December 24, 2012

Well...Hello family!
It was a pretty normal week...I really don't have too much to say! It's going to be a pretty boring email this week! However...the big message is...MERRRRRY CHRIIIIIIISTMAS!!!!!

As you may have already heard, we had a BIG scare this week! You guys got the news after everything was resolved, but we had to be in the street worrying about those poor sisters for an entire day and a half! Normally, down here, when people go missing...well...things don't end so well. But, the entire mission (and I imagine the other missions in Guatemala) were fasting and praying for them, and I imagine that had a big impact on the result of things! I've met the sisters, but they weren't friends of mine. They were about an hour south of my area, in a neighboring zone. BUT...everything came out good! All is well! Merry Christmas!!!

This week, we got the opportunity to confirm the lady that we baptized last week! It was, once again, HILARIOUS. Normally the bishopbric does the confirmation, but this time the bishop and first counselor were traveling, so they had me and a member of the high counsel up there helping. The second counselor did the confirmation, and as he was saying blessings, the sister kept talking! My very favorite was, "Hermana, we bless you with health so that you can continue in this life...etc..." and she just kept saying, "Oh muchas gracias hermano, muchas gracias." It was SO funny!!! I just love that old lady! I've got to get a picture with her this week so you can see who she is...she's just the best! 

Well...that's all I've got. Like I said, boring one this week. I hope you all have an AWESOME Christmas, and know that I love you all a boat load!

Merry Christmas!
Love,

Elder Hopper 2

December 18, 2012

Helllllloooooo Familiares!!
So...this week I have a boat load of really cool pictures that for some reason I can't see cuz my SD card is being a butthead...so...gonna switch over to the one that works next week! I'm really annoyed by it! They were good pictures, too! But...you'll just have to wait till I send it home to be able to see them! 

But...other than that...WE BAPTIZED!!! TWICE!!!! It was an old couple. The husband had 80 years and the mom had 85....they had been living together for FIFTY SIX years, and had never been married! So...we got that all fixed, and now they're clean of their sins! Success! The baptisms were...well...VERY interesting. We had the wedding and the baptisms planned for Saturday morning. The wedding went really well, and then we got to the baptism. The mom was particularly upset because we got her white PANTS to wear. I guess she has never ever worn pants in her entire life. But, after much coaxing, and smiling from me (She's got a little old lady crush on me) she put them on. But she kept complaining, saying things like, "They've made me a man...pants." and, "I HATE these pants," everyone else around her just got a good kick out of it. So, we got to the baptisms, and dad went under really well. It was actually a really special experience for me, cuz the guy who baptized him was his son, who we baptized about two months ago. He got the priesthood, and LOVES the church. I have a feeling I'll be with him in the temple in a year! I'm excited about that! But...then it was mom's turn to get dunked. I had told them that my companion was going to do the baptism, even though she wanted me to do it...I wanted my baby boy to get in the water. So, he got in, and she started going VERY slow, complaining VERY loudly about how cold the water was (Which it was QUITE fridgid) and we finally got her down, but she was NOT going under. She just refused to let go of one of the bars that was on the side of the baptismal font. She was waist deep in the water, but she was really putting up a fight. I looked at my companion (this is his very first baptism ever) and he gave me a sort of, "HELP ME" look. I looked at my district leader who was one of the witnesses, and he said, "Well...looks like you're going in there big fella." Those were his words to me. I agreed. So, I popped of the shoes and the socks, pulled off my tie, and hopped on in to help the helpless old lady, and equally helpless new missionary! Here I come to save the day!!!! Well...I got wet. Aaaaaand she didn't get baptized. I got down in there, tried for about two minutes, but when I saw she was shaking, I told her we'd do it another day. She got out faster than I've ever seen an 85 year old woman move. I need to start a new paragraph. The saga continues.

So, we told her we would try again on Sunday. So Sunday morning we got to church two hours early to fill up the baptismal font and start the heater. It has a heater, but it is SUUUUUPER slow to heat anything up. Also, we found a member who had a heater that we could put in there. So, we let it heat for about five hours during church, and after church, we were ready to get in! The water was really quite warm...I've never baptized in water that nice before. But, we got her dressed (this time in a nice skirt!) and I got dressed to get her baptized this time. She was a little more comfortable with the idea of me baptizing her. So, we got into the font, and I got her into position and said the prayer. She didn't move. I tried to get her backwards, but she wasn't moving. So, we put a kids chair into the font so she could sit down. We got her sat down on the chair in the font facing the steps, and I sat down on the step facing her. I took her hands in mine, put my arm to the square and said the prayer. She still wasn't moving. By now her head was barely above water, so I told her to take a big deep breath....and then just SHOVED her head underneath the water. I've never felt like I was drowning someone more in my entire life. BUT...We got it done! She came up coughing, but she didn't inhale any water, and she's happy she did it now! This is definitely an experience I will remember all of my life...But I'm really happy we could finally get her baptized! Blessings!!!

Well...other than that we had a great week! We had our Christmas activity as a mission, and that was a lot of fun! I have a ton of pictures from it...but...well...tough luck! We got to go to the temple, and that was just AWESOME!!! It was funny...we were sitting outside the temple waiting, and this car drove by (there's a main road right outside the temple) with a guy hanging a pistol out the window just shooting in the air...it was quite the juxtaposition between the real world and in the temple. But, if someone asked me to describe how Guatemalans celebrate Christmas, I would just say this, "It's really hard to differentiate between the fireworks and the gunshots" and I think that would pretty much sum it up.

I got a letter from Brandy Glaske!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!! Santa Clause=Brandy this year!!!

Well...all out of time! I hope everyone has an AMAZING Christmas this year, and know that I love you all a ton! If you have burning overwhelming desires to write me this week, do so on Sunday, cuz we'll be emailing on Monday again next week!

Merry Navidad, Everyone!!!
Love,

Elder Hopper

P.P.S...Good luck with that whole end of the world thing this week!!!

December 10, 2012

Hello family!!!
Well, I'm a little early this week, which means a practically empty inbox, but...that's ok!!! Next week I get a whole boatload of emails, right?! RIIIIIIGHT?????? But...the reasoning behind being a little early this week is that we have an activity on Wednesday all day long!! We have to meet our zone at 3:45 in the morning to go to the temple!!! I'm going to do my very very best not to sleep through the entire session, but I am MORE than excited! I have been wanting to go the temple for the past few months, and now my dreams will come true! On Wednesday!!! Other than that, looks like we're going to be going to give some service at a school down here, and eating some REALLY good food, and just hanging out with other missionaries! I'm always happy when we get to hang out with other missionaries, and it doesn't happen too often, so...I'm a happy camper this week!!!

Other than that, we've had a pretty normal week! I had the chance to do divisions with Elder Haertel (You'll remember him as the dork with the white shirt and tie, shorts, and basketball) and we had a big ole ball of fun! I like the way that he teaches, even if it is a little bit awkward...but he uses a lot of scriptures, and I have been working on being able to do that! So...it was a good example of how to teach. Along with learning how to teach, we had a lot of fun.

 

 

 In the house a few weeks ago, they found a treasure. Elder Pegram, if you're reading this, please ask Elder Pearson if he recognizes what it is that I am holding in my hand....he left it here in Sonora 2. It brought many smiles to our faces. July kinda creeped us out, but...we got a good kick out of it. For everyone else who is reading this and currently confused, Elder Pearson went home about...4 months ago? Something like that...and his last area was the area that I did divisions in! What I am holding in my hands is the, "Pearson family calendar" which he left here in the area.

 

 

 

 

This next week we are going to have a wedding and two baptisms! It is with that family of two really old people, and they are very excited about it, when they can remember it. I'm thoroughly excited about those pictures at the baptism...they should be fun ones. But...to celebrate the occasion, the family will be holding a lunch! They decided they want turkey for it (Which is either wajolote or champipi in spanish, depending where you're at...either way it's an awesome word.), so the went and bought the turkey! I know what you're thinking right now...it's a big fat ball of meat that they're going to stash in the freezer. You're all sorts of wrong. They went out and bought a gobbling turkey. It's nice and round. Aaaaaand the best part is that they told me I could kill it!!! HAHA!!! Am I excited?! You bet I am!!! TURKEY FOR DINNER!!!

We got donuts this week from a member. That's all the explanation you're gonna get for this one.

I woke up one day and just felt like superman after my shower. Not sure why, but I decided to take this picture. As such, you get it. Felicidades.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When I was on divisions in the morning I was going to take a shower. They have been having electrical problems in their house, so...I was a bit nervous about the floating shower death trap. I hopped in, turned the shower on, and it immediately started to shake. My nerves were justified. It just sat there shaking for about thirty seconds as I eyed it nervously, asking Elder Haertel if this was normal. He assured me that everything was alright, and that I needed to hurry up cuz we were already late. So...timidly, I stepped into the shower. BIG mistake. The water was SCALDING hot. You kinda have to play with the flow of water to get it right, so i didn't think too much of it, that is until it EXPLODED AGAIN!!! THESE THINGS ARE OUT TO GET ME!!! It wasn't quite as dramatic as the last time, but this time there was a LOT more smoke. It started pouring out smoke, and never in the history of mankind has someone evacuated a shower like I did. I was OUT of there! We flipped the circuit breaker, and I went back in to turn the water off. Turns out the electricity, once again, burned the heater thing to bits. I swear...if the problem with these things doesn't come to me, I go to it! IT EXPLODED!!! But...at least it's not in my house! They get the cold showers now! Ha!! Poor guys.

IT EXPLODED.

So...I told you all about how cool the burn of the devil was gonna be. Sorry, but I was incredibly disappointed as well. Just a few fireworks here and there, and a few people had a fire. I was thoroughly expecting pandomonium and riots in the street, but it was just a fun family party. I've got high hopes for Christmas, though...apparently there are a ton of fire works on that day! We'll see if it comes through for me! 

Well...I love you all a ton!!! I hope the Christmas season is treating everyone well, and everyone is getting a ton of time in together as a family, cuz that's really the important part!

Love,

Elder Hopper

IT EXPLODED!!!!

December 4, 2012

Weeeeell hello there! Happy December! Guess what occurs in this month?! You probably guessed Christmas, huh? Well...you'd be right. But what I was thinking of was el Dia de fuego! (Man...putting the word "was" and "el" just doesnt fit...sounds really gross in my head. We'll try that again...Yo estaba pensando en el dia de fuego! Aaaaaaah much better.) Apparently, this Friday, every Guatemalan and their flea ridden dog goes to the streets, throws their trash there, and lights it on fire! I'm really hoping they don't use the smoke screen as an excuse to rob the "filthy rich" Gringos, cuz I'm going to be carrying my camera...I wouldn't miss pictures of this for the world! So, next week my pictures should be a little more interesting. In the mean time, meet Elder Haertel!

But, we had a great week! We've been working really hard, and our numbers have been WAY down, which is REALLY frustrating to me, cuz I feel like I'm working harder than I've ever worked, but we're just not producing! I think I said something about this last week too, but I had my interview with President last week, and he told me that that is pretty normal. Satan FIGHTS against news and their trainers to keep their numbers down so that the confidence of the new missionary is destroyed. So, we've been working hard to find news and get them baptized cuz my kid needs to get in the water! It's weird...our numbers are way down, but the number of progressing investigators is more or less staying the same. Even though Heavenly Father is permitting that Satan fights against our numbers, he's still blessing us with some awesome investigators! The chosen will still hear the voice no matter what! 

So, we have this family who is working to get baptized. Their son got baptized about a month ago, and he LOVES the church. Every once in awhile, you find families that are an awesome source for baptisms for a few months, and that's the case here! Tito is his name, and about two weeks after his baptism, his dad decided he wants to get baptized too! So...we're working with him! The only problem is that his dad is OOOOOOLD. Well...I guess he's not THAT old, but old in Guatemala is different than old in America. He's 80, and I wouldn't be surprised if he just kicked the bucket any day. He's in baaaaad shape (Sorry for any of my elderly readers out there. Hope I didn't offend you, but I guarantee you you're in better health than this guy, even if youre 95). But, his wife and him have been living together for about 60 years, and still haven't gotten married! She's just a funny old lady, and she just LOVES us, but HATES the idea of getting married. But that's not the funny part. There are Three things that I can count on every single time we go over there. One: She is going to say the phrase, "Yo pensé que no iban a venir!" or, "I thought you weren't going to come!" Two: She is going to try and hug me. And three: The front button of her shirt will be wiiiiiiiiiiiiiide open. If she wasn't such a sweet old lady, I'd be thoroughly creeped out by her, but she's just so cute! I'll try and get pictures with them before I leave this area, which shouldn't be TOO hard, considering I'm going to be here till February.

This week we FINALLY got our death trap of a shower fixed! I can't remember when it broke, but I think we've been taking REALLY cold showers for about 2 months...ish. I will never, EVER complain about a, "cold shower" when I get home, and we're fighting over shower times on Sunday mornings! I now know what a cold shower really is! It's amazing how good of a mood a hot shower will put you in! I never thought I'd be so happy to have electricity once again running inside my shower stall. Yikes. 

We were knocking a street this week, standing at a door waiting for someone to come out when a group of six or seven kids rounds the corner at dead sprint looking at us with crazy in their eyes. We were very confused. They ran right up to us, tagged my companion, and ran back around the corner. We thought...well that was weird....when they came running around the corner again! This time even MORE crazy in their eyes! This time they tagged me, and ran back around the corner! We figured they were done by this point, but then they came BACK!!! By this time we were pretty certain that no one was going to come to the door, so what did we do? We ran away! Notta one of em touched us. Success.

So our ward has a ward mission leader, obviously. He's a real go getter. He LOVES to work and to plan activities, and to help the missionaries. I love it. The only problem? He always plans waaaaay over his head. We had an activity planned this Saturday for all the recent converts and investigators. It was a DISASTER. There were 6 people that showed up. We were planning for 55. But...he'll be blessed for his intentions, not the results of his efforts. Unfortunately, he just moved away this weekend! So...no more go getter ward mission leader, but also no more awkward ward activities. Win some you lose some, I guess.

We got to go to the Christmas Devotional this week...IT WAS AWESOME!!! Although listening in Spanish isn't nearly as good. When they invited the congregation to sing at the end it was really funny...they don't translate that, they just throw it up in ENglish and hope for the best...me and the other Gringo missionaries were having the time of our lives singing our hearts out, but everyone else was just confused...Ohhhh I love being a missionary.

I have been really focusing on working with the ward this past week, like I told you last week in my email. The only problem is that I have NO idea where to start! I just didn't know what to do! I knew that the members were going to be a huge source of support for us, I just didn't know how to use them at all! I had been praying, and thinking, and praying, and reading the scriptures, and praying some more to find a good way to use the members! Then i came across this scripture that I just LOVED!!! It's in 1 Nephi 17. Verse 51. The Lord had instructed Nephi, a guy who I imagine had never built a ship in his life to build a vessel that could carry his entire family ACROSS THE OCEAN. Just take a minute and soak in the magnitude of that responsibility, and then think about how he must have felt...I imagine his thought process was something like this, at least for a second..."Ummmmmm....WHAT?!?!" But then I'm POSITIVE his, "I will go and do" attitude kicked right in. That's why the Lord commanded him to do so many amazing things! God had faith that Nephi would do it. He could depend on him. But in 1 Nephi 17:51, I love it! 

51 And now, if the Lord has such great power, and has wrought so many miracles among the children of men, how is it that he cannot^ainstruct me, that I should build a ship?

Now...if the Lord can instruct Nephi, a guy who I imagine has never even BEEN on a boat to BUILD one, then how is it that he cannot instruct me to work with the members? So I've been looking to the Lord a LOT!! And you know what? I bet that that ship was the MOST structurally sound ship in the entire world at that point in time! But...now we're seeing success! We had an FHE with three families from the ward yesterday that helped a ton! The Lord is guiding me to be able to work with the members! And now we're going to BAPTIZE LIKE LOCOS!!! There's so much more to this story, but I am SO out of time!!! Boooo!!! Just know...the Lord will instruct you when you have righteous desires!!! So turn to Him!

Ok...I'm out!! Love you guys a ton!!
Have a great week!!
Love,

Elder Hopper 2

 

November 27, 2012

Heeeeello family and friends!
What a week I've had! Well...it was a week! The most exciting thing was...it was thanksgiving! Oh...wait...no it's not. But...I did make myself a nice Thanksgiving dinner of beans, eggs, tortillas, and I made a nice strawberry drink thing and I bought a pie!

 There are little bread stores on almost every corner here, so I took advantage of that and spoiled myself a little bit for Thanksgiving! It was a good, very typical Guatemalan meal! But...I've come to really enjoy those.

So, yesterday we went to Antigua! It's always fun to go there for several reasons. One, we get to talk to Gringos, and this time was no exception! I met a guy from Albany, who's just sort of living down here for kicks and giggles, trying to learn Spanish and get a job. He says it's hard to get a job not speaking spanish. Go figure. But...he was very typical hippy Albany type guy. It was funny to meet him.


















Also, in my journeys I came across possibly the SHORTEST person I've ever met in my entire life. 
She was begging in the streets, so I gave her a quet in exchange for a picture. I think I came out on top in that deal. Sweet old lady, though.

I've wanted to get a picture of a typical Guatemalan bus for a  long time. Dream came true yesterday.

For some reason they had a devil up right in the entrance of Antigua. Had to take a picture of it. The 7th of December is the day of burning stuff...not exactly sure what it's all about, but apparently all of Guatemala takes their garbage to the streets and burns it! My area is pretty nuts, and there is a big market right in the front of it, so that should be...interesting. Gonna try and get some cool pictures. Hopefully I don't get shot.

I'm so out of time right now!!! Stressful!!!

I've decided that I want to work with the members a lot more. I got a letter today from Jeff Foody that really tipped the scales for me. Gonna start going nuts with them! We have been really blessed here with an AWESOME ward, so I'm going to really take advantage of it and start using them a lot! So...everyone...help the missionaries! Have lessons in your home with them, invite them over to FHE with investigators! Get the work moving!

Ok! I love you guys a ton! I'm all out of time! But...have a great week, and next week I'll use my time here more wisely!!!
Love,

Elder Hopper 2

November 20, 2012

Well...Hello there familia! Ha! That's in SPANISH! FAMILIA!

I'm in a weird mood today!

So, as I'm sure you discerned from my last email, I'm training! I said goodbye to Elder Luna last Wednesday, and went to the Hospital (errr....Stake Center) to pick up my new baby boy! The big question here isn't so much if it's going to be a girl or a boy cuz...it'd be really awkward to train a girl, but if it's going to be a Latino, or a Gringo! All of my questions were answered! I'm the proud father of Elder Mariscal, directly out of the CCM from Mexico! The Mexicans just flock to me! Just so you're aware, I know saying, "Mexican" in America is really quite racist and offensive, it took about 3 months for me not to cringe when I say it...but...he's a Mexican! What more do you want?! He's a good kid! He comes from a family that is really, really poor. When he got here, he had one tie. One. And one pair of shoes that were WAAAAy too big for him. We're instructed as trainers to MURDER our children, so I was walking just about as fast as I could, but I felt TERRIBLE doing it, cuz every step he took he was saying, "Ow ow ow ow ow ow" With the blisters that were forming. So, we got that all figured out, I hid his tie so that he would pick from mine, and his blisters are now healing! So now I can murder him with a grin from ear to ear! I have to say...I can't think of anything that brings a smile to my face more than hearing him running to catch up to me. 

It's weird though...as I train, I feel like I'm training myself more than I'm training him. I'm really pushing myself to be a better missionary every single day, and I can see the change in ME! It's fun, though, sharing what I've learned here. It's made me think a lot about how I've changed in the past nine months. President talks about how every missionary has to go through his, "Personal Gethsemane" at one point or another on his mission, or several times! I think about my Gethsemanes...I am SO grateful for them. I'm sure I've got some more to come, but it's funny how you end up being incredibly grateful for the really hard parts in your life. Now I've just gotta help my kid through his! It's coming! I've seen a few signs of it up to this point...but he'll be ok. 

So, we have this investigator...he's an...interesting one. His name is Marcelino, and he lives alone. Doooooesn't completely surprise me that he's alone. He is ONE HUNDRED PERCENT convinced that he personally killed Jesus. Like...nailed the nails into his hands. Completely positive that he was there doing it. Not like...the weight of his sins did it, but that he ACTUALLY was there with the hammer. Odd. We taught him the restoration, and he told us that it didn't make any sense! God wouldn't use Joseph Smith to be a prophet! He'd use a prophet that he already used!   We asked what exactly he meant by that. He told us that one day, Job would be raised from the grave to build up Christ's church again. Nobody knows who this, "Joe Smith" guy is! God would use a Prophet that was tried and tested, like Job! It's amazing the things that you hear out here.

I gave a talk this week in church! I've decided that I reeeeally like public speaking! I just wish I could find more opportunities to do it! but...I think it'll be hard to do it in English, honestly...I don't know why! Dad and I used to always make fun of those misionaries who get home and say that they can't speak english, or that it's hard for them...but my brain just runs in spanish now! I get it! Oh...another thing that Dad and I always used to make fun of...weird spelt names! Met a guy this week who's name is, "Oscar Max" but it's spelled, "Oscar Macz" Add that one to the list!

Elder Pegram- They opened Comolapa up this week! Elder Tanner is training there in his last change! I'M INCREDIBLY JEALOUS!!!!

So, this change I am the third oldest missionary in my district out of eight missionaries...scary. I only have nine months! I'm not ready to go home yet!

Ok...my pictures. The first is of my kid! Elder Mariscal in his first moments of being a missionary in the field! I'm just such a proud daddy!

That second one I have entitled, "Angustia" It's how I feel every single Sunday as I wait for my investigators to show up to church...and then they don't!!!

Well...that's all I've got! Love you guys a ton! Have an amazing Thanksgiving! Eat a ton! Watch some football for me!

