July 15, 2013

G'Day!

Thanks so much for the great e-mail this week! Glad everything has been going well. This past week was another pretty good one. As guess to start off this week continuing from last week's dramas, the bikes didn't cause as much trouble. However, this week early on I passed my curse over to Elder Gabignaud who had both of his tires go flat which was unfortunate, but we got those fixed without a problem and we haven't had any problems since then so hopefully that's the last we have to deal with flats for at least the rest of this transfer. We met quite a few new people this week again to go back and teach so hopefully that will prove fruitful for us. We've been doing really well thus far in Wangaratta for finding enough people to teach, this issue however, as it can often be, is just getting these people to progress and exercise real intent. We know that as we continue to work hard though that the blessings and miracles regarding that will come to pass. It does make it somewhat more difficult seeing as so far it's been a lot of tracting and just talking to people on the street, but we've started the push for more member involvement which we know will help a great deal in the coming weeks. We're also having our first branch sporting/games activity this Saturday morning and hopefully a fair amount of people come to that, members and nonmembers. It worked pretty well when we did the same thing in Geelong so I know we can see success from it here as well. This past week we had the opportunity to do a lot of service as well which was great! We were able to help out some of our investigators with their lawns and gardens, and we also had a pretty cool service on Friday helping out one of the member families herd some cattle! That was pretty cool to do since I'd never herded cattle before, and there was probably about 7 we helped guide along the path, so not too many to handle. Also on Friday we had exchanges with the Zone Leaders Elder Ogles and Elder Hasson which went well. They made a new format for exchanges now so it was a little different this time than usual. We only got to exchange with them for 4 hours instead of the whole day, and in those 4 hours we had to plan all the activities along the lines of the new format (for example: 40-60 minutes for a lesson with an active member, 20 minutes of tracting, 20 minutes for travel time, etc.). But it turned out to be a good exchange nonetheless and we were able to see some great success from the things we did there. I was with Elder Ogles for the exchange which was great since I hadn't been on exchanges with him yet in the field. One cool miracle that we saw this past week was while we were having dinner with a recent convert family named the Hills, they had a non-member who was there as well. His name was Jack and he was a friend of the father of the family. We were talking with him and found out he had a lot of stuff on his plate that were stressing him out, one of which was a major surgery that he had to go into tomorrow. So eventually the conversation started about the priesthood and priesthood blessings and he'd heard just a tiny bit about them before but didn't know much. But when we were telling him about how blessings work he was really interested and he asked us if we could give him a blessing! So that was great and he was able to feel the spirit when we gave him the blessing and was really grateful for us doing that. So we'll see hopefully the fruits that come from that this week. And then another cool experience that had to do with enduring to the end happened on Saturday when our few appointments that we did have fell through and we just had to go out tracting for a while. Unfortunately everyone that was actually home (because a lot of people weren't home) was not interested at all and would barely give us the time of day. However, we kept going and just went around trying different areas until we got to the last street we would tract for the day (this is 5 hours later from when we started, still with no one that offered to let us come back). As we went through the first bit of the street it was the same as it had been so far, however, in the last part of the street we were blessed to have 4 new people to go back and see. So even though it was frustrating that no one was interested in talking to us, we kept going and finally received the blessings. So we'll be seeing those people this week, along with the others that we met thoughout the week. Church this week was really good and there was a pretty good attendance as well. There were 2 less-active members that came this week which was great and they both really enjoyed it. There also was a semi-active family that finally came as well after several weeks of not being here. So the work is slowly but surely progressing here in Wangaratta and we know we'll continue to see a lot of growth and miracles as we continue to work hard. Well unfortunately I'm out of time but I'm grateful for all of your love and support and I hope that you have a great week ahead this week! I love you heaps and I'll talk to you again soon!

Love,

Elder Hopkins

July 8, 2013

G'Day!

