Elder Jayden Hamblin

Week 34...8 Months out!! (Jan. 09, 2017)

So this week was really different. I really tried hard to focus on obeying with exactness and really thinking about all of the little rules. Like getting up at 6:30 and not 6:35 which is so easy to do. Well 7 is easy too but...

So after p-day on Monday we went up for divisions with our zone leaders. We were with them all day Tuesday and I learned so much from them. They are super obedient and really understand how to teach. While I was with them we did a thing called a cosecha. Its Spanish for Harvest. It is like knocking doors, but you rely on the spirit to tell you which door you knock on. Me and the elder both felt impressed to knock on the orange house. So we did. The lady invited us in but her husband wasn't home so we couldn't enter. Then my comp, Elder L, started to compliment the ladies flowers and talked about flowers for like 10 minutes. Just kind of stalling. Then out of nowhere the husband showed up to have lunch. We entered the house with the husband and enjoyed a nice lesson and lunch with the family. It went so perfect. The family was so positive. It was clear that the spirit indeed meant for us to contact that house.

On Wednesday my comp and I went back to our area. We went out to the far part of the area where our branch President wants us to baptize enough people to make a branch in that part. So we went and met with all of our investigators and my comp at one point told me "I want to knock on this door. I don't know why, but lets do it." So I jumped at the opportunity and we knocked. A middle aged man came out and immediately invited us in. That was great! So we went in and he tells us he is Catholic by birth, and evangelical by choice. It is impossible to teach either of those religions anything so I was stunned he was even talking to us. But we had an incredible lesson with him and gave him a Book of Mormon and he told us it was very interesting and that he wanted to read it!

Then on Thursday we had divisions again but with our district leader in our area. Another gringo. So we went and just tried to find new people to teach. We probably knocked like 100 doors and only the very first one, and the last 2 would listen to us. We even contacted a house twice because my comp thought one of the girls in that house was cute and wanted to see if we could even just get a pity lesson from her. (That's when they let you in because you are gringo. It happens a lot actually.) But she said no. So that day was a bit tough, but we finally got in the door and had a bit of success!!

Then Friday we went out to a part of the area that we never really go. There are a lot of less actives that live there, and lots of old non progressing investigators but we never go there. So we decided it was time to visit. We went out and boom! Found 3 new investigators and an old investigator. We also talked with a bunch of less actives and hopefully if we can reactivate one he can be our new ward mission leader. This guy is awesome, he just doesn't go to church because he thinks that the people who are running it now have no idea what they are doing. (which is kind of true, but they are new to it and are still learning.) This guy has been a branch president 3 times, and really wants to visit Utah, so that's why he will probably contact you dad. sorry! But he has Facebook and I figured he can chat and send pics or something. He is super cool. Just a bit old.

Saturday we had zone conference. The whole mission and every mission is the world is changing. The schedule in the morning is different now. We have more personal time to study, and less comp study. We also plan in the morning and not at night. We also have to be in our house by 9 and not 9:30 now. We had the option of waking up at 7 but the president turned it down. We also no longer can have p-days with sister missionaries. So when the whole zone gets together, just elders. Which will make it easier to just play soccer or futbal the whole time instead of making time to include the sister missionaries with us! My zone leader loves that new rule haha!!

That's about it for the week. Just make sure if you are going to send an email during the week to not send in on Monday every week because we are going to start emailing earlier in the morning like around 12. So send your emails Sunday or something!

And let me know when you get around to sending that package so I can make sure someone is around to pick it up.

Thanks for everything, and the emails!