August 18, 2014
his week. I got a call from President Taylor and he just said I was leaving... I got my visa. I will be leaving the Washington Vancouver Mission on Sep. 2 to go to the MTC in Brazil. To be honest I'm in a whole lot of mixed emotions about all of this. So much time has been
spent thinking about it. I am super excited that I have received my visa and I will be able to go to my original mission call. Then on the other hand I absolutely love this mission. The people in it are
amazing, whether it's other missionaries or just the members of the church out here. I feel like I have a lot going for me out here.. But something I have to keep reminding myself of is that Heavenly Father knows what I need. I was looking forward to finishing training Elder Brase, but that will not be happening haha. Good thing is... I will definitely be coming back here.
So this last p day was a little different, I got to do something I actually enjoy quite a bit. I was able to skateboard for like an hour and a half! I love it, and miss it. It was really fun though. And you will never believe what I had for lunch... ARBYS! Those who know me would be appalled that I ate there. But it just goes to show when you are a missionary you will eat ANYTHING. We seem to take members out for perfect opportunities... And no one answers their doors! Seriously
almost every single time we have taken out a member with us we teach no one. It's alright though because that time has been some of the most fun times I've had. We get to know each other a whole lot better. It is pretty fun. When we are out with them we are all always laughing. When we got dropped off we found like 2-3 lessons. I had a cool experience with the spirit that night too. We were knocking on some doors. I was going to share with her the restoration. Well I felt
like I should talk about the plan of happiness so I did that instead! It was exactly what she needed to hear with a lot of family members passing away recently. Something interesting happened that night as well. It was so humid you could see it in the air! I felt like I was
back home!
We had an awesome experience that I will always remember. We had a mini missionary with us for two days. (Someone who's like 16 who goes
out with us and does everything we do). It was pretty cool for him as well I think. It was nice for him to be able to see both sides of a mission. The side where literally no one talks to you, you try a bunch of places and no one answers their doors. And the other side where you
go and you talk to every single person you talk to and you find miracles along the way. While we were going by all those people it just happened to be raining quite a bit as well. And THUNDERING
thunder never happens out here. I miss that about Kansas. All those super awesome thunderstorms.
Wednesday was one of the craziest days of my mission. In the morning we had zone meeting as well as the mini missionary with us (Tyler Ketring). We also just happened to be going on exchanges with the traveling assistants to the president. I learned quite a bit from that zone meeting. It really put into perspective how many people we are
really affecting if we are able to reach ONE person. It's literally hundreds.
Well I wrote you all a really long letter. It deleted like 2/3 of it... So I guess I will start all over again...
At the end of that zone meeting I had a weird feeling like "this is the last thing I need to learn more about before I go to Brazil" little did I know I was literally going to be sent there 3 weeks from then... Haha. If we are able to reach one person then they are able to reach hundreds more involved with their family and in the future generations. The exchanges with the traveling assistants to the president was amazing. Sheesh Heavenly Father is spite sting my patience hard right now. It took me quite a long time to write that
the first time, now I have to do it again. It is nice to be able to go with missionaries who have been doing this for a while. I always learn so much, and become a better missionary every time. We gave a blessing and it was cool to see that if Heavenly Father wants something said he will make sure it happens. The blessing addressed something completely different, but still something that was pressing on his mind. Amazing
stuff. Then we had dinner with BRO. HARDY. That was when we got a
voicemail from president Taylor telling me to call him back. As you can see we all know why he called that night. Once I found out I wasn't even able to eat for a few minutes because I was shaking so
bad. That night was a great night though. Members are the full time missionaries. Despite what you might think. We are part time because we are only there part of the time. You are there until you move haha. Having people that you trust missionaries teaching is crucial as well.
Go in there with them and let them experience the blessings that this
message brings. That night was a great night because through members we were able to find 2 solid families ready for the gospel. It was amazing. Then we went to a member named peter Clarke! He is super awesome. He's from Jamaica and he made us some Jamaican patties. Super good and spicy, along with some bomb juice. When I told him that I was leaving he said "that sucks" me and him have gotten pretty close over the time I've been here. It's alright because he got us back on
Sunday. He told us that he didn't like how we treated him differently
and how we were racists towards him. He kept it going for like 3 solid minutes. He got us good.
This week was like a week of service or something! Well I guess the last three days. We went to these members and saw they were working on their car. Ever since elder olschewski I have been interested in cars. We asked if we could help and they said no. Well this car was super dirty and gross. Well he got out the pressure washer and I instantly went to go help him. We eventually scrubbed that car squeaky clean. It reminds me of an analogy we can all apply in our lives with anything we have to put work into. That work wasn't easy, it took quite a lot
of effort and time, but it was worth it to see the beauty beneath the dirt and grime. Just like in life. If we have something we need a lot of work with we need to just persevere so we can see the beauty beneath. We even waxed that car to make it look great. I enjoyed it.
Service just makes everyone feel great. Later in the week we were able to even help someone move and then we also helped someone finish this big old cat house. And load it in his car. Thanks for your carpentry skills dad, they are starting to come out a little bit, I am enjoying it more and more. Service is just great :)
Fridays are super weird. But this one was supposed to be a big awesome one! Well no one showed up to theFriday night tour. It was pretty sad, but it's alright because we are going to revamp it for next time... Well they are going to. And it's going to be amazing. I was looking forward to this so I could use my music for something. It didn't work out too well though haha.
I will definitely have to get pictures with people. I just don't think about it, but now that I'm leaving it's on my mind quite a bit more than usual.
We had a breakthrough moment with one of our investigators this week.
Every time we have gone over there he has listened to us, but not really interested in knowing it's true because he has his own beliefs. Well we were able to go into his home this time. First time ever. And he sat down with notes and asked us in depth questions about the Book of Mormon and we were able to bear our testimonies of why we love it,
it gives me a sense of purpose. It makes me feel Gods love for all of us. Now he has had a mighty change of heart and is Earnestly searching for truth.
Church was good. It's funny because the members didn't seem happy I was leaving, but kind of disappointed. Someone even said "Brazil is breaking up the dynamic duo? What the heck?" So I guess you can say we are the dynamic duo here. I love it. We taught 22 lessons this week. The same as last week which is amazing because that's the highest I've taught my whole mission.
A mission is a crazy thing. I don't even understand all that it is doing for me. Time is flying by like crazy. A wise man told me that time flies but you are the pilot. I like to change the phrasing and
say that we are co-pilots with God. It all leans back on trusting in Heavenly Father. Something I know I need to work on.
I love you all, and miss you all. I will be home before either of us know it. It's crazy.
Love,
Elder Hamrick
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