RIO BRAVO ----->CAMARGO 8/28/17

This week was a super great week! We baptised a super awesome guy this week named Gabriel! He is the one I talked about last week. He found us and basically taught himself. He truly was so prepared to become a member of the church. He wanted to buy his own church clothes and everything, haha but he couldn’t find a tie so we gave him one of ours. His mom is an inactive member in Texas, but she is super excited to start going to church again!

This week I will have transfers. I’m going to miss Rio Bravo a lot, especially the investigators, but I am super excited to go to Camargo! It’s a little area too. It is like 2 hours away from Rio Bravo. It will be an awesome experience! My new companion his name is Elder Spencer. He is from Utah, but I don’t remember where exactly.

Last week it didn’t rain at all! It just like sprinkled all day when the hurricane hit Texas. Like it was predicted to get exactly to Rio Bravo, but never did. I was kind of excited, not gonna lie, but then it didn’t even really rain. It’s so weird that it didn’t get here.

Also this week we had a super awesome experience! We were trying to find this really cool lady that we had been teaching before but then she had just disappeared and we hadn’t been able to find her in like two weeks. We were walking kind of close to her house and we felt that we needed to pass by to look for her. So we changed around our plans to go look for her. We get there and her boyfriend is there. He tells us that they had broken up, and he had no idea where she had gone. We were super sad and were trying to think of ways we could find her, but we couldn’t think of anything. We just decided that the Lord would help us find her if it is her time. We kept walking and a little while later we see this lady outside her house and we start talking to her and ask her if she had ever met missionaries like us. She said no but that her sister had. We asked her what her sister’s name was and it was totally the lady we were looking for in the first place! It was so crazy how we were guided to find that lady and now she and her sister are both receiving the missionary lessons and are super excited!

We threw a surprise party for one of the Elders that lives in our house and it was super fun. We tricked him so good, he had no idea!

Good scripture about diligence and discipline Hebrews 12:11. “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” I found it studying this week! Good habits are hard to build but will always be worth it!

Miss you guys a ton, hope you have a great week!

Elder Hawley

School Has Started A Letter to Elder Hawley 8/27/17

Hey Elder!

You and your comp make pretty fierce cowboys. We think it would be hard to shoot straight though with the tags blocking your vision. We are super glad to hear things are going well. How is your Spanish? Is it better or worse with an American for your companion? Did you get much rain or bad weather last week with the big hurricane that hit Texas? We have gotten a few questions if your area was affected and if you are okay?

Things are good here but the heat is back up in the high 90's. School has started, so that ought to keep us super busy. Miles really likes having Mr. Paget for 2nd Grade. On the first day after school, Miles called Mom and said, "My first day was AWESOME!" Miles also said to tell you when you get home he wants to play batman with the masks. The girls seem to like their teachers too. Millcreek Junior High has gone to A/B days which Malia is getting used to. Megan is taking a CE Math class and a CE English class.  

Today in sacrament meeting we had three speakers all of which are new members to our ward. They all did a great job. One was a couple that have only been married for three months. The wife has been a member for a year and spoke on her conversion. Her husband was a huge part of her conversion in Arizona. She had three months of meeting with missionaries and studying the Book of Mormon until she new the church was true and her decision to be baptized was right. She referenced Moroni 10:4 in her talk a few times and said that was the scripture that kept coming back to her whenever she was reading or studying the Book of Mormon or looking for answers.

The time is flying by. We love to hear that things are going well or even not so well, which if you ever need to talk, we are always here ready with a listening ear. Keep up the good work. Our family has definitely been blessed because of your service. Things have never gone smoother. 

We love you a ton and pray for you always!

Love, 

 

Your Family

His Timing is Perfect 8/21/17

This week we had to go to imigration to get our green cards renewed and that was an adventure! It was super fun being able to go see Reynosa again though! 

This week was super great. Something really awesome happened! Sunday morning we went to pick up all of our investigators...all of them slept in. I was honestly super disappointed, but it was alright. As we got back to the church, we were getting there late and as we were getting there we found this guy outside the church. We invited him to go. Turns out he has had a really hard life and just recently had gotten separated from his wife. He had really wanted to change his life. He is so awesome. We got his phone number and he said that he wanted us to come over on Tuesday after he got off work. This week we had been really looking for someone that wanted to talk to us and was really willing to change. He literally showed up in the last moment. Also we have been teaching a really cool family. The family showed up for the last class at church and the dad loved it. He is really excited and they want to go to church the next Sunday too!

Something really cool this week happened. One of my really cool investigators got baptized that I started teaching like 3 months ago. Her name is Frida. She was pretty cool. I called her yesterday and she was pretty excited!

This month has been kind of hard, but we are going to be baptizing this next week. We found a super cool guy that I love. His name is Gabriel and he is super awesome. Sometimes it is frustrating but the Lord has his time for everything. If we are putting in our part, the Lord will bless us with the things we need!

Picture… my comp sent me this picture from the last week when we found this awesome cowboy store.

Miss you guys a ton and love you all!

Elder Hawley

Spiritual CPR A Letter to Elder Hawley 8/20/17

Hey Elder!

How is it going? We loved your pictures and letter last week. Way to give a good talk on Sacrifice.

Don't know if you are expecting to see the total eclipse tomorrow (Monday). That is all everyone is talking about around here. Pretty much the population of Idaho is supposed to double tomorrow, since that is where it will really be seen. 

School starts this week on Wednesday. We can't believe how fast the time is going by and where the summer went. The kids are excited but a little anxious and nervous to start another school year. 

Today was Zach's Homecoming. He gave a really good talk. He talked about some mission experiences and then spoke on Service & Helping Others. He said the theme for his mission was Spiritual CPR...Church, Pray, Read. 

