So this week there isn't a whole lot to report!! pretty much all our snow is gone,... craziness and sister FieFia and I are like best friends we never stop laughing and we are just having a ton of fun sharing God's light with the world!! The people here are amazing and Thanksgiving was fantastic!!! As far as Adam goes he will no longer be getting baptized... sad day and he isn't really meeting with the sisters a whole lot either but I have faith he will change his mind again so yeah no baptism on the 5th! We have been mostly working with Less-actives and we had 4 come to church his week yay!!! We should be meeting with our investigators more this week with Thanksgiving being over but we will see!!! We just have to keep working hard and being obedient! Thank you for all your support and encouragement!! Sorry this email is so short I love you!!! :)
Sister HamiltonTuesday, January 13, 2015
Dec 1 Loving Life
Nov 24 New Hartford...or Carthage? Carthage
What a week this has been, it started out with the mission tour and ended with me being transferred to Carthage :) So this week we were supposed to go on our exchanges to Carthage and Watertown and then one of the sisters in Carthage got sick so we ended up not going. The way things happened was very frustrating so I was slightly upset with some of the sisters (I know I need to repent). But anyway, we did work in New Hartford and Adam AGREED to be baptized on December 6th he finally decided he had no more reservations and that we was ready!!!! YAY!!! so stoked!!! :) Me and Sister Barley were finally going to get a baptism together and see the fruits of our labors (which doesnt always happen). We got in the car to call the Carthage Sisters to set up when we would be doing the rescheduled exchange and Sister Mayer my companion from the MTC got on the phone and was crying and wanted to go home and was sick of a lot of things. She wasn't getting along with her companion and we sat and talked to her for about an hour and then we had to go to other appointments and told her to stay strong and we would call her back later tonight. An hour or so later president called us and told us not to call them back and that he would call us and let us know what was going on and how we could help. That night we were planning the next day out and it was about 9:30 well we got a call from president (remember dad how you told if my Mission president ever asked me to do a special assignment to just tell him no.... well this was one of those times haha). President got on the phone and said can I speak to Sister Hamilton alone and so I got on the phone and he said "Sister Hamilton I need sister Mayer to come to New Hartford and work with Sister Barley and see if we can get her to want to stay out on her mission and I have a favor to ask of you... Will you go to Carthage and be companions with Sister FieFia?" and I said of course I will president and I got off the phone and cried like a little girl, my heart was here and I had no warning or prep time so I packed up my things that night laid in bed staring at the ceiling forever and then fell asleep at 1:30 in the morning.... and I woke up the next day said goodbye to the Deerings cried some more and then went to the church and did a few things and then headed back to our apartment and waited for President to show up. When he got there he gave me a blessing and off we went.... I didnt get to say goodbye to any of the Elders.... none of the members.... none of our investigators.... It was just a hole in my heart which still kind of hurts but thats ok, At least I know I gave them my all and that I let them have a piece of my heart... and so we got to Carthage and I unpacked in about an hour hurried and ate a quick dinner and then off we went to work. Carthage has had some pretty disobedient sisters in the past little while and sister FieFia has been trying to clean it up and so I am stoked to help her but she has only been here for 3 weeks and i have been here for like 3 days now so its pretty much like we are whitewashing again. Sister FieFia is incredible, super powerful missionary and way obedient!! She is a Polynesian and we get a long better than Sister Barley and I did! I am fully being myself again and we are working super hard all day long!! A little about Carthage... we do get the Lake effect so we can get like 3 feet of snow in one night which we did but today it is super warm and is melting but we are not as bad as Buffalo so no worries there. Carthage is a military town and Fort Drum is here and so about 95% of our ward is Military and people are constantly moving in and out and the ward is full of super young couples and I have completely fallen in love with the ward and the area!! We met a super awesome families, the Carr family, and the parents are sweet the dad is an orthopedic surgeon in the military and their house is...to die for... so nice and they are so fun they used to be really investigating but got a major overload and so they havent really let missionaries in for a while but they let us in and we got to know them pretty well and they are letting us come back yay!!! and I am just so stoked about them!!! and then we are starting to teach Belize she is from Africa and she is legit!! Going onto the Military base is kind of like being in another world haha! I love it!! we have A TON of less-actives and that is where we spend most of our time... I love where I am and I love my companion and I am so happy and so grateful for this incredible experience and Sister Mayer is doing amazing and as of now no longer wants to go home! :) yay!! also I will be going to Utica on December 5th for MLC (a meeting) and so the Utica sisters are going to try and get Adam to switch his baptism to the 5th so that I can be there :) Miracles really do happen and Heavenly Father is always watching out for us!! I am grateful for change and the opportunity I have to learn and grow and to become better :) I hope you are all doing better and remember the "God is easily pleased, but hard to satisfy." Neil A Maxwell
Heavenly Father is pleased with all that you are all doing but we have to continually strive to be better! :) I love and miss you all so much! have an amazing week and remember how much He loves you!Nov 10 Charity. . . . Don't pray for it!
