75th Letter 8-25-14

Picture: Elder Sessions is the son of members in Colorado, Tuscany Ward!

Wazzup,

Another week here in Brazil! Things are going great here! Elder Pontes and I are working a little better together and we are putting our good ideas together so we can be a lot more effective. This week was very hot! We have a rule here in the mission that we can’t use short sleeves until the end of this month and I will admit that it has been a hard rule to keep. At times I am dying of heat and I want to change to short sleeve, but what keeps me using the long sleeve is that I need to be a good example to the other missionaries. 

Things in the work are going a little better. This week was rough because we had interviews with President on Thursday, a zone conference on Friday, and Saturday and Sunday we had Stake Conference! This Stake has more members than our stake in STG!! It was so cool to see all the faithful members there! We heard some great talks and they had a choir that was super good as well. Many of the members brought non-member friends and we were able to give a few BOMs to them.

This week we worked a lot with this family that has a son who is less-active. The mom, daughter and grandma are interested and the father left them a few months ago for a job in a different city very far from here and there isn´t any sign that he will return. We had a few lessons with them this week, but I want to talk about the lesson we had with them yesterday.

So we invited the whole family to the stake conference and they all agreed on going. We arrived at their home at 8 o’clock to walk with them to the bus stop. They weren´t awake and they ignored us. We ended up leaving without them. We then returned the same night (Sunday) to see why they didn’t come. On the way to their house Elder Pontes and I were talking about what we will say to them. Elder Pontes is a very nice guy and at times isn’t too bold because he wants to please the people we teach. He told me to be less bold this time so they won’t feel bad. I didn´t agree with this. We arrived there and we started the lesson. He told me to not be bold, so I let him drive the lesson. He asked why they didn’t go to church with us and they gave their excuses. Elder brushed them off as not a huge deal and shared a scripture. After he shared the scripture I felt a prompting that they need to hear the truth right now and I need to be bold or they will never progress.

I continued by explaining about the importance of going to church and our role as missionaries to help them follow Christ. I then asked them the questions, “What does God hope from you?” They responded correctly. I then asked them why they aren’t doing these things. They opened up a lot and they seemed to get a little emotional. I said a lot of things that I don’t remember, but I know the spirit was guiding me in every sentence and word. It was amazing! After they understood more of their purpose and ours. I felt very good about it and Elder Pontes did too.

This experience was a reminder to me that I shouldn’t ever resist on speaking or following the promptings of the Spirit. WE need to always be bold in a loving way. Exactly like Jesus was!

Another great opportunity was to give training with Elder Pontes in the Zone Conference. We talked about the convincing power of God. I was able to talk about the Holy Ghost and the role he plays in this convincing power. It went very well!! Also, it was super funny because we started off the training with a practice. No one knew what we planned before so it was all a surprise to them, but we called a companionship to be investigators and we said we would teach part of Lesson 1 to them clearly and simply. We started off normal, teaching them of our pai celestial, and then we started making questions ridiculous! Ha-ha, like “How old do you think Heavenly Father is?” and “Do you know the name of the higher priesthood?” Questions like this that are horrible. He-he! We did this to show them an example that we need to ask questions that make a difference and help them understand their salvation.

In all the week went very good! : )

Mom, our relationship will continue to grow. Don’t think that when I get home I will stop talking with you and Dad! I won’t make that mistake again! Amy will do great at BYU and things with Steph moving home will be good! I love our family so much!

Dad, everything is going much better! My comp. has 1 year and 3 months on the mission. Hudson will be Amanda & Shaye’s baby’s name? When will he be born? Thanks for the sports update! : )

I love you all very very much! Stay well! : )

Elder Hauck

74th Letter 8-18-14

 Me with Elder Pontes

My Family,

Wow do I miss you guys!

This week has been very very different! Now I am in Santa Marta which is another city on the side of Santa Maria. I am working in a ward, so we have about 170 members that are active and the area is a lot smaller than Itaqui. The walking is up hill and down hill and the altitude is a lot higher, so I am getting a pretty good work out! Ha-ha!

My new companion is Elder Pontes and you wouldn´t guess it, he is from São Paulo.  He is cool, but completely opposite from me. I feel like this transfer will require a lot of patience and humility, which will be good for me! We will see how things go.

Surprisingly the Ala isn´t having too much success as far as missionary work.  Our teaching pool is pretty weak and we aren´t having too much success finding solid new investigators.  We did find a few though.

One family that we started to teach is Rose, her Mom and her daughter. They are awesome and have great faith, but are kind of slow to act on that faith. We marked a date for baptism, but they ended up skipping out on church, so we will have to move it to another day.  Another family is the family that lives next door in a chapel of an evangelic church.. The Dad is an in-active member that started his own church, which is in his home, and he has a few kids. We talked with him the second day I was here and he told us of his strong testimony. Cleuden is his name. He knows the Church is true and actually uses our church material to teach and also our hymns.. ha-ha! He told us he wants to return and that he is praying for help to repent and return.  He is very sincere! His son named João is super cool and we talked with him and his brother. They both ended up visiting church with us Sunday.

We will see how these two families progress this week! We have a lot of things to change!

