7/28/13- THEY CALL ME SISTER BARBIE

Kumusta!!!! This has been such an eventful week! I can't believe how much happens in just one week here in the Philippines! It has been a good week though. I have started to somewhat get over the homesickness, but I love it so much here and I know that the time will fly and I will be back with all of you soon! I loved getting all of the pictures from the family trip! Keep sending pictures.  I look forward to seeing what you are doing! We are definitely going back! The house looked amazing and all the boating, cayaking, beach and food!
Every day I am reminded why I love the Philippines so much and I grow to love it and the people more and more. I love riding home each night in the Jeepney and feeling like I helped people in the Philippines each day. I also don't mind the music that plays.  A little taste of normal life. It is sad that I have been gone long enough that new songs have come out.  I hear American songs that I don't recognize and that makes it feel like a lot of time has passed. The food is sooo good. I am trying so many things that I didn't before. I am going to learn how to make all of the good dishes so I can make them when I get home. The Filipino in our apartment does all the cooking, but I said I will help her so I can learn. There is this bakery right by our house and they have banana bread! My favorite! It is completely different than what I am used to, but SO GOOD! Despite the food that made me sick, I love almost everything else.  I also got over my sickness- it took a while, but I am good now!
So this week me and my companion traveled to Catanduarnes for a few days to go on exchanges with the sisters there.  It was so, so, so beautiful! I would love to serve there at some point.  I worked with Sister Papica- she is a Filipina. She made me talk to so many people as we walked around! I gave out a ton of pamphlets. It was scary but it felt so great to talk to people. They are so kind and excited that I know any Tagalog at all. I was also to commit a 17 year old boy named JV to baptism is a lesson.  It was amazing! The spirit was so strong and he thanked us with such sincerity as we left.  He is so smart and I see so much potential in him.  He will be an outstanding member of the church.  I got to see Elder Benson from my district while we were there.  It felt so good to see a familiar face and talk about how we are doing. I have no pictures though because my camera doesn't work. I am going to try and get it fixed right after this. My companion took pictures that I will try and forward to you though. oh- there was a total Stu moment on the Island. So we went to do service at a members house.  We weeded in her garden.  She gave us a break and made us "coconut soup"- you would have loved it Stu! You should try to make it. So her son just climbs up the tree and throws down a bunch of coconuts.  Then they cut them open with a machete, pour the juice into a big bowl, scoup out the coconut in chunks into the bowl then add crushed ice and condensed milk.  SO MASARAP! You would have loved it! You are going to love it here Stu! They said you can add different juices and stuff to it too.  Buy a coconut and make some and think of me!
Last Monday we went to family home evening at a family's house. The father is the former bishop.  They are one of the families in our ward that is well off and they made us THE BEST MEAL I have ever had! I ate I think 5 mangoes. I felt so at home there. Apparently they have us over once a week so that is something to always look forward to! They have 3 sons and a puppy! The cutest puppy I have ever seen! And not one they are going to eat. They are such a happy family. They make me feel so welcome and always make me laugh.
I saw my first giant spider! Apparently it was a small one...but it was the size of my hand.  It was crawling on the wall in our apartment.  I freaked out while my Companion just swept it outside.  One day I will be fine when I see giant spiders. 
The language gets better and better each day, but I still feel like an idiot.  I don't think people understand what I am trying to say so they just smile at me. I talk as much as I can in lessons, but my dompanion usually has to clarify what I am saying.  I am really looking forward to that day when I am fluent.  Me and my companion stand out so much it is unreal.  Everyone just stares because she is a giant and I am blonde and white.  Everyone wants to talk to us though so that is good! My companion laughs because everyone says hi to me and says "Kana, Kana." She said they are used to seeing her because she has been in this area for 6 months.  At church yesterday some of the members were telling me I have the voice of an angel and should join the choir.  We all know that I have the WORST voice ever.  haha so it's funny that they think I am a good singer.
So much to tell you about...We have 2 new investigators from OYMing (Open your mouth) this week! The first is a woman.  We went to visit an investigator at her work, but she wasn't there so we talked to her coworker and she was very interesting in our message.  She wants us to go back and teach her.  I am constantly surprised at how accepting people are and how desperate they are to hear our message and find truth in this crazy world.  People are ready to learn about the gospel and why they are here.  The next was a girl my companion just started talking to as we walked. She was so amazed that we came all the way here to be missionaries.  She introduced us to some of her family and wants us to come back and teach all of them! YAY!
On Friday we went to teach one of our investigators that is 9 years old.  She lives with her grandma who is a member.  She went and got a ton of her friends to listen to our message- some members and some not. I absolutely loved teaching a herd of little kids.  I can speak simply and therefore they understand my Tagalog. They were so cute! I adore the kids here! They remind me of the kids I taught in Iloilo. After that lesson we went and taught a mother and her children. She is an investigator.  We taught her and her children about the restoration.  They were all so interested and wanted to know all about it. The younger kids loved looking at the pictures in the pamphlet we gave them.  It felt so good to teach people that wanted to learn.  They are such a happy family.  The mother had a baby girl who is so cute! She would giggle so much when I talked to her! Their family calls me Sister Barbie.  They told me I should be Miss America- I told them they need to see more Americans and then they will think differently.  Apparently white skin makes you automatically beautiful here. 
On Saturday there was a baptism for an 8 year old from an active family in the ward and I was one of the speakers! Major Taglish! It went well though. The little girl was excited to have the American speaking to her haha. After the ward had a ton of delicious food! I love my ward!  They all are so welcoming and help me with my Tagalog and are patient as I try to have conversations with them. And they make amazing food.
I really feel the importance of this work. I love sitting in homes and feeling the spirit and seeing people change.  I love walking around and talking to people and telling them about what our purpose is as missionaries.  My testimony of this gospel and missionary work keeps me going each day.  I want to help people be happy by coming unto Christ. This gospel is all about being happy.  We can be happy as we strive for eternal life through the Atonement.  I know it is true and I am so happy to have this year and a half to be a full time missionary and representative of Christ.  The challenges people face here are unreal.  Some of our investigators literally have nothing and the only happiness some of the members find is through the gospel.  I want to help these people so badly and I hope that I can.

