September 27, 2010

Hey Family!

I´ll start with the questions.

 

Tell us a little more about the language.  Sounds like you are already comfortable with it which is really great.  Do you take turns running the meetings you have with investigators?

     Language is good. I can pretty much understand and speak. I need to build my vocab and the grammar is coming more and more with time. We take turns teaching sections of the lesson. We usually divide the lesson into two parts and we take turns teaching each part.

Give us a little more detail on the food you eat.  Do you have snacks during the day?
    Food is always rice and beans with some kind of meat. Also lots of potatoes. No snacks during the day, so we´re always hungry when we get home at night haha. Usually have a sandwich or something.

Did we ask you if a mosquito net would help you sleep at night?  It's your choice, but if I were you, I would rather have bug spray on than have bites all over.

    I´ve thought about a mosquito net. I may just have you guys send me one in the next package. I´ve been using the fan and it works okay.

 

Do you get to watch conference?  Where?

     We can watch conference. It will be in Pirassununga, a town about 30 min away. We will either catch a bus or caravan with the church members here. I don´t think we´ll get to watch priesthood because they show it at 9 saturday night and 6 the next morning. We´ll see though. From what i understand it will be in Portuguese haha. Saturday is an if, it depends on how the work is going during the week and investigators and stuff. I think Sunday is a for sure though. I´m excited. It´s cool being able to tell people that they get to hear a prophet of God speak to us. It really is a privilege and is important to watch. I think people forget.

So glad that you weren't bitten by a dog.  How is Elder Souza's leg doing?  

    Fine. It really wasn´t too bad.

     Well it was a tough week to be honest. We had two interviews with 2 girls, one 12 and the other 15. They passed but the parents won´t sign. Its frustrating. There are parents here who barely have a mind for where their kids are and what they are doing, but when it comes to baptism and not drinking and living the law of chastity, they say no. Only Satan can do that to people haha. We are working really hard but nothing seems to be coming our way. There were some days that I just wanted to quit. I´m glad for my companion. He said that his first transfer was like ours. I´m doing well now. We just have to keep working with the hope that we can find someone. I really like the parable to the lost sheep. Jesus left the others in search of the one. This is what I am doing right now. Searching for the "one´s" that are ready to hear the gospel. I also like D & C 18 and how it talks about the worth of every soul and our joy with one soul in the kingdom of God. It has been hard but we keep going on. At the beginning of every week we get to start over. A chance to start new and try for a new best. This is exactly like the atonement. Every week we have the opportunity to partake of the sacrament, a chance to repent and do better. No matter what happened last week we can change and learn and do things differently. What a blessing. Right now for the work we need to find new investigators. We need better quality investigators too, those who are really looking. We arent receiving references yet so we find through contacts. 

I have a cold right now that I am fighting. Wish you were here Mom haha. I got a haircut today and it was great. I hadnt had one in a month! It was about time.I love you all so much and thanks for the love and support. Stay strong and close to the Lord through the Spirit. I´m going to try to attach some pictures.

 

Love,

Elder Hawkley

 

This is my district at the CTM. I will forward the pictures from zone conf. 

More pictures next week.

 This was a Zone Conference in Pirassununga, Brazil.  Ryan is in the top row, middle.

September 20, 2010

Hey Family!

Well someone actually was bitten by a dog this week. And fortunately for me it was my companion haha. We were walking down a road the other night and two dogs started chasing us. One was kind of big and the other was kind of small. The big one was after me and the little one my companion. I ran and he didnt haha. He said afterward that usually when you dont run they dont bite, guess not haha. My dislike for dogs is only growing here haha. They´re everywhere. Anyway we went to the doctor today and he only has to get a vaccination if the dog dies in 10 days haha. its more of just a scratch but he says it hurts at times. 

Elder D. Souza is awesome though. He has 1 year and 3 months in the field. He doesnt speak any english, so we speak in portuguese all the time. I like it that way though. He looks like you probably would picture a brazilian. 

I forgot my card reader again today, will try to remember next week. Our home is really good. Its just us there. 

