Who Has The Map?

 Sooo I dont have a ton of time this week! But I will try to write something out really quick. Im gonna save the questions from my Dad for next week (Sorry Dad!) But hey, now he doesnt have to come up with new ones next week haha

       This week was a tough one. Didnt get very many lesons cause almost all of our appointments fell through for one reason or another. Usually cause we dont have a man of age with us and therefore we cant enter the home (sucks) buttttt what can ya do ya know? But, we managed to have a few good lessons with our investigators and if they continue coming to church we are going to have a baptismal service for them on the 16th of February! That would be dopeeee! So hopefully they will continue to progress. On Thursday I woke up at 4 am with unbelievable pain in my head. Yah, that wasnt fun. I think its my 3rd Migraine on the mission, but all I know is that I hope its my last haha and the rest of the week was continually uneventful and NOT a  very enjoyable time sooo lets skip quickly to the spiritual thought!!

       Spiritual thought this week comes from Mosiah Chapter 7. In this chapter in the Book of Mormon, the Nephites (King Mosiah) are wondering what happened to their brethern who left with Zenniff to find the land of their inheritance. Sooo King Mosiah is like hey Ammon, youre a pretty strong and mighty man, how about you take some friends and go try and find what happened to the other guys. So Ammons like yah, I AM strong, AND I know that God will help me, so why not? So Ammons friends turn out to be 16 guys and they are like yo lets go!!! WARNING - The following is a "Hammical Interpretation" of what happened, it is not actual scripture. Sooo they get like into the actual wilderness and one of the guys is like soooo Ammon....where exactly is this land of inheritance? And Ammons like, whelp, I dont actually know so how about somebody show me that map, and theyre like bro, NOBODY has a map. And Ammon is like THAT is a little bit of a day ruiner. This seemed like such a good idea at the time when we left. --RETURN TO SCRIPTURES-- So they get lost....but like REALLY lost. Like, wandering around in the wilderness for 40 days lost...that kinda lost. And in verse 16 it tells us that "in thier labor....they had suffered many things; they had suffered hunger, thirst, and fatigue." So it wasnt the car trip you and your family took across the country that seemed like 40 days. These guys were actually suffering. And it made me think (a dangerous pasttime, I know) But now the spiritual part...I was thinking how unfair that really was. God is all powerfull, and he supposedly blesses those who are righteous, as long as they have righteous desires. But in this story in the scriptures, God allowed for 16 righteous men involved in a righteous cause to SUFFER and WANDER in the wilderness for 40 days! And get this, when they FINALLY get to where theyre going, Im sure they were relieved that they had arrived...and were greeted by the kings gaurds, bound and cast into prison for 2 days. Why is God letting all this happen? Well, I dont really know to be honest. But what I do know is that God knows. He is omnipotent! You think that if he wanted to bless you with a big house, lots of food, tons of clothes, money, toys, etc, that he could do it? Of course. But he doesnt....instead he lets us suffer sometimes, and if that is what his infinite wisdom sees fit, who are we to argue with that? God knows you, he wants the best for you, but he will let you suffer...because he LOVES you. Remember that.

Love,

Elder Josh Hamm

The Grass ISN'T always Greener

Anddd this is a market thats rightttt next to our house 
every Wednesday and Saturday! 
Photos cant really capture the atmosphere and the expanse…
but I tried haha

   Okie Dokie, So im gonna start off answering the questions from my father this week. The High for my day yesterday was that we have been working with 4 investigators who are progressing sooo much....but havent come to chruch. We showed up to the house of one of them (E) expecting to be rejected....and he was dressed up in shirt and tie, slacks, and POLLISHED shoes. My comp and i were grinning like idiots haha I swear. He was like what? And we were just like, dude, you look great haha but thats not all....cause then we showed up to church and the other 3 investigators (A mom and her two twin daughters) were there waiting!! AND after sacrament meeting, 2 young women came up to the twins and invited them to go to class with them and they of course accepted. It was seriously a gift straight from heaven. Very few experiences on the mission can rival the feeling I had when I saw E in his white shirt and tie. The Low for the day would be that after church we walked around looking for references and we couldnt find them, and one of them my comp wrote down wrong, and i was frustrated and I lost my patience with my him, and I didn't yell or anything, but I was just really short and snappy with him, and I felt bad. But then I made some mac and cheese and gave him half and we both felt better haha the end. Most spiritual experience this week was probably at the end of our Zone Conference this week when President pulled me aside to talk to me and gave me some really good advice....but more on that in the spiritual thought at the end! Sorry! haha

