Miguel Poot and Nicholas Cage!

Hey!

This week was phenomenal!!!

Miguel Poot was baptized yesterday! The service was amazing! After he was baptized we asked him to share his testimony. He has just a budding testimony but it is so powerful. It gives me goosebumps. He is so sincere. I love that man a lot...

The Greenies are so much fun!

They have so much energy I love it!

The Spanish branch missionaries are nervous, but excited. Elder Bertola is super fun he graduated from high school 2 months ago! Elder Frodsham is super chill. And Hermana Steiner is fun too. Elder Rasmussen seems to be doing really well, he plays piano really well! He is 20 and went to two years of college at BYU before the mission.

They are all super quiet, i wonder if I was that awkward when i was a greenie... probably hahaha

Its fun to see how far ive come, cuz a lot of the time i still feel like a greenie. haha

Hermana Berrett is wonderful! I LOVE her! The three of us have so much fun!

The earthquake was a little bit scary. Hope everyone is ok.

We didn't have a lot of impact here. It just felt like i was sitting on a washing machine! haha it made my companions and i wake up.

Napa and Vallejo got hit hard. They spent all day on sunday cleaning up. The roads got cracked and everything.

We are super excited for MLC on Friday! Its gonna be fun!

Glad to hear you are having fun at school!

Love,

Hermana Hardy!!

Funny story- Yesterday we went to Stinson Beach for PDay and Nicolas Cage was there hanging with his son and his bodyguard. He rolled up in his Limo. We totally took a picture with him. All the Elders Shook his hand! As we walked away he says "I like those Mormon people"

Transfers, Trio's, Training!

Dear Mom,
This week has been amazing! It was just full of miracles!
We taught a lot of lessons! So we were pleased with that. Hopefully
this week will be just as good! The San Rafael South Zone is super
excited about the upcoming transfer!
There will be so many greenies and so much Greenie fire! Elder
Merrell, elder Minkler, and Hermana Billat are all training! So we
will be the only companionship in the branch not training! And we will
be a trio again! IM STAYING!! 6 MONTHS in Novato! That doesn't happen
very often that they give a sister a 6 month area so I'm super pumped!
Novato is like my 2nd home! And I'm keeping Hermana Wickline, we are
getting a new companion, Hermana Barett.
I know in the branch we are planning to have at least 3 baptisms this
upcoming transfer, and I know that will have a domino effect and the
people that come to the baptisms will want to be baptized as well.
These Greenies are going to start out strong and only grow and become
better throughout their missions. They are gonna be like SUPER
missionaries! Haha
So we are planning to start the transfer out strong with a baptism.
This upcoming Sunday, August 24th, Miguel Poot will be baptized at
4:30pm. Keep him in your prayers! Satan is doing everything he can to
stop this baptism from happening...
So it HAS to happen this weekend!
Hermana Wickline and I are super excited to be having a third
companion again! Hermana Barrett! It will be fun and I am sure she has
a lot to teach us haha
This upcoming transfer we also have interviews again and a temple
trip! Really it is going to be wonderful. I am really looking forward
to it.
I'm super sad to say goodbye to Elder Jeske, he and I have served
together every of my mission since I first got to Rosa! Crazy! I know!
But now we part:(
Wow. What a crazy day it's been!
Well I love and miss you all!
Love
Hermanita Hardy

8 Months Today!

Haha so I was like "National geographic is at my house today, huh."
And Elder Randall says "yeah, my house too."
I was like "really?"
He's like "no."
Hahah
The other missionaries get super excited about it. I bet if I was in a
white ward and told people about it, that they might actually look it
up. Spanish branch people don't really watch TV in English hahaha
So is she a good vet? Did she help you with your handling?

