June 11,2012

Well, if I had to give the whole family a grade on how faithful you all were at writing me for these two years, it would have to be an 8.  But man, it’s like you all gave up the last 3 months.  Shout out to Mom cause she got me each week. The most consistent award goes to Megan, and the dark horse award goes to  Becky (I’ve never seen her in person and she wrote me more than Andrew, Marc, Emily, and Annie).  Ok, I gave you your grade and awards, lets hear your end of the story.

Oh, boy.  We had a great week last week. We baptized Luz, Jesus, and Fani. They got confirmed this Sunday (minus Fani, she will get here next week)  This week we baptized Fani’s Mom and sister, Tiofi and Barbara.  It was awesome.  At the beginning of the week we put a meta to baptize Tiofi and Barbara, but when we put the meta we had not seen Barbara in two weeks. We thought that she didn’t want anything but we felt that we needed to put her down as a meta, and we did it in faith.  We went through the semana and prepared Tiofi for her interview on Friday, but we still had not seen Barbara.  Her mom (Tiofi) kept telling us that Barbara didn’t want to be baptized because of a couple of things that had happened with her pops.  We passed by for Tiofi on Friday and she told us she didn’t feel prepared. Her husband was super "boracho" and they had been fighting.  We talked with her and told her that she needs to just go to the interview and the elder will be the judge if she is ready or not. She agreed to go to the interview Saturday night.  We left their house pretty disappointed because we felt like everything had fallen apart. As we were walking home that night, I got the strongest impression that we needed to pass by for Barbara Saturday morning to prepare her for her interview with her mom that night.  We prayed that Tiofi would be prepared for her interview the next day and to know the exact time that we should go and visit Barbara.  Then, Saturday morning we go by at the time we felt we should.  Barbara and Fani and Omar were there.  We sat down but we had no clue what we needed to say to her to help her understand that she was ready for her baptism.  We asked Barbara what she had thought about her baptism.  She said, "I made my decision earlier in the week that I wasn’t going to be baptized, but last night I was talking with my mom and Fani. I now understand that I need to be baptized."  I was super shocked that we didn’t have to say anything, and she was ready.  Tiofi and Barbara had their interview that night and the next day they were baptized. They both are very happy.  God answers prayers, he loves us. If we can just have faith and not doubt, we will see miracles in our lives. I learned that first hand this week.  I love you all.  Thanks for everything you do for me.  Last week....gasp....sprint to the end!

Love

Elder Gardner 

May 28, 2012

Hola,
We had a great week, and a perfect ending.  We had 3 baptisms on Sunday.  We are teaching the family Fertile Plain Pineapple (or as we say it in español la Familia Vega Piña).  They are all progressing really well, it is a mom and dad and there three kids.  One of their girls, Fani, was baptized yesterday.  She set a great example for her parents, brother and sister. The rest of the familia should all get dunked this next Sunday.  The other two baptisms were Jesus y Luz.  They were married on Saturday and baptized Sunday.  We weren’t completely sure if Jesus was going to be baptized because he had to have a special interview with President Call.  Pres. came in the middle of our services to do the interview.  Jesus was super nervous, but their interview went really well.  President came out of the interview and told me, “Jesus is a great guy.”  It was awesome because Jesus told me that Pres helped him understand a lot of things. Before Pres. left, Jesus invited him to stay for the baptism.  It was awesome because Pres. and Sis. Call stayed to be there with Jesus.  It was one of the best baptisms I’ve been in.  This week we start up again looking for more families and helping everybody else come closer to Christ.  It’s awesome!  Sorry I can’t send pics. I had a virus on my card and I thought I was erasing a virus but I erased all my pics.... ooopps.
I love you guys, take care.  I’m defiantly ready to play with the old boys again, but I think I’ll try and persuade them to play Futbol,
¿mejor no? swing it easy, read the scripts, say your prayers, go to church.
Love
Elder Gardner

May 21, 2012

Hola

Can’t tell you how excited I was to see your email.  We got on the internet at 10 and I didn’t have a single email, that’s always a junky feeling.  We decided to try again.  Thanks for the write. It’s just not the same when I don’t hear from you. 

