Happy New Year

Hey everyone!

I hope that Christmas treated you well. Christmas was great here. I was able to skype my family on Christmas Eve and that was so nice! Some much needed therapy! I was able to skype at Karen and Rick's house. I couldn't think of a better place to have skyped. They are so amazing! 

Christmas Day we went and had brunch with the Farr Family. We had pancakes, bacon, and eggs. It was good. For my dad's side there was no cheese bread but no worries. I had bought some earlier that week so I was able to have some. 

After that we went and saw a less active named Shelly. She didn't have any family to see her, so we decided to bring her some Christmas cheer. 

After that we were able to see some investigators Dean and Nelda. That was a miracle. They have had some hard times come upon them in the last week or so and we have tried calling them, texting them, leaving messages and nothing would work. On Christmas they called us and we were able to see them. It was so great! They seem to be doing ok. 

After that we ended the night at the Pricers home for dinner. It was a traditional turkey dinner. So I guess I was meant to have that since home was having that as well. We had crackers on our plates to open before the meal. So we opened them and there is a price, mine was a pencil sharpener, a joke and a paper crown. So we all wore our crowns thought out dinner. Unfortunately I didn't  get any pictures.  

Yesterday I would say were are other Christmas miracles. Dean and Nelda came to church and stayed for all 3 hours. They liked it! So that was awesome. We were able to set a baptismal date for Karen and Rick and Xavier agreed to be baptized as well. Which is huge! He has been struggling with deciding if he wanted to be baptized. They are set for Jan. 18. 

Last we have a new investigator. Her name is Emmy. She is 11 years old and is the daughter of a less active. Yesterday she decided she wanted to join the church so we told her we could help her out with that. 

This week has been fun. Oh and last Monday we went caroling with the district and Dowslake district. We went caroling on Captial Hill. It was fun and we had a lady named Inya join us. She is from Romania. It was cool!

I hope your week has gone well!

Love ya,

Sister Gardner

Pics are of the Caroling and of Sister G and I in our Christmas outfits.

Christmas Eve in Altamont

In Altamont we gathered into the living room long before the anticipated 6:00 Skype call.  Mary even made sure that the family dog and cat were present, too.  "They need to hear Cassy's voice," she said!

Sister Gardner looked so beautiful!  It was wonderful to see her gorgeous face as we talked with her.  We were overcome a time or two, and just loved looking at her!  It was great to see her so happy and to hear her voice.  What an enjoyable time for us all!

Joyeux Noel!

Joyeux Noel!

I hope you are all having a wonderful Christmas season. It's a wonderful time of year. I have come to truly appreciate the meaning of Christmas now more than ever. It really is about the gifts the Savior gave to us. I wouldn't have the family time that I have without him. I wouldn't be able to enjoy blessings, material items, etc. without him. He really is the gift of Christmas!

In 2 Ne 19:6 it says, "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called, Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." I can't help but sing the Messiah in my head when I read this. My favorite name of Christ is The Prince of Peace. He brings so much peace if we let him. He knows just how to comfort us when we need it. He knows how we feel. He knows how the world is going. If we let him in, he will bring us peace. He will comfort us. He will be our Savior and Redeemer. The key is we have to let him in. 

I love this season! I hope that we can continue to have this feeling all year long and not just at Christmas! 

Love you all! 

Sister Gardner

Sister G & Sister Gardner

This is Sister G, Sister Cassy Gardner's 2nd companion in Ottawa!

Karen and Rick's Wedding

So these were the pics I was looking for last week. Sorry it took so long.

Photos taken the morning Sister Gardner entered the MTC

Carol has been waiting for these photos since the day Cassy went into the MTC!   Meg took these the morning before we left to take Cassy to the MTC.  Carol had been asking for weeks to have these pictures taken.

We are so proud of our Sister Missionary serving in the Canada Montreal Mission!

December 15th

Hi everyone! 

I hope you are having a great week this week! This week has been great. 3 things I want to talk about. First Karen and Rick are married! :) It went so well. It was a very small wedding. There were only 10 of us there. It was perfect! Things ran like clockwork. So now they can be baptized now and will be in January.

2nd is the miracle of the week. Sister M and I had been trying to visit the Bishop's mother in-law. We tried and tried to reach her but she was never home. So this week Sister G and I stopped by and we caught her home. MIRACLE! Anyway she gave us her cell phone number so that we could stop by and see her. Right now she has been living in with her daughter, so we might be able to see her as well. :)

Last is my new companion. Her name is Sister G. She is from Utah and Guatemala. She speaks both French and Spanish. She has 3 siblings, 2 sisters and 1 brother. This is her 2nd area. She was in Cornwall before. She has been on her mission for 10 months. She is super sweet! 

Well we won't have to worry about not having a white Christmas. We have a little over a foot of snow. Luckily it's not to cold yet. We will get more soon I'm sure.

Sister M, if you read this I hope you made it home safely and that everything is going well. Ben Sont, Isabella, and Diann all send thier love and hope you are doing well. Ben wishes you luck with school!

Hope you all have a great week!

Love,

Sister Gardner

The pic is of Karen's sister, Karen, Rick, Xavier, Sister D, and Sister M. 

Carol's letter:

Hey!

I bet your lesson went awesome. I always enjoyed your lessons and you are a great teacher! Thanks for the thoughts as well. They are definitely feel good quotes and ones to learn from!

I bet you are ready for Christmas break. I know I would be if I had a break. I'm secretly jealous that I don't get one. But that's ok as I'm doing important things and am helping others find Christ this Christmas. People are so much more receptive now then they are normally. We just have to have the courage to talk to them. I'm still working on that.

Things are going well with my companion. She is really nice. I think things will go great!

Karen  and Rick's baptism will be in January. The wedding went awesome! Things worked out so smoothly! We definitely were blessed!!! 

Sorry this is short. I'm running out of time. 

But know that I love you and miss you like crazy! 

Do you have a skype account? I will be able to skype on Christmas Eve. I will probably be on around 6 your time. So if you could send me your info if you have an account that would be great. I have also asked mom and dad if they have one so between the 3 of you someone will have one. :)

Love you!

Cassy