Hey Family,
This week was a week full of fun and excitement. we did a lot of work and i´m still exhausted and P-days almost over!
This week we focused on a investigator couple who have been close to baptism but never agreed to it. We had made plans to talk about it with them again when the assistants called wanting to know who we were going to baptize that week(Torgan Plan). We told them and they hung up and then President Torgan called wanting to know more specifically what we were going to do to mark them for baptism then frankly said at the end of the call, "Call me when it happens"...talk about pressure. When we got together with them when had dinner and then had a really powerful lesson with them. I talked a lot and bore testimony and then invited them to baptism. They weren´t sure about it so all of us prayed about it individually, one by one and afterward they felt the Spirit really strong. They even said they felt like the Lord was there in the room. Then we gave them both blessings of comfort to help because they still weren´t sure. After that they still felt really good but in the end, the didn´t except to be baptized. Me and Elder Jones felt so good about the lesson and the invite and everyone there felt the Spirit testify but they still didnt want to accept baptism. One of them said that she felt that it wasn´t what the Lord wanted her to do right now, which tome doesn´t make any sense. I was praying the entire time we were teaching them and i was pleading that the Lord would let them except. I felt really comforted all during the lesson and it was almost as if some spoke it my mind saying, "dont worry about it, i got it". After that i didnt worry but they still didn´t except. It was heartbreaking but we still haven´t given up hope. It was tough to get turned down by them because they are the closest to being baptized here in Portimão. It was a tough experience but i learned alot from it. I guess if we keep with the basketball references you could stayed we got "stuffed".
In happier news the language is better. We taught a lesson this week to a different couple and afterward Elder Jones said that he never taught the lesson like i did when he was my age in the mission. It was a good confidence boost but i´m still staying humble. Today i bought two language books with some personal money so those should help a lot too.
Also, today is transfers. Nobody knows whats going to happen here because Elder Jones has been here for 3 transfers and if he stays he´ll probably end his mission here(he has 3 months left a.k. 2 transfers). With all that it is very possible that i could leave too so we never know. Three Elders with the same time in the mission as me are now Zone Leaders but i´m completly fine with that. I say that because the higher up you go the more you have to talk to President Torgan and the more problems you have to deal with. So i´m not in any hurry to move up anytime soon.
In relation to the food we eat. most of the time (almost all of the time) we eat beans and rice. we also eat a lot of really good soups here too. I´m not cooking too much but when i do cook i sook either rice and some kind of meat or spagetti. We eat at the members house once every sunday and every now and then during the week.
Well, we just called President and found out about transfers so i´ll tell you now(i´m too lazy to rewrite that other part agian). Elder Jones is leaving and i will be staying here and getting a new companion named Elder Thomas. He has two more transfers than me so i should be fine.
Well, i think thats it for news today. Thanks for all the love and prayers,especially Ruby! I love you guys!
Élder Haws
Monday, January 18, 2010
Monday, January 11, 2010
Great Expectations
Hey Family,
Thanks for all the emails and of course, i love the photos too! It looks like
Milo has developed Kilie´s "scrunchy face".It sounds like everbody has been
pretty busy there, which is good because we´ve been busy here.
This week was pretty tough. We started out well and had a bunch of lessons
adn found a few new people to teach(which is good because the people we have
right now aren´t progressing much). But after the first few days everything
slowed way down as we went to interviews. At interviews President Torgan
always gives trainings so its like going to another Zone Conference so we´re
always in for a treat. This "Conference" was different however because this
time i realized what i got myself into by being in this Zone. Apparently,
this is one of the most difficult areas to work. The Azores(islands) have
been known to be the hardest to work in because of the strong Catholic
background and history but right now the Algarve´s(southern Portugal) is
having the most problems keeping our numbers up. We lost alot of Elders in
this last transfer but president said that that wasn´t an excuse. He then
read 2 Nephi 1:23 and told us that the Algarve needs to "wake up". He also
said that a lot would be expected and that work woud be really difficult. He
even gave us the opportunity to leave and said that if anyone wasn´t up to
the work he would transfer us somewhere else. But nobody raised their hand.
Then we had our interviews and mine was great. President Torgan said alot of
things in the conference that were really powerful that we need to apply to
the work so things should get better. In my interview he told me alot about
the history of my area and what he expects me and Elder Jones to accomplish.
Needless to say i´ve been really stressed over the last two days and will
probably be for the remainder of my time in the Algarve and probably in
Portugal too. But the future should be better so i´ll be fine.
