9/29/14

Talofa!

This week has been awesome. 

On Monday we went by an apartment complex to meet some potential investigators, we talked to some of the kids who live there and invited them to a dance that was going on on Saturday. I'll come back to this story in a bit. 

Tuesday we had a lesson with Tianna. We had planned on teaching the Law of Chastity. When we got there, it was pretty clear that we weren't going to be teaching that at all. She was really having a rough day. We were able to just share our testimonies and to help her out with some things around the house. I love having the spirit and being able to change our plans. Even though we didn't know what we would be sharing, I know that what we shared really helped her out that day.

We also had a lesson with the Penn family. We were able to talk about the Book of Mormon and we read 2 Nephi 31. Ola was talking to Maria about how the Book of Mormon relates and confirms what the Bible says. It was interesting to see that change in him. Last week there was a lot of difference of opinion from him, and this week he was just agreeing with what we said and testifying to his wife!. Prayers are being answered!

Wednesday I went on a temporary exchange/split with Sis. Letoa. She is one of our roommates and her comp was sick and was staying with a member. I went out with her so that they could go to their appointments. It was a good day. We were able to meet with a less-active and I just fell in love with her. We also met with a lady from Fiji, she is awesome too, she just happens to be going on vacation for who knows how long.

Thursday was AWESOME. We found out last week that we would be able to watch "Meet the Mormons" and so on Thursday we went to the Stake center and we watched that and also a talk from Pres. Uchtdorf.

"Meet the Mormons" is Amazing!! I really encourage all of you to go and watch it.  It helps clear up misconceptions that many have, but I think more importantly it is an awesome look at the life of everyday people with great faith. It comes to theaters Oct 10th, so go see it.

Saturday was the broadcast and we were able to have some investigators attend. Koleka, who pretty much only speaks Samoan, was able to come. She went in the room with Samoan translation and it sounds like she really loved it, especially the part about the temple. We have invited her to be baptized and she said she would pray about it. She is just awesome.

I loved the broadcast, I hope all you sisters did too!

Transfers: I have been kind of nervous about these transfers, and stressed. I don't know why. I've had so many different thoughts about what could happen. So we found out today. Our trio is getting broken up. Sister Gillespie and Sister Laiti are staying together and covering the IE ward. I am going to be with Sister Letoa in the R2 ward. It is going to be hard to leave the IE ward, especially Bro. Moleli our ward mission leader and the Penn family. Luckily I'm not too far, so one day when they get baptized I'll be around. It will be an adjustment to go back to a small area and actually have boundaries :D. I know that being split though will really help the work move forward. 

That is about it for this week! I love you, 

Sister Kellee Gardner

I was just reminded that I was going to come back to the story about the boys and the dance. OK so here it is. 

On Friday we went back to that same complex to remind the boys and their families about the dance and give them the address. We got there and two of the same boys were outside as well as some others. We were able to talk to them and one of them asked about YSA dances and FHE. He has cousins in Sacramento who are members and they had invited him to different things. We looked back at our records and it looks like his family was interested in taking the lessons at one point. It was cool to see how people are truly prepared and are placed in our path.

9/22/14

Hello!

This week has been an adventure. 

Monday night we had FHE with the Penn family at a members house and that went really well. Maria started asking us questions afterwards, it was awesome. It is tough though because we feel like she wants to learn more, but her and her husband are not on the same page, so she stays quiet a lot and when she feels the spirit it seems to get squashed by logic and she doesn't progress as much as she could. We went over to their house again on Thursday and we taught the whole family together, which hasn't really happened before. It was a really cool experience to teach the whole family. We taught the Restoration. It was a good experience, but different than I have ever had before. I don't think that I have ever really taught an investigator family before, just individuals. It is different because they are all on different levels. We ask the boys if they believe what we have taught is true. They say yes,  the parents hearts aren't as accepting of the truth. We are excited to continue teaching them though.

Wednesday was awesome. We had Interviews with President Van Cott. I love interviews, I get anxious, but they are always a good experience. This one was probably my favorite so far. Sometimes I hope to get an idea about transfers, but whenever I do, are the times when he's got no clue yet. He's not one to keep it a secret, he usually tells us what he is thinking, which is nice. No idea what is going to happen next week, but there are probably a hundred scenarios.

Saturday was a pretty good day. It was also a huge learning experience. We went to the Penn's and we had planned on talking to them about the Book of Mormon more in depth. We got there, and that is not where things were going. After a while I think we all realized that, but we weren't on the same page. The lesson really headed south. Afterwards we talked about it and realized that we just expected it to be like our last lesson that went very well. 

That night I was kind of angry about the whole thing, but I realized that the Lord gives us opportunities to learn and grow, just as he does the people we are teaching. Missionaries are not perfect, I am NOT perfect. I am so grateful for the Atonement and how it allows me to repent and to become better.That is something that I strive for every day. It was a learning experience, one that I am grateful for.

I Know this is short, sorry about that. I hope you all have a wonderful week. I love you all!

Love, Sister Kellee Gardner

9/15/14

Hello!

Well this week has just been wonderful! Seriously. 

Tuesday was zone meeting and President Van Cott was there, which I loved. He said things that I really needed to hear. We went out on splits that night with the R2 ward. Wednesday night was with the IE ward. We were able to invite a lot of people to the IE ward party on Saturday

Thursday we went on Exchanges. I went with Sister Jones to Colton. Sister Jones is a saint! She is very in tune with the spirit, and she LOVES everyone. I didn't tell her it was my birthday on Friday until later Thursday evening. She was sorry we did exchanges on my Birthday, but I was so glad. I really like Exchanges, I learn a ton and I always am uplifted, so it really was one of the best birthday presents ever. 

We came home that night and I came out of the bathroom and she was whipping up some brownies. As a missionary, surprises are kind of limited since you have to be in sight and sound.. except in the bathroom. So she also had a sign that she hung up in there for me..

Friday was a great day. We went and walked and picked up trash on our way to go see some people. We were walking down the street and waving at people. Someone waved and he looked kind of familiar. We kept walking,but then we stopped and looked back and he had pulled over to the side. We went back to talk to him, it was the husband of a Less-active we had met in Yucaipa. He isn't a member, but he is the nicest man ever. it was so crazy to see him. I thought it might have been him, but the car wasn't one I had seen at their house before. So anyways he was on his way to buy an RV. Of all the random people to see and of all the random places to see them. 

Later that day we saw someone wearing a Yucaipa shirt and we talked to her. We found out she used to live there and she lived in the boundaries of my ward,but still works there. Cool random connections.

Saturday was the Ward Picnic. It was actually in Rancho, which is out of our mission, but in our area so we got to go. There was also a baptism happening at the building for a member of our wards dad, who lives in Rancho. He came to Lea's baptism last week and since we were at the church for the party, we stopped in to watch his. We also escorted some investigators who after getting some food were really there for the baptism and were looking for "their Sister missionaries". I have a friend Sister Stouffer, from college who is serving in the Rancho mission and I wondered if I would run into someone that knew her there.. I didn't think I would actually see her. She was there! So that was cool to be able to say hi to her. 

Sunday was the Primary Program in the IE ward. In Samoa they call it "White Sunday" and all the kids wear white. It was amazing. And the whole Penn family was there! Alex and Brandon and Maria and Ola. They came to the ward picnic and committed to come to church. This isn't the first time they all have been, but it is since we have been here. They are just awesome. They are progressing, slowly, but we have seen a change in them since we came. They are going to a members home for FHE tonight and we are going to go with them.

I think that is about it for this week!

I love you all!

Love, 

Sister Gardner

9/8/14

Hello!

So since Wednesday there's been some exciting things.

Wednesday night we went out on splits with the IE ward. This was really a good experience for me. I had been struggling with who knows what... dumb little things probably. Anyways, the way we split was two of us would stay together and take a member and the other would go with a member. What I wanted to do and what I ended up doing were not the same thing, but it was the best thing ever. Sister Gillespie asked who wanted to go by "themself". I said I would go... thinking in the back of my mind, "why did I just say that, what if I don't understand the sisters I am going with?" So anyways, I went. I was with 3 sisters from the ward actually. After I said yes, I decided that I had to make an effort to get to know these sisters. This was my chance to show that I am not a shy missionary afraid to talk to people. Because I am not that missionary anymore. We went to visit Alex and Brandon's family, that made it easier, because it was someone I knew. When we first met Maria, their mom, I just loved her and felt this connection to her and so that made it so easy for me to just have a conversation with her. So here's what I learned. Happiness really is a choice. Heavenly Father really will provide the way for us to do what He asks. He said, "Open your mouths and they shall be filled". He keeps his promises- always.

Saturday was Lea and Jordans baptism. It was awesome. We have received a lot of counsel about planning for baptisms and making sure that they are very spiritual experiences. It has made so much difference in the baptisms that we have had, and it makes them a little less stressful to plan for. 

We went to a members home and helped her paint her living room for a while, that was fun and she was so grateful. We met with Nelson and his girlfriend Lima. Nelson is less-active, and Lima is active. Basically any time we have an appointment or stop by half of the people in these wards they try to give us food, or money to buy it...As was the case with Nelson. When we stopped by last week, he tried to give us money, this time he had made us food. We had a really good lesson with them though. 

Yesterday was another great day. Lea and Jordan were confirmed, Alex came to church, we had dinner with their family that night and we met with some of the members in the complex where we were last week helping a family move in. The members call it San Samoa because there are like 9 families that live there. It makes it easy for us to visit them:D.

I feel like we are getting the hang of this thing... then it is going to change. I love the people here, they are always so kind, and they love the Gospel.

I am so grateful to be here and to be able to learn so much. 

I love you all!

Love,

Sister Kellee Gardner

Sister Gross (a roommate) and I celebrating 1 year! Lea and Jordan's baptism. 

P.S. random fact of the week I learned how to sing "if you're happy and you know it" in Samoan.. 

A crazy week...a little late!9/3/14

Talofa!(Hello)

Wow, this week has been busy. Because of the holiday we had to email later, and yesterday was packed! Sorry you had to wait so long.

We have been meeting with Lea almost everyday because we moved her date up to the 6th and still had some lessons to teach. She is doing great and is so excited to be baptized. Her son who is 11 is also getting baptized on the 6th, which is part of the craziness of this week. We hadn't really been meeting with him when we met with Lea because we were planning on him being baptized on the 20th. The Bishop suggested that they be baptized together, and thats what they decided to do. So this week we have been meeting with him everyday. He is a super smart kid. Yesterday we were talking about prophets and after he read we asked him what he thought it meant. He blew us all out of the water talking about how people reject prophets then they decide they really need one and God listens to the people and calls another prophet. 

Thursday we met with Alex and Brandon, the 2 boys taking the lessons. We talked about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Alex is older, he is  on fire and it just makes sense to him. Brandon gets it, but I think he isn't really into it so he just chooses not  to remember. It was our first time teaching them, but we were able to see that we really have to teach them on different levels, probably separately. Its just a challenge to meet with them because they are so busy.

Friday we taught Lea and Jordan about Eternal families. Because our area is so huge, it includes Redlands, we were able to meet at the temple to teach them. It was awesome to have that added spirit there at the lesson. We were also able to go inside the waiting room for a little bit. That was probably my favorite!

Saturday we met a less-active family and invited them to church, they actually came on Sunday. For them I think they just need the encouragement to come.

Sundays are crazy here, I don't think there's any way around that. Coordinating 2 wards that overlap and they both need us there is pretty tricky, I don't think we have it figured out but we will get there by the end of the transfer...

The food here is pretty good.. Definitely different. Let's just say I really am not picky anymore, my family's prayers have been answered.

Miracle Monday.. There's just something about holiday Mondays. So we went to Redlands to meet with Lea, then we came back to Rialto for dinner. We had an appointment in San Bernardino at the end of our night and our appointment before that fell through so we headed up there. We stopped by at a potential and they weren't available so we drove around the corner a ways to figure out some people we could go see. Because it was Monday night, we couldn't really go to active members, but being white washed we don't really know who is who. While we were parked, across the street some people were moving in. Sister Gillespie was like " Look, they're Samoan, They're probably members too." we decided to go help them, found out they are members and that they are related to the counselor in the Bishopric. There are a few member families in that complex, pretty sure they are all related. Like I said last week, everyone is related.

The second Miracle that night. We went to our appointment, which fell through as well, but we decided to go find another person. We knock on the door, A man answers, not the family we are looking for, and doesn't know that name, says he is Baptist, but loves what we do, tells us we can come back tomorrow because it was kind of late. He rents out rooms in the house and says there's a couple from Hawaii that look Asian. Someone else comes downstairs and looks at us and says "I got this" He and his girlfriend end up being who we are looking for. So they aren't from Hawaii, but both from Samoa. He was signed up to feed us last week, but had to cancel. Basically there were a million connections and we set up an appointment with them for Saturday.

That is about it for now I think. Being in a trio has been an adventure... Its an added challenge, but I really do like it. We are all learning how to make it work.

I am learning Samoan, slowly, but surely.. we sing hymns in Samoan everyday, and Sis. Laiti was singing "If You're Happy and you Know it, Shout Horray!" last night. Lets just say Sis. Gillespie have many opportunities to laugh at ourselves.

I love you all! or Alofa Oe!

Tofa!(goodbye)

Sister Gardne