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

February 3, 2009

Well we have our P day today, because tomorrow is tranfers, and Elder Contreras is being transfered. It was sad yesterday, he said that if president doesn't call before 12 we would be good. So after 12 we were all excited. But then we got a call at 8:30 pm from president telling that Elder Contreras was going to be a zone leader in fijardo. So I am going to stay here. All is well. No, it was just me and Elder Contreras in the apartment. But before we lived with the Assistants, so that was interesting. Now we have a knew assistant, Elder Gonzalez. I have never met him but I hear he is cool. I am a little sad Elder Black is leaving, he was really nice. Elder Contreras was the old district leader, but now he is leaving. I dont know who my next companion is until tomorrow at the transfer meeting. And he will be the next district leader, because it is only me and the AP's in our district. We walk everywhere. Don't have a car. I was kinda hoping to be transfered just to have a car. Oh yea, and mom did you talk to Elder Archuletta from the mission office about sending my social security card. Because i need it to get my license, so if you could call him that would be great! And yes dad, that is awesome if I could use it once or twice a week! Thank you so much! That Cardinals game sounded amazing! I cant believe they actually put up a fight. That really makes me happy. Well the work is going great. The Fino family has been making great progress, and we were able to answer some of his questions yesterday, and we committed him to talk and pray with his wife, lucero, about being baptized. And he called us today and said that THEY WANT TO BE BAPTIZED!!! I am so happy right now. There is no feeling like it. He said over the phone, even though elder contreras is leaving, and that i am American, he considers me his son, and that I am invited over to their house any time. That was a big compliment to me that he called me his son. But we are going over their today to talk about a date for their baptism. Im guessing that their daughter franci is going to be baptized too. Also, two days ago something pretty amazing happened. We were walking down the street, and then someone called out, hey come back. We walked over to the house and realized that it was the town drunk. Everytime he see's us, he tries to talk about how he is better than us, and just wierd stuff. And everytime we have just testified and walked away. Well it turns out that works! We were kinda hesistant to talk to him, but then he started talking about how he has no purpose in his life, and how he wants to stop drinking. He said that when he talks to us, he see's a light in our eyes, and a happiness, and that he wants that happiness. So we taught him the about the word of wisdom. He was really excited, and really down to read about the word of wisom. Im not going to lie, i was a little skeptical, because he was a little drunk, and he lives with his 92 year old grandma, and she jsut kept yelling "He is a horrible man, he is a drunk". But the next day we had another appointment with him, and he had read everything, and hadnt drank. He looked like a completely different person. It was amazing to see a change in him. He looked happy. And he wanted to know more, he wanted to learn who was Joseph Smith, and what the Book of Mormon is. We taught a really good lesson, and he accepted a conditional baptism (if he receives an answer to his prayers, then he will be baptized). So that was just amazing to me. He was the last person who i thought would want to hear our message and change his life. It is going to be a proccess, but with prayer and faith, he can do it. His name is Miguel. Well that is what's going on here is Puerto Rico. I am loving the mission, and there is nothing else I would rather be doing right now. The Church is true. Sometimes we are tricked into thinking that there is happiness outside of following christ, and keeping his commandments. But I know that there is no other way to be happy than to strive to be like christ, and to keep his commandments. There is NO happiness in sin. I know that this is the most importnat work in the world. I am helping people to feel the love of christ, and to have more joy than they ahve ever felt in thei lives. Yesterday Alvaro said that before we talked to him he was stressed with work, and he didnt know if he could pay the house bills and everything. But when he received the Book of Mormon he knew that that was the answer. We are able to see miracles everyday. President Eyring said that we just need to have eyes to see, and ears to hear. We need to pray for the opportunity, and then look for the chance to bless someones life witht he gospel. Alvaro and lucero were really impressed with the church, because on sunday everyone excepted them. It was amazing, Elder contrereras and elder black taught the elders quorum about missionary work and their part, and they did it. Everyone was inviting them over for dinner, and for family night, and just being their friend. Alvaro and lucero said that they really felt loved. And thats all we need to do, is show our love, that is what missionary work is. Well I love you guys so much, you are everything to me. Love your son, Elder Hardy

