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?
Monday, January 26, 2009
Monday, January 19, 2009
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)
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)
Monday, January 12, 2009
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)
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)
Monday, January 5, 2009
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)
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