Fort Wayne~
Hey Momma,
I got the package today and i was bummed when i couldnt open anything so instead of waiting i decided to open it all anyways and it was just awesome. i liked it all a lot. oh and about those peanut butter things... i do love them so much, but i cant eat them all before i get more so maybe start sending them every other package or something. thank you mom. i love you so much for taking care of me. it sounds like every one is a little frustrated with me for not telling them what i want. the thing really is is that i dont have a lot of room in my bags and we are only allowed 2 bags and a carry on. when missionaries start bringing more stuff it gets difficult to pack everything in the car when we get tranfered. and i think I'm ok for winter stuff. it makes me feel bad when people say I'm denying them of blessings by not telling them what i want or need. i dont need anything. my family is taking good care of me. and god would never deny my family for not getting me worldly possessions when you are all giving me all the spiritual blessings i need. all i need are spiritual things. and you are all doing your part in prayers and what not. so god will bless you for the things you are doing for me. even if its not sending me coats or money or anything.
Anyways, the week was very good. oh, i have some bad news for you real fast. I emailed president last week and asked him about calling the other kids and he wrote me today and said that the purpose of calling is to talk to the parents and to let them know how things are going and if there are any other people there its just a bonus. so the answer is a no. i feel really bad. but maybe we can do a 3 way call or something. sorry mom. And Quino and Court are part of the family so they are always welcome. What happened with them anyways? Its like they sent me a dear john without actually sending one haha. I just havent heard from them in a while. how are they? Anyways, i know that the news probably made you sad but it will be ok.
Things with Julio are very good. He is really really solid. he went to a mexican bake shop (oh my heck, if you ever get a chance to go to one, do it!!!!! their bread and pastries are so good) and he got us a whole bunch of stuff and gave it to us and said that he just wanted to do something for us because of how much we have done for him. I dont know if I've told you yet, but the last i have heard is that thier marriage is doing a lot better and they are trying to work everything out. him and her and their 2 kids have come to church for the last 4 weeks and its a really big thing. i talked to just her on Saturday and see is acting very very interested in being taught now. So we are working hard with her and the kids. and with the example of Julio it shouldnt be hard at all.
I was givin the opportunity to give Julio the Holy Ghost yesterday in church. I cant even explain how amazing that was. the spirit was so strong and so incredible. I wish i could explain it but its something that you just have to experience to understand. I was pretty nervous through the week but it wasnt to bad. i only tried to give him the gift of tongues once and only messed up on wordage a couple times. haha, I'm just so used to praying for the gift of tongues that sometimes it just slips out. everyone had a good laugh about it but as far as Julio is concerned, every one recieves the gift of tongues hahaha :) it really was an amazing experience tho. After sacrament we had another investigator that came up to us and told us that he is going to be next so we'll see what happenes with him.
We ate with some members yesterday and they gave us some pork soup and it was.... ok. there was tons of just fat pieces. And I had to eat it. its super rude not to eat everything. But after yesterday i decided that when i get home i am never eating straight fat again. i dont know how Jeremy did it. But, to be nice. I said "of man, i need a wife who can cook like this "there was a few other branch members and all at once they started trying to hook me up with their illegal family members. haha super funny.
Well I've got to go. love you mamma. oh and I was just joking. Didn't open any of the presents. and my comps mom is sending him stuff. He actually got a package today. thanks for everything. this church is amazing and i love serving the lord.
Elder Hardman
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Monday, December 5, 2012; Week 38
Fort Wayne~
Momma,
Before anything else i have a story that i want to tell you. It might take all my time so I'm sorry if this is all i write and its not very much. i just really really really want to get the wording across and write it so you can understand the spirit of it. First, the last couple weeks I've really been trying to better my prayers, make them more personal between me and my father. so what I've started doing is going to the kitchen floor and kneeling down on the tile so that it is impossible for me to fall asleep and then i will say my prayers outloud. the first time i did that the spirit was so strong and it was just an amazing experience for me. well, this last Tuesday and Wednesday I was in a super white white white town because i had to go on exchanges because my comp was in indy. But I served for two days without the only black missionary in Indiana :) I learned how to be pretty thug :) just kidding. If anything i taught him ho to represent and be more thug. he is pretty white hahaha. anyways, both nights i was there we taught this 15 year old kid called josh. me serving a mission in spanish i have had the opportunity to enter some pretty run down and dirty houses. but his house was by far the worst I've been in. his dad has been out of work for a long time and they dont have money for food our to pay bills. so the first night we were there the house was so cold i could see my breath in the house. and they told us that they just got done eating their last bowl of soup and they have absolutly no food left. super super sad. then a guy came over so we left our lesson a little early and set another one up for the next night. well we came over the next night and the dad was telling us that the day before he was praying and telling god that he was out of food and didnt know what he was going to do to feed his kids and that he needed help. well the guy that came over the night before was actually sent by the bishop. the bishop told him that there is a family that needs help and the guy needed to take them to walmart and buy them food. that was an answer to a prayer i think for sure. just goes to show how much god loves us and goes to show that when we have priesthood holders who follow the spirit then great things are able to happen. anyways. we taught this 15 year old kid the restoration and at the end of the lesson we asked him to pray. he then offered the most beautiful prayer i have ever heard in my life. i have not cried very many times on my mission, and I'm not at all ashamed that i shed some tears during that prayer and I'm not ashamed to tell you that I'm shedding tears right now just thinking about what that kid taught me. in his prayer he only gave thanks to God. he thanked him for the food they had to eat and for the house they had. he thanked him for everything he had and did not ask for one thing. it was a very humbling moment for me in my mission. as i left that house i thought about their circumstances and about what just happened. that kid had every right in the world to ask god for something. maybe a warm house. maybe not to have to worry about food for the winter. I could name a billion things that kid deserved and had the right to ask God for. but instead he gave a very very humble prayer and gave thanks for the things he had. because he knew that the things he had were what he needed at the time and maybe he didnt feel like he could ask for more when he had what he needed. anyways, theres my story. i hope you understood it and that you were able to learn something from him like i was. since that moment i promised god that i would give thanks to him for everything and never in my life ask for something that i don't need. prayer is a beautiful thing momma. a prayer from a humble 15 year old kid is a beautiful thing and this experience that i had with josh will not soon be forgotten and he will never ever know how much he touched me.
Anyways, this last Tuesday we had our first big snow storm and guess who forgot their winter stuff? i did. So by the time the night was over, my bald head was completely frozen. my shoes had about an inch of water in them and i was just drenched. but thats ok tho because God made it so that i wasnt even that cold untill i walked inside the house. that was a cool experience too. God really does make it possible for missionaries to work no matter what.
