April 23, 2013

HEEEELLLO!!!!

Well...this week we had baptisms!!!! I.LOVE. BAPTIZING!!!! It's just the best! We baptized the Tay family, the family that we married last week. It was SUCH a good baptism! I just love that family! It's one that I REALLY want to see in the temple in a year,...Good goals! Must do it! Now...we are COMPLETELY out of investigators. They have all become recent converts. Good problem t have, but a problem nonetheless. Time to get to knocking and asking for references!!!

This last week I heard a HILARIOUS joke. It's one of those you have to understand Spanish ones, but I'll explain it anyway. So, the NBA stands for, "Negros bien altos," or, roughly translated, "Really tall black guys." I just LOVE how painfully racist this language is sometimes. I have been chuckling to myself about that joke for almost a week straight now. I don't think it's ever going to get old.

I really don't have anything worthwhile to say this week. Oh, yeah! Last week I finished one year in the field! It's SO much fun to g back and read what I wrote in my journal 365 days ago! I haven't missed one single day since last 23rd of April! I'm so grateful that I've kept that so well! I'm finishing up my second journal, and will be starting number three tis next week!

So, this week my second kid went home. Had some things he needed to get worked out. It was interesting to see it from this angle. He found out that he was going home on Tuesday, and he  didn't leave till yesterday morning. It was hard to keep him excited to work all week long, but we did what we needed to get done.

But, now I'm with Elder Gomez, a native Guatemalan. He's only got three months in he mission, and I'm actually finishing up his training. He's just here waiting a visa to go to Peru! So...that's pretty stinking cool! Changes are in three weeks, so it's very possible that we'll be separated then. I think I'm probably out of this area then.

Well...boring email this week. Love you all! When you think of me this week, know I'm under the hot Guatemalan sun, waiting anxiously for the rainy season to begin, knocking doors trying to find people to teach. Wish me luck!

Love you all!
Love,

Elder Hopper 2

April 16, 2013

Heeeeellloooo dear family!

This week was EXCELLENT! Seriously...it was a GREAT week. We had three separate baptisms, each with their own service, and a wedding! And interviews and stuff to go along with those! And next week, the couple that got married are getting baptized! I LOVE BAPTIZING!!! It's the BEST! But at the same time it's kind of frustrating...it leaves me with NO time to get out and knock doors! But...worth it. Completely. 

So, something I've noticed since I've been here in this area. Time has just ACCELERATED! I feel like I JUST got here, but I've already been here for 2 and a half changes! Almost three! In my last two areas, I felt EVERY. SINGLE. DAY during my third changes there! But I could be here for another three! And THEN it might feel like that! I don't know if it's because it's a bigger area, or what...but it's just great! Time really does speed up after the one year mark! And I'm getting close to FOURTEEN MONTHS! Weird. Not ok with that. 

 

So, this week I ran into this guy who had  Blazers jersey. His car was broken down on the side of the road, so I let him call from my cell phone, one of the FEW days I was allowed to carry it. So, that worked out nicely...but I did it in return that he let me take a picture with him. He was CONVINCED that it was a jersey that Brandon Roy himself had worn during a game. Seeing as how he bought it out of somebody's HOUSE, I REALLY doubt it...but gotta let the man dream, right?

 

This week we had zone conference, which meant I got to see a bunch of my friends! Well, one of those friends I saw was Hermana Steed, from Canada. Her and I were in the CCM together. Well...she kindly informed me that she only had FOUR MONTHS left! ONLY FOUR MONTHS!!! I just couldn't believe it! I honestly feel like we're just starting! But she's almost HOME already! It's just NOT ok! STOP IT, TIME!! STOP!!!!

