#9

So this has been a super exciting week! First of all it rained, like crazy!!! And it  flooded everywhere!!!!! It was so fun, and so we were stuck in the road when it was flooding in a members car, so we got out and started pushing people that had stalled out of the road in our white shirts and ties and stuff! Haha it was so so much fun! Our apartment almost flooded but didnt thankfully!! So that was exciting! Also, we found a very fun insect in our apartment a few days ago! A bedbug! YEAH!!!! Haha luckily we haven't seen one since and we have checked everywhere! We had someone come and check it out and they said it was fine, but yeah! And we are moving so that is going to be good too! 

Speaking of that, I dont know what my apartment address is, but just send everything to the mission office which is 602 Eldridge Rd, Sugarland Texas 77478! I am there pretty often and it is more efficient!

So a few things that were awesome about this week, is one miracle I saw! There is this girl named Elizabeth that is in a rough situation. She has two kids, is 20 years old, and is kinda homelessish, she sometimes lives with a member named Sister Kindle, or her sisters, but recently she dropped off the face of the earth and we couldn't find her. Turned out she was on the other side of Houston staying with somebody. She is awesome and really wants to change her life but she is so hard to get ahold of! Anyways, we had an appointment in these apartments that fell through and so we were about to leave when out of the blue I see Elizabeth walking out of an apartment!!! Such a miracle because we had been trying to find her for so long but couldn't! Anyways I think the place she is at now is more permanent in North Houston, so we referred her to the missionaries in that area. But still very cool! We have been seeing so many little miracles like that! It really is so awesome to see. 

Even though my area is on the more ghetto side, I like am not even afraid to go out at like 8 at night because I know Ill be safe! I like don't have any problem talking to thugs haha its awesome. I definately couldn't do that a few weeks ago!!! So that is awesome!

So Theron has kinda been having a rough time and we havent seen him much since everything happened, but we are trying to talk to him. He was going to fast and pray, but then the other day he sent us a text saying he needed some time to think. So we gave him a few days and talked to him a little a few days ago, but he will get better. He is so solid!

Sobre meu Portugues! Esta melhorando! Seriomente! It is awesome to have a Spanish speaking companion becasue alot of grammar is the same and so I have learned alot of Portugues! He is actually helping me a ton! Also, I labeled a bunch of things in the apartment just so I could learn new words! Its going great!

I really appreciate hearing from all yall! Jonathan your open house looked like so much fun! And yes it is okay that you take my guitar... just... be careful.... I hope all is weel with you and Natalie! Well, thats all for now folks, I hope yall have a good week! I love you all!!!

-Elder Hoopes

#8

Hello family! It has been a great week here in Houston! So, Jonathan is married!!! On the 18th I was thinking about him and whatnot and I missed the family, but I know Im doing something important so it was okay to miss it! Im glad to see it went well! Its so exciting!  Congratulations brother, I hope all  is well! Also, if Natalie wants me to add her email to the list I can just let me know what it is! Yeah! So, the new truck is pretty cool! Alot better then the excursion! Im happy to be rid of that thing! I hated it! Im glad to see that life is going well back in AZ!

Here in Houston things are going great! Me and Elder Johnson are becoming closer and whatnot! Ive been studying alot about love and patience for Elder Brooks, but I think if I try to be patient and loving it will get better. We also just found out we are moving out of our apartment soon and moving in with the other Elders in our zone, which means I get to stay with Jarvis! So that will be exciting!

So this week we have been teaching so many people! I love it! I am learning how to be organized because I have to keep track of who we are teaching! One of my favorite people to visit is this man named Theron Neally! He is extremely religious and Baptist, and I can tell he is sincerely trying to find the truth. We taught him for a while and he was progressing, but then he ran into some anti-mormon things on the internet. However, we taught him a great lesson about those kind of things and answered all his questions. He is now praying and fasting to know the truth. Im so proud of him, he has come a long way from where he was at! I know he will recieve an answer to his prayers.

Anyways I have had alot of chances to speak Portugues to the hispanics! I can't say much, but they understand what I do say! I am really nervous about losing it! I already feel like I dont remember as much even though i study every day! Its pretty hard. Like not the words but grammer is so hard! I feel like the more I learn the more I don't know! Its okay though! Im sure I will learn when I get to Brazil! Which by the way, I love the people here so much I wouldn't mind staying. At the same time I really want to go there! So whatever happens I am happy with! I can't believe this week marks two months out! Its literally flying by!

