WITH MORE VISION COMES MORE MOTIVATION

Hey guys!

Can't believe it has been another week.  What I said way long ago in the MTC is still true though.  Days feel like weeks and weeks feel like day!

  

So our week basically started with an exchange with president Ivory.  Kinda intimidating going out and working with him to be honest, but it was super good and we did a ton!  First we went to visit a former Branch President, now inactive, member family.  We went there and only the wife was there.  We still talked with her for a bit.  She was so impressed that the mission president came to her house.  She kept saying she saw a picture of Ivory's family, and she felt the spirit so strong.  She got very emotional and said " I know my family needs the gospel in our lives"  It was an amazing experience.  It is just complicated. We tried meeting with them again today... but to no avail.  I am scared her husband won't let her talk with us any more!  We will just wait and pray for the time being. They are wonderful people, please keep them in your prayers.

Elder Cooper is still in love with the Clouds (even
if there is only one)

Guess where else we went this week... I bet you guessed it right... to the hospital again!  This time it wasn't any missionaries. ;) We went and gave a member a blessing.  We actually went twice this week.  What's another week without the hospital?!  We gave her a blessing the first time, then went on our exchange with president Ivory and visited her again.  I feel so sorry for anyone who has to stay at a hospital here.  We just walked right in and went up an elevator without talking to a single person.  No one was around.  We get to the tiny room and there are three elderly women crammed in a single room!  There was enough room for three beds, one bathroom, and a couple of steps in between.  It was not a place I ever want to stay.

To kinda explain why I am so late on getting this email out this week is because we kinda had a surprise exchange with Ivory again.  We were only supposed to meet with that family again and then go separate ways, but that didn't happen.  They weren't there, so Ivory was like "well what can we do here and now?"  Super cool to see him be so gun-ho about doing missionary work and all that good stuff, sincerely was...we had to switch some things around, but it all worked out.  We had some really cool experiences and really it is something special not a ton of missionaries will be able to do on their missions.  He knows Romanian really really well for being here a transfer.  Seriously... kinda scary sometimes haha.  He knows Italian so that helps him a lot, but he really knows and can speak as well as a missionary who has been out 6 months to a year.

This week has defiantly been one of growing and learning.  There has been a lot of mistakes made and some good lessons learned from them.  I was also blessed enough to be able to see the real progress I have made with the language.  I want to try to prepare as much as I can no matter what the circumstance.  We have had to teach some classes and give some spiritual thoughts this week that we didn't really plan to heavily for.  I found myself keeping up with it though.  I also have found words coming out of my mouth more easily then ever before.  To say the least I have been blessed to be able to see and recognize this progress.  I am able to understand and speak things that need to be spoken.  I am starting to feel like things are working together to benefit those that need it.   Ya I have learned lots about patience and not comparing myself to others.  I want you all to know that all your prayers and fasts in my behalf have been answered and will continue.  Make sure you give some thanks to our Father in Heaven.  Selfishly, I need you to give thanks so that He will continue to bless me with the language and the other things! :)  Seriously though, thank you all so much for all your support and help.  It's been bumpy, there are some scars and bruises, there are more to come, but my vision has increased.  I am  trying to strive harder and trying to be better then I have been because "with more vision, comes greater motivation"  Love you all!  Hope you can have a great next week!!

Love,

James :)

“Elders say hi from Panduri Bucharest. We are visiting Romania with the Bridge of Love Foundation as volunteers and met your sons.”  (texted to mom) 

Elder Poulsen and Elder Cooper - Elder Cooper is serving as District Leader and Elder Poulsen is the Zone Leader. They have also been companions, and are great friends. 

HOLLAND!!

Hey!!

