6/23/14 Interviews

Wow! It sounds like a lot has been going on at home!

I am so jealous that ERIC got to hike the glacier! and go to the Musk Ox farm! AND GO RAFTING???? I am so glad to see that he is having fun(: 

 

MAN! Camden's bday party looks so fun!  The whole family together!!! And Jada is getting baptized! yayyy! That is sooo exciting!

Yes! This week I got the other skirts and shirts! They are super cute! And the MOTAB CDs I got a while ago, we LOVE them!

How is Packer doing? We had interviews with President Alba this last week, and he asked me about Packer(: And Elder Waite haha

Ok, when I read your email earlier this week I was SO HAPPY!

This is the beginning of week 5, so not this coming up friday but the friday after (4th of July) we find out who goes and who stays! I can't believe it is already so close! This transfer is just flying by! I am loving it! I pray every day that Hermana Kaiser, Hermana Sommer and I will get another 6 weeks together... but I don't think so:(

 So this last Thursday we had interviews with President. That was SO good! I missed President and Sister Alba so much! It was really good to talk to them. Both of them told me they are so proud of me, and that they only hear good things about me from the other missionaries. And they are both really impressed with my leadership skills. It was awesome(: And I had my whole interview with President IN SPANISH! Last time we had interviews, President scolded me and said I needed to be better (I had only been on my mission 8 weeks at that point) but this time he said my spanish was really good! So that made me feel a TON better!

Also, the last time we had interviews, Elder Waite was asking President for permission to extend his mission... that was a while ago!

So let me tell you about this MIRACLE we had yesterday!

So we went to a scheduled appointment with this guy named Ernesto. We knocked his door and this teenage kid answered. And he told us Ernesto is his uncle and that he doesnt actually live there. (RUDE!) But we asked if we could share a video with Kevin. We shared Because of Him, and it really touched him. He asked us "Do you think God, would really fogive some one like me?" It brought tears to my eyes. It was such a sweet sincere question...

He went on to tell us he was 16 years old, on probation, addicted to weed (but trying to stop, he knows it is not good for you) and has a 16 year old pregnant girlfriend. Their baby is due in December. So he is working his tail off this summer to be able to afford a baby and everything it needs. He has already picked out names. It was super sweet. I was so proud of him for stepping up and taking that responsibility instead of ditching the girl, or running away. And he has the goal that he and his girlfriend are both gonna finish High School too.

It is really amazing to see so much potential in someone like that. He has done everything. He has hit rock bottom. And he is really rising from those ashes. We are gonna go see him on Thursday. I am super excited to help Kevin, I know the gospel will bless his life. The best part is, he does too. He wants to raise his baby going to church, because he has been the difference in his life when he goes to church and when he doesn't. How cool huh?

And if we would have gone there, asked for Ernesto, realized he didn't live there and left- we never would have met Kevin! He wouldn't have told us about his life! It was amazing.

So yesterday night we also had a BBQ in the park with a member, Alma Jara, for dinner. And Hermana Amabilia brought these two kids she babysits. SO. CUTE! I took pictures with them! I love them! Ricardo, the little 2 year old, told me he wanted some ice cream, but I didn't have any money (Plus it was Sunday) but these other random people bought ice cream for him. It was super nice! They asked me "Is he your son?"

And I was like "Noooo! I am a missionary!" 

And they were really impressed that all of us missionaries were helping take care of these little mexican children, so they bought ice cream for all the kids. It was super sweet!

Yesterday was an amazing day. Probably my favorite day all week. 

Oh yeah! Tuesday was super good too though! 

So I taught in District Meeting for our district (In Spanish) and we were talking about what type of things might stop us from being diligent, so I cut out paper swords, and we wrote on the swords all our fears and then buried them outside in the dirt like the Anti-Nephi-Lehies! It was really cool!!!!(: And fun!

This week district meeting is gonna be awesome. District Leader Phillips and I are working together, because AP Greenwood is coming! 

So it has to be super good!

Today we are playing the World Cup! For Pday! Soccer! 

So the Zone Leaders assigned teams and countries, there are a lot of costumes involved. We are excited(: hahaha

I will take lots of pictures! Promise!

Well I love you so much!

Have a great week!

