Pictures!

Pictures

Here are some pictures! Your Welcome,

18- Look at the signs, Kissina, and Elder is the corssroad :)

43- Some elders in our Zone. From left to right- Elder Clark, Elder Wolley, Elder Blackham (standing), Elder McCombes, and Elder Hunter... I believe :)

56-Sister McKee eating a HUGE piece of cake

75- We were playing Handball left to right: Me, Elder Weber, Elder Clark, Elder McCombs, Sister McKee, and Elder Wolley

82-Me and my super awesome companion

105- We got Yankee hats... we're gangsta's 

100- Calverton Cemetery, the place where our less-active member was buried. It was so beautiful!! 

94-My awesome district, our true colors :) (Back seat left to right Elder Clark, Elder Weber)

Ok I love you all! Have a great week

I LOVE YOU

Sister Hamblin :)

Email 5/27/13

Dear Family,

What a crazy week we've had! Like I said in my letter home, we were volunteered to put together a funeral for a less active member of our ward who we have been visiting with. She was from Utah and wanted an Elder from Utah to speak at her funeral. Luckily for us, not so lucky or him, our district leader is from Utah! Poor guy had to speak for someone whom he had never met before. He however did an amazing job and the spirit was so strong! Her family (who are all non-members) came up to us afterwards and thanked him over and over again for the words he spoke and for his dedication to the Lord. I am so grateful that people are able to feel the spirit so strongly. How blessed are we for being able to have the restored gospel alive in our lives! 

We are working with a lot of people right now who are struggling to progress. Our mission president has said that if they are not progressing they don't understand something about the Gospel of Jesus Christ... How interesting it is to me that that is how we are in our gospel dedication. We don't understand something about the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost and ETTE) and we stop progressing. We stay where we are because it is easy. Sister McKee gave the workshop in our District Meeting today and said that it is hard for us to commit to the gospel and the Lord because it means that we are continually changing and becoming someone better. It is hard to overcome staying in the same place, in our comfort zone, when staying oftentimes means FEELING safe... not necessarily BEING safe. Anyways, those are my thoughts today. I hope you all are having a wonderful day! I'm so sorry I didn't get to email yesterday. I hope ya'll aren't too mad :) 

I love ya!

Letter 5/20/13

Dear Family,
Well its getting really rainy and humid here in the beautiful state of New York.  Everything is so green and blossoms are blooming everywhere!  The variety of trees and shrubs are so beautiful and the people are out and about.  There are so many people running from place to place and worrying about work, family, friends and the economy, government and weather.  Most people "have too much to worry about" to worry about religion.  It's funny how the saying "out of sight, out of mind" really applies to the world.  They don't see religion and the gospel as something to worry about because they can't see the destruction not caring about the soul brings to themselves and the world.

With a renewed cry for repentance from Elder Packer and Elder Perry at yesterdays broadcast to the New England States, Sister McKee and I have felt a little overwhelmed with trying to find and teach the gospel.  President Claderwood also has raised the standard of excellence asking each companionship to have a "real growth" baptism each transfer, have an active member at every visit including those to less active members, investigators and former investigators, and have one new person coming to church each week with 2 investigators returning every week.  There is a lot on our plates, the work is hastening.  The end is so close I can almost see it.  May we ever work hard to build the stakes of Zion in strength.

Help the missionaries bring souls unto Christ for "every member is a missionary".  Study Preach My Gospel, especially chapter 3, and go with the missionaries to teach.  Surprise them by calling them and asking if you can go with them.  Feeding them is nice, but finding people for them to teach is much more delicious than any food you could give them.  (of course continue to fee them, but maybe invite those who don't have the gospel to a dinner with the missionaries).

I love you all.  thank you so much for your prayers, letters and love.  You are the best!  We are so blessed!
Love,
Sister Hamblin :)

Email 5/20/13

Dear Family, 

This week has been a great week. Lot's of service and lots of instruction from leaders all around the world. We had a Mega Zone Conference with Elder Kollicker and his wife at witch President and Sister Calderwood gave some pretty great instruction! I wish I had more time to write but I there is more information in the letter. 

