Kangaroos and such

Here's the most recent update from Hermana Hopkins. Enjoy

When I saw the subject line I laughed cause my companion knows all about kangaroos since she is from Australia! I have included a picture of her. She is awesome. She used to teach Latin dancing! The picture with the donut is from awhile ago but I figured I would send you a picture for you to get a taste of the Texas culture. ;) Don't worry, I only ate all of... a bite or two ;) Haha :) 

RS was about tithing, I shared how you have always been a wonderful example to me of paying a faithful tithe especially when you feel like you won't have enough for the month.

Since this last transfer it has just been Hna Alfaro and I. We know that we are going to see a lot of miracles this transfer. Transfers are every six weeks. We are both hard workers and willing to work hard. We are focused and obedient. And the Lord knows that too. Already, in the week that we have been in this transfer, we have seen even more and more wonderful miracles. Guadalupe came to church with her boyfriend. THAT is a miracle because first of all he is hardly ever in town and because he is still married to his wife in Mexico. We taught him his first lesson on Saturday. Gaudalupe wants this so bad for him... She is ready for baptism. She knows that this is true and has expressed that to us multiple times now. The only thing, and I mean the ONLY thing, keeping her from baptism and enjoying the companionship of the Spirit is that she is living with her boyfriend. She can't just marry him and be baptized because he is married to someone else. And she can't just move out because she doesn't have papers to live in the US and she is barely making enough money from babysitting and and selling her food and pinatas that she makes. She is a beautiful and wonderful woman. She is my heart and a half. She is so willing to learn and repent and takes the best notes from her Book of Mormon studies that she does. We are praying that something will work out soon.

We have met so many cool people here, an Italian man, a man from Nicaragua, people from El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, tons from Mexico, Dominican Republic, Cuba, Iran, Haiti, the Philippines, Hindus, Muslims, Jehovah Witnesses, Seven Day Evangelists, Catholics of all kinds, Nondenominational Christians of all kinds, and much much more. I love meeting new people and talking to everyone.

Yesterday we taught an investigator who had been investigating the church in November of last year and had come to church again today. We met with him after church and got to know him a little better. He came back because he felt alone and desperate. He said he is now ready to prepare for baptism. We invited him to be baptized and he will be baptized on the 20th of July. I am praying really hard lately for all of our investigators to hold strong. And you all as well. I hope you know that I pray for you all everyday and love you dearly.

Also we had an investigator come to the church on Saturday for a lesson and a church tour. her name is Angelica and she is a single mom of three kids. She felt the spirit and it is so cool to be able to see that work in her. She came to church with her kids on Sunday too and it was powerful. The Lord has a time and a place for everyone and everything. I know that this perfect Gospel will bless her life and her family.

It is truly a blessing and a miracle to be apart of the only true church of Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, and that we have the fullness of the Gospel on the earth today. I am so grateful and humbled every day.

Hermana Hopkins

June 3rd 2013

Here's the weekly update! Make sure to write her everyone.

Guess what, I cut my hair last week! I know you probably would have cried if I cut my hair too short, so I just trimmed it and made it look more clean and fresh instead of scraggly and split ends everywhere. It feels nice to have less hair to deal with. I also cut my companions bangs for her. She felt better too. A lot of the little things you taught me are becoming ever so useful now as the others here don't know how to do it themselves. Like how to clean the kitchen or the bathroom, how to cut hair or how to cook even. It's nice to already know how to do these things and I know it's a blessing.

I fasted yesterday as well, It's amazing how much strength we receive from the Lord when we sacrifice our own comfort. He makes up the difference and blesses us with hundreds of times more than what we give him. And what we give him is his already so all around we should be very thankful! I love the Lord.

This week we met Raul as we were knocking on doors. We knock on doors in trailer parks because that is where the Hispanics live. Hispanics are a lot more friendly than white people, I can say that too because I am white. We knocked on the door of this trailer and Raul answered the door. He was simply working on the empty house doing construction. He let us in and gave us each a cold bottle of water. Usually we would not be allowed to enter a house if there was only one male in the home but because there are three of us in a companionship we can go in to any home. It's great :) Anyway, he let us in and he said that he had gone to our church when he lived in Arizona. He said that he went there with his friend who was a member and that he liked it a lot but never went back since moving to Texas. He is Christian and he said that he has so many questions that are running through his mind all the time. For us missionaries this kind of person is almost like a dream come true because usually the Hispanics are Catholic and want to teach us about their beliefs instead of letting us teach. Anyway, Raul was awesome and it was so cool to get to know him. He is a dad of 5 kids and loves working with his hands. He said he lives in Round Rock though so he doesn't actually live in our area. That was sad for me cause I wanted to teach him, but the Round Rock missionaries are going to visit him sometime so I am excited to hear from them how he progresses. 

Right now in our area we don't have any progressing investigators. We usually teach a first lesson or a second lesson and then the person either is not interested in learning or they won't make time to meet with us (which also means that they aren't interested). It's been a trial, but I am learning how to better talk to people and to get out of my comfort zone when talking to people about religion. Especially in Spanish.

I took the mission Spanish test about a month ago and just got my results yesterday. You need a %80 to pass and that is pretty much the best that people usually get too. I got a %26 hahaha. But ya know, I think I did pretty good! For only three months of Spanish at that point, I am happy to say that I am learning fast! The Lord works miracles after we have and show our faith. 

I love you all, I hope you are learning from the things that I am learning as well. Thank you for the birthday wishes! Read and study the Book of Mormon, it's my favorite book!

Hermana Hopkins