December 10, 2013

First things first.

 

I'm incredibly hungry.

 

There...now that that is out of the way...let's get into the good stuff. 

 

Well, this week we had two baptisms! We love this little family, Carlos and Verali. They are a lot of fun, and the best part is that they live in a house FULL of little kids! I love going there! It was so funny...while we were getting ready for the baptisms, my companion was in the bathroom stall getting dressed in his white clothes. Well...two of the little girls, probably about 5 and 6 came into the guys bathroom. Just waaaaaltzed right on in. Well...there was something in there that they had never seen before. A urinal. While I was trying to usher one of them out of the men's bathroom, the other one went and tried to figure out what it was! She turned to me with innocent eyes and asked, "Hopper, ¿Que es eso?" at which point she turned around, and sat down on it, trying to use it like a toilet. It was...hilarious. I just warned my companion to lock the door, and let them have their fun with these new creations that they had never seen. I didn't really know what to do...

 

So, the closer we get to Christmas, and ESPECIALLY on weekends, there are more and more drunks in the street! Well...last Saturday night, which is the hot night for drunks, this drunk guy came up to us and said, "Look...you guys just walk WAY. TOO. FAST. Do you EVER rest?!" That's a rough translation...but it was just a funny moment. I love drunk people. The fun ones. Some are just angry, though, and I don't like those.

 

I have come to the realization again this week of how incredibly grateful I am for everything. I just want you all to look around you, and realize how comfortable you are, and how INCREDIBLY blessed you are. I am so grateful for this opportunity that I have to be a missionary here for, if nothing else, to be the most grateful human being on the face of the planet. It's kind of hard to adequately express in words, but I'm just grateful.

 

I've been studying lately the difference between being a consecrated missionary vs. an obligated missionary. Many people come on missions because they feel obligated to do so, but if we really want to become CONSECRATED to the Lord, and His work, we need to find a MUCH deeper reason to work like we do.  Well, I found a scripture that I LOVED that talks about this. It is in 2 Nefi 2:1-3. It talks all about how the sufferings of his childhood consecrated his life to the work of God, but even after that he had to be obedient and diligent. This week in the ZL counsel President talked about his main goal for his missionaries is that they leave the mission being consecrated, and saved. It was a super powerful moment when he said, "I want EVERY SINGLE MISSIONARY to be in the Celestial kingdom. From the most disobedient, to the hardest workers. I want them ALL there, and it is YOUR job as leaders to help me make that happen." So...there is a BIG difference in being a consecrated missionary and being an obligated missionary, and I want to be that consecrated missionary. President in my last interview talked a lot about me consecrating my mission to the Lord in these last three months that I have, so...that's what I'll do! Just gotta work harder!

 

This is a Guatemalan dressing room in middle of a crowded market.

Love you all. Have an awesome Christmas. Enjoy the tranquility of it all. Here, it's the loudest day of the year. It's quite a difference, the culture. But...I'll most certainly love the tamales, and the ponche, and all the fireworks!

Love you!
Love,

Elder Hopper NUMBER ONE!!! HA!!! 

P.S...I hope everyone went to watch the Christmas devotional by the church...it was fantastic! If you didn't...go back and watch it again! Isn't internet the greatest?