Helloooo everybody! How are you all? I am doing pretty good!
We had exchanges. Elder Perazzo is gone, and now Elder Ferrin is training someone from Canada named Elder Dahl. We also have a new Zone leader. Elder Hall is gone, and now we have Elder Delgado with Elder Monsen.
I don't know if I told you, but we have another baptismal date. Theresa is set to get baptized on Feb. 13th!
Dan's is coming up on Dec 5th. And it was way exciting because he went home teaching last night, and he's not even baptized yet. We are working with this family called the Sungs. They have been inactive for about 7 years, so we are visiting with them. They have a 7 year old son, so we are teaching him and getting him ready for baptism.
Things are pretty dead looking here. The leaves are all gone for the most part, and the sky is always gray. It's going to be weird here soon because the ground will be covered in snow, so it is pretty much going to be a black and white world.
Thank you so much for the card! that was the most awesome card I have ever seen! It was huge! I opened it and the music started playing and I was just like, WO! President & Sister Talbot called me and sang to me :) that was pretty sweet. My birthday was pretty awesome! It was weird. I kept forgetting it was even my birthday haha.
Yeah, we have been really busy. It's a good thing! Things are going good here for the most part. Just another day on the mission.
For Thanksgiving we're going over to a member's house and maybe teaching people! They invited a whole bunch of their friends over. And then invited us haha. Sounds like a trap to me. We might not even teach too much at all there. We have to see how it goes. But it will be interesting nonetheless.
We actually cut our own hair as of now. My companion has clippers. But normally we just go to like Great Clips or something for it.
Got to go. I'll make sure to keep everyone in my prayers.
Love you all. Hope everything is going well back home. I miss you all and love you all.
Elder Cooper
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Friday, November 6, 2009
Hello Everyone!
How are you all doing? I am doing just peachy! Things have been pretty interesting this last week. A couple days ago we went on exchanges, so Elder Ferrin came to our area and I went with Elder Porazzo to their area which is the Young Single Adult Ward. So naturally their area is downtown by the college campus. The motto for that area is "Find all the time". They don't have a lot of people they teach so most of their time is spent finding which is the complete opposite of our area. So, needless to say, it was a different experience for me! I think we walked probably 15 miles that day. All we did ALL DAY LONG was go downtown and try and talk to people. It didn't work out so well. No one was rude to us or anything but we didn't get anywhere. So ya, that was a new experience for me.
What else is new? It seems like I'm forgetting something...Oh, yeah! Two people are getting baptized! :) One is this girl who is newly married, her husband is a member, but she wasn't. So ya, she's getting baptized! The other one is Dan. He has been taking the lessons for quite some time now. (That's the guy with the handle bar bike story). He's getting baptized December 5. We just set a date with him tonight! Big news and I am totally excited. But that means that things are going to get really hard here in the next few weeks. That's always how it goes. Trial of your faith and all.
So that's the update on the mission. Hope all of you are doing well. Love you and miss you.
-Elder Cooper
and from a letter to Sarah but I wanted to include the lesson it teaches here...
Atonement - Definitely our first reaction when we find out about stuff like that is to drop them like it's hot. But that is for sure not what Jesus would do. One thing we have to remember is that there is only one unforgiveable sin. And you and I don't know anyone who could even commit that if they wanted to. Denying the Holy Ghost is the one and only thing that you can do that is unforgiveable and you have to have a perfect knowledge in order for it to be unforgiveable. I don't personally know anyone with a perfect knowedge. So whatever it is this guy did, he can always turn back. Did he mess up and make things hard for himself and especially for others? Yes. Did the Savior promise to forgive him if he followed the steps layed out by Him? Yes. So is it totally outrageous for us to forgive this guy? Absolutely not.
How are you all doing? I am doing just peachy! Things have been pretty interesting this last week. A couple days ago we went on exchanges, so Elder Ferrin came to our area and I went with Elder Porazzo to their area which is the Young Single Adult Ward. So naturally their area is downtown by the college campus. The motto for that area is "Find all the time". They don't have a lot of people they teach so most of their time is spent finding which is the complete opposite of our area. So, needless to say, it was a different experience for me! I think we walked probably 15 miles that day. All we did ALL DAY LONG was go downtown and try and talk to people. It didn't work out so well. No one was rude to us or anything but we didn't get anywhere. So ya, that was a new experience for me.
