Dec. 9, 2014

hi ham fam!

This week was goood but oh so crazy! we did intercambios for 2 days in ocoa, a different city. it wwas really good! it was cooollld likebelow 60! ha but really, it was chilly. 

we had justyns baptism and it was so good. he is such a cute lil guy and hisgrandparents did so much to help him prepare. they were so elated with joy and gratitude that their grandson was able to be baptized in this church. it was very touching. well, we are contactinglots of people becaouse of rthe he is the gift christmas card tarjeta. miracle!...we were contacting in the park the other night, passing out the christmas cards from the church. we saw this couple on the bench but they were getting pretty snuggly and all so we decideded thatd be awkward so we passed by them and contacted two men that were sitting behind them. as we were talking to these men, the guy we had jsut passed that was snuggling with his girlfriend starts hissing at us. thats what men do here to get your attention. (cultural note) he wouldnt let off so my comp looked up and he starts waving us over. we when to go talk to him. he said as we passed the first time he felt our tone(his words) and he wanted to hear what we were sharing. AMZING HUH! we inviteed him to chruch and he came! then he called us to set up an apt. that has never in my mission ha´ppened! he is a miracle and wants to learn soo much!

wwll my time is up.i love youall and hope you have a great week!!! 

hermana hamblin

Nov. 17, 2014

HELLO HAM FAM!!

This week was good. We are working with about 8 less active families. Some are almost compeltly reactivated. The joy of helping someone reactivate is jsut as sweet as someone being baptized. 

this week i went on my first exchange. her name is sister flint. she is a wonderful missionary. We went to Nizao, a litttle pueblo about 40 mins away from Bani. There were so many good people that we taught and such an excitement from the memebrs there. We had an infestation of kookarachas....grossss, we killed like 10. 

my companion has felt sick the past week and it turns out that she probably has stomach ulcers. shes in a lot of pain. we will start her on meds today, but i dont know how often we will be leaving the house. please pray for her and i. I have found my patience has been tested in so many ways on the mission. this is one of them. ha

but nada, the mission is so very wonderful and I am so amazed at the incredible expereicne I am experiencing as a missionry of jesus christ. I am overwhekmed at the beauty of the plan of salvation and his Gospel. today I had the opportunity to share my gospel with a priest at the supermarket. he was very well versed and knew his bible. I pulled out the book of mormon and told him that he would better understand gods plan regarding the fall of adam and eve if hed read a few scriptures. he stopped and said senorita, nooo, noo, nooooo , let me help YOU understand better. He talked for a good 40 mins to me about all kinds of stuff. He told me that if i were preaching the Gospel i better know more profoundly and know the doctrine clearly. I told him i would not deny or doubt my faith and the things i KNOW to be true. we left on a friendly terms. there are so many people that are convinced they have the complete truth. some simply will not come to know the truth by being contacted by called apart missioanries of God. that is why YOU all are so important. BE a friend, share your testimony, and most important, be an example of what you know to be true. It could spark a curiosity to know a little more about why we are so happy and have a light different than the worlds. I love you all and pray you all keep holding strong to the faith and sharing it!!

have a wonferful week!

hermana hamblin!

...ps....

i received my flight itenrary home..

the 28th of january i will arrive at phx at 11 pm

Nov. 10, 2014

hi HAM FAM!

MY first week in bani was good, so different but good! I feel like i am in civilized life again. we went to la sirena the supermarket and i just couldnt stop going up and down the isles looking at chicken and fruits and veggies and clothes so nicely put together. my comp was laughing at me. also, so many know how to read and have complete families that are lds, what blessings! i have eaten so well this past week!

we are teaching the familia biez, a mom and 3 kids. they are all so adorable. they all sit around the family room and listen! its so great! we dont really have anyone else that were investigators before so we are finding finding finding. we are contacting lots and so thats always fun! 

