Pictures!

Christa!! :)

Sister Parker and I at Zone meeting :)

The Shinkles!

Mall of Georgia :)

 Our Fathers Day party with the Branch :) Just having fun taking pictures on the red carpet 

Sister Paulsen and I

Sister Anguiano :) She had her twins a few weeks ago :)

Road trip!

When you go to the middle of no where.. Aka North of Commerce GA.. Its not uncommon for dogs to swarm the car once you park. And this was my new friend. I named him buster :)

Was that a Joke?

Hey Everyone! 

I hope you are all having a great Monday and that you had a fantastic week. I had one of the weirdest weeks of the mission that's for sure. But I guess that gives me some things to talk about? Maybe? haha 

I was going to just jump right into the madness but I think week is best told in Chronological order, which I don't normally do. But because it helps you to see how crazy, wonderful, and stupid this week was I will do it haha. 

District Meeting

This week started off great, we were going strong speaking no English on Monday until District Meeting where obviously I have to speak English haha So basically that didn't last long.. After another fun district meeting we drove up to Cumming for our companion exchange. 

While on Exchange with Sister Paulsen I had a great time but something strange happened. *Gulp* Dare I say it? As happy as I was to be "home" in Coal Mountain, to be jumping into lessons, and to be teaching so easily.. I missed hearing Spanish and how immediately loving the Latinos are. Weird right? It'd only been 3 weeks and it already became the norm and what I absolutely love. 

Here's one of the coolest MIRACLES ever.. While in Coal Mountain, a recent convert (she was baptized in Feb) came with us to two of our lessons. Sister Paulsen was telling me all about her and then when I saw her I thought "I know that woman" Immediately tears streamed down Kathleens face as she told me "I have been praying to find you. Do you remember me?" She said one or two clues then immediately I knew.. I said "Kathleen.. I knocked on your door and said a prayer with you.. Didn't I?" She then immediately pulled me into the biggest hug and said "Yes you did. And you helped me move, you didn't see me but you helped the Johnson's move their friend and that friend was me. And I got baptized and I have been asking about who you were since my baptism." I'm still speechless.. Its not often you get to see the miracles that come from your seemingly small efforts. I am so thankful for Kathleen, to have heard her testimony, and to have been able to see the change in her from so many months ago. President Eyring has told missionaries that after this life "thousands will call us blessed" for the works we did and example we left not even realizing it. I'm not certain I'll have thousands, but to know that there would even be one, Kathleen, is a miracle enough for me. Those months of being "unsuccessful" to the visible eye were more than worth it for sweet Kathleen. 

Kathleen and I :)

On exchange I got to eat dinner with the Shinkles :) It was a surprise for them which was AWESOME. Sister Shinkle was so excited to have me over and I was just so happy to be back in "my house" :) She ran upstairs to grab the package she's been putting together from me and had me take it home. I feel so spoiled and so blessed. I seriously love that family so much! 

I also got to see my dear friend Christa which was simply the best. I told her my birthday was coming up and she said she's going to come down to see Hma Garcia and I and take us to dinner because her "car doesn't have a mile limit" haha We saw the Anguianos and got to visit with them in Spanish, another family I love so much! 

The downside of exchange was even though I studied in Spanish, I taught Sis Paulsen how to contact people in Spanish and I read out loud for 30 min.. It was SO hard for me to speak and understand it when I got back with Hma Garcia Valle. So not only did I miss the language the entire 24 hrs.. It actually set me back which was a huge bummer to. But.. The miracles were totally worth it :)

We had dinner Wed night with a family in Hma Garcia's last branch who happen to live in our congregations geographical area. That's when this week went from fantastic to just plain stupid.. Dinner itself was really fun. I love the family, they're hilarious and so wonderful! The food though.. *woof* Lets just say there's nothing that makes a missionary companionship laugh harder (at a later date) or makes them better friends than both of the companions having food poisoning.. *ugh* Haha I am literally laughing at how STUPID that experience was.

So I was sick all Wednesday night until late Thursday afternoon. Whereas Hma Garcia was fine until Thursday morning and didn't feel better until Friday morning. We just laid on the floor all day.. it was awful. haha We even called Megan.. err.. Sister Mitton and Sister Sullivan and the only thing we said on the message was "help.. help.. help!" HAHA They called us and Megan said "We are going to come visit you because you are ill. Its a type of service." haha So they came to our rescue and brought us some Gatorade and crackers. The experience is hilarious... Now.. 

When Megan (for the life of me I cannot call her Sis Mitton. It is SO hard to do) and Sis Sullivan came to rescue us.. they took pictures of us being so pathetic.. haha 

So once again I didn't speak a lot of Spanish for another day or so because turns out when you aren't feeling well the last thing that that comes to your mind are words in a different language. So Friday came and we went out to work. Except apparently I needed something else to write home about because I got attacked by a wasp! So there I am sitting in an appointment just watching my hand swell. I mean.. seriously? What's gotta give? My hand stayed swollen for days.. literally.. Its still a bit swollen and bruised. haha my life! 

On Saturday we had a dinner appointment that was over an hour away, so that was a really fun roadtrip :) President gave me permission to call and talk with Alice about her baptism so we had a fun chit chat too :) Keep them in your prayers please! As for life here, we are starting to find more people to teach which is a huge blessing. Its coming slowly but surely :) We even had a family bring some of their family to church and the family members asked us to teach them I think we can arrange that :) haha

Now here's my last thing to report on. So Hma Garcia said I had to do all the talking in Branch Counsel so there I was reporting on all the people we saw that week and President Ramirez apparently is super excited about how my Spanish is coming along and he said that next Sunday the theme is missionary work so he thinks we should speak. But here's the thing.. He said it in a totally joking way. So I laughed and responded in a "ya okay.. sure President" kind of way. Sister Garcia answered more affirmatively.. Well in our meeting after church the Elders started to ask me if I was excited to speak.. I couldn't take it anymore and responded in English "Woah Woah Woah! I thought that was a joke!" I was then informed it wasn't a joke.. Language barrier.. DOH! 

We eat dinner with President and Sister Ramirez each Sunday so I asked him at dinner if it was a joke and he just laughed and said "Oh Hermana. You can do it. Listen to your Spanish you don't need more time." So.. yup. Guess that wasn't a joke. Neato! I get to speak for 10-15 minutes in church this coming Sunday on missionary work. Wish me luck! haha 

So there's my crazy week. Life's going really well! I'm happy and finally healthy again.. haha. I hope that you all have a fantastic week :) Happy Fathers Day Dad!! I love you :) 

I love you all!  

Love,

Hermana Hamilton

Couldn't be happier :)

Hey Everyone!!

 

Well my oh my! So much to share from this week but also, I don't know when to start. Surprised? I think not! haha Perhaps I'll just go in order of things from when they happened.

 

But let me first and foremost start with how much I simply love life. Really, I am so happy! The song from Wicked just came to mind where it says "..couldn't be happier" Sometimes that's how I feel out here. I couldn't be happier. Sure its humid and my hair is a mess, but remember #BIGhairdontcare. That motto is back by the way. :) But life is just so good! I get to wake up and do something I love everyday. I get to smile all the time and meet new people who I instantly love and who are immediate friends. I laugh nonstop. I'm getting more and more freckles and the worst farmers tan ever. I go running every morning in a beautiful forest thing. I go to sleep every night with a massive headache because my brain has been translating Spanish all day, yet I love it because just like I love the Southern Accent, I love the Spanish Language. Life is so good.

