The End of Training

February 27, 2017

Well This week was pretty good. Let me start with my highlights:

1. Well if you all didn't know, this week was my birthday and my companion and our pension tried to surprise me with a surprise birthday party. Well let`s just say I found out about it like 2 hours before it actually happened and then our zone had a short little birthday party (only cake) for everyone who had a birthday this month. And again I found out about it before it happened again. 

2. We've been teaching this one girl in our area (she is about 10) but she is super anti-social. There really is no way to get her to talk to us. We would ask her if she wanted to hear our message but she literally would say no and walk right out of the room. Well her mom saw me playing the piano last week in church and asked me if I could give her lessons. I said that I could, but later before the lesson we talked and I had this amazing idea to make a deal with her. I told her I could teach her piano but she had to take our lessons. She literally had to think about it for about 7 minutes before she said yes. It truly was awesome. 

3. We had cambios last night and Elder Salazar is going to leave our area tomorrow.  But my new companion`s name is Elder Alegre. None of my roommates know him and all I have seen is a picture of him. Let me just say he is a big boy. Height and size. I think that this cambio is going to be interesting. Pero Vamos a ver.

Ok so about halfway through my first cambio in the field we had this investigator who literally disappeared. We couldn't find him. We couldn't get a hold of him on his phone. Nada. But last night Elder Salazar wanted to go back to his house to see if he came back from the dead. And he did. His name is Daniel and he said that he went to go work in a different part of Lima for a certain amount of time and he was living with his girlfriend at the time ( uh-oh) But we had a lesson with him and he said that he really wanted to hear what we had to say. And apparently he has a ton of free time now. But I think that the best part about this lesson was what I realized. Like I said we only met with him up until the middle of my first transfer here and the comparison to now is completely different. I almost took over that lesson and I could actually understand him. I could actually communicate with him. I think the time that I have had with Elder Salazar has really improved me. Not just with my language, but as a missionary, or ideas about the bible. Everything has changed. And I will never forget my companion, my "papi," my trainer, and my friend Elder Salazar. I will see you around bro.

I miss you all so much and love you just as equally,

Elder Garbett

  (scroll to the bottom for a video he sent)

Birthday Pics

 Video: Grandilla

Un día mas!!!!

February 20, 2017

Well this week was...... interesting. (in a good way if you were wondering) Here are some of my Highlights:

1. We had this weird stuff for lunch one day. It`s called quinoa and yeah it looks like super tiny fish eggs with this weird steamy stuff in it. It tasted alright but the texture was Absolutely Horrible. I was able to down it and kept working that day. Well the next day I didn't eat breakfast and we went and ate rice and meat. Well let`s just say I didn't end up keeping that down and then we found out that it was because of the quinoa and so now I don`t have to eat that stuff anymore (*Fist pump*) . 

2. I received a package from Sister Ganem this week (thanks a ton!) and in it was a bunch of letters from the young women which was awesome! But I think that the highlight in it was the "Green eggs and Ham" book inside from the Bishopric(which I guess was changed recently) But inside they changed it from "Sam-I-am" to "Elder Garbett- I am." It was super Hilarious and I absolutely love it. A big shout out to the Old bishopric! I love you Guys!

3. I found out that Elder Salazar has prescription glasses and that he does not like to use them at all. So whenever he goes into a different room in our room (like the other elders study room or the bathroom) I pull up a chair open my scriptures to some random page and put on his glasses (like on the lower part of my nose so I don`t have to look through them) and just stare and wait for him to leave the room. Every single time he comes out he literally dies of laughter and falls on the floor. But hey, I look good in those glasses. 

Ok This week went by how it usually does (excepto que yo vomitè) But yesterday was especially different. We were walking to an appointment with one of our members and we received a call from a random number. Elder Salazar answered it and it was an old investigator from about six transfers ago. She said that she wanted to meet with us again and take the lessons. So we got a date and then hung up. Well about one minute later she called us back and said that she "forgot" (how could you forget something like this?!?!?!?) to tell us that she knows (key word: KNOW) that the Book of Mormon is true and that she wants us to baptize her and she gave us a date also! (when I heard that I had to ask Elder Salazar if I was actually understanding his Spanish and made him tell me in English also) Well we went and found her and had a meeting with her and we ended up setting her baptism date for the 25th. Just a literal mind blown! I have no idea why she just dropped into our lap and said baptize me but let me just say that she is one of the chosen ones that God has been preparing and she is ready to make these covenants with him. 

 

I love you guys and miss you tons,

Elder Garbett

 

I look good in these glasses don't I? 

 

Semana 4 del Cambio

February 13, 2017

Well this week was pretty good. Let me start with my highlights:

1. Recently I bought some actual bread (like the loaf) and I made this breakfast where I made a hole in the middle of the slice and cracked an egg inside of it while it was in the pan. I've seen my dad do this a couple of times so I thought why not. Well after some attempts (and some yoke on my pants) I ended up making a pretty good breakfast.

2. Well ever since the first week of this cambio I have been playing the piano for sacrament meeting this week the ward music chair leader gave me 3 liters of coke. Since I don´t drink caffeine my roommates enjoyed it after church.

