Aloha and Merry Christmas--Dec. 20, 2010

(By the way, I was instructed to change Jordan's main picture--someone showed him the pic and he was MORTIFIED! haha! I thought it was cute! Oh well, I'm just the mom and I think all his pics are cute! haha!)

Word up ya'll, Christmas is on the way baby and there is no snow so I have no idea what is going on! I feel so outta the loop, it definitely doesn't feel like Christmas at all! Everything up here in Laie is barren because all the students have gone home for Christmas! Oh if I haven't told you guys, BYU-H is like the closest thing to heaven on earth (besides the temple) so I would recommend coming up here! I love this place, and I love the mission!

So we had a baptism this Friday! Well kinda, Elder Tuih and his last companion taught them and then the sisters took that ward over. I only taught the 2 kids (9 and 11) once but they are super solid! They were super stoked to get baptized! It was a good one. We were trying to get one of our investigators there but no show up so it was kinda a bummer but thats okay we will get him to one this Friday! Baptisms are icing on the cake for us!

Nothing else too special happened this week, I am teaching a girl I went to school with, thats pretty solid! The members out here are way chill, we have a good Christmas eve/day planned so I am happy about that! Calling home is going to be a blessing! But yeah thats about all I got. I just have one thought for you, and seeing how its Christmas I will do a Christmas thought:

Our Heavenly Father gave us his son, and his son gave his life, what are we willing to give? At this Christmas and New Years time, think of something you want to work on,or something you want to give up, and do it for your Savior. Don't do it for anyone else, just for you and him. I have done this and its a blessing. I promise it will be a great experience.

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas! Love to all Elder Garritson

ALOOOOOOOOOHA! December 13, 2010

( This letter was written mainly for the priests in our ward, but I thought it was a good message for all of us and something each one of us should be studying, learning, and striving for! Teri)

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all you young men of Highland 3rd Ward! I miss you guys, you are an awesome group of kids. I was truly blessed to be around all of you at one point in time, each and everyone of you has made an impact on my life.

I just want to share a few words with you all now that it is about Christmas time. Christmas is a time of losing ourselves in the service of other. We know that the best part of Christmas is giving not receiving. I want to give you all a challenge. Something that you can give as a gift to our Savior, Jesus Christ. Go to Chapter 6 in Preach My Gospel and read that. I want you to pick at least one Christlike attribute and work on it, study it hard. Pray to our Heavenly Father and let him know that you want to improve in this certain area of your life. Become a better person by this and give it as a gift to our Savior Jesus Christ. This is the least we can do for the one who did everything for us. I ask you all to please do this. Do not take this lightly. It's not hard, but it will make all the difference in the world. DO IT!!!!

You are all preparing to go on a mission right now, what a blessing that is! A mission is the greatest thing you can do at this point of your lives. But what should you be doing right now before you leave? Well first, its not about going on a mission, rather it's becoming a missionary right now before you leave! How do you do this? Well its simple, do missionary things. Study out of Preach My Gospel and the Book of Mormon every single day. Do not take these 2 things for granted. Your mission will come sooner than you think, do not procrastinate like Gary did.

Another thing that is very important for you all is the Young Men's program. You NEED to go to young men's, and you NEED to have a good attitude about it. Quit going and acting like it is the biggest burden in the world. Everything you do in life is about attitude if you haven't figured that out yet. Serve the Lord with all you heart, might, mind and strength. Serve you fellow man. When you get an assignment to do service, whatever it may be, DO IT!! Brothers, when you serve, life is good! Do the things your Heavenly Father asks, do what your leaders ask, do what your parents ask, follow through on every single assignment given to you. Prepare yourself now for a mission by being obedient and willing to do everything asked of you.

I just want to leave you all with my testimony. Going on a mission has been the most rewarding experience of my life. EVERYTHING I do for the rest of my life will be affected by the decision to serve a mission. SERVE A MISSION! It won't be easy, life isn't easy but it is worth it. Don't be selfish, serve the Lord in all you do. I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior. I know that Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God. I know that the Book of Mormon is true, without a doubt. Thomas S. Monson leads and guides this church today. Please do not take what I said today lightly. I wish someone would have told me this before I left on my mission. Have a Merry Christmas and safe New Year. Remember who you are and what you stand for. The Church is true, the Book is blue and Joseph Smith is the Man! Love you guys!

Sincerely,
Elder Garritson

So, I "stole" a couple of pics from Elder Smith's blog! This is Jordan and Elder Smith (the two in the middle). Not sure of the two bookends! (Elder Smith let me know who is who! So, from left to right--Elders Taylor, Smith, Garritson, Davis!)

Elder S. came home for a "short intermission" to have his tonsils removed. We are praying for his quick return to Hawaii to finish the last year of his mission. They will be great friends forever! The other picture is a great "Hawaii" picture--what I think of when I think of Hawaii! That, and I now ALWAYS think of Jordan, and Elder Smith, and all the great missionaries serving with my son!

ALOOOOOHA!! December 6, 2010

Boy transfers are in and Elder Garritson is serving in LAIE BABY!!!! This place is sick (that means good!), it is so tight (once again this means a good thing!) being around the temple. Man it was a pure blessing to see a temple because I haven't seen one in 6 months (at home, I can look down the street, and there is my temple!). We serve in Hau'ula which is the area right next to Laie. We cover 4 wards so it is pretty crazy. We have a Tongan and Samoan ward, and 2 English-speaking wards. I have no idea what is being said in the Tongan and Samoan sacrament meetings haha. I pay attention once they start talking in English. We are right on campus, I may be heading up to BYU-H after the mission because this is the place to be. The visitors center is solid and the temple is beautiful. There are 4 elders and 20 sisters up here so nothing to complain about! My companion is Elder Tuihalangingie (elder Tui) from Oakland. He is Tongan and he is hilarious. He has only been out for 6 weeks but is a solid cat and works hard. He has a great testimony and is a great teacher, we are already rocking it.

