The Last One...5-28-13

Mom, you should write a book.  Thanks for all the inspiring words everybody.  It really has been a great two years.  I think the best way to email you this week will be to simply answer your questions.  So here we go!

What's one of your favorite mission memories?

There are so many.  Seriously.  So many.  I can't even pull one out for you.

Describe one of your favorite places in the Philippines.

Pinamungajan!  This last area is by far my favorite.  We have seen so much progression in the branch and the members are amazing.  The sunsets are sweet and we live right next to an Angel's Burger and a Julies Bake shop.  It's great!  As for cool touristy stuff though, Bohol was awesome.

What have you most appreciated in a companion?  What could you have done without?

Obedience and vision.  A companion who is anxiously engaged and conducive of revelation.  My favorite companions have been the humble, driven servants of God who use all they have to further the work.  They don't fall into the rut of "just getting stats" or doing what everyone else does.  They are agents unto themselves, and answer to God above all else.  What could I have gone without?  Simply put, disobedience.  A companionship should be 2 strong horses pulling the load, but when one is disobedient, it falls on his companion to not only pull the load all by himself, but also drag his companion alongside with him.  Those are great learning opportunities for the obedient companion, but they aren't fun.

What do you hope to always remember?

I will always remember what I learn about the Gospel, but I also want to remember the effect that each member of this church can have on all those around him or her, for good or bad.

What do you wish you could forget?

Hahaha--mother's who shamelessly breastfeed in public, during lessons, during sacrament meeting, and anywhere else kids between the ages of 0-4 are found.

What Filipino traits do you wish Americans had?

Hospitality

What will you miss?

The dedicated, converted members who still need so much help to know how to magnify their callings.

What was the hardest lesson to learn?  What was the best?

Complete submission to the will of the Lord.  True conversion.  Interestingly enough, they were both the hardest, and best.

If you could go back to the Philippines after your mission, what would you do there?

Visit the members, and eat at Angels.  Swimming would be awesome too.

What has changed the most in you from your experiences as a missionary?
My change of heart.

I'm excited to see you all again next week!  I'll have plenty more stories to tell then.

I love you all!

Elder Garver

5-21-13

Hello!

That's cool that Newel is serving in the Philippines too.  I feel like everyone and their mother is going to Tagalog speaking missions though.  I can understand Tagalog pretty well.  I used to be able to speak it alright too but I haven't spoken it now for at least 6 months so I think I've lost it.  I've forgotten when to double my syllables and when to use the other conjugations.  Tagalog is ridiculous.  It takes 15 minutes to say anything.  It's kinda like entish... only more fruity sounding.  Ouch haha that's so offensive.  I guess I've got a little bisaya pride in me.  I want to practice it more when I go home though since that is the national language.  If you speak that you can communicate with literally anyone in the entire country because it's taught in schools and all the TV is in Tagalog here.

So a couple cool successes of the past week: We baptized Mimi Ann and her Mom on Saturday, got more super awesome revelation for how to help these leaders, we saw a super cool rainbow sunset, and I got pooped on by a bat!  Very exciting.

The baptism went really well, and both Mimi and Nanay are super solid and ready for callings and whatever else the Lord wants for them.  Mimi is going to school in a week or so in the city so she'll be going to church in the Arlington ward, but after that she has already decided to serve a mission which is going to be really good for her.  Nanay is great and will be a big help to our branch here.

Not too much to explain about the bat poop...  Pretty self explanatory.  It was full of seeds...

The revelation we got this week was amazing though!  I'll start explaining it by citing your minds back to the previous week.  I spent 5 days planning a really awesome workshop for my district meeting on Monday, and started to get really strong impressions about what to prepare and teach about.  I planning a workshop on our existence in the premortal life and how our agency and diligence allowed us to win the war in heaven.  I based a lot of it off Revelations 12:7-11 because that is what the Spirit told me to do.  I was feeling super good about it Monday morning and we went to the church to have our district meeting.  When I stood up after the opening exercises however, I was prompted to basically toss my workshop out the window, which I did, and we went a completely different way.  We had a great discussion about how despite much success, there have also been many leaders who, after being trained, just refuse to do their duties.  They'll come to church but are not converted beyond those 3 hours each week.  I had no idea where any of this was going, and I didn't have answers to a lot of the elders questions but we continued with our discussion nonetheless as it was directed by the Spirit.  Then after a good hour or so of discussion, it hit us.  These leaders were throwing up walls when we tried to tell them how to magnify their callings.  We weren't telling them how to do their callings, but even so, the idea of us trying to train them on the programs of the church and their duties was rejected.  Their brains were recognizing foreign ideas, and rejecting them.  What we needed to do was to go deep enough in their minds through the Spirit so as to plant a foreign idea of what they should be doing without them realizing that it wasn't their idea.  If we went down enough levels through inspired questions about problems they were seeing in the branch and ways they could make a difference, the Spirit would be able to help us plant an idea that would be accessed later by that leader and accepted as their own original inspiration.  Does this sound familiar?  We call it... Inception!  If we can get these leaders to think it is them coming up with all these great ideas of how to help, they'll be so much more willing to do it.  They'll see how they really can make a difference and it's not just the Elders using them to do what they want.  We have implemented this and have been seeing amazing success.  Each night we become the "architects" as we plan for commitments and questions to maneuver deep enough into the minds of our leaders.  As we guide the discussion through the Spirit the next day and share scriptures as prompted, leaders have begun telling us exactly what we planned for them to think of.  The Holy Ghost is the perfect partner for these kind of "insertions''.  This has been a really fun way to teach and the success is truly amazing.  Previously difficult or prideful leaders are beginning to think of great ideas and implement them as their own.  Haha this is such a cool spin on teaching through the Spirit.  I'm loving it!

