December 17, 2013

HEEEELLO FAMILY!!!
They're playing, "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas" in Spanish in this internet place. How very, very baggy. Definitely won't be having a blance navidad here! 

 

Well...it was a good week! First off, we had changes! I got my first gringo companion that I've had since...June of 2012! Wow...that is a LOOOOONG time. But the best part is that it's Elder Haertel! I saw his birth in La Sonora some 16 months ago! He's one of my best friends on the mission! It's fun...when they call the zone leader's changes, they go up to the stand so that they can see their whole zone, and see who they are. So...they called the zone Tiquisate, and I knew that my comp was out, so I headed up to the stand alone, and they said, "En Tiquisate uno...Elder Hopper recibe a.......Elder Haertel!!!" And before I could get up to the stand, he knocked me over with this huge hug! It was a pretty epic moment. The whole mission just laughed at us. They were just jealous. The other awesome part about changes is that I got Elder Breinholt in my zone! He moved down to train and die, and he's with me! I'm SO EXCITED about it! It's going to be a sweet change. I just hope we both stay in the zone to die together...we'll see! 

Just took this picture! Love this man!

So, during the change meeting, we had a special treat. President Brough's family came because the very day of changes was his birthday! So his two brothers were there, along with his daughter and wife, which isn't super weird. But his brothers is odd. Well, they got to bear their testimonies. In English, cuz they don't speak Spanish. How convenient it is that I speak English. Well, one of them started out by saying, "Many of you probably think that President Brough can walk on water" We all laughed, thinking that some good story of a President Brough screw up was coming. Well, he then said, "I want you all to know, that I think President Brough can walk on water too. I can't think of ANYTHING that would make this man unworthy in your eyes to hold the position he now holds, and I couldn't think of a better big brother that a man could have." It was such a spiritual moment. The spirit just hit us all like a wall. It really made me think about my brothers, too. And I realized how grateful I am to have brothers who I can honestly say are my very best friends. It was just one of those grateful moments. I'm having a lot of those lately.

 

Also, during changes, I saw one of my converts! Tito Perez from La Sonora! This guy is my pride and joy. I was just SO EXCITED to see him! He was helping the missionaries get their bags to the change meeting, and he started to talk to me about his home teaching families, how he is getting ready to go to the temple, and how incredibly grateful he is that we knocked on his door that day. It was definitely a missionary pay day. Love getting those. They're not too frequent.

 

So, this week...the Jehovah's witnesses knocked on our door. Imagine their surprise when two big, gringo Mormons walked out, nametag and all. The look on his face was PRICELESS. There were two, but one just stood there watching the other, like he was his padawan. We let him do his thing, and we didn't take out the scriptures that I have found throughout the mission that completely destroys the testigos way of thinking, but it was just interesting to have it on the other side of the door contact. They didn't really teach me any doctrine, though. They just told me to read the Bible more, and that I don't read it enough. I was kind of disappointed in the end.

 

Well...all out of time! Love you all! I hope you have a wonderful week before Christmas! 

Love,

Elder Hopper 1