Friday, September 25, 2009

"Is It A Thong?"


Sept 19, 2009

Mommy,

I love you! I was so glad that I got some e-mails today. It sounds like things are going pretty well for you all. I heard you and daddy got to be the witness couple at the Temple last week. That is so special. I miss going to the temple with you. We have had a lot of schedule conflicts, so I haven’t gone to the temple in about a month. I am having withdrawals.

How is the cabin? I heard about you sleeping all day at the cabin and I got really jealous. I miss sleep. I never feel fully rested. I never wake up in a good mood either. I feel sorry for my companion. I have to remind myself every morning that obedience is better than sleep.

We had a really funny experience this past week. We were on a tour in the Beehive house. We were in a very small room with about 15 people. One of the group members was a woman who was probably over 60 years-old. She asked us why the men in the church wear special underwear. My companion, Sister Green, explained that not only men but women, too, who have gone through the temple wear special under garments. She added that we wear them to remind us of the promises we made to God. All of the people were asking lots of questions about the garments. They asked what do they look like and Sister Green answered they are white. They then asked why the underclothing was white. Sister Green said to symbolize purity. Then the older woman asked in complete sincerity, “Is it a thong!?” HA, HA, HA!!! Both Sister Green and I couldn’t help but laugh. If they weren’t so genuinely curious, I would have probably gotten very upset. But Sister Green handled the situation very well.

We definitely get every question you could possibly think of. A mission is a very interesting experience, but I love it. Going on a mission really was the best choice I’ve ever made. I have grown so much already.

I’ve really been learning how much Heavenly Father loves us. He really does want to bless us and answer our prayers, but we need to have faith enough to act. Just like Nephi, the brother of Jared and even Joseph Smith. We need to have faith, but faith is an action word. That’s what separates the prepared and those who are not yet ready to receive the gospel. If they are not going to act, why should they receive that knowledge? I think that’s why sometimes our prayers aren’t answered.

Heavenly Father’s plan is absolutely perfect. I am so happy to know about His plan. Sometimes as I testify that we lived with Heavenly Father before we came to earth and that we can live with him again after this life, I feel so close to the veil. Thank you so much for raising me with this knowledge and understanding of who I am. We really are all children of God. This is why I’m here, to help everyone find their way back home.

I admire you so much for your ability to find the church and your willingness to act and to stay strong in the gospel. You are my rock. You have such an incredible testimony. Thank you for your example and support. You and dad are the BEST parents in the whole world!

I LOVE YOU!

Love,

Sister Garbett

Three Months Out!


Sept 19, 2009

Daddy,

Thanks so much for your e-mails. I printed them off and then read them when I got home. You are so funny! You made me laugh especially when you wrote about the huge spider you found at the cabin. I also thought it was pretty funny when you wrote about how, Allie, our pug, “talks” about me all the time. I have to admit that when I read about you watching the Brady Bunch DVDs I got trunky for a minute. I do miss eating ice cream and watching the Brady Bunch with you in the evenings. That activity is high on my to-do list when I get home.

Can you believe I’ve been out for three months! Did time fly for you, too? In three months I’ll be calling home at Christmas. Did you hear I get to call home on Father’s Day, too? I also get to call from the airport when I go outbound. That will probably be in February or March. Plus I’ll probably get to call at the airport when I go back to Temple Square after my outbound assignment. So, I get to call home like five times! My mission is so cool!

I love reading your e-mails about your missionary experiences. I bet it was hard learning to speak and read Spanish. It’s so cool that you know what I’m going through. It’s nice to hear from people who have been where I am.
As a spiritual thought a couple of weeks ago, I heard about an article from the Church News “Music Warms and Lights”
( http://www.ldschurchnews.com/articles/57778/Music-warms-and-lights.html) It really touched me and I thought of you and all the years you have played the organ in church as I was growing up. The article was true. Because I know how important music in the church really is. So I went to the distribution center and bought the church News so I could send you the article. Your calling as the Ward Organist really is so important. You’re so lucky to have such a wonderful talent and so faithful to share it every Sunday with the members of our church.

I love this church so much! I love being a missionary on Temple Square and that I get to testify about eternal families. I’m so happy to know that my family will be together forever!

I love you so much! Keep up the good work. Keep going to the temple often.

Love,

Sister Garbett

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

A Simple Act Of Kindness


Sept 12, 2009

Mom & Dad,

Another week gone by… It was a great week. I love my companion. We get along great. Today we went to the Mall! I felt like I was in heaven. But I wish I had more money. Groceries are so expensive. But I did buy a pair of shoes. They were cheap, cute and comfortable. I couldn’t pass them up. We also got ice cream cones at Ben & Jerry’s and a girl gave us $20.00 to buy it. She was a really cute return missionary. It was such a small, simple act of kindness, but it was such a big deal to a couple of poor missionaries. It shows that when you are doing God’s will, you are always blessed. I’m sure that girl will be so blessed for her sacrifice.

