Week 93 Last Week in Bellingham

Hey everyone. It's been a crazy week with lots of ups and downs, mostly downs, but I'm doing alright. That's the great thing about the gospel. Things can happen to you and it could throw your testimony off, but you know it's all a choice, and I always try to look at it all with my head high and not let it affect me in any way. So, lots of people are asking if I am getting transferred this Wednesday. Yes, this is my last few days in Bellingham. It  makes me sad to leave this amazing place that I've come to love so much over my mission, but the Lord is calling me elsewhere. So, let’s get to the week.

Monday
Monday started pretty usual. We started the day with going and doing some shopping. I could only get so much because I didn't have very much money. And the reason to that is because we have been going out so much as a District that my card is just empty. That's kind of hard! So, we've downgraded on going out to restaurants so much so we are now eating the food that's in our apartment more. After shopping, we then went to the church and did some emailing. After emailing, we then went to Dairy Queen. I didn't buy anything because I had no money, so I brought my own lunch and ate that while everyone else ate their lunch that they bought. After that, Elder Rich and I went to a barber shop with Bellingham Bay. Elder Rich needed a haircut, so we went, and he got a haircut. After getting a haircut, we then went to the Civic Center and played ultimate frisbee in the football field. It was really, really hot! After getting blown out by the heat and all that, we went to Fairhaven and hung out with the sisters at a beach down there. I can't remember what the of name of the park was, but it was a cool place. I remember when I was in the YSA ward a year and a half ago, we would always go there to do our weekly planning just because it was a cool place. Charlotte, their recent convert, was there, and we just had a great time playing games and walking around the beach. After that we then came back home, got changed, and went and had dinner. We had dinner with the Ludwigs down in Sudden Valley. They fed us pizza, and he had a lot of musical instruments. So that was fun because he let me play some of them. At the end of the dinner, he pulled out his guitar, gave that to me, and Elder Rich and I played and sang Nearer My God to Thee. After dinner, we then went and saw some people. Sister Thornton, a member of the ward, had a daughter in town that needed a blessing, so we went and gave that daughter a blessing. She also asked us to get a hold of the Tacoma missionaries for them to go over and start to get to know that daughter. That was really nice. Then we went to the church and did area book work and that ended our night.

At the beach on P-day

Tuesday

We started the day with sending off a referral, the daughter to Sister Thorton. After that, we went and saw some people, but nobody was really home. So, we went back to the apartment and had lunch and then did comp study. After that, we went and saw more people. Again, no one was really home, and the ones that were home were not really interested. #Bellingham #missionarywork Later that day, we had dinner with the Oslapases. Then we went and had a meeting with Bishop at the church. After that, we did some area book work, and that ended our day.

Wednesday
We started the day with district meeting. Elder Rich instructed on the vision of getting members to the temple and helping the leaders to do the work. After that, we had lunch as a district outside. Then we went home and did comp study. After comp study, we went and met with a guy named Mark Ireland. He is a less active member that wants to get back into the church so we went to visit with him and try to figure out what we could do. He lives where Jason Byers used to live. We set up a ride for him to come to church, and it worked out really well. After we saw him, we then went and saw some more people. Later that night we had dinner, and then after that we went to the church and did some area book work. Around 8 or so, we went and helped someone move. That ended our night.

Thursday
We started the day with helping at the food bank. After we went and had a lesson with a guy named Patrick. He is really cool. He is a new investigator as of this week. We went and contacted him last week. He was in a rough spot and needed some help, so he prayed to Heavenly Father and then the next day after he prayed, we showed up at his door. This is the first time that has ever happened to me on my mission where someone was so prepared like that. Really cool. He thinks that this is what direction he needs to take, and he feels like there is a gap in his life where he can't seem to understand. Something is just missing, so we went and talked with him about the restoration of the gospel Jesus Christ and how he can be forgiven of his sins. He was really interested and is willing to do whatever he can to be forgiven of his sins. After that lesson, we came home and had lunch and comp study. Then we went and saw some more people. We saw Sister Oldham and answered some questions she had about the church again. After that, we then went with Brother Jones to go see someone named Clarence Hill in Sudden Valley. He was a referral from a member, and he is a member. We went to go in to see how he was doing and have a gospel talk with him. It went really well. After that, we came back to Bellingham, got in our car, and drove all the way up to Ferndale for a baptism that YSA was having. It went really well. Then we went back home and had dinner. After dinner, we went to the church and did some area book work.

Friday
We went to the food bank again. Then we went to Brother Jones’s home to help him do some yard work. He was kind enough to buy us Subway for lunch. The service took most of our day, and I was really tired after it. Around 3 or so, we came back, to regroup and then went to go see some people. After, we went back to their home and had dinner with them. Then we went to the church, did some area book work, and did some weekly planning. That ended our night.

