December 9, 2013

Hey all you people out there!!

Welcome to round two of snowing and very very cold! This thursday is supposed to have a high of -11. The snow is falling at a crazy pace. The air is so humid that it sticks to everything. I got boots from the mission office, but I need to buy  a sweater or two today at...

COSTCO!!!! Elder Wilbur asked his mom for a membership and got it!! YAY!! Costco is the best place ever! We are going for the first time today! We are going to buy more food for like no money!! Yay!

On a sadder note, Jimmy will not be getting baptized any time soon. We found out last week that he isn't even close to off cigarettes. He can't even get to one a day. He had a great talk with the Bishop this Wednsday, and is still determined to go through with it. It will take a lot of time though. Carol is doing incredible though. She hasn't smoked for two weeks now and her date is the 20th of December. She looks like she is going to make it. She has had the program planned out for a year now, and finally will get to use it. She is such an example of strength and determination. Her whole family is so against it all that she hasn't told her kids that she is getting baptized. She really is a miracle.

Yes we get to skype for Christmas. There are several members who have offered their facilities, so that will not be a problem. I CAN"T BELIEVE JORDAN IS WORKING ON HER PAPERS!! She is going to get home close to the same time as me since...

THIS TRANSFER MARKS MY 1/4 MARK!! GAHHHHH!!!! WHERE IS IT ALL GOING!?!?! I have been gone for six months already? I can't believe it. I will be coming back in may  of 2015 so actually it is a little more than a quarter way but there are 16 transfers out in the field and this is my fourth. I almost feel cheated by how fast it is.

As for Christmas in Quebec, for most people it is nothing but an excuse to get drunk. It really isn't that big here. I am shocked by it. Most people here are anti-religion. If anything people get more angry the closer we get to Christmas. This is okay since Elder Wilbur and I are really trying to not have to knock. We do if we have to, but we are always looking for something more effective to do, like pass-byes and less active work. We know that the Johova's Witnesses will be knocking on Christmas, but we are not allowed to on the 25th. those TJ (french abbreviation) are a big hinderence in contacting since everyone thinks we are them. As for Christmas I love chocolate and cookies. Also I could really use a sweater (not a Christmas sweater) so I don't freeze to death. Other than that seeing you guys is all I will need. It is incredible the stuff people leave behind. Don't try to send me a bunch of non-food items. I will have to be brutal with suitcase space and it will be left in appartments. Elder Murphy's mom sent him a really nice excercise tube (the stretchy things) set and he had to just leave it behind. It is really fancy. The other thing is a Costco membership would be cool, but not every area has one so i don't know if it will be worth it.

Anyway that is all for this week. thanks everyone. I love you guys! 

December 2, 2013

 Hello all!!

My new companion is Elder Wilbur. He is from the same place as Elder Murphy (Anahiem, but Elder Murphy is from Irving which is very close) and came in on the same transfer. He is a lot more chill that Elder Murphy and is really the perfect second companion. He still works hard and follows the rules, but he knows how to relax when it is time to relax. So far we are getting along swimmingly. 

As for the work in Sherbrooke, we found out yesterday that Jimmy thought that quitting smoking meant reducing his smoking, so he is going to take a little longer to get baptized. Carol on the other hand has actually quit smoking and is looking very good for the 20th of December (her birthday. She missed it last year and insisted on waiting a year to get baptized.) Her conversion is very impressive, and she showed us for the first time the books she has been writing. She has written thousands of pages on various gospel topics, including a book with one chapter for each gospel principles lesson. That woman studies hard. Me and Elder Wilbur have only knocked one door so far, but we got a new investigator from it. That is what I call an effective use of time.

One effect of losing Elder Murphy is that my confidence is growing. Not only can I know begin to apply what he taught me, but Elder Wilbur doesn't know the area yet, so I have been leading out everything so far. In the next couple days that will change, but it has been a big boost to be leading lessons, and realizing that I can do it.  The thought of being the senior companion is not quite as frightening as it was before.

I have seen miracles here in Sherbrooke, and I have seen my testimony grow so much in these past four months or so that I can hardly believe it. I know that the gospel is true. I have a testimony of Bishops. I have had the privelege of being there when Bishop Desjourdy (who looks like a cross between Dad and Brother Braun) recieves revelation for the ward. He truly holds the keys to advance the work. I am proud that my own father is worthy to hold this responsability. 

