Week 49: I Am Happy 😊

Good Monday (or whatever day you guys read this) to you all, :)

Well, I first wanna start out by telling everyone the big news here in Elche. Some dude who lives here found all the Pokemon characters in the new game, that is completely outrageous and a total waste of time, Pokemon Go!!!!! Wow!!!!! How awesome is that?!?!! I was blown away!!! I'm joking. Honestly, that is kinda cool though because he is the 2nd person in the world to do it and he lives where I live right now. Props to that nerd! Second of all, I gotta shoutout my boy Elder King for killing his farewell talk yesterday (so he claims) and because he dips to the MTC this Wednesday. Good luck man! Thanks for filling in for me when I left. I'll see you in two and I'll be awaiting our hug ❤️! Now that I just got all mushy on you guys, here's my week. 😜

Tuesday we had a nice district meeting. That night we met with a new investigator named Jonathon! His wife is a less active and so we are killing two birds with one stone. :) We had a good lesson with them about why we are here and how the Book of Mormon can help them in their lives and then to top it all off, Jon accepted the baptismal goal for August 20th! It will more than likely have to get pushed back a bit but at least he shows signs that he wants to get baptized. :) After that we went over to Santi's house and talked with his parents about everything. Like I've said, if it was up to Santi, he would be baptized right now. But, he's 12. So, it's not up to him. We talked to his parents and they think it would be better if we waited a little bit longer so we pushed his baptismal date back to the 20th as well. I'm hoping that's as far back as we have to go because I'll more than likely be leaving the 24th to a different area. So as of now, Santi’s date for his baptism is August 20th. :)

Wednesday was a way good day. The morning sucked because we passed by a ton of people and didn't get anyone to answer. But Mediodia hit and went over to the Garcia’s house to eat. Then after while we are walking home my companion starts going the opposite way and I guess during our lunch, we got invited to eat with the Palominos as well. So, we went and had some Colombian food from a family from Ecuador. I wasn't too upset when I figured out what we were eating. My favorite food from South America. I don't know how to spell it but it's like this fried ball with mashed potatoes and meat and stuff inside and it's so good. We ate some of that and then went home and died for the rest of media did because we had so much food. 😩 When it was time to go out again, we had a doooope cita with Hernan. He found a piso to rent, SO HE’S MOVING OUT!! Which is freaking dope because now he can get baptized! :) We were talking and he said, “Hammond, when do you leave?" And I said, "Well transfers are the 24th so probably then.” Then he said, “Well, then we have to schedule my baptism before that. How bout the 13th?" Hernan is getting baptized on the 13th!!! I was seriously so happy it was unreal. :)

Thursday. We planned for this week and then after we went and picked up some food that a member made for us. That night we met with Jonathon and Vanessa again and talked to them about the Restoration. :) it was a really good weekend and we are excited to see what happens with Jon! After that we stopped by Santi's house and picked him up then went to the church for our "pre-soccer lesson” again. :) We talked to him about a ton of stuff and he understood all of it and it was awesome. We started with the 10 commandments and then into those we talked about the Sabbath Day, Law of Chastity and the Word of Wisdom! He told us he was gonna try and obey everything. :) After that we went out and played some soccer.

Friday was the start to a pretty lame weekend. The only thing I can remember is that we worked in the morning and once again had no luck. Then we had English classes that night and after went to Burger King and got ice cream. 

Saturday, once again, a day chuck full of nothing! We contacted 53 different people during the morning and only got about 4 numbers out of it. It was sad. And hot. To end the day, we went over to the Palominos and had dinner with them. We had a cute lesson on the Sabbath Day and the Sacrament and the importance of it. It was good, and then we ate some chicken and rice. Betcha didn't see that one coming. 😂

Sunday was a pretty good way to end the weekend. We went to church, enjoyed the classes, and then after we went over to Hernan’s to eat! After we ate, we went over the baptismal interview questions and he’s almost too ready for it. :) He's way stoked about it. After that, we went back to the Palomino’s house again and hung out with them for awhile, playing games and then somehow we got into this giant pillow fight. My comp was in the kitchen making some cookies and it was me and my dude Rafa (their nephew) against all 5 girls. 😩😩 We held our ground for the most part. Rafa was a champ and took most of the heat for me. On the bright side nothing broke which amazed me because it was like a pillow fight that lasted 25 mins and we were freakin zingin’ pillows across the rooms. It was good fun :)