This week in language news i gave my first blessing in portuguese. I didn´t
have much of a choice in the matter because Elder Jones stole the oil from
me before the blessing so i had to do the blessing. It was good and i really
noticed the difference from giving a blessing in english and portuguese.
I´ve given a few in english but in portuguese you really have to rely on the
spirit to know what to say, especially when your vocabulary is as small as
mine. I´m also teaching a lot more. I´ve found that I take more
opportunities to talk and answer questions now instead of letting my
companion do that.
Feel free to send that copy of the phone call in the next box. I dont think
it should be a problem. This transfer i´ve also payed myself back all the
personal money i spent on transportation last transfer so done worrry about
money. Elder Jones keeps telling me that i should use it to buy a portuguese
suit or ties or something else that i dont need right now but i´ve decided
to save it instead. And it looks like Mikey will have more time to
"namorar"(ask Mikey) now that he´s out of the house.
Well, i dont know what else i can say other than I´m feeling good and i´m
still working. We´ve got big expectations to live up to so we should be
really busy this week. Thanks for all the love, support, and prayers!
Amo-lhes!
Élder Haws
Thanks for all the emails and of course, i love the photos too! It looks like
Milo has developed Kilie´s "scrunchy face".It sounds like everbody has been
pretty busy there, which is good because we´ve been busy here.
This week was pretty tough. We started out well and had a bunch of lessons
adn found a few new people to teach(which is good because the people we have
right now aren´t progressing much). But after the first few days everything
slowed way down as we went to interviews. At interviews President Torgan
always gives trainings so its like going to another Zone Conference so we´re
always in for a treat. This "Conference" was different however because this
time i realized what i got myself into by being in this Zone. Apparently,
this is one of the most difficult areas to work. The Azores(islands) have
been known to be the hardest to work in because of the strong Catholic
background and history but right now the Algarve´s(southern Portugal) is
having the most problems keeping our numbers up. We lost alot of Elders in
this last transfer but president said that that wasn´t an excuse. He then
read 2 Nephi 1:23 and told us that the Algarve needs to "wake up". He also
said that a lot would be expected and that work woud be really difficult. He
even gave us the opportunity to leave and said that if anyone wasn´t up to
the work he would transfer us somewhere else. But nobody raised their hand.
Then we had our interviews and mine was great. President Torgan said alot of
things in the conference that were really powerful that we need to apply to
the work so things should get better. In my interview he told me alot about
the history of my area and what he expects me and Elder Jones to accomplish.
Needless to say i´ve been really stressed over the last two days and will
probably be for the remainder of my time in the Algarve and probably in
Portugal too. But the future should be better so i´ll be fine.
This week in language news i gave my first blessing in portuguese. I didn´t
have much of a choice in the matter because Elder Jones stole the oil from
me before the blessing so i had to do the blessing. It was good and i really
noticed the difference from giving a blessing in english and portuguese.
I´ve given a few in english but in portuguese you really have to rely on the
spirit to know what to say, especially when your vocabulary is as small as
mine. I´m also teaching a lot more. I´ve found that I take more
opportunities to talk and answer questions now instead of letting my
companion do that.
Feel free to send that copy of the phone call in the next box. I dont think
it should be a problem. This transfer i´ve also payed myself back all the
personal money i spent on transportation last transfer so done worrry about
money. Elder Jones keeps telling me that i should use it to buy a portuguese
suit or ties or something else that i dont need right now but i´ve decided
to save it instead. And it looks like Mikey will have more time to
"namorar"(ask Mikey) now that he´s out of the house.
Well, i dont know what else i can say other than I´m feeling good and i´m
still working. We´ve got big expectations to live up to so we should be
really busy this week. Thanks for all the love, support, and prayers!
Amo-lhes!
Élder Haws
Monday, January 4, 2010
And One
Hey Family,
It´s 2010 which means i just started my "Dry Year" as a missionary. We say dry year because every missionary has a full year of being a missionary without seeing family or friends. But if my mission keeps going the way it is, this year will seem more like a month!
Last week was great. We got our investigator baptized and confirmed so that was a big plus. We worried about it all we but finally got it done and she seems to be doing great. She´s pregnant so when we baptized her i told Elder Jones it was kind of like basket ball. Normally we refer to baptism as"dunking" so with her i said we got the basket "And One". We also taught one of our investigators that happens to be a pastor of another church and found out that he beleives in the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith. Needless to say we were really excited and about to mark him for baptism until he said that he didn´t like the fact that our church has to be the ONLY true church on the earth. We were a little disappointed at first but once we can solve that doubt he´ll be ready for baptism. we also taught a brazilian couple that are golden investigators and ran into another doubt there too. They love the Book of Mormon and the church but cant bring themselves to believe that Joseph Smith saw Jesus Chrust and Heavenly Father. They have that belief because of the scripture in exodus that says no man can see God and live.We´ve showed them scriptures that saw other wise and born testimony but they still have a hard time believing. We´re going to keep working with them so it shouldn´t be long before they´re baptized too.
