week four:

happy to KNOW.

Mi familia y amigos!!!
¿¡Como estan?!
It has been an awesome week here in Lima at the CCM! and guess what?? We are advancados now!!!! wooooo!!! That means my district is the oldest group now at the CCM! We have been here the longest, and i cant even believe it.
My spanish is ehh...but I am improving. I just need to keep reminding myself to talk more in spnaish with my companions. But I pretty much say all my prayers in all Spanish which is way cool! And all our lessons too of course .Our lessons with investigators are getting better too. I am learning soooo much about how the spirit is SO important. If you go in there and just try to explain a gospel principle or concept or focus on what words you are going to say, then pretty much the lesson just goes alright. But if you go in there with a calm mind, a prayer in your heart and with the Spirit, really listen to the person and try to figure out there needs and their concerns, the the Spirit truly helps to know what you can say to help them, and surprisingly, I can usually come up with the spanish that I need hahaha. Its awesome.
Being here, you really realize how vital the Gospel is in life, and gain a perspective of what is most important. I LOVE studying the Book of Mormon. My testimony of that book has shot through the roof!! I just want to run around the whole world and tell everyone, "Its TRUE! its True!!! I KNOW its true!!!!!" Its amazing what happens when I actually take time to read it and ponder and relate it to my own life. I feel the spirit so strong teaching me things that only Heavenly Father would know I need help with. Helping me feel comfort and love that only He would know I needed on a particular day. It is so so so exciting.
If I had to sum up my testimony on what I have learned in the past 4 weeks here, it would be this quote by Ezra Taft Benson.
"Men and women who turn their lives over to God will discover that He will make a lot more out of their lives than they can. He will deepen their joys, expand their vision, quicken their minds, strengthen their muscles, lift their spirits, multiply their blessings, increase their opportunities, comfort their souls, raise up friends, and pour out peace."
Seriously!! How cool!!!! Did you see all of those blessings he mentioned!?!? As I have turned my heart to the Lord and tried to focus on His will, trying to learn the things he wants me to learn, and change and grow and try to be like Christ, I have begun to notice these blessings around and within me.
I know Heavenly Father loves me.
I know He knows my heart.
These truths have hit my heart so powerfully in the past fews weeks ive spent here... It can be rather challenging. Some days are really long. Sometimes I get discouraged or think I am not capable. But always. ALWAYS, the Lord comes to my side and He finds a way to tell me that I am His daughter. I am HIS missionary. That he is aware of me. and that "He will the task to your capabilities" like Elder Scott said on Sunday in a devotional we got to watch. :) I LOVED that quote. It was just what I needed. All the Lord needs is our willing hearts and no matter who we are or what our personalities are like, if we are willing to serve Him and do his work, He will fit the task to our capabilities. I LOVE THIS. and its true.
Our branch president said this quote in sacrament meeting on Sunday, along with a bundle of other amazing things about Christs Atonement, and I all but balled my eyes right out of their sockets by the end of the meeting haha! But i soooo needed this quote.
"Christ is not waiting for us to be perfect. He is the Lord of the imperfect, and He wants us in our broken-ness." - Cheiko Okasaki
I can feel with all my soul (there are even some moments where I feel my heart might burst right out of my little cuerpo!!) that this work is real and that this church is true.. It is Heavenly Fathers work. I wish I could get all of you to feel what I feel in my heart, I wish I get get you all to feel this feeling inside me, so powerful and so strong that IT IS TRUE! and it is important. It is the happiest, most joyful and peaceful feeling in all the world!!!
I LOVE YOU!!!!! Te amo mucho!!!! y yo se que Jesucristo vive y tiene mucho amor para nosotros. (sneak peak of my spanish testimony... stay tuned for more.)
Have a wonderful weel, amigos. and thanks for your prayers, I really feel so strengthen by them.
paz y amor,
Hermana Gardner