Week 11 - Fazenda Rio Grande (Week 34)

So this week was interesting, to say the least! Mainly Saturday is what I will talk about a little. So Friday was tough because was raining again which I don't like the rain here because its super super cold. Anyways about Saturday! So on Saturday, we had I think 2 appointments, One was 3 pm and the other was 8 pm so we had 5 hours to knock doors and visit whoever we wanted so this was good because we could adjust our day to reach our goals we had. We were visiting Ane, Janaina and Beatriz and they were not in their house so we went to our alternate plan which was not far at all. At this moment it was 4 pm so we had to get going. We walked to the end of the street which led to another and we saw 3 girls playing which we just said hi like normal and continued and I saw three dogs playing in the grass which is normal because I see 3 million dogs in the street a day ( not really 3 million, but in the hundreds.) . Anyways they were playing in the grass and then all the sudden they chased us and the one brat but my leg 3 times and cut a hole in my pants and I was bleeding... My companion said let's go to the hospital now. Lol no I said just let's clean it and then continue to work because I don't want to stop till tonight. We tried to call Sister Cuvelier but a lady named Maria answered and hung up. Lol That's besides the point. Anyways so late this night with permission from President we went to the 24-hour clinic and I got shots and medication because it was a stray dog. Wanted to kick the dog but it's not very good to do that when I have the name of Jesus Christ on my nametag.... So the little dog won this time  

Needless to say, this was an interesting weekend for me. Still, super tired because we got home at midnight after the clinic!

Favorite scripture this week Moroni 7:33

"And Christ hath said: If ye will have faith in me ye shall have power to do whatsoever thing is expedient in me."

-Elder Hammond

The Gospel Path To Happiness (Week 33)

Oí everybody!

This week it rained every single day of the week and not only was it rainy but it was cold and rainy lol. Its going to continue to rain until i think Wednesday so lets see how fast i can catch the cold yayyy!!! Oh and our umbrellas broke because it was windy of 100 kilometers per hour.... We made the best out of it though!

This week  as the title says we had 1 baptism and a wedding so this week was really good! It was so good to see Sister Doraci and her new husband Jovelino married and then he was baptized !! They both were so so so happy this weekend!

I was reading a talk in the Liahona this week and its about happiness and how we can find that happiness! The title is actually " The Gospel Path to Happiness" and it talks about just that! (September 2017 Liahona)  

5 Steps to happiness!

1. LIVE THE GOSPEL 

2. CHOOSE HAPPINESS

3. BE KIND AND PLEASANT

4. WORK AT IT 

and 

5. REJECT TRANSGRESSION

Lots of people ask "How can we know the way?"

which really translates to "How can we know the way to be happy?"

Jesus gave the answer to this question "I am the way, the truth, and the life... and whosoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do..." "If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it."

John 14:5-6, 13-14

I just like this talk a lot because it talks about how we can find true happiness and it doesn't come through objects but it comes through the gospel of Jesus Christ! Not the house that you have, not the car or even the job you have. You can find pure happiness and it all starts with Christ first. Everybody I know this is the True and living gospel of Jess Christ on the earth today! I know that God called a prophet today in our life to lead and guide us to live with Heavenly father again. The prophet receives revelation for our days today and we will always have one Prophet! The Book of Mormon can and will change your life if you just read! This is a promise from my heart because I have a joy I can't explain reading from it!

- Elder Hammond 

Semana 3 em Fazenda Rio Grande! (Week 32)

This past week was kinda long only because every day it rained in the afternoon and we never had umbrellas because it doesn't look like it will rain but then it pours rain like there is no tomorrow!  It was also raining baptisms this Saturday too! We had one baptism of Ana Paula the wife of Willian!!! Lol we Always joke about her name because it's so long... her name completely is Ana Paula Massoni de Oliveria Leão de Oliveria ... It was really cool because Willian got to baptize her !! Willian already has a calling in the Ward as the assistant Ward mission leader! This whole thing with our Ward mission leader is that he is never in church and the other elders that are new in our Ward still have not met him so this is a problem. We need his help because in the 10 weeks I have been here in this Ward have only had one meeting with him... the first 5 weeks we didn't even have a Ward mission leader. For those that don't know what the Ward mission leader is it's just a calling for a member that will help us with our investigators and help them have friends in the Ward without the missionaries there. So he is very important in missionary work!

This week was good though overall! I have been focusing a lot on learning from The Book of Mormon and not just Reading through it like a small chapter book. I am Reading from 1 hour to maybe 2.5 hours a day just in The Book of Mormon and looking to learn more. Every time I read I am learning something new!

This week its been harder to get people to church! This will be our focus this week for sure! Dedicating Saturdays to getting everybody to church if it means leaving the house Sunday 9 hours in the morning I will!! Well, me and my companion will!

This time is passing by really fast now! October is already halfway done and I can't believe it!

