December 26, 2011

Hola de La Colmena

So the rumors were true, I'm not in Valle Dorado.  It is the neighboring zone to the one I was just in.  So I didn’t move very far, but it is crazy how much different this place is then Prado's.  It is straight up hills.  My comp is Elder Castro.  He has 22 months on the mission, and we get along really well.  I'm excited to be with a Mexican again because my Spanish really needs it.  All I know about this area is that it is doing horrible right now.  From what my comp told me the ward is dead.  We have a couple of possible, but really new, investigators.  I'm so excited for 5 o’clock today, because we are going to hit this area so hard.  

It was great to talk with everyone. Dang, Skype is so much cooler than the phone call.  It would have worked so much better, but the problem was my computer.  My comp was Skyping on a different computer in the same house, that's why it was so slow.  My comp said that when I got off, it worked so well.  The picture was clean and the audio was quick.  The problem was just that we were using it at the same time.  For mothers day we've got to do it again.  It will be so much better if my comp and I don't go at the same time. 

Mom, I do worry about you guys.  But at the same time, I know it will all work out. That confidence comes because I know my parents are worthy of God’s blessings.  When we do our part, God will always bring us forth Conquerors.  How lucky our we to be part of a family where everyone is sealed in the temple and striving for the same goals (eternal families).  Worried about the challenges that our family has? Yes.  Absolutely sure that God will take care of us? ¡YES!

I was super shocked about what happened with Vance.  He´s a tough kid and will make it through it.  No doubt the prayers are coming from Mexico. 

I love you all so much. 

Elder Gardner

CTR

December 19, 2011

I'm super psyched to talk to you guys, but I hope it goes with out problems.  We are looking in to a back up plan if the computers don't work.  Ok, so I know nothing about Skype but we are going to use the computers at some awesome members house.  I'm going to use their account. I guess you have to send a friend request.  Their account is arciniega.ordona but the hermana wrote super crazy so it could be arciniega.orduna just a change of the o to u. Quien sabe, try them both.  Elder Davidson and I are thinking to call at 4 on Sunday, which will be 3 your time.  Hopefully that works out for you guys.   We are going to have an hermana email you to make sure everything checks out.  The bummer is that we only have 40min to talk. 

It’s crazy to me that Garrison and Braden are home. Have you talked to either of the two? I'm pretty dang sure that this is my last week in Prado's.  I will know the changes by the time I talk to you on Sunday.  My 6 months here have been with trials, pains, and frustration, but I also think that I've learned the most in this area.  I love this barrio and the area, and it will hard to leave the converts. 

We had a lot of people lined up to go to church this Sunday, but at the last minute it fell apart.  We ended up bringing one family to church.  Vicente and Francesca, they're awesome.   We found Vicente from a contact that we had.  The guy understands everything really well, but he has a couple of things that we need to work on with him.  He is a big time smoker, but has the desire to give it up.  Something else that had us worried was that he has a room in his house that is dedicated for the Santa Muerte, the holy death.  Super sketchy.  When we asked about it, he told us that it’s a tradition and it’s not bad.  Look up the Santa Muerte online and tell me it’s not bad.  We will  look in to that a little more.  Him and his wife are awesome, and hopefully the will keep going.  I will let you know on Sunday how it goes with him.

I’m excited to talk with you on Christmas.  Hope all is well and that you’re happy.  I love you. Nos vemos Domingo

Elder Gardner

¡la Iglesias es verdadero!  

December 12, 2011

Thanks Mom I love you so much,

They have the Feliz Navidad "I want to wish you a marry Christmas"song playing in this cafe, it has a whole new meaning for me now.

So get this, I just got an email from Pres. and he says we can use Skype for the call home. Not sure if that is easier, but my comp says that it’s completely free, you just have to set up an account. I think it would be cool to do the Skype but have a backup plan just in case something goes bad. Tell me what you think.

So this is the lesson I learned this week. "Your task is to live worthily, pray fervently, and learn to recognize and follow courageously the spirits guidance." The spirit is the most important aspect of the obra misional, and that definitely rolls into our everyday lives, well your everyday lives, because this is my everyday life. I have had such a struggle trying to discern when I'm receiving revelation and what that revelation is. I remember a talk that Elder Bednar gave in the MTC. He said about following the spirit, "Be a good boy, Be a good girl and God will guide you." If we are doing what we should be doing God will help us understand his will. It’s something we all need to learn and master; listening to the spirit and following it. We decided to knock some doors on Wednesday.  We had a long street that we had previously decided to knock and we were about to knock the first door.  I then got the most subtle and irremovable feeling to knock the door on the other side of the street.  We did it and knocked the door of a señora named Sandra.  She is what we missionaries call GOLD.  She was waiting for someone to come and tell her what to do to come close to God and to help her understand which of all the doctrine is correct.  She has almost finished the Book of Mormon which we gave to her on Thursday.  What would have happened if we knocked the other door first? I'm not sure but for some reason we were led to Sandra, one of Gods escogidos. I didn't know that she lived there, but God did and because of the spirit we were able to find her. I'm trying to be better at acting when I get these subtle feelings, it takes a lot of practice, but to have the guidance of the spirit is essential for this life.  I know God loves us and wants to guide us, for this he has given the gift of the holy ghost to all that make covenants to obey. I love you all.  Thanks mom for an awesome email. cuidate mucho

Elder Gardner

December 5, 2011

No worries mom,  I'm glad that you’re feeling better.  I can’t even believe that Garrison is coming home, how is that even possible?  His letters are super good.  I love reading them.   What an awesome kid.  That's crazy about the Goodman's. I don't know where the time is going. 

Well, big announcement!  We went to Wal-Mart today, and it was incredible.  Not sure if you have walked into a Wal-Mart lately but dang they are super nice.  Not sure if that means that i have become Mexican, or that I've just been eating way to much chile with my candy.  I found a jar of peanut butter for 40 pesos. I almost died i was so happy! After we went to Sam's club to eat pizza, lets just say I'm a happy camper. 

These past weeks have been very humbling.  Elder Davidson and I are still battling it out with Satan here in Prado's.  We have had some difficulties that have demanded some big changes from us.  I feel like there are major things that my heavenly father is trying to teach me.  I know that God is aware of each of our circumstances, he loves us and wants celestial happiness for us.  I'm in that phase where God is smoothing out some of the major weaknesses I have.  When we give up fighting for what we want and just completely surrender to the will of God, that is when he can mold us into the instruments he needs, and in the end will create eternal happiness. 

I love you so much, hope all goes great this next week,

Elder Gardner

So i have a request from Elder Miron for a package of beef jerky.  He is the only Mexican I know that likes the stuff, and he wanted me to ask for some. 

November 21, 2011

Its weird to think about thanksgiving because I've almost forgotten what its like.......Football.  I hope it all goes well in Park City. 

Well, poco a poco my son and I are figuring things out,  every week we are getting better.  We still have a long way to go, but I feel good about this week.  This last week we worked in the Tiangis.  It’s like the flea market.  All the missionaries in the district came and helped us out with a little booth we put up in the middle of the market.  We had two elders always at the booth, and the rest walking around contacting people.  It was pretty fun, and I think the next time we do it we can change some things so we can have more success.   We got a lot of references that we need to visit this week. 

I sent you a pic of a baptism we had last week.  The kids name is José Antonio, he is the son of the lady I told you about that told us she was a member about the first week of teaching her.  Well, she has another daughter named Itzamara.  She is super friendly but every time we go over she always leaves or has some lame excuse.  Well, yesterday we just through down everything on her.   It cost us a little bit of work but we had the perfect situation to talk to her and we took advantage. She has had a lot of things happen in her life and has lost all her faith in god.   We started to talk to her and she just opened up big time.  She was asking some super awesome questions that led right into the message of the Restoration.  She accepted her baptismal date for the 11 of December.  We are super excited for her.  Our area is look up, now we just need to go to work to get things really going. 

I hope the turkey week goes awesome. I love you so much, take a whole bunch of care.  Till next week…

con amor

Elder Gardner

November 13, 2011

Hola Mama,

I feel so good to know that you all are doing great.  Thanks for sharing that scripture with me mom, it was something I needed to hear.  Well, I just looked at the photos from the wedding and reception that Becky sent me.  I was staring at the pic with all the fam and I was flippin'.  I can not believe how different you all look.  Especially my chubby brother Marc.  And who told the girls they could grow up?  I'm excited to come back and hang out with my little sisters.  I've got to make up for some time that I wasted before the mission.  O, boy I love our family.  