Sour Patch Kids from my Grandparents package!
NOM NOM NOM

       As for the rest of the week, well Monday I did my first baptismal interview for a 9 year old girl who is getting baptized. She is absolutely adorable, but unfortunately I dont have any pictures because I only did the interview, but trust me, she is a lot of fun. So that went well, and then on Wednesday I gave my first district meeting and we actually combineded with the other district so we had 12 missionaries for my first time haha It went....alright. I feel like when you have heard the same topics like 400 times its hard to make things interesting, but I did my best and I think (or more accurately HOPE) that they got something out of it. Then like I said, we had a Zone Conference this week on Thursday. I was picked (2 days before) to do the musical number and I sang and played Amazing Grace on the guitar....or at least a rendition I made up, and then decided to end with "There is a Green Hill" It was pretty good (I think), and then we ate tacos arrabes and I got to talk with President. OH, and I got a package from my grandparents! I will include photos haha Then the rest of the week was pretty normal, so on to the spiritual thought!

       So as I said, President pulled me aside after the meeting and we were talking about some stuff that I had shared with him about my life, my struggles, and the things I am currently working on. We were talking actually about how Satan makes things seem so appealing. People find that there are things in the church that they dont like, or that make them doubt its truthfulness. The same people then look at the world and all its apparent pleasures and like what they see. Well, President mentioned something that I REALLY liked. I dont even think he realized how awesome this was, but he said "If the grass seems greener on the other side....water your grass!" How awesome is that!? If you are only a member of the church "because", and then you look at the world and it seems so much better, why dont you start by working on your own testimony. I also took it further, and it really depends also on what kind of fertilizer you are using. If you are pouring acid on your grass (rated-R movies, Profane Music, Anti-Mormon Literature, etc.) then you shouldnt be surprised that it isnt as green as the other grasses around you. But if you decide to nourish your grass every day, really take care of it, ONLY then can you say whether the grass is really greener on the other side. I promise you that the greenest grass you will find is right here in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints, and if you only put in a little work with trimming and fertalizing, God will send the sunshine and the rain.

Hey fam! Pretty sick metaphor right? haha Presidents a beast. I love you guys a tonn! Tell Bammer and Grandpa that I got their package and was freeking out! haha love you all!

Elder Josh Hamm

Us helping a member in our ward Move…
it goes a little different here than in the US haha

Dia De Los Magos and Rosca de Reyes!

Just your typical Mexican Meat Shop. haha

    Whats Gucci? Yah, I know, this whole start the email differently thing isnt really working out but ya know what? Judge me. So this week was pretty eventful I would say. At the very least a LOT more eventful than most, so thats something we can work with!

       So I'm gonna start with the questions my dad has asked me this week as I am almost at my halfway mark on the mission. In his words, these questions are a little deeper haha but dont worry they are family friendly. 

1) What has been most surprising about my mission? A. Hmmm..tough one. I would say two things. #1 - How hard it has been. I dont know how i missed it with all the movies and talks and whatnot, but I honestly was not prepared for just how tough the mission can be at times. But of course at the same time...theres just some spirit about it that keeps you working. And #2 - How right people have been. All the wierd things I heard about the mission have turned out to be true. Things like "time moves differently", "it goes by slow....but fast", and "one day, you just start speaking the language." People really know what theyre talking about haha 

2) What, if anything, would you have done differently in terms of preperation? A. Hmmm differently in terms of preperation?...Prepared haha the truth is that I really didnt prepare well for the mission and i think that really made it hard in the first few months of my mission. Spiritually? Everything. I would have read the Book of Mormon all the way through but more importantly, I would have studied the bible. We have to understand that the rest of the world only has the bible, thus focusing on the Book of Mormon alone is not enough. And last but not least, I would have tried to understand that it isnt all that sad to leave your family for two years (sorry mom and dad). Its sad, but the whole meltdown, crying uncontrollably at the airport (that of course I didnt do) just makes it worse haha its gonna be okay. 

