Week 44 Elder Goodman is Going Home

Hey everyone. Here is the week.

Monday

We played basketball pretty much all p-day at the stake center. Did some emailing, and I got to see all the wedding pics and fun stuff that happened. One word of caution to Justin who is planning on coming to Washington some time soon​​. If you try to find me, I will be a little disappointed. Plus I have an angry red neck as my companion, so you better watch out.... haha jk! If you want to find me, I'm okay with it. I just can't help you try to find me. Anyway, after playing all day, we came back and went to dinner. Then we rode off to the Scolics to have FHE with them. We talked about Pres Gordon B. Hinckly's talk "You

Don't Know How Much Good You Can Do, and we watched the Mormon message behind it. I recommend you watch it. It's a good little video. After that, we came home and got ready for bed.

Tuesday

I went on an exchange with Seattle Hill, in Thomas Lake. Elder Stewart came with me on it. We started off our day with mormon.org time, and then came back, had lunch, and did our comp study. We went to go see people, but no one really opened their doors. After, we went to dinner with the Merrills. I found out at dinner that Disney Infinity is over and done with. They're done making the characters and game pieces, which really surprised me, but that's okay. I hope the family has gathered more since I had left. After dinner, we ran over to the Templin's and had a lesson with them about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It was a really good lesson. The spirit was there, and they really loved the lesson. Then we ran home to exchange back and then go to bed.

Wednesday

We had district meeting, and Elder Goodman talked about effective teaching and past mentors. After district meeting, we came back home and had lunch. Then we ran off to the library and did My Plan. During My Plan, I watched some videos and moved some of my music around on my USB. Then we went back home and did our comp study. After we went to go have a lesson with our investigator, Michelle, but we found out she was in Kirkland getting her daughter's violin fixed. So we rode off to the Allen's home, a family in our ward, just in time to see Brother Allen's son eat a Carolina Reaper, one of the hottest peppers in the world. It was pretty funny to watch them do it. He and his buddies, all ate one and after, they started walking around the garage dying of the heat. His buddy, Ryan, ran into the restroom and started barfing. That was a little disgusting and weird. Brother Allen's son, Nick, started drooling all over the place. The funny thing is he would not drink any milk, but both of his friends did. He had stomach cramps for the rest of the day. It was pretty funny to see them do that. We then had to run off to dinner with the Lukes's and had Navajo tacos with them. After dinner, we then ran back to the Allen's because Elder Goodman got a flat tire. So we patched it up and got it back to working again. After, we ran off to Patti's to go and talk to her for an hour before we came home and went to bed.

Thursday

We went up to Fred Meyer so Elder Goodman could buy some allergy meds. Then we came back and tried to visited some people in our area and met the Chungs. After, we came back and did  comp study, and had linner. After, Seattle Hill showed up, and we ran to the food bank together. After serving at the food bank, we came back home and got ready for bed.

Friday 

I had an appointment with my counselor. Then we came home, and I took a nap because I was about to pass out, and it wouldn't have been good if we were doing weekly planning. After, we then went to go see John, a potential, but he wasn't home. So we went back home and weekly planned. Then we rode off to dinner with the Debells. After, we ran up to Mill Creek to help with a move they had, and then we came home and went to bed.

Saturday

I went on an exchange with Mill Creek, and I was with Elder Erickson. The move wasn't done yet, so we went and helped them for most of the day, I installed new lights into the house. It's funny. Ever since I decided to change my career path to house renovations, I've been learning how to do all these things on my mission. Around 4, we had a lesson with an investigator Mill Creek has and taught him the law of Chasity. It's been 3 and a half transfers since I taught that lesson, so I really didn't remember what it was all about. I had the basics, so I just stayed with that. After we ran back to the move, and I installed a chandelier while Elder Erickson helped with flooring. Then we came back to their apartment, had dinner, and then exchanged back. 

Sunday

We went to church and had ward conference. We had the stake presidency talk to us. It was a good meeting. A lot was said about service and believing in Jesus Christ. After, we then came home and had lunch, and did our personal study. Then we went off and had dinner with the Griffiths. We had to do it early because they had seminary graduation. It's weird to think last year I had just graduated... but that's okay. I hope graduation was good for everyone that graduated. Sorry that's a week old, but I forget sometimes...life of a missionary. Anyway, after dinner we came home and finished up weekly planning. Then we went to have a lesson with the Templins. We talked about CPR--Church Pray Read. It worked out great. Everyone was really active in the lesson. Then we came home and Elder Goodman accounted for his last time.