Laie is like Utah! It seems like everyone here is a member of the church. We do a lot of teaching with less active and part member families. We already have a baptism for this Saturday the 11th and then one on the 17th. We should be able to get a family set for the 23rd as well, so we will see. There is a ton of work out here and the members are super solid in helping. I have been blessed to come up to this area, I love this work and all that is coming about. My testimony has shot through the roof these past 6 months!

I want to give a shout out to my boy Elder Smith. He was my second companion and we were together for the past 4 and a half months. Even tho he was a little girl(haha!), we had the time of our lives. We both learned how to work with each other right off the bat and had many wonderful experiences. We saw 3 baptisms in 3 months which was amazing and something a lot of missionaries will never see. He unfortunately goes to Utah State, but thats okay-- everyone has to have their down points in life. He taught me so much about how to be a hard worker and how to become a better teacher. He understood my humor and we just got along perfectly! He is a great elder and will do a lot for the Lord's Kingdom here on Earth! He will be right here with me throughout my mission!

So thats about all I got. Once again I am so happy to be up here in Laie, I don't ever want to leave! My thought for today came from someone, I can't remember who. Let's make this Christmas season a season of giving and FORGIVING, because our Savior, Jesus Christ, taught us this perfectly. Please remember what Christmas is all about ya'll.

Love you all, have a good week!
Elder Garritson

PS we are headed over to the Cannon Center (where BYU-H basketball plays) to play some ball on their court and I am STOKED!

Transfer!

So, just heard from a VERY reliable source, that Jordan has been transferred to Laie!! Where the newly dedicated temple is located! I think he'll be very excited!! He's been excited his whole mission! He loves the work of the Lord! He loves the people he is serving in Hawaii! I wonder if he'll want to come home?????

ALOOOOOOHA!!!! November 29, 2010

Howzit my friends! Hope you all had an awesome Thanksgiving and even a better black friday! (This was the first time I didn't go shopping on black friday in like 5 years, it was kinda depressing!) Things here in Hawaii were solid. We had lunch and dinner for Thanksgiving and just chilled at one of our members houses. We ate so much it was ridiculous! We just cruised and had a good time!

Not too much went down this week. H**** is still coming along, his daughter is trying to put a stop to things but he knows bishop well so I think that will help him to make the right decision! He came to church this week and loved it!

On Wednesday we were walking in a shopping center to go meet the member who was feeding us dinner and guess who we saw!? None other than the REGGIE MILLER! He is one tall dude, but he didn't give me a very good look! I was going to give him a pass along card but I was not in the mood to get rocked that night! It was still awesome to see him.

We go to the care home every Sunday and give sacrament and it is always so special. This week we talked about things we are thankful for and all these old grannies told us they are thankful for us and all we do. It was awesome to hear them say that, it made me feel really good! Than I was wearing an awesome tie, and I looked GOOD (I mean I always look good thats no suprise) and one of the ladies there was like I bet you have an awesome girlfriend back home waiting for you! Haha it was just funny to here a 90 year old lady say that!

Thats about all that went down this week, everyone was gone for Thanksgiving so nothing too special happened this week. Sunday night we got transfer calls and I am leaving Hawaii Kai. It is a bitter sweet feeling. I am happy to get outta Honolulu and see different parts of the island, but I am going to miss a lot of people that I have built awesome relationships with!

This work is so amazing! I have made so many friends from all walks of life that have taught me so much and I will always remember. I am not sure where I will be going but I will be staying on Oahu. Thanks for everything ya'll, stay safe and good luck with finals coming up.

LOVE YOU ALL!
Elder Garritson

ALOOOOOHA! November 22, 2010

What an amazing week for all of us here in Hawaii! The Laie Hawaii Temple was dedicated and Satan's power has gone down just a little bit now that we have a working temple here! Elder Paul Pieper told us that the missionary work in our areas is going to increase because of this opening, but I will talk about him in a little bit.

The temple dedication started off with a cultural celebration the youth did for the prophet! Wow that was amazing! They did dances from all different islands (Tonga, Samoa, Fiji, etc.). President Monson was his joyous self as always, just cracking jokes and laughing for no apparent reason! I love that man and there is no doubt he has been called by God to lead Christ's church. Then the dedication on Sunday was amazing! There were some awesome talks given before the temple was dedicated. President Eyring, President Monson, Elder Cook and Elder Walker were here for the temple dedication, and also Elder Pieper. Oh how blest we we are in Utah to have temples all around us. People here in Hawaii have had no temple (except on big island) for almost 2 years, and we have 5 temples within 30 minutes of each other. Take advantage of the blessings of the temple, they are the closest place on earth that we can get to heaven!

This week has been solid, I have had many spiritual experiences this week. First off on Tuesday night we had a solid lesson with L***. L*** is such a sincere person and is so spiritual. She has been Catholic for basically her whole life but doesn't agree with a lot of it. We taught her this week from the book of mormon and the power it brings, and man was that spiritual. We taught her about revelation thru prayer and the book of mormon, we taught her about baptism and what Jesus Christ expects of her, and so we are working hard with her. She was crying at the end of the lesson, and she said a closing prayer after I said a closing prayer and said "I thank thee for sending these 2 angels to me!!" That was so powerful to hear that, I hope we can help her see that baptism is what she needs to do!

This week we had another awesome lesson with Sister A** S****. She has been going thru a lot lately and EVERY WEEK the spirit directs us in the lesson we need to teach, and its just what she needs. I learned this week to NEVER ignore the promptings of the Spirit, because I ignored it once and it was a big mistake. And then I followed it 2 days in a row and it was just what she was expecting, it was so neat. Don't ever ignore the promptings of the Spirit ya'll, you are getting the promptings for a reason, SO LISTEN and ACT!

We had an interesting run in with a guy this week while tracting. We had about a 45 minute conversation on his doorstep and he just kept bringing up concerns, we would answer them and then he would say "we don't know what our church teaches." I finally at the end was like "sir, you are not a member of our church, and you are telling me, a member of the true church, what we do and don't believe. Doesn't that seem a little weird?" He did not like that but he had no response for it! Some people these days I tell you what!

