A picture is worth 1000 words!!!

Sorry for so many pictures! not a lot of time to send an email! These are from the adventures from last p-day and today! last p-day we went on a muddy muddy hike! Thursday i basically had a heart attack, the Zone leaders called and said hey sisters president is coming to Moncton and wants to spend the day with one of us and the Dieppe elders and us think he should go with you! so Friday president pratt was with us all day! its was kinda weirdd.... not gonna lie! Then Saturday i was supper sick so we basically hung out at the church all day with them! Then Saturday night we went and got a Shamrock shake before games night! Then today We went to Hopewell rocks down by the Bay of Fundy! it was so much fun! basically what it is, are rocks that are formed by the tides! It is soooo cool! anyways here are a million pics!!!  

Hello ER.... ;) and 9 Month Mark!!

Well as many of you have been able to guess from the title i was yet again in the ER yet again this past week. As many know i have been sick the past 7ish weeks with a really really bad cough and i was to stubborn to go to the docs because i know how ridiculous the Canadian healthcare is to Americans... needless to say after a few hours of trying to find a walk-in clinic that would take me, we couldn't find one. So that was on Wednesday, so finally on Friday we went to the ER, we got there around 7 am and it was alright getting busy... so i got registered and everything, 4 hours later they call me back and go through the whole process of a million and one questions. Lets talk about ridiculous, I always end up getting like med students or somethin tryin to figure out what is wrong with me... so three med students and an actual doc later, they came to the conclusion that i have been having  Asthma attacks the past 2 months.. Needless to say i now have 2 inhalers that i am using pretty regularly. 

Saturday was  a great day, it was my 9 month mark! crazy how fast time goes! Saturday morning we had a little hot cocoa stand with the Elders that was pretty fun! a little cold but fun!  Then that night we had games night! We played a game of volleyball, oh goodness dont ever get 7 missionaries together that are very competitive, it was crazy! 

Sunday was a great day! I played with kids during the meetings like usual! I cant even explain how much i love little kids! 

This morning my mom sent me this "Maizee said they sang a song to day and it reminded her of you and that she is so proud of you and she want to be like you and how hard it must of been for you to go. It was so cute when she was telling me. She said she was so happy but sad when they sang that song." so she found the song it is called Gethsemane it goes like this.

 Jesus climbed the hill
To the garden still
His steps were heavy and slow
Love and a prayer
Took Him there
To the place only He could go

Gethsemane
Jesus loves me
So He went willingly
To Gethsemane

He felt all that was sad, wicked or bad
All the pain we would ever know
While His friends were asleep
He fought to keep
His promise made long ago

Gethsemane
Jesus loves me
So He went willingly
To Gethsemane

The hardest thing That ever was done
The greatest pain that ever was known
The biggest battle that ever was won
This was done by Jesus.
The fight was won by Jesus.

Gethsemane
Jesus loves me
So he gave His gift to me
In Gethsemane

Gethsemane
Jesus loves me
So he gives His gift to me
From Gethsemane

alright lets get real, i cried through the whole thing. 

I love you all soooo much! Have a great week! 

Love, 

Soeur Hardy

1309 mountain road unit 408

Moncton, NB E1C 2T9

Trials.. Upon Trials....

This week was a tough one. For those that are not friends with me on facebook this was my post on Wednesday, My testimony has yet been reaffirmed today, when i got on facebook today i saw on one of the missionary pages that a Sister Missionary serving in Pennsylvania was killed in a car crash. The first thing that came to mind were the three sisters from my MTC district that was serving there. When I found out that it was one of the dear sisters, my heart broke. But with the knowledge that we have of the plan of salvation brought great joy to my heart knowing that her family and friends will be able to be with her again. Through the hope and the faith that we have and share we can all know the truth of the plan of salvation!

Adversity can come in any way! We wouldn't be here on the earth today progressing towards living with our father in heaven, if we didnt have to go through trials. Some trials are bigger than others, but with hope and trust in the lord we can make it through! 

I Love and Miss you all!!! Come this weekend i will officially running down the hill. 9 months down... 9 to go... 

I would love to hear from you all!!! 

Sister McKenzie Hardy 

1309 Mountain Road Unit 408

Moncton, New Brunswick

E1C 2T9 

CANADA

The Saviours Atonement

This week i want to share a poem that was read to us at District Meeting this past week. It is 100% true. 

The alarm bell rings at 6:30,
I stumble to my feet
I grab my companions bedding and pull off his sheets
A groan fills the room, is it already time to arise?

