April 14, 2014

Hello!!

Not going to write as much this week, I have some catching up to do. Had a good birthday. Somehow everyone in the ward knew about it and it was a big deal, then Elder Castrejon started telling people on the bus about it to start conversations. So glad that I'm trying not to be a poop anymore!

In other news, nothing new happened. Time to catch up.

Elder Hardy

Here is me

1. Eating my birthday lunch

2. With Elder Messinger, a close friend and mentor on my mission.

3. Me with my birthday cake I think.

Sorry for the weird format on the photos. I am not sure why the camera uses that file type. I've been thinking about just getting a new one. The memory card doesn't come out (so annoying!!) the pictures aren't always the best quality, and it is super picky about which computers it likes. Might just go buy another one. Don't know though.

here are some more:

1. Elder Ballard. He is really strong and likes to bake bread. We call him Peta.

2. Me. In the distance is the Canadian parliament. 

April 6, 2014

I figured out who Paige looks like: she looks like one of those girl actresses playing Peter Pan. That is it. That's been troubling me for a whole week.

In other news I loved General Conference so much!! You are very perceptive Mom, I loved Elder Uchtdorf's talk on gratitude. I have been really hard on myself for the last few weeks, and I need to be grateful; more grateful for both trials and miracles. One such miracle is that our Investigator Steeves (pronounced Steve) accepted a baptismal date last week, and randomly showed up to general conference on Sunday. He stayed for the Sunday morning session, and the lunch and baptism afterwards. We were starting to worry about him since he has been super busy with finals and we hadn't seen him in a week. That was a miracle.

A trial this weekend was that Marcel is having a super hard time. His date is the 19th of this month, but he is having a really hard time about the history of the Church, especially pertaining to the priesthood. He really wants to join the Church, but just has that standing in the way. We have talked about it several times, but he isn't satisfied. We are going to see him this week with a member in the ward who had a similar problem. Hopefully his testimony and story will touch Marcel more than little white and born in the nineties me can. He needs our prayers. He is a truly elect son of God, and knows the Church is for him. I'm not allowed to ask you guys to fast for him, but I love that man and have fasted several times for him already.

This is going to be embarrassing, but I am FINALLY beginning to understand what Dad keeps telling me: 100% obedience brings spiritual power. I have not been a disobedient missionary, far from it, but I am beginning to see how much better I can do. It took me asking my companion how I can overcome my fears. He told me to start being more obedient. It makes so much sense to me now. If I want my faith to grow, I have to use it. It does affect everything whether I truly work out in the morning, rather than lifting our barbell a couple of times then dozing on the couch. Having a good study EVERY morning can help my investigators, and is how I can change who I am. I'm sorry it took so long for me to figure that out. At least I am starting to get it now.

As for the package, I haven't gotten it yet. The Zone Leaders forgot to pick up the packages. The Calender, don't really matter to me. Just pictures of the family is perfect. Thank you so much. I am doing fine for clothes. I will probably start needing more next spring, but for now I'm fine. At least I didn't make the mistake of putting in bleach like Elder Smith. His shirts have big yellow streaks now. Love you guys so much. Looking forward to Mother's day next month.

Elder Hardy 

March 31, 2014

Hello family!!

Sorry if this little letter is a little scatter-brained. I just got ranted at by some guy in the library for like ten minutes about how untrue the Book of Mormon is. He clearly hadn't read the book, and he really didn't have any good points, but my train of thought has been scattered like leaves in the wind. Seems to happen that way. He is far from the first person to do stuff like that (I've told my stories of being physically assaulted already I think) and will be far from the last. I just really shouldn't have quoted the Bible at him though. It wasn't the right thing to do, so the spirit left. Thus I couldn't answer his attacks (of course) and I just had to sit and take it. Lesson learned I hope.

Anyway, to answer the questions:

1. Were you able to go to the Temple last week?

            Yes I was. I was the last one into the session. It was awesome to get to do it again after so many months. A big refresher and I learned a lot.

2. Is there anything in particular you need/want for your birthday? (The package with your cord in it should be arriving in Montreal tomorrow)

         I don't know. Some more pictures for sure. Maybe a calendar. I'm not sure if that was one of the things you suggested I bring but I refused, But like a calendar with pictures of you guys on it would be cool. I don't really "need" anything, so don't go overboard or anything. 

