September 30, 2014

Family, 

This feels surreal. I can't possibly be typing my last letter home. It can't be real. they keep telling me it is though, so here it goes--the last email. 

i was going to make a list of some things that I have learned on my mission, but it all just kept coming back to this: 

the Number one thing that I have learned out here is that God is real. He loves us. he knows what is best for us, even if it hurts a little bit. There have been certain 

situations on my mission that have hurt really bad. I have wanted to scream at God: "Why are you doing this to me?! If you loved me, you wouldn't 

do this." Then I will make it through the struggle and thank Him because i see how much it has helped me to grow. Growing pains are real. but if we 

didn't hurt a little, how would we be sure we were alive. There is no growth in the comfort zone, and there is no comfort in the growth zone. That is a

 true principle. All we have to do is trust in God and everything will work out for our good. 

When i first got transferred here to Royal Palm Beach, i was a little disappointed. I thought that I was going to lose all my spanish and that there 

weren't going to be cool people here, but i was so wrong. God knew me. HE KNOWS ME. i was supposed to be here. Over the last week, i have

 been slowly saying goodbye to everyone and I KNOW that I was supposed to be here. There were lives and families that I needed to touch. i am

 so grateful that God sent me here even though i was too dumb and prideful to immediately trust in His will. I don't know how I am going to leave

 this place. It feels like I am leaving home all over again. 

These last eighteen months have really just helped me to see that there is too much beauty and too much hurt in the world for there not to be a God. 

This did not happen by chance. THIS DID NOT HAPPEN BY CHANCE. Our lives and the people in them are there for a reason: to make us better. 

To help us to learn and to make us more like Him. There is no way that this all doesn't have a purpose. I know Heavenly Father loves each and every 

one of us and he has a plan for each of us. Anyway, i feel like I am rambling. God is real. He loves us so much that he provided us with a hard/beautiful

 life to live because He trusts us. He sent Jesus Christ so that when we fall, we can get back up. It is all real. I believe it with all my heart. 

I read this verse this morning and I thought about how perfect this is. Alma 17:11 says, " Go forth among... thy brethren, and establish my

 word; yet ye shall be patient in long-suffering and afflictions, that ye may show forth good examples unto them in me, and I will make an instrument of 

thee in my hands unto the salvation of many souls." I've been doing that for the last 18 months, but I'm still going to be doing it when I get home. I have 

learned so much out here. I can't wait to come home and be the person that I have become out here. 

So, family, BUCKLE UP. Here I come. I love you so much. God loves you more. Nos vemos en dos dias, familia.  

Hermana Gardner 

​

September 22, 2014

Family, 

Alright. Sorry about last weeks excuse for an email, but I have learned on my mission that repentance is real. So, I'm going to do a good one today. 

First off, (Dad will love this) we were out exercising this week, and I hear this weird sound in the bushes. I thought it was probably a giant frog or a crazy bird or something. I get closer. Nope. Opossum. What the!! It was scary looking. I've seen a few dead ones here, but I've never seen a live one. Needless to say, I kept my distance. That thing was scary. 

Also, my humbling experience for the week: We were out in Loxahatchee and it had rained A LOT the day before. We had just met a family from the ward and I was trying to turn the car around without having Sister Jones back me out (#missionaryproblems). So, I swing the car and keep to of the wheels firmly on dry ground, BUT the ground was so wet that my wheels started spinning and we slipped very slowly into some swampy mess. I tried to back out and then go forward again. No dice. We went and got the member that we had just met. He didn't even have rope, so we called one of our members and he brought his truck and pulled us out. I committed myself to never do that again. Once more, REPENTANCE IS REAL. 

We found a wonderful lady this week. She is super solid. She wants to be baptized. When we met her, she kept saying that she knew God sent us to her. She even told us that two days before she had been talking to her Mormon friend. She had asked her friend why there were so many churches. Her friend hadn't responded, but we knocked on her door two days later. God knows His children. She is from Ecuador, so we get to practice our Spanish. God is good to us. If all goes according to plan, she will be baptized this Sunday. She is ready, but we still have to teach her A LOT. Pray for us. 

I think that I've talked about Brother Nappier before. Well, we went over to his house to help him with his barn.He is building it all by himself, but was going to go on a trip to Idaho so we were helping him cover it with a tarp.He said that he was supposed to go on that trip, but he felt bad about it. We testified that was the Spirit. He got really serious, and he told us that he wasn't going to go on the trip. He came to church instead :). The lesson was on the gifts of the Spirit. He told the teacher that he knew the Spirit had told him to stay home from the trip. So cool!! The ward is going to help him build his barn...after I leave, but still. We are so excited. 

Well, Family, the end is near. I can feel it. I'm super sad to leave, but I'm excited to see all of you. Hopefully, I don't scare you. Be warned: I'm even more strange than when I left. You guys are so blessed. You must have been really good souls in the preexistence. :) LOVE YOU!!!