It's weird to see the end to Elder Goodman's mission. Today is his last p-day. I'm going to miss him a lot. He is one of my favorites, as well as Elder Stoddard. 

My spiritual thought this week is a quote from Elder Bednar, "It's a lot harder not to shrink then it is to survive." This is something I really struggle with. I just want to shrink almost all the time because that's the easy thing to do. But I don't shrink because that's what Satan wants me to do. I have also heard another saying that "this Gospel is not a comfortable gospel. It is a gospel of change. We don't run into war with our beanies and Nerf guns saying I'm ready to fight. Its the Armor of God. It's supposed to be heavy." I really like that saying because it's just really funny, but its true. Our leaders don't ask us if we are comfy in the gospel. It wasn't easy for Nephi to get the brass plates. They didn't just walk in and ask if they could have the plates once. It's not like he just said, "Well sure, have a cookie on your way out." They had to ask 3 times, and then after a lot of work,the Lord delivered them from their trial. Brothers and sisters, it is the same for all of us. So many of us are at the point where we could shrink at any second. Sometimes giving up is so second nature to us, that we do it without thinking about the outcome. We give up anyways. I've done that several times in my life, and I won't lie. I have come so close many times on my mission to giving up. I can say I am even at that point now, but I can't give up now. My Heavenly Father needs me. It's not because of the work I want to give up, it's because of me and the changes I am trying to make because it's so hard. I also heard this saying from Elder Holland, "Missionary work is hard because salvation was meant to be earned." I am trying to earn my salvation, and I won't go home until I have done so. I hope we remember this always in our daily lives, Yes, I am still going through a hard time as I will ever be for the rest of my mission, but I can't give up on my Savior now. Not when He is preparing me for perfection. I hope this is the same for all of you. I love you all, and I'll see you soon. Bye!

Elder Hammond

Pics of Elder Stewart and me on our exchange and then pics of Elder Erickson and me on our exchange

Week 43 Justin's Wedding Week

Hey everyone. Here is the week for y'all:

Monday

We had p-day. I bought a new suit up at Burlington. It looks great, and it fits me really well. After I bought the suit, we went to the stake center and emailed. Then we played basketball and had a good time there. After, we ran home to get changed and go to dinner with the Griffiths. We had dinner with them and then came home to relax go to bed.

Tuesday

We went and pulled some weeds for Sister Moware. After that, we came home, had lunch, comp. study, and then went to the library for Elder Goodman to do My Plan. Once done, we came back to our area and did some work in it by visiting people. We had dinner, visited more people, and then came home to go to bed.

Wednesday 

We had district meeting, and Elder Goodman talked about being obedient to the rules and following spiritual promptings. It went really well, and I definitely learned a lot. After, we went and had teriyaki chicken up in the Mill Creek area. After, we came home, did comp study, planned, and then went and visited people. We had dinner with the Lucas's, and I found out on Sunday that a daughter of his that's going to BYU Idaho was falling for me at church... crazy. She asked who was going home soon, and she found out it was Elder Goodman. When she found out I had 15 more months, they said she sighed and said, "Dang it." That was news to me. I've never heard that from someone. The parents told me about that. It makes me happy because that's never happened to me, only to my brothers. Dinner was great. We had steaks, and they were really good. After dinner, we then went and attempted to visit more people, and then came home and went to bed.

Thursday

We started the day with going out and doing work, visited some people, and met some new move-ins. Some of them didn't want to come to church. After meeting up with people, we then went and got me a hair cut because I needed one badly! But now I look approved. After, we had linner and comp study. Then we went and helped at the food bank. After, we had a lesson with the Templins, and we taught them the plan of salvation. Then we went home and went to bed.

Friday

Friday was Justin's wedding, and I want to say again congrats bro! It looks like everything went well and you had a good time. I wore the matching wedding day tie and socks for the day to honor him.  We started the day with service for the Mowers. We helped weed her garden. After, we then came home, had lunch, and did our comp study. After, we got changed and went to the stake center for my interview with President Wilding, and Sister Wilding took a pic of me to send it home. After interviews, we rode back home and did weekly planning. Then we had dinner, and then we went off and visited some people. Then we came back home and exchanged with the zone leaders.

