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 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.
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