Elder Cooper and his companion

So this week started off with a sick elder G.  I got a lot of good studies in so it was kinda nice.  It was actually really weird, I finished my studies and stuff at 11, and then thought.... well now what.... I guess I can study some more! haha  Eventually I just couldn't read another word, so I decided to make something!  I made some no-bake cookies and they actually turned out half way decent.  I accidentally made too many, so I gave the district some.  I'm starting to become a sister missionary! ;) haha  but for reals, it was kinda nice to have a day to kinda get caught up mentally.  So for as much as it sucked to be stuck inside all day, it was good. :)

This week was just filled with a lot of busy work I feel like.  We were able to meet with some members which is always great.  We helped out A fill out some of his mission papers.  He is going to be leaving soon and it is super exciting!  He is the kid about my age who we have been teaching mission prep to ever since I have been here.  His mom kinda reminds me of you mom!  She is just an awesome lady!  So I like to talk with them.

We also spent some time helping out the senior couples here in Bucharest.  We went with elder N ( The office manager for our misison ) to the bank to help him figure out some stuff.  The office elders were gone and he wanted some people to go with him.  For our "troubles" he gave us some Ron to go get some lunch!  Elder G took me to this traditional Moldovan restaurant.  It was pretty awesome.  Also this week we took the Smiths (the senior couple in my district) to Care-cu bere.  It is a traditional Romania restaurant, and we really got to know them better.  I had to do a lot of translating because they dont know a whole ton of Romanian yet.  It was really good for all of us.  This week has kinda saved my budget a bit.  I was running kinda low on MSF for this month, and since I had two meals paid for me this week, I should be able to make it to the end of July with the money I have! haha  so miracles all over the place!

Now I want to tell you about a cool story that just happened today.  Well actually it starts a couple of weeks ago with the Smiths.  So they were flying in to Romania, and they got talking to a lady.  They talked for the entire flight over here just about normal stuff I guess.  They became pretty good friends, but were not able to exchange any information.  This lady was worried that when the Smith's landed, they would not be able to find the people to pick them up.  So she was kinda taking care of them.  They said no worries they will just be dressed like us!  So they parted ways, and now it brings us to today. 

We went on a tour of this huge building called Palatul Parlamentului or castle poporului, and guess who we saw there?!  The same person the Smiths talked with on the plane.  Her name and guess where she is from.... THE NETHERLANDS! 

Jonathon - the other Elder Cooper
who is currently serving the the
Belgium/Netherlands Mission. 

So I got talking with her a bit and told her about Jonathon of course.  She gave us her email and I just gave it to him today!  A referral from clear across Europe!  She promised, whether it be to Jonathon or other mormon missionaries, that she will let them in and cook them some food.  She leaves for the Netherlands tomorrow, so I guess we will see what happens!  The Lord works in mysterious, yet fantastic ways!  This also reminded me of my plane ride over here to Romania,and how I gave a book of Mormon to a Dutch airline lady.  Just sending all the people to my brother! haha :)

Kambree Lynn

So that is about it for the week.  Hanging in there doing the work day by day.  The days really do mesh together!  And Ash, Kambree is so cute!!!  Can't wait to meet her! :) Love you all!!  Thanks for just being flat out amazing!  :)

Love,

Elder Cooper

THE DISTRICT 

MOVING FORWARD WITH THE SPIRIT

Hey everyone!

This has been a great week.  Basically the big event of the week was zone conference with President Ivory.  I'll tell ya, I was a little nervous/excited to see what would be happening.  Basically to say it short, it's gonna be awesome!  There are a lot of things that are going to be different but it's what we need at this time.  President Ivory is really really focused on balance.  A lot of time in this mission, missionaries get burned out, especially in the summer, because all they do is contact outside for hours and hours on end.  President Ivory wants to stop the "banging our head against the wall" and switch it up.  In our mission we are more focused on less active and active members then ever before.  It's going to be really good for all of us to get to know the branches better and really connect with the members.  There was so much energy at zone conference it really pumped me up.  I feel like It brought my greenie fire back.  Not that I lost it, just helped it burn a little higher.  I've heard that is what training a new missionary does but I defiantly felt it this past Wednesday.  We are going to be "The MOST positive mission on the planet!"  President Ivory is kinda working on a motto/ saying for our mission and it is going to be something like that. 

