7-12-13

Hey family!!!!!

Today was a crazy day, we had our capital trip. haha It was basically like the one I did the other day. BUT It was in a bus, so a lot better than walking. I got some cool pictures, and some new ideas to take you guys to cool places.
I had my exit interview today! That was weird.... especially because it was with my new president! This is what he said about marriage.... Now elder, when someone has been fasting for a long time, even a tuna sandwich looks good. DON`T EAT THE TUNA SANDWICH.  HAHAHAHAAH I laughed sooo hard. It was awesome.
Which Smuin is going to Bahia Blanca? That is the mission right beneath me. It`s a lot colder there. Hopefully it all works out for him and his visa...
Awe man I have soooo many crazy feelings about ending! I am sooooo excited to see you guys, but thinking about not being apart of all of THIS is something I don`t like. But it doesn`t end here :) That`s the good thing.
I can`t wait to get home and show you guys pictures and stuff. It`s be awesome. Ihave no idea how it`s going to be when I see you guys in the airport. It`s going to be super weird. I look totally different haha. And I`m sure you guys have changed a lot too!
Tomorrow I go to the temple! I`m going to say hi to the Rusts ;) I`m excited for the temple. It`ll be good for me. It`ll rejuvinate me!!!!
I got suuuuper sick again this week. Fevers... squitters.... migrains.... the works. Monday tuesday and wednesday I was out almost completely. It was terrible. But thank goodness for tylenol! And that I brought a lot... ahha. It helped a lot. And yes mom I drank lots of fluids. But no one brought me my iced seven up like I like and my toast with hot jello.
Last night I was tlaking to Elder _______, who is in my district. He is from Altamont and we just talked about the indians for like 10 minutes haha it was awesome to talk to someone who understands the uintah basin.
Well I better go, I`ve got to get back to my area real quick! WE`re still on divisions for the day and I have to get back to my comp :) I love you guys soooooo much! And I will call you when I get to Dallas, or to Denver or something. If not, Iwill see you at 3:54 at the vernal airport on tuesday :)

Elder Gardner

6-17-13

Hey family!!!!

 

Things are going pretty well. All about the same. This week we got robbed haha. But nothing happened, they just ran up, reached in our pockets are grabbed everything, and then ran away. I yelled at them when they ran away and told them to at least give me my travel card back. And they did! Haha. Plus after they took out all of my comps money they gave him back his wallet. So at least they were courteous robbers! All they took from me was my wallet, with two pesos (about 30 cents USD) and the mission phone. One of them told the other one to give me back my wallet to me, but I think he liked it because he didn`t want to give it back lol. It did have a copy of my passport info, but I doubt they are smart enough to do anything with that. I want to go to the temple super bad... it`s been since january i think was the last time. And before that, it was the mtc!!! crazy... yeah i will be exhausted with my travel info... but I will be excited too. I think I`m traveling alone because everyone else told me that they are flying into georgia first. so that will be weird. I`ve never flown alone. I am excited for summer! More than anything, I`m excited to wear summer clothes. Shorts, t shirts, and flip flops... lol. Although I am used to church clothes 24/7, it will feel super good. is it hot out there? That`s good cadin is starting in on the singles ward stuff. Is he going to nauvoo? How many people are going?? I`m getting excited for that as well. That will be fun. I`m excited to see everyone! It`s been a long time... 2 years!! I`m thinking about jobs and everything now. Trying to figure stuff out. I want to be able to use spanish! What jobs do you think there are in vernal to use spanish. I`m sure there are several. 

 

Well love you guys! Just know I`m okay, and Im being taken care of. :)

 

Elder GArdner

6-10-13

Hey family!!!! The funeral was weird. I wasn`t sad at all! I was shocked by the situation, but I`m glad I have the gospel, and I already know what is going to happen to us after. So it`s all good! The bishop ended up doing the blessing, but I did speak. The mom is awesome, I hope one day she can receive the gospel.
Brittani who and Tyson Bourne? I don`t think I know either of them... haha. Smoked pork sounds soooooo good right now!! I can`t wait to have cafe rio...
Moving churches will be good. The other one is super small!!! Haha well Argentine churches are even smaller. And no one has cars so that makes parking not an issue :)
That`s exciting about the capital theater production, I`ve always wanted to go! Guess I`ll have to wait another year lol. Maybe next year they`ll have like wicked or something awesome. It is getting cold here.... and rainy! That`s the good thing abut winter... MUD!!!!

This last week was a little rough with a lot of things going on. But ya gotta remember good ol´ 1 Nephi 3:7. When the Lord puts new things in front of me, Í know there is a way to do it; and I don`t have any other choice but to do it! It`ll be good for me. I`ll end up tougher than a boiled owl. New challenges are good, because that means the Lord is trusting me more, and is giving me oppurtunities to grow in other ways. So I`m not mad! I love to talk to the Lord!!! :)

President Stapley is leaving on the 27 of June, and the new mission president, President Thurgood gets here that day as well. The word on the street is that we all will get to go together to the temple before president goes home, and then I will get to go again the week before I leave! So that would be cool if we get to go twice this transfer. I think I bought my last souvenirs this week! Woot! Then I`m all done. Just got to start giving some clothes away and start getting stuff sorted out. Good thing I have organized parents that taught me to be prepared before hand :)
I love you guys lots, and hope you have a good week!!!!