3. We (elder Salazar and I) climbed the tallest hill in our area which had a cross on the top. The hill was super steep and Elder Salazar doesn't have very much experience hiking. So for almost the entire climb I was tutoring him so that he knew where to step. He was worried about falling the entire time and he never fell at all. But what was funny was that right before the stairs that led down the hill and it was safe (and i mean literally right before) I slipped on a rock and fell straight down on my butt. After that it took me 5 minutes to get Elder Salazar to walk the last few feet to the stairs. 

All in all this week was pretty good. I had my ups and my downs. But this week was the week that a lot of people found out that I don´t drink caffeine and the problem is that a lot of the most popular drinks here have caffeine. Now I know it doesn't say in the word of wisdom that we can´t drink caffeine. But through science we have found out that it is addictive and it doesn't end up being very good for our bodies in the end. For this reason this is why I don´t drink anything that has it. In this church there is no such thing as good and bad, there is only good and better. Entonces necesitamos encontrar que es bueno y que es mejor. Y en este situación, encontré que yo pienso es mejor. (well we need to find what is good and what is best, and in this situation I have found what I think is the better). 

 

I miss you all so much and love you tons,

Elder Garbett 

Semana tres

February 7, 2017

Wow. This week went by so fast. Let me go low and slow with my highlights first:

1. Last week for family home evening we played this game that when someone calls out your assigned fruit name you have to run to a different chair right? Well near the end everyone was trying to get me because I was too quick for them. Well apparently I was too quick and I broke a chair and fell onto the door and cracked the glass. Everyone was laughing and the head of the house was totally fine with it. (phew) My next plan on the list is to buy them a new chair. Super embarrassing by the way. 

2. So they changed our P-day schedule this week because we went to the temple today! Oh man let me tell you, that was such a battery charger. I feel so pumped up (and a little hot right now) to go out and preach some more.

3. I started to play piano for sacrament meeting this week. and ever since then the church music director of the ward has been trying to teach everyone the basics of how to read music. Ok she knows how to read the music really good but the problem is she doesn't know the terminology! She says that a half note is held out longer than the quarter note but how she explains it is that the black note is held out by daaa. and the white note is held out daaaaAAAAaaaa. So freaking annoying!

All in all this week has been absolutely amazing. With the new world wide schedule change we have more time to preach, more agency to choose how to work out our schedule, and bigger goals such as two baptisms per cambio, which is kinda tough. But I think that the miracle this week was that we started to visit this one investigator who wants to be baptized but because she's living with her husband (and they're not married) she can´t be baptized. And her husband doesn't want anything to do with our message so we teach her. But the last time we visited her she told us that right our of the blue her husband said that he wanted to actually be married. So that means that she will actually be baptized after she gets married which will be on the 24 (but to us that's not really important) But she is planning on getting baptized on the 25th!!!!!!!!!! Elder Salazar and I are sooooo excited!!!!!!!! This Cambio is sooooo great!

 

I miss you guys and love you all tons!!

Elder Garbett

 

Silly Rowan

 Elder Farnsworth

Temple trip

 

YAAAAAA PUESSSSSSS!!!!!!!!

January 30, 2017

This week was pretty cool and it was pretty stress free (kinda) but most of the time it was pretty fun:

1. We went on unexpected intercambios (splits) and I went with Elder Draney´s companion Elder Anhuaman (kinda like aqua man) and we found some people that we taught through contacts.

2. Our pensions daughter, ALL THE TIME, asks her mom if she can have some refresco (juice) before dinner and ALL THE TIME her mother tells her no and says that she has to finish eating before she can have any and the child's answer is always yaaaaa puesssssss (I don´t know what the literal translation is but its kinda like "come, onnnnn" or "pleaseeee". So now we use it all the time in our room.

3. The other Elders in our district needed to move because the home owner didn't want anything to do with the church so we had to go and help them move today which was kinda annoying but oh well. I got to spend some time with my bro Elder Draney. I´m going to try to send the video we took but I´m not sure if you all will be able to see it.

4. Elder Salazar totally burned a contact yesterday. We asked this lady in the middle of the lesson if there were prophets again on the earth if she would listen to them. She said that she wouldn't because she already has her pastor. Elder Salazar then asked her if she knew what happened to the people when they didn't listen to Noah. She knew the answer but didn't answer and then Elder Salazar invited her to our church and then we left. I was kinda mad at him but at the same time you should have seen her face. Hilarious. 

After the whole Noah thing we contacted this one guy who was super receptive to us. After about 10 minutes of talking we asked if we could enter his home and share our message with him. He did and we started talking about the plan of Salvation. Man he had so many questions and he was super receptive to it. He even said that it sounded somewhat familiar to him. (when he said this I did like probably the weirdest happy dance inside my head) we then invited him to be baptized and he accepted. God truly prepares the hearts of the people out here and I know that this gospel is true.

 

I love and miss you all,

Elder Garbett

 

Pictures from this week

 

 Video Rowan sent