What I Have Learned

Hello Family!!

I think this past week was the best week of my mission as far as getting work done and finding people and teaching! Although, I will say my very best and favorite week was when Ana was baptized. But this week we hit and over hit a whole bunch of our goals!!

But wow! So we started out great this week by finding 5 new investigators on Tuesday. Wednesday we had MLC and it was wonderful.

I do have to admit something though...

On the way up to Guaynabo for MLC I was driving and a pigeon landed in the middle of my lane just a few feet in front of me.... There was nothing I could do! It tried to fly away but it was too late and first it hit the front bumper and then the windshield in the left hand bottom corner.

It was just like the movies.... POOOF!! FEATHERS EVERYWHERE! I'm slightly traumatized, I feel so bad. But it was also a bit funny and we're definitely laughing about it now.

Okay, so the best part is.... or maybe worst.... is that we got to Guaynabo chapel and we looked at the front of the car and in the grill part where the bird hit first there were a whole bunch of feathers. See pictures. So sad.

So I think one of my favorite lessons this week was yesterday where we taught the wife of a less active member and she is looking for a church for their family and everything. We did L1 super sweet and simple and she is all set up to read and pray. She rocks, and is super spiritual, and already knows how to pray for an answer and everything. I decided to ask her to be baptized after the actual lesson- that seems to be a pretty effective way sometimes for some people because we finish the lesson and give them a break to think. 

While she gave us some dinner and we were eating I then asked her and she accepted and I gave her a date in February to prepare for when she knows it's all true and she accepted that too! so we're really excited. Hna. Helmick thought all was lost when we ended the lesson without inviting her but I surprised her. She was super excited. So yes, you can set a baptismal date while eating rice and beans.

I won't be here but that's okay:) what's important is that she and her family enter the gate and start the path.

I had a lot of neat experiences like that this week.... so I'm writing them in my journal and we can look back at them when I get home!

Sacrament meeting was wonderful yesterday. Our WML spoke and the ward has their baptismal goal for this year and they're excited. None of our inv. could come this week.... so next week!!

So today for PDAY, well we are having a sister's activity NEXT week so Hna. Helmick and I had to go check out where we're going to see if it works well. We're going to the lighthouse in Maunabo!!! Wahoo! Right in the left hand bottom corner of PR. It was really pretty! So we are excited getting ready for next week. The lighthouse is AWESOME!

My bucket list is going well! We are still working on finishing some. We are in the process with the sisters activity because that was one of them. I made Hna. Kirkland cookies. today we are getting fro-yo. alli vamos! We are having fun with it! I'm not sure if we will get to do ALL of them but just about!! We have a lot that will be done this week.

I definitely have some very good taste... that sounds like a great Baby Shower gift! Haha:)

MLC was wonderful, President taught us about declaring repentance and baptisma and focusing on those things. We need to be bolder in declaring that!

At the end of MLC all the missionaries going home share their testimonies and I was the first to share mine. I shared it and I didn't' get to really share all I had planned or thought about and I shared somethings I hadn't thought about. 

Part of it was sharing the gratitude I feel for my parents and how I have realized that everything I have taught to the people in the PR are the things that my parents taught me. I also shared that although I only have one convert up to today, I know that I will have more converts in my life because of everything I have learned here on my mission. I said that I will be diligent in teaching my children repentance and baptism and they will be my converts too and now I feel better prepared to go out into the world and start and raise a family thanks to everything I learned here.

I LOVE Lexie's pictures. She's so beautiful! Love to hear that Hannah is rocking everything!

Also, did you know?? Hna. Palacios is in Utah visiting her family and will be there until February!!! I think I'll be able to see her!

Well I'll send you pictures now! I love you all! See you soon! I promise to keep on working hard this week. I hope we have as much success as we did last week! Wahoo!

xoxo Hermana Hardy

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Happy Birthday Mama!!

I will be sending a letter today! I hope you get it in time!!

