April 2, 2012

¡Feliz Semana Santa!

Happy Easter!

I don’t know if you guys remember from last year but Easter week is called Holy Week. And depending on your religion, you participate in activities during the week. The most common are the Catholic traditions. They carry a cross around the city every Friday for a month before Semana Santa and every day during this week has a specific activity of the life of Christ assigned to it.

It would be interesting to look up, I don’t remember the name assigned to each day. But the most common thing for everyone is to go to the beach! (Supposedly it’s the hottest week in the year). Too bad the missionaries won’t be participating in the cultural traditions of Nicaragua.

But Conference was great wasn’t it!?!

I got to watch all the sessions. Most of them I watched in English. But I watched the Priesthood session in Español because we came together with a couple of investigators and I didn’t want to just leave them.

From the Priesthood session my favorite phrase was from President Monson: Haz tu Deber, haz tu mejor, deja el resto al Señor. (Do your duty, do your best, leave the rest to the Lord.)  I liked that because I would like to be a good leader and fulfill my duty, but things never go perfectly so I just have to do my best and confide in the Lord for the rest.

But my favorite talks always seem to be from Elder Holland. I guess I just like his very direct, "machete" style. But this conference I received much revelation and I was also very pleased because various investigators came and had inspired leaders of the church talk about exactly what they needed to hear.

It was a great week. A couple issues with the District but in the end everything will be ok. I guess we could work on our unity. But we had a fun activity today for Pday with the whole mission that helped everyone have a little fun and relax.

We were going to go to the Vulcan Masaya (Masaya Volcano) but they closed the Volcano today, so first we went to see the Caterina Laguna. It was pretty. But not much to do for a missionary at a laguna. But I bought a cool Nicaraguan bag because I told myself I need to buy more souvenirs.

Mirador de Catarina, Laguna de Apoyo, Nicaragua

Fotos de la Carcel (Photos of the Prison)

Oh, and because all the mission was there, I talked to my comp. Elder Gaytan, who is in Masaya and gave him the down payment for a really nice Hammock. I told him to get one of the big ones (for like 2 or 3 people) and to make the colors like the Nicaraguan flag. He said I could put letters on it so I told him to put Hardy, and on the other side Nicaragua (so we don’t forgot from where it came).

This week was the best because with the most positive family we are teaching we invited them to be baptized and they accepted. For the 21st of April. The only problem is that I am probably going to get transferred before that. But it was a neat spiritual experience we had with them last night. We taught them the lesson of the Restoration.

But it was hard. Because their two year old little girl Emily, decided to be a big distraction this time. (Normally she is really sweet and shy) But this time she was running around throwing things on the ground and bugging her mom and dad ha ha. I think she was just tired.

So, as we struggled to have the spirit and their attention throughout the lesson we testified to them of the love of God and of the restoration through the prophet José Smith. After testifying, my companion asked the Dad if he would ponder about these things and ask his Heavenly Father in the name of Christ if José Smith was a Prophet.

We sat there for what felt like a long time but he didn’t answer. My companion repeated him the question and we waited for what felt like forever but he didn’t respond. I then explained to him again what it would mean to his family to know if these things were true and explained again how he could know through prayer.

Then I asked again, "¿Orará para saber si José Smith fue un profeta verdadero?" (“Will you pray to know if Joseph Smith was a true prophet?") This time he replied, with a strong, "NO". We were a little bit astounded by his answer, because they have been very positive and during the entire lesson they seemed to have understood and liked the message.

But we weren´t discouraged. I asked him, "¿Que le impediría orar y preguntar a Dios si José Smith fue un profeta de Dios?" (“What would prevent him to pray and ask God if Joseph Smith was a prophet of God?”)

And after thinking for a second he said, "No creo que debería preguntar a Dios, si ya sé que José Smith fue un profeta." (“I do not think I should ask God, if I already know that Joseph Smith was a prophet.”)

Ha ha ha, well after he said that all the tenseness left the room and me and my comp smiled and said, Well that’s great! We then continued to explain to them that they can still pray and ask their Father in Heaven to strengthen their faith and testimonies and help them to follow Jesus Christ. We then invited them to be baptized the 21st of April and they accepted.

That is so amazing to hear that Aunt Annette is going through the temple next week!

Ha ha ha NO! I have not gotten any Trunky Papers. But Mom, I think with the way the changes are going to fall I am going to come home with everyone the Thursday of the week of Aug. 18th. Is that going to be a problem? Do you think someone can go to my classes the first two or three days?

I remember the snow caves dad! And I remember that mine and Jordan Stewarts was beautiful! But as we were making it, Jordan was scraping away at the ceiling to make it higher and right as I said, "I don’t think we should go any higher..." The cave collapsed ha ha.

Thanks for the spiritual thoughts about conference Mom and Dad. It was great. And it had lots of advice and blessings for the family.

I have had a lot of faith building experiences in the mission, Alexis. But I would have to say that normally the best for me are the answered prayers. Especially a few that have been answered through the fruits of the Holy Ghost. How would you build faith in investigators? Through WORKS. Anybody here can listen to someone talk about Christ for an hour. But not everyone ACTS upon what they hear. Those that read, pray and come to church progress and receive a REAL Conversion. Those who don’t, stay in the same condition they are in for the rest of their lives. Unless one day they Work their faith and Act.

I love you all,

Have a Happy Easter & Spring Break!

Elder Hardy

ps I love you!

March 5, 2012

Hey Dad, 

Thanks for sending the email. I am sorry to hear that everyone has been sick. It´s funny because this weekend I got hit with the "Chitarro" (I´m thinking that pretty much means the common cold). Ha ha I was fine. I was able to deal with it but it was a little annoying in all of our lessons Friday and Saturday with a super runny, stuffy nose. 

Ha ha Friday I bought a huge handkerchief and filled it with moco (mucus) every time I had the chance in order to be able to teach. The worst was that this Sunday was fast Sunday and the choir director didn’t come on time so they called me up to direct the hymns. Ha ha I was feeling pretty light headed trying to sing loud and keep everyone on time with the hymns. 

Hey that is awesome to hear that Jordan was ordained a Priest. ¿How many young men do you have Dad? (Priests, Teachers, Deacons). Maybe you could send a few extra Priests over here to help me out. 

That is neat that the Young Men are excited about planning Spiritual Activities like going to the Temple, sharing the Gospel and helping others in their conversion. It is pretty much the best way to help your own conversion and spiritual progression. Sounds like you’re doing a good job, Dad. 

FELICIDADES to Emily and Hannah for their Piano Recitals. They need to come here and play the hymns Sundays. Like I said, this Sunday, I directed the Hymns and Elder Muzo "played" the piano. But it is computerized and Elder Muzo just has to touch a key every beat to play. And so he got ahead in the opening hymn and didn’t know how to slow down to get back with the congregation and the stress almost killed me (remember I was sick and empty stomached too). I could use you guys! 

Hey we got a package! It was the little one for Valentine’s Day! Thank you so much, the tie is very artistic. The cartas (cards) were great, Happy Valentine’s Day! (haha, a month later!) 

Ha ha ha no no no. It wasn’t a bug in the pictures I last sent. I sent 2 pictures. You have to see what the difference is in between the two pictures (of the PLANT) ha ha. Try to see the difference before you read the answer: 

There is a really cool weed here in Jinotepe. The leaves are all spread out and sticking out. BUT if you touch it, it MOVES really fast and HIDES its leaves and shrinks. Ha ha so I tried to show it in a picture of before and after. 

(Sue's note: This plant is called the 

Mimosa pudica: The Sensitive Plant)

We had a GREAT lesson last week. We are teaching a Sacerdocio who is really Pilas. His name is Porfilio. He has come to Church now for three weeks straight. The thing is, is he is really evangelico. Which is great because he is going to be one of my most pilas converts because he has so much Zeal for the gospel. 

We have been teaching him a few times these last weeks but it is tuff to go through the lessons because he likes to talk about the gospel so much. But we decided we needed to teach him the entire restauracion before Sunday. But we were actually pretty nervous because we weren’t sure how he would react to the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith as a prophet, because he is so dedicated to the Bible. 

But we prepared ourselves and practiced and Saturday in the Night, we went to his house. And we gave one of the best lessons I have had in the Mish. (and my comp. said the best lesson he has had of the Restauration in his mission ha ha). 

