Week 83: Out here Grindin' 😲

MY FAM AND FRIENDS!

Hello there people, how the heck are we today?? I'm just fantastic. Not a whole lotta time today, so this may or may not be a short little message.. but I guess we'll get it started. 🙂

In all honesty, my new area would be bad if it wasn't for my companion. 😂 I love him. He's up there in the top companions for sure. He went to Payson High School, and graduated a year after me. He played football as well and we have the same interests when it comes to a lot of stuff. He's freaking hilarious so we are constantly making jokes and making each other laugh. It's so fun. I hope and pray that we stay together for the last two months and he kills me, but we don't know how likely that is.. I guess only time will tell!

As for the area there's not a whole lot to report. We have a solid 0 investigators so that's definitely new.. we have a couple flojo (idk how to translate that... maybe lazy/not good¿) investigators but no one will be getting baptized anytime soon unless there's a miracle. Needless to say we will be toking lots of doors and contacting lots in the street! Yippy! 🙃 But we do have lots and lots of members that need help with activation so we're gonna get some reactivations up in this beezy. Ahhhh! Yaaa buddy.

I've met a couple of strange people since I've been here and I've met some cool kids as well. I got up to introduce myself in church yesterday and I went with the classic, "I'm Elder Jamón" and the entire congregation died... Good heck, I'm funny. That one will never get old except I just realized that was the last time I'll use it. 😩 Que triste. There's a decent amount of young single adults here so we will be working with them a lot to get some friends to church.

I said a few goodbyes in Fuen earlier last week.. I said bye to
Gonzalo and Kelsey, the Michigan wife. They're good people :) They told us (Elder Bettridge and his new comp) that they can't meet anytime soon due to Gonzalo not having too much extra time. He just said now is not the right time for them. They move to Texas this summer, so I'm sure they'll find some missionaries there. Either way, I guarantee they're gonna be baptized eventually because they know it's true they just don't want to commit to the lifestyle. Other than that we ate with our ward mission leader and his family on Tuesday so that was awesome, I love them. Their 2 sons that are 11 and 14 are obsessed with my hair. Hahaha! They always ask to touch it and ask how I get it the the way it is. I told them before I left, it'd tell them my secret and so while we're eating, Dani, the youngest asks and I told them it's cuz I don't wash it and he and Cesar both go "Sweet! I'm never going to wash my hair again!!" Hahaha! Let's just say their mom wasn't too fond of me. 😜 Gotta do whatcha gotta do though! 😬😏

We had Zone Meeting in Sevilla on Friday. It was good because it wasn't too long. 😊😊😊 We talked about the new Easter initiative and it was dooooopeeee. We all got a ton of cards and we got to see the new Easter video that will be released this Friday the 31st. :) It's going to be a good one to end my mish on that's for sure. With Easter & Conference coming up here quick, I really am so grateful for the sacrifice that Jesus made for each and every one of us. Thanks to Him, all of us can become better and become clean again. The Atonement is something that all of us need, and it's something that can help us all be happier. It can change people from terrible to good, and good to better, but only if we let it help us .:)

I love you all, I hope you all have an amazing week, and you'll be hearing from ya boy again in a short 7! :)

Much love.
We Workin',
Tan Bra Ham 💯

Sunset

What I did to get that pic lol

Becarlo and family ward mission leader 

And a big yellow bear that asked if I'd take a pic with him

Week 82: Fuen 🚅 Huelva and Baptism!

Heyooooo,

My peeps! Welp, looks like your favorite missionary is back and comin' atcha with another stellar weekly report. 😎 This week was freeeeakin' good it all ended with some exciting news and two people in a tank of water while dressed in all white! 😇 Let's get to it.🥁

Alrighty! What happened this week? Wowzers! We went to a pueblo we have called Benalmádena. It's such a sick place. I  love it! :) It's super touristy. We taught our investigator Victor and it was a good lesson. It kind of  started off weird however.  We we were talking about the plan of salvation, Adam and Eve and all the creation and he asked why the Bible doesn't talk about ancient animals like dinosaurs... 🙃 Honestly, being here in Spain and listening to some of the questions I've heard in my 20 months here is crazy!  Good heck! Sometimes I just wanna reply with the, "Hey...guy.. Um Why in the heck does that thought even come to your head¿?" I freakin' don't even know man! There's some weird brains out there. But all in all it was a good lesson. He loved the plan of salvation and hopefully he can make it to church one of these days here soon.  :) 

After that lesson we wandered around the city and around the pier area. It's sooo dope! I got this craving for ice cream which was random because it was actaully cold. I thought that maybe if I found a good deal I'll swoop it. Guess what!? I found THEE BEST deal. A huge cone and 3 different flavors.. for €4. Are you kidding me right now? I bought it so fast and couldn't even finish it it was so big. About half way thru I decided to take a pic.  I'll attach.