Thanks for the e-mail this week, I really enjoyed it! This past week was a really great one and we saw a lot of success! I think, though, that you could title this past week "Melbourne Mission Episode 5: The Bike Strikes Back." Let me explain...so on Monday as we left the flat to go to e-mails and without getting very far the back tire of my bike just pretty much exploded (a bit of exaggeration there) and I was brought to a halt. So we walked back to the flat which was close since we didn't get far, and called Elder and Sister Laycock (the senior missionary couple) and Elder Laycock helped us take the bike down to one of the nearby bike shops. It got fixed pretty easily and quickly and we were back on the road again. Well, later in the week on Friday my bike still had a few tricks up its sleeve and as we were riding towards an appointment with an investigator (this time about a 30 minute ride from the flat) the front tire popped and within a few seconds was completely without air. A bit frustrated we decided to walk over to a petrol (gas) station that was fairly close to see if we could fill it up with air and it would hold until at least we could get to our appointment. However, the bike tire wouldn't hold anything so we called one of the members (because the Laycocks were in a far away land visiting a less-active member) who was very kind to help us out. Bro. Key, the member, brought one of his bikes over to the petrol station where we were and took my bike to another bike repair shop. It was in the night time then so the bike shop was closed and we'd have to pick it up on Saturday morning. Bro. Key's bike worked great though for the time. So we got my bike back from the shop and went back on our merry way the next day. However, my bike must've been created by the adversary himself because it hadn't had enough tormenting us yet. We rode to church yesterday and everything was fine, but at the end of the meetings when we went to get our bikes I quickly found out that the back tire was flat again! So after brainstorming all sorts of ways that would cause the bike the most pain for its actions, we read a few scriptures on forgiveness and decided that the best thing to do would be to give the bike one last chance to prove itself worthy. So since Bro. Key was still there and had his bike still in his truck, we just did another swap and he was going to take it in today to the shop for us again (we've paid for all the repairs by the way, we haven't obviously had Bro. Key pay for them) and will hopefully get it back someday today. So that was the funny/frustrating series of events for this past week! Well I think I probably should talk about how the missionary work went now. This past week was great as I mentioned before because we were able to have 3 more investigators come on date for baptism, which was a true blessing and all credit to Heavenly Father blessing us with these people. Two of them are aboriginal girls in their mid 20s who we taught for the 1st time this past week with Elder Laycock there to help us (who is a really great teacher! he actually served his mission in France too Mom! who knows if it was the same mission or not) and they grasped everything and had a strong desire to learn more and progress towards baptism. Their date is for the 17th of August so we hope they'll progress and be ready for that. Lastly, the other is a girl named Nikki who's in her 20s and has 2 young kids. We actually found her just tracting and she doesn't have really any religious background at all but is still very interested in increasing her faith and finding out if God is really there. Her date is for the 24th of August. So we feel very blessed to have several people to teach here that seem very solid and we know that the teaching opportunities will only increase as we continue to work hard and maintain exact obedience. This past week we also had a district meeting (which unfortunately we don't have each week up here since everyone lives a bit of a distance from each other) in a city called Shepparton. Our district contains of the Elders who serve there, Elder Matu'u and his companion, us, and then Elder Hasson (who I served around in Geelong) and Elder Ogles (in my MTC district) who serve in a city called Albury which is on the border of New South Wales. It was great to see the other missionaries and also receive some great trainings and guidance. The mission goal for this next quarter is 163 baptisms, and their focus for being able to reach this is to work really well with the members, especially after having that broadcast about member work. I know that it will be the key to success if we're able to effectively work with the members here and help them to find joy in the missionary work. So that will be a big focus for us here, even though we have just a handful of active members to visit, we know we'll still be able to see miracles from them because they all have great faith. So unfortunately I'm out of time for this week, but I hope that you have a great week this week and see many blessings and miracles at home as well. I love you heaps and I'll talk to you again soon!

Love,

Elder Hopkins

July 1, 2013

G'Day!