How is the cabin coming a long? Something really random, my house I live in sometimes smells like the old cabin. It’s weird to wake up to that smell. I think it’s because it’s so old.

My companion and I get along so well. We talk about everything. We just sit on our beds at night and talk about scriptures and the miracles we’ve had. Today we were both so happy for no particular reason. We realized it was because we had the spirit with us all the time. Today at the mall we could literally feel how we were set apart from the world. It almost felt like we were in a bubble that kept the world away from us. It was the first time I’ve really felt my mantel. Everyone always told me about it, but I never noticed it before. I’m so lucky to serve everyday on dedicated grounds. As I walked back to the Square I could feel the difference as I passed through the gate onto Temple Square. I love my mission. I am so lucky to be a missionary and to represent Jesus Christ. This is his church. I love being able to tell people about it. Heavenly father loves us so much. We really are His children. Isn’t that amazing? And as His children we are all heirs to His Kingdom!

This church is so true!

I love you!

Love,

Sister Garbett

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

So Many Miracles


Hey Daddy!

How are you? The mission is going so good! I love my new companion! We get along great and we both work really hard! I have seen so many miracles so far this transfer.

We were contacting on the square and my companion thought we should go to the East gate. So we did. We were there just a couple of minutes and a couple walked by with bikes. They looked in the gate and asked if they could come in dressed in jeans. They were so cute! They saw so many people dressed up, so they wanted to make sure it was ok. We talked to them and they had a new baby and a toddler. They had a lot of questions. We answered them and talked to them for like 15 minutes. They were very curious about our beliefs. The man was Jewish (not practicing) and the wife was Catholic. They were very nice people and you could tell their family was very important to them. We offered to send them a DVD about families and to have missionaries deliver it to them and answer more of their questions. They were a little apprehensive, but you could tell they were interested. They said they did want the missionaries to come. So they filled out a referral card! They are so golden! I could definitely see them getting baptized and sealed together. Wouldn’t that be amazing!? Then their whole family would be together forever!

The gospel is so amazing! I love that I am able to take a year and a half out of my life to do this! I have learned so much already! I continue to grow everyday in so many different aspects. This really is the best thing I have ever done in my life! Thank you so much for being an example to me by serving a mission! Thank you for always being a worthy Priesthood holder to show me that there are still good people in this world with the power of God.

I love this church so much! I know it really is the exact church that Jesus Christ established while he was on this Earth! I love you! I am so happy that we can be together as a family forever! Thank you for all of your support!

Love,

Sister Garbett

"I'm Trying To Be Like Jesus"


Sept 12, 2009

Mommy,

Well, I'm not gonna lie, I'm a little sad that you're not online and that I didn’t get an e-mail from ANYONE this week... Saturday we don't get mail so I love e-mails.. but this week I didn’t get anything. Oh well, I guess I'm not in my 1st transfer anymore so people start to forget about me.

This week has been good. My new companion, Sister Green, and I get along great. We talk about lots of things and we laugh all the time. We work hard together too. She is such a great example to me and I am learning a lot from her. We have seen lots of miracles this week. We give tours in the Beehive house and that’s where we talk about plural marriage. I was really nervous to talk about that, but I have really gained a testimony of why it was necessary. It is pretty neat to give a tour in such an old house with so many antiques.

I like giving tours at the humanitarian center too. We mainly give tours to members. Last Tuesday we gave a tour to a YM/YW group from a Ward in Provo. It was a lot of fun. I love the youth. The Bishop also asked us to bear our testimony of why we are on missions. It was so great, because there were so many YW there. I hope some of them decide to serve a mission because of us.

Another thing we do a lot is present and contact at the Joseph Smith movie. That is interesting. We're still trying to figure out the most effective way to do that. But last night there were missionaries from the Salt Lake Mission who brought a part member family. We were getting ready to go home and one of the Elders asked us to bear our testimony on baptism to the two children who are preparing for baptism. I told them that one thing I remember about my baptism was the song we sang "I'm trying to be like Jesus." I told them that was my favorite song and how when I was baptized I felt like I was being just like Jesus and how happy I felt for doing that. The spirit was really strong when I told this story. I know I was prompted to say what I said, because I had no idea what I was going to say until I opened my mouth.

I love being a missionary! I love sharing my happiness with so many people. People come up to us all the time and say how much they admire what we do. The other day we had a couple that came on a tour and said they hope that more young women will be more like us. They also said that we don’t have to say anything, but when we walk outside people know who we are and they know what we represent. They weren't even members!

I know I am doing exactly what the Lord wants me to be doing! I love it here! This is such an amazing mission! I love you so much! Keep writing me! I haven’t heard from you all week :(

I love you

Love,
Sister Garbett

Saturday, September 5, 2009

First Transfer!