 

Yesterday, the crime fighting legacy of the Hopper family went international. Well...I don't know if you can call it crime fighting, but...fighting fighting. Fighting against fighting. Does that make sense? Well, my companion and I were on a city bus (Transmetro, to set the scene for those RMs that read this), and these three guys right behind us were just making a lot of noise. Talking loudly and being annoying. I didn't think too much of it till one of them tried to get off, and another one kicked him in the stomach! Well, he didn't like that too much, and apparently the one that got kicked had a brother nearby, and for Latinos, they were big boys! About my size! So, the guy who kicked's girlfriend got in the middle of them. I just looked at my little puny companion, decided his biggest help would be holding my stuff, and handed him my Book of Mormon that I always have in my hand and my backpack. At about the time that I handed of my backpack, they went at it. The two big brothers against a little typical Latino guy. He was gonna be in TROUBLE. I knew they would have police waiting for us at the next station, so I just needed to make sure this guy didn't get PUMMELED till we got there! So, I held the angry one back well enough that he couldn't destroy this guys face, and let the kicker take care of brother number two till we got to the next stop. It was an...interesting thirty seconds or two. Thankfully, I didn't get punched in the face or anything, but I GLADLY let the police take care of it once we got there! So! The Hopper tradition continues! Internationally! Win!

Elder Peña and I were walking to church this Sunday when two drunks came up to us CONVINCED that NASA had found people on other planets, and asking us why they hadn't told the world yet! Well...we convinced them that Elder Peña is from Mars, and that I am from the moon. I taught them how we shake hands on the moon, gently rubbing his earlobe. I literally ALMOST peed myself laughing. Kinda felt bad, but...they were drunk! Most of the time they're angry at us! So, gotta take advantage of the nice ones! :)

Our ward mission leader's name is Erick. He speaks English PERFECTLY, and he's one of the coolest guys I've ever met! Well, last week we were talking about music we like, or we liked in our prior lives for the missionaries. I mentioned that I have a creepy, unhealthy, undying love for Dave Matthews Band. Well, later that night between two of the baptisms, we drove to our house because I had forgotten something there. When we got in, he grabbed his iPod, smiled at me, changed the song, and, "The Space Between" by DMB came on. Go listen to that song on YouTube real quick. I swear...those first three chords penetrated my soul like lightning. I hadn't heard DMB in THIRTEEN MONTHS! I told him to turn it off. It was against the rules, aaaaaand would make me want to catch the first flight home. It was just a funny thing. It'll be fun to see what's happened in the real world in 11 months!

Well...that's all I've got! A long one today! Busy week, for once! Baptizing this weekend, so I am BEYOND excited for that! I feel bad cuz I never share spiritual experiences...I promise that I have them! Someday when I get home we'll all sit down, and I'll share some of those...I just want these to be entertaining!

Love you all!
Love,

Elder Hopper 2

 

April 9, 2013

Hello family and friends!

Well...CONFERENCE WAS AMAZING!!! I LOOOOOOOOVE GENERAL CONFERENCE! And I only have one more on the mission! It's just so much better on the mission, I don't know why! Well...yeah I do. It's just such a nice break! Just sitting all day! But...my streak of not missing one day without teaching continued! Got two on Saturday! I was pretty nervous about it! But...success! It was interesting after conference. We left to get to work for about an hour. Well...Saturday night is one of the many nights here that all of the false Christian churches get their singing horrifically on. It was just SUCH an amazing juxtaposition to listen to those guys screaming and whaling because of, "The spirit" and the Prophets of God declaring his true will. I've got some good stories about these churches that I'll have to tell you all about when I get home...but it was just so good to know that we have the truth, and it was almost shocking to see the other churches after being immersed all day in the truth of God and His real Spirit.

Well...other than that it has been a WONDERFUL week! This week we're looking at FOUR BAPTISMS! With one wedding! We're SO STOKED! I've never baptized that many in one week, and I am BEYOND excited about it! We have been really blessed by our investigators, and we're looking at four more who WANT to get baptized this month! Just gotta work through minor problems like work on Sunday, unsupportive parents, alcoholism, you know...the usual. But...we're gonna get 'em baptized! Should be a ton of pictures in white coming your way these next few weeks!

Ok...so I've got some nasty ingrown toenails, and I need some remedies. Who knows how to get rid of them? Any suggestions? Letting this one out to the public, cuz I've had them since I got into the field a year ago, and it's getting preeeeetty bad. So...HELP! Muchas thank yous.

