Hey family :)
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| Elder Cooper as "Jack" in Into the Woods before he left on his mission. |
Man I'm tired, but not from the week
this time. Actually that part has been getting a little bit easier, I think
it's the morning routine I have: seriously SO inspired. It's what I've been
searching for for nearly 10 years now. Wake up, work out, then shower but
something I've learned to do here- sing in the mornings. I just sing as many
hymns as I can during my shower.
All came from D&C 25 because
before now I would always just pray, but A: That takes a good 15 minutes and
then you have a 30 minute shower (I was notorious for that until Alkmaar ;) ),
B: I'm so tired I just can't keep my thoughts focused or I fall asleep and C:
My heart wasn’t really in it. It was just a "morning prayer". So with
D&C 25 I was shown that "the song of the righteous is a
prayer unto [God]" and I began to follow the Spirit's encouragement to do
so. It works WONDERS!!! Seriously, it's life changing.
Anyways why I'm tired- just had the
COOLEST P-Day ever! I feel like it was the kind of P-Day that James has every
week haha. That's right, we explored ruins. But not just any old ruins- World
War II beach bunkers on the coast of IJmuiden! THEY WERE SO COOL! I'll send
some pictures, but there was one where you either walk down these stairs or
through a different entrance in the front and go beneath the ground where it is
pitch black but massive! If you didn't bring a light you'd get so lost :).
Another we found underneath this tiny hill of earth. We went beneath and followed
for a ways until we found this tiny space you can barely fit through crawling
(you would have HATED this mom ;) ) but it leads to this square hole where you
climb up some rings to the top, ah it was cool!
We were just climbing all over these
bunkers :) luckily no one got hurt and it was just straight fun. Then we went
and played American football on the beach :) oh and this was a Zone P-day
so almost everyone was there. Nailed it! LOVED it! Definitely worth seeing and
playing around in. Me and the brothers would go to town in those things! Nerf
wars anyone? So yeah, I is tired but it's ok cause we just completed another
successful week.
You know what the saddest thing ever
is and the most heartbreaking thing ever? A divided family :( I see it SO
much out here. You simply learn to find and appreciate the ones that are still
in tact. There are examples of this I have shared before, but today I share
about this wonderful woman. She's married with three kids and the only member
of the family. Yet she never falters and never slows her pace. It breaks her
heart to be the only one but she presses forward in faith knowing that this is
the church of Christ and that through Him her family can be eternal one day.
Obviously we want to help her out as much as we can and the boulder is starting
to roll!
We eat with them maybe every other
week and have been developing a really good relationship with them, but
yesterday we made another big step and are now officially friends with her
daughters. We had a game night here in Alkmaar and they were there to join in
the fun. There’s one daughter we
watch closely because out of all of them she is the most likely to join first.
She feels something, that we all can see, and she's more willing to listen to us
than the others.
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| Be the one! |
Here I want to say something. Be the
one. It's another idea I've come to believe in out here; be the one and let
your influence spread! So many times we wait around, nervous of what others
will think or waiting for someone else to take the first step when that's
exactly what EVERYONE is thinking! Story time.
Shayla's cousin Elder Praag found
this man on the street named D. D
decided to be baptized and after Elder Praag was transferred to Hengelo where
he was introduced to D sister G. Her husband was not interested at all and
promised he would never stop smoking and would have nothing to do with the
church. Thanks to D’s example she was able to find the strength to enter the
waters of baptism alone without her husband. She continued on faithfully, keeping
the commandments and setting the example with all the energy she possessed. It
couldn't have been easy, but after awhile her husband started getting lonely
smoking on the porch alone and decided to quit. This led to a chain of events
that led him to investigate the gospel and he is now baptized alongside his
wife and two kids. Soon they will be sealed in the temple.
See what one person can do simply
through their example? Imagine if G had fallen because her husband wasn't supporting
her? Or if D hadn't joined because his family would think bad of him? 5 souls
were brought unto Christ and all because of someone's example. There are people
just waiting out there for you to set the example. Just waiting for someone to
show them what it's all about or that it's all worth it. It may be the scariest
thing you ever do in you life but be the one. Be the one that stops when things
go to far. Be the one who lives the gospel even when the going gets rough. Be
the one who stands strong in the faith of Christ even if you yourself feel weak
in that moment. There are people waiting for your righteous example and now is
the time to act. So be the one.