It actually almost surprised me how he accepted immediately that Joseph Smith was the prophet that started the dispensation of the fullness of times (we focused on Gospel Dispensations, Apostasies and the Priesthood). And that the Book of Mormon, as a fruit of the restoration and the key of our religion could be true and he accepted to study and pray without delay. It was Amazing. 

Sacrament yesterday was excellent. I actually am a little nervous every first Sunday of the month as I show up with Investigadores. Because you never know what might be said up there when people start to share their testimonies ha ha. 

Sometimes investigadores can think bad with a great testimony, but that was focused much on Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon and start thinking that Joseph Smith is our God and that the Book of Mormon is our Bible. (One of the reasons that it was very important to share with Porfilio the Restauration before Sunday). 

And the testimonies were great. I especially felt the spirit when I had the opportunity to share mine. The best part was that Porfilio stayed for all the meetings and said he had felt the spirit very strongly in Church today. 

Thank you for the updates and the questions, I have to go already! 

Feel better Mom! 

Love you all, 

Elder Hardy 

ps. I love you. 

pps Good Luck Emily with all that dancing!

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

May 23, 2011

Buenas!!!

Hey, I have a new Compañero! Aha, Elder Muzo! He is from El Salvador. He is very nice, and we have made some very impressive goals for this month of June that is coming. His name is Jose Muzo Martinez.  

He is a recent convert to the church. Which always earns my respect. He was baptized about 2 years ago. He was the example in his family and was the first one to be baptized. Apparently, before the missionaries showed up, he was a punk. He had the big boots and giant mohawk to go with it. But the gospel has changed his life. And what is really great is that because of his example and going on the mission, the rest of his family was baptized 4 months ago.

Also, he only took about a half an hour today to write President and then he got off the computer. He told me once that not too many people write him. It would be nice if you guys could send him an email introducing yourselves and welcoming him to the family.

Ah. So this week we found several very positive families. We have already taught them the Restoration of the Gospel and have put a goal for them to be baptized in this coming month.

We passed by the house of one of the families yesterday. Her husband wasn’t home and they couldn’t go to church, but, we asked her if she had read the LDM (El Libro de Mormón, Book of Mormon) and prayed and she said yes.

Then we asked how she felt, and she said she felt really peaceful. We read with her the Fruits of the Spirit in Galatas (Galations). And she felt that it was an answer to her prayers.

For Changes I sat with my "Father" Elder Coj. (Sue’s note: Your “Father” is the senior companion that trains the new missionary “Greenie”). But as far as fun activities, not too much. President has really cut down the time at changes so we can get back to our area and work.

It is rainy every day now! It hasn’t rained super hard but the climate has definitely changed.

No package from Uncle Rob!!! Apparently Aunt Jenny has sent a package too! I will wait con esperanza (with hope) for their arrival.

Well, that is good to hear the rainy season has come there. So this time the car trunk flooded, but how about the window sills? I can’t remember if I cleaned the rain gutters last summer.

Hey Dad, sorry it rained on your golf outing.

That is great to hear that Highland Rugby is still following its tradition! But sad to hear Coach Gelwix is retiring. He was a good coach.

Congratulations Emily and Hannah on your piano recitals.

Hey, I have a paper President talked about in Changes with 101 ideas for the missionary work. I wonder if I could scan it and give it to you. I asked Pres. after if I could get one. And the next day, he sent it with a couple of office workers.

Apparently, I was the only one who asked him about it and he was very impressed haha. I will think about using your steroids analogy with an investigator who is doubting the LDM (BOM) ha ha.

Hahaha Alexis, Dad is taking a running class with you? That is awesome Dad! You have inspired me to do better exercise in the mornings, thanks! And good luck, Alexis.

Yes Emily... Driving here is Crazy!!! Be careful. And don’t try to act like you need to get a job to buy a car. I know what little sisters are like. Dad at least has to do a 50/50 deal or something. I wish I could see your interesting Spanish video. Luh ya.

Hannah, I think there are movie theaters here. I don’t know for sure. I have never actually seen one. Love you, good luck with summer!

Thanks for praying for me.