In other news, me and Elder Jones both got sick this week. He got sick early last week and so we spent a lot of time in the house and then i got sick yesterday, for the first time on my mission, so we spent all yesterday in the house. We´re both still a little sick but we´re feeling better so it shouldn´t be long before we´re both at 100%.
This month I also hit seven months which means i need to report on how the language is coming. This week we gave a message in a member´s house and Edlder Jones felt that i should give the message. I shared a scripture and bore testimony and talked a little and it actually went really well.Afterward, one of the memebrs asked me why i dont speak more because i speak almost perfectly. It was a nice confidence booster but my timidness keeps holding me back. I´ll keep working on that too so it shouldn´t be long before i speaking more.
In piano news i´m close to playing the entire tune of "Abide With Me" in a couple of weeks i´ll have it all down and will be able to start putting the pedal in with it. Also this week, we played Ping Pong with some of the members at the News Years Eve party. All the missionaries in the mission got permission to stay out till midnight to attend the church parties so we got to go to party in our branch. I played four games and only lost one. It was pretty fun but in the game i lost Elder Jones was telling me we had to go so i think i can mark that loss up to a distraction. Then a few days later we played Ping pong with a few members and an investigator(Joven) and that time i only lost one game. Afterward i thought that maybe i should´ve let the invetigator win more but i had a reputation to up hold!
Thanks for the Bumble story it was perfect. The hymn book is a great idea too but dont spend too much money because its not a big deal. Also, you guys might want to check what Jenny is feeding Milo cause that kid is getting big! And tell mom to practice wii tenis because when i get back we´re goign to play and i wasn´t bad back in the day...
Well, thats it for news here in Portugal. Thanks for the prayers and support. I love you guys! Fiquem Bem!
Élder Haws
It´s 2010 which means i just started my "Dry Year" as a missionary. We say dry year because every missionary has a full year of being a missionary without seeing family or friends. But if my mission keeps going the way it is, this year will seem more like a month!
Last week was great. We got our investigator baptized and confirmed so that was a big plus. We worried about it all we but finally got it done and she seems to be doing great. She´s pregnant so when we baptized her i told Elder Jones it was kind of like basket ball. Normally we refer to baptism as"dunking" so with her i said we got the basket "And One". We also taught one of our investigators that happens to be a pastor of another church and found out that he beleives in the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith. Needless to say we were really excited and about to mark him for baptism until he said that he didn´t like the fact that our church has to be the ONLY true church on the earth. We were a little disappointed at first but once we can solve that doubt he´ll be ready for baptism. we also taught a brazilian couple that are golden investigators and ran into another doubt there too. They love the Book of Mormon and the church but cant bring themselves to believe that Joseph Smith saw Jesus Chrust and Heavenly Father. They have that belief because of the scripture in exodus that says no man can see God and live.We´ve showed them scriptures that saw other wise and born testimony but they still have a hard time believing. We´re going to keep working with them so it shouldn´t be long before they´re baptized too.
In other news, me and Elder Jones both got sick this week. He got sick early last week and so we spent a lot of time in the house and then i got sick yesterday, for the first time on my mission, so we spent all yesterday in the house. We´re both still a little sick but we´re feeling better so it shouldn´t be long before we´re both at 100%.
This month I also hit seven months which means i need to report on how the language is coming. This week we gave a message in a member´s house and Edlder Jones felt that i should give the message. I shared a scripture and bore testimony and talked a little and it actually went really well.Afterward, one of the memebrs asked me why i dont speak more because i speak almost perfectly. It was a nice confidence booster but my timidness keeps holding me back. I´ll keep working on that too so it shouldn´t be long before i speaking more.
In piano news i´m close to playing the entire tune of "Abide With Me" in a couple of weeks i´ll have it all down and will be able to start putting the pedal in with it. Also this week, we played Ping Pong with some of the members at the News Years Eve party. All the missionaries in the mission got permission to stay out till midnight to attend the church parties so we got to go to party in our branch. I played four games and only lost one. It was pretty fun but in the game i lost Elder Jones was telling me we had to go so i think i can mark that loss up to a distraction. Then a few days later we played Ping pong with a few members and an investigator(Joven) and that time i only lost one game. Afterward i thought that maybe i should´ve let the invetigator win more but i had a reputation to up hold!
