Bringing hope to the (almost) hood

Heyo everyone! What goin on!? I hit my 3 months this week! Huge milestone right! My companion hit her 1 year mark too so i told her we could celebrate that too if she wanted. 😉 so we bought these cute tiny little martinellis at the dollar store. We put them in the freezer so they would be cold for lunch, but we totally forgot about them until we got home that night at 9! We opened the freezer and one of them had exploded! Boy was i grateful for last weeks fridge experience, it was a breeze to clean up in comparison and it was so funny! We managed to salvage some of the actual drink and it made a nice little martinelli slushie which was surprisingly good! We took some cute pictures, cleaned the now very sticky kitchen (the other bottle didn't explode but when we opened it it was bubbling over for probably a solid 30 minutes and we tried to keep it contained, but there was only so much we could do!) And it was so fun! Earlier that day we met a really cool lady in CVS and tried to talk to another guy on the street who actually RAN away from us. That is the second person to literally run away from me. At least this guy let us introduce ourselves before he ran! Who knew two barely 5' girls in skirts were so intimidating! 

Earlier this week we went without a car too which was crazy! We had to take it into the dealer and we expected it would only take a few hours, but the guy told us they gad to keep it overnight! So we were on foot that day and the next day we didn't get a call and we had district meeting so we called up a member to give us a ride and did all our studies and lunch at the church! We knew we needed to get out and work though so elder Tanabe the vehicle coordinator lent us a different car, a dinosaur Toyota, to use until our car was fixed. We went to Meyer to do some contacting and did what sister Burt calls "retail therapy" i had a gift card  from a member in my last area so we walked around and grabbed some snacks that looked good, a frozen pizza and i bought a little fake succulent for my desk! It was really fun, and people were less weirded out when we talked to them when we were clearly shopping too! 

We had fun at service this week too! Elder Garcia had a bet with Elder Jensen that he could go the whole time without talking to the sisters, and we found out part way through service. We started asking him questions, and I told a bomb knock-knock joke, but he wouldn't crack! At the end though he accidentally slipped and asked me a question, so he lost his bet, but it was so funny! The elders are so fun! They had an investigator at church this Sunday and she was so sweet! We sat with her during relief society and at the end she said that the past couple weeks she had come up with any excuse not to come to church, but this week she couldn't think of one so she came. During sacrament meeting she felt like her son was being really disruptive so she didn't want to come back (I was on the stand because I was giving a talk, and I didn't even notice her little boy being disruptive, I thought her kids were being remarkably reverent!) but she said that during relief society she could see and feel the love the women had for each other and wanted that to be a part of her life. She said that she would definitely be coming back! Her sons loved primary too, which I am sure will help! It was so cool! We have had some great experiences this week with the members. We went over to a less active members house one day and she was feeling really sick because of her pregnancy and we were able to talk to her for a minute and hopefully brighten her day, and we had a really cool experience during an MTV (member teaching visit) with another sister who when we asked her for referrals told us about her coworker and together we found out that the coworker was actually a member! The sister started crying and said that when she was baptized years ago the missionaries gave her a book of Mormon to give to someone else, but she never had. She still has it and while we were talking with her she realized that her friend was the one she was supposed to give it to. The spirit was so strong, it was so cool. I love being a missionary and seeing the way the spirit works in people. I have seen it soften peoples hearts right in front of my face. One minute they are scowling and brushing us off, but once we squeeze in a little testify they are smiling and telling us to please stay safe. They may still say no, but the spirit entered their heart in that moment, and hopefully they will someday be prepared to hear the message of the restored gospel. 

We have an exciting and busy week ahead of us this week with zone conference and several potentials we are going to try and meet with, I am so excited and I know it is going to be another week of miracles! I have experienced so many times the miracles that come when we follow the direction of the spirit. Multiple times when deciding where to go I have felt the spirit nudge me in a direction and when I followed it we met someone cool! It is so important to plant seeds in peoples hearts, because, like Alma taught, when a seed is planted it will grow. Maybe not today, maybe not this year, but someday that person will have the opportunity to enjoy the fruits of the restored gospel. (We are not allowed to use "fluff" like metaphors in the MDM, so I gotta get all my metaphors out in my email, sorry about that!) 

Thank you for all of your support and prayers, I love you! I know that this is the true gospel and that through faith in Christ and the saving ordinances performed by the priesthood authority of God, we will be able to return to live with our loving heavenly father again! I love him so much, I love His son. I am so grateful for the Book of Mormon which testify of them. 