There was so much stuff that i want to tell you that happened this week but i cant cause I'm out of time. just remember that when you send me stuff for Christmas that i have very very limited bag space and transfers are next week and i dont know if I'm staying or leaving. i find out Monday morning so i will tell you in the next email if I'm staying or leaving. love you
Elder Hardman
Momma,
Before anything else i have a story that i want to tell you. It might take all my time so I'm sorry if this is all i write and its not very much. i just really really really want to get the wording across and write it so you can understand the spirit of it. First, the last couple weeks I've really been trying to better my prayers, make them more personal between me and my father. so what I've started doing is going to the kitchen floor and kneeling down on the tile so that it is impossible for me to fall asleep and then i will say my prayers outloud. the first time i did that the spirit was so strong and it was just an amazing experience for me. well, this last Tuesday and Wednesday I was in a super white white white town because i had to go on exchanges because my comp was in indy. But I served for two days without the only black missionary in Indiana :) I learned how to be pretty thug :) just kidding. If anything i taught him ho to represent and be more thug. he is pretty white hahaha. anyways, both nights i was there we taught this 15 year old kid called josh. me serving a mission in spanish i have had the opportunity to enter some pretty run down and dirty houses. but his house was by far the worst I've been in. his dad has been out of work for a long time and they dont have money for food our to pay bills. so the first night we were there the house was so cold i could see my breath in the house. and they told us that they just got done eating their last bowl of soup and they have absolutly no food left. super super sad. then a guy came over so we left our lesson a little early and set another one up for the next night. well we came over the next night and the dad was telling us that the day before he was praying and telling god that he was out of food and didnt know what he was going to do to feed his kids and that he needed help. well the guy that came over the night before was actually sent by the bishop. the bishop told him that there is a family that needs help and the guy needed to take them to walmart and buy them food. that was an answer to a prayer i think for sure. just goes to show how much god loves us and goes to show that when we have priesthood holders who follow the spirit then great things are able to happen. anyways. we taught this 15 year old kid the restoration and at the end of the lesson we asked him to pray. he then offered the most beautiful prayer i have ever heard in my life. i have not cried very many times on my mission, and I'm not at all ashamed that i shed some tears during that prayer and I'm not ashamed to tell you that I'm shedding tears right now just thinking about what that kid taught me. in his prayer he only gave thanks to God. he thanked him for the food they had to eat and for the house they had. he thanked him for everything he had and did not ask for one thing. it was a very humbling moment for me in my mission. as i left that house i thought about their circumstances and about what just happened. that kid had every right in the world to ask god for something. maybe a warm house. maybe not to have to worry about food for the winter. I could name a billion things that kid deserved and had the right to ask God for. but instead he gave a very very humble prayer and gave thanks for the things he had. because he knew that the things he had were what he needed at the time and maybe he didnt feel like he could ask for more when he had what he needed. anyways, theres my story. i hope you understood it and that you were able to learn something from him like i was. since that moment i promised god that i would give thanks to him for everything and never in my life ask for something that i don't need. prayer is a beautiful thing momma. a prayer from a humble 15 year old kid is a beautiful thing and this experience that i had with josh will not soon be forgotten and he will never ever know how much he touched me.
Anyways, this last Tuesday we had our first big snow storm and guess who forgot their winter stuff? i did. So by the time the night was over, my bald head was completely frozen. my shoes had about an inch of water in them and i was just drenched. but thats ok tho because God made it so that i wasnt even that cold untill i walked inside the house. that was a cool experience too. God really does make it possible for missionaries to work no matter what.
There was so much stuff that i want to tell you that happened this week but i cant cause I'm out of time. just remember that when you send me stuff for Christmas that i have very very limited bag space and transfers are next week and i dont know if I'm staying or leaving. i find out Monday morning so i will tell you in the next email if I'm staying or leaving. love you
Elder Hardman
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Monday, November 28, 2011; Week 37
Fort Wayne~
Momma,
Everyone sounds like they are doing good. I'm really excited for Jon and everyone else too. things seem to be going good for the family. i just hope your not making everything sound better then they really are so i dont get worried. so you want to know in detail how my thanksgiving went!!! it was super super good. we shared the car with the English missionaries here so we went to a dinner with someone from their ward and then to a dinner with someone from our branch. it was so incredible to finally get a good American meal for the first time in my mission. they smoked their turkey and ham and oh my goodness it was good. you need to tell dad to learn how to smoke stuff. its probably the best turkey/ ham I've ever had..... besides yours and dads i mean :). and then the people from my branch we had what they called "a multi cutural Thanksgiving" in my branch we have people from 11 different countries or something so the ones who were invited to the dinner brought meals from their countries. it was super super good. someone made the best flan i have ever tasted in my life. it was like heaven. i cant wait till mine is that good. I'm getting better at making it tho. before all the dinners tho we woke up and played football for 4 hours straight. it was 37 degrees out and i was freezing. but it was so fun. i miss playing football a lot. there was some people that got pretty rough there so it was fun. some people ended up getting hurt, but none of the missionaries did so that was good. Thanksgiving was really good tho. it didnt really feel like Thanksgiving tho without the fam.
Julio is so stinkin solid. we taught him the day before Thanksgiving and he told us that the last couple days he had just been super irritated at work becasue he hasnt been able to smoke and everyone he worked with just tried to get him to smoke and he told everyone no. then when he is at home and feels an urge to smoke he just reads the BOM instead and it takes the temptation away. we didnt even tell him to read the BOM in place of smoking. he has really been converted by the book of mormon. its so amazing being able to see the power of it. we saw him Saturday and he said that his boss told him that he needed to work on Sunday and Julio told him he couldnt because he was going to church. it takes a lot of faith to tell that to a boss in these times i think because he could have very easily been fired. i love this guy a lot. we have started teaching his wife so i hope that things will get better with their marraige. him and his wife and kids came to church as well as another guy and another family. so total investigators we had at church was 7. That's the most I've ever had on my mission. this area is just doing really good right now.
On Saturday night we had a branch dinner another mutli cutural thing. man ill tell you, everyone who just thinks mexican food is the way to go, there is way more out there that is even more deliscious. but we had a lot of investigators come to that too so it was good. after, me, my comp, our mission leader, a member of the branch council, an ivestigator and another guy from the ward played basketball. we got whipped for a while, but dont worry, your boy ended up winning in the end. i even made the game winning shot. haha i only made like 3 points the whole game tho. the things missionaries will do for their investigators. we played in our church clothes. it was different but it worked out just fine.
So did i tell you that this branch hasnt had a baptism in almost 4 years? well for that, everyone is really really baptism hungry. so we get really really good fellowshipping and all but at times i think they are doing it for the wrong reasons. haha we have been told so many times to just teach them the lessons super fast and not worry about what they need in their lives. just teach them and baptise them. but we tell them we cant do that. so pray that we have success or we might have some mad members at us. things are going really good tho. we have been blessed so much here.
We have this guy, well this family who needs lots of extra prayers. ive talked a little about his wife before. they are meeting with the j dubs and she is very well a j dub. but he has a super super strong desire to know the truth. he reads and prayes and is super open to the spirit. but we feel like she is holding him back from being fully converted. we have been over there and talked to him and she will just flat out yell at him and tell him he cant meet with us and if he does he is going against everything they believe in and what she wants for the family. but he still meets with us and thats just a big slap in the face to her so she doesnt like it one bit. but just pray that she will have her heart softened and that he will recieve the witness he is waiting for please. its the familia Paniagua.( panyagua means bread and water hahahatruely appreciate the prayers and love that i recieve from my family. i will get permisison to call Beth and Harm.