Teaching is going good. There are definitely things to improve on, but its going well. 

Zone Conference was awesome. It was in the city of Pirassununga, about 30 min away. We take a bus there every week for district meeting. I really like Pres Prieto. He spoke a lot about obedience and also said that any elder could go home without questions if they just tell him in the next interview. He wants quality missionaries. I guess this mission has a bad history. Lots of disobedient elders and Pres Viera the last president, never sent anyone home i guess. But all is well. We have interviews next week. 

I did get your letter from mission ties and the pictures. I also got a letter from Elder Hardy this week! (Thanks for the letter brother! sounds like you´re doing awesome! Congrats on the baptism! You´ve got a letter coming! Work Hard!) Thanks for forwarding his email mom. please continue. Oh and i need the address of his mission office please to send him another letter. 

My feet are doing alright. I still have quite a few blisters haha. Im using powder and the shoes are comfortable, we just walk a ton haha. One blister goes away and anoher one comes haha. Im definitely looking forward to the day when i don´t have blisters haha. My clothes are fine and just to clarify (haha) we dont have a washing machine. We have a tanque that spins water around haha. It could be worse though. My clothes are getting cleaned each week. 

The weather here has been hot haha. Its rained once so far. I hear its just going to get hotter, but thats fine haha. I have a billion mosquito bites. They eat me alive at night. Im working on some ideas haha. I havent used the bug spray so i guess i cant complain. Maybe one day ill break down and use it. I dont like the smell or feel haha. 

Yesterday i spoke in sacrament meeting. We got there and the branch mission leader asked us to speak. I spoke about the gospel of jesus christ, basically the third lesson. It actually went well. I was able to say pretty much everything i wanted to. Thankfully sacrament meeting here is the last meeting haha. 

There were 75 people in church this week which was good. The work is going well. We´re having a hard time getting investigators to come to church. We walk to get them, but they give us an excuse. One thing frustrating with the work here is that a commitment doesnt mean much. Many times people arent there when you go to visit them and such. We´re working hard and trying to do our best though. We have a boy that is ready to be baptized and passed an interview but his mom wont sign the form yet. She thinks its too early. We went there last night just to continue to visit and she said her son wasnt there. He walked out a couple minutes later haha. We met his dad last night and he was really receptive though. We´re going to work with him this week. Another man wants to be baptized but needs to be married first. We have one guy that looks really good and we are helping him with the word of wisdom, but he didnt come to church this sunday. This week we´re going to try really hard to find a lot of good new investigators. We are trying to get the members to do divisions with us. 

Please help the missionaries in the ward. Open our home for them to teach. Give them rides and referrals. Go teach with them if you can. If the members can find the missionaries will teach and the work will go forward more effectively. I am enjoying my time here on the mission so far. 

I love you all so much. Thanks for the support. Letters are always awesome and thanks a ton for the package! FEEL FREE TO SEND A PACKAGE ANYONE! haha. Be obedient and stay strong. The commandments truely are a blessing to us. The lord uses commandments to give us blessings and as we keep the commandments, the spirit will be with us to lead and guide us. This last week we taught a guy who told us we were wasting our time and that we should throw the book of mormon in the trash. It only made me want to work harder haha. But i bore my testimony and the spirit was there. He didnt change but someday he will know. Hopefully sooner than later. I love you all!

 

Elder Hawkley

September 13, 2010

Hey family!

Ill start with the questions. My companion is Brazialian. Elder D. Souza ( the D because theres other Elder Souzas haha). He is awesome. We get along and have fun and he is teaching me a lot. He is obedient too. The Lord truly blessed me with him and to be here in Leme. 

We live in a "home", hard to explain i will have to send a picture. But it is nice. I think its great. For laundry we use a "tanque". Its one step below a washing machine haha. We line dry everything. You really dont know how blessed you are until you dont have something. BE GRATEFUL! 

The people here in Brasil are awesome. As far as teaching is going we are teaching a couple families. The hardest thing here is that practically no one is married and they have to be married to be baptized. We have one guy that wants to be baptized and is ready but is waiting to get married. It is expensive here i guess. Some people here have little. Its been very humbling. 

