This Week has been really amazing, I went on two exchanges this week, one was in the Chinese Program and that was cool although I could not teach anything but I got to go like halfway across the mission for the investigators they had.
Also we took a lot of selfies this week, I don't know why it just keeps happening.Elder Hopkins in San Jose
Monday, March 2, 2015
Another Week In Saratoga Zone
Monday, February 23, 2015
Yay! Food Poisoning!
Hello Family and Friends!
Well last
P-day after I emailed we went to Dairy Queen for Lunch and I got really
bad food poisoning, I was unable to work for a couple of days it was
pretty terrible. Since then I think my stomach has shrunk and so I can't
eat as much as I used to, which may be a good thing or a bad thing. We
gave like 3 blessings at different hospitals later in the week, and I
added a picture of the fact that missionaries get the best parking at
Hospitals, Clergy Parking, oh yeah.Tuesday, February 17, 2015
ZTM!
Hello everyone!
This week has
been great, I did not get to email yesterday because the Library was
closed for Presidents day. This week I lead my first ZTM (Zone Training
Meeting) It went really well, we taught about asking for referrals and
working with members. I attached two pictures of the zone.
Also
I went on Exchanges with one of our District leaders, Elder Gardner,
last week I forgot to take a picture. I am currently on exchanges with
Elder Feller, I did send a picture of him at his desk.
Oh also My glasses broke when I was on exchanges, I am not really sure how they just sort of exploded.
Another
cool thing this week was the stake missionary training meeting. The
High Councilor over missionary work was out of town so he had Elder Faux
and I lead a meeting which consisted of Ward Mission Leaders, Bishops,
Full-Time Missionaries, and the Stake Presidency from the Stake and we
got up and trained them all on how to better use Ward Missionaries and
how to make an effective Ward Mission Plan. It was a really cool
opportunity.
Being a Zone Leader has made me
really really busy, but there have been all sorts of opportunities to
serve and help other missionaries which has been really good. It is cool
being the first companionship to be called as soon as anyone in the
zone needs a blessing or has to go somewhere, it is just an honor and a
privilege to serve in this new capacity.
The
church is true, the organization of the church is true, Jesus Christ is
at the head of it, I have no doubt about that, and the Priesthood power
of God makes it all possible!
I love and appreciate you all so much and hope you have a great week!
Love
Elder Hopkins
Saratoga Zone |
Broken Glasses (good thing he has a back up pair) |
Elder Feller |
Monday, February 9, 2015
New Zone! 6 Months in!
Well I am in my new zone!
Drum roll.......
My
new companion is named Elder Faux, he is such an awesome missionary, he
knows his stuff so well. I added a picture of us at our desks.
We
cover two wards, the Los Gatos family ward, which is a really big rich
ward. Los Gatos is spanish for the cats which is a good name because
there are a lot of stray cats here and also fat cat business people. We
also cover the Monta vista Singles ward which covers the whole stake.
So
my area now is huge, it is like one big confusing maze. But I will get
used to it I think, We cover part of San Jose, Part of Santa Clara,
Campbell, Cupertino, Moor Park, Stevens Creek, Monte Sereno, and
Saratoga. I love the area, there are a lot of hills that are so
beautiful and fun to drive through.
I live in an
apartment with the tongan elders, Elder Muna and Elder Crawford, they
are fun, they convinced me to take a muscle mirror selfie with them, so I
will add that picture too.
Anyways I am just excited for the work here and the new responsibility!
I love you all thank you for all of your love and support!
Elder HopkinsElder Hopkins and Elder Faux |
Elder Hopkins with Elder Muna and Elder Crawford |
Monday, February 2, 2015
Where in the mission is Elder Hopkins going?
Hello family and friends and well-renowned mission blog reviewers!
This week was full of stuff. Where to begin?
Monday
we had a day where all of the sisters in the zone went down to
monterrey and all of the elders had a team sports day, I included some
pictures, it was fun.
Nose bleeds are back,
funny story as I am sitting here typing this out I have a wad of tissue
of my nose, how is that for real time news? Anyway I went in to the
Stanford Express Clinic, they thought they knew what was going on, but
after two short tests, they realized they had no idea what was going on
and they reffered me to an ENT (Ears Nose and Throat) doctor. Yay...
another doctor.
Also Nate Mella came and lived
with us for a couple of days, he served with Elder Maxwell in Stanford
for a day and he served a day with me, then we killed him missionary
style by karate chopping his tie off. It was really fun having him
around.