Saturday
We started the day with going and seeing some people. Then we came home, had lunch, did comp study, and then went and did some yard work for Brother Thornton. We pulled weeds and cut off dead branches from trees. It was fun. After that, we came home, got changed and regrouped, and then we went and saw some more people before the baptism of Joey, Brother Jones’s kid. After that, we did some area book work, and that ended our night.

Joey's baptism

Sunday
We had church! That's normal right? After church we had a meeting with President Wilding. Elder Rich wanted to talk with him. I don't know why, but you never know why. President also shared some information about my family with me. After that, we went home and did lunch, personal study, comps study, planning, and then we went and had dinner with Bishop and his family. Then we went and had a meeting with Brother Schenk and just had a lesson with him. Our ward wants us to go and have lessons with the members, so they passed around a calendar yesterday that members can sign up for to have the missionaries come over and to teach them the lessons. Yesterday was a start of it and it went really well with Brother Schenk and Bishop. After, we came home and ended the day with accounting.

Well that is the week. I hope you all have a good week. Yesterday and throughout this week have been hard days, just a lot of weeping, nothing too bad, but it’s just been hard to understand the Lord’s will sometimes. My love goes out to my family this week. I understand now that my grandfather has passed away. Although I am sad for his passing, I'm okay with it. I want them to know that I really love them. I've learned so much this week, as far as relying on the Lord and submitting to His will. I know that we have to come to our own realizations of these things and it takes time, but I want all of you to know, that if you submit to the Father’s will, and rely on Him, He will bless you beyond what you can imagine. He has given me strength to endure this mission, Everything these last two transfers have been pushing and pushing me to go home and just give up, but I know that every person sometimes go through trials of wanting to leave when the end is so close. I've learned that the Lord blesses those that do His will. He is blessing me, even though it seems hard to keep staying out here, when I could be doing things that I want more at home, like going to college, or getting married,... I've changed my mind on that one. It’s not going to take me six years anymore. I'm going to find the one I'm supposed to be with when I get home. But that's not the point. The point is, we all can rely on the Lord, no matter where we stand. We have to. That's a commandment He has given us. One other thing I want to point out is that He only gives us what we can handle. By small and simple means are the great things brought to pass, and that is how the Lord does His work. If we all relied on the Lord’s will a little more, the world would be a better place, and who knows? Christ may come a little sooner... I don't know. I shouldn't say things like that. I might get struck by hell fire from heaven.... anyway, that is my take away from it. I hope you can apply what you can from what I've said. Anyway, love you all, and I'll see you soon! Bye!

Elder Hammond

Week 92 Happy Mother's Day

Hello everyone! I hope everyone had a great week and mother’s day was amazing for you all. Here is my week for ya.

Monday
We thought it would be a great day to go to Boulevard Park, play sports, and take some pictures, However, it turned out to be the opposite. I first started the day with going to Grocery Outlet with the zone leaders and bought our food. Then we went to the church and did some emailing. After we went to IHOP as a district and had some good food. Then we went back to the church and played basketball for a little bit, before we went to the park. The sisters took forever at the mall, so we didn't stay at the park very long because there was really nothing to do. All the other elders got bored, even though I was going around taking pictures and having a good time... So sorry for them. So, we decided then to go back to the church and play some more basketball. Monday was a pretty sad day when you look at it. After we drove to Sudden Valley for dinner and had a good time with the Saunders. Then we drove back to the church and did some area book work. After that, we exchanged with Bellingham Bay and Elder Redd came with me to our apartment.

At Boulevard Park

Tuesday
I spent the whole day with Elder Redd. We started the day with going and seeing some people. After we saw all those people that I had planned for the morning, we went to the post office, and I sent off two packages to go home. Then we went to the church and gave Elder Rich his service shoes because they forgot to pack them for the exchange. After, we went home and had lunch. Then we went and did comp study and did our device audit after that. Around 3 or so, we went to go have a lesson with Mordecai, but he wasn't home. However, we did meet his father. He's really cool, and he's okay with us teaching Cai. He also gave us some advice and told us about Cai a little bit more. After we met with him, we went and saw some more people that I planned. We then went to dinner with the DeVries. We had a good time with them tonight. Elder Redd quoted lots of movies with Sister DeVries, however she won the bash. After dinner, we went to the church to meet with Bishop, but he was not there again this week, so we went to the Institute and exchange back with Bellingham Bay.

Wednesday
Wednesday was a long day, but at the end it felt a little bit better. We started the day by going and having district meeting. Elder Rich instructed on the safeguards for using technology and asked what ways we could approve. We had a good discussion on it. After, we went to MOD and had pizza. Then we went to try and help Sister Kaveh hang some pictures, but she forgot that we were coming and was not home. So, we went back to our area and started seeing people. After getting some return appointments, we came home and had dinner. Then we went and saw Justin, our investigator. We just chatted with him and then went to the church and did some area book work. I also posted a scripture and my testimony on Facebook. As I was doing so, I felt the spirit. It was really cool.

