November 9, 2011 - Estou de boa

Hey Family,

Thanks for the email. Thanks for the packages mom! Haha, thats awesome that you were inspired to put the deoderant and propel. I'm using this Brazilian stuff that's different haha. Its a liquid that you roll on haha. You are the best!

That's nuts about the earthquake! And ELDER L. TOM PERRY! What else cool is going to happen in Oklahoma while I'm not there haha? Just kidding. Did anything break in the earthquake? Did everyone wake up? What was it like? That's way cool about Elder Perry. We too had stake conference this last Sunday, but without an authority.

As far as calling Tyson, I'm pretty open. I can call Saturday, Sunday, or Monday whenever. From what I understand, there is a 5 hour time difference, so remember that. But whatever you think is best! It will be great! I got a wedding invitation this last week with a little note from Cristy. I really appreciated that! But, unfortunately I won't be able to make it haha.

Transfers will be the 28th of November. I will be leaving the office, so I'm excited. But things are going well in our area for the most part. We still need to work more with the members, but that is a constant struggle. We are still trying to help Marcelo and Tatiana. Last night we went there and just talked with them. We asked a lot of questions to see where they are at and what they are feeling. Tatiana already has a testimony. Marcelo is still waiting. We told him he needs to read more of the Book of Mormon and continue praying. We invited them to prepare to be baptized on the 19th of November. Marcelo asked if he could pray about it and will give us an answer on Friday. We are praying and will fast for him. Please pray as well for them. They have 2 little daughters one that is 8 and the other that is 6. They love the primary!

We are finding other people to teach in our area as we do our best to get there and talk with the people. Whether they accept and progress or not will be up to them. But we will do our part.

I'm glad to hear that grandpa is doing well and that everyone is happy. I'm already excited to talk to you guys and see the fotos from the wedding.

Here in the office, everything is going well. Everything gets fine if you have someone to go teach in the area. It makes everything better. We are getting ready for the Christmas Conference here and that is going to be a lot of work. It stinks that I wont be in the office for Christmas and President said that as well. President's family comes in and a lot of cool stuff happens, but It will be great wherever I am. The best part of the office is President and Sister Prieto and the relationship we develop with them and the things we learn from them. It is what I will miss the most from the office.

Yesterday an elder from Concepción, Chile got here. His name is Elder Novoa. He is very humble and is still learning Portugues. But he will be a great missionary. I told him about Grandma and Grandpa.

I love you all so much and know that the gospel is true! Heavenly Father has a plan for us. If we strive to be worthy, everything will happen the way it is meant to be.

Elder Hawkley

Halloween Activity

Our apartment

October 26, 2011 - Hey

Hey Family,

So this last week was CRAZY! We didn't really even have a pday, Elder Ilustre and I that is. Thursday the Americans got here and we gave them a little training and then went to Presidents house and ate pizza. Last Friday was the craziest day of my life. We woke up that morning and we had to prepare the stuff for the Polícia Federal for the Americans. The Financial Secretaries were being avaliated (evaluated) by someone from São Paulo. But at the last minute we found out that they were here to availuate us a little too. We weren't prepared haha. We found out we weren't doing some stuff we needed too, simply because we didn't know.  Then we had to go to the Polícia Federal. Then, one of the American Elders said that he wasn't feeling well. He said he had had a headache for 2 weeks and was nauseous. The problem is that he didn't have Brazilian documentation and wasn't yet registered on the health plan and doesn't speak portuguese yet. So after the polícia federal, Pres and Sister led Elder Shupe and I to a nearby city where a member is the owner of a little hospital. I was Elder Shupes translator basically. They did some tests and didn't find anything. We got home at 1 in the morning haha. It was nuts but now I know I can do it again some day haha. Elder Shupe is still bad and we dot know what is wrong. We went to a neurologist this morning and he will do some tests on Friday. If he doesn't get better, he will probably have to go home.

Another missionary went home last week because of what he said as homesickness. But he wasn't prepared and wasn't being obedient President said. In the past 6 months, 4 elders and 1 sister have gone home early. One elder and the sister went home because of medical reasons and the other elders went home because they weren't prepared. It is sad to see those that don't endure and to think about those in our ward who for now have decided not to go.

Church was good on Sunday. That family that we were teaching finally came to our ward! It was great! We hope to baptize them this transfer.

President sat down with us really quick a couple of days ago and together we set a goal of 3 referrals that we will get each week until the end of the transfer. We also set a goal of 6 baptisms this transfer! It is super possible and with the Lords help we will reach it. President really is inspired. Either we are looking for people to teach on our own or we are looking for referrals. As we get baptize the members referrals, they will get excited and give more referrals. At least that's the idea!

As far as the Spanish Elders go, I don't know yet. The first one will get here this next week. But they stayed in the CTM for 8 weeks just like the Americans so I think they'll be fine.

Christmas Ideas??? Lots of candy and snacks. Black socks, preferably gold toe. 3 or 4 pairs would be great! Actually I don't really need the entire shoe shine kit. I already have the big brush and I get the shoe shine here. I would like the little round applicator brush and that's it. Other ideas, A couple of ties would be great! The joseph smith movie in portugues. But in all honesty don't spend too much money. I would actually like to save some money to be able to buy a couple of things here in Brasil for me and for you guys. So or spending a little less on the package and giving me the money or just saving the money would be an idea.

Thanks for the message about Trusting in the Lord. I honestly had never thought about it in that way. But it makes sense.

Sounds like life is busy for you guys too. The house looks good. But it will probably already be a different color when i get home  haha.

Excited for the wedding plans. Brown and green it is. I'll try and send a picture next week.

This saturday we will have our baptism at 5 and shortly after will be an activity for the Relief Society about Holloween. Aparently here in Brasil many members think that Halloween is a bad thing. So they asked me to talk a little about our family traditions and carve a pumpkin for them haha. It should be good. We are going to emphasize the invitation of the members friends. Hopefully we can get some referrals.

But I love you all and pray for your happiness and success. Have a great week!

Elder Hawkley

October 19, 2011 - Blessings on Both Sides

Hey Family,

Wow what a week it was for you guys! The pictures of the accident looked pretty gnarly! Are the other girls members of the church? What is going to happen with the truck now? That is great that no airbags went off! Hows everything looking right now?

That's cool that you guys got a CR-V. I had seen some before. Them seem like a good car. A good size too!

President Prieto talked about the blessings of the mission a couple of months ago. I don't remember if I commented about it or not. He said that during our mission, the Lord throws all of the blessings to our family. When we get back, he starts to bless the person who served. I think we both have really been able to see the blessings that are coming to our family. I am so grateful to the Lord for protecting you, especially Rachel, and that everything seems to be going smoothly. Even Tyson has been blessed. Who knows how long it would have taken for him to find a wife???? HAHAH just kidding (love you Tyson and Cristy). But I love you all so much and pray that the Lord will continue to bless you in all that you need.

We had the baptism last Wednesday! And she was confirmed last Sunday and is going strong! During the whole time we taught her her mom (who probably has 70 years old) has gone to church and more or less participated in the lessons. But she always had some wierd beliefs and didn't believe in the law of chastity (necessity of marriage) or the word of wisdom (coffee). When we went to interview Silvana, Zezé (mom) wanted to be interviewed and baptized as well. In the end, we didn't have time. But I was still a little doubtful. We went there Sunday afternoon with our Ward Mission Leader to reteach the first lesson. We marked a baptismal date for the 29th of October! We went to teach her last night and she is ready to stop drinking coffee and keep the commandments so that she can be baptized next week! The Lord prepares his children and all have a certain time when they will be ready.

