December 31, 2012

G'Day!

Thanks so much for this week's e-mail, I loved hearing from you again! It was especially a huge blessing to be able to talk with you on Skype, it was wonderful to be able to see you again! Thanks especially for the Christmas presents as well as thanks to everyone else who sent something to me, it meant so much and made it a really wonderful Christmas day! This past week was really, really good and it flew by so fast, in large part because of the Holidays! On Monday we had a really nice Christmas Eve dinner with a family from the ward with some of their extended family as well. It was really good and we were so full afterwards! They gave us some nice treats to take back with us as well which was so generous of them! Christmas turned out really well as well (obviously mainly because I got to Skype with you!) and we were able to spend some time at 4 of the members' homes. We had some really delicious food and certainly didn't go hungry! It was nice to just have some time to enjoy with the members and relax just a bit on Christmas. It was also kind of nice that on Christmas morning it was actually a bit cold! So it helped make it feel a bit more like a Christmas in Utah instead of Australia haha. But obviously we couldn't rest for long because it was back to the regular work the next day! Despite it being the week of Christmas and a lot of people being really busy or out of town, we were still able to get a good amount of lessons in. It was really exciting this week because we were finally able to set a baptismal with Joan Willmott! We set it for the 9th of February so we really hope and pray she'll be ready on that day. That's the first time since I've been here in Pakenham that we've been able to set a date like that, so that was a huge blessing for us. We weren't able to see Rodney this past week, but we were told by his wife that he made it the whole month of December living the Word of Wisdom perfectly! That was a big miracle for us to see and it's been awesome to see how their whole family has been blessed from Rodney's commitment and determination. She said it's been pretty difficult for him but he's really put a lot of effort into staying strong which is so awesome to hear! We continue to pray that he'll be able to go another month as well keeping this commandment. Since we weren't able to see them this past week, we weren't able to try to set a date with Rodney, but we hope to be able to this coming Friday when we have an appointment with them! Well, the biggest miracle for us this week missionary-work wise was definitely the baptism of the Gloster children this past Saturday! It was such a wonderful day for them and for their family and the service went really well, with a lot of members attending to help support them. Jaynielee (age 10) and Mathew (age 12) were both baptized by Bishop and confirmed by him as well at church on Sunday. Erin Sky (age 9) said she wasn't ready to be baptized yet earlier in the week, so she didn't end up being baptized on the same day as the other 2 children, but she wants to wait to be baptized on her birthday which comes up on May 27th. So that will still be really good for her to be baptized and confirmed then! Mathew and his older brother Jack (age 14) also were both ordained as Deacons and received the Aaronic Priesthood at church yesterday as well! So it was just a really wonderful series of events for the Gloster family and it seems like they'll all do really well in the Pakenham ward. Brother Gloster also was at church for all 3 hours yesterday for the first time in a very long time, so that was really awesome to see as well. Another big miracle we witnessed was that David (Melissa's partner) came to church as well yesterday! After he'd told us that he wasn't going to come to church any more and we'd tried to help him see the importance of it, we certainly weren't expecting to see him there. So we look forward to when we see them this week and have the opportunity to ask him what prompted him to come this past Sunday. The whole week was really great and filled with lots of blessings and miracles, but unfortunately I don't have time to mention all of them! I really hope we're able to have a lot of success this coming week seeing as it's the last week of the transfer! We find out the news this coming Saturday of who's staying and who's going so we'll hope for good news! It will be an exciting transfer no matter what news though, since it will be the beginning of all the new missionaries coming in! So we'll work very hard this week and help Pakenham continue to grow. Thanks so much again for the e-mail, and especially for all of your love and support and prayers, it helps so much and I'm eternally grateful for all of it. I hope that you have a wonderful week ahead as well and a fantastic New Year! I love you!

Love,

Elder Hopkins

December 24, 2012

G'Day!

