December 20, 2010 - Sou Tio!!!!

Hey family!

Eu sou Tio! Haha I´m an uncle. Man I really cannot believe it. Beck! I like the name. He looks great! Can´t wait to see that bright blonde hair haha! When will you guys get to see him. I´m thinking you guys will go there for Christmas right??  Congrats Pehrson and Kate. They sent me a super awesome email with lots of pictures and details.

Well it was a good week. We had another baptism! This week we baptized Gabriel (13). He is super awesome. We would visit him to teach each day and he had read the part of the Book of Mormon that we left and prayed. He always remembered what we had taught. He has already talked about wanting to serve a mission. He is a quiet and somewhate timid kid, but polite. Elder D. Souza baptized him. His little sister Isabella is 8 years old. She is just as special as Gabriel and will be baptized this next Sunday. We found them through a contact. Every baptism here has been through contacts. We rarely receive referrals here.

 

Questions:

What do they do to celebrate Christmas there?  You said that you were excited about your Christmas lunch.  What will you be eating and who will you be with?

    They have a late dinner the night of the 24th and they open presents that night. The dinner is a big family thing and it normally starts around 12 at night haha. Lunch will be with the family of Irmã Ivoni. Her daughter and son-in-law live in the city too and it will be the family together. They are fun to be with and the food will be sweet!

 

How is the teaching going with those kids?  What happened to their mother?

   Our recent converts??? They are going good. Our focus with them is church, read, and pray. Not all of them have been going to church, which is hard to see. We just keep visiting them and telling them to go to church. We can't visit them as often as we would like, because we always have a lot to do. We don't have too much support here in the branch. Our Branch Mission Leader doesn't help us very much. We try to help him help us haha but sometimes that doesn't work too. It's a lot to do. We have 2 ward missionaries, but they are really busy and can't do too much with us. We are everything in the missionary work here in Leme. But we are working super hard. There are good people that do what they can.

 

Loved the pictures.  Your apartment/home looks really nice.  Is it always that clean?  ha ha

    We keep it clean. The mission is doing a competition thing where you earn points by cleaning and sending pictures of the house to the secretaries. But we clean every pday. It really is much better to come home to a clean house and live in a clean house. Thankfully my comp is the same.

 

How are your feet doing?  You didn't say anything about them in your last letter.

   They´re not worse, but not better haha. I will talk to Sister Prieto tomorrow at the conference. I don´t want to have to go to the doctor or anything. Its just uses a lot of time, but I´ll see what needs to be done.

 

And you had another baptism!  That is wonderful!  How did you find Adenilson?

   Through a contact. We weren't able to confirm him yet. Unfortunately he didn't wake up for church haha. But we will confirm him this next sunday.

 

What time are you planning to call?  There is a 4 hour time difference.  You are ahead of us.

   I'm planning to call around 5 here, 1 there? I'm pretty sure i will be able to call the 24th for like 5 min to set a time also. We are going to call from the chapel here. Does that work for you guys? The number that i have for the chapel is 019 3554 6431. I don't know what other numbers you would need to call from the US to Brasil. But plan on a short phone call sometime the 24th and 5 oclock here the 25th. From what i hear we have an hour to talk. Make sure that the account has a bunch of credit (money) haha. I remember what happened with Tyson last time haha.

 

But how are you guys doing? Will you guys go to California? Rachel is already getting her Braces off? I noticed that Pehrson is doing everything he can to not show his braces in a picture haha. Just show them ahah. What are your plans for Christmas? I guess none of these questions matter since I will talk to you Saturday. Oh well.

 

We had a branch party. It was a secret friend activity and dinner. It ended at 11. We got permission from Pres to stay. It was fun. I got a zipper tie and I gave a picture of us eating lunch to a sister that gives us lunch. She really liked it.

 

It was a good week. We are working hard and I´m learning a lot. It is always hard to hear what you are doing wrong. But if you change for the better afterwards it is very gratifying. We need to not be offended, but be humble and look to change. We will become a better person. I have seen this with me. I don't like hearing what i'm doing wrong but I like the fact that i can change and learn and grow. And I Have. I love you all a ton! Talk to you Saturday! Stay strong and be safe.

