Merry Christmas!

Sikoko!!!

Means Merry Christmas in Swahili! But I am more than certain it is spelled wrong!

It was a pretty good week. We did a lot of traveling. Went to Jinja on Monday and Wednesday and then Iganga on Friday. Wednesday was the Christmas party for the mission. We had three zones there. It was good to see some old friends and have some fun. Friday we went Caroling in Iganga. It was pretty cool. It is a very out of the ordinary thing to do here. But I am sure they will see some fruits out of it.

We had a baptism on Christmas!! Her name is Rachel. I haven't really mentioned her before, mostly because she was just super prepared. She is a cousin of one of the powerful families in our Branch. It was great. We ate very big at Baba Wafula's house. That is how they celebrate Christmas here. Eat HUGE! It was the most food I have ever eaten ever. And I didn't even finish my plate. Then I got to talk tot he family which was the best part.

Well, I love you guys! I hope you had a great Christmas. Remember Christ throughout the year.

Love, Elder Hawk


You know you're in Africa when you mop out your fridge.

 Mopping

 Baptism

The district eating big

  My Plate

Merry Christmas!

Habari!

Well another week come and gone. Some pretty neat stuff happened this week. Had the Branch Christmas party. It was a pretty good turn out. We ate very nice food! Also another cool story...

So a couple of weeks ago we found this powerful family. The man's name is Joseph. We had a very nice lesson with him and then the next week we passed by to set another appointment and he said he was looking things up on the internet. Which is very dangerous. A couple days later he called and said he didn't want to see us anymore. So on Wednesday, I had the thought to pass by, so we do and we end up seeing him and I give him this big speech about how even when Christ was on the earth he even had people contend against him as well as some other things and the Spirit was super strong and he said we could come back on Saturday. So we went back and he had a friend from his church there. So we teach the restoration and it was a super nice lesson! He really seemed to understand and be interested again. A tender mercy.

Well, that's all I got. I love you all! Keep being the best.

Love, Elder Hawk


You know you're in Africa when the way you celebrate Christmas is to just eat huge..

Christmas Party!

George finally did it

Jambo!

That is right! Old man George was finally baptized! It was probably the most excited I have ever been for a baptism. He was super ready. It was a great service.

Not too many other things this week. People keep asking me what Uganda is like during Christmas, and if you want the truth... Nothing changes.. haha Except it rains less and is hotter. I think the reason it is like that is because people here worship Christ year round instead of just happening to remember Him at the end of the year, because we are going to get gifts. It isn't commercialized here. It is pure. People worship Him because they love Him, not because it is the end of the year. Now I am not bashing on the US or anywhere else that celebrates Christmas in that way, but I just came to finally understand it recently. There is no season for the spirit of Christ. Christmas should be year round. How can you make that happen? Do what He did. Serve. I love the Church initiative this year. It's all about service. So look around you! How can you bring the spirit of CHRISTmas to someone this year and all year?

Well, that's all I got. I hope I didn't sound to much like I was preaching a sermon. haha. I love you all. Keep up the great work!

Love, Elder Hawk


You know you're in Africa when people don't even know what snow is...

 JJ

  Jude---one of the members

  Christmas tree!

  Baptism of George!

Busia for a 4th transfer!

Habari!

Well, I am staying with my son in Busia for a 4th transfer! Really pumped!
Many great things happening here, and I am privileged to be a part of it!

Well, nothing too crazy this week. Just pushing. We had the baptism of
Natasha, the daughter of Beatrice, who was baptized a couple of weeks ago.
She was super prepared! We have many people progressing right now and many
people we are getting ready for baptism. It is hard to get time to teach
them all. Not a bad problem to have. It really is amazing to see the Lord's
hand in our work. The whole mission is on fire right now.

George is FINALLY going to be baptized this coming week. It is long over
due, but I am super excited for him. I have been teaching him for like 4
months now! But not much time today because the internet is horrible. I
love you all! Keep being the best.

Love, Elder Hawk


You know you're in Africa when you see fish hanging on a car..

 Sleepy Little One

Natasha's Baptism

Mission Tour

Habari!

Well, just a regular week! Ate big on Thanksgiving. Had a good week of missionary work, many new investigators and people progressing. The branch is also making big progress!! It is amazing to see how much it has grown since I have been here. I love it.

Also, we had a mission tour today. Elder Hamilton, the Africa Southeast area President, came and spoke to us today! It was so amazing to hear him speak to us and counsel us in the work and in our lives. It was so inspiring. One thing he talked about was how in order to have faith you must act, which is obedience. Then this obedience brings a power into our lives, which in turn brings miracles. I can't give it the justice that it deserves, but it was awesome. Also, this is a little more missionary centered, but can be applied to all of us, is how we need to be constantly finding. He said something that kind of hit me. He said that we need to make talking to people about the gospel needs to be like breathing. We do it so much that it just becomes natural. We don't have to just walk up to people and say," Hey, I have the truth and you need to listen to me!" But we can apply it to what they need. We can apply it in their lives and they will be more inclined to listen.