January 28, 2009

Hey yall! Everything sounds great in AZ! You guys are so lucky to be able to go to colorado and see briley. Give her a high five for me, ok. Haha, I still can't believe the cardinals! If they win I will just laugh. haha, I can only imagine jake jumping off that ramp. He is so going to be the next flying tomato. When I get back I will teach him everything about snowboarding, wakeboarding, and skateboarding. Hes going to turn pro at the age of 10. Ok, and dont through away one of the greatest guitar players of the history of the world. That is JIMMY HENDRIX! No, just kidding, you can through it away, or sell it on ebay for 100 bucks. I dont care. I had forgotten where lance is going, that is awesome! We are pretty much in the same climate. He is going to die the first month. Ok here are some Puerto rico facts. it doesnt rain here, it poors. But it never gets dark, just one minute you are walking, and the next second it is like someone just turned the shower on. Then a minute later, they turn the shower off. It is pretty cool. Every night I try to capture this on video for you all, but by the time I get my camera out and get out to the porch, they turn the shower off. Another fact is Puerto Ricans use a wierd back hand style of sweeping. When you first see it you dont know what to think. But all of them use it. It is more like they are pushing the dirt instead of sweeping. its really funny, i will give you an example in a video. Ok, the ward doesnt feed us very often. Maybe once or twice a week, but it is never scheduled. We try to visit the members a lot and see if we can serve them. And when we do this they always invite us in for coke, and sometimes food. We dont tract a whole lot. Our strategie, which i dont like doing, is try to stalk our investigators. We try to see them every day. I dont like it, because everytime we go over they give us food or coke, and i dont want to always be taking. I also dont want to annoy them by coming over all the time. One thing we do to find people is the english class, i will tell you how we do that next week, because i have a good story. Ok, so we have been working with the Fino family (Columbians) for a while now, and i never was to sure on them. They are always willing to hear our message and talk with us, and they feed us every single time. They are a really nice family, but i didnt know if we were jsut friends, or if they really wanted to know about this gospel. But the father, alvaro, and his daughter, franci, came to a general conference for the caribe last week. it was super good. President Eyring, Elder Bednar, Elder Johnson, Elder Anderson, and Sister Allred spoke. They really liked it, and then after there was a baptism, and we invited them to that, and they liked that too. Then yesterday we cutt their grass and then ate dinner, and we asked him if he wanted to be baptized and he is down. He jsut wants a little more time, he says that he is not completely sure. So we will teach him again and get rid of those doubts. Ok, but then he took us to the English class. And we had a bunch of people, usually it is like 5 or 6 people, but we had 13 last night, and they were all really fun, and really active. it was great! Then at the end of class, whoever spoke in spanish had to go up and sing some hymns in emglish. And inbetween one of the hymns, alvaro started talking tot his guy next to us, and invited him to our church. He said, "Yea it s a really beautiful church, they ahve great messages of christ,a nd you should come". The he looked at me, and was like, right elder hardy? haha, my investigator was doing my job for me! I was shocked! Ok, so then, after we finished singing, i figured since my investigator was inviting some one to church i might as well do my part, so i invited everyone to church this week, and then he jumped in and said, "yes, you all should come to church, I love this church, this is the true church'. he said a little more, but thats all i remember, partly because we all couldnt believe it. We all had the biggest smiles on our faces.haha, i still cant belive it. Alvaro is such a stud! So we are going over tomorrow to set a date with him. Ok, another story. So I think it was sunday, we had jsut had a lesson with Rafael, and it didnt go the best that we had planned. They still arent married, and he says that he wasnt to wait until the lord tells him to get married, and to get baptized. So we tried to help him, but i dont know. Ok, so after we were both a little frustrated. Actually i was pretty upset. But i said a little silent prayer, for peace and comfort, and i asked the Lord to bless us with success, and for us to be able to find a new investigator. And this was as we were on our way to a big apartment complex. We go to this complext pretty much every night, it has 3 big towers, each on is 20 stories, and it is not what we would call the best place in the world compared to our standards. Just giving you a little more description of our area. But we walked in, and we were waiting for the elevator when this couple walked in with a BUNCH of groceries, so we helped them bring their groceries up to their apartment. They are both really cool. She is from Trinidad, and has a really cool accent. They speak english in trinidad, and they all have sweet jamaican accents. He is from puerto rico, and he is pretty cool too, minus the sweet accent. Haha, "We be tree seesta's in my fawmalee" Ok, but we shared a short message with us, and they excpeted for us to come back the next day and teach them. It was a really good lesson, the spirit was so strong. My spanish wasnt as horrible as usually,a nd we committed them to read and pray, and if they recieve an answer that the Book of Mormon is true and the Church is true, that they will be baptized. So we have an appointment with them again on thursday. I am so HAPPY! The Lord has been blessing us a lot. So i am pretty stoked on the work, but the only downfall is that i have 5 dollars for goceries this week. I did a poor job managing my money, but i hope its ok if i use a little money from the debit card to buy groceries today. Im sorry, wont happen again. Another thing, i was thinking, is that most of the time we eat at small little fast food places, and most of the time it is chinese food, because elder contreras loves chinese food. haha, its really funny, latinos love chinese food, except they eat french fries with it, it is actaully pretty good. But, instead of sending gift cards for fast food, you could just tell me how much money i can use for fast food on the debit card, and i can use that instead, because im pretty sure they dont have gift cards for palacio chino in arizona. It would also allow me to go to other places, and save you the trouble of going and buying cards from places. But tell me what you think. Well the transfer is almost up, it feels like I just got here. But I will found out on monday if i am being moved, or whats going on. I have mixed feelings, because I want to stay to work with alvaro, and our toher investigators, but I also like changes. it would be sweet to go out in the Campo and try to understand their horrible spanish out in the country. So I will find out on monday. Oh and thank you so much for the package, it came just in time, when i dont have food. I havent opened it yet, because the Ap's told me that it was in the truck as we were walking into the library to email. So i am really excited! So thank you very much. You guys mean so much to me, it is so true, you dont know what you ahve until you dont have it anymore. I know that i still have you, but I dont get to see you everyday and hear your voice. I just understand the importance of families so much more now. I love you all so much, you mean everything to me, keep close to the lord and you will feel his warmth and love. it is amazing to see people come to that realization, and to see the change in thier lives. Alright I will talk to you next week. Love Edler Hardy