To answer some of your questions mom- I am not sick anymore.  My companion is warming up and I love her! I am glad that she is hardworking.  She wears me out every day.  It is sooo hot! Except for the saturday and sunday were awesome! It was rainy so it cooled down a lot, but today it is hot again.  I am sweaty all the time. I am thankful to live in America, but i am glad I get to experience the third world for a while! Tell everyone hi and I miss and love them! Thanks for the encouraging emails and prayers!

Love you all so much! Thanks for the support! Miss you all!
MAHAL- Sister Gardner

Traveling to Catanduarnes

Boat to Catanduarnes

My companion and missionary roommates

My companion and I en route to Catanduarnes

Service day with sister missionaries

7/21/13-CAN'T BELIEVE I AM IN THE PHILIPPINES

Wow! I can't believe I am in the Philippines. It is great, but I won't
lie it has been really hard.  A lot different than when I was here
before.  I was never really homesick in the MTC because I was so close
to home and had so many friends around me.  Now I just have my
companion, sometime the girls in our apartment and sometimes the
elders in our district.  I miss home and the MTC so much right now.
There have been a lot of tears, but it is good.  I know I just need
time and I will love it.  I have to take it day by day because 18
months is too scary to think about.  Yesterday at church Elder Nelson
( A senior missionary in our area) came up to me and asked how I was
adjusting and if I was homesick.  I started bawling when he asked me
and couldn't stop for the rest of church.  His kindness and the fact
that he was American got to me.  No one had asked me how I was feeling
yet. And not to scare you, but I am kind of sick.  We ate at a members
house and ever since I have been sick.  The food was gross and I have
had stomach pain ever since.  Next time food doesn't look good I will
say I am sick or something.  I need time to adjust to the food.

