Here is Connor's letter for this week.
Hi Mom!!!!
We had a pretty decent week! We did have our work cut out for us, but things actually got a little more calm because we had a lot of cancelled appointments....so yah :) We still have quite a few investigators, but things with each of them are pretty slow. We had a super exciting lesson with Mary though! She is planning on getting baptized in a couple of weeks, and our lesson just kinda confirmed to me that she really does want this. We asked her if she believed all of the things that we've taught her, and she said "Yah!", so I asked something like "What's kinda lead you believe in it all?" and she said "Well, it's just all true! The Book of Mormon says it, and it's just true!" It was super cool to see the faith that she has! She's planning on getting married soon in preparation for her baptism, and that's super exciting! We were pretty annoyed yesterday because she was so ready to come to church, but got super sick! It's an ok excuse I guess :) but it's annoying the little things the adversary does to mess things up. We're hoping she gets better soon so we can teach her everything else she needs to know! :) We have an investigator that we're super excited about, but she's going out of town for a couple weeks. And another investigator that is planning on getting baptized soon had a super challenging week that set things back a little. So a few obstacles to get around here in our area, but we're trying to just do all that we can and have faith that it will all work out!
That's kinda the update! We do have a Thanksgiving dinner planned, with our Bishop! We were going to eat at an investigator's house, but that fell through. Luckily, we've had at least five families offer to feed us if we need! This ward takes such good care of us! So we decided to eat at the Bishop's house cause they are sooooo cool! I'd really prefer to eat with you all, but unfortunately that's not really workable :)
There was a super good sacrament meeting talk yesterday about (guess!) gratitude. It reminded me that we need to be continually thankful to the Lord for everything He's given us. It's a commandment to be grateful! I definitely need to work on seeing the positive in my life a little more. He's blessed me with so much, and I need to be more grateful. And as we show the Lord our thankfulness for our blessings, we ourselves will benefit from more happiness. I've tried in my personal prayers to make sure that I thank the Lord before I ask for all the blessings I want :) I've noticed that when I'm having a rough day and just want to complain, if I first express gratitude, then pray for other people, that when it's time to ask for blessings, I'm feeling a lot better, more positive, and can be a little more mature in my requests :) I know that the Lord has blessed me and all of us so much, and I'm so grateful to Him!
Speaking of gratitude, thank YOU for everything!!! You're such an amazing example to me, and you've given me more love than I deserve! Thank you for taking such good care of me and for everything you do! I'm super excited for that Christmas package.....SUPER excited! :) Thanks for putting that together for me...I'll be looking forward to it :)
Thank you for your thoughts! That's a really relevant story for me, about the father who asks Jesus "Help thou mine unbelief". I need His help with so much, and especially with believing. It's not very fair that He has to help me believe in Him, but I know that He loves me so much and will help me in everything. Thank you for the motivation and help and strength! I always benefit so much from the thoughts and compliments you share with me - they're always what I need!
I studied Enos this morning, and realized just how fervent and strong his prayer was! I noticed in so many verses, he uses the words struggled, wrestled, and diligent. He says he poured out his WHOLE SOUL in his prayer. It's such a good example of how we should pray. Only after he spend hours and hours in fervent prayer did he receive his answers - but he kept going through those hours and hours. It was through that that he showed his faith to God, and then God finally, after the trial of his faith, gave him some incredible revelation! Nephi too, inquired diligently. I think we overlook sometimes how much effort these men used in praying. That's how they received the strength and power and revelation they did. I know that God is always there to answer our prayers. We may not need to pray all day to receive answers, but we need to have faith. And He will answer! I've seen that so much, and am trying to strengthen my testimony in that.
Sorry if this email was all over the place - my thoughts are kinda jumbled :) I love you so much! Thank you for all of your prayers! I love your emails so so so much! I miss you a lot, but at least I get to email you! And...Christmas is coming up :) Just saying! I love you!!!!
Love,
Elder Hopkin
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