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)