Alright, so here is the most amazing experience for me this week. Probably one of the coolest things that has happened to me before. So last Saturday we had the opportunity as missionaries to listen to Elder Paul Pieper from the Quorum of the Seventy, He came and taught us, and he answered a question I had asked the Lord the night before. He actually talked on my exact question for 2 hours! It was super cool. And then, he wanted to interview a couple missionaries before he left, and who does he choose!? Elder Garritson baby! Holy cow it was super chill, we just talked, he got to know me and asked about the blessings I have seen in my mission so far. The spirit these men have is unbelievable, its just illuminating! It was a very neat experience to have a one on one conversation with a man like this! He only asked one thing of me, so he asked me to relay this message from him to you Mom and Dad: "Thank you for raising such a great son in the right way to come out here and to be an excellent missionary. You are amazing people and I can tell that from your son!" Straight from one of the Quorum of the Seventies! I love you Mom and Dad!

I will miss you all during this holiday season, it will be hard, but this is where I am suppose to be! I know why I am here, and the Lord will take care of us! Set me a place at Dinner, and I will be there in Spirit! You are all in my prayers, I love you all! Happy Thanksgiving!

Ofa atu.

Elder Garritson

ALOOOOOOOOOOHA!!!! November 15, 2010

Aloha my beloved brothers and sisters in the beautiful state of Utah!

Hope all is well with you folks and you are doing well, Hawaii is solid and the temperature is nice (relatively) but it is super raining which kinda sucks to be honest! But I shouldn't complain, no snow on the roads and that is a pure blessing!

This week not too much happened, just hit the pavement trying to find, teach and baptize nations! This week we were able to have a lesson with L***, and her husband wasn't there! (Her husband is the one that is holding her back from being baptized) .We got her a BOM in Spanish so she could understand everything and she was so STOKED! She could not believe it and said "this is the greatest gift you guys could give me because its in Spanish." Ironic eh, because it really is the greatest gift we could give her, whether in Spanish or not! She committed to reading it so we will see what happens with that, her husband (well actually boyfriend) is not interested at all, although he does love when we come over. Thats okay tho, MIRACLES HAPPEN and L*** is going to be one of those!!

Wednesday we got to go to Pearl Harbor again and do some service on the USS Missouri! That was so tight! That ship is amazing and we don't really even do that much service when we go, we just check out the ship and do little housekeeping (I guess boat keeping) stuff. Small kine stuff but its still solid!

We had a good lesson with H**** on Friday, he is coming along slowly but surely. He has a great testimony and knows being baptized will give him a better life, he just learns very slowly so we have to teach principles a lot. He will be baptized if his sister doesn't stop it again! Pray for her heart to be softened!

So each Sunday we get to do Sacrament at the Care Home (I am getting "in" with the owners there so my parents have a place in 10 years!) and its so fun! These people are NUTS! They have no idea whats going on, they just sing randomly, clap during the sacrament hymn, its a riot! But even tho this stuff still happens, its so spiritual and they feel it! I love old people haha!
So thats about all I got for this week!

All is going well, nothing to exciting here in Hawaii. My companion is solid, very good elder and knows what his purpose is. He keeps my faith strong and we work hard! Elder Smith and I (my last companion) still live in the same pad so we have a lot of fun (maybe too much fun?) but still work hard. Missionary work is the greatest thing that you can do! Things aren't easy, its probably the hardest and most stressful thing you will do! But as long as you stay focused and work hard, it WILL be the most rewarding experience you will have thus far in your life! Let the Holy Spirit guide ya'll, until next time, Love you all!

PS I need some letters!!!!!!!!!, gotta give a shout out to Brooke and Daisha, they consistently writing! I will write back I promise!

Ofa atu
Elder Garritson

More pics!!

While sitting and waiting for Jordan's latest email, I thought I would post a couple more pictures.

There were a couple of pics on his birthday. One of the ladies Jordan and his comp baptized has been soooo kind to them, and she baked him a cake for his birthday, had them over for dinner, and gave him a present-a picture she had put together. Love those people who love and watch over my son!!!!!

HOWZIT!--November 1, 2010

Aloha one and all! How are my favorite people back in the 801 doing? I don't really know why I ask that because I don't get a response, but you have to start out an email like that or it is just worthless. So I heard it has been pretty cold there, too bad. Halloween here was... pretty lame actually. We had to be in by 5 on Saturday and Sunday so we just kinda chilled and I caught up on some much needed sleep! White washing into a new area is hard work, but its enjoyable! We went to a members house Sunday night, and there wasn't one trick or treater all night, pretty lame out here in Hawaii. For some reason, their favorite holiday is New Years, New Years is NUTS over here from what I have been told! I guess we will see, this is the last year for fireworks.

So anywho, about the work. We are doing a lot of finding, and not really finding haha! We actually did find one new girl named K**** who is a former investigator from when the sisters were in this ward. She is 15 and is a pretty solid girl. She lives with her dad and I feel like her getting baptized would help their relationship. The only problem is her mom doesn't really want her to get baptized again, so its tough to work around that. She is super cool and has a great testimony about what she needs to do already. Things will come around for her, I know it.
We found a new investigator who lives at the care home here (I was at the care home looking for a place for my parents). His name is H**** and he is a great guy! He has been taught before and was ready to be baptized but his sister wouldn't let him go thru with it. He already accepted to be baptized so we will see if this can go anywhere. I love teaching people at the care home, they are SO FUNNY! They have no one to talk to so they just talk to you for hours on end about nothing at all! Its pretty great, my companion struggles to stay awake haha but I love it!

We had an amazing Sunday in which we found another new investigator. Her name is K*** and she went to the temple open house and loved it. She said she felt like she needed to do something for her dead brother in the temple. She keeps on getting that spiritual impression so we are going to start teaching her in a couple of weeks. She is super busy, and lives with an excommunicated member (who wants to come back into church, so this is not a bad situation. Had it not been for the excommunicated member, K**** would have never come in contact with the church). Work is coming, we are working very hard with the ward to get them on their member missionary work!