Well, I hope that made sense. Either way it helped me out a lot and gave me a new flame and desire to preach this gospel to the best of my ability! I love you all! Share the gospel with One friend before Christmas. And pray for strength to do so!

Love, Elder Hawk


You know you're in Africa when you see lizard climb up the wall during a conference in a chapel.

 Thanksgiving feast

  #selfie (I was mad because I just wanted

 to eat and not take pics haha)

 Forgot to mention, but two children of record were baptised, who I am close with, and one chose me to baptise and the other asked me to give the gift of the Holy Ghost. 

Really cool experience! 

 Comp fell asleep in Branch Council meeting. haha

Us with Elder Hamilton 

(I have a weird smile in this pic)

Habari!

Hope you are all doing well. I know I am... well besides the fact that we haven't had power in our house for the last 3 days and no water for 2. Which is weird because it is only our one line in the whole town! haha But that is life. Other than that though it has been a really good week! We have had a ton of powerful lessons! We have many baptisms coming up in the next couple of weeks and I hope that they all work out. We are teaching and finding many families, but the problem is the marriage issue.

Cool experience this week: We were headed to an appointment and I was on the phone. My companion got stopped by a guy and I turned around as I finished my phone call and headed back. He all of a sudden just asks for a Book Mormon! I asked him how he knew about it and he said he had investigated years ago, but he lives far and his bike was stolen. He had borrowed someone's copy for like 3 days and loved it. Luckily that morning I had a prompting to grab an extra copy and was able to give it to him. He was SO excited! He just kept shaking my hand and smiling and laughing saying that I made his whole day. It was so great to see the joy that the Book of Mormon can bring into people's lives.

Well, nothing else very big. Just a solid week. I love you all and hope you have a great Thanksgiving this week. I am thankful for all of you and your willingness to read my emails every week!

Love, Elder Hawk


You know you're in Africa when the thing you want the most is a cold drink and a warm shower.

 Eating Sugar cane with the comp

One of the Members Carving

Traveling in Uganda... wow.

Habari!

Hope you're week was a good one. Ours was pretty good. We had to travel to Kampala last Monday. Someone from the mission picked us up and 4.5 hours later we were in Kampala. The next day we had a training with all the trainers and trainees. It was very powerful! We headed back Wednesday morning. Had some super nice lessons and then on Friday morning we headed to Bugembe for interviews, but this time we had to ride a taxi... So imagine being stuffed with at least 20 people in a 15 passenger van with just enough room between the seats to squeeze your legs in. Then sit for 2 hours... Haha it wasn't horrible, but we were an hour late to our meeting and then we rode another two hours back.. While spending 20,000 shillings on the whole thing.. Hence the subject of this email..

Other than the traveling, it was a pretty awesome week. There is just one story I want to share. Last week Elder Yemoh and I were doing some finding. We often run into people who don't speak English (this is an English speaking mission?). We ran into this couple who seemed very interested, but no English. I tried to explain as well as I could in Swahili where the Church was and we continued on our path. Yesterday while waiting for church to start I get a phone call. They are speaking Swahili and at this point I have completely forgotten those people. I am able to understand enough to know that they are asking where the church is, so I explain again where it is. This couple shows up part way through the meeting. I recognize the man's face, but not where he lives, so we set up a meeting. As we are walking that night to the meeting it comes back to me. We get there and we enter a "house" made of  sticks and mud, and teach the Restoration, showing pictures by candle light. (One of those moments where I say, "crap, I am in Africa!") Very spiritual lesson, which is hard when you are using a translator. At the end I ask Geoffrey, the man, to give us a prayer. He breaks into a long story and then the translator tells us that today they didn't know if they were going to be able to stay in their house. The Landlord came and told them that they needed to pay rent and he was going to kick them out. He leaves and they just go inside and start praying. He didn't come back. I know that God does answer prayers. I don't know if the guy came the next day and kicked them out or what, but I do know that he let them have their way long enough for us to come and share the greatest message there ever was on the face of this earth! I know that this is the greatest work in the whole world and I am glad to be a part of it. I know that the Gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored once again to the earth through the prophet Joseph Smith. That this Church has Priesthood authority. I love the people here in Uganda more than I thought possible, and it is only through Christ that that is possible. I love this gospel. And I will defend it to the death.

Well, I didn't expect it to turn out that long, but it was an amazing experience. I am weak in writing, and hope that I conveyed at least a fraction of how powerful of an experience it was for me. Also, Beatrice was Baptized!! It was very nice and she was very ready for it. I love you all. Sorry for the long email. Have a great week.

Love, Elder Hawk


You know you're in Africa when you see people rap the news..

 Our Zone

  Taxi Ride

  Exchanges with Elder Tembo and Walter (a member) 

 Beatrice Baptism

 My Comp Riding a Pedal Boda