Email 02/03/14

Well greetings from Portlandia, land of the weird and the social. Portland was hopping from the game last night, which I thought was a little funny. In the Alameda ward boundaries we have really two classes of people, very middle-class rich and poverty. Not too much in-between. All the people within the poverty side of the area are always watching sports, so that was no surprise. What was more interesting was that the richer side of the area never watches sports and complains how everyone is too caught up into sports and those sorts of things when there is so much more out there (like sports...don't ask...it still doesn't make sense). Anyway, everyone was watching the game last night, so there wasn't too many people to talk to on the streets and all of our investigators were at someone else's home watching the game. That is when it FINALLY hit me, as much as I love to watch the Superbowl (and sports in general), sports are one of Satan's greatest twists in this life. Innocent and simple, we get too caught up in the trivial things of this world and replace the hierarchy of God's gifts for the simple yet complex "releases" of the mind. Sorry it sounds like I am blowing up on this, but we have had a few too many people not willing to give up what they want at the moment for what they want most. It can be a little frustrating, but in the end when they DO realize what the kingdom of God has to offer them, it is completely and totally worth all the frustration and disappointment that we express while in the conversion process. For those who stick it out to the end, rewards far greater than Superbowl glory, musical immortality, and yes even monetary wealth, will be honorably bestowed upon our heads for each true blessing we can count.

Yes it can be said that it is much easier to stew on only one conceivable imperfection in our own imperfect mortal plan, than it is to simply count the bounteous blessings contained in the pure and perfect Plan of Happiness created by one who loves us much more than we can love ourselves. We seem to follow the example of Laman and Lemual much more than that of Nephi or Sam. As we look Heaven-ward and seek out those blessings which only God can bestow, freedom of choice is granted to our moral agency. The opposite can be said of our other choices. Freedom is clearly taken away as we think only of our immediate reward. Anyway...

I am staying here in the Alameda ward for at least one more transfer, and the best part is that Elder Ehrenzeller will be staying with me! This will be the first time that I will have had a companion for this long since I had Elder Olsen the first time! So there are blessings in counting blessings and that is for sure! Sorry there isn't more to this letter, but I have been having a blast. Sometimes when I e-mail, life just makes so much more sense.

I love you all and pray for you always!

Love,

Elder Rex Hamblin

Email 1/27/14

Well...craziness that was this past week. I know I haven't sent pictures in a while, so here are some "newer"ones!

Love,

Elder Hamblin

Email 1/13/14

What the heck! No one ever told me about Tell! Man, the things that you miss on your mission! I hope that the family is doing good and that everything is working out. That is sad to see one such as him go. Please let the Udall family know that I will be praying for them and that even though they are Udall's, I still love them.

Well, sorry about my letter this past week. I bet you are thinking to yourself "What letter?" Exactly, we were just about to leave this morning and I grabbed my notebook and realized that my letter from last week never got sent off. I don't know what has been happening lately, but I can't remember a single thing. I could have sworn that I sent you all that letter, but it will come in the mail this week!

Thank you soooooo much for the GPS, it definitely makes life a whole lot easier to get from appointment to appointment in an efficient amount of time. I know that I have not been as grateful for everything that you all sacrifice for me, but I really do appreciate it all. I haven't been as diligent at writing or as good at sending pictures (but let's face it, I never really was anyway), or any of the small and simple things that show my gratitude, but you will never know the thankfulness and love for all of you that I have in my heart. I have never found it too easy to love people, and I think that is why God puts us in families and sends us on missions. The charity that we learn in these two foreordained factions leaves an enlarged place to expand in each human soul who desires to willingly participate in these units. I only hope that you all will never forget how much I really do love and appreciate everything you do, whether I show it or not;).

This week has been good. We may have offended one of our top investigators, so it looks like we are going to have to apply some of that charity that is needed here soon. He has been investigating the church for a while and were trying to make daily contact with him to see if that will help him progress. We asked him one day if we could come over and he said that he didn't feel like it. A little upset we told him that he knew that he had to meet with us. He had told us again and again how much better he felt after we came by, so we thought that it might work. Since then we haven't heard from him. Yesterday we were talking with the family who is fellowshipping him, and they said that he took what we were trying to say as being too pushy.  As I have been thinking about this, I have learned so much about the charity that Christ must have had when He told the Jews over and over who he was and that he was only there to help them, nothing else. He never forced His will on us, nor can we force our will on anything else. We are going to try and see this man tonight and I think a big bowl of crow soup on our part might be eaten, but in the end it will be worth it!

Love,

Elder Hamblin

Email 1/06/14

The old year dies as we ring in the new. Commitment, change, and improvement are often the subjects for this time of year. We as a people look at our personal lives and try and make changes in three major areas: physical, mental, and spiritual. Each of these characteristic areas lead to improvement in the others, almost unknowingly; if you are exercising you are able to think clearer, which then leads to an open mind to which the Spirit can work more fully with you. When we fail to meet these expectations for ourselves we tend to get sarcastic or upset and say that goal setting is something that nerds do. (I may or may not have said that more than a few times....) But the point to it all is the same--improvement. Yesterday in our Elder's quorum meeting for the YSA ward we had a very interesting discussion on how the Atonement of Christ is in every facet of our lives, including our New Year's Resolution. The topic was more than a little inspired because we had an investigator that we found last week at church who was looking to make some new changes in his life. He seemed amazed at how much Christ is really in our lives and how much our Heavenly Fathers actually does care about us. We will have to see what happens from here, but we were excited for the lesson!

The rest of this week has been amazing! We, as a mission, made the goal when Pres. Taylor got here, that we would find 200 new investigators every week. For 6 months we have not been able to to so, but the New Year also brings new miracles! Last week we, as a mission, found 208 new people who want to know more about the gospel! Not only that, but since I have been here in Portland we have made it our goal to find 30 new investigators, and last week we achieved that goal too! I attribute it all to talking to everyone we see. What blessings this brings!

Well, I love you all and pray for miracles in your lives all the time!

Love,

Elder Hamblin

P.S. I just found my letter that I was supposed to send last week...so you will get two in a day:) Love you!

Email 12/30/13

Happy Holidays from the great city of Portland! I think that I can still say that right? I should be, after all I am serving in the most "politically correct" city on the face of this planet, and here in Portland we are always right! I guess it serves me right, but I still think that it is just down right funny. For instance, the high school right behind the library where I am e-mailing from (and where I e-mail from every week) is called the Jefferson High Democrats, complete with a donkey as the mascot. I wish I could say that I was joking, but I'm not. Other than that, it is amazing to see how different people respond to you. The other week wee were tracting and ran into a woman who was convinced that we were brain washed and that Christianity in general is the cause for everything that is wrong in the world. Now she wasn't the first person to say this, nor will she be the last, she just happens to be the stereotype of most of Portland--uninformed about a merciful and just God. If we would have so much as said anything against what she thinks, we would have more than likely ended up having a nice conversation with the other men in uniform. BUT the good news is that many people are just that, uninformed! What an easy and very fixable problem to have! We were able to see through this Christmas season the hardest of people let their guard down and listen to us even for the briefest of moments. I know that God will never take away our agency, but when it comes time to celebrate His Son's birth, I think that He opens people's minds just a little bit, even when they would normally turn away!

Now this Christmas has been one of the best yet! We were supposed to spend it in the prison, but we some paperwork didn't get filed and we ended up walking around the streets of Portland with our brothers and sisters who had no one else to spend Christmas with. We had many good and uplifting conversations with people and had experiences to boost us through the rest of the week. I really love this holiday season, and am ready to carry out the Spirit throughout the rest of this year. I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Love,

