7-30-12

Hey fam!!!

Adrogue is where the mission home is. Capital is kind of like Washington DC it´s it´s own city, but doesn´t have like a name and it´s apart of everything else lol. It´ll be fun to show you guys everywhere.

It got cold again! Lol. It is freezing again. It was starting to feel like spring, but now it´s cold again :)

That will be nice to book your flights through Nick and Danny.

We just got instructions today about the big temple day on the 9th of sept. All of the missionaries in Buenos Aires (600+) are all traveling to a large chapel in capital, and then all traveling to a huge soccer stadium for the cultural event. WOOT! I´m so excited. We are going to have a workshop with Pres Eyring, and Elderes Christofferson and Ballard. I am super stoked, it´s going to be an amazing experience.

Yesterday in church the first councilor came up to me when sacrement started and said we lack a speaker, can you give a ten minute talk? FYI you will be the first to speak. I was like uh... SURE! Lol. So I just talked about temples, and stuff. Every city in the misison has received at least 6,000 invitations formal for the temple that we have to hand out all before this saturday. So I talked about those too and how it´s important that they hand them out. Oddly enough, that was only my second talk in the mission! Lucky, I know.

My comp got bronchitis this last week, so we only worked like 3 days. I am very well rested :) Good thing he´s a nurse! And good thing in Argentina, all drugs are over the counter. So we just walked to the farmacia and bought some antibiotics. lol.

Transfers are coming around the corner. I should be leaving Glew after 8 months :) My old comp Elder Wheeler just got moved up as zone leader in the coast. He just sent me some pictures of him playing on the beach. of course it´s freezing, so he is all bundled up lol. But it looks fun!

I meant to send pictures today, but forgot my camera at the pench. Sorry!

I hit a year! on the 27 i hit a year. I am on the down hill slope! How crazy is that. Amber emailed me, and she is finally in Canada, and freezing too :)

Well I hope all is well! Things are great, we´re working hard :)  Love you guys!

Chao!

Elder Gardner

7-23-12

Hey fam, crazy day today...

So Argentina has these new cards to travel with, they work with buses, trains, and the subways. And I`ve had one for a while, but my comp doesn`t have one. We have been trying to get him one all week, but there aren`t any more in Glew. So today we traveled to Adrogue, a bigger city, and waited in line for 5.5 hours, and then they wouldn`t give him the card because he only had a copy of his passport, not the original. So yeah, that sucked. We wasted our whole pday today, and now we`re super late to everything. We have a lesson soon so I can`t write much.

I`m doing well, this last week was alright. Not too exciting, but nothing bad. Just a normal week :) I`m glad you`re getting a lot of camping in. Get good practice so when I get home, we`ll be good to go. I`m so excited that you leave for NYC soon! Only a month left :) In a month, I`ll be in a new area, with a new companion!

For the story for M5th ward:

I don`t have just one great experience that I can choose, but there is one family that is really important to me. They are the Magliano family. Some elders in another area talked to them and passed the reference to us. We went late one night after dark to clap their house, Josè came out and didn`t say anything as we talked to him. He still wouldn`t speak so I stop teaching, and ask how he is. He says bad, and mumbles something about health, and his wife. So we set an appointment for the next day.

When we pass by the next day we meet his wife, and little girl. The little girl is mentally disabled, and the mother is disabled mentally and physically after she woke up from a diabetic coma several years ago. This family is amazing.

They have so many trials, especially the father. He can`t work because he has to take care of his wife and little girl all day long. He struggles a lot because he can`t leave his wife alone so he hardly leaves. And they live in the garage of his mother-in-law.

We started teaching the family, and baptized the daughter. And then they told us that they wanted to get married! Josè is already a member, but his wife isn`t; and they aren`t married either (something very common to Argentina). So we have finally gotten a date set for the wedding.

It is so amazing seeing the changes in this family. They struggle so much! Her health is always an issue, and he is usually always depressed because he has no one to talk to, nor does he leave the house. But each time we pass by, they are always in tears, and he knows what is important; the temple. Buenos Aires is very lucky in this moment because of the re-dedication of the temple coming up in September, so everyone is super excited for that. It really puts everything into perspective of what is really important.

---

I hope that is what he needs, something along the lines of that. lol.

Well mom and dad, I love you. I hope all is well, and we`ll talk next week!

Chao

Elder Gardner

7-16-12

Hey fam!!!

So, I got my new companion today. Elder Parker. He was born in Arizona, and went to school at the U, but his family lives in New Jersey. He`s great, we`ll work well together. It`s nice to have an American comp after 3 months with Latins. But I actually really liked having my latin comps, I improved a lot with the language. He has I think like 7 months in the mission. President called me yesterday morning and said I might be training though, if we receive a whole bunch of newbies tomorrow, I`ll be training. But if not, in the transfers to come. That will be fun.

Things are going well! I am so full! We have been receiving soooo much food lately. Fo real imma explode. And we have a dinner tonight with the Bishop and his fam. The bishop is pretty young, he`s like 28 and his daughter has only like 4 years old. She reminds me a lot of Bailey, she`s shy like Bailey.