Elder Ilustre is doing well. We are getting along fine. Transfers went well. These past days have been super busy. We had 7 Brasilians get here yesterday and 4 american elders got their visas and will get here tomorrow night. There have been some changes in the way the Polícia Federal works and so we are trying to adapt and understand. But it will all work out! Office life is good but I will be way excited to get out here in the next transfer at the end of November. President thought I had a transfer more than I do and was thinking about putting me to train an elder from argentina that will get here in two weeks. But he misunderstood. So maybe I will come out of the office training. The other option would be to leave as a zone leader. We´ll see what happens. Both will be good. There is a large diversity of missionaries that will come in the next few months. One from Chile, one from Argentina, one from Bolivia, one from Uruguay, and one from Portugal. I want to train one of them haha. I am remembering a lot of my spanish from High School. When I get back I want to take some classes and get fluent haha.

Well I love you guys and know that the church is true. We can see that the Lord is blessing us for being in the true path. We must press on. Have a great week and "Don't Stop Believin" haha

Elder Hawkley

October 12, 2011 - MIRACLES HAPPEN

Hey family,

Sounds like life is busy with you guys too! Can´t believe that the house is finally painted haha. So you are going to paint the inside of the house again?! Haha no surprise there.

What´s up with Tyson and Maryland? Is he planning on going to school there?

That's awesome about Tyler Robertson's call. They will all have spoken spanish. If the travel system is the same in Cody's mission as it is here, he will be home. Here you normally get home 10 days before the date you entered the MTC. For example I know that I will get home home on Wednesday the 20th of June.

Thanks for the charity quotes. Charity is definitely not easy, but as a missionary it is essential.

Well this week was filled with ups and downs, but we are definitely on a high right now. Last Wednesday after pday, we went to the area a little bit down knowing we were going to knock doors. And we started expressing our thoughts about the work and our vision of baptisms and our personal struggles. Well that night we didn't get a lot done but we had a great talk and we set some good goals. We talked about how we both have a lot of fears and also how we needed to have more faith, trust in the Lord more, be positive, and not doubt. We fasted for these goals this weekend. We were immediately blessed. We found lots of good families this last week and are super busy trying to follow-up with everyone. Nobody was able to go to church but I know they will this Sunday.

I could reflect on my fears and how they have held me back so much in life. Satan uses fear to slow our progress and weaken our faith. We cannot fear, we must trust the Lord. If we are trying our best and are humble, things will work out. I also saw how I need to be positive. I have to leave a lesson knowing that the investigator will be baptized and will read the book of mormon, pray, and receive an answer. I understand that it won´t always happen like that. But if I start doubting right off the bat, the Lord wont be able to help. If I don't have faith, nothing will work. So it was good to see that Elder Ilustre has a lot of the same fears and together we will be able to overcome.

Trying to be more positive may seem dumb in some instances at first. Maybe you laugh. But as we start to look for the good in everything, we really are happier. Elder Wright is the new financial secretary. He is pretty new on the mission (almost 5 months) and I have been able to learn a lot from him. He is always positive and has a lot of faith as is normal for most new missionaries. I am learning a lot.

Alright, so MIRACLE. When I first got to the area with Elder Ramos, they were teaching a mother and son. The son, Giorgi, we baptized. The mom wasnt baptized because of a boyfriend and problems with the law of chastity. Since then we have continued visiting here every once in a while and following up with her. She has been coming to church this entire time. She at one point told us she knew the gospel was true and that would be baptized in the future, but that she loved her boyfriend (who didnt want anything to do with the church). I was beginning to think that I would not see her get baptized We invited here to take a question to general conference and she ended up watching the last session. On Sunday, the Gospel Principles class was about the Law of Chastity and the teacher wasnt there. So Elder Ilustre, Elder Boren, Elder Wright, and I gave the class. The spirit was strong and the spirit continued as we had testimony meeting. After sacrament meeting ended, she came up to me and asked if there was any activities in the church wednesday (today, which is a holiday here). I said no and then she said, "well then I want to be baptized on wednesday". I didn't believe it at first, but then I got so excited! She was interviewed last night and tonight she will be baptized. It was way cool. We also have some way good investigators coming to watch the baptism. Things are starting to get going and we are ready!

Elder Ilustre is going good. I need to be more patient with him. He gets distracted at times with the computers and that can be frustrating to me. But he is a good missionary and we are hoping to have a lot of success this next transfer in the office together.

Transfers are this next week. I will be staying what I think will be my last transfer here in the office. It will be good.

Well thanks for the pictures. Pehrson and Kate and Beck are picture perfect!

I love you all and have a great week! Miracles happen!

Elder Hawkley

PS. Here´s a pic of Elder Ilustre and I at our desks in the front of the office. We dont have a room. We are the receptionists here haah

October 5, 2011 - General Conference

Hello Family,

Well it was a good week and an AWESOME weekend. General Conference here on the mission is like the SuperBowl! haha We all get stoked and excited! We got to watch all the sessions and in english. It was perfect. I don´t know if you guys read the Liahona, but there was a talk by Pres Uchtdorf about general conference and how if we watch with questions, they will be answered. I did that and wow it was really amazing how I could see the answers. The gospel holds all the answers to our questions, even in the basics. The gospel is perfect! I really liked Sister Thompsons talk about personal revelation, Pres Packers to the youth, Pres Uchtdorf about our nothingness but importance to God, Elder Anderson about having children (that was a newer topic but way cool), Elder Ardern about time (super good), Elder Cook about how it is "better to look up", Elder Christofferson about repentance. In the priesthood session, Pres Monson gave a great talk about being willing to stand alone. Elder Holland gave a fire filled talk about how we need worthy missionaries. Conference was perfect. I am grateful and look forward to be able to study again.

Do you know of any other mission calls?  What about Devin Bastian

And to whom did Shawn Bean get married? That is still a mystery.

I got the package I think last thursday! haha It only took 10 days! Thanks a ton for everything. The insoles are AWESOME! I think the leather will hold up better. Thanks for the sweets, always good haha. They are almost gone already haha.

The correios (post office) actually are still on strike. We get packages, but not letters. They delivered letters for 2 days and then stopped again haha

How are the wedding plans coming along? Still need to take that picture

The rest of the week was good. We are still struggling to find people to teach.  It is the biggest obstacle right now and has been for a while. But we will continue looking to improve and I know that we will be better because of it. Marcelo and Tatiana are doing great! They ended up watching a part of conference on the internet we found out which is good. We are hoping to have a fhe with a ward family and them tomorrow night. We want to help them be baptized this month!

Elder Ilustre is doing fine. He has only 5 months on the mission and I think I am still adjusting to that. He is my first comp with less time that me on the mission. I need to be a little bit more patient with him and praise him a little more. He is a good missionary and it has been good working with him.

Yesterday we had a little meeting with Presidente Prieto as we do once in a while. He reminded us to be in the area at 5 and said something interesting. He said that even if we don't have anyone to visit, that we need to go and that the spirit will tell us what to say. It was a cool promise and reminder. It is such a blessing to work in the office, even though it is full of trials. I have learned so much working with Presidente Prieto. I feel like the staff are my brothers and Pres and Sister Prieto are our parents. I don't think i told you, but one night before we had zone conferences, Presidente asked us to go to his house one night for a "meeting". In reality we ate dinner with him and had a little fhe haha. We said a prayer and he read to us from the mission president´s manual about the secretaries and assistants. He said the secretaries are missionaries that are examples in everything. He said that we are chosen because of our example and because the Lord wants us to have this oportunity to develop ourselves. We said a prayer and Presidente gave us a hug (pretty normal actually) and we went home. Got home about 10. It was an awesome experience. He really is called of God and I know that the Lord sent me here in part to learn from Presidente and Sister Prieto.

