December 4

Përshëndetje familja!

This has certainly been an exciting week. Back in Utah you all may have had to deal with some snow, but here the weather's been equally if not more crazy. From Thursday night until until about a few hours ago it's rained almost without stop. So basically all of Albania is flooded. It wasn't too bad here in Fier, but we had to go to Vlorë for a baptismal interview and probably about half the city was under a foot of water. We almost didn't make it to the interview because all of the roads were flooded, except for the last one we tried. So the work of the Lord presses on, the interview went great and the investigator got baptized on Satrurday!

This week was also Albanian independence days. November 28 and 29 are they days Albania celebrates their independence from the Ottoman Empire 105 years ago. So the Fier music school put on a performance for the city, and one of our members is a really good singer in the music school so we grabbed a few members and decided to go support her. It was a ton of fun, and while we were there we actually ran into a lot of less actives and investigators!

Redi's doing good too. He's going through a hard time because he feels like he can't really trust anyone and that everyone is out to get him(except us) so that's been hard. But he keeps reading and praying, and is still planning on getting baptized.

We've met with some cool new people this week. I don't have a lot of time so I won't go into a lot of detail, but mainly we've been getting and meeting with referrals. There are some really cool people here, and sometimes it's hard for us to find them. But the members know them and when they bring them they're way more likely to accept it and stay.

In less fun news. Some members got offended and decided they wouldn't come back to church. So hopefully they change their mind. That's always super sad to see, but we'll do our best to help them.

We were in Tirana again today because they finished fixing our car. We went up and got to hang out with a bunch of the missionaries, it was great. We also went bowling with Elder Larsen and Elder Lords. I won the first time, but then Elder Lords rolled a turkey in his first three frames of the second game and just steamrolled all of us. Needless to say it was a great break.

Elder Draper and I are getting along so well!!! I've always really liked Elder Draper, but I didn't know him super well, and turns out we have a ton in common! He loves Star Wars, we have a super similar taste in music, and he loves Brandon Sanderson too. But we also work super well together, he teaches really well, knows Albanian super well, and I've learned a ton from him. I'm having a ton of fun and growing a lot!

I have a few pictures to send sometime, but I can't upload them here. So I'll upload them sometime this week and send them next week.

I love you all!!! Have an amazing week! Zoti ju bekoftë!

Elder Gardiner

November 27

Përshëndetje familja!

Well today's been a little crazy and we're just getting back from Tirana so I don't have a lot of time. But here's a quick summary from the highlights of the week.

First off, Thanksgiving was great. The food was pretty good(not quite like homemade thanksgiving) and it was awesome getting to be with some of the missionaries that I haven't seen in a long time. Elders Larsen and Lords gave their departing testimonies as well as 4 of the sisters from my mtc group. It was a weird feeling seeing that happen, but they gave great testimonies and I'm very grateful to have been able to know all of them. We also got a new group of missionaries here, so I'll start getting to know them over the next few weeks of exchanges. I'll send pictures from this sometime.

As for our area, things are going well. We had a really good lesson with Redi and now he's on a baptismal date for either the 23 or the 25 of December. I have a lot of faith that it'll happen, he's super ready.

Elder Draper is super awesome, I've already learned a ton from him and we get along super well. He's a huge Star Wars fan, he knows the gospel super well, and he has a ton of ideas for how we as members and missionaries need to improve the church. I'm loving serving with him.

Other than that, it's just the usual. The church got painted. I tripped super bad on concrete playing soccer (my knee's a little messed up, but I'm fine). We went to Tirana today to get our car fixed and then played frisbee and got lunch with a ton of the missionaries. All in all a good week.

Also Elder Draper and I watched the new videos about religious freedom made by the church and they're so good. I recommend them to all of you. Here's the link, and the videos are under the examples tab. https://www.lds.org/religious-freedom

And lastly. The new "Light the World" website and videos have been released! So make sure and see those because it's also super amazing! It starts this week on December 1st so everyone be ready! I'll talk a little more about that next week too.

Love you all! 

Elder Gardiner

Pictures.

1. Elder Larsen, Elder Draper, and I

2. Our original MTC group

3. My MTC district

November 20th

Përshëndetje familja!

First off, we got transfer calls this weekend. Surprisingly, Elder Larsen will be leaving Fier and Elder Draper will be coming. It's really sad to see Elder Larsen go, it's really been a pleasure serving with him. But on the bright side, I am also super excited to work with Elder Draper. Elder Draper is from Oklahoma and was in my MTC group and we were good friends back then and he's a super cool guy. So this should be a really good transfer, I'm really looking forward to it.

So other fun things. We went and did a service project with the Weidmans. We unloaded a bunch of refugee supplies from a van for the red cross. Hopefully they all go to a good use!

We had a ton of time out of our area, but it was still a good week. Church was really good this week. We had less people than normal, but it was more reverent than it's been in a while. We had a high counsilman come and give a talk and he did a great job. Elder Larsen also got to give a testimony because he's leaving and it was super good. He had a very good mix of testifying and inviting the members to take their testimonies and to begin to take the branch and support it on their shoulders. We also taught second hour for all the adults and talked about service. We tried to get the members to list specific things they can do to serve others because most of the time when we talk about service everyone just talks vaguely and doesn't change anything. But this time at least some of the members took the lesson and then actually applied it!

