The Bands

Dear Family and Friends,

First and foremost the biggest changes as of late is the transition of our Mission President, as you know President and Sister Miller have completed their service and will be greatly missed. The Lord knows what he is doing though, and President and Sister Guffey have surely been prepared and qualified for the stewardship bestowed upon them now. In use the first day of interacting with them we have felt a great deal of love and appreciation for them. I look forward to serving with them and continuing serve in this great mission!

I learned a very important Lesson from our stake president this last week. He was teaching about the experience Nephi had in the Book of Mormon when his brothers bound him with strong cords and decided  to leave him for the wild beasts a return to Jerusalem. He prayed to the Lord that he could be given the strength to burst the bands. In this there is insight alone, that he was able to recognize his own need to put forth great effort to obtain the desired result. In this he still realized that he would likely fall short he sought the help of his Father in Heaven early, before he had even engaged in the action he was about to perform. The response was immediate and possibly a little unexpected as "the bands were loosed." At that moment we realize his pure intent was not just to get away form his brothers or the harm that they constantly try to inflict upon him but rather to stand forth in the truth of what is God's will. He stood forth and spoke to them admonishing them to keep the commandments of God. later as they are on the ship traveling to the Promised land he again is bound and fastened to the mast of the ship amidst a terrible raging storm. He must have thought to himself "how long must I endure this, I have been in a similar circumstance before and the outcome was as I anticipated." On this occasion we know that he was retained by these cords which rubbed his wrists raw and caused swelling in great measure. Yet still he was patient in his tribulation not once murmuring against the will of God, in whom he trusted perfectly. So I our lives we have storms that come and go, but in all things our relationship with our Savior is what will carry us through. Our first response may be to react with natural questions of, How is this possible, why, what is the reason for this, who would do this, what will I become of this, why is this so hard, can I really make it through this? To these questions the only solace that is lasting and eternal stems from one pure doctrine which is central to the reason for everything that has ever been or ever will be, the Atonement of Jesus Christ. He, the creator of worlds, condescended below all of creation, suffered in an unfathomable way for each and every one of us and then rose above every challenge, temptation and trial, sin and even death. What greater hope for peace can one have? What greater motivation can anyone find to love, pure and unrestrained, a person who would do such a thing simply because he loves you. he just asks us to hold on, to recognize that without tasting the bitter, the pain and the suffering that we would not be able to even understand, let alone appreciate the good. We can try to bandage wounds, and that may hold for a time, but the only way to be healed is to let Christ take you into his arms, and fill you with his love. That is something that is worth waiting for, whether it be on a boat tied to the mast awaiting the storm caused by those whom we are trying to love and help, or in our world so full of people yet having a feeling of hopelessness and loneliness or indifference because no matter what, in a world of comparing and contrasting there will always be someone somewhere who is better, or smarter, or cooler, or prettier, or richer, or (insert comparative category here) in some way. To these feelings and thoughts the Savior offers but one simple phrase with perfect authority and power;
"Peace, be still."

In our teaching we have been greatly blessed with finding a new investigator named Dustin. Also two others we have been working with are preparing to be baptized on July 16th. more updates to come. I love you all so very much, and hope you have. A fantastic week!

--
Elder McGarry

Pics Coming
​P1 - President and Sister Miller at the Mission Home before departing. ​
P2 - Our new phrase for pictures taking is "Do something you'll remember..." Results? disastrous but I decided I'll share anyway. :)

The "Bands"

 Dear Family and Friends,

First and foremost the biggest changes as of late is the transition of our Mission President, as you know President and Sister Miller have completed their service and will be greatly missed. The Lord knows what he is doing though, and President and Sister Guffey have surely been prepared and qualified for the stewardship bestowed upon them now. In use the first day of interacting with them we have felt a great deal of love and appreciation for them. I look forward to serving with them and continuing serve in this great mission!

