Be Thou an Example: S/O to @The

All of us in the office!

My apologies to those who following the blog regularly (TW, TM, you know who you are). I failed to post the letter and AWESOME photos that came in while we were en route to the Philippines to pick up Josh's sister from her mission, so I am posting it now, Blogger MAY let me slide it in where it belongs, but you still might miss it! Sorry! Thanks for your patience! Mom Hamm

March 10, 2014

So I gotta start by giving a shoutout to my sister cause shes going homeeee! Yes, the tie has come and she is now going back to the homeland of Virginia. My parents should actually be there like rightt now! But anyways, thats just the semi-depressing, semi-exciting note of the week. Now for my Dads questions. 1) Yes, people go on vacations here. And 2) But its pretty much just to visit family. If you are really wealthy, maybe a trip to one of the port cities a few hours from herek, but thats it. 3) Dessert do they like for FHE? Normally we have something called atole. Its like thicker hot chocolate that tastes similar to mud most of the time haha nah, its just not really very sweet, but thats okay cause its usually accompanied by conchas which are like a sweet bread, unless your in Argentina, in which case i appologize. and finally 4) Yes....and NO. They make cake here, but its almost always bought at the store, not homemeade. Almost neverrrr is is home made. And the only pies they make are mini-pies that come in little packages you buy at a store.

Hermana O made me take this spoonful of olive oil and lime
juice. She claims its good for your digestive system....the fact
that I almost puked all over her leads me to believe that was a lie.

ANDDD We got to make cinnamon rolls! NOM NOM NOM

Sorry there are sooo many pictures this week! But I'm

making up for when I couldnt charge my camera! haha

So this week was tough, not gonna lie. We really didnt get very many lessons in cause we are still trying to figure out where the people are hiding. We are covering like 8 pueblos and we dont even really know where 3 of them are haha sooo we are looking into that but it makes for slow weeks, lots of walking, and very little success. Sooo it wasnt the best time we have ever had. But what can you expect? We are working in 2 different wards and a hugeee area. Youre gonna have some tough weeks. And there were a few highlights...like when we went with a family in our ward (our ward mission leader Hermano F) And make Cinnamon rolls!! Just like Mommy makes!

Elder Parrish and I on the way
to the CAPU in Presidents car!

Well almost. But they turned out good, especially considering we had to translate everything....and he had 0 ways to measure the ingredients. We were eyeballing it like champs though. They turned out pretty delicious and it was a good patch on the heavy heart haha oh yah, and i also got to see P and A and D! It was awesome and it was a surprise too. We had to go to the offices for some stuff and Elder P and Elder A just happened to be there, and then Elder D and P reunited at the CAPU to finish their interchanges and the four of us had lunch together. It was sick.

Spiritual thought for this week comes from my thoughts on our Savior. I was reading in the scriptures and came accross this passage in 3 Nephi 17:

7) "Have ye any that are sick among you? Bring them hither. Have ye any that are lame, or blind, or halt, or maimed, … or that are afflicted in any manner? Bring them hither and I will heal them, for I have compassion upon you; my bowels are filled with mercy."

I was really touched by this experience the Nephites had with Christ and it gave me a renewed appreciation for Christ and his love for us. His bowels really are filled with mercy, and his compassion for us unending. Have you ever really pondered about just how much Christ LOVES us? He loved us SO much that he chose to come to Earth when his heavenly home was certainly more inviting. He took upon him our sins and suffered great pains, when his salvation was already assured. He allowed himself, a perfect, powerful being to be mocked, spit upon, and crucified. All so that he could simply bring us safely back to our heavenly home with him. Think about that. Not a single moment of his Earthly ministry was spent thinking of himself. It was all for us. That we might embrace his atonement and his love, and return with him to the Celestial Kingdom. THAT is how great his love is for us. Not a terribly conclusive spiritual thought. But just something I am learning to appreciate more fully in my life.

Love,

Elder Josh Hamm