Elder GArdner

6-3-13

HEy family!!!!

Along with the fresh fruits and veggies, I want some steak... a good steak! And mexican food. PLEASE!"!!! haha. So ready for the news??? I got my new companion today! His name is elder Herrera, and is from Mexico City. He is awesome, and has 5 months in the mission. He is a newbie. I didn`t `know him before, but he seems like a cool kid. He will be my last comp! 

Send Jake birthday wishes for me. 

I`m glad you had a fun time on my birthday :) We spent it doing the best thing in the world; preaching the gospel :) That evening we received terrible news, that the one member who helped us so much, and worked with us every day, had passed away. He was the one the got shot like a year ago and he only had one lung. Well he had used to much strength, and he just fell dead. It has been really hard on the whole ward, he was one of the best people in the ward. For us it was weird too because he literally worked with us every single day, and helped us find so many investigators. But luckily we believe in the plan of salvation and everything, and we know what he is doing and where. But it was a crazy weekend. Today is his viewing, and tomorrow is the funeral. His mom isn`t a member, but she asked me to bless his grave tomorrow at his funeral. 

Today at trasnfer meeting, 28 missionaries went home! two more including president and the hermana stapley! so 30 this transfer, and 20 next trasnfer. So 50 people in 3 months! That`s 1/4 of the mission. And in the states there are 50 people waiting for visas... so yeah. The mission is really lacking people. 

My new comp is cool, I`m excited to start working with him today. He seems really chill, and willing to work. 

Not too much to tell you! This week was really layed back with all the stuff that happened. I love you guys a lot, and am excited to seey ou guys soon. 

 

Love ya

5-27-13

Hey family! How is everything going? All is well here on this side of the hemisphere. It´s actually a really nice day today! GLOBAL WARMING!!!! Haha jk. Tell grandma and grandpa thank you so much, and that they really need to stop!!!!! 

I got a surpirse this week! My comp is going to the temple on friday so I am going back to my old area with the office elders to work while he is in the temple. So they are going to take me to my old converts house for my birthday :) That is going to be the best birthday present ever!!! I´m so excited to see them. 

So yesterday our stake that we are in had a special conference with Elder Cook. It was amazing! And on wednesday he is having a special one with all the missionaries in the buenos aires area. It´s going to be an awesome week! I can´t wait. My comp is getting really excited to see his family. 

Sooooo many weddings! Who is dallin marshall getting married to? 

A tip for food... I want a lot of veggies and fruits... that is something I have missed a lot here. PWEEEESE!!!!!

Wow the new bishopric sounds awesome :) That´s so amazing for them both. They are both super awesome, and will do wonders for the ward. What is biship Vernon´s new calling? Does he have a new one? Who is all in the stake presidency? I knew about pres mcclellan, but who are his counselors? 

Not too much to say. I love you guys! and I am doing well :) I am being taken care of, and I´m not hungry!!! Too much cookies and chocolate milk..... :) 

 

Love you guys.

 

Elder Gardner

5-13-13

Hey family! So we just talked last night.. lol but it was nice to see you guys. I can`t wait to be with you guys in person. But you`re going to have to wait, I still have some work to do here. :) 8 more weeks. You all looked so good. Even Barkley. He looked good too :) The kids are all super huge! I can`t believe it. Gracy was talking so much, and so well! Sheesh. Baileywas so cute, super shy but she said the funniest things. Ryder was devouring the cheetos while tiff was talking to me, she said he was taking advantage of her not watching him. haha. 

This week we had a lot of mircles happen! It was awesome. They`re always little things, but the Lord blesses us right when we need it. It`s amazing. 

Todaywehave a zone activity, we`re going to watchf inding nemo :) Can`t wait!!! It`s been a long time since I`ve seena movie. I`m excited to have two years of movies to catch up on :)

That is crazy about the weddings... Especially Jordan Evans!!! Lol. Hannah Haslem  is the one that had cancer when she was younger right?

Tell gammy and papa that I love them, and it was good to see them. 

 

Well, not too much has happened since lastn ight :) Love youguys!

 

Elder GArdner

4-29-13

HEy family!

 

Things are going well. Time is already flying by super quickly... With helping my comp prepare for him going home, it´s crazy to think that that will be me in several weeks. But I still have time :) So I will use it to my advantage and work as hard as possible. We are still going strong with lessons and investigators. If everything works out perfectly this week we should have 3 baptisms on Sunday. Pray for them! Their interviews are on thursday. 

