Not Today

Well this week is the last week of the transfer, which is weird, it has gone by so quickly. Next transfer will be longer though. This last week started off great, we went to the Ronald Reagan presidential library. They had a lot of different interesting things there, and at times I felt like part of the exhibit. There were a lot of people there, because it's the beginning of summer. It was good though air force one is pretty sweet, but just like every other airplane. . . I didn't fit. Then on Tuesday I went on an exchange with Elder Larson, and that went well. We worked in my area, and got a lot done. Exchanges always get you to work extra hard. We taught a lesson with a less-active member who has been coming to church regularly for a little while now. We talked to him for a little bit then he said "and no, I haven't read my scriptures". I didn't even have to ask him he just followed up with himself when he saw me. So it was then that I suggested that we read together right now. He said "not today Elder Hamson". . . what do you do. I don't think he likes me, but that's fine with me. Overall it was a good exchange, we definitely both learned a few things from each other.
Then on Wednesday I went on another exchange, so I had back to back days without Elder Moser. This time I went with Elder Egan, who is the zone leader, so we had a great day. We talked to a lot of people, and taught a few lessons. We tracted into a lady who seemed excited to listen to our message, and gladly took a Book of Mormon then out of no where here husband walked up behind her and all of the sudden she wasn't interested, and wanted to give us our book back. Bummer. She failed to give us our book back though, so at least she can read it when her husband isn't looking or something. Both exchanges were in my area, and were both really good, however Elder Moser and I both agree it was nice to be back together. Then on Friday we had apartment inspections. I didn't know what to expect, since this was my first one, but it turns out if your apartment is clean you have nothing to worry about. So ya, we aced it. The other Elders in the ward, however got chewed out, so we will probably go help them clean their apartment. That was pretty much this week. Next week will be crazy, we have a zone conference on Wednesday and it is President Castro's last one. I will also find out next week if I am getting transferred or not. Then it is President Felix starting July 1. Thank you all for your letters, and all the support. It means a lot. I love you all and keep on having fun!

Elder Hamson


Calling the nation to repentance.

The Key

Well, as usual the weather is great. On Tuesday I started off my week going on an exchange with Elder Young, who is on the other side of our ward. I see him all the time so it was cool to have a whole day working with him. He has been out for about 4 months now, and he is a great missionary. In the morning we started tracted into a born again christian, and she was actually pretty cool. She had never actually heard the Joseph Smith story before, and so naturally we filled her in. She was a crazy, but hopefully she's crazy enough to read and pray about the Book of Mormon. It was a really good lesson, and we have another appointment with her tomorrow. Then throughout the rest of the day we ended up teaching 3 more lessons to random people we met, which is unusual. So I had a great start to the week. Then on Saturday the zone leaders called us and said that they needed our keys to the stake center. They had a baptism that day and realized they didn't have a key to the building, so we came to the rescue and opened the building for them. And then while we were there some guy came and started skateboarding at the church. We had to leave, but the zone leaders talked to him and as it turns out he was really interested. They gave him a tour of the church, including the font which was filling up. We found this all out later, but Jacob, the skater, is now meeting with the missionaries. It all works out great too, because his is YSA age anyway, and I'd like to think that it's all because of my key to the church. However it was just a reminder that there are people out there who are being prepared, we just need to find them. I think that is it as far as exciting things go this week. We are actually planning on going to the Ronald Reagan library later today, so I will let you all know how that goes. I am a little nervous about all the changes that are coming up. Not only just transfers, but a new mission president. Also I don't think I will be able to hide in Jr. companionville for much longer. It's all exciting, which is pretty much what my mission has been. Thank you all for your prayers.

Elder Hamson

Go Home!

This week has been a solid week. Tuesday was probably the most interesting. We had met Ben a couple days earlier and said I'm busy now, but i would love for you to come by and we can sit down and talk. He seemed really excited to talk with us. Now, I'm no new missionary, and I could see right through his little plan. Nobody is that excited to meet with us unless they want to bash. Anyways we went back on Tuesday and I was right. He invited us right in, we sat down, he whipped out his bible, and started right off. "Now boys, I am a seventh day Adventist and I am never going to change. . ." yadda yadda, he went on for a while. The hard part was that he was actually nice to us and so we tried to reason with him. The conversation was kind of one sided the whole time. He would talk forever and we would try and say something, then he would go right back talking again. We were stuck in a black hole. After a little more than an hour of us sharing our beliefs with each other I was done. He wasn't willing to even consider the possibility of the Book of Mormon being true, so we invited him to read and pray about it anyway. I told him that we are just here to share the blessings of peace and joy that come from the restored gospel. Can't argue with that. Then later that day in the evening we met this lady pastor. She, however, was not nice. She was walking her dog and we stopped to talk with her and she seemed nice at first, but as we started talking about why we are on our missions that changed. Basically she told us that we need to go home and go to college. I agreed and told her that I will be doing that once I am finished here. Then it got really weird, she cast like a spell or something on us. And I quote " You are going to have dreams, you are going to have visions, you are going to change your life around, and it's going to be for the better". That's when me and Elder Moser looked at each other like we need to leave, now. So we did. She is definitely working for the devil, and frankly it was a weak attempt on his part. Then on a good note I went on an exchange on Saturday with Elder Collard. I got to work in his area and we had some really great lessons together. He is a great missionary and was a lot of fun to be around. That pretty much sums up my week, the exciting parts that is. Things are going fantastic here, me and Elder Moser are becoming really good friends, and that always makes things a lot easier and a lot more fun. Thank you for your letters they mean a lot. Don't have too much fun without me.