 I am going to start buying my own.  We never have fruit or any
of the stuff I like, but we will go to the store today and I'll buy
stuff I want with my own money.  But don't be worried, I'm okay.  Just
pray for me and send lots of letters and emails haha.
So I'll back up.  So leaving the MTC was hard.  I really miss my
district and air conditioning and a comfortable bed, even the food,
and washing machines.  The flights were long, but good.  Flying into
Legazpi was absolutely beautiful!  So we got here and had orientation.
 I got my Companion and my area.  I am serving in the Legaspi City
zone in district 1A.  My companion in Sister Fienga.  She is kind and
hardworking. So after orientation I said goodbye to my MTC
district, that was VERY hard and we grabbed a tricey and were off.
That was a sight. A white girl in a tricey with 2 giant suitcases tied
on top of it.
So our apartment is nice for the Philippines...but still pretty
sketch.  It is safe though.  We live next to the Nelsons which helps
me feel safe.  The bathrooms are nasty, but everything else is in okay
condition.  It is pretty big.  The best thing is we have a view of the
Mayon Valcano from our porch! We have to buy water because ours is
especially brown even with the filter system.  And we have a rat that
lives of our roof and we can hear it very loudly 24/7. I really like
one of the other sisters in our apartment.  Her name is sister
Mataele. She is from Maui.  She got here 6 weeks ago so she
understands about struggling with the language and culture.  She is
very nice and lets me eat her food haha.
It is sooo hot! I don't remember being this sweaty and hot last time!
I feel so gross all the time. Hopefully my body will adjust. It
doesn't help that we have a brownout everyday and so our fans don't
work half the time. I felt okay about the language when I left the
MTC, and now I feel like I know nothing.  I sit there in lessons and I
really can't talk to anyone.  They talk so fast and speak way
differently.  My goal is to adjust to the culture for a week and then
work on the language.  I need to be patient with myself.
Everyone stares at me everywhere we go! They look like they have just
seen a ghost.  Everyone treats me like a princess and tells me I am
beautiful.  I defininely don't feel beautiful. When I speak Tagalog
they all look amazed.  They say I speak like a Filipino (my accent).
But I don't think they understand most of what I say.  So we get
around by walking, riding the triceys, or Jeepney.  We cover a variety
of areas.  Some right in the city, some in the mountains so we hike,
and some by the beach.  Mostly the living conditions are
heartbreaking.  Only a few of the people we teach have enough money to
have okay homes.  The homes are basically cement walls with patched
roof made of metal and the no windows with cloth to separate rooms.
The basically live in nature.  Bugs are everywhere and it is burning
hot because they are always cooking.  In the city they live on top of
each other.  No room between homes for miles. A little more spread out
in the mountains, but not much unless they have a rice field.  Very
few of our investigators do.  They are so dirt poor.  It breaks my
heart. They all are so skinny.  I can always tell the difference
between a member and a non member though.  Members are happier and
usually better off.  We have so many people we teach.  Many
investigators, Less active, part member families and new converts. I
haven't met most of them and we teach almost all day every day...so a
lot of lessons.  We keep very busy! I can't tell you about all the
investigators, that would take too long so I will tell you about a
