elder Tyler James Garver

Best Week In My Mission So Far

The week of the 9th to the 16th was a hard week. But this last week was awesome! I had so many adventures!

Last Monday and Tuesday, I was still having a really hard time trying to connect with my companion. I just didn't like him. We didn't fight or anything like that, but I had a hard time wanting to even be around him. It was definitely a trial. For the past week I had been praying really hard to learn how to have charity toward him. I knew that I had been put with him for a reason, and I just needed to figure out what that reason was. Well, my prayer was answered. We had an argument Tuesday night, and we both knew that what we were arguing about wasn't why we were having an argument. I suggested that we say a prayer and figure out what this was about. After the prayer everything worked out. It was awesome. The real concerns were brought up, and we had an AWESOME discussion. From that point on, we are best friends. I've never had a best friend like Elder Walker. Life is awesome.

I'm not sure how quite to organize my emails, so I'm just going to put a lot of random little stories.

Tuesday I went on splits with the Zone Leaders, and we went out to eat at the prison cafe called Serving Time Cafe. It was delicous. The prisoners served us, and I have met very few people as humble as they are. They are very kind, especially to us Elders. Serving Time cafe is kind of a place that mocks prisoners, and it takes a lot of humility to serve people when they know that they are being judged. It was a great experience for me.

My zone leaders are awesome. They are hilarious too. There is a catholic school in our area, and the zone leaders take a short cut through the schools parking lot quite often. Everytime they drive through, they roll down the windows and sing "Praise to the Man". Its super funny.

I can't wait to go home and watch The Best Two Years. Its going to make so much sense to me now. I've had a lot of experiences exactly like the ones in the movie. There is a part in the movie where the missionaries hear that the Mission President is coming to their apartment, and they get into a frenzy to clean up before he comes. The mission president doesn't come to our apartment, but the zone leaders do. We have definitely ran around frantically cleaning up before they come.

One of my best friends Jeff Larsen helped me to decide to buy some military boots to use during landscaping. Well I have them here on my mission, and I can't even express how awesome they are. I do everything I can in them. In the morning while I work out, I wear them. They are super light, and quick to put on. I run in them. They are seriously one of the best purchases I have made. I do EVERYTHING I can to do service for people. I use my favorite tool quite often: the string edger. I've used many different ones, and I am so grateful that Jeff taught me how to use them. I am also grateful that Jeff taught me how to work. It has definitely been extremely useful to gain the trust of members. There have been some stupid missionaries in this area before, and a lot of members do not like missionaries. But as we have done service for them, they are really starting to open up.

I went to a farm the other day, and I got to see some turkish people skinning a cow. It was awesome. I also got to have a baby calf suck on my finger. It was really weird.

We get WAY too many treats from members. We got this one night after dinner.

BLEH.

I hold my sleeping hours very dearly to me. I am very strict about getting to bed on time. Unfortunately my companion likes to talk while we are in bed. Last night I chuckled because I realized that that might be how my wife will be one day. I just listen and say "uh huh", "yeah", stuff like that. But I do it in a kind way, not in an annoyed way. Its fun :)

I'm learning so much, and I just love being out on a mission. I'm excited to share more of my adventures next week!

Families

One of the best things about being on a mission is seeing all of the amazing families in the ward. There is always one family in each ward that goes above and beyond. This Sunday was kind of hard, because I miss my dad. There were awesome musical numbers, including a violin. One of the ward members asked us after sacrament meeting if we missed our dads, and Elder Walker said, "Uh.. Sure." It was odd that he said that. I know that his family is pretty close, and that there isn’t any family problems, so it made me confused when I heard him say that. Later on in the day, I asked him about that, and he said, "I've been away for a while, it’s been a long time since I've seen him and it’s kind of normal now. I don't miss him really".

That was sad to hear. No matter how long I am out, I will always miss my dad. There are so many times that I wish I could just sit down with him and talk to him. I have so many things I need advice with, and he's a great listener.

On my mission, I am with someone my age, that I don't really know, 24/7, for at least 6 weeks. It’s definitely a learning experience. I truly have to rely on the Lord. I pray a lot. I read a talk by Elder Bednar that talks about the Enabling power of the Atonement, and I am definitely using it as much as I can.

One of the wards has a game on the program each week; I wish Preach My Gospel had these!

I got to go back to my old area to go to one of my investigators baptisms, and when I looked at the program they had put me on to give a talk about baptism!! I had to quickly put something together. It was really fun going to my old area.

 

On Sunday we were eating at an older man’s home, and he asked us if we were allowed to call our dads on Father’s day. When we said no, he said really loudly, "What the fetch is up with that?!" It was really unexpected and really funny.

 

Man, I miss working with Jeff. I miss yard work so much. I try and find any opportunity I can to help members out with their yards. It works out, because my companion is the social one, so he will talk with the people, while I work on their yards. I love it.

 

One time when we were working on a lawn, we couldn't find a string trimmer, and we needed to get it done, so this is what we found:

I loved using these retro trimmers.

