For the last time from Chile Elder Hamilton

 Thank you all for your love and support of this great Elder on his mission.
He comes home Wed. 17 Delta flight at 10:22.  The airport is always crazy but anyone is welcome.
He will speak Sunday, June 21 at 1.  We will have a meet and greet just west of the building from 11:30-12:30. Cheryl

NINE MORE DAYS!!

Last Zone Conference

Familia

These last two weeks were awesome. On thursday this last week we had a zone conference with presidente and sister Kahnlein. it was such a great conference. Sister Kahnlein talked about something that I loved. She talked about the experiences when we hear a talk or something that answers our prayers. She explained it a little different than I had always thought about. She said that god gives us experiences in life to prepare us for moments of teaching that we are going to have. There are so many times when that happens to me. I love when the spirit gives us preparation experiences that at first we dont understand and then after hearingt a talk or conference we understand why all that happened. It was presidents last conference so there were a lot of tears and goodbyes. Luckly I will still see them on sunday and monday

I have loved working in this branch these last few weeks. They were short but we are seeing miracles here. No only in baptisms but also with the members. 2 Weeks ago we sp'ent a whole saturday afternoon and night going with the branch president doing visits and on sunday there were 87 people at church, more than any other time for many months. We have been doing activities and animating all of the members to help in the work. The president asigned each member some families who they were to visit during this last week and it was awesome to go to houses during the week and see before entering that a member was already there doing a visit. I have learned that visiting and listening does wonders and miracles. As the leaders members and missionaries work together the lord blesses us so we can see fruit of our labor. 

Fun moment of the week. We went to pass by a less actives house and they were out looking in their telescope, one like dad used to have but smaller, and so we got to look at some cool stuff like jupiter and three of its moons it was awesome. We have wanted to go to an observitory here because Vicuña is known for its view of the stars but we cant so we were blessed with this oportunity. It made me remember when we used to do that in the backyard.

This next week is going to be great. Wow, I cant believe I really have gotten to this point. As a missionary you see the end of the mission as something unknown and distant and only for other missionaries. Then in the blink of an eye I am now here. It is hard to explain the torn feelings I have for ending my mission and the great feelings I have of thankfulness for all of you and above all for the lord. You cannopt understand the joy of the mission unless you´ve experienced it. It has been the hardes thing I have done but it has brought greater joy than I have experienced. I have grown to love so many people I barely even know. I have grown to love the lord and have a great desire to serve him and to do his will. I am not going to lie, I am a little nervious about going home and entering the "real world" but I know that as I apply what I have learned in , what my presidents wife onces called, the mtc of life, I will continue to grow and be guided by the spirit. I am so grateful for all that I have experienced and learned I have found that the hardest thing we face in life is humbling oursleves to gods will. That is the really challenge behind every trial. In many opportunities the mission has humbled me and cause that I have had to rely only on the lord. In the end I  have found that that is the easiest way to live. I found that I can choose to fight inside of me between my will and gods or I can be humble and give my will to god. I am grateful for the changes I have been able to make in my life and for the time that I have in lif to make the many more changes that I need to make. I have always strived to enjoy each moment of the mission even the hard ones because these are what make the good ones even better. 

I love the lord and know that he lives. He loves us and answers every one of our prayers even if we feel that he is silent. I have grown to rely on and love the spirit in my life. I have learned that I have that spirit not just becuae I am a missionary but it has to do with our very acts. Am I praying constantly, reading the scriptures daily, and going to church weekly, on top of striving to obey the lords other commandments? This is the lords church and his way to be eternally happy. I love the temple and know that the work we do in the temple is so important. I have deeply missed the influence in my life of the temple but am so grateful for the covenants we make in the temple becuase we receive the blessings where ever we are as we are obedient. I love you all so much. Thank you for your love and support in each letter and prayer. 

If your interested in knowing, this is my schedule this week. Normal until sunday.
Sunday... 

sacrament meeting 

bus to viña del mar

last interview with president

Monday...

Visit converts and members

Diner with president and sister kahnlein

Tuesday...
 Bus to santiago 

temple

flight

Wednesday...

10:30 big hug for mom first and then everyone else.

I love you all so much. 

Love 

For the last time from chile Elder hamilton

 His Grandson- trainee of someone Tynan Trained.

 Branch Pres. and family

Vineyards 

Obedient to the end!!