Keep up the good work you and your mission are doing. 

We love you and pray for you always!

Love, 

Your Family

We Are Pros at Soccer 8/14/17

                                       
This week was a great week. To explain the title, me and my companion bought super awesome new soccer jerseys with our names on the back, and they make us totally look professional. Now we just need to get our skills up to match.

                                        

This week was a good week because we found some awesome people and they came to church on Sunday! We found this really cool lady named Goloxsi, super weird name, apparently it’s Arabic or something, but she is super cool and really likes learning! We found a couple other families that we will be teaching this week! 

                                                       Me and companion stuck in the rain.

Also me and my companion started a diet this week. We also ended a diet this week. The taco game here is too good.

                               My new soccer jersey with pants I bought from the flea market.

                                               Awesome baptismal service we were in.

This Sunday the bishop texted me and told me that one of the talks had fallen through and asked me if I could give a talk. I chose to talk on Sacrifice. It was an awesome experience, reading and studying about Sacrifice. I really like a quote I found from Joseph Smith on Sacrifice: “A religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things never has the power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation.” In the eternal perspective, the blessings obtained by sacrifice are greater than anything that is given up.

I love this quote. The more we sacrifice for the Lord, the more we will be blessed. We should never be afraid to sacrifice for the Lord!

Love you guys so much! I love the work!

Elder Hawley

                                                      A really nice lady invited us to eat.

                                                      Eating tacos with the district.

Faith and Obedience A Letter to Elder Hawley 8/13/17

Hey Elder,

It is great to hear all is going well. Time is really flying by here as well. The summer is over and school is starting up again on August 23. We have had a really busy summer and dad is glad it is over. With Girls Camp, Youth Conference, and Priest Camp, Dad has missed a ton of work. He is tired. It has definitely been worth it for him though. 

It is great to hear your stories, and to see the Lord at work in people's lives. It is a privilege to be a part of it. Dad is a little concerned that every picture you send to us you are eating ha ha. (We love them though). It has become a joke with a lot of people who read your letters...that you are showing us that you are eating well. You must be doing a lot of walking cause you don't seem to be getting fat in your pictures.

 New school shoes! He loves his new Sketchers!

We had our ward camp out this weekend. We haven't had one for several years, so Dad started them back up again. It was a lot of fun and we had over 100 show up, so a great turn out.

Marissa Despain had her farewell today. She gave a great talk on faith and obedience and the power they hold. She said, "Obedience is part of the works of faith. If we love Him, if we have faith in Him and trust that His plan for us is perfect, then we will be obedient to His laws. God does have laws." She also said that she has been having lessons with a Sister from the MTC over skype and one of the lessons she has "Endeavored to teach me is that obedience brings blessings, and exact obedience brings miracles, but it is higher obedience that gives power. Following every commandment is good and will bring about miracles in your life and in others. But when you can rise to the place of ultimate faith, the faith that binds our hearts and wills and desires to God's, then we will be granted the power to move mountains for His cause. I testify that faith is the first principle of the gospel not just because it is vital in our progression and development of our testimonies but because it is a superpower. A superpower given to all of us. When we trust in the Lord and act in His name with power of faith then all things shall work together for our good." Marissa will be a great missionary. She sings well, has many talents, and has a great sense of humor. 

Trust in the Lord, remember it is his work. If you follow his rules and do it in his way, miracles will happen, not just a few but hundreds of them. 

Keep up the great work you are doing. Your faith and obedience are paying off and continuing to do great things. 

We Love you!!!

Your Family

Facebook Mission Pictures 8/11/17

Another One Bites the Dust! 8/07/17

Man the weeks are flying by so fast here!!! This week was super good. We worked super hard and found like 3 new families to teach. We are working really hard to help them get to church! Honestly not that much happened this week other than I think I’ve become immune to getting sunburned. I forgot to put on sunscreen one day and didn’t even get burned at all, so that’s cool. We got invited to super good tacos from one of the people we are teaching, she is really cool! She works in Texas but lives here too!

I have learned that patience is really something that is so important to have in life. We can really use it in everything, and it makes life so much better. If we just rely on the Lord and always ask for his help, he will help us and help us become who or what we want to become!

Love you guys a ton! Talk to you next week!!

Elder Hawley

Happy One Year Mark A Letter to Elder Hawley 8/06/17

 

 Hey Elder!

Happy one year mark! Was that one of your shirt's you burned? Do you need more sent to you? That was a super cool story you told us last week. Keep living the mission rules, working hard, and pray. Those experiences will keep coming. There is no limit to the number of miracles you can be a part of if you are worthy. This will be a very prosperous time on your mission. Sounds like you have a good companion and in a good area. Make the most of it. 

We just got back from Oregon with the Williams. It was a super good time with lots to see and great laughs. It was so great to get out of the heat, be by the ocean, eat seafood, and have lots of green trees around us. We all missed having you there. You would have made a great trip better, but we are happy knowing you are doing the Lords work. It is good for us to sacrifice a little as well. We will all be blessed for it, and we can go when you get back.

Keep up the good work. The blessings and growth you experience over this next year will change your life forever and will set a good foundation for your future. This next year will go even faster than the first one. Seize every opportunity and focus on the Savior. He will bless you and take care of you. Everything is great here at home.

Thought by Joseph B. Wirthlin, "Finding a Safe Harbor"..."Living the gospel does not mean the storms of life will pass us by, but we will be better prepared to face them with serenity and peace. 'Search diligently, pray always, and be believing,' the Lord admonished, 'and all things shall work together for your good, if ye walk uprightly.'"

We love and pray for you always.  

Love,

Your Family