CHANGE

       Hey guys! So not much time today, but nevertheless (<---One word....so dope) I will answer my fathers questions quickly. #1 - Here there actually arent a lot of people who have heard of the church, but they have ALL seen the missionaries walking around haha so we go off of that more #2 - Yes, they eat donuts and they actually sell a pack of 6 powder-sugar donuts for 8 pesos....delicious. #3 - NO. there are absolutely nooo laws about fireworks here and its freekin awesome. I can shoot them wherever i want. we can light off a giant textbook sized firecracker filled with gunpowder and nobody bats an eye haha thats also bad though, cause its common to be walking down the street and have the bejeezees scared out of you by a giant firework a block over. and #4- They usually live in homes. Small homes that have one small common room, 2 bedrooms, a kitchen...aisle thingy haha and a small back area to wash clothes.

       Sooo the news this week is that we had changes.....yes...WE. Soo aparently nobody told me that I also had changes. THAT my dear friends....is QUITE the day ruiner. So at the changes meeting President calls out, "Elder Hamm as the district leader, with Elder V, working in the area of Centenario THREE AND CHILAC TWO. So Im like wait, do you mean Centenario TWO (the area i have been working in the past 3 months)? And he pauses, looks at the paper, and then says...no Centenario THREE AND CHILAC TWO. See me after. So afterwards Im like yo President whats going on? And hes like "Elder Hamm I need you" Well played president haha Okay, well that pretty much ruins any chance of arguing or whinning. So Im like so whats happening with the house in Centenario Two? And hes like the sisters are gonna stay there and you are gonna move to San Diego...did no one tell you that? No...that little nugget of joy didnt quite reach my cellphone. So he appologizes for that and then tells me that we are going to be living in a little pueblo called San Diego and we are going to be covering 8 Pueblos AND 2 wards!! (well one ward and a branch) So I am with my new companion Elder V and we are in for a rediculously hard, busy change, but we are more or less ready. Only really good news is that we live very near the O family and they are the BEST. They let us wash at their house and use their internet on Mondays and they always make food for us when we dont have anything to eat. They are seriously the silver lining to all this haha

       The spiritual thought for this week comes from the rediculous changes AND Mosiah. So before I start this, I would just like to brag about my parents real quick. After the change meeting, I was pretty upset, cause i was moved from a very nice city area with investigators with baptism dates, to an area of little pueblos with a history of hard people. But when I got home, i read a letter from my mom....and in a completely seperate thought than anything, she said "Learn to love change...its a fact of life and it happens." haha she shoots, she scores. Then my dad this week without knowing about the changes sends me an email with a spiritual thought about not throwing pity parties or being offended or angry, but rather looking on the bright side of things and thanking our Heavenly Father for the blessings that we have among the trials he is sending us. Sooo they are pretty much perfectly in-tune haha buttt ill stop embarrassing them now, and even though that could stand as its own spiritual thought, Id just like to throw in a scripture to emphasize it! In Mosiah the people of Alma are in bondage, but in Mosiah 24:15-16 it says "15) And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon alma and his brethren were made light; yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord. 16) And it came to passt hat so great was their faith and their patience that the voice of the Lord came unto them again, saying: Be of good comfort, for on teh morrow I will deliver you out of bondage." Submit to the will of the Lord CHEERFULLY and have FAITH and PATIENCE and you too will be delivered from the things which burden you. I know it, because I am living it. You can know it too.

HEY FAM! I LOVE YOU ALL A TONNN!! Thanks for everything!!!!!

Much Love,

Elder Josh Hamm

PS -OH, also....i lost my camera chord like a longgg time ago but i had a few comps with the chord....if you guys could grab one of those and send it thatd be great....right now i dont know if i can send photos....or take them cause the camera is dead haha S had a chord but hes gone now sooo im in trouble

A-ha, A-ha, gimme that.

No pics this week besides this one sorry.
Its a big purple tree in some neighborhood here!

       Hey Im Woody...howdy howdy howdy. Soo big news this week is that there are changes and my companion Elder Salmeron is leavingggggg! Bittersweet moments are going to be had by all, but its for the best. More on that in a minute, but first, the questions from my father! #1 - Yes, people have refrigerators....almost everyone, BUT do people use them? Thats gonna be personal descression haha people here leave raw chicken out in the sun all day and as long as they cover it with plastic they think its safe. I (along with science and fact) on the other hand beg to differ. #2 - Do people drink milk? Yes, but they drink milk that sits in an unrefrigerated carton on a shelf. Its like....not real milk. They almost never drink real milk....actually i have yet to find a member who drinks gallon milk that needs to be refrigerated. #3 - Yes, they have cakes for birthdays, but they are different. Sometimes it could be flan, or it could be a cake like normal....but covered in milk. Most all cake here is soggy....and thats how they like it. Its actually pretty good. #4 - Different birthday traditions would include soaking people in water...like buckets haha in school if you have a water bottle, dump it, if you have a bucket, throw it, and if you dont have either, find a way to trick your friend into following you to the drinking fountain. They also sing a different song here (unlike i was taught in primary - smh.) They sing a song called the mañanitas. Still dont know the words haha #5 - And last of all, yes, they eat ice cream, and its actually more delicious than that of the US haha well, usually. Cause they make almost all of it homemade like we do in the states on the 4th of July haha its pretty freekin good.