8 months today. Holy cow. That's how old Hermana Bryant was in the
mission when she trained me! Scary thought. She's almost home now!
I really do like to hear what is going on at home, thank you for
sharing everything with me. Like you said, we have always shared
everything! So it drives me crazy when they tell me what to write
home... But that's ok.
I'm glad to hear everything is going ok. I just wish I was there to help.
I want to be here too, it's a hard knock life haha
I LOVE my mission. I really do. But I'll also be super happy to be
home again in 10 more months.
A month from today I will be half way done with my mission!!! Where
did the time go?
September 13th is gonna be a great day! My family that I found and
taught in Santa Rosa, Carolina Fonseca and her kids Aidan, Jonathon,
and Lizbeth, are getting baptized on that day! I hope I get to stay
close to Rosa so I can go to the baptism! And Miguel MIGHT be getting
baptized on the 23rd of August, we need to have a serious talk with
him tonight to make sure he is really really ready and not just doing
it for his girlfriend.... So that's what we are gonna do(:
And on the 13th of September, the Arreaga family is getting baptized!
They are a golden family that Elder Jeske has been teaching, he taught
them with Elder Phillips and now with Elder Minkler. I was there their
first day at church! So I feel a special bond with them... And Elder
Phillips is serving close enough to San Rafael that he can come back
for the baptism!!!!!
So that's super exciting!
Lots of miracles happening over here!
We find out transfer doctrine on Friday. I'm super nervous! I don't
know if they will let me stay 6 months! But I hope so.
Sounds like a crazy week! But I love you, you guys are always in my prayers!
Talk to you soon!
<3
Hermana Hardy

Pres Alba visits

Man,
Time is flying by!
Sounds like you had a fun week(:
Sorry about the mean guy. I hope he doesn't shoot any horses! That's scary!
Especially cuz they are not all ours!
Wendy told me about the Youth Conference! That sounds like so much
fun!!! 
This last week was amazing! We had zone conference on Wednesday! So we
got to see President and Sister Alba, and the San Rafael North Zone,
so Elder Phillips and Hermana Kaiser and a bunch of my other friends
were there! That was fun! And I learned a lot!
On Thursday we saw all sorts of miracles! We taught a lesson with our
less active family the Carrillos that afternoon. But they had a friend
there, named Consuelo. She asked if she could join us! We were like
"sure!"
We were teaching about The Family: A Proclamation to the world and
Consuelo asked for a copy of it! It was super cool(: so she said she
will call us if she has questions about the pamphlet! Yay! Then that
night we taught a lesson to our investigator Bolivar. I LOVE that man.
He wasn't an investigator for a long time.., we were just trying to
build a relationship, but his trust. Now we are his friends and he
really confides in us. He confessed to us a bunch of regrets from his
life. It was awesome to be able to give him hope. We learned at Zone
Conference that the Doctrine of Christ, more than ANYTHING else we
teach gives people hope. Kinda cool. Before my mission, I never would
have thought calling people to repentance was a GOOD thing haha but it
is! It gives them hope! They can change and be clean again!(: so cool.
Then we were walking back to our car and we met this guy named Julio.
He said he has talked to missionaries before. He said the first time,
he told a Elder Baliasch and Elder Turk that he felt like he was gonna
win a new car. Two weeks later he won a car. The second time, he had
just lost his job, and he told the Elders he felt like he was gonna
get a really good job. 5 days later he got a really good job handed to
him on a silver platter. So this time, we asked, what do you feel
like? He said "I see a lottery ticket in my future."
And Hermana Wickline says, "ok, if you win the lottery, will you get baptized?"
And I was like, "you kind of owe God."
He said "tell you what, if I win the lottery not only will I be
baptized, but I will donate all the money to your church."
Wow! So we are excited to pass by this week and see him haha
Oh yeah, the funniest encounter of the day was when we went out to
lunch with the English sisters. We were leaving Panera Bread (best
place ever!) and this guy walks up to us and says "I have a random
question for ya"
And all of us are used to that by now. 4 girls in dresses with name tags haha
He says "do you need a job?"
He was totally gonna hire us on the spot! So we explained that we were
missionaries but we would totally take jobs after the mission. As we
drove home, Hermana Wickline and I were like "what about us made us
look so hire able?"
I guess we were dressed nice, in an upper scale fast food restaurant,
in Marin county, we were young, he probably thought we were college
students, but we were just laughing and smiling and talking to
everyone and having a good time.
Haha
Who knows. Now you have a sneak peak in a day in the life of a Missionary haha
It's super fun! You just have to roll with the punches as they come haha
Anyway, that was the highlight of the week for sure.
Sunday Presidente Mejia asked Hermana Wickline, Hermana Billat, and
Elder Minkler to give talks. It was gonna be a missionary day, and
then PRESIDENT ALBA showed up! None of us knew he was coming!!!!
Scared the crud out of us hahah
So they all gave their talks and he gave the closing remarks.
President Mejia leans over to me and says "that's the spirits way of
saying, 'nailed it'!" Hahahha
He didn't know President was coming either.
It was cool cuz after sacrament he and Sister Alba met all of our
investigators that came to church. We had the Beserra family there,
Jessie and her three kids. So that was super cool! It was their first
time at church, Jessie knew a ton of people in the branch! Hahaha
So were excited to see them again this week!
Anyway, it was a wonderful week full of miracles!
I love and miss you!
Praying for ya every day!
Con Amor,
Hermana Hardy

