Hello Everyone!

   I love you all and I want you all to know that I am doing well. I'm healthy, I'm happy, and I'm really excited to teach the Gospel this week. Unfortunately Sister Dixon was still sick for most of this week, so we didn't get to go out to work. But we studied and learned a lot. I'm so grateful for the amazing things we have to learn from. The scriptures, Preach My Gospel, the Ensign, and the Doctrine and Covenant teaching resource dvds this week. We had a lot of fun, but we definitely re-kindled our desire to serve and to work. I'm happy to say that we are both now well and able. We have an amazing week coming up. We have Zone Conference with President Castro all day on Wednesday! I'm so excited for that, and also we have Exchanges on Friday and guess what!? I get to pack and go to Ventura for a day!!! I am so excited for that! I've never been a missionary anywhere else except this area, so it should be a new experience, plus I'm really excited to learn from and work with one of the sister training leaders. (Plus, let's be honest, I really want to see the ocean again.) So yeah, I'll let you know how this week goes.

  Thank you for all of the support and love! I feel it. :) I pray for you all every day and I feel your prayers as well. I am doing so much better as far as homesickness goes. It's still hard occasionally, but I have never been so happy before on my mission. A large amount of that is Sister Dixon. I love her so much. We have become great friends and we work together really well. We have similar desires and goals and we work to overcome things together. We teach in unity and we help each other to have fun and be happy while we're here as well.

   Thank you for all of the letters and packages this week! Several packages and letters from family in Logan and Pleasant Grove and friends in Hawaii and England! :) Mom, you crazy Mom! You sent an amazing package! :) I loved it so much. It was a surprise, I was so excited to get the CDs, the cookies, and the pictures were so great! They did so much for me in reminding me of all of my friends and that we're in this together. We all had that amazing experience together in October 2012, and we worked together to prepare for our missions. Now we're here, and we have such an amazing opportunity to do good and to be a blessing to others. I am learning to love missionary work more and more every single week. I am so excited to go out and teach a lot more this week. Lisa and Alan, your "week of Packages" was so great! I loved every second and every gift. I'm sending you a letter soon! I love you both! Bethany, I got your amazing package on Saturday and it made my day! I am always so excited to get things from you. And the packages you send are always perfect. Treats I like, fun things I love that make me happy, notes from you, and useful missionary things that I love using. I really do love all that you sent. The mints were gone in an hour, I'm using the sticky notes and note cards, I'm wearing the green ribbon today. :) Thank you! I love you Beth! I'm sorry that I haven't written you another handwritten letter recently. I get confused sometimes about when I should when I might get a letter from you or if I was the last one to write or if packages count as your turn or what. Haha...sorry that I'm confusing. But I love you so much and every single bit or your support means so much to me.

   S. is amazing. I love teaching him. He is going to get baptized on March 29th. We meet with him at least twice a week.

   Thank you all for the emails today. You all make my day. It's so good to hear how you're all doing. Jana, you are doing great! I'm so proud of you! I'm praying for you and the baby a lot this week! Good luck! Emma, I am SOOO proud of you for making it into A Cappella! I'm writing you today! Thanks for all your letters. You're awesome. Dad, I love what you've shared with me. I too love this Gospel so much. I am so happy that I am a missionary and that I get to immerse myself fully in learning it and teaching it at this time. You all sound like you're doing so great. Please keep keeping me updated. I love every word I hear from you.

Love you all SOOO much!

   ~Melanie (Sister Hardman)

P.S.- Oh! I felt my first earthquake today!!! This morning we were sitting and stretching after our exercises around6:20 when the walls and windows shook for a few seconds!!! We were SO excited! Yay! A member told us that it was a 4.4, and that that isn't very much, but I was so excited to feel it. The moon was also beautiful this morning. I enjoyed running under it. California is beautiful at night.

 3 letters and a package on Saturday! You're all the BEST! :) Happy day!

Lisa and Alan, I have LOVED "Week of Packages!" I love you!

Mom, that package was amazing! Thank you! :)