February 27, 2012 - Miracles

Hey family,

I'll start with the questions:

Do you speak a lot of English together or do you still speak portuguese?
      This week we spoke a lot of english. Hope to do better this next week.

Where is Elder Harris from?  How are you two getting along?
         Elder Harris is from North Ogden, Utah. He is the oldest of 5. His dad (Todd Harris) is a super big sportscaster for ESPN and I guess works at XGames, Olympics, and the World Cup. Crazy huh? We are getting along great. I'll explain below. He went to UVU before the mission for a year. He likes to ski, surf, wakeboard, longboard, wakesurf, and travel with his family. They have a cabin up at bear lake and like boating a lot. So we have lots of the same interests. We were in the office/same ward/lived together already for a transfer. Interesting side note.

Did Marcelo and Elenice get baptized this week? 
     Marcelo and Elenice were baptized and confirmed this last week! Super awesome!

Were you able to help that couple get married?  Their daughter is Milena.
    We went to the cartório (not sure how to say that in english) and marked a wedding for the 14th of March! So we are working with them so they can be baptized this next month. Patricia (mom) is ready. Daniel still needs to completely quit with the smoking and drinking. But they have been going to church almost every sunday, which is just great!

 Have you found some new people to teach?
        Yup! It was a week of miracles. I'll explain.

Pictures:
1. Baptism of Marcelo and Elenice. We went to see.

2. Elder Harris and I. The word "feio" means ugly hahah. We found this in the street!

So this week was good. I was a little worried about how things would work out, but everything has gone perfectly and so much better than I ever thought possible. Monday night, we sat down and studied, planned, and set goals about our companionship and the zone and our are. Tuesday we also spent the better part of the day at home doing the same thing. We had both worked in this area with different comps with not too much success. It was really good. We set lots of good companion goals and funny too (like 2 pictures each day haha and stuff like that). We changed the way district meeting was being done and that made district meeting a lot better. In our area we plan to work a lot more with the members but also follow the spirit more as we look for people.

The week started kind of slow and we were a little discouraged. We sat down one day and had a little talk and decided to change our attitudes. We went out with faith and did some good contacts and got a referral from a member family. Interesting how our attitude can make the difference.

Then came the miracles. So on Friday we went home after lunch to start a fast. We went out trusting in the Lord but without a lot of plans. As we went to visit a family that we had taught earlier in the week, we passed by a house and heard raised voices. I decided to knock the door. An older lady came to the door and let us in. We sat down and the older lady was arguing with her daughter. The mother is Helena and the daughter is Kelly. Kelly has 2 daughters. We sat there listening not really knowing what to do. We let them talk for a while. As we listened and asked a couple of questions, we found out that Kelly had been living in Sweden for the last 20 years. She was married and had 2 daughters. Her husband then started liking a co-worker and they separated. She came back to Brasil within the last 2 months. She speaks fluent english and swedish along with portuguese. Kelly and Helena werent really understanding eachother or getting along. We started to teach and the spirit came really strong. We taught the message of the Restauration and testified how this message would bless their lives. That was the best lesson I have ever taught on my mission. Elder Harris and I taught in perfect unity. Im not sure I have ever felt the spirit so strong. Helena and Kelly accepted to read the Book of Mormon and pray and to be prepare to be baptized on the 18th of March. At the end of the lesson, Helana and Kelly were hugging and kissing and crying and Elder Harris and I were super touched as well. Unfortunately they werent able to go to church on Sunday because one of Kelly's daughters was sick. They felt the spirit and know have an opportunity to follow. Ive never felt like such an instrument in the Lords hands before. It was wierd because we were led by the spirit without even knowing it. To me we were going to visit a different family and when we arrived at the door, I just decided to knock. It seems so simple.

The other miracle was Alex. He lives with his "wife" and 2 kids. We found him contacting (also on Friday). We were walking and I stopped him and talked to him quickly. He accepted to hear our message the next day (Saturday). We went there and his wife wasnt there. Just him and his 2 kids. We said a prayer to begin teaching but we stopped because we noticed he was crying. He then told us about how he has a problem with drugs (we still dont know exactly which ones). He told us how he wants to stop but has always had a hard time going to a church. We testified that he could change. He went to church with his 2 little boys. They all loved church. Alex even said a prayer in Elder's Quorum. Gospel Principles was about prayer. When asked if anyone had experiences, he told all that he had prayed 2 days before we found him that God would send someone to help him. Once again the Lord used us as an instrument in his hand.

We had 8 investigators at church yesterday! Some we are teaching, some that we had stopped teaching came, and others the members brought.

Tomorrow we will have Zone Leader Council and on Wednesday a Mission Leadership training. So we will get a bus early tomorrow morning to Ribeirão and stay there tomorrow and Wednesday. Hopefully it will be good. Tomorrow night Elder Harris and I will go visit some of our recent converts in Iguatemi (Ribeirão).

Elder Harris and I are getting along super well so far. Communication is key. I'm being patient and we get to know each other. We have some great ideas for the zone. This next month, march, we are going to do "MARCH MADNESS". A competition between the companionships in the zone. It will be a tribute to the March Madness of college basketball. We will have "game days" and everything haha. We are excited.

I love you all and pray for you all. The gospel is true and the Lord loves each one of us. Have a great week.

Elder Hawkley

PS. Send more pictures and updates please!!!! oh and good ideas for the next package whenever that may be: CRUNCHY peanut butter, mac and cheese, more food/sweet mix

Also, I would like to see if you can get me 2 soccer jerseys of the team in Salt lake (REAL SALT LAKE). to give as presents to 2 old comps. Maybe Tyson can get them for you. Let me know what you find please.

