Friday, March 9, 2012
HAPPY NEW YEARS
Happy New Years!
You all want to know what I did on new years eve? We had to be in the
apartment by 8:00 pm, an hour or so earlier than normal, we planned for the
next day, I drank a bottle of white grape sparkling cider, brushed my
teeth, said a prayer, and went to bed. It felt great! I woke up the next
morning thinking, "I feel like a new man." (name that movie). It was so
nice to be able to sleep a little bit more. There were fireworks going off
aparently, but I didn't hear a single one. I was out like a light. I
didn't complain one little bit.
So how is everybody doing? It sounds like everybody is doing good and I'm
glad to hear that, except for maybe my poor puppy dog. Aw poor little
buddy that story makes me laugh too but it makes me sad too. I don't have
a clue what happened that made him fall and end up down there. Poor little
buddy.
Thank you so much for my birthday! I loved it! I had a really good
birthday. In the morning I opened my package, then we studied, then we
went and did some service for a ward member. I got cut up so bad doing
that service. She had a plant that was super shart that we had to do alot
of digging around and taking out some plants. It was still fun though.
Then, as you know, Sister Martinez came to visit me and brought my a ton of
good food. She brought me Baliadas, Fritanga, and Croquetas. All spanish
food and it was SO good. I wasn't surprised to see her because she text me
in the morning wishing me happy birthday and wanting to bring me something
for my birthday. I was surprised that she remembered my birthday
though. I'm glad that she e-mailed you and asked you too. They are a
great family and I love them very much. Thank you very much for sending me
that letter that she sent to you. It was just a nice day of work. Also
later that night we went to the chapel for a meeting and one of the ward
members, the Calevoso family, gave me a new pair of pants and a pie for my
birthday. They are so sweet and I love them so much. They are such a
great family and they truly mean a lot to me.
Elder Chinchilla is a missionary that I lived with for 2 transfers down
when I was in Hialeah. That's how he knows Sister Martinez as well. He's
a great and funny missionary from Costa Rica that I love a lot.
Landon Hancuff going to Alabama! That's so cool! Man I am so excited for
him, he is going to absolutely love serving! Is his call in English or
Spanish? I'm so happy too that Eric Kinikini is preparing to go on a
mission as well! I'm so happy to hear that Afui is doing so good. I would
like to hear from him. I wrote him a letter a long time ago, but didn't
get any response. I'm hoping that I sent it to the right mission and the
right address. Will you please give Sister Kinikini my address so that she
can give it to Afui so that he can write me please? Thank you so much!
So things are going really good here in the mission and here in the area
for Elder Perrotti and I. We have been finding some great people to be
teaching and are working very hard to help them come unto Christ. We have
learned alot this week. Everything is settling down more and I am doing
better. I have felt better since talking about it.
GO UTES!!! That's super cool that they were the only PAC 12 team to win
their bowl game! I was starting to wonder when their game was and
everything.
So the weather right now is a little cold and I am loving it. I made my
little can of snow the other day, and man do I miss snow. It was so cool
to see "snow" again. Haha it was a fun time. That little can even came
with a little white shovel! It was the coolest thing. I've got a picture
of it that I'll send home.
Well family know that I am doing well and I am so very greatful for your
support. Thank you for everything that you do for me. I love you all so
much, and take care this week in everything that you do.
Love,
Your Son, Brother, and Uncle
Elder Hardman
You all want to know what I did on new years eve? We had to be in the
apartment by 8:00 pm, an hour or so earlier than normal, we planned for the
next day, I drank a bottle of white grape sparkling cider, brushed my
teeth, said a prayer, and went to bed. It felt great! I woke up the next
morning thinking, "I feel like a new man." (name that movie). It was so
nice to be able to sleep a little bit more. There were fireworks going off
aparently, but I didn't hear a single one. I was out like a light. I
didn't complain one little bit.
So how is everybody doing? It sounds like everybody is doing good and I'm
glad to hear that, except for maybe my poor puppy dog. Aw poor little
buddy that story makes me laugh too but it makes me sad too. I don't have
a clue what happened that made him fall and end up down there. Poor little
buddy.
Thank you so much for my birthday! I loved it! I had a really good
birthday. In the morning I opened my package, then we studied, then we
went and did some service for a ward member. I got cut up so bad doing
that service. She had a plant that was super shart that we had to do alot
of digging around and taking out some plants. It was still fun though.
Then, as you know, Sister Martinez came to visit me and brought my a ton of
good food. She brought me Baliadas, Fritanga, and Croquetas. All spanish
food and it was SO good. I wasn't surprised to see her because she text me
in the morning wishing me happy birthday and wanting to bring me something
for my birthday. I was surprised that she remembered my birthday
though. I'm glad that she e-mailed you and asked you too. They are a
great family and I love them very much. Thank you very much for sending me
that letter that she sent to you. It was just a nice day of work. Also
later that night we went to the chapel for a meeting and one of the ward
members, the Calevoso family, gave me a new pair of pants and a pie for my
birthday. They are so sweet and I love them so much. They are such a
great family and they truly mean a lot to me.
Elder Chinchilla is a missionary that I lived with for 2 transfers down
when I was in Hialeah. That's how he knows Sister Martinez as well. He's
a great and funny missionary from Costa Rica that I love a lot.
