Wednesday, July 11, 2012
July 9, 2012
Family,
Thanks so much for the emails and as always it makes me happy to be sitting here in my internet cafe knowing that everyone back home is doing well and is healthy. Wow the picture of the fire was pretty crazy but what a relief that it didn't get too close to grandma and grandpa´s house. I´m glad that you all had fun on the fourth of July and to be honest it was a longer day than normal for me! Dad like you said I also appreciated a little bit more the neighborhood party that we have there in Pepperwood. We really are so lucky to live where we do and get to associate with the people that we do.
Thank you also for the emails from the friends, it's always good to read them and see how my other buddies are doing in their missions. I´m getting really excited for Spencer to get back out on the mission and am praying super hard for him. Tell him to get his butt to work the minute he gets there and to laugh and have fun. There are way too many missionaries in the field that don´t understand that they are allowed to laugh and have fun, of course we have to be smart in what we do and say but if you can´t find things to laugh about life becomes mundane and monotonous.
Ok well for me here in the world of Panamá. Things are going really well for me to be 100% honest. Changes are on Wednesday of this week and it sounds like I will have a new companion and since he has more time in the area than me i´m assuming that he´ll be leaving and I will stay and receive a new companion. I´ll be sure to let you know how all of that goes in the email next week.
This week was pretty normal if not a little bit slower because if you ask Michael many times the missionaries slow down in the end of the change because they don´t know if they´re going to stay or go and the same happened to my comp. I was having to talk a little louder in the morning to help him get out of bed and get going;) Haha but it was ok. We had a few good lessons but nothing too amazing to announce. The highlight of the week would have to be the noche de hogar that we had this week. What we are doing is splitting the area up into 4 parts and doing one every week in one of the different areas each week. This week we were in the area with the fewest number of members but still people came from super far away to participate and we ended up having about 20 people! It seems like the members are enjoying them and hopefully it can be a way to help strengthen the ward. We as the Elders have been in charge of the "dynamic" and so the last two times we have done games relating to the gospel like scripture jeopardy and pictionary. This week we´ll see what we do because I want to do something where the members have to get to know each other better so I´ll be sure to fill you in on how that goes.
Last Sunday we received a referral of two kids of a part member family that want to be baptized. They are Josue and Hirum and have 12 and 9 years respectively. It´s an interesting situation because the two kids and the mom want to do it but the father is inactive and the mom isn´t a member. I want to be careful with this because if we baptize the kids it´s most likely that they go inactive without the support of their parents but in the same time denying them the opportunity to be baptized is also not quite the solution. I don´t know what do you all think about this? The goal of course is that we can marry the couple and baptize the mom, kids and then get them all sealed together but we´ll have to see what happens with all of this.
So quick final funny story. On the 4th of July I got homesick because I wanted to be with people in a place where they actually care about what´s going on in this day. So in the night when I got home from walking around all day with my Latin comp I called the ZL´s and told them "HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA" they both laughed and we talked for a sec and then were all off to bed like normal. Haha it made me laugh.
OK well that´s about all for this week. Happy birthday to Michael in this week and tell him his relationship with Allie can be determined by the quality of the present she gives him;) Haha I´m totally kidding I hope you all have a wonderful week and I will sign off and get back to you next week!
Love,
Elder Hawks
Thanks so much for the emails and as always it makes me happy to be sitting here in my internet cafe knowing that everyone back home is doing well and is healthy. Wow the picture of the fire was pretty crazy but what a relief that it didn't get too close to grandma and grandpa´s house. I´m glad that you all had fun on the fourth of July and to be honest it was a longer day than normal for me! Dad like you said I also appreciated a little bit more the neighborhood party that we have there in Pepperwood. We really are so lucky to live where we do and get to associate with the people that we do.
Thank you also for the emails from the friends, it's always good to read them and see how my other buddies are doing in their missions. I´m getting really excited for Spencer to get back out on the mission and am praying super hard for him. Tell him to get his butt to work the minute he gets there and to laugh and have fun. There are way too many missionaries in the field that don´t understand that they are allowed to laugh and have fun, of course we have to be smart in what we do and say but if you can´t find things to laugh about life becomes mundane and monotonous.
