Week 74 - Cheese on bread..... Welcome to Barbados!!

HELLO all my friends! I feel like SO much has happened this week and I have to get used to typing on an American keyboard again which is fun haha!

The beginning of this week was pretty sad. I left behind a place and people I came to love with all I have, and saying goodbye wasn't at all easy. It was also hard leaving French behind... I was holding it all in pretty well until I said my last prayer in French as we were leaving our apartment to the airport, and I couldn't keep myself from crying a little bit. Taking off from the island was also a really hard part, but I saw a rainbow which made me really happy! Seeing rainbows in Guadeloupe was one of my favorite things, so seeing one last one was really special :)

Getting into Barbados was crazy but so fun!! It was a bit of a whirlwind-- we had Zone Conference the day after I got in and we got to do a presentation, which was kind of nerve-racking doing in front of missionaries that I don't really know but it went pretty well! I always love zone conference and learning from President Fisher. 

One fun thing about Barbados is that there are tons of senior missionaries! I feel pretty pampered with all the senior-missionary love they've shown to us. The mission office has tons of free chocolate bars that I'd better stay away from... :)

It's also just weird speaking English in general. It's getting better but at first I was stumbling over my words all the time haha :) It's been very cool to teach in English though and be able to express my testimony and pray in my native language again!

On Thursday we sent Sister Blomquist off for home! I got to spend a couple days with her before she left and I'm thankful for that, she's a great example and I learned a lot from her about how to love and teach the people in Barbados.

Being with Sister MacDonald has been wonderful! She's a very calming  presence to be around but also lots of fun. She makes little comments all the time that seriously crack me up. I love her a lot :) I'm learning a LOT from her too!! She is an AMAZING missionary and is teaching me so much through her example.

Some highlights:

-People say "Cheese on bread" here kind of the same way we use "what the heck." They also have quite a bit of other slang that I honestly don't really understand yet but maybe I'll get there :)

-Met a REALLY sweet old lady who told me she loved me after we left her house which just melted my heart

-An ANGEL man guided us to an area that we were struggling to find. We're both pretty new to the area and it's been crazy getting around, but we stopped and asked him for directions and he was kind enough to let us follow him in his car to find the neighborhood. His pregnant wife and little boy were in the car too, and it was his wife's birthday so we got to sing to her! We were very grateful and are hoping we'll get to possibly teach them :)

-I got asked if all people in Michigan look like me. Didn't really know how to answer that one haha 

-Worked with Sister Nelson, a crazy cute member here. She was one of the first members in Barbados and is 86 years old!! But she wa

s a trooper and came out with us for a couple hours. She did a lot of good for our friends. She takes pride in being a pioneer and loves singing hymns. She smells like coconuts and takes a sea bath (lays out in the ocean) every day... she's my role model.

-We had district conference! The district consists of all three branches in Barbados, so I got to meet a lot of members! There's quite a few Americans here studying at the medical school and it honestly was kind of weird being around them... it's been awhile and I sorta forgot what Americans like talking about haha. But I LOVE the members, they're very loving!

All in all this has been a bit of a transition, but it's going well and allowing me to continue growing! I think I'm going to love Barbados a lot. I've felt Heavenly Father's hand guiding us along a lot this week and placing wonderful people in our path, and I'm very grateful. I'm excited to keep updating you about how it all goes!

I'm thankful for you all!! Have a wonderful week! :)

Lots of love,

Sister Gardner