Feliz Día de las Madres

Feliz Día de las Madres!!!

 

 

It was wonderful seeing all of you yesterday!

 

 

My companion's name is Citlali Pavon Ortiz.

I find out about transfers this Sunday night! This transfer went by really fast.

 

I did receive the Cinco de Mayo package you sent! Want to know something funny? According to my companion they don't actually celebrate Cinco de Mayo in Mexico. Everyone has that Monday off from school and everything but other than that they don't do anything. Their Independence Day September 16th is what they celebrate.

 

 

So she celebrated Cinco de Mayo for the first time with the package you sent! We are super excited! ESPECIALLY because it has Mexican hot chocolate. yum yum yum!!!!!

 

 

So! I hoped you liked my surprise for Mother's Day!! I am so happy! Ana is amazing and she is super excited and happy too. I wanted to wait to tell all of you over Skype!

 

I loved seeing all of you! You look great. I love the picture from Hannah's Thumbelina-- that poster is from inside CBT?? and Jonny's graduation. I am so proud of all of you!!!

I love you all SO MUCH!! Look out for my card for Mother's Day Mama!

 

xoxo Hermana Hardy

Gifts from the Sea

I will share an experience from today that has been developing for a couple of months:

 

 

So my reasons for serving a mission have changed several times since I have started my mission. To be honest I never really liked it when people ask me why I am serving a mission because I feel like there is no right way to explain what I really feel and because we are all in the process of answering that question...

 

Well, a couple months ago we were walking in an urbanization and I am not sure what I was thinking about (I wasn't discouraged... but we weren't see a lot of success with people) but the thought came to my mind that maybe my mission here in Puerto Rico is not the most important thing I will ever do in my life. It really took me off guard. It made me think A LOT and change my perspective and my reasons for why I am here in Puerto Rico. It also made me think of what is the most important thing I will do in my life. So I made a list of my purpose here as a missionary, why I am here.

 

Also a couple months ago President Boucher told us in a talk that while baptizing is very important, the most important thing is that we as missionaries develop to become more like Christ. That also caused me to think a lot.

 

Then today we had a zone activity (that went REALLY long, that's why I'm writing so late) and it was neat. We went to some cool caves in Arecibo, saw the ocean, gorgeous! They gave us some personal study time and invited us to focus in our purpose as missionaries and why each of us is here. So that gave me time to develop my thoughts even more and to write them out a bit more.

 

So... Now we come to Sister Hardy's Personal Reasons/ Personal Purpose as a Missionary:

1. To invite others to come unto Christ.
2. To become more like Christ.
3. To prepare myself for my role as a wife and mother (my true purpose in life).

 

To be honest I made this list a couple months ago and while I was looking at it again today, studying more, comparing with my Patriarchal Blessing, it came together even more. The thought came to my mind "This mission is preparation for my life's mission" and I had the wonderful experience of feeling the Holy Ghost testify to me that this was true.

 

Now how does being a missionary prepare me for the rest of my life? Lots of ways! I explored a few today.

 

In Preach My Gospel, chapter 1, there are a lot of quotes from prophets in the latter days about missionary work. I think none of them actually mentioned anything about full time missionary work... they were more on member missionaries, lifetime missionaries. One by Brigham Young spoke a lot about living the Gospel principles so I can teach the Gospel principles and help others. I think that living and teaching the Gospel are one of the most important things a mother can do for her children. (Like how my mama has lived and taught all of us)

 

Well, one of the ways that my mission is preparing me is to prepare me to understand the necessity of the Gospel, to live the Gospel and focus in the Gospel, and to prepare me to teach the Gospel (in the PR of course... but more importantly to my future children).

To be honest every missionary is different. And there are a lot more reasons and purposes and even sub reasons and sub purposes that we can't see or recognize. Everyone has their own reasons for coming on a mission (and everyone's reason changes while they are on the mission) and I realize that my purpose as a missionary may not be the same as others'. Furthermore I think it is more important to realize that Heavenly Father has His own reasons and purposes for each and every one of us.

 

But this is mine! And I will own it to the best of my ability.

 

Maybe there is more to Heavenly Father's purpose for me that I can't see. For now, I feel like I am on the right track.

 

So, that's my motivation. There are people here for me to serve and to teach. There are also more spirits that I will teach in the future. So for all of them present and future I will work my hardest to give them my best and prepare with all I can to do that.

 

Thank you so much for your wonderful example to me, Mama! I am so grateful for you and for everything you have taught me. You are the best and I owe everything to you and to Dad. I have been so blessed to have been able to be born in your home, with parents that would live and teach me the Gospel so that I would have the opportunity to develop my own testimony. To be honest I have never doubted that the church is true. I feel that is a gift of testimony that my Heavenly Father has given me and also the firm, strong testimonies of my parents that built that foundation for me. Our family is rare. The world doesn't have a lot of families like ours, where the parents are united. Even in the church it can be rare to see a family where all of the children are actively living the Gospel and not straying from the path. I've never realized how spoiled I've been to have this family and to have her for forever! So it's our purpose to stay strong and to help other families do the same.

There are a lot more ways that I can see (and can't see) the mission preparing me. I was only able to share a few but please know that I am so grateful for this opportunity and for the many blessings I have received and the many miracles I have seen.

 

So that is my testimony. That the Church is true. That our families will be together forever. That Heavenly Father has a plan for all of us. And I am so excited to learn more about what He has in plan for us. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

xoxo Hermana Hardy

Testimonio de Jesucristo

Hello Family!
 

I am very sorry to hear that Perry is gone. It doesn't really feel very real right now.

I have some very random questions to ask first:

What is a bird dog from the exercises mom sent me? Where is the transmission and power steering levels in a 2011 Toyota Corolla because it's not in the owner's manual :)

YES we eat with members! Fortunately our weekly Sunday appointment Hermana Rivera always makes sure that she gives me the right amount instead of too much which is very thoughtful of her. Sometimes it's really hard to finish all the food people give us because they pile so much on and it is literally quite painful to my tummy to finish all of it. Sometimes Hermana Gawrych helps finish or if the Elders are with us they will finish. I am eating very healthy here when I fix my own food. Really all we eat with members is rice beans and chicken.

 

I am very grateful for the members though. This last Sunday we had a member who has decided that we have to eat too much rice and beans so she made us mashed potatoes and meatloaf and corn! Wahoo! It was the best meal I've had yet :) It reminded me so much of home. Of course we had puerto rican things too at that meal, we had avocado (aguacate). The aguacate here is unreal mama, you need to try it one day. It is so amazing and I think my body is used to it because it doesn't make my mouth itch as much anymore!

Honestly our P-days have been way different for the past 3 weeks so I will answer that question in a few months.

We walk a couple miles each day depending. There is one part of our area that is 2 hours walking so we haven't gone there yet. Sometimes we will get rides. There are places we have to get rides to but it's hard to find them sometimes.

Voy a compartir mi testimonio para ustedes en español. Yo se que Jesucristo es nuestro salvador y redentor. Yo se que El es mi redentor y salvador personalmente. Tambièn yo se que el Libro de Mormòn es verdadero porque lo he leido y orado a saber que es verdadero. Dios me contestò con el Espìritu Santo y sentimientos de paz y amor en mi corazon. Yo sè que el Evangelio de Jesucristo es muy sencillo. Dios tiene un plan para todos sus hijos y solo tenemos que guardar los mandamientos y seguir el ejemplo de Jesucristo. Es dificìl a veces a entender el amor de Dios y como podemos usar el Expiaciòn pero yo sè que todo es posible a travès el Espìritu Santo. Solo tenemos que escuchar a los sentimientos de paz que nos da. Me encanta mi familia y sus testimonios. Estoy muy agradecidas por ustedes y su amor para mi. Yo sè que el Evangelio de Jesucristo es la vìa para nosotros a regresar a Dios. Digo estas cosas en el nombre de Jesucristo Amen.

Women's Conference was AMAZING! I have thoughts and thoughts about it. I loved how Pres. Uchtdorf said that just because we are Children of God and we have a divine heritage doesn't mean we have a free pass to eternal life. We have to work for it!! Also, will you send me all the words to my favorite things? It's stuck in my head a lot and I can't remember some lines in one of the verses!

I am on my way to the post office to pick up my package from Lexie right after this!

I will get some pictures of the every day stuff :) We have around 60 people in church on a good day. We have to walk 30 minutes to get to our ward building, but sometimes we get rides on Sundays. To get there walking we have to go through el camino de perros which is realy sketchy and dank and nasty so we try not to walk through there at night (It even has bones from the meat that the dogs eat).

 

I'm also a bit more scared of dogs now. Our Mutual is Friday night after our English class. The Puerto Ricans NEVER stop talking. I have more thought on that and no time to write, but I need to be more bold in lessons because it's a time waster. I can understand sisters from Honduras and Peru and such. Puerto Ricans are so difficult to understand though. WAY too fast.

