God is so aware.

Dear Family and Friends,

I failed to mention Happy Birthday to Grandma Shirley in my email last week! So sorry!!! I love you so much Grandma!

So many birthdays this week - 

Happy Birthday to Karlee Vail!
Happy Birthday to Dallin!
Happy Birthday to Brynn!

And last....Happy Birthday to my BFF Sister Belyea.

Love you all so much. :)

This week was INCREDIBLE. I honestly don't even know where to begin....

I went on exchanges with Sister Felix on Tuesday. Sister Felix is sooo great. We came out together, but we've never really served around each other, so it was such a fun day. We taught several lessons and witnessed miracle after miracle. We we walking to find some unknowns on the Ward List, and we saw this lady sitting outside her house refinishing some furniture. We walked up this huge grass hill to go talk with her, and she is SO PREPARED! Her name is Ditte (pronounced Dita). We talked with her for a little bit, and she told us that she knows we were sent to her from God. We realized how late it was and that we had another lesson, so we RAN like maniacs back to our car. Busy busy busy. So it gets better. Ditte has people bring her furniture and then she refinishes it for them. She mentioned to us that if we ever found anything we could bring it to her. So the next morning we went outside to go running, and it was trash day. There was this really nice wood desk outside to be thrown out. I told Sister Felix that if it was still there later that day we would get it and take it to Ditte. That morning some of our plans fell through, so we went to go see if the desk was still there! It was. Miracle! So. With the help of heaven, we somehow fit it in the back of our tiny suburu and drove to Ditte. She was SO excited about. Let's just say....it made the day so great. Now she has a new desk! I love her! Unfortunately she didn't come to church, but we are not giving up. :)

Another miracle with Sister Felix was when we went to see Brother Borg and his daughter Jackie. Brother Borg is less active and his daughter is not a member. We went in with a plan to teach them the plan of salvation, but as we were beginning the lesson I felt the strongest impression to show them the new Mormon Message - "You Never Know." It was PERFECT. It brought tears to everyone's eyes, and the Spirit was so strong. That dear family has been through so much, and Brother Borg was expressing how he just wanted to have healing for himself and his children. Sister Felix and I testified of the power of family prayer. I was able to relate back to when all of us would kneel around the glass table in the family room and pray. I cherish those times. Brother Borg expressed how much he loves his children and that brought up the topic of father/daughter relationships. Sister Felix shared an experience about her father, and as I was listening to her I had the most distinct feeling come over me, and I know that at that exact moment that my dad was praying for me. Dad - thank you for that prayer. I felt it. It was one of the most powerful lessons I have ever been in, and I am so grateful for the Spirit.

Greg is doing so awesome. He will be getting baptized next Sunday in between sessions of Conference. :) He came out of the blue and told us he was moving, which kinda put everything on hold. But he isn't moving anymore. April fools! So yes, all is well and he is so ready.

On Thursday, we helped a family from the ward move, and guess where they are moving to?! Utah!! Near Murray. They are actually both from there, just came up here for work, but are now moving back. I told them to say hello to the mountains for me....

Now onto the temple!! On Friday night, we drove to Brampton so that we could go to the temple bright and early on Saturday morning. I can't even express the anticipation I was feeling. It had been a year since the last time I attended. On Friday night, as I was saying my prayers before bed, I went through the past year with Heavenly Father. I prayed for my heart to be open to the things He needed me to know at this time. As I was praying, I pondered on the growth that had occurred since the last time I had attended. The year long wait was well worth it. Saturday morning came and it was so beautiful outside. Blue skies and perfect temperature. The session was great, and President and Sister Clayton were even with us. The woman that I was blessed to go through the temple for has one of my all time favorite names, and I am for sure going to name one of my daughters that name now. :) In the celestial room - which is breathtaking - I sat down on one of the couches and just closed my eyes. The feeling was one of pure peace and quiet. I felt like I was the only one in the entire world. It was like the Savior was wrapping me up and giving me a big hug. I didn't want to leave. Then President and Sister Clayton went around to hug/shake hands with everyone, and it was really special. Almost as good as my actual parents. ;) Such a good day!!

I left the temple with a renewed sense of dedication and love. All the cares in the world were washed away. That's the power of the temple folks. 

The General Women's Meeting was very nice. Church was great. Everything is great. :) We had dinner last night with a family that has seven children that all start with an A. Why? Haha, but - I finally got them down. They range from 16 to 3 months. Sounds kinda like the Hardcastle family.

So I found this quote that sums up how I feel about life....