The "flotador" is as good as done now.

Love,

Elder Hardy

March 14, 2011

Hola!


Volcán Momotombo - Leon, Nicaragua.

It is 1297 meters high and 4500 years old.

Last night I saw the Volcano in Leon! We visited a family about the furthest you can walk in the Cañon (canyon) and they live on top of the valley. It is pretty big, but I’m not sure if I saw any smoke coming out.

Is it already leprechaun time? I don’t have a green tie.

My compañero’s full name is Gustavo David Valenzuela Martinez. He has a great story he tells to people who try to make the excuse that they can´t come to church because they have to stay home to watch the house because it’s not secure.

He tells them at his house, when they go to church, if they even want to lock the front door they have to lock it from the inside by putting the dresser in front of it. And then they leave out the back door that they can´t lock anyway. And he lives in a fairly dangerous part of San Pedro Sula, Honduras.

Ha ha that takes away a few excuses from some people. He also worked in a hotel there before coming to the mission. And he would always get back from working Saturday at 2 in the morning Sunday.

He tells people it took a lot to get up and get to church every Sunday early before 9 with his Mom and Brother who are members. But he bears his testimony about the blessings of going to Church and sanctifying the Sabbath Day and how with sacrifice comes blessings.

We have another companionship in the ward but they live in a nice big 6 room house by themselves. Ha ha I should have taken photos but our room is a little smaller. But the family we live with is awesome.

The living conditions are just fine, our bathroom is great. And I even think the water is a little less cold here in the morning.

Right now our most progressing family is the family of Edwardo and Ana. They are great and have already been to church two times and are preparing to be baptized the 26th. Really the only thing that makes them not ready to be baptized is the word of wisdom. But they have a great desire to change and follow the example of Jesucristo and that is what´s important.

Yesterday, we taught a lesson with Edwardo and Ana and we brought a really great member named Humbert, (he is the Elders Quorum President) who has a testimony that helped them with their desafios (challenges).

So during the lesson it was really powerful and the hermano shared a very spiritual testimony. Then testifying to them was great, and bearing my testimony about the Savior and how he suffered the Atonement so he could help us overcome all the desafios in our lives and that they could overcome theirs and be born again through the covenant of Baptism by someone possessing the authority of God.

Hey, it is great to hear that Elder Gardner is alright in Japón. We heard about it Friday night when we visited a family watching the Nicaraguan News. That is terrible, but nothing happened here in Nicaragua. Then the next day we got a bunch of questions about if it meant the end of the world was here.

Thanks for the maps of Monte Fresco! And yeah, I figured the Restaurante Casa Mía Pizzeria was pretty good. Every night when we walk back to our house the parking lot is packed with fachenta cars and there are a bunch of gringos eating. I am planning on taking my comp there for something special. After we baptize a family or after his 1st year mark or both.

I bet it was a great talk Dad. I bore my testimony in Fast and Testimony meeting last week. And at the end I said everyone needs to have a Sonrisa Mormona (Mormon smile). They liked that. Thanks for the spiritual thought. It’s funny how all of it applies to the mission too ha ha.

Good luck with the float Mom. Remember, to be a good engineer you build it safe and reliable. To be a great engineer you build it the simplest and cheapest too. Ha ha

Thanks for telling me about how your dating is going Alexis... Love you too.

Good luck with the Dance Concert Emily!!! I Love You.

Hannah, what does a chase down mean? I want a photo and detailed explanation of the feasibility of your leprechaun trap Hannah. P.s I love you.

Love You,

Elder Hardy

P.S. You may ask why I sent the photo of my thumb and a peculiar dime. Well, I am going to start sending a money a week for Hannah to see the money of Nicaragua.

This week’s specimen is the Diez Centavos (10 cents) and is totally and utterly useless. Poor guy. He gets thrown on the ground after you walk out of a super market (because they are the only ones that use them). It’s not even metallic like the other coins. Which I will talk about next time on... What’s that money!?!?

March 7, 2011

Hey Everybody!

First, Congrats to the Highland Sports Teams. They are doing great. Nice that they win State in everything after I left to Nicaragua!

I will tell la Familia Escalante that you think their baby is cute. I sent those last time because they asked me to send them to their son who is in the Mish. He already replied back and loved them too.