This was the short note to me but I wanted to share. I appreciate the example he sets of obedience to the rules- even at the end of his mission. He needed to be short so he was.
16 days left!!

Welcome to Blog #100!!!
Well I am so sorry to tell you that this is going to be really really short. I am great dont worry about anything it just wasnt letting me log in to my email for an hour and a half and just now It let me in. I have no idea why but I am really great. I feel bad that I cant write you all more I am very grateful that I was able to see the mails though. A few things that I do need to tell you. So this next week will be my last internet. Crazy I know so if there is anything that you need to tell me let me know. I am thinking lunch in chic-fil-ee and pasta with alfredo sauce for dinner. How much time do I have for my talk ?  I got an answer from mike today from the laundry and he said I can start when I get back and to just let him know. Again I am so sorry mom. Know that all is well I am excited for this week. Today we are going bowling for a district activity. Sorry mom. I love You. At least we know that we will see eachother soon!

I love you so much. Goodnight...

tynan

Relying on Christ

Hola family

I am doing very well this week. I learned a lot this week and was really humbled. I felt like at one point this week that I was started to rely too much in my own strengths and abilities and I wasnt relying completely in Christ like I should be. Thanks to the spirit I was humbled by seeing many weaknesses that I have and seeing the need to turn completely to the lord in all things. It has helped me with my prayers and my thoughts so that all that I do and say is focused on the lord. I have realized many times in my mission the constant need to depend on the lord in all things. I am grateful for that, I have seen in my vida and in the lifes of many others here in chile the power of repentance and putting out trust in the lord. It isnt always the easiest but It always makes us feel better. I am so grateful for the spirit that helps us do the right. I have seen that things work out the best when we think and wait for the spirit to guide us before we make decisions. 

It was a good week. Yesterday we finished off the week with a great baptism service for 5 converts it was amazing. It was so great to see them do this. They are so great and really are going to help the branch grow a lot. There was a young woman who is 14 and has terrible fear of water and was so scared. I have never seen someone jump out of the font so fast like she did. Luckly she only had to do the baptism the one time and it was good. After the service when one woman who got baptised with her son was saying good by to the branch president she started crying and told him how grateful she was to be able to join the church. It was so awesome to see and be a part of. I love seeing the changes made in the lives of people. 

It is getting really cold here. Each morning the house is freezing. I use blanket, 1 coat, a sweater, a scarf, gloves and a hat haha. I will have to send you  all a picture. It is funny. Generally it is colder inside than outside. But I think that I am just not used to much cold because I bet it isnt as cold as it gets back home. This winter I will freeze! Durring the day when the sun is out it isnt very cold. Generally I still use a sweater though. 

Many have asked about the end which is coming sooner and sooner. To be honest It feels normal. I feel like my life will just always be like this. I think it will be weird in the very end. It is weird telling people that I have so short of time left and their reaction always is, Oh your mom must be so happy. And I always know it is true. haha. I love you all. Have a great week! 

Love

Elder Hamilton

I love to see the love people have for the Lord

Hi family

This week we were really busy which was awesome. We had a lot of people to teach this week. There are 5 people getting ready for baptism this week so we have been helping them each day and we were able to find many new people to teach. One family was a great experience finding them. On sunday when we were going to skype we walked past a family in a little park and I felt like we should talk to them. We kept walking a little farther and I felt it again and so after we were about a block away I repented we turned around and went to talk to them. On monday we were able to share with them in their house. It turns out the husband is a less active member from years and years ago. He doesnt have a lot of faith in god now after "living in a hard world". his wife has a lot of faith and was really interested in reading the book of mormon, they have a son that is 10 and he also was going to read with his mom. It was such a cool experience that was guided completely by the spirit. He went to work in the north in a mine and gets back tomorrow so we will see them again tomorrow. 

Later this week I had another great experience with a family of new converts. They are from Peru and there are 3 families a total of 18 people living in one house that isnt very big. They are so nice and are so grateful for the gospel. We got there and they told us to wait for a few minutes in their living room. After waiting for a few minutes they had us pass to their living area and they shared with us a soup called casuela here in chile. It was so nice of them to share with us. They dont have a lot but they wanted nothing more to give us a little. They are so grateful for everything they have and are so humble. I love to see the love people have for the lord through their actions. I have seen that people really see missionaries as Representatives of christ. We are really complete strangers and they treat us so well. I can often times feel the love the lord has for them too. 