President had to close a lot of areas this last week because of the lack of missionaries.... stupid visa problems. Us gringos are a dying breed! Soon it will be a mission only filled with latins. Which is fine! It´s better to serve in your own country anyway. I think I lost 6-8 months of my mission trying to learn the language where if I were serving in the US I could have jumped straight into the work. But I am grateful for my experiences, and wouldn´t trade them for anything. It was EXACTLY what i needed. and that´s whythe Lord put me here. 

 

THat´ll be a nice break for Dad to be able to have another day off. Give you guys some more time together. 

Good news! They finally got the paperwork to start my visa papers to leave legally! So we shouldn´t have any problems to come back :) I was super happy. Everything should work out perfectly. 

And in only 2 weeks we´ll be talking on skype :) WE´ve already got a family lined up to use their computer. It should go perfectly! Lov eyou guys and we´ll talk soon.

 

Elder GArdner

 

4-22-13

Hey family!!!!

For USU Don´t worry about it, I´ll handle everything when I get home. I don´t want to deal with that stuff while I´m out here, plus I´ll have all the time in the world when i get home :) Thanks for the offer though. If things don´t work out like they should, it´ll be for a reason, and I can go in JAnuary. I´m not rushed. 

The cows names shall be.. Alma and Amulek in the honor of missionaries everywhere :) And yes letters go to the same address.

Today was trasnfers. My companion and I are staying together. He´s going home this transfer! 6 weeks, and then 6 weeks after, I will be home! Crazy... Today a couple elders´ families came to pick them up. It was really funny because the elders all give their last testimonies, and one elders´ parents had gotten lost and hadn´t showed up yet, and during his testimony they showed up and walked up to the front row, you should have seen his face! It was soo funny. HE was just giving his parents then he just lights up and is like and there are my parents!!!! 

This last week went well. i learned a lot of good things. Important things. I still have 3 months, and I´m going to finish strong. This ward is amazing, and they really help out the elders. There is a lot of work here, so no complaining on my part. My only hope and prayer is that I can be the tool the Lord need for these people. That I am intune with the spirit enough to know how to help them. THat´s all missionary work is. It´s not how good of a teacher you are, or how much people like you. It´s when there are doubts, or people aren´t doing what they need, that you have the powers of heaven on your side to tell you what you need to do or say. That´s why being sanctified is key. 

It´s gotten hot again here these last couple of days. I am dying! I am not a person that likes the heat... I SOOOO prefer the cold to the hot. 

I just looked at the u of u website, and it´s only a 3.7 GPA for full tuition! So I´m even closer than I thought. And for USU they have one that is close, for a 3.6-3.79 gpa for 6,000 dollars. but only for fall semester. So either way I´m probably going to go to USU uintah basin for a while until my GPA is higher. I want at least a 3.7 

It´s crazy to see friends coming home already. And especially elders here that are my friends that leave is weird. I keep knowing less and less elders! the next traanser and the transfer that I go home are the two largest groups. Between the two groups, 49 elders and hermanas are going home. That is 1/4 of the mission! And the problem is that we aren´t receiving any new visas... :/ so this transfer they had to close down a lot of areas.... Another elder (one of my comps) HAs decided to come to utah for school. He wants to go to the u of u as well. But it´s super expensive for international students, so he wants to come live with me until he has residency and then apply. AHha I told him he is welcome! He is the one from Cancun who´s parents came a couple weeks ago and took us to dinner. 

Well family, love you lots! And we´ll talk next week :)

 

Elder Gardner

4-15-13

Hey family! 

So Vernal should be a for sure thing. I don`t see why I couldn`t if we have an airport here. Plus when Cadin left, he left out of Vernal. So the church is able to do it. I didn`t give them a back-up plan, so Hermana Mayer will make it happen :)

Don`t worry about giving me anything for my birthday! I`m doing fine! I don`t need money, nor anything else. I`m doing perfect. :)  I`m trying to decide what to get everyone!!! it`s a hard decision. 

The pearl of great price is awesome. Every time I read it, I just am bombarded with information! lol. I read Alma 7 today, it was amazing. Probably one of my favorite chapters of the BOM. And I love Ether 12 too. They are amazing ones. I really like the whole book of Mosiah as well. we were told that missionaries learn in their two years of service, what normal members learn in 20 years! I feel like I`ve learned more about the gospel here, than I ever knew before the mission. It`s amazing. 

I really hope I don`t lose my spanish... I really want to find a job speaking spanish. But we`ll see. I`ve had some ideas about school! So I heard that at the U if you have a 3.8 GPA or above, you get a full tuition scholarship as a transfer student. I think I have a 3.68, so not too far away. It`s the same at BYU as well. So maybe I`ve been thinking about maybe my first semester back at USU Uintah Basin to get my GPA up, and then I can qualify for the scholarship. Just some thoughts. instead of jumping right into a financial mess right when I get home. We`ll see how it all goes though.

And yes! On mothers day we will be able to talk :) Love you guys!!!

 

Elder Gardner

4-8-13

Hey family!

 

So yeah, there have been tons of floods out here. La Plata is like destroyed! All of conference we were gathering food and clothes for the people over there. I´`m  sure the elders in La Plata are helping out with the actual clean up, but us over here aren`t doing anything in la plata. 

