Letter 9/26/16

 I had a great great great week. It has been a lot lot lot better! I have felt the spirit so strong this week. I have decided to do everything in my power to become as close to Christ as I can for the rest of my life and It honestly has changed my life and the way I look at everything.  I love being on a mission. I know this is the right place for me to be. Haha funny story, a member of the ward gave me a letter this week at church and it was saying how she was the black panther that eats chickens or something weird like that and then started prophesying in the letter and oh man it was so crazy. She was like saying things about my future haha, me and my comp were cracking up. Shes a nice nice lady. Okay this week was so great. Well half great half not. We had a lot of appointments fall through and people yell at us and a guy’s dog almost bit my face but other than that it was great.

The Hermana’s in my area have been teaching a family of 7 and they got baptized this week. We went so my companion who is the district leader could interview them. I played with all their little kids and they were learning English so I taught them more colors and stuff like that you know. It was honestly so great. I had the wonderful opportunity to baptize the mom and I am so happy for them and hope that they keep going to church. Everything else this week was so great…the food, all the people, the weather even though it was so hot...and oh my gosh so much rain, like both gutters were like a foot deep of water holy cow! My companion’s shoes are so broke and his feet got soaked. I was going to take a picture but we were in a huge hurry to a meeting! I will try to send pictures but all the computers are so broken haha but I will try to find a way! I love it here!

We are like 10 minutes from the mission home and I have only seen my mission president like 3 times! I have a hard time communicating with him because his English is mas o menos (more or less) but I will be able to talk to him or try to once I can speak better. I am super interested in learning more languages when I get home too! I think that we will need them here pretty soon in the world.

I hope that everyone is great at home! Through the church and Jesus Christ we can solve any problem or overcome any trial! This week we had some serious miracles with money. We are poor haha. We have had 150 pesos for the last two weeks, which is like less than 10 bucks. Haha. First was, I found 200 pesos in my pocket that I have no idea whos they were but I know they weren't mine because they were folded up all weird. Then the next day another lady gave us a 100. When we went to go to the grocery store we had both of our stuff separated out on the conveyor belt thing and the guy put like half of my stuff with my companions and then rung them up together and I was like oh man... what is going on. After he had rung it up he realized and said sorry but it was too late and we said it was fine. Everything that was put on my companions ticket was like discounted if you bought more than one. We wouldn't of had any money for the week, if not for these things. I know that the Lord is looking out for us in everything that we do if we are looking unto him in everything we do. Elder Hawley signing out.

A Letter To Elder Hawley 9/25/16

Hey Elder,

How are you? We really enjoy receiving your letter and pictures. Sorry you had a rough week. Hopefully this week was better. We are excited to hear. You will have good and bad days. Have faith, stay positive, pray always, and you will make it through tough times. How is your sunburn? That was bad...do you need sunscreen haha? We always look up the weather in Reynosa, it shows rain this week. What a relief but still humid, huh?  Sorry your place flooded, hopefully it has been fixed and you are not having further problems. Did anything get ruined? Do you need anything? It looks like you live in quite a nice place. How fun for you to be able to play sports on your P-Days. Hopefully it will cool down soon for you. Remember to keep drinking lots of water! 

Last week our weather cooled off and we had three days of heavy rain. There was a tornado in Riverdale (by Layton) which was crazy.  No one was injured thank goodness but a lot of damage done to houses and uprooted lots of huge trees. There is snow now up in the high mountains.   

Exciting news, Malachi Pineda received his mission call. He is going to the Phillipines, Cebu Mission.  He will be speaking Cebuano. It is the same mission where his dad went. He leaves November 9 and he is super excited.

Megan is excited for tomorrow, Monday, she starts working at Cross E Ranch for the Fall Festival. She earned her food handlers permit as she will be working in the concession stand, as well as with the animals. Everyone at the ranch asks about you and says "Hi". Megan also asked someone to Sadies which is in the middle of October and is waiting to get answered.

