Elder Seth Garner

Dennis Reynolds and Elder Garner

Quite a bit has happened since my last e-mail. I have a new companion! His name is Elder New! He is from New Mexico, and we were in the same district when I was in Julian, so we were already good buddies! He is 6'7'... The guy makes me feel like a shrimp. He has got a good six inches on me! Aside from that, he is great missionary, and I have loved serving with him!

We have a couple investigators with baptismal dates! Aaron Gadberry is back on for the 21st of December, and we added an investigator named Ben a couple weeks ago who has a baptismal date for the 4th of January. When I was with Elder Carey, we street contacted Ben outside of his apartment. He told us that he had ordered a free copy of the Book of Mormon online, but it never came in the mail, so he was pretty upset about it. He wouldn't accept a copy from us, and our visit was very brief (He was quick to run back into his apartment because he didn't want to be seen with the Mormon boys.). We decided to drop by this last week and give him his Book of Mormon. He accepted, we taught the Restoration, and agreed to prepare for baptism! We are hoping to get the Taylor family with baptismal dates here soon as well. Kyle Taylor came to church last week and loved it! He pretty much asked us when he would be getting baptized! We want to make sure everything is ok with his mom first, and hopefully get her and Nick on board for the same day as well.

This last Saturday was the greatest day of my mission. I received special permission to attend Dennis Reynolds' baptism in Julian. Words cannot even begin to describe the joy and love that I have felt for that man, and for the changes he has made. It was one of the most sweetest moments of my life! I am SO happy! Dennis has come down quite the road. Just over a year ago, he was an alcoholic of forty plus years, addicted to cigarettes, and homeless. The Gospel of Jesus Christ has truly changed his life! When I first met Dennis eight months ago, he seemed like the grumpiest, most bitter old man there ever was. Now I do not know anyone in the world that is happier than that man! I love Dennis!

We are receiving a new Tagalog companionship in our zone, so we have to go pick up some new missionaries and get things set up for them. I know Christ lives. I have seen his hand in my life and in the work of salvation. I cannot deny it. I love my mission, and I love my Savior!

Love,

         Elder Garner

Boy, this week is packed! We are not going to have too much time to do work in our area, due to many, many meetings and training exercises. This Monday, we had our Mission Leadership Council, tomorrow we have our zone meeting and we need to plan for our Mission Training Exchange which is on Thursday (that is where I leave my area for a day to coach other missionaries), that will get done on Friday, and then on Saturday, I will hopefully be heading back up to Julian to see Diana Sherwood get baptized! Man, this week is crazy!

Sunday was awesome! Kyle Taylor came to church again, and we were able to give his mom a blessing after. They are so ready to be baptized! Kristy doesn't want to rush things, so we will see where that goes. Aaron Gadberry is back on for baptism on the 21st of December. His anxiety has been holding him back from getting to church, but I know he can do it!

So our zone meeting is tomorrow, and I have felt prompted to teach about charity. Having Christlike love for those you teach is SO important. We have so many great examples in the scriptures of men who had the greatest love for those they served. In the bible dictionary, Charity means the greatest love of all. Christ was the most perfect example of showing this love. He did it in so many ways, but the greatest way he showed it was through the Atonement. Charity never fails, and neither does the Atonement, because that is the pure love of Christ! When an investigator understands the Atonement, they can easily feel God's love for them. Being able to show that Christlike love towards the people you teach is so key in letting them know that they are not only loved by you, but by the Savior.

This week is going to be rough with trying to visit people in our own area, but, I am looking forward to it! Dang, being a missionary ROCKS!

Love,

       Elder Garner