Thanks so much for the great e-mail, I really loved reading it this week! So the first full week Elder Gabignaud and I had here in Wangaratta went really well and we saw heaps of miracles. Our time here so far has pretty much been door knocking and trying to contact past investigators or potential investigators other missionaries had found. It hasn't been too bad though since we've been able to get quite a big teaching pool to hopefully begin working with, all thanks to the hand of the Lord in preparing people. I think the biggest finding miracle was finding a lady named Emma and her family. We were riding our bikes (I think you asked how we get around here, and it's all bikes but the area is basically completely flat so it's a cake walk compared to Geelong which was stock-full of hills haha) along a certain street going to try and visit someone and we passed a fish and chips shop where there was a group of people sitting down in front of it. There was one big, rough looking guy there and he called out and pointed down the road at another group of people and said, "Hey, I think those girls down there want to talk to you!" And afterwards they all laughed so we took it that it was just nothing, just trying to stir us up, so we just rode by the other group (which we probably should've talked to anyway) and went on to our next appointment. So fast forward about 2 or 3 hours and we're riding around a little ways away from there and are trying to contact another person on the list of past investigators but when we got to the address, there was no house with the number it gave. So instead of just going on to the next person, we just thought we'd tract the houses closest to the address given. The first house wasn't interested, but when we knocked on the second house a lady came to the door and it just happened to be one of the women that was in the group we saw before. And we talked with her for a few minutes and briefly shared about the Restoration and she was really interested! So we gave their family a pamphlet to read for now and we see them for the first time this week. So that was a really cool experience, in two ways, we'll do better in talking to everyone no matter what, and that when Heavenly Father wants us to see and teach someone, He will provide the ways for our paths to cross (multiple times if He has to). We also have been beginning to teach two boys Tiamatu and Hakai (11 and 12 years old) who the past missionaries had taught just once before. They're really great and interested for their ages and are the cousins of a couple of member families here. Their older brother was baptized a while ago but none of their other immediate family are members and they never were baptized themselves (they might've been too young back then? not sure). But we were able to teach them and set a baptismal date with them to work towards on August 3rd, which they are excited to work towards. So that was another huge blessing. And our other goal to help them as well is that their extended families here aren't active members (but are really nice) so we hope to help re-activate them in the process too so that Tiamatu and Hakai have some more influences close to them to help keep them on the right path. We also have some other promising investigators as well, but unfortunately I don't have the time to speak about each in detail. Or second time at church here was great as well! Our talks went well and we hope that the members were able to take something from them. Elder Gabignaud spoke on 'the importance of gratitude' and I spoke on 'how living the Gospel brings blessings into our lives.' So we had good topics to speak about and certainly didn't have a shortage of things to talk about. The rest of church (for Sunday School, and Priesthood and Relief Society) they showed the worldwide broadcast for training mission presidents, called 'The Work of Salvation.' We didn't quite get to finish it all (there's about 20 minutes left which they plan on showing next week) but it was fantastic! I don't know if you got the chance to see it, but I highly recommend it! It is one of the most powerful church videos put together that I've seen. It had a lot of relevance to me seeing as it was on missionary work, but they geared the whole broadcast to the membership of the church as a whole so there's something everyone can learn from it. So, if you haven't seen it I suggest you should put it on the list of things to do this week because I think it can definitely inspire everyone. It seemed to help motivate the members of the branch here because we have 6 dinners this week, all 6 of which will have non-members or less-active members present, which is the first time that will happen on my mission thus far. So that's really great to see the members are wanting to help and get involved in the missionary work here, it certainly makes all the difference. One of my favorite quotes from the videos was saying (which I think they were speaking to Bishops at this time) that missionaries are simply in a ward to 'assist' in the missionary efforts. They didn't say to 'do all' or 'take control of', but really just to 'assist' the ward/branch in it's missionary efforts and that the ward/branch members and their leaders are the driving force of the missionary work. Well, that's about all I have time for this week, but I'm glad that you are doing well and I hope that you have a fantastic week this week! I love you heaps and I'll talk to you again soon!

Love,

Elder Hopkins

June 24, 2013

G'Day!

