Week 85 More Investigators

Hey everyone. This week was a good week. We got 4 new investigators! So ya, things are going great. Here is my week.

Monday

We had P-day. We started with the normal morning, went shopping, then emailing. After, we then did a little more shopping. Then we came back to the church and played basketball. I got bored after a while and played Clue with the sisters and Shalla on the stage. I've played basketball so much on my mission that I just get sick of it, but my companions like doing it so I do it for them. After having all that fun, we then went home, got changed, and then had dinner. After dinner, we came back and Elder Milner got packed for the exchange with Bellingham Bay. Then we exchanged, and I got Elder Redd. 

Tuesday

We started the day with mormon.org time. After, we then went and saw a potential family. They weren't home, so we went home and had lunch. Then we had comp study. After comp study, we went and saw tons of people. We really tried to get a new investigator on Tuesday, but nothing would really happen. We got a few return appointments for later in the week, but none of them worked out. Later that day, we had dinner on our own because the people feeding us were sick. After dinner, we went to Sudden Valley and saw some less actives out there. Then we came back into town and met with Bishop before the exchange. After, we then exchanged back and drove home for the night.

Wednesday

We had interviews and district meetings. We had our interviews before everyone else, so we got ours out of the way. After interviews, we then had district meeting, and Elder Brown talked about how important it is to work with members to get the work done. Reading these weekly updates, you probably see that topic a lot for district meetings. It’s because as a district leader this year, he has to talk about it every so often. After district meeting, we had lunch as a district. Then we had a lesson with Brother Winnbrener, a less active in the ward. We just got to know him and talked about how his reading is going. After, we had a lesson with the Sibleys. We taught them about the plan of salvation. It was nice. We brought Brother Jones, and they had a friend over named Perry. He's a nice guy who's pretty religious, and he really liked what we told him. So, we picked him up as a new investigator. He said he was going to come to church, but he went to the hospital for depression. It's really sad. He's a great guy. We'll visit him some time soon. After, we went and had dinner. Then we went and met with Justin Lon, to just see how he was doing because it had been a while since we had seen him.

Thursday

We started by going and seeing some potential investigators that we got from the zone leaders, however they were not home. So, we came home, had lunch, and did comp study. Then we went and had a visit with Scott Warren. We just talked with him and read some scriptures with him. After, we then had a lesson with Jason Byers. We read the gospel principle manual with him on the millennia.  Later, that night we had dinner with the Mecleaves. They are really nice. They’re letting me borrow some of their musical instruments that their kids aren't using anymore. In our mission, you can't take or keep or buy instrument while you’re here, but if a member will let you borrow an instrument while you’re in their area, then that's okay, just don't let it distract you. So, they are going to get their son's violin fixed so that I can borrow it and play it in my spare time. That is really nice of them. I told them they don't have to, but they said they wanted to. After, we then went to Sudden Valley and met with Cad Wilson, a less active that wants to come back to church. He came yesterday too. We just got to know him, and Brother Baird, the member that was with us, his home teacher, just shared his experiences with the church helping him to understand and learn these things. After, we then traveled back and ended the night.

Friday

We started with doing some weekly planning, After, we then went to go see Edwin, one of our potential investigators, but he wasn't home so we went to go see some other people in those apartments. After, we then went and had lunch. Then we did comp study. After that, we went and had a lesson with Chris. We taught the word of wisdom to him and why it’s important for him to give it up. After, we then went and met with Sister Kavah. We read some scriptures with her that were uplifting. She's going through a hard time. She has an infection in her foot, and they are in the process of finding where it is. She's gotten almost all her toes amputated, and they are about to amputate the rest. It’s kind of sad. After that appointment, we then came back into our area and had a lesson with Lailoni. We taught her the plan of salvation. From there, we went and had dinner. Then we weekly planned for the rest of the night.

