I am in Jamaica, Queens! I am still a city boy! I have been in every
borough in our mission now- Brooklyn, Staten Island, now Queens. I
have been to Manhattan and now I have to figure out how to get to the
Bronx! My new companion is Elder Busby and like my last companion, he
is also from Las Vegas, NV. He is a very strong missionary and works
hard and gets the job done right. I have enjoyed being with him and we
also have some fun things planned for our zone to help them increase
their faith to find new people to teach. We are in the process of
making a video of recent converts sharing their testimonies, how
missionaries found them, giving a few words of encouragement. Our zone
is having a difficult time finding people to teach and we have a SoE
of 20 new investigators per companionship per transfer. So that is 280
new investigators at the end of the transfer for our zone so we are
doing our best to hit that! Videos, graphs and more!
I have also been seeing some miracles of my own on Facebook! I have
joined a few bible study groups and I post some inspirational
scriptures or quotes and people have enjoyed them and comment on them!
I then respond to them and if they continue to reply I message them
personally and invite them to skype. So far in just a week I have
found 2 new investigators over online proselyting! I went on my first
zone leader exchange with District Leader Elder Bush, a Spanish
speaking Elder in Jamaica. We had an awesome miracle this evening too!
So we got back home at 8:50pm and since we knew that we must be
obedient and be home at 9pm and not before, we prayed and asked God
through our faith that we would find someone to teach during the next
ten minutes. We went out and knocked on a few doors and the first one
was a nice lady who wasn't too interested and the second was the
miracle. We noticed that Elder Bush's neighbor didn't shovel their
snow so we offered our services. Later on during the snow shoveling,
the man comes out of his house and says that he would like to learn
more about our theology! I was just like, wow, God truly did hear our
prayer and because we were obedient, we found someone to teach.
I remember when I was back in Bushwick and I was hungry all the time.
I went to Staten Island and I wasn't hungry very often. Now I am back
in a walking area and I am starving all the time again! All the
smells, walking all day, it is killing me.
My apartment is smaller than my previous one, but it is still pretty
nice. We have a balcony! Unfortunately, is soooo cold that I can
survive for on,y 10seconds out there. It has been snowing all week
basically and it is be 10 degrees frequently with strong wind. It is
not fun.
I know that this is where the Lord wants me to be- right here in
Queens. I have a great company. I love the missionaries that I preside
over and I love my mission. I love being a missionary!
Love,
Elder Hooper!
Monday, January 27, 2014
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
Week 62, 7 months-Bushwick, 7 months-Staten, ? months-??
So funny story first. Immediately after getting on the Statue of Liberty ferry, I went quickly to the bathroom and went upstairs to join everyone else. This guy gives me a weird look and then is like "hey, come here". I come and then he beckons me to come closer to whisper to me, so I do. He says "check your zip". I was just like, oh my gosh thank you! It was funny. The sisters were like what was he saying and I just said oh nothing and then when they looked away I zipped up my zipper hahaha. The Statue of Liberty was a lot of fun. We weren't able to go to Ellis Island, due to time issues. Manhattan is so nice.
So today we went to the TEMPLE with Donald! It was a blast! The Novaks graciously drove us. It was just great to be inside the temple. Elder Legere baptized him like 25 times! He was baptized for family names so then we confirmed them immediately afterwards. He was freezing and shaking. I felt so bad for him. Then one of the most precious experiences I have had was when Elder Legere and I were able to baptized each other! I just felt the spirit and was so happy I almost couldn't even talk because I was just like, dude this is so cool. I felt that the Lord was pleased with our efforts. When we were changing, Donald was talking about how he was feeling and he said "I just can't describe how I feel" and the did his little oooohh sound. It was wonderful. I knew the Lord was pleased.
So, I am getting transferred! I will know where I will be going on Tuesday. I have also been called to be a Zone Leader. I am really excited for this opportunity to learn and also to help the other missionaries in my zone in this capacity. It is going to be great. I am also excited to see a new area as well. I will miss Staten Island so much. I really love the ward members, Donald, especially all the Sri Lankans and Bishop Glick's family. I love it here, but I have been having many impressions in the last few weeks that this was coming so I was prepared!
So we have had a few miracles lately. We seem to continue to find these unidentified less-active members :). We were looking up some Former Investigators and we saw a man names Rudolf. We called him and he was like I am still interested in having you guys over, come Friday. We went and a good lesson and then we said goodbye to his wife who was busy taking care of the baby and making dinner and she said, your church is on Rockland Ave right? Elder Legere and I were thinking, wait.. how do you know? She then said she was baptized in Ghana a few years ago and such! We were totally shocked. Hopefully we can unite this family in the Gospel! Eugene, a young man we have been teaching, has been thinking about baptism and he is praying about it! He is progressing quickly. I hope he will make the decision to be baptized. Elder Legere will take good care of him!
Well I am excited to be transferred. It will be bomb awesome!
Love,
Elder Hooper
So today we went to the TEMPLE with Donald! It was a blast! The Novaks graciously drove us. It was just great to be inside the temple. Elder Legere baptized him like 25 times! He was baptized for family names so then we confirmed them immediately afterwards. He was freezing and shaking. I felt so bad for him. Then one of the most precious experiences I have had was when Elder Legere and I were able to baptized each other! I just felt the spirit and was so happy I almost couldn't even talk because I was just like, dude this is so cool. I felt that the Lord was pleased with our efforts. When we were changing, Donald was talking about how he was feeling and he said "I just can't describe how I feel" and the did his little oooohh sound. It was wonderful. I knew the Lord was pleased.
So, I am getting transferred! I will know where I will be going on Tuesday. I have also been called to be a Zone Leader. I am really excited for this opportunity to learn and also to help the other missionaries in my zone in this capacity. It is going to be great. I am also excited to see a new area as well. I will miss Staten Island so much. I really love the ward members, Donald, especially all the Sri Lankans and Bishop Glick's family. I love it here, but I have been having many impressions in the last few weeks that this was coming so I was prepared!
So we have had a few miracles lately. We seem to continue to find these unidentified less-active members :). We were looking up some Former Investigators and we saw a man names Rudolf. We called him and he was like I am still interested in having you guys over, come Friday. We went and a good lesson and then we said goodbye to his wife who was busy taking care of the baby and making dinner and she said, your church is on Rockland Ave right? Elder Legere and I were thinking, wait.. how do you know? She then said she was baptized in Ghana a few years ago and such! We were totally shocked. Hopefully we can unite this family in the Gospel! Eugene, a young man we have been teaching, has been thinking about baptism and he is praying about it! He is progressing quickly. I hope he will make the decision to be baptized. Elder Legere will take good care of him!
Well I am excited to be transferred. It will be bomb awesome!
Love,
Elder Hooper
Pics of my visit to The Statue of Liberty and Manhattan
At the TEMPLE with Donald! It was a blast!
Monday, January 13, 2014
Week 61, 14 months!
Hey there everyone! I hope you have had a wonderful week. I know I have. Elder Legere and I didn't have our car for a few days as it need to have a few belts replaced. It was fun planning around that :P.
So after church we taught Walter again with Carlos. It was soooo good! He asked us who answers our prayers, God or Jesus. As I was trying to find scriptures and things to say I just felt I need to listen for the Holy Ghost. I stopped opened my mind and immediately Luke 11 came to mind, talking about God giving good gifts, James 1:5, and another scripture regarding the Holy Ghost answering our prayer came to my mind. I told him that God answers his prayers, but sometimes he uses His Son or the Holy Ghost or even another person around you to give the answer. It was cool to be taught by the spirit right there on the spot for me to teach that to Walter!
We had the chance to do some service for a neighbor down the street from us. We had a few members from the Elder's Quorum come help us as well. There was a lot of stuff and it was all going to a storage unit. After we unloaded the truck, we went back to help get the piano, which was so heavy! We get the piano up the ramp and instead of the ramp being secured level with the truck bed it was hanging below it and I was pulling the piano and trip backwards into the truck with my foot under the piano which got squished between the truck and the piano. I was just like aahhh! Stop! I was alright, but my toe was throbbing. It was a fun journal entry of course.
We taught Donald first about the importance of temple work and the ordinances that we preform there focusing more on baptism and confirmations since that is what we will be doing with him on Saturday!! He just totally understood it all. He was absolutely amazed and so excited to seal his parents. The Holy Ghost truly taught him about the Plan of Salvation. It was amazing to be apart of it. We then had planned to teach his family the same thing so we had Donald teach most of it, but, before we could really clarify anything, their internet got interrupted by some construction going on near their home so we just had to end it. From what we have heard, the Meehallage family is enjoying our discussions.
We had a young couple come to church yesterday! The wife is a member and the husband is not yet. We found her while she was working at a rehab center and she was like "hey, are you guys Mormon?" I was like you got it! We found out she was a member a baptized not too long ago in Brooklyn, but now lives here in Staten Island. She is so nice and her husband is really cool too! We are excited to visit with them this week.
Well I know that there is a ton of things in this letter as I have to go now! We are going to the Statue of Liberty! I will take lots of pictures!
So after church we taught Walter again with Carlos. It was soooo good! He asked us who answers our prayers, God or Jesus. As I was trying to find scriptures and things to say I just felt I need to listen for the Holy Ghost. I stopped opened my mind and immediately Luke 11 came to mind, talking about God giving good gifts, James 1:5, and another scripture regarding the Holy Ghost answering our prayer came to my mind. I told him that God answers his prayers, but sometimes he uses His Son or the Holy Ghost or even another person around you to give the answer. It was cool to be taught by the spirit right there on the spot for me to teach that to Walter!
