Week 104: The Last Week is Here (or Happy Thanksgiving)

Well, it's unbelievable. It's here. The last week. I honestly can't believe it's here.... wow. 

Mom - My heart reaches out to you, Mom. I am so sorry to hear about that... It's at these times where we see how fragile life is here on the Earth. I know you know, but I just want to share with you my testimony that death is not the end. Jesus Christ suffered everything and will help you and all those affected by this to get through. That's what He does. But how about I just give you a great big hug in a few days, sound good? :) I love you, Mom. I look forward to seeing you next week!!

Dad - Well it's good to know I have somewhere to live! It's a bit pricey but we'll make it work haha. I do not know anything about when to meet on Tuesday... I'll probably find out on Monday. We have zone conferences and stuff this week, so President's pretty busy. Anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing you next week. :) I hope you have a happy Thanksgiving!!

Anyway, this week was pretty good. We had transfers and 13 new missionaries came to the mission this week! That was an adventure in and of itself. We had a fun time with that, and then this Friday we had a sweet activity in the church! It was "Una noche de peliculas y postres" and we had a great turnout! It was a lot of fun and we watched Legacy with a bunch of the members and a few investigators who came. It was great! You'll get to meet a lot of them because the Guaynabo Ward's Christmas activity is on the 6th! 

Oh, I did give a talk this Sunday in Sacrament Meeting. When the bishop found out that I was going to leave soon he put me up on the program. It was great. Speaking of, do you know if I'm speaking anytime soon in our ward? Just curious. Anyway, I spoke on my mission experience and what I'm going to change or do different. I think it went well. It's gonna be tough though... wow. Such a great ward. I'll miss them for sure!

Anyway, then Saturday we had our first of 4 zone conferences with the San Juan East and West and Toa Baja zones. Pretty good stuff. Today we had a Mission Leadership Council in Arecibo with Elder Cornish, which was way good! We talked about a lot of great things on how to increase baptisms here. Awesome meeting.

But yeah, that's that. This week has 3 more zone conferences, and Thanksgiving and we have like 3 dinner appointments haha... going out with a bang! 

 

With E. Turbovsky and Caguas West ZLs

I love you my dear family. I couldn't have done these last 2 years without you. It's been a great testimony to me about the importance of the family. Thank you so much for all that you've done, for all the letters, the words of encouragement and love. It's meant more than you may ever know.

I testify, as a servant and representative of the Lord Jesus Christ, that He lives! He loves us. He wants us to return to our Father in Heaven. He is our Advocate with the Father. Only by obedience to His Gospel can we find peace in this life, and eternal life in the world to come (D&C 59:23). He has overcome the bonds of death (1 Cor. 15:55), and has redeemed us from sin (Hel. 5:10-11). He called a prophet named Joseph Smith, and I know that through him was restored the true Church of Jesus Christ. I know without a doubt that the Book of Mormon is true, and that it leads us to our Savior, Jesus Christ. I know that Thomas S. Monson is a prophet, and that our greatest safety lies in following his words. This is the true Church of Jesus Christ, I know it. Nowhere else can we find the authority to validate the ordinances of salvation. 

God lives. The Savior lives. They love us. Of these things I testify to all who may read this words, in the sacred name of Him who has redeemed us from the Fall, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, amen.

"The hardest thing I've ever loved to do

was getting on this plane and coming home to you.

In a million ways completely torn apart,

as a land so far away still owns my heart.

"And in the most sincere prayer I've ever prayed,

I thank my God for each and every day,

for the blessing of the man I've come to be,

as I walk up and kiss my momma's cheek."

--

Elder Kimball Ray Gardner

Puerto Rico San Juan Mission

Week 84: 4th of July

Well mother, I hate to say it, but... your hair looks a LOT more gray now haha... wow. 