I’m not sure if I knew your aunt. When I hear about people dying and I don’t really know them,  I just get this excited feeling, but it’s not for the fact that they died, it’s because I know that they just advanced to the next part of the plan.  Your aunt has passed on, but just think of what it’s like for her right now. She can see the family that she hasn’t see in a long time.  Not sure exactly how its going to be, but if we do every thing right I know it will pretty sweet. 

Thanks for the prayers for Luz y Jesus.  They are so excited, they have everything ready for the wedding this Saturday. Then Sunday we are all getting wet in the baptismal water.  They are so amazing.  Yesterday in principles of the gospel, there was a debate about what was going to happen in the millennium.  There was an hermana that was trying to make the lesson really complicated. The tension was building in the class and then Jesus says,  "All I know is the Church is true, and what this Book says is right."   It quieted the class and I felt the Spirit.  Latter in the priesthood class the maestro gets up and says, "Ok, not going to lie, I didn’t prepare for the class, and I haven’t read the chapter." Then he asks who read the chapter.  It was quite and then Jesus busts into explaining what he got out of reading the chapter. It was really cool.  They are soooo ready for the water. We got the invite to the wedding so I’ll send pics next week.

So Elder Briggs and I got the chance to talk in sacrament meeting yesterday.  It was an awesome experience.  All week I was pondering about what to talk on, and little by little I understood what I was suppose to learn and share with the ward.  I talked about the Will of God.  Our responsibility in this life is to understand Gods will and then do it.  As I was studying the topic, I remembered what happened with Marcus when he was little, with the epilepsy.  I don’t even really know the story very well, but what I remember is that you and dad had the faith to pray and fast for a complete recovery for Marc.  How did you know to pray for a complete recovery?  I then remembered you saying that you and dad FELT you should pray for that specific blessing.  When we pray we are aligning our will with Gods. We have no power, nor right, nor understanding to change Gods will.  But when we understand what the will of God is, like you and dad did in this situation, we can have complete confidence that it will happen, if we have faith.  That’s what I shared with the ward…and a little more.  I can’t wait to talk to you and dad about all the details of that experience, and what you think about what I just shared. 

Three weeks.  That’s weird.  Have a great week, I hope all is happy in Happy Valley.  God bless.

Love,

Elder Gardner 

May 7, 2012

Ok, here is the skin dip,  I´m going to Skype you guys on Sunday at 5 Mexico time, which is 6 your time.  Is that fair?  As far as how we are going to do it, I have no idea.  I think we are going to use Luis` computer.  Hopefully he has skype, I will ask him to send you a friend invite this semana.  

We are still sluging here in la Colmena.  The ward  had a big mothers day party on Viernes and it was pretty suave.  We invited Luz Maria and Jesus, and Luis showed up too.  They’re all are awesome cause they are very friendly people so it wasn´t hard at all for them to get comfortable.  The ward hired a guy to setup  his taco stand in the church, so we all ate tacos.  Oh I love the pastor.  I don’t have a clue what I’m going to do when I get back and I get the urge for tacos.  I wonder if ill be able to find any good Mexican restaurants in Utah.  

Elder Briggs and I are learning a whole heap about following the spirit.  It’s just not something you learn over night.  But oh how important it is to continue trying and failing and trying again and learning.  

Can’t tell you how excited I am to talk to you all on Sunday.  Have a great week, keep on trek`n.  Mom, will you call Garrison’s mom and get an update on what all the boys are doing. Talk to you soon.

Love from Mexico,

Elder Gardner 

May 1, 2012

Hola,
¿Como le va en Utah?
Right before I left on the mission I asked Marc if he could give me a little advice to help me out as I was ready to enter the MTC.  This email has helped me out so very much in my mission.  At the end of the email he told me, "The field is white, Tyler, get ready to harvest as much as you can!"  I want you to know that it’s true. God is preparing people all around the world to receive the knowledge of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.  One of these escogidos is Luis Nefi.  He was confirmed with the Holy Ghost on Sunday.  Luis is a very friendly person and introduced us to one of his conocidos, Luz Maria, Jesus, and Paulo.  We started to teach them this past week. I don’t think I’ve ever taught an entire family that was so excited about the Church.  The funnest thing on the mission is teaching people who have been prepared and are excited.  President told me I was sent here to the colmena to strengthen this ward.  The best way we can do that as missionaries is find the escogidos.  We started a new change in the mission, which will be my last.  I’ve never been so excited to start a change before and it’s because I know without a doubt there escogidos en our area, and i know how to find them.  Part of this excitement, I think, has come from my study of the Atonement. I know, now more than ever, that every good thing in this life comes from what our Savior did for us.  Without the Atonement, this life has no significance. But, because He did the will of God, this life means the chance at Salvation, never ending happiness with God and our families.  The church is true, God lives, the Atonement is complete, thanks to a Son that put all his trust in His father, and never failed.  I love you all.  I’m going to give it my all this last 6 weeks.
I think we are going to use Skype again, if that ok.  I’ll let you know the horario next week.
Elder Gardner