Saturday

We started the day with going over to Laurels Ward and helping the zone leaders help move someone from an apartment. After we did that, we came home, got changed, and had lunch. Then we did comp study. From there, we went into Sudden Valley and met with Greg. I didn't want it to happen, but our discussion about the Book of Mormon kind of turned into a bash. I didn't do anything. I just looked up the scriptures we were talking about and asked some questions on what we were talking about. I don't like how that is the case when we go over, but he's kind of not listening. So I don't know what to do. After meeting with him, we went and saw some other people in Sudden Valley and then drove back into town for a lesson with Justin, one of our new investigators this week. We talked about the Book of Mormon. He's a cool guy, and he says he's reading it to try to understand what it is. He's really solid when it comes to it. After our lesson, we then went and had dinner. Then we met with Nate, one of our investigators and picked up his girlfriend  as a new investigator. Then we had a meeting with Brother Jones, and that ended the night.

Sunday

We had no ward council so we went to church. After church we had correlation meeting. No investigators came to church. It was kind of sad. After correlation meeting, we then went home, had lunch, and then went over to Justin Lon's and watched The Restoration with Avery and the kids. They really liked it. After, we had a meeting with Holland and read some scriptures with him. After that, we came home, did personal study, and then we went and saw Hue. She was sick, so we gave her a blessing. After, we drove down to Sudden Valley and had dinner with the Saunders. Then we came back into town and had a meeting with the Redelks. We just read 1 Nephi 11-12 with them. Then we went home and ended the night.

That's the week, everyone. I got one funny pic of us that happened this week. We went to go see Ivan, one of our investigators, and he was not home. But on his door was a Jehovah's Witness card for his wife, who I guess could be taking the discussions. There was also a flyer for a southern Baptist church, so we wrote a note for Ivan and stuck it on the door. We took a pic of it for laughs and giggles. Anyway, that's the week. Love you all.

Turf War????

Elder Hammond

Week 84 Another Busy Week in Bellingham

Hello, everyone. It’s been another great week in Bellingham, and a short one too! So, let’s get to it!

Monday

We started with going shopping. After we then emailed. Then we went and got the car washed for zone conference this week. Then we went, got changed, and got lunch at Subway to bring to Lake Whatcom Falls for lunch and games at the park. After a while, we then got the whole zone together and went to the falls. We took some pics there and had a great time. After, we had to drive straight to dinner in Sudden Valley. From there, we then went to a lesson with Shane, a YSA we are teaching, but soon passing on to the YSA sisters. We taught him the plan of salvation. After, we did some area book work at home. Then we exchanged with Bellingham Bay. 

Whatcom Falls

Tuesday

I was with Bellingham Bay, and we went to the food bank to start the day. After, we then had lunch at the church, did a little bit of comp study. Then we had a lesson with one of their investigators named Aston. We just discussed his reading in the Book of Mormon and helped him with things he was not understanding. After, we went and visited some people. We tried to meet as many people as possible, but with the effort we made, no one really was interested.  Later that night, I bought the elders Little Caesars with the gift card I still had from Christmas. After dinner, we then went and saw David Armstrong, a less active in the ward. He talked our ears off until the exchange back.

Wednesday

We had district meeting, and in that meeting Elder Brown just asked the question, "Is there anything we don't understand? Whether it be Gospel wise or missionary wise?" So, we asked some questions, just about the mission, and what make a person a new investigator. Then he turned the rest of the meeting towards why we use Preach my Gospel in our missions. After district meeting, we had lunch at the church with the district. Then we had a lesson with Hue. We just read from where she was at in the Book of Mormon. We were going to watch The Restoration with her, but she didn't have a DVD player. After that lesson, we went to the church and played some basketball with Nick Nelting, a less active that we are working with. We were going to have a lesson too, but he had to go so we couldn't get the lesson in. After, we then went home and had comp study. Later, we had a lesson with the Sibleys. We talked about church and young womens for Kayla. They didn't really seem interested in it, but they said they could try. It’s so weird when it comes to church and stuff. They just don't really seem interested, but they won’t tell us if they are or not. I don't understand. Later that night, we had dinner. Then we went to a lesson with Debra Land. We talked about learning and serving in the church. She is done with all the lessons now. We had to wear masks when we went, though, because she's getting sick pretty often, and just with her health, we can’t let that happen.

