January 21, 2013

G'Day!

Thanks once again for a wonderful e-mail this week! I look forward to each P-Day when I get to read it. Now that I'm able to e-mail on the usual day I'll hopefully be able to include more detail then last time. This past week was great and these first two weeks in Geelong literally feel like a few days. It amazes me that the time on the mission continues to go faster and faster even when it was already flying by! Just means you have to make every moment count! So in this Geelong area that we're in there wasn't very many investigators or less-active members that were in the teaching pool, so we haven't been teaching many lessons, just a lot of contacting and finding. We spent the first couple of days (an hour or two each day) organizing the teaching records for the area from the Area Book. We finally got all of it sorted out nicely, and after removing some of the records from back in the Joseph Smith era we were able to get a good, large list of former investigators (people who'd been taught either a bit or a lot but either stopped investigating the church or weren't progressing) to go and try to contact again. So in these first two weeks when we haven't been in Members' homes for meals or in a lesson, we've been walking around contacting these people. It was something that I'd never tried to do before in Pakenham but we felt impressed that we should do a lot of it here. We've decided that we want to contact all of the former investigators (and there's well over 100) before we start just normally tracting. We've actually seen so many miracles and blessings as we've done so and gotten quite a few new contacts and investigators to go and teach. Most of the former investigators we were going to contact had moved but out of the first 10 or so that we tried to visit, about 6 of the people now living there seemed very prepared to hear the gospel. So that's been a big blessing and has increased our teaching pool for the area. Almost all of the former investigators that still do live in the same place have also said that we can come back to teach them as well, which is fantastic as well. We've also been using a pattern of contacting that I remember learning from President Lifferth a while back where he talked about if you go and try to contact a less-active member or a former investigator and they aren't home or have moved, don't just rush on to the next person on the list, but tract the house to the left, the house to the right, the one across the street, or even the whole street because their must be some reason Heavenly Father wants us to go to that certain area. As we've applied that idea we've seen a lot of great blessings come and we've met some really great people as well. Something that has also really helped me in my missionary work was something that Elder Pearson mentioned at the conference last week. He was talking about how everyone is on a level between 1 and 7 of how prepared they are to receive the Gospel, with 7 being completely ready and 1 being quite hostile. He was talking about how as a missionary you shouldn't try and make every 1 that you see become a level 7 right away, it's not often achievable. He said that every person that we meet though that is like a 1 or 2 or 3, we should recognize that they aren't ready for the Gospel but before leaving them we should just do or say something to help make them a level higher for the next time they see missionaries (by just being really friendly or saying something like "if you ever need anything at all, service or help, just ask the missionaries and we'll help you right away). That was something that really opened my eyes because so far on the mission as I've assumed myself and seen a few other missionaries do I've wanted every person that we meet to become a new investigator to the church even if they want nothing to do with it. But that's helped me realize that I need to focus and think about more of the bigger and long term picture than just the immediate one. I think that's helped us a lot since he said that. So in Geelong, the main investigator we have is named Joe who is the partner (soon to be husband in March) of a less-active member named Camilla. They're the nicest couple and are really receptive to the things we've told them and what they've learned since they've been coming to church the past few weeks before I got here. Camilla is actually the daughter of the former 2nd counselor in the bishopric of the Pakenham ward so I'd actually met them 1 Sunday before when they visited family in the ward there! Small world! But we'll start teaching them the missionary lessons this coming Wednesday and Joe seems very prepared to hear the Gospel so I'm sure we'll see a lot of blessings and miracles there. Yesterday (Sunday) we had a big multi-stake conference because they were also creating a new stake on this side of Melbourne as well! So Elder Pearson as well as Elder Ireedin (not sure if that's the right spelling) of the 70 were there to preside (unfortunately they were at a different stake center so it was just broadcast to ours (the Wyndam stake center) and gave some wonderful talks. Elder Pearson's main point of his talk (he was the last speaker) was that with the hard and difficult times that are in the future for the church and its members, the only thing that will keep us from faltering is by 'clinging' to the Iron Rod (from Lehi's dream) or the Book of Mormon "Every day, Every day, Every day." I found that to be very enlightening and I think it helped a lot of the members there. My favorite line that he said which I think might be one of the best I've heard from a talk was "I can't imagine Moroni having any sympathy for anyone in our day saying we weren't able to read the scriptures because we just didn't have time to get around to it, when records were hidden and protected, the best blood was spilt, and the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum gave their lives so that we could have this to read every day, every day, every day. I just can't think of any excuse that would cause him to feel that way." I found that to be so profound! But anyway, my time is running out for this week, but I'm glad I was able to include a bit more this time around! I hope that you have a wonderful week ahead and that Heavenly Father continues to bless you! I love you and I'll talk to you again soon!

Love,

Elder Hopkins

January 15, 2013

G'Day!

