Hey Everyone!
I can't believe this is the last time I will be writing home. It has been a really weird feeling this last week. I can't really explain it but it's the weirdest feeling ever. Plus the fact that I wasn't at church for my last Sunday. We had the opportunity to go down to the New Orleans area for hurricane clean up. We went to spend the night Friday in the mission home and then worked all day Saturday and Sunday. I was pretty bummed out at the first of the week though because we found out that everyone in the mission except for our zone was doing clean up work since Monday. Luckily President Wall invited us down to help for the weekend. We went to do work in Laplace. It got hit the worst probably from Isaac. There were over 7000 homes that were flooded. It was crazy to see all of the piles of trash and people's homes out on in their front yard. We helped by gutting the houses. The smell there was horrible and all of the homes were covered in mold. It was a good experience though. I loved it and was glad that I got to do some service like that on my mission. It was good to see all of the missionaries too and to see old companions and friends and be able to say bye to them.
I'm going to miss it here in Marksville and in Louisiana. I've grown to love the people here and truly will miss them as well. I'm so grateful for the opportunity that I had to serve these great people. Serving the lord for two years has changed my life and it has been the greatest experience. I know that this is Christ's restored gospel and that by living it we will find true happiness and joy. I know that with God all things are possible even if it seems like at the time it is the hardest thing you've ever gone through and that you won't be able to get through it. I love the Lord and hope that I will continue to serve him to the fullest. I love all of you and can't wait to see ya. I hope that you all have a great week and I'll be seeing you soon!!
Love,
Elder Cooper
Weird Week, Sept. 4, 2012
Hey Everyone,
I hope you all had great week. We weathered out the storm here, except it didn't really hit us at all. It was suppose to rain 10 to 12 inches, but I think we only had like 2 or 3 inches. Anyways it ways pretty anti climatic. We also went up to stay with the Alexandria missionaries so we weren't as bored during the lock down. I guess it was a blessing though that it kind of missed us. Parts of New Orleans though I heard were flooded pretty bad. We are going to go down on Saturday and Sunday probably to help out with service down there. I really want to do the service, but at the same time if I go I will miss my last Sunday and won't be able to see some of the members for the last time. So we'll see what happens. So with the Hurricane we weren't able to do much during the middle of the week. We were able to see Ms. Beverly and had a lesson with her on baptism. It went pretty good. She is one of the most difficult people I've ever taught. She keeps all of her commitments and she wants to be baptized, but everything we teach doesn't really sink in. She is a very agreeing person and so it is hard to judge if she is really understanding the lessons and if she is getting baptized for the right reasons. She is scheduled for Sept 15 to be baptized so we are going to be working with her a lot this next couple of weeks to prepare her for that.
I can't believe that I only have one more time that I will be e-mailing home. Time has just flown by so fast. It's been weird because everyone now keeps asking how I'm feeling about it. I don't think it's really hit me yet. I'm excited to see everyone, but at the same time I'm going to miss it out here. I just love this work and there won't be another time really like it. I just feel privileged to be a part of this great work and am truly going to miss it. I know that this last week will be weird, but awesome too. I hope that you all have a great week!
Love,
Elder Cooper
I hope you all had great week. We weathered out the storm here, except it didn't really hit us at all. It was suppose to rain 10 to 12 inches, but I think we only had like 2 or 3 inches. Anyways it ways pretty anti climatic. We also went up to stay with the Alexandria missionaries so we weren't as bored during the lock down. I guess it was a blessing though that it kind of missed us. Parts of New Orleans though I heard were flooded pretty bad. We are going to go down on Saturday and Sunday probably to help out with service down there. I really want to do the service, but at the same time if I go I will miss my last Sunday and won't be able to see some of the members for the last time. So we'll see what happens. So with the Hurricane we weren't able to do much during the middle of the week. We were able to see Ms. Beverly and had a lesson with her on baptism. It went pretty good. She is one of the most difficult people I've ever taught. She keeps all of her commitments and she wants to be baptized, but everything we teach doesn't really sink in. She is a very agreeing person and so it is hard to judge if she is really understanding the lessons and if she is getting baptized for the right reasons. She is scheduled for Sept 15 to be baptized so we are going to be working with her a lot this next couple of weeks to prepare her for that.
