Spiritually Guided

Dear Family and Friends,

This past week has been amazing! It was President and Sister Miller's last zone conference in the mission and it was such a powerful spiritually uplifting experience. Bittersweet I might add. We're not going to miss them yet though, we still have time. 

In our travels we had opportunity to talk about some really amazing things pertaining to the Vision of the Tree of Life and the reality of it's manifestation in our day. As we traveled back up from El Paso, we stopped at a place were we normally stop for gas. I didn't realize it was a different stop until we were leaving after having talked to the cashier who is a recent convert that came here from Tacoma Washington. He has been in with a group that has taken him on a path he doesn't like and we were able to get him in contact with the missionaries in the area and direct him to the General Conference addresses from April. It was really cool to see the spirit work in such a simple way. Later that same night we went to contact a referral for the YSA branch we cover. We made it back to Albuquerque within minutes of the appointed time and set off on splits to get everything done. We visited with Brittainy who is the granddaughter of a convert of about 4 years. After having taught and visited with her as we were leaving we were able to engage Cory, a ranch hand and neighbor to our new investigator. He just got out of Prison and said that at this point he'll don anything to find a way out of addiction and to find hope in life again. It was incredible the series of events that helped bring us to the places we needed to be. That happened again on Sunday too. 

In reading today I loved what I found in Alma 27: 27. The People of Anti Nephi Lehi had become so converted that their Zeal for God and was what distinguished them. As a result of that "Zeal" they were perfectly honest and upright in all things. It would be a perfect world if that were the case for all of us, nonetheless it is a great thing to strive for. As we read in Luke 16:10 those that are faithful in that which is least area also faithful in greater things. Many things in life are full of quick seemingly insignificant decisions, yet even those small things are very significant. A correct understanding of the Doctrine of Christ will help in every choice that we make in life because we will have our end goal in mind first and foremost, then the spirit will be our constant guide. I hope and pray that this will be the case! I love you all! 

Have a wonderful week!

 

Elder McGarry

 

 Making some special Taco Spaghetti

Taking a Leap :)

Desire and Gratitude

Dear Family and Friends,

This week has been great so far! We have had Zone Conference with all of the North Zones so far, and in a little bit we will be heading down to El Paso for the South Zone Conference. This is President Miller's last Zone Conference with the mission so we have been immensely blessed by the spirit and the testimonies of him and Sister Miller. 

The main focus of Zone Conference has been using Preach My Gospel more effectively. It has been great seeing all the trainings and participating in them as well. One thing that has stood out to me above most other things has been spiritual gifts and specifically the Gift Spiritual of Power. I have never thought of spiritual power in that sense before. My favorite examples of spiritual power are in the 2 Nephi 33, 3 Nephi 7:17-19, and Moroni's last exortations in Chapter 10. In each of these it is a witness with such power that it cannot be denied, or with such confidence that they will stand before us at the bar of judgement. In these examples I love to consider the sacrifices that have been made, most of which not even accounted for, in order that we might have this record of the Book of Mormon. I am deeply humbled by that thought. Along with the Book of Mormon, I have come to realize that Preach My Gospel is an inspired book. Many times I have wondered what more I must do to improve without much direction or guidance. Over the past few months I have turned more to Preach my Gospel than ever before and have been richly blessed with greater direction and purpose than before. I read in a conference talk by President Eyring, that the most important feeling that we can remember is the Love of our Savior. This is what I find repeatedly in Preach My Gospel. Applying that to "regular" life I take it to realize that though we have many temporal tools and stewardships on this life, the ultimate purpose is spiritual progression. As it mentions in the Doctrine and Covenants that all commandments are spiritual in God's eyes. These things make me so grateful for a perfect plan and a loving Father in Heaven. 

That leads me to another thing that I read in the same talk by President Eyring (Put your trust in that Spirit which leadeth to do good April 2016 Women's Conference). He said in the opening statements "Our desire to serve others is magnified by our gratitude for what the Savior has done for us." I would also apply that to all aspects of life that our desires increase as our gratitude in almost any respect. This was an eye opening realization for me. I have often wondered how I can strengthen my desire and my drive and motivation. I am just learning lots this week! I have a renewed resolution to show my gratitude and to express more fervently to my Father in Heaven how much I truly am grateful for his mindfulness of me throughout my life. Another profound blessing is each of my family and friends that have helped me along the way. I love you all and hope you have a fantastic week!

Elder McGarry

 ​We got to go on the longest tram in the world today! Here are some pics from the top :)​

I'm Still Here :)

Dear Family and Friends,

We have been busy this week! We got a late start with Zone Conference planning due to some other arrangements we had to make in order to open a new area down in El Paso. On Preparation day we were out and about with two service projects in the morning. This was pretty cool, so the Church sent down a big shipment of mattresses to donate to Catholic Charities who is using them to furnish places for refugees. We helped unload the semi into the Catholic Charities warehouse just down the road from the mission office. There was an over abundance so we also unloaded 20 or so beds into the bishop's storehouse. 

