Christmas Ornaments - Thanks Everyone!

Hello!

These are the select pictures I took of all the ornaments everyone sent me. I decided to put them on the tumbleweed tree instead of the paper tree my family sent me. Thanks so much to everyone who sent me ornaments!

I hope everyone is having a fantastic 2010! I know I have been having a spectacular year so far, and hopefully will continue to do so. I'll do a pretty good "catch-up" post next week, but for now, here are some of the ornaments that helped make my Christmas absolutely wonderful!
Thanks again!

Elder Hops

Rupert Thanksgiving! 11/24/09

So, things that happened this week:

We went to the local Mexican place: Aguila con el Taco! (Translates to Eagle with a Taco) and the food there was way good! All the stuff they make is really authentic and delicious. The waiter was very attentive to us (since we were the only ones there) and talked with us for a bit too.

The small window in our bathroom is partially broken out and lets in a LOT of cold air at night (when it gets down to around 15) and we were getting fed up with a cold bathroom and apartment every morning. So, we did what any intelligent pair of young men would do. We duct taped the window over. But, that was a bit unsightly, and now, we had no view of outside (when the curtains were opened) when taking care of our lavatorial responsibilities. So, I devised a cunning resolution to our dilemma. (See the pictures to grasp the magnitude of awesome that my solution displayed).
This past Wednesday, I had the privilege of having a meal I'm sure is unique to my mission and probably Rupert. Venison Sloppy Joes. Top that, Guy Fieri.

Elder Smith and I decided to enter the Pinewood Derby in one of the wards that we cover. Here are the pictures of our car! We wanted to name it something to do with speed, so we searched diligently through the Bible and Book of Mormon and found the perfect title. "The Word of God." Helaman 3:29 was the inspiration (Caps added for emphasis) "Yea, we see that whosoever will may lay hold upon the word of God, which is QUICK and POWERFUL, which shall divide asunder all the cunning and the snares and the wiles of the devil, and lead the man of Christ in a STRAIT and NARROW COURSE..." Quick and powerful sounded like attributes our car would need to navigate the straight and narrow track and defeat our enemies! Unfortunately, we lost every race. But hey, the other cars had tons of time put in to them, ours had barely an hour of labor put into it and was colored with Sharpie, so I'm proud. Note the license plate.Last but not least, I scored the coveted Final Triple X in bowling (Also known as the Armageddon Turkey) today. Although, the rest of my game left something to be desired. Oh well, practice makes perfect, right? Right.I hope everyone has a happy Thanksgiving! I'm thankful for all of you who care enough to write and e-mail and let me know that you're there for me! I'm also thankful for having a Heavenly Father who loves me enough to have sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to suffer and die so that I can be forgiven of my sins and imperfections (of which I have many, as we all do). Don't forget to be thankful that we have this wonderful Earth to live on and wonderful families to share our time with. I'm thankful for my Mom and Dad who so patiently raised me and always took the time to let me know how much they care about me, I could not ask for better parents, teachers and friends than my Mom and Dad. Also, my sister, Alex, who is one of my closest and best friends as well. Although we may not have always liked each other, I know we've always loved each other and always will. And of course, Alex's husband and my only brother (even if it is only in law :P) Trevor, who has given me invaluable advice on my mission as well as in life. I would form a PGA with him any day (don't worry, it won't make sense unless you're him) And finally, but not least of all, my grandparents, who have supported me throughout all my endeavors in my life. They are an irreplaceable source of encouragement and they mean more than they know.

I can't list everything I'm thankful for, it'd take far too long, but I am thankful for the many of you who have and continue to write me while I'm on my Mission. It is such a source of strength that you can never fully understand until you're out. Thank you.


HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!

-Elder Hops

Pictures - 11/10/09

I received all of these pictures from Elder Hopkins today in an email! I am so excited to share them with you! Captions are courtesy of Mike himself! Enjoy:

The Temple at about 7 AM, before our session.The temple afterwards
All four of us outside the Temple (L to R: Elder Begg, Ware, Smith and me!)
A shot I took of the snake river off my tag
Shoshone Falls! It's HUGE! It's hard to appreciate without being there
Falls again
Me after conquering IHOP's largest breakfast
The face of victory! (Notice all the plates and A1 and syrups I utilized)
The classic heel click after leaving the Temple
Contemplating how to improve the score (They had an instant replay feature where you can see your last throw...notice the sweetkicks.)
The professional...from 1930
We're glad to see that Elder Hopkins is doing well and enjoying life as usual! :)

