Arrival in Seattle

Helloooo family!

How are you all? So here it goes! After I called you, we got on the plane about 10 minutes later and flew to Seattle! Hma. Alley and I sat next to a man named Mike from Idaho Falls and lives there with his wife and 9 month year old son. We talked to him for a while, he has three brothers, two of which went on missions. He chose not to go on one. He's in Sales, he does a lot of presentations in different states and stuff. A returned missionary that served in Venezuela sat right in front of us, so we talked a little bit about how the mission changes you, etc. It was really nice to get to know Mike, I felt like I've known him forever. He's going to go to mormon.org and check out some of the convert stories there.

We got off the plane, got our luggage, and all 37 (yes, 37 new missionaries to the Seattle Mission, which is the most there's ever been in a transfer in this mission) of us were greeted by the Assistants. They were literally running around finding people to place a book of mormon to, and to let us all sing to them. We were all looking around confused, but we soon realized that they (and we are supposed to) actually do that in real life. These awesome missionaries found a mom and her two kids that we could all sing "I am a child of God" to. It was so fun. She's from California and we got her information to send the missionaries to her house. It was crazy! 

 

We went straight to the mission office which is a church building and had the longest meeting of my life while all 37 of us were interviewed by president Choi. He's a stud. He said "If you don't like your companion, like them. If  you don't love your companion, love them." He's just so straightforward. haha, I love him and his wife already. 

 

Yesterday was rough because I was literally on the edge of falling asleep at all times, all while trying to pay attention and understand where I was. hahahaha. I also felt really sick from the airplane ride and all the twisty roads around here. There's only twisty roads, so I'm going to have to get used to that.

I have 2 companions!! They're English speaking. Sister Steed and Sister Goodrich. They're so great. They're both really humble and hard-working. It's going to be really hard to basically teach myself Spanish, because we're not going to have many opportunities to teach spanish-speakers. I'm really worried about that, because you learn best when you're using it and not just studying it for an hour a day. 

 

But anyways, after that long meeting and whatnot, we got down to business! We had two appointments, one with a man whose wife is a non-member, and he's less-active. We had a great meeting with him, he really has a desire to be better and to accept Christ into his life. Then we taught another man who was baptized when he was 20 and went on a mission to Australia when he was 25! He's around 50 now, and has been inactive his whole life. He's been through A LOT. I won't go into detail, but he has had a tough, tough life. We taught him about the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Sister Goodrich asked me to teach it. Ahhh! First time! It went well though. We asked inspired questions, and the spirit was really strong. He's coming to church on sunday! Crossing our fingers.

Today has been great so far, we taught a mom (Sister Bullock) who is inactive and her son who is 10 about the restoration, and that little boy is SO smart. Connor is smarter than me. He's going to read the book of mormon every day and pray every day. We have another appointment with them in 3 days.

We live in a member's home until tomorrow! haha it's a really nice house, and it has the prettiest view. Right next to lake Washington. Her son is moving back in because he's having some financial issues with his wife. We're moving to an apartment tomorrow, so that's exciting. 

 

It is SO PRETTY HERE! The lake is just gorgeous, always glass. The trees are beautiful and the mountains are awesome. We're in Kirkland by the way. And I don't have my address yet, so I'll let you know when I get it.

I'm trying to rely on the Lord and to love my investigators, even though I have a hard time remembering their names. I guess it's only been a day. Oh well! haha I know that this is the place that I need to be at this time. Washington is so great! Sometimes I forget that I'm not in Salt Lake or Provo or something. It's crazy to think about how north I am. haha. It's foggy and kinda cold, my favorite! Its so nice to be out of the heat of Provo. I miss my companions and Hermana's from the MTC a lot, but I know they're doing great. I hope that I can be the best missionary I can be. I want so bad to be able to do what Heavenly Father wants me to do. This is His work, and we have to do it His way. Our purpose is to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored Gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, and enduring to the end. This can only be done through the Spirit. "The Spirit teaches things as they really are, and as they really will be" -- look up that scripture, I don't know where it is. I absolutely love that. This is reality. The Spirit can teach us reality. The two days I've been here have been such a tender mercy-- it is an amazing opportunity to be able to teach real people the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ and invite them to come closer to Him! I know Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer. I know God lives and loves us, enough to give us His only begotten son to Atone for the sins, pains, and afflictions of the world. God knows and loves me individually and knows and loves all of you. We can come closer to Him and His Son through daily prayer, scripture study, and applying the things we gain from them.

I love you all! Keep it real...,

Hermana Gardner