July 28, 2014

Inspired birthday party...I think so.

TONY GOT BAPTIZED!!!! :) And as every missionary knows, NO baptism ever goes smoothly. even when you have it all planned out perfectly. The baptism was at 6:30pm, so we went to the church around 2:00pm to start filling the font. We got there with our WML's (ward mission leader's) wife and son to get the font opened and start filling it. PROBLEM. This font is much different than any other font I've ever seen. It wasn't like a hot and cold handle.  There were valves in the boys bathroom that all had to be turned a certain way. What the heck? Good thing we weren't there alone because we never would have been able to figure it out. We had to turn like 4 handles to get the backflow and the hot water and some other stuff. I have no idea. We were there for an hour trying to figure it out. All while calling a bunch of people to ask how to do it. Sister Rose and I were like "yeah we can get the stove going and start boiling some water" hahaha it was almost a possibility. But! We got the font filled and Tony was baptized and everything turned out just fine. :) We had tons of people there and lots of missionaries brought their investigators. I spoke and Sister Rose played some music on her violin while Tony was changing. Everyone loved her music, as usual. A lot of the investigators commented on how much they could feel the spirit while she was playing. It was a success. :)

Tuesday we moved some investigators out of their apartment. They're moving to Colfax. It was one of those moves where there wasn't much direction and not everything was packed when we got there. Good thing the sister missionaries were there! We packed up as much as we could and cleaned. The elders drove out to Colfax to help them unload some of the stuff into a storage unit. We used that opportunity to make a McFlurry run.

Saturday We helped some members clean the church! Sister Rose and I got assigned to clean the bathrooms. Hahahaha. Then we had a birthday party for Sister McCabe! Her birthday was Sunday, but she wanted to have a party with the Moscow missionaries. So there were 14 missionaries at the church having a pizza party and this lady walks in and is like "is there someone here I can talk to?" So one of the Elder's walked over to her and start talking. Long story short, she needed money to get to Oregon because her dad is dying. She was at the Dollar Store when she got the call, so she said she drove to the closest church she could find to get help. Sister Strong, the two elders with us and I talked to her in the parking lot for a while. We gave her a Book of Mormon and gave her our number and told her to call us if she needed anything. And we got her number too. Hopefully we'll be able to meet with her and help her find peace though the hard times she's facing. :) INSPIRED BIRTHDAY PARTY!!

Sunday Tony was confirmed! His blessing was awesome! We're so excited to help him and Shauna get to the temple! Bishop gave us a shout out during sacrament meeting and gave us a special thanks because we cleaned the bathrooms. SO FUNNY. Went over to see Sis. Ricks. She's a saint. Let me tell you. I hope that one day I can be as awesome as she is. We talked to her about pretty much whatever she wanted. She told us about how rough her past was and how she realized that through Christ, you can overcome anything. Alcohol and drugs only put the pain and sadness on pause and then you have to deal with it all over again. She has such a solid testimony of Christ and the healing you can receive through Him and His sacrifice. After visiting her, we went to see Annette. Annette is our alcoholic investigator. She talked to us about how she's an alcoholic because she's numbing her past because she doesn't want to deal with it. Hmmm. I feel like I just talked about this with someone else. Hahaha. It was really cool to see the difference in these two women. Sister Ricks overcame all the trials using Christ and was able to learn and become better through these things. Annette refuses to accept and move on and she's still struggling from it. I think of how much happier Annette could be if she would just look to Christ and be willing to give up her addiction. Later that day, we had 3 different members comment on how much they like Sister Rose and I as companions and that we get along very nicely. :) It always great to hear from members that they enjoy us. I love Sister Rose. She's so fun to serve with :)

This week I read about the Title of Liberty. (Alma 46) I've decided that I absolutely love Captain Moroni. He was so determined to protect God. He knew that if he did what God has asked him to do, all the things he and his people cherished would be protected. Family, freedom, religion, and peace. I thought this week of the things I would put on my Title of Liberty if I was Captain Moroni. And I would probably put the same things. I LOVE my family. I know I have been so blessed by having them. My religion is what has shaped me to become the person that I am, and I wouldn't have it any other way. When we are diligent and obedient, all things will turn out for our good. 

