3-21-11 Baptism of Jailson, Staying in Ponte with Elder Halvorsen, English class, District Leader

21 March 2011

This last week was a good one. We were able to have the baptism of Jailson and everything went really well. It was perfect, he just showed up at church 2 weeks ago, we started teaching him, he went last week and met everyone, kept teaching without really having any obstacles to overcome, and now he’s baptized and confirmed. He’s a cool guy, 20 years old, and has been very well received in the ward.  I was able to baptize him and it was a really nice experience.  I made brownies again for his baptism and everyone was asking me for the recipe! I think I wrote it for like 5 people that night.

Today is transfers, but I stayed in Ponte Dos Carvalhos with Elder Halvorsen. I will be his last companion (he goes home after this transfer). I got a phone call just now and found out that I am our new district leader... Just our companionship, the companionship in Escada which is now Elder Mesquita and a new Elder he will train, and the LZs (Elder Cabreira and Labrum, Elder Wells was transferred).

The English class is going really well. We called the president and told him about it and about the area and that is probably why he didn’t transfer either of us. Last week we had several random people show up at the English class. I really like teaching English. The majority of the people here have already learned at least a little, but they usually pronounce everything very wrong. Even the teachers in school here teach English wrong- I’ve seen some assignments and stuff and the teachers don’t even know how to speak English (very basic mistakes). So it is nice for them to be taught by someone who speaks the language. We had about 12-15 people in the class on Friday, and separated into two classes (I taught the new people and Elder Halvorsen taught those who have been going or know more).

Last night we were starving and normally we buy snacks for dinner on the street but it was Sunday, so we got home and looked at the ingredients we had. I threw sugar, flour, a little bit of hot cocoa mix, and oil in a pan and cooked it. It was like really gross brownies, so we went over to the member lady who lives behind us and she made us delicious cuzcuz with sausage and vegetables. It was cool because we thought we were gonna be going hungry but she told us never to go to bed hungry, so we took her up on it.

We are doing family nights with lots of people in the ward. We have 3 planned for this week, and we did 2 last week. They are fun because Elder Halvorsen and I always make an interesting message and after play a game and eat cake or something.

Well, you’ll have to ask me questions if you want more information, I don’t know what to say!! [Jon didn't receive my email again, but I caught him while he was still at the computer and told him I'd resend it...]

Love
Elder Hooke

3-14-11 Investigator update, English class, PHOTO

HELLO MOM- YES ALL IS GOING WELL HERE. CARNAVAL ENDED WEDNESDAY AND WE STILL HAD A PRETTY GOOD WEEK, TAUGHT ALMOST THE SAME AMOUNT AS NORMAL, ETC.  I DID GET A LOT OF GOOD STUDY IN AS WELL. 

I'M READING O MILAGRE DE PERDÂO [The Miracle of Forgiveness by Spencer W. Kimball] RIGHT NOW AND IT IS VERY INTERESTING. ITS PRETTY IMPORTANT, IT WOULD BE A GOOD BOOK FOR EVERY MEMBER TO READ.

ANANDA IS DOING GOOD SHE FINALLY WENT TO CHURCH YESTERDAY.  

MARINALDO-NOTHING NEW TO REPORT.

JAILSON IS DOING VERY WELL! WE MARKED HIS BAPTISM FOR NEXT SUNDAY AND AT CHURCH YESTERDAY HE MET LOTS OF PEOPLE AND REALLY LIKED IT. HE TOOK HIS LITTLE NEPHEW TO CHURCH AS WELL, WHO ALSO LOVED IT. HES AN 11 YEAR OLD, EMERSON, AND HE REALLY WANTS TO BE BAPTIZED BUT HIS MOM WONT LET HIM FOR A WHILE. BUT YEAH JAILSON IS DOING VERY WELL, AND WE ARE VISITING HIM/TEACHING HIM ALMOST EVERY DAY. SO AT LEAST WE SHOULD BE HAVING THAT ONE GOOD BAPTISM ON THE LAST DAY OF THE TRANSFER (THIS IS A 5 WEEK TRANSFER).

ELDER HALVORSEN AND I ALL FASTED SATURDAY AND SUNDAY TO HELP CLAUDIO MAKE THE RIGHT DECISION ABOUT WHETHER HE SHOULD BE BAPTIZED THIS SATURDAY OR NOT. AT CHURCH YESTERDAY HE SAID HE STILL IS NOT SURE. HE IS A VERY LOGICAL GUY, AND WOULD STILL HAVE TO CHANGE MANY THINGS TO LIVE IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE GOSPEL. SO WE'RE PRAYING FOR HIM A LOT.

