We decided that our mission would not be complete without a thorough investigation of the health industry in Nevada. Elder Hardman volunteered to be the guinea pig. We had two Doctor’s office visits and a trip to the Emergency Room this past week. Elder Hardman was poked and prodded. At the end of it all Elder Hardman is still sporting a catheter and the accompanying bag. I don’t think he loves these accessories but it is better than the alternative. We hope this week brings better news.
We still knocked doors, took a meal to a family, prepared the program for a baptism and tried going to a few lessons (all cancelled). Despite not feeling that great we have felt successful in finding/not finding people lately. We have knocked a certain door for months without an answer. It is close to our apartment so one morning we felt we should try again. As we were knocking on the door the apartment manager called out that that apartment is empty. If we had gone to the office to ask about the person we would have been told they couldn’t talk to us (privacy issues). We felt it was a miracle for being diligent. We were laughing yesterday when we were invited into a home of a Sister who told us she was born and raised Mormon, she was enjoying a little break with a cigarette and a beer. It is great to have good weather again, much nicer to knock doors when it is a lovely spring day.
Well, rather than describe the contents of Elder Hardman’s bag (he tried to get me to look in it but I refused), I thought I would tell a funny story. First of all, we have the best Ward clerk in our home Ward. He is thoughtful and works so hard to do his best in his calling. A few weeks ago he emailed us explaining that the Bishop had just realized we weren’t in the missionary cabinet at the church. Here are a few excerpts from his email. “Our new policy is that if you have to leave your home for an extended period of time in order to fulfill a full-time mission, a plague should be provided. So for the next 6 months of your mission we would like to have a single plague that features the two of you… Our apologies that we didn’t do this when you left, it just fell through the cracks.” I told Elder Hardman that I knew they meant well but no matter what, I DIDN”T WANT A PLAGUE! Brother McMillan was so embarrassed when we responded. Now after careful consideration of the past few weeks I think we were given that plague after all! If you see Brother McMillan this week please give him a hug from us! I needed a fun story for the blog!
The Gospel’s true and we love you!
Love,
Elder and Sister Hardman
Monday, April 24, 2017
Sunday, April 16, 2017
Letter #53
Elder Brent Nielson from the Seventy was the General Authority that came for our “Mission Tour”. They split the mission between the East (Winnemucca to Ely) and West (the rest of the mission) for conferences. Elder Nielson said that if you ask any Primary child what our purpose is in coming to Earth they will answer, “To get a body and to be tried and tested”. Elder Nielson then asked, “If we all know that is our purpose for coming to the Earth, why do we freak out when we have trials?” The next question is, “What am I supposed to be learning from this?” Maybe it’s the second question that makes us “freak out”!
It was a good conference but I left the house at 8am and didn’t get home until after 8pm. It was a long day. I had done all of the shopping for the dinner by myself the day before and did a lot of the prep work. I had the great idea of taking things to the church the night before but because a General Authority was coming they were cleaning carpets and buffing the gym floor so they wouldn’t let me in. So much for my smart idea. It all worked out. The Vaia’vakas were wonderful help. There are a lot of things that I don’t think or worry about that Elder Hardman just takes care of, we figured it out. I worried about Elder Hardman at home because I had the car if he needed anything. I hate to say it but I was pretty happy when it was all done.
Elder Hardman went to District meeting on Wednesday. We didn’t do our usual “Welcome to the Zone” last week and so it felt strange to have new missionaries in District meeting that we didn’t welcome. We haven’t been living a life of leisure but we have taken things easy this week. We did some door knocking and took a drive. Elder Hardman is doing alright but we are frustrated because the Doctor’s office has not let us know when the follow-up visit will be. They say to not leave multiple messages, wait till this week!
Last fall we were scheduled to help in a big service project cleaning up from a huge fire that had destroyed homes. It was cancelled at the last minute (after we had arranged for the missionaries to get rides from members who also had to “outfit” them with clothes and tools) because the ground was unstable. We took a drive to see where this was. There is an old mansion that is part of one of their Parks close by. We enjoyed seeing the old mansion but it is very sad to drive around where the fire was. You can see where homes had stood but it is a miracle that they saved so many of the other homes. I guess it wasn’t a “happy” sort of a field trip but we had wondered about it all for many weeks. That area that was so dry last year now has swampy fields from all of the rain and snow this year. You can see that they will have flooding from all of the erosion and there are no trees left. Crazy stuff.
Today didn’t feel much like Easter but I do have a beautiful tree outside our window that is filled with blossoms. It did give me a minute to reflect on the beauty around us and the promise of “New Life”. I am trying to remember not to “freak out”.
The Gospel’s true and we love you!
Love,
Elder and Sister Hardman
It was a good conference but I left the house at 8am and didn’t get home until after 8pm. It was a long day. I had done all of the shopping for the dinner by myself the day before and did a lot of the prep work. I had the great idea of taking things to the church the night before but because a General Authority was coming they were cleaning carpets and buffing the gym floor so they wouldn’t let me in. So much for my smart idea. It all worked out. The Vaia’vakas were wonderful help. There are a lot of things that I don’t think or worry about that Elder Hardman just takes care of, we figured it out. I worried about Elder Hardman at home because I had the car if he needed anything. I hate to say it but I was pretty happy when it was all done.