I love this service more then anything in the world and I'm eternally greatful for a Father in heaven who allows second chances. i know that this was all possible because of the atonment of Christ. i know that god is watching over my family while I'm here. i know that the BOM is super super true. i love reading it every day. I've almost finished it 3 times on my mission. i love it. i love you and the family and pray always that things will go well.
con amor
tu hijo
Elder Hardman
Momma,
Everyone sounds like they are doing good. I'm really excited for Jon and everyone else too. things seem to be going good for the family. i just hope your not making everything sound better then they really are so i dont get worried. so you want to know in detail how my thanksgiving went!!! it was super super good. we shared the car with the English missionaries here so we went to a dinner with someone from their ward and then to a dinner with someone from our branch. it was so incredible to finally get a good American meal for the first time in my mission. they smoked their turkey and ham and oh my goodness it was good. you need to tell dad to learn how to smoke stuff. its probably the best turkey/ ham I've ever had..... besides yours and dads i mean :). and then the people from my branch we had what they called "a multi cutural Thanksgiving" in my branch we have people from 11 different countries or something so the ones who were invited to the dinner brought meals from their countries. it was super super good. someone made the best flan i have ever tasted in my life. it was like heaven. i cant wait till mine is that good. I'm getting better at making it tho. before all the dinners tho we woke up and played football for 4 hours straight. it was 37 degrees out and i was freezing. but it was so fun. i miss playing football a lot. there was some people that got pretty rough there so it was fun. some people ended up getting hurt, but none of the missionaries did so that was good. Thanksgiving was really good tho. it didnt really feel like Thanksgiving tho without the fam.
Julio is so stinkin solid. we taught him the day before Thanksgiving and he told us that the last couple days he had just been super irritated at work becasue he hasnt been able to smoke and everyone he worked with just tried to get him to smoke and he told everyone no. then when he is at home and feels an urge to smoke he just reads the BOM instead and it takes the temptation away. we didnt even tell him to read the BOM in place of smoking. he has really been converted by the book of mormon. its so amazing being able to see the power of it. we saw him Saturday and he said that his boss told him that he needed to work on Sunday and Julio told him he couldnt because he was going to church. it takes a lot of faith to tell that to a boss in these times i think because he could have very easily been fired. i love this guy a lot. we have started teaching his wife so i hope that things will get better with their marraige. him and his wife and kids came to church as well as another guy and another family. so total investigators we had at church was 7. That's the most I've ever had on my mission. this area is just doing really good right now.
On Saturday night we had a branch dinner another mutli cutural thing. man ill tell you, everyone who just thinks mexican food is the way to go, there is way more out there that is even more deliscious. but we had a lot of investigators come to that too so it was good. after, me, my comp, our mission leader, a member of the branch council, an ivestigator and another guy from the ward played basketball. we got whipped for a while, but dont worry, your boy ended up winning in the end. i even made the game winning shot. haha i only made like 3 points the whole game tho. the things missionaries will do for their investigators. we played in our church clothes. it was different but it worked out just fine.
So did i tell you that this branch hasnt had a baptism in almost 4 years? well for that, everyone is really really baptism hungry. so we get really really good fellowshipping and all but at times i think they are doing it for the wrong reasons. haha we have been told so many times to just teach them the lessons super fast and not worry about what they need in their lives. just teach them and baptise them. but we tell them we cant do that. so pray that we have success or we might have some mad members at us. things are going really good tho. we have been blessed so much here.
We have this guy, well this family who needs lots of extra prayers. ive talked a little about his wife before. they are meeting with the j dubs and she is very well a j dub. but he has a super super strong desire to know the truth. he reads and prayes and is super open to the spirit. but we feel like she is holding him back from being fully converted. we have been over there and talked to him and she will just flat out yell at him and tell him he cant meet with us and if he does he is going against everything they believe in and what she wants for the family. but he still meets with us and thats just a big slap in the face to her so she doesnt like it one bit. but just pray that she will have her heart softened and that he will recieve the witness he is waiting for please. its the familia Paniagua.( panyagua means bread and water hahahatruely appreciate the prayers and love that i recieve from my family. i will get permisison to call Beth and Harm.
I love this service more then anything in the world and I'm eternally greatful for a Father in heaven who allows second chances. i know that this was all possible because of the atonment of Christ. i know that god is watching over my family while I'm here. i know that the BOM is super super true. i love reading it every day. I've almost finished it 3 times on my mission. i love it. i love you and the family and pray always that things will go well.
con amor
tu hijo
Elder Hardman
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
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
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Monday, November 14, 2011; Week 35
Fort Wayne~
Momma,
Things this week have been going good. in this area there arent as many hispanics so its harder to find them and we end up traveling a long way to find them but we are being diligent with it and god is blessing us. we are the only spanish elders in this zone so we cover a giant part of Indiana but we usually just stay around here. its hard but I'm learning a lot and I'm being pushed to the very limits in every aspect and i love it. I've never been so tired and hurt so bad in my life but I'm finally feeling like a missionary. oh and before i forget, would you send me a copy of my mission call? maybe get it shrunk and lamenated? if thats too big of a hassel dont worry about it but i think its something i would like so that i could remember those feelings i had when i read it for the first time.
So... me and my comp are working good together. we share something together that strengthens us greatly. our dislike for a certain religion who seems to be behind us or one step ahead of us everyday. we've lost so many investigators to them. one night we were talking to an investigator who has been studying with them and she told us that she cant meet with us anymore because they have been telling her stuff that we do in our church and she cant be part of that. and she wouldnt let us talk at all and she kept on bringing up Emma Smith and how she didnt follow Joseph so therefor he cant be a prophet and i was just getting soooooo mad and i couldnt listen to it any more so i just told her that she doesnt know Emma and she doesnt know anything about our church and if she did she would know that it was true but instead she is blinded and have no desire to find the truth and then we left. and the whole way home i was soooo mad and i was thinking about why our church is true and what happened was just another testament of the truthfullness of this church. every church talks bad about us to try and bring us down and we never talk bad about other churches. we openly say how much we love our BROTHERS and SISTERS of other religions and everyone else doesnt even consider us brothers. then i felt bad about getting so angry becuase i really need to be a representative of Jesus Christ and an disciple of him and a true disciple of Christ would not let stuff like that get the best of them. its hard but I'm trying. what gives them the right to talk crap on our church? hahaha sorry I'll get off my soapbox now.
So we had a nice run in to a vet from vietnam. oh my gosh it wasnt good. he was telling us some not good stuff that they had to do over there and was just swearing so bad and we asked him to stop swearing and he got angry and then started swearing more and then we talked about the atonement and how he can be forgiving and then he started crying because i didnt know if the stuff he did was wrong. he just did what the government told him to do. it was sad but then he started swearing again so we just left. now we see him everywhere hahaha he is a scary guy. I've met so many weirdos here. more here then in Indianapolis.
At a training president gave he compared the sun and the moon to missionaries and said that we need to be suns and give off light and energy and not moons that only reflect light and there is a lot more into it but i dont have time to go into it. but i realized that i am a moon. actually a black hole at times. but i really want to be better and so I prayed and asked how i can be a sun and i recieved about 30 things that i could be doing better. it was just a testimony to me that no matter how good we think we are doing there is always room to improve and better yourself to be an instrument in gods hands. it might sound dumb, but that is really what i want. i know every missionary says that but there are only a handful that actually get to that point. I'm far from it but I'm trying. i know my weaknesses and i rely on god to help me. well I'm out of time. and I'm rambling about stuff so I'll go. the investigators here are solid and I'm happy to be here. hope all continues to go good back home. love you.
