May 25, 2015 This week in Machala!!

May 25, 2015 This week in Machala!!

Soo first of all!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO my amazing Dad this 31st of may!!!!!! Happy birthday to that stud of a Dad!! That man who gives an example to everyone! Thanks for everything!  Also HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my wonderful sister!! Brittany!!!!!!!!  Happy birthday to you girl my wonderful beautiful sister! I totally remembered you guys!! ha ha Mom didn't even remind me! I totally remembered my family! haha

This week was good! we have had to do a lot of things!! We have had to do a bunch of interviews for baptisms! This week just like the last one has gone by super super fast!!!  

 It's super different here than in Naranjal!  In naranjal I had a story every single day! Here the days just go by like seconds!  I never never remember what we do!! But we had a baptism this week!!  So that was just awesome!  His name is Javier!! He is a chill guy!!  They asked me to speak in the baptism! So I did that!  I feel so boring because this week we have just done the usual! But this Sunday I totally made breakfast burritos for me and my companion and they were delicious!!! Like straight up!  We are literally just working our brains off here! This week we have had over 40 lessons and we have just put new dates!  The next week we will have 10 baptisms as a zone! So we hope to finish the month with over 25 baptisms! Eso!!   It's low for this zone but were working hard! I love you soo much! Thanks for everything and really HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my Dad and my wonderful sister Brittany!!!!

Love, Elder Hammond miss you guys soo much!!

 

                                              Feliz Cumpleanos Brittany!!!!

                                           Feliz cumpleanos Dad!!!!!

 

May 18, 2015 Machala!

May 18,  2015 Machala!

HOLA!! 11 months in the mission TODAY!!   WHAT?!! Where the heck does time goo like seriously I was not just at the Mexico CCM a year ago!! ha ha soo fun!! Well just like you guys,  I don't even remember what I did this week!! Well I kind of do. We seriously just worked our tails off!!  So, on  Monday night my companion from Peru had changes, I was only with him for 1 week!  So I had to lead all the meetings of district all by myself!  We dropped off my comp at like 3 in the morning. I was sooo TIRED! But that's okay! My new companion came and his name is Elder Kindred! He has  22 months in the mission! And he is cool! He is a great leader and we get along just great! I am super excited to learn from him! We work our tails off and we have plans to raise the zone! here! I am excited!!  

 Seriously, this week has gone by super fast and we have invited a lot of people here to church and to be baptized! We brought over 11 people to church yesterday!  We are giving the example in the zone! So that's cool!!

Lets see... what have we done.... we literally have just worked and taught alot of people this week! We had a good lesson with L.  I really do love testifying of the truthfulness of the gospel and declaring that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God!! He saw God and Jesus Christ!! Angels have come to the earth! We are His servants!! I really do love this work!  I love being a leader here in Machala! I love it! I am learning soo many things that I would have never learned outside the mission! I can just feel myself changing everyday! Helping missionaries and helping investigators and helping the ward! It's  a  little hard because I feel that the ward just hates my guts! A little  because my comp has been here before and all the members know  and adore him so it's a little hard. But I am trying to have a good attitude about it! I love you guys all soo much and I hope you guys have an amazing week!! Haylee, super super proud of you for just rocking it up on your dance recital!!  Brooke and Brielle and Jared !! Just like WOW!! Tearing it up on soccer that's my family!! Love you all soo very much!! 

Elder Hammond

Talking to Elder Hammond for Mothers day!

We were able to Skype !!! It was truly amazing!!! His testimony and spirit is shining high!!! He made his Mom and Dad so proud!! I know we are not supposed to be proud so we are just soooo extremely happy for him! Wow!!! What a wonderful, happy spiritual time!!!! Life is great!!!! Amazing son!!!!

May 11, 2015 Transferred to Machala! FELIZ DIA DE LA MADRE!

May 11,  2015 Transferred to Machala!! FELIZ DIA DE LA MADRE!

Wow,  was it just  SOOO AMAZING TO HEAR AND SEE MY FAMILY!!!  What a blessing to see that my family is good and doing soo well!! Wow, I JUST LOVED TALKING TO YOU GUYS!!!! AHH! It was soo hard for me to say bye. I could have talked to you guys for hours! One hour isn't enough!! ha ha  Wow, its Mothers day!!!