Mom - Well it sounds like it was a pretty eventful week for you. I’m glad that Marilee is reading the Bible. The Bible is a powerful book, and it's interesting that this week I've decided to learn more about the New Testament, so I can better teach about Christ's ministry and the ministry of His Twelve Apostles. Oh, and also about the beginnings of the Great Apostasy. She'll feel the Spirit as she reads it because it's true, and it will lead her to have faith in Christ. It'll all work out, just you see. :) It'll be tough, but it'll all work out in the end. Anyway, it looks like you had a normal 4th of July haha... oh the fun, right?

Dad - Well I would have loved to watch you all running around trying to capture the flag. No videos Mom? ;) Haha no, I love capture the flag, so that's cool you got to play it! It sounds like you had a good 4th of July though, and don't worry, no fireworks on this end, either :( Anyway, that's a really cool testimony, and I feel the same way. Thanks for sharing that. And have fun with the noodles and sauce, that sounds really good right now haha. I haven't eaten noodles and sauce since I left Guayanilla, so… it's been a while! 

 

American missionaries in PR

Anyway, I never realized just how much I loved the 4th of July before, but man, when I can't celebrate it, that's when I realize haha... I felt very patriotic that day. That morning my two American compatriots and I sang the Star Spangled Banner and wore red, white, and blue. :) However, there was one part of the day where we rode through Ocean Park looking for an investigator, and EVERYBODY was at the beach, and they all had their barbecues and everything... AGH!! The smell was so good… and I just wanted to party haha. Needless to say, we left that area in a heartbeat. However, a member family was so kind as to cook up some hamburgers and hot dogs for us, so we went there, and I at least had my traditional 4th of July hamburger. :) So that saved the day. 

However, I had been looking forward to seeing fireworks at night (because we live in Caparra really close to Fort Buchanan - you'd think a military base would do something on the 4th?), but I was sorely disappointed. I think there was smoke in the air from the fireworks by the time we got home. Goodness. Haha but it was a good day, and it will be good to party like a true American next July 4th ;)

Anyway, besides that, we had a good week teaching our investigators, and there's this one lady, Cassandra, who's the mother of a recent convert in Trujillo Alto, and she's golden!! She's a great person and she's progressing so much. She loves the Book of Mormon and she’s enjoying the lessons, and said she'd get baptized! There's also a few other investigators that we're teaching that are doing really well right now too, so life is pretty good. :) I'm kinda sick right now, but doing alright. It's crazy to think how fast the time is going. It doesn't feel like it's been all that long, but when I look at the pictures you send, especially of the cousins, it's easy to see that it's been a while. Everyone looks so different. I don't know if I look different at all, but everyone else sure does haha... older, that's for sure.

So yeah, I love you all so much, and thank you for everything. :) Love you!!

Con muchisimo amor,

Elder Kimball Ray Gardner

Puerto Rico San Juan Mission

Week 81: Happy Father’s Day!

Well howdy there family!

Mom - Well thank you so much for the packages, Elder Caballero was ecstatic when he saw it. :) He was so happy, and he's still enjoying it, so thank you. :) And good luck! And haha yeah, Elder Peacock is AP right now, along with Elder Mello, a Peruvian. They're pretty cool. But yeah, sounds like things are just the same old normal (besides the things that clearly aren't normal haha), and I hope you're doing good. :)

Dad - Well happy father's day yesterday! I hope it was a good day. :) Haha well no, not AP (thank goodness), still trying to keep my head above water as a zone leader haha... whew! But thank you for sending the password stuff for BYU. As I read through the website and stuff, I discovered that it would probably just be easier for you to take care of it and ask me questions via email on what needs to be done.

So… a pretty crazy week. We had the lovely privilege of driving all over the San Juan Zone to mark all the missionary apartments and chapels in the stake on Pres. Smartt's new GPS. Great. The AP's had done it before, but the GPS got robbed from them haha… so… we were lucky enough to drive all over the place this weekend and remark all the places haha… great, right?