Another example is from the sister that cleans our clothes. She is the Relief Society President in the branch and she is so nice. I was so surprised to see the cloths all ironed and folded when we got our cloths. My companion said that they told her that she didnt have to do that but she insists on doing it. There are so many great people here who really love to serve in so many ways. 

This week in my book of mormon study I was studying in alma 24 and I loved what I learned. It is a great chapter about the anti nephi lehites and how they hid their weapons of war in the ground and never took them up again. I love the faith that they had. Many died because they would not defend themselves. I thought about our weapons of war and how we too must hid them. They can be temptations, adictions, the natural man, and anything that keeps us from obeying god. It was cool to see this relation of the scriptures to my life. 

I love you all so much. This week went by really fast like all of them. I hope all is well. I love you

Elder Hamilton

 My laughing place briar patch

Move to the North

Good thing his last area looks like Utah- would have been hard to come home from the beach  This is as far north as the mission goes. CH

Hi everyone

I am writing everyone from  my new area called Vicuña. It is farther north of chile close to La serena and Coquimbo. Monday and tuesday we had a normal day in my old sector. On tuesday night I found out that I would be going to the north which made me happy becuase I have never served this far north before. On wednesday we had a normal morning and then in the evening we went to los vilos ( the area by the beach) and I got on the bus going to the north. I was in the bus for like 4.5 hours until we got to la serena. We stayed the night in the zone leaders house becuase my area is 1.5 hours outside of the rest of the zone of la serena. On thursday morning we got on another bus and came to vicuña. It is  small little town. smaller than the last one I was in. It is really calm here the people are really nice. The branch has about 75 asisting weekly and has been growing fast lately. This last month they had 5 baptisms and there are 5 baptism dates right now for may. There are great leaders here and the members are really willing to help us out. There are a ton of youth. More youth than I have seen in one ward let alone branch in chile. There are about 15 youth. 3 Youth now serving missions and at the end of the year hopefully 6 people serving. I am really happy to be here. My companion is elder Davila he is from peru and has 9 months here in chile. he is great, diligent and obedient. We get along great and I am so thankful to have him as my companion. It is starting to get colder but actually now that I am farther north it has gotten hotter. haha. I am slowly but surely getting to winter. Still in the morning and at night it is pretty cold but I wont have to use my full winter gear like I did last year. I will definately keep that because I know it will come in handy this winter in utah. Like I said there are 5 people with a baptism date in may. They are truly chosen investigadors. Three are a conversos family, mom and two sisters, and they saw a great change in there brother/son so they chose to make that change in their lives too. There brother is going to receive the priesthood this next week and baptise them next friday. This friday and saturdaythey are going camping with the branch. The other two is a mom and her 10 year old son who were contacted in front of the church. They are really great too! Both families often talk about the change in their lives. The 10 year old boy, Danilo, already talks about going on his mission to his mom, Carolina. Mirium, the mom, Catalina 16 and Barbara 14 said that they are so happy that they have found the place where they always want to be. I love hearing people say this and realize the blessings and happiness that we can receive in the gospel. It makes me so happy. 

Vicuña has a lot of vinards and a factory where they make wine that is the biggest in chile. There are a ton of grapes here it is crazy. Unfortunately the time has now passed for grape season. I missed it. but it is cool to see all of the vinards and fields. Farther in the country I have heard that it is a great place to see stars there are a lot of observatorys here close. My companion said that in febuary and march there were a lot of tourists. 

I hope you all had a great mothers day. I loved talking to the family. It was so great to see everyone. Just to warn everyone. You cant send any more letters through the mail now because they wont get here in time so just email from here on out. I love you all so much. 

Love you all so much

Elder Hamilton

A great week- I don't know how else to say it!

Hi family

First off. May the fourth be with you!! 

