You should get paid for all this work that you doing at the school :) I like the little kids here too. Once they get older there are kind of annoying ;) There is a family here that we are teaching with a little chunky kid that has a chili-bowl haircut. He is cute talking about random stuff and giving me marbles and stuff. The kids give you hugs whenever they see you and stuff. They are surely closer to Heavenly Father than we are. Many times, when I have been teaching, kids stop and listen to the message and even go and grab a Bible or something. They feel that it is something special when their parents have no clue.
[Comments about gospel doctrine and Priesthood/Relief Society lessons.] I don't remember any of these lessons, maybe they are teaching apostasy here or something ;) I don't remember what last week was about, but this week was about something else. ["That which is of God is light; and he that receiveth light, and continueth in God, receiveth more light; and that light groweth brighter and brighter until the perfect day."] All of us have that light within us, but some hide it, others let it grow like the scripture you cited. The people that hide it can't see as well and they have to rely on their own guidance. The others allow the light to grow and they can see the strait and narrow path more easily. The path is going to stay the same forever, it doesn't get bigger or anything. It has a hand rail that's about it :) However, if we allow the light to grow we can see more clearly and we can make bigger and bigger strides to heaven.
[Do you want me to send some congestion meds? It will take two to three months at the same rate as the Christmas package.] I will be dead or over the disease in 2 or 3 months :) They have medicine here, if I need any.
Monday, January 31, 2011
31 Jan 2011 - Alvorada Area (Dad)
[I ran into an elder in our building today who is waiting for his visa to go to Brazil. Poor guy. At least he isn't in South Dakota in the winter. I don't remember the name of the mission he was headed to; it started with a T and I'd never heard of it before.] What building? Where you work? He is going to Teresina, which is right next to me and was part of my mission. It split a year and a half ago. That's probably why you didn't hear about it. :) It's hot there, super hot. Good luck for him :)
[I have to admit you're making me a little nervous with the TB/hepatitis story....] His TB isn't spreadable because it's not in his lungs, and I have a vaccine for Hepatitis so I'm immune right? ;) They don't know if he has hepatitis, they just think he does. All the Brazilians have TB vaccines from birth, so just the americans can get it.
[Wow, you actually have air conditioning somewhere? I only remember having that in one Church building in Central America.] We have air conditioning in all the church buildings, but just in the sacrament room. They are the kind you put up on the wall and they spray cold air out, along with water. They don't know how to use it though, they just crank it up until everyone dies. It rains in the morning and then gets sunny and muggy then either rains for the rest of the day, or is sunny. There have been 2 days when it rained all day and I didn't see sun, that's when I get cold :) From March-December it's straight sun and it's nice. I'm sure I will have cancer after the mission.
This week has been a good week. We as missionaries are baptizers, but we also help marry people so we can baptize them :) This week we went downtown to do the paperwork for a part-member family. The husband is inactive and the wife has never heard about the gospel. They have a chunky, cute little kid with a chili-bowl haircut. They are a great family and like the article you shared, the dormant inactive member's testimony is beginning to emerge again. He is excited for his wife and helps her learn and read the Book of Mormon. This week we also had a miracle baptism. We had taught this kid last transfer, but he was mole (molé in spanish I think, like the sauce) as they say here...he didn't want to read, go to church, etc. So we cut him and hoped than someday he would change, which he did. This last week he came to church and said, "I told you I would come someday." He found some friends that were recently baptized and now he is coming to church. So he was able to be baptized this weekend. This story teaches me that friends are very important. We can be lazy and mole without good friends, but with good friends, good examples, we can change our lives!
Eu sei que a Igreja de Jesus Cristo dos Santos dos Últimos Dias é a igreja verdadeira aqui nesta terra. Por meio da fé nós podemos mudar as vidas dos amigos, parentes, vizinhos, qualquer pessoa. Nós estamos aqui para ajudar as pessoas perdidas. Eu sei que Joseph Smith viu Jesus Cristo e Nosso Pai Celestial, e ai ele restaurou a igreja para que nós tenhamos a autoridade para batizar, curar, e fazer milagres. Eu sou grato pela família que eu tenho, Pai, Mãe, Sean, Michael, Lauren, toda minha família. Atravez do evangelho e as ordenanças no templo nós possames ter uma família eterna. Sou muito grato para servir uma missão porque Deus me deu muitas coisas e é minha responsibilidade a revolver as bençãos que recebi. Em nome de Jesus Cristo, amém.
Eu te amo, fique firme e sempre lembre o que Deus te deu.
Elder Hawkes
[I have to admit you're making me a little nervous with the TB/hepatitis story....] His TB isn't spreadable because it's not in his lungs, and I have a vaccine for Hepatitis so I'm immune right? ;) They don't know if he has hepatitis, they just think he does. All the Brazilians have TB vaccines from birth, so just the americans can get it.
[Wow, you actually have air conditioning somewhere? I only remember having that in one Church building in Central America.] We have air conditioning in all the church buildings, but just in the sacrament room. They are the kind you put up on the wall and they spray cold air out, along with water. They don't know how to use it though, they just crank it up until everyone dies. It rains in the morning and then gets sunny and muggy then either rains for the rest of the day, or is sunny. There have been 2 days when it rained all day and I didn't see sun, that's when I get cold :) From March-December it's straight sun and it's nice. I'm sure I will have cancer after the mission.
This week has been a good week. We as missionaries are baptizers, but we also help marry people so we can baptize them :) This week we went downtown to do the paperwork for a part-member family. The husband is inactive and the wife has never heard about the gospel. They have a chunky, cute little kid with a chili-bowl haircut. They are a great family and like the article you shared, the dormant inactive member's testimony is beginning to emerge again. He is excited for his wife and helps her learn and read the Book of Mormon. This week we also had a miracle baptism. We had taught this kid last transfer, but he was mole (molé in spanish I think, like the sauce) as they say here...he didn't want to read, go to church, etc. So we cut him and hoped than someday he would change, which he did. This last week he came to church and said, "I told you I would come someday." He found some friends that were recently baptized and now he is coming to church. So he was able to be baptized this weekend. This story teaches me that friends are very important. We can be lazy and mole without good friends, but with good friends, good examples, we can change our lives!
Eu sei que a Igreja de Jesus Cristo dos Santos dos Últimos Dias é a igreja verdadeira aqui nesta terra. Por meio da fé nós podemos mudar as vidas dos amigos, parentes, vizinhos, qualquer pessoa. Nós estamos aqui para ajudar as pessoas perdidas. Eu sei que Joseph Smith viu Jesus Cristo e Nosso Pai Celestial, e ai ele restaurou a igreja para que nós tenhamos a autoridade para batizar, curar, e fazer milagres. Eu sou grato pela família que eu tenho, Pai, Mãe, Sean, Michael, Lauren, toda minha família. Atravez do evangelho e as ordenanças no templo nós possames ter uma família eterna. Sou muito grato para servir uma missão porque Deus me deu muitas coisas e é minha responsibilidade a revolver as bençãos que recebi. Em nome de Jesus Cristo, amém.
Eu te amo, fique firme e sempre lembre o que Deus te deu.
Elder Hawkes
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