Hermana Garner - Now a Texan!: 8/15/16

hello!!!! transfer week is here and I am leaving Kemah and going to Brazos! another little spanish branch!! complete farmland! I am senior companion again with an hermana who just finished training. it should be interesting but I am excited!!

this week was an interesting one. surprisingly, we didnt teach a lot....but we did missionary work still!

Monday after P-day, some of the guys in my branch threw me a going away party which included cake in my face. they did a huge BBQ and everything....it was super nice of them...

we went to the temple with the Aguirres!!!! best combo....the Aguirres and the temple. it was such a neat experience. I havent done a session in the temple since before my mission, so it was incredible. The feeling I have when I am in the house of the Lord sitting next to the people I have grown to love so much. it is unreal! After the temple we went to a mexican buffet. whats better??? nothin. it was an amazing day. after that, we had to plan for the next week. so to do that, we went to the beach and planned there. it was so relaxing and wonderful! I really love this area and I will miss it tons.

an amazing miracle happened this week. remember Nico? we were teaching him for a while and then his work schedule got super busy all of the sudden so he didnt have time. but we were thinking about him the other day for some reason. we were in Texas City so we just decided to see if he was home. we stopped by and him and his family were moving! they were taking their boxes out to load in their truck! we asked if they are moving and when and they said they were moving that exact day. Nico also said that he lost his phone and he didnt have our number. we have an appointment with him soon because he wants us to start comin over again. what a miracle it was!!! if we didnt go over, we would have never ever found/talked to him again! he moved and he doesnt have a phone. it was such a tender mercy that day. Heavenly Father sure does want us to teach him. It is amazing how the timing of the Lord is so perfect.

the most interesting thing happened this week! So on Sunday I did a musical number with another hermana. We were at the church one day practicing and a guy from our branch walks in (he was getting married this weekend) and he asks us if we will play at his wedding that night! Him and his wife are from Colombia and were getting married in the church! So the hermana played the violin and I played the piano throughout the wedding...while the bride walked in and everything. It was so funny....getting a wedding gig as a missionary. HOLLA. but it was really neat and we got a lot of compliments. when the party started, Oscar took over with his DJing. Again, watching all the people I love dance their heart out makes me the happiest. So Hna. Hughes and I danced with all the kids and talked to some non-members their and enjoyed every minute.

Yesterday we were totally led by the Spirit everywhere we went. We ended up in this little tiny trailer park. We got there and there were a bunch of little hispanic kids from Honduras runnin around. We started talking to them and apparently all of the trailers are family. They laughed sooo hard at our accents but they loved what we said about Christ. We all gave them little pictures of Christ and they told us how much they loved Him. it brings me sooo much joy talking about my Savior and how much He loves us. After that, we were led to a less-active who I have seen once. We pulled into the parking lot and he was just getting out of his car. We walked up to him and he said he was just going back into his house because he forgot his credit card. We talked to him for about an hour. He is from Cuba and is such a great man. The thing that hit me what he said was "I don't love anything more than Jesus Christ" yesterday was just incredible.

oh man, yesterday was so hard saying goodbye to all of my Kemah family. I was bawling and bawling. I have been here for 7 months and grown to love every single person in the branch. They have become my family and some of my best friends. We have struggled together and have grown so much at the same time. A lot of people that I didn't know told me how much I helped their family or something like that. I cried and cried and cried. This people mean so much to me and I just want the best for them in life. They are the hardest workers in everything they do and so humble. I am so sad to leave here but I am excited for this new adventure and ready to fall in love with these new people! I love them already!

I love the Lord and His timing. He put me in Kemah at this time in my life because He knew I needed them. Especially right after my Mexico journey, the Lord knew I needed their love. I was placed here for a reason and I'm excited to be placed somewhere else. I know Christ lives and loves every single one of us. He loves our strengths and weaknesses. He will always be there if we turn to Him. I love Him and can't wait to serve Him somewhere else in His vineyard!

Hermana Garner