So things over here are pretty solid. We live in a 4 man pad and my previous companion Elder Smith lives with me. He stayed in my old area Kahala and I went to Hawaii Kai. We both are training so its a lot of fun! Our pad is rockin! Elections are Tuesday and its kinda scary for Hawaii because they are going to vote in a man who has some whack ideas, so we will see how that pans out with everything! I got a good picture for all of ya'll! We had an interesting time tracting this week, we ran into some very rude people, and of course my pride took over. I can't believe some people, don't EVER be mean to missionaries of any church, I don't care who you are. If you do, I will hunt you down and hurt you (haha!).

We have a HUGE training this week with all the missionaries on Oahu from 8-3 Tues-Thurs so it is going to be very good. They came out with new teaching principles, so it is going to be a good thing! Things are coming along, just gotta trust in the Lord! My thought for this week comes from 1 Nephi 15:24. the first part of this verse gives us an AMAZING promise! Go check it out, this is an amazing scripture! The church is true, the book is blue and Joseph Smith is the man! Love you all!

Elder Garritson

Email from Monday October 15, 2010

Ok, so I got a little behind by about a week! Oh well, enjoy this one today, read today's letter tomorrow!

Well another week down and the weather here is really cooling down for us! The swells are coming in and we are hitting the surf hard! This is the best time of the year, we have a mean time out on the waves! Unfortunately, ya'll are having problems with the snow, too bad!!

So this week was a pretty hectic week for me! Man whitewashing into an area is not the funnest thing to do in an area. We have no one to teach right now so we are just really hitting the members up hard, trying to get referrals. We are in the Hawaii Kai area, right next door to Kahala. The Ward Mission Leader and Bishop are helping us out, so hopefully in a couple weeks we should be finding some new investigators. We found one on Saturday who is 14 years old, she has been taught before by missionaries. She is going to be baptized brah, her name is K****, I cannot wait! We also had contact with L**** again (the lady we met at the party). Her and her husband are super chill to us, they love us, but not quite ready to change. Well, I guess I should say the husband isn't. He is very interested in the BOM. We are trying to encourage him to read it and pray about it. We are going to teach him stories about it, read from it with him and hopefully he will recognize the Spirit talking to him. We will see though, anything can happen if you have enough faith!

I got a new companion fresh out of the MTC. His name is Elder Taylor from Arizona. This kid is a STUD!! Hard worker and hit the ground running, he is very teachable and knows what his purpose is! I am very blessed to be serving with him!

I have really been learning to trust in the Lord the past couple weeks, especially this week. I felt a lot of pressure this week when I got called to these things but I knew it was a calling from the Lord. He has really blessed me and helped me out to do the things that I need to. Its all the Spirit man! Its amazing how well it works when you just listen to what it has to tell you. We did some amazing things this week I don't think would have ever happened without the Spirit. Live worthy of the Spirit, listen to what it has to say, it will never lead you astray! (yeah I rhyme brah!)

Sunday was a solid day of church, it was the primary program! These little children are so special, I love the primary program so much! One little girl, about 5 years old got up and sang a solo without any fear and she did so well! I was amazed, it was super spiritual. They all having amazing testimonies. Simple but yet so powerful. We would all do well to follow in their footsteps. Just like we have been taught, "humble yourself and become as a little child through the Atonement of Jesus Christ..." That is my message today. Be an example to these kids, but more importantly, learn from their examples. They will teach us a lot of we listen to what they have to say and feel their Spirit. Hope everyone has a great week, stay safe with all the snow! Love you all!
Elder Garritson

ALOOOOOOOOHA! Oct. 18, 2010

Well another week down, transfers came and I am outta of Kahala. I have mixed emotions about it, I love the members there and stuff so I will miss that. I got close to a lot of people and love them so much. I will let you know where I am going next week, but I know I will be training a new missionary and become a district leader! Its going to be a big learning experience and I am going to have to trust in the Lord a lot! I am very excited!

So as far as things for this week, nothing too special happened. I had a good day with a new missionary that came in from the Marshall Islands on Friday. President had me take him out on his first day so that was really fun showing him the ropes! I took him to all the funny old people that we teach (my parents in 10 years) that are out of their minds but have amazing testimonies, he loved it! He is going to do so well, I learned a little marshallese myself! Haha missionary work is definitely interesting!

So last week Monday was an interesting P day. We went to a Buddist Temple, that was crazy! I have never been to one before but it was a cool place. Very interesting all the statues of budha they have. Some guy came and talked to us but we had no idea what he was saying, he was a pretty crazy man! I had a good time though.

So we hit the roads pretty hard and this week was more successful than last week. We havent found any new investigators, but it seems like while we tract people are much nicer. I was on exchanges with Elder Street and a dog barked at us and he was ready to jump on a car he was so scared!! I guess he got bit a lot on Big Island and didn't want that to happen again. I saw the dog so it didn't make me jump, but I was laughing so hard at him! I am gonna miss my district leader Elder Street, he is leaving our area. He taught me a lot about trusting in the Lord!

Haha so on Wednesday Brother and Sister Jay talked at a meeting where missionaries bring their investigators. They just talked about their conversion and how it came about. It was a very special day and they touched a lot of people, the spirit was so strong! Man he kept telling president during his talk that after my mission here I need to go on a 2 year mission to Peru (why Peru, I don't remember, but something about how I could make the LDS population from 5% to 15%). It was hilarious and it was very special to hear him talk about me that way. I am going to miss these folks so much, I love them! I can't wait to come back and introduce them to you! On Sunday the youth sang my favorite song, As Sisters in Zion/We'll Bring the World His Truth Medley that was sung at my farewell, it brought back a lot of memories and I was crying by the end. It was a solid day!

