Week 3 - ARRIVED IN JACKSONVILLE!!!


Howdy all yalll. I hope you guys have been well. My P-day is now Monday, so I should be sending all emails out Monday from now on. 


Pictures, click it, if you want to see my sick ride 🔥.
 https://photos.app.goo.gl/FixzDQJJyBNP5eaB8

I have arrived in the Jacksonville mission, and I am currently serving in the Jesup GA area. But before I left the MTC, there were some things that should be mentioned. 
On Saturday, June 29, we went to the temple to do sealings. On the way to the temple, there were three buses. The ride is about 40 minutes long, each bus has about 60 missionaries, and only 30ish seats, so that ment standing on the bus most of the time. The sealings went great, I really felt the peace and joy that God has for all of his children while participating in the sealings. By the time we were ready to leave, it was really hot out, 90 degrees hot. Not to mention are conditioning is only on the front and back of the bus. After getting on the bus, we were informed that one of the busses broke down, and it was going to take hours for those missionaries to get home. This meant that we had to cram 30 more missionaries on a bus that had a max of 60.  The 40-minute ride was not comfortable. We did, however, deal with the heat and discomfort with hymns, we had to open some emergency windows at times, but we made it back somehow. 

Sunday, we had lots of devotionals, which were really cool. The sacrament meeting was awesome. I got to do a short talk. Later, we did a devotional for all the missionaries that were going to leave that week. During the devotional, I felt very emotional. This moment is one that will be very special for me, and that has brought me to understand the actual meaning of the atonement and what it means to me. My faith in Jesus Christ grew immensely during that moment. Later, we got to hear from a three person choir called Gentri, so that was pretty cool. He definitely should go check out their stuff.

On Monday, we had classes. I played some ping pong, volleyball, and chess. Key tip for chess Don't lose your queen. You will moat likely lose. 

On Tuesday, four sisters from my district left that was pretty sad. Had a great last class. Dropped bouncy balls from 7 stories that were really frightening for those on the bottom. We got some late night Crumbl cookies and finished packing. 

At about 3:30 am. on wednesday, we woke up and left the MTC to go to our areas. It took quite a while to get to the Salt Lake airport, but everything went smoothly. We took a flight to Denver and then from Denver to Jacksonville. I slept pretty much the whole time on both flights. Jacksonville has lots of trees and is so green. I can't believe how beautiful it looks indoors 😂. Humidity sucks. 

We did training for about a day and a half. All of the 16 missionaries that flew with me are amazing. I got to meet my trainer, Elder Campbell. He has been in Jesup GA for his entire 5 months of his mission so far. 

Jesup is a very small town. It's what we call the boonies. The branch here is tiny. Every single person wants to talk to us and talk about Jesus Christ. Almost everyone is interested in what we have to say. It rains for about an hour every day around 3. I can't wait to teach more people and meet more people here. Haven't been able to play Disc Golf quite yet, but I'm gonna try soon. 

My spiritual thought for this week is in Alma 40 verse 12. It says "And then shall it come to pass, that the spirits of those who are righteous are received into a state of happiness, which is called paradise, a state of rest, a state of peace, where they shall rest from all their troubles and from all care, and sorrow " When I read this scripture the other I saw the comfort it can bring to those who are struggling or don't know what to do. It helps me know that what I'm doing is the right thing, and because of it, I can dwell with god in happiness after I die. I know that if we continue to be righteous, we will receive this peace, and we will be happy. I invite you to ask God what you need to do to become more righteous. I know that if you do this you can be happy. 

I can't express the amount of joy I am feeling right now. I love you guys so much

I promise I'll make it shorter next time. 

Elder Hamm 💙💙💙

 


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