Elder Hamson

Bonus Points

Well this week has been an exciting week. It started off well, we help a lady in our ward clean out her garage and reorganize it a little bit. Her husband, who passed away recently, had an old ford mustang in the garage and it's actually kinda cool. I have learned more about cars here in southern California than I learned my whole life previously. People here like to talk about their cars. Then later on that day we met John Butler who was walking to the park to shoot some hoops when we ran into him. So we went over with him and shot around. (Bonus points for shooting hoops and teaching at the same time!) He is 50 or so and is a movie writer. He told us he is writing a movie, it's going to be called Revealed, that is kind of like Joseph Smith and his story. This couple finds some scrolls out in the woods and it is an ancient record of a people who were in the middle east, but sailed to the America's and started their religion there. We asked him if he has read the Book of Mormon before. He said "no why?". So we told him that it's pretty much the same thing. He then apologized and said "oh, I'll have to read the Book of Mormon to make sure I'm not plagiarizing anything." We then told him we don't really care about that, but more importantly he needs to read it and pray to find out if it's true, and if Joseph Smith was really a prophet. We gave him a copy and he doesn't live in our area, so we probably won't ever see him again. It was definitely one of the more interesting experiences on my mission. Then on Friday we had to we met Jazmine who has two kids and is church shopping. She was busy, but told us we could come back. I am really excited to teach her this week. Other than that is was a pretty normal week. I love you all and hope you have a happy memorial day.
Elder Hamson

D&C 4 "For behold the field is white already to harvest"

YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!

I am staying here for another transfer in Simi Valley with Elder Moser. Only this transfer will only be 5 weeks long, because President Felix is coming in right after that. It will be very interesting to see what happens. Then the transfer after that is going to be 7 weeks, So pray I get a good companion for that transfer. This last week was a pretty good week. We went on a bunch of blitzes, so I have gotten to work with all the missionaries in our district at least for an hour. That is one of the perks of being the district leaders companion. We have a really good district, and it's always fun to work with the other missionaries. On Wednesday we met this girl, Tonny, who was weeding in her front yard. We stopped to talk with her, and she told us she isn't really religious. She was interested in what we were doing though and we talked with her for a while. We taught about prayer and the restoration, and gave her a Book of Mormon. She seemed like she had some real potential until, well she didn't say it, but implied that she is gay. We didn't ask her about it, but we will just have to cross that bridge if we get there. Needless to say she is going to have to know that the Book of Mormon is true. The next day we had a lesson with the Schnebly's, who is a family in the ward we are working with. We are just going through the missionary lessons with them, so we taught the restoration. Afterwards though we played a family home evening type game with them and that was great. They are a great family, and we have been able to connect really well with them. Also they came to church on Sunday which was great. Then on Saturday we helped an inactive lady in our ward move out and into a neighboring ward. It took like 6 hours which was mildly frustrating. She needed the help and we helped so that's good. We had lots of people there to help it was just disorganized. Then on Sunday we had an interesting experience. We started talking to some guy on the street and he was a talker. He said a lot of things, but basically he wouldn't listen to us when we started talking or he would cut us off; and then expect us to just stand there and listen to us. Elder Moser started to bear his testimony, and this guy cut him off and said "no,no,no you were just brainwashed by your parents to come out here." It was at that point that Elder Moser lost it. He yelled "YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!" "You think I would give up my family for two years. . .etc" I was scared for this other guys life. I promptly ended our conversation, and we left. Basically it's like that story Elder Holland told in general conference about the sister missionary, except Elder Moser went back and said "Excuse Me!" It was an exciting way to end the week, and despite our differences me and Elder Moser get along fine. Anyways everything is going well and I am thankful for all of the prayers on my behalf. 

