{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