Dear FAmily,
My, oh my! How the week flies by! I can't believe it has already been another week since I found myself writing another letter in this same spot, in this Longview Stake Center. In my life, not much has changed, but in my world everything has been flipped around. I don't think that this week has been very long, after all, I don't think another week has been shorter. I don't know what I am going to write in this letter, right now I am just rambling. We have seen many miracles, and most of them have come from prayer.
At the beginning of this transfer, we as a zone set a goal to find 160 new investigators. This is equivelant to about 27/week. As the transfer was underway, we didn't have too much success. After week 3, we found 29 new investigators! That was our zone record! Then again in week 4, we found 29 again. We have been doing all we can in order to help those seeking to Come to Christ.
To help us achieve our goal, we also decided we need to be more unified. As Elder Ewell and I searched the scriptures, we found the key to unifying and success...prayer. Alma and his bretheren found success and unification in their teaching as they prayed unto the Lord. (Alma 31). Christ leaves a charge with the Nephites to "Pray in their families" as a tool to come closer together. (3 Ne. 18: 20-21). We decided that prayer is what would unify us the most.
Every night at 10:01, no matter what we are doing, we add another prayer to the day. Specifically we pray for: Our investigators, those progressing in the Zone, and our goal of 160 new investigators. The knowledge that we are all praying together for each other edifies us in our efforts to preach the Gospel. We are bound in the Spirit as we desire to serve the people and each other.
This past week, we found 31 new investigators! Now we just need 35 new investigators to reach our goal, and we are praying and searching harder than ever before we are continuing to pray every night and we continue to reach our goals!
I love you all and pray for you always!
Love,
Elder Rex Hamblin
The Best Two Years
Monday, 30 September 2013
Email 9/30/13
Well, where has the week gone? This is crazy and life just needs to slow down, but I do enjoy all that is going on in the world. Well, at least the world of Longview, WA. People are just people and as hilarious and funny as ever. Did I ever tell you that Longview is the meth capitol of the US? It has a major port and so many of the oversea drugs come through here and almost everyone thinks that they are a scientist and can make their own "stuff." I mean this in the nicest way possible, but we were talking to a member of the ward and they describe it something like this: "I am pretty sure that Longview and Kelso put the tooth fairy out of business, nobody has any teeth!" which, for the most part, is true. I know that it sounds a bit "sketchy, but it is great. We are able to find some people who are sincere about changing their lives and want better for themselves. Everyone wants to change so much but they feel like they are content where they are at. If they only knew! I just wish I could take away their agency just enough for the to accept the gospel, but then I guess I would be just like Satan. I often feel like Alma right before he goes to the apostate Zoramites. He not only loves and prays for those he is going to labor with, but also those he is going to labor for. I think Alma's supplication in Alma 31 is a perfect example of how I feel about the people here. I know that they know better.
"Preach My Gospel" tells us that every single, solitary person we meet at the door or talk with on the street know some gospel principle. How could they not? They have already learned the plan and chose to come here. Our job as missionaries and as members is to find what they KNOW and then teach them the rest. I find this to be an exciting challenge that requires the Spirit to be closely associated with our inner feelings. We must act on what we feel and see what God has in store.
Well, enough of my rambling. I am leaving the wonderful Longview 3rd ward. I always tell myself that I could never love a ward or an area as much as my last, but I have proven myself wrong again. I love this ward, the people of Longview, and my companion Elder Ewell. We have had way too much fun together, but we have also set forth to have spiritual experiences everyday. I think that this has brought us closer than ever before. But, I do find solace in my next area. I will be serving in the Alameda Ward in Portland. That, I guess, might not be too exciting, but the next part is. I am going to kill my dad! I know this sounds weird, but do you remember my trainer, Elder Olsen? Well, he is serving down in Portland right now and I get to be with him for his last transfer. I am very excited. I love that man!
Well, I love you all!
