Know. Live. Love.

It's been a great week! I LOVE Hermana Showalter, she's amazing!

So, a little about her - she's from Buffalo, NY and is very, very proud of it, she's studying industrial design at BYU (if she gets into the program - her portfolio is ready, she'll be submitting it in the Spring) and is a super talented artist. She doesn't like chocolate, she LOVES to read, is a huge fan of Brooklyn 99 and many of the other best TV shows out there, has an unhealthy addiction to McDonald's 59 cent ice creams, and most DEFINITELY a carnivore. Her sister's actually getting married this weekend, so flashback to a year ago in my own situation! I love her so much, I feel pretty certain we're going to be lifelong friends, we just love being in each others' company! I had already been living with her for the past three months, but I love her so much more as I've gotten to know her more personally. She also has an amazing testimony and our comp studies are great, we learn so much from each other!

We have some amazing investigators in this area, too. I've already met quite a few of them from exchanges and from them coming to church (I'm still in the ward, in case you didn't remember). One of them is Gloria, and her baptism is this Saturday (she's SO excited about it!) so that's going to be awesome. She's been investigating since April, but has had this baptismal date for over a month (she very specifically wanted to be baptized on her birthday). Sister Shaffer's going to sing a special number for it, but just asked me to play for her or sing with her ... so I might be doing something as well, we'll see haha. But it'll be fun, she'll be confirmed the same day so she can go to the Tucson temple dedication this next Sunday (there won't be regular church).

And then there's Jimmy. Jimmy is awesome! He had plans to be baptized about 25 years ago but didn't. Then he fell off the grid, and Hnas Showalter and Shaffer just found him again last transfer. The day they found his trailer (he lives in a lot behind his restaurant, still under construction, which is behind the mattress firm in Gilbert) he said, "You found me! Well, maybe you'll be the ones to baptize me." He really does want to get baptized, and has a baptismal date for the 26th. His only issue at the moment is smoking, but we've seen so many miracles as we've worked with him to help him quit. He has, too - he's down to 2 cigarettes a day, and he finds that he can't even finish them,  yesterday, he was only able to take two puffs before he felt too guilty and was too disgusted to continue, and he threw it away! We're certain he'll be able to do it, and we've talked a lot about him finding his strength from the Lord, and he's truly seeking for that. He still has a couple of little doubts, but he knows the church is true so he's moving forward with that faith. Pray for him to keep striving and overcome this!

We had a really cool experience on Thursday. We weren't sure where to go to tract, so we said a prayer. I felt like we needed to be in the Southwest corner of our area, and Hna Showalter had a specific former come to mind, Carina - who just happens to live in the area I felt prompted to go to. Hna Showalter was nervous about it - apparently dropping her was really awkward, and she didn't know how Carina would react to a visit a couple months later. But the prompting was clear, so we went. 

Caught in a rain storm

As we were walking to the door, it opened. Carina walked out - she was about to leave to pick up her son from school. First evidence of the Lord's timing. We told her we were in the area and had just been thinking about her. And in the course of the conversation, we learned that she'd just lost her brother. Second evidence of the Lord's timing. In three years she's lost 2 brothers and her husband, and she talked about how she was praying to God, "Please, no more." I asked her if we could visit this weekend - and she told us she was leaving for Mexico the next day. Third evidence of the Lord's timing. We gave her a Plan of Salvation pamphlet and invited her to read it on her trip and share it with her family to help them find peace. The Spirit was so strong, and when we got in the car Hna Showalter and I just looked at each other and she said, "That was inspired." It was a humbling experience. My testimony truly grew of the Lord's hand in His work. He knows each of His children, where they are, and what they need at this moment, and leads us and uses us as His hands to serve them, often without us even realizing it.

Love,

Hermana Garner