Springville 7th Ward Relief Society

 La Casa Del Señor Amanda Gardner <amanda.gardner@missionary.org> Sophie (my younger sister) said that I should be funnier in my emails so I'm going to tell you all a funny story.  It turns out "buenas nargas" is not a thing, I actually spelt it wrong and it's "buenas nalgas" (sorry for everyone out there that speaks español, thanks elder airmet for saving me from more embarrasment). I hope that this gives you a laugh sophie 🫶  After zone conference focusing on diligence, Sister Acabal and I have been focusing on being diligent, or making a consistent earnest effort to do the Lord's work! I LOVE the word earnest. It means we are doing His work sincerely, intentional, and with care. As we have been diligent even in the little things (like recording my check your speeds everyday, thanks tewee, all you other missionaries will hopefully get it🤞) my joy serving others and serving God has grown as well as my desire to be more diligent.  Some highlights...

  Monday, August 21, 2023 Hello everyone! This long-awaited time has finally arrived! This is the week that Todd and Alexandria are due to give birth to their first child, a baby boy! Of course, we all know that first babies notoriously take their time arriving, but nevertheless, Elder Hintze and I are sitting on the edge of our seats waiting for that special phone call! It’s been another memorable week of missionary work. The Lord has His hand in so many beautiful things happening here in this little corner of the world. Last Monday evening we had our bi-monthly Come Follow Me study group. It was the best turnout yet! A dozen people filled our little family room. The most exciting guest was Julianne, Lisa’s mom. It’s so wonderful to see her learning and growing in the gospel. She not only attended but openly asked questions. Lisa normally works evenings at Walmart, but she got a promotion and spent two weeks in training during the day, so she was free in the evening to attend. She...

  ¡Buenas nargas! (That's something hermana acabal taught me) This week was full of miracles and lots of learning moments! In zone conference, we spoke of our "mission backpack" as coming in with a few "rocks" and what we would leave with (some christlike attributes). This week, through living Christ's doctrine, some of my rocks have been taken out and I've been able to become more like my Savior.  ☆ the first transforming experience was having no AC with 100+ degree heat. Let's just say that I am a lot more grateful and humble than I was. God bless air conditioning. 🙏  ☆ the second was service 😊 Each week we help this older woman in the ward clean her house and each week she asks us to check her mail and she receives none 😔😔 it's so sad and Sister Acabal and I have decided we will send her some letters and get the YM and YW involved.  ☆ we have been finding a lot of new friends, but struggling to help them continue progressing on the covenan...

  Last Week ¡Hola, hola, hola! This week was super good! Even with the lows I am still very happy with how this week went. Honestly we had such a successful week even when everyday was not completely perfect. So starting the week off it definitely was not that good. Last P-Day we played a ton of different sports and a lot of soccer and it was super hot. For some reason I forgot to drink much water. Then we had to travel by bus for about an hour in the heat. We got home and I just felt awful. The next day I woke up with an awful headache and my body just hurt. Then I remembered that I literally had not been drinking water so then the whole day while resting I just drank a ton of water. Wednesday was a pretty solid day. With training there are always days where I just have my comp lead the whole day and Wednesday was one of those days. It was fun. Obviously he made a lot of mistakes but little by little he is learning and has already learned a lot. Thursday was a very good day. We we...

  The Power of Change ¡Haupei a Todos! I hope everyone has had an amazing week because wow I know I sure have had one. This week was just a solid week of being on the mission. Lots of ups and downs but so much growth. We have been working very closely with the people that we have date. They are so close to being baptized so we want to make sure that everything works out great. Ángel got baptized last week but we had to wait a week for his confirmation. We were able to visit him during the week and see how he is doing and we were able to make some traditional Paraguayan food for a family home evening with him. Monday we also met a young kid who is nine years old and his mom wants him to get baptized. We were able to have a family home evening with them and put him on date for this Saturday! His name is Alexander Cabrera and honestly he is such a funny kid. He is super ready and we are super excited for him. Then we have Mateo and Celsa who we have been working with a ton. They are s...

  When we put our full dependence on God, everything becomes better Hello my friends and family how are you!? Man I realized it's almost been a month since I last sent an email out to y'all and it's time to get back into those! What a wild ride it has been! There's so many highs and lows to a mission and I will admit it is hard. But man the testimony I have grown and the growth I have made is astounding. And it's all because of my Savior. I owe so much to Him!! And I will forever be a witness of Him because how could I not when He's done everything for me.  We got transfer news last week and I am staying for a third transfer here in Roswell. I am so excited to continue working in this city because it has become my home. No other place has impacted me the way Roswell has. And who ever thought a town like Roswell could do that, right?! The alien city but I love here and the people with all my heart. We have been working very hard with our friend Misa. For those of...

