September 12, 2016

Good Afternoon Family and Friends!

Here in Florida it is still hot as ever but that is what makes it unique so I love it! We have had a great week this week. The highlight of the week was the baptism for sure. Gladys got baptized on Saturday and then she got confirmed on yesterday. Elder Nilsen baptized her and then she asked that I confirm her so that was fun. Everything went pretty smooth and we had 2 of our investigators there. A member came with her friend that we are teaching named Rosie. She really liked it and she is looking forward to being baptized on the 24th if everything goes as planned. 

We have had a hard time getting Kyonna and Antwan to church. We had a good lesson with the family this past week with bishop there as well and they also came to Youth night on Thursday but coming to church has been a hold up. We are going to focus on that. Keep them in you prayers as always. 

We had good Zone Training Meeting this past week and we trained on Principles and the importance of being principle based. The Lord has always taught principles and had us govern ourselves which I am grateful for because it leaves a lot of room for growth rather than being told exactly what to do and how to do it. (D&C 58:26-29)

In my studies this past week I came across a really good scripture in the Book of Mormon. In 4 Nephi 1:16. It explains how we can all have true happiness. the people of Nephi were able to receive happiness because they were obedient to the commandments of God. They lived like God wanted them to and kept the first and second great commandments. Love God and Love your neighbor. If only we could all do that in our lives and realize how happy we are. I believe that is what makes missionary work so enjoyable and happy. We are able to live the Gospel and experience that happiness and also teach others and see the happiness that comes into their life by living it. Not only us missionaries can experience it but everyone can. The only thing is we need to be able to sacrifice things that the natural man wants and do what God wants. I know that is true. 

I love you all and am grateful for your prayers on my behalf.

Elder Gardner

September 5, 2016

Good afternoon family and friends!! 

This week was a strange one but it was good! This past week there was a big storm that came in to Florida and so we had to stay in doors for a lot of the week which was a little rough. It was on and off so we were able to leave some of the day and then came back in doors when it got bad. On Thursday we had to stay in doors for 9 hours... We found productive things to do like clean the apartment and Iron shirts and weekly plan. I am glad for nice weather. 

Things have been going good as far as investigators. Kiona and Antwan have been doing pretty good they have read the Book of Mormon but were not able to come to church yesterday which was a bummer but they are still progressing.

We met a lady named Mikayla through her Boyfriend who she lives with and she is a lot more prepared than he is. We had a really good sit down lesson with them and were able to teach the restoration simply since she doesnt have much of a religious background. She was able to feel the spirit really strong. We stopped by on Saturday night and invited her to church and explained about it. She explained how she thinks that it will be good for her and said she would but we were not expecting too much but she came! Not only her but she also brought a friend as well and she seems pretty interested too! We introduced her to Bishop and members of the ward. She really enjoyed it and is looking forward to coming in the future too. 

Gladys is getting baptized this weekend! We have been teaching her since I got in the area and she has been taught for a month or two previous too. She didnt really even want the Book of Mormon the first night they met her and then they kept following up and telling her more about it and how it will bless her and then she came to the Gladys Knight event in May and ever since then she has been really solid. A member gave her a quad set of scriptures and that is her pride and joy. She is a crack up.

An investigator named Lori that I taught in Hudson right before I left is getting baptized this Saturday! I will send photos of that next week.

We had a meeting with all the leadership in the mission this past Friday which was amazing. We counciled on how we can help the missionaries out and what will work best for the Lords work to Hasten. We got taught a lot about principles and how that is what we are taught and then we have to use our agency to follow it or not. That is how God has always worked and how he always will. He does not micro manage us but trusts us. One of the things that stuck out to me was that "the greater the agency, the greater the growth." That has been one of the many things I have learned and gained a testimony of the past 22 months. A testimony is to know, Conversion is to do or to act. I have acted on the things that I know to be true and as I chose to do that I have grown so much. Change is something that we need every day. I love being a missionary and experiencing the many life changing lessons every day. 

I love you all!

Elder Gardner

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A church in the area

August 29, 2016

Hello Everyone! 

