Mike says,

Merry Christmas!

He talked to his family this morning.

Here are a few highlights:

It's raining in Brazil today.

He had a baptism on Saturday December 22nd.

He won't be emailing again until January 7th.

Transfers are next week.

Mike is VERY HAPPY with the BYU Bowl Game results.

He wasn't worried about the game, and says,

"That's just how my Cougars do it."

Greg did what?‏

Hey Family,

5-9 inches of snow? Greg had a solo in the concert? Mom is adding text-messaging to the cell phone plan? Greg had 2 solos? Ruby already turned 1? Greg is seriously applying to BYU? The BYU Women’s Basketball team beat UCLA? Greg is talking to girls? What have you people done with my little brother? That is awesome. Now we just have to make sure Greg gets dates for Senior Ball and Homecoming, and then sends an audition tape into the BYU Marching Band. Heck, maybe when he comes back from France/Africa/Korea he might even play intramurals at BYU with me and the rest of the boys.

I’ve officially made my predictions for the Las Vegas Bowl in a letter I wrote this morning. I will try to recreate it here but I don’t have the written documentation with me so I might have a few errors. BYU 31- UCLA 22. Harvey Unga will rush for 117 yards and a touchdown. Manase Tonga will also have a rushing touchdown. Max Hall will go 22-40 with 209 yards, 2 TDs and 2 INTs. Austin Collie will catch 6 passes for 106 yards and a TD. The other TD Pass will be to Dennis Pitta who will finish with 3 catches for 25 yards. On the defensive side: Jan Jorgensen and Bryan Kehl will each get a turn knocking Ben Olson (or whoever else is stupid enough to take a snap with Jan Jorgensen on the opposite side of the line), Poppinga will have 12 tackles, and Ben Criddle will get an INT in his last game of College Football. I don’t think that’s exactly what my predictions were but its close enough to get the point across. All that really matters is that we will be walking away with another trophy. Go Cougars!

Zone Conference was a success yesterday. I spent a LOT of time on a bus, but that’s part of serving out west. At the Zone Conference I got to see Elder Huber for the first time since I left BYU in April. He is doing good and speaking great Portuguese. He speaks better than some of the Americans who are senior companions here in the mission. What’s not fair is that his Zone (Lages) is having a Super P-day today. All the Elders are coming together in Lages to play soccer and basketball. I am jealous. SO jealous. Another little piece of startling news came to my attention Sunday night. Elder Guimaraes is serving in Pato Branco now that Elder Bateman left. He brought out his album of photos to show me and I encountered a couple of surprises. His first picture was of him with 4 missionaries. The 2 that baptized him and the other two that served in that ward. The American in the photo that didn’t baptize him was Jacob Michaelis. I played little league baseball against, and had a number of classes in Junior High with his brother, Andrew Michaelis. Jacob was friends with the seniors I knew in band as a sophomore. The Michaelis family moved to Montana after my freshman year at Gale. It turns out that Elder Guimaraes’s companion, Elder Peterson, also knew Jacob from back home. I then turned about 10 pages in the photo album before coming across a bunch of photos of the Elder who taught Elder Guimaraes the new member lessons about a year and a half ago. You know who it was? Any guesses? Elder Rucks. Elder JARED RUCKS. I could not believe it. Everyone I knew from Idaho Falls who went on a mission to Brazil knows this Elder Guimaraes. Its absurd. I took a picture with him to email to you guys. I’m sorry. I look like an idiot in all my photos. Especially these. Since it was our Christmas Conference everyone was taking pictures of everyone. We always had three or four cameras going and it turns out that I was always looking the other way or making a stupid face when someone took a picture with my camera. I never have liked pictures.

The other two pictures I’m sending are:

(1) a picture of my Christmas package, all that good stuff just waiting to get opened.

(2) a picture of the White Elephant gift I received. It’s a bunch of pieces of metal welded together to make a violin player. I guess the coil is supposed to serve as a pen holder or something. Merry Christmas to me.

I think that’s everything to report form Concordia this week. We will have a baptism on Saturday. We’ll spend New Year’s Eve and Day in Chapeco and I will most likely be catching a bus from Chapeco to Florianopolis (or anywhere else in the mission) on January 2. My P-days the next two weeks will be Christmas and New Years so you won’t be getting any emails. Next week I’ll talk to you on the phone and I’ll write you a letter on New Year’s Day telling you about transfers. I might not include transfers information in the next few emails just so that you have to wait a little.

Patiently Waiting for a Green, Green, Green Christmas,
Elder Haws(mo)

Setting Records‏

Hey Family,

I got mail. The Dansie's were here last Monday so Sister Dansie made a sweep of the new apartment. She likes it but is surprised that we have so little furniture. She said we should go get a table and some chairs so that we have SOMETHING in our front room besides the ironing board. She also informed me that she had a couple letters for me. 46. And two packages. I think I set a record. The next day (Tuesday) we went to Chapeco for a training by the Zone Leaders and interviews with the Dansies. No one believes me that I got 46 letters. It must be some kind of record. Thanks for the love and the letters. I opened up the Christmas package to see how it was going to work, and now have the individually wrapped presents out. Just waiting another 2 weeks. I think I should be able to make it. I've never had a LOT of patience, but I could generally outlast Mindy when it came to gifts.

We spent all day Friday in Xanxere for Elder Wright to do a baptismal interview. The Sisters will baptize again this weekend so we'll be spending another Friday in Xanxere this week. Then Sunday we head to Chapeco before the midnight bus to Lages for Zone conference. Elder Wright is convinced I will get transfered to the beach after New Year's so he says I should enjoy my last long bus ride to conference. I am beginning to suspect that I might be sticking around one more but we will definately see what happens. As far as Xanxere last week: it was a LONG trip. We always get up at around 5:30 to shower and catch the 6:30 bus to Xanxere. Once we're there we have a District Meeting, eat lunch and do visits/baptismal interviews until our bus home that is scheduled for 10:10 PM. As luck would have it, the bus didn't pull into the station until 11PM which meant we were walking through the door of our apartment at 1:30AM. 5 Hours before Saturday started. It was a hard weekend of work in the sun, but despite our lack of sleep, we've got a few more souls ready for the water. Technically we could have two baptisms this Saturday but we're going to wait a week to do a little more preparation with them. We've got a few other groups of investigators practically in the water but they still need a little time to resolve some stuff.

Let's see if we can work out this phone call business. To simplify matters I think we'll just have you call our cell phone, but you have to promise to never call us again at that number. You understand me? Sister Dansie informed me that we are 5 hours ahead of Idaho time, which means a 10AM call from you guys will be 3PM here. I'm good with that if you are. You guys are more than welsome to call me earlier if you give me a little notice in an email, or you can call MUCH later. Elder Wright is planning on his parents calling at 11:30AM Utah time, 4:30PM Brazil Time. If you guys want to wait to call in the afternoon, it would be ok. If you decide to call at 1:30PM Idaho (6:30PM Brazil) that would work too. Our plans for Christmas will be visiting every house a little bit and eating as much as we can. You guys can pick one of the aforementioned times or make up your own schedule, just let me know in the email next week. I NEED TO KNOW YOUR PLAN NEXT WEEK. You guys will have more stuff to worry about on Christmas so just fit me in whenever you guys will have 30-40 minutes free. To call me here it will be ***-**-**-****-****. That includes Brazil's international code and everything. I think. The **-****-**** is the area code and phone number for our phone. The ***-** should handle the Brazil and international stuff. Good luck.

Because of Zone Conference next Monday I won't be emailing until Tuesday. The next week I'll talk to you guys on the phone, and then the next week is Transfers. This is where things should get interesting. Elder Huber, my friend from BYU (Moose: The blonde Brock that was on our basketball team) is currently serving in the Lages Zone so I'll get to see him next Moday for the first time in 8 months. Next Sunday marks 7 months. Only 17 more to go.

The sun is hot, the stack of letters is huge, the work is moving, and I'm fine so stop worrying about me.

In the shadow of 7 months,
Elder Haws(mo)

The Absence of Jack Frost‏

Hey Family,

December is upon us here in Concordia. It makes me sick to think that you guys have snow. Lots of cold, white snow. Saturday we were eating lunch with Roberto and Elizete in deadly heat. They have a clock that tells the temperature as well as other things. It was placed directly in front of a fan that was on high and the temperature still read 90 Fahrenheit. This is only the beginning of a Brazilian summer. I WANT SNOW!!!

The days seem to be getting longer. Fasting this last weekend was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. 24 hours without food wasn’t hard at all. It was the burning sun combined with constant hills that made my soul yearn for the sensation of cool water coursing down my dry, burning throat. As soon as Sacrament Meeting was over we ran to another classroom, said a prayer to end our fast, and made QUICK work of a 2 Liter Grape soda that we had bought on Saturday. I drank more water, juice, and pop in the first two hours after the fast than I ever drank in an entire week back home. This is good to be a good, hot summer. Everyone tells me I haven’t felt anything yet. Mindy used to complain that when the family didn’t pray she had to eat fish. I think that you guys should all say a couple extra prayers in my behalf to see if we can’t get some SNOW in Concordia. Please?

Our new apartment is NEW. Brand new. Just built. The only problem is that is located on top of a hill. A GOOD hill. There was nothing available near the flat, center of the city. Our apartment is a little smaller than the old one, we have a little less furniture, and the Dansie’s are coming by tonight to check it out which means we get to do some extra sweeping and mopping. Plus we have to drill some holes and get some curtains up. Sister Dansie doesn’t like having any windows that people can see into. We even had blinds on all our windows at the old apartment… that was on the fourth floor of the building. Ah well, sometimes you have to make sacrifices to keep the Mission President’s wife happy.

I keep hearing all these little pieces of information about my Cougars. I want to get my letters so I can read EVERYTHING about what has been happening. Football ranked #17, Volleyball going to the Regional Semis; everybody decides to make national headlines when I leave. Just make sure that my Cougars keep winning next year so that when I get back I can push them into a REAL Bowl Game. Maybe by my senior year we’ll be bringing home the championship! Yes, I know that is quite a big dream. Leave me be. I have the faith.

The work is just as difficult as ever. We’ve had some ministers from other churches telling people that it costs $15 to get any item from our pass-along cards. We have a bunch of people that are ready to jump in the water; we just have to get them to church another time. In nearly 5 months here it’s still the same people that seem to be ready for baptism. We just have to get to work and finish the job now.

Other info: I can’t open the picture of the band that Mom sent November 18th, the powder Gatorade mix would be a great thing to put in a package, peanut butter, as of right now we don’t have any concrete plans for where we will be on Christmas but you can probably call me at around 10 AM (Idaho Time). I will be getting the information about HOW to call Brazil today. I hope to have all the Phone Call stuff figured out by next week. I figure 10 AM would let Dad sleep in until 9 before opening presents and then after an hour (and before scones) you could give me a call. Just let me know if that won’t work out.

The work is good, the sun is hot, and I’m fine so stop worrying about me.

Praying for a Blizzard,
Elder Haws(mo)

New Home

Hey Family,

I love to hear about my COUGARS! That’s how we do it! Last second drives to send the Utes home crying, beating #6 ranked Louisville and battling #1 UNC to the death. YES! I only wish that I could have contributed to the week by adding a baptism, but that one will be waiting a little while. My bad. So within the next month I will have officially missed half the Cougar Football I’m going to miss. After Christmas there will just be one more Football Season and two more basketball seasons until it’s over. Elder Wright will hit one year in the mission this week. He keeps talking about how it flies by. These 6 months have been pretty quick for me but the 18 months in front of me still looks pretty imposing.

The work is coming along here in Concordia. We had 7 investigators at church yesterday, which is really good. The problem is that the 4 investigators most likely to be baptized within the next two weeks weren’t there. We have marriage, divorce, alcohol, and coffee problems to work out before we can start doing some real splashing. The dam will probably break and bury the city of Concordia in the waters of baptism my first week in another area. Oh well, that’s what missionary work is all about, right? By the way, does anybody know some fairly successful tactics for quitting alcohol and coffee that we could try? New ideas could never hurt.

Being in the farthest west portion of a mission in Southern Brazil is hard when the new church magazines are coming out. The members got the November Liahona with the October Conference this week. We will probably get Conference in Portuguese next week at Interviews and English at Transfers after New Years. However, in the October Ensign (it might have been a different one) a buddy of mine was talked about. In the back they showed a little article about a press conference at the MTC where Elder Ballard talked with a few missionaries and he picked Brandon Soelburg to give a little quote. It was just a little line in the back of an Ensign but I was excited for him. He is among a host of young Elders (including McKay Jacobson) serving in Japan. It’s crazy to sit back and think about where all my friends are serving.

Thanks for sending pictures and stuff in your emails. I think I get them all and I am able to open well over 70% of them. As such, I will now be sending a couple photos home of the old apartment. It was a bigger apartment (which just means it was more work to clean). There haven’t been too many opportunities for picture taking but when I take some more I will be sure to send them.

The hills are steep, the sun is hot, the work is going, and I’m fine so stop worrying about me.

Spending P-Day Celebrating my Cougars,
Elder Haws(mo)

Firmly Rooted in Concordia‏

Hey Family,

I’m still sitting tight down here in Concórdia. The phone call we received from the Zone Leaders last night revealed that there are no changes being made in Concordia. I will hit 7.5 months in the mission with only one area. I have no idea what will happen in January, but there have been times that President Dansie left Elders in their first area for their first 7 months in the field. If that is the case with me I’ll be here in Concordia until late February-early March and EVERYONE in town will know me. Oh well, at least we’ll have a few baptisms coming up.

I turned 6 months last Friday but wasn’t able to burn a tie…yet. We should have an opportunity to do some burning near the end of this week. I should have some pictures of the inferno to send to you guys in a couple weeks. Dad will probably be upset but I think I’ll be burning one of the ties we bought at Ferrell’s. Sorry. You can send me another one if you want.

Last night I also found out that Elder Bateman got transferred. I will get an email next week telling me where everyone in the mission is. I wish we would have gotten it today. It’s no fun to be in the dark with regards to what is going on in the mission. Not to mention in the dark with regards to Cougar Sports. Usually the Chapeco Zone has interviews the second Monday of the transfer (which would be next Monday, the 26) but we won’t have them until December 4. That is a LONG time until mail. It’s probably a good thing though. Now I can really sit down and focus on the work. We’re going to have to do some good-hard working to get the 8 baptisms we want this transfer. Yes, I know that that is an absurd number. That is the goal we set, and if nothing else, we will get at least one.

As far as interesting stories go, we had a level F-1 tornado in Concordia last week. When we went to bed there was just a light rain, we never saw it coming. At about 3 in the morning Elder Wright woke up to the howl of the wind. When he realized what was going on he ran to the balcony, where he had clothes drying, pulled them inside, and just sat and watched the happenings. It turns out that the winds were up around 140 kph. Elder Wright yelled at me to wake me up. He asked if I could hear the howling wind from my bed. I replied: “Yup, it’s pretty cool.” He was up for the rest of the night because the pounding rain and screaming wind was too loud for him to sleep. As soon as I finished my short reply I was asleep again. As Elder Wright was telling everyone about this throughout the past week no one believed that I could sleep through a tornado. I simply replied that the howl of the tornado was nothing compared to the sound of a Haws boy snoring. Elder Wright confirmed this fact, and I guarantee that Elder Bateman would agree after our 2 months in the MTC. I woke up to Elder Bateman hitting me in the face with a pillow on more than one occasion.

Concordia is hot, the hills are steep, and the work is continuing. I’m doing fine so stop worrying about me.

Only remembering Thanksgiving because the Holy War is coming up,
Elder Haws(mo)

Sitting Eagerly-(Waiting Patiently) by the Mailbox‏

Hey Family,

You guys are probably all going to go outside and play in the snow today. That is not fair. Southern Brazil is no where near as hot as up North, but I’m still baking like a spud climbing these mountains. I’m scared to ask someone what the temperature is because the translation to Fahrenheit would give be numbers I’ve never seen before. I could be losing a lot of weight right now, but that process is slowed down a little by how much I eat at lunch appointments. The members always say they want us to eat all the food, so I do. Oh well. Now that I’ve finally got a little bit of a tan the members of the branch presidency (who all returned from missions in the past 5 years and are whiter than Jonah) have started telling me that I’m turning black. Its hard work climbing mountains in the Brazilian sun but it’s what I’m here to do.

We had 2 baptisms practically guaranteed for this weekend, until their family went on a trip to Chapeco for the week end. It was going to a brother-sister combination that are 10 and 11 years old, respectively. I have been teaching them since my second or third week here, so I was getting hopeful that I would still be here for their baptism. If they come to church Sunday (the 18th) they can be baptized the next Saturday (the 24th) the problem is that transfers are the Wednesday between (the 21st). Now I REALLY want to stick around for another 6 weeks. This would be a great branch to spend Christmas with, and it looks like 6 people could be ready for the water next transfer. It is highly unlikely all 6 will get splashed, but I still like dreaming a little bit.

Not getting mail last week kind of put me to shame. Normally us “Western Missionaries” get mail every three weeks: once at interviews and once at Zone Conference. The Dansies didn’t bring any mail to interviews since they just did them after our District Conference (like Stake Conference, but we have a District, not a stake). For the week leading up to Zone Conference Elder Wright and I talked a little about the letters I was expecting. People had told him I normally get a stack of letters and Zone Conference, and I was telling him that since we didn’t get anything at Interviews I’d be getting even more. Right now I haven’t seen a letter in 6 weeks, and he keeps reminding me how wrong I was. It’s a real shot to the pride (which is probably a good thing) but I hope to have even more to rub in his face the next time we get mail (I have my fingers crossed that I’ll get something before Christmas).

Greg is applying to BYU? When did that happen? Is he going to try for the marching band? He definitely should. He’ll get in NO PROBLEM. I made my audition tape when I had bronchitis and couldn’t breathe and they let me in. He will get in with no sweat and have the time of his life with “The Power of the Wasatch”. Greg: Don’t worry. The BYU Marching Band is a lot more relaxed than the IF Band. Everyone learns their music, everyone learns their spots, and the marching technique is a lot less strict. It really is a LOT of fun. Not to mention you’d be joining the Bone Brethren and the Bone Babes. I don’t want to pressure or guilt you into doing anything, just know that you can do it and it would be a lot of fun for you. Plus you would get back from your mission in France or Korea just in time to for my senior year in the band. THAT will be fun!

Next week I should have some real information. Assuming I’m transferred I will tell you about my new area, companion, and the travel. If I don’t get transferred, my email might be even more boring. Sorry. Keep me posted on life, sports, and my Cougars.

The work is great (we’re finding a lot of new people), the weather is fine (whenever my the sidewalk isn’t boiling its raining “cats and dogs”), and I’m doing good so stop worrying about me.

Always on the Search,
Elder Haws(mo)

Sons of Concordia‏

Hey Family,

John Beck is starting Sunday? BABY! Make sure to record that game and set it aside for me. I want to see it in around 18 months. The IF Tigers are going to the State Championship? What the heck? I remember getting letters a couple months back that said we were horrible and didn't have a chance at winning any game. We beat Highland in the Minidome? Was dad smoking something when he wrote me that email yesterday? How did you guys manage to buy a car? I appreciate the comment about the Vanity Plates and me driving it to BYU, but how did we buy a car?

Just to clear up the deal about mailing addresses:

Packages from now until February MUST be sent to:

Elder Michael Kent Haws
Rua Feliciano Nunes Pires, 42 Centro
CEP 88015-220
Florianópolis- SC Brasil

Because the Pouch to Brazil died last week, ALL LETTERS MUST BE SENT TO the address with "Caixa ###" in it. I think its Caixa 391 but I can't remember off the top of my head and I don't have it with me. After the Christmas rush (meaning once March comes around) Packages can be sent to either address. Just don’t ever put anything in the pouch again if you want it to get to me.

Life is crazy. I cannot believe this transfer is nearly over. It seems like we're only two weeks into it, but we'll be finding out about transfers in a little over a week and a half. I hope to stay in Concordia over Christmas and get transferred the 3rd of January. The problem is that I am with an American companion right now. It seems unlikely that we would stay together for multiple transfers; especially considering Elder Bateman up in Pato Branco also got an American senior companion this transfer. Right now there are only 4 Brazilians in our Zone with 10 Americans (2 Americans are couple missionaries serving in Chapeco). As far as Christmas is concerned, they want us to start figuring out how we are going to do the call. We can't make a phone call home the week before to confirm plans so we have to start early. The problem is that I don't know where I will be for Christmas, but I will in 2 weeks. At that time I will be able to figure out when and where to have the call. As for right now we just need to decide who is calling who. If I call you guys I will have to buy a card here. President Dansie said that in the past parents tried to mail phone cards to the missionaries here, but American cards won't work here. What ever you guys decide will work out for me. The rule is the same: 30-40 minutes for the phone call.

Yesterday was a wretched day. I love traveling to and from Zone Conference, in the sense that it is the only real opportunity the Western Missionaries get to see anyone. Elder Wright tells me that the missionaries back in Florianopolis get together on P-Days and sometimes they will bring 2 or three zones together for P-day, since everyone is within an hour of each other. My Zone Leaders are in another city two and a half hours away by bus. The rest of our district (the Sisters in Xanxere) is also two and a half hours away. As such, we only see one another quickly at interviews with the President, and Zone Conference, and briefly for Baptismal Interviews. I loved getting to see by western buddies and even got a picture taken with the last 3 junior companions that served in Concordia. They were all trained here too. Two of them are currently training and the other trained around the time I got to the field. Elder Wright was jealous so we let him into the 2nd picture. But anyway, the day was horrible because I was on a bus for a total of 16 hours yesterday. Midnight to 8AM. 4PM to Midnight. The idea of a bus had to of come from a short person. There is no way for me to get comfortable on a bus. Usually the trip home is great because I get a stack of letters to read but this time the Dansie's left the letters for the Chapeco Zone in Floripa. I guess I'll just get an enormous stack and a package the next time I see the President.

As always, there are a couple things that crossed my mind that could be sent to me: Peanut Butter, Body Wash of any brand (they don't appear to sell it in Brazil), a little comb (we tried to but one before I left but all we could find was big ones. It seems that if I want to by a comb here I have to buy a big pack of assorted combs), Ties are always welcome (I might be burning one next week to celebrate 6 months---May 16 - November 16)

The sun is hot, the hills are steep, the search continues, and I'm doing fine so stop worrying about me.

Dreaming of a White Christmas,

Elder Haws(mo)

Wandering Thoughts of an American in Concordia‏

Hey Family,

Wow. I’ve now been in Brazil for 5 and a half months. Has it felt that long to you guys? I still feel like I was playing with the nephews (and nieces) a month ago. It’s kind of scary to think that with about 18 months left down here, I will be a senior companion within the 18 months. That doesn’t feel right. I think I need another 2 or 3 years to learn all the tricks of the trade. Not to mention the fact that I’m going to get transferred some day. Who came up with this “transfers” idea? I’ve been here for 3 and a half months, I know the city, I know the members, I know how to get to any neighborhood I want, and some of the people have gotten accustomed to me enough that they don’t run away on the streets anymore. And now in as soon as 3 weeks I could be packing my bags and heading to a city that I don’t know, with my streets I’ve never walked down, with people who have never seen an American before (do I need to mention that I don’t look like the “average” American). Don’t think that I’m whining or complaining, it’s just that I’m comfortable here and the idea of getting shipped away is still a little strange to a Greenie like me.

The work continues. The baptism that we had all lined up for this Saturday won’t happen. Hopefully he’ll be in the water before I leave, but there is no telling at this point. Everyone keeps talking about how strange it is to have 2 Americans here together, but nobody seems to be complaining. Now at lunch appointments and lessons we get lots of questions about what things are like in America. About food, about music, about people, cars, cities, etc. It’s strange. Right now the Brazilian way of life seems normal, seems right. And the idea of life in the States again seems like a far-off fantasy. I guess that it’s for the best though. I’m only around a quarter of the way done. There’s plenty of work still to do. I’ve just got to “Shut Up! Focus!” as my Zone Leader says.

I’m sorry. I really don’t know what else there is to write to you guys right now. There are probably hundreds of things that happen everyday that are normal for me that you guys would find intriguing but I can’t think of a single one. As such, I will answer a couple questions Mom sent to me back in August with regards to the pictures she took at my farewell. Mom, there were a couple people you didn’t know so here goes: In the top picture (the one with Spencer, Brianna, Britnee Searle and Keegan Hunter) the girl is Adrienne Love and the guy next to me is Kyle Martin (he is serving in the Campinas mission—right outside Sao Paulo). The Second picture is Erin Avondet, Brenna Smith, and Emma LeSueur. The third is Emma, Aaron Jenkins, and Ashleigh Dalton. Aaron is the grandson of Sister Jenkins in our ward. Could you guys talk to her and find out if he has his mission call?

Life is good, the work is coming along, and I’m doing fine. Stop worrying about me. If you’re still wondering what to send me for Christmas/Birthday: Pictures of family, friends, house, temple, etc. Candy. Advice, Stories, Missionary tips form the siblings or anybody else. A Rubix Cube. Ties. A small “Stuffed Animal” cougar and/or potato. A CHEAP BYU hat or visor. Scripture markers (dry highlighters, colored pencils). Candy. New razor heads for a Gillette Fusion (they don’t have them at all in Brazil yet). More info about my Cougar Sports. Anything else. None of the aforementioned items are necessities. Only ideas if you don’t have any.

I Love You All

Working with my heart, might, mind, and testimony,
Elder Haws(mo)

Hail, Sunshine, and the World Series‏

Hey Family,

What is Dad trying to tell me? I just got an email telling me that the World Series will be this weekend, and that the Rockies are already in. When did the Rockies get good again. He was also kind enough to give me the score of Game 7 of the AL Championship game in the middle of the 6th inning, but only managed to tell me that the Red Sox were winning. Who is/was the other AL team? How did the Orioles do this year? The Braves? The Cardinals? I left a couple weeks into the season and it’s already the end! Have I been in Brazil that long?

The work is continuing like usual around here. Lots of people to teach, lots of people accepting commitments, few people keeping commitments, and it seems the only investigators that are going to church are a Elizete and Jennifer. Jennifer is 5, her brother Roberto served a mission and is currently the 1st counselor in the branch presidency. Their mother, Elizete, has been active in the church for over 2 years now but can’t get baptized until her divorce papers are finalized. Anybody back home have ideas about convincing people to go to church that doesn’t involve dragging them behind us, like we normally do on Sundays?

Life is good though, so don’t worry. Today is Elder Wright’s birthday so we will go have cake and the Manicoba’s house for part of P-day and then after proselyting tonight we are ordering a pizza. It should end up being a good day. It’s just too bad he has to serve in an area of just hills on his birthday. Many thanks to the family for delivering my letter to the Trombones. I’m glad to hear that my Cougars are still tearing it up on the field. Right now you’re a little ways into the NFL season. I should be getting another stack of BYU updates and other letters at Zone Conference on November 5th, but until then can I get an email updates on Beck, Harline, Coates, and whoever else might have made an NFL roster?

My buddy Brock Huber from BYU (we lived on the same floor in DT and played basketball intramurals) arrived in the mission two weeks ago but is serving in the northern part of the mission (up near Joinville) an area called Boa Vista. I have begun to wonder if I will encounter him in the mission before returning home. The same fear has crossed my mind with regards to the other Elders from my MTC district. No fears though. The Lord is in control and he generally does things right.

I hope you all got the info about the Pouch dying. It will still function in the other parts of the world, but the rest of the Elders and I here in Brazil will have to fend for ourselves. There is a new protocol for packages that will be implemented now and continue until the end of January. Normally the office staff has to go to the post office to pick up the packages that come for the missionaries. Because Christmas is around the corner and a LOT of packages will be coming they have asked for all packages to be sent to the office itself until February. That address is:

Elder Haws
R. Feliciano Nunes Pires, 42 Centro
CEP 88015-220
Florianópolis- SC Brasil

We’re already two weeks into this transfer. It’s unbelievable. There is a really good chance I will be getting the boot in November. The official day of the transfer will be Wednesday, November 21 but I will find out what’s happening Sunday the 18th and pass word to you guys Monday the 19th.

I love you all. The city is either flooding or burning underneath the Brazilian sun. The work’s great and I’m doing fine so stop worrying about me.

The Only Elder who has ever asked for his family to send him a potato peeler,
Elder Haws(mo)

AMERICANS!!!!‏

Hey Family,

A new week has already come and gone, and the Cougars are back on a winning streak. That’s what I like to see.

Last P-day we were in Irani (one of the 3 other cities in our proselyting area) to spend P-Day with the Sisters for Elder Martin last P-day out here. We had a member who lives there take us down a forest trail down the side of a mountain to a neat waterfall. It was fun. I am including of few of the pictures. Our group had a little bit of trouble winding our way through the trees and the vines in the pouring rain. Everybody slipped at least once, nearly losing their life. There was one treacherous decline that we had to traverse that caused me a little trouble. I was leading with my right foot going down when I tried to secure my weight on stone that ending up being loose. As my right foot was already on its way down I dropped to a baseball slide and rode out the last ten feet. At the bottom I hopped right to my feet, the only harm being the mud all over my jeans. After that we got to climb back out of the gorge and up to the member’s house for the lunch. Shortly thereafter I grabbed a couple quick photos of the surrounding country side. Then it was back to Concordia so Elder Martin could say some teary-eyed good-byes.

We went to Chapeco Tuesday so that Elder Martin could catch the bus to Florianopolis with Elder Burke. Elder Burke had been serving in Chapeco for 6 months, since he entered the field. On my few trips to Chapeco we got to do some talking and got to be good friends. Naturally, he got transferred away so I snapped a photo with him. It was right in the middle of the airport so it technically might have been against the rules. If it was, I’ll probably repent later. I’m not sure if I already explained Zone Conference to you so I will now. We have three Zone Conferences. One Conference for the Zones Florianopolis, Sao Jose, Sao Jose North (right across the bridge from Floripa) and Tubarao (down south) that takes place in Florianopolis. Another for the Northern Zones: Itajai (where Elder Martin is now and my new companion was before) Joinville North and Joinville. The last is in Lages for Lages, Ipomeia, and Chapeco. Right now Elder Bateman and I are in the Western portion but the other 4 Elders from our MTC district, Elder Pereira (my Brazilian brother) and now Elder Burke will all attend the Florianopolis Zone Conference. That’s not fair at all.

After a day of proselyting in Chapeco, in the mud, with an Elder who only has one transfer in the field, Elder Wright arrived at 2AM. We caught a 10 AM bus and were back in Concordia by 1 in the afternoon on Thursday. These first few days have been raining so no one has been in the streets, and a holiday on Friday created a “travel-worthy” 3-day weekend so no one was in their houses. Be that as it may, we persevered and met 8 of the nine mission goals. The only thing we didn’t have was sufficient investigators at Church, which was understandable. Yesterday was District Conference in Chapeco. We had a bus that left the church at 7 AM to take everyone there. The problem: Day Light Savings time started so it turned out to be 6AM. All is well though. Elder Wright is from Salt Lake City, specifically: Holiday. He has 11 months in the mission, 8 and a half in the field. He has spent time one the island in Florianopolis and then went to a little city named Picarras where he stayed for three transferred, and trained last transfer. He speaks the language really well, is a fairly tall guy (6’1”) and is a lot of fun to be around. The problem is that people don’t like giving there addresses to 2 tall Americans. The Lord placed us here, the Lord is going to prepare way though. It looks like we could be having a couple more baptisms this transfer. Wish us luck.

Thanks for all the letters and the packages. I just want to make sure that I will be getting a football (American football) for Christmas. Please. Anytime someone wants to send me a jar of Peanut Butter they are more than welcome to. The only recipe I thought of this last week that I would want is a simple recipe for pancakes. We have a bunch of flour and eggs are cheap.

I love you all, the work is coming along, the rain is always falling, and I’m fine so stop worrying about.

Terrorizing Western Santa Catarina with another white boy at my side,
Elder Haws(mo)

Starting a Daycare‏

Hey Family,

Hawsmo here with the information on the new transfers. Elder Martin and I had decided that I was going to get transfered to somewhere really far from Concordia and that He would remain to baptize all of our current investigators. We got a call last night and found out we were wrong. Elder Martin is going to a city in Zone Itajai and I am staying put in Concordia for at least one more transfer but I hope for at least two more. For the time being I Will be walking the streets with Elder Wright. All I know about him is that he arrived in the mission field in January. I’ll be learning more this week. Tomorrwow I head to Chapeco with Elder Martin. I Will stay there with the Zone Leaders for two days while Elder Martin goes to Floripa to switch spots with Elder Wright. They really are Just trading spots in the mission. Its a little odd.

Baptism with Orlando went great Saturday. All is friends from the branch are in two different families, both of which went traveling during conference so we didn’t have many at the baptism, but the important one was there. I got to do the official splashing again. Good times. Orlando is now commited to going teaching with us two times a week, which should help him to remain firm in the church. Besides him, we have around 20 investigators between the ages of 11 and 17 who could be baptized before the end of next transfer... if their parents and grandparents will let them. Its going to be a struggle, but that’s what its all about. I figure that if we can get some English Classes going we’ll find evn more kids, and they should be able to support each other in the gospel. Right? What kind of stuff did Spencer teach in his English class? Did Warren teach one in Monterrey?

When the Zone Leaders came to do the baptism interview Friday night they had to stay overnight because the bus times can be a joke around here. All was well. We ordered in Pizza, and bought our own chocolate pizza to bake for dessert. It was when we pulled out the chocolate pizza that the Zone Leaders learned my true talent. With a fork and a steak knife I cut the pizza into perfect 8ths. Perfect 8ths. They just sat there and watched in wonder. After proving to everyone that along with cutting a perfect pizza and can eat more pizza than anybody else, we snapped a couple photos before bed. The first one is of Me and Elder Martin with Elder Bench and Elder da Silva. I love those guys. I refer to Elder da Silva as “cheerco nano” everytime I see him. He hates it but loves me. I look forward to the possibility of him being my companion for splits the next two days when the transfers take place. The other picture was taken at 6 AM Saturday morning. Standing on the chair he is barely taller than me. Honestly I want to stay in Concordia until January becuase da Silva will be the Zone Leader here until then, when he goes home. I look forward to having some fun times with the Zone Leaders.

Life is going good here. I’m kind of anxious to here how the New Mexico game turned out. Thanks for all the letters and the packages. Elder da Silva keeps telling me he is going to hurt his back carrying my letters to me. Elder Bench can’t believe how many I get. Thanks everyone. you’re making me a legend. At Zone Conference 2 weeks ago I got 20 letters and a package. Last week when the Zone Leaders came back from Floripa they had 23 more letters and 2 packages for me. I love you guys.

THE POUCH SERVICE IS GOING TO STOP WORKING TO BRAZIL NOVEMBER 1ST. SEND ANY AND ALL LETTERS TO ME TO THE MISSON HOME/OFFICE ADDRESS.

The work is great, it will change with the new companion, and I’m fine so stop worrying about me.

Splashing, Dashing, and taking Brazil by storm,
Elder Haws(mo)

P.S. I’m keeping a picture history of total letters recieved, updated every transfer

Staring Transfers Right in the Eye‏

Hey Family,

Snow? Mom wrote me to tell me about snow? Do you WANT me to get homesick? I’m burning alive in Brazil in a shirt and tie and Greg is probably sitting outside in basketball shorts making snow angels!

Life is good here in Concordia. Next Wednesday is transfers (I will have had two full transfers in Concordia).Based on recent history with Elders in Concordia Elder Martin would be getting transferred next week since he will have had 3 transfers there. The catch: we are currently trying to move to a new location in town. We haven’t officially terminated our current contract or really looked at a new one so he will probably stay to fix the situation. It’s not too likely that they would bring in someone new to learn the situation and then resolve it, so if anyone gets the boot it will likely be me. I don’t want the boot. I like Concordia. Even with all its hills.

Marcelo Santian (da Silva) is the Branch President down here. (Everyone has the last name of Silva, da Silva, Santos, dos Santos, or Oliveira so most people just go by the middle name as a last name.) He works in a bank and dreams of moving his family to the States, but because of the difficulty in getting a visa he will likely move to Italy next summer. His English is great; I even gave him the address of the blog so he can practice reading informal English. That picture you got from him is actually photographic evidence of me breaking the rules. As missionaries we’re not supposed to hold kids, and the only contact with girls should be handshakes. The fact that I’m holding a baby girl is probably a bad thing. The fact of the matter is that all the kids here in Concordia love me. They reach out for me to take them from their parents and then cry when I don’t. That picture was from our branch’s Night of Banana activity. Marcelo’s wife handed Anna Laura to me, took a picture, and took her back from me in about 5 seconds. I’m a sinner. Because Anna Laura always reaches for me when her Dad is holding her I make a habit of informing Presidente Santian that his daughter is my girlfriend. He always threatens to send me home, but nothing has happened so far.

Today we are in Xanxere with the sisters for P-Day. We will do email and stuff here, head to another city named Irani where there are more outdoorsy things to do and then back here for district meeting. Saturday is guaranteed Baptism. I will be doing the actually splashing for the second time. This kid is awesome. He even went with us to the house of a couple girls from his school to do some teaching. He’s thirteen, he carried Elder Martin’s bag and wore my nametag. He got prayers assigned, got the girls to read a random scripture he opened to and then explained it for them. He can give you the basic history of the Book of Mormon just by seeing the pictures in the book. 2 of Nephi, Alma in the Waters of Mormon, Samuel the Lamanite, 3 Nephi 11, and Moroni with the plates. This young man is ready for his own mission.

Nick is flying solo in the MTC? Wow. He probably doesn’t need a companion. He could go solo in the field as a greenie and have more success that this entire mission. Wish him luck (even though he doesn’t need it) and send him a dozen doughnuts for me. Joey is still in the band? And in a skirt! That kid has always been a stud. I can’t find Jake’s address anywhere. Can you send it to me again? And make sure Greg keeps dating. He doesn’t have to wait for a dance to ask a girl out either.

With how much we travel to Xanxere to do baptism interviews for the sisters (just about once a week), I have use my Wells Fargo card often between opportunities to have travel funds reimbursed. If you ever want to drop $15 or $20 into my account the exchange rate will keep me going for weeks.

I love you all, life is good, the work is coming along, and I’ll let you know about the transfer situation next week. I’m fine so stop worrying about me.

Preaching the word, Praising the Lord, and Praying for my Cougars,
Elder Haws(mo)

from Marcelo to The Parents

Hi ,my name is Marcelo,
Your son is serving here in my city.Don´t worrie he is an amazing missionary.I´m sending my daugter´s picture,her name is Anna Laura.she loves him.hope u like it.
Marcelo

Making Brothers‏

Hey Family,

Back to Concordia safe and sound without too much trouble. As we left for the bus station Sunday night we were privileged to walk the 15 minutes in a rain storm. As the bus left town it looked like it might end up flooding again. As cool as that would have been, I wish we could have been there. Once we got to Chapeco nearly three hours later it was a pleasant 30 minute walk in pouring rain before arriving at the Elders’ apartment. 2 hours of sitting, waiting, and swapping stories with the Zone before the biggest disappointment of the trip surfaced. We had a bus with about half as many seats as last time that didn’t have a DVD player. We were more than welcome to watch movies, if anybody had brought a VHS tape. Needless to say, this was one LONG trip with no movies. But no worries, the trip seemed longer but that just provided more opportunity to talk with my brethren.

The Conference at first seemed to be a bust. All the Elders that I had talked to at the conference 6 weeks ago had gotten transferred to other parts of the country. On the bright side, our Zone is still intact for the time being. We have a ridiculously young zone. With the exception of the Zone Leaders and the married couple working in Chapeco, every senior companion is a trainer, and all the juniors are either in their first or second transfer. Another shining bright spot was the chance to talk with Elders Melo, Beraldo, and Gonsalves. These three are the last Elders to start their missions in Concordia. If the three of us are still around here in 6 weeks I’ll make sure to take a picture of us together. It was awesome to talk with these Elders about the area, about members, and about the lunches that the members always prepare. I got sent back to Concordia with about 20 hugs I have to distribute throughout the city. Speaking of hugs, after the Conference I pulled the Assistants to the President to give hugs to the other 4 Elders who came with Elder Bateman and me to the mission. Tomorrow they will all be at the Florianopolis Zone Conference together. After Elder Pinheiro made notes of all their names I reminded him that because I’m so much taller than him, he and the other Assistant (Elder Flores) would have to work together to give hugs that would imitate the one’s my arms would give. Everybody got a chuckle out of that.

The real highlight of Zone Conference is the chance to talk to my brothers. After 2 months in the MTC and using every Zone get together as an excuse to swap stories and good scriptures, Elder Bateman has become as much my brother as anybody in Idaho or Utah cheering on my Cougars. I still love Wo, Moose, and the Penguin Artist (congrats on asking someone to homecoming!) but I’m in the process of adding a couple more brothers to my life. While at the Zone Conference I also got the chance to swap experiences with Elder Pereira. He is serving an hour and a half from Concordia in a city named Joacaba. He was the district leader of the Brazilians in the MTC who arrived with us. During the travel from Sao Paulo to Floripa we talked a lot. Since then every chance we get we sit down and swap some Portuguese. The kid is a freaking stud. We talked to Sister Dansie and got permission to take a picture together. We then took another with Elder Bateman between us. It’s going to be toughed if transfers break the three of us up. Fortunately, when you’re serving the Lord you’ve got the Spirit with you. And when you’ve got the Spirit you remember the friends you’re separated from and make plenty more to fill the temporary void.

Other news: Micael’ s baptism is going to be delayed again. Our teenager friend decided to change his baptism from September 22 to October 6 so while you guys are watching Conference I’ll be doing some good-old-fashioned splashing. No word yet on what Conference I will see, but we’ll have to go all the way to Chapeco if we want to see it. Tell the Young’s and the Abercrombie’s thanks for me. I got their letters and will soon be sending responses but the mail will take a while to be delivered. Thanks for everything in the package, especially the Peanut Butter and the tie. The Idaho book will be fun to show off. I only received the one package, but I was still able to show everyone the 20 letters I received. Thanks everyone. If you don’t know what to send me here are a couple ideas: TIES, POSTCARDS or BOOK MARKS, or OTHER SMALL CHEAP MEMORABILIA WITH THE IDAHO FALLS TEMPLE ON IT. The Abercrombies sent me two bookmarks with the Temple on them and it occurred to me that they could be a great parting gift to friends and companions to remember the big guy from Idaho that is always talking about the potatoes.

I am going to send a letter off to the house on 4th street, but its not going to be for the Haws family. I want to get a letter to the Trombones in the BYU marching band but have no way to get one there myself. If anybody could stop by and take that letter to BYU I would be forever grateful. They should practice in the Marriott Center Parking Lot Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays from 4:30 to 6PM. If anybody could deliver it to any trombone in the band either there or after a game, I will praise your name for some duration of time significantly longer than day but probably not more than a week.

The work is great, the Conference was grand, and I’m fine so stop worrying about me.

Shedding Tears of Joy While Eating Peanut Butter,
Elder Hawsmo

(If anybody wants to send more peanut butter, you’re more than welcome. I make no guarantees for how many days a jar will last.)

(If Mom or Dad want to get a picture developed just let me know and I’ll resend a full size file so it looks better.)

Nothing is Guaranteed ...‏

Hey Family,

Another week has come and gone without any more strange food. I’m sorry. It sounds as if you guys like those stories. Life is definitely continuing here in Concordia. No clue as to whether either of us will be transferred in October, but I guess you never really know for sure. However, we are sure of two and a half things. The Sisters up in Xanxere are baptizing nearly every week (which means we get plenty of spontaneous road trips), we will be baptizing our teenager friend Orlando on Saturday, and Micael (who already had a baptism date but got called in to work that day) should be getting baptized the 29th. Things are always fun and exciting down here in Santa Catarina.

Our work has been slowing down here the last couple weeks. At interviews on September 4th Elder Martin caught the flu from President Dansie. That meant one afternoon in the apartment letting him rest and get some health back. Unfortunately he is always stressing about the work, especially when Sister Dansie orders him to stay in bed and rest to try and recover. That stress has weakened his body and the flu came back in full force early last week. We think we got him over that, but only time will tell. The other problem is that this same stressing that he’s been doing has cost him many hours of sleep and night. When he does sleep he tosses, turns, shakes, rolls, and does the hokey pokey. Needless to say the sleep that he gets isn’t too restful. He woke up yesterday morning with a pulled/stressed/aggravated muscle in his neck. Fortunately we have a physical therapist near our apartment that loves the missionaries and happens to be a lifelong inactive member. She cracked his neck a few times last night, again this morning (during our regular email time, sorry this one is 4 hours late) and we will go back after I send this email to get some more cracking done. Everything should work out, we’ve just got to convince him to relax every once in a while.

Next week is Zone Conference, which means I won’t be emailing you until later in the week. Sunday after church we will have lunch with the Relief Society President and her family, try to teach a couple lessons, and then load a bus for Chapeco. We’ll hang out with the 4 Elders there from 7pm until 9pm when the Chapeco Elders will go to sleep in their beds while we chat with the Elders from Pato Branco from when they arrive at around 9 until the mission bus leaves around midnight. Then its 8 hours of bus ride and picking up missionaries until we arrive at Lages for conference. We’ll step off the bus, have 7-8 hours of trainings and testimonies, they’ll hand me a stack of letters and a couple packages, and then its 8 hours back out west before our 2 hour bus ride back to Concordia. A good deal of traveling, a lot of cookies, and some story swapping with Elder Bateman. Life is fun always fun and exciting out west.

Random news. Concordia is the highest priority in the Florianopolis Mission for a new chapel. We are currently just renting a building in the middle of town. With the change in branch leadership and some hurt pride right before I got here, the sacrament meeting attendance has dropped, but the last time we officially submitted numbers we had qualified for our own building. Now we just play the waiting game. As far as our zone in concerned, General Conference will only be shown in Chapeco. No word yet if we’ll be heading there to catch conference or if we will just miss out entirely. Either way, a conference report or a November Ensign in English would be an amazing gift! By the way, keep your fingers crossed that Idaho Falls gets mentioned at some point in the upcoming conference. In April President Hinckley mentioned the sister that did 20,000 sessions in the Idaho Falls Temple and last October Elder Shayne Bowen talked about Freeman Park and the Airport in his talk about how the Atonement reclaims lives. We’ve got to make sure that our beautiful little town keeps getting talked about on a church wide scale. My bets for new apostle are (1) Randy L. Bott, (2) Phillip Allred, (3) Lance D. Toone, or (4) John Bytheway. Then again, I haven’t been right about an apostle in 19 and a half years.

More updates for the mother. I play the piano in sacrament meeting about 50% of the time. Its good practice, I just wish I had some opportunity during the week to really practice for it. I got asked to give a talk in sacrament meeting yesterday. The topic of the meeting was missionary work but I tied it into Home Teaching. I’ve officially lost the MTC weight. Last week when we were at a pharmacy buying medicine for Elder Martin I weighed myself on a scale and came in at 213 lbs (with shirt, tie, and the whole package). I was around 216 when I left in May and gained my share of weight in the MTC but I’m definitely on the way back down. Hopefully it keeps dropping, but, as seems to be a recurring theme, nothing is guaranteed in Concordia except for hills and people staring and 6’6” Americans.

I’m loving the work, we’re having another baptism, and I’m perfectly fine so stop worrying about me.

Laughing While My Companion Gets His Neck Cracked,
Elder Haws(mo)

Another Trek Through the Barn‏

Hey Family,

What the deal?! Greg not only gets to go to an away game at UCLA, but he gets to work in the locker room? Where was the love for the son that wanted to go to BYU? Let me guess, he’s going to get to go through warm-up drills with the team before the Utah game? Play for 4 minutes in the first half of the BYU Basketball Team’s first home game? Where were the hook-ups for HAWSMO?

Anyway, life is still good in Concordia. I think some people back home might be a little confused. Last Tuesday we went to Chapeco (2 ½ hours by bus) for Interviews with the President. Zone Conference isn’t until the 24th. Between talking with the President Dansie, Sister Dansie, and a couple trainings from the Zone Leaders it was off to lunch, and then back home to finish working that day. Unfortunately we got to lunch at 12:30 and our bus was scheduled to leave at 12:45. Needless to say, we didn’t catch that bus. All-You-Can-Eat Brazilian Buffet doesn’t end in 15 minutes. We waited and caught the bus at 4:30, after I made use of the buffet. This unfortunate change of events lost us 4 hours of work on Tuesday, which really starts cutting into your numbers. Add to that the fact that we spent Wednesday afternoon in the apartment when Elder Martin was sick, and numbers start getting hard to come by. Friday was a national holiday so nearly everyone left town traveling, except the missionaries. Despite all the setbacks, and only managing 12 lessons with members present, we were still able to teach 44 lessons without members with us.

With regards to Friday, it was essentially Brazil’s Independence Day…kind of. September 7 marks the day when Brazil was freed from the rule of Portugal, and began to be led instead by a king. Colonies to monarchy isn’t exactly what I consider a day of independence, but it gives everyone a chance to skip out on work and get drunk. That morning they had a little parade through the middle of town. The city of Concordia has (according to its inhabitants) nearly 80,000 people in the city and nearby country. Idaho Falls (as I remember) has a little over 55,000. The parade here was a lot of fun, and good for everybody, but it definitely didn’t compare with what usually happened in my front yard. Afterwards it was off to a local elementary school for the Branch Service Project. We raked leaves, cleaned fences, washed the basketball area, and “mowed” the grass with a trimmer. Wearing our fun smocks we had pictures taken of us and we even made the paper. “Um feriado de trabahlo para os ‘Mãos que Ajudam’” was the headline in the paper this weekend. In case Mom is wondering, that translates to “A holiday of work for the ‘Hands that Help’”. Hands that help is a program they have here in Brazil where branches and wards help to clean and maintain elementary schools. Is the same sort of thing going on in the States?

After lunch it was off to a barbecue for lunch. You might ask what was on the menu. Beef, sausage, rice, potato salad, grilled onions, and 4.4 pounds of chicken hearts. (a)Is he joking? (b)Could he possibly be serious? (c)Did he have to eat nearly four and a half pounds of hearts by himself? The answers: (a)=NO (b)=YES (c)=NO, there were 5 of us to share the load. They actually weren’t too bad. I wouldn’t have chosen to eat them on my own, will never request that someone cook some for me, but it was a good experience and a good warm-up to other unknowns the future might hold for me. Though, I’m sure nothing I will eat here will come close to comparing with what Mindy had to eat. Fish? I can’t imagine the horror. Don’t fear. Saturday it was back to the Elder’s Quorum’s President’s house at we had turkey for lunch. It was good. That was the first time I’ve head turkey since leaving the homeland. This same man (Adão, the Portuguese equivalent of Adam) was our neighbor (lived on the floor of apartments below us and is moving tomorrow) and the last time he fed us he had cooked fish for us. He will still be in the branch after the move (which we will be helping with) but will be a little bit longer of a walk to his house.

Other news: I didn’t receive a package or “envelope” at Interviews. If one has been sent I will get it the 24th. You can keep sending the “envelopes” if you want, but they’re not necessary anymore. Now that I’m out of the MTC, the mission office will accept any box or package you decide to send. If the envelopes are convenient and you like them, then by all means, keep ‘em coming. We will have at least one baptism on the 22nd, and depending on whether grandmothers give their permission, we could have as many as 6 kids between 10 and 16 years of age getting baptized. Was the Quadrangular church really big with lots of members in Mexico, Canada, Italy, or any other country where readers might have served? Nearly everybody here that isn’t Catholic is a Quadrangular. Four-Squares are everywhere.

Other, Other News: My entire life I assumed I would end up in a career based on numbers. Math was always pretty easy for me and the classes I took at BYU set me up for majors in Accounting, Statistics, Corporate Finance, or whatever other calculator job I would ever want. At interviews President Dansie said he enjoyed reading the weekly reports I send. He went so far as to suggest that if my heart wasn’t already set on a major, I should consider journalism. That had never crossed my mind before. Writing is what Mindy does… when she’s not mixing drinks.

Requests: Ideas for entertaining kids. If the siblings or anybody has little ideas of stuff I could carry (or be sent) that I could use to entertain children, I would be greatly appreciative. Nearly everyone has little kids running around the house, and it’s hard to communicate with the small ones in Portuguese so any little help would be great.

Thanks for the letters, thanks for the emails. Life is good, the work is being done, and I’m fine so you can stop worrying about me.

Terrorizing the Countryside like a True Haws,

Elder Haws(mo)

Less Talk, More Pictures‏

Hey Family,

Hawsmo here, safe and sound after one transfer and one week. Our Zone (Chapeco) got three new American Missionaries in the last transfer. This brings our proselyting missionaries in the Chapeco Zone to 7 Americans and 5 Brazilians. We’ve even got an Elder from Wyoming training another American missionary after only 3 transfers in the field. The mission itself is around 60% native Brazilians, but you’d never know it from out west.

This last week was pretty relaxed, as such I’ll type as little as possible and get you a lot of pictures from our outdoor expedition two weeks ago.

The only real event this past week was when we got a call at 10PM Thursday night from the Sisters telling us that they had a baptism scheduled for Saturday and we needed to come to and interview the next day. A few phone calls, 5 postponed appointments, and 7 hours later we were awake and running to catch the bus. Our day in Xanxere was different from all our other ones there because Sister Soares got transferred. Usually she spends the entire day talking Portuguese at me, reaching speeds that cannot be measured. In her absence we had Sister York, a brand new sister from Alabama. After she spent the entire morning practically silent, she spent the afternoon asking me questions about the field, about how much I knew when I left the MTC, how much I learned in the first transfer, etc. She is somewhat worried about the language because the only English word that Sister Tavares (her trainer) knows is “Wow” which, conveniently enough, is also a Portuguese word. After a fun and exciting day in the rain in Xanxere, it was back home.

Tomorrow is interviews in Chapeco with the President. This means: (1) Letters, (2) Possibly Package, (3) Opportunity to talk with Elder Bateman and Elders De Jong and Siler our other 2 greenies, (4) Waking up at 5AM again. In our current situation we end up traveling at least once a week, which means paying money that will later get reimbursed onto our mission cards. Since I haven’t had much opportunity to build up extra on my mission card, I’ve been having to buy bus tickets with my Wells Fargo card, and that money gets reimbursed on my other card. As such, don’t be surprised if I randomly lose $10-20 American. It’s getting reimbursed to another source.

Now the fun stuff. When we were in Xanxere two weeks ago a friendly sister in the Branch there took us to this nature outdoor place with a river, waterfalls, and forest paths. The interesting part was that she brought along her 7 year old son Jared and he was running and having a blast the entire day. As such I would entitle these first pictures “The Adventures of Jared”. After that I’ll throw on a couple pictures I took of the river and the nearby scenes. I took a lot more pictures but will save them for a time to get them really developed. Just for your information, all the pictures I send home will be a reduced quality from the actual pictures I take so that the emails aren’t huge. If we can find out a better way, without taking a whole lot of time to load, I will get you the original photos.

The last photo is for Warren to pass on to Real Salt Lake. I realize that the team might not be doing to great, and by nature, Brazilians are all better at soccer than Americans. As such, we have been training a young goalie that might be ready to step in and ply for Real Salt Lake. This kid isn’t amazing yet (by Brazilian standards), but before too long he’ll be the best player on Salt Lake’s team.

I’m great, the work is coming along, the people love staring at six and a half foot tall Americans, Cougar Football is living without me, and I’m doing fine so stop worrying about me.

Spending my P-Days training recruits for Real Salt Lake ,
Elder Haws(mo)