THE ENGLISH CLASS IS GOING WELL. EVERY CLASS WE HAVE HAD MORE PEOPLE THAN THE PREVIOUS, AND TOMORROW WE ARE EXPECTING ABOUT TEN. IT IS A LITTLE TOUGH BECAUSE SOME PEOPLE KNOW MORE THAN OTHERS AND TO KEEP EVERYBODY LEARNING TOGETHER IS HARD. I THINK WE WILL SPLIT INTO GROUPS TOMORROW, ONE OF US TEACHING PEOPLE WHO KNOW MORE. BUT EVERYONE IS LIKING THE CLASS AND I ENJOY TEACHING IT. WE DO HAVE A SPIRITUAL MESSAGE AT THE BEGINNING OF EACH CLASS, AND INVITE THE INVESTIGATORS TO SAY THE OPENING AND CLOSING PRAYERS.

[I mentioned driving through a blizzard in Idaho while I was there...]  A BLIZZARD WOULD BE NICE HERE- FOR A FEW SECONDS AT LEAST. GLAD TO HEAR YOUR TOES AINT FROZE.

                                                                    Recife Temple

                                             [Sorry, I can't figure out how to straighten it up...]

YEAH WE WENT TO THE TEMPLE IN RECIFE. IT WENT WELL, I WAS ABLE TO SEE THE FAMILY FROM SAN MARTIN WHOSE HOUSE WE WERE ALWAYS AT TO TEACH ADLAN AND SOME OTHER INVESTIGATORS.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH, LOVE YOU TOO,
ELDER HOOKE

3-7-11 Carnaval...

WELL IT'S CARNAVAL! NO ONE KNOWS WHAT THE PURPOSE IS, SO I DECIDED IT IS A CELEBRATION OF SIN. ITS NOT SPECIFICALLY BAD IN PONTE, BUT THE STREETS ARE CROWDED AND THERE'S ALWAYS DRUNK PEOPLE EVERYWHERE, AND LOUD LOUD MUSIC BLASTING. AND HALF THE WARD WENT TO THE CHURCH SPONSORED CAMP TO KEEP MORMONS AWAY FROM CARNAVAL. IT STARTED SATURDAY, AND ALL 5 OF THE LESSONS THAT WE HAD MARKED FOR SATURDAY FELL. THEN YESTERDAY THERE WERE NOT MANY MEMBERS AT CHURCH. MARINALDO WAS THERE, NOT MUCH TO REPORT ABOUT HIM. WE HAD A FUN FHE AT HIS HOUSE LAST WEEK, WE MADE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES TOO. PEOPLE HERE ARE AMAZED WITH THEM.

 IT WAS COOL AT CHURCH CUZ A RANDOM GUY JAILSON CAME UP TO US AT CHURCH. IT WAS HIS FIRST TIME, AND HE SAID HE WANTED TO START COMING EVERY WEEK. WE TALKED TO HIS MORMON FRIEND FROM A DIFFERENT WARD ON HIS PHONE AND SHE TOLD US ABOUT HOW WE CAN HELP HIM, SO WE'LL BE TEACHING HIM TONIGHT (IF WE CAN FIND HIS HOUSE). STREETS/HOUSE NUMBERS HERE ARE A DISASTER. THEY MAKE NO SENSE, THEY'RE USUALLY NOT EVEN IN NUMERICAL ORDER.

ALSO CLAUDIO AND HIS FRIEND ERICSON WENT TO CHURCH. CLAUDIO IS UNDERSTANDING THE IMPORTANCE OF OUR MESSAGE AND WE ARE TEACHING HIM OFTEN NOW. HE AND HIS FRIEND WERE ALSO THE ONLY PEOPLE WHO SHOWED UP TO THE ENGLISH CLASS THAT ELDER HALVORSEN AND I STARTED ON FRIDAY. THE CLASS WENT WELL, AND I ENJOYED TEACHING ABOUT CONJUGATING ENGLISH VERBS. IN THE PRESENT TENSE. WE ARE EXPECTING A FEW MORE PEOPLE AT THE CLASS THIS WEEK.

