Monday, February 27, 2017

Yay I'm feeling better! Kinda!

This week every time I ate my stomach was hurting so I might be going to the doctor here soon to see what's going on. Hopefully nothing too bad.

This week we got to meet our investigators daughter! She's so sweet and tonight we are going to go and have FHE at out members house with them. I really love these families and we are so excited for Michelle to be able to make this change in her life.

We also are having a baptism on Saturday for Robert! Him and his wife and son want to be sealed in the temple so we have been teaching Robert so they can start preparing! So this week is going to be great!

Sorry for the lack of pictures.. The last couple weeks have been hard with my stomach problems but I'm trying to work through it and we are seeing blessings for working through the hard times!

I love being a missionary so much. This week has been a reflective one and I've been thinking a lot about how much I have learned and the ways I've changed. Sometimes it's hard to see it but when I take the time to really reflect on the experiences I've had and the people I've met. This is truly the best time of my life!

Love you all so so much! Have a great week!

Love,

Sister Eliza Hopper

Monday, February 20, 2017

Sorry this week was very uneventful.. I was pretty sick this weekend and we didn't get to go to church because of it and it was really horrible. I hate missing church. 

But good news is I got to hold another snake! And wear a Sombrero! We have some awesome investigators! 

Sorry this one is super short :( my emails seem to be getting worse and worse but next week will be better because I won't be sick! Love you all! Have a great week!

Love,

Sister Eliza Hopper

Monday, February 13, 2017

So this week was full of miracles! The biggest one was out new investigator Sam! She is awesome! I've met her before but she has been really hard to get in contact with because she has never actually answered the door. But this time she did! We had a strong prompting to go and see her even though we hadn't planned to see her and she opened up! It was amazing! She needed us at that time and we are excited to teach her. I've learned that we always need to follow our promptings!

No matter how small it may seem God wants to know he can trust us! So we need to follow those promptings! We also got to go on exchanges this week and it rained! :D it's kind of becoming spring time here and it's starting to feel like Oregon summer some days! I just really don't want it to get hot again.. I'm not ready for that!

I wanted to share the scripture with you all that I've been thinking about all week!

D&C 100

12 Therefore, continue your journey and let your hearts rejoice; for behold, and lo, I am with you even unto the end.

I hope everyone is doing good! Love you all!

Love,

Sister Eliza Hopper

Monday, February 6, 2017

This week went by suuuuuper slow... I was sick and for anyone who has served a mission you know how slow the week goes when you can't go out and work. It's the worst thing ever. But somehow we still saw blessings!

This week I reflected a lot on what I'm doing here and why I still want to be here.. I was thinking a lot about the amazing people I've met and the people I've had the opportunity to teach and I love them all. I wouldn't trade what I'm doing for anything. I love sharing the gospel. Sadly my time as a missionary is going by so fast.. I only have 6 months left and it feels like I just got here. I still feel like a new missionary and like I have so much to learn! I don't want to go back into the real world because it's honestly so scary. But I'm excited to apply the many things that I've learned and to add onto them!

I was also able to receive a blessing this week and man those things are amazing! Haha seriously though I am so thankful for the priesthood and for worthy priesthood holders who are always willing to serve. The gospel is such an amazing blessing that I think most of us don't think about enough.. The blessings that we receive as members of the church are amazing and I want to start noticing them more.. Because I know I don't pay enough attention to how blessed I am.

I got to go to the temple this week! I wish I could come here more but I'm thankful for the times we do get to go!

The Beautiful LV strip! 

I hope you're all doing well! Love you all!

Love,

Sister Eliza Hopper

Monday, January 30, 2017

This week was filled with companion hoping and blessings! I was with sister Cutrer and sister Vandervelde for a couple days...

 and then Sister Schaat and Sister Thornton the rest of the week...

 and on Sunday morning I went and picked up a companion!! Her name is Sister Hazen! 