Anyways I hope all is going well! I love you all so much and miss you! All yalls are awesome and I am glad things are good. PS I use yall alot now when I talk just because "you guys" isn't profetional language but in texas yall is! I probably won't say it much when I get home though! I love yall!

-Elder Hoopes

#7

Well it has been my first week in Houston and it has been awesome! First of all the climate is very different from what I thought. Picture in your mind what you think Houston is like... desert, cactus? Nope. Sooooo greeeen!! It seriously is nothing like what I expected. It is also very humid, but I have gotten used to it! It is actually pretty fun!

 

So my companions are Elder Johnson who is my trainer and Elder Brooks who is my other companion! I am in a trio so after I get my visa they can send me down right away! And things are going great with Elder Johnson! He is a great guy and a great example to me! And he speaks Spanish so I speak Portuguese to him and he speaks Spanish back and we understand each other! It is very cool! I think it will be a very good companionship with Elder Johnson. Elder Brooks, well Elder Brooks is an interesting guy. He is my companion so I really shouldn't talk bad about him... but things aren't going as smooth with him as they are with Elder Johnson. Thats all Ill say. I am definately learning how to have charity and patience though so thats a good thing right?! I am still super happy to be here in Houston!

 

So we are actually in a city called Stafford, its right outside of Houston! We are in a car area and so that rocks, but I dont get to drive becasue I am just a visa waiter! I am growing to love the people here though! Its definately not what I expected, I expected alot of cowboys, but instead a majority of the population are actually black. The area we are in is not the nicest area in the world but strangely I dont ever really feel scared Like its a bit scarier then downtown Phoenix, but I actually love it here. Yesterday we went to a guys house and the was a little heftier if you know what I mean... and he came outside without a shirt on! Haha Im like YEAH!!!! Haha but let me tell you about the people here!

 

When we came into the area there were no investigators at all, becasue the previous missionaries didn't have the greatest work ethic. But know we are teaching a few people and the work is growing! There is this one man Therron Nealy who is extremely religous but there are some things in the Bible he doesn't understand and so we have been talking with him and he told us an experience where he was meditating and the word Cumorah came to him! He didn't know what it meant until we told him the name of the hill where the golden plates were buried was named Cumorah and his mind was blown!!! He was in shock! What a miracle! We are talking with him again tonight!!!

 

Tracy and Dennis are these super nice people who we have been talking to! They are very baptist and religous and that is awesome! I love teaching religous people becasue it seems like they just want to do what it right and they normally listen to our message well! Yesterday we taught them a very powerful messatge about the restoration and they said they felt the spirit. They are praying to know if its true and they said they would be baptized if they recieved the answer it was true, which I am sure they will. I love these people. Its gotten to the point where I wouldn't mind staying here if I had to. I really love it here. I love the people we teach. Honestly, I really care about these people. I am not just spreading the gospel, Im helping my friends!

 

Speaking of friends, Elder Jarvis is in the Alief North area which is right next to mine and he is in the same ward on Sunday! So I get to see him often! Haha that kid is so funny.

 

Anyways thats about it for right now! I love our family pictures they look so good!!!!!! I miss you guys all so mucha nd I hope all is going well! My mailing adress to my apartment is 12525 South Kirkwood #302, Stafford Texas 77477! I love you all! Have a great week! Oh and I officially used yall in a sentence yesterday. And we are going to get Texas BBQ for lunch. YES.

 

P.S. Jonathan! Good luck with the wedding and everything! I wish I could be there, but you gotta do what you gotta do! Have fun!

 

-Elder Hoopes 

#6

Oi familia! Como se ta?! Bem?
Hi family! Tomorrow I go to Housten!! Woohoo! Finally getting outta this place. I love it here, but being here for 6 weeks kinda gets to ya! So this whole week has just been kinda surreal, like, I am actually going to be leaving! Pretty crazy! This morning me, Jarvis, and Wilkinson all said goodbye to Fairchild because he was going to Billings Montana and he was leaving this morning, and it was so sad! He reminded me alot of Jonathan, so in a way I felt like I was saying bye to my older brother again which was tough, but we will see each other again in Porto Alegre someday, if I ever make it there! I can't believe its finally time to go!
As far as Portuguese goes, I will just be studying that on my own in Houston. That will be kinda hard, because I'm super afraid to lose what I learned of Portuguese! Mas, eu sei vai ser tudo bom! The other day we had the opporutunity to share a short lesson in English, and it was so much harder then Portuguese! I actually wished I could speak Portuguese instead, so that was kinda funny. Everybody thinks I have the best Portuguese in the district, which I don't agree with, but it made me happy that they thought so! Im getting better in my tenses and whatnot! Portuguese is such a cool language, I cant wait to Speak it to you guys!
Mom, I'm so sad that I missed you when I called! I was hoping that you weren't sad! Its a good thing I get to call tomorrow! But its all okay becasue I will call tomorrow! My flight number to Houston is AA436 and I land at 9:40 Houston time, meaning that I will be able to call at like 7:40 Arizona time! I can't wait, I am so excited to talk to you all!

