Tender Mercy.

Dear Family and Friends,

Happy Birthday to the one and only Uncle Dan today! Woot woot!

Also, Happy Birthday to Jason tomorrow!

Oh - so last week I said that I would be coming home one year from that time, well oops it's actually one year from tomorrow! Sorry to get you all excited, but I'm grateful for the extra week. :) I'm not ready to even think about leaving this glorious place yet.

I experienced the most tender mercy this week. I'm sure that Dad has already told you all about it, but I'm going to share it again. :) This past weekend was Stake Conference here in Hamilton, Ontario. I didn't think that we were invited to go to the Adult Session on Saturday night, but turns out we were! Side note, President and Sister Scott were there! Anyways, President Taylor, who is in the Stake Presidency, spoke. He told a story about his time in the mission field when he had to train a new missionary after only being out for twelve weeks. When he mentioned that he served in Seoul Korea, my heart stopped. I knew that there would be a connection with my Dad. Well, after the conference, I couldn't find President Taylor, so I started talking to my Bishop. My first question to Bishop Julian was, "Do you know how old President Taylor is?" He was totally caught of guard and didn't understand why I'd be asking that, haha. Well finally I explained that my Dad also served in that mission, and I think that they know each other. I told Bishop Julian to ask President Taylor if he knew a Lloyd Hardcastle next time he saw him. Sunday morning rolls around and right when Bishop Julian sees me he comes running up and all he said was, "You won't believe this. That story that President Taylor told about training a new missionary was your dad." My jaw dropped. I immediately found President Taylor on the stand and talked to him for a few minutes. We agreed that after conference we would get a picture and talk more. He said very nice things about my Dad, and it was just such a miracle! Hopefully Dad and President Taylor can re-connect! God is so good!

As far as the week goes, it was a slower one, but still amazing indeed.

The Medina Family is doing really well. :) They weren't able to make it to church so we had to move their baptism date back to December 8th, but they are so prepared. We saw them last night and we taught them the Plan of Salvation. We were talking about how after they are baptized they will receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost, which is like having God's Spirit in your heart. Nicole said - "I want to have God in my heart like you Sister Hardcastle. I can see God in your heart." It actually made me cry, it was amazing. Sweet Nicole is such an angel!

Oh, I went on an exchange this week with the one and only Sister Waldron. This is my second exchange with her, and I just love her so much! She is from Idaho, and such a killer missionary. We stayed here in Hamilton and had lots of fun. Actually funny story, we exchanged on Tuesday night and Sister Woolf thought it would be a good idea to keep the phone with her. We didn't realize that we didn't have it until we had driven all the way back to Hamilton. So, Sister Waldron and I were phoneless all day. It was terrible! But we made it fun!

I had another special experience this week with the Spirit. There is this less-active who had been on my mind for WEEKS and I wasn't sure why. The first time we'd gone to see her, the reaction wasn't very good, so selfishly, I was a little hesitant to go back. However, as we were planning on Saturday night, the thought of "Go see Rebecca" kept coming into my head. I couldn't ignore it any longer. So yesterday, we went to visit her. She let us right in and was so excited to see us. She has a beautiful 10 year old daughter. We watched a Mormon Message with her entitled 'How Can I Find Happiness?' Afterwards she told us with tears running down her face that she knew that we were sent to her that day for a reason. That message is exactly what she needed, and her whole countenance had changed from when we first got there to when we left. It was really special for me, and it also taught me to NEVER IGNORE A PROMPTING. It is truly amazing to be a messenger from God that some one has been praying for. 

We are still working with amazing people and finding so much success and peace. I love this area, I never want to leave!

I would like to just finish up with the lyrics to my favorite song in the Children's Hymnbook -

"He Sent His Son"

How could the Father tell the world of love and tenderness?
He sent His Son, a newborn babe, with peace and holiness. 

How could the Father show the world the pathway we should go?

He sent His Son to walk with men, on earth, that we may know. 

How could the Father tell the world of sacrifice of death?

He send His Son to die for us and rise with living breath.
What does the Father ask of us?

What do the scriptures say?

Have faith, have hope, live like His Son, help others on their way.
What does He ask?

Live like His Son.

I hope that everyone has an amazing and safe week. And remember - Live Like His Son.

Love,

Sister Hardcastle

"Have Faith, Have Hope, Live Like His Son, Help Others On Their Way"

P.S. I challenge everyone to study the birth and life of the Savior in the Bible and The Book of Mormon. :)

Sister Waldron!

What to do when it's - 2 ??

President Taylor 

Our belated 6 month picture...