Thanks for the Bumble story it was perfect. The hymn book is a great idea too but dont spend too much money because its not a big deal. Also, you guys might want to check what Jenny is feeding Milo cause that kid is getting big! And tell mom to practice wii tenis because when i get back we´re goign to play and i wasn´t bad back in the day...
Well, thats it for news here in Portugal. Thanks for the prayers and support. I love you guys! Fiquem Bem!
Élder Haws
Monday, December 28, 2009
Speechless
Hey Family,
These last few days went pretty well but unfortunatly it was just two days so i dont have a lot to say. I really enjoyed the phone call and it was pretty fun to talk to Mike in portuguese so i´m glad you guys enjoyed it.P.S he´s lying if he says i speak well.
This weekend we were pretty busy. I think that was good though because it helped us bith get refocused really fast. On staurday we taught a bunch of lessons and stayed pretty busy and then yesterday we had four investigators in church so that was a big imporvement from last week. Also, in that past two days we have given 3 blessings so we got some good work done too. Also,last night we marked an investigatir ti be baptized this week on the 31st so that she could start the new year with a clean slate. We´re praying everything goes well because she´s 8 and a half months pregnant so if you guys could keep us and our investigator in your prayers that would be great.
In other news, i´m learning to play the piano. It´s been a slow process but i can almost play half "Abide With Me" with both hands. Yesterday i was playinig it and a member thought that i lied when i said i couldn´t play. Ihad to explain that i could only play that much of that one song but it was pretty funny.
This week i´ll be giving the training in District meeting so the meeting should be pretty short tomorow but it got me thinking. I remeber Mindy telling me a story about how Bumble Bee´s shouldn´t be able to fly but they do because they dont know they cant. I want to use that story in one of our up coming District or Zone meetings so if Mindy could write that up and send it to me that would be great.
Well, I dont have much else to say. I´m still working hard and strying to do my best. Thanks for everything! I love you guys!
Até o próximo
Élder Haws
These last few days went pretty well but unfortunatly it was just two days so i dont have a lot to say. I really enjoyed the phone call and it was pretty fun to talk to Mike in portuguese so i´m glad you guys enjoyed it.P.S he´s lying if he says i speak well.
This weekend we were pretty busy. I think that was good though because it helped us bith get refocused really fast. On staurday we taught a bunch of lessons and stayed pretty busy and then yesterday we had four investigators in church so that was a big imporvement from last week. Also, in that past two days we have given 3 blessings so we got some good work done too. Also,last night we marked an investigatir ti be baptized this week on the 31st so that she could start the new year with a clean slate. We´re praying everything goes well because she´s 8 and a half months pregnant so if you guys could keep us and our investigator in your prayers that would be great.
In other news, i´m learning to play the piano. It´s been a slow process but i can almost play half "Abide With Me" with both hands. Yesterday i was playinig it and a member thought that i lied when i said i couldn´t play. Ihad to explain that i could only play that much of that one song but it was pretty funny.
This week i´ll be giving the training in District meeting so the meeting should be pretty short tomorow but it got me thinking. I remeber Mindy telling me a story about how Bumble Bee´s shouldn´t be able to fly but they do because they dont know they cant. I want to use that story in one of our up coming District or Zone meetings so if Mindy could write that up and send it to me that would be great.
Well, I dont have much else to say. I´m still working hard and strying to do my best. Thanks for everything! I love you guys!
Até o próximo
Élder Haws
Monday, December 21, 2009
Christmas!
Hey Family,
Its beggining to look a lot like Christmas here in Portimão! If i didn´t already tell you guys, which i think i did, during the winter here in Portugal it rains ALL the time. Which also means that even on the days it doesn´t rain its rare to see the sun because the sky is overcast. Its kind of depressing but at the same time i like rain so its ok.
This week the work in our area was slow. I dont know what it is but for some reason almost everything we plan falls through. At times its hard to stay positive but when that happens things normally start to pick up. Hopefully this week we´ll see some more progress. But this week is Christmas so that takes some time out of our week and also we have to go up to Lisbon for Zone conference. All in all, with all that and weekly planning, we only have two full days of work this week so we´ll see how that goes. We have a few investigators that are really close to baptism but none of them came to church yesterday, so it goes without saying but, we were frustrated. But on the brighter side we ate at two members houses this week so i cant complain TOO much.
