Hermana Gardner: 11/29/22

 

A Thanksgiving Serenade

Amanda Gardner <amanda.gardner@missionary.org>

Buenos días a todos!! This week was amazing!!! We got transfer news, but I'll save it for the very end :)

First off thanksgiving! We started off the day having MLC (mission leader conference) and it was SO amazing. We talked about what it looks like to be a leader and also how we can be more team Jesus. We set some goals for this next month of December and came back to our areas with lots of insights about how we can be better missionaries. These meetings are always a testament to me of how much the Lord is leading his work. Everything we talked about was exactly what I needed to hear, God is so good. President and Sister Haymond also made us all waffles, it was so kind of them!!

Then we made our way to Thanksgiving lunch (yes I ate so much food the entire day) which we were having with a formerly taught friend of ours Doris who absolutely loves the missionaries, but has no interest in the gospel. She invited a bunch of her non member friends and a member of the Cook Park ward to come as well. The food was SO good and we all went around to say what we were grateful for. Of course, Sister Bennett and I shared our testimonies of Christ and our gratitude for him, so it was a great missionary moment. Then the member, Mary Dalton announced she was going to sing for us and just started singing "Mary did you know" right there at the dinner table. It was so funny and random, honestly the perfect Thanksgiving moment, I felt right at home. 

Later that day we also had Thanksgiving dinner with the Castro family!! They are members of the branch from Chile and haven't been in the U.S. for very long, so it was their first time celebrating Thanksgiving! They made us a Chilean style Thanksgiving dinner with turkey and potatoes and it was SO good!! Both of them were chef's in Chile so it was pretty much the greatest meal I've had on my mission by far. There family is just so amazing. They are so humble and centered around Christ. The love in their home was so strong! Julieta, their 7 year old daughter drew us self portraits and the teenage son made us a Chilean pastry, it was definitely the highlight of my day 😊😊

We have been able to have so many amazing lessons with our friends! One of our friends who was supposed to get baptized, but we lost contact with, came to church this Sunday and then also came to a baptismal service with us that night! It was in marshallese!! Even though we didn't understand anything, we could understand the spirit. After the service we asked if he wanted to be baptized and he said he would think about it. The next day he texted us and said he doesn't think that it is the right time for him, but he loves the church. So, we've still got a lot of work to do, but we are so hopeful for Isidro, he is amazing!

This Sunday we also got to teach a primary class which was SO fun! The kids are just so adorable and you can really see Christ in them. We all drew pictures together of how we can be missionaries.

The work really is progressing so much, we are so busy teaching God's children!! As a mission, we have been focusing on "seeking and expecting miracles", following the counsel of our loving prophet Russel M. Nelson. Seeking for miracles is an act of faith. We need to be actively looking for them and doing the work to put God first in our lives! As I have sought for miracles, I have found them and I expect them because this is God's work! He is a God of miracles and as we are faithful, their is no limit to what we can do with his help!! The only limit is ourselves. I'm so excited for this next transfer. I will be staying here in Tualatin covering both the Cook Park English ward and the Spanish branch, but I will be getting a new companion, Sister Frazier! I am so excited to see the miracles God has in store for his children this month leading up to the remembrance of the birth of his Son. 

Love you all, keep seeking for and expecting miracles in your life, I promise you will find them. 

Con mucho amor, 

Hermana Gardner 💕💕