We met with Leonor, Luz Estela and Valentina. It was a way good lesson about baptism & the Gospel of Jesus Christ in general. The freakin' Satan did not want them to like our message at all. We started talking about baptism and the Holy Ghost and everything and up until then, everything was going good. It was nice and smooth and what not, well we start on baptism and the doorbell rings, so they get it. It's some family. So they get the door and then we start again and I thought we were all good to get spiritual again. Nope. I was wrong. We weren't all good. Three other different groups of 5 or 6 people come filing in one after the other. As all these people came in, the spirit went right out the back door, jumped about 40 feet into a pool, got out, ran to the ocean and got on a boat that took it straight to Africa then from there He went as far away as possible from that house! 🙃 It was not awesome. Sooo we talk to a little then finally they realize, "Oh hey! These two American boys look like they're teaching something. We should probably stop being 6962 decibels loud!!!" Luckily, when they went into the back room, the spirit trickled its way back in and bore a powerful testimony about the power of the priesthood and the way we do baptisms. :) We showed them a video of when Jesus was baptized and it was so cool to see how into it they all there. :) We didn't commit them to a date yet, but they're progressing really well and they're all reading that one blue book that's way good! :)

GABRIEL'S BAPTISM!!! It was SOO good! :) I love baptisms and happiness and watching people cry because they're happy. Ugh! I just love this gospel. We went early to help them set up for the baptism and everything. The mom was super stressed out (typical moms lol)! During church I went up to her and told her that we made the agenda for his baptism and she just like gave me a huge hug in front of the whole ward lol! It was kinda awkward but she's like, "Ahh! I've been so worried about that. Thank you so so much!" That made me feel really good that we did that. :) We set up and then when it got time for the service to start, we sang I'm a Child of God. Holy Schnikees! The spirit was soooo strong. There were about 50+ people there and everyone said how much they loved the whole service and it was just awesome. We sat next to Gabriel, Aleeu & Cintia during the meeting and when we were singing they were all just crying so hard and I wanted to cry but I held it in. ;) During the ordinance his dad, Aleeu, started crying again and it literally just made me so happy to see how much my comp and I helped this family grow closer together and help them be happier and love each other even more. 😊 He asked me to be part of the circle when he confirmed Gabriel and it was so special. Then after we watched a video that they made with pics of him and it reminded me of Luke & Reece's baptism and I almost just lost it again but I didn't cry surprisingly lol. Gabriel got up to share his testimony and he gets up and goes, "Well, you guys all know my name. If you don't, I'm the kid who you came for and I just got baptized!" Haha! Then he started crying as he was saying he knows this church is true and how much he loves his family and then he said, "I don't know how to describe the happiness that I have right now!" I will admit that for the first time in my entire life, I literally shed 1 tear and that was it. Haha. It was like the ":')" guy. That was me. It was so freakin' awesome and such a good day! :)

Like my subject line says, we got transfer calls yesterday and it looks like I'm headed to my new & LAST area 😅😭. I'm pretty excited because I heard it's a way cool place. :) It's called Huelva and it's pretty close to Portugal so I'm excited to go there and finish the mish. :) My new companion's name is Elder Van Moos. I don't know him too well but we talked for like 4.71 seconds before Christmas at a zone conference in the hall. I'll also be in the same district as my good pal Elder Reeder who was in Alicante with me last summer and he's like 7'1 so he's pretty short. It's gonna be hard to leave my hijo Elder Bettridge. He's a good kid but I'll hopefully see him one more time before me voy to the 801 de nuevo. I'm pretty stoked to be going to Huelva! 😎

I love each one of you human beings and I hope you're all doing wonderful whenever you are reading this. :) Have the best of week and you'll be hearing from yours truly (me) in another 7 days when I'm in Huelva. 😛 Os amo, pichitas <3.

