2/8/16 - Never want to leave

hola! como estan? espero que esten bien y felizes!!

this week was so good but SOOO busy. we didn't have a ton of time to visit people we wanted to but it was still great.

Robbins family in Utah-thank you SOOOO much for those letters! you guys are the best and I loved all of the little pictures. it made me so happy! love and miss you guys!

probably the most exciting thing that is happening is O’s baptism tomorrow! He told his wife on Wednesday right before we came over that he was getting baptized and you can imagine what mood she was in when we saw her. yesterday in church it was announced in relief society. it was super funny. I was walking up to play the piano and I just heard every lady gasp and I knew that Hermana P told everyone. the bishop announced it at the pulpit. just guessing that everyone from the ward and their mom will be there and that couldn't make us more excited as missionaries. it will be great. Hermana P is figuring food and everything out today and we are gonna help her. it will be such a great day! We put the picture of them in the car in a frame and we are going to give it to them for their anniversary/baptism gift. We love them! On sunday I asked Hermana p how she felt and if she was excited and she just looked at me and said, "I am so happy. The Lord really knew what he was doing." she has one of the strongest testimonies I have ever seen. pictures to come next week with their family!

R is doing SOOO well! We love him so much. We are so excited to go to the temple with him this Saturday, F is going too! (his brother) We go to soccer every Friday night and we went with R in his super sweet mustang. Let's just say missionaries don't have that much fun on a mission usually. haha. but he got his temple recommend and we are so proud of him! we went over the other night to teach him and to get family names so we can print them and have them ready for Saturday. we were there when he called his family in Guatemala and it was the sweetest thing. especially when he was talking to his mom, it made me cry.

something I learned this week is that ALL of the Hispanic people I know here are all away from their family. most of them are here illegally and the story of how they got here is amazing. they hide in trunks, swim across rivers, everything. im not going into politics and legal stuff but they sacrificed so much to get here so they could work for their family. it is amazing and they are the hardest workers I know.

This week in English class we talked about families and it was super funny. we were saying like "I have two sisters!" and "I have a son!" and everything and it was a guy in my group's turn and he said "I have 11 brothers and 7 sisters!" and I said "no...how many siblings do you have?" thinking he didn't understand or something. he said again "I have 11 brothers and 7 sisters!" HIS FAMILY HAS 19 KIDS. he was completely serious and my whole group just laughed and laughed at how I thought he didn't understand the question. it was super funny and now hes my Guatemalan best friend.

On Wednesday we do service at a local Methodist church! We help plant a garden! it is so fun! this lady named Aly is in charge and just loves the missionaries. on Wednesday we planted cabbage and lettuce and "fixed" the beds. (I know there is a special gardening term for that...) It was super fun and she gave us all cook books because someone was complaining on how they gain a ton of weight on the mission. hahaha.

We had a new missionary meeting on Thursday where we had a training on the Atonement. It was mind-blowing. study the scriptures but REALLY think about what you are reading, especially about the Atonement. I learned so many cool things. repentance is such a real thing!

One day this week we went to a lady named F's house. She owns a tire shop. She is in the middle of going through a divorce with her husband because he wasn't faithful. She has 3 amazingly cute, little daughters and her son just left on a mission. She is always super stressed and has a hard time sometimes. We can't do a whole lot with her situation but we visited her at her house the night after her son left. We shared D&C 31 with her and how her family will be blessed because of his mission. she started crying (she is super quiet and shy) and her oldest daughter did too. it was such a cool night but I know it really helped them. keep them in your prayers!

We ate with a super old Mexican lady on Saturday for lunch and it really made me miss Mexico and everything about it. it was especially funny because Mexicans serve you SO much food but here that doesn't exist all the time. but we went to her house and I usually don't ask for seconds anyway (just because I usually can't eat it all because I'm full) but she said "Do you want some more beans?" I said "sure!" she serves me about 6 spoon fulls of beans and then brings me a huge piece of meat that I didn't even ask for! hahahah this little old lady sure does love her food. I was a full girl that day.

Yesterday at church I was sitting down in the pew after it ended and little G (remember last email...the one with autism) comes up to me and gives me the biggest hug. it was the sweetest thing! we are bffs now because I played hot wheels with him for like an hour one day. but he just kept on giving me hug after hug and his mom was loving it. definitely a little blessing on my sticky note in my planner that day! I will try to get a picture with him this next week!

thank you for all of the thoughts and prayers! this work is hard, but it is so good. I'm so lucky to be a part of it at this specific time. I love the Lord and I love learning new things about Him every single day. I love my area more than I ever thought I would. I never want to leave here, I will be devastated when I do. I am already in love with the people and my branch!