Malia wanted you to know that she finished reading the book Lightening Thief. She really liked it.

We celebrated Mile's 7th birthday last week. He had a friend pirate party (hopefully you can see the pictures) on Monday and had a lot of fun.  On his actual birthday he wanted to go to Spaghetti Factory, so we went there for dinner and surprised him with a Pokemon cake and gifts. He sings the entire Pokemon song now haha. 

The Wood family says "Hi" and they are always praying for you. 

I received a quote and scripture in Relief Society today and want to share it with you.  The quote is from Jeffrey R. Holland: "Keep trying. Keep trusting. Keep believing. Keep growing. Heaven is cheering you on today, tomorrow, and forever." I really like that saying. The scripture is Moroni 10:32 for you to read...what a great scripture for missionaries! Keep working hard. Love God with all your might, mind, and strength and be "perfect in Christ".

We Love You, Miss You, and Pray for you always!

Love, Your Family

I Got Fried 9/19/16

This week has been so hard. So many doors slammed in our face. I read a lot about Moroni though and I learned a lot about faith! If we have faith then we can do anything. I know that we will find people to teach this week.

 

 I got so sunburned this week. When I take off my shirt the tan lines are so bad it looks like I’m wearing a white shirt haha.

 Cool experience, was just on Sunday and we were leaving the church and this lady grabbed my companion and said something in Spanish which I didn’t understand and then we went back into the church. It turned out that there was a lady that needed a blessing who was super sick. We went into the room and the lady that was sick said something to my companion and then he turned to me and said that she wanted me to do it. Normally I just do the sealing part because it is short and easy and I have it memorized. My companion explained this to the lady and she said it was fine I could just do it in English. I said the prayer in English and as soon as I finished she immediately stood up with tears in her eyes and said that even though she couldn’t understand me she felt the spirit so strong and thanked me so much. I was so happy for the chance that I had to feel the love Heavenly Father has for his children. The rest of the week was just walking in the hot desert streets getting rejected but it’s okay because next week will be awesome. Today we had an awesome day of playing sports and I am so sunburned now. Haha it hurts to close my eyes. I am going to buy a huge sombrero. That’s about all that happened this week! I know the church is true enjoy these pictures.

 Also our house flooded because a pipe broke that’s why it’s such a mess.

7 days and more than 7 big bites 9/12/16

First off I want to talk about a Big Bite. It’s a delicacy here in Reynosa from the local 7-11. It is a hot dog special for 8 pesos (like 50 cents). If that isn’t a spanking hot deal I don’t know what is. So I’ve had a lot of those and then a lot of super spicy Mexican food. 

 Okay Reynosa is great. Don’t worry it’s not dangerous here at all. The drug lords and bad guys actually look out for us a lot. The weather has been the hottest thing I have ever experienced. It is like I am dripping in sweat all day. It is hot and sunny and a little humid. More humid then Utah. We are in the San Jose area in Reynosa, and my companion’s name is Elder Jurado. See the picture! He is from Chihuahua. Like the dog. It is another border state in Mexico that is to the east of Reynosa. He is super awesome. We laugh a ton and work super hard. He can speak good enough English. I can ask him how to say stuff and just have a simple conversation with him. He’s been here 11 months. It is just me and my companion, in a little tiny house. We are in a ward. There is actually a super nice ward meeting chapel and there are 3 wards that meet there. I baptized a girl in the other ward this Sunday. See the picture! There are probably more than 100 members or close to that. Everyone speaks Spanish so fast. Like it’s so crazy. Haha I don’t really understand anything which is frustrating but that’s alright it will come. The American missionaries told me that one day it will just click and you will understand. The food is awesome. We surprisingly have lots of American places to eat like fast food. But also the members feed us the classic authentic Mexican food. So I get the best of both worlds. I am getting plenty to eat. voy a ser muy gordo cuando yo regreso (I will be very fat when I return).

 Day one (Labor Day for you guys). Started at 2 in the morning at the Mexico City airport. Elder Hawley with 11 other latino missionaries. I wish I could say that I understood more than 10 words that day in Spanish haha jk. It was super fun, we just had meetings all day and then played soccer until like 8:30. Then we went to this huge mansion that was cool and all stayed there. 

Day two. We got our companions. I got my companion and he is super awesome he is a latino but he speaks some English so I teach him English and he teaches me Spanish. We went to our area the first day. Our house is 4 rooms. A living room, bath room, kitchen and a bedroom. It is so nice though because we have a little ac cooler thing. Which doesn’t actually work that well anymore because we turned it too cold haha oh well. 

Day 3 wow. We are like starting our area new so we had to find people to teach and so we hit the streets for like 6 hours. It was super fun but we didn’t really find anyone that wanted to listen. It was super hot. This was when I was first introduced to the Big Bite.

Day 4. This day I went on a split with an elder from Utah named Elder Meyers and I learned so much Spanish. We met this guy and we taught him so much. He let us come in and we taught his family. He wanted to go to chuch and we were a little wary because the baptism date was so soon but he wanted to for sure, or at least I thought so with my limited Spanish knowledge and understanding haha.

Day 5 was the worst. Haha just a lot of things went wrong, still a good day just hard. We had a couple of appointments and they all fell through. So dissapointing, I know that the gosple can help these people but they just didn’t want to listen. A guy told us that we worship satan. The funny part is that he literally worships satan. He is part of the Holy Dead Church which worships a skeleton grim reaper guy haha oh man. More about this crazy day. We had all of our plans fall through, got yelled at and doors slammed in our faces. I didn’t understand most of what was said but that’s okay. We got home and our fridge wasn’t working and everything in it had gone bad or melted haha, and at this point we were sweaty and just laughing at our misfortune. That night I kind of wondered why I am really here. The next day made up for it though.

 Day 6 Sunday. We woke up and studied our scriptures and I learned a lot of Spanish. Right as we were about to leave our phone started ringing and my companion answered. He talked for a little while and then hung up the phone. I asked the classic question, ”What did they say?” because I have had to ask that so many times. He says you need to grab your baptismal clothes because the sister missionaries need someone to baptize their investigator. Wow. I started freaking out. I was so excited. This was the first baptism that I had had. Then it hit me. I don’t know Spanish. haha. I was so scared because I didn’t know the prayer and I didn’t know how to explain to her how to do the whole process and all that. Oh man I was freaking out. We got there and I said a prayer to know what to say, then she walked around the corner and guess what. She speaks English. Haha I was so relived. It was honestly so funny and honestly such a blessing to me. Heavenly Father knows exactly what we need and when we need it. I was able to say the baptismal prayer in Spanish from memory no problem. Everything was great. This is why I am here. I want to be able to do that for anyone who wants it.

The food is great. One day we ate with this guy and I was soooo hungry we got there and he lives in like an abandonded warehouse place and guards it. He had nothing really. He had a couple pans and pots and things. He welcomed us so kindly and was so friendly. He then brought out a little pan of scrambled eggs and beans to eat with some warm tortillas. I was so so so hungry and I thanked him so much. Those were the best things I had ever tasted. They were amazing. And the one bowl of food I had filled me completely full. The Lord blesses those who give all they have.

There is a cool system to send packages and letters. You can send them to a place in Texas and then my mission President drives and picks them up. Here’s the address:

Jorge Regalado (Elder Hawley)

701 N International Blvd.

Ste. 101-1511

Hidalgo, Texas

78557

Yeah sorry this is so long but its been a long week haha. Love you all. Hope everything is going great. I’m never coming home by the way I like it too much here. Peace out

Elder Hawley

Questions 9/11/16

Hey Elder,

Everything is fine at home. We went over to the church last night with a bunch of people from the ward and watched the U vs BYU game and ate food.  The U won by 1 point.  It was a crazy game! We are writing this letter together as a family which we will try to do every Sunday. Miles says he really misses you and playing Smash Bros with you. Malia is really liking 7th grade. Mrs. Johnson from Millcreek says to tell you "Hi". Malia misses you. She wishes you good luck teaching people. Megan has plans to go to homecoming this week and she really misses you.