I am LOVING my mission! Every day! 

Cant wait to hear from you!

Love

Hermana Hardy!

The Sunday of 70's.

Mom!

I am loving the pictures you sent me of Camden! What. A. Ham!

He is too funny!

I'm sorry there has been so much drama back home:( And I'm a little bit glad to hear you miss me! Hahaha

YES! We got your packages right after dinner on Monday night. I LOVED it! It was very thoughtful! Thank you so much mom! My companions and I ate lunch at Subway today to celebrate!(:

PLEASE tell Camden HAPPY BIRTHDAY for me!! And give him a big hug and kiss! XOXO

Whoa Elder Call! That is NUTZ! haha we had a 70 come to our mission this week too! But we knew he was coming for like months before! haha it was such a great conference! I LOVED it! It was so so so good! I learned a ton! 

My week was wonderful. My teaching pool is growing every day. We are literally seeing so many miracles!!! Our area is about to explode! We have 2 baptismal dates right now- Miguel y Chato-, this week we are planning to set another one with our awesome investigator Daniel too! President Alba wrote my companions and I an email this week saying he is really impressed with the work we are doing in this area(: So that was awesome.

How was Father's Day? Did Dad get my card?

I miss you and love you too.

I know you can find comfort in the scriptures and through prayer.

Can you believe one year ago I got called to teach Primary and I was still waiting for my mission call?

One year from Today, I'll be home! 

Time is flying by wayyy too fast! I am loving it!

Take good care of Elder Eric... he is loving it though!

I love you so much mom!

Love

Hermana Hardy

Birthday!! 20 Years old!