Besides that, we got to do tradeoffs in Fajardo this week, and that was pretty cool! Fajardo's really awesome and reminds me a lot of Guayanilla, but a bit bigger. I really liked that day. :)

Other than that, we had a good week in our area, and taught some good lessons. Nothing too out of the ordinary happened. We found some really cool new investigators, and they're going to progress a lot!! Also, Francisco, our recent convert, is going to get a calling!!!! He didn't know he wasn't supposed to tell us, so he let it slip that he's going to be the 1st counselor in the Young Men!!! I was sooo happy!! :) :) <-- see? :) Haha anyway, that was great, and he's just progressing so much, going to institute and all the activities and stuff. Good times. :)

So yeah, that was the week. I did get a picture with a starfish that some investigators caught, so I'll send that to ya. I need to take more pictures I think. :S Sorry! But anyways, sorry for the short letter, but I hope you're doing great! I love you all and look forward to hearing from you next week. :)

Love,

-- 

Elder Kimball Ray Gardner

Puerto Rico San Juan Mission

Week 78: Memorial Day

Well, it's been an interesting day haha... I'll get to it in a sec.

Mom - Well it sounds like you're still in "la brega" as people here say. I hope it all starts working out better. I'm glad you had a good bike ride. Is that all it is? I could ride that easy haha... not kidding either. That's like an average for a daily bike ride. That's great though, and it'll be a lot of fun to ride next spring, right? :)

Dad - Well lookie there, you did it! You're out from underneath the wheel! (long story - a parable by Pres. Alvarado) Well I bet you'll love that new calling, and I think it's fitting. A nice break for you until your next big calling ;) Hehe well good luck with that and with everything you're doing!

Anyway, today was different. We started with a meeting in the mission office with Elder J. Devn Cornish from the area presidency. That was pretty good, and then we had a short Mission Leaders'  Council with him for about an hour and a half, and then P-day! Crazy. So yeah, that was the morning, and the week was pretty good I think. Francisco was successfully confirmed, so no worries there. He's doing fantastic and progressing great - he wants to serve a mission, so that's awesome. We're working with him to get him all ready for that haha… so yeah. Besides that we're teaching a few other people who could be getting baptized here shortly also!!

Not much to say... I'm really tired (not much sleep last night) so... yeah. Hard to focus right now, and I'm still in my suit because we're locked out of our house. Ugh. Anyway, yeah, that's about it. Still smiling and happy. :)

I love you all so much, and I'm sorry it's a short email. Hard to think that it's already Memorial Day. Yikes. We'll hit the year and a half mark on Thursday. Congrats, right? Wow. Next week you'll get the year and a half picture. I feel like I just sent the year picture. Oh, speaking of, Mom, if you could email me a copy of the picture you took of me in front of the Provo temple the day I went to the MTC? I'd like to print it and put it in my journal. :)

Well, I love you family, and I pray for you always. I hope you're all doing great, and that you have a happy Memorial Day. Love and hugs and lots of rainy sunshine from Puerto Rico! :)  

-- 

Elder Kimball Ray Gardner

Puerto Rico San Juan Mission

Week 76: Mother's Day Accomplished

Well, it was great talking to you yesterday! I had a great time and it's hard to believe that it was the last phone call. Wow. It was a good one though. :) But yeah, I hope you had a great Mother's Day, Mom!

Mom - So I think your hair looks pretty good! I was expecting it to be a lot shorter, so at first it didn't look all that much different because in my mind I had pictured it shorter, but it looks pretty good I'd say. It looks like Elder Thomas is having a great time taming llamas in Colombia haha... and Elder Barnes looks like he's having a blast in Blanding! Oh, and the cookie looked good.
Dad - Well thanks for the letter, I like it a lot. Marilee seems a lot older, so that was a bit different for me. She sounded pretty good:)

Anyway, not much more to say after all was said last night haha... um... what else happened this week... it rained a lot. We're in May and this is the month where it always rains, so we got a little bit wet. Um... oh yeah! I forgot to tell you, on Friday we went down to Ponce for a choir performance for the Celebracion Latinoamericana, and it was scheduled for an outdoor venue. We got all set up and ready to go, and 15 minutes before we were supposed to start, it started POURING rain. So everyone left. I was pretty bummed because there were members from Guayanilla coming, but they didn't because of the rain. :( So we made that trip to Ponce for nothing pretty much. (sigh) Oh well… such is life, right? Um... what else... not much, just the baptism coming up on Sunday! That will be cool, and I'll be sure to send some pics. I don't think I took any more pictures since last week, but if I did I'll send them right now. :)

Anyway, it was great hearing from you last night, and here we go with the home stretch… hard to think about and hard to believe. Wow. But that's that, and I look forward to reading about your week next week! Love you tons and hope you have a great week!!

