What’s up family?

Wow well today has been a pretty crazy day, I guess I spoke to soon on being together with Elder Torres for another change...... this morning we received a phone call from the zone leaders saying that we had special changes and that E Torres was to be in Oaxaca in ten mins to go to his area. It was a blind side that’s for sure. So he packed his bags really fast and we headed to Oaxaca. Right now I’m with my new comp named Elder Guzman.. I would tell you something about him but I really don’t know anything, so that will have to wait until next week. All I know is that we have about the same time in the mission. He seems like a pretty good guy.

   This week went pretty well for us; we were able to find a couple new invest and two of them are really promising and even came to church with us so I hope all will go well and that they will read in the book of Mormon that we gave them. We also have a baptism lined up for this Sunday so I hope all will go well and that we will be able to help her enter into the waters. Her name is Tania; actually she is the sister of Feliza that girl we baptized a while back. She told us that she has been reading and wants to be baptized ha-ha so that was really cool. We have seen a change in her, at first she was pretty hard and didn’t want her sister to be baptized but it just goes to show that the book of Mormon really does change people. 

    Sorry but this is going to be a really short letter, I have to fill out a couple papers here on the computer and send them to our DL. I hope and pray that everything is going well for you all. I love you all so very much and I hope that you all have a good week. I’m sorry this is short but I had better go. Take care everyone and I’ll try to fill you in more next week.

Love your boy,

Elder Hope

Que pasa cholos?

   Well another week has pasted by and it went pretty fast. Well before I forget dad we actually had changes yesterday... I forgot to tell you guys in my last letter, I told josh in his but he must have forgotten to pass the word. Turns out I’m going to be staying here in Etla for 6 months of my mission and I’ll be here for another change with Elder Torres. It will be interesting because this is our third change together ha-ha. He’s a good kid and we get along well but I’m sure you all remember from your missions that after a little time together with your comps things start to get hard. Well have been comps for 4 1/2 months when all is said and done. Also I did get the package you sent so that was sweet. Thanks so much for the supplies they were needed. 

   Well today I would like to share something that I learned this past week. I was reading a talk the other day by Elder Dieter F Uchtdorf called “The Merciful Will Receive Mercy”. I love this talk. It talks a lot about how we need to be willing to forgive others and not judge. He shares a Scripture that I have always liked in which it says pray for your enemy's, serve them, love them. I have also learned here on the mission that we are all children of God. He loves us no matter where we live, what we look like, or the color of our skin (I know you all know that also). Well with that said I would like to share a little story that happened this week. 

   The other day E Torres and I decided that we needed to visit a pueblo called Nazareno and do some contacting over there. The day before we had lots of success and were able to get into some doors. The day actually started off really well, the first door we knocked we were invited in (something that really doesn’t happen much here). As we continued to knock doors we passed by a middle aged man who was cutting some of the weeds in front of his house with his machete. I had the feeling to stop and ask if we could help. (Looking back I think it was the spirit telling me to keep walking) The first thing he said after I asked if we could help was pretty offensive and it was directed towards me ha. I gave a little laugh and decided to let my comp take over. Well I don’t know what I did to this guy but for some reason he didn’t like me. He kept asking me questions followed by offensive remarks. Long story short It didn’t take too long before I started to get a little angry...... this guy was really offensive and after talking with him for a bit I gave him a little part of my mind. I tried to teach with love but what he was saying made it really hard, he knew where to hit me where it hurt. I gave him a card with our Numbers and we left. Afterwards I was pretty hot. The spirit was gone and all I could think of was how rude and immature he was. 

   Then I remembered the talk I had read a day before. I knew that in order to regain the spirit that I had to apply that talk in my life and pray for this man. The song came to my head called “I Pray for you” in which it says I pray your breaks go out running down a hill and a flower pot falls from a window seal and knocks you in the head like I want to ha-ha. jk But I started to pray and after I felt the same as before, angry. I’m not sure how many times I prayed to ask for forgiveness for my actions and strength to forgive him for what he said but I know that it wasn’t easy and took a couple attempts. The point of this story is that we need to forgive those who offend us and pray for them. A lot of times when we are angry or hurt it is easy to judge others but I like the advice Elder Uchtdorf said, when we catch ourselves judging or angry at others to STOP IT! It was hard but I honestly felt like I was able to forgive the man and I feel content. 

  I hope all of that was able to make sense, If not read the talk it’s great. I just wanted to share with you this experience that I had and to testify that praying for forgiveness and praying for the strength to forgive works. And when all is said and done you will feel better and be happier. I love you all so very much and I hope you have a great day/week. Let me know if there is anything I can do for you all. You’re in my prayers daily.