Landon Hancuff going to Alabama! That's so cool! Man I am so excited for
him, he is going to absolutely love serving! Is his call in English or
Spanish? I'm so happy too that Eric Kinikini is preparing to go on a
mission as well! I'm so happy to hear that Afui is doing so good. I would
like to hear from him. I wrote him a letter a long time ago, but didn't
get any response. I'm hoping that I sent it to the right mission and the
right address. Will you please give Sister Kinikini my address so that she
can give it to Afui so that he can write me please? Thank you so much!
So things are going really good here in the mission and here in the area
for Elder Perrotti and I. We have been finding some great people to be
teaching and are working very hard to help them come unto Christ. We have
learned alot this week. Everything is settling down more and I am doing
better. I have felt better since talking about it.
GO UTES!!! That's super cool that they were the only PAC 12 team to win
their bowl game! I was starting to wonder when their game was and
everything.
So the weather right now is a little cold and I am loving it. I made my
little can of snow the other day, and man do I miss snow. It was so cool
to see "snow" again. Haha it was a fun time. That little can even came
with a little white shovel! It was the coolest thing. I've got a picture
of it that I'll send home.
Well family know that I am doing well and I am so very greatful for your
support. Thank you for everything that you do for me. I love you all so
much, and take care this week in everything that you do.
Love,
Your Son, Brother, and Uncle
Elder Hardman
Snow on my Birthday!!
Elder Perrotti & Elder Hardman eating Churrasco
The District
BIG 21...*i'll be home next birthday*
Well Hello My family!
How is everybody doing? It sounds like everybody is doing good when I
talked to you all. It was so good to hear from all of you, and I am so
happy that I was able to. It was a fun Christmas Day, especially being
able to talk to you. That was so much fun using SKYPE! It was really nice
being able to see your faces and actually talk to you. It wasn't hard or
anything, it was super good to be able to see your faces. Thank you Mother
and Father for doing those 3-way calls too so that I could talk to all of
my siblings. That meant a lot.
Yeah I too cannot believe that I am going to be 21 years old tomorrow.
It's also weird to think that it's my birthday again in the mission field.
I look back saying..."It feels like it was just a year ago I was doing
this." Haha just joking you Mother. But really I can't believe that I can
look back a year ago and say, I was in the mission field a year ago on my
birthday. I still remember who I was with and what we did. I was with
Elder Sepulveda in West Palm Beach and it was Preparation Day and when we
left the apartment at night, Elder Sepulveda took me to a Chinese
Restaurant and we met a member there with his son who was not a member. We
also went to the Vilorio's house and they had a cake for me. Wow crazy
that I can remember that lol.
It was fun yesterday going fishing. We didn't catch anything but hey, my
worst day of fishing beats my best day at work (except for missionary work
I think but you all know what I mean). We then went and taught a lesson
and then went for another Brazilian barbecue for Elder Machado because he
is leaving. I talked to him and he said that he can come and visit you
guys and that he is going to. I'll give him our address today before he
leaves tonight. I'm going to miss him a lot. It's really super weird to
see a missionary leaving and going home and finishing his mission. It's
giving me a chance to reflect back on my mission and think about it and
what I need to continue to do.
Well family this is going to be short because I've got something that I
need to do here on the computer. Just know that I am safe and well and
well taken care of. I thank you all so very much and love you each all so
very much individually. Please take care and have a great week, and be
careful in all things that you do especially driving in the snow.
Love,
Your Son, Brother, and Uncle
Elder Hardman
How is everybody doing? It sounds like everybody is doing good when I
talked to you all. It was so good to hear from all of you, and I am so
happy that I was able to. It was a fun Christmas Day, especially being
able to talk to you. That was so much fun using SKYPE! It was really nice
being able to see your faces and actually talk to you. It wasn't hard or
anything, it was super good to be able to see your faces. Thank you Mother
and Father for doing those 3-way calls too so that I could talk to all of
my siblings. That meant a lot.
Yeah I too cannot believe that I am going to be 21 years old tomorrow.
It's also weird to think that it's my birthday again in the mission field.
I look back saying..."It feels like it was just a year ago I was doing
this." Haha just joking you Mother. But really I can't believe that I can
look back a year ago and say, I was in the mission field a year ago on my
birthday. I still remember who I was with and what we did. I was with
Elder Sepulveda in West Palm Beach and it was Preparation Day and when we
left the apartment at night, Elder Sepulveda took me to a Chinese
Restaurant and we met a member there with his son who was not a member. We
also went to the Vilorio's house and they had a cake for me. Wow crazy
that I can remember that lol.
It was fun yesterday going fishing. We didn't catch anything but hey, my
worst day of fishing beats my best day at work (except for missionary work
I think but you all know what I mean). We then went and taught a lesson
and then went for another Brazilian barbecue for Elder Machado because he
is leaving. I talked to him and he said that he can come and visit you
guys and that he is going to. I'll give him our address today before he
leaves tonight. I'm going to miss him a lot. It's really super weird to
see a missionary leaving and going home and finishing his mission. It's
giving me a chance to reflect back on my mission and think about it and
what I need to continue to do.
Well family this is going to be short because I've got something that I
need to do here on the computer. Just know that I am safe and well and
well taken care of. I thank you all so very much and love you each all so
very much individually. Please take care and have a great week, and be
careful in all things that you do especially driving in the snow.