We had the chance to do some service for a neighbor down the street from us. We had a few members from the Elder's Quorum come help us as well. There was a lot of stuff and it was all going to a storage unit. After we unloaded the truck, we went back to help get the piano, which was so heavy! We get the piano up the ramp and instead of the ramp being secured level with the truck bed it was hanging below it and I was pulling the piano and trip backwards into the truck with my foot under the piano which got squished between the truck and the piano. I was just like aahhh! Stop! I was alright, but my toe was throbbing. It was a fun journal entry of course.
We taught Donald first about the importance of temple work and the ordinances that we preform there focusing more on baptism and confirmations since that is what we will be doing with him on Saturday!! He just totally understood it all. He was absolutely amazed and so excited to seal his parents. The Holy Ghost truly taught him about the Plan of Salvation. It was amazing to be apart of it. We then had planned to teach his family the same thing so we had Donald teach most of it, but, before we could really clarify anything, their internet got interrupted by some construction going on near their home so we just had to end it. From what we have heard, the Meehallage family is enjoying our discussions.
We had a young couple come to church yesterday! The wife is a member and the husband is not yet. We found her while she was working at a rehab center and she was like "hey, are you guys Mormon?" I was like you got it! We found out she was a member a baptized not too long ago in Brooklyn, but now lives here in Staten Island. She is so nice and her husband is really cool too! We are excited to visit with them this week.
Well I know that there is a ton of things in this letter as I have to go now! We are going to the Statue of Liberty! I will take lots of pictures!
Oh, so this a missionary parody of Ice Ice Baby that I am working on. This is what I have so far:
Alright Stop. Listen to our message. Sit down and read this passage.
All things, are gonna be restored.... and that is all I have so far. We are going to be making a missionary video with it :P
Alright Stop. Listen to our message. Sit down and read this passage.
All things, are gonna be restored.... and that is all I have so far. We are going to be making a missionary video with it :P
Gotta Go!
Love,
Elder Hooper
Love,
Elder Hooper
Teaching Family History
Monday, January 6, 2014
Week 60, Snow Storm Hercules, Less-Actives, and the Gas Station Story.
We have had some crazy weather! It has dropped into the single digits and snow storm Hercules brought lots of snow. We shoveled for lots of church members and then went around their neighborhoods and helped everyone else who was outside. It was a lot of fun. Everyone thought we were crazy for shoveling snow all day, but I just told them that I am from Arizona and I will never have an opportunity shovel snow ever again! My back was dead the next day though!
We seem to finding less-active members who are not even in the ward's records everywhere. One was a miracle! Walter was a media referral who wanted a bible. He came to church and enjoyed it and we gave him the requested materials. A few days later he says that he thinks he might actually be a member if this church. He said I either had a dream or I was baptized a long time ago. We this last Sunday we got his information and while we were teaching him, the other Elders walked in saying that the ward found his record! Walter was so happy that he was really was indeed a member of the church. He was baptized in 1979 at the age of 19. He does remember lots of random things about the church in Peru. We also located another at a rehab center we were at and she was baptized a few years ago in Parkslope, but lives on Staten Island and really misses church she says so we will contact her tonight. Then we got another lady's full name and date of birth to get records moved into the ward. They are just coming from everywhere! I think the Lord knows that there a few families that are moving out of the ward soon.
Donald Meehallage received the Aaronic Priesthood yesterday! He was very excited and very well prepared for it as well. We has been taking it very seriously and is going to be such a huge help to the ward. We are taking him to the temple this week as well! We are very excited to take him of course! He is very excited as well. He attends every week, even if the roads are icy and it is 10 degrees and half the ward doesn't show up.
Here is the crazy story for the week: We needed some gas so we went with the other Elders since we lost our gas card. Donald's gas station was crazy! ( Donald works at this gas station) There were people racing in front of each other to get their fuel. Donald had us pull up to another gas pump that he blocked off to keep the crowd under control. So I filled our car up and that started all the trouble. One guy was mad that I was able to go right up and another guy was yelling that I was filling up my own gas (there are some gas stations that you can't fill up your own tank, they are full serve pumps) then they started yelling at Donald. Donald then nicely yelled back that they are missionaries and it is OK (which I thought was awesome and I was just thinking "Yeah, what he said!". Then my conscience kicked in and I felt so bad. Donald told us to just come up while we were waiting in line, so I just did what he said! So then I was like - Donald go to the other pump and I will start filling people up on this pump. So I filled up a few gas tanks so Donald could refocus. I felt so bad for him! Tons of crazy stuff. I probably broke some rules there. I wasn't thinking right, haha! I told one guy that we were part of the company and stop freaking out, which worked! It was quite funny! I really am obedient don't worry!
So we met with all the Fernando families in one setting and we felt prompted to talk about scripture study for one of them in particular. It went really well and we also found out that it was that person's New Years resolution to have deeper scripture studies. We also had the chance to just talk with them about their culture and such. They taught us how to say lots of phrases and such. They told us said at times they accent Honedi (hone die=good) sounding like honediiiii. Then Elder Legere is like that is why Donald always says gooood. And good good good. It was just so funny to realize that, and it just started a whole hysterical conversation about pronunciation of both English and Sinhalese. It was so funny. I would try to pronounce words in Sinhalese and they would laugh at how bad I did and such. It was such a funny experience. When ever I see someone from Sri Lanka I hunt them down and say what Sinhalese I know to them :D.
Well I have to get going now! I hope you all have a wonderful week!
Love,
Elder Hooper
We seem to finding less-active members who are not even in the ward's records everywhere. One was a miracle! Walter was a media referral who wanted a bible. He came to church and enjoyed it and we gave him the requested materials. A few days later he says that he thinks he might actually be a member if this church. He said I either had a dream or I was baptized a long time ago. We this last Sunday we got his information and while we were teaching him, the other Elders walked in saying that the ward found his record! Walter was so happy that he was really was indeed a member of the church. He was baptized in 1979 at the age of 19. He does remember lots of random things about the church in Peru. We also located another at a rehab center we were at and she was baptized a few years ago in Parkslope, but lives on Staten Island and really misses church she says so we will contact her tonight. Then we got another lady's full name and date of birth to get records moved into the ward. They are just coming from everywhere! I think the Lord knows that there a few families that are moving out of the ward soon.
Donald Meehallage received the Aaronic Priesthood yesterday! He was very excited and very well prepared for it as well. We has been taking it very seriously and is going to be such a huge help to the ward. We are taking him to the temple this week as well! We are very excited to take him of course! He is very excited as well. He attends every week, even if the roads are icy and it is 10 degrees and half the ward doesn't show up.
Here is the crazy story for the week: We needed some gas so we went with the other Elders since we lost our gas card. Donald's gas station was crazy! ( Donald works at this gas station) There were people racing in front of each other to get their fuel. Donald had us pull up to another gas pump that he blocked off to keep the crowd under control. So I filled our car up and that started all the trouble. One guy was mad that I was able to go right up and another guy was yelling that I was filling up my own gas (there are some gas stations that you can't fill up your own tank, they are full serve pumps) then they started yelling at Donald. Donald then nicely yelled back that they are missionaries and it is OK (which I thought was awesome and I was just thinking "Yeah, what he said!". Then my conscience kicked in and I felt so bad. Donald told us to just come up while we were waiting in line, so I just did what he said! So then I was like - Donald go to the other pump and I will start filling people up on this pump. So I filled up a few gas tanks so Donald could refocus. I felt so bad for him! Tons of crazy stuff. I probably broke some rules there. I wasn't thinking right, haha! I told one guy that we were part of the company and stop freaking out, which worked! It was quite funny! I really am obedient don't worry!
So we met with all the Fernando families in one setting and we felt prompted to talk about scripture study for one of them in particular. It went really well and we also found out that it was that person's New Years resolution to have deeper scripture studies. We also had the chance to just talk with them about their culture and such. They taught us how to say lots of phrases and such. They told us said at times they accent Honedi (hone die=good) sounding like honediiiii. Then Elder Legere is like that is why Donald always says gooood. And good good good. It was just so funny to realize that, and it just started a whole hysterical conversation about pronunciation of both English and Sinhalese. It was so funny. I would try to pronounce words in Sinhalese and they would laugh at how bad I did and such. It was such a funny experience. When ever I see someone from Sri Lanka I hunt them down and say what Sinhalese I know to them :D.
Well I have to get going now! I hope you all have a wonderful week!
Love,
Elder Hooper
This is what Snow Storm Hercules left for New York so far.
The view out my apartment window.
New Years Resolutions and Donald Meehallage.
Needs no explaining!
Friday, January 3, 2014
Week 59, Holiday Week.
Christmas was great! We had lots of fun being together as a district and also being so well taken care of and loved by the members in the Staten Island 1st Ward. We Christmas lunch at the Saulong's, and Christmas dinner at the Bishop's house where we also skyped home. It was great to see my family face to face/computer! We had a nice Christmas basketball tournament with the ward that night as well. That morning during our studies, we called up the other Elders below us and we studied from Luke 2 while watching the coordinating bible videos which was awesome! My favorite part though is when the angel comes says "Peace on Earth, good will toward men" because I read that in the tune of Far, Far Away on Judea's Plain :D.
Donald Meehallage is getting the priesthood next Sunday! We are so excited for him and I think he is way more excited than us. He also can't wait to go to the temple. Donald is an amazing man. I wish you all could meet him. He is so pure in heart, he loves everyone, and he always has a smile on his face. He is going to love going to the temple in 2 weeks.
While on an exchange, I had the opportunity to teach a young man in Denmark over Skype! It was awesome! This young man stayed at Elder Liston's home for a few months as an exchange student where he was introduced to the Gospel. He is very open and knows a lot about the church. In his closing prayer he ask God to bless us with a good evening, paused for a second and then said, morning, afternoon, or wherever we are! It was funny. We had people on Skype at that moment in Utah (8am), Staten Island (11am), and Denmark (6pm)!
