Sucess/Baby Animal Days A Letter To Elder Hawley 4/23/17

Hi Elder,

We are doing well and had the typical busy week. The exciting part of our week was Megan being serenaded and asked to prom (see video in separate email), she is very excited. Also, Malia started cheer practice early in the morning before school on Tuesday and Thursdays. She loves it and is so excited. She has been chosen to be a "flyer" which means when they do stunts, others will hold her in their hands and throw her in the air. 

Sounds like things are going well. Keep up the good work. We hope you and your companion are getting along. What part of Montana is he from? It sounds like you are in a good area with a good companion. If you guys can keep the spirit with you, work hard, and be patient; you are bound to have a ton of success.

We pray for your success, happiness, and safety. Remember the Lord is in charge. It is his work. If you allow him to guide you and follow him, you will have success beyond what you can imagine. He can make more of you than you can of yourself. 

Enjoy these pictures from Baby Animal Days at Cross E Ranch...

Take care. We Love You!

Your family

Just Chillin With My Peeps 4/17/17

  Shout out to my family for the Easter package, super super awesome thanks! Forgive me for the peeps pun. This week has been an amazing week. We found a ton of people to teach and they are loving the church. Other than that it has been a pretty normal week. I love the mission and I have been seeing miracles.

I had the chance to talk in church on Easter Sunday and I talked about how we can share the light of Christ. The ward I am in now has about 150 members. We had a super good dinner Easter night at a members, some sweet sweet homemade flour tortillas with meat and beans. It is so good, I ate so much. I also ripped my pants this week. You can’t even tell though a lady fixed them in the ward. I’m going to have to cut down on the tacos.

Today we played a ton of soccer and it was super fun, but now I’m super tired and I’m fried. I’m using a hat to protect my face from the sun, because I don’t like sunscreen haha. I have some, I just hate wearing it since I sweat so much with the heat and humidity.

The new area is super safe it’s like the safest in the mission, super tranquilo (calm) compared to my last area. We are working super hard right now and loving it. My companion doesn’t know much Spanish, we are learning good though.

I know this church is true. I want to invite anyone who hasn’t seen the Prince of Peace video to watch it. https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2017-02-1000-the-prince-of-peace-find-lasting-peace-through-jesus-christ?lang=eng 

Love you guys a ton.

Elder Hawley

A Happy Easter A Letter to Elder Hawley 4/16/17

Hey Elder!

From Dad...I hope things are going well. Hopefully you are finding success and happiness. How is the new area and the new ward? I have been looking at the weather, looks like it is starting to get warm down there. From the looks of your pictures you might want to get some sunscreen and put it on your face and neck. You look great though and very happy.

The Lord seems to be taking good care of you. You are gaining great experiences and knowledge that will be a help to you for the rest of your life, not to mention the relationship you are developing with your Heavenly Father. Make the most of this opportunity, the Lord will bless you for it. Your mission is like life it is a short time in comparison to your whole life, but if you are faithful you will earn a reward that will last a lifetime. Keep up the good work. 

We had a great sacrament meeting today about the last week of the Savior's life. The way he served and loved everyone as he was struggling through the atonement is such a great example of how we should be in our own lives. He never let his personal trials affect his attitude or mission or let him pass up an opportunity to serve others.

We had a scripture that hit home for me Hebrews 12:1...“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,” King James Version  I like the part, "let us run with patience the race that is set before us". Patience and love, that is the key to life!   

We Love you very much!

Your Family

Lovin Life 4/10/17

 

This week has been super super great. I have been working with my new awesome companion Elder Bair. We have been finding and helping a ton of awesome people. We found a family with 3 triplets-ages 10, and the parents have been inactive for a super long time, but we are going to help them a lot. We also are teaching a lady that is super awesome. Her name is Maria and she really loves the church and really wants changes in her life. 

This week was super tiring because I went from a super little area to work in the biggest missionary area in Reynosa, so there is a lot of walking to be done. That’s alright though, just means I can eat more haha. For example this awesome amazing triple loaded potato in the photo that me and my companion bought last night at this place next to our house, so good. So much walking to be done haha. We are like an hour away from the mission home now and we live in an apartment.

I heard from some of the converts I had in my old ward, and they are doing super good. I have been praying for them a lot because they were passing through some hard stuff but they overcame their challenges and are doing awesome. I have learned that through prayer we can always overcome any challenge, and we can truly feel the Savior’s love if we just look and listen.

Love you guys a ton. Keep up the good work there!

Elder Hawley

Together Forever A Letter to Elder Hawley 4/09/17

Hi Elder!

We enjoyed your letter and the great pictures. Were you able to retrieve your other pictures? Looks like fun fishing with a net. We love getting your pictures. How are things in your new area? How are things with the new companion? What do you live in? Are you still a district leader in your new area? How many are in your district? 

