Week 50 Happy Birthday to Me!

Hey everyone. It's been a long week and not a lot happened. I'm going to Fort Casey in a little bit, so let's get to it.

Monday:

We celebrated my birthday by emailing and playing tennis, did a little shopping, and that was it really. We had a lot of fun with Monroe elders. We also had my birthday cake then and just had a blast. We were going to go golfing and Frisbee golfing, but we couldn't get those set up, sadly. After all the fun, we went and had dinner and then went and saw some people. At the end of the night, we came home and went to bed.

Tuesday:

The day off my birthday, we went to go see some people in the morning, and then for my birthday lunch we went to the Maltby cafe. It's a really good restaurant but really expensive. We  both got some french dip sandwiches and really big cinnamon rolls that were really good. It took me 3 days to finish it. After lunch, we went and found a park to go do comp study. Then we drove off to go see some more people before our lesson with the Bells. After, we went to our lesson and found out they were going to cancel on us because their mother was coming down to see them, and they didn't want her to interrupt us with all the questions she could ask. I was okay with that if she had questions, but it's what they wanted. Well, after talking for a little while with them on the front porch, they gave me a cake for my birthday, and we talked for a little bit. Then the husband came home at that time, and they found out that the mother wouldn't be there until an hour later, so they let us in to have a lesson with them. We taught about the Book of Mormon, and they really like it. They asked a lot of questions, read ahead instead of reading along with us, so it worked out really well. After the lesson, we then ran home to have dinner. After, we went on a walk with Izzy to plan out today.

Wednesday

We had district meeting, and Elder Black talked about recognizing the spirit and spiritual revelations. After district meeting, we then went and had lunch back at the apartment. Then we went on our bikes and went and saw people close by. We had a lesson with a less active family named the Koskies. They seemed really nice, and they would come to church if they weren't working on Sundays, so we set up home teachers for him Sunday and told him that we would be over there to visit him until he got some. After, we went to go see more people, had dinner, and then went to bed after dinner.

Thursday:

We planned and that took a little while because we were doing a blitz with the zone leaders. After planning, we met up with the zone leaders and did some work in two parts of our area. I went with Elder Dayton, and we went to go see some people that were below where we live. We went to see some potentials and also tracted a street. The street we tracted had some big hills, so we were both tired after the hike. Then we drove back and switched back. Then we went and saw some people out down by Maltby, went to dinner, and then came back home and saw some people close by. Then came home and ended the night.

Friday

We worked at the food bank. Then after, we had interviews, but Woods Creek told us the wrong place to be at and so we drove all the way to Lake Stevens to then drive back to Snohomish and be late for our interviews. After talking with president, we then came home and had comp study and dinner. Then we weekly planned, and that was really all we did.

Saturday 

We did some service for a less active in our ward. We helped split some wood for him. That was a lot of fun. Then we came home, got changed, and had comp study, finished weekly planning, and cooked some ribs for the dinner we had that night with Monroe elders. Then we went on a walk with Izzy to have the other elders meet her. Then we all went home and went to bed.

Sunday 

We had church for most of the day. Then we went to dinner, visited the Zittings, and then went to see one more person before we had to be in for the night, but nothing came out of that.

Well that's it for the week. I hope you all had a good week, and I'll talk to you soon. Bye!!

Elder Hammond

Week 49 Happy Birthday, Elder Hammond!

Hey everyone. It's been an okay week, so here is the week.

Monday:

So Monday was a long day. We started with emailing. Then we went to the mission office to get a dent fixed on our car, which took a really long time to fix. After, we drove all the way to Snohomish to play with the rest of the zone at the soccer dome. It was a lot of fun. After, we drove back to Maltby and played volleyball with Izzy, a recent convert, and some of the youth in the ward. After, we ran home, got changed, and had dinner with the Allans. We had a good time. They made Hawaiian haystacks!! It reminded me of home a lot. Then after, we went and visited some people and then came home to end the night.

Tuesday

We helped at the senior center for an hour. After, we then had lunch and got change to go and help move hay barrels. We get to Danial's and found out that Tom, her husband, had "blown" the engine in their truck while pulling the hay. The reason for the quotes is we found out that he didn't blow it, but the belt in the engine broke and so the engine shut off. So instead, we helped move horses and groomed some of them. Then we came home, got changed, and had dinner. After dinner, we went and tried to see a couple of people, but no one really opened up. So we went home and went to bed.