Cousin Jake arrived home on Sept 1 and headed right up to Utah State.  Allison is also there.

Jake has lost 100 pounds and looks completely different!

This is an email full of questions. How is being in Reynosa?  Has the weather been super hot?

Where are you exactly?  What is your area called?  Who is your companion and where is he from?

Where are you living?  Are you living with just your companion or are there other missionaries?

Are you in a branch or a ward?  How was your first week at church?  Do you meet in an actual church?  About how many people attended church? Have you had a chance to teach a discussion? How is your Spanish now that you are out in the real world?  How is the food?  Are you getting enough to eat and is it "agreeing" with you?

We are super excited to hear all the details, experiences, and answers to our questions.  Keep up the good work and remember to follow the promptings of the Spirit. 

We love you, miss you, and pray for you always!  Love, Your Family

Pictures 9/6/16

Sister Hawley, thanks for your email. I spoke with Elder Hawley your son last Sunday on the subject and gave him approval to send you some pictures that same day. His camera is broken or doesn’t work for photos but his companion offered some pictures to Elder Hawley from his camera. I hope you received them. I’ve had the honor to meet with your son and can say that Elder Hawley is a talented and worthy missionary who has performed his preparation in the MTC very well, you and your husband can be rightly proud of him.

Regards,

President Glendon Lyons

2^nd Counselor

Mexico MTC

 

~Mom

Thank you so much!  I really appreciate your response and all you have done to help Elder Hawley prepare for the Reynosa mission field. Yes, I did receive the pictures.  Thank you for allowing him to send them to me.

Thanks for all you do for our missionaries in the Mexico CCM! 

Arriving Reynosa Pictures 9/5/16

Arriving in Reynosa Video 9/5/16

Camera 9/3/16

I am worried about you not having a camera.  I should have suggested you get one from Walmart while you were at the MTC.  I feel bad if you haven't gotten pictures of you with your district, zone, and president.  Does anyone else have any to send to me?  I hope your travel goes well. I love you, Mom

Started at the bottom now were here. 9/1/16

So this is my last p day in the mtc. Wow, time has literally flied by so fast. I feel like ive known my companions and district and zone like forever but time is over now. They are all going to the same mission and i am going on a separate plane at 2 in the morning and i am the only american in my group haha it should be interesting. We taught this really old lady who was already a member this week and I felt the spirit so strong when she bore her testimony about the last 70 years of her church life. I know the church is true and I cant wait to be able to teach the people of reynosa. I literally want nothing more than that. Also this week me and the elders in my district buzzed our heads and we look like goobs but its so nice i dont even have do my hair in the morning. Also I wanted to share an experience, so when i was made zone leader me and my companion had to pick my replacement for district leader. He had us both tell him individually who we thought and we couldnt discuss it with each other. I was so scared i was going to make the wrong decision but i prayed really fast and then pointed to a person. Haha and then our district president looked at me and just shook his head. I was like thats it hes gonna send me home i picked the wrong person hah. then my companion went and picked and then the district president came out and was tearing up and out of the 20 something people we all had picked the same person who I had never really though about choosing first. It was an amazing feeling i had after. So I havent started packing yet either but ill have time i dont leave for 3 more days. The food at the hospital was so good, i ordered the only thing i could read on the menu, or that I recognized and it was a giant club sandwich with bacon and ham and chicken salad. so great. Miss you guys but i cant wait to get in the field. Im not sure if i will have a pday for like a week or two so love you guys!

~Mitch

hey!!

~Mom

 Hey hey.  How have you been?

I forgot to tell you in my email yesterday that Kyle Fujikawa is playing Lacrosse at Southern Virginia University.  It was a crazy week for him and his family last week, everything happened so fast and all at the last minute.  Kristy was able to go with him over the weekend until Tuesday to get his room set up.  He is excited to be there.  Remember that was the school that kept begging you to go there until you asked them if they had a swim team which they don't haha.