In other big news, Elder Ramirez is
taking over for me as the new District Leader, I am so excited for him,
and I got called as a zone leader and will be transferring to who knows
where tomorrow morning. I am so nervous, I am officially the youngest/newest Zone Leader in the mission.
Also on top of the nose bleeds, I have been really sick. I completely lost my voice on Sunday
and I could not even bare my testimony for my last day in both wards,
so I wrote down my testimony and I had Elder Ramirez read it out loud at
the pulpit in both wards. Both J. Wallace and R. Hillis were in
tears. As I walked down the aisle from the stand I looked at the ward
members I passed by smiling at me, and I almost cried myself. I have
really grown to love the wards in Palo Alto they all came up to me and
told me how much they would miss me, which made it even harder, but I
know its time to move on.
Well I think that is all for this week, I will give you all my new address when I transfer!
Love you all, thank you for your love and support!
Elder Nathan Hopkins
Last District Meeting
I also forgot for my last district meeting I had everyone take pictures
in front of the white board and had everyone else write words to
describe them
Elder Ramirez |
Elder Maxwell |
Elder Hopkins |
Monday, January 26, 2015
Meetings plus as much missionary work as we could find
Hello Family, friends, and Whoever else is reading this:
This week was great, as always!
Last
week I mentioned I was having a lot of nose bleeds, they miraculously
stopped! Yay! We were also to busy to go in to the Stanford Clinic to go
get it checked out so hopefully it continues to not bleed.
We
had a lot of meetings this week to work around, a leadership one in
Sunnyvale, District Meeting, and 3 sessions of stake conference to go
to. Stake Conference was really very good, I learned a lot, but sitting
in hard folding chairs for 3 sessions was less fun. I saw Nate Mella
again, he was at the leadership session.
We are
working with a guy who had a baptismal date named Mark, but he sort of
disappeared off of the face of the planet, that was unfortunate. In the
Singles wards we are working with an investigator named Andrew who just
got engaged to one of the members, awesome.
Things are going great, although transfers are coming up soon, and I am probably getting transferred.
So
if you have already sent me mail and it is on its way, I should get it
before I leave. If you really would like to send me mail before I get to
my next area, you can send it to the mission address:
California San Jose Mission
Elder Nathan Hopkins
3975 McLaughlin Ave Ste A
San Jose CA, 95121-2631
And
I can go pick it up when I go for transfer meeting. When I figure out
my new address I will be sure to send it here so that people can know. I
may stay here in Palo Alto 1 more transfer, but I will be able to let
everyone know that in next email.
It is really
weird to think that this may be my last week in Palo Alto, I have really
come to think of it as my home, I love the members I've met so much and
the people I have met, it will be weird to be in a new area.
I
added to photos, one is the view from our apartment window from the
street below and the other is a view inside our apartment, I just happen
to be lifting weights in that one.
I love you all, I appreciate your support and I know that your prayers on my behalf really do help!
Elder Hopkins
Monday, January 19, 2015
Nose Bleeds for Days!
Hello Family, Friends, and anyone else who actually has time to read my weekly emails.
This
week has been awesome, although not without its challenges. I did not
mention it last week because I did not think it was a big deal, but I
was getting a lot of nose bleeds, which was unusual for me, because I
never ever get nose bleeds, ever. I can't remember one time before my
mission. Over the past couple of weeks I have had 13 or more nose bleeds
that have been really bad, a couple led to some funny stories, a couple
while I was at members houses for dinner and I end up just laying on
the couch while my companions eat.
I called the
mission nurse to ask her what I should do, so she sent me to a clinic
in San Carlos, where we waited for an hour and were told to go to
Stanford Hospital to get an answer, so we are going to call in and set
an appointment soon to figure out why my nose is bleeding all of the
time, cause it is pretty annoying.
On top of that I was pretty sick again this week, that was a bummer. But now I am feeling much better.\
On
the bright side, we had a really good meeting in Los Altos it lasted
about 8 hours and it was a lot of changes President Mella is making in
the mission. We have had two dinners almost every night because Stanford
Meal Calendar and our Meal calender was full before we combined so we
eat two dinners a night.
We also went on a hike
this morning and it was raining, we saw a lizard, also I included a
picture of the spider that lives in our bathroom, we named him Mr.
Rogers, he is our friend.
Love you all thank you for your support!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)