Thursday

We had zone conference in the morning. For the whole meeting, we watched the video training for our smart phones. We didn't get through everything though. We didn't have time, so we'll probably get the rest of it somehow. After, we then went to a lesson with some new investigators, Shawn and Farren. They are a young couple, and they are anti-religious, but they wanted to learn some more about our church... I can’t tell you how many of these kinds of people I've come across on my mission. They just want to learn what we're like. They say they don't want to change what we believe. They just want to learn and understand us. So, we'll do that and maybe if their hearts are softened, they'll convert. I don't know. I'm kind of done with getting these people on my mission. Ken was one, and many others I can't think of right now. After our lesson, we had dinner and then went home to do personal study.

Friday

We went and did some service at the Whatcom Land Trust. We helped them out last year, with painting their building. This time we went and did some yard work for them. After, we had lunch at home. Then we got changed and went to our lesson with Chris. We talked about baptism and put him on date for the 21st of April. He said he was good with that. He's the same way as the Sibleys. It kind of just seems like he has no interest. But he started to read the Book of Mormon again, so we thought it would be good to try and commit him to it if he's wanting to try. After that lesson, we went home and did comp study. Then we started our weekly planning. With the new technology, we also have a new Preach My Gospel. I haven't got it all yet, but we have a new way of weekly planning. It’s really nice. We now focus on the needs of the investigators, instead of going and looking through the teaching records for what lessons we'll teach next and stuff like that. After we weekly planned for a little bit, we went to dinner. Then we had a lesson with Sister Drake, and that ended the night. We just talked with her and shared a scripture with her. Nothing too big.

Saturday

We did some more weekly planning with the progress record. Then we had lunch at home. After, we went to a lesson with Jason Byers. We read some scriptures with him. He came to church on Sunday. After being with him, we had a lesson with the Redelks. We read 1 Nephi 8 with them. She hasn't read the Book of Mormon before, so we are helping her understand it more for her to gain a testimony of it. After, we then went and had dinner. Then we came back home and weekly planned for the rest of the night until our lesson with Joey and a meeting with Brother Jones. We taught Joey the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

St Patrick's Day Dinner--Pictures sent by member with this message..."We were so lucky
to have your son over for dinner tonight! What a great missionary he is!!" 

Sunday

We had ward council in the morning. Then we had church. Nikki, one of our instigators, came to church, and she​​​​​ really liked it. Jason was there too. After church we then had a correlation meeting. Then we went and talked with Brother Drake. He and Sister Drake are going through a hard time. So much that they don't live together anymore. It’s kind of sad. Brother Drake is wanting to go into the military, and he feels the spirit is moving him to do so. We talked about revelations and how we can know if they are true. He needed some wisdom on that. After, we then went and had a lesson with Holland. We just read scriptures with him. Then we went home and did some personal study before dinner. After dinner, we went home, got picked up by Brother Jones to go get Jason Byres and Sister Caravue for the CSFY. It was in Lynnwood, so that was a drive. But we had a good time. There were great speakers, I saw tons of missionaries I know, and  I found out Orion is getting baptized on March 31^st! I can't wait!! I'll be going down to Arlington that day to see him get baptized by Elder Wolfe. After the CSFY, we drove back home and ended the night.

Well that's it for this week, friends! love you all, and I'll see you soon!!

Elder Hammond

Week 83 Lots of Baptisms!

Hello family. It’s been a wonderful week. The Lord has really been blessing us here in Bellingham, and I'm so grateful for it. Let’s get to it, shall we?

