Well this last week has just flown by! There is soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
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much news to tell you I can not fit it in this e-mail. Sorry, but you will have to wait for my letter.
Tell Rat that he is not allowed to wear those glasses at home, he will break them. Those are just about the coolest pair of spectacles I have ever seen since I saw Steve Urkle! Tell Shippa that I hope that she starts to feel better soon. Being sick is never fun. Sounds like Granny is doing better, so that is good.
Well I have to go, but I really do love you though! Trust me, there is a lot of "hastening" going on up here!
Love,
Elder Hamblin
The Best Two Years
Monday, 25 February 2013
Tuesday, 19 February 2013
Email 2/19/13
Sorry this is a day late. We could not get into a family history
center until today. Things here are going really good. I explained a
little bit more in my letter that I am sending your way. I even wrote
about our cousin that we found. The truth is, I am related to everyone
(or at least know every one in) no matter where I go. We have members in
one of the wards that we cover who has a brother that is the Bishop in
the ward where Mandy is at! How crazy and how small is that! I havbe
also found Hamblins (less active) in one of the wards too. I tell you
family is everywhere!
Graham will make it through alright, he is a good kid and
nervousness is not new for him. He is going to attack his mission like a
starving man on a Christmas ham. I love you all!
Love,
Elder Hamblin
Letter 2/11/13
Dear Family,
Well another week has flown by, and along with it, many events and activities , conferences, exchanges, trying to find a place for a hair-cut, all in the unconventional life of a missionary. We move from day to day planning for one event, but knowing the unlikelyhool of keeping to that event.
As a Zone we have a goal to teach 500 non-member lessons before the end of the transfer. We have been focusing solely on how we can achieve 10 non-member lessons (what it averaged out to) a week. We have two weeks and are at 205 lessons. We Know Miracles, so we are going to work our hardest to reach this goal we have set. Keep praying for us! We have previously seen miracles and know that they are based in the foundation of our faithful families' prayers and hope.
on another note, we have been teaching a part-member family whom have taken the Missionary Lessons for years now. (They are mostly Spanish speaking, so the language barrier is pretty thick). The father is a member and speaks fairly good English, but the wife speaks no English at all.
The other night we decided to focus this family in on the Book of Mormon and see if we can't help them see the importance of it in their lives. Every time previous when we have asked them to read, they said that they were too busy. So we went over to see them and only the father was there to talk with. We brought up the Book of Mormon and he shut down immediately. The more we talked, the more he wouldn't. I said something that pushed the envelope too far, and complete and awkward silence ensued. This silence lasted about a minute before the Spirit flooded the room. He began to tell us all of his family's problesm and all the negativity in his life. He expounded on these things for a couple of minutes before the Spirit testified to hiim why HE needed to read the Book of Mormon. All we needed to do was listen and give him chapters to read.
Love you!
Love,
Elder Hamblin
Well another week has flown by, and along with it, many events and activities , conferences, exchanges, trying to find a place for a hair-cut, all in the unconventional life of a missionary. We move from day to day planning for one event, but knowing the unlikelyhool of keeping to that event.
As a Zone we have a goal to teach 500 non-member lessons before the end of the transfer. We have been focusing solely on how we can achieve 10 non-member lessons (what it averaged out to) a week. We have two weeks and are at 205 lessons. We Know Miracles, so we are going to work our hardest to reach this goal we have set. Keep praying for us! We have previously seen miracles and know that they are based in the foundation of our faithful families' prayers and hope.
on another note, we have been teaching a part-member family whom have taken the Missionary Lessons for years now. (They are mostly Spanish speaking, so the language barrier is pretty thick). The father is a member and speaks fairly good English, but the wife speaks no English at all.
The other night we decided to focus this family in on the Book of Mormon and see if we can't help them see the importance of it in their lives. Every time previous when we have asked them to read, they said that they were too busy. So we went over to see them and only the father was there to talk with. We brought up the Book of Mormon and he shut down immediately. The more we talked, the more he wouldn't. I said something that pushed the envelope too far, and complete and awkward silence ensued. This silence lasted about a minute before the Spirit flooded the room. He began to tell us all of his family's problesm and all the negativity in his life. He expounded on these things for a couple of minutes before the Spirit testified to hiim why HE needed to read the Book of Mormon. All we needed to do was listen and give him chapters to read.
Love you!
Love,
Elder Hamblin
Monday, 11 February 2013
Email 2/11/13
Where in the world is all this time going! Mandy, Hunter, Cade...all gone on thier missions! Time is too fast. Yes everything seems to slow down in The Gorge, but it is still moving too fast for me to catch up and take a breather! I swear that I have been working harder than I was during football, but I don't really know where in the world I am going! This week was busy doing mission stuff such as zone conferences and exchanges, but other than that, the world is just passing me by. I know that I keep promising information on the things that I am doing, but I can never think of anything that is new or exciting. The other day we did run into a man that would not believe any written word because the Doctrine of Christ is not written. Period. But, he said if you wanted to find the Doctrine of Christ, we need to look in the Book of Thomas (which Elder Gayler and I think is locked up next to the Ark of the Covenant in Area 51). It (the Doctrine of Christ) is written in the Book of Thomas but has never ever been written, including in the Book of Thomas. We tried to help him, but some people are just not quite ready for us yet (D&C 29:7). We did go tract out a town that one of the wards told us not to go to. We got a media referral, and so we had to go up there. Turns out that the people are very nice and we got a few potential investigators from our trip up there. We are hoping to go back there soon.