ELDER HALVORSEN WAS SICK YESTERDAY AND BARELY HANDLED CHURCH, AND WE STAYED AT HOME THE REST OF THE DAY. WE PROBABLY DIDN'T MISS MUCH PRODUCTIVE WORK THOUGH BECAUSE SUNDAY IN CARNAVAL IS ESPECIALLY PARTY DAY. I LEARNED HOW TO SOLVE THE RUBIKS CUBE THOUGH, SO THAT WAS NICE. AND WE PLAYED UNO WITH THE NEIGHBOR BOYS.

I HAVE TO FIND SOMEONE TO SELL MY GUITAR TO NOW BECAUSE THE PRES. SENT AN EMAIL THAT NOW GUITARS ARE AGAINST THE RULES. TOO BAD, CUZ I JUST ASKED HIM AND HE GAVE ME PERMISSION TO BUY ONE 2 MONTHS AGO. BUT WHATEVER.

I ASKED ELDER HALVORSEN RIGHT NOW IF ANYTHING ELSE NOTEWORTHY HAPPENED THIS WEEK AND HE SAID "NOTHING." SO THAT IS MY WEEK.

THANK YOU ALL AND I LOVE YOU TOO!
LOVE

ELDER HOOKE

2-28-11 Some disappointments

HELLO FAMILY. 

SO I'M DOING MAIS OU MENOS HERE. THE COMPANIONSHIP IS GOING WELL WITH ELDER HALVORSEN. I'M KINDA BUMMED WITH THE MY MISSION IN GENERAL RIGHT NOW JUST BECAUSE I DON'T FEEL LIKE I'M VERY SUCCESSFUL. AND YES I KNOW THAT SUCCESS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH NUMBERS (I AM AWARE OF PMG´S DESCRIPTION OF SUCCESS). BUT LIFE CONTINUES...

THE LAST WEEK WAS DECENT. WE HAVE SOME GOOD PEOPLE TO TEACH, AND SOME PEOPLE THAT REALLY DISAPPOINT US. EVERY WEEK IS SUCH A LET DOWN AT CHURCH, I DON'T KNOW WHY I AM STILL FOOLED BY SO MANY PEOPLE EVERY WEEK. BUT YEAH WE HAD A FEW INVESTIGATORS GO, DEBORA DIDN'T BUT WE MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE HER BAPTISM THIS WEEK. SHE IS VERY SINCERE AND READY TO BE BAPTIZED... WE STARTED TEACHING A FAMILY TOO, FAM OF MARLI. SHE WENT TO CHURCH WITH HER NIECE, AND THEY LOVED IT. THEY ARE A REALLY GOOD FAMILY FROM A DIFFERENT CHURCH BUT THEY ARE DISAPPOINTED AT THEIR CHURCH. SHE IS ALSO THE SISTER OF AN ACTIVE MEMBER IN THE WARD, SO THAT HELPS.

LOVE YOU GUYS TOO. HAVE A GOOD WEEK AND REMEMBER THAT I LIKE YOU GUYS, ALRIGHT?

2-21-11 Éllen's baptism {PHOTO}/ Elder Halvorsen's a great guy!

[Lori wrote: So how are you doing??    I hope this letter finds you in good health and good spirits, and with the Spirit.]

Hello family, yes I am in good health and somewhat good spirit with the Spirit, I hope. This week was another load of disappointments and good stuff mixed.

 We were able to have the baptism of Éllen, a funny little 9 year old girl. She has been going to church for a long time with her neighbor, and we talked with her, arranged the baptism, reviewed all the things she needs to know before baptism throughout the week, and had a really good baptism on Saturday night (although it started about an hour late! that's the way of things here) But it was really cool-- the Spirit was there and many of Éllen's nonmember family members were there (mom, aunts,and gramma). We have taught her mom too (she only lives with her mom) but she has no desire now. At least she let Éllen choose for herself and Éllen has another woman to bring her to church every week. But anyways it was cool after the baptism we ate brownies I had made and a chocolate brigadeiro cake that Claudia (Éllen's neighbor) made. Everyone liked the brownies and wants the recipe. It was a recipe from Elder Wells, super easy. Anyways she got confirmed at church on Sunday, and besides that, church was just like last week. just One man went, Claudio, but he doesn't understand our message. We have explained it as clearly as can be but he still believes our message, and every other religion, is true. And everyone else didn't go. It's really disappointing, but like you will say later in this email getting angry about it doesn't do any good. But we are allowed to be disappointed/devastated, Jeffrey R Holland said so.

