Joy is not the absence of sorrow but the presence of Christ

The pressure to sum up my whole mission into 1 email is daunting. I might as well just send you pictures of my daily journal if I want to even scratch the surface from these past 2 years. 

Actually.

It is impossible and I won't even try...BUT I can leave you with something even more important than my journal....(after a quick update of my week!;)

1. JARED GOT BAPTIZED. That was such an amazing miracle. There were many rocky experiences and challenges along the way but it was worth every single drop of sweat. He was elated to take upon himself the name of Christ. He literally introduced himself as "Jared Jesus Christ." I love the enthusiasm to literally take upon himself the name of Christ.

2. For those wondering, Dajuan is still getting baptized this week. In fact, he will get baptized Wednesday morning at 8am!!! Hahaha we will have to up at 5am to fill the font and then we are gonna skirt right after the baptism to transfer meeting. 

3. I hit 24 months as a missionary on June 25th. I can't believe 2 years ago I was hugging my family goodbye and hopping onto a plane to Brazil...can I say it feels like yesterday or would that be blasphemy to my mom who thinks it was at least 2 decades ago? 

I'm so grateful for the Virginia Richmond mission. I'm grateful for its inspired leaders and loving examples. I'm grateful for the opportunities. Although I'm extremely grateful, that is not why I chose to serve a mission or even why I chose to come back out and stay out. I came because of Jesus Christ. He is the reason I made the small sacrifice to serve a mission. 

Someone told me this past week that "Joy is not the absence of sorrow but the presence of Christ." That is my mission in 12 words. It is completely true! I think it would be fitting to end with my testimony of Christ. And to throw a spin on it, I know that the Book of Mormon is the best way for us to learn about and come unto Jesus Christ. Therefore, I wrote my testimony of Christ ONLY using direct quotations straight from the Book of Mormon. (Is that plagiarism? I'll ask Nephi for forgiveness in the next life) 

"He shall be called Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of Heaven and earth.¹            

Christ shall come among the children of men,² for he shall grow up...as a tender plant³ born of Mary.⁴ He dwelleth in flesh...having subjected the flesh to the will of the Father⁵ in all things from the beginning.⁶

And He doeth not anything save it be for the benefit of the world, for He loveth the world.⁷ And lo, he shall suffer temptations and pain of body, hunger, thirst, and fatigue, even more than man can suffer⁸ to bring about the bowels of mercy.⁹

Because of his loving kindness and his long-suffering towards the children of men,¹⁰ an atonement should be made¹¹ to deliver from that awful monster, death and hell.¹²

And behold, he cometh to redeem those who will be baptized unto repentance, through faith on his name¹³ and the reception of the Holy Ghost.¹⁴

And he inviteth...all to come unto him and partake of his goodness...black and white...male and female.¹⁵ And he knoweth their prayers...and he knoweth their faith...¹⁶and through his infinite goodness and grace, will keep you through the endurance...to the end.¹⁷

He saith: 'Come unto me all ye ends of the earth.¹⁸ Behold, mine arm of mercy is extended towards you.¹⁹ I have compassion on you.²⁰ I am he that comforted you.²¹'

Wherefore, my soul delighteth concerning Him.²² Yea, come unto Christ and be perfected in him;²³ turn to the Lord with full purpose of heart, and put you trust in him, and serve him with all diligence of mind...and he will...deliver you out of bondage.²⁴

Wherefore, redemption cometh in and through the Holy Messiah; for he is full of grace and truth.²⁵"

I love this church and I love this gospel. They are true! 

 Elder Gardanier  (one last time) 

¹Mosiah 3:8  ²Alma 34:8  ³Mosiah 14:2 ⁴Alma 7:10  ⁵Mosiah 15:2  ⁶3 Nephi 11:1     ⁷2 Nephi 26:24  ⁸Mosiah 3:7  ⁹Alma 34:15

¹⁰1 Nephi 19:9  ¹¹Alma 34:9  ¹²2 Nephi 9:26

¹³Alma 9:27  ¹⁴3 Nephi 27:20                     

¹⁵2 Nephi 26:33  ¹⁶Moroni 8:24  

¹⁷Moroni 8:3  ¹⁸2 Nephi 25:13  

¹⁹3 Nephi 9:14  ²⁰3 Nephi 16:7  

²¹2 Nephi 8:12  ²²2 Nephi 25:13  

²³Moroni 10:32  ²⁴Mosiah 7:33  

²⁵2 Nephi 2:6

Seeing the End from the Beginning

Do you know how life would be so much easier, calmer, and full of more patience if I would just see the end from the beginning? 

