Email 6/24/13

What a great transfer this has been. The new one starts tomorrow and I am so excited and sad. Sister McKee leaves for the beautiful island of Bermuda tomorrow. I am very sad/happy for her because I am selfish and she is getting the greatest new companion ever! Ok I said that last week but they are going to do some serious good work down there! I can't wait to hear how everything goes down there!

As for things in Bay Shore next transfer things are going to be great! My new companion is from Hawaii and she looks like the sweetest girl. I can't wait to meet her! Actually the training call story is pretty funny and Sister Mckee tells it way better than I do so here it is straight from her. She wrote this in her email home and wasn't completely honest about the stuff at the end but we'll forgive her :) 
"K so I'm just going to tell you guys our "Best Two Years" moment because we found it hilarious. So we're sitting there after planning on wednesday night just talking to each other and telling each other how much we're going to miss the other one bla bla bla yes we're both mushy so it works out. Anyway, we get this call from the elders in our district and our district leader was like "Guess who's training?! My companion haha" So we were really pumped because our district leader's companion is really great and takes care of everyone so he'll be great. Well then our district leader starts making fun of Sis. Hamblin about how she's going to get a call any minute because she's totally going to be training and what not so I was like "Oh my heck. Pres is calling right now." He hangs up immediately and of course we both just start laughing because he wasn't really calling. Anyways, we get talking again about how great we are and then Sis. Ham was like I need to go to the bathroom! So she jumps up and heads upstairs. Right when she closes the door - the phone starts ringing. The caller ID read: President C Personal Cell.... Do you know what that means?! So I'm like "Sister Hamblin president is calling!" She's like no he isn't you're lame. I was like no really!! He's calling!! I was like fumbling up the stairs literally tripping at the top to tell her and she's like well answer it! So I realized how long it'd been ringing and finally answered it and - due to adrenaline - pretty much yelled "Hello this is Sister McKee!" Haha anyways, he just starts asking me about Bermuda and how things are going and everything then he's like is Sister Hamblin there? I'm like yes she is (holding back from laughing which is the hardest thing for me you guys know that) haha so I give her the phone and this is her (she is hilarious when she talks to people with authority over her) "Mm hmm.... yes... yes I can do that...(I'm laughing on the stairs)....yes sir I can....( she's making the "be quiet" sign to me with her eyes)... yes..Okay bye. (hangs up) are you kidding me!?! Training?!" Hahaha i lost it. But where was I going with this... oh ya so the reason I put aloha is because her trainee is from Hawaii! So I'll have to figure out her last name and how to stinking spell it and then maybe Jordon (her brother who served in Hawaii) will know her or her family. That'd be crazy. Anyhow, I'm so excited for her and more than that I'm excited for her trainee. Sister Hamblin has that "motherly" nature about her and is so great at taking care of people and loving them even if it's tough love sometimes."

Yeah I don't know if it is as funny to you as it is to us but we were both laughing so hard and I couldn't breathe for like an hour. We had to walk the halls of our apartment building for like thirty minutes! We would've gone outside but it was late and we wanted to be safe :) Life is crazy and I love it! 

Today we had a really awesome experience. Sister McKee and I were both struggling to find quarters to do our laundry with so we both said separate prayers and asked for a miricle and guess what?! We got one. The perfect ammount of quarters showed up in my bag and Sister McKee dropped two quarters and went to pick them up and there were four there! Heavenly Father is truly amazing! We are so blessed!

Ok I've got to go.

I love you so so so much! 

Email 6/17/13

HELLO!!!

OK so I just thought this was so cool and thought you all would be very interested in what is going on in the New York, New York South mission. The Following is part of two emails from President Calderwood:

After much prayer and inspiration, and with the approval of the First Presidency, we created the Belle Harbor Branch yesterday. The church now has an official unit right in the heart of where we did service after hurricane Sandy. The small branch will meet in a members home until we can finalize a lease and build out a church facility in Belle Harbor. The Rockaway Branch is now a Spanish speaking unit with a new branch presidency. Belle Harbor is an English speaking unit with a new branch presidency. The church is positioned for growth in the Rockaways.

Dear Sisters and Elders,

To unify us and to increase our faith, last week I invited all of us to include in our prayers a phrase that came into my mind during the Specialized Training meeting for the sisters. I quoted the phrase incorrectly in last week's email to all of you. The exact wording of the phrase is:

"lead us to the PURE in heart, including families"

I apologize for any confusion I may have caused. Please continue to plead with our Father in Heaven that He will lead us to the pure in heart, including families. By doing so, we will be lead to the pure in heart and the pure in heart will be lead to us.

We are in Bermuda for our quarterly trip. I am delighted to report that the church is growing here on the island. We participated in a baptism in the ocean on Saturday at Jobson's Cove. Lily thought it was the coolest thing ever...we are still hearing from her, "why wasn't I baptized in the ocean"....over and over again. :)

The next day, the Bermuda branch set an all time high for sacrament meeting attendance with multiple new investigators attending. We witnessed the confirmation of Sister Young and had to bless the sacrament twice because we ran out of water. 