I dont even know how to describe this over email.  Our mission is cracking down a little more.  He really believes in being exactly obedient, and once we are that is when he will reward us with things such as cool P-days and trying new things out.  I think my highlight was when I got to interview with President and Sister Ivory.  We were just able to talk and it just flowed and really seemed like they cared. We were able to talk and share, they understand. So to wrap up my interview with Ivory, we kinda were just talking.  He looks at me in the eyes and says something like "I need you elder Cooper.  I know you are an obedient missionary and try hard.  You are an elder that I want to be able to point out and say, look what this elder is doing, follow his example.  I need a strong core of missionaries to be able to help lift the mission so we can lift the church here.  Keep up the good work"  So that was kinda paraphrased, but that is the jest of what he said!  I cant even tell you how many different prayers were answered and how on fire that made me feel.  He said it in a way that even though I might not be the best, I wanted to be, it made me want to step up, and fit the shoes he has in mind for me.  So ya I really like President Ivory.  He has such a great vision for us and this mission.  Expect to hear great things.

After zone conference elder G and I had exchanges with the zone leaders.  I went with elder C.  We really got to work.  The thing I wanted to work on was going about doing good, a section from preach my gospel.  The day started of with a great contact!  The first person we talked to listen to us and gave us their number and wanted to come to church!  It has been a long time since a day had started out as good as this.  For the rest of the day we were out side a lot!  We tried to set up lessons with members and less actives, but they ALL canceled!  So that left us with a day of contacting.  Towards the end of the day we were kinda near G and M's house, so I wanted to stop by, and give them some of their favorite juice and just see how they were doing.  Well we were planning on a quick drop by and it turned into a lesson with them and it was super great. 

They just love the missionaries so much!  They invited us in and just took care of us haha.  So they are still doing super great.  When we left M left us with two huge bags of fruits!  I was really excited to eat them, because the fruit here can be amazing!  Elder C and I are about 5 minutes away from home when C turns to me and says "elder I think we should give this fruit away to those two newly wed couples over there"  So we did!  We kinda second guessed it at first, but I remember what you said mom... or I guess what Joseph Smith said. 9 times out of 10 the first thought that comes to your mind is from the spirit.  So we gave the fruit away to the young newly wed couples.  It felt really great and their smiles were almost glowing, I thought.  It helped end the night with a bang!

The Smiths

So I have a new set of missionaries in my district.  The Smith's!  They are a senior couple from I think Oregon.  They are so legit.  I've only known them for a couple days and they are already my heroes!  They are the modern day Lehi family!  They have sacrificed so much to be here with us.  We often think that it is only hard for the young missionaries to serve... but it takes just as much faith and courage, I think, to go as a senior couple.  The challenges are similar.  They are doing it and it is difficult.  It truly is amazing to me and they are just great.

The key to being a great missionary is having the spirit. That requires you to do the little things everyday and keep trying when you "fall short"  You can be 100% fluent in the language you are called to learn and know "all" the answers, but without the spirit, none of that matters.  It's time to get going and let the things Heavenly Father has in store fall into place.  That is kinda where I am at currently. :)

Thanks for all you do!  Sounds like you are all super busy but having a good time!  Keep it up and know I love you and am praying for you! :)

Love,

Elder Cooper

KEEPING BUSY

Last Monday seems like a month ago!  The days went fairly fast this week, but looking back... it has only been a week!

We were back and forth at the doctors this week.  This time not for the others in my district, but for my companion.  However this time, it wasnt at 3 in the morning.  It was the civilized way where you make an appointment and go during the day.  He has what all men fear to have.... Kidney stones!  So with us going to the doctors a couple times and him being sick, it has just been an interesting week.  We took care of all the appointments and so now I think we just gotta wait.