Much love.
Dos Más,
e. t HAM 🌟

Huge storm with way big waves we saw the other day

Huge storm with way big waves we saw the other day

My freakin steal of an ice cream 🍦 I was a happy little kiddo 

Gabriel's cake 😂 dopest cake you've ever seen

Me and my date

Todos los jóvenes

:):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):)

Week 81: What else ya got, wonderboy?

BUENAAAAAS 😊

Freaking hi people of my life. This week could possibly go down in history as the fastest yet. Holy! I feel like PDay was just yesterday and I was writing and now it's another PDay and here I am writing. This upcoming week we will be getting transfer calls...


I have a request for everyone... from the second you read this, until you read my next letter, could you PLEASE PRAY THAT I GET TO AT LEAST BE CLOSE TO ELDER BECKSTROM! We haven't seen each other in about a year and a half, and there is a solid chance we could be close to each other to end my mission, and better yet, companions!  Hahahahaha! Yeah! Right! Thanks! That'd be much appreciated. On to the weeeeek!

Gabriel's baptism is locked, loaded and ready to goooo! We had his baptismal interview on Thursday, the ZLs came and did the interview and said he's more than ready. :) I'm soooo excited! His dad gets home on Wednesday or Thursday, so after church this Sunday (the 19th) we will be having his baptism!! He comes up to me today and goes, "ELDER HAMMOND! MY DAD WILL BE HOME THIS WEEK! MY BAPTISM IS NEXT SUNDAY!!" He just gives me a huge hug! Hahaha! What a stud. I'm so excited for him!

We had intercambios last Tuesday to Wednesday in Malaga. :) I love working in Malaga because I always get to work in the ghettoooo. In my area right now, there isn't too much ghetto so I like working there. The only problem is that in Andalucía, the accent is way mad but in Malaga, it's even worse. Cs, Zs, & Ss are all pronounced like TH and it's so bad. Luckily by now I'm used to it. :) We talked to these two 15 year old kids for a while, and when we first started talking they asked where I was from and I said the states and they're like, "Oh! You've been here for a long time right?" And I'm like "Eh, yeah, a decent amount of time. How long do you think I've been here?" And he guess at least 5 years.. then I told him 20 months and he just freaks out and it's like holy crap dude your Spanish is awesome. 😎 It was funny. But yeah, I worked with Elder Medina from Uruguay and it was way good stuff.

We met with Leonor, Luz Estela & Valentina again on Friday and it was a good lesson. We talked about the Restoration and all that good stuff. :) We got to Joseph Smith and they loved it! They're so open to learn and I love it. I'm convinced that Luz Estela and Valentina will more than likely get baptized before Leonor, which sucks... but maybe if that happens, Leonor will see that it really is important and she'll get baptized shortly after. :) We talked about the priesthood and authority to baptize and stuff and they were really interested. They all said they were going to come to church so we were excited for that. :)

Sunday rolls around and we had SIX investigators in church..
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha. I laugh because that never happens here in Fuengirola, let alone Spain!!!! 😂 It was good stuff tho. Gabriel, Bridget, Nikol, Leonor, Valentina and Luz Estela all came to church and they all loved it! :) It was good to see the ward so supportive and helpful with them as well! It was a good sabbath all in all. 😊💰

We threw the pigskin around today on a turf field again. 😍💰🙌🏻 I love football. And I love all of you. And I hope you all have a great week! Don't forget to read the scriptures becuase they're good for your soul and don't forget to pray for me and Elder Beckstrom! 😜 Paz afuera negros ❤️

Much love.
Check Please ✅💰
Tan Ham ⚡️

More Spanish Coast 😍😍😍

We helped the RS stuff pillows for ladies with breast cancer and they thought it was funny... #husbandme

Week 80: 💯 ✌🏻 0️⃣

Herrrrrroo my loved ones,

People, I love you all. I hope you all know that. Our week here in Fuen was fuenomenal! 😛 We had some solid lessons, found some solid new investigators and the weather was either solid or absolutely awful! But I'll hit the highlights. 😊

So the subject... today marks my 100 days left mark. 😱😱😱 Unreal! I don't even know what to think. I have so many mixed emotions. 😂 As I was writing in my journal the other day, I realized how little time left I have out here and it just hit me how much I'm going to miss being here in Spain as a missionary. I feel like I just barely started. 😭 Life goes by too fast people.