 

Hermana Garcia Valle and I at Lake Lanier this morning. I almost "accidently" fell in :)

This week I attended my last Zone Conference ever, it also happened to be President and Sister Wolferts last Zone Conference. It was the best zone conference that I have attended in my year and a half here. The Spirit was so strong and we had so much fun! I saw so many friends and learned so much. I am forever thankful to have served under President and Sister Wolfert, I will miss them terribly. When I think about going home with the new mission president (who probably won't have met me) I get so sad.. But then I realized a great positive.. And I invited Sister Wolfert to come to Sacrament meeting when I speak and she said if they didn't have to speak themselves that week they would love to. :) Boom! Problem solved!

 

At Zone Conference President and Sister Wolfert invited us to make June another "month of Consecration" where we more fully consecrate ourselves to the work and to the Lord. I'm super excited because we are going to see so many miracles! Hermana Garcia and I made some good goals. We were already trying to speak Spanish most of the time, but we decided for the month of Consecration we'd give up English so that I can be more immersed and learn more quickly.. Its super hard! Not only because my language skills as far as speaking are not much better than Benjamin or Logan's (who I'm pretty sure aren't speaking yet.. haha) but because we have so much fun together and we laugh all the time but now its hard to share jokes or stories haha. And of course I'm exaggerating, I can speak better than that.. but you get the picture. But it'll be good!

 

On Wednesday I was able to receive a blessing from our Branch President, President Ramirez,  to help me learn the language. I am so thankful for men who can use the priesthood to help us receive extra guidance and comfort from our loving Father in Heaven. Interestingly I wasn't blessed with different gifts, rather I was blessed with comfort, clarity of mind, that fear would flee, and my companion was blessed with patience (in my blessing, haha). As I've pondered those things and the advice given to remember the scripture in Doctrine & Covenants 11:21 (to first obtain the word before you try to declare it) I've realized it was exactly what I needed. Since then I've known exactly what I should study in my personal study (which I do all in Spanish these days--can you say miracle?) I still have SOOO much to learn, its a bit overwhelming but when I really think about the fact that its only been 2.5 weeks and I can already participate in lessons.. My jaw drops to the floor. The Spirit of the Lord is the best teacher.. that's all I'm sayin'!

 

So on Thursday we took Hermana Ramirez to teach Cristal the Plan of Salvation. It was such a good lesson! Cristal has soo much faith and she reads and does every little "assignment" we leave with her, except.. come to church. We're working on it though. :) So I taught the first part then Hermana Garcia just started teaching and a little while later to both her surprise and mine I just jumped right in and taught a whole other section of the lesson, completely not planned. That my friends, is the Spirit and the Lord qualifying who He calls. I'm telling you, there is no way that was me. You don't understand, it takes me SO long to write out questions to ask and such.. Yet in that moment, my mouth just opened and I just talked and talked.. And even answered questions using the scriptures. What??? A Miracle, hands down! No more mute Hermana for me! :) Slash.. I'm still mute. But not when the Lord wants me to speak :)

 

Sister Beasley, Sister Winegar, and us at Zone Conference :) We have members who live near them so we may or may not be planning a visit.. just saying :)

We had another huge miracle this week. We received a referral from some missionaries who tracted into a family from Mexico. So we went to teach them and Hermana Garcia makes the connection with them that she had taught their family who was baptized recently in Roswell Georgia. Try to tell me tha'ts a coincidence. Oh wait.. its not! :) How cool is that? Maria (the mom) is super spiritual and we were able to teach them how to pray as a family and are going back this week. So cool! :)

 

I memorized the First Vision in Spanish about a week in, so I get to share that a lot lately as we meet people at the door and what not. Its really cool to feel the spirit so strong whenever I say it. Oh and funny story. We were tracting and Hma Garcia gave up and walked away but I waited a second. This woman answered the door so I just smiled and said "Hola!" The woman screamed and shut the door. I laughed SO hard!! She of course reopened the door and we were able to talk with her a bit about the party they were having. But seriously I laughed so hard.