No, the package didn’t come!!! I hope it’s going to make it. I got mad at Elder Geddes today (he is my ZL again) because he didn’t have it haha. But I am much much closer to the office now so letters and packages are easier to get to me.

So, I am in Monte Fresco, about km 14 in the Carretera sur de Managua. You ride the bus until you hear them say, ¨¡El Puente, el puente!,¨ (“The Bridge, the Bridge!”). You get off the bus and walk up a street to the restaurante Casa Mía Pizzeria and turn right, and walk until you get to our house which is across the street from a Catholic Seminary. But I don’t think it is the one equivalent to Harvard Business School of Central America.

But there are a monton of fachenta casa here. A lot of really rich houses. But they all have really big concrete fences with barb wire and electric fences at the tops. So they are kind of hard to contact.

This week we had a baptism!!! Hurray! Her name is Saira. She lives here with her Mom (who is a member) every other week until she and her husband finish building their house here. Her husband works in Boaco ha ha and when they finish the house he will live here too and we are hoping to complete the family.

Oh, and guess what!!! I washed my own clothes today! Ha ha and yes that means more than it used to (having to carry the clothes up the stairs.) This time I did it by hand! And I don’t think I will let the Barrio (neighborhood) rest this week until I find someone to wash them next week!

Ha ha but it was actually pretty peaceful, until everyone in the house came out to watch and give the chele (white guy) pointers. But it was fun and you know what, washing by hand gets them cleaner too, I think.

The Spanish is going good... I hope. I understand everything with exception to a weird word or two that I haven’t learned. Everyone usually understands me... but every once in a while someone will give me a stinky face that means they didn’t understand a word I just said.

Ha ha I really think I need to work on my accent, get the grammar down and open up my vocabulary, so pretty much everything ha ha.

Hannah, yes, the kids go to school in Nicaragua. And yes, they have a fourth grade, but the grades are a little different. The little kids can go to preschool but the real school starts in Colegio, which is the equivalent to High School. And they just use numbers like, I’m in 1st Año (1st year) or 4th. And if you don’t pass your classes you stay at the same number, so there are lots of different age groups. I hope that’s right, I wish I could explain better.

Super sad news that Scott Sherratt and family are moving. They are an awesome family and I was hoping they would be there when I got back. Scott was a great leader and home teacher. And they were good friends, but wish them luck from me.

Thanks for the family updates. I love you all.

Elder Hardy

P.S. The advice of an Apostle to me of a Misionero de Exito (Successful Missionary):

1. Es Obediente (is obedient)
2. Está enfocado (is focused)
3. Trabaja Duro (works hard)

Same thing applies to you!

December 20, 2010

¡¡¡Feliz Navidad!!!

Merry Christmas!!!

That is so nice of my Grandparents and Rob for the Christmas presents. I am going to try and thank each one of them individually but please make sure they know how thankful I am and my compa too.

For the call, that is great if you really want to call me Christmas morning. Elder Geddes called and asked what I was going to do so I said I was going to do the same thing as Elder Bailey which is that I call Christmas Morning at ten.

He said it is the best way because then I will get a booth in the phone place (which is open on the 25th).

He says it feels a little weird for some reason to have all the Latinos standing around you listening, even though they don’t understand. Jaja (this is Spanish for Haha) but I don’t know. If you really want to call I guess you can tell him that. P.S. I can’t wait!

This week went by super fast. On Tuesday, we had a meeting with the mission president and the elders that go around to teach the "eight lessons". They just taught us about how we can be better missionaries by focusing more on our investigadores and not on lessons. But it took the whole day.

We ended at like 7:30 p.m. and hurried outside to catch the last bus to Boaco. (The bus stop is right outside the church). But Elder Bailey has been having some bathroom problems lately and had to rush inside to go.

When we came back outside we saw the bus driving away. And we were like... Great, now what? We were going to try and hitch a ride but it turns out another bus came that passed by Boaco. We got back to our house pretty late. Pretty exciting jaja.

Oh and for the better part of this past week Beto has been trying to get rid of the annoying pigeons that have nested on top of the windows of the restaurant. Jaja they are always pooping on the porch.