If the one sister would just do
that I'm convinced the rest of the family would eventually follow. Her sister
is a bit more closed but she's still cordial, but yesterday we got to click
with them.
We played this fun card game and I
got to be on one sisters team. Well here comes my gratitude with the games
we've played at home, we had a blast! Just imagine, me killing it with the
pink deck (because obviously that's the best one) but then I let someone try it
out and they lose my luck. So I enlist her help to help me win with the brown
deck and we were SO good we almost won twice! I kept trying to match the colors
and put them in even piles instead of in numerical order but apparently dat mag
niet (that is not allowed). I don't know it was just funny, we were cracking
jokes and it was just the best. We did win the last round though Jasper brought
us good luck! :) And because of something I did in the game they told me I
earned a dinner appointment (cause I've missed the past two that they've had
and they wanted to make sure I wasn't avoiding them ;)) and told their mom to
make another one so that's three weeks in a row with one of our favorite
families! This place rocks!
I've come up with a good analogy for
my mission thus far: Vlissingen- my Greenie City. Almere- my First Love.
Sint-Niklaas- my Refiner's Fire. Alkmaar- True Love. I cannot express with
words how much I love this branch, this place, everything! I love Almere with
all my heart and it will always have a special place for me, I love
Sint-Niklaas and those I love, I will love forever, but Alkmaar is something
deeper for me, something spiritual. Maybe Almere could have been it, I was just too young to
understand
everything that was happening. Here I see it. Here we have
relationships with families and people that I never want to leave. Here we are
literally seeing the influence we are having in their lives. Here we truly feel
the Lord's hand in everything we do. This has become a very special place for
me and I never want to leave! I'd be just fine spending the rest of my mission
here! Psh, I'd be ok living here forever! For the first time I can say like
Ammon "Yea, I desire to dwell among this people for a time; yea, and
perhaps until the day I die." But don't worry I'd just bring you all here
:).
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| Companion love! |
I hope one day you can all meet the
people on my mission who have touched my heart so deeply it feels about to
burst. Never before have I fasted this much for a cause. Never before have I
just felt this love rolling over me like 10 foot ocean waves. Never before have
I had a companion where literally everything we do is in sync and we are 100%
on the same page all the time. These two transfers will probably stay the most
special of my entire mission experience.
Hmm...just saying my heart but to the
members in other cities I have taught in…it's not that I don't love the others
in fact I love them with just as much of my heart but in completely different
ways. It's like how I love all of my brothers equally, but in different ways.
If I loved them all for being my best friend, my inspiration/the reason I
do everything or my world then I couldn't love them all equally for they'd
be contesting for the same place in my heart. It's important to be different
for that exact reason. Sint-Niklaas will always be a sacred place to me as
well, it's where I learned how to magnify a calling (because everyone
there were great examples and I love them) and where I gained the principle
of God being my first priority that I will base my entire life on. Almere is
like a best friend. I love that city and I love those people! I learned what
it's like to have a church that is energized and still has fire and hope and
where I truly gained some life long friends. And Vlissingen I learned truly how
to submit myself to the Lord. It's where I was humbled enough to begin growing
and where my whole life began.
So see, be different! It can mean the
world to someone later. LOVE YOU ALL!!! Seriously, the best ever! I have no
idea what I'd do without you. I love our relationship. I love our dynamic. I
just simply love us and wouldn't have it any other way! The family is what it's
all about. What else was Christ's atonement for if not to bring us all together
as a family in the end of time for eternity and isn't He the center of all? Do
everything you can to protect and cherish your family. Sacrifice everything,
give up everything! Just love your family and bring that to pass if it's
missing.
Wooo! What a letter :) I love
learning through the Holy Ghost, don't you? :) Till next week best family ever!
Love,
Elder Joco Cooper
BATMAN!
Culture Note: No need for Highway Patrol here they build
little demons instead. They're known as Flitzers. They're these little cameras
that are posted every now and again on the road. They take a picture of your
license plate if you're going to fast and they send the bill to your home. So
you're never safe and there's no escaping or dodging. Even when you think you
know where they all are there are portable ones! I swear I've been flitzed
twice because European speed limits change in mere seconds and that's always
where the Flitzers are... but I haven't got the bill so I think we're good.
Thank heavens for good old
Highway patrol men!
Pictures of the Adventure to the WWII ruins.
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| With one of the Elders he was able to train (his boy..haha) |
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| No doubt their zone feels safe with them ;) Love these two missionaries! |
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