Week of 23 March-30

We had absolutely beautiful weather this week and it was so nice! I loved it! It made finding people really enjoyable!

On Monday, I met this family that the missionaries have been teaching for quite some time. There are four children: Senya, hope, Zach, and Elijah. Their mother is Liz and she is a convert to the church. The lesson was really powerful not because of anything we said, but because at the end of the lesson, Liz bore her testimony of the Savior and of the truthfulness of the Gospel! Isn't that incredible?! How amazing is she? Afterwards, Sister Reynolds told me that she NEVER has participated more in a discussion than she did then! (They even came to church on SUNDAY! and Senya shared her testimony during sacrament! #win).

Tuesday came and was really amazing. We've been teaching this woman and she lost her daughter last year. Her daughter, McKenzie, was driving and was in an accident. The car that hit her was driven by a drowsy driver. She was killed on impact. The story made me incredibly grateful for the gospel in my life. We spoke to her father for over about an hour. He wasn't entirely sure about living with her again. We promised him that he was see her after this life. I was terribly sad for him. Imagine losing your 16 year old daughter suddenly! I think the best message that we have to share is that through Jesus Christ, we will be reunited with our loved ones again and we can live with our Heavenly Father again!!

I don't have much time, so quickly. On Saturday, we had a miracle happen. We were tracting and NOTHING was happening. We knocked on a door and there wasn't an answer, so we left a couple seconds later, a woman answered the door, Fadoua. We began talking to her and learned se is from Morocco. She was raised in the Islam religion, but she has been looking into Christianity for some time now and she wants to talk with us! We are meeting with her tomorrow!!!

I love this gospel. It's true!!

Love,

Sister Hardy

 

 

A picture of my breakfast for the past week. Green shakes: Kale, carrots, greek yogurt, orange juice, and spinach. Once you get past the grassy taste, they are actually quite good!

 

Also, after we did some service for a food bank, we were given flowers by this elderly man. Most of them were dead, but it's the thought that counts!

 

 

 



We did some service for a wedding and made the boutonnieres (SP?). I am not a professional flower arranger. 





 

 

 

 







Goodbye Denver North!!

Alas. I have finally left Zion, the promised land, my birthplace into the mission, aaaaand now I am serving in good ol' Willow Creek in the Denver Stake! I have been here for less that 24 hours and I really don't know much about the area or nothing. However, I do know that I have a fantastic new companion, Sister Reynolds, who is from England! And has a killer accent. Every time I hear her talk, I want to talk in a British accent. It's killing me! But so fun!

However, back to Denver North! My last week in Thornton was filled with MIRACLES and of course delicious food: example, SMOKED pizza. But the miracles were more impressive!

This week we saw Lisa almost everyday! She came to the magic show, to our scripture study class, to CHURCH, and she even fed us dinner! Lisa and her husband, Richard, AND their grandsons AND their mother came to the magic show!!! Isn't that incredible?!?! We had a full house! Sophie, their daughter, even came to the scripture study class! We read from the Book of Mormon and we were able to really get down to the nitty gritty. It was phenomenal! I also was blown away that SHE CAME TO CHURCH! AHHHHH! I wanted to scream for joy! I will really miss her. I will really miss their family. They were a huge source of hope for me when I was down on myself or how slow the work was. Lisa always seemed to pull myself back up.

We visited with Cindy and Sage again and it was awesome! I loved it! Cindy told us that she was so ecstatic for us to come over and that she was SOOO HAPPY. It was incredible! She even prayed at the beginning of the lesson and it was AMAZING. Later on, her husband came into the house and we asked if he'd like to join us and he did! He was so nice! They both sense that there is something more to what we teach. Cindy has told us that has studied with other people and that it wasn't right. She feels so good about listening to our message and it was exciting! We invited Robert to read from the Book of Mormon and he said he would! He was so excited about it!

I am really going to miss Thornton ward. I'll be honest, I cried like a baby at church. I felt SO LAME. Dawn, Randy's girlfriend, asked if she could talk to me and she thanked me for everything, which made me cry harder. I can't believe I left that place! I absolutely LOVE Thornton. I feel like I really came to know what is important there. I have grown the most there and I have really grown into a better missionary. Obviously I am still striving to become a more consecrated servant of the Lord. It's a continual process.

Willow Creek will have to watch out because this place will turn into dunk city in a short amount of time!

The gospel is true. This I know!

Love,

Sister Hardy

My new companion, Sister Reynolds!

Week of 24 Feb-2 Mar:2 AND March 3-9

For the first part of this past week, we enjoyed nice sunny days where it felt like spring! Then, the snow came and of course the cold followed. SO. Needless to say the end of our week included tights, boots, and our heavy coats.

This past week we had an appointment with Lisa and Richard and it went really well. She recommitted to be baptized on the 29th of March and she has gone two weeks without smoking!!! Holy cow! Isn't that incredible? She is doing so well and she really understands Heavenly Father's love. She is just a bit scared because she is afraid she'll mess up. We have reassured her that we are fall, but that's why we have the Atonement. I think we need to teach her more about the Atonement and about what it means for her.

We also contacted a couple, Kim and Mike, and their son is actually in the hospital right now. He just had heart surgery and it was very serious, but things are MUCH better now. The elders stopped by first and said a prayer with them. Later in the week, we stopped by and they are so kind! Very receptive. We set up a time to meet with them later this week and I am STOKED.

The week went pretty well, visiting our usuals. Barb, Gerry, Sherri, Miranda, and Maryanne.

Maryanne's lesson went really well. We talked to her about how God is her loving Heavenly Father and she just expressed to us how much she loves God, and how thankful she is that He sent His son for her. She told us about how sad she is that people believe that they have to suffer for their own sins in this life. I didn't even know that people believed that! I am so grateful to know that we don't have to suffer because someone already did that for us--Jesus Christ. We can be forgiven of our sins because of His sacrifice. Maryanne is really excited about the Book of Mormon. However, things might be difficult because her husband isn't 100% supportive of her decision to meet with us, but he is the KINDEST man. He's almost 70 and he acts like a teenager. He's so fun!

Yesterday, we went to go see Glenn (84) because we couldn't see him Saturday because he went to the hospital. Well, when we knocked on the door, we talked with a woman who helps him around the house and she told us that on Saturday night he passed away! Crazy, right? I was so sad to hear that. It wasn't unexpected, but it wasn't expected either. She told us how he'd always call us his angels and how he'd say, "Terry, you'd better get me my coffee before the girls come over!" Glenn knows we don't drink coffee. What a funny guy. He will be missed and perhaps this is the ward's opportunity to reach out to the rest of his friends/family. I am so grateful for the Plan of Salvation. I know that I will see Glenn again and that things will be okay. We don't have to worry about where he is, because he's in a state of peace now!

 

I love you all! Just know that I have a testimony of this Gospel!

 

 

Me, Ryan,Hanna and her pet bunny.

Love,

Sister Hardy

 

 

 

 

Week 3/3/14 - 3/9/14

Hi All,

 

We had an absolutely amazing week that was full of miracles and excitement!

First off, remember Randy and his son, Dorian? WELL. The Elders in the ward have been teaching them AND Randy, Dorian, and Randy's girlfriend, Dawn, and her son, Michael, AND their friend, Jason, have ALL committed to baptism and they ALL came to church yesterday! #miraclesdohappen

Pictures of their baptism to be sent soon!!! All I have to say to that is HALLELUJAH. Man. This gospel is fantastic.

Second, we finally got to visit with this woman, Cindy, whom the Elders found back in November and said we should try seeing in January. She is incredible. Her husband and son left when we got there, so they weren't there for the lesson, BUT she and her daughter, Sage, both listened and actively participated in the discussion. (Man, these sentences are full of run-ons!) Anyways, as we were talking to them, it was just incredible! Neither of them have been polluted by anti-Mormon nonsense or if they have, they don't believe it. Another miracle with them is that they actually believe that God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost are three SEPARATE BEINGS! We rarely ever run into people who believe the same as we do about the nature of the Godhead! Pretty sweet, huh?

Third, we met this man named Rob who has a friend that's LDS and she has been being a missionary out the WAZOO! She has invited him to take the missionary discussions several times and talked about the Church with him AND he told us that he is meeting with the missionaries on Wednesday!!! (So what will probably happen is that those missionaries will teach him and then pass him unto us or the elders--so stay tuned for more about Rob!) He was such a nice guy! He talked to us for about twenty minutes outside in his garage and asked us a whole bunch of questions. It was pretty neat.

Fourth, we met with our dear friend, Maryanne, AND wowzers. SHE IS ABSOLUTELY AMAZING. She LOVES reading from the Book of Mormon and more importantly she doesn't have any preconceived notions that it's not true. She has opened her heart to the possibility that is can be true and because of that, if she prays with a sincere heart, God will answer her prayers. Maryanne has such a strong testimony that Jesus is the Savior of the world and that God is really watching out for her. Isn't that incredible?! I can't say how much I love being a missionary ENOUGH!

Then! Drum roll please! LISA HAS NOT SMOKED IN THREE WEEKS! Isn't that fabulous? She still is having a hard time getting to church. We are under the impression that she needs more fellowship in the church. SO we are having an amazing ward activity/party on Wednesday and she is coming and so is Richard AND their two grandsons! I am so excited! VERY VERY EXCITED. There is going to be a world renowned magician there and a lot of our friends from other faiths will be coming. Super cool experience. (Apparently, the magician owes a man in the ward a favor and so he said that he would do this!!!! Sweet, huh?)

Along with meeting with all of these wonderful people, we met with one woman at the Elm's Haven nursing home where we do service, Gerrie. Gerrie doesn't respond to conversation, so we just sat and visited with her. Kept her company, you know? Well, Sandy, one of the caregivers there, told us that she loves music and loves people. So we sang hymns for her. The Spirit was really strong and it was great. It was a tender mercy from the Lord, especially because a lot of our appointments had fallen through for that night.

On a slightly less happy note, Glenn's funeral was on Friday. A sister in the ward and I sang "I Know that My Redeemer Lives" for the meeting. I have just been comforted by the fact that I know Glenn still lives. Although we can't hear his voice, or his throaty chuckle, I know that I will hear it again. And even though I can't see him, I will see him again.

I love this Gospel and I love my Savior. I know He lives. He lives and loves all of us.

Love,

Sister Hardy

Only picture for the week. We were teaching at the church!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Week Thirty...something. Why am I counting?

Hi everybody!

We had plenty of adventures this past week. On Tuesday, we were in charge of a service project at one of the Senior centers....and well, that was a bit of a disaster. No one wanted to come down and play balloon volleyball. But! Sister Marshall and I got to paint nails, color pictures, and make bracelets. Hopefully this week we will have a better turn out!

Later that day, we went and saw Lisa and Richard! AND GUESS WHAT?!! She is trying to quit smoking!! Isn't that incredible! We tried to meet with them later in the week, but they were sick! Rats. However, we were able to meet with a young woman in the ward who isn't active and it was really enjoyable! We going to meet with her today, too. Hopefully.

On Wednesday, we went to the temple at 5:30 in the morning. Picture it. 5 Elders, 2 Sisters, and a sister in our ward. Hilarious. We heard a bunch of funny mission stories. For example, one of the elders told us about an experience that he had when he knocked on a door and said, "Sorry to ruin your day, but we are missionaries...." what he meant to say, "Sorry to interrupt your day, but..." How hilarious! Also, I didn't even get car sick. Another sister gave me this stuff that's like Dramamine, but non-drowsy and I was walking on sunshine in the very backseat! How awesome! It's the little things in life that bring happiness :)

Thursday, we had an interesting experience. We were driving home from something and we saw a woman walking her dog. I knew that we needed to stop and I really didn't want to, but we did anyways. We got out and started walking her way, pretending that we were heading that way. We stopped her and pet her beautiful dog. She didn't want to stop, so we asked if we could walk with her, and she said we could, so we did. And man, she was booking it! My short legs were doing what they could to keep up without running.