“Ultimate happiness, true peace, and anything even remotely close to scriptural joy are found first, foremost, and forever in living the gospel of Jesus Christ.” —Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

Thank you for your love, support, letters, prayers, etc. I am so blessed! Transfers are this Sunday, but I don't think I'm going anywhere.

Love,

Sister Corinne Jean Hardcastle

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

:)

I LOVE TO SEE THE TEMPLE!!!!!

Ditte and the desk!

My dearest Sister Felix.

She's great!

:) 

knocking out some walls....

President and Sister Clayton 

Toronto is BEAUTIFUL. 

:)

"Send her to Toronto Canada"

Dear Family and Friends, 

I love you all! This week I had many occurrences when I thought back to all of your beautiful faces. I sometimes wonder if you are all still breathing....but I take comfort that I get to see you all soon!

But until then - time to work!

Lots happened this week, and it was a good one nonetheless.

We were blessed to have Elder Craig A. Cardon from the Seventy come and do a mission tour. So most of the day on Saturday was spent in Burlington, Ontario, listening to him speak to us. The Spirit was so strong. His sweet wife spoke to us as well. We were all able to shake his hand and introduce ourselves. A lot of his talk focused on how we need to treat confirmations as important as baptisms. Baptism is incomplete without confirmation. It really got me thinking....I remember when Landon baptized me then Dad confirmed me. So special! He told us how the person who had called him for the mission tour was President Packer, so that's pretty neat. He was talking about how inspired our mission calls are, and when he said "Send her to Toronto Canada," I literally got chills. I am in the right place.

Our investigators are doing so well! We had four come to church yesterday. Greg is especially progressing and is so excited for his baptism. He was planning on getting baptized on September 28th (next week), but then he would have to wait 2 weeks to be confirmed because of General Conference, so he is aiming for October 5th now! He has truly progressed so much since the first time I met him. He's great!

Then Mehdi and Sadena came. They are both from Iran, and they are SO nice!! They have a 6 month old son, Ratin, and he was such a good boy during Sacrament (usually he is always fussy). They came to the Gospel Principles class and Ratin was just giggling....everyone was in heaven. It was the cutest thing! We're really hoping to work closely with Mehdi and Sadena and help them to progress towards baptism. 

Joseph is our other investigator that came to church. He's been multiple times because he's been investigating for 18 months. Bless his heart. He is so great. In our last lesson with him he made us a pear tart from his pear tree, and it was TO DIE FOR! Yum yum yum. 

We had dinner with the greatest couple ever. They are just like Dallin and Jessica. Brother and Sister Contreras. Brother Contreras is a RM of about two years, and him and his wife just got married in April. They are hilarious. Did I mention how much I love the members here??

So one day last week I was having a bummer day, and I was just feeling constant attacks from Satan. We dropped by a recent convert and his wife to use their washroom, and they had just bought a bunch of chocolate and they weren't sure why - hahah, let's just say they gave it to us, and it was an answer to prayers. The kind acts of others go a long way....

The Bishop asked us to attend the RS activity on Tuesday night, and it was about dehydrating food and all of that fun stuff. I learned so much, man! 

I experienced such a miracle this week!! Ahhh, it was incredible and still gives me chills. I love being in the right place at the right time. So it was Friday afternoon, and we had just finished teaching Greg. We had to teach him outside of the church because we didn't have a third female with us. So Sister Womack and I went to put the chairs back in the church and the phone started ringing. I distinctly remember hearing in my mind - "Answer that. Now." So I dropped the chairs and ran like a maniac to the end of the hallway to answer the phone. (I'm pretty sure I was out of breath by the time I got to the phone). Anyways, this lady's name is Lenny, and she was looking for a place to get a Book of Mormon! She called the right place. :) I told her that we could bring her one sometime soon, but she said she would be near the chapel soon and would just drop by to pick it up. When I got off the phone with her, I looked at Sister Womack and we just both smiled so big. So about twenty minutes later she came by and we were able to meet her. Turns out her daughter just got baptized in another ward so she wanted to learn more about what her daughter believed in. We got her address and number, and we'll see what happens! What are the chances of us being in the church at the exact time that she called? God is so good, and His plan is much bigger than we can comprehend. I am one happy camper. :)

Except that night some nasty flu hit me, and I felt so sick until about Sunday morning. Thank goodness for juice and advil! My body ached so bad and my skin was sensitive to anything....it was super weird. Glad it's over. 

Yesterday we walked all day in the rain. I don't remember it raining so much in Canada last fall, but I love it! It's beautiful. These Canadians don't care if it's raining....they are still outside walking their dogs, so we go to talk with a lot of people. We even met a guy whose aunt and uncle are members out in Alberta. Pretty sweet. 