P.S. This week I converted my personal study to all Spanish. So now I
don't read my scriptures or conference talks or anything in Spanish
and I understand it all! And I switched he language on my iPad to
Spanish too. I'm learning all sorts of new words haha
Like "download" and "inbox" hahah

I'm getting a Reputation!

Holy Guacamole!

Yeah I bet the tours are super different now. I'm gonna have to get trained! haha

Yeah those other sides on the saddles.. Tyler and I were changing them all out so that they tied on both sides and then checking both sides when we saddled the horses. 

Ohhh I'm so Horse Sick. I miss them SO. MUCH. I hate that riding horses is against the mission rules.. the only rule harder for me than that is the no-holding-kids-on-your-lap rule hahaha

Most the rules I love and understand though. And I TOTALLY know why they don't let us ride horses... I can't even imagine taking my Zone for a trail ride.. that would be WAY stressful hahahah

I'm so happy to hear Lily has been a dude horse! I didn't know that! That's awesome!

And I'm glad they love Junebug. I bet I will love her too!

And the horses will get a day off! Yay!

Ok,, so your super fun tour Alaska day this week was all over facebook hahah

Every missionary that got on facebook asked me about it.

My zone leader, Elder Randall always says "Hey Sister Hardy, How was your day? I saw Elder waite with your family on Facebook!" hahaha

Sorry about the hay crop this year... wish I could help. I'll pray for you(:

I'm SOO sad about Blitzen! I love her...

Glad Jarett survived his talk too hahha

I really loved this email this week mom! Thanks for writing so much!

Oh what a great week. 

It was a super sad say goodbye week. I got to see Hermana Bryant at Transfers! I haven't seen her in 3 months! 

My new companion- Hermana Wickline- is SO stinkin funny.

So yeah she went to Peru for 4 months, then went home for 4 months to get feeling better, then came here! So she has been in the field for like 5 months, but she still has to go home at the same time so she goes home before me. I was saying my spanish will get really good cuz we are at like the same level of spanish... so we are learning and growing together!

It was a super fun week!

I think my favorite part was on Sunday night we had the stake meeting for all the missionaries SO WE GOT TO SEE ELDER PHILLIPS AND HERMANA KAISER AGAIN!

Ohhh i was so happy. 

So as soon as we get out of the car, Elder Alcivar, Elder Phillips' new companion, walks up to me and shakes my hand and says "Hermana Hardy! I've heard so much about you! I can't wait to serve with you!"

hahahah 

And Hermana Kaiser's companion, Hermana Santiago, gave me a big hug and said "She loves you! She's right, you're really loud."

hahahah

Both hermana Kaiser and Elder Phillips said they already miss my laugh...

So I guess I'm getting a little bit of a reputation for myself. Hopefully a good one hahha

It's gonna be such a great transfer! I'm gonna send you my memory card soon. This week we finished exchanging pictures before transfers, so I think I'm safe to send it home now.

I love you guys tons!

Youre always in my prayers!

Love

Hermana Hardy

7/7/14

Transfers!
And I'm STAYING!!!
It was not at all what any one expected. Hermana Sommerfeld is going
to Winters in Woodland, and Hermana Kaiser is leaving after only 6
weeks here. She is going to Rhonert Park. Not too far away.
Elder Phillips is leaving to Petaluma also, so we will see those two
at stake and zone things this transfer(: Elder Jeske and I are staying
together! At the end of this transfer it'll be 7 and 1/2 months that
we will have served together! Crazy!
Hermana Gonzalez is going to Fairfield! Her very first area! So it is
possible! Hahha
This was a great week!
Tuesday we had our last Zone Meeting all together. It was pretty good.
I taught about creativity. We played a fun game.