Hope all is well with you guys. I love you so much! A great motivation to share the gospel is to simply think about our families and the happy memories we have. Keep living the gospel!

Elder Hawkley

PS The picture is a look out point of the center of the city from the city zoo.

September 28, 2011 - What UP FAM?

Hey family,

So today has been good so far. We woke up early and went to the Curupira, a park and the 6 of us played ultimate frisbee. It was super fun! I need to take pictures of the park to show you guys. We studied there and then played frisbee. It was nice

The shoe kit and socks can wait until Christmas.

Shawn Bean got married????^? To Who?? The pic of Tyler turned out good. I´ll see what I can do. I will send you next week

The engagement pics turned out really awesome. I´m super stoked for the both of them. Cristy is super pretty and she actually makes Tyson somewhat good looking (HAHA just kidding, love you bro!)

Marcelo and Tatiana seem to be doing well. We will teach them for the second time tomorrow night and we are stoked. They went to church in the other ward again and it seemed like they really liked it.

Well we actually started getting letters again today. I´m sure the letters that were backed up will come in by stages. I didn't get any letters today but I am anxiously waiting haha

I actually sent Scott a letter last week haha. So I sent him a quick email today.

Pehrson actually made the surfboard from scrath????!!!???

This last week was fine. We are still trying to play catch-up with some stuff but it is working out.

I sent rachel a letter last week. Should get there in a couple weeks. I still love her.

I´m super excited for General Conference. What are everybody´s plans? It really is the coolest thing to be able to hear living prophets and apostles speak the Lord´s will for us. Thank you Mom and Dad for teaching us the importance of General Conference. I remember that we didn't play soccer on the weekend of General Conference. It brings many good memories. Ice cream after the priesthood session with Dad hah.... It is a neat experience to be able to tell people that a living prophet will be speaking and that they will be able to listen and see. I especially love the stories from General Conference.

Elder Ilustre and I are doing well. I'm trying to do my best to sanctify myself and really be obedient so that the spirit can guide me. We are working hard and getting out of the office on time. We are hoping to find more and more people.

Well I love you guys and hope that all is going awesome! Have a great week and General Conference! Thanks for the support and love!

Elder Hawkley

September 23, 2011 - Mission Accomplished!

Hey family,

Thanks for the emails. I always love reading them. Also, thanks for the package! Unfortunately I already have some other requests for the next package. I need a new shoe shine kit. Mine disappeared. That happens in our house, as many missionaries stay there. Also 3 more pairs of socks would be awesome. A couple pairs also disappeared and some are starting to get holes haha.

Thinking about ditch day, I don´t remember honestly. But I probably just didn't want to go haha. You know how I was in high school. I think Rachel is a little better socially than I was in high school. But that's cool that she went. I´m proud of you Rachel and your example. WAY TO GO in being a good example and trying to share the gospel. Don´t stop. We don't know what will happen in the future.

So you want a picture of me with my hand out as if I were going to shake hands? Hahah I´ll do my best! But i thought that only the parents stood in the line. I remember being excited to do that at Pehrson´s wedding and then not getting to haha.

Man I can´t believe I am even thinking about school already. That was a surprise. I hadn´t thought too much about it. The mission is amazing. I have met so many good guys and made life long friendships for sure already. I'm greatful for the examples and friendships. I actaully have already had some offers to live with some kids. Elder Brower is from Tremonton, Utah and he is a stud. He goes to UVU and will probably rent a house up in Orem. He offered me a spot if I wanted it. BUT, I really love Josh Hardy. He is an awesome kid and a best friend. I would love to live with him again. I have a good feeling he will get married quick and so If I ever want to live with him again, it will have to be soon haha. Let´s go ahead with that plan then. Yup I accept the offer to room with him again!!!!!!!! I think I would like it better living in the same room together, rather than my own room in the same apartment (as he said too). Go ahead and start looking! Man that's too wierd to start thinking about. Any other questions just hit me up.

Well the conferences got done yesterday. I love zone conferences! It was way sweet! Although after 3 days in a row I was tired and ready for a break haha. On Monday, the 2 assistants and Elder Boren (financial sec) and I got a bus to São José to Rio Preto where the first conference was going to be on Tuesday. We left at about 5 and got in around 8:30. Elder & Sister Call came to participate in our conferences. Elder Call is the doctor for all 27 missions in Brasil. The wives of the Presidents all call Elder Call when it comes to medical questions. Needless to say he receives a lot of calls! They came to give a short training about health and then to answer medical questions person by person that wanted to talk with him. It was awesome to get to know them a little bit. They seemed just like grandma and grandpa. Really the nicest people. Sister Call is trying here hardest to learn portuguese. Reminded me of grandma. Elder Call already speaks well as he served his mission ago in the Brasil South Mission haha.

So Tuesday we had the conference in Rio Preto. I gave our training about baptismal forms and the area book. I thought it went well. All 8 of us piled into presidents car and we drove back to Ribeirão tuesday night. It was a tight squeeze and a long 2 hour drive haha. Wednesday morning we did the conference here in Ribeirão and Elder Ilustre gave our training as I worked the slideshow. Yesterday morning we went to Pirassununga. presidents car was full of boxes and letters so 3 of us went in the car of Elder and Sister Call. It was nice to talk with them. Elder Ilustre and I gave the training together and then we got back here in Ribeirão Preto around 8:30 last night. I am exhausted haha. Glad that it is all over.

But it really isn't all over, today (23 Sept) I guess was made "The day of the Family: Proclamation to the world" in the state of São Paulo and so we got all the missionaries here in the city together and handed out the little pamphlet of the proclamation. It was cool. Hopefully we should have some results.

Tomorrow morning, Elder Tobias, an area seventy will meet with the elders from the 2 zones here in Ribeirão and another zone close by as he passes through the city. So tomorrow morning we will watch that and then try to get into the area.

As far as the area, we taught one lesson this week. But it was a good one. We received a referral from some members in the other stake. Presidente passed our information to the members and they called us. We went to teach Marcelo and Tatiana on Wedenesday night immediately after the zone conference got over. This family went to church on sunday in the ward of the members of the other stake! They really liked church and watched a baptismal service after church. We went there and taught them the Restuaration and the spirit was strong. They are going to read and pray! They are really excited. I have never taught a complete family like this before. It has always been my dream. They have 2 daughters, one that is 8 and the other 6. They also liked church. The only problem is that they are going to the other ward again this sunday. Its not too bad because they are going to A church, but as they live in our area we need to get them attending our ward soon. We are so stoked to teach families like this. Elder Ilustre has 5 months in the mission and has only had one baptism. So we need to get him some more recent converts haha!

Life is super busy here in the office. I lost my temper a bit this morning. We didn't get to really start our pday until lunch because of missionaries here in the office. But we have things to do tonight (in the office) unfortunately and so that time was lost. It happens quite often here in the office to the pday getting jacked up. I need to be more patient. I have lots of oportunities here in the office haha.

The post office here in Ribeirão Preto is on strike and has been for the last 8 days. We get packages, but letters are just sitting there. so the whole mission is waiting on letters for now. hah

I love you all so much. Thanks for the love and support. Keep on keeping on haha.

Elder Hawkley

Tug of war at conference

Pictures of the zonas

Ramos, me, and Elder Boren doing pday in tthe mission house while the President was traveling.

September 14, 2011 - Correria

Hey family,

Questions:
Did you get Tyson's address?  and my other questions.
YUP

How did this RM that knew Cristy, know you?  Or did he just see your name tag and put it together?
I already knew this guy. I did taught some lessons with him when I was on a division in another area.

