Week 80

Goodbye, Washington

As I've been pondering what I wanted to share in my last email, a story of Peter and the Apostles came to mind. This is after the time that Jesus Christ has Risen. (John 21:3-7)

3 Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. They say unto him, We also go with thee. They went forth, and entered into a ship immediately; and that night they caught nothing.

4 But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore: but the disciples knew not that it was Jesus.

5 Then Jesus saith unto them, Children, have ye any meat? They answered him, No.

6 And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes.

7 Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter, It is the Lord...

In this account, Peter chose to return to the activities that he had been engaged in before the Savior had called him to be an Apostle. He went fishing and caught nothing. This is because he had stopped doing the things that Christ had commanded him to do, being "Feed My Sheep." When we follow the Savior with full purpose of heart then He will lead us to that which will be most beneficial for us. When I return home from my mission I will not be the same person I was when I left. Part of the process of repentance in changing our hearts. My heart has been changed by the Lord and I know what my purpose is. While I may no longer be a full-time proselyting missionary, I am still a member of the Lord's church. I will continue to live in harmony with what I have learned and continue to strengthen my testimony of my Savior. This will not be the spiritual highlight of my life because I know that God has continually greater things in store for me. 

I'm forever grateful for the time that I have been able to labor in this part of the Lord's vineyard. I'm excited to see you all soon ♥

Sister Hammond ♥

1. my missionary friends will recognize this picture. This is Sister Hernandez, aka Sister Meyers from The District!!

2. Cinco de Mayo party ☼

3 & 4. selfies at the church because it is beautiful outside!

Week 79

Spring is here- and Homecoming details!

The sun is starting to make it's appearance and they rain is beginning to take a break. Washington in the spring time is absolutely breathtaking. Everything comes alive, there is green everywhere, and the flowers are so pretty. It reminds me of the hope that comes through Jesus Christ. Even when we go through the hard times in life and the "clouds" come and the "rain" never seems to stop, Jesus Christ is the hope that the rainy days will create something beautiful in our lives.

Ether 12:4 says

"Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God."

I love this scripture because it helps me to have an eternal perspective. God's plan is so much bigger than mine. His purpose is for me to learn to overcome the natural man and "become a saint" (Mosiah 3:19) through His Son Jesus Christ. When I build my foundation on Him I can make it through the "rainy days" and look forward to what He can help me to become. 

As I've been reading through the Book of Mormon these last couple of weeks it's really stood out to me the role that the Holy Ghost plays. Being the third member of the Godhead and a personage of Spirit, He can dwell with in each one of us and point us towards Christ. Living worthy of the gift of the Spirit is the ultimate task, because with Him we can have power to do all things. It's submitting our wills to God's that allows the Holy Spirit to give us guidance in our lives. This is one of the greatest things that I've learned as I've been serving here in Washington.

I can't believe that my time here is coming to a close. But I'm forever grateful for my loving Heavenly Father and the time that He allowed me to be here. Can't wait to see you all!

Sister Hammond ♥

OH! and for my Homecoming - it will be Sunday, May 21st I think it's at 9 am

10 West Young StreetMORGAN, Utah 84050-9000United States

Week 78

Eighteen Months...?

I read the parable of the olive tree that Jacob quotes in Jacob 5 this week. One of the things that particularly stood out to me was verse 41

"And it came to pass that the Lord of the vineyard wept, and said unto the servant: What could I have done more for my vineyard?"

I love this passage because it shows how much the Lord truly cares about each and every one of His children. Something that I've come to realize as I've been on my mission is the infinite love that God has for us. He sent His Son so that we could each have the opportunity to return to live with Him again. He allows us to make our own choices, whether they bring us closer to or farther away from Him because He loves us enough to let us choose. He has restored truth and authority on the earth today through a living prophet because He loves the whole earth. He is not a partial God, nor is He selective with His love. Every person on the earth is His child and He wants each of them to have the opportunity to return to live with Him again. That is why He weeps when we use our agency to choose not to follow Him.

I'm grateful to be a missionary and to be at the forefront of this great work. I've been able to witness the miracles of the saving grace of Jesus Christ. He is the Savior of the World and He provides the only way back to the Father.