Ok well for me here in the world of Panamá. Things are going really well for me to be 100% honest. Changes are on Wednesday of this week and it sounds like I will have a new companion and since he has more time in the area than me i´m assuming that he´ll be leaving and I will stay and receive a new companion. I´ll be sure to let you know how all of that goes in the email next week.
This week was pretty normal if not a little bit slower because if you ask Michael many times the missionaries slow down in the end of the change because they don´t know if they´re going to stay or go and the same happened to my comp. I was having to talk a little louder in the morning to help him get out of bed and get going;) Haha but it was ok. We had a few good lessons but nothing too amazing to announce. The highlight of the week would have to be the noche de hogar that we had this week. What we are doing is splitting the area up into 4 parts and doing one every week in one of the different areas each week. This week we were in the area with the fewest number of members but still people came from super far away to participate and we ended up having about 20 people! It seems like the members are enjoying them and hopefully it can be a way to help strengthen the ward. We as the Elders have been in charge of the "dynamic" and so the last two times we have done games relating to the gospel like scripture jeopardy and pictionary. This week we´ll see what we do because I want to do something where the members have to get to know each other better so I´ll be sure to fill you in on how that goes.
Last Sunday we received a referral of two kids of a part member family that want to be baptized. They are Josue and Hirum and have 12 and 9 years respectively. It´s an interesting situation because the two kids and the mom want to do it but the father is inactive and the mom isn´t a member. I want to be careful with this because if we baptize the kids it´s most likely that they go inactive without the support of their parents but in the same time denying them the opportunity to be baptized is also not quite the solution. I don´t know what do you all think about this? The goal of course is that we can marry the couple and baptize the mom, kids and then get them all sealed together but we´ll have to see what happens with all of this.
So quick final funny story. On the 4th of July I got homesick because I wanted to be with people in a place where they actually care about what´s going on in this day. So in the night when I got home from walking around all day with my Latin comp I called the ZL´s and told them "HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA" they both laughed and we talked for a sec and then were all off to bed like normal. Haha it made me laugh.
OK well that´s about all for this week. Happy birthday to Michael in this week and tell him his relationship with Allie can be determined by the quality of the present she gives him;) Haha I´m totally kidding I hope you all have a wonderful week and I will sign off and get back to you next week!
Love,
Elder Hawks
July 2, 2012
Hey family,
Wow thank you all so much for your emails and for sending your love and support. I loved all of the pictures that you sent me and it looks like everyone is doing well and you are all experiencing the heat of the sun (Kenzie, and Korb look sun-burnt in the pictures you sent me:) I´m glad to hear that everyone is doing well and happy. First of all I want you all to know that while you are celebrating the birthday of our country with a bunch of Americans I´m going to be doing it in a house of 3 other Latins....Needless to say I´m absolutely stoked!!!!
Ok for this week in my life. The honest truth is that there isn't a ton to report this was another slow week in terms of missionary work but it was nonetheless a good week and I feel like it was productive in some way. We spent almost the whole week doing service projects. The people here really like to call the missionaries when they need to put in a cement floor or some other kind of structure. At this point I can pretty much say that I´m an expert at building stuff so I´ll be coming home looking for a job at Holmes Homes. Haha it´s fun though and I figure if my comp won´t work for the Lord we can throw him into the fire and build some houses for people. It´s been good though and fun to learn how to work with cement "Panamanian" style.
On Thursday was the most insane rain storm I have ever seen in my whole entire life. For real those crazy storms in Lake Powell can´t even touch this one. It was raining so hard you couldn't see the other side of the street and lightning bolts literally were striking the house I was in and that is not an exaggeration in any form. It was nuts and lasted about an hour and a half so needless to stay we had to stay in the house of the member where we were at.
On Friday and Saturday I did divisions with an elder in the zone and went to his area. It was nice to get out and do work with him and more than anything a change of scenery really helped to refresh me. I love my area and my companion but every once in a while seeing a new face or new places can really help out.