Well this week was wonderful! So to start off I was talking to some sisters and they told me about the parable of the Loaves and the Fishes and how Christ asked them to give all that they had... and it was not enough... at all but then he blessed it and made it more than enough! That is how our missions are and our lives in general if we give all that we have and are to Him... it wont be enough but he will bless it and make it more than enough. So when you are feeling down and like your all isnt enough... remember he will bless you and make it enough! I just loved this and thought maybe you would like to hear it! So next this week has been fantastic we had 2 investigators come to church, Sarrita and Adam! Sarrita is doing so amazing and knows she needs to get baptized but she is holding off a bit because she wants to make sure she is doing this for her and not for chris (her boyfriend) so hopefully she prays and realizes that this is what she needs to do! but she is just amazing reading the book of mormon everyday and enjoying everything we teach her and it all "makes sense".... so logically she should just get baptized lol!! Then Adam he is already through Helaman!!! crazy I know and he believes the book of Mormon is true and he believes in Joseph Smith but he has some serious disagreements about the churches stance on homosexuality so we have tried discussing that with him a little bit but he gets argumentative so we are just teaching the other lessons and hopefully Heavenly Father will soften his heart, but he came to church and really enjoyed it and said he is coming next week so that is way excited and he has so much potential... there is just a minor bump that we will flatten in time, no worries! and those are the really exciting things happening! Other than that thursday was probably one of the most amazing days of my mission because of all the realizations I had. It was district meeting and we were asked to study Charity and Love in preach my gospel so I started off by doing that and then I went to the dictionary and I have come to realize that charity and love are not the same thing that is why they are always BOTH mentioned in the scriptures. Love=loyal concern and affection, Charity=understanding! Charity is the pure love of Christ. In preach my gospel it talks about how to have charity you have to understand that person's point of view. No wonder Christ has Charity and it is the Pure love, because he literally felt everything we feel, He knows EXACTLY what we think and feel, he has a pure understanding of our point of view!! So to have charity for someone is not just unconditional love but to put yourself in their place and understand their point of view! I dont know I just thought that it was super neat and I realized I have a lot of work to do in order to develop charity! also that we have to sanctify ourselves or become pure in order to love purely.... just something to think about then later that day I realized that I have had a lot of walls built up around my heart and for a really long time and I apologize to you all for not letting you have all my heart. I am going to try to more fully give my heart to those around me so that they can love me fully. I also learned a neat thing about companionship study that it is not just to create unity but we have to help us receive revelation. There have been many times where the only way I was able to develop fully the revelation I was receiving was by talking to Sister Barley and discussing things together. Heavenly Father created us to help each other.... thats why you get married and thats why you have a companion on the mission and thats why you have a family etc... we all need help in our lives! and lately I have been reading a talk and it talks about whether we know who we want to become? are we progressing towards light or towards darkness? If we dont know who we want to become and a plan of how to become that, then we will not progress towards the light... just food for thought :) So when I first got out here I was scared to pray for charity because then you know a trial is coming but I know it is something that I need to develop so I finally prayed for it and..... Yes there are challenges what a blessing it is that Heavenly Father trusts me to develop this attribute (it will be a lifelong process) but I need to take advantage of this opportunity to become more like my Savior. In a testimony this week at MLC someone shared that "Our imperections are a gift and we should use those imperfections to come closer to God." what a neat perspective..... Well I love you all!! Stay strong. and Remember I love you all so much!! :)
Love Sister Hamilton
Tuesday, November 18, 2014
Nov 17 Hamilton in Hamilton
