Halfway Point

7/13/15

Family,

Sorry, it's hard to be specific on anything because I have so little time at the emails, but that package was perfect thank you!!! Every time I sit down I could just type for forever because I have so much to say, but all the important things go out the door and my mind just goes blank. It is a weird experience. If you could condense all the emails into one that would be great though, I'm having a hard time keeping track of which emails I've read. Other than pictures, which I assume you have to split up among several emails. It was awesome seeing your float dad!! I didn't know you had one! I got to see the video of Sarah too and that was pretty funny. Hope you had a great birthday Christian!!! I'm grateful for all of your letters, I apologize I don't have time to reply to them right away, I try to write one a night but I am so busy that I hardly have the time to do so. Chinese is coming pretty well, I know how to say quite a bit, and we teach lessons to our investigators (teachers) almost every day in all Mandarin. MTC is pretty boring and monotonous, so not much to report on that front, but it has been exciting seeing so many of my friends come through! 8 of my district is going to Taiwan and 3 are going to Hong Kong. My mission president was only here for a few days, so he is already out there working hard. Biggest surprise was how self-sufficient we really are, there is no one to patrol us. Keep writing letters, gotta go! I love you guys!!!

Brothers and Sisters,

Last Friday marks my halfway point in the MTC. That is so crazy! The Elders and Sisters in one of the districts of our zone that were halfway done with the MTC when we got here are leaving tomorrow morning, and Taiwan is beginning to get real. Kinda. I'm not kidding when I say that the MTC feels like the whole mission though. It feels like in 4 weeks from now I'll hop on a bus and head home. It doesn't feel like I still have 23 months to go, 22 of which will be on the other side of the world. None of this feels real. Hearing Elder Vaughn's story about committing someone to a baptismal date is just so surreal. I can't believe that I will be doing that in a few months. I have officially settled into the MTC routine, and now it's just day after day after day. But hey! I'm learning a ton about myself and the Gospel so no complaints here. We watched Elder Packers funeral on Friday as an MTC, and I would like to share a few things I learned from the talks that were given. While I was listening, I wrote down a lot of attributes that were mentioned about Elder Packer and then thought about how I could apply them into my life. Not to sound morbid, but I asked myself how I could incorporate those principles so that at my future funeral in 80 years, people will say those same things about me. "[Elder Packer] was a master teacher", "he wore out his life in the service of the Lord", "happy to teach this side of the veil or the other", and "taught what he lived". All of those things are attributes that we could better work on. Elder Packer really was a 'Master Teacher', and as they mentioned as well, the majority of his teaching came through his amazing example. We too can teach through our example as we teach what we live and wear out our lives in the service of the Lord.

Cultural Experiences:

-the outside world is a strange place, some sisters had to get medication the other day and they said they saw a DQ on the way there!!!

-don't exercise before bed, sleeping at the MTC is hard enough

-oh and by the way, my companion Elder Facer sleep talks

-the showers are always empty on the third floor

-if you want to shut down an entire building and relocate like 300 sisters, release a bat in the upper floor\

-the Chinese word for hymn book sounds exactly like 'sugar-bun'

Another thing I've noticed about the Gospel is that we are just adding. We really aren't taking away anything from anybody when we teach the Gospel. We aren't saying, "Hey! Give up Catholicism, Buddhism, or Islam and join our church!" Well, we kind of are, but we aren't replacing their religion, just adding to it. Adding more testaments of Christ in the form of the Bible, Book of Mormon, Pearl of Great Price, Doctrine and Covenants, or the words of our living prophets. We aren't saying, "Give up your God." We are saying, "Here is a better understanding of what God really is and how you can worship Him." We aren't trying to change people's culture, relationships, or way of life unless that change is for the better. I hope this makes sense... One of our investigators (actually our teacher) says she is already happy in life and she doesn't need to be happier. Well, she doesn't understand her potential then, because through this--the only true Gospel--can we live up to the fullest potential God has given us. We can all come towards Christ through whatever religion, philosophy, and science we believe in, but only to an extent. We all be good people without the Gospel, but only to an extent. We can all be happy without keeping God's commandments, but only to an extent. No matter how happy, smart, kind, caring, loving, or anything you are, you are limited. Through the Gospel Christ established on this earth and restored through the prophet Joseph Smith, we can reach beyond those limits and become like God himself and live in His presence for eternity. What a promise. At what cost? Allowing God to add more of His blessings, more of His love, and more of His Gospel to us. I hope we will all allow God to give us more light and knowledge so we can reach further past our limits. I pray that you all have the commitment and dedication to live His standards and have faith in Him. As always, if you have any concern, I would love to talk to you about it. I know this is the strait and narrow path that returns to God. It can be more 'straight' and less 'strait' if we rely on each other and especially the Atonement. May God's light be with you always, Christ's example ever in your goals, and the Holy Ghost consistently your companion and friend.

- Elder Hawkes