One time we went to leave the house and stopped to look at our agendas and Elder Coj got dinged right on the top of his head. It was great. Right, but Beto can’t seem to get rid of them and has resorted to trying to blow them up... but they still keep coming back.

Plans for Christmas. On Wednesday we are going to Managua for a big Christmas activity with all the missionaries in our mission. I’m excited. We also each have to bring a present worth 80 cords (cordobas). So we spent this morning looking for presents.

So Christmas happens on the 24th here and we are planning on having an awesome Christmas dinner at the house of Roberto y Yamileth. And obviously my Christmas call on the 25th.

President Henry B. Eyring, of the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, told us that one of the greatest ways we can honor our Savior is to bear our witness of him through our testimony.

I know that my Savior lives. Why? Because He has shared a little bit of the love He has for each one of us with me. I cannot explain it but I have started to love every single person here in Nicaragua. And every time I start to teach them I feel the Lord trying to help them. I see how the Gospel of Jesus Christ can bless their lives and help them return to their Heavenly Father.

Have a great Christmas and remember what it represents to us.

I Love Each One of You,

Elder Hardy

November 22, 2010

¡Hola!

 

Happy Birthday Mom!!! This is the last email before your birthday so you have to read it a couple days early. But I am sending your Birthday gift today (hopefully, we still need to figure out exactly how. But I know where the building that would be able to do it is).

I love you and am so grateful to have you as my mother. I’m sorry my present is going to get to you pretty late, hopefully not as long as it takes to get them here.

Which reminds me, I got my Package!!! And my letters!!! A companionship went to Managua and brought back my package with them. And the ZL´s gave me my letters. They have been sitting in the office for a long time. I loved getting them.

My Chele ZL, Elder Geddes, said he was pretty jealous because I received a bunch of letters and a package in my first change. Thank you so much for the letters.

Thank Grandma for me, I love reading her letters ha ha and it looks like Halloween had to have been pretty fun with the sweet looking ghost named Bertha.

Thank Jenny and the cousins too. I love reading their letters too and wish them the best of luck with the sports and broken arm (sorry to hear that buddy).

So the package was Awesome! Don’t worry, it got here in great shape with everything in it. I loved the clever Elder Verde theme. My companion thought it was great too and was really grateful that you packed two of everything so he got a package too. Thanks for the clever scriptures on the treats ha ha they are great and trying to explain them to Elder Coj was great too.

Thanks for the bath stuff too. I was about to have to go buy some. And this stuff is the best too; I don’t think we can get these brands here. But I think we can get shampoo and deodorant and stuff in the biggest grocery store here called Pali. So you don’t have to worry too much about that stuff if you don’t want to.

Hey! Awesome Highland took State, it’s about time. I wish we could have done it. And wish I could have been there.

Ok. Changes are December 1st. If we have changes, they will call us like the night before and we will have to go to Managua with one of our stuff. But I´m really hoping we get to stay here another change together. I am loving it.

I am actually a little suspicious that they might open a new area here in Boaco and send two more missionaries. That would be great because then Elder Coj and I would probably stay here in Boaco with new companions. But nothing is official yet. I just know that when Elder Perez the AP came he was asking questions like that.

So I don’t know if you mean District Conference as missionaries or as the District of Juigalpa in which Boaco is a Branch. But the Branches meet every six months, I think, in a District Conference.

We have a Missionary District meeting every Tuesday if that is what you are asking. It is great we get to get together every week. But the traveling really stinks. We are two hours away from the Church in Juigalpa so every Tuesday we have to wake up at 5 in the morning. The bus leaves at 6 and we travel for about a half an hour to Empalme where we get on a bus to go to Juigalpa.

Now depending on the bus this ride can be Ok or very miserable. The trick is to get a seat. Otherwise you have to stand for an hour and a half sandwiched between people in the aisle. And people are constantly trying to squeeze by.

Ha ha a couple weeks ago Elder Geddes told me a joke as we were about to get on a bus back to Boaco. He said, "Have you ever broken the Law of Chastity before?" and I was like, "What?!" and he said, "Well you will" (As we squeezed into a bus full of people).