Exchanges this week! Eatonville is beautiful.

Because the sun was out we had a great view of mt rainier  ♥

and then the rain came back :) #therainystate

I love you all. Keep on keeping on.

Sister Hammond ♥

Week 77

Happy Belated Easter!

On Saturday we contacted one of the referrals that some Elders in our zone sent us. We talked with her for a minute and then asked if we could come in and share an Easter message with her. She looked around, a bit uncertain, and then let us in. While we were talking with her she told us that she was currently detoxing from a 15 year heroine addiction. She grew up Christian but never really had an understanding of what that really meant. As we continued to share more with her I could see so clearly the blessings of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in our lives. As we live faithful to the commandments then God is able to give us clear direction and understanding and peace. So many people in the world today are looking for fulfillment or direction, but they are looking towards other people, or objects, or technology. Those things only bring us temporary happiness and really just distract us from the true joy of following God. People let us down, objects get lost, technology gets out dated. Only God is the same Yesterday, Today, and Forever.

I'm so grateful for my Savior who understands me perfectly. His Atonement and His grace and His resurrection provide the only way for us to return to live with God. It is only through Him that we can "find peace in this life and eternal salvation in the life to come" (BoM intro). He was resurrected on the third day, because of this EACH and EVERY person will be able to be resurrected and reunited again. I love this Gospel and I'm so grateful for the time that I have to share my testimony every day. I hope you all had a good Easter week!

Sister Hammond ♥

Easter Bunnies

just me and my bff

Sister Bowman's love language from God is rainbows. We've probably seen 7 this week. No lie.

and then the sun came out ♥☼

Week 76

Wa-Fed-Way Faith Feast

It's always fun to get a new companion and see how we work together. Everyone has different ways of doing missionary work. We've been super busy with the miracles that God is blessing us with. We had an incredible lesson with the a member's niece who recently moved in with them. She's 24 so we are passing her off to the YSA Elders. But in our lesson with her she talked about her desire to come closer to God. At the end she said the most sincere prayer and asked God to help her to know that this was the right place for her. She also committed to baptism on May 20th!

As a mission we've started a mission-wide Book of Mormon challenge. We're reading 8 pages a day to finish it in 2 months. It's been really special to sacrifice time to read from the Book of Mormon. As I've been reading it this time I've started to recognize all of the ways that the Spirit leads the prophet and his family. Within the first couple of chapters Nephi explains the trust he has in God and the way that the Spirit leads him to accomplish the Lord's commandments. When faced with a difficult task Nephi says, "And I was led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which I should do. Nevertheless I went forth.." (1 Nephi 4:6-7). It's important to remember that God isn't going to show us the whole picture before we are required to act. He will give us as much information is necessary, and then expect us to faithfully walk forward. I know that His pillar of light will always guide us as we rely on and trust in His spirit.

I was able to go to my last mission devotional last night in Puyallup. Brother Bartholomew bore his testimony at it. He's the recent convert who was baptized after referring himself to the missionaries. We taught him 2 lessons and then passed him off to the Elders in the ward he's supposed to be in. He experienced so many miracles!

I'm grateful for this time that I have to serve my mission. I know that this is the Lord's work and He loves all of His children. With this week being the week before Easter, it's important to reflect on the Miracle of Christ's life. "Without Easter there would have been no Christmas" - Spencer W. Kimball. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is truly the most important event in the history of the world. This event impacted EVERY SINGLE PERSON on earth. Because Jesus Christ was resurrected, each and every person will be able to live again, with a perfect and glorified body. I'm so grateful for my Savior and His perfect love.

I love you all!!

