Week 12 NYNYS

Hey everybody,

This week was great! Our sacrament meeting was great as well yesterday. We were really full and quite a few non-members came too! To help you see how full we were, we had to re-fill the sacrament trays 2 extra times and bless them as well. 95 people came in total, and for our branch that is really good! We now have a new investigator who also came to church with us. She is really friendly and very interested in the gospel as well. She has an 18 month old son who is adorable. The other companionships also had investigators to church too! The work here is really progressing and we are doing very well. We knock on doors endlessly trying to share the Plan of Happiness with little success, but people find us! The Lord is truly blessing us. The branch members are also doing very well. We have seen a very big change in the members over the last 2 months. We are becoming more united, the members are fellow-shipping and being so friendly to everyone around them. There is no other branch/ward that I would rather be serving in!

The concert in Far Rockaway last night was great! I had the wonderful opportunity to play my violin with Elder Wang, a very talented musician from Taiwan. We played "I Need Thee Every Hour". I completely forgot to record it, but it was amazing. People were amazed at how well the violin and his guitar complimented each other. Not trying to boast or anything, but we rocked it! Other than that, the rest of the concert went very well. The spirit was present and people were very touched by the program all about the Restoration which was taught through music. President Calderwood and Elder Olsen, the Area 70, spoke towards the end. A few people were committed to be baptized afterwards and a few Book of Mormons were taken as well! It was a really great concert.

So funny story of the week. On our way back from the the concert, 7 missionaries (there was a trio) were riding back in the van. I was sitting next to a sister missionary and some how our seat like unlocked and when we accelerated, the entire seat fell backwards! The three of us in the seat were screaming and then when the seat flew forward again, my seat belt locked up so tightly that it was choking me and I had to pry myself out. It was pretty funny! You just had to be there to understand what happened.

I had a cool thought while I was at the concert as well. I was just thinking how I wish I could have been here in New York during the hurricane so I could understand and relate to the people in the Rockaways more. As I was thinking about this. One of my favorite scriptures came to mind- Alma 7:11-12. We needed someone that was perfect and someone who could understand us perfectly. The Savior came to Earth so that He could understand us and to take upon Himself all the pains, sicknesses, temptations, and afflictions of every kind. He did this just to how to "succor His people according to their infirmities". Christ knows the way we feel. He loves us and understands us perfectly. He lives!

I am still doing very well out here in Brooklyn. There is no other mission that I would rather be in than right where I am. I love the people I am serving with and the people who we serve. I love my mission president and all the people in the Bushwick 1st Branch. I love my mission and most importantly, my Heavenly Father who loves me and all His children. Talk to you all next week!

Love,

Elder Hooper