So anyway, that was the revelation of our district meeting and our success with that.  Because I didn't get to teach what I prepared though, I thought that I would just save my workshop for the next week and teach it at the next district meeting. Tuesday however was Zone interviews where President Schmutz came and taught a workshop.  The exact same workshop that the Spirit had so strongly prompted me to prepare.  He as well taught on the premortal life and how our agency and diligence allowed us to win the war in heaven.  He, too, based his workshop off of Revelations 12:7-11.  It was a great workshop!  Looks like I'm not going to be able to take the easy way out for my last district meeting next week after all.  Again, I testify that all true revelation comes from the same place.

I've got one more time to email you all next week before going home, so make sure you send me some good emails so I can get you some good replies.  I love you all!

Love,

Elder Garver

5-14-13

Hi Fam,

(This is short since we just talked last night)

Filipino kids are so LOUD.  I'm really glad last night worked out as well as it did.  I would much rather that than how annoying these little teenagers are right now.  Aren't they supposed to be in school?  Anyway, I love you  It was awesome getting to talk to you.  Ugh this keyboard has no exclamation mark key.  That was a happy sentence about getting to talk to you.  So was that one.  haha oh man this email is so bland now.  Anyway, I love you.

Talk to you next week.

Elder Garver

5-7-13

Hey Everyone!

Don't worry about me getting trunky Dad.  It's not happening.  I definitely know why I'm out here.

This week has been another of magnificent strides.  As we really got into this training thing and started going deeper and deeper, Elder Steiner and I realized that teaching records and other forms for our area book just weren't cutting it.  We tried to imagine the next elders coming in and taking over and we realized that even though we were filling up our area book with dates when people were visited and what we trained them on, there was nowhere to record the "big picture" or vision of where we were going with the leaders.  We went through the handbooks of instructions and filled 4 pages with things that needed to happen in a well running church.  There was no way this was all going to be able to be planned for, remembered, and transferred and continued without something new to help.  We spent a couple days this last week creating a brand new form to use for the area books here which is going to streamline the training process, and allow the work to continue fluently from companionship to companionship.  It's beautiful!  I'm really happy with it.  The Spirit was so strong as were began the project and the result is going to benefit missionaries a ton.  I am so excited every day to wake up and work.  The work is so progressive here.

We also have 2 baptisms scheduled for next Saturday on the 18th.  Nanay and her 21 year old daughter Mimi Ann are super solid and are doing really well.  I'll have pictures for you in a couple weeks.

I'm excited to see you all on Mothers day as well.  Lets shoot for 8:30am my time.  If something comes up I'll let you know.  That is election day here and I hear that it can get a little crazy.  I'll find a way to let you know.

I love you all!

Love,

Elder Garver

4-30-13

Well, hello there!

I think technology has gotten a lot better since Chris' uncle served here.  We get gallons of purified water delivered to our house which we drink.  We just use regular water though if we are going to be boiling it for spaghetti or pasta or anything.  I feel like such an American with Elder Steiner.  I haven't eaten rice for months now unless it's at a member's house, and we set up a little gym in our house now so we can get HUGE!  We'll see what I can pull off in a month.  My diet consists now of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, eggs, and spaghetti.  Every day.  I'm thinking about buying some chicken to mix things up a bit this month.  That requires so much cooking and cleaning time though, which I don't know if I can afford.  Maybe I'll see if you can toast a chicken breast...  We do drink tons of soda though.  It's a typical thing here to get fed snacks before or after a lesson which is usually bread and a liter or 2 of soda.  I was super worried about it in my 3rd area when my companion and I were drinking at least 4 liters a day...  It's not so bad here.

I don't really have much to say this week besides the success is continuing to flow.  It seemed like I went to church in a completely different are last week.  We had so many more meetings and things implemented that it changed the whole Spirit in the church.  Priesthood Opening Exercises was a great success and we had 13 less actives that came to church for the first time, none of which were visited by us.  The members are catching the spirit of missionary work as we train them on their individual responsibilities and are fellow shipping and visiting their fellow brothers and sisters without having to be babysat by the missionaries, and the fruits are clearly apparent.

I did get my package by the way.  I told someone...  Anyway, I haven't taken a picture yet but my awesome 6 foot long birthday sign is hung up in our apartment right now.  Thank you!

