A FEW DAYS AWAY!!!

Hola a todos...

Hey!!! I`m so excited to come home and give you all a big hug again. It was a great last week! Jose and Mateo Rodao were baptized and confirmed members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints! It was a great baptismal service where their nonmember mom and grandma came to support them. They are such studs and are already planning to serve missions! It was a great way to end these two years with the baptism of two future missionaries and they were baptized by their 16 year old member friend Agustin who you met over skype who is also going to be a future missionary. 

Elder Clarke is being changed to Montevideo to train a new missionary fresh out of the MTC, and there will be 2 new missionaries in Hospital ward (Elder Sanchez from Spain and Elder Plyler from Utah). It will be hard to leave this great ward especially because the bishop called us last night and almost crying thanked us for our hard work and said, ¨I wish that every missionary that comes to my ward can be as great as you two have been in your service here.¨

I will miss Uruguay a lot and all the people that I have grown to love and care about. These have been a great and the best two years and I am so very grateful for all the experiences that I have had which have helped shape me into the man that I am today, and I`m so very grateful for the fact that my mission does not end with only two years but rather a lifetime of service just begins with these two years of training and service. That`s awesome that we had a baptism in the ward back home.

Well, I don`t have much to say but we`ll talk on Thursday. Love ya All!!!

Love,

Elder Gardner

ONE LAST WEEK OF MIRACLES LEFT...

Hola a todos...

This week has been trying and full of miracles. Yesterday before church we received trying news as 4 of our good investigators decided to stop investigating the church for various reasons... moving to another town, gave into Satan, or chose work over going to church. But we pressed forward and the Lord blessed us with 6 other investigators in church and 2 investigators that are going to be baptized this saturday!!! Jose and Mateo Rodao are going to be baptized this saturday 18th of February and it will be a great way to end my mission with 2 baptisms! and others that will be baptized in the upcoming weeks for other missionaries to work with! 

I am also excited to see you and hug you all! I received my plans for the last two days before my flight. I have time to go to the temple with the mission president and his wife, visit old areas, buy soveneirs, and have a FHE with all the elders going home with me in the mission home with President and Sister Da Silva and our final interview before we get on the plane. It will be a fun way to end the mission and I`m excited to be able to go through the temple one more time here in Uruguay. then the long, nearly 20 hours of travel back home which will give me lots of time to read, reflect, ponder, pray and sleep before I get home! 

One interesting story that happened this morning... So Elder Clarke and I left the house today at 7:20am to go buy some breakfast at the store about 3 blocks away and as we were about half way there... we passed by a bar with a group of people standing outside (it seemed like they had been there all night drinking and who knows what else...) and as we came near it there were two young girls that jumped on there moto and started following us in the road as we walked to the store and telling us that they thought that we were cute and that they wanted to talk to us. We ignored them and entered in the store bought our breakfast and came out and they were still sitting there on their moto waiting for us to come back to which we quickly told them to go away and leave us alone and started walking back home... They didn`t give up and continued to follow us back to our house... We didn`t want to let them know where we lived so we started to walk towards the church because now they were asking us to shake their hand, kiss them, etc... it wasn`t very appropriate what they were saying. so as we passed by our house on the other side of the street and tried to lose them on the way to the church, as we got about 4 blocks from the church one of the 2 girls jumped off the moto and started chasing us on foot (luckily we are fast and she was drunk, because she was pretty slow.) We ran and crossed the highway in place where there moto could not cross and they gave up the chase. I`m so very grateful for the commandments and the Spirit which are there to protect us and help us when we are in danger.  I love you and will see you soon. 

Love,

Elder Gardner

WITH GREAT MIRACLES ALWAYS COMES GREAT OPPOSITION!

Hola a todos...

It was a great but very trying week! It rained on sunday and none of our investigators went to church because the Rosano Godoy family got sick and couldn`t come and Jose and Mateo didn`t want to walk to church in the rain. They can all still get baptized on my last weekend in the mission but it won`t be easy for anyone. Luis Rosano is still struggling with his smoking addiction and He may even have to move soon for a job situation. We hope that he can get baptized before they move so that the Spirit can help them with all the new changes that they will have to accostom themselves to.

I`m excited to have a great last two weeks and I know that all these trials are for my benefit and will help me grow if I continue with faith. I love the mission and it feels wierd knowing that I will be leaving Uruguay in only a little more than two weeks.
   

That`s AWESOME that colin will be getting his patriarchal blessing soon! Way to go, I know that it will help you throughout your life and especially on your mission, It sure has helped me out a lot. When you receive it, read it and review it often and you will learn many new things each time you read it looking for comfort and guidance. I love you and I am so proud of you. Keep up the good work. And great job getting having straight A`s Mason, that is awesome! You must be working really hard, Keep up the good work. I love you all and thank you so much for all that you have done for me and the support and prayers that I have felt throughout my mission. I am also excited to give you all a hug and to tell you all about the wonderful experiences that I had on my mission. I`m still doing great, I`m happy, safe, and healthy like I have been my whole mission.
   

I know that my Redeemer lives and that He loves me and you so perfectly and profoundly that we can not fully comprehend it. I have felt His love in my life and every time that I have repented of my sins. His commandments are a true sign of His love for you and me and He feels our love for Him when we repent and are obedient to His commandments.

For all young men, serving a mission is a commandment of God and is essential for your welfare and happiness both personally and as a future family. I testify that the mission changes our hearts and our lives in a way that cannot be accomplished in any other way. The mission and the Book of Mormon have changed my heart and my life. I am so very grateful that I chose to serve a mission and that I have strived to serve with all my heart, might, mind and strength. Prepare yourselves now to serve and you will enjoy these two years more than any other year that you have had before the mission. The Lord loves you and needs you in this work!

Love,
Elder Gardner