Updated Contact Info! :) 9/5/12

Hello everyone! I hope that this fall season is going well for you! Sorry for updating our Elder's blog so late! Here is his current contact information and which way is best.

1. steven.hawkins@myldsmail.net
- This is the quickest way. He is only allowed to send one email a week, so when he responds to you it will be in a mass overall update/response. 
-If you would like to be included in the list that his emails are forwarded to, please let Mrs. Cindy Hawkins know at ladyhawk231@gmail.com

2. http://www.dearelder.com
-Write him a letter through "Pouch Mail". Its free, all you have to make sure to do is select
"Chile Osorno Mission". Sent as an email, Dearelder prints it out and sends it as an actual letter.
-All pouch letters recieved before 12 am on Mondays will be sent with the week's pouch delivery.-There are also relatively cheap care packages on here that you can send! :)

3. Elder Steven Michael O'malley Hawkins
    Chile Osorono Mission
    Mackenna 987, Oficina 3
    Edificio Paillahue
    Osorno, Region X
    CHILE 
    56 64-232-754
-This is the mission office address. If you want to send him a hand written letter or package, this is the place!
-POSTAGE: For letters up to 2 ounces it is $1.50.
-Packages: Very expensive! Easier to use dearelder packages.

Making A Difference :) 10/1/12

Date: Mon, Oct 1, 2012 at 8:20 AM

"FAMILIA !!!!!! COMO ESTAIS ?!?!

  

     By the way all you people out there that speak-a-duh spanish, I love vosotros. Never use it. But I love it, and it´s in the scriptures everywhere. Yeah so how are all you ?! Anywho so mom told me that you had a good game against CDM katie, did you kick some trash ? And Anna LAME , but just so you know it´s a hawkins curse at Uni- they always play us when they realize , oh crap we need them. So don´t let it get to you HATERS GONNA HATE ! I randomly thought of inside jokes I had with you guys this week, but I can only remember a few. Move it with your mind !-anna. Your tree pooped on my lawn-katie. Hey are you... Hey are you... Hey are you... -anna. My goodness I love you guys. You crack me up. My comp made some pretty funny funnies this week too. I have these hard candies on my desk and I gave one to him, and he said Wow..these are weird candies. Me-maybe because you didn´t take the plastic off... Bahahaha OH MY GOSH ! And the spiders here are insane. We have recorded like 3 short clips of them so you can all see them . Youtube hits I´m telling you. Pictures coming soon I promise but next week though cuz I forgot the cord. D&C 80 was like my oh wow yeah I am doing the right thing scripture, but 2 Nephi 8 was why I left I CANT DECIDE AHHHHHH ! Sorry rock paper scissors it or something. ritz crackers.

Picture Elder Hawkins took at MTC

     Anywho this week we have seen just miracles I´d say, or rather a lot of good change. I can actually see the difference the Gospel is making in these people´s lives. Their whole demeanor is changing, and they are really experiencing a mighty change in their hearts. It´s literally the most incredible thing to see and feel. Our investigator Pablo is 18 smoked, drank coffee tea and alcohol, had problems concentrating in school because he is add and yeah just all this stuff. So we taught him the word of wisdom, got him a plan to stop smoking, told him to eat oranges to concentrate (thanks to James and Mom telling me that when I was 8 THANKS !) and there is literally a tangible difference in him. And ok no time but our investigators got answers to their prayers right in front of us ! SO incredible. God really loves this people, and all his children for that matter., I know he loves you guys. I´ve felt the love he has for these people, and I know he´s got his arms stretched out to you. I love you guys too ! Keep praying, keep reading, and keep going to church. Share the Gospel ! Bring others unto the fold ! Love you guys- church is true. Peace !

-Love Elder Hawkins

p.s. henkins haokin and hoskin is how they pronounce my name-

they are physically incapable I LOVE EM !

pps. SALTINE ! or ritz?"

Miracles 9/24/12

Date: Mon, Sep 24, 2012 at 1:45 PM

"Dear Familia {you´re all family in my book}

     

     This week has been nothing but miracle after miracle. We haven`t been able to teach this amazing hermana named Maritza for two weeks now. She literally just disappeared. We would pass by and call her every day and still nothing. Even hermana Carmen, an hermana in our ward who has helped us so much with meeting with Maritza at her house and such, couldn´t find her. So two weeks pass by and the nightly companionship prayer we have I just asked Heavenly Father to put the people in our path who need the Gospel in their lives. 

     The next day {Thursday} we went to a cita and it fell and as we left I saw Maritza come out of a store buying bread. My jaw about hit the floor. I was so excited. We started talking and she told us that she has been in her house the entire time with her sick 6 year old daughter. She was literally incapable of going outside because of pain in her legs I think is what she said and she doesn't feel comfortable leaving her daughter because she is super protective of her little angel. She has down syndrome and is just a sweet, sweet spirit. So we set up an appointment for yesterday. And yesterday as we were passing near her house we got a call that we needed to go to Maritza´s house and it was urgent. That her daughter needed a blessing al tiro. So we went straight to the house and it turns out her little daughter has not been able to make a solid bowel movement for 7 days and that she is in a lot of pain. Elder Bosse had the same situation happen to his dad so he said she needs to go to the hospital asap. But first we were going to give a blessing. But just as we were about to she went to the bathroom, and it wasn't solid. So they went down stairs and set her on the toilet. She was finally able to make a solid bowel movement. They came back upstairs and we gave her a blessing. I said a prayer in my heart that she would be able to sit still and reverent during the blessing because she´s pretty rowdy. And as I anointed her head she got super still we gave her the blessing or rather Elder Bosse and she was perfectly reverent. Afterward I played peek a boo with her hahaha she was so smily and just stinking adorable. Anywho a lot of great things happened this week but that was one of my favorites.

     

     Oh ok so this week has been literally NOTHING but stress for Elder Bosse , thankfully Heavenly Father blessed me with a family that helped me grow that all too necessary virtue of patience :P But seriously I am so thankful that I've been blessed with patience. But yeah it has been super hard for him, and he´s been having a lot of crappy companions. He´s been saying for a while maybe I don´t have the faith to do ... about goals or random things over and over. So the other day we were having weekly planning session and I am kind of a go getter with the goals because personally I felt they were attainable, we just had to stretch ourselves, push ourselves a little bit, which is exactly what the goals are meant to do. And he said I don´t want to say we can´t but I don´t know , maybe I don´t have the faith and I just remembered that I needed to speak boldly of the testimony I have to lift up others. So I said hold up , Elder two things. The more you say maybe I don´t have enough faith to do this, maybe I don´t have enough faith to do that, the more the maybe starts to disappear and you are just left with I don´t have faith, I can´t do that. You can´t be saying that Elder. I felt the Spirit prompt me so strongly to say that but right after I was like maybe I said that a little too harsh. The next day we had to finish the planning and at the end he said ok tell me something I can do better because yesterday you knocked down all of my walls and barriers, just beat me down go for the kill or something like that and I was like great it was too harsh and I said I don´t like the sound of that. So he said ok better yet, lift me up. It was the confirmation I needed. I am so greatful for that experience. It helped me learn that I need to speak up more, especially when the Spirit is telling me to do something! 

     

     So we have been teaching a bunch of people, Dieciocho was amazing, found tons of new people, and so many are progressing that we may need to go on splits soon ! I am so excited ! Oh and today for p-day me and Elder Bosse went exploring , found an amazing area and took pics, they will be coming soon I promise ! Oh and I sent my first letters today I AM SOOOO SORRY that took so long ! I am gonna write one every week from now on so you know PROMISE !

     I love you all so much, you are all an inspiration to me. Keep doing work. Keep spreading the Gospel. There are people out there waiting for you, and you don´t have to be on a mission to find them. I love you guys and will talk to you next week ! I´ll keep you in my prayers, cuz hey- they work.

      

-Elder Hawkins

or as the chileans say it henkin, hoskin, howkin

Love you

p.s RITZ"

Friends in the MTC

Dieciocho: Chile´s Independance Day! 9/15/12

Date: Sat, Sep 15, 2012 at 8:03 AM

     "Hey family p-day got changed to Saturday this week because of Dieciocho. For those of you who don´t know about Dieciocho It is Chile´s Independance Day and boooooy do they go all out ! There are flags everywhere , drunks too, but its going to be so sweet ! On Dieciocho we are visiting a bunch of investigators and members and just eating all day. Empanadas, Asadas, Pichangas, Sopaipillas, Papas, Completos, Arroz, EVERYTHING ! We aren't even allowed to "work" or anything these next few days, and only go to appointments where the people know we are coming. No contacts, tracting, knocking doors-ness, only fixed appointments. So I am going to be getting a lot of food and a lot of studying done these next few days haha. I am so stoked ! And we have a lot of citas this next week too so it´s gonna be great ! Everyone down here gets like the whole week off, and practically nothing is open like maybe one store in all of chile, so that´s why we (and the rest of Chile) are doing shopping today hahaha.

Decorations!

      Anywho so no time I gotta make this quick. Don´t send packages they are expensive, unless you really want to, but seriously they be crazy letters are fine. Thanks for the music Cody and Sally those songs make my mornings even better. I was rocking out to be still, streets of Philadelphia (The streets are filled with their feear-uh :P) and that happy love your brother song that we rocked out to Cody and Jaquelynne. Thanks for all your support and your letters and Whit I just got all your letters from the MTC I LOVE YOU TOO !!!!! I will write real letters to you all this week. 

     We taught a bunch of new people this week who are allllllll exceptional and I can't tell too much but one thing I will say is my patience has been tried this week and I came out on top. My companion is having a really hard time though hahaha he's praying for patience. We had a lesson last night where I invited someone to be baptized and totally felt prompted to and after I did the wife kept adding tangents and interrupting his response. We asked him 5 times and every time she interrupted SO LAME but i saw in his eyes that he wants to and that´s all that matters. Oh and our bathroom flooded this morning bahaha. Patience is a virtue, so develop it people.

Anywho I love you all and I will keep you in my prayers. Church is true people - so follow it.

 

-LOVE

Elder Hawkins"

2 Nephi 2:28 9/10/12

Date: Mon, Sep 10, 2012 at 8:27 AM

     "P-day once again my friends, and I get to write to you woot!!! Sorry about last week not responding really hahaha I kind of got carried away in what happened last week and lost track of time so this time I am going to try to be short and sweet and then respond hahaha . But first real quick I did get the scarf sister Ritz and it´s awesome thank you so much :) And your guys´s new baby is a cutie, what happened though! He isn't blonde !!! hahaha as always I love your kids and can´t wait to come back and watch Quenguins with Mona haha. 

     OH and I have realized that all I have really said about Chile is I am in the ghetto, it´s gorgeous and the people are amazing. All true but there´s a lot I haven´t said. So we wake up study and do all that leave for our mamita´s house for lunch (huge meal here) there are 4 meals in Chile breakfast, lunch, 11 (once), and cena . Breakfast is the only normal one. Lunch is HUGE and once is always like hot chocolate and bread basically, and a small lunch for cena. OH ! and the bread here is legit. You know how I always ate the bread in the house, well Chileans do that too. They buy new bread like everyday hahahaha that´s how much they eat it . Their home made bread is really good here too I will have to get you a recipe. But basically what they eat here is a lot of bread, soup, rice, chicken, beans, LENTILS and it´s bomb. Meals always have a dessert too called postre and it´s normally just some fruit. PAPAYA is sooooo good!

     Ummm we have 3 volcanoes here which is legit and we have the ocean and a sea around us here in puerto montt. It´s pretty rainy here but not like what I was expecting. It´s more of a neverending sprinkle/drizzle. sometimes the wind blows pretty crazy but the rain hasnot yet been hard at all.The way we get around everywhere is colectivos, which is basically like a taxi but with a set route and price. There´s buses and taxis too but colectivos are what´s up. Oh and our sector is huge so we use em a good amount. I think it´s pretty hilarious that I live in the ghetto but mine isn´t even the worst ghetto- for which I am very thankful because I heard some weird stories from the other elders. Oh you know how in the MTC it was a funnel on my mouth well out here I realized it was a funnel on my ears too. At first it was hard to understand  but I could get the gist and now I understand most of it. Funnel on my mouth is going away little by little too. OH MY GOSH ! There are crazy spiders here people I have pictures and stuff that you are gonna flip out when you get em IT IS INSANE !!!! In other news our investigators are progressing, which I am so excited for. They have not been having much success here but now we are. The people are so receptive and loving ! I LOVE THESE PEOPLE ! 

     How´s everything going with ya´ll ? Any exciting news. HOLY KATIE AND ADAM ! You guys are seniors ! And Hunter you are a junior ! What´s up with that people! You are growing up so fast ! Well you heard bishop, it´s up to you guys to start reaching out to your friends. And don´t be afraid to  do it. My first lesson here with a new investigator I had to ask her to be baptized and the devil kept putting doubts in my head - she wont say yes , she wont accept this, what if she doesn't want this. And then the thought came to me, if you are afraid to ask her to come unto Christ, then you don´t love her enough. PALO ! 

 

You guys if you have been blessed with the gospel, you need to share it- it is your duty. 

2 Nephi 2:8 was my reason for going on my mission, and it´s the reason you need to share the gospel too. How great the importance my friends. If you really love those closest to you, you will share the Gospel with them.

-I love you all gotta go but I will holler at ya´ll next week 

love ELDER HAWKINS

PS I LOVE YOU GUYS"

CHILE BABY! 9/3/12

Date: Mon, Sep 3, 2012 at 12:57 PM

     "Dear all of you very people, in your really houses, 

     That one was for you Cody, but Santa Vaca people ! How´s it going? Anywho I don´t know if you all know but I can´t respond individually so I will just respond here, but thank you all so much for the individual emails it was crazy ! Anywho So I will give ya´ll a little glimpse of the mission down here this past week a lot of cool stuff happened. 

     So last week I don´t know if I told you all but we were talking to this really mean guy who didn´t want to hear any of what we were saying so we left and on the way I saw a guy with a walker and said hi but kept going. 5 minutes later I felt really strongly like we needed to go back and so we did and my comp was like you sure? Ok you got this so we go to the door and knock. Turns out it was the wrong door and it was actually the injured gentleman. Turns out he is a member who had been in the hospital and everyone had forgotten him. We set up a lesson and came back this week, and turns out he was pretty bummed that the church ditched him but he still is strong. I think if we hadn´t gone though, he may have solidified those feelings and not wanted to go to church again. Luckily we listened to the spirit . So people listen up, if you feel the spirit tell you to do something - you do it RIGHT away. I know I know you have heard it all before but put it into perspective, the spirit may in fact be telling you something that will literally SAVE someone´s life or change it for the better. So listen . 

     Oh and about the baptisms ! Last week everyone said no, every single challenge. This week we taught them all some more and Marcela and Maritza said yes !!!!! They are gonna be baptized ! I am so excited for them. Our other 3 investigators are almost there. Marcello won´t get married without his polola Paola but he is there and she almost is and Juan is almost there he just needs to be taught some more. Hahaha I wish you guys could meet these people. They are exceptional. Every single one of them. They are all so loving down here in Chile, even the ¨mean´´ ones are nice hahaha . So another thing we have been working on is menos activos, sorry less actives. There´s a good amount here. 1 in particular I feel especially close to. His name is Antolin, and his wife´s name is Olga. They are so AWESOME. They are just super kind and friendly and spiritual and just studs ! So we visited this week and we just went to introduce me because elder Bosse already knows em. Just to be their friends and such and get to know em. So we did shared a few scriptures and I said I´ll see you in church Sunday right? He was like no I don´t think so haha-Olga is super active and awesome- and I was like well I will be waiting for you. So he didn´t show up and I was like we need to visit him tonight. So we did, last lesson of the day and I felt very strongly to share D&C 9 :10 and 11 . My comp was like I don´t know thats kind of like a palo which means like too strong in a sense. And I was like I really feel it elder so he was like ok , if you feel it you got this. So we went and we sat down and olga was talking to their friend in the other room. And I started talking to Antolin and I said:

 

'I am gonna be frank with you Antolin because I love you and because this is serious to me. Why aren´t you coming to church?'

'because of my pride elder.'

 

     Then we kept talking about how though people in the church may not be perfect or true or offend us , the church is true and we can´t let an offense however great (and this one was) get in our way.  I couldn´t find the word I wanted to say, so I said it´s .. and grabbed my heart and he said personal. Then I told him about the things Ive seen in my life, with my friends and family that are less active, and told him how much of a difference it makes, and how truly difficult, ever increasingly difficult, it is to come back. I then shared D&C 9 and said it is expedient that you come to church now Antolin. You are missing out on an abundance of happiness and blessings, and so many other people are too because of you. You have the capability of blessing so many people because of your spirit and friendliness and spirituality. You are not just hurting yourself. I think what I said really touched him.

 

     CRAP no time I have to go! But yeah progress and awesomeness , Hunter I love you keep it up you will be a catalyst for good if you strive to be. The church is true people so share it. Catmulll love you man keep it up ! Willis love you too rock it down in Panama and thanks for your entry too it meant a lot to me bud, Sister martin thank you for what you said UP WARD I love you guys strive to make a difference.

Tengo fe en ustedes. Family church, scriptures and prayer BYE  

-Elder Hawkins"

Puerto Montt Zone Libertad Dos 8/27/12

 Date: Monday, August 27, 2012, 11:08 AM

     "Como estais familia ???!!! Cuz I am doing great. I am officially in Chile. Kind of nuts right? By the way the keyboards down here are different. Took me like five minutes to find the at sign because apparently you have to press something other than shift, who knew? Hahaha google spell check is telling me I am spelling everything wrong. Silly computer, I speak english. Oh yeah so when I called you guys and the phone cut out, did Sally say Katie is planing on going to BYU-I?? A WHAAAA well if you do Katie, you have got Sally to protect you so I am ok with that. So when are you going up to school Sally ? Did you get that all figured out ? Keep an eye out for Katie ok? She´s not allowed to go to any crazy dances -just so you know.  

Oh yeah I can talk to anyone now through email, rule though is that I can only send one, so feel free to email me and I will respond to you on my big email home. Oh yeah and p-days are Mondays now. 

     Hmm I should probably finish the story of how I got here. So after we hung up abruptly haha we sat by our terminal and all the Latin elders and hermanas showed up and we all hung out in the terminal together -they were all super nice.The flight to Osorno and I sat next to Elder Nelson. I got so many good pics of people passed out hahahahaha Elder Jensen and Jones were some of them SOOOOO funny. Well I landed in Osorno and my stuff still hadn´t gotten there but we were greeted by President Rappleye and he helped sort it out. In Chile you shake hands by shaking giving a hug and shaking hands again. It´s pretty chill. So we got to the Mission Home and sat down and ate food with everyone. Then my bags arrived as if by magic which was so sweet because I had been traveling for over two days without a shower. SO I stank, I had to reapply deoderant in the Airport. Anywho so we meet everyone get a devotional and got some rain gear and other stuff. Then dinner. And here hot dogs are called completos because they go all out with them. Guac tomatoes cheese lettuce and condiments all over their hot dogs and the bread here is bomb. So good. So then we went to a hotel for the night and the whole time I thought there was a little earthquake going on cuz I kept losing my balance some other elders felt it too but no earthquake. Me and Elder wood were gonna be room mates (3 to a room) and someone else but all the latinos grouped up so I went with Elder moreno and vasquez. Good thing too cuz we got the biggest room and Elder woods room had stains on some of the sheets. Anywho so the next day we meet our companions and I got a boss for a companion. Literally. His name is Bosse hahahaha but he is a jefe. He´s from evada been out for a year and is just a really great elder. So we all get acquainted and eat some completos. OH !!! Chileans don´t eat dinner !!!! Crazy right ! so the big meal of the day is lunch. 

Puerto Montt

     So we leave and we are serving in the puerto montt zone libertad dos. YOU GUYS !!!!!!!!! :))))) I LIVE IN THE GHETTO !!!! IT´S SO SICK !!! I like literally live in the ghetto. I walked into our house ad just started smiling like BAHAHAHA I am living i the ghetto. SO sick. So our bathroom is nasty we ran out of fire wood and so our house is freezing all the time. It´s dirty too. Bathroom at least and mom. You would be so grossed out . Maybe that´s why I was smiling so much because I know how you always talk about my bathroom being dirty. Well I will have to send pictures so you can laugh too :) this place is so SICK though. I love it ! And the people here are so nice (for the majority of them) ESPECIALLY the members. All of them are soooo nice. They always want to feed us and go out with us to teach. So much support. Oh and I have a mamita. A member of the ward who cooks lunch for us everyday. She is the bishops wife and she is super sweet and I love her. Oh and we don't do our own laundry either. It´s like this area is stuck in the 50´s too cuz the wives wait on the men . Makes me uncomfortable to be waited on and stuff cuz my wife ;) is gonna be waited on. But anywho so Sister espinosa washed our clothes this week and she is so SWEET ! These people are literally amazing you guys. If you can you need to come down here to pick me up and meet them in two years. They are sooooo sweet. And they feed us well, we eat with mamita everyday other than Saturday and Sunday. Oh and the food here is sooo good too. A lot of bread , and an egg flour soup kind of thing, and yesterday we had a really good lasagna. 

Anywho really great food really loving people and really great support. So excited to be here! I hope all is well with you guys I have to go in like 2 but I love you guys and I am praying for all of you always. if you ever get the chance please send me some regular thermal underwear I underestimated the cold. Well remember to read your scriptures, pray, and go to church guys . The church is true so follow its teachings if you want to be happy. K gotta bounce, p.s. I live in the GHETTO !!!!!! Katie I got your letter -your funny

-love Elder Hawkins"

Last P-Day In MTC! 8/18/12

Date: Sat, Aug 18, 2012 at 7:10 AM

 

"LAST P-DAY PEOPLE !!!!!! Kind of crazy. So this week, as always, has been eventful ! But to summarize, the devil REALLLLLLY doesn't want me in Chile, or Elder Nelson hahaha. So this week in our 2nd to last gym elder Nelson sprains his ankle, second degree ankle sprain and it looked bad. So he was really worried that he wouldn't be able to go to Chile with us so our whole district participated in a blessing. It was such a cool feeling, and now he is healing like crazy. Yesterday I was a little worried because it bruised up pretty bad, but today it's great. And I told him if he doesn't fly with us I'm spraining his other one. 

 

 

 

     So then that night at dinner my filling on my last tooth way in the back is just falls out during dinner . . . I was like ok that's wack. So I didn't tell anyone in my district because I thought they would freak out and be like WHAT ?! now YOU can't go on the plane with us ?! and the next morning I go get an appointment with the health office for 2:30. So then after lunch we go to the shuttle that's supposed to arrive at 1:55 and we're waiting and waiting and waiting I pray and turn to the scriptures and I can't remember where I read , all I remember is it said walk wisely basically. So I decided to run to the travel office and get it sorted out. Apparently they had forgotten and the other people were running late. So we got it sorted out and on the way back I turn to Jensen and am like. The devil is rude, I am GOING to Chile. So we get to my appointment and everyone is really sweet and nice and I get it all looked at and they are like well it looks good and clean it just popped off so we can have you fixed in 5 minutes without anesthesia even. SWEET! So we finish and  we are waiting in the waiting room for our shuttle to get back, which by the way is a camry, and we just chill in the waiting room - they forgot us again. So this time we call them again and decide to wait outside and this lady I saw across the street I can feel is gonna come over and talk to us. So she did and we talked to her for like 15 minutes and tried to help her with some problems she was going through. Then our shuttle came and we made it back to in-field orientation. 

 

     Oh yeah so this whole time we are just supposed to be in 1m listening to in-field orientation. Which is basically a bunch of return missionaries teaching us about the field, stuff we never focused on in class. A lot of practice and it was such a cool experience, I was able to see the giant growth I've been making. We practiced giving pass along cards and just meeting people in the street and giving them a minute "lesson" So we start and I have to sit next to someone on a "bus" and hand one out and just talk with them. It was way sweet and it felt really comfortable. Then the senior companions teach the junior companions , oh and it's someone you have never met before too. So an Elder sat next to me and the poor elder was having a really hard time doing it so I helped him out by leading the conversation. But it just made me so thankful for my teachers and all the progress I've made here. So yeah good experiences and super fun. 

 

     Oh my gosh and this week me and Elder Jensen were invited to participate in first experience teaching, which means we teach someone in front of the new elders' and sisters that arrive that week. We taught this awesome guy named Juichi and it went super well but then we taught Lawanna ... So Lawanna is kind of like camille's mom, our neighbor from canyon crest but way more sassy and skeptical. So we were a little nervous in the lesson or something . So we go in and I'm just being smiley and she is like is this how you really are ? Is this real ? and I'm like what ? and Jensen is like yeah he's just an extremely happy guy. So then I try to talk to her and I keep fumbling my words because I keep almost saying the stuff I'm saying in Spanish. So she's like is this real? Are you ok? And I said yeah sorry I am just used to speaking Spanish. So we continue with the lesson and to keep it as short as I can because I have like 1 minute. Basically my companion basically inadvertently said it was cool she had cancer, and that he never gets sad. So she put him on time out. So I had to teach a lesson alone and just basically said that I know that Heavenly Fatehr loves her, and that Jesus Christ loved her so much she died for her. And she wondered how I knew and one thing lead to another . I heard before hand from some elders that she had been shot at. And freudian slip I asked has anyone ever taken a bullet for you, trying to apply it to how Christ took the ultimate bullet for her, and she said no but I almost took one. And I asked how she got shot at . What a great lesson huh. bahahahaha it was hilarious. 

 

      So they stopped the lesson (we only teach for 8 minutes) and as the class is talking we talk to her and she was so sweet and was like I am sooooo sorry. It was totally fine though good experience hahaha, and she was just acting. 

 

      But anywho this week I learned even more of the love that Heavenly Father has for all of his children. So much more to say but no time. Anywho I love you your Father in Heaven loves you , and the church is true. PS NO ONE CAN SEE ME AT THE AIRPORT !!!!!! AND NO OFFENSE BUT I DON'T WANT TO SEE YOU !!!! BUT I WILL CALL !!! So please send me everyone's number. The devil can't stop me now !!!!!!!!!!

 

 

 

-love

Elder Hawkins"

Travel Plans to Chile! 8/10/12

Date: Friday, August 10, 2012, 9:39 AM

     "How's it going familia ?! Como estais ? So I got my travel plans yesterday and it's craziness ! SO I have to be at the travel office Monday august 20th at 6, then I have a flight from Salt Lake city to Atlanta Georgia from 9:45-3:35 and then I have a flight in Georgia to Santiago chile at 10:35 and we land at 8:10 the next day haha and then a flight to OSORNO ! At 11:30 landing at 1:10 bahaha so pretty much 31 hours of travel ! And I'm the travel leader which basically means I am in charge of making sure no one dies or gets left behind. Good thing I have a lot of experience with the subject and will know how to properly handle the situation. Rule number one don't save up score points they're worthless. 2 make sure you get your 50 score points toy if you happen to get left behind. And 3, most important of all, make sure your family's love for you exceeds that of their love for Del Taco, because of they don't, you'll be getting left behind a lot! hahaha just playing family ! LOve you guys ! 

 

     That being left behind at score taught me a very valuable lesson that day - make sure all kids are attached to some sort of leash, preferably monkey tail leashes. Hahaha so yeah basically I'm super excited to be going to Chile. Mainly because it doesn't feel, as of yet, that my mission has really started. I mean being in the MTC the first day was like wo, but it's not even real. The MTC isn't really looking at me right now Cody, Chad, and Jaquelyne. Oh b t dubbs - Josh eezy eez Cadden says hi and he's sitting next to me right now putting my arm on my shoulder. hahaha we're cracking up ! Oh my gooosness I just told him how the hat that Ben always wears is the one I left at his house one day...like 2 years ago BAHAHAHAHA me and Josh are Dying !!!! I didn't have the heart to tell him it was mine hahaha. 

Elder Cadden & Elder Hawkins in front of Provo temple

      Anywho back to business. I just went to the temple today and it was sweet. Not just the food we eat there, which is a million times better than the MTC food, but the temple is just awesome. I came in there with some questions and left with answers. Oh which reminds me can I get a list of emails of our family? Cuz I only have aunt Pam Leslie and dads, and mom I forgot yours so send me and EMAIL with it and not a dear elder so I can have it in my email PLEASE hahaha sorry. 

 

 I have nooooooooooo idea what's going on so yeah anticipate my questions and please answer them hahaha. Anywho how was your birthday James ? Your letter didn't really talk about that hahaha. I can't wait to hear how you like work ! Well I hope you like it and think you will- ok know , cuz everyone is awesome, but yeah excited ! And Mom and Dad anniversary number _? Same day as Michael Farrell's b-day. He's gonna be up here soon ! And I am gonna be gone soon ! I got so much to learn still, but I know that Heavenly Father's on my side helping me all the way, so I don't worry. How's summer going by the way ? Any more camps ? I heard from Adam that Youth Conference was awesome so I can't wait to hear you guys tell me ! 

 

     So Tuesday we had a devotional and the speaker Dellenbach and Emeritus 70 was talking about the truthfulness of the book of Mormon and how it has to be real - just look at the facts. And there is a lot of facts, and good reason to believe it , but the whole time I kept on having thoughts that that doesn't matter. And it really doesn't no matter what facts don't forge testimonies. And the only way this book will benefit my investigators or anyone in the future is if they gain a testimony of the Book of Mormon. Facts are great and all  but a testimony on facts doesn't stand. So yeah keep reading your book of Mormon EVERYDAY so you guys can gain an even stronger testimony of the message it contains within its pages. The message of the Everlasting Gospel, of Jesus Christ. 

 

 

 

     I love you guys. Keep it up ! Oh by the way I had my BEST LESSON EVER the other day !!! I had an idea to do and object lesson on the 3 parts to revelation, prayer, reading the book of Mormon and going to church. Basically 4 bottles 3 spoons make em satack (pictures soon) and it was just bomb. And when we left our investigators told us that there was a tangible difference in the spirit when we left, like it left with us . Such an AMAZING feeling . Anywho gotta go LOVE YOU !

 

-Elder Hawkins"

Life Of A Missionary & Never Forgetting 8/3/12

"Hola familia how's it hanging ? It is officially the greatest day of the week today - P DAY WHAT WHAT ! Hahaha So how is everyone doing ? Based on mom's letters' it sounds like everyone is doing good, but people come on - it's summer , and let's be real right now, you have time to write me. Get signed up on Dear Elder asap because, I only have 2 and a half more weeks of being able to hear from you everyday ! Hopefully I'll be able to get my letters to you guys out today - I have so much to write !

     So James, how's Ralph's ?!?! Is everyone there like the chillest people ever . I love 'em so much, could you do me a favor and tell them I say hi and hope everyone is doing good and that I miss 'em . And if they want they can talk to me on Dear Elder. Jeez I sound like a walking advertisement. Which reminds me. I can't believe you sent me my work shirt, I feel like every time I wear it I'm breaking mission rules because I'm advertising hahahahaha. Oh and could you send me my grey pants please, and hahaha I meant the other blue shoes of mine, the dark blue with brown shoe laces from h&m (Anna ;)  hahaha) but these ones are fine :) Thanks for sending me the package ! I literally got it right after I sent the email last week , it was SO CRAZY ! hahaha I guess you were really holding on to it until I answered your questions.

MTC Food

Ok, so the life of a missionary at the MTC. There's normally a highlight of everyday of the week, Monday is workshops, Tuesday is devotionals, Wednesday new people (orange dots) come in Thursday is p-day eve and cleaning of our classroom, Friday is p-day, Saturday isn't anything really , and Sunday is church and firesides. So basically on a normal day we wake up, normally 6:25 so we don't have to wait for a shower get out and breakfast at 7:10 and you gotta be ready for the day. Normally breakfast sucks, actually it's sucked every time except when they have breakfast burritos and something like mom's "breakfast". After breakfast we have to be in class by 7:40. It's a three hour class and we do language study, gospel study, and teaching investigators. after that depending on the day we have gym. Love gym- volleyball or soccer everyday, and since the gym's been closed I am just now getting back into the groove of volleyball I could have had like 3 more kills but I hit it out of bounds my last three - so lame anywho so we also have our own personal, companionship, and language study without a teacher during the day. Normally I just read through the scriptures or pmg in English and Spanish so I'm doing it all at once. Then lunch and dinner and after dinner we have another 3 hour class with a different teacher along the same blueprint. By the way my teachers are awesome and we have other teachers come in that are soooo chill. And everyone has like their own catch phrase. So my real teachers are hermano johnston-tengo fe en ustedes (I have faith in you guys) hermano larson- comments,chistes, chispes, cacahuates, elefantes somethin' somethin' somethin' I don't know all of it but basically just rhyming in spanish haha. Then we have hermano painter- pues pues pues mira quien es (well well well look who it is) hermano johnson - es lo maximo verdad ! or poderoso verdad ?! (it's the best right ! or it's powerful right) hahahaha hey james AYALOOOWAY !!!!! hahahahaha what was the other one ? en serio ? either way hilaruious. SO then we finish class by 8:30 study more, plan at 9 back to home by 9:30 , quiet time at 10:15 and lights out 10:30. Lather rinse repeat. So that's our life.

Paisley ties!

Study space

     If you send the grey pants could you send the other blue shoes with it ? Ok so this week we had an amazing devotional by a former seventy I believe sorry left my notes at the residence but anywho the thing that touched me the most about it was he told us a story of a misionary who wasn't having any success and his mission president, the guy talking, promised him that if they looked through the area book they would find someone to teach. So he did and found this lady who the missionaries had gone to, but never came back although she wanted them to. So they came over and she was so excited to answer the door and said ," I was afraid you guys had forgotten me" I never want to forget anyone. Every single child of God deserves the opportunity to hear the gospel and change their lives now, and have happiness - real happiness now.

     The other day we got on this conversation about the word of wisdom with our teacher and he said that some people had such bad addictions to drugs or alcohol and stuff that it was physically impossible for them to quit or they could die, or other problems. Too addicted that they couldn't change. Too addicted that they couldn't accept the fulness of the gospel. So they had to "drop" a lot of people.The thought is unbearable to me, I want to get there before anyone goes too far. Everyone deserves a chance. And I know that there is nothing that is too far beyond the infinite reach of the atonement. There's nothing beyond the reach of the savior's infinite love. So I need to get to them ! I ONLY HAVE 22 MONTHS !!!! That's not long at ALL !!!!

      Anywho no time left but I love you family, love you Sally, and your family ! I hope you guys are doing good ! READ YOUR SCRIPTURES EVERYDAY AND PRAY K LOVE YOU BYE !

-Elder Hawkins"

More Soccer & Teaching About Trials 7/28/12

"SO this week has been pretty sweet. Since the gym is closed we have to go to the field every day for gym so all I have been doing is playing soccer, hopefully my sets will still be in tact next week when it opens again. Anywho cool quick story . It's the end of gym, Corner kick, I make eye contact with who's kicking it and run he passes it right to me I go through two guys to get the ball , quick touch, shoot and bam score right as they call gym time over. WOOT WOOT it was pretty dang fun. So anywho that's pretty much all the normal stuff that happened this week hahaha. 

From left to right: Elder Nealson, Elder Willis, 

Elder Bever, Elder Hawkins & Elder Jensen

     TRC is tonight and last week it was really cool, I shared some personal stories about how I got responses to questions through prayer and reading the scriptures and I could totally feel the spirit. And this week we taught 2 guys together Esteban and Nate and they are both catholic but one isn't really there with a testimony so we talked about faith. Alma 32's experiment. That lesson was nearly perfect ! I was so shocked because for once my words came out quickly,fluidly, and it was just a totally rocking lesson. Thanking Heavenly Father for that one because seriously without the spirit helping me I'd be stuttering my words  hahaha. 

     So this week we taught a guy from Ecuador who moved to America but left all he had family and land to come here and his wife had a really hard time and they are going through a bunch of trials. Oh and we switched companions for this so it was me and Elder Bever. So planning for the lesson we thought of telling the story of Lehi and all their trials and how he comforted his wife with his testimony and as long as they had faith that Heavenly Father would deliver them they were able to overcome their trials. Then we cam up with Mosiah 24:14 cuz that's personally given me a lot of comfort in my life and yeah lesson went great! At the end I related as best I could some trials going on in my life that through it made me gain my testimony or strengthened it and I totally felt the spirit in the lesson and it was a short lesson too like 10 minutes! Jeez loeeez life is awesome up here.

     How's it going for all of you guys ?! I hope you enjoyed the letters , sorry Kimber and Lance for not sending one to you guys ! What's your address ? Ummmm other news I went to the temple today ! It's back up ! We stayed in the celestial room for like an hour hahaha it was awesome.

Provo Temple

     Hey guess what ! Dad your prayer is coming true because I haven't felt homesick yet ! Oh and I finished 1 Nephi the other day I decided this week that I was going to read the Book of Mormon start to finish and try to finish before I leave the MTC , hopefully I can ! Oh my gosh my teacher ran a marathon and we all guessed what his time would be, I guessed 3:05 and everyone else guessed lower. Anywho basically Murphy's law happened to him and as he was flying down the course 6 miles in like 30 minutes I think he said he started to get heat exhaustion from the weather and his feet felt on fire. When he finished the race they looked at his feet and literally half of his foot and up his heel was a blister on both feet and they had to scalpel it of BLEK ! but yeah basically I guessed the right time. . . if you added two more hours hahahaha old grandma's were passing him ! I love that guy OH don't forget to send the sd ca5rds ! and Sally I believe i got you're letter Tuesday and so you should send that birthday package now ;) thanks so much for the other package ! You saved elder Willis's life he needed that box more than me in class I'm all sorts of healthy, for the most part, now ! Oh awesome devotional on pioneers but being a pioneer in your family and to others by livning the gospel and no time but basically people are praying for you and praying to find the truth- so don't be scared to share it ! 

BE BOLD !!!!!

-love

Elder Hawkins BYE !"

Writing Letters & Sangria 7/20/12

On Fri, Jul 20, 2012 at 5:04 PM, Steven Hawkins <steven.hawkins@myldsmail.net> wrote:

Starting from left: Elder Glasset, Elder Wood, Elder Willis, Elder Nealson, Elder Cook, Elder Bever and Elder Hawkins. Photo from Provo Temple visit.

     "P-what ?! a P-day a P-what? a p-day! Woot woot! I get to write you guys again! So I found out we were actually breaking another rule this whole time, I have been writing letters everyday and apparently that's only legal on p-days. And they told us this right after p-day so I had a week to wait to tell you guys hahahaha. Oh my gosh I had such a cool experience with it though. So this other elder in my district is named Elder Willis and he reminds me in his mannerisms a lot like Jay. But he's way more outgoing than Jay and just crazy but we hang out every night and he is definitely one of my best friends here. And so the night they told us we couldn't write anyone I was like ok lame I really don't want to follow this rule cuz I had just written two letters to you guys that weren't quite yet finished and so I asked heavenly father to bless me with humility and then I just kept hearing mom say 100% obedience. If they tell you to boil that water YOU BOIL IT hahaha. So I felt I got my answer and just then Elder Willis came into my room and asked me for some advice and he was like my good friend is struggling with his testimony of the church and he could go either way right now basically and he sent me a letter, do you think it's ok if I write a quick one and just tell him I can only write on Fridays anymore ? So I said well I really didn't want to follow this rule either but for me I felt like I should, but you know what how about we pray about it. So we shut the door to my room just him and asked him who he wanted to say it, me. So I said a prayer asking heavenly father to let us know the answer and right when I said amen he was like yeah it's a no. And i was like oh wow really? And he was like yeah the second you started praying I knew it could wait. Such an amazing experience. I am so thankful for these elders. 

 

     Oh my gosh totally opposite note, so yesterday I bought a sangria and a sangria is a bottled beverage and they didn't have any bottle caps so I was trying to figure out a way to do it. So right before we get to our building for class, Elder Glassett is like hey you should pop it off against the brick wall it will pop right off. So I thought he was serious and that it would work. So I walk up to the wall right next to Elder Tanner who is holding the door open for me and pop it off. and BAM it erupted out of there and got all over me and poor Elder Tanner. BAHAHAHAHa his face was PRICELESS. So our whole district minus elder Tarr, Cook, Wood, and Nelson saw the whole thing. So funny ! Elder Glassett didn't think I was so gullible. . . ridiculous. He felt so bad but I was like no worries you just made memories. And Elder Tanner was such a good sport about it hahahaha. And today I got another one and when I walked out I passed elder Tanner and he said good luck hahaha. I clearly need it. 

Sangria explosion!

 

 

     So today I forget my card to do laundry or so I thought so when we got back to our room to look for it I prayed and voila ! I found it in a secret compartment in my wallet. I love prayer - works every time. So what's going on with you guys ? How's everyone doing ? Did James get the job ? How was volleyball camp today ? And how did the softball camp go ? I sent you all a letter minus Kimber and Lance sorry guys I ran out of time, I accidentally fell asleep today. But did you send me Adam's and Hunter's address I can't remember. I literally have a drawer now overflowing with dear elders. Next P-day I gotta categorize them. Oh did I tell you guys that I got an 100% on my Spanish test I took the other week ? Wellllll I did so woot ! kind of exciting. Oh and thanks again for all the dear elders, could you guys tell Louis and Jon and Adam and Hunter and everyone that if they have time I would love to get a dear elder from them ! Oh my gosh which reminds me Anna or Katie you have to tell Dani and Jackie Waldron that Paul Russavage is in the mtc with me ! Andrew fisher is still here because his visa isn't processed yet but his companion is already in the Madrid MTC. 

 

     Oh and yesterday when we were playing soccer an elder came up to me and was like you are amazing. Such a stinking kind thing to say ! So I returned the compliment but yeah seems like the long tall string bean is at it again hahaha. Some of these elders take sports waaaaaaaay to seriously though so I juke em and run like crazy. 

 

     Which reminds me we had a talk by a guy who was talking about an elder who was scared to go home because all of his friends had gotten into bad things and so his mission or stake president gave him this advice, if ever someone does something that doesn't coincide with your standards you turn, and you run like like hell. hehehehehe so yeah just do as my seminary teacher said when we learned about Joseph and potiphers wife. You say I am shocked ! that a daughter of God would do such a thing and then you peace out ! run like heck guys :P love you all. Can't wait to hear from you.

 

 

 

-Elder Hawkins

p.s. I love you
p.p.s sally"

Teaching from the heart + 4th of July

     "So today is p-day once again :) WOOT WOOT ! That's so exciting that she made the news, make sure you guys laminate that ! LAMINATED ! hahaha and sweet I am excited to get a package those are the most prestigious things here, and Sally gave me one so WOOT ! Thanks Sally ! It WAS as good as it sounded and I made sure to share with elder Jensen. So what else is going on? How was hanging with everyone at the beach? How was the 4th of July with everyone? By the way that letter all you amazing people sent me was the most meaningful thing ever and I am gonna hold on and cherish it forever. I love you guys ! 

     I can't say that I am really homesick right now cuz I haven't felt homesick yet, but I can say that I miss your guys's voices. I picture them every time I read- I love you guys ! So on our 4th of July some crazy stuff went down. It was a normal day like any other until the devotional that night we had a judge talk about freedom and religion and stuff and it was way sick but before we even started They told us we could take off our jackets (thank goodness cuz it gets so hot !) and we started singing stuff like popcorn popping and the snowman one and the MTC president asked anyone with a birthday on the 4th and on Christmas and int this month to come up and we kept singing happy birthday, and then we sang happy birthday to America. And the best part was the president asked all those that had gotten a dear john or a dear Jane to come up and when we did we all sang love one another to them hahah. It was such a stinking rowdy devotional and there was a bagpipes player in the end and a bunch of flags from all over and they showed pictures of every mission and it was sweet and after we left the gym to eat magnum ice cream bars and watch the fireworks. We couldn't go to our rooms until after they were all over and it wasn't even a good show. Even if the beach boys were there. 

     So we went to bed at like 11:30 and it was me Elder Jensen Elder Bever and Elder Willis that were hanging out. It was crazy fun even though we got a lack of sleep. Oh and I got a haircut today . The reason I was bearded upon arrival to the MTC was because I left my razor with you guys and I got the razor the morning of me entering, oh and no music in the MTC so lame! On the mission I can so that's good. OH sally please send me that cd ! I would love it ! 

    HOLY CRAP PEOPLE !!!!!!!!!! So I was reading my scriptures and you guys . . . the church is true. All you endowed people reading this look at the Abraham facsimile #2 and just read it and look at all the pictures VERY carefully ! ESPECIALLY fig.7 SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAZZZZZZZYYYYYYYYYYYY !!!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH ! I was on a freaking cloud yesterday when I saw that, cuz yeah I was just praying to figure out some new stuff and learn something new . Ended up having my MIND BLOWN !! so yeah read it look at it freak out a little bit at the awesomeness of it ! yeah. 

     Anywho so in other news I'm getting amazing at volleyball, all we do is play that or soccer. Days when we have late gym is volleyball in the AC gym and morning gym is soccer or futbol. Oh sally can you do me a favor and look up the history of how the church got a hold of the facsimiles of Abraham and can you look up the Joseph Smith papers info on LDS.org and send that to me or something? that would be great!

     12 minutes left. So we had this really cool devotional the other day about Joseph smith that was amazing and I have such a greater respect and understanding of him and what he went through, and after we sang praise to the man and the spirit was tangible it was like his spirit was there just listening to us sing. 

    And the other really cool spiritual thing this week was this workshop we had. We had to teach someone on the opposite side of the room with a random person- luckily I got Elder Willis and the instructor said k 6 minutes to teach the first lesson. So normally you get to know the people you teach but we had no time so we taught as best we could and super quick but when we got to the first vision I slowed down and really tried to speak from the heart. After he said you guys need to focus more on teaching people not lessons but he had felt a difference when I said the first vision. Then I found this awesome quote on missionary work that says basically are we just giving people information or are we giving them salvation. Totally changed my life. So after I tried my best to teach from the heart the whole lesson and we taught an investigator named Luis (my teacher) and before we left the room he was like hold on a second. That was the best first lesson I've ever been given by anyone, in all the time I've been at the MTC. Totally made me feel like all my hardwork trying to learn and trying to really teach from my heart paid off . ! And we had the same experience that night teaching our sub "jonathan" and he said that he felt a tangible difference in the spirit. It makes me feel so good, like I'm actually progressing because at times I feel I', not. Then when we taught Macario my other teacher I said the first vision again and now every time I teach and every time I say those words and every time I bear witness to truth, I can feel the spirit. It's tangible. And it feels amaznig. I have been so blessed with all you wonderful people. So thank you guys so much for being the amazing people you are. Just know that I love you guys and I want to hear everything that is going on. I love you guys ! 

     Thanks for sharing that you shared your testimony at girls camp with me, that whole letter I was tearing up in my room hoping no one was watching me. Did Liz go to singles ward? CONGRRATS JACKAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYY on being able to do your paperwotrk !!!!You are gonna be such an awesome missionary! Cody your inhaler makes you twice as cool as a gazeboo and your celestial potential is officially like a 12. Sorry you haven't gotten anything back from me letter wise I have been super busy I will try to be better. k no time I love you guys. 

     Thanks for the letter I love you guys! Buena suerte con todo. Nuestro padre celestial siempre esta contigo. LOVE YOU GUYS.

-Elder Hawkins "

Soccer & the Tree of Life

Friday, July 13, 2012, 3:42 PM

     "So my p-day is on Fridays and I actually sent out my first letters today, sorry it's just been super busy on my end. 

     

     Just so you all know I appreciate the dear elder letters that I keep getting from you guys :) they make my day ! Estoy muy agradecidos por mi familia y mis amigos ! Oh and could you send Louis and Jon my information and get their addresses, because I need to talk to them ! So every Tuesday we do service and what normally ends up happening is I do showers hahaha ironic huh mom, but the ground gets super wet so I glide everywhere in the bathroom. And this one personal bathroom there's a mirror and secretly I danced in there twice after I went to the bathroom haha. I'm a nerd I know. So Elder Nelson is from Idaho and we were just hanging out and talking about stuff and he's super into hip hop and he knew what popping was so that was cool. And Elder Wood and I have a mutual friend ! OH MY GOSH my good friend Kate Stromberg whom I had a crush on freshman year works here ! I see her now and then at dinner, she's awesome . Winston is up here now which is sweet and elder Fisher (Andrew) is still here because his visa hasn't processed yet. Make sure you tell Izzy that I play volleyball with Andrew all the time. Which reminds me Katie when I get back, we are sooooooooo playing it all the time I've gotten so stinking good ! Not to toot my horn too much but my sets are like yours now, aka perfect and I back set well now and yeah it's awesome I LOVE VOLLEYBALL ! But soccer has been so amazing too there's good competition amongst the elders and we play as a district now. Elder Glassett and Elder Jarvis play and were on clubs and such in Utah and Arizona and they both play center mid they work really well together. I have gotten sooooo much better at my passing game, make sure you tell bishop that I'm back hahaha cuz when we played I was off.

      

     So what else is there to talk about. I just got done cleaning the temple which was pretty cool . And it's been a really chill day :) My Spanish is coming along ! I am so thankful for that, but I know it's not me hahha. Oh my goodness gracious so we have this thing called TRC and it's every Friday the elders go in and teach members and yeah it's really fun and last week we were teaching this one couple who are getting married on my birthday- so cool- and we were teaching about the plan of salvation. And I just felt like talking about the importance of families in the eternal scheme of things and how important it is that families stay together, and stay together in the gospel . then I told them how my two older siblings are kind of inactive right now, and how it's hard at times because you want them to realize the happiness they're missing out on. And how it's gonna suck after this life if I can't be with them because,hello you people are my world and I love you all to death. So I wasn't sure how the lesson went. But we get review sheets back from the people we teach and the girl I taught said that her older siblings as well have gone inactive and that now she feels the importance of being an example to them. And it just made me feel like wow. I'm actually a difference in someone's life. It's like the tree of life, you know how when Lehi takes a bite he wants to share it with his family ? Well the joy isn't just in the eating of the fruit, or learning the will and word of God, it's in sharing it. I feel that joy so much when I am teaching, and when I feel I'm making a difference. I feel the spirit when I teach and it's the coolest thing. I definitely need a lot of work with my teaching skills and Spanish, but for now I'm just happy that I've been able to help a select few with what little capability I have. 

 

 

     So about my plaque , I gotta look good. Straight up hahahaha. So I will either send you a picture from out here cuz I just got a shnazzy new haircut or some really great thing. Oh and for a scripture the one that gave me a reason to go on a mission was 2 Nephi 2:8 but my favorite scripture is this really short AMAZING verse in Isaiah 49:16. I absolutely love it. So yeah just make sure I look good and PLEASE send the package soon I am sick with an upper respiratory tract infection (according to the doctors) and I need my netti pot hahaha and then I can send you all the pictures and all the fun I am having hahaha. K well I gotta go get dinner I love you family. You are ALL an example to me. I love you sooooooo much and Sally you are in this equation too and you too Jackay and Liz so love you gotta go BYE !

 

your favorite white boy elder,

Elder Hawkins"