Service Project in the Heat!

 

Making Pupusas! 

 Mist of the early morning means the day will be HOT!

 

Service Project

lowering 100 bricks into a ravine so a family could build a retaining wall

February 28, 2012

Hey FAmmmmm
how it going??

Sounds like everyone is doing good. me alegro. that would be awesome if we went to mexico for a week  when i finish my mission, just to relax ahhhh. ha but thats a long time away.
you didn't ask me tons and ons of questions this time, im a little shocked, and subsequently im not quite sure how to begin this email.

So this one family that we are teaching, they're not married and the wife doesn't want to cuz of the past problems.. bla bla bla, i think i told you this already, well we had a good lesson with them, with the bishop and his wife present as well, and the whole family came to church for the first time. Sacrament meeting had just started, and we were bummed cuz none of our investigators showed up, but after the opening prayer, this family walked in, the wife and he daughter, the sister, and then to my surprise the husband walk in behind them, this man works absolutely everyday, and never has a day off, but somehow he was able to come to church this day. they all said they liked it so I'm hoping that they will work out their problems, get married, and then baptized!

We had a little service project that we did as a district this week, at 7 in the morning we lowered down like 100 brick building blocks into a ravine so a family could build a retaining wall. afterwards the family made us breakfast, and we made pupusas! a dish from el salvador. its was pretty fun, so thats what those pictures are. it was really foggy that morning, but that just means that the day was going to be super super hot, and it was.

For pday yesterday we played some sports as a zone, and a got a little bit burnt. i understand why my neck and legs did, cuz they haven't seen sun for months, but i don't understand how my face did, cuz im under the hot sun everyday, usually with no sunscreen, but the sun beat me this time. but im fine.

Also something really really funny that i read yesterday, that I'm sure you guys already knew, and its old news for you. Well i got the Christmas card from the Steeles recently, and I looked at it again yesterday, and the "little error" on it, well I  just burst out laughing ha ha. also i loved the picture of parker yawnin on the back.

I'm glad that your all happy and healthy. Go and do some skiing dad.
everything is great here, it was raining a little bit this morning, but it will be hot this afternoon. eat those mango suckers, the little kids here love them! Locos

Until next week
From Guatemala, With Love,
Elder Hopkins

So Happy to get his birthday Banner!

 I loved the birthday banner! I couldn't stop smiling when I opened that up, I was so happy haha

February 22, 2012

Hey familyyyy!

Sorry i didn't email yesterday, we had interviews, i forgot to tell you that last week.
I'll answer your questions first...
Alberto is still coming to church and hasn't smoked or anything. He's great. He got ordained to the Aaronic priesthood on sunday to the office of priest.

The other guy did not get baptized. In fact we can't find him. He started working in another part of the capital and apparently doesn't come home until the weekends. He spent the day sunday with his member brother, but they didn't go to church. We are trying to find him and hopefully hell get baptized in March.

We are teaching a few people right now, but none are progressing. theres a family called the familia “C” that are very nice and like us coming, and read the book of mormon and everything, but they haven't come to church yet, as they have a lot of family events on sundays, in another part of the capital. We are working on that challenge of theirs. Another Family, that isn't married, and the wife doesn't want to marry her partner, because apparently in the past he cheated, and he doesn't want to admit that he was wrong. They either have to get married, or separate to stop living in sin. They have two young daughters. We're not too sure whats gonna happen with them yet. Theres others too that we are teaching, but their not all super positive yet.

My companions name is Bryon Pineda. Our cook makes good food. Its all basically the same stuff. some salad, rice, a meat, a tortilla. but its good.

Our house is 2 floors, and only one staircase, i just took a picture of it from different angles i think. My comp in the one that always puts the fan on at night, i don't really care about having it on or not, its not too too hot at night, but hot during the day. I'm fine and healthy, don't worry about that.

Tell Dad he needs to take a break and go skiing. He's gotta live a balanced life. and Madi, I hope you know I'm taking back all the clothes you steal from me after my mission. haha. thats my favorite jacket that your wearing in the picture! ya goof. Remember not to get too caught up with the highschool life, and remember who you really are. Always keep the commandments, and hang out lots with the member kids! they're good kids! Remember the Scripture Mosiah 2:41. True happiness is found by keeping all the commandments, and being strong and active in the church.

But yes i did get my Birthday box yesterday!! whoooo!! it was so so awesome!
I loved the birthday banner! I couldn't stop smiling when I opened that up, I was so happy haha. I hung it up too, see the attached photo. Thanks so much for everything.

and thats basically my week.

Tell Madi I think her haircut is pretty cool, and tell her to always remember to keep it classy. just be yourself, don't worry about what the world thinks is cool, keep it classy to the standards of God.
i donno, i cant think of a cool word to use there that not a spanish word. Let Madi know I love her lots! text her right now and say it!

love ya mom, also everyone always says that you look so young and like a model when people see pictures of you. ha.
but love ya all tons!!

Adios

until next time,
Love Elder Tanner Hopkins (Elder T-HOPS)

 This is the chicken that I killed last week, it was pretty tasty!