April 23, 2012

I continue to be reminded about how amazing my mom and dad are.  I love you both so much.  I want to let you know again how grateful I am for you both.  We as children could not ask for better parents. 

It was a good fought week.  We stepped up our game here in the colmena.  I feel like we are doing what we need to do to receive the miracles we and the people here need.  Luis Nephi had a great week, that's not to say it didn't come without difficulties.  We helped him through his jitters, and now Luis Nephi is the newest member of la colmena.  We asked him how it was going with the Book of Mormon.  He told us it was going great.  He said he was reading before one of his classes and all of his students started to come in and everyone was asking him if he was Mormon.  Very proudly he said "yes, I'm Mormon."  Then he explained a little about the church.  He gave us a great reference that we are going to visit today.  He is a great missionary.  His baptism was awesome.  When he came out of the water he went right up to the bishop and told him, “Obispo i just got baptized!”  Luis has taught us all a lot about how great a blessing it is to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ. 

The Church is true, and everybody needs to know it.  I'm grateful to be a missionary.  It was a shocker for me last week to read that Kevin is home.  I think even more of a shocker because I know I'm next.  Not sure if I'm ready for my next mission to start.  I love you all.  Choose the right!

Elder Gardner

Just a shout out to my boy Vance that made it through his cancer!

April 16, 2012

O Phoenix, cant wait to get down there when i get back.  Evan promised me that he is going to take we to a Suns game and introduce me to Steve Nash, and then buy me an i pod.  At least that's what I understood when I was reading between the lines from the last letter he sent me.  Sounds like you had an awesome spring break. 

It was a good week, other than the fact that our family of investigators that we brought to church got up after sacrament meeting and literally ran out the door.  We were confused but I guess that is a pretty good sign that they don't want to learn about the church anymore.  The highlight of the week was Luis-Nephi.  The guy is a stud.  We taught him about the Plan of Salvation, and he loved it.  I have never taught anyone who really understood the importance of the Plan like Luis did.  Every part of the lesson he was on the edge of his seat. Throughout the lesson he would tell us that what we were talking about was very important.  He is right.  He taught me a lot about how important this plan is.  At the end of the lesson he kept telling us how very wise our words were, and then he asked us if he could offer the closing prayer.  In his word he kept giving thanks for what he learned and for sending Briggs and Gardner to him.  He prayed for the strength to be able to get to the Celestial Kingdom.  At the end of his prayer he looked up and with tears rocketing out of his eyes he said in his Mexican English,  "Its like Happiness".  It was awesome, LuisNefi is awesome.  He is going to be baptized on Sunday, I’ll send you some pics next week.  Elder Briggs and I are on our quest to find the escogidos that are in our area, because its the best way we can help La Colmena. 

I love you so much, have a splendid week.  thanks for sharing the script in sec. 6. 

: )

Elder Gardner

April 9, 2012

¿Que Tal?

We just finished up with Semana Santa for the Catholics.  This is the week that they celebrate the week leading up to the crucifixion and the resurrection.  Viernes was crazy because every catholic church (they are like Mormon church's here, on every corner) had their own reenactment of the crucifixion.  So we saw a lot of bloody guys with crosses on their backs, in one case they actually nailed the guy to the cross.  Wasn't my favorite part of the week.  On Saturday we were walking to an appointment and we saw some kids playing on a roof with water.  As we got closer the kids saw us and then took their buckets and launched the water at us.  Elder Briggs and i were super confused, luckily we are super agile we didn't get wet.  Come to find out that for some weird reason the tradition on this day is to get every one wet, friends, family, and your local guerro. 

