No Transfer: Cambios

Hola!!!

Ok and the moment you and I have all been waiting for....CAMBIOS.
Let`s just say they came and they went. In fact, transfers had already
happened when I wrote my email last week. Only I did not know it
because we somehow did not have transfers! 

I am at peace with it and happy to  still be herein Bolivar. I never 
imagined that I would be in my first sector for solong, but it is really 
fun to know the people here and to feel so at home.

I am happy how it has worked out because it also means that I have the 
little convection oven to make muffins and cookies to our hearts desires. 
Also, I enjoy the luxury of a washing machine and dryer. ohhh life is good.

Things are good here. Sometimes it is super hot and the sun is
strong...other times there is not a lot of sun but it is more hot and
muggy. In the mornings and night it is usually cooler and perfect.
This is the month of the festival of Guayaquil. The bands in the
schools march down the streets practicing. It is mostly loud drumming.

I am grateful to be a missionary and to have this grand opportunity to
learn and grow. The process of learning and growing means stretching
and pulling. What makes me the most happy: seeing people
change and be baptized and press forward in the gospel.

We all have challenges and we can choose to face them with the help of
our loving Heavenly Father or with the depressing guidance of the
devil. The Lord is so merciful. He wants us to continue on, in His
loving arms. He forgives us and He will greatly reward us as we
diligently strive to be like Him. 

It is my plea that we choose to walk the path of the Savior. What we 
sacrifice becomes nothing of a sacrifice...rather, the Lord blesses us 
with more than we offered. Many of the people here in Ecuador have so 
few physical posessions. It is easier to discern here between needs and 
wants. What we need in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 
If we have this, the Lord will fulfill all our other needs.

Love,
Hemana Garlock

A Change is coming...

Cómo están mis queridos?!
I was telling our bishop's wife this week about how my parents are both active people and she was asking how you make time for it with work and kids. I told her I do not know exactly, but you enjoy it and make it a priority. I am thankful for your example. I realize we cannot serve if we are not healthy so for this reason alone, it is worth it to stay fit.

Yesterday quite possibly may have been my last sunday in my beloved ward, Bolivar in the stake Garcia Moreno. This last week President Montalti asked/told me it was time for a change. My one and only sector in my mission and I love it here!!!! It is my home! But I have a calm feeling that whatever happens tonight with cambios will be the will of the Lord. So, I feel as though I am receiving another mission call. My first mission call was to this specific place, and we will see where I am off to next!

It was a very memorable sunday.
1- Baptism of Hermana Bardellini. A miracle!!! Absolute miracle. Hna Rosas and I taught her a bit in January I think it was. Just a couple of weeks ago, we walked by her house and the Spirit gently proded to talk to her. Although I was a bit unbelieving that now was her time, but we invited her to be baptized and she accepted. So the process went quickly because she has already been prepared by her faithful family, who are members. Her family was soooo happy! I love the family Bardellini. I am pretty sure her son, will be getting baptized muy pronto.

2- Another miracle---I played the violin in the baptism. A musical family just moved into our ward and they were at the church last night with their guitars and violins. I asked if I could borrow their violin to play in the baptism, and they willingly agreed!!! It was truly a gift. The dad played with me on his guitar. It was so fun! We played "Yo sé que vive mi Señor" for the musical number and then a variety of hymns when Maria was changing.

Have a wonderful week!
Hermana Garlock

Walk With Me

Happy 4th of July!!!!!!!  Saluda a todas de mi parte por favor! I hope you eat lots of yummy food. Hna Salmon and I are going to attempt to make hamburgers for our Honduran companions. :)

 

We often walk down the street Villavicencio. It is the street in which we live and the street of the church. This street has become practically sacred to me! It is where I have walked for nearly the past seven months with Hna Rosas, Hna Falls, Hna Reyes, and now Hna Lara. It is where we walk as we bring investigators to activities, to church, or to their baptisms.

 

As I think of this, there have been a few moments where I have felt in another world as we have walked down Villavicencio with these three dear friends who likewise live on the blessed street of Villavicencio.

 

1- Hermana Karina, who was baptized in January. She is mentally slower but has the hugest heart. She says, "Hermana Garlock, I will always accompany you!" And it´s true! Although she has a hard time walking, she will walk far with us to visit investigators, less actives, and ward members. With Karina, we walk hand in hand down the street.

 

2- Hermano Luiz, who was baptized in March. Although he cannot talk or hear, we must communicate. We must look silly walking down the street waving hands, making facial expressions, and at times pausing to write a few words. He can write in pencil on his hands. I don´t know how he has this talent but it is truly a gift!

 

3-Hermana Maria, who will be baptized this month! Her family are members of the church, and we eat in their house every Tuesday. Delicious... We have kept a friendship with Maria, and last week the Spirit prompted us to teach her again. So we did and she accepted to be baptized! She is a very large woman, and cannot walk very well at all. BUT she went walking with us down Villavicencio so that we could present her to Nancy who was recently baptized. Nancy and Maria both suffer with their legs so we thought this would be a good friendship. Maria miraculously came to church today and her family was OVERJOYED. There was a special spirit as her younger sister, Clarita shared her testimony about missionary work.

 

These experiences remind me of one of my favorite primary songs that says,

 

"If you don´t walk as most people do, some people talk and laugh at you, but I won´t, I won´t. I´ll walk with you, I´ll talk with you, that´s how I´ll show my love for you!"

 

I wish I could adequately convey how grateful I feel for these tender experiences. These moments confirm to me, how precious each child of God is. As different as we each are, we are children of God. He loves us. He wants us to return to Him. There is one and only way-- through His beloved Son, Jesus Christ.

 

The true freedom is not provided by a government or organization. It is provided only through Jesus Christ. The Savior of mankind. He sets us free from the tight bands of sins. Sin, sorrow, and sadness are heavy weights. He can carry them for us. Jesus Christ provides us the mercy that we all need. He sets us free and then wraps us in HIS arms of safety.  

 

Love,

Hermana Garlock

 

Duck!

Hola Familia!

QUACK! QUACK!

Today we ate DUCK! with minestra (beans), rice, and mashed potatoes. Olga Leon de Ruiz invited us to eat with them. I really actually enjoyed eating duck. Maybe not the healthiest meat there is, but tasty. I made Dad´s muffins that he loves. They are a great hit here, but have to be made without the blueberries. There are no blueberries to be found except in pictures on cereal boxes. haha.

Last Sunday, for Bishop Cercado´s family, I made enchiladas. The first time they had ever eaten enchiladas. They miraculously turned out well....I had to get creative because the same items are not here. It was fun to experiment a little....

This week was a whirlwind! Hermana Salmon came with me to my sector Friday because she has been having problems with her knees with the crazy amounts of stairs in her sector (her sector is a hill of lego houses). She has been diligently icing her knees and they are getting better. We had soooo much fun together Friday--we put two baptism dates. It was awesome to actually teach together and not just practice in the MTC. I LOVE Hna Salmon---she is an angel!!! We were laughing so hard in the lesson with Isabel and Theresa because they had this cat that kept jumping on us. Theresa took her shoe and hit it on the head a few times...It worked like a charm until the cat forgot (possibly due to brain damage from getting hit on the head a lot?) and the process repeated. Any ways, it was a fun exchange and I am thankful we were companions for even one afternoon. :)

Bryan Jeremy Araujo Celio was baptized this weekend! His family was inactive in the ward and Patricia Rodriguez showed us where they live and turns out Bryan had not been baptized (9 years old). The family is now active and committed to come to church. What a blessing! Now they need to work to go to the temple as a family.

Thank you for your prayers and love. I know this is the work of the Lord. It brings great joy and the Lord blesses His workers greatly.

Love,

Hermana Garlock

 P.S.  This is the little tienda (store) that is right by our apartment.  It is a perfect place to buy bananas, snacks or whatever items we may need.

CPR and Pigeons

Mi familia! Toda de mi familia!

 

The weather here is becoming a bit more bearable. :) Still humid as ever but there are moments when the sun hides and the temperature drops a bit. But whatever the weather is, the work goes on!