Are there still a ton of people sleeping at your house?  What do you do with the sister missionaries that come in?  Where do they sleep?
For now no, we only have lots of people sleeping in our house during transfers, lz councils and conferences. The sisters sleep with other sisters or at presidents house

Well we are SUPER busy here in the office. We have zone conferences next week and we are running to get everything ready. Zone conferences will be Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Friday night Elder Tobias, area seventy, gets here and saturday morning he wants to meet with as many missionaries as possible. WHOAA!! Sadly we don't have people to teach in our area yet but hopefully after conferences we will have some time to look. I have never had so much to do in my life haha. But we just do our best and go on.

Yesterday the 3 americans got here and we had to go to the polícia federal. It was crazy but all worked out. I had to renew 11 VISAs to so that was a lot of work. Today is pday and I'm just trying to forget a little bit of everything we have to do.

Elder Ilustre is good. We are getting along. He is humble and helps me a lot. We have some awesome ideas for our area, but its hard because we have to have a lot of patience to put them in practice, as we don't have much time.

Sounds like everything is good on your side. NOV 22! That's awesome. Are you guys going to go out to Maryland too? Where are they going to live? Keep me updated on the plans. Well thanks for the letters, pictures, and the package you will be sending. Don't forget shoelaces (2 pairs) please. I have 3 shoelaces for 4 shoes right now hah so i live lacing and unlacing my shoes.

I know that the gospel is true and that God has a plan for us. The plan of salvation brings us so much knowledge and the right perspective as we pass through hard times and lose our loved ones. It is such a great blessing that is easy to forget at times.

Have a great week and be happy. Not sure when or IF I will email you next week haha. I love you all!

Elder Hawkley

September 8, 2011 - YESSSS!

Hey Family,

Well I am sooo stoked to hear that Tyson got some courage. I am soo happy for them and our family is just about to get bigger and better. Cristy sent me an email with Tyson the other day and she just seems awesome and perfect for Tyson. I cant WAIT to actually meet her. Does Cristy have younger sisters? haha JUST kidding

It was funny because an rm from another ward was here in the office yesterday and asked if a Tyson Hawkley was my brother. He is friends with Cristy on facebook and saw that she had posted that she was engaged. So I found out yesterday afternoon haha.

Questions:
1. Insoles - Go ahead and get the echo leather ones please. Love you
2. Comp - My new companion is Elder Ilustre. He has 4 months on the mission. He trained last transfer so its kind of funny. He is the first missionary to enter the office as a secretary that wasn't a junior comp before. But he is awesome. We are already getting along. He actually speaks and understands english, but I don't think he likes to very much. That's fine by me because I'm trying to speak portuguese as much as possible. He is from the same state as Elder Ramos haha. But they didn't know each other. He knows how to make videos so he will be able to help me out a lot. He is already picking up everything quick. We also got a new financial secretary. His name is Elder Wright. This is his second transfer on the mission. He is already speaking pretty well. It will be a good transfer.
3. Transfers - went fine. These last three days were rough. Monday the heroes went home. Tuesday the nubes got here. Yesterday was LZ Council. Sleeping late and getting up early. Not getting to the area. Tons of people sleeping in our house. Needless to say a pday was necessary.

I really liked that quote about missionary work. I need to remember that more. Sunday we had a baptism!!!!!! We baptized Victor Hugo e Vinicius. A recent convert of the financial secretaries did the baptism. It was tight! The service went really well. They will be confirmed this next sunday.

As far as the office things are nuts. We have 3 americans getting here next week and then zone conferences the week after that. Not sure how much we will be able to get into our area these next two weeks, but we will do our best.

This last weekend I did my first baptismal interviews. I actually did 3 of them in one day. It was a good learning experience. I was pretty nervous, because I feel a big responsibility. But I was able to learn and now I am more confident in doing interviews. 2 women passed and were baptized and the other was a 13-yr-old that had some doubts still and was going to read and pray.

So far it has been a good experience leading the work. We need to find people to teach and we will.

I love you all so much. Family in the gospel of Jesus Christ brings the most joy in our lives. Hope all is well. Keep going on strong

Elder Hawkley

August 31, 2011 - Hey

Hey Family,

Well yesterday I made 1 year and 2 months. That is actually pretty scary to think about. The time has gone by way too fast. But life is good. The rest of the time will pass by faster than I want it too.

We are in the last week of the transfer. Presidente still hasn't passed the transfers yet so I don't know who my companion will be yet. I should find out tomorrow. But I´m super excited to be able to train the new secretary. It will also be the first time I am the senior companion. I know that this doesn't mean that I will get to do what I want or command my companion though. It will be a little more responsibility though. I´m up for the challenge.

The month of September will be nuts.

Sept 5= Returning missionaries go home
Sept 6= New Missionaries come in
Sept 7= Zone Leader Council
Sept 13= 3 American Missionaries come in
Sept 20, 21, 22= Zone Conferences

If will be a fun month though. I´m stoked for Zone Conferences, seeing as we only have them once every 3 months nowadays.

In the office it hasn't been too busy, which is always nice. Right now we are getting stuff ready for transfers. We have to do the video with the pictures of the heróis (missionaries going home) and all their stuff and also all the stuff for the new missionaries. There are always baptismal forms to type too haha

As far as the area goes, another week went by without a ton a luck in finding people. We were working with the list of members to try and find part member families and help reactivate less active families. But we have almost contacted the whole list without much luck. Tons of people have already moved. So we are back to knocking doors. We are looking for any opportunity to teach anybody. Our ward is awesome. I love the members here. They are willing to go teach with us. But what we need from the members are referrals! We don´t have much time in our area and the little time we do have we spend knocking doors, not teaching too much. The last couple of Saturdays and Sundays in the area have been rough, because we work the whole day in the area, but end teaching 1 or 2 lessons. Its interesting because the assistants for example are finding elect people like crazy in their area it seems like. Just goes to show how this work really is the Lord´s. It all depends on him and his will for us. My goal in the mission is to baptize a family. I haven't gotten there yet. Families are awesome. Elder Lau and Elder Boren, who are the financial secretaries and also work in our ward, baptized a family last week. It took some time because they had to marry the parents. But the family is sooo awesome and so firm in the church.

But the Lord did bless us with Vitor Hugo and Vinicius. They are going great and will baptize on Saturday. The dad of this family that was recently baptized will baptize them. The family knows the family of Vitor Hugo and Vinicius. Actually their mom is a less-active who doesn't want to come back FOR NOW. We can work on that.

The mission life is good. I love you all very much and pray that the Lord will bless you with whatever you are needing. Have a great week and Be Happy!

Elder Hawkley

August 24, 2011 - E ai?

E aí família!!!!

How´s it going? Thanks for the email and the pictures! Everybody looks great! Beck has an awesome life haah! He looks a ton like Pehrson!

Questions and Comments from your email:

So did you get any referrals from the fireside last week?
      NOPE. We are still waiting on referrals. We are trying to work with small stuff, like pass-along cards and fhe´s and stuff for now.
 
  Do you know who you are going to be training?
       NOPE. Still waiting for Presidente to pass the transfers. I don't know if he even knows yet. It could change up until the last day. But I am excited!

We did find your ward on the map we got from Uncle Kenneth.  That was so awesome!!  It looks like a big area.  Do the members have to come far when they come to church?
     Most live pretty close. Some members live in a little city about 20 minutes away.

