Week 22: The weather outside is frightful.

Remember when I used to say that winter was my favorite season? Well, I have had a change of heart. This past week we have gotten a fair amount of snow--like a snowfall we get back home--but no one plows the roads!! The main roads are decent now, but the side streets are still covered in snow and ice. Oh, and Mom, remember how you wouldn't let me drive in the snow? and how I never really learned how to drive in the snow? Well, I had to take a "crash course" (maybe that was a bad choice of words) this week. It was eye opening.

Our furnace also broke, too, so that was interesting. Luckily, our bishop and his wife let us use their space heaters. Those were lifesavers! It was so cold in our house and the house has mostly hardwood floors and we have to go up two floors to get to our shower, so it was brutal in the morning. But the furnace is working now and we are nice and toasty!

Sister Holladay and I had to get some fleece lined tights and I am not disappointed.

On Tuesday, we were wrapping trees for service to protect the trees. Essentially what we were told is that the sun shines on the snow and the snow reflects the light on the trees and the water moves to where the sun reflects and the water freezes, which kills the tree. Well, so we were wrapping the trees and I was wearing jeans and a hoodie (we can wear jeans for service). I thought I was going to be warm in my sweater, well I was wrong. The temperature dropped thirty degrees in two hours! From 11 to 1. That's when we were doing service outside. We were so cold and so the people that we serve warmed up their truck and let us take turns in the warm truck. They tried to send us home, but we protested and so they let us finish.

Linda, an investigator, came with us to the ward Relief Society Christmas party and it was good for her. She met so many people from the ward and then a woman, Sister E., invited her to come to dinner with us on Thursday. That was SO kind of her. Linda appreciated it so much that she gave us a copy of the book that she wrote to give to Sister E. It was a good experience for all of us.

We also met with Glenn again and he is just such a cute old man. He continues to repeat his stories, but it's so funny. Lee wasn't there, but Glenn told us that Lee wants to get baptized! How wonderful is that?! We didn't get a chance to see him this week, but we are going to try this week.

We met with Lisa and Richard--Richard is a less active man who is a butcher. We invited them to church and had an amazing lesson with them Friday night. Lisa was so engrossed in the lesson-it was wonderful! And she really asked so many questions so that she could understand! It was wonderful! We talked about the tree of life with her and so that was confusing, but she really wanted to understand. It's incredible to see people grow while meeting with them! They weren't at church, unfortunately, but hopefully we will be able to find out why they didn't come.

Sister Holladay and I were contacting some referrals on Friday and we met Steve and Sharla. They are devout Catholics and incredibly wonderful people. They let us in to share a message with them about Christmas and it was great. We talked about families and about how in this world, Satan is really attacking the family. So what did we do? We gave them "The Family: A Proclamation to the World." I am interested to see how they like it!

Well, I miss you all and am so thankful for all the emails and letters and packages that you have sent to me! Thank you! Remember what Christ has done for you and remember why he was born--to save all men and women from sin.

Love,

Sister Hardy

 

Week 21: "Lady Elders"

This week was incredible!

On Tuesday, we met Glenn, an eighty-four year old less active man, who is a Korean War veteran...I think, who also takes in homeless young kids. He is the cutest old man, EVER! Oh my gosh, he is so adorable! We met him and found out that he was robbed and that he now only has twenty six cents left to his name. BUT. Because the ward here is AMAZING, we were able to gather food from different families in the ward to give Glenn and the people in his home. It was wonderful. Glenn called us his angels--it was ADORABLE and he cried when we brought over food for him. And! Drum roll please! Lee, his "grandson," has been looking for a church to go to for some time and now we are teaching him!

Oh, and the best part is that they BOTH came to church yesterday! I prayed so hard that they would and they did!! Glenn even got up and bore his testimony during church. It was cute.

We also tried to go see Randy with a young woman in the ward and I think one of Randy's neighbors thought we were casing the neighborhood. They pulled up to our car and I think they wrote down our license plate number because they were behind our car for a good 30 seconds. Anyways, luckily the police weren't called. I mean what would they say? "There are some young girls going around dressed as Mormon missionaries casing the neighborhood."

