Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Monday, November 21, 2011; Week 36

Fort Wayne~
Momma,

What a week.... its been really good and i feel very blessed. first, my studies have been slacking a lot just because I've been so tired lately so i wasnt able to get a lot out of my studies but this week it all changed and i feel like a brand new missionary. i have learned so much this week and i love it. all i ever want to do now is read the scriptures.  so wanna hear something sad? we didnt get an invite to Thanksgiving :( but i was super happy to get your package today. my comp has been waiting on one for a couple weeks so when we opened the mail box and saw the package slip he was super excited only to have his spirits crushed to find out that my momma loves me more :) hahaha it was so funny. super sad tho. Thank you for the mission call. i read it again and the spirit of God told me that it came from him and i really am where i need to be. it was nice to read it again.  and thanks for the bread and tie (i really like that) and the letters. i wonder if the other return missionaries get jealous for how many letters i get from the fam :) thanks mom. but all is well here. we found out that this area has not had a baptism in almost 4 years so all the members tell us that they are counting on us. the branch here really wants new members so they are all doing really good at fellowshipping and coming to lessons and stuff. something in my last area the branch really stuggled with. 
    Earlier this week we had a lesson with Julio.  we went and sat with him at his table and we were talking to him and he told us that his wife told him she doesnt love him anymore and wants him to leave.  it was just tearing him up super bad. i felt so sad for him.  so we talked to him a little about it and tried to help him feel better and then we talked about the book of mormon and asked if he had prayed about it and he said he has and that he knows its true.  he said that even tho things are going wrong with his family he isnt going to stop moving forward with this because he knows the book of mormon is true and he cant lie to himself. then he told us that to him the B of M is like good food. once you eat a little you just want more and more.  he said that he cant just read a vs or a page. he just reads and reads. its so amazing to see the power of the book of mormon change peoples lives. fast forward a few days. yesterday at church... our ride was late picking us up so we didnt get to church untill 9:15.  but we walked in and guess who we saw? Julio and his WIFE and their two kids.  it was so amazing :) i dont think i had a happier moment. well thats up there with happy moments on my mission.  after church we had a lesson with Julio again and we taught the word of wisdom. we asked him if he had problems with any of it and he said just with smoking so we had him give us all his cigarets and then we gave him just one back and told him to break it and think of it as breaking the habit. so he broke it and threw it on the ground and stepped on it and said that he did that to show god he his going to change his life and keep his commandment.  another of my favorite moments.  then that night we had Why i Believe (i was asked to bare my testimony)  and guess who Julio brought again? his wife and kids. at the end i was talking to his wife and she asked if we could bring her a book of mormon. so now she is intrested :)  the gospel blesses families.
    So remember last week i told you about the people that i really dont like? well last night i learned a very valuable lesson. there is this lady who just does not fall well with us at all and she has been studying with the j dubs and they give her anti.  and she uses it a lot. well we were over there last night and she told us that she treats us the way that she does to see if we are true disciples of Christ. if we got mad at her it would prove to her that we are not she is testing us in every way possible.  it really opened my eyes. i really need to just love her and be patient like Christ would. i repented so dont worry.  God teaches us lessons in ways that we would never expect. i love it.
     Things are going really good here.  oh i should tell you... at the lst minute yesterday someone invited us to dinner. but it was more of like we were fishing for an invite so they were forced to invite us. haha but at least we are going somewhere.  i love spanish so much. last night at Why i Believe i bore my testimony in spanish in front of heaps of white people to show them that the spirit is the same and lots of people came up to me and told me they hadnt felt the spirit that strong in a long time. i think i have it stronger with me when i speak spanishspanish. well there is so much i want to tell you but I'm out of time so i will end with my simple testimony. i love the church. i know its true and that god prepared the way for all of us from the beginning to recieve it.  the book of mormon is the word of god and it was written for us in our day. Mormon saw us and our trials and put the things that would help us in this time. Christ is my best friend and he has never failed me. and he will never fail anyone who needs help.  i love you and i love this work. in the name of Jesus Christ amen.

Elder Hardman

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