Questions:

1.  What is your new companion's name?  Where is he from?  Has he served in Sherbrooke before?

            Elder Wilbur, California, no

2.  Did anyone cook you American boys a Thanksgiving Dinner?

            Yes, brother Skene from Anahiem cooked us an American thanksgiving.

3.  Have you had a chance to sing or play the piano yet on your mission?

            The last Sunday before Elder Murphy and Ruby left we sang silent night in French

4.  Tell us about something that you learned this week in your personal study...

            Haven't had much personel study time this last week. We had too many morning appointments.

5.  Does your car have good tires?

            Yes. We had to buy them and it was a mess that took two hours.

6.  Does your new companion like to cook?

            Not really. We do about 50/50 of the cooking. Mostly rice and sausage still

7.  How is the language coming?  Are you dreaming in French?

            Fluency eludes me yet, but I can talk to people without too much struggle. Also I have started to use certain phrases that are shorter in French without thinking. Only one dream though, about Elder Murphy making a grammer error in front of a bunch of people.

8.  Have you had a neat teaching experience this week that you want to tell us about?

            We had a lesson with Carol where she basically told us about how nervous she is, and I was able to use the scriptures to help respond to her fears.

9.  Are you remembering how much your family loves you and how proud we are of you?

            Yea. I try not to dwell on you guys too much, because it gets painful if it goes on too long.

10.  Is there anything you need that we can do for you?

            I need you guys to pray for Jimmy and Carol. Carol is doing better than Jimmy, but they both need our prayers.

p.s: Dad the quote is "Forget yourself and go to Work"

Now a picture or two: Me and Elder Wilbur

Me on splits with Elder Ellis, the new Zone Leader.

November 25, 2014

Hello All!!!

So I am staying in Sherbrooke for at least one more transfer, but Elder Murphy is headed off to Rimousky. I'll let you guys look up where that is and compare it to Sherbrooke and Montreal. He is pretty bummed because we have built such strong friendships here in the ward. We spent yesterday visiting members and saying bye, and we have 3 dinner appointments today as well. My new companion will be Elder Wilbur, who is also from southern California (he knew Elder Murphy before the mission). The problem is that Elder Wilbur has been blacklisted, meaning he can't drive. This means I am the driver starting Tuesday when he gets here. Yeah

It's sad because this transfer has at least two baptisms planned, with another one that could easily happen. I am very thrilled to be staying, but I wish that Elder Murphy could stay too, but It just isn't in the Lord's plan I guess.

That is just about all the news I have this week. I'm going to send pictures now.

I love you guys!! 

ps, Elder Murphy lives not far from that Ruby's and went there all the time.

Me, Elder Murphy, Scott James (the less active) and John

Here is me and Muhammed, the super awesome ex-muslim from Iran who is searching for the truth while studying for his PhD in computer science. He is cool.

November 18, 2013

Salut tout le monde!!

No news yet on transfers. That will be this saturday, then the transfer itself will be next Tuesday. I am pretty sure that I will at least be changing companions, and probably areas. I am looking foreward to some change of scenery and faces, but I will miss all the people here so much. The Yan Bergeron family (the Bergeron's are a local clan, the patriarch and most of the family came active again about a year ago, but Yan never went inactive. He served his mission in New Jersy but managed to not learn english) that invites us over to dinner every week (Sister Bergeron knows i don't like salad dressing, so she gives me a dry portion before putting in the dressing). I will miss Jimmy and Carol, and Gabrielle and Jeremy, and Aubert the French speaking convert version of Tanner. He is going on his mission soon and could very well be in the MTC around the same time as Tanner (by soon I mean in the late spring or Summer). 

This week we worked, and taught, and found, and talked with people. I am still having a hard time with the difficulty of the work, but my companion is a great help still, and The Lord is an even bigger help. I am still on an emotional roller coaster, with a lot of very high highs, and very low lows. I am really trying to open myself up to others, but so far it has left me very up and down. I have faith that this is just because I have gone so long with all my emotions and thoughts pent up, and it will take some time to adjust. My only options are to change or fail, and I have already decided that failure is not an option. Often when I am feeling the most down it is this knowledge that I have already decided to succeed that helps me pick myself up again. 

