The week of many firsts!

Hello everyone!

This week was full of many firsts! Here is my list:

1. I had my first peanut butter and jelly sandwich... and liked it! And yes there is peanut butter here. A-town rocks.

2. I had Coke for the first time... nasty. 

3. I almost stepped on a chicken head... yeah I'll stop there. 

4. First district meeting. 

5. First time doing my hair on the mission... sorry I didn't take a picture

6. We were teaching Valeria and I heard FROZEN!!! It was in Spanish but I could recognize that movie in any language. Haha I loved it! I kept getting distracted. Her niece was watching it in the other room. 

7. First time being cold... speaking of frozen ;)

And I think I should stop there... :) 

I forgot to add last week we went on splits! I went to La Banda with Hermana Gentry! She is in Sam's ward! So she showed me where he lives and where his area is! It is so cool to be so close to a friend from home. I love it!

We are continuing to teach all of our rocking investigators! Yesterday we had 3 investigators at church! And a TON of less actives. Our goal is to have 100 people attending sacrament meeting before Hermana Creason leaves. Yesterday there were 33... We have a lot of work to do :)

We don't have a baptism this week. But Oscar is planning for June 7th! He loves country music and wanted me to write him a list of artists. I told him I would give it to him at church (a little bribe never hurt anyone). I did and he texted us saying he LOVES it! Haha, we went and taught him last night and he couldn't stop talking about it. Who wouldn't love country music?? :)

Well I don´t have much more to say... We are in the middle of this transfer and ahh today is my 2 month mark! What the... wow. Only 16 more. I have a lot I want to do in that time but one thing I can't do is regret anything! If I am constantly looking back and regretting I will miss what I am doing today. And today I am loving life. I love being a missionary. It just keeps getting better here. I am growing more than I actually thought was possible. I am changing but I am becoming what Heavenly Father wants me to be. That is the amazing thing about missionary work. It's a priceless time to let Heavenly Father mold you into the child He wants you to be. I am so excited to move forward and keep growing and learning.

Love you all! Thank you for your thoughts and prayers!

Hermana Hammond

Happy Memorial Day! from, The Americans

My study outfit...so cold!

Weekly selfie :)

Best week! (Out of like 8...),

Hello everyone!

I would say this is the best week of my mission but it hasn't been long enough so I don't know what to call it... haha, but what a great week!!!!! First I want to tell you about some of our investigators that need more prayers and thoughts. 

Valeria- She is a rock star. She is 16 and wants to get baptized so bad. Her boyfriend is in our ward and she comes every week. It's actually pretty funny because in our lessons she ends up teaching us! Haha, she takes over and explains everything so perfectly. She wants to serve a mission too! The problem is her mom won't give her permission to be baptized. She wants her to learn more and maybe she can in the next year. Well this is salvation we're talking about so we have been studying a lot for this. This situation is super common down here. The young people are so fun to teach! They just soak it all in and burst with light! It's unreal. I gave her a CTR ring but in Spanish and she almost started crying. She is so patient and has so much faith. She was supposed to be baptized on Saturday but... well... now you know what happened. So please pray for her and her mom.

Oscar- So he has been an investigator for about 4 years... yeah. He had a baptismal date but the day of his baptism his dad died. And then the missionaries got transferred and it was a huge mess. He is supposed to get baptized this Saturday but the problem with him is he didn't come to church yesterday. There was a huge soccer game yesterday and he partied with his friends. He doesn't understand the Sabbath Day. We went to his house after to talk to him but he wasn't there. Prayers for us that we won't beat him up (joke) and prayers that he will understand the commandments. 

Fimilia Medina- This family is very special to me. They are less actives and 2 of their daughters want to be baptized. They are very poor. It is very humbling. I love them with all my heart. The parents are Rosa and Nestor and the daughters are Florencia and Ashalen. Nestor is blind but they are the greatest family. They are so humble and need a lot of prayers. Saturday night we taught them the plan of salvation and the importance of temples. I prayed so hard that Heavenly Father would help me with my Spanish because when I teach people are focused because I am learning the language. It was the greatest lesson. I just opened my mouth and I know Heavenly Father was talking through me. That is what if feels like to be a missionary. That is why I love this so much. We are servants of the Lord. We represent Christ and we prepare ourselves to be worthy to teach Heavenly Father's most beloved children. It is incredible.  Nestor said the closing prayer and everyone was crying. The spirit was so strong. So please be mindful of them in your prayers. It is very appreciated. 