few.  The first will be baptized on Saturday! She
is 17 and is so ready! She will be my first baptism.  The next is a family.
They are great! I feel bad because they are sooo poor, yet they
fed us.  They are less active, but all members.  The mom and son
usually come to church.  So while we were walking to their home the
dad was at his sisters at a party.  He was about to begin drinking
when he saw us walk by on the way to his home.  He told us he suddenly
felt the desire to return home and listen to our message.  What a
miracle! He was very interested in what we had so say.  I love their
son.  He was so interested in our message.  I think he is
15.  He asked a lot of questions and loved hearing the message.
The next is another less active family because they live so far from
church and they can't afford to come each week. After we taught them
though the 2 kids- one girl age 18 and one boy age 17 said they want
to serve missions.  It made me so happy! I couldn't stop smiling! What
a great thing! Their family referred us to an inactive neighbor. It
was a girl in her 30's. She had not been to church for 10 years.  So
we go to her home.  She started to cry as we talked to her.  I guess
her husband just left her and she has been having a hard time. There have been so many
instances in which the Lord has put us in the right place at the right
time! It really is amazing. It keeps me going knowing I can help these
people.  Even thought it has been the hardest week of my life, I have
seen miracles.
Right now my favorite place is Pacific Mall.  It is like the Mall we
had in Iloilo only bigger.  So it has all the placed I like to eat and
AC.  So I have had a few good meals.  I wish we went everyday!
This is the best news of all! So my companion is Sister Training
leader so we get to travel to some of the other areas and to
exchanges.  So tomorrow we go to Catanduarnes! The Island! We go until
thursday night! I am so excited! and Elder Benson from my district is
there so I will get to see a familiar face.  Then the following week
we go to Ligao so I will see Elder Manning, then Tobacco, so I can see
Sister Ianuzi there, and then Ligao again! I am so excited to see
their faces! It will be like seeing family! Then we have a zone thing
coming up so I will see Elder Wilcox- he is in my zone. And other
stuff combined with other zones coming up! So that is keeping me
going! I don't know when I will be able to see Sister Christensen.
She is in in Sorsogon which is far.  There is a training for everyone
that came in the day we did in August, but they might divide it in
half.  If not there is Mission tours or something in September I think
so I should see her then! I am definitely looking forward to
traveling! It will break up the time and I will get to see new places!
I was glad to see your pictures from Boston! Looks so fun! I am very
jealous! I didn't know I could miss you guys this much!  I have never
wanted to just hang out as a family so much in my entire life! I miss
it. I hope it gets easier to be away, but if not I just look forward
to the day I can hug you guys and spend time with you.  Eat good food,
watch good movies, and have lots of fun for me! Let me know all about
your trip and make sure you remember everything so we can go again in
2 years.  As far as letters. I have way more time to email here, so
emails are good, but I would love mail too so I have it to read.  So I
have no clue how it works. Maybe you can ask around or look it up. I
am Legazpi Zone District 1A in Legazpi Mission.  I would love to get
some letters or emails from people who have been on missions with
adivce for the first couple of months.
Mahal Kita!!! So much!
-Sister Gardner
 