Wednesday

We had district meeting and Elder Black talked about comp unity and how to teach in unity. After district meeting, we had lunch at Hot Iron. After, we came home and had comp study, and then we put our bikes on the bike rack and went and saw people close by on our bikes before we went to go help Danial. It's really nice to have a bike rack on our car. I'll miss it when we get a new car this week. Then we went and helped Danial with her hay for real this time. We had dinner with her. After we came back, and I went on an exchange with Elder Black.

Thursday

Elder Black and I had a fun time on our exchange. We first had to go fill out an accident report because their car got backed into the night before at a dinner. After doing that, we went and saw some people in his area. Then we came back to their apartment, had lunch, then comp study, and then we went and saw more people. We had dinner, saw more people, and then went back home to pack and exchange back.

Friday

We helped at the food bank and then ran off to Lake Stevens thinking my appointment was at 12, but it was actually at 1. We still did it then anyways. After, we drove back home and had lunch. Then personal study, and then comp study. Then we ran off to pick up dinner from a member and had it back at the apartment. After, we ran to Taco Bell for weekly planning. Then we went and saw some people and then came home to go to bed.

Saturday

Saturday was bike day too. We went and saw as many people as we could in the morning and did some street contacting. Then we had lunch, comp study, and then went to the library to print off a progress record. After, we came home and got changed to help someone in the Monroe ward move some heavy chicken coops. They fed us dinner. Then after, they took us home, and we went to go see two more people before ending the night. One was busy at the time so we couldn't talk. Another we were checking up on because he wasn't at church for two Sundays, and the ward started getting worried, but he told us that he was out of town for a couple of days and now will be back for church. After, we went home and went to bed.

Sunday 

We went to the church, made copies of the progress record, had ward correlation meeting, and then went into ward council. After, we had church. Then we went home to get changed and go to dinner. After having dinner with the Davises, we went and saw some people trying to get at least one new investigator last night, but we couldn't find one. So we came in for the night, and Elder Black accounted with us.

Well, that's it for last week. Today I am going to celebrate my birthday with all fun activities and stuff because tomorrow it's back to work. Love you all, and I'll send pics home from today. Bye!

Elder Hammond

pics below are Elder Black and me on our exchange and me opening my gifts today!

Elder Hammond and Elder Black

Week 48 Elder Emergency Transfer...Elder Steward Goes Home

Hey everyone,

There was a lot that happened this week, and I was so not ready for it, so let's get to it:

Monday

We started the day with emailing, and while we were emailing Elder Stewart got a call from President informing him that his flight tickets where ready for him so he needed to pack up and get ready to go home. So we abandoned our plans and went home so that he could pack to go home. He went home because he felt the impression that he needed to go home. I have no idea why, but he did. So we got him packed and took him to the mission office to have President take him to the airport. It was a little sad. So I went with the zone leaders for the rest of the day. We went and tried to see people in their area, but we didn't have that many people opening up to us. We also got to go feed some goats. It was pretty fun. Then we went to their apartment and went to bed.

Feeding the goats

Tuesday

It was p-day, and we started it by driving up to the "mission mansion." It's basically a big apartment with three companionships in it. So I went and got my new comp, Elder Hatch. He's a really fun missionary and hard worker. We packed his stuff up into the car and drove back to Maltby. We dropped off his stuff off and then went shopping. After, we came home had lunch and then went and played baseball with the rest of the zone. It was so much fun! Then we went home, got changed, and had dinner with the Nubbies. We had some good food with them. They smoked a lot of meat for us. Then after dinner, we came home and had Elder Hatch unpack. Then we went to bed.

My new companion...Elder Hatch--He's really fun!

Wednesday

We had district meeting. Elder Black talked about inviting people to be baptized. It was a good discussion. We made a commitment to invite someone to be baptized every day. Sadly, it didn't work out too well this week for us. After, we had lunch and comp. study Then we went and saw a lot of potentials. Not a lot happened. After, we went on a walk with Izzy, one of our recent converts. We just talked with her to catch up and Elder Hatch knew her because he was in the Monroe Ward 2 months ago when she was baptized. Then we went home and had dinner and went to bed.

Thursday

We went and saw a lot of potentials in our area, like almost all over our area, but we had lunch in between and none of our potentials in one part of our area were interested anymore. We had a lesson with a small family named the Bells. We taught them the restoration and picked them up as investigators. They go to the Church of Christ, and believe in God. It's a hard situation because they have already been baptized into their church, so we might have to work on authority problems. We set up our next lesson on my birthday next week. Then we went and ran to the Allan's to grab our talks we were preparing for Sunday. Then we ran and had a lesson with Bishop. After, we came home and went to bed.

