Dropping the Ball‏

Hey Family,

It was great talking to everyone yesterday and the amazing thing is, i still have stuff to day ion my email!

This week was really good. We´ve taught more lessons than we ever have here, had more investigators in church than we´ve ever had, and found more new people to teach so in those aspects it was a great week. And we even had someone we found come to church and to the President Torgan Fireside too so that was great.

But i better start from the beginning of the week so i dont get lost. The week started as usual and then slowed down but picked up near the end of the week. We also foudn time to play basketball with some members too. We had planned on playing with investigators but then the some members found out and decided to come too. The only problem was that we didnt have any investigators show up. The members didnt seem to notice because they started to play anyway so we jumped in for a game. It was pretty fun but not a lot of people were there. But there was one member who showed up who everyone said was amazing and we played for a bit with him and it was fun. I think people talked him up too much because me and the member that was on my team beat him and Elder Dalton. It was a close game and afterward this member told me in english,"I hate your shooting!"

We also went to a part member family´s house that night and ate dinner with them. They were the ones who made fun of my graduation picture. But dont let that fool you because they love us to death. Everytime we go over there the feed us really good food and then afterward they send us home with a huge sack full of food just to make sure we dont go hungry. And this week the non-member husband gave me a present before we left too. The last time we had gone to theior house i told him i was a fan of Benfica, a soccer team here in portugal, which he happens to a fan of too. So while we are talking and showing pictures of family and stuff, this guy leaves and then comes back and lays a old, tattered scarf in front of me and tells me he wants me to take it home so i can show everyone. Not knowing what he was talking about i open the folded scarf to reveal that its a benfica scarf! I had been planning on buying one before leaving the country but then he just gives me his. I told him i couldn´t take it but he insisted so now i have a start to my benfica fan wear. Right now its sitting on my desk because it looks as though it has seen quite a few benfica games and probably has been drenched in both beer and tears. Its priceless!

But back to yesterday. When i hung up the phone Elder Dalton told me he had talked to President Torgan and had told him we 15 investigators in church but also said how none were marked for baptism. That was a mistake. President Torgan then gave Elder Dalton "faca" because we hadn´t even taught some of these people. Luckly, i was on the phone with you guys so i didn´t get yelled at but we have interviews thins week so i know i get hear about it then. But by the time i hung up the meetign was about to start so i hurried down stairs and sat down next to an investigator right before the meeting started. The Fireside started with some members giving short stories and testimonies about the Plan of Salvation because the topic of the fireside was "Life after Death". Then President Torgan got up and before starting his talk, he said a few things about Setúbal. Both Wards in Setúbal were there so the place was a little packed. He talked about how our ward had a great bishop and some great ward leaders and then talked about us as the missionaries in the ward. He said that me and Elder Dalton were incredible missionaries and that we are two of the best missionaries in the mission AND that the ward should use us and enjoy us while they can. Then pausing for a moment found me in the crowd and looked me in the eyes and said, "Dont make me a liar." Imediatly a memeber from the other ward who was sitting infront of us turned around and said in english, "Dont drop the ball!" Talk about pressure. Then after that he said that the other ward had good missionaries too. Needless to say i feel a little more pressure now but thats probably a good thing because it will probably make me work that much harder. We´ll just see how it goes though.

As for the Box...

the only other thing i could think of that you guys could send would be fruity candy. Elder Dalton just got a box full of mambas and stuff like that which looked pretty good so if i had to make a choice as to what would be in the box, that would be it.

Other than that i dont know what else to say. Life is hectic, nerve racking, and at times, a little crazy but thats normal now. We´re having fun and working hard.

Oh! and i forgot to tell Mom that President Torgan told us to thank our moms for him, for the support they have given to the missionaries and the mission. So thanks Mom!

Well, i better get going. Thanks for all the love and support. Eu amo-os!

Com amor,
Élder Haws