  Monday, August 14, 2023 This has been a very rewarding week of missionary work. When we are serving the Lord, we plant many seeds that sometimes grow and other times do not. And even the seeds that take root often grow very, very slowly. But this week we did get to see some fruits growing and developing! Before I talk about the great week of work, let me share the wonderful Pday we had last week in Macon. We go to Macon every six weeks for zone conferences, but we do not have time to explore anything in the town. The first place we went was to Buc-ees! If you’ve ever been to the south, hopefully, you’ve had a chance to experience Buc-ees. It’s a gas station/truck stop/convenience store/gift shop on steroids! The one difference is that they do not allow trucks! The store is massive and the atmosphere is fun. We took the opportunity to taste one of their famous BBQ brisket sandwiches and were utterly surprised that these mass-produced sandwiches were far better than any we’d ever h...

  Hear Him I love Jesus!!  This week was transfers and I said goodbye to sister doxey. In missionary lingo "she died". I learned so much with her and so it was sad to see her go. Even so, in her last two weeks here, we saw SO many miracles! My new compi is Hermana Acabal Gomez and she is AMAZING! I love her so much. I learned a lot about relying on the Spirit. There are so many promises that come as we heed the still small voice. We can be a powerful instrument in the Lord's hands. There is a scripture in Jacob 4:13 that teaches "The spirit speaketh the truth and lieth not. Wherefore, it speaketh of things as they really are, and of things as they really will be; wherefore, these things are manifested unto us plainly FOR the salvation of our souls". This week He spoke to me and those we teach the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Some cool moments ☆ our friend marielba has been reading the Book of Mormon everyday and has felt a difference in her life. She pr...

  Aloha Dear Family & Friends, Aloha is the Hawaiian word for love, affection, peace, compassion and mercy. That is commonly used as a simple greeting but has a deeper cultural and spiritual significance to native Hawaiians, for whom the term is used to define a force that holds together existence. I looked up the definition of Aloha because as we have been analyzing our time here it has made us think deeper into the customs here and the things that make Laie so special. On Sunday morning, it is so fun to watch the entire neighborhood walk to church! We live a block away from the chapel by the temple. They say Laie is made up of 98% members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Yet we had 12 baptisms last month. We have a teaching center, where the sister's answer calls from all over. We also have the Laie Temple Visitor's Center. It is fun to see the people come in and ask to know more about our church. We love working at the Visitor's Center!  The founta...

  Monday, August 7, 2023 Hi all. We sure do miss all the Elders that are gone. We attended our first District Council with our new district and Elder Averett is the only Elder that remains the same. The entire rest of the district is new. But that’s all part of the process. We are already falling in love with these wonderful, sweet sisters that are serving with us in Thomaston. We are continuing to strengthen the ward by preparing ward members to enter the holy temple. Sister Freida is one who has been inactive in the church for a long period of time. But she returned to church about four weeks ago, declaring that she is here to stay. She asked the bishop if there was going to be a new temple preparation class starting soon, and when he told her not right away, she asked if we could teach her the temple preparation lessons. So, Freida came to our apartment for her first lesson this past week. She has definitely had a change of heart and is anxious to prepare herself for the temple ...

  ¡Hola a todos! This week was a good one and a tough one. Saw lots of miracles but it was also tough. On Tuesday we worked a lot with members and passed by a bunch and we tried to have a lot of lessons with them but they all fell through but that is fine because we were still able to have some solid visits. This week was really a blur because I got pretty dang sick with a sore throat and we could not work full days so that was really hard. Getting sick on the mission really is the worst thing. We did focus on our main visits on the people that are progressing and getting close to baptism. We visited our friend Angel and we were able to get his baptismal interview done. Then we went and visited Mateo and Celsa and they are getting so close to baptism. Please keep them in your prayers because they are so close to being baptized. They just need to build their confidence in the church. Then on Sunday we have the baptism of Angel and it all worked out. It was a little bit crazy because...

  Hola hola 👋🩷 The Christlike attribute I've been learning about recently is integrity! Being true to God at ALL times and in ALL things and in ALL places.  Yesterday we had a devotional where one of our mission president's dear friends Elder and Sister Ahadjie (former mission presidents in Nigeria). They are such powerful witnesses of Jesus Christ and His Gospel! Elder Ahadjie shared some scriptures in D&C about how God is all knowing and all powerful, yet we try to make "secret chambers" and hide. By doing so distance ourselves from Him. It is in these moments that the adversary can sneak in. I can't accurately described what I learned haha, but I hope the spirit is teaching you all something! So my question for you all is - what are your secret chambers? How do you avoid them? It was something good to ponder about. Other than the devotional, this week was amazing!! We met a lot of new friends who have such a strong desire to learn about and follow Jesus C...

  Monday, July 31, 2023 Howdy, y’all! Here we are at the end of another month! A lot of exciting changes have happened in the past week. On Monday we participated in the monthly gathering that the ward has at a restaurant called El Mariachi in the neighboring town of Zebulon, GA. It’s a nice tradition that allows people to socialize, although it’s usually the same group of people attending. We always enjoy the camaraderie but wish they would choose another restaurant. They chose this one because it’s a centrally located place to meet, but it’s the worst Mexican food we’ve ever had!!! Oh well, old traditions die hard! Tuesday morning, we had our final weekly District Council meeting of this transfer. Sometimes an Elder will stay in an area for two or even three transfers, which is a six-week period, and other times they will be moved after only one transfer. The Elders lead and conduct the District meetings, and it seems as though with each transfer they get stronger in their leader...