This week we were able to have a lesson with a potential investigator!  It was actually super sick.  Last transfer Elder D and I taught medium level English and he was in our class.  He came to us and wanted to do, what we call 30 30's.  It's where we spend 30 minutes teaching him English and then the other 30 minutes teaching him the gospel.  So initially he wanted to do this.  Then he came to that activity we had on the 28th where we watched the restoration and stuff.  He came up to me after and I asked if he still wanted to do the 30 30's.  He said " Im going to England at the beginning of August, I can learn English there.  I just want to learn more about the gospel"  Super crazy!!  So we set a time and we met up with him.  He is a great guy, with a million questions.  I am so grateful for elder G

because he is able to communicate with him so well.  We are going to meet with him again this week!

Also this week, men came and fixed our roof finally!  Now we dont have a water damaged ceiling with water dripping down!  Random thought, just thought I would share :)

Now for a bit of a story.  So here in Romanian, Bucharest specifically, we have huge parks all over that we go and contact people.  This week we were going to go district contacting for English because our classes start on the 8th.  So elder G and I get there early and are talking to people.  We end up on this bench talking with a couple people.  Elder G was eating sunflower seeds and naturally, the shell goes on the ground right?  Well after a while of eating them there was a little pile by his feet.  Sooner then later the BGS (private security for the park) comes up and gets mad at G for making a mess.  They get in a little argument and so the BGS call the real police. 

We wait around for a while and a police officer shows up.  Basically we were there for about an hour talking to them and G left there with a fine for eating sunflower seeds!!  Now I'll tell you the back round story.  The BGS dont like Missionaries.  We go contacting there all the time, and they tell us that we cant and we have to leave.  President Hill checked and it is 100% legal to hand out flyers there.  So Pres Hill told us to take down their name and badge number of anyone who tells us we have to leave.  So missionaries have been doing this and continuing to contact there.  Our guess is that this BGS guard was really sick of us and so he tried to catch us on any little thing he could.  It's really frustrating having to deal with this type of stuff, but it's all worth it and we must continue to be kind. 

Overall it was a week filled with Treabă.  Between doctor appointments, lessons, and trying to figure out where to pay for this ticket, we were all over the place!  I am exhausted, but that is a good thing... because then I sleep good. :)

So president Ivory is here and kickin it as our new mission president.  He is really young, energetic, and just ready to go.  We have our zone conference with him this Wednesday where we will find out a lot of things that will be changing in our mission.  "Things will be changing."  It is kinda stressful not knowing what will change and stuff, but I trust elder P and he tells me all will be well.  So, it will be good, I will just have a lot to write about next week I bet.

Picture at the MTC

Schuyler now!

Hey Happy Birthday Schuyler!!  I cant believe it you are 17!  That is so old!   I hope you had great birthday.  It sounds like you have been having a lot of fun. That's good, keep it up!   Want

you to know I love you and am sorry I couldn't be there for this birthday of yours!  Maybe next time ;)  You are such a great example to those around you and like Joco said, no one better to be the oldest brother in the house right now.  Thanks for taking care of Sam and helping Mom and Dad with all their busy work!  You're the man!

Love you all so much!  Hope you have a great week!

Love,

Elder Cooper

 PS:  In the summer time, bed bugs come out to play!  We have this spray called permethrin.  We are supposed to spray it on our beds and cloths if we fill like we have bed bugs.  Just so happens that I think I got them!  You just wake up with red bumps almost like mosquitoes bites.  Kinda stinks haha

BIRTHDAY!

Hello everyone!

So glad I took notes on the day to day this past week, because it has been absolutely nuts!

To start off, we had transfers.  You would think being in Bucharest would make them a little easier on yourself.  Nope!  haha  We had elders at our house Sunday to Wednesday night!  Our apartment has room for about four elders including me and my comp.  So it was a mad house with 5-6 of us consistently there.  So when Wednesday arrived, I was already a little wiped out.  On Wednesday I went to the Dentist with elder S from my MTC district.  He chipped a tooth, so he came down and I went with him.  Straight after that, we went to Ruby Tuesday's to celebrate elder M birthday!  It was pretty fun and a good way to kinda end the rein of our amazing district!  After this, we just went to the gara and talked with all the missionaries and stuff like that, And that was basically it for Wednesday.  Met up with elder G, and took him home.