In other news we had an earthquake here last week that recorded a 6 on the ricter scale. I´m not a scientist but that seems pretty high to me.Everybody has been talking about it because but me and Elder Jones had no idea it happened. It happened during the middle of the night so we were out cold, sleeping while people throughout the Algarve were running outside their houses for fear that their houses would colaspe. Elder Jones and Istill have a hard time believing it actually was as big as people said it was but i guess that just means we were really tired.
Also this week, while eating dinner at a members house, a member made a funny comment about our companionship. It said that we were the perfect companionship because I look like Hary Potter and Elder Jones looks like Ron Wezley. We didn´t think was all that funny but the members thought it was hilarious. So maybe if Jenny has more time she could make me and Elder Jones some wizard robes too because aparently to our members, we need them.
Now, the moment you´ve all been waiting for...THE PHONE CALL!
We still dont know where we are going to be for Christmas but that doesn´t really matter because the easiest way to do it is to just have you guys call here. THE NUMBER IS (Area Code)-**-***-****. I dont know the area code but Elder Jones says you can find it on line somewhere. I´m sorry i cant give more information on the number. The plan right now is to have you guys call at noon, that way its about 7 here. Right now i dont feel like i have much to say but i´m sure that will change when the phone rings.
Well, we only have a few hours of P-day today because Christmas is P-day too, so i have to get going. Thanks for all the love and support!
Até Logo
Élder Haws
Its beggining to look a lot like Christmas here in Portimão! If i didn´t already tell you guys, which i think i did, during the winter here in Portugal it rains ALL the time. Which also means that even on the days it doesn´t rain its rare to see the sun because the sky is overcast. Its kind of depressing but at the same time i like rain so its ok.
This week the work in our area was slow. I dont know what it is but for some reason almost everything we plan falls through. At times its hard to stay positive but when that happens things normally start to pick up. Hopefully this week we´ll see some more progress. But this week is Christmas so that takes some time out of our week and also we have to go up to Lisbon for Zone conference. All in all, with all that and weekly planning, we only have two full days of work this week so we´ll see how that goes. We have a few investigators that are really close to baptism but none of them came to church yesterday, so it goes without saying but, we were frustrated. But on the brighter side we ate at two members houses this week so i cant complain TOO much.
In other news we had an earthquake here last week that recorded a 6 on the ricter scale. I´m not a scientist but that seems pretty high to me.Everybody has been talking about it because but me and Elder Jones had no idea it happened. It happened during the middle of the night so we were out cold, sleeping while people throughout the Algarve were running outside their houses for fear that their houses would colaspe. Elder Jones and Istill have a hard time believing it actually was as big as people said it was but i guess that just means we were really tired.
Also this week, while eating dinner at a members house, a member made a funny comment about our companionship. It said that we were the perfect companionship because I look like Hary Potter and Elder Jones looks like Ron Wezley. We didn´t think was all that funny but the members thought it was hilarious. So maybe if Jenny has more time she could make me and Elder Jones some wizard robes too because aparently to our members, we need them.
Now, the moment you´ve all been waiting for...THE PHONE CALL!
We still dont know where we are going to be for Christmas but that doesn´t really matter because the easiest way to do it is to just have you guys call here. THE NUMBER IS (Area Code)-**-***-****. I dont know the area code but Elder Jones says you can find it on line somewhere. I´m sorry i cant give more information on the number. The plan right now is to have you guys call at noon, that way its about 7 here. Right now i dont feel like i have much to say but i´m sure that will change when the phone rings.
Well, we only have a few hours of P-day today because Christmas is P-day too, so i have to get going. Thanks for all the love and support!
Até Logo
Élder Haws
Monday, December 14, 2009
From Top to Bottom
Hey Family,
Thanks for all the e-mails and updates! It sounds like everbody´s doing well. I´m doing alright too but transfers were a little tough on me.