My District

Thursday
We started the day by going and helping at the food bank. It's getting really annoying to go to the food bank. All we do there is sort food. It doesn't feel really effective or a good use of our time, but I'm only going to be here for probably one more week, so I really don't care. After helping at the food bank, we then went to the other elders’ apartment and gave Elder Beuticofer a blessing. Then we had lunch and comp study with them which quickly turned into a discussion. I guess the other elders were having some problems with each other and needed some divine help on how to change things. So, we talked about it for a while and came to a conclusion. After that, Bellingham Bay went to their interviews with President, and we went to go see people. After going and to see those people, and most were not home, we then went to our interviews. I had a great time in my interview with President. After, we went to the McCleves house and had our elders’ quorum first annual get together. It was really great night! We had a good time. After that, we went to the church and finished with Area book work.

Elders' Quorum Party

Friday
Friday was a great day. We started with the food bank again. Then we went and had lunch at a teriyaki place in downtown Bellingham. After, we then went and met with Sister Kaveh. She needed some paintings hung up like we talked about last time, and she had a door knob that needed to be fixed. To fix it, we needed a washer, but she didn't have one. We needed a washer because the screw that was in the door that was holding the doorknob had made a big gouge in the door, and we were not able to fix it at that time because there was no washer. So, what I did is I grabbed a paperclip and bent it several ways until it became a man-made washer. Yes, you can say that I MacGyver-ed it! We put the man-made washer with the screw and put the door knob on the closet. Sadly, on Sunday, I learned that the paper clip washer only lasted for a couple days... It was really sad. I'm really disappointed in myself. I thought I was good at MacGyver-ing things! I guess not. After that visit, we then went back to the church, and Elder Rich sang with Elder Redd on the piano. After a while, we then went to dinner and had a good time with Brother Jones and all of his family. And then, we went back to the church and did some weekly planning that ended our night.

Lunch at the teriyaki place

Saturday
We started the day with area book work, and then we went to go see a few people. After that, we went on exchange with Bellingham Bay for 2 hours. That went pretty well. Elder Beuticofer and I went to go and see a potential and had a lesson with them. We discussed the restoration a little bit and went over the plan of salvation and how it blesses our lives. After that, we exchanged back, and Elder Rich and I went and saw some people. Then we had dinner. Then we finished the night with more area book work and teaching a lesson to Joey, Brother Jones’s kid. We also had a meeting with Brother Jones.

Sunday
We had church! Then we went home and did our studies. Then we went back to the church, and I called home! It was great to see the family again for the last time on my mission before they come get me in 3 months! After the calls, we went home, had dinner, and then went back to the church to finish the night with area book work.

That's it for this week. I hope things pick up here. It's really hard to work here because people are just hard to work with. That’s fine. We will work really hard this week, and then I'll be off to my last area. I hope you all have a good week, and I'll see you soon!

Elder Hammond

Week 91 Still Working in Bellingham Bay

Hello everyone! It's been a crazy week, filled with ups and downs. I've been able to work hard this week, so that's great. Anyway, here is how my week went.

Monday
We started the day with shopping. We had to get a lot of food this week because no one really fed us this week. After we did that, we met up with the Spanish elders and drove to the stake center for emailing and playing sports. We played volleyball and basketball. I also chatted with a lot of people using my phone to do emailing. After we then drove back to the James Street building and drove our car to get Subway. Then we drove from that to the institute for some games, pool, table tennis, and things like that. However, around 4ish they kicked us out to close the pit for the day. So, we went back to the church and did some more emailing. After, we then went to MOD for dinner with Bellingham Bay. After dinner, we went and met a referral named Gladys. She's a nice old lady but she wasn't really interested. However, her grandson was referred to us as well, so we decided to go by another day and see Tyrone. After that, we went to the church and did some area book work. Then we went to the zone leaders’ apartment and exchanged for the next day.

Tuesday
I spent the day with Elder Stanworth. We started the day by going to see people, but no one was home, and some of the people we planned for didn't live at the homes we went to. So, we just went to the church, and I Facebook messaged some less active members in the ward. I also planned out the rest of the day. Then we went home, had lunch, and did comp study. After, we went and saw more people. We were going to have a lesson with Hugh, but he wasn't feeling good, so we went and saw more people. I made mistakes in planning once again with members being in the same home, and it took out that chunk of our day, so we went back to the church, did our device audits, and then exchanged back. Then Elder Rich and I went to dinner, had a good time there, and then went back to the church to do more area book work.

Wednesday
We had district meeting. Elder Rich instructed on working with members. After, we had lunch at Panda Express with the rest of the district. Then from there, we came home and did comp study. After, we went to the church and Elder Rich and Elder Redd practiced the song for a Facebook post that Elder Rich wants to post. Then we went and saw people for the day. Later that night we had dinner, and then we saw more people. We ended the night with area book work.