I really liked your comments about Bro Bushman´s talk. That is SUCH a good comparison with the Spirit and our decisions. I never had made that connection. I read a little bit of the book: "Teaching - No Greater Call" and it talks about how we should try and make these connections in everyday objects and use them to teach. The Savior taught that way with Parables. He taught in parables for 2 reasons. 1. If he had taught directly, he would have condemned EVERYBODY. Because they would have known the exact truth and not followed. 2. for example, as he made a comparison about harvesting, the people would remember the Savior´s lesson as they went to work in the fields and harvested.

No I didn't have Mrs. Hammer.

This last week was pretty tough. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. We went looking for people. We knocked doors for hours and didn't find anybody. Vitor Hugo and Vinicus were the only investigators that came to church (which was awesome). Those were some rough and discouraging days. Elder Ramos and I decided to fast especifically to find people on Monday. The Lord is already blessing us! It really is amazing! Fasting is always a little hard, because I LOVE to eat haha. But I have seen the blessings that we can receive from it here on the mission. We are fasting at least twice a month.

Things in the office have been easy going but we are already preparing for transfers. This next transfer will be different. Elder Ramos will leave, Elder Lau (financeiro) will leave, and Elder Huxford (assistant) is going home. So there will be some changes here in the staff, but it will be good.

Thanks for the addresses and pictures! Hope you are all doing well!

Whats the plan for a package?????

I ordered a Preach My Gospel DVD from the ldsonlinestore. It was 6 bucks. I want to try and use it in my training here in a month. Hope it gets here in time.

I love you all so much. I know that the church is true and that we have a living prophet! The commandments bring us happiness! Have a great week!

Feel free to send a quick response today

Elder Hawkley

August 17, 2011 - WOW

Hey family,

Well i opened my email and what did i see??? Lots of emails waiting for me! Thanks to all who sent emails. I really don't have enough time to email back to everyone, but I´ll get around to it. I got email from you guys, Pehrson, Tyson and Cristy, and Rachel.

Sounds like you guys had quite the adventure traveling home. Glad I wasn't in the car (and you probably are too HAHA). Hope that I would have been patient like dad haha.

Thanks for the pictures. Looks like you had tons of fun.

This last week was good. Sunday night, Presidente Prieto came to our ward (Ala Iguatemi) and gave a fireside. He talked about the 3 purposes of the Mission: Baptize, Rescue, and Retain. He talked to the members about these things and it was really good. We put the church address with our phone number on some sticky labels and put them on Liahonas and pass along cards and put them on a table for the members to take after the fireside. Now we can just wait for the referrals.

We are teaching 2 brothers, Vinicius (12) and Vitor Hugo(11) and have a baptismal date for the 27th of this month. Their mom is a less-active and doesn't want to come back to church, but Vinicius stopped us in the street and asked us what he needed to do to start going to the church. He is friends with Giorgi, who we baptized soon when i got here. Other than that, we aren't teaching anybody. But i liked what you said about trusting in the Lord to get everything done in the office. So I am putting more trust in the Lord and we are leaving at 5. It has been really good. I know that as we do all that we can to find people, the Lord will bless us. Last night we have a division marked with 2 men from our ward and we had plans to teach 4 new families. Well, in the end the members weren't able to go and the families canceled on us haha. Nights like that are rough. But we continue on. Things with Elder Ramos are good. Rough spots are normal. We are working together. Sometimes he thinks a little differently, but he has qualities that I don´t too, which is good. Elder Ramos will leave the office this next transfer (here in 2 and a half weeks). I will be training the new secretary. It will be more responsibility, but I'm excited for the opportunity to grow. It will be good. I'm interested to know who will be my next comp. The only thing I know is that it will be a Brasilian. 6 for 6 haha!

Our ward (ala) is Iguatemi. It is one of the strongest wards in the mission. On Sundays there are normally 130-150 at church. The members are awesome. We just need to help them do more missionary work!

We will have a zone conference in the first week in September. It will be cool. There will be a total of 3 conferences. I will get to travel to Pirassununga and São José do Rio Preto. I will be giving a training about the Area Book. Need to start preparing that. I want to give a good training.

I thought of some other things that I need:
-Shoelaces (2 pairs) those thin kind
-peanut butter and honey
-cool-aid packets (that come with sugar)
-more pens (like the ones you sent, with refils)

As far as Christmas, nothing special. I really loved the testimonies you sent last year. but just the stuff that I asked you guys for. Ties are always awesome.

Well I´ll send some pictures of when we went to the churrascaria with Pres. Also I washed the dishes with the dish apron in Presidents house when we had the arrival of the new missionaries.

I love you all so much. Thanks for the support. Hope you have a great week. Let me know if you need anything and I´ll put in a good word haha.

Elder Hawkley

PS. Could you get me the addresses of Elder Scott Raines and of the LeSueur´s Thanks

August 10, 2011 - Carta a Familia

Hey family,

Well sounds like you guys had an eventful week! Glad to hear that you got to enjoy some time together with everybody. Is it possible that we may have another December wedding?????? haha

I´m glad that Rachel was able to go to EFY and had a good time. I remember the first time I went to EFY and how hard it was to be away from home haha. Guess she is better with that haha.

Well this last week was normal. On Saturday, a new brazilian elder that had been in the mission for 10 days went home. His family had been telling him to come home from the start, as they aren't members. President Prieto said he tried everything to help, but this Elder had already made up his mind. Pretty sad. His trainer was Elder Brower. Elder Brower is from Tremonton, UT and we have the same amount of time in the mission. I didn't meet him in the CTM because he went to provo. But I love this guy. He is a great missionary and good friend. I was able to work with him in his area saturday and sunday so that his investigators could go to church. It was really good. Elder Ramos stayed in our area with the financial secretaries. Elder Brower is a runner for UVU and wants to get a house in Orem after the mission. I now have a possible housing option, which would be sweet.

Well, here in the office, Elder Ramos and I are doing our best, which doesn't seem like much, but it doesn't seem like anything is going right. We have lots to do in the office and haven't gotten out at 5 very much which is frustrating. Sometimes we don't get to study because of transfers or other people coming to the office. None of our investigators are progressing. I feel like I have a lot to improve with in relation to teaching. I'm feeling a little stressed out and I'm not sure what to do. It seems like Elder Ramos and I these past couple of days have been having different ideas in everything. We need to work together to have the spirit. We make goals, but it doesn't seem like we ever reach them. There is so much to do. I wonder if the spirit is with me at times. But I am grateful for the advice, maybe I just need to trust in the Lord more and get out of the office at 5 no matter what. There are so many distractions here in the office: office work, other missionaries, things that are easy to justify. All these distractions pull us away from our real purpose as missionaries. I have a problem with comparing myself to others sometimes. The last secretaries were awesome missionaries and good friends. They had a lot of success in their areas, even though they were in the office. I know that baptisms don't always mean success. True success is to have the spirit with you, showing that the Lord trusts you, but sometimes I even doubt that.

I won´t give up, I just want to figure this out haha. I don´t want to just get through it, but to learn and grow and better myself. That's the hard part though. I love you guys and want you to know that I am well and trying to do my best. I read a good scripture today. Helaman 4:15. I liked this scripture, because i understood that the moment that we start to repent, the Lord will start to bless us. It doesn't matter what we have done, only what we choose to do now. I still struggle with forgetting my past mistakes though. I am grateful for the atonement of Jesus Christ. I know that he can heal us.

