Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Hey!
   What’s up family how have you all been doing this week? Sounds like you have been enjoying a little warmer weather this week so that’s good. That’s sweet that you guys are going to Utah this week and that Jc is going to be going to big sky and then to a jazz game. Jealous. I just hope that all goes well and that you all travel safely wherever you go. 
   Well this week I went Cuaji to do some divisions with the elder in my district. It went really good. I pretty much went to do a baptism interview with a teenager that they were teaching. We had a pretty good talk and I could tell she really wanted to be baptized. The cool part about it is that she and her family live in a pueblo called Zoto about 30 minutes away from cuaji. I think it’s safe to say that I was the first gringo to go there (at least missionaries). We really didn’t stay to long; one of the members that live in cuaji gave us a ride in his 1980 somthing bronco to Zoto. Long story short it was a pretty long, bumpy, dusty, and hot ride but never the less I’m grateful he was willing to help us out. Right after the interview we headed back to go to some other appointments that they had. All in all it went well. 
    This week went great work wise. We were able to meet just about all of our goals so were pretty happy about that. The zone leaders that are in my district had a baptism Saturday night and we ended up having 4 investigators (3 of which have baptism dates) go so it was a big blessing. You can always feel the spirit super strong at Baptisms. Afterwards we gave them a tour of the church and they all seemed to like it. So the work is going great here. There have been a lot of little earthquakes here in pinotepa. It’s made me super paranoid to be honest. Every little vibration that I feel I think it’s an earthquake. So I need to get out of here its making me go crazy! It’s funny that you said to watch out for the dogs in the letter you sent me because while I was talking on the phone the other day when one snuck up behind me and tried to bite the back of my leg however it has horrible aim and coordination and only ended up hitting the back of my leg with its snout so jokes on him! HA. It did scare me though.... I also pulled a flee off of me the other day so now I know how josh feels. I have no idea where it came from but I didn’t have anymore so that’s good.
   Well I had better get going but I love you all so very much! I hope everything goes good for you throughout the week. Until next time,
Elder Hope!
 p.s. I bet the 49s win..... Just saying.

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Eyo!
   What’s up family how’s everyone doing? Before I forget yes dad I did get the watch you sent me, I’m actually wearing it right now so THANKS! It sounds like it’s pretty cold down there.... bummer ha I’ll try to send some heat your way. I hope you all have fun this weekend up at the cabin, tell frank and all them I say hi and if the ask about the church again... don’t be afraid to share what you know. The lord will help you all know what to say and you will also receive blessings for sharing the gospel. Just tell him to get baptized jk. But really this week has gone bye really fast. I’m having a really good time with Elder Adams (my comp from the mtc). He’s a really good kid and I feel like we had a lot of good experiences throughout the week. One of them was with a less active member named Maria Elena. We have been working with her for a while to get her to come back to church and this week she finally opened up and told us why she hadn't been coming to church. Long story short some member once said something to her that she didn’t like and for that she dropped the Church. We had a really good lesson with her about the atonement and I think she felt the spirit. All I hope is that she will come back to church. 
  Also it just turns out that E Adams was in my last area of Ixtepec Centro this last change so I have been asking him a lot about some of my converts over there. I have some good news! All of them are still going to church! In fact do you all remember Rolando? When I was there we baptized him and his son Jose but Rolando's wife never got baptized... Turns out not to long ago she was baptized and Rolando her husband was the one who baptized her. How cool is that? Also do you remember Yodo and Harvey? Their parents were inactive when we got there but we worked a lot with them and got them to come back to church and at the same time baptized Yodo and Harvey. Good news! There still going to church and going strong. E Adams told me that the dad of the family, Elias picks up member every Sunday to help them get to church. It was really good to get to hear about them all. Elder Adams says that they would always talk about me. It’s hard to describe how happy that makes me feel knowing that they all are still going strong and that I was able to help them out. I really love the mission. 
   I don’t have to much more time but I read THIS SWEET TALK THE OTHER DAY IN THE LIAHONA ABOUT HAPPINESS. I just wanted to share a part with you all that I liked. "Happiness is a decision" The point of the talk was that were always going to have problems and challenges in our life and the way we face those challenges all depends on us. We can choose to be happy or we can choose to be sad. It’s our decision. I know that if we choose to be happy thought out these times when we are facing trials that it will all turn out well in the end and we will even learn something that we can then use to help others when they face similar trials. I know it’s hard but I also know that we can do it. 
    Well that’s about all I got for you all this week, Jeff I got your letter that you sent, thanks so much for that and tell the kids thanks for the pics! I loved them. As for Crues question when I will be back ha-ha tell him soon. Also about the kid that just went home. He lives in Colorado so now we will have a place to sleep when we go to a Denver Bronco’s game ha-ha.
I love you all so much and I hope you have a great week! Until next time,
 Con Amor elder hope!

Tuesday, January 8, 2013


Wow this has been a pretty crazy week and there is so much I would love to tell you all but so little time so I’ll try to do the best that I can. First off so you’re not all wondering we did get changes and it turns out that I’ll be staying here in my area. My comp Elder Lopez is going to the city which is a little sad we got a long well and had some good times together. My new comp might sound familiar to you all, his name is...... Elder........ Adams! You’re all probably thinking right now "weren't they comp in the mtc?" the answer is yes, yes we were. I’m pretty excited. Elder Adams is a really good guy; it should be interesting to see what happens. I’m not too sure why pres put us together all I know is that he’s had problems in the past. President knows were good friends and has asked me before to talk to him and try to help him out so I’m thinking that might have something to do with it but who knows. I’m excited for it. 

   Well I saw some pretty interesting things this week; I saw a cock fight for the first time the other day while I was walking in the street, New Years Eve there were a bunch of people shooting guns in to the air. So many that both me and my comp found two bullets while walking in the street the next day. I also fell a little sick this week with grippe (cold) which wasn’t very fun but I’m taking drugs so I feel a little better ha. Its kind funny to think that you can get a cold when you sweat all day and night but I guess it cooled off a little too much one night and we left all the windows open with a fan blowing on my head. When you have that deadly combination here in pinotepa you get sick. One of my good Friends here in the mish is going home today, his name is elder Barr. He’s a dl here in the zone and his area is right next to ours so we also run into each other. It’s kind of sad to see him go but we have plans to hang out when I get home. 

   I read a pretty cool little talk the other day and I wanted to share a little of it with you all. It talked a lot about how when we dwell on small little offences they usually end up getting bigger! It’s something that I have really learned her on the mish living with other people who are completely different than you. A lot of times people will do little things that you may not like. You have two ways of dealing with the problem, you can dwell on it and let it get to you or you can forget about it and let it go. I'm not sure if any of this is making sense ha-ha but I hope it does. Life really is too short to be mad all the time and a lot of the time even when people do small stupid stuff we shouldn't let it get to us... there’s more important things to worry about it life.  Well I had better get going I just wanted to share that little thought with you all I hope it makes sense. I love you all so much and I hope everyone is doing alright!

Con Amor, Elder Hope!