Week 17: Limbers and Other Stuff

Well mi querida familia, another week has just flown by, and it was quite the week. Crazy! But it's been good, and I've been learning so much, and becoming a better person.

Mom - Elder Paxman will definitely love that Argentine ice cream! Puerto Rico's is definitely nowhere near as good. However, I will say that Puerto Rico sells some pretty good Limbers! I don't know if you know what those are, but they're like popsicles in plastic cups. I don't know very well how to describe them, and I'll have to send a picture sometime, but they're pretty good, and come in all sorts of different flavors. As of now, I've had cherry, grape, crema, and parcha, which is passion fruit. Good stuff! Your experience with the fire alarms and everything sounds great!

Haha, you'll have to make me some of those burgers sometime after I get home next year. I'd love to try them.

Dad - Contacting is pretty tough, but honestly, there isn't too much more we can do. So we kind of have limited options, but we do try to talk to the members about bringing in their friends and such, which sometimes helps. Also, if you have any experiences or stories about your mission that you could share with me, that would be great, because I realized this week that I don't know a ton about your mission, so I'd love to read some stories. :)

Marilee - I'll respond to your email separately. :)

Anyway, it was a pretty interesting week this past week.

Monday we did our normal P-day activities, and then went and played some basketball! Some Puerto Rican kids came so we played some half court basketball with them. It was a lot of fun! We might go to that same court and play again haha. It'll be great. Anyway, then we just kind of contacted to end the day.

On Tuesday we had our ward mission meeting in the afternoon, and were able to talk to our ward mission leader and kind of coordinate things between the ward and the 6 missionaries here in Caguas. It was pretty good. Afterward, we were able to go out and contact some more. We had an appointment with Oscar Perez, but that fell through, as well as another appointment with Robby. They're both pretty good investigators, so that was tough to not have a lesson with them that day. We basically just contacted for most of the day, until we went home. We found some pretty cool people this time though, and we will probably be able to pass by them sometime soon.

Wednesday was a bit of a crazy day. It was a pretty big contacting day, and we passed by a few people at the same time. Nobody let us in to teach them, but we were able to find some people we might pass by again sometime. That night, we had dinner at the Sanabria's again, and left them with a message about the Doctrine of Christ. It was pretty good, and I think they were pretty uplifted. Afterwards, Elder Hammer and I left for Bayamon because we had a training meeting the next morning. We got lost haha, but we eventually made it, and stayed the night at the Riverside Apartments in Bayamon.

Thursday, we had our training meeting, and then had a meeting with the zone because it was interviews day with the President. He taught us for a couple of hours, and then started interviews while the Zone Leaders taught us some stuff. It was pretty good! We didn't get interviewed though because of time, and Elder Hammer and I ended up being interviewed back in Caguas later that night. Afterward, we were able to pass by Bryan, and teach him about the Book of Mormon. After the lesson, he seemed really excited about reading, and said he would read before our next visit. It was a really great lesson, probably one of the best I've had out here. It was definitely the highlight of the day.

On Friday, we did a lot of contacting again, and were able to teach Roy at night. We taught him about the Plan of Salvation, and he seemed to really enjoy it, but still has his own ideas that he likes more. He said that God isn't a man or a woman because to give Him physical attributes makes Him small. We know that He is our Heavenly Father who has a glorified and perfected body, and that He was a man just like we are now, and that He is all powerful. Anyway, Roy just kind of has ideas like that, but it's still cool to teach him. That's how Friday ended though, and we were a little bit late getting home. On Saturday, we did a TON of contacting (to reach our "Foundation" of 140 contacts and 20 lessons for the week), but were able to pass by Bryan and see how he was doing, and then we taught Robby about the Plan of Salvation.That was a really good lesson, and he seemed to really enjoy it. It was a really great lesson, and he was receptive, and said that he learned some new stuff about our life after death and such. It was really good. :)

And then Sunday, we went to church for Sacrament meeting, and then went out and contacted for a bit, then after, ate at the Gonzalez' (because they missed us on Thursday), and then contacted out in the campo (country) for a while. It was a pretty decent day. And then of course today we had our district meeting and such, which was good. OH and by the way, I got a letter from Ben Saunders, and he has been called to the Chile Santiago West mission. :) Atta boy!!