Conference was awesome. I watched it all in spanish this time. 

Lizard rock sounds awesome right now!!! Haha. That was a funny april fools prank :) 

Over here things are going well! I started getting sicker, so I called the doctor and he said i have another sinus infection, so I got on some more meds, and I`m feeling better. All is well! 

This last week was crazy! We are starting to drop a lot of people because they aren`t progressing at all... so yeah. This week will be a lot of looking for new people, and dropping old people. 

My big goal right now is I want to read the BOM before I go home, but do it in spanish. It`s super cool! I have leanred a lot of cool stuff and it`s a whole different perspective. I am almost finished with Mosiah, so I am right on track and should finish in plenty of time. I don`t think I`m going to finish the bible before I get home though... I also wanted to do that, but oh well. I can get that when I get home. 

I`m starting to look for stuff to give to people, and I`m not sure what I want to give people.

Today, I`m going to try to send pictures! So hopefully you will get another email :) 

Hope all is well family!!!! 

 

Love yaA

 

Elder Gardner

 

4-1-13

Hey family!

 

So today has been crazy... I hate holidays in Argentina... it´s terrible. They shut everything down, so it´s impossible to do anything. And besides that, every other day is a holiday here because no one wants to work. So I´m already late, and don´t have any time, so i´m going to keep it short.

Things are going well! We have a ton of work here... as of right now we have 24 people with baptismal dates, and from the last two weeks we have 21 new investigators. Things are hopping here! We baptized yesterday, a lady named _______. She´s really quiet, but she was super excited to get baptized. I didn´t know if she was going to be ready or not, but last week at the stake conference, she traveled by herself 40 minutes to go watch it! So that was the determining point for me, and I could see she was willling to put in her part. And she completely changed her life aroung, so that is awesome. 

________, (the last baptism) got sick today because she went with the youth to southern Argentina on a youth trip, so she didn´t come to church and wasn´t able to get confirmed... that´s a bummer because now she has to wait two more weeks. 

Our closest family to baptism right now is really struggling.  They love the church, and love the lessons, but never can come to church. So that sucks, and is a problem for us... we´ll see what we can do about that. 

There is never enough time as a missionary. I´m busier than i was before! I don´t think I can ever complete anything I need to, not one thing completely. It´s terrible but there just isn´t enough time. We need like a secretary or something for each companionship. That would be useful. 

Well sorry, but I´ve got to go, we have a cita right now!!!

 

Chao!!!!

 

Elder Gardner

 

3-25-13

I love Hermana Kirk! Yeah she was in my zone in Adrogue. She is super funny. and her accent is awesome. lol. 

Woo! Two talks in one day :) Who do you think I am, a missionary or something??? :) NAh that`s fine. But Just wondering, are there any topics assigned or anything that they want me to speak about?? And let`s not do the dinner thing then, I`m soooooo down with just chilling at the house :) 

It`s cold out there?? It`s cold out here too... sweaters!!! I am using my sweaters again :) All my clothes are starting to get nasty lol. They will last until I get home, but my shirts are starting to turn like a yellow color, and all my pants are ripped, and my shoes are falling apart. lol. Luckily I have that new suit, so I can go to church and have nice clothes and not look homeless. I`m probably going to leave all of my clothes here though... nothing fits anyway all my shirts are made for fat Rhet so I`ll probably just donate my clothes to the mission home or to the ward or something like that if that`s okay with you. I think I`ll take my suits home, and maybe we can get them tailored? The one green suit, I never wore. Maybe once on the mission, but it`s just toooo big. The black one I used every time, until I got the new one, but I`ll probably bring that one home... But I`m just going to leave all my bedding stuff too, my sleeping bag and my pillow and stuff because I won`t need it. 

I did get my package! Sorry I totally spaced about telling you. And FYI I really liked that paisely tie you gave me... lol. So I am switching it out for another ugly tie that I don`t want and then keeping that one :) The other red one... yeah.... that one is ugly. :) Did you get those from DI or something?

A new weight set sounds awesome! I`m going to have to start exercising when I get home to not get fat again... here we walk all day long so I don`t really worry about it... 

Well I love you guys, and we`ll talk next week!

 

Rhet

 

PS They asked me what airport I am going to fly home to today, I`m telling them Vernal for sure. 

PSS They are havingt problems getting the paperwork to renew my visa before I go home. Hopefully they get it all worked out before we go home. IF I leave illegally, I either can`t enter the country for ten years, or we`ll have to go to the Argentine consulate and pay him like 300 dollars... so hopefully they get it worked out before I leave. 

 

3-18-13

Hey family!!!!