What else is new? It seems like I'm forgetting something...Oh, yeah! Two people are getting baptized! :) One is this girl who is newly married, her husband is a member, but she wasn't. So ya, she's getting baptized! The other one is Dan. He has been taking the lessons for quite some time now. (That's the guy with the handle bar bike story). He's getting baptized December 5. We just set a date with him tonight! Big news and I am totally excited. But that means that things are going to get really hard here in the next few weeks. That's always how it goes. Trial of your faith and all.
So that's the update on the mission. Hope all of you are doing well. Love you and miss you.
-Elder Cooper
and from a letter to Sarah but I wanted to include the lesson it teaches here...
Atonement - Definitely our first reaction when we find out about stuff like that is to drop them like it's hot. But that is for sure not what Jesus would do. One thing we have to remember is that there is only one unforgiveable sin. And you and I don't know anyone who could even commit that if they wanted to. Denying the Holy Ghost is the one and only thing that you can do that is unforgiveable and you have to have a perfect knowledge in order for it to be unforgiveable. I don't personally know anyone with a perfect knowedge. So whatever it is this guy did, he can always turn back. Did he mess up and make things hard for himself and especially for others? Yes. Did the Savior promise to forgive him if he followed the steps layed out by Him? Yes. So is it totally outrageous for us to forgive this guy? Absolutely not.
Monday, October 26, 2009
October 23rd Letter
I am doing pretty wonderful! We get to go visit Dan (our main investigator) today. I like going over there. He's an awesome guy. It's Friday and we do weekly planning on Friday. Four hours of "what are we going to do next week?" fun. It takes up a big chunk of time and we have lunch in the middle of it, so it's not bad at all.
It rained all day yesterday and all last night and was still raining this morning. Our truck was at the dealership because it was making weird noises, so we got to walk to the Stake Center in the rain. We had umbrellas, but they did nothing. We got soaked!
We met a funny guy the other day. He was crazy. We were teaching an investigator and we were sitting outside so this guy was just sitting near us chilling. He over heard what we were talking about and asked us if we were religious people. We told him, yeah, we're missionaries from the LDS Church and he's like, "Oh, Mormons!" He then proceeded to tell us he had several friends that were Mormon and what good people we were - helpful, friendly, good with our money, stuff like that. (Little side note here. Our investigator is funny. She doesn't know if she wants to get baptized but she has been telling people about the Church and asking them if they want to on on Sunday. Ha Ha) So, anyway, our investigator jumps right in and right off the bat invites him to come to Church. He declined saying that if he gets all dressed up and goes through all the fuss of going to Church it just stresses him out. He finds his Sabbath is more healing, and he's more at peace if he just stays home. He then started to tell us he's another religion and explained a lot of what happens in that Church...or so he thought. This guy was definitely not that religion. He was crazy is what he was. He told us about how spirits flew into his room and stole his growth hormone which made him gain a lot of weight and feel tired all the time. And a lot of other stuff about spirits mixing up peoples healings and energy. It was hilarious. He went on for 15 minutes like that.
I've gotten used to the apartment. It actually doesn't seem ghetto at all anymore. I'll just have to wait and see what my next area is like though.
Halloween is coming up. I want to go tracting that night and see how many people think that we're going as missionaries. But, we have to be in by 6pm that night because nothing good happens on Halloween here.
I haven't frozen to death and I haven't starved to death (although according to his e-mail he eats a lot of rice because it is cheap and you can't really mess it up) so I am doing alright. Miss you all.
Elder Cooper
It rained all day yesterday and all last night and was still raining this morning. Our truck was at the dealership because it was making weird noises, so we got to walk to the Stake Center in the rain. We had umbrellas, but they did nothing. We got soaked!