Saturday

I was on an exchange with Elder Semidendi, and we started the day with service to finish what we could for Sister Mower. After, we came home and had lunch, then comp study. Then we were going to go and visit people that we had planned, but instead Elder Semidendi pretty much stopped and talked to everyone that came into our path. I like the idea, but it's hard to do that in our area. Not a lot of people really like us. Everyone is either salty or goes to Gold Creek, but sometimes there are some nice ones. Not too many potentials from street contacting, but that's okay. After, we then went to dinner at the church with a mocho (?) chef cook off. We had dinner of "just desserts." There was only like 3 meals that were there. The rest were desserts and treats. After that, we had a meeting with the bishop, and then we went back home to go do more street contacting. We found one potential, and we thought he might come to church, but he didn't which was sad, but that's okay. We'll see if he read the pamphlet. Anyway, his name is Larry, and he was playing ball with his kid in the park. We talked with him, testified of the truth of the church, and found out he wants to join a church with his family but doesn't know where to go. So hopefully everything works out with him. After that, we went home and exchanged back.

Sunday

We went to church. After we came home and had dinner at a member's. I don't remember their names, but they were cool. Then we came home and did our personal study, comp study, and finished our weekly planning, took a small break, and then went and visited some people. After, Elder Goodman did accounting, and then we went to bed.

Well, that's the week. Sorry no spiritual message this week. It's so weird, though. Elder Goodman has 2 weeks left until he goes home. He's starting to pack, but he has sent a lot of things home, and he still is. I've got a long way until then... but that's okay. I'm having fun along the way. I'll see you all next week. Bye!!

Elder Hammond

pics below are of me on Justin's wedding day and us doing service for someone in our ward.

Week 42 At Least It Was a Needle, Not a Nail...

Hey everyone! Here is how the week went:

Monday

We went over to Brother Pasket's, and Elder Goodman worked on some gifts for his mom and dad. While we were there, we had Taco Bell with Brother Pasket. After lunch, we then ran off to the stake center to go email. We did some shopping at Winco and then came home to put the groceries away. Then we rode off to dinner with the Hammonds. We then tried to visit the Templins, but they weren't home, so we had to reschedule for Tuesday. After figuring all of that out, we then ran home and went to bed.

Tuesday

We had zone conference. We had some really spiritual discussions. We talked about repentance, the two wolves at war, (Jesus Christ and Satan) and which one should we feed, comp unity, teaching the restoration with a smile, how to recognize the spirit working with you, etc. After, I got my package, and we rode back home to drop it off and go have dinner. After, we rode over to the Templins and played basketball with them until 8 o'clock. At that time, we then taught them about the Book of Mormon and committed them to read a chapter every night. Then we rode home and went to bed

Wednesday

We had district meeting. Elder Goodman instructed on zone conference and what we can learn from it. Then we went to McDonald's and had lunch as a district. Then Elder Goodman and I ran to the library to do My Plan. While he did that, I watched The Prophet of the Restoration video. It was great to watch something inspiring like that. After, we rode home and did our comp. study. Then we visited some people and then exchanged with Mill Creek. After that we went to bed.

Thursday

I had an exchange with Elder Bennett from Mill Creek. We did some work in my area, and we visited a lot of people, but no one opened their doors really. We also did service for the food bank, and that was fun as always. Thursday was just a rough day. After exchanging back we went to bed

Friday

I had another appointment in Snohomish, and that went well. After the appointment, we came back and weekly planned, had dinner, and went to go visit some people before we exchanged with Seattle Hill. After we exchanged, we came back and went to bed.

Saturday

I was on an exchange with Elder Redd, and we went and did a lot of visiting. We were going to have a lesson with an investigator, but she cancelled on us... but we went and did what we could with the day, knocked on doors, and tried to visit people, but everyone was taking advantage of the sun. We had dinner with the Webb's and that went well. They enjoyed our company. After, we tried visiting more people but no success. From there, we went home and Elder Redd packed up his things. Then we exchanged back and went to bed after an hour.

