Oi!
This past week was a crazy one! WE had zone conference on Tuesday which was super awesome! We received a lot of training from President Tavares and Sister Tavares and also the two Assistantes to the president. We also had a nice luncho f rice and beans and chicken! It was turly an unexpected display o fht ediversity of the Brazilian diet (please don't mistake my sarcasm for honesty). The conference was really great htough and I'm sad we only have them every once in a while.
Conference was good too. I'm going to print the talks off though because I missed a ton of them. On Saturday, we were getting investigators to come and missed almost the whole first session. Also they hadn't set up the little tv that was for us missionaries yet that would be in English and so we had to watch it in Portuguese. I understood but it wasn't as good because the voices are different and you have to pay a lot more attention to understand rather than just listening in your native language.
This week I've eaten all my chocolate and not gone running anymore. I did get a jump rope, actually it's just a piece of rope (the store was weird and sold rope the kg and not by length), and have done that to get a bit of cardio exercise in the mornings.
We've got quite a few baptism possibilities for this next week and I hope they don't fall through, we're waiting for Jhuann's mom to allow him to be baptized and Nilson and Lucan both just need to be helped along the way!
Hope you all have a good week!
Com Amor
Elder Haws
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Pictures!!
This is a giant cross in the cemetery! Also, they don't bury bodies here. They put them in really really expenseive marble looking casket/building things that look super creepy.
Elder Newby...again.
This was taken at Felipe's house!
Week 22
Hello!!
So we went to Walmart, it took a bit over an hour to walk there. They didn't have anything that we needed. It is definitly a Walmart and has some of the same stuff but nothing actually American. They did have an entire isle dedicated to just Coke though. They drink it a lot here. The whole thing, both sides, was nothing but Coke.
The dentist went fine, He is the Stake President and so we talked to him a bit about how the work was going and I'll go back on Wednesday to have him actually take care of my tooth. I didn't have any cavities but I was starting to get a tiny one on a tooth and he'll fix that for me.
Easter was cool. After church we went to the bishop's parent's house (cause it's a lot closer than the bishop's house) for lunch with him and his family. We had to wait for him to finish tithing stuff and so we fell asleep on their couch...it was the most comfortable thing I've sat on since I came to Brazil!! And when he finally got there we had a special Easter Sunday lunch. We had....Rice and beans with Chicken!!! But it was different because they added carrots to the rice! It sure was special :) haha it's a good thing i'm not too picky about my food. Anyway, after that we went and taught Jhuann (which I previouslly spelled Rua, though I'm not sure if I already told you about that in the last email or not) at Felipe's house. We need to talk to his mom before he will allow him to be baptized.
Something that happens here that is really annoying is when you take a water bottle out of the fridge. It's in there and it's nice and cold but it's such a change that when you take the lid off it instantly turns into ice. I think it's called flash freezing or something like that it and it's super annoying.
Also, I tried going for a run the other morning but I dunno if I will tyr again...I don't want to keep gaining weight but I don't think running is the way to stop it. Elder Arnaud and I went runing cause my companion didn't have running shoes. It was only for about 20 minutes and I felt great but right when I got home I was geven a present of four king size chocolate bars! Eldre Arnaud got four chocolate bars and also a package (about the size of a microwave) from his family FULL of candy and sweets! Clearly that's a sign that we shouldn't go running anymore.
Tomorrow we are going to a city called Marilia for zone conference!! It'll be my first once since the other one was the week beforeI got out here in the field. We will leave here at about 6 in the morning and it's aonly a two hour bus ride to the..south..I think.
Well that's all I got today, hope you all have a wonderful week!
Elder Haws
So we went to Walmart, it took a bit over an hour to walk there. They didn't have anything that we needed. It is definitly a Walmart and has some of the same stuff but nothing actually American. They did have an entire isle dedicated to just Coke though. They drink it a lot here. The whole thing, both sides, was nothing but Coke.
The dentist went fine, He is the Stake President and so we talked to him a bit about how the work was going and I'll go back on Wednesday to have him actually take care of my tooth. I didn't have any cavities but I was starting to get a tiny one on a tooth and he'll fix that for me.
