April 28, 2014 With a song in your heart move forward, living the gospel, loving the Lord, and building the kingdom.

April 28, 2014
With a song in your heart move forward, living the gospel, loving the Lord, and building the kingdom.
Feliz Cumpleanos: My Beautiful Aunt Lisa, My Cool Cousin Elder Weekes!

Mi Hermosa Familia!

Jared! 4th place in the spelling bee and Jacob in the championships for tennis!? Brielle and Brooke winning both games!! I have one AWESOME familia! 

Well, it's been quite the week! I am going to switch it up today
because we have a Zone activity and I can't write a long letter! But
all is well because most of the days this week were pretty similar!
This week we did A LOT of finding... Haha trying to find people
again:) we did it Monday, and  Tuesday, Wednesday, Jueves, and
Viernes. BUT we did have some cool stories! Let me tell you!

On Miercoles we had a cita con la Hermana Cruz. She's usually one to
feed us so much, like bowls to serve 8 people much, but all for one of
us. This time she fed us with normal size bowls! That's the besides
the point, when we were at her house she started talking to us about
flowers and she is just so cute! She was like, ay Hermanas! When I see
the little flowers starting to bloom I literally start crying because
I think it's amazing! Ah aren't flowers just the prettiest things
ever?! She went on this subject for like 20 minutes. She is the cutest
thing ever in the world, I just love that woman.

After her cita we went to the church because the Elders were teaching
the BoM class! It was AWESOME! We all acted out the story of Nefi and
Laban, and they LOVED IT. I was Nefi... Yep it was so fun! Literally
there was no one in our branch who knew the story, but they learned SO
much and loved it!

On Friday the Young Women were having an activity and Sister Ganes
invited the missionaries to go! (Our Young Women are with the English
ward because our branch doesn't have enough people to have Primary or
Young men's or Women's.) Our young Women struggle right now. Almost
all of them, so we were really excited for this activity and we got to
Sister Ganes home and we waited but NONE of the girls showed up. It
was the saddest thing ever! One cute young woman showed up from the
English Ward, but that was it. We were going to have fun games though,
to try to get our young women to be friends!

After this, we stopped by a Young Woman's house in the branch. She is
only 12 years old and her mother is in jail right now because of child
abuse. This Young Woman takes care of her tiny 3 year old sister
everyday. Her father is one of the strongest members in the branch.
We took all the Easter candy we had and stopped by to give it to them.
They live in the most humble home. She is the sweetest girl ever! Pray
for her! Her mom is probably getting deported because she has no
papers. Please pray for the Garcia family!

On Saturday we were about to go try to find more people when we saw a
yard sale. And what did it have? Well, it had Mexicans and bikes. So
we pulled over really fast and got out... And I am proud to say that
we bargained IN SPANISH for $20 bikes! Thats right family! It was SO
AWESOME! We are both SO EXCITED! Woodstock got turned into a bike area
BAM! So, our plan is, we are going to load the bikes in the car
(wherever we are at that day) and go find people using bikes! Saving
miles and gas! It's SO legit! I am pumped! Right now our bikes are in
our living room with our beds because our apartment is so small...it's
the coolest thing ever...

On Sunday we had stake conference! Elder Sitati from the 70 came! He
was SO awesome! He's from Kenya Africa and he is SO inspired! We all
learned SO many things. He spoke about how He is a disciple of Christ
and how we can be too. It was really cool having him there. My
favorite thing he said was, "brother and sisters it's probably the
first time you've had a black man up here conducting the meeting..."
Haha! It was true for me! But nonetheless he spoke with power! We have
50 missionaries in this stake alone! It's insane! I love having this
many missionaries, I don't know how they did it before, but it really is
awesome!

On Sunday we went and tried to find more people in Hebron! Well, we
found this really cool man named Jose! He wasn't too interested but he
showed us where a family of Mexicans lived. So we tried them! The
father wasn't too nice and open but he told us we could go inside and
talk to his wife, so we did:) we had an awesome first lesson! She knew
a lot about the bible! And the spirit was definitely there when we
testified of Joseph Smith. There is A TON of people that live in that
house! More people to baptize right! We both were on a spiritual high
after that lesson! We had finally found someone to teach! It was
awesome!

Well this was my week! I learned a lot and we worked a lot!
I did read the COOLEST story on Sunday in the bible. About Elijah and
the Prophets of Baal.
It is about the Prophet Elijah and he proves to the people that he is
the Prophet. He tells the people to have their Gods, the Gods of Baal,
try burn their alter to the ground and obviously it didn't work.
Elijah then makes his own alter and digs a trench around the alter
and has the people pour 4 buckets of water, three times over his
alter, filling the trench and covering it with water.  He then prays
to God and his alter bursts into flames. The scriptures read in verse
38, "Then the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice,
and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water
that was in the trench. 39 And when all the people saw it, they fell
on their faces: and they said, The Lord, he is the God; the Lord, he
is the God." Elijah then has all of the "prophets of Baal" killed.
WHOA!
There are many things that can be learned in this story and how it
applies to us, the main thing I learned that when God chooses his
prophet we better follow him! I remember in the CCM we watched a talk
given by Jeffrey R. Holland which he said, "If you don't know the
words of the prophets, it's the same as not believing them."
Do we know the words of our prophets now?  Are we reading Preach my
Gospel and reviewing talks from conference? These are ALL words and
scripture the prophets are giving us today! I know I need to do better
in knowing the words of the prophets.

This is what I studied and learned this week! I know that God is all
powerful! I know that we have power to do all things through Christ. I
hope you all know how much God loves you all my family! I feel his
love for each of you everyday. Thank you for your prayers on my
behalf. They have been felt very strong this week. I love you!

Here's a quote I found also it's so powerful! It's so good!
"I invite every one of you, wherever you may be as members of this
church, to stand on your feet and with a song in your heart move
forward, living the gospel, loving the Lord, and building the kingdom.
Together we shall stay the course and keep the faith, the Almighty
being our strength." Gordon B Hinckley


For another great week!
All of me loves all of you all!
Love tons,
Hermana Hammond

                                                      This is my companion we speak Anime!!!

                                                     I am Nefi!!!

                                                     Chopping off the head of Laban!

                                               

                                                         Our failed Young Women activity!

Trying to have fun at the activity!

Trying to fit our bikes in!

Woodstock Wookies!!!!

April 21, 2014 Feliz Pascuas

April 21, 2014 Felizes Pascuas!
Feliz Cumpleanos: My Cousin Ronnie, Uncle Gary David, My cousins Alexis and Lacey!!!

Mi hermosa familia!
 Thank you mamma and family for the package! And I
also got a note from the Easter Bunny! It's in my journal, thank you
grandma for the cute Package! And thank you DeAnne, for the package!
It's made my WHOLE DAY! I love you all!

Wow! Exciting week it has been! Whoa... Where to start... Well, you
know the drill with Martes!

Martes-- TRASLADOS! I am now companions with Hermana Woolf. I am very
lucky to get companions who all work hard! Well, after getting back to
Woodstock which takes quite some time, we live quite far up here, we
have a little companion study and then literally for the whole day we
went finding. Let me explain-- we are going through our PNI (Potential
new investigators) list because missionaries put down hundreds of
people they find and then NEVER go back. So we are going down
alphabetically and starting from each city to find each of these
people to see if they are the elect to hear the gospel. This is mostly
what we have been doing this week. Knocking on doors and knocking
doors and trying to find these people that have recorded names,
addresses, and numbers for. We sadly didn't find any body, but hey,
one step closer to the elect people! Kinda funny story, so confession
to all who are reading this, I am officially diagnosed with "Night
blindness." Thank you, I know I am already an old lady, so in the
night time I made my poor new companion drive. Haha pobrecita.
Bienvenido a Woodstock Hermana Woolf!

Miercoles-- We had district meeting and then this day was SO crazy. We
got a call from Rosanley and she had called us 7 times on Lunes but we
had NO time to go over or to even call her back, so finally we called
her back and she told us that she needed help moving, and she was mad
we didn't help her on Lunes, so to gain back her trust we went right
away and brought the English Sisters to help them move. Well, one of
the English sisters, (Sister Trujillo) speaks Spanish perfectly
because her parents are from Mexico, well, LONG story short--we helped
Rosanley ALL day for 6 hours from translating (which we were really
inspired to bring  sister Trujillo because we don't know the words for
buying leasing contracts and blah blah blah...) to cooking, to letting
her tell us her ENTIRE story of why she was offended at church a year
ago... To muchas otras cosas. Well, long story short, we helped
Rosanley ALL day and then we went straight to the church because it
was our turn to teach the Book of Mormon class. It was SO fun!

 I love the Book of Mormon! Most members have a hard time reading the Book of
Mormon because they aren't too educated, so we spent probably 30
minutes on the first verse of the Book of Mormon and they learned SO
much! We started out with, how much we can learn and apply by the
example set by the parents of Nefi. It was really cool. I love the
Book of Mormon! These members WILL love the Book of Mormon and they
WILL know the stories one day!

Jueves- We had a good day! But for some reason, I am really bad at
writing in my journal on Thursdays and I don't remember. We did do
weekly planning! It was great! Oh! I did get my night glasses, I can
see at night now! Horray for Benjamin Franklin!

Viernes- We had SO much fun this day! We did service in the library
again! We built an ENTIRE department. It was so fun! There's this huge
board in the library that says ,"This department was built by....The
Missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints." It's
pretty awesome. The Woodstock library is AWESOME it's the coolest
library ever and TONS of people go everyday! It's really cool!
Confession, I saw every book that I ever read.. I won't lie, it was
kinda hard not to read them... It kinda hurt a little:) but I love my
mission! Then, we taught Barbara y Aaron y Kelvin y Joshuel about la
Pascua. And we showed the video Because of Him. That video is SO
powerful! The church is true. Then for the rest of the night we did
some more finding. We didn't find the elect, but still we are one step
closer!

Sabado- We went and cleaned the church! It's so fun, I seriously love
to serve. It's the best.. I love it...(That was for Jacob) then for
the rest of the day we went finding. No success yet, but we are
trying. We are dropping the people that aren't ready yet, and still
looking for the ones who are. It's worth fighting for the sons and
daughters of God.

Domingo- It was a great day today! We had church, and it was a
wonderful Sunday morning. In church we sang himnos about Easter.
Easter has never been so good. It's seriously the best as a
missionary. I can't describe it. After church we went to Hermana
Monges home because we heard she was feeling down and needed some
comfort, and so that's where we went. Hermana Monge let us right in of
course and sat us down at the table and put a bowl of Menudo in front
of our faces. What is Menudo you ask? It's the food that every
missionary dreads to try, it's the lining of a cow stomach. That is
Menudo. And yes I ate every bite. And yes it was horrible. I will say
both Hermana Woolf and I almost threw up while eating it. After, we
did her dishes and cleaned her kitchen and shared a message. I love
this woman so much, oh my goodness, I would eat Menudo every day to be
with Hermana Monge. I will say, both Hermana Woolf and I still have a
tummy ache, haha. That was our adventure on Sunday! Happy Easter
dinner for us!