We are teaching Louis English here at the local college.  He is one of the funniest guys I have ever met in my life.  After he read in the BOM he told us that after his baptism he is going to change his name to Luis Nephi.  This week we taught Luis about the Word of Wisdom.  It kind of hit him as a big surprise because he loves his cup of coffee in the mourning, and opening up his can of cerveza.  After explaining the commandment and the blessing we receive from obeying, he was willing to give it all up.  Thinking it would be difficult for him we put a plan were he would give it all poco a poco over a 2 week span.  Our next appointment, when we asked about how it was going with the Word of Wisdom he told us that there was no problem.  We asked him if he could throw the 2 week program in the trash and give it all up that same day.  His response showed his faith,  "yeah, that won’t be a problem".  We asked him how he was able to give up some thing he has been doing all his life in seconds.  He told us, “because i understand that it is the only intelligent thing to do".   I learned a lot from him in that moment.  There are some times when I need to remember to keep the commandments because like Luis Nefi said," its the only intelligent thing to do."  I'm grateful for the lessons I learn from these people who have been prepared by God. 

I'm learning tons of things every day here on Gods mission.  I hope that never ends.  Hope all is well up in the states.  Don't worry, we had another earthquake.  Say hi to the family for me.  Keep  smiling and marching forward.

With a whole bunch of love

Elder Gardner

March 26, 2012

The Temblor

Yeah really nothing happened, but we sure felt it.  Elder Briggs and I were teaching a lady on the second floor of her house.  It was a super crazy feeling that. I've never experienced anything like it before.  Not really what I dreamed before the mission, but none the less, I experienced my first earthquake.

The big 2-1.  Elder Briggs birthday is on the 29th,  so we will go out and buy a big tres leches cake.  They are so good. 

We had a super awesome experience yesterday.  The barrio is kind of struggling with attendance and we found part of the solution.  We visited un hermano and he was kind of bummed with different things that are going on in his life.  Before we left he asked us if we knew where the familia Ancona lives.  This is a familia that Elder Castro and I helped reactivate.  The hermano is their home teacher but didn't know were they lived and has never visited with them.  We accompanied the hermano to the familia Ancona.  The hno shared a message with them and his testimony.  The family Ancnoa was super touched and said that they have not had visiting teachers for 7 years.  They we so appreciative for the hno.  After the lesson the hno was super pumped, he felt the power of home teaching for the first time.  Later the hno wanted to go with us to the rest of our appointments the rest of the day.  He added a great testimony to each lesson.  Doing his home teaching changed the hno so much, and helped him out with what is going on in his own life. 

I love you all. the church is true.  Home teaching is important.  We can change lives. 

Elder Gardner

Enjoy conference.

March 19, 2011

Oh Yeah,

We had a pretty dang sweet weekend.  We had some awesome baptisms this week, which was a good way to send Elder Castro home.  When I got here Elder Castro only had 3 months left, and now tomorrow he goes home.  Now I’m the one with 3 months left.  My new comp came in today.  His name is Briggs, Elder Briggs.  He has something like 7 months on the mission and is stoked to work.  I’m excited because we have a lot to do. 

On Sunday we baptized Erik before church.  The kid is a stud!  He was recently married to his now wife, who was a less active but now super active.  They are super excited to get to the temple.  After sacrament meeting we had the baptism of Paulina and America.  They are the daughters of Ignacio, who I have talked a lot about.  We had an awesome lesson with them this past week.   We were kind of at a dead end because Paulina (mom) did not want to get married with Ignacio.  Ignacio has problems with the Marry Jane and it has effected the family a whole heap, especially his relationship with Paulina.  Ignacio has been going to an addiction program that the church offers.  He has been reading the Book of Mormon like a mad man, and he walks with his kids some 3 miles to church on Sundays.  Little by little Ignacio has been winning Paulina back. They have been sitting next to each other, holding hands, being super cozy on the couch. They also told us they are ready to get married.  Their daughters, Victoria, Paulina, and America  are gold.  They just have not had the courage to get baptized without their padre.  In a lesson we had with them, we set a day for them to get married, and then we hit them with the baptismal questions.  We asked if they had any questions and it was silent for a long time and then little Paulina says, "I’ve got a question. Who wants to get baptized with me this Sunday?"  They were super excited and Paulina and America got baptized.  It was one of the most powerful baptisms I’ve ever been in.  Now big Paulina and Ignacio are going to get married this week. Ignacio has to wait a little while to show that he has given up the weed and then they can be baptized with their other daughter, Victoria.  This family is awesome.  They are the reason I’m here.  I can’t tell you how awesome this family is and how much the gospel has changed their lives.  That’s why I’m out here, so that I can help people like them, who desperately need help. 

