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:
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
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