It sure was a great week! I just want to start by thanking those who wrote and sent packages! It meant a lot to me and loved them all. I will work on writing back to you all soon.
So yesterday was probably one of the best of my life! I had the wonderful opportunity to baptize one of our investigators, Matt on Sunday. It was truly a great experience! The baptismal service went very smoothly and so did the actual baptism. Matt was so excited. Afterwards he just said he felt "so good". He said he has been waiting to feel this way for a long time. I too have never felt so clean in a long time. It felt like I was baptized too! His mom came from California to see the baptism too. She loved church and felt the spirit very strong at the baptism. I think she is very proud of her son for making a huge positive change in his life. I hope one day she will be able to have the gospel in her life and their family will be able to go to the temple one day. Having this experience, and seeing the changes in Matt's life has truly been another witness to me that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the true church on the Earth today, and it is His church! I also had the chance to give him a priesthood blessing and see the effect it had on his week as he prepared for his baptism. This Sunday he will receive the Holy Ghost and the following weeks he will be ordained a Priest in the Aaronic Priesthood. Our district is also having another baptism next Sunday for another companionship! Its has been a great week for me. I have felt the spirit testify through me as I've taught and felt it at my side when I needed it most. Our district sure is being blessed.
We had a blizzard in New York a few days ago! It was so cool! I have never seen a storm that cool in Arizona before. There was snow all over the next day so we helped shovel snow and dig out cars as well. There was probably a foot of snow where we were. Of course I made some snowballs and pelted my companion a few times.
President Calderwood has been very pleased with my district and I. My area hasn't seen much growth in the past, but we have been working very hard and have see some very positive results from our efforts. Bushwick is one of the hardest areas in the mission. We don't get the chance to do a lot of teaching. We have been working hard and the Lord is blessing us. I love this area so much and am so blessed to be in Williamsburg. We continue to see real growth here and the members are showing their trust and love for us even more each week. Transfers are coming up next week and there is a pretty good chance my companion will leave this area since he has been here for 7 months. I will most likely stay (I sure hope I stay!). I will have the chance again to play my violin with my district singing Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing at transfer meeting.
The gospel is coming to life for me more than it ever has. I am seeing the Atonement's power in my life and most importantly in the lives of those we teach. I know this letter is short this week, but I am running out of time. The library is crazy busy right now since another library recently closed down for renovations. Thank you all so much for your prays and letters. They mean the world to me!
Have a great week and I will talk to you all next week!
Love,
Elder Hooper
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