The story that Pres. Monson gave is very true. We can never look at peole superficially, becasue that is how they are looking at us. If we "live" the law of Moses, we will look at everyone the same way. But once we live the Higher Law, than we begin to see as Christ sees us. We see their sins but not in a condeming way. Cade was always good at that.
Love,
Elder Hamblin
The story that Pres. Monson gave is very true. We can never look at peole superficially, becasue that is how they are looking at us. If we "live" the law of Moses, we will look at everyone the same way. But once we live the Higher Law, than we begin to see as Christ sees us. We see their sins but not in a condeming way. Cade was always good at that.
Love,
Elder Hamblin
Saturday, 9 February 2013
Letter 2/04/13
Dear Family,
Here in the Columbia Gorge, there are much too few moments of sunshine as the rain and fog rule most of winter. There is not too much cold, but overcast skies and constant rain are some of Satan's devices to lure men into disappointment and discouragement. What Satan does not know however is that I LOVE the rain and foggy days. Yes I do love the sun, which is more rare than common here, but I do enjoy the seclusion of a foggy day. Many people are more downtrodden on such a day, and I have the wonderful opportunity to bring a small ray of sunshine to their lives. I love the fog.
Not much happened this week, but much was done. We spent most of the week trying to find a ride for a lady to come to church, when it turned out she already had a ride. We did quite a bit of tracting and finding efforts. We tracked into one lady and taught her a short lesson. We we came back for our follow up appointment she left her Book of Mormon outside with a note saying she was attending another church with her husband. (Dang men!)
Sorry this letter is so short, but time is gone! I love you all!
Love,
Elder Rex Hamblin
Here in the Columbia Gorge, there are much too few moments of sunshine as the rain and fog rule most of winter. There is not too much cold, but overcast skies and constant rain are some of Satan's devices to lure men into disappointment and discouragement. What Satan does not know however is that I LOVE the rain and foggy days. Yes I do love the sun, which is more rare than common here, but I do enjoy the seclusion of a foggy day. Many people are more downtrodden on such a day, and I have the wonderful opportunity to bring a small ray of sunshine to their lives. I love the fog.
Not much happened this week, but much was done. We spent most of the week trying to find a ride for a lady to come to church, when it turned out she already had a ride. We did quite a bit of tracting and finding efforts. We tracked into one lady and taught her a short lesson. We we came back for our follow up appointment she left her Book of Mormon outside with a note saying she was attending another church with her husband. (Dang men!)
Sorry this letter is so short, but time is gone! I love you all!
Love,
Elder Rex Hamblin
Letter from President Greer to Elder Hamblin. 2/03/13
Dear Elder Hamblin,
Congratulations on your call to serve as a District Leader in the Washington Kennewick Mission. This assignment brings with it great responsibility as you work to support the missionaries in your district and help them to succeed.
This assignment was extended to you after prayerful consideration. You have distinguished yourself as someone The Lord can trust and rely on to help build the kingdom and establish the church by principles of righteousness and truth. The Mission Presidents Handbook states that a District Leader "sets an example for the missionaries in his district in his study of the scriptures and the gospel, obedience, hard, proselyting skills, and other aspects of missionary work." You should strive to develop a model proselyting area for other missionaries to experience on exchanges exchanges so that they can see how successful.
You will be trained by your Zone Leaders. Turn to them for counsel and advice in this new assignment. You may also feel free to call upon me when the need arises.
May The Lord continue to bless you as you strive to be like the Master and preach His gospel to all that will hear.
Sister Greer and I will continue to pray for your happiness and success.
Faithfully,
President Leonard D. Greer
Washington Kennewick Mission
Congratulations on your call to serve as a District Leader in the Washington Kennewick Mission. This assignment brings with it great responsibility as you work to support the missionaries in your district and help them to succeed.
This assignment was extended to you after prayerful consideration. You have distinguished yourself as someone The Lord can trust and rely on to help build the kingdom and establish the church by principles of righteousness and truth. The Mission Presidents Handbook states that a District Leader "sets an example for the missionaries in his district in his study of the scriptures and the gospel, obedience, hard, proselyting skills, and other aspects of missionary work." You should strive to develop a model proselyting area for other missionaries to experience on exchanges exchanges so that they can see how successful.
You will be trained by your Zone Leaders. Turn to them for counsel and advice in this new assignment. You may also feel free to call upon me when the need arises.
May The Lord continue to bless you as you strive to be like the Master and preach His gospel to all that will hear.
Sister Greer and I will continue to pray for your happiness and success.
Faithfully,
President Leonard D. Greer
Washington Kennewick Mission
Monday, 4 February 2013
Letter 1/28/13
Dear Family,
As I review the past week, and all the chaos that came along with it. I have been able to find many blessings hidden between the events of the week. I find myself with a new area, a new companion and a new resolve to "work a little harder to be a little better". I wish my memory would allow me to remember the intricacies of the chaos.