Thanks so much for the wonderful e-mail, I loved it! Well I'll have to start learning to type faster because I have a lot to say but the library in my new area has less available time then the other computers I've been able to use on the mission thus far. So hopefully that wont cause to much hassle. Well anyway the biggest news is obviously with my new area and new companion. First off, my new companion is actually brand new to Australia and his mission. His name is Elder Gabignaud and he's from John Day, Oregon (a little town of 2,000 people). So after a long streak of 6 companions not being from America, my 7th companion is. So he just got here on Wednesday (he and a lot of the other missionaries had served for like 2 1/2 weeks in the Washington D.C. South mission while waiting for their visas) after 20 somthing hours on planes and then a few hours after getting here we had to train up 2 1/2 hours to our new area. Since the transfer meeting was on Tuesday and the new missionaries didn't get in until Wednesday I just stayed with another missionary who was training as well in a nearby area for the night. The transfer meeting was a really fantastic one by the way since it was President and Sister Lifferth's last one! They put on a really nice program and all of the missionaries in the mission (except for the ones in Tasmania unfortunately) were allowed to come to it, so there were over 200 missionaries in the chapel. The spirit was very strong throughout the meeting and all of us missionaries were very sad to see President and Sister Lifferth go but we know they'll do great work back in Utah (I'll probably see them from time to time since they only live an hour or so away in Centerville) and I'm sure the new President and his wife will be great. The exchange of mission presidents officially takes place at the end of this month. I'll have to include some pictures next week because I forgot to bring my camera to the library with me. With some other transfer news, Elder Malifa and Elder Bisby didn't actually end up in a tri-ship but they just ended up putting 2 more Elders in Geelong, so that will be more helpful instead of one companionship covering both areas. Also some really exciting news, Joan Willmott did get baptized on the 15th of June as well! Barry Willmott got to baptized her and it went really well, so that's fantastic! I would've gone to it but of course we had the baptism in Geelong which took priority in this case. Not really any news with former companions because everything kind of stayed the same. Also, one really cool thing that I forgot to mention about Geelong last week, was that the person who dedicated the Geelong chapel was none other than President Thomas S. Monson! How awesome is that? Of course he wasn't the prophet back when the chapel was dedicated but I'm sure Geelong is destined for some amazing things if he was the one to do so. So anyway, the new area that we're serving in is called Wangaratta. It's way up north in Victoria not far from the New South Wales border. There's about 20,000 people who live here and the church here is actually just a small branch so it's like the complete opposite of Geelong. Our first Sunday yesterday was very different since there were 23 members who attended (25 if you include us) so it felt almost just like a small fireside haha. I think it's really awesome to see faithful members like that though who still come every week and serve in their callings. There's certainly a lot of work for us to do if we hope to accomplish our goal of turning it into a ward in the next 8 weeks, haha. We have already had the opportunity to participate a lot in the branch already as we are now the designated passers of the Sacrament, we had the opportunity to speak for a few minutes in Sacrament, and I'm actually the branch pianist haha (I'm sure you'd be happy about that Mom!). We've also each been asked to speak next Sunday in Sacrament meeting, so if we've ever been apprehensive about speaking or helping with a lot of ward/branch responsibilities that will all change now! I love the chance to be able to serve and participate more because then the branch will get to know us more as we get to know them more. It's also been interesting coming into the area since both of us are brand new to it and (even the senior missionary couple is new as well) since there unfortunately wasn't too much happening in the area before. But as we've organized the flat and all the past information and then gone out to start working from the ground up we've already seen heaps of blessings and miracles. The Lord was very generous to us as in just 3 days we found nearly 20 people that would like to learn about the church. So we were both very excited about that and we hope to see each of them this week and begin teaching them. I can't really talk about any investigators or less-actives that we're working with yet since we still don't know any well enough to describe them to you but hopefully by next week I'll have more to say about the work we're doing with some. What makes things even more stressing for us and the branch president (who's actually the senior missionary Elder here, Elder Laycock) is that 2 of the active families here are moving out of town soon which will definitely leave a bit of a whole in the branch seeing as that would take out the 1st councilor in the branch presidency, the Elders Quorum president, and the young women and gospel doctrine teacher. So exciting times in Wangaratta, haha. So we'll have to work extra hard here to help the branch continue on and so the membership can increase. The senior missionary couple, who are from Calgary, Canada, seem really great and dedicated though, so I think they will be a big help to the branch. We're trying to organize more activities where the members can invite people to though so that will hopefully get things started off a bit for missionary opportunities. We've also worked a lot with Elder Laycock to develop a lot of plans on how we can help the branch grow which we'll start working on as well. So Elder Gabignaud and I are excited to work here in Wangaratta and know we'll see heaps of miracles during this transfer. Thanks for all of your love and support and prayers as always! I love you heaps and I'll talk to you again soon!