That's a cool story Mom about Jacob 5.  I had a really cool experience with Jacob 6:12 in my 4th area that changed my life.  I got a prompting while studying to focus on that tiny little verse, and an hour later I was learning things about sacrifice and obedience that are going to end up being a big part of what gets me into the Celestial Kingdom.  There is truly no end to what the Spirit and the scriptures will teach you if you are diligent in studying them.  I am hearing back from a lot of my now RM companions that it is a huge challenge to jump back in to real life and continue feasting on the words of Christ everyday, but I am determined to not let a day go by that I don't study for at least 1 hour every day, and I'm going to wake up as early as I need to to do it.  I have no idea what I'm in for when I go home...

I love you all!  Life is great.

Love,

Elder Garver

4-24-13

Hey Everyone!

This week was transfer week and it was an interesting one!  We had our two area mates pulled out so one could train and open a different area and the other could step up to Zone Leader on Bohol.  This leaves Elder Steiner and me to take care of the entire branch here in Tutay.  This is proving to be quite the undertaking.  I received amazing revelation for my district this past transfer that we needed to basically drop everything and completely focus on training our leaders.  We have been visiting every auxiliary leader for the past couple weeks and training them individually on each of their responsibilities.  They currently can't do this without us because the red and blue handbooks of instruction for the church are not in Bisaya and nobody here can understand English enough to study them and understand, and nobody knows what their doing in the first place so there isn't anybody with any clue on how to do anything more that attend church once a week for 3 hours.  We have been carrying the handbooks with us everywhere and teaching out of them, and we are seeing huge success.  I can honestly say that I have seen more success this last transfer than I have my entire mission.  It feels so good to have each entire day packed with crucial appointments, and then to see immediate success as the leaders begin to implement presidency meetings, PEC and branch councils, visiting and home teaching, calendaring, interviews, and more.  I am loving this area, and am excited to finish up strong.  We scheduled it out after we found out the other elders were leaving, and we found that with training Elder Steiner, visiting each auxiliary once a week, the presidents twice, and the branch president 3 times, we are left with 3 hours a WEEK to teach our progressing investigator, Mae Ann and her family.  We are slammed!  It is so fulfilling.  This place is going to be the best organized branch in the Philippines by the time I go home.  All the leaders are so willing to learn and want so bad to do their part, they just haven't known how.  I'm loving it.

Gosh these kids here are so loud!  ugh.  There is only one computer shop in my area and it's summer break so all the annoying little teenagers come and play DOTA (a video game) and just SCREAM and YELL at the top of their voices at each other.  Too bad there aren't any libraries in the Philippines.  Filipinos don't read...

Anyway, I've got some more pictures for you!  I hope they all make it.  

1. me on the front of a motor, taken by Elder Croxton next to me on their motor. 

2. me again on the front with our driver behind me. 

3. The Negros Valcano.

I love you!  Don't get too trunky Dad!  At least you're do a pretty good job of covering it up ;)

Love,

Elder Garver

4/16/13

Hello!

Before I forget, this is important.  I need that waist size of both Dad and Papa. Don't forget to send that to me!

This week was great!  I received more awesome revelation and the work has just clicked.  We are finally doing lasting good.  We are visiting all our leaders and working with them to get their individual auxiliary meetings going, and the are all responding to the call.  We are also teaching in small 10-15 minute increments each day so they don't lose focus.  The people have very short attention spans here so instead of teaching all of lesson one in an hour, we are teaching them one principle like the Godhead for 10 minutes, leaving them a study assignment, and coming back the next day to review, and then move onto the next portion of the lesson.  It is working wonders.

To answer Dad's question, I am doing just fine physically.  I don't know how great of a shape my teeth are in, but we'll just have to worry about that when I get home.  I think I've got some pretty bad gum recession.  We don't have to walk at all in this area because we have a member that takes us literally everywhere we go.  It is so awesome.  He has a motorcycle that he drives right up to the door of every appointment we have.  We are so spoiled.

Elder Steiner is doing great, and we think that Elder Chamberlain is going to be training this transfer once Elder Croxton transfers so it'll be cool to have 2 kids in the apartment.  I included a picture of me and my goofy comp for you guys.

Love you all!

Love,

Elder Garver

4-10-13

Hello!

This week has been really good out here in the bukid!  I got some awesome revelation for my district and introduced it in District Meeting on Monday.  We are now completely focusing on the leaders in our branches out here.  We are visiting them multiple times each week in order to first convert, and then train them on the individual callings.  We are seeing tons of success already and the Spirit it beginning to flood into this district of branches.  I love it!

That's really all this last week summed up in a paragraph.  Training is going well, the apartment mates are a blast, dinner appointments are existent, we still have a personal driver... life is great.  I'm loving it.

I got some more pictures for you.  Check out this tree!  It fell down a super long time ago but it's still got enough roots deep enough in the ground to keep it alive.  I bet there is a gospel principle that we could relate that to...

I love you all!  You are all the best.

