Ambon

Hello Family,

It is always so fun to hear from you.  Quick question for dad, Did you ever listen to the group AirSupply?

This week has been good.  I am so grateful for Heavenly Father and His way of teaching us. He gives us just enough to help us learn and grow and then gives us more.  We are working on doing this with our investigators. :)

This week has been really good.  We actually went on splits on Thursday with the other sisters. I was working in our area (definitely a test of my memory haha, I passed the test with a 90% if I do say so myself. haha Had to ask directions from a member for one of our investigators that lives near the bishop. Opps).  It was fun to work with a different Sister and see her way of teaching and what not. We also have found some new investigators to teach so yea!

I have decided when I return home I am really gonna miss the atmosphere here.  I think it has a lot to do with the weather always being warm but around dusk people are always outside, kids are playing, it reminds me of summer nights when I was younger.  Plus main streets are lined with people selling food.  Meats, fruits, vegetables, snacks, desserts, drinks, shoes.  It is like a farmers market every night haha and sometimes you are walking through hords of people and tricycles. I absolutely love it! :)

Easter I think will be very big here especially since there are many Catholics here.  They celebrate every day of holy week, so we will see.

I have been reading in Alma about the greatest missionaries ever.  I really enjoyed Alma 20:2-8.  Haha.  So first off, I love Lamoni's testimony... He has seen all that Ammon has done with the Lord, his faith is unshaken in the power of the Lord and yet he wants to help however he can and he knows that we must act in order for the Lord to strengthen our actions.  Second, I laughed out loud at his aha moment at the end of verse 4. It's like, "wait a second... how did you know that?" And then I wondered in verse 8 about what Alma was thinking when they ran into King Lamoni's father.  Alma had already been warned by the Lord that the king wanted to take Alma's life.  I wonder what went through Alma's head as they began to converse with him. But of course Alma's faith is unshaken.  He takes every teaching opportunity and is so bold in verse 17. Anyway just a thought maybe my Brothers can enjoy.

I had an experience on a jeepney this week that had me singing, "you made me wanna be brave."  Even as a missionary, I sat there praying for courage to share with this woman.  I thought of how we tell members that it doesn't have to be this big thing, they can just share a simple message.  I finally got up the courage and she was open to having us come share with her.  I thought about how silly it is for me to be shy when we have THE MOST beautiful and important message in the entire world. I have recommitted to having no fear in sharing.  As a missionary this should be a duh thing but it is something I need to continually remind myself of.  Thanks for all your prayers and love and mail. It is always appreciated!  Love you lots!

Sister Hamm

Huwag reklamo :) Maging masaya

March 11, 2013

Dear Family,

So much news this week.  It is good to hear from you and about how your lives are going.  It's always hard to know what kind of things you wanna hear but then I realize it's probably about the same as the emails I receive. I just enjoy whatever information you choose to share. :) This week I can answer some questions.

Eating-- well, pretty much the same stuff as before.  I haven't found cinnamon raisin bread yet but I am surviving with delicious wheat bread. :)  I cut PB from my diet.... yea.  haha.  We have more diner apt here which is really nice.  We have been fed some really delicious stuff like Sinigong (I don't know how to spell, I most often simply speak and listen haha), BBQ, sandwiches, and more.  We eat out normally once a week (p-day) at... wait for it.... McDonalds.  I have fallen in love (sadly) with the cheesburger. It is great and cheap. So yea.  I know like McDonalds.  Not good for my katawan (body).  

I came straight from the airport to a chapel in Manila where the mission office is located.  So my stuff from the mission home was waiting there with my companion. We may be part of bigger conferences now but I don't know cause we haven't had one yet. Yes I attend Bayan 1st ward and I don't know about the green roof but that is probably it. :) haha.  Google earth sure is great.  I don't think I will drive a car on my mission. I think only the AP's drive cars here.

We live in a house with two stories.  Downstairs is open area with kitchen and dining and living room all connected and then the bathroom.  Upstairs is 2 bedrooms and a balcony where we sometimes plan or stretch after exercising.  Sounds great and it totally is but before you decide I am totally spoiled, still no hot water and the water here feels colder since it is less hot.  haha.  But it is actually all good, I enjoy it a lot. I got 4 weeks off of laundry because my last companion didn't mind going to a laundry shop to get it done. Yay!  And there was one nearby. But here we are back to it.  It wasn't as bad as I was expecting and enjoyed the breeze and the view (I'll send pics next week) while doing laundry with my companion.  I didn't burn my hands this time but our hands (Sister M and I) started peeling the next day and lasted a couple of days! haha.  We were like people are going to think we are diseased when we shake their hands.  But no one, as far as we could tell, noticed. haha It didn't hurt and they are all good now so woohoo. :)

Language here is pretty much the same as Palawan but there are subtle differences and it makes it harder to understand people.  haha.  I can't make puns in Tagalog yet... I'll work on mastering it still. haha. Congrats to mom for using her Tagalog. :)  I'm proud. haha. Thanks for the package in advance. :)

I was thinking just the other day about how funny it is that the mission always finds new ways to challenge me. haha.  I guess that is what life does as well and for the beautiful purpose of making us better and helping us reach our divine potential.  First it is one thing and then when I learn how to deal with that I get a new thing to learn how to deal with.  I must have a lot of things Heavenly Father wants me to change or learn. :)

So this week has been a little challenging in that we haven't had as many people to teach. We can totally feel the Spirit helping us as we teach but it is hard when you don't have people to teach.... We are working hard to find more people to help progress towards baptism but it has been somewhat slow going.  We are excited to see what this week holds.

This last week we had a cool experience with the Spirit.  We were told by the Spirit to stop at this house even though we were on our way to another apt and we had no idea why but as we "Tao Po" -ed the person inside let out a yelp of recognition (not usual for people because Sister missionaries still aren't widely recognized in this area.). He came out saying, "They aren't here." What?  Well, turns out his grandparents are both members but have been less active.  When we went back another day it turns out they were really active in Manila for years but now Tatay has a heart condition that makes it hard to travel.  Turns out their records aren't in the ward and no one knew they lived there... no one, except Heavenly Father.  Heavenly Father knows where all his children are and each ONE is important to Him.  It was such a great experience and I thank Heavenly Father for the opportunity to be His missionary as a tool in His hand.  And the great part is, I don't have to be a missionary to be a tool in His hand.  We are all tools in His hands through visiting teaching, home teaching, following promptings to serve others and go places even when we have no idea why and may not see the results of our actions.  I hope to improve my skill of following the will of God through the Spirit everyday.

I know that Heavenly Father is watching out for each of us and has plans for us.  I don't know the reasons for all the bad in the lives of good people, but I do know that Heavenly Father is control of everything and He has a plan, a PERFECT plan for every individual on the earth and if we will just follow Him with faith we will receive a perfect, fullness of joy in the life to come and peace in this life. :)

Thanks for all of your support and the examples that you are to me. I love you all and miss you lots!

Love, 

Sister Hamm

Mahal ko kayo

Dear Family,

Thanks for all the exciting news. Tell Shalisa Congrats for me and that I will totally babysit when I get back. :) haha.  I can't believe Jacob Snyder got called to the Philippines. Sadly, we won't be able to talk to each other afterwards very well since his main language will be Cebuano. :)

 