Elder Hardman went to District meeting on Wednesday. We didn’t do our usual “Welcome to the Zone” last week and so it felt strange to have new missionaries in District meeting that we didn’t welcome. We haven’t been living a life of leisure but we have taken things easy this week. We did some door knocking and took a drive. Elder Hardman is doing alright but we are frustrated because the Doctor’s office has not let us know when the follow-up visit will be. They say to not leave multiple messages, wait till this week!
Last fall we were scheduled to help in a big service project cleaning up from a huge fire that had destroyed homes. It was cancelled at the last minute (after we had arranged for the missionaries to get rides from members who also had to “outfit” them with clothes and tools) because the ground was unstable. We took a drive to see where this was. There is an old mansion that is part of one of their Parks close by. We enjoyed seeing the old mansion but it is very sad to drive around where the fire was. You can see where homes had stood but it is a miracle that they saved so many of the other homes. I guess it wasn’t a “happy” sort of a field trip but we had wondered about it all for many weeks. That area that was so dry last year now has swampy fields from all of the rain and snow this year. You can see that they will have flooding from all of the erosion and there are no trees left. Crazy stuff.
Today didn’t feel much like Easter but I do have a beautiful tree outside our window that is filled with blossoms. It did give me a minute to reflect on the beauty around us and the promise of “New Life”. I am trying to remember not to “freak out”.
The Gospel’s true and we love you!
Love,
Elder and Sister Hardman
Monday, April 10, 2017
Letter #52
Hmmm…. How do I tell about this past week? Remember how I described a mission as a roller-coaster ride? According to my niece’s little boy, “Roller coasters are too fast, too bumpy and keep going down!” Just when I think we have come to the smooth part of the ride we find ourselves on the part that is too fast, too bumpy and keeps going down!
We started out the week with Transfer Day. Monday we shopped, cleaned and started making food. We had been running around all day so we decided to have Papa Murphy’s pizza for dinner. We get a half and half, which means I get what I want and Elder Hardman gets what he wants on the pizza and we don’t have to eat what the other person likes. Elder Hardman decided that something on his half of the pizza made him sick. Tuesday came and he still didn’t feel well but he came to help with the Transfer Day lunch (he didn’t eat anything) and was relieved that another couple took the missionaries to the Temple (usually his job). That night he stayed home from the dinner. Wednesday he still didn’t feel well but it is a day to set things in order after our busy Transfer day anyway so he was able to relax. Thursday he was still not feeling well. We were also waiting all day to hear if Shalene and Garrett had had their baby. They had gone to the hospital on Wednesday night. I started to think that Elder Hardman was having sympathy labor pains in honor of Shalene.
He finally decided at 9pm, when it was dark and rainy that he needed to go to the hospital. We drove to a hospital in Sparks because that is where the insurance said to go. They started running tests and finally found that he had two LARGE (9mm) kidney stones, one in the bladder, and one in the kidney. There was also a smaller stone on its way out. He was dehydrated and feeling pretty awful.
Shalene and Garrett's baby was delivered on Thursday, April 6 th at around 10:30pm. Elder Hardman’s delivery took another day! He was admitted to the hospital and was scheduled for surgery on Friday. He was the last surgery on Friday afternoon (at 4pm). Surgery went well, they blasted his stones. He has a stent that will stay in place for a week or so. At this point he is in the recovery stage. He had to come home with a catheter (which he isn’t too happy about) He slept pretty well last night and is starting to have a little appetite. We are thankful for that after several days of not eating. He doesn’t feel great but we know “this too shall pass” (along with those stones).
Shalene and Garrett’s baby was born with the cord around his neck and it had to be cut before he was delivered. This led to breathing issues. He is now off of the oxygen but he hasn’t decided that he is ready to eat yet so he is on a feeding tube and I.V. I think he is in cahoots with his Grandpa to be on a hunger strike! I hope he doesn’t take as long to decide to eat. We love to see pictures of him. He is beautiful! I told Shalene, “He looks like Garrett with a side of Shalene”. His name is Anders Garrett Wilcox. We are so grateful to have him here! His parents are amazing! We have had people ask us if we are going home. If anyone understands the meaning of selfless service it is Shalene and Garrett. They have not asked us to come home.
I have asked myself many times on this mission, “What am I doing here?” President Nelson gave me the answer I’ve been looking for in his talk at General Conference. “Faith in Jesus Christ propels us to do things we otherwise would not do”. That is the answer. I have faith in Jesus Christ. I know it may feel bumpy and fast and keeps going down but that it will be all right. There is a plan. We have the source of comfort and strength in our Savior. I have said it before and I will continue to say it. We love our family. We are grateful for each and every one of you. We know you are tenderly caring for each other. Thank you!
The Gospel’s true and we truly love you!