The flashlight story woman is nice. She is Catholic and isn't necesarily receptive but invited us back. We taught her part of lesson 2 last time because her husband died recently. We will see her again this week. Our guy from the birthday party came to church and we had a lesson with him after. He is a tough one. His daughter went to Primary with us. I am playing piano for their program in November. She hated singing time... Also she only really speaks English and that's hard for her and the Primary.

WAHOO SOLOIST HANNAH!!! That is so neat. I know that the plan of Salvation has a purpose for Perry as well. I am sorry that I can't be home with all of you, I know it's really hard. Take Spanish next year!!!

Funny traditions? Well the people are afraid of rain and of lightning and thunder. Which is weird because it's been raining a lot recently. Last Friday we had to cancel the English class because there was a storm and every one freaks out. A member drove us home and the Bishop told us that we had to stay inside for the rest of the night. That storm was pretty bad so we listened to the Bishop. But other than that the rain is fine. I don't know why they freak out!

Yesterday I was able to buy a pillow! I am really excited about that. The library was closed Monday because of the fiesta patronales that was in the plaza next to our apartment. We didnt'go at all because there were lots of drunk people. But they did light off fireworks and cannons. It's been going on for 5 days. But now it's over. Monday morning at 5 am they were lighting off cannons!! It was going on ALL night long. Ridiculous but all well. I also used the birthday money from Grandpa and Grandma Hardy to buy a yoga mat! I am so excited because the ground kinda bruises my back when I do my excercises but not any more!

I am afraid I have some things to ask for...
 

Could you send me my book of music arrangements? or a few of them. My favorite one has I know that my redeemer lives in the first page. I am also almost out of Epiduo and gummy vitamins. AAAND my watch stopped working! It wasn't water proof I guess and we were rained on a lot one day and it stopped :( I'm sad. I'm not sure where to go to buy a new one though. We are in the Pueblo and maybe once in a while we can go to Walmart in Mayaguez but not often. It's hard to find people to give us rides too.

Dad: maybe you could type and send your journal entries to me in the mail? If you use my Cabo Rojo address it is very reliable because it's the U.S. Postal system.

This past P-day we totally went to some national forest with our Mayaguez Zone for a hike and to visit a cave! I love you all so much. Take care!

Hermana Hardy

Hermana Arrrdy

Hola Familia!!

 

 

Feliz Cumpleaños Hannah!! Ahora tiene trece años! Chevere.

I am feeling much much better. The medicine the doctor gave me killed my sickness. The only problem is that apparently the bacteria releases a toxin that makes people really exhausted and gives them head aches. At least that's how Pres Freestone explained it. They made me stay in my room and rest whenever I was feeling really exhausted and slow. And I would sleep for HOURS. Fortunately I did not miss much because the first day I had to do that was p-day, the second day I had to rest in the morning and our teachers weren't there so it was personal study, and the other day I was out of it was Sunday. By Sunday I was sick of wasting so much time so I had the elders in my district give me a blessing and I have felt great since and I am trying to make up for the lost time!!

 

I didn't receive any weird offers for remedies but a sister from the states did offer me some super organic vitamins and stuff with grape fruit and all the vitamins from vegetables. I will be honest, I took it. I needed the vitamins because to be perfectly honest I didn't eat at all for a couple of days!

 

I am now eating just fine. I will send a picture of a typical lunch.

 

 

My music and speakers work great! We are only allowed to listen to it on P-day but it is sweet. I have not received my 2nd package!! I can't wait to get it:)

 

We have not had a Culture Night. Pretty much being in this CCM is a culture adjustment and all of our teachers are natives of DR, and one of them served in Puerto Rico!! They were telling us how Dominicans would say our names while we're in el campo. They would call me Hermana "Eye-dee". So that's one of the ways people address me. Another way is Arrrddy. One of the teachers calls me Hermana Dificil. I am not sure if it is a joke about my personality or just because dificil is hard/difficult in spanish and so yeah.

 

There is also a new elder that just came in a week or so ago and Hermana Jennings made it a goal to make him feel more positive about being in the CCM and so he wouldn't be so negative about learning the language. Now he calls me Hermana Mom because I remind him of his mom. Today in the temple there was an ordinance worker who just called me hermanita linda or hermanita bonita. :) She was so sweet and she loves to hug and kiss everyone and says that she will be our grandmother while we're here.

 

 

While I was in the temple I could definitely feel Grandpa Weiler's spirit there with me. It was so wonderful. Also, make sure to tell Grandma that I have already sewn and fixed one of my sweaters, my companion's skirt, and another sister's sweater. I am sewing it up down here! I hope I can make her proud.

