Week 29

Hellooo!
Wow this week went really...slow and kind of crappy because of a baptism *lack there of). Our baptism that we have been working with for the whole transfer was all ready to be baptized and everything was scheduled. But then we found out that because of where she lived she had to be baptized in a different ward. So we gave all the information to the Elders there. She ended up not being baptized because of all the confusion of the other elders and she had to work part of the day. She'll still be baptized though, just next week or perhaps sometime during this week. I'm sad that we don't get to be there or anything but she is going to come here sometime and we're going to take pictures as if we had been the ones to actually perform the ordinance! She's a really cool girl named Kauane; I have no idea if that is spelled right though. The important thing is that she is getting baptized though!!

Also on Sunday, we confirmed Augusto! It was really cool. He already recieved the priesthood and has a calling! The secretary of the young men, cause he's 18.

Also, I gave a talk on Sunday the bishop's councelor saw us in the street on Saturday night and stopped us and then asked me to give a talk. It went alright I guess. I still have a really strong English accent but I know people can understand me. I gave it on obedience and shared a bunch of examples of the Savior's obedience. He didn't give me a topic so I chose something that I wanted to study a little more. I also blessed the sacrament for the first time in Portuguese on Sunday! I messed up one time, though I was trying to say the right word they thought it was wrong because of my accent! I'm not really sure that I believe my sister, that says I have an accent when I speak English too!

We did have a miracle in Cambe on Sunday too! A kid named gabriel finally decided to be baptized! His brother is swerving a mission right now and he's been waiting for him to get back before bein baptized but apparently his brother told him he needed to be baptized now and not keep waiting for him! So we will work hard to make that happen this week!

Have a great week!

Week 28

Hello Everyone-

Yesterday we got to Skype with Tyler for Mother's Day. He sent a very short email that mostly commented to family members so I'm not going to post it this week.

Tyler is doing very well. As he was talking to us he was drinking an avacado smoothie. He said that they eat the avacado before it gets all shrively like the ones we have--so it is sweeter. They mixed it with milk and something else. So that was interesting.

He's trying not to eat chocolate since he's gained about 15 lbs and doesn't want to go running because it is so hot. That was funny to hear him talk about.

He had a little bit of a hard time talking in English because he's been talking in Portugues only. He has an accent when he talks-which was really cool to hear.

Tyler is doing great!! Take some time and write to him--you can send emails or handwritten letters. The info is in the right side of the screen.

Thanks for all the support for Tyler.

Love,
His family!

Week 27

Hi Family!!

I really like this ward. They have a lot better attitude than the other ward. There's a few people here that are suuuuper rich. We ate lunch at their house on Tuesday and they had a pool, a hot tub, a whole kitchen and dining area outside with weird coconut tree pavilion things in their backyard. Inside there were tons and tons of mirrors and Egyptian stuff. It was super cool unfortunately I couldn't take a picture because I thought it would be weird.

We have a baptism lined up for Sunday! It is a kid named Agosto. He's 18 and his whole family was going to be baptized but then his parents didn't want to anymore. They will stick with their old church. i think their pastor told them not to talk to us because the mom won't even stay in the same room as us anymore. The dad is cool though and still talks with us, he really likes soccer and his team SPFC (Sao Paulo Futbol Club) lost last night so he was kinda sad.

We'll I'm out of time! Sorry my emails always are disorganized and I appear scatter brained. It's because I am scatter brained! I've gone two weeks already without English and..it's hard. Hard to switch back to English too. Everything is just ...hard. But I'm doing great!!

Love you a bunch. Have a great week!

Love,
Elder Haws

Week 26

Hello Family!

We had a Stake Conference here though it was really a bunch of stakes here in Brazil having a regional conference because it was a broadcast to all the stake centers. Elder Scott spoke. It was the first time that I have heard him speak in Portuguese. Though I think he has been speaking in Spanish a lot lately because of his accent and the way he said a few things like "Jusucristo," which is Spanish, not Portuguese.

My new address is:

R ITAMARATI 374
JD ALVORADA
86191-130 CAMBE PR

You can't send packages here--but we'll work on finding a member who is always home to send packages to.

Cambe is a pretty cool place. It's weird because the entire city just has two missionaries. There is a lot of walking!! There is a really cool family that wants to be baptized here too. We've taught them a few lessons this past week and they had already been taught a bit before I got here. They are planning on getting baptized this Sunday!

It's really hard to be in a new area, not knowing where to go or who anybody is. Plus this is my first week where I literally can't speak to ANYBODY in English. But...I survived. I know that this is helping my Portuguese a lot. On Sunday, we had lunch at the ward mission leader's house. It was really fun. He is a fun guy and likes to joke around. It made me feel like I was home a little bit! With everybody joking around and making fun of each other and just a super relaxed atmosphere was nice for a little bit compared to the usual "missionary" treatment we get.

Elder Abreu is a good missionary. He is from Belem, Para. Way up on the north coast. I'll send some pictures of him and our house here in Cambe.

Well..everything is going just as normal as can be here! It's hard to believe it's been 6 months already!

Love you, Love you, Amo voces
Elder Haws

Week 25

Tudo Bem!

This week went really well, we had a baptism on Wednesday and he got confirmed on Sunday! I'm getting transferred to Cambe, it's pretty close to the city of Londrina. I'll leave here tomorrow morning at 7am and get there about noon. I'm really sad to leave this area after working so hard here and to leave with so many people that are so close to being baptized! My companion will be Elder Abreu. I don't know him yet but I'll let you know about him next week!

I've heard that your mission really flies past once you leave your fist area. It's already gone super fast so I'm kind of afraid for what will start to happen this next transfer! I'm also losing my English speaking companion crutch that I've had! It's gonna be only Portuguese form here I guess!

Sorry I have to keep it short today, I have a lot to do to be ready to leave tomorrow morning. Have a wonderful week!

Com Amor
Elder Haws

Week 24

Oi!!

This was a really interesting week here! I don't think I was with my companion except for maybe three days! I was with one of the Zone Leaders for three days because Elder Newby had to go to Londrina to renew his Visa to stay in Brazil which took two days and there was also an emergency transfer and so everybody split up so nobody was without a companion. I went to two different cities this week for baptismal interview. Pederneiras on Tuesday and Lencois Paulista on Thrusday. Elder Thomas and I ended up staying in Pederneiras over-night, unforntunately becasue the missionaries showed up late and we could get a bus back to Bauru cause it was too late. Both of those cities are about an hour by bus away from Bauru by the way. And in Lencois Paulista Elder Thomas accidently dropped the keys to the chapel in the storm drain out in front of the gate. After taking apart part of the old fence we got a wire and were, very luckily, able to fish them out of the almost three foot deep hole!

I also got a calling in the ward here! Elder Newby and I are the new Priciples of the Gospel teachers! This is one the smallest wards here in Bauru and losts of people move out it, so they are really struggling with leadership right now. The bishop is cool though and only a little bit crazy.

The baptisms! Nilson, who is 22 and his wife is already a member, is going to be baptized on Wednesday and we are still waiting to Jhuann's mom to allow him to be baptized. Hopefully next week though!!

This week starting now is the last week of the transfer and I'm really hoping I stay here!! Which probably means I'll get transferred somewhere else. Pray for me that I can stay here at least one more!

I'm having a lot of fun here and learning a ton! My Portuguese is better and now it's good enough that it's only little kids who have never heard a foreigner before, laugh at my accent. Hopefully it goes away soon!

This is going to be another busy week coming up with at least one baptism but hopefully two! If we can talk to Jhuann's mom a lot!!

Thanks for your emails. Have a good week.

Elder Haws

Week 23

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