Just another one‏

Jebale!

Well, it was just another week. Nothing exciting. It was actually just probably one of the most ordinary weeks of all time. We did meet this lady who met the missionaries in like the 90s which was pretty cool. Weren't able to teach her though because it was just her.

Edward is still progressing nicely. But we figured out he wasn't married legally yet, so we are going to have to get them married first, which won't be as hard since we are close to a chapel that can do marriages now. I hope everything works out with them.

Well, that's about it, so let me share a little spiritual thought. As I have been reading the scriptures lately I have noticed something. I actually first noticed it in the Isaiah chapters in 2 Nephi. It is talking about how the Lord's anger is kindled against the people and how he is going to destroy them and what not, but at the end of quite a few verses it says the phrase, "but his hand is stretched out still." In this life we are going to sin and make mistakes, it is impossible not to, but no matter what we do or how bad we think we are, the Lord still has his hand stretched out to bring us into his warm embrace of forgiveness. Never think that you are past repentance. Never think that you are too far to turn back. The Lord will always be there for us when we fall, to help us back up, and it is only through him that we can get back up.

I love you all. Have a great week.

Love, Elder Hawk


You know you're in Africa when your friend gets Typhoid.

On top of a sweet mountain 

 Comp fell asleep

And Confirmed‏

Jebale!

Well it was basically the most normal week of all time... haha. Not much to talk about. Rose and the kids all got successfully confirmed. They are doing awesome. One person I want to talk about, which I am not sure if I have yet is Edward. We found him like two weeks ago and he is super excited about all we are teaching him. He has come to church both weeks. We have taught him a couple times and he is just accepting everything. He is not yet married with his wife so we will have to do that, but he is super willing and it seems like it will go smoothly.

Today we went to Lugazi and golfed! I did horrible.. It was still way fun though. We went with a bunch of Elders. On the way to and from we went through this way cool forest which was huge! It was awesome. It was like a 45 minute taxi drive one way which wasn't that fun, but it ended up being worth it.

Well, that is about it for the week. Everything is great here in the promise land. I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Love, Elder Hawk


You know you're in Africa when you golf in a kitenge shirt.

...

 Just doing some service with a pango (machete)

  World's Smallest Pineapple for 200 Shillings or 6 cents

  Just sucking at golf, but I have my cool kitenge shirt on

Baptisms‏

Note: This is the e-mail from May 30th, the blogger mom was out of town.

Jebale!

Well, it was a very eventful week! We did exchanges this week and Elder Le Cheminant came to my area! We passed by the source of the Nile again and we saw like 10 monkey all on a fence which was awesome! Then on Saturday their investigators, Isaac and Brenda, got married! It was so awesome. They are way cool and we do service at their house quite a bit so I have gotten to know them pretty well. We were also able to find a lot of new families this week! It is something that was very needed! One new family even came to church and they loved it. They are Edward and Amity. They stayed for all of church and the baptisms after! There are some other families as well that have some good potential, but we will see how it goes.

So about the baptisms. I told you that it was going to be Rose, Hawa, and Shadia, however, we were teaching another girl that stayed with them named Jen. She has been there for all the lessons and has come to church, but we never met her mother. We were going through the baptismal interview questions with them on Tuesday and we were like, "Jen, why aren't you getting baptized?" and so we called her mom and she agreed! They were all just so prepared and I am so excited that they have taken this covenant with God. Isaac and Brenda also got baptized! It was such a great week!

Well, I love you all! Thank you for the support! Make this week the best! Also, just ate grasshoppers like 20 minutes ago and they were actually really good.

Love, Elder Hawk


You know you're in Africa when you eat grasshoppers!

 Some of the monkeys we saw

  Elder Le Cheminant and I and the Source of the Nile

 The wedding 

 Everyone getting baptized and baptizing

 Rose, Hawa, Jen, and Shadia

 Eating Grasshoppers

Better‏

Jebale!

Well, this week was a little better work wise, but my health... that's another story. I was pretty sick for about 3 days, but I was able to go out each one. Threw up for my first time in Africa! Sucks just as much as it did in America. I feel almost 100% now though, but my stomach is a lot smaller. I was super hungry and I ordered some food at this place we always go to in our area called Bon Appitte and I didn't even finish like half of what I usually do. But to be honest that is probably a good thing because I am getting a little fat.

Rose and her Family are on track to be baptized this next weekend so hopefully that all goes well. The sailing has been smooth with them.... too smooth, but I am sure it will continue to be good. They really have been Golden Investigators.

As for finding new investigators, we were able to find this pretty cool guy named Ezekiel! His wife understands small English, but he is loving the message. He prayed and says he feel like it is all true. The problem is that they have only been together for about 5 years so the likelihood of them being married is very low, but luckily it will be easier to help them since we are closer to a major town now. We also have some other people who came to church with their friends. We will contact those people this week and see how it goes.

Today I had my last interview with President Chatfield. He is leaving after this transfer. He has been such a great mission president and I have learned so much from him and I am eternally grateful. I am also very excited to have President Collings come into the mission and to get to know him and have him touch my life.

I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Love, Elder Hawk


You know you're in Africa when you can't find sunscreen in stores...