Anyway so we get to the Church at 8 and do all our personal companion and language study there. Language study is great because all the Latinos are together. Ha ha they usually just want to try and learn pick up lines and stuff in English.

Then we have the District meeting and Elder Coj teaches us about a subject and then we practice. When the meeting is over, we have to take another two hour bus ride home, but we go to the bus terminal so we usually always get a seat. When we get back, we eat lunch and then get to work. I feel like a lot of the day is wasted traveling but that is how it is here.

Ha ha we actually call our Zone the, "Zona Olvidado" (The forgotten zone) because we are so far away from everyone else. The Zone meetings are every 3 months, but the zone leaders are in our district and they usually talk anyway.

Yes, we have stores and stuff here to get stuff. We went around one Monday to pharmacies because I wanted Vitamins. But we didn’t find any I wanted to trust. I wanted name brand like One a Day Men’s or something but it’s ok I am eating pretty good so I don’t think I need them. I haven’t looked for contact solution but I will now to make sure it is available.

Don’t need anything yet, thank you. P.S. I´m sure packages like the one you sent are pretty expensive so I don’t want you to spend a bunch of money sending me a ton of stuff.

So I think the first day in the little package they gave us it said how many missionaries we have in the Nicaragua Managua Sur Mission. But I am not sure what it is for sure. My compa says it’s about 150.

Little miracles that happen everyday... I´ll tell you one. It’s actually pretty cool and has happened twice for me. And it put a big smile on my face both times. So I have already said I have no doubt our prayers are answered. Also, I know that we (the Missionaries) have quite a bit of authority. But did you know Missionaries have the power to turn off TV´s?! Everyone here has a TV, and they are always on. And we want them off so they will pay attention and to create an environment for the spirit.

Obviously the best way to do this is to politely ask them to turn it off. (I usually point and make the noise of a TV turning off). But one time, a family didn’t want to for some reason and just turned it down so it was a little quieter. While Elder Coj talks, I am praying in my heart to help him, help the investigator feel the spirit and help me understand and be able to talk.

So this time in my heart, I also asked that somehow we could turn the TV off to help feel the spirit and to help me understand because it is much harder when there is more than one voice. (I was hoping that they would change their mind and turn it off)

But as I was thinking "amen" suddenly there was a pop! And the TV turned off!!! The little girl said, "Oh no the light went out!" Ha ha it turns out the bulb in the TV went out (don’t worry, after we were done with our lesson, it started working again. It was kind of like what was happening with our TV). So we kept on teaching and the spirit was there. I thought it was Awesome.

The next time it happened was a few days later in another family´s house. We were teaching and the grandma walked in and turned the TV on, watched it for like 30 sec. and then left... without turning it off. Kinda weird. But I said a silent prayer again and the bulb went out on that one too!!!

We are going to get a reputation for ruining peoples TVs.

Hannah: some people take siestas in the afternoon but we don’t. Hey, we were going to go take pictures with monkeys today for you but we will have to do it next week.

Thanks for updates but sadly I am out of time again.

I Love You

Elder Hardy

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Email from Elder Coj:

Hola soy elder coj .. compañero de su hijo solo les escribia para saludarlos y desearles todo lo mejor , bueno espero que me entiendan porque no se nada en ingles , lo lamento .... solo quiero decirles que estoy muy agradecido con mi padre celestial , y tambien con ustedes por tener a elder hardy como compañero el es un buen misionero .. he aprendido mucho de el en estos ultimos dias .. adimiro el animo que el tiene y su diligencia y su amor por esta maravillosa obra ..

anque no me paresco nada a el fisicamente ,pero el es como mi hermano para mi, filicidades por tener a un hijo como el sientance orgullosos por el ... animo en todo lo que hacen ..

no los conosco pero los aprecio muho...

Att... ELDER COJ ...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hello, I am Elder Coj, your son’s companion.

I am writing to say hello and wish you all the best. Well, I hope you understand me because I don’t know any English. I am sorry. I only want to tell you how grateful I am to my Heavenly Father, and you, for having Elder Hardy as a companion. He is a good missionary. I have learned a lot from him the last few days. I admire the excitement he has and his diligence and his love for this marvelous work.

Even though we don’t look anything like each other, he is a like a brother to me. Congratulations on having a son that you should feel proud of and happy about everything that he does.