Hermana Garner

 Biking!! I love it!!

 My donut-loving friend!

so pretty much everywhere we go is far away from home. so everyday we have to take a ton of stuff with us like lunch, study stuff, clothes, etc. this morning we were on our way to a service project (the garden) and I had my pancake in one hand, and Hermana reeders straightener in another and clothes in a bag. hahaha. it is pretty funny

2/1/16 - "The Lord loves the unlikely to accomplish the impossible"

helllllooooooo friends and family! hope everyone had a great week this week, I DID!

this week was one that I will never forget. so many great and little miracles.

ENGLISH CLASS! Every Tuesday and Thursday we have English class at a Zumba studio where a member teaches Zumba. We were a little afraid of how the turnout was going to be what we had like more than 20 people show up!! it is my companions and I and the other elders in our district who are the 'teachers'. we each have a little group that we work with and teach. my group doesn't know ANY English and the actual rule for the class is that we can't speak ANY Spanish. only English. through the program we are doing it through it is supposed to be an English class where any language that you speak you can learn English. that was super confusing. for example: a person that speaks Chinese is supposed to come into the class and learn English. comprende? so yeah it is pretty hard especially when you want them to learn it so bad but it is hard. but I LOVE MY GROUP! on Tuesdays we learn the material/have the lesson and then on Thursdays we review and play a game to remember it. So when I met my group on Tuesday for the first time I said super slow to them "W-E  A-R-E  T-H-E  D-R-E-A-M  T-E-A-M". just blank stares. hahaha but they are super happy to be there and learn. on Thursday we played musical chairs and they LOVED it. everyone was laughing and having a good time. it made my heart happy.

PRESIDENT NELSON WAS MORE THAN AMAZING. holy cow I don't remember the last time I have felt the Spirit so strong. it was incredible. I learned SO many things and all of the questions that I wrote down ALL got answered. I am still on such a spiritual high. the quote in my subject line was one of my favorite things that he said. "the Lord loves the unlikely to accomplish the impossible" when he said that everyone just stared at him and said "wow". he is truly a man of God and the next prophet!! He shared some very sacred and personal experiences with us and he has the sweetest smile. I got to shake his hand! But I will never forget that day. At the end of the meeting we sang "I know that my Redeemer lives" with the organ and blasting and saying that I was an emotional wreck during the last song is an understatement. some things that I loved that he said:

"Why do you think missionaries are here? Because they can simply make your life better"

"your letters are scripture to your family" (guess I have to try extra hard now;))

"You can strengthen your family more on your mission than sitting at the dinner table at home"

"This is His church, we are His people"

After that meeting we went to a pizza place in downtown Houston. We were in line about to pay and a guy walks up and says "sister missionaries? I love sister missionaries! I'm paying for all of you!" there were 6 of us together. HOW NICE OF A MAN. and he paid for us.

O is doing VERY well. He is progressing so much. He already knows all of the doctrine and everything (because he has been going to church like all of his life with his wife) but he has really changed and that is one of my favorite things on my mission. seeing people's lifes change because of Christ. that's why I'm here!!!!!! so yesterday he was supposed to tell his wife and they were supposed to announce it in sacrament meeting but his wife WAS SICK! she wasn't at church so tonight we are going over there. we don't know if he has told her yet, we will see! it is so fun having a secret investigator. his baptism is next week and he is planning on having a FULL BLOWN FIESTA. tacos. un baile. todo. im excited.

R is just great. As a recent convert, he is progressing A TON. I have never worked with a recent convert of mine this much and still seeing them progress in the gospel. Every time we go over there to teach him he is so involved and has so many good questions. he is a little nervous about the temple but he got his recommend so that's good! I sat next to him all 3 hours of church yesterday. such a good guy. so humble and loving. he has all of the desires we should have!

So there is a family in our branch, la familia G. They are recently returning from being less-active and have been super strong in the Gospel. they have 2 older kids and one young kid, G who is about 4. He has autism and they are in the process of figuring it out. The mom is very stressed and sometimes depressed. We have been going over there a lot because she LOVES the missionaries and she feels like she can tell us anything (which we love and want). the last time we went over there, it wasn't planned. we just felt like we should go. it was such a good night and you could tell the Spirit had a big role. when we knelt down to say the prayer, little G folded his arms, closed his eyes, mumbled something that we couldn't understand and said "amen". we all answered "AMEN!". sweet little things like that just testify that Heavenly Father is doing His work.