On Wednesday, we had a lesson with a family in our ward and Brother F called our mission president to get permission for us to hold his little girl Madeline. IT WAS AWESOME. President Toombs said yes and I just wanted to hold that little girl forever! She is so adorable! Not getting to hold babies is really difficult--probably the hardest rule to follow.

Thanksgiving was great! We got to have lunch with a family in the ward and we also had appointments lined up throughout the day so that we wouldn't have to worry about trying to tract or find less actives. We went and visited the ward mission leader and his family Thanksgiving night, and that was fun. Their extended family was there and before we left, we left with a prayer and our ward mission leader's father said, "Make sure to bless the Sisters in the prayer." I'll admit, I got teary eyed--it means so much to me when people extend loving arms to us. It makes missionary work so much more meaningful when I know that someone appreciates our service. That may sound completely selfish, but it helps me work that much harder knowing someone is relying on me.

On Saturday night, we had a zone meeting to start our fasts together. We fasted for everyone in our zone and their missionary concerns. I think that was one of the hardest fasts I've ever had. The adversary really didn't want us to fast for all of the other work that is going on in this area. But, Sister Holladay and I held strong! It was incredible the strength that I felt after the fast.

The icing on the cake was that we had two investigators as church--Lee and then Linda, as well!! AND we had Glenn! AND the Elders had Raul there. Remember Raul? Oh yes. There is strength in fasting. Anyways, church was bliss to say the least.

My thoughts, when we sat with Linda, Lee, and Glenn, were "MIRACLES DO HAPPEN!" I was on Cloud 9 for the rest of the day. It was amazing.

Sister Holladay and I ended our week with a quality gospel conversation with a family in our ward. For our spiritual thought at dinner, we shared Doctrine and Covenants 122: 7-8. Read it--you won't regret it! And, the father was talking about how if adversity is for our benefit, then is it really all that bad? The answer is no. As I look at the hard times in my life, I remember when I leaned to the Savior and I can see the growth that I had. It's incredible! Those hard times turn into times where we can grow closer to the Lord and to our Heavenly Father.

I love you all so much. Remember what the Savior has done for you. He went through pain, suffering, and death, so that you might live. He lives!

Love,

Sister Hardy

Week 20: Snow!

This week we experienced our first snowfall! Well, the first snow that actually stuck. It was fun to tract in the snow--people were a lot more willing to listen! It was awesome! and really nice on our part because we have been able to talk to a lot more people. We have a mission challenge this week. It's called the Book of Mormon Blast! Basically, you talk to as many people as you can and give out as many copies of the Book of Mormon as possible. It sounds scary, but it is actually so much fun!

It was a bit rough this week, but it totally turned around! It was fantastic! On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, most of our appointments cancelled. It was awful! I was so disappointed. Well, anyways. Obviously, we were sent where we needed to go.
On Wednesday, we had a wonderful time at the temple and our first appointment cancelled, which was a bummer, because it was with Maryanne. We just love Maryanne! Then our appointment with Randy cancelled! Then Joel cancelled our appointment that night. It was a rough day. (I can't remember if I have written about Joel. He's a less active returned missionary.) BUT. Amid all of this craziness, we said a prayer to know where to go and who to see. Well, during the prayer, we had the impression to go see a less active woman, named Sherri. Sherri is an amazing woman. I LOVE HER. Anyways, we talked to her about her concerns with coming to church. She mentioned that she was afraid people would ask her questions she wouldn't know how to answer and also, she didn't want to leave her family at home while she came to church. All Sister Holladay and I asked her to do was to pray to know what she should do about church. Well, turns out her visiting teachers, Lisa and Teresa, talked to her the next day. Lisa was messaging her on facebook about coming to church, while Teresa was on the phone talking to her about coming to church. Needless to say, she got the hint from God that she needed to come to church. It was a wonderful surprise to see her in the chapel on Sunday morning!

Remember Chris? The less active returned missionary who doesn't know if God is there? Well. We felt like we should go see the couple that he lives with and when we pulled up we saw him outside smoking. We went and talked to him and he said that he thought we were the cops when we pulled up. It was hilarious. Anyways, we challenged him to pray and ask God if he is really there and he said he will do that. So, we are going to follow up with him on Tuesday.