 

I let Hermana Garcia Valle straighten my hair.. it was super long! And so weird.. like Tangled status! It lasted only a couple of hours because of the humidity, so heres the only picture to prove it haha

I love this little Spanish Branch (congregation). These people once again just stole my heart. They are like family, I can't speak to them well yet.. But I love them! We had a Branch dinner last night to break our fasts. It was so fun to be with them. And then do an big FHE as a church family. That's really what the church is about. No.. not about eating, although when we meet, we eat :) The Gospel its about having family everywhere around the world. It doesn't matter what language you speak or where you live, you are a part of a family.

 

Speaking of family.. :) This week we are going on exchange. You know what that means? I get to go back to Coal Mountain for the day! Woot woot!! Sister Kelly called a bunch of people I taught up there who they haven't been able to see and when they heard I was going to be there they all set appointments. The people love me, what can I say? HAHA They love me, because I love them. So I'll let you know how that goes. And we are going to do a FHE with the Anguianos (a family in coal mountain that I love so much!) again when we exchange back so Hma Garcia and I can practice doing it in Spanish seeing as they are from Guatemala. Woot Woot! I'm stoked :)

 

So yup!! Lifes soo good. I'm happy, healthy, getting more freckles, and laughing my way through life. Life is as it should be :)

Oh shoot, one more quick story. So I got my Spanish name tags in the mail this week.. And can I just say.. like I love them of course.. but its so weird!! And it was surprisingly hard to not put on my English tag.. It was like I was leaving behind that mission and starting a new one.. Who knew I would grow so attached to a 2 by 4 inch name badge.. :)

 

Okay thats all!

 

I love you!!!

Love,

Hermana Hamilton

"The will of God will never take you where His grace will not protect you."

Hey Everyone!! 

Me and Bishop Hailstone and his daughter (before I left Allatoona)

I hope you all are having a fantastic Memorial Day!! I'm super jealous of all y'all who are at Gualala this weekend. Hermana Garcia Valle and I have this beautiful green belt/ nature trail right outside our apartment that we go running at each morning. Its so fun and this week I've been imagining Lindsey and I running our 12 miles at Gualala to train for our half-marathon. :) 

We've been really blessed this week, I'm so happy!  I LOVE these people so much. :) And I think its hilarious that none of them think I don't speak Spanish.. So inevitably in every dinner when I'm mostly quiet they ask Hermana Garcia "Does she speak Spanish?" I then respond saying how I don't speak well, that I've only been Spanish speaking for about a week.. etc. And then their jaws drop. Its comical! I follow the conversation really well but still can't seem to speak. But its okay! It's only been a week and a half. At least they love my smile and that I'm always happy... So I'm a mute with a cute smile.. I'll take it! haha

We are still teaching Crystal, I LOVE that woman. She is such a doll. We taught her and her 3 kids this week about prayer and then took turns helping the two little boys saying prayers and such. It was so cute! Crystal was telling us about all the peace that she feels when we come and how when she's stressed she's started reading el Libro de Mormon and loves it. I am so amazed at the miracles that can come into our lives from studying the Book of Mormon on a regular basis. The blessings are real.. try it! :) We are teaching them again tomorrow night and I'm super excited! 

Hermana Garcia and I are trying hard to find people to teach... its a process :) What's hard is we go tracting and talk to like 15 people who speak English and only 3 who speak Spanish.. So clearly we don't know which parts of town to go to yet, but we'll get the hang of it soon. We're visiting a lot of members, who are just amazing. I am so thankful for the Spirit that is in their homes and for their kindness. It doesn't matter if they haven't met us before they immediately just put their arms around us and make us apart of their family. Also, the little children are OBSESSED with us because we're the first sisters to EVER be around them. It's so fun to always be the first set of sisters :) Also, they think because "I'm American" that I don't like/can't handle spicy food.. I try not to be insulted.. Like when this Guatemalan families college age son goes "Oh.. you'll probably need an extra glass of water, because I mean, you are American." What? I think not! haha I do think its working in my favor though because they like you more if you enjoy their food, and they think I won't like it but I end up loving ALL of it. Therefore I make friends.. you follow? 