Last picture with my MTC district

My Kasama Sister Christensen

On my apartment door when I arrived in Legaspi.

My apartment

Typical rain showers

Beach we walk by

Yes, its a jungle here!

The path take to our appointments

7/13/13 GOODBYE MTC - OFF TO THE PHILIPPINES

Mga Pamilya at mga Kaibigan ko-
Grabe! I can't believe that this is the last email I will be sending from the United States for 17 months! I can't describe how I am feeling right now! So excited to go, scared out of my mind to teach in Tagalog, sad to leave my district, so excited to see the beautiful Philippines again, the list goes on and on.  Stoked for the food! Can't wait to see the kids! Meet my Kasama! See where I will be living! Ahhh this feels so unreal! This week has been such an amazing last week! I have loved and enjoyed every moments..except for the night I got a migraine. Other than that I have grown so much this week and grown in love for the people here and at home.  There has been a theme this week of being a bold missionary.  Teachers have told stories and we have had many devotionals about being bold in missionary work.  I want to share the gospel in some way with EVERY single person I  come in contact with on my mission.  That is my job for 18 months and I will not waste the Lord's time.  If I fail to open my mouth the eternal salvation of someone could be on the line.  I don't want to take the risk.  I want to be obedient and do what the Lord needs me to be doing so that I can help as many people as possible.  I can't be selfish and say "I'm too tired" or "That person is too busy." Missionary work is about losing yourself in the work.  My goal is to not be selfish and to work my very hardest.  We have talked a lot as a district about how we want to feel at the end of our missions.  This idea has motivated all of us to try harder and push more to learn the language.  I want to feel like I held nothing back and that I accomplished my purpose.  I want the Lord to be well pleased with me.  I want to love the Philippines so much and love the people so much that it is the hardest thing that I ever do to leave that country.  Thinking about how I want to feel at the end of my mission has motivated me to work so much harder already and has helped me look forward to trying my very best in the Philippines.  I know with the Lord on my side I WILL bring miracles to the lives of people in the Philippines. 
We had to say goodbye to all of our teachers this week and it was really hard.  I have learned so much from all of them and I will really miss them.  Brother Trebas said goodbye in the best way.  He told us some amazing stories about his mission that got us really excited.  He then told us about the investigators that he played as we taught him.  The one me and my Kasama taught- Jay- had committed to a baptismal date, as he has with us and he knew it was true.  Then his wife said she would leave him if he was baptized.  It broke his heart as it did mine.  Then- well a little background- Brother Trebas collects ties and our class is always complementing him on them.  So he said he has a present for our class.  He pulls out ties for each of us!!! I almost started to cry.  They were all ties he wore and they looked like each of us.  He signed the back. (You will see them in my pictures). We had a really special bond with Brother Trebas.  He gave up 10 of his ties for us! The last thing he did was read two entries from his journal.  One was from the beginning of his mission.  He talked about how much he was struggling with the language and how hard it was.  He didn't know how he would make it through.  I was so surprised by this because he is fluent now and only talks about the positives of his mission.  He then read one of his last journal entries.  He couldn't come to terms that he was leaving.  He didn't know how he would ever leave and he couldn't believe how much he loved the people.  He felt he has given his best.  I want to feel like that.  Our other main teacher- Brother Kovach- was also really hard to say goodbye to.  He was such an amazing teacher.  He also shared the stories of our investigators.  He said Rombi- the investigator me and my Kasama taught- was baptized and became such a strong member! That made me so happy! He is coming to the MTC in a month to serve in the boise Idaho mission! I can't wait for those stories to be real! He showed us pictures and shared stories.  He showed us a spider that they found outside their apartment that was 2 FEET long!!! It was the nastiest thing i have EVER seen.  Let's hope I never see one of those! To say thanks to them we got ties out of the free tie box and all signed the back of them and left them in the class for them to get on Monday.  Oh I almost forgot.  Dewey Graham and Rhen Potato were in SO MANY of Brother Kovach pictures! It was fun to have that connection. 
Yesterday we got to walk around campus and bear our testimonies to other missionaries in Tagalog.  It was so fun! I can finally bear my testimony and say the things that I want to say and not just rehearsed lines.  The language really is coming.  I know I won't feel like that in 2 days when I get to the Philippines...but that's okay.  One day I will be fluent.  I can't wait for that day.  It will take hard work, but one day I will be able to say exactly what I want and need to the Filipinos.  I just want all of you to know how much I love you! I feel your support each week.  I feel your prayers and I love getting your packages and letters.  I couldn't do this without all of you! I don't have much more time to write...so just a few more things.  BE READY FOR CALLS ON MONDAY! AND TUESDAY! It wastes the card if you don't answer! So please answer! I'll send a box home monday morning with a bunch of stuff so look for that!
Okay 2 funny things...so we are all freaking out about the spiders and Elder Packard goes..."On the bright side the Church is true." So Elder Packard....Then the other day during personal gym time me and the sisters in my district had the most epic water fight with the water guns.  It looked like I got in the shower. I was drenched! We ran around the whole campus spraying eachother.  Who knows how we didn't get in trouble. 
Can't wait to hear your voices and speak Tagalog to you! I love you so so so so much!!!!

MAHAL KITA!
-Sister Gardner

With my Kasama Sister Christensen

My District

With Elder Earl

Ties from Brother Trebas

My tie from Brother Trebas

Ties from Brother Trebas

Our district with our teachers.

Our Teacher Brother Trebas

Our trainer Brother Mansfield

Brother Trebas, Brother Mansfield, Brother Kovach

7/6/13 DONT WANT TO WASTE A SINGLE SECOND!

Kamusta mga pamilya ko at mga kaibigan ko!!! Pinaka Mahal Kita! Magmiss lahat kayo!

