January 8, 2013

Hello familiares!

Well...we had a good week! This area is REALLY REALLY REALLY BIG!!! And I LOVE it! We baptized this week! A lady named Reyna, and she asked me to baptize her, so...there's that picture! YAAAAAAY BAPTISMS!!!!

The first Sunday that I was here, I realized that the ward was going to need help if we were going to baptize here. Like Jeff Foody told me, the Lord won't baptize people into a unit not prepared to receive them. So, this week we asked the Bishop for a list of names of inactive families that we could go and visit and activate! So, last night we did our first visit! We visited a family, the familia Monzón. We had heard about this family several times, but didn't know who they were. When we got there, we kinda figured out why we had heard about them. We headed to their house at about 7 or so at night, already pitch black. When we got there, we knocked on the door of a sheet metal hut. They opened it with open arms and hearts, and there were TEN of them piled into this tiny house. The only furnishings were 4 really old, really gross beds and 2 chairs from cars that I imagine they found in a junkyard (It's not too uncommon here to see car chairs as recliners here. They work great!). But...we walked in at 7, and everyone was already asleep, but they all got up. It was pitch black, so I imagined that they would turn a light on. But...they don't have electricity. So, they lit a candle. They are just such a humble little family. And when I say little, I mean HUUUUUGE. Ten people! But...it is just a humbling experience. You always hear about these things, but you never think that they actually occur till you're sitting in the co pilots seat talking about the gospel by candlelight. Being a missionary is an experience that you seriously just don't find anywhere else.

This week we had house inspections! Mom, as you're reading this, I hope you're sitting down. But...my companion and I got 20/20! And we had the cleanest house in the ENTIRE ZONE (There are no sisters in this zone...makes it a liiiiittle bit easier.)!!!! SO! Next conferencia de zona, we get our prize! And apparently the prizes are always quite delicious...pretty excited about that one!

We got into a lesson this week, and it's an old man of about 70 years. He's a good guy, and really wants to learn! But...maybe there's something that we taught him wrong. At the end of every lesson, we always invite the investigator to pray. Because of that, I have some of the most interesting experiences of my entire life, but we'll have to share those another day. The old guy said, "Yeah! That's fine!" And started to pray. He began, "Oh Joseph Smith...I want to know..." I had to stop him! NO!!!! We do NOT pray to Joseph Smith! Never! EVER!!! EEEEEVVVEEEEERRRR!!!! So...interesting learning experience there for the old man!

Another fun experience I had in a lesson this week was with this guy that just wanted to fight with us. We were going round and round about the Book of Mormon, when all of a sudden my comp came out and said, "Well...did you know that we can become gods too?" WHWAAAAAAAAAT?!?!?!?!?! WHAT ARE YOU SAYING, COMPO!?!?!?! CALLASE!!! So...that opened up an entire can of worms that we couldn't shut for about an hour. Eventually, we had to say, "Look...pray. Find out for yourself, and you'll know. But your heart is too closed that you'll never, EVER know." So...that was a big ole ball of fun. Gotta give the investigators milk before they can eat carne asada!!! 

Yesterday we were looking for a woman that I had contacted in the street a few days before. Her name was Maria. Well, we got to the house, and I knocked on the door, and a teenage girl came on out. I asked for Maria! She said, "Aqui estoy. ¿Que deseaban?" Or, "Here I am. What do you want?" She definitely wasn't the Maria I had contacted in the street. So, I asked if there was another Maria in the house. She said, "Pues...aqui vive ocho, pero solo tres estan." Or, roughly translated, "Well...eight Marias live here, but only three are here right now." WHAT?! EIGHT?!?! So...we just kinda gave up. I didn't really know what to do! 

Well...all is well here! My companion and I got some things out in the open this week, and things are going a LOT better! He and I are really good friends; it's just hard sometimes to keep him 100% obedient, and working! But...at least we're getting along. He is a REALLY good teacher, despite that one little slip with the whole being gods thing. He reminds me a lot of Michael Poff, actually. We spend a lot of time in the mornings lifting weights, cuz he's a BIG guy! So, that's a good bonding time that we have. We're going to blow this area up! Next change they are going to be splitting my area, so I will only have half the houses to knock! But...for the next six weeks we're going to kill it here!

I love you all a ton! I hope everyone is enjoying being in school again! Moms, I hope you're enjoying your empty houses once more! Only 5 more months till you have them in the house every day for three more months! Man...time flies! This next week I finish ELEVEN MONTHS! I can hardly believe it! But...all is well!

Love you all!
Love,

Elder Hopper 2