It was a good week, we were able to go to the temple this week and it was awesome.  I was able to see a lot of my old comps, and other elders I haven't seen for ages.  We ended the week and this transfer with 2 baptisms. They both were great, a little stressful, but nonetheless great.  Our baptism on Saturday was a nephew of some of my first converts here in Prado's.  The baptism on Sunday was the son of Rosario (the lady i told you about that pulled the joke on us that she was a member), José.  The elders of the ward that meets before us had a baptism, and knew that we would be baptizing right after them. We checked the font at the beginning of our services and it was full.  We started the baptism service and then  someone came up to me and said "is it a problem that there is no water in the font?" I thought he was playing, but I checked it and for sure there wasn't a drop in the font.   So after the opening prayer we had to announce to everyone that there wasn't water in the font.  We postponed the baptism until we could fill the font.  The only problem was that the boiler wasn't working so the water was freezing.  My comp baptized José, and it was his first baptism.  José has 11 years and so he didn't handle the cold water very well .  Let’s just say my comp had a difficult time dunking the kid.  José was flipping out.  My comp finally put him under and José came out of the water screaming like a banchee.  Super funny but kind of distracted from the spirit.  The good side of it all is that the kid is never going to forget his baptism. 

So the results of changes is that I'm staying with my guero son for one change mas, the next change is the day after Christmas.  All is well in the land, I love you so much and hope you have a great week.

Love

Elder Gardner 

November 7, 2011

Whoa, Sister Gleeson, that was such a long time ago.  What happened with the BOM going to Brian?  I have 17 months lets not get a head of ourselves.  But yeah, where has the time gone?  I'm learning a lot, I still have so much to learn.  I have these dreams where I'm going home and I just feel so disappointed that I did not do everything i wanted to accomplish on the mish.  It is always a good reminder for me to love the mish, but use my time o so wisely.  No regrets.  My comp got sick this last week and it was tough because we lost a whole day to work, but we did alright this week anyways.  But this week is the week to blow our area up with the spirit. 

So Elder Davidson and I have made friends with one of the taxi drivers around here, because he likes to talk English with us.  It’s a sweet deal cause we can get free rides anywhere, but it’s always fun to be around people who think they know how to speak English.  We are working on him and trying to get him to stop laying down the “F” bomb, he is a work in progress.  We have two baptisms for this week so we have a lot of work to do.  I’ll let you know how it goes next Monday.  I will talk to the Y.W.  Pres. She is excited to do it, but I’ll figure out what is going on. 

I love you all, till next week

Elder Gardner

 

(letter to dad)

Super great to hear from you dad.  No, I never met an Elder Carroll, it’s possible but I don't remember.  When you were explaining Austin's speaking abilities, it sounded really similar to what I feel like. Yeah, I can talk with people and say what I want, but there are a lot of things I need to clean up with the grammar.  I expect to be able to talk to Marc in pure Spanish on Christmas day.  How goes the hunt.  Thanks for the prayers, you and the family have also been in mine.  I love you dad.  I find frequently during my time here things I've learned from you and that have blessed my life.  Thanks so much for the letters you have written me, it’s always nice to get a real letter.  Thanks for everything, let me know how things are going.  Give the Auzzy a kiss for me.   cuidate mucho

love your boy,

Elder Gardner

October 31, 2011

What the deal is Emily doing going to a stake dance?!?  Man, time is flying no? Tell Em those costumes looked pretty sweet.  That's rough beans that every one ditched you for Halloween.  I forgot, what day is Halloween?  The big day coming up is day of the dead.  Not sure if you guys remember where I was a year ago.  I was signing my visa in Salt Lake.  One year in MEXICO!

We did a lot better this week and made some progress, not a perfect week by all means but we are getting there.  We found a lady by the name of Rosario.  She was a contact and when we passed by her house. We taught her a super sweet lesson.  We were excited for her.  We passed by for our next appointment, and we tried to set her with a baptismal fetcha, but she told us she has already been baptized.  Thinking obviously she is catholic, because of her virgin in her house.  So then we went through the “you have to be baptized by some one who holds the authority of God” deal.  She then broke down and gave up the lies and told us she was already baptized into our church.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  After a long discussion to really find out if she was a member and really knew what's she was talking about, I could not stop laughing, partly out of frustration and partly because my comp had not a clue on this earth what was going on.  Rosario was baptized about 20 years ago, and still knows some of the members.  Right know we are working on getting a testimony again, and teaching her two boys José Antonio and Uriel.  José has a fetcha for the 16 de Nov.  The boys absolutely loved churched. 

Mom i talked to the presidente de las mujeres jovenes, and she loved the idea of the exchange.  This is the email address of her son, but is the way you can communicate with her, she is waiting to hear from you.  eldergerar@hotmail.com or on Facebook with José Gerardo Martinez Gutierrez. 

Don't worry about what your hearing on the news, I'm fine and happy, here in Prado's it’s super tranquillo.  I love you so much.  Some thing that you can sent is some pens, but they have to be pilot pens .07, I really need a green, red, and blue. Pilot is the brand and it has to be the size .07.  and if you could send that CD holder that Grandma Gardner gave me, it’s yellow, that would-be awesome. 

I love you all and hope you can see and feel all the blessing that we have.  Thanks for everything. 

Love,
Elder Gardner

October 24, 2011

part of letter from Mom:

“Here is the deal.  I don't know if I told you or not but I am now in the Young Women's, I get to work with the MIA Maids

I am loving it and it is great fun to be in there with Emily.  We were talking to the girls today and we are wondering about doing a Young women trade where we could talk and get to know the Young women in your ward in Mexico.  Do you have a lot of Young women in your ward?  What do you think about us making some fun things to send to them?  I think it would be fun for the girls to see what it is like outside of Utah Valley.  Let us know if you think it would be a good idea or not.”

 

 

Mom,  that sounds like an awesome idea, but send me more ideas about what you want to do. ill talk to the Hermana about what she thinks.  next week send me exactly what you would like to do and ill get it started over here.  the president de las mujers jovens is awesome. please send more info.

well we worked this week and it was all set up for a beautiful Sunday, and then Sunday morning it all came crashing down. so get this, in the last two weeks we have had two recent converts and one lady who had a new fetcha for this Sunday just got up and moved, within like one day.  super frustrating.  not sure what is going on.  it was a tough week, but we are excited to hit the streets again this week and fix it all up.  last second in our sacrament meeting our bishop asked my comp and me if we could give a talk in sacrament. elder Davidson was pretty dang nervous, it reminded me of my first pop talk. but it went well and elder Davidson did awesome.  he knows more than he thinks, I'm trying to help him with that.

i cant wait till i can get my hands on the conference talks, I'm excited to read Elder Hale’s talk.  I hope all is going well in Utah.  how's it going with the Davis?  I love you so much, I praying for you all.  I'm excited for your idea mom. have a great week. 

Love
Elder Gardner 

October, 17 2011

What It Do Fam,

Lagoon?  what? did anyone take a picture of mom on the roller Coaster?  Sounds like you guys had an awesome time.  They had a little feria here but the roller coasters are like thousands of years old, they look super dangerous because they don't have anything to buckle you in or anything, and the people that run the rides are super sketchy, they look like big time druggies.  Pretty exciting time for the people here. 

So, this week was kind of crazy.  We worked our tails off and we had 5 investigators ready to go to the church on Saturday, then came Sunday and every last one of them fell.  Super frustrating.  Elder Davidson and I sat down and talked a lot about what happened and how we are going to change it.  This is were the blessings come from having a kid fresh out of the states.  He just laid it all out, he put me through the refiner's fire.  Just torching all the things he felt we were doing wrong. All of it was true, I have just become so blinded to some of the things that other elders do that aren't exactly right.  I'm so grateful for the chance that I have to humble myself and become better.  What a blessing the lord is giving me, know I just have to let the Gardener cut me down so that I can become the missionary that God wants me to be.  Not easy, but I'm learning a lot.  Ahhh, the mish. 