I can't believe that I only have one more time that I will be e-mailing home. Time has just flown by so fast. It's been weird because everyone now keeps asking how I'm feeling about it. I don't think it's really hit me yet. I'm excited to see everyone, but at the same time I'm going to miss it out here. I just love this work and there won't be another time really like it. I just feel privileged to be a part of this great work and am truly going to miss it. I know that this last week will be weird, but awesome too. I hope that you all have a great week!
Love,
Elder Cooper
Good Week August 27, 2012
Hey Everyone,
I hope you all had a great week. It has been pretty wet here and is soon to be a lot more with the storm coming in. I guess the storm is supposed to hit tomorrow. It sounds like it won't be too bad up here in Marksville, but we'll still probably be on lock down. This last week went by way too fast. It feels like it was just yesterday that I was at stake conference. It was a slower week though and we were only able to see Beverly as far as investigators go. We did have a good lesson with her though and she said that she had gone 4 days without coffee, so that is progress. We'll be moving her baptismal date again to Sept. 29 probably. I think she will eventually get baptized though. She just needs to continue to read and pray and to come to church because she hasn't been the last 2 weeks.
I can't believe I only have about 2 weeks left! Time is going by way too fast. Don't get me wrong, I am excited to see everyone and everything, but at the same time I will miss it here a lot. I have grown so much these last few months. I was kind of reluctant about Marksville at first, but I love it here and know that it is where I needed to be. I hope that these last few weeks will be awesome. I hope that you all have a great week and I'll write more next week.
Love,
Elder Cooper
Reply Forward
Scott Cooper
I hope you all had a great week. It has been pretty wet here and is soon to be a lot more with the storm coming in. I guess the storm is supposed to hit tomorrow. It sounds like it won't be too bad up here in Marksville, but we'll still probably be on lock down. This last week went by way too fast. It feels like it was just yesterday that I was at stake conference. It was a slower week though and we were only able to see Beverly as far as investigators go. We did have a good lesson with her though and she said that she had gone 4 days without coffee, so that is progress. We'll be moving her baptismal date again to Sept. 29 probably. I think she will eventually get baptized though. She just needs to continue to read and pray and to come to church because she hasn't been the last 2 weeks.
I can't believe I only have about 2 weeks left! Time is going by way too fast. Don't get me wrong, I am excited to see everyone and everything, but at the same time I will miss it here a lot. I have grown so much these last few months. I was kind of reluctant about Marksville at first, but I love it here and know that it is where I needed to be. I hope that these last few weeks will be awesome. I hope that you all have a great week and I'll write more next week.
Love,
Elder Cooper
Reply Forward
Scott Cooper
Great Week, August 20, 2012
Hey Everyone,
I hope that you all had a great week. I'm still refraining from saying y'all. I don't know why but it's just too southern and hick sounding. Anyways, this last week was great. It was a weird week though because we were in Alexandria all of Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. We had Zone conference on Friday and then Stake conference on Saturday and Sunday. Zone conference was pretty good. We just went over on how to use the Book of Mormon better in everything that we do. I loved stake conference though. We we're able to go to all of the sessions. The theme of the conference was service and especially centered on serving each other. It was really good. It's so true that the lord uses us to bless others lives as we serve them. It made me think back to something I'd learned before, that if your having a hard time loving someone you should serve them. I don't know I can't really put all of my thoughts in words but it was really good and just reminded me that, that was one of the things that we all covenant to do when we are baptized is to comfort those that stand in need of comfort and to help those in need. Jesus Christ was the greatest example of serving others. He always went and healed the sick and the afflicted and lifted up those that were down trodden. I just love this gospel and know that it is truly the fullness of Christ's gospel restored to the earth.
The beginning of this week we were able to teach quite a few people and we have four new people that we are teaching now. So things are looking up here in Marksville. I don't really have any more time today. I hope that you all have a great week!