Love,
Elder Hamblin
Monday, 23 September 2013
Email 9/23/13
This last Sunday was Invitation Sunday for the Longview III Ward, and as we went through the week, we invited every single one of our investigators to church and every person who would give us 30 seconds. As Sunday came around all of the people we had invited and all of our investigators told us that they wouldn't be able to make it. This was an activity that the ward was planning for many months, and we as the missionaries wanted to contribute any way that we could. Our P.E.C. meeting was finished early, so we decided to walk around the block and invite every single person that we saw. As soon as we stepped outside the rain began to drizzle. Undaunted, Elder Ewell said to put the rain coats on and continue. We did so and didn't get 100 ft. from the building before a downpour was unleashed from the sky. I don't know whether it was God testing us or Satan tempting us, but turning back seemed like a good idea before we got to the street corner. We pressed on and made the first corner and the first contact. We were greeted with a, "No, thank you." We continued on. Then down the road we saw a small family unloading a car, and we were again greeted with the same reply. We tried knocking on a few doors, with no avail. Finally on our way back to the church we saw a homeless guy and invited him. He told us he might come for the heat, but church was not his thing. Rejected once again. In just a walk around the block the rain had penetrated our coats and our hearts, but we were still happy to know that we did all that we could. No non-members showed up to church, but we were satisfied anyway. Later on last night we were walking in the ghetto of Longview and found a new investigator, something that I think I will include in my letter home. Needless to say the Lord really does work miracles if we show our faith through the rain and snow.
I love you all and wish you all the best!
Love,
Elder Rex Hamblin
Monday, 9 September 2013
Email 9/09/13
Santa Rosa, California. That sounds like it could be a good place. Not quite like the Pacific Northwest, though. Sorry, Kale, that you missed out on that on, but I think that you will love it anyway. If you would have come to the Washington Vancouver Mission, then you would have really loved it, because it is the best/ most beautiful/ funnest/ coolest/ humbling/ exhausting/ satisfying/ interesting/ loving/ heart warming/ all-around-greatest place in the entire world (well maybe a close second to Eagar, AZ....but we are not counting that right now). Sorry to put the truth into everyone's heart that will read this, but just as Nephi, Lehi, and Jacob have all stated, the truth can sometimes be hard to swallow. I know how much you wanted to come to the Northwest, but looks like you will have to wait just a little longer!
Just as I mentioned, the Northwest is the BEST! Elder Ewell and I have been having a blast teaching people and walking in the "Vancouver Mist," as many missionaries call it. It is too light to be a rain, but too heavy to be a fog, so it is just a slight hanging by the water droplets in the thick air. It is perfect! You never get too hot walking around, and you never seem to get too wet either, it is the best!
Now that the talk about the weather is over, we had a very neat experience. With the church growing so much and the general authorities not being able to travel everywhere at once, they have been broadcasting much more. Yesterday we had stake conference for Longview and we had a broadcast with Elder Hales, Elder Perry, Elder Nash (of the 70), and Sis. McConkie (YW)! They were speaking to the entire state of Washington and Alaska, but it was an amazing experience nonetheless. The messages they shared were very specific about covenant, ordinances, FHE, and family prayers. We really tried to get some of our investigators there, because every word that proceeded out of their mouths was inspired by the Spirit tailored to what they needed to hear. We have been teaching a young single mother of 4 who has been wondering why life is so hard and where she can turn for peace, and everything we told her seems to have no avail. But with the promises from prophets' lips, I personally don't think that there would have been a doubt left in her mind of what she needed to do to find strength in the Lord Jesus Christ. I just pray that now I will be able to convey the same message to her that was so easily preached in my ears.
We have also been teaching a young couple whom the woman really wants to be baptized but won't keep any of the commitments; the man doesn't want anything to do with the church, yet he is trying to keep all the commitments that we give him. We have been really trying to help them and even took a whole evening to help them clean their yard. We have been at a loss of what to teach them, so we have just kept inviting them to do all they can to know that this is true. It really hurts to see them because of how much the gospel can help them, how close they really are to god, yet they have no idea, none, zero, nada, of HOW MUCH THEY ARE MISSING OUT ON!!!!! They know they want something better, and we keep offering it to them, but they won't take it. I guess it is like a kid eating vegetables--you know how good it will be for them, but they will eat everything else on the plate that you will give to them. But, eventually they will really figure out that they love to eat asparagus (because I do!).
