March 25, 2009

Hey, Everything is awesome here. We had a really good week, the Lord is blessing us and the whole mission. Everyone is having success. But yes I got your package, thank you so much. Yea send more candy! The easy cheese was good too. Sorry about my package, I washed the sea shell, what I thought was pretty good, but I guess it smelled pretty bad. but I hoped you enjoyed all the pictures. The videos at Pigeon Park are pretty cool. Well that is awesome that you got a new job! I was kind of worried, but i am glad to hear all is well. And yea, that would be sweet if you got a little Kia, your dreams are finally coming true! Thats also good, because I dont want you racking up miles on my truck while im gone, tu sabes. For some of your questions, We get up at 6:30 everyday, and we got to bed at 10:30. Most of the time I go to bed at 10 or earlier because I am super tired in the night. The we study for a couple of hours. Then we go tract or teach for a couple of hours, have lunch at 12:30, then we are in the street until 9 in the night. My Spanish is a lot better. Even President told me yesterday that my Spanish is really good, it made me pretty happy and proud. We have an appointment tomorrow for Elder Polanco, so hopefully they can figure it out tomorrow. Well Rosa went to church and she loved it! She is so excited to get baptized and go to church every week. Yes the date is still for the 5, so it will be interesting to baptize her after conference in the stake center. But it was funny because she is in her late 50's and she had her boyfriend over the other night for a lesson (they dont live together so all is well) and she kept telling him, "I dont want to live by myself in the next life, you have to get baptized too, and marry me so we can live together forever." Rosa is the COOLEST! We were also tracking in a neighborhood, and this lady came out, and she just kind of had this smirk on her face, I thought she was laughing because she didnt want to talk to us, but she invited us in. We taught her the first lesson, she remembered everything, and was really active. And then we asked her if she would read and pray, and she said, "Of course I am going to, I prayed last night for God to send me someone to talk about Christ. I knew you were coming." Wow, the lord has jsut been putting these people infront of us. We arent doing the work, the Lord is. Well I love you all, keep the Faith, and remember your Savior. Love Elder hardy

March 20, 2009

Hey Fam,

How is everything? Como esta todo? Well, this week was super good. One of the better weeks in the mission. We started teaching this lady name Rosa. She is super sweet! When we first contacted her a couple of days ago, I didn't think she was too interested. Because when she opened the door she said, "I don't believe in Joseph Smith." At first I thought alright let's go, but then I was like, hey, she remembers who Joseph Smith is, or at least we believe he was a prophet. Because we teach people who Joseph Smith was, and then we will ask them who Joseph Smith was and they can't tell us a thing. It is very frustrating. So we set up a return appointment. When we went back, we started teaching her about God and prophets and the scriptures, and she stopped us and said, "Just tell me who Joseph Smith was. I just want to know who he was." So we taught her about the apostasy and how someone needed to be called to be a prophet and restore the Church of Christ and that prophet was Joseph Smith. Then we told her the story of Joseph Smith. Then we told her the story of Joseph Smith. Then her eyes started tearing up, and she told us that she was praying a couple of days ago because she has been suffering, and she was praying to feel the love of God, and a way to follow him. Then she said, "And that's when you knocked on my door." The spirit was so strong. I had goosebumps everywhere. Then she said that she believes that we were sent from God to show her the way to follow him and be happy. Ha ha and then it gets better. The she asked if we drink or smoke and we told her no, and she said, "Oh, good because I don't believe in either of those things. Then she asked us if we believe in paying tithing because she has a strong testimony in tithing, and then she started telling us her tithing miracles. Rosa IS THE COOLEST! She just knocked off the two hardest things for people to do. It is amazing to see people who are prepared of God. God is sending his angels to prepare the people, we just have to do our part and find them. Sometimes it's not easy. Rosa was the 124th door of the apartment complex. Yea when we got denied the first 100 doors, I wanted to never tract there again. But that is why we can't give up, because there is that one person out of thousands that is ready to hear the Gospel. All that person needs is someone to bring it to them. But yea, we have a baptismal date with Rosa for the 5th of April.

Today I got my drivers license, so I don't have t hide from the cops when I driver anymore. Haha, just kidding. You don't have to have it the first 90 days. But I just barely passed the test. If I would have missed one more question, I would have failed. The DMV or DISCO as they call it here ( I don't know why, there wasn't any music or people dancing) was in Rio Piedras. In Rio Piedras is so much cooler than in Guaynabo. Pueblos come from Spain, and they brought it here way back in the day. Every city has its own pueblo, and they are pretty much really big outdoor malls except way cooler. It is like you are in Spain because all the roads are brick, and they are all really narrow single roads. And all the houses are European style, and all the stores are super close to the street. Plus there are just a bunch of people everywhere. So we walked around and found this sweet store with all these ties for super cheap. I got the slickest ties for $4 each. I'm pretty excited about it.

