Hey!!!!

This week once again has been great.  Things are still clicking.  As expected, we kinda hit a slump where we just weren't superr focused but i think i am getting used to satan trying to pull down the work we do here.  He is not happy at all and it is quite noticable.  So yes this week we had to kinda get over some rough spots make some changes and just keep on going.  Things with Elder Awerkamp and I are going immaculate!  he is so cool and i love working with him.  He is so humble and suseptable to me being the first companion and i can just do this ville the way i want to work it.  He is such and incredible blessing to Limoges also.  So yeah things are going really well. One thing that i love about Elder Awerkamp is that he loves everything i cook.  I have been working alot on my cooking and i have been getting really good.  Wait until you taste my crepes, Ils sont trop bon! Hahaha anyway yeah he is great.  So yeah par rapport l'oeuvre missionnaire,

So things like i said are good.  Dieu Merci Michel is still "JarJarBinksing it up."  It is ridiculous how someone who has no home, job, or girlfriend could be so incredibly occupied.  He is interesting.  like i said i would never take him into battle with me.  Annette is good.  Last week she was verbally attacked by her parents because she was investigating the church and it blows my mind the absolute close mindedness of some french people but yeah her father just tore into her telling her that we were a cult and that we did all these horrible things.  She rebuttalled by defending the Church defending what she had learded and telling them that we were helping her find more peace than the Church of her parents.  She is so good and i really have great hopes for her.  Also we had a rendez-vous with a man named Jeff today and already things are going great with him.  Also you know Frederic well We are cleaning his apartment today!  It may be the most disgusting habitat i have ever ventured but oh well.  We will do work.  We took down all the prono, scrubbed the windows, and i cleaned the bathroom......OH MY....... So yes our goal is to invite a better spirit.  Um We have a number of other amis but not a ton of things have happened with them so we will just wait til next week for updates.

My Birthday!!!! I want to thank you guys so so so much for the videos you sent me they sere so much fun.  Hunter is such a goof and if he is really as big as he was pretending to be i am extremely impressed!  thank you so much they were so special to me.  For my birthday i was able to each breakfast with Lucas and Rachel and also Lunch with them.  Annette was doing a little something for me but unfortunately the day we went over was when her parents were there.  But still the thought that counts.  The Cherbourg Football team wished me a happy birthday as well.  It was great i must say.  What a day. 20 YEARS OLD IS SO CRAZY!!!!  My first events being 20 consist of......

1. Starting an intensive work out routine.

2. We do Tai-Kwan-Do with Frederic. (he is the instructor)

3. As i passed a gay man on the street he stroked my stomach.  I'm not joking....CREEPY GYPSY.

4. Had the biggest thunderstorm i have seen in France.

5. Passed the Creepy New Caledonia Chick 6 Times.  Luckily no contact

6. Ate Three rolls of Cheese in 28 hours..... Ouch

I think those are all the big things but yeah it was super fun.  Anyway i need to go so i will talk to you all next week.  Love YOU ALL!!!!!!

