Ok, temblor. 

In the states we would've called it a fairly big earthquake, here they just called it a slightly big tremor. It was like a 5 something. We didn't even feel it, because we were riding our bikes, but all of a sudden everyone came out of their houses, all of the dogs started barking, and all of the car's alarms went off. Don't worry, there wasn't any damage. I survived, without knowing there was something to survive. 

We found out about cambios Saturday night. Elder Kelson and I are still here in Renca 2.2, and Elder Villagran is also staying. His companion, Elder Shelley got transferred to Conchalí. In his place is Elder... Huaratapayro... I don't know if I spelled that right, but I promise I can pronounce it right. He is from Peru, and is really short. He was Elder Kelson's companion a while back. So basically, not much changed around here.

However, the mission is already changing rapidly, due to the lowering of age requirements. In anticipation, we've already created two new zones. Most of the wards here will likely be receiving at least one more set of missionaries. 

The missionary department has been absolutely flooded with applications.  Currently 63% of the missionaries in our mission have less than one year, and 45% have less than 6 months of experience. And, we will have a huge surge of missionaries probably starting in January. It is going to be nuts.  

President just found out that they will be moving into a new mission home in a few months and many North American missionaries will come directly to their home as part of their MTC training rather than going to Provo. 

Ok, Elder Bednar came. It was really sweet. There were also 3 seventies and all of their wives. He came to meet with officials in Santiago about something, and decided to pay us a rare 3 hour visit. He later told President that due to the growth of the church, personal visits by Apostles are going to be increasingly rare. 

It was a really cool meeting, but very different than you'd expect. He really didn't stand in front of us and give a prepared speech. He had us study two talks about asking in faith before he came, and then we just discussed them. He asked questions and volunteers answered, then we were given the opportunity to ask him questions. So that was really sweet. He said if anyone asked him where the sword of Laban is he'd make them sit down and he'd tell them he doesn't know and really doesn't care. He told us not to ask questions that we could find the answer on our own. It was very interesting, and very cool, and the spirit was very strong. We didn't get to shake his hand, as he was in a hurry to get to another meeting in Santiago and there were probably 400 missionaries. It is very cool to hear the testimony of an Apostle.

He said when you teach someone, you should teach them like an agent who has moral agency, instead of like an inanimate object, hence the different approach to the meeting. Ultimately, the Holy Ghost is the teacher, as chances are good the people you teach will not retain the information you tell them. The Holy Ghost carries the message unto their hearts when they invite the spirit in by exercising their faith and agency. If you don't let them participate, it's hard for them to invite the spirit. 

It was a blessing to have a prophet, seer, and revelator in our midst and to feel of his spirit and hear his testimony of Christ.

We have a great ward mission leader in this ward, and on Saturday night, we worked with him and he introduced us to all of his neighbors. He had already given out several copies of the Book of Mormon to some of them. We were able to teach two lessons, and get one of his neighbors to church with him on Sunday. It was really amazing. He opened doors for us where we probably would've been rejected if it had just been the two of us. 

We've had many amazing experiences working with members. They can open doors and open hearts that we have worked with for weeks. We had a lesson with an investigator where we didn't say a word, only her and the member talked, and at the end, she committed to going to church on Sunday. 

We are working with him and the support of the bishop to put together a gigantic month-long plan/activity to get the ward and especially the young men and young women excited about missionary work. We hope that it will generate more collaboration between the ward and the missionaries. I will let you know how that goes. 

I was asked to bear my testimony at a family home evening we did with the ward on Thursday. I will share that same testimony with you. 

I know that God is our loving Heavenly Father, and we are brothers and sisters. When we really understand this relationship, we will have a desire to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with our neighbors, friends and acquaintances. I know that when members and missionaries work together, we can help our brothers and sisters access the Atonement of Jesus Christ, find peace and happiness in this life, and live with their families for eternity. If it's important to you, extend the invitation to them to find out why it is important to you. 

I'm out of time, so enjoy winter.  It's getting hot in Chile.  My first Christmas in the summer is right around the corner. 

Elder Garrett