April 25, 2016 Machala

April 25, 2016 Machala
Dear Family, 

This week has been literally one of the most eventful weeks in my whole mission!! It all starts off on Saturday when I just barely ended emailing  my family!! Like 2 hours after!! So, me and my companion had to do some things in the house, all of a sudden I could feel tiny shakes and then more and more and MORE AND MORE!! It started getting super super bad!!!  The entire house just totally started shaking and the lights were going off and then things were falling off shelves, you could hear glass breaking when it would hit!! I was like WHAT?!?! It lasted for like a minute!!  We were like oh my gosh earthquake!! We couldn't believe it!! We were both just shocked, but right when it ended our first thought was the missionaries!! Like, how are they? What happened to them!! We couldn't call ANYBODY!! The phone service was down and it was pitch black!! So thanks to my flashlight that Grandma sent me we used that!! So it was just that!! It has been the news ever since!!

 ha ha on Tuesday I found out I was getting transferred from the office from being AP.  I am training a  new missionary! His name is Elder Parada!! He is from Santa Cruz Bolivia! He is a good guy! Patience in all things! But really we are going to tear it up!! We are going to open a ward and a brand new sector and we don't even have a HOUSE!! haha We looked and we finally found one and found 2 beds and that's where we are sleeping. We have to buy ALL the things for a house!! There's alot!! haha but it's been good!! 

A seventy came, Elder Montoya. He was amazing!  What he said was so inspiring. I got to plan all of his visit.  President told him that Elder Hammond is in Machala and he is going to plan and organize everything there,  so with my son (the new missionary) we did just that. We organized all the missionaries for everything and it went just perfectly!! 

This Sunday we went to church, we need alot of help from the members to help us know where people live and where the boundaries are so we can just keep working super hard!  This week will be amazing!  but I need your prayers in all things!  I love you all soo very much!! We are all good here!! The Lord is blessing us!!! We are praying to have a baptism here this week!! Start baptizing like crazy again!! That's something I have missed!! I love you so much!!

Elder Hammond

 Water and supplies for Manabi

My best friend in the Centenario ward

new missionaries

My new Comp Elder Parada

  

Saying bye to Elder Soto

April 16, 2016 Guayaquil

April 16, 2016 Guayaquil 

 THIS WEEK!!!! This week has been SOO CRAZY!! And it has been soo amazing, I can't even believe it!! We have gone EVERYWHERE to work to preach the gospel!! I love it so much!!  We left to go to pasaje at 3 in the morning!  When we got to Santa Rosa we had to shave in the terminal bathroom because we got to work right away!! We worked all that day with the elders there in Pasaje!

 It was really really special because what had happened is that we had just finished a lesson and went walking and there was a family and a little girl who has like 10 years old. She was on a tablet and I was like I KNOW that girl!! But I thought ... noo.. I don't.. then I looked again and I thought she looked so familiar!  We passed them and I had the impression to look back one more time and I saw a grandma sitting by her and I remembered.. GALAPAGOS!!!!! It truly was a family I had taught in Santa Cruz Galapagos! The little girl saw me and gave me a huge hug, SHOOT!! I can't but she was so funny about it!! It's amazing because the grandma is super super Catholic and when they were in Galapagos they didn't want anything to do with the Church but when we talked to them here, the Lord had humbled them enough to be more in tune with the gospel!! I felt the impression to ask the grandma to be baptized and she ACCEPTED!!! What a miracle!! It's amazing how God works and how He puts people RIGHT in our path to accept this gospel!! It was amazing!! 

Then we went to Machala and then we went to Cuenca!!  Then back to Machala!  Then back to Guayaquil we got back last night at 3 in the morning and we had to get up at 6:30 to go again!! I love this work, it's amazing!! We are having a member of the seventy come to our mission this week, so we are preparing everything for that. Pray for me. I love you soo much family!! Have an amazing week!!

Elder Hammond

April 9, 2016 Guayaquil

April 9, 2016 Guayquil

MOM, I CAN'T EVEN BELIEVE IT!! THERE'S GOING TO BE A TEMPLE IN QUITO!!! In this beautiful country of Ecuador 2 temples!! Wow the Lord is sooo AMAZING!! He loves his children and the people of Quito are just going to love it!!! We were watching conference and ALL the members for the Sunday morning session meet in the stake center to watch conference!  So you can just imagine how it went!! THE CROWD WENT CRAZY!! Super super crazy!! It was insane!! Just like clapping their hands and gasping and so much commotion we missed half of President Monson's talk!! But what a blessing!!

 This week was REALLY good! We worked really hard and have gotten no sleep. It's been the best!! This week we had leadership counsel which went pretty good! Our  new 70- general authority (our mission president) came back from Utah to show us what happened and how everything was and how it went! It was powerful and we are soo blessed to be with such a powerful mission president and the example he gives us as missionaries!!

 This next week we will just be working again with the missionaries and helping them reach their full potential as missionaries!! We need to keep raising the bar and always achieve our goals!! This work is literally the most amazing work in the world!!  I love it so much!! I couldn't be happier than serving our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ I know He is our Lord and Savior!! The Creator and Redeemer of the world!! I love Him and his perfect gospel!!! HAVE AN AMAZING WEEK!!!

Elder Hammond

April 2, 2016 Guayaquil

April 2, 2016 Guayaquil

This week has been pretty amazing!! WE ARE SOO STOKED for conference!! We have plans for 100 baptisms ready this week!!  So we are just taking advantage of the spirit of conference and what we are going to have to do in order to keep strong and keep firm in this amazing gospel!!! This week has gone by soo fast!! We have just been going everywhere! Working with alot of zone leaders rescuing baptisms for this weekend so that we can break the record of baptisms in one week!! Which is 94 and we HAVE to break it! Everything is ready to be broken! Everything is REALLY good here!! 

It's really really hot and it's RAINING A TON!! haha like more than you can even imagine!  It's so cool! When you walk in the streets the water comes to your shins!! It's fun!!  I love you soo much all of you!! I'm doing good!  Just SO EXCITED for conference! To hear Gods chosen disciples!! And we WILL follow!!!

HEY!! So guess WHAT?!?! AMAZING NEWS!!! Just barely in Conference our Mission President was just Called to be a 70!!!! Can you believe that!?! His name is Maxsimo C Torres!! Everyone was so excited for him!!! He literally is such a strong and valiant servant of the Lord, I am SO grateful to be able to work beside him!! That's all I wanted to say really fast!!! LOVE YOU!! Until next week!!

Elder Hammond