My companion is feeling better, but not wholly better. We are working though, but not a complete work day. [Jesus the Christ is full of deep doctrine that helps you appreciate much more who Jesus Christ is. I'm sure it wasn't chosen arbitrarily as one of the approved missionary books.] Jesus the Christ is good. The Apostles tell us that we should read it a lot and study it. After all, we are representatives of Him so we should probably know about Him. They also say that we should know more about Him than the people we teach, pastors, etc. I like the way he uses pagan heathens a lot in Jesus the Christ, and he calls people pitiful and pathetic, its cool :) Maybe I will read it in Portuguese one day.
[You are crazy for liking the heat so much, but I guess it is a good crazy for someone in Ceará. The heat didn't bother me most of the time in Central America, but there were some midday times in Nicaragua that sapped the energy out of you and some sweating that was done when going into a house and sitting down after hard walking in the blazing sun. But we just didn't pay much attention to it. It's not like we were the only ones living in it, nor was there anything we could change about it, so why even think about it?] Heat is soooo much better. We can never get away from the cold, you put more clothes on but you are still cold. Air conditioning always works if you can't handle the heat. Just think....Light of Christ, He is the Light of the world------heat. Heat is to good, happiness; cold is to suffering and misery! You probably had rough terrain to walk, here it's flatter than a pancake :)
[Sauce of the chili, huh.] I couldn't remembered what it was called. It's hot sauce! They don't have much here though, and it's weak. Down in Bahia is famous for spicy. Grandma said somebody served/visited there in Salvador (capital of Bahia)
[You mentioned the rough time old geezers like me must have had back in the day in the mission field. Maybe it was occasionally a little rougher, but nothing like Parley P. Pratt, or Ammon, or Paul.] But wait didn't you serve before Paul, Ammon and Parley P Pratt? You couldn't talk about the Restoration in your lessons because it hadn't happened yet ;) I remember the Bishop talked to me about lesson certificates, you get them when you memorize the lessons. Was the MTC in Provo much different?
Did you eat a lot of kinds of fruit on the mission? They have mangos, maracajú (passion fruit; one of the best fruits) bananas, apples, starfruit, sapoti (smells like rotten apples but it's super sweet), açaí, acerola (they are small and red and look like cherries), caju, caja, siriguela (caja and siriguela are the same I'm pretty sure, but they claim they are different; they are small and orange/yellow with a big seed), graviola (big, green with spikes, white inside with big black seeds), pineapples, watermelons.... lots of stuff that you probably don't know. They are all good, well almost all of them. I'm sure they have most of the same fruits there, just with different names. They also have sugar cane juice here too, virtually sugar water but it tastes good :) Did you ever drink coconut water? They sell it everywhere here. The first time I drank it it tasted like grass water :( But I got use to it, and I like it now.
I wrote Mom about the laborious baptism I had Sunday, you can ask her about it because I am lazy.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
13 Feb 2011 - Alvorada Area (Mom)
Is today Valentine's Day? I was thinking that was next week. Valentine's Day in Brazil is sometime in June or July. [Mom taught a lesson in church about work and learning responsibility.] I learned that hard work never pays off :) We had some baptisms this past Sunday. The water was nasty dirty in the font, which it usually is. So we decided to drain it and fill it up again. We flipped the switch for the pump and nothing happened. The circuit was 'broken' on the circuit breaker so we flipped the switch up. Every time I flipped the pump switch the circuit 'broke'....therefore the pump didn't work. So we had 3 hours until the baptism and we had to take all the water out and let it fill up again, which takes awhile. So we got buckets and started taking out the water and throwing it into the toilets. 2 kids helped us but it was hot and wet and my gimp finger that I broke and cut and hyperextended was hurting. I knew my past follies would come back to haunt me! It took forever....then the bishop came and flipped the circuit and the pump worked...So all the hard work for nothing :) I guess the Bishop had more faith and the church must use Liahona circuit breakers that work by faith. So I was pouring sweat and I was soaking wet, and President Batt was supposed to come to our church etc etc The baptisms went well though. That's what was exciting this week. My companion has been sick so we haven't been doing too much work. So I don't have many exciting things to tell this week. Wednesday I did Part 1 of 2 for a wedding we are going to have this week. It was just signing papers as a testimony etc. They are getting married on the 18th and hopefully the baptism will be the 20th :) I got a vinyl Winnie the Pooh wallet from a 7 year old girl in the ward, that was pretty cool. She always draws us pictures when we come over for lunch, and I end up drawing and coloring with her as I wait for lunch :)
I'm sure the lesson was a lot better than you thought it was. Sometimes we don't have to announce every detail of the lesson. People are smart and I am sure that they realized which were the key points. I think they like the grizzled, experience-filled stories of Sister Hawkes. They are all from Utah, so they are bored of the normal Mormon childhood :)
I'm sure the lesson was a lot better than you thought it was. Sometimes we don't have to announce every detail of the lesson. People are smart and I am sure that they realized which were the key points. I think they like the grizzled, experience-filled stories of Sister Hawkes. They are all from Utah, so they are bored of the normal Mormon childhood :)
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
7 Feb 2011 - Alvorada Area (Mom)