We met a funny guy the other day. He was crazy. We were teaching an investigator and we were sitting outside so this guy was just sitting near us chilling. He over heard what we were talking about and asked us if we were religious people. We told him, yeah, we're missionaries from the LDS Church and he's like, "Oh, Mormons!" He then proceeded to tell us he had several friends that were Mormon and what good people we were - helpful, friendly, good with our money, stuff like that. (Little side note here. Our investigator is funny. She doesn't know if she wants to get baptized but she has been telling people about the Church and asking them if they want to on on Sunday. Ha Ha) So, anyway, our investigator jumps right in and right off the bat invites him to come to Church. He declined saying that if he gets all dressed up and goes through all the fuss of going to Church it just stresses him out. He finds his Sabbath is more healing, and he's more at peace if he just stays home. He then started to tell us he's another religion and explained a lot of what happens in that Church...or so he thought. This guy was definitely not that religion. He was crazy is what he was. He told us about how spirits flew into his room and stole his growth hormone which made him gain a lot of weight and feel tired all the time. And a lot of other stuff about spirits mixing up peoples healings and energy. It was hilarious. He went on for 15 minutes like that.
I've gotten used to the apartment. It actually doesn't seem ghetto at all anymore. I'll just have to wait and see what my next area is like though.
Halloween is coming up. I want to go tracting that night and see how many people think that we're going as missionaries. But, we have to be in by 6pm that night because nothing good happens on Halloween here.
I haven't frozen to death and I haven't starved to death (although according to his e-mail he eats a lot of rice because it is cheap and you can't really mess it up) so I am doing alright. Miss you all.
Elder Cooper
Friday, October 16, 2009
1st letter from the field
So, ya, I am officially moved into my new current residence. My first area is Iowa City. 3rd biggest college party city in the US, haha. Apparently on game days the entire city shuts down. If it doesn't involve the game, it doesn't exist on that day. My companion/trainer is Elder Ware. He's a pretty cool guy. I like him so far and we seem to get along well. I'm in a full time car area right now. We have a truck full time for me and my companion, but we only get about 500 miles per month, so there will still be a lot of walking. The apartment is pretty ghetto, not going to lie. And from what Elder Ware says, this is about the 3rd nicest apartment in the mission. Oh boy. Can't wait to see where I'll be living next!
We taught someone last night. She is a recovering meth and crack addict, and she is probably going to lose custody of her son (this will be her 3rd child). We mainly just talked to her and tried to build trust (by we I mean Elder Ware - I didn't say too much) but we taught her the first principles and how to pray. She said she will pray like we taught her and read the bible everyday. She doesn't know if she wants to join. She has been to Church and thinks it is boring. But, she really wants to know more about it, and something has caught her attention because she wants us to keep coming back. It might sound liker her problems are pretty extreme, and she definately is no role mode, but that's the great thing I have learned out here. Even ex-meth addicts with a criminal record and 3 children that have been put up for adoption are nowhere near too far gone. The worth of EVERY soul is great in the sight of God.
So...ya, winter stuff is needed sooner than I thought. It snowed today (some day last week). We got to decorate our planners today! Fun stuff. Arts and Crafts are great! Ha ha. So it is game day for homecoming today. It is a night game, a game between rivals, and the Hawkeyes are undefeated - 3 things that lead to a HUGE game. It's around 2pm, the game starts at 7pm and there are people everywhere. It's so ridiculous. We get nothing done on days like this becaue no one wants to talk to you. All they care about is the game. It's intense how crazy these fans are. I'm glad noise doesn't bother me, otherwise I would be in for a long night!
We taught someone named Dan last night. He has been investigating for quite some time now. He investigated with the Jehovah's Witnesses for a year, but he said what sets us apart is the Book of Mormon. We have that something extra. He is very cautious and, surprisingly, probably studies the scriptures more than us. He knows a lot, and is well on his way to getting baptized, but he just doesn't think he can answer all of the baptismal questions truthfuly yet. He says he thinks Thomas S. Monson is a prophet, but he says he doesn't think he can go out in the street, look someone in the eye and tell them that he is a prophet. I am very excited for him. He is progressing very well and has come a long way.
Love and miss you all - Elder Cooper
We taught someone last night. She is a recovering meth and crack addict, and she is probably going to lose custody of her son (this will be her 3rd child). We mainly just talked to her and tried to build trust (by we I mean Elder Ware - I didn't say too much) but we taught her the first principles and how to pray. She said she will pray like we taught her and read the bible everyday. She doesn't know if she wants to join. She has been to Church and thinks it is boring. But, she really wants to know more about it, and something has caught her attention because she wants us to keep coming back. It might sound liker her problems are pretty extreme, and she definately is no role mode, but that's the great thing I have learned out here. Even ex-meth addicts with a criminal record and 3 children that have been put up for adoption are nowhere near too far gone. The worth of EVERY soul is great in the sight of God.
So...ya, winter stuff is needed sooner than I thought. It snowed today (some day last week). We got to decorate our planners today! Fun stuff. Arts and Crafts are great! Ha ha. So it is game day for homecoming today. It is a night game, a game between rivals, and the Hawkeyes are undefeated - 3 things that lead to a HUGE game. It's around 2pm, the game starts at 7pm and there are people everywhere. It's so ridiculous. We get nothing done on days like this becaue no one wants to talk to you. All they care about is the game. It's intense how crazy these fans are. I'm glad noise doesn't bother me, otherwise I would be in for a long night!
We taught someone named Dan last night. He has been investigating for quite some time now. He investigated with the Jehovah's Witnesses for a year, but he said what sets us apart is the Book of Mormon. We have that something extra. He is very cautious and, surprisingly, probably studies the scriptures more than us. He knows a lot, and is well on his way to getting baptized, but he just doesn't think he can answer all of the baptismal questions truthfuly yet. He says he thinks Thomas S. Monson is a prophet, but he says he doesn't think he can go out in the street, look someone in the eye and tell them that he is a prophet. I am very excited for him. He is progressing very well and has come a long way.
Love and miss you all - Elder Cooper
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Friday, October 9, 2009
Excerpts from the Family Letter
Thanks for all the letters and emails from everyone. I love hearing from all of you. I got sick last night. It's a bummer! Especially since I leave here on Wednesday at 4:00 a.m. Hope I feel better by then! I just got to listen to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sing "Come Thou Fount" That is my most favorite song ever. (Aside from Janet - if you click on the title of the post it will take you to a video of the song) I love it. Hearing them sing it live is definitely on my bucket list! Hope you are all doing well.
(next day)
BTW, I went to el doctoro today - pointless but if you get a papercut they send you to the doctor - so yeah, I spent an hour there for them to tell me I was and fine and didn't have the flu.
(next day)
BTW, I went to el doctoro today - pointless but if you get a papercut they send you to the doctor - so yeah, I spent an hour there for them to tell me I was and fine and didn't have the flu.
Sept. 21st
Brendan forgot he had written this letter after he had been in the MTC just a couple days and just sent it on Wednesday (10/7) -
"Hello everyone! How are you doing? Things are going amzing here! I love it so much here. I am so happy. We work a lot here. There is a lot to learn but I am having so much fun. It is amazing to escape from the outside world and just feel the Spirit all the time, 24/7. I have amazing elders in my district. They are all so strong and have great testimonies. We are all so eager to help each other out. I have only been here since Wednesday, and we already feel like we've known each other our whole lives. I think I have laughed harder than I have ever laughed before here. The Spirit is great, and I have seen many great things happen the short time I have been here. My testimony of God's love for us has increased so much. Never forget that God himself is your Heavenly Father and he loves you more than you could ever possibly imagine. I have felt His love stonger here than ever before anywhere else, and I know that this is just a small fraction of the love He has for us. I have learned that accompanied with faith and the Spirit that prayer is the most powerful thing on this earth. It is one of the most precious gifts Heavenly Father has given us. And if you ask in faith, believeing that he will give it to you, anything is possible. He cares about you, and wants more than anything for you to be happy. No matter what youare going through, all you have to do is pray, and he will comfort you. I miss you all, and wish the best for all of you. I would love to hear how all of you are doing."
Attached to the front was a note that said: Just a letter for everyone, forgot to mail it, nothing about the letter has changed, I feel exactly the same about it as when I wrote it.
"Hello everyone! How are you doing? Things are going amzing here! I love it so much here. I am so happy. We work a lot here. There is a lot to learn but I am having so much fun. It is amazing to escape from the outside world and just feel the Spirit all the time, 24/7. I have amazing elders in my district. They are all so strong and have great testimonies. We are all so eager to help each other out. I have only been here since Wednesday, and we already feel like we've known each other our whole lives. I think I have laughed harder than I have ever laughed before here. The Spirit is great, and I have seen many great things happen the short time I have been here. My testimony of God's love for us has increased so much. Never forget that God himself is your Heavenly Father and he loves you more than you could ever possibly imagine. I have felt His love stonger here than ever before anywhere else, and I know that this is just a small fraction of the love He has for us. I have learned that accompanied with faith and the Spirit that prayer is the most powerful thing on this earth. It is one of the most precious gifts Heavenly Father has given us. And if you ask in faith, believeing that he will give it to you, anything is possible. He cares about you, and wants more than anything for you to be happy. No matter what youare going through, all you have to do is pray, and he will comfort you. I miss you all, and wish the best for all of you. I would love to hear how all of you are doing."
