8/11/14

Hello there! Sorry for last week, I am still trying to recover. The time is flying; can you believe that it is almost half way through August! Uggh! The time is definitely far spent. However the blessings keep flowing as the work keeps rolling and the miles keep coming along.

One such blessing is in a part member family that the YSA Elders found and referred over to us. This last week Elder Twitchell and I went over to their apartment and talked to them. The mother had joined the church about 14 years ago in California and watched her family prosper in the church. Her son received his Patriarchal Blessing and she wanted to receive hers, but let other things get in the way. That led to a divorce in her marriage and to meet her current husband. They moved up here to Gresham and the YSA Elders went to contact the son. The current father of the family said that he had family that are members of the church and would like to know more. When we came over this week the couple said that they had been going to various churches, even though the wife always knew that our church was the only true one, the man said that he would just like to find a place that he could understand what was going on. There are many blessings from the work!

Also this week as we were texting one of our more solid investigators, she drop us. She had been gone for about a month with the death and funeral of her brother. The ward here has been super though! The Bishop was in constant contact with her, many people from the ward tried to visit her (too bad she was out of town) and someone from the ward came by and took care of her lawn. She had only come to church about 3 times, and to see the our pouring of love from the ward was quite amazing! She had found a guy going to another church and decided to go with him. Before her brother died we ate dinner with her and she had left us with a ton of leftovers, so now we have to return all her Tupperware, so we will have to see what will happen!

Other than that there has not been too much going on. Well...our district really wanted to do some service to help unify us. We haven't been able to find any so the Sisters in our district took matters into their own hands and called up the county to tell them we were going to clean up a road in their area. It was fun to get out there all as a district and help clean up the local area. 

Hope that is what you were looking for mom! I love you all!

Love,

Elder Hamblin

Email 7/28/14

Well hello there everyone! This week has been full of ups and downs, but you now sometimes the ups out number the downs. Everything here in Gresham is going great! Elder Twitchell and I have been adjusting to the two new Elders in our apartment, Elder Santo and Elder Smith. They are wonderful missionaries full of energy and love to work with people. They have come home every night now with a new story to tell or a new burn to show;) I think that this will be a wonderful transfer.

The summer heat is here in Oregon and we are seeing many new people open up. Last night I was reading through one of my old journals and I found a quote that I had put in there from good ol' Dad; he said: "People don't view the world as it is but rather as they perceive it to be." It seems that  when the summer is here, people here in the great NW seem to soak deep in the rays of the sun helping them feel better. This in turns helps them see the world a little different, a little better. I love to talk to people that are already happy, they just seem to be more receptive. Sorry I don't have too much more to say than that. I love you all and hope that you are all doing well!

Love,

Elder Hamblin 

Email 7/21/14

Well hello there! This past week was a little slower than many of the previous ones, but I still had a ball with Elder Twitchell. We got our transfer news this past week, Elder Twitchell and I will be staying together (thank goodness) but unfortunately Elder Burk and his companion, Elder Goldman, are being transferred. That is too bad because I thought that I would be able to finish my mission with a great childhood friend, but God doesn't do random so I think that it will be for the best. We are getting two new Elders in are area, and I don't know either one of them very well. It is a little sad to see everyone move on and try and get to know everyone coming in. Frustrating, but fun. 

Other than the transfer news there hasn't been a whole lot of excitement. Many of our investigators have been going through many trails and have not been able to meet with us. It is a sad sight to see what many of the people have to go through. I know that each and every trial that we have was designed for each individual personality, but I am grateful that I do not have to go through what many of these people struggle with. I hope and pray that we have taught these people enough and allowed them to feel the Spirit enough to help them see that the gospel is the answer. It scares me to death to think that I may have neglected my duty somewhere and these people will not be able at this time to be comforted by the gospel which brings so much hope to we who have it. I know that these people will accept the gospel eventually, but I in my mortal minds want to force it on them now! However I realize that it might be extremely counterproductive considering all the other trials they are being put through. One trail at a time. One focus at a time. We are here simply to motivate and provide another option.

I love you all and hope that you have a great week (especially you Ship:)!

Love,

Elder Hamblin

Email7/14/14

Well hello there! Things here in Gresham are just as good as ever. We are having more fun than a scout in the middle of a knife throwing competition. Fun. Elder Twitchell is the man, he is pretty blunt, but it is fun to be with him nonetheless. He is a very simple and clear teacher of the gospel, which makes him very harmonious to work with. The people here in Gresham simply need simplicity in their lives and Elder Twitchell is the right man for the job. I love serving with the guy.

This week was above normal. President Taylor has asked us to focus a little more on the sheep here in our pastures who were once a part of this fold but now find themselves apart from us. We have been focusing our efforts around this inspiration and have seen quite a few miracles already unfold from our obedience. Many of the less-active members that I have attempted to contact in the past were simply unwilling to meet with us and change their ways. A simple invite into their homes was almost never extended as we would stand at the door and talk. This past week, however, an open-door policy has seemed to rest in the hearts of those we were set out to find. Many have invited us back and were ever kind to us. Now we will have to wait and see what will happen to these future faithful members.

Other than that we have been doing well. The great NW is a great place to be this time of year--there are many fresh berries along the roadsides and just as many people out and about to talk to! I love you all and hope that you have a fantastic week!

Love,

Elder Hamblin

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