[Mom explained that temps in the teens and sleet and snow put Texas out of commission for three days, although it didn't stop Mom from making her hair appointment.] Well you always wanted to live in a cold place, so you got your wish. I don't miss the cold and snow one bit. I always wanted to live in Texas but maybe I'm going to have to change that because it's getting cold there. Yep can't miss those hair cuts :) Dad said it was like 80 last week before all of this happened...crazy Texas. [Grocery store parking lot was a zoo with the weather, so Mom gave up on going in.] You could have had Sean go and get some groceries for you so you didn't have to park :) What do you expect from Texans? They don't like the snow and ice. Up in Idaho, and probably New Jersey, they don't close school until the diesel in the school buses freezes, which is rare. How is life as a mom without anyone at home? Everyone else was complaining that the kids were home, but it was just normal for you. Dad was home too, so you could play scrabble or something. Here it is the middle of the summer and hotter than ever. The rain stopped this week so just blasting sun, it's great. My companions all sweat like crazy, it's kind of funny, but I don't really sweat that much here. They all have rags to wipe away the sweat. Our washing machine broke this week so one of these days I'm going to have to wash my clothes...by hand :) I don't have any food or detergent so I will have to wait until the next allowance. This week was boring for me because my companion was sick this whole week so I just left to go eat lunch and teach 1 or 2 lessons. I managed to read 300 pages of Jesus the Christ though :) I'm reading it again, but this time I am marking more stuff in my scriptures. I am learning more too.
7 Feb 2011 - Alvorada Area (Dad)
[I told him about BYU playing at Wyoming where it was -38 degress outside, and Fredette having a slim chance of passing Danny Ainge for the all-time BYU scoring title.] -38 feels the same as the 13 degree weather in Texas, trust me :) Ainge was also before they had any rules too, he probably just sat under the hoops the whole game making lay ups :) There was no goal tending too, so he just tipped the balls in to get more points.
[Thank you for sharing your testimony in Portuguese. I understood almost every word. I wish I could actually hear it spoken too.] You could just read it out loud and then you would hear it spoken....duh :)
[I mentioned some articles in the February New Era, one of which is also in the Liahona (one by Elder Godoy).] I actually don't get the New Era here. The Liahona is shipped on the back of a 2 legged donkey from the jungles of China because we still haven't gotten the Liahona from December. We still are using the General Conference issue. So maybe sometime in July I will get to read that article in the Liahona, but that's if the donkey makes it.
[Regarding article in New Era: "while they were eating in a community setting a kid nearby had taken the Lord's name in vain and been disrespectful and the grandfather as a young missionary finally had enough and came over and hit him in the shoulder and told him he wouldn't amount to anything in life if he didn't start doing things differently--probably not the normal contact approach."] I'm going to have to start using that contact technique, it's new and it might work. I don't have much this week since my companion was bed-ridden. We only left to go eat and teach one or two people. I did manage to get through half of Jesus the Christ though. I'm reading it for the second time to actually write more stuff in my scriptures etc. The rain has stopped for now and the glorious sun has returned to shine once again upon the hallowed, warm lands of Ceará. Everyone thinks I am crazy because I like the heat because all the missionaries are sweating their brains out but I'm doing fine...The members give me...spicy sauce?....I forgot what you call it in english...sauce of the chili? anyways they give it to me because I love it. Ceará is not known for spicy food so everybody has a fear of this sauce of the chili. They think I'm crazy when I put a ton of the weak sauce (haha) on the food. I blame you Dad. My Bishop told me the horror stories of serving a mission back in the day, sleeping on the ground, no fridges, no food etc. He only served in the 90s so I can only imagine how bad it was for you in the 80s....1780s that is! [Hm, was actually in the 70s, but the 1970s. AD, not BC.] But for real, missions are a piece of cake now, you just have to leave and teach people then come back home :)
Even though we didn't have much success this week we still had a wonderful miracle. I have been teaching this one family for the 4 months I have been here and the mom and the 2 daughters got baptized then one son....then the other son. We have been teaching the father the whole time but he never ever went to church. However, he started going to church these past few weeks. This is the first time in like 6 months that he has gone to church. He always promised me and the other missionaries that he would go every Sunday. We were excited and we started teaching him with new vigor but he didn't really want to be baptized and just wanted to chill. His wife had already switched all of the coffee with cevada so he had already stopped drinking without knowing. He smoked a few cigarettes but that's it. We stopped teaching him for awhile because he didn't want anything. This last Sunday, the 6th, he came to church again. I talked to his wife and she said he had stopped smoking. Then during the middle of sacrament, he turned back to me and yelled for me to come talk to him. He asked how many people are going to be baptized next week, I told him. He then told me that he wanted to be baptized too. What a miracle! It may seem to be just a story to ya'll at home but I love this family with all my heart and I have spent weeks, months trying to help complete their family. I have spent hours wondering what else I could do to help this man. I prayed a lot to stay in this area if it was the will of the Lord so that I could find people that maybe I had missed. I'm grateful that the Lord has helped this family and I will never forget them. Sadly, the kids don't like to get their pictures taken, but I have one of the parents :) Never give up, never say that it can't be done. Never stop doing what is right, because in due time, the time of the Lord, it will all be worth it. It will all work out. I know that it is the Lord's will to help His children. We just have to take the challenge and do our part. We all know a family or friend that seems "hard" or seems "hopeless" but they aren't. They need you! Maybe the Lord has sent YOU to help them, to be their angel to help them. I know the Lord is our Savior and that He loves us, everyone in the world. His purpose is to help us find the gospel and have everlasting life.