I am needing some things from the US
-more amens powder
-more shoe goo (for the upcoming future)
-if possible, two new pairs of insoles for my echos. the ones I have are doing good, but im not sure how much longer will last. If you cant find replacements, don't worry, they´ll make it (my shoes are size 44)
-american candy:snickers, sour patch, jolly ranchers, reeses, laffy taffy, and much more haha
-floss is always good, as it is expensive here.

that is what i can think of for now. Let me know what you think

also, if I buy souvenirs for you guys and for me, should I use the money in my usaa account. I don't want to blow all my money, but there are some things i would like to buy.

Elder Hawkley

August 4, 2011 - Hey

Hey Family,

Well it has been a good week. 2 American elders and 1 American Sister got here on Tuesday and so we were busy with them, but everything went well. Its always a good thing becasue we get to eat Sister Prieto´s food haha.

Last Wednesday was Sister Prieto´s Birthday and so we celebrated with President and Sister and some of their family. We went to a really nice Churrascaria (restaurant like Tucanos in Utah where they bring around the meet). It was soooo good. I will attach some pictures. Presidente and Sister have 4 daughters, all of which are married and some of which have kids. It is always fun when they come to visit and we get to meet them.

Elder Ramos is still my companion. We are good friends. This is our third transfer together. He is funny and it seems like we are always laughing. At the end of this transfer he will leave and also Elder Lau (financial sec for the last 10 months) will leave and one of the assistants. I will get a new companion and will train him for 2 transfers about how to be a secretary and then will go back out to the field. At least that is Presidents plan haha. We will see what happens. But whatever happens will be good. I definitely have learned a lot in the office and I am excited that when I eventually get back out to the real field I feel that I will be able to enjoy it all a little more and focus on the work too.

A lot of our investigators have been falling. There is a lot of opposition. Not always do we know what happens. Most of the time, they stop answering their phone or "they are never home" or they are always busy or they don't want to change their religion. But we were working with a family for a while, that the dad wasn't reading the Book of Mormon and always had an excuse to not go to church. We passed by on Saturday night just to invite them and on Sunday morning we woke them up and they came! 2 of the kids stayed home but the dad and his wife really enjoyed church and are excited to come back. Its hard to teach them because the dad travels for work, but we are praying that we can teach them and that they are protected. That experience helped me out a lot, as it didn't seem like anything was giving. Can´t stop trying right!

President called the secretaries in to his office and said he wants us out of the office at 5 (as we have been trying to do) because the stake presidency has a plan to divide our ward and prepare to form a third stake in ribeirão preto. We are excited and are trying to find new families to baptize and reactivate.

No luck on the new house. Not sure when it will work out.

Sounds like everybody is good there. I will be praying for Pehrson. Hope that Tyson gets some courage (haha just kidding) and asks. Hope that Rachel has fun. Send some pictures and let me know how it was. Have a safe trip back. When does school start for her?

I know that the church is true. If we do our part, we can be together forever!

Thanks for the scripture. I know that I am far from perfect, but I am doing my best, even if it isn't very much.

I do know Elder Anderson (Elder B. Anderson as he is called in the mission). He is a good guy. It's cool being a secretary because you know everyone and everyone knows you.

Have a great week!

Elder Hawkley

July 27, 2011 - hello

Hey Family,

Well this week was busy. We had transfers which is always a lot of work. On monday night we had the dinner with the missionaries that were going home. Elder Viana and Elder Mendonça went home and so did Elder Reffatti, older secretary and district leader, and Elder Jeppson, an assistant. It was pretty hard to say goodbye to these guys. It is amazing the love and friendships you find on the mission. On Tuesday we received the new missionaries which is always fun. Man am I tired. We went to bed late Sunday, woke up early Monday, went to bed late Monday, and woke up late Tuesday haha.

As far as our area goes, things are alright. It is hard in the office, because we have so many things to do that some things are forgotten. Elder Ramos and I are trying our best, but we are struggling to help our investigators progress. I feel like we are doing our best, but not sure what else we can do. We have a good list of investigators but not very many are coming to church. Its hard because I'm not sure if the problem is with me our if the Lord wants me to learn and grow or what. But we keep on going. There are always lots of things to be done in the office that HAVE to be done, which makes it hard at times. We don't always get to the area on time.

We found out today that we didn't get that new apartment, so we are back to square one as far as that goes.

That will be fun for Rachel to go to EFY. Tell her to take lots of pictures.

As far as frisbee goes, we were just playing on an open field minding our own business. We didn't bug anybody. Before we played, we sung "hark, all ye nations" haha.

The mission is definitely a growing experience. The hard times lead to growth although they are not always fun.

We got a new bishop in our ward this week, finally. We were waiting for about 2 months. Our old bishop was called into the new stake presidency. It will be good to be able to work with him. We are still trying more and more to get out and teach with the members. They make a difference.

One day this week, President had me answer his phone for him and it was Elder Mazzagardi, of the Seventy haa. He pretended to be an elder and joked a bit. I didn't talk to him for very long, but it was cool.

I love you all very much. President Prieto said something the other day as the mew missionaries arrived that I thought interesting. He said that while we are in the mission, the Lord sends all the blessings to our families. When we get home from our missions, he starts throwing the blessings to us. I love you and hope you are being blessed with all that you need. The church is true and we are always blessed for obedience. The spirit guides us, we just have to recognize it!

Elder Hawkley

July 20, 2011 - Heeyyy!

Hey Family,

Well it was a busy week and this next week will be even busier. Here´s the rundown of the week:

thursday: we had a "seminario". It was a training for the zone and district leaders. Went well. There´s a guy named dan that served his mission in the US and he is a chef. He does the lunches for our conferences and man does he cook good. The training was about these 8 fundamental principles of Preach My Gospel. It has been a while since they were introduced, but we can always improve. We had a family night with Vladimir and Soria and their daugther Juliana at a members house. This is an awesome less-active family that was given to us as a referral. We are trying to help them come back. The mom is the most excited. Vladimir is a great guy but a little hesitant. Juliana is their youngest daughter (14) and has not yet been baptized. Soon hopefully. We shared a message about Alma 50 and how Capt. Moroni prepared the cities with lots of things. Then we talked about the lamanites in our days trying to destroy our families and how we can protect our families. It went great

Friday: well 8 of us live in an apartment with 2 rooms and 2 bathrooms and a kitchen and a living room. Plus missionaries sleep at our house during transfers and other meetings. President ordered us to look for new houses and so we spent almost the entire day looking for a new apartment. we found some good options. Pres came to the office at night and we talked about some stuff and helped him get set up with his new phone that came in the mail (iphone 4) haha

saturday: we went with pres to see a couple more houses and went to the area. Pres and the financeiros found a great apartment after we had left. It has 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms and is in our price range. Hopefully we can get moved by next week. my comp and I sleep in the front room and its pretty annoying at times. Not a lot of privacy. after lunch in the area we tried to follow-up with our investigators about going to church.

sunday: Church was good. Ézio, a man we are teaching that is probably about 70 years old haha, came to church. He is slowly but surely progressing. He is awesome and funny too. this week we are going to try to help him stop smoking.

Monday: is the pday of all the other missionaries and sometimes a rough day for us. we went to the area trying to find some more less-active families but didn't have any luck.

Yesterday was normal.

Today we went to a park called the curupira. I will take more pictures the next time we go, but it is a sweet park with walking tracks and waterfalls (fake) and awesome. we woke up at 5:45 and walked there, studied and then played frisbee until a park guard came by and told us we had to stop because someone complained. it was super dumb because the field is hardly ever used. but oh well it was fun. this afternoon we are going to relax and buy some pizzas.

This week we have transfers and so we have lots of stuff to do, but it will be good. we have some good families we are teaching and are always looking for more.