After that we had a couple of meetings with some other missionaries and the stake president in the Santa Fe stake. Sorry it's been a little scattered lately, I'll try to be a little more consistent. I'll let you know in advance, next week we will be e-mailing in Wednesday because zone conference will be on Tuesday. 

For a spiritual standpoint, I had a very revelatory experience at Church this last Sunday. we now have meetings at the YSA Branch from 10-2 and the Family Ward from 2-5 so that's usually a full day as well. The thing that hit me this week is I need to be singing more. By that, I mean that I have had some lack of spiritual direction that I felt I needed and I have found that by having a hymn on my mind all day it keeps me directed a aptly where I need to be. This week I have been singing "Have I done any Good." I am grateful for the wonderful example that my mother has given me to use music in a positive and beautiful way in my life. We also met a new Investigator at Church on Sunday. His name is Buddy, and he is partly from a Pueblo and partly from the Laguna reservation. He said he'll be coming to church every week and he is so happy to have met this congregation. He's so awesome!

More next week! Love you all!

Elder McGarry

Book of Mormon & Resurrection

Dear Family and Friends,

This week has been a rollercoaster. We had our MLC training and had to prepare for that during the first part of the week. During the Training we did not spend much time as most of the meeting was accountability on stewardships and counseling on how we can improve. The thing that we did emphasize though was being finishers. In life there are countless tasks and demands, which we all sort and prioritize and then obligate time sufficient to render the results we are striving for. The sum total of our life is determined by our choices, and that was beautifully expounded by President Monson this last conference. Though many there are that begin a task and never see it through to the end. I fall in this category all too often. In reference to another talk given by then Elder Thomas S. Monson in the General Conference of 1989 titled "Finishers Wanted." I strongly encourage each of you to look it up and review it this week and tell me what you learn from it. That is a challenge, now I'll see who's really reading my e-mails or not. This talk has changed me for the better in so many ways. From the smallest task of being a finisher of the day and closing in sincere nightly prayer, to the biggest task of this life which is enduring to the end with our last breathe being a living testimony and witness of the reality of our Savior Jesus Christ and his Mission as the redeemer of all mankind. Being a finisher is essential and starts in the smallest things. LUKE 16:10 "He that is faithful in that which is least, is faithful also in much, and he that is unjust in the least is also unjust in much."

Something that has been on my mind a lot these past few months has been the significant proportion of the Book of Mormon that is purposed to witnessing of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. In the Bible, there is an account of about 40 days during which time Christ visited the apostles, they felt his hands and feet, and he ate with them proving his body is tangible, and that truly he was slain for the sins of the world. Aside from that there are only accounts of testimonies of his resurrection and it's eternal importance. The Book of Mormon is not only another coagulation of testimonies of prophets called of God and given his authority, the Holy Priesthood, it is much more than that. It is a witness of the LIVING reality of the Savior and that his work continues among All of God's children with this one charge: that we "...repent, all ye ends of the earth, and come unto me and be baptized in my name, that ye may be sanctified by the reception of the Holy Ghost, that ye may stand spotless before me at the last day." -3 Nephi 27:20 The reality of Christ's resurrection will be unfolded to the view of all those who "...will not harden [their] heart..." and further the promise is "...to [them] is given a greater portion of the word, until it is given unto [them] to know the mysteries of God until [they] know them in full." -Alma 12:10 With this in mind, we know that the life we are in is a probationary time while we as mortals prepare in everyway we can to live with our father again. By living the Gospel of Jesus Christ and covenanting with God through the proper priesthood authority and ordinances of the Gospel outlined by all of the Holy Prophets since the world began we can truly be inheritors of Eternal Life, the greatest of all the gifts of God. This will be obtained because of the Grace of Jesus Christ and by the judgement which we will be accountable for every action and our head given to the messengers that he has sent to us all, again and again, and again in this time of mortal probation. We then, must " work out [our] own salvation with fear and trembling." -Phil. 2:12 and Alma 34:37 "...with fear before God." Because Godly fear is different than worldly fear.

What calm reassurance the spirit brings to know that we will all be partakers of the resurrection of our bodies. On top of that, through our choices and our actions we show whether or not we truly want to live with our Father and be partakers of his gift of Eternal life. We will each acknowledge that individually before the Lord and graciously proclaim that his judgements are just. I am glad that I get to share this knowledge with people, no matter where I am. I love all of you! Thanks for your support and encouragement! Have a fabulous week. 

Elder McGarry

 Famous car selfie:-dropping off some dying Missionaries... :/

 

Nothing to set the camera on, but this is at the Temple!​

 This was sent with the message that your boys are alive and well and full, Love the Shepherds

Mothers day skype session!