Love,

Elder Hopper

November 13, 2012

Family!
Well, as you all already know, there was an earthquake here! I think some of you knew before I even did, and I felt it! But...where I'm at, actually, our entire mission, didn't really get much of it. We were in the middle of our language study when it hit! My comp just about peed himself and dived under the bed. I quickly followed, however my bladder was under control. Since then, we've felt two more aftershocks! I always wondered why earthquakes were so bad in central south american countries, but now I understand! EVERYTHING here is made of cinderblock! If it falls...game over! Not much of a chance surviving a cinderblock to the head! But...i keep saying...I'm expecting the BIIIIIG one! 7.4 is nothing! Bring on the 10.5s!!! Ok...tempting mother nature like that probably isn't the BEST idea...but...I'm a missionary. I'm invincible. 

Other than that, we had a good week! The earthquake was definitely the most INTERESTING thing that happened, but it was a good week! Tomorrow, I'm giving birth! My very own son! I'm pretty excited! We went to a training meeting with all the other trainers on Saturday, and it was AWESOME! Our mission president let us in on some of the things that are happening with missionary work around the world, and right here! He told us that by this time next year, the church is expecting to have NINETY THOUSAND MISSIONARIES around the world!!!! How sweet is that?! Getting really close to double! In this mission, we have about 200 missionaries, give or take...well...take. By February, they are expecting to have 250!!! We are opening TEN new areas, and TWO new zones! It's so stinkin cool! I love seeing the progress that we've got here!

Well...I really don't have much more to say. It was really quite a boring week. My comp that I've had for 3 months now is out tomorrow!

 

 

This picture that I sent is in my area...I was walking along looking at the ground and I came waaaaay too painfully close to scalping myself on this roofish thing! So, I decided to take a picture of it! Naturally!

 That's all I got this week...really quite boring! I'm sure my letters from here on out will be full of fun stories about my new missionary! I'm hoping I get a Gringo to make fun of him all day long! But...in the most loving of ways, of course!

Love you guys a ton! Have a great week!
Love,

Elder Hopper 2

November 6, 2012

Hello dearest family!

Well...the big news of the week...I'M PREGNANT!!! I wish I had an ultrasound or something fun like that to announce it, but...I already know it's a boy...so...not much need for that! But, to translate, I got a phone call from President Brough last night, and he told me that I had been called to be a trainer! So...starting next Wednesday, I will have my very own baby boy to mold and shape juuuust to my desires. Congratulations, Elder Petersen and Pegram! You're grandpas! So...I'm pretty ridiculously excited. Apparently the mission is getting a BOAT LOAD of new missionaries, and hardly anyone is leaving! So...they're opening up new areas, and a whole new zone! Gonna have success! I love it! 

So, did anything weird happen this week in regards to Guatemala there in the States? Cuz this Wednesday morning we got a...disconcerting phone call from our District leader. He answered the phone, and there is a normal greeting here...it's like..."Oooiii" I don't really know how to type that...but you get the gist. But I answered the phone, and all I got was a, "Hey." All stern like. Hmmm...I asked him why he was so serious, and began racking my brain trying to figure out what I did. He told me that it was kinda serious. Apparently the Area 70 had called President Brough that morning and told him that every missionary had to be in at 6:00 that night. That is WEIRD around these parts. If we could be in the street preaching till midnight every night, they'd do it. It is the most important thing we do here! So...we got ourselves all prepared for the end of the world. Literally...we went out and bought beans and rice for our 72 hour kit, put everything under the bed getting ready for the end of all things earthquake that was prophesied by the area 70! Ok...it wasn't prophesied, but that's how we interpreted it. Makes sense, right? Well...nothing ended up happening. What we've heard is that a group of Guatemalans tried to cross the American border and got shot. So the 70 didn't want angry Guatemalans on halloween taking their frustrations out on innocent American missionaries. So...we got FOUR AND A HALF HOURS to do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING in our houses. I was lost. Haven't had down time like that in 9 months! Also, Halloween here is like...new years in America. Just a really good excuse for civil people to get reeeeeally really wasted and pass out in the streets! And that's what they do! So...better to be inside anyways.

Dad-this picture is in memory of you. I call it, "Still life." Also, in this internet cafe place someone is playing angry birds and I'm listening to it. I hope you're still knocking down those stupid little pigs with all the malintent you can possibly muster.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Had a first this week! I contacted a lady and she told me, "Well...I don't believe in Christ." WEIRD. But that's not the weirdest thing. She told me she professed the faith of the ancient mayans. So I asked her about it, cuz I love to learn about other religions and compare it to the true one. My testimony always deepens when I do. But...I asked about the end of the world in December! Apparently, they don't believe the world will end! It's just then end of another cycle of years! Absolutely nothing will happen! So...when someone tells you on Decemeber 20th to, "Eat drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die," kindly inform them that you heard it directly from a guy who talked to a mayan that it's not true. Silly Americans blowing things out of proportion again.

This week we were teaching a REALLY Evangelical family, when the mom's phone rang. She answered it not in the typical way, but in a way MUCH stranger. Her first words to this person were, "Siervo. Bendiciones." Or, "Servant. Blessings." Thenk proceeded to refer to the person as, "Siervo" for the rest of the conversation. So my comp and I are now, "Siervo" to the other. It's a big ole bag of fun. Funny what Satan gets people to believe. I have the feeling that he just laaaaaughs about the stuff we do sometimes. Sad.

Last night we were walking in the poorest part of our area...we're talking little tiny sidewalk sized road made up of broken cement inbetween two walls of sheet metal houses all built on the side of a hill. Reeeeally really poor. But we're walking and all of the sudden I heard a very familiar sound. I told my comp to stop so I could listen and confirm what I thought to be true, and sure enough...the Halo (video game for all of you people who aren't super nerds like me) theme music was playing! It was very ironic to me that perhaps at one point or another I had played against this person here in Sector 23 of the Projects of Guatemala. I bet I beat him. 

Well...that's all I got! One more thing...VOTE!!! Go out and VOTE!!! I won't tell you WHO to vote for (Even though logic would suggest Romney) but VOTE!!! Also, there was a hurricane!?! What happened?! I hate not knowing what's going on in the world!

Love you all! Have a great week!
Love,

Elder Hopper 2 (I'm gonna be a DADDY!!!!)

P.S...Pegram...Recuerda ese vez que encontramos una cucaracha en nuestra casa y la quemamos? Y casi morimos al hacerlo? Estaba viendo ese vídeo ayer y pensé en usted. Es casado todavía? Y que esta pasando con mi otro papá? Dígale a el que su seis meses ya van acabando para casarse. Su no se casa al dentro del próximo mes...pues...¡falló! Felicidades, abuelos!!!

Ha...speaking spanish is like that secret language we all tried to make when we were kids. Fun!

October 30, 2012

Hello dearest family and friends!

I always start letters off like that...I need something a little more interesting. I'll brainstorm this week, and we'll see what I come up with.