Love,

Elder Garver

4-3-13

Hello Everyone!

So I started to make that list of food I missed and ended up just throwing it away.  I like rice.

This week has been really good but a little crazy too.  We are getting a lot of work done in this branch and are really starting to see the light of hope shimmering through the darkness.  This branch is going to be up and running before I have to leave it.  Elder Steiner is doing great as well.  He hasn't gotten sick yet and is doing well adjusting to the food.  He is improving really rapidly at the language as well.  The hardest thing here when you're new is understanding the natives when they speak.  There are no rules in Cebuano so you just say things basically however you feel like and it takes a long time to get used to that as a greenie.  He is doing well speaking however and can get his point across well.  This area is a ton of fun.

So now on to the more crazy part.  This past week was Holy Week, and like Dad is hoping for, I've got some stories.  I wasn't anywhere where I could see anything big last year, but this year was different.  We had a conference in the city on Friday and on the way back we got to see some of the parades and things that the Catholics put on here.  There were THOUSANDS of people swarming the streets pushing homemade floats with all their saints and Mama Marys and Jesuses perched up top.  They had candles and were playing drums and stuff all over the island.  We sat in traffic for 3 hours waiting for the masses of people to pass so we could go back to our area.  They also did a pretty crazy parade in Toledo right by the Zone Leaders' apartment with thousands of people following a man who represented Jesus on the road to Calvary.  There were people dressed up as Jews following a big group of Roman soldiers who were escorting a man in boxer shorts who was supposed to be Jesus.  Their Jesus was carrying a real cross down the road and up their hill of Calvary while literally  being whipped and beaten by the men dressed as Roman soldiers.  Their Jesus was drunk out of his mind so he didn't feel the pain so much and was stumbling as he ascended the hill.  It was past our curfew so nobody got to see the actual crucifixion on the top of the hill, but I did get to go back the next night and got a couple pictures with some kids who were playing up there.  Super messed up.

                                              

The next picture I included also has a little explanation :)  The Catholic Church here seems to only care about money, and so they charge their members fees for everything that happens.  They sell baptism, blessings, marriages, forgiveness for sins, burial sites, and more.  I don't know much about cemeteries in America, but here, all the cemeteries are owned by the Catholic Church.  If you aren't a Catholic, the church refuses to let you be buried in their cemetery, and if you are a Catholic there is a rent charged on your grave.  If your family can't afford to pay the monthly rent on the grave one month, the church digs up your body, and throws whatever is left in a pile in the cemetery to free up space for someone who can pay.  We passed through a cemetery this week and a got a couple pictures for you.  Again, super messed up.

Well, I hope you are all having a great week!  You are really lucky you get to listen to conference this week.  We'll be listening to it next.  I love you all so much!

Love,

Elder Garver

3-27-13

Hello!

Wow, what kind of phone do you have Mom?  That's super cool you can just talk to it and it writes stuff for you.  I saw an Ipad mini for the first time the other day and it made me laugh super hard.  Apple is ridiculous.  They just keep making the same thing in different sizes and people still buy them!

I don't have my flight plans yet, but I'll let you know when they come in.  Holy cow... that should be some time this transfer.  I still can't really believe this mission is ever going to come to an end.

This week has been good.  We got the apartment organized and are getting into our area pretty well now.  We had to open it up so it was a little different as we spent a lot of time going around finding members and things but we are just about into the full swing of things and only have a few more families we need to find.  Elder Steiner is doing well and is a hard worker with a great attitude at all times.  We are having a blast in this area with the two other Elders who stay in the same apartment with us who are both very good friends of mine from previous areas.  Our branch is small and weak but we are working together with the Branch President to get things up and running.

That's pretty much it for this week.  I'm including pictures again as promised.  The first is obviously me and my companion, and the second is a picture I took looking out of a window in our apartment.  We are living right on the beach :)  I still haven't forgotten the advice Papa gave me about not taking sunsets for granted.  That one's for you Papa.

                                                            

I love you all so much!

Love,

Elder Garver

p.s.  I was talking with my companions here while we ate lunch earlier and we decided that since you'll be saving money on not flying out here, we could use a little of that on some food that I haven't gotten to eat in 2 years.  They told me it would be a good idea for me to put together a list of foods that I want to eat first when I get home.  I'll send you a little list next week.  The first one I can think of just off the top of my head is muddy buddies :)  I love you all!

3-20-13

Hey!

It's almost my birthday!  That's crazy.  I'm getting so old...

Don't worry about sending my any info on the vacation.  I want it to be a surprise.  Airline, hotel, and event tickets sound pretty extravagant though.  Are you sure you want to have this much fun?  Ever since finding out you wouldn't be coming out I've been trying to do really good at using my camera more, but I've found two problems while do so.  First, I'm taking a ton of videos, so I'm running out of memory fast.  Second, because of all the videos, I forgot to take still pictures and now I don't have anything to send this week (sorry Dad!).  Next week I'll have pictures of me and Elder Steiner.  Also, thank you Mom for all the diligent effort on my behalf for getting me situated with college.  When do I need to sign up for classes?