"All victory and glory is brought to pass unto you through your DILIGENCE, FAITHFULNESS, and prayers of FAITH." -d&c 103:36

I love you! Have a good week! :)

Sister Gardanier

July 21, 2014

#sorrynotsorry  #blondehairdontcare

So I was totally going to bring my journal so I could remember what to say in my weekly email, but of course I forgot it. I'll just have to rely on my planner.

Monday we went on exchanges! Sister Harper is my new STL (Jordan's new Sister Training Leader who Jordan trained in Mica Peak) :).  She and I got to hang out for the day. Just like old times. We went out to Genesee and got to contact a lot of people. We were able to heart-attack a members door who is going through a really hard time right now. So we wrote "feel-good" scriptures on hearts and taped them to their door! It was way fun. It was cool to get to be with Sister Harper again. She's learned so much! Obviously I was an excellent trainer :)    

            

Tuesday I was still with Sister Harper.  We saw Doug, an investigator who's super depressed. We spent most of the morning trying to find a member to go with us, and we couldn't find one. He's a single man so we needed someone. We found someone, but we felt like we needed to try someone else. So we called Sister Anguilo and she could come! It turned out to be a huge miracle because she could relate to him perfectly. She's a convert and struggled with the same things he did and was able to testify like a champ. It was awesome. MIRACLE! :) Then we had our youth activity and played marshmallow dodgeball. So fun. Except the youth had extra super strength hands this time or something because all the marshmallows got super sticky and were sticking to the floor. So who got to clean up the sticky residue? Yep. The missionaries. Hahaha. Then we realized that some marshmallow would have gotten stuck under the stage, so we pulled out all the tables and chairs and there were so many under there. Sick. They were hard as rocks! So who got voted to crawl under the stage with the nasty floor and bugs? Yep. Yours truly. Dust bunnies galore... and I swear there were mice under there. Probably not, but I felt like there was something moving all the time. Then, all the elders ganged up on me and started throwing the hard marshmallows back at me while I was under the stage so I couldn't avoid them! Rude. Everyone was laughing. It was pretty funny, except for the fat welts I got. We switched back for exchanges and then went to our on-dates house for dinner! It was nice to have SIster Rose back. 

Wednesday was a crazy day. Sister Strong (Palouse River Sister) and I went on exchanges for the day. She's been going through some rough times, and she needed some "Sista G" time. We did lots of service and really bonded. It was way fun. We had dinner at my ward mission leader's house (Thanks Mitchell's!). Then we went to the Foutch's and spent some time over there! :)

Thursday was supposed to be weekly planning.....but we ended up baking bread and rolls instead. Hahaha. It was so much fun! Our apartment was so hot, but it was so worth it. The Palouse sisters were with us so we spent more time with them. :)

Friday we had a super awesome lesson with an active family in our ward. They've been going through a lot of trials and are super discouraged. So we decided to teach them the Restoration to help them feel the spirit and remember why the gospel is so important. Hands down the best restoration lesson I've ever taught on my mission. The spirit was tangible and I knew they could feel it. I repeated the scriptures regarding The First Vision and I even got choked up. What? I know. That's how strong the spirit was. I know it touched them. We encouraged them to pay attention to the spirit as we taught and when they felt peace, comfort, or love, that's the spirit telling them that what we are telling them is true. Sister Rose and I said a gratitude prayer when we got home because we were so thankful for the spirit that was there when we taught. We didn't have time to prepare the lesson because we didn't get companionship study that morning, so we relied completely on the spirit, and that was the first time Sister Rose and I had ever taught "The Restoration" together. Such a cool experience. 

Saturday was probably my favorite day ever on my mission. Saturday morning we had a stake Pioneer Day celebration. I don't have any pictures, but a member from my ward sent a ton to my mom. Gotta love members :) We got to play games with the kids and hang out with the stake. It was way fun. 