This last week went by quickly, but it wasn`t the best week ever. We didn`t get the numbers we had hoped for. But numbers aren`t everything, I know. But seeing results for the work really helps with the desire to work. It`s a whole lot easier to work hard if you keep seeing results; but if you don`t receive anything for all the work that you put out, it gets hard. But it was just an off week, we`ll pick it up this week and be good to go. We had a baptism planned for yesterday, but she didn`t want to get baptized and didn`t know how to tell us. So we are going to try to get with her again and keep working.

I`ll write ya next week about the story for M 5th ward. And with the package I was wondering if you could send me the movie 17 miracles? If it`s possible, just make sure that I can change the language to Spanish :) And for ties, I like all ties and colors! I like paisleys, and argiles a lot. I have a bunch of striped ties, but I`ll love anything she wants to send. I just sent letters to you mom too to give to people. Let grandma know one is on her way.

Today was transfer meeting, and listening to all the elders that are going home made me think a lot about when I`ll be coming home. It`s only 12 months away. I`m not on the year countdown anymore! Months :) Time has flown by. I can`t believe it`s been a year.

I hope all is well with the fam! I miss and love you all.

Chao!

Elder Gardner

7-9-12

Hey fam!

I hope you got the pics I just sent... It is sooooo cold! I got a cold this week... boo! Humid winters are completely different then dry winters. It`s usually about 30 35 degrees, but with the humidity it feels like a winter in Vernal! Good thing I`m used to it. This week was about the same as last week. We are working hard, finding lots of people, and going strong with our same people. We found 8 new investigators this week so that was cool. I bought pizza saturday night to celebrate. I really miss the pizza from the U.S. It`s a lot better there... MMMM Pizza hutt. or even little ceasers!!!
My spanish has gotten better. I don`t mess up very much anymore :) That`s a big deal. And telling stories has always been so hard for me because you have to change the tense that you speak in so much, but I`m getting better at that too.
My mini comp goes home this next monday, so I`m getting a new comp this coming week. This will tell me if I am staying here in Glew until the end of August, or until the middle of October.
Today is independence day in Argentina, everything is closed, and we have a ward activity today, that will be fun. We also got a new ward mission leader. His name is Rodrigo and is 19 years old. He is prepping for his own mission, but can`t go for another year or two until he finishes school. But he`s awesome.
I`m glad you guys had fun with your school reunion! I hope that the Workman reunion goes well. Tell everyone HI! And that I love them.
I love the pics too, thanks!
I don`t have too much new news! Things are going well, and we`re working hard. I`m anxious to see who my new comp will be.
I hope all is well, and enjoy the pics!!!

Elder Gardner

Oh Mom, two things. Number one, if you haven`t already sent the package, send me some chocolate pwease. An investigator reallllly wants to try american chocolate. And number two, there is an Elder Ebert in my district who says his mom reads the missionary moms website too, and he wants you to say post something with his name on it so his mom will read it. lol. Say that Elder Gardner gives a shout out to the mom of Elder Ebert or something like that :) Thanks mom.

7-2-12

Hey yall!!

This last week was okay, not AMAZING like the week before, but we are doing great. And yes! I know Elder Dodge, he is in my district. He`s brand new from the MTC. Alfajores are super good. IDK if you can home make them... they are like candybar things you buy from the store. But they are super good, imma buy a box and bring them home for all of you to try.

No fleas here in Glew, so no worries about the flea collar :) Thanks though! Sounds like you have a summer and fall full of activities :) That`s good! I hope you all enjoy yourselves. 11 months! I`m just about to the hump. The 27 of july I hit a year, and the 28th is hump day, and the 29th is my 1-year-left mark. I return the 29 of july in 2013. Everyone says that the first 6 months fly by, the next 6 months are slower, and then don`t blink the last year because it goes by quicker than a dog can eat it`s vomit. Like my imagery there? :)

Amber told me that her grandparents got called to serve in the Buenos Aires temple and they start in october. That is awesome. I`m sure I`ll see them at one point or another. And thanks for the letter from the ward, I haven`t received it yet. I will prepare it and email it to you soon so you can get it to them ASAP.

That`s crazy about all the wild fires! I hope things cool down soon, and you get some rain. We are getting plenty of rain here! We are just always covered in mud :) And with the humidity it`s aweful. There`s always fog. And it`s still freezing :) We should be heading on the warmer direction soon, (I hope) But I don`t think it turns spring until sept or oct.

We got the news from the family we`re teaching, their marriage is for the 31 of aug, so there is a big possibility that I won`t be here... when I got transferred here prez told me I would be here until the 26 of august. What luck that I have right? If I end up training then I will stay another transfer, but if not then I`m out of here the 26th. If that happens, I`m going to ask prez if I can come back for their wedding lol.

Today for pday we are going to a members house and she`s going to teach me how to cook pasta flora, it`s my favorite dessert here. mmmm. It`s like pie kind of...

Well that`s about it! I love ya family, I`ve been thinking a lot about ya lately.

Chao!

Elder GArdner