Con muchisimo amor,

Elder Kimball Ray Gardner

Puerto Rico San Juan Mission

Week 70: Testimony

I've seen and felt what the light and truth and the cleansing power of the Atonement can do for people. It changed me. This weekend helped me to understand even more about Christ and what he's done for me. I'm so thankful for everything that He did, and I know that if it worked for me, it can work for anyone. I don't know what it's going to be to finally break through the darkness – there is that gall of bitterness that Alma talks about, and we don't get out until we do our part. Joseph Smith wasn't freed from the influence of Satan on a whim - he had to work for it. Same with Alma in his gall of bitterness: he had to cry out to the Lord Jesus Christ for forgiveness. At some time or another we all need to cry out. Cry out for help, for guidance, or for that light. We need faith not only in Jesus Christ, but in His Atonement.

Everybody has their own time in their lives where they figure out who they are. Who knows? In any case, I'm confident that it will all be okay, and the Lord will keep watch over us.

Anyway, talking about my week, I didn't spend much time in my area haha... too much running around doing zone leader things. We also had our Easter Conference last night and today, and it was pretty cool. We stayed at some campsite in Aguas Buenas, which was really pretty, and then we woke up dark and early to do some pioneer activities, including some handcarts! That was fun. We also had some breakout sessions to help us all learn how to be better missionaries and plan better. It was really good, and then afterwards we had a choir practice for some celebration thing happening in April, so... yeah! That was about it haha. :)

Oh, and before I forget… Happy Birthday Dad!!!! The big 5-0! ;) Haha just kidding, that's next year, right? And if you can pass on my "Happy Birthday" to Marilee also, that would be great!! Tell her that I love her very much. I sent you both birthday cards, so look for those!! :)

I love you all so much, and I know that through this Gospel, everything will be okay. :)

With all the love of my heart,

Elder Kimball Ray Gardner

Puerto Rico San Juan Mission

Week 57: More Transfers & A Surprise

Well, the craziness doesn't stop coming. I'll just cut to the chase before I respond to your emails. A new zone opened in the mission today, the Metro Zone; and Elder Peacock and I have been assigned as Zone Leaders. Wow. So that's that haha... one month as DL and out of the blue, Zone Leader. Great… more responsibility. Anyway, I really LOVED seeing you all on skype on Christmas! It was great to talk to you all and I had a grand old time. :) I'm glad you had a decent Christmas and that the trip was at least somewhat enjoyable.

Mom - I really enjoyed Christmas and I had a great time talking to you all. :) It looks like you all had a good time in Vegas! I hope it all worked out all right and that you had a good time. :)

Dad - Those are some interesting changes that you told me about in the ward, and I hope it all worked out okay! Bro. Andreason is a great guy and a great fit there, that will be good. :) But we are still in the Evans Meadows Ward, right?

Marilee - Hey you! You're not sending any emails anymore, what's goin' on?? It was great talking to you on Christmas, and I hope you enjoyed/are enjoying your time off from school. :) Love you sis, and hope you're doing alright.

Anyway, this week has been crazy. I remember this time last year, I was in the DR! How crazy is that? Tomorrow is 2013 and thus begins the year in which I will be returning home, which is so weird to think about. I remember passing New Year's Eve in the DR and everything, and it's just odd to believe it's already been a year since then.

With President and Sister Alvarado

In any case, this week was really good, and I already told you what we were doing in the Mission Home for Christmas Eve and Christmas. On Wednesday we did a little more singing and stuff, and then finally went to our areas. I was able to work in Santurce for a couple days, and then we were back together to go to Cabo Rojo on Friday night for another presentation. That's when the transfer changes started happening, and President pulled people from the choir aside to talk to them. Saturday morning we sang at a baptism, and then in the afternoon went to Ponce and performed there, and then came back and did some more stuff. Sunday morning we went to a couple other wards, and then met back at the mission home, where President finally talked to me about this new assignment, and then announced all the transfers that affected the choir.