Love,
Your Son, Brother, and Uncle
Elder Hardman
Sister Martinez *JD's Mission MOM* drove up to wish this cute Elder a Happy Birthday..it was a surprise for him! We sure do Love Sister Martinez for loving him! This is a letter she sent Momma Karon with the Pictures.
Its was my pleasure sister Hardman. He was very happy see us again. He is very special for me, as I told you. His area is almost 35 minutes from Hialeah.
He look so happy, really I never saw him sad or angry, he is smiling all the time or doing jokes, huging his companions, he is really funny !! I was talking with his companion about him, and he said that your son is very nice, funny and... and...and he can't found the exactly word for describe your son, and then he said: he is so sweet, with a little emotion.
You know sister hardman, here in the 2 wards that your son served, ALL the members love him, all !! you are so blessed with a son that have a special touch to love others. When we have talking to him, my cell phone rang and I saw that was Elder Chinchilla (missionaries father) then I pass my phone to Elder hardman, and they was laughing and talk and talk suddenly your son stop to talk and just was listening, Elder Chinchilla was singing for him the Happy Birthday song. Your son was emotional and say aawww tanks Elder Chinchilla. I felt great that my sons missionaries call me and show me their love but I felt more great that he called me in the right time to talk with Elder Hardman, he says; it was a great gift too.
I told him that we went to celebrate his birthday, because the next birthday he will be at his house with his family and he look me and says; yes, is true, but I will miss you a lot.
He is so sweet.
Love,
Sister Martinez
Merry Christmas *next one I'll be home*
Well hello my family!
Merry Christmas everybody! How is everybody doing on this beautiful
sunny, but cool morning? Oh wait, that's here in Florida, lol, just
kidding. It sounds like everybody is doing great, and I am so happy to
hear that! Is everybody just stoked for Christmas?! I am! I haven't
gotten my packages yet, but that's because they are holding them in the
mission office until mission conference this coming Thursday, so I will
pick them up then. I'm super excited to get them!
I will be calling home on Sunday between 2-5 pm my time. so 12-3 your
time. We're not really sure when or how yet either. We haven't found a
member who has SKYPE yet, but we are working on it so we'll see. I wrote
down your number Dad for SKYPE so, we'll see. Either way, I'll be calling
home. Sorry that I can't tell you more for sure or exact when or how, but
at least you got that right. lol.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY BIG D!!! I'm really sorry brother that I didn't get you a
card or anything. I feel super bad.
It sounds like the Hardman Christmas party was super fun. I'm glad that
you all got together and did that. That would have been super cool to see
the nativity acted out by all of you. I saw one get acted out this last
Friday when we had our ward Christmas party here. It was a super good
party. And guess what? Yeah, we had to sing. The five of us prepared a
couple of musical numbers and we sang it. We sang, "Cantan Santos Angeles"
(Sorry I don't remember what it's called in English, and "Hark! The Herald
Angels Sing" in Spanish as well. It was kind of fun. Then this week at
Mission Conference, we have to sing again. I don't know why they keep on
insisting for me to embarass myself, but hey what do you do? LoL. Who
knows, maybe I'll end up in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir one day.
Ha...right! I'm glad that Mom and Dad got to go and see that concert. I'm
sure that it was beautiful. I am loving and appreciating The Mormon
Tabernacle Choir more and more each and every day. That's all that we can
listen to, but I have loved it.
Well family honestly, I don't have too much to write about this week,
especially since we are going to be talking together on this Sunday. Take
care each and every one of you individually though, and I love you so
much. Be careful in everything and driving in the snow.
Love,
Your Son, Brother, and Uncle
Elder Hardman
Merry Christmas everybody! How is everybody doing on this beautiful
sunny, but cool morning? Oh wait, that's here in Florida, lol, just
kidding. It sounds like everybody is doing great, and I am so happy to
hear that! Is everybody just stoked for Christmas?! I am! I haven't
gotten my packages yet, but that's because they are holding them in the
mission office until mission conference this coming Thursday, so I will
pick them up then. I'm super excited to get them!
I will be calling home on Sunday between 2-5 pm my time. so 12-3 your
time. We're not really sure when or how yet either. We haven't found a
member who has SKYPE yet, but we are working on it so we'll see. I wrote
down your number Dad for SKYPE so, we'll see. Either way, I'll be calling
home. Sorry that I can't tell you more for sure or exact when or how, but
at least you got that right. lol.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY BIG D!!! I'm really sorry brother that I didn't get you a
card or anything. I feel super bad.
It sounds like the Hardman Christmas party was super fun. I'm glad that
you all got together and did that. That would have been super cool to see
the nativity acted out by all of you. I saw one get acted out this last
Friday when we had our ward Christmas party here. It was a super good
party. And guess what? Yeah, we had to sing. The five of us prepared a
couple of musical numbers and we sang it. We sang, "Cantan Santos Angeles"
(Sorry I don't remember what it's called in English, and "Hark! The Herald
Angels Sing" in Spanish as well. It was kind of fun. Then this week at
Mission Conference, we have to sing again. I don't know why they keep on
insisting for me to embarass myself, but hey what do you do? LoL. Who
knows, maybe I'll end up in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir one day.