Sunday

We woke up and found out that Elder Goodman had a flat tire. We're going to get it fixed today, but we went to church, and had a weird lady come to our meeting. I think she had a mental form of schizophrenia, but I wasn't sure. She talked a lot to herself. Anyway, she came, partook of the sacrament, sang songs, listened to the talks, and after she got up and left. She told us her name was Ana, but right as she left, we went to go track her down and talk to her more, and 3 minutes after she left, we went to go find her on the street, and she was nowhere to be found. It was really odd. After church, we came home, had lunch, and went into personal study and comp study, sorta...Elder Goodman fell asleep... I was nice enough and let him sleep. We had a rough week. After his nap, we planned, and then he fixed his tire, only to ride on the rode to have his patch burst and put a nail through the other end of the tire. So we took it back to the apartment and walked all the way to dinner, which was an hour walk. It wasn't fun, but what else can you do? After dinner, Bishop took us home, and Elder Goodman tried to see if he could fix the tire, but he found out about the nail then and learned he couldn't fix it. So we will fix it today. When Elder Goodman was accounting, I got a sewing needle put through my toe. I was walking around in my room and all of a sudden I hit something in the ground, and then I'm on the ground pulling this needle out from my toe! Not fun, but at least it wasn't nails I stepped on like some people that served their missions in Washington...(Justin) It didn't go in too far, so I just put some Neosporin on it and bandaged it up. No biggie. After accounting, we went to bed 

So this week I learned a powerful lesson that I thought to share with you all. Elder Redd said this, "Sometimes we are so used to the spirit being in our lives, that our mind is blind to it, but our heart will never be blind to it." Sometimes we don't even know if it's there anymore. That's what I felt like a lot this week. I used to be in tune with the spirit, now I'm not sure, but I'm finding out. I hope that can help you if you are looking for inspiration this week. I love you all, and I'll see you soon. Bye.

Elder Hammond

Some pics of the sunny weather we are having over Silver Lake and Elder Erickson and me:

Week 41 Day of Hope

Monday

We went shopping at Winco. Then we came to the stake center and played a game of catch. Elder Goodman and I both have picked up some baseball mitts. He was borrowing one of the members, and we had a fun time. I wished I had played a lot more at home. Baseball is a lot of fun. Then we went in and emailed. After, we then went and played some basketball and speed ball which was lots of fun. After we rod up to Burlington to see if there was a suit I wanted and what the price was going to be. Then we came back to the church where the Spanish elders picked us up to go to the missionary dinner with the stake president. After, we came back to the church. We then had our first new member lesson with the Templins. It went well, and they understood a good amount of it. Then we went home and went to bed.

Tuesday

We went to the library and did mormon.org time. After, we ran back home and had lunch, got changed, and went to do some service for a non member in the ward. His name is Dan, and he was working on his back yard last week. We asked if he could use some help, and he said he could use more help next week, so we came by and helped him build a garden area. We talked with him for a little while, and he asked some questions about what we do. We answered his questions, and he told us more about himself. He has a form of Parkinson's that affects the right side of his body, and because of it, he only has 10 years to live, so he told us he's doing more of what his kids want than what he wants. His wife has been looking for a church to attend so that the family can be more religious, because of Dan. The funny thing is she was looking towards Gold Creek, which is not good, but hopefully as we keep helping them, we can help them understand that it's not about religion on earth, but religion of eternal life, and families that can be together forever. So we will keep helping them. After, we came home and got changed, had our comp. study, and then went to dinner. After dinner, we went and visited people. Then we came home and went to bed.

Wednesday

We had district meeting. Elder Goodman talked about how we can answer questions using the Book of Mormon, which is funny because he gave this same instruction in Bellingham when I was there, so I already knew a little bit of it. After, we had lunch, rode to the post office, and shipped out packages. Then we went to the library and Elder Goodman did My Plan. After, we rode home and figured out what we would teach Michelle who we had a lesson with. We went to that lesson and taught the restoration. After, we went home and got dinner. Then we did our comp study, and then went to bed.

Thursday

In the morning, we went and visited some people, helped Brother Pasket with some things, and I got it mixed up. He actually is not a professional golfer. He plays golf, but he had newspapers of someone else hanging up in his garage. After helping him, we went home and had comp. study and linner. Then we went to the food bank and helped there. After we went back to the Pasket's and helped him move some stuff back into his garage. Then we ran home and went to bed.

Friday

I had my appointment in Snohomish, and that went well. After, we then came back home and had lunch, then we weekly planned until dinner. For dinner, Brother Dean took us to a Mexican grill. It reminded me of Cafe Rio, but a little more authentic. After, we went back to his place and gave him a spiritual message. Then we came back home and finished our weekly planning and did comp study. Then we went to bed after relaxing for a while.

