Another Good Week

I have been up here in Moutain View for 3 weeks now. Last week we did some service, but mostly it was full of trying to contact people. I kinda feel like a telemarketer sometimes with all the phone calls we try to make. I especially feel like a telemarketer when we tell people who we are and they immediately hang up on us. With this said, we teach maybe a lesson a day, which means we are blessed considering the way the world is right now. 

One person we taught has a hard time believing that God is there. This person can't see how a God who is merciful could let so many bad things happen in the world. We discussed this and several other topics that were concerning him for a while. What it finally boiled down to is his lack of understanding of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. He does not understand how His sacrifice could make every wrong right. He does not understand how Christ through this event makes his sins be forgiven.

I gave him the only suitable answer I could give. No mortal knows how Christ's Atonement can do all those things. We are finite and have a finite understanding of eternal and infinite things. The how does not matter. Knowing how it works will not save you from yourself. All we can do is understand what happened and why it happened. I know that it did. I know that through Jesus Christ, every injustice will be made right. I know that no crime will go unpunished and no good deed will go unnoticed. I know that if we will repent, be baptized, and then endure to the end, Christ's Atonement will be able to make us into what he wants us to be.

I hope y'all have had an amazing week! Stay safe and be happy. Let me know how you are doing. 

-Elder Garrison 

Another Full Week

We have been busy this past week. We have done service everyday except Sunday. There are a lot of old people up here that need help maintaining their homes. That makes it nice for us. We get a chance to go outside and do some good. I have picked up a little weight out here so I am excited to have something to do that gets me away from the food in the apartment and helps burn a few extra calories. We also have had lessons with someone every day. This made the week seem to fly by. It seems like this area has a ton of potential. I am excited to see what the future brings. 

        Last night we had an interesting mission zoom call. Elder Bednar asked that all the missions in this area have it. It was on discipleship and repentance. It was incredibly spiritual and will be changing the way I teach a little. I need to teach more simply and talk a lot more about Jesus Christ's role in everything. He wants us to repent and become who He wants us to be. He doesn't just leave us to do it with our own will power. That is why He preformed His Atoning Sacrifice for us. He can help us through that, but only if we do it His way. This way is the Gospel of Jesus Christ and it requires that we make promises to God that we will do our best. This is what Baptism is. Then through the Spirit we become sanctified and continue up the path to our Father in Heaven. It really is that simple.

       Anyways, life is good for me up here. I enjoy how beautiful it all is up here. The water is the most interesting blue that I have ever seen. I hope you all are doing well! Let me know what you have been doing. 

Elder Garrison

Mountain View

This has been my first week in a new area! It is pretty up here. It isn't all flat like Blytheville was. I am happy to be here. This is the Folk music capital of the world. They get together every night and play music. They don't practice together, but they sound great. They have a dulcimer shop up the road from us. It is an interesting instrument that I have never heard of before. It is like an oblong guitar. They say it is one of the worlds easiest instruments to play. I had a guy offer to teach me. I might come back home playing the dulcimer. This is a pretty touristy town so people are typically super nice! 

The members, at least the ones I have met, are awesome! As far as the work goes, we have taught a total of 3 lessons so far. I guess to Elder Olsen things are picking up, but for me that is a lot slower than Blytheville. We will be trying some new things soon and hopefully we will teach a lot more people next week.

I had a few emails asking about what the food is like down here in the south so I thought I would write about that for a few. We have a lot of fried things. That is really what southern cooking is, just fry everything. I have fried some chicken gizzards and I hear that fried chicken liver is good. The food isn't as exciting here as it was in Ghana. I will be taking home Cajun seasonings though. That stuff makes everything taste better. The thing about the south is they make ridiculously good desserts. Pecan Pie made with fresh pecans is my favorite. I also love good old Banana pudding. They know how to make people soooooo fat. 

Well, please message me and tell me what you are up to. I would love to hear from you. I hope you are doing well! 

Elder Garrison

The pictures are from a hike Conner & his companion took.

Blanchard Spring Trail

Mirror Lake Trial Hike

15 Weeks!

I left California for Arkansas 15 weeks ago. What an adventure! I ended up here in Blytheville and have really come to love the people here. I got news two nights ago that I am leaving for a place called Mountain View, Arkansas. I am definitely excited for something other than just the flat fields around here. With that said, I am sad to leave. I feel very connected to a lot of the members and to most of our investigators. People around here have been exceptionally nice and I now know what they mean when they talk about southern hospitality. I hope to feel the same way with those I will meet in Mountain View. 

Right now I am currently sitting on the bank of the giant Mississippi River. I am fishing for catfish that are the same size as me. I will let y'all know if I have any luck. 

I hardly finished the last sentence before I got a bite from a massive fish. At least I think it was because it got away. I love y'all and I hope you are all doing well. 

Elder Garrison 

Facebook Post: Jesus Christ

In John 8:56-59 there is an account of Jesus Christ talking to the Pharisees, or the Jewish teachers at the time. They tried to kill him because he said, "before Abraham was, I am."

Why did they try to stone him? Because he was claiming to be the Great I Am, the same thing Jehovah, the God of the Old Testament, said He was, (Ex. 3:14-15). Jesus Christ is the Jehovah! He created all things. His influence touches everything! His Atoning Sacrifice has the power to change everything that you are. Any fault or sin can be washed away and your sins that are "red as scarlet, they shall be white like snow".

I challenge each of you who read this to take advantage of the gift that He has given us and allow Christ to change something that keeps you from Him. I promise that as you pray with faith and try your best to be better, you will be happier.

#JesusTheChrist

Facebook Post: Jesus Christ the Master Teacher

Elder Garrison shared the following on Facebook today:

Jesus Christ is the master teacher. Throughout His mortal ministry, He taught all those who would listen to Him. He taught people His Gospel, which is the way to return back to the presence of God forever. We find His teachings in the scriptures.

In Acts 8 we learn of an Ethiopian who was reading the scriptures. Philip, an Apostle of Jesus Christ, asked the Ethiopian if he understood what he was reading. The Ethiopian said, "How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him."

The scriptures can be confusing and hard to understand sometimes. That is why God uses His servants to help teach His Gospel. I and my companion Elder

Jurrien Barrameda

are representatives of Jesus Christ. Message us if you have any questions, concerns, or if you just want to know where to start with reading the scriptures.

I promise that as you learn more about Christ and His Atoning Sacrifice, you will feel His love for you!