I got a fun picture texted to me and I just wanted to share it with you!! Sis Gardo ran into her best friend friend from elementary school when we lived in Gilbert. Kelsy is currently working in Spokane with her new husband until the end of the year...and ran into Sis Gardo at a restaurant. What a small world! Thank you Sister Smith for sending me this picture. It is a treasure!!
Saturday, November 1, 2014
Monday, October 27, 2014
October 27, 2014
SUPER TRUNKS!
HELLO. I'm not sure exactly what you're supposed to write on your last email
home.....so just know that I have absolutely LOVED my mission. I have had
experiences that have literally changed my life. I've met people I will never
forget and learned so much about the unconditional love our Heavenly Father has
for each of us. More on that later.
Monday night to Tuesday night we went on exchanges and I was in the Spanish
area! I got the chance to test out my Spanish knowledge! Turns out, I don't know
ANYTHING. Hahahaha. We luckily only taught one lesson in Spanish, and I could
sort of follow the lesson, but that's mostly because I helped plan the lesson, so
I knew what direction she was going. Hahaha. But I could introduce myself, say I
was from Arizona, and say the name of the church. So, I was basically
fluent. Just kidding. We got to go to this cool Mexican Bakery and get authentic
mexican pastries. Hahaha. SO GOOD. Fresh bread and this really good cornbread.
Oh my goodness I loved it! Mexican cornbread is the BEST.
Wednesday I got my SUPER TRUNKS!!!! (aka my official flight itinerary and my
time for my final interview with President Mullen).
Thursday night was an adventure. It isn't going to sound nearly as funny as
the experience really was. We had a dinner appointment with this Less Active
single mom on the other end of our area and we were on bikes. But we ended up
getting a ride from a member who came with us to an appointment before. So we
got dropped off and didn't have a ride home. Now that it's winter, its way dark
at like 6pm. We go to our dinner appointment and she FORGOT that she was feeding
us, but we didn't remind her. So we just played it off like we had a lesson with
them instead. After the appointment, we were starving, it was dark, and we were
freezing cold because the weather finally decided to start acting like fall. I
didn't have my coat because I left it in the back of the car. So we walked to
the closest grocery store to get some food. On our way back, we realized how
dark it was. This city seriously has like NO street lights anywhere. And this
upper part of our area is pretty ghetto. We had guys yelling at us through car
windows and trying to talk to us. Normally we're all about people talking to us,
but not in this area at this time of night. Sister Gosdis turned to me while we
were talking and said "The only reason I'm okay with this is because I know you
have a knife on you." Hahahahahaha It was really funny. DON'T WORRY MOM I WAS
OKAY. ( I sent her a pink pocketknife when she was in Moscow, ID. It was more piece of mind than anything else. Evidently it helped Sister Gosdis feel safe. It served it's purpose!!)
Friday was a crazy day. Basically all our appointments cancelled and
everything was falling through. Elder Ebmeyer and Smith came to go to the Spokane Temple
so I got to see them! Elder Ebmeyer gave me a blessing and it was SO GOOD. It
made me really happy to know that Heavenly Father is giving me guidance and
knowledge for when I go home.
Saturday was insane! There's a set of sisters in the ward next to us and
one of them was having a really hard time. So we had to do emergency exchanges
and talk to President and Sister Mullen. We switched back for a few hours, then
that night we were on exchanges again. A lot of calls were made and all that
stuff. But now we are good. But I am going to be in a TRIO for my last week! Hahahaha. Sister Haynes will be our temporary third wheel! Its going to be so
much fun and I can't wait! I'm definitely in for an adventure the last week of my
mission!
Sunday we taught President and Sister Mullen and the twins. At the end of
the lesson when we were setting a return appointment, President says "Well Sister Gosdis, not next Sunday because your companion (meaning me) will be here (for her last night of her mission)!" Hahahaha. It's pretty great!
Well. I'm so grateful for my mission! I've learned so much and I know that
I was able to do these things in the strength of the Lord. (Alma 26:12) I will
never forget the experiences I've had. I know that God loves me SO MUCH and
having that knowledge can literally bring peace to any situation I've
experienced. Serving a mission takes WORK. It's difficult... physically, mentally,
spiritually, and emotionally, but it's all been worth it.
I know that this church is true. That Jesus Christ suffered and paid the
price for me so that I could return to live with my Heavenly Father and him
again. Through Joseph Smith, the original priesthood of God was restored and we
can be baptized and receive eternal life through that priesthood. The atonement
of Jesus Christ is infinite and everlasting. We can use it under any
circumstance. Christ has already suffered for ALL of it. Not just what we can do
or overcome ourselves, but everything. It's already been done. We are worthy to
use it. Heavenly Father loves YOU. You are here on Earth for a specific purpose.
You have been created and put in your family for a reason. Not just haphazardly.
Trust in God.
I love you all! I'll see you soon!
For all you that want to email me at home, use jordan.gardo@gmail.com
How lucky I am to have something that makes saying good-bye so hard.
Sister Gardanier
Final picture in front of the Washington Spokane Mission Office.
Monday, October 20, 2014
October 20, 2014
Meet the Mormons...