In terms of investigators we´re still fighting with a few that don´t want to come to church. It´s been amazing to watch and to feel the difference of working with Elders who work with the spirit and constantly have it in comparison to Elders who don´t. Something that I really have learned in the change more than anything is that being close to the spirit is the most important thing we can do. If the people don´t feel the spirit they won´t be converted and if they´re not converted they can´t be saved in the kingdom of God. In my reading of the Book of Mormon it has been incredible to see how many times the people are "filled with the spirit" when teaching and when being taught. I know now better than ever that the key to success in the mission field is teaching, walking, and doing everything that we do with the Spirit of the Lord. I´m so thankful to have been baptized and confirmed to the gift of having the Spirit with me in every moment so long as I keep myself worthy.
I love you and am looking forward to this last week here with my companion. President wrote me today and told me that I will be having a new companion so I´m excited to see how that all works out and excited to look forward to new challenges and experiences. I love you all and pray that you will be blessed in all that you do!
Elder Hawks
Wow thank you all so much for your emails and for sending your love and support. I loved all of the pictures that you sent me and it looks like everyone is doing well and you are all experiencing the heat of the sun (Kenzie, and Korb look sun-burnt in the pictures you sent me:) I´m glad to hear that everyone is doing well and happy. First of all I want you all to know that while you are celebrating the birthday of our country with a bunch of Americans I´m going to be doing it in a house of 3 other Latins....Needless to say I´m absolutely stoked!!!!
Ok for this week in my life. The honest truth is that there isn't a ton to report this was another slow week in terms of missionary work but it was nonetheless a good week and I feel like it was productive in some way. We spent almost the whole week doing service projects. The people here really like to call the missionaries when they need to put in a cement floor or some other kind of structure. At this point I can pretty much say that I´m an expert at building stuff so I´ll be coming home looking for a job at Holmes Homes. Haha it´s fun though and I figure if my comp won´t work for the Lord we can throw him into the fire and build some houses for people. It´s been good though and fun to learn how to work with cement "Panamanian" style.
On Thursday was the most insane rain storm I have ever seen in my whole entire life. For real those crazy storms in Lake Powell can´t even touch this one. It was raining so hard you couldn't see the other side of the street and lightning bolts literally were striking the house I was in and that is not an exaggeration in any form. It was nuts and lasted about an hour and a half so needless to stay we had to stay in the house of the member where we were at.
On Friday and Saturday I did divisions with an elder in the zone and went to his area. It was nice to get out and do work with him and more than anything a change of scenery really helped to refresh me. I love my area and my companion but every once in a while seeing a new face or new places can really help out.
In terms of investigators we´re still fighting with a few that don´t want to come to church. It´s been amazing to watch and to feel the difference of working with Elders who work with the spirit and constantly have it in comparison to Elders who don´t. Something that I really have learned in the change more than anything is that being close to the spirit is the most important thing we can do. If the people don´t feel the spirit they won´t be converted and if they´re not converted they can´t be saved in the kingdom of God. In my reading of the Book of Mormon it has been incredible to see how many times the people are "filled with the spirit" when teaching and when being taught. I know now better than ever that the key to success in the mission field is teaching, walking, and doing everything that we do with the Spirit of the Lord. I´m so thankful to have been baptized and confirmed to the gift of having the Spirit with me in every moment so long as I keep myself worthy.
I love you and am looking forward to this last week here with my companion. President wrote me today and told me that I will be having a new companion so I´m excited to see how that all works out and excited to look forward to new challenges and experiences. I love you all and pray that you will be blessed in all that you do!
Elder Hawks
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
June 25, 2012
Hey family,
Wow ok thank you for the update this week and wow I´m so stoked for Spencer!!!! I couldn´t be happier that he decided to go back out on a mission. I´ve been praying for him like crazy ever since I heard that he had gone home. I know that Oregon is where the Lord needs him and he will make a huge difference in the lives of the people there.
Ok so real quick I want to ask that everyone get together and brainstorm with me. We have started to weekly noches de grupo for the ward and we as the Elders are almost always in charge of the "dynamic" part of the activity. I´m pretty new at this and would love suggestions from everyone about what kinds of things that we can do to make them fun but also spiritually uplifting. Thanks!!