Easter was cool. After church we went to the bishop's parent's house (cause it's a lot closer than the bishop's house) for lunch with him and his family. We had to wait for him to finish tithing stuff and so we fell asleep on their couch...it was the most comfortable thing I've sat on since I came to Brazil!! And when he finally got there we had a special Easter Sunday lunch. We had....Rice and beans with Chicken!!! But it was different because they added carrots to the rice! It sure was special :) haha it's a good thing i'm not too picky about my food. Anyway, after that we went and taught Jhuann (which I previouslly spelled Rua, though I'm not sure if I already told you about that in the last email or not) at Felipe's house. We need to talk to his mom before he will allow him to be baptized.
Something that happens here that is really annoying is when you take a water bottle out of the fridge. It's in there and it's nice and cold but it's such a change that when you take the lid off it instantly turns into ice. I think it's called flash freezing or something like that it and it's super annoying.
Also, I tried going for a run the other morning but I dunno if I will tyr again...I don't want to keep gaining weight but I don't think running is the way to stop it. Elder Arnaud and I went runing cause my companion didn't have running shoes. It was only for about 20 minutes and I felt great but right when I got home I was geven a present of four king size chocolate bars! Eldre Arnaud got four chocolate bars and also a package (about the size of a microwave) from his family FULL of candy and sweets! Clearly that's a sign that we shouldn't go running anymore.
Tomorrow we are going to a city called Marilia for zone conference!! It'll be my first once since the other one was the week beforeI got out here in the field. We will leave here at about 6 in the morning and it's aonly a two hour bus ride to the..south..I think.
Well that's all I got today, hope you all have a wonderful week!
Elder Haws
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Week 21
Hello!!
I'm not sure exactly where I should start this week..it was crazy! I had lots and lots to complain about all week and was really upset that we were clapping at door after door of people who had given their address to other missionaries and we weren't having any that were interested. We didn't have any meeting scheduled with investigators and were in the streets all day every day.The list goes on but I won't write about it. Then finally came the weekend. Saturday itself felt likke it was a week long. And then Sunday, Luciano didn't want to go to church and we couldn't find out why because the whole rest of his family just kept yelling at him and telling him that he had to go. It was really upsetting and so we ended up just taking Felipe and Mateus. We got to church to late and everybody wanted to talk to us at the same time and it was stressful. But then Sunday night everything changed. Actually, it changed at church. Felipe was confirmed and the Bishop gave the blessing while Elder Newby and I got to stand in on it. I was so excited I got a little dizzy and I think my heart almost exploded! And Felipe was smiling so big after it was over too. Later that night we were back at Felipe's house, wating for his friend, Rua, to come over. When he finally showed up we talked to him for a bit and then gave the first lesson. At the end of it, Felipe bore his testimony. About how excited he was for Rua to have the opportunity to read Moroni 10:3-5 and to learn how to pray. How good you feel while you are reading and how you feel even better when you pray and ask Heavenly Father if the book and the message about the Restoration are true. About how you receive a feeling of peace and happiness in you heart. He talked about baptism and how great it felt and about how he wishes he could be baptized again because it was such a good experience and you feel so happy; and how he's excited for the opportunity to go on a mission someday (which he'll actually be able to do in exactly one year from yesterday)!
WOW!! I almost cried! ANd I don't cry! My eyes were watering and my heart, once again that day, felt like it might explode. The spirit was so strong in that room. I don't think I've ever been so happy in my life. Here is Felipe who I helped find and teach and I actually baptized, as a member of the church now. He's already helping other people to come to the gospel and have this happiness in their lives! What could make me happier than that?!?
That night made this whole week the best week of my entire mission so far. I already know that it's going to be extremely difficult for me when I get transferred out of this ward. But I know this church is true and I know that he knows it.
Being a missionary really is the greatest thing I've ever done. I'm so excited for the opportunity to teach his friend Rua now and will keep y'all updated! He already said he felt really good after praying at the end of the lesson and seems pretty excited to read the Book of Mormon. I hope you all have a great week and remember that the good things in life are more that worth all the trials we go through to receive those blessings.
That's all I got this week!
