28 Nov 2016

Its been a good week and winter is upon Idaho. We've got some snow. Temperature isn't bad yet its still around the 20s and 30s. Elder Graham isn't a huge fan of it... but he'll adjust or he'll suffer through it, one of the two. I should be more compassionate but it was funny. We were on a door step and it started to snow and it was probably about 25 out, and he looks over at me and asks, "Does it really get worse?"

Monday- pretty chill day we did all the usual stuff and just played some card games at a church building. We had a great lesson with Ryley that night. So three months ago when I was getting transferred down here Elder Hale told me to find Ryley. We've spent three months trying to meet him and a week or two ago Elder Horn and I caught him outside and played some football with him. Anyways so we had a lesson with him and it went really well. He remembers most of the stuff the other Elders taught him and he came to church this week! 

Tuesday- I don't remember what we did on Tuesday

Wednesday- We had a lesson with Betty and we will probably back off for a little while. She is an awesome lady but just doesn't want to progress right now so we are going to give her some time to just think, and maybe make a short visit now and again. Umm it was transfers but that didn't affect us at all, except our district split back in half, but in like 2 weeks it will combine again.

Thursday- I think this is when the first of the snowfall came and I decided to drift around a corner and Elder Graham didn't like that. Aside from that, we actually were productive that day and oh yea it was Thanksgiving. That slipped my mind. Somehow we ended up with three lessons set up on Thankgiving and then they all cancelled because I don't think they realized what day the lesson was on. But we enjoyed the holiday at the McDonald's. That's a family not the restaurant. Then we spent a bit of the evening with Bishop Payne.

Friday- another day that I cant recall at the moment.

Saturday- ummmm I'm drawing a blank here too. We got new planners and I don't have my last one with me.

Sunday- pretty good Sunday we went to church out in Dingle. Then we had a couple lessons out there it was a good day.

That brings us to now. Anyways things are going well out here. So there is the 25 days 25 ways to serve thing on Mormon.org and one of the ways is to call your parents.  President has just informed us we are not to do that. So sorry Mom and Dad. but Christmas is coming up anyways.

Welp have a good week! Love all you guys!

21 Nov 2016

I don’t know how I should start this e-mail but it’s been a pretty good week!

Monday- Pretty usual Monday shopping and all that good stuff. For p-day we went and played some volleyball. We were supposed to have a couple of lessons but they fell through.

Tuesday- pretty good day we had district meeting and our district got big suddenly. A couple of Elders got moved out of their area and now our district is combined. District meeting was pretty good though. It was focused around studying for our investigators. In the afternoon we stopped by Eunice. I’m not sure how to spell her name.  She’s a friendly old lady.  She has stopped attending church since her husband passed away. She still holds a good faith. We’re just working on getting her to sacrament meeting.

 Wednesday- Definitely an odd day for us but also really good. Elder Welling went to his departing temple trip so I got to have his trainee for the day. In a couple weeks Elder Welling will be home and I’ll most likely pick up Elder Horne for the last three weeks of his training. So today I had double duty for 12 week. Then we had a lesson with Betty. Another sweet ol' lady, but she just isn’t progressing. She has some hold up and is very sensitive about sharing it but she always invites us back. We are hoping that she will start accepting basic commitments like prayer.

Thursday- The food bank! So once a month we help with a local food bank and its pretty fun. We meet a lot of people. It was pretty cool. They managed to get a bunch of turkeys for Thanksgiving. Then after the food bank we exchanged so Elder Welling spent the day with me. Things just went awesome. We had a lesson with Craig, a less active guy. We stopped by his house and we haven't had many chances to actually talk to him, but he invited us in and said he wants to get to the temple and get back into church. So we had a good lesson with him and have another scheduled. Then we stopped by the Eborn's. We only met sister Eborn and she was super friendly. It was a little bit of an awkward interaction at first but we just spoke up a bit and she said that we can start coming by for lessons. Then we saw the Gillies and they are an awesome family. The couple is trying to get to the temple they have both been less active for a while. We are on the second temple lesson and things are going super well. We were talking about tithing and he told us something he heard. He had always had questions about if you pay net or gross, and someone answered him, ‘Well do you want net or gross blessings?” I thought it was funny and pretty accurate. It was just an awesome day

 Friday- Pretty busy day, we ran around town making sure everything was prepped for Barbara's baptism and honestly we ran around for almost nothing. Our ward mission leader took care of almost all the details which is a first. Normally we end up being the one printing programs and filling the font and everything else. But this time the ward had everything set. We then had a final lesson with Barbara as an investigator. We talked about the plan of salvation and I love Barbara but sometimes it’s hard to keep her focused. She will start a story and get really off topic. But nonetheless it was a really good lesson.

