13 Feb 2012 - Palmeiras Area (Dad)

[I mentioned that the BYU basketball team was 17 out of 101 on three-pointers up until last week.] Wow 17 out of 101? I'm pretty sure an armless beaver could shoot better than that. I might have to try out for the team when I get back home. I just have to shoot 20% and I'll be a champion :) Well and grow another 5 inches to be able to shoot over a chair. 

 

[Only one missionary from Texas? Well, I know that that one missionary (Jeffrey) can match any ten missionaries from anywhere else, so that should be enough state representation.] Well obviously because he can stand the heat and doesn't sweat buckets here like the Utahrns. There are 2 others that live in Texas and they have both been my companions. But Texas being so big one lives in Houston and the other Corpus Christi. So that is a good 8 hour drive to Corpus.

 

[I'm assuming you documented the toenail removal incident and gut barfing and we'll get photos soon. Speaking of which ... how about some photos? Not of that stuff, but of something more appealing.] I didn't take pictures of me barfing because it was at 3:30 AM. I have lost all appetite for meat on a stick though, which is sad. Who knows, maybe I got some worms too so I can come back nice and slim. I have a few pictures of the toenail/ pre-surgery but I haven't uploaded my pictures yet. I'll send a few random ones. [See below.] The fruit is called jaca. It probably weighed about 20 pounds and it was nasty as usual. I can't remember all that I put in....Oh yeah the bathroom in the old house, pretty isn't it? A baby scorpion that we found at home, one of them at least. Some cows battling. Clearly not domesticated enough. I had the urge to jump on one and break it but I forgot my boots at home. The other one is Christmas at the aparment.

 

[There was some snow on the ground when I took the trash out tonight. The past two days have been frigid. Well, they feel frigid, although it would be a warm spell to a BYU-Idahoan.] Yeah right..I never became a BYU-Idahoan. I love the heat and humidity and anything not cold. That is why I will live in Texas forever. Probably down south more because apparently Fort Worth has turned into Canada.

 

[I attended a Worldwide Leadership Training broadcast yesterday. One of the notes I jotted down was this: one of the greatest feelings is to know that God has sent you to bless the life of an individual. I'm certain that God has sent you to bless the lives of many specific individuals.] I don't know if I have found someone that was specifically waiting for me, well I should say that has never been 100% obvious. I guess most of the people that I baptized were in a sense waiting for me. It is probably too early to tell how much I have affected the people here. I just hope I've managed to do something for the last 20 months. I haven't been perfect or the best missionary, but hopefully God will accept what I have done. I don't know exactly how merciful the Lord is, but I know that if we do our best He will  forgive us for the faults we have. I have a lot of faults and it seems a long, nearly impossible road to become a better Elder Hawkes because I'm so dumb sometimes :) I'm excited for life though. You learn so much on the mission and you just want to try it out. The mission is the best thing in my life and I will cherish it for the rest of my life. I love it. It has changed me so much. Nobody on this earth really knows how much it has changed me. Why would anyone not want this? I have never, on the mission, desired to go home or give up etc. It is the best place, God has specifically chosen it for me. I thank Him all of my days.