Eugene, a man Elder Legere and I have been teaching, is doing really well. We talked about his relationship with God and how to develop it. We also committed him to ask his manager to have Sundays off. He was a bit hesitant as his manager is pretty mean. I explained that I once had a pretty crazy manager as well, but did it. He said he would do it. The next morning we got a text saying that he asked his manager and she agreed to allow him to have Sundays off! I was so happy to hear that! He is going to progress so much faster now. He is about 25 years old and is just a great guy. Eugene and I have many similar challenges so we help each other a lot.
Our Mission Christmas Eve Concert was awesome! It was so much fun listening to all the other missionaries give musical numbers. Our's got a lot of feedback. We have a pretty talented zone with lots of musicians. Elder Liston and I played a medley of a few Christmas songs,(which I am waiting to be sent the video of) at the Narrated part and it was great, thanks to my Grandma Hooper. There was a very strong spirit present during the whole concert. I was so pumped up after it- just wanted to baptize everyone! Just kidding, but really.
Well I have to get going now. We are going to do some late Christmas shopping. My watch broke so that is what I will be on the hunt for!
Happy New Years!
Love,
Elder Hooper
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
Week 58, Merry Christmas!
Donald was confirmed a member of the church yesterday! He is doing so well! His English is getting so much better as well. We also had a man named Walter who we met over the phone earlier last week attend church as well. We received his information from Mormon.org so we gave him a call. He met with missionaries 17 years ago and then he saw our chapel and that jogged some good memories of the past and now we are in contact with him!
This week was a blur! It went by so fast and Elder Legere and I struggled with being sick. I got it the first few days then he caught it at the end of the week so some of the days when we were dieing we ended up being home bound. Along with that I was just personally struggling a bit. It sure doesn't help having the holidays come around and being a way from family. Yesterday I felt that I should fast for specific blessings to help me to overcome this challenge. I was doing everything I could and I knew the only thing left I could do was to fast. 3 hours into the fast I already had the spirit guiding me through it all. While at sacrament meeting, I was just so happy! I couldn't explain it. I just felt so uplifted. There were great talks, smiling faces, and lots of things to be grateful for during this holiday season.
So I was put in charge of the musical selection our zone of 26 missionaries is putting on at the Christmas Eve mission get together tomorrow! I am so excited about it- we have a talented zone with quite if few musicians. We are going to play Christmas Canon with mandolin, guitar, ukulele, violin, and piano with the other missionaries singing, and then we are going crazy and singing the Baptist Spiritual version of Go, Tell it in the Mountain! They both sound awesome! I will definitely be recording them and put them on Facebook for everyone to see.
I am grateful for the opportunity that I have to serve the Lord, Jesus Christ, here in New York. It is Him that we find lasting peace. I have felt it and so can you. Who better to follow to find peace then the Prince of Peace. One of my favorite songs during this Christmas season is "And His Shall be Called Wonderful" (at least that is how the song goes). Every year at my Grandma Hooper's Christmas program in her congregation she always had the choir sing this song and I don't think she knew how much this song taught me about my Savior. He truly is wonderful, my counselor, and my Prince of Peace. I know He lives.
Merry Christmas!! Let us all love on the Spirit of Christ, unlike the ladies fighting about who was in line first at CVS this morning :D.
Love,
Elder Hooper
This week was a blur! It went by so fast and Elder Legere and I struggled with being sick. I got it the first few days then he caught it at the end of the week so some of the days when we were dieing we ended up being home bound. Along with that I was just personally struggling a bit. It sure doesn't help having the holidays come around and being a way from family. Yesterday I felt that I should fast for specific blessings to help me to overcome this challenge. I was doing everything I could and I knew the only thing left I could do was to fast. 3 hours into the fast I already had the spirit guiding me through it all. While at sacrament meeting, I was just so happy! I couldn't explain it. I just felt so uplifted. There were great talks, smiling faces, and lots of things to be grateful for during this holiday season.
So I was put in charge of the musical selection our zone of 26 missionaries is putting on at the Christmas Eve mission get together tomorrow! I am so excited about it- we have a talented zone with quite if few musicians. We are going to play Christmas Canon with mandolin, guitar, ukulele, violin, and piano with the other missionaries singing, and then we are going crazy and singing the Baptist Spiritual version of Go, Tell it in the Mountain! They both sound awesome! I will definitely be recording them and put them on Facebook for everyone to see.
I am grateful for the opportunity that I have to serve the Lord, Jesus Christ, here in New York. It is Him that we find lasting peace. I have felt it and so can you. Who better to follow to find peace then the Prince of Peace. One of my favorite songs during this Christmas season is "And His Shall be Called Wonderful" (at least that is how the song goes). Every year at my Grandma Hooper's Christmas program in her congregation she always had the choir sing this song and I don't think she knew how much this song taught me about my Savior. He truly is wonderful, my counselor, and my Prince of Peace. I know He lives.
Merry Christmas!! Let us all love on the Spirit of Christ, unlike the ladies fighting about who was in line first at CVS this morning :D.
Love,
Elder Hooper
Monday, December 16, 2013
Week 57, Baptism in Staten!
Well we had an awesome Sunday of course! I will start off with that because it was so great. Meehallage Donald (in Sri Lanka the names are different. Their first name is their last name, and their last name is the one they go by) was baptized! It was a wonderful baptismal service and it was even better with his family present over skype from Sri Lanka! When Donald and I walked into the font, he was smiling and chuckling since he just thought it was all so great. He was looking at his family on the iPad the whole time. I also gave a musical number on the violin- "How Great Thou Art" accompanied by Natalie Jangula. It was great. While Donald and I went back to change I asked him how he felt, and he said "I feel so happy" in his Sri Lankan accent. I love him a lot. He is the happiest man I have ever met. His family was so happy with his baptism and they loved it when people started clapping for him after he bore his testimony. It was such an awesome testimony. "The church is true, the Book of Mormon is true" he said with conviction. He loves the church and even payed his tithing after his baptism too! He is the happiest man I know. Afterwards as we were changing he said he is just so happy. He loved everything about it. In his own words late last night he texted us "How are you? I looking some pictures of temples and looking Book of Mormon. I am very happy today." He was excited about everything which only made me and Elder Legere happy.
Last night, my district went to the Mud Lane Society's Christmas Caroling event they held. They started off with the tree lighting- the tree was the one that Elder Legere and I put up that last week with a man named Carl. I brought my violin since I thought people would enjoy that and it was a big hit. I butchered a few of the more modern ones, but the traditional ones with the violin were nice and it kept everyone on the same key haha! It definitely gave the missionaries some publicity there. We were also invited to eat lots of soups that were prepared. I love the people over in Bishop's neighborhood which is where the Mud Lane Society is based off of to protect the renaissance houses. They like us :D.
We also caroled in a rehab center for the elderly. It was so much fun seeing the joy on their faces. We made their day so much better. They are so bored just sitting there all day every day and when we came they just lit up and were singing with us and were so happy. It was fun, even if I had I sucked on 20 cough drops to ease my sore throat haha!
It is amazing to see how fast our life really goes by. Enjoy the moment! I was just realizing the past few days that I only have 11 more months on my mission. I don't want to go home yet. I still feel like I have too much more to learn. Time goes by, and so many joyous memories fill it. I am so grateful for the Gospel in my life. I love sharing it with others and to allow them to access the Atonement. I love the priesthood as well! I know that it has been restored! It is so amazing as you begin to really understand it's significance and what miracles can be performed as I live worthy of it! I hope you all are enjoying the Christmas season! I know I am enjoying listening to all the Christmas music!
Well I gotta go buy some clothes, and prepare some music for my Zone musical numbers that I am in charge of!
Love,
Elder Hooper
Last night, my district went to the Mud Lane Society's Christmas Caroling event they held. They started off with the tree lighting- the tree was the one that Elder Legere and I put up that last week with a man named Carl. I brought my violin since I thought people would enjoy that and it was a big hit. I butchered a few of the more modern ones, but the traditional ones with the violin were nice and it kept everyone on the same key haha! It definitely gave the missionaries some publicity there. We were also invited to eat lots of soups that were prepared. I love the people over in Bishop's neighborhood which is where the Mud Lane Society is based off of to protect the renaissance houses. They like us :D.
We also caroled in a rehab center for the elderly. It was so much fun seeing the joy on their faces. We made their day so much better. They are so bored just sitting there all day every day and when we came they just lit up and were singing with us and were so happy. It was fun, even if I had I sucked on 20 cough drops to ease my sore throat haha!
It is amazing to see how fast our life really goes by. Enjoy the moment! I was just realizing the past few days that I only have 11 more months on my mission. I don't want to go home yet. I still feel like I have too much more to learn. Time goes by, and so many joyous memories fill it. I am so grateful for the Gospel in my life. I love sharing it with others and to allow them to access the Atonement. I love the priesthood as well! I know that it has been restored! It is so amazing as you begin to really understand it's significance and what miracles can be performed as I live worthy of it! I hope you all are enjoying the Christmas season! I know I am enjoying listening to all the Christmas music!
Well I gotta go buy some clothes, and prepare some music for my Zone musical numbers that I am in charge of!
Love,
Elder Hooper
Monday, December 9, 2013
Week 56, 6 More weeks in Staten!
Hey there! I hope everyone is enjoying this Christmas season! The Christmas Devotional was really good as well last night too. Elder Legere and I were the only ones watching it at the church so we of course sang a little extra loud on the closing hymn :D
So here is the funny story for the week. So we were at a family's home who don't discipline their kids very well and they all have some mental challenges. We were there just to stop in and say hi and such and they had family over as well. Their nephew is probably 9 years old or so and is a bit crazy. So the daughter of the family was picking on this boy pretty bad and at first it was all fun and games until she smacked him! He stops, his face turns red, breathes these short breaths like a bull ready charge, then with his mouth open wide and AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!! The spirit said bye to us and I was a little scared for my life haha. We were waiting for this boy to turn green and start Hulk-smashing us. We left pretty quickly after that :D.I have never heard someone scream so loud in my life.