And 3) When you have been most successful on your mission, is there anything you have done that the success can be attributed to? A. Yes. Be In Tune. Its not all about finding either. If you are in tune with the spirit, the people you teach can feel it and you will find yourself saying things that actually enter their hearts. I wish i could say it has happened many times in my 11 months, but if you really seek to have the spirit, you will have success.

Rosca de Reyes!

       Soo the week. So this doesnt drag on too much, I'm gonna try to go quick. Monday night (the 6th of January) we went over to a members house to celebrate "Dia de los Magos" which is where the people here celebrate when the magai brought gifts to Christ when he was born. First off, we have now had 3 celebrations with this family so I told them we HAD to take some pictures, and they will be included. So the way they celebrate the day is with a big sweet bread called "Rosca de Reyes". Its filled with little plastic dolls and if you get one in the piece that you cut out, you have to pick a card that has something written on it like "you have to bring cups and plates" or....like the one me and Elder Mendez got..."you have to bring tamales". Uhh..i do NOT know how to make tamales haha so well see about that. Then Tuesday we had changes....and I am the new District Leader here in Tehuacan and I have my first baptismal interview tonight....go ahead and offer those prayers on behalf of the person I will be interviewing. But its gonna be good. Then the rest of the week was pretty uneventful, with some delicious tacos arrabes from a place called "Tacuba" highly reccommended, and thats about it! haha

       Spiritual Thought!! (surprise surprise) This week, the spiritual thought is about Patience. Good loaf....I have had soooo many opportunities these past 2 changes to exercise patience, and I honestly think I am better for it. In this life we are tested....but its not only the results of the test which affect us...but how we react to these tests. When we have a trial placed in our life, God is giving us the opportunity to grow, and more importantly to develop Godlike attritbutes. Now, I dont know if Gods greatest attribute is his patience...but its GOTTA be up there haha Whyyy is it so hard to be patient? I know that its a virtue and virtues are things which normally dont come easily, but man, this patience thing is the next levellllll. Butt we can do it. I also like the scripture that says that God wont tempt us above that which we are able to bear. I believe it also applies to our level of patience, and our ability to be patient in difficult situations. God has stretched me sooo much on my mission....but he hasnt let me snap yet! And he wont let you snap either, if you only turn to him in times when you are feeling impatient. He gave you your weaknesses, so work on them so that he can turn them into strengths.

Hey fammmmm! I love you all a ton (like i always say) but its true!! So I hope you can all feel that love everyday! Keep being people i can brag about!

Love you!

Elder Josh Hamm

Be Not Weary

Me and The Burning Old MAN!!! (before he was burning)

  Hi again! I've slowly realized that I start every single email with Sooooo, and i decided that its pretty boring haha so Hi again was the best thing i could come up with at the time. Judge me.

      But this week has been more exciting then past weeks, so i only hope i can squeeze everything in here and not seem to drag on, since most of the people reading this blog have normal lives and important things to do...for me its just P-Day.

The Burning Old MAN!!!
(while he was burning)