I leave for the Philippines in 9 days!!! I am 1/18 of the way done with my mission! We got our flight plans sahapon (yesterday)!!! I fly with 6 of the 10 people in my group- those of us going to Legaspi and Sister Carr who is going to Urdineta.  So here is the schedule: I leave on Monday the 15th from the MTC at 7:30. My flight from SLC to Portland, Oregon goes from 11:15 am to 12:04 PM(oregon time).  Then I leave from Portland at 2:10 and we fly to TOKYO! We get to Tokyo at 4:55 PM on July 16.  We leave Tokyo at 6:25 PM and fly to Manila.  We get to Manila at 9:55 Manila time.  Then we stay the night in Manila and then we fly to Legaspi, pero Hindo ko alam what time that flight is yet. So not a lot of time for talking on the phone because our layovers aren't very long, but I will call whenever I can.  I'm buying an international calling card here so I will be good on that.  Just translate all the times into SLC time and try to be around with your phones ready when I call! I am so excited to talk to you guys! I will try to perfect my Tagalog so I sound legit haha.  It doesn't feel real that I could possibly be leaving in 9 days! I am so stoked though! For sure nervous about the language, but everytime I picture myself back in the Philippines I get so Masigla!

Okay so now for my week, probably the best week at the MTC so far/ the fastest.  So last Sunday we had amazing speakers all day long.  Sheri Dew spoke to us and gave us things she would hope we would learn on our mission.  She is such an inspiring woman. We also had Robert P. Swenson speak to us.  He said that this is YOUR mission, not anyone elses.  The way your mission goes is completely up to you.  He said to not waste a single second.  That really stood out to me.  I don't want to waste ANY time.  I can sleep after my mission.  Joke Lang.  We also watched "Character of Christ."  It is a talk that Elder Bednar gave a while ago at the MTC.  It is about the Character of Christ, obviously.  I mainly talks about how Christ turns outward when the natural man would turn inward.  Bednar was so blunt the whole time.  At one point he said "Get over yourselves and lose yourself in the service of others."  I loved that! I want really work on turning outward on my mission.  I have a lot to work on to become more Christlike, but I know my mission will help me.  I said goodbye to Elder Barker also on Sunday.  He seemed very excited to be going.  It was wierd to say goodbye without giving him a hug, but don't worry Sarah I have him a really good handshake for you! I'll miss seeing him around! He wrote me a very nice note.  He will be such an amazing missionary.  He is so happy each time that I see him!  Also on Sunday we had a really cool experience with our District.  We all shared our testimonies of the Aklat ni Mormon and experience that we had had with it.  Elder Manning had finished the Book of Mormon for the first time earlier in the day.  He said he knew it was true the entire time he had been reading it, but he needed that special witness.  So him and his companion went back to their residence he went in the room while his Kasama waited outside the door while he prayed to know if the Book of Mormon was true.  He said he got an answer and that he knows it is true.  He said he can never deny the Book of Mormon.  He was crying the whole time he was telling this story.  It was such a testimony builder to me that he KNEW it was true. An 18 year old boy KNOWS the Book of Mormon is true. 

So on Monday my mission opened! Thanks for the Martinellis mom! We all celebrated after class and added the mission to the map of the missions in our Klase! Also on Monday I had to go to the Dentist because I though I had a cavity.  Turns out that I don't, but I have been grinding my teeth so they are sensitive. They are feeling a lot better though.  Me and my companion got to go outside of the MTC though! It was so weird! We drove in a car...that felt weird. Then they were playing real music! It was AWESOME! Music has NEVER sounded so good.  They played Ho-Hey and it sounded like the best song EVER! My and Sister Christensen were dying! The 2 districts above us left on Monday and we got 4 NEW DISTRICTS (40 people) into our zone! It was SO hard to say goodbye to the Elders and Sisters.  I was so close to them and I miss them so much.  It just isn't the same.  I am already looking forward to seeing them in 1.5 years.  The new missionaries are all really fun, but if I can ever get half of their names I will be proud.  There are way too many of them! We have 4 new sisters in our room though and that is really fun! They are all so nice and we have fun!