Love,

Elder Hopkins

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June 17, 2013

G'Day!

Thanks for the great e-mail this week! I loved it as always! This past week flew by really fast and it's hard to believe that the transfer is already over! I guess first off you probably want to know the transfer news. Well it's sort of an interesting one this time, after a wonderful 6 month run here in Geelong I will be moving to a new area. At first I was very sad to be leaving because I really loved my time in Geelong and all the people that are here, but after a day and a half I've been able to accept it as the right move. Too bad I can't make it two 7 1/2 month stints in a row, haha. So I will find out tomorrow where my new area is and who my new companion is which will be exciting and hopefully will be just as great as it was in Geelong! So be looking forward to that in the next e-mail. Also, Elder Pain is moving areas as well (he'd been here 3 transfers, or 4 1/2 months) so they've moved both Geelong 'veterans' haha. He's actually going to be going to Tasmania which is exciting! And now, the reason why I said it was interesting before: Elder Malifa and Elder Bisby are both staying, but Elder Malifa is moving to the other Geelong flat and they will be in a tri-ship (3 companions in one companionship) and will be covering all of Geelong themselves! So that will be very interesting seeing as it was a pretty massive area for us already, and now it will be even larger for them. So that's the transfer news for this time, and there won't be any more transfer news for another 8 weeks since this one is an extra long transfer to make up for this 4 week transfer. Which makes me very hopeful my new situation is good since I'll be there for at least 8 weeks, but I'm sure it will be great! So anyway, on to our week. The highlight of this week was definitely the baptism of Tayah which was wonderful. Rasta was able to baptize her on Saturday and Rasta's cousin who's in the ward as well confirmed her yesterday. She looked very happy throughout the experience and so did Rasta. It was also a great opportunity for their family because through this experience it has brought a lot of the extended family back together again that live in Geelong that have been less-active for quite some time (3 families to be specific) and they were able to attend the baptismal service and then church as well. So they'll all be a wonderful addition to the ward in Geelong. Elder Malifa and I also gave talks at the baptism which was a great opportunity and an honor to be a part of the program. I'll send some pictures from the day of the baptism. Also, there was another baptism and confirmation Sunday after church for Luke McCoy (who just turned 8). The McCoys are a family from America and moved here at like the exact time that I got here, so we had gotten along really great. We went to that obviously to support their family but also because they asked me to conduct the program. That was a really great honor and I felt very humbled and blessed that they gave me that opportunity. So with two baptismal services in one weekend it was a very spiritually uplifting time. Definitely the best way I could've imagined my last weekend in Geelong to be. The Sacrament meeting program was also fantastic, which was great seeing as it was my last time meeting at Geelong chapel. There were 3 talks, all on prayer, and all the speakers did a great job and they were all the type of talks you dream of having as a missionary when your investigators attend church. When we went to see Joel and Camilla Sunday night so I could say goodbye to them, they said they really enjoyed it and Joel said it helped him a lot which was great. The rest of the week wasn't nearly as eventful as the weekend but it was really good as well. We were able to visit many of our investigators and teach quite a few lessons as well as get several new people to teach, so Elder Malifa and Elder Bisby will have their work cut out for them next transfer covering both areas. The rest of today and tomorrow will be very busy for us since Elder Pain and I will be rushing around trying to visit everyone we would like to say goodbye to and take pictures with and what not. I've certainly had a really memorable time here in Geelong even though it was difficult there at the beginning there for a while. I've definitely learned heaps about the gospel, about missionary work, and about myself since I've been here the last 6 months and can really see a big change in myself. It will certainly be interesting as well to have a new mission president now, and sad to see President and Sister Lifferth leave, but I'm sure President and Sister Maxwell will be awesome as well! Well I hope that you have a fantastic week as well this week. I had to write a bit quicker this week since today is just jam-packed with stuff to do and people to go and see. Next week I'll have heaps to tell you though! Thanks as always for your love, support and prayers that help so much! I love you very much and I'll talk to you again soon!