We basically taught her the Restoration (the first missionary discussion) on our walk and asked if we could give her a copy of the Book of Mormon, and she said no, but it was okay! I felt so good after talking to her and just giving her the opportunity to hear the gospel. Even if people say no, you can still walk away on cloud 9. I know because it happened to me!

That's all I have time for, but know that I love you!

Love, Sister Hardy

So Sister Marshall and I got these sticky hearts in a valentine. Well, I tossed mine in the air and it got stuck to the ceiling. It's still there...Oh the things that make missionaries happy!

Yes. We got girl scout cookies! For free. BEST THING EVER.

 

Guess who I saw this week at the Temple?!!? Sister Knowlton (she trained me!)

 



Week 32: Mission meeting, bible-bashers, and MALLEY‏

 

Hello there!

This week was full of...interesting moments.

1. Sister Marshall and I got a perfect score on our car inspection! And we got to sign our names in this pretty sweet mission book for those skilled in the art of car cleaning.

2. We had TWO encounters with Bible bashers this week. One encounter was pretty intense and I was a bit scared, and I didn't bash back! Our ward mission leader was pretty happy when he heard that I didn't bash. I'll admit bashing is so tempting! But, I know we shouldn't, so I have a new resolve.

3. We had two mission meetings this week with President Toombs and it was awesome! At the first meeting, it was a zone conference and we practiced teaching the simple doctrine that "God is is our loving Heavenly Father." It was pretty incredible.

At the meeting there was a woman who had recently joined the church, Amy. She and her husband (Harold) were moving and she had packed up all their stuff and fit it into their car, and EVERYTHING WAS STOLEN. So, they tried contacting a whole bunch of different churches in the Denver area, and no one would help them. Well, they showed up to our church and President Toombs just happened to be there. Harold related the entire story to him and they started the discussions an hour later and were baptized in November! CRAZY! President Toombs even baptized them! How amazing is that?!

4. I had SUSHI FOR THE FIRST TIME THIS WEEK and I am absolutely in LOVE with it! Seriously. I have been missing out!

5. Sister Marshall and I went on exchanges, and guess where I went?! Oh, yes. MALLEY. My birthplace! It was incredible to see those I taught while I was there! I didn't get to see Michelle, but I saw her father, Mike! He got baptized last month and he talked about all of his missionary experiences! How incredible is that! He has been talking to his friends about the Book of Mormon and about the church and he is on fire! Spiritually on fire!

While on exchanges, I also got to see one of my favorite families--Shannon, Brandon, and Ethan! I didn't get to see James, which was disappointing, but it was so good to see the family again! Shannon was one of the first people I met while I was in Malley. Remember the chicken picture? and the bird pictures? That is at her house! Love them!

I also got to see Monique! (We found Monique in an apartment complex when she was moving out. Remember her?) Well, now she is expecting now! She has three boys and hopefully a girl on the way! Just kidding. She already has three boys and her husband, what's another one?!

Sister Moore (my temporary companion for the day I was in Malley) and I also saw Joe and Jessi! Remember them? Joe was my first heartbreak. He dropped us! But it was so good to see him again. I miss seeing them often.

It was good to go to Malley for a day, but I am happy to be back in Thornton! We have a lot of work to do here and we better hop to it!

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

Love,

Sister Hardy

 

We went to this pizza place this week! (pronounced "Forget about it" in a NYC accent) The pizza was really good, too! There are only two things that would make Colorado even better: Wegmans and better pizza. 

 

 

WE GOT A HUGE BOX OF CHOCOLATES FROM A POTENTIAL. BAD. BAD. BAD! I think the worst part about it was that the first thing we did when we got home was open them :)

 

 

 

I am famous! This picture is while we were doing service at one of the best places! Park Regency! It's one of the assisted living centers. Jennifer, the head of activities, put this up on one of the walls so that the residents will know who we are when we come in! Pretty cool.

