Page templates don't work with hooks, help!

Hi,

I’m trying to create a page template that will pull objects that currently exist on the Homepage (ie. Category block and Website Listings).

I can’t find any reference on the Community or the Support documentation.

I created a tpl_test.php file that I’m able to load on a test page I created. The hooks don’t work on this page. I just want to load this template in one of my pages, for that reason I don’t want to create _functions.php file.

Could you please let me know what my options are? Is there a hook for those objects?

Thanks,

Fernando