We went on exchanges again this week! Woot! Sister Knowlton and I were together this time in my area. We were tracting and we met this man named Dwayne. He was such a nice old man! He was so adorable! He let us in out of the cold and he told us that he is atheist, but that he still follows the commandments found in the Bible. We gave him a Book of Mormon and challenged him to read and pray about it. It was great!

Also, so while we were trying to go see a potential named Ploy, we saw a man from the ward talking to his neighbor. So Sister Knowlton and I walked briskly to go introduce ourselves. The man's name is DJ and he is a state patrol officer for Colorado. Yes, yes. I was scared. Anyways, Sister Knowlton threw the brother from the ward under the bus by asking DJ, "Has this guy ever invited you to church?" However, he had been invited and let us know that he has several copies of the Book of Mormon in his house. YEAH!

One of the funnest and stressful times of the week was when we didn't have a pianist for our Saturday service at the retirement homes--so I played for an hour. Can I just say that that was so hard? After not playing for more than 15 minutes in like two years? However, it was fun.

I love you all so much! Remember that Jesus loves you more!

Love,
Sister Hardy

Here are a few pictures I took recently before my camera broke!

1. Keep calm and go to the temple! Which we did this week!

2. Rocky mountain high! This picture was before the snow!

3. There is a huge house on a hill in our ward and we really really want to go over there!

Week 19 Dunk City

This week was fantastic. First, GAVINO FINALLY GOT BAPTIZED. HALLELUJAH. And second, Monique got baptized. So this week's email is titled "Dunk City" because we saw two people that I taught get "dunked" or baptized this week! It was emotional and spiritual and wonderful to see two people change their lives to follow Jesus Christ.

The Thornton ward now has two sets of missionaries. Sister Holladay and myself and Elders Rampton and Hansen. They are both from California and Sister Holladay is from Oregon, so this winter will be interesting for them in the snow. Well, I guess it will be interesting for all of us. However! The work is hastening here in the Thornton ward. Slowly, but surely. I'm interested to see how the work is in 6 weeks.

This past Monday, we went and visited a family and they let us HELP them. It was awesome. We were able to wash their dishes and it was fun. Love it. Advice from Sister Hardy: let the missionaries serve you.

We had a Zone conference this week and it was incredible. Around sixty missionaries came together to be trained by our mission president, his wife, and the assistants to the president. At the beginning of the meeting, I had two questions that I wanted answers to. And then I had two other questions that I needed answers to. ALL FOUR OF MY QUESTIONS were answered. It was wonderful to have my testimony of prayer strengthened. God really does love us and he wants us to be happy. It continues to amaze me how aware God is of our desires.

Then later in the week, Gavino was baptized. That was phenomenal. The baptismal service was all in Spanish, but the Spirit was definitely there. Gavino bore his testimony at the end of the service and Hermana Giron (a spanish speaking sister) translated for me and Sister Knowlton. It was wonderful. Gavino talked about his angels--the first two were me and Sister Knowlton, then Hermanas Trujillo and Espinosa, then Hermana Giron. His five angels. He finally entered the waters of baptism and it meant so much to me that after 5 months of the missionaries teaching him, I finally got to see him in white. And yes, I cried like a baby. When the Bishop stood up and welcomed Gavino into the ward, I had Hermana Giron again translate for me. The bishop said, I am excited for the day when you will be in white once more entering the temple. And I cried even more at that part.

On Saturday, there was a stake activity days workshop for the older girls in primary. President Toombs wanted the sisters in the area to teach the classes and that was so much fun. Sister Holladay and I had the privilege of teaching about service. We talked about how serving others is serving God. So many of the girls talked about how their families had been served and how they, too, served others in their community. It was awesome. At the very end of the day, we asked the girls, "How many of you want to serve missions?" and without a second thought, ALL of the girls in the room raised their hands. Holy cow. That meant so much to me. We were able to do service for their friends. We put trail mix into cute little baggies so that they could give away. It was cute.

