August 3rd

Hello Everyone!

I hope that you have had a wonderful week.

This weekend was eventful for us. We had our Fireside and it turned out great. It was missionary/pioneer themed with camping/pioneer decor. We took out all the chairs in the gym and people had to sit on the floor with blankets they brought or with camping chairs. The only people who had a nice comfy seat were Pres. and Sister Patrick. They were our guest speakers for the activity.

After they spoke we split into 3 groups and had a game of charades going. The families would "go fishing" for a story. Then they would come back, have 30 seconds figure how to act out the story and then act it. All the stories were from the scriptures and tied into missionary work.

Later you could "go fishing" for candy. We also had hot dogs for dinner and members brought deserts. We as missionaries had asked them to make some of our favorite recipes. So it was fun to have a little taste of home. :) 

We also had interviews with President. They are always really good. We talked about how fun and well the fireside had gone. We also talked about how Sherbrooke has been such a blessing for me. In my last interview I was super stressed. He told me that Sherbrooke has been good for me and that I looked refreshed, which it has definitely done. I told him that one thing that had been hard since getting here, besides French, was all of our investigators dropped us but one. She is our one with a baptismal date and her husband has a date to receive the Melchizedek Priesthood. He told me not to worry about it. We just need to keep working to the best of our abilities and keep working with the less actives. Heavenly Father will make up the rest. He also gave me some tips to better learn French. 

Well I hope you all have a fantastic week. I'm off to do some hiking and eat some ice cream from a town called Coaticook. It is known for its ice cream. 

Love you all! Sister Gardner 

Pics of Beautiful Sunset and Fireside

Happy Pioneer Day

Hello Everyone and Happy Pioneer Day! I hope that you all had a fun-filled week! 

Life as a missionary in Sherbrooke continues to go. Yesterday we (the missionaries) sang in sacrament meeting. We sang Faith in Every Footstep in French. It went way better than I had expected. We only practiced twice and the second time I was on the piano playing accompaniment. Sister P and I sang the Alto part. I was super nervous because it wasn`t until we performed that we sang it together minus the one time last week we sight read it. I think Heavenly Father was helping us out a bit. Both Sister T. and I prayed a lot that the musical number would go well, and it did. Heavenly Father hears and answers our prayers even if it`s for small things. 

The rest of the week went great. My French continues to get better. I`m slowly able to understand more conversations and my reading has improved. I just have to keep telling myself it will come little by little. The people we see have been very patient with me, which I have been very grateful for! One of our less active members realized I wasn`t understanding what was being said in a lesson and so he just switched into English and no one knew he spoke English. It was funny. He also speaks Spanish, French, and Maya (from the Mayans). It has been great miracle that we have finally been able to connect with him and his family. He said that he likes it when we come to visit. It`s a step in the right direction. :) 

Today we went blueberry picking with the B`s. It was fun. There are so many places to get fresh produce here. I`m loving it! Sister B also makes homemade jam and bread. Can I just say I have died and gone to heaven. It is so good! I have missed real jam! 

I hope that you all have a good week!

Sister Gardner 

Pictures: My district after wallyball last week, Hike with the Y.M. and Y.W., and Blueberry picking

Hello everyone!

I don't have a lot of time to write today. I hope you are all doing well and are having a wonderful summer so far! 

Life is Sherbrooke has been great. It's so peaceful here. I am enjoying the quiet life much more than the rushed life. Total country girl right here.

My French continues to improve with each day. I wish it could be faster but I'm grateful for what I do understand. We also teach many people in Spanish. My companions think that by the end of this transfer I should be able to understand it. Wish me luck! 

So the miracle I would like to share for the week happened last Tuesday. We went to our invistigator, May's home. We wanted to set a baptismal date. She is through with all the lessons, but she has wanted her husband to baptize and confirm her. The problem is he is not an elder, so he wouldn't be able to confirm her. Recently we had been given council to get all prospective elders (ones who need the Melchizedek Priesthood) ready to be ordained by Stake Conference - Oct. 31. So with that in mind we went into the lesson wanting to give him a date as well. Guess what, we did it!! May has a baptism date of Nov. 1 and Frank has a Melchizedek Priesthood date of Oct. 31.

It was such a great lesson! We talked about temples and I was able to share a couple of sentences in French about why I love the temple. :) 

I hope all is going well for you! Thanks for all the love and support!

Until next week, Sister Gardner

Sherbrooke Week 1

Hello everyone! I hope that you are all doing well. Life here has been great.

Sherbrooke has been a nice change in scenery. Geographically the city is huge. But it`s really just in the country, which has been such a nice change. It reminds me a little of home. :) It`s very hilly. If I`m here in the winter I`m not looking forward to that aspect of it. 

It`s a French area, which has been hard because I`ve only served in English wards up to this point of my mission. But most of the members speak English so they have been able to help me out.

One of my companions is from Tahiti. So she can help me a lot too. Her name is Sister T. I know her from my days in Ottawa. My other companion is Sister A. She is from California. I actually know her too. She was one of the sisters Sister H and I rescued one night a few months ago. We get along well and laugh a lot. :) 

My district is great. We have 3 teams of missionaries in the ward. The Elders: Elder R and Elder S and a senior couple, the P`s. Sister P retired from singing with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir a few years ago. It`s a great team of missionaries. 

Talk about small world. We have a couple in our ward. They use to live in North Carolina. They know Zack Brinkerhoff from his time as a missionary there. Yesterday in church Elder H was there. He came back with his family to do a mission tour. So it was fun to see him and meet his family. 

The last person I want to mention is Lou. She is our recent convert who has cancer. She will never leave the hospital and we are expecting a funeral soon. But she is so amazing! In the short time I have been here I am already in love with her. She has such incredible strength, courage, and faith. If you could keep her and her family in your prayers that would be great. 

Love you all! I hope you have a good week! Sister Gardner 

Pics are of my companions and Lou, Walking Lou`s dog this morning and Strawberry Picking with the B Family