Three is NOT a crowd!

Hey! Life on the Island is great! Still loving it! haha

Yes there are beautiful beaches! Today we went to Point Bonita Lighthouse for Pday and took some amazing pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge and the Ocean! So pretty! We went with our Spanish Branch friends! It was so fun!

Being in a trio has SOO many benefits! I thought it was gonna be awkward and I thought that the missionaries in trios were all high maintenance companions. But they are not! (: My companions and I are having so much fun allllll the time!!! We really compliment each other in our weaknesses and strengths and work really well together! i LOVE them!

No mom we are not allowed to use Google haha just LDS.org. Sometimes mormon.org if we are lucky hahah

Yes there is a branch mission leader. We have weekly meetings with him and he goes to Ward Coorilation to tell the branch president what is up with the missionaries. And he will give our investigators rides to church if we need, and he will come with us to lessons. That's about it. In Santa Rosa. Hermano Navarro was in charge of our dinner calendar and filling it up, which was nice. Here they just have the women sign up during relief society... it doesnt work as well..

This play looks like so much fun!!!!! I have seen pictures on Facebook! What is it about? I am so proud of my little brothers! Every time I see those pictures on facebook I am like "Wow! Look at my brothers! They are so cute! And they look so classy!!!" (: But I have no idea what is going on in this play haha what is a "crooner"? Jarett looks so cute. I bet he is so good! And Zach too! I saw a pic of Jessie Owens and Braden as singers! And a super cute picture of him with Aubrey Sage!

Let me know how the Bailey girls do? Are they the three cowgirls? haha

I saw Taneisha post that she was with Packer and Lanesha too. Crazy... good ol Days haha

I listened to like the first 15 seconds of the clips you sent me and that was it :( It didnt work after that...

So anyway. This week has been crazy busy! But super fun!

On Saturday we had a stake wide service project, and we spread mulch at a Rec center in downtown Terra Linda for like 3 hours. With shovels and wheelbarrows. So the next day and even today we have all been SUPER sore! Then Saturday night was Sandra's Wedding! (Sandra is an investigator that got married on Saturday so she could get baptized on Sunday!) That was SO. MUCH. FUN. We served the food at the wedding so it was service. I am totally having a couple mexican wedding traditions at my wedding!!! So at the Wedding the branch President asked us three sisters to give talks in Sacrament.

So on Sunday the 1st hour Hermana Harris played piano in Primary and Hermana Sommerfeld and I finished writing our talks. The 2nd hour we taught a primary class because the teacher no showed.

 3rd hour Hermana Harris played piano for sacrament and I am the sacrament Chorister And all three of us gave talks! Then after church we had the baptism. I was the chorister, and hermana Harris played haha I was like "Holy Cow! These people are gonna get sick of my face!" hahah

But it was a fun day! Then we had a branch luncheon after the baptism. (:

So we spent a lot of time together as a branch this weekend, but it was good! We are all really good friends now!

Hermana Sommerfeld has essential oils and rubbed some lavender and deep blue into my shoulders last night, it really helped! Still sore today though! Everyone here fights over those essential oils. The Elders will do pretty much anything for some lavender or deep blue haha or past tense. Those are everybody's favorites!

Anyway.

Hope you guys are having a good week! Sounds busy busy over there! Looks like so much fun though!

I love you so much!

Love

Hermana Hardy

P.S. Sorry the pictures didnt work :( I'll try to send some more today!

Fun times! 

 

All of us at the Lighthouse!

From Left to right 

starting in the back Elder Sabin, Elder Phillips, Elder Jeske and Elder Campbell

In the front Hermana Whiteley, Hermana Harris, Hermana Sommerfeld, Hermana Gonzalez, and Hermana Hardy!(:

All of us in Matchy Red!

From Left to Right: 

In the back Elder Phillips, Elder Jeske, Elder Sabin, and Elder Campbell (They all look so classy!)

In the middle: Hermana Whiteley and Hermana Gonzalez

In the front: Hermana Hardy, Hermana Sommerfeld, and Hermana Harris!

New Area!

Woohoo! I'm here in Novato! My second area! I survived! haha

Oh my gosh, I am loving all these baby reindeer pics you are sending me mom!

