Bula Vinaka Everyone!!
Just another week here in the MTC!! The time flys by sooo fast its insane. I am still loving it here though.
Well this week Elder Stock was sick and now he got me sick!! but its just a stuffy nose and sore throat so nothing too bad! This week Elder stock got a package from home that had a mini soccer ball and a pump for it and one of the boys from New Zealand had a rugby ball but it wasnt pumped up so I went and pumped it up so we have been playing rugby in the hallway almost everynight since haha it has been awesome.
Alright so this week we pretty much finished teaching the whole first lesson to our progressing investigator in Fijian. It is always pretty humbling to do those because there is so much that i know will help but that I am not exactly how to say for sure in Fijian but I love it. You really just have to focus on teaching the investigator and their needs and not worry so much about the language because that will come. We also had an AMAZING devotional on Sunday! it was Stephan A. Allen and he helped make like all of the church commercials so he showed them all to us and they had tons of good one liners at the ends of them that could be applied to missionary work. Most of them were just about being confident in who you are and being confident that we have the true gospel on the earth and we know the happiness that it can bring and how much we want to share that with others. He was hillarious haha the best part though was at the end we sang "All is Well" and in the last verse we all just started standing up and singing and that was probably the strongest that I have felt the spirit since I have been there. It is just so awesome that there are 2,600 missionaries here and that we could all stand and sing all is well because we know that this is where we are all supposed to be and all really is well, its actually much better than well, its awesome! haha we are all being so blessed for serving the Lord. Music is definitely the way that I always feel the strongest spirit. We sing multiple times everyday in Fijian and it is my very favorite part of the day because even though we cant understand all of the words we can still feel the spirit so strongley (and singing in Fijian sounds totally legit ;) haha
So this week Sister Longley (the only sister in our district) hurt her ankle pretty bad and so last night she asked me and Elder Stock to give her a blessing. It was so awesome to feel of that spirit and to see her faith in the blessing.
Today we got to go to the temple finally cuz it has been closed since we got here. It was so great to feel of that peace in the temple. It can be pretty hectic here at the MTC most of the time and it was great to just get away and just have that time to be at peace and feel of the spirit that is in the temple.
Yesterday we were Practicing our teaching and Elder Stock was the investigator and he said his problem was that his brother died and he felt that he couldnt pray anymore because he prayed after that and he felt he didnt receive an answer so I shared the story of Jace and how we prayed so much during that and how it may not have been the answer we wanted but it was the answer that God knew would be the best for us. It is so amazing that we have that experience that not only brought us closer together as a family and closer to the spirit but also is an experience that we can share with others to help them in their lives
Well I’m running out of time but I love you guys so much!! Look for missionary opportunities and share the happiness that the gospel brings us!!
Lomana, Elder Hawk!
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Week 2
Bula Vinaka!
Wow! the time is FLYING by here! So this week the new district that is going to Samoa got here. They are all really cool. There is a kid named Elder Popham from New Zealand and he knows all the boys that came over and played on our rugby team this year so that was pretty cool. The 3 other missionaries that were already here when we got here left for Fiji this week. That was pretty crazy. We are really gonna miss them because they helped us out sooo much and they were all awesome missionaries! One of them, Elder Inu gave me a sulu that he made from a bed sheet here so now I wear it every night! haha I sent my pictures in to get developed today so ill send them all to you guys when I get them in this week. There are a lot of good ones in there! haha We had to teach our first TRC (teaching resource center) this week. They bring in people that speak Fijian like returned missionaries and we had a language task we had to do at first where we could only speak Fijian and we had to just get to know them and introduce ourselves and stuff and then we got to teach the whole first lesson in English. It is just like a role play thing but its just you and your companion and the "investigator" and you are in a room that they have set up just like a real house so it's pretty close to the real thing. Me and Elder Stock did awesome with it! The Spirit was so strong and we taught everything clearly and said all the things that the investigator needed. It was great for us! We do those every saturday, so the next couple weeks we get to teach the lesson in English but then on week 5 start using ONLY Fijian so that is gonna be pretty crazy! haha We already do a thing called progressive investigators though with our teachers that we can only speak Fijian in so that should help us a lot. Its definitely pretty humbling to have to do it in Fijian haha One of our teachers Brother Matheson is an All-American Lacrosse player for BYU. He is a BEAST! haha he just got back from Fiji about a year ago I think. All our teachers are so awesesome and fun. So on Sunday night we had a fireside they said there are 2,600 missionaries here right now! its crazy because you would never know it when you were just walking around here. So we were all in the gym and we did this thing were we sang Called To Serve but we were supposed to do it as if we were like marching over a hill so we started off really quiet and then by the end we all stood up and were singing as loud as we could. It was so awesome! It seems like I always feel the spirit the strongest through music and that was definitely one of those moments where the spirit was so strong. It definitely got me super pumped to get to Fiji and start teaching the people there. On one of the nights this week we had a zone conference and it was about charity. The whole time I was just thinking about how much I already feel like I love the people of Fiji and I know that it will just be way more once I am actually there and teaching them. I cant wait!! Our zone is the Fijian, Samoan, Tongan, and Haitian districts,(and 2 english districts but they change every 3 weeks so we dont really count them haha) so it has been way fun to be with all of the polynesian kids and just all the other kids that are going to places kind of similar to ours. I got the package! thank you so much! I was showing Danielles wedding announcement to everyone and they all thought it was sooo cool! haha alright well my time is running out but I love all you guys! Everything is still going great! It's so awesome to see all the blessing I have already recieved from serving a mission.