Ha...right! I'm glad that Mom and Dad got to go and see that concert. I'm
sure that it was beautiful. I am loving and appreciating The Mormon
Tabernacle Choir more and more each and every day. That's all that we can
listen to, but I have loved it.
Well family honestly, I don't have too much to write about this week,
especially since we are going to be talking together on this Sunday. Take
care each and every one of you individually though, and I love you so
much. Be careful in everything and driving in the snow.
Love,
Your Son, Brother, and Uncle
Elder Hardman
SKYPE for Christmas
Hello my family!
How is everybody doing? It sounds like everybody is doing good and that
everything is going well, and I am glad to hear that. So this week has
been a really good week. More details later on. The weather here is
sunny, a little cloudy and sprinkly today, but it is good. Does it look
like Christmas? For me, no. But, I can still feel Christmas coming. I do
miss the cold though. I miss the snow lol. All is good though here in
Sunny South Florida.
Thank you so much for the package with decorations and ties! It was super
cool and I'm excited to get everything put up and done. It will be cool to
see the whole thing put up. Speaking of packages, the razor heads that I
need are Gillette fusion Proglide. Thank you for making sure of that!
Also, one other thing if it's at all possible. A new white tie for
baptisms would be great. I accidentally wrote on mine with a pen and can't
get it off. Thank you so very much!
The mission is progressing a lot. As you know, the First Presidency felt
inspired to extend our mission boundaries, therefore we gained some
missionaries that we currently serving in the Orlando Florida mission.
That's where my two companions came from. It has been really fun to have
them bring the stuff that they knew from their mission and bring it here to
combine them. It has been a very good change and has helped us all grow so
very much. It's been kind of fun learning Portugese. I can understand
mostly all of it so far, but I need to learn how to actually speak it. I
feel like I'm at the beginning of my mission again lol. But having said
that, I'm so happy to be learning a third language. I think that that is
such a cool blessing given to me. I look forward to learning it more and
actually speaking it now.
So it's fun living with all of these Elders. As you know there are 5 of
us. We are working hard to keep the apartment clean. I think that you all
would be so proud of me and my cleaning abilities now. I sometimes amaze
myself lol. But yeah there are challenges living with all of us, but it is
good. It helps us grow so much and we learn a lot from each other. We
learn about the Gospel, and also life lessons as well.
As far as sending anything in specific for my companions, I can't really
think of anything. They are both doing really good, and Elder Machado goes
home 3 days after Christmas on my birthday, so I don't think there's really
anything, but I'll let you know if there is. On that, is there anything in
specific that any of you want so that I can send it to you? Please let me
know, I'm willing to get what I can so don't be shy.
For the Christmas call we can use SKYPE if you would like to. I'm going to
talk to one of the members that we are having a Family Home Evening with
tonight with one of our investigators if he has it and if I can use it on
Christmas day. Let me know if that's what you want to do and have a way to
do it, and if not I'll just call Dad's phone. What time I will be calling,
I don't know. I only have 30-35 minutes this year though. I don't really
know why so short, but rules are rules and you do it and follow them
because your leaders told you and know what's best.
That's super cool that you got to go the The Forgotten Carols this last
week! I love that play. Of course I remember a lot about it, I've seen it
quite a few times and love it each and every time.
I want to share with you a couple of experiences that we had this week:
We were Harvesting mainly looking for Portugese people, but then we
knocked on the door of a Spanish man named Carlos. He let us right in
without any hesitation or guff. We explained to him our purpose in being
therea dn we knelt down and gave the blessing. He had explained before the
blessing that he is divorced and has a little 9 year old girl who was with
her Mom at that time. After the blessing we asked him how he felt and he
said that sometimes one feels alone and that that blessing helped him feel
better. We then explained how God knows him and loves him and knew that he
felt a little weak at that time and a little alone, so that is why he sent
us to him. We then went back yesterday to visit him and taught him. He
accepted the Restoration fairly well. It was a great experience for us.
Also, another really amazing experience that we had was we were coming to
the end of the night and not knowing where to go. We then looked and found
a person on the ward list that we weren't sure who she was, whether she was
active or not, and she lived close to where we were so we decided to go and
find her house. We got to her house and knocked on the door, and the
people said that we had the wrong house, so she probably moved. We then
gave them the Harvesting approach and asked to come in, and they said yes.
They gathered the whole family around. My companions and I thought that it
was going to be an awkward blessing at first, but then during the blessing
we felt the Spirit come in very strong. We asked them how they felt after
the blessing, and they said very calm and tranquil and good. As we were
leaving, the lady who was laying on the couch told us, "I really wasn't
feeling good when you guys came, I had just gotten home from work and I was
tired and not feeling good to the point where I don't think I could have
gotten up. I thought to myself, these guys just woke me up. But now, I
feel great." She said all of this with a smile on her face and laughing of
happiness standing and happy. The blessing healed her by helping her
feel the Spirit. It was such a great experience. We walked out with such
big grins on our faces, because it was a good time. We felt very close to
them.
Well family I love you all so very much individually. Please all of you
take care, and be careful in all things that you are doing this week in
your busy schedules and in all of your travelings.