Our new place is great, we live in an apartment with paper thin walls and grouchy neighbors. I actually have 2 new companions! I ended up being in a trio! 

Hermana (Aubrey) Harris is great! She is the Dragon Warrior haha she is sooo funny! and loving! she is a lot like Po from Kung Fu Panda haha

And Hermana (Hailey) Summerfeld. She spent the first 10 months of her mission in Chile and then had to go home because she had asthma. She was home for 3 months and now she is reassigned to Cali! 

So my new companions are great! We have so much fun!

Yes there are 4 companionships in this branch just like Rosa, 

Elder Jeske (From Santa Rosa!) With Elder Phillips,

Elder Campbelle (District Leader) with Elder Sabin

Hermana Gonzalez, and Hermana Whitely

And then us three(:

They are really nice and fun too!

So we kind of live on an island... we live in Novato, which is like 20 minutes away from San Rafael where the rest of our Zone is haha and all our dinners are and the church is... 

It is kind of cool here, because we have an all spanish district, so our district meetings are 100% in spanish. Its sweet. That'll help me pick up the language really well.

Easter was great!

Did you see the #becauseofhim movement on Facebook? Hahah I was pretty excited I got to be a part of that! We were the mass hit on Youtube, and it was trending on Facebook! It was sweet!

Hopefully you guys got the chance to go to mormon.org/becauseofhim this weekend because it has a BEAUTIFUL video! I loved it.

This branch is sweet. It is bigger than the White Ward that meets here! Sad! But it is not as big as the branch in Santa Rosa. For Easter Dinner... well, nobody signed up to feed us. So we had to make our own dinner. All of us missionaries met up here at the church haha 

we made rice, and quesadillas and orange chicken, and microwavable veggies, and chocolate chip cookies and had a feast! hahah it was fun!

My companion Hermana Harris drives, she is the Senior Companion. I finally got Facebook! But I can only check it if we have time.

Yes I keep my same Ipad my whole mission. Yes, I can CHECK my email every day, but I can only write back on Pdays! I am seriously loving all these pictures you send me!(:

That is super cool that Bill Collins is doing that video thing, it sounds sweet.

Sorry you've all been sick! And good luck with the play! It sounds like itll be quite the miracle to pull off! haha I'm sure itll be great though! Did Zach ever get that letter I sent to him? Yeah! That job sounds like answer to prayers! Holy cow! Congrats Zach!

Yes, It was quite the adventure trying to get everything to my new place haha but we did it!

My new Address is

1514 Hill Road Apt#49

Novato, CA 94947

 

So I hope I answered all of your questions~

I really am loving it out here!

I have really developed a strong testimony this last week of my Savior Jesus Christ, that he really is my Redeemer. That he suffered and died for me, so that I could have second chances. A clean slate. So that even when I mess up, I can be forgiven, repent, and try again. Because of him, every day is an opportunity to be better, to become more Christ like.

I am so grateful for that. 

Thank you mom!

For always supporting me and being there for me!

Good luck with all the baby reindeer!

It sounds like a handful over there hahaha

 

4/14/14 Transfered!!

I'm getting TRANSFERED!

oh boy. I was sad.

So Friday day was Weekly Planning day, so we planned the whole week as if I was staying and Hermana Bryant was leaving.

All the missionaries in the Branch and in the Zone said I was for sure staying, they wouldn't White Wash our area when it was doing so good.

 

So Friday night we bought milkshakes, we got the voicemail and we listened...

WE ARE GETTING WHITEWASHED!

oh we were both shocked.

We worked SO HARD to get this area kick started. And now we are leaving...

On Saturday I got your Smile Tower!(: Thank you so much by the way. Everything was delicious! It has been our comfort food all weekend!

Saturday morning we cleaned Jose's car again with the Elders. It was so sad! We were gonna get broken up! We are like family now! and then that night we had our run through for the fireside.

And then Sunday was hard.

It was our last Sunday in our branch. All the members were so sad we were leaving! Hermana Bryant told me usually Greenies don't have that big of an impact on their first area. But I love them all so much! They made me promise to come back and visit! Several Members pulled me aside and told me how proud they were of me and how much they have seen me grow...

