I think that I am losing some wieght.

April 17, 2017

Well let me just say this week was absolutely tiring. I`ll tell you why after these:

1. Well first off we had transfers this last Tuesday and my new companion`s name is Elder Martin. He is so awesome. We work so hard and we really are harvesting the field. But apparently before the mission (he has 16 months) he had a contract to play professional futbol in Columbia. 

2. We had a baptism this week. His Name is Roberto and he truly is a golden investigator. He sought out the missionaries and every single time we talked to him about something he accepted it right there and started to live it. 

3. AHHHH man! We have like everything in our house. Everyone living in the apartments are members, our pension lives in one of the apartments, our pension`s husband is our ward mission leader, and our pension also does our laundry. I think I heard the choir of angels singing hallelujah when I heard these things.

4. Apparently we have a member of the seventy in our ward too. He spoke this Sunday and I was blown away. I didn't know he was a seventy until after his talk. If I knew that I would have taken notes. (and maybe guessed what his title was) 

Ahh man this area is soooooo huge! Elder Martin is all about working hard. Apparently he opened the area last transfer and it was crap. But he and his first companion (the first two Elders in this area for the past 2 and a half years) started working the first week and totally flipped this area around. Usually the mind set is that if you go to a really rich area you hardly find anybody. Well it`s completely different here because truly everywhere you go it is ready and filled with people looking for the truth. We walk hard every single day. I think we walk at least 6 or 7 miles because our area is huge. I can definitely tell that I have lost weight. I am truly learning how to work hard here. So hard that when I get back to my room I practically go straight to bed because I am so tired. I think I`ll end with this. "For behold, the field is white. already to harvest. and Lo, he that thrusteth in his sickle with his might layeth up in store and perisheth not, but bringeth salvation unto his soul."

I miss you all tons,

Elder Garbett

Pic of roommates from last area (Santa Anita) 

Robertos Baptism

Random Rowan Pic

"Strange things are happening" (an´t no doubt about it)

April 10, 2017

Well this week was the transfers and once again let me get to the appetizers before the main course:

1. We had two baptisms this week which was really awesome. I got to baptize one of them and then the Elder whose spot I took here came back and baptized the other. 

2. The other Elders in our room had splits with the assistants to the president and so one of them left for the day and my abuelo from the mission came to conduct the splits. So I got to spend a night with mí abuelo. 

Well let´s just say that before I came to this Zone (Santa Anita) President told my soon to be companion that he needed to teach me the area so that I would be able to lead it. So all I knew about what could possibly happen was that I was going to stay here and lead the area. Well that all changed when the Zone leaders called us and said that my companion would become the new assistant and that we need to make sure that there aren't any single males living in the same building as us. So that meant that we were going to close the area and hermanas were going to come to our area. Well later president called us personally (we both died, went to heaven, and then came back before the phone stopped ringing) and told Elder Pereira that he would be a zone leader in La Molina and gave him instructions on what he needed to do. Well then we had to wait to find out what was going to happen to me. Well after 3 painful hours we found out that yes, I am leaving and we are closing the area. I have no idea why I even came here to Santa Anita but it was for a reason and right now I just don´t know. The Lord works in mysterious ways but he knows what he is doing. 

 

I love you all,

Elder Garbett

 

 

General Conference (1)

 April 3, 2017

Man this week was pretty cool let me start with these:

1. While we were in our room one night we saw one of our investigators (probably drunk) riding his bike around, blowing his whistle and chasing down motos. It was probably one of the most hilarious things that I saw all week. 

2. I got to see every single General Conference in English besides the Sunday morning session where two of our brand new investigators showed up that we didn't even think would show up. So awesome.

3. The session that I got to see in Spanish was super crazy. We barely made it to the session, sat down for like five minutes and we were told that one of our investigators showed up. Well we went to see him but it was the same guy that was chasing down the moto and guess what........ he was drunk. Sometimes I wonder why I understand Spanish because the conversations that the members were having with him were so weird. For example they told him that my companion was a general before his mission and the drunk stood up straight and asked Elder Pereira if he wanted him to do push ups. Well he got down and did like 20 so we spent the first half of the Sunday morning session trying to figure out what to do with him.

But all in all this week went by really well and I really enjoyed general conference. Before the mission all I really saw in general conference was that our leaders gave talks and every so often they would give us something new from God. It was never really that important to me but now ever since I have been teaching about prophet and his apostles almost everyday for the past 5 months (and no I am not trunky) the importance of a prophet has significantly grown on me. Ever since I heard that we were going to have general conference I had grown more and more excited and then when it came I took so many notes and thought so much of my investigators and how I can use the words of a living Prophet and direct my investigators onto the path that Jesus Christ established in his life for us. I miss you all tons and I can´t wait to hear from you all again.

 

From your gringo in peru,

Elder Garbett

 

Random Pics and a video

 

 

Video

This video is what usually happens to us (more like my companion) when we are planing. Its super short but I really like what Elder Pereira does in those few short seconds. 

Emergency transfers!!!!!!!!!!

March 27, 2017

Well as you can probably tell by the title this week was pretty hectic. let me start with the cool stuff:

1. We had emergency transfers in week 3 of this transfer so now I´m with a completely new companion and a completely new area. My new companion´s name is Elder Pereira. He´s soo awesome. I learn so much from him everyday. 