Com Amor,
Elder Haws
***He sent some pictures but they didn't work for me..I will add them once my mom sends them to me again! Sorry!
I'm not sure exactly where I should start this week..it was crazy! I had lots and lots to complain about all week and was really upset that we were clapping at door after door of people who had given their address to other missionaries and we weren't having any that were interested. We didn't have any meeting scheduled with investigators and were in the streets all day every day.The list goes on but I won't write about it. Then finally came the weekend. Saturday itself felt likke it was a week long. And then Sunday, Luciano didn't want to go to church and we couldn't find out why because the whole rest of his family just kept yelling at him and telling him that he had to go. It was really upsetting and so we ended up just taking Felipe and Mateus. We got to church to late and everybody wanted to talk to us at the same time and it was stressful. But then Sunday night everything changed. Actually, it changed at church. Felipe was confirmed and the Bishop gave the blessing while Elder Newby and I got to stand in on it. I was so excited I got a little dizzy and I think my heart almost exploded! And Felipe was smiling so big after it was over too. Later that night we were back at Felipe's house, wating for his friend, Rua, to come over. When he finally showed up we talked to him for a bit and then gave the first lesson. At the end of it, Felipe bore his testimony. About how excited he was for Rua to have the opportunity to read Moroni 10:3-5 and to learn how to pray. How good you feel while you are reading and how you feel even better when you pray and ask Heavenly Father if the book and the message about the Restoration are true. About how you receive a feeling of peace and happiness in you heart. He talked about baptism and how great it felt and about how he wishes he could be baptized again because it was such a good experience and you feel so happy; and how he's excited for the opportunity to go on a mission someday (which he'll actually be able to do in exactly one year from yesterday)!
WOW!! I almost cried! ANd I don't cry! My eyes were watering and my heart, once again that day, felt like it might explode. The spirit was so strong in that room. I don't think I've ever been so happy in my life. Here is Felipe who I helped find and teach and I actually baptized, as a member of the church now. He's already helping other people to come to the gospel and have this happiness in their lives! What could make me happier than that?!?
That night made this whole week the best week of my entire mission so far. I already know that it's going to be extremely difficult for me when I get transferred out of this ward. But I know this church is true and I know that he knows it.
Being a missionary really is the greatest thing I've ever done. I'm so excited for the opportunity to teach his friend Rua now and will keep y'all updated! He already said he felt really good after praying at the end of the lesson and seems pretty excited to read the Book of Mormon. I hope you all have a great week and remember that the good things in life are more that worth all the trials we go through to receive those blessings.
That's all I got this week!
Com Amor,
Elder Haws
***He sent some pictures but they didn't work for me..I will add them once my mom sends them to me again! Sorry!
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Week 20
Hello! I gained probably four pounds in the MTC and now I've gained a total of 6 kilos!! That's almost 12 pounds!! Yikes...we get one hour for lunch but not an hour for dinner. If we wanna eat something at night we can buy it real quick in between appointments or cook something fast right before we go to bed. So basically I only eat a small breakfast a huge lunch and that's it for the day. That's probably why I'm gaining weight! It's not good to just eat one huge meal each day, oh well. I'll find a balance soon! (hopefully)!
My Portuguese is going great! I think I'm technically fluent in understanding but with speaking I'm just a tad below that mark. According to the other missionaries that is, I don't know what the actual rules are to be considered fluent.
I love you all! Thanks for your prayers. I miss you so much!
Elder Haws!
My Portuguese is going great! I think I'm technically fluent in understanding but with speaking I'm just a tad below that mark. According to the other missionaries that is, I don't know what the actual rules are to be considered fluent.
I love you all! Thanks for your prayers. I miss you so much!
Elder Haws!
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Week 19: A Baptism
We did get baptisms yesterday!!!
Filipe and Luciano! I attached a photo of us. I baptized Filpe on the left and Elder Phillipy baptized Luciano who looks a lot like Will Smith when he was on the Fresh Prince of Belair (Belaire? (I dunno how to spell that word) It was a crazzzzzy Sunday!! They went from being firmes to calling and saying they couldn't come to church and haing their crazy uncle lie to us that they weren't home and their really old Evangelic Grandma screaming they lieing was bad and that they were there and all sorts of crazy stuff!! I don't have close to enough time to write it all so that will be a story you can ready from my journal here in 20ish months or so!
I miss all of you so much. Elder Phillipy also left this morning to go to Londrina cause he is done with his mission!! That seems so crazy and so far away for me and he thought the same thing and can't believe he is going home. I don't know who is coming here yet or if I'm going somewhere. I imagine I'll stay here because that's how it usually works so there is someboyd who already knows the area. I can't believe that I'm starting my third transfer already! I'm officially done training and going to be a junior companion probably. Though...people have trained on only their third transfer...it's not common though. I really hope I don't because my Portuguese isn't that good yet. I want a Brazilian companion next though. That will help my Portuguese a lot! Elder Phillipy and I almost always spoke English, we shouldn't have but he needed practice before he went home :)
I'm supposeldy suppose to get an email about my transfer and so i'm waiting for it right now..I hope I get it so I can tell you what's happening!
