So this was a huge transfer...

Good Morning!

So this was a huge transfer, but President Hansen did a good job with it and I think things will be really good. My new Companion is Elder King and it is funny because we were actually in the MTC together. We never would have thought that we would be able to be companions, but super happy that we are. We have already become really good friends and I haven't laughed so much in a long time. It has just been a blast already and we just have a feeling that this is going to be an awesome transfer. It is a huge blessing that we get to be companions and I think we will be able to get close with our zone as well. They increased the size of our zone and Elder White and Elder Madsen got but double transfered into Lafayette and they are in our district now. They are really good missionaries and it has been fun to be able to help them out and spend time with them. It has just been a fun week. Elder King and I were actually talking about maybe rooming this winter for BYU. We'll see what happens but that is just a thought.

The members already love Elder King a lot and we were able to get a lot done. We spent an afternoon with one of the members (Bro. Castille) doing some service for his Mom and visiting members. We had finished service and then he just asked us if we had time to go visit this family. They aren't his home teaching family or anything, but he just felt like we should visit them. It was really cool and little things like that make me really happy. We went over to R's the other day and his little boy was really sick and in a lot of pain. We both had a prompting to ask if we could give him a blessing but we weren't sure how to bring it up. We finally did and it was a pretty amazing experience. It was a pretty simple blessing, but it seemed like pretty instantaneously he calmed down. The spirit was really strong. The Priesthood power is real. 

Tender mercies happen every single day and it is a blessing to be able to be a part of them. I know that I haven't baptized a lot of people or seen tons of people come back to church, but I feel like mission has been a success so far. I have more that I have to work on in humility and obedience to the promptings of the spirit, but I think that I am on the right path. I feel successful because I am happy and that is enough for me. I know that if we are happy we have the spirit with us and it will inspire us to do what we need to do. I have also come to know my Father in Heaven and Jesus Christ more and I have felt how much they love me and that has changed me life a lot. I have made such good friends on my mission with members, non-members, less-actives and missionaries that I will stay in contact and love for the rest of my life and after. That is a success. I have come to love the scriptures more and learned to love prayer. I also have a family that prays for me everyday and boosts my spirits with everything that they do for me. So all in all I am saying that I have been really blessed to have immensely successful mission so far. 

I love yall so much and I hope that you have a great week.

Prayers and Thoughts always,

Elder Devin Soper

Oh yeah, it is transfer week this week...

Hola Mi Familia,

I got your letters right on time! Right when I needed them. And that is totally fine about the emails last week. They changed our P-day on us and then we had to go email early anyway, so it is just the way things worked out haha. It was all just kind of crazy. But I really appreciated your letters and it was fun to hear about Haley, Jordan, Olive and the little babe's stay. It was nice to be out here when Haley told me the news, cause I could tell people and it wouldn't even matter haha. I was too excited to keep it in. But I am really glad that everyone had a good time and it sounds like yall had a good 4th and various other family get togethers. ;)

Oh yeah, it is transfer week this week. Surprisingly Elder Crane is getting transferred after only having been here 5 weeks. I am pretty sad about that. We became really good friends in a short amount of time and I respect him so much. He has worked hard to be out on his mission and he has made a big difference in many peoples and missionaries lives. His influences will be felt and remembered forever. It was really fun to be his companion. He has a good sense of humor and is self deprecating. We have a good time joking around and making weird comments. He is really good at understanding people too and so sometimes we analyze people and talk about what we learn. There have been times where we have just talked for hours. Haha there is a Sister here in Opelousas, Sister Faulk, who has stayed in this one area for her entire mission and so for a little going away party, Elder Crane and I wrote a song together called. "Married to the Branch." That was pretty fun. But he is going to be a district leader and a training and a different area, so that will be cool. I am not sure who my new companion is going to be, but I know that it will all work out. So Never Ending Story, I am still in Opelousas haha. But I like it here, sometimes it is a little tough (most always becasue of my attitude), but the people are so awesome that it is hard not to love it. 

One other cool piece of news, The Opelousas Branch is now the Opelousas Ward! That was pretty cool to be able to witness that. On Sunday somebody was telling us a little bit about the history of the branch and it has been 44 years in the making, so it was a special day. It was cool to just see how happy everybody was. It has taken a lot of prayers and hard work from countless people. One sad, but also cool thing is that Brother Freebairn is no longer our Ward Mission leader...He got called to be the 1 counselor in the Bishopric. Pretty Crazy huh? He is going to do a good job though and is going to bless the Ward so much. 