2. We had a baptism this last Saturday and we baptized this 10 year old kid named Benjamin. Apparently he has been waiting for about a month to be baptized. But we received permission from president this week to baptize him. It was sooo amazing to see how prepared he was. I think there is something up with me and kids. Because he is the second kid of the three people that I have baptized. If that´s all my mission will be then bring it. I love teaching kids. 

3. Our pension here is soo crazy. As a pension, she is pretty good but her and her husband I think are a little bit on the crazy side. I get so uncomfortable around them because they talk so fast and I can´t understand a thing. And then they get on me about that because I have 5 months in the field and I know "nothing" about Spanish. It gets a little annoying sometimes but I have learned to just eat and not say anything and for some reason it works! 

Ok so last Monday We were sitting around and I was writing in my journal when my old companion received a call from the zone leaders. When I found out it was the zone leaders I thought we were going to have splits. But then Elder Alegre told me that our leaders wanted to talk to me. That´s when things got a little iffy.  So I took the phone and they pretty much told me that I was leaving Vitarte and going to a new Zone; an Emergency transfer. Well about 3 hours after that I was all done packing and went to bed. Then we had to go to the office and that´s where I met my new companion Elder Pereira. He is so amazing! But the thing is that I think that he will leave this transfer which means I only have two more weeks to learn the new area and lead it after this transfer. I will say that I am a little stressed but I know that I can get this area down because it is so small. 

 

I miss you all and love you tons,

Elder Garbett

 

Benjamin's Baptism with Elder Pereira

 

Random Pics of Rowan

 

 

Week 3

 March 20, 2017

Well this week was alright. Here are my highlights:

1. Our zone leader wants to do like a A-Capella style thing with the entire group. Now from past experience I know that this won´t turn out very well because a lot of people (the Elders) aren't very interested but our zone leader heard about all that I have done in the past with music and keeps coming up to me for advice and what I think we should do. I honestly have no idea what to do. If something comes out of it I´ll make sure to send something about it. 

2. Today for p-day we climbed the same hill that I climbed with Elder Salazar. It was really awesome and I´ll make sure to send you all some photos. 

Well I am pretty sure that a lot of you have heard about the mudslides and stuff that is happening here and let me just tell you that all is fine. I have not had any in my area but all of the missionaries have been trained on what to do if one happens. Then afterwards our president will move us out of the area into a different area until their original area is absolutely safe. But all in all I am safe and there is really nothing to worry about. We are here in the Lord´s work and he will not let us down. 

 

I love you all,

Elder Garbett

 

Rowan and a cute little dog that wandered in while he was emailing

Rowan and his companion, Elder Alegre

Rowan and his MTC companion, Elder Draney

 Elder Dexter

Random Photos

 

Week 2

March 13, 2017

Well I actually do have something to talk about this week so let´s get started:

1. Our pension had some of her cousins kids over one night. One is 3 years old and the other is 1. Well I was giving high fives to the 1 year old and I was on the couch. Well then I got distracted and start talking to my pension. Well he didn't like that so he started to smack my chest. Well I ignored him and so then he actually slapped me in the face. Well then everyone in the room was like "OHHHHHH" and the kid just lost it and started to cry hysterically in my chest. Because our rules state that we can´t really have contact like that with kids I was all like, what do I do with this kid because he was literally hanging on me. One half of me wanted to just hold him but the other half was trying to hold me back from doing it. So tough.

2. We had a ward mission night this last Thursday and.......... nobody showed up. LOL. The ward mission leader thought that I was super mad and was all like can I buy you a drink and I was all like what? No. I´m not mad. 

Well this week was a bit better. My companion literally thinks that I´m still a baby (mission talk for someone in their training) and that he "needs to fix his companion (me)". No way jose. But anyways I think that the highlight for me this week was that this pastor from this other church invited me and my companion over for some lunch. We basically talked and just got to get to know each others churches and what we do. But I think the best part is that when they found out that I had no experience with Spanish before my mission and that I only had 4 months here they were super surprised at my Spanish. They said it was really good. Afterwards I was doing the head bob thing and saying "that´s right! I can speak Spanish!"

I miss you all tons,

Elder Garbett

 Rowan and Elder Nunez (zone leader)

 Ruin in Rowan's area

 Video from Rowan (apologies for the blurriness in the beginning)

Week one of the transfer

 March 6, 2017

This week was pretty good but not much really happened:

1. We actually had the transfers on Tuesday and my companion is a pretty big guy. Like let´s just say that one day he ate like 5 plates of food at our pensions. 

Like I said nothing much really happened. Everyone says that they receive a tough companion somewhere in their mission and it looks like it is my new companion now. Pretty much when he found out that I just finished my training I think that he thought that he was pretty much going to teach me. He is trying to change all of my teaching styles and I think that he goes kinda by rote. Like one time we were teaching a new investigator and he was talking about stuff that was in line for lesson 3. So he wanted to drop a lesson three but I felt so strongly that we needed to drop lesson one. I told him that and then I dropped lesson 1 for him but Elder Alegre almost immediately dropped lesson 3 on him and committed him to that. He later told me why but when I told him my reason why he kinda pushed it off. Well I guess you guys can tell that This week was interesting. But the thing is I still have 5 more weeks to try to change things and the thing is I think it will turn out alright. 

I´m sorry there isn't much more but Hey I love All of you guys sooooooooo much and I know that we are all where we need to be. I know that I am with a tough companion but I am with him for a reason. The Lord is constantly shaping us into what he wants us to be and to do that we need to be in tough situations. 

I miss you all and love hearing from each one of you. 

from your missionary in Peru,

Elder Garbett