Into the Waters of Baptism (07/14/2013)

I just realized it's my two-month mark today... Can two months go by THAT fast?! As difficult as things have been, the mission really is accelerating. I can only wonder how much faster it'll go in the future months. I hope I didn't scare anyone with last week's update! It was an interesting week for sure...

The big events that took place this week begin with. We had transfers today. Even though Elder Evans and I are staying together for another transfer (which ends at the end of August), we had to go up to Moore and collect Sister Pfister (pronounced FISS-ter) and Sister Burnham, the sisters with whom we are splitting our area. We had to pack up their bikes and luggage and bring them to the mission office and put their stuff in their brand. new. 2013. Ford. Fusion. SO JEALOUS! Guess what else? We have another set of Elders in our district working in Blanchard. They used to be a bike area, and now they just barely became a car area. Yeah, they ALSO got a 2013 Ford Fusion! I love the look of those new Ford Fusions. Haha, but truth be told I'm immensely grateful for a car in which to drive in this summer heat. A 2011 Chevy Malibu isn't that bad! :) In Purcell they have a Chevy dealership with brand-new 2014 Chevy Silverados and GMC Sierras. WOW those look good! We've had upwards of around 105 degrees throughout the day. It doesn't cool down much at night--maybe to about 80 degrees. It's been raining the past two days, so that's good. Anyway, back to the sisters. So now the sisters have Noble and all the addresses north of Slaughterville Road. Elder Evans and I cover Purcell and the town of Lexington. We have everything south of Slaughterville Road. Some Noble addresses eke into our area and some Lexington addresses eke into their area. The address system is so weird here in Oklahoma...

We have three new missionaries new to the mission, and about six or seven new to the zone. The work really is hastening... Maybe I will train someone next transfer? To answer your question we are assigned to a ward. Currently we have a set of Elders (us) and a set of Sisters in our ward. I gave a talk on missionary work in my ward (called the Noble Ward in the Norman Oklahoma Stake) this past. Kinda funny that I would give a talk the same day as Madelyn's farewell. I'm so glad you guys went to that! It's so weird to think the Taylor's are home... Mostly because I haven't had enough time to spend with them. The Walkenhorsts are great, and I'm looking forward to working more with them.

Next is the baptism. Surprise! I performed the baptism! The pictures should have given that away though. My first baptism performed, and my first investigator to be baptized in my mission--in my first transfer too! It was a standout. Super spiritual meeting and quite the entertaining baptism performance. Ha... we had to do it twice. The first time she didn't bend her knees, and she totally slipped! "I told you that you were baptizing a fat woman!" she told me. Hahahaha so funny... Luckily I was able to pick her up both times. The second time we just had her kneel down so she only had to bend her back :) I'll tell you though I thought I was going to be baptized again with her! Aside from all that, she had an amazing day, and we got a lot of ward support! She's got several people to turn to if she needs something. I have high faith that she won't be going anywhere--she's got a strong testimony. Not just that, but she got a new job which is not only higher-paying but will allow her to have weekends off--to come to church. She really has seen the work of God in her life and the doors He's opened up for her.

We lost a couple investigators yesterday... Oklahoma has some hardcore Bible bashers. Elder Evans handled the situation gracefully. We both bore our testimonies, wished him and his wife all the best, and exited the house with no desire to return. They weren't making much progress anyway, and he even told us we don't have faith in Jesus Christ. He told us we put a lot of faith in Joseph Smith. It's kinda funny...throughout the discussion he kept referring to Paul and the book of Romans... More than we were talking about Joseph Smith. We gave a cornucopia of scripture references from the Bible, but he had his own interpretation. It's totally okay though, because everyone has their agency and right to their own opinion. I just hope his heart will be softened.

