Helloooo people of Earth!
I feel like I haven't written in five evers! I am now in Twin Falls, Idaho, the largest city in Idaho's Magic Valley region. Sadly, there are no warlocks, trolls or any other magical things around. Just farms, oh and an IHOP! You know that if there's an IHOP nearby, I'm happy. Things have been really great. We live with a family named the Vippermans along with their daughter and son-in-law Ari and Derek as well as THEIR son, Brody. It is a fantastic place to live and I absolutely love it. It's fun to have people around to talk to in the morning or when we come in at night.
We've been biking a lot lately; actually, every day since I got here. Our car is in the shop. One of the missionaries who was here before me thought it would be a good idea to throw the car in park going 30. Yeah, brilliant, I know. So we've been biking anywhere between 12-20 miles a day, which I LOVE, because now I don't have to worry quite as much about what I eat since we're burning the calories. Yay, clear conscience! Also, one of my Zone Leaders was a Fitness major (or whatever major you would be in to be a personal trainer) and is making me a workout plan that requires no weights or anything, since I have none. I don't know about everyone else, but for me, the combination of eating right and doing some kind of exercise really makes me feel 100%. It doesn't mean I'm going to be ripped or anything (I mean, this is ME we're talking about) but you just feel better about yourself overall. You should try it.
So, apart from biking and also learning all sorts of songs for the uke, hings have been really busy. I'm now a District Leader, which sounds a lot more important than it really is (apart from the fact that I now have the sweet nickname of DL Hops.) I'm in charge of a weekly two hour meeting for my district, which consists of four companionships. Essentially, I just try and teach them how to be better missionaries after doing a lot of study on the same subject myself. Kind of weird, since I don't feel like I should be telling ANYone ANYthing about how to be better.
We've been meeting with a lot of different families and pretty much every hour of the day is filled with helping people overcome all sorts of personal problems such as alcoholism, family disagreements, loneliness, unemployment and a plethora of other things through Jesus Christ. It never ceases to amaze me how people's problems can be solved when and if they swallow their pride and ask for help from God and Jesus Christ. The way I always put it to people is like this: God is sitting up there with a giant, Santa-like bag full of blessings, just waiting for us to ask Him for help so he can give them to us. It may not necessarily be exactly like that, but I know that God is perfect and He is our loving Heavenly Father, and if He's perfect, then He loves us with a perfect love. All of us. Equally. He only wants what is best for us. I know that, and I know that you can know it as well if you sincerely pray and ask Him for help. He'll be there every time.
Ok, enough soapboxing for now, I hope everyone is doing well. I also (for any of you who I haven't already talked to about it) started writing part of the book I've always wanted to write. I typed up a synopsis, but it's really hard to explain exactly what I want on a page or two. that's why I'll be writing a book and not an essay or short story. But, I'm pretty excited about the whole thing. I've always been scared to try and write a book because it seems so daunting, but I'm going to do it to prove to myself that I can. See you on the New York Times Best Seller list haha
Lastly, if you've written me a letter recently and I haven't gotten back to you, please forgive me I'm trying to find time to write, so know I haven't forgotten about you, I'm just super busy. That's a poor excuse, but an excuse nonetheless.
Thanks for all your support!
Consistently yours,
DL Hops
