Happy New Year!!!

Happy New Year!!! I hope you all enjoyed it! I'm super jealous of your Hogwarts 3d puzzle.

So, I have been extremely busy busy so I haven't had the time to make my Resolutions and the truth is all of them will have to do with normal not missionary life and I would rather not think about that until the time comes. Good news is that before I leave the office makes me put my life goals on paper and they give us a self sufficiency class. so Resolutions will start on my first Sunday home!

I think my Christlike attributes this year will be.... charity and virtue! I might re-evaluate that when I get home because those two came to my head right now and actually I was working these past couple of months on charity and other attributes. So we will see!

Right now we have lots of goals for my last month! We are working really hard.

We send emails in a cyber library run by the city and it is in the mall that is right by our house. It's great because it's open the days the mall is open so we can always write! Remember last year when the libraries were all closed for three weeks around Christmas?? Yeah, that doesn't happen here. We are blessed, although it is really busy sometimes and we have to wait a long time to write.

Our discussions this week went pretty well. We did 2 exchanges, one with Humacao and the other with Aguas Buenas. Sadly, most of our plans and appointments fell during those and we contacted a LOT.

An awesome lesson we had was yesterday with Familia Cruz and we took a member with us who is leaving on his mission in two weeks. It was pretty good! We watched Joseph Smith, the Prophet of the Restoration and it was so powerful with them. At first our DVD didn't work, and the laptop they had didn't have good internet, so our member took out is iPhone 6+ and we watched it on youtube.... his phone only had 20% battery at the beginning but it lasted the entire 1 hour movie and it was so powerful. 

In short, the father knows that the Book of Mormon is true and that Joseph Smith is a prophet all though he keeps on saying his church is very similar to ours. I whipped out Mosiah 18 and asked him the soul question from Alma, "Que os impide ser bautizados?" or... "What is impeding you to be baptized" (Bad Spanish to English translation but I can't remember what it is in English, I've only read the LdM in Spanish on my mission). But that was fun! We were super direct with them. 

Then we talked about what our church has that no other church has. 1. The BoM (Felix brought that one up and said it himself. 2. Authority and 3. Temples and the ability to be sealed to our families for eternity. Success! They still say they want to read more before they're baptized...

So alli vamos. I hope they decide to be baptized before I go but I'm not very confident and I'm just willing to accept the Lord's will and I prefer that they are baptized when they are ready even after I go!

I hope all of you feel better! I got a little head cold so that's been fun but it isn't too bad.

Something that keeps me smiling this week is that Hna. Helmick and I got a really strong missionary fire and we put motivational quotes all over to keep me going this past month and we are fighting to get the standards of excellence. Also, I smile because our sisters are awesome. And I can't stop smiling about our lesson with familia Cruz yesterday.

My best spiritual experience this week... well our lesson. And when I was very direct with familia Cruz. After the movie I told them first thing that all of it is either true, or it isn't. It can't be both. It's true or it's not. and we spoke to them clearly and we could feel the Spirit very strongly as we shared our testimonies.

Another experience I had was with an investigator who almost got baptized but doesn't want to pray about Joseph Smith or anything. So I shared with her when I was 13 and I prayed and asked if it was true and I explained where I was and how I felt and that now I know with a surety that Joseph Smith is a prophet and this is the true Church of Christ. So I really enjoyed feeling the Spirit as I shared that and He testified to me again that it is true. So I really liked that experience as well.

Well I love you so much! Please take care and know that I love you! Have a wonderful year!

xoxo Hermana Hardy

Memorable Lessons

Hello Family!!

I haven't received the packages yet, but thanks for sending them! I think I will get them on Halloween. We have a mission conference that day, and Elder Cornish and Elder Christensen are coming. 

What can you do to help me be a better missionary? Well, I don't know! Prayers are always helpful. I think I need help having more confidence in myself now that Hna. Gallardo is leaving and I need to train a new STL. I am nervous about that.

