Toronto, eh?: ONE YEAR IN CANADA!

Dear Family and Friends,

As of today I have officially been in Canada for one year!! Woot woot. I'm practically Canadian. Let's see some of the things that Canada has changed about me...

1. I say 'eh' or 'aye' however you want to spell it....in almost every sentence. And I have a slight accent, not too bad.

2. I drink milk out of a bag....and that's just normal.

3. The word 'cold' isn't in my vocabulary anymore. It's either normal or it's unbearably freezing.

4. I have scars all over my legs from nasty black fly bites....no thanks.

5. I eat vinegar on my french fries....and gravy.

6. I'm bound to have to own a cat when I have my own house....because every Canadian has about 50.

7. Cigarette smoke has become a very fond smell of mine. It feels rather odd to walk into a house and not smell it. I will probably die from it, haha.

The list could go on and on, but let's just leave it at this - It's been a good year (I'll get back to that later on in my email).

This week was awesome....seriously. Heavenly Father has such a sense of humor. Speaking of the black flies, they are everywhere. We were working in this tiny town, and I definitely ate some and got several bites all down my legs. I'll send pictures sometime.

We spent a lot of time in the yard this week. One word - Allergies. Ughh, I forgot how much they suck. But no worries. We helped some recent converts in their yard and I found probably 234 worms. Then, on Saturday we had a referral that we needed to contact. All we knew about her was that her granddaughter is a less-active member and that she was in her 90's. Well, as we went to her house, she was walking outside to do some yard work. We offered to help her, but she didn't want us to get our nice clothes dirty. Well, guess what? Our service clothes were in the car just in case. So we changed and helped her for several hours. Her name is Marg, and she is the sweetest lady I've ever met. She had tons of "Forget me Nots" in her garden so she gave me some to take home. After we helped her in the yard, she let us in and gave us ice cream and cookies. We're going back this week to plant flowers. It was awesome. :) Such a tender mercy.

On Sunday, Sister Puruganan and I spoke in Sacrament. It went well, but yet again it was hilarious. So many funny moments this week. Sister Puruganan went first and spoke for about 7 minutes. I get up there and realized that there was 35 minutes left in Sacrament meeting. Hahahaha, let's just say....I filled the time. My topic was Ephesians 4:26. Look it up. Pretty impressive that I expounded on that for that long. Talking in Sacrament will never get easier. It's still scary.

Guess what I ate this week? Moose. It was soooo good. Looks like I'll have to start hunting moose at the cabin when I get home. What do you think?

James is doing so great! Tonight we are planning his baptism program and making sure the clothes we have fit him. He went out of town this past weekend, but still made it to church in Kingston. He truly has a testimony and it's humbling to see the Spirit work in him. He'll be all set for May 28th. Keep him in your prayers. Satan will work really hard....

So back to "good year"....Yesterday, we ventured to a street called Goodyear because we were told that there was a family from the Philippines that lived there. Okay. There are seriously about 5 houses on the whole street....all about a 10 minute walk away from each other. Yesterday the weather was so crazy....one minute sunny....the next pouring rain. We took our chances and parked our car and started knocking on doors. We got to two doors when it started HAILING like crazy. We were out in the middle of nowhere and our car was about a 15 minute walk away. We started running as fast as we could to the car. We were just laughing our heads off because it was so fun. Two cars pulled over and asked if we wanted rides, but we declined. By the time we got back to our car we were soaked from head to toe. Sister Puruganan and I couldn't stop laughing the rest of the day because it was so funny. Then guess what? As we started driving home, the rain stopped and it became sunny again. God is really funny. :) So that street has lots of meaning now. What a Goodyear it's been. Oh, and we haven't found that family yet. But we will!

I've been pondering a lot about the experiences I've had over these past 12 months. I wouldn't trade them for the world. It's truly amazing how inspired mission calls are. I have no doubt in my mind that I am exactly where the Lord wants me to be. Going on a mission isn't a sacrifice at all, my friends, it's the biggest privilege ever. Everything that I left behind has been made up 100 fold. The people I've met here have shaped me and made me a better person. I've become more like my Savior and my love for others has increased beyond my capacity to express. It's truly a remarkable feeling to testify of the love God has for others and to be able to feel a bit of that love. Thank you so much for your support and love. I know that the last 6 months will fly by, so I need to soak up every single moment. I have 6 more months to do it, and an eternity to reflect on it.

I love you all. :)

Love,

Sister Hardcastle

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