Hawsmo Returns!

Elder Hawsmo appears!

Elder Hawsmo descends!

Elder Hawsmo takes his hesitant first steps into his post-mission life!

Elder Hawsmo is reunited with his family!

Elder Hawsmo is already annoyed with his family!

Elder Hawsmo reconnects with Bishop Demo!

Elder Hawsmo reconnects with the sports page!

Elder Hawsmo is tired and very, very smelly after traveling for thousands of miles over three days.

Elder Hawsmo is escorted to the car by the women who love him!
Elder Hawsmo is ready for a shower and an American meal!

Elder Hawsmo is welcomed home by an apostate UofU display!

Elder Hawsmo sees red!

Elder Hawsmo has returned with honor...and is now longer "Elder" Hawsmo.

The former Elder Hawsmo is measured!

The former Elder Hawsmo grew!

The former Elder Hawsmo is a ginormous freak of nature!

Hawsmo kicks back.

Hawsmo rests up.

Hawsmo makes plans.

Hawsmo is home!

Pela Ultima Vez‏

Hey Family,

Your emails were horrible this week. All you talked about was home, airplane, home, family, home, and the mission ending. Don't you people realize that we've still got plenty of time to work before I have to catch the plane? I've still got tonight and tomorrow... kind of. Tomorrow we have to teach seminary at 6:20, and then my bus leaves at 9pm to get to Joinville. So really I have 3 hours of real work tonight and a few hours tomorrow afternoon. Plenty of time... plenty of time...

You guys couldn't wait one more week to bless Milo? Oh well. I guess there will still be three more Riggs kids to be blessed. Then there will always be more Haws kids. This world is in for a big surprise once the next round of Haws kids start running wild.

I don't know what else to write. Mom asked about food that I wanted... I have no idea. We can make plans once I'm home. We've got some pretty important appointments in Sao Francisco these next two days, plus I've still got to pack. The only thing I'm sure of is that as soon as I walk in the front (or maybe back) door I want to fry up an Idaho Potato. No if's, and's, or but's. No joke either. I've gone far too long without a high quality potato. Beyond that you can cook whatever you want. I'll probably eat just about anything.

Today they called the zone together to play soccer. I playing goalie for a while. At one point Elder Eliakim, one of the zone leaders, tried to go for a header so I tried to knock the ball away. His forehead came in full speed to my backhand and he almost hit the ground. Now he has a pretty good lump on his forehead and my hand hurts. It is definitely complicating the whole writing process.

Guess what, we don't have to plan the fancy phone call for Sunday!!

The weather is great, the bags are almost packed and I'm fine so stop worrying about me.

See you soon,
Elder Haws(mo)

I Think I Can, I Think I Can, I Think I Can...

Hey Family,

I don't even know what to type anymore. The weeks are definitely going by quickly. We´re full of appointments, we've got a bunch of baptisms marked for NEXT WEEK, and everyone keeps talking about going home. Luckily I can say I'm not trunky. I'm ready to give it up, but not yet. Even though I got transferred less than a month ago, my bags aren't ready. Ever since I left Joinville I've been hauling around a third suitcase... another elder had left it there. Now I have stuff that fits in two bags, taking up space in three just to make packing at the transfers easier. I'm going to be happy to be home, I'm just not sure if I'm ready to leave Sao Francisco yet. It's a little branch that doesn't do a WHOLE lot of missionary work, but now I can see lots of things to do to help them help us, but not nearly enough time to do it. If it was a regular six-week transfer it might be easier to leave, but it's not, so I'll just have to deal with it.

This week was Zone Conference, which was awesome. It was kind of funny participating for the last time. I had to stand up in front of everyone to give my “last testimony”... even though I'll still have to give two more “last testimonies” before I get anywhere near a plane. This week it's just work. Friday will be a holiday, which could slow things down, but besides that it's just work. It'll be nice to focus, but so easy to get distracted.

As far as packing goes, I don't plan on bringing home a lot of clothes. Besides the clothes on my back I'll probably only bring home two long-sleeve white shirts (I think I only used one of them once) the two suits with the pants, and the winter clothing. The extra used-shirts, pants, and socks will get left or burned. I hope to have things pretty much ready by the time I email next week. I'll have to leave Sao Francisco at 9 pm next Tuesday to make it to transfers, so I'll have to be done packing before 6pm next Monday. Wish me luck.

Spring has definitely arrived down here. Everyone complains about cold and wind and I just laugh in there faces. They have no idea that it's practically summer back home and still snowing. The rain has been relentless this last week and has turned all of our pleasant dirt roads into mud. Just muck and grime everywhere we go. But that's life. We've got a cool mother-daughter combination that might be baptized this week but we need to run it by the branch president first. He's a pretty understand guy so hopefully it goes through.

I think you guys already got the itinerary, but here's a basic rundown:

Thursday May 7th : Florianopolis-Sao Paulo... 2.00-3.10
(wait for almost 7 hours)
Thursday May 7th : Sao Paulo-Dallas... 9.50-6.05
(wait for 3 and a half hours)
Friday May 8th : Dallas-Salt Lake.. 9.30-11.20
(Say goodbye to the rest of the group... and wait for 2 hours)
Friday May 8th : Salt Lake-IF... 1.40-2.37

The weather has cooled down, the rain has stopped, and I'm fine so stop worrying about me.

Eyes fixed on the work to be done,
Elder Haws(mo)

Where is MY SNOWSTORM?

Hey Family,

SNOW IN APRIL? That's what I'm talking about! Keep it coming for a couple more weeks. I'll be more than ready take care of it! We definitely aren't getting any snow down here. I showed the pictures Jenny sent of the snow to my companion, Elder Sampaio. He just stared, and then laughed. He's never seen anything that white. He even went so far as to mention that a snowstorm like that in his town would leave exactly ZERO survivors.