Love,
Your Son, Brother, and Uncle
Elder Hardman
How is everybody doing? It sounds like everybody is doing good and that
everything is going well, and I am glad to hear that. So this week has
been a really good week. More details later on. The weather here is
sunny, a little cloudy and sprinkly today, but it is good. Does it look
like Christmas? For me, no. But, I can still feel Christmas coming. I do
miss the cold though. I miss the snow lol. All is good though here in
Sunny South Florida.
Thank you so much for the package with decorations and ties! It was super
cool and I'm excited to get everything put up and done. It will be cool to
see the whole thing put up. Speaking of packages, the razor heads that I
need are Gillette fusion Proglide. Thank you for making sure of that!
Also, one other thing if it's at all possible. A new white tie for
baptisms would be great. I accidentally wrote on mine with a pen and can't
get it off. Thank you so very much!
The mission is progressing a lot. As you know, the First Presidency felt
inspired to extend our mission boundaries, therefore we gained some
missionaries that we currently serving in the Orlando Florida mission.
That's where my two companions came from. It has been really fun to have
them bring the stuff that they knew from their mission and bring it here to
combine them. It has been a very good change and has helped us all grow so
very much. It's been kind of fun learning Portugese. I can understand
mostly all of it so far, but I need to learn how to actually speak it. I
feel like I'm at the beginning of my mission again lol. But having said
that, I'm so happy to be learning a third language. I think that that is
such a cool blessing given to me. I look forward to learning it more and
actually speaking it now.
So it's fun living with all of these Elders. As you know there are 5 of
us. We are working hard to keep the apartment clean. I think that you all
would be so proud of me and my cleaning abilities now. I sometimes amaze
myself lol. But yeah there are challenges living with all of us, but it is
good. It helps us grow so much and we learn a lot from each other. We
learn about the Gospel, and also life lessons as well.
As far as sending anything in specific for my companions, I can't really
think of anything. They are both doing really good, and Elder Machado goes
home 3 days after Christmas on my birthday, so I don't think there's really
anything, but I'll let you know if there is. On that, is there anything in
specific that any of you want so that I can send it to you? Please let me
know, I'm willing to get what I can so don't be shy.
For the Christmas call we can use SKYPE if you would like to. I'm going to
talk to one of the members that we are having a Family Home Evening with
tonight with one of our investigators if he has it and if I can use it on
Christmas day. Let me know if that's what you want to do and have a way to
do it, and if not I'll just call Dad's phone. What time I will be calling,
I don't know. I only have 30-35 minutes this year though. I don't really
know why so short, but rules are rules and you do it and follow them
because your leaders told you and know what's best.
That's super cool that you got to go the The Forgotten Carols this last
week! I love that play. Of course I remember a lot about it, I've seen it
quite a few times and love it each and every time.
I want to share with you a couple of experiences that we had this week:
We were Harvesting mainly looking for Portugese people, but then we
knocked on the door of a Spanish man named Carlos. He let us right in
without any hesitation or guff. We explained to him our purpose in being
therea dn we knelt down and gave the blessing. He had explained before the
blessing that he is divorced and has a little 9 year old girl who was with
her Mom at that time. After the blessing we asked him how he felt and he
said that sometimes one feels alone and that that blessing helped him feel
better. We then explained how God knows him and loves him and knew that he
felt a little weak at that time and a little alone, so that is why he sent
us to him. We then went back yesterday to visit him and taught him. He
accepted the Restoration fairly well. It was a great experience for us.
Also, another really amazing experience that we had was we were coming to
the end of the night and not knowing where to go. We then looked and found
a person on the ward list that we weren't sure who she was, whether she was
active or not, and she lived close to where we were so we decided to go and
find her house. We got to her house and knocked on the door, and the
people said that we had the wrong house, so she probably moved. We then
gave them the Harvesting approach and asked to come in, and they said yes.
They gathered the whole family around. My companions and I thought that it
was going to be an awkward blessing at first, but then during the blessing
we felt the Spirit come in very strong. We asked them how they felt after
the blessing, and they said very calm and tranquil and good. As we were
leaving, the lady who was laying on the couch told us, "I really wasn't
feeling good when you guys came, I had just gotten home from work and I was
tired and not feeling good to the point where I don't think I could have
gotten up. I thought to myself, these guys just woke me up. But now, I
feel great." She said all of this with a smile on her face and laughing of
happiness standing and happy. The blessing healed her by helping her
feel the Spirit. It was such a great experience. We walked out with such
big grins on our faces, because it was a good time. We felt very close to
them.
Well family I love you all so very much individually. Please all of you
take care, and be careful in all things that you are doing this week in
your busy schedules and in all of your travelings.
Love,
Your Son, Brother, and Uncle
Elder Hardman
Learning Portugese with New Elders
Hello there my family!
How is everybody doing? It sounds like everybody is doing great and
enjoying some great family time together! That is amazing and I love to
hear that. I love nothing more than seeing a family united together loving
each other, and people feeling that love that comes from that unity. Let
me explain myself a little bit more. Yesterday we had a baptism of a
sister of a member here. You all know her story because I wrote to you
about it last week. Last night after the baptism and everything, we went
over to their house. As we walked in, there was family and friends all
gathered around playing cards and laughing and having a great time. Diana,
the one that got baptized, said that she felt like it was a one week
party. As I looked at Diana's sister, I could just tell the happiness and
joy and gladness that she was feeling inside because her sister just got
baptized. Diana's niece came up to me in church and said, "Elder, I almost
started crying in class." I said, "Why what did they talk about?" She
said, "We were talking about Eternal Families."