One family we are starting to teach has 3 little kids. One little boy that always makes me smile. He has a couple toys and i saw inside the fridge and there wasnt much. But this little kid is as happy as can be! A good lesson for all of us. Be happy with what you have. Complaining does no good (from the mouth of the worlds biggest complainer haha). 

Hows my friend josh doing? Please forward his emails. We have an hour to emial every week, but we email the president too. 

This week we will have a zone conference. Im excited! This past week was somewhat frustrating with divisions and stuff, but was good. I feel like i grew and learned some things. My confidence grew too. I really have been blessed in the language. I can understand and speak pretty much anything. Sometimes people dont understand me the first time but all is well. I think it means i have something else to learn or struggle with haha. But the Lord truly has blessed me.

For breakfast i normally make a grilled cheese and drink yogurt from a bag ahaha. Lunch is always good and we eat big because we dont eat dinner. We just keep working through "dinner" and then put down a good snack when we get home at night. We have an awesome neighbor that always gives us food. So far weve gotten a cake, freshly made juice, homemade bread, and soup. Im in heaven haha. Were hoping to get some more here pretty soon haha.

ATTENTION ALL PEOPLE WHO LOVE ME: SEND ME PEANUT BUTTER, PEANUT BUTTER CRACKERS, ORANGE HOSTESS CUPCAKES, ANY KIND OF CANDY, PEANUTS ARE GOOD TOO (HONEY ROASTED) haha but seriously these are the things i would ask for in a package. also another stick of deodorant. They dont have any deodorant like old spice down here haha. When sending a package and letters send it to the mission office. If i know that im going to be staying in an area for a while i may give you the address, but for now send it to the mission office. They say to write the value of the package low even if its not, because if its over a certain value, i think $50 dollars i have to pay a ton to get it out of customs (or maybe the price to send the package, either way keep it low). Maybe send 2 separate packages they said if its a lot of stuff. 

Got to go. I love you all a ton. Stay strong. pictures to come next week!

 

Elder Hawkley

September 6, 2010 - First letter from mission field

Hey family,

Well im here haha! Im here in Leme, Brazil. The last week in the Ctm was good but also hard. I love the guys in my district a ton. In our district some went to Maceio, Recife, and Curitiba and then Elder Andersen and I went to Ribeirao.  Those elders going to Ribeirao left the ctm at 4 in the morning!  We flew there and got there around 8 in the morning. Pres Preito, Sis Prieto, and the assistants picked us up. Everyone is super nice. 

Then we went to the mission office and received a little training over finances and stuff. We get 99 reais every 2 weeks. i think it will be plenty, but we´ll see haha. Then we walked to the mission presidents home. We got there and Pres Prieto gave the "novinhos" a "tour" and when we returned to the main room 6 trainers for 6 newbies were there and they were singing called to serve haha. I totally didnt expect it. We sat down and each new elder had an envelope with their area and trainer. I was actually the last one haha. 

Then we ate lunch at the Presidents home.  Elder Andersen and i then had to go to the federal police again and re-register in Ribeirao. Then we returned to the mission office, got our bags and got on a bus to our areas. It was about a 3 hour bus ride to our area Leme. We arrived around 8 pm. A member picked us up, bought us some food and drove us to our house. 

The house we live in is nice. My companion is Elder D. Souza. He´s great! I´m the first missionary that he´s trained. He is obedient and is teaching me how to work. He has 1 year and 2 months so far. We are the only elders in Leme, a city of maybe 50,000 people. 

We walk a ton! Its been hard because I have a lot of blisters. I sat in a classroom for 9 weeks at the CTM and then have to walk everyday. Its been frustrating and difficult because you cant just stop working. Its made me think alot about the pioneers and what they went through. Walking thousands of miles in snow without shoes. What a sacrifice! I think my feet are starting to get better. I guess this is pretty normal though. Im doing good. 