We had some great teaching experiences this week! We taught our investigator Rombi for the second time.  He is so receptive it is unreal! He was very shy the first time me and Sister Christensen taught him, but he started to come out of his shell and it was amazing! He told us his heart felt Mabuti (good) and we told him that was the spirit.  He wants to learn about the gospel so badly and he always has really great questions for us.  He wants to know how we know these things are true! I feel the spirit so strogly when we teach Rombi.  Then there is Jay aka the hardest investigator ever.  I talked about him a lot last week I think.  We finally got somewhere with him! We talked about the Holy Ghost and we got him to pray! We have been trying to get him to pray for 3 weeks and he finally did! We asked him to be baptized and he said he wanted to, but he was afraid he was too weak and he didn't want to build up his faith to just have it come crashing down.  So we are talking about having faith in the Lord and the blessings that come from being obedient and I think he will accept the invitation.  I love Jay so much and I want to help him so badly!

The language is coming more and more each day.  We have been doing this thing where we speak to English speakers and have to translate back and forth between English and Tagalog.  It really, really helps.  I feel like I am really starting to be able to say what I need to.  It is so fun to speak! I love Tagalog more and more! I know when I get to the Philippines I will probably have to start over, but I can't wait to be fluent.  I decided I am going to teach my kids Tagalog! It will happen. 

The Fourth of July was a great day at the MTC! Our whole district when all out with the Patriotism.  We didn't have night class.  Instead we got to watch 17 Miracles with the whole MTC and then we got to watch the fireworks! It was really fun! It definitely wasn't the same as having a BBQ and getting to watch fireworks close up and then do your own, but it was a good break from the usual routine of the MTC! Last night there was a crazy storm! I don't know how it was in SLC but the lightening was basically hitting the MTC.  The thunder was SO loud! I can't wait for the rain in the Philippines!

Okay so for some stories. I literally feel like I laughed all week long, but here are some of the best ones.  So our teacher Brother Trebas is going on a cruise so he won't be here for our last day of class.  We were all giving him crap and Elder Wilcox goes "Ano po ang Our Whole Relationship was based on a lie sa Tagalog."  It was funny...but you probably don't get that.  One day during class Elder Trebas let us ask him question about the Philippines as long as they were in Tagalog.  Elder Manning asked if he ever held a monkey, but he used the verb that means to hold the priesthood.  We laughed pretty hard.  Here are my two favorite stories- Elder Joseph made a song about our district and our experience at the MTC.  It is the funniest/ cutest thing ever.  I am going to film it and I'll try to send it next week! The other one- Brother Kovach taught us a song he heard in a Jeepney while he was in the Philippines.  It goes "Sino ba, sino ba, sino sino sino ba, sino ba ang tatay mo?  I'll let you figure that one out on your own.  Hint- Tatay means Daddy. 

We have fun with the squirt guns! So thanks! I'm pretty sure we annoy everyone in the Residence, but oh well we leave in 9 days.  The residence will be a lot more peaceful without the Philippines sisters.  Thanks for all the packages everyone! Logan, Olivia, Aunt Amy, Mom, Dad, and Trent and Shelly! I love them! I always have yummy treats to eat and share! Expect letters from me, I sent them today! Thanks sooooo much for all the support everyone! I don't know if you understand the feeling of getting mail in the MTC.  It really is the best feeling ever! So keep writing! It might be harder when I get to the Philippines! Caitlin Jensen! I don't know if you read these..but you come in on Wednesday! I didn't think I would get to see you! I am so excited! I will be looking for you! YOU WILL BE SO GREAT! The MTC is the best place on earth! Be so excited! So excited to see you and give you a giant hug!
Mahal Kita! Talk to you next week!

-Sister Gardner

Shortest and tallest missionary in the MTC.

With Elder Cook

Me and my Kasama

With Sister Cutia.

With Elder Barker.

Celebrating the opening of the Philippines Legaspi Mission, July 1, 2013

4th of July