Week 100: Have a Good Time with Halloween

Well... it never stops! The craziness doesn't stop!

Mom - Well the sign looks great! I like it a lot. It's gonna be weird going back to a Utah ward... but it'll be fun. :) Sounds like Stake Conference went well! Did they talk about Hastening the Work?? I bet... that seems to be a pretty overarching theme these days, as it should be. Anyway, I hope you survive the week, Mom! Have a good time with Halloween and everything, I know that it's pretty much your favorite holiday ever. ;) Love you!

Dad - Yes, please send pictures!! I'd love to see how it's all going. And yes, I'd be happy to make a movie for ya. YES, I'm so happy BYU beat Boise State!! That's awesome!! It'll be a blast to have you here!! And don't get me wrong, I am excited to see you, but it's just sad to know that it's all coming to a close here... but at some point it has to happen and then it's time to move on in life, right? It'll be a fun time here in PR, and I'm starting to think of how to get things all set up. :) Anyway, have a good time with Halloween, and be safe!! Love you!

So... yeah, another crazy week. This week we had a great week in teaching people here in Guaynabo. We were contacting in a caserio and we found this great, humble family! They let us in right there and we taught them a little bit about how to have a more united family. They were really receptive and they really enjoyed the lesson. We had a great experience with them on Sunday. We left church during Sunday school and went over to their apartment and invited them to come to Sacrament meeting at 11:00. They said they would! The mom and oldest son got ready and came with us to church! We had a member meet us out front and he drove them to the church and they seemed to really enjoy it. It was an awesome experience!! We're really hoping that this family can progress and feel and experience the blessings of the Gospel in their lives.

 

E. Gardner & E. Turbovsky with friends
at the ward Halloween party

Besides that, we also had a Halloween activity in our ward, and we had a few investigators come to that also!! It was such a great blessing to see them enjoying themselves and having a good time. They got to know a few of the members, which is awesome! That was a good step for them I think. It was a fun activity, and made me think a lot about activities back home haha... it was combined with the Metro (English speaking) ward, so it was a big dinner and then a trunk-or-treat. We bought candy and we gave it out to the kids. It was a blast. :)

But yeah, things are going great. Life's good. Puerto Rico is hot and humid. It rains a lot. But the work is priceless. I know that God has prepared a Plan, and it is His Plan of Salvation. He loves us and wants us to go back and live with Him. He's prepared the way, and all we have to do is follow Him (because Jesus Christ is "the way, the truth and the life". He lives and loves us.

Thank you for everything, I love you all!! Stay strong! :)

--

Elder Kimball Ray Gardner

Puerto Rico San Juan Mission

Week 49: Zone Conference and Noche de Brujas

Well it sounds like Halloween was a big success!! I'm glad the weather held out and everything went well, and it looked pretty good! I finally got the birthday package from you guys this week, so thank you so much! 

Mom - Well... I'm pretty sad I'm gonna miss the Hobbit, but that's what they make DVDs for, right? Haha I hope you guys enjoy it and have a blast! And I wish we could go to the temple here... I miss it! Like I said before, be ready to go when I get back, because I'm definitely planning on going as often as I can. I think that's great you're doing it once a week, and if my schedule allows when I get back to do the same, I'd love to do that too. 
Dad - Well it looks good, what I saw! And it sounds like it was great!! ah man.. I was definitely thinking about you guys on Halloween night! But I'm glad it all went well, even if some of the things didn't get out. Next year, right? And yeah, I'm hoping that the elections bring some change! I talk to a bunch of people here, and some people say Obama's gonna win again, and others say that Romney has a good chance at winning - we'll see! And yeah, I heard about the "Perfect Storm" going on up there, since so many Puerto Ricans have family up there. Crazy stuff!
Marilee - Still no email?? I hope you had a great Halloween and had a blast scaring people! Haha you looked good in your costume, so I hope you had fun. :) 

Anyway, so we had a week full of meetings this week. Wow. I'm still super tired as a result haha.. but Tuesday was a normal working day, and then Wednesday we had Zone Conference. We had to be in Caguas at 7:00, so we had to leave here from Guayanilla at 5:00. Elder Durfee and Elder Perez had had to sleep up in San Juan because they had to take another missionary from our zone up to the hospital, so we drove our car to Caguas to Zone Conference. It was a really good conference, and the basis of it was D&C 88:73, which talks about the Lord hastening His work. In 90 days our mission is going to double in size with 74 more missionaries coming in. Yikes!! But that's what Puerto Rico needs. Basically President talked about how it has fallen, and that 30 years ago the missionaries changed this island, and we can do it again right now. He taught about how to work with the keys in the Stake and wards, and it was really, really good. It ended at 4:00, and we were supposed to be back in the chapel at 6:30 for monthly planning. Since it was Halloween, or as Pres. called it, "La noche de las brujas," the mission department didn't want us out. But we were going to race back to Guayanilla and leave my car there and just use the one car for us and the Yauco elders. We were about half way and the ZLs called and said we had to be back by 6:00, not 6:30. So we had to drive all the way back haha.. crazy.

  

That night, we slept in Guayama, in the Caguas zone. We woke up at 3:30 the next morning for our mission conference in Bayamón, and I get a call from the ZLs that I'm supposed to be there at 5:30 for a song practice for the conference. What?? So we race up there and we make up this sweet version of "Be Still, My Soul", and then we had the mission conference. Pres. Larry M. Gibson from the General Young Men's Presidency (1st counselor) spoke to us. It was GREAT! He talked about the Duty to God resource, and how we as missionaries can help the young men in our wards to grow and use it, and prepare for their missions. He talked about the keys of Bishops, teachers quorum presidents, and deacons quorum presidents. It was really informative and really great. If you remember, he spoke in the 2011 October General Conference. He's a very intelligent man, and it was a pleasure to get to hear from him.

  

Anyway, so after that, we were able to come back and work in our area for the rest of the week. Nothing incredible happened this week really. A lot of citas fell, and our investigators couldn't meet with us very much. It was a bit disappointing, but I'm really hoping to do better this week. We had a couple really good lessons, but the problem is, our investigators won't progress! They won't come to church! Agh!! Haha but yeah.. so that's the problem we're having right now with our investigators. We'll keep working with them so they can progress and come to church, and hopefully we'll be able to get a baptism this month! 

Anyway, that's about all I've got for this week. I did reach my 11 month mark, so just a few days and I start the downhill slide! Yikes! It's all happening so fast! But thank you for the package, for your love, and for all that you do. :) I love you all so much and pray for you always!!

Con amor de Puerto Rico,

Elder Kimball Ray Gardner

Puerto Rico San Juan Mission

Week 46: Great Blessings

Well, what a week it has been. Lots of running around and staying busy, and we saw some miracles yesterday. :)

Mom - Thank you for all the pictures, they were pretty funny. :) Seeing my little buddy Rex in a birthday cap definitely made me laugh. :) And also, thank you for the empanadas and alfajores :) I couldn't ask for a better birthday present than to taste Mom's good home cooking again!! Thank you! :) Sending you all my love from the Caribbean Sea! (HUGS)
Dad - It sounds like the Halloween preparations are going well, and it all looks good! All the Halloween stuff here is out, and the stores (Kmart, Walmart) are starting to put Christmas out already. Yuck. But other than that, I've seen a few Halloween houses here too, and I sure miss the haunted houses and everything! Apparently there's one here in Ponce, that they put in some old abandoned castle. It looks SWEET. But apparently Puerto Ricans don't like that stuff very much and so it's not as "bad" as the ones in the states. When I told some members that in Utah there's like 8 or 9 they just stared at me like I was an alien haha, and then even more so when I said the one "Rated #1 in America" was also in Utah. It was great haha. The new props look sweet, and that's too bad that BYU lost... :( Hopefully they'll be good when I get back haha. But thanks for everything, Dad! Oh, and interestingly enough, I also bore my testimony on Sunday during sacrament meeting.
Marilee - I already wrote ya back. :)

 

So now, the week! All this week it was pretty difficult to teach lessons with members present. By the time Saturday came around, we had only 4. Wow. The goal is 10. Yeah. But Saturday night we were able to get 2 more! Anyway, on Sunday, we left church with 2 more member-present lessons, and I honestly thought we were done after that. I thought we would just end with 8, and that would be that. But as we left the house, we said a prayer that we would be able to find a member to go out with us. We biked away from the house, and not 2 minutes later, we get a call from José Santiago, a recent convert in Yauco. He said he had called this family up in Macaná and said he could visit with us. Wow! So we pick him up and go to Macaná and find this wonderful family of 6. Humble. Prepared. They accepted the invitation to read and pray about the Book of Mormon, and also said they would try and come to the baptism we're having on Saturday. It was amazing. A great first lesson, and they are super humble and willing to listen. A FAMILY!! Of 6!! I was so excited. :) So that was number 9, and then we visited another investigator with José, and got number 10. But before we took José home, we passed by one more investigator and finished off the week with 11 member present lessons. We got 5 total yesterday. 5. It was truly a miracle, and the most member present lessons I've had in one week on my mission. :) I've been thanking the Lord in my heart ever since José called us yesterday. It was a truly great day. :)

Also, on Saturday, there was this guy putting on some activity in Peñuelas, and so we went because he wanted us to go and contact some people there. Hardly anybody showed up, though. It was supposed to be a "dia familiar" where people would come and sell their craftsmanship stuff. There was one lady there selling some pretty cool stuff, and I bought myself a birthday present haha.. I bought a SWEET Puerto Rican bottle thing that she made. It has a palm tree, "el morro", the beach, the three kings, and mountains on it. I'll send some pictures. :) But yeah, I'll be sending that home as soon as I can. What better addition to my bottle collection, right?? I really hope it makes it safely!! But yeah, so watch for that package soon and please let me know when you get it and if the bottle is still intact! Be gentle with it haha. But yeah, so that's pretty sweet.

For this week, we have a baptism planned for Saturday. :) When I found out months ago that my birthday fell on a Saturday, I said to myself: "Self, I want a baptism that day." And look now, we're getting a baptism on that day. :) He's the golden investigator, and he gave his testimony yesterday during church. It was great. :) His girlfriend, the daughter of Bishop, is super grateful for us and she told us yesterday that she hopes we can find somebody after our missions that has made her as happy as this guy has, because our teaching him has helped him change, and she's really grateful for that. It was a really nice complement, and it made me feel like I was doing my job. :) Also, Hna. Santiago, a member who gives us food every Sunday says she's going to call Pres. Alvarado to make sure I can stay over Thanksgiving so she can feed me that day haha. That also made me feel like I was doing my job, it was really nice. :)

But yeah, a good week, and we're praying for another week of success. We keep learning and getting better and making the changes we need to have more of the Spirit with us. Thank you so much each of you for what you do. :) God lives and loves us, and wants us to go back to Him. Thank you for everything, and I look forward to hearing from you next week!!

Con mucho amor,

--

Elder Kimball Ray Gardner

Puerto Rico San Juan Mission