Thanksgiving Email -November 27th, 2011

Elder Hamblin in San Mariano with one of the Lago Family kids.


The Lago Family in San Mariano.


Elder Cujamban in front of the Christmas Tree in the Mission Home in Cauayan City.


Elder Hamblin in front of the Christmas Tree in the Mission Home in Cauayan City.


Halloween in San Mariano.


A picture of the Corn Planting.

Hey don't worry about it guys! I just got to the internet shop early because we were printing out some photos for a family who is applying for a free house from the government! They are the Lago family who are members and they are so cute! Their 5 year-old daughter’s name is Lovely! HA! Anyway I was just giving you all a hard time! Relax! But I think emailing in the morning would be a good thing for us in the future so that there isn't soooooo many children playing on the computers making the internet slow! HA! It’s great to get your email! You are always so good about this you know? The other reason that I sent you an email was to make sure you guys didn't get a miss send so that when me and Elder Cajumban came back to actually email, you would know that there might have been a miss send and resend the email so I could get it by then! SO relax my beloved family you are the best and always have written me every week. I love you sooooo much!
SO now for the cool stuff! I would like to give a shout out to Elder Lundy’s mother! THANKS for the prayers for Devree! If you're reading this on the blog (and I know you are) I would like to tell you your son is the BOMB and he’s got a strong testimony that inspired me to be a better missionary! Thank you for giving birth to him so we could learn from him here in the Cauayan Mission!
2nd order of business is for Devree! Devree I was listening to the Veggi-Tales CD on the Song "The pirates who don't do anything!", and it got to the part when they all say, "and I've never been to Boston in the fall!" and I thought of you and realized, YOU HAVE BEEN TO BOSTON IN THE FALL!!!!!!! HAAAAAAA I had to LOL when I realized that and thought you might get a chuckle out of it too!
Another Shout out to Sis. Remington! Sis. Remington you are an amazing person and I loved your Dear Elder you sent me. They are always a treat! I love ya and I sent you a letter so whatever you read 1st just know 0ur WHOLE family appreciates you and all you continue to do for us. You’re awesome! Keep it up!
Now back to the immediate family again! :) Guys I’ve got some news. I don't know if it’s good or bad yet so I will just call it news for now! The thing is, President Carlos pulled me aside at our last Zone meeting and talked to me about my next calling. He said, "Elder Hamblin you have been called to be a trainer for a new missionary coming in next cycle." Yes the rumors are true. I will be training a brand new missionary coming from the MANILA MTC! My heart skipped a beat. He went on to tell me this is a very important calling and my time with my anak (child) will leave a lasting impression on him for the rest of his mission! I am being trusted with training the future warrior of the Cauayan Mission! I have a lot of weight on my shoulders right now so please pray for me! I will need all the help I can get! I received training from the Assistants to the President and of course President and Sister Carlos, to know what I must do. I just need to put my hand in the Lord’s and hold my breath until Transfer meeting when I meet him! Next email is going to be a fun one! So I’m gonna be a wee bit stressed in the upcoming emails so just bear with me! I love you all and I will do my best as a missionary and a brother and a son! I love ya guys!
Some other weird cool things that happened this week are we got to eat all of Sister Carlos' leftovers from Thanksgiving which were delicious and they had their house all decorated for Christmas and we took pictures! O I love visiting the Mission home! Pres. Carlos treated all the Trainers to free lunch all you can eat rice with chicken yummmm!
I got the PACKAGE already and it was awesome..well kinda! you see I had to wait till we got home from District meeting to open it and after that long wait I open it to find some colossal berry crunch, CANDY, Elder Cajumbans journal, (he loves it by the way) and a bunch of wrapped presents that I can't open until CHRISTMAS! AHHHHHHHHHHH! I watched E. Cajumban open his carefully not to rip the wrapping paper. (he wants to save it for something?!?!) I put the rest of the presents on my desk and started writing a letter to Sis. Remington. Every now and then my eyes would slowly glide back over to the presents but then I would focus on writing and then back to the presents. Needless to say after about 5 minutes I was absolutely about to LOSE MY MIND! Sooooooooo I gathered the packages up and put them in my suitcase and zipped it shut. Out of sight out of mind. The suitcase will not be touched until after Christmas! WHoooo talk about self control! I really almost lost my marbles there! Well now to answer questions and tell you how awesome you all are!

Dear Mom,
I'm glad you all liked the Early Christmas Letters! I can't wait to see the Krices again! I miss all my cousins but especially Kolten I haven’t seen him in like FOREVER! Tammie and rock band is not a great mix. No offense Aunt Tammie but I think drumming is not your strong suit ya know? Of course Dad wants to buy a Motorcycle. He is a GUY! Is REAL STEEL the one where they build robots? I don't know. I only remember a trailer with Hugh Jackman and Robots! Plus the "steel" in Real Steel I just added 2 + 2 ya know? Sounds like a blast. I’m gonna watch movies till my eye balls rot when I get home!
I love it when you write about your lessons in church. They sound amazing! Today, Pres. Carlos' letter was about studying in Luke for preparation for CHRISTMAS! DID YOU KNOW that there are just enough Chapters in Luke that if you start on Dec 1st and read a chapter a day you will end on Dec 25th and know all about Jesus Christ’s life?!?!?!? I think I will take his challenge. You should do it too. It would be a great way to appreciate Jesus and get ready for his birthday! Don't worry I will send anything you send to Elder Cajumban to him when it comes! I love you!!!!! Elder Hamblin