HI. So just a heads up. Next week is my last week to email. So don't email me
anything after next Monday because I'll never get it. But I would love to hear
from you! Chances are I probably won't email you back though.
This week I went on exchanges! I went to the Evergreen Ward, and my
companion for the day was Sister Haynes! She's so great. We had dinner with this
less-active lady and she served her mission in Arizona! So we bonded over
Arizona things. It was really fun. She told me about how much she misses the
citrus and the sunsets. She's cute. And then she started talking about how much
she loves Rockin' R Ranch and I told her that we always watched fireworks from
there on the 4th of July! She loved it.
We had a super awesome day on Thursday. We had dinner with a returned less
active and then we asked her if she would come with us to our next appointment.
We went to see a member who's also a returning less active. The husband is
trying to come back, and his wife and children are less than supportive. But
when we got to the appointment, the wife and one of his sons were there and they
stayed for the lesson! The son had removed his records from the church in June...all thanks to the member we brought with us! She totally could relate to them and
they all got along so well! It was so great!
FRIDAY we had specialized training!! Okay, so Sister Gosdis and I already
know what was happening at the training because a member told us, but we were
excited anyways. So we had a training and then President surprised us with the
movie "Meet the Mormons!" IT WAS SO GOOD. I loved that it crushed all the
stereotypes of Mormons and that we are actually normal people. And they snuck in
a lot of LDS doctrine. It was so awesome! So you should tell everyone to go see
it. My favorite was the story about the missionary mom. Maybe because I'm a
little biased. But it was cool because she was at such a low point and had no
hope and then the SISTER missionaries showed up at her door. The whole direction
of her life changed because of the gospel of Jesus Christ. SO COOL!
Saturday we met with President and Sister Mullen and the twins. Let me tell
you. The twins are hilarious. They just crack me up. We sang an opening song and
Nathan was playing the piano and he kept messing up and we all were just
laughing so hard. But he was able to hit the last measure perfectly. Hahaha. We
talked about the Plan of Salvation and invited them to read their patriarchal
blessings. I gave Sister Mullen new oven mitts that my mom had sent me and she
thought it was so funny. ( remember how last time the sister missionaries ate at the Mullen's home, the oven mitts were left in the oven and started a small fire )
I have to go! But I love you all so much! Make sure to go watch "Meet the Mormons" and take all your neighbors to see it too! :)
I LOVE YOU
Sister Gardanier
Monday, October 13, 2014
October 13. 2014
SHAWNDANTEEEE
There isn't anything NEAR as exciting to tell you about, as compared to last
week. SORRY. But we did teach a lot! This week we had a total of 37 lessons! That's kinda a big deal, just so you know. Twenty-two of those lessons were lessons
taught to Recent Converts or Less active members. It's so cool to be able to help
out those struggling with their testimonies as well as those who are searching
for light and truth.
The best part of the week was Shawndante. He's our 13 year old investigator
and he is seriously the cutest thing. We originally weren't planning on teaching
him, but he came to conference with Calvin last week! He's progressing a lot, so
we put him on-date for November 22! Problem is, we haven't even met his mom yet.
We've talked to his dad a little bit, but his mom is so busy and we haven't been
able to meet with her. Shawndante is our first priority and we want him to have
family support and not go less-active. So it's essential to get his parents on
board. and you know, it wouldn't be terrible if his family got baptized with
him. Haha... But when he gets baptized, it's going to be so awesome! He's going to
be a member of the Seventy one day. He's so in tune with the spirit and he's so open
to learning more. He totally gets the priesthood and the apostasy and
everything! We told him to pray about the Book of Mormon and he told us that
when he prayed about it, he felt a gush of wind and an overwhelming peace. He
knew that it was the spirit! And everytime he prays in lessons he says, "thanks
for getting the Mormons here safely." Hahaha it's so cute! So, keep him in your
prayers!
We've been hearing a lot about the movie "Meet the Mormons." We aren't
allowed to go to the theater and watch it, but if a member gets it, we can watch
it with them. But rumor has it that next week at our specialized training we'll
be watching it. So I'll keep you updated next week! :) But you should really go
see it! We've heard lots of good things about it and I'm really excited to see
it. So you all should go see it and tell me how it is! :)
Also, make sure to keep Sonja in your prayers! She's a less active and
recent convert and she's trying to overcome smoking again. She needs all the
help she can get! :)
We've been teaching this family where the husband was on the brink of going
LA. Luckily, thanks to the Spirit, we got in there just in time! In the past, he did not want to be a member anymore, but we taught him and his family. He came to church
yesterday and he bore testimony of faith and scripture study. We know that if we
had not been listening to the Spirit, he would still be hard-hearted and less
active for sure.
I'm so grateful for all of you! This week has gone by so fast and I know
that Heavenly Father loves each of his children. I've been studying the
Christlike attributes and i's amazing how well faith and hope go together. You
cannot have hope without faith. Having Hope in Christ and his Atonement will
help us to have more faith in him, and vice versa!
I love you!
Sister Gardanier
Lemon bars from home!! Special Delivery!!Spokane Washington Temple
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