well here i am and i just set up my emailalec.b.hoopes.AMM@myldsmail.
well i am doing really well, and i am so glad that you got all of my letters on the same day even though i sent them at different times... i loved hearing from you and i also heard from karene and ben and now jon today. I went to the temple today for the first time here and so that was great. It is way fun to see what is different about the different temples. They played the other creation video in the provo one, it was funny to see a different one. But it was still way awesome.
oh and i don't know if i told you yet (i am pretty sure i didn't), that President Uchtdorf was the speaker at the Tuesday devotional! it was the best. Sister Uchtdorf is quite a character, she is really funny and gave some good avice. President Uchtdorf gave a great talk of course on how to make our missions the best, i don't have my notes (i took alot) with me but he gave so much advice it was awesome.
I had my first TE (teaching evaluation - teach a teacher as if an investigator and then get evaluated) yesterday with Elder Brown. we did alright, good for the first time. it was the best because we got some really key advice. it's all just practice and more practice! We also had a TRC (teach a volunteer investigator in a room made to look like a living room) on like tuesday...? oh well this week has gone by so fast i don't have a clue. but anyways we did pretty well except for we went wayyy over the time... hehe oh well. oh and also the lady was falling asleep for part of the time, that added a little comedy.
Well Elder Brown is doing well, he is a really fun guy and so that made it easy from the beginning. i also had the opportunity to help get him motivated and gain alittle more testimony in the first few days, it's fun to see how much we're growing. like i wrote to ben, i can feel myself being molded daily (painful sometimes, but needful). I have learned more here in the time i've been here than any 5 years in my life EASILY. i'm just glad my sculptor knows what he's doing - and if anyone reading this has any doubts about that: just know that Heavenly father knows EXACTLY what he is doing and that it's better to be as malleable as possible (ha i love metaphors... hehe) because all of us WILL be molded to the shape he wants eventually, it depends on us how painful it will be. (the changing part - life will always have some pain, but if we let it it will most definitely have an astounding amount of joy).
Thanks for the scripture placement stuff, oh and i figured out the immunizations so don't worry about it. I really hope Caitlyn does get to go to her family soon - it's rough to be in transition phases, believe me - i was in it for like 2 months before i left on my mission... frustrating...and annoying sometimes. wow sorry if a sentence doesn't make sense or if words are spelled wrong, all i've got is 30 min and the keyboard is slow/sticky sometimes so i'll look back and notice that one word i missed a letter...oh well. Keep it up Rachel, i love you. try your hardest to enjoy high school, the harder you try the more it will happen. that's really a universal principle. learn it soon!
I know that you're going through some of the same things as me mom, and i think we both know that it is painful and awesome at the same time, keep thinking about that sculptor metaphor, it helps me understand why it can be painful. and this missionary thing will be the make or break of me too - but i'm glad it is, what a wonderful thing to be doing something that can really define you as someone great! and by that i mean someone who lets the lord make us someone great through him.
well i'm getting blinked at by the time remaining thing and getting popups so I Love you all!
Love you all!
Elder Hoopes
Studying:
Serious Missionaries
Obligatory Matrix shots
Temple!
Around the MTC:
