Tuesday, June 21, 2011

what is heaven like?

I have been working super hard with these investigators that we have here we have a boat load of Investigators here, maybe too much!! haha! Not! But we have now 89 investigators which makes up 39 families!!!! There are not enough hours in the day to teach everyone!! We are teaching alot!!! But very few of our planned baptisms will be walking in the water. In fact, only 1 will be going down! We wanted to have a party in the font but that aint gonna happen, so we have changed the dates around so we can focus and really prepare them for this covenant with God. We will have 1 this week of Alejandra Idarraga! She’s freaking hilarious. She’s a 14 year old young lady. She always makes fun of me but she’s awesome!! Then 9 of July we will have 3 more and then we will have another 3 on the 16 of July and 7 more for the 23 of July!!! So we are still working it but more visits to the font but in smaller numbers!! Waiting on peoples marriage papers people to get divorced and then married so there’s some obstacles and barriers we are breaking!!

This week I believe was the most trying week of the mission so far, but the most enjoyable. I am getting to understand what I’m doing and I love being District leader!! I had a lot of baptismal interviews I had to do this week!! I will update you more in a little while about these experiences!! But we have a boat load of people we are teaching and we are doing our best to bring the spirit in the lessons but its definitely been a challenge in the companionship!! My comp is a fun kid, but that’s it, he’s a kid. He has ADHD, so he plays with everything. I teach repentance with playdough here its a fun lesson. I have a wooden heart and I tell the people to make different shapes with it like hey make a square with this wooden heart, and of course they cant! Then I give them the playdough and tell them to make different shapes. I ask them why they can change the shape of the playdough and not the heart. They tell me because the playdough is moldable and the heart not. Is our heart like the wooden heart or a heart like playdough? Then I form the playdough into a heart, then say, what happens with a broken heart and break the playdough heart what if our heart is like the wooden heart? We can’t mend the broken fibers of the wood, but with the healing hands of God he can mend our hearts. If we repent and have a broken heart to do His will he can form us into what we need to be, but if we are like the wood, we will be nothing! It’s a fun lesson. So I always carry little toys like these with me to teach, but in the middle of the lessons my comp will steal my bag and starts playing with the toys! AHH!! I will be in a testimony and he’s playing with playdough. He is learning rubix cube stuff so always plays with that and makes bird calls! He’s fun in the street but in the lessons, AHH!! Its an experience. The investigators call me PAPA HAMMER because I treat him like my child cause that’s what he is haha!!! But the Lord is teaching me parenthood in the mission I will be a great Father with these skills I am learning haha!! I call him my little child!!

This week we had a great time healing a family with the priesthood!!! The whole family had the flu, so we went and healed them. They all got healed and I got sick. I must have forgotten to bless my health also in the blessing haha!! But it wasn’t too bad. I had a head ache and clogged nose and soar throat. The past 2 days I couldn’t speak, I could only whisper! I still can’t talk! haha!! It makes the lessons very interesting!! I sound like an old man when I try to speak normal so I try not to speak loud! haha! But yesterday we had a lesson on repentance. It was a nicely planned lovely lesson. After about 10 minutes into the lesson, everyone was trying to hold in the laughter, ok a teen talking like an old geaser preaching the haling hands of God dont mix so I was like all right we can laugh now so we all busted up laughing at my voice!! It cracks and all its terrible!! But it’s pretty funny so I had to change the topic and save repentance for another day when I got a voice, my comp was tired to he said he wasn’t going to teach! It was hard this week with home. He’s in the counting process for the house!! I want to train!!!!!!

But this week I had baptismal interviews. It was interesting with my voice!! One of the sisters asked, Elder Are you speaking Spanish normal because I don’t understand you!! haha!! So I ended up showing here the questions and it was like an interview with the deaf and I had to write some of the questions out for her haha!! But the interviews I had some awesome experiences in the interviews!! It’s amazing how I became friends with these people instantly!! and the people tell me everything about there lives, there really is a mantle over the 4 missionaries and the interviews turn out to be a very spiritual experience! At the end of one interview I bore my testimony to one of the people and she ended up crying! It was so spiritual in the interview!! The people come in nervous and in the end freed and with a new friend and a spiritual experience. One of the ladies invited me to her baptism bbq. I told her we will see what we can do. She told me she would make me a hamburger!! haha! sweet lady!!

I try to ask good inspired questions in the lessons. This week I got the impression to ask some one what they thought heaven was like. The person told me what they thought it would be like and what we will be doing. Then I told them would you like to experience heaven on Earth! He didn’t believe it was possible. I told him we feel the presence of God through the Holy Ghost. We feel the Holy Ghost when we learn of him and keep his Commandments we are living the Laws of Heaven when we live the commandments then we had an awesome lesson about the Laws of Heaven. Yes there are laws in Heaven. That’s why we have commandments on Earth to prepare us to live the Laws of Heaven. We have these Laws through the Scriptures and living Prophets. So I started to ask this question more in contacting and teaching!! I love the responses of the people in these questions!! Our goal is to return to live with God and live in Heaven why don’t we start living in Heaven now. We can make Heaven on Earth we have the tools to do it!! So that’ s our purpose of Missionaries to bring parts of Heaven to Earth, To let the people experience heaven!! It was a good week for me. I slept at night knowing I am doing the Lords Work and freakin tired!!!

Saturday I was sick so I was going to bed a bit earlier at 10. As soon as I said my prayers and all just as soon as I got under the covers that’s when it started!! Our apartment complex decided to throw a Fathers day party starting at 10 at night and it last until 4 in the morning!! I couldn’t sleep so my comp and I had a dance party in the apartment. He wouldn’t teach me salsa or Marange or Cubie or the latin dances so I watched all of the drunks from the window and I imitated them and he made fun of me!! it was fun but I finally fell asleep at like 2:30 in the morning with music still playing and woke up at 6 to get ready and go to church! I am freakin tired but the Lord blesses me in the Work!! Yesterday I was dead tired with no voice but it was a good day, worked hard and all is well! But have to go now!! We are going to an amusement park today. It’s like a 6 flags!! I am stoked!! I will take some pics Love ya all
Se Cuida
Elder Hammer

a week of learning 6/13/11

Here in Patio Bonito we have a lot of good problems!!! We have too many investigators!!!! We are working with over 86 investigators!! which makes up 38 families or 38 appointments to visit them all in the week!! It’s freakin hard but it’s a blessing to learn from the hands of the Lord!! We have 12 with baptismal dates!! We were going to have a nice size baptismal party in 2 weeks but we are going to wait a bit longer because freaking marriage papers here haven’t come yet!!!! Why people just don’t keep the Law of Castidad I still dont know!!!! So we will have 3 baptismal coming up in 2 weeks and we will have a big party the 9 of July of what we hope for another 7 but we shall see. The Lord is helping me grow. The Lord surely shows us our weaknesses. This week I learned about alot of them I have! The Lord has blessed me with 2 comps who have been finishing the mission, and this week the words came out of the mouth of my companion. I am off and trunky. I’m going home soon!!!!! I freakin hate this words!!! So I have been trying to get my comp pumped up more about the work!! Mostly he just tags along it seems like!! Its a little bit weird to be the younger man but being the senior comp and DL, but I love my responsibilities!! It’s so much fun, but my comp doesn’t really like it I think.

I’m sure you all know that I of course miss home, my testimony and Love for the family has grown super strong here as I see many torn apart families and lives and look at my happy beautiful family and count my blessings!! When ever I talk about the family the people say that they can feel my love for ya’ll. This week I got the impressions to share this power of love and relate the lessons to the power of my testimony of the family!! So I have been doing that!! Most of our investigators that we have are going through something tough in their lives. A lot of people have had someone in the family killed, or an abortion or are without work or something tragic. It’s very sad to see this but great to share with them the hope that the Lord gives us!! As we read in 3 Nephi 27 30-31 it talks about how we, the children of God are the joy of God!! When we are happy so is God. Then the memory of an experience that Mom and I had about a year came to mind! It was about Christmas time last year and I was a bit down and confused when Mom called me into her room she knew something was bothering me. She called me in and sat me town and I poured my heart to her about what was going on in my life. Mom didn’t lecture me or anything like that. When I was done telling her about what was going on she just gave me a hug. I don’t really remember what she told me I just remember the power of her embrace and that’s all that I needed to keep pushing through in those times! I like to use this as an example with the investigators here. Its an example of the power of opening our hearts to talk to God. If you want to feel the healing power of the hands of God you have to tell him where the pain is and expose it to him!! Like how it was with Mom I remember Mom noticed that something was wrong for about a week and kept asking me what was wrong, but I wanted to solve the problem alone. How could mom understand what a 18 year old teen boy was going through? But she did exactly what I needed. She called me until I came into her powerful arms! To feel the comfort in the skinny mom that I have but the power of her love in those arms are what comforted me. How many times is God calling us to come to him but we want to do it alone, or we pray but we don’t open our heart to tell him where the pain is! At times we know what we have to do but we just need to feel the power in the Hands of God to comfort and Cradle us!! So thank you Mom for this experience. These few minutes that we shared together are making great moments in the mission!! I thank my God for all of the experiences that I had before the mission to be able to bear testimony of my Savior and change the hearts of the people here in Colombia! Thank you for all the people that have helped me change my heart to God and to bring this good news of Christ our redeemer here in Colombia!! Remember when I called home for Mothers day and I was in the home of Marleny, well we put a baptismal date with her son now!! He is freakin awesome he reminds me alot of Franky! But I always tell Marleny about how cool my family is she loves these stories she asks me every week about you all and I am happy to tell her she wants to meet you all, so that means you all have to come and pick me up after this wonderful journey that I am having here in Colombia!!

This week I almost got arrested! Well not really but kind of!! The city here is very busy!! Anyways we were walking and we saw a car hit a motorcycle and the people went flying!!! There were 2 people on the motorcycle and there was one guy walking on the street and one of the people on the motorcycle flew off and knocked the guy walking over!! It was a bit funny to see how it all developed but tragic. So we were on the other side of a canal but we darted over them to help them all. I went over and started to help them. There wasn’t too much blood but a little bit but for some reason they wouldn’t stop screaming!! The screaming is what pains me the most. I don’t like to hear the sounds of pain! So all three of them had broken legs one a broken arm and probably a broken back. I started to use my Boy Scout training I told my comp to call an ambulance. I told the people to back up and if anyone had medical training no one did. I left the guy with a broken back alone. I knew not to touch him. I helped the people with broken legs get out of the road and help a bit with the legs, after 10 minutes my comp asked, Whats the number for an ambulance? Then I remembered that we were in Colombia. He’s from Chile. I’m a gringo. It’s not 911 here! haha!! So then I told someone else to call an ambulance but I was like why didn’t you tell me early homie!! He said it looked like you were busy!! COME ON!!!! haha!! Thats the mission for you! haha! Then the bishop walked by and told me what I was doing was illegal. I was like why!! He said you cant disturb a crime scene. I was like this ain’t a crime scene. There are 3 people lying in the road that cant move, so he told us we better move along before the ambulance comes, so we did. haha!! That was an interesting experience that we had, saving people can get you arrested. This week I also ate rat!! But learning and growing a tons in the hands of the Lord!!

Elder Hammer

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

I never knew that Mormon Baptized John the Baptist did you!

Yes this was the statement that one of the members said last night in one of our lessons. I was like what are you saying homie. And this homie would not shut his mouth oh my gosh it was the funniest lesson of my life. This girl has been coming to church for about 6 months and so we were going to put a baptismal date with her. This brother just talked about the whole eternity in about 10 minutes. I was tappin him on the shoulder and everything but he kept talking. We are teaching a girl named Alejandra. She’s super cool!! She’s a 14 year old kid! But freaking hilarious. So my new comp Elder Lopez and I were trying not to laugh through this whole thing because he was just talking some real hard core nonsense. He even went into talking how there are oxen in the baptismal fonts in the temple but not in the chapels. He asked me why we don’t put oxen in the fonts in the chapels. I told him I don’t know the answer to that, that’s something I will need to study haha!! He then said, “maybe that’s a flaw of the church.” I was like brother what side are you on!! haha!! Sometimes the members are a battlefield here haha! But the best part was that Alejandra was even trying not to laugh at him haha!! Everyone was on the urge to busting up, so to relieve us of this burden of holding in our laughter I made up some terribly stupid joke so we had an excuse to laugh. It was some joke about the clothes of the Nephites and we laughed haha!! But the Lord blessed us and she accepted a baptismal date for 28 of June as of now we will have 7 baptisms for this date! With Elder Vigo we would have 1 or 2 a weekend but to not spend so much time filling up the font and all. We have 7 with dates and hopefully 10 for this month!!!! I am stoked!!


The mission is coming much more alive now!!! Oh my gosh this week was super bomb!! I love being district later!! It’s fun. It’s really not all that much I mostly just take the datas of the companions and pass them to the Zone Leader. I had 2 baptismal interviews. I like doing those and I help out the areas and do divisions! Elder Lopez and I are going to put some people in the water here. I feel the spirit with him as my companion! He is really laid back and chill, but we had a lot of fun this week! We cover a ward and a branch here so we cover a whole lot of land. There was a part of the Branch that I’ve never been. It’s a bit on the outskirts of town and we found a little pueblo in the middle of the city, its a town of about 600 people in the middle of nowhere so we went and contacted there! It was so beast!! There were cows and chickens and all there!! I loved it!! This is how I thought Colombia was like! We helped some old lady that must be pushing 120 years old but said she was only 83 but we helped here with her stove wood. She lives in a house the size of my closet! But I really enjoyed this town!

Yes this was the statement that one of the members said last night in one of our lessons. I was like what are you saying homie. And this homie would not shut his mouth oh my gosh it was the funniest lesson of my life. This girl has been coming to church for about 6 months and so we were going to put a baptismal date with her. This brother just talked about the whole eternity in about 10 minutes. I was tappin him on the shoulder and everything but he kept talking. We are teaching a girl named Alejandra. She’s super cool!! She’s a 14 year old kid! But freaking hilarious. So my new comp Elder Lopez and I were trying not to laugh through this whole thing because he was just talking some real hard core nonsense. He even went into talking how there are oxen in the baptismal fonts in the temple but not in the chapels. He asked me why we don’t put oxen in the fonts in the chapels. I told him I don’t know the answer to that, that’s something I will need to study haha!! He then said, “maybe that’s a flaw of the church.” I was like brother what side are you on!! haha!! Sometimes the members are a battlefield here haha! But the best part was that Alejandra was even trying not to laugh at him haha!! Everyone was on the urge to busting up, so to relieve us of this burden of holding in our laughter I made up some terribly stupid joke so we had an excuse to laugh. It was some joke about the clothes of the Nephites and we laughed haha!! But the Lord blessed us and she accepted a baptismal date for 28 of June as of now we will have 7 baptisms for this date! With Elder Vigo we would have 1 or 2 a weekend but to not spend so much time filling up the font and all. We have 7 with dates and hopefully 10 for this month!!!! I am stoked!!

The mission is coming much more alive now!!! Oh my gosh this week was super bomb!! I love being district later!! It’s fun. It’s really not all that much I mostly just take the datas of the companions and pass them to the Zone Leader. I had 2 baptismal interviews. I like doing those and I help out the areas and do divisions! Elder Lopez and I are going to put some people in the water here. I feel the spirit with him as my companion! He is really laid back and chill, but we had a lot of fun this week! We cover a ward and a branch here so we cover a whole lot of land. There was a part of the Branch that I’ve never been. It’s a bit on the outskirts of town and we found a little pueblo in the middle of the city, its a town of about 600 people in the middle of nowhere so we went and contacted there! It was so beast!! There were cows and chickens and all there!! I loved it!! This is how I thought Colombia was like! We helped some old lady that must be pushing 120 years old but said she was only 83 but we helped here with her stove wood. She lives in a house the size of my closet! But I really enjoyed this town!

Elder Lopez and I like to be creative. We have a family that is living together but aren’t married. He has to get divorced first to get married and that costs some money which they don’t have. He has been investigating the church for 10 years!! I think that the other missionaries left him because he needs time to get married and all and if you contact enough and get some good contacts you can have a baptism in 3-4 weeks, so he needs more time so the missionaries have been focusing on him. But we had a killer lesson with him. We read in 3 Nephi 13 about not putting your heart in treasures of this world and focus on the eternal things. So I bought this freaking huge clay piggy bank!! Its awesome, then we hooked the lesson into tithing, because he’s not a member he doesn’t pay tithing. We told him to practice paying his tihting by putting 10 percent of his income into the piggy bank this will prepare him for the time when he pays tithing to the Lord in the Church. And I put a pic of the temple on this beloved pig!! haha! It was an awesome lesson. The couple cried and we had a great time!! I love the people that have a quick conversion, the Lord has prepared them, but I love it when I can see it when the Lord has used me as an instrument to change the lives of the people and see the progression of them. I am here clearly to put people in the water, but more than anything I am here to change the hearts of the people an invite them to come unto Christ!! That’s’ what I love as a missionary. I had that change of heart and mind this week. I was a bit sidetracked with putting the people in the water, but that’s what I have been doing. The Lord has used me to put 15 of his children in the water in these past 6 months here in Colombia, The Lord has blessed me with all of these people. But I am here to change the lives of the people. When I focus on the change I feel the spirit a lot more. My favorite chapter in the BOM is Alma 5! It talks about if we have experienced the change of heart! I love this chapter. I have been studying this chapter for like 2 weeks now, it has so much doctrine in this chapter!!
This Saturday we put on a talent show with some of the members and converts and investigators. I did the breaking the wood with the hand lesson on faith and trusting in God to break the obstacles in our life, they all liked it, it was a fun activity!!

So this week was a good one. We are doing new things here, and the Lord is blessing us for our intentions and work. With all of the conferences and all we lost 3 days of work, but we had a successful week of 20 lesson in 4 days!!! It was good. My new comp is awesome, we work good together, we both like to have fun so we try new things, on Saturday we are going to pass out bread to the poor on Saturday!! It will be great!!

The Mission of the Lord is going on. The Lord is using me as an instrument to bring His children unto him!! These past 4 days with my new comp I feel like I have done more this week than in the past 6 months here in Colombia. We put 5 baptismal dates this week and we plan are putting 2 more this week for the 28 of June!!

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!! Sorry I didn’t write last week.

Love Elder Hammer

oh ya, for pday today we are having a ping pong tourney and an ugly sweater party!! I am stoked!! Heres some pics of Elder Vigo leaving this morning1 We had to wake up at 5 to say good bye to him. I bought him a cake and we had a small party. I cant imagine how it must feel to leave. Dad was right, I am getting to the point where I am really loving the mission. I know whats going on, and I feel like I am progressing alot and I am making a difference!! I love my area, we make it fun here, and the Lord protcts me daily,its amazing to see the Lord's hand in my life!!

Elder Hammer