 

We watched a devotional by Elder Holland this week and his message was so powerful for all of us missionaries. Our #1 convert on our mission should be ourselves. What I really loved was when Elder Holland said that our missions are supposed to be difficult because Christ's mission and Atonement was never easy for Him.

 

I love the way that Elder Holland speaks about his mission when he was a young man. I want my mission to mean as much to me as Elder Holland's mission means to him because he says that there has not been a day gone by that he hasn't thought about his mission in 50+ years. He also said that, quite literally, his mission experience has affected every major and minor decision he has made in his life.

 

I cannot wait to get out in the field. I am nervous but I know that being out here is the best decision I have ever made and I already feel like a different person. This Friday (TOMORROW) we are going proselyting. As in, from 1:00 to 8:00 I am going to be walking around the streets of the Dominican Republic with an experienced missionary, trying to figure out what the Eskimos, um, I mean Dominicans are saying.

 

Also, our "investigator" Juan Victor has agreed to be baptized!! Hermana Jennings and I were so excited that when he said that he wanted to be baptized we kind of just stared at him for a bit. We were jumping up and down as soon as we were out of eyesight. I cannot wait until we have a real investigator agree to be baptized!!

 

 

Mama! I am so sorry that you hurt your ankle!!! That is a bum ride! I hope you don't push it running so soon after hurting yourself. I wish I could have gone to church and help with everything for you.

 

Alexis and Geoff:

 

The pizza stone goes on the right side, in the back. Cooling racks and other bulky stuff and the cake pans go on the right side however you can fit it next to and around the pizza stone. Then the cupcake sheets all fit inside of each other and go in the back of the left side. Then you slide all of the other sheets around and in front of those. xoxo

Apparently lots of football starts soon and I am apparently a Packers fan now. I don't know what that means. Is it okay if I'm a packers fan Geoff?? But I like the colors green and yellow anyways so I can work with that. Yay football! My district loves the things your primary kids say.

 

Jonny: What is Microsensors about?? That sounds pretty legit. Also, I heard all those music classes like Survey of Jazz are really hard. I had a seminary teacher who did History of Rock and it was the most difficult class he had ever taken. Good luck bro.

 

This is really nerdy but I am totally jealous of you guys playing Minecraft without me!!! I hope you guys don't mind playing the game you bought for Hannah again in a year and a half:) It's okay that you don't have a present to wrap, don't worry about it, she is going to love your present!

 

The things I miss most? Goldfish. Mom's food. The food here is packed with onions and peppers and all that yummy stuff that I try to avoid. fabric softener. Google and web searches. I really kinda need a normal dictionary. Not like it's important. But you guys know how I am and I always want to know what words mean in English. Big words:) 

 

Hannah: Good luck at Nutcracker auditions!! I am sad that I won't be able to see you dance! Happy Birthday!! Everyone here knows that it's your birthday and I've shown them a picture of you and I think I'm starting to get on everyone's nerves because I can't stop talking about you and how it's your birthday:) I love you so much. Ms. Lindsey is an amazing teacher, make sure you keep on learning as much as you can!

 

 

You should all be proud of me because I am now kind of ish good at volleyball. The elders even tried to teach me how to jump serve. That was a struggle. I almost got it at the end. They were all very patient with me. My Spanish is going pretty well, especially while I am teaching. I still struggle with understanding everything that everyone else is saying to me, especially when they go fast. My speed is also picking up a bit. Unfortunately I still struggle just speaking Spanish all the time when we talk about other things during the day. All of the grammar concepts that they are teaching us are things that I am already familiar with and so it is easier learning them this second time around. 

Look out for some pictures!! Tell Grandma Weiler to shoot me an email!

 

Lots of love, good luck with running and with school and with watching football and all of your endeavors.

 

xoxo

 

 

Hermana Hardy

Dominican Republic MTC

Hola Mi Familia!

I am writing a quick email to tell you that I have arrived in the DR safe and sound with all of my luggage. It is beautiful and very different. My favorite part is finally having my name tag! The flights went very well and I am very happy. :) My P-Day is on Thursdays but I will not be able to write you until NEXT Thursday. So please don't be alarmed when I do not contact you until then! I am so excited and I cannot believe that I am actually here. I love all of you! It is time for me to go eat.

Love,

Hermana Hardy

MTC President and Sister Freestone

 Compañera Hermana Jennings

(Is that Elder Nice Guy in the blue tie??)