Love,
Elder and Sister Hardman
We started out the week with Transfer Day. Monday we shopped, cleaned and started making food. We had been running around all day so we decided to have Papa Murphy’s pizza for dinner. We get a half and half, which means I get what I want and Elder Hardman gets what he wants on the pizza and we don’t have to eat what the other person likes. Elder Hardman decided that something on his half of the pizza made him sick. Tuesday came and he still didn’t feel well but he came to help with the Transfer Day lunch (he didn’t eat anything) and was relieved that another couple took the missionaries to the Temple (usually his job). That night he stayed home from the dinner. Wednesday he still didn’t feel well but it is a day to set things in order after our busy Transfer day anyway so he was able to relax. Thursday he was still not feeling well. We were also waiting all day to hear if Shalene and Garrett had had their baby. They had gone to the hospital on Wednesday night. I started to think that Elder Hardman was having sympathy labor pains in honor of Shalene.
He finally decided at 9pm, when it was dark and rainy that he needed to go to the hospital. We drove to a hospital in Sparks because that is where the insurance said to go. They started running tests and finally found that he had two LARGE (9mm) kidney stones, one in the bladder, and one in the kidney. There was also a smaller stone on its way out. He was dehydrated and feeling pretty awful.
Shalene and Garrett's baby was delivered on Thursday, April 6 th at around 10:30pm. Elder Hardman’s delivery took another day! He was admitted to the hospital and was scheduled for surgery on Friday. He was the last surgery on Friday afternoon (at 4pm). Surgery went well, they blasted his stones. He has a stent that will stay in place for a week or so. At this point he is in the recovery stage. He had to come home with a catheter (which he isn’t too happy about) He slept pretty well last night and is starting to have a little appetite. We are thankful for that after several days of not eating. He doesn’t feel great but we know “this too shall pass” (along with those stones).
Shalene and Garrett’s baby was born with the cord around his neck and it had to be cut before he was delivered. This led to breathing issues. He is now off of the oxygen but he hasn’t decided that he is ready to eat yet so he is on a feeding tube and I.V. I think he is in cahoots with his Grandpa to be on a hunger strike! I hope he doesn’t take as long to decide to eat. We love to see pictures of him. He is beautiful! I told Shalene, “He looks like Garrett with a side of Shalene”. His name is Anders Garrett Wilcox. We are so grateful to have him here! His parents are amazing! We have had people ask us if we are going home. If anyone understands the meaning of selfless service it is Shalene and Garrett. They have not asked us to come home.
I have asked myself many times on this mission, “What am I doing here?” President Nelson gave me the answer I’ve been looking for in his talk at General Conference. “Faith in Jesus Christ propels us to do things we otherwise would not do”. That is the answer. I have faith in Jesus Christ. I know it may feel bumpy and fast and keeps going down but that it will be all right. There is a plan. We have the source of comfort and strength in our Savior. I have said it before and I will continue to say it. We love our family. We are grateful for each and every one of you. We know you are tenderly caring for each other. Thank you!
The Gospel’s true and we truly love you!
Love,
Elder and Sister Hardman
Sunday, April 2, 2017
Letter #51
You probably all sustained it yesterday! Our Stake President, the one that asked for a Senior Couple to clean up the records so that they could “right size” the wards, was called as an Area 70 yesterday. We will be having an emergency Stake Conference next Sunday to sustain a new Stake President. President Johnson served as a Mission President in Brazil. I’m guessing that he will probably serve somewhere in Brazil, but I guess we will have to wait to find that out. We have certainly witnessed a lot of changes in this area since we have been here. The wards are still trying to figure out home teaching and now they will have a new Stake Presidency!
Conference was wonderful. We went to the church to attend the sessions. There was just a smattering of missionaries this time. They try to get an invitation to watch with investigators or less active members. Our YSA sisters had an investigator come to the church. I think we pay attention better sitting in the chapel but I was getting “ants in my pants” by the last session. The benches aren’t made for long sitting. It is a great time for spiritual renewal. I hope everyone decided to work on something that will improve their lives and draw them closer to the Savior. There were a lot of great suggestions!
We had a pretty open week last week and so we scheduled to go work at the Food Bank warehouse. We had never gone before. It is a long way out of town but we had a good time checking this out. We sorted food for 2 ½ hours. It was great. We have learned that they get a lot of snack items but they are generally “healthy” snacks. In other words, healthy snacks don’t sell well and end up at the Food Bank. At the end of our shift they told us that they had flowers and we were to take a box of them. Walmart periodically drops off flowers I guess and they can’t distribute them with the food so they give them away to workers. We wondered what we would do with 5 bouquets of flowers. We took three of them to the three sets of Sisters in our Zone. Oh my! If you want to make a Sister’s day, give them flowers. We take treats every week and something every transfer but this made them happier than anything else we have given them. We told them they were free but they were still so excited! It was totally worth going to work at the warehouse.
We are helping the Sienna Vista ward figure out their visiting teaching. We were given a list to compare to our records. It has let us know of the people we thought were moved out that have slipped through the cracks and are still showing up on the records, little by little. It is so much more pleasant to knock on doors in the good weather!
We are going to have two weeks of meal planning and preparation. It is always stressful to me to look ahead and wonder how we are going to do it all. It always works out but I’m feeling the stress right now. The missionaries start displaying that they are feeling the stress about the same time I do, but they are stressed about transfers!