I love you all. I hope all is going great and pray that the lord is blessing you all.  Thanks mom for everything, I'm grateful to hear from you every week. I love you, keep it going. 
I've been thinking a lot about Mary Carolyn this week.  How is she doing?  I hope all is great with her.  Tell her I  said hi, and that I love her. 

Love ya,
Elder Gardner

October 10, 2011

Mom, felizidades with the Davis stuff. That's AWESOME!!!!!!  so are you going to work for a school or at home, how's that all going to go down?  I’m a little confused about how all 7 of us are going to take a class together.  Does that mean that marc and McKenzie are going to BYU-I too?  I'm super psyched to go to school when I get back, I miss the family get togethers, and the games. 

Week one of the transfer has come and gone with my new baby boy Elder Davidson.  He is from Boise Idaho and went to Centennial with a lot of people I know.  He is best friends with Conrad Davis, go figure.  Training this time is a lot different, I think it’s because I can speak and teach a lot better than before.  I say training, but really feel like I'm being trained.  I've lacked something my whole life, and the last couple of changes it has been effecting me a lot.  Just from this one week I can see that Elder Davidson is going to help me a lot with this attribute, and i feel it will change my  life forever.  We are in a new training program where we have to study for an extra hour, it’s a lot of studying and role playing.  It’s good though, and I'm have a great time with it. 

Elder Fulton just got changed into the same zone as me. It’s crazy to see how much he has grown.  It’s cool to see the difference from day one with him. It was great experience to see both my boys meet each other. 

Definitely send pictures.  I've been waiting to see some from what's going on in Utah, and Idaho.  Thanks mom so much, I hope you have a great week, and mucho exito con Davis.  I love you all, take care much.

Elder Gardner

Elder Gardner and his new companion, Elder Davidson

October 3, 2011

I'm so glad you were able to go to Dallas, what a blessing.  i know you have to worry about the testing, but i know that you will do awesome, good luck!   Well, i guess we watched exactly the opposite sessions.  i only saw priesthood, and Sunday sessions.  My favorite talk out of them all was from President Monson on Sunday Mourning.  cant wait till i get it in English.  in between the sessions on Sunday we had a district baptismal service, it was awesome.  we baptized a celestial unit.  this family is Beto and Yazmin, and their two kid Jonathan and Valeria.  this is a super special family, and they had a miracle week leading up to their baptism.  they were living in a union libre, and so we knew we had to marry them this week to get them baptized Sunday.  we thought everything would go smooth, but as always there were a few huge stumbling blocks.  to make the story a little more short, they didn't have the right papers to get them hitched.  we have a connection with a judge here that always helps us marry people fast and cheap.  we called to see if she could help us out because we lacked the right papers, she told us their was nothing we could do.  the whole week we had been asking the members to pray for this family so that they could get married, but we ran out of options.  my comp got the idea to try the judge again, and I'm not sure what he said but he made a deal with the judge so that we could make the marriage happen.  we had some long rides in the combi to get them married but it all worked out.  when we finalized the papers the judge told us that she had to put the date of the marriage for the 1st of October,  not knowing the mind of the lord we told her that would be alright.  when we past by on Friday to see if all was good for the baptism Sunday, beto told us he could go.  he tried to ask for Sunday off but they wouldn't let him. he said if he would have gotten married on the 1st they would have given him Sunday off.  a huge smile came over me and my comp to explain that for some reason the judge changed the date for the 1st.  super crazy, they we super stoked to hear that.  their baptismal service was awesome.  i know that was a miracle, and it came to pass because of sincere prayers from the ward. 

 

O yeah we had changes today, elder Baez left, and i got the news that I'm going to have a new bouncing baby boy, fresh from the states.  Heavenly fathers is trying to teach me something with all these greenie greens.  i pick him up tomorrow.  i let you know how it goes. i love you so much.  keep the smiles, and have a fantastic week.

 

Elder Gardner

September 26, 2011

MOM,

How lucky are we.  We have one of the greatest families on earth.  I got all choked up to hear you comments about seeing all your kids in the temple with there spouses.  I'm overly grateful to be a part of a family where each member is walking in the path that god planned for us to take.  Yes, we have trials, and boy are they heart wrenchers, but take a step back and look at our family........ its worth it!  The trials, the pressure, the enduring is worth it!   Because at the end of this life we will all be there together enjoying eternal happiness.   And when you see a family as awesome as ours, you have to look at where it all started.  The Big Ma and Pa.  Thank you mom and dad for showing us the way, thank you for putting up with us so that we can partake of never ending happiness.  Mom, in the words of the top gun fighting instructor,  "Yeah, you did it right´´.  I'm so glad to hear that everything went great.  Tell Andrew and Becky, felizidades.  Tell that Auzzy he's a stud,  and tell Starla and Teri they are amazing too. And tell the fam they are the best!    I love you, And i hope all goes well in the preparation for Texas.  I know you will kill it. 

Sept. 19, 2011

Super Sorry about last week, I feel a little sheepish because of what happened.  The thing is we didn't have money.  I had the debit card but I was trying to take the money out through a debit card and it wasn't letting me.  The next day I tried taking money out through the check card option and it worked.  Not sure why it changed because it has always been debit.  Let me know if there is something bad about using it as a checking card. 

So the big secret is..... nnnaahhh lets be real I don't have any juice secrets.  But the prophets have been grilling me because I've been reading their talks from last conference, about how returned missions highest priority after the mission should be marriage.  Namely president Scott and President Monson's talks hit home.  I still have a little time to worry about a mission companions but the just despues its celestial companion, its weird to be talking about this.

Anyways we had some great things happen this week.  We found an awesome new family but of course they aren't married.  My comp showed me how the Mexican celebrate the 15 of Sept.  We grilled bananas bought monllas and some staches, and my comp bought a ginourmous couete.  It was awesome.  Here are some pics of the day.  I’ll let you in on this family more next week, cause they are the bomb diggidy, but i don't have any more time .  I love you, and hope all goes well with the meat and wedding stuff.  cuidate mucho!!

Elder Gardner

mom don't you think i forgot your big 5-0 for anything you just wait for  something awesome that headed your way.  Feliz Cumpleanos.  I love you mom

Sept. 5, 2011

who the heck did BSU play?  was it Ohio state or Ohio university, or Miami Ohio?  if it was Ohio state i think i might pee my pants.  but don't be miss led i don't really care because I'm doing more important things here in Mexico (but please respond to the first 2nd question).  so MY comp and me and some other elders that live here close just got back from zumpango.  I told you about this new part of our area where we started to work, its where we got the 109 references.  so this place is called Santa Inés and its way out in the boonies, and its really close to a air force base. right now all of Mexico is getting read for the big bash that they have on the 15 de September. entonces, the air force for the past week has been practicing for something they are going to do on the 15.  so when ever we are over in Santa Inés we always see these planes passing by.  at first i was to excited, it was cool but nothing to start screaming like a girl over.  but my comp has a bit of a different perspective.  the kid saw his first plane in person when he flew to the CCMorMTC. so every time he sees a plane pass he starts to have spasm's, he always scrambles for the camera, and he always is way to late to get a pic.  Being around someone with this kind of enthusiasm has rubbed off on me.  I find myself every time i hear anything that sounds like a plane having the same type of spasms.  we have been talking to a lot of people about how cool the planes are, and one of our investigators told us where the air base is.  I called pres. yesterday and asked if we could go, he told me it was out of the mission, but because pres. call is new he let us go.  we got up early and spent an hour and a half in a combi only to find out that they wouldn't let us enter the base. we were desperate to find some where we could see all the planes taking off and doing their formations.  we knew that the train goes right past the base, so we found the tracks and walked for a good half hour until we found it.  it was the coolest thing I've ever done on a p-day.  their were hundreds of planes and helicopters practicing.  my comp almost died.   when we decided to head back we heard the train coming. joking around my comp said we could just jump on the train  just like all the immigrants do.  when the train passed by he gave them the hitch hikers sign and to our surprise the train immediately stopped and the conductor told us to get on .  we ran up to the train and got on.  it was THE COOLEST THING EVER.  sitting in the train riding back to our area.  when we got back to Prado's the train stopped right in the middle of town, right in the middle of the intersection.  all the cars were stopped wondering why the heck the train stopped in the middle of the road, and then they see 4 missionaries jump off and every ones faces where like, what the deal is going on.  it was the best p day ever. 

ok next week ill focus more on telling you about the people we are teaching, but dang how cool was that.  I'm sending a couple of pics but you have to see the rest.  I love you all, and hope that life is just  dandy.  I love you all, take care.

with a bunch of love and adrenaline
Elder Gardner

August 29, 2011

Evan,

I want you to know that I'm furious.  how can they tell BSU they cant wear blue on the turf.  That is the most ridiculous thing in this world.  What about those others schools like Notre Dame or Marshal who wear green on the their turf.  Tell the NCAA that I strongly disagree...... breath..... ok...... the logo is pretty sick, how did you pull that off?  Dang Evan, sorry about the whole REI deal that stinks.  Apple would be pretty cool to work at, though.  Wait a minute, Megan is head coach? that is awesome!!  When does the season start for her.  Thanks for the update Evan.  Good  luck in the regular season.  What is up with dad’s team name?  Thanks Evan take care, say hi to meg for me.  I love you guys. 