So.... drumroll.........  I am currently in.......... The Dasmarines zone (that probably means very little to you, but you do have a map). This means that if I am not transferred by July 1st I will become a part of the Cavite Mission, but of course July is a long ways away and who knows what will happen.  I have been assigned to the Bayan 1st Ward!  So I am back to a bishop instead of a branch pres. :)  My new companion is Sister M. She is from Samoa and has only been in the mission field for 2 transfers more than me.  The Lord is definitely helping us as we are both still working on our Tagalog skills.  haha. This is her second area as well.  I will be her first companion that she doesn't "kill off".  All of her previous companions went home (as scheduled :) yea, no jokes or worries there) with her as their last companion.  (wow that should not have been that hard to explain in English but it was. You get the info though.)  So she is excited to have someone not close to going home. :)

 

So lets see new area.  The first day and night were a little harder than I was expecting.  More on that later.  So this area is way different than my last one.  As we walked the streets it was funny to find my mind reeling at the fact that here people have..... paved roads with sloped curbs and sidewalks, cars!, metal screen doors.  It was funny all the little things my mind noticed. They live in neighborhoods here and people have real addresses.  There are less trees but the area is actually quite pretty still and clean as well.  It is characterized as province since there are areas with fields and cows and we aren't in the heart of Manila but it is a small city-like area.  Kind of like Blackfoot with a downtown area and neighborhood areas.  Hard to explain.

It is actually cooler here and less humid.  Crazy right.  But it is noticeably so and at night there is a breeze that rolls in and it is gorgeous.  Reminded me of California nights, not quite that cold though.  I got to wear my light jacket on Sunday!!  I will admit it was probably 70 something degrees (rainy and breezy too) but the jacket felt good and it was fun just to be able to wear it again. haha

 

So like I said.  The adjustment was a little harder than I thought.  The first day we went out and taught a couple people which is always fun.  Then we went and visited the Bishop. He is great and was very kind but as we sat there and taught in his (modest but more well-off than almost any on Palawan) home I was suddenly homesick for my friends/family on Palawan. I missed them so much and there humble homes and spirits.  Anyway, it was also after getting up early that morning and then having 4 or 5 hours of travel by plane, bus and tricycle with a blood sugar that just would not stay up. So I flopped into bed and every day since has been so great!  I will be doing my laundry by hand later and after 4 weeks off, I am dreading it actually. haha.  It's not that bad a little at a time but when it is a weeks worth of clothing it gets quite tiring. It'll be all good though. :)  I am already good friends with this awesome ward missionary, Brother P., who only has one hand b/c of a work accident and is in his 60's.  He is really nice and always willing to come to appointments and share his testimony. Plus he complimented me on my Tagalog so brownie points there. haha

 

Sorry my email this week is lacking on the spiritual side.  I am short on time now so it will have to wait till next week.  But just know that the miracles never cease and God's grace is amazing!  So grateful for Christ's atonement and the ability to change and become better everyday.  I love you all and pray for you.  Make it a great week!

 

Love,

Sister Hamm

Big Changes

Hello Family,

So I have two big changes this week.  The next time I write you I will not be on Palawan. I don't know yet where I am going (hopefully I will find out Tuesday) but I know I will be transferred because my companion will be training a greenie here (we found out Thursday morn, just so you can keep track of the time table here :) ).  Just like I was trained here! :)  Fun stuff.  I am so sad to be leaving (not just because it's beautiful and everyone says it's way cleaner than anywhere else) mostly because of the people I am leaving behind.  I love them all so much!  I care about them so much and I look forward to every visit to see how their faith has progressed and what has happened in their spiritual lives since the last time we visited. :(  But it's okay because I know I will love the people in my next area too.  I am also really sad because I have to leave Sister Hunt.  She has been honestly my dream companion and I have learned so much from her and progressed a lot in the one (short) transfer we had together.  We have honestly been having a blast working hard!  So yes Wednesday I will get on a plane and fly to somewhere new.  As I thought of that this week, the fact that I was leaving on a plane I thought about how glad I am that I'm flying to another area and not flying home.  Sounds crazy I'm sure.  But for me it was a really nice thought because at the beginning of my time in the field I was worried I may never stop wanting to go home with just a little piece of my heart.  But now that piece is gone.  Don't worry I still miss you honestly but it's more like I want you to come serve with me instead of me coming home. haha.