Elder Benti gave a great training in District meeting last week. He told how David only needed one stone to kill Goliath but he picked up 5. He brought us each 5 stones and had done the Chinese characters for God, companion, love, scriptures and Holy Spirit. We painted our stones with the characters as he talked about how we each need to pick up our own stones, in faith. I always think that if I had taught as well as these young missionaries I probably wouldn’t have had any “naughty” kids in Sunday School. They are amazing teachers!
The gospel’s true and we love you!
Love,
Elder and Sister Hardman
Conference was wonderful. We went to the church to attend the sessions. There was just a smattering of missionaries this time. They try to get an invitation to watch with investigators or less active members. Our YSA sisters had an investigator come to the church. I think we pay attention better sitting in the chapel but I was getting “ants in my pants” by the last session. The benches aren’t made for long sitting. It is a great time for spiritual renewal. I hope everyone decided to work on something that will improve their lives and draw them closer to the Savior. There were a lot of great suggestions!
We had a pretty open week last week and so we scheduled to go work at the Food Bank warehouse. We had never gone before. It is a long way out of town but we had a good time checking this out. We sorted food for 2 ½ hours. It was great. We have learned that they get a lot of snack items but they are generally “healthy” snacks. In other words, healthy snacks don’t sell well and end up at the Food Bank. At the end of our shift they told us that they had flowers and we were to take a box of them. Walmart periodically drops off flowers I guess and they can’t distribute them with the food so they give them away to workers. We wondered what we would do with 5 bouquets of flowers. We took three of them to the three sets of Sisters in our Zone. Oh my! If you want to make a Sister’s day, give them flowers. We take treats every week and something every transfer but this made them happier than anything else we have given them. We told them they were free but they were still so excited! It was totally worth going to work at the warehouse.
We are helping the Sienna Vista ward figure out their visiting teaching. We were given a list to compare to our records. It has let us know of the people we thought were moved out that have slipped through the cracks and are still showing up on the records, little by little. It is so much more pleasant to knock on doors in the good weather!
We are going to have two weeks of meal planning and preparation. It is always stressful to me to look ahead and wonder how we are going to do it all. It always works out but I’m feeling the stress right now. The missionaries start displaying that they are feeling the stress about the same time I do, but they are stressed about transfers!
Elder Benti gave a great training in District meeting last week. He told how David only needed one stone to kill Goliath but he picked up 5. He brought us each 5 stones and had done the Chinese characters for God, companion, love, scriptures and Holy Spirit. We painted our stones with the characters as he talked about how we each need to pick up our own stones, in faith. I always think that if I had taught as well as these young missionaries I probably wouldn’t have had any “naughty” kids in Sunday School. They are amazing teachers!
The gospel’s true and we love you!
Love,
Elder and Sister Hardman
Monday, March 27, 2017
Letter #50
Letter from Larry:
Dear Family,
Mom is at Women's Conference right now so I thought I would be a good time to write a letter. It has been awhile. I'll begin by giving an update on Grandpa Hardman and Grandpa Bartlett. This might be repetitive for some of you but we're not sure what each of you have been told about them recently.
Grandpa Hardman - He had a bad urinary infection; hence, the doctor put him on an antibiotic. It cleared up the urinary infection but had a side effect, which set him back again. I guess the medication made his heels weak so that when he reached up to a cabinet for some medicine he tore his ACL. He has been in a boot for a couple of weeks and has been asked to refrain from walking during this time period. He seemed in pretty good spirits when I spoke with him a few days ago. He should now be able to start doing some walking but will probably be in the boot for six month.
Grandpa Bartlett - Had another heart attack a couple of weeks ago. He was in the hospital for a few days and is now in a rehab facility. Grandma wants him home soon but he is still pretty week, so there is no scheduled date as to when he might be able to go home yet. He does seem to be stabilized. We'll have been here for a year, in one more week. We have to laugh as we look at the rolling hills, as they are now beginning to turn green. They were green and beautiful when we arrived last April; however, when we said that to others in the area they would look at us like we didn't know what we were talking about. It only took a couple of weeks and those beautiful green hills were all brown. We are excited to see them green again. It is also much lighter in the evenings so we are able to knock doors, helping with the ward lists, at a much later time. Our rate of finding people home is much improved.
We drove to Fallon on Wednesday to do some JustServe training with the Zone Leaders there. The drive is a little more than an hour so Mom played two talks from a Brother Hank Smith. I hadn't heard of him but I guess he is a pretty popular speaker. The young missionaries here quote him quite often. These talks were good for me so I thought I would share some of the focal points. I was going through a bit of a downer because I felt bad I wasn't there to help with Grandpa Hardman, and to help with Grandpa Bartlett, and to help with Clay/Katie's new baby, and to help with Jason/Xanna's move, and to be there to help with Garrett/Shalene's new baby, etc. Get the picture. We know each of you have situations in which we are not there to help with; and this weighs on us. Well, the first talk made reference to the time that the Anti-Nephi Lehites (Alma 24:16) buried their swords "deep in the earth". Brother Smith suggested that these Laminates were addicted to war and the shedding of blood. They had to bury them weapons deep so they wouldn't be tempted to use them again. He talked about how we all have our own "swords" which need to be buried deep. In the next talk, he referenced Mark. This is where Christ walked on the water towards the ship, which contained his disciples. He spoke to them, as he approached, "Be of Good Cheer." Brother Smith suggests that this is a commandment for all of us to "Be of Good Cheer". Don't dwell on the things we can't control but be happy as we proceed with the things we can control. These talks helped me. Maybe we'll have to order all of his talks. Most of them are towards the youth; however, that is probably at my learning level. We are looking forward to being home but I also realize I need to make the most of the six months I have left and to do what I can to help the missionaries, the members, help in our service opportunities and as we try to fellowship others.
