3 July 2011 - Pedras Area (Dad)

[I never associated hillbillies and rednecks with Brazil. Do they have a guy named Jose Bob Claus that leaves moonshine bottles in your dirty socks and have a possum egg hunt in the backyard too? You look a bit different with a mustache. Hopefully that permanent marker isn't really permanent.] Well down in the South they are all farmers and stuff. They don't have a guy named that but that's because they have a lot of people the do that here ;) It was a make-up pencil so it came off easily. I was going to part my hair down the middle too but my hair wasn't long enough. I even tried to use egg whites as gel...it doesn't work as well as grease does...

[Sean's birthday is this week, the 9th. He'll be 42 or something like that. Not too long until your ageometer rolls over another tick too.] Yeah...I have been playing soccer on P Days (which will probably end because of the new President) and my knees are like a bowl of grits and they hurt too. Hopefully I'll stay in this area so they can throw me an awesome birthday party or something like that. If not I'll be in a new area for like 10 days and nobody will even know me. It reminds me of my birthday in the MTC with my district of my companion and me. He forgot it was my birthday though. :(

This week was a good week. We have two marriages lined up, which is a miracle here in Brazil. Hopefully, I will be able to stay here and see them but who knows. They are really great people and the members here are perfect. They are always helping them and they are always trying to help them feel the spirit. This is definitely an area that I will remember. I love the people here, the members as well as the investigators. We have worked hard to get these people married, but the Lord has blessed us and blessed them so much. This surely is the true church. No other gospel can cause such changes in people. People are giving us their moonshine in dirty socks and are forsaking it from that day on. I've been a member for a long time but I would have a hard time changing things that they so easily give up. These people are so much better than I am and I love them for it. They are truly elects of God and they catch on the things so fast. I'm just bouncing along, tripping and falling while they run full speed past me. I can say it is one the best feelings ever. I testify that there is no other feeling. I hope all of you at home strive to feel that feeling again!

26 June 2011 - Pedras Area (Mom)

It was a good week here. We got to do a lot of stuff. We made some homemade bread. Some members showed us how to make it. They wanted to put ham & cheese inside and roll it. But we're Americans and we put apples and cinnamon. It tastes soo good, it's like cinnamon roll. All we need is frosting. We also made some brownies because my comp got 2 packages from his mom. They were the best brownies I have ever had, I'm not sure why. This past Saturday was the best ward party that I have ever been to! It's called Junino. It goes all June and part of July. It's a Brazilian holiday. Everyone dresses up like hillbillys and they paint mustaches and stuff. It was fun. I did some square dancing with my companion too. It was a fun time. We won the best couple award. 

I had an epiphany the other day. I'm going to be a waiter at a Brazilian restaurant when I get home. That way I can eat the food whenever I want. Mexican food is better though :)

My companion was telling me about his mom the other day and I had another epiphany! You should go back to school and then you can go work! It'll give you something to do.

Teaching is a good way to teach yourself. I spend a lot of time studying so that I can teach. It's hard to keep it all in your head though. I want to be better at knowing scriptures and stuff like that. My scriptures are all marked up in my pretty marking system, so that helps me a bit. It's hard to teach different things though. I always try to teach in a new way, or say new things. It's too easy to get into a routine.

I've been thinking lately about when I was set apart. Grandpa told me to write it down in my journal. One of the things that was said is that I was close to the spirit and I should grow and recognize that more. I have never felt that I was close to the spirit, but I guess I have to grow and learn.