I love you all so much, keep smiling, and CTRing

Peace is easy.

Elder Gardner

March 12, 2012

Hola de la Colmena or the Beehive

We had a great fin de semana.  It ended with Erik getting married and getting ready for his baptism this Saturday.  We had two baptisms, Pati and her son Erick (different Erick).  It seemed as though Satan was trying to throw everything at them so that they couldn't be baptized.  Pati's husband is an alcoholic, and works all week and has his day off on Sunday.  For some reason her husband bought tickets for the whole family to go up to the mountains and watch a futbol game on Sunday mourning (Pati told us they never leave on Sunday).  Pati had no clue, until Sunday mourning, so the day of the baptism her husband told her they were going to Villa de Carbon.  She told him they had to go to church.  Her husband got super angry, and Pati was left with the decision to go with her husband or go to her baptism.  She chose the Baptism, but told us it was one of the hardest choices of her life.  They had a beautiful baptismal service.  I talked a little about Ignacio last week.  Him and his family all made it to church and stayed for the baptism.  Ignacio came up to me at the end and said, "what do i have to do so my family can have our baptisms." I showed him the baptismal questions, and explained that he needed to get married and get over his addiction with the drugs.  He is doing every thing he can so that he can turn his life around and fix his family. 

We had conferencia de estaca.  This was the fist time that they used the internet to broadcast to each of the churches in the stake. They were just about to start and the counselor to the stake president got up to the pulpit but the sound didn't work.  We weren't sure what they were going to do, but after 10 minutes he came back to the pulpit and the sound was good.  We weren't sure what had happened until the counselor gave his talk.  He said they had checked every thing many times to make sure that every thing was ready for the conference, but when he got the pulpit it didn't work.  He said they  went and checked out all the lines and plugs, and every thing was perfect. They had no clue what the problem was. Then the president of the stake comes up to them. They inform him that they didn't know what the problem was.  The stake president says "lets say a prayer". He gives a prayer that everything will work.  The counselor goes back to the microphone and starts the conference.  The theme of the conference for me was, put your confidence in God and he will take care of the rest.  God loves us and if we keep our covenants and have faith in him, we will receive the miracles that we need in our life.  I was amazed at the faith of that stake president.  It has put in me a greater desire to strengthen my faith.  I love you so much, have a great week

Come what may and love it.

Elder Gardner

March 5, 2012

Hola,

Things are just rolling along here in the colmena. We have had a lot of work the last couple of days.  Right now we have many families that are ready for baptism, but for the law of chastity or word of wisdom we are at a road block.  We are teaching a guy named Ignacio.  He would have been baptized a long time ago if it wasn't for the drugs.  He is starting right now in Mosiah in the Book of Mormon.  He told us when we explained the Book of Mormon that he has been waiting for an account of Jesus coming to the Americans.  We are teaching his kids and wife also.  The other day Ignacio's kids were sick and he asked if we could offer a prayer for them.  We gave them each a blessing.  When we passed by for our next visit  Ignacio was eager for his kids to tell us how they were cured because of the blessing.  Knowing that it was fast and testimony meeting this past Sunday, Ignacio was trying to animate his kids to bear their testimonies about there experience with the blessing.  This is a very special family but they just have to get over  a couple hurdles to take the next big step of baptism.  We have three baptisms planned for this weekend.  I'm praying it all goes well.  I will let you know next week how it all pans out.

So, to answer the question, mom,  the secretaries told me that my return date is the 13 of June.  That is not a for sure date, they will send you an email with all that info when it gets a little closer.  I am starting to get a little concerned how it is all going to go down with school and every thing.  Do I need to sign up for my classes now, or will I have time to do that when I get back?

I read a talk from Elder Lawrence Corbrige this past week and wanted to share this quote from his talk.