Today we went to Alicante and went to that castle again. It was cooler the first time 😜 mostly because we had a car and someone who knew where to go and what to do, but it was fun to get the whole district together and disfrutar some PDay. :)

That’s all she wrote for this week. Happy August to you all and I hope you all have a great week. :) Oh yeah I forgot to mention this. Last Monday we played tennis with Aaron and oh my gosh people I think I found my future living if the whole playing football in college thing doesn't work out. I had so much fun and I wrecked everyone. I felt like Andre Agasi (no idea how to spell it but he's like a way good tennis player and I think he's my dad’s favorite). Either way it was dope and I'm definitely playing tennis when I get home and when I get old. :) I LOVE YOU ALL!!!

Pillow Zingin'
Elder THamNer :)

Our District ;)

Cheesin'

Week 48: My family is in Powell Again 🙃😒... I'm Working Hard in Spain 💯

Dear People,

Good day to you all... I apologize in advance for the lengthy email 😬just too much to say. Another good week tho!

Tuesday - we had district meeting with our new district that morning. It's so weird cuz we have 2 new missionaries who just came from the MTC and they don't speak any Spanish at all hahaha. It's funny to hear them try and talk and then whenever something is said they look at you like, "What the heck did he just say?" I feel like I was in their same shoes just yesterday but at the same time it feels like it was soon long ago. I told them to be patient and the Spanish comes. The gift of tongues is real and it's extremely helpful haha. That night we met with our homeboy Santi and his cousin Ana and we played soccer with them. Ana lives in a different city and she was just here visiting, so we are hoping that when she gets home the missionaries will be able to get in contact with her. Get this - one of the Elders serving where she lives is my MTC comp Elder Hildebrandt (😃😄😃🙌🏻🙌🏻😃👍🏻😀👏🏼😄👍🏻😃😀😄👌🏻😃😃) so I'm hoping he sticks with it and baptizes her! :)

On Wednesday we had our last lesson with Ana before she left the next day. We went to our JAS Center and played foosball and ping pong for a little bit and then we had a way good lesson with them about the gospel of Jesus Christ. These kids are freaking geniuses. They understand the gospel and everything we teach them better than anyone I've taught in my whole mission lol. They're keeping all of their commitments, coming to church, coming to all the activities that the ward has. It's incredible! They ask questions and you can just tell that they really do want to accept Jesus Christ into their lives and follow his example. They both real really good about their baptismal date that's coming up on the 6th of next month! It will be complicated with Ana leaving but Santi will most likely be going for a swim that day. 😉 After that, we went over to the Palominos and I gave our investigator Hernan a blessing because he and Prescila are trying to decide what will be best for them on whether or not he should move out, get baptized and then get married, or wait to get married, then get baptized. We found out yesterday that I guess the blessing worked and they are starting their papers to get married and going to be doing that hopefully within the next month! :)

Thursday we were supposed to do our weekly planning session but it was supposed to be wayyyy hot on Friday so we decided to switch those around. We went and worked during the morning and then during Media Dia we ate with the Garcias. :) They're still cool, genuine, good caring people just in case you were wondering. That night, Ana was leaving back home so we went over to the Palominos again and they were all there. We played a couple games and hung out with them for a while until they had to leave. Once they left we stayed over there and talked with Monica (the mom), Vanessa (the daughter and Amicone’s future wife 😏) and Diana (daughter) about Hernan and Prescila’s situation and just about all sorts of things. (Including me hooking Trev and Vanessa up... I'm a match maker from 6000 miles away 😂) Then after that, we met Aaron and we all went and played soccer again. Our team balled out as usual 💯!

Friday - Fridays are always the days that I can never remember haha. Like I said, we changed our planning session to Friday because it was supposed to be way hot that day so we figured we'd not get way sweaty and so we planned that morning :) then we made some baller burgers. I felt like I was back home eating some In n Out. Haha! WAY kidding! Not even close but they were way good. Then we went out and worked. While we were working, we got a call from our good friend Elder Fillmore who finished his mish like 2 weeks ago and he was like “Hey! I'm in Elche and I'm like dude I wanna see you hahaha so we met up with him and his family and hung out with them for a little bit! He was in my first zone and we got to know each other pretty well haha. Turns out his family knows my home boy Grant Hawkes so that was cool :) I miss Grant.. But seeing Elder Fillmore with his family gave me more hope that one day maybe I'll be able to see mine again! 😂😂 I miss my family. So yeah, that was fun and then after we went to a ward party that was a total bust.. There was like 25 people there hahahah.