Ok my birthday!
It all started at 6:30am when we went out for our jog. We usually go
to this track and there are usually 4 elders there, the Novato Elders
(Elder Sacco, Elder Randall, Elder Little, and Elder Meiners) but only
two of them showed up. We asked where the other Elders were and Elder
Little said "They ran a different track this morning". Then we headed
back to our apartment and We waved to Elder Sacco and Elder Randall.
Then we got back and they had Decked Out our door! It was covered in a
plastic princess thing, there were streamers and balloons and a Happy
Birthday sign! And a stuffed animal dog haha
So then we went inside and my companions insisted that I shower first.
So I did and they made me breakfast while I was in the shower. They
made a fried egg, some toast, a smoothie, and a BUNCH of
strawberries!(:Then we got ready for the day and did our studies.
I opened my package from Wendy during Language study hahah that was
exciting! Hermana Kaiser has my camera and was trying to take
pictures.. But she took of videos and didn't know how to turn the
video off haha but I LOVED the package! It was so sweet! My companions
thought it was funny I got so many socks(: hahha
Then it was lunch time, I walked in the bathroom to fix my hair and my
companions attacked me and blindfolded me!They said. "What all do you
need for today?" They made me brush my teeth blinded folded! Hahaha
they handed me my socks and shoes and my purse and we headed out the
door.They put me in the backseat. I had no idea where we were going...
We ended up at a Pizza place. They made me go in with them. They
ordered pizza. I sat there chatting with a guy from Guatemala in
Spanish, blindfolded mind you. On the way out I ran into a bunch of
cars. Then we made it to the car again and drove for a while.
 I figured we were going to the church, but I really didn't know for
sure. Made it in the church and I could hear people running. And then
I heard the Elders talking. Then they walked me in circles for a while
and finally stopped me.
They unblindfolded me. I was standing in the middle of circle on the
gym floor. both Elder Phillips and Elder Sabin stood across from me
armed with POKEMON!!All of that for a Pokemon battle???I wish I could
have gotten a picture of their faces. They were very serious. Elder
Phillips said, "Welcome to the Water Pokemon gym. I am Misty, the gym
leader of this gym. And I challenge YOU to a Pokemon battle!"So I
pulled my Pokemon out of my purse (yes, I had 2, and they are ALWAYS
in my purse) and I won! Woohoo!
Then Hermana Gonzalez came in.Elder Phillips said "Oh! Sisters. what
are you doing here in this place at this time?"Hermana Gonzalez put a
crown on my head and then had to ask me a question. While I was
looking at her I got blindfolded again.
I got dragged all over the church. Hermana Sommer forgot to tell me
there were stairs so I totally biffed it and face planted hahaha
Then I finally got unblindfolded again.I was in the kitchen and all
Spanish branch missionaries were there! They sang "Feliz Cumpleaños a
ti!" And then I blew out the candles.The Elders made a cake for me! It
was chocolate. The bottom layer was just flat and they frosted it
blue. Then the top layer was a circle frosted like a pokeball! The
letters were yellow and it was Happy Birthday, H. hardy like a POKEMON
CARD!!
Yes, mom. For my 20th birthday, on my mission, I had Pokemon Pizza Party
.So it's a Mexican tradition that the birthday person takes the first
bite with their face. I went in for a lick and Elder Teran smashed the
cake in my face hahahha Oh yeah and Elder Teran made flan! It was a
great lunch!
Then we all went out separate ways and did our weekly planning.For
dinner we went to our Less Active (Vicki) house. She had gotten us
Little Ceasars Pizza and a DELICIOUS chocolate cake! And she got me a
little present. So nice. A cute little necklace.Then we went out and
did some missionary work!
We met a bunch a new people and saw miracles! We finally got a hold of
this guy Edgar, who we haven't seen for weeks! Then We taught a lesson
to this guy Nicolas and at the end of the lesson we asked "Who do you
know that needs a message about Jesucristo (I mean Jesus Christ hahaha
#spanglish) in their lives right now?"And without hesitating he said
my neighbors in number 9!And we were like "Ok!" So we walked over to
number nine. We were in a trailer park. And there was a guy living
UNDER a trailer in spot number nine. His name was Francisco. He was
pretty drunk, but he was really friendly. We asked if we could come
back another time and he said "Dejame" which means like, "wait one
sec"He went into his little room under the trailer and came out
holding one of our pamphlets!He said this book is very important to
him and he knows everything inside of it is true. On the back it said
Hermana Harris and Hermana Brighton. Which means they met him WEEKS
ago and we just found him again!So we left him with a Book of Mormon
and asked him if he would prepare to be baptized in August and he said
yes! I'm really excited about him! I know we will see miracles, and I
know Francisco can be baptized this August!So that was exciting.
We missed a call from our other Less Active Manuel, we listened to the
message and he sang happy birthday to me! Sooo sweet. We had an
appointment that night with him, so we called him back but he had to
cancel he was at the hospital because a friend of his just had a baby!
On my birthday(: So then we pulled over the decide what to do. I was
driving at this point. I looked around to try to figure out where to
go next and I got blindfolded again. I was like "are you kidding me?"
Hahha
So I climbed in the backseat and Hermana Kaiser drove. I really had no
idea where we were going this time. Then I heard "Welcome to
McDonalds, can I get your order?"Hahahha
We got ice cream cones and my companions ordered me a Pokemon toy haha
she asked what color, and we all said Red! (Yes, by now all the
missionaries in the branch know which Pokemon is in which colored
ball.... This really kind of got out of hand hahaha) so I got a
Pikachu(:
Then we drove home and finished weekly planning. We texted the Novato
Elders and asked if they wanted some birthday cake (since we had 2 at
this point and 2 let over pizzas) so Elder Sacco and Elder Randall
came over. They handed us two tubs of ice cream! Hahahha they asked us
like 2 weeks ago what our favorite types of ice cream are and they
remembered! Hahah we made them take one of the cakes home though haha
They are so sweet.So that was my day! We ended with a really good comp
inventory.I LOVE my companions and my zone! It was a really REALLY
good day! I had so much fun! I was feeling really loved!!
And yes, for the 20th birthday entering into adulthood, I had a
Pokemon Pizza Party(: hahahaI'll never forget it.(:By the way, when we
got home we got a slip that said the UPS guy came, he has 3 packages
for me. But we missed him! So we are gonna try to get a hold of the
packages later today. Sorry!

That was my birthday. the rest of the week was good too!

I was SO SO SO happy to see that picture of my primary class! I miss them so much! I still talk about them allllllll the time. Every week we help out in Primary and I miss them. The Sunbeams LOVE us though. There is this one little boy named Max that is soooo cute. I can't handle him. 

And a little boy named Camden (:

New Companion!