~Mitch

 So good! Well actually just alright, i was in the hospital with my companion for the last two days and he has a stomach infection they think so I feel really bad for him. But me and the mission president gave him a blessing and I know that everything will be okay. I talked to a elder who was struggling in the hospital and he was having a super hard time it was his first week and he had to have surgery and was really down. I wanted to help him but there wasnt much i could do which was super hard, but hes a tough kid and will be alright, i told him to say high once he got back to the mtc.

thats awesome about kyle though! i am super happy for him!

~Mom

 Did you guys get the letters i sent you??

Oh my goodness.  Is your companion still in the hospital?  What are they doing for him? Antibiotics? We will pray for him.  Are you feeling better physically yourself?  You are being such a strong and good example for others!

~Mitch

 Yeah I hope he gets released tomorrow! yeah they are pumping him full of antibiotics. I feel great myself! I have actually had a hard week though because I have seen so many people struggling and It is kind of weighing me down but i just want to help everyone. Satan has been working so hard on me trying to make me feel unworthy and like i cant be here but I know that he is wrong and just because he trys to do that to me I want to teach every single person to make him miserable

~Mom

 You are definitely doing the right thing and have the right attitude.  Don't ever let Satan win.  You are strong.  I feel when we are doing right and good things, satan is even trying harder to "win".  Keep praying, following the spirit, and obeying the rules.  You will continue to do great things!

Melanie Olson told me that a swimmer from CCAT was sent home recently from the Mexico MTC due to having so much anxiety.  I wonder if you know him and/or worked with him.  

~Mitch

 I doubt i know him but maybe!

~Mom

 Have you had positive things happen this past week?  I thought I would hear from your MTC president before you leave but I haven't.  Feel free to give him my email address. Could you have a picture taken of you and your zone and an "exit" picture of those leaving to email me or have posted on the MTC facebook page? I have seen some of other groups posted. 

~Mitch

 Yes this week has actually been super great and spiritual for me. and yeah I will take a picture with them all.

~Mom

 Melanie and Ryan say they think about you and pray for you every day as we all do! Could you still get a picture of you and your district too as a separate picture? 

~Mitch

 yeah for sure! Did i send you the one of me and my district at the temple?

~Mom

 No, just you alone.

~Mitch

 okay ill send one with everyone.

~Mom

 What a great experience in following the spirit and getting an answer to prayer. I'm confused though, when did you become zone leader?  I thought you told me that you wanted someone else to have a longer chance instead of you? Can you send pictures this week?  The more you send the better then I can have them in case something happens to your camera...I hope not though. Are you writing your experiences in your journal?  You will want them to look back on. 

~Mitch

 They told me that they wanted me to do it so i said okay! Also i used my card this week so i could get some money to use while im here. also my camera broke. someone on the bus stepped on it and i didnt want to make them feel bad. but the camera part works the screen doesnt though. I am writing them in my journal but the days are just so repetative. I will buy a new camera once i get to the field. I tried to take some but i don tknow how they turned out!

~Mom

 We have not received the letters yet.  I'm sorry about your camera.  Hopefully the pictures are still okay on the card. How many have been in your zone?

~Mitch

 We probably have like close to 80 or 90.

~Mom

Wow...have you enjoyed that as much as being district leader?  What has been the biggest challenge?  What has been the best?  Melanie Olson said his name is Ty Payne. He ended up going home last week...so sad!

~Mitch

 So i really liked being district leader but i really think i would like being zone leader too, i wish i had more time. The biggest challenge is seeing missionaries struggle and not really being able to help them more. The best is seeing them overcome problems and become better missionaries.

~Mom

 I am very happy for you that you accepted the challenge and both callings.  It shows what a good leader, example, friend, and person you are.  Keep up the good work.  You will have more opportunities come your way and you will be blessed.  You are a great missionary! What time does your p-day officially end? 

