August 29, 2011

¡¡¡FELIZ CUMPLEAÑOS!!!

Happy Birthday!!!

Hannah! The big one o! Congratulations Hannah, I hope you had a great birthday. That is neat you got a Duck named Percy. But what are you guys going to do with all the eggs?

That is great that a sister from that stake is coming to Nicaragua. But not until October 20th!!! What will I do till then? Ha ha I will send the SD cards in the bag to the office.

Hey, but I have barely even heard about the Hurricane. Nothing has changed here. And if it came down here I don’t know what it would do to Bluefields, it is a pretty big bay, I don’t know how much that helps.

Yes, there is a family (not members) that cooks lunch and dinner for us. And we have a nice member that washes our clothes.

Well, supposedly the food  is supposed to be a lot more coconuts and sea food. But I have pretty much eaten the same thing since the beginning of the mission. I am going to have to ask our food cita (appointment) to please cook some more coastal meals.

Well we are teaching lots of people. We had a baptism Saturday. That makes at least one baptism per week since I got here. And we have another one planned for this Saturday.

But we have two families that we are focusing on. One we call the family of the Prophets. Because all the kids have names of prophets from the Bible. Two of the kids are already members and we are helping the rest of the family. The great thing is that the mom and dad have already been married for about 20 years. But they didn’t come to church yesterday.

Another family we are teaching came to church yesterday, but the dad didn’t come. They are friends with one of our really pilas (strong) recent converts who is taking us to all his friends to teach them.

Ha ha ha, well, for PDay today we went to "La Piedra" (the rock) today. It is a big rock on the top of our area. So we went to take photos.

Then we went exploring by a little stream that is there and got lost in the jungle. It was pretty fun.

Well I don’t "need" anything. All my clothes still work. But I think my shirts are pretty yellow. But it’s not like I want to trade them all out. Maybe a tie or two (for me and my comp) would be nice.

Yes, it is very safe in Bluefields. There won’t be any problems here. Did you send a note to Sister Monestel telling her to put me in the safest places in the mission? Ha ha because I think I have been in the top 3 safest. At this rate I am not going to have any cool stories...

Ha ha ha no Hannah, I have eaten any bugs yet like Bear Grylls. Unfortunately, the food has been pretty good. J

Hey Dad, say hi to the home teaching families. Who is your compañero? That is too bad you don’t have any journal entries. But it is very true that you learn to deal with people on the mission. You also learn to have lots of patience. Love you, Dad.

I hope bowling is going to be fun, Mom. But no I haven’t had any foot fungus. And I forgot about the funny anti foot fungus trick ha ha. The only thing with feet here is ingrown toenails. I have kind of gotten them but I have just separated my toenails from where it is digging in every once in a while and I haven’t had any problems. Love you tons!

Hey Alexis! Ha ha finally moved out of the house. That was a very economically interesting decision ha ha, just kidding. I hope it is good, and that your SINGLES ward is fun. Sounds like your trip was great. You should send me a couple of the cooler photos. Love You!

Hey! Oh no, Emily, school already started! And you already have homework!!! Ah, that makes me worry about when I come back. I think school starts that week! Ah, and will not have done any math (except for count the number of lessons in a day) for 2 years! You will have to help me. And I think mom might have to go to my classes the first few days ha ha. I hope that is possible. Luh ya!

Happy Birthday Hannah! You will have to teach me/whoop me up in all of the new games and technology that has come out when I get home. P.s. I love you birthday girl!

Love you all,

Elder Hardy

August 22, 2011

Hey Everybody!

Breakfast

Yeah, Bluefields is pretty neat. But I am not even there right now. We had to leave this morning in the morning to start the trek to the Salt Lake... I mean to Managua haha. We have a multizone activity tomorrow so today we are sleeping in Juigalpa.

We had to/got to take a panga today on the Hidden River. Ha ha a panga is a little boat. But before you get too excited about it like I did, a panga is not one of those cool river boats with the big fan on back that pushes it. It is just a little boat with a motor on back like normal. I would send photos right now of the trip but I didn’t bring the cord to here. But the boat reminded me of the boats on the Jungle Ride in Disneyland ha ha. Almost exactly, except it goes a lot faster... and there were no hippos. But I did see a tortoise.

The boat ride was two hours long. Very exciting in the beginning but then I looked at my watch and only 8 minutes had passed. Ha ha and when we landed in Rama, we got on a bus for a 3 hour bus ride to Juigalpa, standing, because it was super packed. (We passed St. Thomas too so you should put it on my map).

But we finally got here, I ate a big hamburger and we are good to go again. Tomorrow in the morning, we go to Managua, and then we come back to Juigalpa to sleep the night, and do the whole thing over again to get back to home base in Bluefields.

Elder Gaitan came the change after me, so he completes 1 year the 20th of September. Ha ha no, this time he is not the DL. I am Senior Companion. But I think it is co-senior. I have photos, but they are in my camera.

There are four Elders in Bluefields, one pair for each Branch. The other Elders are Elder Jimenez (DL) and Elder Lopez. In my Zone I’m not sure. I am in Zone Juigalpa again if you couldn’t tell, but they have changed the areas a lot so I don’t know how many there are now. We have a District Meeting every Friday in Bluefields and I think Zone Conferences that we are invited to are very few.

The El Salvador Temple dedication was poderosa, and very asombroso (powerful and awesome). It was broadcasted via satellite to the Chapel in Bluefields. Ha ha President Eyring was funny in the Corner Stone Ceremony but nobody understood him, because he doesn’t speak Spanish. But the dedication was great.

Our house is the nicest I have been in so far. Three rooms, a living room and a kitchen. We live there with the other companionship, and we rent the whole house so a family doesn’t live there.

Big Beetle

Ha ha well, Hannah, I have never actually gotten to go to any ports, or beaches. But the houses are cool. Lots of them are on stilts and look a lot like the house in the Pirates of the Caribbean ride in Disneyland.

My other suitcase? Ha ha ha, good question Emily, I would like to know that too... No, the office took it to keep it there. But now that I am going to return to Bluefields by land.../sea, maybe I will see if I can take it. Whenever someone needs something I say, "Oh, I have... oh wait, that stayed in the other suitcase."

Thank you so much for sending the clips of the float. Very nice, thanks mom.

Hey, the updates sound great family.

Good luck with the new roommates Alexis. Tell me what’s going on and I will give you tips on the roommate situation. The mission is the MTC for life.

Good luck with school Emily. The IB program sounds great. Sounds like you are going to one up me. I never got to do IB.

I would like to give an appreciation to all of my friends and all the missionaries that are serving in Europe. Ha ha, today in the bus, when finally enough people had left in order to be able to sit down, I sat down in the back of the bus where there were three chelas (white girls). I started to talk to them and it turns out they were from Barcelona.

And after getting to know them a little, of course we started to talk about el evangelio. Well, they were very nice, but they responded in a way different than any other person I have talked to here in Nicaragua. They didn’t believe in God, and were quite closed on the subject. But I stayed positive and we shared with them, and in the end offered a pamphlet on the Restoration and on Joseph Smith.

Ha ha but to be short, in talking to them, I understood that the rest of their country and Europe in general responds the same way. Ha ha so respect to all my buddies Elders serving it out there on the other side, I hope they keep up the good work and stay positive.

I would like to share my testimony this time first, about the love the Lord has for us. I have seen His love in many, many different ways in the short year I have served here in Nicaragua. And the way I am going to focus on right now is how He has strengthened me.

Of course, the love of the Lord that I have seen as the Gospel has blessed families and people is the greatest. But how He has helped me with my propia debilidades (own weaknesses) is something I would like to show gratitude for in this opportunity.