Wow did this week go by fast. Probably one of the fastest on my mission thus far. We had a lot of good things happen which I am excited to tell you about. 

I forgot to say last week but we have an investigator named Gladys that is getting baptized on the 10th of September and she grew up in Tampa and went all her life to a Missionary Baptist church and sings in the choir there. The missionaries met her a couple months ago and she has been coming to church for a while. She still goes to her church mainly for the choir and comes to our church 3 out of the 4 weeks. All week last week she had a revival where a pastor came from Texas and preached every night. She invited us to one night so we went. It was pretty much just what I imagined. The Preacher was really into it and there was a lot of singing and amens and hallelujahs! We were the only white ones in there of about 100 people. They were all really nice though. I love seeing what other churches are like. It makes me appreciate the peace we feel in Sacrament meeting where we can really focus on our own commitment to follow Christ. 

Kyona and Antwan are doing really well. We saw them a couple times and were able to introduce the Book of Mormon to them and committed them to read it and promised that it would bring them closer as a family. It was great testifying of that because I have really seen that in my family. Waking up at 6am every morning to read the scriptures as a family has really been able to make an impact on my life. I will never be able to forget that as long as I live. Did I want to wake up to do it every morning? I cant say that I did want to 100% of the mornings but I can say that it has brought us closer as a family and has helped me to know the importance of the Gospel in the family unit. 

Our mission was super blessed this past week. We were not only able to receive training by one General Authority but two. Elder Foster from the seventy trained us as well as Elder Costa of the Seventy did too. Them and their wives were able to train us on how to be more effective missionaries. They trained a lot on member missionary work but what I was able to pull out of it that was my favorite part was that when us as humans can understand ourselves in relation to God everything changes within us. He explained how God showed Moses the many worlds that God has created in the Pearl of Great Price and He did that to show Moses his relations with God and the potential that he had. I believe that is what really moved Moses to be such a great prophet. He understood his relation with God and his life changed and because of that he was able to bless the lives of many others. That is what I love about being a missionary but really all of us as members of the church. We know our relations with God and we are to help others to understand and see that. It is my testimony that we all are in a great world. We have a reason why we are here and God has made a plan for our eternal happiness. 

I love you all!

Elder Gardner

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Tampa Zone

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Companion came to visit the mission

Family from Guam

August 22, 2016

Hello Family and Friends!

Today I just hit my 22 month mark of being a missionary! I am 11/12 of the way done with my mission! Time is going by really fast and It will only go faster as time goes by! I have really been feeling that lately. This week went by really fast. 

Elder Chugg got transferred this week so now it is just down with Elder Nilsen and myself. Things have been going good in our area and a lot of things were able to happen. About a week ago I told Elder Nilsen that we will have to baptize a family before we go home and ever since we have been finding family after family both big and small! It has been amazing to see, pretty much this whole week we have been teaching families. And Boy are we busy, God has been blessing us big time.

We have been teaching a lady named Tanya for a little bit now and she grew up in the church when she was young and loved it but never got baptized. She committed to come to church this past week so we were excited to see her and her family there and then about 2 hours before church started we called her and she said she got called into work... We were a little bummed out but we said a prayer and then 30 minutes before church started we got a text saying that her manager told her she doesnt have to come in til later so she could come! She and her boyfriend and 3 kids all came to church and really enjoyed it. 

Another family we taught this past week is an African American family that the husband used to be Jehovahs witness but not active. We taught them once or twice and they committed to come to church and to prepare to be baptized on the 24th of September so we got them a ride to church. Not the whole family came but 2 of the kids, Antwan (14) and Kyona (18), both came and seemed to really enjoy it. 

This past Saturday morning I was able to participate in a baptism in the Hudson ward. I got a call from Elder May on Wednesday and he told me that MallyRose from the family from Guam wanted me to baptize her! It was really a great service. All the hard work that we do is really all worth it when people like that get baptized. I am so grateful that I have been called to serve as a missionary in such a great area of the world! I am grateful that I have been able to be in great areas and to participate in quite a few baptisms throughout my mission. Being a missionary has been the best experience of my life!

Thank you for all the love and support!

Elder Gardner