Lost In Translation

Hello Family!

So it turns out our zone conference is tomorrow! I am sure I will get the first BD package and I'll probably wait until the 27th of September to get the next one! That's okay.

So for investigators... we are in the finding phase right now. Remember the woman we found last week in the hospital? Well we went to go find her house... hahahahahaha.

She lives super far a way where we have permission to use the car and let's just say it was jungle and super hard to find and we got really lost because they don't have addresses here and in the end I took a turn just to see what we would find and we found a member outside his house! So then he and his daughter drove us around the entire area looking for this woman's house and we found it, then found the neighbor to verify and also tell us where the husband works so we could talk to him (the number we had for her wasn't in service) so we found the husband at his work and he gave us another number and in the end we were able to call her and make another appointment for the next week. haha. But these members were really awesome to help us out!

Lost in Translation Funny story: Last week when we went to go help a RC in the hospital eat her dinner my companion told me to cut or shre the meat that we were feeding her. Well.... she said "muelelo" which means "shred it". BUT.... I heard "huelelo" which is "smell it!" so I thought she wanted me to smell the chicken and tell the RC that it smelled good and help her have a desire to eat it....

So I went in to smell the chicken on the tray and there were about five other people in the room staring at me and my companion thought I had gone crazy because instead of cutting up the chicken I was smelling it. AWKWARD!

I haven't had very many animal experiences lately... there are a lot of cats here. Sorry! Well, yesterday after a lesson with a family of RC we played Memory which was themed with Puerto Rican birds. I learned a lot of more bird names and it was actually really hard because they all looked alike and that made memory difficult.

I ALMOST won.

This week I also chopped all my hair off! Okay, maybe just a couple inches. See pictures! 

We had a RS activity where someone's daughter and her beauty students came and gave us all free hair service and I opted for a hair cut and they straightened my companion's hair and everything. It was really fun!

Testimony meeting was pretty awesome. The members here are awesome.

And that's about it! This week Hna. Hoko was really sick so we took turns going on splits and taking care of her. She's feeling a lot better now but still pretty weak! 

Something I really liked this week was when a sister called us and she was feeling down because she was worried that she wasn't changing or learning here on the mission and I was able to talk to her and I told her that EVERY good decision we make we change a little bit for the better. Even though it's really small that we can't see it, we are always changing.

Have a wonderful week!

xoxo Hermana Hardy

Feliz Cumpleaños Hermana Hardy!!!

Hello Everyone!!

 

 

Mom and Dad: Did you get the email from Hermana Boucher with the pictures? I hope so! [Sue: we didn't :( ]

There is so much to tell you, I cannot even think of where to start! Well, we left the MTC at 5:15 and got to the airport where I called you (I was so happy to hear your voices) and the flight to Puerto Rico was only an hour.

 

We met Pres. and Hermana Boucher outside and the first thing he said to me was "How's our favorite Titan". I totally fell for it too, he knows I'm a Ram.

 

But anyways. If you hold out your left hand in front of your face with your thumb held close that is a map of Puerto Rico. Cabo Rojo is at the heel of your hand :) other than that I have no idea where I am.

 

It was a 2-3 hour drive from San Juan to here. We didn't get in until 11:30 so I was exhausted. You will all be glad to know that my bag that I brought is water proof, tried and proven in the rain. I'm so glad that it is or else I would have found out the hard way :)

Also, when I arrived at the mission home someone said, "Hermana Hardy? Oh, you're the one with all the packages." So yeah, I have all of them :) I have not opened up my presents though! I am waiting for tomorrow! I opened the package from Jonny first because I had no idea what it would be. I almost started crying and I did start laughing when I realized they were his basketball shorts!! Thank you so much. Having these shorts brings me so much comfort and I am so grateful for you Jonny and surprised at how quick you sent them out! We also love the Greenie package!

My trainer is Hermana Gawrych and she is from Sandy Utah!! I will try to send a picture. She studied at UVU nursing before coming here. She has a twin brother who is serving in Mexico. She is very sweet and patient with me.

 

Why were mom and Geoff in emergency blankets?? Are you guys okay? I am so proud of you! Jonny, start running with Mom and Dad. [Sue: they gave us Mylar blankets to keep warm before the start of the half marathon. We looked like 2500 baked potatoes sitting on the ground jaja :) ]

As far as language: I don't understand what the Puerto Ricans are saying. I can speak Spanish at them all day long but when it comes to listening to them I have no idea. The only thing I can do is bear my testimony. So story...

