Week 11

 Hi Friends and Family!

This week has brought many new and exciting experiences. We are getting to know many of the characters of Bristol. 

This week we met Michael. He was dressed in full camo, and just by listening to him talk, my southern vocabulary doubled. "Son buck", "by golly", and "it don't matter a flip" are just some of my favorite phrases that I learned from him. They don't mean any particular thing, but just throwing them in a sentence makes you sound like a real southerner. Michael is helping us clean up another member's yard, so he brought us out to his pole barn where he keeps all of his boats, tractors, and trucks. He gives new meaning to the word "outdoorsman". He sent us home with some deer antlers, and invited us to come to his roping competitions. 

On a more spiritual note, a few weeks ago, I read Mormon 8 during my personal study time. Verse 24 especially stood out to me. Mormon writes, "And he knoweth their faith, for in his name could they remove mountains; and in his name could they cause the earth to shake; and by the power of his word did they cause prisons to tumble to the earth; yea, even the fiery furnace could not harm them, neither wild beasts nor poisonous serpents, because of the power of his word."

I decided to offer a prayer of faith in hopes to find someone new through our own efforts. I have a bad habit of forgetting what I prayed for. I often worry that I miss miracles that happen because I am not able to see my prayers fulfilled. I made it a point to remember my prayer that morning and focus on acting in faith. 

That night as we were driving back from a dinner appointment, I felt an unmistakable prompting to turn the car around and go to the chinese restaraunt/laundromat. I turned the car around and went to the laundromat. There were a few people there, and we gave them each a pass along card. One person seemed especially eager to talk. His name was Jacobi, and he explained that he had a close friend in the church. We got his number and told him that we would call him to have a lesson. I felt so glad to have my prayer answered in such a clear way.

We have had a few calls since that night, but we had our first official lesson yesterday. We taught him about the restoration, and he loved it. Yesterday, Jacobi told us that the night before we met him, he had prayed to find a church that would uplift him. There is no doubt in my mind that we were led to Jacobi by the spirit. This experienced strengthened my testimony of the Book of Mormon, the spirit, and of the divine calling of being a missionary. This experience served as an additional witness to me that the Lord's hand is in missionary work.  

I hope you are all doing well, and have a great week!

Love you all!

Elder Garff

Week 10

 Hello Friends and Family!

It is a beautiful day in Florida! Fall seems to be coming quickly, and temperatures have dropped into the 70s. Elder Murri and I are taking advantage of this weather by spending our p-day eating cheese with our district at a park overlooking the ocean in Panama City. 

This week gave us some new and exciting experiences. When we woke up on Tuesday, we heard that a church member's home in Lynn Haven (a suburb of Panama City Beach) burned down during the night. They had just bought the house a couple of weeks ago, and some of the wiring wasn't done properly, which caused an electrical fire. 

Their family runs a horse ranch, and rather than living in a hotel, they decided to empty out one of their hay barns and live in a trailer underneath the roof of their barn, so they could still tend to their horses. We helped move all of their hay and other supplies out of the barn so they could pull a trailer in. Coincidentally, Tuesday was also the first day that we started to see rain from Hurricane Sally. As we were working the rain slowly got more intense, until we were working in torrential conditions. I don't know if I have ever been so muddy. I was asked if I grew up working on a farm, which is one of the biggest compliments I have ever received. Apparently, I look like I know what I'm doing moving hay bales. 

On a more spiritual note, the father of the family that had their house burn down was a phenomenal example of unfettered optimism. Despite having his recently bought house burn down, he was so grateful for the help that he received and for his family and their safety. He radiated Christlike love and joy amidst difficult circumstances. I hope that I can follow his example and radiate that same sense of joy and love. 

On Wednesday, we were asked to stay inside because of Hurricane Sally's heavy rain. It poured. Even though the eye of the storm hit somewhere near Pensacola, we had two days of the most intense rain I have ever experienced. I decided to take advantage of the rain by washing my hair (see the attached video). Our yard flooded, and a lot of the homes near rivers also flooded. The rivers are unbelievably high right now. Docks are underwater, but we aren't expecting anymore rain so we don't have to worry about more flooding.   