February 20, 2012 - Packing the Bags one more time

Hey family,

Yup, as you can probably guess, I was once again transfered. But things actually turned out pretty cool. I am now back in Ala 3 (where I was with Elder Mesquita before the emergency transfer), but this time as a Zone Leader and with Elder Harris. Elder Harris was already here. He is my first american comp haha. I attached a picture of him. He is from North Ogden, Utah. He was a financial secretary and we were together in the office for a transfer before he left the office. So I have already lived with him in the same house for a transfer. This time I will be able to get to know him a little better. We are from the same group and will return home together in June. Other cool things about the transfer ... Elder Mesquita stayed in Cidade Aracy so I will be able to see him. AND his new companion is ELDER ILUSTRE, my last companion (from the office). We are super good friends and it will be great to have him in the zone. He is an awesome missionary.

The pictures are of a grafitied "Jesus" and of elder Harris and of a family in our ward. Only the dad isn't baptized, because of some problems with the word of wisdom. They have very little. The kids are awesome, super happy and polite. They have had lots of problems, but are still doing their best. I could really feel Heavenly Fathers love for them, especially the kids.

Rachel's dress turned out great! and that's awesome that she got into BYU! Does she know anybody else that is going up there that she could possibly room with. Sounds like the only thing she is doing these days is going on dates and going to dances haha.

Things this last week were good in Cidade Aracy. We are teaching a couple named Marcelo and Elenice. They went to church for the 2nd time this last sunday and were interviewed for baptism. They will be baptized this week. The members really received them well at church and they really like church. Marcelo said an awesome prayer in gospel principles class. We need to start looking for more new investigators. I'll leave that to Elder Ilustre and Elder Mesquita though haha.

According to Elder Harris, things here in Ala 3 are super slow. They have had a hard time finding people to teach, just as we did. But I would like to see if we start to almost completely focus on the members. Oh and one awesome thing, that family that we found here that we baptized the daughter Milena. well they still aren't married. So we are going to mark a wedding and I will be able to see them be baptized!!!!

As far as being a zone leader, I am excited but feel somewhat humbled. I just hope that I can lead in the Lords way and help the zone be happy and have success. It will be interesting as I work with Elder Harris. I feel that it will take a week or too to get on the same page. I know that our visions of the work are a little different. But I learned with Elder Mesquita that talking about it always
helps. Communication is key as we work with other people for the same goal.

Thanks for the love and support and letters and pictures. I love you all so much. I know the gospel is true and that we are happy as we live it. I know that we are guided by living prophets and apostles. I know the Book of Mormon is true! Study it everyday. Have a great week!

Elder Hawkley

February 13, 2012 - Hey with pictures

Hey Family,

I attached some pictures for you guys. Our house is good and super big ahah. I also took a picture of the street as you step out the door/garage. And yes, I actually know how to iron my shirt now haha.

Glad to hear that Grandma is doing great! Thanks for getting the apartment set up! Sounds great!

I did get a big letter and some funny pictures from Tyson and Cristy. They seem to be doing good.

This last week was super busy. Last monday was pday. Last tuesday was district meeting in the morning. Wednesday we did something called D-day, where the whole zone goes to one area to look for new people to teach. It is a good idea but also not so good because it pulls everyone out of their own area. We had been doing it for a couple of weeks already. But that has stopped now. Thursday we did a division with the zone leaders. I worked in Ala 3 (last area) with Elder Harris. Elder Mesquita worked in our area with the other Zone Leader, Elder Thiago. It went well. Friday we had a zone conference. Saturday I went to do some interviews for Elder Ribeiro and Elder Grant, the other companionship in my district. They are both great elders and had a baptism yesterday! Elder Grant has almost 5 months on the mission and is from Oregon. He is a stud and we have become great friends. Yesterday we went to church. So this last week I really only worked in my area Tuesday and Sunday haha. Elder Mesquita is doing great though and has been able to keep the area going. He already knows almost everything. Just needs more experiences.

Zone conference was good. President Prieto enfasized (emphasized) obedience and working with the members. He talked about the sons of mosiah and how they were great missionareis and how we aren't very different from them. The assistants talked about effective planning and how the numbers don't reflect our work as much as they reflect the progress of investigators. It was good. Now we just have to put it all into practice haah.

This next week will be transfers. I am pretty sure that I will be transfered, but we will see. I know that whatever happens will be the Lord's will. Marcelo and Elenice, the couple we are teaching, are doing good. They weren't able to go to church yesterday, but we have a goal with them to be baptized this next week.

Thanks for the quote mom! That sounds so right. I just wish that more people had that vision here in Brasil. I'll just keep doing my best!

Thanks for the love and support! I love you guys so much! Have a great week!

Elder Hawkley

February 6, 2012 - Hey

Olá família!

Thanks for the emails. I love you guys so much! Glad to hear that everyone is doing well. Keep me updated on Grandma! I´ll keep her in my prayers. Also, thanks for the package. I am using lots of tinactin and it is helping a little bit.

Question: What ended up happening about the apartment hunt? Its so hard for me to decide her. I dont know exactly what would be good or what price is right haha. But I will trust you.

The area is good. We are pretty familiar now. The roads are crazy. All the roads have a name and a number by which they are known. Some roads have a name, number, and letter, all indicating the same road! It is hard at times haha. The teaching is starting as well. We found some good people to teach. We are teaching Marcelo and Elenice. They went to church with us yesterday and liked it. They are doing good. We taught a member referral with a member yesterday and it went really well. We´ll see what happens. We are getting to know the members better and they are all super humble and friendly.

We will have a zone conference on Friday. Presidente decided out of nowhere. We are excited to learn and see what Presidente will say to us. We will go to Pirassununga with 3 other zones. That was the zone in which I started my mission haha.

I read a talk about member missionary work that was interesting this week titled "Converts Tell ... What Brought Me In". Look it up. I printed it out when I was in the office. It will give you some good ideas.

It has been pretty hot here. Lots of sun, which I prefer over rain, but needless to say we are sweating here in São Carlos haha.

