MTC, Week 8

Hola!

It's been a crazy week! Mainly because I got my flight plans. I'm actually going to leave the MTC, and a day earlier than I thought I was going to. I leave a week from today, August 23. The bus leaves the MTC at 10 am, my flight leaves Salt Lake City at 1:50 pm and lands in Atlanta at 7:40 pm. I leave Atlanta at 8:30 pm and land in Buenos Aires at 7:45 am. (all times are local, I think) I also have a flight planned out of Buenos Aires to Miami for a month after I land in Argentina. We aren't sure exactly what the purpose of that flight is, but we think it is in case we don't get our visas and we have to leave. Let's pray that doesn't happen. So I'm pretty excited. And pretty busy getting everything done I need to before I leave.

Gringo moment of the week: 'pegar' means 'to hit/punch;' 'pagar' means 'to pay.' But 'pegar' is pronounced more like the English word pay so it is pretty easy to say the wrong one. It made for a rather interesting sentence when I said something like, "Christ died in order to punch our sins." I don't think that is correct doctrine, but I've been reading the new testament to see if I can justify it ;).

I don't have a whole lot to say; this week was a lot like all of the other ones here. We did have one change from the normal schedule because we got to host new missionaries. It was pretty fun. The family would drive up and drop of the missionary then we would take them and help them get their supplies and show them to their rooms. It's crazy how many new missionaries come every week. I think it's somewhere in the three to four hundred range. The MTC is an incredibly efficient organization. The two misisonaries I hosted were going to Mexico City and Tampa, Florida. And the Mexico City missionary happened to be companions with a kid from my ward at BYU (Cody Wright).

Well, that's all I got to say about my week here. I would like to finish with something I've thought a lot about recently. I've never been one to talk much about my beliefs. I instead have tried to follow the advice found in James chapter two and 'show my faith by my works.' I hope that everyone who knows me thinks of me as someone who acted the way a disciple of Christ should. If anyone doesn't think of me like that, I am sorry for whatever I did and hope that I can improve. But let me take this oppurtunity to tell all who care to listen: that I believe that Christ lives. He is my Savior and my Redeemer. I am nothing without Him. Everything good in my life has come through Christ, and anything good I have done for others has been because of my belief in Him. He is the reason I am here. I'm about to go to a foreign country and try to talk to people in a language I don't know. But I am not worried because I know that through Christ I can do whatever He asks of me. He is the reason I find joy in life, and I know that all people can find joy if they will come unto Him. That is why I am here.

Well, I'm out of time. This is my last letter from the states, next time you hear from me I will be in Argentina.

Love,

Elder Gardner

"I am on my way, I can go the distance. I don't care how far, somehow I'll be strong. I know every mile will be worth my while. I will go most anywhere to find where I belong."