Email 8/26/13

Happy Anniversary! Would you be mad at me if I told you that I completely forgot? If you will be mad, then I remembered, and if you won't then it never crossed my mind. Sorry! I hope that you had fun! It is also good to hear that the Elks did good, they are still my favorite team, and probably will be forever. And if Rat is running like me, he will have to work on his running style, because mine was terrible! I am sure that he did very well and that he hit people and sent them home crying...now that is NOT like me! I can hear the sounds of football start to fire up and I wish that I could go out there and be with them, but I am content on where I am at right now.

There were many highlights of this past week, but I think that the Elder Holland conference that we had topped them all. It was amazing, but I think that they will have to replace the pulpit! We had the opportunity to shake hands with him before that missionary conference started, and you could feel him look right into your soul. Then as he spake, he told us that the 12 used to interview every missionary personally, but with 75,000 missionaries that is nearly impossible. He then proceeded to tell us that the hand-shake and the look in the eyes was a quick 3 second interview and that he literally was looking directly into your very life! I have always joked about things like that, but he confirmed and said that it was true! It was a very comforting experience to have two hours with an Apostle and have him almost personally answer every question that you have. It was an amazing experience and one that I will never forget.

Elder Holland was there for the Rainier Stake Conference, however they were using the Longview Stake Center because the Rainier Stake does not have the facilities to hold such a conference. It just so happens to be that the Stake Center is in our area, and has the only baptismal font in the stake, and the Longview 1st ward Elders had a baptism the same day that Elder Holland was here. That too was nearly impossible to coordinate, but it was quite the experience. Unfortunately Elder Holland couldn't make the baptism, but we could still hear him giving the leadership conference. He was...energetic. It was a fun day.

Love you all!

Love,

Elder Rex Hamblin