So about me.  This week has been crazy, but awesome!  Transfer day was Thursday, but I found out that day that the new missionaries had missed their flight because of a mistake that the new travel agency for the church made and they weren't going to come in until Friday.  I still transferred and just worked with the Zone Leaders in my old area in Toledo.  That was fun.  Then I traveled the 2-3 hours down to the city to meet my new companion at the mission home, but found out that they had been delayed again and were going to show up later that day.  I hung out at the mission home for a couple hours before they finally showed up.  The only problem was their luggage didn't!  Their luggage got lost somewhere in the flight and nobody had any idea where it was so all the missionaries in the far areas were instructed to stay in the city until they could figure out where all the luggage was.  That meant that I met up with my new companion, Elder Steiner, and then just waited with 6 others in the city until Monday when they finally found the luggage and got it to us.  During this time of waiting, President Schmutz had to make some emergency transfers and we got 2 more missionaries put in our area.  That means that it is now 4 of us opening up a new area.  None of us have any idea where anybody or anything is, and our Branch President is out of town until Saturday.  Luckily we have some members that showed up and are helping us out.  This week has been ridiculous but it has been enjoyable as well, especially now that we are working again.

So a little about my companion.  Elder Steiner is from Rexburg, Idaho.  He is 18 years old and the first batch to only stay for 6 weeks in the MTC.  Despite the shortened time he is pretty good at the language already and is a solid missionary.  We have been having a great time working together these past few days and the Spirit is super strong with us all day, every day.  This is the best.  Our area is super bukid (up in the mountains).  We are in the middle of a jungle but right by the ocean.  It is a great area with a progressing branch which I am very excited to work with.  You may be able to see us on google maps under Pinamungajan.

I love you all!  I'll send pictures next week.

Love,

Elder Garver

3-13-13

Hey everyone!

Mom, I'm not heartbroken that you can't come out.  I think having you come out would be a great experience for the two of you, but being able to do a family vacation will be great for all of us, especially because this may be the last time we can all do something like this together before college and marriage (that's super exciting) and stuff.  I'll do my best to take more pictures and digitally record the Philippines for you.

So this is a big week!  Transfer week.  I am leaving Elder Afu and have been called to finish the last two transfers of my mission as a Trainer/District Leader.  I am excited beyond belief.  I can't think of a better way to finish my mission.  I get to raise up more "posterity" in the mission, fill him with 2 years of experience, and teach weekly workshops to a district of missionaries and help them become more fully converted and excited for the Lord's work.  I am also opening a new area so all this combined will be quite the task that the Lord has given me.  I am very much looking forward to it.  I find out who my new companion is when he gets to the Philippines on Saturday.

Stepping down from Zone Leader now means that I can entirely focus on the work, and I am so excited.  The "busy work" of the mission is fulfilling in a sense, but there is nothing like bearing down in powerful testimony and converting souls.  This is going to be the best two transfers ever.

I did get to conduct exchanges with Elder Wangsgaard this last Sunday.  I don't know if you remember him.  He was my District Leader back in my second area, and I owe my conversion largely in part to him.  We have been extremely close our whole missions and now he is going home.  Elder Wangsgaard stepped down from being Zone Leader and was a Trainer/District Leader in my zone here this transfer, and we finally got to work together one last time before he left.  It was so good to work with him again, we taught the Cabunag family who had a series of unfortunate events and misunderstanding happen to them which caused them to go inactive for a while, but through the Spirit of the Lord, revelation, and a priesthood blessing, hearts were softened, tears flowed and lives were changed.  That was one of the longest (over 2 hours) and best lessons of my mission, and I am so grateful to Elder Wangsgaard who was converted and worthy enough to make it happen with me.  I've included a picture of us with the Cabunag family at the bottom.

I love you all!

Love,

Elder Garver

3-5-13

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!  It's tomorrow!  I've forgotten how old everyone is back home so I'm just going to say happy 37th.

So hello!

This week has been another crazy one, but this time it's also been filled with awesome meetings.  I'm going to preach a little bit today, but at least I'm sending a couple pictures so it'll be worth reading through the sermon to get to the pictures at the bottom.

So we had ZLC yesterday, and our mission has been changed again!  This calling of Zone Leader has taught me a lot about how revelation works.  I mentioned this in a previous email, but ever since becoming a leader over entire zones, the revelation I have been receiving has been amazing.  I have found that as I have diligently sought the Lord's will for my missionaries through study and prayer, the windows of heaven have been opened wide.  Each ZLC for the past 6 months, where new policies are announced and put into effect, I have found that the revelation I recently received on a zone level, was now being implemented on a mission level.  I have been amazing at how congruent the revelation has been between me and my leaders.  Speaking of which, the revelation which Elder Rogers and I received and implemented last month in our zone, has also been received by the mission president and is now being officially implemented in the whole mission, and perhaps Philippines.

The Church has previously defined less active members according to the frequency of church attendance.  Going to church is a very important part of our spirituality, but it alone does not get us to exaltation.  As missionaries of Christ's church, we don't really care about numbers at all; we care about the salvation of our brothers and sisters.  In that light, the definition of less active has been changed.  Statistically speaking, in the last year, as a rescue mission in Cebu, we brought back over 3500 members (meaning the came to church for 4 consecutive Sundays), but at the end of the year sacrament attendance only went up by 700-800.  Why the huge difference?  We can liken it to a bucket with holes in it.  We may be constantly pouring water into our bucket, but as long as the container we are attempting to fill has holes in it, the water is just going to continue to run out.  The bucket is our church, and the water represents the members here who have such a hard time staying active.  We are now taking a break from pouring more and more water in the bucket, and are now solving the leakage problem.  So what do we do in order to patch up our bucket?  We start patching up the church, and helping our "active" members actually become converted to the gospel, and understand how Christ has instructed us to run His church through loving and serving our fellowmen, while obeying with exactness.

In this sense, every single member has now become "less-active."  Not less active in the sense of physical presence at church, but in the sense of spiritual preparedness to meet God.  God cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance (D&C 1:31).  Our necessity to live the celestial law (D&C 88:22) applies just as much to people who go to church as those who don't.  Let's think about our standing before God on a celestial level.  Can you imagine standing before God after attending church every Sunday of your life but turning down calling after calling because you were shy?  How about living a mostly valiant life, but you just couldn't ever find the faith to pay tithing?  Or parents who never tried to hold regular FHE with their family because it was "hard"?  The Lord will not accept our excuses, and we will be so embarrassed to be in the presence of One so Holy and Pure that we will beg to dismiss ourselves from His presence. (see Alma 12:14 and Mormon 9:3).  I testify that virtually every member whether active or inactive at church is less-active in the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Matt 7:13-14 applies just as much to members as it does to non-members.  The rewards of the celestial kingdom are far above that which we are able to perceive or even imagine.  Do you think that obtaining these rewards would require anything less than everything we posses?  Even many active members of the church are not where they need to be in order to be called "valiant" and obtain eternal life.

Therefore, we are redefining "less-active" to include... everyone.  We will now fill our planners beginning with church leaders, and work our way down through the whole church.  If you aren't doing family scripture study, we are going to help you.  No regular FHE?  We've got what you need in the way of love, new ideas, and doctrine to help convert you more and help you see how important this really is!  Having trouble getting leaders to PEC or Ward Council, we'll be visiting all of them and committing them to repent and enjoy the satisfaction and happiness that comes from serving your fellowmen.  This is an inspired movement of the mission, and I can already testify of the immense blessings we have seen in Talisay the past couple months through applying this in our area.  Our ward has gone from 70 members at church to 120+ each week, the leaders are faithfully holding all their meetings, visiting and home teaching, and getting people back to church even on their own.  We are not out serving the Lord for numbers, we are here for His work and His glory.  Let's begin with those elect who will hear his voice right inside the church, and when we have everyone on the straight and narrow, and the bucket is all patched up, we'll shift our focus back to pouring more water in.

This is not to say that we won't be teaching non-members anymore, quite the contrary.  We will be focusing as well on really converting our members to the point where they won't be able to stand the thought of a friend not having the opportunity to partake of such joy that the gospel brings.  We will be seeking referrals from every single member we visit, and we plan to have more work than even all the new missionaries can handle within a few months.

So that's what we've got going for us out here on this side of the world. It's exciting stuff.  I've really come to realize how important obedience is, and how big a part we have in making Christ's atonement effectual in our lives.  We have a lot to work for, but I testify that it will all be worth it.  We need to live the law of the kingdom in which we desire to spend eternity in (DC 78:7).

I love you all.  I am so thankful to have parents who have been so valiant in raising me and my siblings.  I have had to change my life a whole lot here on the mission in order to feel comfortable imagining myself standing before Christ, but I can now testify that I am ready to see my Savior again.  This work is His work, and it is amazing even to the filling of my soul with joy and thanksgiving.  I am excited to continue the work back home in a few months.

I love you all so much.

Love,

Elder Garver

P.S. I got some pictures for you :)  There is a member in our zone who loves feeding missionaries.  That has been a huge blessing of being assigned in the city.  Yay American food!

2-27-13

Good Morning!

Dad's giving me the guilt trip.  So is Elder McDougal.  I forgot my camera at the house I'm sorry.  We are doing a Zone Activity and a forgot to throw it in my travel bag.  I'll get you pictures next week.  Elder Afu is getting along decently well here.  The money we have is definitely not enough to keep him fed as well as he is used to, but he is surviving.  He came into the mission at 128 kilos and now weighs only 102.  He has lost a ton of weight.