Yesterday at church, there was a missionary giving his farewell. I don't know if I have mentioned this but every kid here is fluent in English. Every parent here is fluent in Spanish. The parents move here from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and have their kids here and their kids grow up in English schools. it is interesting. some of the parents know English perfectly and some have no idea. So, this missionary had to give his talk in Spanish (we are in a Spanish branch) and he was struggling. like hard core and I felt super bad for him. he was getting really frustrated at himself (haha I totally understand). when it was time to bear his testimony he said "I am saying this in English" and he got VERY emotional. it was so sweet. I think it hit him that he was going on a mission and all of the missionaries started crying. haha. he said "I KNOW it is right. I KNOW that it is where I am supposed to be." such a good example to us, missionaries. he is going to California-Spanish speaking. don't remember which mission. but it was a cool little experience to watch and how the people in the branch couldn't understand him but could feel the Spirit still.

I have learned so much this week than any other time in my mission. I have learned to be patient with my companions, to love the little moments in life, to count my blessings, to teach with the Spirit, to learn by the Spirit, to love those you teach and to love the Lord and His Atonement. I have almost been here for a month and I have already grown A TON. Missions are the best!

thanks for all of the love every week! love you all so much!

Hermana Garner

aren't these kids the cutest little things?? we went to contact a referral one day and these kids were playing outside in a courtyard. they had gotten a ball stuck in the tree and one of them was up in the tree shaking the branches and the other ones were throwing stuff up there to get the ball. one of them was using a huge water bottle and when they threw it up there, it would rain water on us. every time. but unlike every other kid here, these kids didn't speak English. they loved how we were white but spoke Spanish to them. there were American kids there too who didn't speak Spanish but they were playing together anyway even though they couldn't communicate. I love that!

 This is R and his brother F. R was able to baptize his brother!!

 THIS IS O AND HIS WIFE! we were on the road one day and we stopped at a stoplight and look over and there they are. they look like celebrities here. they are from the Dominican republic (that's why). she is beautiful and he is just a rockstar. so happy I got this shot.

1/25/16 - Bike rides

Hi friends-

A couple of things to clarify in Megan’s letter below:

-Russel M Nelson is one of 15 main leaders of our church. They travel worldwide and speak to congregations frequently and it is exciting to have one of them come to speak in your mission. There are 405 missions around the world so it doesn’t happen often!

-She mentioned that Rony (a new member) received the priesthood. In our church, boys are given the priesthood at age 12 and, as they get older, that responsibility to act in Christ’s name increases. New members are given the priesthood very soon after they are baptized and are given many opportunities to serve others as Christ did.

Leslie

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hello family and friends!

this week has been so good but hard too!

We had a world-wide mission conference on Wednesday with all of the missions in the entire world and it was live. It was a suuuuper cool feeling. the speakers were so great and I learned A TON. they were definitely inspired because they answered so many of my questions. I loved it!

RUSSEL M. NELSON IS COMING TO OUR MISSION ON SATURDAY. we couldn't be more excited.

so...O! the dream investigator. he is doing so so great! their family is so fun to be with. they are from the Dominican Republic and their accents are TO DIE FOR. I wish I wasn't American sometimes...haha. we dont have cool accents. ANYWAY. everytime we teach him they always have so much food for us and we never remember they feed us so usually we eat BASTANTE (plenty or enough). as in the meal we have before and the meal they feed us. when we get home after them we all lay on the floor and digest a little. On the spiritual side of things, O is doing well and is still planning on getting baptized the 9th of February and telling his family about it this Sunday. it will be so great! his wife honestly has the strongest testimony I have ever seen in my life. AND also the best laugh I have ever heard. I love the people here.

We have a game of soccer every Friday night at this big field and it is super fun. we go because we have recent converts and less-active guys (usually ages 20-25) that like to play so we play with them! I always get made fun of because I'm always freezing cold and I don't know the "soccer spanish lingo" yet..haha. some of them usually pass me the ball super "easy" so I can get it and then they come and steal it from me anyway. fun times.

We had a service activity on Saturday. we went to this BEAUTIFUL park right on the water and we picked up litter everywhere! there were so many docks that you could go out on and the weather was perfect. I didn't bring my camera so just imagine it in your mind :) my companions and I have a lot of fun together so it was a party and a half. I think we are in the newspaper for it too!

