It's Raining for the 17th Straight Day

Me with Benjamin, a recent convert with my nametag - Ha Ha Ha!  I love this man - and Tinomana's dad is in the background.

Hey all, this week was very, very, very wet! It has been raining for 17 days in a row, and normally I love the rain! But, when you are always going on bike to appointments, it feels like Splash Mountain every day! Still fun though!

Elder Davis, Tinomana and Me

So, the big news this week was that we had a baptism! His name is Tinomana, and he has been receiving the lessons for over a year now! It was a very touching experience, and his dad, after the baptism, who is not a member, told me that everything that Tinomana did for the baptism came from Tinomana. His decision to get baptized, his testimony (especially of the Book of Mormon), and his actions all came from himself, he was never forced by his parents (non-members). It was really touching to hear that from a non-member, who is now taking the lessons. It is amazing what happens when someone bears a pure testimony (Alma 4: 19)

Other than that, just a great week! The work here is going well and we are working with a lot of great people. We are helping a lot of people right now that are changing huge things in their life and helping them to overcome tempations that have beset them for multiple years. But, everything is possible through faith in Christ!

This Picture Just Doesn't Do the Rain Justice

Culture Shock: That sad moment when you hang your clothes out to dry and it rains all week... So they are all still wet!

Funny Moment: Definitely goes to getting hit by a car this week! It was not serious, but let's just say I got knocked off my bike unexpectedly! Then, right after, I almost got hit again by a car backing up ha ha ha!

Spiritual Thought: I have been thinking a lot about a lesson my dad taught me before my mission with finding the "why" behind everything. For missionary work, if we start with the questions "what" and "how" first, we get an approach like this for missionary work: "we are here to baptize you, we will do this through lessons, so that you can be saved at the last day". But, if you focus on the why behind missionary work, like my dad taught me, it becomes like this: "We are here to help you come unto Christ, you can do this through obeying the Gospel of Christ, and the things you can do are accepting and keeping the commandments of God". So, focus on the "why" with everything!

Love you all!

Elder Garff