Thursday
We started with going to the food bank and helping them for the day. After, we had lunch at Taco Bell. Then we had comp study. After, we went and printed off things at the church. Then we went and saw people. No one was home, so we went to church several times to do area book work. We were going to have a lesson with Sister Oldham, but she was not home. So, we did more work. At 5:30 we had dinner. Then we went and had a lesson with Tyrone. He's great, and he’s interested, but we have to pass him off to YSA because he is 20! We ended the day with more area book work.

Friday
Started the day who is going to the food bank again and helping there. Then we went home and had lunch. Then we drove off to have a lesson with Cai. It went well. He told us his disorders and what school he was going to. He goes to a special needs school. We taught him about the Book of Mormon, and what it was. He enjoyed it all. He also played for us the John Cena theme song on his recorder through his nose. That was kind of funny! After, we went home, did some comp study, and then went to the church to do weekly planning and a meet with the zone leaders to receive some MLC stuff. After, we then went and had dinner with Bellingham Bay. After dinner for the rest of the night, we went and did area book work.

Saturday
We started with going to the church and doing some area book work, as well as some Facebook things. Then we came home, had lunch, and did our comp study. After, we went and saw a couple less actives close by that the ward wanted us to go check up on. Some of the people were not home, and others didn't live at those places any more. From seeing those people, we then drove up to the stake center for a baptism that the YSA sisters had. Her name was Charlotte, and she seemed really cool. I got to see Jacob Meeker, my old ward mission leader from the ward, and Xalla (sounds like shalla) from the Laural Ward. I had a good talk with both of them. After the baptism, we went to Boulevard Park. Some of you may remember the pics I sent from 2 years ago of this place. I spent my first p-day there. Anyway, we went there to have a lesson with Avery and her family. We taught them about the gospel of Jesus Christ for the new member lessons. After, we drove back to the church and picked up Bellingham Bay to go to our dinner with the Shupes. We had a great time there with the other missionaries. After that, we went and had our meeting with Brother Jones, and that ended our night.

Sunday

We had ward council in the morning. We got to show everyone how to pull up the progress record on their phones. After the meeting, we had church. Then we came home. We took a nap for our 30 minutes of lunch that we didn't get to have because it was fast Sunday. Then we went into our studies. After our studies, we went to the church, did some area book work, and then went to Sudden Valley for dinner. After dinner, we spent some time in Sudden Valley seeing some people. We didn't stay for long because Elder Rich wanted to save miles, so we came back to the church and did more area book work for the rest of the night.

Well, that's it for this week. Our plan today is to go to Boulevard Park because it’s a cool place. But we'll only go if it’s sunny. It’s kind of cloudy today. Anyway, hope you all have a great week, and I'll see you all on Sunday!! For Mother’s Day!!!!! Last call home!!!!

Elder Hammond

Pics below are from this week. Elder Rich and I on Alabama Hill looking over the city, and some pics from Boulevard Park.

Elder Hammond and Elder Rich on Alabama Hill

On Alabama Hill overlooking the city

Boulevard Park  

Week 90 "Be of Good Cheer, for I Have Overcome All Things"

Hey everyone! This week has been a pretty decent week. I'm still doing well in Bellingham, even though the work is tough, but oh well, that's missionary work. Anyway, here is the week.

Monday
We started the day with shopping and then went to the church to get some emailing done. After, we then did some shopping at the mall. Elder Rich needed some new shoes, so he bought some. From that we then went to the institute on western campus. Since I served in the YSA ward, it was so weird going back. I still remember how to get there. Once there, we played games as well as foosball, pool, table tennis, and other things. I was able to set up my Facebook earlier before we went over, so I spent the whole time cleaning up my Facebook. That was fun! #beingsarcastic After a while, we then went back home and saw some people for the rest of them night as well as had dinner.

Tuesday
Tuesday was great! I'm being sarcastic again. We had zone conference all day. At zone conference, they instructed us all on how to use our new phones, how to plan effectively for investigators, and how to make investigators in the area book planner. It was a lot of training. I was tired after it all. After zone conference, we then went and had a lesson with Cai. Cai, AKA Mordecai, is a new investigator that we picked up this week. He was a referral from the Spanish elders. They were teaching his brother but soon found out that they are all English speaking, so they gave them to us. He’s a cool kid. He really wants to learn about everything. He took the Book of Mormon that the Spanish elders gave him and starter reading it. He told them that he would read 20 pages and then pray and then keep doing that process. He also read the whole restoration pamphlet. So, when we went to go and see him, we were pretty excited to figure out what he had learned and what he was like. The meeting went well. We're went over and reviewed the restoration of the gospel Jesus Christ with him. He's very receptive when it comes to the lesson, but he is also socially awkward. He's only 14 years old as well. He's a great kid, and it'll take some time for us to try to teach him and get to know him as well. After our lesson with Cai, we were able to have dinner and then went home and studied for the rest the night.

Wednesday
We had district meeting. At said district meeting, Elder Rich instructed on how to achieve our goals that we have set as a mission. It went really well. After district meeting, we had lunch. Then we did comp study, and we went and saw people for the rest of the day. We were supposed to have a lesson with Jason French at 3, but he was not there, and this is the third time he has cancelled on us on an appointment. We decided to drop him as investigator since he was not progressing, and we haven't seen him in 3 weeks. For the rest of the day, we went and saw more people. Then we had dinner at our apartment. After, we went to the church and did some area book work on the phone. Then we exchanged with Bellingham Bay.

Thursday
Thursday I spent the day with Elder Budacover. We had a blast! Our day consisted of going to the food bank in the morning and doing service for them. We just helped organize food like always. After, we then went and did some service for someone in their ward. We just helped them move some furniture into a truck. After, we then went back to the apartment and did some comp study and had some lunch. Then we went and had a lesson with Sister Oldham. We brought Brother Jones with us. That went well. We taught the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ to her. She had a lot of questions about some things in the Bible and about the church. We were able to answer those questions the best week could. She understands the restoration pretty well, but she just has some gospel misunderstandings. After our lesson, we then came back and had dinner. Then we ran to a lesson with Sister Kaveh. She is doing all right. We shared a Mormon message with her called My New Life. Many of you probably saw it on my Facebook post. It is a really good video. After that lesson, we then went home and did some area book work. Then we exchanged back with Bellingham Bay.

Friday
We had the food bank once again in the morning. After that, we came home, had some lunch, and did comp study. We then went and did some service for a sister in our ward. She needed a couch moved and some other things. It only took 45 minutes. Then we went to the church to weekly plan. After 2 hours, we then went and saw some people. We went and saw our investigator, Nate. He seems to be doing alright. He is busy as ever, but we were able to talk with him and set up Facebook so we can contact him better. After seeing some more people we then went and had dinner with Brother Shank. He took us to Five Guys. That was really good. Then we went back home and did some area book work at the church, and that ended our night.

Saturday
We spent a lot of time in the morning going and seeing people, lots of potentials and a lot of former investigators. Recently, we’ve pretty much been cleaning out our area book because of a lot of the people that are in there have dates from 2015 or 2014 or 2016. We don't understand why that is the case. After, we went and had some lunch. Then we had comp study. Then we went to the church for more weekly planning. After finishing that up, we went and saw some more people. Then we went to dinner. It went really well. After dinner, we went and had a lesson with Joey Jones, Brother Jones’s son. We taught him about the law chastity, reading and praying often, and going to church. It seemed to go decently well, however, he does not have a like for church because it is boring. That is the answer for every little kid that doesn't like going to Church, sadly. After that, we had our meeting with Brother Jones and showed him how to look up the progress record on LDS tools. I'm pretty sure all of you ward missionaries in Utah know what that is like.

Sunday
We started the day with church. After church, we had a correlation meeting. Church was great, but no more peaceful this week, don't know why. After correlation meeting, we then went home and had some lunch. Then we did some planning, personal study, comp study, and then we went and saw some people for the day. Then we went and had dinner. After, we went back to the church and did some more area book work. Then we ended the night with accounting.

Well that's the end of my week. I hope you all have been able to see my posts on Facebook. I'm really trying to post as much as I can about the atonement. I feel like that's what a lot of people need to hear about while everyone else floods the world with the Book of Mormon. I will still flood the world with it, but I feel like we need to expand on that instead of just saying what our purpose is as missionaries and stuff. I want to let people know they have been given the gift to repent and to change and that the atonement makes up the rest. I love that aspect more than just doing what everyone else is doing. If I can help someone overcome something because of what I've posted, I will be so grateful for that. Don't get me wrong, the Book of Mormon is great, but it is the thing that leads us to the atonement, just as the atonement brings us to the Book of Mormon. Anyway, enough said about that. I know I wrote a lot, but I want to share my post from Facebook that I sent yesterday. Just for those who haven't read it. I challenge you with this to go read this scripture and see what it means to you.

Happy Sunday!
I hope everyone has enjoyed it, I know I have felt peace and love from my Savior today. I wanted to share a scripture that I read this week that really helped me a lot this week. I promise I'll explain the parable:

22 ¶ And he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on.
23 The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment.
24 Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls?
25 And which of you with taking thought can add to his stature one cubit?
26 If ye then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest?
27 Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
28 If then God so clothe the grass, which is today in the field, and tomorrow is cast into the oven; how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith?
29 And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind.
30 For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things.
31 ¶ But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you.

Now what this is saying, you can take it however you want, but the way that I've taken it is this way:
When it comes to things in life, don't be puffed up in pride. Consider the lilies. They don't grow to be big blossoming flowers. They become little flowers, so humble and small. Our heavenly father desires us to be like that, humble and small so we can receive help from the atonement to lift us up. Now consider the ravens. They fly to and fro looking for their food. But yet God provides for their needs, so He does with us if we have such great faith and focus on Him and His son, Jesus Christ. Lastly, Christ is telling us, “Don't seek after worldly things, because if you do, you will only find sadness and doubt. If you seek for the kingdom of God, the Lord will bless you forever more with your dreams and desires.” How do we do such a thing? We follow the gospel of Jesus Christ, have faith in Him, repent, be baptized, or if you are already baptized, take the sacrament, receive the Holy Ghost, and endure to the end.