Love you all and hope that the week goes well!!
Love,
Elder Hamblin
Wednesday, 4 September 2013
Letter 8/29/13
Dear Family,
I am truly sorry that these letters are coming later and later, but time seems to be shorter and shorter; but true to my promise to President Hunt, here I present my YEAR mark letter! Can you all believe that?! I, Elder Rex Hamblin, entered the Missionary Training Center one year ago today, it being the 29th Day of August. I still have not hit my half way point, which will be the 31st of August (I return home on the 2nd of September). I can honestly be true and faithful in saying that I have written you all every week for an entire year! Some have been shorter than others, but it has been weekly.
With every week that passes, I have been attempting to look past the monotonous and into some highlights which differ from week to week. As more experience is put under my belt, more knowledge I obtain, and the more the Lord has opened my eyes. He has blessed me with a broad gamut of vision and I am doing all I can to help it increase, and when I find myself employed in the Lord's work, I receive the Lord's pay.
One such payment was the opportunity to listen to the testimony of an Apostle of the Lord, Elder Holland. I have already written of the immense testimony builder this was for me, but I would simply like to reiterate this foundation as experience this was. I can with many questions, and received more answers than what I came with. God truly does work through "His servants, the prophets" (Amos 3:7).
How great this opportunity was and how sweet the words from his mouth, but yet there is one experience from last week to top it, at least in my mind.
We have been doing much street contacting over the past few days yielding quite a bit of success. We passed a man and began to talk with him about His religious life; we were pressed for time so we wrote down his address and gave our word to stop back by. As Sunday evening rolled around Elder Ewell and I decided to stop by this gentleman's home and continue our discussion and hopefully teach him of the restored gospel of Christ.
When we knocked, he flew open the door and readily bade us to come in. On one of his walls was a painting done by some Christian artist of a pathway resembling the story found in 1 Nephi 8 and 11. We could see this man was very religious and had a firm faith in Christ. As we started asking questions, he began to open up to us, telling us of his past life. This gentleman, about 50 years old, has had some very interesting experiences that have brought him closer to God, and his family was a major factor in his life.
We had been talking for about 10 minutes when the door opened and his parents stepped in. They just returned home and were shocked to find two young men in their home, discussing religion. They sat down and began to listen to what the Spirit was saying. The questioning was soon passed from our mantle as they wanted to know more about the Church that Christ built. As we passed through each point of the restoration, the Spirit flooded the room as their questions/concerns increased. Thoroughly we covered the Apostasy (wherein most of their questions lay).
Elder Ewell and I used scriptures which we both had neglected for many months and were telling them of these precious truths straight from our hearts. The need for the Restoration was made manifest right before their Spiritual eyes. There was at one point when the lady looked at me and said "You guys are pretty big on this priesthood thing, Huh?' "OF COURSE WE ARE!" I wanted to yell at her, not in anger but in pure joy and love.
As we began to tell them of the Restoration through the Prophet Joseph Smith, the Spirit pressed strongly upon my heart as I testified of this great man. How sweet the peace that was felt! They could not deny the feelings they had, no matter what they had been told. The man kept trying to come up with a rebuttal, but the Spirit relieved his heart.
We told them of the Book of Mormon and the truth therein. Now here, I make my juncture,, never before had I received a more powerful, a more overwhelming sense of peace and joy than in this family's home. Pure charity was distilled upon the points of my testimony, and was manifest through the Spirit with which we bore.
Satan works quickly upon the children of men. As soon as I had finished testifying of my love for the Book of Mormon, this gentleman looked me straight in the eye and told me everything I had just said was false! A lie! Untrue! I wished sincerely to change his thoughts, because I had been changed forever. I know it and I know that he knew it, but that was a test for me to go through (1 Nephi 20:8-11).
I love you all and pray for you always! And Kale is going to the WVM! (Or India)
Love,
Elder Rex Hamblin
I am truly sorry that these letters are coming later and later, but time seems to be shorter and shorter; but true to my promise to President Hunt, here I present my YEAR mark letter! Can you all believe that?! I, Elder Rex Hamblin, entered the Missionary Training Center one year ago today, it being the 29th Day of August. I still have not hit my half way point, which will be the 31st of August (I return home on the 2nd of September). I can honestly be true and faithful in saying that I have written you all every week for an entire year! Some have been shorter than others, but it has been weekly.
