Sunday, September 2, 2012

the miracles never cease 8/27/2012

Well this week we had the conference with Elder Christofferson. That was a really fun time that we got the whole mission together and we had a great time in the temple for a night with all of the missionaries from tierra caliente!! But oh boy i get so stressed when there are activities!! I am greatful for the trust that President has with me because i amf gettin a bit overwhelmed at times with training, and A.P and all of the responsabilities that come with it. but i wouldnt want to have it anyother way. I want to give an acceptable service to the Lord in the mission field!!! Cual sera su ofrenda hoy? i have that as my quote on my wall to keep my focus. I aint here just paying time, i am here giving an offering to the Lord! I want it to be an accptable offering to the Lord. I feel like this is the time that i need to shine the most as a missionary, prove to the Lord that these 2 years in His service have not been in vain. I dont want to be the Emerson Hammer from before but i am really a missionary, not just because of a nametag, but because it is in my blood! I am by nature a missionary! I have seen the Lords hand so many times in this past week. When i just forget myself and just go to work!! I can see how not just me is affected but those who i teach, whith those whom i work with, to my companion! I love this work!!

Well this week we are workin really hard with activating and bringing to sheep to the fold and this week i was so moved at church this past week by who we had there! We had 7 investigators at church with 17 less active families that we started to visit! Sebastian is the Cousin of Jennifer whom we are teaching and i gave him a tie this week. He came to church in a white shirt tie and slacks!! he is doing so great!! He has a baptismal date for the 22 of September!! Also Anna Maria came to church!! We had an awesome lesson with her this week! She is a 14 year old girl who has the sweetest spirit ever! She pays super great attention to us really wants to know, loves going to YW classes!! The perfect investigator! We taught her the restoration this week and we talked about how Joseph Smith was just like her, he wanted to know the truth, and how she, like him, prayed to know the truth about how to find the truth!! It was such a spiritual lesson! She is soooo prepared!! She and 4 others have baptismal dates for the 22 of September!! I am hoping to finish the mission with 5 more baptismes!! So we are working our tails off to make it happen!!

 Saturday the Lord just gave us the biggest blessin EVER!! I always call and remind all of the people that we have taught in the week to make sure that they can come to church and that they all have a way to get there and we assign members to pass by to pick them up too! so i was tryin to call a guy and some how i called the wrong number in my phonebook thinkin it was freddy Pinto, but i really called some guy named Javier Pinto! So i said, hey there is Hermano Pinto there, he said yes, JAvier Pinto. E. H-Hello Javier, Elder Hammer here how are ya Javier- Oh ELder I was just thinkin about you guys, it has been i while since i havent been to church. I would love to go back to church E.H UMMMM.. yes of course well we are here to help you. JAvier- Excellent i have been wanting to come back to church just i cant do it alone. Can you visit me this week? I have my 15 year old son who has been telling me that i need to go back to church i have been inactive for almost 10 years and my son keeps reminding me that he needs to be baptized. E.H- Well we can help you with the brother!! HAHAHA!! That was the craziest phone call i have ever had, i dont really know who i talked to but how the mysteries of God work!! How God helps us find His lost sheep come home. He told me how he has been praying to come back in contact with the church again and out of no where i just called him by accident, but whoo!! cI felt the spirit through a phone call!! haha! I never that that would happen!! I am ready to fill these next 5 weeks with my best work and the very last of me!! The Lord deserves the best so thats what i will give Him!! Love Elder Hammer

August 20, 2012

Well as time goes by the stress comes on even more!! AHH!! only like 6 1/2 more weeks in the field and the work just keeps on coming!! It is a camels work workin and dying and training and trying to do the AP work all at the same time!! AHH! We are putting in practice a thing called Plan Perry so i meet with the District and branch presidents alot in Tierra caliente to make sure the program is workin alot! What i have been trying to do here is make the wards and branches are self sufficient! There is an over dependence on missionaries in these areas so we are helpin the districts learn how to train members to do their home and visiting teaching or how members can teach classes and all of that basic stuff! So we are doing alot of member trainnig right now! I try to be the best example for my companion but i must admit, that the lord is working on making me a patient person i believe haha! I try to help my companion with the spanish and with learnin the lessons but in a timely manner. I try to do all of my AP work but not to interfere with proslyting time or study or anything which is so hard to do when the missionary life is soo structured! But hopefully i am becoming a more patient man! I have learned the great value of time. Time flies by. It seems that at times there isnt time enough to even breath haha!

I got only a little bit left here in Colombia but i want to give it all! When we teach I really try to emphasize the great importance of everything and how it all leads us to know our Savior. It seems that God has become a God on Paper, just a written God. People might know verses or maybe even the story of Christ yet they really dont know him, really people just know the surface.

WE are workin on a less active family and we talked about our baptismal covenants. I love how in Mosiah 18 it talks about how Alma was preaching repentance and faith and afterward invited everyone to be baptize and asked them what would impide them to take upon themselves the name of Christ and be a witness of him! This scripture just came to life for us! we talked about how we can be witnesses of Christ! Really to be a witness means that you can experimented you have seen or heard or felt something! We are witnesses of Christ not because of what we read but for our own experiences I know what it feels like to have Christ take my load. I know what it feels like to feel is relief because he has relieved me. I know the power of His mighty hands for they have held me, I KNOW the power of the ATONEMENT because i have felt HIS FORGIVENESS! To be a witness of Christ is to know Him to understand and know how to use HIS ATONEMENT! Alot of times we feel like just keepin the commandments is suffecient enough to considerd a christian but have we really witnessed the Power of God can we testify of Him becasue we witness His power! I love the power of the Scriptures for the understanding they give to me! I would have no problem just sitting and reading the scriptures all day long! They are filled with sincerity, with true testimonies not only writen down on paper but sealed upon the hearts of those bearing Testimony of our God! I am very proud to be counted among the few soldiers of Gods army to day actively serving! At the ending point of the mission i am understanding the great part of the atonement. I have figured that these next 6 weeks will probably the hardest of the mission, but i will finish my time here in Colombia serving with my all.

I cant wait to see you all! With all of the work we have going on here in Colombia in the Lords work, the Lord has made more sensitive to feel his guidance to feel His love to be His Servant! THe Truth is worth fighting for, even til the end! I cant wait to come home and hug you all! I am stoked! I am thrilled! I am overjoyed to go back home! Love ya alla ton Elder Hammer