 

The next news (depending on a couple of factors) may be much bigger news.  As I figured mom might find, there are new missions opening in the Philippines.  Well Saturday morning we received a text from the Assistants that the Manila mission will be split. Into the Manila Mission and the... Cavite Mission.  The Cavite mission will have all of the areas previously categorized as Province (more like Palawan) and the Manila Mission will have all the areas previously categorized as "city".  Woah! It was crazy.  The four of us were at the house and we were all just like minds blown. So what does this mean for us?  Well we don't actually know yet. haha.  But it means that I may have 2 missions on my mission and that I may have all province... or I may have 1 mission and Palawan will be my last province.  It is such a weird thought.  And as I tried to decide how I felt and which I would want (leaving Manila mission for province or staying in Manila mission but not getting to be province) I decided it really doesn't matter.  The Lord has His hand in everything. And while I'm not a huge fan of change, I know I will be assigned wherever He wants me and as I have learned here on Palawan-- It really doesn't matter where you are as much as who you meet.  You can love people anywhere.  So here goes a new adventure! :D  Someone at church yesterday said she had 2 different missions when she served and actually had 3 mission presidents! haha!  Life is crazy and yet so easy as a missionary.  People, directed by the Lord, tell you where to go and you go and fall in love with the people (Sisterly and brotherly love of course haha) and work your hardest to help people as much as you can as fast as you can and then you go somewhere else the Lord needs you.  My life is so wonderful! (don't get me wrong there are still very hard moments, but you know the hard moments get pushed to the shadows of with all the good.)

 

Whew.  So that's it for super exciting.  We have had lots of great visits with people this week and my heart honestly breaks that I wont be returning to them but it's okay because I know the Lord and the companionship here will take good care of them. :) (Over-dramatic?....maybe...or maybe not... haha) My language is improving still.  I feel more comfortable teaching and really felt the Lord's help in my teaching this week but it is still a struggle.  I spoke again in church on Sunday. blah.  My time is running short and not much new to share.  The Lord is hastening His work, truly!  I am so excited to be apart of this work!  I love Heavenly Father and His perfect, beautiful plan for us.  Sometimes it seems hard to follow but we just have to look at all He has promised us and it makes suffering a little lighter a little easier.  I'm grateful beyond words for the gospel in my life and the comfort that it brings.  Please, study this gospel, it makes everything better and makes everything make sense.  I love and miss you all!\

 

Love,

Sister Hamm

 

 PS - Thanks for the encouraging emails.  Give my love to Nathan and Tyler and Jacob!!  Condolences to those who didn't get into BYU Provo but there are reasons for everything I promise!  Oh and you know RUS's they totally exist. (not really)  I saw a rat the other day.  It was literally the size of a cat! crazy. Love you! I'm safe and happy. BYE

Pagmamahal

Dear Family,

First, Thanks so much for the Valentine's Day card.  You timed it perfect! :) I received it 2 days before Valentines. :)   So a person in my zone is the nephew of G.C. from Morgan Hill. Her name is super familiar but I couldn't remember much about her. You know her right?  Maybe just a quick memory about her, like Josh said, its fun to have connections even if they are super remote. haha.

 

So this week we had so much happen!  It has been really great to see the hand of the Lord in the work. We spent some time Sunday morning looking for a Less active member that a different less active member referred us to but we didn't have a name or physical description, just that there was a boy and girl who were siblings. So we just went around to the 3 red gates (where many different boarders live) that matched the description the member gave us haha and asked about siblings that were mormon.  Well, nobody knew of mormons living in the compound and we eventually headed off to church.  After Sacrament mtg a man walks up and introduces himself to us and we find out he is the one we were looking for.  It was so weird and great cause now we know! :)

 