Last week I was able to see my companion off, Elder Bergen. I spent two days with the Walla Walla Spanish speaking elders Perez and Abbot. We had a good time. While I was with them I realized why The Lord called me to an English speaking mission...I will leave it at that. It amazes me how quick The Lord is able to take someone and help them learn another language, or even understand it.
On transfer day I got to see Elder Burk! I was excited to see someone that I actually knew and what added more to my excitement was that I found out that I was going to be in his district! I was able to see a familiar face, and receive a sidekick all in one. We just spent P day together and it was good to be with an old friend again.
Anyway my new companion is Elder Gaylor, from where else, Utah. He has been out a transfer less than me, but is fearless in talking to everyone. He has an amazing Preach My Gospel missionary style and I have already learned much from him. We are teaching quite a few investigators who are prepared and willing to listen to the gospel. Hopefully soon we will be able to put them on date for Baptism and bring them closer to this saving ordinance.
The other day Elder Gaylor and I decided to tract out a place called Skamania Landing. Missionaries have been asked to go there for quite a while, yet no one has ever take the initiative to go out there and talk to the people. We quickly found out why, it is a summer destination. Tucked between these monolithic and spacious summer homes, lie a few permanent home owners. We set out to find such. We had very little luck finding these few souls, and when we did there was not much more than a few brief door step exchanges. Yet we pressed on as the woes of the day seemed to be heaping up against us. Time was running short and urgently began to distill upon our hearts. As we came to a house with a vast red door, we gave it a knock and the door came open! Beset, we closed the cracked door and were about to leave when a man came to the door. He identified himself and said that he too had served a mission to Australia for the LDS religion. He also mentioned that he no longer was active in this religion, but still had a testimony. (Elder Bednar's talk). He invited us in and we met his significant other who is a devout Catholic. They were pleasant people but the situation was tragic. He would talk with us about his religion but had no convincing evidence because of the life he has chosen to live.
This made me think about my life. Am I evidence of what I believe? Do my actions reflect what I believe? Do I love Him enough to feed His sheep? I hope we all make this the quest of our lives...conversion.
Love, Elder Rex Hamblin
As I review the past week, and all the chaos that came along with it. I have been able to find many blessings hidden between the events of the week. I find myself with a new area, a new companion and a new resolve to "work a little harder to be a little better". I wish my memory would allow me to remember the intricacies of the chaos.
Last week I was able to see my companion off, Elder Bergen. I spent two days with the Walla Walla Spanish speaking elders Perez and Abbot. We had a good time. While I was with them I realized why The Lord called me to an English speaking mission...I will leave it at that. It amazes me how quick The Lord is able to take someone and help them learn another language, or even understand it.
On transfer day I got to see Elder Burk! I was excited to see someone that I actually knew and what added more to my excitement was that I found out that I was going to be in his district! I was able to see a familiar face, and receive a sidekick all in one. We just spent P day together and it was good to be with an old friend again.
Anyway my new companion is Elder Gaylor, from where else, Utah. He has been out a transfer less than me, but is fearless in talking to everyone. He has an amazing Preach My Gospel missionary style and I have already learned much from him. We are teaching quite a few investigators who are prepared and willing to listen to the gospel. Hopefully soon we will be able to put them on date for Baptism and bring them closer to this saving ordinance.
The other day Elder Gaylor and I decided to tract out a place called Skamania Landing. Missionaries have been asked to go there for quite a while, yet no one has ever take the initiative to go out there and talk to the people. We quickly found out why, it is a summer destination. Tucked between these monolithic and spacious summer homes, lie a few permanent home owners. We set out to find such. We had very little luck finding these few souls, and when we did there was not much more than a few brief door step exchanges. Yet we pressed on as the woes of the day seemed to be heaping up against us. Time was running short and urgently began to distill upon our hearts. As we came to a house with a vast red door, we gave it a knock and the door came open! Beset, we closed the cracked door and were about to leave when a man came to the door. He identified himself and said that he too had served a mission to Australia for the LDS religion. He also mentioned that he no longer was active in this religion, but still had a testimony. (Elder Bednar's talk). He invited us in and we met his significant other who is a devout Catholic. They were pleasant people but the situation was tragic. He would talk with us about his religion but had no convincing evidence because of the life he has chosen to live.
This made me think about my life. Am I evidence of what I believe? Do my actions reflect what I believe? Do I love Him enough to feed His sheep? I hope we all make this the quest of our lives...conversion.
Love, Elder Rex Hamblin
Email 2/04/13
I will have to keep this short if I want to send any pictures. This week has been a good week here in the Gorge. We finally had some nice weather and have been able to see Mt. Hood and Mt. Adams. They are some pretty magnificent mountains! I have not taken a lot of pictures, which is too bad. This area is one of the most beautiful in the whole world! I just never think to take out my camera and snap a few pictures. I will try a little harder, but I am just not the photographer that Mandy is! I love you all and will write more in my letter!
Love,
Elder Hamblin
Love,
Elder Hamblin
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