TIME JUST KEEPS FLYING BY...

Hola a todos...


Another week has blown away and sadly I can already feel that the time is speeding up compared to the last year of my mission!  We are excited for another week here in Pan de Azucar.  We have found a few new great investigators and are still pushing and fighting along with the others to reach their baptisms and we have a baptism this Saturday of a young man named Alvaro, but he still has to learn a few things and not work this Saturday (his job is a little inconsistent with the days and hours that he is asked to work) so please keep him in your prayers this week so that he can make the necessary time he needs to get baptized this Saturday!  We have a baptismal goal for the month of March of 4 baptisms and in my district a goal of 13.  We are all excited and working hard to accomplish this goal that we have set and need your prayers, Thanks. 

Summer is coming to an end and the heat is dying down and it feels great now!  The summer wasn`t as bad as I thought it would be -- not nearly as hot as Arizona but it was quite humid at times.

Elder Thompson`s birthday is coming up on the 13th and we are going to eat an Asado with one of the families here in the branch!  Things are improving in my district... the sister missionaries in my district had 4 baptisms in February and have a goal for 5 in March.  The ground breaking of the chapel has been postponed to the 26th of March (for reasons unknown) and so it is possible that one of us won`t be here to see it because the next changes are going to be on the 22nd of March.

That`s great that Colin had great success and few injuries in his Eagle Project and that Mason has received a calling already in the Deacon`s Quorum!  Keep waiting with patience mom, you are almost there to your recovery!  Sounds like things are going great down there in the AZ.  That`s awesome that Colin wants to go to EFY this year.  When he gets back from EFY can you send me the music from this year`s EFY CD?

On Wednesday I get to go to Montevideo for another leadership meeting and I`m excited because I always feel really animated and learn a lot from these leadership meetings.  It`s weird to be in the older group of missionaries now and see that there are a lot of younger missionaries that are still learning and that I`m one of the ones that has to help them learn.  I remember when I just arrived and I saw everyone else as being so old and experienced and I really looked up to them and now I`m the one being an example for the younger missionaries now.  I love the mission and am sad that it is half over but very grateful that I get another year to keep serving and growing.

This church is true and the Book of Mormon is another testament of Christ.  I was thinking today about the importance of the gospel in my life today and I saw and felt something strongly and simply about the commandments that have been given through the prophets and Christ himself... Lots of times we can find ourselves thinking of a commandment as a restriction or something that limits us but the commandments are really just a way that Christ and our Heavenly Father invite us to be happy and to avoid or overcome the temptations and trials that we have in this life.  Every day from the people here I hear people say... I always pray for health and my family and nothing else.  He is answering our prayers through His commandments.  If we want health we need to obey the Word of Wisdom.  If we want a good family, we need to obey the Law of Chastity.  If we want what we need to support our families we must pay our tithing and keep the Sabbath day holy.  Each commandment is an answer to somebody`s prayer and Satan just wants us to think of these answers as restrictions or limits on our freedom so that we won`t take them seriously.  I know that Christ lives and that He loves each and every one of us.

Love,
Elder Gardner

ONE DOWN AND ONE TO GO!!!

Hola a todos...


Wow it feels weird now to know that my mission is already half over.  I don`t want it to come to an end so fast!  So I did the math the other day to find out the exact date that I will be leaving Uruguay with changes (transfers) and it will be the 21st of February 2012 and I should be landing in Arizona on Feb. 22nd (a Wednesday I believe).  It has been a great year but I know that the 2nd one will be even better.  I`m just grateful that I have the blessing of being able to serve a mission and hope that each one of you can have the chance to serve as a missionary as well (whether it be now or with your spouse in the future).  For my year mark we celebrated with ice cream (something only for special occasions here because it`s super expensive).  The tradition at one year is to burn a white shirt, but President doesn`t want us doing traditions that don`t make any sense in the mission (especially if all my shirts are still good to wear).

This week was a good one with lots of traveling back and forth between Pan de Azucar, Piriapolis and Maldanado.  The sisters in my district (Hermana Dos Santos, from Uruguay and Hermana Moyes, from California) had a baptism and because I`m their district leader I got to do the baptismal interview.  It was a cool experience because it was a 12 year old boy named Nahuel who was really shy but had a great desire to be baptized.  Sadly we are still having difficulties in getting our investigators to reach the finish line and get baptized but we have a few that are just a step away, and we are hoping to have a baptism on March 5th.  Please keep these names in your prayers: Alvaro, Camilo, Maria, Jenifer, Analìa and Stefani, all of who have a baptismal date for March.

We had a zone conference this week in Maldanado with President Da Silva, combined with the zone of Rocha as well.  It was really good and President gave us two challenges: to become more of a team and united as a district, zone and mission AND to read the entire book of Mormon from cover to cover marking all the references of the heart BEFORE GENERAL CONFERENCE!!!  He wants us to prepare our hearts to receive the instructions and promptings of the Spirit in the General Conference.  I extend the challenge to anyone else who is up to it.  I know you are all very busy but so am I so I know you CAN do it if you put your mind to it and I promise you that it will make a big difference in how you are prepared to listen to General Conference.

