Monday, February 15, 2016

So we had a lot happen this week.. We are teaching some very interesting people. We have an investigator who is a KISS impersonator and another investigator who is a guy that is married........ To another guy..... So that's fun! We went to teach him about the restoration and we just wanted to get to know him a little bit and we asked if he lived with anyone else and he said oh yeah I live here with my husband.. So next week is going to be another interesting one.. 

Then last night we had a very interesting fireside. We had a speaker come that used to be a baptist preacher! He wrote a book called Baptist preacher to Mormon teacher. He came and told us his conversion story and he brought a choir with him! The choir is called the Genesis choir and it is mostly made up of black people and they sing like a baptist choir. Apparently there was a group called the Genesis group and it was an organization within the church that was for black members back when they couldn't have the priesthood. So we got to see them and they ALL came to our biggest ward on Sunday!

Sacrament meeting and relief society were packed! Relief society was so packed we had people standing in the back and it took us 15 minutes to introduce all of the visitors. But it was so great to meet all of those wonderful people! They all have such wonderful spirits and were so kind!

So you know how sister V has super long hair? She got her hair cut today! It was a huge shock to everyone and I'm sure there will be a lot of people with shocked faces his week. She said that her mom and her grandma are going to kill her because women in Tahiti always have long hair and she keeps cutting her hair!

That's all the crazy stuff that has happened this week! Now for the most exciting thing! We have a baptism coming up on the 27th! Bonnie and her daughter Kim! I sent a picture home with them last week and Bonnie is completely ready! She is so sweet and we are so excited for her!

So that was my week! Hope everyone is doing well! Love you all!

Sister Hopper

(Hopper missionary #3)

Monday, February 8, 2016

Hello everyone!!

So is week was hard.. I'm FINALLY in Vegas and I'm in the best area in the mission! But it hasn't been easy.. We live in a really nice area with lots of gated communities and houses with super high fences..

There are so many pretty houses! Aaaaand we live right next to the temple! 

We can see the temple and the strip right outside our front door! And out our back window we can see a mountain!

So my companion is Sister Vaaei and she is from Tahiti! She just learned English and she is doing so well with it! She speaks French and Tahitian and last night we had a lesson with a French family! I kinda knew what was going on and could pick up some of the things they were saying (thank you high school French class). But it was really cool. Sister V. Was able to help them with a lot of concerns they had about the church!

This week has been hard b cause we have had so many meetings that it wasn't really a normal week.. We haven't had many lessons and one of our investigators with a baptismal date told us she didn't want to go to church anymore.. So it's been a rough week.. On the up side we have a baptism coming up! Bonnie and her Daughter Kim! They are so sweet and they wanted to get baptized together so we are working with Kim's elders so that we can make that happen for them! We took them to see the temple the other day and Kim said "mom do you want to get sealed to me?" It was a very sweet moment and I loved being able to go see the temple with them! It's beautiful!! All of the new missionaries get to go next week I think.. So I'm excited for that!

I can't remember everything that's happened this week! I need to get better at writing down all the things I want to write home.. I'll get better at that as my mission goes on! I love you all so much! Have a great week!

Sister Hopper

February 2, 2016

Hello!

It's our last day in the MTC! Vegas here we come!

Last night we said goodbye to our Elders in the district and this morning at 5 am we said goodbye to the other 3 sisters in our district. So now it's me, Sister Hunt and Sister Jebe (JB) here at the MTC getting ready to leave tomorrow at 3 in the morning! So I have two companions now! Being a trio is fun. So exciting!

Lets see if I can remember all the things that I wanted to write in this letter.. 

We had a great discussion about the Holy Ghost the other day and it was amazing! It's crazy how much you learn here and how many things you learn that you think "Duh... of course! how did I not realize that!" So the other day we were reading, as a district, in 2 Nephi 31:3 and it talks about receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost. We have been given the gift and we have to unwrap it! How cool is that! We don't just get confirmed a member of the church and call that good. We have to be actively working to receive the Holy Ghost by following the commandments! I thought that was really cool and I thought I would share that with you all!

So our teacher Brother Bennett is pretty much the best person ever and he gave us some advice before we left. He said "If your trainer says to get rid of what you learned in the MTC, you kick them in the face." Because of Brother Bennett I will never forget what I have learned here! He is truly an amazing teacher. 

We got to go to the temple again on Sunday and we got our new district last Wednesday and other than that its been lots of laughs and really weird stuff going on. People go crazy by the time they get a couple weeks in here at the MTC. In the next couple weeks they are switching English missionaries back to 3 weeks! So I guess I'm pretty lucky with that. 

I'll add some pictures to describe the rest of the week. Love you all! Have a great week!\

Sister Hopper

A picture of a picture in the MTC! It's a picture of people getting baptized in crocodile infested waters! So there are people on the side with spears so that they can fight off the crocodiles!  

Picture with our teacher sister Thompson! 

They decided it was braid Sister Hopper's hair night

January 26, 2016

January 26, 2016

Hello!

Today is day 7 in the MTC! This place is great! We've had some days that are pretty hard but we have all loved being here! The last weekend was pretty hard because we were all struggling with how to best help out investigators. We have had 4 investigators. Jan and Patrick were investigators played by our teachers Sister Thompson and Brother Bennett. Then we had Erika and Catherine and they are both so great! We are still trying to figure out how to best teach each of them because they each have very specific needs. They are volunteers that come to the MTC and help us learn how to teach. So they are actors. We are pretty sure that Erika is a nonmember but Catherine we are not so sure about. But either way we need to treat it as if it were real. 

I was going to tell you about the pictures but I can't remember which one is which and I'm not able to look at them.. So I'll do my best to remember what they were. 

There is a picture of my district (a picture of my zone will come later) a picture of just the sisters in my district and a picture of my companion, Sister Hunt, and I.

I think there is a picture of my falling asleep at a desk.. That was a night that we had comp study for three and a half hours right before we went back to our residence to sleep and we were all pretty much brain dead. I can't remember what the other ones were but next week I will have an explanation for each one specifically. 

We are leaving for the temple in a few minutes so it's time for me to go!

I love you all and hope everyone is doing well! 

love,

Sister Hopper

(Hopper missionary #3)

PS-Some of the pictures got deleted last minute.  We'll hope that she can send them again next week.  I think they were too big for one email.  Stay tuned!!

January 22, 2016

I received a short note by email from Lainey tonight!  Just letting us know she's good:

Hi Mom! 

I'm alive! Dead tired. But alive! We only have a couple minutes to let you know we are are all okay and doing well so this will be short. We have P day on Tuesday so I will email then! Love you! Tell everyone I say hi and that I love them! Hope everyone is doing well and I will talk to you soon! Tell people to write me because I would love to get some emails or letters. Dear elder is great because I can read them before I email so I don't have to spend all my emailing time reading. So I would love it if people would do that! 

Love, 

Sister Hopper

January 20, 2016

Soon enough, the time has come to send our youngest child on a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints.  What a wonderful young woman.  We are proud of her courage and commitment to the Lord.

November 28, 2016

On November 28th Lainey went to the temple to receiver her endowment.  What a special time to have with our daughter.  Grandma Inman was able to attend with us!