Skyping Donald's family in Sri Lanka was awesome! Since he translated all of it into his language it really stuck with him and he seemed to better understand what we were teaching as well. His family said that they agreed with what we were teaching and are excited to be able to be a part of it with their father. We are teaching them again on Thursday with Donald. Donald is also still set for the 15th and is very excited. We will teach him the Law of Tithing and then go over the baptismal interview questions. He is so prepared and ready! We also taught another family over skype who live in Manhattan. They used to be our neighbors across the street and I became really good friends with them when they were going through a difficult situation. Their home was damaged in Sandy and they had some structural damage that they recently found and they had to evacuate. They are awaiting permits for the rest of the home to be repaired. In the mean time, I was texting them letting them know their house was safe and what not like they requested. I asked if they would like for us to share a quick message about Christ with their family. We read Lehi and his family's journey moving homes and applied it to them and they loved it. It was neat to see how the Book of Mormon really does apply in all aspects of our lives. So we asked if they would be interested in learning more about the church and where the Book of Mormon came from. We are teaching them again on Wednesday. It is amazing the success we are seeing with skype. My patriarchal blessing talks about the Lord needing me in many places throughout the world on my mission and now I totally understand how that is possible and seeing it come to pass!
Donald and his family are famous now in the mission and the Brooklyn NY Stake. Their Skype stories were shared a few times by President Calderwood and another Elder in presentations. I mean how cool is this- teaching someone who is getting baptized next week, skyping his family in a country thousands of miles away who don't have missionaries, and now they want to come to America and unite with their father and be baptized!? I feel so privileged to be apart of this!
Our district is going to be working very hard to bringing people to the baptism this week Sunday! We are planning on handing out over 300 invitations with the hope of have 30 nonmembers there. It is going to be one of the greatest baptisms ever. We have it all planned out and it is going to be great. We showed Donald the beautiful invitations that were made and he was so happy about it. We are going to skype his family in on it as well! He is amazing! I will have the privilege of interviewing Theo for his baptism as well which I am looking forward to.
Elder Legere and I are staying together another 6 weeks in Staten Island. I am so happy about that. We have so many great things coming up and we were hoping to spend Christmas together as well. My district is basically staying the same except we are losing Elder Eggleston, one of our Zone Leaders. I will miss him.
Well it sure has been a great week. I love Staten Island and everything about it, especially our ward. They are wonderful.
Have a great week!
Love,
Elder Hooper
So here is the funny story for the week. So we were at a family's home who don't discipline their kids very well and they all have some mental challenges. We were there just to stop in and say hi and such and they had family over as well. Their nephew is probably 9 years old or so and is a bit crazy. So the daughter of the family was picking on this boy pretty bad and at first it was all fun and games until she smacked him! He stops, his face turns red, breathes these short breaths like a bull ready charge, then with his mouth open wide and AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!! The spirit said bye to us and I was a little scared for my life haha. We were waiting for this boy to turn green and start Hulk-smashing us. We left pretty quickly after that :D.I have never heard someone scream so loud in my life.
Skyping Donald's family in Sri Lanka was awesome! Since he translated all of it into his language it really stuck with him and he seemed to better understand what we were teaching as well. His family said that they agreed with what we were teaching and are excited to be able to be a part of it with their father. We are teaching them again on Thursday with Donald. Donald is also still set for the 15th and is very excited. We will teach him the Law of Tithing and then go over the baptismal interview questions. He is so prepared and ready! We also taught another family over skype who live in Manhattan. They used to be our neighbors across the street and I became really good friends with them when they were going through a difficult situation. Their home was damaged in Sandy and they had some structural damage that they recently found and they had to evacuate. They are awaiting permits for the rest of the home to be repaired. In the mean time, I was texting them letting them know their house was safe and what not like they requested. I asked if they would like for us to share a quick message about Christ with their family. We read Lehi and his family's journey moving homes and applied it to them and they loved it. It was neat to see how the Book of Mormon really does apply in all aspects of our lives. So we asked if they would be interested in learning more about the church and where the Book of Mormon came from. We are teaching them again on Wednesday. It is amazing the success we are seeing with skype. My patriarchal blessing talks about the Lord needing me in many places throughout the world on my mission and now I totally understand how that is possible and seeing it come to pass!
Donald and his family are famous now in the mission and the Brooklyn NY Stake. Their Skype stories were shared a few times by President Calderwood and another Elder in presentations. I mean how cool is this- teaching someone who is getting baptized next week, skyping his family in a country thousands of miles away who don't have missionaries, and now they want to come to America and unite with their father and be baptized!? I feel so privileged to be apart of this!
Our district is going to be working very hard to bringing people to the baptism this week Sunday! We are planning on handing out over 300 invitations with the hope of have 30 nonmembers there. It is going to be one of the greatest baptisms ever. We have it all planned out and it is going to be great. We showed Donald the beautiful invitations that were made and he was so happy about it. We are going to skype his family in on it as well! He is amazing! I will have the privilege of interviewing Theo for his baptism as well which I am looking forward to.
Elder Legere and I are staying together another 6 weeks in Staten Island. I am so happy about that. We have so many great things coming up and we were hoping to spend Christmas together as well. My district is basically staying the same except we are losing Elder Eggleston, one of our Zone Leaders. I will miss him.
Well it sure has been a great week. I love Staten Island and everything about it, especially our ward. They are wonderful.
Have a great week!
Love,
Elder Hooper
Monday, December 2, 2013
Week 55, Fantastic week! Pics and a Video.
Elder Legere and I and an awesome week. Even with the holiday weekend, temple trip, deep clean, and weekly planning we still hit all of our goals. Thanksgiving was great. We spent the evening at the ferry terminal (my favorite spot as you know) and we had people come and sign our big poster boards with things they are grateful for. It was a big hit! We even did this with the district the day before and it was so successful that we wanted to do it again. We got over 300 signatures. Everyone was really excited about it and many who signed said what a great idea it was. It certainly made me happy seeing all of the things to be grateful for.
Donald is getting baptized December 15th! We are very excited for him.
He is continuing to develop a strong testimony and is getting happier and happier every time we meet with him!
So the highlight of my week was definitely going to the temple last Friday. Like I said last year it has been over a year since I have last gone to a temple session. The Manhattan temple is gorgeous inside. It is remarkably quiet inside. It was so nice to be able to feel of the spirit and feel so peaceful during the few hours I was there. It increased my testimony of the gospel so much more as I learned so much more this time around.
Thanksgiving was also a blast! We started the morning with. Turkey Bowl! I rocked it out on the field. Not showing off or anything, but I may or may not have scored 4 touchdowns and one being an interception haha! Even though it was one off the coldest days we have had this winter it was still lots of fun. The Bishop's family fed us first and it was a delicious traditional Thanksgiving meal and their turkey was amazing. Full of food, we them went to the Leguillo's another of my favorite families and they fed us a ton too! It was probably my favorite thanksgiving I have ever had even if my body was shutting down die to excessive food entering my stomach :P. Celebrating it with families that I love on my mission was a treat.
It is going to be a really exciting week since it is the end of a transfer cycle so all the scary phone calls regarding training, leadership, and being transferred calls come in. I am not expecting any calls, but I know my district is all worrying about what is going to happen. It is always so fun!
So, having the iPads is such a blessing! We were teaching someone who has a more difficult time staying focused during the lessons so we tried watching a Mormon Message to help them understand a bit more, we watched the Child of God message and it was so powerful. The spirit came into the room and we were able to help them feel it and understand, along with all the children listening too! We also had the privilege to teach Gospel Principles class with my companion and we watched the Earthly Father, Heavenly Father one and it was so cool as we used the tools we have been given to enhance our missionary efforts. It is helping me and all the other missionaries stay more focused on our purpose and having fun while we skype and chat our investigators.
There are lots of good things going on with Elder Legere and I as well. We are teaching often and are helping many people who are pure in heart and honestly seeking the truth. The two brothers from the Ivory Coast are still progressing and are reading the Book of Mormon.
Our district had a special fast last Sunday for The Lord to prepare the hearts of the people in Staten Island and for all those we are teaching. We are working hard to hit our quarterly goal which ends this month!
Christmas is almost here, that means caroling on the streets!
Love,
Elder Hooper
Bishop Glick, our bishop in the Staten Island ward, is in this video! He begins speaking at 4:10, The one with the green hat thing. He is a stud.
Elder Hooper
Donald is getting baptized December 15th! We are very excited for him.
He is continuing to develop a strong testimony and is getting happier and happier every time we meet with him!
So the highlight of my week was definitely going to the temple last Friday. Like I said last year it has been over a year since I have last gone to a temple session. The Manhattan temple is gorgeous inside. It is remarkably quiet inside. It was so nice to be able to feel of the spirit and feel so peaceful during the few hours I was there. It increased my testimony of the gospel so much more as I learned so much more this time around.
Thanksgiving was also a blast! We started the morning with. Turkey Bowl! I rocked it out on the field. Not showing off or anything, but I may or may not have scored 4 touchdowns and one being an interception haha! Even though it was one off the coldest days we have had this winter it was still lots of fun. The Bishop's family fed us first and it was a delicious traditional Thanksgiving meal and their turkey was amazing. Full of food, we them went to the Leguillo's another of my favorite families and they fed us a ton too! It was probably my favorite thanksgiving I have ever had even if my body was shutting down die to excessive food entering my stomach :P. Celebrating it with families that I love on my mission was a treat.