Oh another cool story.  As we were walking we found an old woman (~75 and 4'10)  who was selling brooms.  We told her we couldn't buy a broom but of course gave her a pamphlet and talked with her.  We showed her the name of the church on the back of the pamphlet and told her where the church bldg was and that it started at 1pm.  Well, she is actually from an area half an hour away.  She seemed a little confused about which direction to walk to get home so we pointed it out and said goodbye.  Well the next morning we get a text from the sisters that one of our investigators came to their branch... We were confused and then they explained further.  It was Nanay! (name for mom but what we call women out of respect sort of like maam) She had looked for the name of the church and some how showed up to attend 9am (!) church in her own area (the sisters area).  What a miracle!  Funny part: During the second hour she asked the recent convert sitting next to her "Tapos na ba?" Is it over now? hahaha.  She stayed for all three hours. Hope she attends again. :)

 

Just lots of cool stuff like that this week.  Plus all the kids that went to the primary activity last week begged to come to church this week. So someone went and brought them all. Sadly, the parents are yet to be as excited and didn't yet attend. But we have faith they will. :)

 

Oh dad-- So my Australian companion taught me the other day that they call cantaloupe Rock Melon.  It made me think of you since its your favorite fruit and it's a cool name.  So yea.  I think I might start calling it that, although cantaloupe is a pretty sweet name too. :) 

 

Congratulations to Juge and Hadley. :)  That is great.  I will definitely keep Shalisa in my prayers and actually felt like I should pray for her earlier this week but didn't know why!

 

So grateful for all your prayers and love.  I love you all so much!  Have a great week!

Love

Sister Hamm

Kilitin ng Kilikili

Dear Family,

So I have been praying hard for all of you this week and sounds like my prayers were answered.  So fun to see the picture of all the Larson sisters. :)  And Camilla is getting so big!!  She looks so old.  Happy Birthday to Grandpa and AJ. Congrats to Jake for getting into BYU-I.  Chumbawamba?.?  haha.  Yea, it very well could be a word in Tagalog but it would be spelled with a K, C isnt used very often.  :)

 

So my mind is going blank on what to say this week.  It has been great.  Sister Hunt and I are constantly busy and have a hard time planning out our week because the people we teach are so spread out and have different conflicts.  Our entire mission is focusing on faith this month and it has been a really great experience so far.  Studying faith makes me realize just how much mine needs to increase. And working on increasing our faith this week we have already seen a difference.

 

We have also been able to see miracles.  One, which may seem small was that an investigator read from the start to ch 4 of Nephi this week.  It was truly a miracle.  We had been to her 5 times before that and she had never read like we asked.  Anyway it was such an exciting moment.  Truly, makes it all worth it!

 

Oh fun story.  So Friday our branch president called and needed our help getting a bunch of kids who are part of a less active family to the church for a primary activity on Saturday. Of course we can do that.  But as it got closer we realized it was a little more stressful than we first thought.  So Saturday morning we were rushing to get over there and I was praying it would work out well.  Cause Sister and I have to go in the same trike but I was worried we would have to send the older kids in a separate trike (which can be hard to find sat mornings), or that they wouldn't be ready or change there minds about going.  Anyway.  So we took a trike over and as we pulled up all these little kids came walking up ready to go.  So cute!  And the nice trike driver said he could wait so the kids piled in while we went to talk with their mom.  Over all there were 9 kids.  Three 11 year old boys, 4 girls around 9 years old and then a little boy and girl who were 3 and 4.  As we approached the trike they were all piled in and I had to smile and laugh with the trike driver who actually had his son with him that morning and was riding in front of him on the bike.  We found there was room so Sister and I climbed in and we took off with 3 adults and 10 children in one trike.  I wish I had gotten a picture. It was like the highlight of my life. haha.  We got to the church at 9:01 and of course there were no leaders there yet.  We ended up playing 2 different games in the gym with all these little kids and then sang I am a child of God around the piano (with just the girls of course haha) before the leader showed up.  It was so perfect.  Heavenly Father totally helped it to go smoothly and it was so much fun!