We were contacting in the streets in between lessons. We started talking to a woman when a man came up and just went on and on and on. I didn't understand much but I did understand that he was a part of a different church and he has some pretty strong opinions about Joseph Smith and the like. He really did go on forever.

 

While he was talking I began to feel so sad that he would not pause and let us speak to him. I began to feel the Spirit so strongly and I knew that I needed to bear my testimony of Joseph Smith. I tried to when he finished talking but he didn't give me a chance. He shook our hands and ran off. So I bore my testimony to the woman that had been standing next to him. I think she felt the Spirit. I hope so.

 

It was very upsetting to me because how on earth am I going to be able to bear testimony and teach people if they won't even listen to me! However I have learned since then that it is my responsibility to talk and bear testimony to people and their responsibility to open their hearts. Since then there have been a few people who have listened to my testimony!

We had a lesson yesterday afternoon. It was to an older couple. All the lessons before that (besides one lesson about the Word of Wisdom) I hadn't been able to contribute much besides my testimony because I didn't understand what was going on. But this time I recited the First Vision and I KNOW that they felt the Spirit because they told us so. It was so wonderful.

 

Also, the WOW lesson I was able to help teach a lot! It was amazing because that morning this woman had run out of coffee and had a strong impression that she shouldn't drink it anymore. Then we taught her, and she was so receptive and accepting of it! Wahoo! That was amazing:)

Okay... I hate to gross you all out pero... Well, our living conditions are pretty good. We live on the second floor in an apartment. We have stairs that are pretty steep but not too bad. We clean and we are all clean people anyways. But there is a bit of a bug problem. I am used to all the little brown ants however and they don't bother me.

 

However, Sunday morning I was making my breakfast. I was really excited because it was my favorite flavor of oatmeal (apple cinnamon, in the instant oatmeal packs) and I opened it and poured it into a bowl. I don't want to underplay it and I am not exagerating. There was a SWARM of baby cockroaches all crawling about in my oatmeal. Now, before coming here I would have screamed.

 

Surprisingly, my first reaction to this was sadness because it was the last packet of apple cinnamon and it was a waste of food. We try to put most of the food in the fridge but now the fridge doesn't work so our milk (which is a whole six dollars a gallon oh mi madre) went bad so that is sad too. They have gone through 3 fridges in the past 2 weeks and now we have to call our dueno again. Fortunately he is really nice and helpful!

I am so proud of you Hannah!! Way to be a soldier! I am so excited :) Chikungungya comes from mosquitos. I am putting lots of repellant on. The only thing is that I sweat it all off. I have been eaten alive but it takes 12 days for chik symptoms to appear so I will let you know ;) I am feeling great.
 

I HAVE NEVER SWEAT SO MUCH IN MY ENTIRE LIFE. I cannot describe it. It does not bother me though. Beside mascara I have given up on makeup because there is no way. Makeup for church and pictures but that's it. My skin is fairly clear so I don't look too bad.

 

It is hard to find time to write in my journal. I am trying to do better because there is so much I want to write! Apparently this is a wait gaining mission. I will do those exercises and mark my words, I refuse to gain more than 10 pounds. I am keeping myself accountable for this by writing it in this email :) wish me luck.

Church was wonderful and a bit overwhelming. They made me introduce myself over the pulpit and all the old women (some just recently baptized) would follow me around and continually speak to me. !Linda linda linda! is what they usually say and they all think I am beautiful. I like it here. OH, the couple I was telling you about with the First Vision? She kept on staring at me and told my companion that I look really familiar. Then she said that she likes looking at my face too :) So that is nice.

I am out of time, I will try to send pictures really fast.

What is my pin for my mission card? I think I have it confused with my normal one. I haven't needed it yet though.

I love you! I am going to miss you on my birthday!!

Hermana Hardy

Lost in Translation :)

Hola mi familia.

This week we were teaching our "investigator" Victor. We taught him the Plan of Salvation and I pulled out a picture of our family to show him and bear my testimony and I told him about my brother and sisters. Then Victor pointed to Geoff and said "Es su hermano también?" and I said, "No, él es my cuaderno" and then we laughed and laughed. [translation: No, he is my notebook :) ]

Sorry Geoff. I meant cuñado. [brother-in-law]

 

Then Victor started asking about el infierno [hell]. The only reason I knew what that word meant was because of that Guacamelee game I played with Hannah and Jonny before I left. I also didn't know how to explain THAT part of the plan of Salvation in Spanish because it wasn't in our phrase book. All well.

