pizza challenge

February 24,2014

This week was pretty grand I dont know about you guys.

The first of the week it was just a normal as far as missionary life goes. Jason got that new job like I said last week he is in oreintation this week which stinks because he wont be able to attend church this Sunday like we thought he would be able to. He is pretty solid for baptism though. He has a solid testimony and loves us coming by there is just nothing we can do but wait haha kind of frustrating but it will work out.

Friday came along and we had a Zone training meeting but the whole mission was there. We had an unexpected visitor that showed up. Elder Zwick from the Quorem of the 70 showed up. He arrived a little early because this week he will be doing a mission conference for us. He is a great guy and shared a lot of good thoughts. We all got to go up and shake his hand. The whole Zone Training Meeting was about keeping ourselves safe especially because we have a big temptation that we have, the iPads. We got news that we will be getting new ones that are faster and better. 

After that Meeting we went to a pizza parlor that does a pizza challenge. Its a 28 inch pizza with 5 toppings and you have to finnish the whole thing between you and 3 people in an hour. If you win you get a free cruise. Me and 2 elders tried it but didnt make it haha we got pretty close though.I was pretty proud of myself I ate 2 1/2 slices. I didnt feel the greatest afterwards but it was fun I will win it one of these times. There were another set of missionaries from our district that tried as well and they were just about done and then one of them Threw up hahahah that was hilarious. 

On Sunday we had both of our recent converts passing the sacrament. They both got callings in the ward. That was a great thing to witness. That is something you dont get to see every day. I almost teared up,my boys are getting so big lol!!! 

Love you all! I hope all is well. Thank you for all the prayers and support.

Elder Gardner

Valentine's day baptism

Robert's Baptism

Love Letter

Happy Valentines to you all! We had a great Valentines day I don't know about you all! Hopefully all of the men got something sweet for the women in your lives. 

Congrats to my Brother and Sister in law and soon to be Parents!

To start off the week we had the lesson with Alison and Jaime who were the friends of the Ackermans that I mentioned in last weeks email. I honestly wasn't expecting them to show up to the Ackermans home for the lesson but they were there and we shared the restoration with them. That lesson was probably the most powerful one so far on my mission. The spirit was so strong and everything was perfect. We set their baptism date for the 28th of this month but will have to reset it because they weren't able to make it to church because of work. They are really positive and are now reading from the Book of Mormon. We hope to contact them this week and teach them more.

We have a lady named Carmen who we have been teaching for a while and she has been smoking for a long time and she has tried to quit a couple times already but hasn't been able to. We taught her the Word of Wisdom and then the 15 step program that the church offers. We gave her a priesthood blessing and she hasn't touched a cancer stick since Monday when we taught her. Anyone who is looking to get rid of that addiction I would recommend that, ask the missionaries in your area to help you out. 

Jason who I said last week had a job interview and got the job he was applying for!!! The prayers worked! Thank you for everyone who prayed for him. He got a new job that not only is better pay for him but also allows him to have sundays off so he will be attending church with us and hopefully will be having his baptism early March. He is taking us out to eat tonight for fun, he is probably my favorite investigator (don't tell anyone else that). 

We had Roberts baptism on Valentines day thats why ours was so good! Elder Holmstead performed the baptism and then I was able to confirm him a member into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints yesterday in sacrament meeting. What a blessing it has been to be able to see his conversion. He has a strong testimony and is a great guy. He had some addictions that he was fighting before the missionaries taught him and it is just a testimony to me that the Gospel really does change lives. 

We have been challenged this last week to write our testimonies in a Book of Mormon and then pass it out to one of our investigators. We haven't done it yet but are planning on doing it soon.

In our ward our High Priest group leader works at Disney and had a coworker that had tried to convert him into his religion and he came across anti information and so Bro Staber would just bare his testimony on the Book of Mormon any time he would say something. The guy read the Book of Mormon in 2 weeks and then went through the D&C in another week. He simply was thirsting for truth but didn't know where to find it. The guy now is getting baptized in 2 weeks or so. 

I challenge whoever is reading this email to do the same. Write why the Book of Mormon is meaningful to you and what it has done for you and give it to a friend who is not a  member. 

Thank you all for your love and support in my behalf. 

Tune in next week for more.

Elder Gardner

February 1, 2015

This week was honestly just a hard week for me. Saturday was probably the hardest day of my life but it is in the past. Golfing last week was really fun and we got to spend time with Elder Rands who just left this morning to the mission home and flies home tomorrow. It is crazy to think that that will be me one day. Our district meetings are now on Tuesdays instead of Wednesdays and so I went on another exchange on Tuesday. I love seeing so many missionaries and bonding with them. It is nice just to have a break from the usual and talk to someone new instead. 

We have been seeing a lot of progress in our investigators this last week. Not a lot of people are coming to church but we have seen many miracles that the Lord is blessing us with. Elder Holmstead has been in this area for a year this next month and ever since he has been here he has been teaching this guy named Robert Knapp and his daughters. He comes to church every week and loves the people and the religion but He has been struggling with things and kind of just going in a circle over and over again just with Word of Wisdom issues. We were just at correlation with the Ward mission leader and Robert texted us and said hey it has been a hard week but I have been pushing through it, thanks for all you do and the next time you come over we will talk about baptism. He said I know it is the right thing to do. We are hopefully going to be baptizing him this weekend or maybe next. 

I love you all and thank you all for the support you have been giving me! Hope you all have a good week!! 

Love Elder Gardner

Here is a pic of us Elders in the Citrus Ridge Ward!! From Left to right there is Kit Thompson who is the coolest member ever! then Elder Rands who goes home this week, then Elder Holmstead, then your favorite missionary and then Elder Hedin.