July 30, 2012

Hola Familia Olimpiada,

¡¡¡FELIZ CUMPLEAÑOS Grandma Hardy!!!

Last one that I won’t be there for to give you a hug! I love you.

Sounds like your Olympics watching technique is Awesome! I am so jealous! I just barely heard yesterday that the Olympics have started. I´m pretty sure they are over by the time I get home right? Keep up the scripture studying, we will have a Book of Mormon Scriptures Olympic competition when I get back ha ha.

Nicaragua is in the Olympics?!?! Awesome, in what competitions do they have athletes?

Oh I am sorry to hear that Aunt Jean has passed away. I hope Grandma is ok. Tell her to hold on, and tell her that I am so grateful for all the letters she sends! I think I am the most blessed missionary in the world because I receive a letter from my Grandma every week. Tell her I have all 86 (I think that was the last one) saved so far. I will have to send them home in a box so I have room in my suitcases for souvenirs!!!

Good luck Alexis in India!!! There you will be accepted with your own kind... (There the cows are holy). Ha ha. Don´t eat pork! I am worried I have a pork worm in my brain now...

Ahh! Keep praying! What happened is that the hermano Felix is a pastor. And he feels like he needs to talk to his "apostol" to renounce his calling before getting baptized. Supposedly this week the apostol is coming from Switzerland or something like that and he is going to resign. But I imagine that the apostol will try and say something so we need to prepare our friend.

Church was great. The Bishop asked me to give a talk about Fasting to invite the members to repent and practice the law of the fast better. So I gave it to them a little bit.

Ha ha. I started with a story about a boy one Sunday morning many years ago. Who woke up early and headed to the kitchen still with sleepy eyes to pour himself a nice bowl of cereal. He got out the bowl, a spoon, and his favorite box of cereal. After pouring in the milk, he scooped a spoonful of joy and began to open his mouth to eat it... when suddenly his mom came around the corner from nowhere and yelled, "Don’t forget that today is fast Sunday son!!!!" Ha ha and with disappointment, the boy tossed the spoon into the bowl and returned to his room drooping his head.

Ha ha I explained to them that that boy was me, years ago when I did not understand the true principle of fasting, and explained to them how much regret I felt thinking about all the blessing I have missed because of it. Then I explained to them how to fast appropriately, and with what purpose, and why we go to Fast and Testimony meeting and the importance of fast offerings and how to do it etc. Most of all, I told them about the blessings that are waiting for them if they do it.

Ha ha well today we did our weekly planning for this week because we couldn’t do it the normal time last week. Then I sent the... Hammock!!! (They said it would get there in like 15 days...) I hope it gets there before I do.

Well this week the mission had training meetings with Sister Payne. (She is a really famous returned missionary because she was in the missionary training videos call "the district") Ha ha and her brother is Assistant to the President here. So she came to teach the mission how to plan... But I wasn’t invited!!! Ahh! And I wanted a photo with her! But President said that me and the others that came with me in my group to Nicaragua didn’t need to go because... well... I don’t know why.

But we had a great day yesterday rounding up a small community to see a video about Jesus Christ in the house of members in a community where we have never gone before. So hopefully they have a good attitude about us before the pastors of the local churches start saying stuff.

I got to go!

Sounds like everyone is doing great! Good Luck with all the things you have to do this week!

Love,

Elder Hardy

Ps I love you.