7/07/14

Well Hello there! This week was alright. It definitely didn't feel like the build-up to the 4th of July, there just weren't that many people that had the flag up in their yard, no one was talking about it, and (of course) there was no lining up of chairs on the main street for a small town parade. Just not the same, however it was still fun. On the 4th the stake put on a breakfast and had a flag raising. It was good to see that the members of the Church know what is means to be patriotic! That evening we went with some members to a BBQ and some fireworks. Just a normal day other than that. My birthday was fun; the Elders here took care of me pretty well. They bought me a cake and some funky glasses and sang me "Happy Birthday." Then they told one of our investigators (who is very well known for throwing parties) and we went to her home for dinner last night where she made carrot cake cheesecake. MMMMMMMmmmmmmmm.

Other than that we had a pretty good week. It was a little slower, but that just means that we can work a little harder! There is just so much to do here, we are just trying all of our options. We have already seen so many miracles just from being here, and we are excited to see what will happen next! I love you all!

Elder Hamblin

P.S. Mom, thank you so much for being the wonderful person that you are! I love you for all that you do! I got the paperwork for BYU-I, and I need my I-number for that, but I don't know what it is. Could you get that for me? Thanks! 

Email 06/23/14

Hello Family!

Sorry no video this week. I kept on forgetting to make a video and the all the Elders in the apartment really wanted to come and e-mail this morning so I didn't have time to make one. I know that you are all crushed, but don't worry hopefully I will get a few made this week! Well I did have one video but that was a bunch of Native Americans that were all dressed up and dancing in a parking lot that we saw yesterday as we were walking around and talking to people. It was pretty intense but that was about it;)

This week was amazing, but there wasn't a whole lot done. We are still trying to get the work going here, but there hasn't been too much success...yet! We have been going through all of the former investigators, potentials, media referrals, and just about any list that we can extract from the Ward Council. The ward here is great and is so willing to help with anything we ask, but we just haven't found the people to work with yet. BUT there are still many, many things that are going on. We called just about every number that we had in the phone and then some (and Mom you know how much I hate talking on the phone) and we had quite a bit of success. We were able to talk to many of the people we called just to find out that they have moved out of the area. The good news is that many of them were still interested in learning about the gospel so we sent off four or five referrals. At least the work is going somewhere!

We were able to see an investigator that we inherited from the previous Elders. She is very interested in learning and already shares many of the beliefs that we have. She also was offended by the pastor of her previous church so that kinda helps! She invited the four of us Elders to her birthday party that she had for herself, so we decided to go and meet the rest of her family. When we got there we realized that she had invited a few people from her previous church including her pastor. He is a Southern Baptist African-American pastor so right when he walked in we could feel the burn of his stare on us. I thought that he was an interesting guy once we got to know him, but apparently he didn't think the same of us. Well, I think she got the point across to him that she wasn't going back to that church any more!

One last story! This week I just knew there was going to be a miracle, I didn't know how or when but I knew there was going to be one. Thursday night we went to the church to sync our I-pads, and I got a message on Facebook from a Sister in our mission saying that they were teaching a woman named Elizabeth who had asked if I could baptize her. I had no idea what in the world she was talking about, but then I noticed I got a friend request from this said Elizabeth. I looked at her profile and recognized her immediately! I had taught this woman a year ago, almost to the day, in Woodland! After I had left Woodland she moved and told the missionaries that she just wasn't interested anymore. I couldn't believe that when those missionaries told me that because she was purely golden. I thought that Elizabeth was lost forever. I wrote her real quick to see if it really was her and she said it was! She said that she thought a lot about what Elder Babbitt and I had taught her and realized this was for her. She realized she needed to get back in contact with the missionaries to have the happiness back in her life. I couldn't believe that she had even remembered us from a year ago. Miracles happen daily!

