Hey y'all! Wow I cannot believe how fast time is flying!!! This week was so great and filled with miracles! Last Monday we played volleyball and that was a blast! My knees got so bruised and I kept joking with everyone that Sister S takes a baseball bat to my knees every night. On Monday night we taught the part member family we've been working with, the Jensen's. We had a really awesome lesson with them and the inactive dad, Jesse, told us that he was planning on coming to church. His kids love going and he feels bad making other people take them to church every week. We were way pumped about that. And spoiler alert...THE WHOLE FAMILY AND THE NON MEMBER MOM KAREN CAME TO CHURCH YESTERDAY!!!! WOOOOOOOOOO! Tuesday was really uneventful because I was super sick all day.... I couldn't even sit up in bed it was awful!! Monday night it was already setting in and I asked some elders to give me a blessing. When I walked in the room one of them said, "Sister Hooper, you look awful" to which I responded by almost coughing a lung up. Classy. But some wonderful members found out from some elders that I was sick and brought me a care package, which was so sweet. This ward is so nice! I was feeling better at the end of the night and got a good night sleep, and then felt good enough to go out on Wednesday! On Wednesday another miracle happened. We got a call from the office missionaries telling us that a lady in a boonie part of our area had self referred and wanted to be taught! Woooooo! They also said she was really lonely and wanted to meet ASAP, so we headed up to Nunn to go see her.... she wasn't home, but we left her our number and then left to come back to Windsor, right as a blizzard blew in. I call it a blizzard, Sister S calls it a snow storm. Regardless it was a lot of snow and it was crazy. On Thursday we had a zone meeting and that was great. It was super weird though not being with the Loveland zone... by far the best zone I've ever been in. Not that Greely isn't great, no one is close though and that stinks. But it was a really great and spiritual meeting and I learned a lot about what I can be doing better which was a blessing. We learned some awesome new ways to read the Book of Mormon with investigators and I am so excited to try it! Friday and Saturday were great because we had a ton of success teaching wise! We got into lots of doors and talked with lots of people about the gospel! Things are really picking up here and that has been a huge blessing! There is a lot of progress happening which is cool to see since we haven't been here too very long! I am so grateful to be a missionary. This has truly been the best experience of my life and I am so grateful for the chance to be here! I wouldn't trade it for anything! I love you all so much and I hope you have an awesome week! Love, Sister Hooper Sorry I was awful at taking pictures this week....
Sister S and I in the blizzard in Nunn.
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Hey y'all! Full week down in Severance, CO! This week was good! Lots of really productive and exciting things happened and that was so fun. To start off, I want to talk about the miracle of Howard. For all of you who remember, Howard is the man that got baptized while I was in Wheatland. He is so sweet and dear to me! Well last Monday I got an email from Sister Mickelsen who served in Wheatland after me. She told me that Howard was really sick and he was in the ICU in Cheyenne with some pretty severe problems. There is a valve that isn't working in his heart so the blood isn't getting pumped out, he had some major fluid around his heart and in his lungs, and a super nasty cough. She told me it wasn't looking good for Howard. Here is where the miracle comes in. On Tuesday we had a trainers meeting that was supposed to be up in Laramie. Well last minute it got switched to Cheyenne because a storm was supposed to come in. Howard and the trainer's meeting in the same place? Coincidence? I think not! So I called President McMurray and explained the situation and received permission to go see Howard while we were in Cheyenne. Howard and I are really close and it was really hard for me to see him so sick. We were planning on getting him to the temple in May, and you can't do that when you're super sick! It was so wonderful though to see him and talk with him for an hour. He is such a trooper. He has so much faith and trust in the Lord. He knows that no matter what happens, it was in the Lord's plan and he was being watched over. They transferred Howard down to a hospital in Denver and are trying to do more tests, as well as stabilize him so they can operate to fix the valve. It was such a blessing in my life to see Howard and I know the Lord is looking out for each one of us. So we had a road trip with a bunch of other missionaries up to Cheyenne for a trainer's meeting this week and it was so fun! The meeting was so awesome and I was really inspired on how I can continue to improve and become a better and more consecrated missionary. Then we had TONS OF SNOW THIS WEEK AND IT WAS SO COLD - I HATED IT! The cold is the worst. But we went around and shoveled a bunch of people's driveways with our district because they told us we couldn't drive for the first part of the day. The roads were awful. The worst. On Saturday we took an hour road trip out to the boonies of our area. It was way fun! There is no one out there..l I felt like I was back in Wyoming! We saw this one less active and I am like 95% positive that they were growing weed in a bucket in the middle of the living room. Oh Colorado. This week I've been thinking a lot about the Lord's plan. A lot of times we think we know what is best and that everything is going to work out perfectly, but it turns out that our Heavenly Father actually has a much better and more perfect plan. The key is to trust the Lord and believe that things will work out for the best! I love you all so much!! Have a great week! Love, Sister Hooper HOWARD!!! Sister S❤️ When you passionately hate the cold District shoveling The Boonies
Hey y'all! Wow what a week it has been here in Windsor and Severance and Pierce, Colorado! So lots of changes, but all good and exciting! Monday and Tuesday were super hard because I was saying goodbye to Sister M. I miss her a lot. She is just the best and it's so different without her. I am so grateful for the blessing it's been to have had such incredible friends and companions on my mission. I LOVE THEM ALL!! I said goodbye to some of my faves in Berthoud. It was so sad to say goodbye to my BFF's in the Berthoud Living Center. They are just so sweet! Tuesday was just chaotic as we were going back and forth from Windsor to Berthoud. We spent almost all day either in the car or in the mission office. But then we got to meet our new comps and I got Sister Sorenson who is fresh out of the MTC! She's from a little town in central Utah and just graduated this past year. She cracks me up because when I told her how old I was, she goes, "No. you're definitely 24. Like if you walked into a bar I wouldn't card you." She tells everyone I'm old because I've been on my mission for a while and have been graduated for a while, and because my body just cracks and pops. She is so sweet and so excited to be a missionary! I'm pumped for her and all the success she's going to have in the mission! This week was an adjustment, as far as trying to figure out what is happening and moving in and learning the area and meeting people. It was hard because everyone and their dog was out of town, but we were able to find a lot of people and get stuff going which was exciting! Our district is pretty awesome which I am way excited about! They are so fun! The amount of U-Turns I've done this week is nuts. Our area is like ALL new, so nothing shows up on my GPS and I've just been going off of google map screen shots which is so helpful, but also difficult since it doesn't yell at me when to turn. But that's okay. We are figuring it out! I cannot believe it's 2017! Yesterday during the Sacrament I was pondering on the fact that I spent all of 2016 as a missionary. That is so neat for me! I am grateful that I could spend a calendar year as a servant of the Lord. And then I realized that I go home this year and that was scary....but I am so grateful for this experience! I love you all so much and I hope you have a happy 2017!! Love, Sister Hooper Forcing my love on Sister M Lunch with Sister Bertha and Sister Hoffman Monday night when it sunk in we weren't comps anymore Our girl Lori Morris I have attachment issues to Sister M and the Elders mocked us Our signature pose Saying goodbye to my friend McKenzie Sister Sorenson
Hey y'all!!! MERRY CHRISTMAS! I hope you had such a wonderful Christmas! I am so grateful for the opportunity I've had to spend Christmas as a missionary. It is truly such a gift to me to share the message of Jesus Christ with others! Oh and sad day! I'm leaving Berthoud. My days as a Sister Training Leader are over. I am now heading to Severance and I will be training a brand new missionary. The exciting thing about Severance is that is where my Aunt Amy's mom and dad live. That will be fun! I am so sad to leave Berthoud though. It has been a blessing to serve here with these incredible people. I feel like my time has been so short here though! I am especially sad though because I'm not gonna be with Sister M anymore. She has been such a blessing in my life and I am beyond grateful for her. Being her companion has been the best and I am grateful for the friend she is to me. Sister M and I have been talking about our week and it was pretty low key. Not super duper exciting, but it was good! Last Monday Sister M woke up infected with the plague. That is definitely my fault... so we hung around inside for a bit and cleaned and emailed and then headed out. We did some shopping and then I made a bunch of salsa to give to people for Christmas gifts. Tuesday was a blast! We had our last DLC of the transfer. DLC is where the zone leaders, district leaders, and STL's (if they have any in the zone) get together and discuss how to help the missionaries in our zone. We made a Christmas breakfast and that was fun. I whipped up some Crepes and the elders brought their favorite toppings for them. We had such an awesome meeting and discussed how to implement the tools we learned from the missionary department. The Loveland zone is by far the best zone in the mission and I'm sad to leave it! These missionaries have become some of my closest friends!! On Wednesday I went on exchanges with Sister Mickelsen! It was so fun to be with her again. We have come full circle from the MTC and I'm super grateful we got to be together because we are both training for our last two transfers and so we probably won't be together again until our final night in the mission home, which is coming way sooner than I want it too. On Friday we had a super insane day! We took Sister Pattillo to Windsor so she could go on her departing temple trip. Then we were with her comp Sister Desmarais for the day and had a lot of fun with her. We went to the BLC to help with their Christmas party. It was the sweetest thing to watch them open their gifts. They each got these incredible really personal gifts. One man, Larry, didn't have any shoes with him there, so they bought him new shoes and he cried when he opened them. I am so grateful for the residents there. They have made me so happy and I have such a soft spot in my heart for them. I am going to miss seeing their sweet faces! We went back to Windsor to get Sister Pattillo, and then we raced down to our dinner that was like 40 minutes away, and then went back up to Loveland to go caroling with our district! It was so fun! That has become one of my favorite things to do! The most awkward moment of caroling this year though was when this guy opens the door and we start singing "Silent Night" and then halfway through, he cuts us off and he goes "I'm actually an atheist." So I say, "well would you like us to sing something else for you then?" And he just says no and closes the door in our faces. So bizarre. Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were so wonderful! They were days spent with families in the ward and so many people that we just love. It was a blessing for us to be invited into peoples homes and to spend the days with them. The highlight of my weekend though was talking to my family!!! I just love them so much and miss them a lot!!! It took us like 5 minutes to hang up because we kept going back and forth telling each other to hang up first. This week I have been getting close to the end of Alma and thinking a lot about preparation. We need to prepare ourselves against the attacks of the adversary. The best way to do that is to pray, read scriptures, go to church, and serve! As we are striving to spiritually prepare, we will not be harmed! I love you all and miss you so much! Have a great week!! Talk to you next year😉. Love, Sister Hooper I'm gonna miss our comp studies in the morning. When you have matching beanies I Love Sister Maxwells mom. She sent us matching Christmas PJ's. (Sister M LOVES hello kitty) My cute family!Hey y'all! Another wonderful week in Berthoud, CO. I almost froze to death this weekend because it was freaking -12' here, but it's fine. I've just learned how much I strongly dislike the cold since I've been on my mission. My Arkansas body just doesn't know how to function here. But good news, I'm starting to get over the plague that infected my body. This week was so exciting! First off I had a really fantastic day because I got to go back to the Boyd Lake Ward with my girl Sister Pattillo for exchanges! That was such a blessing to me. I miss her and that ward so much. It was weird because I kept forgetting that I don't actually serve there anymore. It just felt so much like home. We went caroling for a little bit with the youth and then I got to see Brittney, Alex, Paola, and Yolanh! That was so wonderful! I love them so much! It was so good to be with Sister P again too. She's just the greatest and I love her so much! On Thursday we had this really exciting meeting with the Missionary Department from SLC. It was so amazing because we learned so much! I left that meeting with a greater desire to be a more consecrated, diligent missionary. It hit me this week that I only have two transfers left and that is scary! For one, this is the happiest I've ever been and the thought of not serving God's children in this way everyday makes me so sad! But I have really come to feel and know the importance of this work and the blessing it is to serve. I am so grateful that I was able to be a missionary at this time in my life. On Friday my heart broke into a million pieces. It started off really exciting. We got a call from one of our AP's telling us that we were getting a brand new RAV4 (super nice by the way) and that we needed to meet him to swap cars. So we are driving up to Loveland, super pumped to get a new car, when we get a phone call from an unknown number. I answer and this guy asks if we were the Mormon missionaries. I told him yes and he proceeds to tell us that his name is Hugh and he just moved to Berthoud from Oregon where he had been meeting with the Elders. He said that he has been reading the Book of Mormon and that he knows it's true and wants to be baptized, and asked if we could help him with that. At this point Sister M and I were freaking out with excitement because we have been praying for a miracle and here was a miracle. It was straight out of the "Best Two Years"! We told him of course and then proceeded to set up a Skype lesson for that night because he was out of town. We hung up and called our ward mission leader to see if he would be there during the lesson. Then "Hugh" called us back to give us his Skype info. Only, it wasn't Hugh. It was an elder in our zone who was bored weekly planning so he decided to prank call us from the church phone. So I chewed him out because THAT IS SO RUDE!!!!!!!!!! We were so livid. But to his credit, he did feel really bad and he has been apologizing to us over and over again all weekend. The good news is I'm over it now, but moral of the story, don't prank call missionaries like that. It's the worst. Saturday was a really special day because CINDY CORBETT GOT BAPTIZED! Cindy was our miracle lady from Boyd Lake that just showed up at church one day wanting to learn more. Well this weekend she entered the waters of baptism and it was amazing. The coolest thing for me was seeing the change in her. It was so sweet to hear her bear testimony of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon and modern day prophets. Cindy is such an amazing woman. I am so grateful for the opportunity to know her! With Christmas coming in 6 days, I have really been thinking about what a blessing it is to serve the Lord at this time. I've been studying the concept of gifts a lot this week; the gift of the Saviors life for us, the gift of the gospel, the gifts from the wise men, etc. I was thinking about the wise men and their gifts to the Savior. They traveled for years to find him and present him with the best gifts they could offer. Each of those gifts had significant value to Christ's life; the gold being a precious metal that would later help him and his family escape to Egypt, the Frankincense was valued for its aroma and other qualities and used in temple worship, and the Myrrh had many medicinal qualities and was also used in the temple for anointing and consecrating. These gifts were significant and precious, much like our gifts to the Savior should be. Cindy gave the gift of following her Savior Jesus Christ. What will you give to the Savior this Christmas season? I am so grateful for Christ, for His life and His example. I love this gospel and I know it is true. I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!!!! Love, Sister Hooper District P-day When your zone gets Pinterest-y Sister Mickelsen, Maxwell, and Elder Prescott Paola and Alex The missionaries with Brother Donaldson and the Missionary Department Elder Burrell and Elder Aguirre. We were all in the same district in Cheyenne over a year ago! When you have the plague and you get a box of tissues from a member with a sticker that says "I Love My Missionary". CINDY'S BAPTISM Sister M and I pretending we aren't freezing to death in -12' weather. Freezing to death in -12' weather.
Hey y'all! This week was so good! It was so busy and full of really exciting, awesome fun stuff. On Tuesday we had zone conference!!! It was the best! There were so many missionaries there it was nuts. I didn't know about 95% of them because they are all brand new and I've been in the same zone since June. So that was crazy. But we had really awesome trainings and we felt the spirit so strong. Our zone sang the song we've been practicing for weeks! It was good. Not the best we've ever done it, but still good! Wednesday we woke up to snow. I have really mixed emotions about winter; I love the way it looks and that you get to have the fireplace on, but I'm not a huge fan of the cold, and snow, and falling on the ice every 5 seconds because I have the grace of a newborn giraffe. But it looks really pretty out. Anyways, when we woke up, we got a message from President McMurray that the missionaries couldn't drive that day. But a few hours later we were able to drive so we went up to Loveland for a meeting with some elders. We got to the church, and all of a sudden the elders emerged from behind cars and starting throwing snowballs and flinging shovels of snow at us. So we had this really fun impromptu snow fight and we were all freezing after. After our meeting, we met up with Sister Aulick and Sister Chelson for lunch. Then we had exchanges with Hermana Zimmerman and Hermana Larsen. I was with Hermana Larsen down in Berthoud and we had a lot of fun together. We saw Crystal and guess what.... SHES BEEN READING AND PRAYING AND KNOWS IT IS TRUE AND WANTS TO GET BAPTIZED AS SOON AS SHE CAN WALK! On Thursday we got to see Fran! So Fran is one of our investigators. She first came in contact with the church because of a flood a few years ago. Her ranch, and house, and everything got destroyed and the church came out to help her clean up and get it back to what it used to be. They've calculated that over 1500 hours have been spent helping her clean up. Our job when we went out to Frans ranch was to help clear out her storage room and clean it up since the floors never got a good cleaning after the flood. So we moved her survival storage off of shelves and moved the shelves out of the room and cleaned! Fran even opened her gun safe and let us hold her guns😏. After we cleaned, we were able to have lesson with Fran. It was the very first time she's had a full blown missionary lesson. She has a lot of questions and things she isn't sure about, which is normal, but we were able to help her better understand and be more accepting. Friday and Saturday were so crazy! We spent a lot of our time helping out Ward mission leader's wife get ready for the Christmas party on Saturday night. Our project was painting the backgrounds for the program. Sister Tyler, Ward mission leaders wife, is an artist, so she spray painted an outline for the backdrops and then sister M and I went and filled and colored in with spray paint. It was so much fun! The program was really cool; it was called "Prophecies of Christ'' and it went back and forth between Biblical prophecies of Christ's birth, and Book of Mormon stories of Christ's birth. It was way cool. So one back drop represented Israel, and the other represented the Americas. Sister Maxwell and I even had to sing a song for it, which was absolutely terrifying. But it went good, despite the fact that the microphones were off, which was actually probably better so that people didn't have to really hear us. Currently, I've come down with some sort of illness and that's the pits, but Sister M has been keeping me adequately full of day-quill and NyQuil so I'm functioning. I was so determined to never get sick on my mission, but I guess I lost. Oh well! I am so very grateful for this Christmas season and the opportunity I have to serve the Lord at this time! Thank you all for all you do! Love, Sister Hooper Zone conference pics When it's 10 degrees and snowing outside. Holding Fran's AK-47 A photo series depicting me trying to get Frank, my fave BLC resident, to smile for a picture The backdrops we painted. Also, they aren't Truffula trees from The Lorax. She wanted them to be some sort of specific type that I don't remember. The Berezays, our besties
Hey y'all!! Hopefully I don't bore y'all with all the details from my week. But good news.... We had a busy, happy, full week. We didn't have a bunch of new investigators or a lot of lessons, but we were happy and had a good time. So on Tuesday I went on exchanges with Sister Aulick! Well I just love her to pieces. She is so fun and sweet and just an incredible missionary! Sister Maxwell trained her and I've been dying to go on exchanges with her so I could get to know her better. We had a good time in Berthoud. We did service at the Habitat Restore and then went to dinner and taught a less active lady in our ward. Then we went to go see some people at the BLC. We saw Frank who is my favorite and just always puts a smile on my face! Like I've mentioned lots of times, I like to tell jokes to the old people, so I asked Frank if he had any good jokes and he goes, "Not any that are appropriate that I could tell you!" Oh Frank. What a guy. On Wednesday, I was back with Sister Maxwell for like 5 minutes, and then I went on exchanges with Sister Bertha who is like my soul sister. Oh my word we have so much fun together. It was just about the funniest exchange of my life. We did service at Goodwill, then went to dinner with a member at Panera #favoritefood (also, are hashtags still a thing?), and then we went to go grab some stuff from their old house that they just moved from. We just laughed and joked all day together. Our common interests include but are not limited to: country music, lots of jewelry, Beyoncé, dancing, and DQ. (Sister M and I also got DQ last Monday. But don't worry momma, my morning exercises are really good and I'm eating lots of vegetables.) Then we stayed up a little too late, like we did on the last exchange we were on together, because we have so much fun together and just talk and talk and talk. It took its toll on us the next morning. Oh and she also introduced me to Which Wich and it changed my life. But they only have it in Longmont so I can't frequent it. On Thursday we exchanged back and Sister M and I went to a district meeting followed by our final song practice for zone meeting. For real though, please pray that we sound good. We need it! Friday was the best because it was the first Friday of the month which means MLC! It was so wonderful!!! We had really awesome discussions on the talk "Repentance: A Joyful Choice" by Elder Rendlund from this last conference. Then the AP's gave this bomb training about doing your very best and it totally pumped us up! One of our AP's did 13 clap push ups as a part of the training and it was super impressive. Sister M and I gave a training and then did a role play in front of the whole MLC which is really stressful. The MLC includes the zone leaders, sister training leaders, President and Sister McMurray, the rest of the missionary presidency and their wives, and the AP's. SO MUCH PRESSURE! But it went well. We role played teaching the plan of salvation and the spirit was so strong! Saturday, Sister M was super sick so we were in all day. I helped Sister Hunt decorate for Christmas and then made us some dinner. It's hard for me just to sit inside all day, I get stir crazy, but Sister M is doing much better and is no longer feeling like death. Sunday was just awesome. I had a wonderful time at church as always! I just feel so happy and close to God. This ward is so amazing and kind to us. I am grateful for the relationships I've developed in this ward and for the people who care for us. So many people have already offered to have us over for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. It's going to be such a wonderful holiday season! Some exciting events coming up this week: -Zone Conference -Sister M and I singing a duet in our ward Christmas program -Another exchange -WE ARE MEETING WITH FRAN AGAIN Anyways, if you haven't watched #lighttheworld, go to Mormon.org and DO THE CHALLENGE!!! I love and miss you all! Have such an amazing week! Love, Sister Hooper Exchanges with Sister Bertha❤️ MLC Some Sister M and Hoops selfies from the week Me, wearing a Christmas cone on my head We came home last night and Sister Hunt made us gluten free cereal treats
