September 24, 2012 - Pau, France

SAFEandSOUND

bonjour ma famille et mes amis,

this letter will be super short! sorry, I know everyone was expecting a spectacular letter, but I replied to a lot of emails, soo..gotta be obedient! Okay! 10 minutes! This week I got sick. But not super bad, just a cough and stuffy nose. Head cold. No fun, but better then the flu. Umm...So I had to sleep more then I usually do. We (being the mission) also had a little scare with the muslims in southern France because apparently there are a lot. So now we have to be home by latest 8pm, mission president's orders! Nothing bad is happening here in ol' pau, just safety first!

we taught Josefa and he had his friend come, saula!!! so we taught them BOTH and they are both christian and interested in learning more!! soo exciting!! Marie and roger are still progressing, and they were super excited at church yesterday and told us they have news for us but we didnt get to talk to them before they left, so we'll be finding out soon. We updated our food storage! haha. uhh.... this week we have zone conference! super early, right? because we have ANOTHER zone conference in the fifth week before the transfer ends!

I love this gospel and i know the church is true!!

Okay, gotta go. sorry this is so short. letters will be written soon.

love always,

devano

-soeur gardner-

September 17, 2012 - Pau, France

Now your in PAU, FRANCE! There ain't nothin you can't do! the Soeurs will inspire you! ;-)

(the end of the title created by Elder Willett, our district leader. haha)

famille and friends,

bonjour! sorry about that awkward email I sent. I was just adding it to "drafts" but accidentally clicked send. I was adding shelby's email to this. All for love! anyway. so this week! and this is going to be a little bit shorter then most, I think. Because! when the sun shines..just kidding. (name the song, court) anyway, because we have a bunch to do today and this stupid cyber cafe rakes up about 10 euros each monday from me. Stupid. so now that my bank account for the mission is low, I gotta keep it from getting a bunch lower. 

Alright, so highlights of the week! We went by the Fakalelu's, a family in the ward (the husband is Tongan and on the rugby team here in Pau), to drop off some brownies just because and to just surprise them and see how they're doing. So we get to their home (which is like a 20 min bus ride) and theyre actually setting up for a party! like, they have a pierced pig that some big islanders (one of those guys being Sia Fekitoa, the other member of our ward on the team) were trying to situate over a fire pit; in the FRONT YARD. lol. It was AWESOME!! And Alexa, Frère Fakalelu (or Penni)'s wife was setting up this table and stuff. So we're like, uhh...sorry..lol. and penni was like, no! hi! how are you? and told us that theyre having a birthday party for him that evening and a bunch of the members of the team were coming, and we were like, that's awesome! happy birthday! and gave him the brownies. lol. then he invited us to his party! and we were like, nooo..we have other things going on.. and he was all, come after! and we were like, the buses..and he was like, we can give you a ride home! come! and I looked at soeur bertolio and she said, "why not?" So that evening after visiting some folks we went to a birthday party with a bunch of islander rugby players!! And they were not bad looking! lol. But we stayed to ourselves and talked to the  wives and whoever else. And it was a lot of fun! AND that Fijian guy that we  contacted last Saturday? He gave us the wrong number. And guess who we saw at the party. Yep. Good ol' Josefa (his name). And soeur bertolio told Sia's wife, Veronique about what happened with him and her mouth gapped open and was like, NO! and she yelled to Sia and told him what happened and Sia laughed and yelled over everyone at Josefa and was like, "oy! Josefa! why're you giving our sister missionaries the wrong number?!" and josefa just laughed and was super embarrassed and it was great. lol. And when they were all leaving he apologized to soeur bertolio and I and I was like, so do you want to give us your REAL number? and he was all, yeah! and I put it in the phone (frère lePretre!) and called him to "give him our number". lol. we called him the next evening, he didnt answer, but then he called back! which never happens!! and we set up a rendez-vous with him and he genuinely seems interested. I think it's great that he knows two guys on his team who both have great, happy families and they're active members. So yeah. :) Hahahaha, AND! we were standing there around the end of the party, and I had my face turned to the side cause I was listening to soeur bertolio talking, and all of a sudden I felt a hairy cheek against mine!!!!!!!!!!!! I realize after it has already started, that one of the big rugby players was giving me the bisous!! (kisses on the cheeks, what EVERY french person does) I was in such a state of shock that I completely blacked out; I can't remember a thing. just kidding. Quoting songs. But really, I was so shocked I just stood there and took it! and said "au revoir" back to him! lol. and I looked at soeur bertolio after and she looked like me, and took it also. after he walked away, penni laughed and thanked us for not being awkward to his friends, which i guess is a good thing. then everyone was giving us the bisous! and we couldn't stop them!!!! For one guy I stuck my hand out to keep my distance and he took it and pulled me forward and gave me the bisous!!!!!!!!!! hahaha. It was so funny. And weird!!! But yeah. awkward. then at the baptism that tarbe had on saturday, soeur bertolio was telling all the elders in our district how I was letting rugby players kiss me and they were like, wha??! and elder wilson was like, oh, BEFORE the mission! and I was like, NO!!! hahaha. it was hilarious. I told them what happened. What's funny is that it happened to Soeur Bertolio, also, but she just said it was me! lol. Terrible. 