So this week was one of the best weeks of my mission! While it was the best I definitely had struggles as well!!! :) The beginning of my week was fantastic full of lessons and all sorts of good stuff then on Wednesday I got to go on exchanges to Hamilton (yes its a town) and I was with Sister Wood and Sister McCormies and it was the best time of my life!!! They are probably the coolest sisters ever and we just had loads of fun!! The first day all the appointments fell through and I told them Heavenly Father was just teaching us a little bit of patience and endurance, but the day was still a lot of fun. In the mission right now member missionary work is being stressed a lot and so that night we worked with a lot members and just got in their homes and got to know them and shared a lesson with them, and it was a lot of fun! Then Thursday we had a lot of great appointments and we had a meeting and that was amazing and it was just a really good day. Well the mindset for exchanges is that we are supposed to show the sisters that miracles can happen and to have faith in their areas.... well I praying for miracles! The theme of the exchange was members and missionaries (imagine that) well then Friday during weekly planning we texted a couple of the members and with in 30 mins we had 3 people say they would come out with us at different times during the following week, one of which was a member they had been trying to get for a while now and she finally said she would..... MIRACLES! Then later that day we went and visted a less active family and shared a message with them and then at the end asked if they would come to church this week and they said.... YES!!!! for the first time in over 3 1/2 months that they had even said yes.... Well yes's dont mean a whole lot out here cause everyone backs out of everything well on sunday the sisters called me and that family CAME TO CHURCH!!!! So we did see miracles and it was such a blessing.... and not only did we see a lot of success we had a ton of fun in the process we had a snowball fight and we went and got hot chocolate and we placed a book of Mormon. I just want you all to know the church is true! I wouldnt be out here if it wasnt!! Lately we have had an investigator ask us a lot about our living prophet and thinks that we dont need one... well over exchanges Heavenly Father softened him and when we met with him again he told us that all his reservations had been cleared and that he thinks Mormonism is for him... He still wants to do a lot more research (he is just that way) but he is now praying for a baptismal date... we are hoping December 6th before transfers!! But anyway the reason I did not email yesterday is because we had the chance to meet with Elder Kacher of the Quorum of the Seventy and that was so incredible it was an amazing training and I simply loved it all!! He said that we are made to be weak and simple... Why? Because then we can be humble and depend on the atonement... Learn how to turn to the Savior! That was my favorite thing he said! There was so much more though but at the end during testimony meeting an elder that has only been out 2 weeks said "We are not here to fail, but we are not supposed to perfect, and we wont be! But He will make up the rest. Our investigators aren't here to fail either, you have the sacred opportunity to help them succeed. We think our lives are hard.... they aren't when you think of what the Savior went through. He wouldnt have gone through that if we weren't worth it. You are worth it, they are worth it, everyone is worth it. You are here to SUCCEED!" Elder Bench! Now go and succeed because you were not sent here to fail! and remember "If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get, what you've always got."- Elder Bednar
I love you all! and I know this church is true with all my heart. I know we indeed have a living prophet and he is necessary! I love this gospel it blesses my life everyday. I have a huge testimony of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon, its teachings are priceless! We have been blessed to live in such glorious days and we have the tools to help our brothers and sisters around us make it back to their Father in Heaven. Heavenly Father loves all of us and he wants us home with Him. So keep trying and when you fall, get back up dust yourself off and use the atonement "You dont need to be your own savior" -Sister Wood. Christ atoned for us, not just for our sins but for our sorrows, our pains, everything you go through he has felt.... find refuge in the arms of your Savior! I love you all have an amazing week and remember to always pray Heavenly Father wants to hear from his children! |
| All the Sisters from exchanges this week |
Utica my hometown, Mitchell family we love them, snow in Hamilton, Me on exchanges with Sisters from Hamilton, they are the BEST!