Dear Dane,
Are you still alive after the quad flip sounds like it was a ton of fun. It’s cool what you said about the Turkey Skeleton! I want to see the Picture! Sounds cool. I ate the meat off a Chickens neck today! You have a pen pal too? I think that will be fun even if he lives in Sutro! I love ya Dane and don't eat too much Turkey! Love ya Elder Hamblin


Dear Shay,
Riding motorcycles is the BOMB isn't it? I loved riding the blue ones! The jumps with the, "Various degrees of awesomeness" sound pretty awesome! We need to revisit them when I get back! Also I wish I could have eaten with you guys! All I got was the cold leftovers of Sis. Carlos' Thanksgiving dinner. Thanksgiving isn't very big here. They don't really celebrate it much! But CHRISTMAS! O man they are already getting ready! It’s gonna be awesome! I'm glad you liked the letter (and the sword) and you are going down in Warcraft when I get home. You and the rest of the pathetic human race! ORK'S RULE!
Love ya big brother ELDER HAMBLIN!

Dear Lovely Sister Devree,
Ya I miss Kolten too! I miss all the Rice’s! Dad is the Mister Fix it you know. He took out my stitches too I think! The ones in my head were taken out by a nurse and look what she did! She made me bleed so now I have a big slit on my head that looks like a "Insert Quarter Here" slot! Of course I didn't see Beastly I’m a missionary for heaven SAKES! I am stoked to see all the movies on your list when I get home! They sound amazing! Congrats on the Honor Choir! That isn’t easy you know? I love how you put all you got into everything you do Devrs. I wish I could really put my heart into some things like you do! It’s hard for me to get passionate about some things! Like tracting in the rain, I still hate it as much as I did when I started doing it!
Your movie was "Never Been Kissed" and it is the biggest chick flick I have probably ever seen. I am not proud of myself because it is a chick movie and knowing the line without cheating means deep down I am a wee bit girly! I can do Chick flicks, which means pound for pound I am the best at movie lines! HOOT HOOT! It’s alright that you cheated. That was a wee bit rough. I thought about quoting the part where he quotes Shrek but that would just confuse you more! So missy here’s my movie! Get ready to have your mind blown!

"What’s he doing out there? Oh, he’s just giving them the what it means to be a man speech."

"It appears that they were trying to fly the plane thru the barn house upside down!"

"We found their will, it says, "Everything goes to the kid. Just bury us in the stupid garden with the dang lion!"

Have fun with that one! I think it isn't too hard and I'm pretty sure you can get it! The last line is the give away! It is a classic!
Oh I just saw the blog THE POMPEI EXHIBIT LOOKS AMAZING! I almost pee'ed my pants when I saw the helmet! O how I wish I could of been there to see the movies. Just think when the world gets destroyed. Imagine what our great great great great great great great grand children will dig up and find out about us. If the 2nd coming doesn't come 1st! I love the blog. It’s awesome. I saw your cheese ball turkey! Nice work little sis. It looks actually like a turkey! Shay looks huge and matured! Dane is still being Dane though! Well..... take care! I love ya! Elder Hamblin


Dear Papa,
Dad I laughed out loud when I read the "Shang hai Koko" part and the "No poppie nooooooooo!" The memories are soooo fresh it’s kinda scary. I think they are enhanced by the fact that I hold onto those memories to keep me sane in a way. It’s what makes me smile as I cross the river in the rain to get punted from a set lesson and I realize now that true happiness really doesn't make you happy for that moment only. If something makes you TRULY happy, you can think about it at anytime and smile and the same happiness comes back in a flood of emotions. That is true happiness. Not beating a video game or eating delicious food, but making memories with your family. I guess that precious truth is one thing I am thankful for this thanksgiving.
Spencer got a truck for his 16th birthday? Really what a surprise? All kids from California get a car for their birthday! gosh. I guess I can't complain. I got a car too well..... kinda! I love little red! HA that’s funny it’s a Toyota too! What a small world it is you know? I guess those cars do run forever. :)
I can't wait to see all these movies when I get home. I’m gonna pop popcorn and just watch them all while you are all at school or work then when you come home we can play games and share stories. I miss talking to people in English. Tagalog is still hard to express myself in! I think I will check out the whole Skype thing too and see what I can do about finding an internet shop that is legit and can support Skype. I think we found one with fast enough internet here that will do the trick. Just pray that there are no brown outs! Thanks for the number info. Now I think I can start emailing my letters to President so we don't kill as many trees!
Dad, I’m not gonna lie, you are probably a little biased when it come to me being the awesome person I am! But in truth I am very happy about making you and Mom proud. Really in the end is what I want for you the most, to have a knowledge that your children will be successful adults in the future to come! We just want to make you guys happy! I am glad you are receiving the blessings from me being on a mission and are enjoying the love of Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving goes almost un-noticed here but Christmas should be amazing. They already are getting the lights up. I'll try to take some pictures for you guys!
You all have to know that I love you all soooooo much and that I hold the upmost respect for all that you do! I love each and every one of you and I am thankful that you are all a part of my family and I can't wait to see you all on Christmas! LOVE
ELDER HAMBLIN

PHILIPPINES
CAUAYAN MISSION