Now for the companion. You will be relieved to know that things are getting better. Disagreements still come up every now and then, but luckily we're working things out a lot better than before. It's still taking a lot of courage on my part to warm up to him. Our Zone Leaders encouraged us to be more humble than we already are and to pardon each other of our faults and mistakes. I really feel we will both learn something from each other this transfer. He is warned. He knows what will happen if he oversteps his bounds again. He thought he would try stealing my stuff and ripping up the progress record I was working on, but he now knows that that's under the list of unacceptables. He is also very aware of my mother's character! He knows that you will not hesitate to say something to the mission president should the occasion arise. Hopefully it doesn't come to that--but he knows.

Happy two months.

Much love,

Elder Garner

Independence and Inner Penance (06/30/2013 and 07/07/2013)

Good to hear from you! I'm excited for the license plate updates! They're issuing out YYC? You know Scott's car's license plate is a ZYC! South Salt Lake was issued out ZYC, ZYD, and ZYE in about October-December 2011. Anyway, be prepared for a lengthy email, it's been a rather interesting week... The good, the bad, and the ugly. It's all there. Good to hear about the many events that have taken place with the relatives. Hey, did you ever send a package with my two pairs of sunglasses and the bandana and the other stuff? If not, just send me my blue-lensed sunglasses, my silver-lensed aviator sunglasses (both should be in my room), and the lime-green bandana in the basement dresser by the storage room. I just LOVE your packages!

What an interesting road this past week has taken me... My good friend, Abbey, was faced with a tragic accident in her family where her father passed away. What would my reaction be if mom or dad passed away? I am certain it would be the only thing consuming my thoughts. This certainly isn't something I need right now. This week was full of unanswered mysteries and floating thoughts mingling in my mind. July 5th was when Madelyn underwent surgery.  I remembered it on Friday. For the first time in months, I even read the entry I wrote down for July 5th, 2011.  Man, I sure thought about her a lot! I was surprised by how much compassion and charity I had towards her and that situation. If I haven't stated this before, being a missionary has brought out emotions I never knew existed.

This week was another replay of that statement. Carol, one of our investigators, is an elderly lady who's scheduled to be baptized this Saturday, July 13th. She's a widow who lives from paycheck to paycheck. She's currently facing a situation with social security, and to make a long story short, her social security check was given to the wrong person, and the check wasn't supposed to be transferred back to her for about three weeks. In the meantime, she had no money with which to buy groceries, gas, and pay her other bills. She asked a member of the ward to loan her $300. The member--with good reason--felt uncomfortable and was left in an awkward situation. On Tuesday we went to visit her with a different member named Thayne. She lost the light we see in her all the time over this one trial. She was frightened of what was to come, and she had no idea how she was going to make ends meet. She didn't even want to talk to the bishop because she didn't want him to get involved. Thayne, our member, was with us during this discussion with her. We were about to leave, and out of nowhere, Thayne whipped out three Benjamin Franklins and planted them right on her lap. Her reaction was beyond humble and grateful. It put me to tears. Carol and I, crying together... My respect for Thayne increased just as much Carol's gratitude for the Lord increased. I was so grateful for Thayne and his generosity. To say the least, it was the highlight of my week. I'm so looking forward to baptizing this investigator this Saturdayand to see what blessings the gospel will bring to her.

The 4th of July was a difficult day... Very few people were available to do anything, and it was hard to get any work done. Luckily we were assigned to help move in the second set of missionaries we're getting in our area. That took up most of the morning and afternoon along with our studies. My companion was very distracted later that night when the fireworks were going off. We were in the midst of planning and couldn't watch them. He's been struggling with homesickness...

At the present moment, transfers are almost over. I was assigned another transfer with Elder Evans, and I'm remaining in the Purcell area. We have sisters coming into the ward!! Sister Phister and Sister Burnham are their names. It's exciting news! Plus we'll still be able to work with our investigators! It's good stuff...

I FINALLY HAVE PICTURES FOR YOU! The first one is of the Tornado on May 30--that was my third day in Oklahoma! The rest of them are at one of tornado cleanup sites near Newalla, Oklahoma. See how horrendous it looks?! I promise I'll send you more pictures soon :)