August 24, 2010

hey family,  

well last pday in the ctm. only one week to go haha. i really do love it here and it will be hard to go. im excited for the field and also nervous haha.

 

as far as the prank goes, my companion hasnt gotten me back. he was fine with it and i dont think he will get me back, but you never know.

  

proselyting actually was awesome. we went to this square in down town with tons of people. i was scared at first, but then i went to work. we gave our 8 books of mormon and 2 pamphlets in a little over 2 hours. the spirit was with us and when it was time to go i didnt want to. it was an awesome experience.

 

my district is awesome. lots of great friendships. i probably have the best relationship with elder eggett. he is from colorado and we laugh a lot but also want to work hard. i can see many of these friendships continuing after the mission.

 

i will leave next tuesday morning. i dont know what time yet but i know that it will be super early in the morning. we will fly there. this will be my last email from the ctm and i probably wont talk to you for two weeks until my first pday in the field. i dont know any more details than that really.

  

hmm package. probably some mints. they dont have mints like icebreaker stuff here or at least not that ive seen. pb crackers. im going to just start naming stuff and you can choose to send my what you will. maybe wait until my first pday in the field and i can tell you what i really need. but cinammon poptarts, laffy taffy, a water bottle (plastic with regular screw on lid, but not just an aquafina plastic). thats what i got right now, but again probably best to wait until im in the field.

 

as far as contacts in the district i dont really remember the competition died down after the first day haha. it was a good idea though and we all did some practicing.

 

i need the address for the tuckers (they sent me a letter) and gmas and gpas address too. youre going to stop mission ties right? thats fine with me. you can continue to do it to the field and letters do go faster than regular mail, but its probably best to stop. you decide but ill be fine with email. i sent letters today to the grasteits, tyson, pehrson, and rachel. hope you get them in about a week.

 

well this is it haha. im going to ribeirao preto. like i said im excited. not too worried about the language. that will come. i feel pretty good about teaching. ill have to work on teaching by the spirit, because the teaching practices here have become so routine haha.

i love being here in the ctm because we learn a lot and the spirit is pretty much always with us. we went to the campinas temple again today. AWESOME. i love the temple. always take advantage of an opportunity to attend the temple and make sure to attend often.

 

i know that this is the lords work and that this is where i need to be. i love the scriptures and the peace that comes from studying them. all of our questions in this life can be answered through reading the book of mormon. we must always be worthy to have the spirit with us. the spirit will guide us through our trials and also any hard thing, be it trial or uncomfortable, becomes easier when the spirit is with us. i have a testimony of this.

 

i love you all so much. thank you for the support and love. next time you hear from me ill be in ribeirao preto preaching the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.       

love elder hawkley

August 17, 2010

hey family, 
carta azul means blue letter. i pulled a prank on my companion and our whole district was in on it. he had a dream that his girlfriend sent him a letter in a blue envelope which means a dear john. i learned this recently. anyway we bought a blue envelope and looked on the back of a picture of his girlfriend to get the handwriting. then elder eggett, district leader, is really good at handwriting so he wrote the stuff on the outside of the envelope. we even put used stamps on the outside and then stuck it in the mailbox. we did it yesterday and it was hilarious. he thought it was real and everything. inside we put a note saying gotcha.

this last week our district also did comb over day, where we all did super combovers. it was fun. i really like my district and i love being here in the ctm.

questions 
1. the open house was good. we sang every night for four days. we sang a really cool song called praise the man. you should look it up. we also sang i know that my redeemer lives, the spirit of god, love is spoken here, and if the savior stood beside me. it was a cool experience. there wasnt a ton of people there but there were people there. its a really nice chapel. i guess theres supposed to be a story in the liahona about it.

2. trc is a teaching practice where they record you and the room is set up like a living room. it went really well. the spirit was super strong with my companion and i.

3 yup ive had to speak twice and we do speak in english.

i didnt know that ray whitmire had died. thats sad. im glad the funeral went well.

i think ive gained about ten in the ctm. i eat a lot haha.
   
today we went to the campinas temple because the sao paulo temple is closed for cleaning. campinas is farther away but definitely worth it. the temple sits on a hill and overlooks a valley. the celestial room is the most beautiful so far. campinas a city north of sao paulo. the campinas temple is the closest temple to my mission but is not in my mission.

happy anniversary tomorrow! i remembered the other day.

another question for pehrson and tyson are ideas for food in the field. haha im thinking ahead.


this last week we started learning the commandments. we learned the law of chastity in portuguese and this is what we had to do. my teacher, irmao brandao, is nuts. he had us teach the law of chastity first time to brazilian sisters. haha i couldnt believe it. it actually went really well though. in the situation we had to postpone a baptism date though because the "investigator" broke the word of wisdom. that was fun. i need to be more bold. i feel really timid sometimes ahah.

this friday we go proselyting again, but this time to a big square in sao paulo. im excited but nervous. in our district this week to prepare for proselyting we are seeing which companionships can do the most contacts in the ctm each day. its pretty fun way of preparing.