31 Aug 2009

Mommy & Daddy,

Today we had transfer conference. We found out who is going outbound (transferred to another State-side mission) and what our transfers are. But we don’t actually transfer until Wednesday. I am going to be in the extended zone and my main assignment is the Humanitarian Center. So I will be giving tours there. I don’t exactly know how that will work. My new companion is Sister Green. I don’t know her very well, but I hear she likes to shop! I am so excited for that because I haven’t been shopping in 10 weeks. My companion now told me on my first day that I would have to wait till my 2nd transfer to go shopping. So I have earned a companion who wants to go shopping.

We had a really great experience this week. I was on exchanges with Sister Rafi. She is from France. She is so cute and has lots of energy. She is an amazing missionary. We contacted into two young men, probably my age. One of them was having a really difficult time. He was driving on a suspended license and got pulled over. So he got his car impounded and was stranded without any money in Salt Lake. Little did he know how lucky he was. He talked to a senior couple and they arranged for him to meet with a Bishop at the Welfare Square. He needed to get home to his girlfriend and his three-year-old son. So while he was waiting of his appointment we took him on a tour. The other guy he was with was just a random guy, neither had met each other before. However, they both had had hard lives and grew up without family.

We gave them a tour and talked about temples and prophets. We told them there was a prophet on the earth today and they believed us. We took them into the Tabernacle and there we taught them the restoration. Both of them were taking in everything we said. When we were leaving the Tabernacle one of them said he felt so good. He said there is a feeling here that’s different! They both felt the spirit so strong. We took them to see the Christus at the Visitor Center and it was amazing. I testified how the atonement helps us in our lives with any trials we are going through. We taught about the Book of Mormon and shared with them how we have another scripture to help us in our lives. I was guided by the spirit perfectly when I invited them to have the missionaries bring them a Book of Mormon. They both referred! They were so happy that they got to take the tour. At the end of the tour the young man who was stranded said how he felt that he was stranded here for a reason. The Lord works in mysterious way!

I love being a missionary. The work is hard, but it is so worth it! Those moments when I see someone feel the spirit makes all my hard work worth it. This church is true! This really is the Church of Jesus Christ! The same church that was on the earth in the Bible is on the earth today!

Thanks so much for everything you do for me. I love you! Keep me in the loop.

Love,
Sister Garbett

The Days Are Long But The Weeks are Short!



Aug 24, 2009

Mommy & Daddy,

How was your week. Mine has been really good. The days are so long, but the weeks are incredibly short.

Yesterday was one of the greatest days so far on my mission. I got to attend the Music & Spoken Word at the Conference Center. It was amazing. I get to go again next week because it is my companions last week in the mission field. But next week it will be in the Tabernacle. After that we had an Italian speaking tour and a French speaking tour and both families referred. Then we went to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple dedication. It was so good! It was such a spiritual experience. It made me want to go to the temple every week for the rest of my life. Then we had another Italian speaking tour with 13 people an four referred! It was such an amazing day! Oh, and on top of that, I saw my best-friend Kaysi! This week was so hard. But yesterday was good, it really was filled with many tender mercies from God.

The mission is going so great! Thanks so much for all the support you give me. I pray for you all the time. Oh, that was one thing that was super cool. During the Oquirrh Temple dedicatory prayer, they blessed all the missionaries and their families and while they were praying I felt the spirit so strong. I seriously felt like they were individually blessing me .

I love being a missionary. Although, sometime I get trunky for cute jeans and high heels, I know there is no better place for me to be right now than here on my mission. And I know that this mission is going to bless me and my posterity more than I can imagine. Not to mention all of the random people I meet from all over the world.

This church is so true I love this gospel so much. Thank you for raising me in a righteous environment where I was always able to feel the spirit. I love you so much keep me in the loop!

Love,
Sister Garbett
P.S.

Today was my 2 month mark!
Only 15 and a half months to go! Crazy, huh?

Working Hard


Aug 17, 2009

Mom & Dad

Hey! How is life going? How is the cabin?. Thank you so much for the package. I was actually just thinking about making trail mix. You can always tell mom is in tune with the spirit because she always knows exactly what to say and do.

I love you so much. I had a good P-day today I went to the mall, but I didn’t buy anything. But is was so nice to be in the mall. I got a little trunky. I was looking at the cute stuff then I realized it would be pointless to buy anything cause I can’t wear it anyway. So my companion got her haircut and I sat in the salon writing letters.

I love the mission. Sometime I forget I’m a missionary. Then random people come up and tell me how great I am, and how much they love the missionaries. It’s pretty nice. It’s still pretty weird that I’m really a missionary though.

How is the missionary work going there? You need to help the missionaries out. Any baptisms in the ward lately? How are the ward members? I got a few cards from the Relief Society. It was so nice. I’m glad to know the Ward supports me.

I’m having fun on the mission. Working hard and trying my best to be obedient. I’m mainly taking language tours. Which is pretty nice cause all I do is stand there and look cute. :) The only problem is it gives me lots of time to think and get distracted. Pray for me to have the ability to focus, especially during language ours. But other than that everything is great! I love you so much. Thanks for your support. Thank you for being so wonderful. I love you so much!

Love,

Sister Garbett

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