No Day is Norma


This week was not your regular ordinary week in the mission field, we actually spent less time out in our area working together than usual, but if there is one thing I have learned, obstacles are nothing to the Lord. He does His work rain or shine, 2 hours or 10. We started off the week with an exchange! I stayed here in Oeiras with a sister who has only been out for 2 transfers! I have more experience being a missionary than her, but only a couple more weeks of actually being here in Portugal and my Portuguese was only marginally better than hers. So I was really nervous and made sure to do some good stretches that morning in case pantomime was required. But the day actually went really great! We did a lot of contacts, taught a lesson to a returning member, bought food, did service, and found 2 new people to teach!! We got along really well too and just had a lot of fun talking and laughing and swapping stories. Another wonderful blessing of exchanges is the opportunity to seek help from others. She felt comfortable enough with me to share some things that she is struggling with and I was able to serve her and she said it helped a lot to just be able to talk about it. Missions ain`t easy kids. But OH MAN is it good. It is really good. But you should see my feet lol. Talk about disgusting. Walking everywhere you go for a couple months does things... I wont send a picture, I dont want to do that to you. I have been trying to moisturise them every night, but at this point I think that my feet will never be pretty again. Every battle leaves wounds, and that doesnt disclude the battle for souls. Its starting to get really hot too... I have managed to avoid sunburns, but I would like to announce (with great pride) that I have a SANDAL TAN LINE! Yes. I, Paige Hardy, the whitest of all white people, queen of the sunburns, has a TAN LINE! My feet may be gross and covered in blisters and calluses, but everytime I see that tan line a smile comes to my face.

Ok, moving on from my feet and back to the stuff you actually want to hear about. On Thursday we had ZONE CONFERENCE! Yay!! Elder De Feo of the 70 came to talk to us. He also had interviews with a handful of missionaries and president chose me to be one of them! It was really amazing! It is so comforting to know that the men and women that lead us are men and women of God, guided and directed by Him. I could feel that power as this kind man shared scriptures with me and asked me how my mission has been so far. The messages and ideas he shared with us were inspired and inspiring. It was a wonderful experience. It was also really fun to see so many of my friends here in the mission! I saw sister Moulton from the good days in the MTC and Sister Hoffman who I love so so so much, and I got to talk to the elders in Barreiro about my friends there and how they are doing! Glad to say that Carlos is still going strong after his baptism! Then the next day we still didnt have much time in our area because we had the mission leadership cousil! My companion is the STL in her zone (I am not, phew) so we went and it was actually really cool! I learned a little bit about how the leadership works in the church and how God intends leadership to be and how revelation works. The other comps to STLs and I were invited to actively participate which was pretty cool, though also really intimidating. So that was a cool experience, but this weekend we could really feel the time that we had missed in our area, but the Lord makes up for it! The work is going well and our ward is awesome! I love the people here! 

The testimony that I would like to share this week is about patience. Man, there is a reason that pacience in a virtue, because not everyone has it. This week I was thinking a lot about patience and what it really means to be patient, especially when people wont listen to what you say or do what they are supposed to do. When people struggle they need patience they need love, not condemnation and endlessly being told what they are doing wrong. One thing I have learned is that most of the time people know that what they are doing is wrong, so you dont need to tell them. They know. They just need someone to kindly and patiently help them. Patience doesnt mean you condone the behavior of other people. I will say it again. Patience doesnt mean you condone the behavior of other people. Patience is love. Patience is firm repetition. Patience is doing all you can and waiting for a miracle.

ANYWAY Love you all. Thanks for your support. Be missionaries, share the love of Christ with everyone you meet! Plan a trip to portugal because dang this place is the bees knees. 

Love y´all tons and tons
Sister Hardy


-the Flippin ocean is so pretty!
-this sign says "stop more, live better" but the guy lying on the hill just cracked me up so I thought I'd share.
-the ocean again and a fort from back in Portugal glory days
-we feeling cute by the ocean







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