July 31, 2012

Fam bam!
Well hey there! How is everyone?! I never know how to start these emails, so it's always really awkward. But what can you do?

Well...we had a good week! Everyone here is talking about the Olympics! Ok...not really...but I'm talking to everyone about the Olympics! I LOVE THE OLYMPICS!!! And the summer Olympics are a thousand times better than the Winter ones! But it's ok...only 4 years more and I can watch it all I want! Go America!!!

Ok...so my companion and I have been having this argument...well...more like a heated discussion all week long. The heated discussion is based around this...How many continents are there?! Everyone in Latin America firmly believes that there are only 5 continents!  They think that the Americas are one GIANT continent, Asia, Africa, Europe, and then "Oceania" PSH! What is that?! With that logic, Africa, Asia, and Europe should all be one continent! Am I right?! Anywho...that's enough of that.

Elder Petersen came back to visit this week! It was a lot of fun to eat lunch with him, and meet his mom! He's a good guy. We took a picture...but Elder Loo took it. Who just doesn't know how to take pictures. So it's good and fuzzy. Memories!

We got a phone call from our District Leader last week basically saying that we NEEDED to baptize this last week. The mission had a goal of 204 baptisms for the month, but we were 14 marked baptism dates short! So we had to figure something out so we could meet the goal. So Elder Loo had a little prayer, and thought about the people who had attended enough times, who we thought were ready to get baptized! Then ALL week long we were working with them! That pretty much engulfed our entire week! Sadly...none of them got baptized. And we didn't meet the goal as a mission. Cruuuud...But we think that two of the three that we were focusing on will get baptized within the next two weeks, and the mission goal for September is THREE hundred! Whoo! So...we have to start getting people ready for that! 

We are teaching this Jehovah Witness (Which there are a LOT of down here...you almost never see them in the States!) and she's about 50, has dark red dyed hair, is a widow and is FEISTY. As soon as I walked into her house she looked at me, kind of gave me a once over, and said, "Creo que he encontrado mi proximo esposo." Or...I believe I've found my next husband...Waaaasn't quite sure how to respond to that. And throughout the entire lesson she just kept eyeing me. And our next cita is set for today at three. Yikes. Looking forward to that one!

We are teaching a really great lady named Lucia, and she has four little kids who are absolutely ADORABLE, but reeeeally loud. One thing that stinks about being a missionary...you can't play with kids! I could keep those kids quiet all day long if I could just pick them up and play with them! But every time we go over there her smallest son asks me, "Is your hair painted?" Or, "How do you paint your hair?" So this last lesson we had with her, just to prove it to him, I grabbed my hair and ripped out about 10 pieces and went over and showed him...he hasn't asked me since! We all got a good laugh out of that one!

Well...other than that all is well! Tonight we're going to have a family night in the church with all of our investigators, and we're pretty excited for that! Next week we're going to have interviews with the President, so I don't know if I'll be emailing Tuesday or Wednesday...but I'll be emailing! The, "Who's going where, and who's moving up" game has started for this next transfer...and there's still three weeks left! But it's just so exciting!

That's all I got! I love you guys, and I hope all is well! Sorry if I can't respond to all of your letters...it's expensive to send! I've got a stack of written letters on my desk at home, and I'm going to send them all at once in a pouch to my mom and have her send it out to you! I promise I haven't forgotten you! Those who have recieved letters...you know who you are...are just extra special! :)

Off to find my family to baptize! Love you all!
Love,

Elder Hopper 2

P.S...the picture of me on the roof is the roof of one of our recent converts. About three minutes after this picture was taken, it started to POUR like nobody's business. I forgot my umbrella that day. Got a liiiiittle bit wet. But I thought the picture was cool!

July 24, 2012

Hello everyone!

Well...another week here in Amatitlan has passed! How is everyone?!

Are you enjoying the hot weather up there?! I hope you enjoy it, and look forward to the cold weather...because we have no such thing to look forward to here! It's supposed to be winter time, which doesn't necessarily mean that it gets colder,but it should mean that it rains a lot, and it's just not! It's just HOT! And this short hair that I'm rolling with doesn't help with keeping my scalp a nice shade of white!