 Con Amor Elder Hope

Yo Yo Family

   What’s up family, wow it sounds like you had a pretty busy but fun week with all that went on. Dad I got the pics ha-ha I got a pretty good laugh at the one with Jeff and the fish he caught, he looked a little scared of it ha-ha but I don’t blame him its not to pretty of a fish. I also got the photos of you all camping it looks like you had a blast with a lot of people! And it looks like you had a little luck to get the same camp site. Did you hit some more golf balls up into the mountain? That’s good that you all were able to catch some fish also ha-ha. It sounds like you guys ate well also, I’m not going to lie I would love a stake right now with some potatoes and beans.... but brow beans because the black ones that we eat here aren’t as good. Also CONGRATS that you all headed home early to make it to church, I also realize that crues hair looks even blonder than before ha-ha. I’m glad that you all made it home safe and that you all had a pretty good week.

   Well we didn't have any baptisms this week however I do have a 1 good story. When I first got here to Etla we honestly had nothing to do. As I told you before the elders that were here before me were dead and hardly left their house for three weeks. We had a list of members active so I started looking for people we could visit to see how they were doing and hopefully receive a reference. It turned out that there was a family that lived two streets from us so we went and visited them. Well long story short we kept passing by with them and inviting them back to church. There are six of them in the family, the dad and one of his sons have started to come back to church but the mom and the others are still hesitant. I ended up giving one of the kids a white shirt because he didn’t have one and would come to church in jeans and t shirts.  As the time has gone on we have kept working with them. The last couple weeks we have been talking to Manuel, the son, about missions. He showed a little interest and said it is something that he wouldn’t mind doing. We invited him to ask god if he needed to or not. Yesterday we were talking with him in the church and he told us he had just finished talking to the bishop about serving a mission. We congratulated him and talked more about the mission.

 Sometimes it’s easy to forget those who have joined the church and then later in life when faced with trials have fallen away. I was reading in Alma 31:34-35 the other day when I found a scripture that I highlighted because it talked about missionary work, I like it a lot because a lot of times people fall away from the church, and a lot of them are "our brothers" it’s our jobs as members to "bring them back again" to the truth. I’m really excited for Manuel and his decision to serve on a mission and I hope that through his example that his family will come back to the church. I just wanted to let you all know how much I love you and I hope that we can all reach out to those who are in need. You’re all in my prayers daily, Love Elder Hope

Hello Family,
   What’s up, well this week sure did go by fast. It doesn't seem to long ago that I was just writing you guys. It sounds like you all had a pretty busy week but I’m glad you were all able to get a little done around the house. Dad I saw that josh tried to send a couple pics but I didn’t get them, I got the ones of him washing Thor and of Gracie but I think he tried to send one of the trailer. I didn’t get to see it but I’m sure it looks good. That’s also a bummer you didn’t get the TA out. I’m just glad you still have it ha-ha. The fourth here is a little different, I’m not going to lie I missed blowing things up ha-ha but its all good.
   Friday night the bishop called us and told us that we were going to give another talk this Sunday. I decided to talk about the book of Mormon. I felt that it went pretty well, I challenged all the members and our investigators that were there in church to read every day. I have got into a habit of reading every morning when I wake up and I love it. It really makes the day go smoother when I read.
We spent a couple good days contacting with little success ha, we also passed by a lot of members this week to share a scripture with them and invited them to invite a non member friend or family member to their house and introduce them to use. We have a couple appointments with some members so were hoping that we might be able to receive some new invest.
   One of our invest named Roberto is making pretty good progress, he’s had a lot of problems in the past but he’s looking for a change. The other day we taught tithing and after he was like when and where do I pay? Can I pay this Sunday? He was super excited and he must have felt the spirit because he knew that it was something that he needs to do. He has a baptism date for the 22 of this month.
   We also visited a reference from a member this week, turns out the reference was a guy named Estaban. He’s really friendly but really confused. He has read the bible for 8 years and has been church hopping for the last 6. He had a lot of questions about the bible.... A LOT.  And we were able to answer everyone. He later told us he was impressed on how we answered his questions and thought we only believed in the book of Mormon. We were also surprised afterwards and I know that we received a lot of help throughout our lesson with him.
   I have really gained a testimony about the bible and book of Mormon her in the mission; I actually just finished reading the Book of Mormon in Spanish for the first time. It took me a while but I also restarted about 4 times because I felt like I needed to. It’s such a cool book, it’s full of answers! All we have to do is read it and ponder the words. I know that it was written for our days and that it’s the keystone of our religion. I also have found out that when we read it we grow closer to our savior Jesus Christ. I love the Book.
   Well I had better go but I just wanted to let you all know how much I love you and I hope that all is going well for you guys back at home. You’re in my prayers daily, con amor
Elder Hope

