10-25-10 Family of João Pedro, gecko, and a big green & blue lizard

Dear family,

Thanks for sending the package. Elder Wells has been waiting for a package for over 2 months from his dad, so I don't know about 3-5 days!  But it would be cool...

Elder Dallin H Oaks came to our mission Saturday and gave us a nice talk on revelation. It was much less interactive than with Elder Bednar, but it was still cool to hear from an Apostle. And something interesting is that a Brazilian was answering a question Elder Oaks asked using his (Portuguese) "Preach my Gospel", and Elder Oaks wanted an English one. So I brought mine up because there weren't many people who brought them, and gave it to him, and in my very own "Preach my Gospel",  an Apostle read his own quote. Haha so that was cool. Elder Scott Grow gave us a talk too, on repentance. He made sure we knew that it was not just for our investigators, but for us as well. I liked that because lots of missionaries here need that, including me. This mission in general needs to become way more obedient.

We weren't able to teach the 2 girls this week, which is frustrating. They are in a bad family situation but hopefully will soon move in with their uncle (the bishop).

We had some miracles with this other family that we found though, the fam of Cassia and João Pedro. Cassia's mom, Teresa, really loved our message and has had about 80 years of life as a strong Catholic. She doesn't go anymore to church because of health, but she used to teach Sunday school and stuff. So from the first time we arrived, she said she felt really good, spiritually, and surprisingly, physically too. So in the days after that, she healed a lot and is able to "practically play futbol again" better than she has in years. She saw this as a sign that she needed to act on it and go to church. So yesterday she came with João Pedro, and loved it! She literally said she's in love with this church now. And our investigator class was all about baptism, and the teacher, Leo (awesome guy-the bishops bro and counselor), had been baptized Catholic in his childhood, too, and was able to very plainly explain a true baptism for Teresa. She understood and said "Mauro (my husband) is going to be so surprised when he finds out I'm joining another church!" So all that lacks is a date for baptism. Oh and did I mention she's mostly blind. I guess that's not too important.

We are also teaching a 17-yr-old rapaz [youth], Adlan, who we tentatively committed to baptism next Sunday. We are all 3 going to fast and pray during this week, and if he feels a confirmation of the truth of these things he'll be baptized (he already received a pretty crazy answer to his prayers about it.) He's really smart though and has read bad stuff about our church and is the kinda guy who looks for proofs, not trust instinct. We have a lot in common and I think that has helped him a lot.

The companionship is going well. We joke around a lot and he's got a great sense of humor, and we also work hard. We spend time and will start spending more every day doing work just to help the ward grow stronger, not just baptize. The ward needs all the help and prayers it can get. I feel really sorry for the bishop and his family because they basically run the ward, and anything they delegate doesn't usually get done. And the bishop is only 28 with 2 little kids, and no money or car or anything.

So this morning we went to this place called the ceaza to buy tons of different fruits (we got 13 different kinds). The cool part of this story though is on the way to the ceaza we walked through this field and I saw a huge green lizard running through the bushes. We chased it around (in p-day clothes, don't worry) and I caught it! I need to send you the pictures because it is beautiful and huge--like between 2 and 3 feet long!  I think it is some kind of monitor, and it had bright

blue and green all over it, and a forked tongue that it flicked out. The most amazing animal I ever caught. And on our way back, I saw another one, even bigger, but it ran away somewhere. And then I caught another one. They are awesome. I bet they'd sell for a ton at the pet store in Ventura. I released them though already, because it says in the missionary handbook not to keep pets of any kind. It's a shame, cuz there's some really cute kittens here, and I caught a yellow bird the other day. And there's dogs all over the streets, and some we see every day. One is named Steve and one is named Tiger Woods.

Were hoping to have several baptisms in the coming 2 weeks! So keep praying for our investigators, and thanks for the prayers already! Have a good week!