I've found myself asking myself (hehe) this exact question multiple times throughout the week. I've been reviewing a lot of my journal entries during my mission and I wish I could so badly leave a note, or reach through the papers to give myself a pat on the back and encouraging words to myself 2 years ago. 

Or even, this week we have been going through a lot of ups and downs with Jared as he is preparing for baptism. I just want to grab him by the lapels of his collared shirt and tell him "Trust me! This is what you will want not only now but well into the future and for eternity." But I can't. Or I get impatient when we have a few appointments fall through and I want to kindly embrace these people and say, "You don't realize what you're turning down! You need this gospel and you need it now!" And I especially want to help less active members see the end from the beginning as they kindly tell us to never come back and that they aren't interested. 

How can these people not see what I see? In fact, I'm sure this is what God thinks daily. However, he IS patient. He IS perfectly loving and forgiving. He ALWAYS IS willing to forgive us even though he knows there is an easier way. 

Elder Uchtdorf explains this principle perfectly as he explains the concept and godly virtue of patience:

     "Often the deep valleys of our present will be understood only by looking back on them from the mountains of our future experience...

...patience is a purifying process that refines understanding, deepens happiness, focuses action, and offers hope for peace...

...Our Heavenly Father knows what good parents come to understand over time: if children are ever going to mature and reach their potential, they must learn to wait."

Another lesson I learned about patience and preparation came through Anitha and Venkat. Anitha was going to get baptized this Saturday on the 26th but due to the language barrier and her wanting to be more prepared, we are pushing it back! But we found some missionaries who speak Telugu and now are teaching her! However, yesterday was a great day as Venkat came to church and we had the opportunity to confer the Aaronic priesthood to him!! He is all set to baptize his wife when her time comes!! (Soon) 

Love you all and I can't believe this is my last full week as a missionary!! Time to soak up every moment 

-Elder Gardanier 

Pt 2, Is Jared actually on date for Baptism?!

Funny story. Remember last week how Melissa put her husband on date for baptism for June 26th without him knowing?! Well, we went into our lesson this week with guns a-blazing and taught him about the gospel of Jesus Christ and really emphasized the role of the Holy Ghost. To end things, we slid a paper over to him and invited him to make a pro and con list for being baptized. 

Immediately, Melissa busted up laughing and I thought I had messed up 🤦‍♂️BUT turns out, this is the exact thing that Melissa did to Jared when they were deciding if they should get married or not...a pro/con list. Jared received just another witness that this is the right path.

Fast forward, Jared looked at us and let out a sigh of frustration and said, "Well, there are no cons to baptism, how do you expect me to write something down?" We all kinda smiled and looked at him as he processed what he just said! 

Long story made short, Jared decided to be baptized on July 10th! (But wait, there's more). We were so excited for him and this date but then Melissa said "Elder Gardanier, when do you go home?" I responded the 1st of July and told them that I could zoom in! Jared then shouted, "Nope! That isn't going to work. You need to be here. How about the 27th of June then?" 

So. Moral of the story. Jared is going to be baptized the 27th of June!!! He has had quite the journey and so many missionaries to prepare him for his baptism. I'm so grateful to be one of many influences that has helped him towards the covenant path! 

     

Also, funny story. We were doing some street contacting this past week and I was looking at my phone to get us to an address and low and behold, I stepped in a pile of horse poop. I was so scared that I jumped super high with a little unintentional karate kick and then let out a scream. When I turned around this lady sitting on her porch in a rocking chair just stared at me in disgust and completely horrified. I felt bad for making a scene...that might've been why she wasn't interested in hearing our message. 

Have such a good week!!!! 

Elder Gardanier 

 

P.s, if you all could keep Anitha (June 26th) Jared (June 27th) and Dajuan (June 29th) in your prayers, that would be AWESOME!! They all are in need! 

The time I got a million dollars

 Okay...^^that might've been click bait BUT let me tell you how this week was even better than a million bucks:

So. Many. Things. Happened. This. Week. 

     First off, I'm not a fan of Bible or any type of bashing. We went into a lesson with our friend Steve and that is exactly what he did. I'm not exactly sure how he didn't even pass out because he talked so much that breathing was a burden for him! Well, knowing that our meeting was cutting into valuable time to find new people to teach and other lessons, the Spirit pricked me in a rather unusual way. Before I knew it, I had raised my hand and immediately Steve stopped talking and called on me. I told him that we admire his devotion to the Bible and he knows it so well; I then proceeded to tell him our goal as missionaries and how it's different than his agenda. We ended in prayer and got on to finding more people!! 