 

 

 

Week 30: You know you're a missionary when... AND Week 31: "And on the seventh day..."

Week 30: You know you're a missionary when 




This week was FULL of wonderful things that happened.

1. Our zone full of missionaries played capture the flag with nerf guns. It was the funniest thing I've seen in a long time. Sister Holladay (my last companion) and I sat and watched. Seriously, it should be an Olympic sport. Maybe I'd actually watch the Olympics then.

2. RICHARD PRAYED. Hallelujah! Seriously, when we left the house, I jumped so stinking high I'm surprised I didn't rip my skirt.

3. We found out why one of our investigators hasn't been coming to church--AFTER FOUR MONTHS OF TEACHING HER. I thought I was going to cry because I was so happy after we left.

4. We helped a sister in the ward clean her house and I was SO happy that someone actually let us serve them. Also, I got to wear sweat pants, so I was really content.

5. Sister Marshall and I spent a couple hours on Friday helping a family in the ward paint their newly finished basement. We had a blast. (I LOVE PAINTING)

6. We didn't have to tract on Sunday because no one cancelled our appointments! Oh yeah!

We had a lot of awesome things that happened this week. It was fantastic. However, we did have some stressful times this week because of the weather. On both Friday and Saturday, we received messages from the assistants to President Toombs (our mission president) that we were not allowed to drive our cars because of the roads. Luckily, I had handwarmers and a heavy coat and boots. But, the "driving ban" was lifted before we had to leave. (Fridays are our days to plan, so we were home until 3 and the ban was lifted at 2! oh yes. It was perfect.)

On Tuesday, we had a service project with about 5 other sets of elders. This service project consisted of making soup and cookie mixes, and tying bows. Luckily, we had some very skilled bow-tie-rs (bow-tyers?). Mom, I have you to thank for that. It was great to see the elders tying bowes. It was hilarious actually.

On Wednesday, we went to the old folks home to play bingo and Berta (my adopted German g-ma) was there like always, Well, she actually won Bingo! And I got so excited! I said, "Berta! You won Bingo! You finally won!" She looked at me and said sternly, "Control yourself!" Man, I still am laughing about it! Later, Berta was blowing her nose because she had a cold and well, she set her used tissue on the table, looked around, and used her elbow to push her tissue off the table. I looked under the table and there were several other used tissues under there on the ground, along with her candy wrapper!! It was hilarious! I thought I would die because she just looked at me and put her index finger to her mouth to shush me. Man. I love old people.

Then on Friday, while we were planning it was rather chilly because of all of the snow, so we wanted to used the gas fireplace to heat up the house. Well, I had never used a gas fireplace before, nor lit a pilot light (neither had Sister Marshall), so we called the woman that we are living with and she told us what to do. I lit the pilot light and Sister Marshall turned the gas up--still no fire. So I blow on it lightly--still nothing. Well, for some reason, my brain says, "Try lighting one of the ceramic logs." I did that and no stinking fire! I move the lighter back a litter farther and light it and whoooosh! The log lit up and it scared me silly, but we weren't hurt and the fire wasn't even that big. However, it was hilarious.

Back to spiritual matters. We tracted into this man named Thomas and he was the SWEETEST guy. So maybe I say that about everyone who talks to us, but still, this guy is like Stake President sweet. We said a prayer over his home for peace and safety.

We also met with with a couple people that we haven't met with before this week. Both of these members of the ward haven't been active in years and when we met with each of them, it was so interesting to see that their testimonies of the gospel are still so strong. They have different stories--one of them is a mother of two that hasn't been to church in so long because of life and then the other is an older gentleman in his sixties that isn't married and he doesn't have any children. He hasn't been active in church because of his work schedule and because he needs to just get back into the habit.