Saturday- The big day! We didn’t do much today except for attend the baptism and share a brief message during it. The ward was very supportive and it was a great experience for her.

Sunday- Had talks in the 1st and 4th wards and luckily we filled the time. I ran the worst case scenario in my head and I was left with about 35 mins to speak, but the youth speaker actually talked for probably 12 minutes. Sunday was just crazy busy but we got to set up an appointment with Ryley and we stopped by the Higlee's and it turns out his grandpa had just passed away so we shared a message of Gods plan and it was a really good opportunity.

Anyways this has been an amazing week and I love being in the lords work! I hope you all are having a good week at home!

Love you guys

14 Nov 2016

 Another great week out in Idaho! Im not sure if anything really cool has happened this week but there’s been a lot of blessing and miracles!

Monday- We had a pretty sweet P-day we went up Raymond Canyon and climbed up a hill and the view was awesome.​ Coming down was a little tough there were a lot of loose rocks and we ended up surfing down more than walking but everyone is ok!

Tuesday- Kind of a slow day we didn’t have a whole lot happen but we got some things set up.

Wednesday- We had a lot of stuff scheduled but about half of it fell through. We did have a lesson with Betty, a sweet old lady. She’s been taught for a while and she has hold ups but seems to believe in the church. She doesn’t explain much to us so helping her is kind of tough but hopefully with the spirit we will figure out what to do. We also saw woody, has an old guy out in dingle who is back and forth in activity and he seems to be wanting to get back out to church. I love visiting him; he has a lot of stories and a good spirit.

Thursday- Another pretty slow day more setting things up and weekly planning and such.

Friday- We exchanged so I was with Elder Horne and it was a pretty good day! We tried a few times to get a hold of Barbara the last couple of days but couldn't get a response. So we just stopped by her house and, she has been struggling a bit but also had a couple of tender mercies and little miracles. So we shared a lesson and it’s awesome to see how excited she is for her baptism.

Saturday-We planned to go to a ward cleaning because it was supposed to be like a big event but no one showed up except like the bishop and a couple other people. So we didn’t exactly get to meet as many people as we hoped. To be fair they planned this on the day of the semi-final football game. The team has never made it this far ever before, and one more game and they would have been state champs. Sadly they lost.

Sunday-busy day we had talks in Pegram and we had 2 days’ notice to prepare these. Luckily next week we have talks planned and they were the same topic so it wasn’t too bad. Plus Pegram only has like 15 members, so they are pretty lenient with the length of their Sacrament meetings.

Then later in the evening we had Barbara’s interview and now she’s all prepared to be baptized! So we are really looking forward to that this week.

It’s been an awesome week and miracles are still happening. I hope you all have an awesome week back home!

7 Nov 2016

Things this week have been exciting and pretty fun.

So last Sunday the week before this previous one, was the Star Valley temple dedication so that replaced our regular sacrament meeting. But it was an amazing experience. I've never had an opportunity to see a temple dedicated and it was awesome. The day before they had the cultural celebration and that was a pretty spiritual even too. They had like a closing number and they had this guy dressed up as captain Moroni waving around the Title of liberty. I was pretty jealous of that kid. I wish I could have been Captain Moroni.

Monday was pretty amazing too. We went to Soda Springs and the entire mission got to watch Cokeville Miracle. The movie itself was awesome. I haven't cried at a movie in a while. But the really cool part was that afterwards we got to have a fireside with Ron Hartley, the sheriff at the time of the Cokeville miracle. The reason president got us all together for Halloween is apparently Idaho has a problem with people dressing up like missionaries and vandalizing various things. So if all the missionaries are in one place we can’t get in trouble. Ha.

The rest of the week was just awesome. We had three nights in a row that we had several lessons so elder Graham got some good experience and he even had the opportunity to extend a baptismal invitation! We have had a lot of miracles this week and the Lord is definitely hastening his work!

This Sunday for testimony meeting a little 12 year old, bore his testimony that the church is true. But this was different than the typical 12 year old. He had just finished reading the Book of Mormon and had spent awhile praying and got discouraged because he hadn’t felt that he had received an answer. Then one day before he got on the bus, he said one more prayer and had an overwhelming witness of the truth of the church. It was awesome to see such a young kid who could seek so earnestly.

