06/23/2013

I got your package, and the cream wafers survived ;) hahaha and they taste pretty darn good! The iPod arrived safely and the church music sounds great! No tornadoes or severe weather lately, but I hear it's supposed to be super hot this week... yuck. 

Stephanie is getting baptized, but we have to clear it with her aunt (Rhonda, one of our other investigators) and uncle (whom we haven't met yet) to make sure it's okay. Rhonda's also not sure if her husband will let her be baptized... I'm praying hard that we'll get them baptized and that the Lord will open a way to have them come to an understanding of the gospel and to have them be fully converted to the gospel. Carol made it to church yesterday!! Is it weird to say that I cried when she told us she finally got the hours off to attend sacrament meeting? Our patience and faith finally paid off!! Guess what else? We picked up some new investigators!!

I went on an exchange with an elder in my district, and I EVEN GOT TO DRIVE THE CAR! That was the best part. Not really! Ha, but we were going to visit a potential investigator to read the Book of Mormon with her, and another guy named Shane came out of the house, listened to us, and even told us to try this guy named Derrel that lives across the street from them! He's a lonely guy whose wife passed away in 2006, and he's very receptive to the Book of Mormon and our message! We picked up another guy named Jay who's really good friends with a member in our ward. We're giving him two weeks to read some of the Book of Mormon, and after that he'll ask us questions and get him going on the discussions. In summary, we picked up several new potential investigators, and we are now at six investigators! YEAH! Feels good....

     

That's probably the most notable part of the week. The Worldwide Leadership Training was AMAZING, and much needed! I really love how it emphasized members and ward mission leaders! I cannot stress to you guys how important it is to have members out with us and giving us referrals! Oh, and the video of the Stillwater missionaries? Yeah, one of those elders was TOTALLY in my district at the MTC, and another one of the elders (the one that showed up the most in the video) is in my zone right now! Haven't talked to him much, but he's a good guy :) Those videos must have been made really recently if one of the elders in my MTC district is in it! Anyway, the meeting was good stuff! Elder Guajardo sent me a letter, which I got. Made. My. Day. I sure do miss those guys.

Tyler's training someone already?! That's wild. My trainer's been out for almost 18 months and I'm the first guy he's trained.

06/17/2013

It's June 17th, so I've been out for over a month now... Honestly I don't know where the time goes. One month seems like so long, yet so short at the same time...

That's really good that you guys all got to spend time together for Father's Day. I'm hoping dad had a good day! I'm sure dinner must've tasted yummy... Good to hear about Elder Needs. The one regret I have is that I missed the opportunity to go out with them before I left! I cannot tell you how important it is to get those members out with the missionaries!! Luckily our ward in Oklahoma is good with that stuff! Let's see....haven't got the package yet, but I actually thought of a few more things you could send me ;) I was thinking the lime-green bandana and my Fila shoes (they're in my closet, they're black and lime green), two pairs of sunglasses (my blue-lensed ones and my silver-lensed aviator sunglasses), the map of Oklahoma if I didn't mention that already, and anything else I mentioned last week. All of these things besides the map should be in my room.

Well, this past week was tornadoless! Yippie skip. We've had some storms, though. Apparently you can have "thundersnow" here in Oklahoma. We haven't had snow, but there are times when it'll snow and thunder at the same time...hahaha interesting. This past week was slow with investigators. Two of them are at Girl's Camp, which of course is good, one of them hasn't been available, and the last one we've been seeing almost on a daily basis. More on the investigators in a sec!

