April 28th, 2014

Hello again! It's been another wonderful week as a missionary! 

We have two investigators on date now for baptism. We have one coming up this week and another for the following week! I contribute this to wonderful members in this area helping us out. We couldn't do it without them. The members are the missionaries and we are the back-up. As missionaries we are set apart to teach the gospel, but things don't work out as well when we have to do it alone. When members can help us with the inspiration they receive, we are no longer separated members and missionaries, but we are one unit working for the salvation of souls. Why have just 80,000 missionaries worldwide when we could have 16 million? I am really starting to see the hastening of the Lord's work on the Earth.

President Deiter F. Uchtdorf said, 

"We Are Living in the Time of the Restoration. Sometimes we think of the Restoration of the gospel as something that is complete, already behind us—Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon, he received priesthood keys, the Church was organized. In reality, the Restoration is an ongoing process; we are living in it right now.It includes “all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal,” and the“many great and important things” that “He will yet reveal.” Brethren, the exciting developments of today are part of that long foretold period of preparation that will culminate in the glorious Second  Coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ. This is one of the most remarkable periods of the world’s history! Ancient prophets yearned to see our day."

Sometimes we think that the restoration was done happening when the priesthood was restored. We think that those early saints and pioneers were it. But we must remember that the restoration is continuing. There is still so much more to find. The lost tribes have not all been found and brought into the fold.

"And now I say unto you that the time shall come that the salvation of the Lord shall be declared to every nation, kindred,tongue, and people."

Mosiah 15:28

This has not yet happened. There are still people who do not know about this gospel. But I can see how things have changed and we are going faster than ever before in the work of the Lord. We just have to remember that we are all responsible for this work.

We are having a crazy spring here. It still snows every once in a while, then the next day it will be hot, then cold, then snow, then hot, then rain, and lots of wind! They say it snows sometimes on the 4th of July. I don't know if I will be here for that. 

I hope everyone is doing well!

Elder Garceau

(I love you mom~!)

April 21st, 2014

Hello everyone! Here is my weekly email!

Things are going just fine here where I'm at. We think the weather has started to warm up for good, but you can never get too comfortable. It could snow out of nowhere. Gotta keep my eyes peeled.

So we got this hat from my Mom and I wasn't sure exactly how I was supposed to wear it because it kept going down over my eyes... And when I tried rolling it up like normal, I looked like a ridiculous Mongolian. Well, this morning Elder Decker figured it out! It's an overhat! It makes perfect sense now! Thank you Mom for sending me an extra hat to wear on top of my hat!

Now, drum roll please.................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................(and I mean drum roll) ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ (still rolling) .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

 The greatest news in the history of my mission and the Aagard family! Arthur Aagard has been baptized! Bishop Hatch in the Byron Ward had the honor of baptizing and I Elder Garceau was given the opportunity to do the laying on of hands to give Arthur the Holy Ghost and seal the deal! It was a wonderful service. One that some had been waiting 10 or more years to come.It makes me so happy to know that Arthur has worked towards this because I know that his baptism has opened the gates to eternal life for him. And in a year's time he can go to the temple to receive his endowment for more light and truth and to be sealed to his family for time and all eternity!

We had a wonderful Easter Devotional yesterday morning as a district in which we did a lot of talking about the atonement and we watched the "because of him" video. It was a wonderful devotional and we felt the spirit very strongly. It was also great because in Easter sacrament meeting in Byron we were able to give Arthur the Holy Ghost. We thought it would be really cool to confirm him on the day of Pentecost (the day the Earth received the Holy Ghost) but Easter Sunday was appropriate too seeing as it is the day we celebrate the atonement of Christ. A perfect Weekend for a baptism!

Also something that I think was a little inspired and made me go nuts, How many times was "Hymn 200 Christ the Lord is Risen Today" played yesterday? Well in the Lovell stake it was heard at least 16 times. it was also the first song the tabernacle choir sang on Music and the Spoken Word (I would know, our dinner appointment played it for us). I would venture to guess that most if not all wards in the church sang that song in sacrament meeting. Tell me if you did!

Hope everyone is having a great day!

Elder Garceau

(Love you Mom!)

April 7th, 2014

Greetings all! I have a lot to catch up to! The reason I didn't send a weekly email last week was due to the fact that we went to the temple! Our mission president has decided it is good for us to go to the temple every once in a while. Our district got to go last week on Wednesday. When we go to the temple we give up our preparation day, so that's why I didn't email. Small sacrifices! It was wonderful as I got to take my ancestor Joseph Garceau to recieve his covenants.