       So like I was saying, there are changes. Elder Salmeron is leaving...along with the rest of my district haha the only people from my district who are staying are the sisters and Elder Mendez the Zone leader. Also, next change I will be refered to as Zone Leader 3 because I am going to have 10 Missionaries in my district which is over a quarter of the zone. #sucks But it will be cool to have so many new people in the zone. As for the rest of the week, well we had interviews with president on Tuesday, got to eat some absolutely delicious chocolate peanut butter brownies compliments of sister Reeves (they are highly reccommended by me. Then the rest of the week was pretty slow. Appointments, church, divisions with the Elders in my district, food appointments. Highlights include when an investigators baby was chewing on something that turned out to be a glass tube of medicine (he still lives haha) A little 3 year old daughter of a less active who grew up in the US and so she doesnt speak spansih and she understands perfectly all my English, and of course Elder G going back to the hospital haha (he is out now and feeling much, MUCH better). So yah, a pretty decent week!

       So I have been reading this week in "Jesus The Christ" (highly reccomended) and it got me thinking a little bit about Satan. That guy is a Jerk Bag. He is literally the epitimy of every bad guy you have ever seen in any movie...ever. He exploits our weankesses, he uses the world to make wickedness appear as happiness....and he is SOO DANG good at it!! I mean think about it, how many years does Satan have tempting us now?....like a bajillion. According to an article I read a LONG time ago, if you practice something for 10,000 hours, you are considered perfect at it. So with my terrible math...that would equal approximately 4 and a half years if you practiced 6 hours every day. Satan practices 24/7....he NEVER rests, and that has brought him to the point where someone could say he is PERFECT at what he does. But, as I think I have mentioned before, Satan may be good....but God is better. He has even MORE practice than Satan and he too is inviting us to do good amongst the enticings of Satan! So if you are ever feeling like you are becoming subject to Satan and his perfect enticings of evil, just remember that you are the son or daughter of a living God. He knew that Satan would be sent to Earth to tempt us and he knew that we could withstand it. So seek out those promptings from the spirit inviting you to do good and act on them. I promise you, you will feel the love of the one who is sending them.

Love,

Elder Josh Hamm

DAT GOOD YEAR MARK DOE

February 10, 2014

Me standing outside the hopsital where Elder G was staying....BY MYSELF!
 Cause I had to go on interchanges with a member and
he was still getting there.. haha weird feeling being alone

       Keep the title...I like the way it flows haha Hey guys!! Big news this week is that I hit a year markkkkkk! I burned one of my shirts and it turned out pretty freekin cool if you ask me. Pictures will be attatched. Gotta say its been a pretty crazy year in a lot of ways. I feel like the year has gone by fast...as well as slow haha but I think I can do it ONE MORE TIME before I go home. At least thats the goal haha But now for the week summary!

My "son" Elder Perales...baptizing!
His step father gave him all that I never could!
It was a bitter-sweet moment haha

       Monday was a normal pday for the most part. We got to teach 3 new investigators that night and they were awesome! They have already been coming to church and we put a follow up appointment for Sunday. Tuesday was SLOWWWW as anything. We had a zone capacitation in the morning which went well, then food, and that was alright....butttt then we just ended up with nothing. Walking around, going through the ward list. I went through and organized it by the members in our area as opposed to the ZL's and then the less actives, actives, etc. Then thats about it haha Wednesday we didnt have district meeting cause of the zone capacitation. But then after we went to pay the house and i dont know if i told you about that last time, but the Lord blessed us at the bank AGAIN! We got there and it was packed. Ugh, took a number...#439. And then i hear the lady call out for number 392 and Im like...whelp, this sucks. So we wait and wait. We have been there about 25 minutes and they are now on an incredibly fast pace....(NOT) and have arrived at number 404. So im like dude, this is nottt the move. Out of knowhere a guy walks up to us and says super cheary-like "Hey, what number do you have?" And Im like get outta here kid youre bugging me. Nah, cause Im a missionary. So im like oh, i have number 439 and hes like oh, well heres mine, cause ive already been helped by someone else!....Then this dude proceeds to hand me a paper with number 415 on it. Im like dudddeee i love you, and hes like god bless you. I was so happy! We got out of there in 10 minutes. God is great haha 

Preparing to burn my shirt!

BURN BABY BURN!!! 1 year

The 4 of us Elders in the hospital!

Thursday I hit a yearrrrrrr!!! I got to burn my shirt and it was a pretty good day too with 2 citas. Then the rest of the week was mixed between trying to teach people and help Elder M and Elder G cause Elder G entered the hospital on Friday and didnt leave until this morning. Stomach problems. haha a lady in the ward this week was like wow, you guerros have such weak stomachs. And i was like wow, you mexicans have such dirty food hahahahaha everyone laughed and then i apologized. We always joke around with them so it was okay.

