Well, here we are at pday again. I had a whole lot of stuff to say today, but I left my planner in the car so I might forget some of it. First off, Dad, I decided I probably don't need to spend any money on a bike. There are some members in our ward that said they have some they will donate to us, and they live in a $2.4 million townhouse in Charlestown, so I am assuming it's probably a decent bike. I'll just wait until we get those and then if I need to I can just get one from Walmart or something. Dang, it's annoying cause I can't even remember the first thing I had written down to tell you. haha. I guess I'll start with Donna. We dropped her on saturday. We called to see if she was going to make it to church, but she said no, cause she already had a ride set up to go to the JW's again. She told us that she is really confused, which doesn't make sense to me, because in our last lesson with her, we found out that she hadn't prayed about Joseph or the BoM so we had her do it there, and she told us she heard a voice tell her it was true. But, somehow, she's still confused between the 2 churches, and told us that July wouldn't work for her baptism, so we just told her that we had taught her everything we could, and that we still wanted her to come to church and keep reading, but that we couldn't keep coming over. We also told her to give us a call when she feels ready to be baptized, and she said she would. We have been trying to determine whether or not she is all there mentally or not, but it's hard to tell. It may just be from all of the cigarettes she's smoked in her life, but I don't konw. Anyway, she's dropped, which means we now have 0 serious investigators. which is pretty lame. But we are doing a lot of finding right now so hopefully next week we'll have someone to teach. We tracted a lot yesterday and set up a few return appointments so we'll see how those go.
So yesterday was the dedication of our new Stake Center. It was a very good meeting. We got there just before it started so we had to sit in the very back of the overflow but the meeting was still very very good. The Stake Choir sang and they had a trumpet playing, which I didn't think you could do, but maybe it's just cause it wasn't dedicated yet, but it was a cool song. And Elder Eyring, who is the Area 70 and son of Pres. Eyring spoke. The Stake Pres did the dedicatory prayer, which had some really cool promises and blessings in it, and then we went home. It was only an hour long, which seemed pretty short to me, but that's alright. Afterwards, we were walking around the building, cause I hadn't seen the whole thing yet, and guess who I saw? Mitt Romney. Wahoo. He said "Hello Elder" and patted my shoulder, then kept on walking. I didn't know he is that tall! He's probably a good 6' 6-7". It was pretty cool to see him there though.
Speaking of the new stake center, they had a whole bunch of activities this last week at the building which included a Jon Schmidt concert. We had invited some people to attend it, so we were allowed to go. It was awesome! We didn't see anyone we invited, so I was bummed, but the concert was amazing! He played for about 2 hours, and and it was so good. I know it probably wasn't as good as the one Justin went to, but this one was free. haha. He is a really funny guy too. I was surprised that there weren't more people there, but I guess people just don't know him as well out here. I wish I could just replay the whole thing back to you but, I can't, and I don't know what else to say, other than it was amazing. haha.
I got Jaden's Eagle announcement. Congrats on that! Glad you didn't try to beat me on seeing how long you could put it off. haha. That's great!
Oh, I just remembered what the first thing was that I wrote down to say. It was about the US. Darn it. I was hoping they would go farther this time. Oh well, maybe they can win it next time when it's in brasil. haha. But yeah, the little ninos that live below us keep us updated on all the games from the World Cup. They are so funny. Now that school's finally out (school gets out here the last week of June! ouch!) they literally play soccer all day. they have a net set up in the driveway, so the ball wont go over the fence, and they are out there pretty much all day every day playing soccer. Its pretty funny.
Well, I know there's way more stuff I had planned on saying, but I really can't remember it all right now. oh well. Next week's the 4th of July! We arent' allowed to go watch the fireworks, because it's on Sunday, but they are doing a firework show on Satruday as well so hopefully that's gonna be cool. I'm excited. I just realized when I typed that, that if it's the 4th of july, that means it's also the 1st of july, which means it's dad's birthday! Wahoo! I honestly can't remember how old you are. haha. Getting up there, though. haha. Hope you have a good day!
I guess one last thing I can think of is that I was just wondering if I can use my debit card. are there any problems with that? And do I have to tell you everything I buy with it, or just big purchases? I was just wondering.
Oh, and by the way mom, Dave already got his call to England. AND HE BETTER WRITE ME ANOTHER LETTER BEFORE HE LEAVES!!!! haha.
Alright, I gotta go. Hope you all have a wonderful week! Love you all!!!
Love,
Elder Hammer
P.S. Dad, I know it's not important, but I still would like to know what happens to Bro. Pratt. Please let me know. Thanks.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
It's Getting Hot!
First off, before I forget, happy birthday this week, Dad! Being a year older probably doesn't make much of a difference when you are old to begin with, huh? : ) At least you're not 50...yet. If you're considering going through a mid-life crisis anytime soon, might I suggest doing what my Zone Leader's dad did and purchase a new Mustang GT 500, grabber-orange with white racing stripes. Just a suggestion. ; )
Samantha Tanner finally got baptized this past week! The baptism service went really well although my comp, Elder Hansen, said he thought he could smell alcohol on Sam's dad's breath. At least he was there. Sam couldn't stop smiling the entire time. She's been so ready to get baptized for so long! It was such a relief to finally have the baptism take place.
Our investigator, Rikee, came to church for the first time yesterday! We took her on a chapel tour earlier in the week after she told us, "I'm gonna be real wich you guys, ahm kinda scared to come to church." She really enjoyed sacrament meeting and she plans on coming back. We're thinking about recommiting her to be baptized on the 24th of July. She's living with her boyfriend, so we potentially are going to run into some problems when we tell her that they've either got to get hitched, or separated. We'll see how it goes.
I'm kinda drawing a blank today for my email. I've felt super stressed out for the past couple of days, but I can't really figure out why. There's just a ton of small things that are driving me crazy right now and they're all piled up. I'm ready for the transfer to come. Speaking of which, transfers are a week from tomorrow, so if you send any mail after Wednesday you should send it to the mission office in case I get moved around. There's a good possibility that we no longer cover both the North Highlands ward and the Antelope 2nd ward at the same time. President asked me which of the two wards I would like to cover more and I told him Antelope. I'll let you know what happens. I'm ready for a change.
Congrats to Jaden for getting his Eagle! Thanks for the announcement, I appreciated it. Kurtis, have you made any more progress on yours yet? I know you're busy, but hopefully you've got plans to get it done soon.
Well, I can't think of anything else to say. My brain is fried. Man, P-Days are supposed to be a time of preparing for the upcoming week, a time to get your batteries recharged. But, dangit! It's frustrating to no end when the other missionaries in your zone plan all kinds of ridiculous stuff that ends up wasting all of your time and you end up accomplishing nothing. ...sorry for the small vent. Maybe I need a change of attitude about everything that's happening. Life is good. There isn't anything I'd rather be doing right now. Thanks for all your support! I appreciate it so much. Have a great week!
BE MIGHTY!
Elder Hammer
Samantha Tanner finally got baptized this past week! The baptism service went really well although my comp, Elder Hansen, said he thought he could smell alcohol on Sam's dad's breath. At least he was there. Sam couldn't stop smiling the entire time. She's been so ready to get baptized for so long! It was such a relief to finally have the baptism take place.
Our investigator, Rikee, came to church for the first time yesterday! We took her on a chapel tour earlier in the week after she told us, "I'm gonna be real wich you guys, ahm kinda scared to come to church." She really enjoyed sacrament meeting and she plans on coming back. We're thinking about recommiting her to be baptized on the 24th of July. She's living with her boyfriend, so we potentially are going to run into some problems when we tell her that they've either got to get hitched, or separated. We'll see how it goes.
I'm kinda drawing a blank today for my email. I've felt super stressed out for the past couple of days, but I can't really figure out why. There's just a ton of small things that are driving me crazy right now and they're all piled up. I'm ready for the transfer to come. Speaking of which, transfers are a week from tomorrow, so if you send any mail after Wednesday you should send it to the mission office in case I get moved around. There's a good possibility that we no longer cover both the North Highlands ward and the Antelope 2nd ward at the same time. President asked me which of the two wards I would like to cover more and I told him Antelope. I'll let you know what happens. I'm ready for a change.
Congrats to Jaden for getting his Eagle! Thanks for the announcement, I appreciated it. Kurtis, have you made any more progress on yours yet? I know you're busy, but hopefully you've got plans to get it done soon.
Well, I can't think of anything else to say. My brain is fried. Man, P-Days are supposed to be a time of preparing for the upcoming week, a time to get your batteries recharged. But, dangit! It's frustrating to no end when the other missionaries in your zone plan all kinds of ridiculous stuff that ends up wasting all of your time and you end up accomplishing nothing. ...sorry for the small vent. Maybe I need a change of attitude about everything that's happening. Life is good. There isn't anything I'd rather be doing right now. Thanks for all your support! I appreciate it so much. Have a great week!
BE MIGHTY!
Elder Hammer
Monday, June 21, 2010
What's Happenin?
Another week in good ole Cali. We are all set for a baptism this Saturday with Samantha Tanner. Sam was the investigator who was going to get baptized a month ago, but didn't because they wanted her dad to try and do it. Well, he didn't make it the 30 days. Thankfully though, they are still going ahead with the baptism. I'm bummed out that Jody won't be able to do the baptism, but it's for the best that we go ahead anyways. She is totally ready (has been for a long time) so we shouldn't wait any longer. I'm stoked that it's finally going to happen.
We had kind of a crazy thing happen to us this past week. E. Hansen and I were out biking around when we passed this lady lying on the ground on the side of the road. She didn't look good at all. Another lady was there nudging her with her foot to see if she was just sleeping. Umm, she wasn't sleeping. We stopped and asked what was going on. The lady doing the nudging had just been walking to the bus stop and she had already called 911. We waited around until the paramedics showed up. It was weird because they didn't have their lights on or anything, and it definitely didn't look like they were in much of a hurry. When they jumped out of the fire truck, they said thanks for waiting around and that they had just finished dealing with this lady like 15 minutes ago somewhere else. I didn't find out what was going on, but one of the paramedics went over to the lady and started slapping her face a little. She opened her eyes and kind of sat up. We left at that point. From what I saw, I am assuming that the lady was totally drunk, or on drugs, or something, and had passed out right there on the side of the road. She looked like she hadn't bathed in weeks, she stunk (or that might have been the nasty pile of trash she was laying in...), and her teeth were all missing. When I have people ask me why I don't live my life a little more, "go out and party, drink some beer, sleep around, etc." I want to just take them out tracting with us. I wish they could see half of the people we run into who are so completely fried, wasted, baked, smashed, hammered, stoned, and so forth that they literally can't function normally anymore. I want them to see the lady cooking on the roadside in a mixture of candy wrappers, greasy paper, empty beer bottles, and who knows what kind of nasty liquid, and then ask them, "Does this look like fun to you?" Satan is really good at making things seem appealing, but ultimately it doesn't matter how glamorous or exciting the stuff is, he's going to leave you miserable, beaten down, and caught in a trap of self-destructive behaviors that you can't get out of. I know what brings happiness. Not just temporary happiness either, but lasting joy that continues to grow and doesn't dim after the artificial lights of a drug high wear off. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only way to have that happiness, and I am eternally grateful that I have been blessed enough to experience a portion of that in my lifetime already.
This email is going to be a bit shorter this week than the last few have been. Dad, I hope you had a good Father's Day. I was thinking about how much I appreciate all that you have done for me. It's taken me a while to start to understand a few things about life, and I wish I would have figured some of it out sooner. Thank you for everything. I wouldn't be here without your love and support. I love you.
Everybody, else: thanks again for all that you do. Until next week, BE MIGHTY!
love,
Elder J. Hammer
We had kind of a crazy thing happen to us this past week. E. Hansen and I were out biking around when we passed this lady lying on the ground on the side of the road. She didn't look good at all. Another lady was there nudging her with her foot to see if she was just sleeping. Umm, she wasn't sleeping. We stopped and asked what was going on. The lady doing the nudging had just been walking to the bus stop and she had already called 911. We waited around until the paramedics showed up. It was weird because they didn't have their lights on or anything, and it definitely didn't look like they were in much of a hurry. When they jumped out of the fire truck, they said thanks for waiting around and that they had just finished dealing with this lady like 15 minutes ago somewhere else. I didn't find out what was going on, but one of the paramedics went over to the lady and started slapping her face a little. She opened her eyes and kind of sat up. We left at that point. From what I saw, I am assuming that the lady was totally drunk, or on drugs, or something, and had passed out right there on the side of the road. She looked like she hadn't bathed in weeks, she stunk (or that might have been the nasty pile of trash she was laying in...), and her teeth were all missing. When I have people ask me why I don't live my life a little more, "go out and party, drink some beer, sleep around, etc." I want to just take them out tracting with us. I wish they could see half of the people we run into who are so completely fried, wasted, baked, smashed, hammered, stoned, and so forth that they literally can't function normally anymore. I want them to see the lady cooking on the roadside in a mixture of candy wrappers, greasy paper, empty beer bottles, and who knows what kind of nasty liquid, and then ask them, "Does this look like fun to you?" Satan is really good at making things seem appealing, but ultimately it doesn't matter how glamorous or exciting the stuff is, he's going to leave you miserable, beaten down, and caught in a trap of self-destructive behaviors that you can't get out of. I know what brings happiness. Not just temporary happiness either, but lasting joy that continues to grow and doesn't dim after the artificial lights of a drug high wear off. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only way to have that happiness, and I am eternally grateful that I have been blessed enough to experience a portion of that in my lifetime already.
This email is going to be a bit shorter this week than the last few have been. Dad, I hope you had a good Father's Day. I was thinking about how much I appreciate all that you have done for me. It's taken me a while to start to understand a few things about life, and I wish I would have figured some of it out sooner. Thank you for everything. I wouldn't be here without your love and support. I love you.
Everybody, else: thanks again for all that you do. Until next week, BE MIGHTY!
love,
Elder J. Hammer
Hola
Well, I can't believe it's Pday again already. I know I say this in almost every email, but time is going by so dang fast! It's crazy. I don't have much to say today because not a whole lot has happened since last week. I guess the first thing is that the other day, we were over at a member family's house, who are from Brazil. We go over usually once every two weeks, because they are sortof going inactive. The family is a single mom, with 3 boys ages 17, 18, and 21. They are really cool. ANyways, the story is that when we go over, she usually makes us some delicious brazilian drink from fruit juices and good stuff. This last time, the drink was all purply-blue, so I figured it was berries. She told us it was vegetable, but it's one of her favorites so I assumed it would be good. Very wrong assumption. haha. It was the nastiest thing I can think of that I've ever taken into my body. she told us it was lettuce, spinach, tomato, celery, carrot, and I don't know what else, but it was disgusting! She gave all 5 of us a huge glass of it, so after we had almost thrown up from the first sip (I'm not kidding), we decided to see who could drink all of it the fastest. haha. I didn't feel bad telling her it was gross, because her boys were saying it, and she was just laughing at us. It was so gross. But, the good news is she probably won't make that one again. haha.
Oh - here's a cool story. This last week we got some new missionaries. One of them is in our district. His name is E. Chavez, from Fontana, CA. When I heard that, I asked if he knows the Troncholi's (sorry if I spelled it wrong) who are the Lemley's friends, cousins, I don't remember which. But anyway, he said "yeah they are in my home ward" WEIRD! I told him that I knew Vincent and Kelsey and he thought that was pretty cool. He said that they have been family friends for years! You'll have to tell the Lemley's about that one! Crazy!
So, Donna. She wasn't at church yesterday, which makes it a month since she's gone. We talked to her friend and she said that she went to the Jehovah's Witnesses this week, which is what she was studying when we met her. LAME! She hasn't progressed at all the last few weeks, so we are going to drop her this week to see if that will help her realize how important this is. We are meeting her tomorrow, so hopefully we can figure out whats wrong with her so we don't have to drop her, but chances are we will have to. It's so sad because she was progressing so well when we first met her. It's so frustrating. And, since we are dropping her, that means our teaching pool is down to 0 so we are going to be doing a ton of contacting and tracting this next week. I'm excited cause I love contacting people. Hopefully we can get some member referrals too because that's where its all at. Referrals are awesome.
So there's a new stake center that just got finished being built here. The open house is all this week, and they are having a ton of really cool activities throughout the week to celebrate it. ON Wed. , there is a 3 on 3 bball tourney in the building, thur, there is a Jon Schmidt concert at 3 and 7 so hopefully we'll be able to go to one of those. That would be sweet. Fri there is a fireside with some guy I haven't heard of before, and saturday, they are having a concert with one of Boston's premier choral groups. Then Sunday is the dedication. It's going to be cool. I haven't seen the building yet, but I've heard it's huge. There are 2 chapels in it! It's like 3 floors with 2 full chapels and a bball court in the basement, with a parking garage beneath that! And, the Bishop announced that it is the most expensive building the church has ever built besides temples! pretty awesome! I'm excited to see it. Hopefully I can get some pics of it for you. speaking of pics, I printed off a whole bunch and have been planning on sending them to you, but I haven't gotten around to it yet. sorry. haha. hopefully I'll do that this week.
Well, thats about all I can think of to write today. I was pretty upset that the Lakers won again. Dang Celtics. Oh well, now all their shirts and stuff should be cheaper. haha. And, we had to get our car fixed the other day, and they had the TV on sportcenter and they were talking about the US Slovenia game. That foul was a load of garbage. US definitely should have won that one. oh well. So, yep I'm gonna go now. We're playing soccer again with a whole bunch of missionaries today. Im excited; it should be fun. Hope you had a good Father's Day dad! I love you!
Take care, have a great week. I love you all!!!!
Love,
Elder D Hammer
P.S. I don't really know how long it takes mail to get here, but I usually don't get your weekly letter until Monday afternoons, which is after I email, so if you could send it like a day or two earlier, that would be cool.
Oh - here's a cool story. This last week we got some new missionaries. One of them is in our district. His name is E. Chavez, from Fontana, CA. When I heard that, I asked if he knows the Troncholi's (sorry if I spelled it wrong) who are the Lemley's friends, cousins, I don't remember which. But anyway, he said "yeah they are in my home ward" WEIRD! I told him that I knew Vincent and Kelsey and he thought that was pretty cool. He said that they have been family friends for years! You'll have to tell the Lemley's about that one! Crazy!
So, Donna. She wasn't at church yesterday, which makes it a month since she's gone. We talked to her friend and she said that she went to the Jehovah's Witnesses this week, which is what she was studying when we met her. LAME! She hasn't progressed at all the last few weeks, so we are going to drop her this week to see if that will help her realize how important this is. We are meeting her tomorrow, so hopefully we can figure out whats wrong with her so we don't have to drop her, but chances are we will have to. It's so sad because she was progressing so well when we first met her. It's so frustrating. And, since we are dropping her, that means our teaching pool is down to 0 so we are going to be doing a ton of contacting and tracting this next week. I'm excited cause I love contacting people. Hopefully we can get some member referrals too because that's where its all at. Referrals are awesome.
So there's a new stake center that just got finished being built here. The open house is all this week, and they are having a ton of really cool activities throughout the week to celebrate it. ON Wed. , there is a 3 on 3 bball tourney in the building, thur, there is a Jon Schmidt concert at 3 and 7 so hopefully we'll be able to go to one of those. That would be sweet. Fri there is a fireside with some guy I haven't heard of before, and saturday, they are having a concert with one of Boston's premier choral groups. Then Sunday is the dedication. It's going to be cool. I haven't seen the building yet, but I've heard it's huge. There are 2 chapels in it! It's like 3 floors with 2 full chapels and a bball court in the basement, with a parking garage beneath that! And, the Bishop announced that it is the most expensive building the church has ever built besides temples! pretty awesome! I'm excited to see it. Hopefully I can get some pics of it for you. speaking of pics, I printed off a whole bunch and have been planning on sending them to you, but I haven't gotten around to it yet. sorry. haha. hopefully I'll do that this week.
Well, thats about all I can think of to write today. I was pretty upset that the Lakers won again. Dang Celtics. Oh well, now all their shirts and stuff should be cheaper. haha. And, we had to get our car fixed the other day, and they had the TV on sportcenter and they were talking about the US Slovenia game. That foul was a load of garbage. US definitely should have won that one. oh well. So, yep I'm gonna go now. We're playing soccer again with a whole bunch of missionaries today. Im excited; it should be fun. Hope you had a good Father's Day dad! I love you!
Take care, have a great week. I love you all!!!!
Love,
Elder D Hammer
P.S. I don't really know how long it takes mail to get here, but I usually don't get your weekly letter until Monday afternoons, which is after I email, so if you could send it like a day or two earlier, that would be cool.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Hello!
Okay, this week has been busy. First off, I am sorry I don't think I've told you, but every 6th P-day (transfer week) we have P-day on wednesday, rather than monday. so, if you've been worried about that, just keep that in mind for the future :) Umm, about the deduction in my account. Yes, I did buy a GPS at walmart because driving here is ridiculous if you don't have one, and we had to give the one back that we had. Sorry, I don't think I knew that I only have $100 on there. What happens now? Didn't realize I'd be screwing it up. haha. Sorry.
Anyway, like Justin's email, it seems like we've done a lot, but I can't really remember when it was. Time is just a big blur. haha. It's weird to think that I've already been here 8 weeks as of today! wow. Oh, yes transfers were this week. For tradition, we went to watch the sunrise again. It was awesome. It came up and was blood red, and you could look at it without hurting your eyes, and then it got bright. It was cool. I have more pictures. Me and E. Winslow are staying here. Chances are, I will be here until around New Years cause that's how all the other cambodian elder's have been. about 8 months in their first area. crazy.
So luckily, I had this great idea to write down all the cool things that happen, so I can remember that way what happened this last week. First, our meeting with Elder Nelson was AWESOME!! We went to the meeting, and even before he walked in, you could tell that their was a very special spirit in the building. And then when he did walk in, it was even stronger. Before the meeting started, he wanted to shake all of our hands. As we took turns going up there, I was listening to what he was telling everyone as they shook his hand. It was basically just "good morning" but when I shook his hand, he said "Good morning, Elder Hammer" haha. he said my name! That was a very awesome experience. the rest of the meeting was amazing too. Elder Eyring (the area 70 who is Pres. Eyring's son) was there too. He spoke for like 10 minutes about how awesome our mission President is. it was cool. Then Elder Nelson spoke. He talked a lot about obedience, and what the real purpose is for the Book of Mormon. Which is to help gather Israel, as it states in the Introduction in the front. It was insane all of the insights and things he shared with us! He is an extremely smart man. And he's way funny too. I can't even type all of the feelings and thoughts I have about that experience. It was awesome.
Something else that has happened quite a bit recently is we have met like 6 guys that are RM's working for APX. Some of them came and played soccer with us last P-day. But, the other ones just talk to us when we are out on the streets. All of them we've talked to either went to Brazil, or Portugal. haha. They were all really cool guys too. I told them that my dad works for Pinnacle, and they laughed and said that was cool. I just thought that it was funny that we've seen 6 of them in Lynn, MA because they can definitely use the upgraded security. haha. but then again, not many people here can probably afford a security system. oh well.
Oh! The World Cup is started now too! I'm kinda sad we can't watch it, but the little kids that live below us tell us every day who plays, and the scores, so I know that US tied England 1-1! sweet. I hope we do well this year. That'd be sweet if we finally win it, although I hear that Brazil looks really good, like always. That's sweet. There are tons of posters and stuff up right now that are advertising it. Go USA!
Mason, I am also sorry I didn't tell you happy birthday last week. As I was reading Justin's email, I started laughing because I realized I forgot to tell you as we were walking out the door to the library last week! haha. Hope you have fun with your new game. Love you buddy!
How was the trek? Mom said you had fun, but you should probably write me and tell me how it was. I'm sure you had a blast.
Kasey, I knew you'd be annoyed with my letter, so you'll just have to keep it til I get home so I can translate it then, because I don't remember what I said. haha. Looks pretty awesome though don't it?
Mom, congrats on your new calling. I guess they figured you had too much freetime with all of your kids in school now and none of them home (except now for the summer) so hopefully that will keep you busy :) You'll do great. If I was a young woman, I'd be stoked to have you as my leader. haha.
Kurtis, hopefully you'll be able to start playing football soon. I don't remember when I signed up for the freshmen team, but you should still be able to play next season if you talk to coach steele, or ask at Park's. I'm pretty sure that's where I signed up. When you play, I'd recommend defensive tackle for you. or linebacker. They are both fun. That's so sweet that you want to play. I'll have someone in the family I can tell all the secrets I learned when I played to. when I get back, of course.
I guess this is my shout out section, so here's one for Dad- Happy father's day this week. I totally forgot until I was at a store the other day and they had a bungh of cool Celtics shirts on sale for Father's day for like 6 bucks. So I bought one. It's sweet. Hope you have a good day.
Here's another shout out to all my friends who read my emails and don't send me letters! I want letters! Alma 60:6! Cool beans!
Alrighty, back to stuff that happened this week. I street contacted my first cambodian guy the other day! We were on tours with the Zone leaders, so my comp for the day didn't speak Khmae. We were walking and he was getting his groceries out of his car. I said hi to him, and gave him a card for a DVD about Jesus. He said he didn't believe in Jesus, but it was because he doesn't know how to believe. I told him the dvd would help him. I was pretty nervous, so I forgot to set up a return appointment, or get his name, or address, but he kept the card, so that's good! haha. It was really cool though. Now I can say I've talked to a cambodian other than the members we talk to every week. It was pretty exciting.
The last thing I can think of is Donna. She can't quit smoking. She hasn't been at church in 3 weeks. She still meets with us and has a date for July 4th, but she just can't quit. I don't think she really understands why she needs to yet, but we are trying our hardest to help her. It's so frustrating, but I know that she will do it eventually.
Well, I think that's about it for this week. It's been good. We are trying to find more people to teach because our pool is low right now. But, it's still fun. We are working hard and doing good. Alright, I must go now. Have a good week. You are in my prayers, and I love you all!!
Love,
Elder D Hammer
Anyway, like Justin's email, it seems like we've done a lot, but I can't really remember when it was. Time is just a big blur. haha. It's weird to think that I've already been here 8 weeks as of today! wow. Oh, yes transfers were this week. For tradition, we went to watch the sunrise again. It was awesome. It came up and was blood red, and you could look at it without hurting your eyes, and then it got bright. It was cool. I have more pictures. Me and E. Winslow are staying here. Chances are, I will be here until around New Years cause that's how all the other cambodian elder's have been. about 8 months in their first area. crazy.
So luckily, I had this great idea to write down all the cool things that happen, so I can remember that way what happened this last week. First, our meeting with Elder Nelson was AWESOME!! We went to the meeting, and even before he walked in, you could tell that their was a very special spirit in the building. And then when he did walk in, it was even stronger. Before the meeting started, he wanted to shake all of our hands. As we took turns going up there, I was listening to what he was telling everyone as they shook his hand. It was basically just "good morning" but when I shook his hand, he said "Good morning, Elder Hammer" haha. he said my name! That was a very awesome experience. the rest of the meeting was amazing too. Elder Eyring (the area 70 who is Pres. Eyring's son) was there too. He spoke for like 10 minutes about how awesome our mission President is. it was cool. Then Elder Nelson spoke. He talked a lot about obedience, and what the real purpose is for the Book of Mormon. Which is to help gather Israel, as it states in the Introduction in the front. It was insane all of the insights and things he shared with us! He is an extremely smart man. And he's way funny too. I can't even type all of the feelings and thoughts I have about that experience. It was awesome.
Something else that has happened quite a bit recently is we have met like 6 guys that are RM's working for APX. Some of them came and played soccer with us last P-day. But, the other ones just talk to us when we are out on the streets. All of them we've talked to either went to Brazil, or Portugal. haha. They were all really cool guys too. I told them that my dad works for Pinnacle, and they laughed and said that was cool. I just thought that it was funny that we've seen 6 of them in Lynn, MA because they can definitely use the upgraded security. haha. but then again, not many people here can probably afford a security system. oh well.
Oh! The World Cup is started now too! I'm kinda sad we can't watch it, but the little kids that live below us tell us every day who plays, and the scores, so I know that US tied England 1-1! sweet. I hope we do well this year. That'd be sweet if we finally win it, although I hear that Brazil looks really good, like always. That's sweet. There are tons of posters and stuff up right now that are advertising it. Go USA!
Mason, I am also sorry I didn't tell you happy birthday last week. As I was reading Justin's email, I started laughing because I realized I forgot to tell you as we were walking out the door to the library last week! haha. Hope you have fun with your new game. Love you buddy!
How was the trek? Mom said you had fun, but you should probably write me and tell me how it was. I'm sure you had a blast.
Kasey, I knew you'd be annoyed with my letter, so you'll just have to keep it til I get home so I can translate it then, because I don't remember what I said. haha. Looks pretty awesome though don't it?
Mom, congrats on your new calling. I guess they figured you had too much freetime with all of your kids in school now and none of them home (except now for the summer) so hopefully that will keep you busy :) You'll do great. If I was a young woman, I'd be stoked to have you as my leader. haha.
Kurtis, hopefully you'll be able to start playing football soon. I don't remember when I signed up for the freshmen team, but you should still be able to play next season if you talk to coach steele, or ask at Park's. I'm pretty sure that's where I signed up. When you play, I'd recommend defensive tackle for you. or linebacker. They are both fun. That's so sweet that you want to play. I'll have someone in the family I can tell all the secrets I learned when I played to. when I get back, of course.
I guess this is my shout out section, so here's one for Dad- Happy father's day this week. I totally forgot until I was at a store the other day and they had a bungh of cool Celtics shirts on sale for Father's day for like 6 bucks. So I bought one. It's sweet. Hope you have a good day.
Here's another shout out to all my friends who read my emails and don't send me letters! I want letters! Alma 60:6! Cool beans!
Alrighty, back to stuff that happened this week. I street contacted my first cambodian guy the other day! We were on tours with the Zone leaders, so my comp for the day didn't speak Khmae. We were walking and he was getting his groceries out of his car. I said hi to him, and gave him a card for a DVD about Jesus. He said he didn't believe in Jesus, but it was because he doesn't know how to believe. I told him the dvd would help him. I was pretty nervous, so I forgot to set up a return appointment, or get his name, or address, but he kept the card, so that's good! haha. It was really cool though. Now I can say I've talked to a cambodian other than the members we talk to every week. It was pretty exciting.
The last thing I can think of is Donna. She can't quit smoking. She hasn't been at church in 3 weeks. She still meets with us and has a date for July 4th, but she just can't quit. I don't think she really understands why she needs to yet, but we are trying our hardest to help her. It's so frustrating, but I know that she will do it eventually.
Well, I think that's about it for this week. It's been good. We are trying to find more people to teach because our pool is low right now. But, it's still fun. We are working hard and doing good. Alright, I must go now. Have a good week. You are in my prayers, and I love you all!!
Love,
Elder D Hammer
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
I Think We Were Busy?
So, on the way over to the library to email today I was talking with my companion, Elder Hansen, and we were trying to figure out what we did this past week. It felt like we were super busy, which I guess we were, but at the same time it doesn't seem like much happened. Everything just seems to be blending together and I'm having a heck of a time remembering when we did stuff and what it was we did. It's kind of weird.
I guess I'll start at the beginning of the week and go through the events that took place. Monday night, we went to see Paul. It was bad news when we showed up. We got there and he asked us if we could go for a walk. We started walking and he started telling us all about his day. If you remember, last Sunday was when he got up in fast and testimony meeting and bore his testimony. He was on fire Sunday! We were so excited for him. Monday was a different story. He told us that he had found out that day that his ex-girlfriend had got the cops involved with stuff back in St. George and that when he got back to Utah he was going to have to go to jail for a while because of the charges that were against him. The cops had actually already been at Paul's parents' house looking for him. More bad news kept coming, most of which I don't have the time to tell you about nor can I fully explain all that happened. After all this happened, Paul's buddy grabbed him and took him to a bar where Paul had a few drinks. We could still smell the alcohol on his breath while we were talking to him. He wasn't totally drunk, but you could tell that he was struggling. We spent about two hours sitting with him on the sidewalk while he told us all that had happened and how crappy he felt at being so stupid and letting his guard down that day. He told us about how right before we had showed up he had been on the phone with one of his best friends talking to him for almost 3 hours trying to get some help and that the phone had died. Five minutes after the phone died, Paul was sitting out on the front step with his roommate talking about things when we showed up. He told us how every time we had come to his house, just to "check on him" it was at the exact moment when he felt like he really needed some help. He told us how grateful he was to us for being there and how his roommate had been asking him why the heck he let us come over. He told us that we would never know what kind of influence and help we had been in the few short weeks we had known him. Mostly we just listened to him, but that was what he needed.
The following day we went back over to see him again. He was much better. He'd taken some time to think things through and he'd come up with a plan for what to do. He told us that he is determined to not get beaten down. He still plans on attending church in Utah, he is working on becoming worthy to partake of the sacrament, he's working with his parents and their lawyer to fight against what his ex is doing, he's reading and praying each day, and he's got a positive attitude about the future. That was the last time I saw Paul. He was scheduled to go back to St. George on Thursday. I don't know what he is doing right now. He said he'd add me on his Facebook page so we can keep in contact more after my mission. Hopefully he has already. If so, Mom, could you send him a message and let him know I'm still thinking about him and I'll be sending him and his family a letter shortly? That would be awesome. Paul is a brother to me now and I hope that things are working out for him.
There were a couple of other things that happened this past week. We had Zone Conference which, as always, was amazing. We've been focusing on getting our investigators to kneel and pray about the Book of Mormon in a lesson. Elder Hansen and I have seen some success with that lately. We picked up a new investigator this week named Carrie. She has some friends that are members and she's wondering why members of our church seem to be happy all the time. She's done some study on her own and she asks great questions. In our first visit with her, we were able to get her to say a kneeling prayer to know if the Book of Mormon was true. The whole experience was great. We taught her another lesson earlier today and once again, it was awesome! She is genuinely seeking for truth. I love the way that investigators pray! She just says things as they are and how she really feels. I feel really good about teaching her. She has some concerns that are a pretty big deal (her family will probably disown her if she joins the church), but she is okay with that if it's really what she needs to be doing. That is epic! I'll keep you posted on how things go.
We were also able to go to the Temple on Saturday. We went with a couple in the North Highlands Ward, the Xiongs. They are a young married couple and are blessed enough to be temple workers (I'm totally jealous : ) We did two endowment sessions and some initiatories in-between. I haven't done any initiatories since I had my own and it was really cool to have that experience again. The temple is such a wonderful place! There is no way I will ever let myself not have going to the temple be a priority in my life. The blessings that come from temple attendance are incredible! It's worth any sacrifice to get there.
Once again, time is running out. I guess our week was pretty packed, huh? Let me know how things are going back home. Mason, I'm sorry that I forgot to tell you happy birthday last week in my email. I remembered as soon as I got back to our apartment! Happy Birthday buddy! Congrats on the new calling, Mom. You're going to do a great job helping the YW in the ward.
Kurtis and Kasey, tell me about the trek! I'm anxious to hear from you. Thanks to Rick and Tina for the package as well. I really appreciated it. A letter will be coming eventually. : )
I love you all. Thanks for everything. Being a missionary is the best thing I've ever done and I am so grateful for all that has been done to help me be out here. I can't say thank you enough. Have a great week. You are always in my prayers. BE MIGHTY!
Elder J Hammer
I guess I'll start at the beginning of the week and go through the events that took place. Monday night, we went to see Paul. It was bad news when we showed up. We got there and he asked us if we could go for a walk. We started walking and he started telling us all about his day. If you remember, last Sunday was when he got up in fast and testimony meeting and bore his testimony. He was on fire Sunday! We were so excited for him. Monday was a different story. He told us that he had found out that day that his ex-girlfriend had got the cops involved with stuff back in St. George and that when he got back to Utah he was going to have to go to jail for a while because of the charges that were against him. The cops had actually already been at Paul's parents' house looking for him. More bad news kept coming, most of which I don't have the time to tell you about nor can I fully explain all that happened. After all this happened, Paul's buddy grabbed him and took him to a bar where Paul had a few drinks. We could still smell the alcohol on his breath while we were talking to him. He wasn't totally drunk, but you could tell that he was struggling. We spent about two hours sitting with him on the sidewalk while he told us all that had happened and how crappy he felt at being so stupid and letting his guard down that day. He told us about how right before we had showed up he had been on the phone with one of his best friends talking to him for almost 3 hours trying to get some help and that the phone had died. Five minutes after the phone died, Paul was sitting out on the front step with his roommate talking about things when we showed up. He told us how every time we had come to his house, just to "check on him" it was at the exact moment when he felt like he really needed some help. He told us how grateful he was to us for being there and how his roommate had been asking him why the heck he let us come over. He told us that we would never know what kind of influence and help we had been in the few short weeks we had known him. Mostly we just listened to him, but that was what he needed.
The following day we went back over to see him again. He was much better. He'd taken some time to think things through and he'd come up with a plan for what to do. He told us that he is determined to not get beaten down. He still plans on attending church in Utah, he is working on becoming worthy to partake of the sacrament, he's working with his parents and their lawyer to fight against what his ex is doing, he's reading and praying each day, and he's got a positive attitude about the future. That was the last time I saw Paul. He was scheduled to go back to St. George on Thursday. I don't know what he is doing right now. He said he'd add me on his Facebook page so we can keep in contact more after my mission. Hopefully he has already. If so, Mom, could you send him a message and let him know I'm still thinking about him and I'll be sending him and his family a letter shortly? That would be awesome. Paul is a brother to me now and I hope that things are working out for him.
There were a couple of other things that happened this past week. We had Zone Conference which, as always, was amazing. We've been focusing on getting our investigators to kneel and pray about the Book of Mormon in a lesson. Elder Hansen and I have seen some success with that lately. We picked up a new investigator this week named Carrie. She has some friends that are members and she's wondering why members of our church seem to be happy all the time. She's done some study on her own and she asks great questions. In our first visit with her, we were able to get her to say a kneeling prayer to know if the Book of Mormon was true. The whole experience was great. We taught her another lesson earlier today and once again, it was awesome! She is genuinely seeking for truth. I love the way that investigators pray! She just says things as they are and how she really feels. I feel really good about teaching her. She has some concerns that are a pretty big deal (her family will probably disown her if she joins the church), but she is okay with that if it's really what she needs to be doing. That is epic! I'll keep you posted on how things go.
We were also able to go to the Temple on Saturday. We went with a couple in the North Highlands Ward, the Xiongs. They are a young married couple and are blessed enough to be temple workers (I'm totally jealous : ) We did two endowment sessions and some initiatories in-between. I haven't done any initiatories since I had my own and it was really cool to have that experience again. The temple is such a wonderful place! There is no way I will ever let myself not have going to the temple be a priority in my life. The blessings that come from temple attendance are incredible! It's worth any sacrifice to get there.
Once again, time is running out. I guess our week was pretty packed, huh? Let me know how things are going back home. Mason, I'm sorry that I forgot to tell you happy birthday last week in my email. I remembered as soon as I got back to our apartment! Happy Birthday buddy! Congrats on the new calling, Mom. You're going to do a great job helping the YW in the ward.
Kurtis and Kasey, tell me about the trek! I'm anxious to hear from you. Thanks to Rick and Tina for the package as well. I really appreciated it. A letter will be coming eventually. : )
I love you all. Thanks for everything. Being a missionary is the best thing I've ever done and I am so grateful for all that has been done to help me be out here. I can't say thank you enough. Have a great week. You are always in my prayers. BE MIGHTY!
Elder J Hammer
Monday, June 7, 2010
Busy Week
Hello again. It feels like I was just barely siting here emailing, and it has already been another week! Crazy! Well, first off thanks for the package. It was pretty funny when I got it because I also got 4 other letters from friends so the other 3 Elders in our apartment were super jealous cause nobody ever writes to them. haha. But yes the package was awesome. that hike to Angel's Landing looks pretty intense! I was kindof sad there weren't any cd's though. But then Grandma S. sent me one and it is awesome, so thank you very much for that! And also, thanks to Rick and Tina for their package. The Reeses were gone in about 5 minutes thanks to the other Elders in our apartment. haha. Thanks for the pictures too, they were awesome. I think it's so awesome that you are adopting. The only thing I didn't like about your package was at the end of Rick's letter. I would appreciate it if you wouldn't put those evil things in stuff you send to me. and you know what they were. haha.
Now, this last week has been super busy. We have been doing a lot of finding and contacting the las couple of weeks since we are low on people to teach, and so this week, we were able to get into their homes to teach them. We picked up 3 new investigators and they are all looking pretty good. One of them is a hardcore baptist, and told us that she feels like if she were to get baptized, it would be like taking her away from being a baptist, and that's not what she wants. Umm, yeah, that's exactly what it would be doing. haha. But, she said she'd pray about our message, and read the Book of Mormon as well, so I think she'll come along sometime. We are going to teach her the plan of salvation this week. Another one is a guy named David who we met on the street and he said that his twin brother had recently passed away, and he wanted God back in his life. We taught him a 10 minute first lesson cause he had to go somewhere, and at the end, we taught him how to pray, and we knelt down, and he just started saying his prayer, we didn't even have to ask him to! It was awesome! And, the first question he asked us when we got to his house was, "So, if I got baptized, what would my responsibilities be as a member of your church?" That tells me that he has thought about it and is interested. He is probably the most promising one we have right now. He's awesome. our 3rd new investigator is named Jason. He says "no doubt" after just about everything we say, which is funny. He said that he believes in god, but is pretty atheist at the same time. (don't really know how that works, but whatever) But, he agreed with everything we taught him, and he prayed for us at the end of the lesson as well. He said he'd read the Book of Mormon and pray about it, and we are meeting with him again this week too. Maybe he'll have his wife sit in with us too. She looks like an interesting woman. She has flaming pink hair with piercings all over her face, and works at Dunkin Donuts. and they have 6 cats. But, he's cool and it's fun talking with him.
Our investigator, Donna, who was originally going to get baptized this coming sunday, is being stubborn right now. She "can't" quit smoking, hasn't been to church in 3 weeks, and has had excuse after excuse to keep rescheduling with us. It's extremely frustrating because she was so great when we first started teaching her. We're meeting her tomorrow and hopefully help her stop smoking for good. We already sent through her house and threw away all her ashtrays and lighters and cigs, and anything else that would be a temptation (which was really fun) so I guess she went out and bought it all again, which is lame! But, we'll keep teaching her and she will get baptized when she's ready.
I don't remember if I told you about David Rexford already or not. He is a man that the Portuguese Elder's met, and referred to us as "golden, and wants to be baptized in 2 weeks" (This was about a month ago) We went with the other Elders to his house, he answers the door wearing a pink doo-rag, shirt and tie, slacks, bright purple and yellow shoes, with his graduation medal around his neck. Interesting first impression, to say the least. We started talking with him, and he told us that he was engaged to a man (yeah, for real) and that he wasn't willing to break that off, unless he knew this is true. As we proceeded with the lesson, he told us that he would not join the church if there was anything in the Book of Mormon that he disagreed with. He read in 1 Nephi 4 when Nephi kills Laban, and he told us that he didn't want to meet with us anymore. We helped him understand why Nephi needed to do that, so he let us keep teaching, and eventually set up a date to come back. We invited him to church, but he said he was not willing to miss his church to come to ours, so we were kinda stuck. We told the Portugese elders they could keep teaching him so, we haven't heard from him since then. Until yesterday. He showed up at church! He walks in wearing his pink doo-rag, shirt and tie, slacks, purple and yellow shoes, and medal. haha. he got there about 30 minutes early, so I gave him a tour of the building. In the primary room, I showed him the pictures of the prophet and apostles, and told him what they did, and he was super interested in them. He had to leave after sacrament meeting, but I think he enjoyed it. He met the Bishopric, and a few of the members, and I really feel like he liked it. and that's the end of that story for now. I'll let you know more when we talk to the other Elders and see what they have been up to with him. So, that was pretty cool.
So lately, we've been having some pretty interesting weather. there have been some days that are like 95 with 100% humidity (which is NOT fun!) and other days that are like 80, no humidity. But the last week or so, we've been having HUGE thunderstorms. It's awesome. on friday night, the thunder woke me up and I just listened to it for like 15 minutes before I fell back asleep, and it was literally 15 minutes of straght thunder. it didn't stop, cause there was that much lightning. It was sweet. And it happened again yesterday too. Huge storm with tons of lightning and thunder. and, we've probably had about 3 inches of rain to go with it. I've never seen storms like this before. It's pretty cool. Yesterday, there was even a tornado warning for most of Mass. with hail golf ball sized. We didn't see hail or a tornado, but that's ok. haha.
Now, some cool news. this thursday, Elder Russell M. Nelsen is visiting Boston talking about heart surgery, and after his convention, he is coming to speak to our mission too! I'm so excited. our Zone leaders said that he is staying to shake everyone's hands too! Sweet! I'm so stoked. It's going to be awesome.
Anyway, I think I'm about out of things to say. As for the bike, yes I can put it together if you ship it straight to me. You should probably wait til after transfers to send it, unless you know it will get here before the 17th. Otherwise, wait til after the 17th to send it. I should be staying here, but you never know.
Grandma and Grandpa - You are in my prayers! Hope your surgery goes well and that you start feeling better. I love you!
Alright I think I'm done now. Hope you all have a great week. Stay busy. It's good for you. Love you all!! Have a good week!
Love,
Elder D Hammer
Now, this last week has been super busy. We have been doing a lot of finding and contacting the las couple of weeks since we are low on people to teach, and so this week, we were able to get into their homes to teach them. We picked up 3 new investigators and they are all looking pretty good. One of them is a hardcore baptist, and told us that she feels like if she were to get baptized, it would be like taking her away from being a baptist, and that's not what she wants. Umm, yeah, that's exactly what it would be doing. haha. But, she said she'd pray about our message, and read the Book of Mormon as well, so I think she'll come along sometime. We are going to teach her the plan of salvation this week. Another one is a guy named David who we met on the street and he said that his twin brother had recently passed away, and he wanted God back in his life. We taught him a 10 minute first lesson cause he had to go somewhere, and at the end, we taught him how to pray, and we knelt down, and he just started saying his prayer, we didn't even have to ask him to! It was awesome! And, the first question he asked us when we got to his house was, "So, if I got baptized, what would my responsibilities be as a member of your church?" That tells me that he has thought about it and is interested. He is probably the most promising one we have right now. He's awesome. our 3rd new investigator is named Jason. He says "no doubt" after just about everything we say, which is funny. He said that he believes in god, but is pretty atheist at the same time. (don't really know how that works, but whatever) But, he agreed with everything we taught him, and he prayed for us at the end of the lesson as well. He said he'd read the Book of Mormon and pray about it, and we are meeting with him again this week too. Maybe he'll have his wife sit in with us too. She looks like an interesting woman. She has flaming pink hair with piercings all over her face, and works at Dunkin Donuts. and they have 6 cats. But, he's cool and it's fun talking with him.
Our investigator, Donna, who was originally going to get baptized this coming sunday, is being stubborn right now. She "can't" quit smoking, hasn't been to church in 3 weeks, and has had excuse after excuse to keep rescheduling with us. It's extremely frustrating because she was so great when we first started teaching her. We're meeting her tomorrow and hopefully help her stop smoking for good. We already sent through her house and threw away all her ashtrays and lighters and cigs, and anything else that would be a temptation (which was really fun) so I guess she went out and bought it all again, which is lame! But, we'll keep teaching her and she will get baptized when she's ready.
I don't remember if I told you about David Rexford already or not. He is a man that the Portuguese Elder's met, and referred to us as "golden, and wants to be baptized in 2 weeks" (This was about a month ago) We went with the other Elders to his house, he answers the door wearing a pink doo-rag, shirt and tie, slacks, bright purple and yellow shoes, with his graduation medal around his neck. Interesting first impression, to say the least. We started talking with him, and he told us that he was engaged to a man (yeah, for real) and that he wasn't willing to break that off, unless he knew this is true. As we proceeded with the lesson, he told us that he would not join the church if there was anything in the Book of Mormon that he disagreed with. He read in 1 Nephi 4 when Nephi kills Laban, and he told us that he didn't want to meet with us anymore. We helped him understand why Nephi needed to do that, so he let us keep teaching, and eventually set up a date to come back. We invited him to church, but he said he was not willing to miss his church to come to ours, so we were kinda stuck. We told the Portugese elders they could keep teaching him so, we haven't heard from him since then. Until yesterday. He showed up at church! He walks in wearing his pink doo-rag, shirt and tie, slacks, purple and yellow shoes, and medal. haha. he got there about 30 minutes early, so I gave him a tour of the building. In the primary room, I showed him the pictures of the prophet and apostles, and told him what they did, and he was super interested in them. He had to leave after sacrament meeting, but I think he enjoyed it. He met the Bishopric, and a few of the members, and I really feel like he liked it. and that's the end of that story for now. I'll let you know more when we talk to the other Elders and see what they have been up to with him. So, that was pretty cool.
So lately, we've been having some pretty interesting weather. there have been some days that are like 95 with 100% humidity (which is NOT fun!) and other days that are like 80, no humidity. But the last week or so, we've been having HUGE thunderstorms. It's awesome. on friday night, the thunder woke me up and I just listened to it for like 15 minutes before I fell back asleep, and it was literally 15 minutes of straght thunder. it didn't stop, cause there was that much lightning. It was sweet. And it happened again yesterday too. Huge storm with tons of lightning and thunder. and, we've probably had about 3 inches of rain to go with it. I've never seen storms like this before. It's pretty cool. Yesterday, there was even a tornado warning for most of Mass. with hail golf ball sized. We didn't see hail or a tornado, but that's ok. haha.
Now, some cool news. this thursday, Elder Russell M. Nelsen is visiting Boston talking about heart surgery, and after his convention, he is coming to speak to our mission too! I'm so excited. our Zone leaders said that he is staying to shake everyone's hands too! Sweet! I'm so stoked. It's going to be awesome.
Anyway, I think I'm about out of things to say. As for the bike, yes I can put it together if you ship it straight to me. You should probably wait til after transfers to send it, unless you know it will get here before the 17th. Otherwise, wait til after the 17th to send it. I should be staying here, but you never know.
Grandma and Grandpa - You are in my prayers! Hope your surgery goes well and that you start feeling better. I love you!
Alright I think I'm done now. Hope you all have a great week. Stay busy. It's good for you. Love you all!! Have a good week!
Love,
Elder D Hammer
Deep Sigh of Relief
Things have been going crazy. We set a baptismal date with our investigator, Rickee this past week. She is way cool and we had a great lesson. We taught her lesson 3, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She had a bunch of questions when we were talking about baptism. She has always asked great questions. We were able to answer them for her, and at the end of the lesson, Elder Hansen gave her the baptismal commitment. She said she knew we were going to ask her to get baptized sooner or later and that she knows it is the right thing to do. Her date is set for July 10th. There are a few challenges that we are going to have to overcome with her, but she has felt the Spirit and she told us that she received an answer to her prayers about the Book of Mormon!! Man, that promise is amazing that Moroni gives to us, isn't it?
Paul has almost put me in the mental ward twice this week. We had a lesson scheduled with him earlier in the week and when we showed up he was crying his eyes out. Paul's plans have been that he was going to move back to Utah with his parents to try and pick his life up a bit and get things put back together. He has been super excited about going because he wants to see his daughter really really reallly really badly. Every time he talks about her, his face just lights up. Well, when we went to his house, he had just received news that his ex wasn't going to let him see his daughter...not good. I have never seen so much pain in somebody's eyes. Paul is a tough guy. He benches 300 lbs like it's nothing, he's got scars on his hands from cutting them open on other people's teeth when he's punched them in the mouth, and here he was weeping openly with us standing there. I offered to give him a priesthood blessing, which he humbly accepted. While we were giving him the blessing, there was such a strong spirit of love in the room. Paul gave me a hug afterwards and just held on. When we showed up at his house, he was to the breaking point. He had nowhere to go, and he didn't know what to do. In the past, this kind of experience would have put him into spiraling depression and he would have rebelled against anyone and anything. Through our support, and Paul's determination to change and seek Heavenly Father's help, he has been able to fight back against what has been happening. I can't even begin to tell you about everything that has happened since we met him, but I have seen Paul change so much. I about lost it when he went up to the stand yesterday in church (before the Bishop was even done sharing his testimony) and bore his testimony about how he knows God lives, hears our prayers, answers them, and loves us. I will never forget these experiences. Paul told us that we can consider him one of our best friends and he's already talking about how I'm going to go hang out with him in St. George when I get home. I'm not doing the story justice by typing it out for you, but just know this has been something that has changed me forever. I know I am where I am supposed to be. Even if I hadn't had any of the other successes that I've had on my mission, even if I went two years and never saw anything come of the work I did, if Paul was the only person I talked to, it would be worth it. I love him and I am praying that he can continue on this path that he has begun. He has a lot of challenges ahead, but he knows what to do. Please keep him in your prayers.
Okay, time is running out soon. I hope that things are going well with Grandma and Grandpa. Grandpa, you've given me some unwanted excitement on my mission! You are in my prayers and I hope you feel better soon. Grandma, get better fast! Stay happy and know that I love you! You are in my prayers. Congrats to Vern and Jen! Another cousin...wow. : ) Have a great week everyone. Be mighty!
Elder J Hammer
Paul has almost put me in the mental ward twice this week. We had a lesson scheduled with him earlier in the week and when we showed up he was crying his eyes out. Paul's plans have been that he was going to move back to Utah with his parents to try and pick his life up a bit and get things put back together. He has been super excited about going because he wants to see his daughter really really reallly really badly. Every time he talks about her, his face just lights up. Well, when we went to his house, he had just received news that his ex wasn't going to let him see his daughter...not good. I have never seen so much pain in somebody's eyes. Paul is a tough guy. He benches 300 lbs like it's nothing, he's got scars on his hands from cutting them open on other people's teeth when he's punched them in the mouth, and here he was weeping openly with us standing there. I offered to give him a priesthood blessing, which he humbly accepted. While we were giving him the blessing, there was such a strong spirit of love in the room. Paul gave me a hug afterwards and just held on. When we showed up at his house, he was to the breaking point. He had nowhere to go, and he didn't know what to do. In the past, this kind of experience would have put him into spiraling depression and he would have rebelled against anyone and anything. Through our support, and Paul's determination to change and seek Heavenly Father's help, he has been able to fight back against what has been happening. I can't even begin to tell you about everything that has happened since we met him, but I have seen Paul change so much. I about lost it when he went up to the stand yesterday in church (before the Bishop was even done sharing his testimony) and bore his testimony about how he knows God lives, hears our prayers, answers them, and loves us. I will never forget these experiences. Paul told us that we can consider him one of our best friends and he's already talking about how I'm going to go hang out with him in St. George when I get home. I'm not doing the story justice by typing it out for you, but just know this has been something that has changed me forever. I know I am where I am supposed to be. Even if I hadn't had any of the other successes that I've had on my mission, even if I went two years and never saw anything come of the work I did, if Paul was the only person I talked to, it would be worth it. I love him and I am praying that he can continue on this path that he has begun. He has a lot of challenges ahead, but he knows what to do. Please keep him in your prayers.
Okay, time is running out soon. I hope that things are going well with Grandma and Grandpa. Grandpa, you've given me some unwanted excitement on my mission! You are in my prayers and I hope you feel better soon. Grandma, get better fast! Stay happy and know that I love you! You are in my prayers. Congrats to Vern and Jen! Another cousin...wow. : ) Have a great week everyone. Be mighty!
Elder J Hammer
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Sup
Sorry I didn't get to email yesterday - the library was closed. But, I am here today so that's good. First off, Mason - sorry I didn't tell you last week, but your letter was very nice. I put it on my wall with all of the other ones you've sent me. So, I have got kindof a lot of stuff to talk about. I guess we'll strt with the Elders' Quorum golf tournament we had last week. About a month ago, one of the members found out that I golfed a lot before my mission, so he assumed I was really good. Turns out, he told just about everyone in the ward, so when it came time to go to the tourney, I had all kinds of people telling me they wanted to see me play. Even the Stake Pres. who I had never met before last week's ward conference, knew I golfed! So, we got to the course, and one of the members paid for us, which was cool. I had these super ghetto clubs that were pretty small for me. But, my first drive was straight down the fairway, so I felt pretty good about that. I think it's safe to say that I actually played one of the better games I've played before. It was fun. We were playing best ball, and my team used my ball about 90% of the time. haha. There were 5 teams of 4 that played, and mine won! oh yeah. We finished at +2 for 9 holes, beating out 3 other teams that got +3. It was pretty satisfying. And, I got closest to the pin on the contest hole, at 14' 10" (which I didn't think was that great, but, hey, I won) and I was in first for the longest drive until the last team came through and one of their guys beat me by like 5 yards. So, now I have a reputation in the ward for being good at golfing. I'm just glad I didn't screw up and have a really bad game. haha. So that's my cool golfing experience for the week. I think we are going again next Pday, but we'll have to wait and see if that really happens or not.
Alright funny story time. The other day, my comp and I were out contacting. We were walking down this street and there was this fat guy, not wearing a shirt, super sunbuned, with a shopping cart full of alcohol cans and bottles, sitting on a cement wall in front of a house. He waved to us, so we walked over to him. He says, "can you call an ambulance for me, my leg is broken." I looked at his feet, and they were both swollen up to very unusual proportions. It looked pretty disgusting. and they were purple-blueish, and bleeding in some sopts. We asked him what happened, and he said that he tripped whil walking down the street. I didn't believe him, because nothing else on his body was injured, and you usually don't break your ankles from tripping on the sidewalk. Anyhow, we went and asked someone else on the street if they could help us out. They let us use their phone (because my comp didn't want to use ours for some reason) and we called 911 and requested an ambulance. It got there a few minutes later, and they people got out, asked us what happened, we told them, and they started asking him a bunch of questions. Turns out, he has been given multiple rides in the ambulance and that the people that picked him up have seen him before, and that this dude had been in jail for a while. haha. They told us thanks for helping and that we could leave. So we did. It was pretty funny.
So we've been teaching this old lady named Donna for a while now, she has a date for the 13th. We taught her the stop smoking workshop on Satruday, and she was super excited to quit. The next day, she wasn't at church, so we were kindof worried. We talked to her friend that referred her to us and she told us that Donna wasnt' feeling well, and she couldn't make it to church today. Upon asking more questions, we found out that she just didn't want to come and her friend told us not to go over on sunday. so, we called her multiple times, but she never answered her phone. We kept trying and she kept not answering. So, yesterday we went to her house. She wasn't home, but her husband was and he told us that we "were pretty thick" when we taught the workshop. He said that he knew we weren't trying to be mean, and were just following the program, but she just couldn't handle it. So, we told him to have her call us when she got home. And she did, which was good. She told us that she just couldn't quit, but she wants to keep learning. So, we will most likely be postponing her date, which is LAME!! And as far as progressing investigators, that is it. But, we have been doing a lot of contacting on the streets and we have about 8 other people that we have appointments with this week, so we'll see how that turns out. I'm excited. OH! We met a cambodian lady on the street the other day! She was crazy. Literally. She was all cross-eyed and was pushing a shopping cart up this big hill, and didn't respond when we said hi in English, so we said hi in Cambodian. We gave her a passalong card and asked if she believes in Jesus. She didn't, and took the card, smiled and kept going. But, I talked to a cambodian person! haha. It was cool.
Last year, I don't know if other temples do this, but the Boston Temple was open on Memorial Day, and had a huge turnout, so they did it again this year, so Pres. Evans gave us all permission to go for Pday. We went to go to the 8 o'clock session, but there were tons of missionaries and a stake temple day as well, so we got postponed to the 9:10 session. they told us to go to the baptistry and help out and to come up around 9 to go to the session. We went and did some proxy confirmations, and at 8:50, we went back up to the session, but it had filled up already and the next one wasnt until 9:40 (they only have 2 endowment rooms), so we went back down to the Baptistry. some of the cambodian members from the other cambodian area were there to do baptisms and confirmations, and so were the other cambodian elders. So, when they were doing confirmations, we all took turns confirming them in Cambodian! It was awesome. I confirmed one lady for 10 people all in cambodian! it was so sweet. I loved it. Oh, and by the way, the Boston temple is awesome! It's way pretty, just like all of the other ones. they let us go sit in the Celestial room too, and that was very nice. I miss the temple. Now I have to wait 3 more months to go again.
Also, after we went to the temple, we went into downtown Boston and hung out for the rest of pday. We went to this all you can eat grill called Fire and Ice, that was delicious, and only 9 bucks! It was sweet. And, in the Boston Commons, they had 20,000 flags set up in honor of all the military personnel that had been killed that were from the Boston area. It was a pretty awesome sight. I'll eventually send home some pictures so you can see them. haha. And, as everyone and their dog has told me, it's Celtics-Lakers in the championship. Go Celtics!! There are posters and signs and people wearing jerseys EVERYWHERE out here. It's pretty cool.
And in closing, I would like to share a verse from the Book of Mormon with all of you who read these emails and don't send me letters. Alma 60:6 Think about that for a while, and then let me know how you feel when you write to me! haha. Alright. We gotta go teach some people now, so I'm out. Byebye. Love you all!!
Love,
Elder Hammer
P.S. I don't want to brag to Justin about his '09 Malibu, but I am driving (because my comp's license is expired s of today) a 2010 Toyota Corolla. haha. just thought I'd let you know. Peace!
P.S again. I just remembered school's out. How's that going? Please don't ruin my nintendo when you play it all day for the next 3 months. haha. Just kidding - I know mom wouldn't let you do that.
Alright funny story time. The other day, my comp and I were out contacting. We were walking down this street and there was this fat guy, not wearing a shirt, super sunbuned, with a shopping cart full of alcohol cans and bottles, sitting on a cement wall in front of a house. He waved to us, so we walked over to him. He says, "can you call an ambulance for me, my leg is broken." I looked at his feet, and they were both swollen up to very unusual proportions. It looked pretty disgusting. and they were purple-blueish, and bleeding in some sopts. We asked him what happened, and he said that he tripped whil walking down the street. I didn't believe him, because nothing else on his body was injured, and you usually don't break your ankles from tripping on the sidewalk. Anyhow, we went and asked someone else on the street if they could help us out. They let us use their phone (because my comp didn't want to use ours for some reason) and we called 911 and requested an ambulance. It got there a few minutes later, and they people got out, asked us what happened, we told them, and they started asking him a bunch of questions. Turns out, he has been given multiple rides in the ambulance and that the people that picked him up have seen him before, and that this dude had been in jail for a while. haha. They told us thanks for helping and that we could leave. So we did. It was pretty funny.
So we've been teaching this old lady named Donna for a while now, she has a date for the 13th. We taught her the stop smoking workshop on Satruday, and she was super excited to quit. The next day, she wasn't at church, so we were kindof worried. We talked to her friend that referred her to us and she told us that Donna wasnt' feeling well, and she couldn't make it to church today. Upon asking more questions, we found out that she just didn't want to come and her friend told us not to go over on sunday. so, we called her multiple times, but she never answered her phone. We kept trying and she kept not answering. So, yesterday we went to her house. She wasn't home, but her husband was and he told us that we "were pretty thick" when we taught the workshop. He said that he knew we weren't trying to be mean, and were just following the program, but she just couldn't handle it. So, we told him to have her call us when she got home. And she did, which was good. She told us that she just couldn't quit, but she wants to keep learning. So, we will most likely be postponing her date, which is LAME!! And as far as progressing investigators, that is it. But, we have been doing a lot of contacting on the streets and we have about 8 other people that we have appointments with this week, so we'll see how that turns out. I'm excited. OH! We met a cambodian lady on the street the other day! She was crazy. Literally. She was all cross-eyed and was pushing a shopping cart up this big hill, and didn't respond when we said hi in English, so we said hi in Cambodian. We gave her a passalong card and asked if she believes in Jesus. She didn't, and took the card, smiled and kept going. But, I talked to a cambodian person! haha. It was cool.
Last year, I don't know if other temples do this, but the Boston Temple was open on Memorial Day, and had a huge turnout, so they did it again this year, so Pres. Evans gave us all permission to go for Pday. We went to go to the 8 o'clock session, but there were tons of missionaries and a stake temple day as well, so we got postponed to the 9:10 session. they told us to go to the baptistry and help out and to come up around 9 to go to the session. We went and did some proxy confirmations, and at 8:50, we went back up to the session, but it had filled up already and the next one wasnt until 9:40 (they only have 2 endowment rooms), so we went back down to the Baptistry. some of the cambodian members from the other cambodian area were there to do baptisms and confirmations, and so were the other cambodian elders. So, when they were doing confirmations, we all took turns confirming them in Cambodian! It was awesome. I confirmed one lady for 10 people all in cambodian! it was so sweet. I loved it. Oh, and by the way, the Boston temple is awesome! It's way pretty, just like all of the other ones. they let us go sit in the Celestial room too, and that was very nice. I miss the temple. Now I have to wait 3 more months to go again.
Also, after we went to the temple, we went into downtown Boston and hung out for the rest of pday. We went to this all you can eat grill called Fire and Ice, that was delicious, and only 9 bucks! It was sweet. And, in the Boston Commons, they had 20,000 flags set up in honor of all the military personnel that had been killed that were from the Boston area. It was a pretty awesome sight. I'll eventually send home some pictures so you can see them. haha. And, as everyone and their dog has told me, it's Celtics-Lakers in the championship. Go Celtics!! There are posters and signs and people wearing jerseys EVERYWHERE out here. It's pretty cool.
And in closing, I would like to share a verse from the Book of Mormon with all of you who read these emails and don't send me letters. Alma 60:6 Think about that for a while, and then let me know how you feel when you write to me! haha. Alright. We gotta go teach some people now, so I'm out. Byebye. Love you all!!
Love,
Elder Hammer
P.S. I don't want to brag to Justin about his '09 Malibu, but I am driving (because my comp's license is expired s of today) a 2010 Toyota Corolla. haha. just thought I'd let you know. Peace!
P.S again. I just remembered school's out. How's that going? Please don't ruin my nintendo when you play it all day for the next 3 months. haha. Just kidding - I know mom wouldn't let you do that.
Another Week Already
First off, my 09 Malibu would smoke your four-banger '10 Corolla any day, Devin. The Malibu is hecka tight compared to a girly Corolla. And, I will shortly be riding in an Aerial Atom (I'm not sure if that's how they spell it) which is basically one of the fastest out-of-factory street legal cars in the world (I've learned a ton about cars since becoming companions with E. Hansen). A member in the new ward that we just picked up has one and he gives the missionaries rides occasionally.
Now that's out of the way, how has everyone's week been going? : ) I'm starting to wonder if summer is ever going to get here. We've had probably two hot days in the last little while and compared to how hot it is supposed to be right now they weren't even that bad. We haven't hit 100 yet (thankfully) and each weekend it seems like more clouds keep coming in. Last year at this time it was already up in the high 90's so I'm not really complaining. The weather is awesome, especially since we ride our bikes so much. My theory about the weather this year is that the reason it has rained so much and been so cool is that God is gearing up for the worst burn season in California history. Either California is going to be swallowed up by the ocean or the whole state will be on fire. Or maybe I'm going to get struck by a bolt of lightning...
Yesterday, our zone was invited to play soccer with a group of YSA members from the area for P-day. It felt good to get out and run around and do something physical. Our P-days for the last few weeks have been rained out. We had a lot of fun, but at the same time it was kinda weird being there. I really haven't interacted much with other people my age at all on my mission. Most of my age group are either working, going to school, or on missions. Now that I'm serving in a city area, they don't have to go as far away to do all those things. It felt strange to just spend time with my peers in a relaxed environment where we weren't doing any proselyting. I guess that's what happens when you are a missionary.
I don't have much to update you on right now. Our past week was slow. People are super busy right now with the end of school and the beginning of summer. We haven't been able to meet with the Millers for a while. The Tanners went out of town for the weekend. Paul has been sick, but he's still doing great. He's going to be moving home to St. George in about a week where he's planning on getting his life back on track. We exchanged information with him yesterday because he wants to hook up with me sometime when I get home. He's a great guy and I am totally hoping that everything works out for him.
Well, I think that's about it. Oh! Before I forget for the 4th week in a row: is there any way to get my suit pants replaced? They are starting to get pretty thrashed. I could really use another pair of my olive green suit pants if it's possible. I don't know if they have a record or something of my sizes and style etc. at Mr. Mac or not. Let me know.
Hope everyone has a great week. Pray for missionary opportunities and then follow through when they present themselves! Thanks for everything and remember to be mighty!
Love,
Elder J. Hammer
Now that's out of the way, how has everyone's week been going? : ) I'm starting to wonder if summer is ever going to get here. We've had probably two hot days in the last little while and compared to how hot it is supposed to be right now they weren't even that bad. We haven't hit 100 yet (thankfully) and each weekend it seems like more clouds keep coming in. Last year at this time it was already up in the high 90's so I'm not really complaining. The weather is awesome, especially since we ride our bikes so much. My theory about the weather this year is that the reason it has rained so much and been so cool is that God is gearing up for the worst burn season in California history. Either California is going to be swallowed up by the ocean or the whole state will be on fire. Or maybe I'm going to get struck by a bolt of lightning...
Yesterday, our zone was invited to play soccer with a group of YSA members from the area for P-day. It felt good to get out and run around and do something physical. Our P-days for the last few weeks have been rained out. We had a lot of fun, but at the same time it was kinda weird being there. I really haven't interacted much with other people my age at all on my mission. Most of my age group are either working, going to school, or on missions. Now that I'm serving in a city area, they don't have to go as far away to do all those things. It felt strange to just spend time with my peers in a relaxed environment where we weren't doing any proselyting. I guess that's what happens when you are a missionary.
I don't have much to update you on right now. Our past week was slow. People are super busy right now with the end of school and the beginning of summer. We haven't been able to meet with the Millers for a while. The Tanners went out of town for the weekend. Paul has been sick, but he's still doing great. He's going to be moving home to St. George in about a week where he's planning on getting his life back on track. We exchanged information with him yesterday because he wants to hook up with me sometime when I get home. He's a great guy and I am totally hoping that everything works out for him.
Well, I think that's about it. Oh! Before I forget for the 4th week in a row: is there any way to get my suit pants replaced? They are starting to get pretty thrashed. I could really use another pair of my olive green suit pants if it's possible. I don't know if they have a record or something of my sizes and style etc. at Mr. Mac or not. Let me know.
Hope everyone has a great week. Pray for missionary opportunities and then follow through when they present themselves! Thanks for everything and remember to be mighty!
Love,
Elder J. Hammer
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