26 June 2011 - Pedras Area (Dad)

Good news, this last Thursday I resumed my roofing services. It was fun, but I got a sunburn on my knees since I was sitting on the roof all day. More perilous rotten wood stunts :) I can't think of a better time to die: On a mission doing service :) Maybe drowning while you baptize someone. [We will keep in mind your newly acquired skills for when the next round of hail passes through Fort Worth.] Well if you have switched to terra cota roof than I'll be in business. We are only allowed to provide service for member. When I 1st got here we could help whoever, but the people started using the missionaries as slaves and president stopped that. Speaking of President...he leaves tomorrow :( We got some good news today as well. Apparently, they opened a new branch in Trindade which is in Piauí (another state) from what I hear. I didn't know that we had another state in our mission. It's in the middle of nowhere. I think they have 4 missionaries there. They will be doing some pioneering. It's all good news. 

We had an awesome party this weekend at church. I sent pictures. You dress up as a hillbilly and do redneck stuff. It was cool, I like it a lot. I got to square dance with my companion. I also got to have a mustache and beard. It's always good to have an excuse to be a redneck.  

This week we had a miracle happen with one of our investigators. We were teaching a reference but we realized that they guy wasn't really paying attention. I was talking about the Book of Mormon and then my companion pulled out the Word of Wisdom pamphlet. He said he felt like he should teach it, but I didn't know that at the time. Usually we wait a bit before we start throwing out the commandments. It started out rocky... they had problems with 4 of the 5 things. They were the 1st people that I have taught that were drinking black tea. Then we asked the man if he would stop drinking and I was thinking "He is going to say no..............blah blah blah" but he said yes. He stood up and grabbed a bottle of vodka from the fridge and gave it to us. When he did that, I felt the spirit like never before. Everyone was teary eyed and I'm sure everyone felt the spirit. It doesn't matter to me if he keeps drinking, it won't take away what we all felt. It'll be sad for sure, but it will be his loss. It's always hard to see the wife trying to follow Christ but the husband has no interest. They usually bring down the wives and then nothing happens. 

 

19 June 2011 - Pedras Area (Mom)

[How are things in the old town tonight? Things have been good here. I decided to volunteer every day and last week was a blast.] The old town is good here. That's good that you're volunteering. That's what I do all day, and it's a lot better than working. Speaking of service...we got to build a roof for some people in our ward. I know what you are thinking.... Elder Hawkes is building roofs now? Trust me, there isn't much to it here. I had to walk like a monkey on the roof and try not to fall and stuff like that. I was also praying that the not-so-good wood wouldn't break...luckily I made it out alive. I only hit my thumb a few times and punctured my butt on some nails. All in the name of charity.

[The U.S. has had quite a few natural disasters lately.] Brazil doesn't really have any natural disasters. They have flood sometimes. The most intense thing they have is mudslides and stuff like that. That isn't a problem here because it is level. Down in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo it happens more. Everything...and I mean everything is sand here. You can dig anywhere and you will find sand. It's good that they don't have mudslides because the sand wouldn't hold up too well. Fortaleza doesn't get hit by hurricanes. I haven't seen any real storms here yet either. Not even thunder and lightning, it just pours rain. 

I'm not going to lie, I forgot all about Father's Day :) I'll have to say something to Dad. Dad said he announced today as Son's Day. They should have that day a lot more often :)

19 June 2011 - Pedras Area (Dad)

[I'm trying to picture how you could break your oven in a way that it would be sitting at a 45 degree angle. I'm afraid I can't. You must be very creative.] Well I'll explain it. You have four sides, just 4 pieces of sheet metal. Then you have a box for your "oven" (which is more like a controlled bonfire). So those 4 sides....they are riveted. The top rivets broke while I was sliding it so it just slumped over to the side. For some reason it started to have problems with the burner after that....who knows, it's a mystery :) Don't worry we got a new one. I sent a picture. We kept the box that it came in as an imagination box...we have some ideas.

We had a good, painful day of service on Saturday. It's like back in your day when you had to do 4 hours of service...err I mean got to do service. Elder Hawkes was a licensed professional Brazilian roofer for a day. Their roof won't fall in anytime soon...probably. It was fun though. Monkey climbing on rotten rafters, swinging hammers left and right. We finished though, but my body hurt so bad. My old body just can't sit on rafters for 5 hours while curled up in a ball anymore  It was fun though. 