Here in Leme there is a branch. I guess there used to be a ward, but a ton of people have become inactive. Elder D. Souza and I are both new to this area also. We are trying to get to know the members and the area. Elder Souza is a district leader and this next week all the district and zone leaders are going to training for 4 days. I will be here in Leme with another american elder who only has one more transfer in the field than i do and then the other 2 days we will work in his area. It will definitely be interesting haha. 

Things are changing/have changed in the missions. Zone conferences will now only be quarterly along with interviews with the president and i guess district and zone leaders will meet with the president more. I guess this is an international change. 

I still havent been interviewed and I dont know when i will be but thats fine. Im trying to be obedient but i have some questions to ask the president. In brazil, and i talked to my ctm teacher about this too, its super hard not to teach a woman without another male present, because most of the men in families are always working.  We´ve already taught a couple of lessons like this. My comp said its hard to do and my teacher in the ctm said the same thing. When i get a chance i will ask the president. 

Eating with the members has been great so far. We eat with them for lunch. Beans and rice and meat everytime! Haha but i actually really like it so far. Hope it lasts. As far as the water goes, the ctm gave us these special water bottles to drink out of with filters inside. They´re nice, but the water comes out really slow. 

Send letters and packages to this address:

Missão Brazil Ribeirão Preto

Elder Ryan Hawkley

Rua São Sebastião, 1003

Centro, Ribeirão Preto, SP

14015-040

 

This is the address to the mission office. They will forward all things to me through zone leaders and such. Please post on blog. Wait to send package. I´ll tell you what I want next week. I love you so much! Thanks for the love and support. Stay strong and continue helping others

 

Elder Hawkley

August 31, 2010

Ryan left the CTM today.  We got a call Sunday night, August 29, from a sister in his district.  (Not exactly sure who she is.  I couldn't understand her name on the answering machine message.) She said that he is fine and that he would probably not be able to write because p-days in his mission are on Monday.  He wrote a note for her to read and it said:

"I am doing well.  I will talk to you soon.  Please pray for me.  Tell everyone I love them.  Thank you for your support.  Love, Ryan"

We are looking forward to next week when we will find out, hopefully, where he is serving, who is companion is, and what it is like in his mission.  Can't wait!

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

July 27, 2010

Hello family, 
how's it going? its been a good week. i'll start with the questions.

1. things with the companion have been good this last week. we've been laughing a lot and getting along. he doesnt know the language very well and needs some work in the gospel. that's alright though, we've been working on the gospel during companion study. sometimes it doesn't seem like he's interested, but even that has improved this last week. i have learned a lot of patience and am working on loving him and everyone. he is from washington. not sure what else to say haha.

2. i did get the pizza party. your the BEST! thank you. last week another elder (elder paskett) in our branch got a pizza party and i got a piece of his pizza. i was going to suggest it to you, but you were one step ahead of the game haha.

3. teaching is going alright. we are now doing everything in portuguese, or at least trying haha. my companion doesn't talk much because of the lack of language. i just feel so helpless and unsuccessful during and after sometimes haha. i talked to one of my teachers and he basically said to trust in the lord and i agree. my hope is that if i do my best, stay humble, and trust in the lord, He will not let me fail. i struggle with knowing what the spirit is telling me to do. i guess it doesn't matter if i know if it's the spirit or not as long as i do it haha. in situations it always seems like we miss the need of the investigator.

4. they do have some fruits and veggies. i get some fruit. they have really good fruit salad every couple of days. every wednesday night they have homemade pizza. its good, but not pizza hut good haha. they have this dessert pizza with chocolate and bananas that is fantastic. they always have deserts, which are hit and miss. vegetables aren't ever that good, but i usually get my fruit in.