because sister M is allergic to gluten. They were bomb. Hey y'all! What a week! I mean actually not a lot happened, but it was still quite a week. It was a toughy because everyone went out of town and cancelled their appointments with us.... but we persevered and taught a couple people and tried our hardest and had a freaking awesome Thanksgiving! So where do I even start?? Well our zone is singing a song for zone conference next week and it's been quite the undertaking to get everyone ready. Sister M and I picked out the song and it's super pretty and will be so awesome...if we can pull it off. We had a couple of practices this week and it's starting to come together. Prayers would be much appreciated. We got two new investigators this week which is SO EXCITING! Their names are Clarissa and Tenaya, mother and daughter. They've been in contact with some members of our ward for a while and a couple of weeks ago Brother Hansen, their friend in our ward, came up to Sister M and I and told us that right when he met us he knew we needed to teach Clarissa and Tenaya. So we met them on Wednesday night and hit it off! We are hoping to start meeting with them soon! Our Thanksgiving was so awesome! This Thanksgiving goes down as one of my favorites of all time. It is right up there with the time when my family came from Arkansas to Utah to surprise me for Thanksgiving during my first semester of college. Sister M wasn't feeling too great on Thursday morning, but she rested a bit and then was ready to go. Our first meal was at 1 with the Hansens. They decided to break tradition and have an Italian dinner. So we had pasta and lasagna and bread and salad and fruit and tarts and fudge and pie and I thought I was going to die because that was meal one. We took some food to the Durfees who are a less active family that can't come to church because Sister Durfee is bedridden with MS. After that we headed to dinner number two at the Cacka's. I was super excited because the Chases from the Boyd Lake Ward were going to be there (Heather Chase is Brother and Sister Cacka's daughter). So we get there and I got to see everyone and it was so fun! We ate traditional Thanksgiving food and that almost made me die. But I was smart and wore a stretchy skirt that didn't show a food baby. After dinner, we played volleyball with Brother Chase in the backyard which was so fun. The very best part of our day though was going to the Berthoud Living Center. We went and played a bunch of games with the residents and they had so much fun! We played Farkle and Uno and listened to Elvis. My favorite part was when our friend Edith goes, "Wow what a party! I haven't stayed up this late in years!" It was approximately 7:30pm. So the residents went wild and had a good time. The next day at bingo they kept asking when we were going to come back for another game night. I love the residents at the Berthoud Living Center so much. They make me so happy and bring so much joy into my life! On Saturday night we went out to eat with a sister from our ward. She took us up to Loveland to go to PF Changs because they offer gluten free stuff for Sister M. We walk in and they told us we could either wait 45 minutes, or they could seat us in the bar area and we would get in right away. We didn't exactly have 45 minutes to spare, so we got seated right away and laughed about how "two missionaries walk into a bar" was the perfect beginning to a bad joke. So if anyone has a good punch line to that, feel free to share it! This week we have been struggling with feeling successful and just like we aren't doing a good job. It's been tough, but I know that this is an incredible opportunity for me to learn and grow and better understand what my purpose is as a missionary. I was telling Sister M that I just wanted someone to tell me, "Keep it up! You're the best! Don't get discouraged! Hang in there cowboy!" She then wrote me a little note that said all of those things on it. She's the best. But if anyone is really struggling and feeling down and alone, just remember to keep it up! You're the best! Don't get discouraged. Hang in there cowboy. The Lord is in control and He is mindful of you!!! I hope you all have a wonderful week and see lots of miracles in your lives! Oh, and the church just released a new video for the holiday season called #lighttheworld! Go check it out! Love, Sister Hooper The spectacular Christmas lights of Berthoud. I couldn't park the car here because I actually don't love snakes. When you're even tighter with the kettle corn guy and he gives you cute little bags of kettle corn....FOR FREE! When it's the end of the week and you realize you haven't really taken
