1 Cor. 13:8 - Charity Never Faileth

So, the main big news of this week is that I have a new companion: Elder Philip Dela Cruz from Honolulu Hawaii! Elder Threet is getting the Big Transfer back to Arizona. It's going to be good to have a new companion to help me in the Meridian North area. Elder Dela Cruz is a good teacher and is really bold, which is good. We hope to find a lot more people to teach this transfer. In fact, the whole mission does. We had a mission-wide fast to help us find new investigators this past Sunday. So far, we've already seen the hand of the Lord bless us with new families to teach. What a blessing.

One thing I've really enjoyed studying lately is the doctrine of charity, or the pure love of Christ. In the New Testament, we are taught that the two great commandments are "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself." (Luke 10:27) These two commandments pretty much sum up every other commandment we are to live by. If we truly love the Savior we will keep his commandments (John 14:15) and if we truly love our fellow men, we will strive to serve and help them in any capacity we can, overlooking their inadequacies as God overlooks ours.

A scripture I really like is 1st Peter 4:8 which reads: "And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins." Another translation reads "...for charity preventeth a multitude of sins." I love that. Having love for others not only helps us, but prevents sins from happening. If we loved our neighbor, we would never envy the things that they have to the point of stealing, because we respect them too much to do so. If we loved our neighbor, we would not want to say an unkind remark about them, whether in their presence our without their knowledge. If we loved our neighbor, as Peter writes, a multitude of sins could be avoided.

Want a guide to self-improvement? Try substituting your name for the word "charity" in these verses from 1st Corinthians 13:

4 Elder Hopkins suffereth long, and is kind; Elder Hopkins envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,

5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not [his] own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;

6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;

7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

Do all those characteristics match up to your traits? Probably not. Me neither. But that's ok, because that's what the Gospel of Jesus Christ is all about. We realize we're not perfect and we can't be without some help. In fact, in this life, we will never be. But because our Savior gave up His life for us on the cross and suffered in the Garden of Gethsemane, he fills in those imperfect gaps we all have in our lives through his grace and love. As the ancient prophet Moroni said:

Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ (Moroni 10:32)

I know I have flaws. I know there are PLENTY of things in my life I've done wrong and regret. But through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, I can be cleansed from sins and return to live with my Heavenly Father again someday. Because of what Christ did, I can be with my family forever. I know God and the Savior love us despite all of our mistakes and because of that, I try harder to love other people as much as God would. To truly see them as brothers and sisters. To see them as children of God.

Thanks to all of you who still care about me despite my frailties and mistakes. You mean more than you realize. Hope all is going well in your part of the globe!

Until next time,

Elder Hopkins

Letter - 3/1/11

We had some interesting stuff happen this week, a lot of which had to do with new investigators. We've been praying a lot for new investigators, and Heavenly Father sure delivered. We had two this past week and have about 3-5 more we'll be contacting soon as well as plenty of member referrals! Good stuff.

One of these new people interested in learning about the Church is named Maxx Brown. We met with him and he asked what he had to do to be baptized right off the bat! When we were talking about the Book of Mormon and told him he could read and pray to know if it was true we said

"You can read and..."

"I'll read the whole thing!"

It was pretty funny that he just busted in and said he'd read it all. We told him that was awesome, but he didn't necessarily have to read all of it before he prayed to know if it was true. We've since seen him again and he's well on the road to conversion.

Another funny thing that happened this last week happened on Thursday night. We had an appointment with Paula Edmonds and JP, her son. We had planned to have the Crawfords - a dad and his son - come with us to the lesson since we can't go in where there's no adult male. About ten minutes before the lesson, they cancel. So we call our Ward Mission leader. He's not home. So we call the other setof missionaries serving in our Stake. They don't answer. About this time, we're desperate because we don't want to give up our appointment. Just then, we drove by the Seminary building at Centennial High and there were lights on. So I hit the brakes, we flipped a U and parked on the side of the road and ran inside.

We get in the classroom and realize it's an Institute class. We walk up to the front of the room and the teacher asks "Elders! What can I do for you?" We explained our situation and asked if anyone would go with us to a lesson. Of course, we thought, we'll get plenty of volunteers. Wrong! No one raised their hand. After a second, a guy in the middle of the room got up and said he's go. His name was Clint.

Clint went with us to our lesson and did an awesome job and saved the day. He lives in a different area off Boise than where we serve, so I doubt we'll ever see him again. So, wherever you are: Thanks Clint!

As a last note, check out this crazy story my companion forwarded me from his parents:

Read The Caption on the first photo ....then look at the second photo

Look at the picture above, and you can see where this driver broke through the guardrail, on the right side of the culvert, where people are standing on the road, pointing.

The pick-up was traveling about 75 mph, from right to left, when it crashed through the guardrail.

It flipped end-over-end, bounced off and across the culvert outlet, and landed right-side-up on the left side of the culvert, facing the opposite direction from which the driver was traveling.

The 22-year-old driver and his 18-year-old passenger were unhurt, except for minor cuts and bruises. Just outside Flagstaff , AZ on U.S. Hwy 100.

Now, look at the second picture below . . .

If this guy didn't believe in God before, do you suppose he believes now?

Thanks for reading and thanks for all your support!

-Elder Hopkins

Errand of the Lord - 1/25/2011

So, transfers were yesterday and Elder Landeen took off to Twin Falls. My new companion's name is Elder D'Jay Threet, From Gilbert, AZ. And no, he isn't black, he's a little white guy, just like me. We actually served right next to each other in Rupert. I was in the Rupert West area while he was in the Rupert area. Since our district had only our two companionships, we saw each other all the time. So, it's pretty cool to be with someone who I know and am friends with. He's been out 22 months, so he goes home way soon. He's hilarious. It'll be good times for these next six weeks. Knowing that he leaves after this transfer means that I'll be here for 3 more months. I love this area, so that's more than fine with me. We've only been comps for a day or so, but we already had a crazy experience.

Today, we went to go e-mail at a library in Boise while there was a meeting for missionaries who are going to be training greenies. Unfortunately, we drove all the way to this library and ALL the computers were taken. We started searching the upper floor looking for some when I see this guy that I SWEAR was a member I knew from a previous area. He locks eyes with me and smiles, so now I'm even more sure. I give him a big smile and handshake and make fun of the hoodie he's wearing by saying "Man! You're brave for wearing that [Oregon] Ducks hoodie here in [BSU] Bronco territory!" He laughed and then said, "Yeah, you're right! So, hey I've heard a lot about your church and I really want to know more. I bought this old journal one day at a thrift store and it had these scripture references that I'd never seen before, so I figured out where they were from and now I know that the Book of Mormon is true."

Needless to say, we about passed out right there on the spot. I got a Mormon.org pass-along card and gave it to him with the missionaries' number for that area. He name was Shawn. I wish so much now that I had given him my e-mail so I'd know when he meets with the missionaries. Hopefully I'll be able to know when something happens.

That situation made me think of a scripture "there are many yet on the earth...who are only kept from the truth because they know not where to find it." Shawn had been trying to find people to help him know what he needed to do to continue to learn about the Gospel. Heavenly Father made Elder Threet and I to decide to go e-mail at a library neither of us had ever before been to, that was 3 miles out of our way and that we'd end up on the 3rd floor looking for a computer. It's amazing how that works. We left that library not having e-mailed, but having done what God had sent us to that library to do.

Now, some people may say "Eh, that's just a coincidence." I know better than that. I've seen too many things happen in these past 18 months that are just too miraculous to be mere coincidence. I'd encourage each of you to look for the Lord's hand in your lives. At the small, everyday miracles, yes, MIRACLES, that happen all around you as you go about your routine. I can promise as you look for them, you'll find them and find increased happiness along with it.

Once again, thanks to all my friends who support me in everything. Thanks to my Mom and Dad who help encourage me and have always been my heroes as well as great examples. Also a big thanks to my sister, who not only makes this blog possible by posting what I e-mail her (You can still thank her for it, though!) but also is an example of hard work, love and charity. My family is awesome.

Thanks again,

Elder Hops

Letter - 1/18/2011

This weekend I had more baptisms in a day than I ever have before. My last most being the Pollock family in Star (3). But this weekend we had four! The Searles family was baptized, as well as Caiden LaMantia, who was baptized by his father, Rich, who JUST got the priesthood.

The LaMantia boy's baptism was amazing and was also a first for me. I have never baptized or witnessed the baptism of or HEARD of someone being baptized with a cast on. After consulting a physician, we applied a layer of Glad Press 'n Seal™ and then put on a plastic bag and THEN duct taped the junk out of his arm where bag meets skin. It must've hurt to take that sucker off. But, all was successful, his arm stayed dry and he is now the newest member of the Banbury ward.

The Searles baptism was also one of the best baptisms I think I've ever been to (but it seems like every successive baptism is one of the best I've ever been to...) It was cool to see Josh and his two boys, Cane and Camryn, enter into the water and covenant with God that they're going to try their best to follow Jesus Christ's example. The mom, Amber, is going to be baptized shortly, she had a few things she had to work through first. But what's cool is that Josh will be able to baptize her! It was a really cool service, with a lot of emotional points. I was talking to Josh beforehand and he told me he didn't sleep the night before because he was so excited. I said, "It's kind of like Christmas, eh?"

"Yeah, but...a little better." He answered.

That's why you go on a mission. When you meet people like Josh Searles or Rich LaMantia who have had plenty of things go on in their lives that have put them through the ringer and see their lives improve and change through the Gospel of Jesus Christ...there's just no substitute for seeing that change. And no adequate words. Seeing how scriptures bring comfort to those who thought there was no turning back, no forgiveness is indescribable.

Passages like "Behold, he who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more." or "...saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool."

Healing and hope is the message Jesus Christ's Gospel has for all of us. If we repent by turning away from our sins and trying our best to forsake them and replace them with better habits, Heavenly Father will bless us, every time.

Thanks everyone, for your support! See you in the summer!


Forever thankful,

- Elder Hops

Happy Hollerdays! 12/28/2010

So, yesterday, I cleaned a goose.
Now that I've got that out of the way, I can tell you about the rest of the week.

Christmas was awesome, due in large part to all of you who sent me ornaments, letters and other miscellaneous goodies. I am very indebted to all of you for your support and love. It's the fuel that makes this marathon a lot easier to run. I'm going to upload the pictures of all the ornaments very soon, I just don't have to time to do it right now.

But again, thank you.

Most of Christmas Day was spent going around to different families and just crashing...I mean, joining their celebrations. There were a lot of different traditions. It's neat to see what so many different families do so that one day, when I have a family, I can draw from those experiences for my own traditions. They ranged from eating on the floor to playing a series of "Minute to Win It" games (which, as most of YOU probably know, is some kind of game show) to playing Christmas carols on handmade chimes.
I did, of course, miss my own family's traditions, such as singing Silent Night on Christmas Eve in front of our nativity scene and then singing Joy to the World on Christmas Morning and placing baby Jesus in the manger. I also, on a side note, really missed the Rosser's famous Christmas Eve Breakfast. No country ham this year!

Bottom line: Christmas is awesome, families are awesome and my Grandaddy's trash is awesome (it's a Hopkins thing).

Just another day in the perfect place. And if you don't believe me, read the sign:
I hope everyone else's Christmas was equally as wonderful.

Until next time!

- ZDT Hops

The Light of the World - 12/21/2010

We all know Christmas is a time of celebration. A time where we celebrate as an entire world, whether our beliefs are Christian or not. Whether we get lost in the commercialization of the season or recognize the true meaning isn't really what's pertinent. The fact is: it's Christmas, and everybody knows it. Some look at this holiday as a time of giving and sharing and selflessness. Others look at it as a time of rebirth and new beginnings as another year comes to a close. But this year, I'm looking at Christmas in a different light. In fact, light is exactly what this season is all about for me.

As He is often referred to, Jesus Christ is the Light of the World. I've kept that in mind a lot this past month as I've read scriptures concerning His coming and His birth. The first scripture I ran into was the testimony of Simeon in Luke's account of the Savior's life. Simeon had been promised by God that "he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ."(Luke 2:26) When Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the Temple, Simeon at once knew, through the power of the Holy Ghost, that their Baby was that promised Messiah.

As Luke states: "Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said, 'Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.'" (Luke 2:28-32, emphasis added)

So, even in His infancy, Christ was known as a light to the world. I pondered this more as I read of the account in Matthew of the Three Wise Men who came to Herod, the king, asking "Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him." (Matt. 2:2) Herod, thinking only of his throne, told the Magi to find the Child and then return to tell him, under the false pretense that he, too, wished to worship this new King. In reality, Herod thought only of protecting his crown and sought to destroy this King of which they had spoken. We find in the scriptures later, however, that these Wise Men were warned through divine intervention not to return, and the life of Jesus was spared. Continues Matthew: "When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy." (Matt. 2:9-10)

The Christmas Star. It plays a larger role than many people know. As we already have seen, men from a distant land in the East were told of Christ's birth through the sign of the star. But they were not the only ones who recieved this sign.

Across an ocean, in the Americas, prophets had prophecied of the coming of a Messiah, even Jesus Christ. These prophecies are recorded in an ancient record of scripture called The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ. One of the prophets who testified of Christ's coming was named Samuel. Five years prior to the Savior's birth, Samuel stood on a city wall and prophecied of his coming.

The historian Helaman records: "And now it came to pass that Samuel, the Lamanite, did prophesy...unto them: 'Behold, I give unto you a sign; for five years more cometh, and behold, then cometh the Son of God to redeem all those who shall believe on his name.

'And behold, this will I give unto you for a sign at the time of his coming; for behold, there shall be great lights in heaven, insomuch that in the night before he cometh there shall be no darkness, insomuch that it shall appear unto man as if it was day.

'Therefore, there shall be one day and a night and a day, as if it were one day and there were no night; and this shall be unto you for a sign; for ye shall know of the rising of the sun and also of its setting; therefore they shall know of a surety that there shall be two days and a night; nevertheless the night shall not be darkened; and it shall be the night before he is born.

'And behold, there shall a new star arise, such an one as ye never have beheld; and this also shall be a sign unto you.'" (Helaman 14:1-5)

Again, the sign of the Christmas Star, as prophecied by other prophets, in addition to those in the Old World.

The believers who lived on the American continent held fast to the words spoken by Samuel, looking forward to that day with great anticipation. After five years had past, those who did not believe hatched a plan to rid themselves of what they felt were a race of people blinded by foolish beliefs and the traditions of their fathers, even the believers of Christ.

"Now it came to pass that there was a day set apart by the unbelievers, that all those who believed in those traditions should be put to death except the sign should come to pass, which had been given by Samuel the prophet." (3 Nephi 1:9)

The leader of the church, named Nephi, heard of these plans and, as you can imagine, was grieved for the plight of the people of Christ. He went and prayed unto the Lord all day and pleaded with Him on behalf of His people, asking for deliverance from this awful fate the unbelievers had put upon them. As he prayed, the voice of the Lord came unto him saying:

"Lift up your head and be of good cheer; for behold, the time is at hand, and on this night shall the sign be given, and on the morrow come I into the world, to show unto the world that I will fulfill all that which I have caused to be spoken by the mouth of my holy prophets." (3 Nephi 1:13)

As the time approached that the wicked had set apart and they began to approach the believers, to put them to death, a miraculous thing occured.

"It came to pass that the words which came unto Nephi were fulfilled, according as they had been spoken; for behold, at the going down of the sun there was no darkness; and the people began to be astonished because there was no darkness when the night came.

And it came to pass that there was no darkness in all that night, but it was as light as though it was mid-day. And it came to pass that the sun did rise in the morning again, according to its proper order; and they knew that it was the day that the Lord should be born, because of the sign which had been given.

And it had come to pass, yea, all things, every whit, according to the words of the prophets.

And it came to pass also that a new star did appear, according to the word." (3 Nephi 1:15,19-21, emphasis added)

The Lord fulfilled His promise to His people, saving them from their imminent death and changing their apprehensions to rejoicings. The Star had been shone. The sign had been given. The Redeemer had entered the world.

How appropriate was the sign of His coming: The lack of nighttime. The vanquishing of darkness. Christ, as that light, proves that darkness cannot prevail where He is. This was also emphasized in the sign the people of the Americas were given of His death:

"But behold, as I said unto you concerning another sign, a sign of his death, behold, in that day that he shall suffer death the sun shall be darkened and refuse to give his light unto you; and also the moon and the stars; and there shall be no light upon the face of this land, even from the time that he shall suffer death, for the space of three days, to the time that he shall rise again from the dead." (Helaman 14:20)

When Christ died, darkness came for three days. The people of this continent were in terrible anguish, not able to see anything, stars, moon or sun, for three long days. It seemed that darkness had prevailed. Evil had triumphed. The Savior was dead. But, after that three day period that He was in the tomb, He rose again! The Easter Ressurection occured. Light came back to the Earth. Jesus Christ had conquered death. He had overcome the world. No longer would light ever have power over darkness again.

I know that Jesus Christ is that light. He can make difficult things easy. He can make burdens light. In the words of Isaiah: "Surely, he hath bourne our griefs, and carried our sorrows...he was wounded for our trangressions, bruised for our iniquities...and with his stripes, we are healed." (Isaiah 53:4-5) We can always turn to Christ.

I love this symbolism of light. The light of his birth, the darkness of His death and then, finally, the triumph of everlasting light that is Jesus Christ. We will never be alone. Satan and his legions can never triumph. In the words of Paul: "in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us." (Romans 8:37) Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father love us. As John 3:16 states: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." We CAN have everlasting life through Jesus Christ, our Savior. Through Him, our families can be together forever.

That we remember the true meaning of Christmas is my hope this season.

Thank you all so much for your love and support.

Always,

- ZDT Hops

A (Missionary) Child is Born! 12/14/2010

Lots of news here today! First things first! ELDER LANDEEN AND I HAVE A GREENIE! His name is Elder Jacob Morris from Palmdale, California!
We got a call last week from President telling us he was going to try having Zone Leaders train new missionaries and we're one of the first. This means I am now a Zone Leader/District Leader/Trainer. Or ZDT Hops. Haha it's awesome. We literally got Elder Morris an hour ago, so we don't know too much about him, but I can tell he's going to be the MAN!

Next in line: IDAHO JUST GOT IT'S FIRST CHICK-FIL-A! So OF COURSE I had to buy a gallon of Chick-Fil-A Lemonade. It is THE BEST EVER. I can't tell everyone how excited I am at this development. There is a lack of good chicken out here. People think KFC is good. I know, they're severely misguided, but we'll forgive them for their ignorance.

So, lately, there has been something happening in Boise and the surrounding area that sounds a lot like a 1950s horror movie. It's...the Inversion! The Inversion is essentially when the clouds go from above the city to IN the city. It's pretty much foggy all the time. It's actually really cool. I feel like I live in Russia or something because we haven't seen the sun in a week or so. Which is lame, because now I can't wear any of my 15 pairs of fake Ray-Bans. Weak.

This past week, we met a family named the Searles. Josh (Dad), Amber (Mom), Cain (11), Cameron (9) and their little, crazy red-headed girl, Jasmine (2). They asked us to come over because Josh had recently been injured at work and wanted a blessing. He heard from one of his LDS friends that the missionaries gave blessings so he called us. Turns out, it was no minor accident; he had been working on concrete with a concrete chainsaw and it flipped up and hit him in the chest. AND HE LIVED. He told us he felt like God was trying to tell him to go to church, which I thought was an awesome observation to get out of taking a chainsaw to the chest. So, we taught them about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and then invited them to go to church and be baptized. They said yes on both accounts, although mom was a little skeptical about coming to church (she has agoraphobia...and if you don't know what that is, look it up...and listen to the song by the same name by Incubus.) But Sunday rolled around and they ALL came. It was amazing. Jasmine, who had never really been apart from her mommy, went to Nursery with NO complaints, the boys ran off down the hall trying to find the classrooms they'd be in for Primary Sunday School and Josh and Amber had a great time in Gospel Principles, the Sunday School for people who are just being introduced to church for the first time. They even participated in the discussions in class and attended the 3rd Hour meetings. So awesome.

I don't have a lot of time right now, so I'm going to save my Christmas message for next week. Know that I love you all and appreciate everything you do for me and that nothing brightens my day and eases my burdens more than receiving letters from folks back home. I try to respond when I get time, so don't think I don't try, but know that even if I can't, I appreciate it very much.

Until next week!

- ZDT Hops