I love this gospel so much. It doesn't matter if we've been in the church for two weeks or if our families have been in the church since 1830. We all can have powerful testimonies of the Savior and His Atonement. All we need to do is what He has commanded us to do: have faith, repent, be baptized, receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, and endure to the end--keep holding on, keep doing what He has asked.

I love you all so so much. I know that our Heavenly Father loves you, too. I have never loved harder than I have out here in Denver. These people that I meet mean so much to me. It's the strangest experience to go into a home where you have NEVER ever met these people and to leave feeling as if you have known them forever and all you want is for them to be married in the temple. It's incredible to be on the Lord's errand. I love this work!

You are in my prayers!

Love,

Sister Hardy

Elder Rampton (who came out with me), Elder Hansen (who just finished being trained), Sister Marshall, and then myself. We make up the missionaries in the Thornton ward! Elder Hansen is getting transferred today and we will be getting another missionary.


Sister Mailau (on left) leaves today for her last area. She will be terribly missed. Sister Moore is on the right, and she photo-bombed (she has been in Malley ward, my first area).






The snow. Need I say more? This wasn't even the worst of it!

 This is me with Elder Neppach, who goes home today. He and Elder Guzman were my first zone leaders. God speed, Elder!

Last one. ....

The couple in the picture with us is our ward mission leader and his wife.
 He's a goof (if you didn't notice). Also, his wife is the coolest. Love them.



 







Week 31: "And on the seventh day..."

There are these two boys in the ward named Orion and Briggs. Cute names, right? Anyways, one of them came home from church and said that in Primary they learned about the creation of the universe. Well, when Orion got to the seventh day, he said, "And on the seventh day, God created technology!" Isn't that hilarious?! His parents had to inform him that God actually rested on the seventh day. How cute!

This past week was absolutely incredible! Can I just say that miracles REALLY do happen?

Sister Marshall and I have been praying for three things this week:

1. to get new investigators

2. to set someone with a baptismal date

3. to teach over twenty lessons

The answer to your question is yes. ALL FLIPPIN' THREE OF THESE THINGS HAPPENED. Hallelujah!

Among many miracles, we had some fun doing service with the senior population. Bingo and crafts again! It was awesome! This time though, Jennifer (the woman in charge of activities) had some jazz music on and Rhoda and I danced. It was awesome. We may or may not have had a dance off with Sister Marshall and her partner. (Rhoda and I won though). And before that Jennifer read off some trivia questions and this one woman was just shouting out random answers. It was HILARIOUS! She had one resident, Tilly, crying she was laughing so hard! (I really was worried that Tilly was going to pass out or hurt herself--she's in her 80s I think.)

After we did some service, we went to contact referrals and we met a man named Richie and he let us in! Woot. In the door--check! He asked us what we believe. Restoration lesson--check! Oh and did I tell you that he is in training to become a MINISTER?! Yes. He knows the Bible backwards, forwards, inside out, you name it! We set up a time to meet with him and the best part about all of this was that our mission president, President Toombs, came with us! We picked up Richie and his wife (Rachel) as new investigators! First prayer answered.

Second miracle or prayer answered, we went to Lisa and Richard's and retaught the Restoration--to clarify that Lisa understood. AND we invited her to be baptized and after resolving her concerns and teaching simply and clearly, she committed to baptism! Boom. Heavenly Father listens.

The third miracle this week was that on Saturday, we hit over twenty lessons! That NEVER HAPPENS HERE. AND the Elders numbers were high, too!

Side miracle: Sister Marshall and I were driving around trying to contact someone, when I saw a garage door open. I thought, "Okay. If there is someone in the garage, we'll stop the car and go talk to them." There wasn't anyone in the garage and so I kept driving. Well, that house stayed in my mind and on Friday we had some free time, so we went back to the house. We knocked on the door and a man named John answers the door. His

 

wife is in the back and he invites us in out of the cold. We sit and he asks question after question. He wasn't bashing, but he trying to argue and we weren't biting. BUT. We were able to clear up a LOT of misconceptions he had about the church. Once he even said, "Well my neighbor says that you Mormons believe..." I smiled inside because the best way to find out what Mormons believe is from a Mormon, preferably an active one.

