A Good Week!

This last week we had a lot of good things happen. Wednesday we made a small mistake though. You see missionaries are not allowed to stay out past 9 normally and 9:30 if we are teaching a lesson. We also have to text "in" when we get home so people know we are safe. 99.99% I don't have any problems with that. Around 7:30 Wednesday night we called someone we were teaching and he said he was free. So we stopped by his mom's house to teach him, social distancing and masks of course. The plan was a short 20-minute lesson on faith. It took them a while, maybe 20 minutes, to settle the kids down, but we had plenty of time because we didn't have any other appointments. We teach the short lesson, which took a few minutes longer than anticipated, and Elder Morton bears a powerful testimony of our Lord's love for them. The man we were teaching, then opens up about making some really bad choices. I remember looking down at my wrist and realizing I had forgotten my watch. We spend quite a bit of time talking to them about it. It was one of those lessons where there isn't a dry eye in the room because the spirit was so strong. His fiancee's phone rings, and it is her brother, a member we had visited that day. He asked where we were and of course, she says right here. We look at our phones, it was 10:30! We happened to be in the one spot of town where we did not have service! I guess they were about to start sending missionaries to go look for us. They had even called the hospital to make sure we weren't there. We called President Cahoon to tell him we were alright. He was relieved that we were safe, and he knew it was an honest mistake. He then gave a stern, "don't do that again" as we more than rightfully deserved. The rest of the week was pretty incomparable in comparison to that. We are getting a third Elder up here so we will be in a trio until I leave in 10 days! 

I love y'all and I hope you have a great week!

-Elder Garrison 

Here Today Ghana Tomorrow!

This last week I received the news that I am going back to Ghana on December 10th! I was definitely surprised when I got that email. Until recently, I had zero expectations for returning to serve in Ghana. I am grateful for the opportunity to go, but I am sad to leave Arkansas. I have met a lot of people here that have been amazing. Six months here have taught me so much, and are irreplaceable to me. 

I have only a vague idea of what missionary work will look like over there. I will be trying to dress a little too warm here so I can start trying to get used to the constant heat. I have also been trying to put a little extra spice in my food. I am very hopeful that we are able to keep busy and teach a lot of people. I guess my biggest fear is sitting in the apartment all day. 

As far as the work here goes, we put someone on date for baptism! Her name is Clara, and we have been teaching her a lot over zoom. We are excited for her, and we can't wait to see her be baptized. She will be baptized on the 19th. I will have to get approval to watch it over zoom from Africa. 

President Russell M. Nelson's message of hope was awesome. I enjoy having almost every post I see about gratitude. If you haven't watched it, you need to. You can see it on churchofjesuschrist.org. It will be the first thing you see. It has been great watching it about 3 times while showing it to investigators and members. I am impressed each time, and I look forward to watching it more this week. 

I love y'all, and I hope y'all are happy! Email me so I know how you are doing! Have a fantastic Thanksgiving!

Elder Garrison

Another Good Week!

This last week we had a mission tour with Elder Aidukaitis of the Seventy. He taught us how to improve our teaching skills. We learned a lot. He is a very inspired man, and you can tell the spirit is with him. I am grateful for the chance I had to meet him. 

We also found out where the local food room is here. We were able to help out with that for several hours this last week. All the leaves have fallen off the trees here. We like it because we can spend a lot of time racking for elderly people. 

As far as the teaching goes, we had all but 3 lessons fall through this last week. We do have a lot more set up this week, which is a direct answer to our prayers. 

I do have some word about going back to Ghana! They asked me to get up to date on my vaccines. The rumor is that they are hoping to get us back sometime in December. I really didn't think I had the possibility of getting sent back. They might not, but the next few months may bring some big changes. 

I love y'all! I hope y'all have a great week!

Elder Garrison

A Week of Facebook

If you are friends with me on Facebook, then you know we spent a lot of time this last week making Facebook posts. We did something a little different this time though. Typically, when we make a post only our Facebook friends are able to see it. Due to only living here a couple of months, our Facebook presence here in Moutain View is quite limited. To get our posts into the public, we made a little competition. 

A like was worth 1 point and so was a comment. A share was worth 5 and a personal post was worth 10. The theme was the Book of Mormon. We made a post everyday and we had a great response from the members here. We had a friend from back home message me and ask how to study the Book of Mormon! I was excited to see someone respond to one of our posts! 

We wanted to have a video answering common questions about the Book of Mormon yesterday night. We also had many members bare their testimonies of the Book of Mormon. We set up an event and tried to get the members excited for it. We had a good idea of how it would work and spent several hours on Saturday making sure it would work the way we wanted it to. 

About 5 minutes before the event, Facebook decided to start acting up. We were late posting the videos and the videos came on in the wrong order. I could have thrown the computer down the hall I was so mad that it didn't work out. Out of the almost 200 people several members invited, we had less than 20 watch, and most of them were Elder Morton's family. Afterward, we decided to try to see if we could set up a teaching appointment with someone. We got a text a few minutes later saying they didn't want to meet with us anymore. I was a little frustrated. 

This frustration was directed at Facebook and myself, but not at God or anyone else. Sometimes we do everything we can, but we end up screwing up and things for whatever reason don't work out. This is why I am thankful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It allows us to take a long look at ourselves and helps us improve. I know what I can do differently next time, and I have some thoughts of how to get the members more involved next time. Later last night I asked the Lord to forgive me for getting so angry. 

The videos are on my timeline, and we still have a chance to see some success from them. I hope you will go and watch them. I love y'all and I hope you have a great week!

Conner can't ride it but can sit on it...lol!

Another Slow Week!

This last week rained a lot, so we were not able to do very many service projects. It got cold enough around here that we had to move two people's flower gardens inside. It didn't snow or freeze, but it got close. We went up to a part of the area we hadn't been to before. We took the most crooked road I have ever been on. The speed limit was 55, but we hardly got up to 40. And we were catching up to cars. Anyway, while we were up there, we met several people. One of them was a part member family, who agreed to let us teach them! We are excited to see how that goes. 

I also went on exchanges with someone named Elder Baird. We played basketball for some exercise, and I was reminded why I wrestled😂

I hit 15 months out yesterday. I realized that I have been out longer than anyone else in the district. Time has flown out here in Arkansas. I know I am more likely to be released early than to go back to Ghana. It will be interesting to see what the future holds. The next few months will determine so much. Either way, I am happy to be out here. I hope y'all have had a great week!

Elder Garrison