     And catch this miracle...we are working with a part member family. The husband just was baptized and his wife hasn't learned much about the gospel because of a pregnancy and health issues the past few months. Well, she has finally recovered and we taught the gospel of Jesus Christ and invited her to be baptized for June 26th! We are excited for her...the only struggle is she speaks Telugu and her English is still improving. Catch me on the Duolingo grind!!! 

     Christian's baptism happened!!!!! It was spectacular. His family brought a few people who weren't even members and they were able to participate! Christian enjoyed the baptism and really loved the Taco Bell afterwards too. Nothing is better than being a new member of the church and a cheesy Gordilla crunch!! 

     ^^Not only did the miracles stop there...his mom is married to Jared whom we are teaching. She wants him baptized so badly and texted us today saying "That's it, what do we need to do to get Jared baptized for June 26th?" I love the determination!! Let's just hope that Jared knows his wife signed him up for his baptism on the 26th  

     But in all seriousness, I've learned this past week that discipleship and conversion is an active and personal process. No one can force you to follow Christ despite how much you desire it. Even Alma the Older exhausted his resources to aid his son. However, his efforts weren't in vain! The angel told Alma the younger "Alma, who is thy father; for he has prayed with much faith concerning thee that thou mightest be brought to the knowledge of the truth..." 

     I'm discovering that being a converted disciple of Christ is not one big decision...in fact, it's made up of thousands of daily decisions that are Christlike. It's getting up at 6:30 as a missionary, it's choosing to spend 30 mins in the scriptures rather than your favorite TV show, it's choosing to take time to listen to the Holy Ghost after you pray, and it's every other fiber-like decision that is woven together to create a tapestry of conversion. It takes diligence--steady, consistent earnest, and energetic effort. 

Love you all!

-Elder Gardanier 

Maskless!

 I'm blessed. We blessed. Another blessed week. I have so much to share but here are the highlights!! 

1. My last Zone Conference has come and gone. It was surreal. One of the best parts was when President Droubay said, "if you have been vaccinated, you can take your masks off." WHAT?!?!?!! Yep. We have entered phase 3 as a mission which basically means normal missionary work...kinda. We don't have to wear masks as long as the majority of the people in a crowd feel the same way. We can finally start to find people to teach in ways before COVID. I never thought this day would come!! I've got 4 weeks to grind out some work. God is good. 

2. Miracle two is a BIG testimony builder for me. One night while praying, I some how fumbled my way on my phone and onto a random area book record. I thought it was strange but I set a time to reach out to Sid. We called the next day and I immediately saw God organizing a miracle. Turns out, Sid's wife was a member but she had passed away the same day I had a feeling to reach out to Sid. Even before anyone knew about her passing we had planned to reach out. It was amazing to see how God was already orchestrating a plan to show his love for Sid. 

     Sid went on to explain that he lost a son 2 weeks ago and that he is going through a really rough time. And towards the end of the call he said, "You would make me super happy if you could lift my new electric wheelchair into my house so I can use it." We cleared our scheduled and booked it over there. I was so humbled to see how God's timing is perfect and he can cause great things to happen even from the smallest promptings. God is good. 

3. Remember Christian Dempsey? Well we have been praying and fasting that his biological dad would give him permission to be baptized. And guess what? HE DID. And not only did he give Christian permission to be baptized BUT he is getting baptized this Saturday on June 5th!!!! God is good. 

     Then, later that day we went over to Larry's house. We taught about the importance of the sacrament and how after we are baptized, we have the Spirit to ALWAYS be with us. We asked if that was something he wanted and he said, "Yes! I want to be baptized!" So Larry is scheduled for July 17th!! God is good. 

   Moral of the story, we have been majorly blessed with miracles this past week. There is almost no better feeling than following a prompting of the Spirit. I am grateful that I ALWAYS have the gift of the spirit to be with me. 

Love you all!

Elder Gardanier 

White: the absence of color?

We went into this military base and went up this lighthouse. And then we also went to the exact spot where the first settlers of America landed

 --Some quick stats for this week--

Food of the week that I slept on: 2 Bananas! 

Times that I've seen the beach: 1!!