This church is awesome more than that it’s true! Even a 12 year old can know that!

Love you guys and I hope you have a good week!

31 Oct 2016

Well I guess I’ll get this out of the way, but it’s been one year since I entered the MTC.... Super crazy to think about it doesn't feel like that. A lot has happened in that year I wish I would have journaled better so I could remember everything. But most of all this time out here has helped me solidify my testimony that this is the restored church of Jesus Christ and he is our head, who works through a Prophet on earth today! It’s an exciting thing to know and blessing flow from following it principles. I guess that wasn't the most of all part though, even greater than just knowing it is to see it bring blessings into the lives of others. The hard part about being rejected isn't the actual rejection but that people don’t understand what it is they are rejecting they think we are just another sect looking to increase the numbers in our congregations, but this is the restored Gospel the fullness of the Gospel lies with in what we teach and it brings salvation and gladness to all those who head it. I don’t know if I ever got a mission plaque, I don’t remember giving a favorite scripture for it, but I love D&C 128:19 not ever one I read it seems to understand what I see in it, but I find it poetic in a way just in the way it describes the joy of this gospel, the verse reads:
"Now, what do we hear in the gospel which we have received? A voice of gladness! A voice of 
mercy from heaven; and a voice of truth out of the earth; glad tidings for the dead; a voice of 
gladness for the living and the dead; glad tidings of great joy. How beautiful upon the mountains 
are the feet of those that bring glad tidings of good things, and that say unto Zion: Behold, thy 
God reigneth! As the dews of Carmel, so shall the knowledge of God descend upon them!" 
I don’t know how to properly describe the feeling the spirit gives as I ponder upon this verse, but how great is it to know the truth of this message, how great is it to know that our God reigneth, how great is it to know that the dead shall rise and all that is lost shall be restored! That the knowledge of God can and will descend upon those who seek diligently! In verse 22 of this same section it follows up to say:
"Brethren, shall we not go on in so great a cause? Go forward and not backward. Courage, 
brethren; and on, onto the victory! Let your hearts rejoice, and be exceedingly glad. Let the 
earth break forth into singing. Let the dead speak forth anthems of eternal praise to the King
Immanuel, who hath ordained, before the world was, that which would enable us to redeem 
them out of their prison; for the prisoners shall go free."

Many people do not yet understand the glory in the Gospel we Share or do not understand it to a full extent, it’s something that I myself cannot teach anyone, but they must seek to find through the spirit. But when we obtain this understanding, when we come to see the glory of the work of God, how can we not take courage? To spread his word abroad that all may rejoice! This world is full of darkness and difficulty.  I’ve especially seen that in my time of service. Christ is the light of this world. I don’t know how else to explain it. This is the work of the Lord. There is joy, comfort and strength in the Gospel and in affirming your faith in it. It is an anchor for our soul. The fullness of God’s plan and gospel is on earth again restored through a prophet. Now the great work is to bring it unto all that they may have joy! I say this in the name of Him, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

I apologize for not giving an account of my week, but for my year mark I wanted to share a testimony. Friends and family I urge you to come closer unto Christ. In the scriptures it says Christ had no apparent beauty. I don’t think it meant his appearance, but the doctrine and principles he taught. They do not seem immediately pleasing but as we seek to understand and comprehend His teachings we will see the beauty that lies within.

I love you all! I hope you guys know that!

Elder Timothy D Hoffman

P.S Happy Halloween 

24 Oct 2016

 Monday- P-day was pretty fun, we went up Bloomington canyon. We were going to go up to the lake but it snowed a few inches Sunday night and the Sisters said their car wouldn’t make it so we just spent some time in the snow. Snowmen, snowball fights; all that jazz. It was still like 40 degrees out so it was pretty enjoyable. Then we had a family home evening we had to get over to. It was a pretty fun day. At the FHE we shared D&C 128:19, 22 a couple of my favorite scriptures.  Just talking about how awesome the gospel is!

Tuesday- We got a new investigator! Her name is Barbara and she talked to the bishop about joining the church. So we didn’t do much except go and talk to her. She's had missionaries in the past but it seems like there has been hold ups before. So hopefully if there are still any problems we can help her out.