Things are going good here. There will always be trials and sometimes it seems like we cant go on. But I know from experience and what I am experiencing right now that we have them so that we can learn and grow. Thanks for all the love and support. I couldnt do it without you guys. I love you! Have a great week!

Elder Hawkley

PS I will take some more pictures this week too! Thanks

January 30, 2012 - Cidade Aracy

Hey Family,

Thanks for the email and the pictures. I attached a couple of pictures. This morning we hiked up this hill that over looks our area. One of the pictures is just to show you what the housing structure is like. This would be an example of a poorer area. Its interesting though, because a lot of times the houses can be pretty nice inside haha. Smart idea. . .why waste money on the outside of the house hahahah. It was a quick and easy hike and it was great to get out a little bit.

The transfer went fine, but it was definitely a tough week haha. We werent ready for the transfer and things were starting to go so good in our area. This week we tried to get to know the area and some members and see how the investigators of the other missionaries were doing. It looks like for the most part we will be starting from scratch though. We didnt have anybody at church this Sunday. There was a lady that I interviewed a while back that goes to church every sunday, doesnt want to be baptized yet. Here in Brasil lots of missionaries try to pressure a person like that. I think it leads to a lot of problems. I know that reading the Book of Mormon with here and encouraging her, she will feel the Spirit reveal to her the need to be baptized.

The members here are very animated haha, sometimes a little nuts at church, but oh well. There are definitely more families here, so that is exciting. We are looking to teach a lot this week. The area is about half the size of our last area haha, but still about an hours walk from one side to the other. It is a ward here.

The apartment is nice, just needed to be cleaned. I did get the package with the footballs and deodorant and tinactin. Thanks! How much were the footballs? (The lady wanted to know)

Rachel - Congrats on the prom invite! Have fun and be safe! (Mom must be loving this haha. I laughed about the interrogation. . better you than me haha) But more importantly, Im so proud of you for being a good and example and for sharing the gospel! You are an example to all of us, including me! Keep it up! You never know what seeds you will plant! Hows the job hunt going? and the home life?

Well things are going good. Changes are necessary but not always fun. We must trust in the Lord and his plans for us. I love you all so much! Thanks for the love and support and have a great week!

Elder Hawkley

January 23, 2012 - What a Week

Hey family!

Well lots of news, some good and some bad! Starting with the good:

We had a baptism yesterday! We baptized Milena (14). Milena is the daughter of Daniel and Patricia, the couple we are teaching that need to get married. It was great! She is already participating in Young Women's activities and everything. Daniel stopped drinking and is smoking less and is doing well. Patricia is ready, just needs to get married.

The conference with the Apostles was awesome! It was great to feel their spirit and learn from them. We stood as they entered and they shook each one of our hands. Elder Jensen spoke first about the power of the word of God and asked us to read some chapters in the Book of Mormon. He spoke in Portunhol (Português and Espanhol (Spanish)). We understood though. Elder Anderson spoke next (in portuguese). He talked about the difference between having a testimony and being truly converted. He said a testimony is a spiritual confirmation that something is true.  Conversion he said is the ability to follow the Christ. Interesting. He talked about how conversion can sometimes take a little more time and that as we involve members in the teaching we will help more people become converted. Elder Ballard then spoke in english. He started off telling us that the 1st Presidency loved us. He said that they know that missionary work isnt always the easiest thing and that it takes courage and faith. He said that they were proud of us. Man it was nice to hear that. Elder Ballard told us "You Gotta Be Good, You Really Gotta Be Good". He focused on how we need to know the lessons and how to teach them well. He also talked about how we can find people to teach more effectively through the very people we are teaching. It was an awesome experience. We werent able to ask any questions, but thats okay. I know that I was taught by 2 Apostles of God. It was neat to be with them and see them as I recognized their voices. They were serious but funny as well.

As far as apartments. My vision on the mission has really changed. The houses on the mission arent always good. I remember thinking that Tysons apartment was terrible haha. But now It would be great! haha. For me a shared room would be cool, in between new and old is fine, probably closer to campus??, 350 probably sounds like a lot. I dont know though??? Its hard to know what I want right now. My vision is the cheaper the better hahahah but with quality. I trust you guys.

So this morning a little after 8 as we were studying I got a call from President Prieto. He said that Elder Mesquita and I were going to be emergency transfered. We are going to be switching areas with the Zone Leaders starting tomorrow night. At first president was going to put me as Zone Leader, but he told me that he didnt want to separate Elder Mesquita and I yet. I told President that the work was going well, but he said that there wasnt any other way and also that in the future they were going to put the zone leaders in our area (because our ward is the Stake President's ward). But it has been a hard day. I love our area and love the members in our ward. Yesterday we had a ward council meeting and the Bishop is super happy with us and the other members and we had some great ideas coming for activities and how to help the ward. We will be going to an area called Cidade Aracy. I have been there twice and like our area better haha. It stinks to be transfered from this family we are teaching. I know that they will be baptized and seeing as we will remain in the city, we should be able to participate still. But everything will work out.

We didnt find any new investigators this week! We are working so hard and even were able to teach some people, but they didnt accept the invitation to learn more. Oh well, we continue on.

So it was a week of ups and downs. Thats life. I love you all so much. I know the gospel is true! Thanks for the love and support. Have a great week

Elder Hawkley

I wasnt able to send pictures again. I´ll keep trying though!

Commenting on the line "in the mission the houses arent always good": the houses are good, just usually dirty, but you get used to it. The only thing that matters is that it is clean haha.

January 16, 2012

Hey family,

Thanks for the package and the pictures! Everyone looks great! And
yes, Rachel looks super old hahaha, but very pretty. I´m taking a
machete to BYU with me hahaha.

Thanks for the email info and the advice from Pres Bean. The feet are
actually doing a lot better. But I´ll take the advice.

We are excited to have the apostles and leaders with us on Saturday.
Elder Mesquita and I are praying and thinking of questions we can ask
if given the chance.

The division with the Zone Leaders didnt end up happening. Oh well,
probably in the next couple of weeks.

I sent some pictures to you and Pehrson in case it didnt work. Hope
you like them.

The work is going. We struggled to find people again this week haha.
Lots of patience. But it will eventually work out. We are planning and
working hard and trying to do our best. Our family went to church
again. We are going to baptize the daughter this sunday and we are
going to try and mark the wedding this week. But they are doing great.

We had a ward activity. It was a cake contest. For the prize, we got a
big box and wrapped it and left it in the hall in the church. Elder
Mesquita told everybody that it was something from Portugal. Everyone
got excited. The big box had lots of smaller boxes and the prize was
some candy from Portugal. There were teams and every team had to have
a non member. It was a good turn out. The members had a lot of fun.
Elder Mesquita and I did a skit of the day of missionaries. Everything
went wrong and then in the end we received a referral haha. There were
a couple non members, but none of them wanted us to visit them haha.
But it was good.

Well my time is out. But I want you all to know that I love you so
much. That I am doing well and learning and growing. Im not perfect
but not none of us are. Have a great week and I´ll try and write
better and send pictures again next week! Have a great week!

Elder Hawkley

PS Dad, do you have any Plans for Recent Converts in the ward? Like a
"Convert Action List" or something? If you please send it to me. Love
you

January 9, 2012 - Parabéns para você!!!

Hey family,

Parabéns para você Mãe! Happy Birthday Mom! Hope it was a good one!
Thanks for the pictures. The truth is that I need to take more
pictures haha. I will do better and send more. Looks like you guys had
a blast with Beck!

This week was pretty crazy haha. Lots of things changed in the
mission. That whole "firm and possible" thing doesnt exist anymore.
Now we have to work always thinking in thet next three weeks. Its good
in a lot of ways. In this system, the investigators are baptized on
the third Sunday (or saturday). It is a way of not losing focus on
investigators and if done right leads to weekly baptisms. The only
thing that was hard this week was that it also came with lots of added
stress and pressure from above. But as of right now things are okay,
so we continue on. We also found out that on the 21st of this month
(January) we will have a meeting with Elder Neil L. Anderson, Elder M.
Russell Ballard, Elder Jensen of the Presidency of the Seventy, Elder
Claudio Costa (Area President) and Elder Mazzagardi of the Seventy.
Its going to go a spiritual powerhouse. Im super excited to be able to
learn a lot. It will be interesting to see what they will say to us. I
know that we will meet with them in the morning and then in the
afternoon they will have a meeting with the Stake Presidents and
Bishops in the mission area.

I received an email from the secretaries (my last comp Elder Ilustre
haha) called the "Trunky Email" (as we called it). They just want to
confirm the information for my return home in June. Oklahoma City
Airport? You guys aren't coming to get me right? (I prefer this) And I
need President Bean´s information (home address, email, telephone).
It'll be here quicker than I want it too haha.

This last week was rough. We need to find new people to teach. We did
contacts and knocked doors for 3 or 4 days last week without a lot of
success. But with renewed faith we will continue on. I asked the Zone
Leaders for a division with me this week to maybe give me some ideas
and see that we really are working hard. The Zone Leaders are good
guys. Today I had a great conversation with one of them as I passed
the numbers from this last week. Just sometimes they arent very
understanding, but I guess we all are that way a little bit.

I'm striving to teach more by the spirit and work with more love. We
choose to feel the spirit. If the truth is being taught and we arent
feeling the spirit, we need to change something (be it our attitude or
our actions).

Training is going well. It is definitely tough at times. But I will be
staying here for this next transfer and we will continue learning and
growing together. Elder Mesquita is great. He helps me out a lot to be
positive.

If you could send somethings to me please (it could be in an envelope)
-Deodorant (stick)
           I am using some gel stuff (antipersperant) and its making
me sweat and itch like crazy haha. It you could send 2 or 3 sticks of
stick JUST deodorant and not antipersperant

-a couple tubes of Tinactin
-Also a lady in our ward wanted to see if you could send 2 footballs.
She said that the price wouldnt be a problem. (but you could send this
in a separate package, the deodorant and tinactin is a little more
urgent)

We are working with that sister still. She had a good week and stopped
smoking, but ended up not going to church. We have to see what
happened. She is doing good though.

Sunday we had a family come to church! We are helping the dad stop
smoking and drinking. He is having a pretty hard time. They also need
to get married before can be baptized. We may mark the wedding this
week (it would be my first wedding! HAHA). But they are going good.
The mom has a daughter (13) and toghether they have a 2 year old.

Well I love you all so much and appreciate the prayers and love and
support. You are the Best! I know that the gospel is true and that it
is the path to happiness! Heavenly FAther Loves us. Have a great week!

Elder Hawkley

PS. Tell Tyler and Morgan good look for me.

January 2, 2012 - Hey Family

Hey Family,

Happy New Year!!!!! 2012!! Glad to hear that the reception went well
and that you were safe. Haha, I cant believe the story about the
truck. Glad that it worked out though. Did you see anybody from New
Jersey at the reception?

This last week was better in relation with dealing with pressure.
Thanks for your prayers. I am sure that they helped me to try and be
happy and calm. The mission is full of ups and downs. The ups are
SUPER up and the downs are SUPER down. It is interesting how quick
that can change. Right now Im doing pretty good though. Trying to do
my best.

These last 2 weeks were pretty frustrating though because of the
holidays. People traveled, had family activities and it was hard to
find new people. We have some good families, but not many ended up
going to church yet. Lots of patience. But now things will get better.
People will come back from travels and start to work again and will be
able to go to church.