Well...we had a great week here! We had a REALLY high goal this month of finding 160 new investigators, and we missed it by 24! Gah! But...134 news that are gonna be baptized in the month of November! ALSO...this week we had three baptisms! We had to marry one family, the Familia Valenzuela, the family who has the kids with the special needs. They are the two in the picture closest to me. I just love that family! Also, we baptized Tito! I think I told you about him last week, the one that was really grateful that we were able to find him. He is a great person. I think he's really going to be a leader in this ward! He went to the temple last week and just sat on temple grounds and read the BoM! The only problem that he has is that he's not married...time to play matchmaker. Cuz that's what missionaries are for, right? But...it was a pretty cool experience. At church on Sunday this guy was just hanging around Tito the entire time. I had never seen this guy, but apparently he's a long time family friend of Tito, and had just moved up waaaay north to the border of Guatemala and Belize...or Mexico. Don't remember. But I guess they had been working really hard with Tito for a LONG time trying to teach him the gospel! And then one day, we just knock on his door, and he accepted! So, he gave us a really heartfelt thank you for the work we had done, but I just told him thank you for providing us with the investigator of gold! Which leads me to my next point...I've realized lately that missionary work is SO much easier for members! We knock and knock and talk and talk and walk and walk (oooooh rhymy!) and hardly anyone listens to us! Then one member gives us one reference, and that person gets baptized! I've seen that a thousand times since I've been here! So...you members...keep living your life well, sharing the Gospel EVERY SINGLE chance you get, and pray about your friends, and for missionary experiences! When you feel like it's time (like....NOW!) give the reference to the missionaries, and go with them to the appointment! You will find no greater joy than bringing your loved ones to the true church of God! DOOOOOO IT!!! NOOOOOOW!!!!

So, in the mission I've already got a reputation. Can you guess what that reputation is? Well...according to President Brough, I'm the loudest missionary in the entire mission! Yaaaay! Didn't see THAT one coming, did you?! I guess it's better than being known as the most annoying in the mission....oh wait....

Had an interesting lesson this week. Down here there is a church here that is pretty big called, "Asambleas de Dios" Or...Assemblies of God. There are really quite a few members of it down here. We got into a lesson, and this guy identified himself as a pastor of this church. Ooooooh goody. We were talking and he just kept saying how, "This is the biggest church in ALL of Guatemala." I just wanted to choke him! He wouldn't stop saying it! So, finally, just to shut him up, I said, "Look...I understand yours is the most attended church in all of Guatemala, but you need to understand that that doens't impress me! The membership of the TRUE CHURCH OF GOD is more than the ENTIRE POPULATION of Guatemala! So...I don't know what you're trying to prove!" He didn't say much after that. It wasn't the most loving thing to do, but I was just fed up with it! I don't think he's gonna progress...

So, to get to our area that we work in from our house is about a 15 to 25 minute walk, depending on how bad I need to use the bathroom, or how much I'm chafing that day (Honesty is always the best policy). Last Saturday we were walking along this long, largely unused road, when a big Ford F150 pulled up beside us. Don't see those too much here. The guy inside looked at me and asked, in english, "Hey...want a ride?" Odd. But...sure! So we hopped in and I figured out that he was an American citizen! His name is Charlie from Rhode Island. I asked him why he was down here, and he said, "Well...I like it here. Don't have to work as much." Huh...weird. So we chatted for a little bit more, and then he said, "Oh yeah...I'm running from the law, too. So...don't talk about me to your friends back home." Woops. Shouldn't be writing this. But I just couldn't help myself. Nice guy, though! I kinda doubted his story a liiiittle bit, but when i hopped out and he drove away, sure enough...Rhode Island license plate on the back of his truck! Meet someone fun every single day!

So...this week I bought my hammock that I have been sinfully coveting for about 8 months now! I have to say...it is heaven sent. Every single night I'm in this thing reading, or just laying listening to music. This is my man cave now. My companion is not allowed. Except that'd be against the rules, so he can come in if he wants. He just never wants. So it works out like that. Also...it's Guatemalan flag colors! Patriotism!

 

 

 

This is what happens to your shoes when they get wet all the time, and are constantly being worn! But, thankfully here in Guatemala people have learned how to fix just about EVERYTHING, so for the low low prize of 5 quetzales a nice man put some needle and thread to it and got it back to...well...functioning order at least. But this is my sad face. I won't stay like this for long, wouldn't want it to stay that way.

That's all I've got for this week! I hope you all have a wonderful week, and I love you guys a ton! Send me letters! Cuz I like letters! Hopefully in the next few weeks I'll have some more pictures of me and my compo all dressed up in white with big smiley faces on!
Love you guys!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!!!

Love,

Elder Hopper 2

October 23, 2012

Hello familiares!

What a week we had! We had zone conference this week! I LOVE ZONE CONFERENCE! I think maybe I write in caps too much...it kind of loses its value. Law of diminishing return, and all. Anywho...the big news is this: In the mission we had a rule that we had to have 25 contacts a day, 20 lessons a week and 10 new investigators. WELL...that has changed now! We now have to have 35 contacts a day, 22 lessons, 5 lessons with less active or recent converts, and 12 news every week! I love it! It was awesome to see, President put up on the powerpoint when he arrived, and these rules weren't in place how many baptisms as a mission we were getting every month, and as he put the rules in place, and gradually made them higher how the amount of baptisms also went up gradually! SO...we've got to really work so that those baptisms can keep going up as well! Here in Central America (Did you know that Mexico isn't considered part of "Central America" down here? Fun little tid bit.) Nicaragua is famous for being REALLY hot, and baptizing a ridiculous amount of people, and not retaining them. So...President's goal is to beat Nicaragua before he goes home! WE MUST DO IT!!! And then we'll retain them! Ha! Also...at zone conference we got pumpkin pie. One of those things that you don't realize how much you miss till you're EATING IT!! It was only missing whipped cream...but it was AMAZING. That is all.

We had a baptism set up for this week with a guy named Tito. He is really stoked about the church and is super excited to be baptized, which he shows in his very subdues, almost disinterested way. But we had the interview, and he had had some problems that he had to wait another week. Turns out it is really for the best. This week we had the primary program down here. It was kind of chaotic and the entire time I was sitting there thinking, "Gaaah...what are my investigators thinking?!?!¿" But it ended, and we went off to our next class. Later than night we went by Tito, cuz we have daily contact with those who have a baptismal date set. We got in and sat down, we were planning to teach the ten commandments. But we prayed, and he just started to talk. He doesn't normally talk, so we just let him go. He talked for about ten minutes about how grateful he is that we knocked on his door and taught him this Gospel. How he knows that it's true through a few experiences he's had, and how much that primary program touched his heart. It was really awesome to see the different impact it had on other people. Maybe I'm not as in tune to the Spirit as he was, but I didn't get anything out of the Primary program, and was just sitting sweating and worrying the whole time, and to him it was proof that this really is the true church! Isn't it amazing how the Spirit works like that? But...this week he's getting baptized along with a couple that we're going to marry and baptize on Saturday! Yaaaay baptisms!

So, yesterday for P day our district went up to this outlook that looks over Lake Amatitlán. So, that first picture is with my companion, Elder Luna...he's a little guy. And that is overlooking my old area! That grid looking place right over my left shoulder is the Mariposa, where I lived!

Photo number two is drum pad happiness. We also went to a mall yesterday, and I just couldn't help myself. Don't worry, it won't be a distraction. But I will never again have a boring P day! Success!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well...not a hugely exciting week, but...next week I'll have baptism and wedding pictures...not necessarily in that order. But those are the best types of photos! I love you all! I hope you have a great week!
Love,

Elder Hopper 2

October 16, 2012

Heeeeello family!

GUESS WHAT?!?!

WE BAPTIZED THIS WEEK!!! YEEEEES!!!!!! It felt pretty stinking good to finally get in the water after all of our hard work! AND we have 3 more fechas!!! I'm pretty excited to finally be getting wet! But now...all of our investigators are getting baptized, so we need to start finding! That's what we're going to be focusing on for the next two weeks, especially cuz in November the mission has a goal to baptize 60 families in the month! So...to work we go!

