Transfered!!!!

Oh my gosh you will never guess what happened to me at transfers!

OK, so it was Tuesday night, the night that the Zone Leaders call and let us know who will be packing and who will be picking up their new companion, and to my amazement I was the one getting transferred!

So I started packing and getting ready. All the Elders kept calling me, trying to find out about transfer rumors, so I just didn't answer. The next morning, Wednesday, we arrived at transfers and I heard a rumor that I was going to be a Zone Leader. I just didn't believe it. me, a Zone Leader? haha yeah right. So we all sat down to do our transfers and President said, "Elder Roney, please stand up, you need a new companion don't you? Elder Gardner stand up, you are the new Zone Leader for the Sweetwater Zone. Plus you have a car now" :-D I was in shock. I couldn't believe it, and I almost didn't want to believe it.

President went on through the transfer and finished the meeting. Then we had a Zone Leader Council with President Donaldson to discuss how we can best help our Zones and be good examples. We sat down and had an amazing 2 hour discussion and I have never felt so good in my mission than right then. The first words out of President Donaldson's mouth was that everyone in this room has been specifically called by God to help our mission progress.... that hit me like a ton of bricks. So this past week has been pretty busy trying to learn all of the new responsibilities. Like I said earlier, my new companion is Elder Roney, from Utah, he has been out 9 months, and this is his 2nd transfer as a ZL companion.

This area I am in now, just had 5 baptisms and 10 the transfer before that. We have an assignment to go to the Marine Corp Recruit Depot (MCRD) to teach marines there. That is something I have always wanted to go and do. It is a little harder because we teach by ourselves, we don't have our companion there to help us. So it is pretty much up to you. It is a lot of fun. Last Sunday, I talked to this one recruit that has been thinking about joining the church for a while but just didn't think he was ready, so we talked and I found out what has been holding him back. we talked about the restoration, word of wisdom, baptism, priesthood and the Holy Ghost. He was still a little shaky about it, so I asked him to pray right then and there and I would come back in 10 min to get his decision on being baptized. So I went and talked to another marine that had just been baptized the week previous, he had a lot of questions, so I was able to visit with him and hopefully I was able to help him. Then I went back to talk with the first guy. He said that he was ready to be baptized. Unfortunately we didn't have enough time right then. So he will be getting baptized when he gets back from Camp Pendleton. That was a Great experience. Our area is way awesome. We have a ton of potentials in this area. We have 3 families of 6 that we are going to start working with and hopefully get them baptized in a month. So if you could, pray for them to have their hearts opened and receive the desire. and pray for my companion and me that we will be able to teach them the things that they need to know.

This work is amazing, I have never had this much fun in my life time. The Lord works in mysterious ways, and can catch us off guard. When we think we know what is going on and we think we have everything figured out---- BAM it gets changed in an instant. Thank goodness for prayer, it is one of the best tools that we have to ask for help and receive guidance from our Father in Heaven. I am so grateful for the love and support from everyone back home in Pocatello and for the emails and letters I have received from the ward. Thank You So Much. ~ELDER GARDNER