Anyway, the work is picking up a little bit here. It's so fun to hear from you and read your letters. :) Keep 'em coming! Thank you for your prayers and for your support. Please know that I love you very much, and that I would be nowhere without you. You've always been there for me, and I know you always will be. I'll miss you this weekend during General Conference, and I'll miss our scones, but I know that I'm where I'm supposed to be, and that it will all be good. I love you all so much, and I hope you are all doing well. :)

With much love, sending you hugs from Puerto Rico,

--

Elder Kimball Ray Gardner

Puerto Rico San Juan Mission

Alma 29:9

3 Nephi 5:13

1 Cor. 13:11

D&C 4

Joshua 1:9

Week 16: Disagreement

Well hello there mi familia, another week has come and gone! It was a pretty busy week, and I'll get to it in a second, but first off I want to say thank you for the package! And thank you for the CD's, the picture, and the note from Marilee :) That was very nice. I'm still enjoying the candy and everything, so thank you!!

Mom - I'm sorry to hear that Sis. Wright passed away. :( That's too bad. But I'm sure that she is happy where she is now, "enjoying a rest from her labors." Your story about forgetting to change the clocks is too funny haha… that's definitely something that would happen in our house! :) They don't believe in Daylight Savings here in Puerto Rico, so now you're only 2 hours behind instead of 3.

Dad - Thanks for the sports updates! It's good to hear that BYU at least made the tournament, even if they didn't go too far. Elder Hammer and I have been wondering since last week when March Madness started how BYU was doing.  And yes, it is always warm here in Puerto Rico haha... We go to the University here in Caguas to use the computers, which is pretty nice. And I hope Rex starts feeling better too, poor guy! I'm glad he's helping out with the goats though. I'm sure he loved getting his jaws around Billy haha.

Marilee - I'll email you separately. :)

Anyway, so here's how the week went down.

Last Monday, after shopping, we went bowling! That was pretty fun haha.. although I only scored 62 and 63 points respectively in my first two games... (yes Dad, your legacy lives on in your son, the Gutterball Prince). But game 3 was pretty good! I scored about 110 or so! So I was pretty happy about that. :) Anyway, so after bowling and such, and after P-day was over, Elder Hammer and I went to a lesson with a man named Roy. He speaks English, so we taught him about the Restoration and everything, and he seemed to enjoy learning. He's pretty Catholic, so I don't think he's wanting to change, but we gave him a Book of Mormon to read and such, so hopefully that will help him change his heart.

Tuesday was the day before transfers, so things were a bit crazy. We had Elder Hafen, one of the ZL's with us for some of the day, and so we weren't able to get a lot done. Around 5:00 ish, he left for San Juan, and then we were able to pass by some people and teach them. That night we were able to teach Oscar, with a member present. It was a pretty good lesson, and he was very excited, but he was so excited that he wouldn't let us talk enough to answer his questions, which was pretty frustrating. But it was still a pretty decent lesson, and we were able to answer his questions and such, which was good.

Wednesday was transfer day, so we had Elder Martinez with us all day while his old companion, Elder Griffin, left for Mayagüez, and his new companion, Elder Foggin, came in. We got a lot of contacting done, but that's about it haha. No lessons. But we had a good dinner with the Sanabria family, which was nice. Basically just a contacting day.

Thursday was a bit better, and we did quite a bit of contacting that day also. We also passed by Milton to let him know that we wouldn't be teaching him anymore because he's not doing his part or anything. He didn't seem too shaken up about it, which is basically why we dropped him - he wasn't progressing. And again, that's basically the highlight of the day. We don't have a ton of investigators, so we end up contacting for the majority of the day. It's tiring, but there's nothing else we could be doing.

Which is basically all we did Friday was contact. We had a cita with Roy in the evening, but he was sick and couldn't have us over. So we just contacted pretty much all day haha.