Sunday, church went awesome! I felt almost at home, with the full chapel, busy halls, good singing, and powerful leaders! I loved the feeling there this Sunday! I was able to give the spiritual thought before Preisthood Quorum and it went super good! After we learned about Eternal Marriage and we talked openly and boldly about it. It was super-cool and opened my eyes a bit of what I want in the future!

The week was rough and I am super-tired but I am loving the busy work! Time is flying by faster than ever!! I think this week will be a lot better though!

Mom, yes, I am sad that I had to leave Itaqui and Elder Cotrim, but I feel like it was time for me to leave there. The area I am serving does have more college students, but I'm more in the out-skirts of the city. Sounds like a lot of things are starting to change there!! I am excited for Amy moving away for college. It will be a great opportunity!

Dad, I am working as a co-companion zone leader...so we are both zone leaders. We have 2 districts that we cover and about 20 missionaries.  I am pumped for the sports news!!! :)

I love all of you so very much and I miss you all like crazy! Take Care!!

Elder Hauck

73rd Letter 8-11-14

Photos: 1-Raissa's Baptism 2-These Southernests like knives!

Dear Beloved Family,

I don't have too much time today to write because I have been transferred to Santa Maria and will be a Zone Leader here.

I love you all so very much! Please keep your love and prayers coming towards me! :)

Mom & Dad, hey, I will get the new address for you guys. I think I will ask for one more care package here in Brazil! :) I will think of more things I want this week, but Elder Cotrim wants 2 photo albums, that are clear covered, like the family tree one you sent me. Also, maybe Chips Ahoy.. but I'll check becsuse they may have them here in Santa Maria. I love you both so much and am so grateful for your love and support in everything!

I will try to write you more this week, but if not, until next Monday.

Love,

Elder Hauck

72nd Letter 8-4-14

Pictures: 1-At the ward mission leader´s home. 2-In São Borja with the Assistants.

Família Marvalhosa,

Can you believe it? I am down to 6 months! I found out I will leave here January 27th! It’s crazy how fast time went by. I feel like finally my vision is clear, my Portuguese is good, and I know how to work in the way most affective! Now I can just bring as many people to Christ as He needs me to! I am excited to finish these 6 months strong!

This week went by great! So we had a surprise meeting Tuesday with the President´s assistants in São Borja, which went very good! They taught us about how we can work better and bring everyone to Christ. It was very spiritual and I learned a lot of new things that we applied in our area this past week. Elder Cotrim and I have a vision much more clear. We are now working, finding, and teaching to baptize! This is what President Parrela wants us to do.

So after the meeting Elder Taxeira came with us to Itaqui to do an exchange with us. He also gave me a little training on how I can be a better District Leader. The exchange with him went very good and Elder Cotrim and I learned many new things with him. This same night we had an amazing lesson with Simone and Marecelo. So we showed up in their home, and it was just Marecelo. He is super cool and very open to us. Actually, after a bit of talking about what we have shared with him so far he opened up a lot and explained how a few months ago they lost a baby. The baby was born dead. It was very sad to hear this, but was a joy to know that we have the Plan of Salvation to teach them. He told us not to say anything to Simoni yet, because she is still very emotional about it, but after we explained a little of the Plan of Salvation he knew it would help her understand things better. I remembered the first lesson she asked us why we (humans) are here on the earth and also why we have problems here. The spirit was very strong and we didn´t get to teach all of the Plan of Salvation, but we will return this week and explain much more! Simone showed up later and we shared a little about the Plan of Salvation and followed-up on their reading. They are super sincere and have a great desire to learn more. I can´t wait to teach the Plan of Salvation to them this week!

President Parrela visited us here in Itaqui this week and took us to lunch at a very nice restaurant and after he did our interviews. President and Sister Parrela are awesome! He helped me a lot with some goals that I want to complete, and also how I can be a better leader. We had a good time with him and learned a ton! 

Later this week we gave a tour of the chapel to Agostinho. It was very spiritual and he talked about the good “energy” he felt inside the Chapel. We then entered the room where the Baptismal font is and we asked him to say a prayer. We kneeled down and he offered a very humble prayer. He asked to know of the truth and he explained to God that he is feeling well here. The spirit was very strong here with him. We then opened the doors of the Font and showed him. He went to the railing in front of the Font and he folded him arms above the railing and leaned himself against it. We joined him and kept silent for a bit. We then asked him to follow the example of Jesus Christ by being baptized. He said he will when he knows it is true. The spirit that we felt there was so awesome! He felt it for sure and I think it kind of shocked him. Lets see how he follows his answer.

We had many lessons this week very powerful! We invited everyone to be baptized!! We talked to so many people in the street as well! We are trying to bring the work more towards the center of the city, where the Chapel is and all the rich people live. It will be a slow transition, but will be very good! We had a lesson with Neide and invited her to be baptized and she said she would after resolving doubts about her baptism in the Catholic church. Elder Cotrim and I are working well together and have some great goals for August.

Mom and Dad, President Parrela invited me to tell you that I am doing great! He said that I am using the time here on the mission to do what is right and that I am giving my full effort. He said that not one cent of the money used on this mission is being wasted. I want to let you know that this is true and that I am serving with all my heart, might, mind and strength. It is kind of sad at times how tired I am. After 1 year and 6 months of working everyday your body gets tired..ha-ha! But it’s more than worth it!

I love you both so much!

And to the rest of you awesome people, Os Amo!

Love,

Elder Hauck