Elder Hoopes

Hello!!!! Well i have to say everything sounds extremely busy back at the
house! That is really fun! Carsons sounds like he is still just tearing
everything he touches into shreds! That kid is incredible! Hunter sounds to
be super genious as usual and Connor seems to be "The Most Interesting Man
in The World." Everything sounds so fun and i am so happy for all you back
home. Here in Limoges the work in exploding! Last week we taught 16
lessons and that was without seeing everyone we wanted to! What a
blessing! Also we met and american named Annete who is what we call in this
industry a "Golden Amie!" She is so incredible and i will tell you later
about her. I love the work right now down here in Limoges. Elder Awerkamp
is so amazingly cool! I love him to death and with him here great things
are happening! That is what happens when you put 2 Arizonans together! We
tear it up! Heavenly father is really helping us! It seems like in every
instance we are doing something missionary related! Our Ami pool right now
is so full and about to be overflowing! I just love it! I am trying to not
be prideful at all but i am really happy with what is going on here in
Limoges. Lucas is the man too! He actually just taught two lessons with us
before we came to do emails. He has found 5 new people for us to teach!
Honestly the guy is incredible. He said something that really explains alot
and made me feel like i was a good missionary. He said "since you have
gotten here i have had a bigger drive to be a member missionary because i
can trust you with people that i talk to and find. The past two
missionaries, i couldn't do that with them." That made me feel so good!
Not putting down the other missionaries but they didn't do much and when
they taught it was ever really a lesson. So yeah that really touched me and
felt really good. By the way Rachel is doing good. She thinks that she
broke her toe but Lucas gave her a blessing and after there were no signs of
anything except a little bruising. So yeah she is doing really well. I
wanted to give you guys a better insight on our amis and so i made a list of
them and their discriptions.
- Frederic= French vietnamise. Super Funny. Scytsophrenic (if that is
how you spell it). ((Not severe))
- Constantin= Togolise. Super tight. really committed to our
engagements and plays basketball with us
- Konaté= Loves the booK of Mormon. from Mali, atheist converted
believing because he saw a bird save another bird and her chicks lives.
- Valère= Loves Everyone so much! From Congo
- Dieu-Merci-Michel= Jar jar binks. From congo. Love him to death and
provides for comic relief but i would never go to war with him at my
side.......
- Patrick and Andrè=Sweetest couple ever. Patrick from Cameroon and Andrè
Madagascar. Patrick plays professional Rugby and is the largest human being
i have ever had the pleasure of meeting. he is enormous! He told me that i
should play Rugby because HE thought I was BUFF!!!! WOO HOO!!!!
- Marine= 14 and well 14 years old. Tough but whatever
- Pascal= Depressive possibly gay but really nice and cool not going to
lie!
- Jeff= incredibly nice and works for the Red Cross.
- Jean-Charles= Really nice frenchman who has the adorable baby daughter!
JW before now
- ANNETTE!!!!!= Elite and Prepared! (see bottom)
- Joelle= Friend of Annette who was raised as a Maryist. Really looking
for the truth
- Allen= From congo taught him a couple times and he is super invited
really nice
- Jessica and Sylvère= Biggest Nerds on the planet. Super open and warm
to the missionaries. Just had a baby!
So yes that is all of them. I hope you have a little feel of the people we
are teaching here. Now about Annette. Annette was raised Baptist but this
really strict General Association of reformed Baptist church. It was tough
for her. From what she has told us it was more strict than any other
religion next to Omish. She was raised in Africa, then moved to France,
married in the states and lived in Chicago for 19 years and then Mexico for
two and now France again. she actually just got back and in between all of
these stops she would live all around the world being a missionary. She is
Technically american but is really a third culture Kid. Craziness. So Yeah
life was super strict and imposing for her so she kinda rebelled from a lot
of the standards and fell into a state of "Anti-Religion. Pro-Christ" So
she is searching. Oh i didn't mention she taught at the Univeristy of
Chicago for 15 years and was a professor of Religions and their
Connections. So cool! so we found her this last sunday the 7th i believe
and How she was found was cool. the Elders of Poitiers were here for Stake
conference and so we did a mini exchange. Elders Barker and Awerkamp left
early to help our amis get to church and i left later with Elder Darguence
to help get some other amis to church. Well By happenstance One of the Amis
didn't show up for the other two elders so they waited at a stop and then
that bus left and a lady walked up and asked if the bus had already passed.
They Said yes (mind you all in french) and then continued talking in
english. she then goes are you American and then they said are you american
and then that is when things started happening!!!! She talked about her
life and talked to them a little longer before we walked up because we had
missed our bus!!! Just all things worked out to meet with her! So then we
had rendez-vous with her last week. We explained to here all About our
church and our beliefs and such. We explained about the book of Mormon and
its importance and she wants to read it so badly! She goes yeah that doesn't
surprise me at all that people were crossing the ocean befor Colombus. She
then proceeded to explain all the evidence of the Book of Mormons Validity
without having read it. She goes on to say things like its interesting that
the DNA in descendants of South America are from a middle eastern discent!
Also she told us about how their civilizations are the only ones to have had
no rally beginning. Always they start with nothing and work up but in this
case they already had technology and such. Then we explained the line of
Decent of Lehi how he was from the tribe of Manessa. She goes "no way.....
That is where Phonecia used to be and the Phonecians were expert ship
builders." SOOOOO COOOOL!!!! so that is Annette! Pray for her because i
think she is our next baptism. I love this work down here right now.
Well that is all for now. I am so glad to hear that you finally got the
package. Sorry everything smelt a little because well Cherbourg is just
like Washington and i was literally wet all the time. HAHAHA also i cant
remember everything i put in there. Also the Sea Shells were all found on
the beach. Authentic! sorry no pics this week. We really didnt have
chances to take them! I love you all so much and i miss you so much! Talk
to you when i am
20!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Lucas and
Rachel are having us for dinner and they are inviting potential
investigators! best present ever LOL!!!!! I love you all!
Elder Hoopes