Ok so this week was excellent. We had capacitations with President Ward and with the Assistents. It was really neat and we focused on becoming better teachers. We talked a lot about how we have to adapt our teaching based on the needs of the investigators, asking questions, and focusing on committments. It was super awesome and I left more focused and ready to work. Also it was nice because the assistents pulled me aside and asked me how I was doing and how the area was and all that jazz. Right now they are switching the assistents so they are in a trio. On wednesday I did divisions with my companion and with the new assistent Elder Gomez. Working with him was awesome and helped me out a lot. It was interesting because during the day he and I were the only ones who talked and my companion just walked behind us and didn´t say anything but in the end of the day my companion was really happy. When I was talking to Elder Gomez he told me that I´m in a tough spot but that I have to take advantage of the situation in any way that I can. He told me that basically I´m the senior comp and that I have to take the initiative in EVERYTHING and that I have to start the lessons, teach, invite, challenge, plan and basically do everything by myself but that later in the mission the things that I learn in this change will serve for the rest of the mission and for life as well.
Wow ok on saturday we did a mega service and worked from 9 in the morning until 3 in the afternoon. It was a joke. Haha we were at the house of our ward mission leader putting in a cement fence for him which includes digging the foundation by hand, mixing the cement by hand, lugging the 5 gallon bucket full of cement to the foundation and then pouring it. Yeah I know maybe I should just sign up with Holmes homes and work with the mexicans when I get home cause I´m practically pro. haha just kidding. It was good to do but I´m not gonna lie I left absolutely 100 percent fried!!!!!
Ok so for the picture from the last week it was in a service project we did the first week I got here. The house we´re at is that of a menos activo but mom the truth is the house where I live is about the same if not worse but I´m not gonna lie I love it!!
Everything here is going well with me and I´m honestly in love with Panamá and everything about it. It´s been such a good experience already and I´m so excited for all the things that the Lord has in store with me here. This week I found a lot of consolation in my Patriarchial blessing and reading it helped me to open my eyes a tich to things I was looking past in myself. It´s good to pull out our blessings every once in a while and read them, it´s amazing how depending on what situations we find ourselves there is always counsel that can help us. I love you all so much and know that the church is true. Thank you for all the sacrifices you have made and are making for me to be here.
Love,
Elder Hawks
Ps if you can find a book called "missionary pal" by Keith Marston and send it to me I would be soooooo happy. It´s a book of reference that I think could be very helpful for me in my studies. Thanks love you!
Friday, June 22, 2012
June 18, 2012
Dear Family,
Ok well I´m writing a little bit later today because our pday went longer than we planned! Ok so to answer the questions I´m living with Elder Martinez, Ortiz and my companion is named Elder Samayoa. In order they are from El Salvador, Nicarauga, and Guatemala. It´s honestly pretty fun living in the house with the four and I´m being forced to learn a whole lot of Spanish! Haha but it´s sweet and luckily we all get a long. It sounds like the family is doing really well and staying busy and putting my room to good use for the little girls;) I sent Stephen a letter this week and hope he gets it. Have him let me know when or if it comes!
Ok so as for me here in the land of Panamá...This week was interesting because from tuesday to thursday we were at about 4 lessons and everything was just moving so slow. Something that I´m learning is that we all have our agency and as hard as we try and push we can´t make people do things that they don´t want to do. It´s been tough and I´m learning to be more and more patient and loving every day. This is gonna be good for me when I´m married with a family right?:) The honest truth is that as slow as the work is and the low number of lessons I´m still keeping a positive and looking for the positives in everything that we do and trying to learn whatever lesson the Lord has for me here with this companion at this time.
Ok so on Friday I had my best day of the whole change! I have been talking to my Zone Leaders a little bit about my situation and they were so awesome and came to do divisions with me this day. I got to go with an Elder Beisenger from Riverton Utah who has about 20 months in the mission. He taught so well and in one day I learned so much. In that one day we pumped out 5 lessons and talked to everyone about baptism. It was amazing to see the difference between a missionary who really is focused and who really wants to do the work as compared to someone who doesn´t. It was a good lesson to learn and will be something that will help me down the road.