Well, then Monique got baptized on Sunday and it was incredible. Monique was so prepared for the Gospel. I had the opportunity of giving a talk on baptism and Sister Knowlton sang "Savior, Redeemer of my soul." The Spirit was in that meeting. Unfortunately, the font only filled like two feet high. So Elder McGrath (the Elder that baptized her) had to baptize her on his knees, while Monique was on her knees. Nevertheless, she was still baptized and it was wonderful! When, she bore her testimony at the end of the service, she told us about how she had been searching for the truth for 19 years and how she wouldn't have been able to find it if we hadn't stopped and talked to her. Sister Knowlton and I didn't do anything. The Spirit did. We need to open our mouths so that those who have ears to hear can hear the message that we share!

Then on Sunday, we met with this woman Jen and her twelve year old daughter, Ashley. We shared the message of the Restoration and we asked Jen how she felt about what we taught and she said, "I believe it. Everything else that I was told doesn't make sense, but this does." Wowza. Talk about amazing. We have an appointment with them on Sunday and I am so stoked. Yes, stoked.

I want you all to know that Jesus loves you and that you can conquer all through leaning on His arm.

God speed.

Love,

Sister Hardy

 

 

Baptisms! and more baptisms! And yes, Gavino hugged me.

This past week was the end of my first transfer in Thornton and it was awesome! We reached our goals with lessons and we had an amazing Stake Conference with Elder Teh, from the Quorum of the Seventy, and Elder Stanfill, from the second quorum of the Seventy, I think. Anyways, it was great! The Denver North stake was split into two stakes--Denver North and Brighton. The work is hastening--you can read more about that later in this letter.

We have had a great week of blessings. On Monday, a woman in theward gave me her daughter's mission coat (her daughter served in ice cold Russia)! So I didn't have to buy a winter coat! YESSS. It was a huge blessing!

Then on Tuesday, these two people that we volunteer for (Lynn and Nancy) took the six of us missionaries to this pizza place in town! It was so kind of them to buy us lunch! We then went and saw several people that day. We met with this one family in the ward and the little boy, Nathan, always talks about how he is going to be a missionary some day! So cute!

On Wednesday, we went and saw Maryanne and it was awesome! A sister in our ward came with us and we taught the Restoration and gave her a Book of Mormon to read. It was awesome!

Later in the week, we called to see how she was doing and she told us about how some people from her church stopped by. She said that she told those women about all the things that the sisters in the Relief Society did for her. The ward here really came together to help Maryanne and her family.

Then we went and saw a former investigator, Steve, and talked to him. Yep. He was a Bible basher, so that was interesting. Bible bashing isn't as scary as everyone makes it out to be. I really hope I don't eat my words later. But anyways, he was very cordial and asked some good questions. Needless to say, we are meeting with him in a couple weeks :-).

On Friday, we were sure it was Gavino's baptism and I was so excited to see him get baptized! Well, when we got there, he wasn't there and we found out that his baptism was cancelled. I was heart broken! But then!!! I saw Gavino at Stake Conference on Saturday night and he sat right next to me!!! It was amazing! When he saw me, he said, "My angel!" He has always called Sister Knowlton and I his angels! So cute! We asked when he was going to be getting baptized and he said, "Soon! Very soon!" He had missed his baptism interview, so that's why his baptism was cancelled. We are hoping for this week though to see him enter the waters of baptism!

OH! And then on Sunday, Michelle's dad (who has been very Anti-Mormon at times) was at Stake Conference! In a suit and tie! He looked great! Mike even sang in the stake choir, so he sat up on the stand the entire time! How awesome is that?! When we talked to the Elders in his ward, one of the missionaries said, "He is going to just fall in the font one of these days!" He really is!! He has been taking the discussions now, so we will see what happens. (Back story, Mike has always been super sweet to me and Sister Knowlton whenever we see him. He has always told us to make ourselves at home, but he hasn't been so open to hearing the discussions! But that has changed! :-))

Going back to Stake Conference. So one of the Elders in our Zone was sick, so we were standing outside of the mens room waiting for him because we were going to see if we could give him some Tylenol. Well, as we are waiting, Elder Teh comes out of the bathroom. I shake his hand--a little bit bewildered--and I introduce myself and my companion. Later, he says in his cute Filipino accent, "Be prepared to participate in our discussion." And so I said, "Okay. I'll prepare Sister Holladay."