Elder Gardner

P.S.  Oh my gosh i still can’t believe that they can’t wear blue any more.  I want to strangle someone.....breath......ok.....  ok I don’t want to strangle anyone but boy does that burn my curds. 

 

Dear Family,

So, i was sitting in this house of one of the the hermanas and she gave us some agua.  While I was enjoying this glass of agua, I asked the hermana what type of agua it was and she told me agua de coconut,  I was super surprised becasue I was loving it.  Before the misión if I would have drank coconut water I would have thrown up.  It started me thinking of all the things I just love here in Mexico.  First off, the food here is insanely good,  quesadillas,  tacos dorados, pasole, tacos al pastor, chileciles, all the fruit here, the pan, they make water out of everything, the other day I had water of cucumber, dang good.  I don’t know what I'm going to do when I get back to the states and there aren’t tortillas with every meal.  I can’t tell you how much I love buying my tamal con mole in a torta with my steaming hot atole, there is nothing better than that in the morning.  I can’t eat my food with out chile, I still don’t eat super picante but I find myself pushing the limit at every meal.   I have fallen in love with the game of futbol,  I catch myself day dreaming sometimes about playing.   I’m fascinated with how I can get anywhere I want with 7 pesos in a combi.   I always find it hilarious how many people we Mexicans can fit into one car.   I think the thing that I have loved most about being here is those days when every thing is just bomb.  We had one of those days last Saturday .  We took a trip to the temple with 8 new converts ,1 member, and 4 investigators.  It was cool to show them the temple and the beautiful spirit that dwells there.  We had 1 investigator say when she got out of the car,  “whoa, you can feel that this place is special. I feel so beautiful.”  It got even better when I saw my last ward there from Queretaro.  I was super psyched to see all the members  but even better when I saw three of my converts there,  Anayeli and Luis, and Maru.  They were going through for the first time to do baptisms.   One of the most awesome experiences I've had on the mission.  It was a fabulous week, and now we have another.  I'm grateful for all the many things I'm learning, for being here in Mexico, and for all the people I've gotten to know.  I love you all and hope that you all are happy. 

Cuidanse mucho

Elder Gardner

August 22, 2011

Well, first off i want to apologize because I just saw the emails from Garrison, Aaron, and Kevin, and I feel like a rotten son, but I'm just not to quick at this typing game, and 45 minutes is not very long.  There aren't a lot of words but each is packed with love and gratitude.  Dang, I love that harvest wreath I was thinking about that the other day. Tell the Ellison's I say hi, I love that family.  So we had transfers today and the big news is that there is no news.  I'm going to be here in Prado's with Elder Baez for at least 6 weeks more.  We had a good week, but we are hungry to explode this area this next change.  You might even hear about our area in the Ensign next month because we are going to baptize so many people, well at least that is the goal.  I love you mom and send my salutations to the family.  keep pushing, keep stepping:)

with much love from a slow typer,

Elder Gardner

August 15, 2011

So first off, check out the craziest fruit on this planet.  its called a pitajaya, and let me tell ya it tastes weird, it reminded me of eating a poppy-seed muffin but tasted like a slug.  Not sure it was my favorite, but we also tried this fruit called carambola they kept calling it the star fruit.  It was super bitter, but they put it in to a drink and O,BOY was it good.  Anyways we had a great week,  we finally got Prados out of the whole.  We changed a lot of things, and saw the resluts.  It was such a blessing to see the fruits of our labors.  We brought 3 new people to church and they are doing great, and we also sacked out a baptism from some of recent converts.  The papa we baptized three weeks ago, and the daughter didn't want to.  But we had an awesome noche de Hogar with them and got her excited.  She was baptized on Saturday.   We are getting better, and better each week, but transfers are coming this week.  I think everything will stay the same here in Prado's, but I’ll let you know next week how it goes. 

 

I love you so much

Elder Garner

August 8, 2011

I'm glad to hear Emily had a good time, I was a huge experience for me too.  Anne didn't go?  We had a great week and found some awesome families.   we had a lady contact us in the street.  Her name is Ines, and she had talked with the missionaries a while back, and for some reason they stopped going by.  She told us that she has kept praying and that it has changed her life.   She has 4 kids, and one of her daughters names is Danilla, she is one of the cutest little girls.  Danilla was born with a problem in her brain that made her deaf.  The doctors have put something in her brain and a something outside so that she can hear, kind of.  She only hears like 15% not sure what that means.  Ines never finished school but in now teaching Danilla how to read, write, and talk.  It’s something that is a great challenge for the family.  Ines is really excited in learning more about the "Mormons", and wants all here kids to learn tambien.  It’s tough with Danilla, because she doesn't understand words like love, God, or prayer.  I've been thinking about you a lot because I know you could help this little girl so much.  Do you have any ideas on how we can teach her in a way that she will understand.  We are excited to start teaching Danilla this week, but it will be tough.  Let me know what you think,mom. 

About the contacts, its going to be a little tougher than we thought but we are seeing fruits from those contacts, not directly but they are coming.  I will let you know what happens with the letter if it ever gets here. thanks for every thing.  I love you so much, keep the smile.  I've got something super awesome for you guys but not sure when it will happen.

 

Love

Elder Gardner 

July, 25 2011

Wow, that is AWESOME.  How crazy is that, where are the shaes living.   You have to send me some pics or some more about the shaes cause that is THE coolest story.   It makes me think a lot about those times when people would ask us if we knew any one who might be interested in listening to the missionaries and we would always say maybe the Shaes, but then we never did anything about it.  Or did we?  I can’t remember.  Anyway, how important is this obra.  I think about what i was doing before the mission in terms of being a testigo de Jesucristo, and i don't really think I was doing anything.   We've got to get animated(not sure if that works in English) about sharing this message with people.  This is on my mind because this week we are going to hit our ward with a Missionary Wave.   Our ward right now is not even close to doing their part.  I hope we can get them excited, and act.  I'm excited to get off the mission and put my action where my mouth is.  We are always asking people to share the gospel with friends.  I know it’s not easy, but it’s not hard either. 