Elder Hardman
Momma,
Things this week have been going good. in this area there arent as many hispanics so its harder to find them and we end up traveling a long way to find them but we are being diligent with it and god is blessing us. we are the only spanish elders in this zone so we cover a giant part of Indiana but we usually just stay around here. its hard but I'm learning a lot and I'm being pushed to the very limits in every aspect and i love it. I've never been so tired and hurt so bad in my life but I'm finally feeling like a missionary. oh and before i forget, would you send me a copy of my mission call? maybe get it shrunk and lamenated? if thats too big of a hassel dont worry about it but i think its something i would like so that i could remember those feelings i had when i read it for the first time.
So... me and my comp are working good together. we share something together that strengthens us greatly. our dislike for a certain religion who seems to be behind us or one step ahead of us everyday. we've lost so many investigators to them. one night we were talking to an investigator who has been studying with them and she told us that she cant meet with us anymore because they have been telling her stuff that we do in our church and she cant be part of that. and she wouldnt let us talk at all and she kept on bringing up Emma Smith and how she didnt follow Joseph so therefor he cant be a prophet and i was just getting soooooo mad and i couldnt listen to it any more so i just told her that she doesnt know Emma and she doesnt know anything about our church and if she did she would know that it was true but instead she is blinded and have no desire to find the truth and then we left. and the whole way home i was soooo mad and i was thinking about why our church is true and what happened was just another testament of the truthfullness of this church. every church talks bad about us to try and bring us down and we never talk bad about other churches. we openly say how much we love our BROTHERS and SISTERS of other religions and everyone else doesnt even consider us brothers. then i felt bad about getting so angry becuase i really need to be a representative of Jesus Christ and an disciple of him and a true disciple of Christ would not let stuff like that get the best of them. its hard but I'm trying. what gives them the right to talk crap on our church? hahaha sorry I'll get off my soapbox now.
So we had a nice run in to a vet from vietnam. oh my gosh it wasnt good. he was telling us some not good stuff that they had to do over there and was just swearing so bad and we asked him to stop swearing and he got angry and then started swearing more and then we talked about the atonement and how he can be forgiving and then he started crying because i didnt know if the stuff he did was wrong. he just did what the government told him to do. it was sad but then he started swearing again so we just left. now we see him everywhere hahaha he is a scary guy. I've met so many weirdos here. more here then in Indianapolis.
At a training president gave he compared the sun and the moon to missionaries and said that we need to be suns and give off light and energy and not moons that only reflect light and there is a lot more into it but i dont have time to go into it. but i realized that i am a moon. actually a black hole at times. but i really want to be better and so I prayed and asked how i can be a sun and i recieved about 30 things that i could be doing better. it was just a testimony to me that no matter how good we think we are doing there is always room to improve and better yourself to be an instrument in gods hands. it might sound dumb, but that is really what i want. i know every missionary says that but there are only a handful that actually get to that point. I'm far from it but I'm trying. i know my weaknesses and i rely on god to help me. well I'm out of time. and I'm rambling about stuff so I'll go. the investigators here are solid and I'm happy to be here. hope all continues to go good back home. love you.
Elder Hardman
Monday, November 7, 2011; Week 34
Fort Wayne~
Momma,
Oh man what a week i just had. well, like i told you last week, i was transfered and i am now in a city called Fort Wayne. its super different. its still a good sized city but i was in culture shock for the first couple days of being here. not near as many black people and hispanics so its different. (just read your email. you already knew where i was going :P tell the family my address please) But the hardest thing for my to get used to was not hearing sirens about 50 times a day. haha it makes me feel like the cops are doing thier jobs when i hear them. other then that i didnt have to adjust, i knew what needed to be done and i went to work. i was doubled transfered into this area. the hardest thing i have ever done on my mission. me and my comp dont know where anything is, we dont know the members or the investigators. every single night we have had to stay up till almost midnight trying to plan. its just so incredibly hard. but we have been given the opportunity to really rely on the spirit with everything that we have done and we have been so blessed for it. being in an area for 6 months you just start relying on your own knowledge and just go to people who are close by or just work in areas that you know. well this time we have been going to people who the spirit told us to. in turn, we have riding over 80 miles since Wednesday. been lost probably a dozen times had a few flat tires. but got 5 new investigators. one guy we set a baptismal date with for the 10 of Dec. and he is working on that. we have just been so blessed. i cant even describe to you this experience I'm having. its simply incredible.
So Iindiana has the worst roads and side walks in the world. last night i was riding on a side walk and looked behind me to talk to my comp (Elder Vellinga, he is a super solid missionary and we get along great. we have both grown so much this last week) and when i looked back forward my face ran right into a tree branch and cut it up and it hurt super bad. then not 2 minutes later and hit a pot hole and flipped right over my handle bars. for those of you who are wondering.... god does have a sense of humor. sometimes even at others expense. all is well tho. I'll give it to him for how much he has blessed us this week. so we ate with these members a couple days ago. they are hispanic. and they have a million dollar home. oh my heck it was nice. haha who would have thought that the nicest home i would go to on my mission would be hispanic. something just came to me. for everyone who doesnt know missionaries, it would be so weird seeing 2 young men wearing nice suits riding down the street on bikes. hahaha funny.
We had church yesterday. to tell you the truth, the last couple days i was super worried about this area and having member support and what not because our second night we had a meeting with our branch mission leader and he told us not to expect much from the branch because they are getting sick of double tranfers (this area hasn't had one in a super long time so i have no idea what he was talking about) and just said stuff like that. he doesnt like us. but yesterday at church, it was amazing. everyone is soooo nice and welcomed us and just loved us. i have never had so many nice people talk to me on my mission. but after yesterday i feel so good about this branch/area. yesterday we ate with some members who are guatamalens. oh my goodness. i didnt know what i have been missing only eating mexican food my whole life. food from guatamala is sooooooo amazing.
My time is up. sorry. just know everything is going amazing and I'm doing good. i finally figured out why it was so important for me to fight and serve a mission. deep down inside me i think i always knew that the salvation of many people would depend on my decision to serve a mission or not and i didnt want to do that to people. it was really important to me to be able to help the people that i was supposed to help. and i feel like i am doing that. this gospel is true and the spirit is amazing. i love being here and i would never change it for anything. can you send me my blanket please :) i miss it and i cant sleep at all here.
love you momma
Elder Hardman
Momma,
Oh man what a week i just had. well, like i told you last week, i was transfered and i am now in a city called Fort Wayne. its super different. its still a good sized city but i was in culture shock for the first couple days of being here. not near as many black people and hispanics so its different. (just read your email. you already knew where i was going :P tell the family my address please) But the hardest thing for my to get used to was not hearing sirens about 50 times a day. haha it makes me feel like the cops are doing thier jobs when i hear them. other then that i didnt have to adjust, i knew what needed to be done and i went to work. i was doubled transfered into this area. the hardest thing i have ever done on my mission. me and my comp dont know where anything is, we dont know the members or the investigators. every single night we have had to stay up till almost midnight trying to plan. its just so incredibly hard. but we have been given the opportunity to really rely on the spirit with everything that we have done and we have been so blessed for it. being in an area for 6 months you just start relying on your own knowledge and just go to people who are close by or just work in areas that you know. well this time we have been going to people who the spirit told us to. in turn, we have riding over 80 miles since Wednesday. been lost probably a dozen times had a few flat tires. but got 5 new investigators. one guy we set a baptismal date with for the 10 of Dec. and he is working on that. we have just been so blessed. i cant even describe to you this experience I'm having. its simply incredible.