Things are going pretty well so far.  However it is exhausting!  I have to be thinking in Romanian, and trying to figure out how to say things constantly.  So this is going to be great for my language skills!  But ya, we are getting along, and I really like him!  He is teaching so much about the culture and everything, it is going to help a lot down the road.  So there is the update on that.

Alright, I had a great birthday over here!  I got the package a couple days before my birthday so it was like perfect timing!  I woke up to an elder G, half asleep, trying to sing happy birthday to me in English.  He knows a little English, but not much.  It was great. Alright, since the beginning of May, the branches in Buc have been advertising for an activity for the 28th.  We've been handing out flyers and trying to get people to come and see what we are all about.  We watched the restoration in segments, and in between we sang hymns.  It amazes me how no matter how much I think I love and have a strong testimony of Joseph Smith, it can still grow and expand by leaps!  I love Joseph Smith so much and am so grateful for the sacrifices and endurance he had.  Cant wait for the day where I can personally thank him, and give him hug and try to show him how grateful I am for him.  He is one of my heroes.  After the activity, I had the chance to use the Melchizedek priesthood.  I was able to give someone in my district a blessing.  So half way through the day, and I've done two things I love, Learn more about Joseph Smith and use the priesthood :) Then we all took our lunch our and went out to eat!  The best Sharma I have ever had is here, so we went there to eat.  Elder W is now serving on the other side of Bucharest and so he came with us out to eat.  It was great to see him again!  He is training again.  Elder L or something like that.  He is super cool and me and him hung out for a bit.  So we all sat down and ate a great sharma together.  That basically concludes the adventure of my 19th birthday.  Oh, on the way to sharma place, there was a Turkish festival/ parade going on!  It felt like they were celebrating my birthday haha.

Now Imma tell you about the real adventure we had this week.  three nights ago, I get a call at 1:50 am from the sisters.  Turns out one of them rolled over on the phone and accidentally called us.  I was up though cause I thought something was wrong so I called them back.  Being the district leader, you have to make sure that everyone is home and safe and the end of the night, and if for any reason something is not okay, they are supposed to call me and me and my comp have to go over there to see what's up.  So that is where my head jumped to, but it was nothing.  Then.  Then two nights ago, we get a call at 1:30 AM from the other pair of sisters.  I thought I was dreaming and i didnt really know what was going on.  One of the sisters was really really sick, so she called us to go over and give her a blessing.  So we threw some cloths on hoped in a taxi and were at there house by 2 AM.  We gave her a blessing, and then called Sora Hill.  She told us to take her to the ER and so we did.  We brought her there and we were there until 4:30 AM.  We took them back home, and then we took another taxi and got back home around 5 or 5:30.  Everything is fine now, and she is doing better, but it was quite the adventure.  That morning we had church.  Elder G and I had to still prepare to teach the second hour of church, and he also had to give a talk.... we were so dead. haha but we survived!  Then that Sunday night, we get a call at about 10:20 pm.  This time it is the sister's companion!  She got the same thing her companion had, and so we went over there and gave her a blessing.  So to sum it up, our schedule is whacked! haha.  My body is tired when it shouldn't be and awake when it shouldn't be!  It really is just a great story and me and elder G bonded over our traveling all over the place.  He would also say "AFTER HOUR!" with his Romanian accent haha it was really funny.  But ya that is the real adventure for the week!

So it is official.  President Hill is gone, and President Ivory is here and now presiding over the mission.  He seems great and I'm sure has good ideas for the mission. All is well. 

That is it for this week!  Love you all so much!  I hope you are all doing well and having some fun!  Talk to ya next week!

Love,

Elder Iacov Dogar

TURKISH FESTIVAL

ALL THE PRESENTS CAME :) THANKS!

CRAZY STUFF AND BAPTISMS.

