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
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| Clean ears, guaranteed! |
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| Elder MacMillan--He's from Columbus! |
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