Week 92: 3 for the Tree in Lehi's Dream

Well family, tomorrow marks the official 3-month mark before my release date... :S It's come too fast.

Mom - It looks like you're having a fun time with the sewer stuff haha... looks lovely. I'm glad things seem to be looking up. I think it would be super cool if you worked for JetBlue. We met this lady that does that and she and her family get discounts or can fly free or whatever, and she does that same thing, working at home for JetBlue. So that's pretty cool! It's weird to think about home... it's going to be totally different coming back. Wow. Anyway, I love you lots Mom!

Marilee - Hey you! Send me an email or something so I can respond to ya! The email address I have for you is your aol one, but it's not working because I get a message back saying that you don't get it. :S

Dad - Well, I hope you had a good Labor Day - I know here it was a pain because all the libraries were closed, so we had to share a computer between 4 elders. Ugh. Oh well, it all worked out. :) But I hope Halloween goes well! Oh and btw, keep me updated on BYU football... I don't know how good they are this year, but let me know!

Well, a kind of crazy week. We had transfers and I got a new companion, Elder Turbovsky. He's super cool and he came to the island the same day I did, but wasn't in the MTC for as long, so his release date is a bit later. Tuesday we helped out with the new missionaries coming in, and that was awesome! Lots of work, but it was super cool. In the evening we took a couple elders up to Santurce, and there was a baptism there - of a lady that Elder Caballero and I had started teaching! So that was a real nice surprise to see her, and she was super happy. :) That was a good night. :)

At the baptism, Elder Gardner, Elder Caballero

Thursday and Friday were zone conferences, so we were all over the place for those. Not to mention Elder Andersen from the area presidency was there, so we were all a bit more on our toes than usual haha. Then on Saturday we had a special Mission Leadership Council, and that was awesome! I learned a lot this weekend from Elder Andersen about leadership in the church and about ordinances and covenants. AWESOME stuff.

But yeah, a pretty good week I think. They're all going by so fast now... it's unbelievable. Lisa told me Matt's off to North Carolina on December 4th. Hopefully I'll get to share a few tips with him and see him before he leaves. Wow. :)

I know that Jesus is the Christ. I know that He has provided His gospel for us, and it is the only way back to the Father. D&C 45:3-5 teaches us His role as our Advocate, and it is true. He will only do this for us if we follow His example and follow His gospel like it says in 3 Nephi 27:13-16. Faith, repentance, baptism, and the gift of the Holy Ghost, along with enduring to the end is the ONLY way. I know that that is true. I know that Christ sacrificed Himself so that He could be this intercessor between us and the Father. He lives and loves us, and wants us all to return to God.

I love you all so much, and I hope you have a great week. :)

Elder Kimball Ray Gardner

Puerto Rico San Juan Mission

Week 73: New Companion

Well howdy y'all! It sounds like things are just ... well... plugging along like you said haha. It's too bad the Jazz are out, but that's alright. Better a lottery pick than a first round sweep I think. I pray for you all the time!

Anyway, it was a bit of a crazy week, and transfers have just hit. I'm still here as ZL in the Metro Zone, but with a new companion, Elder Caballero. He's from Panama, and President's asked me to train him as a new zone leader. That will be an adventure for sure! Besides that there were a bunch of changes in the zone, and a lot have been transferred, and we're getting a bunch of new missionaries tomorrow, so that will be a lot of fun! Haha but yeah... this past week was pretty crazy.

I went to another area, Caparra and Levittown on Tuesday on my assignment from President to work with the new missionaries, and that went pretty well. It was a cool experience, and it was pretty fun. We had a leadership training meeting on Thursday, which was pretty intense. There's a big push for planning right now in the mission, which is really good, because it will help us stay focused and use our time better.

Then for the weekend, with what time I had to work in Santurce, we had some cool lessons, including a really powerful one with a part-member family about the Book of Mormon. They've been pretty unwilling to read it, but they said they'd read and pray about it afterwards, so.. yeah! That was good. When I wasn't in Santurce though, I was at the Celebracion Latinoamericana, and we had two more performances: one in Arecibo (our best one yet, at a super cool theater there), and another in Caguas. That was at the Stake Center (my first chapel!) and LOTS of food. :) Our last one will be on May 10 in Ponce, and I'm really excited for that one, to hopefully see more members and converts from Guayanilla again! :) 

Anyway, that's about it for the week. Transfer craziness, and we'll see how it all works out! Thanks for everything you do, and thank you for the package - the Girl Scout Cookies were a great touch! "This ain't no girl scout cookie! Roger out!" :) Love you all, and I hope everything works out for you this week. I look forward to your words next week, and I'll try and have all the info about what time and how we'll be talking on Mother's Day. :)

I love you all so very much,
Elder Kimball Ray Gardner

Puerto Rico San Juan Mission