Love,

Elder Hamblin 

Email 6/02/14

Dear Family,

Sorry I don't have much time for today to write much! We are going on
a hike today, so I have to write this real quick. This past week was
amazing, as always! I love being back in the country (well it is kinda
like the country). I really like to serve here because I can actually
love the people without having to force myself. Most of the people
here are level headed and have the "right" frame of mind, if you catch
my drift;) I really loved the people of Portland, but it was a much
harder adjustment to make. These people are very concerned about their
relationships with their family, friends, and (what I am most proud
of) God. Most of the people here are God fearing and just want to live
their lives the best way they know how. The only hard part is that
this is a much smaller area and it has been combed through many times
over. That is just dandy because the more contact with the church, the
better!

This past week some of our investigators became very solid out of
nowhere! We were happy about that because we have been really hard to
find people to teach or help the people that we have desire to want
the gospel. I realized this past week that there is almost nothing I
can do to help then desire the gospe more; what my job is to create an
environment where the Spirit can testify to them that the gospel is
true (PMG 92). Once they known this, God grants them with the gift of
faith. Once they have this God given treasure, miracles are able to
happen!

Sorry I don't have more, but I have to go! Love you all!

Love,
Elder Hamblin

Email 5/26/14

Dear Family,

Sorry I don't have much time for today to write much! We are going on
a hike today, so I have to write this real quick. This past week was
amazing, as always! I love being back in the country (well it is kinda
like the country). I really like to serve here because I can actually
love the people without having to force myself. Most of the people
here are level headed and have the "right" frame of mind, if you catch
my drift;) I really loved the people of Portland, but it was a much
harder adjustment to make. These people are very concerned about their
relationships with their family, friends, and (what I am most proud
of) God. Most of the people here are God fearing and just want to live
their lives the best way they know how. The only hard part is that
this is a much smaller area and it has been combed through many times
over. That is just dandy because the more contact with the church, the
better!

This past week some of our investigators became very solid out of
nowhere! We were happy about that because we have been really hard to
find people to teach or help the people that we have desire to want
the gospel. I realized this past week that there is almost nothing I
can do to help then desire the gospe more; what my job is to create an
environment where the Spirit can testify to them that the gospel is
true (PMG 92). Once they known this, God grants them with the gift of
faith. Once they have this God given treasure, miracles are able to
happen!

Sorry I don't have more, but I have to go! Love you all!

Love,
Elder Hamblin

Email 5/19/14

Family! How are ya'll doing? This past week was crazy! We started the
week off with zone conference, which is always amazing! (You fellow
missionaries can attest to that.) We had a Sister that had recently
returned from her mission from the Philippines. She came home after
suffering from PTSD from when the typhoon hit, she happened to be
serving right in the city where the eye of the storm hit. She told of
intense life and death situations that her and her the missionaries
she was with were put in. After all that all 204 missionaries were
safe! Kinda made you think of your current trials and put them back
into perspective. Not more than a day after that I read through Alma
14, so I think that God was really trying to out my trials back into
perspective:)

Then after a week of Stake Reports (which are always my favorite;) I
went on the craziest exchange that I have yet to have on my mission.
After we had exchanged on Friday night we got a text from one of their
investigators that said that she couldn't stand to live in her current
situation and didn't know who else to turn to. She was living with a
LA who was using the church for money and using Craig's List to find
sketchy guys to come and rent rooms from her so she didn't have to pay
rent. That night there was served an eviction notice before the end of
the month. Their investigator had had just about enough of the LA and
wanted to get out ASAP. The next morning the Elders I was with called
the RSP and asked for help. Within twenty minutes she had found a
place with an older lady in the ward who needed help around the house.
We tried calling their investigator back but she had class until 12
and then had to take several buses for a few hours before she got
home. In the meantime we had to get back in contact wit he RSP and let
her know so we could get everything of their investigator's out before
the LA got home from work. We call the RSP and no answer. We biked to
her house just to find her not home. We waited for a few minutes, and
with the time running low, we decided to pray for her to be able to
get in contact with us. We looked both ways down the road and seeing
no cars, we bowed our heads and set off a prayer. As soon as we said
"Amen" we heard the gravel to the driveway crunch! I believe in prayer
now. Anyway, after a long caraway day, we got their investigator and
her dead truck out of the LA, but not without MUCH drama!! Needless to
say, some things got heated and the RSP called the LA lady nuts and
got a few colorful words thrown right back at her. Very interesting
day to say the least, and I wish I could right down all the details of
the day, but this email would be way too long!