It seems like just a second ago
I was able to shut my eyes
The morning activities follow- study, prayer and such
When it’s time to leave the apartment, you feel you haven’t accomplished much

“We have a super day planned,”
My comp. says with a grin
I lowly utter a faithless breath,
“Yeah, if anyone lets us in.”

With the word of God and my faithful Schwinn, we ride off in the street prepared to
Face another day of humidity and heat
It’s 9:30 in the evening, the day is almost through
My champion and I are riding home not accomplishing what we thought to do

We ride up to the mailbox, hoping to receive a lot
Only to look inside and hear my echo reverberate “air Box”
We go up to our apartment, the day is now complete
The only thing to show for our work is a case of blistery feet

It’s past 10:30 p.m. My companion is fast asleep,
Silence engulfs me all about and I begin to weep
In the midst of sadness, I kneel down to pray
I need to talk to father, but I’m not sure what to say

“Oh, Father” I begin, “What happened to us today?
I thought we’d teach somebody, but everyone was away
My hands, my aching hands- worn, hurt and beat;
If our area was any smaller, we’d have knocked every street”

“Why on missions are the days so much alike?
The only difference about today was the flat tire on my bike
Will you send some cooler weather? The heat is killing me
I sweat so bad, it gets in my eyes, it’s very hard to see”

“Why do I have to wear a helmet, isn’t your protection enough?
People always laugh at me, and call me stupid stuff
Please send us investigators so I may give them what they lack
I want to give them Books of Mormon, the weight of them hurts my back”

“And what about my family: They don’t have much to say
I’m sick of not hearing from home day after day after day
Oh Father, Why am I here am I just wasting time?
Sometimes I just want to go home, I’m sorry but that’s on my mind”

“My companion, Heavenly Father, what are you giving me?”
The way he rides his bicycle, I don’t think he can see
Now you have it, I can’t go on, I don’t know what to do
That, my Father in Heaven, is the prayer I have for you”

My prayer now finished, I stand up, then jump right into bed
I need my rest for tomorrow, we have another long day ahead
Sleep start to overtake me, I seem to drift away
Then it seems a vision takes me to another time in another day

I’m standing alone on the hill. The view is very nice
A man walks to wards me and says, “My name is Jesus Christ”
Tears of joy well up inside, I fall down to His feet
“Arise,” He states, “Follow me to the shade. You and I need to speak”

My attention’s towards my Savior, total and complete
He says, “Your mission is similar of what happened to me
I understand how you feel, I know what you’re going through
In fact, it would be fair to say I’ve felt the same as you”

“I even know how you felt when no one listened to you
At times I felt not quite sure what else I could do
I know you don’t like to ride a bicycle, for you a car would be sweet
Just remember the donkey I rode wasn’t equipped with 21 speeds”

“I understand you don’t like sweating, in fact it’s something you hate
I remember when I sweat blood from ev’ry pore, oh the agony was great!
I see you don’t like your companion- you’d rather have someone else-
I once had a companion named Judas who sold my life for wealth”

“It’s hard to wear a helmet and have people make fun of you
I remember when they put thorns on my head and called me King of the Jews
So you feel burdened down by the weight of your pack
I recall how heavy the cross was when they slammed it on my back”

“Your hands hurt from tracting and knocking on doors all day
I guess when they pounded nails into mine, I ached in a similar way
It’s hard not to hear from home when your family’s not there to see
I lost communication on the cross and cried, “Father, why hast Thou forsaken me?”

“We have a lot in common, but there’s a difference between us you see
I endured to the end and finished my mission, so follow and do like me”
He embraced me with His arms and His light filled me with His love
With tears in my eyes I watched as He went back to the Father above

I stood with awe and wonder when a beep rang in my head
I listened and heard the alarm, then realized I was in my bed
My companion let out a groan, “6:30 already, no way!”
I sat up and said, “Come on, I’ll even carry your scriptures today!”

No matter what we go through,
when we feel we can’t take more
Just stop and think about Jesus Christ,
He’s been there before
By Elder Troy Whittle
Texas Houston Mission

As I have pondered on this poem i have come to know the importance of Christ's Atonement. 