I'll quote one more scripture and then I'll stop my preaching. Mom and I thought that it was clever when we used the "Oh Thank Heavens for 7-11" sign, after we had been here 7 months. Well, we had the missionaries use this same slogan when talking about Alma "And he shall come forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people". Very powerful, and hits right to the core of what the Savior has done for us. "Oh Thank Heavens for 7-11".
Well, I get to go help take down the tables and the chairs this evening (which were set out for the Women's Conference); so I better get changed.
Mom and I love you all so very much! We plead with Heavenly Father each night that you are safe, that you are happy, that you are keeping yourselves worthy and most importantly, that you are doing those things that are helping you to develop a closer relationship with the Savior and your Heavenly Father.
Love,
Dad
Letter from Denice:
Dear Family,
Larry wrote my letter this week. I realize that we do the same things so if Larry writes about it there is nothing else to tell! : )
So instead, I will share a story with you.
Did you pay attention? Can you answer these questions without looking at the story?
1. Where were Fingledope and Pribin?
2. What were they doing?
3. What happened to Fingledope?
4. What was the dutty strezzle doing?
I just thought I would share some of the clever training we receive at District meeting. Our District leader, Elder Hiatt wrote and illustrated this fun story and had Elder Hardman read it out loud to us and then we were to answer the questions. We, of course, didn’t have a clue what the story was about or what the answers to the questions were. Our training was on teaching for understanding. These young missionaries are amazing at teaching the gospel in simple terms without being too simple. They are fun and creative in their teaching. We had District meeting and then Zone Conference this week so we had a great week of learning.
We heard today that the Harding’s came to church today! This was happy news for us. We also were able to go teach Brother Jameson again with the Sisters. He was able to go to the Temple last week to do baptism for the dead. His Bishop is teaching and preparing him to receive the priesthood. Sister Meyer shared D&C 50:24 with him. “That which is of God is light; and he that receiveth light, and continueth in God, receiveth more light; and that light groweth brighter and brighter until the perfect day.” We feel so blessed to be able to see the light growing brighter and brighter in Brother Jameson.
The gospel’s true and we love you!
Love,
Elder and Sister Hardman
Ps. Funny story, I noticed on my phone that it said it would take longer to get to work because of heavy traffic. I wondered where “work” was, it is the address to the chapel! : ) That lets you know how often we drive to the church.
Dear Family,
Mom is at Women's Conference right now so I thought I would be a good time to write a letter. It has been awhile. I'll begin by giving an update on Grandpa Hardman and Grandpa Bartlett. This might be repetitive for some of you but we're not sure what each of you have been told about them recently.
Grandpa Hardman - He had a bad urinary infection; hence, the doctor put him on an antibiotic. It cleared up the urinary infection but had a side effect, which set him back again. I guess the medication made his heels weak so that when he reached up to a cabinet for some medicine he tore his ACL. He has been in a boot for a couple of weeks and has been asked to refrain from walking during this time period. He seemed in pretty good spirits when I spoke with him a few days ago. He should now be able to start doing some walking but will probably be in the boot for six month.
Grandpa Bartlett - Had another heart attack a couple of weeks ago. He was in the hospital for a few days and is now in a rehab facility. Grandma wants him home soon but he is still pretty week, so there is no scheduled date as to when he might be able to go home yet. He does seem to be stabilized. We'll have been here for a year, in one more week. We have to laugh as we look at the rolling hills, as they are now beginning to turn green. They were green and beautiful when we arrived last April; however, when we said that to others in the area they would look at us like we didn't know what we were talking about. It only took a couple of weeks and those beautiful green hills were all brown. We are excited to see them green again. It is also much lighter in the evenings so we are able to knock doors, helping with the ward lists, at a much later time. Our rate of finding people home is much improved.
We drove to Fallon on Wednesday to do some JustServe training with the Zone Leaders there. The drive is a little more than an hour so Mom played two talks from a Brother Hank Smith. I hadn't heard of him but I guess he is a pretty popular speaker. The young missionaries here quote him quite often. These talks were good for me so I thought I would share some of the focal points. I was going through a bit of a downer because I felt bad I wasn't there to help with Grandpa Hardman, and to help with Grandpa Bartlett, and to help with Clay/Katie's new baby, and to help with Jason/Xanna's move, and to be there to help with Garrett/Shalene's new baby, etc. Get the picture. We know each of you have situations in which we are not there to help with; and this weighs on us. Well, the first talk made reference to the time that the Anti-Nephi Lehites (Alma 24:16) buried their swords "deep in the earth". Brother Smith suggested that these Laminates were addicted to war and the shedding of blood. They had to bury them weapons deep so they wouldn't be tempted to use them again. He talked about how we all have our own "swords" which need to be buried deep. In the next talk, he referenced Mark. This is where Christ walked on the water towards the ship, which contained his disciples. He spoke to them, as he approached, "Be of Good Cheer." Brother Smith suggests that this is a commandment for all of us to "Be of Good Cheer". Don't dwell on the things we can't control but be happy as we proceed with the things we can control. These talks helped me. Maybe we'll have to order all of his talks. Most of them are towards the youth; however, that is probably at my learning level. We are looking forward to being home but I also realize I need to make the most of the six months I have left and to do what I can to help the missionaries, the members, help in our service opportunities and as we try to fellowship others.
