Monday, June 27, 2016

Licenced to KILL

Monday, June 13, 2016

One year down, one more to go!

Hey guys!

So this week I will be hitting my halfway point here in the mission! Isn't that so weird? It seems like it has been sooooo looooooong but also so short. Just to let you know, I love this work so much. It is so stressful and tiring and fun and exciting and funny and frustrating and basically a whole lifetime of emotions jammed packed into a very short amount of time, but I know this is the best thing that I could be doing with my time right now. I feel really blessed to be here in the one and only BUENOS AIRES and am looking forward to another year full of fun!

Now for other business... What a week was had! Although our work time was limited this week, what with the zone conference, a stake activity, and a CRAZY Sunday, we were able to see a lot of miracles in the villa, Miracles that I have been waiting for! It was so nice to find time and time again elegidos! It was like everyone was wanting to accept the gospel! Unfortunately a lot of weeding out was done yesterday, due to the fact that out of our eight possibilities, only one investigator came to church, but we are seeing the work progress here in Soldati and I am pretty happy. We are seeing a lot of success from working with our less actives and recent converts, another testimony to me that this is how the Lord wants us to be working here. Not that we were doing anything too different before, but now we are seeing the results of our long labor. Jonatan is really great, he is 27 and just recently got out of jail, and it appears to have really shaken him. He is the son of a less active family and so we have some good activation work to do too! and then we also got a referral from the bishop´s wife, which was a married couple (which basically never is a thing in the villa). Unfortunately they slept in but we plan to keep visiting them because they show real desires and there are lots of finding to be done through them. 

We had a fun stake activity this week with the priests and laurels. They were missionaries for the day and we took the youth out and got them out doing some proseltying down the streets of Chacabuco. It was the first time I have EVER done house contacting in the mission, and it is so not fun. But the only things we could do were housing and street contacting. But I did talk to a grandma while she and her grandkids were petting a cat (obviously since there was a cat I had to talk to them), so that was pretty fun. But yeah. I don't want to sound rude or spoiled or anything, but I am SO HAPPY that for now abstract contacting is like our last resort for finding new people to teach. THE SECRET IS IN THE MEMBERS! 

I love you guys and I hope you have a great day. Also HAPPY FATHER'S DAY to Mr. Ben Hardcastle, the coolest 50 year old slalom skiing secret agent dad there is! LOVE YOU!

See you all soon enough,

Elder Hardcastle =)






Monday, June 6, 2016

Villero for liiiiife

Hey so we had transfers. Surprise! and my dear Elder Juzga left =( and so I am staying here for a little bit longer (or a lot a bit, I'll explain later) with Elder Bohn, from Texas, my first yankee companion! So that's pretty cool. But it won't last long because I am going to kill him (jokes that just means I am his last companion because he is wrapping up his mission this transfer). He is also going to leave two weeks before the end of the transfer. So I don't even know what they are going to do with me. =(  And that's like at the same time our new president, President Smith, is going to get here so I will probably go get forgotten in the Villa Soldati. Haha just kidding! I'll probably go back to the trio life, so that is just two cans of pure joy!

This transfer has gone by pretty smooth so far. Elder Bohn, like I said, is finishing up his mission and was a zone leader and everything and so I am trying to learn a lot from him. We worked a lot with our recent converts and less actives and although we didn't see the results we were wanting in the church this week (seriously I just want to be like Sister Voyles from the District 2 and scream JUST COME TO CHURCH! and then I do it), But! One investigator came! He couldn't stay for all of it but He did enjoy the first two hours, so that is great! We just need to keep up the work and keep going. We really want to see a baptism before Elder Bohn leaves. It looks like I will be staying here in Soldati for the long run, but that is just fine with me! I'm thinking about another three months here because Elder Bohn will leave and then I will have to help the next elder get to know the area after him. I WILL BE THE KING OF SOLDATI.  I already told our ward mission leader and some other members and they all seem pretty happy. It's cool because I am seeing a lot of changes here! Like now we are having a lot more help from the members, and I am the grand master of getting the YSA to come and do visits with us. =)  I am really happy!

Also, to make me even happier, this week we had a house inspection from the Anderson's, the only senior couple in the mission, and it was like one of the greatest hours of my whole life! They are this precious couple from Kansas and are a hoot. And they are super great: they are helping us missionaries update our apartments, since lot's of the stuff we have is old and not always top-notch. I was talking to them about how I cook and they let me take a whole bunch of stuff to make it all better. =) I love them.

That's about it for this week! Que sepan que les re quiero y que ¡les verĂ© pronto!

Attm:
Elder Hardcastle