Monday 

P-day was pretty interesting. We started with going to email. After, we then went and did some shopping. Then we went to Target and hung with the sisters at the mall. We walked around and looked into shops that were there. We had an okay time. It felt really weird with just the sisters and us, but we had nothing to do because Elder Milner can't do anything really with his foot for another week or so. After being with the sisters for a really long time, we then went back to our area and had dinner. Then we went and had a lesson with the Sibley's. We taught them about the restoration. After, we then made some visits and then went home for the night and worked on the area book.

Tuesday

We started the day with mormon.org time. I looked up some talks for my talk I was giving on Sunday, and I also watched some videos on Mormon Channel. After that, we then went home and worked on the area book again and made some phone calls. Our area book just got a new ward list, so we’re trying to color code it and stuff. After doing that, we went into lunch and comp study. Then we went and saw Sister Drake. She is going through a hard time so we thought to go and visit her. After, we then went and talked with Brother Yuing about some new people in the ward and who we should go see. Then we traveled to Sudden Valley and had dinner. After, we had a lesson with a Jehovah’s Witness named Greg. Yes, sadly there was some bashing that happened, but in the end, he agreed to learning more about our church. So, we will see where that takes us. From there we drove back into town and did more area book work for the rest of the night.

Wednesday

We had district meeting, and everyone was there, our whole district, the zone leaders and the AP's, so we had a full group. Elder Brown instructed on having faith in our investigators. After district meeting, we went to MOD with the Shupes before our lesson with Hue. We talked with her about going to the temple with the Shupes, and then we talked about learning and serving in the church. After, we drove to Sudden Valley and had a lesson with Nick Nelting, a less active in the ward. We talked with him about how to get him to come back to church. He really wants to come back, so we are going to help him. After our visit, we went and saw Sister York. She is a person in the ward going through a hard time too. From there we then went back into town and visited people. Later that night, we had dinner. Then from that, we went to the church and talked with the activity day girls about missionary work. After, we then visited some more people before we ended the night.

Thursday

We helped at the food bank in the morning. After, we then had lunch at Boomers, a burger joint in Bellingham. Then we came home, had comp study, and then went to see people. Later that night, we had a lesson with Joey, Brother Jones’s son, on the plan of salvation. After, we then went to dinner. Then we had a lesson with Ivan. We talked about faith with him. He's an investigator we are teaching. He just doesn't have a full belief in God, but he does believe there is something out there. After that, we then ran to a lesson with Debra Land. We read the scriptures with her. After, we went home and ended the night.

Friday

We started the morning off with weekly planning. After, we then had lunch and comp study. Then we had a lesson with Chris. We almost dropped him, but he told us to give him one more week, and if he didn't start reading the Book of Mormon, then we can stop coming by. After our lesson, we went and had a lesson with Nikki. She was someone we were trying to teach for a little while, but every time we went over, she was sick, so we finally met with her and taught her the restoration. After, we then went straight to a lesson with Lailoni. We taught her about the restoration too. After, we went to dinner with Hue. She made us food from Vietnam. It was really good. After dinner, we went over to Jason Byers and read scriptures with him and watched talks with him. That ended our night.

Saturday

We started with printing off our progress record. Then we went over to Justin Lon's house who was taking us down to Arlington for 3 baptisms that were happening. Hank, Harlie, and David all got baptized! 3 people I taught in Lakewood!!! I was so happy for them! We spent most of the day getting down there, watching the baptisms, and then going to BW's for lunch. Justin did the blazing challenge there, which to complete this, you have to eat 12 wings that have the hottest sauce on it under 6 minutes. And he killed it with 3 seconds to spare. We had so much fun! Justin is a great guy. After, we then came back to Bellingham and hung out with Justin and the kids to go through the baptismal questions with Avery, and then we also spent our dinner hour with Justin talking. Then we went to a lesson with the Sibleys. We went over the Book of Mormon. They may be dropped soon. They don't seem too interested. I think the mom only likes the company, not the commitment to do things. After, we then went to the church and Avery got her interview with the zone leaders. Then we went to Brother Jones’s place and talked with him before the night was over.