Enough about me. You asked a few questions! We get mail every time we meet as a zone. We have a zone meeting on Thursday in Longueil so I will get my package then. For Christmas I was thinking that I could really use some more developed pictures of you guys. All I have is one family photo, and that really isn't enough. I also want Jordan's mission call. That would be the best present ever. And maybe some brownies or something. And the new Pokemon game. That was a joke. I'm kidding guys, stop freaking out and stuff. Can't I be funny on my mission? 

That is just about it. I think I will send some pictuers now.

Elder Hardy

Mornings are pretty intense here in Quebec.

Me in partial winter apparel. I still need a sweater, a scarf, boots, and gloves.

November 11, 2013

WHAATT!!! NO PICTURES!?!? BUT I TOOK PICTURES FOR YOU GUYS!! 

Just kidding, about the being angry part. I'm so glad that Paige was able to have that experience. When we can sense the absence of the spirit we know that we had the spirit with us to begin with. Of course we know that obiedience can't not bring the spirit, but a little reminder of how great it is with the spirit is healthy now and then, as long as we aren't searching for them.

I have experienced the same thing out here several times. This Thursday we knocked into this chubby white guy who let us in, led us to his dining room, which was covered in fake plants and aquariums. He told us how the room is his "working area" where he talks directly with god. He told us we didn't accept Budhissm because we were 'young spirits' who had just started the reincarnation process. He is apparently an old spirit, and will only need one or two more lives to achieve perfection. The spirit was not in that room at all, and no amount of testifying could get it to enter that room. It wasn't evil, just so off from the nature of God that we just left as fast as we could. The man refused to listen to us anyway, he just wanted to talk.

We decided to delay Jimmy's baptism. He just needs more time to prepare and work on quitting cigarettes. He took it very well actually. We could tell the Spirit had been telling him that he wasn't ready. It will be at least three or four weeks more, which is after transfers but it can't be helped.

I have had a very hard week. On Tuesday I was on splits with another Elder, and some guy got extremely angry when we refused to leave an appartment building. He wasn't the propréteur, more of a vigilanty enforcer of his own rules. He pretended to call the police on us first, then when we clearly weren't scared of that (I've talked to the police here before. We are allowed to knock as long as we don't force our way into the appartments and someone buzzes us in) he resorted to physical force. We almost called the police ourselves. He pushed Elder Freeze into the wall pretty hard. We mostly just laughed at him though. What a night that was.

Not too much other news. Dropped some investigators, found some new ones. The work goes on. Elder Murphy's brother in the Dominican Republic told him he has around 25 to 30 lessons a week. We have around 10-15. Whatever, the cultural way to cook things here is to deep-fry them so... we win!

I have some pictures of me and Jimmy, so here they are:

Here is all three of us. I just noticed that he has the same clock as Grandma!

Me in the building that we were soon to be forcefully ejected from. That is it for this week! love you guys!

November 4, 2013

Hello everyone.

I had a rough beginning to the week, what with finding out that my BYU roommate is home from his mission, and I was really down for a couple of days. But my companion talked to me about it a lot and helped me realize that I was phsycing myself out and that I just needed to focus on the positive. I have been doing that and I had a great rest of the week. Jimmy's baptism is scheduled for the 16th of November, and we are visiting him almost every day to help him prepair. Yesterday we realized he didn't understand Joseph Smith's story or why we read the Book of Mormon. He has been reading, but not praying about it. We talked about it, and had him pray at the end and ask if the Book is true. The spirit entered the room so powerfully. He told us after the prayer that he felt something tingling in his chest and we told him it was the Spirit. We committed him to do that every night from now until the baptism.

Also yesterday we had about nine investigators at church between the three teams, plus one miracle less active whose husband won't let her go but she snuck out. It was a crazy Sunday.

As for other stuff, sharing the car is fun. -2 degrees celcius is a lot colder here than in Spokane. I purchased a hat and coat, but not yet boots and gloves. That isn't necessary untill it really gets cold, so I'm still looking around. The good news is that I found a great coat for only $100, half the price of the other coats. It is too cold for biking however, which is good.