"Hi from Megan!" <-- Sister Mitton and I are serving right around each other these days. Its pretty comical, and super fun! :) 

Anyways, we're working on trying to figure out what we want our purpose to be here in the Branch, its tiny.. Like TINY. We probably have about 30 people that come to church on Sunday. Its just a cute little family. We're focusing a lot on helping families who haven't been to church in a long time to come back and trying to update the directory.. I mean as much as I'd love to roadtrip to Califorinia... We probably should have their info moved to CA :) We taught Relief Society yesterday, and by we I mean Hermana Garcia taught Relief Society. Haha. I helped her plan the lesson and then said "Good luck!!" I played prelude for Sacrament, can you say roughskies? But its such a treat for them to have someone play the piano live that I can't not at least try for them, you know? 

 our picnic outside to do our 3 hr planning session for the week :)

Here's a little bullet point list of some cool things that happened this week:

• We told this teenage girl Alondra to watch a mormon message and then text us to tell us what she thinks (something we do a lot.. but no one has EVER texted) But guess what? She totally did!! Hermana Garcia and I didn't even know what to do haha We tried to play it cool and then were able to have a really good conversation with her about having the strength to stand up for what we believe and what not. 
• We taught the Perez's daughter (a family that was recently baptized) And the 8 yr old daughter said her first prayer and thanked Heavenly Father "for these two girl missionaries who I love so much." Yup... just making best friends with all the little kids :)
• We've been doing a lot of service this week and one family we went to do service for and the mom was like "I don't want to pack anymore.." Hermana Garcia and I just looked at each other and were like "now what?" We excused ourselves for a moment and went out to the car and Hermana Garcia grabbed her thread.. And we decided.. threading eyebrows and sharing a message is a great new form of service. #anythingtowearpants :) 
• Everyone was yelling at us in this neighborhood and we were feeling like we didn't want us to be there, but something said not to give up yet.. The next door we went to this cute woman named Betty answered the door. Betty is in her late 70's and is a recent widow, with no teeth and a southern accent (love southerns!) We said a prayer with her to bless her home and she immediately broke down in tears and gave us the biggest hugs and kisses on the cheek and kept telling us how she knew we were there for a reason. I know if we are willing to follow the Spirit that the Lord will always lead us to those who need us. 

So.. once I had 7 days of Spanish und

DAD!! I didn't know you were running for office :) hahah 

er my belt Hermana Garcia decided it was time for me to start sharing all of the messages at dinner. So I have done it, and it gets easier each time. We pulled up to one house (the second message I was supposed to share) and then I realized.. uh.. We didn't plan a message because we've been so busy. I looked at her and she just laughed and said "Well.. Looks like its time that you say a prayer and we go in and watch to see the miracle of the Lord bringing words to your remembrance. I prayed sooo hard.. And immediately the scripture Alma 26:16 came to my mind, one that I love SOO much and always have but that day it meant something more. Because the last phrase is "Behold, I say unto you, I cannot say the smallest part which I feel."  And I realized wow.. this is me. That is exactly how I feel. I have such a strong testimony, I have so much love for these beautiful people, but at the moment I cannot say the smallest part which I feel. Perfect. Hermana Garcia was right, right when I needed it all the words came to me and I was able to teach. The Spirit is amazing!! 

I hope you all have an amazing week, please keep me in your prayers! I love you all!! 

Love,

Hermana Hamilton

Fruit Overload!