Love, Elder Hooke (and friend :)   (See more pics below)

10-18-10 Working Hard in São Martins

THE WEEK HAS BEEN VERY VERY LONG! MY COMP ELDER WELLS IS A VERY HARD WORKER, AND WE ALSO GET ALONG WELL. THIS IS A TOUGH AREA THAT WE'RE IN, AND LAST TRANSFER WAS THE FIRST TRANSFER IN HIS MISSION THAT HE DIDN'T BAPTIZE (13 MONTHS IN).  WHEN WE GET HOME AT NIGHT WE PLAN, EAT, AND GO STRAIGHT TO BED. AND I'VE NEVER BEEN ABLE TO FALL ASLEEP FAST, BUT NOW I CAN FALL ASLEEP IN LIKE 30 SECONDS. IN FACT I FELL ASLEEP FOR A MINUTE IN WARD COUNCIL YESTERDAY. OUR BISHOPRIC IS AWESOME HERE, THEY ARE ALL UNDER 30 YRS OLD AND RECENTLY RETURNED MISSIONARIES. THE DOWNSIDE THOUGH IS THE WARD WAS NOT BEING RUN WELL BEFORE (NOTHING IS ORGANIZED), SO WE ARE SPENDING A LOT OF TIME HELPING THEM OUT WITH MAKING THE WARD FUNCTION LIKE A WARD SHOULD. WE ARE TRYING TO WORK WITH MEMBERS OF THE WARD TO FIND PEOPLE TO TEACH, BUT SO FAR THE ONLY SUCCESS WE'VE SEEN OUT OF THAT WAS THE BISHOP'S NIECES (LIANDRA, 11, AND MAYARA, 10) WHO  HAVE BEEN GOING TO CHURCH FOR YEARS WITH HIS FAMILY, BUT ARE NOT BAPTIZED. SO WE STARTED TEACHING THEM AND WE WILL PROBABLY SET A BAP-DATE WITH THEM FOR A WEEK FROM SATURDAY.  WE HAVE A TRANSFER GOAL OF CONTACTING 10 MEN EVERY DAY (FINDING, TEACHING, AND BAPTIZING ADULT MEN IS VERY IMPORTANT IN THIS MISSION, AND ALSO MUCH MORE DIFFICULT).

Jon and "Friar Tuck"

 SO FAR WE'RE ON TRACK, AND IN SACRAMENT MEETING, WE BOTH GAVE TALKS ABOUT MEMBER MISSIONARY WORK. (BTW, I HAD LIKE A HALF HOUR NOTICE BEFORE SACRAMENT MEETING STARTED!) MY TALK WAS SIMPLE AND I QUOTED AN ELDER BEDNAR TALK CALLED "ASK IN FAITH." HE SAID THAT IT IS THE MEMBERS' RESPONSIBILITY TO FIND, AND IDEALLY THE MISSIONARIES SHOULD BE FULL TIME TEACHERS. SO ELDER WELLS, IN HIS TALK, WAS ABLE TO TALK ABOUT HOW WE CONTACTED AND INVITED OVER 50 MEN TO CHURCH THIS WEEK, AND NOT A SINGLE ONE WAS AT CHURCH. HE DID A REALLY GOOD JOB HELPING THEM TO REALIZE THEIR RESPONSIBILITY, SO HOPEFULLY WE'LL BE ABLE TO BE MORE SUCCESSFUL WITH THE HELP OF THE WARD.

ONE COOL STORY IS ON WEDNESDAY WE WERE TALKING TO THIS RICH MAN (HE EVEN HAD A CAR!) AND WE OFFERED TO PUSH HIS CAR TO BUMP START IT. WE PUSHED AND PUSHED BUT IT WOULDN'T START, THEN THIS 12 YEAR OLD KID CAME OVER AND RIGHT AFTER WE STOPPED, HE PUSHED IT A LITTLE FURTHER AND IT STARTED. WE DON'T USUALLY CONTACT KIDS, BUT WE STARTED TALKING TO THIS KID AND SET UP A TIME TO COME BACK AND TALK WITH HIS FAMILY. WHEN WE RETURNED, JOÃO PEDRO (THE KID)'S MOM AND GRANDMA WERE BOTH SUPER HAPPY TO SEE US AND REALLY WERE INTERESTED IN OUR MESSAGE. HIS MOM, CASSIA, SAID THAT SHE HAD BEEN PRAYING THE LAST FEW DAYS FOR SOMETHING TO HELP JOÃO PEDRO (APPARENTLY HE'S STARTING TO BE REBELLIOUS), AND SHE BELIEVES THAT WE ARE THE ANSWER TO THAT PRAYER! THEY WEREN'T ABLE TO MAKE IT TO CHURCH, BUT WE'RE LOOKING FORWARD TO TEACHING THEM AGAIN.

IT'S HOTTER HERE THAN IT WAS IN GARANHUNS, AND EVEN LOUDER AND MORE CHAOTIC. IT'S STILL NOT AS HOT AS SOME ALABAMA DAYS.  TOO BAD WE CAN'T SHARE SOME OF OUR HOT SUNSHINE HERE WITH YOU GUYS. I'D BE DOWN WITH THAT. 

