It's a Monday... :)‏

 Old Shoe vs New Shoe!

 waterfall in Tiquipaya

waterfall in Tiquipaya

Hey fam!!!

We had a fantastic week! It really is so great to be working with Hermana Vara and I feel so blessed to be her companion. We had so many great experiences this week. One of them was that our pensionista/relief society president went out to accompany us and we walked past an old friend's house. She felt like she needed to call this friend, Graciela, and invite her to talk to us. A couple days later we had a lesson with Graciela in my pensionista's house. It was such a powerful lesson as we had the help from two members. The spirit was so strong and Graciela accepted a baptismal date without a second thought. It was amazing. Graciela has such a desire to learn and know which of all the churches are true. I know the Spirit was so much a part of this whole experience and will be crucial in the progress of Graciela. This experience reminded me of how important the members are in the work of salvation. I love how the Lord knows each of us individually and is always putting people in our pathway that are prepared for this wonderful gospel!

I don't know if I told you guys about the Salinas Family.... so I will now. Haha. Once upon a time we were leaving our apartment and a guy stopped us and told us that he wanted us to visit him and his family. It turns out they had just moved back from Spain and had been inactive for years. The dad, Juan Pablo, explained how he wanted to come back to church with all his family. He has his wife, Maribel and two kids Juan David (10 yrs. old) and Carolina (7 years old) and they are seriously the cutest family ever. Juan David was never baptized so he is now preparing for his baptism for August 16th. It is awesome because they are wanting to use the baptism as a missionary opportunity. They are going to invite family members and friends from school. It is amazing to see there excitement to return to the church and share this message as well. They are also preparing to get sealed!!! It is so exciting and I feel so blessed that I have the opportunity to help a family make it to the temple. What a special thing it is.

Today was a good p-day. We went to a waterfall in Tiquipaya which was cool and different from the usual stuff we do here Cochabamba! We also ran into President and Hermana Hansen and their daughter at the grocery store. Their daughter is finishing her last three weeks of her mission here in Bolivia before she goes back to BYU. I have such a great love for Pres and Hermana Hansen. They are seriously so awesome.

Life is great here and we're working hard! I just love being a missionary so much! I also love all of you and hope you have a great week!

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Gardiner

Not Dumb Dumbea

 Soeur Martinez and I!

 Soeur Raney's goodbye party with the ward missionaries

Goodbye Soeur Raney. :(

Bonjour tout le monde!

This week has been just CRAZY. I have never been so exhausted in my life! Taking care of two separate secteurs is insane, but I think we are doing the best we can. We are working hard to merge our schedules together. So far it has gone really well. Not to mention, Soeur Martinez is so amazing. Heavenly Father definitely knew that there was no way two missionaries could do the work we have to do unless we really loved each other. :) It was hard seeing Soeur Raney leave (Soeur Martinez and I both cried for a good while) but all good things must come to an end. So weird to think that Soeur Raney is a normal human now... haha. Anyways, I am SO blessed to be with Soeur Martinez. Ah, Heavenly Father is the best planner.

Its been an awesome week! We had an awesome lesson with our young investigator. He is just such a troubled angsty teenager. We are just going to keep loving him and praying for him. He says that he will come to church next week! We will see.

We had an awesome soiree familiale with the family Likhau. They are a part member family we have been trying to work with for a long time. They have 8 kids, and they are so cute. They were so excited to have us teach them. The mom said they wanted to have a soiree familiale and invite a bunch of their friends to introduce them to the gospel! Wow! Such a great family. I am so excited to work with them more.

Oh yeah, yesterday I ate rabbit. It was really well prepared, and tasted delicious! Everyone should eat rabbit more.

Lets see... there’s so much to say and so little time. Oh, I might be starting Auto Ecole this week... awkward because if I do start, we really won’t have time to work a ton in our secteur(s). Getting a French permit takes so much time! I am not really sure what I am going to do yet, I have been praying a lot but I still don’t know if I should go ahead and do it. It would put so much in jeopardy... we'll see. I have been driving a lot because Soeur Martinez won't be driving anymore. It took a little time to get used to again haha but my driving’s getting better every time.

My French has improved sooo much! I feel like I can really teach now, and I can really express myself. And understanding comes pretty naturally. I can talk to people and have real conversations! Super awesome. I know I couldn’t have come this far without divine help. I am so grateful to be here and to be a missionary. I am so grateful for the help that I feel from my Heavenly Father every day, every second.

I love you all! Keep being member missionaries. N'oubliez pas qui vous etes.

Soeur Gardiner

The Lord just doesn't let you get comfortable, does he?‏

Me with my cute new companion, Hna Vara! She was a trooper and made it to church with her foot all taped up and two different shoes (thanks hna wilson for leaving your sandal;))

Once again it has been quite the week! I was just getting used to the trio life, when I got the call from the assistants that I was getting a companion!!! Her name is Hna Vara. She is from Lima, Peru and has 2 months in the mission. Her trainer was sick and had to go home so I now have the opportunity to be with her! She is so so amazing and has such a desire to work hard as a missionary. I feel like I have learned so much from her in just the couple days we have had together. She is so diligent and has such a positive attitude.

Friday we had such a wonderful second day together, teaching lessons, finding new investigators and serving the members. As we were heading to the pension after doing service in the Bishop's house it was dark and my companion didn't see a high step that we had to step down from. It was so sad because we were all happy and laughing arm in arm as she fell and hit the ground so hard. She told me she thought she hurt both of her ankles. My only thought was "oh no, I am going to have to send home two companions this transfer." haha. But luckily that was not the case. After getting help from some members that were passing by she got cleaned up in the church and then we went to the hospital. Luckily she didn't break a bone and it was just a sprain. She had to stay off of it for two days though which was a huge bummer cause we were so excited to work. But now everything is better and she'll be good to work this week.

