MIRACLE. Worth the
read. (After a quick recap of my week)
I'm afraid it has
finally taken me 16 months to figure out I have been doing my mission not wrong
but also not completely right. I ran across this quote by President Oaks and it
hit home,
"We learn from
this command that it is not enough to serve God with all of our might
and strength. He who looks into our hearts and knows our minds demands more
than this. In order to stand blameless before God at the last day, we must also
serve him with all our heart and mind."
I have been putting in
all of the work and actions and stress to missionary work but not putting in
the feelings. I was trying to make the big things come to pass without doing
the small things first. I have been doing missionary work but not fully knowing
the WHY behind things. It's charity. I'm not here to serve for referrals, for
the most amount of baptisms, for the biggest finding week of any missionary, or
for any worldly praise, OR even for any friend or family member. I am here out
of Charity. God's love. God's pure which is Christ. I am here to exemplify him
and give all I have to every member in my ward, every missionary I serve with,
and every interaction I have. This is what a successful mission is to me. I'm
happy I have 8 more months to fix the rest of my mission!
Alright. This miracle
actually happened this morning. Let's say I was FREAKING out. Anyways, my
wonderful mom sent me my absentee ballot to vote in this election just like the
good citizen I strive to be haha (I have lots to improve on;). Anyways, I went
to the mission office and someone gave me a pile of mail (thanks grandma and
mom!!!) and so I didn't really think twice when I saw this ballot there because
I knew my mom sent it to me.
WELL. That thing was
sitting on my desk for a day so I could look over it and think, ya know, and I
finally sat down to vote. I thought it was funny just how it never said my name
but I just continued. I literally finished the ballot and went to put it in the
other envelope to get it sent off and when it told me to sign it gave the name
of whose ballot it truly was. Let’s just say
IT WAS NOT MINE.
I totally robbed a
Sister in my district of her ballot. My stomach dropped 15 floors and I was
afraid the cops were already tracking me down. I finally sent a text to this
sister after dreading what was going to happen and once I sent it you would
never guess what happened.
She had already
received ANOTHER ballot from home and she was just waiting for this one to come
so she could destroy it. GOD IS SO GOOD AND I FELT SO LOVED AND EXCITED AND
JUST WAS GIVEN A SECOND CHANCE WOOOOOO. Anyways, I was pretty excited you could
say!
That's all I got to
report other than driving through the east during fall is like the prettiest
thing ever. Just imagine going through a canyon in Utah during fall and seeing
the amazing trees and colors BUT everywhere you drive. It's kinda legendary.
Kinda dope. Kinda HUGE.
Love ya all!
Elder Gardanier
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