THE FOOD IS ALL THE SAME, BUT I LIKE IT SO IT'S ALL GOOD. SMOOTHIES ARE REALLY CHEAP HERE SO WE GET THEM LIKE EVERY DAY. LIKE AROUND 90 US CENTS FOR A JAMBA JUICE TYPE SMOOTHIE BUT BETTER AND WITH WEIRD FRUITS. I'M ABLE TO UNDERSTAND THE LANGUAGE BETTER, AND I USUALLY UNDERSTAND WHAT PEOPLE ARE TALKING ABOUT, ALTHOUGH KNOWING EXACTLY WHAT THEY'RE SAYING--NOT QUITE.

THANK YOU GUYS AND GOOD LUCK WITH EVERYTHING! 

10-11-10 New Area: San Martins; New Companion: Elder Wells

Elder Jonathan Hooke
Brazil Recife Mission
Rua São Francisco 110  Sala 102
52010-020  Paissandu -- Recife -- PE
BRAZIL

HELLO FAMILY, THE LAST WEEK WAS CHALLENGING, BUT IT ENDED WELL. WE DID GET TO SEE THE SILVA'S MARRIAGE AND BAPTISM. THURSDAY, MARCOS AND LURDINHA WERE MARRIED CIVILLY IN THE COURT ALONG WITH SOME OTHER COUPLES. IT WAS FUNNY BECAUSE DURING THE MARRIAGE CEREMONY (THE JUDGE WAS TALKING ABOUT WHAT MARRIAGE IS), MARCOS' CELL PHONE RANG IN HIS POCKET. AND HE STEPPED OUT OF THE CIRCLE TO ANSWER IT! HAHA AND I GUESS HE JUST SAID, "HOLD ON CAN I CALL YOU BACK? I'M IN THE MIDDLE OF MY OWN MARRIAGE CEREMONY OK? BYE". ANYWAYS THEN THURSDAY NIGHT WE WENT TO A PIZZA PLACE WITH THEM. THE "AMERICAN STYLE" PIZZA HAS NO TOMATO SAUCE AND EGGS AND SHREDDED HAM. HAHA NOT AMERICAN, BUT IT WAS GOOD. AND THEN SATURDAY WE HAD A MARRIAGE FESTA/BAPTISM!

E. DE SOUZA BAPTIZED LURDINHA AND I BAPTIZED MARCOS. IT WAS AN AWESOME EXPERIENCE AND THEY ARE VERY HAPPY WITH THE STEPS THEY'RE MAKING IN LIFE. YESTERDAY MARCOS BORE HIS TESTIMONY IN SACRAMENT MEETING, ALONG WITH THE 2 OLDER KIDS IN THE FAMILY, AND IT WAS VERY POWERFUL.  AND YEAH AT THE BAPTISM, MANY FRIENDS, FAMILY, AND NEIGHBORS ATTENDED. PROBABLY LIKE 20!

THINGS WERE STILL ROUGH FOR THE LAST WEEK, BUT ON WEDNESDAY WE HAD INTERVIEWS WITH THE PRESIDENT (WHICH WAS VERY LUCKY BECAUSE THEY ONLY HAPPEN ONCE EVERY 3 MONTHS GENERALLY).  I GOT TRANSFERRED TODAY AND NOW I HAVE AN AMERICAN COMPANION, ELDER WELLS, FROM DRAPER UTAH.  I THINK WE'LL BE ABLE TO WORK HARD TOGETHER! WE'VE ONLY BEEN TOGETHER A COUPLE HOURS BUT HE SEEMS LIKE A NICE GUY AND A GOOD MISSIONARY. AND I'VE HEARD HE WORKS HARD. WE ARE SERVING IN HIS AREA, SAN MARTINS, WHICH IS JUST A LITTLE INLAND OF RECIFE. WE LIVE IN A NICE APT (JUST US 2) THAT IS RIGHT NEXT DOOR TO OUR CHAPEL, AND THE BUS DRIVES RIGHT BY OUR FRONT DOOR TOO, SO IT'S PERFECT LOCATION. I DON'T REALLY KNOW MORE ABOUT THE AREA YET.

Jon & Elder Wells...they had contacted a man at a fair, and he let them ride the Ferris wheel

Well, just tell us what's going on in Garanhuns NOT ME! and the Recife Mission TRANSFERS! SEE ABOVE FOR DETAILS. 

