Week 74

Hi Mom!!!! :)

Your email made me so happy!!! :) So many good things happening it sounds like! That's too bad about Cooper though - I continue to pray for him and hope everything is ok. If at all possible, you should send me a picture of him and his girlfriend. I need to give my approval first :) And that's crazy about Kelsey! I'm sure she'll be able to return back pretty quick! YAAAAAAY ANGIE!!!!!!! :) Holy cow, I'm so excited for her!!!! I don't really know how else to say that...I'm just SO excited!! That's awesome Makaeli got a scholarship to SUU, and I hope it goes well with the U and BYU. And all those pictures were so fun! It's so good to see you, at least through picture! :) I'm so glad the trip went well and the kids at least kind of enjoyed themselves! As far as ecclesiastical endorsement goes, I'll talk to my mission president to make sure. Thank you for setting that up with Brian and Margaret! That's such a huge help!

My new companion is great! His name is Elder Tiatia; he's half Samoan, fresh from Manti Utah! :) He did live in Hawaii till he was 3 though, so that counts! He's very different from Elder Lopiano, so I've been adjusting :) He has such a good heart and I'm trying to help him be more confident in himself. But dang, I've been so impatient recently - I'm really annoying myself! So I'm working on that. Also, for some reason, my testimony has been kinda shaky lately, which really frustrates me! I want my testimony to be "unshaken" but people just keep shaking it! So that's been annoying. I've had a couple of really good studies and prayers recently, though, that have helped a lot. Training has always kinda stressed me out, so that's been a little hard this week too, but overall I'm doing pretty good! I like to think of it as spiritual growing pains :) It was weird sending Elders Griffin and Lopiano home, but I've seen lots of missionaries go home so it wasn't too overwhelming!

Quick story, then I have to go! We have this investigator named Scottie. He's 12, SUPER sharp, and very energetic :) We taught him the other day and invited him to pray about the Book of Mormon and the church. He said, "Can I do it right now?" and we weren't about to say no, so he closed his eyes and prayed for about a minute. He looked up and said, "God just told me the Book of Mormon is true and the church I'm learning about is the right one." So matter-of-fact-ly! At church yesterday, we had testimony meeting. He asked if he could go up, so we said yes :) He got up and stood super close to the microphone, making it squeal. He just stood there for about a minute with his eyes closed, then, eyes still covered, gave the most incredible testimony about how much God loves us and how He sent His Son to die on the cross for us, etc. Ah it was so cool! :) He's hopefully getting baptized in February!

Well, I hope that was an ok update! I'm looking forward to this week! I'm also looking forward to your next email already :) Thank you SO much for all your prayers and all your help! I love you so much and hope you have a wonderful week! Stay safe! :)

Love,
Elder Connor Hopkin :)