i cant believe that i have been here for 7 weeks already. only 2 more to go. that seems so short. im going to miss my district a ton. we laugh a lot. the ctm really is like a little mission. its going to be the same new thing all over again. hard at first, but great once you figure it out.


hows everything at home? when does school start for rachel? how is tysons mouth doing? i love you guys a ton. im so greatful for your support.


one of my brazilian roomates, we got new ones, is a convert and his mom didnt want him to go on a mission. he is an inspiring example to me and im greatful to have great examples and love and support. i know that god hears and answers our prayers, even though it doesnt seem like it sometime. live the gospel to the fullest. we can only receive all of the blessings of the gospel when we do everything we can. i love you so much. keep the letters coming. theyre the best!
elder hawkley

August 10, 2010

tudo bom family, 
tudo bom means "all good".  if you say it like a question you're asking "everything okay"? and you can respond right back with tudo bom.

i leave the mtc aug 31.

we did go proselyting. it was crazy. i was super nervous. i fasted before and then we went. we each had two book of mormons to hand out. elder andersen and i had 40 contacts and handed out 4 books, a pamphlet, and a couple of cards.

the area around the mtc is called casa verde. every friday elders go out and hand out book of mormons, so pretty much everyone has a book of mormon haha. the lady we gave our first book of mormon too was cool. she seemed pretty interested and i felt at peace while i was talking to her. there is a new lds chapel that is having an open house this week. we were able to invite people to that, which was neat. also the mtc choir is going to sing at the open house. it goes for the next four nights. our district all wanted to sing so we are doing choir this week. it should be really cool. the new chapel is really pretty. there were some people that i had no idea what they were saying during proselyting haha. it wasn't too bad with the language though. not bad for 5 1/2 weeks. we go again in a week and a half to a city square in downtown sao paulo.

this week on friday we have our first trc. im kind of nervous. practicing always makes me nervous. i should probably get over that haha. hopefully it will get easier with time.

i'm really enjoying being in the mtc right now. i cannot believe that i've been here for 6 weeks. it's gone by quick. 3 weeks seems super soon to go to the field. im excited but also scared out of my mind haha.

today was a good pday. went to the temple. the sao paulo temple will be closed for the next two weeks, which means today was our last time at the sao paulo temple. it is super beautiful. were hoping that we get to go to campinas next week our in two weeks. it's a little further away though.

for lunch today we went to the juice place and this time got hamburgers too. they were sooo good. we also went to a pastel place. they fry it right in front of you. i got a dulce de leite with bananas pastel covered with cinnamon and sugar. it was delicious.

tonight for devotional the area president is going to speak, pres ullyses soares. should be good.

sunday was really good this week. i had to speak on patience. what happens is we all have to prepare talks on a subject in pmg chapter 6 and then right at the sacrament is done he calls on 4 elders. ive been called on twice now.

we got a new district in our branch. we were alone for a week. this last week about 40 american elders came here. most from provo but some from home. i guess they all got their visas.

anyway sunday was good because they showed the joseph smith movie. i love that movie sooo much. every time i watch it i feel the spirit and my testimony is strengthened. joseph smith was a prophet of god.

i know that the lord is aware of us and that he loves us. thanks for the letters. i love you so much. stay strong and do the things you need to. keep me updated.
elder hawkley

August 3, 2010

hey family, 
its been a good week. questions.
 
1. the weather is good here. today its kind of cold. long sleeve weather. a little cloudy. its nice right now, which means it will be hot in the summer haha.

2. the language is coming alright. i need to be more diligent in my free time and work on it more. i need to practice it more. it's really easy to speak english, especially when my companion doesn't understand very much at all.  teaching is going okay. i feel like i'm improving a little bit. i really like my district though.

3. i have run into the temple pres and his wife at the temple. just a quick hello but it was nice to see them.
  
this friday we go proselyting. definitely different than the provo mtc. we go out around the mtc and hand out book of mormons. i'm excited but also nervous.  we go proselyting again, this time at a square downtown, in two weeks.

this last week in class we had a substitute who talked about gifts of the spirit and all the cool things that happened to him on his mission because of the power we have as missionaries.

this sunday was fast sunday. we have what's called a mission conference. all the missionaries meet together and the mtc pres and his wife, pres and sister clark, speak along with some other speakers. its always good. normally we would have another one our last sunday, but august has 5 sundays. that's alright though. sis clark talked about how our attitude will determine how successful our mission and lives are. she also said that the only person we can change is ourselves. we cant change other people.

we also had testimony meeting in our branch. it was great and the spirit was strong. i have a testimony that this is the lords work and that the book of mormon is true. when i'm having a hard time i turn to the book of mormon. reading the book of mormon always brings me peace. i know that Jesus Christ suffered and died for us because he loves us. the atonement is real. d&c 121: 7-9 has become one of my favorite scriptures. trials make us stronger and we will be blessed if we endure.

i love you all so much. thank you all for the letters. keep em coming. live so that the spirit is always there to guide and direct you and i'll do the same.  
elder hawkley