Okay that is good as far as investigators/members go. 

The ward is doing great! Still no bishop but we are getting by. I love the members. We have lunch every day with a family and it´s so fun! It's the perfect opportunity to practice my Spanish. 

(Side note... Manji! Guess what number our apartment is..... 7.) :)

Food is great! I am losing weight but I don't know why.... we eat all the time! Haha, well we don't have dinner so I guess that's why. Hermana Creason made banana bread! It's unreal. Like unreal. And Thursday I made Pangea! I don't miss anything yet. We have clean water in our apartment so I'm good there. We have been working on organizing our apartment and area book... Elders before us left it a mess! But the problem is vacuums don't exist here... it's gross. And lawn mowers are plugged in... they look like vacuums. 

Well I think I said it all! I love it so much here! Oh! We had zone conference Saturday and Stake Conference Saturday and Sunday so I saw Elder Slighting! He is so great! He and his companion did a practice with President Levrino as the investigator. He is an incredible missionary. His Spanish is off the charts and they are having a lot of success! Okay now I think that's everything.

I love you all and I am keeping you in my prayers. Woah I forgot something else.... Last night after Conference we decided to go contacting close to our apartment because it's safer. I said a prayer to Heavenly Father and said, "Guide me to the door and I will knock (or clap)." Well that's exactly what happened! We were walking down a street and I felt the prompting to go to the house across the street. There were two doors so we picked one. A young man opened the door and denied our message because he's an atheist... made sense. I asked if there was anyone we could teach.. haha, he said oh yeah! and knocked on the door next door for us. He said this lady would love to talk to us and peaced out! Haha, we were like... uhh okay. So a lady and one of her kids came to the door. She loved us but was in the middle of putting her kids to bed (a family... score!) we asked her who else we could visit and we ended up getting like 4 references and contacting 3! It was very successful! Then we were walking home and I stopped at a door. I was like, Hermana 1 more. And we rang the doorbell. A young girl answered. I asked if we could come in and share a message with her. She said yes and just soaked it up! We have another appointment with her. Her name is Elizabeth. I love her! I am so excited to go back to that street.

 

Okay phew! Now I am definitely done! Love you all! 

Until next week!

Hermana Happy :)

Name the airport (this is for you Uncle Mike)

Arrived in Argentina

At Buenos Aires Temple

Typical A-town street

With Elder Slighting

Week 1 in A-town!

 Family!!

Wow I'm in Argentina!!! What??? What a crazy week!! We traveled to Argentina which took about 2 days. We met President Levrino and Hermana Levrino and went to the church offices to drop off our stuff and grab a few things to stay the night in a hotel. It was great! No creepy crawlies. We also had dinner at President's house. So yummy :) President asked me to say the prayer! Scary! But it went well and he complimented me on my spanish! We slept in a hotel and met our companions the next morning! Hermana Creason is my trainer and she is AWESOME! We are going to have a lot of success. We took a bus to Santiago (our area) with 2 other Elders. We got to our apartment at like 2 in the morning... we were exhausted!!! And then Thursday was weekly planning. 

Then I had my first lesson with Valeria! Her baptism is this Saturday. 

Wow we only have 1 hour to write and I have a lot to say... but now I only have 15 minutes... cool. 

Well here are some highlights of the week. 

I had soda for the first time... twice...weird. I don't like it but I will drink it if I have to. Both times were with members and they poured it for me. All is well. 

I invited my first investigator to be baptized last night! His name is Oscar and he has been an investigator for 4 years!! His girlfriend is an investigator too. He will be baptized next Saturday. And Mercedes hopefully the following. He knows so much... last time they talked about the 3 Nephites with him... he was ready. What happened was his dad passed away before his baptism and he went down hill. Still receptive and considered as an investigator but hard to find. 

This week we have a zone conference and stake conference! So I get to see Elder Slighting! Excited for a familiar face. 

Today we made empanadas! It rocked. 

We have a lot of work ahead of us! And I totally want to write more but only have 4 minutes left. Above all else I want all of you to know this is God's work. I absolutely love being a missionary and serving others. It's an incredible experience that not many get to have. So thank you for this opportunity. I will do better next week with my letter. Sorry it's not very detailed. This is so not like me. Thank you for your letters! 

I love you all so much! 

'Til next week, 

Hermana Hammond

With President and Sister Levrino in the Salta Airport 

Here we go!

 With President and Sister Levrino

Dinner our first night

 Meeting my new companion/trainer Hermana Creason

Making empanadas