For new years the stake had a dinner on New Year´s Eve. Pres Prieto
gave us permission to go. So we went and ate and talked with the
members and other missionaries in the zone and a member took us home
afterwards. It was good.

It has been interesting to think about how 2011 was and how 2012 will
be. 2011 was a good year. It was a year of growth and learning. My
testimony was strengthen and gospel knowledge increase. I made
friendships that will continue through the eternities. I gained
experience that will help me throughout my life in and out of the
church. 2012 will also be a great year. It is wierd to think that I
will be returning home, but good too. I know that it will be an
adjustment. My life will take a 180 degree turn. But it will be a good
year as well. I'm greatful for the Savior and the oportunity we always
have to start over. Fortunately we dont have to wait for a new year to
change. We change always repent and change. Each week we can take the
sacrament and commit ourselves to do better. I know that I am not
perfect but that I can progress and become perfect through Jesus
Christ.

We taught a lady a couple weeks ago who has a daughter that in
inactive and doesnt live with her anymore. We hadnt focused a lot on
her, but we went back this week and she told us how she had felt
something when she prayed. We helped her understand that it was the
Holy Ghost and that it was an answer from God. She accepted that and
said that she needed to go to church to get to know before committing
to be baptized. She was the only person that went on Sunday! She said
afterwards that she wants to be baptized. We werent able to mark a
date, but tomorrow we will! She needs to stop smoking and so that is
the next step. It truely was a miracle!

I love you all so much! Have a great week and let 2012 be the best year yet!

Elder Hawkley

December 26, 2011 - Pictures

1. Elder Ramos and I with the Christmas tree. The Prieto family has a
tradition where they decorate their Christmas tree with chocolate
truffles. So they put 6 truffles for each missionary on this tree.
(almost 1000 truffles haha).

 

2. Me with my zone (São Carlos)

3. Elder Ramos gave me a soccer team jersey from his state. (team name
is Grêmio). I would like for you guys (maybe Tyson and Cristy) to see
how much a jersey from the team Real Salt Lake costs. I would like to
get him something and he had mentioned this. Please see what you can
do.

December 19, 2011 - Bruna

 

Hey family,

Well it was a great week here in São Carlos! We had a baptism! We
baptized Bruna (23). Other missionaries found her knocking doors when
the zone came to our area. Her husband is/was a less-active member
that everybody in the ward knows. She went to sacrament meeting last
week and we baptized her after the meetings yesterday. It was great!
After sacrament meeting (which here in São Carlos is first, just like
the US), she said that she just felt good. She participated in Gospel
Principles and like Relief Society. Her husband went to Elder's Quorum
with us. The baptismal service was simple but great. Quite a few
members stayed after to support us and they were super reverent, which
is always important. They have 2 little kids, a 6 year old girl and a
little boy with less than a year.

This week we were a able to find more people to teach. It's amazing to
see how the Lord blesses us and leads us to those who are prepared as
we diligently search. We found a little family. A wife and husband
that aren't married but have a little baby blond boy (I think is 2
years old). Also the wifes daughter (14) from a previous marriage
lives with them. On sunday the wife and kids came to church and liked
it a lot. We may just mark a wedding this week haha. We went with a
member to teach their neighbors. The member just knew them by sight
and talking here and there. He didn't even really know their names.
But we went with him to try and set up an appointment. We set up and
went to teach them with the member. It is a family from Bahia (NE
Brasil) with 8 CHILDREN hhah. They liked the message and werent able
to go to church yesterday, but said that they will go next week!

We ate lunch at our Bishop's house yesterday. It actually went really
well. Bishop said that the members and leadership are liking us and that pretty soon some of
those referrals should be coming through. The 1st counselor teaches at
a University here in São Carlos and I guess he has been talking to one
of his fellow professors about the gospel. Bishop said that hopefully
soon we should receive that referral! That was really good to here,
that our work has had some results. We are trying to work a lot
through referrals and less through street contacting. The most
effective is to work through both methods. The members in our ward are
super great! I hope I stay here for at least another transfer.

This last Wednesday we had an District Leader Council. In the mission
there is a monthly Zone Leader Council where the zone leaders receive
training and meet with President. For the first time this last week
was a District Leader Council. It was super good. All the district
leaders in the mission went to Ribeirão to receive training from the
Assistents and Presidente. I was having a hard time with the pressure
from our Zone Leaders here in São Carlos to throw people into
interviews and baptize everyone on the 2nd Sunday that they go to
church. I was praying really hard for direction and answers. When
President Prieto got up to speak, what he said answered almost all of
my questions. My worries and fears were calmed and my desire to work
renewed. I know that the Lord hears and answers our prayers. He knows
each one of us. I also renewed my testimony that Presidente Prieto is
inpsired of God.

Our Zone Leaders are good guys.  I am seeing that there are 2 ways to motivate. 1.
BURN or 2. TEACH WITH LOVE. Both lead to results, but when you teach
with love and instruct and encourage, friendships are built and the
results continue for a longer period of time.

Today we will go to Ribeirão Preto. We will have the CHRISTMAS
CONFERENCE tomorrow! We are super excited. I will be a narrator in the
program and sing in a choir. I was the one who picked the program on
the internet and translated it to Portugues. On the mission I have
gained a greater love of singing and less fear of singing in front of
people. Maybe I even sing better?? haha

Glad to hear that everyone is doing great! I cant wait to talk with
you all next week! I think we probably will be able to call on
Saturday to figure out a time. (Please make sure there is money on the
calling account. Make sure everyone will be able to skype as well
(PB&K, TC(BY))

I love you all and know the gospel is true! Life is going great! Have
a great week and remember the true meaning of Christmas. The season of
giving. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ gave everything. Let us do
our part to give as well and let us continue giving after the season
of Christmas.

Elder Hawkley

PS. I did'nt get to watch the Christmas Devotional. What you could
send would be awesome!