Sister Hammond ♥

October 28th Sisters ♥

Festival of Finding this week! Knocking on doors from 10am to 5pm

the candid shot ♥

Week 75

The miracle of butterflies

One of Sister Erickson's favorite things is butterflies. When we're out tracting she'll be sure to knock on the doors of people who have butterflies on their doors. We were leaving the house of our investigator a few weeks back and contacted a woman, she gave us a referral for a family across the street who had just moved in. We wrote it down but kind of forgot about it for a few weeks. The other day we were walking by and remembered and went to knock on it, there were little butterflies all in the garden. Sister Erickson was so excited! The woman who answered is from Georgia and has only lived here a month. She was so open when we shared a little bit of our message with her and was excited to read the Book of Mormon. Later this week we received a call from a member in our ward who said she went to lunch with her new neighbor and said that she had met with us and wanted to learn more. Her name is Sister Patterson, we've taught her two lessons so far. As we are teaching her I am so filled with God's love for her. We talk about seeing people in 3 stages of white. (baptism, the temple, and the Celestial Kingdom) That's the lense in which Sister Erickson and I have been viewing her. She has been so prepared by God to receive this message. ♥

Sister Erickson is also being transferred today..I've been so blessed to be companions with her. She has taught me so much about the love that the Lord has for all of His children. We've been a part of many miracles together and now she's going to bless the lives of the people in Renton. I'm getting Sister Bowman! She's so cute! We've been on exchanges a couple of times. My last companion...how did it get to this point?

Conference this weekend was absolutely amazing. The talk that Heavenly Father sent directly to me was Elder Rasband's. He spoke about responding to the promptings of the spirit with earnestness. To be a first responder to the impressions we receive. Being in the last leg of my mission, I've learned a lot about the way that the spirit speaks to me. I know that Heavenly Father has a lot in store if I'm willing to listen, act, and report back to Him. He's at the head of this great work. I love the Gospel of Jesus Christ with my whole heart.

Sister Hammond ♥

ps - if you haven't watched the #PrinceofPeace video. Watch it. mormon.org

Week 74

Antiques ♥

"Surely, in the work of the Lord, it is what we do after we think we have done enough that really counts with him, for that's when the blessings flow."

With 7 weeks left of my mission I've been contemplating a lot on what I've learned, how I've changed, and what I can do to bring about lasting change after I'm home. I love this quote because it's important to not give up when we think we've done enough or given our all. It really is in the extra mile that we run that the Lord can truly bless us. President Eyring has a quote called The Fellowship of the Unashamed. In it he says something along the lines of "I will give till I drop, work till He stops me, and when He comes for His own He will have no problem recognizing me. My banner will be clear." 

This week we were able to find a couple of new people to begin teaching. They are always miracle finds because our God is a God of miracles. His miracles never cease, as long as we continue to exercise our faith. We've adopted the habit of knocking on the doors in the areas where we are at, and this is how God is able to lead us to the prepared. First, Christina is a woman that we met on Saturday after the less active women we went to go see wasn't home. Christina lives two doors down from her. She initially said she wasn't religious, but we were able to talk about her family and tie it into the gospel and the role that God plays as our loving Heavenly Father. We share Joseph Smith's experience with her and introduced the Book of Mormon. When we asked her if we could come back she immediately said yes. Second, Polly Patterson. She moved in about a month ago and her neighbor actually sent us over to her house as a referral. She said that she has been looking for a church and that she has Mormon family members. She's super open to us coming by again and is interested in reading the Book of Mormon. 

I have a strong testimony of the reality of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the Prince of Peace. This Easter we are able to celebrate the fact that He not only died for us, but he also lives for us. On Friday the church's Easter initiative will be released. It's going to be featured on Mormon.org

Love you all!

Sister Hammond ♥

ps - happy Conference week!!

a less active in the ysa who's been coming to our ward. He's so sweet!
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antique shopping with the other sisters today!

Week 73

honestly, writing emails is hard sometimes, here's some pictures updates on how mission life is going :)

exchanges with Sister Tippets and Sister Taylor. Both really hard working missionaries ♥

Leo's baptism day!!! he was so excited and made the funniest comments the whole time. ♥

Alma 37 is counsel from Alma to his son Helaman and it has really hit me a lot recently with how much God really does help us.

40 And it did work for them according to their faith in God; therefore, if they had faith to believe that God could cause that those spindles should point the way they should go, behold, it was done; therefore they had this miracle, and also many other miracles wrought by the power of God, day by day.

I do know that is is by our faith that God can and will direct us. He loves us and wants us to live with Him again. The only way to find happiness that will last is as we turn to Him and offer our heart to Him. He will bless us with continued guidance and help that will get us through each and every day.

I love you all.

Sister Hammond ♥