Well it has been another insanely fast week. The Language is improving and I got to work with my teachers one on one so that helped a lot. The other day Elder Reich and I taught Salofo, that is our other teachers investigator name, about the importance of reading the scriptures. After we finish they give us feed back on what we can work on, but this time he told us that language wise we were the worst out of the groups that taught him. Still good but it was rough. Anyway he then told us that we were the only group where he felt the spirit. He also said that it was one of the most spiritual moments he has had as a teacher here, I learned that no matter how good we are at the language, if we have the spirit we can do miracles. That was by far the best lesson that we have taught so far.
Another one of our teachers told us that he truly believes that we can teach better in Malagasy than we can in English. I believe that to. We have to be as simple as we can possibly be and it helps the investigators understand a lot better than if we go off in English. So that was a really good confidence booster this week.
We still haven't had any major General Authorities come and speak to us yet. We had Brother Groberg talk to us, if you know who that is. He is the guy that the movie The Other Side of Heaven is based on. That was a really good talk. I don't think that I have ever taken so many notes in my life.
One of the Elders in my zone told me that in 9 days we will be 1/24 of the way finished with our missions. Time is going by so fast. I just can't wait to get to Madagascar. We hopefully find out our flight plans next week. I will let you know how that goes. My district also gets to host the new missionaries this upcoming Wednesday. 3 of my friends came in this Wednesday. One of them, Elder Cutler Johnson, is just down the hall from me in our residence building.
I don't know how much weight I have gained, last time I checked I was 207. Our teachers told us to expect to lose a lot of it out in Madagascar. They have told us some of their stories which are pretty awesome. They told us to expect rats in our houses, not little ones either. They each got to kill chickens and turkey for their food. One of them got to eat spiders. Don't worry they were fried. They said that the only lemurs they saw were in zoos, because they are endangered. Depending on where I am i could baptize people in the ocean or in other bodies of water. They also have portable fonts made out of pvc pipe. I can't think of any thing else they told us.
Before I go is bishop coming to the main campus? And don't worry about me getting homesick, I haven't missed home at all. I hope that doesn't sound bad. Anyway, Tiako anao (I love you). Veloma (good bye).
Elder Hammer
Thursday, July 31, 2014
Saturday, July 26, 2014
Pictures
Let's see if I remember how to post pictures...
Elder Coleman
A Teacher
Elder Reich
Elder Hammer and Elder Morse
Elder Coleman
A Teacher
Elder Reich
Elder Hammer and Elder Morse
EMail #2
Hey Mom
My week has been great. Yes I have a cable for my camera, I think that my inhaler should last long enough, and no I do not remember the measurements for my table. If you do measure it I was thinking of getting the glass cut a 1/16 inch shorter just to be safe. I also think that the squares may not be perfect squares, so you would have to check.
As for my week. The language is coming. I still have tons to learn, but I can now piece sentences together. It is a tough language, but the lord has definitely helped with it. Let kadin know that I am praying for him, as well as the rest of the family. But him that he will stop having stomach pains. Thanks for the package of stuff, I love getting mail. Gloria sent me a pie tin full of pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, they were gone in less than an hour. My district loved them. So the elders in my district are amazing. It has been cool seeing their personalities come out now that we are starting to get comfortable with each other. I still don't think that it has hit me that I am on my mission. It probably wont until I get to Madagascar. I am not looking forward to the trip though. I have heard that we fly from Salt Lake to New York, Then to London, Then Johannesburg, than to Madagascar. It is going to be a long 2 days. I don't remember if I told you, but we leave on the 18th of August so that we can arrive in Madagascar on the 20th.
I don't have any new stories to tell. Every day seems to be the exact same. Although they are going by very fast now. Oh one thing that my district does every night when we walk back to our residence we sing. It is great because the other missionaries join in as we walk by them. We still have not had any General Authorities come and speak to us, except for a member of the quorum of the 70. They have all been very good devotionals though. I love going to them. I never thought that I would say that. Oh and what is a CT scan, kadin did not explain it at all. I don't think that I have anything else to write about. I am going to try and send some pictures in an email. Love You.
Elder Hammer
My week has been great. Yes I have a cable for my camera, I think that my inhaler should last long enough, and no I do not remember the measurements for my table. If you do measure it I was thinking of getting the glass cut a 1/16 inch shorter just to be safe. I also think that the squares may not be perfect squares, so you would have to check.