Hola y'all! (You like that?) haha 

I hope you are all doing fantastic! As for me, I am so good, and SO unbelievably tired. I'm not sure I have ever had to take so many naps in my life. Exhaustion doesn't even begin to describe how I feel. But its not that my body is tired.. its that my eyes and my brain cannot seem to stay in the game.. #languageoverload 



the beltrans

Let me tell you all about my week, I'm sorry in advance for this being so scattered and crazy. I've decided the word of the week is double. Double dinner.. Double lunch.. double the exhaustion.. double the joy.. double the family.. Double the stuff.. Double the wardrobe (thanks to having a companion my exact same size).. Everything in my life seemed to double, in a good way of course. :) 

Monday after we got transfer news we went bowling with the Woodstock Sisters, then had dinner at the Masons. Oh how I love them! After dinner we went to do our FHE with the Beltrans (a family from the Spanish congregation in Woodstock) Well.. We showed up for the FHE and I noticed that the table was set.. with food.. lots and lots of food.. And then I looked at Sister Smith who had a look of sheer panic.. And I whispered.. "double dinner.. just smile and eat." The food really was fantastic though :) our hogar de noche with the Beltrans was so awesome! I LOVE them! Their little 9 yr old daughter kept pestering me about my Spanish (because they knew I was going to be switched to Spanish speaking) And made me share my testimony with her and say the closing prayer. It was nerve-wracking.. but it was good to get the first one in a big group out of the way with a family I'm comfortable with, you know? I'm going to miss them! 

Tuesday was nuts! We were in back to back to back appointments.. forever! It was so busy! Once again being fed non stop.. I wanted to die! haha But I loved seeing everyone and teaching so much. It was hard to say goodbye to everyone, but not at the same time? Isn't it weird how that happens. You put roots down so quickly as a missionary and you love the people so much, it should be so hard to leave.. And it is in a way.. but I just knew there was a reason that I was leaving and that I had done all I could. 


Sister Wilder had a little get together at her house so people could stop by for an hour and say goodbye to us departing missionaries. What an awesome idea :) I got to say bye to so many more families than I thought we would, so perfect! We had the Dixons be our last stop of the night. I miss them.. I really do. I just loved being with them in their home and sharing my last message with them. I love them!!

 

Enough of the sappy stuff... Now lets talk about my new life here in Buford. My companion is Hermana Garcia Valle, from Utah. Another from Utah.. :) But I mean technically she was born in Mexico and lived there until sometime in Elementary school (don't exactly remember when) so that's a good claim to fame. She's super funny and we've been having a lot of fun. We're the first Hermanas here in this area so that's exciting and also a little overwhelming.. But its all good! Oh and I have become a mute.. so that's cool. haha Someday, I will learn to communicate well in Spanish. But really, can you imagine me silent? I never could.. but now its my reality! haha

 

 Hermana Garcia Valle and our branch president and his wife, who thinks he served his mission with Jana.. just sayin'

Since being here in the area we've already seen so many miracles which is super exciting! We received sooo many referrals from members and missionaries we don't even know where to start as far as meeting them all. Two of them let us come and teach them and we have return appointments for tomorrow night :) Crystal and John. Crystal is the cutest and just wants to be a good mom :) She called us today just to say hi and make sure we would come back and teach her tomorrow. Ya.. that never happens, how cool is that! :) In our lessons I just say the prayers and share my testimony and do my best to follow the conversation. Which I do surprisingly well, I just can't string the sentence fast enough to respond while it would still fit the context. But I'll get there :)

 

Saturday we helped a few families in the branch (congregation) get ready for a sweet Mexican wedding.. With the Mariachi band and everything. :) Well.. lets just say we cut my weight in fruit.. Then we came home for dinner after having helped and done service basically all day.. 8 hrs helping set things up move things around and only hearing spanish is EXHAUSTING. But lets just say.. I have never seen so much fruit in my life. We literally cut enough food for 300+ people.. yikes!

