January 19, 2015

Hola Familia Mía!

Oh os quiero muchísimo y cada semana me hace no querer veros más y más... ;) Es que no me quiero volver...

Family! Oh my goodness this week was full of failed lessons. However we really saw how awesome this area is. There are soo many people here to help and the ward is like 75-80% behind us. Which is ten times better than before. They´re super grateful to have obedient missionaries here in whom they can trust. 

It makes me wonder what kind of missionaries all of my friends are... Hopefully just bomb missionaries. I still talk to Clayton every now and then, Mason, Trey and the SBO´s muy de vez y caundo... If I spent all of PDay on email then I´d talk to more people but... Why do that when I can go play soccer, go climb a mountain or go to a super cool city? Sometimes I´m a little selfish... :)

Oh and as you may have seen we had transfers and I stayed and the other Elder from our area came over and now he´s working with me. We´re the new Zone Leaders... :o.... I don´t know what President was thinking but it should be a hoot. He´s an awesome missionary and we are going to work sooo hard together. That´s the main reason I´m excited for this transfer. Is to have someone who knows spanish and wants to magnify his calling above all other things. He is awesome. 

Oh and last night we had a musical devotional where all of us played instruments and sang. When we practicedSaturday it sounded super good, then we performed last night.... And it didn´t sound the same at all. Actually Elder Stevenson and I sang "Oh My Father" with the guitar then we sang this one song called "In Christ Alone" super good. (the song, our singing kinda ruined it...) One of the members got a video of it and so I´ll try to steal that from her and send it home, but I don´t promise anything. 

Elder Bartholomew went to the islands this transfer and he was sooo excited. He´s going to be with one of my good mission friends and he´s going to be in good hands. Elder Bartholomew went through a change with me that wasn´t easy and he took it like a champ and is totally taking advantage of it and learning as much as possible. He´ll be a good missionary. 

I love you all and I´m super grateful for the freaking awesome family I have and that I don´t have to worry about you going inactive or anything. It´s sooo sad to see people who have left the church. They do NOT have the same amount of blessings that the saints do. Stay true folks. The church is true and God does love you. You´re never alone and Jesus knows everything you´ve been through! So don´t be pouty and keep your chin up. So with that attitude and the famous words of Andrew, "Shut up and try harder" I´ve been able to keep pushing myself. 

Loves,

Elder Hawks

Oh and I don´t know what to do for that leadership program to sign up for it. Sooo. Oh and President gave me permission to work on it. 

P.s. Can you put this email on the email list? montanabrian7@gmail.com

January 12, 2015

hola familia!

First off sorry if there are some errores in this letter the reason´s because i´m writing on a pretty ghetto computer soooo... if there are errores they are the errores of man, not of God. 

Ok so today was fun too but i´m going to talk about the past little bit and then move on. 

So newyear´s eve was a good time. We worked as usual but nobody was out in the street and we had no appointments... So we spent most of the night wandering the streets of madrid looking for somebody to contact. Then after that we had permission from president to have the other elders over and to stay up until12:05 so we could eat the twelve grapes. So the other elders came over with some apple cider and right at twelve we popped the bottle and ate the twelve grapes (spanish tradition 12 grapes for the 12 dongs of the bell). it was some good wholesome fun.

then the rest of the week normal work. however we found this awesome young peruvian couple to teach and they are literally super golden. They´re looking to improve their marrige because they have a kid and they don´t want to seperate. They want to find something or someone to help them out with all of their problems. Their names are Andrea and Israel. Super awesome, and he´s a chef... :) could it get any better?

We´ve been working really hard this past two weeks and it´s really payed off. There are soo many more people here in madrid than there were in Fuerteventura. We contacted for a solid week, filled up our agendas with numbers and now we´ve been teaching new people ever since then. i´m super grateful that elder Bartholomew is willing to work hard and to help this ward out because like i said the missionaries here before all of us weren´t the best. So we need to just keep on working as hard as possible.

last monday was really fun. We all went up to the snow on some of the mountains right next to villalba. one of the sisters here is from argentina and had never seen the snow before so we all went up and had a really good time. the snow wasn´t the greatest, it was really icy and not good to have a snow ball fight, build a snow man or sled. So we went on a hike and slid down the ice on our bellies. the sister from argentina was really timid with the ice and so we all had to be nice and wait.... haha no but she liked it so it turned out well in the end. 

my feelings... are super good. my comp and i really get along and we´re working hard which more than anything is really what´s keeping us sane. There are some pretty brutal spanish people on the streets that like yelling at us but i´m used to it and my comp doesn´t understand it so it´s pretty good. i love this district they´re all really good missionaries and they all work. oh thank goodness!

love you all and know that i´ve felt the extra prayers this week and over the course of my mission. There are times where i can really feel the support from all ya folks at home and it gives me the energy i need to keep on movin on!

love,

élder hawks

p.s. ugh i don´t want to go to uvu, i´m really determined to go to byu but, if money and stuff like that will be an issue sign me up for as many programs to save money as possible!

1.It was cold i promise i´m not that fat...

2.the district in the bus station...

January 5, 2015

Hola querida familia! 

Sorry this week is going to be super dooper short! We went to the mountains to play in the snow and we got back late... :/ So short email as a form to punish myself! I love you all and I´ll send a good long letter next week! Just know that I´m ok, alive and very happy with the new year! 

Love,

Elder Hawks

December 29, 2014

Hola familia guapa!

Well I know that I just talked to you like three days ago but here I am again! Haha you´ll never not hear from me! Well to start off it was super good to see all of your shinning faces and beautiful teeth... You think europeans would´ve figured it out! Haha but thanks for all asking me good questions, it was fun to answer them! So something funny is that most missionaries usually cry when they see their families or talk to them or whatever so some of the members asked if I cried when I saw you guys too and I told them the truth... I almost cried when I saw Lexie... :) I miss my puppy! (and all of you I guess)

Last sunday we had an awesome concert with David Archuleta... Let´s just say we´re best friends now... ;) And then on Monday the 22nd we had a missionary fireside/devotional and he came again and sang to us, President Jackson played the accordian for us and all felt the spirit of christmas! It was really good to feel that then get back to work with "recharged" spiritual batteries. 

These past few days since Chirstmas have been super good and super weird. I´ve started making ambitious goals for the year to come and the sad part is that only like half of next year I´ll be on my mission. I have to start making after mission goals. So dross. However it´s made me super grateful for goals in general and the importance of fufilling or trying to accomplish these goals. One of the hermanas said something that I really liked on Saturday. "An idea is just an idea, a goal is acting upon that idea and making it reality." Cheesy and effective! So make good goals everyone and not only make them but do them! Spiritual, physical, mental, finacial, or anything like that. Make goals, and make them ambitious. I liked Cline´s challenge for the Mattingly´s. I have a challenge that anybody who wants to come and pick me up should try to learn spanish. Refine what you´ve learned or start from zero and work your way up. It´s something that will be a blessing for all of you! ;)

Chirstmas was awesome and it was a good way to spend my last christmas in Spain. With other missionaries, members and investigators! The church is soooooo true and "doubt your doubts before you doubt your fears"

Love,

Elder Hawks

P.s. We received a pamphlet of four of our generations, so if you could send me information on the grandparents, and all of the great grands, like birth and deceased date, hobbies, and where they were born and where they passed away. Gracias! 

Also when you get the 2015 calender I would really love it! :)

Us six missionaries in Barrio 2, Valentin, in the green, and the couple we ate tomales with in the bottom left hand corner. 

December 15, 2014

Hola familia mía!

Hello everybody! Sorry if this letter´s a little skewed but I´m writing on a time frame today. So Madrid is a different animal! I absolutely love it! The ward´s an actual ward of over 100 people and the streets are lined with people to talk to! The works progressing super well here actually. A lot of our investigators are south americans just because they´re a little more open but we still try to talk to everybody. Haha good stories... My companion´s super good too. He´s from American Fork, shorter than I am, wrestled during high shcool, is kind of a farm boy, and wants to just keep improving so he´s open to anything! Super helpful because he and his last companion weren´t the most obedient sooooo time to whip him into shape. ;)

It´s cold and I don´t like and love it at times... I´m a little bipolar. Some days I want it to just be freezing and others I want to scream because it´s so cold. But really it´s not that bad. I´m praying that it will at least snow a little bit before christmas but we´ll see... 

There are a bunch of really good families in the ward and one of my MTC teachers is here and she was super happy to see me and another new elder on sunday. She´s a super nice lady and she said that she was super proud of her two little grown missionaries. So Mom that gives you permission to be a little proud of all of your RM sons... :) 

Speaking of which HAPPY ANNIVERSAY! 35 years of wedded bliss with a stud of a husband! Seriously thanks for the example and the many lessons during my childhood. 1 Corinithians 13:11 I´m very grateful for you guys and all that you´ve done and the awesome children you´ve raised! 

Ok Christmas. I´ll call anywhere between 4-5 o´clock my time so... 7-8 o´clock in the morning Utah time. I´ll just call Dad with my skype because that´s the easiest for me and for you! 

Feelings: I´m happy, I love this district and the missionaries here. They are all awesome and I´ll talk to you all in 9 days... :o

Love,

Dweebs

December 8, 2014

Bueno pues escapé del calor y ahora estoy aguantando el frío de Madrid. 

Soooo I got transfered to Madrid. Like the center of Madrid! My companion´s a new elder, he just finished being trained and he seems like a good elder and I´m excited to work with him. He´s from American Fork and went to American Fork High School, wrestled, sang and other fun stuff... Not sure I´ve only known the kid for like 5 hours... Should be exciting. 

I´m serving in Barrio 2 in Madrid. It´s weird I have the metro in my area. I´ve escaped Madrid my whole mission until now. It should be a good experience! I have noooo idea what it´s going to be like but.... I´m still district leader and the only other pair of elders in the district are the zone leaders soo this will and should be fun. Haha I´m really excited though because all of them are super cool and we´ll be able to have a good time and get down to work while we´re at it. 

I was kinda sad leaving Fuerteventura. Definitely more sad than when I left Villalba or Segovia. I was able to really build up a good relationship with the branch, our investigators and it forced my companions and I to work things out and like eachother! We went and said goodbyes to everybody on Sunday and I was able to get pictures with all of the people I really wanted. Elder McAllister will do a good job and he´s going to send me pictures of Victoria´s baptism and so it´s good to know that I was able to help the ward there. 

Not much else to say besides that I have no idea what´s going on besides that I´m good, the missionaries here are really good and that I have a good feeling about this transfer! My feelings are good, apparently we get fed here pretty well sooo I´m worried about getting fat, and I´m very grateful that I have gloves, a beenie, gloves, and a scarf! OH! Something super cool that´s going on is that DAVID ARCHULETA is going to have a concert for all of the missionaries and their investigators so that should be super awesome. I started to appreciate church music more and more over the mission. Seeing as it´s the only thing we really can or should listen to out here. 

I should be able to visit the Duffin´s now because I´m able to go to the temple and so I´m really excited for that. They went to the islands last Sunday and they missed me by hours because I flew to Gran Canaria, the main island, last night and yesterday morning I want to say. I missed them by seconds. 

SO life´s good, when I know more people, know the district better and the area I´ll give some more details. My new address is...

Calle Miami 7, 3ºC

28027

Madrid

España

I love you all and I´ll be sure to give you more details when I have them! 

Love,

Elder Hawks

P.s. When I know about my package I´ll let you know until then I have no idea. 

For Christmas I know that I´ll call either from 11 o´clock our time to 6:30. Probablly with skype cause that´s the easiest for everyone. 

Then for college. I really really really want to go to BYU and I would like it if maybe you could ask around and see if there´s any way I could get in. I heard that if I get a reference from my mission president it´s a lot easier to get in but we´ll see. If you could try that then if it doesn´t work I´ll figure out exactly what I take and do at UVU for the mean time. 

Thanks and loves! 

December 1, 2014

Hola familia,

Well I´m very grateful that you´re all doing well and that you had a good thanksgiving! Haha our Thanksgiving was... any other day and we enjoyed it for what it was worth and nothing else. Nothing too crazy or anything like that. 

This past week has been pretty good. Last Tuesday I went to Lanzarote to do intercambios with the missionaries there and I was with Elder Peterson. He´s from Sandy, played soccer for Brighton and so let´s just say that we hit it off super well. We spent probablly all of Medio Día (our two hour lunch break) talking about people we know, what they´re doing and how absolutely awesome the mission is. He´s a really good kid and will be a super gooooooood missionary. There´s a lot of potential there and I´m excited to see what he does. 

So after those two days I came back to Fuerteventura with gnarly stomach pain and crazy weather. It´s been on and off raining for the past two weeks and according to locals this only happens like every five years or less so we´re really enjoying the water. However with this weather the wind here is strong enough that it killed like two people on some of the other islands.... I don´t know how wind killed people but... it found a way. So we lost an afternoon due to the weather. We worked inside and made a bunch of calls and set up appointments for later. 

Which it was good that we stayed inside because like I said I had pretty bad stomach pains. I couldn´t sleep, eat (without making a quick trip to the bathroom), or rest without pain shooting through my stomach. So we bought some medicine and made some magic potion that a member suggested and two days later I felt better and today I´m 100%! It was actually though a really good experience for me though. Mind over body kind of thing. My stomach hurt but all the time so we dicided to keep working through the pain and it payed off. We´ve found some other potential investigators that we´re excited to work with. 

Speaking of investigators Victoria´s progressing like a champ. (I think I said that last week...) and she´s now has a baptismal date for the 17th of January. She´s excited and says that she wants us to keep coming over so that she´ll be prepared and she wants us to teach some of her friends so that they can get baptized with her too.... :o Haha she´s crazy but awesome. Her daughters are progressing as well. The fourteen year old you can tell that she knows it´s true even though she doesn´t show it too much and the eight year old is off in her own world, but when we ask her she says she wants to sooooo we´ll see. 

Other than that everything else is good. My toe doesn´t hurt anymore, it looks weird but it doesn´t hurt. Hermana Jackson told me to put hydrogene peroxide on it then a little bit of neosporin then wrap it up tight with two band aids, and I´ve been doing that and it doesn´t hurt anymore but it still looks.... bad to say the least. It´s not messing with my feelings so that´s good.

Feelings. I´m doing really well. I absolutely love the mission and the thought of transfers came up today and I was really sad just thinking about leaving the island... We have transfers next week so next monday they´ll have happened and thinking about that has gotten me stressed that I might be going. So we´ve been working as if I am and going as hard and possible so that I don´t have any regrets when I leave this area. It´s amazing how much love you develope for a place and people in just a few months. 

I love you all and just telling you that the church is still true, just because somebody says something mean or makes a mistake that doesn´t mean that the whole church is wrong. Love the gospel, love our Heavenly Father and love others!

Love,

Elder Hawks