Hola!

Hello every one! How are you all? I hope everyone is going good and
that everyone is loving life just as much as i am! Things are going
great honestly! Just so good. I love Brussels like crazy and
honestly i have never had a better time in my entire mission. I am
learning so much and feel the most change in myself here. I think it
is because if i don't take who i am to a new level in this calling and
in this situation then i fail and so I am having to make changes to be
better and i feel like i am becoming more quickly the person i have
been wanting to become. Unfortunatley i don't think that i am ever
going to be exactly who i WISH i could be but honestly i just feel
like i am growing up so much. I am so thankful that the Lord had the
confidence in me to send me here to do this work. I just Love IT LOVE
IT LOVE IT! Even being rejected by people on the street here is nicer
than anywhere else i've been. It's all a mentality but it's going
great. And from what i am hearing about everything from back home you
guys are trying to be great missionaries too! Don't let up. Here
comes a random tangeant!

So this week we talked with our bishop and we thought of all the ways
we could help missionary work and we thought of this. One of the
biggest difficulities that we run into is trying to work with the
members in missionary work and you know why? Because they are too
busy, or they don't "know anyone" who could use the Gospel, or they
just don't trust that the missionaries are the right ones to teach
their friends. You know before the mission i saw people like marc
ellsworth and others like him who were always inviting people to see
the missionaries and i think 5 of the people who knew the missionaries
through marc were baptized. I thought it was so cool yet i would
never have given my friends to Higbey or FlOOOOOck! I thought they
were weird and i didn't trust them but you know what? I was totally
selfish and prideful. I hope that i am not like that when i go back
home. These missionaries that appraoch members wanting to work with
them are GOOD missionaries. Think about the risk they are taking in
asking you to come over and talk (of course not you personally but in
general). I wan't to be that member that every missionary turns to and
can count on, like Merlin and others. If we really love those around
us we'll take more chances on them. If they don't except such is
life. We take it and move on. Think about this. Each one of my
baptisms on my mission has come from referals. Crazy huh? Speaking
of which, we have another baptism on the 4th of March. He is a friend
of Andrew. To hear that you invited the sisters over to teach Erica is
so so so so GOOD! You have no idea how mush those missionaries are
thanking Heavenly Father for how you've opened this door for them.
You will be so blessed for trusting them but in also allowing Erica to
have this chance of an eternity really haha. Keep being great and
always try to help the missionaries in anyway you can. Everytime you
talk with them think about how you hope i am being treated out here.
Just a tangeant. We really are going to work with the ward this
transfer. That is for sure. So many blessings wait in store.

So the new elders in the apartment is a change. Last apartment was
just a party all day! We have three new elders and so we are all still
trying to get to know each other and trying to figure out everyones
habits and things like that. However it is going well and they are
great elders. Elder Petersen, my new companion comes from Utah and
the other elders are Elder Webber from utah and Elder Dickataldo from
Italy! we eat a lot of pasta. Hahaha! But voila quoi. For the
moment that is about it. Everything is going really GREAT! I love it
and I love the work. So yeah! I love you all so much and i pray
about you EVERY night!

Love, Elder Hoopes