I learned a very important Lesson from our stake president this last week. He was teaching about the experience Nephi had in the Book of Mormon when his brothers bound him with strong cords and decided  to leave him for the wild beasts a return to Jerusalem. He prayed to the Lord that he could be given the strength to burst the bands. In this there is insight alone, that he was able to recognize his own need to put forth great effort to obtain the desired result. In this he still realized that he would likely fall short he sought the help of his Father in Heaven early, before he had even engaged in the action he was about to perform. The response was immediate and possibly a little unexpected as "the bands were loosed." At that moment we realize his pure intent was not just to get away form his brothers or the harm that they constantly try to inflict upon him but rather to stand forth in the truth of what is God's will. He stood forth and spoke to them admonishing them to keep the commandments of God. later as they are on the ship traveling to the Promised land he again is bound and fastened to the mast of the ship amidst a terrible raging storm. He must have thought to himself "how long must I endure this, I have been in a similar circumstance before and the outcome was as I anticipated." On this occasion we know that he was retained by these cords which rubbed his wrists raw and caused swelling in great measure. Yet still he was patient in his tribulation not once murmuring against the will of God, in whom he trusted perfectly. So I our lives we have storms that come and go, but in all things our relationship with our Savior is what will carry us through. Our first response may be to react with natural questions of, How is this possible, why, what is the reason for this, who would do this, what will I become of this, why is this so hard, can I really make it through this? To these questions the only solace that is lasting and eternal stems from one pure doctrine which is central to the reason for everything that has ever been or ever will be, the Atonement of Jesus Christ. He, the creator of worlds, condescended below all of creation, suffered in an unfathomable way for each and every one of us and then rose above every challenge, temptation and trial, sin and even death. What greater hope for peace can one have? What greater motivation can anyone find to love, pure and unrestrained, a person who would do such a thing simply because he loves you. he just asks us to hold on, to recognize that without tasting the bitter, the pain and the suffering that we would not be able to even understand, let alone appreciate the good. We can try to bandage wounds, and that may hold for a time, but the only way to be healed is to let Christ take you into his arms, and fill you with his love. That is something that is worth waiting for, whether it be on a boat tied to the mast awaiting the storm caused by those whom we are trying to love and help, or in our world so full of people yet having a feeling of hopelessness and loneliness or indifference because no matter what, in a world of comparing and contrasting there will always be someone somewhere who is better, or smarter, or cooler, or prettier, or richer, or (insert comparative category here) in some way. To these feelings and thoughts the Savior offers but one simple phrase with perfect authority and power;

"Peace, be still."

In our teaching we have been greatly blessed with finding a new investigator named Dustin. Also two others we have been working with are preparing to be baptized on July 16th. more updates to come. I love you all so very much, and hope you have. A fantastic week!

Elder McGarry 

Pic sent to us from someone who fed Elder McGarry and his companion.

 

President and Sister Miller at the Mission Home before departing.

Our new phrase for pictures taking is "Do something you'll remember..." Results? disastrous but I decided I'll share anyway. :)

NAMM So Far

Dear Family and Friends,

Up to this point in my mission I have come to love and be comfortable with the great level of dedication and consecration that missionaries have for the most part. Despite popular opinion, missionaries are not prefect, but in terms of obedience I have been blessed to serve with some really great and wonderful missionaries. A lot of that has to do with the leadership of President Miller, and it has been such a great privilege to get to know him these past 20 months. Sadly this is the last week President Miller will be here, and some of you might be seeing him more frequently than I will in cache valley. I'm so grateful for the dedication and service of He and his wonderful wife Sister Miller who have really made this mission blossom and excel. They are spiritual Giants and I have grown to love them so much! They will be greatly missed. 

Looking to the next week, we are going to have a lot to do! We have had two great miracles so far this week. On Sunday we met a young man in the River's Edge YSA who is scheduled to be baptized July 9th. There is a family in the stake that has been working with him for a few months now and he finally transitioned into the YSA where he can be fully fellowshipped and nurtured from here on out. That is something we are looking forward to. The other is a YSA aged young man that just moved from Michigan. His mother is a member and he is very interested in learning. He had a group of friends that he played in a band with back in Michigan who got into drugs and he didn't want to be in that environment so he came out here to live with his mom. The Lord is surely preparing people! 