The day after the storm, we helped a member whose shed flooded. We took our shoes off and walked through a foot and a half of water to get his generators before they rusted. 

The people we are teaching are all progressing in their own magnificent ways. Elder Murri and I are constantly amazed by the small and simple miracles that we see all around us. I want to share one with you. 

We are helping someone quit smoking. We are using a program that recommends a special type of mouthwash (Lavoris) to help eliminate the craving for tobacco. I have never seen or heard of this type of mouthwash, but I figured it couldn't be too hard to get. We checked the Target and Walmart in Lynn Haven, but couldn't find it. We figured it had to be easily purchased on Amazon. We tried to find it there, but it was priced high and took a long time to ship. We were bummed as we realized that we would have to postpone our meeting to help our friend quit. I had an impression to check a little hole in the wall drug store next to the church. We went there and found 8 bottles on sale for a dollar each. It was truly amazing. We are now moving forward with our lesson, and our friend should be a non-smoker within the end of the week! What an amazing experience!

Thank you for your emails and love! 

Love you all!

Elder Garff

Week 9

 Hi Friends! 

Elder Murri and I have had an amazing week. It took us a while to get to know people in Bristol (where everyone is so spread out and we aren't having weekly church meetings), but all our calls trying to get to know people in the area seem to have finally paid off. 

We had a few really great meetings this week. We are teaching an older gentleman with an amazing beard. He has been interested in the gospel for about a year, but because of covid, he hasn't been able to meet with missionaries lately -- until now! He seems excited to learn more about the church and eager to be baptized. We have had a blast working with him. 

We also met someone through our stop smoking program; we have our first meeting this week! We are using a program developed in the 80s by a couple of missionaries in Ireland! It is supposed to be super successful, and we are excited to try it! More updates to come!

Also, we just heard that there is a hurricane coming our way! It looks like it will be west of us, but we are going to the store today to stock up just in case it takes an unexpected turn. Sorry this email is shorter than most! Hope you are all doing well!

Love you all!

Elder Garff

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Week 8

 Hello Friends!

The longer I am in Bristol, the more I realize how "deep" southern culture is here. This week we sat with an older lady on her porch, shaded by a giant oak tree with spanish moss hanging down over our heads. We looked out across a lake and as we swatted bugs away from our faces, we talked about Jesus. As she was speaking to us through her thick southern drawl, I realized how lucky I am to be here.

I would have never had the opportunity to meet the wonderful people of Bristol if I weren't on a mission. I regretfully realize that if I probably wouldn't have wanted to visit a "deep south" town nestled in the middle of the Florida panhandle with less than 1000 people before my mission, but it has been an amazing and enlightening experience. I am constantly amazed with how kind and inviting everyone here is. 

As a missionary I have a unique opportunity to see the world through a lense not tainted by ideological or political differences. I am not here to talk about politics or pragmatism vs. idealism; I am only here to talk about God and how to come closer to Him. As a result, I feel like I am able to really get to knowpeople. The details of different beliefs don't get in the way. 

What a privilege it is to see people only through the lense of spirituality. It seems that all people have a spiritual desire to do good. I hope that this common desire is something that can unite people. 

I am reminded of a quote by a previous president of the church. President Beson wrote, "Only the gospel will unite men [and women] of all races and nationalities in peace. Only the gospel will bring joy, happiness, and salvation to the human family". 

I hope and believe that through our shared desire to become better people and make society a better place, we can become a big happy "human family" where we love, respect, and honor each other despite the details in our beliefs. 

I love you all and hope you have wonderful weeks!

Love,

Elder Garff 

Here are some fun photos. 

1. Elder Murri, Elder Bair, Elder Mecum, and I

2. A dog that really likes Chex Mix