Saturday was a pretty good day. We got a call from a less active and that wanted us to help make some cookies for a birthday present. So we went that morning and it turned into me and my comp just making the cookies hahaha. We had to call another member because the oven didn't work so we went over to Jose and Encarni's house to use their oven. I've mentioned them before, but they're converts of like 2 years ago and they're the greatest people ever. So cool, so nice. Just, all around genuine people. Hahahahaha. I make myself laugh sometimes. :) Anyways so we was bakin them cookies and Encarni was like yo you guys dig that pollo asado and I'm like mmmm hecks yeah we does and she's like gnarly wanna eat some and I'm like mmmm checks yeah we does. So we spent medio dia with them eating some decision chicken and it was delicious. And the conversation totally went just like that just FYI. Thennnn that night we went to a town outside of Elche called Crevillente (the place that I hate cause it looks like it's where Osama Bin Laden lived as a child and also where I wrecked my forehead on the invisible bar that was hiding behind the cloth thing that I still don't know how it happened 🙄) to help Hernan move stuff from their old house into Prescilas dad’s house. They're living with Prescila’s mom as of now while they figure all the stuff out. David’s death made them not want to live in their old house anymore cuz of the memories :( so we helped them move. 5 stories, no elevator. It was just not that fun to be honest. I felt like I had just come in from halftime because I was sweating so freaking much! Holy crap it was so hot. It felt good to help them again tho. :)

Sunday - pretty good Sabbath day. Santi, Prescila and Hernan were all in church with us. Santi is so funny. He was like talking to us in between classes and he's like, “Oh crap guys! Gotta get to class! I’ll talk to you guys after!”.  Then he ran to his class! Ahh, I love it. He asked to see the baptismal font and he's like I hope I can get in there soon. It was so cool! He's such a stud!! After church we went and ate with Jose and Encarni again. We had spaghetti and
meatballs and it was way good. Then everyone else who was there left and we stayed and she wanted us to try and see if we could start teaching her 18 year old daughter. So we are hopefully gonna have a family night sometime this week with her. :) She's the only one in their family that isn't a member so it could either be really hard, or really easy. I'll keep ya filled in on that! 👍🏻 Thennnn, that night, we went over to the Palominos again and had a lesson with Hernan
and Prescila about following the prophet. :)

Today, I FINALLY got my jerseys that I ordered from a guy here! I ordered them like end of May and they're just barely getting here. They were worth the wait tho. 😍 I'll send you guys pics next week 💯

I hope you all have a great week! You'll hear from me next. :) Hope you all had a grand Pioneer Day!! Shout out to my fam for going to Powell again and not inviting me! With all of MY friends!!!!!! 🙃🙃 Hahahahahahaha ahh Powell... I miss Powell.. Ohh and shout out to the TIO Beedub for his cumpleaños today!! Have a good one, old guy 😉

I love you all!

Representin'
Elder Tanner Brady Hammond lll

Me... confessing my sins at the Cathedral

Had to take a selfie of course

Homies

Week 47: What a Wonderful Week 'Twas

Hey my persons :)

I don't really know what to say right here to be honest... We had a way good week, so I guess here it is hahaha :)

Tuesday - On Tuesdays we met with some new investigators that we picked up recently. A 12 year old kid named Santi, and his 15 year old cousin named Ana. We taught them a lesson about the Restoration and how the church works. :) They were really interested and they both accepted a baptismal date for August 6th! Then after that we went and
they played soccer with us. :)

Wednesday was transfers, so we had Elder Brown (who is from Bountiful as well) with us because his companion was coming from afar! He's a cool guy, considering he graduated as a Brave. 🙂😷 For Mediodia, we went and ate with the Caballeros. 😊 We got invited to go to the mutual activity which was playing basketball at the church, so we went to that and Ana and Santi were there as well! We played basketball with all the young men and young women and then after that we shared a s'cute lesson about prayer. :)