Well thats about all I have. My thought for the week comes from Elder Uchtdorf's talk in Priesthood session (I think) when he was talking about the coach Vince Lombardi. He talked about getting back to the basics. We need to master the fundamentals of the Gospel! Get back to the basics of praying, reading and going to the church. If you do all these things, I promise you all you lives with be blessed beyond belief and your testimony in our Savior Jesus Christ will be stregthened daily.

Love you all! Keep writing me!
Ofa atu. Elder Garritson

(I have to add a short email Jordan sent to me--he was made a District Leader and a trainer and is quite excited!)
I am transfering over to Hawaii Kai (the area next to Kahala, they haven't had missionaries for 4 months so we are white washing that area). I will also be training a new missionary, and become a district leader. A lot president threw on me but I am stoked!

Hiking the valleys by Kahala and Kuliouou.

Sister Smith has been keeping me updated with pictures her son (Jordan's companion) has been sending her. Her son loves her more than mine! (haha!) Not really! But there is a very steep mountain they climbed, and she sent me to her site--and I stole them from her (she said I could--haha!!). Looks like a place I will only see through someone else's eyes!!!

ALOOOOHA! Oct. 11, 2010

(Thanks Sis. Smith for the pics!)

Boy another week down and we have some solid things coming up! Not really but we are teeing off in about 2 hours at Waialae Country Club so I am pretty stoked right now! Boy probably can't golf there in that cold weather, too bad! Its cooling down here and its getting really nice, tracting isn't so hot anymore, thank goodness!

So this week was kinda weird. It was super slow in which we have basically lost contact with all of our investigators. C*** is not coming to church, always working, won't answer calls. Its kinda sad but oh well, such is misisonary work! We just continue to pray for her and hope she comes around! Also A**** is gone, we haven't seen her in 3 weeks. Unfortunately thats how things go, but we do all we can and continually pray for strength and pray our investigators will recieve strength.

Saturday was an AMAZING day though! We were able to see K*** be baptized! Man this girl is so awesome! The baptism was so great and she was so excited to be baptized into the church. Her testimony is so strong and all she wants to do is follow Jesus Christ. I have a way cute picture with her after her baptism I will send home. She was so excited to get all her lei's after the baptism. We are hoping and praying this has an influence on her brother who is really having a problem finding God and knowing what is true.

So Saturday night was a very cool experience for me. So I don't know if ya'll know, but Kahala ward is the deaf ward for the entire island of Oahu. So we have all the deaf members and investigators. Usually we go to the lessons with an interpreter but sometimes it's a long ways away. Well, we have this one investigator that fell off the map and NO ONE had heard from her in about 2 months, everyone thought she had moved. So we were in her area to see someone else so I told Elder Smith that we would go see her but she probably wouldn't be home. Well it turns out she was and we had NO INTERPRETER! I was super nervous when she came to the door because she invited us right in. But this is where my testimony on the gift of tongues came in (yes it works for signing too!!!) I just started having a conversation with her in sign, a slower one where I had to ask her how to sign some words, but it was super cool! Man I owe all the credit to the Holy Ghost on that one, I have never had a 20 minute conversation with a deaf person before. Gotta love being a missionary!

So that is all for this week, I forgot to get a quote for this week so here is what is on my mind right now: "Come what may, & Love It" a solid talk by Elder Wirthlin! He tells us to do our best, put our trust in the Lord, and then come what may and love it. Learn to laugh, it helps us get thru the hard times. I testify to you all that this is true, we get thru the hard times to learn, grow, and enjoy the good ones!

Keep the letters coming! Love you all!
Elder Garritson

Alooooooooooooooha!-Sept. 4, 2010

Word up ya'll! Boy another week down and this one was a solid one! Hope all is well back in the 801. I bet its starting to get cold there. Same as here, we are staying in the 70's now so its pretty brutal haha! The trade winds are blowing hard, the sun is not beating so hard, its much more enjoyable especially when we are out walking!

So this week as far as work was pretty slow, however K*** is getting baptized this Saturday! She is 8 years old, so technically its not our baptism but I still count it as ours because if we didn't start teaching her she would not have come to church and would not be getting baptized! She is an amazing girl that just wants to be like Jesus! Its really special. Her brother D**** is coming along, we had a super spiritual lesson with him last week Tuesday and helped him to figure out how he could get answers he wanted. I pray for him each night. A**** did watch conference on Sunday so I hope she could feel the Spirit the brethren brought. We should see her next Sunday. C*** is coming along, slowly. She needs to read and pray about the book of mormon and then all will be well. As far as that goes, that is all that is going on with investigators.

This Friday we had Zone Conference and it was super solid! It was focused solely on the Book of Mormon and how getting an answer the Book of Mormon is true means the rest of the church is true. The Book of Mormon is the "universal concern resolver" according to President Dalton (and Preach My Gospel) and its true. BOM is true, our church is true. I love the Book of Mormon!

So I want to share a couple things with you from conference this weekend, some of my favorite points and things that were talked about. It was an amazing conference, especially priesthood session! Anyone that wasn't able to watch priesthood, WATCH IT! It was simply amazing. One of the favorite talks was by Patrick Kearon of the Seventy! He gave an amazing talk, my favorite part was when he said "bury you weapons of rebellion like the Antinephilehis did in Alma 22." The day before, President Dalton gave us the exact same advice! Its true, we need to bury our weapons of rebellion and become saints thru the Atonement of Jesus Christ! This is amazing doctrine my friends, do it!

"If you serve, life is good" -President Dalton

"We become what we want by consistently being what we want to become" -Elder Scott. This is one of my favorite quotes of all of conference. This is a deep quote but its so true. Be an example to everyone and we will become a hand in the Lords work.
"You get what you pay for" -Elder Scott. Here he was talking about keeping the commandments, doing what God wants, etc.

"Do missionary work" -Me Russell M. Nelson gave a talk in Priesthood session about being member missionaries and it was SOLID! Everyone needs to be a missionary in some way or another. If you aren't, I will hunt you down! "You could be the only one to open the door to their salvation" -Elder Nelson

"Not one person has thrown away their last chance" -Patrick Kearon. I LOVE this one!