This week has been full of nothing but business.  These weeks kill me but it's all for the good of the mission in the end.  This transfer has been cut to only 4 weeks in order to get us into the schedule with all these new missionaries coming in, so we are short on time from the get go.  Then on top of that, we learned that we have 6 new missionaries coming into our zone in 2 weeks and opening up 3 new areas.  This means that Elder Afu and I must find, rent, and furnish 2 new apartments, visit with all the other missionaries and inventory their furnishings, meet with missionaries and church leaders about assigning area boundaries, go to our Zone Leaders Council in Cebu, visit the temple with our zone (yay!), and teach the zone in Zone Training Meeting.  Not to mention our weekly DLC trainings we have with the District Leaders or the exchanges we must somehow find time to conduct with the other elders.  I have never been this busy in my life.

So that's the measure of my creation right now.  We do occasionally get to work in our area as well, and those who we visit are doing well.  Our greatest success is with the ward which we are helping become self sustaining.  We have about 115 members who come each week, with about 15-20 priesthood leaders.  We are getting every auxiliary up and running and the ward is taking off.  It's doing really well.

I think Alicia should do 1 semester of school before her mission.  That's the feeling I got while reading your email Mom.  Do all you can Mom to get Chris and I in the same apartment.  We have been dreaming about this since we were priests.  If you have to break into the dean's office in Idaho and hack the computer system, that is a sacrifice that must be made!  I love you Mom!

I've got to run.  I love you all so much!  Pass on my love to Crystal as well.

Love,
Elder Garver

To Chris:  We're going to college together!!  That's so awesome that you got in and that you can come in the fall with me.  I can't wait.  How are your last few weeks going in the mission?  I haven't heard from you in a couple weeks.  I love you buddy.  WE'RE GOING TO COLLEGE TOGETHER!!!!!!

2-20-13

Are you serious?  It's the 20th already?  Oh man...

We are beginning to see the signs of the time spoken by Jesus Christ.  Meteors are hitting Russia, Hurricanes are hitting the Philippines (another one just went through Mindanao and it's been raining pretty hard for a couple days here as an effect), and the days are being shortened as time is speeding up as promised by Christ in Matt 24:21-22.

That's great news about college! Let me know on updates as they come!

This week has been great.  I haven't gotten a chance to get a picture with Elder Afu yet, but I'll send you a picture next week hopefully.  I have been having such a good time with him this week.  They work is going great, and Elder Afu and I are having a lot of fun.  Just to give you an idea of how strong this guy is, yesterday we went out in the heavy rain to work, and as Elder Afu tried to push the button with his thumb on the new umbrella we just bought to make it extend and pop up, the umbrella bent and then snapped in half.  He is so massive.  We have also been loaning our car to Elder Packer, an area 70 who is visiting, for a couple days, and I have laughed as Elder Afu has made the motorcycles we catch rides on pop wheelies as he sits on the back of them.

I agree with Mom, I do have the best mission in the world.  There is big news as well, because this best mission in the world is about to be split!  Starting July 1, 2013 (a month after I go home) the Cebu mission is getting split into the Cebu mission and Cebu East missions!  With the huge surge of missionaries, we are having to split the area and call another mission president to help share the load.  This is a pretty big deal because half our missionaries will be in a separate mission with a new mission president starting in a couple months.  We don't know the exact boundaries yet, but we'll be updating in the following weeks.

I am so proud of all you back home.  I love you all so much.

Love,

Elder Garver

2-13-13

Hello!

Mom don't worry, I'm definitely not expecting perfection.  Actually it is quite the opposite.  The nature of my calling is to visit and try to convert members who have wandered off the path.  This means that almost every member of the church I associate with hasn't gone to church or read their scriptures in years.  The Lord's warning is very literal in 2 Nephi 28:30 when He promises to take away that which we already know if we are not diligent in obtaining more.  I have come to realize how literal this is as I have taught inactive Returned Missionaries who no longer can remember the Plan of Salvation, or the 3 kingdoms of glory; and as I have witnessed how virtually every single person we teach has no idea what Joseph Smith did or that God has a body of flesh and bones.  I am simply expecting that you know these things and go to church each week.  That will be an unimaginably large difference from what I am used to.  You are safe :)

This week is transfer week and I am getting a new companion!  My new companion is Elder Afu from Australia.  He is a professional rugby player that left his millions to come serve the Lord.  He is HUGE...  We also are stacked this transfer with amazing District Leaders, and great new missionaries.  This transfer is going to be awesome!  Also, we have a car.  I hope Elder Afu can fit in it.

I included some pictures (yay!!).  The first is titled, "upon the isles of the seas..."  

The second is of a man we found while I was on splits with Elder Nacar. We were headed to a less active member's house when this man just popped out of his door and asked, "Who are you?"  We said we were missionaries and had a unique message about the only true church of Jesus Christ.  He paused and then said, "Ok, you can teach me," and let us in.  He is awesome.  He is mostly deaf but miraculously gains his hearing back when he comes to church, and is super super nice.  The coolest thing though is that he looks exactly like a Filipino Papa.  Am I right or what?  It's crazy!

I love you all!

Elder Garver

2-6-13

Hello Everyone!

Things are going great out here in the Philippines.  We had ZLC yesterday and President gave an awesome workshop on worthiness and miracles.  Whenever an Elder lays his hands on someone's head or a Sister gives a promise in the name of Jesus Christ, it's not their lack of faith in the Lord's ability to work the miracle, but their own personal worthiness that causes them to be nervous or doubtful.  Of course we don't doubt that God can heal the blind or cause the lame to walk, but sometimes we doubt that WE can do it through Him.  Like the Prophet Joseph Smith taught in the Lectures on Faith, if we can increase our faith through knowledge and application, it will turn into a perfect knowledge that our lives are pleasing to God, and then we can know that we can do anything in His name according to His will. 

I mentioned last week that we have been receiving lots clear of revelation for our missionaries this transfer.  It has been really amazing to find how audible and operative the Lord has become for our zone.  It is hard to explain.  One thing that has really impressed me about the revelations however is how consistent they have been with those of President Schmutz's.  Ever since becoming a Zone Leader, the manner of revelation has changed dramatically, with me receiving direct, clear instructions for my zones.  Then after implementing these changes and following the revelation received, we get notice from President Schmutz that they are implementing the very same thing we received in revelation the week before!  Elder Rose is one of my district leaders in the zone and he is truly converted and dedicated to the work.  He told me that he is receiving the same revelation on a district level at the same time as well.  Revelation all comes from the same place, and the worthy receive it!  This has been so cool to be a part of.

Something I have been pondering lately is how excited I am to come home and teach FHE :)  I hope you will let me ease back into the real world by teaching you in FHE for a few weeks.  I love missionary work more than I can explain, and teaching people who are already solid in the gospel is my absolute favorite.  Being able to expound on the atonement, instead of teaching it just at its most basic level is something that fills me with such joy and happiness.  I have wondered many times on my mission, "If I am learning so much now, I wonder how much Mom and Dad know that I never was ready to learn from them when I was kid?"  I still am a kid, but it sure doesn't feel like it anymore.  I'm excited to do some companionship studies with you Dad when I get back home!  I'm also really excited to help Alicia prepare for her mission.  I've got a lot of advice!  Man I'm so preachy...

I did get Shae's letter by the way.  She included the me waiting for her part in it as well.  That made me laugh.  If I go home right on the 6th, I may have a chance to see her again before she heads to the MTC too.  Maybe.  

Also, an ok-ok is a cockroach.  Did you not get that picture?  I'll send it again next week if I have time.  I've gotta run again though.  We need to get back to Talisay and work out renting another apartment   

I love you!  

I love you too Anne!

Elder Garver

1-30-13

Hey!

Tell me where Shay is going!  Letters take so long to get here...

Perhaps one day if I step down from being Zone Leader I will be able to send you a good, quality email.  But alas, ZL duties remain ever present.  I spent a long time emailing President today so I'm out of time today.  Please forgive me.  Alicia, I loved the email.  Thank you.  How is whats-his-face doing?  Grant, no?

This week has again been filled with revelation for my zone and mission.  It has been as though the Lord and I have been having a progressing conversation this transfer and miracles are being wrought.  I will hopefully have time to tell you more next week.  Sorry, I know that's kind of lame.  Please bear with me.

I have to go meet up with my zone again now at the mall.  They are waiting on us.  We are conducting our zone activity today.  It's going to be awesome, and I'll tell you about it next week... haha

I love you!

Love,

Elder Garver

1-23-13

Whoa.  Time is flying so fast...

Well, hello everyone!

Mom: Sure, I'd love to do summer classes as well if I have time.  I wouldn't mind staying in the same place as last time.  That would be cool actually.  Just whatever is cheapest.  I'm pretty sure anything that passes the health and safety code in America will be way better than what I'm used to.

Dad: I think what's going to happen is that these next 2 transfers almost every sister will be training.  We are getting a net gain of 31 new missionaries so it's going to be a ton.  Then the newly trained sisters will probably turn right around and immediately train to accommodate the next waves.

I'm quite jealous that you get to go visit CT again.  I want to go back to... Cherry St., was it?  I miss that cemetery, and Ann and her Oreos.

This transfer has been one of intense revelation for me.  Elder Rogers and I have been receiving revelation after revelation for our zone, which I spoke to President about in my interview with him last week.  He is receiving the same guidance for the mission.  It is such a great testimony that revelation is congruent and consistent, because it's all coming from the same place.  We have converted our missionaries in the Talisay zone (they were already extraordinary to begin with), and are now beginning to convert the church leaders.  If the bishopric and auxiliaries in a ward aren't completely obedient and diligent in daily scripture study or home and visiting teaching, we are never going to be able to retain the new less active members coming back.  We're also learning how to teach these people better, and have felt a new spirit enter the zone.  Things are happening here, and I feel that this is much more of what the Lord wants.  Work is fantastic here.

I love you all!

Love,

Elder Garver

 This is just a funny picture I saw.  So true...

 This one was an "inday" or little girl.  The little kids here are so cute.  I'm thinking about adopting an inday in the future.

This is a hanging bridge that Elder Rogers was scared to death to cross.  That's him holding the sides and freaking out...