As a companionship right now are working on marrying a few couples so that we can have them baptized. I pray that we will be able to do it so that they can be baptized. One of the couples consists of a 17 year old son of one of the members in the ward who got his girlfriend, of 19, pregnant. He is honestly doing so well though and it´s been cool to see how he has matured and really stepped up to the plate to take responsibility for the action that he made. He´s looking for work to provide for the family and they have been coming to church every single week because he always tells me he needs to get closer to God. His name is Johnny so make sure to put him in your prayers that he will be able to continue with his desires to know the church and to eventually make the decision to get married so that he and his girlfriend can get married and she can be baptized (he was baptized when he was 8).
To be honest I´m doing well and am healthy and smiling. It´s good to be here in the mission and there are an infinite number of lessons for all of us to learn. I love you all and am so grateful for your prayers and support. Have a wonderful week and we´ll talk to you next monday:)
Elder Hawks
Jun 11, 2012
Hello to everyone in the land of Utah!!
Mom thanks for sending me the pictures of the wedding! It´s so fun to hear about all of that and I´m so happy for Macy!! I still honestly can´t believe that she is married! Haha so funny story on Friday night our ZL´s came over and dropped a bunch of stuff off at our house and included was the invitation to the wedding. I don´t think it´s any coincidence it came the day of the wedding! Crazy huh??
Ok so thank you for the pictures I´m going to take them and print them off so that I have them for myself.
I would like to make a quick request. Anytime that packages are sent could you send me pictures I love them so much!!!
Ok so for the week here in Cabuya. Everything is going well and to be honest I´m already pretty comfortable here. My comp is from Guatemala and has 16 months in the mission. He is interesting and actually doesnt like to teach or contact or anything like that because it´s boring according to him. Needless to say in the past two weeks I have learned how to teach more effectively because I have to do everything myself!:) It´s ok though just weird to be honest and I literally ask him every single day what he´s doing here. haha it´s ok though don´t worry I love the kid and am trying to do anything that I can to help him out. Everyone tells me that he used to be a great missionary and that at some point he just lost the love for the work. I´m trying to be open and to be more creative in the way that we work so that we don´t fall into a "routine" of doing the same thing every day. Hopefully this will help him to get excited about it. The biggest trial is going to be just this because he wont be able to take away the excitement that I have for the work.
I´m working with my Zone leaders who have been awesome and told me if I need anything to call them at any time. They are both two Gringos from Utah and are cool guys. It´s fun here and the members are really awesome. It´s been a change moving into the house where we are because I live with three other Latinos. The house is so dirty mom. ¨You would be sickened! Haha but it´s ok I´m doing some cleaning every day:)
The work is chugging a long just a tich but unfortuantely I´m not able to report about many investigators. We have a few recent converts that we´re working with and it´s cool to see how their love for the gospel is so fresh and new and their desires to learn are endless. It always makes me think because at times I think I know a lot but really I´m the same as them and have some much to learn in the Gospel.
Hmm it´s tough to know what more to tell you because the week was slow with my comp being "sick". I´m working though and happy and excited to be here in Tocumen! Ok so on Friday with the ZL´s felt like Christmas because I had like 8 letters and a package! Yeah I was pretty stoked about that! Sounds like everything is going well for all of you there in Utah. Know that I love you all so much and am always praying for you!
Have a great week!
Elder Andrew Hawks
Mom thanks for sending me the pictures of the wedding! It´s so fun to hear about all of that and I´m so happy for Macy!! I still honestly can´t believe that she is married! Haha so funny story on Friday night our ZL´s came over and dropped a bunch of stuff off at our house and included was the invitation to the wedding. I don´t think it´s any coincidence it came the day of the wedding! Crazy huh??
Ok so thank you for the pictures I´m going to take them and print them off so that I have them for myself.
I would like to make a quick request. Anytime that packages are sent could you send me pictures I love them so much!!!