The same thing happened on Saturday. We did a TON of contacting. However, there's an interesting story for you about Saturday. While contacting, we ran into a couple of guys who seemed nice enough. We got talking (all in Spanish) and I asked them "Have you talked to missionaries before?" and they said "Oooohh yes." So I asked "So you've heard our message?" To which they replied "Yes, yes we have." We talked a bit more, and then I asked "So what church do you belong to?" and that's when it started haha. One guy said "The only true church upon the face of the earth, established by Jesus Christ - the Catholic church." That's when I knew this was going to be a slugfest. We didn't try to fight, but we stood up for our beliefs and tried to teach them about the Book of Mormon. The problem was, they were just downplaying it as "a book like the Bible," instead of the sacred scripture it is. Eventually they got to the point where they called Joseph Smith a liar, which is when we just walked off, because we couldn't stay there and argue and feel the Spirit at the same time. It was pretty crazy. I really wanted to read to them from 2 Nephi 29, but I knew that that wouldn't help at all, it would just cause more contention. :\ So that was interesting. It was a good experience, because it helped me realize what I could have said better, and do more to help them see that their church, as good as it is, and as many truths as it has, is NOT the true church, and does NOT have the authority of Jesus Christ. We tried to tell them that, but they just got mad and said our religion is "malfundado" (wrong foundation).  Anyway, so that was that, and the big highlight of the day, my first real fight on the mission haha. :) It was also St. Patrick's, and we were all in green ties that day haha. But apparently they don't believe in St. Patrick's here because there was no green in sight. Oh well.

Then yesterday, we had church in the morning, and then passed by a few people, but mostly just contacted. We didn't have any lessons, so we ended up contacting for most of the day. This morning was our district meeting and weekly planning, and then we'll have lunch after this, so looking like a pretty decent P-day. :)

Anyway, that was my week! Pretty crazy and full of changes, but a pretty good one. Thank you again so much for your package, and I hope you are all doing well! I love you all, and pray for you always! Thank you for your support and for all that you do for me. I know that I can count on you whenever, especially during the darkest times. Thank you all so much. I love you all.

Con mucho amor

--

Elder Kimball Ray Gardner

Puerto Rico San Juan Mission

Alma 29:9

3 Nephi 5:13

1 Cor. 13:11

D&C 4

Joshua 1:9

Week 15: Change of P-days!

So… surprise! P-day has been moved to Mondays now! Haha.. it makes more sense to have P-day on Mondays in my opinion, because there's just a lot of downtime with P-day in the middle of the week. Because Sundays we have church and then we have weekly planning and district meeting on Mondays, and then with P-day on Wednesday, it's just a lot of time that could have been used to work. So yeah, P-day is now Monday, after our district meeting and weekly planning, so here I am emailing you my family!

Mom - I can't believe she is starting Jr. High already this coming year.... that's crazy. But that's cool you saw Mr. Carter! And yeah, we'll see how she feels when fall comes around, but I think it'd be good for her (to work at the farm). She'd probably make a few friends there and would have a decent time, I think. She needs to carry on the legacy! ;)
Dad - Understandably no email from you this week, just because of the change. So I can't really respond to anything, but I hope you are doing well!
Marilee - I'll respond to yours separately as usual.

Well, it'll be kind of a shorter email because it hasn't been as long since the last time I emailed, but I hope you still enjoy it! Last Wednesday, we played some basketball in the afternoon which was pretty fun, and then later that night headed to the home of a man named José Rosado. We taught him the first lesson, and it went pretty well! He said he'd be baptized if he knew it was true, but then said the next time we could come back would be in a couple of weeks. We're not waiting that long, and we're going sometime this week to pass by and see if he's there, and teach him some more. He's a pretty good guy, and I think there's some potential with him. But that's basically all we did Wednesday night, was teach José and then head home and plan.


Found an Argentine t-shirt here.

Thursday was a pretty full day. We had Elder Duclos with us, an Elder from the Juncos area, because all of the ZL's and DL's in the mission had a meeting, and.. it's complicated, but he just ended up spending the day with us. After our studies we headed for an area called Cañaboncito to contact. It was pretty cool, and we met some cool people. We then passed by some people, but nobody was home. Eventually we were able to get to Oscar Perez's house, and we taught him about the Book of Mormon, and why it is so important, and what it really means, because there are some incredible things we're promised if we truly read and pray about the Book of Mormon. It was a pretty good lesson, and I think something touched him. After, Elder Duclos went back with his companion (it was like 7:00 at night), and then Elder Hammer and I went to the Gonzalez' for dinner. That was how the night ended!

Friday was just kind of a contacting day. Once again, all our appointments fell through, so we just contacted for most of the day. We met some pretty cool people, but none that were really interested in learning more. So that was pretty much the day to be honest. Just walking around in the rain at times, and in the humidity and heat in others haha.