We also met with Redi a couple times. Right now he just needs to make the decision to focus more on the gospel and do the things necessary to receive the blessings. He seems like he has a ton of desire, but he's just distracted and busy by the other things going on in his life. So we had a good lesson about Alma 32 and what he needs for the seed to grow. But then he didn't come to church again on Sunday. So hopefully we can help him decide to take the step of faith to act more.

Other than that, I went on an exchange in Elbasan on Friday. It was the day of the branch family home evening activity so I got to see a ton of the members while I was there. We even got to do a lesson with Lindis and some other recent converts. It was super fun and great seeing everyone again, especially getting to see how well everyone's doing. 

We also got to go to Vlorë to do some baptismal interviews.Two kids got baptized and they both did good on their interviews, and they might have another baptism this week. The kid who might get baptized this week was someone I taught when I was there and he's super cool, so I really hope he gets baptized. But I'll have more on that next week.

To answer your questions...I'll still be a Zone Leader. Also I forgot to mention Thanksgiving. We will have a mission conference on Thursday in Tirana and they'll give us some form of Thanksgiving lunch, it should be good. And no, I did not see president Owen. He did an activity with the youth, but the missionaries weren't invited. 

I love you all, have a great week! Mirupafshim, Zoti ju bekoftë!

Elder Gardiner

November 13th

Përshëndetje familja!

So sorry that this is coming out late, we've had a bit of a crazy day. Normally we would be proselyting at this time, but we ended up having to go to Tirana for a doctors visit and got permission to email tonight instead. We don't have a lot of time, but still better than nothing.

We've had a fun week with some cool experiences. First and foremost, we went on a two day exchange starting Thursday night in Pogradec and ending with Saturday in Korça. It was a ton of fun getting to serve in those cities. The people there are so awesome. Right now those are the two fastest growing areas in the mission! Also bonus I got to be with Elder Lords and Elder Schneider who have been two of my favorite companions. We got to meet some of the members which was super fun. Elder Wilson(the one I served with in Durres) was one of the missionaries who opened Korca so I've heard a ton about these people so it was a lot of fun actually getting to meet them, and turns out they are just as awesome as Elder Wilson described!

So other than that, we're still meeting with Redi. He's super great and we've been working with him on prayer and scripture study with the purpose of getting an answer from God. Unfortunately, people at his work have found out that he goes to church and are trying with everything they can to stop him from going. So these past couple weeks he hasn't been able to come on Sunday, but we've still been having some great lessons.

We also have a new investigator named Rexhepi. We met him street contacting and he said he was interested in learning more about our church and the Book of Mormon. Then yesterday we had a super good lesson with him. Turns out his brother in law is a strong member in Vlore and he's talked with him a bit about our church. He doesn't have much of a religious background, but he said he's excited to learn more and see where this takes him. He even accepted a baptismal date for the weekend before Christmas!

Also yesterday, we had a really fun lesson with a woman named Drita. As we were walking to her house we just couldn't quite figure out what we needed to teach her, so we decided to just try our best to follow the spirit. So after a bit of conversation we got on the topic of angels and what do angels look like? So we felt like we needed to read the testimony of Joseph Smith from the beginning of the Book of Mormon where Joseph talks about meeting Moroni. She was so amazed! After every sentence she read she would gasp and just say "wow, this is so true!" then at one point she looked at us and said "I know that your church is true". She still has a way to go before she'll be ready, but she wants to start meeting more now and will hopefully come to church.

So that's about it for me. I'm doing great. I'm all better after the whole being sick thing last week. We've got a super busy week coming up including transfer calls this weekend, so I should have plenty to talk about next week. I love you all, sorry if I made you worry!

Mirupafshim, Zoti ju bekoftë!

Elder Gardiner

Here are a few pictures from the past week. I have a couple more on my camera, but I don't have that with me for the moment.

These two are from our time on the news with Redi.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02hSYzJZSug

Austin speaking parts are at 7:38, 25:40, and 37:15.

November 6th

Përshëndetje familja!

Well this has been a pretty interesting week here in Fier.

First off, I was on the news! The Lewis', Elder Larsen, and I were all on Redi's morning show. I didn't talk a ton because Elder Larsen was in charge of translation, and probably spent most of the time looking awkward on camera, but it was still cool. We got to talk about our missionary work and our beliefs and spread the word. Hopefully some of the people watching will be interested in learning more!

We also had a branch Halloween activity which was really fun. We had games and food and like always traditional Albanian dancing. A lot of people came and everyone seemed to have a good time!

We didn't end up having our exchange in Elbasan, but we did do one in Vlore. I got to work with Elder Murray again and we met with some people that I was working with when I was there. It was really fun, and great seeing the people again.

