September 8, 2014

Hola Familia,

So it was perfect timing. I got my package on the 4th in the morning during planning! It got here on time and I´ve put everything to use already. I´ve studied the talks, worn all of the clothes and just about eaten all of the candy! I was definitely paying the consequences from the candy today. ;)

Life is going super well out here. It´s really starting to get super hot and we´re losing the wind... So it looks like I´m going to get a real taste of what the Sahara Desert´s like. With the weather, tourism, and the ocean everybody does a little bit of everything here. A lot of people work in road construction, pool maintenance and then little touristy shops. Just like any other place, except hot, islandy and ridiculously windy. 

Which made it quite the difference from when we went to Gran Canaria for Zone Conference. We played soccer (halleluyah), enjoyed the city, and then went on splits with the Elders serving in a city called Telde. I went on splits with none other than Elder Dyer, my old companion from Segovia. It was really cool to see how that other area is run and just to see another island and other missionaries! Haha you don´t realize how lonely it is until you see other missionaries. Eh oh well! I love Fuerteventura and when it´s time for me to go President Jackson´s going to have to beat me out of here with a stick! ;) No but I really do love this place and the work´s starting to really pick up. 

This past six weeks have flown by and we´re really just starting to be as effective as we possibly can be. We´ve started working with members even more and right as we start getting references we have transfers this Saturday and we´ll find out if we´re getting changed or no... However it´s all the will of the Lord so just have to have faith and follow orders! This transfer as well there´s a huge wave of missionaries coming in which means that President will be opening areas, a lot of people will be training and most importantly. The Work will continue! 

Sorry to jump back but I just want to talk about Zone Conference. It was super good. I always leave those feeling really edified and really just excited to go and get to work. This time Sis. Jackson talked about 2 Nephi 31 and how we need to apply the teachings that are found in it to the work and let people know the importance of the message we bare. She shared something really cool as well. That in verses 8-12 of that chapter all of the members of the Godhead testify of the importance of the Gospel of Jesus Christ (faith, repentance, baptism, gift of the Holy Ghost). There are very few times where you see all three members of the Godhead teaching, testifying or even talking at one time: here, when Jesus is baptized, when He comes to the Americas and I can´t think of any more. Then she finished off with 2 Nephi 2:6-8 such a good scripture. Then President talked about simplifying the message so that a child could understand it that was good. We all get into routines with our teachings and if we´re teaching different people it should be different every time we teach. Love him. Then the AP´s talked about desires and funnily enough it talks about desires in that book you guys sent me. So Elder Regehr and I really talked about what our desires are for this branch and for ourselves. 

Let´s just say that if I keep learning like I have this past year, my head is going to explode. :) 

With that said I´m feeling really hot, tired and spiritually full. So I´m feeling as any good missionary should.  We´re better friends and working together better than before.

Thanks for all of the loves and such.

Love,

Elder Hawks (Jamps) 

P.s. My companion´s the skinny one in the blue tie and glasses on my left hand side in that picture.

September 1, 2014

Hola Familia,

Ok first off. I´m sorry to hear about that situation with work.  Don´t worry I´ll throw you in some prayers and work extra hard so the blessings will go to you guys! ;)

Love you family and thanks so much for all of the pictures of little nieces and nephews. They´re freaking adorable!!! They have one year to all prepare themselves then I´ll make sure they never have a dull moment! 

There isn´t too much to report this week. We´ve had a pretty normal week and just really trying to get the branch stoked to work with us. On Sunday a member from the Stake High Counsel flew out and came to church this week and basically super informed the branch that missionary work is the most important work there is, and that it´s the members responsibility to give us references and help us with the work. It was fantastic. They really want to help but they just don´t know how. So we´re going to have an activity kind of like a "Mini MTC" and teach the members how to teach, practice with them and get them super motivated to work with us, and the Stake has asked us that we all fast to have mission opportunitiesHello and for the missionaries/investigators. YYYYEEEESSSS!

If we don´t have a baptism soon... Haha but I love the people here. There freaking awesome and I already love the heck out of them. 

