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