My old companion Elder Taylor, is gone to St. Kitts, West Indies. My new one is Elder Peacock, from Kaysville, Utah. He's great, and I'm super excited to work with him. Also, a couple other changes happened in the district, and now we're ZLs over a pretty small zone. So yeah, it's pretty crazy, and a lot of changes and stuff, but I'm excited and it will be good. I also feel slightly overwhelmed and quite underprepared, but I know if I just have a little faith, it will all work out.

But yeah, not much else to talk about, and it's a bit crazy here today trying to email since it's another holiday, and EVERYTHING closes on holidays here, so there are others waiting to write on this computer and I can't stay on too much longer. :S But there's not much else to say anyway besides... I love you! It was great to talk to you on Christmas, and we'll be talking again very soon on Mother's Day! But thank you so much for everything, and I hope you are all doing great. I love you all so much. :) And darn it, I just remembered that I left my SD card back at the house with all my pictures from the islands... :( but I have a few pictures I took this week on my new SD card, and I'll try and send them to you. But thank you again for everything and for the new socks and ties. :) They're great! Love you all so much!!

Elder Kimball Ray Gardner

Puerto Rico San Juan Mission

Week 56: ¡Feliz Navidad!

Hey family! Not much time today either, but a little more. I'm in the mission home today and I will be tomorrow, since the choir is singing for all the zones that come in for their meals. It's pretty cool, and I'll be skyping from the mission home!

I'll be opening the packages from you tonight at our dinner here in the mission home, so I'll be able to talk about them with you tomorrow! Also, be prepared for only 45 minutes of talking... President is really being tough about that rule this time around, so we won't have a ton of time like last time, but it will still be great to be able to talk and see you guys! 

Anyway, things have been CRAZY the past couple of weeks, and last week was so short because it was the mission conference and the whole mission had to email, and we only had 5 minutes each to do so, and I got stuck with the iPad, so ... yeah, it was rough haha. Anyway, the past couple of weeks the choir has been traveling the Islands of the Sea, so I've been on St. Thomas, Tortola, St. Kitts, and Antigua. It's been nuts!!

It's been really great though, and we've seen a ton of miracles and blessings and everything. Besides that, we have been traveling around PR, and it's been really great seeing all the things we've been able to do. Anyway, we'll talk more tomorrow, but it's been a really different Christmas, but a really great one. :) I miss you guys of course, and that part has been tough, but it's been wonderful really getting to know my Savior even more. I'll be mailing my gift to Jesus as soon as I can, so you can put it in the tin. :)

I don't really know what else to say haha.. but I love you all and look forward greatly for our talk tomorrow! Have a wonderful Noche Buena tonight, and a great Christmas  morning! Talk to you tomorrow! (Oh and by the way, our zone got lucky enough to get Christmas Eve dinner... just like back home!) Love you all!!

Elder Kimball Ray Gardner

Puerto Rico San Juan Mission

Week 20: Semana Santa

Well family, here we are again! Another week has come and gone, and this one was even more special because it was Holy Week here in Puerto Rico. Holy cow. I had no idea it would be so intense haha. I'll get to it in a bit, but it was quite the interesting week, and I have a lot to tell you about it! But first . . .

Mom - Thank you for the pictures!! It looks like you had a great time! I hope you thought of me while riding Pirates and the Haunted Mansion and such! But I'm glad you had a good time, it seemed like you were enjoying yourselves. :) Also, I don't know when Ben goes to the MTC, so I don't think he's there now, I just think that he just got his call.
Dad - Sadly I am still waiting for that experience on "Small World," but Mom sent some pictures haha :) And your trip to California/Vegas sounds like it was great! I assume then that TSO didn't play any Christmas or anything? And it was at Universal? That's awesome, it sounds like it was a great time.

Marilee - I responded to your email separately.