As for my week. The language is coming. I still have tons to learn, but I can now piece sentences together. It is a tough language, but the lord has definitely helped with it. Let kadin know that I am praying for him, as well as the rest of the family. But him that he will stop having stomach pains. Thanks for the package of stuff, I love getting mail. Gloria sent me a pie tin full of pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, they were gone in less than an hour. My district loved them. So the elders in my district are amazing. It has been cool seeing their personalities come out now that we are starting to get comfortable with each other. I still don't think that it has hit me that I am on my mission. It probably wont until I get to Madagascar. I am not looking forward to the trip though. I have heard that we fly from Salt Lake to New York, Then to London, Then Johannesburg, than to Madagascar. It is going to be a long 2 days. I don't remember if I told you, but we leave on the 18th of August so that we can arrive in Madagascar on the 20th.
I don't have any new stories to tell. Every day seems to be the exact same. Although they are going by very fast now. Oh one thing that my district does every night when we walk back to our residence we sing. It is great because the other missionaries join in as we walk by them. We still have not had any General Authorities come and speak to us, except for a member of the quorum of the 70. They have all been very good devotionals though. I love going to them. I never thought that I would say that. Oh and what is a CT scan, kadin did not explain it at all. I don't think that I have anything else to write about. I am going to try and send some pictures in an email. Love You.
Elder Hammer
EMail #1
Sorry I haven't gotten these out, I need to get back into the habit of blogging. We received a short email from Kurtis last week and another this week. Enjoy!
Hey Mom,
I will be emailing home every thursday. That is my P-day. I got to go to the temple this morning and it was amazing. The provo temple is beautiful. Tell kadin that it is about time that he starts going to football. :) I am just kidding, he will do awesome. One of the Elders in my district, Elder Johnson, just found out that his older brother just got engaged. That is a hint for Devin. Elder Coleman is awesome. It has been amazing at how fast all of the Elders in my district have clicked. There are 13 of us in my district. It is currently the largest district in the MTC.
I sent 2 letters home already. I dont know when you will get them, but that is okay. My companions name is Elder Reich. Ask dad how to pronounce it. I would like a big pack of AA batteries, or rechargeable ones with a charger. I lost all of the ones I had back home. And I dont remember where I put my charger. I would also like a lot more pencil markers for my scriptures. The 2 that I brought are not very good. The lead breaks every time I sharpen them, so they are already almost gone. A better pencil sharpener would be nice as well. The one that I have is very dull and does not work that well.
The MTC has been amazing. The first few days took forever to get through. But this last week has gone by super fast. I have had so many spiritual experiences it is unreal. I have one after the other constantly. I have already seen a bunch of other Elders that I knew back in school, so that has been nice. The day that I got here we had 600 other sisters and Elders come in that same day! There are about 2000 missionaries here right now. Let's see, the other Elders in my district are... Elders Delbar, Morse, Koplin, Covey, Pinson, Coleman, Shroedtder, Tavo, Johnson, Rasmussen, Ahlstrom, Reich and Me. My teachers are Brother, or Rahaly, Sell, Aldous, and we just found out yesterday that Rakoto Jean, Our investigator, is our third teacher, Brother Bingham. So about "Rakoto Jean". We had to teach him our second day here in Malagasy. It was the scariest thing that I have ever done. We have taught him 4 times now, but it is still terrifying avery time. We are now supposed to teach him without notes and I am very nervous to do so. I have already learned so much, but I want it to just come to me. I know it wont, and that is why I am studying as much as I can.
The whole 8 hours of sleep is not that great. I was tired for the first few days, but I think that my body is about adjusted to it. I think the worst part of the MTC is how long you are constantly sitting down in the classroom. We are in the classroom for up to 9 hours a day. It gets really boring really fast. I found out about the pills I get to take to prevent malaria yesterday. We have to take one a day starting 2 days before we leave, every day while in Madagascar, and every day for a year after I get home. Our teachers told us that they didn't take the pills unless they got acne. It is also used as an acne treatment pill. So it is a win win situation for me.
We have already had 2 devotionals since I have been here. One on sunday and one on tuesday. They have them on those days every week. Another thing that I found out is that we fly out on the 18 so we get there on the 20th. I am not positive that that is correct, but that is what I have heard. I am doing well and am still positive. I have yet to have a bad day. That has been a huge blessing. I think that is about all that I have to say. If you have any questions let me know. Oh and please send me letters in the mail. I did get the one from Brother and Sister Peterson. It was very nice. I dont think that I will be making any large purchases soon. I did get a couple notebooks and a big tube of toothpaste already. Thanks for all of the prayers. Please dont stop. Love You. Talk to you next week.
Elder Hammer
Hey Mom,
I will be emailing home every thursday. That is my P-day. I got to go to the temple this morning and it was amazing. The provo temple is beautiful. Tell kadin that it is about time that he starts going to football. :) I am just kidding, he will do awesome. One of the Elders in my district, Elder Johnson, just found out that his older brother just got engaged. That is a hint for Devin. Elder Coleman is awesome. It has been amazing at how fast all of the Elders in my district have clicked. There are 13 of us in my district. It is currently the largest district in the MTC.
I sent 2 letters home already. I dont know when you will get them, but that is okay. My companions name is Elder Reich. Ask dad how to pronounce it. I would like a big pack of AA batteries, or rechargeable ones with a charger. I lost all of the ones I had back home. And I dont remember where I put my charger. I would also like a lot more pencil markers for my scriptures. The 2 that I brought are not very good. The lead breaks every time I sharpen them, so they are already almost gone. A better pencil sharpener would be nice as well. The one that I have is very dull and does not work that well.
The MTC has been amazing. The first few days took forever to get through. But this last week has gone by super fast. I have had so many spiritual experiences it is unreal. I have one after the other constantly. I have already seen a bunch of other Elders that I knew back in school, so that has been nice. The day that I got here we had 600 other sisters and Elders come in that same day! There are about 2000 missionaries here right now. Let's see, the other Elders in my district are... Elders Delbar, Morse, Koplin, Covey, Pinson, Coleman, Shroedtder, Tavo, Johnson, Rasmussen, Ahlstrom, Reich and Me. My teachers are Brother, or Rahaly, Sell, Aldous, and we just found out yesterday that Rakoto Jean, Our investigator, is our third teacher, Brother Bingham. So about "Rakoto Jean". We had to teach him our second day here in Malagasy. It was the scariest thing that I have ever done. We have taught him 4 times now, but it is still terrifying avery time. We are now supposed to teach him without notes and I am very nervous to do so. I have already learned so much, but I want it to just come to me. I know it wont, and that is why I am studying as much as I can.
The whole 8 hours of sleep is not that great. I was tired for the first few days, but I think that my body is about adjusted to it. I think the worst part of the MTC is how long you are constantly sitting down in the classroom. We are in the classroom for up to 9 hours a day. It gets really boring really fast. I found out about the pills I get to take to prevent malaria yesterday. We have to take one a day starting 2 days before we leave, every day while in Madagascar, and every day for a year after I get home. Our teachers told us that they didn't take the pills unless they got acne. It is also used as an acne treatment pill. So it is a win win situation for me.
We have already had 2 devotionals since I have been here. One on sunday and one on tuesday. They have them on those days every week. Another thing that I found out is that we fly out on the 18 so we get there on the 20th. I am not positive that that is correct, but that is what I have heard. I am doing well and am still positive. I have yet to have a bad day. That has been a huge blessing. I think that is about all that I have to say. If you have any questions let me know. Oh and please send me letters in the mail. I did get the one from Brother and Sister Peterson. It was very nice. I dont think that I will be making any large purchases soon. I did get a couple notebooks and a big tube of toothpaste already. Thanks for all of the prayers. Please dont stop. Love You. Talk to you next week.
Elder Hammer
Doing Great!
Kurtis is doing great at the MTC. Please note the change in his address. He flies out Aug. 18 instead of 20. The letters we received last week are as follows:
#1 July 14
Dear Family,
It has been amazing here. The language is hard, but I am starting to pick it up. When you dropped me off I was taken in to get my books and my badge. After that I went straight to Malagasy class and didn't hear a word of English for the next 2 hours. It was very confusing at first, but I started to understand what my teachers were telling us. Tomorrow (Friday) we get to teach our first "investigator" in Malagasy. I am freaking out a little bit. Today has been great, I learned how to pray in Malagasy and am excited to do so tonight. I can't think straight, it has been a long day.It is nice that the language doesn't have he/she, it is just 1 word, Izy (pronounced like ease).
Oh my companion's name is Elder Reich, it is like Bike but with an R. Just to let you know, there was about 600 missionaries that came to the MTC on July 9th. There are 13 of us that are going to Madagascar.
I don't know what else to say so I will write my testimony in Malagasy for you. If you want to try and pronounce it, the a's make an ah sound, e's=eh, i/y=ee, and o's=ooh. (There are no u's). Tra makes a cha sound and the r's are slightly rolled.
Fantatro fa marina ny Fian sonan'i Jesoa Kristy ho an'ny Olamasin' ny Andro Farany. Fantatro fa marina ny Bokin' i Mormona. Fantatro fa ny Filazantsaran' i Jesoa Kristy naverina tamin' ny laoniny i Joseph Smith. Fantatro fa mpaminany velona i Thomas S. Monson. Noho my fahafantarana ireo zavatra ireo dia afaka mahatasapa ny Fanaby Masinaaho. Amin'ny anaran' i Jesoa Kristy, amena.
Veloma!
love,
Elder Hammer
#2 July16
Dear Family,
I know it hasn't been quite a week yet, but I figured I would write anyway. It has been awesome here. I feel like I have learned more in the last few days than I have in my entire life. My teachers are incredible. They are Rahaly (Brother) Aldous and Sell. The language is pretty confusing, but I am starting to understand it. We have taught Rakoto Jean (I don't know if I told you about him) 3 times already. He is from Madagascar and it is extremely hard to understand him. He talks so fast. I know that I have only known the language for 6 days now, but I feel like I should know more.
It feels like I have been here for weeks already. Sorry for all of the mistakes in my writing, I am pretty tired. My district is amazing. Everybody clicked the day we met and we are already very good friends. We all help each other with the language and it has helped a lot.
I think that I have already gained 10 pounds, gut I am not sure because I don't know how accurate our scale was back home. Thanks for all of the prayers. I know that they have helped. I am praying (in Malagasy) for all of you. Every day seems like an eternity, but looking back it feels like it went by so fast. I cannot wait to get out to Madagascar and serve the people there.
I have not gotten homesick at all. That I am thankful for. Tell Justin and Devin thank you for the letters they gave me. They have helped as well. I feel so blessed right now and I know that I have been. Again thank you for all of the prayers.
I still don't know when I email. You might get this after I do email you. I believe that P-day is on Thursday. That is when I get to email I believe. Anyway. Love you. I will write you soon.
Elder Hammer
P.S.
Letter in paper form would be really nice. I haven't received any yet. Except from the Peterson's. But I would really like some from the family. Thanks :)
#1 July 14
Dear Family,
It has been amazing here. The language is hard, but I am starting to pick it up. When you dropped me off I was taken in to get my books and my badge. After that I went straight to Malagasy class and didn't hear a word of English for the next 2 hours. It was very confusing at first, but I started to understand what my teachers were telling us. Tomorrow (Friday) we get to teach our first "investigator" in Malagasy. I am freaking out a little bit. Today has been great, I learned how to pray in Malagasy and am excited to do so tonight. I can't think straight, it has been a long day.It is nice that the language doesn't have he/she, it is just 1 word, Izy (pronounced like ease).
Oh my companion's name is Elder Reich, it is like Bike but with an R. Just to let you know, there was about 600 missionaries that came to the MTC on July 9th. There are 13 of us that are going to Madagascar.
I don't know what else to say so I will write my testimony in Malagasy for you. If you want to try and pronounce it, the a's make an ah sound, e's=eh, i/y=ee, and o's=ooh. (There are no u's). Tra makes a cha sound and the r's are slightly rolled.
Fantatro fa marina ny Fian sonan'i Jesoa Kristy ho an'ny Olamasin' ny Andro Farany. Fantatro fa marina ny Bokin' i Mormona. Fantatro fa ny Filazantsaran' i Jesoa Kristy naverina tamin' ny laoniny i Joseph Smith. Fantatro fa mpaminany velona i Thomas S. Monson. Noho my fahafantarana ireo zavatra ireo dia afaka mahatasapa ny Fanaby Masinaaho. Amin'ny anaran' i Jesoa Kristy, amena.
Veloma!
love,
Elder Hammer
#2 July16
Dear Family,
I know it hasn't been quite a week yet, but I figured I would write anyway. It has been awesome here. I feel like I have learned more in the last few days than I have in my entire life. My teachers are incredible. They are Rahaly (Brother) Aldous and Sell. The language is pretty confusing, but I am starting to understand it. We have taught Rakoto Jean (I don't know if I told you about him) 3 times already. He is from Madagascar and it is extremely hard to understand him. He talks so fast. I know that I have only known the language for 6 days now, but I feel like I should know more.
It feels like I have been here for weeks already. Sorry for all of the mistakes in my writing, I am pretty tired. My district is amazing. Everybody clicked the day we met and we are already very good friends. We all help each other with the language and it has helped a lot.
I think that I have already gained 10 pounds, gut I am not sure because I don't know how accurate our scale was back home. Thanks for all of the prayers. I know that they have helped. I am praying (in Malagasy) for all of you. Every day seems like an eternity, but looking back it feels like it went by so fast. I cannot wait to get out to Madagascar and serve the people there.
I have not gotten homesick at all. That I am thankful for. Tell Justin and Devin thank you for the letters they gave me. They have helped as well. I feel so blessed right now and I know that I have been. Again thank you for all of the prayers.
I still don't know when I email. You might get this after I do email you. I believe that P-day is on Thursday. That is when I get to email I believe. Anyway. Love you. I will write you soon.
Elder Hammer
P.S.
Letter in paper form would be really nice. I haven't received any yet. Except from the Peterson's. But I would really like some from the family. Thanks :)
Friday, July 11, 2014
Another Chapter Begins
And so it begins. Another missionary from the Hammer household. I can't believe the day has come and gone. We are excited to have Kurtis on his mission and look forward to hearing about all the happenings in Madagascar. He will be in the MTC for 6 weeks, flying out on August 20. Drop him a line if you feel so inclined.
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