Hermana Gardner 

September 15, 2014

To all of Lyndee's friends and family. Lyndee will be coming home on Thursday, October 2. She will be flying into Sky Harbor where we will pick her up. She reports her mission on October 19, at the Eagar Stake Center at 12:00 p.m. Thanks for all of the support and letters.


​Family, 

It's been a rough week number wise, but we've had some cool experiences. I LOVE THE ROYAL PALM BEACH WARD!! I, honestly, am so surprised every day by how much my love for them grows. I feel like a creep because I love sitting in the back of the chapel and watching all of them on Sunday. They did the primary program yesterday. So awesome. I teared up a little bit when the little kids screamed "God gave us families to help us become what he wants us to be." That is doctrine. I know Heavenly Father hand picked all of you to keep me in line. I love you guys. 

Bother Kunda got confirmed yesterday. It was so precious. He just belongs in the ward. They all love him. He and his wife asked us to do a little service for them on Saturday. We patched a few holes in their fences and we go in for dinner and they had made us STEAK!! I haven't had steak for almost a year and a half!! It was so yummy. They are so cute. They then let me choose a teddy bear from their teddy bear collection. They're fun people. 

I'm really sorry that all my letters are so lame. I just know that I'll see you guys soon, so I feel like I forget everything when i get on here. This is a really lame one, but I squandered my time. I'll get a better one off to you all next week. Love you!!

Hermana Gardner  

September 9, 2014

Family, 

Guess what! Brother Kunda was baptized. It was so great. Everything went really well. I gave the talk on baptism and quoted from his favorite hymn. He choked up a bit. The Spirit was so strong. It was really cool because it wasn't us. It was all the ward. They have been working with him for so long and he finally said he was ready. 

Yesterday I realized that this was my last fast Sunday as a missionary. I decided that I better share my testimony. I cried. It was sad. I LOVE this ward. I am going to miss them so much. I don't want to leave them. 

Dad will love this. Guess what I ate yesterday...GATOR. A member here killed it, skinned it, and grilled it. HAHA. It tasted like a cross between chicken and shrimp. It was actually pretty good. They took a picture that I'll try and get a hold of next week. He went out on Lake Okeechobee at night. They shine the spot light out and look for eyes. When they find one, they use a cross bow and shoot it. They reel it in and then when they got close they use a bang stick. I don't know how it works, but there is a bullet at the end of the stick and it kills it. He said it was a little one--only about 6 feet, but it tasted delicious. HAHA only in Florida. 

I know this is kind of lame, but I feel like I have told you everything. Family, I love you and I am so grateful for all the support you give me. I know that I wouldn't be out here if it wasn't for you. Thank you for the great examples that you have given me. I LOVE YOU!!!

Hermana Gardner 

September 2, 2014

Familia, 

Como estan ustedes? Guess what! I was standing in the Walmart line today feeling SUPER stressed and then I heard SPANISH!!! There were Cubanos right behind me and we got to talk for a long time because machines were going crazy. They thought it was really cool that an "americana" could speak Spanish so well. YEEEE! Made my day. I miss cubans. 

So, things are still looking good for Brother Kunda to get baptized this coming week. He got his interview and is all set. I feel guilty because we seriously haven't doe anything. The members did most of it. I guess that is how it is supposed to be. Rolando is doing well. He is already paying his tithing regularly. I am so proud of him. We also have some cool people that we are looking forward to. Sorry, but I copied and pasted again from my letter to President. 

We're working with a young guy named Mike. He is married with a brand new baby, but they are right around my age. It was really wonderful how we found them. We were on our way to eat with a member on Sunday evening (there was a non-member there. Don't worry :)). We knocked doors for about 45 minutes and realized that we had knocked the whole street. We decided to head over to the member's house and maybe knock some doors over there. We only had about 20 minutes before we needed to be at the dinner, so we easily could have thrown in the towel and just show up early. But we decided to be 100% obedient, and I am so grateful that we did. The first house we knocked on was Mike's house. We didn't even have to introduce ourselves; he already knew who we were. He spent some time in Orem and has already read a lot of the Book of Mormon. Anyway, he and his wife came to a chapel tour this week, and they loved it. They asked US about baptism. Immediate blessings for being 100% obedient!!!

Guess what! We also found a turtle while knocking. 

It was cute. We asked all the people we talked to if they were missing a pet. They told us that they just come out of the canals. What the!?

Well, family, I love you lots. I hope everything is going well. Sorry that this is a crazy email. 

Hermana Gardner 

August 25, 2014

The Famskies, 

I don't think I have any fun pictures today. I was going to send you a picture, but it was too ugly...I'll explain...Remember that family I told you about that we were going to reactivate with our awkwardness? Well, we went and ate at their house. They took us out back to give us some of their avocados. I'm just standing under the avocado tree when my feet start burning. I look down and there are fire ants COVERING my feet and ankles. Don't worry. I kept my cool. I took my shoes off and calmly knocked them off. The family gave me some Benadryl, so it was ok. They are nasty little things. They kind of swell up and blister, but they are basically healed up now. Don't worry, Mom. It was uncomfortable for a couple of days, but they are almost gone now. Someone joked that everything in Florida wants to bite you, sting you, or eat you. It's kind of true, but I love this place. It's always a surprise. 

