March 10th 2014

Late updates from Hermana Hopkins, and a few pictures too!

I am so grateful to the people who have been so giving and loving to help me with the mission expenses. Please let them know how wonderful they are. And wow! Bishop Harding, huh? Oh man, I love him so much, I am so grateful for faithful home-teachers! Him and Brother Greenhaulgh surely magnified their callings! They mean the world to me.

 I'm sorry that you are still sick! I am actually sick too, I have the cold and boy has it been an adventure! I feel like my body and my spirit are somehow disconnected. You know how on Peter Pan he has to sew his shadow back on? That's how I feel my spirit is right now, it's torn at some of the seems haha. I say that because I feel like my body wants to stop but my spirit just won't quit! I got a blessing from the Zone Leaders and I think that blessing has really kicked my Spirit into gear and has been dragging my body along haha. It's kind of an out of body experience haha.

Three days ago we went over to Tonya's house and started the "15 Step Stop Smoking" program. She has such a desire to stop smoking. She knows its bad for her and for her baby. She is such a trooper. The next day we felt like we should go visit her. We stopped by and we saw her sitting outside her door with a cigarette in her fingers. I knelt down as I had not been feeling good that day and looked up at her and said, "When did this start?" "About two hours ago," she said. I immediately thought of the CD that I had put into my scripture case earlier in the day and said, "I've got a really awesome song that we should listen to." We went inside and turned it on. It's one of my favorites, I used to listen to it before I went to bed at night when I was living on my own on youtube because it helped me to have peace. It's by the BYU mens choir and its called, "I Love the Lord." I actually listened to it in the MTC too whenever I could because it holds such a special place in my heart. It goes along with 2 Nephi 4 when Nephi is frustrated with himself. We read it with her as well. We told her how much love our Heavenly Father has for her and how proud we were of her for how far she had made it! She needed to pick herself back up and start again! Then all of a sudden we heard a woman outside yelling. We went out to see what was going on and the woman only spoke Spanish. Tonya asked her what was wrong and she said that her heart was beating really fast. I went up to her and asked her what happened. She said that she took some medicine for her throat and that her heart started to beat really fast. She wanted us to call the ambulance. We called them and sat her down in Tonya's living room. She said that she had two kids upstairs in her apartment. Tonya went and got them and we sat with her. The EMTs came and they asked her what happened. They couldn't understand her and so I translated for them. I was confused because they spoke Spanish and I thought they should have understood what she was saying but apparently her accent was hard for them to understand because she was from Puerto Rico. So I translated for them. What a crazy experience! Turns out that she was fine and that she didn't have insurance so she didn't want the ambulance to come. The EMTs thanked me for my help and left and the woman's father got home and took her back upstairs. As I reflected on this afterwards I thought of the attention that our nametags got. Not only did the neighbors and Tonya and the woman get to see what representatives of our church and of the Lord would do but also the 6 EMTs as well. I'm sure that planted the seed for quite a few people. We finished up our lesson with Tonya and she seemed to have more hope to keep going.

Want to know the best part??? TONYA FINALLY CAME TO CHURCH. The missionaries had been working with her for awhile and she just has been really struggling when it comes to Sunday mornings. But she came! She came! She came!!! I am so happy. I know that the Savior loves EACH AND EVERY ONE OF US. He knows the struggles we face. He can and will help us if we let him.

I Love the Lord.

Hermana Hopkins

March 3rd 2014 - Una Familia Eterna‏

This are the words of the first verse of the Primary Children's song "Nephi's Courage" in Spanish. I love Spanish and I truly love the culture and the people.

El Valor de Nefi

El Señor mandó a Nefi las planchas obtener.
Labán las custodiaba en Jerusalén.
Lamán y Lemuel se llenaron de temor.

Nefi contestó, mostrando su valor:

“Iré y haré lo que mande el Señor.
La vía Él preparará y obedeceré.
Iré y haré lo que mande el Señor.
La vía Él preparará y obedeceré”.

"I will go and I will do what the Lord commands

The way he will prepare and I will obey."

That is the direct translation back to English. In English it is sung...

"I will go, I will do, the things the Lord commands.
I know the Lord provides a way, he wants me to obey."

I love the confidence shown in this primary song, whether in English or Spanish. A young child who sings that wonderful song in Primary sings with complete and honest trust in the Lord. They know He will prepare the way AND they know that they will obey. They have decided already to obey His commandments.

When we decide beforehand what we will do in a certain situation, our resolve to act in that desired way is greater.

This week I went on two exchanges with Sisters from other areas. On Tuesday I went to the Encino Park ward and on Friday one of the Sisters from Bulverde came here to work with me. I love the extra training I get to have as I go on exchanges with these wonderful sisters. I learned on Tuesday to not be so stressed out when things don't go how I plan them, sometimes we just have to improvise! And on Friday I learned that we all have unique qualities that bless the lives of of certain specific individuals that the Lord has put in our paths. There is a reason for everything.

The man that was baptized last weekend, Danny, passed the Sacrament yesterday. I could hardly contain my smile from showing. He is the coolest guy. :)

We have been working with a woman named Tonya, she is awesome but can't seem to get to church. She doesn't get a lot of sleep because of her 10 month old baby and so when Sunday mornings come around she is exhausted. We have had a ride set up for her each Sunday and we even called her this Sunday but she said she was too tired because she only got 2 hours of sleep. Sister Breakall has worked with her longer than I have and so she cried for Tonya. I know how she feels. Another man who is a recent convert found out that he had to work. He has missed the first two weeks of being a member due to work.

But lets talk about Danny. On Friday as we met with him he shared with us something that strengthened my faith immensely. He said that the previous Friday, the day before his baptism, he got laid off.

I want you to pause and think for a moment. Why did he get laid off the day before he was about to make a covenant with God? Some may say that it was a sign that he shouldn't get baptized in the Mormon church. Some may say he was being tested.

I asked him why he didn't tell us! He said that he didn't want to worry about it, he was getting baptized and was happy. I was astounded.

Now hold on to your seats as I lay this out for you.

Friday Danny lost his job. Saturday he got baptized. Sunday he received the Holy Ghost and the Aaronic Priesthood. Now Monday... he got a job! AS he was filling out information for unemployment, a specialist there turned off his computer and told him, "Don't worry about that." He looked at him in confusion. The specialist continued by saying that a contractor was requesting his work. The contractor knew Danny from a previous job that he did and because of his great work ethic and honesty, seeing that his name was on the list of electricians looking for work, he picked him out and requested his work along with two other electricians from a list of about 100.

Danny is an inspiration. There are so many principles you can pull out of this experience, but one that I would like to point out is this. Our Heavenly Father will take care of us as we act in accordance with His Gospel. Danny, who has always been an honest man, was blessed for being him and for showing God that he had more faith than fear. He put God first.

Now the other two people I mentioned who did not come to church, could strengthen their faith by acting on what they already know is true. So many times we know what is right but for one reason or another we feel too weak or unable to do so. I would like to bear my personal testimony that as we ACT IN FAITH, TRUSTING GOD, HE WILL PROVIDE. I know that if that recent convert were to go in and quit his job so that he could come to church that God would provide work for him. I know that even though Tonya was exhausted that she would have the strength that she needed to go to church AND do all the tasks that a single mother has to do. I know that I can do hard things. I know that it is in the STRENGTH OF THE LORD that it is possible. It all comes down to having FAITH in HIM.

You can do what God asks of you. He will not leave you hanging. Hold on. Hope on. Press forward in Faith.

I love you. I love God.

Hermana Hopkins

February 24th 2014

I can't believe that I have been on my mission for over a year now... It's awesome! So I have been transferred to the St Cloud ward in the middle of San Antonio. It's an English ward and the feel and the people are all really different here haha. My companion is Sister Breakall, she is from Montana and went to a high school with a graduating class of 29! Super small haha. She is just amazing and has the BEST sense of humor. She loves to sing as well and has a beautiful voice. She was Sister Call's companion right before I was so that is cool :)

So right when I got in to this area there was a baptism. The man is such a gentleman and was excited to get baptized. He expressed that the morning of his baptism he was a little nervous but that when he cam up from out of the water he felt really good. He also received the priesthood on Sunday, how exciting! I got to be there for the Priesthood ordination which was a cool experience.

I get to use Spanish every day. It has been fun to use it again but also after not using it for a transfer I realized that I had started to lose it. Maybe after the mission I should move to somewhere where Spanish is used more. I love it and I love the people and also the food haha.

 I am so proud of my family for taking the necessary steps to do God's will. God has got it all figured out, so why not trust Him and follow with exactness? It takes guts to do what's right and it takes guts to have faith in someone you can't see. I am proud that I have a family who has a lot of guts :) And you can laugh at the phrasing there if you would like, it made me laugh a little inside too haha.

Well, that's all for today, here are some pictures to enjoy!

Hna Hopkins