 

alice, a recent convert in the ward

I LOVE the members here. They are fantastic! I love how every woman gives us a big hug and kiss on the cheek. And then they call me "the cute little American" haha I love their testimonies, the Spirit is so powerful when they speak. Truthfully, I probably only understood about 60% of church.. yet I felt the Spirit probably the strongest in those meetings than any other church meetings on my mission and probably also in my life. The congregation is tiny sooo small. But so loving and so wonderful. Relief Society was first, and the woman just handed me a piece of paper to read, nothing like your 4th day learning Spanish and you have to read a HUGE paragraph in front of a bunch of native speakers.. :)

 

There isn't anyone who can play the piano, so Hermana Garcia and I are going to take turns who plays and who leads the music, which will be fun. I love the hymns in Spanish by the way! :) Then there's the whole they asked us to both speak in sacrament meeting.. They said mine could be just a long testimony 4 or so minutes.. So that's what we did for Language study on Saturday and I made sure that we told people it was only my 4th day as a Spanish Sister. Afterward Hermana Sarazua came up to me and said "Oh! It makes sense! I thought you were just really really quite and couldn't figure out why you didn't know the language that well since you'd been out so long." haha So.. everyone thought I was a literal mute.. NICE!

 

I don't have a lot more to say, life's good. So good! I am super happy! We have a super nice running trail behind our apartment so we've gone running every morning which is SO nice! :) I'm amazed at the miracles. Last night we stopped by to see a recent convert, he's from the Dominican Republic and their accents are so hard so I had trouble following all his story lines.. But I just kept praying to know what scripture we needed to share.. I then prayed for the courage to interrupt the conversation a bit and figure out how to introduce the scripture. I did so and it was cool to see me be able to read it to him without any problems. I was amazed to hear how perfectly it fit what he needed to hear.

 

If there is one thing I know, its God isn't limited by language. The Spirit can speak to all men and women the same, and it will if we ask for its guidance, comfort, and help. Its probably the biggest lesson I have learned this week.

 

I love you all and hope you have a great week!! Pray for me!! :)

 

Love,

Hermana Hamilton

Pictures, please!

My new leg accessory!

Lucky quarter sister porter and sister cordero gave me to flip a coin to decide where to go for student teaching.. ya.. that's what true friends do. They give you a quarter? haha :)

Sister Smith and I

Jimmy at his baptism

The Viczneskys at the baptism :) Love that family! 

Brother McCardle, we call him Santa.. I think he's Santa in disguise:)

The Fagres!!I love them!! :)

ME :)

The Jerls :) 

Welcome to our Circus Home!

Why Hello There! 

Oh my goodness so so so much to talk about, but not at the same time because I think I told it all on "google hangout" :) So sorry family if I repeat some things. Can I just say, I'm still the happiest girl on earth from yesterday.

Sister Smith and I singing in the rain while tracting :) 

Lets start with my student teaching choice! I decided to go back to Rexburg and take part in their new student teaching program. I'll have my own classroom at Madison Middle School and will not only teach those students but also mentor Education student from BYU-I. They will have a chance from time to time to teach my class and then I will help them by giving them feedback, working with their lesson plans, etc. I'm so excited! So many good things ahead! 

Next, transfer news.. Drum roll please! I am going to serve in my first "Branch!" A Branch is a smaller congregation, and I'm super stoked because its in Buford GA which is in the Sugar Hill Stake (where Coal Mountain is). Its the Lanier Branch.. Its also a Spanish Branch. Yes, you read that right. No, this is not a late April Fools joke (although it would be a good one). Yup! I'm going to be attempting to speak Spanish for my last 3 months. How crazy and exciting!! :) Oh.. And.. We're the first sisters, so once again I'll be starting fresh and building up. Fun stuff! :)

So, really I have had the best week imaginable. We have been so blessed, its amazing! Yesterday we were talking with the Elders after church and Elder Blair and I just knew we were both being transferred and we decided that this was the Sunday to leave on.. We really went out with a bang! It was perfect! Sister Smith and I had 5 of the people we are teaching come to church and had a few other part-member families that we are seeing from time to time come. Sister Spencer stood up in our Relief Society (the womens class) and asked everyone to pray for her so that she can have extra strength so she can be baptized. :) Lacey told her Sunday School class that she was learning from us to be baptized. And McKinley told our Gospel Principles class that she was being baptized June 7th (news to us, haha)  And you can't forget Brother Moore yelling at me "Hey I know you! Get over here and give me a hug!" :) It was just a wonderful day!

Let me tell you one of the reasons I love the South so much. It was a fairly hot and real humid day yesterday and we were tracting.. At one door the woman was clearly not interested so I just talked to her about mothers and then thanked her for letting us be in the shade on her porch to talk with her. She then said "How rude of me! Darlin's you just sit right there on the steps and I'll go get you some water." Sister Smith looked at me like we were in some other world.. We sat down and enjoyed glasses of ice cold water, she simply asked that we leave the glasses on the porch. I love the South because there really aren't a lot of places around like that where hospitality not only exists, but is the norm. 

The Spencers at Jimmy's baptism! :)

We were able to attend the baptism of Jimmy this weekend, he's been being taught by the elders since Feb. I always love seeing him on Sundays! I'm amazed that it doesn't matter who is being baptized but at every baptism I attend tears fill my eyes when the actual baptism is performed. Its such a simple and beautiful act, its truly perfect. Brother Williams told Jimmy that he was the most clean person in the room and Jimmy just smiled and said "I feel that way!" It was so special I feel very blessed to have seen him grow these past months, and it was a miracle to have Sister Spencer and her daughter there as well. Who both LOVED it :) 

We saw a woman in the congregation this week who hasn't been to church in many years and used to be quite hostile (so we were told). Turns out she's our new best friend! haha That's my favorite thing, when people tell me that someone is going to be feisty and then we go and its great. She's from Germany and said about a week ago she started reading a church book given to her years ago and said that as she read a strange thing happened.. she felt good.. then we showed up! It was sweet to get to know her and to hear her tell us that she still knows the Book of Mormon is true and that she wants us to start coming to study with her. I also loved that she was so amused with me being from CA because of the earthquakes.. She kept saying "If I lived there I'd sleep in a hammock.. because they sway anyways so I wouldn't panic if there was an earthquake.. because I'd never know!" Haha Okay Claudia! 

The Everitts are doing absolutely fantastic! Coming to church each week, reading the scriptures, and praying. :) I love that family and I love going over to see them! 

Here's Brother Wood :) Going to miss that man!

The Dixons also are doing amazing. Really, they mean so much to me! We sat behind them in Sacrament meeting and I let out a little hiccup. Okay, lets be honest, it was loud.. haha But anyways immediately Sister Dixon turned around and said with tears "Oh I'm gunna miss you!" I know I say this a lot.. but I really do love that family like my own. I'm going to miss my "abby hugs" each Sunday. I'm going to miss Brother Dixon teasing me. I'm going to miss Emma telling me all about her life.. I'm just flat out going to miss them. Watching the Dixon's learn about and accept the gospel will always be one of my most cherished memories. Always. And, I will come back to see them get sealed. Which means I'll need to start making some money asap.. Jordanne, if you're reading this, get ready to go back to GA with me! :) 

I'm sure there is more that I could tell you, but its time I get going. Moral of the story, I'm really excited and nervous for the adventure up ahead and am going to miss this place. Once again the people here have become family, and this has become home. I know that is only possible because of my Savior, the Gospel, and this small black name tag that I love so much. 

Please keep me in your prayers! And please continue to pray for the Spencers, I really hope I'll be able to come back for their baptism, but its unlikely.. But its okay! Because I read 1 Corinthians 1:17"For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel." And I wrote "Amen Paul, I feel the same way" in my scriptures. :) Its okay that I don't get to see the people I teach be baptized. I'm always transfered.. What matters is I get to see the light come into their eyes and their faith grow. I'm here to teach, because teaching is what I love! 

I love you!!

Love,

Hermana Hamilton <-- Now that's weird!! 

P.S. The title of this email came from a father who kept saying that to us at dinner.. it was wild.. like a child pooping on the floor kind of wild.. uh.. ya. HAHA