Saturday

We helped out at the Day of Hope. It was an amazing event that happened because of Gold Creek. Basically what happens is people signed up to help volunteer for service, and we all got gray shirts that say "Day of Hope" on it. They are really cool shirts, but anyways, people signed up and went and did service all over Everett and Snohomish. It was way cool! Elder Goodman, the Mill Creek elders, myself, and about 16 other missionaries from Snohomish, went to an old folks' residence. I can't remember what they call it, but we went and filled in dirt in the flower beds that needed it, planted flowers, and made it look pretty. It was great! We had a good turn out, and we got to work with Gold Creek members too. It was great. After, we then came home, and Elder Goodman took a nap, He hasn't been feeling the greatest these last few days, some kind of cold bug is flying around here in Washington. Then after his nap, we went and had dinner with the Roberts, came back home, and had our comp study. After, we then went to bed.

Sunday

We went to church and had Pattie Brown show up to church. It was awesome. She came for an hour, and she sat down with us. We explained it all to her. She loved it, and she is just the nicest old lady I've ever taught. She loved the service and wanted to come to another one next week, so hopefully she does. After church we then went home and had lunch. Elder Goodman took a nap with his cold going on. Then after we ran to a lesson with McKenzie and taught her the rest of the plan of salvation. The cool thing is we put her on date for June 17th for baptism, and she was excited and wanted to do it. She and her mom said they would work it out so she could get to church more, so she can make that commitment and can prepare for baptism. After that lesson, we then came home and did our personal study, then ran to dinner. After, we came home and did our comp inventory, and then Elder Goodman did accounting for the rest of the night until bed.

Well, that is it for the week. No spiritual message this week. I'll do that next week, but you can enjoy some pics from the Day of Hope. Love you all, and I hope your week is as sunny as my weeks have been up here!! We have been getting a lot of sun up here, and it's great! Bye! Have a good week.

Elder Hammond

Week 40 Exercise Faith and Endure to the End

Here is the week!!

Monday

We had a super fun p-day. We started by riding our bikes up to Mill Creek to have our last p-day with Elder's Carlisle and Trijo before they got transferred the next day. We played ultimate Frisbee while waiting for the racket ball court to open up for us to play. Once it was open, we played some tournaments of racquetball. It was lots of fun. After, we went to Mill Creek's apartment and got changed into our proselyting clothes and went to the mall to have lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings, and Elder Goodman and Elder Kuble did the Blazing Wing Challenge. Basically what it is, they give you twelve of their hottest wings, and you have to eat all the meat off of them, and do it all under 6 minutes. You have to eat each wing in 30 seconds or else you don't beat the challenge. Elder Kuble couldn't eat all of his in time, but Elder Goodman finished his in 4 minutes. It was crazy! The reward is you get your picture taken and put on the wall and a t-shirt that says, "Blazing Wing Survivor." It looks way cool. While we were there, I just had some boneless sweet BBQ wings. I knew I couldn't do the challenge, and it's funny because everyone except me were going to do it, but they all bailed. Todd was there too, and he enjoyed the show. After that, we ran to the stake center and did our emailing. Then we did some shopping, dropped off our stuff at home, and ran over to dinner with the McCoy's. After, we had FHE with the Scolics, and then came home and went to bed.

Tuesday

We went to the library for Elder Goodman to do My Plan. It's the exit program that missionaries use when they have 6 weeks before going home. So ya, that was fun. I just sat at the computer and watched Mormon Messages. He has to do it every week, so I have to find something to do. After, we then went to the bike shop, and I got a new light for my bike. The other one broke. Then we rode home, had lunch, and comp study. Then we went and visited a referral, but he wasn't home. After, we visited some other people. Then we rode to dinner with the Sholties. After dinner we ran over to the Nebekers and found the youth helping them with their yard. So we joined in. We had a lot of fun helping. The Nebekers have been going through a hard time, so we thought whatever we could do would be great. After, we ran home and did some street contacting. Then we went to bed.

Wednesday

We had district meeting with the new district. The Elders that left were Elders Carlisle and Trijo, and we got Elders Redd and Bennete, which I know them both, and they are great missionaries. So, the Zone Leaders came in and instructed how to teach the restoration better. It was a good instruction. It really helped me to know how to teach better. After, we came home and had lunch and comp study. Then we planned the day and visited people. We picked up some service for Tuesday and a lesson for Wednesday. Then after we ran off and had dinner. We visited some more people, and then came home and went to bed.