Darralee got baptized and because I was with some other sisters as well, I got to go to another baptism too! It was awesome! At Darralee's baptism I gave the talk on the Holy Ghost and told a story that I wanted to share: 

By the time my uncle Ken Porter was 19 years old, he had flown more than 50 missions in Europe as a tailgunner on a B-17 for the U.S. military. Of all his World War II experiences, one of my favorites is his story of the first all-black fighter group, known to history as the Tuskegee Airmen.
The Tuskegee Airmen often acted as escorts for Ken and his bombing group, assigned to keep them as safe as possible and giving aid when needed. Their help was never more valued than during one hazardous mission over Hungary when things went badly and my uncle’s plane was hit by flak from head to tail, knocking off the nose cone, damaging two of the engines, and wounding most of the crew. In an attempt to stay in the air, they discarded most of their guns, ammo, and anything else they could find. Even so, their situation became dire until at last they were able to make radio contact with the Tuskegee Airmen.
“Where are you boys?” one of my uncle’s crewmen asked. “We can’t see you.”
Within seconds of his call, the answer came reassuringly back: “Don’t worry, fellas. You can’t see us, but we sure enough can see you!” With that, the Tuskegee Airmen flew in to help my uncle, his crew, and their damaged B-17 to safety.
In recalling that story, I’ve often thought how we also have a guide in our lives. While the Savior was gathered with His Apostles before His Crucifixion, He told them, “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever” (John 14:16). This Comforter was also meant for us. With the Holy Ghost to guide us, our life’s journey will be safer and more sure, bringing us to where the Lord wants us to go.

The Holy Ghost is so important in our lives and those of us who  have had the blessing of receiving that gift need to constantly stay worthy of it! It is a gift and we need to constantly be unwrapping that gift! It takes work! 

I love you all so much and hope you have a great week! 
Love, 

Sister Eliza Hopper 

Monday, January 23, 2017

This week I said goodbye to Sister Cheyne! I got to meet her dad and she is now touring around the mission with him and giving him a little taste of what mission life is like!

 

This week we went on exchanges and I got to be with Sister Auva'a for the day! We went to their district council and had to give the elders a ride. One of the elders has been really sick so we took him some food and let the elders give him a blessing.

On Wednesday we had our last district lunch ever... We aren't allowed to have district lunches anymore but we had fun at 5 guys for our last lunch together! 

Then of course we took a lot of pictures for Sister Cheyne because she was leaving so we got pictures with our investigators and with some of our members that we are closest to!

Then we had ZTC and took a picture as a zone.

Then the next day we had interviews and I talked to President about what's going on with my companion situation and we still don't know! So for now I'm with Sister Vandervelde and Sister Cutrer! We are having fun so far :) This week was super busy but so great! Our investigator Darralee is getting baptized on Saturday and I'm so excited for her!

Hope everyone is doing great! Love you all!

Sister Eliza Hopper

Monday, January 16, 2017

Ready to hear about the longest week of my life?

So it started out with me stepping in wet concrete.. We were walking out of our complex to go visit some people across the street and of course I stepped in a random pile of wet concrete! 

After that we were walking down the street and ran into a couple and their son who said "are you on your way back from trying to visit us?" Sister Cheyne and I looked at each other and said "who are you?" She said she was a member of the church and that she wanted us to start teaching her husband so he can get baptized because they want to to be sealed in the temple! We were so excited and they are so ready! So now we have an awesome family we are teaching! 

We continued to walk and we were so excited about what had just happened and I was trying to put the information about our next teaching appointment into my iPad when I was inches away from stepping on a DEAD DUCK. There was just a random dead duck in the middle of the sidewalk.. 

Then I was trying to see if I had gotten all of the concrete off of my shoe and almost fell into a busy road.. 

After that we were able to visit a less active family and play with a kitten! The mom is actually allergic to cats and their vacuum had broken so we offered to bring our vacuum over the next day and vacuum for her so she could have some relief from the cat hair in the house. When we went over the next day, the kitten was trying to bite her daughter's face and then was attacking Sister Cheyne so I was trying to keep the cat from them and as a result of that I got my hand all torn up.. 

The next day we went over to another less active's home and I asked her if we could meet her dog because we never got to and I love dogs.. She said okay and went and got the dog.. The dog apparently has a licking problem and wanted to lick my face and over shot.. So she hit my nose really hard with her open mouth... And now my nose hurts... 

So that was my fun week.. 

Then we got to see President Nelson! It was such an amazing spiritual experience and he helped me with a lot of questions that I had. I love being a missionary and being able to be around amazing people!

I also got to meet my Cousin Elder Heppler! 

And I got to see an old member.

Love you all!

Sister Eliza Hopper