HEY GUYS!!! This week was great! I feel like i dont really know why...but thats how the mission works haha all the terrible parts of the week just get swallowed up in the joy of serving sometimes! Sooo we'll start off with my dads questions!

       Alright soo my Dads questions for this week were pretty good in my opinion, so get excited!! 1) I have NOT found another shave ice dude in my new area. I have looked and they seriously just dont sell it here very often, however i have seen a few slush puppy stands every once in a while. The problem is its usually on Sundays when i cant buy it -__- 2) If i could choose between watermellon or cantaloupe flavored shave ice, i would go watermellon hands down. The cantalope water here is great.....but the watermellon water is unrealll man. Its sooo good! haha 3) Most people drink soda with all meals. Its usually coke too haha however, there are a few who drink like juices that come in the packets. They NEVER drink plain water with a meal. Seriously NEVER. 4) Yes, they have churros and they are more delicious than you can imagine haha fresh out of the oil with hersheys chocolate syrup on them. They are amazingggg haha and they sell them for cheap and you can find them anywhere. 5) And last of all....are the people religious?....they all claim to have religion. Like they dont attend meetings and things very often. But they all belive in God and Christ which actually isnt a terrible place to start haha
Two words....Krispy Kreme

       Welllll this week like i said was great. On Tuesday I went to Puebla for a leadership capacitation and it went......welll....lets just say its a rebuilding year for the Puebla Sur mission haha we have a lot of young, still unlearned leaders right now. But thats okay, they are gonna be the great future leaders of the mission. Then afterwards Me and Elder N had to go and pick up some medical stuff....and we may or may not have stopped off at Krispy Kreme..........Yah....we did. It was great. Then District meeting went well on Wednesday. This week J and T (our investigators) were finallyyyy able to get the wedding plans set and the paper was approved by the governor so they are going to be getting married this week! IM SOOOO STOKEEEDDDD!!!! Andd the rest of the week was just alrighttt. Soo on to the spiritual thought!!

       Sooo just something i was thinking about this week - A lot of times on the mission there are ups and downs. And sometimes when there is a very, VERY hard day I realize that its not just by chance that everything decided to go wrong in one terrible day, but that its really the Lord testing me. Every few days or weeks or months, he throws in one of those awful, long, hard, hot, unsuccessful days and says "Well Elder Hamm, I've blessed you with soo much over these past few days or weeks. Now its time to show me your faith and perseverance when times get tough." And even in realizing that....its still super difficult sometimes!! And when the moment comes when i start so feel myself slipping and dont know how im going to keep my spirits up, he reminds me that it wont last forever and by the next day things are looking up again. Its funny how the Lord works like that sometimes. He lets us struggle and lets us have those tough times so that we can understand that even in the hard times, he is there with us, and in the grand scheme of things, it will seem soooo small! It cant last forever, but the happiness we recieve from accepting the Fathers will and all the things that he sees fit to deal us, can and will last forever. Remember the comforting encouragment given by the Lord to Jospeh Smith in Cathridge Jail - "My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high..." Endure your trials well, and let your past worries become enveloped in the greatness of the final reward.

Love,
Elder Josh Hamm