a lot of pictures so you just take random pictures Hey y'all! You know those weeks when you have been super busy and have had like no time for anything but then you look back and can't figure out a single thing that happened? Well that was this week for us. It just flew by! To start off, here are some highlights from the week:
There is really so much I am grateful. I've been reflecting on this last year I've spent on a mission and I cannot fully express how grateful I am for this experience. These last 14 1/2 months have truly been the best and happiest times of my life. I have drawn so much closer to my Savior, and my knowledge of this gospel has increased. I would not trade this time for anything else. I am so grateful for:
I could go on and on, but I don't have enough time. The Lord loves us and He is always showering us with blessings. I invite you all to take time and see how the Lord is blessing you. Have such a Happy Thanksgiving! I am so grateful for all of you!!! Love, Sister Hooper We Skyped with all of the STL's to do some planning. Locations: Berthoud, CO, Casper, WY, Cheyenne, WY, and Johnstown, CO. Sister M and I had a little photo shoot because it snowed... but then most of the snow melted.
Hey y'all! What a wonderful week in Berthoud, CO. Good news! Sister Maxwell and I are staying together for this coming transfer! YAY! I get to be with her for Thanksgiving and Christmas! I am seriously so excited for another 6 weeks in Berthoud with my home girl. This week was SO GOOD! We have had so many miracles this week! We finished teaching Crystal The Restoration. I don't remember how much I've said about Crystal, but she is in her 30's and she's in the Berthoud Living Center due to a surgery gone wrong. She lost mobility of her arms, hands, legs, and feet and has been virtually dependent for the last year. She has slowly been making more and more progress though and this past week she was able to stand for the first time! She also agreed to be baptized! It won't be happening anytime soon because there are a lot of things that need to happen before then, but she told us that it would be a miracle in her life to know the church is true and to follow the example of her Savior. So amazing! We also were able to teach two part member families this week. One lady, who is actually inactive, got ahold of us because her brother wants to be baptized. We were able to start teaching them both which is really exciting. More on that to come hopefully! We had a zone meeting this week and it was so good! Sister Maxwell and I gave a training on getting to know the names of everyone in the ward, starting with the youth. We played this game at the beginning where the members in the zone had to guess one another based on random facts we collected about them. It was so much fun and we all were having such a good time. It was a great way to get to know the zone better. On Saturday, we got to go do some service for a lady in our ward who has little farm. We threw and spread hay, cleaned the chicken cages, and refilled her food bins. It was a lot of fun. I currently just found a piece of hay in my finger so I had to pull that out. It was painful. So we play bingo with the folks at the BLC twice and week and it's just about my favorite thing on the planet. I've always loved older people, but on my mission I've spent a lot of time with them and my love has grown even more. They are so funny and so wise. I wish I could just talk with them all day! Sister M and I were saying the other day that the BLC has been a saving grace for us here. No matter what has happened that week, we can go there and instantly feel better. We know and are close to a lot of those residents and they just always are so happy to see us. I love it! This week we also played the most fun game of my life with this one family. It's called Beast and basically it's like Capture the Flag, only with bows and arrows and beasts. Sister M and I dominated. My Katniss skills came through and we took the hunters out that were trying to steal our treasure. The family told us we were the best sister missionaries that have ever played that game. Needless to say, we were feeling pretty good about ourselves after. We seriously had such a blast. Friends at BYUI, get ready cause I'm bringing it back to the Burg. This week was such an answer to prayers. I am so grateful that our Heavenly Father gives us opportunities to stretch and grow. We must continue to push forward in faith, and then we are able to see the fruits of our labors. Such a blessing! I miss you all so much! I only have 3 transfers left until I'm home. So crazy!!! Have a great week!!!! Love, Sister Hooper Loveland Zone Sister Max The District We love being in our service clothes Carter Lake Elder Young and Elder Fraser
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Originally from Bentonville, Arkansas and now I'm am going to serve an 18 month mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in the Colorado Fort Collins mission! |