My most memorable lesson last week was last night!! Haha. We visited a family of recent converts. A mother and her 17 year old son and 11 year old daughter. They are awesome and really faithful and strong. The son has some learning disabilities but we talked with Bishop and he says that the son can prepare to receive the Priesthood. He is pretty smart but we need to teach him differently with repetition. 

So we went to teach him last night with the new Young Men's president (a RM that got home four weeks ago) who is going to teach our recent convert everything he need to know. Well we used a Driver's License to show the importance of having permission to act in the name of God.

We showed a real Driver's License and I showed my fake Puerto Rican License that I drew with a sharpie. He understood it all really well. But the funny part of the lesson was my companion when she finished the comparison and said that just like the license, the Priesthood Authority is Heavenly Father giving us permission to drive. 

We all started laughing and she realized what she had said and fixed it. It was funny.

We help the other missionaries by going on exchanges with them and helping them apply what they learn in Zone Meeting and whatnot. I've had a lot of experiences with some sick missionaries and helping them out. There was a sister last transfer that was feeling down and felt like she wasn't learning anything here or growing, and we talked to her and helped her out.

Our investigators are doing pretty well. The ones that are coming to church (there are two) are pretty good self-starters! One of them comes with her member friend every week and the other one we had to call to remind the first week in the morning and this Saturday we called and reminded her and she came all right. Usually it's a lot harder getting an investigator to church!! They always have their excuses. Working with members also makes their church experiences better,

I am happy that the new Sister Babcock shared Stephanie's love with you. What a wonderful woman! I love you so much mama!! The Ralphs moved? Where did they go?

Sorry my email is so short! Last week was pretty long though, right? All well!

Well familia!! I love you so much!!! I hope you have a wonderful week! 

xoxo Hermana Hardy

Listen Before Teaching

Hello Family!

Loved the photos from the pumpkin picking! I really like Jonny's pumpkin head, it made me laugh out loud here in the cyber library in the mall!

So transfers were three weeks ago, and we drove around the island (literally). Next transfers are the first week of November (November third in specific). I will be staying in Guayama for the rest of my mission unless President needs us to move to another area in Caguas Zone to whitewash. I anticipate staying here though. Hna. Gallardo is finishing her mission and will be leaving and I will be receiving a new companion.

So Hna. Gallardo is from Tijuana, Mexico, which borders with San Diego, right underneath California. She is 24 years old, her parents were converted to the church in their youth and she was born into the covenant. She has one older brother that is married. She likes to dance Mexican folk dances!! Pretty cool. She will be dancing in the Tijuana Temple dedication (well, cultural celebration, you know what I mean!). 

She used to play american flag football. She has almost finished her bachelors in psychology in Baja California university. Like all Mexicans she really really really likes anything with pique (I don't know how to translate that word correctly, but like hot sauce and anything that is spicy.) And now I like pique. She is really awesome. She taught me how to make a type of fried taco this week and they are yummy yummy. I promise to make them for you.

The lessons we had this week... well we taught a family with the members that gave them to us as a reference! They are pretty awesome! We are really excited to be teaching them. They are a close family of four- the wife's name is Emily! We taught them L1 yesterday with the members (they are neighbors) and it went well.The members shared a powerful testimony. They've been praying for this family for a long time! I am happy to be here to help them teach their neighbors. 

Afterwards our new investigators had refreshments all prepared for us! Haha, they will make good Mormons ;) We also have a woman that has been coming to church these past two months and she's reading and accepting everything except a baptismal date. 

Our baptismal date for this past Saturday hasn't been answering our phone calls for almost two weeks. I think he's doing that on purpose. On Saturday we wanted to call him (we knew he wasn't ready, and didn't have an interview) and ask him if he was ready for his baptism that day at 5:00. He didn't answer. But we will see if we're going to drop him or keep on trying. He knows everything is true but can't commit to a date. He's basically a dry mormon. 