Last evening under the direction of the Presidents of the Quorum of the Seventy, we dedicated the renovated Bermuda meetinghouse. A beautiful and powerful Spirit filled that meetinghouse and touched our hearts. This evening we will dedicate this island by the power of the Priesthood and set it apart for the building up of the Lord's kingdom. We need multiple meetinghouses on this island.

This work is true and will move forward despite opposition from the adversary. Please remain obedient and FOCUS your efforts using vision/goals/plans/accountability. Our eternal family needs this gospel.

I love you all very, very much and I'm honored and humbled to be your fellow servant in the great work.

President Calderwood

The work is progressing here in New York so much! What and inspiration it has been to see the hearts soften because of service to others. Never underestimate the power of service! 

As for Bay Shore, things are going great! The Elders had a baptism this week, Anthony. The girl in the picture is his girlfriend who was baptized in October... never underestimate the power of a girl :). There is more info coming in my letter about the whole event but they are two very awesome teenagers! We love them!

This week is Sister McKee's last week here and I am not the only one who is so sad about her leaving. The members here have been going crazy asking us to come over for dinner, lunch and even breakfast because they all want their one last meal with her. Truly she is the greatest example just because she lives what she preaches! We are all going to miss her very much! But after that news about how well the work is going in Bermuda she is going to be just fine! Also she is going to be with the best companion ever! Sister Clemens, my MTC companion, is sooo great! They are going to see a lot of success there! I am sooooo excited for them! 

Ok I guess I'll end for today. I love you all so much! Have fun in Nauvoo! I expect lots of pictures !!!

Love,

Sister Hamblin:)

P.S. The other two photos are the Mercado's... the ones I always talk about. We love that Family!!

Email 6/13/13

Dear Family,
Ok I am so excited for you guys to be in Nauvoo! That is seriously so cool! I wish I could be there too! However New York is pretty awesome too. This week we have seen a lot of rain and had to change a lot of plans because of it but we are still doing great and we have lots of great things headed our way. Our Zone has a focus right now on positivity. Luckily in our district Sister McKee and Elder Clark keep us in pretty great shape. Both of them constantly have a smile on their faces and they have something good to say about every situation! They both are amazing missionaries and they keep us going. This week Elder Weber and Elder Clark have one of their long time investigators getting baptized! We are so excited for them! This kid has made so much progress. He graduated High School last week and is going into the military soon but has started talking about going on a mission. He asked the Elders if he could go on all day exchanges with them next week! Isn't that so awesome! The people here are ready to hear the gospel they are just busy and haven't realized it yet :) 

Last Tuesday we had Sisters Conference with all the Sisters in the Mission! There were so many sisters there! They said that less than a year ago there were only 8 sisters in our entire mission and now there are over 100! It was awesome! The spirit was so strong and we learned so much about how to see this work in a more positive light. What a blessing it is to have such inspired leaders! I LOVE THIS WORK!

Sorry this is short again today. It's Elder Weber's Birthday today and he is really ready to go do something more than email. 

I love you all so much! Thanks for all your love, prayers, and letters!

Love Sister Hamblin:)

P.S.

I got a wedding invitation for my roommate Juelaine Noa this week!!! She is getting Married July 6th in Las Vegas!!! I am soooooo excited for her! Her future husband looks super great and I can't wait to meet him!!!

Email 6/03/13

Ok so this is Tyler. His mom Florence, is a member and his step-father Anibal is not. He is nine and one day just came up to his mom and asked if he could be baptized. When she asked him why he wanted to be baptized he said "because I want to be on Jesus Christ's team!" He is such an awesome boy his testimony is so pure and strong. The man who baptized him is Brother Danner. He is our ward mission leader and he is my "mission grandpa." I love him so much! He cooks the best food and his wife, who is in the kitchen picture, is honestly the sweetest person I have ever met. There are just so many amazing people in this ward that I could go on and on! 

Ok look at this street sign. Not the name of the street but the white one to the left... Crazy that they have to put that sign up right?

It is summer and I love it but it is HOT ha ha it is so hot and humid! So we have AC units on the walls in our apartment but they weren't working so a member who is moving gave us one of theirs. It was so hot in there one night that we slept at the church because it was so much cooler! Ha ha it was quite the adventure! Oh and it rains like every day! its awesome!

Ok I just read your email from this week... KALE IS GOING ON A MISSION?!!!! I just had a freak out moment! All of my district and the Brentwood district is freaking out right now!!! We are so excited for her!!! Oh my goodness!!! I'm so excited!!! She is going to be great!! I love that girl!!! 

Also the humidity does nothing to my hair... it is still flat and greasy... yay :) ha ha jk it is doing good. It was fun sleeping at the church! Sister McKee is really funny! She is a mixture between Kale, Riann, Tia, and Lyndee. Yea four of my favorite people all rolled in one, it's great!