What a beautiful day it is here in South Florida! It is such a nice day, and has been an amazing week! Now that I have read e-mails it's an even better week! I have had a lot of fun doing things, but more importantly, I have seen and felt the hand of the Lord working with us so much this week.
First I'll tell you about the "temporal" stuff.
This week one of our recent converts invited us to dinner, the one that got married and baptized on Christmas. One of them works at a restaraunt that I haven't been to forever! Anybody know what that restaurant is? I'll just say this, it gave me a little taste of home and the things that I love.
Give up? We went to Cracker Barrel!!!!!! It was amazing! Don't worry I took pictures and I'll send them home. I bought me something there too. I found a Florida Camo Hat! Yeah I bought it. It's pretty sweet lol. So that was a lot of fun. Also last Monday we played basketball with some ward members. Today we are going to go and play too, but the best part is is that today we have some investigators coming. Really really sweet investigators.
I'm looking forward to receiving the ties!!! Actually I should say we all are. Everybody says Thank You so very much Morgan, and they love you a lot! That's coming from the other missionaries and I. We really are grateful for that service to us!
Will you please tell Karli Tyson that I love her and I can not wait to see her!!! Also, please tell her that when she gets to the MTC to keep going.
Everything works out, and she'll be here in Sunny South Florida in no time.
Tell her that I am so proud of her and what she is doing. She has made an amazing choice!
Okay so now the spiritual stuff. So a couple of days ago Elder Sepulveda and I were out working. You know we talk to everybody. So we're riding our bikes and we come across these kids out in the street playing football. We go up and talk to them and it turns out that one of them was baptized about a year ago, but is inactive. The other one is visiting from Tennessee and is really cool. Their Grandma was sitting out on the front porch, and so Elder Sepulveda went to talk to her and I stayed talking with the kid. We got talking and we went up and sat on the porch with his Grandma. They really wanted to hear and know what we had to say. So Elder Sepulveda taught the Grandma, while I taught the kid. Turns out the kid was in jail like a week ago, and prayed for another chance and that he really really wants to change and go to church. I gave him a Book of Mormon and is going to read it and pray about it. He told me he wants to be baptized into the correct church, and thinks this is it. I bore testimony that it was and he was really excited about it. He is amazing. Now the grandma loved it too.
She loved it so much she came to church yesterday! She also excepted a baptismal date for the 29 of January! We're going to set the kid for that too. He couldn't come to church because he was getting some surgery done on his mouth like a tooth getting pulled. Or something like that. But he committed to going next week with us.
Another story. Yesterday I was at church and Elder Sepulveda went with a member to go and pick up another investigator that we had come to church.
So I stuck around with our ward mission leader. He said he had to go and so I went with the next closest Priesthood holder. It was the first counselor in the bishopric. Turns out that he brought somebody to church and was talking to him. He didn't speak a drop of English. The counselor then told me that he had to go, and that he was putting me in the hands of this man.
He wanted me to show him around the church and everything like that. We started going around and I was explaining things to him, and then we got to the baptismal font. I opened it up, and another member that I was with that just got his mission call and I started explaining things to him. He got real teary eyed and started talking to me a lot. He was born Catholic but doesn't believe it. He said that he could feel something different here and that it is real and knows that it is true. I gave him a Book of Mormon, marked a place for him to read and to pray about, and we went into Sacrament meeting. After the meeting he went in a lesson with another Elder. He came out and had accepted and committed to a baptismal date for the 29 of January. He is truly prepared to receive the Gospel. I love this man he is really amazing.
Between the other Elders, the Sisters, and Elder Sepulveda and I, we had so many investigadors come, and the members were bringing people too. The members here are great, and really want to do missionary work. I love them a lot.
Then last night, Sunday night, we had a "missionary fireside." It was for all members, investigators, inactives, less actives, and everybody who wanted to come. The main focus was on those invesigators. But the members were there as support and testimony. The other Elders explained and gave a little bit of background on The Restoration. We then watched the movie "The Restoration", not the same one as at the JSMB but the missionary one. After that we split up into four groups with us missionaries separated, and did a little question and answer time. It was very spiritual, and the investigators could feel the Spirit very strong.
The hand of the Lord is working hard and truly does prepare people to receive the Gospel. I have seen the hand of the Lord so much in my life this week, but most importantly in the lives of others that do not have the Gospel yet. My testimony has been strengthened greatly.