Thursday

We started the morning with visiting some people. But after a while, we stopped because the rain and the traffic on Seattle Hill Rd, so we went and got Elder Goodman a hair cut. After, we came home, had comp study, then linner. Then we ran off to the food bank and worked there for 4 hours. After, we visited the Greenhalls, and the Templins. Then we ran home and went to bed.

Friday

We weekly planned for most of the day, had lunch, went and visited people, and had dinner. After dinner, we came home and did comp study and comp inventory. Then we went to bed.

Saturday

We helped at the postal food drive for the food bank, and that took up almost the whole day. After, we went to dinner and then visited the Templins. We had a good meeting with them. After, we then ran home and went to bed.

Sunday

We went to church, came home, and had lunch. Then we personally studied. After, we ran off to the Scolics to call you guys, and it was fun to see all your wonderful faces. Thank you for the love and support you send my way in prayers. It really helps. After your call, we had dinner and went to go pick up a baseball mitt for Elder Goodman to borrow for today. After, we rode home, street contacted, and went home to bed.

Well, I promised my family I would share what I've been studying these past few weeks, and this is something I may be studying for a while. I've been studying the substance of faith and how prophets use their faith to work the works of the Lord. It helps me to learn how I can be a faithful missionary, even when I do fall, and feel unworthy, the Lord can see that I am faithful. Something I noticed in my patriarchal blessing, it says, "Jordan you will be a man of exceedingly great faith." I always hope that is true. I've learned and am still learning that a servant in the Lord's work should not compare himself to other servants who are faithful or who you think work better then you. It will just bring you down. Anyway, to get to my topic of faith, every person has faith in God. It moves them and motivates them to do amazing things because of their faith, Look at Moses. He said unto God, "Lord who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt." This is the man that parted the Red Sea. He received the ten commandments, told the people look unto the Lord and they would be saved! He was the man that did all of this, and look at how he shrinks in the beginning. He said I can't do this, and I love what the Lord says in the next verse because it changes his faith and attitude. God said "Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee. When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain." After that revelation and vision of love, then came the faith to go through the ten plagues, then the Red Sea parted, then the commandments were made, then Moses became the faithful servant of the Jews, whom they loved and adored so much. Faith helps us become converted, Faith allows us to see the path. Faith allows us to know God and become better. Because of faith, we change how we live and how we see things. Look and Lamoni's father in the Book of Mormon. Alma 22:18 "O God, Aaron hath told me that there is a God; and if there is a God, and if thou art God, Wilt thou make thyself known unto me, and I will give away all my sins to know thee..." and once that prayer was given, he fell to the ground and after was faithful and converted to become better, and he did. After he allowed all religion to be taught to all the Lamenites, and they became an amazing, faithful people with the Nephites. Because of he and his son, a generation was saved to have faithful servants of the Lord, who became as we know the Stripling Warriors. There are so many things, and I got this all from Hebrews 12 and the index in the Book of Mormon. I challenge you, if you have not already, to find that straight and narrow faith in you that we all have. Once you have found it, Don't You Dare lose it. Because if you do, then the miracles stop happening. I speak from experience. I hope we all can turn to our Lord in faith and pledge our lives to Get to know Him better. And when we do, I promise you guys that when the last day shall come, we will better know our God and Savior because of the faith we have shown and worked for. Be strong, keep praying. Though the road may be rough, God's will is always simple so why should we stray. "Be wise, my friends, what can I say more?" Until next week, I bare you my testimony, that this is Christ's church on the earth today. We are His children, and He is leading us by faith, so we can see His loving hand pushing us along to Heaven, where we want to stay. I know without a doubt that He will stand with us with whatever trial we go through, whether it's too hard or too easy, He still expects us to stand with Him, at all times, in all things, and in all places. I know these things to be true, and I testify of it by the spirit which is in me, and that is the holy Ghost. I leave you these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Elder Hammond   

Week 39 The Week of Exchanges

Hey everyone. Here is this last week's layout:

Monday

We went to the Mill creek elders' apartment and played racket ball. Their apartment has a racket ball court in their information office. It was a lot of fun. I felt like I was in Stillaguamish again back in the SAC. After playing for a few hours, we went and emailed. Then we went and played basketball and hand ball. We had lots of fun with that. Then after we got changed and went shopping, came home, and had dinner. Then we rode off to have family night with the McCoys and the Scolics. They were both great. The kids had the lessons prepared, and we just had to sit back and listen to the lesson. After that we rode home and went to bed.