I don’t know you, but I appreciate you.

Sincerely,

Elder Coj

November 15, 2010

¡Buenas!

Hey! So it has started to snow a little bit? That’s good because at night it is a little more fresco (cold) here and when we talk to people, they say they are cold. I tell them it is perfect (actually a little hot still) and where I come from it is snowing! So I’m glad I haven’t been lying.

We are teaching several families. But it has been a pretty tough week to be honest.  None of our investigators came to Church. Unfortunately, Fatima and her family fell through for being baptized. So we need to help her with her dudas (doubts).

We are still teaching Yamileth and Roberto. They still haven’t decided to get married but she has really opened up to us and we have built a lot of trust, so hopefully we can help now.

Hermano Salvador didn’t come to church with his family which killed me (We had a really spiritual lesson with him and he realized and told us he needed to come to church more than play baseball). We went to his house before church to go with him but he had already left to play baseball.

We are teaching the Lopez family, Edwardo y (and) Brumilda and we have contacted a few new families but they have really long names and I can’t remember them right now, sorry.

A great experience I had was during fast Sunday (last week). I was only going to go up and bear (try) my testimony if there was a pause or time at the end because people were trying to go and I think it is more important that the members bear (strengthen) their testimonies.

At the end, Beto and my companion went up together and took up the last five minutes. But when my compa came back, I asked him if they would be mad if I went up and gave my testimony and made the meeting go over. He was like, no, no it’s fine, go.

(First of all, Nicaraguans aren´t really big on being punctual. One time we waited for a half an hour after the time we set up for a member to meet up with us to teach and when she came she didn’t think it was a big deal. Second, I’m sure he knew it would be short...)

So I went up and I told a joke about sharing a little of my testimony because I speak really slow and they would all be asleep but I’m not sure if they got it. I gave my testimony about prayer and I think everything I said actually made sense and they understood it. My voice was a little shaky but I didn’t cry or anything. They all seemed to be paying attention and listening too.

(Sacrament meetings can be a little irreverent, lots of kids and the door and windows are open to the street.)

So it was either reverent because they felt the spirit too or because the Chele finally got up and they were all waiting to watch me. So I really liked that.

The meeting house is in a home. Well, it is connected to a home but it is actually pretty good size, it has two floors and is on the corner of a street. Ha ha the directions we tell people are Del Resturante Triky 1/2 al oeste.

I don’t know why people would know where the restaurant is but not the meeting house. We baptize people in the baptismal font in the church or in a river of their choosing. But I haven’t baptized anyone yet.

Church is normal church. Yesterday we had a primary program and it was really cute. Exactly the same as they are in Utah.

We taught a lesson yesterday. But that was because it was a little irregular, the District President came and had a meeting with all the leaders so we taught some recent converts. I haven’t given a talk yet. I probably only will if someone falls through.

Hey this week we had one of the AP´s come and work with us for a day. Hopefully it isn’t because everyone heard that the Chele in Boaco couldn’t speak Spanish and help his compa teach.

He told me that there is a package sitting in the office for me. I don’t know how long it’s been sitting there but it is probably with my letters too. So things get here. But they are going to send it to Boaco and usually I would have to wait till changes (every month and a half) to get it.

But a companionship in our District is traveling to Managua and back today and we have District meeting tomorrow so we called them and told them to bring it. So if everything works out I will cheat the system and get your package tomorrow! Ha ha in the next email I would like to hear what you put in it too.

Elder Coj is great. He was born in the church and has a really big family (11 people including his parents). He has been out for 11 months now. I love him and everyone else does too. He gains the confidence of our investigators really fast which is great. He is a good trainer and hasn’t killed me yet. Although he has tried to wrestle me a couple times ha ha.

Hannah: I am sorry to report that I have not seen a monkey yet. Lots of dogs on the streets, little periquitos (parakeets), a couple parrots, spiders and this HUGE black nightmare bicho (bug) that buzzed by me. No monkeys. Not yet. When I see one I will take a picture just for you.

Thanks for the updates everyone. It is great to hear how things are going. Congrats on the stuff. I don’t have time to write about them.

Love,

Elder Hardy