 

Our Pday this week was changed to Tuesday--today because we did a temple session and had a training with the new missionaries! Hermana Lara has one transfer, so we were part of the group that got to go to the temple bright and early this morning. I absolutely love love love this temple. It is beatimous. I wish I could adequately describe the peace and the tranquility that is found in and outside of this temple. It is a special place! The training was about our purpose as missionaries---baptize! President Montalti often says that if we came here just to serve and strengthen the church, that we do not need to be missionaries to do that. We can do this in our home wards and stakes. That's the truth. The only time of my life when I will be teaching and inviting people to be baptized is NOW. How awesome is that.

 

So we talked about how to set and reach goals....kind of like a Stephen Covey training, mom haha. We talked about how to invite people to be baptized---that they must be responsible to overcome their challenges. We should not pay for people to get married, buy their Sunday clothes, etc....These are children of God with divine potential and they can receive personal revelation- Revelation that this is the true gospel of Jesus Christ and how they can repent and change in order to be baptized. I sure do love training from President Montalti. He is a man called of God and holds the keys for this work. He received these keys from an apostle of God, whose keys come from Jesus Christ. Wow. What a marvelous opportunity this is to learn from a true servant of Jesus Christ.

 

I am finding great joy in the teachings of converts. It is so neat to see their progress. At times it is also really sad because they fall into old habits and temptations and I just want to help them sooo bad. We do what we can and then hope that members of the ward will continue to fellowship and love! I will continue to pray for these converts and hope that in time they will truly be able to leave their addictions behind. The only way we find relief from mistakes and sin is through the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know Christ heals us. His power to save us is limitless. Regardless of our past, circumstances, and problems, He knows how to help us overcome these and change. The changes can be permanent, but we must continually exercise our agency to follow Jesus Christ.

 

Funny story about Hector Vargas-- he was baptized in the end of April I believe. Hector has the biggest heart. He is about 82 years old and is like our grandpa here! He buys us juice, banana chips, etc when we pass by his house (as we do practically every day). I try to tell him no, but he insists! So we accept. :) Yesterday, we passed by in the night to talk to him about the work of the temple so that he can prepare the name of his deceased wife, who he still loves deeply. Well, we got to his house and he was so so so excited. He told us that just a few hours earlier a pigeon was flying around his house, got electrocuted, and fell down seemingly dead. His neighbor, Jeanette, ran and got Hector because she knows how much Hector l o v e s these pigeons. You would not believe what Hector did....He gave the bird mouth to mouth and did CPR. Seriously. And it saved the pigeon´s life! The bird was up and flying again before night fell. A true miracle. This week I also was shocked in my hand by an electric wire. It was not a big deal or anything--just one of those little shocks but when Hector told me this story, I could not help but think that if I ever seriously needed CPR, I would hope Hector would be near to save me. If he can save a paloma, I believe he could also save me.

 

 I was SUPER excited to see the rainbow chip frosting (the ligit stuff) and cakemix. HOLY COW! Thank YOU so much for sending that. This is like a little taste of heaven.

 

Hermana Lara and I are getting along really well also. She likes to talk a lot in the streets and joke around. She is also serious but is always up for a good laugh. We laugh a lot together about random things....our senses of humor are different, but this just gives us more reason to laugh. Hermana Lara is learning English so we try to practice English as well. I still have a lot to improve with Spanish. I understand people a lot better now but at times, they do not understand me! This is the most frustrating-- when I think I just explained something really, really well, and then I ask a question and the person says, NO entiendo. AHHHHHHH great. Restart. Square one. Word by word. The most basics...slowly....and then usually they understand. This is why it is best to use scriptures and let the investigator be taught through the Spirit. haha. :)

 

Any ways, I talk about Mom and Dad a lot to share my experiences-- about how the gospel has blessing your marriage and our family and my life. People are always impressed when I tell them my grandparents are also members. Nearly all of the members in our ward here are converts, or their parents were converts. I am thankful for the gospel and for the unity it brings into our family. I love you each and pray for your happiness.