Hola,
   what’s up family? Wow this week went by pretty fast I must say. First off I’m glad to hear that your trip went well and that everyone had a good time! That’s sweet that you guys went sea fishing! I have always kind of wanted to do that, but did you go fishing with all of mom’s family or was it just you guys? Dad I’m sorry to hear you got fished out by everyone else but I guess that’s how it goes sometimes right. That’s also good that the weather held out for you guys, I enjoyed looking at the pics so thanks for that.
   Well it’s still a little rainy here which still makes it a little harder to find all of our invest. But luckily it’s mostly in the evening so were able to work pretty good in the morning. A member also gave my  comp a rain coat so that helped a lot so we could at least walk to our appointments while it’s raining rather than trying to find shelter. Tuesday I also got to go to the temple again which was really cool. I really enjoy being close to the city and I like the benefit of going to the temple once a month it really helps out a lot. Afterwards we had interviews with president Leva and it was really cool to get to talk with him.
   Saturday we had another little activity with the members here in Etla, were really trying to gain back their confidence and involve them in our lessons. We gave a brief description in what we teach in the lessons so they would be able to know and have the chance to think what they would say in the lessons. It went fairly well and a lot of them told us that they enjoyed it. The bad part was out of the some 200 + members in the ward only about 40 showed up ha-ha so it was a bummer in that aspect and we hoped for more but what can you do?
   The other day we had a couple appointments fall through so we decide to contact before we headed home for the night (this was about 8 p.m.) The first house we knocked a lady answered and we began teaching. After explaining a little about the plan of salvation I asked her if we could come in for 15 to 20 mins and teach her a little more. She paused for a min and said yeah come in. We were pretty shocked, this is only about the second or third time someone has let us in that easy and me comp whispered to me ¨she golden man¨. Well long story short we entered and this nice lady began to tell us her life story which lasted about an hour. Ha-ha we made several attempts to teach but were shut down immediately. My comp was having a pretty hard time staying awake so as soon as we got to chance to leave we ran!  I know it probably doesn’t sound too funny but after we Finlay got to our house we had a pretty good laugh.
   I just want to let you all know I’m doing good her in Mexico, I’m still getting a little fat but the other night I made a pretty good workout so I plan on trying that out tonight. I love you all so very much and I hope that you all have a good week. I have really grown to love the work here in the mission, at times it’s hard and to be honest not the funniest, but it’s so rewarding. I know that the church is true and Jesus Christ is our savior and Redeemer. I know that he knows us perfectly, he knows how we feel when were hurting and sad and I also know that when were facing hard trials that he is there giving us a push from behind. I’m so grateful for the plan our heavenly Father created for us and I know it to be true. I love each and every one of you and I hope you all have a good week. Until next week,
Elder HOPE

Dear family,

   I’m not going to lie I’m pretty speechless right now and I’m not a hundred percent sure on what to say about all that has happened this past week back at home. The more I heard about Ross as I have been in the mission the more I have prayed for his health. I honestly don’t know what to say other than as we all know he’s in a better place. I have worried that I would be getting an email like this for a while now and I have also thought about Ross and his Life and all that he has done for the lord here on earth. I have no doubt that he is resting from all his sicknesses that he was suffering from when he left. I’m glad that you were able to get to spend a little time with him before he passed away. I just want to bear my testimony that I do know that this church is true and that because god loves us he created a pan for us, the plan of salvation. I’m so grateful to know that life on earth is only part of the plan and that there is life after death. I’m so grateful for our savior and Redeemer Jesus Christ and for his Atonement. I know that through it we will be able to return to the Creator of this wonderful plan and live with our loved ones again. I can’t explain how grateful I am to have this knowledge in my life. I love you all so very much and I hope that you’re all doing well.

   It has been pretty rainy here again this last week which makes it difficult to work. My comp doesn’t have a rain coat and I feel bad when I make him walk in the rain. I’ve been looking around a little to see if I can find one to buy for him. This week we were able to find a couple new investigators so that’s good. We were also able to make some pretty good progress with one of our investigators named Robert and last Sunday he came to church with us so that was really cool. The other day when it was raining pretty good we went to one of our investigators that lives in a low spot and when it rains his house floods so we went over to see if we could help him out a bit. He had made a little dam in front of his house before we got there but after a couple min. of talking it gave in and water started to find its way in. We tried to slow it down the best we could but it was a losing battle. By the time it was over we were soaked from head to toe and went home to change into warm cloths. We have a couple people who are getting pretty close to baptism so were going to be working really hard to get them into the water.

   I know that this letter is a little short but once again I have to go. I won’t be able to send pics for a couple weeks because I guess the narcos (drug dealers) are pretty upset with the US right now so the president of the area has asked us not to take any photos for a couple weeks and not to speak any English in the streets or go to any store that’s owned by America. So I don’t have any pics to send ha. But don’t worry this is the first time they have ever said anything about this to us and I’m sure it’s dying down.

   I just want to let you all know that I’m doing alright. I love the gospel and its teachings. Were so lucky to have that knowledge in our life’s and I’m glad that I can share it with others. I hope you all have a good week on your trip and that you all travel safely. I love you all so much and pray for you daily.

Until next week, Elder Hope