It was so sad. They're all like "But, now you know Spanish!" hahaha

Then of course last night was the Fireside!

It was SOOO good! We had even more people than the last time! It was just beautiful. Everyone loved it. This time was weird cuz they like recorded the whole thing, and everyone clapped between songs haha

OK, so Elder Eaton was our AP (Assistant to the President) that just went home like 2 weeks ago. He knows like EVERYONE in the mission. He came back with his family yesterday for the Fireside! He got to sing with us in front of everybody! (: And he brought his blonde family to the Spanish branch, it was pretty funny haha

So his mom after the fireside grabbed me and Sister Clawson and Sister Henrichson and said "Let me send a picture to your moms! I loved when members did that for me when Christian was on his mission!"

And then we all laughed.... haha. Christian haha

So anyway, that was Elder Eaton's mom. She is so nice! I'm glad you got it!!(:

Yeah. so it was an emotional week. We are packing up today.

Oh I don't think I told you where we are going!

I am going to Navato in San Rafael!

I know I don't sound very excited, but if I could pick anywhere to go if would have been San Rafael! And Elder Jeske is coming with me!!:D

I am so excited! It took me a couple days, but I am excited now! I am going to LOVE Navato. The branch there is great! It is right on the ocean! It's beautiful! Oh I am so pumped.

And Hermana Bryant is going to Rio Vista.

 

I'm just sad because I love Santa Rosa so much...

But I guess it is good. Because that means I am doing it right! I am leaving my heart and soul here in Santa Rosa, and we are definitely leaving this area better than when we found it.

I think we gave it a good kick start ahah Next transfer Hermana Hooten is coming and training a Greenie. That Greenie is so lucky haha

So yeah.

Pretty much our whole week was being anxious about transfers and then being sad after haha

We hav FHE tonight with our branch, so I'm gonna take pictures with all my favorite families for sure!

I have some pics to send you think week too.

 

Yes, I can see the Williams Reindeer Farm Page, I am totally getting my own FACEBOOK in like a week! Sorry about the babies so far, did Kim end up with the 2nd baby? Sven(: haha

Jake Player already got called in AUGUST? That is so far away! Zach better get jiggy with it. haha I am so proud of him by the way.

 

I just asked Elder Waite, he said he would love to tour guide once a week or fill in whenever you need him. He is totally cool for working 6 days a week but he REALLY doesn't want to work Sundays. He is good with people too, so I'm sure people would love him haha. He was asking me about Transportation? He asked if I thought he could bike everywhere hahaha I guess so.

Sorry Cam is sick. Sounds like a fun visit with Uncle Thane!

 

Some beach Volleyball!

This guy makes these things. I guess he has all different sizes and kinds and the really work! We thought it was so cool, we went up and knocked on his door to talk to him about it!

Holding the California flag.

Companions forever! or until Wednesday.

 

Mourning Denali the moose.

 

Packer!

 

 Brothers! Have been with these two since day one, at the MTC. I will miss them so much!

 

 

 

4/7/2014 On the verge of Greatness

Wow, this has been quite the week.

My teaching pool... Ok well

La Familia Vialleda (Magdlena and her two daughters) have a baptismal date for the 19th of May! They are amazing and so sweet, they can totally get baptized that soon!

La Familia Fonseca (Carolina and her 3 kids Elizabeth, Aidan, and Jonathon and she is pregnant!) are amazing. They don't have a baptismal date yet, but they come to church every sunday, they watched conference last sunday. When we teach them Carolina says "So WHEN Jonathon serves a mission" not IF haha They will get baptized, but Carolina wants to be really really ready. Because she actually understands that this is important and life changing.

La Familia Contreras (Eva, Jayr and their 3 daughters) Eva is having a hard time. She suffers with Post Natal Depression (I think that is what it is. Depressed after you have a baby) so we help her clean her house and things. The gospel has really helped her get out of this rut.

La Familia Pacheko (Victor and Zahira, they have the CUTEST son ever named Iker!) they have been invited to baptism and they just don't feel the urgency! They have been investigating the church for like 3 years. But we are the first missionaries to get them to read the book of Mormon! In three years!