It's burnt ALL the time! And it itches! Not sure why I decided to start my letter of like this...but it's written, and there's no going back now!

So we were realy blessed this week! Elder Loo is a LOT different than my last two companions...Elder Pegram was very much a "Let's hit the streets and get big numbers and talk to everyone and the blessings will come" kind of guy, and Elder Loo is very much a "Well let's think about this, and work it out smart-like." Elder Petersen was a little bit inbetween the two. Personally I like Elder Pegram's approach.

Imagine that...I like just running around like crazy! So it's good to have someone to slow down, and think about things every once in awhile!

We had two baptisms this week! They were two girls that were 12 and 14 years old. They were...well...frustrating. Why you ask? Well...they were 12 and 14 year old girls. They kept going back and forth about whether they want to get baptized since I got to this area! But they finally decided this week that they were ready to do it! So we dunked em! It was really quite a miracle that that happened. But...that's a REALLY long story that I don't have time, nor patience to type out.

But the important thing is that they got baptized! Yayayay!

We had a family show up in our ward this week from Utah! A mom and three kids! It is the daughter and grandkids of the president of the relief society in our ward! It was a LOT of fun to have them here! The oldest daughter is going into her freshman year of high school, and she was like having a little sister here! She actually reminded me a lot of Lainey...kind of hipster kind of style. But they told us all about what was going on at home, how awesome the new spiderman movie is, and how much they're looking forward to seeing the new batman movie! Even though they had no idea what was going on with the NFL draft...but that's ok. I forgive them. The daughter came to the batism that we had this Sunday all by herself, and it was pretty funny, because all of the Latina girls FLOCKED to her after the baptism, because she's from America, which means she personally knows Justin Beiber and David Archuleta! But they were all speaking Spanish! She had no idea what was going on! Elder Tays and I were at the back of the room chatting and eating our tasty tostadas and she looked back at us and mouthed "HELP ME!!!" We just let her suffer. They're here till mid August, so that should be fun. Lainey, I told her to add you on facebook!

We had a lesson this week with a SUPER old man who can't hear worth a lick, his sister, and his daughter. At the end of the lesson we always ask the head of the household to pray, so we asked the old man to pray! He said of course! So we all bowed our head, and...nothing happened. So I told him, "Could you pray out loud?" He said yeah! So we all bowed our heads again. Nothing happened. So I figured he was praying...........for about five minutes..........we just sat there...........I was looking at my comp, and he was looking at me...........but nothing was happening...............the sister and the daughter were just patiently sitting there with their heads bowed and eyes closed...............but nothing was happening..................so finally I just sat up and said, "AAAAAAMEN" really loud, cuz remember...this guy can't hear ANYTHING.

He kind of started like he was sleeping and the got up...the guy fell asleep! Almost immediately! So...note to self...when asking a really old man to pray, it's best to just not.

This picture is of Elder Durfey and I. He's my zone leader and a SUPER cool guy. His younger brother leaves on his mission to Pocatello ID about two weeks after he gets back! Guess where Elder Durfey is going to school? BYU-I! In his brother's mission! That is all.

I heard a really cool phrase that I LOVED this week. It's in spanish, but...I'll translate. It's, "El quien no vive para servir no sirve para vivir." It means: He who doesn't live to serve, it doesn't work to live....it doesn't really work in English, but if you know the meaning you can read it in spanish and it's really cool! Maybe someone will get something out of that...

Well...that's about all I've got for this week! I hope everyone is doing really well!

I love you all!

Love,

Elder Hopper 2

July 18, 2012

Hello family!

What a week I've had! Sorry I couldn't email yesterday, we had zone conference, so we were gone all day long! But it was AWESOME! I'll talk a little bit later about that...

So I've got a new companion, Elder Loo (Pronounced Loe) and he's from Panama! It's good to finally have  a Latin companion, maybe I'll finally learn Spanish!
He's a really nice guy, though...it's just a lot quieter around our house nowadays...not as much in common with Latin companions. He's never heard of DMB, or Panda Express, never went to High school (Schooling is was different in Central America) so we just don't have so much to talk about! But he's a great guy, and we're getting along great! He's a LOT slower paced than Elder Petersen, and A LOOOOOT slower pace than Elder Pegram, so I'm trying to drag him around a little bit, which works for now because I know that area and he doesn't, but he is senior comp, so we'll see what happens when he starts taking over!