[Thank you for sharing your testimony in Portuguese. I understood almost every word. I wish I could actually hear it spoken too.] You could just read it out loud and then you would hear it spoken....duh :)
[I mentioned some articles in the February New Era, one of which is also in the Liahona (one by Elder Godoy).] I actually don't get the New Era here. The Liahona is shipped on the back of a 2 legged donkey from the jungles of China because we still haven't gotten the Liahona from December. We still are using the General Conference issue. So maybe sometime in July I will get to read that article in the Liahona, but that's if the donkey makes it.
[Regarding article in New Era: "while they were eating in a community setting a kid nearby had taken the Lord's name in vain and been disrespectful and the grandfather as a young missionary finally had enough and came over and hit him in the shoulder and told him he wouldn't amount to anything in life if he didn't start doing things differently--probably not the normal contact approach."] I'm going to have to start using that contact technique, it's new and it might work. I don't have much this week since my companion was bed-ridden. We only left to go eat and teach one or two people. I did manage to get through half of Jesus the Christ though. I'm reading it for the second time to actually write more stuff in my scriptures etc. The rain has stopped for now and the glorious sun has returned to shine once again upon the hallowed, warm lands of Ceará. Everyone thinks I am crazy because I like the heat because all the missionaries are sweating their brains out but I'm doing fine...The members give me...spicy sauce?....I forgot what you call it in english...sauce of the chili? anyways they give it to me because I love it. Ceará is not known for spicy food so everybody has a fear of this sauce of the chili. They think I'm crazy when I put a ton of the weak sauce (haha) on the food. I blame you Dad. My Bishop told me the horror stories of serving a mission back in the day, sleeping on the ground, no fridges, no food etc. He only served in the 90s so I can only imagine how bad it was for you in the 80s....1780s that is! [Hm, was actually in the 70s, but the 1970s. AD, not BC.] But for real, missions are a piece of cake now, you just have to leave and teach people then come back home :)
Even though we didn't have much success this week we still had a wonderful miracle. I have been teaching this one family for the 4 months I have been here and the mom and the 2 daughters got baptized then one son....then the other son. We have been teaching the father the whole time but he never ever went to church. However, he started going to church these past few weeks. This is the first time in like 6 months that he has gone to church. He always promised me and the other missionaries that he would go every Sunday. We were excited and we started teaching him with new vigor but he didn't really want to be baptized and just wanted to chill. His wife had already switched all of the coffee with cevada so he had already stopped drinking without knowing. He smoked a few cigarettes but that's it. We stopped teaching him for awhile because he didn't want anything. This last Sunday, the 6th, he came to church again. I talked to his wife and she said he had stopped smoking. Then during the middle of sacrament, he turned back to me and yelled for me to come talk to him. He asked how many people are going to be baptized next week, I told him. He then told me that he wanted to be baptized too. What a miracle! It may seem to be just a story to ya'll at home but I love this family with all my heart and I have spent weeks, months trying to help complete their family. I have spent hours wondering what else I could do to help this man. I prayed a lot to stay in this area if it was the will of the Lord so that I could find people that maybe I had missed. I'm grateful that the Lord has helped this family and I will never forget them. Sadly, the kids don't like to get their pictures taken, but I have one of the parents :) Never give up, never say that it can't be done. Never stop doing what is right, because in due time, the time of the Lord, it will all be worth it. It will all work out. I know that it is the Lord's will to help His children. We just have to take the challenge and do our part. We all know a family or friend that seems "hard" or seems "hopeless" but they aren't. They need you! Maybe the Lord has sent YOU to help them, to be their angel to help them. I know the Lord is our Savior and that He loves us, everyone in the world. His purpose is to help us find the gospel and have everlasting life.
Monday, January 31, 2011
31 Jan 2011 - Alvorada Area (Mom)
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.
[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.
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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