I hope that you all recover and that Colin has a great and safe time with his Eagle project.  I know that the safe part is asking a bit much from him, hahaha.  Don`t let the Cacti beat you up Colin. 

I know that this church is true and that the only way to find the peace and happiness in this life and for all eternity is through living the gospel of Christ.  Christ invites all to come unto him and as a representative of him, I invite you all too to come unto him and be baptized and endure to the end with all the energy of heart.  I love you and I KNOW THAT HE LOVES YOU PERFECTLY AND INDIVIDUALLY!!!  Until next week.

Love,
Elder Gardner

THERE IS A DRUNK MEMBER TALKING TO ME WHILE I AM WRITING YOU...

Hola a todos...


There is a drunk member here talking to my companion right now while I am writing you.  It`s sad but kind of funny at the same time because he`s asking us to look up some missionaries that baptized him over 20 years ago from the U.S.  He is going on and on about random things about the U.S. and wars and other random things.

Well the week has gone well and we are excited and worried for our investigators at the same time, because they are all great but they each have their own obstacle.  For example, Victoria and her friend are waiting for permission from their fathers to be able to be baptized, and Camilo needs to stop smoking, Daiana doesn`t want to get baptized but her dad wants her to, and Leonardo doesn`t want to listen to the lessons but is coming to church. They are all so close but just have one more obstacle to jump before their baptisms.  Thanks for the updates and for the Valentine`s package, the chocolates are delicious.

I love you all very much and sorry their isn`t any time this week because this drunk member is making quite the scene here and we need to leave before he starts a problem.  I love you all and will talk to you next week.  You are in my prayers.

Love,
Elder Gardner

I GET TO STAY IN PAN DE AZUCAR!!!

Hola a todos...


Yesterday we received the phone call for changes and..... Elder Thompson and I are staying together here in Pan de Azucar for at least 6 more weeks.  We are excited to both be able to stay here in Pan de Azucar with our great members and investigators.  We will also be here for Elder Thompson's Birthday on March 13th and for the ground breaking of the chapel which has been announced by the stake president for March 19th.  We are all really excited here in Pan de Azucar.

That's great that Colin is starting on his Eagle Project... just be careful around all those cactus, you may be strong but you still are accident prone :) Mason... well there are a couple of sites that I know about in Uruguay... In Maldanado there are the ¨Dedos¨ or in english Fingers in the sand that are huge and a big tourist attraction, there is the ¨Cruz¨ or cross on top of the hill here in Pan de Azucar that you can go up in and take pictures. There are a couple of horse race tracks like the one I sent in one of my memory cards that are a big attraction.  There are two main ¨futbol¨ or soccer teams named ¨Nacional¨ and ¨Peñarol¨... Nacional is better:) and there is the big bus station called Tres Cruces or 3 crosses.

To explain some of the pictures... yeah that was how dirty the house was when we arrived.  The leather things with pictures and my name on it are my scripture cases that I bought here in 3 cruces.  They are really nice and are made from real Uruguayan Cows. and that picture of my leg with a red mark was when I got bitten a couple weeks ago by a dog, but it didn`t bite hard enough to break the skin so there is no need to worry.  It just left a red mark and I wanted to take a picture of it to remember my first dog bite before the mark went away.

The house was really dirty when Elder Thompson and I arrived.

where my first dog bit me, luckily it didn't break the skin.

My Spanish Scripture covers

I was called to be a District Leader this change (I wasn`t a District Leader last change but President Da Silva still invited me to go to the leadership meeting, I don`t know why?) and there are 3 other companionships in my district, 4 elders and 2 sisters.

Our investigators are doing alright.  The grandma of Victoria got sick and couldn`t take her to church so she`ll have to wait until the 19th to get baptized but she is still excited to do it and her family as well wants to get baptized later on after they get married.  I was a great fast and testimony meeting and the spirit was strong and felt by all in the little house especially with the announcement of the long awaited chapel.  When the members heard that changes were coming up, they all (especially the branch president and his family) wanted to call the mission home and request that we stay in the area longer just to be sure.  I don`t know if they actually did or not but we are staying!

I love you all and hope that all goes well this week, that mom can continue to recover and that she can be back to normal after this long trial.  Keep working hard and preparing to be missionaries when you are older Colin and Mason... This week we have been helping the brother of our ward mission leader to prepare himself to leave on a mission (He`s already 20 and has put it off and is and has been less active for a while, but now he wants to prepare himself to go on a misison.)  I know that the church is true and that there is no better work than the Lord`s work.  Follow the Prophet and you won`t go astray.... He knows the way.  Make sure to read your scriptures everyday and say your prayers every day and night (both as a family and individually).  It will help you in ways we can`t fully understand.

Love,

Elder Gardner

P.S.  I haven´t received my Valentine`s package but I will probably get it tomorrow when I go to Montevideo for the leadership meeting.