The elders in our house found out I have a fear of spiders... Especially here because all the spiders here are the brown spider. Which idk how to spell the name in English anymore. The one that can kill people so yeah there is that lol...

Sending fotos soon!

-Elder Hammond

Sete meses já??? (Week 31)

This week was really rainy which is almost annoying because last week was 30-32 degrees almost every day and not its cold and rainy but I guess that's cool. I am loving my mission and growing so much from it! we are always learning like tomorrow I have to give a training for our district and I have never done a training for our district alone but tomorrow will be that day !!

This week we were walking to one appointment (he wasn't in the house) and this guy left a small shack stop area and stopped us in the street. He said hey I need your help. My wife died 3 years ago and I need help to get a pass for the bus to return to my house. Do you have money to help? My companion and I thought for a moment and my companion said: "But hold on this grocery bag with beer inside you just bought is your or no?" He said, "no no no it's for my friend...." My companion: "So you can buy your friend a beer but cant buy a bus pass?" Then me: "And these cigarettes (cigarro) in your pocket that is open is for your friend too?" Anyways he was lying to us directly to our face. This just is one of the times that this has happened lol. It's amazing how people get addicted to these things and can't stop buying and taking them into their body! 

This week I have been reading The Book of Mormon directly and not just studying parts here and there. But I am now reading directly but I am pondering on what I read and finding how I can learn from the scriptures. I have found myself always hungry to learn more and more. Every day I am able to read and understand how this gospel brings us felicidade for our lives! The Last general conference we had spoke immensely about the Book of Mormon. If you are not reading every single day starting now. Not because I said it, not because my companion is doing this too but because God has a prophet that is saying we need to read every single day. A Prophet that is called of God, not a man. I know that we have a prophet today that lives and we will always have a prophet to guide our life here on earth! I know that The Book of Mormon can cure our spirits and our bodies here on earth! We can know more about God and his son Jesus Christ through it!

-Elder Hammond 

"Playing Risk!!!" 😊

Fazenda Rio Grande (Week 30)

Oí Tudo Mundo!

lol I almost started my email in Portuguese.....

So this week we had 2 baptisms of Ane (16) and Janaina (13) and I had the opportunity to baptize the both of them! They were so excited to be baptized and are still so excited! The cool thing is that they are reading The Book of Mormon every day and understanding everything that is being read! Lol I don't think I even understood all of it when I was that age. I am so happy to see them excited to have the gospel in their lives and see their joy in just reading! 

This week I now have a new companion and our area split for 2 groups of missionaries so we have 4 Elders in our ward. Lol They are all hilarious too which makes everything that much better. Don't worry we are all staying focused in the Lords work still! But after a long day of hard work its good to get a laugh in before sleep and then back to the Lords work!!! 

This week we have worked and knocked doors more then ever it feels like but I guess we have more days of knocking doors then baptisms buttttt if I can knock doors for one week or more straight and only have 1 convert then I am happy that one accepted the gospel to bless their life! We have seen a lot of miracles this week from just teaching from The Book of Mormon in the first lesson. It's a promise of the Prophet of the world Thomas S. Monson that if we read every day and teach from it that we will see miracles! I personally always say that without The Book of Mormon I couldn't serve a 2-year mission for The true Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in my life. I am so honored to walk a little bit of the path Jesus Christ walked and showed us while he was on this earth. One of my favorite songs in Portuguese is Ill go where you want me to go. This applies to all of our lives but I have seen it a lot here in my mission. Wherever I am sent on my mission I will serve and share the message of the restored gospel and that we have a Profeta today to guide our life to the life after death to our Heavenly Father! 

Lots of baptisms coming this month and always good news to talk about. I can honestly say I see the hand of our Savior every day here in Brasil!! Zone conferences this week!!! 

Love you all!

-Elder Hammond

Yea!! Bryson received his birthday packages from home FINALLY!!! Sadly these didn't get into his hands in time for his actual birthday, but they finally did catch up to him!!

A little background on mailing things to Bryson in Brasil. To mail things to Brasil, one of the things you have to do is list each item. They may be taxed on his end, depending on the items. For example, I mailed some groceries he likes from home which cost me $39 US dollars on this end for $7 of groceries. On his end, he was taxed "80 reals" which is about equivalent to $27 US dollars. Mailing him this package in his hand for his birthday weighed 4 lb and cost $74 US dollars. Packages take anywhere from 14 days to a full month on average. Packages and mail can get stopped in Customs, however, and held up to weeks, months or possibly just stolen and he may never receive what was sent. The mailing system for Brazil is very corrupt, as it's still a 3rd world country. Often times I just load money to his bank account, for him to purchase things writes home that he needs. It's faster for him, rather than waiting a month, (which is what we have to expect minimally) or even stolen. - Amy Hammond aka "Bryson's mom" 💓