Hello everyone!
Hey, so sorry this is a day late but....I got transferred again! This time it is to Longmont, Colorado which is right below Berthoud and is a pretty big town. What happened was there are not as many missionaries coming out as there are going home this transfer and I'm guessing because Berthoud is so small...it’s the first to go. The zone leaders are actually going to be the elders for Berthoud Ward now. I was a little bit bummed because things were going pretty good and it felt that I just unpacked but when it is time, it is time. So I am in the Union Ward in Longmont. I'm follow up training with an elder who has only been out a transfer. His name is Elder Henson. He is from Buhl Idaho. First impressions, to be honest, were not so good. He just got out of high school like 3 months ago and he is still kind of immature if you know what I mean. We will see how it goes. We live with a single guy who I have not met because he is out of town right now (I haven't been able to write down our address yet either). Unfortunately my bedding, pillow, and helmet went missing during transfers so I'm trying to find where they went. I was able to get a spare helmet for now though. It is super weird going back to a big town after being in Berthoud for 6 weeks.
So funny story... this last Sunday I gave a talk in church. I wrote it on Tuesday last week and by Saturday I could not find the binder that I put it in. It wasn't at the house so it either had to be in the zone leader’s car or at the church. Well, Sunday morning we called the zone leaders and they couldn't find it. I thought for sure that it would be at the church then. When we got at the church it was nowhere to be found. That is when panic set in and my heart dropped. That is when the silent prayers started up as well. I called the zone leaders one more time to check the car and behind just about everything....there was the binder.
What also is cool about Longmont is that I know just about all the elders in the district (one of them I lived in the farmhouse with in Greeley and Elder Tuiasosopo (former comp in Greeley) is the zone leader here so it should be a fun transfer. The first couple weeks are a little difficult to get adjusted.
Elder Cooper
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Monday, August 23, 2010
Hey everyone,
To answer your question about the bike, I was being stupid. That is usually how missionary bike accidents happen. There is a BMX track right next to the church so 4 of us missionaries decided that it would be a good idea to check it out on p-day with our wonderful mountain bikes. Sure enough we said "Let’s race". The third go around I ended up eating it on one of the jumps. I went right over the handlebars. I only got a few small scrapes. yea....
So this past week was good. We taught a new investigator. She is a theology major so we are not sure what her true motives are yet but we will see. We also have another appointment with a potential investigator this week that was given to us by a member so we are super excited for that one. The bummer about this past week is once again none of our investigators made it to church again. Even when we contact them the night before they still seem to not make it.
On Saturday some members took us out to lunch and of course my stomach started to hurt so we went back to the church after to use the restroom and after, when we were just about to leave, a mouse ran into the kitchen where we were! We stood there for a minute trying to decide whether to pretend we didn't see it or to take care of it ourselves. We ended up spending the next 20 minutes to take care of it ourselves. We didn't kill it. We ended up sweeping it outside. We got it on camera too. It was hilarious.
Other than that it has pretty much been the same kind of missionary work. I can't believe that this transfer is already over at the end of this week and that the half way point is in 2. For some reason I feel that I will be getting transferred but I don't know why. I have been right so far. We will just have to wait and see what happens.
Elder Cooper
To answer your question about the bike, I was being stupid. That is usually how missionary bike accidents happen. There is a BMX track right next to the church so 4 of us missionaries decided that it would be a good idea to check it out on p-day with our wonderful mountain bikes. Sure enough we said "Let’s race". The third go around I ended up eating it on one of the jumps. I went right over the handlebars. I only got a few small scrapes. yea....
So this past week was good. We taught a new investigator. She is a theology major so we are not sure what her true motives are yet but we will see. We also have another appointment with a potential investigator this week that was given to us by a member so we are super excited for that one. The bummer about this past week is once again none of our investigators made it to church again. Even when we contact them the night before they still seem to not make it.
On Saturday some members took us out to lunch and of course my stomach started to hurt so we went back to the church after to use the restroom and after, when we were just about to leave, a mouse ran into the kitchen where we were! We stood there for a minute trying to decide whether to pretend we didn't see it or to take care of it ourselves. We ended up spending the next 20 minutes to take care of it ourselves. We didn't kill it. We ended up sweeping it outside. We got it on camera too. It was hilarious.