Can you tell us what kinds of food you eat for lunch with the members?    IN GARANHUNS WE HAD LUNCH EVERY DAY WITH MEMBERS, USUALLY DIFFERENT ONES MOST OF THE TIME. ALMOST EVERY MEAL IS THE SAME, BUT I LIKE IT A LOT. IT IS RICE, SPAGHETTI NOODLES (NOT WITH SPAGHETTI SAUCE, SOME OTHER BLAND ORANGE SAUCE), BEANS (PINTO OR BLACK), SOME TYPE OF MEAT (CHICKEN USUALLY, BUT I HAD LIVER ALREADY TWICE), CUS CUIS (CORN POWDER STUFF SORTA LIKE CORN MEAL MUSH, PRETTY GOOD STUFF), AND JUICE (PASSION FRUIT, ORANGE, GUAVA, ACAI, ETC) OR GUARANÁ.  YEP PRETTY MUCH EVERY MEAL'S LIKE THIS.   

BYE AND HAVE A GOOD WEEK!

LOVE ELDER HOOKE

10-4-10 Silva Family baptism coming up!

[Jon's birthday is coming up in a month!  All cards and letters are welcome!  Here's his address in case you haven't found it yet down at the bottom of this page :)

Elder Jonathan Hooke
Brazil Recife Mission
Rua Sao Francisco 110  Sala 102
52010-020 Paissandu  --  Recife -- PE
BRAZIL

[Regarding my offer to send him copies of some general conference talks]:  YEAH I THINK I'D LIKE SOME TALKS BECAUSE I DIDN'T UNDERSTAND ANY OF CONFERENCE. THE CHANNEL THAT USUALLY WORKS SO THAT ANYONE WHO SPEAKS ENGLISH CAN WATCH IN ENGLISH WAS BROKEN, AND SO I SAT THRU EVERY SESSION AND DIDN'T REALLY UNDERSTAND ANYTHING.

JUST SEND MAIL TO THE MISSION OFFICE MY WHOLE MISSION. THANKS. APPARENTLY LETTERS TAKE BETWEEN LIKE 1 AND 3 WEEKS, AND PACKAGES TAKE MORE THAN A MONTH.  [note from Lori: In that case, anyone who wants to send a package to Jon for his birthday should do it today !!  Yikes!!]

MY COMPANION IS ELDER DE SOUZA, FROM SAO PAULO.  I ALSO LIVE WITH ELDER STRICKLAND AND FREIRE, STRICKLAND IS FROM WISCONSIN, AND HE'S COOL.  I'M VERY GLAD TO HAVE ELDER STRICKLAND LIVING THERE BECAUSE WE CAN SPEAK ENGLISH.

OUR INVESTIGATOR FAMILY, THE SILVA'S, WILL BE MARRIED AND BAPTIZED ON SATURDAY. WE GO TO THEIR HOUSE ALMOST EVERY DAY AND THEY ARE AWESOME. THEY ALL LOVE US AND THE LITTLE KIDS LOVE TO HELP ME LEARN TO TALK. AT CONFERENCE YESTERDAY THEY WERE THERE, ALONG WITH ANOTHER FAMILY WHO LIVES NEXT DOOR TO THEM, AND ANOTHER MAN WHO LIVES 2 DOORS DOWN. WE'RE HOPING TO BAPTIZE THE NEIGHBORHOOD.

FOOD IS GOOD, WE HAVE LUNCH WITH MEMBERS EVERY DAY, AND WE USUALLY JUST EAT A SNACK FOR BREAKFAST AND DINNER. LANGUAGE IS COMING, BUT I STILL DON'T UNDERSTAND PEOPLE IF THEY ARE TALKING AT THEIR NORMAL SPEED.

THE WEATHER IS A LOT MORE TEMPERATE IN GARANHUNS THAN MOST OF THE MISSION, AND ALSO A LOT MORE TEMPERATE THAN THE SUMMER IN ALABAMA WAS. LESS HOT, LESS HUMID. IT'S ACTUALLY PRETTY PLEASANT WEATHER FOR THE MOST PART. 

THANKS FOR THE LETTER, LOVE, PRAYERS. I COULD USE THEM. I PRAY FOR YOU GUYS TOO, AND HOPE EVERYTHING CONTINUES TO GO WELL.

LOVE,

ELDER HOOKE