3. Have you had any interesting/uplifting experiences street contacting?

         Not worth telling. Still really struggling with it. It's teaching me humility. The problem is each time I get humbled I get proud of how humble I've become and I end up back at square 1.

4. Do your companions know that you have a beautiful singing voice?

         Yes.

5. Is there a Costco near you?  If so, does your card work?

         yes and Yes. We go there about every other week since my companion doesn't like it.

6. Are you being transferred?

         No. Both me and Elder Castrejon are staying for another transfer.

7. Do you still study French every day as part of your study time?

         Yes. We try to speak french among ourselves, but it's hard when you don't use it with everyone else.

8. Since you are serving in a YSA ward do you use social media (Facebook, etc) to communicate with your investigators?

         Yes. We get a whopping 15 minutes on Facebook every day. Great way to find less-actives.

9. Have you learned to cook anything new?

In Ottawa? No. With my previous companion I learned a few recipes. The only one that stuck was french toast though. I forgot the others.

10. Where will you watch General Conference?

            At the church, hopefully with our investigators.

Finals are starting up so things are going to get slow for a bit. We committed two investigators to baptismal dates this last week though. Marcel committed himself to the 19th of April (really hoped he would pick the 12th). He is so ready, he just has to overcome some concerns about the priesthood in church history. Steeves also accepted a date for the 24th of May, which was an awesome surprise. We thought he was going to drop us, but it turns out he has been reading and praying, and wants to join. The spirit was so strong when we extended the commitment. He has a ways to go with his beliefs, but he seems to have the humility to make it.

That's about it this week. Love you guys so much! Hope you have a good week. So happy that Jordan went to the temple. Never stop going there Jordan. Every opportunity should be taken to attend. Especially during these last few weeks. The closer we get to God the stronger we become, and nothing brings us closer to Him than making, renewing, and keeping covenants with him.

Love!

Elder Hardy

March 24, 2014

Bulgaria?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! What language do they even speak there? Bulgarian? 

Wow what a call! How amazing! What's even more amazing is how right it feels. I'm not sure how, but it is almost as if I saw it coming even though I didn't. I know T will do amazing things there. As much as I wanted him to come be with me, I know that the Lord sends people to those that need them, not to those that already get to spend eternity with them. 

I am super pumped to have heard Tanner's call! I've been waiting for like forever. Leaving in August? Dang. That means we will overlap by a few months over three years. My year mark is in June and my year-to-go mark is on May 26 (HOW DID I ALREADY GET SO CLOSE TO THAT WHERE DID MY FIRST YEAR GO??!!) I try not to dwell on my death day (we call finishing our missions dying out here) because each time I do I realize how little time I have to become the missionary I want to become. Treasure the time on your mission, both of you with calls. We call a mission a sacrifice, but since I came out here I've realized that it is just another one of the tremendous blessings that the Lord just keeps dumping on his children when they are obedient. King Benjamin was right, and it's unfair! Every blessing is connected to a commandment, but I often feel that the stick is lopsided. Every time we try to serve him he blesses us so much more than we really earned. It just keeps on coming until all we can do is thank the Lord for his goodness and keep obeying. 

Sorry I'm going to rant on this subject for a minute. People, even in the Church sometimes, People see sin as moving us into the negatives on the slide-scale of life, and obedience and blessings bringing us back to zero on the scale. This view makes us seem entitled to blessings and doesn't give enough credit to the Lord. Yes sin moves us backwards, but so does a simple lack of diligence. When we obey commandments and seek to apply the atonement we don't rest at "where we are supposed to be" we rocket up into the stratosphere of the positives. If we don't maintain our level of diligence and obedience we don't get to keep that level of blessings. We slide back to zero, and as we sin we then enter the negatives. Thus will all men be judged according to our works. Not according to whether we we stayed above zero, for in the end every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is the Christ. All will eventually accept his sacrifice and repent, whether in this life or in spirit prison. None (save the sons of Perdition) can escape the grace of Christ, which will gather all of God's children, cleanse their sins, and drag the wicked, writhing in the agony of insufficiency and unpreparedness, back into the presence of the father. The wicked will then wish that the rocks and the mountains might fall on them and hide them, that they do not enter the presence of their God. Thus We are not judged by whether or not we are in the negatives, but by how far into the positives we go. The ordinances and covenants we make allow God to pour out blessings even more abundantly. The Atonement of Christ CANNOT be a passive thing. Today is literally, as Amulek (or Alma?) said, the day to prepare to meet God. The minimum is the telestial kingdom, and we use the gospel to climb from there. Thus Satan's plan is brought to even greater folly with this understanding. Without agency the telestial kingdom was all we could merit, if even that.