Lomana,
Elder Reba (Hawk in Fijian!) and its pronounced like "remba", b's have an 'm' sound before them for some reason haha and you have to roll your r's (which I cant do yet haha)
Wow! the time is FLYING by here! So this week the new district that is going to Samoa got here. They are all really cool. There is a kid named Elder Popham from New Zealand and he knows all the boys that came over and played on our rugby team this year so that was pretty cool. The 3 other missionaries that were already here when we got here left for Fiji this week. That was pretty crazy. We are really gonna miss them because they helped us out sooo much and they were all awesome missionaries! One of them, Elder Inu gave me a sulu that he made from a bed sheet here so now I wear it every night! haha I sent my pictures in to get developed today so ill send them all to you guys when I get them in this week. There are a lot of good ones in there! haha We had to teach our first TRC (teaching resource center) this week. They bring in people that speak Fijian like returned missionaries and we had a language task we had to do at first where we could only speak Fijian and we had to just get to know them and introduce ourselves and stuff and then we got to teach the whole first lesson in English. It is just like a role play thing but its just you and your companion and the "investigator" and you are in a room that they have set up just like a real house so it's pretty close to the real thing. Me and Elder Stock did awesome with it! The Spirit was so strong and we taught everything clearly and said all the things that the investigator needed. It was great for us! We do those every saturday, so the next couple weeks we get to teach the lesson in English but then on week 5 start using ONLY Fijian so that is gonna be pretty crazy! haha We already do a thing called progressive investigators though with our teachers that we can only speak Fijian in so that should help us a lot. Its definitely pretty humbling to have to do it in Fijian haha One of our teachers Brother Matheson is an All-American Lacrosse player for BYU. He is a BEAST! haha he just got back from Fiji about a year ago I think. All our teachers are so awesesome and fun. So on Sunday night we had a fireside they said there are 2,600 missionaries here right now! its crazy because you would never know it when you were just walking around here. So we were all in the gym and we did this thing were we sang Called To Serve but we were supposed to do it as if we were like marching over a hill so we started off really quiet and then by the end we all stood up and were singing as loud as we could. It was so awesome! It seems like I always feel the spirit the strongest through music and that was definitely one of those moments where the spirit was so strong. It definitely got me super pumped to get to Fiji and start teaching the people there. On one of the nights this week we had a zone conference and it was about charity. The whole time I was just thinking about how much I already feel like I love the people of Fiji and I know that it will just be way more once I am actually there and teaching them. I cant wait!! Our zone is the Fijian, Samoan, Tongan, and Haitian districts,(and 2 english districts but they change every 3 weeks so we dont really count them haha) so it has been way fun to be with all of the polynesian kids and just all the other kids that are going to places kind of similar to ours. I got the package! thank you so much! I was showing Danielles wedding announcement to everyone and they all thought it was sooo cool! haha alright well my time is running out but I love all you guys! Everything is still going great! It's so awesome to see all the blessing I have already recieved from serving a mission.
Lomana,
Elder Reba (Hawk in Fijian!) and its pronounced like "remba", b's have an 'm' sound before them for some reason haha and you have to roll your r's (which I cant do yet haha)
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
First E-Mail From Elder Hawk
Bula Vinaka!!
I only have thrity minutes to e mail so ill try to get in as much as I can in haha. I'm glad to hear you got that letter! I was hoping it would get to you before today cuz I figured you might think my P day was before today haha. So ya my p day is on tuesdays...