Elder Hamblin

Email 12/16/13

Crazy is the season, but we all still remember the reason! We have transfers this coming up on Wednesday and Elder Barrett is going to be transferred to Vancouver. I will be getting a missionary who is already in my zone, and has been in the zone for sometime, Elder Ehrenzeller. It is too bad, I was looking forward to spending Christmas together with Elder Barrett, but I know Elder Ehrenzeller pretty well and am super excited to spend this wonderful Christmas season with him! He is really funny and LOVES to work, so I don't think that I can go wrong with that! I will miss Elder Barrett, though. We have only been together for 5 weeks, but it feels like so much longer. He has really become one of my best friends and a man that I really look up to. Next transfer will be 7 weeks, to accommodate the week that we lost for our Christmas transfer. I don't think that I told you, but we lost a week so we wouldn't have transfers on Christmas day, and next transfer we will be making it up.

With all the commotion our zone saw much success. Elder Barrett and I were called up twice on Friday to do baptismal interviews for the next day! People are really beginning to feel the change that is coming in the world and will are responding positively. We are finding more and more people who are that much more interested in talking about their families, their religion, or something that they unknowingly know as a gospel principle. Sometimes I want to yell and shout for joy when they start on a topic like that, but then they would just get more freaked out, so I have to refrain myself.

Well, I told you last week that I would share some of my thoughts about the Savior this week (thanks for the subtle reminder;). In the introduction of the Book of Mormon there are two very intriguing topics. The first is found in the 3rd paragraph in saying: "It [The Book of Mormon]...tells men what they must do to gain peace in this life and eternal salvation in the life to come." Now this may not seem too special, but I see it as a blessing to the promise found in the last two paragraphs of the introduction. When one follows the instructions given in the introduction then we are promised that we come to know "that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world." This is the second of the two topics that I had mentioned. Both are highly intertwined into one promise-coming to know Jesus Christ is to have peace in this life and eternal salvation in the life to come.

There is nothing that I know to be more true. We have a loving Father in Heaven whose greatest gift to man is to dwell in His presence (D&C 88:4-5). One way that we take part in this is by having His Spirit to always be with us so we can live continually in His presence. As we know, though, that we sin in which we fall from the feelings that the Holy Ghost brings unto us. Our purpose here is to have joy (2 Nephi 2:25) and we are inherently seeking to imitate these feelings of the Spirit. Without the gospel perspective, we are lost, seeking for that which the natural man desires causing us to fall into deeper sin and self gratification. Therefore we needed a Savior, someone to teach us, either Himself or through His holy prophets, to bring us back into the presence of our Father, both in this life and in the life to come. His resurrection will bring us into the presence of our Heavenly Father after this life, and His Atonement allows us to return to the presence of the Father everyday. 

I know that I have drawn nearer to my Savior and how grateful I am to do so. This peace is so real, the presence of the Father through the Holy Ghost is only possible through my Savior, Jesus Christ. AND I LOVE HIM FOR THAT! How sweet is the passage in Luke "For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord." Jesus Christ is my Savior and gave his life for me. That is the greatest knowledge that I can speak of.

I love you all and hope you have a merry week!

Love,

Elder Hamblin

P.S. I am good with the packages I love you!

Email 12/09/13

I found my camera!! A missionary had it in his bag and didn't look in it for a few weeks, so here are some pics! I do have to make a request though--please do not post the baptismal photo anywhere. Th church has asked us not to post anything like that on Facebook or on any blogs and things like that. They want to keep the privacy of the individuals. Thanks!

 Today most of our zone went to Multnomah Falls and they were almost completely frozen over. We had a very good time there and that is why I am e-mailing a little later than normal. It was freezing there, but as we hiked the warm spirit from my fellow missionaries kept us all warm all the way to the top of the falls, and what an amazing time to be there.

I don't quite know when I will be able to Skype home. We have transfers on the 18th and I will find out a time for sure right after that. I think that it will most likely be around 3-4 your time, but I told Sister Hamblin to pick a time and I will make it work...I hope!

Well I don't have too much more time, there is much that I have to get done! Mother, let me think on my thoughts this week and I will get back to you next week. Just remind me, or else I will forget to write you my thoughts. I love you and hope that you all have a good week!

Love,

Elder Hamblin