Sorry about that guys. That is the culmination of everything I've learned out here about the gospel suddenly and unexpectedly being thrown onto the screen. I hope you'll forgive me, and correct me if my understanding is not correct.

Had a good week. Transfer calls this Saturday. Probably won't move.

Love you guys!!

Elder Hardy

March 17, 2014

Hello Everyone!!

So happy to hear about you guys's great time up in B.C!! I hope Ronnie broke his wrist. Then I will be the only brother who hasn't broken a bone. I'm also super excited to hear about Jordan preparing for the temple. Just remember a few things: the recommend questions are the minimum. We won't feel 100% worthy to be there until we are in the Celestial kingdom. It's only through the atonement of Christ that we can ever be remotely worthy to enter that building anyway. Also pay close attention when you go. There are answers to many questions, and the more knowledge we have, the larger and more powerful our testimony can be. 

Speaking of temples, We get to go to the temple on Friday!!!! The Montreal temple is closing for 13 months in May (doesn't reopen until just after I finish my mission!) so they are trying to give everyone a chance to go through a session at least once on their mission.

If you haven't gleaned it from the last letters, these last few weeks have been tough for me. I am really trying to fully submit my will to the will of the Lord, and it is hard. I get very frustrated with myself as I see my weaknesses and struggle to overcome them. I know that my biggest obstacle is pride. My desires need to change and become the Lord's desires, and this is only possible if I am truly humble.  I need to be able to humble myself, but I can't seem to do it. Right now I am running off of a rule I set for myself: If I don't contact, I don't get to eat. That has helped some, but it is not the proper way to truly change myself.

I don't have as much to say today. Just if you guys have any advice on the subject I would really appreciate it. Our investigator Marcel is really progressing well. The ward has begun to absorb him into itself socially (he is playing in the volleyball tournament and everything). His date is the 29th, and he is progressing solidly towards it. Just keep him in your prayers that he makes it.

Love you all. I know that the Lord has stretched forth his hand this one last time to restore his gospel.

Elder Hardy

March 10, 2014

Hah!! I love Ronnie's face in the skiing picture!

I can't wait for T to get his call. I heard a story a few days ago about two brothers who served in the same mission at the same time and were companions at one point. The problem is it is so extremely unlikely that it almost certainly won't happen, no matter how much I pray every night that it does. But now when it doesn't I am going to be super bummed, but only for about six seconds after I've spent an hour being excited about where the Lord has called him. As for you Jordan, my advice is to start small. First ensure that you are reading your scriptures and praying sincerely every day. Then add a bit of study from Preach My Gospel every day, then build from there. Testimony comes from keeping the commandments to the level our faith allows, then seeing the blessings. This strengthens us enough to do a little more. Thus step by step weak things become strong unto us. What is challenging becomes a treasured skill. I know that you can become an incredible missionary, it just takes faith like a mustard seed to push us to action. From there we can develop the trust in the Lord to allow him to mold and shape us into the people he wants us to be.

That has been a focus recently for me. I don't know if I have ever mentioned it but I have a really hard time street contacting. That is 90% of our contacting in YSA, so that has been a struggle for me. I can knock on any door and not be afraid of anything, but when I am pacing a sidewalk block trying to talk to people I just freeze up and walk right past them. At first I was really confused as to why I couldn't do this. I prayed and the feeling I got was that I wasn't the kind of person who could street contact. Well I thought that was just great, then I realized what that really meant. The Lord expects me to become someone who can street contact effectively. That changed my perspective a lot. I have been trying to trust the Lord more completely. Instead of being afraid of saying something stupid, I need to trust the Lord to guide and protect me. That has also outlined to me the importance of proper preparation. We can do whatever the Lord requires of us if we do what is necessary to have the spirit. For everyone, and especially missionaries, this strength comes from studies. Another goal of mine is to be a more effective study-er. So many goals, so little time. 