Jesus Christ is the way. He is the example. We must follow him every day. I am grateful for his atonement and the oportunity to repent everyday. My mission is going by way too fast haha, but I am doing my best to follow Jesus Christ and help others come unto him. I love you guys and hope you have a great week. Sounds like everybody is great.

Elder Hawkley

July 13, 2011 - Haha Thanks

Hey family,

Haha thanks for all the emails and pictures. Sorry if I made you feel bad. You guys are the best.

Today for pday we went to visit the stadium of the soccer team here in Ribeirão Preto - Botafogo. We got to go on a tour for free. It was cool. I´ll send some pictures.

Sounds like the youth conference went great. Rachel looked great! How did it work out with her dance partner? That's awesome that Kate and Beck were able to come in. How did it work out that Sister Dibb came?

Are you feeling less stressed now Mom? Whats the next big thing?

Well life in the office is great! There are things that I am still trying to figure out. Its super hard to find the balance between the office and the field. Sometimes things come up that HAVE to be done, no matter what you planned to do and that is hard sometimes. Its hard at times to feel like a missionary sometimes. I'm looking for a way to have the spirit to be more with me throughout the day. There are lots of good things too though. I like the elders here in the office. We are all great buds and laugh a lot.

As far as the area, we are working with the list of members to try and get referrals from the members and work with more less-actives. We have a lot of people that we are teaching that are slowly progressing.

I am truly grateful for the patience that Heavenly Father has for me. I mess up a lot and Heavenly Father is always willing to forgive us and give us another chance. This is only possible because of Jesus Christ and his Atonement. We must learn patience too.  I am certain that Heavenly Father wants me to learn patience on the mission haha. I'm having lots of oportunities.

Sorry the email is kind of short. I will do better next week! I love you guys!

Elder Hawkley

July 6, 2011 - Fubecas

 

Hey family,

Well first I want you to look at the 2 pictures that I sent and ponder as to why I am like this. Maybe it is because I opened my email today and for the first time in my mission, I had no letter. Man, the first week after I make 1 year and the fam stops writing haha. Also I am feeling a fault of letters. In the office I have to get the mail EVERYDAY and so I am reminded EVERYDAY that I haven't gotten a letter in a while haha. I am losing hope haha.

But hope you guys are doing well. I'm debating how long this letter should be haha.

This last week was good. Pres Prieto passed to the Zone Leaders yesterday a new way to work. Before we had to get a certain number of contacts, doors knocked, and addresses every week. I worked hard but always had a little bit of trouble with the pressure put on the numbers. Now we will not be charged for contact, doors, or addresses. We are to seek personal revelation to find out how to work with the members. To find people to teach we are to:

1. Seek personal revelation
2. Work with the members for refferals
3. Work with less actives and recent converts for refferals
4. Use the Area book to find people
5. Last, do contacts and knock doors

The mission (including me) is excited about this new method. It was practiced in two zones and had success. We are really trying to work more with the members. Its kind of hard for us because we dont know the members well still because of the lack of time in the area and because we only eat with them on Saturday and Sunday. We don't know where most of them live. We are going to try lots of new stuff. I have always been the kid that doesn't like change too much, but I need to be open to new ideas and we are going to.

In Preach My Gospel, it says that as our understanding and appreciation of the atonement in our lives grows, our desire to share the gospel will grow too. I am trying to gain more knowledge about the atonement. Most of the knowledge that we have of the atonement is through modern revelation (living prophets and doctrine and covenants). I printed off a ton of talks the other day and I will be studying them so that I can know better Jesus Christ and have a greater desire to serve Him.

ATTENTION!!! I need some help. I want to try an activity here in our ward. I remember that in the stake they had an open house at the stake center for people to bring friends and stuff. I dont remember exactly how it was done and what they did in the church. If you could do some research and find out what they did to spread the word to the community and how they organized the tour. Please find this out or if you already know send me an email back ASAP with the details. We want to start planning this already. This isn't very common here and I think it would be cool.

I love you and hope you are all doing great. I am doing good and always looking to better myself. I know that Jesus Christ is the example and through the atonement we can also receive the power to change and follow him. I think this last year my favorite hymn was "I need thee every hour". This year will be "I'm trying to be like Jesus".

Elder Hawkley
 

June 30, 2011 - 1 ANO JÁ!!!!

Hey Family,

Thanks for the email and the pictures. Im glad that you guys had a fun time at the reunion and that everyone is safe.

Well, 1 year ago today I arrived at the CTM in São Paulo. This has been the fastest year in my life. Looking back on this year I think about lots of trials that led to lots of growth. It has been a great year, full of learning and laughing. I have learned more about charity and courage. I have learned the need for humility and the importance of prayer. I have learned the importance of you guys to me. I think saying goodbye in the airport was the hardest thing in the world haha. I remember crying in the front of everyone and giving one last group hug. I still miss you guys, but the mission life is normal now. Its hard to think about a different routine. My testimony definitely has grown about the book of mormon and about joseph smith. I know that Jesus Christ is our perfect example. I am learning more and more about dilligence. I always wondered why Pehrson was ALWAYS doing something. In the mission there is always something we can and should be doing and if we do it we feel satisfaction. Dilligence brings satisfaction. I have learned a lot about the spirit and how it really communicates normally through our feelings. We must follow our feelings.

I am excited for this next year. I hope that I can do better than I did this last year and do my best. There is always something to improve and sometimes that is hard. I need to be patient with myself. I know that as I give my all this year it will be even better than this last one.

How was this last year for you guys? Did it pass as fast for you guys as it did for me?

This week in the office life is pretty normal. We have gotten pretty organized and are able to relax a little bit more when we arent close to transfers. But there is always more to do than we can haha.

In our area, we are looking for people to teach. Tauane and Taynã are doing great. We taught them about the temple this last week and it was great. Without the spirit I can do nothing. If the spirit is with us, the lesson goes well. If it is not, it is noticeable.

Today we are planning to celebrate a little. Elder Ramos makes 1 year tomorrow!  We have been saving change for the last month and a half to buy a cake and we collected 50 reais!! hahah Pres Prieto also makes a year today. We asked him if we could go to his house tonight and celebrate with him. We told him about our money and he said "let me add to that" and gave us a fifty haha. We are going to buy a ton of stuff. I´ll be sure to take tons of pictures.

What are the plans for the rest of the summer haha?

I had to call a mother this week and tell her that her son has a kidney stone and that the doctors we going to pull it out. She started to cry. Man that was one of the worst feelings haha. Oh the joys of being a secretary. That was a first.

I love  you all. Thanks for the love and support. I am so blessed to have been raised in the church with a family like you guys. Keep it up!

Elder Hawkley

June 13, 2011 - Hey

Hey,

Guess dad forgot to send an email haha. Thats alright.

Well life has been super busy here. Hope girls camp is going/went well. This last week we had transfers. When we have transfers we have to prepare the letters to send out to the missionaries and we also get everything ready for the "heros" going home and the new missionaries coming. We make a video for the heros every transfer. We used the same video as last time and just changed the pictures and a couple of songs. President really liked it. He said it was the best he had seen so that was good to hear. The spirit was strong. It is cool to be a part of the new missionaries arriving and the old ones going home.  The first and last weeks of the transfers are always super busy.

Yesterday we had a "Conselho dos Sísteres" (Sisters conference). There are 13 sisters in the mission and 6 will get here this next transfer. President wanted to give them a training. It was funny as we in the staff prepared our trainings. We all used girly colors and stuff haha. We all wore pink or purple ties haha. The sisters didn't notice but we had fun. Elder Ramos and I gave a training about "fichas" (baptismal forms) and the area book. It went really well. I like giving training. The first time i was a little nervous, but its easy now. The mission really teaches a lot about life and how to be a good leader as well as follower of Christ.