Then we got a little lunch and went to Old San Juan. That is where you see all the famous pictures of Puerto Rico, that's where all the cool really old army forts are. It was super fun. A bunch of us Elders took the train and bus over there. There was a bunch of tourists there, especially because it was spring break. I even felt like a tourist. We also met some members that were from the cruise ships.

Then we went to pigeon park. Ha ha, it was so much fun! It is just this cool little look out over the bay, and there are hundreds of pigeons. We brought this huge bag of bird seeds with us, and that's where the fun started. You just get some seeds in your hands and hold out your arms, then all the birds start flying around all crazy, and just land on your arms and shoulders and head, and start eating the seeds. I had five pigeons on each arm, 2 on my shoulders, and one on my head. I know it sounds gross, but it was way fun. Luckily, none of them pooped on me. I guarantee that it is the most fun you will ever have with only spending $1.50. Then when we ran out of bird seed, we just ran into a big group of them and grabbed the pigeons out of the air, because they are so full that they can't fly very fast. It's the best! This was the most fun I have had on a p-day.

Well, I hope all is well with you guys. Keep up the faith and keep working hard. And when the missionaries bring an investigator to Church, fellowship him! That is all it takes, is someone to just talk to them and make friends with them. Alright, well, I love you guys.

Love your son, Elder Hardy

March 11, 2009

Hey yall,
Wow, I cant believe Jameson is back already! That is crazy! It seems like
yesterday I was at his open house. The mission has been flying by for me too.
This transfer was so fast! This is the last week of 6.
So highland couldn't pull off a chamionship huh? But that is cool that the
girls won.
Elder Polanco is good I guess. He went into the doctor and they said nothing
is wrong, so he has another appointment in a week.
No more wrecks, other than I ripped my pants a little bit in the chain, but
it aint bad.
This week the Assistants have been gone in the islands, so we get the TRUCK ALL
WEEK!!! It has been so nice! It is a brand new Tacoma. We have been able to go
so many places, it makes the work so much more effective. The driven is pretty
crazy here, but you just get used to it. Just dont think there are any rules,
and dont trust anyone, and then you will be safe.
Well we set a couple more dates this week, but we are going to have to move
them back a little, because they didnt go to church last week. And now our
mission is making the investigators go to church 3 times before they can be
baptized. So it is going to be a little more difficult to baptize, but it will
help keep people active because they really have to have a desire to go to
church before they are baptized.
One of the investigators has to work on sunday, so he is going to talk to his
boss to see if he cant get sundays off. So that can be tricky, but I have been
praying really hard for him.
Alvaro admitted that what has been stopping him is that he smokes, and has
been trying to stop, but hasnt been able too. So we decided that we are going to
call him everyday and tell him to have some sense and stop smoking, and after a
week of not smoking we are going to set a baptismal date.
We found a couple of really cool investigators this week, Some real
potential baptisms.
Ok, some puerto rico facts. The Police have Green and Blue lights, sometimes
just Blue, and they always have them on. They never turn their lights off! they
will be in a neighborhood, just cruising with their lights on for no reason.
Every house is super colorful. it looks like they go to the paint store and
let their kids choose out 3 or 4 different bright colors, it dont matter if they
match, and they just throw it on their house.
Oh and dad, about the kangaroo hoof, im guessing yes. Because Jeff just told
me that he got back from Australia, so it is definitely not out of the
question.
Well that is all this week, I love you, and God bless.

Love your son, Elder Hardy

March 4, 2009

Hey yall! This week was decent. None of our investigators have baptismal dates, but we are working with them. We are pretty close to having a couple. This tranfer has gone by so fast. 4 weeks seemed like two days. I cant wait for the package! And the Cobbler was super easy to make! Hey I think Debbie and Lynn sent me a package, but can you check, and give me their address, because I forgot to write it down. Every Pday we play basketball and tennis. And this new elder got transfered into our zone, so it has been some really good tennis. My game has actually gotten a lot better. Every P day I just think, who ever would of thought I would just be playing tennis in the Carribean with some friends. haha, but really it is fun. That is awesome that Highland is killing it. They better win. Well sorry for the short letter, but Elder Polanco has a doctors appointment, but I love you all so much, you are the best family that I could be blessed with in the world! Love Elder Hardy