We also have a pretty neat woman that came to church yesterday. She has a speaking disability and it's hard for us to understand her and teach her and I have to rely on the Spirit a lot to help me in the lessons. She does say Hardy really well though! She is pretty cool and WALKED to church... yeah. People don't normally do that in PR. It's too hot!

So my entire mission I have been working hard to learn how to listen before teaching, so the Spirit can teach through me. I think I am okay at it. The one investigator that can't speak well has been a challenge for me because I can only understand a part of what she says.

Guayama is a mix of campo, coast, and city. It has just about everything. It isn't too big but there are a lot of areas that we can't get to by foot. This week we walked eight miles one day- it's been a while since I've walked that much and Hna. Gallardo and I agreed that our bodies are breaking down. We were exhausted! 

We have a mall right next to our house- they have Marshall's, a whole bunch of the regular Puerto Rican clothes and different stores. Guayama isn't much of a tourist spot. there are only one or two tourist shops in the plaza. The plaza is pretty far away from us- maybe three miles? so we don't go there often because there aren't as many proselyting opportunities there. But I will go looking there one day. There are more or less a lot of little shops here or there, some clothing. 

Mostly we just work off of two main streets that run parallel to each other. All the urbanizations we go to are inbetween or on the other sides of them. We are trying to branch out a bit and we are looking for areas we've found in the area book.

Does that answer your questions? Hope so! You can ask for more descriptions and I will pay more attention this week as I go around and I can look for more things to tell you!

Next week I will send you a picture of the meal calendar that the RS passes around every week. The members here take such good care of us. This week the calendar is FULLER than FULL! The problem is that we don't have a scale so I don't know how much I'm gaining. Please send cardio ideas! Haha. I have found that eating so much is a gift of the Spirit because there's no natural way that I can eat that much all by myself.

Hope you all have a wonderful week. Good luck Mama in your reactivation efforts! Here in the PRSJ Mission reactivating is equally important as baptizing because it means the same thing: someone working towards their salvation. Here in Guayama we have been doing really well at reactivating recently. The Bishop here is amazing at helping us.

Tomorrow we are teaching Zone Conference. I will be speaking about our responsibilities as missionaries to establish the Church where we serve- it's something we don't usually think about.

I love you so much! Have a wonderful week!

xoxo Hermana Hardy

Nurse Hermana Hardy

Hello Family!

So new mission policy is to have EVERYTHING sent to the office- letters and packages alike. Besides that, our apartment isn't even registered with the post office and we don't have a mailbox.

I am still waiting on the packages but I am excited for when I receive them! There is a member here who has his birthday the same day! They said that if there's cake they'll invite us over. So who knows what will happen Wednesday!

So last Zone Conference (last Tuesday) we taught Effective Planning with the zone leaders. But the thing is... they got there late and the conference started late so by time the first zl finished it was supposed to be our turn to start... so let's just say that we couldn't do the activity we planned and I only had three minutes to talk about using the agenda to plan effectively and to plan conversion. 

Let's just say I talked really fast and personally I didn't think anyone got anything out of it. But the AP's started teaching right after and they mentioned my name and what I taught about planning conversion twice so at least they were paying attention to my three minutes. All well, hopefully next time will be better.

This week was a particularly rough week, so I really appreciate what Mom and Dad shared. I am so proud of you two! I am so proud that you ran a complete marathon! Way to go! I can't do that! Maybe I could walk that far, but definitely not run! Way to make a goal and go strong until the end. And that's only the first one! The next marathon will be easier and that's how it goes right?

So this week we had Conference on Tuesday. Wednesday we were with Hna. Garcia in the emergency from 11:30 am until 8:00 pm because she was really sick (she is doing tons better, so it all turned out alright.) the emergency rooms are crazy here. 

Then Thursday, Friday, and Saturday we did back to back exchanges with the sisters in Caguas. So I drove to Caguas four times this week. It's a 40 mile drive. 80 miles round trip four times in the week. On Thursday there was lot of traffic in Caguas. we didn't get back until 6:00... there wasn't much time to work. But I was able to be with Hna. Paniagua from the DR, and Hna. Gassaway from Arizona. They are both really neat sisters. 

Saturday I went out to work in Hna. Hoko's area because she had to stay home with Hna. Garcia all week. So it was fun to teach with her. It started pouring everytime we walked out of someone's house. We were soaking all day. Sunday after church and lunch I stayed with Hna. Garcia in the house and Hna. Gallardo and Hna. Hoko went out to work. I made brownies! But we don't have a normal cake pan (I am buying one today) so I did them in a mini muffin pan. they turned out looking like ebelskievers! 

Also we have some contacts that speak English and they are really nice and they said something about how being a Bilingual Nurse is a job that gets payed a lot and is always needed. Interesting. 

Also, Hna. Boucher told me that everything that has happened in the last 2 weeks with health problems is preparing me for something and that I could be a nurse. 

Also, Saturday night our recent convert Rosa died. She had been in the hospital since before I got to Guayama and she was fighting a lot of health problems. But now she is resting and we are happy she isn't suffering any more. Hna. Gallardo taught her and baptized her with Hna. Dye. Her funeral is tonight.

So in one of the few opportunities I had to go out to actually work I was able to teach one of our new investigators who has come to church 4 weeks in a row but it's hard to get an appointment with her. We taught all of L1 but it turns out that her member friend gave her Our Heritage and she read almost all of it and she new and understood the Restoration and Joseph Smith before we taught her... haha. She was REALLY excited to get a Book of Mormon and she is excited to read it! So that is really awesome!

We have one man with a baptismal date who read and does everything but he hasn't come to church in a while and is unsure about his date. He knows he is going to be baptized one day but says he isn't ready.

What is my favorite thing about Puerto Rico? The people I suppose! especially the members here in Guayama. I have learned a lot from their example of love and charity and faith. 

Well that is about it for this week. I am memorizing The Living Christ in Spanish with the rest of the mission. I am almost done with the second paragraph. (we had a lot of time in the emergency room)

I hope that you all have a wonderful week andd enjoy the reveal party for Baby Gough on Saturday! I am excited. Send pictures next Monday okay??!

xoxo Hermana Hardy

Going to Guayama!!!

Hello Familia Hardy!

It sounds that you are ALL having SO much fun in Newport!! To be honest I do not feel too left out because this morning we had a sisters activity and we studied on the beach in Isabela and then we had a meeting and then we flew kites while eating our favorite fruits and Hna. Boucher's cupcakes!! I am a bit roasty toasty on my arms.. Pictures will have to wait for next week as I do not have a computer that can send them. I think it's fun that you can all read my email together today:)

So big news: Transfers! President called last night to tell me that I am being transferred this Tuesday to Guayama in the Caguas Zone to be a Sister Trainer Leader. I am really excited and maybe nervous but overall I feel pretty calm about it. My new companion will be Hna. Gallardo- I do not know her yet but she is from Mexico!

I only had 2 transfers here and I suppose my true purpose here was training Hna. Garcia and setting her and her new companion up with people that have potential! So I feel pretty good about leaving. A bit sad, but I know there is adventure ahead!

A funny experience I had teaching this week... well... nothing funny but fun! We started teaching a JW and she is really nice and is going to pray about what we shared. On Wednesday we went with our investigators to our WML's house- really neat! He lives in Paradise! And we had a testimony meeting with them. Ismael retaught us the Plan of Salvation because he was telling us how he taught it to his cousin or sister or other. It was awesome to see that he understood it REALLY well. He is on his way to a testimony.