 

I love you all so much and hope you are all doing well.  So grateful for this gospel and the joy and blessings it brings me and my family and all of God's children. Ingat kayo! (Take care all of you)

 

Sister Hamm

Pagpapakumbaba

Hello Family,

Activity at the beach on Palawan

A little bit of advice for anyone learning a language for their missions-- Memorize phrases in the MTC.  I think I should have done that a lot more.  I was concerned about so many other aspects of the language and of course you need balance but really memorizing phrases helps so much later for grammar and teaching.  Also memorizing words but of course I did a lot of that and I'm sure they will too. So yea- Phrases help a lot. :)

Let's see.  So I was reading in the scriptures and got to Mosiah 4:10 and read, "And now if ye believe all these things, see that you do them."  And immediately the thought popped into my head, "If you know, then do." haha.  So yep.  That's for you dad.  Being backed up by the scriptures.  Act according to your knowledge.  :)

Funny story-- So we were teaching an investigator at the home of a member.  They had served us a merienda (small snack) and we were chatting after we finished our lesson.  I was sitting in the chair in their living room with my legs together (of course since I'm in a skirt).  Well all the sudden I felt a little tickle on my thighs. Then it stopped and I was like okay.  Then it happened again.  Definitely something crawling up my thighs!  So I stuck my hand in my lap right above the "thing" so that it couldn't progress and said "um...".  They all asked me what it was and I said I didn't know.  I said I thought it was one of the little lizards that are everywhere.  Now it was crawling against my hand.  So I stood up and kind of shook my skirt to hopefully get it to fall out quickly without me freaking out.  And out drops a....  cockroach!  How it got all the way up there without me feeling it I don't know but we all had a good, hearty laugh.  I was glad I hadn't made too much of a scene about it. (like I had earlier that morning when I got chased by a dog while running and ended up screaming in fear. haha.) So yea.  Good times.  Brother kept saying, Only in the Philippines.  Not sure that is true but it is a good memory.

This picture is a fun one!  We were about to teach on the
beach when they brought in their catch!
So tropical and fun.  Yes, that is a blowfish.

Do I eat a lot of fresh fruits?  Somewhat.  I still love apples. And the bananas that are different here.  There are two kinds I love.  One similar to home and one that are big and best if you fry them, kind of sweet and sticky.  Mmmm.    

Are there different fruits here that you don't have there?

A new fruit I tried is guabayan (?) maybe... I can't quite remember. But the inside kind of looks like a white pineapple but as you pull off a piece with a fork the texture is VERY different.  As you eat it, it is a mix of really slimy chewing gum and cotton. (words of a native filipina, not me but I have to agree)  It is kind of acidic like pineapple and as I ate I thought it kind of reminds me of violets the candy! A little bit.  Anyway, pretty good.  It might be a favorite if it weren't for the texture. haha

A motorcycle made by an investigator out of a single crab!

So how long does it take me to get to church?  Church is about a 5 minute tricycle ride in good traffic. But probably a good 2 mile walk.

Is the Church an LDS building?  We have a building that is LDS chapel but other areas of our Zone don't. 

How many wards/branches meet there?  2 branches

Have most the people you meet heard of the church? No. It's about 40/60. 60 have heard of us.  But 40 haven't.  I didnt know about the superbowl and they seem to watch a lot of basketball. :)  yay.

Love you all so much!

Sister Hamm

As I learn new words I often hear Josh's voice from our Christmas conversation, "I swear you are making this up!" :)  I definitely feel that way a lot and it makes me laugh hearing him say that.  So yea.  That's were the tittle came from.  How am I supposed to say that word or remember it while teaching a lesson? haha The picture is a fun one: We were about to teach on the beach when they brought in their catch.  So tropical and fun.  Yes that is a blowfish.