And the view of all the Burning Men
from the epic car ride haha

     So the big day this week was obviously new years eve! We got to spend it with a family in our ward (the same ones we spent christmas eve with) and once again it was awesome. To sum it all up in short, there were airsoft guns, delicious food, shrimp, car chases, fireworks, burning old men, my music, ect. The highlights, or things that are important enough to explain are as follows. First there is a tradition here in Mexico. Basically, 5 minutes before midnight everyone gets a cup of grapes. Then as the clock counts down from 10 to 0 for new years, you eat a grape every second and make a wish for the new years. Problem: The hermana bought grapes with seeds in the middle haha so everyone was choking trying to eat their grapes that fast and think of things at the same time. I got about 7 in my mouth at one time and then had to stop cause i couldnt breath haha Secondly, the burning old men or "scarecrows" as i called them before. So at midnight everyone started burning these scarecrows that are stuffed with fireworks and have the face of an old man to represent the old year....but as usually happens in Mexico, things got out of hand haha the hermano was trying to drive us home and he was swerving and dodging burning old men and fireworks and it was rediculous haha there are some pictures I will attach but it was awesome. AND of course the family knew about my music and so they put on my songs for a little bit and told all their realatives about it haha it was great.

        Second highlight, we got a new investigator this week! He is AWESOME. He reads the bible....but unlike most of the people here, he ACTUALLY reads it. We taught him about the plan of salvation and he was so excited because he was wondering about paradise and other things that werent completely explained in the bible. He agrees with everything because its all in the bible as well, like the error in infant baptism, the maner of baptism, modern prophets, priesthood authority, tithing, ect. He is progressing sooo fast, and it really helped fortify my testimony of the bible. It truely contains a great deal of truth, and if one really studies it, they will be able to understand the gospel of Jesus Christ- the doctrine we teach.

        I also wanna let you know that changes are tomorrow, but neither I, nor Elder S are leaving. Butttt, we have to go to changes meeting anyway, so we'll see what thats all about tomorrow! haha they didnt really tell us why, just that we had to go.

       Anddd the spiritual thought this week comes from D&C section 64 verses 33 and 34. This week we have visited a lot of members asking for references, and a concerning pattern was emerging. The members had shared the gospel several of their acquaintances, but they had all rejected their message in one way or another, and because of that, the members had lost their desire or confidence to share the gospel. The scripture in D&C brought a lot of comfort to them, and also reminded me of an important principle of the gospel. It reads: "33) Wherefore, be not weary in well-doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work. And out of small things proceedeth that which is great. 34) Behold, the Lord requireth the heart and a willing mind; and the willing and obedient shall eat the good of the land of Zion in these last days." We CANT give up! No matter how many times we have shared the gospel with our friends only to get rejected, thats not the important thing! Whats important is that we are planting seeds and laying a foundation for a great work which we cant see right now! But it also tells us that we cant do it grudgingly. God requres a WILLING mind and if we do the small things, the Lord will make them great. So keep sharing the gospel with your friends, and for the love of the work, please give references to the missionaries! 

Hey fam! Not much time but i sure love you guys. glad i get to talk to you all every week. keep being awesome...but save some for me!

Love,

Elder Josh Hamm

And this is a little girl in our ward.
she loves backpacks, and missionaries,
so we decided to take her with us haha

And A Happy New Year!

The Four of Us Elders on Christmas Eve!

      Soo for starters, thanks for all the Christmas wishes. Christmas turned out to be very different, but it wasnt too bad. Christmas Eve we went and had Christmas dinner with a family and it was delicious and filling as a Christmas feast should be. Then on Christmas we didnt really do anything.....EXCEPT TALK TO OUR FAMILIES!! haha so that was super fun. And....well thats pretty much it. We didnt have any lessons cause alllll the appointments fell through. Turns out people actually do things with their families around this time of year....go figure.

We even ate Breakfast there.  It was a little lake-side restaurant. 

       So as for here, yes they celebrate New Years, actually pretty intensely (if thats a word haha) They actually make life sized....scarecrows you could say. Like huge figures and stuff them with fireworks and then paint 2013 or the year that is going out on it.....and then they soak it in gasoline and light it on fire haha so im stoked to see some of that going on haha Thats all they have i think. No boxing day, but it should prove to be legit anyway haha

       Sooo we didnt really have ANY lessons this week. I mean i think we had like 3 in total, but that was it (lame i know). But that was probably in part because of the lack of people in their houses...and the abundance of holiday. (I have a developing theory that the two are connected. shhhh) Butttt the point is that there isnt much to tell really! Elder S, our zone leader, goes home....well tomorrow, but they actually left Tehuacan yesterday to go back to Puebla. Best of luck to him...not that he will read this haha

A picture fro our second lake trip we took this morning! 