Priesthood line and personal line by Elder Oaks was an amazing talk. We can't function without BOTH of them. Go listen to it!

And finally, I have to throw in some politics. This was a talk by President Packer. "There is no reason to vote against Gods law. It would be silly to vote on gravity." This goes hand in hand with his other laws, such as legalizing drugs and legalizing abortions. I HOPE HARRY REED WAS WATCHING THIS SESSION!!!!!


Love you all, keep the letters coming!
Elder Garritson

ALOHA! September 27, 2010

(Jordan's companion's mom posted this pic on her website. It's a fun pic of the two of them looking down on Waimanalo and Kailua. Beautiful island! Thanks Sis. Smith!)

Well another week down and this one was a pretty solid week! Everyone here is getting really excited for the Laie Temple to open back up. They have been remodeling it for the past couple years. They kept pushing the dates back, it was originally suppose to open in the beginning of the year, then the middle, and then finally in November it will be dedicated and October will be the open house. We have some ward temple trips planned for the open house, but I don't know if we will be able to go because missionaries are not allowed to proselyte during Open Houses of the temple, so we will see. This is partly the reason why work is so slow right now, everyones focus is on the open house and not missionary work, so we have hit the pavement hard with very little success, but thats okay we keep going along knowing that the Lord will provide!


This week was an interesting week, most of our investigator lessons fell thru. We had a lesson with D*** and K*** on Tuesday and it was definitely a different lesson. We taught them about faith and we watched Finding Faith in Christ, which is a phenomenal video! It shows the life of Jesus Christ and all that he did. K**** is ready to be baptized, we just have to set a date with her. Since she is 8 it doesn't count on our "numbers" as a baptism but it really is. Thats the one buggy thing about the mission, everyone says they aren't worried about numbers, but they are. It brings a lot of frustration because what doesn't go into numbers is the hard work with no success. Its good tho, the man upstairs knows all! Ha but D*** is a tough kid, he thinks very very hard and is struggling to find his faith. Continue praying for him, because miracles will happen!

Our lessons with A*** and C*** this week fell thru. They both are super busy! C**** kids are baptized, so they don't like us so much because we won't go to movies and stuff with them. So we are working hard with them to help them realize how much we do love them and how much we want to see them succeed. If you are a future missionary reading this, DO NOT be an apostate missionary. Just do what the Lord wants, put your life in his hands for these 2 years and it will be the greatest time of your life! (Jordan said the missionaries that baptized those kids would go to the movies with them--those who don't follow the rules are apostate! haha! Jordan isn't opinionated or anything, is he??!!)

We had an interesting experience with Bill this week. (Bill is the guy we tracted into and cut down some bamboo for him) Well Tuesday night he invited us over for a BBQ he was having so we were super excited. Well we got there and everyone was drinking! And than they offered us some! Everyone was super nice but it was just out of our comfort zone. There was one lady there who was very interested in our religion and the BOM. We shared a message with her about the Plan of Salvation and she loved it! We committed her to church (she didn't come) but she had a good reason not to. We are going to work hard with her, she has high potential!

Work is great as always, how could it not be, its the Lords work! My quote from today comes from Joshua 1:9, most of you probably know this one but it is a scripture that saved my life. I probably wouldn't be out here without this scripture. It is so powerful and I testify to you all that it is true. Take a read and ponder over its words, because this scripture really changed my life. Conference is coming up and I am super excited, all of you better be watching!! Hope all is well, love you all!

September 20, 2010

Aloooooooha!

Howzit from Hawaii! All is well here in the beautiful islands. It is blazing hot right now, these next couple weeks are some of the hottest weeks of the year because the trade winds tend to die down. A couple weeks and the temp is going to drop about 10 degrees and it is going to be solid! Well, its already is solid-- its Hawaii come on, but it will be even better! Hope all is well in Utah, I bet it is going to start cooling down and I feel for you guys! That is going to be no bueno. I'll think about you while I am chillin on the beach (just kidding)!

Another week down and it seems like they are flying by. You have all been in school for a month, and I am coming up on 4 months out (yeah I know 20 more months, I am almost there). Haha but I was thinking the other day and I am pretty stoked that I still have 20 months left. These next 20 months are the ONLY 20 months left of my life that I can fully devote all my time to the Lord. To share the Gospel with all the people I come in contact with, being called by a prophet of God. Being so in tune with the Spirit that its scary at times! I love this job, I love this work, and more importantly I love these people! The Gospel is true my friends, I promise you that!

Work is still slow here unfortunately. Its going to pick up though, I know it. The Lord is putting us thru a dry spell to strengthen our faith. Its like I talked about last week, if we get everything we want, we will never get anything we need. If every door I knocked turned into a baptism, I wouldn't learn a thing. It would be tight, but it wouldn't help me grow. My faith wouldn't strengthen. These times are tough, but seeing the blessings come after these times make it all worth it! I can see a bright future ahead, I just can't get brought down by Satan (a lesson we can all learn, not just for missionaries).

We are teaching 3 people on a consistent basis right now. ***** is a 14 year old kid who is SUPER smart and thinks very hard, at times too hard. We are really focusing in with him and trying to get him to recognize the Spirit and not try to understand everything all at once. He will be baptized, its all just a matter of time. His sister ****, who we have been teaching (she is 8 years old) is getting baptized! Its going to be great and I think this is going to be the turning point for *****. I'll let you know how that all pans out.

Then in Hawaii Kai we are teaching two ladies. One whose name is Angela. She is Catholic and is very devout. She is such a sweet spirit though, some of our lessons get pretty heated but I love this woman! She is so kind. There is going to come a time when she is going to say "I get it". She comes to church, she reads, she prays, all in due time will the blessings of the Spirit come upon her and testify to her of the truthfulness of the Gospel.

The other lady we are teaching is Cindy and all her kids have been baptized and she wants to, she just needs to quit smoking. She is trying really hard and she will quit very soon. We are going to get a date set with her this week. She will recieve the strength she needs thru the Atonement of Jesus Christ, I know it! Blessings are in store!!!!