It's ridiculous. Our Zone has 16 missionaries and 4 of us our leaving in May. The problem being that one of them is Elder M. Cardoso, our Zone Leader in Fatima. As a Zone Leader he has unlimited minutes to any mission phone, so he occasionally calls me to tell me that he's trunky. He says he hates it, but can't help it. Every time he calls the office to ask for materials, bus tickets, or to pass the numbers the secretaries they remind him how many days he has left. It's tough. Sometimes when I meet a member for the first time I pretend to not speak Portuguese so that they won\t know I'm going yet. Every time I talk for real they say: ''Wait a second... your name tag isn't shiny... you're not new... when are you going home?'' Then they start the jokes. I think it's really amazing. When I was just starting out the mission the USA jokes, the Bush comments, the ''you guys are racists'' statements all didn't bother me. It seems as if I magically hit the point in the mission when I want to get in someone's face and show them they're wrong. The worst part is that I know it would be exactly like Bible bashing; it solves nothing and just gets everyone angry. As such I have to force myself to keep quiet and let it pass.

Speaking of Bible bashing, we're teaching a pair of sisters who belong to different churches. One is a seventh day adventist and the other is presbyterian (we went to their churches last week). This week we taught them the Plan of Salvation using only the bible. We stated our beliefs, found various scriptures to back everything up, and bore our testimonies. We went back last night, which unfortunately had given them enough time to talk to their pastors. They proceeded to inform us hat we had misinterpreted the scriptures and that our church has deceived us into believing something that isn't true. Elder Sampaio asked: ''Are you sure it's not the other way around?''. One sister replied: ''I KNOW it's not the other way'', and Elder Sampaio responded: ''Well, I KNOW that it is.'' They both got quiet and I barely kept myself from laughing. These two want to Bible bash with us REALLY BAD, but we're not up for it. The Adventist even gave me an ''Adventist Guide to Biblical Study'' so that I could prepare myself for the battle. It's gathering dust on the floor under my desk.

We've got an awesome family of three that we're currently teaching and looking to baptize. The problem is that they have to go to church two times to be baptized, and we rarely have church here in Sao Francisco. The first week was General Conference in Joinville, the second week was the recording of General Conference, yesterday I finally took the sacrament, but this weekend will be Stake Conference. Tomorrow is Zone Conference, which means one more day in Joinville. Correction, I'm actually in Joinville right now. Rather than travel in the middle of the night to get here for conference we came this morning. After Zone Conference tomorrow I'll be staying here because we'll have our divisions with the Zone Leaders. This week I'll be spending more time in Joinville than in Sao Francisco. The mission is crazy.

Just as a note, my WellsFargo card expired the first of April. It caught me by surprise, so the extra money on the card will be sitting there until I get home. I should have enough money here to get me to the end.

I'm in Joinville again, the sun is behind the clouds, and I'm fine so stop worrying about me.

Running on Fumes,
Elder Haws(mo)

"Holy" Sabbath‏

Hey Family,

Hope everyone had a good Easter, and that Greg is studying for finals. Easter was kind of a joke down here. They get Friday off as a holiday, so everyone was on the beach for three days. The streets were empty, the houses were locked up… and we didn’t even see police cars on the street. Life should be returning to normal soon, just have to keep working.

I had an interesting experience last night. In order to get an investigator to church yesterday we had to pull the old trick of “if you come to our church we’ll go to yours.” As such we got two more women to church, but we had to visit one of theirs yesterday. She said it was an Evolutionist Presbyterian, but she forgot to mention the band. We basically sat through a free hour-long hard rock concert. The band was pretty good; it’s just too bad the spirit wasn’t there at all. My companion felt so bad he couldn’t walk into the “chapel/warehouse” of the church; we just stood out in the foyer. It was a fun little experience, and really helped to strengthen our testimony of the true church.

Today we’re hanging out in Joinville. We have a member who comes to Joinville a couple times a week, so if it lands on Monday we get to come and go for free. That means some easy soccer time. Last week we were here because of General Conference, this week because of a free ride, and next week we’ll have Zone Conference on Tuesday so we’ll hang out on Monday to play ball. It’s a tough life, but somebody’s got to do it.

Give Milo a hug for me. We’ll have to be getting him his BYU gear soon. We can’t run the risk of letting a Ute into the family. We’ll have him screaming Cougar and Potato at least as well as the Brazilian Primary before too long.

There’s work to be done, “winter” is on the way, and I’m fine so stop worrying about me.

Contemplating the concert,
Elder Haws(mo)

Deja vu?

Hey Family,

Here I am, bouncing around Joinville again. It just so happens that today I’m in Itaum, my old area. We had to come yesterday morning (we woke up at 5am) to come for General Conference, and we’re staying because our Zone Leaders want to do a zone meeting tomorrow. You have to love traveling… or not.

Conference was great. We got to watch the Priesthood rebroadcast in Portuguese in the morning, and then watched the English Sunday Sessions live in the afternoon and early evening. We all cheered during Elder Perry’s talk. Last year it was Bednar who decided to talk about missionary work, this time around we got Perry. If things don’t shape up in various parts of the world we might get the Prophet next time. Go apostles.

Sao Francisco is a nice little city on the northern island of Santa Catarina. Rumor has it that there’s a bridge we cross to get there, but every time we pass by I’m asleep. Go figure. We have a little branch with around 50 active. At least, that’s what they tell me. I haven’t been to sacrament meeting yet. Elder Sampaio is from a state named BAHIA. It’s up in the northeast part of the country. He’s from the city of Ilheus. He came to the mission at the same time as Elder Hill and Elder Cook (October). He’s probably going to take over as senior companion as soon as I’m gone. He’s got a great desire to work, a creative mind, and a love for the people. Elder Sampaio was baptized 4 years ago, and since then has helped to baptize his mother, a sister, and a brother. He just needs to get home and throw his dad and older sister in the water to complete the family. He hopes that if he works extra hard the Lord might help his family “get splashed” while he’s here.

Give Uncle Doug a hug for me. He is a good, good man. Oh, if it keeps snowing around there, make sure to save a little for me. I miss the stuff. Then again, after two years of Brazil, who knows if I’m going to like it anymore? We walk around in the hot sun all day everyday, play soccer VERY frequently (we played for P-Day today, we’ll have a branch soccer activity tomorrow, and play human … foosball (?) at a missionary activity on Thursday.), etc. I hope and pray that the fluffy, cold, white snow is still appealing.

Jenny. No more false alarms. If you’re going to have the baby… have it. I’m cheering for you.

Sao Francisco is flat, Sao Francisco has breeze and I’m fine so stop worrying about me.

Wandering my old stomping ground,
Elder Haws(mo)

On the Road Again...‏

Hey Family,

Happy Monday! I’m so glad to hear that you guys are having snow-day conditions during spring break. It’s definitely summer weather here, even though winter is supposed to be settling in. Go figure. The only thing that is working out as it should is the fact that I only have 5 more P-days and Portuguese sacrament meetings left. I’m doing everything do give one last, powerful push. 5 weeks is plenty of time to make the difference.

Greg wanted a Portuguese to English translation of Called to Serve.

Somos hoje conclamados a servir e a pregar o rei Jesus,
(Today we are called to serve and preach the King, Jesus)
Dando ao mundo nosso testemunho,
(giving the world our testimony)
Proclamamos sua luz...
(Proclaiming his light)

Juntos todos juntos, marcharemos em união,
(Together, all together, marching in union)
Prontos, sempre prontos, a cumprir fiel missão,
(Ready, always ready, to complete a faithful mission)
Firmes entoamos, este hino triunfal:
(Firmly we sing, this triumph hymn:)
Jovens de Sião, lutemos pela causa celestial.
(Youth of Zion, we fight for the celestial cause)

Somos hoje conclamados às fileiras dos soldados do Senhor,
(Today we are called to the files of the Lord’s soldiers) -note: files as in ranks and files
Vamos pelas sendas e atalhos,
(We will go by the path and shortcuts)
Para demonstrar valor...
(to show valor)

Juntos todos juntos, marcharemos em união,
(Together, all together, marching in union)
Prontos, sempre prontos, a cumprir fiel missão,
(Ready, always ready, to complete a faithful mission)
Firmes entoamos, este hino triunfal:
(Firmly we sing, this triumph hymn:)
Jovens de Sião, lutemos pela causa celestial.
(Youth of Zion, we fight for the celestial cause)

This was another crazy week. We only made about half the visits we normallymake in a week because each and every one of our visits went long. Some families had so many questions, concerns, comments, etc. that we stayed teaching for nearly 2 hours. Just teaching. I love questions, because it shows they want to learn, but sometimes enough is enough. Time and time again my testimony was strengthened that this isn’t my work, it’s theLord’s. Elder Cook told me that there were sometimes that I would read a scripture and answer a question, that he swore it wasn’t me talking. There were a couple times that he jumped out and answered a question that I knew he neither understand, nor had any idea of the vocabulary he as using. The spirit is willing to help us do the work; we just have to let him in to do it. The Lord works in mysterious ways. It was truly God’s hand in the work this week. These visits had to be the visits that everyone opened up with their doubts, concerns, and questions, because these visits were my last in this area.

Last night we got the transfer phone call, it turns out I’ll be spending mylast 5 weeks in a different area, but not an unfamiliar one. Elder Cook willbe staying here and will be receiving our current district leader as his senior companion. Elder Monteiro is currently in Campos Novos (the area thatis about an hour east of Joaçaba) and will just slide on over to Joaçaba.He’ll remain the district leader, in the same district, just in the other half of it. I will be going to Sao Franciso do Sul. It’s a little coast city on an island over by Joinville. It was the third city settled in Brazil. My companion will be Elder Sampaio. I am already including a picture of the two of us together because he was in Camos Novos for the first day of the transfer (when he slept at our house) before getting emergency transferred the next day to Sao Francisco. An interesting fact is that while I was in Joinville (the Itaum ward) my district leader was in São Franciso. However, the districts have been redefined so I won’t necessarily have that much of a chance to wander my old area. The transfer bus will be passing by my house tomorrow night, and I’ll probably get to Sao Francisco Wednesday around 8pm.

Just to answer a couple of Mom’s questions. Jon Shipley left on his mission about a month before me, meaning that he should theoretically be arriving around the 15th of April. How does Kyle feel about the possibility of coming home early? Why would they possibly pick Spencer to be TO’s body double? There had to be SOMEONE more qualified. I love Moose, but there’s no way I would ever pick him to stand in for Terrell Owens. Letters generally take around two weeks to get here, so I’d stop in about 2 weeks. The Zone Leaders called up and said they have a bunch of letters waiting for me. If any aren’t from Dad I’ll have to respond and tell them to terminate communication to the mission address. From here on our it’ll just be homeaddresses.

The bus is coming, my bags are getting packed, and I’m fine so stop worryingabout me.

Getting Used to Packing,
Elder Haws(mo)

PS I'm taking advantage of Elder Cook's camera to send some pictures home.You might recognize one of Greg's favorite movie stars.

No Daughters?‏

Hey Family,

BYU lost in the first round again? I hadn’t even heard they were in the tournament. Oh well. This streak of first round losses will have to come to an end as soon as the student section receives a boost from this giant. After hearing so much about the young players on the team this year I’m getting excited to come back and see a new, powerful team running the floor. Our boys just need to keep improving so that by the time I’m a senior we’re competing for both the BCS Championship and the NCAA Championship. We’ll have to be solid enough to take on anyone who comes our way, but still be able to hold our heads high knowing we play clean, hard, and well. GO COUGARS!

Mission life seems to be following the same old route. I think I need to repent for how annoyed I get at the people sometimes. Members, investigators, companions, contacts in the street, etc. It seems as if I’ve been getting the same reactions, the same complaints, and the same excuses all day everyday for the last two years. I love everyone I serve but sometimes I just want to hit somebody. I’m sure you guys know how I feel.

This week we started teaching a fun little family. They’ve been living in Joaçaba for around a year now, but have lived almost everywhere in this western part of the state. He is a manager for the federal Brazilian bank, Caixa. As such they move around ever couple years. Luckily, before all the moves started they lived in Concordia. In our first visit we just talked about the different parts of town, the characteristics, the geography, the culture, etc. of my first area in the mission. Yesterday we stopped by their house again and I heard the funniest comment I’d ever heard about the bible. At first he said he only believed certain parts of the Bible because the book was written back when everyone thought the world was flat and if you sailed too far from the coast you’d fall off into the abyss. Solely because of that fact he doesn’t think he can trust too much of the bible. Then came the fun part. He mentioned that he’s read the bible from cover to cover and hadn’t found the answer to one of his questions. He said that as he read Genesis he read about Adam and Eve being created by God, and how the rest of mankind came to be because of he. He then mentioned that he only remembered reading that Adam and Eve had Cain and Abel. He remembered no other children, specifically no daughters, and came to his own personal conclusion that either the bible lacked some information, or the entire thing was a lie because there was no possible way that Cain and Abel could have brought more of God’s children to this earth. I just laughed. He’s right. That is an absurd thought. Plus, there is a lot of information missing from the Bible. I had to bite my tongue and wait for the right opportunity to give him the rest of the truth.

Yesterday was Elder Cook’s birthday so we’ll probably bake a cake or something to celebrate today. Then tonight we’re going to go and visit and English School, to wants to talk to some gringos. Wish us luck!

The church is true, summer is lingering, and I’m fine so stop worrying about me.

Taking life on step at a time,
Elder Haws(mo)

PS Transfers are next week. Sunday I will know my fate.

Videira: Rallying the Troops‏

Hey Family,

Long time no see. Have to wish Jonah a happy birthday one more time. I’m glad to hear that he’s already learning to economize his money. Stop spending and start saving. You’ll thank yourself later. I didn’t get to open up the pictures Jenny sent because we’re in Videira today and the lan house is pretty bad. I’m starting to miss Joaçaba already. The lan house we use there is in the mall, and in addition to renting computer time, they also have a couple Playstation 3’s that you can pay to play. Naturally, I can’t (even if the guys who work there offer us free time on the systems) but it’s fun to watch the different people come in and play. These days I normally finish emailing about 15-20 minutes before Elder Cook so that gives me a nice little while to watch some soccer. I’ve seen everyone from 8 year- olds to 45 year-olds come in to play. It’s a twist to the week that you don’t get everywhere.

We gathered the troops for a Super P-Day today. Well. It was going to be. Then the two elders from Caçador decided to stay home. We still had 8 elders and some investigators playing ball together in Ipomeia. When I say “ball” I mean soccer because the basketball that is usually in Videira is currently in Caçador and they didn’t come play. I spent most the morning playing goalie because no Brazilian ever wants to. Brazilians are naturally good at soccer, but also only want to score goals, occasionally pulling out the fun tricks to make fools out of people. For the most part just my companion and I were the two goalies, but we did a pretty solid job of closing the nets. Since we play on a basketball court, the goals are smaller. As such, I take up almost the entire goal. Fortunately no one figured out that the easiest way to score is kicking the ball on the ground since I’m horrible with my feet. They’re all used to kick the ball in the air into the corners of the goal, but never seemed to realize that I am not only enormous, but I have decent hands. As such, I got my own chance to talk a little trash. I realize that’s not a good thing for Elders to do, but sometimes I can’t help myself.

The work is coming along pretty well here. We’ve got a couple families that just need to get married and we’ll be filling up the font. Fortunately, even though the members aren’t giving referrals, these investigator families have begun telling their friends about us. We met these families and decided we would be more than pleased to help them find the truth that they didn’t know they were looking for. To tell you the truth, we have one family in the branch that is preparing 3 other families for us, but we haven’t had much to do their yet. Sure enough they’ll be ready for the water as soon as we get them; we just have to be patient.

Conference was awesome last week. After the trainings, the burnings, and practicing the lessons, I got the chance to just sit and chat with Elder Huber for close to 2 hours. Reliving old times from BYU, swapping mission experiences and him informing me on what the rest of the group is up to. He keeps saying that he’s ready for me to go home, just so that he can be sure he only has 3 more months. I can’t believe it’s already happening.

Life is going good, the sun is REALLY hot, and I’m fine so stop worrying about me.

Holding down the fort(goal),
Elder Haws(mo)

March(ing) Again‏

Hey Family,

From here it appears to be the end of the world. Terrell Owens is on the Bills, my nephew is a skater, Jonah (who didn’t talk when I was home) is turning four, and Tavernari is completely inconsistent making Cummard responsible for saving the day…

Life is going pretty good down here. March is the hottest month of the year, and has started to prove it. After 5 minutes in the road Elder Cook already looks like he’s melting. It doesn’t help that we spend all day walking in a straight line. When I say “straight line” I don’t mean:

-------------------------
I mean:
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/

It doesn’t matter if we’re coming or going, climbing or descending, it’s rough. I’m getting pretty used to it, but Elder Cook is still struggling a little bit. He loves it, but it’s easy to tell that he’s suffering a little bit. Soon enough he’ll have it under control and all will be well in Zion.

It’s crazy to think that the transfer is already half over. Ever since Elder Cook got here I haven’t been answering the questions “How much time left?” or “When do you go home?” I learned very quickly (from others’ experiences) that if you answer this the people just start talking about home, planes, English, dollar, dating, marriage, war in Iraq, etc. I’ve decided that it’s better to avoid the straight answer and just tell them that I’ve still got plenty of time left and that my bags aren’t packed yet. There’s still plenty of work to be done before mid-May.

This week will be Zone Conference again. We’ll wake up early to catch the bus to Ipomeia on Thursday. More trainings from the assistants, doctrine from THE SISTER, burnings from the President, and come practice worth the lessons. Everyone always leaves the conference ready to work and baptize the people. The downside is that here in the west, we get real anxious to teach and baptize, and then spend a few hours on the bus going home. When we get back to the apartment its bedtime, and then we have to fight to get that fire back the next day. It’s tough, but more than worth it once it finally works out.

Tell Greg to get himself ready. He needs to be prepared for the basketball for 3 straight weeks. He might also want to look into training on a FIFA video game because we will have to start the epic showdowns between Brazil and Portugal.

I’m fine, the weather’s heating up, and there’s plenty of time left so stop worrying about me.

Calendar-Free,
Elder Haws(mo)

Old Faces, New Scenery‏

Hey Family,

Is winter really coming to a close up there? Things starting to heat up? I know how you feel. Everyone seems incredibly proud to announce that the hottest month of the year is March. Good times. I'm not too worried. The heat is nearly as bad as the summer rains. Sometimes we have perfectly blue skies all day, and still manage to get two or three big hits of 15 minute rain showers. It doesn't make a lot of sense to me, but no one else is complaining so I won't.

Carnaval came to a close on Tuesday night so we've been back to the regular work schedule ever since. I can't imagine being in Chad's shoes. 7 pm curfew for any longer than 5 days is ridiculous. I d='t know how things are there, but down here almost all of our investigators get home from work at 6:30 and can't receive visits until around 7. Best of luck to him.

Mom, I would love to send another postcard or two, but I won't be able to this week. You forgot to include any addresses. Just let me know who (WITH THEIR ADDRESS) and I'll find a way to get them mailed off.

This week I had a fun little surprise. As we were walking through the streets Saturday before lunch a lady walked up to us and started a conversation. She mentioned that she wanted us to come by her house because her son got baptized two years ago but has recently fallen away from the church. She said that all she or her husband want is for him to be active in the church because it is the best place for him to be to stay out of the ways of the world. She also mentioned that her daughters read the Book of Mormon and want to be sister missionaries. When I mentioned that we would be more than happy to stop by, she mentioned that the son had been baptized in Xanxere. I quickly asked his name, and upon learning his name was Jackson, immediately remembered him. I went to journal yesterday and found his baptism. On the 27 of September of 2007 Elder Martin (my trainer) interviewed him for baptism. After the interview he went so far as to ask me to baptize him, but due to the incredibly long distance from my area, I couldn't. It truly was the hand of the Lord that brought me to this area so that I could help him and his family. The Lord works in mysterious ways from time to time.

March is upon us, the sun is shining down, and I'm fine so stop worrying about me.

Soaking up the Sunshine,
Elder Haws(mo)

Enjoying the New Bedtime‏

Hey Family,

Life is getting pretty crazy down here in Joaçaba. We’re officially halfway through Carnaval, which means the biggest is yet to come. Having to be in early is killing our work, but our obedience will have to lead to blessings. The Lord is watching over us, sees our willingness to obey, and will take care of the rest.

Wednesday night Elder Cook got here just in time to partake of the birthday cake. I think I already mentioned, but each month we have a “Branch Birthday Party” for everyone who has a birthday in that month. Elder Cook was more than happy to get of the bus and get stuffed full of dessert.

Elder Cook has been in Brazil for a total of 6 months now. 2 months in the MTC (São Paulo) and 4 months in Navegantes. Needless to say we’ve spent a good amount of time discussing that city. I was more than pleased to be informed that he and his trainer managed to baptize just about every investigator I left behind. He’s from the same group as Elder Hill (my companion in Joinville). Elder Cook is from Las Vegas, Nevada, attended one year at UNLV, and his passions include guitar and hockey. He’s the first REAL hockey fan I’ve spent time with so he’s teaching me plenty of little facts and interesting stuff to know. His NHL team is the Edmonton Oilers, he is 5’11” has reddish-brown hair, loves personal study, and is eager to start baptizing again. We’re going to have to start granting that wish! Joaçaba here we come!

You want me to bring home the winter clothing stuff to give to Greg? The only thing I was planning on leaving was the waterproof exterior to the coat. I’ve used it enough that it doesn’t have the same guarantee anymore, and a member liked the look of it enough to start bartering for it. Just give me the word and I’ll leave it in the suitcase. Unfortunately I won’t have the option of giving a lot of stuff away. My clothes don’t fit many people.

You guys are already planning the sacrament meeting in May? Relax. We’ve still got PLENTY of time. Nearly 3 whole months. Remember parents aren’t aloud to get trunky… at least not until the missionary already is. I was talking to an Elder the other day whose mother started a weekly countdown in her email beginning at 20 weeks. That’s absurd! No one is allowed to try that stuff.

I’ve started to laugh at the weather. Every night it starts to rain just as Carnaval starts to happen. The same thing happened last year in Imbituba. I think somebody upstairs doesn’t approve of this party. If nothing else, at least we get to go to bed a little early.

Thanks for everything. The cards should be arriving soon, the festivities should be coming to a close and I’m fine so stop worrying about me.

Avoiding the Apostasy,
Elder Haws(mo)

Called to Serve‏

Hey Family,

Congrats on the Temple Greg. Don’t be a slacker. Go whenever you can down in Provo. It might be “a little walk away” but it will be a whole lot less than you’ll be walking on the mission just to eat lunch! It’s worth a little extra effort. I’m not sure if Lisbon has a temple or not, but you probably already know. It might be tough to get in a lot of temple attendance on the mission. Just in case you were wondering:

“Somos hoje conclamados a servir e a pregar o rei Jesus,
Dando ao mundo nosso testemunho,
Proclamamos sua luz...

Juntos todos juntos, marcharemos em união,
Prontos, sempre prontos, a cumprir fiel missão,
Firmes entoamos, este hino triunfal:
Jovens de Sião, lutemos pela causa celestial.

Somos hoje conclamados às fileiras dos soldados do Senhor,
Vamos pelas sendas e atalhos,
Para demonstrar valor...

Juntos todos juntos, marcharemos em união,
Prontos, sempre prontos, a cumprir fiel missão,
Firmes entoamos, este hino triunfal:
Jovens de Sião, lutemos pela causa celestial.”

You might be able to find an audio clip if you search for “Chamados a Servir”. It’s pretty cool. If you want an actual translation of the Portuguese version I can get it to you in the future. Jordan Hatch is heading to Salvador? Poor kid. It’s HOT. I’m just glad he’s a virtuous kid. There’s lot of stuff going on in that city this week that… let’s say… missionaries don’t want any part of. Salvador is arguably the city with the largest and most intense Carnaval (Marti Gras) in Brazil. I wouldn’t be surprised if the missionaries get locked down in there house for 2 weeks up there. Apparently Joaçaba has one of the biggest Carnaval celebrations in southern Brazil. As such I’ll have to be home with windows closed and doors locked by 7 pm Friday-Tuesday. Wish me luck.

This week is transfers. It just so happens that…

I was so happy to read some of Dad’s last letters. I had noticed that for the past month or so it has been a lot more pleasant to read about the BYU Basketball. Little did I know, it’s not because we were winning, it as because Coach Rose made Tavernari stop talking to the press. It was a very good call. Without him saying anything stupid, nobody talks about him. I can’t remember a single article in the past two weeks worth of letters tat so much as mentions his performance. It’s kind of funny.

… Elder West is getting transferred to Mafra, a city on the border of Paraná and will serve as district leader. I will be receiving Elder Cook as my new companion. He will be entering his 4th transfer, his second area, and I will be his second companion. Did I happen to mention that he’s spent the last 3 transfers (while I was in Rio Tavares, Joinville, and Joaçaba) in Navegantes? Very good times.

The sun is out, my shoes are holding out, and I’m fine so stop worrying about me.

Awaiting my fellow Navegantese,
Elder Haws(mo)

Cake

Hey Family,

Life in Joaçaba keeps on coming. To answer your question Mom: Yes it stopped raining; no it’s not cool and fresh. My companion, Elder West, is not an ENORMOUS kid. 6’0” 170 lbs. Everyday by lunch he looks like he’s melting. This last week we were up over 100 degrees with far too much humidity. That wouldn’t have been so bad if we didn’t do 4 hours of service at the Branch President’s house. Elder West was helping the President Edilar break up the rock bed underneath the house using a variety of hammers, chisels, and a jack hammer. I went solo with a pick axe, a shovel and a wheel barrow to level out the top of a hill to park his car. I wish I could send pictures but I can’t seem to find my card reader after the last transfer. Basically President Edilar’s house is built on a hill a little bit taller than ours, but instead of completely leveling out the ground, Brazilians build 12 foot concrete pillars/legs/poles to hold the house up. AS such we are clearing what appears to be dirt and chunks of tectonic plate away from the front of the hill to build a ramp and, subsequently, a driveway to where he can park his car under the house. If I could send pictures you’d probably understand a lot easier, but it looks like you’ll have to wait until May to see pictures. Then again, if you want I can get my pictures burned on to a CD and mail that to you, but it would probably only get home a month before me. What do you think?

Ben Fielding is going to Colorado Springs? If he gets to the mission field before the end of May he needs to go and give Elder Lewis a hug for me. He’s a buddy from BYU that I’ve lost contact with. Go figure. 2 years with everybody on different continents and we lose track of each other.

Spencer won’t be home in May? He always has been a slacker. He excited about the new year with the Bills? We got potential to take the Eastern Conference this year? How is Collie expected to do in the draft? Is Max still the go-to guy at BYU, or have his “big game heroics” caused the coaching staff to rethink an option offense with Covey or Nielson at the helm? What are the chances that Jordan Richardson comes back from the mission and starts making an instant impact on the team at DE?

Sorry Mom, no postcards yet. We can’t seem to find any in this city if all else fails I’ll have to get one this weekend when we get to do a little bit of traveling. I hope no one will get too offended with a card that’s no from my current area. I’ll keep you guys posted.

This last week we had Cake night in the branch. Sacrament attendance has been around 60-70 people, so we were hoping to boost things. We had a competition between the members for the “Most Delicious” “Most Creative” and “Most Beautiful” cakes, with the prizes being homemade chocolate chip cookies. To mix things up we each made our own cakes to compete. Unfortunately by the time we finished the cookies I didn’t have a whole lot of time to make my cake. I had planned on making a “Better than Basketball” cake, but it didn’t work out so hot. I’m not sure if it was because we’d already had the oven baking cookies and cakes for 5 hours, but the cake turned out to brownies. The caramel topping I bought ended up tasting like molasses (so I didn’t us it) and the cream I bought to make homemade whipped cream died. I watched as Elder West made perfect cream for his cake and then when I opened the first pack of cream I’d bought the same day it had already spoiled. The “back-up” pack I bought had already turned to nasty, clumpy butter. As such, w ran to the store to buy one more pack. I opened it, tossed it into the bowl, added the sugar and after about 90 seconds of hitting with the whisk it turned into butter. It was one of the most frustrating days of my life but we still had 12 cakes to be judged and 61 people to finish up the masterpieces.

2 more transfers, 2 more zone conferences, 3 more interviews, plenty of time to make a difference.

The sun is out, the heat is here to stay, and I’m fine so stop worrying about me.

Enjoying Leftovers,
Elder Haws(mo)

Portuguese 101‏

Hey Family,

Portugal? Portugal? PORTUGAL!!!!!!!

Congrats little guy. You’ll love it. I think. The Portuguese that you’ll be speaking on the “continent” is pretty different from the language the people here know as “Brazilian”. Fortunately, the further south you go in Brazil, the more Portugal-ish the Portuguese gets. It will be REALLY weird to switch from Spanish to Portuguese but as soon as you get the first “eye-opener” you’ll be fluent and training.

Spanish --->Portuguese
Yo Eu (think the letter “a” and the letter “o”… aye-oh)
Soy Sou (think “sew” pants or seeds)
Tu Tu
El Ele (the letter “l” and “e”)
Ella Ela (the letter “l” and the sound “uh”)
Nos Nós
Vos Vós
Hablar Falar
Ser Ser
Estar Estar

Go get ‘em tiger. We’re all proud of you.

May 17th we speak? June 3rd he leaves? Sounds like we’ll be playing ball together for 4 weeks. Right as soon as I make my first RM jump shot we’ll be shipping you off to Provo.

Jenny, the boys want to know if I will play with them after the mission? Tell them I’m looking forward to it. If I have any free time at school I’ll be there distracting them away from their homework. I will quickly become the favorite uncle once again.

This morning we went to the neighbor city to play basketball and soccer with about 8 primary kids. The baskets were about 12-13 feet tall, so there were very few baskets made… by the kids. After basketball we switched over to soccer. Man, 8 year old Brazilian kids are pretty good with a ball at their feet. Two kids (eight and ten years old) beat Elder West and me by one goal. They won with a header by the 8 year old. It was the best goal that I’ve witnessed so far on my mission.

It’s amazing how the Lord is willing to bless us. Each of the last three days we’ve managed to teach one AWESOME lesson each day (along with other good ones). It’s remarkable to notice how whenever we put in the extra effort, the Lord pours the spirit out in the lesson. All we have to do is keep going when it’s hot, knock a certain door one more time, or have a little extra patience with a family that’s returning to the church and the Lord will prepare the miracle. If we desire to have fun, spiritual experiences, the Lord will give them to us.

The sun is out, the branch wants an activity, and I’m fine so stop worrying about me.

Pondering Portugal,
Elder Haws(mo)

P-Day= P(arty) Day‏

Hey Family,

Don’t worry. The rain stopped. The 100 degree sun came back. Elder West and I have been burned. We are a “little” burned. Good times.

My birthday day was pretty relaxed. Wednesday we had a branch activity to celebrate all the January birthdays so I got some cake and a little party. Thursday night we got some pizza. Elder West was hoping to make me a real cake, but we were in Videira doing divisions/splits with Elder Pimentel. Elder Pimentel is from the same group as the elder I trained and is now one of the Zone Leaders out here in the west. The kid is POWERFUL. Today we are planning on baking up some cakes and goodies to celebrate my 21 years and Elder West’s one year in the mission.

We have a special responsibility to clean up the house today because we have Zone Conference this week. The mission will be renting a bus to go from Chapeco to Ipomeia and it will pick up our entire zone at our house. This conference is going to be really fun because it will be in the town of Ipomeia. Ipomeia is the birthplace of the church in Brazil. The first chapel in South America was constructed in Joinville, but the first organized meetings were here in Ipomeia. I think the story goes that shortly after the first World War a lot of Germans immigrated to southern Brazil. Among these hordes of Germans was a Mormon family that eventually settled in Ipomeia and opened the doors for the preaching of the gospel in Brazil. Various grand and great-grandchildren of this first family still live in Ipomeia, but I met a lot of others during my time in Navegantes.

Jake is scared of girls? I had never thought that that was his style, but I guess the mission changes people. Greg is going to get his call soon? That would be fun if he opened it Thursday morning. There’s a small chance that you guys could call the President while I’m being interviewed by him. Probably won’t happen. In fact, it would be nearly impossible, but Mom can still believe.

3 more Zone Conferences. Time to buckle down and get the work done. We’re entering the final sprint and I don’t want to get left behind.

The sun is out, the appointments are marked, and I’m fine so stop worrying about me.

Repenting and Readjusting to Sunscreen,
Elder Haws(mo)

PS Is Greg Rydalch still involved in BYU sports?

Feeling Powerless‏

Hey Family,

How’s life? It’s pretty wet down here. It’s incredible. Since I got here in Joaçaba we’ve only had sun on Sundays, and on days that we happened to be fasting. Any regular old day of work means that the rain comes down hard, and that’s no different on P-day. Wish me some luck with the weather.

Life is going pretty good. This last week we ended up climbing every hill in the city. It was tough work at times (we even did a little “off-roading” through the jungle/forested areas that appear on the side of the road). We’re as tired today as I have been in a very long time but it appears to be paying off. This Saturday we went to visit a less-active family that Elder West has been visiting every week for the 5 months that he’s been in the area. They’d always been a little cold to the missionaries, and had never really made any progress, but when we got there on Saturday the house was completely different. They mentioned that our visit had taken them by surprise. They were all getting their church clothes ready, and had even started making lunch for Sunday. They mentioned that (almost magically) Friday afternoon they got the feeling that they have to get back to church as quickly as possible. They now know that the only choice they have is raising their children in the church, because if they’re not learning about life at church they’ll be learning it in the street. This family has been inactive for a little over two years so we’re setting up the baptisms for the two sons (ages 8 and 10) for the 14th of February. We hope to have a couple more people to join them, but no real names to write down. It’s amazing to see miracles spontaneously happening, like a recent-convert coming to church after mission 3 weeks, and bringing his brother’s family with him. In a matter of moments we had a family of 5 who liked church and want us to visit them.

Besides that life has been pretty laid back. Yesterday we woke up at 5:30 am to get ready for PEC before church. As we were getting ready to go the power went out. We imagined it was just a side effect of the rain, so we left it alone. When we got home last night the power was still out so we went to talk to our neighbors in the building. It turns out that the only apartment that didn’t have power was ours’. This morning we got up, ate in the dark, took cold showers (we have electric shower heads that heat the water) and made a call to the maintenance guy. It turns out someone actually turned of our breaker in the fuse box in the basement. We had checked the one in our apartment, in the hall on our floor, and on the main floor, we just had imagined that there would be a problem in the basement. Everything worked out in the end.

Rumor has it that it’s my birthday this week, but I don’t think it’ll mean too much. It’s kind of crazy that both years I got transferred 3 weeks before my birthday. Oh well. The Lord knows what’s best. This Wednesday is the branch’s monthly “Birthday Celebration” so I’ll get a piece of cake. Thanks for everything!

Recovering from the Mountain Climbing Expeditions,
Elder Haws(mo)

Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head...

Hey Family,

How’s life up in the frozen north? We had three days of blistering heat last week before the rain set in. I feel kind of bad. There was a flood in Concordia my first Sunday there. A month after I got to Imbituba we got a rainstorm that lasted for over 10 days. My first week in Navegantes we got a huge storm that had the streets filled with so much water that it reached my knees. It rained almost everyday for the entire two months I was in Florianopolis. The two months I was in Joinville weren’t any different. The worst flood in the history of Brazil destroyed our mission during my first transfer. We had sun the day I was on the bus coming out to Joaçaba but my first full day of work was the start of three solid days of rain. What’s wrong with me?

Life in Joaçaba is pretty good. I got to wake up at 3:30am on Wednesday to catch the bus to Florianopolis. On the way we dropped off Elder Bateman in his new area. We decided that our own “home winning streak” has come to an end, and I’ll probably only run into him when we’re going home. After the transfer meeting it was time to get on the WESTERN BUS. When I rode that bus last year it took almost 9 hours to get to Joaçaba to let Elder Pereira off the bus. This time the transfer was pretty small so we got there in about 7 hours. That night just about everybody in the zone stayed the night at our house (because only one other area in the zone is in the bus route) but Thursday morning everyone went back to there areas. We’ve got a new kid on the zone from Rigby, so we had some fun conversation on the bus ride.

Many people consider Joaçaba to be the worst area in the mission. Not because of the work, nor the apartment, nor the branch. Just because of the hills. To be completely honest, I think I’ve only found three streets so far that don’t climb up hills. One of those is the main street in Joaçaba, and the other two are the bridges that cross the river. Elder West has been here for 3 transfers so he knows his way around pretty well. He’s got around 11 months on the mission (he came to the mission field when I went to Navegantes last March) and has served in Concordia as well. He is from Connecticut, is a construction management major at BYU, and is 6 feet tall. He is used to be the big guy because for the last three transfers he was with a 5’6”, 115 pound elder from Montana. Needless to say, Elder West feels a little different now and everyone in the branch was a little surprised to see me.

Thanks for the stake information. I got that email sent off a few minutes ago so the mission should be able to get my travel plans all figured out. No dad, neither of us is a district leader. If you were to ask the other elders in the mission they would just laugh and tell you that I was probably being punished for something. Nobody has any idea what I would be getting punished for. President Queiroz went so far as to say that I’m not being punished, it’s just that the Lord wants me here right now. It’s shown to be a good little area so far, we just have to see what we can make of it.

Hey Mom, congrats on teaching your students to use the computer! I never saw that one coming. Greg, congrats on being assigned to a mission, it’s just too bad that you won’t be finding out about it for another month.

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

In the west with The West,
Elder Haws(mo)

2009...

Hey Family,

The New Year is here, and so is the sun. The weather forecast is for sun this week, which is just perfect. The first dry week in Joinville will be the week I’m gone. New Years down here was pretty chill. Joinville turned into a ghost town last week. Then again, so did every city that’s not on the beach. You know that it’s a FANTASTIC week when you can knock doors for 6 hours and not talk to anybody. Don’t worry. That’s not knocking every door on the street, just the ones with doors or windows open and cars in the driveway. Apparently everyone who stayed home had such a bad hang over they couldn’t stand up. Hooray for the Holidays!?

Today I got my Trunky Email but it didn’t really tell me anything. It said I’m going home in May, and that I need to send them an email with all my information so they can buy the tickets. Basically, I just need to know President Murdoch’s address and/or email, as well as whether or not someone will pick me up at the airport. I’ve got the rest of the information.

It’s too bad Greg didn’t get his call yet, but that’s probably better. You never want to start the semester distracted. If Greg is living in Budge Hall he’s pretty close to the RB (Richards Building). If he’s got nothing to do he can run down to the RB after 4pm and play basketball. He just needs to know his student ID number and he can check out a shirt and a ball. All the courts generally have kids playing pick-up games, but the ones further down the hall (closer to Helaman Halls) are normally where the BYU guys play and the ones closer to the front doors (near the big staircase and the Field house) are where the more relaxed and/or freshman games are played. I imagine Greg will be taking the huge staircase to campus everyday. One thing that I liked to do was cut through the Tanner Building. It’s the big Marriot School of Business Building. They’ve got a pleasant indoor staircase that goes up to campus or if you’re feeling really lazy you can take the elevator.

Guess what? I’m getting transferred. I’ll be spending the next few months in Joacaba with Elder West. Joacaba is about 2 hours away from Concordia and has more hills than any other city in the mission. Wish me luck, I should be dropping a couple more pounds this summer.

The weather is fine, my bags are nearly packed, and I’m fine so stop worrying about me.

Returning to the Hills,
Elder Haws(mo)