So Iindiana has the worst roads and side walks in the world. last night i was riding on a side walk and looked behind me to talk to my comp (Elder Vellinga, he is a super solid missionary and we get along great. we have both grown so much this last week) and when i looked back forward my face ran right into a tree branch and cut it up and it hurt super bad. then not 2 minutes later and hit a pot hole and flipped right over my handle bars. for those of you who are wondering.... god does have a sense of humor. sometimes even at others expense. all is well tho. I'll give it to him for how much he has blessed us this week. so we ate with these members a couple days ago. they are hispanic. and they have a million dollar home. oh my heck it was nice. haha who would have thought that the nicest home i would go to on my mission would be hispanic. something just came to me. for everyone who doesnt know missionaries, it would be so weird seeing 2 young men wearing nice suits riding down the street on bikes. hahaha funny.
We had church yesterday. to tell you the truth, the last couple days i was super worried about this area and having member support and what not because our second night we had a meeting with our branch mission leader and he told us not to expect much from the branch because they are getting sick of double tranfers (this area hasn't had one in a super long time so i have no idea what he was talking about) and just said stuff like that. he doesnt like us. but yesterday at church, it was amazing. everyone is soooo nice and welcomed us and just loved us. i have never had so many nice people talk to me on my mission. but after yesterday i feel so good about this branch/area. yesterday we ate with some members who are guatamalens. oh my goodness. i didnt know what i have been missing only eating mexican food my whole life. food from guatamala is sooooooo amazing.
My time is up. sorry. just know everything is going amazing and I'm doing good. i finally figured out why it was so important for me to fight and serve a mission. deep down inside me i think i always knew that the salvation of many people would depend on my decision to serve a mission or not and i didnt want to do that to people. it was really important to me to be able to help the people that i was supposed to help. and i feel like i am doing that. this gospel is true and the spirit is amazing. i love being here and i would never change it for anything. can you send me my blanket please :) i miss it and i cant sleep at all here.
love you momma
Elder Hardman
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Monday, October 31, 2011; Week 33
Indianapolis~
Momma,
So its official, I'm leaving my birthing place. i got the call this morning that told me to pack up all my things. so now ill be doing the same thing somewhere else. trying to fulfill my purpose and help others come unto Christ. I'm excited to see what the lord has in store for me. the family seems to be doing good. Beth's baby and Harm's and Summer's babys are so big and look so different. they are super cute tho. its going to be weird having them be two when i get home and have probably 10 new babies (the way this family reproduces) when i get home. thats one thing i hate being about being out here is not being with the babies. worth it tho!!!! so Christmas is coming up.... remind the kids and everyone that I'm in Indiana and not Mongolia and everything here isnt supper cheap so dont be expecting anything super cool. oh and you never told me who i have for Christmas?
So pretty much ever cool thing that happens, happens on Monday night after preperation day and then i have to wait a whole week to tell you. so last Monday. we had another run in with some pretty satanic stuff that scared me to death. in fact i was so scared that i cried a little. i have never been so scared in my entire life. this story will have to be one that i share after my mission. with this experience and the first one, it just goes to show how much power satan and his followers have ever people and how real his power is. but, the priesthood is the power of god and nothing beats that. thank goodness for that. i said a lot of prayers when i got back to the apartment that night. i didnt even sleep good for about 3 nights because of it. but all is well now.
So i dont know if i told you, but we had a wedding this last Friday (few days ago) so that our investigator could get baptized. well me and my comp decided to make them a wedding cake. so we took pretty much all of our break times to plan the 3 layer wedding cake. we ended up making it out of ricecrispies with i nice chocolate glaze on top. then we fancied some pillars out of..... well youll see the picture when i send it to you. but pretty much it was the coolest thing in the world. No one believed that we did it without outside help from a women. we were tryig to find a dora and diego toy to put on top but we couldnt find one so we found instead a mexican wrestler and some other brown girl toy and put it on top. hahahahaha i cant wait for you to see the pictures. youll be impressed i think. it was super racist of us kinda so i feel bad but the memory was worth it and they loved it.
So going along with the wedding so that that guy could get baptised thing. this guy was super super super catholic and his whole family is sooooo catholic. and.... welll..... when he told him he was going to get married and baptised in our church everyone just flipped and it wasnt very pretty. so one Friday, the wedding day, one 2 members of his family came and guess who wasnt there? his mother. He ended up being an hour late because he was fighting trying to get her to come and she wouldnt so he finally just gave up on her. well that made me so mad that she wouldnt support him. it made me love my family more, because ALWAYS!!! no matter what happens, we support eachother. thats what families do for one another. thank you mom for always being there for us even when you didnt agree with what we were doing. it means the world to me and I'm sure it means a lot to everyone else as well.
This guy who got married is named Enelio. I've mentioned him a couple times i think. his testimony is the most solid thing in the entire world. yesterday at church they had him bare his testimony and he blew everyone away with how strong it was. then he called up his new bride and put his arm around her and said that he cant wait to follow the commandents of god with her. then kissed her right on the mouth and said amen. haha it was so solid. we went and taught him one last time this moring and he just made me so mad at him. he said every answer that was perfect and then he even had the nerve to make us a deliscious omlet for breakfast. haha he has only been a member of the church for one day and is already more solid then i am.
I'm out of time... but someone this morning told me that i was gong to hell and that he hopes god will bless me. nice huh? haha got to love members of different churches. oh and someone also told me that i sound like a mexican and kept asking me who taught me spanish because i sound like a mexican. she didnt belive I've been teaching myself. well. time is up. i love you and the family and i am so happy with this opportunity i have to be on a mission. I'm gratefull for what I'm learning and the people I'm helping and for the people who are helping me. the church is true and the book of mormon is awesome.
Elder Hardman
Momma,
So its official, I'm leaving my birthing place. i got the call this morning that told me to pack up all my things. so now ill be doing the same thing somewhere else. trying to fulfill my purpose and help others come unto Christ. I'm excited to see what the lord has in store for me. the family seems to be doing good. Beth's baby and Harm's and Summer's babys are so big and look so different. they are super cute tho. its going to be weird having them be two when i get home and have probably 10 new babies (the way this family reproduces) when i get home. thats one thing i hate being about being out here is not being with the babies. worth it tho!!!! so Christmas is coming up.... remind the kids and everyone that I'm in Indiana and not Mongolia and everything here isnt supper cheap so dont be expecting anything super cool. oh and you never told me who i have for Christmas?
So pretty much ever cool thing that happens, happens on Monday night after preperation day and then i have to wait a whole week to tell you. so last Monday. we had another run in with some pretty satanic stuff that scared me to death. in fact i was so scared that i cried a little. i have never been so scared in my entire life. this story will have to be one that i share after my mission. with this experience and the first one, it just goes to show how much power satan and his followers have ever people and how real his power is. but, the priesthood is the power of god and nothing beats that. thank goodness for that. i said a lot of prayers when i got back to the apartment that night. i didnt even sleep good for about 3 nights because of it. but all is well now.
