Week 25 - Wanderers in a Strange Land... 'C'est Nous!!!










Bonjooouuurrr!! Happy belated Thanksgiving to everybody and MERRY CHRISTMAS!! 

This was a very good week! We had lots of fun things going on!

On Wednesday we had a branch coordination meeting with the branch president, the mission leader, and the branch missionaries (who are two of the branch's recent converts, Soeur Raena and Frère Moise; sooo cool!). President Francillette had us read the dedicatory prayer from when Guyane was dedicated for missionary work long long ago in the 1900s (haha it was like the 80s or 90s). But it was so cool to read the promises that Russell M Ballard, the apostle who gave the blessing, gave to this area. It mademe feel so blessed to be a missionary in this unique part of the world. We talked about working with the branch to push the work forward and keep progressing towards stakes, wards, and a temple one day!! Man, the day this mission gets a temple will be one of the happiest days of my life! :)

On Thursday we had a fun time making our own Thanksgiving feast in the hour we have to eat lunch!! I whipped up some mashed potatoes real fast, Soeur Morrell cooked us some nice green beans, and I threw some frozen chicken in the oven (found out it's not very delicious to put rock-hard frozen chicken in the oven, turns out way too tough). We even had a little gravy sauce packet in the pantry! All that complete with an apple pie I made the night before made a pretty darn good Thanksgiving for two 19 year olds in French Guiana haha!! More imprtant though is that I spent that day really thinking of all the things I'm grateful for. I remembered how blessed I am with loving friends and family, how grateful I am to be a missionary right now, and just gratitude for the experiences I've had in my life up to this point. There really is more to be thankful for than we can even count!  

On Friday the mission president and his wife were here for ZONE CONFERENCE!! It was SO fun to have them here with us. Zone Conference  was incredible and uplifting. I took soo many notes, but one thing that really stood out to me was how it was all centered on the Savior. I know that He is the one truly leading me, and that I'm just an instrument in His hands.

And Saturday, we had ANNIE'S BAPTISM!!! It was SO wonderful. I felt all the same feelings of gratitude and amazement that I felt when Anne-Gaelle was baptized. It was wonderful to see Annie grow and change over these past 4 or 5 months. I'm SO happy for her!!

On Sunday we had District Conference (like a Stake Conf) through broadcast! The district includes our branch in Guyane, the branch in Martinique, and the 3 branches in Guadeloupe. The District President lives in Guadeloupe so we got to listen to him speak, along with some other leaders. It was cool for me to hear from him for the first time!! Again, the messages were very centered towards a temple. One day!!!!! :)

As you can see this was an incredible week. I'm thankful for all of you and hope you have a great holiday season!! Love and hugs :)

Avec tout mon coeur,
Soeur Gardner


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