I'm not sure if there is more I can update you on as far as the work goes. It continues to move forward, and I continue to witness miracles and tender mercies daily. I wouldn't want to be anywhere but where I am. Heavenly Father is comforting me and helping me each and every day. I'm overcome with sweet joy and peace. I love serving this mission!

I was sent to Toronto Canada for a reason. 

Love you all!

Love, 

Sister Hardcastle

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

Janet, Sister Womack, and I

Mission Tour with Craig A. Cardon. Try and find me!

Such a good week. :)

Dear Family and Friends,

Happy Birthday to Grandma Ida and Hannah on Tuesday and Wednesday! Love you both so much.

Man, missionary work is the best. This week was so awesome. So many miracles.

On Tuesday morning, we got to drive to London (Ontario) for Zone Conference. The way our GPS had us go was right through Woodstock. As we were driving through the main street, I noticed the orange car that was right behind us. You will never guess who it was....ANDREA MOULTON!! My long lost sister and BFF in the entire land of Woodstock! I couldn't believe it. I was able to talk with her briefly at a stop light. What are the chances of that happening?? Definitely an answer to prayers. I love when God places us in the right place at the right time. My day couldn't have started off better. Zone Conference was incredible. I can't believe it was my last one, but it was definitely one that I will never forget. All of the missionaries going home in October and November were able to bear their testimonies, and there were quite a few of us. It went well though, and I received a nice confirmation from my Father in Heaven that all is going to be well. :) These last 9 weeks will be cherished.

After Zone Conference, we had an appointment with the less-active Borg family. As we were able to leave his home, I felt that I needed to invite him to pray and ask God if he should come back to church. His response - "I have already been doing that...and I think I will." So cool! He is great.

So we had a few more crazy rain storms, like nothing I've ever experienced before in my life. I'm pretty sure we could swim in the streets, and it was dangerous to drive at some points. However, rain storms make missionary work really fun!

Okay. So many funny things happened this week. I hope I can portray them in a way that you all will think they are funny too, and not just me. Haha. So our District Leader asked lots of us in the district if we would help some people move in their ward. So we thought why not. Well, we were helping this family and it was really gross - so many boxes and it smelt sooo nasty. We had been there for maybe 45 minutes when we get a text from our Zone Leaders that said "We need to leave ASAP." Turns out that the reason they had to move was because it was an unsafe environment and the pets got taken away because of diseases. WHAT?! It was so nasty. Hahah. So our leaders told us to go home and boil our clothes. So we immediately went and washed them. But wait, it gets better. A member of the family had passed away and they asked us to speak at the funeral. We had never met these people before and didn't even know their names. So on Saturday we spoke at a funeral for a man we'd never met. It was honestly the strangest thing I've ever done! When we were walking to our car afterwards all I could say to Sister Womack was - "What just happened?" Oh man. The day gets better. We went to the ward corn roast, and it was on a farm of one of the members. They had three pigs, and I really wanted to get in and pet them. Sister Womack wouldn't let me because she said it was too dirty, but I decided that I didn't care if I got dirty. Let me tell you....pigs are SO mean. I got in and one of them started headbutting me and nibling my legs. It was so scary! Sister Womack thought I was laughing, but I totally wasn't. I really don't think pigs are cute anymore. My heart was racing for like the next 3 hours afterwards.

So one of my best friends from Hamiton Mountain, Crystal-Lynn, is going to school in Waterloo, so she came teaching with us on Saturday night! It was so great to see her. She is so great.

I'll update you on Greg. He is doing awesome! He came to church yesterday and LOVED IT. He told us before church that he would have to leave early, but then he decided he couldn't leave because he was learning so much. He is excited for his baptism on the 28th! Keep Greg in your prayers.

We've been without a Ward Mission Leader for awhile now because the previous one got called to be in the Stake Presidency. Well, we finally got one yesterday! His name is Brother Fischer, and he is great. I am so excited to work with him and help the ward. The ward here is truly amazing.

So the Bishop is going down to General Conference and offered to take an entire suitcase of things home for me!! So Mom and Dad - you will need to meet up with him somehow. I will be giving him all of your information. Such a miracle considering I have way too many things to fit home.

Oh Landon....this one is for you. On Friday night, we had dinner with a couple from Londrina Brazil! I am not sure if I spelled that right, but they were really excited when I mentioned that you served your mission there. Brother and Sister Da Silva are their names. Then we had an appointment with some more Brazilians and another one of them was from Londrina as well! Small world.