Tuesday

We got ready for the day, and then we went to the library to do mormon.org time, and I watched the Face To Face with the Piano Guys, the one I missed when I was home because I was too busy with something-I don't remember what. But it was really cool. It reminded me about the concerts I went to for them and their music. I miss those times. Now when I get home, they're going to have so many new things! It will be great! After we rode up to the bike shop to get some minor adjustments to my bike. Then we came home and had lunch, got changed, and did some service for the Thorns who are in our ward. After a couple of hours, we then had dinner with them. Then we ran home, got changed back into our white shirts and ties, and ran to our lesson with Luman. After, we came home and cleaned the apartment, and then we went to bed.

Wednesday

We had district meeting, and Elder Goodman talked about being unashamed on our missions and having faith enough to work towards our legacy. Afterward, we went to a teriyaki place and had lunch as a district. Then we came home and got ready to go visit people, visited a lot of people, then we went to dinner, and we ended our day by visiting more people and going to bed.

Thursday

I went on an exchange with Mill Creek and had a blast with Elder Erickson! He's a fun missionary. We started the day off with doing service. After we went home, had lunch, comp study, and then got changed to go visit some people. It was a nice sunny day, temperature was warm and everything was going great. Then believe it or not, a thunder storm rolled in unexpectedly, and we didn't have our rain gear with us... so we rode back to the apartment while getting soaked. It wasn't fun, but I lived through it. After we dried everything off, and had dinner with the Ericksons, a family in their ward. Then we came home and rode out to visit more people. After that, I packed up for Elder Goodman to come pick me up. Once home, we went to bed.

Friday 

We did some weekly planning until Elder Goodman got picked up for a District Leader Training, and I went on an exchange with Elder Davis in Eastmont. It was so weird. The last time I was there, I was on South Whidbey. While I was with Elder Davis, we went and did some work in his area. We taught an investigator, had some fun, and then after Elder Goodman was done, we went to the Eastmont apartment and exchanged back. We rode to dinner with the Wrights, had a good meal, and then came home and chilled and got ready for my exchange with Seattle Hill.

Saterday

I went on an exchange with Elder Carlisle. It was so much fun!!!! We had been on exchanges in Bellingham, so it was like that all over again, except Elder Maldwin wasn't with us....:'( I'm going to email him and be like "the original clan, but we're missing one..." Anyway, we went and visited a lot of people in our area. We had to run home in the middle of the day to give Elder Trijo Elder Carlisle's second bike because he broke his bike. After, we went back to the area, visited some people, and had dinner. After dinner, we had an investigator drop us (them) from moving on with the lessons, so they lost an investigator... sad. Then we went to Brother Pascett's to see how he was doing and found out Elder Goodman and Elder Stewart were there too! It was pretty funny. After, we rode home, I got packed, and we went back to my own apartment and went to bed.

Elder Hammond and Elder Carlisle

 Sunday

It was fast Sunday so I wore my tie and fasted. (Note from mom: all the boys and Paul have a matching tie they all wear on Fast Sunday, the first Sunday of the month. Just a way to stay connected and think about each other.) I hope you did the same. We went to ward council in the morning. Then after, we went to church and had a good time. However, I wish people would stop bearing storymonies, a testimony is sharing what you know to be true not sharing time. We leave that for after sacrament meeting. After church we took a nap, had our studies, and went to a lesson with our investigator Meckinzie. It went okay. We were going to talk about the rest of the salvation with her, but it turned out to be a conversation, and we didn't talk about it at all. It was sad, but we had to run from that to dinner. After we came home and finished weekly planning because we didn't have time on Friday. Then we went to bed after accounting.

Well, that's my week. No spiritual thought this week. I'll do one next week. Love you all! Have a great week!!

Elder Hammond

Sunset on Silver Lake

Eagle we saw

Week 38 We Have Power Over Satan

Hey everyone. Here is the week for you:

Monday

So we didn't get Elder Goodman's bike to the bike shop, but we chose to do it on Tuesday. But for the day we went to a fabric store called Joann's and the Mill Creek elders and I got some fabric to make some cool ties. I finished one on Tuesday. It looks awesome. After, the zone leaders ran us over to the stake center to play basketball and email. Then we went and did some shopping, came home, and got ready to go to dinner. After dinner, we went to FHE with the Scolics. Then we came home and went to bed.