5 we exercise 5 days a week for 50 min. lately weve been playing basketball.
  
i can't believe i've been here for a month already. its really starting to fly now. the food is getting old now haha thats alright though.
  
so every sunday we sing the brazilian national anthem along with called to serve in portuguese. look up the brazilian national anthem. its nuts and super fast haha.

my brazilian roommates left today and so did the other district (american) in our branch. the roommates and the other district were way sweet. i hope we get some more brazilians.
  
the language is coming. i love practicing speaking, especially with the brazilians. it really is a blessing to be in brazil learning the language.

the movie this last sunday was the mountain of the lord. it was good.

so today for pday we got these smoothies that they make with fresh fruit right in front of you. i got an acai smoothie. it was sooo good.

so thats the week. for the devotional last week elder prieto spoke. it was okay. his brother is my mission president. i didn't talk to him though. tonight for devotional we're watching a dvd of elder oaks. should be sweet.

i'm coming to find that we can find the good in anything. and we have to if we want to be happy. i truly have grown a lot in the few weeks that i have been here.

i love you so much. thank you for your support and love. keep writing. stay strong. i'm glad to hear that all is well at home.
Elder Hawkley

July 20, 2010

hey family, 
everythings going pretty good right now. ok questions. 
(we had asked him these questions)


1. (Which one is your companion in the district temple picture?) my companion in the temple picture is to my left if i remember right.

2. (How many Brazilian roommates and how long will they be there?) i have 3 brazilian roommates. they are super nice and i try to practice the language with them as much as possible. they leave in a week. brazilians are only here for 3 weeks.

3. we did go to the federal police. it was fine. we waited for about 2 hours. all they did was take our fingerprints and a picture and register us. nothing too crazy.


4. tuesday devotionals are sweet. the past two weeks the speaker has cancelled, but we watched recordings of recent talks in the provo mtc. one was elder hales and the other was elder holland. elder hollands was amazing. he talked about how preach my gospel converts the missionary and then lets the missionary figure out how to convert others. he said that we as missionaries need to be our best convert. he also talked about how we dont have the right to walk away or become inactive after our missions, and how that mocks the investigators we taught and the commitments we helped them make. it was really good. tonight an area seventy is going to speak. im not sure who, but ill let you know how it goes next week.

5. when we leave the mtc we go walk around. they have boundaries that we have to stay inside. for lunch today we went to mr. cheneys and had a chicken wrap that all the missionaries said was good. it was. after email, were going to try and find a grocery store to get some snacks and then go to the paper store to get some supplies.  
well thats the questions. keep them coming.

the food is still good. i think im gaining a little weight. ill have to weigh myself tonight. they have a scale. im not sick of the rice and beans yet, but close. its always meat with rice and beans. is that healthy?????

my teachers are super awesome. my morning teacher is irmao (brother) brendao. he is from ribeirao preto and served in maceio. he is funny, but he has a strong testimony and really cares for us. he told us a story about he went into an area near the end of his mission where they hadn't had a baptism for 7 months. he got there around 11 in the morning and baptized 3 by 7 that night! hahah he told us it was because he was bold with inviting people to be baptized.

my afternoon teacher is irma (sister) cardoso. she is super nice. she is from brazil but served her mission in washington dc. her english is very good. irmao brendaos english is pretty good, but sometimes choppy. doesn't matter though, because theyre only supposed to talk to us in portuguese now. haha.

i got a haircut yesterday. i had talked to some other elders and they said that the barber cuts your hair in like 3 minutes and always misses a bunch. one elder in my branch said he came back with a bullcut (bowl cut) pretty much haha. it turned out fine though. good enough.

i still haven't taken a picture here yet. were only allowed to on pday. we have a great view of sao paulo outside our window though. on the horizon you can see skyscrapers as far as you can see haha. nuts.

this last sunday we watched the testaments in portuguese with english subtitles. that's what they were showing. it was good. i understood some words, but it was pretty fast.

the language is coming. practicing speaking helps a ton. having a head start also helps. the first week we were here we had service and the lady telling us what to do only spoke portuguese. i was the only one able to understand her haha.

the lord blessed me with the best family in the world. stay strong and do your best. the only way to happiness is the lords way. spend time together as a family. i love you. thanks for your support.