I've been studying lately about the life of the apostles after Jesus Christ had gone to His father. The faith that they had is simply inspiring. I think that the New Testament has become my favorite thing to study right now.  :)

Love you all so much.

Love,

Sister Hardcastle

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

Sister Dyer & I after Zone Conference! MTC COMPS :)

Sister Anderson. Woodstock days. :) 

My favorite Chinese speaking missionary ever!

Sister Castillo! 

Yes, it is true!

Not sure what I'm holding....

Smallest stop sign ever.

Hanging out with some pigs. 

My little pony.

This is a picture of me getting attacked by pigs. Read above for details. :)

16 months say whaaa?

Dear Family and Friends,

Yes. It is true . . . it has been 16 months as of today that I entered the MTC.

This week was awesome! Kitchener-Waterloo is treating Sister Womack and I very well, and we are seeing the hand of the Lord in every aspect of the work.

I can't remember if I talked about the Ince's. They are a less active couple, and we go visit them every Friday. Well, they are absolutely hilarious. Brother Ince was waiting for us outside on Friday when we got there, and he picked a leaf off a bush and told me to eat it. I took his word for it, and I ate the leaf. It tasted like radishes....so yeah, that was an interesting experience.

So, we have Zone Training once a month, but this month the name was changed to Zone Council. And here in the Kitchener Zone, it's called the Kitchen Council. The Zone is double what the Kingston Zone was, so it's nice to be around so many missionaries! The Spirit was so evident throughout the entire meeting, and it was one of those times when the Lord sent me a calm reassurance that I am participating in the most important work in the entire world. So blessed!

On Thursday morning, we were able to go to the church super early to help with the Bishops' Storehouse. It was such a neat experience! We finally met some of the investigators that were being taught before we got here. One of them is Joseph, and he is so cool! He's been learning from the sisters for over a year and a half. So we'll see how it goes.

Brother Borg is a less active, and we taught him again this week with his 14 year old daughter, Jackie. They are so great! We are really hoping to get them back to church. Jackie isn't a member, and she is overwhelmed with school just starting, but she is still willing to let us teach her! Keep them in your prayers!

Friday was a mix of thunder storms, sunny times, and more thunder storms. We were sitting during personal study and a huge crack of thunder made both of us jump. We felt like we were part of some sort of war. Then on Friday night, the storm started again, and we had a member with us. Our appointment fell through, so we were kinda stuck on what to do. We tried just dropping by less actives, but the rain and wind were so intense. I'm pretty sure it was some sort of hurricane. I can't even describe how crazy it was. Definitely not safe to drive in, so we went to visit a recent convert. When we got there, he got us towels to dry off because we were so wet. We all looked like we had just jumped in a pool. Being a missionary is the bomb.

Heavenly Father has been so good to me lately (well, and all of the time, but it's increased lately). I feel so much of His love. In fact, on Saturday morning, we were helping some members get their house ready to put up for sale. They asked me to weed the tomato garden while Sister Womack trimmed some trees. There were SO many weeds in this garden, so I looked at it and felt overwhelmed. I didn't know where to start, and I knew it would take forever. However, off I went, and I just started pulling weeds. Before I knew it, I could finally see soil, and it started to look like an actual garden. I was overcome with the most intense feeling of the Spirit that helped me compare my mission to this garden. When I first came on my mission, I felt like there were so many weeds that I needed to pull out of myself. I never thought that I would create a "beautiful garden." I hope this paragraph doesn't make me seem prideful, but as I thought more and more about it, I realized that the work I've put into myself over the past 16 months by serving others has truly allowed me to have a more pure spirit. That was followed up with the confirmation by the Spirit that I am going to finish this mission. So I finished that Garden and not to toot my own horn....it looked SO much better. It was a very eye opening experience for me. Hope this made sense!

On Saturday night, we were in Waterloo dropping by some formers and none of them worked out. Sister Womack suggested that we go drop by one of the investigators that we haven't been able to get ahold of. Thank you Sister Womack for listening to the Spirit! We went to see Shannon, and she is so great! Unfortunately, she wasn't able to come to church yesterday, but she is so prepared. She wants to get baptized so badly, so we'll see how that goes.

The members here are so great. They take great care of us, and we get fed basically every night. So, don't worry about me! I'm getting nice and fat for all of you.  ;)

Yesterday, we had a picnic in the park, which was a lot of fun. Then we went to teach Medhi, who is from Iran. Him and his wife are such nice people. Tomorrow, I will be attending my last Zone Conference. Which seems really surreal. I am excited though. Oh! Remember Iain from Hamilton?! I get to go to the temple with him to do baptisms for the dead. :) So excited! I got permission to call him last week, and it was so great to talk with him.  I love my calling. I love my Savior. I love Canada.

