Elder Hopkins in San Jose: Hit the Ground Running

So... I have to apologize. On Saturday we had a baptism but I forgot to bring my camera to the family history center (where we email) today. So the pictures from the baptism will have to wait til next week, sorry.

Anyway we had a baptism on Saturday. It was so cool. The guys name is Richard Hillis. Its funny we actually have a ton in common. Anyway he asked me if I would baptize him and I did and it was just such a great experience I was so happy to take part in the work of the Lord. I practiced the ordinance over and over again so I didn't mess up my first baptism. I felt really memorized and we got in the font and I raised my arm to the square and I said, "having been commissioned of Jesus Christ..." and the bishop stopped me.

"You have to say his name first."

I was really embarrassed, but what are you going to do? The rest of the day went off really well. We got 5 new investigators over the past couple days and we are working with another kid right now who has a baptismal date at the end of the month. The Lord was not kidding about the hastening of the work.

Yesterday during first ward priesthood session, Bishop was teaching. He played a clip from the new Hobbit movie. Before he played it he said, "I know this seems weird but as you watch this clip try and think about why I am showing it to you."

Anyway its the clip where the dwarves and Bilbo go through the forest and Gandalf says stick to the path just before leaving them. The dwarves all wander around in dark confusion and they lose track of the path. Then Bilbo stops and says we need to find the sun. He climbs a tree up to the light and gets his bearings. When I heard him say we need to find the "sun." the first thing I thought of was the "Son," or Jesus Christ. Bishop explained that sometimes we all get lost as we travel through the forest so it is important that we go to the Son whenever we need to get a breather and get our direction back. If you haven't seen the clip from this movie that I am talking about, I would suggest it, its pretty cool.

It has been such a blessing to me to have such a good trainer like Elder Harper and to be right in the missionary work right away. I love being in the scriptures as often as I can be and I pray all of the time. Its really satisfying to always have your mind focused on the Son and it makes it easier to know which way to go.

Well that's all for now. Thank you so much to everyone at home who show me constant love and support. Thank you for your prayers!

Love,

Elder Hopkins