Other then that terrible time, we have FIVE baptismal dates!! Four of them are Soeur Lavie's children, who's dad finally has given them permission but they are all older so we have to teach them the lessons, and the fifth is ROGER! He agreed to be baptized on oct 13 by Frère Barbaroux!! We taught marie and roger with him and it was SO GREAT!! And frère barbaroux basically said everything we wanted to say and have been saying but they really let it sink in and it was so awesome!!! marie says that she needs to really repent before she gets baptized (the reasons WHY she was really excommunicated, we guess) and she wants to be baptized in a river. haha. Okay! But we arent sure yet when. Saturday we had the elders come to pau for a baptism (tarbe's baptism) and the girl being baptized is younger then me!! I'm OLD!!!!! anyway, she was soo nice. soeur bertolio and i were helping her after she was baptized and she told us that she had been wanting to see sister missionaries and that she was so grateful to know that we have them and that we are an example to her and it was so sweet. she brought a friend to the baptism and she was really touched by everything, and that was awesome, too. After the baptism we did street boarding with all of the elders and it was awesome!!!!! Elder Fox and his blue, Elder Heck (from Utah! hahaha) were sooooo good! they had no fear! they went up to everyone and were so eager and persistent, but not to the point of annoyance. Poor Elder heck barely knew what to say but boy did he try! once he was trying to stop a woman and he got mixed up and was like, "bonjour, monsieur!" and she looked at him all rude and he was like, "ah! no! madame! err-madamo-" and she just kept walking. lol. he was so embarrassed. lol. but he kept going! and he would stop people and we would come and save him. it worked out really well. so we got a bunch of contacts from it! one younger guy came up to me after looking at the board, and was just like, what is this? the board soeur bertolio and i have been working on all week! It's the plan of salvation, but just pictures we cut out from magazines (we only have liahonas and ensignes. we feel a little bad but we have like a MILLION and we could look up the talk online, soo..) and we have people guess what it is. It looks super cool. I'll send you a photo. 

Sunday we were leaving our new converts and amis class and Frère Wageamacker came to us and told us there's a girl from America that is here and we should go talk to her! so we went to her and this girl, who looks like 16-17 was standing there and looked so sad! and we were like, hi! we're the sister missionaries! and she was like, hi! and started CRYING! we were like, ?? and she told us her name after soeur bertolio asked and we were like, are you okay? and she was just overwhelmed and glad to be at church and its been a hard week..and so! she is from nevada, a member, doing a study abroad at pau university, the only member of her 60 people group, and she is a little home sick I think. she will be here for 4 months. she was like, "yeah four months is a long time" and later soeur bertolio was like, ha, try 18 months. lol. soeur bertolio. haha. but anyway, she is 20, and her birthday is next monday! so we're doing something for her. we have already decided. and i took her to all the english speaking people after sacrament and took her to the bishop and the bishop introduced her to some people so it was good. we are getting lunch with her in an hour! she is super nice and I think misses having a lot of members around her. she is from Reno. 

Ahh! so much more! but I'll just tell you the funny things Soeur bertolio said this week and call it a day.

we were sitting at a bus stop and soeur bertolio pointed out this guy and said, "Look at that guy! He has a WOMAN bag!" and I looked, and he DID! And he didnt look gay! Just an older man wearing ordinary clothes holding a black bag with red handles. lol. so random.

yesterday when we were reading alma 13 out loud for language study (soeur bertolio reads in english, me french), instead of her saying, "the holy order of God" she said, "the holy hoarder of God". hahaha. And then LATER, instead of reading, "that He may not bring down His wrath upon you", she said, "that He may not bring down His rat upon you". I laughed. so hard. she usually always reads those words correctly, it was just yesterday. And I dont feel bad about telling you all about her mistakes because she told her whole family, her boyfriend, tout le monde, about my french mistakes, which are suppppper embarrassing. I'll tell you about those..when I go home. lol. 

I love you all!! I know this Church is the Church of Jesus Christ of the latter days! I know that this is the true Gospel, and that we have the fulness of the Gospel right now! Thomas S Monson is a true prophet of God! I know this because I have prayed and asked. I love the Book of Mormon with all of my heart, because they were written by Prophets of the Americas for us in these latter-days. what a blessing it is for us to have it now! I was studying Jesus the Christ this morning and just thought, if you believe in science, how can you NOT believe in God? Everything in nature has components to have life. Nothing can exist without something else helping it or creating it. Even a  flower without water, sun, soil, oxygen, is without life. it would be only a lifeless seed that cant grow or flourish. It has no life. It is the same with human beings. We need something to have created us, otherwise we wouldnt even exist. There isn't a possibility of us being moving creatures with brains and living bodies without someone having created us. There just isn't that possibility. Soeur Bertolio told me this quote, roughly translated from french to english, "A little bit of science takes you away from God, but a lot of science brings you back to him"-Albert Einstein. Basically he's my favorite person to quote. he should be a Mormon. haha. :-)

I love this Gospel, and I love you all so much!!

all my love,

devano

-soeur  gardner-

September 10, 2012 - Pau, France

I LOVE PAU!

family,

crazzzy things happenin on the mish!!! Miracles, the Spirit, changes of heart, etc!! Life is GREAT!!!!!!!!! okay, so first of, I am STILL IN PAU! And so is SOEUR BERTOLIO!!!!!! Yeah!!!!!!! I think this is so crazy. Same comp for 3 transfers!! Thats a lot. Luckily I love her, so its all good. haha. Pres Roney on the phone said, you guys just keep having miracles in Pau! So! Thats what we plan on. :-D

So same address, 1, bis, rue Bernard de Clairvaux; 64000 Pau; France

Okay, so Tuesday was CRAZY!!! we just did lots of porte-a-porte in a different town outside of pau but no one was listening or wanting to know more which can be a bit disheartening (word?), then in the evening soeur bertolio really wanted to visit the Stievenard's, this part member family. basically soeur stievenard and her husband, cause theyre a bit older. The husband use to be a member and even went on a MISSION, married in the temple to his wife, but then got into science and "intellectual" stuff and became inactive and then asked to have his records removed from the church. yeah. Crazy. You'd think this guy is like, super evil and a mean person, but he is actually really nice! we ended up being late for our appointment with just her because we took the wrong turn getting off the bus and went the long way there (haha), and so we had been there for maybe 5 min and then he walks in! and we're like, heyyy!.. and he really likes soeur bertolio(she has met him twice visiting them before I got here), and he was like, hi!! and introduced himself and I introduced myself and he speaks some english so he was talking to me in english for a bit, then we just all talked about stuff going on and then soeur bertolio was like, okay, we have just a short message to share with you (he has NEVER sat in on a lesson given since he has become a nonmember, the past THIRTY YEARS!!) and he got up, pulled up this little cushion seat thing, and sat down, so we were like, okay, and prayed and began the lesson and he stayed for the whole thing! and I felt prompted to sing for them!! It was crazy, and they LOVED it and come to find out, they are both huge fans of the arts and of music and films and all that stuff. So they asked us to come eat with them on thursday, which we did and it was really fun again and we became better friends with frere stievenard and he sat in on the lesson AGAIN, and this time both soeur Bertolio and I shared personal experiences with our lesson, and neither of the experiences worked together that well, but we hadnt planned on sharing them, but we felt like we should! And Soeur stievenard gave us a ride home and thanked us and told us that these past two times have been the first times that he has sat in on the lesson and that the last lesson really was meant for him and it was just really cool. He has changed dramatically in the last few months, she says, towards the church, and after the first little lesson we taught that he had first sat in on, she asked him about it and he was like, I didnt realize they were teaching! ha. right. So we are slowly bringing him back in. It's so exciting!!!

So after we visited the stievenards the first time, on Tues night, I really felt like we should visit marie and roger, just for like, 10 min because it was late and our last bus was like 20 min away, and soeur bertolio was like, we can visit them tomorrow and I was just like, no I think we need to see them tonight, and she was like, okay! so we went to hteir appt and we were going to be super hard on them and so we got up there and I asked them if they had read, he said no, and I said, okay! we are coming back tomorrow, and you will have read! Okay, Roger? And he just looked at me and smiled and said, "okay", then i put my hand out so we would shake on it, and he laughed and shook on it. Then marie (who was in her pink night gown that court, shelby, and I would get as like 6 year olds, but for it was for older ladies! hahaha) said, okay, the soeurs are here as witnesses! and took off her slippers, pulled out the kitchen chair, stood on it facing roger, and PROPOSED!! WHAT THE WHAT!!! Soeur Bertolio was like nearly crying and I looked at her all confused because I had no idea what she was saying. lol. So what was going down, was that roger was getting back surgeury in probably a month, and there is the risk of him being handicapped from it, and she was saying, I dont care if youre handicapped because I love you and want to take care of you, and he didnt say anything for the LONGEST time, because he didnt want her to have to deal with him, but he finally said YES! And we were standing there awkwardly watching the whole thing! It was so cute. Crazzzy!!! So I gave marie a huge hug and roger gave soeur bertolio a hug (hahaha), then I gave roger a handshake and he put his hand on my cheek like I was his daughter or something. it was so touching. so there ya go. Crazy things happening. And the missionaries have been teaching them for over 2 years!! So yesterday we went to see them and marie was being all cold hearted and saying that maybe marriage isnt the right thing because of blahblahblah and we were like, NO! You KNOW that its the right thing. WE know its the right thing. You need to get married! And the Spirit was sooo strong and Roger really wants to be married and baptized but marie is trying to slow it down, so we're going to be asking them the "Dr. Gardner Question", as soeur bertolio calls it. "If marriage werent a problem, what else is keeping you from being baptized?" because last night she was just being dumb!! she knows the answers to all the questions and the different scriptures we read with her, then I ask how she can apply it to her life and she's like, I don't know. Really! And at one point I was like, "you do know. I know, and I know that you know. This is ridiculous. You need to be baptized." and then later she said she didnt think we could come over tomorrow night (tonight) and soeur bertolio was like, we ARE coming over tomorrow. We're coming over, and you will have your papers ready to get married. It was AWESOME!! And theyre like, okay.I love this because we arent being overbearing. We love them sooo much, and they know that, and we tell them this all the time, so its incredible what you can do with love. but now we are just trying to be careful and listen to the Spirit. We ended the lesson with Alma 58:10-12, 39-40. It was incredible. I love the Book of Mormon. I flipped to this, and had just studied this last week, so I knew the background which made all the difference. Oh man. LOVE. 

So Saturday we had some crazy things happen. We contacted almost all day. It was crazy. And we had some random guys in a car offer us money for n'import quoi (in our missionary clothes!! really? prostitutes??), some teenage boys shoot at us with airsoft guns (did we get ugly??), and I have the bruises to prove it (on my hand and soeur bertolio's leg), and we went into a building and this older guy tipped his hat at us and said, "bonsoir!" which made us finally feel good about ourselves. lol. And we had 3 really good contacts! One woman with a dog, another woman with a kid around 9, and a big Fijian man who spoke English!! This Fijian guy who we are calling tonight was getting out of his car and so I contacted him and he was like, I speak english, sorry, and I was like, me TOO!!!! lol. And I told him that we were missionaries and we have a message about Jesus Christ and he was like, I believe in Jesus Christ, and I was like, sweet! so we got his number and I asked him where he is from and he said Fiji. So! I have a friend serving in Fiji and I got a letter from him a week or two ago and he said that its hard to find investigators because everyone thinks rugby is more important, and a few weeks ago we visited two half tongan families who the husbands (both tongans) play rugby for the team here, and so after he told us he was from Fiji, when I got home I was like, maybe the Tongans in our ward know how to speak Fijian or vice-versa, then I was like, wait a second! he's on the rugby team!! So I asked Frere Fekitoa yesterday at church if he knew this guy from Fiji and I showed him the name and he was like, yeah he's on the team!! so BINGO! The Spirit. Everything happens for a reason. Oh goodness. So crazy.

We had a GREAT district meeting given by Elder Willett about what our life would be like without the Gospel and Jesus Christ, and how it would be like playing golf without knowing the field or something (elder willett plays golf). He told us that they have an ami who just sleeps all day because he doesnt see the point of life. How sad is that??? And then I realized, just for a second, how sad my life would be without the knowledge of the Gospel. We as members of the church are so blessed to have the knowledge of the Gospel in our lives. We can find peace in our trials and be lifted up through prayer and be guided. Through the Gospel, we know our purpose; we know where we came from, why we are here on Earth, and where we are going. I love this Gospel and I am so glad that I am given the opportunity to give others the opportunity to have this knowledge. It is CRITICAL. We NEED to be sharing this with others!! people dont know what theyre missing. Really. THe plan of Salvation! We have a plan! We have the answers! We NEED  to share this with others! Even if they don't want to be a part of it, you wont have to feel like you never tried. That is what keeps me going on hard days, the knowledge that I tried to share the gospel, even if they dont accept our message. We have the gameplan for life. We have a purpose. 
I love this Gospel sooo much and am so happy to be a missionary!!!! Some mornings I roll out of bed and think, I chose to wake up every day at 6:30? I'm CRAZY. but the joy I have from sharing the Gospel and helping others feel like they have a purpose is SO WORTH the lack of sleep and the bags under our eyes!!! haha. 

I love you and please let me know of your missionary work!!!

Love always,
devano
-soeur gardner-

September 3, 2012 - Pau, France

Fear not, I am with thee: Oh, be not afraid! For I am thy God, and will still give thee aid!

