Week 32 Another Week on Whidbey Island

Hello! It's been a good week, and I hope I can fit it all in the time I have. Let's get to it.

Monday

We emailed, and then we went to Everett and did some shopping. We had a good time at the mall while the other elders went shopping for fun stuff. I haven't shopped for anything there yet which makes me happy because I really want to save money, After, we traveled back to the island and had dinner. Then we tried to visit some people, but we didn't have a whole lot of luck.

Tuesday

We went back to Everett to have interviews with President Wilding. They went well. We had lunch at BW's (Buffalo Wild Wings), and then we went back to the island and visited people. Dinner came right after that. After, we visited some more people and then went to bed.

Wednesday 

We went back again to Everett to have district meeting. We had lunch from Subway. Then we came home and cleaned the apartment because we didn't have time on Monday. Then we found where one of our investigators, from the last elder's, lived because they did not leave any notes where they lived. We had dinner, and then we went and visited more people.

Thursday

We did some service at a thrift store on the island. Then we went and saw a referral that was given to us. After we had lunch Elder Addington took a nap to regain his sleep. Then we had dinner and went to visit a less active. I can't pronounce his name, but it's so sad sometimes why and how some people become less active. He said he would never come back to church, and as hard as we tried, we couldn't get him back. He reads the Bible, but he does not read the Book of Mormon anymore. We didn't find out why, but we could see he had lost his testimony. I hope and pray that people like him can find what they lost. To have that happiness again in their life, can make their lives so peaceful.

Friday

We weekly planned, Elder Addington napped, and we visited some people and had a good dinner.

Saturday

We did some service for Jake that lasted almost the whole day.

Sunday

We had church and had a good session. Then we had lunch. After, I studied while Elder Addington had a nap. Dinner came around. Then we went on splits with a priest named Cameron Asay. We visited some people with him. Then we gave him back to his family and went home to account.

Well, that's it for this week. I hope you all are doing well, and I'll see you soon.

Elder Hammond

Week 31 Sunsets and Mail

Hey everyone!! It's been an okay week, but let's get to it.

Monday 

We went to Everett and did some shopping and emails, and then we went on an exchange with the Eastmont Ward elders. It was fun. It lasted until Wednesday.

Tuesday 

I went with Elder Kuble riding bikes around in Eastmont. We visited a lot of people and tried to get some lessons for the day, but we didn't have a whole lot of luck. We did have a really good lesson with one of their investigators, and he is super solid. I wish we had people like him, but the work on the island is a little harder. We had dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings which was so good!! I really like that place, and I didn't know what I was missing out on. They have some amazing food, and all of our food was half off which was way good because we live on the cheap life. Then I had an interview with President for some stress help. Everything is good now.

Wednesday

We had district meeting. Then we went back to the island and did some work, but it was really hard to because Elder Addington needed some rest and the ferry takes out a good chunk of our day. We did what we could. I got a lot of letters too, and so that's what some of the pics are from.

Thursday 

We had service opportunities that fell through because it was raining, so we did some other things. We didn't do much because we had to keep our miles down, and that was hard. We're already past where we need to be because of p-day, hair cuts, and stuff like that. The island is big, but we have so little to work with it's really sad. We had dinner with Brother La'mongtan. He is super intelligent and knows a lot about church history. I felt like he was teaching us a lesson, not us teaching him one. But I liked it. It was cool.

Friday

We weekly planned and did service. That's about it. It took the whole day to do those things.

Saturday

We helped someone move to their new home. She had tons of stuff, so much stuff it took five U-haul loads to move her stuff to her new house. I'm still sore from all the heavy lifting, but we had a good time.

Sunday

We had 3 investigators come to church, and they stayed for 2 hours. It was great! They really like it, but it's hard. We haven't had a lesson with them for 3 weeks because they are so busy, but we keep trying!! That's all we can do. We also fasted for the mission to have 31 baptisms this month. We will keep praying for our ward to find and teach and put people on date. I have no clue if we can even make it to that much for the whole mission, however, I'll keep praying. The rest of the day we slept, studied, had dinner, and visited some people. It worked out well.