Thank you so much for the wonderful e-mail this week! I loved getting it and reading it as always. Merry Christmas-Eve as well! It doesn't feel like Christmas one bit over here. I think for two main reasons, one being that as missionaries we really don't have any time at all to get into the festive spirit or do any celebration type things, and two being that it's the exact opposite temperature that I'm used to this time of year. So it definitely will be an interesting Christmas season this year. I guess first off it's nice that the world didn't end on the 21st a few days ago! haha. I wonder what everyone was saying after they realized life was just continuing on, especially for those who sincerely believed that was going to be the end. Well this past week was one of the fastest weeks of the mission so far! It just flew by soooo quick and I can't believe it's already Monday again. I think the main reason was that we had the big, all-day Christmas conference on Thursday, so we had to squeeze everything we normally would do on Thursday into any empty time on the other days that we had. The Christmas conference went really well though and it was an awesome experience! They said that there were about 180 missionaries there (which doesn't include the 20 or so from Tasmania, who had their own conference down there). It was especially fun to see all of the other missionaries I've gotten to be good friends with that have moved to other areas. The first half of the conference was a really nice devotional type thing in which they read off the Christmas story, while after every paragraph or so they'd have a musical number or a video or have us all sing a Christmas hymn. So that was really nice and it was good for feeling the Spirit. They also had some of the missionaries that were the only ones in the mission from their home country talk about how they celebrated Christmas with their families. They had one from Pakistan, Kenya, Canada, and I can't remember the other one at the moment. But they all did a really good job and it was cool to hear some of the different traditions that they each did. After the devotional we all went and had a huge feed that they'd prepared for us (it'd have to be really huge to feed 180 hungry missionaries). It was so delicious and definitely filled us up. After the lunch, they set up the cultural hall for the second half of the day which was a talent show. It actually turned out really well and there were a lot of cool talents that people had. A lot of them did some sort of musical talent, whether it was just singing, or guitar and singing, or even beat boxing and singing (which was pretty cool)! Elder Hirata actually participated in it (because Sister Lifferth called us and asked him to) and he played a pretty difficult piano rendition of "If You Could Hie to Kolob." He did really well considering he'd had about 2 hours total practice time and since it was a pretty hard song to play. So that was neat! There were also some people who did some dances which were cool, and then some slideshows, and the longest one was about a 23 minute skit which was pretty funny! So that was a really awesome experience there and I think everyone really enjoyed it. I certainly look forward to whatever they do next Christmas. On the regular missionary work side of things we had a pretty good week. The Glosters did switch the baptism to the 29th (this Saturday) so that the Dad could be there for it, so that will be a really great day this week. The kids have already learned heaps since we've taught them just two times and they remember everything quite well. Rodney has still been doing really well, and is now probably our most progressing investigator. He's been living the Word of Wisdom perfectly since we taught him about it and the best thing is that he's recognized a lot of blessings that their family has received since he's done so. That's probably the most important thing, because when you see the Lord bless you once for doing something, you from now on will continue to do so because you know that it's a true commandment, so hopefully that will be the case with Rodney as well. We found out one cool experience with one of the less-active families that we visit regular this past Saturday. It was with the Sekene family (Vince is actually using the computer next to us in the library right now, haha). Last visit with them we'd given them a challenge to read the Book of Mormon daily for the coming week because that was something that they'd been a bit slack on. So they happily accepted the challenge when we gave it to them. When we saw Bro. Sekene on Saturday and talked to him he said their family had experienced so many blessings since they've kept that challenge. I guess I wont go into too much detail of what the blessings were but he said that they had just received a massive amount of unexpected blessings that really helped them and were much needed. So that's always a testimony builder to me to see when others are able to enjoy the wonderful blessings that come from keeping the commandments, even when it's one of the much basic or simple such as reading the scriptures each day. It's just a proof that Heavenly Father knows each of us and all of our efforts that we do each day, big or small, and will always provide the things we truly need. Those experiences that Rodney and the Sekene family had are the kind that you truly seek and want because those are what provide a testimony of the Gospel and are something you can always turn back to if you ever are in a difficult situation or ever have any doubts that Heavenly Father is there and if this is his true church. We really hope that this coming week we'll be able to set a baptismal date with Rodney because we feel that he's ready and feel that the Spirit has really been working in him and we know he and his family have seen so many blessings since he's begun to live the Gospel. This past week we also had quite a tough experience with a less-active man that we teach. He was really, really depressed lately because he missed his kids (one who had died very young and the others who I'm guessing were taken from him). He also was sad at the state of life he's in because he's let himself go a lot in the past few years. He told us that recently he'd also had a lot of suicidal thoughts but he'd tried hard to push them away. When we were there he told us that he felt the was no point for him to be here any more. However, we were able to have a really good, long and powerful lesson with him about the plan of salvation and how God has a plan for each one of us and if we still here on Earth it's for a specific reason. He seemed like the lesson helped him a lot, the hardest part for him was understanding why his daughter died so young. We told him we didn't obviously know the reason why her time had come, only Heavenly Father knows that, but that because she passed on when she did that she'd be going straight to the Celestial Kingdom. He appreciated that knowledge, and through the help of another member who he's close with he was able to be consoled and ended up coming to church yesterday and had a wonderful experience. So we had a lot of good lessons this past week and look forward to a lot more this week. I especially look forward to Christmas tomorrow and being able to talk to you! As I always say, I appreciate so much all the love and support and especially the prayers on our behalf. I hope that you have a wonderful Christmas season! I'll talk to you tomorrow!

