Gator.

Sandy and Florida, combined together! I am sending this email to everyone I know and love so dearly. What a hectic yet so rewarding week it has been! So much is happening out here in West Jordan... I am having to strap my seat belt and hold on tight. The ride is bumpy at times, but it is so worth it!

The Lord is providing so many experiences for myself to help me become more humble and see the power and strength of the Atonement.

This is an experience that we had this week and it just touched my heart so dearly. I hope it does the same for you.

Last Saturday, the 21st, we attended a 5k and carnival for Alex "Gator" Homer. He is one of the Bishop's sons here. He is 7 years old and when he was born, he only had half of his heart. He has been in and out of surgery since he was a baby and is currently now waiting for a new heart. He is second in line. Any time now he could pass on.. And you know the sad part, it requires another little kid his age to lose his life in order for him to receive the heart. The day that I met this family, I just fell in LOVE with them. They are the sweetest, most humble people I think that I have ever met. They are so reliant on the gospel and their testimony of it. I know for some, this would bring them so low and question why this has to happen to their child. But not once have they shown their worries, any frustration, or even anger. They are completely running on faith and it's through faith that miracles are brought!

Sister Lopez and I had the blessed opportunity to be a part of setting up a fundraiser to raise money for Gator and all the medical expenses.On Saturday there was a 5k and a carnival. About 200 showed up to run the 5k and many many more came throughout the day to the carnival. Bishop Homer told Gator the morning of the big day that he would be the star of the show, the celebrity. You know what he said? He said, "Dad, what's a celebrity?" What a blessing it was to be a part of strengthening and loving their family and being there for Gator, and still it. 

Sister Lopez and I ran the 5k and you know, we are SO out of shape and it sounded so appealing to just stop and give up. But i know it was through the strength of our Savior that we and all the others were able to finish it because it was FOR Gator. And I know the Savior was right there by our side running the race. So many people came to support the Homer family and when they had a minute to say a few words to everyone there, Sister Homer said this, 

"I know that if the love that you all have toward us and especially Gator could heal anything, his heart Would be healed."

My friends and dear family, I know that our Father provides us whirlwinds and trials for a purpose. And I have never seen a family before rely so much on the Savior and His Atoning Sacrifices. It's through the trials they are facing now, the trials that we all have faced, do face, and will face, that will allow draw us closer to the Father's Beloved Son and allow us to learn of Him and become as He is. It's the trials that can allow us to turn away from Him OR towards Him. Which will you choose? I would choose the right. I would choose the Savior. He chose us, He came here for us, He suffered ALL for us, He made it possible for ALL to return to live with Him and Father again someday. That is MY heart's most sincerest desire and I know that it's Gator's heart's most sincerest desire as well. Sometimes we need to walk into the Garden and experience but a small portion of what the Savior did for us. 

I know the gospel is true and it's a blessing in my life and how grateful am I to have a living Prophet today. My testimony stands strong as a witness of Christ, of the Book of Mormon and it's testimony of the Savior! He lives!!

Thank the Father for your trials and do it in the name of Jesus Christ.

Handshakes and hugs,

Sister Garretson

Ps - Sorry for no pictures. We are emailing at a library and I can't upload them. Next week for sure! :)

Pictures!

I apologize to everyone who likes to read this blog and hasn't been able to! I will be keeping it up to date weekly from here on out so that you can all see what Sister Garretson is up to while serving the Lord. Here's some pictures that she has sent over! She is just the cutest missionary ever.

Quest to the West

I am on the other side!

I have been transferred to the OTHER side of the valley, yes! I am in West Jordan now. My heart broke slightly to receive the call from the Zone Leaders because I knew it, I just KNEW that i would be moving somewhere else. And in the back of my mind, I somewhat desired a change. And if not me, my spirit wanted it. I so it was, I was asked to go to WJ wednesday by 10am and my new companion would be Sister Lopez! - I knew her already and guys, she's seriously the cutest ball of spunk and sass! haha she is from Texas, but is 100% Mexican! Needless to say, I was a slight bit more excited when I heard I would be transferred.

So here I am! It's taking some time getting to know a new area and new people, but the Lord is strengthening me to be able to do the impossible! It takes so much energy at ALL times to talk with people, say your story a million times, but hey. I am blessed my each person I meet and I know that I have been called to serve them, but really they are here to be a strength and support to me as well. The people are so much younger here, some of the Bishop's are in their early 30's! And the trees are smaller! The community we live in hasn't been built for too long, so the families are all starting out pretty much. Ok, not ALL of them, but majority. And I don't mean that the people in my last area were old, I didn't mean that....Haha but I am loving it here! Just experiencing much more diversity than before, so many Poly's and Tongan's! Yummy food though, I must say. And we see these cute kids walking around, the little girls with long braids and dresses and I say, "awe how cute are they! they kind of look different though, why?" Sister Lopez answers me and says, "Those are the polygamist kids!" What!? We have some Polygamist families that live in the stake we serve in. They don't come out very often, but it'll be neat learning more about them! Ah! 