famille,

oh my goshhhhhhh the guy at the computer next to me is breathing so hard, its kind of really annoying. I think he must smoke or something. respiratory problems!! Another reason not to smoke: you are ridiculously annoying to sit next to at an internet café. Okay! Sorry!! Other than this guy who cant breath correctly, lots has happened this week!! We had ZONE CONFERENCE!! I LOOVE ZONE CONFERENCE!!!!!!! I get to see everyone and we just got super spiritually boosted and its great!!!! AND we had Elder Teixiera from the Quorum of the 70 and his wife come speak to us! It was sooooooo cool!!!!!!!!! First off, Soeur Roney spoke to us and told us to have a passion for finding and that we should be working all night and day trying to help them, like rescue workers!! Then President Roney spoke to our and told us that love gives motivation for people to listen, and that he made people FEEL the Love of God. And that we're representing the Lord, so we should be acting just like him. And that Angels are preparing people, gettng them ready for the Gospel to be in the right place at the right time, and that we should be working as hard as they are. He quoted President Monson, who said, "You are never alone as a missionary (not talking about companion). Pray mightily and take the Lord with you. Who the Lord calls, he qualifies." It was so great! and President Roney said, "There are almost no coincidences in missionary work if we are obedient." So true!! I love that!!!!!! Coincidence? I think NOT. I have seen so many times where we run into people who are interested in the Gospel and if we hadnt been there at that time, it never would have happened. LIKE 2 things that I will tell you about later. Let me finish with Zone Conference. President Roney said, "It's time to set RIDICULOUS goals for finding, that we cant accomplish without Heavenly powers (he calls this "magic"), with Faith!" It was so incredible. Almost all these things, Soeur Bertolio and I have been applying already into our everyday lives for the past 2 weeks! This past week we made it a goal to contact at least 100 people! And we contacted OVER 100 people!! It is so great!! President  Roney also said that we should be looking for "Waldo", because where we are, there are people that have been placed there for a reason and we need to FIND THEM!!! I dont know how many times I've started singing that stupid song "you dont have to come and confess, we lookin' foh you! we gonna FIND you, we gonna FIND you! so why dont ya runn an' tell dat, run an' tell dat, run an' tell dat, homeboy, homeboy, home-home-homeboy!" Lol. Well. I always sing "we gonna FIND you!" and soeur bertolio is like, thats creepy! lol. I'm just a creepy person!

So Elder Teixiera said that there are no coincidences EVER! With our mission president, our companions, everyone! I Love that!!!!!!!! And to never underestimate the importance and the reason for why you're here.  And he talked a lot about obedience and the importance of it. If we are obedient, we will be seeing MIRACLES! And he promised us miracles if we are obedient and quoted Neil A Maxwell and said, "We learn to be obedient by OBEYING." Haha. And we are promised that if we do our part, He will do His. And that we should learn to deal with failure to have times of success! He also talked about us talking to EVERYONE, like, on buses and trains and EVERYWHERE!!! He gave an example of when he was on the train with his wife and he saw four missionaries sitting together just talking amongst themselves and how him and his wife began talking to the people around them and they asked the missionaries for pass along cards and they didnt HAVE ANY! WHA?!!! And he was like, how do you go to war without bullets??? It was crazy. So usually on trains we take a nice nap or talk to the people if they talk to us, or whatever else, but now...never. We looked at each other and were like, we have to talk on the train!!!!  So we applied that on the train ride home and it was the coolest experience!!!! Alright. so the two things i wanted to tell you about and then the train ride!

First off, we were trying to find this old ami who lived in a certain apt complex. So we go to his apartment and somehow get into his building, but we find out that he isnt there! Then we go to leave and there's a guy with groceries at the door and we ask him if he knows this guy, and he tells us that he moved to another  city, so we're like, oh okay, then we're like, oh so we're missionaries and blahblah are you interested in learning more? and he's all, yeah, but right now I'm busy. Come back next week! And we're like, oh, okay and he tells us he's in apt 11 and we're excited and we passed by like 3 times but once he was there but he sounded like he was sleeping and told us to come back later, then the other times he didnt answer. So almost 2 weeks after our last time of contact (him telling us to come back later), we contact this woman, mme cusso, who has this little girl in a stroller. We tell her we're missionaries and we have a message about families and barely ask her if she's interested in learning more, and she's like, yeah here's my address. And then we're like, wow, okay! when would be a good time to visit? and she's all, tomorrow afternoon. and we're like, wow! then the next afternoon, we go to the address, and its the same apt building as the guy in apt 11, and we're like, hey! coincidence! then we get to the door and check the apartments and SHE is in apt 11 also!!!!!!!! Soeur Bertolio was going down the list of names and got to it and the apt 11 and she was like, "NO!"  and put her hand on her mouth and showed me and I just started laughing. lol. It was CERRR-AAAYY-ZEE!!! Yeah. So we didnt get to teach them cause they werent home, but we will. Its not coincidence. Its definitely not. And we had talked to the guy that day and he was like, yeah thats my copine (gf) and told us to come back in a few days and wasnt phased by the insane non-coincidence!!! It was insane. 