Last night we taught a recent convert who is passing through a lot right now and wanted advice so I had us sing How Firm a Foundation and then Hna. Garcia shared Isaiah 55:8-9 and I shared D&C 6:33-37 Fear not little flock!! She really appreciated it. I am going to miss her so much!

So this last week we had Stake Conference! It was AMAZING. Elder Martinez (area presidency, from PR) came and I love listening to his talks. He teaches so powerfully but he's also really funny with out losing that Spirit.

 

Anyways, he totally remembered me as the sister that was hit by a car because that happened the week before he came to speak to our zone. He came up to shake my hand and asked very seriously if I was feeling healthy and if I had had any accidents lately. The thing is, even when he's making jokes or something he ALWAYS looks really serious. It was just funny. I can't believe he still remembers me for that.

 

At the conference I was able to see everyone from Cabo Rojo!! It was so sweet. I loved it. They all asked me how my leg is doing. Then our members from San Sebastian had a little picnic for us outside and we ate and had yummy avocado. I am going to miss these memebers A LOT!!! I am sad to leave them.

Our ward is pretty small. Only about 20-30 people come regularly!

I hope Dad enjoyed his birthday!! Yes Mama! I do get to eat mangos! And mango season is starting as well as avacado season! Yum!!!

Jonny's Question: we find out about transfers the Sunday before transfer Tuesday! Usually the District Leader calls but President calls the new zone leaders and sister trainers. I will be sending you a letter this week when I have the time!

Is Alexis feeling better now?

I hope you love school this year Hannah! Enjoy your last week of summer!!

The PR is in a big drought right now. Here in San Sebastian it rains every day but the rest of the island is really dry. Other parts of the island have to go three days without water, one day with water. Crazy right?

 

I am not sure about my new area but we will have to see... It might be pioneer baths for the next six months. I am not sure what to do with my hair... dry shampoo I suppose for inbetween days. I guess Jonny had to shower with buckets of water too, so I won't complain, but he doesn't have as much hair as I do!! I think hna. Boucher told me this morning that Guayama is alright on water, so I think I'll be fine.

Well my time is up! I love you all so much! I hope you enjoy your vacation! Pray for the PR to have some rain! At this point I think the people are praying for a tsunami or something because the resevoirs are so empty.

I will send lots of photos next week! Wish me luck this week!

xoxo Hermana Hardy

Book of Mormon Testimony

Hello Family!

 

 

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!! And Happy Birthday in two days Dad!!! Did you get my letter??

I received Jonny's and Hannah/Dad's letters this morning because we got lucky and the mail man saw us on the walk to the library and gave all our letters to us right on the spot! All the mail men/women that I have met love us.

I received the Pioneer Day Package!!! Thank you so much! I received it Saturday- JUST in time for our big road trip to Ponce Sunday afternoon/evening. I drove almost 160 miles yesterday. Which isn't much considering how far the Sister Training Leaders drive on Transfers but I thought it was fun.

We have transfers NEXT Tuesday. So we find out this Sunday night. 

 

This weekend we finished reading the Book of Mormon together as an entire mission and Sunday night we had a testimony meeting with ALL the missionaries (minus the missionaries on the islands...) It was an amazing experience!! There are around 200 of us so I made sure to go early so I would be able to share my testimony.

 

We were only allowed to bear a short testimony so I decided to share how one day we presented the Book of Mormon to three different people and for every single one of those people the Book of Mormon answered a different question or role all while testifying of Christ and the Restoration. I also shared how a couple we are teaching used to not have a lot of love or respect in their relationship and after reading the Book of Mormon for about 3 weeks or so the husband is now treating his wife differently.

 

I shared my testimony of how the Book of Mormon can change our hearts and how we act. as an addendum to all that testimony I want to share right now that the Holy Ghost works through the Book of Mormon to touch and change our hearts. I love the Book of Mormon so much. I never want to stop reading it. I am so grateful for the opportunity I had to listen to everyone else's testimony and experiences. The Spirit was so strong in the meeting and I will always remember that experience!!

