April 8, 2013

Mom and Dad,

Thanks a ton for your emails and for the video of Stephen opening his call that was so cool!  I´m so excited for him but he´s going to learn the ugliest Spanish in the whole wide world!!  Haha my comp and I have been walking around since Thursday speaking in Spanish accents.  So I couldn´t go to internet myself but I called my buddies in the office and had them hack my account to tell me where Stephen was headed off to!  I´m so excited for him and honestly can´t wait for him to get out and experience the joy that there is in the work of the Lord!

My companion is from the city of Mexico and went to that school that they just closed down to open a new CCM.  He´s a great guy and has the same amount of time as me in the mission.  He´s super awesome and maybe the most tranquilo person you´ll meet in your whole life.  I´m going to really enjoy this change and am excited for the chance to be a Zone Leader here in Colon.  Ask the Duffins about Colon they´ll be able to tell you really well what it´s like :)  Haha

I don´t know the members hardly at all yet and the investigators either because of conference.  On Wednesday when I got here we ate with a man that was more vulgar than anybody I´ve ever heard of in my whole life but this guy was so funny I can´t even explain it to you!  Haha the rest of the week we´ve been focusing on finding and working with the less active members of the ward.  Things have gone well and we´re going to start doing FHE in the houses of the less active members and leaving with them to invite their neighbors to come.  It´s going to be a finding, teaching, and reactiving effort all bundled up into one thing. 

Dad thanks for your advice about service.  It´s so true that when people feel needed and important they are more likely to be receptive and join in on what we´re doing.  Conference was really impressive and the amount of talks focused on missionary work was amazing.  The work is really taking off and going through the roof, it´s such a blessing to be a part of this great work and it´s crazy to think that in the next few months my time will be up and I´ll be on the team without a badge.  I think the talk that most impressed me was that of Elder Perry.  I´ve never heard him speak so strongly.  I could feel his passion and was struck by his statement "obedience to the law is liberty" that really affected me for some reason and I know that obedience is what brings us blessings and the miracles that we need in the work.

I don´t know what else to tell you cause theres just so much!  To be honest I would love a pair of Ecco church shoes to finish up my mission but I understand that may not be possible but other than that I´m doing well and don´t have a big need for anything:)  It will be better to copy and paste the letters from my friends in Dearelder.com and send them that way cause I don´t really have time to read them here at internet.  Thank you so much for all of your love and support on my behalf I love you all so much and am so thankful for all the prayers in my behalf you are all amazing!

Love,

Elder Hawks

I watched all 5 sessions of conference on this bad boy :)  Haha