La Familia Hernandez (Griselda, her husband and her 3 kids) Griselda has a lot of questions. She studies the scriptures really thoroughly. She came to church once and she didn't love it, because It was different. But she said she wants to come again. We love her. She is so beautiful! And fun! We stayed over at her house to help her make dinner for her kids a couple times, we love her.

Then individuals..

Fatima. She is 12. She is our ward mission Leader's daughter.

Anna and Anthony are 15, Anthony moved out of his parents house and is living with his girlfriend Anna. We met them one night and HE asked US if he could be baptized! He is sweet! The gospel is really gonna bless his life, we just started teaching them this week.

And Juan, he is a super sweet single guy who has done all sorts of research on Mormon.org. So he has a lot of questions for us, and he is really patient when we don't always have the answers haha

And a couple others. But that's most of our teaching pool.

They are all amazing! I love them so much!!!

 

 I know we are about to see amazing things in our mission!

Conference could not have been timed better.

I LOVED the Saturday morning session.

Elder Holland talked about how we will be called upon to "Defend the Faith"

There were 2 talks about the "Shafts in the Whirlwind" I really like Elder Ronald A. Rasband's of the 70.

I watched the Saturday afternoon session in Spanish haha

The Sunday morning session was really good too. I have really come to rely on the Lord during times of hardship. Like right now.

The Lord's work is hastening, and the adversary is not happy about it.

Elder Waite is an exemplary missionary. He is such a good example to me. He is very charitable, and charity is the true love of Christ. He is under a lot of stress right now, with going home and being in charge of a Zone in Santa Rosa, but he is an amazing person. I am so excited he is going to be working at our house this summer!

This year I got more out of Conference than I ever had before! It was so good! I would encourage you to reread the talks when you get the chance(:

 

I am so happy to be here on my mission at this time. Hermana Bryant and I have seen so many miracles and blessings in our area! We are teaching so many people right now!

But it is a hard time. For everyone. It sounds like you are having a hard time back home too. But I want you to know I love you! Your Heavenly Father loves you. I know without a shadow of a doubt, that he does answer our prayers. He is mindful of you. And I know that when you need his comfort and counsel the most, he will send his Angels to minister unto you.

You are amazing mom. You are such a good example to me. You enjoy life more when you focus on the best parts. I can attest to that. This session of Conference was such a good one! I have a new found resolve, to repent, to be better, to be a better disciple of Christ and follow his example.

I have amazing missionaries here in my Zone that I can rely on in times of need.

This Friday we find out who moves and who stays for transfers, and then next Wednesday we actually do the swap. After next Wednesday, Elder Waite has 30 days left on his mission! Hopefully he gets to stay here in Santa Rosa!

 

I love my mission. I love this work. I love all the missionaries here.

I know with the Lord's help, I can endure to the end. The end of this trial. And the beginning of something great.

We are "on the verge of greatness"- (The Vow(: )

I can feel it!

 

 

So this is just an Example of how amazing my friends are.

Hermana Bryant and I were having a hard time the other night, we asked these three Elders for Priesthood blessings. At the end they asked us "What else can we do for you?"

And Hermana Bryant said she wanted an interpretive dance to Silk (one of the alarm sounds on the Ipad)

So they made this for us during companionship study the next day!! hahaha

They are so great.

Elder Sean Despain is in the front! (From my MTC district)

Elder William Wright in the middle

And Elder Eric Mathusek in the back

These three Elders are so. dang. funny haha

 In one of the packages I sent to Lauren, we put in photo booth props, hoping to get some more photos..I got this..this week.

 This we service day, and they got service tshirts! All matchy n' stuff.

 

Jumping in the rain. Lauren and her companion.

 

3/31/2014 Missionary Barbie

 

I hope the whole mission is as amazing as Santa Rosa too, but I have had a lot of missionaries tell me this has been their favorite place soo....

Yes! My Spanish! Whew, I am pretty comfortable talking about gospelly stuff. Its everything else I need to work on haha

So yesterday we had 7 investigators at church! It was a miracle! Magdelena, and her daughters Liliana, and Nadia have a baptismal date for 19th of April! yay! So exciting! And Carolina and her kids Jonathon Aidan and Elizabeth came too! I love them so much!!!