 

But other than that, we had a great week! Last week for our zone meeting, we reviewed our disaster plan as a mission...Hmmmm...THEN, this week for our P-day we got together as a zone to play capture the flag and just screw around for a little bit. We were all sitting in the church when all of the sudden something reeeeally strange started to happen...the ground started to move! It's not supposed to do that! That was the first earthquake I've ever felt! (I don't count the one that happened in 5th grade. I hardly remember it.) So...we have been warned by the presidency of the area that all the missions need to prepare. Then yesterday, God tried his very hardest to warn us personally. I've always said that if something bad HAS to happen to Guatemala, I want it to happen while I'm here so I can help! But now...not so sure. That was really quite frightening yesterday. Also, there is a legend here that says that every 37 (Not ENTIRELY sure of the number...Elder Pegram, help me out?) years, a BIG earthquake hits Guatemala. The last big one was 38 (or whatever number plus one) years ago. Yaaaaaaaaaay! Looking forward to that!

So, in our District we got a new red head! It is quite the sight here seeing us walk down the street. Two red heads in America together is weird enough...you should SEE the gaping stares we get! It's pretty funny! So...we had to take a picture together. The two Fosforitos!

 

This week in church, it was fast Sunday...we had SIX baby blessings! Also, two confirmations! (WIN!) We didn't start the sacrament until 10:55! All of my investigators were REALLY confused. Afterwards, one asked if we were baptizing them...had to have a moment of explanation there. Some day, I'll be able to just sit back and enjoy church again without worrying about what my investigators are thinking!

So...Spencer Dunlop gets home today, huh?! Welcome home, Spencer! Can you welcome someone to a place that you're not? Dunno. But I just did it!

We were teaching an inactive family this week, and their 9 year old son (Who isn't baptized...gold!) looked like he had a REALLY pressing matter, but every time that he tried to bring it up, his dad told him to be quiet, that we would talk to him after. He looked like he was about to explode. Kinda like he reeeeeally had to pee, but we knew he didn't have to pee, just had a SUPER pressing matter, at least to him. When we got done with the lesson, I looked at him, and asked him what's up? He breathed out a HUGE sigh of relief, and asked, "Cree que Jesucristo tenía alas?" Or..."Do you think that Jesus had wings?" Oooooh I couldn't help but laugh. But this was a SERIOUS matter to this kid! So we explained to him, in very simple terms that he understood, that we all look like Jesus, and his Dad, Heavenly Father! That if you don't have wings, then neither did Christ! He looked very content with that answer.

Oh yeah! I almost forgot...yesterday I hit 8 months! That's a third of my mission! I seriously can't believe it! Time has kinda flown a little bit! I've got a lot of stuff I have to do in the next 16 months! Yikes!

You know what I realized this week? We had just finished our P-day, and we got out to work. We didn't have an appointment, so we went to knock doors. I got in front of the first one, and felt right at home. That was a nice feeling. Just suuuuuper comfy in front of some random Guatemalan guy's door. Landmark.

Well...I'm all out of time! I love you all a ton, and I hope everything is well! Hopefully next week I'll have some more pictures in white to send!
Love,

Elder Hopper

 

 

 

 

 

 

October 9, 2012

Hello dear family!

I LOVED CONFERENCE!!! I had never been so excited for, or enjoyed so much General Conference! 19 year old sisters?!?! I don’t know where we’re going to put them! I feel bad for my friends who just got back from their missions and now don’t have anyone to get married to! But it was really cool, as I was listening to the Prophet speak, all I could think was, “This man is  a PROPHET of GOD!” It was a really cool confirmation to something that I already knew! I also really loved President Uchtdorf’s talk! He reemphasized one of the things that I cherish from my dear old dad! We can ALWAYS be happy! It is up to US how we respond to outside influences, and those things shouldn’t define who we are, or HOW we are! Also, OF COURSE, I LOVED Elder Holland’s talk! I just downloaded it, in fact! “If I wanted fish, I could get fish. What I WANT is DISCIPLES.” Gah! SO GOOD! I want to learn how to speak like him! Also…ASK THE MISSIONARIES! THEY CAN HELP YOU! It was funny…every single reference to missionary work everyone in the room (I was in a room with all the gringo missionaries watching in English.) gave out a little hoot. Man…I just LOVE conference! I can’t WAIT till April!

We were in our little room of English happiness on Sunday afternoon, enjoying the last session of conference, and mourning its end when it started to rain HARD. Which wouldn’t be such of a problem, except we were getting the signal through satellite!  All of a sudden, the signal just went dead!  Disaster! So…we all kneeled down and said a little prayer, and about five minutes later it popped back on! Prayer is a cool thing, isn’t it?!

So…this week our stats suffered…a lot. When you’re not working an entire Saturday and the large majority of Sunday, things tend to go on the downward trend. But we did have some time to work Monday through Friday. On Wednesday we were knocking a street that was right next to a school. We were knocking around mid day, and the way schools are here, it was at the time that school was getting out. Here in Guatemala, vendors gather around the school so that the kids will buy stuff when their parents come to pick them up. So we were knocking, and I hear this guy yelling, “Pollo! Un Quetzal!” My thought was…wow! That’s a good price for chicken! Then I hear him yell, “Pollo de colores! Un Quetzal!” Huh….Colored chicken? That’s a little weird, but I’ve seen stranger things here. So I just kept knocking doors. Then I turned the corner and saw what this guy was selling. He was literally selling little baby chickens that he had dyed a bunch of different colors for one quet. He has a box FULL of them! I watched one little 6 or 7 year old walk up, ask for 5 of them. He grabbed a plastic bag and just started dumping them in! So…just for your point of reference…an egg is 1.25 here. So…it is literally cheaper to buy a baby chicken than it is to buy and egg. This country never ceases to amaze me.

I got some fun letters last week from the Hyde and the Johnson family! I LOVED them! Thank you so much! Canna and Sara look so much alike it’s awesome! Also, Myla, I’m glad to hear you can choose the right! Thank you so much for the letters!

Last Sunday night we were knocking a street when we stumbled across a pastor! Now…I’m always one for a lively conversation, so we sat and talked to him in his door for awhile. After a lively conversation such as the one we had, it ALWAYS boils down to us inviting them to pray, cuz we’re POSITIVE of the answer they’ll get! So we talked for about ten minutes, and invited him to pray! And he told me, “Look…I’m not sure if I’m In the right, or you are. But I do know that I know Christ, and that one day we’ll all have to be accountable in front of Him.” I LOVED the fact that I was able to look at him in the eyes and say, “You may not know if you’re in the right, but I am ABSOLUTELY POSITIVE that this is the true church of Christ. It is the ONLY one the face of the earth that has His authority.” He seemed pretty impressed that I said that, but I don’t think he’s going to pray. What a powerful thing a testimony is, though! NO one can tell you that you don’t know that if you really, truly do! This is the true church! How awesome is that?! Man being a missionary is fun.

So..the pictures…This week I’m going to finish my first journal! I’m pretty happy about it! I have a goal to finish three journals on my mission, and with eight months I’m right on track! How much fun will that be to have 600 pages written by me all about my mission?! So…I’m pretty excited!

 

 

This other one I call, “Companionship inventory” We were inbetween sessions when I walked into the bathroom and saw this! I just couldn’t help myself! It’s Elder Revis and his new (RED HEADED) companion from Idaho, Elder Anderson!