At the very end of the conference, Elder Teh gets up and says, "This stake conference wouldn't be complete without hearing a testimony from one of the Sister missionaries." Then he looks down at me from the pulpit and smiles. "Sister Hardy, right?" Yep. Very nerve-wrecking.

I want you all to know that I love you and more importantly Jesus loves you.

With love,

Sister Hardy

Week 18 Tylenol leads to testimony

This past week was the end of my first transfer in Thornton and it was awesome! We reached our goals with lessons and we had an amazing Stake Conference with Elder Teh, from the Quorum of the Seventy, and Elder Stanfill, from the second quorum of the Seventy, I think. Anyways, it was great! The Denver North stake was split into two stakes--Denver North and Brighton. The work is hastening--you can read more about that later in this letter.

We have had a great week of blessings. On Monday, a woman in the ward gave me her daughter's mission coat (her daughter served in ice cold Russia)! So I didn't have to buy a winter coat! YESSS. It was a huge blessing!

Then on Tuesday, these two people that we volunteer for (Lynn and Nancy) took the six of us missionaries to this pizza place in town! It was so kind of them to buy us lunch! We then went and saw several people that day. We met with this one family in the ward and the little boy, Nathan, always talks about how he is going to be a missionary some day! So cute!

On Wednesday, we went and saw Maryanne and it was awesome! A sister in our ward came with us and we taught the Restoration and gave her a Book of Mormon to read. It was awesome!

Later in the week, we called to see how she was doing and she told us about how some people from her church stopped by. She said that she told those women about all the things that the sisters in the Relief Society did for her. The ward here really came together to help Maryanne and her family.

Then we went and saw a former investigator, Steve, and talked to him. Yep. He was a Bible basher, so that was interesting. Bible bashing isn't as scary as everyone makes it out to be. I really hope I don't eat my words later. But anyways, he was very cordial and asked some good questions. Needless to say, we are meeting with him in a couple weeks :-).

On Friday, we were sure it was Gavino's baptism and I was so excited to see him get baptized! Well, when we got there, he wasn't there and we found out that his baptism was cancelled. I was heart broken! But then!!! I saw Gavino at Stake Conference on Saturday night and he sat right next to me!!! It was amazing! When he saw me, he said, "My angel!" He has always called Sister Knowlton and I his angels! So cute! We asked when he was going to be getting baptized and he said, "Soon! Very soon!" He had missed his baptism interview, so that's why his baptism was cancelled. We are hoping for this week though to see him enter the waters of baptism!

OH! And then on Sunday, Michelle's dad (who has been very Anti-Mormon at times) was at Stake Conference! In a suit and tie! He looked great! Mike even sang in the stake choir, so he sat up on the stand the entire time! How awesome is that?! When we talked to the Elders in his ward, one of the missionaries said, "He is going to just fall in the font one of these days!" He really is!! He has been taking the discussions now, so we will see what happens. (Back story, Mike has always been super sweet to me and Sister Knowlton whenever we see him. He has always told us to make ourselves at home, but he hasn't been so open to hearing the discussions! But that has changed! :-))

Going back to Stake Conference. So one of the Elders in our Zone was sick, so we were standing outside of the mens room waiting for him because we were going to see if we could give him some Tylenol. Well, as we are waiting, Elder Teh comes out of the bathroom. I shake his hand--a little bit bewildered--and I introduce myself and my companion. Later, he says in his cute Filipino accent, "Be prepared to participate in our discussion." And so I said, "Okay. I'll prepare Sister Holladay."

At the very end of the conference, Elder Teh gets up and says, "This stake conference wouldn't be complete without hearing a testimony from one of the Sister missionaries." Then he looks down at me from the pulpit and smiles. "Sister Hardy, right?" Yep. Very nerve-wrecking.

I want you all to know that I love you and more importantly Jesus loves you.

With love,

Sister Hardy

The first picture is of the gorgeous Colorado sky at sunset! Wowzers!