It is going to be a really exciting week since it is the end of a transfer cycle so all the scary phone calls regarding training, leadership, and being transferred calls come in. I am not expecting any calls, but I know my district is all worrying about what is going to happen. It is always so fun!
So, having the iPads is such a blessing! We were teaching someone who has a more difficult time staying focused during the lessons so we tried watching a Mormon Message to help them understand a bit more, we watched the Child of God message and it was so powerful. The spirit came into the room and we were able to help them feel it and understand, along with all the children listening too! We also had the privilege to teach Gospel Principles class with my companion and we watched the Earthly Father, Heavenly Father one and it was so cool as we used the tools we have been given to enhance our missionary efforts. It is helping me and all the other missionaries stay more focused on our purpose and having fun while we skype and chat our investigators.
There are lots of good things going on with Elder Legere and I as well. We are teaching often and are helping many people who are pure in heart and honestly seeking the truth. The two brothers from the Ivory Coast are still progressing and are reading the Book of Mormon.
Our district had a special fast last Sunday for The Lord to prepare the hearts of the people in Staten Island and for all those we are teaching. We are working hard to hit our quarterly goal which ends this month!
Christmas is almost here, that means caroling on the streets!
Love,
Elder Hooper
Elder Hooper
Monday, November 25, 2013
Week 54, #freezing #thanksgiving #templetrip
Hey everyone, we had another awesome week. There are ao many miracles
going on in Staten Island. The Lord is truly hastening his work.
Donald has a solid baptismal date for December 15th! We are so excited
for him. Again, he is the nicest man you would ever meet. He is
enjoying church a lot and is very excited. He was even asking us if he
was ready to be baptized or not yet. We are also working with 2
brothers from the Ivory Coast. They just want to live their lives
according to Christ's teachings and on of them has been coming to
church consistently. These three individuals are who we are really
focusing on. Please pray for these individuals and also for those whom
the missionaries are teaching in your areas.
We had an awesome Mega Zone Conference that was given by the
Assistants to the President and President and Sister Calderwood. It
was so good. President's closing remarks also really got me out of the
slum I was getting into. The spirit helped me remember some scriptures
and things that I needed to kick Satan in the head!
It is getting so cold here! I think because I am so much closer to the
water we are getting a nice humid breeze that cuts you to the core and
you feel like you going to die! It is so cold. It snowed a few days ago and we are expecting
some more precipitation. Snow is cool, but rain is not!
So just a thought, since one of the ASL elders is going home on a few
weeks, there is an ASL elder needed and no one is coming in from the
MTC so maybe I will have the chance to be in that pool! My district is
still on fire! We hit all of our Standard of Excellences and taught
80% of our lessons with the Staten Island ward members (they are still
awesome)! It is so fun being the district leader here. Having this
opportunity to serve in this capacity has helped me to truly see how
much The Lord is working with us in this work!
So our hope for the Thanksgiving Eve is to chalk the ferry terminal
with random people coming to write what they are thankful for on the
ground and then get on the news and be famous and baptize everyone! Oh
sorry I think I may have taken that a bit too far. Haha we are going
to chalk the ferry though. We also are going to be caroling soon after
the holiday and give out free hot chocolate which we are very excited
for since everyone loves caroling.
Also some exciting news, I am going to the temple on Friday for my
anniversary trip. I haven't Ben to the temple for over a year! I am so
excited to be able to feel of the spirit there and especially be there
with my companion too, he is also coming. Elder Legere is like my best
friend. If I knew him at home we would be buds!
I love New York and like Pres Calderwood said at our sacrament meeting
yesterday (which was awesome by the way) that the missionaries never
want to leave Staten Island! I love it here. I hope I never leave.
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and eat lots!
Love,
Elder Hooper
Sent from my iPad
going on in Staten Island. The Lord is truly hastening his work.
Donald has a solid baptismal date for December 15th! We are so excited
for him. Again, he is the nicest man you would ever meet. He is
enjoying church a lot and is very excited. He was even asking us if he
was ready to be baptized or not yet. We are also working with 2
brothers from the Ivory Coast. They just want to live their lives
according to Christ's teachings and on of them has been coming to
church consistently. These three individuals are who we are really
focusing on. Please pray for these individuals and also for those whom
the missionaries are teaching in your areas.
We had an awesome Mega Zone Conference that was given by the
Assistants to the President and President and Sister Calderwood. It
was so good. President's closing remarks also really got me out of the
slum I was getting into. The spirit helped me remember some scriptures
and things that I needed to kick Satan in the head!
It is getting so cold here! I think because I am so much closer to the
water we are getting a nice humid breeze that cuts you to the core and
you feel like you going to die! It is so cold. It snowed a few days ago and we are expecting
some more precipitation. Snow is cool, but rain is not!
So just a thought, since one of the ASL elders is going home on a few
weeks, there is an ASL elder needed and no one is coming in from the
MTC so maybe I will have the chance to be in that pool! My district is
still on fire! We hit all of our Standard of Excellences and taught
80% of our lessons with the Staten Island ward members (they are still
awesome)! It is so fun being the district leader here. Having this
opportunity to serve in this capacity has helped me to truly see how
much The Lord is working with us in this work!
So our hope for the Thanksgiving Eve is to chalk the ferry terminal
with random people coming to write what they are thankful for on the
ground and then get on the news and be famous and baptize everyone! Oh
sorry I think I may have taken that a bit too far. Haha we are going
to chalk the ferry though. We also are going to be caroling soon after
the holiday and give out free hot chocolate which we are very excited
for since everyone loves caroling.
Also some exciting news, I am going to the temple on Friday for my
anniversary trip. I haven't Ben to the temple for over a year! I am so
excited to be able to feel of the spirit there and especially be there
with my companion too, he is also coming. Elder Legere is like my best
friend. If I knew him at home we would be buds!
I love New York and like Pres Calderwood said at our sacrament meeting
yesterday (which was awesome by the way) that the missionaries never
want to leave Staten Island! I love it here. I hope I never leave.
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and eat lots!
Love,
Elder Hooper
Sent from my iPad
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
Week 53, Miracles!
Hey there! Elder Legere and I had one of the best weeks we have ever
had. 89% of our lessons were with members! We love you Staten Island!
We also taught many lessons via Skype as well. It is amazing to be
able to teach people across the country. The spirit is just the same
and the purpose is still there. It is so fun!
Donald has told us that he wants to be baptized! He has been coming to
church consistently. He is a really good man and wants to follow
Christ. We are just working on getting him a new job so he can attend
the whole church service. We are also team teaching a family from the
Ivory Coast. Their mom is a member but they aren't and they just want
to follow Christ more and be better people.
I am so distracted right now. We are watching Prince of Egypt for our
zone activity so this letter might be pretty crazy.
Here is an experience that really hurt me and made me so sad for this
man. We were singing at the ferry while I played my violin and other
missionaries played guitar, mandolin, and ukulele. We were singing "I
Believe in Christ" and this older man comes by us and sits down and
starts crying and I could see the pain in his eyes. Once we finished I
went up to him and asked what his name was. He later explained to me
that he has so much guilt and pain from the killing that he was
a part of in Vietnam. I told him that there was a way that this burden
could be taken away but wouldn't be easy, but he could feel free if he allowed
Christ in. He wouldn't believe me. It made me so sad! It was just a
really good experience to help a man feel of God's love through music.
He ended up giving me money (there was nothing that I could do to
make him take it back so we went out to eat that night haha). I know
the Atonement is real because I have felt it work in my life!
So I hit my year mark last week! I never want to go home, this mission
has changed my life. As I have served my fellow beings I have served
my God and He is forever changing me. I can't believe the many
blessings he has bestowed upon me and I love him so much! I love
being here on my mission. I know that this church is true. I know it!
I wish that others could just see how much happiness they could
receive if they would accept that god has showed his love to us by
calling another prophet to bring us to the full knowledge of His
Gospel. I am so excited about the next few weeks. President
Calderwood is coming to speak in our ward and I am going to my
anniversary temple trip and then we have Thanksgiving! I am stoked!
I love you all very much. Talk to you next week!
Elder Hooper
Sent from my iPad
had. 89% of our lessons were with members! We love you Staten Island!
We also taught many lessons via Skype as well. It is amazing to be
able to teach people across the country. The spirit is just the same
and the purpose is still there. It is so fun!
Donald has told us that he wants to be baptized! He has been coming to
church consistently. He is a really good man and wants to follow
Christ. We are just working on getting him a new job so he can attend
the whole church service. We are also team teaching a family from the
Ivory Coast. Their mom is a member but they aren't and they just want
to follow Christ more and be better people.
I am so distracted right now. We are watching Prince of Egypt for our
zone activity so this letter might be pretty crazy.
Here is an experience that really hurt me and made me so sad for this
man. We were singing at the ferry while I played my violin and other
missionaries played guitar, mandolin, and ukulele. We were singing "I
Believe in Christ" and this older man comes by us and sits down and
starts crying and I could see the pain in his eyes. Once we finished I
went up to him and asked what his name was. He later explained to me
that he has so much guilt and pain from the killing that he was
a part of in Vietnam. I told him that there was a way that this burden
could be taken away but wouldn't be easy, but he could feel free if he allowed
Christ in. He wouldn't believe me. It made me so sad! It was just a
really good experience to help a man feel of God's love through music.
He ended up giving me money (there was nothing that I could do to
make him take it back so we went out to eat that night haha). I know
the Atonement is real because I have felt it work in my life!
So I hit my year mark last week! I never want to go home, this mission
has changed my life. As I have served my fellow beings I have served
my God and He is forever changing me. I can't believe the many
blessings he has bestowed upon me and I love him so much! I love
being here on my mission. I know that this church is true. I know it!