 

Well…that’s all I got! I love you guys a ton, and I hope you have a fantastic week! Make sure you ALWAYS do the three things I always FIGHT that my investigators do…Leer, orar, asistir! Read, pray, and attend! It keeps a testimony strong!

Love you guys!
Love,
Elder Hopper  2

Pegram-william.stoker@myldsmail.net Also, sorry to hear about your girlfriend going on a mission. That's the pits. Siempre pensaba que vos ibas a ser casado con un hijo antes de cuando yo regrese! ¡Esperá pues! Jajajaja! ¿Es pecado que yo escribí en vos? Saaaaber.

****I LOVED THE EMAIL FROM THE FINWALLS!!! THANK YOU!!!!****

October 2, 2012

Hello there family!
THIS WEEK IS GENERAL CONFERENCE AND I'M SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!! WE GET TO WATCH IN ENGLISH AND I'M SO STOOOOOKED!!!!!! That is all i will say concerning the matter. However...be ready to read a lot in caps today. 

THE MISSION GOT THE GOAL OF THREE HUNDRED BAPTISMS!!! In fact...314!!! It's so awesome! We were SO incredibly blessed this change, even though we didn't end up getting our miracle baptism. But...we already have at least 4 baptisms lined up for the month of October, and we're excited to be seeing the fruits of our labors! The zone this month had SIXTY SIX baptisms! That's a record for the Guatemala City Central mission! And we think it's a record for all of Guatemala! Ever! So, we're all pretty excited! This next month has to be even BETTER!!!!

So, we got changes yesterday, and I'm sticking around here with my same comp. This is his fourth change in the same area, which means he'll be here at least 6 months! And it's his first area! He seems a little bit discouraged about it...it is quite a long time to be in one area. But...I won't let him get down! Gotta keep pushing! This month we were SUPER blessed. I broke a lot of my personal records! We found almost 200 new investigators this month, and at least 10 of those are getting baptized! I already decided!

So...we had a pretty normal week this week! Something really cool happened, though. I think the Finwall family will appreciate this more than anyone else! I saw a 1996 Subaru Impreza WRX!!! Right hand drive! Jon would have DROOLED. It was SO beautiful! I talked to the owner, and he told me he had just gotten it shipped over from Japan. He didn't look like the type to have a ridiculous amount of money, but perhaps in Guatemala it's a little bit easier to get imports. He didn't want anything to do with the gospel, but at least he let me sit in his car! Nice guy! It was just one of those little tender mercies that boosted my spirit to work! It was cool!

So here in Guatemala, every companionship of missionaries has a cocinera, or cook who makes lunch for us every day. In this area, we can't go into her house to eat, because there is never a man inside. So we sit outside her house in a little patio...type thing. When I say patio, don't think patio. Think chicken coop. There is a little sidewalk right outside of it, and there are always little kids playing around outside. They were singing the Dora the explorer song in spanish! So, naturally, I joined in! Only in english! So...picture this. Five or six small Guatemalan children ranging in age from 2-10 standing outside a chicken coopish patio, hanging onto the fence, gaping into the Gringoe inside singing the Dora the Explorer song, trying to eat. As soon as I finish everytime, they ask me, "HOW DO YOU SAY THIS IN ENGLISH?!?! TELL ME THIS!!!" Right up until one of them asks me to sing the Dora song again. We went round and round doing that for about 20 minutes. It was fun. I like kids. Stinks that I can't play with them here.

Hey...happy deer season, all you hunters! Good luck this year, Grandma and Grandpa! I expect to be out with you in two years from today! I want pictures!

Well...I'm all out of fun stuff for the week...BUT I'M SO EXCITED FOR CONFERENCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Everyone should watch! All ten hours! He's a PROPHET!!!! HE CAN TALK TO GOD!!! LISTEN TO WHAT HE SAYS!!!!!!!!!!

I love you all a ton! Keep praying for us so we can baptize a ton this month! We're set up to do it with all these news we've been finding, but I need your prayers!

Love you all!
Love,

Elder Hopper 2

September 25, 2012

Hello my dearest friends and family!

Well...we've had a great week! We have been praying harder than I have ever prayed in my entire life to be able to baptize this month, and it looks like some prayers are being answered! This investigator that I explained last week (If you don’t know about her…shame on you! Go read last week’s letter!), Patty, has been really progressing! We have been visiting with her, and she has been reading the BoM, but we were getting really stressed, cuz it’s the last week of the month, and we still haven’t baptized! And if I haven’t made this clear yet…I REALLY WANT TO BAPTIZE THIS MONTH. But, this week at church, her husband came up to us and said, “Well…she wants to get baptized, but she just doesn’t know what the next step to take is!” YEEESSS!!!!!!!! Or…SIIIIIII!!!!! (Doesn’t translate…for the record.) So last night we went over and talked about the baptismal interview questions. She said everything was good, and that she wants to baptize herself (Inside joke for those Spanish speakers out there.). So, we challenged her with a date for this Sunday! The 30^th of September! She kinda got a little closed up, saying that it was really close, and that she didn’t know if she wanted to rush it that fast…so I just told her…” Look at it this way. Don’t think about the baptism on the 30^th of September, think about the fact that on the 30^th of September, 2013, you and your husband can be sealed to your two little daughters (SO cute) for time and all eternity.” That seemed to open her up a little bit, and she said she’d pray and see what answer she gets! So we’re going by tonight, and hopefully we’ll be baptizing her this Sunday! I’M SO EXCITED!!!

I made a new friend this week! His name is Francisco! He’s a drunk! Every time he sees me, he stares at me, walks up really fast to me, and starts poking me, usually in the nametag. Then he starts saying the phrase, “What’s up shorty?” over and over. Him and I have really cultivated a relationship, I feel. Honestly…I haven’t seen him in three or four days, and I’m starting to get a little nervous about him!

Yesterday we went to Antigua, Guatemala as a zone! It was a lot of fun! There is a tradition among missionaries that we have to go to the Mono Loco restaurant to get nachos every time we go to Antigua! So…that’s what we did! They are DELICIOUS! Antigua is a lot of fun, cuz there are always a lot of gringos there and it’s fun to hear their stories! In that picture, I’m sitting in front of Elder Rivas, who is from Belize. He and I talked about Belize all day long. I’ve never wanted to go to another country more than I did yesterday. I don’t know how, but I’m going to Belize before I die. Also, we went to a museum of jade! Like…the mineral! It doesn’t sound like a ton of fun, but the tour guide there really knew his audience! He taught us all about the history of the Book of Mormon and the history of the Mayans and how it lines up PERFECTLY. It was really interesting! We went into this room that was all black lighted (I’m not entirely sure why, but it was.) and all the white shirts were pretty funny. This picture in front of the Mayan god type thing is in that room. The flash was obviously ruining all the black light effect, so I have a video of it. But you gotta wait to get the SD card! HA! The guy I’m with is one of our Zone Leaders, Elder Lagos, from Honduras. Love him.

We were teaching a lesson this week with a youth from our ward named Oscar. He’s getting ready to go on his mission, and he’s a really cool kid. We were teaching the Sabbath day, and how working is a SIN. We had gotten everything smoothed out, and she said that she wasn’t going to work this Sunday, and that she’d come to church! Awesome! But then Oscar opened his mouth. He said, “Look…God knows your heart. If you absolutely have to work, it’s not that big of a deal, because God knows what you want to be doing!” NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! Or…in Spanish, NOOOOOOOO!!!!!! (That one translates) Guess what? She didn’t come to church! Cuz God knows her heart! Gah! Someday he’ll go out with a youth from his ward, and he’ll get his just rewards!