Love,

Elder Hopkins

December 17, 2012

G'Day!

Thanks for the great e-mail for this week! I always love hearing about everything cool that's going on back home. I feel like this past week went by really quick as well and there were heaps of good things that happened. We witnessed a lot of miracles this week that I'll mention. The family I mentioned last week who's three kids are preparing to be baptized are really great when we went to see them this week. They were very nice and the kids seem to be really excited for their baptisms. We set the date with them on Tuesday when we taught them for the 22nd of December, which was awesome! Talking to our Ward Mission Leader yesterday, though, he said that when he went by to see them and just confirm some things for the day that the Mom said they may have to push the day back a week because they're unsure if the Father will be able to make it on that day, so we'll find out for sure later today, but even if they have to push it back that's of course ok because it will still be great for the family and obviously will be a special day no matter what day it is. The next miracle we had this week came on Thursday. We were at the library for our weekly 30 minutes on the church website and towards the end of our time there, there walked in a African man who looked familiar. After a few seconds I realized that it was Puot! (If you remember him, the Kenyan man who was about to be baptized but got kicked out of his house and we lost contact with him) So we waved him over and he came and talked to us for a little while. He said that he was only in Pakenham for the day so we were very lucky to catch him! We were able to get his new address (in a town called Cranbourne which isn't too far from here) and said that we'd be able to have the missionaries there come visit him. So that was an awesome blessing and we were very happy to see Puot again, as he was as well to see us. The third miracle for the week had to do with Rodney. Last week we taught him about the Word of Wisdom, which we had been told had been his only real issue in the past (just with coffee and tea and he would have an occasional drink for social reasons). So when we taught him this time he understood really well and at the end the spirit was there so we were able to challenge him to live the Word of Wisdom for at least the rest of December. He said he couldn't make any guarantees but he would try his best to do so. So we considered that a really good blessing to get him to commit to that. When we saw his wife, Sister Dean, yesterday she told us that Rodney has been doing really great so far with the challenge to live the Word of Wisdom! So we thought that that was a big miracle for us, and we really look forward to seeing him this week and getting his opinion on how he's seen it help him both physically and spiritually already. And now for the fourth miracle of this past week (heaps this week, eh?) which happened yesterday at church. During Sacrament meeting, about halfway through, there was a lady who I didn't recognize that came and sat down next to us (we were sitting on the row closest to the door). After Sacrament meeting was over, we found out that her name was Karen. She was actually a non member and had just decided to rock up (come) to church yesterday for the first time to see what we were all about. She said that she'd seen it heaps of times just driving past and it intrigued her so she decided that she'd like to just come check it out. Now obviously that's an incredible miracle in and of itself, but it kept going with her. She not only stayed and came into the gospel principles class (the missionary class) but also went to relief society as well! Some active members have a hard time wanting to stay all 3 hours, haha! Obviously we didn't see her in the Relief Society hour, but throughout the missionary class (the lesson was on charity, a perfect and low-key principle of the Gospel to introduce someone to) she was very attentive and was following along in the book and everything. The members that joined us to help in the class told some great stories as well which helped the spirit to be there. So after the 3rd block, we went to talk to her again. She said that she really loved church, and that she hopes to be back next week as well!! She also mentioned she's interested in joining the ward choir (they sang in Sacrament that meeting) and that after the busy holidays are over she's keen to have us around to teach her more about the church and the Gospel! Wow! That was definitely one of the most incredible things that's happened to me on my mission so far, and is awesome to see that she had courage enough to come on her own to check it out. I'm sure we'll see many more miracles to come with her in the near future. She and the Relief Society president exchanged phone numbers and e-mail addresses so they'll be in contact with each other for the time being. This transfer has really been filled with miracles thus far and it's been really great to see. This next week will be packed as! We have heaps of lessons and appointments planned out and we will be constantly busy (hopefully, at this point not everything is confirmed). Also, this Thursday there will be the big missionary Christmas devotional which should be really fun. All the missionaries from the Melbourne mission, except those in Tazzy (Tasmania), will be there and it will go from 10:30 a.m. until 4 p.m. I'll save all the program details til next week when I can give you all the specifics of what went on. So anyway, our week was excellent and we are really excited for this next week and all the exciting things that are going to be happening this time of year! Thanks again for the wonderful e-mail and especially all the love, support, and prayers on our behalf! I love you and I hope you have a wonderful week ahead as well! I'll talk to you again soon!

