4/18/16 - I LOVE PEOPLE

HELLO from the rainy Texas! there is a lot of flooding down here but we are safe! a lot of service opportunities coming up though!

this week was so interesting...not the normal missionary week but it was successful nonetheless!

some things about L that I forgot to write in my email last week:

-when he goes to the gym everyday, FOR 4 HOURS, he told us that he listens to the Book of Mormon and now he is 2 Nephi 24.

-at the rabbit BBQ with F, we were talking about learning English. F was saying that it was super hard to learn English but then when you understand a little and speak it as much as you can, it gets easier! L then said "yeah! it's like the gospel! first it is a little hard to comprehend everything and learn everything but then you get the hang of it and things become habits and it is easier because you are doing the right thing!" future bishop or what?!?

-before the rabbit BBQ, we were at Walmart picking out his tie and when we were leaving he said "I cant wait to eat the rabbit with you guys! We are going to be like Nephi when he broke his bow!" (This is a story from the book of Mormon. Nephi was a great prophet and he tells of a time when his bow broke and he could not hunt for food. He spent much time praying and through his faith, he was helped to make a new bow and was able to find food for his family.) Is he not just the greatest man alive? we LOVE him!

-we got everything together for him in South Carolina. he got in contact with the branch president and the missionaries there in his Spanish branch! he said he went to church and loved it and the missionaries are coming by twice this week. we are SOO happy! we called him on Saturday night just to make sure everything was ok for Sunday and he told us that he had read every day after work and he had his iron all ready to go to iron his white shirt for Sunday. we loved talking to him and are planning on going to the temple with him as soon as he gets back! we cant wait!

so my story with my toe and the garden tool was pretty painful sounding, huh? yeah. so the lady that is in charge of the garden LOVES the missionaries, especially the sisters. so she invited us over for dinner this week. her name is A and she is a great Christian lady. we showed her the #hallelujah video and she loved it and even teared up. she also said she has been wanting to come to our church! she calls us her daughters and she hates how sometimes we change every 6 weeks. we love her SO much!

On Wednesday morning, the mission had transfers. There is a Food Truck in Texas City that we don't usually go to but because it was transfers and a lot of missionaries couldn't make it, we were asked to go and help out. I went once when I was on exchanges and loved it. this time I loved it even more! There are A LOT of African-American people there and you know me....I was in love. I challenged myself to talk to as many people as I could and listen to their story while they were in the line for the food. I met so many amazing people and I got so many huge hugs from huge people. I LOVE PEOPLE.

we taught a family this week! it is a couple from El Salvador with 2 little kids. They are very poor and their story is super sad. El Salvador is reaaalllyyyy dangerous right now so basically any story from there is very depressing and humbling. We taught them and were hesitant to extend a baptism date but I have faith in them. I love teaching families!

On Friday we ate with the G family (my favorites) and were planning on being with them for the rest of the night helping them pack. We got there and ate some SUUUUPER spicy food. It was really good but our lips, tongue, mouth, teeth, everything was on fire. I got through it but Hermana R was super sick after. She was laying on their couch and she couldn't move. I felt so bad! So I asked A if we could start packing and she told us that she already used all of the boxes that we gave her............so we didn't help her. hahahaha. but because Hermana R couldn't move, we watched Mormon Message after Mormon Message on their TV. After that we looked at pictures of their family, danced to Hispanic music and laughed and laughed. I sure do love them and will miss them A TON when they move. they have such a special place in my heart. I LOVE PEOPLE.