 

We aslo had a zone conference just the week before. We talked a lot about The Book of Mormon. We were split up into groups and read the entire Book of Mormon in one day! I can testify to you if you read The Book of Mormon, you will gain a witness from the holy spirit that it is the word of God, and it is true.

 

On Tuesday before we went to the temple, we saw Brainy smurf sitting on top of the other plushies in the claw machine at minchows food court. We knew that he just needed to hear the gospel. I put 50 cents in... and missed. I put another 50 cents in... and could only move him just a little bit. The next 50 cents we were certain I would get him, but we barely missed again. This did not discourage me though! The next 50 cents was enough for me to grab him! We hooked him by his glasses and he was brought to the door where the claw kept hold of him. Elder Dalton took out his camera, snapped a photo and said,"I'm suing." I put in two more quarters and opened the claw to drop brainy by the door. $2.50 from starting, we finally got him out of the machine. He has been converted to the gospel and is now the newest missionary in the Montana Billings Mission. He is our cars mascot (we have a blue chevy cruz). :) (no tithing funds were used in the process of saving brainy smurf). Now all we need is a missionary tag to put on him.

 

It snowed again for about two days and melted as soon as it happened, but there were still some accidents on the road because some people may have become just a little cocky with their winter driving. A man had bought a brand new manual pickup from the dealership. He told them he knew how to drive stick, but he really didn't . He decided to try to learn how while he drove it on the road and went off the road landing it on it's side. This was without snow on the road.

The picture I have taken is from our ride to Billings the day it snowed.

 

Our mission president has us flooding the mission with pamphlets. So far my companion and I have given out more pamphlets than anyone else in the district. Not sure about our zone. We have made it a competition between the districts in our zone to see who can hand out the most. We are very determined to win this! Elder Decker and I are going to go crazy handing these out!

 

How did everyone like General conference? I think I paid more attention to this one than any other I have seen so far. I really liked what Elder W. Craig Zwick said,"transform corrupt communication into ministering grace." Often times we feel like we must use harsh words with those whom we correct. We feel like we must,"put them in their place" for them to listen to us better and do what we say. Most people are humble enough to accept correction if it is done in a loving way. How can you feed the Lord's sheep if you give them reason to resist? Always be understanding and nonjudging when you help others fix thier problems. Maybe think of it this way, how would Jesus help others? Always do you best to make sure your words minister grace to the hearer.

 

In between conference sessions on Saturday, we went walking to hand out pamphlets. We saw a man and a women working in their yard and we asked to help them. In our suits, we helped them to rake up their leaves and put them into bags. The man's name was Patrick and he is completely blind. He does very well regardless. He has very good hearing and can hear where everything is. He is really very high functioning for a blind man. He really admires missoinaries for going on missions and helping people. He wishes he could do the same thing we do because he loves to help others. He says he is agnostic, but is actively seeking to know if God is real. He said that we can come by his house and visit with him, I look forward to talking to him again this week!

 

I hope everyone is doing well! Remember you are the Lord's hands! Help the Lord by touching someone with an act of charity!

Elder Garceau

(I love you mom!)

March 24th, 2014

Greetings everyone! Here we are another week, another email. Hope you are all doing well! We are having a very good time here in the Lovell Wyoming stake. The work is exploding!

First off, Arthur is getting baptized! He has been meeting with the missionaries for years! Just in the last 7 months he has wanted to work towards baptism. He used to give the missionaries quite a bit of resistance. His family are former polygamists and he was raised in the Pinesdale colony in Montana. Since he was a teenager he has rejected the FLDS church. The problem we find with children of his background is that they resist any kind of authority, and do not feel fond of organized religion. But Arthur's parents are going to the temple and he wants to hop on board with that. He also knows he needs his kids to have the gospel. We had to approve him through the first presidency. They told us last week on Friday that he was approved! He will be baptized this Saturday! He is by far my favorite investigator I have had. He has a very good knowledge of the gospel, and he shares some of my same hobbies, such as guns, knives, outdoors. Can't wait to see him baptized!

We are finding more and more people to teach in this area. The members are so helpful in our missionary work in Lovell. Much of what is happening could not be possible without the members help. The perfect equation for missionary work is Missionaries and members working together. That is how the gospel will go forth. This is what the Lord meant by D&C 88:73 "Behold, I will hasten my work in it's time." The way it works is through the gospel keys held. The bishop holds the missionary keys to his ward area, and the mission president has keys in the mission which are delegated to the missionaries. Putting these keys together is how it works.

The greatest love you can show to those around you is sharing the gospel. It's the Lord's work. That is part of the Love of Christ that we show. By the way, anyone remember that challenge I gave out? Please respond if you did it!