Other than that it has pretty much been the same kind of missionary work. I can't believe that this transfer is already over at the end of this week and that the half way point is in 2. For some reason I feel that I will be getting transferred but I don't know why. I have been right so far. We will just have to wait and see what happens.
Elder Cooper
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
8-16-10
Hello everyone,
So, that is so weird that you had that dream after talking about coming to Colorado towards the end of my mission. In our ward is a German family and their son is serving in Germany right now. Actually he is serving in his dads hometown which is pretty cool. The family just left to go there and they didn't have time to tell their son so they are going to show up at his last Sunday at church. A couple elders and I were talking about it and how much we would not want our families to do that. It is kind of interesting that you had a dream that totally related to that.
This past week has had some ups and downs. We went to the temple Tuesday and of course it was a pleasant experience. Actually something different happened this time when we went. Normally all of the distractions and things leave when I enter the temple, but this time even during and after the session I was super distracted thinking about our area and some of our investigators and I was having a hard time focusing. It wasn't until we went and did some sealings that I was able to really focus and feel the full force of the spirit that the temple brings. It was still a great experience but just different.
So, the investigator that we had set for baptism for this Saturday is not going to happen. He is almost there and we are all hoping and praying that he comes around. I feel that it’s that he doesn't yet have a solid testimony in the book of Mormon and he kind of expressed that in our meeting that we had with him last night. We ended up giving him the talk "Safety for the Soul" by Elder Holland. He is an awesome guy he just is having a hard time recognizing the spirit.
Some other things that have happened have to do a lot with my bike. So part of last prep day we went to some, well, let’s just say that I fell. Nothing bad, just a couple of scrapes. But this past week I have been getting a ton of flat tires. It’s those stinking goat heads. So, these members put a brand new tube in for me and the next day when I went to go ride it the tube was flat again. I flipped it over and there was slime from the tube everywhere. The tube ended up having a dime sized gash in it and we have no idea on how it happened.
Hope things are great and that is super rad that Brittany is going to have a baby!
Elder Cooper
Hello everyone,
So, that is so weird that you had that dream after talking about coming to Colorado towards the end of my mission. In our ward is a German family and their son is serving in Germany right now. Actually he is serving in his dads hometown which is pretty cool. The family just left to go there and they didn't have time to tell their son so they are going to show up at his last Sunday at church. A couple elders and I were talking about it and how much we would not want our families to do that. It is kind of interesting that you had a dream that totally related to that.
This past week has had some ups and downs. We went to the temple Tuesday and of course it was a pleasant experience. Actually something different happened this time when we went. Normally all of the distractions and things leave when I enter the temple, but this time even during and after the session I was super distracted thinking about our area and some of our investigators and I was having a hard time focusing. It wasn't until we went and did some sealings that I was able to really focus and feel the full force of the spirit that the temple brings. It was still a great experience but just different.
So, the investigator that we had set for baptism for this Saturday is not going to happen. He is almost there and we are all hoping and praying that he comes around. I feel that it’s that he doesn't yet have a solid testimony in the book of Mormon and he kind of expressed that in our meeting that we had with him last night. We ended up giving him the talk "Safety for the Soul" by Elder Holland. He is an awesome guy he just is having a hard time recognizing the spirit.
Some other things that have happened have to do a lot with my bike. So part of last prep day we went to some, well, let’s just say that I fell. Nothing bad, just a couple of scrapes. But this past week I have been getting a ton of flat tires. It’s those stinking goat heads. So, these members put a brand new tube in for me and the next day when I went to go ride it the tube was flat again. I flipped it over and there was slime from the tube everywhere. The tube ended up having a dime sized gash in it and we have no idea on how it happened.
Hope things are great and that is super rad that Brittany is going to have a baby!