 Literally I don't speak English that well anymore and cant say many words but really to my Mother, I love you soo much!! Really mom,  your amazing! You are quite the mom and the mom that really everyone wants!! Almost every missionary is jealous of the Mom I have because of all the support I get from her!! She is soo Christlike and wonderful and beautiful and always wants to share the gospel!! She's amazing my mother!! She is soo loving and soo kind to EVERYONE!!! Absolutely everyone! She is always so happy and she is my queen!! I will always be grateful to my loving wonderful absolutely GORGEOUS!! Mother!! love you Mom happy mothers day!! 

Well, CHANGES!!! Yup after the meeting with President Torres, I had changes!  I had to pack all my stuff right when I got back which was at like 9 o'clock at night!! When I got there so many people from the branch were  there  just balling their eyes out!! Men too! The people that I taught were just like I will never forget you Elder Hammond I will never forget how happy and how powerful you were here! Thanks for everything - there were 10 people! I was like NO!! I don't want to leave!! hahaha but I had changes to Machala!!

I am here again!! How crazy!! I am still a zone leader but a zone with 16 missionaries!! How about that!!  A HUGE ZONE!! And huge potential! Here we go bring it!! I'm ready to work!! haha I am with a companion from Peru who has 22 months in the mission! I wish he would show me more love but that's okay! haha I love this zone and I hope I can prove to the Lord why he needs me here! We had our zone meeting and I got everyone happy and made some jokes to try and gain the confidence of the missionaries!! It was fun!!

Please pray for me!   Wow,  it was just so fun to see my family this week to see my wonderful family and that they are good! Thanks so much my wonderful family your just the greatest!! Another shout out here in Ecuador serving the Lord!!!

Elder Hammond                 Para Mi Madre!

                                      Our Zone here in Machala!

                    This is the family that gave me food everyday!!!!

Leadership Council !!  I'm in the back row rt side  6th from end

May 4, 2015 May the 4th be with you!! Naranjal!

May 4,  2015    May the 4th be with you!! Naranjal!

  This week was awesome!!  SO many things to tell in SO little of time!! haha

 On Tuesday I had such a cool experience that I never thought I would have! We were talking to a man that had 92 years of age!  I couldn't understand him real well, but I was trying to listen and talk to him!  He said what do you think of marriage!  I said  "families can be together forever!" He said marriage don't work out,  because they don't understand sacrifice! I thought wow, that's such  a powerful concept!! I loved it!!  I was like it's soo true! The church requires sacrifice!!  So powerful!!  It's soo true marriages don't work out, enduring to the end is soo hard and is because people don't know how to sacrifice!! Missionaries go home because they don't know the concept of sacrifice! Being an investigator is hard because it requires sacrifice! I was just blown away by that!! 

Something that happened on Friday that was super cool was, we got to go to a hot spring. We got special permission!  We are a part of leading this branch,  and the youth needed leaders so me and my companion went! It was super super deep into the jungle!! Soo cool!!!!  There was a spring of hot water!  It was a place of Indians!!  Just super super cool we couldn't do anything, but it was soo fun to see Ecuador and the jungle! I loved it!!! 

 Saturday!! We had a baptism!! His name is Patricio! It was awesome! I let my comp baptize him so he could baptize someone in the river!!  It was fun!! Patricio! ha ha We are good buds and it was such  a great opportunity to teach and baptize him!! I love it!!!

 Sunday!! Yeah like always I had to teach gospel doctrine!  I was fasting and it was soo hot and my throat was dying!! My Spanish was wearing out! When I sat down the 2nd counselor asked me to teach the quorum de elders again! haha so 3 hours without sitting and teaching ALL of church!  In total I taught about 100 people about revelation and Prophets! Soo awesome! This week was amazing and a great opportunity to be here in Ecuador! I don't have much time because we are going to Guayaquil right now to a zone leader meeting with President Torres! PLEASE PRAY FOR ME!!!!
Love you!!!!! Elder Hammond

                 

                                      Beautiful Ecuador!!!!

Baptism of Patricio