Quien es Pres. Perry.  anyways i Love the script. that you shared with me, i applies a lot to what i need right now.  I was listening to one of Elder Baez´s songs and it hit me like a 100 kg de frijoles.   The song is “Be Still My Soul”.  Listen to the words of this song.  Mom, I've been praying  for a lot of patience right now too, and when i head the song it was definitely a answer to those prayers.  Mom i love you and I pray that you and dad  will receive the patience and tranquilidad that you need.  Cuidate mucho

Love

Elder Gardner  

July 18, 2011

Hola Mother Goose,

dang, I'm a little disappointed to hear that marc sold his bocho.  they have been growing on me down here in bocholandia.  i was looking forward to testing it out when i got back, but i guess that ill just have to buy my self one when i get back.  about Vance getting that job, i cant tell you how pumped i was when i heard that he got it and that Andrew is moving up there too.  how awesome will that be!!!  not sure where Evan and meg think there going, they are headed in the wrong direction right, north not south.  i was actually hoping they would get the job over there in Oregon, but Arizona is "chill".  what part of Arizona are they heading for, hopefully its close to Tucson, i cant wait to get back on the bike and prep for the tour again.  by the way how's that trek doing?   So, Jake is home from the mission huh, that is crazy!!  have you guys seen him yet,   tell him hi for me when you do.  just look at all of us growing up, its weird cause i don't feel that old. 

alright, so let me tell you a little bit about Parados.  its way different then my last area but i like it.  the people here are crazy, its a side effect from being so close to DF.  i forgot what it was like to ride in a combi, reminds me of the days when i got robbed.  there is definitely a lot of action down here with crazies, so the night time is a little more exciting.  we had a rough Sunday, but we learned a lot, and there is no doubt that this week will be different, let me tell you why.  this last Saturday our whole zone got together and headed out to a brand new colonial that's called Santa Inés.  this brand new area is not technically in anybody's area, so its just free game.  the stake president did that on purpose, cause he wants everybody to work over there so that they can build a Rama.   so the whole zone went over there Saturday mourning and put up two tables full of  folletos and videos, and then the rest of the 14 missionaries went and knocked doors and contacted.  In two hours we got 109 referencias, and about 22 are so called families de oro.  so the crazy thing about this is that our area is the closest to this area, so all the references went to us, and now this week we have to turn those numbers into salvation.  A pretty large task and a lot of pressure not only from the leaders, but also the stake president.  I think its every missionaries dream to receive references like that.   We have a lot of work to do, but i feel like i have just the companion to turn Santa Inés into a gold mind.  Elder Baez is a master with the people, I've learned a lot from him this past week, and my Spanish is getting better with having to speak all the time.  I’ll let you know how the battle up in Santa Inés goes this next week. 

I’m sending the pics from Anayelli and Luis’s baptism, I love those two and I have to be here when they get sealed, that will probably be like 2 months after i get back, so if anybody wants to come that’s the plan. I hope.

mom you are good to tell people that I'm doing awesome.  I've learned a lot these past couple months and feel different.  i love you so much, and will remember everybody in my prayers. 

Love

Elder Gardner 

July 11, 2011

Wait a sec.  when did Andrew get engaged?????  what is going on up there, nah that awesome, when is the date for the wedding? 

So i don't know what happened with that hurricane or massive storm.  that much of rain is unusual for Queretaro, but its all past and every thing is back to normal, the only thing that is not normal is that i got changed today.  I left my lil´Boy and all those people i love up there, it wasn't easy, but that's the mission.  so i went from the farthest north of the mission to the farthest south.   actually our area boarders a two of the other missions, northwest and the west missions.  the west missionaries are famous here because there has been a couple of occasions that the west missionaries have been poaching into our mission.   I've heard those missionaries have bikes, sunglasses, and iPod touches.  this is just what my comp said, so who knows if its true.  i was wondering if marc ever served in this part of his mission in tultapec.  my area is called parados, and my comp is Elder Baez,  its crazy to have a Mexican for a comp, cause I'm so used to the Americans.  it should be really good, and it will help speaking in Spanish all the time. 

 

Mom i got the package, thank so much i enjoy the laffy taffy.  i was super excited to see the doctrine y convenions dvd, but i forgot to tell you to send it in Spanish.  because i don't have a lot of opportunities to watch it in English.  but its all good.  yeah I've been struggling with the money, because we took a trip two trips to tequisciac to marry anayeli and Luis.  the mission doesn't help us with that, so we pained for it.  but I'm sure that the card with come soon, and all will work out.  anayeli and Luis were baptized were baptized yesterday and it was one of the coolest baptisms I've had.  i send pics next week.  this family is easy the coolest hear in Mexico.  I'm really excited for them, but a little disappointed that i had to change and could be there for their confirmations.  but its all good.  I will adjust.  i{m excited for a new area and for the opportunity we have to find more families.   I love you.  the church is true, and god is in control. 

 

Love

Elder Gardner

06/27/11

Hola Familia,

We had some awesome things happen this week.  last week we contacted a lady by the name of Anayelli, we set up a appointment with her and went by last Sunday.  so last Sunday we taught her and her esposo Luis.  Both are the gold of the gold.  We had a lesson with them on Friday and she told us that they had read the book of Mormon all the way to chapter 4.  we asked is she had any questions and she told us no, but that she had a lot of things she wanted to talk about.  she then gave us a in-depth overview of the story of Nephi,  and understood every little detail. while she read she took 2 pages of notes and was just analyzing the heck out of it.  she a great story tell or something, cause the whole time she was telling us this story i just kept think to my self this is an awesome story, it made me want to reread the start of the bomb.  anyways Anayelli and Luis are not married so we have been working hard on finding a way to help them out with that.  they have such a strong desire to get married, but the cool thing is they want to get married because they know its a commandment and that its a requisite for baptism.  they have their eyes set on there fechta for the 10 de Julio.  the only thing that stands in there way is the matrimony.  after Anayelli gave us the down low on  chap 1-4 she said she wanted to talk about one of the verses that llama su atencion.  she starts to read off 1nefi 3:7 and pretty much bore her testimony on how she new god would prepare a way for them to complete with all his commandments.   elder Fulton and i were blown off our shoes, Anayelli and Luis are one of those people that god has prepared.  its awesome to teach people when they understand so well.

 

here are some pics from yesterday, one minute we were walking with blue skies, the next min. the streets had turned in to rivers, pretty crazy.  o yeah and we had fish on Sunday.  the fish was a live on sec. and then in the pan for 2 sec, then on our plates, was really good.

 

i love you all,

Elder Gardner 

June 13, 2011

Mom,

¡Felizidades! that’s awesome mom, that you passed and have made it through all of the steps to get certified. how awesome it is to have a goal like that and then to look back and see that you did it, and now your going to see the fruits from that work. We experienced a little bit of that this past week (not exactly the same but kind of). So we had this goal at the beginning of this transfer to contact 100 people every week. It’s something that we hadn't been doing last change. So our first week we contacted our heads off and reached 101 contacts, but the thing was that we really hadn't seen any difference in our numbers, but this past week we reaped the fruit from that work. We found 4 different families that are buenisimo. Each family isn't directly from those contacts but it started the revelation to find the family's. We pasted by one contact and they weren't´t there, but we decided to knock the door across the street. and found Gabi and Fabian and their two kids. Fabian has a lot of health problems, and cant work. Their kind of in a bind. We taught them and left them with the Book of Mormon challenge. We came back and Gabi told us that she read and then had this dream, it was super crazy and super long. But the climax in the dream was when her mom that past away last year, told her , "Gabi Stop doubting, all of this is true." This family has already seen so many blessing from just this week. One thing that came out in one of lesson was that before we got there they were thinking of getting a divorcement, but know feel that this message is going to help them. All i can say is that when we are obedient and complete with our goals, weather its getting certified or contacting a 100 people, we will receive blessing, and maybe they don't come right a way, but I know that they come. I love you so much, and hope all is great with the family. Until next week, take love.

Quidate Mucho

Elder Gardner

June 6, 2011

Hola Familia

well there goes the first week of this transfer, i can tell you it was ugly.  but i have not had a more fulfilling week.  Elder Fulton and I are a different companionship this week.  lets just say we both feel good about what is to come.  Life is good.  sorry its short.  I love you all so much.  Year 2 is a go!!

Elder Gardner

From Father to Son

¿como estas?

well i heard that you killed your talk this last Sunday, which is no surprise, i wish i was there to hear it. dad, i have an investigator right now who is struggling with the cigarettes. we have tried a lot of things and nothing has really worked. we decided to fast this past week, and as we were teaching him about principle of a fast i realized something that scared me. I don't really have a very good testimony of the fast. its always been something that has been difficult for me. i was wondering if you could send we some of your thoughts on fasting, your experiences, and your testimony of the fast. thanks for every thing, dad. i hope all is going well.

I love you dad

Elder Gardner

 

Tyler,

I always enjoy your emails. The principle of the Fast has caused in me one of the greatest desires for gospel research. I'll send a few articles from the Brethren that I think will help you in your search for knowledge and enlightenment -- The Law of the Fast by Elder Worthlin; Fasting with Power by Elder Bowen; The Blessing of a Proper Fast by Elder Pratt; and one by Bishop Brown. There are several others but these will get you started.