"Life is hard, but life is simple. Get on the path and never, ever give up.  You never give up!  You just keep on going.  You don't quit, and you will make it.  There is only one way to happiness and fulfillment.  Jesus Christ is the way.  Every other way, any other way, whatever other way is foolishness." 

Have a great week, and I’ll talk to you next week.
Love,

Elder Gardner 

February 27, 2012

Hola de la Colmena

Wow, that is a super impressive website.  I'm excited for you mom.  We had a conference this past week with Elder Johnson of the seventy. He is area president here in Mexico.  It was very rewarding to listen and feel his spirit.  Right now we have many families in teaching.  Each is progressing at different rates, but we are getting there.   I just got back from immigration, I signed my visa for my last time, and they gave me a tarjeta so that I can leave the country.  Our mission will be changing drastically in the coming months.  The mission will lose 88 missionaries in the coming 5 months.  That's a lot of newbies coming in.  I'm almost positive that I will be training my last two changes.

I hooked you up with some photos, the first pic where I'm holding my hands up, if you look close in between my hands you can see Popocatepetl. It’s an active volcano here in Mexico city.  You can’t see it in the pic but it’s putting out a bunch of smoke. Looks like it’s ready to blow.  Normally you can’t see Popo from where we are because of all the clouds (its really pollution but i like to think of them as clouds, to make me feel better).  Another pic is of me and Miguel in our luchador masks.  Nachooooooooo!   And the last pic is just me preaching to the Colmena.

I love you.  I'm glad to here that things are getting started with the dyslexia program.  Keep it going strong.  I did get the package. I’ll put those shirts to work.  Thanks for the Snickers. The district thought they were great.  ¡que tenga buen semana!

Con Amor
Elder Gardner

February 20, 2012

Hey, hey, Hey

I hope all is well in the Land of the Brave.  Just wanted to share with you all a little of what I've been thinking about this week.  I read a talk from Elder Christoferson, titled “Moral Discipline”.  I thought about you all starting up your new lives, battling with children, some of you have callings with the youth, and we have the elections for a new president coming up.  This talk hammers down what we need to learn and fight to protect, and what those young kids of the world need to know.

All is going just smooth down here in tortilla land.  I love you all and hope things are just swinging along.  

Here is the link to the talk.

http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2009/10/moral-discipline?lang=eng&query=moral+discipline

If that doesn't work its Elder D. Todd Christoferson's talk in Oct. 2009 called “Moral Discipline”. 

Peace be the journey,

Elder Gardner

Make sure to check out the footnotes (or references) at the end of the talk!

February 6, 2012

Dear Mom,

I got my hands on some Skippy peanut butter.  Within the last 3 days I've eaten 2 loaves of bread worth of PB&J sandwiches.  I love my peanut butter and root beer. 

Well, another transfer has come and gone. Today starts Elder Castro's last change on the mission.  It’s my first time killing someone.  My job this change is to keep the kid´s head in the game for the last 6 weeks.  No, he´s doing good but he loves to remind me how much time he has left.  I'm excited for this transfer, we have a lot of potential.  We just need to animate some families to get married.  Right now we have 4 families waiting to get married so they can get baptized.  Mom, Esperanza is doing really well.  Her problem right now is that the dad of her two boys is super catholic and comes to visit every Miercoles.  He has said that he doesn't want his kids to go to church, but that if Esperanza wants to go she can.   Esperanza told us that her boys loved the church and that they will keep attending.  We told her she is learning quicker than most people, she told us, "I think it just has been my time to find the Church."  I’ll let you know what happens with her in the coming weeks.  Mom, I would love to bring you to a lesson with us, that would be awesome.  I love you, good luck with the homework.  Give those little boys a big hug from me.  Thanks so much.

Con Amor,

Elder Gardner

January 30, 2011

O mother dearest,

I love to hear from you each week.  I cant tell you how much I've appreciated hearing each week from you and hearing the report on the family.  It’s crazy to think that the whole family hasn't been together for 8 years,  is that right?  Anyways, a long time. 

