Week 73 - Au revoir, Guadeloupe....Hello, Barbados!!
Bonjour mes amis!
This was a crazy week, and today is my last day in Guadeloupe... tomorrow I'll be heading over to Barbados!! Leaving Guadeloupe is very hard, I love this place so much and I especially love these people! I'm trying not to focus too much on the sadness though-- unfortunately a part of missions is one day having to say goodbye, but there are also countless blessings to focus on!
One of the best parts of this week was getting to be in Barbados for a few days for Mission Leadership Council. It was one of the most spiritual meetings amongst missionaries that I've attended my whole mission! Us, the other companionship of sister training leaders, and the zone leaders from the other 7 or so islands flew in. It was a powerful bunch and we received a lot of revelation for our mission to reach our vision of having a stake and a temple here one day!! I learned a lot of things that will help me better serve and love the missionaries around me and become a better disciple of my Savior, so I'm extremely thankful for that.
We also got to work with Sister MacDonald and Sister Blomquist, which was really great! They're both wonderful missionaries and lots of fun to be around. The five of us slept over at the mission home together and had a party with President and Sister Fisher after all the elders went to their hotel (the poor elders haha). I got to visit some people in Barbados as well, and my heart is already full of love for them.
My favorite memories from this week:
-Singing along to the guitar with President Fisher
-Helping Sister Fisher put up Halloween decorations and make meals (I forgot what Halloween is like in America!)
-Going on a team-building nature walk together
-Meeting all the office staff; lots of them are different than those I met when I came into the mission, so it was fun getting to meet them!!
-Getting to see Bridgetown itself (the city my mission is named after)-- it's beautiful!!
-Seeing all our friends that I love sooo much
-The Desir family giving us butter cake and coconuts
-We had a lesson with a really cool man (he's actually a miracle friend that Soeur Kitchen and I found a while back, I think I told the story in an old email)-- he told us about a dream he had pointing him towards the Gospel path and we're SO pumped because we can already see him serving as a stake president someday haha!
-My last day attending church in French as a missionary.... that was one of the hardest "lasts" for me
Through everything this week, I've really felt God uplifting and supporting me. I've felt Him by my side and confirming in my heart that He truly is directing all my paths, even the ones that might be a little hard! I know that God is there for me, and I have no doubt that He is there for you too. He loves you and will comfort you as well when you face a challenge or a trial. You can do all things through Him, for His strength is made perfect in weakness.
I love you all!! Next week I'll be emailing you from Barbados so stay tuned for some fun adventures I'm sure!! :D
GROS BISOUS!! Je vous aime!
Soeur Gardner
PS. Pictures aren't uploading in this email, sorry!
** MOM NOTE: On our call this week, a couple of cute and sentimental things happened. First, there was a cute European sounding siren (that's probably not the way to describe it but it sounds similar to what we heard in Europe) - she said it was from a passing police car. We laughed at how cute it was and she said she hopes they have cute sirens in Barbados. A few minutes later, there was another cute horn sound and I asked if it was another emergency vehicle and she said no, that it was a bread truck! She said they make fresh bread every morning and then drive around in these trucks and honk the horn and people will come up to buy it - like an ice cream truck. She said she was going to miss that too, and she got a little teary. I think leaving Guadeloupe is sad for her in and of itself because she loves the people so much, but it also because she realizes that her mission is wrapping up. Also, we got the flight itinerary yesterday - Dec. 19, 4:57 pm!
** MOM NOTE: On our call this week, a couple of cute and sentimental things happened. First, there was a cute European sounding siren (that's probably not the way to describe it but it sounds similar to what we heard in Europe) - she said it was from a passing police car. We laughed at how cute it was and she said she hopes they have cute sirens in Barbados. A few minutes later, there was another cute horn sound and I asked if it was another emergency vehicle and she said no, that it was a bread truck! She said they make fresh bread every morning and then drive around in these trucks and honk the horn and people will come up to buy it - like an ice cream truck. She said she was going to miss that too, and she got a little teary. I think leaving Guadeloupe is sad for her in and of itself because she loves the people so much, but it also because she realizes that her mission is wrapping up. Also, we got the flight itinerary yesterday - Dec. 19, 4:57 pm!
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