February 11, 2009

Hey! Everything is great. My new companion is Elder Polanco. He is from the Domincan Republic, and he speaks zero English. It is good, because I spoke too much English with Elder Contreras. Elder Polanco is a stud! I really like him. He is very tranquilo, and relaxed, but we still have a lot of fun in the day. He also is a very good teacher, and I love teaching duscussions with him, he knows whats up. I dont know if Sister Martineau called last week, but me and Elder Conreras ate dinner over at their house. They live in our area, and invited us over for dinner. It was great to see them, and talk about ol' Gilbert. They are a really cool family. They have a neighboor who might be interested in the church. So we are going to try to start teaching their neighbors with them. So that will be awesome, I am so excited. It is such a small world! We had a bapstismal date for the 14 of feb with Alvaro, but then the next day he said hes not ready. So we have been working with him. Im pretty sure tithing, and the word of wisdom are scaring him. But tomorrow we are going to go teach him with the stake president, President Page. He is a stud. He is a gringo, but he met Alvaro at conference and wants to go teach him with us, so that will be sweet! Miguel did not stay sober, so I am pretty bummed. I dont know what I can do. I just want to go to his house and throw all of his beer away, and tell him how it is. We are making progress though. We have a lot of new investigators because we ahve been tracting a lot. One of them is named Jose. He is 26, 6ft 5in, and is probably about 250. He is ripped! When he asnwered the door with no shirt on, and two full sleeves of tattoos, I just wanted to run away. When he invited us in, I didnt know if I would ever see you guys again. But he is a really nice guy. We have taught him a couple of times, and he seems pretty interested. I just dont know what we are going to do if he wants to be baptized, it might take 2 people to baptize him. We have found a lot og people who are interested, and we should start seeing the success. We have been working really hard. Im going to say that we walk around 10 miles a day, more or less. So it is not too bad. My shoes are starting to wear a little bit though, so we will see how long they last. Bugs, Puerto rico has really big cockroaches, mesquitos, and a lot of ants. I have also seen a lot of really cool catapillar things. Except they have this long stinger that will make your arm go numb. You will see one when I send my memory card. I also got a pretty sweet picture of a dead iguana on the sidewalk. haha, and also we found an iguana tail in the ride, and when we kicked it, it would still squirm, and wip around. Except i didnt ahve amy camera, so i was pretty bummed, I know mom would ahve wanted to see that. Well i hope you Sent the package to the mission office, because the address i gave nate and kindy isnt all the way correct. And i haven't got my memory card yet, im hoping it is in that valentines package. Well thank you so much for everything you do. Thank you for being amazing examples in my life. I love you so much. The Church is true. We have a prophet on the earth, who receives guidance for us. I know that Thomas S Monson is a prophet. I know that we have prophets because god loves us, and he wants us to return to him. Everything just makes sense when we remember that god loves us. Because if we know that, then we are going to know that he is going to do everything he can for us to know what to do to return with him, and have eternal life. I know that there is more than this life on earth. This is just the begginning. If we remember these things, then we know we have a purpose in life. And we will have so much more happiness. Because I have never been so happy than i am right now, because I understand our purpose better than I ever have before. This life is not the end. We are going to live with god once again. This knowledge brings hope, and so much joy to me. If we jsut remember these things, everything makes sense. Well i love you all so much, remember why we are here, and who makes it possible for us to clean of our sins. Love Elder Hardy

