Merry Christmas!!!

This past week we went to Aix en provence and presented the transfer focus to the Montpellier and aix en provence zones it was great to see mission friends and spend time with President and Soeur Murdock.

Thank you so much for all of the wonderful gifts, cookies from the Goodwins, and other packages! Tell everyone THANK YOU!! Cards from all the extended family and friends! Much needed candy and hygiene from you, the family and so many other great expressions of love! My Christmas season was a great one and I looking forward to be sharing Christmas with all of you next year! Let me know what you doing for new years!

I love Montpellier it has been a ride and thrill to be a missionary in such a large city! This Christmas season really has opened doors!

I miss you all and I'll defiantly will miss singing Christmas Carrols on the busses, trams, and streets. I think we will continue singing just not Christmas songs!

Merry Christmas!

Love,

Elder Garlock

Step Away from the Car!

I got pulled over Tuesday... It was in the middle of no where and I was going up a one way.

French one ways are very confusing because on some of the quote on quote one ways both sides pass and wait for the other car and take turns. The one way that I went up the wrong way was signed the same way but once getting up the one way I realized that the sign was misleading and the police station was right in front of me. A women stood up from her desk pointing at me and signaled that I pull over. I did so. Then I explained the misleading signs and confusion... She took all of my papers (gratefully I had my passport and titre de sejour) and walked back into the station. 10 minutes go by and she came back out telling me the gendarmerie (national police) will deal with my situation.

At this time Elder Claflin is keeping his cool and I'm thinking I'm a dead man... the song I'll be home for Christmas ran through my head a couple times. The gendarmerie pull up and ask me to step out of the car and come inside with them. We walk inside and had an interview of my dealings why I was there etc normal police stuff. Then I find out from them if you have been in France longer than a year your permit is invalid-- I'm no math matition but I have definitely been in France longer than a year. So little red alarms start sounding in my head and genie from Aladdin mayday call sounds. I some how from the grace on high come away with a 135 euro ticket(I don't think I'm going to buy a suit but instead use that money for the ticket) ;( and a huge headache.

30 minutes after this incident we receive a call from President Murdock (in no relation whatsoever to my ticket) telling us to park our car. We get talking and find out the night before president had received a phone call from the inter region authorities warning him about this law of one year drivers. President found that 10 of the 14 zone leaders with cars have no longer the right to drive. Meaning a huge problem was at hand.

President after hearing my ticket story gets off the phone with us and talks to the mission lawyer and finds out that the states of Washington and Utah never ever have the right to use their licensees to drive in France.

In other news my voice is raw i have probably sung Silent Night in English over 100 times this week. We have two versions one is me singing pop and Elder Claflin beat boxing underneath and the 2nd is us singing together as a duo.

Montpellier is so beautiful with the lights and little shops all over town.

Love,

Elder Garlock

Merry Christmas from Montpellier!

Montpellier Montpellier!

My voice is shot! Singing for multiple hours a day in colder temperatures is not the best for a voice as delicate and fragile as mine. Elder Claflin played a square garbage can as a drum and I danced and sang with a lot of zeal. I definitely tried to fulfill the Lords commandment to shout and cry repentance even with a voice like unto a trumpet :) I'm pretty sure if anyone of you saw me singing and dancing in English and French like I was doing, everyone would be laughing.

We have a multiple sweet experiences with many people stopping to listen to us and 4 people on separate occasions picking up our extra hymnals and singing with me and Elder garbage can ;) We have seen it go over a ton better with the other two missionaries singing with us at night.

I asked the members if they had a guitar that we could play and we found one from one of the members. Montpellier is a very, very musically oriented ward.

We got stopped by the police multiple times this week again and President Murdock is now giving us legal backing to present to police men when they stop us. I am hoping not to get arrested.

I am grateful for the light, knowledge and intelligence that God can accord us when we are worthily working for His Glory. I claim in no respect that I am in the category of the un ignorant because the more I learn the more I realize how much more there is to learning. I am extremely grateful for the Love Jesus offers me. O it is wonderful wonderful to me.

This is the work of the Lord and the more I work in living a life of continual purity, keeping the commandments of God, and following His Spirit, the more my testimony is rendered stronger and becomes more clear that this is not the work of men but rather the work of God.

Love,

Elder Garlock

What a Wild Missionary Week!

Probably one of the most eventful in my mission experience. Where to begin?

How about David...

David was a man that i contacted in Centerville. He seemed quite interested and was very respectful. We set a meeting time and the night it was supposed to happen the buses were on strike so he couldnt make it. We then invited him to just come to church and he couldn't make it because of buses again. SO we finally set up a meeting on Monday. We met at a members house who is a stud named Amié. He used to be a professional soccer player until he got into a car accedent which crippled him and he has been in a wheelchair ever since. He met the missionaries and recieved a strong, strong testimony of the restored gospel. He has such a great attitude, perspective and really loves helping the missionaries. So it was perfect. David came on Monday. The spirit was strong. He even accepted to be baptised. He read, prayed, came to church and met with a us 3 times a week it was a very, very spiritual experience and was a miracle before our eyes. We left the meeting on cloud 9 and were excited to see David throughout the week. We then recieved a text message the next day which was completly on the other side of the scale. I won't go into details because it is not appropriate to share but Elder Claflin and I really pondered, prayed and tried to find where we went wrong, where the basis for a reaction like we recieved was rooted. We learned a valuable lesson. As disiples and members of the restored Church of Jesus Christ, we are asked to invite boldly simply and with the spirit. We can in no way have fear because of reactions to invitations such as these. David bless his soul really rejected pretty bodly simply and more rudly than anyone could our invitation in a very cowardly text manner. However, Elder Claflin and I felt peace comfort and reassured that we had fulfilled our objective. God doesn't only ask us to invite those who we have 100 percent surety will accept the invitation but asks and commands that as disciples who have taken on His Sons name to invite ALL CREATERS of our God and King!

Sending love and courage and Christmas greetings!

Also I have been singing a ton recently on the street and to whomever will open their door to us its been really fun cuz Elder Claflin beat boxes underneath me!

love,
Elder Garlock