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Monday, November 3, 2014
Nov 3 Transfers week
So this week was just simply...incredible!!! I love missionary work! You can have the hardest week ever and at the end of the week you just look back and you honestly can't remember the bad things! So to start off, Monday we taught Lisa and Susan they are so amazing! At the end of their lesson Lisa prayed and she asked if this is what she should be doing. After the prayer she just lit up with a huge smile and said "I got goosebumps when I asked! I know this is what I am supposed to be doing. I am going to keep you girls coming over" it was such a neat experience and I just love her and her mother so dearly her mom (susan) cant read or write and forgets everything but she sleeps with her book of mormon because it makes her sleep better at night! How neat is that?
So later that night we stopped by this family that us mortals thought had no potential. They haven't been a priority for the missionaries but Heavenly Father corrected us, don't you worry ;) When Demitry opened the door we apologized for coming over unannounced and he said no no I texted you 3 times (to the wrong number) and asked you to come over tonight. That was amazing to see Heavenly Father chastise us for thinking we knew better.
Then Brother Williams... well we met with him on Tuesday and he was super sad because his boyfriend had broken up with him, so that was actually an answer to our prayer! However, later in the week his mom decided that he couldn't meet with us anymore! That was super sad and hopefully that turns out differently soon!
We also had a referral from headquarters and his name was Adam Brooks. He requested a book of mormon and we took it too him. As we were talking with him, we asked why he wanted one and he said that his professor studies mormon politics and had written 2 books on Mitt Romney that he was reading and they were interesting and also there was a south park episode on how living the mormon standards makes people happy or something like that. Well needless to say he told us he would have it read in a week and then he would like to start meeting with us.... ARE YOU SERIOUS?!?! Well 2 hours later he texted us with questions from 1 Nephi 13 SERIOUSLY? and they were legit questions too. We are so stoked for him and way excited to tell you more next week!! I cant wait!
Also we went and raked leaves this week and jumped in them and it was SOOO fun! We did cartwheels and front flips and all sorts of good stuff!! So yeah New york is pretty legit I would say!!! :) Then when we stopped by a less actives home the little girl that thought we were models was there and her friend was like hey are those girls the super models you was talking bout? And the girl was like yup thats them! It was so funny that we ran into them again and they are still calling us super models. That it is fun!
We do service at a nursing home every Tuesday and Saturday and on Saturday this week there was this music thing that we did with the old people and we ended up doing the chicken dance and a bunch of different dances and it was WAY fun lol. Then later we went to a different head quarter referral and she looked out her window and said oh its the church people (she had requested a bible but naturally we brought a book of mormon as well). Anyway, she opens the door and just hugs us... no introductions or anything just a massive hug and then the first thing she says is "I Love Mitt Romney" and she said her son told her to get a bible and she was just like I'm gonna get my bible from Romney's people haha. It was so funny but she told us we could come back so that was exciting!!
Well those are the highlights of my week! I can't believe it's already November. I have been gone 2 months... Im gonna blink and this mission is going to be over, it is so sad!! I just want you all to remember that you need to take time each day to just smell the roses!! Life is way too short to constantly be stressed and as a missionary we are constantly stressed, so President Wirthlin constantly stresses the importance of just remembering to have fun! So "It may not always be perfect, but it will be what you need" Love Life we are not here just to endure but to find joy!!! Men are that they might have joy!! I love you all and miss you something fierce!! Stay strong!