I have some updates on our culinary successes too. We made some brownies and hot wings! We got a new grocery store in our little town. It's huge! So we got some BBQ sauce and made some hot wings. They were delicious. Only with American companions. 

This week I was thinking a lot about prayer and how I could get better. I realized something while we were teaching some people. There is this girl, Camila, who is 9 years old. She is just so funny and great. I just had the random urge to pick her up and give her a big hug. I didn't because that would have probably interrupted the lesson. I just realized how much I love these people. I wish I could just hug them all. I hardly even think about home. I forgot about you all, but I guess that is good in this case. Just don't forget about me and keep sending me goodies :) It's good here, much better than anything in this world. My time is hurtling past me, and I will have to leave these people....

12 June 2011 - Pedras Area (Mom)

You don't have to do anything for my birthday. You already gave me my birthday present. Yeah trading goes down sometimes. [Mom sent him a t-shirt for him to trade with someone.] It's fine though. It is good to get food from America. Nobody tampered with the package. My companion got a package too so we had a package party and got fat. He got some skittles and reeses pieces. We snack on the sunflower seeds as we walk down the street. I was surprised that you sent a pot to cook in :)

It's good to teach because that way you get to learn a lot. I have learned a lot here. Not necessarily from the actual teaching part, though I do learn during my lessons, but from the studying part that I do everyday. A lot of stuff that I have heard and learned throughout my life has come up in my studies here. I'm always like 'Oh so that's where so and so got that idea from.' That mostly happens when I read Institute manuals and stuff. It's good to practice portuguese too. I have a year to do that though. I just hope to get rid of my accent and to be a master, but I'm well on my way!

[Mom mentioned some things she learned about parent-kid relationships as she was preparing for a lesson.] I was a perfect kid right ? ;)

One of the things I think that I need to work on is faith and my prayers. They are hard though. It's hard to gauge how well you are doing with both of them. The mission is an intense mind game you play everyday. You have to remember to do this and that, pray for this and that, teach this and that, show love, charity, faith, etc. You just have to remember to do a lot of stuff so that you can be a good missionary. That is really that hard part. I guess I just have to make it habit so I don't have to "remember."

12 June 2011 - Pedras Area (Dad)

[I sent Jeffrey a short bio on his soon-to-be new mission president.] Yeah President Batt is leaving June 28th. It's going to be a sad day. We had Zone Conference two weeks ago. It was a teary eyed meeting that is for sure. I'm going to miss the brownies and cookies Sister Batt always made us :) They just seem to have more flavor than diabetes cobbler. Our oven limits our pastry making though. It doesn't really hold any heat in, and it's like cooking over an open fire instead of an oven. The main reason for that is because I broke it, on accident of course. It use to stand up straight, but now it's at a 45 degree angle. Anyways, it'll be weird having a Brazilian as a President. Looks like I'm going to speak English even less :) Pres. Batt is hilarious too. It'll be good though, we'll learn new things. The new President might just have to beat it into our heads. When are you going to get your Mission President call? :) 

[Jeffrey had asked a question about official Church policies on different kinds of tea.] Well Pres. Batt told us not to drink any tea so that's good enough for me. I guess the people here would revolt if they couldn't drink coffee or tea. I'm not going to lie, coffee is probably one of Satan's most effective tools :) Everybody's doing it, it's harmless, it makes you feel good, it's not bad like alcohol. Whatever! All I know is that we lose baptisms because of it. I really liked Dallin H. Oak's talk in last conference. He, like everyone else, stuck marriage in his talk but at least it was at the end. Desire.......that is what moves us all to change. If we aren't changing, then we aren't desiring that change. Desire is a basic necessity to build any Christ-like attribute. Therefore, we need to have righteous desires and, like the scritptures tell us, then we can acheive anything we want.