But perhaps the best source, and my favorite, is the 58th chapter of Isaiah, specifically verses 2 through 12. As you read these verses the doctrine of the fast will distill upon your soul. Elder Pratt does a good job of helping explain some of the key verses. But the Spirit will show you the full meaning of the verses as you study them over time.

Here are my thoughts.

You'll remember that the Savior fasted for 40 days in the wilderness when he wanted to draw close to Heavenly Father just before his temptations by Lucifer. Because he was half immortal he could do that without serious injury to his body. It gave him great spiritual focus. He later fasted as he went up on Mount transfiguration. We know this because when he can down with Peter, James, and John he met the other apostles who had not been able to cast out a particularly difficult spirit. Matthew 17:21 says, "This [kind] goeth not out but by prayer and fasting." Fasting provides spiritual power to accomplish things that require a powerful spirit.

When I fast properly, I am drawn closer to the Spirit. I can always tell when I am having a good fast because I don't have much trouble with hunger. It makes me feel as though Heavenly Father is listening to me when I pray. It gives me greater strength and focus to do the right thing, whatever that may be. It is a chance for me to demonstrate to Heavenly Father that communicating with Him and doing His will is more important to me than meeting my physical needs. Isaiah says, "Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am." (58:9.) I want Him to always be willing to answer me when I need Him, especially in my most earnest and difficult situations.

When Marc was 3 years old, just as you were born and right after we had moved to Albuquerque, I fasted for four days because I needed Heavenly Father's help to prepare me to give him a blessing. The Lord healed Marc from his seizures. Not because of my fast, but because it was His will and many people united their faith in Marc's behalf. But because of my fasting I felt that I could ask the Lord for this blessing for my poor suffering son, and He would hear me, and I could live with the result what ever it might be.

We don't need to fast for an extended time for the Lord to hear our cries. We can't hold Heavenly Father hostage by fasting for more than two meals. Two meals, 24 hours is really all we generally need.

The other side of Fasting is our giving an offering to the church for the benefit of the poor and needy. We should give the value of the food not eaten as a minimum. But we ought to be generous in our offerings if we can. I've heard the brethren say that if we want to increase our spirituality and devotion to God, we can increase our offerings. I know of some people who give more than 10 or 20 times or more the amount of food they did not eat during their fast. This principle of giving generously is also contained in Isaiah 58, in verse 7.

Read verse 6. "Is not this the fast that I have chosen? To loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heaven burdens and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?" This may have direct application to your investigator. And to everything that binds you and me down.

The fast is a way to draw closer to Heaven and gather the strength and clarity to do the right thing. I can't say that I have an effective fast every month. But when I put my heart into it, I am always blessed.

I'll send those articles over through Dear missionary in case you can't print them from the attachments.

All my love,

Dad

 

 

Dad,

I’m so blessed to have a dad who knows so much that he can give me the exact type of help when i need it.  thank you dad for living your life the way that god intended, you bless us as your family, more then you know. 

I want to study all this information first, then put it into practice.  i will write you a letter when i have found my testimony of the fast, and share my thoughts with you.

thanks again dad, i love you so much

your son,

Elder Gardner

May 30, 2011

O dang, that's crazy about the weather over there.  why don't you send some of that rain over here, because it is burning.  Well today is transfers and well nothing happened.  I'm going to stay here in satellite with my boy.  I was glad because this last transfer was really bad, and i did not want to leave this area the way it is right now.  elder Fulton and i talked a lot about what we going to do different this change.  its crazy to think that I'm walking up on a year, do you remember what we were doing a year from now.  i still remember that first day, when i said bye to you guys, it seems that that was just yesterday (maybe not yesterday but doesn't feel to long ago).  I've been thinking, am i at were i wanted to be at a year ago.  and the answer is an exhausted "no".  but the thing is i know exactly why.  I'm excited for this new change because this is going to be the moment when i look back and think that's when i finally got it.  I know what I've got to do, and i will do it.  new year, new change, new missionary. ill let you know how it goes.  I love you so much and hope that all is sailing along.  Keep pushing, keep praying, keep the faith.

 

Love you,

Elder Gardner 

May 23, 2011

Man, super disappointed that i missed McKenzie and Marc´s big day.  I'm expecting lots and lots of pictures.  i miss having all the family coming over and hanging out.  but still the work goes on here in Satélite.   We had an alright week as far as the numbers go, but the highlight was that we went to a mission conference over in Mexico and elder de hoyos from the 70 and Elder Cook from the 12 were there.  it was awesome to shake elder Cooks hand and be that close to him.  as soon as he entered the room, you could just feel the spirit hit you like a brick wall.  it was interesting to see the difference in conferences.  when i was in Vegas elder pierce from the 70 came and we laid down the hammer on us.  and the conference took all day because he was just laying it on thick.  i guess it was cause that mission needed it.  but this confereace3 that we just barely had was more like a your doing what your suppose to be doing kind of deal.   he asked us if we had questions, and talked for a little bit and then it was over.  it was only 2 hours, which felt like 15 mins.  i felt like it was god telling president Nancollas that he is doing a good job with the mission.  I'm going to miss president so much when he leaves in June.  i feel so blessed to be in a mission with a superb mission president, ill have to tell you stories later of pres. Nancollas. 

 

Elder Cook left us a blessing, and i felt like it was directed at our family directly.  i tried to write it down as best as i can remember.   He told us that he knows right now that there are a lot of things happening with our families back home.  He said I want to leave my blessing on you all, that you are in the exact spot that god wants you to be.  And that if you serve with everything you've got god will bless your family with every thing that they need.  you need not worry about them because they are receiving more blessing than you or they know.  you cant see it now, but there will be a time in your life where you will see the blessings your family has received from you services.   Mas or menos is what he said.  i don't tell you that to make you thank me, but because i want you to know that all is well.  I love you all and hope all is going well after the monumental weekend.  cognates McKenzie and Marc. 

 

Quidate mucho

Elder Gardner

May 9, 2011

I was super psyched to talk to you tambien.  It sounds like you all are doing well and that you are happy.  I feel super disappointed to be missing all the big things that are happening.  after i hung up, i thought to my self, where were the little girls?  tell the girls i love them for me, and that i cant wait for their letters to get here. i felt bad that i couldn't talk to every one, but man those 45 mins go fast.  it will be interesting to see if pres. call gives us more or less time.  pres. has a son on the mish and his president only lets them talk for 20 min.  i think I'm good with 45min.  I'm excited that Andrew is going up to BYU-I that will really fun.  

Mother Goose, i didn't really get the chance to give you a proper mothers day thanks.  I'm a very lucky boy to have been blessed with such a great Mother.  i honestly feel as though it is one of the greatest blessings i have received in this life.  I cant tell you how much i look forward to reading your letters each Monday, there are days on the mish when it gets tough, but i always get a boost after reading your letters. thanks for the love and devotion. I feel so happy that you have found something that you like to do and that you have the opportunity to follow it.  i wish you all the luck in the world with your studies and your new journey as a teacher.  you’ll do awesome, and the kids will love you and one the kids will look back and consider you a great blessing in there life's, as i have.  Mom i hope you know how much i love you and wish the best for you.  I grateful for all that you have given me, and hope that one day that i might be able to show you the same love that you have given me.  Happy mothers day to the greatest mom ever. 

Love your son

Tyler

April 25, 2011

Easter Sunday

I little disappointed that i missed the weekend with the family.  it sounds like everything went great.

Well, I would like to introduce you to Elder Fulton, from Spanish Fork Utah.  the kid is a flat out stud, and i think he has taught me more this week then i have taught him.  We had an interesting week this week which stretched me more then i´ve ever been before.  not sure if anyone understands us, but from a couple of the experiences we have had i know that they can feel something.  we meet a family this week, the dad flat out told us that he doesn't believe in god. our next lesson he told us that he had started to pray with his wife, and they came to church yesterday.  the change that came over this guy during our first lesson was incredible, and i know it wasn't elder Fulton or my Spanish that changed his mind.  The spirit is real and i have a feeling I'm going to learn a lot about it this transfer.  I love you so much, don't sweat it. its all possible

Elder Gardner

Pictures from Mexico

April 18, 2011

Bouncing Baby Boy

Well I'm proud to announce that I'm going to have a baby boy!!.  still not sure if he is going to be Mexican or American, but imp pulling for a Mexican cause there is no way i could teach someone how to speak Spanish right now, perro ni modo.  Elder HIlle left this mourning and I'm just waiting for this little guy to get here.  I'm super excited, but i feel super responsible to teach this little boy the camino correcto. 