 Fourth of July was SO SO SO MUCH FUN,
We went to the Golden Gate Bridge with signs and handed out otter pops
hahaha how fun? People took pictures with us and of us and videos. We
waved to the buses driving by! It was amazing! Really, we met a TON of
people, and left a huge impression! Haha EVERYONE knew who we were.
Then that night we ate dinner with the Novato English elders and had
Apple Pie and hit dogs and hamburgers! American food!
On Saturday we met a guy named Bogden. He is crazy but he looks and
talks just like Gru from despicable me! Hahaha
Today we went out to lunch with the branch president. He is awesome.
I am super sad this transfer is coming to a close... We had SO much
fun! And I have made some friendships that will last forever. We
already planned the God Squad Reunion Road Trip!
My new companion that is coming in is named Hermana Wickline, I met
her once, she is coming from SANTA ROSA! So I'm sure we will have lots
to talk about. She is a transplant from Peru. She was only there 4 1/2
months so I think I am actually older than her in the mission,
Ahhhhh! My Spanish will get really good this transfer!
I'm nervous about all the changes... And I will be staying here in
Novato longer than I was in Rosa! It is like my new home. I love it.
But I am REALLY bummed this transfer is ending...
I'm excited for the next one. But my two companions are so great! I
will miss them so much!
Now I'll only have one companion again!
And I'm going to continue to be an STL(:
So anyway,
I have tons of journals to sign and I have to help my companions
finish packing...
I love you tons!
Hope you have a great week!
Sounds like last week was crazy! Hahah
Con amor,
Hermana Hardy

6/30/14 Valleys and Peaks!

This was a wonderful week! We saw so many miracles!
On Tuesday we had a wonderful district meeting! Elder Phillips and I team taught and we were blessed with Zone Leader Sacco and AP Greenwood in attendance. We had fun, edified the missionaries, and learned a lot. I really loved it! That evening my companions saw miracles!
Wednesday was an emotionally draining day. That morning we taught a lesson to our progressing investigator Daniel. Between our last lesson and this one, he had found a bunch of Anti-Mormon material. It really broke our hearts to have that lesson with him. He was so close to knowing the truth! And then he took a U-turn the wrong direction.
Then a member of the branch offered to take us out to lunch, and while we were in the restaurant another one of our investigators came into the restaurant drunk. We walked him home to make sure he made it safely. Another heartbreaking encounter. And the day continued. It was really exhausting. But my companions and i were able to lift one anothers spirits. I really do love Hermana Sommer and Hermana Kaiser. I have learned so much from them this transfer. They have helped me form the type of leader and the type of missionary i want to be.
I really enjoyed MLC on Friday as well!
Elder Randall and Elder Sacco and I have big plans for our Zone Meeting on Tuesday! It will be amazing!
Saturday was another exhausting day because everywhere we went we were ignored. But we always come home at night exhausted, not defeated. My companions and I are really good at lifting each other up.
On Saturday night we had a miracle. We were walking around after a whole day of being ignored, and we were just praying we could teach a lesson that day. We were getting back in our car when we saw a family walking to the store so we contacted them and walked with them, then we started to turn back and saw another family. Then we contacted them. Then we saw a party in the apartment building next to us. We stood outside and contacted people as they came out of the party. Then a neighbor from upstairs ran downstairs with his dog, we asked if we could pet his dog. He said yes, we chatted for a while and then he invited us back to his apartment to share more! We got our lesson!
It was amazing! His name is Jacob. He is awesome.
He prayed "Lord, please bless these nice young ladies might get a day off, maybe a Tuesday"
It was super funny haha

So anyway, it sounds like you guys have had all sorts of crazy stuff going on at home!
I can't believe you have been so busy!
Hey I love you guys!
I hope you have a great week!

Transfers are THIS FRIDAY!

ahhhhhh

and thus ends the best transfer SO FAR!(:

Con Amor,
Hermana Hardy