Love,
Elder Cooper
I hope that you all had a great week. I'm still refraining from saying y'all. I don't know why but it's just too southern and hick sounding. Anyways, this last week was great. It was a weird week though because we were in Alexandria all of Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. We had Zone conference on Friday and then Stake conference on Saturday and Sunday. Zone conference was pretty good. We just went over on how to use the Book of Mormon better in everything that we do. I loved stake conference though. We we're able to go to all of the sessions. The theme of the conference was service and especially centered on serving each other. It was really good. It's so true that the lord uses us to bless others lives as we serve them. It made me think back to something I'd learned before, that if your having a hard time loving someone you should serve them. I don't know I can't really put all of my thoughts in words but it was really good and just reminded me that, that was one of the things that we all covenant to do when we are baptized is to comfort those that stand in need of comfort and to help those in need. Jesus Christ was the greatest example of serving others. He always went and healed the sick and the afflicted and lifted up those that were down trodden. I just love this gospel and know that it is truly the fullness of Christ's gospel restored to the earth.
The beginning of this week we were able to teach quite a few people and we have four new people that we are teaching now. So things are looking up here in Marksville. I don't really have any more time today. I hope that you all have a great week!
Love,
Elder Cooper
Great Week, August 13, 2012
Hey Everyone,
I hope that you all had a great week. This week was weird. The week went by fast but a lot of the days seemed to drag out. We had a pretty good week though. Sunday was awesome yesterday too. We found 2 new people to teach and have two more that we are supposed to be teaching this week! So things are starting to pick up here and it's really exciting when you start having multiple people to teach. We still definitely need to find a lot more people to teach though. It was pretty cool, though, how we found one of the people. We were looking for a former investigator but couldn't find her address. We decided to try some of the houses close by to where the address was suppose to be. We knocked on one door and this guy Albert answered. He didn't seem too interested at first but as we talked to him more he let us in and we were able to get to know him better and teach him about the Book of Mormon. He was pretty interested in the Book of Mormon and said that he actually already had a copy because his wife, who is deceased, was Mormon. It was pretty cool and he said that we could come back and teach him more about the Book of Mormon. So good things are happening. Also, Beverly came to church, which was good. I'm excited for this next week and having more people to teach. This week just reminded me that the Lord is preparing people and sometimes he tries our patience. I had been praying pretty hard this last week that we could find people to teach, because there was nothing really going on these last few weeks. And then yesterday all these people showed up to church that we can start teaching and with Albert and we are now teaching one of the member's Girlfriend. I just love this work and even though it's hard sometimes it is the best thing and the most rewarding thing I've been able to do in my life. I hope that you all have an awesome week!
Love,
Elder Cooper
I hope that you all had a great week. This week was weird. The week went by fast but a lot of the days seemed to drag out. We had a pretty good week though. Sunday was awesome yesterday too. We found 2 new people to teach and have two more that we are supposed to be teaching this week! So things are starting to pick up here and it's really exciting when you start having multiple people to teach. We still definitely need to find a lot more people to teach though. It was pretty cool, though, how we found one of the people. We were looking for a former investigator but couldn't find her address. We decided to try some of the houses close by to where the address was suppose to be. We knocked on one door and this guy Albert answered. He didn't seem too interested at first but as we talked to him more he let us in and we were able to get to know him better and teach him about the Book of Mormon. He was pretty interested in the Book of Mormon and said that he actually already had a copy because his wife, who is deceased, was Mormon. It was pretty cool and he said that we could come back and teach him more about the Book of Mormon. So good things are happening. Also, Beverly came to church, which was good. I'm excited for this next week and having more people to teach. This week just reminded me that the Lord is preparing people and sometimes he tries our patience. I had been praying pretty hard this last week that we could find people to teach, because there was nothing really going on these last few weeks. And then yesterday all these people showed up to church that we can start teaching and with Albert and we are now teaching one of the member's Girlfriend. I just love this work and even though it's hard sometimes it is the best thing and the most rewarding thing I've been able to do in my life. I hope that you all have an awesome week!