So R is a recent convert that we have, he got baptized the weekend before I got here. is is AMAZING. he is about mid twentys and is from Guatemala. he is so fun and has such a strong testimony. he just got the priesthood on Sunday and is pretty excited. we are getting him names so we can go with him and his brother (member of a year) to the temple to do baptisms on Feb. 13. im SO excited! It is cool because here it is super hard for people to get off work because they come to America to only work so their bosses can be super strict. but thankfully he got it and so it will be a special day for everyone!

the weather has been absolutely perfect this week. it rained a couple times but the rain is good too! "bike rides" was my subject because it is my new favorite thing. and we are going to have to do it a lot more because we are running out of my miles and it is near the end of the month. I enjoy bike rides so much! they take stress out of the day and are so relaxing and refreshing. I love them. I have learned a lot about taking those moments out of the day to realize how blessed we are and to not take anything for granted. enjoy those little moments that we have and cherish them! we live for those.

thanks for the letters and emails! you all are so great! have a great week!

Hermana Garner

so we don't live in a very central location so a lot of times we study in the car or bring lunches and eat in the car because we don't want to go all the way home. but sometimes we get distracted!

 Sign by one of our investigator's houses - so cool!

1/19/16 - Welcome to Texas

hello friends and family!

It is good to write letters again. I love it! I also love being a missionary and I am so happy that I am here doing what I am doing.

Texas is so good! I am in the area Kemah. The city is Dickinson/League City. I think it is close to Galveston! The weather here is so nice right now! Almost every day has been blue skies and sunshine. best weather for missionaries! My branch is called the Kemah Southwest Branch. Only Spanish people and I couldn't be happier about it. the branch is SO strong. such good people and the branch president is amazing. I am so lucky that throughout my mission I have been in such strong places!

All of my travels here were great! But funny story. On the airplane, I sat in between two ladies and they were both from Texas. And they were.....lets just say....everything is bigger in Texas. But we got to talking and one of the ladies looks at me and she says "GUESS HOW MUCH I GOT MY PLOW FOR YESTERDAY" and I was like "...what?" and she says "MY PLOW!" She said, " I got such a good discount on this plow yesterday, it was $6000!!!" And I said, "WOW!" acting like I knew that was such a good deal. And the other lady said, "Welcome to Texas".

I am in a trio! I don't just have one companion, I have two! Hermana R and Hermana S. Hermana R is from Washington and has the best laugh and sense of humor. She goes home in May. Hermana S is from Delaware and has 10 kids in her family. She always tells people "yes..we are that Mormon family that sings around the piano on Sundays together and sings hymns". But she is so sweet! This is her last transfer! Being in a trio is super different than I expected. It is like a party all the time but it is also hard....just like being in a friend group of 3 is hard. But we work pretty well together and they have already taught me so much! I love them!

So my first day was good! After I got off the plane, Pres. and Sis. Hall were there hugging us and had lunches all ready for us. We went to a church where there were other missionaries. We were informed that half of us would have interviews and half of us would go OYM (open your mouth...basically contacting on the street) outside the church! So we did that! I went with a missionary from Peru (it reminded me of Hermana R in Mexico) and we did great! She said "You are super pretty so everyone will want to talk to you!!!" ok....people are the nicest here. But we did and I spoke Spanish and English to people and they were all sooooo friendly! We stayed overnight at a couple missionaries house (SO NICE....probably the best shower I have ever had) and the next morning we went to the mission office (church building with offices). We ate Kolache's (stuffed rolls with eggs and breakfast yumminess), had a little training, got companions, got bikes and went on our way! We do have a car but when we want to save miles, we bike! We just keep the bikes on the back of the car and the helmets in the back seat!

Switching missions was way different than I thought. Mission rules are different, here it is more strict generally and mission presidents are different too! President Hall and his wife are soooo great. They are so loving, fun, active and the people I need. Pres. Hall calls me and checks up on me regularly just to make sure I am doing good. I love him but I also miss President Stutz. He was so great!

As for the people I am teaching and visiting, they are fantastic! the weekend before I got here, my companions had a baptism of R. He is a single adult and he is awesome. He has such a strong testimony. The cutest story will follow. So the Relief Society President's (the person at church who leads the women’s organization) husband isn't a member. But she has one of the strongest testimonies I have ever seen. They have two daughters and at one point he was taking the missionary discussions but a missionary wasn't very nice and basically tried to force him to be baptized so he stopped talking to them. He goes to church every Sunday, the ward loves and knows him. He is a great guy. On Sunday, President Alred (branch president) called us into his office. He said "I have some news. You are getting a golden investigator. It is Hermana P's husband and he wants to get baptized" We started cheering and yelling and everything. And then he said "but he wants to keep it a surprise for his family. so you cant say anything to anyone about it! he is a secret investigator" we were soooo happy and very curious how this was going to work. we went over to their house last night for a family night. we asked Hermana P "what happened?" and she said "I don't know!" and shrugged! We "taught" the first lesson, the Restoration and we didn't invite him to be baptized or anything...he already has a baptismal date Feb. 7 and he wants to tell his wife and family Jan. 31. so we went through the lesson and he was talking about how he likes the church but still wasn't sure about it all. I was kind of confused, but afterwards he pulled Hermana R aside and explained that he is acting and that he can't wait for the end of the month. He said "when are you coming next?" with a smile. seriously we are not teaching this man. his name is O by the way. but it is ALL the Holy Ghost, we are just lucky enough that we are the missionaries here at this time with him. he is SUCH a miracle!!! I am soooo excited!

Sorry I didn't write yesterday, we email at a library and it was a holiday yesterday so we couldn't come! Today is P-day.

My address is:

600 Deats Rd. #G1

Dickinson, TX 77539

if you want to mail me things, this is the address to send it to! thanks!

thank you for all of the emails and support! I miss you all but I'm so happy to be here on a mission! have such a great week!

Hermana Garner

 ​left-Hermana R, right-Hermana S and yo girl in the middle.

We do this service project every Friday. It is at a local church and people from around here come that need food and we give it to them for free! Everybody there loves bananas so we were the favorite station..haha! We call it "Food Truck Friday"

new year, new mission

I have been set apart as a missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints! I leave for Houston tomorrow morning at 7AM. I can't believe this day has finally arrived, I have been waiting for a long time and I am so excited!

I just want to thank everyone that I know that has helped me throughout my journey. I have THE most amazing people in my life and I am so grateful for all of those relationships I have. Thank you for always keeping me in your thoughts and prayers. I really have felt the love of everyone and especially from the Lord during this process. I know that this is the right thing to do, the right place to be at the right time in my life. It will be hard (like every mission is), but it will be so much more rewarding. Please keep me updated on your lives and I will do the same for you! Please write me, I would love it! (megan.garner@myldsmail.net) Also, we updated the address information as well (if you want to send me a package or something.........I dont know......)

Thank you again and I will see you soon!

next steps!

Hello!

A lot of people have been asking me what my plans are with my mission, school, my life in general. The last post, I had made the decision that I was going to go back to a state-side mission! Well, since then a lot has happened! After I made that decision, I set up an appointment with the stake president and it was all ready to go! Until I threw up 3 times the day before. I was so close! So we cancelled and decided to wait a little longer until I returned to the mission field. 

Today, it has been a month since I last threw up. YAY! It has been a month of ups and downs, but mostly ups; which is the most important thing. I wanted to give my body a chance to heal so that I could be a healthy missionary again! Because that is honestly all I want right now. Just to be a missionary! And because I still have that desire, these past 2 weeks I have been on a "missionary schedule". I have gotten up early in the morning, exercised, read and studied my scriptures and been on my feet the whole day. I have tried to just keep being busy because on a mission, there is no down time! I wanted to do this to see if my stomach would feel the same/normal...and it DID! I couldn't be more happy about this! I have met the most fantastic people that have helped me more than I could ever imagine. I have truly seen the blessings of service on my mission and now I am putting them into practice here in Missouri. 

So for the exciting news, I have set up an appointment with the Stake President again, hoping that I can go out soon. I still want to serve a state-side mission! I am guessing I will leave again in January. I don't know for sure, but that is what I'm thinking. I'm hoping at least. I want to get out on a mission sooooooon!

Again, thank you for all of the thoughts and prayers always sent my way. This has been a tough yet rewarding journey for me. I have learned more than I ever thought I could, I have grown so much closer to the Savior, I have learned so much about myself and most importantly the Lord. I have cried a lot and wished that I could not be having this trial, but I know it has helped me more than I think. Relying on the Lord is a hard thing, but He has a plan for all of us. We need to trust him!

Hopefully the next post I post is news about my mission call! I can't wait!

Again, thank you for all of the comfort and support I receive from you all. I couldn't have done this without you! 

Megan Garner