Elder Hille and i had a baptism this week.  The guys name is Marco, and he is awesome, I honestly think this guy is going to be the Obispo one day.  when we taught him about the word of wisdom he told us he had problems with every one of the 5 things.  but that he was going to give it all up that day. when he told his wife she just kept telling him not to lie because she not no confidence that he could do it.  He brought a friend to his baptism yesterday and while we were changing in to our baptism cloths he told us that this friend was his drinking buddy.  he said they went out last night and he told his friend that he couldn't drink any more and that he was just going to drink a soda.  his friend was in unbelief, and felt uncomfortable drinking in front of him so his friend ordered a soda tambien.  and now his friend is interested in listening.  i was a cool experience.  we are hoping that Marco's family gets baptized this coming week.  ill let you know how it goes.  And ill send pics of my baby boy this next week. 

I love you guys so much.  i hope all is going well.   your always in my prayers

Elder Gardner

April 18, 2011

Mom,

That sounds like a fun yet busy time over there in San Fran.  i was on San Francisco just yesterday, but it was street San Fran, casi.  I think it so cool that you are going through this program, Beth sent me a letter and told me she was excited for when you can start helping Calvin full time.  what and awesome job.

What happened to dads famous egg-n-hole? i would not worry about the girls because,dad always treated us right when you would leave.  I cant tell you how much I'm going to miss the wedding.  thank you so much i got the package, and man that chocolate was good.  i loved the pics, but every single one was of Auzzy, i love the kid but what happened with the rest of my family?? mom, i hope to be receiving a pic of my hermosa madre!!!   i still cant believe that Andrew is in India, i cant wait to here his stories.  so president told us it was our choice if we wanted to call home or not this mothers day.  i have decided not to call i feel like i need to focus more out here. j/k I cant to call home on Sunday!!!!!  Ill try and call about 6 o 7 our time which is 5 o 6 your time.  I'm going to call from the church so no need to worry about the calling card o anything. I love you so much and I'm ecstatic to hear from you this Sunday. the only thing is that only have 45 min so we need to plan it out better this time.  i love you so much and hope all goes well in San Fran this week. 

te quiero mucho

April 11,2011

What's up in UTAH!!

Yeah, i was so confused when i saw the all the snow, how crazy is that.  We were not allowed to go to the Saturday sessions of conference, which i was super disappointed.  Priesthood sessions is by far the best, and i heard it was just killer.  Of what i saw and understood of Conference it was pretty smooth.  we had all our investigators at the mourning session, so we had to watch it in Spanish, not going to lie i didn't understand a lot of it.  but its always a good thing to put your investigators into the prophets hands. the lady we baptized yesterday absolutely loved it, she came up to us at the end and told us,"the prophet was beaming with light"  she kept telling us how different she felt when he was talking.  we found out right before the afternoon session that in the stake president's office they were playing the session in English.  I don't think I've ever been so out of my mind excited to watch conference in English.  It was soooo good, and way to short.  it was awesome to see elder de hoyos talk, because he came to our mission a couple of months ago.  But to be honest with you i could understand him better when he visited us and spoke in Spanish.  just like you mom i cant way to get the revista and read all of the other sessions.  I too have been thinking about the tremendous blessing we have to have a living prophet that leads and guides us.  this life is too hard to try and go through with out a prophet.  after the conference we were driving home and i was looking at all the people who had no idea what just happened.  A PROPHET OF GOD JUST SPOKE, and they had no idea.  What a great responsibility we have to bring this message to them and help the understand that there is more to this life. 

well, I hope all is well back in the states.  that is so crazy about the temple in meridian, what other temples were announced?  did they say anything about a Queretaro Temple?  this area is defiantly read.  I love you all so much and pray that you all are doing great.  Thanks for everything!!

Love you all,

Elder Gardner

March 27, 2011

Thanks so much for your weekly letters.  I’m sorry about my emails, i promise you that things are great. i will get better at the letters.  i just don't have  a lot of time and I'm really slow. but i will get better. 

I love you

Elder Gardner

March 21, 2011

O, Boy that is super exciting!!!  what a awesome kid!!!  i know how much its killing you that you have to go up and be around those crazy kids, suerte!! let Britt and Vance know I'm disappointed that the didn't choose one of my names, but Jett is bien chito.  MOM, thank you so much for the package, i had no clue what was in there cause it weighted so much.  that was a lot of candy and I'm trying to pace my self, but i never  have anything to eat in the house so i always fall back on my box of candy. i don't expect it to last past this week.  Thanks again its always good to get a package. 

We had such a better week, elder hille and i are learning a lot.  we met a lady this week, her name is Maria Eugenia, she was a contact from last week that we decided to visit.  we gave her the first and she was really interested, our next appointment we brought an ex sis. missionary who just blew her away with excitement.  each lesson we were talking about the baptism with her, but she kept telling us she would pray about it.  we going over to here house on viernes and we gave her a short lesson and then asked what she was thinking about her baptism. she moved to the edge of her chair and she told us, "I want to do it,  I want that Holy Ghost!!!"  for us missionaries i don't know if it gets much better than that.  she was super excited, and now she is like best friends with this hermana that we brought over.  the hermana picks Maria up for church and every thing. we are way excited for Maria.  we learned a lot of things that is going to change we do things over here. i{m excited for this new week to put it all in to action.  its almost half way through the change, and it feels like i just got here. its not even fair how fast the time is going. 

I love you so much, make sure to give that brand new bouncing baby boys kisses for me.  thanks again for the package, i hope all goes well this week.  how is dad and the fam doing? tell them i love them.  Keep safe, and do work.

Elder Gardner

March 14, 2011

I cant tell you how much i love to get your emails, and hear about the family.  the only thing that could make it better is pics.  the last time you guys sent the voice mails i gotten them, the only thing is that i don't know how to put it on to my voice recorder so i have to listen to them in the cyber cafe. and sometimes i don't have time. do you know how to i can put them onto my recorder if at all? Stickém, good times!!  I want to see that, please send pics. i don't think that the package that you sent to Vegas ever got here, the one with all the pics.  I'm still dying to see marcs car, and tambien my new sister, and that new kid from sugar city.   

I did hear about the Earthquake, and it put a huge pit in my stomach.  I'm so glad to hear that Tyler and Marcus are alright, but i do think the were in the southern part of japon.  O, the signs.

I've got to be honest i had a brutal week, which means i learned a lot.  Elder Hille and i work hard all week, but it was ineffective, and it hurt on Sunday.  I'm so pumped for this week cause we have a new game plan and a new way of looking at Satélite.  Queretero does´t know what's going to hit them.  

I read a talk by elder David Bednar from this last conference and it has struck me hard.  he talks about the el don del espiritu santo and how every thing we do, we do to have the spirit with us more.  the talk has an awesome quote at the end.  It applied to me so much this last week, and i hope it can help you as much it did me.  I love you all so much and miss you all so much, but at the same time estoy muy contento.  I hope everything goes well this week.  ¡¡Keep Fighting!!

Elder Gardner

¡Go! slay slay your dragon

March 7, 2011

NEW AREA

Hola familia

Ok, Ok, Ok, so it happened. I left Tepotzotlan, and boy it was not easy.  i was birth into this Mexican world in that city.  i love that barrio, i love those members, and i had such an awesome 4 1/2 months there.  The call came yesterday, and it wans´t unexpected, but non the less still difficult.  Querétaro, Mexico in the barrio Satelite, smack dab in the middle of the city.  its weird to have a different scenery, but in a way its quite refreshing.  i´m just pumped out of my mind to start it going here.  When i first got here today, the first thing my zone leader told me was, "Elder Gardner how's it going, your area is really struggling right now, you have a lot of work in front of you."  I´m excited!!!  so get this my last comp elder marsh was companions with elder Hille in the MTC.  and it just turns out that my new comp is Elder Hille in the flesh.  elder marsh had nothing but gold to say about elder hille.  so its exactly the same situation as when i was elder marsh, he has one less transfer than me and he spits Spanish well.  i have a lot to learn from this kid.  

so, the baby is getting close.  what's on the rumor mill about names for this new kid?  i hope to get some pics next week.  thanks for telling me about him. Cameron, could you send me his address.  its interesting how things happen in this world, isn´t it? sometimes how trials can seem to be choking us so much that we can easily forget the things we know.  I know this church is true i know we are hear for a purpose. i have the opportunity in my life right now to serve others, and I've learned so much.  i think that is such an important principle in this life.  we can not allow our trials change our path.  we can not forget about those around us. sorry that was a bunch of random thoughts. I love you all so very much and hope that all is well. 

keep fighting the good fight!!!