Love,

Elder Hopkins

In the pictures: Rasta is the one baptizing, Tayah is obviously the girl, and then the boy is RJ (Rastafari Jr.) who's Rasta and Jess's 2 year old son. And you know who we are of course!

 

 Rasta prepaares to baptize Tayah.

 Rasta, Tayah, and Rastafari, Jr.

 

 

June 11, 2013

G'Day!

Thanks so much for the wonderful e-mail this week! Sorry I didn't e-mail yesterday, it was another public holiday here (the Queen's birthday) and so all of the libraries were closed. But I'm able to e-mail you today instead so that's good! This past week was another really great one with many blessings and miracles. The first of which actually happened a few minutes after I e-mailed you last week. So as I told you last week, Riannan's partner wasn't very accepting of her decision to investigate and we were afraid she wouldn't be able to continue taking lessons. However, as I said we had fasted for a miracle to happen we received a very immediate blessing. After e-mailing we received a call from Jess saying that Riannan would really like to receive a priesthood blessing because she was facing a lot of trials and challenges. So we were very humbled and excited to receive that news (that she wanted to receive a blessing, not from the fact that she had trials). So we immediately went and got ready to go see them at Jess and Rasta's house, and our ward mission leader Luke came with us as well to help. Riannan was there with several of her kids and was very happy to see us again. We explained about blessings a bit since she'd only heard of a blessing that same day and then we were able to give her a blessing of comfort and counsel. The spirit was very strong and she really felt it. She said that everything in the blessing was an answer to questions she'd had and difficulties that she'd been experience which she hadn't even mentioned before the blessing. She said she felt that a huge weight was lifted off of her shoulders as soon as 'amen' was said. So that was a testimony builder of the power of blessings to us and especially to Riannan who loved the experience! She told us that she will still take lessons with us as well as her son who turns 8 next month in July and she's determined to help her family become more unified through the gospel. So that was an awesome miracle and another testimony builder of blessings that come from fasting as well. I love fasting so much after all the miracles I've seen from it on the mission! Also, Tayah is going to be baptized this Saturday which will be great! Rasta will be the one baptizing her (I think I mentioned that last week?). Also on Saturday we receive the next transfer news, which obviously isn't the main event that day but still exciting. A lot of people have said that there will probably be very few transfers since President Lifferth is finishing just so that the mission can have a smooth transition with the coming of President Maxwell. We were able to see Joel again this past week (twice in fact) which was great. They're still doing really well and he's been doing much better with his reading as the first time we saw him we gave him a commitment to start reading daily again. He's started from 1 Nephi and is going to try to read the whole Book of Mormon and he's going well so far. On Sunday we also had another great blessing. We were finally able to see Jaryn again after a few months of not much contact. If you remember he was the Chinese investigator that was really keen that would come with the Wang family (who Candice Wang by the way comes back to Australia at the end of the month). We only were able to visit with him briefly because we'd had another scheduled appointment but we were able to set up another time to see him this week and begin teaching him again, which is awesome! He'll be really good to see again as he has a strong desire to learn about Christ and follow Him. Last Thursday for Ward Council we had the Wyndham Stake President come and train all of us on the rescue effort and our favorite--missionary work! It was really great and it was him saying that the members need to start taking a more active role in providing the missionaries with people to teach and also in going out on visits during the week with the missionaries or with their quorums on the rescue visits to those members who have fallen away. So hopefully that will help Geelong see even more success than it already is having. Well since it isn't our regular day to e-mail I'll have to cut it short today, but I'm really glad that you were able to have a great week this past week as well! I hope that you have a fantastic week this week as well and continue to see many blessings and miracles! I love you heaps and I'll talk to you again soon!

Love,

Elder Hopkins

June 3, 2013

G'Day!