So i dont know if i told you, but we had a wedding this last Friday (few days ago) so that our investigator could get baptized. well me and my comp decided to make them a wedding cake. so we took pretty much all of our break times to plan the 3 layer wedding cake. we ended up making it out of ricecrispies with i nice chocolate glaze on top. then we fancied some pillars out of..... well youll see the picture when i send it to you. but pretty much it was the coolest thing in the world. No one believed that we did it without outside help from a women. we were tryig to find a dora and diego toy to put on top but we couldnt find one so we found instead a mexican wrestler and some other brown girl toy and put it on top. hahahahaha i cant wait for you to see the pictures. youll be impressed i think. it was super racist of us kinda so i feel bad but the memory was worth it and they loved it.
So going along with the wedding so that that guy could get baptised thing. this guy was super super super catholic and his whole family is sooooo catholic. and.... welll..... when he told him he was going to get married and baptised in our church everyone just flipped and it wasnt very pretty. so one Friday, the wedding day, one 2 members of his family came and guess who wasnt there? his mother. He ended up being an hour late because he was fighting trying to get her to come and she wouldnt so he finally just gave up on her. well that made me so mad that she wouldnt support him. it made me love my family more, because ALWAYS!!! no matter what happens, we support eachother. thats what families do for one another. thank you mom for always being there for us even when you didnt agree with what we were doing. it means the world to me and I'm sure it means a lot to everyone else as well.
This guy who got married is named Enelio. I've mentioned him a couple times i think. his testimony is the most solid thing in the entire world. yesterday at church they had him bare his testimony and he blew everyone away with how strong it was. then he called up his new bride and put his arm around her and said that he cant wait to follow the commandents of god with her. then kissed her right on the mouth and said amen. haha it was so solid. we went and taught him one last time this moring and he just made me so mad at him. he said every answer that was perfect and then he even had the nerve to make us a deliscious omlet for breakfast. haha he has only been a member of the church for one day and is already more solid then i am.
I'm out of time... but someone this morning told me that i was gong to hell and that he hopes god will bless me. nice huh? haha got to love members of different churches. oh and someone also told me that i sound like a mexican and kept asking me who taught me spanish because i sound like a mexican. she didnt belive I've been teaching myself. well. time is up. i love you and the family and i am so happy with this opportunity i have to be on a mission. I'm gratefull for what I'm learning and the people I'm helping and for the people who are helping me. the church is true and the book of mormon is awesome.
Elder Hardman
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Monday, October 24, 2011; Week 32
Momma,
As always, this week was good and i learned a lot. first i am going to answer your questions. i got a letter from Beth and she told me she will be getting her big discount soon. since i have to have winter stuff this is what i need. a couple scarfs and hats (beanies) and long johns (just the bottoms) i have that jacket that we bought before i left and those sweaters you sent me are super good. i will buy gloves here so that i can pick some out that will be good for here and missionary work. i dont believe i need anything else. just tell her to pick some stuff out that will make me look super fresh but will also make people know I'm a missionary :) thank you. and the package you sent me was a really good one. the bread was sooooo good. everything was good. i loved the pictures, except they made me feel bad because now I'm just fat and not as good looking as i was way back then. haha so i went running this morning and my legs hurt super bad. but i feel good. so for the package you want to send me. just send it to the mission office because transfers are next week and I'm pretty sure I'm being transfered. so you can just wait a little longer to send it and send it there and ill pick it up at transfer meeting. thank you.
So there is this kid that i baptised a while ago and he is 9. but he has the most sincere prayers I've ever heard in my life. actually it rebukes me everytime i hear him because i know my prayers need to be like that. well his dad is in mexico and his mom is here and she is getting married to one of our investigators that shes been living with so that he can be baptised and she told us that he was having such a hard time with it and that he would always tell her that she cant marry him and stuff like that so she asked us to talk about it with him so we did and then we had him pray about it and ask god if everything is going to be ok so he did. the most amazing prayer i have ever heard in my entire life. well after the prayer he was super happy and he told us that god told him that everything is going to be ok and that his dad in mexico will still always be his dad. it was just such an amazing experience and strengthened my testimony on prayer. God is so aware and listens to everything. I LOVE IT!!!!!
So do you know how I've been telling people that I'm mexican? well now everyone is just giving me super hot food. this one family made a salsa made from habaneros which was super hot. there were a few people who couldnt even eat it but i took it like a man and represented for my family. and then this other family made a hot sause that was so hot that i started crying but i still ate it like a man....well a crying man. so i was building up my street cred with eating this super hot stuff and people were acknoweldging me as a 1/4 mexican. but then when i couldnt eat that stomach that i told you about last week it brought me back down to regular old white man status. so i was super sad about that. i have a long road ahead of me to bring myself back up to where i was before.
Do you all even like my stories? because you dont ever comment on them so i dont know if you just think they are lame and not worth talking about them or what. if you dont like them ill try and think of better ones. I'm trying to keep the super cool ones till after my mission so that people still wanna talk to me about my mission haha.
Yesterday in church the 6 missionaries sang a song in sacrament. we did super super good. even mixed it up a little to allow the spirit to really be there. the spirit was so strong and almost everyone was crying. well just the ones who arent hardened criminals were crying. so about half :) but we did really good and the spirit was really strong... this week has been super super cold and i was just super torqued at my comp because he wont ride bikes when its really cold so we walked everywhere and just wasted so much time doing that. we missed a lot of citas and i just feel like we didnt hardly get anything done. but oh well i guess. this week we should have better weather. and this week will go by super fast i think. lots of good things are happening here. thank you for your prayers on my behalf and my investigators. it really does help so much. I'm glad all is well with the fam. oh, the pictures turned out so good. my favorite one is the one with the whole family just hugging each other. i love my family super a lot. i know that the book of mormon is true and that it was written for us in this day so that we can become better and be prepared to live with god again. i know that Christ is our savior and that him and god really appeared to Joseph Smith. I'm thankful for this gospel and I'm grateful that we have an eternal family.
Elder Hardman
As always, this week was good and i learned a lot. first i am going to answer your questions. i got a letter from Beth and she told me she will be getting her big discount soon. since i have to have winter stuff this is what i need. a couple scarfs and hats (beanies) and long johns (just the bottoms) i have that jacket that we bought before i left and those sweaters you sent me are super good. i will buy gloves here so that i can pick some out that will be good for here and missionary work. i dont believe i need anything else. just tell her to pick some stuff out that will make me look super fresh but will also make people know I'm a missionary :) thank you. and the package you sent me was a really good one. the bread was sooooo good. everything was good. i loved the pictures, except they made me feel bad because now I'm just fat and not as good looking as i was way back then. haha so i went running this morning and my legs hurt super bad. but i feel good. so for the package you want to send me. just send it to the mission office because transfers are next week and I'm pretty sure I'm being transfered. so you can just wait a little longer to send it and send it there and ill pick it up at transfer meeting. thank you.
So there is this kid that i baptised a while ago and he is 9. but he has the most sincere prayers I've ever heard in my life. actually it rebukes me everytime i hear him because i know my prayers need to be like that. well his dad is in mexico and his mom is here and she is getting married to one of our investigators that shes been living with so that he can be baptised and she told us that he was having such a hard time with it and that he would always tell her that she cant marry him and stuff like that so she asked us to talk about it with him so we did and then we had him pray about it and ask god if everything is going to be ok so he did. the most amazing prayer i have ever heard in my entire life. well after the prayer he was super happy and he told us that god told him that everything is going to be ok and that his dad in mexico will still always be his dad. it was just such an amazing experience and strengthened my testimony on prayer. God is so aware and listens to everything. I LOVE IT!!!!!
