Muito de Milagres!


Ok, I am not sure where to start for this week... The work has been super slow since I got here to Southfield, but recently that's been changing! Oh the miracles we are beginning to see! We had exchanges this week and I was left in Southfield with the STL Sister Bretz. I was really nervous that i wouldnt know the area well enough and embarrased we didnt have any appointments set up. But miracles happen when you change things up a bit! We did a little finding and we changed actually nothing about how we worked and what we say, but we found so many potentials and set up so many appointments! I don't think sister Burt and I were doing anything wrong before,  I think God just wanted us to be humble so he could show us his miracles. On the topic, this week I was reading in my Portuguese Book of Mormon in Ether 12. Verses 8 and 9 read "8  But because of the faith of men he has shown himself unto the world, and glorified the name of the Father, and prepared a way that thereby others might be partakers of the heavenly gift, that they might hope for those things which they have not seen.
9 Wherefore, ye may also have hope, and be partakers of the gift, if ye will but have faith." 
In portuguese the word for "partakers" is "participantes" which looks a lot like participant! That really got me thinking about how when we really truly have faith in Christ, we will not just PARTAKE of the gift of salvation, but we will PARTICIPATE in it! We will be a part of helping others come into Christ and we will continuously change! That is what this week has felt like. As I have arrived to develop my faith I feel I have been allowed to participate in the work of God! Greg was one of our miracles. We knocked on his door a while back and he let us in to share a quick scripture and we set a time to come back again. This week we visited with him and he shared with us about a traumatic loss of someone very close to him and we were prompted by the spirit to share with him the Plan of Salvation. It was an incredibly powerful lesson and we knew he had been pricked by the spirit. He knew he would see his family again. Another miravles is that we have been praying for referrals and we received a super solid one this week! Some other sisters already taught him the first lesson and he pretty much said he would be baptized! We are meeting with him twice this week and he seems so awesome! Ok, one last one and then I'll move on. We have been trying for weeks to get in contact with a recent convert that I had yet to meet and we finally did! We met with her and she is so sweet and has been reading to Book of Mormon on her own and knows she needs to and wants to come back to church!
Ugh! I love being a missionary! Even when people are rude or tell you all about how what I believe and know to be true is false or even evil, I still love them so much. Sometimes being a missionary hurts when the people you talk to and work with and love so much turn away from you and God, but I am comforted to know that God has a greater plan, and "all things are done in the wisdom of Him who knoweth all things"

Ok some other fun stuff! We went to the Auto show last week! We bought some discounted tickets of this dude, maybe a little sketch, but the member we were with walked right up to him and talked him down for the price. It was pretty cool. Detroit is cool. We got to see some pretty cool cars and Jeep has a truck now? Kinda weird, don't know how I feel, can't decide if I am a fan or not. Still love Jeep though. Forever my fav. I miss the Jeep. We got Shawarma afterwords at this famous Shawarma place. It's a Lebanese dish I think,  I dunno, ask Rees. But it was pretty good! 8/10 would eat again! Most of the missionaries here are crazy about it. We are going down to Detroit again today to do all the Detroit things. It's supposed to snow 6-10 inches or something like that, but we're not too worried. It's supposed to be -40° with wind chill on  Wednesday! I though when I heard about places getting that cold it was just a myth! I am a little nervous but also excited to be able to say I (hopefully) survived it! Nothing stops the work of the Lord! We are being careful on the roads, I loved your story about Grandpa mom! I didn't think I would ever hear of him telling someone to drive faster, I love it! Its funny, you think the people here would be used to the snow, but everyone is zipping around like its June! It's pretty scary! And they are terrible at plowing. They basically just cover the roads with a thick layer of salt and call it good. No wonder the roads are so bad! The cold has been handy when it comes to contacting. Those who are kind and potentially interested will stand and talk to you, let you in, or at least open their door. And those who aren't interested just yell through the door at you or ignore you so we are able to just move on! Less wasting time that way!
Oh and I have decided to make better health decisions! I am starting off slow so I don't crash and burn in two weeks like I did this summer. I made an exercise routine for the mornings and if I do all of the exercises during the week I get a soda on P day! That also means  no soda during the week. It's been good, and we also threw away lost of our junk. (Except this member bought a chocolate cake for me because she heard i liked it. Sister Burt doesn't like cake, so it's all mine. I was going to bring it to dinner yesterday to share, but I was too embarrassed about the fork marks... I plan on eating a little bit more, then I will throw it away too) and we are going to 
buy some veggies at the store today. So, so far so good! Not dead yet!
I love you all! I am so grateful for the gospel in my life, I know it is true. I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God and it testifies of Jesus Christ. I love it so much! I am embarking on my 3rd time reading on my mission! Last time I marked all references to Christ and heavenly father and this time I am marking all effects of or mentions of the holy ghost! Please, share the gospel with everyone you meet, they need it , everyone needs it!
Love
Sister Hardy 

Pikz! 
-Exchanges
-a couple from the car show
-bucharest the Shawarma place
-a bunch of missionaries at service









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