Email 1/27/14

Dear Family,

What a hectic week it has been (I guess I really do say that every week :))! Here is a rundown of the week.

Monday: Sister Howard said goodbye to her friends and "family" here on Staten Island. The people here have been so good to her and it was hard for her to say goodbye to them. We had an amazing lesson with a lady who just walked into church one day and has been coming ever since. We hadn't been able to meet with her until last Monday but the spirit was strong and she cried and it was just so good. The best part about it was that we were in the children's section of Barns and Noble! :)

Tuesday- Transfer day.... Plus mega snow storm. It took us 3 hours to get to transfer meeting and then they still had to start late because missionaries all over the island were having trouble getting there. I love transfer meeting because the spirit is always so strong and the energy so high from all the new missionaries! President and Sister Calderwood talked about the love that our Heavenly Father has for each of us. They asked us to re-evaluate our love for Him and our motivation for being obedient. It made me think again that Heavenly Fathers only reason for doing what He does is His love for each of us. He loves each of us so dearly that He gives us commandments that he knows is going to make us happy. Man, that is so cool! Anyways I digress.

Sister Howard was moved into a zebra pool which means that she is serving with a Spanish sister and they teach in both languages! She is so excited. She has wanted to learn Spanish her whole mission! Sister Blosil is my new companion! She is pretty awesome! She comes from Orem Utah and is just about the happiest person I have ever met, besides Shippa of course! She has a beautiful singing voice and even has a song on the 2013 EFY CD titled "Take It Home." The ward is already in love with her and she has softened so many peoples hearts already! An Elder from my MTC district was also transferred here and it has been cool to see the growth in him as well as in myself. 

Because it snowed ALL day it took us 3 1/2 hours to get home. We stopped at a grcery store because we had no food. When we got home we realized that we didnt have our phone! We lost it somewhere in the snow. We had no way of contacting our zone or district leaders so they sent the Spanish sisters to find us to make sure we made it home alright! It was a crazy night that literally lasted all night!

Wednesday- We tried finding our phone and had no luck. At district meeting the zone leaders, who are also in our district gave us an extra phone that had a "rouge" number. The senior Elder over the phones in the mission said he had no idea where the number came from or who was paying for it. So for the next couple of days we tried to figure out what was going on there. 

Thursday- President's interviews! President Calderwood is such an amazing man. He remembered that Hermana Hamblin was going on a mission. When he asked how my family was doing he asked specifically about my "sister who is going on a mission real soon." it was so cool! He then said my parents are going to be translated when before I get home for having three missionaries out on missions right now. He is a pretty great guy. He paid me some really nice compliments and encouraged me to work as hard as I possibly can from now until the end of my mission. I have come to a point in my mission where I look and see the ending and I am so worried that I will become one of those missionaries who quits at the end. His encouragement helped me again to see the love of our Heavenly Father and know that He is looking out for each one of us and listening to our prayers.

Friday- Zone Training Meeting! We have a pretty amazing zone! I am serving here with three other missionarires that I served with in my first area and I am so happy! They have all become such amazing missionaries and I have seen such GREAT growth in them. Two of them have become district leaders and I can see the maturity in them now. I just love seeing change in everyone! 

After zone training meeting we had to go to the mission office to figure out our phone situation. It had just taken to long and was too complicated to explain fully but we are so glad to be done with that. We also had to figure out our housing situation. We are moving on Wednesday so we had to arrange for the office elders to bring a van so they could move our mattresses and dressers and all the heavy things over. We are so excited!

Saturday- A member of our ward invited over 60 non members to the church for an activity and asked us to go. Everyone she invited was so nice! They asked lots of questions about the church and when we have our services and what goes on! It was a really neat event! WE LOVE MEMBERS!

Sunday- We just had a great Sunday. Sister Blosil won the hearts of the ward members with her talk and the invites for us to come over have increased dramatically! We are so blessed!

Sorry this is long and also kinda confusing but we really have to go now. 

I love you all so much!

Hermana Hamblin- Good luck with Spanish! If you need help... Ask Elder Hamblin

Elder Hamblin- Keep up the good work! 

Riann- Thank you for you emil! You are so sweet!

Raddon-....   ....   ..... It would be nice to hear from you every now and again...

Dad- You looked good smiling in your pictures! You should do that more often :)

Mom- You are so beautiful! 

Ok Thank you for your prayers and letters. The Senior sister in the office over the mail pulled me aside and said "You must be really loved at home because you get more mail than most everyone in the mission!" Thank you, thank you, thank you! I would be lost without them!

Love,

Sister Hamblin :)

Sister Clemens, me, Sister McKee
My sweet girls. I love these two sisters so much!!

Sister Blosil and I!

Here's the new district (ignore my hair, it looked horrible that day).
Me, Sister Blosil, Elder Legere, Elder Ligman (From myMTC district),
elder Liston, Elder Finlinson

Email 1/20/14

Dear Family,

What a crazy week it's been. Do I say that every week? I feel like it is always a crazy week here in New York. Here's a line up of the week's events:

Monday- President Claderwood's birthday! So we went to the STATUE OF LIBERTY!!!! It was one of my favorite P-Day activities yet! We took the ferry into Manhattan (with President Claderwood's permission of course) and then took another ferry to the statue. We were supposed to go to Ellis Island but the Elders in my district tend to be hours late to any activity we try to hold so we could only make it to the Statue but it was SO fun anyways. We took lots of great pictures, which you've seen and had lots of fun experiences. It was a great way to start off the week. 

Tuesday- Hadley Hamblin was born!! That is the most exciting news of the whole day. 