Tuesday

We went to go get his bike fixed, but before we left, I got to see Jordan Mason again!!! It was so great, and I met his father. Jordan has changed yet again. He has long hair and a small beard. It was great to see him. We talked for a little bit, and we talked about me meeting the rest of the family again. I met them once but I don't remember them that much anymore. But after that we dropped off the bike and then walked to the Seattle Hills elders' apartment to get a bike for Elder Goodman to ride until his is fixed. The sad part is they were gone and wouldn't be back until later in the day for interviews. So we had to walk all the way back to our apartment just to have lunch, and then walk all the way back to the stake center which took us 3 hours just to do that whole trip. We had interviews which went well. President is doing great, and we were able to figure things out which was great. After interviews, we went to Seattle Hill's apartment again and got Elder Charlisal's road bike, which by the way is a speed demon. I can barely catch up with him when Elder Goodman rides that thing. After getting it, we rode home and rode to dinner. We had a good time, and it lasted the whole night. 

Wednesday

We had district meeting. Then we came home and had lunch. After, we had comp study and planned. Then we went to dinner, and had a good time. I met a sister of some members in the Stillaguamish ward. It was funny because they asked me if I knew them, and I knew who it was. It was the Montgomery family, and I worked with them for a while up there. They are a cool family. After, we had a lesson and more food at the Greenhalls. After we ran home, and it poured on us. Not fun at all!!

Thursday

We went to the Mowers and visited with them in the morning. They are in the middle of renovating the house so we went to go see how far they have come and if they needed any help. They didn't, so we talked with them and asked how things were going. After visiting with them, we tried to visit some other people, and then came home and did comp study. We had "linner" before we went to the food bank. Then we rode off to the food bank, and after we came home and cleaned the apartment a little. Then bed.

Friday 

We weekly planned for half the day and picked up Elder Goodman's bike from the bike shop. We had dinner and then visited sister templin and tried to see if she would be coming to church on Sunday. She said she is planning on it, which is good, She is one of our potentials. Then we ran to Lumen's and had a lesson with him, one of our recent converts in the ward. Then we came home and went to bed. 

Saturday

We planned the day, did some studies, and then went and did some service for the Brimhalls in our ward. It was pretty funny. We went to go move a tree stump that was sitting in the members' garden and, when Elder Goodman and I started to move it, it had been already cut out and so we pushed it away and it just rolled to the fence. It was pretty funny because the member went to the garage to get tools, only to come back and find us already done with it. After seeing that, he then had us dig a trench in the backyard for some gardening barriers he's putting in. We helped him with a project inside that involved some water damage leaks. That was a lot of fun. We got to cut sheet rock and find where the leak was on the roof. After that, he took us home, and we had lunch and comp study. Then we went and had a lesson with our investigator McKenzie on the plan of salvation. It went really well for my first lesson in like 8 weeks... that's hard to say. After the lesson, we then visited some other people and then headed home to have dinner with Todd Aggard. We had an open day this month, and so we just asked him if he would like to have dinner with us, and he said he would love to. We went to a place called Blazing Onion, and it was super good. I had a hamburger with a fried egg, the patty, bacon, lettuce, cheese, and onions with fry-sauce in the middle of it. We had a good time with Todd. He's a good man and really is open with everyone. He loves getting to know people, and has gone through a lot in his life to explain how to get over trials and temptations, which helps me a lot because I go through hard times to where my faith gets shaken. He talked about how a testimony of the Gospel of Jesus, and his restoration on this earth, will save you from temptation and will help you when you feel down. This is true! When you have a strong testimony, you will stand tall, and you will have the power as it says in the scriptures: "... and her seed (Adam's seed) will have power to bruise thy head." We have the power to either let Satan into our lives, or simply cast him out, and we should always cast him out of our thoughts and minds. After, we then went to the bishop's and had a meeting with him. Then we went home and went to bed.

Sunday

We went to church and had a good turn out. We had a lot of nonmembers there. Then after we went home and had lunch, did our studies, and rode off to visit some people. After, we went to dinner and had Navajo tacos. It was really good. It reminded me of home. The cool thing was the people we had dinner with watch Psych! So I was making references all night from the show, but they didn't catch any of them! It made me sad. I also heard from them that its not on Netflix anymore!!!! I have no Idea what I'm going to do when I get home!!! I'm going to go insane!!!! Haha jk. After having dinner, we went home and went to bed. 

Well that's it for me this week. I'll talk to you all next week. Love you all! Bye!!!

Elder Hammond