 Sunday

We woke up early for ward council. Then we went through church. Elder Milner and I talked about The Joy of Missionary Work. After church, we then gave bishop an update on how things are going. After, we then went home, got lunch, and then we went and read scriptures with Holland. After that we ran to the church and started filling the font for Avery’s baptism. During that time, we got everything set up and helped with decorations. President Wilding also came to the baptism which really surprised me. It was the first time I've had him come to one. It really scared me. After getting everything ready, we had her baptism, and I do have to say it was great!!. After the baptism, we then ran to a lesson with the Redelk's. We just read the scriptures. After, we came home and had dinner.

 Well that's my week for you, brothers and sisters. I would like to share something from the Infinite Atonement this week.

Sometimes I like to imagine what the Savior had to take upon him for us. Then while reading the book, Infinite Atonement, Elder Tad R. Callister quoted Ezra Taft Benson:

"There is no human condition, be it suffering, incapacity, inadequacy, mental deficiency, or sin, which His love will not reach out to the individual."

He went on to add, "This is a staggering thought when we contemplate the Mount Everest of pain required to make it so. What weight is thrown on the scales of pain when calculating the hurt of innumerable patients in countless hospitals? Now add to that the loneliness of the elderly who are forgotten in the rest homes of society, desperately yearning for a card, a visit, a call, just some recognition from the outside world. Keep on adding the hurt of hungry children, the suffering caused by famine, drought, and pestilence. Pile on the heartache of parents who tearfully plead on a daily basis for a wayward son or daughter to come back home. Factor in the trauma of every divorce and the tragedy of every abortion. Add the remorse that comes with each child lost in the dawn of life, each spouse taken in the prime of marriage.  Compound that with the misery of overflowing prisons, bulging halfway houses and institutions for the mentally disadvantaged. Multiply all this by century after century of history and creation after creation without end. Such is but an awful glimpse of the Savior's load. Who can better bear such a burden or scale such a mountain as this? No one. Absolutely no one, save Jesus Christ the redeemer of us all."

To imagine that much pain and suffering is just eye opening. It truly shows how much the Savior had to suffer for us. I know he did it so we could get back to our Heavenly Father.

Well, that's it for me. I hope you all have a good week, and I'll see you soon. Bye!!

Elder Hammond

Week 82 Working in Lake Wattcom

Hello everyone! This week was pretty good. We had a fun time, and we worked hard. So yeah, here's the week.

Monday

We went and emailed in the morning. After we all decided that we would go to Blain and play soccer and football at the Peace Arch as a zone. So, before we went, the Spanish elders and us went to Wendy's. After, we then went to the Peace Arch. We got changed, and then we went to take pictures. Then we went and played soccer in the field. That was so much fun. It's so crazy! Elder Hunter is in Blain, so the three pack was back again in the same zone! After soccer, we then got changed and went to Edeliens for ice cream. I hadn't been there in so long! It made me happy when we went! I miss that ice cream so much. We stayed there for a while and then drove back home to head to dinner in Sudden Valley. Because we stayed a while in Blain, it made us late to dinner. That was really sad. We should have watched our time more. Oh well. We'll remember that next time. After having dinner, we went and saw a couple of people out there before we drove back home and ended the day.

At the Peace Arch

 Tuesday

We went to the food bank and helped sort food. After, we then had a district lunch at Taco Bell. I still had my gift cards from Christmas, and I used it to pay for Elder Milner and myself. It was great to see everyone one last time before they got transferred. After lunch, we then drove home and had comp study. Then we went and saw people. We had a lesson with a woman named Fay. She is a less active that we met a week ago. We just talked about going to church and partaking the sacrament. After visiting with her, we went and saw more people. Later that night, we had dinner. A while after, we then had a meeting with Bishop and that ended our night.