I have put a link below to a video that i posted on Facebook, It talks about a Fisherman who knows that the trout are driven by hunger, Lucifer also knows our hunger and our weaknesses. Satan knows how to exploit and ensnare us with artificial substances and behaviors of temporary pleasure. He uses addiction and many other things to steal away our agency. When that happens, the hook is set and Lucifer takes control. For those who have fallen into addiction, there is hope, because God loves all of us! And because the Atonement of our Lord Jesus Christ makes all things possible. In order for this to be possible it starts with us CHANGING of heart and attitude. We need to set aside all pride and turn our life and heart to Him. I can promise that as you sincerely pray and seek to be forgiven, that you will be transformed, cleansed and made whole, and you will be freed from all things!

https://www.mormonchannel.org/watch/series/mormon-messages/you-will-be-freed-2

I Love and miss you all sooo much!! 

Yes we have nerf wars in the apartment... 

The Atonement

There was a boy by the name of Steve who was attending school in Utah. In this school Seminary classes are held during school hours. Brother Christianson taught Seminary at this particular school. He had an open-door policy and would take in any student that had been thrown out of another class as long as they would abide by his rules. Steve had been kicked out of his sixth period and no other teacher wanted him, so he went into Brother Christianson’s Seminary class.

Steve was told that he could not be late, so he arrived just seconds before the bell rang and he would sit in the very back of the room. He would also be the first to leave after the class was over.

One day, Brother Christianson asked Steve to stay after class so he could talk with him.  After class,

Bro. Christianson pulled Steve aside and said, “You think you’re pretty tough, don’t you?” Steve’s answer was, “Yeah, I do.”

Then Brother Christianson asked, “How many push-ups can you do?” Steve said, “I do about 200 every night.”

“200? That’s pretty good, Steve,” Brother Christianson said. “Do you think you could do 300?”

Steve replied, “I don’t know… I’ve never done 300 at a time.”

“Do you think you could?” Again asked Brother Christianson.

“Well, I can try,” said Steve.

“Can you do 300 in sets of 10? I need you to do 300 in sets of ten for this to work. Can you do it? I need you to tell me you can do it,” Brother Christianson said.

Steve said, “Well… I think I can… yeah, I can do it.”

Brother Christianson said, “Good! I need you to do this on Friday.”

Friday came and Steve got to class early and sat in the front of the room. When class started, Brother

Christianson pulled out a big box of donuts.

Now these weren’t the normal kinds of donuts, they were the extra fancy BIG kind, with cream centers and frosting swirls. Everyone was pretty excited-it was Friday, the last class of the day, and they were going to get an early start on the weekend.

Bro. Christianson went to the first girl in the first row and asked, “Cynthia, do you want a donut?”

Cynthia said, “Yes.”

Bro. Christianson then turned to Steve and asked, “Steve, would you do ten push-ups so that Cynthia can have a donut?”

Steve said, “Sure,” and jumped down from his desk to do a quick ten. Then Steve again sat in his desk.

Bro. Christianson put a donut on Cynthia’s desk.

Bro. Christianson then went to Joe, the next person, and asked, “Joe do you want a donut?” Joe said, “Yes.” Bro. Christianson asked, “Steve would you do ten push-ups so Joe can have a donut?”

Steve did ten push-ups, Joe got a donut.

And so it went, down the first aisle, Steve did ten pushups for every person before they got their donut. And down the second aisle, till Bro. Christianson came to Scott.

Scott was captain of the football team and center of the basketball team. He was very popular and never lacking for female companionship. When Bro. Christianson asked, “Scott do you want a donut?”

Scott’s reply was, “Well, can I do my own pushups?”

Bro. Christianson said, “No, Steve has to do them.”

Then Scott said, “Well, I don’t want one then.”

Bro. Christianson then turned to Steve and asked, “Steve, would you do ten pushups so Scott can have a donut he doesn’t want?”

Steve started to do ten pushups. Scott said, “HEY! I said I didn’t want one!”

Bro. Christianson said, “Look, this is my classroom, my class, my desks, and my donuts.  Just leave it on the desk if you don’t want it.” And he put a donut on Scott’s desk.

Now by this time, Steve had begun to slow down a little. He just stayed on the floor between sets because it took too much effort to be getting up and down. You could start to see a little perspiration coming out around his brow. Bro.

Christianson started down the third row. Now the students were beginning to get a little angry.

Bro. Christianson asked Jenny, “Jenny, do you want a donut?”

Jenny said, “No.”

Then Bro. Christianson asked Steve, “Steve, would you do ten pushups so Jenny can have a donut that she doesn’t want?” Steve did ten, Jenny got a donut.

By now, the students were beginning to say “No” and there were all these uneaten donuts on the desks.