We had dinner at a member's house, the Komers family. Bro. Komers is a convert to the church, been a member for about three years, and before he joined he was in prison and addicted to meth for 18 years... The best part of being in Oklahoma is hearing conversion stories of other people. Bro. Komers found God in his life at such a low point, and he recognized who he really was when he got off the meth. His story is pretty long, so I won't share it, but it's really eye-opening to see how people were converted to the gospel! Anyway, we had dinner at his house, then he took us out in his Ford F-150 to find a referral that we'd received from doing tornado cleanup! I don't know if I told you this, but we're completely finished with tornado cleanup, and we got a potential investigator named Paula from helping clean up her yard! Anyway, the GPS told us to go down a certain road and go to a certain house, and it turns out we went to the wrong house..........which of course is never a "wrong" house. This nonmember guy came out of his mobile home and talked to us after we asked him if he knew where Paula lived. He didn't, but he told us a little bit about his life. Apparently he has three sons in prison from drug abuse pertaining to meth. BINGO. That's where Bro. Komers stepped in. I knew the GPS told us to go to that house so that we could talk to this guy! Bro. Komers told his story to the guy, and he related with him better than we as missionaries could have related to him. We gave him a Book of Mormon, and we left him with a prayer. It really was a finding miracle... Eventually we did arrive at Paula's house, but she wasn't home... Hopefully we'll see more of both of them! So far, we've planted seeds in their hearts.  

I FINALLY had my meeting with all the new missionaries. Just as I had predicted, the meeting helped me out a lot. I learned so much there, and it's unfortunate that the Taylors are leaving in just a couple weeks, but I'm sure the Walkenhorsts will be fantastic. I think all of us new missionaries have grown a lot in the past two weeks that we've been in the field. I have a better grip on the area, and I think I can drive to my member's storm shelter if I had to! Hahaha.

I got to do an exchange with Elder Kennedy, one of my zone leaders, while Elder Evans went with Elder Ravsten, the other zone leader. We had a very successful night! We picked up a potential investigator and had a very spiritual discussion with a less active member! We did some service at a church in Newcastle and unloaded some tornado cleanup equipment.

Father's Day was fantastic. For the first time being here in Oklahoma, I finally had the opportunity to go to a full three hours of church with my ward! It's about time! We had a delicious lunch at a member's house, and their rolls tasted just like yours......mmmmhhhhmmmmm so good!! I think I'm even gaining weight! I'm around 145 now! Oklahoma is working wonders! Ha.

Investigators:

Carol: She's 62, smokes, lives in a rundown house, has a low-income job, but she has more faith than anyone I've ever MET. True story. She's an investigator, but she loves the Lord so much. We've taught her most of the lessons, and she's working towards quitting coffee and smoking. She accepts the lessons well and she wants to come to church, but can't get Sundays off! She honestly does want to come to church, and we're praying with her! We see her the most, almost everyday, and she's really promising.

Chylee: She's a member's 12-year-old child in his custody. He wants us to teach her now that he was custody over her. We've had a hard time reaching her since she's been gone with her mom and at girl's camp. I've only visited her once (yesterday), and we taught her the word of wisdom. She might have a hard time giving up tea, but she accepts it. Her cousin, Presley, was with us when we taught her, so maybe Presley might become an investigator?

Stephanie: She's also 12. She was at girl's camp this past week, and I've only seen her once. We're teaching her a lesson tonight! She really does want to be baptized, so it's just a matter of teaching her the lessons. She's best friends with a girl named Alyssa, who's a member along with her mom and sister. We're teaching her the commandments and getting her ready for baptism!

Rhonda: She is in her 50s and the legal guardian over Stephanie, and she's Stephanie's aunt. We usually teach her with Stephanie. I haven't met her yet, but I will tonight. She became interested when she asked if she could listen in on what Stephanie was being taught, and now she's an investigator!

That's them. We're hoping to pick up some more investigators, because we have a lottttt of potential investigators right now. These were the main happenings of the week. Lately we've been looking around for a new apartment, because the one's we're in right now have issues.... I told you about the girl who asked us the provocative questions! We saw her a couple times this week.... Remember in The Sword and the Stone when Arthur gets turned into a squirrel and gets chased after by the lady squirrel?!?!?! Our neighbor=the lady squirrel. Not just that, but we've had some mold problems and neighbors that smoke. Oh, and we're getting another set of missionaries in our area pretty soon, so we need to find apartments for them as well. The best thing we can do (and the thing that they've TOLD us to do) is just to send things to the mission office, then they'll forward it to our address. And honestly, I don't even know my address...hahaha. I know my car license plate number, though! Ha, anyway, I think this week should be a good week! I'll finally be able to meet all my investgators and help them progress towards baptism! Hope you have an awesome week!