Thats about all. The brethren have come out with a new teaching method which focuses in on 8 teaching principles in helping people and investigators. They also came out with DVD's to help, which are AMAZING. President Dalton bought every companionship a DVD player to put in their pad, and we watch these DVD's every night! My teaching has gone thru the roof with this! I will explain more about it later, my fingers are tired.

Stay strong in the Gospel, keep your sights on the temple, remember who you are and what you stand for! The Lord will bless you and help you, but you have to let him in. Don't give into temptation. Shun Satan, and all will be well. I love you all!

Elder Garritson

Howzit! September 13, 2010

Hello Travis & Jordon:
Good morning and thank you for the Wonderful & Kind Help with Cutting our Bamboo on Sept. 7.Also, I* have attached the Photo's.Take Care and Have a Nice day.Aloha,Bill C.

Aloha all ya'll! Another week down, man are weeks flying by or what!? Seems like just yesterday I was back on mainland, I am enjoying it out here. Work is slow but we are working hard and doing the things that the Lord wants, and I know he will bless us. Hope is on the horizon with the other area we took over, Hawaii Kai (we are now Kahala and Hawaii Kai missionaries, which is a huge area to cover). They got a new ward mission leader, Bro. A*** ( this guy is SOLID!) and a new bishop who is super missionary minded. They are going to have choke names for us to teach in a couple weeks, so we will be doing work there now as well. This is a good thing because Kahala is really dying down. This will get both wards going on the 15 name program (because where ever the work is, that is where we will go) and it will keep us busy! The blessings Heavenly Father gives us come in ways we don't expect! Sunday is super busy tho, we are at church and meetings from 7-3! Its good though, I really enjoy church!

So my birthday was a phenomenal day! I couldn't ask for anything better because I got to see Bro. J*** bless the sacrament! That was more than I could ever ask for! It was very cool and super spiritual, he is an amazing man! They also took great care of me, fed me on saturday and sunday night, got me a b-day cake and sang me happy birthday. Sister J*** got me a very nice Lei, so it was a great birthday. Thank you all for the birthday cards and gifts, you are amazing! I really appreciate all of you and not forgetting me!! Also, I am not sure if I have told you about Audrey S**** but she is a RC and is an amazing lady. We have been teaching her for a while and my relationship with her has grown so much from day one. I was sad because I thought I would leave last transfer and it was hard to say bye to her, but I get to stay which is amazing! We had a super spiritual lesson with her on Thursday and I was bawling, we talked about Christ and I told her about the boy who died from cancer and his testimony of Jesus Christ and his Atonement. (President Monson told the story in his talk last conference, go read it! My favorite talk, sunday morning session.) Anyways, she gave me a nice lei and made a picture for me from some of the lessons I have shared with her. I may send it home so it doesn't get ruined. But that was nice, I had a great b-day, and no I don't feel any different!!! (I had asked Jordan if he felt different now that he was no longer a teenager!)

Other than that, not too much is going down. Working hard (or hardly working, you will never know!) President Dalton is hilarious, without fail everytime he sees me the first thing he says is "how is the 3 ball coming along!" Haha I love this man so much, he is so personable and he is working wonders for this mission. His motto: Work hard, Play Hard, Have Fun! I love it, its so true. He knows what he is doing as a mission president!

I forgot to get a quote for you all but here is one of my favorites, I have shared this with some of you but I want all of you to hear it: "If we get everything we want, we will never get anything we need." I came up with this while on my mission. As times have been tough, those are the times that I have grown the most. There is a reason for every single trial we have, no matter what it is. They all strengthen our faith in the Lord. Put you trust in the Lord, and he will deliver you out of your trials. It talks about this in Alma 38:5, which is one of my favorite scriptures. Remember that!

Thanks for the letters and everything yall, keep them coming! Keep me updated on your lives. Love you all, have a great week!

Elder Garritson

iN tHe jUngLe, tHe MiGhtY jUnGLe...

September 7, 2010-Staying in Kahala!!!

Aloooooooooooooooha!

6 more weeks in Kahala! I am pretty stoked about it, this ward is super tight and its going to be interesting because the area is dead so we are going to have to work hard to get it back on fire, I know the Lord will provide if we work hard! It's still me and Elder Smith so its good stuff! We have a good time together, our whole zone pretty much stayed the same, except our district leader Elder Labarre went home, he served a good mission, really tight kid. He is moving to Daybreak in October so keep an eye out, short blonde kid haha! Oh yeah we are also taking over the Hawaii Kai area as well, so we have a huge area! It will be fun, its a good area. We are now covering the richest areas of Hawaii haha!

So an update on the J***, they are doing so solid! They love the ward and are really fitting in. You won't believe this, Uncle B**** has been called as Gospel Doctrine teacher, can you believe it!?!? Ha he is kinda nervous, but he knows the call has come from the Lord so he has no question it is for him. He will do great, we did some service for him today and that was solid, my back hurts now though haha!

Work is kinda dead for Kahala, the only 2 we are teaching are D**** and K***. D**** is 13 and K*** is 8. They moved here from mississippi with their mom, who is not active. They are coming along pretty well, they have had a lot of wrong information put in their minds so teaching them goes really slow. They ask some interesting questions and a lot are just questions that you have to rely on faith with, so we are praying for them and they will be baptized.

Ben Beck left on his mission to Tempe Arizona last wednesday. Man this kid was a stud, he went out to teach with us all the time. We got really close so it was hard to see him go, I started to cry a little haha! But he will be a solid missionary, he knows what he is doing and has an amazing testimony! I am going to room with him when I get back because he is going to BYU!
We are teaching a lady in Hawaii Kai who has had missionaries teach her forever and she just has a problem smoking, we are going to give her the 15 step stop smoking program. This program was put together by a missionary and really works! It is nuts, if they put effort into it and want to quit, they will quit. It only takes 2 weeks. So if any of you yahoos have picked up the habit of smoking, let me know and I can help you out haha!