This helped me so much because I was doubting my own revelations. God has shown me so much since I've been out here about things that have happened and things to come. I can't wait for my future, and I know a little bit about it. But I felt that what the Lord was telling me then was, “Don't get scared about these things. If you seek the kingdom of heaven, you will be blessed with your desires. Don't get caught up in sadness or doubt. Look ahead of that and be of good cheer, for I have overcome all things, and with me nothing is impossible.” I know that to be true, and I say that in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. 

Love you all. See you in 3 months!!! 

Elder Hammond

Week 89 Strive to Look at Failures with Happiness and Enthusiasm

Hello everyone! Another week in Paradise, and we got our smart phones this week! That's what I used to type this up. Anyways here is the week.

Monday
We started the day emailing. Then we did some shopping. After, we had some lunch at Boomers. Boomers is a burger joint. After that, we then went to the church and played basketball for a while. We had a great time with the whole zone except the sisters. Getting close to evening, we went home, got changed, and then went to dinner. After dinner we went and saw people in our area before the night was over.

Tuesday
Tuesday was a long day. We did tons of walking. We started the day with progressing. Then we went to the church for mormon.org time. I was going to do some training for the portal, for our smartphones, but the website was down. After mormon.org time, we then went home and had lunch. Then we went into comp. study. After, we went and saw some people with the car, did some tracting, and then we walked to the rest of our contacts. The contacts that we were seeing were at least a half mile away from each other, sometimes even more. That's exhausting! But that's alright. We still managed. and I'm still alive. After a while, we then went to dinner with the Devries. Then we went to try to have our two lessons with people that were going to be new investigators, however, one cancelled and the other wasn't home. So, we made some different plans. Then we had a meeting with Bishop, and that ended our night.

Wednesday
We got our smartphones!! We started the day with District meeting and Elder Rich instructed about planning and how to set goals that will help us accomplish our purpose. After, we then had lunch. Then the zone leaders gave us our phones, and we got to set them up. After a couple of hours, we came home, had comp. study, and then went to our lesson with Sister Oldham. It turned out great. We were able to answer her questions about the Book of Mormon. After, drove down to Sudden Valley and had dinner with the Daly's. They feed us pizza. They also had a piano which I was able to play little bit. Sister Daly loved it. Then we went to see some people out in Sun Valley before the night was over. Around 7:30 we drove back to the church and started working on the area book planner. That has been an interesting process so far. It's a lot of work just to put our area book into the phone. After that, we went home and ended the night.

Thursday
Thursday was a sad day because we didn't have much work happen. We started the day by going to the food bank and sorting food. After, we had lunch and comp study at the church. Then we went to go see some people. Almost every person that we went to see was not home or they weren't able to talk! Later, we had dinner with the Jones family. The kids are so cute. Their youngest got a brush during dinner and started brushing my hair . It was really funny! After dinner, we then saw some people close by to the Jones family. Then we ended the day with the area book planner work.

Friday
Friday was pretty simple, only because some of the plans we had fell through. We started the day with comp study and weekly planning. After, we then went from the church to the Frazier apartments to help someone move. We soon found out that the apartment was Justin's and his roommate that he has been telling us was a rude person. It was this girl (his roommate) we were helping to move out. Funny how that happened! So, we decided to help her but told her not to tell Justin that we were helping. After, we moved couches into a moving van and many other things. We then drove to the storage unit where they were going to place all the furniture. We helped put the furniture away. After, we went to go see a referral named Eydie . She was nice and told us they would love to have us come and maybe do service, but she really wasn't interested in a message. We left our phone number with her and then went back to the church to weekly plan some more. After, we then had a lesson with Leilani. With taught her about the word of wisdom. Before our lesson, we saw Justin, and he told us that everything had been taken out of his apartment, and he was really, really shocked. I felt bad for acting like I knew nothing about it. But that's alright. Maybe it'll help him in the long run, who knows. After a lesson, we went over to his apartment and talked to him. We checked up with his reading and his prayers and offered our help in any way that he needed it. Then we went and had dinner. After, we went back to church and did some area book work in the area planner. That ended our night.

