May 22, 2012

Hello my dear family and friends!
We had a great week this week! It finally hit Elder Petersen that he is actually going to be sitting in his house one week from Thursday, so he's decided that this week we need to work harder than we've ever worked! So, it should be a busy week! We have a goal of 36 lessons! Just to put it in perspective, last week we had 26, and we felt pretty stinkin good about ourselves! So...this week will be a whirlwind for sure! 

We were working with a family, the familia Abrego...they are a mom and a dad and a daughter. They had their baptismal date set for this Saturday, and in order to get baptized you have to attend church at least three times, and this Sunday was going to be number three! BUT THEN THEY DIDN'T SHOW! So we RAN to their house, and only dad was there! Gah! ALSO, this family isn't married! We're running into that a lot here, where no one wants to get married! I don't get it! You can get it done for FREE here! Just go and fill out the paperwork! So, this Sunday it looks like we're going to have a wedding/baptism, because our goal as a mission is to have 204 baptisms this month! And so far we only have 89! Ah! Urgencia! But that's ok...we've got faith, and we're going to be working our hardest to achieve that goal! 

I feel so scatterbrained right now, and I'm not exactly sure why! 
 

So yesterday we were walking right outside of our house, headed to our area, when this little kid looked at me and asked, "What's your name?" in english! (Almost all kids learn at least a little bit of english in school) It had been so long since someone had asked me that in English, that I just automatically replied, "Drew!" Then I realized what just happened! Maybe it's not so funny in an email, but at the time it was really good! My companion laughed at me about it for about ten minutes afterwards. Kids are funny, I love messing with them! Every single time we've had little kids in our lessons, they always just sit and stare at me. I don't think they've ever seen a red head in their lives! So they just sit and stare! Gringos are weird enough to see down here, but a RED HEAD is just unheard of! But it's just what everyone wants to do, they just have more tact about it! So I always take advantage of it and make funny faces at them. I love kids! 

Here they have little store clothes called pacas, and that's where pretty much everyone buys their clothes if it's not the designer stuff. These pacas get their clothes from donation places in the United States. The donation places send them down here, and the pacas buy them in big giant plastic bags! But the bags are always shipped from a specific state. I think there is a paca down here with a bag from Oregon! I've seen two shirts, one that had an Oregon license plate on it, and the plate said, "Got rain?" and the other one said, "Half of my heart is in Oregon." I want them both! So now I have to go searching for the paca that has Oregon shirts! 

Our shower head broke this week! Gah! That evil electric watery death trap that hangs precariously over your head just busted wide open one day while i was taking a shower! So now we have fridgid water every single day! It's spectacular!

I came across a scripture today that I really really liked! It's in 3 Nephi 18:25. I think this is how real leadership is! Jesus never ever commanded anyone to go away, but rather he invited them to be better at all times! That's how we need to be as members of the church, we should never judge anyone for how they look, or what they are doing, or anything! Just invite them to be better every day by your example! I loved that!

Well...that's about all I've got for this week! I love you guys a ton, and I love hearing from you! Keep the emails and letters coming! (Even though I have no idea if I've even gotten letters...we only get them twice a transfer! But I have faith that you've been writing them! :)

Much love,

Elder Hopper 2

P.S...in Guatemala people are CONSTANTLY greeting each other. Every single person you pass by, it's custom to say "Buenas dias, tardes, or noches" depending on the hour. If someone says it to you and you don't say it back...they get REALLY offended! Not that I know from experience or anything.....