Week 8 - A Week of Growth!

 At the Zoo

                                                           Exchanges in Martinique

                                                                 Made in Detroit!

This week was a bit of a roller coaster for me! I'm wrapping up my first transfer here in French Guiana already, I can't believe it! Time is really starting to fly by now and I'm realizing that before I know it, I'll be back home again... so I'm really trying to take advantage of every day I have here. Even though it's hard and sometimes I don't feel like I'm really giving it my all, I'm truly learning SO much.

Last Monday, we went to the zoo!!! I looooved it, they had lots of cool jungle animals like sloths, monkeys, panthers, turtles, snakes, and really beautiful birds! The path going through the zoo takes you right through the middle of the rainforest on these bridges in the trees, it was probably one of the coolest things I've ever experienced. I felt like the female-version of Tarzan, haha :)

The rest of the week has been good! We had quite a few lessons and did a lot of contacting as well, so we've been busy! Several of the sisters in the ward helped us with lessons this week, it's been so fun to get to know them. I love hearing about their conversion stories, since almost every member here is a convert. I find their faith so inspiring and it pushes me to develop my own faith to be as strong as theirs. 

Tuesday-Thursday were a little hard for me-- I felt like I was starting to stay the same and not really improve much. I wasn't talking hardly at all in contacting and not much in the lessons either, and I honestly wasn't putting all my effort into the work. Soeur Krucher noticed and gave me a bit of a wake-up call. It was a little hard-- we were raised in different cultures, and she has a very direct personality. We weren't really on the same page for a couple days-- I felt like I needed to be patient with myself, she felt like I needed to push myself more, and honestly I wasn't in the best place. But on Thursdayduring weekly planning, I opened up and told her that I was struggling. She apologized if she was too direct and said that she sometimes expects too much, and I apologized as well and said that I'm sometimes TOO patient with myself. I set a goal to be more bold, she set a goal to be more patient, and now things are a LOT better. I realized that I was using the language barrier as a bit of a crutch and an excuse not to talk to people and really try. But I've been working on that the past couple days, and I've seen growth in myself already. This mission has felt like a bit of a refiner's fire for me-- sometimes it's reaalllyy hard and I question if this is really where I'm supposed to be. But I pray, I read my scriptures, and I remember my purpose. I recieve the peace, the comfort, the courage, and the determination to keep going. I know God is aware of me and that he's helping me along, and I can feel all my rough edges slowly smoothing out a little. I've still got a long way to go, but I'm grateful for the progress I've made and for this opportunity I have to grow so much in just 18 months. 

Anyway, on to some of the highlights of the week!

-I got to give a lesson in English to a woman who's from English Guiana (in South America), it felt SO good to understand! Her pet cat scratched my foot because I accidently kicked him while I was sitting down... that wasn't fun for either of us! The scratch isn't bad though and it's all good :)

-On Saturday, the branch had two baptisms-- friends of the Elders! I am so happy for them! It was two young women, one is 19 and the other is maybe in her mid 20s. It was a really cool experience to witness a baptism as a missionary and I'm so excited that one of our amies, Soeur Anne-Gaelle, is set to be baptized the 25th of August!! She's from France, around 30 years old, and she is AMAZING-- she's basically a member already, and I honestly feel like she's the one teaching me! :) 

-While we (all the missionaries) were waiting at the church for the baptism to start, we sat and sang hymns for awhile. I've come to really appreciate music even more since I've been on my mission, it brings such a special, tangible spirit. So that was a really good pick-me-up :)

-Yesterday we had a lesson with an older man, and it was quite the interesting experience.We were planning on teaching him the Restoration, and from the start he was talking a lot with slurred French-Creole that I struggled to understand. From what I remember, he talked a lot about his spirituality. As I shared the First Vision with him, he began talking about how Jesus Christ doesn't actually have a body with flesh and bone. We tried to address this with him, but then he started off on this tangent about how HE doesn't have a body of flesh and bone either, and that he is actually an angel. "The only reason you can even see me right now is because I'm allowing you to," he said. He talked about how we have to restore the Garden of Eden on Earth as well. That's about all i understood from that lesson, but we got out of there pretty quick after that because there was just a bad spirit there. We think the man might have some sort of mental issue, or maybe he was really drunk or high, or both... but anyway, that was a bit of a sad and interesting experience.

Well that's about all I think for this week-- I should find out about transfers sometime between Saturday and Monday! I think I'll probably stay here in FG with Soeur Krucher, but ya never know :)

Sending you all love and happy thoughts!

à la prochain!! 

Soeur Gardner

Made in Detroit: