Hermana Brittany Haven Hammond: July 2014

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

July 14, 2014 Help Thou Mine Unbelief

July 14, 2014 Help Thou Mine Unbelief!
Feliz Cumpleanos: Stephanie & Juli
Familia Maravillosa!

Okay for this carta I am going to share miracles, to change it up a
little. I am getting bored of the day thing for this week, and
basically seeing miracles helps build faith! Who's faith? My faith in
this area! We have seen SOOO many miracles this week! It's been the
best!

Miracle 0.5~ I received ROLLS my favorite rolls from mom! It was the
BEST thing ever. It really lifted my spirits because my mom knew just
what to give me. Ah, thanks mom!

Miracle 1~ We rode bikes a lot, we were sweating a lot, which I love.
I love to exercise! We haven't crashed, and our bikes are still
functioning! That is a miracle I'd say.

Miracle 2 ~ We were riding bikes on wednesday for a long time and
this Mexican man, like, imagine- wife beater, cowboy hat, cowboy
boots, jeans, big belt buckle, and we can't forget the "mexi stash",
looks at us right when we were riding past and stops, turns to us, and
salutes us, and then disappears! We were riding kinda fast so we
stopped to talk to him but he was gone. Nonetheless, it's made my whole
day!

Miracle 3 ~ The Cooper familia signed our calendar again! They had us
a few weeks ago, and they hadn't had missionaries for 3 years before
that. They signed our calendar not only to 2 weeks ago but for next
week! Ah! Miracle!-- they also want us to help them weed their garden!
Yep, really excited.

Miracle 4 ~ We rode all day wednesday and we got to this home, (which
these people had talked to missionaries before) and we knocked and the
lady let us right in! We shared a message and she wanted us to come
back! ANOTHER NEW INVESTIGATOR! It was a miracle!

Miracle 5 ~ I survived eating Chicharron... Which is Pig skin... Most
of the time la gente eat it like a chip because it's fried, but no....
We had it squishy, in salsa verde.... Squishy and really disgusting...
Did I eat it? Yep... Did I eat it with a lot of tortillas? Yep.. But I
am still alive!-- I ate a ton of it.

Miracle 6 ~ We went and visited the familia Calix in Crystal Lake. It
was truly a miracle because we talked to the Calix's son Howard, and
his mom was there. At first when we came to the door we were like,
"Hey, can we talk with you?" And he sighed really loud and
said,"yes,well I'm watching the World Cup, but sure..." And he
actually turned off the TV and listened to us. We showed Gracias A El,
(the because of him video) because the spirit told both of us that he
needed to watch it. He LOVED it. It also brought the spirit and he
told us he got divorced and started drinking and doing bad stuff,
but.... How do we know he liked our visit?.... He gave us COKE AND
CHIPS.. 8:30 at night... (It was exactly what I wanted ;). The
miracle is, is that the Elders went to see their family a couple days
later and they said that he wanted to meet and talk with the Elders
because that video touched his heart. WHAT A MIRACLE! Then he posted
on my Facebook wall saying, "thank you for coming and seeing
me...feeling blessed.." Yeah, MIRACLE!

Miracle 7 ~ On saturday we were starving and we went to this place
called Fast Tacos.. (Think we are sick of Mexican food?...nope) and
the owner was like, "HERMANAS, I have been waiting for you... Don't
worry your food is on the house!"... He told us that he has been
feeding missionaries for 7 years! All the Hermanas come to him and he
gives them food for free always! Apparently missionaries went and gave
him lessons, but he wasn't interested but he just LOVES missionaries,
(I wonder why?;)) I have never had that happen before, where
missionaries get food free. That's only a Utah, Idaho thing... And a
Woodstock thing at Fast Tacos! It was awesome!

Miracle 8 ~ 45 people were at church! Not only that... But it was the
World Cup final!... And people still came to church. It was amazing!
We were so proud of our members! ...ps... Germany won...

Miracle 9 ~ On Sunday we were walking out of church and who did we
see??... MIKE! Katie's husband from the EYE DOCTOR! (Mom, cute Katie!)
He came to church in the english ward! Katie didn't come, but we were
SO happy to see him!.... Sign to go see Katie at the eye doctor??... I
believe so... :)

Miracle 10 ~ I ate a plate of soooo much meat this week.... Let me
tell you, On Sunday (with the familia Gomez) they fed me, 4 HUGE slaps
of steak, 2 HUGE chicken breasts, and 1 chorizo (Mexican sausage...
Soo good). I ate it allllll and you know you are fat when they give
you ice cream and you are eating a whole bowl like it's nothing....
Yep familia I am bien gordita... Not my fault

Miracle 11 ~ the Gomez familia said they are GOING TO THE TEMPLE AT
THE END OF AUGUST. I saved the biggest miracle for last! On Sunday
after church they called us and were like, "Hermanas! We are having
hamburgers and Asada and everything, can you come?" And we were like,
"CAN WE COME, OF COURSE WE ARE COMING!"... The Gomez, seriously.... I
consider them family, the celestial kingdom won't be the celestial
kingdom without the Familia Gomez. They were like, Hermanas will you
come with us?... End of August?... And we died, of course we are
coming. (Familia pray I won't be transferred.)

Well, as you can see this was my week! I love the people here so much!
My companion and I took on the motto which is.. "Accentuate the
positive and eliminate the negative." This has helped us so much, when
we are sweaty, full, and tired, we focus on being positive, we work
hard, and we have faith, and it is power! We are seeing miracles! We
had a few weeks of hardly having success, and now this week we are
PACKED, we are so excited. We have citas with all of our new
investigators and we are so excited.

This week I have been thinking a lot about the story in the bible
where Jesus heals a mans son. The man asks, "If thou canst do any
thing, have compassion on us, and help us.” Jesus then tells the man,
"If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth
(Mark 9:23)." And the man replies with tears in his eyes, "Lord, I
believe; help thou mine unbelief. (Mark 9:24)" Jesus then heals this
mans son.

Lots of times on my mission I tell myself okay Lord please
help me through this day, help us find people that will listen to us,
help us work hard, help us reach our potential as missionaries, and
The Lord responds, "Okay, but you need to have faith, and have to
believe you can do it, you have to have Faith in Jesus Christ, that
all things are possible." And I just respond, "Okay, I have faith, I
believe, but please help the part of me that doesn't believe, please
help the doubt, my weaknesses and my lack of faith." Every time I ask
for help, The Lord grants me faith! He allows me to see miracles that
are happening so that my faith can grow. I know The Lord heals us and
grants us faith in Him.
Elder Holland gave a talk about this very story, of it he said,
"God will send help from both sides of the veil to strengthen our
belief...What was once a tiny seed of belief for me has grown into the
tree of life, so if your faith is a little tested in this or any
season, I invite you to lean on mine...Hope on. Journey on. Honestly
acknowledge your questions and your concerns, but first and forever
fan the flame of your faith, because all things are possible to them
that believe." (“Lord, I Believe”).

I love it! Family, will you read this talk? It was from April 2013
called "Lord I Believe." Your all amazing! For a really busy week in
Woodstock, and a lot of eating citas.. I think 7 this week... Yay for
gaining weight;)

All of me loves all of you all.
Hermana Hammond

July 14, 2014 Help Thou Mine Unbelief

Monday, July 7, 2014

July 7, 2014 Walk with me

July 7, 2014

Walk with me!

Well mi querida familia...

Guess who's leaving Woodstock?..... NOT ME!.... I have another
transfer here! That makes 7 1/2 months. 5 transfers. 2 companions. And
am I happy? Oh yeah. :)

Lunes-- we had service at the library, and because of tornado warnings
we had to stay at the library for a while and then go straight home.
But it was fine:) the night before there was a tornado, but it was 5
miles from us, and we were fine. In fact, it was during the night...
Did I wake up??... Nope:) baha

Martes-- I saw 2 miracles today! Okay, first we had a lesson with our
investigator Gabriela, is she progressing?.. No, but we are working
with her. We are stressing the Book of Mormon, that's everything. When
they know, they will get baptized, if they don't know... We wait until
they do know. Too many times missionaries baptize people when they
weren't ready, just to get a "number", and the person goes inactive.
The Book of Mormon is key in conversion. It penetrates, converts, and
softens hearts. I know it, because I am literally seeing it in some of
the people of our branch. I love it.
Okay, then 1st miracle-- we were sitting in Taco Bell in Harvard
for lunch because we had no lunch because Hna Monge wasn't home to
feed us and I was kinda down, for many reasons, but one was because I
knew we had 6 hours of just finding time on bikes. (Which don't get me
wrong, I love bikes.. Literally) Also second of all of our
investigators are dropping us. Like all of them stopped talking to us.

So-- I was thinking, "I have 6 hours of finding time, I am happy, oh
yes I am happy. Ha ha... Not... Wow I am really tired, here we go, I
can ride these broken bikes for 6 hours.. Yes... Uhhhhhh, above that,
I am eating nasty Taco Bell... I am so fat... K with me ..6 hours of a
really happy companion too... Heh heh...okay, here we go, here we
go..hah . (I know negative nancy over here) haha" And then, right when
I was thinking those really happy thoughts, guess what song came on
the radio in Taco Bell?... That's right... Our all time favorite....
BRYAN ADAMS.... Not only that.. Buts it's the very same song on my
PARENTS WEDDING VIDEO... I was a happy girl after that.

I seriously think God was just helping me realize that I was going to be okay! God
was telling me, "it's gonna fine.... Here's a song to bring a smile on
your face, lift your head, it's gonna be fine, todo saldra bien." I
was smiling literally for 6 hours.

Okay 2nd miracle-- After knocking people's doors and trying old
investigators, we tried this last person we thought we should try that
Hna Michael and I had given a Book of Mormon too. (We didn't think she
was interested, but we gave her a Book of Mormon and our phone number)
so we stopped by, knocked on the door, and she answered, looked at us
and said, "You have come.... I have been waiting for you." "I have
read the introduction of your book, tell me more," It about brought
tears to my eyes. She let us in, and we taught the first and it was
powerful lesson. We have a return cita on Tuesday. We are excited. We
have a new investigator! We are so happy! I have learned that when you
work your hardest, and you do all you can, God really does help you.
He helps you carry your burden. It doesn't mean you don't feel
anything and the work easy, no, but it means that He is on your team,
and He is with you, every step of the way.

Miercoles- We had district meeting, and that was good. We came back to
Woodstock to do some finding on the bikes; we saw that it was raining,
and so what did we go do?... Got our ponchos and went riding anyways!
It was awesome. I loved it. Riding bikes has really been a blessing
for me. It helps me release so much tension, and makes me so happy,
and then riding in the rain?... Man, I was so happy. We looked, pretty
awesome, in panchos and skirts and soaking wet, and it was the best
ever. We then had the Gomez family for dinner and that was awesome. I
love them, I want you all to meet them. Oh my goodness, you would all
just be best friends. They are awesome, after sharing a little lesson
we had to go straight to the Book of Mormon class. No one showed up
this week, sadly... We are thinking it is because of the World Cup. So
that's okay, no worries, next week there will be people!

Jueves- We had planning. And then we had China Buffet with Hna
Alcantar. Hna Alcantar has so much faith. Right now I am learning
about faith, especially working with the descendants of the Lamanites.
They have faith, it's incredible. I am working on faith, like I told
you all in my last letter, but I am learning that everything we do
comes from our faith. I am also learning that Faith is power...don't
worry I will talk about this in a bit. But it was a great day!

Viernes-- WE HAD A FOURTH OF DAY JULY PARTY for the RAMA! We had Carne
Asada. It was really good, ALL of our active members came! It was a
great ward activity. I had so much fun. I missed my family, us in
matching outfits and everything. We had to be in by 7 so we went home
and cleaned, did some calling people, and then from our balcony we
watched fireworks. I was so grateful that I wasn't in the crowd of
people drinking, and partying! The gospel really is a life-style. We
live, and LOVE our religion! I love this country, every one of my
companions knows that I am, like, obsessed with freedom, and this
country!... Well, mostly I love this land where the gospel could be
restored. I love that Gods hand was in ALL of revolutionary war,
guiding our founding fathers, so that the gospel could be restored
here. I love it. Happy fourth family!

Sabado- Well, I found out today that I am staying in Woodstock.... I
will be honest and say that's it's been quite a ride. I was thinking I
was going to leave, but I guess The Lord has something more for me to
learn here. More patience, more faith, more.... Well everything. It's
been a challenge with my companion, and I am not going to lie, but I
was counting the days for her or me to leave, but The Lord obviously
has more for me to learn. I have a long way to go, so where better to
learn it in the "refiners-fire" as they say here about Woodstock. I a,
so grateful that the people here are just so special in my heart! I
love them all so much!

Domingo- We went a less-active hunting but no one answered us. That's
okay though, we will try again! Church was great. Every fast Sunday
the branch brings food, so it was awesome. I love it. I love food.
Haha

What I have learned about faith.. Exact words from reading the Book of
Mormon backwards-- (I am reading backwards because I didn't want to
focus on the story as much, I wanted to focus on the doctrine, each
verse separate.) I love one-liners, they can be so pwerful, the Book
of Mormon is full of these prophets who are just so firm in their
faith of Christ. One day I want to be like these men who just radiate
faith. It is so inspiring. I will share some of my favorites with you.

"For He knew doubting nothing."
"Christ is the author and finisher of Faith."
"We can be purified by faith."
"They could not disbelieve his words, so great was his faith."
"Faith bringeth a change of heart."
"Mighty in faith."
"Firm in the faith."
"Become an heir to righteousness which is by faith."
"His faith began to be unshaken."

There are so many more examples of powerful lines about faith. I am
learning that faith really is going to get me through the next six
weeks. I also was reading in Enoch, (of course I am doing my weekly
bible story).... Family will you all read the story of Enoch in Moses
6-7?

I was praying Saturday night telling The Lord my worries, thoughts,
questions, and feelings. I was feeling pretty over-whelmed like, wow,
here another 6 weeks.. And I was just praying for help, and tears were
just streaming down my face because it just gets hard out here and
these words came to mind. It's the words that God tells Enoch, when
God asks him to go forth and cry repentance. He says, "and thou shalt
abide in me, and I in you; therefore walk with me..." I heard a voice
telling me, "Brittany, Walk with me... We will take it a step at a
time, but have faith, and walk with me." I got into my bed that night
feeling like, this transfer it's going to be me, and Savior, talking
it a step at a time, but I will walk with him! Every step Of the way,
I will walk with Him.
My faith is growing, for the investigators here, for the members to
receive a testimony of the Book of Mormon, for the less-active to come
back, and for myself that I can do it. I know faith is power. I know
that when we act on the faith we do have, even if it is just a little,
God will grow it. I love faith, and I love my Savior.

Sorry this is a novel, love you family! For another week here in the
beautiful Woodstock! With the best people ever! I love you all!

All of me loves all of you all!
Hermana Hammond

This is Shaddai (her mom got deported for child abuse)