family

Hello everyone,
It's so good to be back here and to telll you all about what's goign on this past week. We had such a good week this last week and i'm excited for you all to hear about it. Well i'm staying in glen burnie! Elder Caballero is leaving and i'll get a new comp on wednesday. I'm glad that i'm staying and to see the new adventure with whomever it may be. Thanks for the letters and packages this week i really appreciate them. Thanks grandma hafen and aunt jodie for the letters i loved hearing from you guys!
Well probably the biggest news is that our investigators from Fort Smallwood Rick and Loraine are doing so well! We went to the temple with them on saturday and had one of the msot amazing experiences of the mission there! We had a great lesson with them on thursday and invited them to go and they said they would love to and that they would drive and everything. It really worked out great. We went down to the temple and they were amazed and rick is just a character, haha that guy can talk, we listened to him for 45 minutes the whole way down and i really don't think he stopped haha he's such a good guy though and he is really progressing. When we first met him he was really struggling and he didn't know if there was a god or what and he is taking huge leaps of faith and it's so cool to see. Oh ya and little reba their 3 year old came with us too haha she's the cutest i love that girl. But we got there and went through a tour of the visitor center by a sister missionary and we have been really trying to get rick to pray and read and that's what they focused on at the temple with them so it worked out so good. Then we went and walked around and took some pictures and talked more about what the temple is, it was a little difficult to explain to them about the temple because we ahven't even got to teach them the plan of salvation yet but i know that they felt the spirit and they wanted to know more. And then we went to watch Joseph Smith the prophet of the restoration movie. Dang that movie is so good and couldn't have been mroe perfect for them. Reba starting crying and yelling half way through the movie so rick took her out and didn't come back haha she's a little snappy for a 3 year old but loraine was able to see the whole thing. Well long story short at the end elder caballero was in tears, i was in tears and loraine was in tears. That movie is so powerful and after it was over she was like i need to go to the bathroom and clean up, she was like balling and then the best part of the whole experience. Elder Caballero started to talk to a sister missionary from st george and loraine walked out of the bathroomand we sat down in front of the Jesus Christ statue and she started crying again and said "I know it's true, I know its true" it was such a spiritual experience and for her to say that she was just tingling because she was so happy and knew that it was true was so cool. She asked us if she could get baptized earlier because she wants to get baptized but we really want them to do this together, rick and loraine. What an amazing experience it was to see the both of them there at the temple and it was packed and there was so many families there and just for them to see that this is happiness this is where the families are this is where it is at. I was a little frustrated that we didn't plan better and have a member with us to take care of reba if she acted up cause i wanted rick to feel that same spirit in the movie of joseph smith, but i know that he felt soemthing on saturday and that he could feel the importance of the temple.so we drove home and challenged them to set up a time when they would read and pray together and see them at church tomorrow. Well sunday morning came around and they weren't there so we gave them a call and i guess rick and reba ate the same food and got food poisoning. and they had fevers and loraine started crying on the phone because she said she wanted to come to church so bad. She said that they went home that night and read until 12 at night and they are praying as a family at 9pm and that her adn rick would pray at 6 in the morning everyday! She also said that rick prayed for the first time since they have been married and she said it was just amazing. Man it was so cool to hear that i wanted them at church so bad but i knew that it wasn't an investigator excuse. It's amazing what the Lord is blessing this family with and they are just amazing to see progress in the gospel. This gospel is so sweet haha
We had a 14 year old investigator at church yesterady though who had ordered a Book OF Mormon and we have been teaching him the past few weeks. He's 14 and a little lost in life and doesnt' really knwo what he wants but he came to church yesterday and he is progressing as well, his name is richard johnson. We are doign so well and the work here is going so so good!
> We have a couple investigators named Reuben and his son manuel who we taught this week the plan of salvation to. They came to preach my gospel night at the church and it was so sweet. They came with their scriptures and were answering all the questions and reuben was like "usually in my family when we dont' have anything to do we just drink beer, but i think that we should start reading this book more" haha looks like the word of wisdom will be coming tomorrow in our lesson but it's so cool to see people change little by little and see the influence of the spirit in their lives. We have a lot of work to do with them as well but they are coming around and i'll have more updates next week. We want to set up a date with them this week so i'll let you all know.
This past week we found a less active family in Brooklyn park. There names are the Hernandez family and they are from Guatamala. Sister gonzalez is a gem and she loves the missionaries. Haha she fed us chicken chow mein sandwhiches haha bet you didn't think that was possible huh well in baltimore anything can happen haha we have so much work to do with less actives who are struggling and this past week we have really tried to get over to all the less actives and share something with them that might change their mind. Elder Caballero and i love to sing hymns with the members when we leave. How great thou art (Gran eres tu) en espanol is so good! we have the most success with that one haha It's amazing the role the hymns can make in our lessons and in our days.
Well everyone that's about it for this past week i'm so grateful that i'm hear experiencing all this good stuff and also the tuff stuff as well. This should be a new fun experience with a new comp on wednesday but i know that it's just another step in the road. Thanks for all your love and support i really appreciate it! tHANKS to my pen pals! Just thanks to everyone. I hope all is well and i'm so happy for this gospel in my life! Have a great week. Les Amo
Elder Hammer

fam

Hey fam and friends! How are all of you? I know that you are all doing great so i don't even need to ask that but it's always akward trying to start off my letters haha so i guess i'll just doing it in an akward way by saying its akward haha alright enough of that. Man we had such a great week this last week, our numbers didn't give justice to the week we had but sometimes thats how it goes. Thank you all for the letters and love this week! Thanks grandma hafen for the box WOW you should have seen the other elders eyes when i opened that box ha and they have been snacking on that for the past week and it seems like it's still full haha thank you so much for the letter as well. Thanks rodgers fam for the card. I really appreciate all you do for me guys like really you guys are amazing.
Alright well first and foremost Luis and alejandra. So last week we taught them about the priesthood and about relief society. It went really well and luis is getting more and more understandign of the importance of this stuff. We had planned to just confirm luis yesterday because alejandra had to wrk so we were gonna do her on next sunday. But she asked if she could have work off which never works for her and they let her off. So yesterday one after the other luis and alejandra were confirmed by Elder Caballero. It was so sweet! Luis was all smiles and of course alejandra was in tears haha she's a little emotional roller coaster but thats good the tears are always good when their tears of happiness. And it was so sweet we had 6 spanish members at church yesterday! when i first got here i'm not gonna lie the spanish was pretty low and the work was slow but elder caballero and i with all the credit going to the lord have got this spanish ball rolling. We have never had more than 2 or 3 members there and we are starting to really get things going here. I hope i don't get transfered and i dont' think i will cause elder caballero has been here 6 months but i just have so much more i wanna do in this area before i leave and to get a branch started. We really gotta work on the preisthood holders and aget them here, but little by little things are getting so much better and this area is startign to grow. Before alan the last baptism here was in january of 08 almost 2 years and we've had 3 in the last 3 months. It really is so amazing that if you wanna work the lord will bless you with these sweet opportunities. But we have so much more to do.
This past week we went over to Alans house and lately he has been on such a kick to join the marines and go serve his country and all this which is great but we have been trying to get him on a mission first! We haven't forced it too much but this week we were over there at his house with his mom and his best friend and he was like "i think i wanna go on a mission" It was so sweet to hear because he is the type of person that says something and he'll do it so to hear him say that was so sweet. We went over there the other night and he wasn't there but we got to talk to his mom for like an hour and a half. We have been trying to get to teach her but it just wasn't going anywhere but we had the best discussion about life and the loss of her husband and she said that she would want to go to the temple with us! And then to make it even better, Alan has a best firend named jose who is in a world of trouble and has been in and out of rehab and drugs but is a nice person. Well he started askign me about the church and about the mission and said that he would want to listen to us because he hasnt' found himself yet in his life. Man is the lord looking at over us or what, we have people coming in from everywhere that need this happiness so bad and it's just so sweet to see it all coming together.
So elder caballero and i are the spanish missionaries over 6 different wards but the spanish meets in glen burnie, but we are also the english elders in fort smallwood branch, so we go on teamups a couple nights a week with them but dont' do much work over there. This past week though this couple came into the church and need financial help and most of the time when that happens you kinda get that feeling when you talk to them that there just there for the money. But our branch pres. said that they committed to letting us teach them so we went over there this week and taught the lady and her husband. Rick and evalyn. rick is from baltimore and is a little ruff around the edges and evalyn is from honduras and is just a sweet sweet lady. She's was religious and her mom is a missionary for another church. When she was 8 years old she and her mom and some kids from her church walked from NICARAGUA to Honduras in 14 days non-stop! This lady knows what faith is and her english is really good too. So we went over there this week and taught them with the Branch Pres. During the lesson i asked her how she felt about everything and she said, when i walked into your church i felt the greatest peace come over me and i knew that there was something different. We walked out of that lesson and they are both on date to be baptized december 5th! ShE was in tears during the lesson and it was one of those great experiences that i'll never forget. Yesterday there they were 15 minutes early to church in the best clothes they could find with little REBA. Reba is the niece of rick but they have had her since she was 9mnths and she is 3 now. THe mom is a drug addict and the dad is in jail and they took her in. She is the cutest little thing in the world and has a question for everything, hey you what are you looking at, why are you smiling, whats this green book? (the hymn book) haha she is so cute and i can't wait to see where this family goes. Usually i'm not too excited about english work because i just wanna do spanish, but she speaks spanish a little with us and mostly just english but it doesnt' matter. They were put in our laps and i am so happy to be the one that gets to teach them and see them progress. THey had a way good experience at church yesterday and they were answering questions in gospel essentials, reba cried when she had to leave nursery haha its amazing people this is the most amazing work in the world!
This past week we ran into a guy knocking that was like hey i served a mission he's 26 years old from el salvador and served in honduras. hE'S not active for some reason but we'll figure it out and get him back to church no worries there, but i can see him as the branch president of our branch that we need haha can you see what i mean when i say that the lord is watching over us, it's amazing!
> Well thats it for this week guys, i love it in the dirty i love this work and i am happy! Thanks for all your prayers and love. Thanks for the letters and packages and my pen pals, Thank you! I love you all and hope the best week for you all. Les amo
Elder Hammer