Love,
Elder Cooper
Slow Week August 6, 2012
Hey Everyone,
It was a hot one here this week. I'm sure it was just as bad back home too. This week was another slow one work wise, but it seemed to go by really fast. It was transfers this last week too. Elder Jensen got transferred to Denhim Springs. At the transfer meeting I got a pretty big surprise. I thought I was going to be getting a newer missionary, but I actually got someone who's been out for over a year. So Elder Gubler is my new companion. I was pretty excited when president Wall called out his name because I've we've been in the same district before and he is way cool. He's from a small town in Nevada and he's a really good missionary too. So I'm really excited for these next few weeks and all of the miracles that we are going to see.
We were able to see ms. Beverly on Saturday. We had a pretty good lesson with her and she says that she wants to become a member of the church. We had been having a hard time with her because she doesn't really understand too much that we teach her. She seemed to understand a lot better though this last time and we're excited to keep working with her. Unfortunately though she didn't come to church yesterday. So we don't know what happened but, hopefully will continue to help her to progress towards baptism.
So right now Beverly is the only investigator that we have. We'll be focusing on finding quite a bit for these next few weeks. I love it here in Marksville and hope to be able to have a great last transfer here and to find those who are being prepared here in this area. I love this gospel and know that there is nothing else better that I could be doing right now then serving the Lord. I hope you all have a great week.
Love,
Elder Cooper
It was a hot one here this week. I'm sure it was just as bad back home too. This week was another slow one work wise, but it seemed to go by really fast. It was transfers this last week too. Elder Jensen got transferred to Denhim Springs. At the transfer meeting I got a pretty big surprise. I thought I was going to be getting a newer missionary, but I actually got someone who's been out for over a year. So Elder Gubler is my new companion. I was pretty excited when president Wall called out his name because I've we've been in the same district before and he is way cool. He's from a small town in Nevada and he's a really good missionary too. So I'm really excited for these next few weeks and all of the miracles that we are going to see.
We were able to see ms. Beverly on Saturday. We had a pretty good lesson with her and she says that she wants to become a member of the church. We had been having a hard time with her because she doesn't really understand too much that we teach her. She seemed to understand a lot better though this last time and we're excited to keep working with her. Unfortunately though she didn't come to church yesterday. So we don't know what happened but, hopefully will continue to help her to progress towards baptism.
So right now Beverly is the only investigator that we have. We'll be focusing on finding quite a bit for these next few weeks. I love it here in Marksville and hope to be able to have a great last transfer here and to find those who are being prepared here in this area. I love this gospel and know that there is nothing else better that I could be doing right now then serving the Lord. I hope you all have a great week.
Love,
Elder Cooper
Last Transfer July 31, 2012
Hey Everyone,
It's really weird to think that I'm going to be starting my last transfer! I can't believe how fast the time has gone. We found out yesterday that Elder Jensen is getting transferred. I'll miss him but at the same time it will probably be a good thing to finish out with someone else. I find out on Wednesday who my new companion will be. I thought I was going to be training. but I guess not because Pres. Wall didn't call. So I was a little excited to train, but it will be good who ever I'm with.
This last week was really slow though. Our one investigator Beverly is having a hard time understanding what we're teaching her. We pushed back her baptismal date for Sept. 1. We'll see how that goes. It seems like it's going to take a while for her, but that's alright. So yeah since it was such a slow week, there is not too much to write about. I love being out here and I'm definitely going to miss it. I hope that you all have a great week and hopefully I'll have some more stuff to write about next week.
Love,
Elder Cooper
It's really weird to think that I'm going to be starting my last transfer! I can't believe how fast the time has gone. We found out yesterday that Elder Jensen is getting transferred. I'll miss him but at the same time it will probably be a good thing to finish out with someone else. I find out on Wednesday who my new companion will be. I thought I was going to be training. but I guess not because Pres. Wall didn't call. So I was a little excited to train, but it will be good who ever I'm with.
This last week was really slow though. Our one investigator Beverly is having a hard time understanding what we're teaching her. We pushed back her baptismal date for Sept. 1. We'll see how that goes. It seems like it's going to take a while for her, but that's alright. So yeah since it was such a slow week, there is not too much to write about. I love being out here and I'm definitely going to miss it. I hope that you all have a great week and hopefully I'll have some more stuff to write about next week.
Love,
Elder Cooper
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