Elder Cooper
Monday, August 9, 2010
Hey Family,
This past week was pretty good. Not as eventful as maybe the previous weeks but it was still great. The downfall of this week is the fact that we ended up dropping 2 of our small pool of 5 investigators. One was a pagan guy that we were kind of teaching. When we went there this past week he was pretty up front in telling us that he didn't want to become Mormon and when he read the Book of Mormon, something offended him and he said that he will probably never read it again. He was kind of interesting. He worshipped the goddess Venus and he told us all about it. I never thought that I would teach a pagan worshipper in Berthoud Colorado. The other lady we dropped straight up said that she was not interested when we went to go set up another appointment.
On the bright side we were able to set one of our investigators for baptism on August 21. He has had a date before and it didn't end up happening, but I have a good feeling about this. His mom who lives at his place has been sick and he has just thought about everything a lot more lately so we will see. He is another one of those investigators that have been investigating for over a year.
Tomorrow we will be heading down to Denver to go to the temple again. My companion is using his turn since I just used mine a month ago. His trainer is going home this week and so he is going to be there tomorrow as well. I think he likes his trainer more than me but that is okay. As long as we are getting along and still working it’s all good.
Elder Cooper
This past week was pretty good. Not as eventful as maybe the previous weeks but it was still great. The downfall of this week is the fact that we ended up dropping 2 of our small pool of 5 investigators. One was a pagan guy that we were kind of teaching. When we went there this past week he was pretty up front in telling us that he didn't want to become Mormon and when he read the Book of Mormon, something offended him and he said that he will probably never read it again. He was kind of interesting. He worshipped the goddess Venus and he told us all about it. I never thought that I would teach a pagan worshipper in Berthoud Colorado. The other lady we dropped straight up said that she was not interested when we went to go set up another appointment.
On the bright side we were able to set one of our investigators for baptism on August 21. He has had a date before and it didn't end up happening, but I have a good feeling about this. His mom who lives at his place has been sick and he has just thought about everything a lot more lately so we will see. He is another one of those investigators that have been investigating for over a year.
Tomorrow we will be heading down to Denver to go to the temple again. My companion is using his turn since I just used mine a month ago. His trainer is going home this week and so he is going to be there tomorrow as well. I think he likes his trainer more than me but that is okay. As long as we are getting along and still working it’s all good.
Elder Cooper
8-3-10
Hello Family,
Sounds like things are going well back home. It is interesting that things have been cooler because it has been pretty hot up here. We seem to get a thunderstorm that rolls in mid afternoon almost everyday which actually feels nice when you are on a bike. This past week has been about the same. The good thing about the week is that we were able to meet with a lot of our investigators and other members of our ward. We haven't been able to set anyone for baptism yet (it’s going to happen) and none of our investigators came to church this past Sunday so that was kind of a bummer. A lot of them had random things going on I guess.
This past week we had Zone Conference again for the transfer and I had to give a ten minute training in front of 40 missionaries. Every transfer we focus on 4 topics and review them in the next zone conference so we gave one of those. I was kind of nervous and I was also nervous for my companion Elder Porter but we went over them before the conference and we did all right. There are going to be more changes in the mission now. For example, we will have zone conference quarterly instead of every 6 weeks and that goes for interviews with Pres. Ely too. That’s kind of a bummer, but it will be good. There are a lot more changes but I don't remember a lot of them.
So, we do a lot of tracting in Berthoud and this other day I learned something about having a good attitude and to not get offended. So, we ran into this lady who told us that when she was prego with her 4th child her husband ran off with some Mormon girl and for awhile she hated Mormons because of it. Since then she has had a change of heart as she has met others of our faith to the point where she is no longer bitter about it. A little bit further down the street we ran into this really ticked old man who said that a missionary (not even sure if it was a Mormon missionary) said to him that he was going to hell once and has been holding a grudge ever since and probably won't change. After leaving it just showed me that here is a lady whose husband left her but was still eventually able to forgive and yet here is a man where someone said one stupid thing once that he can't let go. It just made me realize that people are not perfect and make some pretty big mistakes sometimes, but we have to learn to forgive and move forward rather than dwell on the past.
Elder Cooper
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