Well that's it for this week. I hope everything goes well with you all, and I'll talk to you again soon. Shout out to the Broughs for their letters this week! You made me really happy for it. I wasn't sure you got my letter until then, so thank you for responding!! Love you all. Bye.

Elder Hammond

Pics of the sunsets in south Whidbey and me being goofy with all the mail I have.

Week 30 A Testimony of Joseph Smith

Hello everyone. This week was a slow week, but good things happened. So let's get to it.

Monday 

We went up to Oak Harbor and had our p-day up in Elder Addington's old area. His old ward mission leader is a cop. He let us go hide drugs in the church for his dog to go find. It was so much fun!!! We had a great time up there. We also went to lunch with Mama T, a good member up there. She fed us Samoan food. It was super good food! Then we went back to our side of the island and did as much work as we could before bed. Elder Poulsen is in Pencove, so I was so happy to see him again. Buddies from Arlington!!! 

Tuesday

We had zone conference! It was great! They talked about keeping the area book updated and plenty of other things that were helpful and great. Then we did some work in Eastmont's area and stayed the night there. It was a good day.

Wednesday 

We had district meeting, and Elder Qubal talked about Christ-like attributes and standing up for your beliefs. We role played how to teach someone with a concern about the church or what they are doing at that time. Then we went back to the island and did some work on the island. 

Thursday

Elder Addington got sick, so we couldn't do any work for the day.

Friday

Same for Friday.

Saturday

It was almost the same for Saturday. We tried to do some work, however, we couldn't because of Elder Addington being sick. It wasn't fun, but we did some phone work and set up some appointments with people for later in the week.

Sunday

We had church and President Wilding made an appearance at sacrament meeting and Sunday school while we taught it. It put so much pressure on me that I felt like I messed up so much, but we had a good day at church. He enjoyed the ward. Then we went and saw Jake and talked to him to try to help him with some things. After, we had dinner and then met up with Kody Kienzer, a less active member in our ward. We are going to help him try to reactivate in the church, and we have a good feeling about it. Hopefully it works out. 

That's it for this week. Here is my spiritual thought: 

I have been reading the teachings of the prophet Joseph Smith, and it's been really good so far. There's a lot you can learn from his teachings, and I am always just so enlightened with the story of the first vision. What I really like is how willing he was to die. He explained to his brother, "like a lamb to the slaughter, I willing go. I'll die for my father, His strength fills my soul." He knew that when he would die that he was sealing a testimony of the book of Mormon, the testimony that God lives and that everything was going to work out well. I love the promise Hyrum gives to his brother because of what he did. It's found in Ether chapter 12 verse 37, which states, "Thou hast been faithful, wherefore thou shalt be made strong even unto the sitting down in the place with which I have prepared in the mansions of my father." That's not all of the verse but that is what Hyrum said to his brother before they died. Later, Joseph Smith states in Carthage, "this book, (the book of Mormon) will stand as a witness of God, even until the end of time. People will learn of its truth and will seek for its words." Little did they know that it would stand as a testimony of their death for this wonderful grand church and would prove that Jesus is the Christ, that he does visit his people all over the earth, and it would spread and cover the whole earth. We can see that as a witness today. I know without a doubt that the Book of Mormon is true! I know that Joseph Smith would not let his life go for some myth he made up. This book is real and the testimonies of it stand as a witness to us. Joseph Smith needs more people standing with him in this world for what is true, and I am so grateful that I am out here testifying of that same witness, and I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Here is a link to a message from Elder Holland giving a testimony of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon.

https://www.mormonchannel.org/watch/series/mormon-messages/testimony-of-the-book-of-mormon-2

I hope you all had a good week, and I'll talk to you again soon. Love you all!!!! 

Elder Hammond

The picture is of me, Elder Addington, the Oak Harbor elders, and on the right of me, Elder Poulson and Elder Powers.