So for Thanksgiving we have a couple appointments with the members. Everyone wanted us over so we went with the two that invited us first and everyone else put themselves down for other days in the week!

Some interesting experiences this week....

Well we found a couple people with lots of interest! One man that we contacted and taught once this week came to church!!! Another one that we met really needs the Gospel and our testimony of Christ really touched his heart and he wants to hear more.

This saturday we had the visiting teaching convention and it was wonderful. Our investigator Nilsa came and everything was really beautiful. It made me excited to be a visiting teacher again!

The other sisters had a baptism this weekend and it was really beautiful! I got to play the piano. Our inv. also came and she loved it.

The sad news is that our investigator Nilsa was supposed to be baptized this weekend but she called us yesterday saying that she doesn't want to and she isn't ready. We are praying to see what she needs and when she will be ready to be baptized. 

We had zone conference this week. It was alright! We are starting the new initiative: A Savior Is Born. I loved the video- it's coming out next week. I love contacting at Christmas time. It is so much more special.

So this week we weren't able to do splits because of zone conference and everything was crazy this weekend but we are planning on doing two this week and two the next. So technically we should be able to do one a week but things get crazy with conferences and some of the sisters have been sick and we had to cancel exchanges. So we will be doing two this week and two the next. If one falls through we still have another week to do them!

I hope Mama starts feeling better this week- especially for her birthday and Thanksgiving!

Also- Hannah- don't be stressed or worried! Enjoy every moment of Molly Mouse! Send me pictures! You will do wonderful like always!!!

Well I had lots of other spiritual experiences too but I have run out of time! I am really grateful for my companion Hna. Palacios- she is the best! Also, her niece was born this week!

I am grateful for all of you and I hope you have a wonderful week. Please take care! 

Love you! 

xoxo Hermana Hardy

First Bautismo!!!

Hello Family!

Ana was baptized this past Saturday and confirmed on Sunday. We had a future missionary speak at the baptism, Hna. Pavon spoke, I played a special musical number, Ana was baptized by the Bishop. When she came up out of the water she was so happy and she thanked Heavenly Father out loud and said, "I did it!" then she cried and gave Bishop Busher a big hug. It was really sweet. I played piano and Hermana Pavon sang while we waited. Then Hna. Daniela welcomed her to the ward and bishop welcomed her and then Ana shared her testimony that she wrote down. It was very very sweet.

Then Sunday there was a problem with the car and she arrived late to the meeting but she arrived! And she was confirmed. During the blessing I thought to myself, "My friend Ana was baptized!!" and I was filled with so much happiness. She is amazing. I am so happy for her and proud of her. She is on fire with learning and sharing and is so excited to be a member and a part of this ward.

 

This week was a crazy one! But in the end everything worked out the way it was supposed to. What a miracle. This is definitely the Lord's baptism but I am so grateful for the opportunity that I had to be part of teaching her, answering her questions, and supporting her. She is a very special spirit and I have never been so happy in my life!

 

I have to tell you that all of your prayers helped. Do you remember that for the month of April we all prayed and fasted together for my investigators here? Well I know that the Lord answered our prayers and all of us have been blessed to see Ana enter into the waters of baptism! Thank you so much.
 

My testimony of prayer, fasting, and perseverance truly grew through this experience and I am so grateful for that. Thank you everyone for your faith and prayers and for always supporting me and my investigators. The people here in Puerto Rico are wonderful and they need the Gospel. They just need to listen with their hearts and I know we can help make a difference.

I am so grateful for Ana as well. She is truly converted and is a wonderful example to me and to all of us for a desire to follow Jesus Christ. From the beginning she never doubted that the Church is true. She wants to do all she can to serve the Lord and enter into the temple.

 

 

I am thankful to my Heavenly Father for giving me the opportunity to know her and see her progress. I know the Church is true and that this Work is the most important thing I can be doing right now! It'sa wonderful journey and I have learned so much already and I know that there is a lot more to learn. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Invitation to Baptism

Hello Familia!