Attached to the front was a note that said: Just a letter for everyone, forgot to mail it, nothing about the letter has changed, I feel exactly the same about it as when I wrote it.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Phone Call
Brendan just called from the Chicago airport. They had to be at the travel office at 4am Utah time and their plane leaves Chicago for Des Moines at noon Chicago time. It was so amazing to hear his voice. Matthew was the only other one home and we put it on speaker so all three of us chatted. Pictures are in the mail and should be here by Friday maybe. Still says he is happy and loves it so far.
As soon as I hung up the phone I started crying...what a mixed bag of emotions.
As soon as I hung up the phone I started crying...what a mixed bag of emotions.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Hell-o
Hey! So this is my first time emailing here. We have to email in the laundry room. It's a little weird. Things are going great! The food gives you some pretty terrible gas, but we're starting to get used to it.
So, funny story (which will explain my subject) We went to the R.C. (referral center) Not sure if you know what that is. Pretty much self explanatory. But anyways, we were doing chat for the first time. Very first person I chat with, I meant to say "Hello, this is Brendan. How can I help you?" but in my attempt to type quickly, I left an o off "hello" typing "hell, this is Brendan. Can I help you?" My companion tried to save the situation by saying "Sorry! I meant HELLO" but he accidentally typed "Sorry! I MENT hello". They never replied. Probably thought we were complete idiots. Someone missed out on eternal salvation beacause we can't type. We were joking about how it's like a special ed field trip to the MTC.
Things are really great though. I love it here. Its our first P day, and we get to go to the temple today! Thanks for the camera and lots of letters! I really love them. Send me cookiez! That would be sweet if you could collect everyones addresses since I didn't bring those with me.
anyhoooo. TTYL
-Elder Cooper
So, funny story (which will explain my subject) We went to the R.C. (referral center) Not sure if you know what that is. Pretty much self explanatory. But anyways, we were doing chat for the first time. Very first person I chat with, I meant to say "Hello, this is Brendan. How can I help you?" but in my attempt to type quickly, I left an o off "hello" typing "hell, this is Brendan. Can I help you?" My companion tried to save the situation by saying "Sorry! I meant HELLO" but he accidentally typed "Sorry! I MENT hello". They never replied. Probably thought we were complete idiots. Someone missed out on eternal salvation beacause we can't type. We were joking about how it's like a special ed field trip to the MTC.
Things are really great though. I love it here. Its our first P day, and we get to go to the temple today! Thanks for the camera and lots of letters! I really love them. Send me cookiez! That would be sweet if you could collect everyones addresses since I didn't bring those with me.
anyhoooo. TTYL
-Elder Cooper
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Letter #2
"4th day now. Things are pretty fun here. Just got done cleaning. Got to use some awesome jetpack GhostBusters vacuums! That was fun. Things are going well here....Could you get me the address of the following people: Simon, Jenny, Leslie, Jaryd, Kathryn, Andy, Morgan, Adam, Dakotah, Elizabeth, Christiansens, Lindsey, Campbells, Jessica...I'm really tired so I'm having trouble thinking of names. I started this letter this morning and am now finishing it tonight. That's how busy I am! Mail is like gold here, and it's great fun if it comes from girls :) It helps keep us going. Today has honestly been like the greatest day of my life. Just 2 minutes ago I was laughing so hard I was about to die. It has been a more amazing day than you can possibly imagine. I love it so much and am so glad I am here. Role play teaching is pretty much the greatest. During the role play we couldn't stop laughing, yet at the same time you felt the Spirit sooo strong. It is the most incredible thing. I love the people in my district. They are all amazing guys and we have a lot of fun. Hope all is well there."
Elder Cooper
Elder Cooper
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