i have asked to give a talk in my new branch next sunday so that should be fun! i also had an amazing leadership meeting with president nuckols and his wife and elder cornish of the 70. he is one intelligent man! he know the gospel so well and is so inspiring. he talked about how infinite the atonement is.  infinite in time, in amount of people, in cantidad de pecados and in the degree of sins. it is infinite in redemption and santification and purification and in mercy. how grateful i am for the savior. like blake said, it is not sufficient to read and know about the savior. you apply it and you live it so you can experience the blessings.

i love you all and hope you have a GREAT week!!

hermana hamblin

November 3, 2014

HELLO HAM FAM

HELLO FAM! My comp and i are doing well. We had transfers and i am going to BANNIII! its in the south about 1 and a half hours from me. i can finally buy meat that is not canned! whoohooooo

also, i have been called to be one of the new sister training leaders. i am in charge of 10 other hermanas. basically if anything goes wrong or has problems with health, their companions, or other things...its the sister training leaders responsibilty to take care of it. im a little nerous not going to lie, but i am excited. me and my comp the past 2 weeks have been working hard for THE PULSE. THE PULSE is our mission presidents work ethic- he relates it to training and becoming better. there are many factors in training for a marathon but each is important. our factors are in contacting finding teaching and in the key indicators. weve taught about 35 lessons each week and are just sweating sweating sweating, but its amazing the miracles the lord works. we had 7 people come to church and lots that are progressing. we have so many people that are progressing but that arent married. marriage here is one of the hardest committments and takes time, but we are working with a few families. i am sad to leave because i absolutely love it here and ive been here for 5 months, but i know the lord needs me in bani.

we´ve had a bit of difficult time with investigators in this area, i dont know what it is, but in this past transfer 2 of our good investigators just turned out to be frecos, or a flirt. thats a bad traduccion of it but its sad that people cant just focus on the gospèl. men!!! 

anyway, sorry for a little bit of a rant. i am excited to move to a new place and work my heart out for 12 more weeks. yuck! that sounds terrible.

i love the mission so much and you all too! 

have a wonderful week1

hermana hamblin

Oct. 27, 2014

HELLO FAM

 THIS WEEK WAS A GOOD ONE. WE HAD INTERCAMBIOS THIS WEEK WITH THE HERMANA LEADER AND HER OMPANION AND IT WENT REALLY WELL. I WENT WITH HERMANA HERNANDEZ, BOY IS SHE A GREAT MISSIONARY! I WAS SO STRENGTHENED AND REFRESHED BY HER LOVE OF THE WORK AND HER EXAMPLE OF ENERGY. I JUST LOVE SHARING THE GOSPEL!

ANYWAY, WE RE-ETENDED TWO BAPTISM DATES TO FRANKLIN AND JANIRI, BUT THEY DIDNT GO TO CHURCH. WE WILL NEED TO PRAY FOR THEM LOTS. THERE ARE SO MANY  EXXCUSES THAT WE CAN MAKE FOR NOT KEEPING THE COMMANDEMENTS OR FOR NOT DOING WHAT THE LORD WANTS US TO DO, BUT THEY ARE NOT REQUIREMENTS OF MAN, BUT OF GOD. I GAVE A TALK IN CHURCH ON THE IOMPORTANCE OF THE SABBATH DAY. OBEDIENCE IS WHERE THE JOY AND BLESSINGS ARE. OBEDIENCE IS HOW THE CONVERSION COMES. MAYBE WE DONT UNDERSTAND THE IMPORTANCE OF OBEYING ALL OF THE COMMANDMENTS OR SIMPLY THAT WE DONT WANT TO, BUT IF WE JUST PRAY FOR THE HELP OF THE LORD TO BE AS FAITHFUL AND OBEDIENT AS WE CAN, HE WILL HELP US DO WHAT WE NEED TOO. THAT IS THE TRUTH. WE CAN NEVER BE ACSUAL IN WHAT WE DO, OR WILL ONLY BECOME A CASUALTY. I LOVE THE LORD AND HIS GOSPEL. IT IS HARD, BUT IT IS ONE OF THE MOST SATISFYING AND MOST JOYOUS THINGS WE CAN DO  IN THIS LIFE. KEEP FAITHFUL EACH OF YOU.

