A lot of Service...

     This week has been a ton of service projects! we have been going to a less active members house to remove tree stumps!! on of the trunks is at least 3 ft wide and we have a hole dug around 6 ft down!!! today we hollowed out underneath the tree. we have been doing a ton of digging and using an axe!!! Everyones arms are sore but its a good workout! we have had new people move into our ward so we moved 2 families in. We were all joking about how we are all going to be professional movers and professional landscapers by the end of our two years! roughly 2 weeks ago we went and painted a facility for mentally handicapped adults and kids. this week we went back and helped them move in. we also went to the bishops store house and helped them unload their monthly semi truck! My arms are dead. plus my companion and i are going over to another elders gym and working out so that doesnt help with the soreness! we havent really been able to teach any investigators because of all the service we have been doing. this week is going to be a short email because nothing but service was done :P love you all!!!

 

              -Elder Garr

 

ps. HAPPY BIRTHDAY ZACH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!......that is all....

pss.   I totally forgot to tell you that i have done more in sacrament meeting in the past 5 weeks than i have my entire life!! the first 2 weeks i had to bear my testimony, the third week i played prelude before church started, the fourth week i said the closing prayer, and this last week i played a special musical number on the piano in sacrament!!! holy cow i was scared out of my mind to play!!! apparently a lady in the ward heard me playing prelude and came up to me after sacrament meeting and asked me if i could play the following week!!!!!!!!! i got a ton of compliments that day on the piece i played (day of rest by Paul Cardall). love ya!!!

 

                              -Elder Garr

Here's a sample of the song Kyle played.

Day of Rest by Paul Cardall

     

People are dumb...

this week has been quite busy! we finally taught Angela!!! she is so solid in the gospel!!! this Thursday we are going over to teach her again and we are going to put her on date to be baptised!!! i will let you know how that goes next week!! We have a new investigator. his name is Matt. He is the step father of a recent convert!! next time we meet with him we are going to try to put him on date as well!!! Its hard to believe that i have been out in the field for almost a month!! time flies out here! I only have 3 weeks left before transfers!! i could be moved to a different area and be with a different companion. We will find out all of that jazz in 2 weeks. Just an FYI don't send anymore letters to my apartment complex starting this week. if i get moved my address will be changed and it can sometimes be a pain in the butt to get the letters back!!! I will inform you on whether i am being transfered or not as soon as i find out. This week we got shot at!!!! (its not as bad as it sounds) so we parked our car on the side of the road and went tracting down this long road. while we were away from the car someone decided it would be funny to shoot our car with a BB gun!! we have roughly 14 BB dents in our car!! stupid kids! According to my dear friend Zach, he thinks that we need more crazy door approaches and crazy people. truth is i just haven't said anything about the crazy ones. so we were tracting and we open this driveway gate and as we are turned around locking it Elder Hathaway says "be careful, there could be a dog." as we turn around this dog starts running at us and barking at us. so we turned and ran, and when we got to the fence we had to hop it!!! crazy i know. then we have "bashed" with some people. one person that we bashed with is sitting across the desk from me at the library this very moment. she said "ya that Joseph smith guy, ya he wasn't legit." like i said people are dumb! some other guy stated that the holy spirit hasn't told him to read the BofM so he refuses to read it! once again dumb!!! anyways that about all for this week! Oh and if anyone wants a really nice Nerf gun here ya go... so go to home depot and get a 2 1/2 foot piece of 1/2" PVC pipe then go to walmart and get Nerf darts...instant blow gun that will leave welts...it hurts...a lot...be careful.

 

oh ya one last thing. there is a member in the ward i cover and he has been out of town so we have gone to check his mail and stuff and so i saw a ukulele sitting on his counter...there is a name that has been signed onto it...the name is Jonathan Black!!! the members name is Chris Surowiec!!! i have pictures that i will send home later!!!

 

ps. my new Rubik's cube time is 1 minute and 7 seconds!!!

Also, here's a picture of Kyle posted by a ward member that we friended on Facebook.

A Ton of Tracting!!

        So this week has been pretty uneventful :/ a ton of tracting!! The new year came with nothing special...we had to be home at 9 (same as every night) and in bed by 10:30 (also same as every night) we have tried to visit some investigators which i have just realized i have said nothing about!! my bad... So there is a lady we are teaching and her name is Angela, i don't really know much about her because every time we have gone over she has been gone or sick, but other elders have been working with her for a while now. Our next investigator is a family. Once again they were talked to right before i got here so i barely know anything about her and her kids. but every time we knock on the door and she answers they keep saying they want a church tour!!! (where we walk them through the church building and explain what goes on during church so if they do come to church they have some idea and are not sitting there awkwardly) Our other investigator is Scott. He is a really hands on do it himself kinda guy but he is awesome. every time we go over there we talk about life for a little while but then we have to leave because he is working on projects around the house. Our last investigator is Allison!! I actually tracted into her, did the whole door approach!! Some things that we say when at the door is " Hi we're missionaries and we are coming around sharing a message about Jesus Christ, is that something that you would like to hear?" well previous to that Elder Hathaway and I had gotten things like "not interested" or "go away my door says no soliciting!!" (which by law because we aren't selling anything we aren't soliciting) Anyways Allison said "sure" well me being a greenie totally froze up because since i was there we hadn't had anyone say yes so i didn't know what to say!!! luckily Elder Hathaway saved me and he jumped in and we gave her a book of mormon, but because of the holiday season all of our potentials haven't had time to read because life is so hectic. Next week i will give you more info on everything that has happened with them because im hoping that because the holiday season is over people will have time to read the book of mormon. I love you all!!!

