Hey family,
Sounds like everyone is doing great! Thanks for the letters and the packages that you sent. They should get here pretty quick. Time is flying here on the mission. Life is lived in weeks here on the mission. We work by the weeks.
I'm glad to hear that you guys are going to the temple. That's great! I see so many people falling away from the church. Our recent convert Rosana said that she doesn't want to come to church anymore. She didn't say why, but she told us that she started smoking again. Also it sounds like she is going to another church. Its hard to see. She was so prepared for baptism. Fellow shipping new members is super important. What i've learned is that 99% of the time when someone becomes inactive it is because that are breaking a commandment, not just because they were offended or don't have friends. It could be working on sunday, which would be breaking the Sabbath day. It is so important that we be obedient to all the commandments and never stop doing the simple things, going to the temple, daily prayer and scripture study and regular church attendance.
This week we had interviews with President Prieto. It was really good. It was only my 2nd interview with him. It should have been my 3rd but when i was transfered the first time to Ribeirão Preto the interviews had already been done. He asked how was it that i spoke portuguese so well. I said i don't know and that the Lord was blessing me. Thinking about it afterwards it is because of the Lord, but because i did my part too. I study the language almost everyday, which from what i have heard isn't that common. When we do our part the Lord does the rest. I asked Pres a little about prayer and the spirit. He gave a really cool explanation. He said listening to the spirit is like hearing the sound of one instrument during the song of an orchestra. We have to bring our ears to the instrument. In our lives there will be many sounds (orchestra), but we must bring our ears (train our ears) to the spirit. It was great to be able to learn this. He also said that we must listen after we finish our prayers. He asked me to say the ages of everyone in the family. As i started to respond he got up and walked out of the room. This is what we do a lot of the time. We finish saying our prayers and go do something else or get into bed. We must listen for the answers. Through time and practice we will be able to recognize the spirit in our lives and receive revelation. This is something hard for me, but it was a great interview. President Prieto loves us and is inspired of God.
This week we will have a Zone Conference! It is going to be awesome.
This last week was good. We worked hard and found some more people. Saturday was hard because all of our lessons fell. But we can't stop. The blessings come after the trials. We had nobody in church again. We need to help the members here to be more unified. We will work for this. Persevering isn't easy. Alot of it depends on our attitude. Every situation and person has virtues and faults, it just depends on which we choose to look for. That is something i have a lot of work to do to improve.
I love you very much! Have a great week! You are the best!
Elder Hawkley
PS I bought a set of clippers for about 30 US Dollars. It is a good one!
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