Guess Who Got to Meet an Apostle?

This is going to be short. Think of it more as a bullet-point list rather than a letter.

This week was really good. Elder Souza and I are getting along great and absolutely loving Hartford. We weren’t able to contact Raynor or Malicia this week despite lots of phone calls and stop-by’s, but things are still good.

Alyjah is getting baptized this Saturday and I will be the one performing the baptism. I am really excited about that and honored to do it for her. So far, everything is coming together nicely for the service and I can’t wait to tell you how it goes!

Frankie and Chrissy had some bad news this week. Just to remind you, Chrissy is a member and Frankie is her fiancé who is investigating. They found out that when they get married, they’ll love their state assistance and won’t be able to get by financially. They are currently living together and know that’s wrong. Chrissy told us, “either we can do what we know is right and our family will suffer or we can keep living the way we are until we can make it work financially which isn’t a good situation either”. Luckily, they have the bishop working with them to see how he can help them out. Also, I think they may have gotten an “answer” during church yesterday.

We were so blessed yesterday to have a special conference for the Hartford stake at which Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostle presided and spoke. It was such a wonderful experience to hear his words and get to shake his hand afterward. At the end of his talk, he blessed the congregation that, among other things, if they live righteously, they will have enough food for their families; even a surplus. I hope Chrissy and Frankie got out of that what I did. I hope they’ll be able to take the leap of faith and do what the Lord wants them to.

That’s all for now. I love you all! Have a great week!!

The Latest and GREATEST!

Why can't all weeks be this good? I'm not sure how to say everything that happened so I'm just going to jump into it.

Last week, the Spanish Elders told us that they had run into Malicia. Our investigator of old. For those of you that don't remember, we lost contact with her when we called to confirm an appointment and her dad told us she would be unavailable for a couple weeks. Anyway, the other Elders saw her and they talked for a minute and she said she wanted to get back in contact with us. We went over to her house the next day and had a visit with her. She told us that she is going through lots of drama with her family and all her loved ones have turned their backs on her. It was way said. We set up a time to come back next week. On Saturday, she called and said, "Elder Jardine, I know it is short notice but could you try to find me a ride to church?" and I was like, "Um....YES!" So it turned out Malicia was able to come to church for my first time here and i think she might be ready to make a change in her life.

That was part of what made Sunday such a great day. We also had Alyjah (our 11 year old investigator) at church and she really liked it. She is right on track to get baptized March 5th!! Sunday was just such an amazing day. It was so cool to have our investigators at church and to actually have to worry about if they were getting all the attention and information they needed.

The crowning event that made this week as wonderful as it was was transfer calls. The assistants called and told me I'd be staying in Hartford and I'd be getting Elder Souza as my companion. I had to ask the Elder that called if he was serious. I served around Elder Souza when I was in Trumbull and he became one of my best friends. I'm VERY excited about this upcoming transfer!

This picture should be all the evidence you need to know we get along great...

This was a great week and I think the next 6 will be also. I hope you all are doing well! Much love!!

Crazy Weather and Great Numbers

What a week! Despite being snowed-in for a couple of days, we were still able to get a lot of work done and reach the highest numbers of my mission so far! We had a couple really good days and turned three of those potential investigators from last week into real investigators! Our new investigators are: (1) Franky. He is engaged to a member and wants to convert. He likes the church a lot and believes much of the doctrine, he's just having issues believing he can receive true forgiveness without having to suffer for his wrongs. We are really excited about him though. (2) Millie. She was an old investigator that we called up to see if she wanted to meet again and she said sure. We went over and met her and had a short lesson on the restoration and I really think she's got potential. (3) Lillian. She was a referral from the missionaries at the Kirtland Visitor's Center. She found their number and called them up to ask for a Bible. We took one to her along with a copy of the Book of Mormon and she said, "Do you want to come back next week so we can talk about these together?" And we were like, "um....YES!"

So all in all I'd say things are going well in Hartford. We've expanded our teaching pool and the time passes much faster when we're busy. We've also been doing lots of service this week as far as snow/ice removal for people and that has been hard but really rewarding. We chopped down a five-foot iceburg in the freezing rain for the Donat's (the people we raked leaves for when we first got here) that was blocking their driveway. Understand that when I say 'freezing rain' I don't mean rain that is cold. It falls like rain then turns to ice the instant it touches anything. It is the wierdest thing and really dangerous on the roads but after it falls and everything is crystalized, it looks really cool.

I know this was boring and I'm sorry. I do better thinking with a pen and paper so if anyone wants more details, go ahead and send me a letter and my response will be better. I promise. I love you all and hope you are doing well. Have a great week!

I Think I'll Go To BOSTON

Boys and girls, the announcement has dropped. The Connecticut Hartford Mission is being dissolved and swallowed up by the Massachusetts Boston Mission. This is exciting news and I'm excited for the change that will take place when the Pehrson's go home in July.