I wish that others could just see how much happiness they could
receive if they would accept that god has showed his love to us by
calling another prophet to bring us to the full knowledge of His
Gospel. I am so excited about the next few weeks. President
Calderwood is coming to speak in our ward and I am going to my
anniversary temple trip and then we have Thanksgiving! I am stoked!
I love you all very much. Talk to you next week!
Elder Hooper
Sent from my iPad
Monday, November 11, 2013
Week 52, One whole year!
Happy Veterans day! I hope everyone has had a good week! the Staten Island 1st Ward had their first Blood Drive this Saturday. We collected a total of 18 pints of blood. It is not as much as we were hoping for, but it was fun! We actually had more donors who were not members of our congregation which was great. I wish we would have had the chance to pass out more fliers in the neighborhoods around the church instead of just the neighborhood behind the church. We also had some great gospel discussions with some of the nurses that were drawing blood and gave out a Book of Mormon.
The work in Staten Island is hastening!! There are just so many changes happening in the mission and the missionaries. We all feel it and so do the members. The members in our ward are just fired up and working with us so well! They sign up on our teaching calendar to come out with us and it is such a blessing to us and the people we teach. We love the Staten Island 1st Ward! Elder Legere is just the coolest guy ever as well. We are so much alike in every way. We often find ourselves quoting each other and saying the same things at the same time. So we are teaching lots and having tons of fun! Life is good!
We went to the temple with our ward on Tuesday which was a blast! It was so much fun. There is nothing like leaving the craziness of NY and going to the temple. The coolest part of this journey however, was meeting a deaf man at the ferry in Manhattan on our way back to SI. I was just standing there looking around for someone to talk to and I saw this one man sitting on a bench wearing a SF Giants t-shirt. Thinking that he was a baseball fan, I approached him to ask him who won the final game of the World Series. He looked at me and just put his finger in his ear and shook his head. I immediately just like jumped for joy as I have been looking forever to talk to a deaf person! When I told him I knew sign-language he also got really excited. We had the coolest conversation ever. He kept asking me if I was embarrassed to talk to him while all these people around us were staring. I told him I really don't care, but am so excited to be talking with you. It really made him happy. He said that he was sitting there, just pondering on what he should do with his life. We talked about God a little bit and I told him that no matter what, God always understands him and will communicate with him no matter what his language was. It was a joyous moment for both of us.
Well, in three days I will have been on my mission for 1 year! I am so blessed to be in New York serving as a representative of Jesus Christ. I love it here and there is no other place that I would rather be right now. Something that I have learned this week is how powerful daily scriptures study is in our lives. Elder Legere and I did not have a chance to study almost all week last week and boy did we feel it. We just couldn't think straight, remember our goals, etc. I personally just felt unprepared. We finally had the chance to study this morning and now I feel so much more focused and have peace of mind. DON'T forget to study the scriptures daily!
Donald and Korcan are still progressing and are doing great! i love them a ton! I have to get going now. Time to play some ultimate Frisbee!
Love,
Elder Hooper
Monday, November 4, 2013
Week 51, More Mice and a Christmas Tree, plus some Pics
I am back to report on another awesome week! We had 22 people who were not members of the church at sacrament meeting! It was amazing! The ward thought it was so exciting to have so many people there. Our district is on fire and doing so well!
So here is an update on the whole mouse situation! Wednesday evening we were done for the night and getting ready for bed and my companion, Elder Legere (who is awesome. I feel like we have been companions for months already) says "Elder Hooper, I think I just saw a mouse crawl under the microwave." I am just like no... not again! The awful memories of Gadianton and Kishkumen (the mice we found in my first apartment and me screaming and such, read week 7 if you want a reminder of the original story) came back to haunt me. I grabbed my squirt bottle and started to spray under the microwave and out comes the mother of the Ammonihahites and she ran behind our oven! Of course I let out a nice scream. That next morning we went and bought some traps from a corner store and loaded them with peanut butter. We left for the day and came back that evening with 2 of the trapped! Hahah! We decided to lay them out again so we reset them and went to bed. That next morning we caught 2 more! We decided to set them again, and guess what, well we didn't catch anymore, but all the peanut butter was missing and one of them was set-off. We know there is at least one that remains. So embarrassing story though, I was so scared about being in the kitchen that I was standing on a chair while I was any where near the stove! I am pathetic. We now have some sticky traps and tunnel traps a member gave us.
My new companion is Elder Legere (Le Shair). He is from Las Vegas, Nevada and is a stud. He and I get along very well and have lots of fun. Especially with our mice hunting skills. We are getting pretty good at that! He has been on his mission for 9 months. We are already seeing miracles happen within our companionship.
We had an awesome lesson with a man from Turkey. Elder Leger and I love this man. he is such a humble nice fellow. Because there is a slight language barrier we defined words and used lots of analogies to help him understand. I think it was one of the best Restoration lessons I have ever taught because it was just so simple. He really understood and the spirit was there. Elder Legere also had a really cool analogy using a pen and leading his hand relating it to prophets (the analogy is hard to explain, but it is cool). We also had many unplanned lessons with others and just many blessings have followed. The members here are amazing and truly catching the fire of the Lord's hastening of His work. They are the "key" to our success.
Being District Leader is a treat. Being in the leaders meetings with President Calderwood and other missionaries is wonderful. There are so many principles that have helped me tremendously and then the cool thing is, I get to teach all of them to my district. I love my district. We really do have the best district in the mission. Only the best of the best are here in Staten Island, totally serious!
Family History is a new tool we are going to be jumping on now thanks to our Bishop. He is giving all of us keys to our Family History center so we can take members, investigators, and anyone else that would benefit from it. We will be there Tues-Thurs in the mornings and there whenever we have an appointment with someone there. The Bishop here is the best and I feel so honored to be serving with him and to have such trust in us. He is one of the best Bishops in our mission. We are in the process of arranging a Family History Class at our local library to promote our FHC at the church, but more importantly, to try and help others find their ancestors to find that sense of belonging it brings! We are really excited for that.
So, Elder Legere and I just put up our Christmas tree! We are so cool! It is pretty cool looking.
It is freezing cold out here right now. It was 30 degrees last night which was a shock for all the New Yorkers and myself. Thankfully our apartment has great heaters. Maybe they will melt some of the mice?
Well I have to go! I love you all!
Love,
Elder Jonathan Hooper
facebook.com/jh00p
mormon.org/me/6bzr
So here is an update on the whole mouse situation! Wednesday evening we were done for the night and getting ready for bed and my companion, Elder Legere (who is awesome. I feel like we have been companions for months already) says "Elder Hooper, I think I just saw a mouse crawl under the microwave." I am just like no... not again! The awful memories of Gadianton and Kishkumen (the mice we found in my first apartment and me screaming and such, read week 7 if you want a reminder of the original story) came back to haunt me. I grabbed my squirt bottle and started to spray under the microwave and out comes the mother of the Ammonihahites and she ran behind our oven! Of course I let out a nice scream. That next morning we went and bought some traps from a corner store and loaded them with peanut butter. We left for the day and came back that evening with 2 of the trapped! Hahah! We decided to lay them out again so we reset them and went to bed. That next morning we caught 2 more! We decided to set them again, and guess what, well we didn't catch anymore, but all the peanut butter was missing and one of them was set-off. We know there is at least one that remains. So embarrassing story though, I was so scared about being in the kitchen that I was standing on a chair while I was any where near the stove! I am pathetic. We now have some sticky traps and tunnel traps a member gave us.
My new companion is Elder Legere (Le Shair). He is from Las Vegas, Nevada and is a stud. He and I get along very well and have lots of fun. Especially with our mice hunting skills. We are getting pretty good at that! He has been on his mission for 9 months. We are already seeing miracles happen within our companionship.
We had an awesome lesson with a man from Turkey. Elder Leger and I love this man. he is such a humble nice fellow. Because there is a slight language barrier we defined words and used lots of analogies to help him understand. I think it was one of the best Restoration lessons I have ever taught because it was just so simple. He really understood and the spirit was there. Elder Legere also had a really cool analogy using a pen and leading his hand relating it to prophets (the analogy is hard to explain, but it is cool). We also had many unplanned lessons with others and just many blessings have followed. The members here are amazing and truly catching the fire of the Lord's hastening of His work. They are the "key" to our success.
Being District Leader is a treat. Being in the leaders meetings with President Calderwood and other missionaries is wonderful. There are so many principles that have helped me tremendously and then the cool thing is, I get to teach all of them to my district. I love my district. We really do have the best district in the mission. Only the best of the best are here in Staten Island, totally serious!
Family History is a new tool we are going to be jumping on now thanks to our Bishop. He is giving all of us keys to our Family History center so we can take members, investigators, and anyone else that would benefit from it. We will be there Tues-Thurs in the mornings and there whenever we have an appointment with someone there. The Bishop here is the best and I feel so honored to be serving with him and to have such trust in us. He is one of the best Bishops in our mission. We are in the process of arranging a Family History Class at our local library to promote our FHC at the church, but more importantly, to try and help others find their ancestors to find that sense of belonging it brings! We are really excited for that.
So, Elder Legere and I just put up our Christmas tree! We are so cool! It is pretty cool looking.
It is freezing cold out here right now. It was 30 degrees last night which was a shock for all the New Yorkers and myself. Thankfully our apartment has great heaters. Maybe they will melt some of the mice?
Well I have to go! I love you all!
Love,
Elder Jonathan Hooper
facebook.com/jh00p
mormon.org/me/6bzr
The Mice fun in the Apartment
Setting up Christmas in our apartment.