So do you know how I've been telling people that I'm mexican? well now everyone is just giving me super hot food. this one family made a salsa made from habaneros which was super hot. there were a few people who couldnt even eat it but i took it like a man and represented for my family. and then this other family made a hot sause that was so hot that i started crying but i still ate it like a man....well a crying man. so i was building up my street cred with eating this super hot stuff and people were acknoweldging me as a 1/4 mexican. but then when i couldnt eat that stomach that i told you about last week it brought me back down to regular old white man status. so i was super sad about that. i have a long road ahead of me to bring myself back up to where i was before.
Do you all even like my stories? because you dont ever comment on them so i dont know if you just think they are lame and not worth talking about them or what. if you dont like them ill try and think of better ones. I'm trying to keep the super cool ones till after my mission so that people still wanna talk to me about my mission haha.
Yesterday in church the 6 missionaries sang a song in sacrament. we did super super good. even mixed it up a little to allow the spirit to really be there. the spirit was so strong and almost everyone was crying. well just the ones who arent hardened criminals were crying. so about half :) but we did really good and the spirit was really strong... this week has been super super cold and i was just super torqued at my comp because he wont ride bikes when its really cold so we walked everywhere and just wasted so much time doing that. we missed a lot of citas and i just feel like we didnt hardly get anything done. but oh well i guess. this week we should have better weather. and this week will go by super fast i think. lots of good things are happening here. thank you for your prayers on my behalf and my investigators. it really does help so much. I'm glad all is well with the fam. oh, the pictures turned out so good. my favorite one is the one with the whole family just hugging each other. i love my family super a lot. i know that the book of mormon is true and that it was written for us in this day so that we can become better and be prepared to live with god again. i know that Christ is our savior and that him and god really appeared to Joseph Smith. I'm thankful for this gospel and I'm grateful that we have an eternal family.
Elder Hardman
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Monday, October 17, 2011; Week 31
Indianapolis~
Momma,
What a good good good week. i dont even know where to start. it sounds like things are going super good for the family. i love my mission more then ever.
I dont know if i told you before but we set a date with hmo Figaroa finally and everyone here is just so excited. its really cool that he did it. just the simple fact that he would set a date says a lot about what we did. he has been taught for 7 years and his wife has been less active for longer then that. so we worked with her like crazy and she is finally getting solid again. this work is just awesome. he has a son who is 6 years old and weighs about 130lbs. while we were setting the date he was in the room trying to jump rope. hahahahahahaha oh my goodness. just picture a little fat kid that has no athletic ability at all trying to jump rope in the middle of a lesson. i could not stop laughing for the life of me. hahaha
Me and my companion are seeing a lot of success in our area. we are doing our best to change ourselves and be the missionaries god needs us to be and i think god is starting to trust us more with his children. we were able to get 5 more solid investigators this week which is really super cool because we have really been struggling finding new people. but we are starting to get better at not letting them run away from us. we have been told by at least two of the new ones that every one sees us and runs inside. super cool that everyone knows who we are.
So this week we had a member who came and told us that she is having troubles with her son. he doesnt want anything to do with the church and stuff like that so she asked us to come over one night and talk to him. so we did and he just reminded me of my self when i was young and dumb and didnt really like the church and didnt realize what my parents were doing for my. so we just started talking and asked him if he's been reading and praying and he said he never has before and then we talked about a lot of other stuff. the spirit is just so amazing because through the spirit i was able to discern what his real problem was with the church. he wouldnt tell us because his mom was right there. so then i just asked him " do you not want to be part of it because you feel like your parents are forcing you" he said yes so then i just bore down on pure testimony and personal experience. this kid really hit home with me. since Ive matured a bit i have realized how dumb i was at home and how disrespectful i was to you and dad. but untill then, untill i was talking to this kid i never really realized why you did the things you did and why you always pushed us to be better. its because you LLOOVVEE us. thank you so much for what you do for me. sorry for not realizing things while i was still at home. i talked to him again yesterday and he told me he has been reading. cool huh?
So one day we were tracting and we walked into this apt building and we were there for about 5 minutes and in that time there was about 7 people who knocked on this one door and for an exchange of money this little old mexican lady would give the underage kids cigerets or beer. it was super funny but supper bad at the same time. i wanted to knock on the door to make her feel like a horrible person when we talked about Jesus Christ but my comp wouldnt let me. oh another thing. we were doing service for a guy who is getting married/baptised next week and he brought out some soup for us and usually they make really good soup so i was excited to eat it. but it ended up being stomach of some animal. it smelt like something died and it tasted even worse. i took one bite and swallowed it and then i waited till he left. then i threw up and put all i could in a napkin and ran to the bathroom to flush it down the toilet. haha easily the most horrible thing i have ever had in my life. everytime i think about it i just get sick. so he walks back out a little later and sees that we both look sick and he just starts laughing and said that he knew we werent going to like it. haha rude huh?
Well momma i have got to go. i love you and i hope all goes well for you and the family this week. please tell Kenny happy birthday for me. and happy late birthday to you and dad as well. love you. the church is true. my testimony grows more and more everyday.
Elder Hardman
Momma,
What a good good good week. i dont even know where to start. it sounds like things are going super good for the family. i love my mission more then ever.
I dont know if i told you before but we set a date with hmo Figaroa finally and everyone here is just so excited. its really cool that he did it. just the simple fact that he would set a date says a lot about what we did. he has been taught for 7 years and his wife has been less active for longer then that. so we worked with her like crazy and she is finally getting solid again. this work is just awesome. he has a son who is 6 years old and weighs about 130lbs. while we were setting the date he was in the room trying to jump rope. hahahahahahaha oh my goodness. just picture a little fat kid that has no athletic ability at all trying to jump rope in the middle of a lesson. i could not stop laughing for the life of me. hahaha
Me and my companion are seeing a lot of success in our area. we are doing our best to change ourselves and be the missionaries god needs us to be and i think god is starting to trust us more with his children. we were able to get 5 more solid investigators this week which is really super cool because we have really been struggling finding new people. but we are starting to get better at not letting them run away from us. we have been told by at least two of the new ones that every one sees us and runs inside. super cool that everyone knows who we are.
So this week we had a member who came and told us that she is having troubles with her son. he doesnt want anything to do with the church and stuff like that so she asked us to come over one night and talk to him. so we did and he just reminded me of my self when i was young and dumb and didnt really like the church and didnt realize what my parents were doing for my. so we just started talking and asked him if he's been reading and praying and he said he never has before and then we talked about a lot of other stuff. the spirit is just so amazing because through the spirit i was able to discern what his real problem was with the church. he wouldnt tell us because his mom was right there. so then i just asked him " do you not want to be part of it because you feel like your parents are forcing you" he said yes so then i just bore down on pure testimony and personal experience. this kid really hit home with me. since Ive matured a bit i have realized how dumb i was at home and how disrespectful i was to you and dad. but untill then, untill i was talking to this kid i never really realized why you did the things you did and why you always pushed us to be better. its because you LLOOVVEE us. thank you so much for what you do for me. sorry for not realizing things while i was still at home. i talked to him again yesterday and he told me he has been reading. cool huh?