I hope everyone is doing well!

Elder Garceau

(I love you Mom!!!!)

March 17th, 2014

welcome back to my weekly email everyone! I hope you are all in good health! I have had a very good week. Since all the snow has melted, and things have warmed up, we can walk everywhere a lot more easily. Finally able to get some exercise. My companion and I have started running in the mornings. We're both workout addicts so it's perfect!

we are having some great experiences. We ran into a family the other day that will let us come and teach them about the gospel. We were looking for a different person who's friend told us they wanted the lessons. The kids were playing outside and the grandmother came out to tell them to come in and we asked if we could talk to them about Jesus Christ. They said sure and we went right on in. We were at the Hernandez family's house for about an hour and a half teaching the kids about who Jesus is. They had a lot of questions for us! They said that we could come back this week! I am very excited!

Everyone around here is doing the "winter challenge". It all started with the basketball coach... You jump into freezing cold water and then challenge others to do it. I am very glad that I am not allowed to swim as a missionary, ha. 

In the last few months we have had some missionaries return home from missions. Just yesterday we were at a mission homecoming and we had dinner with the family. Heard some great stories. All of the RMs here have cool stories about weird foods. The only thing I have to brag about it those rocky mountain oysters. 

But that's all fine. I know this is the best place for me to be called on a mission. I love the people here so much!

Something to remember: People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care.

My first district leader, Elder Croteau, would say that all the time and it stuck.

You can have all the love in the world for someone, but if you don't show it, they won't know it. When someone knows that you care about them, they will want to listen to what you have to say more. The best way to share the wonderful message of Christ is to be a loving person and share your own testimony. Try that this week! Tell me how it goes! This is my challenge to you!

love, Elder Garceau

(love you mom!)

March 10th, 2014

Greetings everyone! Things have been speeding up here. 

I got a new companion, Elder Decker. He is from Mana, Iowa. He's a good Elder to serve with. We have gotten to know each other and he likes to workout almost as much as I do so we should get along pretty well. We taught a good amount of lessons last week (considering it was a transfer week) and we are getting ready to teach some new people this week. Can't wait!

We had some flooding happen over the weekend because of all the snow melting. We had to place sandbags along the ditches. One house on our street got some water in the basement. We had the fire department out helping us. We sandbagged enough to stop the water. It really wasn't that bad, but it's probably the biggest thing to happen in Byron WY for years. Some good came out of it though, people who didn't like us before are now very accepting.

I've got a picture of me with Elder Rust. I miss him a little bit, we spent a lot of time together. He is a great Elder and a good friend to have. Now he's in his last transfer in Butte Montana. He'll be going home in April. I'm very glad to have served with him.

The snow is still lingering around and it shouldn't be. It's very muddy here. I don't like the slushy mud one bit.

I don't like to admit this, but something made me cry on Sunday. The ward choir in Byron (not that great to listen to) sang, "I need thee every hour". That song doesn't usually make me cry (especially when sung by them), but the stake president's daughter accompanied them with her violin and it reminded me of how my sister, Mary, would play in sacrament meeting every once in a while. I don't even get very homesick out here, but that hit me hard and it was hard to control. 

We sometimes forget that we really do need our savior every moment of the day. The day is always better when you have the savior's influence constantly. The best times in my life have been when I fully gave my will to the savior and fully immersed myself in his love. The best way to get that is prayer. Have a constant prayer in your heart. You don't have to be praying in your mind 24/7, but think about the things you ask the Lord, ponder his words always. It's amazing what a life with prayer can do for you.

I hope all is well!

Elder Garceau

(I love you mom!)  

March 3rd, 2014

Hello everyone! It's a new week, and a new transfer as well! (drum roll please.............) I'm staying in Byron and Lovell for another transfer! My companion Elder Rust is getting transfered and I will be getting Elder Decker. I don't know Elder Decker very well but he should be a good companion from what I hear about him. Elder Rust will be missed as he goes to Butte Montana. It's been a good run. The area has been changed so much since I've been here that it isn't really the same as it was at first, there are still changes taking place, so I will have plenty of new things happening around here.

They say the weather is going to improve, then get worse, get better, then get worse again. Sounds like Wyoming. Just when we think things are going to be better, they get worse again. Such is life in the Bighorn Basin. All we can do is smile and think how fortunate we are to have so many blessings in this area!

Not much else has really happened here.

We are continuing to do splits with the priests in the stake. They are such great young men. So many of them are a lot further along than I was before I came on my mission, I'll tell you that.

I hope everyone has a great day!

Elder Garceau

(I love you mom!)