Love,

Elder Hopkins

December 10, 2012

G'Day!

Thanks once again for another great e-mail! I really enjoyed it! This week was incredibly busy and eventful and Elder Hirata and I saw a lot of miracles. Well on Wednesday we did get to go to the Temple and that was an incredible experience as always! It was wonderful to be able to feel the spirit there and receive heaps of personal guidance and revelation. I learn so much each time I get to go through the Temple and my resolve to be better grows each time as well. After the Temple on Wednesday, one of the member couples in the ward took us out to dinner. We got permission from President Lifferth last Sunday to go with them because they wanted to take us to a restaurant in the city. So that was really cool to experience a bit of the city! It was just a little street restaurant that served souvlakes (I'd never heard of them before but they're really good!). We weren't quite in the city center but still close enough were it felt as congested as the city haha. It's unbelievable how busy it is there. They said that on the weekends the traffic can make you take about 2 hours just to go a couple of blocks! The area we were in also had some incredible houses as well which I'm sure would cost a fortune. But that was really fun to go up there with them. This past week Elder Hirata had quite a bit of bike trouble haha. On Thursday towards the end of the day, he got a flat tire. Now Elder Hirata had never changed a tire before and it'd been so long since I'd done it that I'd forgotten how to. So he just called up some other missionaries and they walked him through it step by step. We had to walk over to the nearest shopping center (which was quite close to our flat) to buy a new tire and a little repair kit just in case. So we got the old tire off and the new one on just fine, so we thought everything was all good once again. However, when we went to fill it up with air again the next day it was still remaining flat. So we inspected it again and when Elder Hirata used a kitchen knife to pry off the old tire he had accidentally poked a hole in the inner tire tube as well! So we had to walk back to the shopping center to buy some more supplies before we finally got everything fixed. So the whole ordeal took us about 4 hours, haha. But the Elder Hirata vs. Bike match still had round 2 to go. When we were riding down a steep hill coming back from an appointment, he took out his planner to check something and while he was looking at it he didn't notice a big bump on the sidewalk. I was behind him a little way and I just saw him fly a few feet in the air and fall almost in slow motion! Haha. He just fell in the grass though and he wasn't hurt besides a scratch or two. We realized later that he must've lost his bike lights when it happened because, come nighttime, his light appeared to have broken off the holder. So today we stopped by the shopping center again so he could buy a new light. So that was quite a crazy week for him, haha. Now on the actually missionary side of things, it was a really good week. Despite us not having a lot of time to work this week, because of the Temple and city trips and the whole bike thing, we ended up still getting in heaps of lessons, and saw some of our main investigators make some great progress. Melissa nearly quit smoking this week, she'd given it up for two days but then had one again. She said that she's down to just one a day though which is the best she said she's ever done! So that's been really good news, and we're helping her to pick a day to fast to help her receive extra strength, spiritually and physically. Also last Sunday, our investigator Rodney Dean fasted, and throughout this whole past week he was reading and praying individually and with the family every day! So that was huge progress to see with him and we can see that it is blessing his life. Hopefully soon he'll feel ready to make to the commitment to be baptized. Yesterday, at church, we had the biggest miracle of all. One of the less-active families who's just been coming back to church the past 2 or 3 weeks, has requested us to come teach their 3 unbaptized children (ages, 9, 10, and 11)  and baptize them before Christmas! Wow! So that was a huge blessing to receive that request and that will be so wonderful for the family and especially for the children. We'll be seeing them this Tuesday and will set a baptism date with them then (likely the 22nd of this month). So that'll be a great Christmas present for the Pakenham Ward! So we're really looking forward to begin to teach them this week. So a couple days within the past few weeks have been really hot and made us appreciate more the fact we had an air conditioned car! The hottest it's gotten so far in Pakenham has been 44 degrees Celsius (about 111 degrees Fahrenheit!)! That was just brutal, haha. But we've slowly been getting used to being in the heat here so hopefully it never gets too bad for us. Well we're really excited for all of the great things coming up this holiday season and continue to hope to see many miracles as we work hard. I hope that you continue to enjoy the winter and the holiday season back home! Thanks again for the wonderful e-mail. I'll talk to you again soon!