 

At Tech Training on Saturday we acted out one of the Mormon messages and Elder Packer Dean was the scorpion, it was so dang funny hahaha

 

And the Musical Fireside practice last night was really good too.

We have an Hermana that we do exchanges with, Hermana Tracey, that has her birthday tomorrow and she LOVES Barbie. She wants to work for Barbie when she grows up. So we bought her a Barbie and Hermana Bryant had to make a modest outfit for it. And then drew on missionary shoes and a watch and a book of Mormon! haha its pretty cute!!

So it was a super fun week.

I hope you all are doing well! Love you! Talk to you soon!

 

Isn't that sweet?

This is such a testimony to me about the importance of talking to everyone! I am so honored and blessed that I get to touch so many lives in this work. Just by being a little friendly, and saying hi. I only talked to this lady a handful of times during my 6 weeks in the CCM, and she still remembers me!

Oh man. Please tell Uncle Russ and Aunt Adelaide I said thank you too!

(She just got Uncle Russ and Aunt Adelaide's Christmas Cards from Mexico)

 

 

This is a sweet painting we saw on the side of the road with Movies that have been filmed right here in Santa Rosa! I have been to a bunch of these places!!!

 

3/24/2014 Scriptures and Weakness

Favorite scriptures!

"The Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart." -1 Samuel 16:7

 

"Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you: because the darkness is past and the true light now shineth." -1 John 2:8
 

"Oh that I were an angel, and couple have the wish of mine heart, that I might go forth and speak with the trump of God, with a voice to shake the earth, and cry repentance unto every people!" -Alma 29:1

 

"Behold all ye that kindle fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks, walk in the light of your fire and in the spark which ye have kindled."-2 Nephi 7

Not Withstanding Our Weakness by Neal A. Maxwell

And you can too mom. I hope it will help you. It helped me ALOT when I was having a super hard time. I was feeling really discouraged.

Also there are a couple awesome Mormon messages. Like

"The Will of God" and "Mountains to Climb" that us missionaries listen to when we are having a hard time. (: Mountains to Climb is every Provo Missionaries favorite haha Elder Tooley can quote the whole thing word for word, haha I like the Will of God.

Its a good reminder for me to humble myself...

And I know when we trust in the Lord we will learn and grow in ways we never thought possible, to become only what he saw in his eternal perspective of us

 

Oh, So one thing I forgot to tell you about was our musical fireside practice last night.

It was so much fun! We were all in the mission home from 6:30-8:30. I was in charge of herding everyone around and making sure they were in their assigned practice rooms and in the main room with Sister Alba when they needed to be. Every one was calling me "The Stage Manager" hahahah it was pretty funny. it was the best job, cuz I got to talk to all the other missionaries all night! oh, I love our zone. We are awesome!

It tanned the next day, I promise!

California MoProm. It was an underwater theme. They decorated as a service project.

this is at a members home. He lives in the middle of this big vineyard.

These are all the Elders in the Branch, plus two sisters makes 9!

From Left to Right

Elder Albertson,  Elder Jeske, Elder Debora, Elder Dunlap, Elder Despain,

Elder Mathusek and Elder Wright

Birthday Week for Companion

Unfortunately you were in the lame part of Cali. With traffic, and too many people, and its too hot there. Northern California! That's where its at! Hahah its still only in the 70s 80s. But its getting warmer every day. Today I am going shopping for some nice Tshirts/ Blouses cuz I wear sweaters with all my outfits right now.

 

How cow! Congrats Hunter! That's awesome! Tell Brother Bigelow, its the best mission in the world. No kidding. And yes, its all mine haha

Ummm Poor Autumn! Yeah I loved Mexico for 6 weeks, but I would have been happy to stay there for 4 weeks and call it good, definitely not two years! haha

 

Yeah this was a crazy week.

