Saturday, September 12, 2015
Sept 7th, 2015
Well this week was pretty hectic for me personally. I got a new companion named Elder Nettleton. He is from Payson, UT. Another from the Factory. All my companions so far have been from Utah. I am having to train him in doing the office work and what I know. We had more issues with cars in the mission this past week than any week since I have been here I swear!
On Friday we had a good lesson with Cindy and went through all the baptismal interview questions with her and got the program figured out for who is going to talk and who is going to baptize her. Then on Sunday we were waiting for her to show up to church and sacrament was about to start so I called her and she just said I dont think the church thing is right for me... She said she likes to keep to herself and she feels just overwhelmed. That was a bummer for us. We are having her fellowshippers call her and see how she is doing and hopefully they can help her out and get her motivated again.
We have been working with Feroni who is 15 and his mom. We tracted into the mom a couple weeks ago and she didnt seem too interested to meet with us again but she said we could come back sometime so we decided to go back and try them. We met Feroni and he has been the one that is really interested. His mom said that she has been working with him for the past little while to get him to come to church and pray more and then we showed up. Ever since we have showed up he has been praying more and reading the Book of Mormon. We will see how that goes throughout this next week.
We have been teaching a referral that we got from the best members in the ward the Yorks. Sister York was Muslim and then converted over while she was in her 20s. Sister York is a crazy good missionary! She has a personal trainer Jacob who she just talks about the gospel to all the time and invites to have a discussion with the missionaries until finally he came over. We have been teaching him once a week but every time we go over there he always just soaks up everything that we share. We will keep you updated on how that goes but it will be a slower process.
Although we live in an uncertain world, we are not governed by an uncertain God. God knows what all people need and what is best for them.
Love you all
Elder Gardner
August 31, 2015
August is basically over now and that is crazy. Weeks truly do go by like days out in the mission field. Last week was the last week of the transfer and Elder Holmes will be getting transferred and I will be receiving a new companion and training him in the office. That will happen on Wednesday so watch Facebook to see who my new companion will be! Its always exciting and nerve racking getting a new companion.
This week was a quick one to say the least. We had a lot of things to do in the office, prepping for the new missionaries coming in and what not. This week we will receive 19 new missionaries. 17 and 2 visa waiters. On Wednesday we go through some things with them and tell them about things with the cars.
We had stake conference this weekend and we had Elder Bluth from the 70 speak to us about sacrament meeting and how to make it sacred as it should be. It was good. I only have 2 more stake conferences left in the mission!!
I now can say that the weirdest thing I have eaten on my mission has been cow feet! I guess Dani, otherwise known as Sister Gardner, had cow feet this past week too! The meal was called Fufu. We have a family from Ghana that we are teaching and they made it for us. I will send a pic of it and the family. It was a good experience though. You dont have to travel the world for different culture experiences you just have to come to Florida. I will not be eating cow feet again any time soon though. It was just like eating fat from meat. Also there was Turkey neck in the soup as well. We tore off pieces of the fufu (dough looking thing) and dip it in the soup and eat. All with your hands. We wanted a full Ghana experience.
We have been teaching Cindy as well still, she has been progressing a lot. We have a great new young couple that just moved in from Orem and they have been fellowshipping her a lot and inviting her to things. That will be key to her conversion. Keep her in your prayers, her baptism will be on the 12th on September.
The other picture is of Ryan and Natalie. We were teaching them a while ago Ryan is not a member but Natalie is. They are fun. They just moved to Smithsfield Utah!!
I love you all and want you all to know how grateful I am to be a part of this great work. I have grown here more than I ever could have at home. I have developed a love for Joseph Smith and what he did. I know Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world and gives us all hope for the future.
Elder Gardner
August 24, 2015
It always feels like one day you start a month and then the next day its the end of the month!
Monday was a great day for us. We had 2 referrals that we got from awesome members in the ward and then we taught them both in their home.It was great to get member trust. Teaching with members is the best!! We taught a guy named Jacob the restoration and set his baptism date. He is really solid as member referrals usually are. He has been searching for more truth. You never know what one of your friends is doing the same!! Dont be afraid to share what you know!
After Jacob we had Family Home Evening with a family and there were 2 other families there as well, one family was non members. We did an object lesson with the kids. We played Jenga Restoration it was really fun. You write start out by writing things from Jesus Christ's church on each block, you build the tower and then play jenga. Once the priesthood is taken out then the tower falls over. Then you teach about the apostacy and how each church has a part of the truth but not the whole tower. Then explain about Joseph Smith and how he restored it and you build the tower back up again.
Cindy one of our investigators we have been working with has anxiety and so going to all 3 hours of church is a little difficult for her most of the time. We encouraged her to stay for all 3 hours this Sunday and members did as well. Members and how they fellowship investigators is the most important part in missionary work.
We were coming home from church yesterday and there were some Jahovas Witnesses at our door. It was a young couple going around with their 4year old kid. They gave us a watch tower and were really nice to us. That was the first time I have talked with one out proselyting. That was interesting.
Elder Holmes got new shirts for his year mark and he had an allergic reaction to the fabric in it so he had a nasty rash for couple days. A lot of our time was spent in the dr. office trying to figure out what was wrong. We got everything figured out and he is in good condition now so back to work for us!
We are getting 20 new missionaries this next week and so we will have to get everything ready for them. The work truly is hastening!
The mission has opened my eyes in many ways and has helped me realize the light of the world. The light is Christ. As we center our lives on the Gospel and on what Christ has taught things will work out and we will have our eyes opened.
Love you all!
Elder Gardner
August 17
Well this week was tough, but its over and im happy to start a new week.
We were planning for Rachel to be baptized on Friday, but she didnt come to church so we are done with having her be lukewarm. We tried calling and texting her and even dropping by and got nothing in return so we have to drop her. Its tough dropping people but we always get super big blessings when we have the faith to drop people not keeping commitments. I was really looking forward to the baptism but that is in the past.
I think this past week we tracted all of New Tampa area and got nothing. Tracting is not very effective and I haven't realized it until just this past week. Ever since we have started tracting the baptisms have gone waaaay down. We see all the baptisms that happen in the mission and we have been hurting. We have been doing our best to work with members and seeing if we can teach their friends. Today we have 2 appointments with 2 member referrals and both are going to be taught in their homes. True conversion comes when members are there to fellowship.
Missionary work would be a lot more effective if we had 15 million of us doing work as compared to 88 Thousand.
Thank you all for the love and support.
Elder Gardner
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