So this Zone conference that we had was spectacular! We went to Escuintla, which is about an hour or so away, and it is HOOOOT there! We got off the bus, and the heat just punched us in the face! It didn't help that we were wearing our suit coats! But we walked to the Stake center from there, and got to hang out with out buddies for about 15 minutes before we sat down and studied for about half an hour before the conference started. Anywho, we had the conference, and Hermana Brough, the President's wife talked about Integrity, which was really good, she talked about the 2000 stripling warriors, and how they were full of integrity. Then President talked for a little bit, and we broke for lunch, which ended up getting cancelled because the stupid caterers screwed up. 80 hungry missionaries! Yay! But that's ok. After lunch we met with our Stake presidencies, cuz zones are split up for stakes here...I don't know if that's how it is throughout the world or not...But after that is where it REALLY got cool! President Brough talked again, and he was talking about how there are angels in this work. How angels guard us up, and protect us. He then posed the question, "Which of all the angels do you think are worried about you?" We thought about it for a second, and of course it's our kids! Well that's pretty cool, right? But that means we've got 3, 4, maybe 5 angels with us....but then he said, "And your grandkids, and great grandkids, and great GREAT grandkids!" That's like...hundreds of people! All depending, rooting, hoping, working for ME! Hoping that I do a good job so that they can be raised in a good family! Hoping that I don't screw up so that they can be blessed! Then we went the other way! Grandparents, great grandparents, all hoping that I make a good name for the name that they so cherished in this life! My mind immediately went to Uncle Bob. I don't know what it is about him, but I just LOVED that man! The Spirit was so strong, and I could just tell that he was there with me! I didn't even know him too well, I just know that he loved me a ton! He always made me feel super important when I was around him, even though I was just some snot nosed punk 10 year old! But I'm looking forward to seeing him again. That'll be a good day. 

I got my package this week too! I loved it! Thanks for all the skittles, and tasty little jolly rancher treats....but they're all gone. May they rest in peace. I LOVE having music again, and my agenda is in Portuguese! I stinkin love it! And the Brazilian candy, which you can clearly see I ate with much gusto. Even though they were about 5 months old, and kinda stale! Also, my District leader, Elder Tays got SUPER baggy for Oregon while he was looking at my calendar! He told me he wants to move there someday...we're already planning our camping trip two years from now! More packages will be gladly accepted! :)

 
We should be having two baptisms this Sunday...two family members of a recent convert, my first baptism in the field, actually, Helen and Suli...Pegram and Petersen will remember them! So we're pretty excited...but kind of nervous that they'll fall through. We're going over to their house every day, though, to make sure they stay excited for it!

Well...hopefully next week I'll have pictures of me all whited out! But for now I gotta go! Love you guys!
Much love,
Elder Hopper # 2

July 10, 2012

  Well hello there! What a week I have had! We were blessed this week with three baptisms! A family, and a lady from a part member family! It's the family that every time we walk by their house their little girls run out and start yelling, "Mormonis! Mormonis!" So that was a pretty awesome occasion! It's always nice to see all the hard work pay off! I really think that this family could be leaders in this ward! This ward REALLY lacks leaders, so that'll be a good change of pace.

We got our changes this week, and surprise surprise...I'm staying here! But I'll be getting a new comp, seeing as how Elder Pegram is going home. And what do you do when your companion is going home?! Very simple! Burn all of his clothes! So that's what we did last night! Bon fire on the roof! So today is his last working day in the mission, and on Thursday he hops on a plane to Texas! So tomorrow morning we are going to the change meeting, and I will be getting my new companion, along with my PACKAGE! And my LETTERS! But I'm not excited for those at all!

Happy fourth of July to everyone! Sorry I forgot to mention that last week! Elder Pegram and I celebrated by doing...absolutely nothing! Well...in the morning we sang America the Beautiful, but that about sums our festivities up. I hope everyone had a fun and safe Fourth! In two years we will make the biggest bonfire the Oregon coast has ever SEEN!
So this week for District meeting we did something really edifying...we played Jenga! Because we can! I have some pretty great videos, but I can't send those over email...so you'll haveto wait till I can get the card to you guys! Pictures will have to suffice!

