WEEK 50: June 1, 2020

Throwing bales of hay in Fort Sumner, NM

Another week has passed by here in Fort Sumner New Mexico. This week we still did have to stay in our apartment for most of the time, and I do have to say that riding my mountain bike in circles is starting to get a little boring. 

We did have one cool thing happen this week, a family my companion had been teaching a while ago texted us and said they wanted to meet with the missionaries again, of course we called them.  They said they are looking for a change in their lives and they loved how they felt last time they came to church (a few months ago) . They are hoping to get baptized at the end of June, and we are working real hard to get them prepared. 

We are still not allowed to go into people's houses, but we are allowed to do service... So we spent a couple hours on Tuesday moving hay from a trailer to a barn, and then Friday picking up bales of hay from a field and throwing them on a trailer.  No surprise the farmer said "y'all don't have much experience movin' hay do ya."  That is correct, we definitely did not haha. 

We also had the chance to drive to a baptism this week which was for a family in a neighboring city (an hour away).  It was a really cool experience to see a whole new family join our church, and to see people meeting together in the chapel again (all with masks of course haha). 

Other than that...  Nothing has happened here in Fort Sumner in terms of riots or anything, but I'm praying for all you guys at home after hearing about all the craziness.  Love y'all.  Have a good week.

-Elder Hammond

From our conversation:

• Early in the week, Andrew made a short movie with his companion making cookies and they compared it to building a testimony. They posted it on Facebook and it has received over 1000 views.  He makes a very short appearance at the end.  Clearly he is more comfortable behind the camera than in front of it. 
• The only time he and his companion don’t wear masks outside his “home” is when riding circles around the double-wide or when they're in the car.  It’s the law there in NM to wear masks out in public!
• Although he just told us this, when he arrived in Texas, his mission president said that all Portuguese missionaries would be officially Spanish speaking there in the Texas Lubbock mission.  Necesita estudiar español ahora! (He needs to study Spanish now!)
• Just yesterday he sent us a cute video he made with the kids of the family he mentioned in his email with each child saying what were thankful for.  They taught that family two times this week at the church and will teach them again on Wednesday!
• When the Church's Family Long-term Food Storage facility was open, missionaries would go and volunteer there.  They would always be given food in return.  There are pounds and pounds of walnuts in their house, so Andrew made spiced nuts with some of them.  He said they were delicious!