It's just so funny cause at the start of this transfer I thought that it was going to be a transfer super chill where we would just work hard every day hitting the streets, but the Lord definitely had something else planned. It's been hard because there is nothing I love more than just getting out and working but now I am learning how to go with the flow and how to trust more in the Lord and that he'll take care of it all. And more than anything I have learned how to love and serve my companions. Every one of them has been so amazing and wonderful. I feel so blessed.

This week I finished reading "Our Heritage" from the mission library. I just loved this book so much and especially the end when it talks about all the latter-day prophets. I just felt such a sweet feeling knowing that the Lord really talks to prophets today to lead and guide us. It is amazing to see how the prophets and their apostles give everything to serving the Lord. I love reading their talks as well in the conference Ensign. We are so blessed to be led by prophets. I feel much gratitude for the opportunity to be a missionary and help them in their efforts to bring the gospel to the people here in Bolivia. What a wonderful and beautiful time it is to be serving the Lord.

I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Hermana Gardiner

"Oui, c'est bon."

 We love Sola. What a cutie

 Me, Vaiarii, Soeur Raney, Vaihau, and our awesome recent convert Pascal.

Soeur Raney and I about to do a service project clearing out some hard core jungle

SALUT TOUT LE MONDE!

This has been SUCH a great week!!! We'll start out with a little adventure I had....

I was trying to get to sleep, but I needed to use the restroom. So I went to use the restroom. And mid pulling down my pants... a COCKROACH jumped out. A COCKROACH JUMPED OUT OF MY PANTS. I have no idea how I didn’t scream... but I took the toilet brush holder and smashed it. Both Soeur Raney and I couldn't sleep very well after that. Hahahaha.

And, more importantly... ONE OF OUR INVESTIGATORS IS GETTING BAPTIZED! Yes!!!! We are so happy. He will be baptized on July 12th. Ah! We are just all so happy.

Lots of other things happened this week... McDonalds, waiting in the ER for four hours for Soeur Raney's not-even-that-urgent wrist injury, clearing out some jungle with machetes for a member... yeah. Mission life is so great!

I am so grateful and feel so humbled to be here and love these people. Bein ça.

Je vous aime!! Bonne semaine!

Soeur Gardiner

Island life.

Bonjour!
Its been another crazy week here in Dubea Sur Mer. I can’t believe it’s already been a transfer... time flies!!! Ah I love it here.

(She has two investigators that are progressing really well.)

And... yeah. Haha, we have a lot of investigators and we were teaching a lot of lessons. Often we have to run clear across our sector to get to our next rendezvous but its cool. I looooove it!

Oh. And by the way. Keep being member missionaries. The world needs your help!!

Love you all, have a good week!

Soeur Gardiner

Say no to drugs

 Vaiarii and me!

 Who says missionaries aren’t allowed to have fun?

 Soeur Raney, our cool friend Glen who is on vacation here from Wallis and Vaihau

Iorana! Et bonjour mes cheries!

I love living on this island. And teaching our amis! Ah, life is so good.

(Molly is working with an inactive and things are going really well.)

And oh yeah, this week I was offered my first cigarette. And I said no! Officer Wilko of D.A.R.E. would be so proud. That was a good day, haha.

Last night we had a soiree familiale with a family from Vanuatu that is Seventh Day Adventist. We taught them I am a Child of God in Bishlama. When I was saying the closing prayer, the dad was saying yes and amen throughout the whole thing. They are the coolest family! And they speak English better than French, so that was a relief.

Speaking of French. Over the past week or so my French skills have grown exponentially!! I have become so much more confident and it’s just awesome. And I know it wouldn’t happen without help from the Savior.

Miracles happen. All it takes is faith and a little bit of hard work!

Je vous aime tellement!! Passe une bonne semaine!

Soeur Gardiner

P Day is Monday, but French holidays are always on Mondays and everything closes. Never count on my being able to email on Mondays!

Tahitians, Tahitians, Tahitians.

 Iorana!! (Hello in Tahitian) :)

  I made a DELICIOUS chocolate cake, without a recipe. I was trying to make brownies.... but cake works too – this is my apartment - soooo big. and so clean. :)

 Cutest child. Vaihau & Vaiariis Nephew

me in a Wallisian manon :)

Hello everyone!!! I just want you all to know how much I love you. Really, so much. :)

And I also want you to know how much I love New Caledonia! Ah, I just want to stay here and preach the gospel forever. :)

Signs you’re becoming Tahitian:

1. Raising your eyebrows and grunting a little is easier (and more meaningful) than just saying oui.

2. Milo (essentially just hot chocolate) counts as a meal.

3. Bread is a more useful utensil than a knife.

Haha, I love the Tahitian people. And Wallisians. Those are the main nationalities of the people who live in our sector. All of the different cultures here are so cool. Last week there was a big stake activity where each ward got to present a different island in the pacific. They sang and danced and everything. So cool! I can’t wait to get home and take a Polynesian dance class at BYU.

Our investigators are the best!! (She has a lot of investigators and loves working with them - just didn't want to put all the details on this public blog.)

I love the gospel! I love being here! Island life is so good. And the church is true. :)

Soeur Gardiner

Sorry i didn't have more time to be more clear. Love you!! Good luck! My comp is great! The district is good!! The other sisters in our district are so awesome. Life is good!!