Hey Family, Today I got to play basketball in the shoes the member gave me. They work great. It’s just too bad that I don’t. I’ve never been able to shoot outside of the church, and it definitely holds true down here. We played for a little over 2 hours and the only shot I hit from outside the key was a free throw. ONE free throw. It’s a good thing I was bigger than everyone. Inside the key should have been a dream come true but I don’t have any touch. Oh well. Now I just have to teach Brazilians how to throw a pass into the post. The best “entry pass” I received today was when a sister-RM missed a 3-pointer off the backboard. It’s still HOT down here. When ever we get a day of rain it will cool down for around 48 hours, but then it’s back to a scorcher. Last week we went to a Pizza Rodizio with the ward. Think of Tucano’s or the Rodizio Grill (they bring the food to your table/all you can eat), now imagine that with pizza. It was a surprise trip. We’d eaten with an investigator family at 5pm, and then went to the pizzeria at 7. Unfortunately I was only able to eat 33 pieces of pizza. Don’t worry. I’ll be sure to redeem the Haws family name next time. The only other interesting note is that we are going to have a baptism next Saturday. I’m finally emailing a couple pictures from Beto Carrero World. The height limit is for the BIG TOWER, the tallest tower ride in the world. Don’t worry. I rode it anyway. 3 times. I’m also sending a picture of the roller coaster. Feel free to laugh. It was weak. I’ve also got a picture with the Dansies and of Luiza, our last baptism. SCOTT JACKSON IS IN IDAHO FALLS? Unless I’m horribly mistaken, which is always possible, I DO remember him. He and the rest of the rest of the saxophones warmed up right next to us and he even played bari sax in the Pep band with me. The kid was an animal. Wow. Give him a hug and make him commit to coming back to the band. How much time does he have on the mission? Will he still be serving when I get back? Schedule splits for next May! Thanks for the pictures from the T-Ball game. I’m glad to see everyone wearing BYU blue. Is that Spencer in the brown jacket with the beard? Is it just me or is he getting a little bigger? And I’m not saying that he’s threatening 6 feet. I’m gaining weight. I don’t know how much, but I’m gaining. You can see in the photo with President and Sister Dansie. I miss hills. These flat areas are killing me. The weather is still hot, my basketball shoes are Nike, but I’m fine so stop worrying about me. Posting Up the Soccer Stars,Elder Haws(mo)
Hey Family, Sorry. I can't get the computer to accept my pictures. To make things better this computer doesn't have Microsoft Word so this letter will be written without spell-check. I hope that I still remember how to type well enough in English that you guys can understand most of the message. Beto Carrero World last week wasn't nearly as good as expected. By that I mean that I was upset I paid $30 for that experience. The main attractions of the park are shows so we expected to be free to ride the rides as much and as often as we liked. As it turns out, we never waited in a line. The problem was that none of the rides were worth going on. The Big Tower was completely overrated. The rocket at Lagoon is by far a better ride, regardless of heigth. In fact, I was technically to tall to ride the Big Tower. Rather than just sit on the side I walked in and no one said anything to me as I rode it 3 times. The roller coasters (one real and one for kids) we're both less exciting than the little red roller coaster that was at the fair a few years back. The only fear I had was hitting my head on one of the supports as the ride went along. If we had either had more money or wanted to spend more money we could have seen the shows and done some of the "Pay-to-Play" attractions. As it was, we showed up at 10:30, did everything that had potential to be cool 3 times (we even went on the Brazilian version of "It's a Small World), and we were leaiving the park to catch the bus at 1:30. Beto CArrero World would be cool for families or dates, but it's not really worth a missionaries time (money). I don't know if I told you but last week but they moved Zone Conference to June 2nd (yesterday). It was good, but got quite a few missionaries crying because it was our last one with President Dansie. At the end both President and Sister Dansie hugged each missionary (yes, Sister Dansie hugged the Elders and President hugged the sisters) and gave us a slide show of the mission. The President and the assistants talked a lot about transitioning to the new mission president so I hope it all works out ok. The Dansie's leave when President and Sister Queiroz arrive on June 30th. President Queiroz and his wife are both native Brazilians but have spent around 2 decades living in Utah. Transfers will be June 18th, but the next transfer will only be 5 weeks long so President Queiroz will be running as soon as he gets here. It's no fun to be losing the Dansies but they made everyone promise to visit them in Utah. We're already planning some parties. At Zone Conference I got to do some good chatting with former companions Elder Wright (Concordia) and Elder C. Silva (Imbituba). Nearly every brazilian has the last name of Silva so he's now Elder Santana. Elder Wright is serving as a Zone Leader in the southern half of Joinville and Elder Santana is in Sao Bento do Sul. The elder who trained Elder Huber is now in my zone so I got some time to talk to him about life. Thanks for the letters. As always Elder BAteman and I spent a majority of the ride home reading up about BYU sports. We're both anxious for winter here to end. Not for warmer weather. Not to be closer to going home. Just because we want to start reading about cougar football again. Dad bought shoes? I thought I told him not to. I guess the old man doesn't have any respect for elders anymore. Oh well. Ramos (a memebr here) has been askign me every week if you guys are going to send a copy of "The RM" that he can buy from me. Besides that, I'm doing fine. I've had to pay bills and do a little traveling lately so I had to use personal funds for grocery shopping today. I'm currently waiting for a refund from the mission office for mission expenses. This part is never fun. The weather is still warm, we're back in Navegantes, and I'm fine so stop worrying about me. Annoyed at a wasted 30 dollars,Elder Haws(mo)
Hey Family, Greg got into BYU? That’s what I’m talking about! How’d we do it? Hostages? Ransom? Bomb threats? Crates of Idaho Potatoes? A midnight infiltration? Zone Blitz? Box and 1? The wretched Memphis Dribble-Drive Offense? 15 Yard Fade to Jonny Harline? Cartwheels and a Slip ‘n’ Slide? Now we just have to make sure he does an audition for the marching band before he leaves on his mission. If he’s working at Chesbro’s there’s no excuse to not be practicing. Sorry this letter is late… and short. Yesterday was Elder Lacerda’s birthday so we moved to P-Day to today. That probably doesn’t make any sense to you guys. Basically there is a Theme Park 30 minutes north of Navegantes named Beto Carrero World. It is the largest theme park in Latin America (outside of the US and Canada). You get in for free on your birthday, but it only opens Thursdays through Sundays. So Elder Lacerda will go for free and I pulled $30 off my WellsFargo card to get in. It’s not an amusement park (like lagoon) so it lacks roller coasters and has tons of shows. Taking this into consideration we expect everyone at the nearly empty park to go to the shows today while we ride the rides to our hearts’ content. Elder Bateman was there last week on his companions birthday and said the rides aren’t as good as Lagoon’s. That is, except for “Big Tower”. Its like the Rocket from the Lagoon … at least, I think the name was the Rocket. It takes you really high in the air, waits for a few minutes, and drops you. The Big Tower is reportedly the tallest in the world. 100 meters. Don’t worry. I’ll wave to you. Interviews with the President were good but sad. When the next interviews roll around it’ll be the new President. I’m a little curious about how the mission is going to change. The most exciting moment of the week might have been getting a letter form good old Elder Jake Robinson. I also got letters from Adrienne Love and Trevor Bateman, but it’s been nearly 2 years since I heard from Jake so I was a little more excited to open that one. Jake only has 4 months left and is the Zone Leader over the area where both the Suns and Diamondbacks are located. I’ll be honest. I was a little jealous. Give him a hug for me when he gets home. Congrats on getting into BYU Greg! That’s awesome. Correct me if I’m wrong, but does that make Mindy the only Haws who applied and didn’t get in? I don’t remember Warren applying. Work hard Greg, you won’t regret it. Oh. A member of the ward (who is a semi-professional basketball player) gave me his old pair of basketball shoes. He’s my height but weighs a little more than me (~270 lbs. or 130 kilos). Hey. I just got the picture of Mom and Dad at Spencer’s Graduation. What the #@$% is dad doing with my M&M’s tie? I always used his ties, but I only had 3 or 4 of my own. The old man has HUNDREDS! The baptism last week was awesome. I would send pictures but we’re at the annoying lan house again. Maybe next week. The weather is great, I have basketball shoes now, and Beto Carrero should be great so stop worrying about me. Climbing a BIG TOWER,Elder Haws(mo)