I was also able to see ALL of my mission friends!!! That was a very happy experience as well, especially as a few are leaving this next transfer. I am going to miss them. I saw hna. Pavon! She had a letter to me from Ana!!! WAHOO!! Ana is doing well. Her husband is going to be baptized soon! I also saw Hna. Palacios (well, I see her pretty often because she is still in Cabo Rojo in my zone!!) It turns out HER sister (who was ALSO married in May of last year in a temple in Utah) is also pregnant!! Her baby is due in November. Hna. Palacios and I both got so excited! My outfit was also really really really cute. (just so you all know...)

 

Well I had a pretty great week. Too many experiences! I think my favorite lesson was with Aida and Ismael who are reading in the Book of Mormon and we taught L2. They gave us breakfast and then they showed us a hidden talent/hobby they have! It turns out they make jewelry and they make bracelets and necklaces and everything! We were so surprised! Ismael is a pretty tough looking, acting, etc. type of man and it was just so unexpected that he likes making jewelry as a hobby and to reduce stress.

 

So they gave us a whole bunch of jewelry and it was really hard to get out of the house because they just kept on giving us stuff and making more things on the spot to give to us. Haha, they are so sweet. In their prayers they asked for neither of us to be transferred. To be honest they are just about the only ones with potential that we were able to teach this week. For some reason every one cancelled on us this week and they're all busy with back to school stuff.

 

I think a contacting story.... umm, I don't have a lot of stories for this week! We contacted a lot this week and only one person said we could come back and when we went back she was about to leave... We had some interesting contacts though. Usually people here are pretty nice but we found a few cases! Haha, it's okay, our testimonies grew. I will let you know next week about cooler stories!
 

Also, we celebrated my 1 year mark and all the other sisters made a huge party out of it haha! I thought it was great because earlier in the day I suddenly had a wish for a donut and I MAY have said a tiny prayer/wish for a donut that day and in the end I received 12 donuts for 12 months. I thought that was a very sweet, funny, tender mercy. Haha.

Have a wonderful week! Way to go on 20 miles! That's crazy! I am playing piano for stake conference this weekend. Wish me luck!! Love you all so much!

 

Hermana Hardy

Testify of Truth

Hello Family!

Good questions this week!

The longest walk I went on last week was at least four miles to get home one night (and that was just the walk home)... But we don't normally walk that route and we actually got lucky because on the way up someone gave us a ride just as it started to rain! We weren't so lucky on the way down. We did have the opportunity to do service and help someone so the walk was totally worth it.

So San Sebastian is split up into two areas. One area has the pueblo and the town center, our part is mostly a couple urbanizations and a lot of rural areas that we have to walk to. We want to branch out a bit and so we are contacting new areas the only problem is that these new parts are further away from us. I would say on an average we walk about 3 miles a day, sometimes more sometimes less. It is a half a mile walk to our chapel from our house.

The chapel was originally built for a branch so it is a bit smaller but it is nice nonetheless. It has a small chapel where we set up stairs, outside that are the offices and the Relief Society room that serves as a kitchen, baptismal font, and activity room, then there are the bathrooms right in front of the entrance to the chapel, then there are two primary rooms and three other Sunday school rooms. Sacrament Meeting, normal adult Sunday School, and Priesthood are all in the chapel.

 

It is the smallest chapel I have been in in Puerto Rico but it is also one of the nicest and newest. however, they did take out the fridge and microwave and everything in the kitchen and the piano is a keyboard that is so quiet that you can hardly hear but they appreciate me playing nonetheless. But it is very small. One hall, with the chapel, offices, classrooms, etc. The bathrooms are nice too!

So guess what?!?! Two of our investigators came to church yesterday!!!!!! Aida and Ismael. They are a couple we have been teaching. Ismael is pretty serious about praying and finding an answer and he is already in 2 Nephi and understands everything really well. We are really excited for them! We also have a couple of people reading the Book of Mormon and so many of them are very sincere and want to know. It's just the trick to get them to church.