With every week that passes, I have been attempting to look past the monotonous and into some highlights which differ from week to week. As more experience is put under my belt, more knowledge I obtain, and the more the Lord has opened my eyes. He has blessed me with a broad gamut of vision and I am doing all I can to help it increase, and when I find myself employed in the Lord's work, I receive the Lord's pay.
One such payment was the opportunity to listen to the testimony of an Apostle of the Lord, Elder Holland. I have already written of the immense testimony builder this was for me, but I would simply like to reiterate this foundation as experience this was. I can with many questions, and received more answers than what I came with. God truly does work through "His servants, the prophets" (Amos 3:7).
How great this opportunity was and how sweet the words from his mouth, but yet there is one experience from last week to top it, at least in my mind.
We have been doing much street contacting over the past few days yielding quite a bit of success. We passed a man and began to talk with him about His religious life; we were pressed for time so we wrote down his address and gave our word to stop back by. As Sunday evening rolled around Elder Ewell and I decided to stop by this gentleman's home and continue our discussion and hopefully teach him of the restored gospel of Christ.
When we knocked, he flew open the door and readily bade us to come in. On one of his walls was a painting done by some Christian artist of a pathway resembling the story found in 1 Nephi 8 and 11. We could see this man was very religious and had a firm faith in Christ. As we started asking questions, he began to open up to us, telling us of his past life. This gentleman, about 50 years old, has had some very interesting experiences that have brought him closer to God, and his family was a major factor in his life.
We had been talking for about 10 minutes when the door opened and his parents stepped in. They just returned home and were shocked to find two young men in their home, discussing religion. They sat down and began to listen to what the Spirit was saying. The questioning was soon passed from our mantle as they wanted to know more about the Church that Christ built. As we passed through each point of the restoration, the Spirit flooded the room as their questions/concerns increased. Thoroughly we covered the Apostasy (wherein most of their questions lay).
Elder Ewell and I used scriptures which we both had neglected for many months and were telling them of these precious truths straight from our hearts. The need for the Restoration was made manifest right before their Spiritual eyes. There was at one point when the lady looked at me and said "You guys are pretty big on this priesthood thing, Huh?' "OF COURSE WE ARE!" I wanted to yell at her, not in anger but in pure joy and love.
As we began to tell them of the Restoration through the Prophet Joseph Smith, the Spirit pressed strongly upon my heart as I testified of this great man. How sweet the peace that was felt! They could not deny the feelings they had, no matter what they had been told. The man kept trying to come up with a rebuttal, but the Spirit relieved his heart.
We told them of the Book of Mormon and the truth therein. Now here, I make my juncture,, never before had I received a more powerful, a more overwhelming sense of peace and joy than in this family's home. Pure charity was distilled upon the points of my testimony, and was manifest through the Spirit with which we bore.
Satan works quickly upon the children of men. As soon as I had finished testifying of my love for the Book of Mormon, this gentleman looked me straight in the eye and told me everything I had just said was false! A lie! Untrue! I wished sincerely to change his thoughts, because I had been changed forever. I know it and I know that he knew it, but that was a test for me to go through (1 Nephi 20:8-11).
I love you all and pray for you always! And Kale is going to the WVM! (Or India)
Love,
Elder Rex Hamblin
Monday, 2 September 2013
Email 9/02/13
I don't have a lot to say this week, but a picture says a thousand words. Here are some brief expainations:
0396 is a picture of Elder Ewell myself and some Elders that we just went on an exchange with
0391 is a door of a less active family that we have been teaching. We are just used to seeing the opposite.
0387 this is Elder Ewell and me at the beach in Seaside. We had to use our tags to balance out the pictures.
0383 this is the Elders in our District. The one in the coat is our amazing DL.
0375 this is Elder Ewell with the prize for our zone's "Walkie & Talkie" competition.
I love you all and hope that you have a good week!
Love,
Elder Hamblin
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