Had some funny experiences with people on busses this week. I had gotten done preaching to the bus, and was going around asking people for their addresses so we can go by another day. I asked one guy, and he looked at me, spit on the floor, and started YELLING at me about how much he hates Americans cuz he got deported. How racist we are, and how racist I am for being in his country. So I had a delightful conversation with him, and the very next guy was pretending to be asleep, so I pretended to wake him up and asked for his address. He started yelling at me too! Yay! He asked, “WHO GAVE YOU THE AUTHORITY TO BE ASKING FOR NAMES AND ADDRESSES?! WHO!?!?!” I wanted to tell him a living Prophet of God did, but I didn’t think we were going to get anywhere. He then told me about how much of a business this is and asked me how much money I make every week for doing this. I think he was a little put out when I told him missionaries actually have to pay to be missionaries. Poor guy. But…they’re sons of God too! Gotta at least try!

Well…that’s all I got! I love hearing that people enjoy reading these! Thanks for all of your support and prayers! Know that I love all of you!

Pegram-Love you man. Keep fighting the good fight. Also, I want an invitation.

I didn’t want it to come to this, but BRENNA DUNLOP!!! WRITE ME DANGIT!!! *Read with all the love you can muster, but with a strong voice.*

Con demasiado amor,

Elder Hopper

September 18, 2012

VOLCAN DE FUEGO BLEW UP?!?!

That's about how in the loop we are over here. Volcan de Fuego is on the other side of a mountain range. Still in my zone, though! But I didn't see, hear, feel, smell, taste, sense with my spidey senses, nada! This is literally the first thing I'm hearing about it! Too bad I'm not in Excuintla...I heard something about an evacuation, but I had no idea why! I figured it was from waaaaay too much rain, cuz it rains like craziness there! But apparently not!

So...we've had a great week! We are still really searching for that miracle so we can baptize this month, and I think we might have found it! We found a lady about two weeks ago who had been taking the lessons from the missionaries about two months ago, but dropped them because she felt too much pressure. But then she came back to church on her own! Success! Her husband is a member from a long time ago, but couldn't go because she wouldn't let him! So she attended, and we went over the next day, and we were really sensitive and nice, trying not to pressure her too much. I honestly didn't think it would go very far. But we taught the first lesson, and normally after we go straight into their needs (Sabbath day, word of wisdom, law of chastity) and then we talk about baptism, but this time we just decided to just teach the lessons all the way through. So last night we taught the third lesson, which talks about baptism. I was really nervous, and prayed all day long that the lesson would go really well! So we got there, and the lesson went PERFECT! I was so happy! Then, after the lesson she said, "Look...I understand the importance of being baptized, and want to be baptized, but I just want to be 100% sure that I get baptized in the right church!" Well...ok! We can work with that! Then, it turns out that she's not reading the BOM! Well this is just an easy fix then! So we told her to read the BoM, and we will be passing by every day to see if she has questions, or doubts, or whatever! So...I'm pretty excited! We've been working our little tails off to be able to contribute to the goal of 300 baptisms this month, and it looks like we'll be able to! Success!

So, like I told you last week, this last week was Guatemalan independence day. I was...well...very disappointed. The coolest thing that happened was a torch running! A school ran a torch from Amatitlan, my old area, to here. I didn't know about it at all, but we were walking in the street at about 8:30, and this mob just rounded the corner, torches, screaming people, and all. Some members had told us about two weeks ago about riots that happen in the street every once in awhile here, and always leave a few people dead. So, my first though, naturally, was, "Well...here begins the story of how I died in a Guatemalan riot." But, thankfully, it just turned out to be a delightfully peaceful torch run, and I didn't die in a Guatemalan riot. They even had a police escort!

So we're teaching this family, the Valenzuela family. They have two kids that have some sort of mental disease, one is completely paralyzed, and the other isn't much better off. They're both in there mid 20's, and can't do a single thing for themselves. I was having kind of a rough day, kinda down in the dumps cuz all of our citas were falling, and a bunch of other junk that just didn't really matter. So we figured we go and visit them. We got there, and dad had just gotten home from work. He started telling us about his day, and what he does. He works a REALLY hard physical labor job in the capital of Guatemala. He told us that he leaves in the morning at about 4:30, and doesn't get home till around 8. He does that Monday thru Friday, then Saturday he gets home around 3 in the afternoon. Sunday is his only day off. Mom has to get up every day at about 6 in the morning to be ready when the kids wake up, which is pretty early as well. Then she has to clothe them, which takes about an hour. She told us that then she has to feed them breakfast, which takes about TWO HOURS. Right when she gets done with breakfast, she has to do the laundry, cuz the kids can't control when they go to the bathroom. So she's doing laundry all day, every day. Then, when she gets about half the laundry done, she has to feed the kids again. Another TWO HOURS. She just told us all this stuff that she does all day, every day, and dad works SO hard to pay for the medicine that they need, and all the stuff that they need to survive, which is a lot...these kids have a LOT of special needs, which are all expensive. And the crazy thing was that you could just feel the love that these two parents had for these kids that they've never really even met! The whole room was just full of pride from these two parents who do nothing but take care of their kids who are, quite literally, vegetables. It's so sad, but here I was thinking that my life was hard...I was doing hard things, and that that day was a rough one. But these two saints have been taking care of their children for more than TWENTY YEARS. I was very happy to be able to testify to them that some day they would have the opportunity to meet their children! What a blessing the Gospel is! Seriously...if this mission does nothing else, it's gonna make me humble, and grateful. We are just SO ridiculously blessed.

Well...I never know how to segue from that kind of thing into a funny story for the week, so we'll just jump into things!

We were teaching a lesson this week to a mom and a dad...everything was going well, right up until the 17ish year old daughter came home. She walked into the house, looked at me, and had an immediate interest in the Gospel. The seat next to me on the couch was open, so she made herself comfortable. I hugged the armest as fast as I could. But, she kept scooting closer! I WANTED TO DIE!!! By the end of the lesson, I was practically sitting on the armest, looking at my comp like "HELP ME" and he was just laaaaughing. The worst part was, mom and dad were rooting her on practically! They kept making comments like, "Isn't our daughter so beautiful? We're so proud of her! She's so smart too!" It was, possibly, the worst experience of my entire life. I don't think they're going to progress, so I'm considering just not going back...but that might be a sin...I just don't know.

So, we had our most succesful zone activity yesterday, that's what the picture is.

 

We got letters, and I didn't get even one! So this is me with some other missionary's letter, pouting. Elder Peterson got letters. He was happy. Although...it's probably my own fault. I'm HORRIBLE at replying! Anywho...in the activity, we got statistics of missions from around Central America! Turns out we are 5th in baptizing in all of central america, 2nd in retention, and 2nd in attendance at church! I LOVE THE COMPETITION! He told us that between number 5 and number 6 in baptizing, there is a really big gap. WE MUST GET TO NUMBER ONE!!! I felt kind of like I was in DCI again, competing against the other missions! But this is a LOT more important than any drum corps! This month we're moving up! I can just feel it!

Ok! Well...I'm off to get to work again! Pegram, I LOVE YOUR EMAILS!!! DON'T EVER STOP!!!! And tell Durfey and Petersen that they're slackers, but that I love them anyway.

Have a great week everyone!
Muchisimo amor,

Elder Hopper