Ok. So. Wednesday was Transfers. we got our new companion Hermana Kaiser! She is awesome! Thursday I went to Santa Rosa for Leadership training all day. It was really fun to see all my Santa Rosa friends! I rode there with Hermana Tracy and Hermana Wise (two other STLs) but they live in Rhonert Park which is like 30 minutes away from our house, but on the way. So My companions drove me there and then they drove me the rest of the way. On the way home we got permission from President Alba for the Zone Leaders to take me home. So I was alone in a car with two Elders. That was different. hahha But it wasn't too awkward. They were really sweet and offered to take me out to dinner and every thing (Because I missed dinner because the meeting and my companions were at dinner while we were driving home) so anyway.

I love being an STL! so far it has been super fun! And all the meetings we go to my companions come too. (: Mostly I just work really closely with the Zone Leaders and District Leaders so that they know EXACTLY what is going on with the Sisters in our Zone. (It is hard for them because a lot of them don't know how to talk to Sisters hahah its really funny)

anyway, so far there are no bad parts.

I am so pumped for this transfer!

My new companion is awesome and really our whole Zone Is!

But to answer your question. Yes I am here in Novato to stay. I'll be here on Friday.(:

And I thought of something else! If you wanted to send me a new memory card or two, it think it is about time to send this one home. It is super full! haha

Yes I have inherited a few skirts from companions and other sisters in the Zone(:

Yes we have had A LOT of missionaries go home. Mostly for health reasons.

Good luck with the cowgirls and reindeer handling drama! Sounds like fun!

That would be awesome if Aaron Nelson would ride Duchess!

Hhaaha

Oh yeah, also this weekend on Sunday we had a stake missionary fireside thingy. So all the missionaries in the stake met together (Which is my Zone and another Zone!) So i got to see more of my friends there! The Novato English Elders had a baptism last saturday that we got to go to! It was beautiful! Brother Radcliffe had been investigating the church for 17 years! He goes to church every sunday with his wife and kids and just randomly decided to get baptized! It was awesome!!!! It was a really really good week.

I got to see lots of friends and had a really good time(:

Today we are planning to go to have a BBQ at the beach!

I can't believe it is already JUNE! I have been out almost 6 months!!!!

But yeah we can pretty much do whatever we want on Pday within mission rules. No horse riding:( or fourwheelers or rock climbing. The Elders go mountain biking a lot. One Zone went and did Laser Tag! Last week was mini golf. Really we are pretty free to try whatever we want.

Anyway I'm gonna try to send you pictures now!

Love you so much mom! I hope your week was good too!

All my love,

Hermana Hardy

P.S. So i tried to not tell anyone it was my birthday, but naturally they all found out. One of our Less Actives, Vicky, is gonna feed us dinner that night(: And the Elders are planning something. Both the Zone Leaders (Elder Sacco and Elder Randall) and my District Leader (Elder Phillips) asked what my favorite type of cake is. Another Member (Mama P) is having us over for a birthday dinner on Wednesday too. So don't worry. I'll be taken care of haha

 

 

This is our District. Looking classy in Purple!

From Left to Right

Hermana Kaiser, Hermana Sommerfeld, Hermana Hardy, Elder Phillips, Elder Sabin, Elder Teron, and Elder Jeske!

The green sweater is her new companion.

 

Yeah huh?? The Elders eat McDonald's like every day for lunch to try to "catch 'em all" and then we all fight each other in the hallways. Its pretty stinkin funny.

It all started because I bought a Happy Meal with the intention of sending my brother's the Pokemon. But now this happened. I have to have a pokemon on me at all times. Just in case Elder Jeske and Elder Phillips start shooting pokemon at us during District Meeting some time hahahahaha 

It's so funny!

 

May 26, 2014 Transfers..Stayin' Put.

It is that time again! Another 6 weeks has come and gone...

So. Hermana Harris is getting transferred to Napa! She is leaving. Hermana Sommerfeld and I are staying here and getting a new companion-- Hermana Kaiser!

So I will still be in a trio. We will see how that goes!

Also....

