December 16 2013

Another update from Hermana Hopkins!

Hello Hello from Pleasanton, Texas! My companion and I cover the land from Lytle to Floresville, Charlotte to Von Ormy, Poteet to Jourdanton, and everything in between! It sure is fun to be learning the southern "Texan" way. We really are our own country down here haha ;) I have been helping my companion learn English and it is funny to hear her stumble over words, we laugh together A LOT. She has helped me so much already to learn to just laugh! So I passed the road where we should have turned, big deal! I can't tell you how many times I have done that now! So I dropped my planner in the dirt and a truck drove over it and I searched for it in the dark, sure that's kinda frustrating for the two minutes that I thought it would be gone forever, but really that's hilarious!! I am learning to not stress over the dumb little things that really just are worthless to get anxiety over.

Yesterday I received a lot of personal revelation, it was so much that it felt like a mento had just been dropped in a bottle of coke and the fizz was rushing through at a meter0breaking velocity. I couldn't write it all down! I am afraid that I will forget it all!

Here is an excerpt of the weekly email that we received from our Mission President. I think it applies greatly to church members as well as missionaries. I liked how he worded it and so I will include it here for you to apply it to your own lives and wards, "In the Church, we do not correct upwards. We practice the principle of receiving correction. However, a humble leader will always seek correction and counsel at appropriate times from those he or she leads. If you feel an overwhelming desire to correct a district leader or zone leader, then call the mission president to discuss your concerns." Instead of "mission president" we can, as members, always seek guidance from our Heavenly Father. Practicing receiving correction is a very useful tool in becoming more humble. Talking bad about leaders is also a very fast way to destroy trust and shoo away the Spirit.

This week we visited an inactive member that explained that she doesn't come to church because of what some other church members did and said. The scripture in Doctrine and Covenants directed towards Joseph Smith came to my mind. "The Son of Man hath descended below them all. Art thou greater than he?" We sometimes think or feel that we have experienced so much or been offended so horribly that we can justify our actions or choices by the faults of others. In that moment standing in front of this woman, whose choice to back away from the church had denied herself countless blessings and health and that of her children and grandchildren as well, I was reminded that no one has suffered greater pain than our Savior Jesus Christ and none of us have a reason great enough to deny His Sacrifice that He made for us. By doing so we are saying in our hearts "I have suffered more than the Savior and therefore I choose not to accept his blessings and I deny others of those blessings as well because I choose to hold on to my pain instead of let His love cleanse me." Obviously this is rather devastating.

Let's choose to not hold on to offenses. Let's choose to love and forgive and to serve like our Savior taught us. When someone says something that makes me feel like I have to defend myself, I need to serve them and pray for  their good and well-being. I pray for this sister that she and her family can let go of the hurt and come back, feel the spirit, and be uplifted! 

We have many investigators right now, and most of them are family members of church members. We talked to the Branch President in the Spanish Branch and he helped us to know the situation of some of the families so that we can work more effectively instead of like confused monkeys. We now have a better idea of who is who and how we can help. There are a lot of people that are prepared here to accept the gospel. There are countless people here that have come to church a number of times and could be baptized anytime they want. The thing is that we don't have sufficient miles or time to visit one end of our area to another to teach them all they need to know, so it takes some time. They are going to be splitting our area in two soon so that should really help because there are so many people living in the middle of no where on their farms and ranches.

I did receive the package! I am opening one present every day till Christmas cause I counted them and it works out perfectly if I do that. Thank you for the lipstick and the batteries and the ballet slippers!! I was just thinking yesterday that I would love to go back to dancing after the mission and I have been starting to wear lipstick haha so it's perfect! I hope you are all excited for Christmas :) My favorite part of the package was the card with the picture. I carried the picture around with me to show others cause I love you all so much :)

Just so you know, I am doing great on medicine, no worries on that. People feed us almost everyday so we are well and fed. I am learning more and more Spanish and speak it the best when the Spirit is speaking and not me haha. I have food and shelter, clothing and love, the Gospel and my Savior, I have truly got it all.

I got a haircut last week. It is just trimmed so don't freak out haha. Also I learned hot to make corn tortillas at a authentic Mexican fiesta for the Spanish Branch Christmas Activity. Oh also we helped a member pack and move and her son who is 3 years old purposed to me haha... I said "you are a little young for me, sorry bud" he is hilarious. Also I tried on a army helmet and vest from an old veteran who says he is crazy but really he is just super witty :) And maybe a little crazy haha. Also we went and gave old people in the nursing home presents and sang to them. They are so cute. And also I hope I never have to go to a nursing home. Here are some pictures to enjoy :) I love you all and pray for you! MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Hermana Hopkins