Another Crazy Week (06/10/2013)

All righty, here we go:

Let's start with your questions: I'm still alive, and tornadoes have largely dominated the mission. Supposedly there are more coming this week... We didn't have any major ones this past week, but there was one that was really minor and hit a city not far from us. In terms of service, we've only been doing it on the weekends since our area wasn't affected by the tornadoes. Some missionaries have been working almost everyday though, which seems unimaginable. I'm so dark now! I don't think I've been this tan since Trek! I've taken pictures, but I forgot my camera cord! I have pictures of wall clouds and just a little taste of the tornado destruction that's hit the area. We've successfully been able to gain some investigators from this, and they've all recognized us for our help and really feel the spirit! Yes, Elder Rasband visited us, and it turns out he stayed at a hotel right here in Purcell! Cool stuff. Anyway, I believe the Walkenhorsts arrive at the end of the month... Yes, he's 7 feet tall, but I think his wife is 5'6" and not 6'6"! I guess I'll find out. I'm finally getting my orientation, so hopefully that covers everything I need to know about the mission! Goodness....I miss the Berretts, and Zach and Henry!  I think of those guys a lot. I'm not homesick though :) If I could just have all my friends come out to Oklahoma!

I can't believe it's P day already... Maybe these next two years really will go by fast! This past week we've mostly been looking for less actives to teach and trying to collaborate with our investigators. We've picked up some potential investigators, but the hardest thing right now is getting people to cross the bridge between potential investigator and an actual investigator. A lot of people in Oklahoma don't answer their doors--even if we know they're home. I'm sure that goes for a lot of other places, but people here can be so funny... The excuses they think of to avoid opening the door just cracks me up! You have to find humor in things like that, otherwise it'll really bring you down. I'm hoping this week will go smoothly and that the veteran meeting (the meeting all the new missionaries go to after two weeks to become "veterans") will clear things up.

I should probably head--I'm kinda hungry! Really though, I have to wrap things up. I'll let you know who our investigators are and how they're doing. We have four sisters ranging from 12 to 62 that are really promising investigators. I easily can see baptism in all of them. Hopefully all the tornado stuff will calm down--President Taylor has informed us that we will be going back to regular missionary work now unless they direct otherwise.

Anyway, that's life right now. And my stomach just growled...............

Much love,

Elder Garner

What a Week . . . (06/04/2013)

Greetings from Oklahoma!

Well, the mission is fully underway now, and things have been.....interesting, to say the least. To get the preliminary details started: my area is called Noble, which covers about five or six towns (Noble, Lexington, Slaughterville, Purcell, and probably some others), and my apartment is in Purcell. My area is south of Norman, which is south of Moore, which is south of OKC. Elder Hoddy I believe is in "the Village" which is in OKC. Speaking of which, I had to let go of Elder Hoddy as my companion, which was hard... but my new companion is Elder Evans from Santaquin, Utah. He's almost 21, and he's been out for 15 months. We drive a 2011 Chevy Malibu, and we even have a CELLPHONE! I'm thinking iPhones and new cars will come when I'm in the latter half of my mission!

So let's start with everything that's happened since I left the MTC:

Tuesday: I woke up and 5:00 in the morning, got all my stuff together, said goodbye to Utah. THAT was sad... Not a day goes by where I don't think about the mountains... We all flew to OKC, landed on FLATNESS, and soon met our mission president and his wife! They seem nice, but we'll be getting the Walkenhorsts in July. To sum up Oklahoma, it's basically a southern version of Idaho except its really muggy and humid. Whenever I walk outside my hands instantly become sweaty and they always feel grimy! My towels are always damp, and all my papers and anything cardboard is crinkled because of how humid it is. It really makes me realize how dry Utah is. Lots of people live in trailer parks, and tons of people live on social security--at least in the area I'm at. License plates here are WEIRD. I'm not used to it!!! I've actually seen a couple Utah license plates already, and whenever I do I get this little heart palpitation inside me!!!! Man I miss Utah... Nothing here is white. The cement is an off-white that almost looks brown, and everyone has a tan--I already have somewhat of a tan from all the cleanup we've done. Grass and weeds are one in the same here in Oklahoma, they basically look the same. The sidewalk will end in random places, and Oklahoma doesn't seen to know what a curb is, because most asphalt roads will touch the grass without a curb. It's really easy to drive onto the grass. Walmart is the most normal place here. My apartment is all right (better than Heritage). EVERYONE here drives a Silverado... Everybody smokes here, too, ... My ward covers like five or six towns, and the stake covers about three or four counties. A lot of people here belong to the Baptist church or the Church of Christ.

Anyways, just some fun facts. We didn't have an orientation with all the new missionaries because of all the tornado stuff going on. We got put straight to work, got our bikes, got our stuff all put together, got our new companions, and we went straight to our areas. I miss Elder Hoddy tons... It's crazy how much I love that guy in the twelve days we were together in the MTC. My new companion is training me AND District Leader, both of which he's never done. We do things according to what the mission president says, which is different from the MTC. Not just that, but all that info could easily become irrelevant when we get a new mission president...  I don't even know the ward members, or the investigators, or the area, or how to be a missionary... Being thrown into the mix has been difficult--my companion's had to explain EVERYTHING to me since the mission president didn't give us an orientation. So right now I'm just taking things one day at a time. It's getting better :) In any case, I'm not here to complain.

Wednesday:
I basically spent all day unpacking since I couldn't do it on Tuesday. My companion wanted to work, but he knew I couldn't live out of my suitcase. I really felt unproductive that day, but all things considered...

Thursday:
Today was the first time I got to witness a tornado. We were just biking in our town in the afternoon when it started raining slightly. People driving their cars pulled over to tell us that a tornado was coming! I met the Wintertons, a family with seven kids that live out in Lexington in the middle of nowhere. Their four oldest kids have iPhones. EVERYONE is OKC has an iPhone (hint hint). We went over to their house, which has a storm shelter, and watched a wall cloud head towards us!!!!! I literally got to see clouds swirling in the sky in. a. CIRCLE. Luckily the storm wasn't that bad, and we mostly just watched it pass by. It never touched the ground, so nothing bad happened as far as I know.

Friday:
Friday was a crazy day. First thing that happened was that this lady in our apartment building ran up to us and asked for sex! We kindly told her that we weren't allowed to do that and that we work professionally. She asked for our number and wanted to be friends (and by "friends" I'm sure she wanted to take it to the next level), but we still said no. My companion of 15 months told me that that's never happened to him before. Okay, he's been here 15 months. I've was here four days. Oh, and we had another tornado today, but this one was much worse. We drove to our storm shelter again, and the family was freaking out and said that this was the worst storm they'd ever witnessed. My companion agreed with them. These tornadoes actually touched the ground and killed some storm chasers. Again, the tornado didn't actually hit us, but we were all pretty scared. You know what I kept thinking? WELCOME TO OKLAHOMA.

Saturday and Sunday:
We spent all day with tornado cleanup from the one that occurred on May 20th. I forgot to take pictures, but the devastation is unreal. You will see cars on the ground like a little kid picking up a handful of Hot Wheel cars and throwing them everywhere. The frames of trailers will be pulled off and wrapped around a pole like a pretzel. The lay of the land looks completely different, and the trees look unnaturally bare. We were really able to help out some people that had lost everything. We dug through garbage and found old possessions, and we really made an impact on these people. That was the best part. I already have a tan!

That's life right now. I really got blindsided with all that's happened, but slowly but surely I'll get the hang of this mission thing, and I am thoroughly determined to stick it out these next two years!

Hope life is going well, I wish I could tell you more, but I REALLY must go. We only get an hour to email!

Elder Garnikins :)