We Three Kings‏

Hey Family,

This last week was crazy. It was full of drama and the unfortunate thing was it all happend in our apartment. Last Friday during weekly planning Elder Davis (the District Leader) got a fun call. This wasn´t normal becasue he´s one of the most popular and well liked misisonaries in the mission. The strange thing was it was from the office Elders. The Told him that Elder Anson´s flight plans had come in and that he (Elder Davis would become an office Elder. This caused some trouble. Apparently the tests that Elder Anson had taken said that there was something wrong with his blood and that he was damaging his body. He had talked to the Mission doctor for western Europe on the phone and the doctor said he might send Elder Anson home because they wouldn´t be able to do anything here. Elder Anson told the doctor he wasn´t going home and that they had to fix the problem in portugal. The doctor said he would see what he could do but didn´t make any promises. That was about a week before the previously mentioned phone call. After the office Elders talked to Elder Davis he handed the phone to Elder Anson and told us the what was going on. They both were very upset. Elder Anson didn´t want to go home and Elder Davis didn´t want to be an office elder. They then called a bunch of people trying to figure out what happened because they were never told anything before this. They couldn´t get a hold of President Torgan because he was in London and the Doctor couldn´t be reached. Then, later that night they talked to the doctor and he told them what was going on. He said he was very sorry but that Elder Anson had to go home and get the prblem fixed because they couldn´t here. He said he would be able to go back out on a misison but the chance of coming back to portugal was slim. So they spent the next day saying goodbye to people and that night they talked to President and Elder Davis asked to stay with me and Elder Wilson til the end of the transfer. He loves this area and wants to finish some things and he told the president he could do divisions almost everyday with members. President Torgan said he would pray about it but when Anson asked about staying he said there was no way. But when Anson asked about coming back to the mission afterward President Torgan said that he was going to fight strongly for him which means if its possible, it WILL happen. Thats how President Torgan is. The next day they both spoke in church and said goodbye to everybody and we all felt terrible alll day. That night they found out the final details and we went to bed quietly for once...it was strange. In the morning they got there bags together and called us into the living room. Elder Davis said he wanted to show us a magic trick and that he had an announcement. He showed us a quick trick and then said that he was going to stay with us till they end of the transfer. The night before he had gotten a call from the secrataries and he found out he was staying but he wanted to trick us so he didn´t tell us. I was really excited but Wilson seemed kind of down. We were going to have two areas and he was going to be district leader so i think he was sad that that didn´t happen. When Elder Anson left it was tough. When you train here in this mission, and maybe other places too, your greenie is forever called your "son". Elder Anson came the transfer before me and already spoke portuguese but was still being trained so he was kind of like my "cousin". So that day Elder Davis lost his only son and i lost my cousin. It was tough and we´ve been sad all week but we´re doing alright. I told Anson he had to come back before Christmas so that we could be each others Greenie Breakers here in Cascais.

This week President Torgan put a new plan into action to get baptisms. He is very serious about baptisms and always tells us we dont baptize enough people. The Elders here say he has a "Brazilian" attitude toward baptism were you find some one and baptize them in three weeks. The members here dont like that and some missionaries dont (like Elder Wilson) because we already have thousands of inactive members. This happened because back in the day missionaries would baptize just to baptize and people would go inactive and some of those people had never been to church. Even with all this President says that we have to baptize. He´s already doubled the standards of the mission and introduces new plans everyweek to get us more investigators or baptisims. He also didn´t like the way the mission was run so he changed some of the organizational stuff and then white washed (taking both missionaries out of an area and replacing them with two Elders who dont know where anything is or who anybody is.) 10 areas in a single transfer. The normal rules for these kinds of things have been thrown out the window since he´s been here and no one knows whats going to happen next. Some people are upset with the President about this stuff but I think its alot of fun.

The language is ok. My trainer told me that i speak really well and that people dont have a problem understanding me, but that i need to work more on understanding them. I cant hardly understand anyone except for american missionaries but i´m getting better. I get frustrated but i get over it quickly. And now I have my trainer and Elder Davis who we call my mission "uncle" and they help me alot. They say they might not see alot of baptisms because they can leave any transfer but they said they are going to prepare me to teach and speak because they said i probably will see baptisms here. They help me alot and its alot of fun being in a tripla. Elder Davis likes to discribe us as "We Three Kings". We miss Elder Anson but i´m almost sure i´ll see him here again soon.