There is a Wendy's in short walking distance from the apartment, but I have only gone once. When I deserve it I will go there, but not until then.

Other than that the sisters had a baptism on Saturday. There were more people at that than at church the next day. We had three investigators at the baptism, but none made it to church the next day, but another investigator that we hadn't expected ran into a member at the bus station and decided to come on the spur of the moment. A really weird week.

Anyway that is about all for today. Sorry I can't send pictures. 

Love you all!!

Elder Hardy

p.s. our roomates are in a home ward and are the zone leaders. Elder Castrejon is my district leader.

p.p.s. There are two Universities of over 30,000 students, one decent sized college, and about 4 smaller schools. Ottawa is a very young city.

March 3, 2014

Greetings from planet EVERYONEDRINKSCOFEEANDHASANiPHONE!

So I have spent the last week getting used to working in YSA. We teach only young people (obviously). They have really good questions and are very open, the problem is that they are too open to any cool idea they find. All in all it is much faster paced than Sherbrooke.

The weirdest part is the English. I have gotten so used to french that sometimes I have a hard time knowing what to say. Also it is hard to stay within the simple doctrinal truths of Preach My Gospel when my vocabulary is several thousand words rather than several hundred. All in all though I really like it.

On Saturday Elder Castrejon gave a baptismal interview for the sisters' super boss investigator, then that same investigator gave a ride the next day to our most solid investigator, Marcel, and during the car ride (without prompting and without us there) invited Marcel to Institute, the ward volleyball team, and church the next Sunday, and got him to agree to dress with a tie next Sunday. It was the most amazing display of fellowshiping that I have ever seen, and the guy isn't even a member yet. Apparently this ward is known for amazing fellowship.

That is awesome that you guys were able to go experience what me and Jordan did! I'm 100% certain you guys weren't poops like me. I wish I could have taken that trip after my mission. I think I would have appreciated it more. I'm learning out here that I have a talent for being positive and happy. It is weird. I find myself the one smiling and bouncy and ready to shrug off a trial. The best part is that rather than be upset with myself, I am so grateful to The Lord for blessing me with the strength to change. My next goal is to be outgoing and willing to talk to anyone. My inspiration is Elder Messinger. He is our roomate and zone leader. He is an even bigger nerd than me (we have a lot of fun talking) and was apparently the shyest person ever at the beginning of his mission. Now however he has worked himself to the point where he has no fear talking to anyone. My goal is to be like him.

So no one in my new apartment has the right cord, so I can't send pictures for a while. I haven't been taking too many lately anyway.

I can't wait to hear Tanner's call. I am sure he is coming here. There is no better mission than the Canada Montreal Mission, and Tanner is surely one of the best the Lord has got right now, so he will come here. That is my guess.

As for Jordan, keep it up. I have had a very powerful week spiritually. I have begun to learn more about what the atonement means. I used to think the Atonement was there to help me feel better when I mess up, but I am beginning to understand that it is there to help me BE better. If I do not have goals of self improvement and if I am not asking the Lord to help me improve who I am, I am not using the Atonement. I am not washing my garments clean in his blood. The feeling better part really comes when we can look back at our mistakes and realize we are not the same person that did those things. A part of that has been learning to see the Atonement as a means of progression, and not just a solution to the problem. So the point of all this Jordan, is that the goal is not to pray to God and suddenly become a missionary, but to pray for strength as we strive to change and become a missionary. Also a big part of this is accepting progress made, rather than focusing entirely on what is left to improve. Setting goals that are possible but still stretch us is probably one of the most important skills to learn. I am still not good at it. I really wish I would have listened when my parents tried to teach me all this. I guess I was just too proud at the time. Humility is really the key to everything. If we are too proud to change, we can in no wise inherit the kingdom of heaven. 

I'm starting to preach now I'm sorry. I'll stop. So that is what I have been learning this last week. I love all you guys. I can't wait until all three older kids are out at the same time! What a great opportunity to be providing the Lord with three full time servants at once! I am so proud of our family, though I guess I was the only one anyone had to worry about, and I ended up coming out. I can honestly say that I came out because I knew I was supposed to, but I have stayed out because this is where I want to be.

Love 

Elder Hardy