Me? IN Guatemala?‏

Yep. I received the transfer call last night and I learned that I am going to Guatemala and that my area here in Orange Walk is going to be whitewashed. I'm headed to Melchor in Guatemala, this will be the third country in which I have served. Melchor is the only part of our mission that is in Guatemala, people from Belize go back and forth from Melchor all the time so that is why it is included in our mission.

I had begun to really love Orange Walk and the people here and the next thing you know I'm gone! So that is crazy that I'll be headed to a third country to serve. El Salvador, Belize, and now Guatemala. I really love Belize and I hope that I get the opportunity to come back here again because Belize is awesome. 

This week we had a good time, we ate a giant hamburger as part of our district meeting on thursday, played basketball at an activity, and I ate a huge plate of Chicken Fry Rice. On Sunday my companion spent the day saying goodbye to people so that was a little sad for him, he has been here for 6 months. 

This week I forgot my umbrella one day and that was the day that it monsooned, so that was terrible. I felt like I got wet under my skin, I might as well have just as jumped into a swimming pool with how wet I got. My mother made me buy a waterproof camera before I came instead of a normal, I'm grateful for her foresight.

I had a great week and I am doing great, always steadily gaining weight. I'm so grateful to have the restored gospel in my life, I know that I'm doing what God wants and I feel His presence in my life. I'm grateful for my Savior and the Atonement that He accomplished for me. 

I hope everyone has a wonderful week, 

from the most pink man in Belize, 

Elder Gardner

Goodbye to Mission President‏

 my friend E. Kleinman‏

Here I am with a member of the church named Brother Stamp

Our mission president came this week to have one last multizone conference and to say goobye to all of us. President Hintze was a great guy and I am grateful for his service, it was a pleasure to have him as our mission president. 

When I visited Belize city a guy was harrasing us to buy "jahny caks" (johny cakes, in Belize, I don't believe spelling is an emphasis in schooling). They are these biscuit like bread things, they are pretty good but it was funny to have people try to sell stuff to us in creole. I have begun to understand creole, it really is only broken english, but to speak it is something completely else. I don't ever believe that I will be able to speak creole, and if I did attempt to learn it I think it would mess up my english haha.

Not too much happened this week other than that, we've found some new people to teach who are very receptive so that is cool. There is a guy that lived his whole life in Dallas named Fernando Ayuso that we are teaching, he is a really cool guy and he is interested in learning more and he said he'll come to church next week before we even invited him. We also found a guy named Cecilio that invited us into his house to teach him "the word", so that was another great opportunity. I'm grateful for the opportunity to be here in Belize and to help people learn about the restored gospel, it is a fun time, although often very frustrating. 

There is only seven days left until the next transfer, I think I transfer would be good for both my companion and I as we are completely different and we are getting sick of one another. I can honestly tell you that I've met few lazier people in my life, but at least we've gotten along well this transfer. But one more, no creo que yo aguante. 

Espero que tengan todos una feliz semana llena de bendiciones. Cuidense bastante and enjoy the NBA finals!

Sincerely, 

Elder Gardner

 my companion is shown resting

Birthday, Baptism, and trip to Lamanai‏

Happy 19th birthday Elder Gardner

Sweet Sister missionaries made pineapple cake!

Baptism of Victoria

Lamanai Ruins

at the ruins, E. Mitchell and comp, E Gardner

It was a great week this week. We were very busy, on wednesday we had to go to Belize City to work on my immigration papers with an agent from the church. My papers are all good and I'll be ok to stay here legally in Belize but some others had some problems with getting a work permit so hopefully they don't get thrown into jail! That actually happened to one missionary before but hopefully they avoid it. 

On Thursday we had a zone conference that was held here in my area of Orange Walk. That was nice because we didn't have to travel too much. 