 

 

For your first question, the investigator we invited to be baptized last week didn't come to church and then didn't answer her phone so we couldn't visit her :(

 

BUT THEN! Our other investigator Gloria did accept the invitation to be baptized! For December 6th! Wahoo! She is so excited about it too. She told us that she wants a certificate to go along with it.

 

The funny and awkward part is though... Well when we invite people to be baptized we invite them, and then we say "We will be having a baptismal service on this day (date) will you prepare to be baptized this day?' Well, she said yes to the day and then asked who else was being baptized that day and assumed that there were a couple of other people....

 

 

So she kept on asking about that again on Sunday and we explained that there might not be other people prepared for that day and she said she didn't want to be baptized alone (she doesn't want people to go to trouble for her alone). Then we told her that lots of people are baptized alone and then she seemed much better about that!

It was just funny because she would say, "How many other people are being baptized??' and ahehehehehehe.... *you're the only one progressing... cough cough* :D

 

We wave to EVERYONE! People love us now, it feels like a parade. One night we actually did have people clap at us from inside their car... that was new! It is fun to see people's facial expressions when they see us.

 

So most of the time I eat an eggo or oatmeal or cereal with a banana every morning. Lunch varies, we eat a lot of salad and Tuesdays a woman brings us all food and we can usually make that last for 2-3+ days because she brings so much. Lots and lots of rice. Some beans. Meat (usually chicken). We very rarely cook and when we do it is usually noodles for me:) We bake cake a lot. And cookies, to share with people we visit. We eat at a member's house every Sunday for lunch, and at other people's houses during the week (maybe once or twice a week.)

The other day I tried tostones for the first time, tostones de pana to be exact. Just fried squished pieces of the pana fruit. Super starchy fruit, so it is like an extra thick potato chip. Around Christmas they have pasteles and I have tried them once and not the very tastiest thing I've had.

This week I ate the gizzard and liver of a chicken. Also, I had fried eggplant. I'd rather not talk about it, but it took us the longest time to find someone to tell us what they were in English (because the words for gizzard and liver were not in our dictionaries) I also found out that there is a delicacy that is essentially the intestinal part of a chicken and they keep the blood and everything when they cook it. I am not excited to try that...

My favorite place to eat is with Hna. Acosta. Her food is sooooo good (Her lasagna is to die for) and she tries to not cook us rice and beans because she understands how much we eat it.

My other favorite place to eat is Taco Maker (wednesday night is 1/2 off night)

Usually we do not take our dinner hour but we do on Wednesdays, haha. (or if someone feeds us dinner we count that as dinner hour)

Our favorite snack in between visits are limbers! People make them in their home and sell them out their front door. They are like popsicles in a little plastic cup with all sorts of different flavors. I will take a picture and send it to you. Lots of people offer us food when we visit though so we get a lot of snacks during the day usually.

 

My favorite thing about Puerto Rico?? It is so beautiful here!!!

What would I like for Christmas? mmm, I don't know! I definitely left my warm up rice bag at home that Grandma made for me because I thought I wouldn't need it... and now I wish I did!

I cannot think of anything else because I think what I will miss most is the Christmas tree with the family, snow, watching Christmas movies and Nutcracker music and Molly Mouse! I also miss Fall smells.

 

Today for P-day we had a nature hike and went into a cave and saw the beach and some old ruins. We went to Playa Baye. Do not worry, I did not get in :) but it was lots of fun! I will send pictures.

 

 

Jonny asked if I have dreamed in Spanish. I don't think so. But for a few weeks in the MTC I would dream of myself saying something in English like "God is our loving Heavenly Father." And then I would actually wake up halfway and translate it into Spanish, "Dios es nuestro Padre Celestial" I didn't sleep for the longest time because of that, translating in my sleep haha.

Way to go Hannah for making Jemima (I knew you would) and Jonny on passing his huge test!! Wahoo!!

I love you lots!

Hermana Hardy