Wow now that I am reflecting on this, it makes me so happy. That family is
becoming complete. What a beautiful experience it is. I can't describe
what I am feeling about this right now.
Ok so transfer information. You're never going to guess what happened. I
can still hardly believe it. As you know, I stayed here in Lauderhill.
Lets just say my language study went from 1 hour of Spanish to a half hour
of Spanish and a half hour of Portugese. I am in a trio now with two
portugese Elders. They speak English too though. It is kind of fun, but I
can't believe it. It's fun learning portugese. It's pretty similar to
Spanish. I can understand for the most part what they are saying when they
speak portugese. So, now there are 5 of us in the apartment. My
companions are great though. Their names are Elder Perrotti from
Brazil(pronounced Pihotchi) and Elder Machado from Utah, but who's family
is from Brazil. It's super fun and they are great Elders. They came from
the new zone that we received from the Orlando mission.
We live with the Zone Leaders, Elder Reece and Elder White. Elder White
came from the Orlando mission too. They are two great Elders. Elder Reece
is finishing his mission after this transfer. Oh as well Elder Machado is
finishing his mission in a few weeks, on my birthday to be exact.
But we are still driving a car, but we are going to have to get out on our
bikes a lot more this transfer too because we have to go kind of far to
find the Portugese, so we can't go over on our miles that we are alotted.
It will be super good though.
The ward here in Lauderhill is super good. They are amazing. The members
here love doing missionary work and are helping us out so much to continue
forward the work of God here in this ward. It's been a great ward to serve
in. They take such good care of us missionaries too. I'll send them your
thanks for that.
We only serve in one ward per area. The wards and stakes are so much
different here. Our ward boundaries here are probably about the boundaries
of our stakes there in Utah. My area that I am in, and our ward, is super
big. I'll have to take a picture of our map and show you the size. I'll
just say this, West Palm Beach where I was at the beginning, is a part of
this stake. Yeah, it's big. But it is super good. I love this stake and
we have a great Stake President working with us too. He likes to go out
with us on exchanges. I don't speak too much in the wards, mostly just
giving and bearing testimony. The sacrament meeting is time for the
members to get up and speak. It is really good.
The weather here has been great. Windows rolled down in the car, feeling a
nice cool breeze. It has been great to feel. That's crazy that you had
that wind storm come through. I bet you were really sad Daddy that the
power at work went out. Darn it! Haha NOT!
I wasn't able to watch the First Presidencies Christmas Devotional
yesterday, but we are going to watch it with one of our investigators and
his family. They are a part member family.
Tell Landon that I am so proud of him serving a mission and that it is the
best thing that he is going to do right now. Tell him that I hope that he
gets called here to the great Florida Ft. Lauderdale Mission. That would
be amazing, and he would be a great asset to this Mission! He already will
be a great asset to whatever mission he goes to, because he is called by
God to go there.
Elder Diaz is a missionary that I was serving with in Miami Lakes. We
lived in the same apartment together. He is a super funny kid. And yes,
he is quite short. I felt like a giant around him haha. He is a great kid
though. I'm glad that Sister Martinez sent you that picture. Write her
back and tell her that I love her and I'm greatful for her and her family.
I received a letter from her daughter last week. Let her know that I got
it.
Well family I've got to go. I love you all each individually so very much,
more than you can know. Take care, have a great week, and be careful in
all things that you do and driving to all places that you go and all of
your travelings. Enjoy "The Forgotten Carols" with Beth! That will be a
great experience for her, and let her know that I say hi and that I told
her to listen to her feelings as she goes. I love you all!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY ISAAC!!! I love you little guy!
Love,
Your Son, Brother, and Uncle
Elder Hardman
How is everybody doing? It sounds like everybody is doing great and
enjoying some great family time together! That is amazing and I love to
hear that. I love nothing more than seeing a family united together loving
each other, and people feeling that love that comes from that unity. Let
me explain myself a little bit more. Yesterday we had a baptism of a
sister of a member here. You all know her story because I wrote to you
about it last week. Last night after the baptism and everything, we went
over to their house. As we walked in, there was family and friends all
gathered around playing cards and laughing and having a great time. Diana,
the one that got baptized, said that she felt like it was a one week
party. As I looked at Diana's sister, I could just tell the happiness and
joy and gladness that she was feeling inside because her sister just got
baptized. Diana's niece came up to me in church and said, "Elder, I almost
started crying in class." I said, "Why what did they talk about?" She
said, "We were talking about Eternal Families."
Wow now that I am reflecting on this, it makes me so happy. That family is
becoming complete. What a beautiful experience it is. I can't describe
what I am feeling about this right now.
Ok so transfer information. You're never going to guess what happened. I
can still hardly believe it. As you know, I stayed here in Lauderhill.