This week I have learned a lot of new things, like every week. This
week as I have said we have tried to do a lot of finding, meaning we
hardly got any teaching in. It was a lot of work, and it's not the
funnest thing in the world to be dropped house after house after
house; but I do know that it's worth it! We need to find the people
who The Lord is preparing. It's also an interesting thing being with a
new companion because you have to relearn how to teach because
everyone teaches differently. Its really hard,  because you get so
used to your companion and how they teach and talk, and then to
totally switch, it's quite an adventure. I also have learned a lot of
patience already. With each new companion I have learned so much, and
now I am learning even more new things! The Lord must want me to learn
patience:)

Also, I have learned so much about my Savior this week. We have really
focused on the new video that the church has asked us to share,
Because of Him. It's all about because He lives, we can live. It's
about new beginnings and clean slates, and it's really powerful.
Because it was Easter, for my bible story I thought it was the perfect
time to read the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. I read it in
Luke and John. It was so powerful. I learned that LITERALLY when
Christ was on the cross he drank vinegar completing the atonement and
drinking the bitter cup. (Dad explain) I read and felt that after
Christ died, he rose from the dead. He really does live! He really
does take away our pain when we are having a hard time, he really does
help us feel comforted when we feel alone, and he really did make it
possible for us to return back to Heavenly Father. I am so grateful
for my Savior, I testify of Him every lesson I am in. I love Him, and
that is why I am here, serving His mission; so that I can bring all of
my brothers and sisters back home. Bringing them closer to their
Savior Jesus Christ. I love it.

I hope we have strived to do a little better this week. I hope we have
read Preach my Gospel. I hope that we are doing missionary work,
whether that's for the living or for the dead. I love you all my
family. For another week in Woodstock! For another week full of food!
For another week to bring the souls of the children of God closer to
Christ!

All of me loves all of you all!
Love,
Hermana Hammond
                                                    This is Menudo - Cow stomach

                                                This is us at the Library!

                                                     This is the adorable Hermana Monge

                                         This is the cute Hermana Monge & us eating the Menudo!

April 14, 2014 Only be strong and very courageous

April 14, 2014  Only be strong and very courageous!
Mi Familia! 
Dads a stake president! Dad, you are so cool!
Feliz Cumpleanos: Matt, Ali, & my cute little cousin Sofia!!

Let me start from the beginning!

Martes- So, we got a call on Lunes from this lady, and she just told
us, "come to my house tomorrow, here is where I live, come at 10 a.m.
I have been to your church, da da da da ..." So we go, and I am kinda
nervous because that NEVER happens. So, we go in and we knock and this
lady opens and let's us in like we have been teaching her for years
and after  5 minutes I finally asked, "lo sentimos, pero como se
llama?" And she was like, "Rosanely, pero las personas me llaman Nely,
siempre." And then Hermana Michael and I just died. So, rewind, a
little bit of back story with this woman and her family.  Rosanely is
a former investigator. She has probably 5 or 6 pages long for a
teaching record. She even got married in the church one year ago and
then a week before her baptism got offended and didn't get baptized. She
is quite the person to deal with let me tell you. So, now fast
forward. She said to us, I am Rosanely. Hermana Michael and I stood
frozen, there are stories and stories about this woman, and I have
also read her teaching record a lot of times, and well, I was scared
stiff! So then after two seconds of  horrified faces we got our act
together and well, now we are teaching Nely Diaz and her family. Here
we go!
Then we taught a lesson to Kelvin and Joshuel and Jamie. Jamie is a
new investigator we have. He is awesome! His family is living with the
Colons (Barbara and Aaron, who can't get baptized yet because they
aren't married because she is still married in Puerto Rico, who's sons
are Kelvin and Joshuel who are baptized...this is the Colon family)
Well, Jamie loves the Book of Mormon! It is SO cool to teach children
because they have incredible faith. They know who their Savior is, and
it really is one of the most humbling things I have ever experienced.

Miercoles- We had district meeting! I love district meetings so much!
Our district out here is kind of like a family because we all go
through the same things and we are just missionaries doing the same
hard work! I loved it! Well, This night was the first night of our
Book if Mormon class. It was awesome! We had three people show up! I
was so happy! We thought only one was going to show up! The elders
taught the class. I realized that this branch really does not know the
Book of Mormon. The class was simple, on where did the Book of Mormon
come from, and these people learned SO much. Our branch really doesn't
know hardly anything about the Book of Mormon. As the elders started
talking about where the Book of Mormon came from and where each book
came from I could start to see our members faces start to lighten. The
Book of Mormon is truly evidence of this restored Gospel. It really is
the way the spirit can convert and change the people who read it. It
is powerful. This is what I wrote from my journal about the Book of
Mormon class, "... it's interesting to see, how much you want people
to know what you know about the gospel.." I love it.

Jueves-
Well, I didn't write anything in my journal and I don't remember, but
it was a probably a great day!

Viernes- As you have all probably noticed my mission has been one of
not too much teaching, and that's okay, so what do we do?? We serve!
We serve a lot, so for this week we volunteered at the library for a
big Easter thing. We literally did like manual work, it was like a
work out. From moving pounds and pounds of books, to moving furniture,
to hiding Easter eggs, putting up posters, cleaning, dusting, and
everything in between. All of the librarians just love us, and
honestly if the only thing that comes out of it is that the Mormon
missionaries serve a lot, then I'll be happy with that:) we are going
back to the library this Friday! It's seriously so fun!

Sabado- Every Sabado we help clean la capilla. We do it as service,
and usually it's just us, the Sisters for the English Ward and then a
brother from the English ward, whose calling is church clean up guy.
Usually not too many people come on their assigned days, so we always
go. We love to serve!
We had another lesson with Kelvin and Joshuel on the Palabra de
sabiduría. We felt like they needed this lesson and so we taught it.
We made this really cute puzzle for an object lesson. We also learned
that Joshuel doesn't eat anything besides pan y queso, and chicken
nuggets, and that's literally it. They loved it and they both were
 "wow, it's a commandment to eat fruits and vegetables and to
run? Man, our bodies must be special to God!" It was so inspiring to
see their desire and faith to keep this law to a higher degree then
just no coffee or tea. I have learned so much about the Word of Wisdom
on my mission well. It's not just the don'ts, but it's the do's. Such
as, eating healthy, not over eating, and exercise. It's incredible,
God made our bodies and he knows best how we should take care of them!
So cool!
We also got transfer calls this day... Hermana Michael is leaving
Woodstock! She had been here her whole entire mission. I am so
grateful to my companion, she really has taught me so many things. I
love her! My new companion will be Hermana Wolf! She, like Hermana
Michael, came out THE SAME TIME AS ME, we were in the CCM together!
Sadly I didn't even know her because we were on different schedules.
So, we will see! Hope her Spanish is better than mine!

Domingo- well, we had a great time at church. I led the music (like
every time) and church was great. After every fast sunday the branch
ALWAYS brings a ton of food. So, we always eat really well after fast
Sundays, and during this time Hermana Michael had to say goodbye. It
seriously is the worst thing ever. Pobrecita. She is going down to a
ward in the suburbs in Chicago! An actual ward! Super cool!

Well, as you can see it's been a great week with a lot of new things
learned. I will be honest and say that I am so nervous for my new
companion, but I know that The Lord assigns the call and he must need
me to be humbled and to learn even more. I have learned why people say
that Woodstock is the hardest area in the mission. Honestly, every
area is hard. This week I was a little down because it hit me that
this area is particularly hard because this branch has a lot of
problems, and a lot of drama. Some people here don't have too much
motivation to change to say the least. So, as I was praying and
repenting for judging our branch members I realized that once again I
needed to pray for more charity and love. The next  morning the song
popped into my head, "Love the people let them know you care..." By
Dad Hammond. Haha:) once again I need to have more love and charity
because when we lose ourselves in the work, that's where we find
ourselves.