We had Zone Conference with President Hansen and his wife this last week and that went well. Sister Hansen when she met me was excited to tell me about how she knows Chad and Susan. I guess that when they found out they were coming to Louisiana, Susan told Sister Hansen that I was here and showed her the Blog. I guess that she had been reading it to get a little feel for the mission. So the blog is a success! Haha it made me feel pretty good to hear that from her though. President Hansen definitely has some high goals and vision for the mission. It is different than we are used to, but I think as we get on board that we will start to see some cool miracles. I'm sure they are pretty stressed out, with having to come into a mission with 170+ young people that feel like that they know what they are doing haha. As we are patient with them and as they are patient with us things will work out. One thing that I do know is that he has been called by a Prophet and that he is exactly who Heavenly Father wants to lead this mission. I am really excited to get to know the Hansen's better.

I just wanted to bear my testimony on how much our attitude makes a difference in our lives. We have the choice everyday to be happy or sad.  The exact same things could happen in a day but we can choose if it is a good day or a bad day. I remember hearing a quote where someone asked President Kimball what he does when he goes to a boring sacrament meeting and he said something to the effect of "I don't know because I have never been to one." I may or may not have learned this lesson the hard way haha, but I am so grateful that I am learning it. I love my mission so much and I know there is always more that I can do, but that Heavenly Father is proud of me for being out here and doing my best to love the people and the missionaries. I know that He and Jesus Christ love us a lot and I love them too. 

I better get going, but I love yall so much and you are such a big influence in the decisions that I make everyday. Thank you for your prayers!

Prayers and Thoughts always,

Love,

Elder Divine Slopper

This has been a really good week...

Dear Family,

This has been a really good week though. We have had a lot of cool experiences that have built my testimony and we have made a lot of new friends as well. 

Me and Rico

First I wanted to bear my testimony that I know that angels are with all the time. They are there and they are not only protecting us, but they are sharing the gospel right along with us. I know that they are with yall as well. It is pretty cool to know that we aren't alone and we have so many people helping us and encouraging us on both sides. 

We got to go on an exchange with the New Iberia Elders and that was an awesome experience. We went to their District Meeting and then for lunch we went to this Old timey diner and got hamburgers and shakes. And they did pretty good with the fresh strawberry shake, I think yall would approve. But I got to stay down with Elder Casillas and thay was an awesome experience. The weather was crazy those couple of days and we ended up getting rained out for most of the two days. The rainstorms were crazy, but gave us an opportunity to just talk and become good friends. He is a really good missionary and he has the ability to make people feel comfortable around him, he is very down to earth and easy going. He uses that in his missionary work and it does a lot of good. We worked a little bit with this guy named Rico and he is awesome. He recently received the Melchezidek priesthood and is a missionary machine. He and Elder Casillas are just super good friends and we were talking about it and they were probably good friends in the Pre-Earth life as well. Rico and I connected pretty good and became instant friends. He is about twice my size and his arms are bigger than my head haha, but he gave me his email and he told me that he wants to come out to Utah sometime and visit, so that is pretty cool! I will send you a picture. But that exchange was a tender mercy because I made two new great friends, Elder Casillas and Rico.

On Friday most of our plans fell through and that happened for a reason because it allowed for a miracle to happen. We decided to go see this less-active family that we had never met before, N. and J. The Sisters have worked with them a little bit, but I have always wanted to meet them, but just have never done it. We finally went and we all hit it off right away. N. is a super laid back guy, he has long dreads and just seems like he doesn't have a care in the world. J. is really down to earth and is super into reading. They are the most easy going couple you would ever meet. N. and Elder Crane were able to talk for a long time about Sno-Ball Shacks and it really built a good foundation for a friendship. N. and J. own a Sno-Ball stand in Lafayette and Elder Crane wants to start one when he gets home. It sounds like you can make pretty good money with them as well. We ended up being at there house for two and half hours. We had a lesson with them and they ended up opening up to us about things that are going on in their lives and we were able to give that listening ear. It was cool experience and we love them a lot now too. J. ended up coming to church on Sunday.

Then yesterday one of my mission dreams came true. We had a real Cajun teach us how to cook! I think I have told yall about Sarah and Jerrett, but they are a part member family that love the missionaries a lot. I had told Jerrett that I wanted to learn how to cook and so yesterday he surprised us, invited us early and then had Elder Crane and I cook the whole meal. So we spent the afternoon learning how to brown pork steaks, brown onions and create a good gravy. Good Cajun cooking takes time and patience, but it is well worth it. It was an ideal Sunday afternoon being able to spend time with them, get to know Jerrett a lot better and make a good meal. I am going to make it for you when I get home. What he taught will be able to transfer over into rice and gravy meals, jambalaya, stews, gumbu and etouffe. So I am excited to show yall!

My testimony grew this week that the people that we meet on our missions we met before this life. They are members, less-actives and non-members, but we are here for them as much as they are here for us. I love you guys so much and I hope you have a great week.

Prayers and Thoughts always,

Love,

Elder Soper