Thanks heaps for the e-mail this week! I loved it as I always do. First of all, big congratulations to Ben on your mission call!! Going to Ghana will be incredible! You'll be a fantastic missionary and bless so many lives there. Also, I thought I'd mention a little bit about transfers again since I only mentioned who my companion was. So with all my companions: Elder Rafferty is still a Zone Leader for the zone that Pakenham is in, Elder Hirata is in an area called Sunbry and is doing well, Elder Rua is still in Pakenham!, Elder Matu'u is still in the place that he was in when he got moved (Echuka), and Elder Taufa is in an area called Glen Roy which he'd actually served in earlier in his mission. Also, Elder Rua told me that Tracey and Tommy are still heaps active and that they're going to the temple this month (not to get sealed yet, that can be in September) which is awesome. The Glosters are also still doing well and the other girl that wasn't baptized before was baptized this past weekend! And one last bit of exciting news is that Joan Willmott is hopefully getting baptized on the 15th of this month which would be so exciting! If she does hopefully President Lifferth will allow me to come down to see it since I was there helping teach the Willmotts for so long. So this past week was another really good one, and there work continues to increase. Tayah (Jess and Rasta's daughter) is still going excellent and when we see them again tonight we're thinking of moving her date up to this coming weekend because we feel she's ready to be baptized. She's very smart for her age and has a good understanding of the gospel. Also, a bit of sad news with Riannan, her partner that she lives with unfortunately wasn't as accepting to her learning as she thought so she has to put further lessons on hold for now. She still reads and prays, however, herself and with her kids which is awesome! We fasted this past weekend for the partner's heart to be softened though so hopefully that will help the situation. She's so prepared though so I have no doubt at some stage, whether sooner or later, she'll be baptized. Jess continues to be a missionary machine as she has a nan who she's been talking to about the gospel as well and the nan really wants to learn and be baptized as well! So we hope to see her sometime this next week and begin teaching her. Also, yesterday at church Jess and Rasta had their 7 month old baby, Hunni, blessed. Bishop Sandford was who they asked to bless her and Elder Malifa and I we're asked to participate in the blessing as well which was a wonderful experience! You asked about Joel as well, I haven't mentioned much about him lately because there wasn't much new to mention unfortunately. He and Camilla have been unbelievably busy these past 3 weeks so we haven't been able to see them to continue teaching lessons. Camilla started a 70 hour per week school course which commits a lot of their time. However, we did get to sit down with Joel for a little bit this past week and share a brief lesson which was nice. He still really wants to continue learning and progress towards baptism, he just needs to work on a few things a bit more until then. We have several new investigators who seem really keen and show a lot of potential. These few however, seem more like long-term investigators because they have quite a few things that have gone wrong in their lives as well as a lot of things that aren't in accordance with Heavenly Father's commandments. But the important thing is that they're very humble and want to change their lives, and as Alma says that if all we have is a desire than we only need to let that desire work in us until we can believe and have strong faith. It's also good that we're able to teach and help some people in this situation as well because I think you can feel the most joy and it can be the most rewarding experiences when you're able to see people make such big changes in their lives to come closer to God. So that has been good for us this past week. Also we've been doing well in finding new people to teach throughout the past weeks. Throughout my mission I've always liked tracting more than just talking to random people on the street or near the town centers because I felt it was easier to do and I found it less difficult to talk to people like that. However, this transfer we've tried only talking to people walking around and not do as much tracting, and it has gone really well. I think my perspective has changed to liking that way more now. I won't go into pros and cons or anything because anyone not a missionary probably wouldn't find it interesting or even understand haha. But we found quite a few people that way that we're going to see this week, so we look forward to that. We've also gone around to visit several old investigators that Elder Rua and I had taught the first transfer I was here but had lost contact with and we were able to see heaps of them and set up appointments to begin teaching them again which will be good! Well I'm starting to run short on time but I'm glad that you had a great week this past week and I hope that you have an even better week this week and continue to see heaps of blessings and miracles. I'm so thankful for you love, prayers, and support that helps me to keep going! I love you heaps and I'll talk to you again soon!

Love,

Elder Hopkins