Thursday - We started off the day with a gnarly planning session. We decided once again that we were gonna focus a lot on Hernan and Prescila (the people whose son just died) and we thought of what we could teach them. A few things came to mind and I'm sure it was straight from God after what happened the day after. 😏 We dropped Elder Brown off at the bus station and then we made our way to the doctor’s office one last time! My comp got his results and he's gonna live 😊 😂 so now we don't have to go to the freakin' hospital anymore hahaha. Then after than we went to the church and guess who we taught? Yep, Santi & Ana! :) We had planned to teach the Plan of Salvation, but when we got there and started talking, we both thought it'd be better to watch the Restoration video. And it was a really good thing we did cuz after we got done, they both understood it a lot more. :) We challenged both of them to pray and ask Heavenly Father if Joseph Smith really was a prophet and they said they would. They're both progressing really well right now and we are way stoked for them!

Friday - FRIDAY I DONT REMEMBER ANYTHING OTHER THAN WE HAD A FREAKING AMAZING LESSON WITH PRESCILA AND HERNAN ABOUT BAPTISM AND BEFORE WE STARTED WE WERE TALKING TO HERNAN AND HE SAID "Elders, do you think next week we could meet every day? I want to get baptized soon!” Oh. That's cool I guess? While I wanted to burst out in tears and say “Yes! of course!” I pulled the HARD GUY and said “We'll have to check our schedule”. Hahahahahah guys I'm totally kidding I said freakin heck yes we can dude. I never ever thought I would ever hear those words in my entire mission. But now I have and it was music to my ears! :) They're not married, but he knows what he has to do, so he is going to move to a different piso while they wait to get married which should be really soon! Hernan has been taught everything and could be baptized whenever he wanted to, and he said he wants to do it soon so that he can get the priesthood and baptize Prescila. :) Ahh gosh! Then the lesson was so freaking awesome! I started talking about when I baptized Reece and how happy he looked when he came out of the water and then he hugged me and I just felt like I was being hugged by a little angel. 😊😊😊 As you can imagine, I was bawling my eyes out cuz anytime I talk about a family member I lose it cuz I miss them so bad haha! So to stop crying I then told them the story of when we were driving away from his (Reece’s) baptism and he goes, “Dad! Wait! Stop! I forgot something at the church!!” And we were all like ahh dude seriously?? What did you leave? And he goes "My sins!" hahaha ahh that was so freaking adorable. All in all, a really good day!

Saturday was a way fun day. The morning sucked however. We walked for like three hours straight and nobody wanted to talk to us haha. Then that night, we went to our Bishop’s son, Dani's wedding! They did it at like this way catholic lookin place so it was kinda different. But it was a cool wedding. They just seemed so happy! Then everyone went to his house and we ate there and hung out. There was probably like 200 people total. And of all 200 people, GUESS WHO HAD TO SAY THE PRAYER?! Holy shnikes, I was so scared! 😂 I was making a joke to a member that he was gonna get asked to say the prayer and then Karma came in hard as ever lol. I killed it tho, blessed that food like there was no tomorrow.

Sunday - We had a pretty good day at church! Ana and Santi came and so did Hernan and Prescila. :) Things are looking up for all four of them and like I said earlier, we are excited to see where things go with them. :) Last night, we went to Jackie’s baptism. :) She's a little girl in our ward who just turned 8. Remember the video of the 2 little kids that was the other companionship with us? The little girl in that video is Jackie.  Reece,  she speaks Spanish, English & Chinese bro! I told her and her mom that next year when I get home that we are gonna set you two up! 😏 I'll send a pic so you can see her. 😂😉 She's seriously one of the sweetest little girls ever and she's so smart haha. It was cool to be there!

Monday - We went and got our eyebrows waxed!  Hahaha! It hurt so bad but was pretty fun! 😂

Well dudes and dudettes, there's my week. A really good one. I’m looking forward to my next/last 5 weeks here. Hopefully something(s) good comes of it! :) I'll keep you guys updated on everything! Hope you all have a great week and I love you all!!!

Soul Savin’,
Elder T Ham

The Man of the Hour, Dani.

All the people I prayed for 💯

Our Elche District Playing Soccer

We Take This Seriously!

Stuck in an elevator! #dreamteam

P-Day Activities

Gettin' our Zen On!