"It's a Wonderful Life!"

Family Mine!

     Thank you for the wonderful letter! I really appreciate your writing skills--I feel as if I know everything going on...I am sorry if I do not do as well in return. I will try to do better! I love hearing about your lives, and imagining the light that you shed in the lives of those around you. Summer sure is a great time...I am glad to hear that you are all using it wisely!

      This week has been a great week--I have been thinking a lot about what it means to really "walk uprightly before God". As I have pondered on it this week, and looked at the moments when I have felt confident in walking before God, and the moments when I have wanted to duck my head away, or maybe slump down in my seat a little bit, the difference really comes from a decision to take every command from the Lord's mouth seriously. I have never been much of a rebel, but I have come to realize that slothfulness in keeping the commandments and even suggestions of the Lord, while not open rebellion, leads to similar results. I want to always be able to walk before the Lord with my shoulders squared and chin up, because I know I have given my best effort in keeping his commandments.

      This week I was on exchanges with Elder Wilson (my trainee!) and Elder Taylor (my MTC companion!), and we got along like three peas in a pod--they really are great missionaries, doing their best and working hard. I was also on exchanges with an Elder from New York, who studied at Cornell before his mission--between him and Elder Strobl, I was wrapped in Ivy all week! It was a wonderful week though, really. I'll give you a run down of my Friday, it was a good, normal (meaning exciting and awesome), day; 

We woke up at 630 and exercised (sit-ups and curls mostly), then ate breakfast, and then Elder Renauld (from New York, in Sofia on exchanges from Yambol) and I headed out to the University with a Street Board to catch the morning crowd getting down into the Metro to go to work. We had some good conversations, then after about 2 hours, as we were walking home, we ran into a guy from California, and were able to bear strong testimony to him, and to get in contact with the random girl who, walking by and hearing our English, asked what we thought about the whole England EU thing, and then got interested in what we were doing there. After putting the stuff away, we studied, ate lunch, then street-taught (i.e. contacted) to the Train Station and bought their tickets for tomorrow morning, then taught on the streets back, had language study, and made some pasta with meat sauce for dinner. We got on the bus and headed out to Hadje Dimitur (a neighborhood of Sofia) to teach a less-active part member family about the Plan of Salvation, which went really well (huge blessing!), then contacted on the bus back home, planned, and went to bed. Just a day in the life! 

      Also, on Saturday I went to the Japanese Hospital here in Sofia (Tokyda) to get my ears cleaned out--I have been George Bailey from "It's a Wonderful Life" for the last two weeks ("hows that? That's my trick ear, don't ya see?")--my left ear was really clogged up from having a small cold a few weeks back. It was great to be able to hear again--a night and day difference, in all of about 10 minutes. You don't know what you have until it is gone!

    Mother; that is so great to hear about Christian! I will write him for sure. I sure love that guy! Thank you so much for your example, and your testimony. This week, someone cited 2 Nephi 2 :14 (about acting, not being acted upon), and I thought about how you always told us, "No one can MAKE you sad, no one can MAKE you angry"...that really is the application of that principle--we have our agency to decide how we act according to the circumstances around them, we have the choice to ACT, and not simply to be acted upon like some in-animate object. Thank you for being a great Gospel teacher!

      Father; BYD! Say hello to all the youth for me, and tell them that I think they are great. Thank you so much for your good example, and always loving my Mother. I love you!

      Jordan; WOW! Zambia! That is really neat. I bet you will have an amazing experience. Fly safe, watch out for the слонове! I love you so much. 

       Rees; I hope that you are keeping a list of tips or something, because I am pretty much a caveman when it comes to cars--one of the mission cars got a plastic part broken off of it in the middle of nowhere, so we fixed it with Zip ties. No joke. Probably not in the regular operating procedures, but it worked! Love you.

      Paige; dancing sure is fun, but tiring. You would do great at that program! I love you so much little Sister, go for gold!

      Ronnie; whatever may happen on the field, just remember that who you are OFF the field is of much more eternal importance than any glory or success you can possibly win while on it. I love you so much!

       Lizzie; Summer! I love you so much, enjoy it with all that you've got. Have a great week!

I love you all so much, the Church is true!

Elder Hardy

How many missionaries does it take to fix an iron?

Photogenic?

Hardy Boys...

Family Mine!

     Thank you for the wonderful letter--school getting out...great memories! I am glad to hear that you are all well and happy and busy as usual!

      This week has been a good one--we met a young medical student here in Sofia, and we had an amazing Restoration lesson with him--he really seemed to grasp so many of the concepts, and really showed a sincere, sincere desire to read the Book of Mormon, and come closer to God. I know without a doubt that this land is full of the children of our Heavenly Father, truly "perishing in unbelief", waiting for the Gospel to come to them in a way that they can understand it and accept it. This week I came to some really meaningful spiritual conclusions as I have been pondering and praying. I have a goal to rely more fully upon the Lord, and not just on my own strength--the Lord has blessed me with specific talents so that I can be his instrument, but I sometimes fear that those talents lead me to rely on my own reasoning or strength, and not to turn to He who is at the helm. A lot of those thoughts came as I was pondering 2 Corinthians 3:6-18. I am grateful for the scriptures! This week we had a neat opportunity to serve as well--it was REALLY hot on Friday, and we usually spend a lot of time outside as a mission, so everyone was dousing themselves in water, but around 1010 we got a call from President Barclay that the Sisters here in Sofia were having some problems, and they needed a thermometer, presto. So, we threw on our shirts, grabbed the Zone Leaders and headed over to their apartment to give them the thermometer and a blessing (one of the Sisters had pretty bad heat stroke, as it turns out). We did the blessing in their stairwell so as to not go in their apartment, and Bulgarian stairwells have lights on timers, so during the middle of the blessing, the light timed out--luckily Elder Silveria is an Englishman, and nothing fazes him, so the blessing was not disturbed. We truly need to always be worthy to use our Priesthood! Also, a Sister missionary and I recorded that arrangement of "I Know that My Redeemer Lives" in Bulgarian, which was neat. She has an amazing voice.

        There are no "Father's Day" Celebrations here, but that doesn't mean that I haven't been thinking of my not-so-old Man! Father, I have expressed it to you many times, but I repeat it simply because it is true--my honest desire in life is to become the type of man that you are, to treat my wife like you treat yours, to serve in my community like you serve in yours, to serve in my callings like you serve in yours, to love the Lord like you love the Lord, to teach my children the Gospel as you have taught me, to work hard to support my family like you do for yours, to respect my mother like you do yours, to love my brothers and sisters like you do yours, to listen to the Prophet and to study the scriptures and to pray and to fast and to love those around me the way that you have taught me all these years. If not every lesson was taught with your words, all were taught or confirmed with your works. I love you so much Father, and will always be grateful for you, and for your council. Happy Father's Day!

    Mother; in terms of the Jury Duty, there isn't really a form letter that we have for something like that, just for incoming and departing missionaries. If Dad could write that up and send it in, I would greatly appreciate it. Of all the times to get summoned to Jury Duty! Life is funny. I feel good about my schedule as well. Again, thank you for your work on that. I love you so much, thank you for all that you do for me!

     Paige; Way to go, Idaho! Look who's got, a four point 0! (It all sort of rhymes!). Look at all those open doors sitting in front of you, little Sister! You are awesome. I love you!

     Ronnie; give Sister Davis my love! Be wiser than I was, and learn NOW to be responsible--I learned that if we really want something to turn out well, it requires time and attention. Show that her garden matters to you, and that it really interests you that it looks nice (a key part of that is ACTUALLY caring, so get that in order as well), and you cannot go wrong. I am glad you get to work there--it is such a great experience! I love you little Brother!