 Me and Elder Daniel from Georgia.  We bought an ice cream cone with a hot donut on top, it sounded like a good idea, until the ice cream started to melt rapidly

This is our cook, it was her birthday, so we bought her a cake

Thanks to Gramma and Grampa H for this birthday gift

We were contacting a door, and then out of nowhere, this man came around the corner with a herd of goats, in the city, so we took a picture with him!

A Missionary's Life in Guatemala ~ A Baptism one day, Killing a Chicken the next

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 HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!

 Feliz Dia de Cariño! (Happy Day of Caring)

February 14, 2012

Hey Familyyyyy
It was super funny today at district meeting, on the whiteboard we all put pictures of our girlfriends, and friends that are girls, (in honor of Valentines Day) and the closing hymn that an Elder just happened to pick was “Oh Creations of the Lord”, it was really funny haha.

 

I don't have to sleep with earplugs due to the airplanes, its actually quieter than my last area, cuz there was always a party going on in that little town.
We did manage to get a new phone this week, Elder Tanner and 2 other missionaries that were in the office took a taxi over to us to drop it off. so now we have a phone! yeaa!!

And my house doesn't sound as bad as the one house dad had, but yes when we get home at night and turn on the lights there are cockroaches that scatter. The other day when I put on my shoe, there were two cockroaches in it, ewe. but there was also a gecko in our house the other day, so i hope it comes back to eat up the bugs.

In our mission we don't get to go to the temple much, even though i can almost see it from my area, i can see a big apartment building, and the temple is just on the other side, but it is in the other mission, the south mission. I'm fine on all my clothes and everything, so I'm not going to be buying any more stuff until i need it.

also I'm glad that my letters arrived safely to the great white north.
and yes i do exercise every morning for about 20 minutes amazingly, every missionary in the world receives a resistance band when they enter into the mtc, so i have one, 2 actually, but I've never used it once. There are weights in most of the houses that missionaries make from metal bars, buckets, and cement, so I'm all good to go, yeaa.
Also madi looks happy with her cast, at least she looked happy with that thumbs up.

So last night i killed a chicken, cut its head off with a really dull knife. i was sawing at it for like a minute, poor thing.  so theres some pictures of that. we are going to eat it for lunch later this week with some recent converts.

also we did baptize Alberto! whoo hoo. he hasn't smoked since we gave him the milk and cigarette drink, and he is now a confirmed member of the church. and he is super happy about it too.
also we had a ward activity, and theres a picture of that, (i decided i would pull my pants up really high for this picture) it was a nice activity, an investigator came and loved it, and he came to the baptisms with us, but didn't end up coming to church. we did get a really really good reference from the activity though, the 29 year old son of a member moved back in with his family, and we went and taught him the other day, and we challenged him to be baptized of the 26th, and he said yeah, he came to church and like it. we just praying that he stays super positive like he already is.
I'm sending lots of pictures this week, lots of pictures of the house like you wanted.
Love you guys so much!

If Madi doesn't get a kiss today for Valentines at least she'll be coming home with a thumbs up, so that will be a good sign.
from Guatemala, with love,.  

Elder Tanner Hopkins

 Baptism of Alberto

New Glasses I bought here

 

 

Muah ah ah

My Apartment in Guatemala City

 

Ward Activity

Living next to the Guatemala City Airport, The Miracles of Fasting

Here is  me going down into a ravine to knock on some poor houses with poor quality doors as you can see.

February 7, 2012

hey fam

Thats exciting about peters call, yay for spanish!

So this man that was having problems smoking has a date for this saturday. what we did, was we bought milk, then we crushed a cigarette into it and had him drink it. he said it actually didn't taste that bad haha, but hes like 70 years old so maybe he cant taste very well anymore, we also had a very excellent lesson on fasting, and we fasted for him last sunday, he hasn't smoked for a week now, and he already considers the church ¨his church¨.

This week our phone has been broken, so we don't have a phone. what we've had to do is go to the pay phones every night to call our leaders to let them know that we are back home safe and sound. Its been annoying cuz we cant really call our investigators that easily in the mornings to confirm appointments, but i think we might be getting a new phone today ha.

That sucks about how calgary efy isnt cool anymore, it was so cool in my days, but thats probably the reason it isn't anymroe, cuz it was ¨too cool¨ maybe the fireworks in the dorms didn't help out the situation, whoops. sorry fellow calgarians.

I have no clue about my birthday box yet, but I'm not worrying, there is like a month till my birthday. and i did get the christmas card from the Lonsdales, tell them thankyou very much!

Yes, i am actually IN Guatemala city, very very close to the airport in fact, planes fly buy like every 10 minutes very very low and close to me, and I can see them land on the other side of the ravine. haha, fun noises.

The fleas did find me again this week, but I was able to quickly get rid of them by spraying my bed with bugspray, the smell reminded me of camping.

my ward yes, is a ward, about 180 come every week. There are two wards that attend my chapel, each ward has two sets of missionaries, so we are very close to lots of others, unlike my last areas.

I do have an inside sink, and i have no problems with chaffing. my luggage is doing fine, and I'll try to remember to send pictures of my house next week.

last night i was looking at the full moon too, we are never too far away.

well thats all for this week, love ya guys!
from guatemala, con amor,
Elder Hopkins

 

And here is a little green chicken that they sell in the markets here, they paint them for fun I guess. and this chick dies like 2 days later I think, its at a members.