We also look forward to the welcome of our new Mission President Tim Guffey who will be here before I e-mail you again. It's sinking in about now... This feeling of change is one of my favorite things in the world. Just like when people ask me what is my favorite time of year it is the next one. From Summer to Fall, Fall to Winter, Winter to Spring, and Spring back to Summer it is the change on the air and all around that invigorates me and motivates me to continue to change who I am to be a little bit better every day. I can always pull from past experiences and learn from them but the true test is applying and changing because of them, that is my goal. I love you all and hope that you are enjoying the warmth. 

Have a great week!

 

Elder McGarry

 

Elder Gardner and I holding on for life... not really. But I still can't wait to climb things again!

 The view from the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge between Taos and Tres Piedres New Mexico.

Taking Time to Recognize

Dear Family and Friends,

This Sunday something simple stood out to me. Day to day and throughout our lives we have many times when the Lord's hand is evident and we recognize that. Bu there are so many times when the Hand of the Lord is there and either we don't recognize it or we don't realize it until later. In correlation to our covenant to Remember Him Always, it was suggested that we pray to recall the moments that we were too busy to recognize his hand in our lives and record those in a journal. I have seen this really open my eyes to some greater example of devotion to the covenant I have made. I have seen a difference in even having that perspective and I have had some really meaningful journal entries.  

Other than that, we are still working toward some big changes and it being the second day of the transfer dust is still settling and I don't have much time, but I sure love all of you and hope you have a great and marvelous week!

 

Elder McGarry

Talking to Everyone

Dear Family and Friends,

This week is a transfer planning week! It is so inspiring to see the spirit work in the process of transfers. I can't say enough that I know it is all in God's hands. I love being aware of the reality of the Lord's guidance in my life and the lives of those around me as it is made manifest. My companion says all the time, and I agree, that we wish everyone could just be a fly on the wall during that process. It is really amazing to see. 

This past week we had very little time to contact and find people to teach, but we've had three main investigators really come forth and make some major progress. First is Brittainy who we've only really started teaching this past week. She is super smart and sometimes ends up teaching the lesson for us it seems. In talking about baptism it will be a little bit of a struggle to overcome some pretty real and deeply rooted fears. Focusing on the Atonement though has really made an impact, and an understanding and spiritual witness of that can open the floodgates giving access to the Savior's Love which overcomes all fear. We pray that she'll gain that understanding. Chris Who has been taught for over two years has decided with some extra loving guiding pressure, to prepare to be baptized on June 27th. As long as he doesn't have a "stupor of thought" and forget the day :) I say that because it has happened before, but even the fact that he has agreed to make the decision is a huge step forward for him. The other main person we are working with is Buddy. We finally go to teach him this past Sunday and it was amazing. He wants to be baptized right now. His grandmother was the closest person to him in his whole life and when she passed away he lost faith and is just now coming back. He has a fellow San Filipe Pueblo brother in the branch who is one of our strongest members to help him along too. When he gets back from Arizona on the 13th we'll be setting aa date to work toward with him as well. 

One of the coolest things that happened this week was a Miracle out in Rio Rancho after Zone training. The topic was on finding and talking to everyone in order to find the elect. During a wrap up meeting with the Zone Leaders a young girl about 15 named Nina came to the door of the church to ask for some water. It turned out that after an argument with her step dad she had been kicked out of the house for a while. As we talked it became more and more evident that she has been prepared so perfectly to receive the Gospel. She has never felt right about getting involved in any kind of substances that could be harmful to her body. There were just so many things that were amazing as we talked and shared bits and pieces of the Gospel that she had been looking for solidity in with the standards that she has been trying to uphold. The Lord doesn't just put people in our path to find, he also puts us in the path of the people that are searching for us :) That is why it is so important to talk to everyone, even though it can be intimidating with the fear of the unknown. But fear has no place in the Lord's work. 

I love you all! Thanks for your support :)

Elder McGarry

 ABQ North Zone at tent Rocks National Monument

 The view from inside the slots :)