Tuesday, August 23, 2011

This past week has been a whirlwind we touched Perginan, carcassonne, montpeiller, and nimes all in a time of 1 week. Incredibly stressful but what a chance to see every city in our zone in a span of 1 week!

Elder Mitchell continues to progress and speaks great french. It has been unbelievable hotttt here-- honestly my finger tips are sweating typing this email its insane... but it is pretty sweet in the south of France.

Transfers are next week and I probably will stay. We have 11 engages for baptism. meaning 6 months in Béziers ooooo la la--- tired am I, but the Lord has provided for me in so many different ways.

love,
Elder Garlock

Monday, August 15, 2011

Nimes

Well this past week we have been working in the city of Nimes which is farther east than Béziers it is actually very close to my old sector of Vitrolles. We had to leave Béziers for security issues because of the Feria.

Definition:Feria:
Spanish festival where there is the fighting of the bulls.

I am ever amazed at the attitude changing power the Atonement of Jesus Christ plays in my life. Throughout this week there has been much adversity... Us not being in Béziers... Phone broken... Contacting literally all day long and finding ourselves lost in an unknown ville of Nimes... however, through all of these worldly circumstances and really these "things" I felt joy, saw miracles, and personally grew.

I am grateful for the scriptures and the hours of studies we have during the morning. I find great peace and inspiration, personal revelation and motivation to continue on and help others grow their faith in keeping the commandments of God.

I had a unique rather funny experience while here in Nimes. During sacrament meeting we found ourselves without a pianist so I bit the bullet and offered to play. The first song to open the meeting I played one handed not a very well known song but we got by with few faults and 3 flats. At this point I was feeling pretty confident. (I should point out that normally I play in Béziers during sacrament with the simplified hymns. At Nimes i did not have that luxury) Then the sacrament hymn came I looked in the key signature and there were 4 flats... o golly... what made it even worse is I played the first starting note to get everyone started off correctly but no one knew the song. Absolutely no one... the conductor was trying her best... bless her heart... to no avail. There wasn't anything to do to help. Thankfully one of the counselors from the stake was there and gave us relief and decided to restart and sing another song. In the moment, it was tough but as Elder Worthlin couseled, "come what may and love it."

Preparation days are way way too quick to get a ton of letters out. I have definitely seen countless blessings while on my mission.

love,
Elder Garlock