Hey yall, This has been a really good week. We have had a lot of work, and a lot of success. But first to answer some of your questions I am not sure if Elder Polanco's family is active or not, I haven't really asked him. But he loves baseball, all Domincans love baseball. They have their own profesional league, and it is a big deal. I havent cooked the stuff you gave me to cook yet, I just havent had time. But I will cook it this week. Yea, maybe stuff in the next package could be a little easier to eat. "How do I get that goodness in me?" But actually I have been learning how to cook from Elder Polanco. Dominican food is so good! A little rice and beans with spices and what not, some pork or beef. I can even make empanadas. But every day we switch off cooking, and it is like we are eating at a restaraunt every day, I LOVE IT! I haven't spoken in church yet, but I probably will soon. Im not sure how long I will be in this area. There isnt really a normal, it just all depends. Elder Polanco was in his last area for 6 months. And Elder Contreras has been in a new area pretty much every transfer. I will send my memory card this week, so yall can get some new pictures. I got some pretty sweet pictures, so you will love it. And no I havent been using the suncreen or bug repelent. There arent really that many mosquitos in the city. Im sure once I get out into the campo I will use it all the time. My watch broke in the bike accident, so I had to buy a new one. I go crazy if I dont know the time now. But I just bought a cheap one from walgreens for 20 bucks. I am pretty excited about it. It is gold, and I will probably get jumped for wearing it, but all is well. Well I guess I have grown accustomed to the humidity, because I dont even notice it any more. We have to hang our clothes up to dry, so my cloths are always super wrinkled, but when I hung my pants up for a couple of days, the humidity just took the wrinkle out. Yea it is humid here. That is cool Lance went through the temple. And I can only imagine him and his dad talking about whatever they want. But I know lance will be a good missionary, he knows how to work. Well I am pretty proud of myself, I cut Elder Polancos hair today. And you arent a real barber until you've cut a black man's hair. They are very picky, but he trusted me. It has gottan a little colder here. I have officially worn my sweater 2 times since I have been here. I guess this is winter. Well I feel like I have justt been living the pride cycle on the mission. Sometimes I need to be humbled, and sometime I prosper. This week we have been prospering. We have 10 new investigators, and should be getting a lot of dates set this week. One of them is Francisco, and he is a stud. He is humble, and is really interested in the Book of Mormon. We have a conditional with him right now, but we will set a date in the next cita. We taught a really cool lady named Merci. She is all hardcore into the bible, and goes to a bible class a couple times a week. But she was super excited to hear our message, and was writing down every scripture, and asked a lot of questions and everything. And when we watched a clip of Thomas S. Monson bearing his testimony on the Book of Mormon she started crying. So we have another appointment with her tonight, and i am just praying we can set a date. We started teaching these two sisters, and iInever thought that they would want to hear about Christ. One is 20 and the other is 18, they both have nose and lip piercings, and the first time we contacted them, they were justt standing there smoking and staring at us. I didnt think they would actually be there at the appointment. But The younger one, Grecha, said she would be baptized, and the older one, Maria, said she is going to pray about it. I am not going to lie, i definitely have my doubts on the both of them. I think it is going to be a process. We still ahve to teach them about the word of wisdom and law of chastity. We also have a conditional with a lady named Luz, she said that she really likes to drink, so it will be a little rough. We have a conditional with this really cool couple that we taught yesterday. Their names are Juan and Jessica, and they have two young children. And we also have an investigator that really wants to get baptized, he jsut needs to talk to his girlfriend and set a date to get married first. I am not sure if I have talked about him before, but his name is Thomas, and he is an example of angels preparing the hearts of the children of men. He was reading and knew that the Book of Mormon was true, and believed in Jospeh Smith before he had talked to missionaries. That is just incredible. The Lord is preparing the people, we jsut need to find them. Well I think that is all, I love you all so much, and I look forward to hearing your emails next week. Love Elder Hardy

February 18, 2009

Hey, hey, hey! I am doing good. It sounds like life is pretty crazy is Arizona right now, but it is good to be a little overbusy every once in a while. Then we can enjoy the relaxed moments more fully in our lives. The ward sent me a letter that had a bunch of little notes from all the guys in elders and high priests, it was really cool to get it. I wish every ward in the world could be as strong as Highland Ranch. They really are an awesome ward. Could you tell them that I am very grateful for the notes, and for their good examples over the years, and for always being there to teach me, and to help me progress. Highland Ranch really is the best ward. But to answer some of your questions, the Spanish is progressing. It is better to have a companion that doesnt speak English. I am starting to feel more confident in my Spanish. All of our investigators have been flaking out this week. We had a great lesson with Alvaro. President Page is a stud. He's got a mean gringo accent, and if I can say that you know its bad. But it was a good lesson, but I just dont think they are ready to receive the gospel. President Page had a bunch of awesome experiences with tithing, but Alvaro is still having doubts. So we will keep working with them, and see how it goes. yesterday I got the Valentines package, Thank You So Much! That package rocked! I might have to prepare some of the stuff in the morning, and cook it in the day or something. I dont know, I will figure it out. But thank you so much. Right now I am just trying to make my teaching more clear, and easier to understand. I am trying to be able to share experiences and give examples, but I am working on it. Ok, good story right here. So we just barely started using bikes this week. It is really nice, because we can do so much more during the day. But our second day of using them, a little accident happened. We had jsut finished a lesson, and then this dog started chasing me in the street, and was trying to bite me. So i speed up, and got going pretty fast. Then there was a speed bump, and I noticed some little kids were on the side of the road, so iIdecided to launch of the speed bump like a ramp, and look really cool for the kids (Its not every day they get to see a good looking american do stunts in the street). But as I lifted up off of the jump, i happened to notice that I didnt have a front tire. All I could think was, "Are you serious?" So luckily I am familiar with falling, so I did the old role technic on the asphault. But I was going really fast, so my shirt ripped pretty bad on my shoulder. I had some bad rasberries on my arms, and my hand was cut. But other than that, i was fine. Of course there was a bunch of people in the street who saw it, and they all did the, "OHHH!". So that was embarrasing. But i picked up my tire with my bloody hand, and walked over to those little kids, and told them, "Thats why you were a helmet". A man who saw it, ran into his house and brought me some rubbing alcohol. I didnt know whether to thank him or hit him with my bike tire, that alcohol KILLED! But then i invited them all to hear about the Gospel of Christ, and we ended up getting a new investigator, and we gave everyone pass along cards for the Book Of Mormon. So the moral of the story is, look for missionary opportunities in any situation. And always wear your helmet. Love Elder Hardy