Thanks
for the e-mail this week, and
I'm glad everything is going really well back home! The last week of
the transfer went ok, certainly not what we'd hoped for, but I'll talk
about that in a second. First of all the big news as always at the end
of a transfer. Elder Rua is moving and I will be staying in Geelong! So
I'll have at least 6 more weeks in Geelong, but it will be sad to see
Elder Rua go since we'd been working really well and hard together. I'm
sure whoever my new companion will be, he'll be great as well. So we
have the transfer meeting tomorrow and I'll be able to let you know who
my new companion is next week. Maybe I'll get lucky and he'll have a
driver's license so we can have a car, haha. So anyway, back to this
past week. The week started out really good and we were able to have
some really great lessons with some new investigators. On Monday night
we had a lesson with a family of 5 and brought Luke Grbin with us to
help teach (the newly returned missionary who we've
been bringing out with us heaps!) and it went really well and they
asked heaps of great questions that fit right into the discussions.
However, when we went back to see them twice later throughout the week,
they either weren't home or didn't answer. So we'll keep trying to
contact them again, hopefully they haven't become disinterested or
anti'd by some friends. We also had our first lesson with a golden
investigator (or really prepared investigator) named Rebecca who we met
the week before. The first time we met her we showed her where the
church was on the map and she told us that she'd had a dream she
attended a church in that location but didn't know which church it was,
so that was pretty amazing. This week we taught her about the
Restoration and it went perfectly. She asked heaps of great questions
and understood everything and accepted everything. When we told the 1st
vision it was probably the most powerful time I've shared it on the
mission
thus far and she felt the spirit strong as well. She was very excited
to read the Book of Mormon and pray about it and she also accepted the
invitation to be baptized after she received a further witness that it
is true. So of course we were very happy and excited after that lesson
with her. However, yesterday afternoon she sent us a lengthy text that
in short said she wasn't interested in learning more and wanted to cease
all contact with us. So again we'll try to visit her to find out her
concern and see if we can keep teaching her, we assume that someone
must've given her some anti-mormon literature to sway her. But wait, the
theme for this week isn't finished yet. Our other golden investigator
Lorraine that I mentioned last week has taken a turn for the worst as
well. The member friend of her told us at church on Sunday that when
Lorraine went out with a friend on Saturday
the friend heaped onto her loads of anti-mormon literature and thus
caused
Lorraine to not desire further investigation. The member is going to
talk with her more this week to answer all her concerns (he's a former
bishop so he's a reliable source) to help her rekindle the desire. So
obviously Satan is working unbelievably hard to take away every single
one of our investigators we've had this transfer, mainly through the
means of others giving them anti-mormon literature. There's a few
members who've also been given some anti-mormon pamphlets as soon as
their new neighbors found out they were members of the church. So I've
found it a bit shocking that a majority of nonmembers either have or
have friends who have a stack of anti-mormon items. So that just means
we have to work even harder to help members come closer to Christ while
so much works against us to bring them down. It also has made it
difficult that the ward doesn't seem too excited about missionary work
since the beginning of the transfer, since in the past Geelong
hasn't exactly had hard working or obedient missionaries. However, the
new first councilor to the ward is helping to get the ward more involved
and excited as we continue to try to visit all the families to help
them become more involved and see that we're working hard and that
Geelong has so much potential. But even though all these things would
make you think I don't like Geelong, it's quite the opposite, because
Elder Rua and I have felt excited to take on the challenge of the
missionary work in this area and especially help turn the missionary
efforts around in the ward, and I'll continue that with my new companion
to the area. Just as with life in general, if we aren't challenged to
our limits we can never dream of improving or progressing, and I've
certainly noticed that while this past transfer and especially this past
week have been very challenging that I've increased my skills and
work-ethic as a missionary so much more than if we'd had
everything handed to us. It's also true that the satisfaction of
bringing someone to the gospel or helping a ward redevelop a love for
missionary work is much greater when it's accomplished against all odds.
So I'm certainly excited for another transfer in Geelong and excited to
get a new companion as well and I hope that he likes hard work because
that's what we're going to do for the next 6 weeks. Thanks as always for
all your love and your support and especially for your prayers that I
feel the impact of each day. Keep looking for opportunities for
missionary work as well or opportunities to help out the missionaries
there! We certainly appreciate it, haha. I hope that you have a
wonderful week and I love you heaps! Talk to you again soon!
Love,
Elder Hopkins
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