Strait up Gangsta

Life in the city is a party! Things are crazy down here!

So, the Elder I replaced had some problems in the area. We'll just say that he hasn't quite figured out how to lock his heart yet. Because of that, President had to make an emergency transfer, and now I get to bike around the ghetto of the mission. I'm serving in the North Highlands 1st Ward which is the southern most tip of the mission. Our area isn't very big and it's kind of odd shaped too. Because of that and because we are on bikes, we actually leave our mission boundaries once or twice a day to get from one side of the ward to the other. Pres. knows about it and he's okay with it. We share a church building with a ward from the Sacramento mission, so we see the Sac missionaries in that ward fairly often. It's kind of strange. Our area is a little rough. I've been sworn at, yelled at, and seen all kinds of crazy things in the week that I've been here. There was a guy outside of our apartment a couple days ago selling crack...and I've seen a few drug deals since I've been here too. I won't tell you what happened to my companion and the missionary I replaced a couple weeks ago...well alright, I will. They were biking home and ended up talking to a group of drunk dudes. One of them pulled out a gun and pointed it at my companion (E. Hansen) and asked him if he was willing to die in the name of Jesus Christ. He told them yes he was willing to die for Christ. The guy with the gun put it away saying that he liked the missionaries and knew that they were doing the Lord's work. Yeah, hopefully I don't have a gun pulled on me anytime soon, but if it happens, whatever. It's all good.

The work in the area is going pretty well. We have two baptisms coming up at the end of this month for a couple of young women in the ward. We have also just started teaching the family of a less active member who recently started coming back to church. He's the only member. He has four kids: Brittney, Brianna, Marquis, and Destiny, and I don't know his wife's name. The entire family has sat in on the lessons that we've had and they are slowly starting to open up to it more. E. Hansen and I are really hoping and praying that we can help the entire family come into the church. That would be sooooooo cool to teach a family!! I have a really good feeling about them and I think that some great things are going to be happening. It's going to be tough, but that's nothing new. Man I am hoping that this family feels the Spirit together!!! That would be awesome if they were all to get baptized! Pray for them!! Oh, their last name is Miller, fyi.

Okay, for phone calls this Sunday... I sent a letter home in the mail with some details about it last week, but you may not have received it yet. Here's the latest information for you though. I will be calling you (not the other way around) at 4:00 pm California time. If I can't get through I will wait 15 minutes and try again. If that interferes with anything, the only thing I can say is that you'll have to contact the mission office to get a message to me so we can get it nailed down for sure since I won't be checking my email again before Sunday. Hopefully that doesn't overlap with Devin's call. If worst comes to worst, I'll have a member in my ward call you directly sometime on Sunday to find out when a good time would be for you. It will all work out, so I'm not worried about it. Have a paper and pen nearby to take some notes! There are a few things I'm going to need to ask you to do for me : ).

Well, I think that's about it for the week. I'm looking forward to Sunday. I can't believe it's Mother's Day again already! Time just isn't slowing down for anything. Have some questions ready to ask me when I call! Be mighty!

Elder Hammer