Let's see, we have 2 people who are on date to be baptized...that already occurred before I got to the area. One is Mckenna and the other is Shell. We are meeting so many people who have been waiting for Sister's to come to the area. Sister Lopez and her last companion white-washed the area last transfer, there were Elder's here before that. Everyone loves that the Sister's are here now ;)

Sister Lopez has such a strong desire to serve the Lord! To be obedient! To serve selflessly! It's refreshing to start over and I know that I am here to learn, to progress, and to learn to rely upon the enabling power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. He didn't only save us from our sins, but He also allows good men to become better. And that's what we are striving to do! There are days I just want to fall over into a sleep coma because I am just so exhausted. But we stop, say a prayer, and ask our Father to enable us to find strength to do HIS work and help HIS children. Even the Savior asked for help, asked for strength, and the angel was sent to comfort Him. We have angels all around us! I know that I made it through my trials to where I am today because there are so many people that the Spirit, through me, needs to touch.

Oh yeah! We had 2 baptisms in Sandy that I got to go back to. It was Zane's and Borhan's! I miss teaching them and the people in Sandy, but my quest to the west has happened to strengthen me and allow me to become the disciple and am Called to be!

Love you all forever!

Sister Garretson

Short and Sweet

Hiya there everyone!

 

I promise to keep this email short, sweet, and quite simple. Promise! (plus I don't have like any time to email. We have to rush home, get some lunch, then head to the Aquarium).

 

So let me start off with some highlights of the week!

 

First off, miracles are occuring around here in Sandy like no other. This always seems to happen too like right beofre transfers take place. They are next week BTW. AH! I most likely could be leaving Sandy, but then again, who really knows? God. So yesterday we were in Ward Council and a Bishop brought up that there is a guy named Borhan that's been attending church for the past year, on and off, and came up to him and asked if he could be baptized and how it can be done. WHAT?! Gold Investigator. They are real guys! We are going to contact him tonight, ask when we can meet with him and GET HIM BAPTIZED!

 

Next! We met this Less Active member named Karen. She hasn't been to church for the past 3 to 4 months or so. Her Home Teacher asked us to go by and visit her and invite her to come to church with us. So we did, it took the third time for her finally to be home, but she was! We went in, got to know her and shared a scripture on the power of the Atonement of Christ. We then extended the invitation for her to come to church! She said, "yes...I know. I know that's where I need to be." Doesn't this sound might familiar? Same story as Reed's practically! So AWESOME! We then said a closing prayer and offered to pick her up and bring her to church. So we did! Showed up at 12:45pm and she was all ready :) everyone was so happy to see her there again! They embraced her with arms wide open.

 

Zane is on date to be baptized the 7th and he is just so excited. This week we did this really fun lesson with him, Lesson 3 (The Gospel of Jesus Christ), and basically put a paper world on the ground and about 10 feet away we put a paper Celestial Kingdom. We asked him if he thought he could jump from earth to heaven in one jump...he said, "uhh yeah!!" So he tried, didn't make it. Tried again, oh but wait...he didn't make it. haha so we asked him if it would be easier if he had stepping stones to help him reach the Celestial Kingdom. Of course it would be!! So the first Step was Faith, then Repentance, Baptism, Receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and lastly...Enduring to the end! With those stepping stones, he was able to make it to heaven. That was a fun lesson, I always learn something new when we are teaching it. Any way, I attached a picture of him jumping around from each one. It's adorable! We are so excited for his baptism :) so is he!!

 

And lastly, Anika and Sam. So these two kids are actually in a Stake that a set of Elder's in our District cover. Anika is 10 and Sam is 8. Sam is being baptized the 8th and their mom wanted the Elder's to come and teach Anika too and invite her to be baptized the same day as her brother. Well, the Elder's went to teach her and invited her to be baptized that day and she just started crying and begging her mom not to do it. She also had a problem with being baptized the same day, she doesn't feel that would make her feel special. She is a VERY intelligent girl, knows the bible well. It's amazing! But any way, so the Elder's contacted our District Leader and said that they felt that Anika was intimidated by them, so the Zone leader's talked to our Mission President and he said that it would be a good idea for the Sister's (us) to teach her a lesson and see how she reacts. So we did, we went and taught them. It must have been a complete 360 degree turn around! All of a sudden she was sharing insights with us, she was participating in the lesson, well engauged. She also accepted the invitation to be baptized the same day as her brother! She even prayed in the lesson to know if the Book of Mormon is true. it was a beautiful prayer! Any way, we reported the the DL and told him how it went. Anika and Sam decided, after talking to their mom, that they would like us to continue teaching them. That was amazing seeing the change come about her :) she is excited about the gospel! Excited to read the commiments that we leave with her. What a miracle! Their baptisms are this weekend! Wahoo!!