 

The people we teach are so wonderful and they treat us with so much love and they take care of us. They are important to me because not only are the Heavenly Father's children but they are also my friends and they treat us like daughters. It's been so wonderful to get to know people and understand what's important to them. I love seeing them love the Book of Mormon how I love the Book of Mormon.

 

This last week one of our investigators Gueimi prayed with us and asked if Joseph Smith was a prophet and it was so powerful! We have another family who has a nine year old daughter and they wanted to understand Lehi's dream so we went through it with them and the daughter and I drew the dream together. They treat us like their daughters too. There are so many amazing people here and they are so loving and they need the Gospel!

This week we also prayed specifically to find someone who is looking for the truth while we were contacting and we totally found her! She is really awesome and when I asked her what she feels about prophets she word for word told us the definition of a prophet as we define prophets and how they need to be chosen by God and she said, "I'm sorry if that seems weird or wrong to you, but that's what I believe!" Haha, we told her that she believes the same as us. We have another appointment with her on Wednesday!

So those are some of the things that happened this week! I also had the opportunity to testify to a pastor of another church who told us that if we were going to bring him another Book and tell him that it is the Word of God that we had better be sure that we know it is true. I told him that I am VERY sure that the Book of Mormon is true, that I know it is true, that Heavenly Father told me so and therefore I cannot deny that the Book of Mormon is true. :) He couldn't say anything to deny my testimony. So apparently he is going to read it and we will see what happens! His wife seems more receptive that he is.

Well my beautiful family! I hope all goes well this week! I hope Mama's knee and calf feel better! I hope Hannah enjoys dance camp!

To Mama's question: Of course we get discouraged sometimes! But tomorrow is always a new day and there are always miracles that can be found. We just have to look around and recognize those miracles that are already happening. This week was a very up and down week. The past two transfers have been challenging but look! We had two investigators in church for the first time! They are progressing. There are people reading.

 

I have to say that whether they accept the Restored Gospel or not that I gave them a full opportunity to read, ponder, and pray and that is the most I can do. I was studying in the Liahona this morning and I realized that maybe I have been depending on myself a little too much in the work instead of including the Lord like I should. Which is crazy and backwards!

 

This is the Lord's work and obviously He knows best how to do it. So I am starting a new process of really giving the work to the Lord and trying to do what He would have to do. I read an article of a member who was doing all she could to share the Gospel but nothing really came to fruit until the Spirit told her that she needed to include the Lord more in her efforts. Very interesting, and food for thought!

Also this week there was a fireside and I played the piano and an awesome member from Cayey taught us about the family and it made me miss you all so much! The same day, earlier in the day, we were walking up the mountain to an appointment when suddenly a big white Ford Expedition came around the corner. I forgot that I was in Puerto Rico for a moment and I thought, "Good!!! Mom is here to pick us up and give us a ride!" and then I realized that it wasn't Mom! Haha, I felt so silly and then so grateful for all the times Mom has given us rides from and to school, to dance, to pretty much everything all my life!

Also, this week I taught my companion how to hitch hike... Don't worry, we wait to make sure we can tell that it is a woman driving before we put our thumbs out. So it takes a while, and it's only worked once but we were on time to our appointment!

Well I think that's it! Have a wonderful week! Take care, enjoy the summer, don't wear yourselves out by running too much! Haha:)
 

xoxo Hermana Hardy

The Waving Campaign

Hello Family!!!
 

 

Transfers were last Tuesday. They tell us the Sunday night before. Next transfers are December 2 and I will probably stay here because Cabo Rojo is the furthest you can get from San Juan and people usually stay here for a long time. (random thought, if you haven't sent my one book of arrangements yet, can you also send the yellow christmas arrangement book as well?)

I played the piano for the Primary Program yesterday! It went very well. I learned a lot of new songs the past few weeks and it was great. Now the Primary President is a lot more willing to go out on visits with us :)

As far as toys or games I haven't seen anything different here than in Utah. Sports, video games, smart phones, etc. I played hopscotch with a little girl last week when her mom's car broke down (we were all on our way to a lesson) so we didn't have a lesson that night but we did draw with chalk in the plaza! I will try to send a picture. There is a hand sing song game that some girls taught us and is funny. It took me a while to pick up the words but they are pretty much nonsense anyways.

I think the best thing I have had was lasagna that a member made for us!! haha, it really was the best lasagna I have ever had. But lasagna is also a rarity here. Umm, I think I really love fried plantains. Any fried fruit like that is called a tostone, so yesterday I had tostone de pana, which is a pretty starchy fruit like everything else. I liked it just fine, but the elders had gone on about how good it is so when I actually tried it it wasn't as good as they had led me to believe haha. I LO VE aguacate though too. AND last night they gave us APPLEJUICE!!! wahoo! I was so excited, no one drinks apple juice here!

I do receive all of Grandma's letters! They make me so happy:) It only takes 3 days for letters to get to me! Pretty awesome!

An interesting event and a spiritual message! Yesterday NOTHING worked out. We ran all over town for all these lessons that were supposed to be member presents but all the member's cars broke down this week (seriously, a whole bunch of them) so we were going to have normal lessons but no one was home. The only thing that worked out was a half active family (husband active, wife not).

 

That lesson was pretty amazing and simple. If we had had all those other lessons we may not have been able to have that lesson. We think that everything fell through just so we could visit that family and give them the lesson they needed to get comfortable with us so we can help them get back to church and progress to the temple (people LOVE the picture of our family and of mom and dad on their wedding day outside the temple). They were the ones that had apple juice too! And doughnuts from Krispy Kremes! They have doughnuts here but they aren't the same as Krispy Kremes (which is in Mayaguez). So my message is that sometimes things fall apart because Heavenly Father really does have another, much bigger, purpose for us.

This weekend President and Hermana Boucher dropped off something for me! Haha, apparently Hermana Boucher ordered something from the LDS art store and aunt Joann saw the order and called Hermana to ask to send something to me with the package of art! So I received goldfish and the most beautiful bookmarks to give out! Tell Joann and Grant I say hello and thank you so much!

 

 

I am so grateful for all of you and your prayers for me! There are lots of ups and downs but I am loving it here! Waking up in the morning is pretty easy (most of the time) because it is so light outside early in the morning.

Did I already tell you guys about The Waving Campaign? Well, I realized a month ago that I tend to look at the ground while I walk around so I made it a goal to start waving at all of the cars that drive by us so that I don't look down. So we started to smile and wave at every car. Then we started counting how many people wave back at us and I reported the numbers to President just for fun and he loved it. He calls it the Waving Campaign and always asks about it now and thinks it's great. My original goal was just to meet someone one day that recognized us as the girls who waved at them. Well now about the whole town knows us and people start to honk and wave at us before we even start waving at them! People also honk and wave at the other sisters because they think they are us, hehehehe. So that's pretty cool. We have been bad at counting lately but I think our record one day was over 60- pretty awesome.

I hope you all have an awesome Halloween- send me pictures of the pumpkins!!

I can't believe Hannah has a triple turn on the left side- get out!! haha, that is awesome! Hannah, you should write me a letter and let me know what all your rehearsal schedules are like and what dance at school is like, and about your friends and EVERYTHING! write as much as you like please!

I have coconuts and the elders are going to tell me how to carve a ring out of a coconut! I am excited!

I don't know what else to say! There is so much and I am just so happy here and I still feel like it's July haha.

I want to give everyone a BIG hug and tell them that I love them. I am so grateful for everything that you have taught me.

I love you all!!

 

 

Hermana Hardy