It Was All a Funny Test!

Heyyo Fam Jam!

How is everyone doing?!  I just want to let you know that I've sent like two or three letters home...but they may take some time to get there!  I absolutely love receiving dear elders from you guys, it's so comforting to know whats going on at home! It sounds like everyone is doing great!  

Well I have so much I'd love to tell you guys! I hate not having tons of time to email.  So the language is coming little by little still. I'm able to teach like a 30 minute lesson all in Spanish pretty much.  It's still a struggle, and by the end of the day my brain is exhausted.  I just can't wait to be fluent honestly.  But I should be so grateful for how quick I learn, and how I can retain the information really well.  Me and my companion (he's going to Barcelona too) have taught two new investigators (our teachers) tons of lessons now!  We have them both committed to baptism, if they pray to know the message is true! Its pretty funny in our lessons...my companion is struggling with the language, so I literally have to translate for him! I have to say "Puedo explicar a mi companero en ingles por favor?" to my investigator, so it doesn't sound like I'm talking in English behind their back haha.  It's a fun time though, we teach great together.

Sundays are pretty awesome!  Wake up, have about three hours of personal study, then priesthood meeting, then two more hours of personal study, then sacrament where I'm the branch pianist!  So I'm honing my piano skills.  Then we have more study, then a devotional speaker, then a Sunday movie in the gym at the end of the night!  Like a Joseph smith movie.

Okay i had my first really cool experience here last Sunday!  We went on a temple walk, and on our way back, there was this young 20 year old ish couple sitting on the temple grounds. They called us over because they said they were curious about what happened in the temple!  Anyways, we ended up teaching them a spiritual 1 hour lesson right there on the temple grounds!  I taught them about the restoration and the plan of salvation and so much more!   I even answered really tough questions so well, I impressed myself.  Anyways, at the end, he pulled out his temple recommend....IT WAS ALL A FUNNY TEST!  It turned out they were engaged members, and this was something they always wanted to do for a Sunday date together!  Such a great idea, and such a blessing to me. I'm totally going to do that when I'm home.  They were both so awesome.

 

This Tuesday, guess who came to talk to us?!  RUSSELL M. NELSON.  It was so awesome.  You really could feel the spirit enter the room as he came in, I was only like 30 feet away from him when he talked too!  It was so amazing.  He talked all about missionary work.  One thing that I liked that he said was, "Obedience brings blessings.  Exact obedience brings miracles".  I can testify to you guys that this is true!  I've been so blessed here, in tons of different ways.  My testimony has grown so much!  I know I have room to improve in obedience, and as I do, miracles will begin to take place.  One thing that his wife said in her talk was, "We need to pray to find the people who's ancestors are praying for us".  How cool is that?!  We have people rooting for us on the other side of the veil so that we can help their family.  The way I think about it, is one convert, really translates to hundreds with family history work.  Such a cool thing hey? 

Mom and Dad, I am really loving your Dear Elders. I feel so loved out here by you guys.

 

Dad is right, I really am adapting well here now.  My zone all likes me pretty well, although I get made fun of a lot for my Canadian accent...Americans are so ignorant sometimes...shhh don't tell our American friends! haha But they are great guys, I like them.  Oh and I've definitely learned what to eat or not to eat.  That's for sure.

Okay well I'm going to send a few pictures, so you can see a little of my life here!

Love, Elder Hardy.

PS I LOVE THE TIES. I GET COMPLIMENTED EVERYDAY. No joke. Every single tie, people always want to trade, but TOO BAD. I love them.

 

Elder Stolk and Elder Hardy at the Provo, Utah Temple