16 Nov 2015

Mom, Dad, I love you so much, but sadly I still cant say I miss home. The experience out here has been amazing more than I think I have time to type. But I've been humbled by the mercy of the Lord. Not the mercy he shows to me but to those willing to listen and follow him. I've literally seen lives turn around and I've only been serving six days! We set a baptismal date yesterday, I won't be doing the baptism my companion will, but we're well on our way in the work of the Lord. I've come to a better understanding of the atonement than I've ever had before. I'm so excited to continue in my mission. I hope Ben is coping well. Let him know I said hi and love ya. He better not just be stuck in front of the computer 24/7 either. I don't care if he plays his games but he needs to do some other things. Hope you guys are doing well

Love

Elder Hoffman

Well its been crazy, Elder Gillespie is awesome for starters. He's in the last four months of his mission and he carries the companionship in lessons. He tryies to make sure I say something but it's 97% him. Our first lesson was with a recovering addict and she forgot about our lesson. So we were at her house about to leave and she called us and said "YOU HAVE TO COME TO MIKES RIGHT NOW." So we taught the lesson at her boyfriend's house and it was more of a get to know you since I'm new and then a short lesson on faith. Her boyfriend is a little different. He's a less active member and he's really into ancient aliens and psychics and those kinds of things. The interesting part is her 11 year old daughter is taking the lessons. We met her later in the week and sh's super excited for baptism and just about the church. Her mom found her under the covers with a flashlight at 3 am reading the Book of Mormon stories. She had a talk with her grandma about being baptized and her grandma is like strong Lutheran. So the grandma is saying you already were baptized and the daughters just like yea but it feels like I'm suppose to do this and this church just feels right.

       After that we had a dinner appointment and this elderly couple picked us up, Their car smelled a little funky and Elder G asks, "oh what kind of dog do you have?" They reply, "we don't have one" so we where a bit confused. Half way through the trip I slid my foot under the seat and felt a squish..... it was poop. Human baby poop. No idea why it was under there but it was gross.

       The next really interesting thing to happen was helping a P.I.(progressing investigator) move out of his trailer to an apartment. This guy has a bit of a story. He's was in some shady business and his wife is a recovering meth addict. He recently got out of jail and started meeting with the missionaries. I think his one year old daughter is a big reason he wants to change, but he's been really involved in the lessons and has grown a love for God. His life has taken a 180 turn. He got a solid job at Idahoan; they found a cheap apartment to live in and just in time. Their trailer didn't have heat and the winter is coming. It wouldn't be good for the child or they would have to leave their child. He broke probation because he's not suppose to drive but he doesn't have much of a choice. The cops pulled him over and there were several cops, But for whatever reason they just gave him a warning. Oh and apparently the hotel they're moving into is haunted. But I'm running out of time so I'll just leave on that note. Love all of you!

Elder Hoffman