I love you family. I hope that you can feel of the love that I have for each and every one of you. I ask for your forgiveness if I have wronged any of you in any way. The Atonement of Jesus Christ is real. I leave you all with my testimony for the week, In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Love,
Your Son, Brother, and Uncle
Elder Hardman
First I'll tell you about the "temporal" stuff.
This week one of our recent converts invited us to dinner, the one that got married and baptized on Christmas. One of them works at a restaraunt that I haven't been to forever! Anybody know what that restaurant is? I'll just say this, it gave me a little taste of home and the things that I love.
Give up? We went to Cracker Barrel!!!!!! It was amazing! Don't worry I took pictures and I'll send them home. I bought me something there too. I found a Florida Camo Hat! Yeah I bought it. It's pretty sweet lol. So that was a lot of fun. Also last Monday we played basketball with some ward members. Today we are going to go and play too, but the best part is is that today we have some investigators coming. Really really sweet investigators.
I'm looking forward to receiving the ties!!! Actually I should say we all are. Everybody says Thank You so very much Morgan, and they love you a lot! That's coming from the other missionaries and I. We really are grateful for that service to us!
Will you please tell Karli Tyson that I love her and I can not wait to see her!!! Also, please tell her that when she gets to the MTC to keep going.
Everything works out, and she'll be here in Sunny South Florida in no time.
Tell her that I am so proud of her and what she is doing. She has made an amazing choice!
Okay so now the spiritual stuff. So a couple of days ago Elder Sepulveda and I were out working. You know we talk to everybody. So we're riding our bikes and we come across these kids out in the street playing football. We go up and talk to them and it turns out that one of them was baptized about a year ago, but is inactive. The other one is visiting from Tennessee and is really cool. Their Grandma was sitting out on the front porch, and so Elder Sepulveda went to talk to her and I stayed talking with the kid. We got talking and we went up and sat on the porch with his Grandma. They really wanted to hear and know what we had to say. So Elder Sepulveda taught the Grandma, while I taught the kid. Turns out the kid was in jail like a week ago, and prayed for another chance and that he really really wants to change and go to church. I gave him a Book of Mormon and is going to read it and pray about it. He told me he wants to be baptized into the correct church, and thinks this is it. I bore testimony that it was and he was really excited about it. He is amazing. Now the grandma loved it too.
She loved it so much she came to church yesterday! She also excepted a baptismal date for the 29 of January! We're going to set the kid for that too. He couldn't come to church because he was getting some surgery done on his mouth like a tooth getting pulled. Or something like that. But he committed to going next week with us.
Another story. Yesterday I was at church and Elder Sepulveda went with a member to go and pick up another investigator that we had come to church.
So I stuck around with our ward mission leader. He said he had to go and so I went with the next closest Priesthood holder. It was the first counselor in the bishopric. Turns out that he brought somebody to church and was talking to him. He didn't speak a drop of English. The counselor then told me that he had to go, and that he was putting me in the hands of this man.
He wanted me to show him around the church and everything like that. We started going around and I was explaining things to him, and then we got to the baptismal font. I opened it up, and another member that I was with that just got his mission call and I started explaining things to him. He got real teary eyed and started talking to me a lot. He was born Catholic but doesn't believe it. He said that he could feel something different here and that it is real and knows that it is true. I gave him a Book of Mormon, marked a place for him to read and to pray about, and we went into Sacrament meeting. After the meeting he went in a lesson with another Elder. He came out and had accepted and committed to a baptismal date for the 29 of January. He is truly prepared to receive the Gospel. I love this man he is really amazing.
Between the other Elders, the Sisters, and Elder Sepulveda and I, we had so many investigadors come, and the members were bringing people too. The members here are great, and really want to do missionary work. I love them a lot.
Then last night, Sunday night, we had a "missionary fireside." It was for all members, investigators, inactives, less actives, and everybody who wanted to come. The main focus was on those invesigators. But the members were there as support and testimony. The other Elders explained and gave a little bit of background on The Restoration. We then watched the movie "The Restoration", not the same one as at the JSMB but the missionary one. After that we split up into four groups with us missionaries separated, and did a little question and answer time. It was very spiritual, and the investigators could feel the Spirit very strong.
The hand of the Lord is working hard and truly does prepare people to receive the Gospel. I have seen the hand of the Lord so much in my life this week, but most importantly in the lives of others that do not have the Gospel yet. My testimony has been strengthened greatly.
I love you family. I hope that you can feel of the love that I have for each and every one of you. I ask for your forgiveness if I have wronged any of you in any way. The Atonement of Jesus Christ is real. I leave you all with my testimony for the week, In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Love,
Your Son, Brother, and Uncle
Elder Hardman
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