Friday

We went to the food bank and helped there. Then  we went home and had lunch, did our personal study and comp study. Then we had a lesson with John, one of our investigators. We talked about the Book of Mormon and helped him understand what was in it and what it means. Then we came home and saw someone moving into the apartments next to us, and so we asked if they needed help. They said they did, so we went and helped them. It took us 2 hours. Then we had dinner and went over to Tyi park and walked around again with Izzy at the park. Then we went to bed.

Saturday

We had to save miles, so we got our bikes out and biked the whole day. We started with weekly planning and did it at Taco Bell. Then we went and printed off our progress record. After we went home, had lunch, and finished weekly planning. That took all the way until 6:00, so we went and visited someone Elder Hatch knew in Monroe. It took the rest of the night. Then we came home, had dinner, and went to bed.

Sunday

We had ward council, went to church, spoke in Sacrement meeting, and talked about the talk "Good, Better, Best" by Elder Oaks. It's a good talk. I like it a lot. After church we then came home, got changed, and then went and saw the Zittings. Then we had dinner with Bishop. That took the rest of the night and so we came home, accounted, and went to bed.

Well, that's my week. I hope everyone has a good week this week. Love you all. Bye!

Elder Hammond

Week 47 Setting Goals and a New Investigator

Hey everyone. Here is the week:

Monday

We had p-day, did some emailing, went shopping, came home, had lunch, and then Elder Stewart went and took a nap while I worked on some other things. We were going to go on a hike with all the other elders, but Elder Stewart wasn't feeling that great. Then after his nap, we went to the church, and he practiced for zone conference. Then we planned for the night and went to dinner. After that, we went and saw some potential investigators, but we didn't really have any luck, so we came home and went to bed.

Tuesday

We helped at a senior center. Basically, we help with whatever they need. It's not like how we did it up in Stilly... sadly... I miss Stilly so much... Anyway, after that we came home and had lunch with Monroe elders. Then we went and picked up a package for Elder Stewart. Then we did our comp study, and visited some people. We saw a girl named Chelsea, and she said she would like to see us again in July, close to the end of the month. Then we saw a guy named Mike, and he said we could come back in July as well. Then we saw a potential named John and taught him part of lesson one, gave him a Book of Mormon to read and another pamphlet because he misplaced the first one. He said we could come back on Tuesday, so we picked up an new investigator this week. I haven't done that in 3 transfers...? I think. After visiting people, we then went to dinner and had a lesson with Brother Ansel. He is a man that can't leave his house for church because of his heath, so we go over and teach him every week and read the Book of Mormon with him. After we did that, we then came home and went to bed.

Wednesday

We had district meeting. Elder Black talked about how to teach people with a concern and figuring out how to find people. After district meeting, we had lunch at the church. Elder Stewart practiced, and then we drove all the way to Everett to go to my appointment. After that, we came back, did comp study, then we got changed and went to help Danielle with her hay bails. That took the rest of the night, so we came home and went to bed. It was a lot of travailing.

Thursday

We had Zone Conference up in Arlington. I loved it! It always reminds me of the times I was companions with Elder Stoddard and going to the SAC to play wally ball. It also reminds me of my favorite ward!. We talked about past zone conferences, and how they apply to us. Then we talked about how we are going to restart the teaching they gave us in the beginning, so we talked about teaching repentance and baptizing converts. At the end, we came together as a zone, set goals for the transfer, and talked about how we can be more unified as a zone. Elder Dayton rent (ripped apart) one of Elder Mendenhall's jackets and on the piece he ripped off, it had what our goal was going to be. It was to represent Captain Moroni and how he stood up for his goal, and so we need to do the same. It was a good zone conference. After Elder Stewart had an interview with president, and then we went to dinner. After dinner, we went home and chilled the rest of the night because we had no more miles to use for that day before we went too far. Then we went to bed.

Friday

We went to the food bank, then had lunch, did our studies, personal and comp, and then we weekly planned until dinner. After dinner we had a lesson with Ruvim and Luda, and taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and Luda and Ruvim told us they wanted to move his date for baptism back so we did, and we will figure out a new one. After the lesson, we came home and went to bed.

Saturday

I went on an exchange with Elder Erickson, and we had blast. We went all around his area and taught people, did some tracting, talked to one of his members who had a wife that believed in something totally different to what all religions believe, and she's not LDS. We had dinner as a district at a teriyaki place. Then we went and visited more people before I packed up and went back to Maltby. Once I got back, I unpacked and went to bed.

Sunday

We went to church, visited people, and had ward council. That's it for Sunday.

That's it for this week. I hope everyone enjoys the holiday. Love you all! Bye!!

Elder Hammond

Picture of a Lego figure we got from members that own a Lego store