Then we got home and the elders called us and said their town (Potlatch, Idaho) was having a festival and that they would give us 50 extra miles to help them contact. DONE. So we drove out to Potlatch (20 minute drive) and got to contact for 2 hours! We saw tons of miracles. Sister McCabe and I were companions and we found a lost less active! He lives in Potlatch and his records aren't in the ward! So we got his information and passed it along to the elders. We learned how to do sign language. All in all, it was a success. :) Then the Howard's took us out to dinner at this really good authentic chinese restaurant. I ended up accidentally eating a chili pepper and I thought I was going to die. I was out of water and my mouth was ON FIRE. My eyes were watering and I was sweating. It was that bad. Bro. Howard thought it was hilarious and Sister Rose was laughing. I WAS DYING. But I survived. :)

Sunday we spent most of the day at the Mitchell's. They fed us and so we went over there to help them. And we taught Lilly, their daughter, the lessons. We colored pictures. :) Then we taught Jefferson, and it turned out to be a lesson on repentance and prayer. He feels like he still hasn't gotten an answer to his prayers. Which is frustrating because we know he has, he's just not recognizing them. We had a member with us who talked about how we need to align our will with God's will to get an answer or blessing. That made sense to him. Maybe he needs to have more faith before he can receive and answer to his prayers. We'll see what happens with him next week. We got home a half hour early last night, (because we had to finish planning) and we realized we were 2 lessons short to meet our goals for the week. So we both looked at each other and made the decision to go get 2 more lessons before the end of the night. We got the two lessons, and were back at home by 9. Miracle? I think so. :)

This week I read an awesome scripture that has become one of my favorites. Alma 37:44-45. Alma is comparing the Liahona to Christ. If we follow Christ we will be led to "a far better land of promise". We may like our goals, passions, dreams, but when we follow Christ and do as God has asked us to do, we can have better things in store for us. It reminds me of Elder Utchdorf's mormon message about living beneath our potential. 

https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2013-01-001-your-potential-your-privileges?lang=eng

For Nephi's family, Jerusalem was comfortable. It was home. It was hard for them to give up all their precious things and leave their friends behind to camp in the wilderness for an undisclosed amount of time before reaching this "land of promise" they had heard so much about.  We will have to face unpleasant and not-so-ideal situations before we get to see the light at the end of the tunnel, or our land of promise. full of hope and new possibilities. Thanks Heavenly Father. :)

Also, this week, please keep Sister Ricks in your prayers. Bro. Ricks passed away Thursday morning. 

On a happy note, TONY IS GETTING BAPTIZED ON WEDNESDAY!!!! :) Keep him in your prayers as well. :)

I love you all so much! :)

Love,

Sister Gardanier

                                                   

                                                          "Trunky papers"...November 3 is her release date!!  Yippee!!

July 14, 2014

Lesson on the Ten Commandments

This week has been a period of growth for me. Which is really hard, but also really good! :) I've learned so much about myself and about my Savior. I know that through Him, all things are possible. ALL things. Nothing is exempt from the Atonement.

Moscow is getting so hot. This week Sister Mitchell (the coolest member ever) showed up at our apartment with 2 more fans! Oh it's been so great. Our apartment feel 100 times better and I don't feel like I'm in Arizona anymore. Haha. So we have 2 blowing on us at night and it gets freezing at night, and we love it! :)

Monday we went to an "almost wedding." Hahaha let me explain. Remember that this is during our P-day. And as missionaries, we don't waste any time on p-days. So the Palouse sisters have an investigator and a less-active who have been on and off for like a month. All of a sudden, they get a text from the investigator saying that they want the sisters to be witnesses at their courthouse wedding. They meet with the judge at 4:30 (p-day ends at 6) so we were planning on only being there to sign the papers and get out so we could get to p-day. Long story short, the bride wasn't supposed to be getting married (she has some mental thing. I don't really know) and she was doing this behind everyone's back. We all arrived, and she suddenly "had to go tell her ride something" and she left in the middle of the paperwork. And then never came back! She just left us all standing there.  So the wedding didn't actually happen, unfortunately. :(

Last week we got a media referral, so we went to go contact her on Tuesday. She lives way out in a part of our area that I didn't even know existed. I'm letting another area use my GPS (about a year ago, she was constantly getting lost in Spokane Valley and asked us to send her Grandma and Grandpa's old Garmin that we had in our closet, and only used on road trips.  She as used it a ton...Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!) because they didn't have one and they cover like 8 towns and it's all boonie and I knew they could us is more than we could. So we were like "Yeah, we'll be able to find the road no problem.". We got SO LOST. Hahahaha. We went 20 miles out of the way. Whoops. :) But we ended up finding her house and she is so golden! She invited herself to church and accepted a Book of Mormon. Way cool. She didn't end up coming to church, but we're going to go back out and see her (now that we know how to get there....) :)