Last week me and Elder Silva went and had lunch with a "dying "missionary and his companion at a really nice restaurant. Afterward we all went to the chapel and played pingpong until we got a call from the zone leaders telling us about transfers. I was told that i would be heading to Portimão, an area in the Algarve, or southern portugal and that another Elder was coming to take my place. I didnt really know what to think because i was excited to leave and meet new people to teach but i also didn´t want to leave the members and people i was already comfortable with. That night we had a family home evening with a member family that feeds the missionaries a lot so i got to say goodbye to a few people. Then, the next day i got on a train to go to lisbon so that could catch a bus that would take me to the very, very bottom of Portugal. I was going from the top of the mission, all the way to the bottom. I didnt know when the bus would leave so i left early so i could have extra time to find out if i got lost. This turned out to be a good decision because i did get lost but i had a few "miracles" happen so i made it alright. In order to get to the bus station i knew i had to ride the train to Lisbon then ride the metro to a certain point but after that i really didn´t know where i was going. I had an idea but that didn´t help because i got lost all the same. When i got off the metro in part of Lisbon with the bus station i needed i couldn´t find the station. After a few minutes of looking i figured out the general location of the bus so i started to make my way there. And at that time i was exausted from heaving my bags up and down flights of stairs so at that point i was about to giveup. Just then an old man walked up and a started talking to me in Portuguese and, in the mood that i was in at the time, i didnt want anything to do with portuguese. I figured out that he wanted to help me but i said i was ok but he persisted and helped me find the bus station and get my ticket. Afterward i said thank you but he just held out his hand. It was then that i realized he was a begger who walks around helping people for money. I was a little more than suprised but happily gave him some change. After that i had the opportunity to wait for 2 hours till my bus arrived. during that time i ran into about a dozen Elders so i wasn´t completly alone for the entire time. I even had lunch with one dupla where the girl at the counter said i spoke portugese well. I had a small conversation with her and explained a little about what missionaries do but didn´t contact her. Its probably a good thing that i didn´t though because she was pretty cute and probably would have thought that i was hitting on her and trying to get her number. After that i waited for my bus and barely caught the right one because my ticket put me in the wrong place. Then i rode on a bus for 4 hours and arrived here in Portimão!
Portimão is at the most south western part of Portugal, if you can´t find it. Its a lot like Cascais in the fact that its a tourist town and really pretty. But unlike Cascais, this area is huge! It extends from the end of the continent until Albufeira. My companion is Elder Jones. He looks alot like Phil Shaw and his personality reminds me of Billy, the guy i worked with at the sewer department. The ward here is good too and its full of Brazilians so i´m in heaven. We live in the old sister missionary house so its really nice but really pick. I cooking a lot now because the sister missionaries left alot of cooking stuff behind. And just as a side note, I´m the second Elder Haws to serve here. The last one is from Mesa Arizona so i dont think we´re related (everybody asks) but i could be wrong. I´m really liking it here and all the members keep saying that i speak really well. I still dont think so but i´m sure i´ll always say that. And finally, the Portimão branch has a blog, i think the web adress is something like, www.portimaoramo at blogspot or somthing. I give you guys the real address next week because they´re going to put pictures up and stuff.
In other news, thanks for telling me about the camera card. I dont know ifthe picture will make it on time but go ahead and send it anyway. If everything goes well it should. And from what i´ve heard my package should be here but i probably wont get it until the 23rd. I still dont know anything about the Christmas phone call but i´ll have more info next week on that.
Well, i had better get going. Thanks for all love and prayers! I love you guys!
Um Abraço
Élder Haws
Thanks for all the e-mails and updates! It sounds like everbody´s doing well. I´m doing alright too but transfers were a little tough on me.
Last week me and Elder Silva went and had lunch with a "dying "missionary and his companion at a really nice restaurant. Afterward we all went to the chapel and played pingpong until we got a call from the zone leaders telling us about transfers. I was told that i would be heading to Portimão, an area in the Algarve, or southern portugal and that another Elder was coming to take my place. I didnt really know what to think because i was excited to leave and meet new people to teach but i also didn´t want to leave the members and people i was already comfortable with. That night we had a family home evening with a member family that feeds the missionaries a lot so i got to say goodbye to a few people. Then, the next day i got on a train to go to lisbon so that could catch a bus that would take me to the very, very bottom of Portugal. I was going from the top of the mission, all the way to the bottom. I didnt know when the bus would leave so i left early so i could have extra time to find out if i got lost. This turned out to be a good decision because i did get lost but i had a few "miracles" happen so i made it alright. In order to get to the bus station i knew i had to ride the train to Lisbon then ride the metro to a certain point but after that i really didn´t know where i was going. I had an idea but that didn´t help because i got lost all the same. When i got off the metro in part of Lisbon with the bus station i needed i couldn´t find the station. After a few minutes of looking i figured out the general location of the bus so i started to make my way there. And at that time i was exausted from heaving my bags up and down flights of stairs so at that point i was about to giveup. Just then an old man walked up and a started talking to me in Portuguese and, in the mood that i was in at the time, i didnt want anything to do with portuguese. I figured out that he wanted to help me but i said i was ok but he persisted and helped me find the bus station and get my ticket. Afterward i said thank you but he just held out his hand. It was then that i realized he was a begger who walks around helping people for money. I was a little more than suprised but happily gave him some change. After that i had the opportunity to wait for 2 hours till my bus arrived. during that time i ran into about a dozen Elders so i wasn´t completly alone for the entire time. I even had lunch with one dupla where the girl at the counter said i spoke portugese well. I had a small conversation with her and explained a little about what missionaries do but didn´t contact her. Its probably a good thing that i didn´t though because she was pretty cute and probably would have thought that i was hitting on her and trying to get her number. After that i waited for my bus and barely caught the right one because my ticket put me in the wrong place. Then i rode on a bus for 4 hours and arrived here in Portimão!
