Loving the new area!
Hello everybody! It has been a busy and exciting week! I have been transferred to Staten Island! I absolutely love it out here so far. I like it even more than Brooklyn. I didn't have time to take pictures this morning of the apartment and area and such since we helped a family move early this morning. I will send some pictures next week! My companion is Elder Tuiaki from Tonga! He has been out for 1 year and 2 months and is still learning English. There is a slight communication barrier, but I love this guy a lot. He is a very warm and friendly guy.
I get to also drive a car! I am driving a 2011 Subaru Impreza. When I first got here, the previous missionary was trying to change the tire and snapped one of the wheel studs off the tire and stripped the lug nut. Instead of loosening the lug nuts in a star pattern, he just went in a circle and the pressure and weight of the car just snapped it. I had to snap another one off and one of the lug nuts was impossible to remove. The first 2 days here were just spent on getting our car fixed, calling pep boys, calling the dealership, and calling the mission office. He ended up having to get the car towed and had to buy the parts from the dealership! Ahh crazy stuff! Now it’s working, but we still have to get another wheel stud and nut since pep boys had to break another one off. The AC works great though!
I am serving in the Staten Island 1st Ward. It is such a strong ward and functions very well too! The members are very supportive and love the missionaries. Our district is one of the most obedient in the mission. We all work hard and follow the white hand book with exactness. It is so nice when everyone is working hard and being obedient. It makes us all more unified and have the spirit and also it strengthens the trust with the members and with the missionaries. Our apartment is huge! It is twice the size of my last apartment. It is so nice. We live right above the zone leaders. Oh yea, my companion is also the district leader. We have 3 Sisters who are in a trio and just us 4 Elders. We have the best missionaries in the mission here in Staten. I got to make sure I keep up with them haha!
We had a really cool experience last night too! We were looking up some less-active people and we went to go visit Hilda and Larry's family. Hilda was baptized 3 years ago and Larry and the family (Chris 22, Dominik and Helen about 12) are not members. We knocked on the door and they were very warm and welcoming and said we should come back since Larry was still recovering from surgery and Hilda wasn't feeling well. We set a date and time and we left. As I was walking back to the car and about to get in, I had the distinct impression to go back and leave a blessing on their home. I turned to Elder Tuiaki and told him what I felt and we both were kind of like, "that is going to be kind of odd to go back", but we went anyway. They accepted to prayer and really felt the spirit. We ended up talking for 2 hours! They are such a great family and Hilda has many gifts of the spirit as well.
As we were tracting, we met this Byzantine Orthodox that was slightly apostate and was so offended and didn't understand how I could have received a witness about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. I was getting so frustrated and I was like "you know, we aren't going to come to any agreement so we have to leave, and I just walked away". He wouldn't let us go, but I was like I am out of here haha!
Everything is great! I absolutely love Staten! I being much more fearless and working harder than I have in a while. I was getting really tired of doing the same things everyday in the same small area for 7 months!
I pray that all of you are doing well! Talk to you guys next week!
Love,
Elder Hooper
My New Address:
417 Westervelt Ave Apt 2
Staten Island, NY 10301
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