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