But anyways I am happier now because I really like my comp. Elder Halvorsen is a really cool guy and he is a very good person. He has only 2 months left on the mission, and but still wants to help people a lot. He has a girlfriend waiting for him, but I think it helps his mission because he always stays happy no matter what happens on the mission, thinking "oh well in 2 months I'll be home with Marie and my family so whatever". But we get along well and we are always laughing so it is good. We are co-seniors, and so it is like it should be, we work as equals, and it works because usually he likes to leave the house and teach a lot and stuff.

So yeah many things during the week were disappointing, but we had  lot of comic relief! like that picture I sent of Éllen, for example haha. [we weren't able to open the picture, unfortunately]

 YEAH I LOVE SOME PEOPLE HERE, BUT I'LL ADMIT IT IS HARD TO LOVE SOME ASPECTS OF THE CULTURE HERE. WELL SOME ASPECTS SHOULDN'T BE LOVED I SUPPOSE.

WELL AT LEAST I CAN ALWAYS KNOW THAT WHATEVER HAPPENS, I'M DOING WHAT I FEEL IS RIGHT IN THE WAY THAT I FEEL IS RIGHT, AND IT IS THE MAJORITY OF THE PEOPLE HERE MISUSING THEIR AGENCY THAT IS THE LIMITING FACTOR. BUT YEAH THERE ARE MANY GREAT PEOPLE HERE IN THIS CITY AND I HAVE FAITH THAT WE WILL BE ABLE TO FIND SOME OF THEM. SO KEEP UP THE PRAYERS AND STUFF, HAVE A GOOD WEEK AND KNOW THAT I LOVE YOU GUYS!

ELDER HOOKE

2-14-11 Happy Valentine's Day! Still in Ponte--New Comp Elder Halvorsen

2-14-11

 

YES TODAY WAS TRANSFERS. ELDER NAGASE WAS TRANSFERRED TO GARANHUNS (A DIFFERENT WARD THERE [than Jon served in before]) AND I STAYED IN PONTE. I WAS EXPECTING TO LEAVE, I DON'T KNOW WHY, BUT NOW I'M HERE AND I GOT A NEW COMP, ELDER HALVORSEN. HE'S FROM MURRAY UTAH. WE ARE STILL IN RECIFE FROM THE TRANSFER MEETING BUT WHEN WE FINISH HERE WE'LL RETURN TO PONTE. THE AREA
 <- Recife
IS DOING ALRIGHT. IT IS FRUSTRATING, YESTERDAY ELDER NAGASE AND I WERE REALLY DISAPPOINTED BECAUSE OF THE FACT THAT EVERY SUNDAY SO MANY PEOPLE TELL US THEY WILL GO TO CHURCH AND WHEN SUNDAY COMES AROUND, WE CAN EVEN GO TO THEIR HOUSES AND THERE IS STILL AN EXCUSE.

BUT ANYWAYS WE HAVE AN 8 YEAR OLD GIRL HÉLEN TO BAPTIZE THIS WEEK. SHE ALWAYS GOES TO CHURCH WITH HER AUNT, AND I WAS TALKING TO HER AT CHURCH AND FOUND OUT THAT SHE IS NOT BAPTIZED AND WANTS TO BE. HER PARENTS ARE NOT MEMBERS, BUT THEY SUPPORT HER BEING BAPTIZED, WE'LL TRY TEACHING THEM. BUT YEAH SHE WILL BE BAPTIZED ON SATURDAY. SHE IS MARINALDO'S NIECE. MARINALDO WENT TO CHURCH TOO (LIKE ALWAYS) BUT STILL NOT REALLY ANY PROGRESS. 

WE ARE TEACHING AN 18 YEAR OLD GUY, VALDESIO, WHO IS VERY HUMBLE AND VERY RECEPTIVE TO THE MESSAGE, AND ALREADY WANTS TO BE BAPTIZED. BUT WE WENT BY HIS HOUSE SUNDAY MORNING  AND HE WAS NOT HOME. AND WE ARE STILL TRYING TO TEACH DEBORA, WE FOUND OUT THAT SHE TOLD HER FRIEND, A LESS ACTIVE GIRL THAT WE ARE HELPING REACTIVATE, THAT SHE REALLY WANTS TO BE BAPTIZED, BUT THAT HER BOYFRIEND DOESN'T WANT HER TO...