 African women are super strong

 Our ride home

 Dinner appointment

My Zone

Rough Week‏

Jebale!

This week was not easy. It was very long. Not much occurred this week. Tuesday the Elders from our Zone and we had a sleep over because they were leaving in the morning for transfers, which was kind of fun. Elder Le Chemenant got a new Companion named Elder Dibatye. He is from Congo. In Congo they speak french so he has an accent. It's pretty funny.

Well, Dale has been dodging us for like 2 weeks now, so I think we are going to have to drop him soon. I don't know what happened . Maybe some one told him bad things about us, or what. I just hope we can meet with him at least once more to see what the problem was. Rose is still doing good. She has Malaria though and so she wasn't able to come to church. Yesterday evening we went to Patrick and Elizbeth who have been a little luke warm about the message since the whole internet thing and they told us that they didn't want us to teach them anymore. You think you would get used to getting shut down after it has happened a lot, but you just get to know and love people and you know how much this gospel can bless them. It's okay though. I think one day they will pick up and read the Book of Mormon and feel something and get another chance. Still having a hard time getting people to come to church. Our area is far, so it's not easy.

Today we had a sports day with Iganga Zone and Jinja Zone. It was way fun. I am getting better at soccer. Still not that good though. haha. Getting to see some of my friends from the MTC is always fun. But not much else happened this week. I love you all. Make this week a great one.

Love, Elder Hawk


You know you're in Africa when one of the main modes of transportation is riding on the back of someones bike.

 Matooke and G-nut paste, let me explain. Matooke is like a diffrent type of Banana that you eat before it gets ripe. You cook it and mash it up. The G-nut paste is ground nuts, tomato, and onions. It actually tastes really good. 

 The Sleepover

What a week‏

Jebale!

It was a good week. We saw Rose again this week. We taught her daughters for the first time as well! It was great. They now have a baptismal date for the 22 May. They all came to church yesterday! They seem to be very committed, I am excited to see how they continue to progress!

Dale has been going trough a very rough patch in his life. He has lost his Job, and is having a hard time finding another one. We weren't able to see him at all this week. Actually, cool story: We kept trying to call him and he kept hanging the phone. When we were closing our day, I said the opening prayer and asked if we could get in contact with him. Literally 2 minutes after I closed the prayer, the phone rang and it was Dale! He just told us how he is having a rough time. I know that the only thing that can help him in his life now is the gospel. I hope he will give us the time to share with him.

On Friday we were able to see Patrick and Elizabeth. When we got there Patrick seemed really distant, which is not like him. I asked what was wrong and he told us that he doesn't want to become a part of the "Mormon Church." Then I asked him what he had been reading on the internet! haha. Were able to answer some of their questions which gave them slight comfort. I hope that they will continue to investigate the church and find out what we are really about.

Well, Transfer news came this morning. I am staying with my companion (who is the new District Leader). I am excited to continue the work here in Njeru! I am having a blast and learning lots! Also, shout out to all the mothers! Thank you for all you do. I was very happy to get to talk to my family yesterday! I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Love, Elder Hawk


You know you're in Africa when you get a bad English accent (just ask my family).

 The District

 My companion is our new District Leader

 Sweet backpack

 Wippin' out the rain jackets

Greetings

Jebale!

Well, super slow week when it came to the work. Probably the least amount of lessons I have had on my mission so far. But some funny and cool things happened this week.

First, last Monday, in the evening we went to this family the other missionaries are teaching. They are way cool. Their names are Brenda and Isaac. They are getting married and baptized next week! But we went to their house and they wanted a blessing of comfort. As Elder Thomas was giving him a blessing he opened and then said, "Brother Isaac" and Isaac responded, "Yes?" hahaha! It was really hard not to laugh. Especially when Elder Le Chemenant had his hand on my shoulder and was bouncing with laughter trying to hold it in! hajkl;ha. It was hilarious.

Also, Last week we had this random lady come to church, her name is Rose. No one invited her, she just showed up. So we got her number and went to her house. We taught her the restoration, but she doesn't know English very well. So we were just going to see if she came again. She came again this week! It was super powerful. She has 2 daughters and her husband ran away, like a lot of them do here. She probably doesn't have very much money and could be many different things, to be honest she probably walked to church from her house which is pretty far, and she still came. When people decide to follow God instead of make excuses he will provide a way. She is such an amazing woman and I am excited to continue to teach her.

One more story. This one is about a pair of twins named Collins and Robert. Although they have only been members for 3 or 4 months and are only 13 years old, they make it a priority to do their priesthood duties. They show up to church every week at least 30 minutes early. They show up to seminary every week. And to top it all off they live like a 30-40 minute walk away!

This made me think about how we can all get in the habit to just excuse ourselves when things get hard, or inconvenient.  But we need to be like Rose, Collins, and Robert and just decide to find a way instead of make those easy excuses. Follow the council of the prophet and make the hard right choice instead of the easy wrong. Be who God has intended you to be. Take the chances he gives you to prove yourself as a worthy servant. He will bless you eternally for it.

Well, I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week!

Love, Elder Hawk


You know you're in Africa when you find the source of the Nile.

 With a super awesome family

  at Lake Victoria/Source of the Nile

  Touching the Nile for the first time

 Our ride home one night