Week 3

What did I learn this week? The Lord is in control--ALWAYS.

We met with so many people this week--both those that we incredible and some that were scary.

One woman that we met with this week is Cay, a less active woman who is trying to get things back on track. SHE IS AWESOME. She and her husband have two little boys--Saxton and Dante. Cay's husband, Drew, isn't really interested in us coming over, but he is still so kind to us and we can feel the love he has for his family. Saxton is 7 and Dante is 5 and holy smokes! They are just the cutest! We taught them this week and when Sister Knowlton asked, "Where did you live before you came here?", she expected "Heaven" to be the answer. BUT Saxton timidly said, "....Kansas?" It was soooo cute. Cay has taught her children about God and you can see it in their countenances.

We also met with this woman named Sarah. And holy cannoli! That woman is incredible. She has had a really tough life. There have been events in her life that result in people being institutionalized. This woman has more strength than I have ever seen in one person--other than you, Mom....well and Carrie, especially after witnessing childbirth. Yikes.

We also taught Brooke. She is nine-years old and she is awesome. Seriously, one of the most mature nine-year olds I have ever met. One of the times we taught her, she had a friend over named Nicholas--(Background info: both Brooke and Nicholas go to Christian schools here in Colorado). Anyways, we taught them and both Nicholas and Brooke prayed and it was awesome. But here's the best part. When we were done, Nicholas asked, "How do you get missionaries to come to your house?" Oh boy. Ain't that the best darn question a missionary ever did hear! Needless to say, his parents should be expecting a knock on their door some time very soon.

Oh. I ended up needing to use the restroom--really badly--one night this week. And it was almost time to head home, but I couldn't hold it because I had been for the past few hours. To make a long story short, we stopped at a random church near us. We were in our name tags and everything. Nice, right? There was a band there practicing for their Sunday services I think, and we just went in and asked the woman by the doors if we could use their restroom. Perhaps the next time that woman meets Mormon missionaries she'll remember our smiles and my urgency to use the bathroom.

We also got to use our Spanish this week! Woot! Oh, wait. Sister Knowlton and I don't know any Spanish. But we made it work. "How?" you may ask. Well, we were tracting (knocking on random doors in this neighborhood waiting for the elders to meet up with us, and everyone spoke Spanish. (This area is full of Hispanic people and Latinos). So we knock on this door and this woman answers and says something to the extent of, "No English." Well, we can't just run away, so Sister Knowlton looks at me and then says in a Spanish accent "Missionaries"--which we later found out was wrong for Sister missionaries. Then she pulls out a pass-a-along card (you know the ones with Jesus on them) and shows it to the woman and says, "Jesus"--pronouncing it like Spanish speakers do, as in "hey-zeus." And turned the card around and pointed to Mormon.org and said slowly, "Website." Yep. She'll definitely be giving us a call with that incredible Spanish. Oh man. I love Sister Knowlton!

We also met with a man named Joe and his granddaughter, Jessi. They are awesome. The only bad thing is that whenever Sister Knowlton says "Joe," I always respond. Yeah. I'm Sister Hardy now! Anyways, this guy is incredible. Joe has a really close relationship with God, but apparently, he feels like he hasn't been getting answers to prayers. He also hasn't wanted to come to church, but we promised Joe that he can receive answers and we promised that if he came to church, he would receive an answer about whether or not The Book of Mormon is true and about getting baptized. He FINALLY came to church after being taught for a while. WOOOT. I'm excited to hear from him this week.

Now let me tell you about Michelle. This woman is a single mom and she has two children--Rosie, who is 4, and Ryan, who is 2. (Every time I see these kids I think, "WHY CAN'T MISSIONARIES HOLD BABIES?!) This family has been through so much. Michelle told us that she has been searching for a church and she said that when she goes to other churches she feels judged and out of place--but she said when she attends "our" church, she feels so good and wants to cry because she is so happy!

We've met with her twice this week and seriously, I have never ever ever felt so much love for someone I didn't know. I have felt God's love for her and I have been able to see her through Heaven's eyes. It is incredible.

Last night we taught her about the Atonement and how she can be forgiven for everything she has done in the past. How wonderful is that! To know that through Jesus Christ we can be forgiven of everything because he suffered for us in the Garden of Gethsemane. As we talked with her about the Atonement, she wept. We told her that through baptism, all of those things that we have done can be washed away. But, we still make mistakes after baptism, but that is why it's critical that we have the Atonement. She was full of tears as we told her about this. She said that she'll set a goal to be baptized on the tenth of August, but that she still is unsure and needs to continue to pray. This woman is truly an amazing daughter of God and I love her so much!

Seriously. I have seen miracles happen these past two weeks. The Lord is good!

I love you all! Know that I pray for you!

Love,

Sister Hardy

The first picture is of the gorgeous sunsets that we have here ALL THE TIME! Seriously, I will be back to visit a lot when I get off my mission!

The second is of me and Sister Knowlton waiting in the car for a member to join us for a lesson. We drive a Chevy Cruz and I must say the AC is the best EVER.

And the last picture is of our car clock and thermometer. Either it was really really hot last night or the car is wrong. But either way, it gets sooo hot here!