Sister Howard made me a delicious breakfast and decorated our apartment all beautiful like! She woke up at 5:00am to make it all happen! I am so blessed to have such a great companion! The Elders in my district planed and executed a really fun birthday bash. Video and pictures will follow. Oh mom, my skirt, sweater and necklace are SO cute! Thank you so much!

We also had a really great lesson with a less active Sister in our ward who is struggling to find good friends. A member of the RS presidency came with us and testified of the strength that is in RS. It was a really great lesson and the spirit was so strong! Afterwords we went back to the sisters home and she made us the most delicious dinner! She also made me sugar free strawberry brownies that were REALLY good! The members here take such good care of me. I received presents some of them and we received texts all day from members wishing me a happy birthday! I felt like a queen.

Wednesday- The lease to our apartment is up so the Senior couple over housing came to help us look for a new apartment. The one they found is quite a bit smaller than the one we are in now but it has carpet, is warm and is 10 minutes closer to the church! They treated us to lunch afterwords. They have been members of the church for 15 years and are serving their second mission here in New York. They taught us so much! They served their first mission in Chili working in the temple. Here they serve in the Temple once a week for the Spanish members who come in.

Thursday- Was a day. We had appointments that fell through but we still found good use of our time. 

Friday- We did another street sweep at the ferry. We always seem to attract drunk men. They weren't too bad this time. Sister Howard was asked to put someones hat on their head. This guy was so drunk that he was literally hiccuping! I really thought that was something that only happened in movies but no. It is a real thing. In his drunken state sadly he wasn't interested in what we had to say but he did take a restoration pamphlet (sadly we didn't have a Word of Wisdom one handy). 

Saturday- TRANSFER CALLS :( Sister Howard is leaving me :( I am going to miss her so much! What am I supposed to do without her? I love her!

Sunday- A wonderful sacrament meeting and visits to members who love sister Howard! They are going to miss her so much! 

Sorry the last two are a little slim on info, Sister Howard needs to pack.

Love you all so much! Thank you so much for your prayers and letters and packages!

Sister Hamblin :)

Email 1/13/14

Dear Family,
Here in the New York, New York South mission things are going good. We
had a sisters conference on Wednesday that helped to lift our spirits
and guid our thoughts to holier plains. But I have zero time to email
so please expect a letter.
Please send my deepest regards to the Udall family. I loved Tell very
much. He was a good friend and one who could lift anyone's sad
spirits.
Love Sister Hamblin.

Email 01/06/14

Dear Family,

What a week we've had. New Years, ice storms, getting locked our of our apartment, and treasure hunts for candy bars make of a very interesting week. 

On New Years Eve we had to be in by six so Sister Howard and I took full advantage of that by writing letters and going to bed early. We have been really tired lately so going to bed early was really nice. We hope to be able to keep working hard and earn our pillow every night. 

On Thursday night we got hit with winter storm Hercules and it sure did make everything cold and snowy. We spent most of Friday shoveling people out of their houses and helping them dig out their cars. I heard that Long Island got hit so bad that it was in a state of emergence... whatever that means :). The church got hit pretty bad so we spent quite a bit of time shoveling there too. 

Saturday night the temperature had dropped even further. Sister Howard and I both put on 5 pairs of tights and set out to find the pure in heart including families. We got to the car and stared at each other expecting the other one to unlock the doors so we could get in. Well neither of us had the keys so back to the apartment we went. Down the stairs and into the door without it opening. The keys to the apartment and the keys to the car locked inside we swallowed our pride and called our zone leaders (they are supposed to have keys to every apartment in our zone).

Thirty minutes later they got there and realized that they didn't in fact have a key to our apartment. So we called our land lord and waited another 20 minutes for him to get there so we could finish our night. Now every time we leave the house we show eachother the keys to make sure that we are going to not be locked out again. 

Well I have to go now but I love you all so much!

Have an excellent week!

Love,

Sister Hamblin :)

Email 12/30/13

Dear Family,

What a great week it has been! With the mission get together on Tuesday and Skype with you all on Wednesday, I don't know if I've had a better week on my mission! I really have enjoyed this year so much! I have learned a lot of lessons about the gospel, people, and myself that have caused me to reflect, repent, and renew my determination to be better in the coming year. As we celebrated Christmas day I thought about how the Christmas Spirit really changed peoples attitudes toward their fellow beings. During our street sweeps we found that people stopped and talked to us more, asked important questions, and thanked us sincerely for our service to them and to God. It was an amazing transformation that really only happened in the Yule. 

This next year is going to prove to be even better and more productive for the New York, New York South mission! From the release of our new Mission Vision we have experienced an increase in excitement for the work and a determination to reach our lofty but attainable goals. We have united with the wards and branches to set goals and make plans for the quarter on how to accomplish our yearly goals. The leaders in the Staten Island first ward have really stepped up. The Primary president has already made plans to go teaching with each companionship to less active families with children. It is amazing to watch the Hastening happen. 

I hope you have a fantastic day and week and month and year! I love you all so much! Thank you for all you letters, prayers and love!

Love,

Sister Hamblin :)

077- Manhattan at sunset

076- A Nativity set the Relief Society President donated to the Sister Missionaries

072- Christmas morning with the District

Sister McKee, me, and Elder Clark... 3/4 of my mission family. Elder
Webber went home because he was done with his mission.

Nadia and I on Christmas Day. I love this girl!

This is my Zone leader... At the big mission get together... We are so blessed!

Sister Howard, Sister McKee, and I at the Christmas mission get
together. I love these sisters so much!!