I likely only have two more Mondays here in Sherbrooke after today. It is insane how fast these three transfers have gone! I have gotten to the point that I can communicate okay in french, an have really seen improvements in my ability to teach and contact. Elder Murphy has been the best trainer I could have hoped for. He's a spiritual giant with a 100% focus on missionary work. He is teaching me how to work hard, and how to care about the work more than any stupid distractions. I actually got mad and almost lost my temper at another Elder at zone training meeting when he started showing me the pictures of The Doctor (from Doctor Who, a show I started watching in college) that he keeps in his scriptures. If he wants to occupy his mind with stuff like that on his mission fine, but I don't want to think about it, so don't put it in front of my face. I definitely have seen a change in my attitude thanks to Elder Murphy's help, and of course the Lord's as well.

That is about all for this week. I know that the church is true. Anything else doesn't make sense.

Elder Hardy

Picture time!!! Coat and hat:

The crazy grain breakfast stuff that is so healthy it apparently can help fight addictions.  Our investigator also gave us a box. It is hard because he keeps buying us stuff, even when we try to tell him not to.

October 28, 2013

Hello everyone,

This week does not bring too much news for me, but lots for my friends. The big news is that one of my BYU roommates is home now trying to recover from severe depression. My heart and prayers go out to him, and I ask the same from you. He is a wonderful person, and needs help recovering. 

As for life here in Sherbrooke, it goes on. It is starting to get cold already. It hovers around 5 degrees C, but the wind and humidity make it feel much colder. We are sharing our car with the other Elders, but they learned how to use the bus system so we use the car most of the time. Our investigator Jimmy is scheduled to be baptized not this saturday but the next. He is trying to quit cigarettes, and solves some problems with his nephews who have been using his apartment to hide drugs. If he can conquer these problems then he will be ready to enter into the waters of baptism on the 16th of November. He needs our prayers as well. 

Another Investigator, Carol, was having a problem with money and was about to get kicked out of her apartment. I prayed for her every day that she might have a miracle. We found out friday that the situation shifted unexpectedly and she will be staying. That was a testimony to me of the reality of the power of prayer. I am so grateful for the chance to be here and witness the miracles of the gospel in the lives of others. I have begun to see the changes it is bringing in me. I am still not the person that I want to be yet, but I am trying to get there for the first time in my life. I have taken the big step of no longer hating work, and being okay with it. The next step is learning to love it. I'm here in Quebec, I'm not leaving until I'm done. I'm not going to be an Elder who sits around all day. That means I'd better learn to like working. There is too much at stake to be lazy. I have a responsibility for the welfare of other's souls, and that can not be something I take lightly. 

That is about it for this week. Happy Birthday again Ronnie. You now hold the priesthood. You have more power and authority than any king or ruler. God has entrusted you with his own power. Use it to bless those around you. I have had a number of opportunities to use my priesthood to bless others here, especially through giving blessings. Always be worthy. We can't afford not to be.

I love all of you so much.

Elder Hardy

Sorry no pictures this week. My companion forgot the cord. I am trying to make a video of me speaking french, but I can't figure out how short it needs to be. Maybe next week.

October 21, 2013

Hello all!!

I'll start by answering your questions.

Where do you go to get access to a computer?

1. We use the computers in the geneology room at the chapel. There are four desktop computers that we use. 

Do you talk to your ward mission leader every day?

2. Not quite, but close to every day. He has a crazy work schedule. It is crazy how blue-collar the church is in Quebec. There is absolutely no problem with that, but I haven't met a single doctor or dentist who is a member (thanks to the socialized system there aren't too many of those anyway).

Where do you have to go to do your laundry?

3. Our appartament has ten stories and one set of machines on each floor. We have to pay way too much for little tokens to use them.

What are some of the new foods you have learned to cook/eat?

4. I can make rice, and I know how to brown growned beef or sausage. I also know how to pour Sriracha sauce on stuff. That stuff is awesome. Look it up.

Did you get your packages?

Do you need more glasses?  (I don't see you wearing them in many of your pictures)

6. I have enough glasses. I will eventually get the good ones fixed. The problem is that I can't seem to keep them clean because I don't wear t-shirts anymore. When they are too dirty I take them off.