Whenever we go to older people’s homes to eat dinner, we get stuffed to the limit, if we like it or not. There’s nothing that makes me cringe more than when I am super full, and I heard the old man say, "Mama, give him more chicken. He needs more chicken." We tell him that we are full, but that doesn't satisfy him :) We manage to get it down!

I love you all; remember to count your blessings! Remember to show love towards everyone :)

40 days out!

Ah man, I am having so much fun! We got a lot done this week. 

The other night we went to a dinner at a member’s home, and they had invited 4 senior citizens to eat with us. I think the youngest senior citizen was 85. It was the best. They were so funny. We'd be talking about something, and then they would pipe up and tell some random story that had nothing to do with our conversation. Ah man, it was just funny.

People forget that they have signed up to feed us, so we make sure to call them beforehand. Sometimes they are still running around when we get there. So the kids will entertain us while we wait. At one home, the father was running around and was super stressed out, he reminded me exactly of my dad. His wife came in and told him to take deep breaths. As we waited for dinner, his daughter played some songs on the harp for us. It was beautiful. I've decided that the harp is what I want my daughter to play. It’s a beautiful instrument, and it’s not annoying when someone practices. 

Missionaries have their own sort of "yearbook signing" program. Everyone exchanges notebooks and by the end of our missions our notebooks should be filled. It’s a lot of fun, but the problem is, I don't know what to write. So I usually write one-liners and then draw a picture. Well, there is a Sister who raised the bar on me. Right after our baptism last week, we went out and helped the Sisters change their tire. Elder Flinders didn't know how, so I had the opportunity to show everyone how. When I got my notebook back from Sister Torres, she had drawn an amazing picture of a flat tire. I forgot to take a picture of it, but I will email it next week. So I had to come up with a good thing to do in her notebook. It’s been taking me awhile, but I am almost done with a collage of Jesus. I also haven't taken a picture of that yet, but I will when it is finished. But I did take a picture of what I wrote in her notebook: 

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On Saturday I was on an exchange with the Zone Leader, Elder Valderas. He's from Chile. It was such a great learning experience for me. He taught me a lot, and really helped me to be a more effective missionary. We went to a ward potluck, and the Ward Mission Leader asked us to get up and bear our testimonies. After that, we mingled with the members and asked around for referrals. We found a guy there who was working on getting re-baptized. He had been excommunicated but he is really turning his life around. He has a friend who is taking care of him, Brother Lieverman, the same man who helped us start out with Brianna. Brother Lieverman is the coolest guy ever. He knows so much about the scriptures and the gospel, and he is always anxious to answer any questions that we have. So as Elder Valderas talked with the other guy, I had a great conversation with Brother Lieverman. He answered a lot of my questions.  After we went to a senior dinner and I asked the stake president if we could get up and share a message and bear our testimonies. He was all for it. It was super great. I love bearing my testimony. 

We've had a lot of investigators lately, but we've had a really hard time getting them to church. During church, one of our families that we are teaching didn't show up, so I decided to go to the extreme. Later in the night, Elder Flinders thanked me for doing what I did, because while I was doing it, he was really annoyed at me. But in the end he was grateful:

After sacrament, I leaned over to Elder Flinders and said, "Let’s go get them." We drove to their house, and sat in their front room for an hour, waited for them to get ready, and constantly checking up on them. "You guys almost ready?" "Do you have your scriptures?" "It’s okay that you don't have a white shirt, that t-shirt looks great!" . It took a lot of effort to get them to church, but when they did, it was definitely worth it. The ward was so awesome when we brought them in. I ran and got the primary president and had her take care of the children, then I talked with some of the ward missionaries and had them take the parents to gospel principles, and I made sure that every member of the family had someone to be with. They had a great experience. Elder Flinders thanked me for having true charity toward them. He told me that I helped him realize that charity isn't letting them sleep in and not bugging them, charity is love for your investigators that you are willing to do anything to help them go to church. 

We also had a dinner last night with a man who isn't a member, but his wife is. He is an awesome nice man. He has had an alcoholic past, and he had burned a lot of bridges, but he is slowly restoring them. He is also a very stubborn man. But I am also a very stubborn boy. He's met with the missionaries multiple times, but I am again taking it to the next level. He went to the senior dinner on Saturday, and when I was bearing my testimony, I was looking straight at him, straight in his eyes. His name is Tom Fisher. I think Tom Fisher is one of the reasons I have been sent here. I can see that he is ready. I just need to keep picking at his wall until I get some cracks in there. When we were having dinner, I asked him his beliefs, and then I asked his wife to bear her testimony to him. It was powerful. Then Elder Flinders bore a strong testimony. I ended with mine, and was pretty blunt about it. Again, he is the kind of man who needs bluntness. He's a lot like me, and we connect. I told him that I noticed when he was sharing his beliefs to me, he would say, "I believe that.." I told him that’s where we are different. He says "I believe" and I say "I know." I know it sounds like I'm being a little pushy with him, but the Spirit is with me, and He won't let me say or testify anything that will push Tom away. I'm very excited to teach him again.  

This Wednesday is the end of my first transfer, and things are starting to click. I'm really getting the hang of missionary life. I love it.

I hope all is well, 

Elder Garver