So Tuesday we had interviews with President Alba and Sister Alba. I guess we have them every other transfer. I was really down and discouraged that day, but its ok. I got over it. I was just super stressed out because we had Exchanges the next day and President Alba said I should know more spanish haha On Wednesday I had to lead out our Area with 2 English sisters following me around. That was exactly what I needed! It totally boosted my confidence again! So I'm doing good. I taught like 3 lessons that day by myself 100% in Spanish. Thursday I got Hermana Bryant back and we just saw lots of miracles. We have been teaching a lot of lessons! And meeting a ton of new people!

 

Friday was Hermana Bryant's Birthday! Our elders are so nice to her! She turned 20! We had weekly planning all day, but we wanted to have a Weekly Planning Pazookie Pancake Party. So we tried to make pancakes, but we failed. haha the first attempt tasted like celery. So then the Elders made pancakes for us instead haha Elder Albertson tried to make an airplane, it didn't turn out. Elder Wright made Mickey Mouse pancakes for us hahah

 

And Elder Wright made us a Pazookie because he owed us. We helped him our with his baptism a couple weeks ago, so he said he would make us a Pazookie. it was super good! Then Elder Jeske and Elder Debora showed up. They had to drive half an hour from their house to the Church where we all were. They made a Red Velvet cake! and bought balloons! And sticky noted our car! And they got her a present.. and Abercrombie bag with a picture of a shirtless man on it. It was soooo funny! Oh it was such a great day! Then we went to dinner at Sazon! Jose our less active owns the restaurant and said we could eat there on a Friday night for Hermana Bryant's birthday!

So then Saturday happened. Saturday was a super weird day. Hermana Bryant woke up with a Migraine so she slept through studies. And she still wasn't feeling great but we went to do service at Jose's house. Apparently Elder Wright has a car detailing business at home, so he taught us all how to do it and we had a huge missionary car wash in Jose's driveway haha it was awesome! We like buffed it (is that the right word) and everything. it was so clean it was like looking in  a mirror. It was a great service project haha So Jose treated us all to Sazon (all 7 of us) for lunch! Oh yeah, there was 7 of us. Hermana Bryant, me, Elder Albertson, Elder Dunlap, Elder Wright, Elder Mathusek and their new companion.. .ELDER DESPAIN! From my MTC district?? Whaaat? What are the odds that 3/5 of us would go to Santa Rosa and be in the same branch! hahahah its crazy! His companion had to go home to have a back surgery, he couldn't walk :( So he got ETed (emergency transferred) to Santa Rosa! Yay! Super fun! So after lunch we did a blitz in the Elders Area (where everyone in our branch goes to one area to proselyte for 1-2 hours) So we saw more miracles! Then we went to dinner at the Vasquez family's house... she fed us this soup stuff, I think it is called Pasole. We've had it before... but when Hermana Vasquez makes it... she makes it with Pig Feet. So yes father, all 9 of us missionaries have eaten Pig's Feet now...

 

Then it was wonderful Sunday! We had church, there was a lady that came that doesn't speak Spanish and her husband asked if I could translate for her. So I did. All of Gospel Principles and Relief Society!!! I was so nervous but I did it! At the end of two hours though my head was killing me! Then we had dinner at the Escamia's. They made a nice American meal. Mashed Potatoes. BBQ chicken. We haven't had a meal like that In a long time haha And then they called it "Kentucky" style salad. Its just lettuce, corn, and mayonnaise! It was soooo good! And then cake and ice cream for dessert. Then we did BOOGA BOOGA!! its something the Escamias do with all the missionaries. You are not allowed to tell any one until they have done it too and they are in the club. So for all 9 of us missionaries it was our first time doing it! We are all initiated now! So I might have to teach you guys when I get home. It was so funny. I am totally doing it to the missionaries when I get home hahaha Next Sunday we are gonna try to get President and Sister Alba to come so we can make them do it too! hahaha

 

And then last night we had practice for the musical fireside from 6:30-9. at the mission home. I am super excited. It is going to be amazing! The Elders in our branch are mad cuz we roped them into singing haha. I am singing Down To the River. It's a MOTAB song if you want to look it up. And the Olive Tree of course:)

 

So yeah. it was a crazy week here in California. This week I am leading our area for like 3 days. We are doing back to back exchanges! I'm nervous! But I'm sure it'll be fine! I'll survive!

Anyway, I love you guys!

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELLE!