December 26, 2011

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

I am so Happy I talked to you guys Sábado!!! (Saturday) It made me so happy. I am so grateful to have such a beautiful family and an eternal one too.

Our Christmas was great. We ate and ate and ate a lot. It was great. We loved the Christmas package too! The song in Sacrament Meeting went really well. We even did a dramatic ending. I think I will be the Ward Choir Director when I get back ha ha.

The very wealthy family of doctors who own the house where we live invited us to eat. And it was SUPER nice. The first time I have eaten Pavo in 2 years. (Turkey). We got to talk to them about our beliefs too (like why we would not drink the "punch" they offered us.) And about families. We shared The Family Proclamation with them.

Rob asked if I have started dreaming in Spanish? Ha ha ha YES! Yes Rob, for sure I have noted that I have dreamt in Spanish. I was quite happy the morning that I realized that. I even dream about contacting with my companion. Thanks for the question.

 Ah, I have no time!

I am sorry, I wrote Annette an email and I took too long writing President. But I read the whole Email. WOW, sounds like a super fun Christmas this year.

I am so proud of Hannah. Too bad I wasn’t there to see it. (Her singing) I’m sure it was beautiful.

The pictures are awesome! And it seems like the presents weren’t too bad either. ha ha. (Fachentos! Spoiled!) Sounds like Uncle Rob is still pretty funny too with the shark blimp.

But most of all... ZELDA THE SKYWARD SWORD?!?!?! AH no way! Come on you can wait 8 more months to play it can’t you? Ha ha

Hey, say Merry Christmas to Grandpa Weiler for me and tell him I love him. I hope he does better. He has to stay in there till I get to hug him one more time.

I love you all so much and MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Elder Hardy

P.S. I love you

December 19, 2011

MERRY CHRISTMAS FAMILY!!!
¡¡¡FELIZ NAVIDAD FAMILIA!!!

Sounds like this week has been a hard week.

Please tell Aunt Annette that I am here for her too, even though I am in Nicaragua. Tell her that we are praying for her. And with that strong testimony that she has in Jesus Christ and in God´s plan of happiness for us, she can have an anchor of hope for her soul (Ether 12:14) and a firm hope of a better world at the right hand of God, where families can be Eternal and can live in eternal life.

Hey I got Married!!!

Ha ha no, not really. A member and the daughter of one of my recent converts just got married and they asked to pass by really fast and support them. Ha ha the guy she married is Evangelico so that is why it looks like we are in another church.

We are planning on talking to him. We gave them a wedding gift... a Book of Mormon wrapped up in wrapping paper and a video about Jesus Christ.

Elder Gaytan has been out on the mission the same amount of time as me. So he came here to Nicaragua one change earlier but we are going to leave together.

Before the mission he was studying in Mexico. He was studying Engineering in Refrigeration. And he was already working in that at the same time. I think he was repairing air conditioning and central air systems. Apparently, it pays pretty good too.

This season is a great opportunity for us to talk to people about Jesus Christ and why the world celebrates Christmas. I like to share a passage in The Book of Mormon in Alma 7:10-15.

It is one of my favorite passages in the scriptures. It talks about the birth of Jesus Christ from María the Virgen (it’s even great to share with Catholics) and that He will come to this world to suffer the pains, afflictions and temptations of all of us.

It talks about how He would take upon Him the pains and sicknesses of His people. And how He would take upon Him Death that He may break the bands of death that we might live again. And He suffered everything for us so that He could succor us and take upon Him our sins.

We should all reflect more about what our Saviour Jesus Christ has done for us, and how we can repent and "be born of nuevo" and come unto Him. So read chapter 7 and reflect what we need to do to come unto Christ.

Hey I will try and make sure that Christmas Eve at 4:00 pm here I call you guys. For the Last Christmas Call! Ah!

Hey! You guys still haven’t put up the downstairs Christmas tree!?!?!... or has that always waited until the last week anyway. Did you put up the Nutcrackers? I hope so, I think Grandma told me in her letter that she was still going to get me one.

That would be neat if you could send a photo of them and the house all decorated for Christmas along with photos from Christmas day of you guys. Just to make me a little bit more trunky.

NOOO, I did not receive the Christmas package but Wednesday is the MultiZona and hopefully they bring it there.

Hey Dad, proud of you for helping out with Annette and the funeral. That is what I like to see, Uncle Bruce doing missionary work, not only before his death but after too. Love you Dad, good luck with Christmas.

Hey Mom, it is great to know we have the truth and we have hope not despair. I Love you and can’t wait to talk to you in a couple days.

Hey tell Alexis I want to know what this Concert was like, I forgot to ask in her email.

Ha ha ha woo! Good work Emily. Hannah is still alive and the house is still there. Ha ha sounds like you did your part this week too. I luh you.

Hannah Banana. Thanks for putting up my stocking! Good work with school and good luck with shopping. Ps I love you.

Love,

Elder Hardy

Ps I love you

December 12, 2011

Oh no,

Uncle Bruce had a heart attack. Oh it makes me so sad to hear that. That’s good that Dad could go with Grandma and Grandpa to be with Aunt Annette and help comfort her. I hope she is doing ok. We will pray for her and the family here too.

The thing that actually makes me really happy is to have read their testimonies that they sent me. I still have them and I know that with their testimonies in our Lord Jesus Christ and in the Plan of Salvation everything will be ok. Please give Aunt Annette a hug and a kiss from me too Dad.

Oh, that’s too bad that they changed out President Fuhriman and the Stake Presidency before I got back. But hey, it will be ok still because President Newbold is Stake President now. You know he did my missionary interview before the mission anyway.

Tell Grandma and Grandpa Hardy Muchas Gracias por el regalo de Navidad! I will be sure to do something fun with my companion.

Hey I don’t know if I have the package yet. I image que sí. But they will give it to my zone leaders in changes Wednesday.

We get an hour to write now. Including 15 minutes writing to the Presidente. So... 45 minutes.

For the Christmas call, if you want to do it Christmas Eve that’s ok too. Tell me the best time for you guys next email and I will make sure it’s ok. Ahh! It is already the Last Christmas Call!

Our week was great!! Me and my comp are getting along great. We are finding chosen families and teaching the gospel. We had three investigadores in church yesterday.

One was a guy that tracked me down outside the church and asked me for money for a "fresco" and I told him that I didn’t have and fresco to offer him. But that if he drank a fresco he would thirst again. But if he came inside and learned about Jesus Christ and the gospel he would never thirst again. He came inside and sat down for sacrament meeting! ha ha.

My shoes are doing ok. I say they will last the mission. My backpack is a little torn at the shoulder, but that is easy to fix in the market. My glasses have nice battle scars, and I would like a new pair just to mix things up. But they have glasses stores here in Jinotepe, and I am starting to use contacts again every once in a while because President said I could.

Hey! Well I don’t know how much stuff Elder Sessions has bought already. But you know what recommendation I would give for shoes? The Eccos will last, and they are nice. But it seems like the RockPorts are lasting longer here in Nicaragua. But something that I wish I brought to Nicaragua...

Miracles? Oh come on Mom that is not a fair question. There are way too many to pick from. But the best are the miracles that have happened in peoples lives.

Like a really neat family in Bluefields that got baptized the week after I left. Before, he was living a reckless life and he and his wife had problems. After the first time we visited them in their house you could see the change that started. He still fell a couple times before getting baptized but in the end he and his wife are happy and have a goal to be sealed in a temple this next year with their little boy.

There are also more physical miracles, like one time praying about the weather and having it instantly change ha ha. But the best are about the people.

I love you all very much and am very grateful to be part of an eternal family,

Elder Hardy

ps I love you.

December 5, 2011

Hey Familia!!!

¡¡¡FELIZ CUMPLEAÑOS¡¡¡
!!!ALEXIS!!!

No, I did not forget, I just forgot that last Monday would be the last time I could write it to you before it was your actual birthday.

I am sorry to hear that Cousin Gary Burt passed away. I hope his son copes with it alright in the mission. It is good to have a strong testimony of the plan of salvation. Let´s all pray for the family.

Ah! Crown Burger is buying pricey athletic shoes at our expense! That won’t do.

Hey! That is so neat that you attached a clip of Hannah in her mouse suit dancing. I don’t know how you guys do it with those big mouse heads on! Congratulations on your performances, by the looks of it I’m sure they were great.

Sounds like the Ward Christmas Party was neat. You know, I’m not really sure what a posada is... But the favorite dessert here in Nicaragua would be a great helado or Eskimo ha ha. Helado is like a natural frozen popsicle made from whatever type of fruit here. And Eskimo is ice cream you all eat when the ice cream truck passes by ha ha.

HEY!!! Don’t have to worry about bothering Mamá Monestel anymore! I got my Package! WAHOO! Ha ha last Monday I bugged the office missionaries until they went to go talk to Pedro and get the package Thursday.

And it was Awesome!!! Thank you so much for the Ipod touch and the speakers! Now we have spiritually edifying music playing in the house as we plan. Ha ha and the other stuff was awesome too! The letters from the family, even from the GV1 Young Women!

Oh, the jungle bookmark and the New York pens were awesome. My comp can go around now telling everyone, look, I’ve been to NY. The cool brain teaser puzzles were great... for 10 minutes when I finished them all! Haha then I shared the two hardest with the sister missionaries and told them to give them back to me when they solved them. Ha ha they haven’t mentioned them to me yet so I imagine they are having a hard time.

I can’t believe it... you sent me MASHED POTATOES! Ha ha that is great. Everything was excellent my comp was very happy too. I shared everything but the ipod and letters ha ha. The ties are really nice, and thanks for the shirts. My comp decided that they were too nice and put the shirt and tie in a zip lock bag and put it in his suit case and said he was going to wear them the last day when he goes home. I am still trying to convince him to wear them now.

Wow there are a bunch of missionaries coming home aren’t there? Ahh!

Our apartment? Ah! I forgot to take photos today! I wanted to show you. Well our room is pretty pretty small. But it is nice, and the house where we live is very rich. Our room is separated by a courtyard from the rest of the house. Well it is actually a doctor’s office. The Husband and Wife are both doctors and do their consultations there.

They are very nice and there is even a nice maid that comes into our house and cleans sometimes even though we told her not to. They are not members and I haven’t ever talked to them much because they are always busy. But I will send you photos next time.

Our daily schedule? Well, on a normal day. Wake up a little before 6:30. (I would like to say I get up at 6 but I can’t. That is just when the alarm goes off and usually takes about 20 minutes to wake me up ha ha). I take a shower and then change.

At 7:30 we go to Eddy´s to eat and at 8 we are in the house starting Personal Study. At 9 Comp. Study and at 10 to 10:30 is language study and then we are out the door. Lunch at Eddy´s is at 12. We visit all day and in between our appointments we have our eye peeled for any families that we pass, because we are always searching for familias escogidas (chosen families).

Dinner is right before we enter the house for the night. We plan from 9 to 9:30 and then everyone from the District calls me to report for the day and give me their numbers. I call the zone leaders and give them the numbers and lights out at 10:30.

To be completely honest, I don’t think very many leaders in the mission get to bed on time because they are reporting. We are working at it as a District to get the numbers in on time so everyone can go to bed on time.

Our weekly goals? Well, one of our weekly goals was to get 2 of our families to come to church... and they ALMOST came. The Dad of one family came and brought a grandson and said sorry but that next week for sure his wife is coming. And the other family even had it planned to borrow a friend’s truck to bring all the family but things happened and they couldn’t come. So pray that next week they can!

Hey I am sorry but I have to go. We got late to write and now the whole district is waiting for me to go the church because we are doing "mini changes" in the zone to build unity.

I love you!

Elder Hardy

ps I love you