17 Dec 09 - 6 Jan 10

Date: Wednesday, January 6, 2010, 10:23 AM

Okay, I have no clue when I did this last. All I know is that I've been out on my mission for 39 weeks now (just under 10 months). Scary huh.

Wow. There's so much that I want to say and yet my mind is blank. And my hand hurts. I injured it last night playing dodgeball with one of the wards that I cover. I'm happy to report that I got the most people back in. Not by catching though. I did it by making half court shots into the hoop. "Yeah, I was getting a lot of attitude after I put out that grease fire with my face." - Weird Al

As for how the mission is going. It's going pretty well. I was white washed into this area, plus the holidays, plus me getting sick before Christmas really sucked. But Monday, we were booked every hour of the day with teaching appointments. Yesterday sucked except for a teaching appointment with someone on date for baptism this week. But today and tomorrow, we're booked again. Running from appointment to appointment. It's crazy.

There's a lot that I want to say to everyone; family, friends, everyone else who doesn't fall into those two categories, but I actually don't have enough time to do it. And of course, it has everything to do with the gospel. Course I can relate everything to the gospel... like Halo, but I won't do so now.

Here's one story though before I end this. Last Tuesday, we get a text refferal for a girl named Vincentia Morrison. We knock on her door and it's opened by her cousin or nephew. We ask him if Vincentia's home. He said he would go check and slams the door on us and locks it. We knock again and her brother answers. We ask him the same thing and he gives the same response. A slam and a lock. We knock one last time and this time Vincentia answers the door. She's suprised to see us so soon because she had just reffered herself not even five minutes earlier.

She used to go to church when she was younger but had since stopped coming. She's not a member and when we commited her to be baptized on the ninth, she readily accepted. Vincentia has had a really hard life. She's only sixteen. I seem to have a knack for meeting people who's lives suck. But then again, I've never met anyone who's like [life] was great. I've never met anyone who didn't need me in their lives either, not to sound concieted or anything.

Vincentia believes everything that we tell her. She feels the peace in her life that the gospel brings. To her, going so long without it, it's distinctly noticable. I've never met anyone who's hungered after the gospel as she has. And yet I think to myself, 'shouldn't we all try to be like her?'

I know this gospel brings happiness. I know because my own life hasn't been all that great. Yet I'm able to find laughter in anything, as my sister so kindly pointed out. Why is that? Maybe it's because I know the spirit when I feel it. As it says in Gal 5:22-23: The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace... I've felt that overabundance of love when I prayed to know if this church is true. It's that same feeling that I seek every moment of every day. It's that feeling I know I'll have when I'm with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ after this life.

In James it says: Faith without works is dead being alone. A man may say, "show me thy faith without thy works and I'll show you my faith BY my works." I can't sit around and wait for happiness to come to me. I need to go and do for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men save He shall prepare a way for them to accomplish the thing which He commandeth them. I want to be more like Vincentia and search for that happiness, that joy, that peace that the gospel brings. The Lord has given us all the things we need to be happy. 2 Nephi 2: 25: Adam fell that men might be, and men are, that we might have joy.

As I said in one of my many testimonies, "if you're not happy, you're not living your life the way Heavenly Father wants you to live it." I've seen it time and time again, when we put Heavenly Father first in our lives, EVERYTHING falls into place. And why wouldn't it? Heavenly Father wants to bless us. He wants to help us. We just need to trust in him.

I miss all of you. I want the best for all of you. I've always wanted it. I want to spend the rest of forever with my family and friends. We're one big family. I don't want to lose anyone.

Take care (and write me!)
Elder Garcia (nobody likes me cause I'm 23...)