       Okay, so spiritual thought this week comes from ME HITTING A YEAR! (how many more times can i slip it in here?) So the morning that I hit my year mark, I opened up my journal and read the entry I had from a year ago when i entered the MTC. I couldnt believe it was the same person. Who knows where I would be if I hadnt gone on a mission. Not in a good place, thats where. But overall, it was cool to see the hand of God in all of it. On February 6th 2013 I was sooo overwhelmed. I didnt really know why I was going on a mission, only that God wanted me to do it. I didnt know how it was going to be, or if i was going to make it through it...but God did. It was soo awesome to see how I was standing at the edge of a cliff and I couldnt really see what was at the bottom...but God did! He had it all planned out from the beginning! All the experiences Ive had, all the people Ive met, EVERYTHING....was planned out by Him. I was standing there, and I took a leap of faith...into what I thought was a dark abyss...but His hands had been waiting there the whole time, just below my vision, and he caught me so gently. I just realized that if we are doing what God wants us to do, we dont have to worry about what will happen. God knows. He has a plan, and even if we cant see all of it, he is ready and waiting just out of sight. So take that leap of faith, and I promise you, looking back, you'll be glad you did.

Mmmmmm....pig stomach. They sell it
and eat it like this here.

Love you all!

Elder Josh Hamm

Always Be Worthy

This is a puppy we got to play with one night....so 2 feel good pictures haha

   Okay, So questions from my Dad from LAST week first off. 1) Biggest differences between here and home in terms of a member family? For starters, not a tonn of people have cars. Well, Id say like half. But they are all pretty humble vehicles and the rest of the people walk or take combies everywhere they go (that includes to church). And second off, a lot of the time the people here have to work on Sundays. Its a tough reality of a dificult financial situation. They have to work to keep their jobs and that includes Sunday in many instances. 2) I shop for groceries at a grocery store called Chedraui pretty much. If I want some chips real quick or a snack there are little tiny stores every 8 houses or so...sometimes less haha 3) My favorite scripture right now? Dangggg thats a tough one. BUT I might have to go with Jacob 5:41. It just shows the real character of the Lord and the Powerful, deep love he has for each of us. AND 4) Yes....or at least I try. Most of the time its just a scripture or a small thought and then we ask for references but yes.

Oh, and this is Elder Mendez and I having a
grand time together on interchanges

       Alright! Wellllll big news this week is that IM GONNA MAKE A YEAR ON THE MISSION ON THURSDAY! So look forward to pictures of a burning shirt and other crazy things like that haha This week was pretty good. Gave another District Meeting, NONE of our investigators came to curch -__- sucks butt we were able to meet with them anyway and we got to teach E about Temples, and the sealing works we can do, and also baptisms for the dead. His wife passed away about a year ago and he had no idea about any of the so he was super excited to hear about the chance he has to do all her work (through a female member of the church) It was cool. Then I went to a leadership capacitation on Thursday and I hadnt told ANYONE that I was going to be there so I showed up and A and D and P and I were all freeking out haha it was awesome to spend some time hanging out with them though. And then the rest of the week was full of falling appointments, women alone in their houses thus rendering our missionary power useless. Its like kryptonite. And yah, thats about it! haha

This little kid put on his dad's missionary tag
 and came up to us in Sacrament Meeting.
He is adorableee. (dont worry
about the picture, its normal here)

       So spiritual thought for this week comes from Mosiah 21:33. So obviously, its a little slow going in the book of mormon since this isnt too far away from the scripture that I shared last week! haha BUTT it has an insight that I really liked. So I was talking before about how Ammon and his 16 friends left to go find the land of their inheritance and the people who left with Zenniff. Welllll they find them! And the story they have to tell is pretty far fetched but since its scripture I'll let it slide haha but as the story explains. After Abinidi was killed, and Alma believed, he had the spirit decend upon him and he was able to baptize without recieving the priesthood by the laying on of hands (cool stuff). But then before he could baptize the rest of the people he was chased out of the land by the soldiers of King Noah. So now that Ammon is there the king is like DUDE you can totally baptize all of us now! In verse 33 it says: "33) And it came to pass that king Limhi and many of his people were desirous to be baptized; but there was none in the land that had authority from God...." So he is very excited to finally be able to enter into that covenant with God along with his people. BUT verse 33 continues along with 34: "...And Ammon declined doing this thing, considering himself an unworthy servant. 34) Therefore they did not at that time form themselves into a church... " Well, it doesnt really give much detail about WHY Ammon didnt feel worthy, nor if it had anything to do with HIM at all. But, it made me realize something. It is sooo important that we are worthy to use our priesthood power at ALL times, and at a moments notice because we dont know when we are going to be called upon to use it. It could be for something as simple as blessing the sacrament, to something as big as Ammon, baptizing an entire city! But the point is whatever would keep you from being worthy to excersize your sacred priesthood authority is not worth it in the end. this priesthood is given to us to bless the lives of others and the way we live our lives defines the power and effectiveness that the priesthood will have in our hands. So honor your priesthood and always be ready to act in the name of God as a chosen servant of the Lord. 

Love,

Elder Josh Hamm