Aug 8th

What's up guys!!!!!!

 

Well another week and i'm back. This past week was a pretty crazy roller coaster ride up and down up and down but a lot of good lessons learned for sure. Thanks for the letters and the packages mom and dad. They loved the scriptures so much and are so excited to finally have scriputres like the rest of the other members,THANK YOU, THANK YOU! I loved the pictures of the 1 year celebration, it's nice to get some pictures of the family once in a while and i loved the pictures of my niece haha she's so cute. Jess thanks for sending me alex's email and also thanks for sending me those pics this past week i love the picture of her sitting on the bed with the controller, she's adorable!

 

Well we had our big training meeting throughtout our mission that was awesome for 3 days this past week! It was quite the circus because a lot of people in our zone don't have cars so i was driving a 12 passenger ford econoline van full of missionaries through the city haha it was one of those experieces that you just don't forget about haha. Needless to say we made it and all went well for the 3 days as far as safety goes! I thnk i may have a career in being a bus driver! haha

 

This past week Laura Sandoval had her baby and it was awesome to be there at the hospital with them and also with Elder and Juana there. She had a boy and it was about time i thought for sure she was going to explode but it was fun to be there, they feel like family now it's awesome. Marlon taught priesthood and did so good. He volunteered to teach the class after 1 month of being baptized. He's going to be the branch president so quick! haha

 

Elder told us at the hospital that he wasn't going to be able to come to church on sunday becuase he needed to look for work because there struggling financially. It hit us hard becaus he was supposed to get the priesthood but we taught him about commandments and the blessings that come when we keep the commandments and he told us that he would see. Then we found out that Juana sipped some coffee and so we were like man we got to get them to church. Sunday morning rolled around and walked in Elder in a white shirt and tie with Juana!!!! He got the priesthood! And the sacrament talks were on the law of tithing. He was filling out a slip before he could even get done witht eh meetings. It was such a testimony builder to me of the faith that people put in the lord and when they trust in him. He blesses them so much. Juana understood why she needed to take the sacrament and that she had repented but still felt bad but she came to take the sacrament and said she wouldn't do it again! I have so much love for them especially just their willingness to change and do whatever it takes! It was a such a gratifying sunday.

 

Rafael couldn't come to church and wasn't able to meet with us this week and he was supposed to be baptized this upcoming sunday but that doesn't look to likely like it's going to happen. It's been a really humbling week as well. Rafael has been up and down and we felt really good that he was ready to do this. And satan throws the work excuse at him and he fell for it, which is a pretty valid thing, considering the circumstances of these great people, so we are excited for the upcoming week to see what we can do with him.

 

While we were in our leadership meeting we got a text message from kelly that siad, "elders something happened and i need to step away for a while, i don't want to talk about it, sorry" Yep it hit me like a ton of bricks. We talked to her boyfriend and i guess he said that she said that she wasn't doing it for herself and that she was just doing it for him. It was pretty hard to hear that because i know that she felt the spirit and that she knows that this is true. It's been a pretty humbling week to see both Rafael and now Kelly kind of fall. I have really been trying to just be patient and realize that it's on the lords will and on his timeline, but it's just been humbling to see how close someone can become and totally go the other direction. I feel like we gave it everything we had and that we gave her the best that we could give but something came up. So we've been praying like crazy that something will just tell her to call us so we can help her. It's been a learning opportunity for me to see things going so amazingly and now we are struggling to find new people and the people that we had fell ( not rafael, just kelly) We are hopiong fo rthe best for Kelly.

 

But i dont' want to end on a sour note though! Even though this past week has been a huge roller coaster ride in all aspects, We have been so blessed and we have seen so many blessings. Elder got the preisthood, jose and william passed the sacrament, marlon blessed and taught a lesson and people are progressing and we have to realize that and focus on the good. One of the best things i've learned is that on my mission ( and even in life) things come our way that aren't expected and that hurt us pretty bad, but we have the choice to be happy and to look at the good or be negative and it's just easier to just be happy so that's what we are doing! I love the gospel and i love the tests that we go through in our lives and they are just to make us stronger and to see what we are made of, but we can get through it and it's all because of our savior and the gospel. I love you all and thanks for your love and support!!! Have a great week

 

MUCH LOVE

 

Elder Hammer

Aug 2nd

Bueno, Bueno!!!!

 

hey guys! We are back again after another quick week and it puts a whole new emphasis when i see WE because now im serving in a 3 man companionship with Elder Woolley and my trainer(first companion) Elder Caballero from St. George again. It's been a lot of fun to be back with him and the three of us are having a good time together. Just getting a little used to having 3 people doing everything haha knocking doors is quite the circus, but it's been fun and it'll only be for a few more weeks until elder woolley goes home. I'm glad to hear that you all had fun in AZ without me ha I don't think dad and nick are going to be able to play golf with me when i got back because they play so much now they might drowned themselves out! I'm doing good though, just so everyone knows my throat is fine it hasn't hurt now for 2 weeks, i don't feel sick anymore and all is well. Thanks for all the concern, mitzie thanks so much for the package and grandma hafen for the letter i really appreciate it!

 

Well this week is going to be a really big week! We have a brand new training thing that will last for 3-4 days where all zone leaders, district leaders, and trainers go kind of like zone conference but all we are working on is new training from the MTC and each zone leaders have their own section that they are training on so it should be pretty awesome. It's just what our mission needs and it's goign to help us out so much. So that'll be all day tues-thurs.

 

This past week we finally got back with Kelly. She was in Texas for the past month and so it was good to get back and teach her again. It was a really good lesson where i think she learned a lot. She finally came to terms that she's not going to get this big huge ANSWER. that she's been getting them all along. Her fear is for sure the family but we layed it all on the line and just told her that she was already living all the commandments but wasn't being fully blessed for living them because she hadn't been baptized. She was pretty shocked and it was pretty bold speaking but we laid it out as clear as could be and she knows now. She wants to be baptized it's just when is the question. She doesn't want people to think that she is just doing it for Blair her boyfriend but we still are working with her and she's great.

 

We moved Marlon and Laura into the same apt as elder and juana. It was a day full of moving on saturday we moved to different members. But our recent converts are doing awesome! We had the confimations yesterday of elder, juana, and rosa. Marlon blessed the sacrament. Jose and William recieved the preisthood and will be passing next week. And elder got interviewed to get the priesthood yesterday. It was awesome to see so many things take place with all of them. Last night we were over at their house and elder said "Elder's me and marlon were talking and we gotta fill the isles in the church on sunday" (when elder caballero was here a year ago, the branch had 20 people coming, yesterday was 90!) but elder continued he said, "There shouldn't be room in the parking lot nor on the streets nearby to get into the church" It was awesome to hear that from him and we got a new person that we are teaching who is a good friend of Marlon this past week at the move. They are so fun to be around. I really am so content with where we are and how much progress we've made in our branch when i first got here the branch was falling apart from people being offended and gossip and the missionaries did a fast for the branch, and Our heavenly father blessed us with 10 baptisms in less than 30 days. How's that for answers to prayers. It's been such a blessing and we got to just keep it going!

 

All is well though and i'm really happy i'm loving where i am at! and i'm loving being a missionary. I'm learning so much about myself and about trials and blessings. I can't even begin to explain how much i feel like i've grown but there's a lot more that i need to do. Thanks for everything and i hop eyou all have a good week!

 

MUCH LOVE

 

ELDER HAMMER

july 26th

Hola!!!!!

 

Well it's been the sweetest month of the mish so far and this weekend pretty much just put a nice little cap on that!! We have been blessed like crazy and our zone for the month ended up hitting 13 baptisms which is the most it's ever hit i'm pretty sure! I know that you all have been praying for me and the investigators that we have and i'm grateful to all of you for doing that, this has for sure not been just me and elder woolley doing this alone.

 

We had the sweetest wedding ever for elder and juana! Elder and juana called us saturday morning and told us that they had been robbed and the rings they bought were gone and didn't want to get married without them, well a few hours later and a whole bunch of drama the lady that lived with them stole them and gave them back and we were back on for the wedding haha just when you think that it might go well something always comes up haha. But all went well, Elder invited a bunch of his family up from washington dc to come and his uncle who is a DJ for the music. haha we had lights and disco balls and all this crazy hispanic music but it was so much funa nd most importantly Elder And Juana were so happy!

 

But the next day for the baptism was even better! We had four baptisms yesterday and things were crazy! haha it was a circus from the time we walked in at 8 30 till 4 o clock when we left but i wouldn't change that feeling for anything! There was a bunch of people there and not enough room in the relief society so we did it in the chapel. Me and elder woolley were on the front row in white with rosa and elder and juana and then elder caballero and their investigator too and it was pretty awesome. We sang i am a child of god for the opening hymn and i lost it and start crying just looking at these people that i was sitting next to and their lives changing. By far the most satisfying feeling in my life! So we got all ready to go in to do the baptizing and we look at the font and the water had been slowly draining!!!! it was about midway to my thigh so we turned the water back on and sang a song or two and waited haha it was classic and thank goodness we were baptising small latinos because i dont' think they would have been able to go down. But All went well with all 4 baptisms and i got to baptize elder it was so awesome! He siad in the bathroom that he felt so good and that's my fav. part of baptisms! listening to the people talk right after adn seeing them completely submerged is the best! Rosa also talked to us after and just said that she had the chills and her heart couldn't stop beating like crazy. I can't believe these people, and how muhc i love them and their families. It's been pretty humbling to be apart of this month!

 

It's been a great week and elder woolley is staying here so i'm way excited about that! We are going to have another great month! Thanks so much for all you guys do for me! I'm so grateful for it and more than anything this gospel. We have so much to be grateful for like unbelievably. But wow the mission is awesome and the church is true! Have an awesome week! MUCH LOVE

 

ELDER HAMMER

July 19th

Hola, hola

 

Well this past week was such a sweet week not only for our own area but for our enitre zone!!!! This past week our zone had 7 baptisms, 2 of which were from our area but it was such a sweet weekend for all of us. The month of July has been so sweet and we have been blessed like crazy. I guess as the temperature keeps on getting higher and higher, we just keep baptizing and more than anything being blessed. I don't really have any random information for you about maryland this week haha Thanks so much for the pacakage DAD, i was very suprised to see a package from you cause usually it is mom but thanks a bunch dad it lifted me up when i needed it! Mom and jace and bell thanks so mcuh for all of your letters as well this week ha i love to hear from you guys, ha hailey and jace your letters are classic thanks so much!

 

First and foremost i just want to let the Rogers Family know that they are in my prayers and especially Ricky! I'll be praying and fasting for you guys and hope all goes well in the upcoming weeks! Love you Ricky.

 

This past week Jose and William were baptized. Every 3rd sunday our branch has a linger longer where everyone brings food and we have lunch afterwards so we threw the baptism in the middle of church getting out and the food so we had a nice party haha. Jose and William are awesome. They were nervous for the baptism but i just wanted to share an experience. I baptized william and i was down in the water and he came down and we did the baptising and he comes up out of the water and just shouts out, "WOW THAT WAS AWESOME!" everyone just started laughing but it was so funny because that's just how he is, I think the spirit works in everyone differently and i guess for him it must have been more humorous. It was such a special day and one that i will never forget.

 

We have been teaching William and Jose's Aunt named Rosa for quite a while now and we have invited her to be baptized before and she said yes but she wanted her husband to be along for the ride as well and he hasn't been because he works so much, but we were over there teaching her on saturday. We were teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ to her and really focused on Baptism. We got to the end and she said, " I've really been thinking and i need to be baptized" That brought smiles to our faces. then she says, " I should probably set a date for that right?" by this point me and elder woolley are just stunned haha and she says "Can i get baptized next weekend?" She put herself on date! I have never had that happen before but ya Rosa is getting batized next weekend with Elder And Juana! So in our branch we should have 4 or 5 baptisms next week! Our branch by the end of this month will have 8 or 9 baptisms and the rest of the zone will have about 6. Things are really happening in our branch and it's so much fun to be there!

 

Rafael is doing great, he's been stuck on the Bible so we went over there this past week and really taught about the BOOK OF MORMON and more than that the restoration and i think he is understanding it. We went back 2 days later and he had read 19 chapters and was giving us a summary, there was such a different spirit when he talked about the Book of Mormon that was so amazing. It's really cool to see when the Book of Mormon just opens up he heart of someone who is so stuck on the Bible. We have been greatly blessed, and i'm so excited for the upcoming week, we are throwing another wedding for Elder AND Juana and they are so excited! I'm sure next week i'll have much to report, but all is well here and we are doing great!

 

Thanks for everything you do for me i really appreciate it! Have a good one!

 

Much Love

 

Elder Hammer

july 12th

Hola!!!!!

 

Well at the start of this past week all i can say is it was just hot! It was about 105 with humidity i thought i was going to be able to fry an egg on my dang forehead haha but we are good now and it's cooling off. This place is so dry the grass is dead and the leaves are falling off the trees because we haven't got rain in so long. It almost looks like it is fall with all the leaves falling off. It's a pretty wierd site thoguh that is for sure. Haleluah.....The world cup is finally over!!! I survived a world cup on my mission, that's pretty good i guess but man it's great to know that when you knock on the door people are going to answer now haha. Thanks for the letters from Sandiego mom and dad i'm happy you guys had a good time and that all went well.

 

This past week was a lot of fun with zone conference and some changes that are going to be happening in the training worldwide are going to be great.

 

I went on exchanges down in the city with an Elder Astle who's best friend is training Alex Darrow. It was a blast, the city jsut has this feel to it that's so much fun that you can't really describe but all i can imagine is that its kind of how you feel when your in a circus and just wondering how in the world haha. They have been way blessed with a media referral who is way solid that will be getting baptized this upcoming saturday. 4 weeks ago he was addicted to Cocaine and marijuana and since he met the missionaries he's been clean and we got to teach him, ha he even gave us a ride in his car, oh those wonderful memories. President talked in zone confernce how amazing it is how we can love some of these people and i was thinking that when i was in the car of an ex cocaine addict but the man looks like  abishop and is so cool. He's so solid and nothing is going to get in his way from getting baptized. It was a fun exchange

 

Yesterday Marlon and Laura were confirmed at church. They are the best, they came with a white shirt and tie and she came in a dress, which usually doesn't happen but they are so solid. They told us after when we went and visited them that they aren't going to fall and they are going to stay strong and go to the temple. not to mention it was a litle helpful having the DC temple president speak in church yesteday on the blessings of the temple.

 

Elder And Juana also came to church and talked to our presdient about their wedding and baptism. They are doing great! When i was on exchagnes the other elders went over there and taught them and they made them dinner and gave a plate to elder woolley for me. Then next morning i got a call from Juana at 9 am "Elder have you ate my food yet, wasn't it so amazing? i'm a great cook huh?" haha it was pretty funny, i love these families more than i can explain.

 

Yesterday we had 10 investigators at church and Rafael came as well he's doing good. We got to get the Book of Mormon more into his mind because he is pretty set on the Bible but he is on date now for the 8th of August! He had a tuff time yesterday and shed quite a few tears talking to people about his son but he came and he's doing great.

 

Next week is the BAPTISM of the aviles boys on the sunday for Jose and William, they have already passed the interview and all looks good! We are being blessed so much right now in our area and things are looking up and up for our zone and the mission.

 

I gotta run we are playing basketball with our zone today but i hope you all have a great week! Thanks for all the prayers and for all the support!

 Much Love

Elder Hammer

July 5th

HOLA!!!!!

 

We had the best week on my mission thus far this past week! It was the coolest expereince in the world and i'll get to that later but ya we are pretty happy here in Towson right now! Thanks for all the letters and the packages everyone. Thanks for the package aunt Mitzie i really apreciate it! Thanks for 2 packages this week mom, ha elder woolley was a happy camper seeing all that food.

 

So this weekend was the wedding of Marlon and Laura Sandoval. Saturday night we had quite the FIESTA with the members to make, what we thought was going to be a tiny wedding into a huge blast! Marlon and Laura were so excited and they had been out shopping the day before and we met them in a parking lot and she had finally found a dress that she liked. You got to remember she's 8 months pregnant and she's about ready to pop so finding her a dress isn't an easy task. When they showed up to the church on Saturday night and she was all done up walking through the doors and he was smiling to ear to ear it made every hot hard day worth it. I've never felt so happy to see a couple come together like this. Weddings are a ton of fun, me and elder woolley said we are going to start doing this more often haha We had a very short ceremony and it was great and then all the members brought food and the relief society made a cake. For a little branch it was quite the party and it was so much fun to see them just happy as can be! We had 10 of our investigators come to the wedding so that helped but elder and juana are going to have the same thing on the 24th and 25th of July so they are excited!

 

Then it was off to the Baptism on Sunday. Marlon asked me if i'd baptize him and then elder woolley baptized laura. They were so happy. As all four of us were standing there in white taking pictures i just was filled with the greatest love for this family. Never have i felt so confidnet in a family to return to the temple in a year and be sealed forever than i have with the Sandoval Family! I told them that if they did go through in a year that i would be there and so would elder woolley ha they wanted us to sign something to amke sure that we were there. The baptism went great marlon went first and then i stayed in the water to help laura wiht elder woolley so she didn't haveto do too much being pregnant, the water was way warm and i was thinking i sure hope the baby doesn't get excited and come early that would put a damper on the baptism but luckily we made it through and they couldn't stop smiling. The Branch really supported them this weekend and they were so greatful, they have nothing they live in an apt with 14 people and 1 bathroom and yet these people have now found what happiness is! It's been the best weekof my mission for sure!

 

Yesterday Elder and Juana cmae to church and Elder bore his testimony. He did great and said we need to serve god and here serving god is where we will be! He's on fie right now and he invited us over to teach his family and friends yesterday. This past week we got 2 new investigators from elders friends being at his house. And it's almost like a member present lesson cause elder is set on the church. Yesterday he was going off saying these other churches where is their authority, they don't have any just because you study the bible and go to school doesn't mean you have power and authority from God. ha he's amazing i wanted to give him my tag and say go for it! We have been so blessed through Elder, that's how we found Marlon and Laura.

 

It was a great week and our zone is doing great as well we usually are at about 6 or 7 baptisms a month and this month we have a goal of 16!! our zone is on fire right now and we have been given so many blessings. We are really excited for our zone as well.

 

Life is going really good right now and i'm so happy. I've decided life is too much fun to be down and have realized how blessed we are. The gospel is the only thing that makes us this happy, there isn't any other thing like it! I love you all and hope you have a great week!

 

MUCH LOVE

 

Elder Hammer

June 28th

Hey Guys!!!!!!

 

This past week can be described in one word.....HOT! It's so hot here i can't believe it haha There was like a code red warning 2 days last week because of the heat and the humidity, i think back to the great words from sandlot "Benny, I'm toastin' like a bacon cheeser!" It's great though, people are always outside and that makes missionary work a lot better, but we've been blessed again this past week and had a lot of great experiences. Thanks for all the letters and the love. Thanks for the 1 year package mom! Me and Elder Woolley had a little Fiesta in the apartment with brownies and the camel you sent me ha Mom one question though....the camel has 2 humps...is there another year i don't know about haha no, no thanks a lot mom it was a great day. I can't believe that a year ago i entered the MTC as such a boy and how much things have changed now but i'm so glad for all that i have experienced that past year it truly has been the most amazing experience of my life!

 

To start out this week has been great, especially with the lesson with Kelly! She didn't have too good of an experience last sunday and we knew that but she showed up to our lesson on tuesday in shambles, she looked like she had been hit by a bus. She just walked in and broke down. Rewind a bit...we have been struggling at finding someone for Kelly to be friends with but the night before we were tlaking to freddy about what we were going to teach her and he suggested a girl named amanda out of the clear blue, we called amanda at about 10 15 and she answered and said, elders i've been thinking i needed to call you for some reason but i didn't know why and thought it was too late to call, but i'm glad you called. Yaddi yaddi yadda and she was in for the lesson. She's from Thousand Oaks California and lives on twin ranch the course we played down there last year. Basically she's the only normal one haha so she came and when Kelly walked in she was there with us. Kelly had gotten curious and started looking on the internet and was upset that she even did it but more just confused. Amanda talked to her about it and come to find out Amanda's dad is catholic and mom is mormon and that is EXACTLY what kelly needed. We got her calmed down and began the lesson on the BOOK OF MORMON she had done all her reading and said  "So the book of mormon is like really aplicable for our day" haha it was music to our ears. We talked about the tree of life and then we watched the Safety for the soul conference talk from elder holland on the Book of Mormon and there were tears in her eyes. Then Elder Woolley shared how he got a testimony and by the time he was done all 5 of us were in tears. I know i say this all the time but this lesson was the most spiritual lesson of my mission, it was like angels were in that room with us. She left doing a complete 360 and she's now in Texas with her boyfriend. We talked to her last night and she went to a normal family ward and she siad she loved it. I wouldn't be suprised if when she gets back she says i want to get baptized but we'll just keep praying. It was a great experience and great lesson!!!!

 

We put Elder AND Juana on date for the 11th of July this past week! They are doing so good and both said that they wanted to be baptized so we are planning a wedding for them too now haha Elder Hammer and Elder Woolley.....missionaries i think not but wedding planners yes haha I love those two so much.

 

Marlon and Laura are doing amazing. They both passed the interview on saturday and we are having a FIESTA on saturday for their wedding and their baptisms on sunday! They are amazing people and being around them is humbling. They live in one bedroom and there is 14 people living in a 3 bedroom apartment with 1 BATHROOM! it's unreal the sacrifices that they are going through but they are so content and so happy. I'm so excited for this weekend!

 

This past week we got a call from a former investigator who kind of flaked out on the missionaries but wanted us to come by and talk to him. So we went by and we asked what was up and he started to break down and told us that his son was killed in a car crash two days prior. It was one of the hardest experiences to see this grown man just in shambles wth the loss of his son and not seeing any hope for the future. BUT he did remember to call the missionaries at his greatest time of trial. Rafael knows what the spirit feels like and he's felt it so we tried to bring it with all we had with the plan of salvation! He felt the difference and asked us to come to the funeral which was last night. Probably one of the most akward experiences of my mission being in a baptist church and seeing the despair and absolutely no hope in the eyes of the people there for this 28 year man. It ripped me up quite a bit, but Rafael told us when we left that he wants us to come by and teach him again, and that he wants to come to church again. I am so grateful for the knowledge we have and that we have the ability to find peace through the plan of salvation. Hopeful something will touch him to where he will change and feel the need to be baptized. but i could feel his pain, we are so blessed to know what we know!

 

This week has been a week filled with highs of highs and last night i didn't necisarily feel the low of lows but my heart went out to this guy who had nothing and now had lost his son who was his pride and Joy. The gratitude for life becomes something more when you see that and i'm just grateful for all that we have. and especially for the peace and joy the gospel brings, especially the peace reading from the book of mormon can bring into our life. We are in for some great weeks ahead of us with 6 baptisms lined up for the next 3 weeks and we are doing great. Thanks for all you do and for all the love and prayers. Have a great week in all you do!

 

ELDER HAMMER

 

june 21st

I know that i always start off my letters with it's been another great week in our area but it seems to be what comes to my mind because we just keep getting blessed and blessed more and more it's incredible, so yes It's been such a great week in our area! We are getting so blessed i can't say that enough, everyday me and Elder Woolley are just amazed at what has been given to us and the many things that are going on in our area! Thanks for the letters this past week mom and dad and bell. Grandma hafen thanks for the card and letter with the money i really appreciate it!!!

 

Yesterday at church we had 9 investigators there, 1 away from double digits two weeks in a row. I was hoping that we could do it two weeks but it didn't work out but all who came are so solid, the aviles family, marlon and laura and Kelly. We had a really good fathers day and the talks that were given in the singles ward were really good. I was thinking about you a lot pops, i hope you had a good one!

 

Man the singles ward got on my nerves this past week though. Yesterday we had a munch and mingle and there was so me ward members who just freaked Kelly out, talking about tank tops and bikinis and just freaked her right out so she didnt' have to swell of a time yesterday. She's going to go visit her boyfriend in Texas for 2 weeks so that should be a great environmnet for her to see the difference in living with a LDS family. The singles ward is great but all the people go to Johns Hopkins and they are so brilliant when it comes to books, but they can barely tie there own shoes or let alone carry out a conversation with the opposite sex haha but there great i love them but ya it was a rough day for Kelly especially being father's day and he dad dying it was rough, but we had a great lesson with her on tuesday and she's doing great though, still just waiting on that answer.

 

We went to the temple with Marlon and Laura on Saturday and that was such an amazing experience! They had been to the temple before but they really wanted to go the the one in DC because they had been to the one in Salt Lake. I was so excited to go with them and they had seen the Joseph Smith Movie before so we watched the Testaments with them. That was the first time i have seen the testaments on my mission and it was so powerful, After the movie was over and the lights came back on Laura and Marlon were just in tears and just sobbing away. It was so wonderful to see the spirit working on them. The temple is the greatest place on earth! I'm so happy that they got to go there and i'm so happy that the spirit there just fills people with so much happiness and love. They also got there marriage licence this week so they are good to go on the 3rd of July, who would have thought me Jordan being a wedding planner on the mission haha but i'm loving it though! We are way excited about them.

 

Last night we went to Elder and Juana's because they didn't come to church because Juana worked but we really had to lay it down on them about getting married, and as usual we had to wait and eat the food she gave us haha EVERYTIME without fail she feeds us but we started talking and teaching and Elder just out of nowhere looks at Juana and says " Juana, i've already decided we are getting married" haha and that was the end of that. They are going to get there licence as soon as they can and now we just have to work with them on getting sundays off for Juana because that could be a big problem  because she always has saturdays off because she works for the Jewish people and Sundays she works so that is where we are to with her and Elder. It's so great to see them  though they want to be baptized and married and the spirit just is working on people in so many ways.

 

The aviles family of 9 still haven't got there divorce papers done yet but the two oldest sons this past week said to me and elder woolley that they want to be baptized without there family on the 18th of july so we are going to have a baptism for them! They approached us about it and want to do it for themselves and there pareants are really happy that they took the initiative for themselves to want to be baptized. Once again we are just being so so so blessed here with the greatest people in the world!

 

All is well in Maryland and we are so happy here. We have some great thigns going on and we just need to keeep working harder and harder. I love you all and thanks so much for your support!

 

Much Love

Elder Hammer

june 14th

Hey, hey, hey

Well it's been such a sweet week in our area again and i get to stay here for at least another 6 weeks with Elder Woolley which makes me happy. It's hot in maryland and at night it's hot too ha but i am seeing one thing here this is actually pretty cool, Fireflies are everywhere!!!! It's a light show every night, haha kinda random but a cool piece of information. Thanks for the letters this past week mom and dad and Jacie. I loved hearing from you guys and thanks for the new calendar mom, it's perfect!

Well this past week was awesome, yesterday at church we had 10 investigators there! The Aviles Family, Marlon and Laura, Elder AND JUANA TOO!!!! It was so much fun and such a circus but wow it was such a great sunday!!!

This past week with Marlon and Laura we set July 3rd for their wedding and July 4th for their baptism! They are really excited for it. It's so fun to see these two and how happy they are! This past week Marlon had a court trial thing because he had an expired licence that was going to cost him 300$ of which he did not have, but he only had to pay like 50$ and was so happy because he knew it was God helping him out! We had him meet with the branch president yesterday and the Branch pres. is a great guy, very loving and just made them feel like they were going to have a great wedding and that he was going to take care of it all!!!! We are so excited for them and it's going to be great. He told us this past week since he works all day until late, "I just wnat you guys to come over sometimes at 12 at night and eat chicken with us and teach us, we feel so much better when you both are here" It's so great to hear that from people because there isn't anything else in the world like this!

This past week we went to the Temple with Elder and his wife Juana. Elder is set on the church and has come before but Juana hasn't and has some issues. She's been addicted to coffee since she was a baby and works sundays so we have ben really working on her wiht the Word of Wisdom. When we got there saturday morning to go with them she was like Elders guess what, i quit drinking coffee it hurts my stomach now, and tomorrow i'm coming to church. I was so shocked and so happy, it was the greatest thing to hear, the spirit is for surely working on her and she's falling in love with the gospel. We watched the Joseph Smith movie and Elder got chocked up watching it and said he could feel it in his heart the power of that video. The temple was great they loved the temple, i have so many pictures and i forgot my camera today!!!!! i'll send them this upcoming week!! After he took us to this area in Washington DC just filled with HISPANICS to there favorite restaurant called Pollo Campero and payed for us, ha there turning into our best friends and that's the best!

Kelly got back from her cruise last night and things are going good, i feel like she is just going to take her sweet time ha It's on their time frame i guess, but she's so ready so that makes it hard. But all is well there and we have an appointment with her the upcoming week.

Well all is well as you can tell and we are being so blessed right now in this area! we have so much going on and a lot of new changes on the zone that should be interesting, but we just have lots of work to do, but it's going to be fun! Thanks for all your love and support out here from everyone. Thanks nick for sending me the blessing! I loved listening to that, your an amazing dad with an even more amazing wife! I lov eyou both! I hope you have a great week everyone!

Until Next Week

ELDER HAMMER

june 7th

Fam!!!!!!!

 

This past week was something else! I don't know where to start off but the Lord has blessed us so much this past week and i'm just so grateful. The weather is good, no worries there it's just humid and hot...nothing more to say than that ha I just wanted to say thanks to you Uncle Scott and Aunt Jodie for taking me out to lunch. I appreciated it so much and it was so great to be with you guys for that short time and feel of your love. THANKS SO MUCH!!!!!!! Me and my companion were very grateful and we hope that you know that! Thanks mom for the letters and for the packages this past week they were so great. It's so great to hear from all of you and thanks for your prayers for me, i know they are being answered!

 

Well to start off with the best Marlon and Laura Sandoval are doing great. They came to church this yesterday and we changed there date from the 13th to the 27th because they aren't married and that's a pretty big thing to plan so we put it back a few weeks but they are doing so good and they love church and they are happy. So yesterday we were out knocking doors and he called me and was kind of panicked and said that he needed to tell me something, and that something big had just happened. At first thought i was thinking he was going to jail or something big, but he started to tell me that they have been low on money and just payed there rent and have no money for the next two weeks, i could feel the despair in his voice and it ripped my heart out. He went on to say that he had 15$ to his name and went to the store to buy his wife some milk...she's pregnant. So he said he had 10$ and there was a lottery card sitting on the counter that costed 10 dollars and he bought it. He told me that he went home and placed the lottery thing on his bed and prayed to god to just help him and that he could survive for the next 2 weeks on 50$ for him his wife and his 3 year old son, here this father was desperately doing anythign to get his family to survive and he thinks to pray to God to ask for help. He said he began to scratch off the card and he won 15 times on the same card and won 300$. As he has tears in his eyes and in his voice i could feel the gratitude, he said Hermano, i know this church is true and i know that god has answered my prayer, i know that the lottery is not a good thing, but the lord helped me and i know this is true, everythign you have taught me is true. I just sat there in shock and couldn't believe it and i don't think he could either, he called me almost instantaneously after it had happened. They are so ready to be baptized and he is so set on this. I love that family with all my heart and i can't wait to see the day when they get to go through the temple together!!!!

 

This past week we visited some other investigators 3 times, Elder AND Juana and they are doing really good. Elder is so set on the church but juana can't give up the coffee so we are trying to do our best to help them out, they love us though. Ha 3 times they cooked for us Tuesday night we had sopa de reis ( Cow stomach soup :)  ) Saturday night (Fish head soup...even better haha) and Last night we has Savichi (Raw shrimp, oysters,crab cooked in lemon juice) It was a great week for my stomach haha. They are great though and love to feed us and love to joke around with us and ask us what you don't like my food, eat more haha it's great I love these families so much!

 

We had Elder Johnson of the 70 come to our mission this past week and that was a great experience that i will never ever forget. Here is this english man that just has so much love for life and for the gospel it was so great to see! I hope that when i'm 68 years old that i can just have that fire that he had! He taught so much i can't even begin to tell you how much but he said something to us that has hit me hard. He said your mission is so close to a miracle, so close and i want to tell you one thing "It's not what you do, but HOW you do it" That is so great to me for more than just the mission but for life. He really got on us to just have that fire of missionary work and to feel it! To be happy and excited for the gospel. Many missionaries are here to get there 2 years in and go home and it's too bad and he could tell that, which was the most amazing thing to me! It was one of those experiences that was so great. and i'll come back to him.....

 

Kelly is doing great, this past week we went to the temple with her and just tried to flood her with the spirit before she left on her cruise. This week a few issues came up and he boyfriend lets us in on what's going on it's great. She has a gay friend and so that is throwing her off a little bit because he is like her best friend and she knows that the church isn't about that. But we really just tried to focus on the most important and let that go by, but her family is telling her stuff and she just is feeling the heat. So we watched the Joseph Smith movie at the visitor center and tried to flood her with trials leading to conversion and she loved it. She wants it so bad and it was a great time at the temple. Then on Friday night Elder Johnson did a fireside especailly for investigators that kelly came too. It was great recent converts spoke presdient belliston spoke and then elder johnson spoke on the plan of salvation and WHO WE ARE. He told his conversion story about once he figured out that god and jesus christ were two seperate people and once he knew he was a child of god and that had significance, that made all the difference. Me and Elder Woolley have talked about Kelly alot and we talked a lot about her maybe not understanding who she is and what her potential is in life, Basically it was just an unreal talk that he gave that hit home to kelly! She was taking notes thae whole time and she was into his talk. After we introduced him to her, and this is where it gets really good. He said hi and asked bluntly "so when is your date?" and kelly then went into well i've been praying and asking and trying my best and haven't set one yet. Then elder johnson said "well how are you praying?" Kelly then went into i address heavenly father then i ask him and then i close in the name of jesus christ amen. Then elder johnson took her hand looked her in the eyes and said so lovingly " I think you've already got your answer" Kelly paused for a few seconds and said ya thats what i'm starting to think and he said  "You'll know" It couldn't have been any better! She loved the fireside and then the guy who took us down there told his conversion story from catholicism and she really enjoyed that as well, she made a comment like " i just don't understand, this church is the only church where people actually practice what they preach, everyone else just goes to church and forgets about it once they walk out the door" Little by little the spirit is working on kelly and it's so fun to see. We are hoping and praying that she comes back and just says that she wants to be baptized. I have so much faith that she will.

 

As you can tell this past week was such a blessing from our Father in Heaven, we are being so blessed and it's so wonderful to feel those blessings. This past week was a wonderful week and I'm just happy, i can't say much more than that. I love you all and hope you all have a great week! The church is true.

 

Much Love

 

Elder Hammer

 

 

may 31

Hey guys!!!!

It's been another good week in towson and it's just been great. I haven't given a weather report for quite some time so here's the latest..........IT'S HOT!!!!!!!!!! haha Summer is here and the humidity is here as well. It's been a really hot week and it's been taking some getting used to but everyone is outside and so that makes it so much fun. But yes Maryland is hot right now! it's been about 90 and some days the humidity is bad and somedays it's good but either way it's hot. I remember when i wrote you dad and you told me to not worry about the cold because the hot was going to come and i'd be doing the same thing haha. I love the hot though more than the cold you still can do so much. Thanks so much though for the letters this week, jace i loved your letter, and mom and dad thanks so much for your letters too they are the best!!! Grandpa Hafen i hear you got a new outfit....Hyundai????? I don't know grandpa i think the rogue is still calling for ya!!! Thanks for everything though i really appreciate those letters. This past week we moved into a new apartment and it's been great to have everything brand new ha i feel a little spoiled as a missionary living where we are at but it's been nice to move out and it was an easy move.

This past week was such a great week though. We only had kelly come to church which was a bummer after having 11 people the week before but every week can't be like that last one of else, missionary work would be too easy ha. We still have seen so many blessings though and just are being more and more blessed.

This past week we had our first Zone Leader Council since i have been a zone leader and that was great! Our mission has a very high goal this year for baptizing 300 people and it's never been done since this mission was opened. President has been on a rampage just making sure that people that have committed to be baptized go through and this past month that didn't happen. We had 16 baptisms the first two weeks and the last 3 weeks we only had 4. We are 7 behind our goal thus far and the last couple weeks our mission was tanking, so we were all a little anxious to see what was going to happen at ZL council but President just has so much love for missionary work and wants baptisms, but not for the number but for the people that are behind these #'s. It was such a great conference and i learn more and more each time that i listen to presidnet Belliston. There is 6 zones so 12 ZL'S and presdient and his counselors and Sister Belliston, haha one of the Elders there calls it the JEDI COUNCIL. haha

Last night we got all the numbers in from our zone and we had 8 people on date that weren't on date before so we are seeing the blessings that have been poured down upon our zone this past week and it looks like june is going to be a great great month with baptisms. We are the biggest zone so that means we have to produce the most and we are looking at about 10 for the upcoming month so we are really excited for the month of June. I can't believe it is already JUNE!!!! ha 11 months ago i felt like i was never going to see another June haha it's crazy though how fast time is going and picking up and it's been so much fun these past few weeks.

This past week with Kelly was great!!!! We had a really good lesson with her on the law of Chastity which wasn't a big worry being that she was dating a returned missionary haha. But man still teaching her is so much fun. She comes with chapters and chapters read from the Book of Mormon and this past week she was Designated Driver with her friends so that she wouldn't drink to try and keep the Word of Wisdom. She really is amazing. We are really trying to help her understand what HER "ANSWER" is and that she has already received it. She is expecting something big which i have no doubt that she can receive but she really is doing great though. This upcoming week we are going to the Temple with her on Wednesday to give her a spiritual high and then A general authority from the 70 is coming to our mission this week for zone conferences and is also doing an investigator fireside so she's going to do as well. We are so excited for her and hopefully she can get to her answer but she already knows it's true so we are just waiting on her.

I'm really excited for this upcoming week with the 70 coming....Kenneth Johnson. He is coming to our zone conferences and then after the zone leaders get to meet with him and the ap's and president. So this week i'll be meeting with a general authority ha i'm really excited and nervous too. That's some pressure but we are really trying our best and doing everything we can so ya it should be a great week.

Yesterday we met with Marlon and Laura, the friend of elder that used to live in Salt lake and we taught them the Plan of Salvation and put them on date to be baptized the 13th on June! We are so excited for them and they are as well. They are so sincere, and he actually might have been baptized when he was young he can't remember so we are checking and he said i hope you don't find the records because i really want to be baptized because now i know and really want to change so we are hoping we don't find the records but if so we'll have him get the priesthood and baptize his wife. We are being so blessed and are so excited for him and his wife to be able to do this. There son Christopher is the cutest kid. He's 3 and we come in and he just jumps on us, and says hola amigos ha and then starts his 100 questions "que es esto" what is that what is this whats that haha it's so fun. I love it so much

Well everyone i'm off again and i hope all is well and that you all have a great week. Have a great holiday and i love you alll!!!!!

Much Love

Elder Hammer

may 24th

Hello, hello

 

Wow all i can say is wow! This past week was without a doubt the greatest week of my entire mission! I can't believe all the blessings that we got the last few weeks and i really didn't think it could be any better, but with the Lord i guess nothing is impossible and we had another miracle happen this week in our area!

 

Well first and foremost...Kelly Brinegar. This past week we taught her twice and yet again two great, great lessons. On tuesday we taught her the gospel of Jesus Christ and that lesson is just screaming baptism and we hadn't set a date with her. The morning before Elder woolley and i were in companionship study and hadn't picked out a date and so we picked one out on june 13th and decided that we should pray about it. Right as we got down on our knees i felt June 6th and didn't feel good about the 13th so after we prayed i just waited for a bit and elder woolley wasn't saying anything and then he was like write down in your planner the date you are thinking, so we did. We threw each other our planners and there he had june 6th written down as well. It's unbelievable how those prayers get answered sometimes. But we went to the lesson and just were very prepared for her questions and taught her the repentance process and really had a very spiritual lesson. And then Elder Woolley invited her to be baptized and she said yes if she found out that it is right. She's reading and praying and she will get an answer soon. Then we taught her on thursday for the last time with her boyfriend Blair because he moved back to Texas. We taught her the Word of Wisdom and she has a little problem with social drinking. It's the way she was raised and she expressed some concern, but we were able to teach her the blessings and at the end she said i just don't know what i'm going to tell my friends and my mom but then she said "but it's time to grow up". And she committed to live it. It's so amazing her progression. She came to church on sunday by herself to a singles ward and that just shows me so much faith. She gets freaked out easily but there she was in church on sunday and a member really wrapped her arms around her to be her friend and it's going great. I have never prayed for an investigator like i have for her and never have i prayed for such a miracle for her answer to be manifested but i know it will happen!!

 

This past week we were teaching one of our investigators named Elder and his wife Juana. They are the coolest young couple and have 2 youngs kids in Guatamala and a little boy here. They had been taught before i got here but they are such great people and believe its true but have problems coming to church because of Work. But we were over there this past week teaching him and he told me about one of his friends that he works with moved from Utah about a year ago and he was telling his friend about us coming to his house and teaching him the truth. Then his friend told Elder to give us his number to come and visit him. This doesn't happen very often so i hopped right on it and called him and he told me that he had talked with missionaries before in salt lake and loved it there and wants to move back ha. So we set an appointment for saturday and we felt really good about that appointment, He just was a solid person and i could tell that over the phone. So we went to his house on saturday and him and his wife Laura and his 3 year old son Christopher were all there. It was great. We got to talking and they lived in west valley and were really close to baptism and then he lost his job and had to leave quick out to maryland. Here this family is who were so close and had lost contact with the church for a year and through one of our other investigators he found us again. We taught him the restoration and he said "i know this is the true church of god, and I want to feel like Joseph Smith felt that day" I just wanted to jump up and down because i was so happy! These people were just plopped down in front of us and they want to be baptized!!!!!!! The wife is so on board and Christopher there son is the cutest kid ever. Me and elder woolley were switching off teaching and while he would teach i would play with Christopher and while i taught he would play with him. We got a family to bring them to church yesterday and i got to sit with them for the first part of Sacramemnt meeting. They loved it and want to come next week and we have an appointment with them on Saturday. Can you believe it? like seriously here we just get 2 golden investigators and they have been so prepared to recieve us. They've been to temple square, seen the testaments and the joseph smith movie and for a whole year had no idea how to get back to that. And through our investigator we got his number! It truly is a miracle, we are being so blessed i cna't even explain my gratitude right now we just find one after another. It's amazing!

 

Yesterday at church we had 11 investigators there!!!! i have gone months and months without that many ha and yesterday we had 10 in the spanish branch and Kelly in the singles ward. Elvis and Laura came and Elder came for his first time with a recent convert and then the Aviles Family as well with their sister in law who has come the past 2 weeks and came to the temple. It was a circus yesterday, i started in the spanish branch sitting with elvis and laura and chris because elder woolley plays the organ, then i left after sacrament to go to gospel principles with kelly, then i went to the first part of sacramemnt meeting with kelly and to get andrew confirmed and then i went back to priesthood with elder. It was the greatest sunday on my mission without a doubt!!!! All of them loved it and are all planning on coming back. I can't even believe it sometimes when i think about how blessed we have been. In my last area i felt like i worked and worked and worked and didn't see too much and i know now that it is after the trial of our faith that we get those blessings. We now have 11 poeple who are solid, NO FLAKES who should be getting baptized in the next 2 months. I have never loved anything in my life like i do now. This beats last year in Hawaii and California when i was playing my best golf ever ANYDAY! This is the best and i love it!

 

I hope you all have a wonderful week and know how much i love each of you and how grateful i am for all of you in my life. This is the truth and this is the only way to have happiness and i know that now! Have a great week everyone! Happy Birthday Bro!!!! Hope you have a great birthday man on the big 26!!!!!

 

Con Amor

Elder Hammer

may 17th & pictures

Hola Familia!!!!!!!

Hello everyone! It's been such a great week in the mission!!! We have had so many great things happen and we are continuing to see the blessings of God being poured out upon us. Things for some reason just seem to be getting better and better and it's such a blessing! I'll just get started but thanks so much for the letters and love i really appreciate them and the 20$ aunt mitzie and letters from grandma and of course you mom thanks a bunch!!!!

So yesterday we had a baptism for a young guy named Andrew and it went really well. Andrew had been found about 2 months ago knocking late at night and they started teaching him and he really liked what they had to say and its all history from there. Andrew had a tuff life. He is a genius and is really socially akward and when the missionaries found him he had just gotten done from a breakdown where he just locked himself in his house and wouldn't go out or talk to anyone, it's a really sad story. He went to yale and is just a genius and he was just about that point of breaking when they found him that night. He's made huge steps and has changed his life completely and his a different person for sure! Yesterday his baptism went really well and his mother even came who is a catholic and wasn't interested. We showed the restoration video during the baptism and a young single who baptised andrew asked his mom if she had ever read the Book of Mormon and she said, " No....but i think im going to have to start now" It's amazing how the spirit works on people when they hear the truth about the gospel and now she is interested. God is a god of miracles and continues to put more and more people into our path!

So for the past few weeks we have been teaching a young girl named Kelly Brinegar. She's the girlfriend of the quarterback at Towson and he's a member she's not, basically she's a very very good looking girl and that was tuff at first but it's all good now ha. She is GOLDEN! I have never taught anyone that has grasped what we have taught her. She understood this past week the plan of salvation amazingly and every question was asked and we could answer them and she even said everything just makes sense. She asked us why mormons have "big books" (meaning the quad scriptures) at church so this weekend we bought her a quad and gave them to her ha, maybe as a little push to get baptized ha no but really i don't think i've ever enjoyed teaching someone like i have wiht kelly. She has been catholic and really wanted nothing to do with the mormon church, she just told Blair (her boyfriend) that she would be willing to listen to get to "KNOW WHO HE WAS BETTER" haha little did she know that the most sly missionaries were coming at her haha. Blair was talking to us at church yesterday and said that she was talking to him and commented that at first she had no desire and that now it's making sense and Blair told us that she's kind of scared ha because she knows it is true! Tomorrow we have a lesson with her and were going to put her on date for baptism!!!! It's unreal she even was at the baptism yesterday and i know she felt something there too!

This weekend we got to go to the temple with the AVILES family, a family of 9 who are ready to be baptized but are just waiting on some divorce papers back in El Salvador. It was the best to go down there with them to the temple and have all the little kids say i want to go in, why can't we go in ha. These kids are so funny and always going 100 miles an hour and have got the most off the wall question ever, but it's been the best. Families are so special and i've finally got to be apart of teaching a family that is big and to see all of them come into the gospel. Julio the dad was in the bathroom yesterday when andrew was changing and he told him congrats and said "This is the best decision of your life" ha coming from a guy who isn't even baptized. It's so amazing to see their conversion and it was a great temple trip. I even saw Sister Mary williams i think, the african american sister in our ward mom and dad? I got my first hug of the mission haha she saw me and ran over to me and i tried to give her a handshake and she slapped it away and gave me and a hug haha kind of wierd but it was fun to see her. she said to tell you all hello!

This week i got to go on exchanges with the inner city spanish elders!!!! It was so sweet! I was in downtown B-MORE wiht the crazies and it was so much fun haha. The city is so different, it's a whole other world down there, but it's fun to get those fun "Journal Entries" haha. It was my first taste of the city and it was a bunch of fun.

Well as you can tell, our area is rocking and it's the best. Being a zone leader is a lot of fun and i love working with all these missionaries, sometimes i don't feel like i'm the one that should be leading but the lord is for surely helping me in this call. I've never been so into the work as i am right now and it's a great feeling!!! There are so many miraculous blessings that i can't even explain in my emails that the lord blesses us with each and everyday! I love this call and i love this church! I love you all and hope you all have a great week!!!!! Thanks for everything!!! Adios

Elder Hammer

recent photos of jord

Here's a little peak of Elder Hammer over the last few months 

May 10th

hello everyone!!!!!!

 

Well it's been a crazy past week but man I love where i am at!!! I'm in towson maryland with one of the best elders that i could have asked for. I told my comp. last week that if i got transfered i would want to serve with him but i didn't think i would cause i had no idea about zone leader but he's an allstar. We live on a college campus of towson university with a bunch of single women walking around haha not too good but were going to be moving soon so that should be changing quick.

 

Man so much has changed and it has been the greatest. we are now covering a singles ward and it's just about exactly like the movie. haha you have the different crowds in the church but it's a lot of fun. I am really excited to do a little more teaching in english. We are still over the spanish branch but there are also 4 other missionaries for the spanish so we aren't quite as interlocked there but thats alright. Sorry this is kind of a repeat from the phone call yesterday haha sorry mom.

 

Speaking of phone call i just wanted to say that the phone call yesterday was the best and i loved talking to you guys. I am so happy to be an uncle and to see all these AMAZING PICTURES of little morgan with that hair! oh my she's so adorable!!!! I would have to say it's been a good mother's day for everyone. Jess our newest mother and for MARSH as well. I love you all adn thanks for that great phone call.

 

Man i don't know what else to say i feel like we just got done talking ha because we did yesterday. I just wanted to share an experience that we had yesterday before the call for everyone else to hear....... So we went to this place just filled with hispanics and it really is filled like every apartment is hispanics and that doesn't happen too often here so we went back to try and teach this lady named Olga. We went in tehre and Olga was not interested and was giving us the cold shoulder in the lesson, kids were running around screaming and throwing toys, lets just say that it wasn't a very condusive area to be in for the spirit. But there was a nother guy in the home that when we pulled the eject button and said can we leave with a prayer, he walked in and asked if we could pray for him. Come to find out, he hasn't known god for 20 some odd years and hasn't been going to church because he's been so confused. He basibally knew the whole great apostacy and he said that after the lesson he just had this feeling that wanted him to learn more. It was one of those times when i knew that we weren't supposed to be there for OLGA but we were supposed to be right there for DOMINGO. I know that we are being led and guided to be at the right place at the right time here and it is the greatest feeling in the world.

 

Well all is well in maryland, i'm excited for this upcoming week and to keep on cranking it for our zone so they can keep up the good work. The BALTIMORE zone is the best and i'm excited to be here. I love you all so much and hope you have a great week! all my love

Elder Hammer

May 3rd

Hola a todos!!!!!

Well big news for this week....This week is transfers and i thought for sure that i was staying but i got the call and i am leaving this area. I was pretty bummed at first because i love this area so much and wanted to stay and i for surely did not see this coming. But then i got a call from President Belliston a few minutes ago asking me to be a Zone Leader! Ya i was for surely not expecting that one. I don't ever know what to expect and i always remember what nick told me before the mission about right when you get comfortable the lord is going to throw a curve ball at you, but i'm grateful for this opportunity to serve and this new opportunity that I have. So no more columbia branch. That's going to be hard i have gotten close to a lot of members who have been changing their lives around so this wont be an easy leave but i know the area is in good hands with Elder Pauda, he's a stud and he'll keep it going for sure.

This week has been a crazy week it started out nice and warm and then it got so hot and humid on saturday!!!! It got up to like 85 or 90 this weekend and it feels like you walk outside and your just wet ha it's crazy. It was pooring raining this morning and we walked outside and i started sweating because it was still so hot but ya MARYLAND IS BACK!

This past week we had one of the coolest experiences. This area has been a tough one and it seems that we have been working and working and not seeing a whole lot of success and it's been a trial of the faith for sure. We have been through lots of different investigators and hoping to find one that is truly sincere that is ready. Tuesday morning elder pauda and i were doing companionship study and we got a text message that was a media referral. Usually media referrals just want a free dvd and not much to do with the church so we called the guy "selvin hernandez" as soon as we got it. He not only answered but we set up an appointment for that day! We went there and come to find out he had talked to the missionaries in arizona and has only been in america for like a month. He was planning on staying in arizona, but now with that new law that was signed he came here (it's like a flock of geese!!! the hispanics are going north and there coming here from arizona) He listened to the first lesson and we invited him to be baptized and he was a little caught off guard but he said he would read and pray. We went back on saturday and he had already read to 1 nephi 20 from the beginning! It's unreal the mind this guy has he told us the whole story of nephi and his family and all of that it was pretty amazing. He really struggles with prophets and joseph smith. We have tried to tell him that we don't worship him but he still doesnt' understand but these things can worked out over time ha but man it was such an answer to our prayers to have someone be lead to us or we be lead to them. This has been one of the coolest experiences that we've had with a media referral on my mission. I am really excited for him and hope that elder pauda and his new comp will be able to keep that going with hima nd get him baptized.

Also this past week we got to finally get in touch with Melvin Carranza, he was flying under the radar for about a week wiht no contact ha but he's still doing good. We taught him on saturday and threw down on keeping the sabath day holy. At the end we committed him to live it and he got this look on his face like something was wrong. Well basically every sunday at every field in maryland there is soccer tournaments!!!! and everyone goes and he got invited to play for a team and said he had to go. So we said to him well it's your choic and he knew that he needed to be at church. Haha actually our branch has a team that plays on Saturdays so we told him about that but he played soccer on sunday instead of church so that was a bummer but we'll stay on him though.

Well with this upcoming sunday being mother's day i have to give a shout out to the most amazing mother in the world. I know for sure i wouldn't be where i am today if it wasn't for you mom!!! I am so grateful for you and your example to me and your example of what love is. Your endless packages and letters and your support have been so amazing and i just wanted to say thank you so much for everything mom!!!!

I hope you all have a wonderful week and i'll be excited to talk to all of you guys on sunday!!!!!! HOpefully by then i'll be an uncle haha i love you all so much and am so grateful for all you do for me. ALl my love
Elder Hammer

april 26th

Hello everyone!!!!!

Well back again and the weeks just keep getting faster and faster it's crazy i just hit 10 months i feel like i just got here and it only gets worse but i'm happy and we have had a pretty good week.Well the weather is rainy. Last night me and Elder Pauda were walking at about 7 30 and it had been cloudy all day but no rain but the darkest black clouds came over us and i looked at him and said we are done for about 5 minutes later we were soaked for head to toe haha it came down as hard as i've ever seen it in my life for about 3 straight hours, i thought we were going to be floating before we were going to wake up, lightning, thunder it was pretty sweet but no one lets you in when your soaked so that didn't make it too good, but oh well what can you do, we tried to make some fun out of it. We even tried hitchhiking but that didn't go over too well either haha. But it's been a good week and thanks for all the letters mom and dad and grandma hafen they were the best and thanks for the packages mom. i don't know who gets more excited to see packages me or elder pauda haha he's loving all this treatment, (just like every other one of my companions haha) Thank you so much mom!

Well this past monday we had a dinner scheduled with the Mora family and they had us over. When we got there brother mora had one of his friends there named Guillermo Caal from Guatamala, who used to listen to the missionaries but moved to texas for a year or so and now he is back and working with Brother Mora. So we got talking with him and he started to tell us more about talking with the missionaries and he was on date to be baptized!!! But his wife who lives in Guatamala said no that he couldn't get baptized and that he was going against her and would find some other lady in the church so it kind of turned into a bad situationa nd then he moved. Well when we were talkign with him he told us that he had asked his wife again about baptism before we had even talked with him and she said that she would give him an answer in two weeks. So there we are and he starts to tell us that he knows the Book of Mormon is true and Joseph Smith is a prophet of god and that he believes it's all true. So basically with him we are just waiting to see on his wife. He came to church yesterday and we are going over there to teach him with "la lamanita"haha brother mora. It was a much needed tender mercy from the lord but it's all on what his wife says i guess.

Last monday Karla called us and was just crying and wanted us to come over to her house on tuesday to talk with her, but she wouldn't tell us why she was crying. So here i am all day on monday and tuesday wondering what happened and hoping that she had the answer and wanted to get baptized ha but no it didn't work out quite that way. Basically her family is just coming down on her about this whole mormon stuff and they try to talk bad about the church and make fun of her and try to get her to drink and just all this crazy cruel stuff, but she just sat in front of us and cried telling us and she knows its true, it's just she has a loser boyfriend that needs to go ha sorry thats cruel to say but it's true, she leaves to church and then he tries to get back at her and says i'm leaving with my friends and just goes and drinks. It's a sad situation but i know it will all come around.

This past saturday in our branch we had a kids baptisms for two little girls in the branch and also a branch activity that was a picnic in a park where all the members come and play soccer and volleyball and food it is a big deal. So we invited Karla to see the baptism and then to just go to the picnic with us after. So we had the baptism and man there was like 50 people that came and we were just waiting on Karla and the two girls got baptized and i swear not more than two minutes after they got dunked she walks in the door and just had barely missed it! But she got to see the confirmation and then she came to the picnic which was just great! All the members were there playing soccer and of course not us haha it was tuff not to but it wasn't p day so we couldn't but it was great to talk to all the members and karla and brother more invited guillermo and two of his friends to come as well so we got to talk to everyone which is such a great missionary tool for hispanics- 1. Food 2. Soccer, i'm suprised we didn't have them all coming but no it really was great and i know that more than anything that karla loved it.Our branch has the greatest members who have such a godo time and have great testimonies but we just have seen that missionary work is just so distant for them so we hav ebeen trying really hard to get missionary work more in there minds. We've been inviting them to strengthen their faith and share there testimony with someone out side of the church just anythign to get their minds in the way of missionary work and were seeing a little bit of progress but we still have lots of work to do. But we'll get there.

This upcoming week is transfers and i think i'll be staying here but who knows what will happen? I would love to stay with ELDER pauda for one more transfer but that would be 3 and that doesn't happen to often. I don't think i've told too much about the pauda man but basically he's one of my favorite compaions. ALl i ask is for a comp who is obedient and wants to work and thats exactly what he is. at first he was wierd and i didn't understand him but he's opened up and basically he's just changed his life in a complet 180 degrees. I love the kid and he's hilarious and i hope we get one mroe together.

Well all is well and i'm happy and loving it. I hope all is well with you all. Jess good luck this week i hope all goes well and morgan is alright and healthy. Good luck too nick ahha your gonna need it. i lov eyou all so much. we're blessed so much. have a great week. much love

Elder Hammer

April 19th

Hola Familia!!!!!!

Hey everyone it's been a great week in Columbia and we are doing good!!! Spring is here for sure and this place is back to GREEN!!! I can't believe this place and how much it has changed in just like a month to these ugly dead trees and now there is just all kind of trees and blossoms and it's actually pretty cool. haha i'm not much of a flower or nature guy but i gotta say that it's pretty beautiful. There is so much polen in the air that every morning there is like a green dust film thing on all the cars and the people here are all sick and having crazy allergy things but i'm good and i like it ha. I got your package this week Jess and Nick thanks so much for the nice cards and for those sweet ties!!!!! Thanks so much for the birthday package i really really appreciate it and it was just what i needed! You guys are da bomb diggity! Man i'm one spoiled elder for sure with all the love i get from the fam, thank you all so much! and thanks mom for sending me those letters and thanks so much Big AL I mean President Archibald for the nice email and for all those nice comments. I really appreciate it and i hope you and Sister Archibald are loving it up there in Canada. I love you both like parents so thank you so much for the email. Thanks mom and dad for your letters they meant so much to me and really were such a boost for this week and really helped me out i love you both so much thanks. Jon Rog and Kylee now married ha congratulations guys i heard it was great but i just wanted to throw out a congrats!

Well yesterday at church we had a new less active lady come to church for the first time! It's such a cool story...so we were walking up the street the other day and kind of in a rough neighborhood not too bad though and this van drives past us and were walking and all of the sudden who ever was driving at about 15 mph just shoves the car in park and it made that crazy grinding gears sound and i look over and i'm like well this can either go one way- someone gets out shoots us and takes our money or the other way- someone really really wants to talk to us....well luckily mother it was the second one and someone really wanted to talk to us haha. This young lady looks at us and just says please tell me you speak spanish in some broken english and i got a big grin and yes yes we do. She was baptized in 1993 in hondurus and for 2 years she has been here and not known where the church was or anything but she knew who we were thats for sure, we gave her the address and she cam ethis past sunday and it was great. After one of the counselors in the mission presidency was there and asked me to introduce her to him so they started talking and come to find out she had been praying earlier that morning to God to help her find her way and to find peace. Later that day she saw us walking and Xochil Aguilar (thats her name) just started crying, man it was such a sweet experience. I know she felt the spirit and as we were singing the closing hymn a tear ran down her cheek and she was singing because i have been given much. It was such a cool experience that i will never ever forget that. She wants us to come visit her this week and she has a 2 year old boy who is just a goof ball that is the cutest little guy ha.

This past week i went on an exchange with elder heywood in our district and we got a call from one of his members asking us to come and give a blessing to her sister in the hospital. We show up and call her and turns our her sister was 6 months pregnant and was visiting here from NEW MEXICO and her husband wasn't there. she went into labor and a had her baby 2 lbs. 8 oz. and still hadn't seen it yet and she was a mess but we were able to give a blessing to her and it was a cool experience to be there and be called on. I was thinking about JEss the whole time being like man this is her anyday haha i'm so excited to be an uncle and come to email and see all the pictures.haha

Melvin Carranza...man we had a lesson wiht him on saturday and found out that he is going to be returning back to Hondurus sometime in may to visit his mom who is really sick and now the baptism thing is kind of in limbo. He says he wants to do it when he comes back but he's not coming back for two months and man i just feel like so much can happen in that time. But then we also found out that he has a girlfriend back there that he wants to bring back and get married here by our branch president so i dunno about all this situation. We would love to have him baptized before so that when he goes back to Hondurus that he wont do anything bad wiht his girlfriend but he also is saying that he wants his wife to come back too and get baptized and all that ha it's a roller coaster out here thats for sure. That's just about how the story of the week went, one day we'd be teaching the next day dead ha one day were at church having a great experience with Herman Aguilar and the next were listening to our investigator bail on the baptismal date but it's all in a days work as a missionary and i love it.

I really am gaining a testimony of sacrifice and during those hard times to keep the faith strong. This week was a tuff one but we can't lose the faith out here and we can't lose it in life. It is hard though that is for sure we teach the principle of faith so much and how simple it may seem in our lives but yet how hard it is to live that principle and i see that  a lot with our investigators as well. God loves us and he'll be with us if we just keep having faith and keep on going. I thought alot about your quote dad that i've heard since i was born....suck it up, or quit and quiting isn't an option. it's been on my mind a lot but i know that there are people here that are truly ready and we will find them!

I love you all so much thanks for your love and prayers and i hope you all have a great week. All is well and i hope you all are doing well. Congrats on the baby ashley and matt! i love you all CoN AMOR

ELDER HAMMER

april 12th

Hola!!!!!!!!

Come estan? Well it's been a good week in Maryland and the weather is great! We just got done playing some ultimate frisbee as a zone and it's been hot weather and it's been great. I'm remembering what it feels like to sweat and get sunburned, it's great. Thanks for the letters and packages this week everyone, Grandma and Grandpa Hammer i got your birthday card last monday right after i got done emailing, Thank you so much for that nice card and for the 20$ i really appreciate it! I hope Bell and Jess had some great birthdays and i hear the masters was a classic ha i was dying out here when people would start talking about it but there will be more when i get home. This past saturday there was a huge soccer game against Barcelona and Madrid where pretty much the latino world just shut down haha we were invited in many times by trying to teach a lesson when there is a soccer game going on never is a good idea ha. But it's been a really good week though and we are seeing the blessings coming.

This past week we had a really great zone conference and i loved it. As always president belliston is just the man and always just lays it down on us (in a good way) and you leave there all fired up it's the best. They had one of their kids move out here because he's working at John's Hopkins and they just had a baby that's not doing too good and has been in the ICU for like 25 days. Sister Belliston talked about something i really loved. She had a box of crayons and said what's your favorite color and talked about how her favorite color is yellow and she has a grandson who is 3 that has the same favortie color and he wont let anyone else have that same one so when she's with him hers is green or as he says it gween ha but she talked about how in life we don't always get dealt our favorite color and sometimes there isn't much we can do about it. She talked about her grandchild and the pain that he has went through and then also talked about her child who died at 5 to Leukimia. As i sat there and listened i think that was my favorite part of the conference was her talk about not always getting the things we want or gettting Dealt our favorite color but that we have got to find a new one sometimes and go on. It was a great zone conference though and our district had a really good week this past week so i know that's always something good that gets everyone fired up.

We had Karla Monroy at church yesterday which was so sweet and it was branch conference. It was a really good meeting and one of the high councilman spoke spanish on his mission and gave a talk about the work of missionary and it was powerful and gave some good stories from his mission and from his dad as well and Karla was just blown away by it and was saying to me after "he spoke with something that not many people speak with" so that was a really cool experience for her to have. She's doing good and we have a great member fellowshipping her and were probably going to go to the temple with her this weekend with that member and have the Sister Missionaries throw it down on her about eternal marriage and see if that sparks something. She knows it's true and knows all of it just she isn't married. Ha marriage has been quite the problem for us lately. This past week we had a lesson with Elder Duarte and basically just threw down the hammer (no pun intended) on baptism and that's why we are here in this earth to follow the example of Jesus Christ and we set a date with him for May 15th and he said yes, then he said well i've got a long ways to go though and we were like ya but it's all ok we'll help you get prepared and it was something else. He went on to tell us that he's been married to a lady for 7 years and has a 6 year old son and they are in Guatamala and he hasn't seen them for 4 or 5 years and now he's with another woman. It always suprises me that we don't usually have to teach about the law of chastity but that usually they bring it up because they know how important that is. So that is going to be a big stumbling block for him to try and figure out but if he's the elect and ready and really wants this in his life then he'll do what he needs to do to be baptized. The great marriage problem is something else, especially here cause so many many leave there families and wives and children to come work and most of the time don't go back, so we'll just keep praying for the miracles to happen and see where we can go with Elder.

This past week we got a call at about 9 45 and it was from Melvin Carranza and he called me in kind of a panic and could not figure out what the INDEX was in the Book of Mormon ha he finished it and turned the page and saw more and just couldn't finure out what it was supposed to be ha so we did some explaining and got all that taken care of. Then as i was sitting there in the car i invited him to open up the Book of Mormon and read moroni 10 3-5 with us and he did it, and then we invited him to pray after we hung up. So obviously i was way happy he had read the whole Book of Mormon and the next day we were going to visit him but i had exchanges so it was just ELder Pauda up there. When we met back up ELder Pauda came up to me with a big smile and said MAY 1ST and i didn't really understand what and Elder Pauda put him on date to be baptized for may 1st! I wasn't there so i dont' know how it went exactly but elder pauda told me that he said alright so now that you know that the book of mormon is true what is your next step and Melvin said i need to be baptized. It's so exciting to hear that and we are excited to put two people on date this past week and to really see the Lord blessing us. We've been working hard and not always seeing the fruits of the labor but it's really paying off and the Lord is watching out for us. We have a lot of work to do with the both of them to get them ready but we know we can help them but more than anything they have a lot of work to do so we'll keep praying and see what happens but it's been a great week!

Well that's about it for this week. I hope all of you are having a blast in life and enjoying it all. I really am seeing just how great this experience called life is especially as a missionary for these past 9 months. We are a blessed people to have what we have in life and the gospel is the ONLY thing that can bring happiness and make change. I was talking to our 2nd counselor in the branch presidency and he was talking about his sons eagle project and how he wanted him to help the community and he told me " ya the project may be good but it wont change much, the only thing that will change people or environment or circumstances is the Gospel" and that is so true. I love you all and i wish the best of luck to all of you in school, work, internships, and just life. I love you all thanks for your love and support our here i really am grateful for the people that the lord has blessed me to be around in my life!!!!
Adios
Elder Hammer