Just got dads email. Thanks dad. Mom said you had a crazy trip this last week. You´ll have to tell me about it next time. Will you have internet at the reunion?

As far as people we are teaching, Tainã and Taune didn't get baptized last week because they got sick haha. But we are going to have them interviewed tonight and baptize Sunday. Other than that we are always looking and trying to get out of the office at 5 pm. This transfer we got a new finance secretary. His name is Elder Boren. He is from BOISE, IDAHO HAHA. But he is way cool and crazy. He is always happy and I really like that about him. We are going to have a good time together.

Next week I will write a note for you guys to read at the reunion. Tell everyone that I love them and that the church is true. My testimony is always growing here on the mission. It is the best. Hope everyone is awesome. I love the mission. I love you guys. Travel Safely. "Its better to get there late, than to get to the spirit world early" haha That was something my trainer said to me when I would get anxious to cross the street haha.

Elder Hawkley

June 8, 2011 - Hey

Hey family,

Thanks for the email. Sounds like everybody is good. Sounds like Rachel is busy. Does she do all the chores by herself that Tyson her and i used to do?

Is Tyson living at home? where did he meet bro Poole?

Thanks for the pictures of PB&K (haha). Man that looks good!

Are you guys excited for girls camp and the reunion? I will have to write something for you guys to read there to everybody. Take a picture of me with you haha.

Thanks for the talk. I will read it soon.

Well things are going good here in the office. Yesterday we had a meeting with the Zone Leaders here in the office. It was good. Elder Ramos and I set some high goals for this week to leave the office early everyday and work super hard. But something always comes up. Some missionary always needs something and sometimes it is something that they really need and sometimes it is something really dumb. I got pretty frustrated yesterday that we didn't get to go out to our area very early. I know that I am here to serve the missionaries and I like it. But I know that we need to be in the area at 5 and Pres tells us that we should too. I want to be there. It's hard because I know we won't be able to meet our goals unless we get out there early every day. I'm doing good but it is something i'm trying to figure out.

We are going to have a baptism this sunday! We have been teaching taynã e taune. They are twins and are 19. We found them knocking doors. They went to church 2 sundays ago and the members were awesome. They really received them well and it made the difference. They accept all that we teach them. I think we are going to have a member baptize them which will be great for the ward. Our ward is awesome. The members are excited and there is a lot of unity. They are super willing to help.

This next week will be transfers so that will be busy and fun. Time is flying. Already 5 weeks as secretary haha. I love you

Elder Hawkley

June 3, 2011 - Mission Tour

Hey Family,

Well it has been a week of ups and downs. This last Saturday we had to get a bus to a neighboring city for lunch. It was me, my comp, and Elder Lau and Elder Harris, the financeiros. We actually had fun and laughed a lot. It was a small city and the air smelled great. It seemed a lot fresher. But we got back to Ribeirão around 4 and our day was shot. Saturday and Sunday are the only days that we have to work in the areas all day. We did some stuff and dinked around in the office for a bit. I felt bad because we hadn't worked in the area. I was frustrated because we tried to get a bus to see some people around 7, but we couldn't figure out the buses and ended up not doing anything. It was definitely a low. Elder Ramos and I talked for a bit and we felt like we needed to change our focus to the area more. We made a goal to get out of the office at 5 and to start working with our numbers more. As secretaries we aren't charged for our numbers and so we have just done our best. But as we measure what we do, we can make goals to do more. It was an experience that strengthened us.

We had a mission tour this week. Elder Carlos A. Godoy of the seventy came to the mission. Yesterday our side of the mission had a conference with him. It was awesome. It started at 8 with a meeting for the Zone and District Leaders. At about 8:10, We (secretaries) were studying and the assistants came and told us that Elder Godoy wanted us in the meeting too. He asked a lot of questions about the mission and I learned a lot. He talked about how the way we will finish our mission is the way that we will start our lives. So it is important that we finish strong. He talked a bit about how as leaders we leave a legacy and that we will be remembered for good or for bad, that we leave an impact sometimes not even knowing it.

Then at 9 started the conference for everybody. President and Sister Prieto talked a little bit and then Elder Godoy talked. He talked about many things. He started off talking about how we were called to our missions to learn from our Mission President and his wife. He said that as a dad he was praying for his son to be sent to the right mission, but a fellow leader told him that he should pray to be sent to the right Mission President and Sister, because it is they that will leave the greatest impact. I can agree with that. It is such a blessing to be able to work alongside Pres and Sister Prieto and get to know them and learn from them.

Then Elder Godoy told us about his conversion story. The Spirit was very strong. He said that he went to a church activity just to accompany his younger sister, who was invited. He said that they played some dumb little game and popcorn and juice (he said church juice is "you know the color but not the flavor" HAHA)  were served (very simple) but that the members were happy. That was something that hit him. As they were going home the sister missionaries asked his sister first if she wanted to know more about the church. She said no. The sisters asked him and he accepted. His family didn't approve so he was taught alone. He told us that he had hair as long as what would be rachels and didn't look like somebody who would be interested in the church. But the sisters believed in him. He was baptized and the sisters went away, never knowing if he stayed firm. He said he went to church for another month and then fell away. The members talked about how he probabaly wouldn't make it and he fell away. He then went to a summer camp that the youth go to for Carnival. He said he went all alone and that it was hard. But he met a girl (who eventually became his wife). He served a mission and eventually became a mission president. He said he eventually found the sisters who baptized him and was able to seal one of the daughters of the sister that baptized him. He told us that we cannot judge who will be willing to accept the gospel. "Who are we to judge?" "Your judgement can be dangerous" were some things he said. If those sisters had judged him, he wouldn't be here he said. It was very powerful and I was taught a great lesson. That is something I can improve. The gospel can change anyone. We must talk with everyone, because we never know who will accept.

After the conference, Elder Godoy came to the mission office and we had a little sit down with him. He asked us a couple of questions and talked a little too. He said that we as secretaries are leaders in the mission at least at the level of a district leader. That was why he invited us to attend the leadership meeting in the morning. It was something cool to think about. That is not the stereotype (how the secretaries are viewed). He let us ask some questions. One of the assistants asked how he could know that his mission was accepted by the Lord. Elder Godoy then said, with tears in his eyes, that he (the assistant) didn't even have to ask, that his mission was accepted. Then he said that all of us (the assistants and secretaries) didn't even have to ask. That because we are in these positions, our missions are accepted by the Lord so far. The spirit testified of this. It was amazing to hear that the Lord has accepted what I have done despite my weaknesses and mistakes. Elder Godoy said that we can always pray and ask, but that at this moment we don't need to.

It was great to get to know Elder Godoy. He knows how to joke and was funny, but also very spiritual. We thought (and Pres Prieto had said) that he was going to be very serious. But it was a lot better than we thought.

Glad to hear that everyone is good. I can't believe that school is already over for Rachel. Time is flying. I will make a year this month that I have been here on the mission. That's a scary thought. The mission is the best. Thanks for supporting me. It is a blessing to be able to focus on the work and helping others, to not have to worry about school or work.

I hadn't heard about the family reunion. When will it be and what are you guys going to do? Who is in charge?

I will attach a picture of us with Elder Godoy.

I love you guys. Thanks for everything. Have a great week.

Elder Hawkley

Pictures

1. The office and Pres and Sister with Elder Godoy

 

2. Getting ready for conference.

3. Eating Elder Ramos´s package

 

4. Updating the "Quadro" Mission Board

 

5. Us on a bus WAY too full

 

6. The secretaries in that little city for lunch