Dec 1

Buenas,

So ... I'm getting transferred AGAIN!!! This time to car... I'm pretty sad about it... I'm going to take my bike with me though, and maybe I can convince my new companion to ride bikes with me at least part of the time. President Hall also asked me to be an Hermana Training Leader. It's a little scary for me since I really only know how to be in training or train new missionaries... I'm not sure what I'm going to do with a companion who isn't brand new in the mission. I am very grateful that the Lord qualifies those that he calls. The mission has definitely been a good experience for me to be able to learn to trust in the Lord more than in myself.

This week has been interesting, with the holidays coming up and this being Thanksgiving week (last week) we didn't get as much done because there just aren't as many people who have time to talk with us... It's also transfers tomorrow and I have to pack so I just don't have as much time as usual...

Thanksgiving Day was pretty good. We were worried about having nothing to do but knock on doors of people who then don't answer (because they want to be with their families) but we found things to do. We did weekly planning, and had dinner with the Palacios family. We also picked up trash along one of the main streets in our area. It was kind of sad because there was just SO much trash. We also used that time to contact all the people who are NEVER home so we can't ever find them to talk to them again. We figured they'd all be home for Thanksgiving. :)

We also set a baptismal date with our investigator R! She is so sweet, and so prepared for the gospel! We also had a lesson with her on Sunday, and she told us how she wasn't sure how she ended up on this path that God has clearly prepared for her when she wasn't even looking for it. I truly believe that there are prepared people out there that don't even know they're prepared, but when you find them they get baptized, and life only gets better from there. We also had a good lesson with H and A (different day) and A also wants to get baptized. H still isn't sure if he's prepared or knows enough. We're working with him to understand the atonement and know that he doesn't have to be perfect before he's baptized (or even after) because that's what the atonement is for.

Saturday we had a cool experience with a finding activity for some elders in our district. We were knocking in one apartment complex, and we had two really funny rejections in a row. (I love when you can laugh about being rejected.) The first one we knocked on the door and a lady yelled "Who is it?" in English. "The Missionaries," is our standard response. The only response she made was to yell even more loudly, "NO!" Hna Anderson and I both burst out laughing (as quietly as possible...) I couldn't help thinking in my head, "no we're not missionaries, or no you don't want to talk to us?" The very next door that we knocked on was even funnier. We knocked and heard a patter of little feet, followed very quickly by a woman's voice yelling "No ABRA!" (that means 'don't open'). They proceeded to have a small scuffle at the door with the small one trying to open the door and the mom trying to keep it closed. There was lots of incoherent screeching from the child and more "No ABRA, no ABRA!" from the mom as the door jerked back and forth in front of us. We couldn't help but start laughing again. Hna Anderson wanted to knock again just because it was so funny, but we moved on instead. Anyway... the really cool part was at the very end of our time we knocked on this door and a woman answered and let us right in. She had us sit down at the table and gave us bottles of water. Then she let us teach the entire first lesson, agreed to read and pray about the Book of Mormon, and set a return appointment for the Elders to come back! She was so open and accepting! I love finding people like that who truly seem to be searching for the truth.

I really have to go now, but I love you all! Don't forget the challenge we received in General Conference. I don't remember who said it (maybe Elder Ballard), but basically he said, "If everyone in the church young and old would reach out to just one person before Christmas, think about what an amazing birthday present that would be for Christ.

Love,

Hna Marin Hardy