Times that we have done a 2 hour drive: 4 🥵 

Chick-fil-a: 2 🥴🤤

     Basically this week was CRAZY and so eventful. My two new companions are Elders Allred and Gilbert. These two are a bunch of goons and we have a good time. We have a joke about this standing lamp in our house that is always in the most inconvenient place...It's been surprising to see it when I step in the shower in the morning or see it in my bed when I go to sleep. Who knows where is next?! 

     We had an interesting yet miraculous lesson yesterday! Backstory: Melissa is a member who withdrew her records from the church a while back BUT has been trying and working with leaders to join the church again. She is weeks away to being re-baptized! Her husband, Jared, is NOT a member but he is way fun and interested in learning. 

     Recently, he has been confused on how HE can fit into the church. It's been hard because he can't see himself as a "cookie cutter" member. He also believes that his sins and mistakes have shaped him into who he is and he doesn't want those experiences to go away. In fact, he used an analogy how he has different "colors" that paint his past. He's learned about red, or has experienced blue, and many studies have brought him to green. He doesn't feel like he fits in because he isn't the same "shade" or "color" as the other members.

     My companions and I jumped on this analogy and all of a sudden my 6th grade self remembered the essence of white light. I told him that white represents purity and that is our goal. People think that they need to be washed free from their experiences and growing up in order to fit the model...HOWEVER, I told him, that white light is actually made up of red, blue, and green. His experiences, and the experiences and colors of other members, can combine to make up the White: Jesus Christ. 

     No. I am not saying we don't need to repent and be washed clean from the stain of sin. Nope. Not one bit. BUT I am saying that past experiences of green or blue can be made pure through the red blood of Christ. He can make us pure and unique as individuals. I love how Elder Holland sums it up by inviting us to claim the glowing embers of the past and not the ashes. Christ can justify us from our sins and fill the gap, however, the process of being sanctified is A PROCESS. It takes effort, time, trying, falling, brushing your knees off, and committing yourself to never give up. 

     The beauty of the Atonement of Jesus Christ is that it can and should be woven into every aspect of our lives. I am discovering that Christ is in the details and in every moment of my life (more to come on this next week;) 

     SO. (To tie things up together). Jared can still be a member of the church WITH his appropriate habits and customs while still being able to be made pure. The key to doing this is reading in the Book of Mormon daily and APPLYING these teachings. We have been given THE BEST roadmap for our lives, and I'm sad to say, I have not utilized it to it's fullest in my life. I'm excited for the future!

Beach Vibes and Michael Jackson

 My last transfer has finally arrived and I can't believe it. I'm excited to work my tail off because I'm so lucky to be a missionary! 

    And as for my last transfer...I will be heading down to VIRGINIA BEACH! I have always wanted to serve there but the zone leader spot was Spanish speaking BUT they changed it my last transfer so you can say that God is good! I'm actually trading my good friend Elder Seegmiller spots so that he can fill the big shoes of being Assistant to the President! I can't wait to go on exchanges with that Elder!

     This last Sunday was a tough one because I had to say a lot of goodbyes to such amazing members! I felt so much love from each of them and I was given the perfect send off...during our 2nd hour meeting, this lady raised her hand to make a comment. Since our 2nd hour is also broadcasted over zoom, we use a microphone so all can hear. This lady grabbed the mic, cleared her throat, and began to hum the most beautiful melody. After a few minutes she started singing "We Are the World" by Michael Jackson. She brought the biggest smile to my eyes because 1. I love that song 2. I never thought I would hear a live performance of it during church! The Richmond Branch definitely brings some of the richest experiences!

     As for myself, I have been doing a deep study on pride AND it's antonyms Humility and Meekness. I realized that I am super prideful. I have so much to work on. I can get better in almost every aspect of my life. HOWEVER, I know the blessings of being humbled and meek WELL out weigh the consequences of pride. 

    Helaman 3:35 lists a bunch of blessings when I humble myself "Nevertheless, they did fast and pray oft, and did wax stronger and stronger in their humility, firmer in the faith of Christ, unto the filling their souls with joy and consolation, yea, even to the purifying and the sanctification of their hearts, which sanctification cometh because of their yielding their hearts unto God."

I love how Humility keeps me on my toes. It helps me to stay on the edge of my seat and not settle. President Benson stated this perfectly when he said, "Do you know what peace and prosperity can do to a people--it can put them to sleep." 

And. To sum it up, C.S. Lewis encapsulates an aspect of pride when he said, "Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man."

I invite you all to keep me humble because I know humility qualifies me for Christ's grace WHICH is essential!

Love you all!

Elder Gardanier