Hello Rupert! 10/27/09

Well, I'm here in Rupert, a town of supposedly just over 5,000 people, although I don't believe it, I've barely seen more than a couple hundred. We've moved into our new apartment, which is easily one of the filthiest places I have ever seen in my life. The last elders who lived here CLEARLY did not understand the principle "Cleanliness is next to Godliness" After a few DAYS of cleaning, scrubbing and detoxifying our apartment, we felt at home. It's a nice little place, where we sleep on mattresses on the floor and have a toilet that sways when you are using it. The apartment also has no heater, save a small floor heater we bought that warms one of the rooms fairly well. The interesting thing is about this abode in which we live is that I love that way that it's falling apart. I absolutely love it. For some reason it just makes me happy knowing that I'm in easily one of the most run down of all the apartments in this mission. I know it doesn't make sense, but it's true.

Many things here are different. First of all, Rupert has a very distinct smell. For those of you who have been the the State Fair near where the animals are, THAT'S what it smells like. However, much like the condition of our apartment, instead of disliking it, I enjoy it very much. It's really nice to be out of Boise where people are very prideful and unfriendly to a small town like Rupert where anyone will help you out with anything you need. Already, Elder Smith and I have recieved:
1 - Apples picked from an tree in someone's yard
2 - Homemade huckleberry jam
3 - Made from scratch cookies
4 - Elk burger meat
5 - A meal made solely from things owned by the family (Chuck roast from a cow they owned and killed, corn cut from ears they owned and of course, potatoes from their farm)

They also have a very strong following in the Church here. Attending membership is easily 2 to 3 times more than in Boise and the youth program is MUCH more active than in my last area. The other Elders in our area are Elder Begg and Elder Ware, from Tampa, Florida and Hueytown, Alabama, respectively. They are awesome. All four of us get along very well and get lots of work done while still sharing plenty of laughs. Well, I have to go for now, but pictures will be on the way soon! (Pics posted in the previous post!)

Take care everyone!

-Elder Hops

Pictures!

Things are gettin' squirrely around here in Boisetown. Time for a transfer, we thinks!

Elder Hopkins, King of Boise!


This is what it is all about!

Elder Hopkins in caricature. Notice the clean cut hair and
the chiseled chin. Woo Hoo!

Chow Time!


Elder Hopkins and Elder Keith just before Elder Keith returned home to Raleigh, NC

Letter - Thursday, October 15th

Well, the last few weeks we hadn't heard much from Mike, but he did tell us that he's been sick with food poisoning! I think he's all better now, since it's been over a week and a half since he said he started feeling sick. Anyway, we had also heard from him that he'd be staying in Boise for a while longer. Then, we got this letter from him today, updating everything:

"So, About Tuesday...

We went to send e-mails but the place we were at had the internet crash, and so we didn't get the e-mails sent. I actually printed off what I was GOING to send and will send it to you (mom and dad) in a letter.

Anyway, turns out I'm not staying in Boise, but instead am going to Rupert to shotgun an area. Shotgunning is where you and another Elder enter an area that is new to the both of you. Essentially, we'll be the first Elders to be in this area in a while. I've sent Dad the GoogleMaps of Rupert. It's a car area, so I'll be going to Wal-Mart this week to return my bike. I'll miss it.

So anyway, I was upset at this transfer call at first because my first baptism and my first confirmation would've taken place this next transfer if I had stayed. But, I know that me going to a brand new area shows that President really trusts me.

Anyway, my new companion's name is Elder Smith. I'll be transferring to Rupert next Wednesday. Neither of us are going to know the area at all and it's a really large area I've been told. I will need the Garmin (GPS). I've been weaning myself onto the cold weather by sleeping with our windows open the first few days it started getting cold and that was really nice, because it's in the 40s right now and I'm still in short sleeves!

So, that's what's been going on in my life the last week or so. Again, sorry for the delayed e-mail. Know that I am striving to write you as much as I can in the limited time I have and I love you each. Our family picture is right next to my bed and it's almost always the last thing I see before the lights go out. I miss you and love you all very much, these past 3 months have been very frustrating to be quite honest, but I know this is where and what I need to be doing, and that, as they say, every trial makes your future wife more attractive :D

Always,

Elder Hops"

New Pictures

So, Elder, how are things going in Boise?


Teaching a McVestigator


Mission Car.....you wish!