Lack Excuse

Dear Family and Friends,

I am serving with another awesome companion named Elder Gardner. He is from South Jordan UT, and he has served in almost every ward in this stake. We also served in the El Paso 5th ward as our most recent previous area. So that's pretty awesome! I'm excited to be here with him. 

As for the area, we just got dropped by one of our main investigators yesterday. That is sad. The other people we are teaching are making slow steady progress. One is named Chris, he is from the San Felipe Pueblo just North of Bernalillo County and has been meeting with missionaries for a LONG time. But he is super awesome. The biggest thing that keeps him form being baptized is that he doesn't feel like he'll be able to keep reading and praying every day. He doesn't want to be a hypocrite basically. How true, I think sometimes we get far too complacent, and let these things slip by with the justification of doing more important things. I read from Jesus the Christ this morning and I wrote this quote on my planner for the transfer: "Never seek to excuse yourself by the despicable but all too common subterfuge of presumptuously charging culpability on another." I think that in any case excuses are such an unsuccessful way to do anything. If all we ever do is offer up excuses for our shortcomings we will remain stagnant, and even digress. If instead we are willing as it says in James 5: 16 to confess our faults to ourselves most importantly and also to those around us, then through effort and substantial and meaningful prayer we can truly grow beyond our own imagination. That I testify of. We all have faults, it's no secret. If we are to become one in mind and in heart, or in fact to reach any level of Zion, we must start by offering our own weaknesses and shortcomings on the sacrificial table. Our own disobedience must be rectified, especially before we go trying to tell another how to move forward. I had the chance to take a departing missionary around for part of the day yesterday and I loved that he told me in essence one of the biggest things he learned on his mission is to live the gospel. It's hard to describe the true sense of that phrase without experiencing it. Some of the results are shown in things like: A deep desire to serve those around you setting aside your own wants and even needs at times, A strong pull to go to the temple and learn of the truths of the Kingdom of God regularly, A necessity and longing to partake of the sacrament knowing our need for the grace of Christ in our lives and still being conscious of the changes we must make in our character to be more like him, and many more things like these. 

The teaching will continue to go forth and we will be preparing to do MLC this week and Zone conferences coming up in the middle of May. I am going to have lots to write about, but not much time to write!! But know that I love you all and appreciate your letters and support! Have a great week!

Elder McGarry

​P1- My last companion, and my current companion at the switcheroo :)

P2- We took a quick trip to visit to Alamo for district meeting last week!​

Lack Excuse

Dear Family and Friends,

I am serving with another awesome companion named Elder Gardner. He is from South Jordan UT, and he has served in almost every ward in this stake. We also served in the El Paso 5th ward as our most recent previous area. So that's pretty awesome! I'm excited to be here with him. 

As for the area, we just got dropped by one of our main investigators yesterday. That is sad. The other people we are teaching are making slow steady progress. One is named Chris, he is from the San Felipe Pueblo just North of Bernalillo County and has been meeting with missionaries for a LONG time. But he is super awesome. The biggest thing that keeps him form being baptized is that he doesn't feel like he'll be able to keep reading and praying every day. He doesn't want to be a hypocrite basically. How true, I think sometimes we get far too complacent, and let these things slip by with the justification of doing more important things. I read from Jesus the Christ this morning and I wrote this quote on my planner for the transfer: "Never seek to excuse yourself by the despicable but all too common subterfuge of presumptuously charging culpability on another." I think that in any case excuses are such an unsuccessful way to do anything. If all we ever do is offer up excuses for our shortcomings we will remain stagnant, and even digress. If instead we are willing as it says in James 5: 16 to confess our faults to ourselves most importantly and also to those around us, then through effort and substantial and meaningful prayer we can truly grow beyond our own imagination. That I testify of. We all have faults, it's no secret. If we are to become one in mind and in heart, or in fact to reach any level of Zion, we must start by offering our own weaknesses and shortcomings on the sacrificial table. Our own disobedience must be rectified, especially before we go trying to tell another how to move forward. I had the chance to take a departing missionary around for part of the day yesterday and I loved that he told me in essence one of the biggest things he learned on his mission is to live the gospel. It's hard to describe the true sense of that phrase without experiencing it. Some of the results are shown in things like: A deep desire to serve those around you setting aside your own wants and even needs at times, A strong pull to go to the temple and learn of the truths of the Kingdom of God regularly, A necessity and longing to partake of the sacrament knowing our need for the grace of Christ in our lives and still being conscious of the changes we must make in our character to be more like him, and many more things like these. 

The teaching will continue to go forth and we will be preparing to do MLC this week and Zone conferences coming up in the middle of May. I am going to have lots to write about, but not much time to write!! But know that I love you all and appreciate your letters and support! Have a great week!

 

Elder McGarry

 

 My last companion, and my current companion at the switcheroo :)

 We took a quick trip to visit to Alamo for district meeting last week!​