2-27-12

Hey fam! I just sent some pics to your gmail.

and the sweaters. The grey one is perfect! I think v neck would be best though. I would love another one or two. I don´t think I´ll wear the sweater vests, but we´ll see! MAybe I will wear them once it´s actually cold :) another thing I could use is some basketball shorts. I have some, but I wear the same pair for everything, pdays and to sleep, and to wear around the pench. another pair would be nice. a medium I think. a size 32 I think. They might be cheap right now with it being winter lol.

Nothing crazy happened this week :) Just the train accident. That was a big deal here. EVeryone stopped to watch the news. It was really sad how many people died and got hurt. I guess it happened because the trains are really old, and the government won´t replace them or something.

I´m so happy you guys want to come pick me up. Are you still thinking of coming in the winter? That will be really fun for you guys to go to NYC with the girls. I hope it all works out!

FHE went really well. It was really fun. THey all loved the tacos :) and we watched legacy. It was a great night.

We had the baptism this last week. That was such a great experience.  People are prepared, we just have to find them.

We had dinner with the couple that speaks english last night. it´s always fun. They are a really fun couple. He asked us to give them a blessing again. He always wants us to come watch tv with him and stuff, he´s funny. He used to be a member, and was sealed to his family only a couple years ago. But he just devolped some other beliefs. He still accepts us though.

Guess what. I ate tomatoes this week! Weird right? First I ate them with the tacos, and I liked them. Then, I ate them on a sandwich on saturday, and yesterday on pizza. I don´t know what´s gotten in to me, but I´m eating them! The texture is still hard for me, but I like the flavor.

With teaching, I just like teaching. I´m getting better at it. Yes, I can teach without a companion, but it´s better with a companion. THere´s a reason we teach two by two :) ANd for questions, it´s probably the plan of salvation. Most people have questions about the plan. But it´s different for each person. Sometimes they completely accept it, but have a hard time with the importance of baptism, or going to church or something. That´s why preach my gospel is so key. We have to develop our teachings to each investigator instead of just reciting the same 7 lessons to each investigator.

thanks for all!

Love ya.

Elder gardner

2-20-12

Hey Fam!

Sorry, I can´t do anything about the pics, the computers here are a little behind the times. That will be fun for NYC to be with becky and mohommad. That will be great to have a guide! How are they doing? Why are they moving to NJ?  I´m glad all the family is doing well.

A CAMPER?? All I can say is it´s about time. Those words have been coming out of your mouth since we sold the little green one. :) But i´m happy for you guys! It´ll be really fun when I get home. I´m expecting you guys to use it!

That´s fun for Amber! I´m really glad she´s so happy about her mission call. That will be cold! and we are on complete opposite ends of the hemispheres! lol.But that´s okay, that´s where she is needed.

Well this last week for us was a slow one, we both got sick. Elder Reynolds had an eye problem a while back, and it came back stronger this last week. The doctors had no idea what it was, so we spent two days traveling between appointments and hospitals. It was fun to see more of the city, but they were long days. Then we spent two more days in the apartment because he couldn´t work with his problem, he said it felt like someone was in his head punching his eyes, and they were VERY bloodshot. But after a lot of benedryl, he is doing a lot better. We´re thinking they were allergies to something in the air, and constantly being on bikes and the are in our eyes, yeah. THen I got the flu. And spent the night in the bathroom throwing up. I don´t remember the last time I threw up, but I think all the argentine food finally got to me. It was just the 24 hour bug though. I slept litterally the whole day, and woke up ready for church. So all is well!

We have an FHE with a family tonight, We are cooking tacos for them. THey are all super excited for tacos (mexican food). And we are going to watch the testaments. It will be fun.

Well I love you guys a lot!!! THanks for everything, talk to you next week.

Elder Gardner

2-13-12

Rhet had a lot to say about people he is teaching but for privacy purposes, I've deleted that info.  If you really want to hear about it, give me a call and I'll send you a copy of his last email. 

Hey family!