So..this past week was super fast! IT hsan't been raiing as much as it should and it's super hot. Hotter than it's been the whole time. I've gotten some gross looking sun spots on my hand even though I'm putting lots of sunscreen on. The tan line on my neck is awesome too. It goes from super tan to super white about midway up, it looks good.
My companion will be Elder Nubie. I'm not sure if it's spelled correctly or not because I was only told by the Zone leader and don't think I'll get an email. He's an American, so that's too bad. Oh well, we've got quite a few potential baptisms here so that'll be our focus here for the next transfer. I also want to try and teach a few of Luciano and Felipes friends cause it's a lot easier that way than finding people on the street.
Take care! Tchau,
Elder Haws
Filipe and Luciano! I attached a photo of us. I baptized Filpe on the left and Elder Phillipy baptized Luciano who looks a lot like Will Smith when he was on the Fresh Prince of Belair (Belaire? (I dunno how to spell that word) It was a crazzzzzy Sunday!! They went from being firmes to calling and saying they couldn't come to church and haing their crazy uncle lie to us that they weren't home and their really old Evangelic Grandma screaming they lieing was bad and that they were there and all sorts of crazy stuff!! I don't have close to enough time to write it all so that will be a story you can ready from my journal here in 20ish months or so!
I miss all of you so much. Elder Phillipy also left this morning to go to Londrina cause he is done with his mission!! That seems so crazy and so far away for me and he thought the same thing and can't believe he is going home. I don't know who is coming here yet or if I'm going somewhere. I imagine I'll stay here because that's how it usually works so there is someboyd who already knows the area. I can't believe that I'm starting my third transfer already! I'm officially done training and going to be a junior companion probably. Though...people have trained on only their third transfer...it's not common though. I really hope I don't because my Portuguese isn't that good yet. I want a Brazilian companion next though. That will help my Portuguese a lot! Elder Phillipy and I almost always spoke English, we shouldn't have but he needed practice before he went home :)I'm supposeldy suppose to get an email about my transfer and so i'm waiting for it right now..I hope I get it so I can tell you what's happening!
So..this past week was super fast! IT hsan't been raiing as much as it should and it's super hot. Hotter than it's been the whole time. I've gotten some gross looking sun spots on my hand even though I'm putting lots of sunscreen on. The tan line on my neck is awesome too. It goes from super tan to super white about midway up, it looks good.
My companion will be Elder Nubie. I'm not sure if it's spelled correctly or not because I was only told by the Zone leader and don't think I'll get an email. He's an American, so that's too bad. Oh well, we've got quite a few potential baptisms here so that'll be our focus here for the next transfer. I also want to try and teach a few of Luciano and Felipes friends cause it's a lot easier that way than finding people on the street.
Take care! Tchau,
Elder Haws
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Week 18: Finally?
Last week we found these awesome kids named Felipe(18), Luciano(15) and Mateus(12). They are super accepting of the lessons and just want to do what is right in the eyes of God. Its crazy how their outlook is so.. right, realizing that what God wants for us is far more important than anything else. They are al set to be baptized this Saturday! they are living the commandments, even the law of chastity which is super rare in Brazil, and they really really liked church in Sunday. Its was a bit wierd cause they came in simming suits (everybody wears them like regular shorts around here because they see Americans wearing them and dont realize its only becuase they are going to go swimming soon) and soccer jerseys. Not everybody wears shirts and ties to church anyways so they didnt stand out too much.
Its cool to see how the Lord guides the work. We looked and looked for new people, clapped at i dont even know how many doors trying to find people to baptize and got nowhere and then last thursday or friday we met this kid Luciano at Paulos house casue they are firends and then went to his house the next day and met all his brothers too. We cant do anything unless its what the Lord wants.
Elder Phillipy will be heading home to washignton here this next monday, so i dont know how that will work with the end of the transfer and getting a new campanion and all but thats knind fo how it works as a missionary. whenever they say something we instantly obey and do whatever it is they asked of us.
Hope you all have a great week!!
P.S. It would be super cool to get letters from some/any/all of you. or your friends. Or their friends.
Elder Haws
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