       Andddd the spiritual thought this week comes from yours truly. Its more advice than spiritual thought, but take it for what you will. There are a lot of things i wanna accomplish on my mission, and sometimes when I think about how much time I have left on the mission, I cant decide if its a lot...or a little. I feel like I still have so much time to work on my goals, but in the same moment, time is passing by. Well, we dont really know how much time we have left on this Earth. Sometimes, it seems like it will never end, and other times it seems to be flying by. But the point of it all is, we have to be constantly working on ourselves. Someday, Christ is going to come again. And when that day comes, I want to be working diligently on myself, and feel free of regret. The new year is the perfect time to set goals, and i would encourage you to do so! Its a tradition in my family and while we arent always so diligent in keeping up with them, the goals are a good way to check our progress. So anyways, hope you all have a happy new year! Enjoy!

Love,

Elder Josh Hamm 

Merry Christmas!

This is why we polish our shoes.  haha

       MERRY CHRISTMAS! I figured Id lead in with that since it is most assuredly on everyones mind at this point. Today is the 23rd of December afterall, which means that we are exactly 2 days from Christmas. I dont wanna take up too much time with all of the Holiday wrapping, preparing, shopping, cooking, ect. So this weeks email will be a little short!

Elder Scott, Elder Gerber and I at the Christmas Conference!

       The only news from this week is a story I have that might not be terribly exciting to all of you, but it was like almost the highlight of my week haha So on Thursday, we had to go pay the rent.....yes this is real....on the 19th of the month, my companion realizes that they never paid the rent, and the owner is now a little upset. So we go to the bank....at 3:45, 15 minutes before it closes. We get lost on the way, and arrive at 3:53, and it is PACKED in every sense of the word. Like seriously there are at least 50 people crammed into this bank shoulder to shoulder. So Im a little frustrated that we didnt get there earlier in the month or any other time that day. Then I tell my comp we have to go stand in line, and hes like "But thats gonna take a long time." Im like UHHHHH we dont really have a choice right now man!! So we go in and then my comps like "I think we need a number....but idk cause ive never paid the rent before." So now im super frustrated, not with my comp, but at the situation. So I'm like okay, we HAVE to do something right now. So I walk over to this desk where theres a man doing consultations. And Im like "Hey, I'm sorry to bother you but we are trying to deposit money in an account and my companion....i mean WE dont know how to do it and we are late to pay it." And this guy smiles at me and says "I respect you for taking responsibility for the problem, even if you werent part of the cause. Then he signs a piece of paper, and points to a VIP line and says go ahead and wait in that line. I was in shock. So we walk over to the line that has 4 people in it, and wait about 5 minutes before getting to the counter and paying the rent. I was sooo relieved. It was truely a blessing from God in that moment, and there was really no way to deny it.

My new District!

       Sooo the spiritual thought from this week is about Christmas, and I know you are probably a little tired of hearing all about the true meaning of christmas and all that jazz, but just hold on for oneee more haha I'm not gonna lie, I'm not terribly excited for Christmas this year, and I dont see any problem with that given my current situation. There will be no celebrating with family, no gifts, no traditions, and in all honesty, not even a break from work. But what this Christmas season HAS given me so far, is the chance to think about just how important Christmas is. Im sure, like me, many of you have thought of the true meaning of Christmas before, but have you thought about what that all lead to? For me, this was a new perspective. Yes, Jesus Christ was born on Christmas day, but it was so much more than that. In the small town of Bethlehem, the son of God was born into a mortal world. A world that was full of trials, a world that would deny his Godliness, a world that would condemn him for his miracles, a world that would reject him, a world that would spit upon him, a world that would crucify him alongside theives....a world that he loved. More than we can understand right now. Christ wasnt just born on Christmas day. Christmas marks the day that Mankind saw hope for salvation in this life and in the next. And there is no other name under heaven, save it be Jesus Christ, whereby man can be saved. So on the morning of the 25th of December, just remember why it is called CHRISTmas.