Saturday we left our house a little bit late, but were able to pass by a man by the name of Luis. He's the dad of one of our investigators, and he was once a member of the church for 5 years. So we invited him to read and pray about the Book of Mormon again, and he said that he would! So that was pretty cool. He's a pretty good guy and believes that Joseph Smith was a prophet and everything, but we just need to get him back to the true church haha. Afterwards, we contacted a bit, and then went to a dinner with a member in the ward, Alex Burgos. He's actually a recent convert, but he invited all the Elders in Caguas over to have a dinner of roast beef, mashed potatoes, and corn on the cob. :) It was a great meal! Then we visited for a little while, and then Elder Hammer and I went to a guy's house by the name of Robby. He's a really cool guy, and he received the first lesson pretty well! He said he'd read and pray in the Book of Mormon, and he was really pretty receptive. It was a good lesson. That's how the day ended, so we ended on a good note!

And then yesterday. The new rule is that if we don't have an investigator in church, we have to leave after Sacrament Meeting to go to work. We had to leave after Sacrament Meeting to go to work. For whatever reason, yesterday was just a LOOOONG day haha. I was just tired all day. We had Elder Martinez with us for the afternoon because his companion, Elder Griffin, had interviews in Humacao with a few other people. So we basically just contacted for a while, and then after Elder Martinez went back with Elder Griffin, we... contacted some more, and then had a lesson with Milton, one of our investigators. It was an okay lesson, but he hasn't seemed interested, and he doesn't really talk, so we're probably going to have to let him go. :\ But yeah, that was how our evening ended.

Then today we woke up early to get ready for district meeting and then we had weekly planning, and then came here to email! I think we're going bowling today haha, so we'll see how that goes.... I guess Elder Hammer's not too good either, so I'll be fighting with him for last place! ;) But yeah, that's the week!
Oh, and I don't know if the CD's have gotten here yet, because the Zone Leaders haven't been to the office for a while. Transfer day is Wednesday, so they might check the mail that day, or we might have to go up there or something, but in any case, I should be able to check sometime this week for them. And just again, did my iPod make it home?? Sorry to keep asking, but I just want to know haha.

Anyway, that was my past few days! We've had a little bit of success, and still moving forward. Thank you for your support, as always! I love you all very much and pray for you always. I sincerely hope that you are all doing well, and I encourage you to keep reading in the Book of Mormon, because it is such an important book. The things that we can come to know and understand about the gospel through this book are so incredible. Read the last 2 paragraphs of the introduction to see what I mean. There are some great promises there. Anyway, I love you muchly and hope you're all doing great!

Con mucho amor

--

Elder Kimball Ray Gardner

Puerto Rico San Juan Mission

Alma 29:9

3 Nephi 5:13

1 Cor. 13:11

D&C 4

Joshua 1:9

Week 14: 100 days!

Mi querida familia -

Tomorrow is my official 100th day on the mission! Crazy, no?

Mom - Thank you for the scriptures, those are really cool, and I liked them a lot. Everything is pretty safe for the most part here, so you don't need to worry about that too much. :) We're careful and we don't go anywhere sketchy, so I'm doing alright.

Dad - It’s great that you found the CD's! I'll watch for their coming. The Zone Leaders haven't gone to the Office for a little while, so I don't know if you've sent the other CD's already or whatever, and I don't know when they're going again, so... yeah, I don't know what's going on in that regard. But I'll watch! Also, did my iPod make it home?? I sure hope so... haha. And yes, the Atonement is certainly something that can apply in more than one aspect. I'm still learning that, and I don't know if I'll ever truly understand the Atonement, but it is an incredible thing. The most important thing that has ever happened in the history of the world, en verdad.
Marilee - I actually replied to your email this week! :) Didn't forget this time! But I hope you liked the card I sent you!

Well, once again I can barely remember this past week, but I'll try and fill you in on what's happened since last week. After we emailed, we went over to a place called Johnny Rockets for some burgers. Pretty good stuff!! Then we did our shopping, and I bought a new digital watch, because my metal one was giving me a rash with the sweat and all.. blech. So yeah, the digital one is good, and it's actually more useful and a bit better looking for day-to-day use. I still use my metal one for Sundays though. Anyway, so we did shopping at Walmart and Costco, and then went back to the house for a bit until Elder Hammer and I went to the Sanabria's for some dinner. Puerto Rican food is great!! I love it! We stayed there for a while just talking to them about missionary work. It was a good visit.