We met with Gabriel two times this week and he's ready to be dunkedddd. 😊😊😊 We taught/went over the restoration, plan of salvation, all the commandments with him on Thursday night, and then we went over the word of wisdom, tithing, and all baptismal interview questions with him yesterday right after church! He's so awesome. I love how enthusiastic he is about his baptism and just life in general. :) We passed by his house on Tuesday night to set something up with him and his mom and we rang the button below and after like 3 mins he answers but doesn't say anything cuz he was kinda scared I think. I heard him and I said hello? And he's like ... hello? And I'm like hey Gabriel? He's like umm yes..? I'm like hey dude it's the Elders! And he's like OH HEY guys and got so excited and let us come up and we talked to him and his mom. He's so funny, I love it. He's like a little Brazilian version of Reece. I love it. The Zone Leaders have to come here this Thursday to do his baptismal interview, then after that all we have to do is wait for his dad to get home so he can baptize him! We're hoping for this upcoming Sunday, but if not most likely for sure the 18th of March or before that! It's hard to commit to a date because we don't know when his dad is going to be home. But whenever he gets here, it's straight to the water!

We had a FHE with Lorena who is the member who has a million friends and loves to invite them to listen to the good word. We met in David's house. David is a guy from Ecuador who we met with a couple weeks ago with Lorena as well. We went to his house with Ernesto who is a total homie. He struggles with being active because he works all the time but he's a total G I love him. At David's house, there were also two other guys named Paco and Sergio, both of them have a decent amount of potential. We had a good lesson just about our church in general. We talked about our beliefs and talked a lot about the BOM with them. That book is so awesome! Oh man! Then we had some meat and rice and it was soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo good. We had a solid discussion about life and it was fun meeting some new people like we do every day. :)

Before the FHE, we met with Leonor. Well, kinda. We went to her house and we were going to meet with her but she was busy so we went in and talked for a little but she was running around everywhere and was kinda stressed. Luckily, her friend Luz Estela and her daughter Valentina, had just arrived from Columbia!! Columbians >>> They came and we just taught them instead of Leonor. It was honestly a very good lesson. South American women are SO HUMBLE. I freakin' love it. They were both so open. They asked how we do our baptismal services. It was very...... odd..? We told them about how we need to be at least eight years old and how we do it in a full tank of water and her daughter who's 15 was like, "Ohhh! I wanna be baptized!" So hopefully we can keep meeting with them. It wouldn't surprise me if they both get baptized before Leonor. 🙃

Then yesterday we had another gnarly lesson with Gonzolo & Kelsey, the Americans. :) They're freakin awesome. I'm convinced they won't get baptized here in Spain. They leave in June to live in Texas, so I'm going to go make visits down there and teach them and baptize them there. 😏 They're freakin' smart little buggers, good heck. They look into so many things, sooooo deeply. Every time. Literally. It gives me a headache thinking about the things they ask us. 😂 Good thing my companion has great scripture knowledge or else we'd be in trouble! 🙌🏻😂😉 But it was really cool because we've been trying to focus a LOT on the Book of Mormon with them and the restoration and everything. Yesterday they were asking about Bible scriptures and how we interpret all them and what not and they had a question about stuff they saw on the internet and what not. Gonzolo asked about it and Kelsey was like, "Honestly, I think the only way we are going to get our answer is if we read the Book of Mormon because if we read it and find out it's true then we will probably find our answer to all the references that it names here." I look at Gonzolo and said, "I think your wife just answered your question" and he was like "she's so smart, that's why I married her!" Hahaha! It was awesome. So hopefully we start seeing some progress with them. They'll be baptized.. I don't know when or where. But I know they will be eventually. :) SEED PLANTING PEOPLE! IT'S ALL ABOUT THE SEEDS!!!

That's about all I got for y'all today.. sorry it was short. 😬 I hope you all have a wonderful week. Remember that God is GREAT. He loves each and every one of you, and he loves to hear from you all thru prayer... just like I love hearing from each one of you through email! 😎


HA! I'm funny. Sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
peace out Girl Scouts! 😊❤️

Much love.
REAL QUICK,
Tanner FRIKIN Hammond 🤑

I threw a Skittle in the air yesterday... 🌈