We had a good weekend to finish off Spring break. We went to Duchesne on Friday night. Megan went and hung out with some friends she met at an FFA convention, and we stayed in the hotel and swam with Miles. We did a little exploring and saw some wild turkeys. 

We had to come home early Saturday afternoon to go to the temple to see a sealing of a new family in our ward. They have four kids ranging in age from 14 to 7 and were all sealed as a family. There wasn't a dry eye in the room. It was super spiritual and a good reminder of what is important in this world. It brought back many memories and helped us remember when we were all sealed together each time. After different members of that family bore their testimony today in church about their experience of being sealed, Megan and Malia both bore their testimonies about what they remember. Megan said that it is so good to know that the family will always be there no matter what happens. Part of what Malia remembered was being five and eating animal crackers in the waiting area and how big she thought you were as her big brother and how little Miles was. We are very proud of them and what sweet testimonies they shared. You are such a good example to your siblings and they really look up to you.  

Scripture for this week D&C 138:47-56

We are proud of you, love you very much, and pray for you every day. Have a great and successful week!

Love, 

Your Family

Busy Week A Letter to Elder Hawley 4/2/17

Hey Elder Hawley!

How was your week? We had a lot going on. Megan is in California on the Woods Cross High music trip. Malia tried out and made cheerleader for Millcreek. She had to do a cheer and a routine that was taught. She had to also come up with her own tricks. She did a round off double back handspring toe touch. She was really nervous before trying out but she gave it her all and remembered everything. She felt so good about how she did. She is so excited she made the cheer team. Mom and Dad just work. We have had so much rain and snow. There is flooding everywhere up North. It is making it hard to get any work done and stay on schedule. Dad is so far behind. 

We took off because of conference weekend and we went to Twin Falls, Idaho. It's been a long time since we drove up to Idaho. It was like old times coming up to watch your swim meets. Anyway we stayed in a hotel which, of course, is Miles idea of a perfect vacation. He is actually really learning how to swim. We hiked around up in Idaho and checked out some water falls and different state parks. It was a fun get away.

The rec center celebrated its tenth anniversary. Can you believe it? Ten years ago we went and took the tour and you decided to try out for the swim team. That was quite a pivotal moment in our lives. 

We hope you had a great week. We love hearing from you and all about the people you are teaching and the things you are learning. We can see a big change in you. You are becoming a great missionary and disciple of Christ. We are super proud of you and your hard work. You are being blessed now and are storing up a huge amount of blessings for your future. We are also being blessed as a family because of your service. It is all part of the Lord's law of compensation when you earn a blessing. Not only are you blessed but the people around you are also blessed. You have been a blessing in our lives since the day you came into our lives. Thank you for being the man you are!

D & C 130:

18 Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection.

19 And if a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world to come.

20 There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated—

21 And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated.

We love you always,

Your Family 

I'm Going to be a Grandpa 4/03/17

 

Haha this week they told me that I have transfers! I am going to another part of the city like 45 minutes away, but I am super excited! I’m moving to an area called Refineria. It’s a super huge area. It’s called a colony, or just like a smaller part of the city. I am going to be a “grandpa”, training a new missionary named Elder Bair. He is a new American from Montana and has been here like 3 months. I will be finishing his training. He’s super cool. I am super pumped, it is going to be so great!  I am sad to be leaving my area now, but my current companion (my son) is going to be training a new missionary there so I’m super excited for him too! 

This week has literally been so great, with the general conference and all the blessings and the trials too. I loved general conference and everytime I watch it I feel like I learn things that are so specific to my needs, so great. If you didn’t get the chance to watch it, you can go to lds.org to enjoy!

Haha today one of the convert families of missionaries in my district invited us to go fishing with them. I was super excited. Little did I know they weren’t going to go fishing with poles but with nets. It was a super fun time. We only caught a couple fish but it was super great.

My pictures got deleted...all of them...most of the computers here have viruses and sometimes they just delete your fotos apparently...so yeah.. I hopefully will be able to recover them.

It was my companion’s birthday this week and we had a family night with the ward that day. It was super fun! Also we bought us some sparkling apple ciders, root beers, and hamburgers to celebrate. Haha don’t think bad of us. We climbed on the roof and relaxed a little bit…so great.

Here are some pictures of the awesome kid that we baptized this last week. He sent me these photos and an awesome letter. I’m going to miss him and his family a ton.

This week has been a little bit of a struggle, but I have felt so much love and support from the Savior. I know that we have a loving Heavenly Father and that Jesus Christ loves us too. I hope that you all know that.

If I can get the pictures back I will try to send them! Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Hawley