Elder Hawkley

July 13, 2010

hey everyone, 

so the enter button doesn't ever work and the shift button is hard to use haha. well things are going good.  thanks for your letters. i got dads letter and letter 1 so far. we dont get mail here on saturday or sunday and friday was a holiday.

the language is coming. thanks so much for rosetta stone. it really has given me a big head start. so far we've learned how to pray and bear testimony and are working on parts of the first language. in class we learn about how to teach and the language. we dont teach lessons, we teach people. its been a hard concept for me. when we practice, we do scenarios, not a lesson. as i understand it we wont ever practice teaching a lesson. we are supposed to teach according to the needs of the investigator, which we find out through asking good questions. we will do a practice where we are recorded only twice in the last week, unlike provo. but we can sign up to practice teaching. the plan is to do one each week.

  

so for our first week it was just my companion and i in our room. each room has six beds. this week we got some brazilian roommates. they are very nice and its cool to work on the language with them.

today is pday. this morning we went to the temple. we ride one of those nice tour buses. last week it was full and i had to sit on this little seat next to the driver. it was pretty crazy, but a cool experience. we turned right across three lanes in a huge tour bus in traffic haha. so far we've done laundry, shined the shoes, and after this we will go outside the mtc. we went out last week too. it was cool. there isn't a store in the mtc or anything, you have to go out and buy it.

it rained for the first time today. we didnt go to the federal police last week. it was canceled. were going tomorrow, but in the afternoon thankfully. i have a fun district. we laugh a lot.

the food is still good. lots of heavy food.  on sunday they showed the joseph smith movie. it was often (I think he means "awesome"). they show a different movie every week. next week is the testaments in portuguese with english subtitles. i plan on going to see that one. joseph smith movie was in english.

i heard a funny joke for dad. a funny term for a bald man is 'chrome dome' haha. i love you, miss you, and look up to you so much dad. thanks for all you have sacrificed for me. i love my family. you guys are the best. i could not ask for anything more. i know this gospel is true and that our prayers are heard and answered.

i love you.
elder hawkley

July 6, 2010 - First Letter

Dear family,

Well i made it.  Today is pday and we went to the temple. It was awesome. and Oklahoma is the BEST place to live. my eyes were opened because of the poverty here. not everywhere, but i saw some people living in shacks. im so grateful for the house i have and to live in the united states.   


i like being in class a lot and doing personal study. I love learning about the gospel and how to teach the gospel and even learning the language. 
   
my companion is elder anderson from washington. 


we have a devotional on tuesdays and a fireside on sundays. i saw a district leave for their missions this morning and it has made me excited to get out  haha. 


the food is good. beans and rice every lunch and dinner haha. breakfast is wierd. they have rolls, ham, and cheese. sometimes cereal haha. 


tomorrow we have to wake up at 4 am to go to the federal police to get registered. they only serve 100 people a day and we have to get in line. it doesnt open until 730.

i love this gospel. i pray for you guys every day. stay strong in the gospel and spend time with each other. i will write more details about the mtc next week for sure. 


i love you                                              
Elder Hawkley

July 6, 2010 - MTC District

Here is a picture of Ryan's MTC District in front of the Sao Paulo Temple.

Do not know which one is his companion.

June 30, 2010 - Brazil MTC

We received a letter from the MTC Mission President and his wife, the Clark's. They said that Ryan had arrived safely.  He has a companion and is getting settled into his room.  They also said that the cafeteria food is abundant and very good.   (Ryan will be so happy about that.)  The best part was that a picture was attached.  Not sure who the other missionary is, but assuming that he is the one on the flight from Atlanta with Ryan.

 He will be able to e-mail home on his pday after a morning at the Temple.  It will be either Tuesday or Wednesday.  Can't wait to hear from him!

June 29, 2010 - Ryan leaves for Brazil

The day started off with a call from Missionary Travel in Salt Lake City saying that they had accidentally refunded Ryan's ticket.  They rebooked him on a flight to Atlanta, instead of Dallas, that left an hour earlier.  Then he was going to take a later flight to Sao Paulo.  Luckily we were pretty much packed and had everything together.