~Mitch

 my pday ends at like 5 but im out of time! I love you guys tell the kids i love them! hopefully you get my letter soon!

~Mom

We love you...good luck packing and safe travels.  We will be anxiously awaiting your arrival to Reynosa. Stay positive and keep smiling. Tell your comp we are praying for him!

~Mitch

 Alright love you!

~Mom

 Did you receive your package for this week and see what I wrote about PB&J?

Thoughts/Experiences 8/31/16

Hi Elder!

How has your week been?  I cannot believe you head to Reynosa on Monday!  Do you feel like you are prepared to go?  Are you going to miss the MTC and who you have been working with and/or teachers/leaders? Do you know any of the Elders you will be traveling with? It will be the Labor Day holiday for us. We will look forward to your call or email when you arrive in Reynosa.  You can call my cell phone if you can make a phone call.

This week has been good but busy for us with everything that goes with kids back in school. Things are going well and they all really like their classes. Megan has Brother Burton for seminary and she really likes him. He asked about you. Miles thinks school is really long now haha but he really likes his teacher. I am going to volunteer in his classroom on Friday mornings and help the kids with reading.

 We went to Dylan's homecoming on Sunday which was good. His theme that he chose for his talk was "For the worth of souls is great in the sight of God". He talked about some of his good and bad experiences he had. We visited with him at his home afterwards.  He asked how you were doing. He seems to be doing good, just really tired, and trying to adjust back to regular life. He headed to BYU to start classes on Monday. Jeni texted me and said that he rooms with six guys who all swam so they are taking a Master's Swim class.  Dylan told Jeni that just swimming a 100 wipes him out.  He cannot believe how out of shape he is. 

Paula said that Thomas is doing good and really likes the new swim coach at C of I.  He is having them swim in open water during a retreat. She said the new coach seems organized and on top of things giving out info, etc.  Do you miss swimming?

Dr. Richards stops by my office and asks about you.  He wanted me to add him to the group email so I did.

Are you finding time to exercise? Hopefully that helps relieve some stress. Have you seen any kind of animals, birds, or different insects when you have been outside at the MTC?  Include any details (good or bad) you can give me while you are away, so I can put together everything from your mission for you to have and read after you return. I wish I had more from you on experiences with you and other elders, teachers, or "investigators" while you have been at the MTC...hopefully you have written them in your journal.

Miles is really into making forts thanks to you haha.  He and Malia made a big one downstairs in the big room and had it up for a few days.  When it was time to clean it up Miles said, "No, I want to leave it up for Mitch to see when he gets back".  Haha I don't think he quite gets how long two years is. He now makes forts on the couches and on our bed haha. 

We really miss you but are so happy and proud of you and excited to hear of your experiences in Reynosa.  Give it your all as this two-year opportunity will go by fast and you don't want to look back and say, "I should have tried harder or done something different".  Don't let girls or anything distract you, stress you, or make you think of your future...everything will fall into place when and how it should when the time comes. Just focus on these next two years day by day, step by step, and take in and enjoy every moment. Remember that "The most effective missionaries always act out of LOVE-by Elder Dallin H. Oaks.  Also, always stay POSITIVE & SMILE as you were told by the MTC president.

Read Alma Chapter 32 especially as you are going into the field. I love this chapter about having Faith and how important it is to "plant the seeds".

We always look forward to hearing how your week has been.  Can't wait to hear tomorrow.

We love you!

Mom

~Mitch

 My week has been great! I feel like i am pretty prepared i wish i knew more spanish but thats alright! I love the mtc but i want to leave so bad it is very repetative and hard to stay focused. I know like one elder traveling with me, but they are all native. I am so happy for megan and malia and miles. I hope you guys get my letter that i sent. I think that i want to swim when i get back. I cant decide if at the college of idaho or some where else but either way we will see. I miss working in dr richards office that was so fun, hopefully one day i can for real! I work out super hard everyday. I miss miles tell him ill be back soon. I love everyone haha or try to.