Week 49 - Mesi anpil maman pou tou bagay là

(Thank you so much mom, for everything)

Bonjour tout le monde!! Happy belated mother's day! 

This was a wonderful week!! I hit my 11 month anniversary on Monday-- I feel like the rest of my time is going to FLY by, and I'm trying to profit as much as I can from each and every moment. So this week I'd like to share with you a list of blessings and miracles I saw:

-Spending a p-day with Albie

-Listening to him rap as he made plaintain juice

-Met the friend of a member while contacting

-Taught two woman and their neighbor, who knew the church a little in Haiti and had a wonderful experience, which opened their heart even more to the Gospel

-God placed adorable puppies in our path after facing a little bump in the road of lots of rejection

-Talked to two hilarious neighbor-papis and had a really good conversation with them about the Gospel (and taught one of them yesterday)

-A woman invited us to come and share a quick message with her, even though she was visibly EXHAUSTED from work and was really overwhelmed with all she does as a working mother of 4 young kids

-Even though the lesson ended up falling through, we tried to work with Albie for the first time this week! He showed us a new shortcut (thankful for the natives who teach us ways to avoid the traffic)

-Found a man in our area book who was taught several years ago, and now seems to be prepared to fully embrace the Gospel in his life! His name is René, we're super excited about him!

-Had exchanges with the other sisters in Guadeloupe! I got to be back in my old area, Abymes, with my old companion, Sister Johnson! We basically just relived our lives from 2 months ago. I'm also SUPER happy because a woman I taught during my time there, Marie-France, is getting baptized this month on the 25th! She's overcome a lot to decide to be baptized, I'm so excited for her :)

-We saw William too, this guy from our time before that neither of us had seen since! He just happened to be walking his dog, and we pulled over and got to chat with him for a bit (which was a funny coincidence because we were talking about him, then turned a corner and there he was!)

-Had a wonderful, uplifting Zone Conference with President and Sister Fisher! I received spiritual guidance and strengthening that really gave me what I need to keep moving forward. President and Sister Fisher are SO incredible-- I could never imagine a better fit for me. I really feel that Heavenly Father placed us together for a reason-- I learn a lot from them about Christlike love and what it means to follow Him.

-Had an interview with my mission president after 2 months!! One struggle of this mission is only getting to see your mission president every few months, so getting an interview with him is such a special and sacred time. As soon as it started we both just burst into tears because of how strong the spirit in the room was.

-Sister Fisher cracks us up :)

-Pres Fisher invited me to start the Book of Mormon over again while pondering the question, "What tactics does Satan use to deceive and destroy us? How does Heavenly Father strengthen and protect?" I started on Saturday and already am learning a lot.

-Our Zone Leaders made a Cafe Rio buffet, which I haven't had in forever and thoroughly enjoyed haha

-We had an incredibly spiritual lesson with another friend we found in the area book! At first we were worried-- when we walked in, his wife was really angry "the mormons" were there and tried to argue with us about some things. But we had Sister Layne with us, and she handled the situation in such a wonderful way that his wife let us stay. He has a really special spirit and we could feel that in the lesson.

-We tried out a new contacting approach that President Fisher shared with us at Zone Conference, and it has changed the way we contact so much! We're seeing some great things from it.

-Tried some new Caribbean fruits (can't remember what they're called, but one is like a giant apricot and the other is a super sweet version of a passion fruit kinda). Also I held a GIANT crab 

-Melissa, a 17 year old girl who was baptized in March, invited a friend to church with her yesterday! We went to their house last night to talk about the Restoration and it was a really cool lesson. Her friend is coming to District (like Stake) Conference next week!

-Got to talk to my adorable family and see my mom's beautiful face on Mother's Day :)

I'm thankful for all the things we saw this week and for God's hand in our life. I know that He is there in the small detials!

I love you all and hope you have a happy week :)

Love and bisous,

Soeur Gardner