I'll quote one more scripture and then I'll stop my preaching. Mom and I thought that it was clever when we used the "Oh Thank Heavens for 7-11" sign, after we had been here 7 months. Well, we had the missionaries use this same slogan when talking about Alma "And he shall come forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people". Very powerful, and hits right to the core of what the Savior has done for us. "Oh Thank Heavens for 7-11".
Well, I get to go help take down the tables and the chairs this evening (which were set out for the Women's Conference); so I better get changed.
Mom and I love you all so very much! We plead with Heavenly Father each night that you are safe, that you are happy, that you are keeping yourselves worthy and most importantly, that you are doing those things that are helping you to develop a closer relationship with the Savior and your Heavenly Father.
Love,
Dad
Letter from Denice:
Dear Family,
Larry wrote my letter this week. I realize that we do the same things so if Larry writes about it there is nothing else to tell! : )
So instead, I will share a story with you.
1. Where were Fingledope and Pribin?
2. What were they doing?
3. What happened to Fingledope?
4. What was the dutty strezzle doing?
I just thought I would share some of the clever training we receive at District meeting. Our District leader, Elder Hiatt wrote and illustrated this fun story and had Elder Hardman read it out loud to us and then we were to answer the questions. We, of course, didn’t have a clue what the story was about or what the answers to the questions were. Our training was on teaching for understanding. These young missionaries are amazing at teaching the gospel in simple terms without being too simple. They are fun and creative in their teaching. We had District meeting and then Zone Conference this week so we had a great week of learning.
We heard today that the Harding’s came to church today! This was happy news for us. We also were able to go teach Brother Jameson again with the Sisters. He was able to go to the Temple last week to do baptism for the dead. His Bishop is teaching and preparing him to receive the priesthood. Sister Meyer shared D&C 50:24 with him. “That which is of God is light; and he that receiveth light, and continueth in God, receiveth more light; and that light groweth brighter and brighter until the perfect day.” We feel so blessed to be able to see the light growing brighter and brighter in Brother Jameson.
The gospel’s true and we love you!
Love,
Elder and Sister Hardman
Ps. Funny story, I noticed on my phone that it said it would take longer to get to work because of heavy traffic. I wondered where “work” was, it is the address to the chapel! : ) That lets you know how often we drive to the church.
Monday, March 20, 2017
Letter #49
What do you call a place that is built with lumber and brick and has a cement foundation. Most of us would call it a house. We heard a term here that made us laugh. A man was telling us how they moved from a small farming community to Sparks and lived in their first “Stick house”. They had always lived in a mobile home. He said, “Stick house” with distain. I guess it is what you have grown up around that makes the difference. We still hear things that make us realize “we aren’t in Kansas anymore Dorothy”.
This week we had the day we were preparing for in December but thought would never happen. We were asked to help in the Mission Office for a day. The senior couple over health and the cars always participate in zone conferences, they provide training. The other office couple had never had the opportunity to attend a conference so we were asked if we would go to the Office so they could go to a Zone Conference. I’m sure it is much different when you have things you need to get done but we were basically there to answer the phone. It was a l-o- n-g day! We wore out the carpeting taking little walks around the office. Usually when we go to the office it is a bustling place, it was dead that day! We had the one homeless member that uses the office as his mailing address come and pick up a letter. We had three deliveries and about six phone calls. UGH! By the end of the day I was reciting “Horton Hatches an Egg” to Elder Hardman. “I’m tired and I’m bored and I’ve kinks in my leg, from sitting, just sitting here day after day…..” When they returned from their wonderful, uplifting day we told them to call us any time!
Our Sister Wilson is going to leave us. She accepted the call to be the missionary Just Serve specialist just before we came last April. The calling was for a year. She is preparing to be replaced. We are sad. She has been so easy to work with. We think she needs to stay until October but she thinks someone needs to be in place before we leave who knows what they are doing. She had a training with some Zone Leaders and they told her that service was the number one thing responsible for keeping missionaries in the field. It gives them a break in their schedule and they get to be more like themselves. We have spent 11 months creating a program that provides service opportunities in the community for the different areas of the mission. It is becoming part of the mission’s culture. We hate to lose ground on this and can’t imagine anyone else that will work as hard as Sister Wilson has. We will certainly miss her. She would like to have a service missionary couple called to replace her, that live in the Reno area. That would probably be a great idea. We will see what happens next.