December 12, 2011 - Hey

Hey family,

Well thanks for the email and pictures! Everybody looks and sounds
good! I am confident that the Lord is taking care and blessing each
one of you!

Your questions:
1. Companion - Elder Pedro is awesome. I couldn´t have asked for a
better companion to train. He is always happy and humble and patient
with me. He is obedient and likes a clean house too haha! He is new
and learning. This week I learned a lot about patience. There were a
couple times that I got frustrated but kept it too myself. But I
realized that I was expecting too much out of him and seeing faults. I
feel like I have really learned a lot about being a dad, even if that
seems wierd. A dad has to be patient with his child and accept how the
child acts (if no correction is necessary). There are things about
Elder Pedro that are different from me. But they aren´t bad things. As
I have learned to let the little things go and not expect perfection,
things have gone more smoothly on my part of the companionship.
Sometimes he thinks he knows better than me, even though I have more
time. In these situations I am learning just to be more humble (not
easy at times haha). For example yesterday we were going from lunch to
the chapel and he had the map. I told him it was one way and he said
it was the other. I went with him and it turned out I was right. We
lost a little bit of time, but I didnt get mad and he said he was
sorry and that he got confused. It all worked out in the end.
2. Training- I talked a little about this above. It has been a growing
experience. I have been used to an experienced companion. Now I have a
companion who wants to work but without a lot of experience and
knowledge. It is working out though. I have seen that I know a lot and
how I also have soooo much more to learn.
3. Area - Our area is one of the better off areas here in são Carlos.
There are hills, poorer areas and richer areas. The weather is nuts
but good here. It gets cold at night and hot during the day and
usually rains during the afternoon.
4. Ward - The name of the ward is São Carlos 3 (3rd Ward). The
attendance is usually 130. The lunches have been amazing this last
week hahah! The members seem to be handing out a lot of Book of
Mormons, but we need more addresses haha. The stake president had a
meeting with the missionaries here in the zone/city last sunday and he
is very focused on missionary work. Our bishop is a good guy, but not
really focused on missionary work. We are still looking to gain more
confidence from the missionaries.
5. Referrals- we have been contacting referrals. Only a few have been
good. We found a super prepared man named Elton, but he isnt married
yet and we are waiting to go teach him again
6. Package - I opened the socks in the package that I have! Thanks so
much! I have lost socks (or they have been stolen...not sure) over
time and half have a hole in the heel.

This last week was good. We worked hard. But our numbers werent very
good. Thats frustrating. We are working hard, but there is always
pressure do get what is called standard, a certain goal in the key
indicators every week. I know that we are doing our best though. We
found some people to teach this week and had a woman whose husband is
less-active came with her husband! That was good.

Christmas conference should be next week. But President Prieto told
the mission 2 weeks ago that if we dont have 136 baptisms (1 per
missionary) by next week he will cancel the conference. The mission
hasnt been baptizing very much, last month was 73. So the pressure is
on everyone to baptize. I dont like that at all. The mission rule to
baptize someone is that they have to go to church 2 times. So the
pressure is that if someone went to church, they should be baptized
after the meetings on the next sunday. So the pressure is that we have
to baptize this woman next sunday. I dont know what to think. I dont
think that every person will be ready to be baptized in 2 weeks and I
dont like the pressure. I understand working with goals and that some
missionaries need pressure to work, but Im not one of them. I love the
mission, but sometimes I wish I could enjoy it more. I feel like if I
didnt have this pressure, I would be happier and realize that there
are lots of ways to help people as a missionary, though the key
indicators are most important. I pass a lot of time worring about
meeting these goals and feeling like Im not doing good enough even
though Im doing my best.

But everything will work out, just frustrating at times. I love the
work and being here in Brasil. The work is true.

As far as Im concerned we will be able to use Skype for Christmas and
there are some people here in the ward that said that we can use their
computers. So start thinking about a time for Sunday the 25th! Can´t
believe Christmas is almost here.

Next week I will send pictures for sure! I love you all and hope you
have a great week. I am learning and progressing here in Brasil!

Elder Hawkley

December 5, 2011 - Hey

Hey family,

Thanks for the email and the pictures. Everyone is looking good!

I got one package so far. Hope the other one comes too! Thanks a lot!
I got the one with some presents and lots of candy. Are the socks
wrapped?

That´s cool to hear about Zach Wynne! Thats where he was called to the
first time wasnt it? Thats inspiration!

So this week has been LONG haha. We got to our area Tuesday night.
Wednesday we went to district meeting and then lunch and then went and
looked for people to teach. Thursday we went back to Ribeirão so that
my comp could go to the Polícia Federal and get registered and came
back that night. Friday we looked for people to teach and visited some
members and the same on Saturday. Church was good yesterday. This
morning we got the zone together (6 elders and 4 sisters) and played
soccer. Then we ate lunch at an irmãs place. Her name is Vovô Lola
(Grammy Lola). She gives the missionaries lunch for free on pday and
the missionaries eat lunch quite a bit at her house during the week.
She makes take out lunches for people to eat. Shes way funny.

Other details... My comp is called Elder Pedro. He would have been
Elder Mesquita but there already is an Elder Mesquita. His name is
Pedro Miguel Baptista Castro Mesquita. There is already an Elder
Batista, an Elder Castro and an Elder Mesquita. haha so it was Pedro
or Miguel. Things are going really good. The Lord blessed me a lot
with him. He is obedient and came on a mission to work. He was
baptized 6 years ago with his mom. He doesnt have any brothers or
sisters and has always lived with his mom. He is funny too. The
Portugues accent sounds so wierd haha. Same words, but way different.
Like New York and TExas ahaha.

Our area is so big. There are 5 areas in São Carlos and I think our
area covers about 1/3 of the entire city. The ward is strong, 130 this
last Sunday. But it is funny because there are twice as many high
priests than elders.