 

 

My comp's name is Hermana Erin S. Jennings.

My district: Hermana Hoko ~ Puerto Rico and Hermana Seinaraine ~ Santiago, Elder Vallinga ~ Santiago (DL) and Elder Bowes ~ Puerto Rico (AP's), and Elder McDonald ~ Santiago and Elder Spencer ~ Santiago. The majority of us are from Utah, Hermana Seinaraine is from Guyana!

 

 

My first three days I learned how to pray, bear my testimony, and introduce myself in Spanish. First Sunday I bore my testimony in Sacrament Meeting. Then this past Sunday I was called to give a talk about baptism. ALL IN SPANISH! I also played the piano first Sunday in Sacrament. So the Spanish is going pretty well!

 

Hermana Jennings and I have been called to be the music directors.

Our Zone

This week most everybody shipped off for el campo, so there were only three districts left. But now we have a district from Haiti, and lots of new gringos. I now sort of know how to ask someone to lead music in French, say thank you, please, and Como seva? or como se va? or whatever means how is it going in French. Yay! [Hrmna Hardy means Comment ça va? She is now speaking Franish :) ]

Gospel Principle we discussed this week: The Spirit and what we need to do to keep it with us and also the role the Holy Ghost plays in conversion. Really, most people the missionaries teach don't really understand what on earth we are talking about because our message can seem so all over the place. But those people are converted to the church because of the feeling and the Spirit that they felt while the missionaries taught them. Pretty cool. So really, missionaries talk and talk and the Spirit does the real hard work :)

So, I had an amazing experience this week. It was during personal study and I was learning so much and it was wonderful when all the sudden my eyes welled up and I was so confused cause I was feeling just fine. Then the Spirit told me that at that exact moment that my Mama was thinking about me and praying for me. I felt so close to you Mama and I am so grateful that I was given such a tender mercy to feel that connection with you from so far away.

 

Traditions? WELL: it is a tradition here to slather butter on a long roll (inside and outside) and stick it in a panini maker. It is called pan tostado, but for some reason they all say panto for short. It is really fattening but really good. Only the missionaries from Mexico put ketchup and hot sauce on their pizza.

 

I got your package! Thank you so much!

Thanks so much for your journal entries Dad! Way to go running 9 miles!! I am sorry to hear about the braces for Hannah. Sometimes we have mashed potatoes here!!!! It makes me happy! Tell the Sisters I say hi! The pictures of Alexis are gorgeous!!

So the "investigators" are actually nuestros maestros. They are ridiculously good at staying in character. What was amazing was this Tuesday we all had a very spiritual devotional right before we taught an "investigator". The first time we met him he had been "drinking" and he was on his phone and being irritable during our talk. This second time was so different because the Spirit was so strong within us that he HAD to listen to our message. It was so powerful.

 

It turns out that TRC here is really just us visiting teaching a senior couple. Which is fun. We have taught an investigator almost every single day starting that first weekend! And now it is around twice a day that we teach. It is amazing practice even though whenever Hmna Jennings and I don't know what to say we both stare at each other. However, that one lesson we had with the guy I mentioned before went so smoothly between the both of us. That's the kind of teacher I want to be.

This past Tuesday we were able to walk out of the grounds of the CCM and walk to la tienda!! It was a few blocks away and the store is seriously just like Walmart but not with as many options. So I bought some Dominican treats and it turns out that some are actually from Honduras haha.

 

The roads here are CRAZY with drivers and I thought I was going to die from just walking on the sidewalk with three other districts. yeah. The city is different and beautiful and dirty all at the same time. The park we walked through was really cool as well. I wasn't able to take pictures because we are only allowed to take pictures on Sunday while walking around the temple at night and on P-Days. The walk back from the store was hot and sweaty so I better get used to that!

For gym time we usually play volley ball. You should all be very proud of me because sometimes I can actually hit it. But now I have bruises on my forearms so that's a bit sketch. To be honest the first few days here felt like they lasted forever but now each day seems to go by faster and faster. I feel like I have been here for months and I love it here! But today is only our two week mark! CRAZY!!

 

I love all of you, it is so good to here from you! We were all so excited to email our families that we couldn't fall asleep very fast last night!

I love you all SO much! Keep staying strong and good luck with everything you are doing!

 

Que la fuerza esté contigo.

 

Hermana Hardy