Sister Garfield, 24, of Utah rose at 6:30 a.m. every morning for four months during the spring and summer at the Steward Tower apartments in Laurel.
After making her bed, refreshing herself with a morning shower and dressing in a modest-length skirt, she ate breakfast, took a couple of hours for reflection and then stepped out her door to bring the Book of Mormon to the residents of Laurel.
Along with her previous companion, 22-year-old Sister Andreason _ who recently moved on to a missionary position in Bel Air after a six-month stay in Laurel _ the two have talked to people on the street, knocked on doors, broken for lunch, done service projects in the community, visited members of the local Mormon church and rolled into bed by 10:30 every night to get ready to do it all again the next day.
"We'll ask residents how they're doing, tell them who we are and why we're here and just share the message of Jesus Christ and the Book of Mormon," said Sister Garfield, one of 20 women missionaries who are stationed in Maryland at any one time and one of two stationed in Laurel.
They have preached to residents about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, or Mormonism. "This is where I find my happiness _ to have my life centered around Christ," she said.
While most women in their young 20s will spend the next few years of their life staying up late, exploring the wonders of micro-breweries and the wide world of dating, these young missionaries are spending 18 months traveling around a state trying to secure interest in the Mormon religion and plant the seed of faith in interested individuals.
The women, who don't use their first names while acting as missionaries and declined to give them to a reporter, usually remain in one location for four to six months and then move to the next post on a moment's notice, Garfield said.
The assignments are sent by church headquarters in Salt Lake City, Utah, Andreason said.
Taking up the role of a missionary is voluntary for women when they turn 21 and men when they turn 19. Men, who are called elders, must wear a white shirt, tie and slacks when visiting potential members.
Sister Andreason, who grew up in California and moved to Utah in 1995, said she chose to do a mission because not only did she feel she owed it to Christ for all He's done for her, but because she felt fortunate to have the opportunity to share his word.
"Sometimes it's not easy because it's something different and people aren't interested," she said. "But that one yes makes it worth it. I would do it again in a heartbeat."
In her six months in Laurel, Andreason said she met two people who were interested in joining the church.
The sisters said the response in communities, where they talk to anywhere from 80 to 100 people a day, had been pretty friendly. While doors are closed in their smiling faces every now and then, for the most part people have been open to what they have to say.
"Every day is different," Sister Garfield said. "It varies depending on the neighborhood and the people. Just affirm the reason you're here ... knowing this is our work and we love Him and that's why we're here. You think of that and you're, like, OK."
When the sisters have encountered interested individuals, they have written down their information in the Laurel Sisters Area Book, where they also keep information about local church members. The sisters have tried to keep in contact with those who showed interest in the Mormon faith and put them in contact with local members of the church, Garfield said.
"We do get the ward local church involved because they can't get too attached to us because we do leave," she said.
In addition to spreading the word around the community, the sisters also have had to complete at least four hours of community service every week. This includes helping local members of the Mormon church with household chores or home repairs, or volunteering for local grassroots efforts such as soup kitchens and retirement centers.
Laurel's Mormons now travel to Silver Spring for church, but they are planning to build a worship center on land they have purchased at Van Dusen and Contee roads. The Laurel City Council just voted last week to annex their property.
Missionaries always do their service projects in pairs, and are assigned a different companion at every location they are sent, Andreason said.
Before coming to Maryland, both women completed courses at community colleges in Utah and worked to earn enough money to pay their own way for their 1-1/2 years away from home.
Andreason, who received her associate degree, plans to do some more traveling when she returns to Utah. Having an interest in foreign languages, she has lived in Peru as a nanny to learn Spanish, and plans to be a nanny in France and learn the language there as well.
"I want to learn them by living there," she said.
Andreason said she planned to pick up missionary work again later in life, hopefully as one-half of an older couple whose children have grown up.
Garfield said that the satisfaction of helping her brothers and sisters get in touch with God has kept her going, despite the long days and the occasionally slammed door.
"It's mostly just being an instrument," she said. "Doing the things necessary here to return home. Which is our end goal: being able to return home to our heavenly Father."