 

Love,

Hermana Garlock

Happy :)

Wow!!! A lot has happened this week in your lives. First off, have the best parents in the world and I will be thinking about you both this Sunday.

 

Dad I am so thankful for your calming influence, your wisdom, and your efforts to always be improving. You and mom are always setting goals and moving forward and I love that.

 

Mom I just love you and am thankful for all that you have taught me. I have learned soooo much from you both and now I can see that it blesses me to be able to do the work of the Lord. Thank you mom for telling me that I am right where I should be. It´s always a good reminder.

 

This week was the week of finding those who are unmarried. I wonder if the Lord is trying to teach me something....like the importance of marriage. All I know is that I do not think I have ever encouraged people to get married like we do now. Because it is part of keeping the commandments, we say REPENT, GET MARRIED, and BE BAPTIZED. haha. As I received an english copy of the Ensign this last week, I read a few talks that made me realize that we are preaching what the prophets are teaching as well. Most notably, President Monson´s talk from Priesthood Session and Elder Scott´s beautiful talk of the blessings of eternal marriage. I loved reading these and really should make copies for some converts and investigators. All I know is that I am in agreeance. Press forward in faith and get married! Easy to say for me because I do not need to follow this counsel for now. :)

 

I thought I would tell of a few random happenings this week in Ecuador:

 

-As we walked down the street, I stopped to admire the roosters and hens that were outside of a house. We realized the owners were also outside and began to talk to them. To our horror, Umberto and Maria were cutting off the red gobble and the crown of the roosters. We watched the somewhat bloody scene, but I was almost in tears. The only reason we waited and watched was because they said we could share our message with them after. This we did, Umberto accepted a baptism date (but SURPRISE---although living together for 23 years, they are not married). Any ways, it was an exciting afternoon to say the least.

 

-The other day we contacted a man and his child. As we talked, he asked if we were spies. I did not understand the word for spies, so I said Si si! Thankfully my companion quickly explained that no, we are missionaries looking for those who are searching the truth. And after she told me he had asked if we were spies. I wonder how many miscommunications I have had like this without even knowing....

 

I love this work of the Lord. My favorite part is that we get to read and use the scriptures so much. The scriptures truly come alive as we use and apply them. I love the Book of Mormon and know it is true. I know that every person who reads it with the desire to know of the truthfulness, will likewise gain this surety and testimony. The Book of Mormon combined with the Spirit of God are powerful tools. I invite all to read it and to pray and ask if it was written by prophets of God. Read it everyday and be uplifted by the words of our loving Heavenly Father.

 

WOOO HOO For Sound to Narrows. That´s awesome. Yes running is very different from walking, but there is great pleasure in running! Start training for next year and we can all run it together (ahh, me included).

Ok I must go but I love each one of you. Thank you for your love and support.

 

Love,

Hermana Garlock

 

 

No Cambios

Hola!

THANK YOU for encouraging/guiding/teaching me so that I made the choice to be baptized! You are fabulous parents. Yesterday we were talking to a mom of a recent convert, Joanna. Neither of her parents are baptized and the dad does not support her whatsoever in her decision. I realized with gratitude in my heart that I am so blessed that you are my parents.

 

Baptism is the ticket to the Celestial Kingdom. I am thankful for you and for our faithful ancestors who have given me and my future posteridad this opportunity and blessing. Sweet.

Cambios--transfers came and went. I AM IN THE SAME SECTOR! Woo hoo!!!!! This is possibly a greater test of faith than a change. Our sector is relatively small, so now it gets really exciting. I feel more like a detective. Where oh where is Waldo (or the elect who are ready to be baptized). The truth is the more time I am here, the more beautiful it all is-- relationships with members, joy in seeing converts, houses, etc. As we try to discover new places, homes, and people waiting, it really becomes an adventure!

My companion did change---Hermana Reyes is in Milagro (one hour from here) and Hermana Lara, also from Honduras is my companion! She is wonderful! Hermana Lara came in the same group with Hna Reyes-- so has one cambio. She is gentle, and quiet, but also liberally talks with the people and has a strong testimony. I am excited we are companions.

love,

Hermana Garlock