Not a whole lot has happened this week. For those of you who know my leg situation, I'm doing much better. As far as numbers go, we had a pretty successful week, especially considering I was out of commission for a couple days due to the leg. On Saturday, we gave away a few copies of the Book of Mormon and got some return appointments for Sunday afternoon. Of course they all canceled or boached us. Figures. What'er.

We were able to FINALLY contact our old investigator Raynor and are meeting with him on Tuesday so I'm excited about that. We also have Zone Conferences this week so that should be good.

I'm really sorry about how short this is, especially since it's the first one for a few weeks, but really not a lot has happened. I'm doing well, just missing all of you like crazy! I hope all is well on the homefront! I love you all so much and pray for you always! Much love from CT!

Highs and Lows in Hartford

Great news, everybody! I'm staying in Hartford! Can you believe I've already been here 6 weeks? Me either! I'm really excited especially since we've got our new pad. It's been kind of stressful trying to get settled in the new place but we've pretty much been there for a week now and it's starting to feel like home. I'm glad I'm not moving even though we really don't have anything going on.
When we met with Malicia this week, she basically used the scripture that talks about lusting being adulterous to say that she is no more in the wrong than we are because it's impossible to not have those thoughts. She is just trying to justify her actions and doesn't understand what God wants and expects of her. We pretty much just bible-bashed for an hour and a half and afterward I just felt awful. Something that really helped me was this:
In Sacrament Meeting, someone shared the story of Alma. When he was rejected and depressed and ready to turn back (like I had felt) an angel came and comforted him. Alma 8:14-15 says, "And it came to pass that while he was journeying thither, being weighed down with sorrow, wading through much tribulation and anguish of soul, because of the wickedness of the people who were in the city of Ammonihah, it came to pass while Alma was thus weighed down with sorrow, behold an angel of the Lord appeared unto him, saying: Blessed art thou, Alma; therefore, lift up thy head and rejoice, for thou hast great cause to rejoice; for thou hast been faithful in keeping the commandments of God from the time which thou receivedst thy first message from him. Behold, I am he that delivered it unto you.”
This really helped me because even though Alma wasn’t being received, he was doing what he was supposed to and for that, the Lord said he had great cause to rejoice. Hopefully I, too, can find great cause to rejoice.
I know this one is short and I’m sorry but this is the extent of what has happened in my life. I love you all! Write me, please!

Navidad en el Bario and The Big Move

That's right. We have officially said "goodbye" to the slums of 288 Park Street and moved to what i like to refer to as "an island oasis of prosperity in a sea of poverty. I will be doing another video tour of the new apartment as soon as we get all of our furniture but until then, if you would like a sneak peak at the amenities, you can visit, www.parkplacect.com. We split up the foursome so Elder Prusse and I are together on the 19th floor with great views of the city and Elder Dowdy and Elder Russell are on the 12th floor with great views of trees and power lines. My new address is:

Elder Cody Jardine

2 Park Place Apt 19J

Hartford, CT 06106

Please use it often. Our first day here, the lady in the lobby was telling us that missionaries lived here years ago and got lots of letters and packages from home. Don't disappoint me :)

The move itself was pretty hectic. First of all, all of our furniture is basically worthless so lots of it fell apart and we looked like the Beverly Hillbillies carrying couches with holes and dressers from the 60's through the swankified lobby but WHAT 'ER! Also, it lacked organization like none other. Again, WHAT 'ER! I'm in a better place so it all worked out in the end.

Now an update on Christmas and New Year's.

Christmas was good. But then again how could it not have been when I got to talk to almost everyone I love for a very long time?! I told the other missionaries that I didn't care where I was or what I was doing as long as I had a phone in my hand all day, and that was truth. We went to some members of the Spanish branch for the day because it wasn't our day to drive the mini van but it was fun. I got a new watch that I love but will have to exchange because it was too big, some really pretty ties and a sweet set of cuff links, cologne, amazing pillow case from Melanie, :) and lots of candy.

New Year's, on the other hand was not so awesome. Back when we were living in the ghetto, we had these neighbors that always played loud music. It got about a trillion times worse for New Year's and lasted until 7 in the morning for two nights in a row.

As far as missionary work goes, things have been really slow from the holidays and moving but we are ready to hit the ground running again and things are going really well. We taught Malicia last week and if she and her boyfriend can keep the law of chastity, she'll be good for baptism! Please pray for her!

I love you all so much and want you to know I'm doing well. Peace and blessins, Ya'll!

New Investigators

So this one is going to be short but sweet, which is, in my opinion, the best kind of update to get. It was a really good week as far as missionary work goes. We found three new investigators in one day while I was on an exchange with Elder Russell which was awesome! We also had dinner appointments every night this week which was good to get to know members of the ward and the food certainly didn't hurt the situation. I feel like my teaching skills are improving and I'm getting more comfortable teaching.
On the downside, it has been really hard to be away for the holidays. Each day that we draw closer to Christmas gets a little more difficult and for the first time in my life, I'm a little bit excited for Christmas to be over. I love you all and I miss you so much. I'm sorry this one is so short but for many of you, I'll be able to catch you up on the phone this week! Lots of love!!