 

Elder Hawkley

 

December 13, 2010

Hey family,

Well how´s it going? Its going good here. We had a baptism this week! We baptized Adenilson (16). Hes a super happy kid, especially for the life he has. He is always smiling.

 

We are looking forward to talking to you at Christmas.  Have you received our packages yet?  Just wondering.  The YW also sent you a package this week.  You probably won't get it until after Christmas.

           i received one package last week with the presents and stuff. Thanks a ton! We haven´t opened the presents yet haha. I want to wait haha. Did you guys send another package? at the same time? i´ll look for it at the christmas mission conference. Packages are awesome! Grandma and grandpa also sent a package.

How was your week?  Who do you eat with?  Are there members that you really like and get along with?  Tell us about them.

    The week was good. We are working hard. We found a family this week. Daiane, David, Gabriel, Gabriella, and Nicolas are 5 kids that live alone. Their dad died less than a month ago. Their grandma lives next door. David is the oldest and is 16 years old. They are all really awesome and i love teaching them. We are working to bring them to church right now.

    We eat with the members. There are lots of awesome members here. They aren't super involved in the work (which isn't too good), but they are good friends. Sometimes they make the food and my comp and i eat alone and other times we eat with the members. Our lunch on christmas is going to be good. The food and the company will be great haha.

Rachel - Congrats on the honor bee and the hair looks good! I want a picture when the braces come off!

 

Haha i cant believe Kate hasnt had the baby yet! Hope all goes well this next week.

 

I dont know if i will be able to email next week. If not i will talk to you guys on the phone the 25 haha.

 

I love you guys a ton! Thanks for the love and support! Thanks for the advice and for keeping me informed. I know that this gospel is true! It is god´s plan for our happiness. The choice is ours. Sieze the day! haha

 

Elder Hawkley

(sorry for the short letter again) Keep your letters big haha I like info!

December 6, 2010 - Feliz Natal

Hey Family,

   Feliz Natal is correct! haha good job

.

-Thanks for the pictures. Kristy is very pretty. hope that works out. Looks like it was a good trip

-Thanks for the advice. I really do need to be more patient with myself and forget my mistakes. I´ll work on that.

-In the pictures it was a member that was with us. He is 17 and his name is Marco. Hes cool. Most cities have a statue like this of Christ.

-The feet are the same. I need to call sister prieto. It doesnt hurt, but the skin turns white after my feet have been wet for a while. There was a thing called "Imosiaca" in the mission. A fungus of the feet and theres a good chance i have that. Im not too sure what it is. Im not too worried.

-The time is close to call home on christmas. I dont know what the time difference is. right now it is 12:12 here. We should have an hour to call. I think we will call the 24th too to set a time, but im not too sure because they havent told us anything yet. For us here we can call anytime in between 3-8 our time. Let me know what you guys are thinking. It probably would be a good idea to put more money in that account. I still have the number and everything.

 

-Sorry for the short letter. Thanks for you letters. I love reading them. Im doing good. 

-This week in district meeting we talked about the power about the book of mormon. If we dont read the book of mormon, it will be hard to stay firm in the gospel. You guys read everyday too. I love you and i know the church is true.

Elder Hawkley

November 29, 2010 - Ola

Hey Family,

 How´s it going? Sounds like Thanksgiving was a blast! Thats awesome that you guys got to go there and see everybody. How is the new truck? Thats actaully really cool about Tyson and Kristy. Kristy (Sister Pfeifer?) is actually really well known in the mission. Every area that she served in the members love her. My companion arrived in the mission when she was leaving and even he knows about her. I hear shes super nice! Hope things continue to go well. Did you talk to her about the mission here?

  About the ensign, don´t send it yet. There´s a really good chance that I will get one in english this week. If i dont receive one this week, you guys can send it next week. Thanks a ton though. I´ll let you know next week. This week the mission bought us a washing machine! HAHA, it is soooo much better than what we had. Its still not a washing machine like we have, but its super good. It does everything on its own. Its going to save me a lot of time on PDay.

