October 5, 2015

Dear Family and Friends,

I am so excited about this week. Shirley is going to be baptized. She is a wonderful woman who finally after three months denying every invitation has finally accepted the invitation to be baptized. Shirley has been invited countless times to be baptized. She believes everything and she keeps the commandments and everything. One day Elder Francisco and I went to her house with two members and we sat down and said, Shirley, we have been prompted by the Lord to come and visit you on one special purpose. The Lord is calling you to follow in his footsteps and be baptized. She responded that she didn´t know about it and I felt impressed to ask her, “If God appeared in front of you right now and asked you to be baptized right now would you?” She responded yes. I then then explained to her that God has sent us, two of His representatives, to invite her to follow Him now and be a new person. Heavenly Father wants her to enter into His path and help others to do the same. Shirley will be baptized on the 7th of October. We also have one more investigator named Maycon. He has set the date of October 11th but he is still deciding if he will be baptized or not. Of all our investigators he was there in the chapel and he watched all five sessions of General Conference!! He was awake and attentive the entire time!!! If you guys could pray for him that he will receive his answer it would help a lot!! Thanks.

I am doing great and life is a wonderful. It is getting hotter here every day and we are still waiting for rain. haha but it is great!!!  I want to thank you all for you love and support. I am loving my new area. It is wonderful. I love watching our investigators grow! I am so thankful for the miracle of repentance and how we have the ability to change. I have watched the difference it has made in so many people’s lives and mine also. I am so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father and Savior and the Atonement. We are so blessed!!

Also I loved the conference talk by Elder Durrant and his challenge to ponderize one scripture every week. I put my plan for ponderizing for 10 years.

I love you all and until next week.

Elder Hoopes