 

So, today I have just been packing and am just about done, but all day is Pday today so I have so much time to get everything done! Yeah its so exciting that tomorrow I will be in Texas!

 

Jonathan, as far as the clothes policy goes, I think its okay, as long as they are not any of my baseball T's or  one of my newer shirts. Which ones did you have in mind? Ask me tomorrow when I call. I hope the wedding prep is going good! Its crazy its like in a week er something! I hope all goes well! In conference I think in the Priesthood session I was thinking about you becasue there was that one talk about sucessful marriages and whatnot. I think it was priesthood but I can't remember!

 

Speaking of conference, it was so good and a nice end to my MTC stay! We pretty much only studied and watched conference on Saturday and Sunday, so it was a little bit of a rest from the hectic week!

 

Anyways, I did not get my desired six pack from the MTC like I was hoping, but I did lose 6 pounds which is good!!!! Maybe by the end of my mission I can end up like Connor... With all the meat in Texas and all the meat in Porto Alegre I am going to be a beast!!! Hahaha. Im so excited, its like when I first left Arizona the mission felt real to me, and then it kinda felt like normal after being here for six weeks, but now it is like that same scared nervous but excited feeling I had when I first left AZ! It will be good though! Me Jarvis and Fairchild are determined to start a band when we get back called Ordem E Progresso (order and progress in Portuguese) and rock the world.

 

Also, I know Carson will succeed wherever he goes to school. He is smart and athletic and will be at the top of wherever he chooses to go to school! Good luck buddy!

 

I love you all and can't wait to talk tomorrow! I love you! Ate mais!! Tchau!!!

 

Elder Hoopes!

 

 

 

#5

Hello family!

Finally it is the last full week of the MTC! I love it here but I am definatley ready to leave. I feel like I have been here for so long, but at the same time it feels like it went by super fast! I am so excited to finally get out there and do some good! So, no word on the VISA yet, I guess I got caught in the middle of a rule change and so people in the younger districts are getting theirs but not my district yet. Muito Triste... But I am excited to get reassigned! I think it will be fun to be a missionary speaking English for a few months before I go to Brazil! I get my reassignment tomorrow!!!! So so so exciting! And I get to call you guys and tell you where it is! But, I dont know when, and it is only for like 5 minutes to tell you where I am going, but if you see a phone call from Provo Utah ANSWER IT!!!!!!!  If you guys have a time that would be best for you, let me know and I can try to call around that time!

 

So this week has been a good one, normal, but good! Easter Sunday I missed being home alot, but Bishop Causse, the Presiding Bishop of the church came to speak to us on Easter so that was extremely cool! You can just feel a different spirit around the general authoritys! That was good, and yeah! Things are going great with the launguage! HAHAHA. Im funny. Actually, this has been the hardest week with the language for me becasue Portuguese has a few verb tenses that we don´t have in English, so it is confusing trying to learn those. I will learn eventually, but it is hard to know when and where to use them! The other day I spoke in Portuguese for 3 hours nonstop, and yesterday I taught an unplanned lesson to my district in Portuguese so that was very cool!

 

Thank you so much for your Easter Package! It was so cool and I loved all the stuff inside! Thank you guys so so so much! I miss you guys so much! Carson that is so cool you caught a foul ball! Im pretty sure you are the only person to ever catch a foul ball in our family! Parabem!!! I love hearing from you guys and everything that is going on at home! How are wedding preperations coming! Thats so exciting that it is this month! So exciting!

 

Sorry my letters are kinda boring! Not much new happens when you are doing the same routine day after day after day... I hope you guys dont think Im lame or something! But I am so excited to talk to you! Speaking of that! I also get to call you while I am in the airport going to my reassignment1 The thing is I don´´t know when that will be so I can´´t really give you more details, but It will probably next wednesday in the morning sometime. Be preparerd! I will try to let you guys know more details as soon as I can! I love all you guys! Eu espero voces estao bom! I will talk to you guys soon!

 

Elder Hoopes!