40 Days

Hello again to one and all! Hopefully everyone is having a great week. It's finally starting to warm up here and I am loving it! Right now it's in the 70's outside, everything is super green, and it's great! Nor Cal is beautiful. We drive around and I can't help but see God's hand in everything around me. I love it!

Okay, here's an update on the people we have been trying to work with. Jason Cardona is still completely lost. We have continued to try and track him down, but it hasn't worked. I called him for about the thousandth time the other day and just asked him to call back to let us know if he was even interested anymore in meeting. So far, nothing. It's a bummer. We are still hoping that somehow we can find him again and remind him of the Spirit he felt in our meetings. The old lady, Donna Thompson, is crazy. I called the nurse who operates the facility to ask her what Donna's deal was and she told me that she has a few mental disorders. For example, Donna told us, "everyone around here keeps telling me that my husband is dead, but I know he's up in the mountains teaching ski lessons." That guy must be in dang good shape to still be skiing in his 90's. In reality, her husband has been dead for quite a while now, but she won't accept that. All in all, we aren't going to be able to work with her. The missionaries in the Spirit World are going to have fun with her. : )

You're probably wondering what 40 days has to do with anything. Elder Garner and I have decided to do something called the 40 day purification activity. What that includes is going 40 days "fasting" from all the behaviors that poke at the Spirit. We started our activity on Sunday with an all day fast. Before we broke our fast, we knelt as a companionship and prayed asking Heavenly Father to inspire us to know what we should put on a list of things to fast from. Individually, we then continued by praying, reading the scriptures, and pondering to know what we should do. It was a really spiritual experience. I found a couple scriptures in D&C that I have decided to make my motto. They are D&C 123: 13 and 17. I want to "waste and wear out" my life in the service of God. This activity is going to really help our companionship and help me individually to have the Spirit so I can testify with power and authority. Today is day number 2 of 40. There is a long way to go, but it is worth it.

Well, that's it for now. Everyone have a great week. By the way, the emails have kind of slowed down a bit from home lately. Mom, I always looked forward to your quick, short emails that you used to send... ; )

Be mighty! Love you!
Elder J. Hammer