I got called to be an STL!!!! I am super excited but also super nervous! Its kind of a big deal... cuz All the STL's I know have been on their missions for 9 months or a year. I haven't even been out 6 yet... So. I am REALLY excited that President and Sister Alba are trusting me with this when I am so young in the mission ahhaha

yeah! And the District Leader I will be working with a lot is Elder Phillips who was here last transfer, he is amazing! We have transfers on Wednesday and then we have Leadership Training on Thursday. So I get to go back to Santa Rosa this week! Yay!!!

So I am really excited for this next transfer!

But I don't know if any of these names mean anything to you...

But Elder Wright (From Rosa) is gonna be a ZONE LEADER with Elder Carrillo (Who was an AP)  in Vallejo! With Elder Albertson and Elder Dunlap!!!!! Vallejo Zone looks awesome right now ahhaa All my Santa Rosa friends!

Could you send me Packer's email or address or something so I can write him something? haha

Ok, sorry I didn't write much.

But I love you!

Busy day today! We are hoping to go mini golfing or do something crazy fun today! haha

Love you!

Love

Hermana Hardy

May 19th, 2014

What a week!

Today was so fun!!!

We went to Stinson Beach for Pday, I didn't take a lot of pictures, but it is beautiful!!!

We find out Transfer Doctrine this Friday! Which means they will tell us who stays and who goes!

So this last week, Tuesday was Zone Meeting. We learned about how we are crowned with Glory and we need to work towards a celestial mission, so they Zone Leaders got Burger King crowns for every one and dollar store tiaras for the Sisters. Wednesday we went to the temple!!! It is so beautiful! And it is a miracle we made it alive!! Because Hermano Aguila is the scariest craziest driver alive. He drives like he is from Mexico. Probably because he is hahahaha And then Today was Stinson Beach!

Yesterday we ate lunch at President Mejia's house (The branch president) so that was cool because in the 12 weeks Hermana Bryant lived here she never even knew where his house was! He doesn't invite missionaries over very often!

I forgot to tell you, when I told Elder Sabin they were filming an MTV show at my house yesterday he says "WHICH ONE??" all excited hahah so apparently somebody watches those shows haha

That is so cool that they are doing that for Zone Conference! Now that I know more about how a mission works and Zones and districts, I was wondering how many Zones there are in our mission back home! I'll have to ask one of the missionaries when I'm home. I know here, every Zone has a reputation. They are kind of associated with something.

Like Vacaville is crazy drama town. Vallejo is where all the Elders go that want to get shot. Eureka is "banishment". They all kind of have their little quirks haha

I can't believe you guys have been so busy lately! that sounds like so much fun!

I'm sorry If you didn't want to be overstaffed, but for me that is a blessing! I don't have to worry about you! That means every sunday this summer, and EVERY DAY, when some one calls in sick or quits, you have like 8 back up people to call. So you should not be working this summer! at all! Ok? That will take a lot of stress off me hahaha

I'm sorry your back has not been working good for you:(

I am glad those Bailey girls are working out so good! Have you figured out how to pay them yet? Are they gonna be around next summer? Did I get replaced? hahaha

 And they like to see pictures of Elder Dean.

Tell Packer, Elder Campbell says hi! And he also said he need to shave hahahaha

I had tears welling in my eyes when I read your email today mom. 

Thank you for being proud of me. I really needed to hear that. 

This transfer has been really hard and very different from my first two transfers.

Wish me luck! One last week til the transfer ends!!

Love you and miss you guys so much!

Love,

Hermana Hardy!

This is our Zone(: 

From left to right

Elder Bozant, Elder Ehlers, Elder Jeske, Elder Vang, Elder Little, Elder Evans, Elder Phillips, Elder Campbell, Elder Gunter, Elder Henry, Hermana Sommerfeld, Hermana Harris, Hermana Hardy, Sister Naqia, and Sister Hardston

With Elder Sabin in Elder Sacco's arms! haha

Most of my Zone at the temple this last wednesday!

My legs are still so white!

Us at the beach!

 

Sneaky Miracles

YAY! Mother's Day is this weekend!!!! Gahhhhh!

I am so excited to get to talk to you guys!

Yes, We get to Skype.

It sounds like you guys had quite the opening weekend!!!!(:

Packer is a farm boy! hahahahhaha Wow, driving the tractor and Everything? huh.. maybe he can work out at point this summer too! Get more hours!