It is so unreal.  G, M, and R were all able to be baptized this past Saturday!  Elder Daland has been teaching them basically from the beginning (5-7 months)  He was the one to actually do the baptisms while elder Poulsen and I were able to be the witnesses.  This day was incredibly busy.  We woke up, did some personal study, had time to grab a quick bite to eat, and head out to go clean the font and the church.  It was really cool being the behind the scene process.  The font took FOREVER to fill up and there was some grime we had to clean off the bottom.  Super fun experience though.  So we had to let the font continue to fill up while our English class was going. 

I had to keep stepping out to make sure it wasn't going to high or nottin'.  Basically with in all this hassle of preparing for the baptisms, cleaning, and English,... we found out transfers boards... but more on that later. :)  So G and M showed up a little late.  We were filling pretty rushed, cause we still were not sure if we had white suits that fit them all.  Daland was getting changed and I was running around like a mad man trying to get all their stuff together.  Luckily, we found all their stuff and it all fit and was a huge miracle haha.  The program starts and everything is going smooth.  We get to the font and it's still going smooth!  It was really kinda cute to see their excitement about everything going on.  So first up was G in the font. Straight when he got out of the water, he started to silently sob.  It was such a powerful moment where the spirit was super strong.  So everything went smoothly and it was just great :)  

For our last district meeting, we played the ball game!  It was a success!  We got going and everyone got into it, even the AP's.  Through my mission I have been collecting bouncy balls and what not just so we could play this game at some point. 

The District

It was fun and we actually found and talked about some great metaphors relating to the gospel.  So ended with a bang! haha

Another highlight of this week was sports night.  It started of super sunny and great... and then about 15 minutes into it... it started pouring.  Like actual cats and dogs were falling from the sky!  We decided that we didnt care and had a very controlled soccer game in the pouring rain!  It was one of the funniest things ever!  We all got so muddy and drenched but it was so worth it!  I am really glad that we have sports nights with investigators here in Buc.  It helps show them that we are normal.  So great week in general!

Sometimes injuries happen!

We also were able to go paintballing today!  I have gone so much on my mission it is ridiculous.  So much fun.  Defiantly gonna do it more after my mission as well.

Now for transfer boards.  Elder Daland is leaving and going to Moldova and being a district leader over in Chisanuo.  Elder Poulsen is staying here and receiving a new comp.  I am staying as well and my new comps name is elder G.  He is the only native in the mission.  It is going to be so great for helping me with my Romanian, because he doesnt speak English hardly at all.  I am actually really excited for this aspect of this next transfer coming up, so I am going into this transfer hopeful and happy ready for miracles to happen.  I know I can be good for this Elder as well.  I am also excited because I get to become a "dad" this transfer!  So if you train that is your "kid" For new sisters coming in, their district leader is their "dad".  So it will be pretty fun haha. 

So in general, I am doing great, I am happy, and I am ready to go.  I have had so many great memories and great experiences this past week, that it is almost impossible to be anything else!  Thank you for being there for me and cheering me on.  I have defiantly felt your prayers in my behalf.  Love you all so much!  Hope you can have a great week!  Talk to ya later! ;)

AN AMAZING WAY TO END A TRANSFER. WHAT A BLESSING

Love,

Elder Coops

LOVE THESE PEOPLE. I'M GRATEFUL.

"I am so grateful for President and Sister Hill and will miss them tremendously"

TENDER MERCY/MIRACLE

It's crazy, this is the last week of transfers basically!  I feel like it has just started!

So remember last week how I told you I lost my wallet with everything inside it:  My Mission money card, personal money card, drivers license, 300 lei, my visa, and all my transportation passes?  Well guess what... I got it back!!!  I called the office elders that Tuesday and asked them what I was going to need to do, to get all my stuff secure and taken care of.  It was going to be this whole long process, involving a lot of time and a lot of traveling.  We started off Tuesday morning trying to find a police station.  We spent about two hours asking around and walking to try and get to one.  Right as we find the location to one, we get a call on our cell phone.  It is this random lady asking for a James Cooper!!  I was like "YA! I am James Cooper!"  We met her at the church and she returned my wallet!  Everything was inside of it!!  Not a single thing missing!  So crazy... and as fast as we found that lady, she disappeared!  Super crazy tender mercy right there.  Even though all my cards are canceled and what not... I still feel like it is better than the alternative.  Plus it will help me save money, not being able to pull any out haha :)