Lets just say my language study went from 1 hour of Spanish to a half hour
of Spanish and a half hour of Portugese. I am in a trio now with two
portugese Elders. They speak English too though. It is kind of fun, but I
can't believe it. It's fun learning portugese. It's pretty similar to
Spanish. I can understand for the most part what they are saying when they
speak portugese. So, now there are 5 of us in the apartment. My
companions are great though. Their names are Elder Perrotti from
Brazil(pronounced Pihotchi) and Elder Machado from Utah, but who's family
is from Brazil. It's super fun and they are great Elders. They came from
the new zone that we received from the Orlando mission.
We live with the Zone Leaders, Elder Reece and Elder White. Elder White
came from the Orlando mission too. They are two great Elders. Elder Reece
is finishing his mission after this transfer. Oh as well Elder Machado is
finishing his mission in a few weeks, on my birthday to be exact.
But we are still driving a car, but we are going to have to get out on our
bikes a lot more this transfer too because we have to go kind of far to
find the Portugese, so we can't go over on our miles that we are alotted.
It will be super good though.
The ward here in Lauderhill is super good. They are amazing. The members
here love doing missionary work and are helping us out so much to continue
forward the work of God here in this ward. It's been a great ward to serve
in. They take such good care of us missionaries too. I'll send them your
thanks for that.
We only serve in one ward per area. The wards and stakes are so much
different here. Our ward boundaries here are probably about the boundaries
of our stakes there in Utah. My area that I am in, and our ward, is super
big. I'll have to take a picture of our map and show you the size. I'll
just say this, West Palm Beach where I was at the beginning, is a part of
this stake. Yeah, it's big. But it is super good. I love this stake and
we have a great Stake President working with us too. He likes to go out
with us on exchanges. I don't speak too much in the wards, mostly just
giving and bearing testimony. The sacrament meeting is time for the
members to get up and speak. It is really good.
The weather here has been great. Windows rolled down in the car, feeling a
nice cool breeze. It has been great to feel. That's crazy that you had
that wind storm come through. I bet you were really sad Daddy that the
power at work went out. Darn it! Haha NOT!
I wasn't able to watch the First Presidencies Christmas Devotional
yesterday, but we are going to watch it with one of our investigators and
his family. They are a part member family.
Tell Landon that I am so proud of him serving a mission and that it is the
best thing that he is going to do right now. Tell him that I hope that he
gets called here to the great Florida Ft. Lauderdale Mission. That would
be amazing, and he would be a great asset to this Mission! He already will
be a great asset to whatever mission he goes to, because he is called by
God to go there.
Elder Diaz is a missionary that I was serving with in Miami Lakes. We
lived in the same apartment together. He is a super funny kid. And yes,
he is quite short. I felt like a giant around him haha. He is a great kid
though. I'm glad that Sister Martinez sent you that picture. Write her
back and tell her that I love her and I'm greatful for her and her family.
I received a letter from her daughter last week. Let her know that I got
it.
Well family I've got to go. I love you all each individually so very much,
more than you can know. Take care, have a great week, and be careful in
all things that you do and driving to all places that you go and all of
your travelings. Enjoy "The Forgotten Carols" with Beth! That will be a
great experience for her, and let her know that I say hi and that I told
her to listen to her feelings as she goes. I love you all!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY ISAAC!!! I love you little guy!
Love,
Your Son, Brother, and Uncle
Elder Hardman
Staying in Lauderhill East
Well Hello there my family!
How is everybody doing? It sounds like you all are doing so good, and I am
so glad to hear that. It sounds like you all had such a great Thanksgiving
weekend! I did too! And yes, I ate, and I ate, and I ate some more. We
had 3 dinner appointments that day, and I went out of the first one that
started at 1:00 pm just absolutely rolling. Then right after that we went
to another one, and I bearly got everything down. Then right after that
one, we went to another one. At the third one I was about to die. I got a
plate and started eating and I had an empanada in my hand just looking at
it and trying to play it off that I was full by talking to others and
Brother Reyes looked at us and said, "Elders, are you ok? Did you eat
somewhere else?" Elder Flores and I both looked at each other and shook
our heads, "yes." He said, "Elders don't feel bad if your full, don't eat,
we'll wrap you up some and take it to go." I put my empanada down and
said, "Thank you." Haha it was a pretty amuzing experience. I took
pictures of me after each meal, but forgot my camera so maybe I'll send you
those pictures next week. And no, I didn't get to kill my turkeys this
year lol.
I will be staying here in Lauderhill East!!! I'm super excited!!! Elder
Flores however is leaving. I don't know where he is going yet, but I will
tell you next week when we find out. I'm so happy to be staying though.
We have a baptism coming up this weekend. I want to share with you a
little bit of our experience with her, this is what I wrote to President
Anderson regarding her (her name is Diane who is getting baptized this
weekend): She is truly an indirect blessing that Elder Flores and I
received through our changing our ways to become more in line with God's
will through Harvesting an hour a day, and diligently talking to everyone.
She is the sister of one of the members in the ward. She has attended
church for a very long time off and on with her sister, and has even met
with the missionaries before and has never accepted getting baptized.
Three weeks ago this member family invited us to dinner on Sunday and Diana
was there. After we got done eating, we sat down and started talking about
Christmas. We testified much about Christ, and felt that we needed to
invite her to be baptized. She accepted with not even a question. This
last Sunday we went over again to teach her and we asked her how she felt
about her baptism and she said, "Good." We then went over the baptismal
interview questions with her and after she got up and said, "Wow, I'm kind
of excited," with a huge grin on her face. Her sister in turn started
crying, and it was such a great and powerful moment.
