Good morning!

   I just drove up the beautiful "Historic Norwegian Grade" to the church building that we have emails in while listened to an awesome song that Sister Evans has on one of her CDs. Have any of you heard Steven Sharp Nelson's Praise to the Man? Love it! I felt like I was at a Scottish Festival or listening to something you would play, Mom and Dad. If anyone would like a lift, check it out. :) And no...I don't know what the "Historic Norwegian Grade" is. That's just what the sign on the road says.

   Mom, the package was wonderful and sweet. The chocolates made it! They were a little soft so I put them in the fridge for a bit, but they were delicious, thanks. We enjoyed shooting fruit discs at each other, and Hermana Winn was so touched and grateful for your gift. She now thinks that you are the coolest ever. It was her 5 month mission birthday and it was a very sweet present. Thanks for being so thoughtful. And thank you for the wonderful emails today everyone! I haven't been able to read them yet, but I'm excited to.

   This week has gone really well. We had exchanges this week and they went amazingly. I learned so much, and we had an amazing day full of little miracles all over the place! I was in Simi Valley with Sister Snow. I really liked Simi, and we were able to have a lot of great lessons and find a lot of amazing people. One really cool experience: We had planned to go see a less-active member but they didn't answer. We had other plans of people we were going to see after that, but Sister Snow felt prompted that we needed to go see a potential investigator that lived a couple of streets over. We felt like we should walk there. We never did see that potential investigator, but on our walk there we ran into one of their current investigators, two different ladies that we were able to have a great lesson with, a Spanish-speaking woman that we declared to and set up a time for the Hermanas to go by, and a member from my ward here in Moorpark and his friend who was going to have her first missionary lesson that night.  It was so fun to run into them again. I talked to the two of them a lot at the youth conference a few weeks ago. Anyway, we spent more than 3 hours on that "walk to the potential investigator" and we didn't even see her, but my testimony that the Lord will put people in your path that you are meant to talk with has been strengthened. It was a great day, and I loved being with Sister Snow.

   Random fun thing for the week: The Bishop of this ward made me a band-saw box! :) I think that's what it's called. It reminded me of something you would make, Dad. Our bishop enjoys working with wood too, and he decided to make us each a gift for the work that we are doing here. By the way, I know I mention this all the time, but I love this ward so much. I feel like I've gotten to know the members so well, and I love every one of them. I'm so grateful for the time that I've had to serve here. Next time we're in California on a Sunday while on a trip, I know a great place for us to attend our church meetings. :) Yesterdays meetings were wonderful. I especially loved the relief society lesson on gratitude. I was sitting next to S. who brought her baby girl to church for the first time since she had her. She's adorable. And S. fit right in. Our ward has several mom's that just barely had babies. Our meetings are sometimes a bit loud, young family style. Haha.
   I am really happy, I love being the Lord's servant, I love teaching, I love serving, and I love how much my testimony is growing. I'm grateful for the experiences that I am having that are bringing me closer to the Lord. I trust Him and I trust my Heavenly Father. I know that they will guide me. I know that they will guide all of us. We just have to turn to them and trust them. They love us. This morning, I read President Monson's closing remarks from Conference. He said, while bearing his testimony, "I leave you with my witness and my testimony that God our Eternal father lives and loves us. He is indeed our Father, and He is personal and real. May we realize how close to us He is willing to come, how far He is willing to go to help us, and how much He loves us." I know that this is true, with all my heart. I love you all so much. Have a great week!

   Love, Melanie (Sister Hardman)

~Hermana Winn and I loved the package, Mom!

~I finally found someone that I trusted enough to trim my hair. Sister Wilde in our ward was happy to give me what I would call a "Mommy haircut." At dinner one night I noticed their daughter's hair had been trimmed and I asked about it. I like you to cut my hair, Mom. So I appreciated Sister Wilde's mother-like way of trimming hair. Don't worry, I only got a few inches trimmed off. :) It feels good.