Thanks so much for the e-mail this week! I loved reading it and appreciated all your notes. First of all, hopefully you weren't too worried when you didn't receive an e-mail yesterday. Remember when I told you last week that we'd be having a meeting with Elder Pearson of the 70? Well for our side of the mission that happened to be on Monday, while the other side of the mission was on Tuesday. So we left our flat at 6:30 a.m. and didn't return until 7 p.m.! So unfortunately there was no possible way for me to e-mail you yesterday, however, I'm using the extra little bit of time we get each week to e-mail you a quick letter today. So since I don't have much time at all to write I'll have to just fly through everything. First of all, the news you're all waiting for, my new area is in the Geelong area. Since you probably aren't familiar with Melbourne's geography, Geelong is about an hour or two outside of Melbourne city on the west side of it. So quite a big change from Pakenham about the same distance from the city but on the east side. Geelong is also quite a large city, comparable a bit to San Francisco, because our area goes ride up the beach! Pretty cool since I haven't seen a beach since we've been in California. And also, the situation has now gone from bikes to no bikes, haha. So my companion and I have just been walking around and using public transport (buses), although our area is quite large. However, the Geelong area actually has 4 Elders in the ward, so two different areas, north and south, and we're in the south Geelong area. The other Elders have a car though so we sometimes catch rides with them to appointments. Next big news is regarding my new companion! His name is Elder Rua (Roo-ah) and he is from Tahiti! This is only his second transfer in the mission so I'm his follow-up trainer since his 1st companion finished his mission last transfer. So that's pretty exciting to be working with a missionary still fresh in the field. His English is also really, really good considering he never spoke it before the mission and ended up only getting 3 weeks in the MTC to learn, so that's one miracle he's experienced. He's also really funny, his personality is like the exact same as my roommate Michael from BYU so we get along really well with having fun but also working really hard. Our area isn't nearly as big of a teaching pool as Pakenham had become, so there's a lot of room for progress and improvement. However, we've already seen a lot of success by organizing all the teaching records from past missionaries and trying to find some new investigators to add to our list. The Geelong ward is actually the biggest ward on paper in all of Victoria, however, the attendance is quite low, so there's heaps of less-actives and inactives throughout the ward list. So that's one of the goals Elder Rua and I have, to go through the ward list and try to visit all the members on it in our part of Geelong and see if we can find some less-actives who are ready to come back and live the Gospel again. My birthday on Thursday went well, it wasn't much different than any other day but I did enjoy opening your package with all of the goodies! That definitely helped make it a great day! Elder Pearson at the conference was also incredible! I'd never heard him speak before but after hearing him talk with us I want to hear him every General Conference! He was such a wise and powerful teacher and the spirit was so strong each time he spoke. The blessing he gave all of us at the end with his testimony was also really special and powerful. The room was so quiet as he was speaking then that you literally could hear no sound at all during the breaks in his speech. I loved the opportunity to hear a general authority speak in person and so close. That was definitely a highlight for the week. Well sorry I don't have much time to talk this week, I tried to include all the main things that I could think of quickly. Thanks for the e-mail again and for all of your love and support! I will definitely talk to you next Monday (Sunday for you) for sure, so I will talk to you again then! Have a wonderful week, love you!

Love,

Elder Hopkins

January 7, 2013

G'Day!

Thanks heaps for the fantastic e-mail this week, it was so great to read it! The weather has been quite the opposite here, with several really hot days and another one that was almost 110 degrees! It was a really great week though and we were able to accomplish so many things! Well first off I guess I should let you know about the transfer news! Elder Hirata..............will be staying in Pakenham! And Elder Hopkins........will be leaving Pakenham! My 7 1/2 month reign in Pakenham is ended, haha. So obviously since I've been here for so long and since it was also my first area I'm going to be a quite sad to leave but I know there's still a lot of exciting things ahead and it certainly will be interesting getting used to a new area. Elder Hirata will actually be training a new missionary in Pakenham (they told him early because he has to pack a little day bag to stay up at the place where they bring all the new missionaries. So that should be interesting, hopefully he'll do alright! I'll find out tomorrow who my new companion is as well as my new area so unfortunately you'll have to wait for a whole week in suspense before I can let you know where I am. It's been so busy the past 3 days (including today) because we've just been rushing around from house to house non-stop so I can say goodbye to all of the members, less-actives, and investigators I've become close with. I've been able to see most of the people that I'd hoped to and just have a few more to see today. My last week in Pakenham was really good though and we accomplished a lot! New Years was pretty normal for us as we did our countdown at 10:30 because we still had to keep the same schedule. It should be a great new year though and I hope it brings a lot of success and blessings. It already has brought some big blessings as the highlight of the week was we were able to set a baptismal date with Rodney for March 2nd! That was a huge blessing to be able to do that and his wife really helped a massive amount in making him feel comfortable with the date and bearing her testimony, so it went really well and hopefully Elder Hirata and his new companion will be able to help him reach that date, as well as Joan reaching hers! It was really a testimony builder for me going around and visiting all of the people that I've taught a lot in my time here in Pakenham because I heard all of them talk about the impact I and my 2 companions (Elder Rafferty and Elder Hirata) had had on them. I think as a missionary sometimes you don't feel like you're making too big of an impact in lives but just kind of 'doing your job' but hearing those people say what they did it made me realize the effect I have, and anyone has, on people as a missionary and representative of Jesus Christ. So I'm sorry that I'm going to have to cut it really short this week, but things have just been really, really busy. I look forward to tomorrow though to finding out my new area and new companion and I will work hard just the same in the new area and hope to see heaps of success! Thanks so much for all of your immense love and support for me, it means so much and has helped me get to where I am right now. I hope that you have a wonderful and fun week ahead and that you have a fantastic new year as well! I love you and I'll talk to you again soon!

Love,

Elder Hopkins

Elder Hopkins and Elder Hirata with Jaynielee and Mathew Gloster (children who recently were baptized), with Bishop Smith in the middle.

 Elder Hopkins with Barry and Joan Willmott.

Elder Hopkins with Jocelyn, a less-active member.