I LOVE YOU ALL AND PRAY YOU HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEK

!

LOVE HERMANA HAMBLIN

Oct. 20, 2014

HI FAM!

this week was great! we had most of miguels family attend church. we are teaching a man named franklin. he is so intelligent and really understands almost everything we say. he always has great questions, but he didnt come to church yet again! on sunday someone declared that franklins property was his and franklin had to go claim it aqnd now has to go to court. satan is horrible! no matter, franklin will go to church soon. we are working hard for the navidad blanca and working with our famlies that we have. honestly, we have a few families that the husbands dont want to get married, but mirales will happen if they work in their faith. that is the beauty of faith. mirales happen. I am so tickled to hear that janice is taking the lessons and had put a baptism date. the lord will help her through everything. she is AMAING. that is the beauty of the gospel. it is for every single person in this world. and every single person has the potential to accept it and receive all of the blessings and hoy and change their lives in a miraculous way. i LOVE THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST. this last week we had so many lessons where the spirit was so strong. we are teaching una evangelica. that religion is very big here and it was amazing that she invited us back. we taught her the restoration and the spirit was so strong. she understand the importance of the restoration and said she would pray. i know that god will work through her as well. i lvoe you all and invite you to keep pressing forward each day with more faith and to make the changes in your life so that YOU can be more receptive to the lord.have  A spectaular week!

lvove shermana rachie

Oct. 13, 2014

hi HAM FAM

this week was a good one. they jsut fly by. i cant hardly comprehend that blake got 16 months arlready! this week we had lots of miracles happen. first off, president cuevas, our branch president, announced that we will have a white christmas activity. december 13th we will have as many people prepared to be baptized on this date as possible. we will have all of the baptisms and then have a spiritual thought and movie and refreshements, but basically it is to prepare as many people for baptism as so give back to the savior and help people change their lives this christmas. i am super ecited and the other sisters are too. as we were doing our weekly planning session this thursady my  comp and i were thinking what we could do to really have success. we hadnt been meeting with very many families and so we put a father present policy. sounds funny , but its something that we really need. here in the d.r. its super easy to meet with people but families, and fathers are suupppppeerrr hard to find and teach.

so we put it a goal to teach as many FAMILIES as we can. this week we taught about 9  families. what a MIRACLE!!! there are still lost of the husbands that dont want to get married or get baptized, BUT they are listening. and that is a wonderful start. we will be praying and working hard with the members here. 

this week we will have a conferene with pres nukols and elder cornish. me and three other hermanas will be singing a special number so we are all excitied.

frankling is doing well. he has stopped drinking coiffee and asked us to pray for him to stop drinking his beer. he didnt go to church becasue he was at the farm,  but he is progressing little by little and we are grateful for that. he has such a good understanding of EVERYTHING and now he jsut has to live up to his understanding of gods laws and his epectations. that´s how it is for each of us! 

i love you all and hope you have a wonderful wonderful week!

love hermana hamblin

Oct. 6, 2014

my dearest ham fam!!

my this wee was great! sorr, some of the keys dont work,,,,it´´l be a coded letter.

miguel was baptized and conirmed this friday what a beautifl dayy!!! his family attended. they are preparing tobe baptized as well. the mom is not married and trying to talk her husband into marriage. please pray for a miracle especialy for the husband to be interested in the gospel or in marriage.

miguel shared a short but sincere testimony at his baptism. i am just so thriled that he has finally made his first covenant with god. he will begin his studies at the university at barahona soon and there will be lots more young single adults that are mormon. that wil help him lots.

francis, actually decided to not be confirmed because he is in another religion..... that was the worst thing i have experienced in my mission..maybe in my life.

