Letter #38

Happy New Year! When we were filling out mission forms (in 2015) and it said 2017, it seemed so far away. It’s now 2017! October is still far away but we can make it right!?

We went to bed on time last night but we could hear the boom of the fireworks, we couldn’t see them though. I guess they do a great display by the river. We also heard someone’s car alarm go off for a while but didn’t go investigate. That was all the excitement we had. Elder Hardman found out that he can watch Netflix at any time, like Xanna’s kids did, celebrate and go to bed. He will never make it till midnight again!

Our week:

We did our first transfer home dinner on Tuesday. It was a nice way to be broken in. This was a middle of the transfer thing so these missionaries could be home in time to start college. We had six Sisters and 1 Elder. We didn’t know the poor Elder but these have been outstanding Sisters. They will be missed. January 10th will be transfer day but we will only have to do the incoming missionary meal for lunch that day. Our meal schedule now all happens the same week. We will have lunch and dinner to prepare for Transfer Day (Tuesdays) and then we will prepare lunch for MLC that same week on Friday. It will be a very busy week every six weeks. Tuesday night turned out fine. They go to a Temple session before dinner and were very late getting back to the Mission Home, things had been cooking a long time. We have some things to figure out.

The rest of the week we spent trying to work on our list. We did get a few names done that we have gone to the home lots of times. Of course the people don’t live there but we can’t do any more until we get someone home to tell us that. Saturday was quite productive again and we remember what its’ like to meet the Kooks! An old lady answered the door and told us her son lived there but he wasn’t dressed. She was friendly and seemed happy to learn she was in the new ward boundaries. Then she told us she couldn’t go to church until she lost enough weight to fit into her size 3 dress because it is the only dress she owns. She was quite thin and when I complimented her she told us she was a size 5 but if she goes without eating she could soon be back in her dress, she can go 4 days without eating before she gets weak and she doesn’t have any money for food anyway. Oh dear! I think I need to buy her a size 5 dress. She then told us she wasn’t a member “right now”. We don’t quite know what that means! It’s always an adventure.

Friday we took a drive to Chester, CA. The Thurgoods are the senior couple that live there. They have been coaxing us to come and see them. We told them we would see them in the spring but they still wanted us to come. Friday was a nice day so we went. Elder Thurgood was raised in Westwood until he was 10 years old. He loved growing up in this isolated mountain village. He was a great tour guide because he loves the surroundings. We asked them if they were lonely or if they were okay. They said they were lonely but they are okay. They had the Elders in the Zone come and spend the night Christmas night. They had dinner and played games. You could tell it was a highlight for them all. They are at the furthest north border of the mission. They are part of a branch. They have callings in the ward and still are asked to teach various classes when they get to church on Sunday. They live in an incredibly beautiful place though! They heat the home with a wood burning stove. We had a nice visit and drive. We hurried back to Sparks for the farewell dinner for the office couple who is leaving. This is their last week. We will be glad to have this settle down for senior couples. We don’t like hearing their plans for going home.

Remember the shoe tree out in the middle of nowhere? I asked Mary and Judith (the Christmas house) ladies about the story (they are from Janesville). Here is the story: There is an Army Depot by Susanville. When the service men were through with their service they would have to go to Reno to fly home. As they passed this tree they would throw their boots high up in the tree to show their time was over. This went on for years as a tradition until an environmentalist said it was killing the tree and yelled until someone cleaned the tree off. In protest, others started throwing their shoes in the tree. That is how the shoe tree came to be. You can see army boots hanging in the tree but there are also shoes of every type and style. If you ask the right people you can find out all sorts of things!

We had a great lesson today in Relief Society about how using the Atonement in our everyday lives helps us to change and grow. I might actually be able to stick to some of my New Year’s Resolutions when I think of it that way. We hope you have included ways to grow closer to the Savior this coming year. We were also told by the science teacher that light is energy, light helps us grow by that energy. Christ is the Light!

The gospel’s true and we love you!

Love,
Elder and Sister Hardman

I have pictures but I haven’t figured out how to transfer them with my new phone, maybe next week!