Wednesday

We saw tons of people, only because we didn't have any set plans... So we were going all over the place trying to see people. We did have a few lessons mostly with people we met on the street, and then we had one with Jason French. We talked about the restoration with him. It was interesting because he has a lot of knowledge in the Bible and everything, but he doesn't really have that much faith in God. He knows it by script, but not by heart or faith, so we are working on that with him to help him out with that. Later that night, we had dinner at the church at the blue and gold. We got to frost a cake, but we did not eat it only because of how much sugar was on it. We made an American flag on it out of sprinkles... yeah, it was more for the looks. Sorry I don't have pics for you to see what it looked like. After dinner, we went and saw some more people before the night was over.

Thursday

We went and helped sort food at the food bank again this week. After, we then came home, had lunch, did comp study, and then we went out to see people. We had a lesson with a woman named Sister Kavay. She's a less active that lives outside of the ward. We read some scriptures with her. After, we came back and went around making more visits. Later that night, we had dinner and then went home to work on the area book for a while.

Friday

We had district meeting since transfers were on Wednesday. Elder Brown instructed on how to work with members and how to best use them in our lessons. We did a role play that lasted most of the meeting. After district meeting, we had lunch, then we drove back home and had comp study. Then we went and had a lesson with Scott Warren. He's an active member who we go and see how he is doing. We read scriptures with him sometimes. He's got some medical problems and loves when we visit. After, we had a lesson with the Redelk family. The bishop wanted us to go over and teach her the lessons. So, we taught her about the book of Mormon. We then went to see Lailoni and her mom and had a lesson on forgiveness because of some harsh things that were going on in her family. After, we then went and got to know some people we are planning on teaching next week. Their names are the Sibleys. They are a very nice family, a mom, a daughter, and a son. After our visit, we then went and had dinner with the Joneses. They fed us steak. After, we then had a lesson with their son. Brother Jones wanted us to teach him before he got baptized. After the lesson, we went over to Justin Lon's and talked about Avery’s baptism to get the program all figured out. That ended the day.

Saturday

We started with weekly planning and going to the church to print out the progress record. Then we came home, had comp study, and then went into lunch. After, we went to our lesson with Hue. For those that don't know her name is pronounced (whaye') emphasis on the E at the end. It’s Vietnamese. We had a lesson on the temples, and we talked about getting her to the temple this coming Wednesday. After our lesson with her, we had a lesson with Chris, our investigator. We talked about a part of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We almost got to the point of dropping him during the lesson, but we decided to let him have one more shot. He didn't really seem to grab everything we were giving him, but he said he would start reading the Book of Mormon. So if he does and he wants to progress, we will see if that happens, and we can move on with him. His interest is not really there, so I'm not sure how long he may stay with us. After that lesson, we went home, got changed, and helped someone that was moving into our ward move a piano to their new home. Then from there, we got changed and then went to dinner. After dinner, we had a lesson with Jeremy. We talked more about the Book of Mormon, but then he dropped us and told us he is good where he is at. After our lesson, we went to Brother Jones’s home and shared the progress record with him.

Sunday

We had ward council in the morning. Then we went through church. After, we had ward correlation meeting, and then we went home and took a small nap before we went into comp study. After comp study, we then went to go see Holland. We read scriptures with him, and then he showed us his video game collection. After, we then came home and weekly planned until dinner. After dinner, we went and helped the Laural elders find investigators for this week, but with our efforts we found no one. So, we came home and finished the night with personal study and accounting.

Well, that's the week for you. It was currently a busy week. Below is a picture from Elder Allsop that he just sent. He took it before I got ET'd. I hope you have a good week, and I'll see you all soon. Bye!!

Elder Hammond

Elder Allsop & Elder Hammond