The Sienna Vista ward has started to hold a monthly breakfast on Saturday to help the ward get to know each other. We had the first one this week. It was fun to get to know members of the ward. There is a “core” group of long-time members that are amazing in wanting to integrate everyone into the new ward. Elder Hardman was in charge of scrambled eggs. It was a nice morning.
We keep thinking we are going to get the Harding’s to come to church. We keep inviting them and they say they will come but haven’t shown up yet. I am told the success I should feel is in the invitation. I am not good at this! I don’t like to be dumped or stood up. I am not patient or long-suffering. I guess I have to stay longer so I can figure these qualities out.
We saved our St. Patrick’s dinner until today because we were feeding the Elders. We thought it would be a treat to serve something different. It seems they have had a lot of corned beef this week. I did get the award for the best cabbage though!
We had a Mobile Harvest, a Relief Society birthday dinner, two baptisms, a senior couples’ party for Sister Chesnut’s birthday, door knocking and beautiful weather this week. We had gone 11 whole days without a new move-in in the Keystone ward. That was a new record!
The gospel’s true and we love you!
Love,
Elder and Sister Hardman
This week we had the day we were preparing for in December but thought would never happen. We were asked to help in the Mission Office for a day. The senior couple over health and the cars always participate in zone conferences, they provide training. The other office couple had never had the opportunity to attend a conference so we were asked if we would go to the Office so they could go to a Zone Conference. I’m sure it is much different when you have things you need to get done but we were basically there to answer the phone. It was a l-o- n-g day! We wore out the carpeting taking little walks around the office. Usually when we go to the office it is a bustling place, it was dead that day! We had the one homeless member that uses the office as his mailing address come and pick up a letter. We had three deliveries and about six phone calls. UGH! By the end of the day I was reciting “Horton Hatches an Egg” to Elder Hardman. “I’m tired and I’m bored and I’ve kinks in my leg, from sitting, just sitting here day after day…..” When they returned from their wonderful, uplifting day we told them to call us any time!
Our Sister Wilson is going to leave us. She accepted the call to be the missionary Just Serve specialist just before we came last April. The calling was for a year. She is preparing to be replaced. We are sad. She has been so easy to work with. We think she needs to stay until October but she thinks someone needs to be in place before we leave who knows what they are doing. She had a training with some Zone Leaders and they told her that service was the number one thing responsible for keeping missionaries in the field. It gives them a break in their schedule and they get to be more like themselves. We have spent 11 months creating a program that provides service opportunities in the community for the different areas of the mission. It is becoming part of the mission’s culture. We hate to lose ground on this and can’t imagine anyone else that will work as hard as Sister Wilson has. We will certainly miss her. She would like to have a service missionary couple called to replace her, that live in the Reno area. That would probably be a great idea. We will see what happens next.
The Sienna Vista ward has started to hold a monthly breakfast on Saturday to help the ward get to know each other. We had the first one this week. It was fun to get to know members of the ward. There is a “core” group of long-time members that are amazing in wanting to integrate everyone into the new ward. Elder Hardman was in charge of scrambled eggs. It was a nice morning.
We keep thinking we are going to get the Harding’s to come to church. We keep inviting them and they say they will come but haven’t shown up yet. I am told the success I should feel is in the invitation. I am not good at this! I don’t like to be dumped or stood up. I am not patient or long-suffering. I guess I have to stay longer so I can figure these qualities out.
We saved our St. Patrick’s dinner until today because we were feeding the Elders. We thought it would be a treat to serve something different. It seems they have had a lot of corned beef this week. I did get the award for the best cabbage though!
We had a Mobile Harvest, a Relief Society birthday dinner, two baptisms, a senior couples’ party for Sister Chesnut’s birthday, door knocking and beautiful weather this week. We had gone 11 whole days without a new move-in in the Keystone ward. That was a new record!
The gospel’s true and we love you!
Love,
Elder and Sister Hardman
Monday, March 13, 2017
Letter #48
We’ve been here 11 months and we have finally been asked to do something in the Ward. We have been asked to teach the Temple Preparation class in the Keystone ward. We don’t know any of the details yet but it is exciting to be asked! We taught the Temple Prep course right after we were married, forty years ago! I don’t think the lessons have changed in the last 40 years.
Speaking of which, we celebrated our 40 th wedding anniversary on Saturday. We would feel special but we have learned that three other senior couples will celebrate their 40 th anniversary this year. I guess the thing to do during this phase of life is to serve a mission! We went to Virginia City on Monday and I got a White Buffalo Turquoise pendant. It is from a mine in Nevada (Tonopah) where the only white turquoise is found. It is beautiful! Elder Hardman got barbed wire. It kind of sounds like Charlie Brown’s Halloween when all he got was a rock, but it’s very special barbed wire. There is an artist that does pictures with real barbed wire, labeled and mounted. Did you know that there are “rare” barbed wire specimens? Elder Hardman’s also has horseshoes and spurs on it. I would send a picture of his picture but we had it wrapped carefully so the barbed wire wouldn’t poke anything and it’s going to stay that way until it reaches its new home. It was a snowy day in Virginia City and most of the shops are closed but we were able to find things that will remind us of our mission, we are tickled about that. I did want the tacky cowboy nativity too but the Christmas shop was closed. Hopefully I can still buy a tacky nativity in the summertime.
