HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM AND HAPPY EASTER TO ALL...

Hola a todos...


Happy birthday tomorrow mom!!!  I`m glad my letter made it in time!  Happy Easter to all because I will be writing my next email after Easter.  This week has been a great week!!! 

Araceli got baptized and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints this weekend along with the bishop`s daughter! It was the best attended baptismal service that I have ever seen here in Uruguay.  117 people came to the baptism including about 10 investigators and more nonmembers from the family of the bishop!  It was really great and we are now starting to teach Araceli`s granddaughter Stefani.  We have found some really good investigators in this week and we have been very blessed and seen some great miracles. In the last two weeks of church we have had two investigators show up all by themselves without us even knowing them before church (gifts from the Lord) and we are now teaching the brother and two children of Sebastian who is still going strong for his baptism on the 30th.  We had 7 investigators in church yesterday (and it was a windy, stormy, rainy morning).  I don`t know what we are doing to deserve such great miracles in our area but we sure are receiving them gratefully!

Last night we had an interesting experience... we were walking home to the apartment and felt to stop and talk with a guy walking towards us in the street. he sat down and called us over and told us everything was going wrong in his life and that he was heading to the next street where he was planning on commiting suicide becuase he couldn`t take it anymore. We told him not to take his life and that we wanted to help him change his life, he promised us that he would be waiting for us in the same spot today at 7:15. We were the there just minutes and meters before he was about to end his life and we were able to help him not do it and even if he doesn`t show up today (he was a little drunk and told us he is into drugs but wants to quit) I feel great that we saved his life in this moment.

I love the work here and I love working with Elder Butler and in Camino Carrasco.  Elder Butler got to see a family that he baptized a year ago go through the temple and get sealed to each other.  We got to go out to lunch with the senior missionaries that are in our ward, Elder and Sister Goates from Utah.  They don`t speak much Spanish but they are great temple missionaries. 

To answer your question, I really haven`t gotten sick in all of my mission.  It`s a real miracle because I have heard of a lot of missionaries that have gotten sick.  The Lord is protecting me thanks to your prayers.

I love you all and thanks so much for the fun emails and letters and packages.  I might get my package tomorrow but I won`t know until tomorrow.  Thanks.  Love you, bye.

Love,
Elder Gardner