These are a couple of quick pictures we took before we left for the airport.  This is the Brazil flag.

 This one is really light, but I had to take it quickly and didn't get a chance for another take.  It seems like we packed a lot more stuff for Pehrson and Tyson when they left.  Hope we didn't forget anything.

We get to the airport and Joel and Ryan go inside to get him checked in while Rachel and I go park the car.  Joel isn't scowling.  I just caught him by surprise.

Waiting in the airport to say goodbye.  

Time to say goodbye.

He got to Atlanta as scheduled and gave us a call.  There was another missionary and  the Temple President and his wife from the Sao Paulo Brazil Temple on his flight to Brazil.

He called a little while later to say that the flight to Sao Paulo was delayed.  Come to find out, they ended up delaying the flight until 8:00 am Wednesday, June 30. The airlines did give them a voucher for a hotel, but it was so late at night and since they would have to be back early in the morning, they all decided to just stay at the airport for the night.

He called in the morning saying that he didn't get much sleep but finally were boarding  the plane.  It left around 8:20 am, Wednesday morning.  

What a day!!!!

June 28, 2010 - Ryan becomes a missionary

Monday, June 28, 2010, Ryan was set apart as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by our Stake President, Gordon Bean.  The blessing he gave Ryan truly came from the Lord.  It was such a wonderful evening.

June 23, 2010 - VISA!!!!!!

We have been waiting to hear whether or not Ryan would get his Visa or if he would have to go to Provo, Utah MTC until his Visa came through.  Well, the call came from Salt Lake saying that his Visa was in and that they would overnight it to us.

The next day, June 23rd, it came!!!  Yeah!!!  Now he can go as scheduled.

The coolest thing that came with the Visa is his missionary name tag!!!  He was so excited to get it.

June 20, 2010 - Ryan's Sacrament Talk

On Father's Day, June 20, 2010, Ryan gave his "farewell" talk in Sacrament meeting.  He spoke about "Putting on the Whole Armor of God".  He did a wonderful job. The Spirit was so strong while he spoke.  Kelli and the kids were able to fly in on the Friday before.  Grandma and Grandpa Allen were finally able to fly in on Saturday night.  They tried Friday afternoon and evening, but were not able to get on a flight.  Luckily they were able to come in on Saturday.  Sunday night, Steve flew in.  It was so nice to have family here with us.

Pehrson and Kate weren't able to be there.  Tyson couldn't be there either, but he was able to fly in the week before and spend a few days at home with us.

March 18, 2010 - Draper Temple

On Thursday, March 18, 2010, Ryan went through the Draper, Utah Temple.  He was so excited to be able to go.  Mom, Dad, and Rachel came to Utah for Spring Break.  We had visited with Kenneth and Edee for a little bit and were now at Grandma and Grandpa Allen's home.  Pehrson and Kate drove the night before and were able to be there with all of us.

Ryan and Dad went to the temple early to get everything done before the rest of us came.

Those who were able to be there were Mom, Dad, Pehrson, Kate, Tyson, Grandpa and Grandma Allen, Edee Raines, Lauren and Jake Roundy, Lisa and Phil Davis, Pyper and David Monte, and Joe Anderson.  It was so nice to have so much of our family there.  It was a very special evening.

March 3, 2010 - Ryan got his call!!

On Wednesday, March 3, 2010, Ryan received his white envelope in the mail.  He held on to until that evening.  He went to Grandma and Grandpa Allen's house to open it.  

Kenneth, Edee, Lauren, Jake, Scott, Caroline and Margaret were there.  Tyson and his roommate, Joe, were there.  Ryan's roommate, Josh, and Elina, Annie LeSueur and Jason Kimball were there, too.  It was a big assembly!  haha  We set up the webcam with Pehrson and Kate in California and Mom and Dad and Rachel in Oklahoma so that we could all see and be there with everyone.

Ryan opened his envelope and he is called to the Brazil Ribeirao Preto Mission.  He reports to the Brazil MTC (or CTM) on June 30, 2010.  He will be speaking the Portuguese language.