  I sent some pictures. These are some of the pictures from our hike. I also attached a picture of my foot. I think i have a fungus of some sort. It doesnt hurt or anything, but i think its growing a bit. Its just on the back of my heel, but on both feet. I´ll probably talk to Sister Prieto. But its all good. Maybe you guys can do a little research for me, haha.

   Well this week was SUPER hot haha. I have never been so tired in my life too. The heat just sucks the energy out of you. I´m going to sleep for the first time on pday haha. I have a question for tyson and pehrson (who i havent received an email from in decades haha just kidding, but seriously). What did they do for water? I know that tyson just asked the members for water as he went and pehrson im thinking was water bottles. But i dont remember completely. They gave us a water bottle with filter in the CTM. It came with 2 filters, 1 for each year. The problem is that my first filter crapped out this week haha. I dont know if its possible to get another filter. I drank water at the members a little this week and im doing good. I had some diarhea yesterday and we arrived late to church HAHA. But pepto bismo makes everything better. haha. What are your thought/ideas?

   Good job on the missionary work mom! As a missionary all I do is invite: invite people to come unto Christ. That is really all we can do. People have their agency. Continue to make small invitations. As you continue, you will lose your fear. Pray for courage and i know that the Lord will give it to you. He has given it to me. I love you all so much. I cannot wait for the Thanksgivings that we will have, but I know that this is where I need to be. It is a very hard thing. But I know that i cannot stop.

This week was a week of finding people to teach. We found some and are still looking.

Never stop living the gospel. I need to know that you guys are being obedient, and I know that you are. If we are all obedient and have the spirit with us, whatever happens doesnt matter. If we stay worthy, we will be together forever and be happy forever. You can have the joy you felt at Thanksgiving forever, and with all of our family and friends togethter. Never forget that perspective. I forget a lot and do a ton of stupid things. We all do. But do your best and the lord will do the rest. A phrase i learned in the CTM that i really like is:

 

Your best is good enough. But good enough is not your best.

 

I love you all more than I can express in this letter. Live the Gospel and Be Happy.

 

Elder Hawkley

November 22, 2010 - Oi!

Hey Family

Bom Dia means Good Morning!  I´ll start with the questions:

 

Do you know if you are being transferred yet?  New companion?  We might just have to wait until next week, uh?
    I wasn´t transfered and neither was Elder D. Souza.

Were you able to go on that hike last week?  How was it?
    We went on the hike and it was actually really cool. It was hot, but its always hot. Don´t worry i took a bunch of pictures. I don´t think I´ll have time to send them this week but next week for sure. Today I had to send pics for a christmas video the secretaries are doing for the mission. There will be a conference close to christmas where the whole mission will be together. It will be sweet.

How are your new baptisms doing?  Still coming to church?  Is the ward helping them stay active?
    The baptisms are doing great. Cristina went and did baptisms for the dead this last saturday. It was really cool to see her want to go to the temple and be able to go. She said it was awesome. Her life is changing. The kids we baptized are good. They are sometimes really rowdy in church and sometimes really good. But we´re are going to help them keep coming to church. If they can just keep coming to church throughout their lives, their lives will be so much better than that of their families. The ward is okay, but we have some really good members helping us.

 

Keep trying on the missionary work. Just be a good example and don´t be afraid. Just look for small oportunities to share the gospel. Question: Is there anything you guys want me to send for Christmas for you guys? If you think of anything anybody wants or that you want to give someone let me know next week.

 

Well we had a baptismal interview for one of our investigators this week but she didnt pass the zone leader and had to be interviewed by the branch president. Pres Prieto would have done it but was in São Paulo. She didnt pass the branch president either. She has to wait a bit longer. We dont know why or how long yet, but we are going to keep working with her. 

Sorry for the short letter. I will do better next week haha. Im doing well. Hope all goes well with Thanksgiving! I had forgotten haha. I love you all so much. I´m so proud of you guys. Keep it up. Live the gospel and be happy.

 

Elder Hawkley