R! I have sent a couple of pictures of her in my emails. She is the cutest little grandma from El Salvador who one time offered her bed for us to sleep because it as like 8oclock and it was too late for us to drive home. She invited us over for lunch on Saturday and so we went! We were a little scared because old people cooking is just a little.............scary sometimes. But it was AMAZING. she loved having us and we had such a good time. she is so funny. she told me my nail polish was ugly but she loved my hair. she wouldn't stop touching it...haha. I LOVE PEOPLE....especially old ones.

we have a new investigator and her name is..........Leslie! haha kinda funny. we found her at English class! we were in the middle of the lesson and Hermana R goes over to the lobby area where people can buy smoothies and stuff and sit down and she sees a woman crying. She starts talking to her and she just got here from Honduras. She has an ankle bracelet (GPS thing from the government) and is alone with her 2-year-old son. She has absolutely nothing. We talked to her after class and she told us that she met with some missionaries about a year ago and loved it but something happened and they stopped. we set up an appointment and invited her to church and......SHE CAME! The zumba instructor (member) picked her up and brought her to all 3 hours of church. we taught her the first lesson after church and she accepted a baptismal date for May 21! she was basically begging to be baptized. we have a lot of faith in her. it is just really sad to see her circumstances. she is looking for a bed and clothes to work in. she now has 2 jobs...one in the day and one at night. she sleeps for about 2 hours every night and said she needs tshirts and sweats to work in! if anybody has an extra clothes or clothes they are about to donate they wanna send let me know!

in general this week we didn't have a lot of time to teach just with various things, but I grew my relationships with a lot of different people and I am so grateful for that. My purpose is to bring others unto Christ as a missionary, but knowing them and having a relationship with them is a step in that direction. I am working on my patience this week with myself and others and I am ponderizing the scripture Mosiah 2:23-24 to help me with that. (also from the Book of Mormon. It says, “And now, in the first place, he hath created you, and granted unto you your lives, for which ye are indebted unto him. And secondly, he doth require that ye should do as he hath commanded you; for which if ye do, he doth immediately bless you; and therefore he hath paid you. And ye are still indebted unto him, and are, and will be, forever and ever; therefore, of what have ye to boast?) I kind of hit a point this week where I realized that I could be a much better missionary than I am right now if I had more patience with everything! myself, my companion, the branch, our investigators, everyone! I am learning to trust in the Lord's timing with everything. I love the Lord and love serving Him.

Hermana Garner

P-Day at the Kemah boardwalk

GO CARDS!

R wanted to take a picture with her hand on her hip. such a cutie!

4/11/16 - a miracle baptism

hola familia y amigos!! como estan?? hemos visto muchos milagros este semana!!

hello friends and family! how are you? we have seen so many miracles this week!

first things first---L GOT BAPTIZED ON SATURDAY and here is how it happened:

Sunday-L didn't come to General Conference and told us he didn't want to get baptized at all. He wanted us to forget about him. That night we went to see him without telling him we were coming and he was so sad. He wasn't happy like he always was and he was still VERY confused. He wanted to just go back to the way he was before we started teaching him. we left his house with tears in our eyes

Monday-we had an appointment that night with him. I read a talk earlier that day about the story of Sailor and how this little girl was abandoned in a plane crash but the light of a house saved her and how Christ is that light and how He will always be there for us. We shared this talk with him and explained that this is just a trial of his faith. God is testing him to see how strong he really his. After we read the story, I bore a very powerful testimony and after that Hermana R asked if he would be baptized this Saturday and he accepted with a smile. After the lesson we were in the parking lot just hugging and crying happy tears. Our L was back!

Tuesday-we had a lesson with him about temples and how we have the opportunity to be with our families forever. We brought our ward mission leader, Hermano M and he was amazing. L really respects him because he has helped him with his testimony a lot in Sunday School and Priesthood. Hermano M bore a super strong testimony about temples and how that should be his goal. This lesson, he started to get excited again for his baptism.

Wednesday-we went over to his house and we talked to him about the baptismal questions. Usually with people getting baptized, you go over it with them to make sure they don't have any questions or doubts or anything. it went really well and he felt super ready.

Thursday-we went to Walmart with him to buy a white shirt, a tie, white underwear and socks for his baptism. It was so fun! Later that day he invited us over for a BBQ with F. Remember that picture I sent last week of the rabbit that died on the road during our lesson? Guess what he BBQ'd? some chicken and that very rabbit. I can now say that I have eaten roadkill! HOLLA. After the BBQ later that night he had his baptismal interview and he said it went really well and he feels very content.