Monday, October 28, 2013
Week 50, With a new transfer and a new companion comes a great responsibility! plus pics
Happy Monday everyone! We had a really good week here in Staten Island. I will be staying here for at least another 6 weeks, but Elder Tuiaki is leaving me! Nooo! I am going to miss him so much. We have had a lot of fun together these past 4 months. So on Wednesday, the week before transfers, the mission president makes calls if you will be a trainer. That whole day we both were freaking out whenever the phone would ring since we both felt that one of us was getting a call. So as we both were freaking out, Elder Tuiaki starts playing ring tones and pretending to answer the phone and say "Hello this is Elder Tuiaki. Oh, President, I am doing good how are you? Oh you want Elder Hooper?" kind of stuff all day! It was pretty funny. Then at 8:30pm that night as we were driving home, the phone rings and Elder Tuiaki is like, "uh oh". He shows me the phone and it says President Calderwood. We both just start freaking out. He answers it and puts it on speaker phone and President says "The Lord wants you to be a trainer!" and Elder Tuiaki says "Wait you mean for Elder Hooper?" and President is all like, no for you! and Elder Tuiaki was going crazy and screaming since he was so excited and President and myself were busting up laughing! It was fun. He then told elder Tuiaki to come to the meeting the next morning and he says to make sure to bring Elder Hooper with you too. So that hinted that I was going to be told something as well, but I didn't really think much of it until at the meeting President Calderwood says that he wants to meet with me. He called me to be the district leader here! I am very excited for this opportunity to learn and help my district! it is going to be a blast!
So we had a really cool experience with prayer a few days ago. There was a man pulled over on the freeway taking up a lane and we pulled in front of him to see if he needed some help. His car broke down so we agreed to help him get it off the freeway. We took out car off the freeway and walked back on to help push Ramos' car off the freeway. We were unsuccessful unfortunately since this huge hill we were attempting to go up was too much for me and my Tongan buddy haha! I told Ramos that the only thing that we could do now, is to pray. So we hopped in his car and I prayed with all the faith I could get out of myself. Immediately after I said "please just help us get the car off the freeway so we can diagnose the problem safer" we hear a knock on the window and it is a police officer that said, put your car in neutral and I will push you off the freeway! He took his car and pushed us off! It was so cool! Ramos also was just feeling so blessed that day and it was just an amazing experience.
Donald, the awesome Sri Lankan man we met a while ago is doing really well. He has a baptismal date for November 17th! He came to our Ward's primary program (which was so good!) and he loved it. We taught him again this morning, yes on our P-Day so Elder Tuiaki could see him one last time. I met a man from Turkey at the ferry earlier last week and we were able to teach him at the church with a member and the other Elders in my district set us up a member present lesson with an awesome young man too! It was a good week!
We will be adjusting our lemonade stand to some hot chocolate stand at the ferry this week as it is super cold! Having a car is nice since we can turn on the heater :D. We are going to be at Stop&Shop this week to promote our blood drive we are doing on November 9th. It is going to be a good activity we hope. We also will be promoting Family History some more and Bishop wants to put an add for our FH center since we are going to be there and open it up in the mornings now as well! There are lots of fun activities happening!
I am sorry there isn't a whole lots of details in this letter. The computers in the library are cutting our time short! Gotta go carve come pumpkins!
So we had a really cool experience with prayer a few days ago. There was a man pulled over on the freeway taking up a lane and we pulled in front of him to see if he needed some help. His car broke down so we agreed to help him get it off the freeway. We took out car off the freeway and walked back on to help push Ramos' car off the freeway. We were unsuccessful unfortunately since this huge hill we were attempting to go up was too much for me and my Tongan buddy haha! I told Ramos that the only thing that we could do now, is to pray. So we hopped in his car and I prayed with all the faith I could get out of myself. Immediately after I said "please just help us get the car off the freeway so we can diagnose the problem safer" we hear a knock on the window and it is a police officer that said, put your car in neutral and I will push you off the freeway! He took his car and pushed us off! It was so cool! Ramos also was just feeling so blessed that day and it was just an amazing experience.
Donald, the awesome Sri Lankan man we met a while ago is doing really well. He has a baptismal date for November 17th! He came to our Ward's primary program (which was so good!) and he loved it. We taught him again this morning, yes on our P-Day so Elder Tuiaki could see him one last time. I met a man from Turkey at the ferry earlier last week and we were able to teach him at the church with a member and the other Elders in my district set us up a member present lesson with an awesome young man too! It was a good week!
We will be adjusting our lemonade stand to some hot chocolate stand at the ferry this week as it is super cold! Having a car is nice since we can turn on the heater :D. We are going to be at Stop&Shop this week to promote our blood drive we are doing on November 9th. It is going to be a good activity we hope. We also will be promoting Family History some more and Bishop wants to put an add for our FH center since we are going to be there and open it up in the mornings now as well! There are lots of fun activities happening!
I am sorry there isn't a whole lots of details in this letter. The computers in the library are cutting our time short! Gotta go carve come pumpkins!
Love,
Elder Hooper
Happy Halloween!
Elder Hooper
Happy Halloween!
Holding hands at the rockaways ( an area hit hard from Sandy)
Donald is in the tan jacket and the others are the Sri
Lankan families in our ward who are awesome!
Creepy girl we saw
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
Week 49, Facebook is not all....
Hey everyone! Another really good week for Elder Tuiaki and I. We had many blessings and unplanned teaching opportunities come. But first off, we are getting iPads and iPhones November 11-13! Each missionary will get their own iPad mini for their entire mission, therefore, they are expected to take good care of it. Our Area Book, Planner, Progress Records, etc, will now all be digital and be updated in the iCloud and all of that info in certain areas will transfer over to our iPad wherever we go! Facebook and all the online proselyting stuff will be with us at all times and we can now have Skype lessons much easier. It is super exciting! I can already see myself walking up to someone and talking with them about General Conference and be like hey do you want to see a highlight from this talk? and whip out the iPad and show them! It is going to be so cool.
This 6 week transfer is coming to an end and Saturday we will get the call to whether or not we are leaving or staying. I most likely will be staying, but Elder Tuiaki will be probably leave since he has been here for 9 months! He has been my favorite companion. He is so funny. We laugh at everything and have a good time and always crack jokes and people who are crazy.
Madeline is doing very well! She finally went a day without smoking and she was so happy about it. We have a new baptismal date for her on November 17. She knows this church is true and loves it. She has a very strong testimony of Christ and knows we were the answer to her prayer as we knocked on her door the very day she was praying to know what she should do.
We have also been able to run into people along the way as well. I definitely feel that it is inspiration as we pick people to go visit the night before as we plan or even just at the moment. We were going to visit and friend named Luis, and we stated walking up to his apartment when we saw him walking up the hill from the ferry terminal. It was perfect timing. He also agreed that it was perfect that we came when we did. We also went to visit a lady we haven't ever seen. We have met her husband many times, but never her. We went to her house, knocked on the door, and again she wasn't home, but right as we turned to leave, there she walked, right up the stairs to her home and we taught them! Lots of cool things like that happened.
We also had the funnest Sunday ever! The Mud Lane Society, a community group to help keep the historic homes... well... historic, put on a haunted house tour of the historic houses. Our bishop's house is historic so he had us help out with that. The neighbors got out the make-up and latex and made all of our faces look like zombies so we were dead missionaries! It was soooo fun! I have a few pictures of it, but the Elder that took the pics, forgot his camera today so I will get those next week. We helped out by making sure the tourists payed and marked off which house they came too. It was a blast. We got to know the neighborhood well too and they are such good people. One of the families that Elder Tuiaki and I helped are going to come with us to a FHE/ game night at the Bishop's house on Monday. It is going to be a lot of fun. Oh and everyone thought we were awesome and looked super cool.
Everything is going well in Staten Island. Elder Tuiaki and I are going to be fearlessing (street contacting) people around the ferry instead of knocking on doors. It is more fun and successful too! It is getting cold too and that is why I am spending the rest of my P-Day going shopping with some Birthday money :).
Love,
Elder Hooper
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Week 48, Social Media, Birthday, 11 months! Pics!
Hey there everybody! Sorry this is late. Yesterday was Columbus Day so all of the NY libraries were closed. Elder Tuiaki and I had a pretty good week.
“Why would 18- and 19-year-olds be willing to put their lives on hold for up to two years,” he asks, “at a time when their peers are working through college or starting careers?”
The answer, Otterson says, is that Mormons learn from their youngest years to follow Jesus Christ by serving all people everywhere. Across the globe, such service brings missionaries in contact with people in “every conceivable kind of trial and circumstance,” Otterson says. “From opulence and selfishness to chronic, spirit-numbing poverty. From the effects of drugs and alcohol to the invidious addictions of pornography and gambling. From broken homes and battered wives to neglected children and debilitating illness. Missionaries encounter it all. But along with the bad,” Otterson continues, “missionaries also see the redemptive power of the gospel of Jesus Christ as it transforms lives.” I just wanted to share this quote from mormonnewsroom.org because I encountered this question this week and the answer that was given is so true! There was a Catholic woman that was saying she wishes the young people in her church would even have the desire to do something like we do. She asked me what gives the young men and women in our church the desire to do this for 2 years? I responded in a more amusing way and said "maybe it is because we have the truth!" and we laughed. I have experienced many of the challenges the world faces in this statement and quite a few more as well!
Using Facebook has been such a great tool for us out here. When we are talking with people on the street, we can just ask for their email, search it in Facebook and then their profile pops up and then we can chat with them where they can control the situation and get more comfortable with having us in their own home in person. It has been a marvelous blessing to us out here. Not only to investigators, but also to members! It has made the missionary work come to life!
My birthday was great! I had a fun day. I made a lemon cake that my mom sent me and we partied! It was fun. Aunt Leslie, thank you so much for the cake balls. They are delicious. They were all gone in two days and maybe even sooner. I appreciated all the birthday cards and I am working on responding to all of them! The star wars package was pretty cool too Mom and Dad. My companion and I took the blow-up light-sabers and dueled.
