Hippie Juice!!!

Hey Everyone!!

I love going back and reading my journal entries.. Honestly I'm a funny kid :) But I think its hilarious because I'll go through phases where each day I begin an entry with "Wow! Today has been a great day!" Then a few weeks later it'll say "I officially say wow to much.. I need to switch it up.. So.. Today I am so happy!" then I'll do "today I am happy!" for awhile.. etc etc. Its pretty fun. And I was just about to say "What a week!" for all of you.. but I think I say that all the time.. so I'm trying to figure out what I can say different but really it has been another "what a week!" kind of week.

Honestly, missions are the hardest and best things in life. Nothing I have done in my life as of yet compares. Nothing is as hard as this mission and nothing even comes close to comparing in the joy that it has brought me. 

Now.. let me explain my week to y'all. Monday was seriously a blast! Sister Dunn, Sister Breinholt and I had a great p-day and saw so many miracles that night! We had a Zone P-day activity where we had Olympic games, it was so much fun! Then we went home so the assistants could deliver new mattresses for the apartment. BLESSING!! NO more bed bugs!! YIPPIE :) then we went out and visited a bunch of people and saw some serious miracles and had some major laughs :) 

Picture two: Brother Monettes baptism :) 

President Wolfert is pretty much my buddy, its been so cool to work so closely with him for the majority of my mission, but sometimes.. I hate his phone calls.. haha So Tuesday morning I hear Sister Dunn yell "President's calling!!" so they answer and I hear the phone (on speakerphone) "Good Morning Sisters (in presidents happy booming voice) is Sister Hamilton there? I need to speak to her in private." So I get the phone and go get my scarf while I'm talking to him.. He tells me how happy my email the day before made him and how he is always so pleased with how I can jump into any situation and make the best of it.. He then mentioned a certain sister whom I had been a Sister training leader for months ago.. We talked about how she was doing and he informed me that she was having to go home the next day because she was really sick.. And then he said "Sister Hamilton, I am so sorry to do this to you again, but I need you to pack your bags and go help her companion by being her companion for the next few weeks." 

You might find this surprising consider I am the daughter of Holly Hamilton :) LOVE YOU MOM! but I don't cry all that much.. My family reading this is laughing because they think "YA RIGHT! you cried on skype!" Now shh. Its true, I can count on my fingers the times I've really cried as a missionary.. most of which when I skype my family haha Don't worry, those are happy tears! Many companions of mine handle their stress with tears.. but thats not the way I do it. Yet as President told me I was going to be transferred again, for the 3rd time this transfer, tears just seemed to form.. It was hard. And as I was having my little mini pity party I found myself asking a horrible question that we often do when times are hard.. "Why?" "Why me?" "Why do I have to move again?" And then the words of Sister Shinkle rang in my ear "Whenever we ask ourselves that question.. why.. its a great clue. We can then say ah ha! this is a trial. Then all you have to worry about is figuring out how to endure it with grace." 

I am so thankful for the advice of that woman, advice that actually came to her husband through one of the 12 Apostles. Because it helped so much! I knew almost immediately that it was going to be a trial and I would just have to figure out how to endure it gracefully and find the blessings. 

So Tuesday was my last day as companions with Sister Breinholt and Sister Dunn, what a FAST companionship! President told me to not worry about packing until Wednesday morning and to just enjoy working with them. So my goodness we worked so hard! And we saw so many miracles. We taught some of our.. err.. their investigators and the spirit was so strong! We taught Brother Monette, the one who got baptized last week, about the Priesthood. Oh my, he came to church in a white shirt and tie this Sunday, it was so precious! And really, it was just a great day. :) 

Picture one: Sister Beasley and I :)

Wednesday morning we drove to Lilburn and I did my best to handle my emotions with grace. The Lord seriously blessed me, honestly He loves me so much! Yes, He loves all of you as well :) At the leadership meeting I saw 7 of my 12 total companions. It was such a blessing to see all of them and have time to talk to a few of them. Like Sister Pabst and Sister Beasley--Those two women are saints! It was also good to see a lot of the Elders that I've served around throughout the past year and to hear that Danny indeed got baptized on January 25th and wished that I could have been there. Me too.. but I'm just so excited that he did it :) 

Now you are all probably wondering who my new companion is. My new companion is Sister Porter from Richland Washington, she's probably one of the most bubbly and happiest people I have ever met! Despite the crazy week we've managed to have a lot of fun and work hard. :) Oh, I'm still in the Woodstock ward by the way, just in a new apartment, with new people to teach, different members to work with etc.. basically it feels like a whole new ward.. haha 

But despite all the craziness I have seen miracles and had many laughs this week which have helped me to tackle this little trial with hopefully some level of grace and find reasons why the Lord needed me here at this time. Here are some of them: 

• I met a woman here and we talked about how she is from Layton Utah.. long story short she knows Cherylin (Firth) :) 
• I met a woman who looks just like my sweet Betty in Johns Creek and when she gave me a hug I just felt like it was a hug full of love from Betty. So.. Thanks Betty! :)
• We met a woman named Ana tracting. She allowed us to teach her a little bit and say a prayer for her family. As I was praying my mind was filled with things to pray for and include, I remember hesitating.. not sure if I should pray for worries or concerns I could sense that she hadn't mentioned.. but I decided to follow the promptings and pray for them. As we concluded the prayer tears filled her eyes and she asked "How did you know?" I was then able to testify that Heavenly Father knows exactly what she is going through and His Spirit told me the things to say so that she could know that God loves her. Its honestly amazing how in some of our most powerful teaching moments.. it seems I am the one  being taught the most. 
• We live in a members basement again and Judy is the sweetest southern belle you will ever meet! She's teaching us all about Southern Cookin' and I'm so thankful for her kindness and love.. Like how she had two peanut butter chocolate cup cakes waiting for us when we returned from
  
  Lilburn Wednesday :) 
• Judy is also worried about my hiccups.. so she did what Mom would do.. She went to the health food store and got me some drink I had to drink.. Basically it was like drinking straight up vinegar.. No.. I'm not kidding. And I had to drink one two days in a row.. YUCK! But I did it for Judy and I thought "well I've tried a million other things with members.. why not try this?" So Sister Porter and I named it my Hippie Juice.. I wish words could adequately describe the vinegar and who knows what in that drink.. Oh and the best part is them saying "You need to not shake it, or it will explode the bottle." Say what?? then what on earth is it going to do to me? haha But don't worry.. the hippie juice was just gross.. oh and made my hiccups worse.. but hey! It was worth a shot! 
• Cheryl is our new best friend and grandma. She let us in yesterday while we were tracting and gave us a tour of all her artwork. She then showed us all her recipies and let us try all the things she had made for dinner.. haha they were SO good! So we are going back today to get copies of some of her recipes. They'll go in the book of all the recipes I've gathered from the south :)

Picture three: sister Porter and I at one of our many service projects this week. We painted a members photography studio, so she had us pose for some fun pictures! :) 

So ya.. that's pretty much my crazy week! I guess moral of the story, when you are tempted to ask yourself "why me?" Just remember that whatever is happening is a great chance for you to learn how to better rely on the Lord and to feel of His love and power. Its also a great opportunity to continue to develop the Christ-like attribute of grace. And I must say.. the best remedy for a sad day is to just help someone else out. That is what has worked for me this week, and I am so thankful to be here with Sister Porter. She and I probably will only be companions for another week but we intend to see some amazing miracles during this time!  :) 

Happiness is a choice! And I choose to be happy! :) 

I love you all! 

Love,

Sister Hamilton