Alright well I cant remember all I wrote in the letter so I hope I dont leave anything out. I LOVE the MTC! I have been having sooo much fun. Elder Stock is the man. It seems like me and him have been friends forever. Our other companion elder O'Connor from Australia went home today!!! he hasnt been able to sleep and has been super homesick and having anxiety....so today has been pretty crazy with him leaving and stuff. There are three Elders that have been here for 9 weeks that are going to Fiji on Saturday. They are AWESOME! It has been way nice to have them around to help us with the language and stuff. I can already pray and and bear my testimony in Fijian!! We had to go around and bare our testimony to 20 people here in two days and me and Elder stock did it easy. Elder Stock just got made to be the District Leader so thats pretty cool. I am picking up the language really good. I LOVEEEEE Fijian! it is definitely the coolest language they teach here haha Its so cool to walk around and hear all the different languages that people are speaking.. its insane. I have taken some pictures but I forgot my cord so I need you to send that to me! Just send me whatever camera stuff I left in the box. I want you to send me my Fijian flag too so we can put it up in our room. I have seen soooo many people that I know from Herriman and from AZ! its been way fun to see everyone and talk to them and stuff. One of the first people I saw when Mac dropped me off was Dallin Simmons so that was pretty crazy haha and my host Elder was from Gilbert and went to Highland high school, pretty crazy. I guess they shut down the Japan and Hong Kong MTC's recently so all the people speaking those crazy asian languages are here so that has been cool haha I cant believe I have been here a week already! It has gone by so fast. A whole new group of missionaries comes in every wednesday so tommorrow will be crazy. It will be nice to not be one of the noobs though haha there were over 400 that came in the same day as me. I cant remember if I met that kid that sister williams knows at the airport but im sure i did haha there was 8 of us so that was way cool. I have gotten a ton of mail haha I have gotten letters from all our family and The madsens and grandma and grandpa twice and Casey and Sarah so it has been awesome! Thanks so much for all your support and prayers! I am doing great and loving it here! It is so amazing to see all of the blessings I have already received for being here and for being a tool in the Lords hands. I cant wait to get to Fiji and share the gospel with them to give them the happiness that it has brought all of us. Keep Doin work!
Lomana,
Elder Hawk
I only have thrity minutes to e mail so ill try to get in as much as I can in haha. I'm glad to hear you got that letter! I was hoping it would get to you before today cuz I figured you might think my P day was before today haha. So ya my p day is on tuesdays...
Alright well I cant remember all I wrote in the letter so I hope I dont leave anything out. I LOVE the MTC! I have been having sooo much fun. Elder Stock is the man. It seems like me and him have been friends forever. Our other companion elder O'Connor from Australia went home today!!! he hasnt been able to sleep and has been super homesick and having anxiety....so today has been pretty crazy with him leaving and stuff. There are three Elders that have been here for 9 weeks that are going to Fiji on Saturday. They are AWESOME! It has been way nice to have them around to help us with the language and stuff. I can already pray and and bear my testimony in Fijian!! We had to go around and bare our testimony to 20 people here in two days and me and Elder stock did it easy. Elder Stock just got made to be the District Leader so thats pretty cool. I am picking up the language really good. I LOVEEEEE Fijian! it is definitely the coolest language they teach here haha Its so cool to walk around and hear all the different languages that people are speaking.. its insane. I have taken some pictures but I forgot my cord so I need you to send that to me! Just send me whatever camera stuff I left in the box. I want you to send me my Fijian flag too so we can put it up in our room. I have seen soooo many people that I know from Herriman and from AZ! its been way fun to see everyone and talk to them and stuff. One of the first people I saw when Mac dropped me off was Dallin Simmons so that was pretty crazy haha and my host Elder was from Gilbert and went to Highland high school, pretty crazy. I guess they shut down the Japan and Hong Kong MTC's recently so all the people speaking those crazy asian languages are here so that has been cool haha I cant believe I have been here a week already! It has gone by so fast. A whole new group of missionaries comes in every wednesday so tommorrow will be crazy. It will be nice to not be one of the noobs though haha there were over 400 that came in the same day as me. I cant remember if I met that kid that sister williams knows at the airport but im sure i did haha there was 8 of us so that was way cool. I have gotten a ton of mail haha I have gotten letters from all our family and The madsens and grandma and grandpa twice and Casey and Sarah so it has been awesome! Thanks so much for all your support and prayers! I am doing great and loving it here! It is so amazing to see all of the blessings I have already received for being here and for being a tool in the Lords hands. I cant wait to get to Fiji and share the gospel with them to give them the happiness that it has brought all of us. Keep Doin work!
Lomana,
Elder Hawk
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
It's official, he's now Elder Hawk
Set apart as a Missionary on July 5, 2011 by President Layton
Standing in: Bishop Wright and Dad
Sunday, July 3, 2011
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