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