August Again?

It was a year ago this week that I was transferred up to Fall River. I can't believe that it's been that long already. One of my Zone Leaders was serving in Cottonwood not too long ago also and he and I were telling each other stories about the area this morning when he was at our house emailing numbers to the APs. It's pretty sweet to talk about the experiences you've had in areas of the mission where other missionaries have served as well. I may have only been in Cottonwood for 6 weeks, but I definitely had some great experiences there.

This past week was slow. My comp, Elder Pedabone, has been having headaches lately. He acts as if they are super painful, but I'm not too sure they are as bad as he says. Whenever we were out doing something, he seemed fine. But getting him up and out was the challenging part. He's a great guy and I'm thankful that I get to serve with him, but we're going to work on working more effectively this week.

Our investigator, Patricia, is still good to go for August 14th. We've been having some really wonderful visits with her and she has really started to open up. There are some ward members that are doing a great job at fellowshipping, although it's only some members right now. If we could somehow get the rest of the ward anxious to reach out of their Sunday-only worship mentality, good things would be happening. I read a talk given in a devotional address somewhere by somebody that I can't remember their name that said something like this, "If Heavenly Father were sitting on the stand during one of our sacrament meetings, and Dave who wasn't active or not a member walked in and sat down, wouldn't He rush down the aisle, give Dave a hug, and say, 'Dave has come home!'?" Something to think about, eh?

That's about it for now. Something I've been thinking about lately is how grateful I am for each new day that we are given. It's amazing that I can wake up each morning and try to be better than the day before. As long as you are living the Gospel, progression can continue to happen and the choices you make don't hold you back from reaching your potential in the future. It's when we fall into sin and choose to disobey that our choices limit our ability to become somthing better. Righteousness truly does bring freedom, immediately and in the future. Unrighteousness, although fleetingly satisfying at times, literally stops us from progression. The Gospel is so amazing. The Atonement is awesome. In the words of my companion, "Ou te iloa e moni le talalelei." (I know the church is true!)

Be Mighty!
Love,
Elder J. Hammer

PS. Here's my address, Mom.
4809 Adieu Ct.
Sacramento, CA 95842

Also, did you ever find anything out about my watch and what I can do to get it fixed? Or should I just take it somewhere and try to get them to fix it?
Tell Samantha hi for me too! I love the Cranes!