Elder Gardner

February 28, 2011

I'm sorry i don't have a lot of time. we had a tough week, but we learned big on it.  so this is the last week of the change, dang that went by so fast, I'm hoping a can stay.

three things that have hit me hard this week.

henry b Eyring his talk "adversity"

"we become what we want to be, by continually being what we want to become" 

"our faith is in Jesus Christ and it is not dependent on outcomes" 

we had a tough week that had little visible fruit, but when we have trials in our life, I've found we should stop for a moment and think about our situation. there is nothing in this world that will change our faith that Jesus is the Christ he is our savior, he knows the weight we bear, and he never will leave us.  i love you all so much, and i pray that you all are doing well.,

Elder Gardner

February 21, 2011

Hola

I´m not sure how to transfer those recordings, but hopefully i can get bro. Vasquez to help me out.  i think i can do it though.  well, how are are things going?  I was thinking a little bit more about things you could send, I'm not sure if you already sent anything or not but here are some other ideas: Primary song book, those Reese's peanut butter Easter eggs, chewy jolly ranchers, Pepto-Bismol tablets, and my old thumb drive in my room.  just some things that came to mind this week.

We had a hard fought week that ended like a car wreck.  we had the promises of having one of our biggest Sundays, but instead 2 of the families that we solid to come to church fell, and one of our baptisms didn't show up for his confirmation.  I felt so horrible, we have to go straighten some things out.  we defiantly did some things wrong, and the good thing about it was we learned what not to do or we learned what to do.  brutal day, but sometimes that's how we learn best. i can promise you that i will never make the same mistake again.  the thing was we worked hard and this week we are going to work even hard and a lot smarter.  Its getting closer and closer to the transfer and I'm almost positive that I'm going to be changed. in some ways I'm a little glad, but for the most part its going to kill me.  I've definably grown more this transfer than any other. its so true that when you get stretched to the point where you don't think you can handle it, that is when you grown the most.  

I wanted to follow up with my thought last week. not sure if you read the last talk i gave, but this is elder Uchtdorf's sequel.  

"You are my hands"  April 2010   you got to reread this talk

"Christ did not just speak about love. He showed it each day of his life. He didn't just teach a class about reaching out in love and then delegate the actual work to others.  he not only taught but also showed us how to succor the weak, lift up the hands which hang down, and strengthen the feeble knees..... As we extend our hands and hearts, toward others in Christ like love, something wonderful happens to us. our own spirits become healed, more refined,  and stronger.  we become happier, more peaceful, and more receptive to the whisperings of the holy spirit."

I have a testimony of this, when our life's are not going great and we are just in this rut of muck(unhappiness).  its because we are missing this love in our life's.  when we forget about our self's and worry about loving others we with find happiness in this life that heavenly father planned for us to have. i love you all so much, try and find that love in your life. its hard but it make life so much easier. take care   I want you to know i love every single one of you.

Elder Gardner

February 14, 2011

That's awesome!  I cant tell you how much I'm dying that i cant be there for all these crazy once in a life time events.  why saint George? crazy about valentines day, i had totally forgot, i don't think people even know what that is here. about the b day package, I've been craving a calendar, i was thinking a sweet one of the church would be cool or maybe a Utah one, or maybe one of Brittney´s special home made ones. also i have been thinking of how i could get a bunch of the church pictures laminated so i can always have them to put up in the house. pictures like the classic savior with his red shirt of, sweet ones of Nephi, alma, Ammon, and joseph smith, and not just the every day ones that we always see like some sweet unique pics. i don't know just some ideas. 

well we had a very interesting week, were we put some time in on the pavement.  each night we would come home just exasperated. up it turned out to be a huge let down of a week.  yesterday we had Giermo and Maria Guadalupe´s baptism and it was awesome. the zone leaders who serve in our same ward all so brought 7 to the baptism. and then one of our old investigators showed up and wanted to get baptized, i guess the bishop has been working with him. i was really close with family, so it was awesome to see him there. i hoping they will invite me to the temple in one year.  I'm sending pics of all of them individually and then the whole thing. i think the coolest thing was that after the baptism, the bishop came up to elder marsh and me and told us that he has a golden reference for us. i felt so good, because i took that as he is starting to trust us more. when i first got here he had a sour taste for missionaries, but now were are getting better at working together, that how heavenly father planned out the work to go down:)

so, I've noticed that I'm just a big blob of orgullo.  its been killing me, and a read elder Uchtdorf's talk about pride and how he talks about the way to over come it. i read this other talk this week that hit me like a ton of bricks. check it out

"my dear brothers and sisters, don't get discouraged if you stumble at times. don't feel downcast or despair if you don't feel worthy to be a disciple of Christ at all time.  the first step to walking unrighteousness is simply to try. we must try to believe. try to learn of got read the scriptures study the words of his latter-day prophets choose to listen to the father and do the things he asks . try and keep on trying until that witch seems difficult seems possible and that which seems possible becomes habit and a real part of your life"

i love you all

Elder Gardner

February 7 2011

Craziness!!!

halo de Santiago,

wow, what a letter.  Marcus what a stud. how about some pics? may that's super soon, no?  i cant tell you how disappointed i am that I'm going to miss it.  ok, let me just get this straight this i not the same McKenzie from Boise, right? i mean its cool either way, but i definitely need some clearing up.  i got the Christmas tree, and i look at all of your pretty faces all the time.  but the one that was throwing me off was the one where marc is sitting next to a girl who has a little darker skin.  i was preparing me self for that girl to be the next entry to the family. wait, is that the same girl. I'm super confused.  matt going to Paris, tell him congrats for me.

well we had a tough week, we worked our tails off and didn't get very far.  but we are going to have 4 baptisms this week and the other companionship in the ward is having 6. so there will be a total of 10 new additions to this ward.  the ward is psyched out of their minds, its awesome to be a part of their fire.  that's crazy about elder marsh, i love the kid, and am learning so much from him. 

i wanted to share this line from elder Scott, something that has made an impact on me this week.

"satin's increasing influence in the world is allowed to provide an atmosphere in which to prove ourselves.  while he causes havoc today, Satan's final destiny was fixed by Jesus Christ through his atonement and the resurrection.  the devil will not triumph. even now he must operate within the bounds set by the lord.  he cannot take away any blessing that has been earned. he cannot alter character that has been woven from righteous decisions. he has no power to destroy the eternal bonds forged in a holy temple between a husband, wife, and children. he cannot quench true faith.  he cannot take away your testimony.  yes, these things can be lost by succumbing to his temptations. but he has no power in and of himself to destroy them.....  if you have determined to live righteously, don't become discouraged. life may seem difficult now, but hold on tightly to that iron rod of truth. you are making better progress than you realize. your struggles are defining character, discipline, and confidence in the promises of your father in heaven and the savior as you consistently obey their commandment.  may the holy ghost prompt you to always make decisions that fortify your character and yield much joy and happiness. in the name of Jesus Christ, amen"

i love you so much, and how all is well

Elder Gardner

Hola de Santiago

how are you doing? o boy what a crazy week, elder marsh and i have been tarring it up. we both know little about running a brand new area, but we know missionary handbook and how to be obiedient. we are not the best teachers but we have the spirit, and it payed off for us this week. this is definatly streching us both more than before, but that is good becuase we are learning. it good to hear that you all are doing good, i got the christmas tree yesterday, o man that beard of marcs is pretty narley. i hope you all are doing well. i love you all.

Elder Gardner

could you please send the adress of aaron and garrison, and the emails of emily and annie.