Saturday
We started the day by going and updating the progress record. With our smartphones, we now have the ability to electronically update our progress record through LDS tools. It's pretty cool! I'm pretty sure if you ask Justin he could tell you all about it! That sucks sometimes in the morning trying to figure out everything, but after we then went to go see some people before we went to go and have lunch. Around 12:30, we went and had lunch at the apartment. Then we did comp study, and then we went to go and see some more people after lunch. In the afternoon, we were able to go and see Justin, our investigator, again and follow up with how he was doing the night before. We committed him to pray and ask his Father in Heaven about the Book of Mormon to know if it was true. He said that he prayed last night, but he didn't tell us if he prayed about what we asked him to pray about. So, we discussed it with him, and we discussed some things that he had dreams about. We were planning on dropping him, however, once he started explaining the dream that he had that night, the spirit started to enter the room, and we could feel its presence. His dream consisted of him walking to a house, a house that his father had grew grown up in. At this house, his father opened the door and talked to Justin, and what his father said continually was, “I'm trapped, I’m trapped! Help me to get out.” In the dream, he said he could feel loved and as well he felt pain for his father, so much that he gave him hugs and they talked for a little more and continued hugging each other and crying with each other, but yet he couldn't seem to satisfy his father because he didn't know how to free him or why he was trapped. Listening to this dream, we gave him some advice and talked about the spirit world and how sometimes people have dreams of brothers and sisters telling them that they are trapped in spirit prison and the only way they can get out of that is if they become baptized and continue on in Exaltation. He took it pretty well, and he said he was going to go into further investigation about it. We told him to ponder about those things and to pray about them and once he did that, he would be able to understand his dream a little bit better.

After that visit with him, we then had a lesson with Jason Byers. He seems to be doing alright. We read some scriptures with him about increasing his faith. He really enjoyed those scriptures, and we had a good discussion. As we were leaving, he seemed very peaceful with himself. I was excited to see that because I have never seen that with him in the whole year and a half that I've known him on my mission. From that visit, we then went back to church and finished weekly planning. Then we went to the mall and got Panda Express for dinner. We also checked out Famous Footwear for Elder Rich to look at some new shoes. Then we came back to the church and did some area book planning so that we could get the area book into the phone. Then we went and had a lesson with Joey and had our meeting with Brother Jones. We talked to Joey about the word of wisdom. After our meeting with Brother Jones, with then came home and ended the night.

Sunday
We started the day with ward council. Then we had church right after. We went through all the church service and had a good time. There was a talk in sacrament meeting that talked about the atonement and how to look past failure with happiness. After church, we then went to Sister Thowson and waited a whole hour for her to come back from her walk. That was boring... so we went home and had some lunch. Then we planned out the day, and then went to go and see her again to see if she was home. This time she was. So, we went and gave her a blessing because she is going through procedure sometime today. After, we then went to the church and did our personal study, our comp study, and dinner all in 3 hours. Then realizing that we needed the area book to do some area book planning, we went to go and grab it from the car. However, when we walked out of the church building, we went to go and unlock the car, but realize that the keys were still inside the church building. So, we went to go back to the church to open the door, however, the church was locked because the lock was broken. THAT WAS STUPID!!!!!! So, we had to walk to Walgreens, call Brother Jones, and ask him if he would come and unlock the church building so we could go get our stuff and head back home for accounting. That was not fun.

Well, that's my week for you, everyone. It was an interesting week to say the least. However, I did learn a lot this week, and I'm grateful for everything I did learn. I understand that the Lord really does love each and every one of us beyond what we can imagine. He does not expect us to always succeed in life, nor does He expect us to be perfect a hundred percent as His son, Jesus Christ, is right now. However, He expects us to try, to strive to be the best we can be and nothing else. From the words of a scripture I quote, “For notwithstanding their sins, my bowels are filled with compassion towards them.” Them is referring to us as his brothers and sisters. To that I have to ask the question, “Why is that?” To answer that question, we must understand that Jesus Christ suffered the atonement for all mankind, but not just mankind, all living things. We must also understand that God expects us to do as much as we can and then understand and know that the atonement will make up the rest. The atonement is not merely Jesus Christ suffering on the cross, even though that is a part of it. The atonement is what makes me, the sinner, be able to access the gift of repentance.

If there is anything that you can take from this letter, brothers and sisters, remember this. We must not look at failure as a terrible thing. If we look at the life of Thomas Edison, when he invented the light bulb, he did not say, “I failed a thousand times, oh well.” He said, “I have found a thousand steps to achieve a miracle.” Thomas Edison looked at this as a positive thing to help him to be able to invent the light bulb. Thomas Edison was a great example of a man that looked at failure with enthusiasm. When his factory was burning down in flames, he did not cry, he didn't even weep for a second. When his son came to find him, he asked him if he was all right. To his son’s surprise, Thomas Edison told him, " Charles, get your mother. She will never see a fire like this ever again in her life." Haha! I Iove that. What struck me is what he told everyone the next day. "My friends, all of our mistakes have burned away. We can start again!" Boy, I wish to have enthusiasm like that after every failure! This was part of the talk on the atonement in our sacrament meeting Sunday.