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| Exchanges |
Oct 27 Life of a Model
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| Me, Sister Barley, Sister Gass |
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| Me in beautiful NY |
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| Me being crazy with the glasses |
We have been THOROUGHLY going through our area book and by then end of this transfer it is our goal to contact every person in our area book ,its gonna take awhile but I am stoked about it! So this leads me to transfers, they will be this wednesday and.... I WILL BE STAYING IN NEW HARTFORD WITH SISTER BARLEY!!! YAY I am so excited and so relieved lol! I am just getting to know the people here and love them and I am not ready to leave yet so I will be here for another 6 weeks. I CANT believe it is already transfers, time has FLOWN by!! I have come to realize that the more consecrated you are the less you think about time. I call this my concept of time.... Because we are out here fully devoted to the Lord it is easy for us to lose track of time and then suddenly an entire transfer is gone and you are wondering where the time went I love it!!
Something else major this week was return and report which is just with the people I came out to the field with, it is a special training for us and it was SOOO fun to see all my MTC buddies again they are so awesome. I missed them all so much!! So I wanted to share some quotes I got from that training.... "Feel your life with so much food that there is no room for evil to be there" -Elder Empey
Make working hard a habit!
One thing I have been working really hard on is love.... I watched the Because of Him video and it made me want to be more like Christ... I am literally His representative, I wear His name everyday, I act in His name everyday, I am supposed to be as He was.... I want to be the type of person the people run to, and fall into my arms without knowing me and know that they will be loved. That is something I feel like I am struggling with is showing my love to people that I really care about and like. President Wirthlin says "if nothing else on your mission, become converted yourself". President is all about finding the one and converting the one even if that one is you! I want others to know I care I want to love as Christ loved and I want to act as if Christ was sitting in the passenger seat of my car at all times! Well, I think that is all for the week many miracles everyday!! I love you all thank you for your support and encouragement!
Remember "I told you it would be okay, I told you it would be alright" -HollandOct 20 Miracles Really Do Happen
So wow this week was incredible!! So to begin, on Monday night we taught a girl named Serrita. She is 21 and dating a guy in our ward and she is stoked about the gospel and probably the happiest most bubbly person I have ever met. We committed her to baptism and she is praying about a date she is seriously the greatest though and she has already been to church .(Thats where we met her way to go Chris) and she loved it so yay!!! And yeah pretty much she is just top notch!!!
Then on Tuesday nothing too exciting happened but we got the door slammed a couple times and just really wasn't a successful day so then wednesday we weren't having the best day again and I said to Sister Barley I know that we aren't supposed to get discouraged but doing missionary work does not make that easy and then.... Heavenly Father sent a miracle our way. Sister Barley wasn't feeling good (sick) but she also felt "trapped". I suggested that maybe we should just go home and get medicine and she was like but that's more miles and then we both decided we needed to go get medicine. Well after grabbing the medicine, I walked out and was talking to our neighbor Mark as Sis Barley played in the leaves for a couple minutes. Then our neighbor Kim, who we had never met walked out, she asked us about being missionaries and what we believed etc. Then she said she had something to help Sis Barley in the apartment so we went up and she told us how for years she has felt like she has been missing something in her life. She has ran in some huge races and bought a dog etc to try and figure out what she was missing she told us she didn't like her religion (catholics) cause she thought they were hypocrites and then she talked about how happy we were and how much fun we had and she said "I want what you have" and yeah holy cow this never happens moment!! So we taught her the restoration and she is scheduled to be baptized Dec. 6. I am so excited, it was such a blessing!! She is so amazing and SOOOO prepared Heavenly Father is amazing in the way he works through us!! So yeah that was way way exciting then we went on exchanges this week and that was super fun!
Saturday we went to a funeral for the grand daughter of a lady in our ward she died at 15 with cancer, they thought she had beat it but it came back all over and a year after celebrating her cancer free party we were at her funeral. Sister Barley had to sing for it, it was super sad then we had stake conference which was AWESOME. So many amazing quotes which I just happened to leave at the apartment sorry. At stake conference we had a lady bring her sister who needs us and so she came to stake conference. Her name is Angie and she is awesome so miracle #3. I couldn't ask for more, so even though there were hard times this week I can't even remember them, so I hope you are all having an excellent week and remember that the Lord smiles upon each of us differently!!! Stay strong!! I love you!
Love Sister Hamilton
My quilt I made from High School t-shirts.Just me again in Utica and a sunset in NY
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