So things are going super well :) I love my new area, my new comp, and the ward! This ward is having a lot of success right now, so it´s a good change from ______. The ward actually works. It´s weird. The first counselor is a very strict person, but that´s why the ward works I think. This is the first ward I´ve been in with ward missionaries that actually know how to work and DO work. The ward mission leader got home from his mission a month ago... so he knows exactly what to do. He is actually talking to me a lot lately because he wants to go to the U of U to study medicine. I told him we should room together :) 

So this week we were able to help _______ get baptized. I just met her this week, but she had only received two lessons, so we finished teaching her the lessons, and got the interview done and taken care of, and she got baptized yesterday after church. She has 16 years, and is a really smart girl. She asked me to baptize her, so yeah, I can´t complain about the week! 

This next sunday, we have a special stake conference and it´s directed by an apostle, and then in May Elder Cook is coming to our stake center for another special stake conference. This stake is one of the only stakes where the members know how to work. It is a well knownn fact about the stake, and it has a lot of success because of the members. I don´t know if it´s because the mission president belongs to this stake, or if it´s just because they are awesome. But either way, I´m glad to be here. It will be a good place to finish my mission. 

There is a couple in our ward that are from St. George! Lol. Funny right? The dad is from here, from this stake, and went to study in Utah and met his wife there. They come here and live here for 3 months every year and so they are here right now. They are super cool though. they kept running up to me yesterday to talk. I think they miss speaking in English or something. 

I don´t know about the dinner thing. It´d be nice, but a lot of work and stuff. I´m going to be super tired too. Plus when would we do it? After my homecoming talk? And from which ward? 

 

Love you guys! We´ll talk next week.

 

Elder Gardner

3-11-13

Hey family!

So I have news! I did get transferred, and I got a new comp. I am now in an area called Parque Baron, in the zone Banfield (where the mission home is). I`m excited for a new area, and I`ll be here until I go home more than likely. My new comp is Elder ________ from Chile. He goes home one transfer before me, so we`ll probably both end up dying here in this area. He`s super nice. It`ll be a good transfer I think. Right now, this area is having a lot of success so we`ll see how it continues!

 

This last week my old comp  had his parents come visit him because they were traveling in Buenos Aires, and they took us to lunch :) YUMMY! We ate really well, and they were super nice. They live in Cancun right now, and told me I for sure have a place to stay if I ever want to visit :) His parents are musicians; the mom sings, and the dad plays guitar. They are REALLY good. That`s why they were here in Argentina, they were invited to do a tour here. 

Pics are super hard right now because the computers here are a mess, and they are full of viruses so I have to be reallllllly careful. Two weeks ago I tried again, and it erased ALL of my pictures. Luckily you guys sent me two jump drives so I had to copies of all mypictures, but it was a mess.... and it freaked me out. So yeah. I will get them to you asap. Is pres mcclellan the new stake pres in the stake? Who are his counselors?

 Saying goodbye to everyone in Adrogue, everyone made me promise them that I will come back, I told them in Octubre we are planning our trip. And they are all excited to meet you guys. How many days are you planning on staying? Don`t forget that two days of those will be traveling. Have you already started you papers for your pasport? It would be best to have them all done before I get home so we can just book the flights and hotels and be done and not have to worry. 

That`s awesome about ______ :) He will love it. That is so crazy about ________ already being home. Ic an`t believe it still.

Wow another one of my comps went home today. Elder _______ left. That is soooo weird for me. In 4 days, I will be home in 4 months! Super crazy. 

I`m feeling a little better, but I still have a stupid cold. It`s been like 5 weeks now... BOO! I bought new scriptures for me in Spanish. My others ones have been destroyed, so I wanted new good ones for me to take care of and bring home. 

Well I love you guys, and will talke to you next week :)

 

Elder Gardner

3-4-13

Hey family!!!

So this last week was a long one, and a short one. ha ha. All of our investigators dropped us, or we dropped them. So that was kind of a bummer... But we still have a good view of things and aren`t dragging our feet at all. The week went super quickly! I have no idea why, but it just flew. I spent a couple of days doing missionary exchanges with my district, so that could be why. But it was fun! On saturday, we got together as a zone to help one of our companionships find new investigators by doing a ¨white storm¨ and just all going to their area and doing contacts for the whole day. They got 41 references :) I think they`ll have some work to do for next week :)

Elder Siler and I are doing well. He is super awesome, and is a great elder. He really helps me a lot. This is the last week of the transfer though, and I kind of feel like I`m leaving. I only have three trasnfers left, so if I don`t leave this trasnfer I`ll probably die here with 9 months in the area. Or I could leave this trasnfer and have 4.5 months in Adrogue, and 4.5 months in the new area. Who knows though, just depends on what Pres thinks! Next trasnfer, 29 people leave the mission, including president and his wife,and 2 senior couples. Then the trasnfer after, when I leave, another 20 leave. So yeah, like 1/4 of the whole mission is leaving in two months! Crazy. There will be a lot of changes with new missionaries, and a new president! I will be with the new president for 15 days lol. The only time I will see him is my exit interview lol so that will be a little weird.

The economic inflation is kind of hard right now on the missionaries. Everything is like 3x`s the prise as when I gothere. I bought a bag of bread today and it was 16 pesos, and 4 bananas was 14 pesos. It is crazy. A bag of milk (milk is in one liter bags here) is 7 pesos. It`s rediculous! I bought sandwhiches today for us four elders, and then dessert to make for our activity on friday, and it was 200 pesos! That sucks a lot when we are only allocated 800 pesos a month. But supposedly atthe end of this month we will be getting a raise :)

Wow, I can`t wait to be able to drive again, and have a car... When I first got here taking the bus andtrain was cool and fun, and exciting because it was something new. BUT now itjust takes up SOOOOOOOOOOOO much time... it`s rediculous... Just going shopping takes soooo much time because you have to wait for the bus, go shopping, and then wait for another bus, and take it back. It takes like 2 hours. You guys will notice that when you get here! We`ll be traveling like an Argentine :)

Well I love you guys a lot, and I hope you are all doing well :) Talk to you next week!

Elder Gardner

PS Thanks Dad for handling that stuff! That helps a lot :)

2-25-13

Hey family!

 The mazda will need some rest before I get`r rollin! lol. THat is a good idea about the passport, and for the point for hunting as well. I don`t want to commit myself if I have no idea where I`ll be in the fall. I am thinking october will be the perfect month to come back to Argentina. It`ll be spring, so good weather, but not scorching hot.

This last week went well. Just really chill. We finally got some blessings from all our tracting, and found a family, and another guy. The family is awesome. They are catholic,but are just listening because they are new in the area and want to get to know people, plus they like to learn about other churches.  They are really nice though, and a typical Argentine family. Actually they are very out of the ordinary because they are actually married! That like never happens. they have a little 3 year old daughter and she reminds me EXACTLY of Gracy when I left before the mission. I showed her a picture of the girls and she was in love, she wouldn`t put the picture down and she kept inviting them over to play.

That was like the best part of the week. We went and finished the service for that lady and finished chopping down her tree. There was a lady named _____that we met doing contacts and all ofher family is mormon, so we talked for a bit. And she is from Paraguay so I started talking in Guarani with her,and she was sooooo happy lol. So she invited us over for this last week. We went and I gave her a book of mormon in Guarani and she was super happy. She was so happy she gave us sooooo much food. She made like all these tartas and gave us cookies and stuff lol.It was funny.She`s not interested at all, but she just liked that. Hmmm.... what else happened....

Did I ever tell you guys that I am like the new pianist for the ward? It`s crazy, I have gotten so much better att he piano now. I can touch like a ton more hymns now, it`s cool.

I have beenlike super sick for like 2 weeks with like bronchitis or something, and this morning Iw oke up with huge tonsils and an earache. Good thing I live with the mission nurse, so he told me what to take. Also good thing in Argentina you can buy ANYTHINg over the counter and I got all my antibiotics and decongestants for like 8 dollars. (40 pesos) What a steal! But hopefully I can get better soon.

Well I love you guys! Hope you are doing well. :)

Elder Gardner

 

2-18-13

Hey family!

So things are going super well. This last week was an extreme amount of walking and clapping houses, but we´re sure that things will pick up soon as long as we stay diligent and obedient.

Let´s see... this week I ate tongue again, and it was really good :) They made it the same way and everything, and I loved it this time. lol. It has a ton of flavor, and is super soft and falls apart easily.

We also have been doing a lot of service this week because we haven´t had too many lessons. So for example we resealed a roof of a member so it won´t leak anymore, and we cut down a tree of a lady we met in the streets like 4 months ago. When I first got here we just clapped her house and she was super nice so every time we pass by I just stop to say hi, and last week she explained to us that she is having a lot of problems and her husband doesn´t have a job, and then she said that her tree had fallen down in her backyard and didn´t know what she was going to do because she couldn´t afford to pay someone to cut it up. So we offered to do it for her and of course she accepted. It was fun. I have cut lots of trees down here with machetes, but never with like a huge ax like that. lol. Needless to say, I was very sore the next day. But now I know how to use an ax!

______ and her family gave me a suit! Their son _____ had a suit that they bought, and he never used. And they were thinking about giving it away to someone in the ward and they kept thinking that it had to be someone tall and skinny. Then they all just turned and looked at me. haha. I took it home, and it fit perfectly! So now I don´t look like a homeless man when I go to church with a suit that is probably 4 times as big as it should. It´s a cool color too, like a greenish tan color. Kind of like the mazda?? But yeah, I´m excited. I am still trying to send you pictures.. but the computers here are terrible and don´t work at all... sorry. I am trying!

Well I am glad things are going well! I love you guys, and can´t wait to hear from you next week!

Elder Gardner

2-11-13

Hey family!!!