The sisters in my district are good. They are both brazilian. They are
working hard. They asked for a lot of stuff from me when I first got
here and went to Ribeirão. They were needing a cell phone (theirs had
gotten stolen) and so I helped them with that.

This week was hard. We taught a total of 3 lessons and didnt find
anybody to teach yet. The elders that were here didnt do well with the
area book. The area is big and lunches are a ways a way. It was hard
for me to know where to start. Lots of  feelings of fear and worry and
inadequacy and homesickness haha that I felt in the first couple weeks
of the mission returned. Im doing a lot better now though. Its hard
starting a new area and training. Lots of responsability. But it will
work out. The other missionaries here in the zone are great. We have a
couple of referrals from the members to contact which is way good.
This week is going to be a lot better!

The house is so dirty. The toilet is so bad that neither I nor my comp
have gone poop at home yet. We have been using the church. We are
going to clean it today haha. finally!

I love you all so much! I wish I could give you a big hug haha. But I
know that the message we carry is true and that the Lord is by our
side. We are not alone as we serve him, although it can sometimes seem
like that. Knowledge of the Plan of Salvation changes everything. It
makes the hard times and difficulties easier. We can understand better
why we have them.

Have a great week!

Elder Hawkley

November 28, 2011 - It's a BOY!

Hey family,

Well, I found out last Thursday that I'm going to be a dad haha! I will be training. And what's more is that I will be training the only missionary coming from Portugal! Haha I'm super stoked! From what I understand the people in Portugal speak portugues as well, but  with a different accent and some of the words we use have different meanings to them. It will be awesome! Presidente Prieto served his mission in Portugal as well. I will be going to a city called São Carlos and from what I hear the field is white. I'm ready to work. A missionary that will be training too is leaving that area. He was with a missionary that didn't want to work very much and I guess the members said that they have some referrals, but will wait for that one missionary to leave. So, I'm going to go there and work hard and get these referrals. Elder Wright, one of the financial secretaries, worked in the area that I'm going to before he came to the office. He loved it and told me lots of cool stuff about the area. I'm so excited to get back to the field and be able to serve the Lord full time. I will be a District Leader in the Zone. In my district, there is only one other companionship, and they are Sisters, haha. So at least I wont have to do divisions haha. But from what I hear the sisters there are working hard. In our zone there are 10 missionaries, which isn't very much. Including me, there will be three missionaries training, another elder and one sister. We will be a young zone, but ready and excited to work. It will be a great transfer! Last transfer was introduced a new training program. Trainers and their new companions will now stay together for 12 weeks (2 transfers). During this period, we will have one hour of personal study and 2 hours of companion study. It is pretty structured what we should study in these 12 weeks and what should be our goals with our new companions. The purpose of this new program and our purpose as trainers is to train our companions in such a way that they are able to train another missionary at the end of this time period. The Lord is providing his missionaries with many new techniques and technologies to help us in our service to him. Each companionship now has a personal DVD player to watch training dvd's. Elder Boren, other financial secretary, served a little in the states and said that the Zone Leaders there have laptops at home. The Lord is putting more and more trust in his missionaries so that we have a chance to serve him more effectively.

How's scott doing? And Elder Bean? If you could, it would be cool to receive their emails.

Thanks for the updates about the wedding! Please send more pictures when you can! Sounds like Murphy's law is taking effect with you guys. But don't worry, it will work out. How's the new truck doing now? Can you say Warranty!/?! (I hope so) How is the new couple doing?

In two days, I will make 1 year and 5 months since I left home. Can you believe it? The time has gone by so fast! It doesnt even feel like it has been that long! I'm glad I have the time left that I do to keep learning and progressing. I watched a mormon message the other day by Elder Nelson. I like how he said that we shouldn't demand too much of ourselves, but that we should demand is improvement. That is so important to remember, especially as a missionary. We only finally figure out what we are doing after experience. That is why the Lord sent us here, to learn through our experiences. There are things that are impossible to describe to teach, that we learn only through experience.

It has been a blessing to serve in the office. Some of the things I learned from Presidente Prieto:
-In the mission, the Lord blesses our families. After the mission he blesses us.
-If you are having problems with comp (or spouse for that matter), go home say a prayer and talk until the problem is fixed
-Families that regularly hold FHE may have children that fall away, but they those children will eventually come back.
-I have learned a lot about the workings of the Spirit
-Through his example, I have seen the importance of patience and how it is an essential attribute in loving people.

From Elder Ilustre I learned the importance of humility and patience. He never got mad or frustrated with me, no matter how stupid I was. From Elder Wright, I learned the importance of being happy and positive. In EVERY situation there is something good to find. It may be stupid, but at least that will make you laugh. Elder Boren was an example of growth, of learning how to do better and then changing and putting it into practice. These elders have become my brothers. I love them and know that our friendship will continue after the mission.

I have been writing Elder Bean and Elder Hardy. They are my best friends! Their words of encouragement and support have been so great! Now that I leave the office, pdays will be better and I will have more time to write them back haha. They seem to be doing so well and the Lord for sure is blessing them too!

In our area, I grew a love for the members. They became my family. That family seemed a lot better this week, but ended up not going to church. I know that they will be baptized one day. The Lord led us to anohter family in need. We were walking one Sunday to see that family. They called us and canceled. We were a little bummed and standing in the shade in a park. A man came accross the street and asked us if we were mormons? We said yes and invited us to his home to drink some water. He said that he had been baptized in the church in the United States. He talked a little but then had to leave. Before he left, we talked with his mom who said she had painted a painting of Moroni (the one in the Book of Mormon kneeling) for a sister missionary that she liked (she is not a member). She asked us if we wanted to see the painting. We said yes, so she took us to a friend of hers house to see the painting. We went to the friends house and saw the painting. It was super good and about 3 feet by 4 feet. We started talking to this lady's friend. The painting was a good oportunity to explain about Moroni and the Book of Mormon. The lady who made the painting went home and we got to know the friend (an 86 year old senhora) and her son. She showed a lot of interest in the church. Her son told us how his wife is dying of cancer. We talked about the Restoration to his mom and then testified quickly about the Plan of Salvation to him. The spirit was strong. We now have a baptismal date with the mom and the son is open for our visits. For now they are without time as they care for the son's wife. I know the gospel will help them and that the Lord led us to them. He know's his children individually and loves everyone of us. He doesnt want to see us sad, but it is part of the plan. Our job to keep the commandments so that no sadness that comes is a result of our actions.

