Jesus es mi luz!

Hola a todos!! 

This week was kind of a blur with a lot of things going on and work to do, but it was great! Overall when I think back on this week I just feel SO grateful to be here serving the Lord! Yes there were some disappointments in the work this week, but they allowed me to turn to my Savior and feel His love and guidance which has helped me find peace and joy even when we don't see the success or progression we hope for in our friends  

Highlights/ Fun Facts:

- Last monday we had Zone pday in Vitoria and we split up into red and blue team to play kickball, capture the flag, and waterballoon volleyball!! Then the senior couples made us the most delicious BBQ lunch and it was soo fun!! Halfway through the day we found out that the power had gone out in all of Spain and Portugal and we were not able to get in touch with President! It was a whole fiasco making sure everyone had a way home with the trains not running and everything, but eventually we got it all figured out and everyone made it home safe 

- We had super sunny days at the beginning of this week which was such a miracle!! I did get a little toasted but it was so nice to have nice weather and lots of people were outside!! 

- We met with our new friend Maria this week in the church and she us soo cute! She is from Spain and studying medicine in the university right next to our church building! We had a great lesson about prophets and the Book of Mormon and when we asked her what stood out to her she said, "I've never thought about prophets that deeply before but it makes sense, they are so important!" I love the way she ponders and truly seeks to understand what we teach and I'm excited to keep teaching her  

- We had exchanges on Thursday and I got to go to Las Arenas with Hermana Rowberry!! We had a blast visiting members and working together and one of the cute less active ladies we visited came to church on Sunday for the first time in over 5 years! I loved spending the day with Hermana Rowberry in beautiful Las Arenas!

Miracle: 

This Saturday we had a lesson with our friend Jaz and we invited Hermana Briggitte who got baptized last Sunday and her recent husband Carlos as of the Friday before to join us in the lesson! We taught about the process of repentance and towards the end of the lesson Jaz shared a struggle that she is facing that is stopping her from progressing and giving her a lot of guilt. Then Hermana Briggitte who went through almost the same exact experience was able to share her powerful testimony of trusting in God and choosing the right even when it's hard! The spirit was soo strong in the lesson and it was so amazing to see how God truly prepares people to take care of all of His children  

Spiritual Thought:

Today I just want to share an experience that helped me recognize the power of testifying! On Friday we had a lesson with our friend Gladys who has been coming to church faithfully and loves it, but is having a really hard time understanding the importance of having a restored church with God's authority. During our lesson as we tried to explain to her the power of the Book of Mormon to help us gain a testimony of the restored church, I had the opportunity to simply testify to her the importance of praying and asking God if the Book of Mormon is true and if Joseph Smith truly restored the church. Tears filled my eyes as I shared about my experience of my own confirmation of the truth and testified that I know the Book of Mormon is true and because of that I know Joseph Smith restored Jesus Christ's church with His authority on the Earth and I simply invited her to pray and find out for herself because I have no doubt that God will answer her if she offers a sincere prayer! Even though we haven't heard from her how it went, I will always remember that feeling of testifying of something I know to be true and feeling the power that comes with bearing that testimony!

This week I invite you all to look for an opportunity to testify even if it's about something super simple! I promise you will feel a confirmation of the truth and an added strength from the spirit as you share with others 

I love you all so much and please feel free to reach out any time!!

Hermana Hardy 

ehardy@missionary.org 

Pictures:

- Red team 

- María  

- Alicia and Imara 

- hna rowberry and I on our run!!

- we finally found a full length mirror!

- Jaz, briggite, and Carlos