Hermana Harden 1/15/2014

I´m so glad you guys enjoyed the concert!! I´m excited to come home one day and check out all of his stuff. Haha. I´m also really glad that the boys are liking scouts. Jacob may one day need those creative cooking skills out in the mission field. Haha. I hope this is a solid semester for both you and Josh!! I hope you have lots of fun in spite of your busy lives.

Things are good here in Mao! Sunny, windy, bachata-y, like always. Haha. Today was p-day, obviously, and some elders from the next zone over came to Mao to play BASEBALL. Oh yeah. It was straight up, Dominican nonsense. It was actually softball, but man did we have fun. None of you will believe it, but I never struck out and made an AMAZING catch, which apparently the elders are still talking about. BOOYAH. Haha. Who would have guessed that I would be known for my athleticism here in the mission? (¨What athleticism???¨ you say.... Exactly. Haha.)

Yesterday I received a blessing from bishop, which we had talked about in our district meeting... which was the plan when I first came here, but somehow we got distracted. lol. Anyway, I have to say that I am just amazed by the power of the priesthood. It was my first blessing in Spanish, and there were only three or four words that I didn´t catch... but honestly, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that that blessing came directly from Heavenly Father. We didn´t even talk about anything beforehand, but the blessing specifically addressed my needs. It was incredible.

Things are humming along in the field... our most promising investigator suddenly moved to Santo Domingo, which was a little hard. However, the members are totally catching the missionary bug!! It´s incredible!! We had exchanges on Monday to have two different family home evenings with less active families, and they rocked!! I´m really loving the way things are progressing here. Heavenly Father is the best. The Best. I was reading in Jacob 5 the other day, and it just really hit me how the Lord is working with us in His vineyard this last time... and the work is definitely hastening. Wow.

Well, I´ve got to go write my weekly letter to President. We have interviews with him in like a week, and we are supposed to answer a specific question. I´m interested to see if there´s more news this week from him. He is the best mission president in the woooooorld. Haha.

Anyway, I love you all so much!!! Thank you for your letters. You will possibly never know how much they mean to me. And go out with the missionaries! And give them references! And feed them delicious American things!! Haha. LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!

Hermana Harden xoxoxo

Hermana Harden January 2, 2014

The latest news is that Mao is officially a zone. Our new zone leaders are in our ward, Mao 1. Elder Day is the new district leader with a new companion, and Hermana Pierre has a new companion too. Four of us stayed here, and four changed out this transfer. I am really hoping for some really good changes here in Mao. I have been reading Stories from the Book of Mormon in Spanish to help me practice the language and learn how to explain things in a more simple way. It´s pretty fun. I intend to gift the book to the kids we´ve been teaching. I have some really good news- we are now teaching their mom too! She is so smart and sweet. The kids are super crazy, so I think I might have to find a way to make our lessons a little more kid-friendly and interactive. Haha. Oh and a sister in the ward gave me a poptart and a gingerbread cookie! It was a fun American Christmas treat. I guess this is a relatively short letter, but just know that I am thinking about you and missing you so much! Thank you for every word of every letter. I love you more than I can express.

Oh Mom, I have a lot of acces to rice, pasta, and eggs. Also do you know of some good smoothie recipes? I don´t see many strawberries or blueberries, but bananas grow here, so ya know... haha. Maybe some smoothie recipes with oatmeal or a little more heft? Also my lips are chapped in spite of the different kinds of chapstick I have here... I don´t know if you can find any super awesome treatments or something... It´s just gotten so windy here! Anywho. I love you so much and just want you to know that you are the most perfect, wonderful mom I could have ever asked for. Thank you so much for everything, especially your prayers and everything you have taught me. I am praying for you and the family as well... especially with this new (and last) semester!! Congratulations, mom!! I have never known a harder worker or better student. Your example is not lost on me.

All my love, hope, desires and more!!!!

Your favorite daughter and sister,

Hermana Harden