Letter - Week of 9/14/09

Hello All!

So, these past weeks have been some busy ones, ladies and gentlemen! I apologize in advance for not writing last week, but now you'll be able to hear of my adventures in a more condensed version! Hooray! Ok, so first things first...I had, on Friday the 11th, my very first...meatloaf. Yuck! But I knew it was inevitable, and I made it two months into my mission before I had one, so I'm ok with it. The family we ate with with super nice and fun to talk to, their names were the Carlsons! They made up for the meatloaf, however, with AMAZING peach pie. For those of you who live in a cave, it is currently peach season, and members are constantly bombarding us with the delightful fruit. However, Elder Moos does not take to peaches at all, therefore, I have mass amounts of peaches all to myself! :D I put them in my Frosted Flakes, eat them whole, put them in yogurt...anything and everything to get rid of them before another member gives us another bagful.

Also, while being out here, I have found the immense value of yard sales and garage sales, as well as stores like Ross and thrift stores. They are goldmines of this and that and you can always find something you'd like for about a nickel. Also, there is a glorious place known as Vista Pawn which is about the size of a grocery store and has everything you could ever want at bargain prices. I go there every so often to play bass :]

I've only got a few moments left and I'd like to dedicate them to a fellow named Travis Kidd. He is a fantastic guy who we had the opportunity to teach the Gospel. Not only did he learn the things we had to teach, he lived it! He was so absorbed in the teachings and scriptures and the Gospel of Jesus Christ that you could see the improvement it made in his life. He was baptized on the 12th. I have never seen someone so enthusiastic as he was about joining the Church. I strive in my life, as we all should, to keep that joy and enthusiasm in knowing that God truly is our loving Heavenly Father and he sent his Son to atone and die for us, so that we may be able to repent and once again go live with Him after this life. I know these things are true without a doubt in my mind and it makes me so humbled that Christ would die for ME, personally. I know that we can all feel that humility through reading the scriptures and through sincere prayer to our Heavenly Father! Way to go Travis!

Anyway, I must be going, I'm buying a new bike today :D

Until next time!

-Elder Hops