It was probably one of the most powerful moments I've had on my mission. I
loved it and felt that she was one who I was sent here to help and to get
to know.
As far as things for Christmas, I live with 3 other Elders, so there's 4 of
us in total. I'm really excited to get those Christmas Decorations! Also
with my shoes, my Rockports have been the ones that have worn out the
fastest and the worst but my Florsheims have stayed in perfect tact, and I
wear them just as often as I do my Rockports. I usually switch off
everyday. But they have been really good shoes. It's mainly the souls on
the Rockports that don't last very long. They were starting to ware down
when I was in the MTC. And also yes, I do need a belt, maybe even 2. I'm
so sorry that I'm so rough on clothes, I don't get it lol. I have always
been that way. I'll try to do better.
We are teaching another man named Tomy. He is the coolest guy ever. He
actually took us fishing last week. He has seen many miracles this week
because we have been teaching him more, and he is coming to church and
doing so good. His wife is a member and some of the kids, but he is not a
member yet. He is doing so good though. He's the Dad of Paolo, the cute
little kid that I sent the picture home a few weeks ago with him with my
tie and plaque on. I just wanted to tell you a little bit about what
people we are teaching.
Well family that about catches you up for this week and gives you a little
run down on what's coming up this week for me. I hope that all is going
well with and for each and every one of you, and know that I love you all
so much. Please take care, have a great week, and be careful in all things
that you do and going to all places that you go.
Love,
Your Son, Brother, and Uncle
Elder Hardman
How is everybody doing? It sounds like you all are doing so good, and I am
so glad to hear that. It sounds like you all had such a great Thanksgiving
weekend! I did too! And yes, I ate, and I ate, and I ate some more. We
had 3 dinner appointments that day, and I went out of the first one that
started at 1:00 pm just absolutely rolling. Then right after that we went
to another one, and I bearly got everything down. Then right after that
one, we went to another one. At the third one I was about to die. I got a
plate and started eating and I had an empanada in my hand just looking at
it and trying to play it off that I was full by talking to others and
Brother Reyes looked at us and said, "Elders, are you ok? Did you eat
somewhere else?" Elder Flores and I both looked at each other and shook
our heads, "yes." He said, "Elders don't feel bad if your full, don't eat,
we'll wrap you up some and take it to go." I put my empanada down and
said, "Thank you." Haha it was a pretty amuzing experience. I took
pictures of me after each meal, but forgot my camera so maybe I'll send you
those pictures next week. And no, I didn't get to kill my turkeys this
year lol.
I will be staying here in Lauderhill East!!! I'm super excited!!! Elder
Flores however is leaving. I don't know where he is going yet, but I will
tell you next week when we find out. I'm so happy to be staying though.
We have a baptism coming up this weekend. I want to share with you a
little bit of our experience with her, this is what I wrote to President
Anderson regarding her (her name is Diane who is getting baptized this
weekend): She is truly an indirect blessing that Elder Flores and I
received through our changing our ways to become more in line with God's
will through Harvesting an hour a day, and diligently talking to everyone.
She is the sister of one of the members in the ward. She has attended
church for a very long time off and on with her sister, and has even met
with the missionaries before and has never accepted getting baptized.
Three weeks ago this member family invited us to dinner on Sunday and Diana
was there. After we got done eating, we sat down and started talking about
Christmas. We testified much about Christ, and felt that we needed to
invite her to be baptized. She accepted with not even a question. This
last Sunday we went over again to teach her and we asked her how she felt
about her baptism and she said, "Good." We then went over the baptismal
interview questions with her and after she got up and said, "Wow, I'm kind
of excited," with a huge grin on her face. Her sister in turn started
crying, and it was such a great and powerful moment.
It was probably one of the most powerful moments I've had on my mission. I
loved it and felt that she was one who I was sent here to help and to get
to know.
As far as things for Christmas, I live with 3 other Elders, so there's 4 of
us in total. I'm really excited to get those Christmas Decorations! Also
with my shoes, my Rockports have been the ones that have worn out the
fastest and the worst but my Florsheims have stayed in perfect tact, and I
wear them just as often as I do my Rockports. I usually switch off
everyday. But they have been really good shoes. It's mainly the souls on
the Rockports that don't last very long. They were starting to ware down
when I was in the MTC. And also yes, I do need a belt, maybe even 2. I'm
so sorry that I'm so rough on clothes, I don't get it lol. I have always
been that way. I'll try to do better.
We are teaching another man named Tomy. He is the coolest guy ever. He
actually took us fishing last week. He has seen many miracles this week
because we have been teaching him more, and he is coming to church and
doing so good. His wife is a member and some of the kids, but he is not a
member yet. He is doing so good though. He's the Dad of Paolo, the cute
little kid that I sent the picture home a few weeks ago with him with my
tie and plaque on. I just wanted to tell you a little bit about what
people we are teaching.
Well family that about catches you up for this week and gives you a little
run down on what's coming up this week for me. I hope that all is going
well with and for each and every one of you, and know that I love you all
so much. Please take care, have a great week, and be careful in all things
that you do and going to all places that you go.
Love,
Your Son, Brother, and Uncle
Elder Hardman
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