So real quick, right now we´re on Gran Canaria getting ready for Zone Conference. It´s super cool because every other transfer we have Zone Conference and out here in the islands President flies all of the missionaries in the islands to one of the islands and we have the Zone Conference. It´s really cool. So we got on a plane this morning took the 45 minute flight here and now we´re here playing soccer and then doing splits with the missionaries here for the night, then sleep, the meeting tomorrow all day and then around 6 o´clock we fly back over to Fuerteventura. Haha Elder Regehr´s never seen this many missionaries before so he´s super excited to be with other people. To be honest so am I. I get to see Elder Dyer, Elder Howard (he went to Alta and we had seminary together) and a few other Elders I know. 

Life´s good to say the least. We´re here to learn from our leaders then we get to go back and apply what we learn. I love it. ;) My feelings are good. Sometimes it´s hard to be patient with my companion but I HAVE to remember that he´s only been out two months and he´s doing super well for that amount of time. I can really feel your prayers and I´m going to be selfish and say don´t stop please! :) 

Sorry I don´t have a lot of time but know that you´re all great and I´ll do better next week with some details on the Conference! 

Love,

Elder Halcones

P.s. Since I´m on a different island I haven´t gotten the package but I bet I´ll get it when we go back on Tuesday... Tomorrow. Thanks again Mommy and I¨ll be sure to be praying for both of you!

August 25, 2014

Hola familia,

Hello familia! To start off this week´s been good. Nothing too crazy and nothing too lazy. ;) Thursday we had another comp inventory that was fantastic! Learned lots. Ha-ha no this week´s been pretty normal. We´re still looking for prepared people and praying for growth. Elder Regehr and I have a pretty good idea of how to work smart and hard and we´re going to put it in practice this week so next week I´ll fill you in. 

The couple from Uruguay are both about the same age as Dad, maybe a little younger, and they´re both from Montevideo. The capital. She moved here with her three kids about 10 years ago and then he moved here about 5 or less. They got married about 2 years ago. She´s been a member for 5 years and him for less than 1. Ha-ha they´re pretty funny. Yolanda reminds me a lot of Grandma Hawks with her jokes and sincerity. They are both really awesome. We usually go over once a week to eat lunch with them. 

Okay back to the work... :) This week we did splits or exchanges with the missionaries on the island right next to ours, Lanzarote. So I stayed here on Fuerteventura and Elder Regehr went there. I was with our District Leader for two days and Elder Regehr was there for two days. Our District Leader´s name is Elder Shwenke, from Orem Utah. Apparently we met before the mission, he´s way good friends with Cline and Telu and Dallin and all of those guys so it was fun to spend a night talking about all that stuff. He´s a good elder and we were both able to really learn a lot from each other. 

Speaking of things I´m learning, I´ve learned I do not like tattoos. One of our investigators´ husband is a tattoo artist. It´s their only source of income and even with that they´re struggling. However we went there yesterday to see how they were (they didn't come to church) and Eduardo has his cousin there and was touching up one of his cousin´s tattoos. The Spirit was NOT there. It was just sad more than anything. Eduardo and Auxi are ready to change their lives for the better but they´re just a little scared of the uncertainty. Little by little with them.

Other than that life´s good, interesting and fun. We´re going to have Zone Conference next week, which is where President comes to the islands and talks to all of us, so we´re going to Gran Canaria another island for a few days for the conference and it´s going to be soooooo good. We´ll get to see President, I´ll see Élder Dyer, and Elder Howard who went to Alta too, and we´re spending P-Day there. I´m excited.

My feelings are doing well. I feel the excitement to work, I´m not too stressed, I like my companion and I´ve got a pretty awesome "farmer´s tan" so life´s good. 

Love y´all.

"The Book of Mormon is actually the word of God as it claims or it is completely false. There is no middle ground." 

-Elder Hawks

P.s. I write Connor and Clayton every now and then, I would actually like Jessica and Telu´s emails so I can keep in contact with them too. 

P.p.s. The cord to my camera´s broken so it´ll be a little bit before I can send pictures. 

P.p.p.s. The suit I have here is turning brown sooooo I´m going to need to buy a new one because all of my other´s are in Madrid. Heads up. :)

LOVE YOU!

August 18, 2014

Bueno Día Chácho,

Holy cow. Now I really have an appreciation for what President Jackson does. The three areas I´ve been in are 100% different along with all of the people, missionaries, ward situations and everything. Different. Fuerteventura one of them.

 So to start off this week´s email I just want to explain a few of the people here on the island. The president of the branch. He´s a cool man from this island. His name is Zenón and he´s about 50ish years old. Pretty lively and he used to be a Lucha Canario (which is a type of wrestling specific to the islands) and now he bakes bread and is up all night delivering bread. Let´s just say we usually aren't lacking fresh bread. He´s a super guy who knows the potential there is here and is willing to work with us to reach these high goals. 

One example of what kind of guy he is. We took him to some lessons one day and at the end of the night we had a lesson set up with a lady and her family. When the family got to the park we were at, her husband just absolutely started attacking us. Brutally. We sat there as he threw scripture after scripture at us. I got tired of it and told him off for attacking us when all we wanted to do was get to know them. Then Pres. Zenón he tried talking some "sense" into the (as we later found out) preacher and then when neither of us were making progress and he just kept yelling at us we left. In the car Zenón just started to go off about this guy and said that if he could only have a moment alone with this guy at our church or in front of the temple. Ha-ha good times. And bible bashing´s lame... booooh

Ok then after him there´s another family, la familia Barrera from the island who are all super strong members and basically make up half of the church attendance here. They´re some of the most doctrinally wise people I´ve ever met and have shown us some crazy doctrine. She asked us why Adam called Eve the mother of all living and not that she WILL be the mother of all living. Just little stuff like that, that´s always fun to learn more about. 

A British guy married to a Venezuelan woman, and he basically doesn't speak Spanish and she doesn't speak English at all. Let´s just say that we have no idea how they are still married and are as happy as they are. They have four kids and they´re all really cool and active, besides one. 

Then a recent convert couple from Uruguay who are basically our parents here on the island. They drink mate and it makes me think of Dad´s mission every time we´re over there or talk to them. Ha-ha they´re funny people.

Investigators: there isn't anybody super close to getting baptized but we do have some people who have been investigators for almost years. Auxi and Natalia. Auxi´s from here and has a super strong personality. She´s a girl who likes her tattoos, cigarettes (liked), and has a lot of faith. She really believes in it but she and her less active boyfriend aren't married and once they get married they want to get baptized and then in a year go to the temple. So hopefully they can take the first step while I´m here. They said December sooooo..... Hopefully! 

Natalia is the complete opposite but in the same situation. She´s a sweet girl from Colombia who know´s everything about the church and all she wants is to get baptized. However she and her boyfriend aren't married either... ugh the paperwork here is a joke. 

Those are all of the important people for the time being and if anymore come up I´ll let you all know. I´m doing super well. I love the guts out of all of these people and they save me here. Luckily I have a cool companion and they are all cool too so that I don´t feel like I´m alone on an island... ;)

Speaking of a companion we had a good comp inventory and now we´re really kicking as a companionship and getting along well enough to teach and to trust each other. Companions in a cause!

Love you all and thanks for the support. 

Que no os olvidéis del amor del salvador... 

Love,

Elder Halcones

P.s. Just interesting topics of talks, and topics to help me study. If you could just email talks to me that would be super awesome. ;))

August 4, 2014

Hola Familia,

Sorry I don?t have a ton of time but to tell you the basics of the week. Super stressful, I hate smoking, and cigarettes, Heavenly Father does work miracles, it rained inside the chapel in Segovia and I got transferred...

To the Islands!!!! I?m on an island called Fuerteventura  and I?m finishing training somebody. His name is Elder Regehr and he went to Brighton for High School and did a year at BYU before the mission. He's a cool kid and he plays the piano like a maniac. We're going to go meet some members of the branch and then it's time to get to know the Island. We're the only two elders on the island and we can see Africa on a clear day... Am I in the same mission?

I love you all and I will send more details, pictures and stories next week. Thanks for the support and keep it real! 

Love,

 

Elder Hawks

Alma 4:19