Are you allowed to tract at the Universities?

7. Yes we do it all the time. Young people tend to talk to us a little more than old people.

Does your mission do Church tours?

8. I don't know. I've not heard anything about it. I guess probably in theory

How is your morning study time set up?

9. Six thirty arise and prepaire, eight personal study, nine companionship study, ten french study, eleven lunch, then at twelve we begin (I am done with the 12 week program! that added another hour)

Are most of your contacts French speaking?

10. Yes. I actually prefer french contacts. I haven't practiced what to say in english. How does one say "puis-je demander" in english? it's hard to remember on the spot.

We had an average week, but a great Sunday. We have been asked by the bishop to present the challenge from Elder Ballard to reach out to one person before Christmas as a gift to the Savior. We are committing members to pray every day for experiences. We are pretty excited about it. Also Chantal, who had dropped us, is back on track and wants to be baptized. Also she seems much closer to being off drugs. 

That is all for dtoday. Now to send more pictures:

 

Here is David.

I took a video of me walking and talking some french, but it is too big for the e-mails. Dang it.  Here is sunrise in Sherbrooke from our tenth story appartament: The water is Le Lac des Nations, an arrogant name for a pond.

October 14, 2013

Good Monday to all of You, and Happy Thanksgiving!!

That's right. Here in Canada Thanksgiving is today. We are going to dinner today at the home of the ward's most recent convert with the second most recent convert and the Bishop. I am reasonably excited to eat stuffing (dressing in Canada) and not have to lose proselyting time to do it. 

As for your question about baptisms, not so far. However, Jimmy Moore has a date for the last saturday of this next transfer (November 16) and he is super excited. His date was in December, but then he heard about Transfers so he asked us to move the date up. He really wants us to do it. He is very excited for the baptism and was telling us about how he wants to come to church every week and make friends so that he will be okay when we leave. I think he likes us.

You may have guessed that Elder Austin K. Murphy and me are staying in Sherbrooke. The only change in our district is that we are getting a team of sisters. This town of maybe 300,000, with a ward of about 100 active members, will have three teams. Everyone is really excited.

I have come to a decision, and I want to tell everyone so that they can hold me accountable. I have promised that I will not play Team Fortress Two or any online games when I come back. Ever. I intend to still play games with Ronnie or my cousins if they want to, but gaming was destroying my life and, hard as it is for my badly addicted little soul, I need to leave it behind. Only if I promise and comitt to change will the Lord give me the strength to do so. That is something I am learning out here. The Lord doesn't catch us and carry us across until we muster the faith to jump.

Not too much else this week... PICTURE TIME!!! YAYYY!!!!  :)

Dang it doesn't work on this computer I forgot. One second...

Ok here is a picture of me with brother John Dillman, the recent convert superstar. He was baptized the week before I arrived while going to school to become a protestant minister. He read the Book of Mormon in one night, then took three days to study it. His testimony is of a blow-you-back-on-the-bench quality and he blew up the ward mission plan of 20 Book of Mormons given out a year by giving out 15 in one week. In the picture we were helping him and his friend do major renovations in the house (he lives in his best friends basment. He has never been married and he is a very successful entrepeneur.) GAAHHH THE PICTURE WILL NOT WORK!!! I GUESS NEXT WEEK!

October 7, 2013

Gahh oh my gosh Lizzy is so cute!!!

Happy Birthday Lizzy!! 

We watched conference in English because of the anglophones in the ward, but most people watched it at home. Our investigator Jimmy miraculously started progressing. We had been about to drop him after his dodging our appointments for several weeks, but then suddenly he wanted to see us. He had been reading every day in the Book of Mormon, and had seen the amazing blessings it was bringing. He accepted a baptismal date in December and is excited to learn more and get baptized. He also came to general conference and loved it. He doesn't have more than a fourth grade education, but he is very sincere and pretty observant.

Other than that, the only news is that transfer calls are this saturday. I'm terrified that I will be leaving, so I have begun to take more pictures. This week will be mostly that.

This gospel is true, Jesus Christ is our savior and Living Lord. I love you guys. 