We are seeing this ward grow little by little each week.  Our investigators pool consists of 5 couples who are not married.  We have a lot of work to do.  We found a lady on Saturday, we were looking for some menos acitvos, but come to find out that the menos acitvos had moved.  Instead of finding the family we were looking for we found Esperanza.  She is a single mom with 2 boys.  She didn't have any time to talk to us because she was cleaning but told us she was interested in talking with us.  She has a friend in the states that has talked about the church with her.  We convinced her to let us in to just say a prayer.  After the prayer we helped her clean her house.  She went to church yesterday and loved it.  The other missionaries had  a baptism after wards and esperanza was super interested in seeing it.   After the baptism we explained the importance of the baptism and that her family can be together forever.  She started to cry.  In the relief society they were talking about genealogy and food storage.  Esperanza was taken back by all the things the church is teaching.  We have a lesson with her today and we’ll see what she really thought.  We are so blessed to be members of this church. ¡la iglesia es verdadero! ¡no?  

Thanks for sending the shirts. I’ll work them hard for the last 5 months.  Tell the ward i love them, and that I can’t wait to see everybody.  Thanks for everything.  I love you tons.

Elder Gardner

January 23, 2011

That's awesome news about Chase, is he going English or Spanish?  That would be cool to talk to chase before he enters the MTC.

We just got back from the tiangis (flea market)  and I bought 3 brand new ties for 9 bucks. They are pretty sweet.   I found a tie that was exactly the same as one Elder Davidson has.  The difference is i spend 30 pesos and he spent 100 bucks.  O yeah! Got to love the Mexican bargain shopping. 

One of the pics is of me with a cocodrilo, a straight up crocodile in my hands.  I was feeling a lot like Steve Irwin.  If it looks like I'm scared out of my mind, it’s because I am (so i guess not exactly like Steve Irwin)  my comp held it first, and then i pick it up and the little girl who was there started to tell me when he was in my hands that he was getting really angry, because he started to turn his head around and take a licking of my skin.  He was little, but he is a crocodile none the less.

The other pic is elder Castro, hna juana, hna. mariana, and me, with Beti on her big day.  This is the same Beti that was screaming amen in the sacrament meeting three weeks ago.  She has come a long way and has a strong testimony of the church.  When we passed by for her to go to the baptism, she was feeling super happy,and said, "All morning I've been hearing angels singing. Is that how you guys always feel?”  It was awesome.  It makes walking up these hills every day worth it.

I love you, hope all is well.  keep smiling, buckle up, CTR

Con Amor

Elder Gardner

January 16, 2012

Dear Mom

We had a good week.  Our small broken down ward is growing each week.  We easily tripled our numbers this week from the first week.  We have been working a lot with the members, especially the less actives.  We have found so many awesome potential family's that are inactives.  The reason for them all is that they have been offended by someone in the ward, particularly the last bishop.  The majority of these people are sealed in the temple and ex-missionaries.  How is it that families with such strong testimonies are falling?  When they would tell us some of the things that happened with the last bishop and other leaders here, I have to ask, How is it that we have such horrible leaders, especially in the Church of Jesus Christ?  I felt like our leaders were the modern day Gadianton Robbers.  ¡no puede ser!  I'm not sure how much the stories we heard from the less actives are true or exaggerated, but even if they are true these families are still going to have to answer to God for not going to church.  But then it all became so clear.  We asked each one of these families, “When was the last time you participated in the sacrament?  When was the last time you read in the Book of Mormon? When was the last time you prayed?”  The answer was unsurprisingly the same.  They would always get really quiet, and then tell us that it had been a long time.  This is exactly what Alma taught in his famous talk about faith.  If we don't nurture the seed, or in this case, the tree, the roots that once were strong, will die.  Our faith is very delicate and if it is not nourished daily by scripture study, by prayer, or weekly by the sacrament, THE ROOTS WILL DIE.  Then it is only a matter of time before the winds start to blow and that big old tree comes destructively to the ground. 