So, I had my first, "Other Side of Heaven" experience this week. We were in this really poor part of our area. To get to this particular house, you have to go down the side of this hill where they have...well...more or less steps carved into the side of the hill. At the bottom of the hill is the house, made of sheet metal. Well, I was feeling lazy, and I didn't want to go down the hill, so I yelled out to see if anyone was home. We had taught them a few times before, and we didn't have an appointment, we were just going by to see if they were there. Well...no one answered. I thought that they probably didn't hear me (Not TOO likely if you know me very well, but...maybe!), so I went down the hill. Right as I got there, this 20 year old or so girl comes walking out of her house with nothing but a towel on. She hadn't heard me. We just sorta stared at each other for a second, shocked. She told me she was alone. I promptly turned on my heels and RAN back up that hill. It was SO awkward. My companion almost died laughing. I almost pushed him off the hill. But...glad he was there in that moment!

Heard something I liked this week. It goes something like, "I don't own the world, but I'm the son of the owner." That one made me smile. It sound better in Spanish, just with the construction of the words and all, but it is still pretty cool in English!

Ok...all out of time! Love you guys a ton! Have a great week, and go back and read the conference talks! As always...Holland's was AMAZING, but I REALLY loved Elder Packer's too! Kind of like a last talk...who knows'?!

Love you!
Love,
Elder Hopper 2

is REAL Spirit.

April 2, 2013

Hello family!

Well...I feel REALLY relaxed writing this, cuz this week we got some new email rules! As of today we are officially able to write whoever we darn well please! Also, as part of that rule, we now have one hour and fifteen minutes to write! From what I understand, President Brough was REALLY against it, and I understand why, but the area 70 here said that he HAD to do it! So...here we are! Fifteen minutes more! I know it doesn't sound like much, but I feel like I've got YEARS to write! This also means that I need people to write to! So...email me! I've got time! And permission!

But, we got changes this week, and everything is staying exactly the same! My companion and I are sticking around so I can finish his training, and the rest of my district is staying too! Kind of a REALLY boring change, actually. But, that is ok! In fact, in the entire zone there are only 3 changes!

This week is GENERAL CONFERENCE!!!!! I. LOVE. GENERAL. CONFERENCE. This is honestly the best two days of the entire mission! Just sitting in a room, eating food, listening to God's mouthpieces on earth, in ENGLISH, hanging out with all of my very best friends, and just RELAXING!!! The worst part is that at the end of the weekend, my Spanish has suffered severely. I always notice it at the end of divisions with gringos and everything. Getting out of that Spanish mode just kills it! BUT...SOOOOOO worth it! I hope everyone plans to watch all of the sessions that they can! General Conference is what sets us apart from all of the other churches, so we as members should watch ALL of it!

So...this week was Semana Santa here in Guatemala. Holy week. It's basically the only time that almost everyone in the country has off to be with family and what not. Well...it's a VERY Catholic country, and it's a VERY Catholic week. I swear...that church worships a dead Christ. It's just a sad thing. I wish they understood that He is ALIVE!! But...such is life. Well, as part of the celebrations, the big Catholic churches have processions! As part of the processions, they have a little band, and people dress up like Roman soldiers, and they carry a representation of Christ on the cross on their shoulders around the entire city. It's pretty...well...ridiculous. I won't ever understand it. But...we were knocking doors one day, and this guy let us in. Right as we started the lesson, we heard the band for the Catholic procession out in the distance. It was coming our way. Well...it stopped RIGHT outside the door. Band and all. Then, it passed by. Then, it turned around. And stopped RIGHT in front of the house again. This guy was SUPER nervous about it. He was really Catholic himself, and just wanted to go out and pay his respects to his idols!  Well...in the end, we got stuck behind this stupid procession as we tried to leave, and it looked like we were part of it. It was annoying. I will never understand these Catholics. I really doubt this guy is going to get baptized.

We were in sacrament meeting this week, and an old man got up to talk. He kept quoting an apostle. His name? "David A. Batman" I swear...I've never been closer to peeing myself laughing in sacrament meeting than I was that day when I looked at Elder Peña, and he just sorta shrugged. The people around me were worried for my health, I think.

Well...this month we're going to have a TON of success! We have 7 investigators that are SUPER positive, and we're going to baptize them this month! This Saturday we should have baptism photos of a little nine year old in the ward, and the week after that, we're looking at a wedding, and two baptisms! I love being a missionary!

So, this week Elder Peña and I had divisions. We found this wall that extends out into nothingness, so I decided to stand on it! And take pictures!

Love you all! Have a great week! Send me emails! And enjoy conference!
Love,
Elder Hopper 2

Andrew.hopper@myldsmail.net