I was also reading in the scriptures on Sunday and I prayed to
open to a scripture that would help me. It is a scary thing taking
over an area, I have no idea what I am doing, and I still get lost.
So, relying on faith I opened my bible and started reading. I opened
to Joshua and my eyes went straight to this verse, "...as I was with
Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake
thee...Only be thou strong and very courageous..." (Joshua 1:5-7)
This story is right when the prophet Moses dies and Joshua becomes the
next prophet. I would think that that would be very intimidating, but
God gives him a promise that he will be with him always. My prayer is
that I can be worthy enough so that He can be with me through these
next couple of weeks while I try to better this area with all my
heart, might, mind, and strength. After Joshua starting teaching the
people, they listened. Now, it is my turn to go courageously and work
in The Lords vineyard, and maybe the people will listen to me as they
did Joshua. But if not, I will still work with all my heart, might,
mind and strength in building this part of Gods kingdom.

Now follow up- I hope you are all still reading Preach my Gospel as a
family and praying for those missionary moments. I hope that we are
following our prophet and doing a little better than we have in the
past. I hope that we are reading our scriptures everyday, that is what
we challenge our members here. Finally, I hope that we will go forth
boldly, nobly and courageously so that we can touch lives and change
people.

I love you my family! I have to go! Until next week,
I love you all so much, thank you for your very many prayers, I feel
each one of them. All of me loves all of you all!

Love, Hermana Hammond

April 7, 2014 "But if not..."

April 7, 2014
Feliz Cumpleanos: My beautiful cousin Lori, My Amazing Uncle Den!

Mi querida familia
Well, wasn't conference the best thing on the planet! Conference is
seriously like Christmas... But really. It was awesome!

This week, was another interesting one. I am going to sum up
Miercoles-Domingo because these days we didn't have a car. (And still
don't have a car..) Our area is so big that it's almost impossible to
get work done and not have a car. We went with the English sisters and
got rides from them, (I will say we got a little taste of the English
program... We got to go to a five star restaurant... I wanted my
tortillas) we also did lots of service, and this week we had general
conference! So, I am going to share a story that happened to us this
week.

On Sunday we decided to go knocking because it was actually warm
outside. Entonces, we went knocking in our own apartment complex. Our
apartment complex is huge, like a mile long fitting all the building.
Ours is at the very end, because it's the cheapest of the buildings,
and has the strong scent of marijuana and drugs when we walk in every
single day. Home sweet home. That's beside the point, we walked to
the middleish of our apartment complex and just started knocking.
After rejection and some PNI's we found this man from El Salvador. Se
llama Ernesto. He just barely got here from El Salvador. And I want to
say that El Salvadorians are the fastest Latino speakers. They speak
so fast. When he started speaking to us I could barely understand him,
but he was AWESOME! We taught the restoration in 10 min and then asked
him to read and pray about el Libro de Mormon. He accepted. Oh, also
because we didn't have another woman with us we taught him in the hall
of his apartment. Awesome. Then we asked him to pray, and he did. It
was the most sincere interesting and dramatic prayer we both had ever
heard. I felt as though I was in a Spanish/black person Born-Again
Christian sermon. Let me tell ya, he prayed for Hermana Michael and I,
our pets, our moms and dads, our brothers and our sisters, our
safety.... That he was grateful for JeSUS de NAZARET (I capitalize
because he emphasized/yelled these parts in the halls) He prayed
saying he was, grateful for FE. (When he yelled that one we both
jumped). Ah, one day I'll reenact it, it was awesome. Well, I'll just
say that we got one new interesting investigator!

Well, other than that, we had a zone meeting on Miercoles and we
taught a section of it, that went good, and of course General
Conference!

I learned so much this week. I felt the cry of repentance from our
prophets and apostles this conference, about how we can do better,
love more, and defend our religion!
As in preparation for conference I read a bible story in Daniel about
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. In this story we learn of three
really courageous young men who defended their God and were thrown
into a scalding hot fiery furnace. The three young men quickly and
confidently respond to the king saying, "If it be so [if you cast us
into the furnace], our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from
the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand."
"But if not, ... we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden
image which thou hast set up." That is a statement of true faith.
Something I have learned on my mission and want to highlight in this
story is the part where they say, "But if not.." This simple phrase is
faith. I have learned that it's not enough to just have faith that God
can deliver us from persecution, loneliness, sickness, depression, and
sadness. But, it is faith to say, I know our God is able to deliver
us, but if not, we will trust in him and have faith in Jesus Christ
and doing ALL we can to follow Him. Are we willing to stand up to what
we know to be true no matter the consequence? Are we willing to say,
but if not... I will trust in The Lord? Are we willing to stand for
Jesus Christ, if or if not, God delivers us from the fiery furnace? My
prayer is that we will say yes, without a moments hesitation.

On Saturday the theme of conference for me was defending our
religion. I loved Jeffery R. Hollands and many others talks about
defending this religion. Elder Holland said something like,"Defend
your beliefs with compassion and curtesy, BUT DEFEND THEM." May we be
as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego and defend our beliefs with faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ. I know that as we put forth our faith and
defend for what's right we will be blessed. Whether we are like
Shadrach, Meshach, and Aneb-nego who were delivered miraculously , or,
if we are like Abinadi who died courageously, it matters only if we
are faithful and true to Jesus Christ our Savior.

Also family I hope your going to take the challenge of M. Russell
Ballard (who's talk was AWESOME) and read Preach my Gospel. I read it
everyday as a missionary and I know it's inspired. It really is more
scripture for us to follow. I challenge you to start from the
beginning and read a little bit each day. I know it is also the word
of God that we have, written by prophets in these days.

For another great week in Woodstock!
All of me loves all of you all!
Con amor,
Hermana Hammond

                                          We Love The Gospel!!! 

 

 

April 1, 2014 Reflect! Tiny Miracles

April 1, 2014 Mi familia Amorosa,

Hola mi familia! It's been quite an interesting week. Also a great one
too. Full of tiny miracles, miracles really do happen! Everyday!

Martes- happy birthday to Jacob- We ate a ton a ton a ton of food. But
I am grateful to members for it. This branch really struggles because
there is a ton of drama and a ton of less-actives, so when we get into
members homes it's really good. I have also learned how important
reading the Book of Mormon is in the family, because not only does it
transfer through your family, and extended family, but it transfers to
your ward. There is a handful of people in our branch who read the
Book of Mormon daily, so that is what we are pushing. 15 minutes a day
alone AND as a family. Our branch REALLY suffers, and we also decided
that instead of an English class, we are going to have seminary
classes of just the Book of Mormon every week, starting this next
week. The parents are already at the church because the kids go to
mutual or they wanna talk to the presidente, so we think it's going to
really help the ward members get familiar to the Book of Mormon. Most
of our members haven't read it even once. So, this is what we are
REALLY trying to hit hard, please pray that they will read the Book of
Mormon!
Anyways, this day we had an eating apt with Hna Calix. She is so cute,
we are also teaching our members how to teach the restoration in three
minutes so they can share it with their friends! So, 15 minutes a day
of Book of Mormon, and be a missionary! We are dreaming big, but we
have faith! Maybe this little branch can blossom into an actual ward
family! That's our prayer! Then we had Hna Cruz.... She fed us a ton.
Serving size bowls (like bigger than a basketball size bowl) of soup.
And she fed us two servings, (plus add the tortillas, crema y
fresas... Y ensalada) but she wasn't offended.. and she gave us one of
her friends to teach. And then... We had to drive to Harvard to go to
Hna Soris home. She's so cute! I want you all to meet her! I love
their family! She makes the best food, we were literally praying we
could get all of the food down, and somehow we did it. The next day,
we had to go get ex-lax... I don't wanna talk about it..

So, I am just going to sum up Miercoles, Jueves, Viernes, Sabado and
Domingo.... Because why? Because literally all we did was area book all
week. Let me just explain what we do when we "do area book." So what
we do is we transfer all of the paper records of people into the
iPads. Meaning, we put in names, information, every lesson taught,
dates, commitments (meaning every commitment made, not made,
when..etc.) what they said, don't forget some of the missionaries have bad
handwriting and bad Spanish, ... AND we have to translate them from
Spanish to English. Oh, and I can't forget PNIs (potential
investigators) We have spent an hour a day (which is what we were
supposed to do) everyday, but the Brethren from Salt Lake told every
mission they want the area book done by this Domingo. So, what did we
do? We most definitely sat in the McDonald's parking lot using Siri
doing area book for hours. Do we know all the regulars at McDonalds?
Yes we do. Do we know Debbie the drive through lady who gives out ice
cream? Yes, we do. Did we invite Debbie to church. Yes, yes we did. On
sunday night at 8:47 we finished area book. It was the happiest thing
on the planet. We have the biggest area book in the mission, it was
the best thing when we finished. This was actually really hard for me
because I would WAY rather be finding, teaching, serving,
reactivating... Etc. I had to realize that this is my mission, that it
still was a form of work. Even though it was so incredibly hard.
Hermana Michael and I had to realize that this was still a form of
missionary work, even though it didn't seem like it. We did make up a
few songs during this process, that helped a little:)

I am going to share little miracles that happened this week, basically
for me, because I need to realize my blessings this week because I am
so blessed out here! It's just sometimes hard to see them. So, if
anything this part is for me:)

First- Arik got deported to Mexico officially, BUT he contacted US on
Facebook! We totally had a lesson with him! It was awesome! He still
had his El Libro de Mormon! He had it with him the whole time while he
was in jail! Awesome.
Second- we got to go to the women's conference! It was so great! I saw
Teri and everyone! I was so happy! I loved it. I loved the whole
thing. There has been a lot of crazy stuff on Facebook that I've seen
with women wanting the Priesthood. Then seeing the women's conference
I was just like, ah our church is the best. I loved when sister
Oscarson said,"there is no age barrier for Christ-like service." And
it's so true!
Third- members! They are feeding us! In between our Area Book, we had
eating citas. I am really trying to love all of the food we are getting,
haven't gotten there yet. But, I do love the people. Oh, I love the
people! The Latinos are blessed with faith! Their faith builds my
faith! I love it.
Fourth- well, because we got in a crash we had to turn in our car
yesterday. We got to walk! 2 miles to our cita with the familia Gomez!
I LOVED it! It was 65 degrees! Ah! I was so happy! I know it's a tiny
miracle, but I just am so grateful to be walking! Seriously a miracle!
Fifth- I finished my Book of Mormon challenge! I marked every verse in
the Book of Mormon that referred to Christ and the Atonement. It was
amazing! On my mission I have learned so much about the atonement. I
can't even explain. Honestly, I never have learned so much about my
Savior and the atonement until I came on my mission. It really is
central to everything. In every lesson I have had we have testified of
the Savior. This challenge has really made a difference in my
conversion to know how powerful the atonement is. We also did this
challenge preparation for conference! Are you all so excited! I am! I
LOVE our prophet!

Well, I am sorry this letter has to be cut short, I just don't have
any more time! The temple was beautiful and it was kind of hard for me
to leave knowing I'll be hitting the pavement working hard! I love the
temple and it really is the ultimate goal for us! For our
investigators, our less-actives, our members, and for us. Honestly I
have realized that I am my own investigator on my mission. Everything
that I teach to my investigators, applies right to me. It's amazing, I
love my mission. It is really becoming sacred to me.

I am so excited for conference! 6 months ago I was in the CCM! Ah! Crazy crazy!

Well, I love you family!
I hope this next week is a wonderful one!
Hermana Hammond
                                              The cutest lady, I just love her!

                                                Doing the area book!!!