I've decided that fruit is a million times better here in Guatemala than at home. Also a million times more varied! I found these gems when I was on division in an area that borders mine. They're called Paternas. But they just look like giant green beans! On the inside the similarities continue...the seed pod typethings kinda look like giant peas, but they're covered by this white fuzzy stuff that'sthe fruit! And it's delicious! I think before I leave I'm going to make a video on my slowly dying camera of all the weird fruits, and how to eat them! Cuz that's just fun!

Well...that's all I've got for this week! Hopefully next week I'll have something more exciting for you guys...but for now we're just working our little tails off!
I love you guys, and I hope everything is going well!
Love,
Elder Hopper 2

July 3, 2012

Well hello there family!

I know you're all on the edge of your seats, so I will announce the winner of our little contest! Thank you for your quotes, but it's hard to decided which one should win because the majority of the quotes were sent by my two favorite girls in the world!! But the winning quote, submitted by Brenna Dunlop, is.... "The past is behind--we must learn from it. The future is ahead--we must prepare for it. The present is now—we must live in it." - Thomas S. Monson  What a great quote! I'll be reading it for the next six weeks! Thanks B-Dop! And thank you mom, and Brother Pettijohn from the North Bend ward for the other awesome quotes! I'm going to print them all out...they were really good!

We had a great week this week! We set a weighty goal to get 50 lessons this week, and by the hair of our chinny chin chin we got it! We had two citas lined up that we thought were going to be 100% there and good...I can't think of the word to describe it in english...but...they were totally fijo! And then one of them dropped! This was on Sunday night, and we had 48 lessons for the week! We were running around like mad men trying to get in one last lesson, so we kind of cheated and went to a recent convert, who we were positive would let us in...but we got the goal! Win!

Elder Pegram and I have found a bit of a new thing. We now plan every night by candle light! And I have to say...it is SO relaxing! Give it a try! Tonight...light a candle, and just read for awhile! Takes all the cares in the world away!

We talked to my favorite temptation again this week...the guy who invited me in to watch the NBA Finals. And he told me the Miami Heat won! NOOOOOO!!! WHYYYYY?!?!?! Just breaks my heart the Lebron has a ring already. That's all I'm going to say about that. 

Last night we were really blessed to be able to have a Family Home Evening at the Stake President's house! He lives in a pretty rich part of the stake, which is about 20 minutes away from our house. We called the mission president to make sure we had permission to go, and he said that it would be fine. But we didn't want to just waste our time by going just us, so we invited the family that we are going to baptize this Sunday! Familia Garcia! Last week, we found out how poor this family is. We knew they were pretty destitute, but when we taught them the law of tithing we found out that live on about 10 Quetzales a day. 8 Quetzales = 1 dollar. Mathematics = $1.25 a day. Yikes. So we went to his house, and his wife makes lasagna...but this isn't just any lasagna...this is famous throughout the entire mission. And there is a reason. It is SO GOOOOOOD. There were four missionaries there, my comp and I, and the zone leaders, Elder Durfey and Lagos. WE WENT TO TOWN on this lasagna. And she made SO much! This poor little family who is just used to eating beans and bread every day didn't know what to do! They got a FAT piece of lasagna served up, and I don't think they felt good about eating it! They just munched on the bread and took little pieces of the lasagna. So, a little bit of coercing later, Daddy Garcia dove in. Then mommy joined the fray. I think they loved it! It was an awesome night, and they are really looking forward to their baptism this Sunday! I love this little family! We were walking to the bus yesterday to get there, and I was walking with two of their little girls, holding their hands behind mom and dad and my comp...and I just felt so much love for this little family! I don't know how to explain it, but I just LOVE these guys! Especially the four little girls!

So these pictures are from last night...we ate WAAY too much, and felt it. As you can see Elder Durfey in the picture with the pans practically dying...that's how we all felt.

Well...thanks for all the support guys, I love you a ton! We're being super blessed down here, and hopefully next week I'll be sending some pictures of a baptism!

Love,

Elder Hopper #2