June was hard

Elder Gardner with beautiful Tela sunset.  Companion made it difficult to get pictures during this time.

Elder Gardner really struggled this month with feeling inaduquate and was in contact with the Mission President who helped. Here's a few excerpts that we have, the emails to Nicole were lost.

June 4th:  hey dad, sound like fun at clear creek, i miss that place. sounds like you will have fun at hawaii, you and mom deserve some nice vacation time. my stomach is fine now, ive been taking omeprazole and its working great. we should have a baptism this week of Caridad! hes just the sweetest old guy. he gets confused pretty easy but he knows the things he needs to. hes great though and is always asking us to go visit his neighbors. hes a cool guy. thats cool brennen is working for joe, he will enjoy that and learn a lot. love you dad have fun on your vacation!

June 12: hey dad, this week was kinda rough, our baptism fell through and ive been a little stressed. my mission president kind of hit me with a machete of words a little , but its ok because the lord chastens whom he loves.  im glad your enjoying hawaii, thats cool you went snorkeling! but yeah ive been working to try and be better . its not easy but i am seeing a lot of blessings. were hoping this week thebaptism will come through. well just see though. i love you dad, enjoy your vacation!

To everyone on June 12-Still Alive:  enjoy my drawing of 2 nephi 26 22, satan slowly lures us with a flaxen cord.

we might not even realize it but i invite you all to take a look at what things might be your flaxen cord and change them. cut the cords by which ye are bound!  true, my artistic abilities are of a 2 year old, but i think it shows the message well. Anyways weve been working hard here, just too much stuff to do. our baptism fell at the last minute this past saterday, we went to pick him up and after preparing everything, and he said he wasnt feeling well. hopefully this week! theres lots of challenges here but we are working through them one by one.

Love 

Elder Gardner🕵

June 19:  Thanks dad. i do enjoy drawing, and ive also been writing like a first person accounts of stories from the scriptures. i think theyve turned out super awesome, and they are a great way to help me relax . also i listen to the mp3 player alot and that helps. i guess i used strong terminology, we say machete or chopiar in spanish whenever like we get on top of someone to live one of the commandment or really anything. really he just gave me the bare truth. pres wants the best for me, he did build me up to . dont worry dad im doing pretty good. i told mom about some things i learned this past week that have really helped me and will help. i dont have to be perfect, just the best that i can be without comparing myself to anyone else. sometimes it gets hard but i know its for the best. i think im at kind of the turning point of my mission where i feel like im kind of getting over myself and just trying to do the best i can. i love you dad, thanks for your concern. everything is good, todo tranquilo, todo derangulo in garifuna which is the language of the african people here. love you dad, things are going good. one question which i hate to ask but its been killing me to know... is brennen using my tools? id hate to say no if he is since i understand hes just working for his mission and doesnt have money or really a reason to buy his own, but  ...  im kind of crazy about my tools haha. i hope hes been enjoying work.

love you dad!