      Lizzie; you are the President to me, no matter the length of your speech! Don't be too worried--your classmates won't read Shakespeare until they get older, and then they will realize that "brevity really IS the essence of wit", and not only wit, but true intelligence. Jokes aside, you are amazing little Sister, I want to be just like you when I grow up.

       I love you all so much, I am grateful for my Savior, and know that he lives and loves us. Of that I am sure!

With Love, 

Elder Hardy

Clean ears, guaranteed!

Elder MacMillan--He's from Columbus!

Missionaries, Missionaries, Missionaries!

Dear Family Mine!

     Thank you so much for the wonderful letter! I really do appreciate your constant commitment to keep me up to date with the family affairs, even when life is a whirlwind. I really do feel so blessed not only to count myself as part of all that you do, but also so blessed to be the recipient of so much love and so many prayers. I feel their power. There IS true power in prayer, alien only to those who have not sought it, and therefore not experienced it. I love you all so much!

      This week we once again had Zone Conferences (it seems like just yesterday we were having them for last transfer!), and Elder Strobel and I didn't teach, but it was amazing to see all the wonderful missionaries in the Mission, partaking of their Spirit, hearing their testimonies, and just being with them. I love them so much! We also wen't on several exchanges this week, in every city that we had a Zone Conference. From new missionaries of 4 weeks to old, seasoned former companions, I pretty much ran the gauntlet this week, and it really was an instructive experience. The experience brought to my mind the words of Paul in his message to the Corinthians;

12 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.

 13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.

 14 For the body is not one member, but many.

(1 Corinthians 12)

     We really are so many different parts, the Spirit gives us each different gifts, talents, abilities, difficulties, trials and experiences--as we read on in that great Chapter (read it together--it is really enlightening), one part is no more important than the other, just different. It really was made clear to me the truth of those prophetic words this week. For those who were not aware, the scriptures are true!

      Mother; thank you so much for getting me all signed up--I really really REALLY appreciate it. I love you so much! About the Bulgarian class, I will try my best, but most of the Missionaries that I both have a way to make contact with and are going to BYU this fall are pretty few (strangely enough). I will try my best though! Maybe I can convince Max to sign up. There are two or three that come to mind, and I will try to get in touch with them. If not, I will either try to just figure it out when I get there, or maybe I will just sign myself up for beginning Russian or something, and try to get a job at the MTC to keep my Bulgarian...who knows. We'll figure it out, I am sure. It is so strange to me that all of those people have now graduated! Give Alex and Christian a big честито for me, and a big hug! I love you so much Mother, and really am so grateful for your testimony, and your example to me.

     Father, Steven! I am so glad that you saw him! I love that guy. In terms of golf plans, tentative plans, or even plans in general is probably too strong of wording, but the desire has been expressed for certain. I think those are some of my favorite bonding memories with you and your brothers...I love them (and you) so much! Elder Strobel  is an Idahoan to the core, and honestly, serving with him sometimes feels strangely like a family reunion, but in a wonderful way. I am excited to be consecrated to the end, to give it my all--I still have plenty of time! I love you so much Father.

      Jordan; Africa! I miss the rain there! I am so excited for you, I bet you are going to have a wonderful time...you will probably even get to use some of your French! There is a member here in Sofia who is from North Africa, and he really has a special spirit about him--they seem like amazing people. I love you so much!

      Rees; Auto Zone is sort of like Africa! Yea!

      Paige; you really look like such a...woman. I love you so much little Sister, keep the commandments! I love you.

      Ronnie; as you grow older, you will find out that so many things are not quite exactly the way they should be, and you will quickly come to find that not all adults (even the really wonderful staff at Mead--they are great) are like Mom and Dad, or your Young Men leader or Bishop (oh wait!). Something that I am sure Dad has told you, that has always stuck with me is "cream rises", meaning that at the end of the day, quality always floats to the top. Ronnie, you are quality. For me, my cream didn't rise in Football or really even Baseball, but in other spheres. Always remember, however, that there is no person's favor who is more important than winning, than winning favor in the Eyes of your Heavenly Father. In the end of the day, focus more on becoming quality cream, as opposed to rising, and the what happens will need to happen. I love you so much little Brother!

