Week Four

Sometimes the Lord needs to remind us that He is always in control. This seems to be a common lesson for me in the past four weeks--I'm still trying to learn.

Highlight of the week: MICHELLE BORE HER TESTIMONY IN CHURCH! And she hasn't even been baptized yet. This woman is INCREDIBLE. AND. She is getting baptized Saturday night! I am so stoked! We have seen this woman's life change dramatically in the last few weeks. She is amazing.

"How is she amazing?" you may ask. Well, yesterday was Fast Sunday and we hadn't even taught her about fasting and SHE WAS FASTING. She texted us and asked if she could drink water. Sister Knowlton and I were super confused. This woman has been so prepared.

Anyways. This week we met some people who have been through really hard and bizarre things. We met this one young woman (age 18), who has a child (named Lawrence--and he is the cutest! He's one of those babies that you just can't help but squeal at). So she didn't know she was pregnant until she went into labor!!! Crazy, right?! Sister Knowlton said that she should write a book called "What to Expect When You're Not Expecting." She should have a TV show about that.

We also met a woman with two little girls. What are their names you may ask? Ismeandray and Rayandi. Is-me-and-ray and ray-and-i. (Her boyfriend's name is Ray). I think they, too, should have a TV show. Anyways, she lives with her grandfather who is a member of our ward and they are the nicest people! We have an appointment to meet with her next week. We're teaching her about how faith is really important, but so are works.

Now, here is a great story. Tuesday, we had an appointment with a woman and she wasn't home, so we went to visit some of her neighbors and we met two women--Doris and Chelsey. They are fairly religious and believe in God wholeheartedly. We sat with them and talked to them about the Restoration of the Gospel (how Jesus Christ's church has been restored). Anyways, we were talking about the Bible and then Doris mentioned how so many other religions have other books--she mentioned a few religions, "the Mormon church" being one of them--and how we have the Bible and we don't need anything else. We hadn't told her that we were Mormons, but had said that we were from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints--so that was a bit awkward (we should probably do that next time). We then explained to her about the Book of Mormon and she seemed to understand the scriptures that we read to her. They also mentioned something about hearing the three of the four horns before the Second Coming...and Sister Knowlton and I were just like "uh...wooooow. Cool." Maybe I'm ill-educated, but I have never learned anything about the four horns. It was a pretty awkward lesson. But they are awesome people nonetheless!

And then there was Wednesday. We had a meeting and taught some lessons. But then Michelle cancelled our lesson--which was a shock to say the least. It was having a rough time, so we understood, but were disappointed anyway. Anyways, we looked in the directory to find some less active/part member families to teach. We found a family and decided to go visit them. Well, when we got there we saw a young man by his car and we went and talked with him. Turns out he's a member! He's from Idaho and stopped coming to church. That was pretty neat seems how we don't have his records (we have met three people who are less active in the past two weeks that we don't have records for. The Lord needs them to come back!)

Anyways, we wet and tried to visit that family and only the kids were home, so we decided to visit another family. Well, when we got there we heard screaming from inside the house and knocked on the door, rang the door-bell, waited for something else. Well, no answer. On our way back to the car, we heard more screams. Well, we had no idea what to do. So what did we do?We called Sister Knowlton's trainer (who happens to be in our District) and there was no answer. So we prayed and waited. AND THEN AN OLD MAN COMES OUT OF THE HOUSE, SO THEN WE DRIVE OFF AS FAST AS WE COULD. So then we were really scared and worried, so what did we do? We called the district leader (we would have called the Zone leaders, but we were afraid they'd make fun of us). Elder Brennan (district leader) and Elder Urianza went to the house and checked everything out. Everything was okay, but Sister Knowlton and I are positive that something was going down.

We had an awesome start to the week, right?! But then...Thursday happened.

Thursday, ALL of our appointments fell through except one--and that wasn't even a lesson. It was a meeting with the Bishop. Anyways, everyone cancelled and I was quite frustrated. The Lord was trying our patience. We've been praying and fasting to know what we need to do and where we need to go. However, the next day we were able to teach six lessons--not including dinner messages. It was a miracle. But I think the Lord was reminding us that any success that we have isn't ours, but His.

We also were reminded of this when we stopped by Gavino's house three times this week and he wasn't there or awake. On the third day, our conversation with his roommate (who speaks only Spanish) went a little something like this:

Us: "Is Gavino home?"

Roommate: "Ahh....no."

Us (Sister Knowlton and I look at each other): "Donde?" (which means "Where")

Roommate: "Mexico."

Us: "Mexico!"

Sister Knowlton:...Porque? (which means 'Why")

Roommate: I don't know.

Me: Uh....Quand? Quand? Quando?

Roommate: Oh..Uh..Til Wedneday, Tuesday, Saturday.

Yep. That was our conversation. Look at me and Sister Knowlton. Talk about the gift of tongues. Anyways, to make a long story even longer, we don't know when Gavino will be home and I am so bummed. Hopefully, he will come back.

I love you all and know that I am praying for you. Remember that the Lord loves you and wants you to be happy. I, too, want you to be happy.

Love,

Sister Hardy

p.s. My first name is starting to sound really weird...is that normal?

Shout out to my darling, crazy Grandmother! Happy birthday! I love you!

The first picture is of me and a kitten. The home that we were at has three kittens and a mother cat who is expecting some babies soon! So of course I went all crazy cat lady on them!

The second  picture is of the sky last night at sunset. How gorgeous is that?! It looked like it was on fire! 

The third picture is of our weekly planning. Weekly planning takes about three hours (or more). It is way too long, but it is needed.

The last picture is kind of obvious. I don't know what this sign really means--"Don't wait for six strong men to take you to church"--but Sister Knowlton and I thought it was great.