          -Elder Garr

PS:  Just in case you were wondering....i can solve a rubiks cube in 1 minute and 17 seconds.....just thought i would let you know...love ya!!!

            -Elder Garr

LAST DAY OF 2012

        We made it past the end of the world!!! This week has been crazy! We have been doing a lot of tracting and it gets dark really early!! if we go tracting at like 6 pm we will get people that are in their pj's that say "you guys are out pretty late don't ya think??" ITS ONLY 6 PM YOU CRAZY PERSON!!!!!!!!! Anyways we tracted into a non member named danny, he is willing to have us over for dinner and for games!! he has had the lessons from when he lived in Arkansas. He says that the elders were some of his best friends and he still keeps in contact with them! He is awesome!! Not much else has really happend this week except last P-Day we went to lowes and bought 1/2" pvc pipe and some nerf darts and we have had mini wars in our appartment!! these suckers hurt!!! they leave welts if you get someone on bare skin! Even elders are immature haha. this weeks letter is going to be a little short because not much happened. I love being a missionary and serving the lord. I know that the book of mormon is the true word of God. I love this gospel. I love everyone!!!

                    -Elder Garr

Pics:

                                Provo, Utah

                                Flight to Tacoma, Washington

                                                   
                                           Kyle now knows the truth. Haha

                                Wow, Kyle found his twin!!!

Day After Christmas

        This past week has been kind of a downer :/ We haven't had a ton of people to teach. we have had people cancel appointments or have had to reschedule. We do have a couple of potentials though! we are going to try to get in contact with some of our potentials this week. Anyways the past couple of days have been awesome! On Christmas Eve we went over to the second councilor's house for dinner and they taught us how to make Italian lasagna and holy cow it was amazing!! After dinner we acted out Luke 2 with 3 out of 4 kids. Even while on my mission I had to act it out :P It was way fun to do it with a members family and to see how they did all of their traditions! On Christmas day we had a member feed us breakfast at 7:30 am!! (Most people are still asleep at that time, at least all of my friends) After breakfast they had a ton of presents for us! This family has made it a tradition to always have the missionaries over for Christmas. They bought us things mainly for our apartment but there were things that they got for us individually which was really cool! When we were opening the last of our gifts we noticed something!! It was snowing outside!!! We had a white Christmas!!! First time i have ever been able to say that :P Through this time of year it's easy to lose track of the real meaning of Christmas. Being on a mission has changed my perspective of Christmas. Before my mission I had always known the true reason for Christmas but now it has a whole new meaning. The Savior was put onto this earth to atone for all of our sins. He did what no one else could have done. He knows each and everyone of us individually. He knows everything that we have gone through and will go through. I am so thankful for my Savior and Redeemer and all the He has done for me. I love this gospel and I know that being on a mission is where I'm supposed to be. The book of mormon is the true word of God. This church is true and I love this gospel.

         -Elder Garr

I'm In Tacoma!!!

Hey everyone! Yesterday we landed in the Seattle/Tacoma airport and were picked up by the mission president and his wife!! We had a huge transfer meeting where we were assigned our new companions! Now I know you are all dying to know who my new companion is... Elder Hathaway!!! he is an awesome missionary and has roughly 10 months left on his mission. During the transfer meeting there were testimonies born by those who were leaving the mission field. There were many musical numbers given, but one song got to me... Amazing Grace. I have never really paid any attention to those lyrics before but as i was singing them everyone else around was crying and yes...it broke be down...shhh. Afterwards we gathered all of my stuff and put it in a car and drove to the new appartment! There are 4 of us elders in the appartment. These elders are awesome!! On the first night we were here we had a less active member ask us for a priesthood blessing, what an amazing experience for only being in the mission field for less than 4 hours! After that we went to Walmart for some food items and things of that nature. but after that we had a meeting with an investigator...or so i thought. We went over to Joanns' house and we began to teach her and before the lesson Elder Hathaway had told me that he wanted me to put her on date for baptism! First lesson in the mission field and I already have to ask someone to come unto christ and be baptised!! nervous...just a little. Anyways we went through the lesson and i started to talk about the saviors earthly ministry and how he was baptised and set the example for all of us. Then she started asking a ton of questions about baptism so we ,mainly me, started to answer them. Then my companion gave me that "ask her to be baptised" kind of look and so i did and she asked a couple more questions and then said yes!!!!!!! only one problem...my companion had set me up... she has been a member of the church for over 25 years. All of the older missionaries do this to their greenies to see how they perform and how they teach. Joann is an awesome member of the church and she and Elder Hathaway gave me some awesome feedback! Elder Hathaway told me that i did better that he thought i would do! This was such a neat experience! I am so thankful for this gospel and for all that it has done for me. I know this Church is true and that the book of mormon is another testiment of Jesus Christ. There is a prophet on the earth today and i know that he is the mouthpiece of God to help guide us in all that we do. I love being a missionary!!

 

Now on a more relaxed note...Its COLD here. The weather is supposed to be like 40 degrees but with the wind chill factor it's like 30 degrees!! The day we go there the sun was shining and it was still like 30 degrees! Everything up here is so beautiful! My new mailing address for our appartment is

 

200 lippert Dr. G-233

Port Orchard, WA 98366

 

In 6 weeks that could possibly change depending on where or if i get transfered!! Cant wait to hear from you all!! Love ya,

                           -Elder Garr

Pictures from the MTC

#1: A beanie that Elder Alger made me!! He's awesome
#2: Elder Johnsen (my district leader) and I!

#3: my roomies!! Elder Toomey (my companion), Elder Hulet, and Elder Jorgensen
#4: My District!!

#5: My Companion Elder Toomey!!
#6: Ponder Picture!!