We finally got to go golfing yesterday! Man it was so solid, good fun! I miss swingin the clubs brah! Freak out, I shot a 46 which was horrible, but my swing isn't completely gone so I am happy about that. I started out par par par and than went down hill from there, it was a pretty tough course. We had fun tho!

Other than that, we are just working hard! We tracted into a guy and did service for him so that was cool! Tracting is long and dreadful but the Lord blesses you in other ways as you do it, so we do it! The same goes for all of you, as you dont want to do things that may seem silly and pointless, just do them! The Lord will bless you in other ways as you keep his commandments!

Here is you quote for the week, Uncle B**** shared this with me and I loved it so I thought I would share the joy. This comes from Duet. 1-2: go read it, it is a great scripture! As we hearken unto the voice of the Lord, keep the commandments, do everything he asks, his blessings will come upon us and overtake us! We will be place high above all nations!!!

I know this is true yall, do the things our Heavenly Father asks and you will be blessed! God Speed, Love you all!

Elder Garritson

Aloha! August 30, 2010

(I got busy last week, so there are 2 posts today-one is from the 23rd, the other from the 30th!)

Howzit my friends? Hope all is well back in mainland, school starting up and summer is over! Sounds like everyone had a good summer and everyone was safe so thats what I like to hear! Good luck in school ya'll and stay focused!

Nothing too much has happened here this week. Our teaching pool is very slim now that Brother and Sister J*** got baptized so we have hit the streets hard again trying to find new investigators. Our ward really needs to get the 15 name program going (not sure if that is done in utah, but it is where the ward council picks 15 names, members or non members, go to their homes and invite them to hear the missionary dicussions) if they say yes, we have a lesson. If not we are stuck. So our ward hasn't been doing it so we are really working hard and are gonna have to be bold with the members so they start to pick up. Don't be scared members!!!! Share the gospel with your friends, the worst thing that will happen is they say no. This is their fsalvation at stake!!! Ha and if you need a simple way let me know and I can help you out with that one! But thats about all we are doing.

We have been working hard with some less active members to get them back to church. One of the families, the D******, are really coming close. Most missionaries give up on them but I will not! I know they will come back before I leave this area (which could be next week wednesday). Its all about faith. We have another lady we are teaching in the Hawaii Kai ward but she just wants to bash with us, so those are the lessons you have to be careful with because it can quickly turn into a heated conversation (which if it turns to that, I don't back down and I don't lose!) But thats about the work. Continue to be great member missionaries!

Outside of the misssionary work we got the opportunity to go to Pearl Harbor on Wed. to do some service on the USS Missouri! That was awesome! What an amazing ship. President Dalton set this service up for us, he is such a stud. Really doing a lot of good things for this mission and I am especially grateful I have the opportunity to serve under him! But Pearl Harbor was great, we were really blessed and priviledged to serve there and got a tour of the ship and everything. It was a good break from the missionary lifestyle, but yet still rendering our service!
Here is your thought for the week: "If ye are prepared ye shall not fear" -President Hinkley Self explanatory.

Take care all of you, love you all! Keep writing me!

Elder Garritson

August 23, 2010-Alooooooooooooha!

Howzit yall this week has just flown by and I can't believe it is already week 5 of this transfer. 12 days from now I will be getting that phone call telling me if I will be staying in my area or going somewhere else. I am pretty sure I will be leaving to Maui tho because only the blessed go to Maui and I am destined to go there haha! I really want to serve on Maui tho!

This Saturday was the long awaited day of the J*** baptism!!! Remember the first day I emailed you guys after we taught them and I said they would be baptized, well it has happened! What an amazing day Saturday was. Honestly it was one of the most spiritual and happiest days of my life. The baptism was at 3 o'clock and there were close to 75 or so people there. They had people from all over the island come, there was a couple from Utah that came, and their daughter from Germany came!!! Tons of nonmembers there and it was so spiritual. He is so funny. He joked about how we were going to have to dunk him 3 times because of all the sins he committed in his life and we reassured him once would do it. However the person performing the baptism messed up twice so he was baptized 3 times! Ha it was quite funny he told a joke about it and told us he was right and that he would have to be baptized 3 times. He is quite the guy. Auntie S**** was awesome as well, she has a huge fear of water so it was really hard for her to get in but she said when she was under she just felt warm and all her fears were gone. The young man doing the baptism really talked her thru the whole thing and calmed her fears.

What a great day, my heart is full and I am so grateful I have been able to see such wonderful people change their lives and come into the fold of God. This church is true man. Brother J*** is going to do great things for the church, I bet he will have the Melchezidek priesthood in a couple months. He already has a calling and they are talking about being sealed next year. I am going to beg and plead with President Dalton to let me go to that because that will be a really special day for them!

Haha like I said Uncle B**** is a funny dude. We were teaching him on Tuesday his final lesson before baptism and that went all good. Uncle B**** is just hilarious like that but he has such a strong testimony. He was praying and he prayed for you guys particularly and asked you to be blessed for my service. His prayers are so sincere, I was crying after that prayer and it brought the Spirit in so strong! He knows I love sweets so he sends me home with chocolate every night, I can't wait to come back here after my mission and have you guys meet him!

Other than that nothing else is really happening, that was our main focus this week! Work is kind of slow now so we are praying for it to pick up. We have some potential investigators to go with but I don't know, its hard to get people to see the light, especially here in Kahala. But you just rely on the Lord and he takes care of the rest.

Here is my thought for the week, it comes from Thomas S. Monson: "remember that you are entitled to our Heavely Fathers blessings in this work (whatever your work is, life school etc.) He did not call you to your privileged post to walk alone, w/o guidance, trusting to luck. On the contrary, He knows your skill, He realizes your devotion, and He will convert your supposed inadequacies to recognized strengths. He has promised, 'I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on you left, and my Spirit shall be in you hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up'".

This is so true my friends, I have witnessed it out here on my mission. Trust in the Lord and he will never fail you.

Thanks for everything, I love you guys!

Elder Garritson