BUT we are ffinding new pèople and helping others come to christ. we have a man franlin that we are teaching. he is the most intelligent person i have taught, he just gets its all and feels the spirit so strongly. we invited him to baptized in november and he accepted. he did not come to church this week so we were pretty bummed. thats probably the hardest things for dominicans, so keep committments, but i know that once they really understand why they are important and who they are with, they will be faithful and excited to keep them.

let me just say, witnessing the conversion process is such an incredeible experience. I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!! there are soo many people that need it. i love elder bednars talk that was to non miembros. he referred to us missionaies as being awfully persistant. thats the truth!! we share what we know to be the truth!!

also there was a quote by elder holland maybe??.i cant remember. but he stated that it is ou responsibility to rescaue and save those who are on the vege o being lost, and it is by saving and rrescuing otherrs that we ourselves find our own rescue. i have found that to be true. through finding teaching and helping others be in the path of rescue i have learned how much I need to be saved and how much i need to let the savior help rescue me. i love this gospel that is absolutely perfect. and i am grateful to be here in the d.r. serving my heavenly father. 

i love you all so much and challenge you to study the gospel of jesus christ and then find something YOU need to do to be rescued and to help the lord rescue someone else. if you do this the lord promises us that we will indeed receive blessings of strength and of animo or excitement in changes and improving ourselves.

love you alll soooo very much 

hermana hamblin

love hermana hamblin

Sept. 29, 2014

HI FAM!

this week francis was BAPTIZED. it was such a beautiful eperience. this young man started from not being able to harldy reading, to reading the entire book of mormon before his baptism. he was pretty sick, the week of his baptism and he went through with it and shared his testimony at his baptism. it was beautiful! he came out to teach and accompany us yesterday ad he was absoluetly ecited to be a missioary and be able to teach and share his testimony with our investigators. he has comepletely changed his life around and you can tell jsut by looking at him. we bought him his white shirt and will buy a tie this week so he can be complete and then his best friend, miguel will be baptized this friday. we are also working with miguels mother, brother and sister for getting baptized the 25th of octubre. they are progressing chin a chin. they dont go to church all that often but we are going to focus on that. and his mom isnt married but lives with the dad, so we have lots to teach! the work is so wonderful here in vicente noble!

the other week we were in a little guagua from barahona to vicente noble. we were all jammed in. there is a wonderful little bakery that the guagua passes by and ALWAYS stopps so everyone can hop off and buy some delish bread. there was a certain bread that i was needing to buy but i couldnt remember the name. the guagua stopped but i was so packed in i coudlnt move. i quickly began asking the dominincan what types of bread there was. i knew it startede with an s so when i heard the lady say the name, i quickly said yes! i want the s...and whatever the name was. the whole back row started busting up laughing as hard as they could. they all started crying because it was apparantly so funny what i said, i believe i said i wanted boob bread. but i am not entirely sure thats what i said. the lady that heard me say boob bread kept yelling out the window, the mormon missionary wants boob bread! 5 boob breads, no 10 boob breads!! ot was a laughing riot! lets jsut say i having ordered that bread since. whatever bread it is..i like it!!

a was talking to the other sister missionaries that live in my house last night about the greatness of this work. the world is getting more wicked and more wicked, but the light of the gospel is getting brighter and more brilliant. it is such a privilegio to be able to be the lords missioanry and be his servant and hands here in vicente noble, finding the people that the lord is preparing. my mission is quite the opposite of blakes, we can get into ANY door we want, almost any door, but it is finding the people that want to act and accept the message and not just hear the good word. i know that the lord is preparing people here and in china and in eagar to hear about the restored gospel of jesus christ. there is no truth quite as sweet and no blessings as grand as the ones found as being members of this gospel. i love you all so much! have a WONDERFUL DAYY and WEEK!!

LOVE HERMANA HAMBLIN