What has become one of my favorite scriptures se encuentra en Éter 12:27-28, que dice, "y si los hombres vienen a mí, les mostraré su debilidad. Doy a los hombres debilidad para que sean humildes; y basta mi gracia a todos los hombres que se humillan ante mí; porque si se humillan ante mí, y tienen fe en mí, enonces haré que las cosas débiles sean fuertes para ellos. ...y les mostraré que la fe, la esperanza y la caridad conducen a mí, la fuente de toda rectitud."

Ether 12:27-28:

27 And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.

28 Behold, I will show unto the Gentiles their weakness, and I will show unto them that faith, hope and charity bringeth unto me—the fountain of all righteousness.

I testify that the Lord loves us. And for that He has given us trial and weakness so that we can humble ourselves and come unto Him. I also testify that He has given me plenty weaknesses because He loves me. In this year, the mission has really helped me discover my weaknesses and has helped me to come to the Lord, and the Lord has helped me humble myself. Now I’m not saying I’m humble, saying I’m humble would be a little bit ironic to say. But He has certainly helped me change a lot, and is helping me change my weaknesses to strengths.

So I promise you all, that if you come to Him, he will help. When you have a problem, if you take the time to kneel, and talk to Him about it, with humility, He will help. Forget about the problems other people have when you do it, He says He will help show you your weaknesses, so you can change yourself. If we humble ourselves to the will of the Lord, all the problems in the world don’t matter, because if you are in line with His will it will all work out.

So I invite everyone to kneel in prayer tonight, and ask the Lord what weakness He would like you to fix in yourself so you can be more like Him. And when you do it, it’s one of the best feelings you can get. I bear my testimony that this is true. That the Lord Jesus Christ loves us and is just waiting on the other side of the door for us to let Him into our hearts and change us.

I bear my testimony of the Book of Mormon. I don’t know if I told you all, but this last change I finished reading the Libro de Mormón with my other companion Elder Moreno. We read it in less than a month, reading everyday without failing. And I testify that the promise contained in the Book, to read it and ask if it is true, doesn’t have a coupon limit per person. It doesn’t say the first time you read it. It means every time you read it. So read it. I know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the kingdom of God on the earth. And that the Gospel blesses families.

In the Name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Love You,

Elder Hardy

Ps. I love you

August 15, 2011

Hey, how’s it goin’ maaan? (in a Caribbean accent)

Hey! You will never guess where I got shipped off to.

Ha ha but I will tell you the story. So we went to changes like normal last Wednesday morning. In the middle of the meeting, the Mission Secretary came up and whispered to me that he needed to ask me a question and to go to the other room with him.

So I followed and we went to the room where we put all the suitcases during the meeting. And then he told me to put everything I needed in order to live into one suitcase really fast and then he left.

Ha ha ha. So I did it and realized that the only reason they would have me do that is because I was going to go to a place where I could only take one suitcase with me... in a plane... and the only place that could be is.........

BLUEFIELDS!!!

Ha ha ha, so right now I am writing you in Bluefields, on the other side of Nicaragua, on the side of the Bluefield Bay. And it is pretty cool.

My new compañero is Elder Jaime Aly Gaitán Palma. Elder Gaitán is from Costa Rica, he is the only member in his family and is a convert of 2 years.

Ha ha what do you know, I thought the next time I would get on a plane would be in two years. Ha ha I had a mini practice for my half way mark.

I also got to know all the recent converts here, a lot of members, my food appointment ha ha. It is very beautiful here, but also very hot. I have been drinking a lot of water every day, by the time we get home I can ring water out of my handkerchief. (Ha ha we are buying new handkerchiefs for Sunday.)

I am also learning English again... but Creole style! Ha ha it is really cool to listen to but confusing when in a lesson when we are talking Spanish, English and Creole mixed together. I want to learn Miskito too but that seems a little harder.

Oh hey! I am also sending photos of my first two baptisms here. Esthér (the girl) and Solangy. What a great way to be welcomed into an area right?

No, still no on the three families investigating in the Quiet Community in Monte Fresco. But, I am hoping to receive a happy noticia from Elder Moreno in a few weeks.