{family}

Hey family and friends!
Jordo here from the Dirty and what an amazing week this week has been. I have learned so much this week and man we are just thriving in the MD right now. Things are going really well for me and my companion and most of all were happy. The mission is a roller coaster ride but were have such a blast and getting to work. Thank you all this week for your letters and love. It really meant a lot to me and i know that there were prayers out there in my behalf and i just want to say thanks to you all so much. I can feel them in my life and i just am grateful for the support always! Thank Hermana dean for your letter its so great to hear from you guys. Thanks fam for all your letters this week they were the best! Halloween was crazy here people are a little whacky on the east coast haha we had to be in at 6 and we did our weekly planning and then we just ended up getting all the stuff ready for the baptism haha but no one knocked on our door, maybe the big picture of christ scared them away ahah but a member took us to dinner before so that was alright, i guess holidays just turn into another day when your a missionary haha Well to get right into things....
Luis and Alejandra were baptized yesterday! and yours truly did the baptizing! Wow where do i begin with yesterday and how alejandra got to be baptized ha well friday night we had a ward halloween party and they came and after they had their baptismal interview from one of the members of the mission presidency who speaks spanish. Going into the interview alejandra said she needed more time but she came out of the interview and she said she was going to be baptized! man i dont' know what president mcginn said to them but they came out of there with a glow on their faces, and i knew that they were ready. Then we asked who they wanted to baptise them and they said me so i was happy about that. But one thing now that i've done both is that it doesn't matter who does what because it's not us doing it were just their for the lord and their for the people. But it was fun to be the one doign it though i'm not gonna lie. Ha and to do it in spanish was so sweet. THe whole baptismal service was in spanish and i just was so happy about that because we are in an english ward but everythign was geared towards luis and alejandra and it couldn't have gone any better. Ha they were both scared of the water and didn't exactly know what to do but we got them down in there and i just kept saying to myself please don't mess this up haha and i didn't so it went well and they were both baptized! What a miracle it is to see them baptized. they have been investigating the church for about 10 months now and a few months ago when i first got here they were about ready to be dropped. But we kept on them and didn't lose the hope and here they are members of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints. When me and luis were in changiing out of our wet clothes we got dressed and we had a suit for him because he usually just wears jeans and a button up shirt with no tie, but we brought him all the stuff and i was helping him tie his tie and he looked at himself in the mirror after we were finished and he said "hay un diferente luis" that means in english "there's a different luis" man when i heard him say that i was so happy. He knew what he had just done and it was so sweet to be able to know that it meant that much to him. We gave them the chance to bear their testimonies to everyone and Alejandra just cried through hers and i love when people cry cause it means they are sincere and are feeling it. The night could not have been any better and these two the best. I can't beleive a few months ago we went from almost dropping them to them both being baptized it was so sweet!
On to other good news and a cool experience yesterday as well was with alan. yesterday was fast sunday and i got up and bore my testimony and then after i did alan went up. Last fast sunday we said to each other that we were gonna go up next month together but i totally forgot. But i did ok (very little tearage i might add). And then alan got up and started talking and man the tears came. He got up there and just bore his testimony about being spoiled, not with cars, money, mcdonalds haha yes he did say mcdonalds from the pulpit and then he said the classic line "who needs mcdonalds, i had rice and beans" haha he got quite a few laughs from that. But as i was sitting there watching my 1st baptism stnad up after blessing the bread and get up and bare his testimony, it was the greatest feelign in the world because i knew that he knew that this was everything. To have a recent convert and then soon to be baptized sitting there right next to me was everything. THis is why i am here and to see these people just get so happy it's the best!
I can't describe how hard some of these days out here are, but its days like yesterday where you see people take the first step, or a recent convert share a powerful testimony and then to look at yourself and see the growth individually, man it makes those terrible wet cold crappy days all worth it! There is nothing that i could ask for more in my life than what i have. I have the gospel at the forefront of everything i do and i get to be around people who have nothing, who can't see past terrible days, and can't see past the world. We are so blessed people, SO BLESSED! I know that this letter has been a little shorter but were running out of time but i just wnat you to all know that i know this gospel is happiness! there is nothing more than i could ask for out here or in my life. I am so grateful for all or you for your love and for your support. Thanks to me pen pals your the best! I love to hear from all of you and i hope all is well with all that you are doing. I love you all and i love this work. I am so happy and loving it here in the dirty! Les amo mucho
con mucho amor elder hammer

{hola}

Hello fam and friends!
It's so great to be back here writing you about the amazing week we had this past week. I dunno what it is but the weeks just seem to be getting better adn better and they are going faster and faster ha that part is kinda scary. But man did fall come in a hurry the leaves are changing colors here and its really beautifull here right now. There aer so many trees and so many colors that i hope fall can last all the way to spring and we wont even have to go through the winter haha i'm a bit nervous for the winter here cause i'm so weak when it comes to the cold stuff but that's alirght it's nice right now and thats all that matters! Thank you all for your letters this week adn for the packages as well i appreciate them so much and they just are great to hear a little piece of everyone elses lives going on right now. But i can't say enough how thankful i am for them.
Well the big news for this week is that Luis is getting baptized next sunday! after church. Him and his wife came to church again together yesterday and it was so great to see both of them there. We met with them quite a few times this past week and it has been great to read with them and see them grow. We put his wife on date and then last week she said she wasn't ready and so we tried to talk to her about what was holding her back, so we finally figured it out that she sings in the choir at the catholic church and she is affraid that if she joins the church that they wont let her sing in it anymore. Oh the struggles of not having a spanish branch with a spanish choir. Ha but that is our struggle with her right now because she has such a strong testimony and when we erad the scriptures together she is always the first one to point out a scripture that she liked the most or how we can apply it in our lives. It is really cool to see them change. They have been kinda ify this whole time until we started implying the book of mormon in their lives. I know now that the book of mormon is the key to conversion, without reading that book these people will never feel the need to change and can never know that the gospel is true. I am really starting to realize that need and the amazing power the Book of mormon has to change people's lives.We want them so badly to be baptized together because that would be so good for them but we just are gonna have to see what happens this week but luis is on and next time i email you all we will have another new member in the church! i am so excited! Yesterday was the primary program in the church and the little kids were singing and saying there talks and all that and it was so great, and i looked over at Alejandra and she was just balling her eyes out. They have 3 kids a 8 5 3 year old and they live in chicago with their grandma. i dont' know why i haven't really asked but she was hurting yesterday watching all those little kids, i felt so bad for her because i know that must be so so tuff, but at the same time i know that gospel is exactly what she needs and that can be her so called refuge from missing her kids. We have a lot of work to do with both of them this week but i will hopefully have the best news for you guys next monday that they were both baptized together.
Alan is doign great! he blessed the bread and water in sacrament yesterday and said his prayer perfectly! I was so happy for him cause he was so nervous before he went up there to do it. I know that the lord answers our prayers cause i was praying the whole time that he would be able to get through it and he did. And i know that it was a good experience for him so that he will want to do it again and again.He really is such a stud and i know that i'll be in contact with him for a long long time. His mom just found out that she might have thyroid cancer and i think that is throwing alan for a whirl, but elder caballero and i haven't been able to invite her to talk with us, but i think after hearing the bad news that might be a hint fromt he man upstairs saying get in there and teach her. I know that she's worried and alan is too and we are excited this week to try and talk with her and try to get to her heart. She's a catholic and they are tuff! haha
Well i wanted to share an experience that we had this week that i will probably never ever forget and might just be one of the best experiences that i have had on the mission. So the other night we went up to Brooklyn park to visit some people that have been taught but alot of them aren't progressing and our spirits were a little down. We went to a house of a man named edwin who has been taught for quite some time and isn't progressing. The last time we were over there was when i was on exchanges with our distirict leader and we had left him with a chapter to read and we got there and he hadn't read and i was really frustrated and just wanted to leave. But the last tiem we were there we asked him to pray and he said no but he promised me that the next time he would pray, so we were frustrated and wanted to leave so we said alright well your gonna at least say the prayer, and the excuses started flowing that he couldnt' and didn't know how and that the other people in his house might here him and all this, and we just kinda threw that aside adn said can we kneel so we knelt down and said alright will you say that prayer and he wouldn't, and just keep saying no you do it. We sat there on our knees and argued back and forth with him for about 30 minutes no joke and then i said alirght well i will right it down for you on a piece of paper and so we got back on the couch and i wrote how to start and end on a piece of paper and we gave it to him and got back down on our knees and he was still in his chair and something just keep saying to me don't give in and say it. And so he was sitting in the chair with his hat on and elder caballero said will you take off your hat and kneel and he did and he was just staring at the paper. We said alright you say it, and we folded our arms and closed our eyes. And we waited.......and waited....and waited about 2 or 3 minutes no joke! The whole time i was just praying with everything i had that he would feel the spirit and pray and just do it i've never prayed so hard for somethign in my life. And i opened my eyes a few tiems to make sure he hadn't fallen asleep but he was just staring at the paper. and i closed my eyes and kept praying and then i heard the 3 best words of the missions thus far "nuestro padre celestial" thats our father in heaven in english! He did it! He prayed and i jsut wnated to scream for joy. It was so cool to see him feel the spirit and just do it! I couldn't believe it and now there is a whole new attitude about him and he took that huge leap of faith and we are excited about him. Ha yesterday in my talk i told that story and i just cried through it. hA You would think that i could quit being a softy and not cry but no i think my emotions are on high out here! But it was such an amazing experiece and one that i will never forget. The lord works miracles and sometime it takes patience 30 minutes of going back and forth and 2 or 3 minutes of silence but the spirit came and it worked! I know the lord answers our prayers no doubt in my mind because he does it daily!
Fam and friends it's been great to write you and tell you whats going on oh yeah we had zone conference this weeka nd that was so sweet our mission pres is just a man of god i can't say much more than that. And oh yeah saturday we were on our bikes and i'm not kidding a TERRENTAIL DOWNPOOR came upon us i thought we were gonna get flooded like noah. You could dump the water out of my shoes it was rediculous and we were so soaked! Ha just another day in paradise right? haha i love it here everyday is an adventure and a learning experience and i can't beleive that 4 months have come and gone. crazy stuff. But i love you all thanks to all of you who wrote and write me and my pen pal. I love you so much for your love and support out here. Things are great in the dirty and i hope you all have a great Halloween! I will talk to you all real soon. The church is true and i am convinced that without a doubt this is not me doign anything out here, this is the lords work. The church is true and waht a blessign it is for all of us in our lives. I love you guys. Singing off from the Dirty! Les amo
Elder Hammer

{hola fam}

Hey everyone, it's so good to be back here writing you all again and it's been a good week for us for the most part. Many good experiences happened this week and we are really working hard. I am excited for this new transfer. As i'm writing to you all in a library it's dark and cloudy outside and it's cold ha man i can just feel the cold coming yikes! haha but maryland weather is crazy i asked for long sleeve shirts cause it was gettting cold and i haven't worn one yet cause it was like 80 degrees and sunny and hot this week. haha maryland to put it short is just....different. but i love it and we are having a good time in the DIrty. Thank you all for the letters and the packages this week i was fed this week with letters and that was so so sweet. Thanks mom and dad for your letters they were the best and the shirts momma! I got a package from the young's in the ward mom and dad our home teachers. they went me a bunch of halloween stuff that was really nice of them make sure to thank them for me. and thanks to my pen pals those letters were the best this week. People are going all out here for halloween it's crazy how big of a deal it is out here. Every house is decked out and decorated it's really crazy i'll take some pictures of some of these houses and get them to ya.
Well this week we worked a lot with alan and teaching him so that he could get the priesthood. He passed yesterday and will be confirmed next sunday! Man that kid is such a stud you guys have no idea. Ha we had a member from glen burnie feed us this big black family and they just stuffed us full of spaghetti and bread and then we went over to alans house and his mom had made us authentic mexican carne asada tacos! Man i must have gained ten pounds just that night. I wasn't hungry at all and she just kept bringing more and more and mroe food i could barely hold it down. ha new rule for me and elder caballero, when we have alan we can't eat dinner because we went last night and same exact thing happened how a member fed us and then went to his house and his mom had a huge meal. I guess i can't complain though right haha But i'm so happy when were with alan because he just has a testimony and we watched Mountain of the Lord with him and have been talking a lot about the temple. One of my favorite things to talk about! But he's a stud and i can't wiat till you get to meet him one day, because i know that he'll be around for a while.
Well this week was a bit of a struggle as far as teaching and getting investigators to church. This is two weeks in a row that we haven't gotten any to church and it's really tuff, because when we invite them they ask if it's in spanish and we have to say no but we translate and that turns a lot of them away, and we really need to start working with the members that are spanish. we have two big families that never come and they are turning into our number one priority because unitl they start coming we'll never be able to start a spanish branch and we need one badly! So that's our big goal this week is to get the members who are less active back and coming to church because without them the investigators don't any support system to see that other espanos are there are listening with their head phones too ha.
This week with Luis was tuff he got into some financial trouble with some people and couldn't meet with us and said that he was gonna come to church because we wanted to baptize him in 2 weeks if he came for the next 2 sundays and he didn't show up. It's getting tuff with him because when we are there he's great and happy and excited and then we leave and he forgets so we need to do better at seeing him more often. Elder Caballero and i have so much work to do and have so many people that we need to contact alot like alan and luis and the less active members but we can do it. We haven't found a lot of people in glen burnie because we usually go out in different areas but as of lately we have been finding more and more and it's been great. We have an appt tonight with a lady that we think were gonna commit her to be baptized tonight! And elder caballero when he was on exchanges on sat. found another lady that seems promising. We have lots of people that will listen to us it's just getting that return appt.but were gonna get these people to baptism no doubts it's just gonan take some time and paciencia, which the mission is teaching me haha.
This week i went on an exchange with elder bankhead the AP. He was the one that i got to talk to first thing wehn i got here and i love the guy! He's 24 years old lives in provo and is almost done with school and just decided later that the mission was for him and he's here. He's the most loving person i think that i have ever met, and we had a great exchange. Where the Ap's live is the same area as us up in brooklyn park and that area is just a really poor area.We had a few appts up there and there were a few members that we went and visited. I think i've seen some of the most poverty in my life up here and these people are the most humble people. They have nothign and ya they make choices that don't help them out but to see elder bankhead go into one of those houses and just love the people was a amazing to see. These little girls just came up to him and swarmed him haha it was a good lesson on loving the people that's for sure! His area also covers part of baltimore so i got to drive right by the city for the first time that i have been here and see camden yards and the bay and all that good stuff. That was pretty sweet to finally see what i had been looking at on the internet for the past 3 months. It's really cool though to go on exchanges with these guys because i've learned a lot on the type of missionary that i want to be and the things that i need to get there. Elder bankhead talked to me about what he would suggest for me to do for the rest of my mision and i lvoed what he told me. He was like don't let other people do it for ya, be a go getter and be the solution to a problem. Figure things out and always try to find a solution and i really liked that. we got told a quote by elder robbins who said "problem=gold mine" and it's that mentality that is key out here especially for elder caballero and i for the spanish and the ward.
Yesterday was a sweet fast sunday though we did a apartment fast and i really feel that the things that we fasted for were so good and the lord is gonna help us out. We live with two other great elders and we are trying to get the ward behind us and get their support. We are trying to do a night at the chruch where we will bring investigators to the church and members come too and we teach and so the members will get a hang of what we do and then when we ask them to come teach with us they wont be so affraid, and i think that we can get this going and that it will turn out good for us if we can be persistent with us, ha you gotta learn how to be persistent in the Dirty. But that's somethign else that we are workign on. The espanol is going ok we are doing our best to talk more while we are together and i am learning more and more it just takes time and i am figuring out that i am getting way better at understanding it so that's the best feeling. I just gotta open my dang mouth more haha.
Well fam this is it another letter and i'm out ha i love you all so much and i hope you have had a great week. I'm glad to hear your ok Bell and i know that your driving the truck for a reason:) i love you bell. And once again congrats nick and jess i lov eyou both and am so happy for you two. I'm gonna be a sweet uncle that's all i can say! I love you all this gospel is amazing and yesterday as i bore my testimony is church about conference and this happiness that we have, man we have it all and i am so happy that i'm apart of this. I love you all so much, thanks for the letters again everyone and pen pals. Have a great week and i'll be just fine in the Dirty no worries! Les amo
Elder Hammer

{family}

Hey family,
Wow what an amazing weekend this has been and what an amazing week this has been as well. I am so grateful for the opportunity to have the apostles and prophets speak wow that was absolutley amazing! Thank you all for your letters this week! I can't tell you enough how much they mean to me. Thanks mitzie, t bone and grandma hafen. Happy birthday today grandma hafen and linda and grandpa on sat and lindsey tomorrow wow my best wishes to all of you! Thank you thank you.
Well the good news is that i am staying in glen burnie with elder caballero! We got called last night and they let us know. We are one of the only missions that has an actual transfer meeting. and they call this time Transfermania! because they just call you and say your leaving or staying and that's it. and then you find out when you get to transfer meeting. They do that so all the gossip and stuff throughout the mission doesn't happen and stuff and so the next few days you can still work! But wow what a blessing it has been to have elder caballero and i am so happy i get another transfer with him! I wasn't exactly ready to get out and start going through this area all by myself haha but i know the lord knows that i needed at least one more with him. But pres belliston was telling us that the prophet instructed him that the average should be 6 months in an area so i think i'm gonna be in the DIRTY for a while ha we call it glen dirty.
What an amazing conference it was this weekend! Ican't believe the things that we were taught and how different conference is watching it from a church than up in pine valley haha i couldn't help but think of you all up in pine valley watching conference together but thats alright cause it'll all be there when i get back!I would have to say that this conference was one of my favorites i think it's just because my mind is a little different on this kind of stuff and i realize what a blessing it is to have conference and to listen to these great men. I can't even say enough about them all. But i think the two things that i picked out the most was LOVE and Personal Revelation and the spirit. It is so amazing that of all those things that love something so basic is what was portrayed. I know that love is all we can do. If people don't know we love them then why would they join this church so thats somethign i need to work on the most. But wow Jeffrey R. Holland wow is all i can say. He should be the prophet haha I couldn't wait to here from here and yes i had some tears as he talked about joseph and hyrum and going to the book of mormon in their final hours together. That was so deep and i loved that. And then i loved the priesthood session with henry b eyring and being prepared, this last week we gave a blessing to this man from ft smallwood branch the other ward we are over and it just made me really realize what was important and to always be prepared but i loved it. I could go on and on talking about conference but there is other stuff i want to talk about but wow we are so blessed i can't say that enough.
Well this week was a really tuff week for us, we didn't have a lot of lessons and we were doing a lot of knocking! We are started to see some investigators that are fallign off and just wont answer there doors, there will be some that will see us through the window and still now answer, crazy stuff ha but that's alright we just keep pushign on i guess right? But when appointments feell through this week is when we were able to have the most success! We went to an appointment one mornign the lady said she could only do it then during our study time so we went and she stiffed us, so we went over to these guys near by and started talkign with them. One of them's name was saul and he talked to us for about an hour! It was such a cool conversation. He has epilepsy and he just told us his whole story how he became a catholic and what jesus christ has been in his life, and then the fun part happened. We started to teach him. And he asked that question that you always love to hear "well then why are there so many churches out there, which one is true then" that's when you as dad would say "put the foot on the throttle" haha and then we just went on to say this is our message to the world that there is a true church and because of the apostacy there are so many that just ahve parts of the truth but not the whole truth. Man he could just see it in his eyes. I am so excited about him and we are gonna go back this week and teach him.
And then another cool experience we were walking and we saw this lady and her son about 15 years old and there daughter and we gave them a pass along card and didn't think much of it. two days later we were knocking and we knocked at there house. It was so cool we sat there and talked to them for an hour on there doorstep and they are just so poor and have nothing they have lived here for 6 months in america from mexico they don't know any english but they are just making it and the gospel is what they need! The Lord really jsut places people in our paths and i can't believe it that more and more we work the more he helps us out. There really is nothign better than work that's for sure! nothing is better!
As we start this new transfer i am so excited. This whole time i have been kinda walking in the shadow of elder caballero and i want to walk side by side with him this transfer. I want to speak more spanish do more teaching and just get immersed in it. I have 6 weeks experience and the only way to progress is to get more into it. I am so excited for this time and this new transfer.
I am so happy right now where we are at and the work we have ahead of us man i just am pumped for the road ahead. I love you all so much. Thank you all so much for your love and support i love you tons! Have the best week and know that elder hammer is doing great i love you all thanks for the letters from everyone and my pen pals. i love you!
Con mucho amor,
Elder hammer

elder martillo

Hello family!
What an amazing week this has been! I can't believe it has come and gone and i have learned so much and am so excited to tell you all about it. Thank you all so much for your emails and for your love i can always feel the love from the family. Thank you mom for all the post cards from hawaii and jace thanks for the letter too! Thank you grandma and grandpa hammer for that wonderful card and the money and the stamps and gift card thank you so much! And thank you grandma hafen for writing me about the rodeo. Man i can't beleive it's already rodeo time and now it's come and gone haha but thank you all and thanks to my pen pals too!
Well this weekend was the baptism and that was such a sweet sweet experience i don't thin i am going to have enough email time ha to put down into words how i was feeling this weekend and of the things that happened. Man it went so well and i just am so happy and yes alan gonzalez is a confirmed member of the church! Well saturday was a crazy day we had a lot to do to prepare for the baptism and i just wanted it to be perfect. so most of saturday was all about calling and inviting people, making sure those that had assignments remembered and filling up the font, setting up chairs, we had a video presentation etc... But i just wanted it to be so perfect for him. He had his whole family coming who are all non members and i knew that if we could impress him and his parents and family with the spirtiual experience of the baptism that it would be just great. Well one of our speakers bailed on us for something and so we couldn't find anyone to speak on the Holy Ghost, so yours truly did the talk on the holy ghost at his baptism. I was more than happy to do it and i was actually really excited because i knew that i could say some things that others might not say or would say. So i had a little preparing to do for the talk so i did that, and saturday we actually went on exchanges with our district leader elder seegmiller who lives with us. So i went with him and his companion went with elder caballero, so on the day of the baptism elder caballero and i weren't together until about 4 in the afternoon haha that was kind of interesting but i guess that's the blessing of having a cell phone out here. The four of us were all working on this baptism together so it was really good. So the person too that was gonna bring refreshments also bailed on us so thats why there's a ten dollar charge at wal-mart mom. I couldn't stand not having something there for him and his family so we went out and got some cookies and drinks so that after there was a good treat for everybody. Sorry mom i hope that was ok, it was for a good cause though haha. So we got to the baptism pretty early to set everything up and get everythgin going and everything went really smoothe and it all worked out for the best. He showed up at about 5 45 when we had asked him to come at about 5 15 which was totally fine because it started at 6 so we had plenty of time. haha that was until his family didn't show up till about 6 30 haha so we had a lot of prelude music and plenty of time to take pictures, but we weren't gonna start this thing without his family there. But we had a great time. The baptism went so well and this lady from our ward named sister crites who is just a gem! recent convert and would do anythign spoke on baptism and just shared her testimony and was in tears and yeah it was a spiritual experience listening to her and i know that some of the things she said were exactly what alan needed to hear as well as his family too. He comes from a catholic family and they aren't active they just say they are catholic so we are really hoping to not only see alan progress but get his family on board as well! Then was the time for the baptism and that went great Alan is about 5'3'' just about the size of another small person i know haha so we didn't have to fill up the font very high to get him under, but elder caballero did really well and first time was a success. Ha alan was so nervous before the baptism because he only had on black briefs under and he was nervous everyone would see so man after he was up out of the water he jetted out of that font haha it was funny but no one noticed but he came out after changing and just had the biggest smile on and i could tell that he was just a happy happy person. And then it was my turn to speak. I held it together really really well only a few tears and i was pretty proud of myself ha i'm such a boob and i held it together really well so i was happy about that. But after experiencing this baptism and talking on the Holy Ghost it really made me look at myself in the mirror and remember those convenants that i made that day and it all is just becoming to be more and more and more important to me. Along this whole ride with alan we have been teaching him and teaching him but i think the person who is learning and growing the most is me! It's really wierd how that works like that but it does and i am so happy that that is happening! But the baptism was a success for sure, he got up and bore his testimony and cried up there about how tuff his life has been and how he had to learn on his own, and it ripped me up a little because i am so glad that i have never felt alone and no matter what happens from here on out he has his savior and he has this gospel and that is the best part of the whole thing this weekend is that he now is on the path for him, and his family and his families family. I remember talking with someone about seeing that first person baptized and seeing that smile and joy and seeing that happiness and seeing the joy, and it couldn't have been any better. I tried to imagine it that day and i didn't understand at all what this day would actually be like, it was amazing absolutely amazing. Then in sacrament the yesterday i got to confirm him a member of the church and give him the holy ghost. wow what a cool experience that was. I will never forget that day standing up there with alan and him asking me to do that amazing thing. I am so grateful that i got to do that. Words really can't describe it! It really is the coolest thing in the world to see that happen to someone and just know that change that's gonna come from it. And the part that makes me the most excited is that i wanna see that day when alan is serving and doing the same thing that i am doing right now.
And to top that off we had zone conference this week and elder robbins from the first quorum of the sventy was there this whole week with president belliston and wow i learned a lot. We had zone conference on friday and you come out of those things just fired up to get out to work and it was a really cool learning experience listen to him to talk to us for 4 hours and not loosign a breathe. And his wife talked to us as well about not being a casual missionary, and i think that was my favorite part because she said a quote that being sensual and casual is the same thing, because you've already lowered your guard. And i loved that quote so much because really satan works hard out here and he just wants to get you at every angle and little by little and it's sad to see because he gets a lot of missionaries but it's not gonna be that way for me! I can't tell you enough how easy it is to be obedient out here like i really struggle when people tlak about disobedient elders cause i just dont' get how you can be like that, and i am not sayign i'm perfect by all means i am far from that but the rules are seriously what make or break you as a missionary and i can already see that in just one short month of being here. But we have had such an amazing weekend, we have been so blessed to have a general authority in our midst and to have a person like that teach and instruct us was great. He told us one thing that has been stuck in my mind now for a while and that was "That black badge is your license to open up your mouth, not only should you do that, but you have to do that" and i loved that because sometimes i get a little affraid to tlak to some people but there is people all over we gotta talk to them all. President and sister belliston are so amazing and they can talk for two minutes and you can be spiritually overwhelmed! I love president belliston with all my heart, man that guy is a giant! I can't say it enough how blessed i am to be here at this time teaching and talking to this people. Everything happens for a reason and i know that this week was prepared long before i ever came to this earth as well as other weeks to come and i know that more baptisms are on the horizon. We have to get this message to these people because they are lost because they don't know where to find it.
Well i know that there wasn't much else besides that but that pretty much consumed my thoughts for the week haha i am so happy and so blessed to be here and i am so excited to see what else we can get done this week. I love you all so much and i am so grateful for your prayers and for all of your love! I know that you all are praying for me and i feel that love everyday and i am so thankful to you all. I am so excited for conference this weekend and i can't wait to talk about that next week with you all. Thanks for all your letters and me pen pals! Have an amazing week and know that i love you all so much and i love this work.
Tenga buena semana!
Les amo
Elder Martillo

one month in maryland

Familia, familia, familia,
Wow what an amazing week it has been and what an enjoyable time it has been as well. I can't beleieve how amazing it is here and the people that we continually work with, i am started to really gain a testimony already of why we are called to certain areas at a certain time for a certain people. I can't beleive that i have already been here for a month! it's kinda scary but time flies out here and i dont' exactly like it haha but it's really wierd that i've been gone for 3 months and it seems like yesterday that i was getting dropped off at the mtc, wow i guess time flies when you having fun. Because that what this is out here FUN.
This week has been a great week and i just want to thank you all for writing me and my pen pals as well. I got letters this week that were a real booster and i just thank you all and can feel of your love so much. Nothing is better than coming home at night exhausted as can be and have a letter sitting in the mail box to read before going to bed, THANK YOU!
Well i'll start out with the best imformation first. Alan came to church this week and passed his interview so he is forsurely gonna be baptized on saturday! Oh man i can't even put into the words that describe this kid guys, he really is so different from 19 year old boys that are living in the hoods of maryland. He looks at life so different and he really has got a strong testimony already. This week we taught him about the commandments and i was a little worried because thats where the tuff stuff kinda comes in tithing, WoW, Chastity, sabbath day holy, all that stuff. But they all went so well! He is such a strong person when it comes to making committments. He always says to us YES SIR when we ask him to do something like we are his drill sargent or something but it's great to have someone so committed! We taught him the law of tithing and i usually wouldn't share something like this but i really loved it. We asked him to pray after the lesson was over and we talked abou the windows of heaven being opened and the challenge the lord gives us in malachi 3 to test and see if he will not pour a blessing out upon us. So he committed to pay his tithing and in his prayer at the end of the lesson he said "and thank you for openign up the windows of heaven for me when i pay my tithing, and something like i can't wait to see what those blessings are" Man this is too easy with him! He is a golden investigator and we teach him and testify and he just takes it all in! Yesterday he came to church and sat by me and the lady who spoke shared the quote "forget yourself and get to work" and he leaned over to me and was like "wow, i love that quote, i think i might get it tatooed on my back" haha and i had to kinda explain to him that thats not exactly what we wanna do haha but he really has so much faith and he reads all the chapters we leave him and i am so excited for his baptism on saturday. Elder Caballero will be doing the baptising and i'll confirm him on sunday. Words can't even express how happy i am that we are getting this opportunity to baptise adn confirm him. Together elder caballero and i have become so much closer through alan it's wierd but it's true! I'm so excited to confirm him in church, ha but he hasnt' decided if he wants to do it in english or spanish because he is fluent in both (haha hopefully english or it could be a short confirmation haha) no i know it's not me doing the confirming i know that it is the lord and i know whether it's in english or spanish it doesn't matter. If we are fluent in spirit, then that's all that matters. So yeah i will keep you all posted on that next week and try to upload some pictures next week on my email of the baptism!
> To update you on our other investigators, things have been pretty slow other than alan. There is a guy names luis who was supposed to be baptised in june but his wife couldn't be so he didn't and we have been meeting with him and we just decided that it would be better if he just got baptised but he hasn't come to church in like 3 months so we told him if he comes to church this week that he could then be interviewed and be baptised with alan. I had such high hopes that we were gonna have a DOUBLE baptism. But he didn't show up to church and i think that it's just gonna take more time with him. he has been taught for like 8 months and It's better that elder caballero and i not baptise him in inactivity because i think he still hasnt' connected the dots all the way that after baptism it's not over, it's just the beginnning. So we do have a baptism on the horizon with him and his wife but we have got to get them beack coming to church and learning more so i'm very hopeful of that! I was so excited to write you all this week and say ok i dunno what i'm doing but now were having two baptisms haha but that's alright we have some work to do with them before they can enter into that sacred convenant!----------Now Elso, man elso is struggling. We have been to his house like 5 times this week when his car has been there and he just wont answer the door and he never calls us back. I don't know if somehting happened to him but he was progressing so much and then all of the sudden he just went cold turkey and hasn't talked to us in like a week and a half! He speaks only spanish and his car was there one day and we knocked on his door and an african american lady opened the door speaking english said he wasn't there. so were a little suspicious that he might have a little girlfirend problem and maybe that's why he hasn't talked to us but man it's tuff with him because he was progressing but everytime we go there he wont answer. But we'll keep workign on him that's for sure we'll find him even if we have to sit on his car unitl he comes out, we'll do it haha We have many investigators and prospects up in an area that's a little tuffer and the only time that we are supposed to go up there is during the day and during the day EVERYONE works and it's a little ruff in that area at night so were not supposed to be there so getting a hold of them is tuff but we have a lot of people that we are continuing to get a hold of and continue to teach. Elder Caballero is amazing man the other he put a lady right in her place and i think she's gonna get batpised soon. he is so good at turning things around on people and makign them realize that there a little confused in their beliefs. I love it ha i really am getting better in understanding espanol but i struggle openign my mouth sometimes in lessons and that's my goal for this week is to open my mouth! I love the latin culture and the food wow!
So speaking of food i gotta share this experience with you all. Elder caballero and i went to a family who we actually played indoor soccer with last p day and they have had the missionaries before but are really traditional catholics, but they love the missionaries. So we went over there one night and yeah the night we went there we had the car, thank goodness, it was raining harder than i have EVER SEEN in my life! It's unbelievable here! We walked like 20 steps and we were drenched! But we go in there and the first thing they ask us is are you hungry, and we never turn that down. Ha i probably should so my figure doesn't change too much but they are mexican and the mexican food is the best! Next thing ya know we've got beef quesadillas with homemade cheese in front of our eyes, beans avocado and this red sauce. Man it was a feast they just kept bringing them out i think between elder caballero and i we had about ten haha. But i asked them what the red sauce was and the sweet mom just kept saying "cuidado,cuidado" that means careful in spanish so i put a little on there........OH BOY BAD DECISION it was habanero peppers mixed into a salsa! They are the worst peppers in the world if you don't know that but oh my goodness my mouth was on fire and then i started to sweat ha it was crazy just like boom and a fire had started in my mouth and the little mexicans just laugh at me, ha i think i act like a gringo, but i am started to like the spicy stuff though cause once i got used to it ikept puttting a little more and a little more but wow it was hot! haha we are getting fed so good, everywhere we go we eat i swear. The other branch that we are over feeds us a few times a week and thats always the best. This week we went to Golden Corral again, yep they lost money off of me and elder caballero, but don't worry i'm sure your all thinking that i'm getting fat don't worry elder caballero and i are workign out every morning, a lot of crunches is all i gotta say haha.
Winter is just around the corner i can start to feel it, it's getting a little more chillly in the mornings and it's just chillyer but it's nice cause when we are riding our bikes it's perfect were not drenched in sweat but the weather is getting so nice here it's the best time of year here!
Alright well i think thats about it for this week i hope you all enjoy and have a wonderful week. Grandma hafen thanks for your letters they sure are great to read and i'm excited to see pine valley with trees in the yard! Thank you all for the letters and packages. Thanks mom and grandma and my pen pals and for the emails as well i feel so blessed to ahve you all thank you thank you! This gospel is amazing i tell ya it really has so much power and has blessed me so much and i'm so grateful for all of you and for your examples in this gospel to bishops, stake presidents, counselors you all have done it all and had your callings and it just is great to know that my family is full for this gospel and that is the reason our family is so close because of the gospel, i know that without a doubt! I love you all and hope the best for all of you!Have a great week and know that i'm loving it out here.
Con mucho amor
Elder Hammer

Les amo!

{hey family}

Hey family!
Wow what an amazing week this has been and i don't even know where to begin all i can say is that the Lord is watching out for Elder Caballero and I am so grateful to be here. Well first off mom i just barely got the package thank you so much! I love all of it and i'm only getting letters that are normal letters the dear elders haven't come since before labor day ha so ya but thanks so much for the glasses i like them and i know i'm gonna be wearing them more! But ya we left the library last week with the intent of going to a dinner at a mexican ladies house and yes she stiffed us! haha so we rode our bikes all the way out there and got nothign but thats alright we got to talk to other people.
So this week i have been introduced to maryland rain! it rained for like 3 days straight and you can't not get soaked out here thats for sure! Elder caballero and i decided to walk one day and i was soaked from head to toe! ha that was a pretty sweet experience that i wont forget but ya it's been raining so bad here but yesterday and today have been hot and muggy just like it is supposed to be and i like that! haha
So we talked about going to the temple this weeked with Alan our investigator for a latin cultural thing! and yes we went! holy cow that temple is so sweet i didn't think that it was gonna be that cool and all of the sudden your driving on the freeway and you come over a hill and BOOM the temple looks like it's just floating on the trees it is so sweet!Haha the temple is funny we will ask people if they have seen the temple and they are like no we ha ven't and then we say have you seen the big building off of 495 and then they say oh yeah that thing that looks like disneyland haha i thought that was kinda funny!
So alan is a stud! we have taught him and everytime we teach him and leave him with a chapter he has got it all studies out and has lots of questions. He is like the Golden investigator! So we were driving in the car of a member who is 18 and preparing for a mission and we started to talk about the chapter 2 ne 31 and he was like i need to be baptized and repent and he wanted to know why they kept talking about Baptizing a LAMB ha but it was such a great question and it's so great to have someone actually read and be so interested so it was nice to talk to him about the chapter. So we went to the temple and got there and they had all kinds of different countries there and all these different kinds of dances and they just were really cool to see so many different countries come to the temple and do that it was so sweet! During the presentation alan leaned over to me and was like "Man everywhere i go with you and anytime i'm with you guys everyone is happy and the people around us are always happy" and i just said well alan thats the church! We really had a great night and after we went around the temple visitor center and he looked at the pictures of the temple and was asking about the baptismal font and why there were cows under it, but man i just loved his questions! Because he is so interested and so into the gospel!And as we were driving home he started talking to us and started to tell us that he hasn't really had friends and that for the first time in his life that we (elder cabe and i) have came into his life and are truly his friends and he feels that we are true and loyal and all this. And the church stuff matters don't get me wrong but to have him tell me something like that meant all the world to me becuase i know thats what is most important is that these people feel this way! Man i just wanted to cry cause this kid comes from nothign and works for his mom and little brother and he's fine with that because he has got his head in such the right place!So we had a great night and this weekend was stake conference and he said he would come so smooth sailing!
Well sunday mornign came around there alan was 15 minutes away from his house at church, they had a meeting at 9 for all people who have been new to the church or baptized or endowed and they all shared there testimonies of their conversion stories, and that was the best for ALAN! because some of these people are really really different but you just see the joy that the gospel brings and that's what he needs to know!So then it was stake conference and wow waht a agreat meeting that was! President Belliston spoke and gave one of those kind of jeffrey r holland savior talks that had me in tears! My mission pres. is a powerful man! His testiomony could have shook the room! He talked about that lonely road of the savior and because of that we don't have to go alone and ya he had me in tears! haha i'm such a boob but man it was just powerful! and i could feel the spirit so strong and alan could too!There is just somethign about being out here on a mission and feeling that love of the savior and feeling the joy and peace that we can get from him and i love it! My testimony is strenghthened everyday with the savior and just the love he has and his hand is apart of everything we do!But after stake conference we were able to go and teach alan the third lesson the gospel of jesus Christ!
This lesson was one of the most powerful lessons i have ever been apart of and elder caballero and i were just filled! But it was the perfect lesson cause we wanted to give him a baptismal invitation, and thats exactly what we did! We got to the part about baptism and i just flat out said "alan you know the bom is true and joseph smith is a prophet of god, the next step is baptism, will you be baptised september 26th?" and he said yes! Were having a baptism in two weeks! I am so excited you have no idea! He is such a stud and he is gonna be such a great member and wow the lord had blessed us so much to put alan in our path and he has been prepared! We have been so blessed to have him in our lives. One part in the lesson that i want to share is he told us that his family meant everything to him. And i told him that i know that he is going to be a great example by being baptised to his family. and he has a little brother thats 13 the same difference between me and nick and as we talked i started to talk about the example that he is goign to be to his little brother, and yeah i started crying in the lesson because i just know how much nick means to me and the example that he has been in my life. i love you bro thanks for the opportunity to be able to talk about you like that! you really are the best example! But ya just an emotional sunday but the greatest happiness i have recieved since i have been here was to feel the spirit that day and to have him commit to be baptized in 2 weeks! some people wait so long for that and i just am so happy and know that the lord has done all this not me, but that he has prepared alan so we can bring him the truth!The hand of the lord is in everything that we do and i feel so blessed to be here ahh you have no idea how amazing it is out here in maryland, ha i'm falling in lvoe with the people and the area.
One thing that i have noticed about maryland is that the roads are rediculous ha no organization whatsoever! Thank goodness for Brigham young in utah! you all have no idea how lucky we are. i'm becoming quite the navigator though.haha one other thing i have figured out about this area is that every house is so dark. they don't have central lighting here for some reason it's really strange haha just the little things that are so different are so funny to me and ya it's just funny to see the difference between here and utah haha because there's alot!
But i'm running out of time and i just wanted to thank you all for the emails and thanks for the story about president holland jace i loved that! we listened to a talk from him today and wow just a powerful powerful man!Thanks nick for the email and i am so happy to get your new address. Thanks for all the updates and GO IRISH haha bell i am glad to hear that your prom went well and kissless! nice work! Thank you all so much for everything and for the prayers and for the love i love you all so much, and thanks for my pen pals too! i am so happy here and we have lots to do but i love you all so much and the lord is with me! Have a great week and kow that i am loving every minute here and i love this place. the church is true and we have lots of work to do for our baptism this week so i'll keep you all posted. I love you all and the church is true enough said!
Les amo mucho!
Elder Hammer

{hola fam}

Hey family! Wow another has gone by! And i though the time at the MTC went by fast wow these last two weeks have flown by and i can't beleive the places i've been the people i've seen and the opportunities i have had wow! I can't believe what a mission really is. You can't prepare yourself at the the MTC for this experience haha it is just so different but it is the greatest, most humbling work that i have ever done. I loved opening up your emails this week thank you all so much. I really am so blessed to have such great people in my life who constantly write me and who are continually filling me in on their lives and i just love it, so thank you all very much. First and formost i have an announcement haha P DAYS ARE NOW ON MONDAYS AFTER TODAY. so this next monday the 14th i will be back emailing you again. President Belliston wanted to change it because he has seen some declines in the days of monday and tuesday after sunday when for our whole lives sunday has been the end of the week and he just wants us to start the week on monday for p day and the rest of the week working hard so ya thats something you might like to know haha but that is a permanent swith and will be like that forever.
So this week i was spoiled with packages and letters thank you all so much. Mom the tie hanger was a must i was gonna get one of those and you read my mind and now i've got one and all my ties hanging on there (color coordinated of course) haha I know nick has that same appreciation of color coordinating ties haha but thanks so much mom for the treats and the letters and notes. And thanks to everyone who sent me stuff. i have no need to ever feel hungry or loved cause you all take care of that for me so much and i appreciate them all so much so thank you thank you.
So i've had my first glimpse of east coast weather this week ha It's been raining and cloudy for most of the week and it doesn't look like it's gonna be changing ha but wow if you all wanna try something fun, get on a bike and ride from st. george to about......cedar city haha in the rain. Ha it's great knocking on doors when your soaking wet, people actuallly let us in ha. I don't think it's cause they want to listen to us though but more of that they feel bad for us. But ya the weather here is crazy haha but i love it cause when we are out on bikes we get to see and meet so many people and thats the best part because most people will at least listen to us. But ya i am a little akward on a bike. ha 6'5'' people just were not made to be riding bikes. Ha my seat is as high as it can go and it kinda looks like a circus when i'm on there but hey i manage alright and it's fun. haha You all know i'm just joking around because i love biking and everything about it!
This week we had one of our investigators names Elso come to church again! which was sweet because it's in english and that pushes alot of people away but he has came for the last two weeks and we put the wood to him and he committed to be baptized! We need to set up a date with him and he's got a lot of work to do but i have so much faith in this guy, and obviously he does too because he wouldn't be coming to church if he didn't ha but ya i'm excited about him. And then we have another investigator named Marta who was a media referal and we have been over there a couple times and were able to commit her to baptism. But then we went over there last night to talk with her more and set up a date and she gave us the cold shoulder and said she didn't want to change from catholic and that she just believes that all about christ is good and that we are true but so is catholic. for the first time i was like slapped in the face i couldn't believe this lady was saying this but i think that her family is influencing her not to join and so were gonna have to keep working on her because i know she has felt the spirit and knows it's true so were gonna keep working on her and hopefully we can get her to feeling the truth again.
We were up in Brooklyn Park the other day knocking some houses and were able to find this lady name veronica and she had a couple kids and she is really interested and her sister lives down the street and is married to a less active member. We are so excited to go after these people because they are such great people and elder caballero had the opportunity to talk with the guy and we think he's gonna get coming back to church and ya i'm just really gaining a testimony that the lord really puts people in our way for a reason and there is constant opportunities to serve. Like yesterday we went to a place that we haven't been to in a long time and we talked with 3 new guys and got return appointments with all 3 of them and it just amazes me that we are able to find so many new people. I know thats not us though thats for sure it's the lord, we don't have many baptismal dates but we have a lot of new people that we are gettign started on and that is really exciting for sure!
So this week i got my first experience with the LATINO COMIDA (food). haha we went over to one of our iffy investigators and are trying to teach them but they can't read adn so that makes it difficult but were workign with them, but we walk in there and she chatters off this thing and i don't know what she says but elder caballero just looks over at me and says "i hope your hungry" haha and now my mind started to imagine what we were gonna eat ha. So we sit up at the table and there's three torillas on my plate and they are stuffed with this "stuff" ha and i din't want to know what i was eating i just said please bless this food not to kill me haha and i dug in and wow it was so good! They had this hot sauce that was HOT but i'm starting to like that stuff but i ate and ate and we were stuffed. In the middle was like this bean cheesy meaty stuff and it was pretty good so i din't ask any questions and i guess they are called "POPUSO" OR POPUSA i don't know but they were really good and come to find out after, the stuff inside was beans and cheese and pig skin grinded up in a food processor haha i didn't care though they were dang good and i'm still living and i'm here today so i'm alright and i'd eat them again for sure haha. Tonight we are going over to a less actice members family named the chavez and she is making us dinner so i'll have a story to report on monday haha. No but we are being fed so good and we took over a new area and that ward feeds us two or three times a week and we are having good food, so don't you worry mom.
So this week we were at a lesson and Elder caballero pulled out a picture of his family in his scriptures and started to talk about his family and i was like i need to do that. So i put one in there of us and 3 times this past week i have pulled it out and shown them my family as we teach about eternal families and the importance of families. I love pulling that thing out because they are all just excited to see the fam and everyone says i look like you pops! Every person has said that i thought that was kinda funny but ya so i have the pictures of our fam and your being shown to Maryland. haha
So this week at church we got a note in sacrament meeting and there was this kid sitting up in front the was hispanic by himself and we had never seen him before. So we went up there after church and talked to him. Come to find out that he has wants to investigate the church and he just showed up and wanted to see what it was like. (It doesn't get any easier than that wow) So we set up an appt with him and we taught him two days ago. Wow this kid is a stud he's 19 and lives with his mom and brother and is supporting them and paying for everything, and he siad that his mom has taken care of him his whole life and that it was time for him to step up and take care of his mother who he loves so much. Wow i never realized how blessed i am and to hear someone say that hit me. These people sacrifice so much out here and i just dont' think we will ever realize how good our life is. We are so blessed. But back to the lesson he totally was feeling the spirit and we taught him the first lesson and this week at the D.C. Temple they are having a culutral hispanic night on sat and sunday so we invited him to that and he siad he would. I'm so excited because we don't get to go to the temple here more than like once a year unless we take investigators and we can go, so we are going to the temple with him on sat night with his mom and brother, adn we committed him to be baptised and he said that he would be baptized on the 26th of sep! I am so excited to teach him more and to keep him progressing but i feel liek he is so solid and i hope that he keeps feeling the spirit because he is an amazing kid and could be a big bonus in helping us get a spanish branch started! I'll keep you posted on that for sure! But ya i'm so excited about him and others that we have too.
Well thats about it for this week and i hope you all have enjoyed your week and thank you all so much for all you do and for the great people that you are i dunno what it is but there just is a whole new appreciation in my life for the people that are with me and have influenced me! Thanks for the letters and all my pen pals for writing me and keeping me all updated. i love them. I am loving it here in good ol glen burnie, maryland. we really are so blessed and have so much to do and i hope that all goes well this week with marta and elso and alan and all our new ones as well. Thank you all so much and i love you all tons. Have a great week and i just love this gospel and we are all so blessed to have a savior and his sacrifice for us. It's the leas ti can do to be here for him! Have a great week everyone and i love you all!
Con mucho amor,
Elder hammer

tour de maryland

Hey Family!
Well i can't believe that one week has already gone by and here i am again emailing my first full week of the mission haha wow what a week! All i have to say is that i haven't slept this good in my entire life! i come home at night and colapse in bed and it's the best feeling in the entire world! Ha wow when i talk titled this email tour de maryland is because i feel like we have been all around the state...yep on bike haha i'll be like lance armstrong when i get back you just watch! haha Ok well thank you so much for the emails i loved reading those and being able to open up my emails and see some emails from ya wow that was fun. i can't decide if you should email or write just becuase we only get an hour so maybe do some shorter emails and write dear elders because that will be easier i think but i'll let you know as time goes on. Well this week i got a couple letters from you mom and one from grandma hafen and a couple from my other pen pals. Thank you so so much i loved reading them and love the happiness to hear from all of you. Thank you i think the best is to just send stuff to my apartment because i think the mission home is a little slow on sending them to us so ya. But thank you all for those they have been so great. Thank you grandma fro that wonderful story in your letter what a inspirtaion that was thank you thank you!
Well now to the good stuff, my week! Ha well after we left last week we went shopping and got some stuff and i got unpacked and had to hurry and get to an appt. Sorry for not writing letters last week to you all and my pen pals but i didn't have any time i'm sorry but there will be some goign out in the mail today so be watching for them! So we get ready to go out and teach a lady named marta and were on bikes and i have no idea wehre i'm going ha i'm just following my companion and my eyes are wide open haha Welcome to the east coast! Wow there is some things out here that are just hilarious. But wow that first day was an eye opening experience i tell ya but i love it it's really great out here. So we are riding our bikes and i'm riding and i hear this clink, clink, clink...yep my pedal off my bike fell off! haha it was funny and we couldn't get it fixed and we were luckily clost to home and just walked it back(Don't worry mom my bike is fine i got it fixed and it's perfect now it just needed a screw don't worry)so we missed our apptment and i was like dang thats not how i want to start off ha but we got right back out there and started looking for people. We ran into a hispanic on the road and we started right then and there teaching him and i couldn't understand a lick! but i got to pipe in quite a bit and do some teaching. It was a lot of fun to get to talk and now that i have been around so many hispanics, my ears are starting to get trained on how to pick words up and i'm understanding better and better everyday. The lord is blessing me that's for sure. But ya it was nice to get that first spanish contact but we haven't seen or heard from him since. The latin culture is different and in a week i can already tell that i love these people. That night we went knocking and it's really difficult for me and my companion just because we are spanish and want to talk to just spanish cause there is english elders but when we go knocking we have to be prepared to do either or haha so that kind of makes it interesting. But that night we were able to knock on a door and his name was Jeremiah and he was pretty anti at the beginning and then as we started talking to him about the book of mormon and what we bleieve in he started to really warm up to the idea of us. I could tell that the spirit was working on him a little bit and we gave him a book of mormon and it was sweet and were gonna go back this week and check up on him. So that first night was pretty fun and yes i slept like a rock ha i have no problem getting sleep that is for sure! So the next day we were up and at em again and on our bikes again and it was hot! haha i was leaking pops absolutely leaking! I loved it though my companion just said follow me and i did and we were off to referals homes and riding the light rail (ha that's a sweet experience!) and ya the tour de maryland had officially begun. I've never been more tired in my life at the end of that night being on a bike and my bottom getting used to that Bike seat ha thats an experience in and of itself haha but that day we had been everywhere and we had a dinner aptment and we were late and we were just booking it there and we were about a half hour late and we got there (it felt like we had just biked across the state i might add haha) and we get to this house and tortellini was waiting for us. ha i am gaining a great appreciation for food out here cause good home cooked meals are the best! The couple that had us over for dinner are two young married people that just live in a little house in maryland and are so nice. So we get talking during dinner and he says he served his mission in fiji, suva and i was like oh really thats strange and then he starts saying that he was in the kiribus islands for most of the time and i asked him if he knew mitch north. OH YEAH mitch was this guys zone leader! his name is matt larsen. i swear the world is so small and everyone knows everyone here i tell ya, but ya i thought that was really funny! So after dinner we went and visited some less active families and wow these little kids just steal my heart. These people have nothing here absolutely nothing, and these little kids come out and play with us and smile and laugh and it just gets to me how these kids can be so happy when they have nothing and its really humbling. Ha they make fun of my spanish and at the same time they help me with it too but i can tell that the little kids here are gonna be really fun and i love it. I absolutely love it here and being so out of my shell in utah. There is so much poverty here and everything is so different but it's humbling to know how much i have and how grateful i am each night when i pray to have a family and a home and food.
So the next day we headed up to Brooklyn Park ha now thats a sweet area, but one thing i ha ve figured out here is don't judge the people by the house beause some of the worst houses is where the Best People are! We ttalked that night with a lady named marleni and her husband marco and we hadn't talked to them before and we were just trying to get to know them and not just jump into a lesson and it was so great. The people in this culture are so NICE. They always invite us in and always ask us if we need a coke or orange soda ha (orange soda is turning into my new favorite) and we sat there and talked about families and the blessings that they are and the joy in our lives and if there is one thing that i ha ve learned to do it is to testify of my love of families and how grateful i am for mine. And it was really cool to listen to her haha actually TRY and listen to her, this lady talks as fast as a speeding bullet ha but she just talked about how amazing it was to see 19 year old boys dedicating their lives to this work and how amazing it is how fast we can learn and communicate in spanish, and i just looked at her and i've been getting in this habit when we talk with people and i was like ok you'd be an amazing member ha but ya it's just fun to be around this culture that is for sure.
So elder caballero and i have a huge area and we only get so many miles the car every other day so we are working the pavement on the bikes ha. We ride the light rail and buses too and it's sweet to talk to people on those and just see the different kind of people that are in this world ha. It's really weird though i have been in some fun areas and around some funny people and never not once have i felt unsafe. i remember when nick talked about his tag being his shield and i am gaining a testimony of that for sure. The lord is with us and takes good care of us! No need to worry mom i promise that i am safe and sound and loving every minute of it!So we also have another area that we just took over too cause the sisters aren't there anymore so that's just peachy haha. This sunday we went to 2 different wards and 6 hours of meetings that was fun haha
We had zone conference on monday and that was a fun experience. Our mission pres is the man. He was on one about being obedient and get to work ha he was saying i get so tired of whining out here and then he was like "so buck up and get to work" and i just love his personality. He always has a smile on his face. ALWAYS and he just has so much love ofr all of us and i am excited to spend more tiem with him but zone conference was great!
Last night we went to Golden Corral with a member from the other ward ha i never knew i liked Golden Corral that much but as grandpa hafen says when we go to buffets "they didn't make any money off of me" that was true last night. haha
So i have one last story. We knocked on this ladies door the other day and she thought we were JW'S. But she said we could come back and teach her so we went back and it was her birthday. She invited us in and gave us cake and ice cream. It was sweet and then we started to talk to her. And she told us this story about how she had heart surgery and during the surgery she was dead for about 5 minutes and she said she had seen the other side and all she wanted to know was if we believed in life after death. And i got so excited beause everythign she was saying was the Plan of salvation and wow i just got chills she said she had seen the light on the other side and her husband was there telling her that she needed to go back. So basically it was the most spiritually uplifting lesson i've had since i've been here. She talked about faith and how she's always had it and that is what has got her through. It was a testimony builder to me that we need to have faith. She had so much and had a really ruff like and the only thing i can say is i feel like she's gonna be a baptism, i just feel it so i will keep you posted on her as well!
Well fam everything is great in maryland it's beautiful here the trees are enormous and the east coast is great. I have so much to learn and so much to do but this is a happy time. I love my companion and i love the people that we are teaching. Mom and Dad congrats on 28 years i'm sorry i forgot that but I'M So happy for you! Thanks for being great examples to me and i love you both so much. Bell congrats on getting asked to Homecoming. If he touches you i'll kill him plain and simple haha I'm healthy and i'm happy and this work is amazing. I am doing great mom don't worry. We've got the lord on our side and we have no need to fear! I love you all so much and i pray for all of you and hope that you can feel the love of me and the lord in your lives everyday because i can feel yours everyday! Thank you all so much and i can't wait to tell you the new adventures of this week! Take care and thanks for all the letters and packages fam and pen pals your the best and i love you all!
Nos vemos,
Elder Hammer

a visual

the classic map picture

elder hammer & elder bowden

President & Sister Dean

Elder Hammer & Elder Archibald

Elder Hammer & Elder Bowden

{i'm here}

Fam!
Goodness gracious i am here! Ha wow is all i can say! I can't believe it. These past few days have been a crazy roller coaster and now we are here and it's gonna be great to get going on all of this! Well i'll just start from where we left off on the phone but ya we got on the flight and it went well and i got a little nap which was much needed! ha but ya it was a little strange going passed the mountains and knowing that it'd be a while haha but all in all it was a good flight and once we touched down in Baltimore the nerves were crazy crazy haha we walked out of the plane and i couldn't figure out why people were lookign at me so crazy but then i realized oh yeah your a missionary and welcome to Baltimore ha it's weird to be back in the real world and all that but i'm happy though really really happy! Today is my P day by the way just so you all know Wednesdays are P DAYS ha So we were walking down the stairs and there was our mission president and sister belliston and sis belliston just jumping up and down and clapping and doing all that stuff and it was so great to right off the bat feel the love and excitement that they had for us. wow it was great and a big bear hug from our mision president was great from the moment i saw them i fell in love with both of them and they are such such great people wow! And the ap's were there as well wow they are way sweet elders. They taught me somehting right off the bat that you can be serious wehn it's time to be serious and have fun when it is time to be fun and they were just having a blast with us and all of that was a lot of fun. We got in the van and drove to the mission home. I cannot bleieve how many trees are here! You can't see any land marks or anything it's just thick and lush and it's crazy i kinda get discombobulated not knowing where everything is it's really funny but ya. What a great mission home it's a red brick house and just tucked back in all these huge thick trees it was amazing. So we had the first real meal out of the mtc and that was so so so good burritos and everything was fresh and wow i was kinda happy to have a nice meal that was homemade! So it was a really relaxing night but it just was weird to go from utah to maryland just like that and wondering whats going on and what's next and ya it's really strange, but it's really fun to try and get all of this down. So we met with sister beliston about health stuff and then an interview with president. Those were both great they really do care so much about us and i could jsut feel there love the whole time. Don't you worry mom i'm in great hands! Angel Caballero is here in the mission and he went to dixie and we were pretty good friends i knew him really really well and ya president showed me the board of all the missionaries in the mission and the companionships and ya that was way cool to see. President asked me about elder caballero and i just told him a little bit and he said he was a great missionary. So we stayed there last night at the mission home and transfer meeting was today at 9 am, so all night i was thinking ok where am i gonna go where am i gonna be who am i gonnna be with? I'm sure you all can just imagine haha but i fell asleep and it was all good. We woke up, got ready and headed out for the meeting. We had a little orientation on some things just the new elders and then they have this tradition werhe the new elders walk in when the elders start singing the opening song of the meeting and we walk in and all these elders stand up and look at us and are singing wow it was a crazy experience welcome to the mission i guess haha and so we had a good meeting and there are some elders going home and they sang a song and presdient beliston spoke and his wife and jsut thier love for the gospel and missionary work is really amazing. Then was the fun part we all got to get up and bear our testimonies to everyone and stay up on the stand and look down at all the missionaries, adn while i was up there i saw Elder Caballero down there and things started going through my head and one by one president would call our names out for a new elder and then have their trainer stand. Well a little time went on and guess who my trainer is? ELDER CABALLERO! Ya we go to the same high school and totally know each other and hear he is my trainer. I couldn't beleive it and i still can't haha he is the best and i know that he is a hard worker you can just see it in the way he works and talks wow this is gonna be a sweet time with him that's for sure! So we got done with the meeting and kinda hung out and talked to all the new missionaries. Dad the kid that was with me and mike on our recruting trip to byu is here in my mission! he's from idaho and i dunno if he's gonna go back and play or not i'm not sure but i swear this place is just a small small world!So i went and got my bags and my bike...My bike is perfect mom i'm so happy we bought that one and not a brand new one it's really really nice and it's gonna do the job just great i'm really happy you got that one for me thank you thank you! So a member picked us up and elder caballero and i and two other english speaking elders that we live with got in the truck and went to our new pad haha Oh and by the way mom i had two packages from you when i got there. Thank you so so much those were perfect i'll make sure to send you pictures of our nice celebration haha Thank you mom those were so so nice. So i'm now at some library in Glen Bernie is the town were in it's south of Baltimore. My new address is 303 Oak Manor Dr. apt. # 104 Glen Bernie, Maryland 21061. You can send letters here or to the mission home and they will get to me either or your choice. But our place is pretty nice. Not too bad at all and it's just different but i'll get used to it and it'll be great. We have a huge huge huge area cause there is only like 20 spanish missionaries in the mission but from what i can tell they are a bunch of great elders who work hard. So ya and we have a car every other day that we share with the english elders so one day is car and one day is bikes which isn't too bad at all. I can't tell you the feelings that i am having right now ha it's just so different here and i just feel so out of place but i am so excited to just get to work and do all i can. Last night the ap said something to me that really stuck out he said well your here and now you have 3 options 1. you can have the time or your life love the mission and work as hard as you can and enjoy it 2. you can grind everyday of your mission and end up hating it in the end 3. you can go home. and i thought a lot about that last night and i'm jsut so excited to fall in love with the people and to fall in love with the mission and work work work and just do everything i can tell we are going to have a lot to do and a lot of land to cover but at the same time i wouldn't have it any other way. I am so happy to be here you have no idea. I know that the lord blessed me with someoen that i know and someone that is like me for a trainer and i really think that the sky is the limit for elder caballero and i! I can't really tell if we are in the ghetto or not here but it seems like a pretty nice area ha but i can't really tell where we are there's trees everywehre and it's tuff to figure out but that'll come through time i'm not worried but ya i feel great about this place. Wow the humidity here is different, ha dad all i could think of when i got here is when we were at fenway park and i looked over at you and said dad i'm leaking! cause thats what i'm doing here yesterday was worse than today but for the most part it's not too bad just a tad bit warm ha but i'll get used to it. I really have no idea what to expect but from talking to my companion he has loved it here and everyone seems to be really really close and everyone is happy and i just always wanna be seen as that way too because this is seriously the best time of my life and i wanna take advantage of everyday and not miss a day. So today after i'm done emailing were gonna go to walmart and get some food and i need some pillows and a blanket of somethin cause all i have is sheets so mom i hope thats ok i dunno what to do but i know i will just get a cheaper blanket and then we can talk about it next week and you can let me know what you would liek me to do but i should be totally fine and our apartment is pretty nice. We need to clean it up a bit but i know i'll be the one thats gonna be keeping us nice and tidy haha it's not liek they are slobs they just need a little jordan clean up and they'll be good. The other elders that i live with have been out for 2 months and 14 months and they seem to be pretty cool. Ahh i just can't believe that elder caballero is my trainer and that here we are two kids from the same high school and now were companions and he's my trainer. Seriously i've been praying for a good trainer and my prayers have been answered for sure! I can't believe i am here and i can't believe this crazy journey i'm starting up but it's time and elder caballero is fluent in spanish and i know that's gonna help my spanish so so so much and that's another blessing for me as well! I can tell that these next few weeks are gonna be tuff but i'm excited to just work work work. I have been so blessed to be here at this time i know it. So after we go to wal mart and get that stuff were gonna go back and do laundry and make dinner and then we have an apt tonight at 7 and were gonna try and get them to commit to baptism haha i'm nervous! and then after that we are going to another one at 8 crazy crazy and just to remind you all these are in spanish so we'll see about that! haha this first day we just get thrown into the fire and i'm so happy that it is this way for sure. Elder bowden is in annapolis and elder hale is in d-town baltimore haha so it'll be fun to see them grow too. I can tell i have so much work to do and so much stuff to do but i'm so happy cause at the mtc you just don't get to feel like that but out here you get here and you just know that there is work to do! Elder caballero is a horse i can tell that i'm just gonna be riding him for the next few weeks but we don't have a branch here and he's like "Elder Hammer we're getting a branch started" and i'm so excited for that. There is work to be done that is for sure and I couldn't have asked for a better trainer. I think i have every last thing that i need here for now and i am prepared and now it's just time to rely on the lord. These missionaries have a light and glow about them and they just are sweet to be around! I dunno what to say other than i'm really really excited and i just am ready for this crazy journey to begin. i'm excited for me adn my new pony(bike) to start stompin the pavement together and to really really work ha can you tell i'm excited people cause i am. Elder caballero didn't have anythign bad to say about safety here and siad that this area is really good area and that he feels safe and that were watched over really well so mom don't worry. Wow i'm at the library right now and i never realized how sheltered i was ha i'm seeing some eye opening things and people here and i just wanna stand up on the table and give a sermoned so they can all quit lookin so mad and sad ha But wow Baltimore, Baltimore, Baltimore! Jace kars and hailey i can't wait till tomorrow i can start singing "Good morning Baltimore" haha. Well fam i know i'll be hearing from you and i hope i ahve got you all caught up to speed on everything. But ya i'm happy and i'm excited and i'm ready! Don't you worry about a thing i am in good hands and the lords with me. just like i said yesterday fam. We have everything in life and we have no need to complain and i just am so happpy that i can look back at home and know that my fam and friends is healthy and happy and safe! I love you all so much and i feel the love of your prayers for me. I'm gonna need them i'll just tell you that much haha but family i love you all and everyone who writes me and all my pen pals and i just am grateful for all that you do i know it's only through email but i mean every word that i say! Thank you thank you thank you. Today is my P day so i'll be talking to you all in a week with i'm sure an eventful email haha. I love you so much and i'm happy and excited don't forget that ever ever. The lord is with us and it's time to start pounding the pavement. I love you all!
Con mucho Amor,
Elder Hammer (Residing in Maryland haha)