Hello my dear family and wonderful friends!
My heart is FULL. Honestly I'm not even sure how to form the words to write to you all and explain the crazy hard, spiritually uplifting, wonderful, amazing, fun, exciting, and blessed week which I have had. We have been working hard and some days are good, while others.. not so much. But hey! That's life right? Well I'm here to tell you right now that the good ALWAYS outweighs the bad. And I know without a doubt that God LOVES His missionaries. I know He loves all of His children, but my goodness I KNOW He loves His missionaries, and He is mindful of them always.
Happy Birthday to the BEST Dad in the whole entire world! I love you so much dad! Thanks for all your letters and being amazing. I'll be thinking of you all day and sending you birthday wishes on your BIG birthday :)
Happy Birthday Grandma Donna! I love you! I hope you have a wonderful week and play some extra games for me!
I forgot to mention that Last Sunday we had a baptism in our district. It was so amazing to attend, she is 14 and from Brazil. So she attends the Portuguese branch in our building. It was amazing to be at the baptism, even though I didn't understand any of it, and to feel of her sweet spirit and see her desire to heed the Saviors plea to "Follow thou me." It was awesome. And for a side note.. Brazillian food is delicious! President Tajmulleo (Branch Pres.) said it was the 11th Commandment to stay and eat with them, so we did and YUMMMY :) Be jealous.
The Lord has protected us in many ways this week, even from a freak Tornado Warning! The weather here is insane. Seriously so crazy. One day I'm sunburnt, the next the "sky is green." This truly isn't Kansas anymore.
Transfers were crazy! We went to Lilburn and got to see a bunch of sisters from the mission and then see the masses that came in this last week. I may or may not have snuck in and saw Sister Megan Mitton before she met her trainer. Rulings still out on that one. But if I had snuck in she probably would have been super smiley and happy and thrilled to be in GA. But this is all hypothetical of course. :) Sister Blaylock is an amazing addition to our companionship. I don't know what it is, its just different. We are having SO much fun! And our lessons have been amazing! Which is crazy because we have only been companions for a few days. I don't know the reason for the Transfer, but as far as we are concerned in Paper Mill, its been wonderful!
On Tuesday we taught Vivian, she is hilarious. LOVE her. She has been going to church with her best friend for awhile but found out she'd be in our ward so we went and taught her and she is legit. She really want's to learn and had some good questions. We are meeting with her again Tomorrow and I can't wait.
On Wendesday we went Tracting. It was Sister Blaylock's first time so that was fun :) She was so excited to do it. We walked passed this home because some of the homes were businesses and we thought it was a business. We knocked a few doors, some being businesses. One had a toilet as a planter.. haha! Turns out its a plumber's business/home. We started knocking on a few more doors and were about to pass the home again. This time we didn't. Jacqualine opened the door immediately and said "Oh Hi! I've been watching y'all walk the street and I got so excited!" What?? Was this real? She continues "I didn't know Jehovah's Witnesses were around here! I have lots of family members who are JW's" Face palm! We then smiled and said "Oh well we are so happy to meet you as well, we are actually missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints." It was way funny. Well she's awesome. She talked to us a lot, accepted a book of mormon, and invited us back on Saturday. Story To Be Continued...
Thursday was Biking day. It also happened to be windy day. AKA my worst enemy day. Haha just kidding, but really.. I am going to have to invest in some biking spandex. But hey.. that's besides the point. So we were biking and we had met a lot of people, stopped by some of the homes of people we're teaching and some members. We were on our way home and were trying to do our best to bike up these huge hills and I saw a teenager walking toward us. Sister Young didn't stop, and I wasn't going to but then I thought "Julie... you're working on being bold and talking to everyone. Do not just bike past him." So I slowed down and stopped near him and sparked up a conversation. Joshua was super nice. He had seen something about mormons on Facebook and so he was asking me questions about what we believe. He mentioned the book of mormon so I grabbed one from my back pack and told him about it and committed him to read it. Unfortunately he had just moved here and didn't have a cell phone so we had no way to get in touch with him. We just hoped he would either come to church or call us. Story To Be Continued..
Saturday came and we went to see Jacqualine again. The first thing she said to us was "You met my grandson the other day, he came home with a Book of Mormon the day after you gave me one and asked me if I would read it with him. So we are starting to read it together." We later figured out that Joshua is Jacqualines grandson. What the!? What are the chances? Those things don't just happen. I know that the Lord put them both in our paths and that it was only by the Lords hands that we met them miles apart the day after each other. We are beginning to teach them both this week. :)
Last night we received a phone call from Bishop Foye who had a "golden opportunity" for us. In Sacrament Meeting Sister Mott in our ward spoke on Baptism and its importance, it was a wonderful talk and the Spirit was truly present. We were thankful because McKenzie and Taylor were there to hear it. There was another woman, Rebecca Sinclair, who heard it as well. We met her and her children last week and she said she was new but we thought that meant she moved in. So that sunday we told the Primary president to look out for her son's and I looked for her this Sunday, but didn't see her. Well it turns out she is not a member, she called Bishop after church and asked "What do I need to do so I can get baptized and how can I join your church?" We called her last night and are meeting with her Wednesday! :) Those are the stories you hear about.. but don't ever believe. And it just happened to us! I am so thankful. Like I said the Lord has truly blessed us. :)
Last night we received a phone call from Bishop Foye who had a "golden opportunity" for us. In Sacrament Meeting Sister Mott in our ward spoke on Baptism and its importance, it was a wonderful talk and the Spirit was truly present. We were thankful because McKenzie and Taylor were there to hear it. There was another woman, Rebecca Sinclair, who heard it as well. We met her and her children last week and she said she was new but we thought that meant she moved in. So that sunday we told the Primary president to look out for her son's and I looked for her this Sunday, but didn't see her. Well it turns out she is not a member, she called Bishop after church and asked "What do I need to do so I can get baptized and how can I join your church?" We called her last night and are meeting with her Wednesday! :) Those are the stories you hear about.. but don't ever believe. And it just happened to us! I am so thankful. Like I said the Lord has truly blessed us. :)
It has been the best, hardest, and most rewarding week of my mission. A lot can happen in 2 months! I met some of the most meanest people, like angry elf status, and nicest people this week :) And I love the work just the same! I miss you all, but not too much :) Becuase I know this is where I need to be. Thanks for your prayers and support, I appreciate it!
Do one act of service this week, it will make you SO happy! :)
Love,
Sister Hamilton
Pic 1: My District and I before Transfers
Pic 2: Dropping of Sister Blackett
Pic 3: Welcoming Sister Blaylock
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