Monday, May 19, 2014

Another day in Paradise

***I'm going to put the captions that McKenzie did when she sent these pics***
3 generation missionary pic (mom, grandma, daughter)

On our way to Kohls for a p-day trip

Sis G in a future Vogue snapshot

This is me saying "I love you mom!"








Dad, 
Well, this week was pretty awesome! I learned a lot of valuable lessons, one being that no matter what happens in life, if Heavenly Father is your number one, you can't go wrong or fall away. The times when I am the happiest and most confident is when I know I'm doing exactly what God wants me to be doing. I've seen so many people on my mission that have fallen away because they haven't truly found the JOY that comes from living and keeping the commandments. This week at Zone Conference we learned about the importance of teaching the principle of how the gospel blesses families. President Toombs KILLED IT! I never realized how blessed I really am to have an eternal family. Being away from y'all has really made me grateful for what I have. COOL STORY OF THE WEEK HERE WE GO: The mission office sent us a referral so we went over to contact them, the guy didn't live there anymore but as we were walking back to our (suuuuuuuuper clean and waxed) car, we saw this lady and her daughter so we went and talked to them. The mom had just got back from the dentist so she wasn't too interested in talking right then, but the daughter was REALLY excited to see us. We asked if there was a time to come back and see her and her daughter, Shaylyn (the 11 year old) said "MONDAY! Come back Monday." Christy (the mom) said that was fine. Monday came and we had some other things get in the way but we dropped off a sticky note that said we'd try back on Wednesday. Wednesday comes around and its about 7, we stopped in and Selena (the oldest daughter, 15) answered. She said her mom wasn't there so we asked if we could come back another time to share a message. She said we could just come in right then and teach them... SO we did. She gathered all her sisters around which ended up being 3 other sisters, Mariah, Shaylyn, and Allya. So they all kind of huddled around us and we started teaching them. We asked them how they thought God felt about them and Selena said "Well I know I have made some mistakes in my life but it can be okay if I repent right? That's what you said I had to do?" SO COOL! So we explained that a little more. Then later in the lesson Mariah said "Well I was baptized once but it was by a lady in a hot tub... Is that the right way to be baptized? It seemed a little weird, so what's the right way?" GOLDEN QUESTIONS! The mom and dad came home right before we could get to Joseph Smith so we had to just set up another time to come finish but then the mom welcomed us and was really kind and the dad introduced himself and shook our hands. Before we left we asked if we could say a prayer with them and we all kneeled down around their coffee table (it felt like how we would do it with the missionaries when they'd come over) there were 9 of us there so it was pretty crowded but the spirit was so strong! We also were able to teach two younger boys this week, their parents are members but they are divorced so Arthur is 11 and unbaptized, Troy is 8 and unbaptized. So we taught them and challenged them to read their scriptures and say their prayers every day. We even made them charts to mark their progress. The boys have an older brother who is 14, baptized, but ordained so we are working with the young mens president and the elders to fix that. But we gave Austin (the oldest brother) the responsibility to make sure he helps his brothers read and pray. We saw them several days later and Troy said "Austin and us have been reading every day and praying too. And yesterday we read 10 verses instead of 5!" IT MELTED MY HEART! It's amazing the dedication they have to wanting to learn and know and such a young age! A fun experience we had this week, Sister G and I had a few openings in our Saturday schedule and the city was throwing a big festival so we decided to go and hand out a ton of commissary including books or mormon, mormon.org cards, and the family proclamation brochures! We calculated that we talked to over 100 people and handed out over 100 mormon.org cards! FINDING IDEAS FOR THE WIN! We haven't gotten any new investigators because of it yet, but maybe missionaries in other area will benefit from it! So this week was really awesome and we are now heading into the 4th week of the transfer... I will also hit my 4 month mark this week.... ITS CRAZY HOW FAST TIME FLIES! I love you so much pops, thank you for all your prayers and all your love! I LOVE YOU! <3 

Yours Truly, 

Sister Hoopes

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