This is were we started with the less actives. First helping them realize all the blessings they are missing out on, and then that they have to start nurturing their seeds of faith.  I think the one thing that I've learned the most on my mission is this;  We can not cease to read, to pray, to partake of the sacrament, or we will fall.  We are all in danger of the temptations of Satan, and if we let Satan take the wheel for only a second he will steer us off the cliff.  What every you do, keep reading, keep praying, and keep going to church.  Mom, the most important thing you can teach those girls is to start habits that will change their lives. Help them to feel the power of prayer. Help them feel the spirit of the Book of Mormon, and help them understand the protection we can receive from going to church every Sunday.  If they understand this, they will never fall.  I know this church is true.  God loves us and He will support us in our afflictions, if we have the faith to do what He asks.  Consistency is the key to salvation.  I love you so much, i hope all is good in the land.  Keep your chin up. The day dawn is breaking.

con mucho amor

Elder Gardner  

January 9, 2012

Wow,(Amen)

Mom this Work is incredible,(amen) I can’t tell you how many times I have felt that feeling of anxiousness as I am about share the gospel. (amen) Then it gets even more crazy when you start to feel the prompting from the spirit.(amen)  But something that I've learned here is when the spirit directs, DO IT!!  Mom we have a lot of work to do with our family in bringing them to the truth.  Pray for the opportunity to share the gospel.  God will provide these chances, then trust in the spirit to fill your mouth with the words to say.  Then thank God for the chance to serve, and ask what more you can do.  We can’t let anyone be left behind.(amen)    

So we found a lady named Beti, this past week and she is super(amen) Christian(amen). But she listened to us and felt the spirit and is super excited for her Baptism in 3 weeks.  We brought her to church yesterday, and the whole ward had an interesting experience with Beti.  So it was fast and testimony meeting, and beti was really feeling good and little bit like she was in her Christian church, because after every sentence she would shout AMEN!!!  When she really like what she heard the shout was even louder with a “Gloria, Hallelujah!” "diga me otro vez hermana".  After the first couple of minutes I leaned over and asked her if she remembered what we had taught her about being reverent during the prayer, she said she remembered.  I need to have the same reverence when we are in the church.  She shook her head and told me she understood.  She quieted for a few seconds and then gradually the “amens” came back.  She had a great time at church. (amen)  I've tried to give you a taste of what it was like yesterday with all the “amens”. 

We are working a lot with the less actives and we found a family yesterday.  They used to be so strong but for a few chismes and problems with money with the church the mom decided to stop going.  The kids are awesome and you can tell they are anxious to get back to the church.  The dad isn't a member and he told us yesterday he wants to get baptized, but that he can’t go if his wife doesn't go.  So we were working hard with the wife to get her over the problem she has.  She finally told us the story of why she isn't going and it was a long and very complicated story.  I was thinking to my self, "I'm only 20 years old i have no clue what this lady is going through."  I then remembered a quote from the PMG.  "La mejor ayuda para todos las personas es que aceptan y vivan el evangelio."  We had no clue what the solution was for this lady but what we did know that living the gospel will help her find it.  The answer to all our promblems is to live the Gospel.  We don't know all the answers, but God does.  The church is true.  I hope all  is well in Happy Valley.  Keep smiling.  te quiero tantisimo

Con mucho amor

Elder Gardner

January 2, 2012

Hola Familia,

First Week in La Colmena.  You would not believe this place.  It is straight hills.   But these aren't your every day rolling hills, these are straight up mountains.  The last elder that was here before me lost 30 kilos.  My comp has lost 5.  Looks like I'm going to have some knarly calves when I get back.  So I'm in the barrio Colmena and this is a legendary area.  I know a lot of elders who have had a lot of success here, but something went wrong and the ward took a tank.  Yesterday we had 20 people in church and 7 of them were President Call and his family.   Pres. came to talk to us about what is going on with this area.  He told elder Castro and me that he put us here to lift the ward out of the pits and back to legendary.  My comp has 2 changes left on the mission, and I will die 2 changes after him in this area.  President pretty much told me that I will be here the rest of my mission and that I will kill off elder Castro.  He told us specifically that he wants us to establish the area, and then once Castro is gone he will put me back to training.  So it looks like I’ll have one more son and this one will give me the dagger to the heart, and kill me off.  I was super surprised, but stoked for this new trail that I have to revive La Colmena to what it was.  I feel like this is the biggest challenge that I've had on the mission, I feel like my whole mission God was preparing me for this area. 

I love you all so much and hope all is super awesome.  God loves our family and in this new year we will again see evidence of this.  God has made the Plan.  We as members of his church understand this plan.  If we do all that God has asked, He will keep his end of the bargain,  LA VIDA ETERNA.  I pray for you all each night, and know god will bless us in this new year. 

CTR

Keep smiling

Peace it easy

God Bless

Elder Gardner