So one day we were tracting and we walked into this apt building and we were there for about 5 minutes and in that time there was about 7 people who knocked on this one door and for an exchange of money this little old mexican lady would give the underage kids cigerets or beer. it was super funny but supper bad at the same time. i wanted to knock on the door to make her feel like a horrible person when we talked about Jesus Christ but my comp wouldnt let me. oh another thing. we were doing service for a guy who is getting married/baptised next week and he brought out some soup for us and usually they make really good soup so i was excited to eat it. but it ended up being stomach of some animal. it smelt like something died and it tasted even worse. i took one bite and swallowed it and then i waited till he left. then i threw up and put all i could in a napkin and ran to the bathroom to flush it down the toilet. haha easily the most horrible thing i have ever had in my life. everytime i think about it i just get sick. so he walks back out a little later and sees that we both look sick and he just starts laughing and said that he knew we werent going to like it. haha rude huh?
Well momma i have got to go. i love you and i hope all goes well for you and the family this week. please tell Kenny happy birthday for me. and happy late birthday to you and dad as well. love you. the church is true. my testimony grows more and more everyday.
Elder Hardman
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Monday, October 10, 2011; Week 30
Indianapolis~
Momma,
As i pondered the things that i could tell you to help you feel at peace with your brothers death my mind kept going to the scripture D&C 18:10 "remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God. i have been thinking a lot about this scripture and a lot about Kirk and a lot about the tender mercies that god gives us when we are in need. i think that this, as sad as it is for the family and how he died \, was a tender mercy for him. he needed to get away from this life and his addiction so that he would be able to accept the gosple on the other side. another thing i was thinking about a lot in respects to you and trying to help you feel better was the tender mercy of the lord that was given to me when Elder Evans came. god knew that i was in need of something and he knew that the only person that was going to be able to help me was elder Evans and the things that he was inspired to say to me that day. if god is so aware of one missionary serving in Indiana. one missionary out of over 55000 that are serving in the world. if he was aware of me and my struggles how much more aware is he of that missionaries family and the things they are going through. momma, kirks soul was worth something to god. he was worth something to Jesus Christ because Christ suffered for him and for his addictions and for his pains. my soul is worth something and thats why he comforts me when i need it and your soul is great in the sight of god. he isnt going to leave you and your family alone right now. he is with you and aware of you. sorry this is a week late. i hope you feel good tho.
And Bryn, oh my heck. what is going on with her. I'm sure this is the reason why i havent gotten an email from you. its ok i understand. but whats gong on with her. i thought the medication was working for her? please let me know whats going on with her. she is in my prayers and Summer and James are as well. if something takes a bad turn will you please let me know?
This week has been a good one for me. we have a date with Figaroa. it is in December. we set it so far a way because he wants to make sure that his wife keeps coming to church., she has been pretty good about it so we will see what happens in December. unless i stay in this area another transfer i wont be here for it. i think I'm leaving tho. i dont think anyone has ever stayed in their first area for 5 transfers. vamos a ver. we are still working super hard with Hermana Marcos. she told us that she wants to learn more about the bible and how it works with the Book of Mormon so that she can be more confident in talking to her husband because at this time he still wont give us the time of day. Hermano Martinez or Enelio i think i called him the first time i talked about him is moving along super good. he is even starting to talk to his mom who is suppppppperrrr catholic and she is interested a little so we'll be teaching her pretty soon.
The lady that we gave a blessing to last Sunday is all good now. she doesnt have cancer and she is no longer sick. she had been sick for 2 years and 4 of her siblings have died from the cancer that the doctors thought she had. oh my heck the priesthood is so amazing. what a blessing it is to be able to be worthy of the priesthood. and just to make it clear and giving all the glory to god. but just like Ammon, i have joy for the miracles that god is able to perform through me and my comp. everything else is still going good with our area. we are struggling super bad with finding people who are interested and actually want to learn and not just want to listen to the word of god for one day. but we are working as hard as we can.
We teach a lot of super super weird people. really funny. i wont tell you what faith they are of but this week almost every new people we taught were of a faith that repeat the prayers that are said. it shocked me the first couple times it happened because they just started repeating everything super loud. ehhh i guess you would have to be there. well I'm out of time. love you momma and i hope that everything is going good with Bryn and with the family
i know that our lives are being watched over and that everything that happens has gods hand in it. this church is true.
Elder Hardman
Momma,
As i pondered the things that i could tell you to help you feel at peace with your brothers death my mind kept going to the scripture D&C 18:10 "remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God. i have been thinking a lot about this scripture and a lot about Kirk and a lot about the tender mercies that god gives us when we are in need. i think that this, as sad as it is for the family and how he died \, was a tender mercy for him. he needed to get away from this life and his addiction so that he would be able to accept the gosple on the other side. another thing i was thinking about a lot in respects to you and trying to help you feel better was the tender mercy of the lord that was given to me when Elder Evans came. god knew that i was in need of something and he knew that the only person that was going to be able to help me was elder Evans and the things that he was inspired to say to me that day. if god is so aware of one missionary serving in Indiana. one missionary out of over 55000 that are serving in the world. if he was aware of me and my struggles how much more aware is he of that missionaries family and the things they are going through. momma, kirks soul was worth something to god. he was worth something to Jesus Christ because Christ suffered for him and for his addictions and for his pains. my soul is worth something and thats why he comforts me when i need it and your soul is great in the sight of god. he isnt going to leave you and your family alone right now. he is with you and aware of you. sorry this is a week late. i hope you feel good tho.
And Bryn, oh my heck. what is going on with her. I'm sure this is the reason why i havent gotten an email from you. its ok i understand. but whats gong on with her. i thought the medication was working for her? please let me know whats going on with her. she is in my prayers and Summer and James are as well. if something takes a bad turn will you please let me know?
This week has been a good one for me. we have a date with Figaroa. it is in December. we set it so far a way because he wants to make sure that his wife keeps coming to church., she has been pretty good about it so we will see what happens in December. unless i stay in this area another transfer i wont be here for it. i think I'm leaving tho. i dont think anyone has ever stayed in their first area for 5 transfers. vamos a ver. we are still working super hard with Hermana Marcos. she told us that she wants to learn more about the bible and how it works with the Book of Mormon so that she can be more confident in talking to her husband because at this time he still wont give us the time of day. Hermano Martinez or Enelio i think i called him the first time i talked about him is moving along super good. he is even starting to talk to his mom who is suppppppperrrr catholic and she is interested a little so we'll be teaching her pretty soon.
The lady that we gave a blessing to last Sunday is all good now. she doesnt have cancer and she is no longer sick. she had been sick for 2 years and 4 of her siblings have died from the cancer that the doctors thought she had. oh my heck the priesthood is so amazing. what a blessing it is to be able to be worthy of the priesthood. and just to make it clear and giving all the glory to god. but just like Ammon, i have joy for the miracles that god is able to perform through me and my comp. everything else is still going good with our area. we are struggling super bad with finding people who are interested and actually want to learn and not just want to listen to the word of god for one day. but we are working as hard as we can.
We teach a lot of super super weird people. really funny. i wont tell you what faith they are of but this week almost every new people we taught were of a faith that repeat the prayers that are said. it shocked me the first couple times it happened because they just started repeating everything super loud. ehhh i guess you would have to be there. well I'm out of time. love you momma and i hope that everything is going good with Bryn and with the family
i know that our lives are being watched over and that everything that happens has gods hand in it. this church is true.
Elder Hardman
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)