(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
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Monday, December 13, 2010
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
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
Thursday, December 9, 2010
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!
Monday, December 6, 2010
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!
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!
Thursday, December 2, 2010
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?????
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
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
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
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