Love,

Elder Hopkins

 Elder Hopkins and Elder Hirata on their bicycles.

 Cruiz and Chelsea at their wedding, with Elder Hopkins and Elder Hirata.

 Rodney and Angie Dean and family.

 Cruiz and Chelsea with Afa and Lisa and family.

 Vince Sekene and his boys with Elder Hopkins and Elder Hirata.

 The Melbourne Temple at night.

 (Left to right) Elder Hirata, Elder Hopkins, Ward members, Barry and Joan Willmott.

The ugliest spider Elder Hopkins has ever seen.

Elder Hopkins' District, Zone Leaders, and assistants from the last transfer.

December 3, 2012

G'Day!

 

Thanks for the wonderful letter this week, I really loved reading it! I'm glad that there's been a lot of fun things happening back home! Unfortunately I'm a bit short on time this week so it will have to be a brief letter but I'll include heaps of pictures from the past little while as well, so hopefully that will make up for it. Last night was the Mission President's Fireside again and it went really well, they just did a Christmas program with a lot of really good musical numbers so it definitely helped everyone get into the Christmas spririt. Hard to believe it's Christmas in just a few weeks! Santa will probably be wearing shorts and a t-shirt over here, so it will be different not having a white Christmas this year. Also, if you can e-mail me what time you would like to do the Christmas day call/skype and what time it would be over here that'd be great, then I can talk to some of the members to see who would be available to lend their computer to us. Church also went really well, we had 8 of the less-active members we teach come to church again so that was a huge blessing! The most progress in the Pakenham area I think are coming from the less-active members which is great, so hopefully we'll be able to increase the investigator side of the work to catch up with them. This coming week we get to go to the Temple again so that should be really enjoyable and help re-invigorate our spirits. I always treasure the experiences at the Temple since we only have the opportunity to go once every 3 months, so it will definitely be wonderful to be back there again. It's been difficult lately to find any solid new investigators which has been a bit discouraging. However, as we work more with the members to try to get some good referrals from them it should bring some blessings there. Right now it's actually the start of the summer break for the school kids here (weird, eh?) so hopefully we'll be able to get a lot of the young adults out with us to help teach. So we're excited for that, however, their summer break is just 6 weeks so we'll have to make the time count! Well unfortunately I have to end the letter already, but next week I'll be sure to make it a good e-mail! I hope you enjoy the pictures that I send though! Thanks so much for all the continued love and support and especially the prayers! It makes all the difference. I hope that you have a wonderful week ahead and I love you very much! Talk to you again soon!

 

Love,

 

Elder Hopkins