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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