      Lizzie; did you give Steven a good punch on the arm for me? I love that guy a lot. I love you so much Lizzie, thank you for being so wonderful!

     I love you so much Family, you are wonderful, have a great week!

With Love,

Elder Hardy 

The Sea Again!

"Pork chops, and Apple sauce!"

On Marin Drinov...

Sofia Elders...Watch out грешници!

Again...

The Sofia Missionaries (and one member...)

A Little Closer!

All Good Things to those Who Wait

Family Mine!

     It sounds like you all had quite the week! From Cour De Lane to Seattle...you are all quite the travelers. I love hearing about all that is going on, and I especially love seeing you! Today we really do have so many wonderful technologies, given to us by a wise Heavenly Father.

      This week was really rewarding--we had Mission Leadership Council, and it, once again, was wonderful to see how the Spirit works with groups of people. Councils really are ordained of God--we saw how, one by one, the Spirit brings us together in the training to be presented, the goals to be set, how to deal with concerns and needs of the Mission, how he takes so many ideas from radically different people, and brings them together for the benefit of others. From the council of the 12, to the family council, the Lord works in the same ways, and by the same patterns. Family, I solemnly submit that there is a God in Heaven, and He knows very well what he is doing.

       This week we also had some fun teaching experiences; on Wednesday, we had the incredible experience of explaining about Christ's true role to a great Muslim man, and testifying about His eternal role in the plan of Salvation. Sometimes those truths are so ingrained into our own minds and even into our culture that we forget their power until we meet someone to whom the idea is foreign or unknown. Christ really is our Savior, He truly did save us from an actual Fall, of that I am sure! Also, an investigator that Elder Slinker (dairy farm, Kentucky) and I found a year ago here in Sofia, after a year of growing up, accepted a baptismal date this week, and really seems to be excited about meeting it! As we talked about the Baptismal Covenant and read Mosiah 18:8-10 with him, it just suddenly seemed to click. We are going to go over the commandments with him again, so that he knows exactly what "and will keep all the commandments which thou hast given them" means, but we are confident with the Lord's help, he will be baptized this transfer. Such a great blessing.

      Mother; the 12 Graders here have already graduated, but the rest of the School kids are in School until June 30 (they start on Sept 15), and the University Students are going to be around for at least a few more weeks, but there will definitely be a change here in little while--there are always students around and things, but they likely will be working the Summer here, not only studying. You look great! I am sure you will be a great coach (well, you already are!). I am excited about the schedule as well, but mostly I am excited to just get it behind me, and get the "blinders" (not really) back on. I REALLY appreciate all that you do for me Mother--I wouldn't be half of what I am without your careful care. Have a great week!

      Father; you look like you had a great time! Seattle really is beautiful. I am glad to hear about Audrey-- loving those we serve really is the great recipe not only for Missionary happiness, but happiness in life. I love you so much!

       Paige; take the practice tests! They will help you. Also, just remember that all you have been learning in High School will be helping you as well, so don't be too stressed out if you haven't been able to give hours and hours to the test prep. You are going to ace it! I love you.

        Ron; Offense! I bet you look like a stud while doing it, too. I love you little/big Brother, and am grateful for everything that you do for our family. Have a great week!

        You are all so wonderful, I love you all, the Church is true!

With Love,

Elder Hardy 

1) Not quite a soap box, but...

 I am saying the word "Baptism" in this picture. "Repent ye, repent ye, and be baptized!".

We were teaching some members, and they gave us an "Army Version" of the Bible, in old (er) Bulgarian. Neat! I will send some pictures of the actual text.

This is the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount--the Beatitudes "блажени, ниши по сърце..." great stuff. If you look, there are some old-Bulgarian symbols--some of those symbols actually can represent several letters, you just have to know the word in order to be able to guess which letter the symbol is representing. Fun stuff.