Elder Hamson

Happy Birthday, Alan.

well I am now 20 years old. I feel older wiser and I think I can even jump a little higher. This last week has been definitely one to remember. On Monday after emails we went for a hike to white face. It was a great hike, much more challenging than the last one. And the view was fantastic, that is always a bonus. Then on Wednesday I had a pretty good birthday. In the morning we taught Francisco who can mostly speak English and only sort of understands us. We tried to tell him that missionaries who speak spanish are going to come over next time, but I am not sure he understood. Then the zone leaders called us and wanted us to come to their apartment. They had a package for me! Also they had an assignment for us to prepare an EDPEP (Explain Demonstrate Practice Evaluate Practice again) for zone meeting the next day. Basically what we do as missionaries to practice doing missionary work or a role play. Then we went and checked the mail only to find another package was waiting for me at the leasing office. After lunch at Panda Express, which got paid for by a member, we went and worked in the other Elders area or in missionary terms we blitzed their area. I worked with Elder Anderson for an hour and we followed up with each other about our exchange and we talked to a few random people. Then we prepare for the zone meeting the next day. Overall it was a pretty good birthday. On Thursday we had zone meeting, and our EDPEP went well. Also in the afternoon we taught Alonso and Cherice. They were in the area book and they are now officially investigators now that I have met them. They are really nice born again Christians, which is unusual. We had a great lesson about the Restoration and they gave us some pizza. They are really good people who like our company more than anything. They don't get very excited when I start committing them to do stuff like read and pray. Faith without works is dead. I didn't say that but some days I want to. Then on Friday we went to the TEMPLE!! We went with the other Elders in the ward who also had a birthday. The Herrs took us and we got there early so we went through the visitors center and that was cool. Then we went inside and it's always great to get away from the world and feel the spirit of the temple. It was a great day. Then Saturday morning some guy knocked on our door and asked us if we could help him move some large furniture. We said of course and helped him a couple couches and a bed for our new neighbor Loraine. She is old and her bed is quite heavy, but we have been given a new assignment to keep an eye on her from her son. Then we went and helped with the baptism of Josh, who Elder Willis and Elder Young are teaching. It was a great service although it took the grandpa 5 tries to get it right. Then Sunday was mothers day and I was going through my day only to realize halfway through the day that I get to call my mom today. It was great to talk to all of you and I am glad everything is going well. I am still having a great time here and next week I find out if I am staying or going. I love you all!
Elder Hamson

Counting Down the Teenage Years

Well, my time as a teenager is growing short. I heard when you're twenty you have to be all responsible and stuff. That's ok I've still got a couple days left. As far as this week goes it was much better than last. I started off on an exchange with Elder Hurst on Tuesday. He is fairly new and he came to work in my area. We had a very good day together, talking with a lot of people. I have decided that I like helping other missionaries learn and grow just as much as investigators. Then on Wednesday I was back with Elder Moser, and we had 3 other lessons and in the beginning of the day we had 0 appointments. So it was a pretty good day . One of the people we ran into was Angela she is one of the members neighbor, and they told us she has come to church before. We talked for a little bit and she has a good friend in the ward. We gave her a Book of Mormon and she said she would take a look at it. (unfortunately she probably won't). Thursday we had district meeting, and that went pretty good. There is still room for improvement, but I think we are all generally moving in the right direction. Friday we had presidents interviews and that was fantastic. It was different than normal though, he interviewed our companionship. Basically we accounted for everything in our stewardship. He asked us questions like do you wake up in the morning? is your apartment clean? is your car clean? Elder Moser and I had a great interview and we talked about the district, and President thanked us both for coming and rebuilding this area. It's still under construction, but generally going up. President Castro always has the best compliments, I am definitely going to miss him. Then later that day we taught the Hussons who, after we taught the whole plan of salvation, dropped us. Bummer. Then on Saturday we went on exchanges with the zone leaders, and I went with Elder Eggleston. He is pretty cool, it was definitely an interesting experience. We had an appointment with one of their investigators, Hailey. So we walk up to the door and we hear yelling from inside. And to say that they were yelling at each other would be a gross understatement. It was Hailey and her brother going at it, they were both dropping bombs left and right. Elder Eggleston and I both look at each other like, what do we do? He wanted to listen to see how it turned out, so we did. She was defending herself on why she was meeting with us, so we were both rooting her on. After a couple minutes we knocked on the door anyways. She was glad to see us and the brother promptly stomped his way upstairs. She then proceeded to tell us all her problems. We tried to read with her a little bit, but she is a very bubbly talker. Mostly I didn't say much in fear of her yelling at me. The rest of the day seemed quite normal in comparison. I think that pretty much sums up my week. This upcoming week though I get to go to the temple and call my mom, so I am excited. I love you all, and I'll be back next week!