I love you all and I know that Jesus does, too!

Love,

Sister Hardy

So I only took one picture this week. My studies for the past few days have involved me, a blanket, and my new best friend "Jesus the Christ" by James E. Talmage. I CAN'T PUT IT DOWN. Sister Forysth, the woman we live with, asked me if I fall asleep reading it. Unfortunately, I haven't been falling asleep while reading that, but when I pick up the Book of Mormon after, that's when I become a little sleepy.

Week 29: Sixty degree weather and snow flurries‏

We had a pretty good time this past week. We had a lot of fun. On Monday we went to a few different consignment shops and one of them is ARC (the best thrift store in Denver). It's HUGE and although they don't have a lot of good stuff, you can find some really nice stuff there.

Later that day we met with a less active who still has a lot of bent up feelings about the church, but she is so kind and she loves when we come over. She enjoys the company, she tells us. She also likes the help missionaries have offered in the past.

After we emailed on Tuesday last week, we had an appointment with Miranda and Ben. And GUESS WHAT? They ordered pizza for us! Isn't that so sweet? They are such kind people. We really just tried to get to know them and what they believe. We didn't have time to start the first discussion, but we are planning on doing that tomorrow.

We did some service for the same assisted living centers we did last week. At one of them we made cute little football men to decorate the activity room for the Super Bowl. This one woman, Rhoda, walked around with us to get all the residents who were home to come down and do crafts with us. She was hilarious! We also met another woman, Faye, who would constantly say, "I just love yous girls." or "You girls are so pretty." Isn't that sweet? She was really worried that we wouldn't come back, but we reassured her that we'd be back.

We did some service for a family in the ward--helping them paint the walls, and it was so much fun. This coming week we have a time set up to help another family paint the walls in their newly finished basement. AND I AM SO EXCITED.

On Wednesday, it was Sister Marshall's birthday! Twenty three years young! Pros to your companion having a birthday: COOKIES galore! Cinnamon rolls for breakfast! Humongous cupcakes! Cheesecake! And TWO birthday cakes. Oh and we went out for lunch. Yes. I think I ate my weight in sweets this week.

Thursday and Friday, we tried contacting a lot of people that we hadn't met and we found that half of them had moved. While we were trying to find one man in this townhome development, we knocked on a few doors and only one person answered. We didn't have the best experience with him, but that experience really made me aware of Satan's influence in this world. I see it everyday, but not like that. I just hope that regardless of the differences we have, we will show kindness to those that we meet who believe differently.

Friday night, we went to a home looking for a young man named Julian, and found his grandparents who haven't been to church in a while and his two younger brothers who haven't been baptized. Anyways, we had been there for about 15 minutes before we found out that the elders have been teaching them! AND they came to church! It was awesome! Julian's grandmother, Sister M. told us that we should come visit soon. Her two youngest grandchildren are so intelligent and they love when the missionaries come over. How sweet!

On Saturday, we had a breakfast with all the missionaries in the stake as well as with our stake president, President Hellbusch. It was so good and afterwards two other sets of sisters came to our house to study. It was really fun and spiritual of course.

Later in the day, we were outside, meeting with Glenn, and we saw that a few houses down there were some new people moving in. Well! The entire time I kept thinking, we need to go help them! We need to help them! Would it be rude to end the lesson right now? But, instead, I was rational, and we waited until the end of the lesson to go over there. We met Bobby and Lasarha and they were so appreciative! They asked us to come by later to help. I felt SO good after that. I am excited to see them this week!

Well, that's all for now. I want you all to know that I love you and I pray for you constantly!

Love,

Sister Hardy

This picture was taken right after we made our last appointment on Superbowl Sunday! Oh yeah! We will not be tracting then! Heck yes.

 

 

 

 

Look at that cake! Mmm. Sister Langlois (from California) made it, and added sparklers!