Steve was also having to really put forth a lot of effort to get these pushups done for each donut. There began to be a small pool of sweat on the floor beneath his face, his arms and brow were beginning to get red because of the physical effort involved.

Bro. Christianson asked Robert to watch Steve to make sure he did ten pushups in a set because he couldn’t bear to watch all of Steve’s work for all of those uneaten donuts.  So Robert began to watch Steve closely. Bro. Christianson started down the fourth row.

During his class, however, some students had wandered in and sat along the heaters along the sides of the room. When Bro. Christianson realized this; he did a quick count and saw 34 students in the room. He started to worry if Steve would be able to make it.

Bro. Christianson went on to the next person and the next and the next. Near the end of that row, Steve was really having a rough time. He was taking a lot more time to complete each set.

Steve asked Bro. Christianson, “Do I have to make my nose touch on each one?”

Bro. Christianson thought for a moment, “Well, they’re your pushups. You can do them any way that you want.”

And Bro. Christianson went on.

A few moments later, Jason came to the room and was about to come in when all the students yelled, “NO!

Don’t come in! Stay out!”

Jason didn’t know what was going on. Steve picked up his head and said, “No, let him come.”

Bro. Christianson said, “You realize that if Jason comes in you will have to do ten pushups for him.”

Steve said, “Yes, let him come in.”

Bro. Christianson said, “Okay, I’ll let you get Jason’s out of the way right now. Jason, do you want a donut?”

“Yes.”

“Steve, will you do ten pushups so that Jason can have a donut?” Steve did ten pushups very slowly and with great effort. Jason, bewildered, was handed a donut and sat down.

Bro. Christianson finished the fourth row, then started on those seated on the heaters. Steve’s arms were now shaking with each pushup in a struggle to lift himself against the force of gravity. Sweat was dropping off of his face and, by this time, there was not a dry eye in the room.

The very last two girls in the room were cheerleaders and very popular. Bro. Christianson went to Linda, the second to last, and asked, “Linda, do you want a doughnut?

Linda said, very sadly, “No, thank you.”

Bro. Christianson asked Steve, “Steve, would you do ten pushups so that Linda can have a donut she doesn’t want?”

Grunting from the effort, Steve did ten very slow pushups for Linda. Then Bro. Christianson turned to the last girl, Susan. “Susan, do you want a donut?”

Susan, with tears flowing down her face, asked, “Bro. Christianson , can I help him?”

Bro. Christianson, with tears of his own, said, “No, he has to do it alone, Steve, would you do ten pushups so Susan can have a donut?”

As Steve very slowly finished his last pushup, with the understanding that he had accomplished all that was required of him, having done 350 pushups, his arms buckled beneath him and he fell to the floor.

Brother Christianson turned to the room and said:

“And so it was, that our Savior, Jesus Christ, plead to the Father, “Into thy hands I commend my spirit.” With the understanding that He had done everything that was required of Him, he collapsed on the cross and died. And like some of those in this room, many of us leave the gift on the desk, uneaten.”

Two students helped Steve up off the floor and to a seat, physically exhausted, but wearing a thin smile.

“Well done good and faithful servant,” said the professor, adding, “Not all sermons are preached in words.”

Turning to the class the professor said, “My wish is that you might understand and fully comprehend all the riches of grace and mercy that have been given to you through the sacrifice of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. God spared not His only begotten son, but gave him up for us and for the whole world, now and forever. Whether we choose to accept His gift to us, the price for our sins has been paid. Wouldn’t it be foolish and wouldn’t it be ungrateful just to leave it laying on the desk?”

As I read this, this morning all I can think is how grateful I am for my Saviour, and all that he has done for me. I wouldn't be where I am, preaching the gospel to those I am, without Christ and his atonement. Over the past few weeks Repentance has been a HUGE focus as a mission. We received a broadcast, a couple weeks ago on the importance of Repentance, and teaching to everyone we come in contact with. One thing that Elder Neil L. Anderson said was that Repentance means CHANGE of attitude and heart!

So I would like to invite you all to change your attitude and heart to Christ! Let him take your burdens! Let him HELP you through the rough times!

I Love you all and Miss you all so much! Its crazy how fast time flies! I love this gospel with all of my heart! I know that Jesus Christ is the Saviour of the world, His is our Advocate to the Father! He WILL help us through everything!  

Have a great week! I Look forward to hearing from you all next week!! 

So i thought it is about time you see what we actually do while at the apartment, and what we actually shop for on Mondays :) 

and then the typical Sister Hardy getting angry....