Ok so for the week here in Cabuya. Everything is going well and to be honest I´m already pretty comfortable here. My comp is from Guatemala and has 16 months in the mission. He is interesting and actually doesnt like to teach or contact or anything like that because it´s boring according to him. Needless to say in the past two weeks I have learned how to teach more effectively because I have to do everything myself!:) It´s ok though just weird to be honest and I literally ask him every single day what he´s doing here. haha it´s ok though don´t worry I love the kid and am trying to do anything that I can to help him out. Everyone tells me that he used to be a great missionary and that at some point he just lost the love for the work. I´m trying to be open and to be more creative in the way that we work so that we don´t fall into a "routine" of doing the same thing every day. Hopefully this will help him to get excited about it. The biggest trial is going to be just this because he wont be able to take away the excitement that I have for the work.
I´m working with my Zone leaders who have been awesome and told me if I need anything to call them at any time. They are both two Gringos from Utah and are cool guys. It´s fun here and the members are really awesome. It´s been a change moving into the house where we are because I live with three other Latinos. The house is so dirty mom. ¨You would be sickened! Haha but it´s ok I´m doing some cleaning every day:)
The work is chugging a long just a tich but unfortuantely I´m not able to report about many investigators. We have a few recent converts that we´re working with and it´s cool to see how their love for the gospel is so fresh and new and their desires to learn are endless. It always makes me think because at times I think I know a lot but really I´m the same as them and have some much to learn in the Gospel.
Hmm it´s tough to know what more to tell you because the week was slow with my comp being "sick". I´m working though and happy and excited to be here in Tocumen! Ok so on Friday with the ZL´s felt like Christmas because I had like 8 letters and a package! Yeah I was pretty stoked about that! Sounds like everything is going well for all of you there in Utah. Know that I love you all so much and am always praying for you!
Have a great week!
Elder Andrew Hawks
June 3, 2012
Hello Mom and happy birthday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you so much for all writing me before monday this week it is making my computer time a little bit less stressfull! haha Sounds like everyone is doing really well and what the heck Spencer is famous and winning all kinds of stuff! that´s super cool! I´m glad to hear that the family is doing well and the Macy is getting ready to go into the temple. The temple is such a blessing that we have and every single day here makes me more excited to come home and to enjoy the blessing of having temples in every direction and so close! Be sure to always take advantage of that blessing!
Ok well changes came and I am now in a new area with a new companion. I´m in the city of Tocumen in the area of Cubuya. My companion is Elder Samoyoa and the only thing anyone has told me is that I need to help the kid find some enthusiasm in the missionary work. It´s been tough so far not going to lie because he doesn´t like to do the missionary things anymore. He has about 16 months in the mission and doesn´t even talk about the church when he contacts. He really likes to just chat with the people and spend a lot of time in members houses. I´m not complaining here just telling the truth haha the first day he actually didn´t get out of bed until about 11:30 and has been feeling "sick" the whole time. But it´s ok we´re going to work and we´re going to help this ward. The ward is new and yesterday we had 62 members in the sacrament meeting. Everyone was excited about this number as well but I wasn´t. I know that the ward can have a ton more and my goal is to get us up to about 80.
The area is a "trunky" area because we live literally right next to the airport and all day every day planes are flying out of Panamá headed to who knows where. I always tell myself that all of them are going to Colombia so I´m not too worried about it. So far I really do like the area and am enjoying getting to know the members and work with them. However I also am excited about finding new people to start to teach and to be honest I have a really good feeling about contacting this change. I´m overall really excited and pray that I will be able to bless the people here in any way that I can!
Sorry there really isn´t a ton more to tell you because we have only visited 1 investigator and I don´t remember his name but in the next week I will be sure to send you more of a detailed email with more about how i´m doing and how the people are progressing. I know that my patience and longsuffering are going to be tested in the next 5 weeks but what would the mission be if we never had trials and never had to learn to grow and be leaders. I love it here already and seriously have the strongest desires to just help every single person that I see. I guess I´m turning into a missionary finally haha.
I love you all so much and will be excited to tell you about the fun adventures that I will have in the next little while! Until next week:)
Elder Hawks
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)