We also had a stake conference that was held as a broadcast from Salt Lake to the New England area... President Packer, Elder Perry, and others from the area seventy talked to the members about helping the missionaries in their work. They emphasized again that Every member is a missionary. They also talked about temple work and how we should be going as often as possible. Temple work is so important as is missionary work, in fact they go hand in hand and we have lots of work to do. Figuring out our priorities is super important... We work on it all the time as missionaries.

Ok I have to go but I love you so much! Also, I'm sorry for freaking out about Riann... I'm almost over it.... kinda :)

Love,

Sister Hamblin :)

Letter 5/14/13

Dear family,

I am so grateful again that we were able to spend time talking on Skype on Sunday! You all look like your doing great and I am proud of all of our graduates!

I learned today that by July our mission will be 1/2 sisters and 1/2 elders! My district leader said when he got to the mission there were 12 sisters.  There are such great miracles happening everywhere and I am so grateful to be part of it all.

Today is Elder Clark's birthday, transfers, and lots of medical visits for Sister McKee.  Apparently those going to Bermuda have lots to check before they are allowed to go there.  Physicals, chest X-rays, etc.  poor girl!  She is really starting to stress out about going there, but I keep assuring her that she is going to be companions with my MTC companion, Sister Clemens!  I am so excited for both of them.

Well I hope you are all doing well since I talked to you last :). I sure do love you all a lot! You are wonderful!

Love,

Sister Hamblin

Beautiful Sister Hamblin

Email 5/06/13

Dear Family,
What a great week we have had! We are so blessed here in Bay Shore! Yesterday we had another great Fast and Testimony Meeting! Everyone talked about how great it was to be apart of the Bay Shore ward and how glad they all were that they are so accepting of everyone! It is so true! Nobody has ever judged anyone we have brought to the meetings, and we've brought some pretty interesting people. They all just love them so much and ask how they can help in the teaching process. A former investigator that we brought to church yesterday even asked us if she could be baptized! She said that a place where she can come and feel the spirit so strong, and feel so loved by everyone else, and have the fullness of the gospel is where she wants to be. She is an amazing woman who has a wonderful relationship with our Father in Heaven! We are so blessed!
This next week is going to be filled with lots of service! That is my favorite part of missionary work because I don't have to be in a skirt :) just kidding that's just the icing on the cake. Working for these people having them know that they don't have to pay us is such a blessing! New Yorkers run on money. That is their top priority most of the time and so when they don't have to spend it on others they feel humbled and they start to ask questions about those crazy young kids who work without being payed! I just love it so much!
Ok I have to go for today becuase we are going to Queens again today. It is still really crazy for me to say stuff like that... I'm giong to Brooklyn, Queens, Flushing, etc... It's still cool and I am excited to be here in this wonderful state!
I love you all so much! Thank you for all your prayers and letters! Have a great week!
Love,
Sister Hamblin :)

Letter 4/29/13

Dear Family, What a great week we've had. I swear these weeks are going faster and faster! I can't believe that this transfer is almost over! That means I only have 8 weeks left with my sweet companion. She has taught me so much about being happy all the time. Kinda like Raddon :) She is just so great! This week we didn't teach very many lessons but we did knock on a lot of doors and we are slowly bursting our bubbles. Both of us are pretty shy when it comes to talking about the Gospel to random people. Sister Mckee said something really great the other day in companion study. She said, "I don't know why we fear rejection so much. Jesus Christ himself came to preach this same gospel and He was crucified because of it. We really don't have anything to worry about." How true it is! The worst thing that can happen to us is they will say no, slam the door in our face, and continue to live in sin. Agency is a wonderful gift from our Father in Heaven and we need to respect that. As a mission we have been studying the Gospel of Jesus Christ, lesson 3 in Preach My Gospel Chapter 3. I have been studying the blessings of living the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In Preach My Gospel there are MANY blessings mentioned but the one that sticks out to me the most is the ability to have the spirit with us at all times. Having a member of the Godhead with us at all times. There are many blessings in that 1 blessing alone! Well, I hope everyone is doing well! Thank you all so much for your prayers and letters! Love, Sister Hamblin

Tons of Pictures from NY!

Mandy's mom here. There are a lot of pictures that Sister Hamblin sent home, and some that her companion, Sister Moreno-Diaz sent me, and I just wanted to preserve them for Mandy. I don't know names and places for a lot of the pictures...sorry.

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