So this last week went by super quickly! We passed by another transfer... today is transfer day but elder Siler and I are staying together. This trasnfer that we started today is the weird one that they are changing, so it`s only 4 weeks instead of 6. And then from then on, everyone goes home two weeks earlier. After this transfer, I only will have 4 months left! That is so crazy. I have no idea how it has all passed so quickly! These last three months have FLOWN. Today is another random Argentine holiday. AKA everything is closed... Argentina is like the exact opposite than the states. lol. Yeah, October and Novembre are the best months I think. It`s warm, but not HOT like right now. It is terrible! We`ll have to hit it just right. I`m guessing staying in a hotel will be the best bet for us, and the most comfortable. I`m sure people would let us stay at their homes, but the homes here aren`t meant to accomodate other families. Plus the public transportation is really good here so we can travel REALLY easy. With the subway, train, and bus systems. And in all my areas I know it in and out. Luckily I have a Sube card which is like the electronic way to pay for your travel fares so it will be super easy for us to travel.

I am down with going to Nauvoo. I`m not going toworry about school until I get back, so I won`t be able to go until January. It just seems easier that way than trying to worry about it right now and money crap. So I`ll just wait and have a good six months to get ready in whatever way necessary. And Dad I am still thinking medical. I just want to do something that I enjoy, and I like a lot of things, but medicine just interests me a lot, and it would be a great career. We`ll see how everything works out though and which school I am going to end up at. I really like the U, but I have been thinking a lot lately about BYU. So we`ll see how it all works out. BYU would be a lot cheaper; tuition wise, and for living as well. Living in Salt Lake is a bit more pricey.

_____ is doing well! She paid her tithing this week, so that means that she REALLY understood everything.  That was a big step for her. She also supposedly got a job last night! Which is another big step for her.  Now she is changing her life and she is doing amazingly!
_____ is doing well as well. We are working hard to start teaching her kids.

Nothing too new to update you on. Things are going well!

Well family, I love you all! And I hope you guys are doing well. Talk to you soon :)

Elder Gardner

I am trying to send pictures as well.

2-4-13

Hey family! 

 

Thanks for the email, and for the picture. lol. I see old pics of me, and I don´t even think it´s me anymore. I look completely different now. And plus I have lost a lot more weight. I am down to 160 now. 

_____ did get baptized :) It was amazing! And she barely showed up to get confirmed. She had everything possible happen to her so she wouldn´t come to church on sunday, but she came runnin in 10 minutes before it ended and we were able to confirm her. She is so awesome. She loves the church, and she loves to learn. 

Other than that, the week was pretty normal and chill. Just lots of walking, and yeah. We did have a lot of people fodge us, but That´s in the job description. We did find two new families on sunday. It was a good weekend :) 

today for pday, I am making ñoquis. MMMMM They are going to be super good. It´s my first time doing it ALL from scratch. So we´ll see how it works out. I will send you pictures next week, deal? 

I am pretty tired all the time. In about six months, I´m going to take a nap for like 3 weeks. Deal? 

I´m glad you are all doing well! That is so crazy about ______ and ______ getting married lol. That was a shocker. And yeah, jade sent me a picture of Brandt and he is huge! and has a deep voice now :) I remember him being a lil boy blowing bubbles behind the piano when we were playing under the sea at the piano recital. 

When are you guys thinking about coming back to Argentina? I´m thinking November would be a good month. Or October. What are you guys thinking? How long are you wanting to stay here? Where do you want to sleep? 

This is kind of a short email, sorry. But there´s not realy anything new going on lol. It´s all just the same to me. We do the same things all day. We wake up, and leave and go work! And yeah! Just clapping houses, and maybe teaching people if we are lucky. Teaching is a lot easier, especially with the language finally down. I´m really excited to be able to look for a job speaking spanish or something like that when I get back. That will be super useful. 

I think the best thing I´ve received from the mission is my newly-established relationship with Christ. That is the most valuable thing I think that I have received and developed during my time here. I can´t imagine where it will be in 6 months, but I´m excited to see. 

Well family, I hope all is well, and that you guys are doing fine and dandy. I love you lots, and appreciate the love and support. 

 

Love ya lots.

 

elder Gardner

1-28-13

Hey family!

 

I`m glad you guys had a fun time with the fam. I miss everyone. I bet there was lots of good food:) The Mayer coupleis going to make us sloppy joes tomorrow. I am super excited. 

I am down with the Nauvoo trip. Tiff said she is trying to talk you guys into staying a couple extra days in KC with her. What are you guys thinking about for thta? I`m down :) 

I did get Deeners package. REmember I showed you the ties she gave me on christmas? They`re really nice ones. Good for Grandma thinking about skirts and stuff, maybe I can help them a little bit. That`s so crazy about all the homecomings already. Especially Shellie! I was  in the MTC with her. When does Layken come home? I ate lunch with her a couple of times in the MTC. And Katie Palmer too. That is nuts. And I am excited to go fishing. I`ve tried to go a couple times out here,but there`s never enough time on pdays to go. to bad so sad. 