I'm lazy, so you get the miracle that I sent to President in my email. It's a cool story though...a true one too:  The high councilman over missionary work, Bro Gaminara, is actually in our ward and he spoke last week. He told a story about a man he knew in the a ward here who had been coming for a long time. Bro Gaminara felt the impression to invite this man to be baptized. To make a long story short, he did, and the man was baptized after 42 years of attending church with his wife. This story motivated one of our members so much that he went up and asked one of the "eternigators" in our ward to be baptized. The "eternigator", Brother Kunda, said he had been thinking about it. This good member invited Brother Kunda and his family over for dinner and us as well for the next week. After the meal, we sat down and the member asked Brother Kunda to be baptized. HE SAID YES!! He will be getting baptized on the 7th of September. You should have seen the joy on everyone's face--the member's, ours, Sister Kunda's, Everyone was beaming from ear to ear. God is good to us here in Royal Palm Beach. 

Rolando was confirmed yesterday. His member girlfriend was there. He went right up to the bishop afterward and paid his tithing. We also knocked into a cool guy who grew up in Orem. He has a Book of Mormon and he wants us back to teach him and his wife! Good things are happening. 

In closing, meet Dana. She is a super fat, allergic to everything, pitbull. She loves us. I was trying to get a picture of her the other night, but she kept rolling around. She snores louder than dad, if you can imagine that. She belongs to a member of our ward. hehe we love her. Look at that face.

Anyway, that's all I have. I read Mosiah 2:34 this morning and really liked it. It says, "ye are eternally indebted to your heavenly Father, to render to him all that you have and are." I've made a short list of some things that I can leave behind to "render all that I have to HIm." We have so much from Him. We really don't need all the things that we tend to fill our life up with. I guess it's easir on a mission, but I'm going to try to continue cutting those things out of my life when i get home....in eight years. 

Love you all!!

Hermana Gardner Pantalones

​

August 19, 2014

Familia linda, 

Welp, this week has been a crazy one. We got transfer calls, and Sister Jones and I will be staying together for my last transfer. I am excited to be finishing up in this ward. I love them too much to leave them. We are getting sisters back in our house, so that will be fun. We are really excited about that, BUT we are most excited about this...

Rolando got baptized. We are so excited. He is just such a sincere guy. He bore his testimony to our bishop in broken English and the Bishop had tears in his eyes afterwards. It is precious. Funny side note: The elder that baptized him is from St. Johns. Right before he baptized Rolando he said, "It's pretty cool that I am baptizing a Round Valley girl's investigator." HAHA it's ok though because I had to teach him how to say the baptismal prayer in Spanish. Rolando is awesome. We love him!!

I made a list this week of all the really awkward things that I did. Here they go:

1. We have driving past this less actives house for months now in hopes that the gate will be open. We drove past and someone was leaving the house. We pulled the car overs super fast, bailed out, and just stood there and waved. HEHE the awkwardly came over and eventually invited us over for dinner on Wednesday. They are getting reactivated  by our awkwardness. I just know it. 

2. We were invited to teach in a Sunday School class for the youth on Sunday. The teacher and I were doing a role play and I accidentally married myself to him by what I said. He's single and not that old and the kids kind of just chuckled. UGH! Missionary problems. 

3. Had to share my testimony in Zone conference because I'm almost done. I don't know why, but a quote from Hairspray came to my head, so i said it. I said, "God has a plan for every one of us. You can either fight it, or you can rock out to it. It's your choice." And then I closed it my testimony "in the name of thy son, amen." crap. Whose son? Their son? I swear. i just get more dumb every week, but o well.  At least I'm still good looking, right? 

​

Sister Jones and i stopped at a little tienda (store) off the side of the road. We bought Jaritos like good Spanish missionaries. The carbonation made me sick, but a crazy thing happened. We had been at a house earlier that no one was living at. They had a lime tree, so we took a couple so they wouldn't go bad :). For some reason, I felt like if I ate a a lime it would settle my stomach. So, Sister Jones squeezed the juice out of one for me, I drank it, and sure enough. I felt better. How I knew that a lime could do that, don't ask? The Spirit must have told me. 

That's about it for me. I love you all a lot. Here is a little tidbit I read from Neal A. Maxwell this week. I love him. It says:

 "When in situations of stress we wonder if there is any more in us to give, we can be comforted to know that God, who knows our capacity perfectly, placed us here to succeed. No one was foreordained to fail or to be wicked. When we have been weighed and found wanting, let us remember that we were measured before and we were found equal to our tasks; and, therefore, let us continue, but with a more determined discipleship. When we feel overwhelmed, let us recall the assurance that God will not over program us; he will not press upon us more than we can bear (D&C 50:40)." 

I know that is true. Don't fret, guys. You've got this. Love you tons! 

Hermana Gardner 

​