That`s some good news for grandpa. I`m really glad he is out of his pain and suffering. Teaching the plan of salvation so much really helps me understand that this life is so short, but so important and vital. I hope everything for the funeral goes smoothly. Please let the family know that I love them! I think dad`s right, I`d like to be there, but Grandpa wouldn`t have me anywhere else. I`m content with where I am right now :)
  
Baptism paperwork isn`t too painful. It just takes about 10 minutes to do everything correctly. Usually it`s a pain though to get done in the midst of the craziness of a baptism.

It`s not elder abbott that knows pearl preece, his last name is Salter i think. We got three new missionaries so I mixed them up. But ask about an Elder Salter from Idaho I think. He has about 20 months in the mission. 

I`m having a great time with my new comp elder reynolds. We are working well together, and he talks. lol. He is a reallllly good missionary and I am learning a lot. He is a really great help with the language and my struggles with teaching. He is a great teacher and a great example.

I sure do miss you guys! Love you tons.

Hasta Luego

ELder gardner

2-6-12

Dear Mom and Dad,

I´m doing great this week! It was a great first week with my new companion. He is struggling with the bikes :) It was hard my first week as well. I got bit by a dog this week. It punctured skin, but didn´t go through my pants. Another miracle right? The nurse said if it didn´t puncture my pants then I´m good! If it had, I would have had to travel to capitál again to receive a rabies shot... I´m glad it didn´t puncture my pants lol. I kicked the dog in the face.

I got the second package today. Thank you! The card was nice, and thank you for everything else as well.

You can post those pictures on the blog that´s fine. Thank you for asking.

I´m glad everyone got their letters. I´m still writing Mavis, Deener, and Renee. If you speak with them, let them knowk letters are on there way!

Thanks for the update with Uintah and stuff, it´s nice to know what´s going on in good ol´ Vernal. I miss the mountains a lot, and the snow.

This last week was a great one. Elder Reynolds is a hard worker and we got a LOT of work done. Companions really make all the difference. We took out three baptismal dates, and have plans for one this coming sunday. I´m lucky he is accepting the gospel with us right now and we get to help him get baptised. We also have one the following sunday, and another the next. Work is picking up.

We visited the managers of our apartment building to discuss a bill that we had, and they speak perfect English! We got talking and they are really nice people. He plays guitar and he let us play for a little bit. It was fun.  He believes in blessings and the power that they have. He said he had a horrible day at work and would really appreciate it if we gave him and his wife a blessing. It was so amazing to see the power other people notice of our church. Of course we blessed them, and they asked us to come for dinner Sunday evening. So we did, and it was a great evening. They are really great people. THey spoke english to us, and we spoke castellano to them and we all corrected and helped each other. They made us some great pasta. Elder Reynolds and I decided to give them a book of mormon and teach a little lesson about prayer. It was one of the shortest lessons I´ve ever taught, but most powerful. Elder Reynolds and I both felt the spirit so strongly. Also,  my friend that went to schoolin cedar city, her parents sent me 4 books of mormons to give away in their name as a christmas gift. But they gave them to me in english. I thought english? but it must have been for a reason, because this last week as well, we were returning to the pension and a 20 yr old ran up to us and started speaking to us in english as well. He was actually a reference that we´ve been trying to contact for a while, but he went to the sea for a month. He actually lives in the next building! And he wanted to practice his english with us. We got together with him the next day, and we told him to learn english, he should read this book. :) we gave him one in english, adn one in spanish. He said he is anxious to learn about our religion. And he was really eager to continue to study with us.

I´m loving my experiences. Sometimes it´s really hard to be a missionary, but I know what I´m doing is right and I´m supposed to be here. Tonight we have an fhe with a recent convert family and we´re having pizza. It´s going to be a great evening. We had a zone activity today as well. A new missionary in my zone knows Pearl Preece. She is his Grandmothers sister or something like that. His name is Elder Abbott.

well off to work.

love you guys!

chao!

elder gardner