A Crazy Week!

This last week started going nuts Monday. We had a mission wide zoom call and they told us two important things. First was that we are no longer allowed to start conversations with people we don't know in person. This makes the task of finding people to teach a lot harder. The second was about Hurricane Laura. There was a high chance for tornadoes throughout the mission due to it. We ended up sleeping in a member's house Thursday night because they had a storm shelter. That was fun! We even got a tornado warning in the middle of the night. 

Friday was my favorite because we were able to see Mina be baptized and confirmed a member. We have worked a lot with her and her family and we were excited to see her make those promises with God. It was a highlight of my time here in Arkansas. I had better close. I hope y'all have had and will have a great week. Let me know how you are doing!

Elder Garrison 

Another Great Week!

We have been busy this last week! We put a man on date for baptism named Reshard for the 6th of September earlier this week. He has been really prepared and is so excited when he hears the truths restored by the Prophet Joseph Smith. Thursday we had zone conference and we learned a lot. It was a great spiritual experience. 

We had an 11-year-old interviewed to be baptized Saturday. She passed and is really ready for the baptism! It was amazing to see her inactive family really change. Members would tell us the difficulties involved with reaching out to that family. We ran into a few of those at first, but as soon as they started reading the Book of Mormon they started to change. That is the power of the Book of Mormon, it draws the Spirit into your heart so that the Atonement can work inside you! 

We also started a personal finance class last Friday. People here are pretty poor so we thought that we could get a lot of nonmembers connected to us and to the members. We were a little disappointed that several of the people we had committed to come did not. We have a few more chances until we can't let anyone else join so hopefully we can get it to work out before then. 

Life is good here in Arkansas. I hope y'all are doing well. Let me know how you are doing!

-Elder Garrison 

At Zone Conference in front of the Memphis Temple

A Spiritual Week.

This week was absolutely amazing! We had many miracles and we saw a lot of success. We found one person who we had previously taught. He was seriously prepared to hear the message, but for some reason dropped off the face of the earth. We found him and discovered that a family member who had moved out very recently had some not so nice beliefs about our church. We found this person as soon as he was ready to receive the Gospel. We felt the spirit with him and several other people. We had a devout Pentecostal youth share an experience he had when asking to see if the Book of Mormon is true. He truly received an answer from God. We also had another man tell us that we taught with power. It was the best compliment that I have received so far on my mission. This is how I envisioned my mission being like the whole time. I am so thankful for the spirit. It puts words into my mouth when I need them the most, and speaks the words that are unsaid. It also brings power into the delivery of those words. In those moments there is no fear, doubt, or worry. Just peace. I hope y'all are doing well! Let me know how you are doing. God bless!

Elder Garrison 

Another Solid Week

This last week we were busy! We found 7 new people that are super solid. They are mostly from referrals from the people we are already teaching. We are really excited to see how everything goes with them. The work seems like it is always picking up around here. I hope I stay here long enough to see the fruits of our labors. It is the joy of a missionary to see their efforts pay off as people are taking steps to become more Christ-like.
Some of the people we are teaching, or a better word would be discussing with, have had a lot of experience with organized religion. For example this last week we talked with a reverend from another faith for more than an hour on the nature of God. We are meeting with him again this week to finish the discussion on that topic. I am always a little nervous when having these discussions with people who are well over twice my age and have considerable training in theology. I personally have had very limited formal training in theology. It always amazes me how well we can hold our own when talking about the doctrine. While they know the Bible better than we do, they do not know how to or cannot support their beliefs with it. How is it possible that two 19-year-olds can confound people like this? It is clear that the organization that Jesus Christ established while he was on the earth can only be found in one place. As far as I am aware there is only one church that even bares Jesus Christ's full name. If we people baptize in His name and we pray in His name, shouldn't we worship in His name? I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the only church upon the face of the whole world that has all the characteristics of Christ's church while He was on the earth. 
I am so grateful for modern-day prophets and apostles. They truly are the mouthpiece of the Lord. I am also grateful for the Book of Mormon. Only someone delving into only the most serious of Sins can read it with an open heart and not know it is true. I am grateful that I am a missionary in a time when it seems like people need it the most. 
I hope all of you are doing good. Let me know what you are up to! 

-Elder Garrison 

1 Year Down!

I arrived in Ghana on August 1st last year. I am forever changed by the events of the past year. I could never have imagined the things that have transpired. I remember how nervous I was getting on the plane to Ghana. I had no idea what to expect, what the food would taste like, what the people would be like, or what the work would be like. The next 8 months were a rollercoaster of highs and lows. I learned to like the food, some more than others, show love to the people, and learned how to be a better missionary. I will probably be telling stories about my time there for the rest of my life. They say a mission becomes more valuable to you the further you are off of it. I think it becomes easier to see the amount you change because of your mission with a larger perspective. My time in Ghana was hard but well worth it and that is true in any mission. You get growing pains on a mission.

I hope to return to Ghana as a missionary, but I have learned so much here in Arkansas. I am grateful for the time I have spent here. While the people and ways we teach are different, the way we feel about the people and what we teach them is the same. I am glad to be able to see how similar the work is everywhere in the world. 

I pray that I might be able to help others and my self to become more Christ-like for the rest of my mission and my life. I am not as good of a missionary as I wish I was, but the Lord has called me with my flaws to this people at this time. I will probably be home before I become the missionary I always imagined myself being, but I know that it will come someday. This is why Jesus Christ preformed His Atoning Sacrifice. He knows us and knows how to make yourself the best person you can become. All that it requires is a humble heart and obedience to Him. I am so grateful for Him and what he did for you and me. 

Let me know how each of you are doing. I hope you are all safe and happy!

-Elder Garrison