the train! So on our way home from Bordeaux, we decided to talk to people on the train! now always!! Btw, whenever we go to different cities we always sing the name like the song, "new york" by alicia keys and a rapper..I dont remember who. But yeah. So alllllll day, we were singing, " Bor-deau-oooh! there ain't nothin you cant do, now your in Bordeaux! Bordeaux! Bordeaux!" haha. we're ridiculous. So the TRAIN!  We are sitting next to this woman who has 2 kids, one who is laying on her lap and the other on the seat and in her lap also. It was. so. cute. so we were like, wow, they look tired! and she was like, yeah, we've had a long train ride! and they have been on the train for 9 HOURS! and they were from PAU!!! No coincidences. So the kids wake up and we begin talking to them, specifically this little girl, chloé, and she is just adorable, 7 years old, and we play this game with her, that everyone has a piece of paper and they all draw the head of a person, then they fold it over and trade, then the next person draws the torso, etc. And it was soooo funny!! the little girl's drawings were HILARIOUS! then this 19 year old guy sittng across from the woman and her kids was kind of talking to us and we had him play with us and we were all laughing, then soeur bertolio had the little girl guess her age (so she could have her guess EVERYONE's ages! hahaha) and where we were from. The little girl couldn't guess where I was from, so s. bertolio was like, cowboys! and her mom started giving her hints and pretending to ride a horse (? lol) and the little girl just looked confused. So then everyone was confused and soeur bertolio was like, "texas! Its texas!" and everyone was laughing in our train thing and I was like, "yes, its true, I am from Texas!" but in french, and looked around at everyone and everyone was laughing in good humor, then the woman in front of us turned around and began chatting away with me and asking me about the states and if i liked france and I kind of understood her!!! It was crazy. Gift of tongues. And i answered and then she asked if I was a student and I heard it get quiet around me and i was like, no, actually, i'm a missionary for the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" and she was like, oh, cool! and she kept talking and the guy we played the game with and the mother of the kids began asking soeur bertolio questions and the lady with a dog and her husband who was behind the mother began talking to soeur bertolio also and it was crazy. so the lady in front of us is from Paris and was super interested in geneology because she has family in california, so she gave us her number and then the guy is from tarbes and said he didnt believe in God but he was super nice, so I texted the tarbes elders who were also on the train and they came and began talking with him, and now he is a member of their english class, and we asked the mother if she was interested in learning more and she quickly answered yes and gave us her number and her address and when we all were leaving the women gave us kisses on the cheeks like we were old friends and the little girl gave us big hugs and it was sso cool/crazy!!!! and the ladies on the train thanked us for helping the mother with her children and soeur bertolio was like, sorry if we were loud! and they were like, no! it was really fun!! and after the train rides and stuff we called the  tarbes elders and asked them how it went with the guy and elder fox was like, "so what did yall do? I walked into your voiture and it was a PARTY! Everyone was talking and laughing with each other. it was so cool!" and we thought about it, and it was true! It was like a party! And what did we do? we applied what we were taught!! We were obedient! and it was awesome!!! Man oh man. So coooooool!!!!!!!

The gospel is SO TRUE!!! I love it with all my heart and I hope that everyone has this recognition. Read the Book of Mormon! Pray! It makes me so proud to be a member and missionary of this Gospel and I know that it can strengthen you and make you the best person you can possibly be. Thank you for supporting me!! I am so grateful for all of you!

I love you and if you dont get a letter from me next monday, it's because of transfers. We find out what's happening on Friday!! AHHH!!!! So afraid. i dont want to lose soeur bertolio, but eventually it will happen, irregardless. :-/ C'est la vie! 

Commitment: send me next week an email of your missionary experience that I asked you to do for this past month. Lucky for you if you didnt have one, you have 5 days to get one. :-)

Anywho, love you all, and hope to hear some great stories from you! 

all my love,

devano

soeur  gardner