Portimão is at the most south western part of Portugal, if you can´t find it. Its a lot like Cascais in the fact that its a tourist town and really pretty. But unlike Cascais, this area is huge! It extends from the end of the continent until Albufeira. My companion is Elder Jones. He looks alot like Phil Shaw and his personality reminds me of Billy, the guy i worked with at the sewer department. The ward here is good too and its full of Brazilians so i´m in heaven. We live in the old sister missionary house so its really nice but really pick. I cooking a lot now because the sister missionaries left alot of cooking stuff behind. And just as a side note, I´m the second Elder Haws to serve here. The last one is from Mesa Arizona so i dont think we´re related (everybody asks) but i could be wrong. I´m really liking it here and all the members keep saying that i speak really well. I still dont think so but i´m sure i´ll always say that. And finally, the Portimão branch has a blog, i think the web adress is something like, www.portimaoramo at blogspot or somthing. I give you guys the real address next week because they´re going to put pictures up and stuff.
In other news, thanks for telling me about the camera card. I dont know ifthe picture will make it on time but go ahead and send it anyway. If everything goes well it should. And from what i´ve heard my package should be here but i probably wont get it until the 23rd. I still dont know anything about the Christmas phone call but i´ll have more info next week on that.
Well, i had better get going. Thanks for all love and prayers! I love you guys!
Um Abraço
Élder Haws
Monday, December 7, 2009
The Week of Firsts
Hey Family,
It sounds like you all had a really exciting week! Its funny that Bentley was dunked 3 times but at leat he didn´t almost die like my first investigator we baptized here!
This week was great here too. We worked really hard and we taught a lot of lessons. In fact, we taught 31. Its not the 50 lessons i taught with Elder Davis and Elder Wilson but this time around i felt like i helped out a lot more so i feel more comfortable saying "we" taught 31 lessons. We also had a person we contacted on the street come to church when we had never taught him a lesson before so that was really cool too. And with all that we only had a few "things" happen.
The first misshap occured after district meeting tuesday where me and Elder Silva somehow took the Irmã´s phone without knowing it. We then traveled back to our area, and then had to travel back to the Irmãs area to try and find them. We never did so we just gave their phone to their bishop but in the process of all that we lost a fews hours of time. Then later in the week we were looking for someone to teach in an area of apartments and we figured we could go visit a less active member girl. This turned out to be a bad idea because this 18 year old black girl came to the door not wearing any pants...needless to say i looked at the ceiling while Elder Silva told her we´d come back later.
This week also was a week of firsts for me. This week i made my first complete phone call in portuguese. It wasn´t a long conversation but the information was passed and understod so thats the important part. This week i also taught and directed a lesson by myself, normally Elder Silva does most of the teaching and i say a little and testify but this time I did most of the teaching and he spoke a little and testified. It was really cool but really nerve racking too. Also, this week i was approached by a drunk man for the first time. Me and Elder Silva were waiting for a train and he decided to use the bathroom so we went to a local café so he could. While he was waiting insode i waited outside because its a little rude to go in a store or café and not buy something. While i was waiting a very, very drunk man came up behind me and asked me if i knew who Jesus was. Being a missionary i was more than happy to testify that Jesus was our redeemer, but this man had more to say. He was a spainard so he spoke slow so i got all of what he said, but none of it really made sense. He just kept saying that Jesus was his God and me, being nice agreed. Then after finishing his"speech" he said that he wasn´t Christian, but was "for Christ". It was an interesting experience that i admit i kind of enjoyed and now, i have another story to tell!
This week was also my six month mark so i decided i had to burn a tie. But ididn´t burn one in the normal way. I decided that i would give a tie to a member here who needed it and who had helped me a lot here. His name´s Fabioand he´s a huge black kid who´s hiliarious. He gave me a picture a while back to put on the back of my name tag but i decided it would be better to put it in my photo album. He´s helped me a lot since i´ve been here and he doesn´t have a tie to wear to church so i gave to him as an early Christmas present. So i guess in a way i "burned" a tie.