This week was a great week. I know your probably sick of hearing that but I just dont know how else to say it. I like it all. We were traveling a lot in bus. On tuesday we had interchanges so we traveled to los vilos (1 hour). It was a good interchange. It was really cold there becuase it is right by the ocean and the wind is stronger. On wednesday we traveled back to Illapel and worked there. As I have told you many times. As a mission we are reading the book of mormon marking some "questions of the soul" all 8 to be exact. (If you want to see the questions go to mormon.org/preguntas, and sorry it is only in spanish. I told you to start studying almost two years ago) So to try and help some of our less actives, converts, and investigators we are inviting them to read the book of mormon looking for answers to one of the 8 questions. We have seen so pretty great results. One less active who always struggled understanding what she was reading started marking the answers to How can I find peace and happiness? and now she is reading more and understanding much more. It was so cool to see such a drastic change. Now she is always really excited to show us her book when we pass by. On thursday night we traveled to viña (I love going back to viña) and friday we had a reunion with all the other leaders of the mission. It was such a great reunion. I didnt go to the meeting with any questions or anything specifically but I marveled at how my questions were answered both from prayers spoken and unspoken. It was perfect feeling like that becuase we talked a little about how god knows us perfectly. I felt that as my prayers were answered in a perfect way. At the end of the reunion the president was going to give me a new temple recomend because mine expired but he told me that he had left the papers in his house. Then he told me that I didnt need to worry about it because I would be seeing him this wednesday in the changes meeting. so I already know that I am leaving illapel wednesday. I have already started to pack and yes mom I am starting to throw and give away. I am excited to see what I will be doing and where I will be going for my last change. I cannot believe it is my last change. it keeps surprising me how fast time can go. I am loving every minute. I dont know where I will be going but I do know that I will be closer to viña, Maybe by the ocean one last time...? 

Last monday we did the funnest recreational thing I have done in 1 year 10 months. We hike a hill. yay!!! It was really a lot of fun and it made me think of hiking the y and mount timp just not as green. It was great. We hiked up with a convert here. We were able to see all of the little town of illapel and on the other side of the hills where there are many fields with avacado and other vegetables. It was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed being away from so many people in a quiet place.

I will be really excited to let you know what happens this week with the changes. I am so excited for mothers day. I hope everything goes well with everyone!

I love you all.

Love 

Elder Hamilton

FINALLY!! THE TRAVEL PLANS  JUNE 17 10:22 AM CH

LOTS OF PHOTOS

Hola familia

This week I learned a lot about listening. We had a lot of great experiences with that. First we were teaching a husband and wife who are less active. The husband asists sometimes and asisted all 5 conference sessions but the wife has struggled a lot. After talking with them and more than anything listening she started telling us about how she feels like she lacks faith. She has two chidren handicaped and that has always been hard for her to understand why that has happened. Also her son joined the catholic church so in a way she always felt like she was denying him respect by being different. It was such a great spiritual lession. She started to cry and said that she would start reading in the book of mormon to know if it really is true. We are going to have a family home evening with them tonight and we are excited to talk to them again.

We also did a contact this week which was really great. We were looking at our map a little lost to be honest and a woman passed by and we said hi and she responded really nicely so we started talking to her. After a minute she started telling us about her husband and kids and how she was abandoned by her parents and was raised by her grandma. She has always felt really lonely in life. Never really has had friends to talk to and her husband works 7 day in the north and then is here 7 days (I dont know if I have ever explained that to you all but a lot of people work in turns like 7 days working 7 rest or 15 -15 or the worst 15 working 3 resting. It is for all of the mines that are here in chile) She said that she feels lonely and has faith in god but wants to understand more of him. We gave her a book of mormon and are going to pass by this week when her husband gets home. 

Then finishing the week yesterday we were teaching a less active woman who is married with a nonmember.  We were talking to her for some time and then started to share with her. At the end she started opening up and sharing how she is feeling. It was amazing again to see the spirit working in her and helping her share with us. I love when the people feel so comforable sharing with us. She said that she has tried to share the gospel with her husband so many times and there is nother more that she wants than to be with her family forever but that isnt how he things. He has other priorities. He also works 7 for 7 and she used to also so they hardly ever saw eachother. Now she is here in illapel looking for work closer to home and is hoping that that will help. We encouraged her to keep obeying in all things and trusting that in some time he will choose to change. 

With the volcano. We have heard a ton about it. I dont know what is going on here in chile. Last year there was a fire in Valparaiso, and an earthquake, flood and now volcano this year. There is a lot going on here. We are not affected at all. It is cloudy out but I dont think that it is from the smoke. It is getting colder and I am using all long sleeve now. burrrrr....

I love you all so much. I cant believe we are ending april already it goes faster each month. I love you

Elder Hamilton

LOTS OF PHOTOS

SOME FROM THE LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE ON THE MISSION WEBSITE