Elder Hardy

Also it's too late to keep Jordan's mission quiet. Everyone in my district already knows. I told them. I am just too excited not to.

here is me with Jeremy and Gabrielle, and also Yannick. Gabrielle is waiting on Jeremy, her husband, to become worthy again so he can baptise her. Yannick is the super-awesome recent convert who accompanied us to the lesson. Yannick is from Benin and moved here about a year ago. After one month in Quebec he met the missionaries, and several months later was baptized. Also my glasses broke again. This time all i did was pick them up, and the lenses fell out.

Last P-day we climbed mount Bell-Vue, a medium sized hill that the locals call a mountain. We got a picture by the Croix Lumineuse, and Elder Freeze caught me mid-bound on the way back down on the mountain-biking tracks.

Here is the one of me Bounding:

Look What I did to Alma 5!! I highlighted all the questions and transitions in yellow, all the stuff about evil in orange, and all the stuff about righeousness in blue!

September 30, 2013

Hello everyone!

Man that is an awesome picture of jordan. I think it made all of the other Elders a little uncomfortable. Tell Jordan that that picture makes her the cutest girl I've seen on my mission. Tell Ronnie that they play him on the line because he can do both, but not everyone can play on the line. Also a good football team is built on its line, not its ball-carrier because no runner is better than his blockers. Two princes are better than one king right? I'm joking of course. I just hope Tanner doesn't have to turn down too many proposals to go on his mission.

I sent two letters, one to Ronnie last week and one to the Whole family more recently. I hope the stamps are working. Also transfers are in two weeks so if you want to send me food now is the time ;) 

I forgot to tell the story last week about the lady who freaked out at us. We knocked on her appartment door and started talking to her. She wasn't interested and so we asked if there was something we could do to help her. She replied calmly that no one in the world needed more help than her. She then just went Berserk. She started pushing us down the stairs swearing at us and screaming at us (in French of course) and telling us to get out. We wanted to knock the other door in the appartment but she was screaming at us that they didn't want to hear from us. Then she slapped us both across the face. We decided to leave at that point. As we left the building she was kicking us and still screaming and swearing. She stood on the porch for a minute screaming at us not to talk to the people on the street either. We have no idea what got her so upset. Her whole demeanor just changed in the blink of an eye and she lost control. It was sad and also kind of funny how angry she was.

Yes it is the season for buying coats and gloves and such. It is just chilly right now but it shouldn't be long before it starts reaching 30 and 40 degrees below zero (Celsius). Coats cost a lot here because they are an absolute necessity. You will freeze to death without them. Or I guess just not go outside. Of your bed.

As far as missionary things go, not too much news. Still working and teaching and knocking. I hate how certain it is that anyone we start teaching will be found and hit with anti-mormon material and directed to sites about FLDS communities in British Columbia (the Canadian news paints these communities as Mormons). We can easily respond to these concerns, but the problem is when the people get scared and won't talk to us. It is pretty frustrating.

Still I'm finding that the only way to be happy out here is to work. Sadness, homesickness, distraction, they all are results of idleness. It is hard for me to change my attitude regarding this, but Elder Murphy is a big help because he will tolerate to slothfullness. I hope to have nailed down this working hard thing by the time I come home.

Also someone called the police on us last night. We knocked on there door at about 8:15 and they said to go away or they would call the police. We tried to talk to them for a minute after, but obviously got nowhere. About 5 minutes later we were a few doors down talking to a Catholic woman who is convinced that the Virgin Mary will come back to the earth and give birth to Christ once again (she was 100% focused on Mary rather than Christ) when two police officers showed up and told her to close the door. They talked to us for a few minutes about what happened (the lady accused us of impersonating the police) and told us that we 100% have the right to do door to door (yes!!! Eat that every concierge of an appartment building ever!) but just be carefull not to scare people at night. They also checked our ID. it was a good story, but we lost like 10 minutes of knocking time because of it. Oh well.

 

That is all I have time for today. I love you guys. Don't stop living, learning, and loving the gospel. 

Oh yeah I gave a talk yesterday in French. I used one of the quotes from my binder of quotes. It was about dilligence in member missionary work. It wasn't very long (5 minutes) but it went pretty well.

Bye.

Elder Hardy

Me and Elder Murphy in our Shchnazzy new jackets. We haven't bought full coats yet, but that is next.