Unfortunately not all things were great this week. Yesterday I either had super bad food poisoning or the flu. So I spent all Saturday night throwing up and then Sunday not feeling well. Unfortunately I wasn't feeling well enough to go to church either, luckily everything worked out at church still, but not fun. I am feeling better now though.

Also, Redi didn't get baptized. He says he just doesn't feel ready yet, and that he wants his parents to support him in it, so he'll get baptized soon, but not yet.

But all in all it was still a good week. We got our car back(it hasn't been repaired yet though) and we should be going on an exchange to Korça and Pogradec this week which means I'll get to work with Elder Schneider for a day, so I'm super excited.

I love you all, and hope you're all doing well! Have a great week!

Mirupafshim, Zoti ju bekoftë!

Elder Gardiner

October 30th

Përshëndetje familja!

Another good week come and gone. Not a lot happened this week, but we still had a few good experiences nonetheless.

First off, Redi. He should hopefully be baptized this week. We still have to go through the baptismal interview questions with him and have the interview, but other than that he's totally ready! He's had the book of Mormon for a long time and usually he just opens to a random page and reads something, but now he's decided to read it start to finish. He's so awesome!

Also this week we finally had a district meeting. They're supposed to be every week but due to random things popping up it got pushed back until now. But this week it was super good. President and Sister Anderson, and the APs came and gave trainings, and our district leader gave a great training about working with ward leadership to bring back less actives.

Church was good this week. It got a little crazy at some parts and people weren't the most reverent, but we had a lot of investigators and less actives who showed up. We're trying to teach the members how to learn and study, because most still know very little about the gospel, and that's been going pretty well. We're trying to focus on getting people to turn to the scriptures when they're asked a question instead of just giving the basic answer they have memorized. Hopefully it actually works, but I guess we'll see.

We had a few first lessons and met some new people but for now there's still nothing too promising. We will have a Halloween activity tomorrow though, so hopefully we get some people coming to that.(I did get the Halloween package too, and it was super awesome! Thanks!)

We had a few good lessons with Xhoni this week, but my favorite one was yesterday where we taught him how to learn. We talked about listening and waiting to hear an answer from the spirit instead of just talking, and the lesson went so much better from then on. He's a super smart kid so now if he'll just keep listening he'll learn a ton really fast.

Other fun/random things, we had daylight savings yesterday and now it gets super dark super fast. I'll probably be going on an exchange to Elbasan this week, so I'm really excited for that. The bishop from Durres is in the Liahona magazine for this month, so you should all go check out the pictures, he's an amazing person. And lastly, I still need a lot of practice with the whole piano playing thing.

I love you all and I hope you're all doing great! Have a fantastic week! Mirupafshim, Zoti ju bekoftë!

Elder Gardiner

Here's a picture from last p-day when we went and played risk and frisbee in Lushnje with some other missionaries.

October 23rd

Përshëndetje familja!

Things are still going great here in Fier! It's been a pretty calm week, nothing too exciting, but a good one nonetheless.

First off, Redi. He's still doing great. We taught him the word of wisdom and the law of tithing and he was super ready to accept it. There's still a few more things we have to go through and clear up before his baptism, but for now he's doing great!

We had a few fun experiences with members this week. One day we were walking down the road looking for people to teach and ended up running into Motra Gjika. So we asked her if there were any members that need a visit and she told us that she wanted us to come over. So we had lunch and a bit of a lesson with her family. Her husband, Vëllai Gjika, was the branch president for 10 years(he only got released a few weeks before I got here) and they're an amazing family. He lost his left arm years ago from a work accident and it would have been really easy for him to become a really negative and bad person, but he decided not to do that. He's one of the most positive people you could ever meet, I don't think I've ever seen him without a smile, he has a super strong testimony and knows a ton of doctrine, and he's also is super into running and cycling. They're a super awesome family and they've been members since the beginning so they know all the members and they help us out a ton to find and help members who have fallen away. 

We also got to bring the sacrament to some members yesterday. They're a super funny older couple and they were so nice. We brought the sacrament and had a lesson and then they made us lunch. It was super good, but they gave us so much food, I felt so sick afterwards. 

I also met a super cool guy on the road this week. He's Christian and loves the Bible, and he's a school teacher and he wants to help all the kids he teaches have faith as well. He said he didn't have time to meet or a phone number, which usually means that we'll never see them again, but I gave him a pass along card and invited him to church if he ever wanted. And then this Sunday he actually came! He stayed for all of priesthood session, which is what we watched for second hour(church here is only two hours) and then after I talked to him and he said that he had gone online and found the Book of Mormon and started reading it and really liked it. We gave him a physical copy and he said he'll try to come again next week, so hopefully he reads and studies the Book of Mormon!

That's about it for me, I'm still loving serving with Elder Larsen. We get along really well and he's a great missionary.

Fun bonus, yesterday was Lindis' one year baptism mark, he's no longer a recent convert! I got to talk to him a little last night, and later this week I'll actually get to go on an exchange to Elbasan, so I'm super excited!

Have a great week, I love you all! Mirupafshim, Zoti ju bekoftë!

Elder Gardiner