Toronto, eh?: Blessings, Blessings, and MORE Blessings!

Dear Family and Friends,

I have so much to say this week...

Happy Birthday to my favorite Tanman tomorrow! Love you forever bud!

CONGRATS TO THE WORLD'S BEST COUPLE OF THE YEAR!!! I am so happy for you Landon and Hannah. From what I've read, the day was perfect and I couldn't be happier. I know that our family is being so blessed right now and I am SO thankful for that.

Well...ready for the transfer news?! Sister Woolf and I will be staying in Hamilton Mountain West together for another transfer. :) Sister Mendenhall is going back to Simcoe (where she was before us) with her new companion, Sister Castillo. Last night waiting for transfer calls was terrible. I always get SO nervous. I've never stayed with a companion for longer than a transfer except when I was getting trained. Sister Woolf and I were just jumping up and down - we are so happy. It is truly a blessing to be serving with her for another transfer. She is my wing-woman. :) I'm also so excited to be staying in this area! We are so blessed right now -

This past week Sister Mendenhall got SO sick. We even went to the doctor's - But despite all of that, it was very successful! We were able to reach the Standards of Excellence 4 weeks in a row, and the investigators here are simply golden. I have several experiences that I wanted to share with you this week -

Jackie - MIRACLE! So, we've been stressing out about getting permission from her mother for her baptism. Last week we were talking with her and her dad, and we asked if we should move her baptism date back in order to wait for permission to come. Well, if all goes well, Jackie will be getting permission tomorrow and be baptized on Sunday! Xavier will be just two weeks after her on January 5th. Please please please keep them in your prayers!

George - So prepared. We contacted him on the street several weeks ago, and taught him awhile back. It's been hard to find a time to meet with him again, but we finally did this past week. He is 31 years old and the funniest guy. We taught him the Plan of Salvation and the Word of Wisdom and he LOVED it. After we taught him the Plan using "Spiritual George" he re-taught it to us. He has the best memory. He then came to church all dressed up in a suit. It was amazing. He participated in Gospel Principles, stayed for all of Priesthood. He was then invited to go to a Singles Activity so he went to that. After church, we showed him the baptismal font and he was glowing. We told him how it would be done and with the biggest grin on his face he said - "I'm going to be baptized the same way Jesus Christ was baptized!" Then he gave me a high five. :) So amazing. He has a date for January 12th, but it may be able to be moved up sooner!

Trevor - my long lost grandpa. He is the 89 year old less active. Well, he came to church yesterday. He was glowing. He is the nicest guy. In fact, we went over to his house on Saturday to see him and have lunch. Ironically he pulled out all of his wedding photos. So I was looking at a wedding from back in 1940, meanwhile, Landon and Hannah were getting married. :)

Ayse - from Turkey. Remember her? We haven't heard from her in awhile, so we dropped by. Such a miracle! Turns out her phone wasn't working and that's why she wasn't able to contact us. She was so excited to see us! I honestly feel so welcomed at her home. I don't know if I have shared this story with you yet - But President Scott had told us about a member named Ayse who lives near Toronto. This Ayse from Toronto is also from Turkey, used to be Muslim and even wrote a book. CAN YOU SAY MIRACLE?! So amazing! So we are getting them in contact with each other!

We had quite the snow storm this past week. Apparently, Canadians don't like to plow their roads very promptly. It was quite scary actually. I was not a fan of driving. I got us stuck once. :( Sister Woolf was pushing and Sister Mendenhall and I were just in the car laughing, haha good times. This tripanionship has been hilarious. We've had a lot of fun together! I am grateful that Sister Mendenhall will still be in my district!

Niagara Falls last week was fun but freezing. :) I think I'll take a break from the place for awhile! So....as far as Christmas goes with us skyping, I'm still working on that. It's nice to know that I'll be in this area now, so Sister Woolf and I will start to ask around to see who we can go to. So what will happen is I should have all the details by next Monday, then on Tuesday night (Christmas Eve) I will be calling probably Dad's cell phone to confirm everything, then on Wednesday we will skype for no longer than 40 minutes! Woohoo!

http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=2874125972001

Everyone go watch this Mormon Message - and remember the true meaning of Christmas. I LOVE YOU ALL FOREVER!

Luke 2:10-11

"And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord."

Love,

Sister Hardcastle

"Have Faith, Have Hope, Live Like His Son, Help Others On Their Way"