Goodbye Tumbes, Hello Piura!

My dear family and friends,

In light of the fact that this last week was Thanksgiving for all of you in the States, I'd like to start off my letter this week by letting you all know that I am SO thankful for each and every one of you and the impact you've had on my life. I know that Heavenly Father really has had a purpose in everything that He's let me do in my life, especially for the people that I've had the chance to meet and learn from in my life. Second, I am so thankful for my Savior Jesus Christ. I know that He came to this earth to help us to find the greatest joy and peace that our Heavenly Father has to offer us. His sacrifice makes it possible for us to really find a hope in our lives even when it sometimes seems impossible. I know that He is always there to help us, but we have to be humble enough to ask Him for that help, and then be willing to LET Him help us. There are so many people who suffer in this life because they don't trust that the manner that the Lord has told us that we'll find joy in this life really works. I am so thankful for this gospel and for the blessings that it brings to my life each and every day, and for the things that I've been able to experience here in the mission as I've been humbled and taught to trust in Jesus Christ and His promise that He really can and will save us from our sorrows as we diligently seek Him.

This week has been such a wonderful week. I am so grateful for every moment that the Lord gave me to be in Tumbes, and I know that there's more than one reason why He let me stay for 4 transfers there. This last week was filled with a lot of preparation for the activity that we had on Saturday night. Since our mission has been focused a lot lately on finding new people to teach, with our zone leaders we had decided to put together an activity so that the members could invite their friends and have a good time. It was a "Noche de Cine" or Movie night, and it turned out so well. We made flyers and gave them to just about everyone we met, bought popcorn, cookies, and soda, and got the projector and a movie....it was super crazy but it turned out so well and it was such a great time! We ended up having about 80-100 people there (which is a HUGE turnout for here....almost as many people as those who come to sacrament meeting) and the majority of the members brought friends, and we had quite a few of our investigators and less actives that I've never before seen in the church building come. It was such a neat night. After the movie (we watched Spirit...the one about the horse that Amber (or was it Lindsay?) always watched) we played games with everyone and gave them candy afterwards. It was so much fun and a great opportunity for the members to share a few moments of clean, good fun with their friends. I'm so grateful for the participation of the members and their willingness to bring their friends!

Aside from the preparations for the activity, this week was pretty normal. To celebrate Thanksgiving my companion made a Caldo de Gallina (it's basically like Chicken noodle soup, but wayyyy better) and it was super delicious.

In this last week, knowing that it was probably going to be my last one here in Tumbes, it was interesting how my perspective of everything kind of changed. It made me want to work harder, talk to the people that maybe I've seen or talked to the whole time i've been here but never really invited to church...it was really interesting. I know that maybe I didn't make a huge difference in my time here, but I will always love Tumbes because as a result of the experiences I had there I've had the blessing to come to know my Savior more than ever and really had the opportunity to see how He can change us and our hearts when we're willing to let Him. I love this work so much.

Finally, I guess that you're all wondering about the transfers and where I'm going and who will be my companion and everything. Well, I've recieved the assignment this transfer to train a new missionary that will be arriving here on Wednesday (so you'll have to wait until next week for her name, picture, where she's from and all that good info). We'll be in the ward Micaela Bastidas here in Piura mismo. I have no idea what to expect, and honestly I'm a little bit nervous, but I know that this is what the Lord wants for me at this time and I'm willing to trust that He's prepared me sufficiently to be able to do what He needs me to do at this time.

I hope that you all have a wonderful week, and that as the Christmas season comes closer and closer, I'd like to invite you all to take some time and look at the website that the church has for this Christmas and remember to keep the true meaning of Christmas in your heart and mind this season.

I love you all!!

Love,

Hermana Garner