I love the gospel and the answers that it gives us. I know that it is true. The Book of Mormon is true. The church is true. Families can be forever. We have a living prophet!

I love you all and thanks so much for the support! Hope all is well and I want you to be happy.

Elder Hawkley

November 23, 2011 - 9 Hawkley

Hey Hawkley Family (being 9 as of now),

It was great to be able to talk to all of you as well! Glad to hear that everyone is doing well!

So how was the wedding? I want details! A play-by-play with pictures haha

Were you guys able to get to know Cristy´s family? How was it?

What are the plans for the next couple of days?

Everything is going good here. I still don´t know my transfer haha. I´m going nuts. But I'm pretty sure that I'll be going to Zone Leader. I'll be happy with either that or training as a District Leader. It will be awesome!

Today President and the Assistants are traveling to the zones to give trainings. So for our pday, we will be going to the mission home to hang out. I love that house! President has let us use it every once and a while as he travels.

Things in the office are crazy! We have lots to do! But the office has taught me a lot of diligence. As we are diligent and always look for something to do, we will be happy and get a lot done. I noticed that with Tyson and Pehrson as they came home from their mission. They we always doing something. It kind of frustrated me at times haha. But I can totally understand now.

Anybody in the family, including mom and dad, have an interest in leather scripture cases? For a quad its about $60. For 2 separate its about $80. I think im going to get some.

Our area is going good. Its still a little slow going, but it looks like the members are getting excited and that the work pretty soon will start to take off. Haha, it seems like things will start to work out just as Im leaving. Not being prideful, but I know that it is a result of our efforts. So I dont have a reason to be sad.

NEXT EMAIL WILL BE MONDAY AND WILL CONTINUE THAT WAY. SO ITS BACK TO WRITING EMAILS ON SUNDAY NIGHT! Haahah thanks

I love you all and know that we are in the truth. Have a great week!

Elder Hawkley

November 16, 2011 - Hey

Hey,

Thanks for the email mom! Haha or you spent 2 hours typing that email on your phone or you are getting good at the cell phone keyboard!

So what happened to the bug? Is the new truck like the blue one but a different color?

That's awesome about Zach Wynne! The mission will be so good for him. It will change his life (as it has mine) and the life of his future family! Let me know where he goes.

As far as the phone call, I think Sunday would be better for us. I could call around 8:30 here (3:30 there). What do you think? Would everyone be able to be there? Also I think it would be better just to call. I lost the information about the AT&T account. I need the number to call (for Brasil and the States to have in the future) and the user # and password and all that stuff again. And don't forget to put money on there.

That is unfortunate to hear about what happened to Rachel and her friends. That is great that they held their ground though. On the mission it is normal to have many experiences like that. Although sometimes it can be easy to get angry, these experiences have strengthened my testimony. I feel the spirit testify when I bear my testimony. Maybe its because I'm super stuborn haha, but I walk away with a greater conviction to testify and continue on. Even though it doesn't seem to have an effect on them, these experiences can help us. I think a lot about Joseph Smith and the opposition he and the early saints experienced. They knew what was the truth. They didn't let anything or anyone discourage them. They pressed on.

In the office here things are pretty busy. We are getting the normal tasks done and also have Christmas to prepare for. A part of me would like to pass Christmas in the office with President and his family. That for sure is one thing that I miss. But I know that I need to get out of the office. I only have 5 more transfers left and I want to be able to give everything and serve full-time in the area. President said that in the office we are asked to go the extra mile and we really are. We have every responsability that the other missionaries have, and then our responsabilities in the office. It has been a time of growth and joy. There were many hard times as well. But as we continue on, the hard moments fade with time and the good memories stay. It is hard to remember but we important as we all have trials and difficulties.

The family that we have been working with is good. The mom knows the gospel is true and wants to be baptized. The dad is the problem. We found out through the family in a different ward that gave us the referral that the dad doesnt know what he wants yet. Apparently he knows the changes that will have to take place in his life if he were baptized. We havent taught the commandments yet but he read quite a bit of Gospel Principles. He knows that he would have to stop drinking. I dont believe that he is an alcoholic. Im sure that it has more to do with the fear of losing friends and having to change his lifestyle. As he feels the spirit and as we explain why God gives us commandments and the blessings that come from them, I am sure that he will accept. Maybe it will take some time. He lives a busy lifestyle as well and needs to read the Book of Mormon. That answer that the Book of Mormon is true and that Joseph Smith was a prophet is essential. They will be baptized. The question is when. I really want to see them get baptized. It is still possible, but we will do what is best for them. Even if I am not a part of it, I know that I will have played a part.

The gospel is true. The Book of Mormon is true. Jesus Christ is our Savior. Thomas S. Monson is a living prophet. Family is the best. I love you all so much. Have fun preparing for the wedding and take lots of pictures!

Elder Hawkley

Ps. We decorated the office yesterday haha
Oh and last week we went to Presidents house in the morning and we all made an American Breakfast - Eggs with bacon and cheese, pancakes, hash browns, fruit. It was awesome! I feel like President and Sister Prieto are like parents and the other missionaries in the office are my brothers. We are one big family! It is great!

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.