The sister missionaries had a baptism last Sunday and it went well even after the small crisis before hand. I was in charge of filling the baptismal font and I some how didn't get the drain completely plugged. After checking on it multiple times and not noticing the drain, there was definitely not enough water for the baptism to be performed. One of the sisters even decided to go all the way into what water was present to try and fix the drain. It was pretty funny. Six of us members/missionaries grabbed some pitchers and were frantically filling them up with warm water and trying to assist the water faucet. It helped just enough to complete the baptism. All was well!
So while we were singing at the ferry again last week, we had a few drunk people come up to us and started dancing and trying to conduct our group and such. It was quite hysterical and I played along with them to make them happy so they wouldn't get mad so they would leave. It was pretty funny until they approached our table and started arguing with my companion about something. This always happens to my poor companion. I don't know why all the mean people approach him. He got really upset after that, so we went to Rite Aid and bought some awesome Halloween masks and play around with to cheer us up. Yes, we have scared some people already! Don't worry they were just other missionaries :D. I will post some pictures we took.
So yesterday was my 11 month mark. I can't believe I have already been out for almost a year. It has gone by so fast. Time flies when you are having fun and finding, teaching, and baptizing!
Madeline is still progressing! She has a strong desire to follow Christ and has actually been apart of many churches prior to meeting with us. She has been searching for the truth in it's entirety and she says she feels that she has finally found it. She is determined to be baptized next month. We also have a few other families we are trying to work with and teach, but it has been hard to get in contact with some of them.
I am sorry there aren't very many details in this letter. I forgot my journal and have to get going! Thank you for all your support. My love and prayers go to all of you.
Love,
Elder Hooper
“Why would 18- and 19-year-olds be willing to put their lives on hold for up to two years,” he asks, “at a time when their peers are working through college or starting careers?”
The answer, Otterson says, is that Mormons learn from their youngest years to follow Jesus Christ by serving all people everywhere. Across the globe, such service brings missionaries in contact with people in “every conceivable kind of trial and circumstance,” Otterson says. “From opulence and selfishness to chronic, spirit-numbing poverty. From the effects of drugs and alcohol to the invidious addictions of pornography and gambling. From broken homes and battered wives to neglected children and debilitating illness. Missionaries encounter it all. But along with the bad,” Otterson continues, “missionaries also see the redemptive power of the gospel of Jesus Christ as it transforms lives.” I just wanted to share this quote from mormonnewsroom.org because I encountered this question this week and the answer that was given is so true! There was a Catholic woman that was saying she wishes the young people in her church would even have the desire to do something like we do. She asked me what gives the young men and women in our church the desire to do this for 2 years? I responded in a more amusing way and said "maybe it is because we have the truth!" and we laughed. I have experienced many of the challenges the world faces in this statement and quite a few more as well!
Using Facebook has been such a great tool for us out here. When we are talking with people on the street, we can just ask for their email, search it in Facebook and then their profile pops up and then we can chat with them where they can control the situation and get more comfortable with having us in their own home in person. It has been a marvelous blessing to us out here. Not only to investigators, but also to members! It has made the missionary work come to life!
My birthday was great! I had a fun day. I made a lemon cake that my mom sent me and we partied! It was fun. Aunt Leslie, thank you so much for the cake balls. They are delicious. They were all gone in two days and maybe even sooner. I appreciated all the birthday cards and I am working on responding to all of them! The star wars package was pretty cool too Mom and Dad. My companion and I took the blow-up light-sabers and dueled.
The sister missionaries had a baptism last Sunday and it went well even after the small crisis before hand. I was in charge of filling the baptismal font and I some how didn't get the drain completely plugged. After checking on it multiple times and not noticing the drain, there was definitely not enough water for the baptism to be performed. One of the sisters even decided to go all the way into what water was present to try and fix the drain. It was pretty funny. Six of us members/missionaries grabbed some pitchers and were frantically filling them up with warm water and trying to assist the water faucet. It helped just enough to complete the baptism. All was well!
So while we were singing at the ferry again last week, we had a few drunk people come up to us and started dancing and trying to conduct our group and such. It was quite hysterical and I played along with them to make them happy so they wouldn't get mad so they would leave. It was pretty funny until they approached our table and started arguing with my companion about something. This always happens to my poor companion. I don't know why all the mean people approach him. He got really upset after that, so we went to Rite Aid and bought some awesome Halloween masks and play around with to cheer us up. Yes, we have scared some people already! Don't worry they were just other missionaries :D. I will post some pictures we took.
So yesterday was my 11 month mark. I can't believe I have already been out for almost a year. It has gone by so fast. Time flies when you are having fun and finding, teaching, and baptizing!
Madeline is still progressing! She has a strong desire to follow Christ and has actually been apart of many churches prior to meeting with us. She has been searching for the truth in it's entirety and she says she feels that she has finally found it. She is determined to be baptized next month. We also have a few other families we are trying to work with and teach, but it has been hard to get in contact with some of them.
I am sorry there aren't very many details in this letter. I forgot my journal and have to get going! Thank you for all your support. My love and prayers go to all of you.
Love,
Elder Hooper
Tuesday, October 8, 2013
Week 47 -#ldsconf #so-old, and Pics. Happy Birthday Elder Hooper
I hope everyone had a wonderful General Conference weekend! I really enjoyed conference. it is definitely a holiday to me on a mission! I wish all of Staten Island, could have been watching this. If people would come watch, there is no way they could deny this church! The weather is getting chilly and it was super foggy yesterday. The leaves on the trees are changing colors which is so cool to watch.
So Elder Tuiaki and I's favorite thing to do while we are knocking on doors is to make funny missionary rap songs. I beat-box and he raps! Its pretty fun. Elder Tuiaki knows the "missionary purpose" in Chinese and it is the coolest sounding rap ever!
During our music street sweep at the ferry a few days ago, there was a woman that came to our table and said she was Muslim and was getting so offended that we were here sharing Book of Mormons and such saying that Mohammed is who we should be following. Then she sternly said "you know what, I am just going to sit over here and listen to your music and not talk to you guys". As she listened, the spirit worked within her and the words we sang touched her heart and then she re-approached the table and asked if she could read and pray about one of those Book of Mormons. It was awesome! And during our lemonade street sweep at the ferry, Elder Liston a Chinese speaking Elder who is serving in the English program now talk to a bunch of Chinese people and one of them came to General Conference yesterday and is now being taught by the sisters! It was awesome!
We taught quite a few lessons this week with members and are now preparing a few less-actives to go to the temple. We met a young man across the street from us and we have taught him. He is a very good young man and that is a big deal for living in NY and truly wants to follow Christ. He is pure in heart and I know that if he chooses to accept this path he will be so much stronger to handle the stresses of his life and will be a great missionary. One of the young men in the ward happens to be friends with him too!
I will be using Facebook starting tomorrow! Isn't that an awesome birthday present. Once the mission gets settled in with Facebook, then we will get iPads to use. It is going to be awesome. I am so excited to use social media. Lately people have been asking me if I am on Facebook and now I can tell them I am. Our Ward Mission Leader has made us labels with our media info on them to give to people to looks us up on Facebook and Mormon.org. He also put my blog on it too, which I am not so sure if I like, but we will see.
Everything is going well in Staten Island. We have a few new families we have on the radar hoping we can teach. We are working hard and trying to take the advice that were given in conference to be more successful in the mission field. Sorry this is so short. We are going into Brooklyn for our Zone Activity and are late :O! I still can't believe I am 20 years old- so old.
Love,
Elder Hooper
So Elder Tuiaki and I's favorite thing to do while we are knocking on doors is to make funny missionary rap songs. I beat-box and he raps! Its pretty fun. Elder Tuiaki knows the "missionary purpose" in Chinese and it is the coolest sounding rap ever!
During our music street sweep at the ferry a few days ago, there was a woman that came to our table and said she was Muslim and was getting so offended that we were here sharing Book of Mormons and such saying that Mohammed is who we should be following. Then she sternly said "you know what, I am just going to sit over here and listen to your music and not talk to you guys". As she listened, the spirit worked within her and the words we sang touched her heart and then she re-approached the table and asked if she could read and pray about one of those Book of Mormons. It was awesome! And during our lemonade street sweep at the ferry, Elder Liston a Chinese speaking Elder who is serving in the English program now talk to a bunch of Chinese people and one of them came to General Conference yesterday and is now being taught by the sisters! It was awesome!
We taught quite a few lessons this week with members and are now preparing a few less-actives to go to the temple. We met a young man across the street from us and we have taught him. He is a very good young man and that is a big deal for living in NY and truly wants to follow Christ. He is pure in heart and I know that if he chooses to accept this path he will be so much stronger to handle the stresses of his life and will be a great missionary. One of the young men in the ward happens to be friends with him too!
I will be using Facebook starting tomorrow! Isn't that an awesome birthday present. Once the mission gets settled in with Facebook, then we will get iPads to use. It is going to be awesome. I am so excited to use social media. Lately people have been asking me if I am on Facebook and now I can tell them I am. Our Ward Mission Leader has made us labels with our media info on them to give to people to looks us up on Facebook and Mormon.org. He also put my blog on it too, which I am not so sure if I like, but we will see.
Everything is going well in Staten Island. We have a few new families we have on the radar hoping we can teach. We are working hard and trying to take the advice that were given in conference to be more successful in the mission field. Sorry this is so short. We are going into Brooklyn for our Zone Activity and are late :O! I still can't believe I am 20 years old- so old.
Love,
Elder Hooper
Sammy Jr and Sammy Rosa. They are the coolest guys every.
Brother Rosa goes teaching with us a lot.
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