This week we also had zone conference.  Super weird for me.  Elder B, my trainer, gave his "dying testimony"  Which means he is going home at the end of this

Elder Cooper with his trainer (Daddy) - Good-bye picture

transfers... which is a week from Wednesday.  So crazy that he was training me almost one year ago, and now he is going home.  Guess who else gave their "dying testimonies"?  President Hill and Sister Hill!  I truly love them and I'm so grateful for everything they have done and the things they have sacrificed for us.  The mission is changing so much.  In the next two transfers (including this one)  we have 20+ missionaries leaving and being replaced with brand new people!  There will be more people younger then me then older by a lot!  It's going to be super different... but I feel like it will be good.  I really am not that nervous, just anxious to see what changes will be made instead of just rumors.

Okay so here is a story.  We are at a bookstore.  Myself and a couple other missionaries.  We are just shopping around and looking for deals like we do.  I noticed this girl staring at us, and it is super obvious.  All of us keep making awkward eye contact with her, and she just wont look away.  So I look and her and say "well hello there!"  She starts speaking in English.  She asks where are all of you from. 

Great Companions

We tell her Basically all over.  Then she is like, so what are all of you hot men doing here in Romania!  A little shocked, we explain and gave her our whole shpeal.  She then asks if we have any luck converting people.  She then answers her own question and says she bets it is just a bunch of girls, and that when ever we are try talking to them, they aren't paying attention to what we are saying, that they are to busy checking us out!  Then she is like take me to your leader!! haha She then says well I am going to leave before a pass out, checks us out, and walks out!  haha we were all really confused at first at what just happened haha.  Super weird, but we tried to spread the gospel and I guess at least we made a contact for the day. 

Also this week we were able to do a little bit of serve for Sora G.  Went over to her house, and cleaned her rugs.  And she fed us again, and it was great!

This takes us to Friday the 13th!!  Elder and me Daland found out we have a ghost in our apartment... just in our bathroom....it attacked us.  Elder Daland was going to hop in the shower when the shower curtain detached from the wall, fell on top of him and knocked him into the tub/shower headfirst!  He didnt really get hurt, just pulled his hamstring haha.  Then while I was in the shower, I heard something bang against the floor.  Found out after it was Daland's hair gel.  I asked if he threw it in while I was showering... and he said no!  I dont know....haha crazy funny stuff :)

Okay on the serious side, this next week is going to be great!  We are planning on having 3 of our investigator's baptisms on the 21st!  G and M the married couple.  And then R from Syria!  Everything is so lined up and is actually going to happen!  It is going to be wonderful.  It is the perfect way to end of the transfer.  I love all of these people, and I am starting feel close to them.  I realize though that I am reaping the reward of others work.  I know many missionaries have been a part of this conversion story and I am grateful to them. I came in and they were all already going to be baptized.  I was just here at the right time.  Dont get me wrong I am super grateful to be able to be here for them at such a great moment in there life... But hey I am still very very very excited to see and be a  part of a baptism!!  So this Saturday will be awesome!!

Well that is it for this week.  Next week Ill be able to tell you all if I am staying or just what ever happens.  Elder Daland has served 4 transfers here, this is his only city he has served in, so he is probably leaving and Ill be here to see what ever comes my way.  I really have grown as a district leader and just hope I can do whatever is expected of me this next transfer.  I dont know... Ill let you know next week!  Love you all so much!  Be safe and keep on being so wonderful!! :)

Love,

Elder Cooper the 2nd!

 "When Romania communist leader was killed they took this statue (his favorite one) and impaled it on this stake.  I think it is super cool... and pretty interesting."

                         "With my Dying trainer (meaning he's going home) and one of my buddies" 

Cooper and Dalad in front of the Opera House