I dont have the address the house but i´ll have it next week. I´ve been thinking about stuff you guys could send me when you do and i have a small list.

1. My mission Prep Books and Notes from my laptop from Bott´s class
2. Recipe Book
3. DeodorantI also want to send Mikey some letters in portuguese so i can practice writing and stuff so i´ll just send those to Jenny´s house.

Elder Wilson also wants to know how he can register for BYU classes here on the mision so if you guys know and could send us that stuff it would be great.

Life on the mission is great and i´m loving it here in Portugal. Thanks for keeping me updated. When i get a chance i´ll send pictures. I cant here on this computer because its too slow but maybe next week i´ll find a place. And tell Mikey to stay away from girls till i get back. Well, I gotta go. Tell everyone i love them. I love you guys!

O Élder Haws

Portugal, Week Two‏

Dear Family,

My second week here in Portugal has been great! Last week after P-day i traveled with Elder Anson into Lisbon for a doctors appointment while ElderWilson went on a division with Elder Davis, the district leader. It took us an hour to get to Lisbon by train and then we had to ride the subway for about twenty minutes to get to where the doctors office was. I got to study in the waiting room while Elder Anson got checked out and after, i learned that we had to come back the next day for another appointment. When we got back i traveled around with Elder Anson in his area for the rest of the day and then later that night, while we were riding a bus, a man got on with the wrong bus pass. He didn´t want to pay the 2 euro so he and the rest of the passengers started yelling at each other and the police were called. Here in Portugal they are very serious about bus laws so we thought the man would be arrested. Instead, they just gave him a ticket and made him get off the bus. That incident took about an hour so we didn´t get to do any appointments after that so we just went home. The next day we went back to Lisbon and then when i got back i went back with Elder Wilson.

This week has been a little stressful. Our Mission president has doubled the standards of the mission which is driving me crazy because we are in a new area and have nobody to teach. And along with that, some experienced missionaries cant even get meet some of them! Portuguese is still close to impossible but i´m starting to understand more of what people say. I had a small, simple conversation with someone the other day but wasn´t anything amazing but i felt good about it. I´ve gotten frustrated a couple of times this week with myself and the language but my companion has been really patient and has helped me alot.

Last week we had someone marked for baptism in our first week but this week they did´t come to church so now we have to start over. We´ve found alot of really great people and some great families so we should we ok.

Thanks for the update on the family. I cant believe everything worked out for MIkey. Tell Jenny thanks for the pictures and the grandkids for all the prayers. I should have some pictures for you guys next week so you can seewhere i´m serving. I now i´ve already explained a little about my area but i want to give a little better of a picture.

I´m serving in the Beverly hills of Portugal. I´ve walked by Ferrari dealers and Asten martins and there are huge mansions on the beach. Everyday i ride the Train to my area and the train goes along the beach so i get to look outand see the ocean and the beautiful beaches everyday. We dont have a lot of members in church but the members we do have are great and help us alot. Yesterday the Jovens from our branch came with me and Elder Wilson and helped us teach. They were amazing teachers and they really impressed me.The people here are all really nice, even we they reject us. Yesterday we were nocking doors and a lady opened her door with a huge smile but when she saw us the smile went immediatly to a frown. I had to try really hard not to laugh at that. The people here also have a joke that they all love. We they see they all yell ´O Elder!´ and bust up laughing. The first time o heard it i laughed really hard because i didn´t understand why they said it. They my companion told me they do it because we have the same first name on our nametags and they like to see us both turn around. I still dont get it but i still laugh everytime. You can tell Spencer the women here are kind of like what they are in Italy. They´re not that cute but they dont wear a lot of clothing. Last week, Elder Davis and Elder Anson went on divisions with some Jovens and had two funny experiences. First, Elder Davis knocked on a door and an old, fat lady came to the door in her underwear and he just about puked. Elder Anson on the other hand knocked on a door and a young, very beautiful girl came to the terece above the door wearing nothing above thewaist. They both tried to appointments with these people but nothinghappened although Elder Anson was invited by the girl to come in an talk for a minute. (he didn´t of course). I´ve also heard stories of the Elders here wlaking on the board walk (against the rules) and running into completly naked girls. I hope i never have one of these experiences. There are also castles EVERYWHERE! And just as a side note of fun information: alot of stuff from Harry Potter may have been taken from Portugal. There is a schoolup North the Porto mission that the modeled Hogwarts after (at least in themovie). All the students wear the same black robes and go to school in some huge castle. Saliszar Siltherian, is also thought to come from Portuguese history because Salizar was the name of the dictator that Portugal had for along time that ruined Portugal.