I'm glad the Drama from the play is over.. that's too bad:( Lanisha said she liked it on Facebook! Punk! I wish they could just appreciate how hard those kids worked.. they didn't pick it! I remembered that song "You're Nothing Without Me!" Zach and Jarett were singing it around the house last summer when Mr. Harris talked about making this the play. I'm glad they got to do it! I can't wait to see it! I am so proud of both those boys!

I can't believe all those kids graduate so soon! I feel like I just graduated... what day is Graduation?

That is so exciting!!!

YAY JOEY! THAT IS SO EXCITING!!!!!!! ahhhhhh! I love Joey! I am so pumped for him! The CCM is wonderful!!! Yeah Hunter will have to wait, but not as long as me!!! It is all in God's time. I have a SUPER strong testimony of that. He will be there exactly when he needs to be. For those investigators, companions, and with that Mission President for a very specific reason, we won't always understand. Sometimes we do though(:

Wow it sounds so busy on the farm! I think this summer will be the hardest part of my mission haha I will be really TRUNKY and just want to go home and ride horses all summer ahhaha

Man it has been hot here too. This week I was super sick. I think I was sun sick and dehydrated. I felt like I had the flu on Tuesday, Wednesday, and it was really bad on Thursday and Friday. On saturday I was feeling a little bit better.

 

Ok I have to tell you about Saturday. It was a day full of miracles! The rest of the week was great too, but here we go.

So.

Friday night our Less Actives the Familia Carrillo called us and asked us to meet them at their store. We met Hermana Carrillo and she asked us to help with their Fundraiser for the Young Women on Saturday and we said yes!

So on Saturday morning we went to the church to help with the Zumbathon! It was a miracle that the Carrillos thought of us and then we made smoothies to give out all the time. So then after the Zumbathon that was a great success we saw Elder Jeske and Elder Phillips. We asked how their day was and they told us their adventures.

So about a month ago Elder Phillips bike got stolen, well Saturday morning while on their morning walk the Elders saw a bike with Red Tires. They run over there and see that it has been spray painted silver and covered in Duct Tape. they peeled back the tape.. it was Elder Phillips bike! So they run home and grabbed pliers and a saw and tried to saw this bike lock off with Elder Campbell and Elder Sabin. They called the other Elders and so Elder Evans and Elder Vang showed up with their blow torch. So 6 missionaries in broad daylight stole Elder Phillips bike back and he rode it home. So they were telling us this story. And Elder Jeske bought a brand new rim for his bike that cost $70 Saturday morning too. They loaded the two bikes up and drove to dinner.

We waited for like 20 minutes for the other Hermanas to show up so they could drive us to dinner. We called them and they were running late so we decided to drive ourselves. We are driving on the freeway and we see Elder Jeske's bike on the side of the freeway!!! In the far side of the carpool lane. We called the Elders and they pulled around to go back to get it. We turned around to pick it up before someone ran over it or before it got stolen. We pulled over on the side of the freeway. It was really scary! The car was shaking every time someone drove by. We said a prayer and asked for protection. 3 minutes later Mama P, a member, texted us "How are my girls?"

hahaha 

So we made it out ok. The Elders showed up and got their bike and we all made it to dinner ok.

But Elder Jeske's bike was thrashed. The seat was road rashed. And his brand new rim was destroyed. He has to buy a new one. But now he has no money..:(

So right after dinner Elder Campbell Elder Sabin Hermana Harris and Hermana Sommerfeld and I booked it over to the bike store and parked outside. We called the guy in the store and said "Will you tell the two guys walking up to the store to go away? We are in the parking lot, we will buy a new rim as soon as they leave, just tell them to go!"

So we watched him yell at them and take the tire. They turned around soo heartbroken.

Then they left. We ran inside and bought him a new rim! All together we pitched in 10 bucks each. So the guy called him and said it is all payed for and good to go!

On sunday at church he told us the miracle. He was so confused. It felt good to do an awesome rescue service activity like that!

So yeah!

Sorry if it doesn't make much sense!

I love you guys so much!

I CANNOT WAIT TO CALL YOU ON SUNDAY!

 

Talk to you soon!

Love you!

Bye!

Love Hermana Hardy!