We were invited to a lesson this week where the Elders challenged the investigator to quit smoking. This is a 34 year old man, who is a Veteran and lives in a Nursing Home. We took him to church last week. He is a kind man but there is something definitely wrong with him mentally. He accepted everything the Elders asked him to do. He tore up his brand new packs of cigarettes and threw them in the garbage. He promised to brush his teeth and gargle (if we could bring him toothpaste and mouthwash). He promised to not go anywhere where he usually goes to smoke. He was so willing to do whatever he was asked! We asked last night how he was doing and the Elders told us that his caseworker had called them and they are not to have any more contact with him. Ah, the fun of a mission…. You never know what will happen next!
We went to a couple of other lessons. They changed missionaries in the Keystone Ward. The Keystone Elders used to also serve in Sienna Vista. Now the Summit Ridge Elders have Summit Ridge and Keystone. Sienna Vista is alone. The new Keystone Elders are trying to get to know the investigators. We went to one of those lessons. We also went to the Harding’s. We sure like these people. We tried to take them to church this morning but Sister Harding has back issues and couldn’t go, maybe next week.
We have a new senior couple in the mission. Our “dining out” buddies, the Hemmerts are called as missionaries in the new Self-Reliance Initiative. They will live at home but are a part of the Reno Nevada Mission and will travel the mission to set up this new initiative. They will serve for 18 months. They served a mission before at Cove Fort. They invited us to come to their setting apart. They have already received training in Salt Lake and they had their name tags which they put on right after their setting apart. Their grandson was able to put his grandpa’s on him. That was sweet. They will do a great job in this pioneering effort.
We continue to train Zone Leaders in “Just Serve”. I think it’s a good excuse to invite them to go to lunch and visit with them. We are always impressed by these great missionaries. I’m sure every mission feels this way but we have amazing missionaries!
That was our week, how was yours? We sprung ahead today and are happy that it feels like spring!
The Gospel’s true and we love you!
Love,
Elder and Sister Hardman
Speaking of which, we celebrated our 40 th wedding anniversary on Saturday. We would feel special but we have learned that three other senior couples will celebrate their 40 th anniversary this year. I guess the thing to do during this phase of life is to serve a mission! We went to Virginia City on Monday and I got a White Buffalo Turquoise pendant. It is from a mine in Nevada (Tonopah) where the only white turquoise is found. It is beautiful! Elder Hardman got barbed wire. It kind of sounds like Charlie Brown’s Halloween when all he got was a rock, but it’s very special barbed wire. There is an artist that does pictures with real barbed wire, labeled and mounted. Did you know that there are “rare” barbed wire specimens? Elder Hardman’s also has horseshoes and spurs on it. I would send a picture of his picture but we had it wrapped carefully so the barbed wire wouldn’t poke anything and it’s going to stay that way until it reaches its new home. It was a snowy day in Virginia City and most of the shops are closed but we were able to find things that will remind us of our mission, we are tickled about that. I did want the tacky cowboy nativity too but the Christmas shop was closed. Hopefully I can still buy a tacky nativity in the summertime.
We were invited to a lesson this week where the Elders challenged the investigator to quit smoking. This is a 34 year old man, who is a Veteran and lives in a Nursing Home. We took him to church last week. He is a kind man but there is something definitely wrong with him mentally. He accepted everything the Elders asked him to do. He tore up his brand new packs of cigarettes and threw them in the garbage. He promised to brush his teeth and gargle (if we could bring him toothpaste and mouthwash). He promised to not go anywhere where he usually goes to smoke. He was so willing to do whatever he was asked! We asked last night how he was doing and the Elders told us that his caseworker had called them and they are not to have any more contact with him. Ah, the fun of a mission…. You never know what will happen next!
We went to a couple of other lessons. They changed missionaries in the Keystone Ward. The Keystone Elders used to also serve in Sienna Vista. Now the Summit Ridge Elders have Summit Ridge and Keystone. Sienna Vista is alone. The new Keystone Elders are trying to get to know the investigators. We went to one of those lessons. We also went to the Harding’s. We sure like these people. We tried to take them to church this morning but Sister Harding has back issues and couldn’t go, maybe next week.
We have a new senior couple in the mission. Our “dining out” buddies, the Hemmerts are called as missionaries in the new Self-Reliance Initiative. They will live at home but are a part of the Reno Nevada Mission and will travel the mission to set up this new initiative. They will serve for 18 months. They served a mission before at Cove Fort. They invited us to come to their setting apart. They have already received training in Salt Lake and they had their name tags which they put on right after their setting apart. Their grandson was able to put his grandpa’s on him. That was sweet. They will do a great job in this pioneering effort.
We continue to train Zone Leaders in “Just Serve”. I think it’s a good excuse to invite them to go to lunch and visit with them. We are always impressed by these great missionaries. I’m sure every mission feels this way but we have amazing missionaries!
That was our week, how was yours? We sprung ahead today and are happy that it feels like spring!
The Gospel’s true and we love you!
Love,
Elder and Sister Hardman
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