So if you´re having a hard time picturing where i am, just imagine a beach paradise and imagine me right there!

The Language is ok and people keep telling me i speak very well. I´ve had my companion, Elders Davis and Anson, our Zone leaders, some members, and a few of the families we have taught say i speak well but i still dont believe any of them. Everyone tells me it gets better after the first two transfers so it going to be a long 16 and a half weeks.

Well, everything is going well here in Portugal and i´m working hard. Its really tough but at the same time i´m having a lot of fun. Keep me updated on everybody and tell them i love them! I love you guys!

Elder Haws

Greg's first e-mail from Portugal

Hey Everybody,

This week was crazy! Last week after i hung up the phone me and Elder McLain went and got breakfast at burger king then got right on the plane to New York. Some of the missionaries form the other district contacted alot of people but me and some other missionaries didnt talk to anyone. I didn´t because i was too scared but i expected that. We made it to New York just fine and then had a little time before we had to leave for paris on a HUGE plane. It was overnight and long and we had a small child near the front ofour cabin that cried off and on all night so i didn´t sleep well and then i slept through breakfast on the plane. Then we spent our time in Paris waiting for our flight and the other missionaries from the other district talked to some portuguese people but i was now too scared, nervous, and tired to try. When we got on the plane to Lisbon i was scared to death and i don´t think i´ve ever been that nervous in my life. When we landed we went and got our luggage but one of McLean´s bags got lost so he got left behind for a while with one of the APs and the rest of us went out and met the Mission President. I was terrified until i met President Torgan. I thought he was going to be serious or angry for some reason but it turns out he´s a teddy bear. We walked out and he gave us all huge hugs and his wife was taking pictures the whole time and it was great. Then we went and had to declare ourselves and then we went to the mission office where we were interviewed by president Torgan (in english) and told where we would be serving. My interview was good and he told me that i would be serving with Elder Wilson in Cascais. He told me that Elder Wilson was a ´happy´missionary and a good missionary. I didn´t know what that meant so i didn´t ask. After that we went to Mission House and had dinner. The Mission house sits on a hill that over looks one of the most famous momuments in Portugal and it probably is worth a fortune. We had dinner and then a quick testmnoy meeting and then went to bed. I was so tired and it felt so good to sleep ina real bed again! Then in the morning we got up and ate breakfast and cleaned up the house and then went to meet our trainers. We went back to the mission office and had training all that morning and halfway through the training we got put with our trainers. Then we finished the training and we were free to go. We all got pictures taken with the president and his wife with all of us and then we were off. We had to get alot of stuff in Lisbon before we left so we spent most of the day traveling all over lisbon. In one day i rode 3 trains, 1 bus, and the subway all in one city! During that time i got to see Elder Wilson contact some people which was really cool and then we headed to our area. We´re assigned in the Cascais area but more specifically in Estoril. There is a pretty cool story behind our assignmen there so i´ll try and explain it as best as i can.

About three Months ago this area was open and doing alright but for some reason that i´m not sure of it got closed. In this area of Portugal theElders teach alot of lessons and where we live there are two areas, Cascais and Estoril. Cascais teachs ALOT of lessons so when Estoril got closed they had to pick up two areas. After 3 months and a new mission president the area was reopened and we were sent here. We´re opening the area because this area and branch of the church is dying and the members and presidencies of the branches and stake complained to the general authorities and the GAs told our mission president so he sent us. One the most interesting things about this is that Elder Wilson was one of the Last Missionaries to serve in this area. Missionaries never go back to old areas and the president broke rules in sending him back and here they also dont normally send a fresh greenie who doesn´t speak the language to reopen a dying area. So we´re two unusuals here in Estoril. From what i gather the president expects us to baptize so we have one transfer to get some baptisms or the area will beprobably white washed or shut. Theres a little pressure but Elder Wilson doesn´t mind. This is the only area he didn´t baptize in so he looks at this like his second chance. He´s really familiar with the area and he had alot of investigators that were close to baptism last time so we´ve been visiting them alot.

