Family and Friends,
Another P-Day has rolled around. It's been a crazy/hard/fun last few days. I don't have too much to say, but I'll do my best to make this email interesting...
There is this line in Preach My Gospel that gets me every time I read it. It says "As your understanding of the Atonement of Jesus Christ grows, your desire to share the Gospel increases". That can be flipped around to say,"As you desire to share the Gospel increases, your understanding of the Atonement of Jesus Christ grows". That isSO true. Honestly, I can't understand the Atonement, no one fully can. However, when you feel the Atonement working in your life, you desire that for others. It's that simple. Before my mission, I looked at the Atonement as a way to be free from our sins. That is absolutely true. However, in Alma 7 it talks about how the Atonement was for SO much more than sins. Sorrows, pain, afflictions of EVERY kind, etc. It wasn't until I came to a strange country on my own that I started to exercise that. The Atonement is so real and I have seen it work miracles. :)
Anyways, let's talk about Rudy. I don't know if I've said much about him. He was found by Sister Anderson and Sister Tuia when I was on the exchange about 3 weeks ago. He is in his 70's or so, and just recently lost his wife back in April. He is a very bitter and angry man, and it's heartbreaking. Every time we go over there though, he always is smiling by the time we leave. He unfortunately works every single weekend, so church is going to be tough. He is so funny though. We asked him what he has been enjoying from the Book of Mormon and he always says something like "Well, I don't really understand anything that I'm reading but it sure makes me feel better". Haha exactly! The last lesson that we had with him went so well, and he is preparing for baptism.
Ahh Selena, Amber, Ann-Marie and Cheyenne didn't come to church yesterday. :( They went to the church right next door called "The Rock". Wait, it gets better. They went with a less-active member of our church! Grr. We dropped by last night and they were all there, including the less-active, Darrel. We shared a short lesson with them, then Darrel told us how he would love another copy of the Book of Mormon. We're excited to work with him! We have seen his name on the Branch List, but didn't know who he was. He is really good friends with Selena, so we'll see what happens.
Go look up Drumbo, Ontario on Google Earth. We went there again this past weekend. SO beautiful! We went to see the Dobson's, who are Recent Converts from another ward. The first time we went there we were talking about the milk here in Canada, and how it is in bags. They asked me if I've ever had organic milk, I said no. Well, the last time we went they bought me my own jug of organic milk. Haha! They are so cute. It was the creamest milk ever - so so good.
Remember awhile back when I talked about Levingston and Andrea Moulton? Levingston is a less-active, and Andrea is not a member. Well it has been almost impossible to get in touch with them lately, but we were able to see both this weekend! We saw Levingston on Saturday night, and he committed to come to church - didn't come :( but we felt prompted to go over there on Sunday afternoon - and Andrea was home! Finally! It's been about 3 weeks since we've seen her last. She's been reading the Book of Mormon, and is 100% committed to church next week, and the Relief Society activity this Thursday. :) We had a great lesson with her. She is so funny. Seriously she is a mix of Katie and Grandma Ida. You can't get much better than that. We taught her the Plan of Salvation and she loved it. When we got the the kingdoms of glory she said something like "The Celestial Kingdom sounds great and all, but I like stars better than the sun". Hahaha. She completely committed to baptism and everything. She so badly wants to go to the temple with her family. I was able to share the experience with our family being sealed to Ashlyn and Brynn. As I was telling her she kept saying "Shut up! No way? Are you serious? That is so sweet!" I love her! She has some Word of Wisdom issues, but we're working on them. Sister Anderson and I were so giddy the rest of the day after seeing her! Heavenly Father sure knows how to make the end of the week swell. :)
We have a really exciting week coming up. Lots of good things should be happening. Lisa and Lissy have been out of town, they're still golden. We should be seeing them soon:) We also have Branch Council tomorrow which I am so stoked for. I missed the last one because of exchanges. We're struggling with the Branch right now, so I'm excited to get things rolling.
Did I mention how we have zero dinner appointments yet again? Oh our investigators Jac and Bill are feeding us tonight again. Why don't the members like to feed us. :( It's fine though, because I prefer my cereal and peanut butter & honey sandwiches. Oh what a life.
Well, it's time for another week of hard work. You know the statement - "Forget yourself and go to work?" Yup it has been my motto lately. Most days I don't even know what day it is. They all tend to blend together as one. :) It's crazy to think that transfers are in two weeks, and then I'm 1/4 the way done with my mission. I can't handle it!
I love you all so much. Have a great week. For those of you who never email me (you know who you are) - I would love to hear from you:)
Sister Hardcastle
"Have Faith, Have Hope, Like Like His Son, Help Others On Their Way"
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| Happy Four Months :) |
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