Today is transfers and anything could happen so me and Elder Silva are waiting for the phone call form the ZLs saying whats going to happen. We already know that a lot of areas will be closing because in the next two months we go from 115 missionaries(or so) to around 90. Also, Three entire districts of missionaries all became Junior companions again and had their temple recommends taken away because they broke a mission rule by traveling across the mission for thanksgiving and spend the night without permission.So we already know these transfers are going to be fun.
Also, i need you guys to send one of the pictures from the camera card to the office here as soon as possible. Our mission is making a photo album ofall the baptisms that are happening this month and sending them to prophet.If you guys could send the one of me with the investigor that would be great. Just adress it the same but put Elder Mateer´s name on the envelope instead of mine. I dont know if you guys go the card yet because noboady said anything so i´m a little worried, but hopefully it´ll work out. I´m praying that it does.
Well, thats it for news this week. Thanks for all the emails, love, and support!
Com Amor
Élder Haws
It sounds like you all had a really exciting week! Its funny that Bentley was dunked 3 times but at leat he didn´t almost die like my first investigator we baptized here!
This week was great here too. We worked really hard and we taught a lot of lessons. In fact, we taught 31. Its not the 50 lessons i taught with Elder Davis and Elder Wilson but this time around i felt like i helped out a lot more so i feel more comfortable saying "we" taught 31 lessons. We also had a person we contacted on the street come to church when we had never taught him a lesson before so that was really cool too. And with all that we only had a few "things" happen.
The first misshap occured after district meeting tuesday where me and Elder Silva somehow took the Irmã´s phone without knowing it. We then traveled back to our area, and then had to travel back to the Irmãs area to try and find them. We never did so we just gave their phone to their bishop but in the process of all that we lost a fews hours of time. Then later in the week we were looking for someone to teach in an area of apartments and we figured we could go visit a less active member girl. This turned out to be a bad idea because this 18 year old black girl came to the door not wearing any pants...needless to say i looked at the ceiling while Elder Silva told her we´d come back later.
This week also was a week of firsts for me. This week i made my first complete phone call in portuguese. It wasn´t a long conversation but the information was passed and understod so thats the important part. This week i also taught and directed a lesson by myself, normally Elder Silva does most of the teaching and i say a little and testify but this time I did most of the teaching and he spoke a little and testified. It was really cool but really nerve racking too. Also, this week i was approached by a drunk man for the first time. Me and Elder Silva were waiting for a train and he decided to use the bathroom so we went to a local café so he could. While he was waiting insode i waited outside because its a little rude to go in a store or café and not buy something. While i was waiting a very, very drunk man came up behind me and asked me if i knew who Jesus was. Being a missionary i was more than happy to testify that Jesus was our redeemer, but this man had more to say. He was a spainard so he spoke slow so i got all of what he said, but none of it really made sense. He just kept saying that Jesus was his God and me, being nice agreed. Then after finishing his"speech" he said that he wasn´t Christian, but was "for Christ". It was an interesting experience that i admit i kind of enjoyed and now, i have another story to tell!
This week was also my six month mark so i decided i had to burn a tie. But ididn´t burn one in the normal way. I decided that i would give a tie to a member here who needed it and who had helped me a lot here. His name´s Fabioand he´s a huge black kid who´s hiliarious. He gave me a picture a while back to put on the back of my name tag but i decided it would be better to put it in my photo album. He´s helped me a lot since i´ve been here and he doesn´t have a tie to wear to church so i gave to him as an early Christmas present. So i guess in a way i "burned" a tie.
Today is transfers and anything could happen so me and Elder Silva are waiting for the phone call form the ZLs saying whats going to happen. We already know that a lot of areas will be closing because in the next two months we go from 115 missionaries(or so) to around 90. Also, Three entire districts of missionaries all became Junior companions again and had their temple recommends taken away because they broke a mission rule by traveling across the mission for thanksgiving and spend the night without permission.So we already know these transfers are going to be fun.
Also, i need you guys to send one of the pictures from the camera card to the office here as soon as possible. Our mission is making a photo album ofall the baptisms that are happening this month and sending them to prophet.If you guys could send the one of me with the investigor that would be great. Just adress it the same but put Elder Mateer´s name on the envelope instead of mine. I dont know if you guys go the card yet because noboady said anything so i´m a little worried, but hopefully it´ll work out. I´m praying that it does.
Well, thats it for news this week. Thanks for all the emails, love, and support!
Com Amor
Élder Haws
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