This week has been tough. I swear the people here dont speak portuguese because they didnt teach us this language in the MTC. During the Day outside the house we speak only portuguese and i´m starting to understand my companion but we natives speak i can only pick out words and small phrases.Yesterday we had Zone conference and by the end i was able to pick out a lotmore but i´ve really improved since i´ve been here. My companion is really patient and he corrects me alot but the Elders that live in our apartment say i speak well and the sister in out sone said i spoke perfect when baring my testimony in Zone confrence yesterday (in front of half the mission). I dont believe them but i keep trying. We we knock doors Elder wilson makes mesay the first phrase and then he takes over. Its tough but its good that hes pushing me. He says most trainers just take over but he says he wont do that. He makes me bear testimony alot and pray alot and talk alot so hopefully here quickly i´ll be speaking better.

My companion is Elder Wison. He´s from Nebraska (not spelled right) and he´s been out a year. When i first met him he seemed really cocky about the knowing the language and the area but later i realized he was just really confident. He´s good with the language and the people really seem to love him. He talks with a lot of people and just seems to be able to get along with them really well. He also teachs really well and is really patient with me. I feel really bad because i cant help him much but he says not to worryabout it too much. We get along well and this we has been great. He relies alot on the Lord and whenever we get stuck we always pray and it works out. He corrects my language alot but thats good i´m just praying he´s not getting too frustrated with me. I´m learning alot from him and hes a great training so we dont have to worry about that anymore.

We live with two other Elders, Elder Davis form Florida and Elder Anson who has lived everywhere. They´re pretty loud and they like to joke around with each other so we have a lot of fun.

I serve in Estoril, which is just east of Cascais which east just west of Lisbon. Cascais is one of the most beautiful places in portugal and has some of the wealthiest and poorest people in the country. It has beautiful beaches on one side and green mountains on the other. There are a lot of hills and we work hard so i should be losing some weight. WE live in the Most esxpensive house in the mission and it is REALLY nice. We have brand new appliances and its big, so you can tell mom to stop worrying. We live with two other elders so life is great and alot of fun.

This first week was really, really tough but me and Elder Rich (from MTC, and in my new zone) were told the mission is like the MTC, the first month is the hardest. Its been hard but alot of fun and alot of work. I survived eating my first meal of fish and it was awesome! We sont have alot of active members here but we had some left overs from the other elders and it was so good! Í´ve eaten alot of PB and J this week but i dont mind at all.

Well, This we has been great and i´m going to keep working. Thanks for all your prayers and thank dad for my first letter in the field. Keeping praying for me and i know i´ll be alright. I love and miss you guys.

Elder Haws

email

Hey Family,
We're just here doing laundry today so we dont have any dirty clothes when we head to Portugal and we found out we could email so i figured i'd write you guys. This weekend has been crazy. On saturday we had missionary day where we did what we would be doing on our missions all day. We started off the day with our studies but we studied differently because we were studying things we would be teaching later that day. Then after that we taught 4lessons in portuguese and did street contacts and door approaches all in portuguese. two of the lessons we taught were on subjects we had never taught before so they were tough for us (mainly me) but it was good. It was probably my toughest day here in the MTC but i learned alot. It really made me nervous about leaving because i didn't think i could do that everyday for two years but i've been doing better. Yesterday everything went normal except we had a departure devotional that was really good and we also had a strange Fireside. The speakers at the fireside were the director of international MTCs and his wife and they were pretty interesting. The wife of the director pretty much just made everybody laugh for most of the time and then shared a few brief points about missionary work. Our Zone was really confused because we never thought she was going to say anything useful. Then her husband did much better. He was still funny but he said alot of good things so it was a really good meeting. This last couple of days have been really tough because i've been really nervous and everyone around me cant wait to leave. I feel a little out of place but ever since last night i've been doing a little better. I'm still really nervous but i'm trying not to focus on it. I just keep trying to remind myself that the Lord will help me as long as i try hard and do my best. Its still really difficult but i think i'll live. We're counting down the hours now and it ceems like tomorow is coming way too soon. I really dont feel prepared but i think thats how its supposed to be. I'm still planning on calling tomorow but it sounds like i'll have to do it from Salt Lake but if i have a chance in New York i'll give you guys a call. Everything here is going really well.My bags a pretty much all packed and i'm no where near going over weight so i'm ok. Everything is fitting in my bags and so i should be fine. I'm going to go to the Book Store today so i can buy deodorant and journal pages for my diarie so i can make until Christmas so you guys can send me more. Well,i better get going. Please ask everyone to pray for me...ALOT! This week is going to be very exciting but i'm going to need all the help i can get. Tell everyone i'm still alive and doing well and tell them i love them!
I love you guys!
Elder Haws