Week 3 - Time Sure Flies! (MTC)



image2.jpeg


 Salut tout le monde (hi everybody)! 

This week has been a really good one! It’s basically my last week in the MTC, I’m leaving really early on Monday morning for Barbados (as far as I know— I haven’t heard news about my visa but apparently no news is good news 😊). I can’t believe my time in the MTC is almost over! I was honestly nervous that I wouldn’t like the experience here, and there are some aspects of it that I’m not too sad to leave. But all in all, I’ve loved it here. I’ve come to love my teachers and my district so much, it’ll be really hard to say goodbye to everyone. Something about going through this transition together really causes you to have a special bond. They’ve become like my second family in a way. It’s been fun having people going to lots of different missions in our district, but it’s hard at the same time since I probably won’t see most of them again... 😔 we’ll do our best to stay in touch and maybe someday we’ll get to have a reunion! :)

Anyways, everything this week went pretty well. We got a new TRC investigator (they switch every week) named Rebekah, who is really awesome. We’re pretty sure she’s a member because she has a CTR (Choose the Right) ring, which she probably wouldn’t wear if she wasn’t a member, since most other people don’t know what they are haha :) but I don’t really mind it too much, I just treat her as if she was a real investigator and all goes well 😊

Teaching in English has been nice since I understand everything and can express myself clearly, but it also makes me a little nervous to start speaking French in the actual mission field soon. I’m sure it’ll come along and I’ve been speaking it with other missionaries when I can, so I’m just gonna try not to stress out too much 😊

Sundays continue to be one of my favorite days. I get to see my branch presidency, and they’re all amazing. I get to sing in the choir and go to devotionals, which are really great as well. Something is always said to help  motivate me to keep going. Last Sunday we heard from the Gilberts, who do something here in the MTC (I missed what haha). We sang lots of primary songs, which reminded me of my childhood and how far I’ve come. Sometimes I can’t believe I’m actually old enough to be here on a mission, it’s something that’s always seemed like a sort of mystical journey to me. But I am happy I’m here to see how it plays out for me and what my mission will be like. I truly feel like this is part of God’s plan for me, and I’ve already seen myself growing and improving. Missions really are a privilege and a blessing 😊

I’ve been getting along with my companions really well too, especially this week. We’ve starting opening up more and just being silly together— on Mondaywe took some funny pictures I’ll include in my picture Email later :) it had been quite a few weeks that I’d laughed that hard, and it really boosted my spirits! sometimes we just look at each other and start laughing for no reason, it’s nice to have fun with them and keep things light. it definitely makes missionary life better :) 

Yesterday I got to go to Salt Lake to take Sister Ainuu to an appointment! Our driver was really nice, and it felt good to get out of the MTC for a couple hours. We got to stop at the food court, and even though it was hospital food I was so thankful to eat something other than the cafeteria food from the MTC 😂

Right now we’re actually in a hospital in Provo at another appointment. They’re still not sure what’s wrong with Sis. Ainuu, but it’s something with her lungs. I hope they get it sorted out soon... it doesn’t seem to be too serious, so hopefully that’s true. She’s a lot of fun and just a good friend,  so I really do hope the best for her.

I think those are all the main events of the week! On Sunday we’re having a devotional that apparently is going to be really awesome... the MTC pres said it’ll be like nothing we’ve seen before. So I’m glad i get to stay for that and see what all the hype is about! 

I love you all and hope you have a great week! The next big email I send will be from Barbados! Wish me luck! 

Love,
Soeur Gardner
You can almost see her in this pic (with the Barbados flag)


image4.jpegimage1.jpegimage2.jpegimage3.jpeg

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Pre-mission preparations

Image
Soeur Gardner got on a plane a few hours ago, and now it's time to update her blog with all of the pre-mission preparations! February: Call received, started preparations for her visa, studied all we could about the French regions in the Caribbean March: Visa paperwork turned in, went through the Provo City Center temple for endowment April: Finished up the semester at BYU and traveled home for a few weeks May: This is where it got kind of crazy, so we will detail this! The first big event in May is that Morgan's best friend, Jacob, left on his full-time mission to Arizona. We love Jacob and wish him all the best as he serves the people there. Sometime in the middle of May (3 weeks before she was to leave), I heard from a mom in the Facebook group for the Barbados mission that she would need a face-to-face consulate visit in order to obtain a visa for the French regions, otherwise she may end up being a visa waiter. Not that it would be a huge deal to visa wait, but...
Read more

Week 59 - Sad Goodbyes but Happy Hellos!

Image
(Note: pictures from this week did not load correctly, so I took this one from the mission facebook page. This is Soeurs Gardner, Morrell, and Watling welcoming Soeur Kitchen to Guadeloupe.) :) This  week was pretty much crazy!  I said goodbye to my companion, Soeur Christianson, which was crazy hard!! She's become one of my best friends and it's a bit sad imagining the rest of my mission without her, but God also provides something new and wonderful, which in this case is my super cute and amazing new companion, Soeur Kitchen!! She's from Riverton, Utah, and these last few days with her have been so fun. She has such a sweet heart and is really motivated to get out there and dive into missionary work! We get along super well and I'm excited for the time we'll get to spend together :DOn Monday night we had a soirée familiale with Albie, another recent convert named Luther, the Eclar family, and a lady from the Abymes branch and it was a weird mixture ...
Read more

Week 10 - I Get to Stay in FG!!

Hello all!! This week has been a pretty good one! I found out for sure that I get to stay here for one more transfer with Soeur Krucher, and I'm so excited! This is Soeur Krucher's last 6 weeks in the mission field, and she's dedicated to making the most of it, so we've been busy doing lots of teaching and contacting!! :) We definitely felt God's hand in the work this week. We were able to cross paths with some really amazing people, and were guided to see those who really needed an extra boost of happiness. We felt prompted to visit a less active woman in the ward, and when we stopped by she told us that her sister-in-law had just passed away from cancer. I felt so strongly that God truly guided us to see her in this moment. We were able to give her an uplifting thought and just spend some time with her in this difficult time. She lives alone, I think all her children and family live in France, and she doesn't really have anyone here in French Guiana. But s...
Read more