ON Friday it was my birthday, the day was very normal but at night we had a little party at a mexican restaurant by our house. The owners of the restaurant knew it was my birthday so they surprised me with a cake and they made me wear the hat and I got sung some mariachi song that all of the missionaries knew in my district but I didn't know. It was fun and it was a pineapple cake so it tasted good, everybody at the place got a kick out of watching me so that was good. They also pushed my face into the cake so that was fun, but everyone still ate it I just got my face all sticky. 

On Sunday we had a baptism of Victoria, I knocked on her door almost a month ago immediately after arriving here in Belize. so it has been very cool to see how the gospel has changed her life, her baptism was a cool event. After the baptism, she shared her testimony with everyone how she feels like she "has come home" and that "this has made her happy" so that was great for me to see. It makes it all worth it to be here in the mission when you can see how much it can mean to people ot come to Christ. 

On Monday we visited some Mayan ruins called Lamanai, it was a great boat ride and I had a fun time seeing those sites. I took some good pictures and my companion wore some hideous pants, haha, everyone got a kick out of that. 

With best regards to all, 

Elder Gardner

Zone Conference

E. Crazy Pants, E. Rojas

E. Rojas getting something out of eye- he is screaming

Birthday

It seems a little unreal that I will be turning 19 on friday. I still feel like a little boy on the inside, I don't want to be old. 

But, I'm doing great here in Belize. It is so so so hot but that is ok. The food here is great, lots of fried food and barbecue. this week I saw the ocean and never have I had such great desires to dive into the crystal clear water that is in Corozal in Belize. But, I can't go swimming so I'll just have to wait, haha. 

I fell over while walking this week, I wanted to scare my companion so I stayed down and held my arm weird so it looked like I broke it. He isn't one who likes gruesome sights so when I made a cracking noise he thought it was my arm and screamed! Haha, so that funny, then I jumped back up laughing and relatively uninjured. 

I am glad to be here in Orange Walk, the people are great here and we are helping several people to improve their lives by coming unto Christ. I am happy, enjoying, and hot with this sweltering heat. My watch tan line is killer, I will send a picture of that next week. I know that God loves each one of us and that He is interested in our eternal well being, He listens when we pray, He wants to help us. 

I hope that everyone has an awesome week. I love you all!

Elder Gardner

Belize

Wide open field in front of E. Gardner's house

E Rojas favorite meal

How is everyone doing? 

I have been here in Belize now for almost two weeks and it is great here, it is beautiful and the people here are pretty interesting. It is a super laid back culture and very noncommittal. But, I'm doing good. I've had to implement the use of sunscreen into my daily schedule once again because it is hot here! According to our neighbors it gets up to like 105 every day! that is scorching, I have to walk around with a sweat rag to keep the sweat out of my eyes, it is hot!

But besides that all is good here, there is a good unit of the church here in Orange Walk. There are about 100 active members that come to church every week. There are 6 missionaries here in orange walk that form a district. There are my companion and I, as well as 4 other sister missionaries. So, that is what is going on here! I have really enjoyed the culture here, it is fun to go around and see people chilling out on their porches eating fried chicken while wearing lakers shirts. People are always down to talk here and it is fun to here a wide variety of perspectives on religion. 

I have been enjoying some new foods here in Belize, there are a lot of Chinese food, fried chicken, fried jacks, and to my absolute delight they have barbecue chicken! everyone here loves barbecue chicken and they always eat it, I have really enjoyed the barbecue chicken here in Belize. It is a delight. 

We left the back door on our house open earlier this week and a bunch of chickens came in and laid an egg in my clothes, haha that was pretty funny. I had to cast out all of the chickens because my comp didn't want to touch them. 

When I came to this area there weren't many people that the missionaries were teaching, however we have found many people. I am trying to get along with my companion but I have a hard time getting along with slothful people. When I arrived to my house here it was filthy but I have done some serious cleaning and now it looks a lot better. 

I love the work that I am doing and I know that my Savior lives and all I do is boldy testify of HIm and His restored gospel and try to help people have happier lives. I am doing well and I'm in generally good health. I hope each one of you have a great week. 

Take Care, 

Elder Gardner