Anyway, so, Holy Week. Just to set the stage a bit, pretty much everyone in Puerto Rico is Catholic. And if they're not Catholic, they're Pentecostal. In any case, pretty much everyone here is religious and believes in Christ. So for pretty much the whole week, everyone was on this religious kick, and they were just kind of in a fighting mood haha, which was pretty funny.

Anyway, to start with last Monday, we went bowling after we got lunch, and then did some shopping until 6:00, when our P-day ends. We then visited Roy, and watched the Restoration movie with him. We didn't have a lot of time left after though, so we didn't get to discuss it too much with him. :\ That was too bad... But he seemed to enjoy the movie, we just didn't get to talk about it with him.

On Tuesday, we did some contacting pretty much all day, and in the evening, we did some intercambios with the bishopric and such here. I went out with the Elders' Quorum President, and visited an older less-active man, while Elder Hammer took the bishop to one of our investigators. I guess it was a really great lesson, which was good, and it was good that it came from the bishop. They invited him to church, and he accepted! That was definitely the highlight of Tuesday.

Wednesday was Marilee's birthday, and basically all that happened that day was that we contacted all day, and our appointments fell through with people when we passed by. It was no bueno haha. We passed by quite a few people, but nobody was able to let us in or anything, so we just ended the day contacting. No lessons, no nothing.

Thursday was just another big contacting day, although we did drop of a Book of Mormon to a lady we had contacted earlier, so we'll see what happens there. I also found a couple of cool people, one who seems really promising! His name is Luis Santiago, and we're going to pass by him again this coming Saturday. He seems really interested and I think there's some potential there! That was definitely a highlight to that day as well.

And then Good Friday hit. Holy cow. When we left to go out and work, the streets were EMPTY. When we passed by churches, they were just filled with people. We passed through the city plaza, and they had put up three crosses. I guess they reenact the crucifixion of Jesus Christ on Good Friday. Everyone was just in church all day, or else at home resting. Anyway, it was just weird to me because it was seriously like Christmas here. And nobody wanted to talk to us because it was Good Friday, so we didn't get a lot of contacts. That night, the church had an activity called "La Noche de Pan y Miel" which they had in celebration of the birth of Christ (on April 6). That was cool, but kind of weird haha. Just because it seemed to have some kind of Catholic undertones to it. Maybe it's because it coincided with Good Friday, but it was just kind of weird. At the end, they broke some bread and passed it around and we dipped it in some honey and ate it. It was just weird. So that was Good Friday!

Saturday was a normal day, and we did a ton of contacting that day to reach our Foundation. We were able to teach Bryan though, and taught him about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It was a great lesson, and he said he'd pray about being baptized. He also committed to come to church with us!

 So on Sunday, we drove to his house so he could follow us to church, and he was all ready and everything. :) He came for all 3 hours, and seemed to enjoy it. He didn't really say much, but he seemed to have a pretty good time. We'll be following up with him this week and seeing how he liked it and such. It was good though, because it was an Easter meeting, and they talked about the Resurrection and such. It was a good Sunday, and a good church meeting. :) Then last night we went to an American family's house for dinner. That was great! It was good to eat something besides rice and beans and have a little taste of home haha. :) They had Kool-aid and potato salad and ham and salad, and then some chocolate pie and ice cream. So good. And then we had a little lesson with Robby, another of our investigators last night. It went pretty well.

Anyway, that's basically the week! Needless to say, I'm glad Holy Week is over, because now people can go back to being their old selves. Anyway, we'll see how this week goes, I guess! We have an Easter Conference tomorrow, and then Elder Hammer and I have a training meeting on Wednesday, so not a lot of time left over to get our Foundation and such. But I think it will be a good week. :)

As always, I hope that everything is going well back home. I hope you're all doing great, and that you had a great time in California and Vegas. :) I love you all so much, and I pray for you every day, both morning and night. I pray that you are being taken care of and provided for, and I look forward to hearing from you all again next week. I love you all so very much!

Con mucho amor,

Elder Kimball Ray Gardner

Puerto Rico San Juan Mission