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.
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.
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
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