Wednesday was so funny. We went to see Annette (a non member they have been trying to teach on and off for about two months) and she was drunk. She usually tells us if she's been drinking because we told her we can't teach her because she won't be able to feel the spirit. So we went and I immediately knew she was intoxicated. We didn't know how far gone she was, so we tried to teach our lesson on the Ten Commandments. So I talk about the Ten Commandments a little bit and all of a sudden, Annette says "God EXCUUUUSED ME FROM THE 10 COMMANDMENTS" and continued to talk about how if someone was coming after her she'd kill him. Oh gosh. We decide that this isn't going to fly. So I try to share a scripture about becoming like a child and Annette says, "Do you really believe that? That we can become like a child? Children are not perfect......" I'm trying so hard not to laugh. She tries to argue with us about how we can't become perfect. So we're like uhhh, we need to get out. Sister Rose asks " Have you been drinking?  Because we told you that the spirit can't be here if you've been drinking" And Annette answers "The spirit....IS HERE!".  Hahahahahaha... now I'm feeling like we need to leave before I bust up laughing and break my "dignified" face.

Tony is our investigator who's getting baptized on July 23. We met with him and his wife this week to go over the baptism program. He asked if I would speak at the baptism! :)

Currently waiting for my "trunky papers" ...which is the paperwork from the mission office that I have to fill out.   It asks questions like "how do you want to get home" and "how much luggage do you have", and stuff like that. Everyone I came out with has gotten those papers EXCEPT FOR ME. Maybe I'm not going home? :( But I called the mission office and told them. They said they would re-send the paperwork. DON'T WORRY! :)  (whew!)

I'm so jealous of all my family going to California this week! I hope you all have lots of fun! :) (this last week the entire Gardanier family met in Mission Beach.  We had a huge group there... minus 2 missionaries, a family with a newborn, and one cousin.  It might have been our largest group ever!!)

Remember how much you mean to so many people. God loves you and is so proud of who you've become. :)

I love you!

Sister Gardanier :)

                                            Shameless how she asks for mail!!  :-)

     
                                                  Her picture wall in the apartment

                                           Weekly planning....or so they say!

July 7, 2014

The week summer came...

SORRY!  This letter is going to be short because I don't have a ton of time.  Honestly. Nothing super exciting happened this week. I'm looking through my planner and it's not that great. Hahaha. 

Uhhh, its in the 90's here and I'm hot... and our apartment doesn't have AC. Who the heck can live like that? Not I.  And our apartment is hit by the sun the whole time it's up. 

We got like 5 referrals this week. That's the most I've ever had in one week. Have we contacted them yet? No. Because they're in the boonie part of our area and we got the referrals after we switched the car. :(

This week we had transfers! So we go to go to the transfer site and see all the missionaries! I hardly know anyone. I've been out a long time and I still see so many people I don't know. Its weird! So we picked up sister Strong and went to our youth Tuesday activity called "Get to it Tuesday" We play a game with the youth 12-18 for about an hour. They get to invite their friends and it's way fun. And our ward is AWESOME at inviting people! They're such great missionaries! :)

For the fourth of July we went to our Bishop's house and ate with them and the Monson's (stake president). Then we didn't have anything else for the rest of the day. 

The Mission Department came out with a new proselyting activity! We get an hour a week to email our converts to keep in contact with them. Its so nice! And guess what?! DEBRA AND TERRY ARE GETTING SEALED!!!!   (This is a couple from Post Falls, Idaho.  Sis G and her first companion, Sis. Burgoyne taught Terry the discussions and he was baptized shortly after they started.  Congrats to Terry and Debra!!)   I don't know when, but I know they're planning on doing it this month! Obviously I'm going to go! :) I'm so happy for them! :)

Our investigator, Tony got married on the fourth! He is set to be baptized on July 23. His birthday. :) So we're way way excited for him! :)

Sister Rose and I are studying self-worth this transfer. So if you know any good talks or scriptures, send them our way! 

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY! :)

I'll be home soon. 

I LOVE YOU.

Sister Gardanier