Yes, the Area Presidency decided that we can’t have the Misión Nicaragua Managua Sur blog. Which is too bad, I wanted to tell them to put up our 5 seconds of fame from the Parade. Which by the way I still haven’t seen it. Can you not send stuff like that?

Ha ha yes, I already have my golden ticket to the temple dedication of the San Salvador, El Salvador Temple. Right now I am working on getting all my RC to interviews with the Branch President so they can come too.

Yeah, I get to see my old companions every once in a while in changes or conferences. But I have still not been in one of their zones, let alone district.

Oh no!!! I’m already at the hump?!?! Ah, it’s all downhill from here. It feels like it is going too fast and I would like more time, but two years is two years, whether it goes fast or not.

But hey sounds like Yellowstone was a Blast. I am pretty jealous. I am glad the bear didn’t eat you all. And Hey! Did you take a picture of a moose this time?... ha ha

Have a good day love,

Elder Hardy

ps, I love you

JH

August 8, 2011

Hey! Thank you for the email. I hope you are having fun on your Dream Vacation to Yellowstone!

But, it is late right now and I am trying to be obedient con exactidud. So I need to go. I am sorry but I will respond to all your questions and the next emails next Lunes.

Oh, and it will be in another lugar. Because I have Changes!!! It is sad to leave this area, especially since I have spent a 4th of my mission here. But I am excited to know new places too.

Love you,

Elder Hardy

ps I love you
pps Don’t get eaten by bears

August 1, 2011

Hey!!! Felicidades!!!

Hey! We got into the Pioneer Spirit too here in Nicaragua!

We had a mini Trek and went marching through the streets in Managua with oxen and horses and carts.

"Faith in Every Step"

Well, the oxen and the horses weren’t that out of place.

But a bunch of Mormons walking through the streets dressed with funny hats and aprons was. Ha ha there were lots of questions and lots of pamphlets handed out.

Wow, that is so great about the Sweeptakes Award! Congratulations to everyone that worked so hard on it. Hey... so since it is a Sweepstakes Award... does that mean you got award prizes? I mean, I guess the satisfaction and representing the Stake and everything was enough, but did you get a prize? Prepaid trip to any temple in the world you want or something? Free packages to your missionary? Jaja

A new backpack? Well, no. The backpack I came with is still in good shape. The strap is starting to rip, but I am going to just have someone in the market repair it when it gets back enough. And for the rain, I just put everything in one of those vacuum bags you gave me for packing my suitcases and it keeps it all dry. Jaja a good missionary is very resourceful.

The biggest lessons we have this week is with a family that lives in the tops of the mountains. In English it is called the Quiet Community ha ha because it is up there all alone without all the noise. So when I say the family that lives there it is really 3 families that are preparing to be baptized and they are very positive.

We also held a big activity for all of the recent converts in our Ward. We decided to have a spiritual lesson, play some games and make dinner for them. We made pupusas. And while it was pretty stressful to make everything go well, it turned out great and was a positive experience. Everyone looks forward to the next one. But I think I am just going to buy pizzas for everyone the next time.

Hey, I need my personal stats. For example, my baptismal date, the dates of my ordinations to the Aaronic and Melchizedek Priesthood and when I took out my endowments.

Hannah asked, Do the Nicaraguans have any special summer traditions like going camping or having a picnic?

Well, what is your definition of camping? Ja ja

Ok, my message this time is a funny one. And it applies very well to what you have all just accomplished. It is also inspired by Anna Mckean and a little joke/fight we have had for a long time. Yoda vs. Chuck Norris...

"Do, or do not. There is no try."
---Yoda

"If you want to accomplish anything in life, you can't just sit back and hope it will happen. You've got to make it happen."

---Chuck Norris

Congratulations on your hard work, and you have seen the fruits as well. Yoda would be proud of you.

Love you all,

Elder Hardy

PS. I love you
Have fun in Yellowstone!!!