IF YOU PRAY FOR ONE THING IN THIS AREA, IT WOULD BE GOOD TO ASK GOD TO HELP OUR INVESTIGATORS OVERCOME SIMPLE LITTLE OBSTACLES THAT ARE KEEPING THEM FROM MAKING THE MOST IMPORTANT DECISION YET IN THEIR LIVES.

[Jon used to play the French horn, and I mentioned it in my letter] NOBODY HERE KNOWS THE NAME OF THE FRENCH HORN. IVE ASKED A LOT OF PEOPLE AND DESCRIBED IT AND ITS ALWAYS "OH YEAH IVE SEEN THAT BUT DON'T KNOW WHAT ITS CALLED." YEAH IT IS NICE TO HAVE A GUITAR, AND APPARENTLY MY NEW COMP HAS ONE TOO, SO WE'LL BE ABLE TO HAVE A JAM SESSION TODAY.

NEXT WEEK I WILL GO [to the Recife temple]

LOVE YOU GUYS TOO AND THANKS FOR THE PRAYERS, LETTERS, AND STUFF. HAPPY VALENTINES DAY TO THE FAM AS WELL!HAVE A GREAT WEEK

LOVE

ELDER HOOKE

2-7-11 Testimonies, FHE's, & Talks... (Ponte)

2-7-11

 

This week went well. We are having trouble getting our investigators to church. Just on Saturday we talked to 3 different people who told us that after praying about our message they felt strongly that it is true. All 3 of them said that they would prepare to be baptized and go to church yesterday... but none of those 3 even went! It is frustrating at times. Débora had to work yesterday, so she also was not at church (but another investigator named Débora was), and she also was not baptized yet. I am almost 100% sure she will be baptized, its just a question of when.

We had a good testimony meeting here, and Edna bore her testimony too. She talked about how thankful she is for Elder Nagase and I for helping her out and it really made me feel the joy of being a missionary and helping others. It is a different kind of joy than you can get from helping yourself, and it is more pure. It was nice.

We had a lesson last night with this man, Marinaldo, that reminded me of being in Alabama. He is very familiar with the church (his wife is a strong convert of 7 years and he goes almost every week), and he wants everything to make sense logically. We talked for quite awhile about faith and testimony, and I told him how until today there are many things in the church that I don't understand, and that without a testimony from the Holy Ghost, it would be easy for me too to use some facts as "proofs" that the church is flawed. But, I told him that without understanding everything, I do have a testimony that it is true because of the way I feel. And that I cannot deny. It was a really good lesson and he sincerely said that if he receives an answer to prayer that he can recognize he won't worry about the things that he doesn't understand. He wants to believe, wants to be baptized, but only when he is convinced by more than just missionaries that it is true. So pray for him that he can receive an answer. He will be a bishop one day if he gains a testimony, for sure.

The companionship is going well, I wrote to Lib about our many prayers and stuff. (See Jon's letter to Libby at the end of this blog.) Elder Nagase  is willing to work.

I gave a talk in front of half the mission at our zone conference on Thursday. I talked about the importance of not just looking for easy baptisms, but also working with people to overcome problems to become prepared for baptism. It was all about the Holy Ghost in the work and being worthy to have his company.

Well I hope all is well in Ventura, 

Love

Elder Hooke   {Letter to Libby follows}

Brasil is good. yeah me and my comp pray together twice in every lesson, every morning sometimes twice, every other time we leave the house, and twice every night. And it still feels like we need to pray more. We usually don’t straight up read scriptures together, but we talk about them and how we can help our investigators, and stuff for comp study. And yeah almost every single Monday we get to go to family night with some members. I think every Monday in this area we have had one. Until today. We have 2 lessons instead marked for tonight. But yeah they are good because there are always investigators there for the message, and after, we play some sort of game (just like American Mormons) and eat cake with soda (just like American Mormons). Just that the soda is always Guarana or Fanta.

[Libby told him she was speaking in church next week on education and asked him to share any advice she could use in her talk...] Education. Tell people that over there in them United States that they are very blessed to have education very easily accessible. there are lots of kids here that would like a better, or more challenging education that don’t have a way to get it. But yeah being educated is important. There’s that one scripture in D&C [130:20-21] about whatever manner of intelligence we get in this life we take with us to the next.

wellp, love

Elder Hooke