 

Things are going well here in Adrogue. We are staying pretty constant with the people, gaining and losing people constantly. BUT We do have about three people who are looking good and progressing. _______ is so awesome. She is getting baptized on Saturday, and is super excited. She loves learning, and reads a lot. Shehas already read the whole Lorenzo snow manual that we just got like two weeks ago. And she has read 7 ensigns and we have gotten her started well on the BOM as well. We told her for every 50 pages of the bofmormon that she reads, we`ll give her an ensign lol. Because she likes reading the ensigns a lot more than the bOM so yeah. But she is really smart, and knows the bible well so it`sfun teaching her. She has already asked when she can get her patriarchal blessing,and receive her endownments lol. She is on a roll. She even broke up with her boyfriend on Saturday, and she went to the temple with the ward temple trip to walk the gardens and stuff. She is awesome. 

 

Today we are spposed to have a zone activity and cook pizza and watch a movie. it`ll be fun. 

Well I love you guys! Tell everyone I love them.

 

Elder GArdner

1-21-13

Hey family!

This week went actually pretty well! We found some new people to teach and have our older ones starting to progress. --------- is awesome and came to church yesterday, and told us that she felt the spirit super strongly while she was reading the new manual of Lorenzo Snow. So she has agreed to be baptized on the 2 of Feb. YAY! That was a good day. And then to end that day, Marcela made is tortillas from potatoes and it was reallllll good. I am super hungry right now! I could use some lunch.

Nothing really too new. Just that we are good, and happy and things are going well! Ali is getting excited to leave, and Sara Mcquivey and jade leave soon as well! That is cool for them.  
Well I hope all is well! I love you guys a lot, and we´ll talk next week!

Elder Gardner

1-14-13

HEyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy family!

 

Howis everything going? We are doing well! Hot and sweaty. Today we are supposedly going to go to a barbecue in another zone. So we`ll see how that goes and turns out :) Play eem some volleyball. 

 We did have some luck this week though with finding new people, and with people progressing. We got two of our investigators to church yesterday so that was super cool. We did have to pay for the car to go pick them up... but it was worth it :) We told her we`ll pay the first time, and then she has to pay for it lol. But yeah. one is progressing and taking the lessons. The other one is  an evangelist but is willing to listen to us. We had a good lesson with her on saturday and she felt like it was good for her to visit the church, so she came. I think she liked it. 

This week we walked a lot. We are just looking for new people still and we just made a huge long list of old investigators and passed by them. But some invited us back so that was good. 

We also found some Jehovah`s witnesses who invited us in to talk and they just wanted to bible bash with us. We have another lesson with them tomorrow. Hopefully it goes well. 

So the best news of the week... I found cream cheese!!!!!!!!!! I am excited. Sooooo, to celebrate, I am making my alfredo sauce tomorrow night :) YAY!!! We are going all out and cooking dinner for the MAyer couple (the house we used to skype on christmas) and Imma make them  chicken and broccoli penne with ceaser salad and garlic bread. mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm I can`t wait. Although this week ALL i ate was pasta, but I can eat that alfredo any day. :) 

Hopefully you all have fun at Bear Lake! That will be fun to see everyone. 

Please tell grandma and grandpa thank you for the letter, and that I love and miss them so much and that I am so thankful for them and their support. 

Well love ya lots!!!!

 

Elder Gardner

1-7-13

Hey family!

So today was amazing, we all got to go to the temple! It`s been a good year and 3 months since i`ve been in a temple. But, today it was in Spanish, so that was a different experience. I looked and asked around for the Rusts` but it turns out that they still don`t have their visa... so they aren`t here yet. But the worker that I talked with actually served with them in the Madrid temple for a year and a half. That was cool to talk to him for a while. I would like to go to the temple with you guys when we come back. It would be fun for you to do it in Spanish :)  I think you can do it in English if you give them a heads up. But that would be fun. 

I had no idea that they were going to Hawaii! That would be fun :) I`m feeling the heat... lol. But it would be nice to be able to go swimming a lil bit or something to cool off. 

For school I think just waiting would be best until I`m sure. Just because I can`t really make plans out here without taking too much time, and I don`t want to take time away for that right now. So I`ll just worry about itwhen I get home. Basin would be good, but I think depending on where i go, I would like to get out there and look for a job that I could make a little more money. It would be nice to find a job speaking spanish, because they pay a little more. WE`ll see though how everything works out. I think jumping in would be good for me, and I would like it IF I had all the decisions made... but I just still don`t know. So we`ll see. 

Nauvoo sounds good, and a little time with Peegerd. :) 

This week we finally found a new investigator! It has been a while. His name is _____, and we were passing his house and we heard country music in English, so we clapped the house. HE came out and we were just like well.... we like your music, can we come talk to you? He`s like sure! On saturday! lol. That was funny. He's really willing to give the stuff a try that we are teaching him. I hope he can find what he is looking for. He is a musician and when I entered his house, he had like 3 guitars, and a huge music sound system to record music and stuff. So we had a lot to talk about. 

That was pretty much our week. It`s all just pretty much the same! Just lots of walking and tracting. But we`ll see how things go, and if they start picking up. I just realized after this one, i only have three transfers left! So the ods are that I either stay here until I finishthe mission, or I leave this next transfer and get a new area. WE`ll see though. No one knows!

Well I hope all is well!  Ilove ya all

 

Elder GArdner