Thursday was a rough day. Our first appointment was with Luis Lopez, our golden investigator. Or so we thought. We caught him walking out of his house, and we asked him if we could come by a little later when he would be back. He couldn't even look us in the eyes when he said he didn't want any more visits. We were stunned. We asked him why not, and he just said that he had some things to do (even though he's unemployed), and that he didn't have time. We think people started talking to him about the Mormons and stuff, so.. yeah. That was a heartbreaker. He had a baptismal date and everything.. :( But we moved on, and went to see if anyone else could talk with us. Pretty much all our appointments that day fell through, and no members could come with us. Even the Gonzalez family cancelled on us, because Sister Gonzalez' grandpa died. So yeah, Thursday was rough.

Friday was alright. We started out just contacting that day, and were able to pass by a couple people. We picked up a new investigator in an old man named Milton. He's a pretty cool guy, but he's mostly just there to learn. We teach him, and he kind of just sits there and takes it in. He doesn't really fully understand the Book of Mormon, and why it's important. More specifically, he doesn't understand what it means if it is true, so we've been having some difficulty with that. He's pretty receptive though, and likes to learn. We've invited him to be baptized, but every time we do he just tells us that he's already been baptized in the Catholic church. We've tried teaching him about the apostasy, and how the authority was taken away, but he just doesn't quite get it. He's a good guy though, and loves basketball, so we get some updates from him sometimes haha. :) He told us last night that the Jazz beat Portland, so that was good news for me! Not so much for Elder Hammer, who lived in Oregon for 7 years, but good for me haha.

Saturday was actually alright. We made contact with a younger guy named Bryan, who we had met like, forever ago. We taught him and some guy to whom he is somehow related about the Restoration. The other guy, whose name is Luis, had been a member of our church for 5 years, and is now Pentecostal. He believes Joseph Smith is a prophet, and that the Book of Mormon is true, but for some reason he's a Pentecostal now. Weird. But yeah, that was pretty cool to finally talk to Bryan, and we think there's some potential there. That was pretty much the highlight of the day though, and the rest of the day we just contacted.

Sunday was pretty cool too. At church I play the organ because nobody here can, so that's kind of fun haha. :) After church, we went to a member's home in Aguas Buenas for lunch. His name is Hermano Rosario, and he's pretty much crazy. He's a great member though, and he fed us some good food! I was really hungry because we had fasted since Saturday afternoon, so that food was heavenly. Afterwards, we worked and contacted a bit, and then ended up at Milton's again and taught him a little bit. It was pretty good.

Monday, we started off with our district meeting and weekly planning, as usual. It went pretty well, and then we went to Denny's for lunch. :) It was pretty good, but not worth the money I spent on the lunch haha. After, we basically contacted the rest of the day, because all our appointments fell through again.. but yeah, it was okay. We got quite a few contacts and talked to a bunch of people, so we planted some seeds I think.
And then yesterday. We had a mission coordination meeting with the Ward Mission Leader, which went pretty good, and then Elder Hammer and I went out to Firehouse Subs, just because we were short on time and a bit far from the house. It was great! I can't remember if I told you last week when we went, but there they have this machine that can combine drink flavors!! It says that there's over 120 options. It's great! They don't have Dr. Pepper very much here, so when I saw the Mr. Pibb option, and then chose it, and it came up with either Cherry Mr. Pibb or Cherry Vanilla, I felt like I was in heaven. :) I had some Cherry Dr. Pibb yesterday. :) I also tried the Peach Sprite Zero, and that's pretty good too! But they have like raspberry Powerade, or Lime Fanta, or orange caffeine free Diet Coke... it's so great!! :) When we are here in Puerto Rico together, I will bring you there so you can see for yourself! Anyway, afterward, we contacted a bit, then picked up Hermano Negron, a returned missionary, to go with us to some appointments, but they all fell through again haha. We did go pass by Milton again later though, and taught him about the Book of Mormon. So it wasn't a completely wasted day. But yeah, that was yesterday!

Which brings us to today. We cleaned the house and cars, doing email now, going to lunch after, and then some shopping and stuff, and then afterward, we'll figure something out to do. :) But yeah, that's about it for the week!

As always, I hope you are all doing so very well. I pray for you every morning and night, and keep you in my heart throughout the day. Thank you for your support and for always, always being there for me, even when things get tough. Thank you for your letters of support, and for your kind words. :) I love you all very much, and I hope and pray all is well with you. :) Thank you again for everything, and know that I love you very much!

Con mucho amor y cariño

--

Elder Kimball Ray Gardner

Puerto Rico San Juan Mission

Alma 29:9

3 Nephi 5:13

1 Cor. 13:11

D&C 4

Joshua 1:9