Wednesday- we had our first district meeting as the Cokeville district. Elder Welling is an awesome leader and since there’s only two companionships and both are training we kept the meeting pretty focused on training. We met Whitney. She's in her mid-20s and we helped her parents and her move something for them. Turns out she is trying to get back in the church and we were able to share a good lesson with her about overcoming obstacles.

Thursday- We helped out at the food bank. It’s a pretty cool experience you meet a lot of the people in need that live in Montpelier. All the food is donation stuff and some of it is pretty good. Other stuff stores have to get rid of it because it’s at the sell by date and it’s a bit questionable. Then we had weekly planning and 12 week. So by that time it was dinner. We had a good experience though. We met the Gillies family and they are less active but want to get to the temple so we are going to start helping them!

Friday- By the way, by this point all the snow had melted :( But Friday was a pretty cool day; the snow storm broke a bunch of branches around town like every other yard had busted up trees. But we helped a couple people clean them up and take them to the landfill. We helped a couple other trucks unload while we were there. We met the Lyngars; a nice couple, a little crude, but very friendly. We talked with them for a while and there was a pretty spiritual point then the husband started asking questions that didn’t really make sense. He got into some anti Mormon stuff online and doesn’t believe in the Book of Mormon now. Most of what he said I’m pretty sure wasn't even factual but he was a little upset when we didn’t seem troubled over what he was saying. They have had missionaries in the past and don’t seem like they really want to progress, like they might but they mostly just want to have hang out buddies instead of missionaries. We'll try a couple more times and see where things go. Hopefully we can get past the rough exterior.

Saturday- was a pretty slow day, we did meet another less active family though and they invited us back for lunch! Im not sure why they are less active they seem to like the church the guy kept talking about how he loved his mission and all that. Nevertheless they are a good family, and hopefully they will start receiving the blessings of the sacrament again soon.

Sunday- we went to the dingle ward, really good sacrament meeting mostly about charity and it sparked a couple of ideas for some talks we have coming up in the wards. My pen died so I couldn’t wright half way through my thought. Hopefully I can remember the rest by the time I get new pens.

This week has been super good and it’s amazing to see the work of the Lord progress. Keep nourishing your seeds of faith, heck if it’s a tree already don’t stop. Our spirits will begin to wither if they aren't nourished, it doesn't matter what stage of life we are in or how far we have progressed in the gospel.

Love you all!! And have an awesome week.

17 Oct 2016

The start of this week was pretty odd but it’s been an awesome week! I'm training again!!!! Elder Graham is my new companion and it’s been great this last week!

Monday- We said a few good byes for Elder Curtis and that was most of the day. He is now at home and will be returning to the mission in about three weeks.

Tuesday- super weird day.  So we dropped off Elder Curtis and I hung out with the North stake Elders for the day. We found a dog named Virgil running around the streets, so we spent like 20 minutes earning his trust. We got him in our truck bed and called his owner. That was fun.  The highlight of the day was teaching Max.  He  is a less active and his wife is a non-member. They are pushing 60 or so and he realized he needs the Church back and she loves the missionary lessons. The lesson was awesome. We taught the restoration and focused on the atonement. It was a really good lesson!

Wednesday- A STAR IS BORN!!!!! Elder Graham, my first full son has arrived! Anyway he’s a really awesome Elder and we've been getting along super well! For his first day we were visiting some ward leaders then we went to see a less active family. Just before we left the dad said, “Wait you have to get your nose hairs waxed. It’s a tradition we have.” No idea if that’s the truth but they did it with us. So for Elder Graham’s first day we got our nose hairs waxed. It didn't hurt too bad but I had to do it a couple of times. The wax broke off the stick in my nose...

Thursday - Lots of planning and studies. We visited a family we helped move in and a couple of other elders helped.  They set up a dinner to feed us all. They were very confused on the fact that we helped them for free.

Friday- So the family gave us a meal and the other Elders couldn't make it so we had like 3 times as many tacos as anyone needed. The family was super nice and they actually made it to the Star Valley open house last week. We talked a bit about it and kind of why Latter-day Saints are the way they are. Then they started to get off topic and started bashing the Jehovah's Witness pretty hard. No one there was a JW, but the family did not seem to like them.

Saturday- we were out in Dingle and we found a less active family that wants to go to the temple and be sealed. So that was awesome. They had their family over so we just shared a short message and planned a time for next week to see them.

It’s been a pretty great week. A lot of studies with Elder Graham being a new missionary, but it’s helped me get back to the basics of the gospel. It’s been a lot of fun and a lot of help.

Hope all of you are having an awesome week!