The second picture is our district after we celebrated Elder Burton's and Elder Mahina's birthdays. Yep. Of course, Sister Holladay and I were the only ones trying to be serious.
The third picture is a little blurry and not everyone is looking. This is a common thing with the Elders in our zone:-)

Week 17: Miracles and Malley‏

This week was great--much better than last week. However, this week was filled with its own challenges. For example, Sister Holladay had a stomach bug, then I thought I had it---hypochondria kills---and Raul dropped us. Yes, Raul--the same Raul who was scheduled to get baptized on Saturday dropped us on Monday. It was sad. He still has somethings he needs to work out and we are still planning on checking up on him to see how he is doing every now and then.

Back to happier things. On Tuesday, we had interviews with President Toombs (our mission president) and he expressed his gratitude for the work we've been doing--which meant A LOT to me, especially after not having the best week last week.

Tuesday morning was just wonderful because of our interviews and then we went to the Thornton recreation center to do service and it was great. We work with a man named Lynn (who is this cute old guy) and a woman, Nancy, and they are amazing people. Lynn is a complainer, but he does it to be funny. They work right along side us in the dirt, which makes it fun. It was pretty chilly, but Lynn let me wear his coat so I didn't freeze. Everyone thinks that because I am from NY, I don't get cold--which is not true! Lynn and Nancy went and bought hot chocolate for the six of us missionaries. How sweet is that!

It was after service that Sister Holladay got sick, but now she is in tip-top shape.

Wednesday night, we stopped by Maryanne's to drop off food that members had given us to bring over. Maryanne's brother-in-law passed away last week, so the funeral was on Halloween. So many of our ward members dropped off meals to them. Jesse--her husband--has been really standoffish towards the church, but now his heart has been softened tremendously! It's incredible! It is tremendous to see the ward come together to fellowship Maryanne and her family. She tried to come to church on Sunday, but she got lost! Sad day I tell ya! But on a good note, Betty (her mother) received a General Conference edition of the Ensign and read the ENTIRE THING. WOWZA.

On Halloween, we met with Linda--I can't remember if I've talked about Linda before. Linda is an older woman who is moving out of her house, slowly, but surely. We went to her house to help clean and another time to rake leaves. On Thursday, we finally got to share a message with her about the Atonement--which we've mentioned in times past, too. We will have to go quite slow with her because she likes to talk--like most women I know :-).

We also had to be in right after dinner that night, and President let us all watch 17 Miracles! Did I cry? Yes. A lot? Yes, yes I did. That movie is so much better on a mission, let me tell you!

On Saturday, Sister Holladay and I went on exchanges and it was amazing! I went back to Malley! We met with Michelle (I taught her and she got baptized while I was in Malley). That was wonderful to meet with her again! She told us that her brother, Joseph (who joined the church a year ago), went through the temple and was sealed to his wife last month! Isn't that incredible? I cannot wait for the day when Sister Knowlton and I can go through the temple in a year with Michelle!

I also found out that Gavino (remember him from my second week out?) is getting baptized this Friday! I am soo excited!!!

Monique (the woman we helped move in August) is getting baptized on the 16th of November! I am so excited for Gavino and Monique and for their decisions to follow the Savior!! I know it will change their lives for eternity, like it has mine.

Yesterday, we met with Randy and he forgot that it was Daylight Savings, so he thought we were an hour late! Poor guy! We sat and we read from the Introduction to the Book of Mormon. We asked him if he would be baptized and he said, "You know, I probably will. But it's going to take me a little bit." WOW. My heart soared when I heard him say that. His son, Dorian, also joined us, so that was really exciting!

I want you all to know that I love you so much and Jesus Christ loves you much more than you could ever imagine. Remember Him in all that you do and He will help you.

Love,

Sister Hardy

1. The sky here is absolutely beautiful! I am going to miss it after winter gets here!

2. We found this metal rod in the middle of the road, so of course we pulled over and picked it up! Now we can say, "hold to the rod!"

3. When we stopped by Maryanne's house this week, she let us hold her puppies!!! They are soooo cute! This puppy has eyebrows!!