This week I had the opportunity to receive a very uplifting letter from a good friend and a brother of Christ, who I believe I met in the pre-earth life before I came to this earth. I only say that because he has gone through a lot of the same struggles as I have and understands me a hundred percent. My dear friend became converted to the gospel while I was on my mission. In this letter, he was able to lift my spirit, to help me find peace in my service. And I want to thank him for that. Not only in that letter as I was reading it today did I feel the spirit, but I felt the love that my Heavenly Father and only Jesus Christ could give me, and even though I can't share this letter with every single person because it is a sacred letter, I know that it is meant to help not only me, but it will stand as a reminder to my friend and will help him in his life when he needs it most. 

In his letter, he recommended the talk by Elder Robins from this month’s General Conference. I encourage those that read this letter to read that talk. It has helped me a lot. Brothers and sisters, I know that as we look from failure to failure with happiness and enthusiasm to continue to grow, we will be able to strive to receive that perfect life which Jesus Christ commanded us to "be ye there for perfect, even as your father which is in heaven perfect". We will see joy in repentance. We will see sorrow turn into happiness, shame into peace, and hate into love. I know this to be true, and I know that as I start to apply this in my life, I will be able to conquer anything that comes in my path. I leave these things with you in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Elder Hammond

Week 88 Transfers

Hey everyone! This week has been great! You already heard part of it with the temple on Tuesday and now you get to hear the rest. So here is the rest of the week for you.

Wednesday

We had transfers, and Brother Devrise took us down to Lynnwood. We had a good time on the way down, however we got to the mission office early, so we waited for an hour talking to other missionaries. Then after, we got our slips, and I found out I got Elder Rich as my new companion. Guess what? He's the district leader! I don't know why, but President keeps doing this to me. I'll be on my own for a little bit, but right as it seems responsibility is handed to me, he puts a district leader with me. I've had 6 comps. as a district leader. It's almost like President wants me to learn something. After, we drove back home and then got things situated, meaning he unpacked a little. Then we went right into planning the day. Then we went and tried to see some people. Around 4, we had a lesson with Sister Oldham. She's a less active member we met last week. We talked about eternal marriage with her and the Book of Mormon. After, we went and visited with Hue. We talked about patriarchal blessing and gifts of the spirit with her. She is going through a hard time. She was pregnant but then lost the baby. I don't know how that can feel, but I know that there are people out there that do. After that visit, we had dinner. Then we went shopping. From there, we went to a lesson with Jason Byers. We read some scriptures with him and then talked about how the word of wisdom is commanded of God. After, we came home and ended the night with Elder Rich unpacking.

Background on Elder Rich. He is from Minnesota. He is 19 years old. He has been out on his mission for 9 months now, and this is his first time being district leader. Me having 4 more months left, I just hope I don't get too prideful and turn into what Elder Addington did when I was with him. I'm junior comp to him.

Thursday

We had district meeting in the morning. Elder Rich instructed on repentance and how to achieve our goals we set as missionaries. After, we had lunch. Then we went home and had comp study. After that, we went with Brother Eywing and went to go see some members in the ward that were new. That was an interesting experience. We only got to see 4 people and only 3 of them were home. Brother Eywing is an older man. He is also called to be the assistant secretary. So, he is supposed to go out with us and see these new people. After that, we went and saw some potential investigators, but not a lot of them were home. So, we went to dinner with the Rensinks. After, we went and saw some more people, and then ended the night.

Friday

We started the day with comp study. Then we went and saw people. After, we came home, had lunch, and then went to a lesson with Chris. We talked about priesthood and baptism. Chris seemed a little annoyed, and he wasn't being really committed to what we were asking him to do, so we dropped him. After that lesson, we then went and saw some more people. Later that night, we met with Nick Nelting at the church. He wanted to say goodbye because he is moving to the Everson Ward. After, we went and had dinner at Jimmy Johns. Then we went and had a lesson with the Prices. Julies and Phoenix are a family in the ward. Julies is less active because of work, and Phoenix is not a member, so we taught them the restoration this week and told them we would love to teach more if they would want us to. They told us they would love that. After our lesson, we then went home and started our weekly planning.

Saturday

We went and did service for the Whatcom Land Trust this morning. We helped dig spots for parking barges. Then we went home, had lunch, and did comp study. Then we planned, had personal study, and went to our lesson with Leiloni. We taught her about the 10 commandments and following the prophet. After the lesson, we came home and finished our weekly planning. Then we went and met with Brother Jones. That ended the night.

Sunday

We had ward conference. It was really good. During priesthood, President Nelson explained what ministering is all about. It’s about bringing others the atonement of Jesus Christ. After church, we had lunch. Then we planned out the day. After, we went and had a lesson with Holland. We just read scriptures with him. I forgot to say that Nikki came to church, and we had a lesson with her after our meeting with Holland. Then after, we went and saw some people before we came home and had dinner. Then we did personal study and comp study for the rest of the night.

Well that was my week I hope you all had a good Sunday. I'll see you soon. Have a great week!!

Elder Hammond

Temple trip last week