What did impress me most about that day was the love the missionaries
had for that investigator. They went to great lengths to help her in
her great time of need. She is just about the coolest person that has
had the HARDEST of time, and to see what they were willing to do was a
true lesson to me! I love you all!

Love,
Elder Hamblin

Email 5/05/14

Hello y'all! How all y'all doing? I don't know how long this is going
to be because I think that I don't have a lot to say...;) so here we
go!

This week was transfers! After 7 months in Portland, got shipped to
they suburb of Portland called Troutdale. We have a small chunk of
Troutdale but have a huge area full of mountains and trees, so I feel
like I am at home;) I love it here! All the people that we have talked
to are extremely kind and love to talk, not too many are interested in
the gospel, but we give them something to think about. The people here
remind me a lot of the people in my first few areas: kind, humble,
hard working, and diligent in what they believe. My new companion is a
stalwart of a missionary and a very good friend of mine, Elder
Solomon. He served near me the whole time I was in Longview, and came
over to Portland with me for three transfers. I am thoroughly enjoying
my time with him thus far and we will see how the rest of the transfer
goes!

Recently Pres. Taylor has invited us to re-read the Book of Mormon, no
matter where we were currently at. That was a little bit of a bummer,
considering that I was in Mormon, but as I have been reading through
this time, I have seen miracles. I have been focusing on faith and the
power that it brings into our lives. I had many questions about what
faith really is and why it is so important. On Friday we were at a
meeting with Pres. Taylor and he told us that the reason that he had
us start the Book of Mormon over is to increase the over all faith of
the mission. He then went on to answer almost every question that had
been accumulating in my mind over the recent weeks. I know that the
Book of Mormon is the most correct book that God has thus far caused
to be written.

I love you all and will talk to you Sunday!

Love,
Elder Hamblin

Email 4/28/14

Hello there ones and all! This week we received our transfer
letters...and I will be leaving my beloved Portlandia:(. Not too
excited for that, but I will be going to a companion that I have known
for quite sometime. I am headed over to Gresham, just on the outskirts
of Portland, so I won't be too far away. Transfers are on Wednesday,
so I am going to live it up while I am here in Portland for the last
two days and try to talk to almost everyone that we see!

The rest of this week was another big growing experience for me. It
seems that when we try our hardest, Satan comes in the most
interesting of ways and really tries to hit us where it really counts.
Some of the people that we have been seeing have seem to have just
stalled and don't want to progress; they want us to come over, but
they didn't want to do anything. I have a bad habit of becoming upset
when things like this happen, but then I realized something that Elder
Holland said when he was here: "We are God's investigators." When this
thought came to me I realized what I had been missing this whole time!
I was getting content with the work that I had been doing and the
results that we have been seeing. I saw in myself a spiritual plateau,
which as we all know in the gospel is always a sign of regressing.
What a spiritual slap in the face that was! Now the challenge to
continually change for the better is the task that I am in, and I know
that as I start to change again, others will also. Funny how that
works huh?

Anyway, everyone here is doing great! The one guy, Erick, that we took
on the temple trip is super excited to be baptized! His fiancé won't
be here until the beginning of June, so I won't be here for his
baptism. But we have a set of Sisters in our ward who had a baptism
this past week and the man that they had baptized asked Erick to give
the closing prayer. He was a little nervous, but handled better than I
have seen any of our other investigators pray before. It is a true
miracle to see how prepared everyone is!

I love you all and had to Skype you all soon!

Love,