March 30, 2011

Noble and his MTC companion Elder Fonua. In class (NOT alseep).

The Elders are playing the "Waa" game before bed. The guy in the orange is the other District Leader in our zone.

This is the other district leader showing how I messed up.

This is me getting laughed at.

Cool guy walk!

Temple Trip!!!

I got my St. Patricks day package from home.

Missionary Pose

One more of the "fountain photos". (It looks like Elder Hamblin is ready to yawn.)

Dear Hamblin Family, Written an hour after my last email. Here are some pictures of me and my Elder friends that I have made while I have been here. Elder Fonua got a ton of candy from his parents. It's their way of saying "Get Fat" before you go to the Philippines. I have been running and getting smaller and skinnier. I used to be 220 but now I am 211 and when I get under 200 we will celebrate and have a party. The language is coming and I can do a door approach and say my whole testimony in Tagalog. I run harder and faster everyday and I try to be a good, obedient, powerful missionary. Pray works, I know that and when you have enough faith, it works immediately! This kind of prayer is something that I have never experienced before. It is powerful and special to anyone that has used it. Thanks for all of the support and concern for me and my companion. Maybuti ito! "It is good!" Nagpapasalamat po ako para sa pamilya ninyo. "I am thankful for my family". I love you all and I only pray for the best things to happen to you while I am gone. Stay healthy and righteous. Also I have noticed some interesting things about missionaries and their psychological behavior. After every big meeting at 8pm sharp they show a church approved movie like "The Joseph Smith Story". Well last night they were showing "The Legacy". You know the one about pioneers? Well I noticed something quite peculiar about the mentality of the missionaries. This movie is the closest thing we have to going to the theaters/dating. And so we treat it as such. When the main character (by the way, a horrible actor!) kisses her husband and everyone has to cheer and when the movie is over, they clap. Mind you not even an hour before we were having a good spiritual meeting in the same place. It is really interesting how the feeling in the room changes. Keeping the spirit with us in the residence hall is the hardest task of them all. With the guy down the hall playing his ukelele down the hall and my companion. I can hear him from anywhere in the Residence Hall. It's like a mother hearing a child. If he wanders off I can find him by ear. He sings everything but always forgets the words halfway through the song. Like for example, he'll start singing in the shower. "I need thee every Hour. Most gracious one." And then he forgets the words and starts vocalizing like he's some crazy black woman, "Beyonce" singing the national anthem! It was like "Hmmmmmm, Ohhhhhhh, Aaaaahhhh, Yeaaahhhhh!" It gets on my nerves. Then "I NEED THEE Oh I NEED THEE" and the chorus is just fine. It's a small price to pay for our awesome companionship. Those things don't matter when it comes to preaching the gospel. So I can overlook those parts of his personality. Uhhhhhhh I have one other problem to address. Why can't any of the sisters here, be ugly?! Everyone of them, they walk by and they're like, "Kamusta po kayo." And I'm like "Maibuti." (How are ya'll) (Good) Pronounced My booty. They know we can't flirt or do anything about it. So they giggle intensely. Eyelashes and everything. Which brings me back to how prayer works!:-) They are awesome! They are all wonderful daughters of God and they know it and we know it and everything runs smoothly. You know sometimes I look back on how my life was and I realize how little I did. Then I cry a little inside, because I never realized how much sleep I got back then! When I get done with my mission I will probably look back and cry at how exhausted I was! I hope you enjoy the pictures of my roomates and my companion sleeping. It's true if you don't stay active you will sleep anywhere. One time I started falling asleep in my chair so I decided to turn around in my chair and read that way so that I couldn't fall asleep. I still did with my book hanging in my arms. I woke up when I dropped the book. Seriously I've got to stop this letter or my companion, (kasama) will eat me for breakfast. We are writing these from the laundry room and our clothes are almost done drying. I love y'all (kayo) and I hope I get some pictures from you soon. (hint hint) Write to you again soon! Elder Hamblin P.S. Shay stay in school. JK!