Love,

Sister Hardy

PS: Answers to your questions! We don't have any snow, I have worn my boots a few times though because it is freezing cold! I thought I looked like a marshmallow last transfer! 😂 The leggings you sent have been my saving grace! And I have acquired quite a few sweaters and other items of clothing from other missionaries and a thrift store or two, I am just praying I can manage to get my suitcases to be under 50 lbs! We are going to the temple this thursday and I am so so excited! I love the temple so much! I am doing ok on the medicine, I have probably a months worth left, but I don't know if you saw on the portugal facebook page about packages, but it might be a good idea to send some more just in case it is hard to get a package to me while I am in Portugal. I can't think of anything I need in particular other than that. Maybe just encourage my siblings to send me a note or email if they want, I would love to hear from them. Or if you gave me their emails, I could email them! I feel so bad for not writing to my older siblings, now I understand!!! Thank you so much for everything mom, I love you!

Pictures!!

Ok, once again not sure on the order. the sticky note pictures are from a few weeks ago, I just forgot to send them. During comp study we were talking about charity so I put charity on my forehead and then they started getting into some deep doctrine so I decided to illustrate where we were relatively on the whole "line upon line" thing. Pretty funny. Goofy times. Love the memories

I SPT (short powerful testimony)'d spiderman, he is on date to be baptised.

We found a sign that told the truth, southfield really is the center of it all.

The Elders and us at service, Elder Garcia got a cool picture of me with some graffitti but he hasn't sent it to me yet... 

All of my borrowed winter gear

The coolest picture EVER of us cleaning out the grossest dustiest place ever

Trying to warm up my face after a long night of tracting, also I look so creepy...

Sticker hunting is a big thing here and you find stickers just stuck on things all over. This is me with the first sticker I found, I think it is pretty accurate.

The cute pictures we took! Good times, basically models.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY FATHER OF MINE! I am so grateful your birthday is on P-day! I've had it on my calendar and was so excited to tell you how much I love you! I have missed you recently, your advise and your jokes! I am so grateful for all you taught me about hard work, because you cant get by without it out here. I hope your birthday is SO SO FUN and that you get to take a little brake and spend time with the fam. 

My memory for you is: when i was little we would have competitions to see whose love spanned the greatest distance. It was from here to timbuktu, as deep as the ocean, or to the moon and back. I always jnew how much you  loved me. The great thing about the gospel dad is that we know that you are my dad and i am your daughter and the love that we have spans farther even than Kolab! We are an eternal family and I will love you for eternity and back dad. (I think i just won the competition btw)

I wish I could be there to celebrate with you, but I love being a missionary and I know the best present I could give you is being out here and working hard. Thanks you so much for all you have done and continue to do for me and for the family. Thank you gor loving mom so much and showing us kids the kind of relationship to strive for. Thank you for your example of love, patience, kind work and diligence. 

I love you to the moon and back

Your missionary,

Sister Hardy

And some snippets for everyone else!

Mom: ahh i love you! Thank you for all you taught me about obedience leading to trust. That has really pushed me to be as obedient as i can be so that the Lord will be willing to trust his precious children to my care!

Jordan: i love ya JD! I am so glad things are going well! I once again apologize for not writing you while you were on your mission! Just a one or two sentence email, it doesnt have to be on monday even, i would love! But of course i respect your agency and love you anayway! I have quoted some things to my companion, but she never gets that im quoting something! The mission veil is either really thick or I have been taught my the jedi master of movie quotes.

Rees: heyo spaghetti-o! Dang bro i miss our chats! You are so fun to talk to! I hope you have started writing your book! If you ever want to send me a paragraph or two to read, im sure it wouldnt be diso to read it on a P-day!

Tanner: i hope school is going well! I would love if you had any advise for me on studying the language while in the states! I love you!

Gracee: i love you gracee, thanks for teaching me how to make mashed potatoes! I have only made them once on my mission, but they were so good and my companions were very impressed. 

Ronnie-boy: Wazzuuuup! We walk through a lot of stores while contacting and here a lot of different kinds of music, and i just wish you wede here to tell me which rapper it was or to show me the cool new band you found. My comp likes similar music to what i liked and she told me about a band called the head and the heart that she really loved! You should look it up and tell me if i would like them or not!

Lizzie: i am so so proud of you, i can just imagine you running around and knocking over all those boys. You go girl! I wish i was there to cheer you on, but i am always cheering you on in spirit! I love you! 

I love you all so much family! Give dad a big ol hug from me!

-sister Hardy 

Ps: the cat is allowed to be inside! What the heck! I noticed on Christmas and forgot to say anything! I am so jealous! I love cats so much! The longer i am out on my mission the more i realize faith is the only Dog i will ever love. 

Dad: i know its your birthday and all, but i was hoping to ask for a little advise. The area i am in is dead and we feel like we are doing everything we can and talking to everyone. We talked to well over 70 people this last week. I am being obedient and making goals to be better, and i am striving to follow the spirit and pray and act in faith, but we are not teaching anyone and none of our potentials are panning out. i am still super happy and enjoying my time as a missionary and having fun, but i want to be helping people come unto Christ too! Can you think of anything i might be missing or have any ideas we could try? I love you dad! And if you respond any time this week i will see it!