 

Guess I didn't keep this as short as I hoped... but you all have even a slight glimpse of the mighty mighty miracles that are taking place! And I know that it's because we are truly seeking the Spirit to guide us to those who are ready, to teach us, to bring the words to our mind and to our mouth that we are to teach. I can promise right now that missionary work is not all dandy and giddy and happy all the time. But what would be joy without experiencing the trials of a mission or of life? Someone here in the mission once told me that joy is found when we experience the trials in going up hill, but then we recignize what we can do to help us overcome, and then we use the Atonement to overcome, thus to help us CHANGE. Then, that is when we truly experience the Joy of life, of the gospel. I know am blessed to know that the Savior is always beside me, comforting me in times of need and leading us to those whom He would like us to share this glorious message to.

 

Bless each of you! Have a marvelous week :) remember who you are and always always stand up for what you believe.

 

Peace, love, and a handshake from...

 

Sister Garretson

 

Oh! And I got to sing in a sacrament meeting yesterday...it was an amazing experience! My voice is well appreciated here and it makes me feel good. I know that's a talent that My Father gave to me to touch the hearts and souls of many out here.

May 19

"Presidents, you let them (the missionaries) know that when they struggle. when they are rejected, when they are spit upon, and cast out and made a hiss and a byword, they are standing shoulder to shoulder with the best life this world has ever known, the only pure and perfect missionary that ever lived. They have reason to stand tall and to be grateful that the Savior and Redeemer of the world knows all about their sorrows and their afflictions and that for a moment or two in their lives they will understand what He went through for them. The only way to salvation is through Gethsemane. The only victory is the victory at the summit of Calvary. Welcome to the journey of the disciples of Christ." 

As a mission, we are all doing a 31 day study of The Atonement of Jesus Christ. Our Mission President was truly inspired to have each of us do this and I know this for a fact because for the missionaries in my District, it's brought each of us closer to the Savior and also to a deeper understanding of His divine love and mercy for all of us. In the study this morning we read a talk for Elder Holland called, "The Atonement and Missionary Work." The quote at the top is from it and it what really stuck out to me. Each mission, whether here in the valley or in the hectic parts of Russia, there are many struggles to be found, to face, to learn from, and to overcome. But the only way we CAN overcome them is to first look to the Savior, how He overcame. As I have been blessed to learn more about Him and what He suffered for me I have been thrust down into the depths of humility, pleading and begging for strength. No, we are not scourged and beaten upon, but we each as missionaries experience a token of what the Savior experienced for us. To know that there is someone who walked this path that I walk and who have gone through rejection, sorrow, sadness...it comforts my heart to know that the path to be walked wasn't meant to be easy. If we NEVER experienced trials in our lives, how would we ever learn of our Savior Jesus Christ and how to become like Him? I testify that there isn't any other way in this life that we can Change and experience Forgiveness than to partake and learn of The Atonement of our fellow brother, the Lamb of God, even Jesus Christ. So be brave, be brave because He was brave. And next time you question the trial you're facing and why it's occurring, remember that HE was the first one to ask that. As Matthew described his suffering, He "fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father. if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou will" (Matthew 26:39). Or as Luke described it, "And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt" (Mark 14:36). Or as Luke described it, "Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done" (Luke 22:42). In each record, Christ pleads with the Father to know if there might me any other way for Him to have to suffer the pains, afflictions...but being Christ, He knew there was no other way. So He endured, suffering, so that way we can find comfort in a man so perfect who pleaded for help, yet said, "Nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt." And in Luke 43, following what Christ said, it states, "And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him" (Luke 22:43). Heavenly Father will provide us strength, provide us a way to overcome our hardships and all things. And I know and testify that we can do so as we submit our will to the Father and thank Him humbly for sending us His Son, who redeemed not just us alone, but ALL mankind.

Sorry this was a little lengthy, but it's touched my heart so deeply and I hope it's done the same to yours.

________________________________________________

It's been a great week guys! We are so so so busy, there are so many things to get done. This week we had some service projects we were able to take part in for the Sandy Pride Day. One of the Bishop's asked if we would help him and some others do yard work, weeding, in his neighbors yard (Not member's by the way). During it, the mom that lived there was SO grateful we came to help and she offered us food, drinks, and the Bishop said, "Well you actually could feed the Sister Missionaries sometime if you'd like!" Haha well of course she loved the idea! And then we also did some service for an Active member who is having her son's wedding in her backyard. Such a beautiful home! Any way.. we helped weed, spray plant killing stuff, fertilize, sweep, etc. This family has struggled with so many health issues it just blows our mind. They have a daughter named Ellen that is my age and she suffers from Fibro-mialgia(sp?), Alzheimer, Narcolepsy, and the doctor said she has a body of a 60 year-old woman. So we also will come over to their house, visit with her. She is such a fascinating young lady, so intelligent, and has such a bright outlook on her struggles and knows that one day she will be better. Talk about a testimony of The Savior and His sufferings. She is amazing!

We picked up another new investigator, Victor! Found him tracting...I know, we never EVER tract and the one time we do...BOOM! Haha but any way, he is in his 90's, partially blind, and almost deaf. We weren't talking with him, we were yelling with him. Seriously! What a neat guy though. We stated who we were and taught him about baptism, the Spirit strongly inspired us to. He said he would be baptized. So guess what? We invited him to be! He paused, had a slight smile and said that if it weren't for him and his son moving soon AND if it weren't for his old age, HE WOULD. Ah! So first off we stated, age doesn't matter, he is still a son of God and the commandment of Baptism is for all. And as far as him moving, we said that the church is established worldwide and will be there wherever he may go. Resolved his concerns, but still wasn't sure. We asked if we could come back and he said yes! ... Ok, so after this we immediately call the Ward Mission Leader to tell him about it. He kinda laughed after we told him the story, I mean it was pretty awesome!? Right??? Well, he said that the Sister's have been teaching him for the past 4 years and that's the same 2 excuses that he's always used. He said he's a sort of "crazy" old man, meaning that he forgets what he says quite often. Maybe he has Dimensia? Well, B U M M E R! We asked some members to go by and to invite him to church. They did and he denied the offer. :( but hey, all we have to do is drag him to church and then throw him in the font...just kidding...but seriously! He wants it! We could feel the baptismal date of June 7th SO STRONGLY running through our heads as we stood there with him. He will be baptized. I know it! :)

 

And Zane, the 11 yr old boy we are teaching...he said YES to being baptized on the 31st of May! And how coooooooool is that. He said even though his dad might not agree with him doing it, he knows it's what he's supposed to do. His mom is the one who was Less-Active and is coming back to church. They come together and it's the sweetest ever :)

 

And Reed, the Less-Active we are teaching who said, "I know church is where I need to be"....well he came to church yesterday for the 3rd time!! He is now a reactivated member! He's the best guy, with such a big heart, and a big desire to be a better example to his kids and to come back into the fold :) Oh how joyous!

 

Miracles, brothers and sisters, miracles really do happen! I am seeing them occur left and right, right before my face! I am so grateful to be here serving. I am so grateful to have each of you as my family and friends! I know that as I keep pushing, blessings will continue forth your way. Christ lives and His love is unconditonal for ALL to partake of. So come unto Him, partake of His goodness and mercy! I love this gospel and I know that the Book of Mormon truly does tesitfy of Christ's ministry to the Nephite's in America. I know it's another testament that compliments and completes the Bible! This is The Lord's work and I am so blessed to be a part of it in these Latter Days, to the beautiful people of Sandy, Utah.

 

My love and appreciation goes forth to each of you!! I love YOU!

 

Handshake,

 

Sister Garretson

 

ps: in another email i'll send some pics :)

Faith

"And now as I said concerning faith---faith is not to have a perfect knowledge

of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which

are not seen, which are true." ~Alma 32:21~

 

As we know,

    "Faith...must be centered in Jesus Christ in order to produce Salvation. To have faith is to have confidence in something or someone. The Lord has revealed himself and his perfect character, possessing in their fulness all the attributes of love, knowledge, justice, mercy, unchangeableness, power, and every other needful thing, so as to enable the mind of man to place confidence in Him without reservation.Faith is a principle of action and of power...Faith in Jesus Christ is the first principle of the gospel and is more than belief...it carries an assurement of the fulfillment of the things hoped for...The effects of true faith in Jesus Christ include (1) an actual knowledge that the course of life one is pursuing is acceptable to the Lord (Heb. 11:4); (2) a reception of the blessings of the Lord that are available to man in this life; and (3) an assurance of personal salvation in the world to come. These things involve individual and personal testimony, guidance, revelation, and spiritual knowledge. Where there is true faith there are miracles, visions, dreams, healings, and all the gifts of God that He gives to His saints" (Bible Dictionary).

 

Christ provided a life filled with love and charity to all mankind. This is shown through His example and through The Atonement of which He performed and did on our behalf. He provided Himself as the means through which we can be redeemed. It is Through the Savior we can find everlasting and eternal joy. It is Through the Savior that we can be cleansed from sin and receive clean slates and new beginnings. It is Through the Savior that a perfect Atonement could be made because He was a sinless man and how could an imperfect man take upon Him the imperfections of the world? Christ is the light in our lives, He led a life that we should all be striving to follow, and everything about Him is goodness, love, mercy, kindness, gentleness...We CAN place our confidence in Him and Trust Him.

 

Update:

• We picked up 2 new investigator's this week, Wanda and Zane. Wanda cannot be baptized quite yet because of the situation with her husband, but she does desire to enter into the waters of baptism :) and Zane, he is an 11 year old boy that we taught the restoration to when going to visit his mom (she is Less-Active and working on coming back to church). His dad is not happy with him being baptized according to what his mom shared with us, but we will invite him to do so this Wednesday at our next lesson. He comes to cubscouts regularly and loves it! They came to church yesterday and what great joy we had in seeing them come. It wasn't until after sacrament was over, they showed up and I quickly jumped out of my seat and walked over to the door and had them come sit in the seats we were sitting in..It made me SO HAPPYYYYY! :) And Wanda always comes to church, so that was awesome too :)
• We moved today into a new home! Our old basement was flooding and our land lady is selling her house. We moved in with the Bovo family, they are the cutest EVER :) love it. She said she could barely sleep last night because she was so excited we were moving in today! And they have the cutest little puppy dog in the whole world.
• Mother's Day went so well, HAPPY LATE MOTHER'S DAY TO ALL OF YOU BEAUTIFUL WOMEN!!! We received a ton of chocolate at all the Sacrament meetings we went to and they all looked at us as they handed us the chocolate and said, "Happy Mother's Day..in the making!" Haha so funny. Something cool that happened was this blind girl spoke in Sacrament and she was reading the words off of braille. It was the neatest thing and filled my heart with joy as I watched her scan her fingers across the paper and then read to us what it said. Tears filled my eyes as the words she spoke pierced my heart.

That's all for now! Ta ta until next time :)

 

May each of you understand and always remember that The Lord is ever mindful of each and every one of your situations, trials, heartaches. He loves You! And I do too! Have a great week!

Love forever & always,

 

Sister Garretson

May 5th

Hello to you ALL! :)

 

Oh what a beautiful day it is here in the Valley! The tulips are coming up and the sun is shining brighter than ever before :) needless to say, I am going to absolutely LOVE the summer here. The winter was a drag, so the member's then gave me high hopes for the summer being the best...and honestly, I BELIEVE IT!! Hopefully I won't be as pale as I am, although I never really have actually been "tan" before, have I? Haha.

 

I hope that each of you are doing well, I may not have time to write you all individually back, but I sure will try. I forgot to mention that I received a new companion when transfers occured almost 2 weeks ago. Her name is Sister Dazey! I want to be Sister Tulip ;) some of you may understand with my obsession for flowers and all. Haha but any way, hope you enjoy the email I have to share with you. I want to be more effective in sharing with you all the work that is going on and experiences that I am having.. A lot of you wonder how missionary work works here in the Salt Lake Valley! Well, here starts the email!....

 

"Nevertheless, ye are blessed, for the testimony which ye have borne is recorded in heaven for the angels to look upon; and they rejoice over you, and your sins are forgiven you." (Doctrine and Covenants 62:3)

 

 

I share this touching scripture because we just had Fast and Testimony Meeting yesterday and this scripture was one that I shared with the member's in the Granite Ward. I waited toward the end of the meeting to go up and I took Sister Smith with me (our third companion). She stood up and bore her testimony of how she came to know that the Book of Mormon was the word of God. She has such a beautiful spirit about her. For those of you who may not know, she has what's called Joebert's Syndrome and is a part-time missionary with us. So any way, usually the congregation is busy looking around the chapel zoned out, feeding food to their kids, or helping them with coloring to stay pre-occupied! But, they weren't doing those things, they were ALL completely in tune with what she had to say to them...or more importantly, what the Spirit had to say to them. After she finished, she then took my seat from behind the podium(sp?) and I took her spot and bore my testimony. I first talked about how much I love Sister Smith and am so grateful for the joy and happiness that she brings to us on the days she comes out to help us find and teach. That she is a prime example as someone who views their trials as a blessing and seeks for help and strength on how to overcome them. She is a great missionary and so many we teach are touched by her testimony, so I was glad she could share that with them. So after that, I shared with the congregation this scripture.. There's one part of it in particular that the Spirit told me to bare witness of and it was when it says, "...the tesimony which ye have borne is recorded in heaven for the angels to look upon." The testimonies that we declare happily and with all sincerity in our hearts, it is recorded in heaven in one of the books. I know that this takes place for many purposes, but the one in particular that touched me was that it's recorded to stand as a witness FOR us when we stand before The Holy One of Isreal to be judged of our works here on the Earth.  We stand for and against ourselves, but through bearing heartfelt testimonies, we can stand for ourselves of what we believed while here on the Earth. And as we stand there, bearing witness of Jesus Christ, of a loving Father in Heaven, and of how we believe it was through the Prophet Joseph Smith that Christ's church was restored again...our sins will be forgiven us. Who would of thought that through bearing testimony, the Atonement is also used. Oh the blessings of this glorious gospel! Sharing our testimonies relates to repentance, thus inviting the Spirit to come and to cleanse us! Never be afraid to share your testimony. It doesn't have to be long and with big fancy words...just from the heart. Simple as, "I believe that Jesus is the Christ and that His mission here on the Earth was to fulfill His Father's will, which was "to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man" (Moses1:39).

 

Sister Dazey is the new comp! She has been out for 9 months, yeah...she's a pro. I'm still a greenie compared to all my companions!! Haha it's annoying, but ok at the same time. She is from Winston Salem, North Carolina. Oldest of 6 kids, she's 25. Graduated from BYU-Idaho with a Bachelor's in Graphic Design. I am jealous of her nerdyness! We will spend an hour at some dinners and she'll talk to the member's about Comic-Con and i'm over here like..."wonder what we're having tomorrow night for dinner?" Completely don't understand any of it! Haha but it's ok, i'll get used to it! Eventually!... but she's really a great person! We get along well and she has such a big heart. It's hard getting used to another new companion and introducing another new companion to the area. Hopefully it's training me well to be a good trainer some day :) You guys would love her! Full of energy and excitement to share the gospel.. SO YEAH!

 

We are teaching 2 nonmembers, Rose-Marie and Hilary. And we have a handful of about 4 people who are potential investigators! Rose is not progressing, partially because we can only meet with her when her husband isn't home and he is, well, always home. She said she would pray and read about the Book of Mormon, but only after we read Moroni's promise with her (Moroni 10:3-5) and explained it. The Spirit definitely bore witness to her that she will receive an answer if she read it and prayed to her Father in Heaven to know if it's true. We haven't been able to meet with her since. We called the other morning at 9:30am and she said we woke her up and then said, "I'm going back to bed." -she hung-up on us- Ergh! She'll come around, we WILL meet with her this week. Hilary, we taught her last tuesday and have an appt with her tomorrow night. She's a former investigator that we dropped a while back and just picked her up again. We asked her if she read the Book of Mormon since the last time we met 4 months ago and she said yes. But that she hasn't gotten very far because she is reading all of the footnotes and wants to make the BOM make sense with the Bible. She's of little faith and humbly admitted to it. Also said she has a problem with believing in a God that would cause so much heartache and trials in life. I then replied, "Hilary, Heavenly Father presents us with trials, some are self-inflicted, and some are from Satan...but regardless, they all give us the opportunity to exersize our agency or otherwise, our ability to choose. They can either make us stronger, thus allowing us to Depend on the Savior, or they can turn us away from God and lead us into misery and deeper sadness. We invited her to read from Alma 14 and ask Heavenly Father her questions, sincerely. We testified that He will answer her prayers if she listens to Him :)

 

We have that pool of Less-Active Member's that we work with and had 5 lessons with them this week. Reed is one of them and he made it to church again yesterdy!! And he is meeting with the Bishop this Tuesday :) it's so exciting to see him taking these steps to get back on the right track with Heavenly Father. Literally, the mission gives you a front-row-seat to watching the Atonement change people's lives. Ah! And the others, well we are trying hard to help them progress and really praying for what we can say and teach to better help in their progression. We had a lesson with a Gary, his wife is active and comes to church, goes to the temple, etc. It's been hard on her to not have a companion that does the same and she'll express that in our lessons. But over the past 5 months i've been in the area teaching him, he's made more progress than ever before. We have taught sunday school sometimes and he will come to that. This past weeks lesson we all wrote our testimonies down (from the previous lessons assignment) and shared them with one another. [Missionaries: it's a great way to know where your investigator/LA stands with the Gospel] He didn't write his down, but he shared it from the heart. He said he doesn't have a testimony of the things that his wife had regarding the Book of Mormon, the Prophet Joseph Smith (Restoration), Temples, etc...but he said, I know that when I pray my Father will answer my prayers and He listens. Also, that I know Christ led a life that I need to follow. What joy filled my soul hearing that. Afterwards, I told him, "Gary, You DO have a testimony. You have a testimony of Jesus Christ, the one who the ENTIRE gospel is centered around." What joy overcame him hearing that and when he said the closing prayer... oh how beautiful it was! He said, "Father, let your will become my will and my desires become your desires."

 

The Gospel is true! The Church of Jesus Christ has been restored back on the Earth again and I know that Christ is the head of our church. He guides and directs not only the members of it, but the world, through our President, Thomas S. Monson. How grateful am I to have found the truth once again restored and my joy and exceedingly full.

 

I hope each of you that read this have learned something new and can feel more deeply your conviction of Your Father's Love For You.

 

May your week be full of love, peace, joy, and happiness!!!

 

With love always and forever,

 

Sister Garretson

 

PS: Attached is a pretty pic of a flower i found :)  and the other is of Toby the black lab trying to lick me! He's huge and the cutest ever! Background of the pic is Kirsten, my first baptism and the greatest person EVER and her fiance Ryan! Adorbs.

Easter!

Happy Easter to you all!

Hope you each had a beautiful Easter weekend and really were able to look upon the Savior and His resurrection and what happiness and joy that brings into each of your lives. I am sure that each of you have seen this video #BecauseofHim on Mormon.org...but for those who haven't, here's the link http://easter.mormon.org/ 

It's an amazing video that our District Leader actually burnt onto a dvd for us to show to everyone we go and visit. We share that along with a scripture from Moses 1:39, it states: 

"For behold, this is my work and my glory---to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." 

Why this scripture? The Savior's divine purpose wasn't to "come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance" (Matt.9:13). His work (immortality) and His glory (eternal life) is to help each of His Father's children, His fellow brother's and sister's, return to live with Heavenly Father and Himself again one day. Isn't that our end goal? Isn't that what we are all working towards? Well, some. It's our duty to help the other's recognize what we are to be working towards. Because of Christ's fulfilling His mission here on the Earth, just as the video says.. "Death has lost its sting." No more is that something to fear, but to look forward to with a gladness of heart. The other part of the video that I love is when it says, "Because of Him, we have clean slates and new beginnings." Through the Atonement, we can start fresh. We can be made clean. We may be broken, but through Him we can be made whole. In the talk "Called of Him to Declare His Word," Elder Funk says:

"Think of the good that comes from broken things: Soil is broken to plant wheat. Wheatis broken to make bread. Bread is broken to become the emblems of thesacrament. When one who is repentant partakes of the sacrament with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, he or she becomes whole. As we repent and become whole through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we have much more to offer the Savior as we serve Him. “Yea, come unto him, and offer your whole souls as an offering unto him."

Broken things can create an opportunity for us to rely solely upon the merits and mercy of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Something exciting that happened this past week.. We have an Inactive guy that we are teaching, his name is Reed. He's an older fella who hasn't been active in the church for a VERY long time. He's gone through some really rough patches in his life. WE had a lesson with him last Tuesday and we taught him about how much his Father in Heaven loves him and his family, just as much as He loves each and every one of His children. We taught him about prayer and how through doing so, we exercise our faith. We then invited him to worship with us this Easter Sunday at church. You know that he said? ... "I will go. I know that I need to be there. I can set an example for my kids, even if they may not follow. It will be awkward at first, but I know that's where I need to be." OH. MY. GOSH. Blew our minds! Here's a man that for YEARS people have been working on him and it just took one lesson, one lesson for him to feel the Spirit overcome Him so when we invited him to church, the Spirit testified that our words were true. And Sunday came around, we showed up early so we could greet him. And although we were timid as to whether he would come, HE DID! He showed up and he absolutely loved the Easter Program the Ward had. It was beautiful! And after Sacrament Meeting ended, everyone attacked him! I am sure he just loved feeling, well, loved! So you know my friends, he isn't a nonmember...an investigator...but that doesn't matter. He is a special son of our Father's and he is just as important as anyone else! It was a miracle in itself. We are meeting with him again this week :) what a neat guy.

Well, may the Lord bless and be with each of you as you continue on this week! We have transfers this Wednesday and find out tomorrow what's going on. Maybe i'll stay, maybe i'll go. Who knows! But time sure is flying :) so hold on tight!

Love you all!

Sister Garretson

April 7th

"But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." ~John 14:26 

 

What a touching, inspirational, and uplifting week this has been. I have felt an assurance and divine witness of the Savior's personal love for myself. Along with this testimony, I know that The Lord desires of each of you to reach out and partake of His goodness and of the eternal life that has been made possible through His Atonement, the Ultimate love and sacrifice, that no one else could have performed BUT the Son of God. I am so grateful for General Conference and for the opportunity that I had to sit in the Conference Center and witness the Prophet of God enter into the room. I couldn't help but to have been overwhelmed with the presence of the Spirit and to know that through this man, Jesus Christ is able to lead His Church in these Latter-Days.

 

I share this beautiful scripture with you today because it has been what has touched my heart the most over this past week.

We all face times where we feel alone. We all face times where we may be discouraged. We all face times where we wonder why we have to go through such a hard trial. We all face times where we think, "do I really have a purpose here on the Earth?" And lastly, we all face times where we think, "Does God really know what we are going through since there are a large number of people all over the world?"

This scripture has brought divine assurance into my heart and has allowed me to have a stronger testimony of the Godhead. Of Heavenly Father, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost. This scripture that I share from the 14th Chapter of John is one of the most comforting scriptures that I've found thus far as a missionary.

1)The Holy Ghost's purpose is the be a teacher. This is why we are called to remain worthy of it's presence because through the Spirit, we too can receive that divine witness of our Father in Heaven and His Son. For the Spirit is what testifies of the two. In Conference we were encouraged, well invited, to get to know the Savior more and His Atonement. The ONLY way that that is possible is if we are worthy of it's presence in our lives. What is it that we are doing that may make the Holy Ghost not as present in our lives as it could be?

2)The Holy Ghost also brings all things unto our remembrance. If we did not know once before about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, why would we need to remember it? It's just like the scriptures that talk about returning home to the God that gave us life.. Home is a place we once were, or else it wouldn't be home. Same thing with remembrance, if we didn't know about the things the Spirit can teach us now, before, there would be no need for the word "remembrance" to be used. To me, John is testifying of the Plan of Salvation. Since we passed through the Veil before coming here to Earth, we no longer remember who we were and what we knew before we came here. And this scripture brings me great comfort in my afflictions or trials. It's comforting to know about the Plan of Salvation and then to see it even in the New Testament, this was a witness to me that the Holy Bible and the Book of Mormon don't contradict one another, but they are a compliment to one another.

3)The Holy Ghost was chosen the name "Comforter" in this verse. Of all of the names the Spirt could have been described as, John chose this one. Why do you think that? I know that "The Comforter" was used because in the midst of our heart aches and pains, what comfort does the Spirit bring to us with bringing to our remembrance the knowledge that we once had prior to being here on Earth. What comfort does it bring to know that we are not alone when we learn of the things that The Savior also suffered, yet endured, in this life. Elder Bednar shared a scripture from Doctrine and Covenants 100, verse 12, in His talk in the Sunday Morning Session...it says: "Therefore, continue your journey and let your hearts rejoice; for behold, and lo, I am with you even unto the end."

 

Even though the Savior cannot truly come walk alongside us, physically, until the end.. Our Father has offered us the Holy Spirit to walk alongside us as an aide, a healer, a comforter, a teacher, and a guide. So no, we are not alone in this life. We are promised the Spirit to be with us at all times as long as we are doing things that are pleasing in the sight of God. So follow His commandments, reread the talks from General Conference both this past weekend and times before. I know that the Prophet's, Seer's, and Revelator's are truly called and inspired of God. They work hard to live a worthy life to have that companionship of the Holy Ghost in their lives. So that they may receive revelation through the Spirit for The Father's children all over the world, not just in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

 

I know that our Savior and Redeemer lives, I know my Father in Heaven loves me and each of you SO MUCH that He provided His only Begotten Son as a sacrifice so that we all may return to live with Him again some day.

 

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For some miracles and good news in the area! Just to update you :)

 

We found a new investigator! Her name is Rose-Marie. She is the mother to a former investigator we were once teaching. A couple weeks ago we actually were going by to drop the former investigator, Glenn (her son), and instead of him being home, SHE was home. We stood at the doorstep, shared a scripture with her, asked if she would be interested in hearing more about The Message of The Restoration. She said she didn't think her husband would be okay with that because he is a devowed Catholic. She did express to us though her thoughts and said, "I wish I had stronger faith, like you girls do." The scripture we shared was on faith and trials (Alma 36:27). She then went on talking about how she might be losing the home they are currently living in.. Well, we left her with a prayer. She greatly appreciated it. We said we'd come back to see her and then to also try and see Glenn again. So we came back last week to try and drop Glenn again, and sure enough he wasn't home. But! She opened the door and said happily, "Come in! Come in! I have good news to tell you!" We went inside and she said that right after we left the house last time that she immediately looked up lawyers in some book. The first one she called ended up working with her and she just found out that they are keeping the house! She was so overwhlemed with joy and she said that it was because of the prayer we left with her that allowed them to keep the home. We were joyous for her too and for this opportunity to serve one of Heavenly Father's daughters. We helped her understand the power of the Spirit (in conversion). Then she had some questions regarding cremation...so that allowed for us to share some thoughts on the Plan of Salvation! How perfect. Able to bear testimony of the truthfulness of this glorious plan. We said a prayer and she invited us back! BOOM! Picked up a new investigator :) we are inviting her to be baptized tomorrow! Keep her and her family in your prayers.

 

Also, a nonmember named Wanda came with us to Conference yesterday! She wants to be baptized, but her husband won't let her right now.. Pray pray pray for her as well, please! :) Pray for his heart to be softeneded too. She comes to church weekly and has a calling, just isn't a baptized member. She's amazing and has blessed my life a ton. We cannot teach her because of him, the sister's before had to stop, but I KNOW that they prayers of many will help to soften his heart.

 

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I am so very grateful to serve here in the Salt Lake Valley! What great joy fills my heart to have a front row seat of watching the Savior's Atonement touch and change the hearts of many people here. Thank you for all of the love and encouragement you all gave to me to help me get here. I promise I am working so hard!

 

My 2 years of being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is tomorrow, April 8th! I am so excited! This time has flown by so fast, it's incredible. And I can't extend to you enough the gratitude I have for all the love you guys have given me to help me get to where I am today, serving God's children.

 

I love each and every one of you! Have a blessed and beautiful week!

 

Love eternally,

 

Sister Garretson