Love

Dear Family and Friends,

I am so blessed to have such a great family. I love each of you and I'm so glad I got to talk to you, it made my whole week! All I can say is it seems like I just talked to you last week for Christmas but it really has been five months almost since then I guess. I love you all so much and I hope that you make a smooth transition into this summer. 

I am learning so much about being a missionary. I have to be even more bold and simple every day. I am so glad that last night we had an extra Elder from Alamo here with us in a temporary trio. We also had a young man and recent convert named Adrian with us so we got to go on splits for a little while which has been getting harder to coordinate with the ward members as of late. I am hoping that with summer things will slow down and the people that are around and not on vacation or something will be able to go out with us more frequently. 

The biggest thing that my companion and I are working on is our "opening your mouth" aspect or OYMs. We have seen miracles already in committing to talking to 20 people every day. Often times it is the last person we talk to that is the one that is ready. We often get into the mindset of getting to the place we need to be next or maybe that it's too late to go talk to people but each time we do it anyway we have seen great things happen. There is a talk that we listen to frequently that Henry B. Eyring tells of when our bodies scream for relief and we can't think about anything but taking a rest the thing we need to do is remember our Savior. Did he take a rest in the moment when he was at the very lowest point of any moment in the history of this world? He looked outward and pushed through the very greatest of all tribulations for each of us. So my personal goal is to ask and look for the ways that I can be of service even more so when I don't feel like I can. I love my Savior. I know he lives. 

One more aspect of missionary work is referrals. We have been asking more for them than ever before and it is amazing. As we learned in Zone training, the seed of Abraham is all around us but we may never know it until we ask. There are people prepared and ready all over the world and we as missionaries can't always be where all of those people are. So in comes the Holy Ghost and members. You all know what networking is. The biggest example is social networks, but I'm talking more about on a very real and personal level with people that we truly interact with every day. Well some people are good at it some people aren't. That how life is, and I can say honestly that we can all be fantastic network facilitators for the spreading of the gospel if we rely on the Holy Ghost. That is why we get those little promptings to say hello to someone who looks like they are having a bad day at work. The problem is that so many of us don't fully realize the importance of the influence we can make. I can say that I often don't remember fully the charge to bear one another's burdens and mourn with those that mourn and comfort those that stand in need of comfort. When that is my focus I know that it touches my heart to help that person with everything that I can muster. That is when the Holy Ghost enters in and I can give an invitation to allow that person an opportunity to accept truth and knowledge from on high. Referrals are not a scary thing, though I have even seen them that way at times. They are a privilege and an opportunity to share great blessings from our father in heaven with someone who has not realized them yet.

My spiritual high for this week was when we went over the baptismal interview questions with Donald. He is like a spiritual giant. I can't even express how much I have grown to appreciate his story and his life and his friendship. I looked into his eyes as i sat next to him in church this last week and I immediately felt a great sense of calm and serenity as well as excitement and joy.  I saw a glimpse of Eternity and the love that our father has for each one of us. That same love that I feel for each one of you and each of the people that I have met in this area and served with so far. Melissa Segura is for sure getting baptized this Saturday by her husband Martin. Donald is not one to really plan things in advance because then he over thinks it and gets scared. But he is more ready than anyone I have ever met to be Baptized and he might just surprise us this weekend too. We'll get an interview set up and wait and see :) I love you all and hope you have a fantastic week! I can't wait to hear from you!

 

Elder McGarry

 

Swap point from Exchanges with Elder Cannon in Valencia Area​

Who says it doesn't rain in Albuquerque? ​:)