Love,

Sister Hardcastle

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

Sister Womack and me  :)

Singing in the rain.  :)

16 months!

:)

The Garden! 

Yes....Sister Womack is really white.

Kitchener-Waterloo!

Dear Family and Friends,

 

Wow, what a week!! I have so much to tell you and update you on. First of all, Happy Birthday to the one and only Elder Cottam on Friday. I hope you got my letter bud, love ya!

 

So my greenie is Sister Kayla Womack, and she is from LA, California! We had a trainers' meeting on Tuesday morning, and then they brought all the new missionaries in and we were assigned. Afterwards, they had lunch for all of us, and then we made our way to KW! This area is SO much bigger than Napanee. It's overwhelming. Haha, it was a shock to see public transportation and actually see people on the street! So rejuvenating, and I am thrilled for the miracles that will occur here.

 

So on Wednesday, our first day here, we decided to give ourselves a church tour so that we would know where things were for when we gave others tours. Well, our Ward Mission Leader had asked us to make a copy for the Bishop, so we opened the Library, but didn't realize that you need a security code....so to make a long story short - we set off the entire alarm system for the whole building. It was hilarious. We both didn't know what to do, but eventually the alarms stopped and the chapel phone rang, and it was the security system. We explained everything, and all is well. Such an adventure!

 

We went to visit this amazing LA couple - The Ince's. They are both elderly and SO great! They are British and so hilarious. Brother Ince gets super offended when people say that they are "Mormon" instead of "a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints." So he gave us a nice speech on that for about 30 minutes.

 

We went to fill up on gas, and when we went to pay inside the cash lady started asking us so many questions. We set up an appointment with her, got her number, address, etc. and went on our way. Talk about being in the right place at the right time! Super cool. We met some other awesome peole this week as well.

 

The teaching pool desperately needs to be built. We do have a few investigators on date - one is Greg and he is preparing for September 28th. He's a nice guy, but he still hasn't come to church. He believes that the Book of Mormon is 97% true. So he's still waiting for the other 3% to click in I guess....Funny people.

 

So for training, every week we go to the library to do Mormon.org, just to let Sister Womack get more familiar with the website. Well, we were walking back to our car and there was a man fixing his trailer in his driveway. I went up to talk to him and turns out he's a member! He let us right in, and we met his wife and then they fed us dinner! Talk about a tender mercy. They are both RM's and bore their testimonies of their missions. I couldn't help but tear up because the Spirit was sooo strong. I think it was exactly what Sister Womack needed because she was having a hard day. God is so good!

 

My GPS has decided to stop charging (but do not fear - I will fix it). As a result, we have been driving around like chickens with their heads cut off. Last night we got solo lost, and it was a crazy thunderstorm. Sister Womack and I decided that if our companionship can make it through that, we can make it through anything. Big cities....an adjustment to the one downtown street in Napanee.

 

We had dinner last night with Brother and Sister Evans. Brother Evans just recently got baptized in May and is so much like you Dad! He is hilarious. Well, as a result of us getting super lost and being super late, we had the most amazing missionary moment! They live right next to Waterloo University, or something like that. So the students were going door to door and playing a game that goes something like this - They have some object and try to exchange it for something better, then whoever has the best item at the end wins. So they showed up at the Evans' when we were there, and we had JUST given the Evans a BOM to give away. You see where this is going....The item that the students had to trade in was a coffee maker - how ironic. So we all stood in the doorway, bore our testimonies of the BOM, gave it to them, and told them to keep their coffee maker because it wouldn't be used here. :) The students gladly received it. It was incredible! So then we gave the Evans another BOM to give away because the first one was so easy, haha. Being a missionary rocks.

 

There are some super solid recent converts in the ward, and the members are great! They all send us home with food because they are worried we are going to starve....but little do they know, we have plenty. Haha, we've got more peaches and plums than we know what to do with.

 

I know that there is more I could tell you, but such is life. Feel free to write me -

 

Sister Hardcastle
11 Secord Ave #3
Kitchener, Ontario
N2B 2L3
Canada

 

Thank you for the constant support. Jesus Christ is our Savior, and I know He lives.

 

Love,

 

Sister Hardcastle

 

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

Goodbye Napanee Apartment! 

James! Gonna miss him.

Goodbye to my better half!

Found a dead bat on the sidewalk....

Maxine Elliott came to visit me!! Bless her heart.

Maxine, Sister Womack, and Me

Sister Womack and Me