Saturday-HIS BAPTISM! it was the most magical day! A really neat experience happened. So yesterday we had a special church meeting because we had some boundary changes (it didn't effect us a lot....we just have a few more families from Galveston) and so we had to get permission from Pres. Hall to have L confirmed on Sunday. He gave us permission to do a "font-side" confirmation which is where he is confirmed at his baptism after the ordinance. The only condition was he could only get confirmed if enough people showed up to his baptism to support him (a big reason why confirmations happen on sunday is to see the support of the ward welcoming them into the ward). So Pres. A (branch president) got up to bear his testimony at the baptism and said "I want to testify about the power of prayer. I have praying this whole time about a certain number of people to come into this room so we can confirm you today. When we started there wasn't no where near as many people as I had planned on. But during the program and after the baptism, the exact number of people were here that I prayed about. So we are going to confirm you a member of the church right now" it was a surprise to both us and L! but what a blessing it was. L was on cloud 9. after his baptism he was just beaming. he was so happy. it is such an incredible feeling as missionaries. also, O (our recent convert) gave a talk at his baptism and he was so nervous. Nothing is better than having a recent convert give a talk at your new converts baptism.

Sunday-we went to the special boundary change meeting in Galveston with L in his car (with the other hermanas) and it was great! the best part about Sunday was seeing him take the sacrament and him getting to meet Pres. Hall. We have talked to President Hall A TON about his whole situation because a lot of the times we haven't known what to do. But to have him meet L was great. L explained to him how happy he was and how he knows the church is true with all of his heart. that night we went over to the M family's house with L to have a family night and watch a church video. L was crying throught it ALL pretty much. he always says he his a crier...haha. but he loved it and he knows it is all true. it was a fun night.

this week was a miracle week.

also, L was talking to Hermana R and I last night and he said that we teach really well. that made us feel so good! we are always so worried about if he will understand or not or what we need to do. but he said "Hermana Garner is always just sooo relaxed and doesn't say much. But when she says something it is strong. it is just what I need to hear" it made me feel sooo good! THIS is another reason I am here in Texas.

ok one more thing about L. he is going to South Carolina today for a job for a month, it is the saddest thing! But we already have the church building, the missionaries and the ward all figured out for him. we will be in contact with him a lot for a month but we are both grateful that we aren't getting transferred so we will both be here when he gets back. still keep him in your prayers!

other than L, pray for our other investigators! 3 of them have baptismal dates but aren't doing AS well. we need to find find find!

soooo not as spiritual but this week my body has suffered....a lot...hahaha. On Wednesdays we do service at a garden. I was using a tool where it has like 5 little pointy things at the bottom that you stick in the dirt, twist it and it pulls the weeds out. so being megan garner, I stick the tool super hard.....INTO MY TOE. Yeah...when I tell people they cringe just thinking about it. so enjoy that thought. so my big toe has been pretty purple this week. After that started getting better we were playing soccer on Friday night, I had the ball (it never happens....they never pass it to the girls) and I was running with it down the field and I guess they all realized that I had the ball so about 5 Hispanic men just attacked me, I fell to the ground and scraped up my knees real good. it was dripping blood and all. whooooo go meeeee! Before L left this morning, he texted us and said "Hermana Garner....take care of your toe and knees! don't get hurt while I'm gone!" what a guy. but I am doing better now! I have pictures of both my knees and toe!

I love this work. I love teaching the gospel to people to change their lives. I love seeing how happy the gospel makes people feel. I love seeing the Lord in all things that we do. I love being a missionary and getting to do this for 18 months. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else! There are some really hard days but those just make the good days better.

Hermana Garner

the toe

the knees

BAPTISM HAPPINESS!! L's baptism!!

BBQ'ing!

Leopoldo BBQing. he loooooved cooking for us and it was really good!

I didn't really like the rabbit..