Hey guys! I hope you have a great time on Christmas. Ill be thinking about you guys and I cant wait to talk to you all!

Love,

Elder Josh Hamm

Tehuacan

We took a hike on PDay up to these lakes and they had these huge
Jurassic looking plants there so we climbed one! It was sooo cool!

      Soo this week has for sure been full of changes and adjustments ect! But it has all worked out really well, so im excited to tell you all about it! And so I guess we should just dive in.

       Soo after Elder A, I, V, P, and Me went to KFC we hopped a cab to the CAPU where the busses leave, and me and another Elder took a 2 hour ride to Tehuacan...where we were picked up by none other than Elder Pe! haha it was cool. We are going to be in the same zone and in areas that are right next to each other. Then we got to the house and did boring stuff but lets fast forward a little bit. So my new companion is Elder S, and he was comps with Elder P 2 changes ago! He is 18, from Honduras, and has 9 months on the mission (so just a little bit less than me!). He is a pretty hard worker and we have a pretty good time together, so things are pretty good on that front. Our ward is pretty cool! We have 4 Elders here in the same ward like we did in Huejotzingo so we get to eat with them everyday! The members are helpful, the ward mission leader actually helps us and has coordination meetings with us and stuff, and the bishop. But the area is good! We have some solid investigators and even 2 with fechas! Our house is nice...well now. When i first got to the area, it was kinda like the house in Huejotzingo- nice house but really dirty and abused from the Elders, but one morning I started cleaning and my comp jumped in and we cleaned things up, organized stuff, and then we even got some new stuff from a house they are closing in another area. So now the house is awesome, and all we have left to do is clean up the kitchen a little bit!

       Okay, a little recap of the week since it was full of cool stories! I will only share one since I dont wanna waste your lives, but ill include some news along with it too. First off, we went to eat with a member on my first day here, and we had sardine pattys...and they were....well lets be real, they were sardine pattys man. BUT while i was eating, i happened to find a small cricket in mine, and so im like oops, well ill just move that over to the side of my plate....but then i was like wait....ive eaten some pretty wierd things here and maybe it was intended....and i didnt wanna offend the Hermana, so i went ahead and ate it. NBD....till after the food, we are all talking about how....interesting it was, and Im like yah, and the crickets were nasty too! And theyre like uhhh...what crickets? And thats when I realized I had made a terrible mistake haha so it was funny.

      So in other news, Im not going to be able to go to the temple with the G Family on the 21st like i had been looking forward too. Since I had emergency transfers, Im now too far away to go to the temple and then make it back by 6 oclock to work again, which is the rule for going to the temple. So its pretty sad, but Elder P is gonna go with Elder T in my place, and he isnt happy that i cant go either haha but I guess the important thing is that they are going to be sealed as a family for all eternity! So thats the update on that. 

      Anddd finally, we had our Christmas Conference as a Zone this week and the night before, we had 6 other Elders stay at our house with us cause we have those extra beds. It was awesome. We basically talked and then they had me play them all my new songs and stuff on guitar and then we sang some covers, and it was awesome haha So that was fun.

       The spiritual thought this week comes from King Benjamin who is pretty much the greatest guy ever haha His chapters in the Book of Mormon are awesome. But the part that drew my attention the most this week, was something I think Dad will like haha. In chapter 4 in verse 10 it is talking about how belief isnt enough without action. Well at the end of the verse he says "and now, if you believe all these things see that ye do them." And if you know my Dad at all, you know where this is going haha a phrase commonly heard in my household (more often than not directed at me) is "If you know, then DO!" And the more I think about that and apply it, Ive realized just how true it is! How easy is it to say that we believe something? Pretty simple. But to then take that next step and apply that faith with action, trusting in God, well thats the hard part! If we know, then we must DO! Because if we dont, our faith is dead and we are going to be held accountable for actions and innactions after this life.

Hey guys! Love you all a ton! Have a good time this week and I will skype you all soon!

Love,

Elder Josh Hamm