The 4th of July and MTC Chicken Sandwiches

6/29/15

Dear Family,

I feel ya on the heat. On Wednesday I had to carry around suitcases of new missionaries for like 3 hours and it was absolutely exhausting. Now imagine that with 90% humidity, and you've got Taiwan!! It's been over 100 degrees in Taiwan this whole last week, every day. I'll keep my eye out for Elder Wilkinson, like I said, we got 40 new elders last Wednesday so it's hard to keep track of them all. Just you guys, and an email from Rachel Pitt telling me about her mission call as well as Levi about every week. If you could send me the email address for Dilan Ritzer that would be awesome! It is on my gmail account. Also, the mailing address for Jake if you think he would be interested to get a letter from me. Best thing at the MTC and worst? Hmm.... I keep getting sick from the chicken, so thats pretty bad. They're chicken sandwiches are to die for... and not in the good way.... Nothing is really GOOD at the MTC cafeteria... I'm fine on everything else though! Next care package you send though you could pack a few extra shirts in and my ping pong set, but the need for those isn't exactly dire. I'll keep trying to send pictures. If you want to know anything more detailed, just send me a letter. Love you!!!

Brothers and Sisters,

Happy Fourth of July!! We don't celebrate it at all in the MTC, so I will be trying to fall asleep with fireworks going off outside. But enjoy them for me! I would also like to take a moment to remember Joseph Smith, as we commemorate his martyrdom two days ago on the 27th. Like it says in D&C 138, no one on Earth has done more for the salvation of man than Joseph Smith except Christ himself. As I continue to learn about the Gospel he restored--in Chinese--and about his sacrifice to bring it to all the Earth, I can't help but be grateful his dedication, faithfulness, and endurance. This last week, all the new mission presidents were able to come here. At one point throughout this week, we have had every member of the First Presidency, Quorum of the Twelve, Presiding Bishopric, and pretty much any other important church figure you can imagine. Elder Bednar asked one of the missionaries in my district whether we were speaking Mandarin or Cantonese because he couldn't tell the difference, to which the Elder replied he couldn't either. I didn't get a chance to meet any of them because they locked themselves in 1M, the biggest building here, and rarely come out. Oh, and did I mention? Our cafeteria is in 1M. So we have been eating catered food in the gym for the last week. Yum... The room next to ours captured a spider. It spun a web around the rim of the bottle they put it in, and we keep feeding it flies and flying ants. It's still alive after like a week! Gotta love missionary work!

Where's Waldo?

-Elder Taylor Bangerter! I got to host him on Wednesday (welcomed him to the MTC, brought his bags to his room, and showed him around).

-Elder Matt Fisher! He was on my old soccer team, I couldn't believe it! And he and Elder Bangerter are companions!

-Elder Truman Wardle, Elder Jeff Bednar, and Elder Davis Wesche! Go Viewmont!

-Elder KJ McGuire. Yep. The one and only. Last time I saw him was probably in Elementary School in the principals office getting suspended. How ironic is that?

Every time we have an MTC devotional on Sunday or on Tuesday, my heart just drops like a rock when I hear it's a member of the Seventy. I'll admit it. Especially yesterday! All of the First Presidency have been here the past week, so we were sure it would be one of them that would speak to us. But it wasn't. Every single time I feel disappointed, the member of the Seventy gives a talk that completely changes my perspective on the MTC. I don't understand how they do it! They speak so well! This last Sunday, the speaker was talking about the four phases of adjustment/change: the Honeymoon phase (where you are just ecstatic), the Hostile phase (where you are mad at the world and want to go home), the Grin-and-Bear-it phase (you just pretend to have fun), and the Successful Adjustment phase (where you finally settle in to the routine and start to enjoy yourself). He suggested that when we get down, we sing hymns to bring us up. He also suggested that every time we go through a struggle, there are numerous choirs of angels singing in the heavens for each of us. Boy have those choirs been singing in my direction lately! But then again, I am only one of many missionaries here at the MTC, and I'm certain my difficulty is nothing compared to many of theirs and even many of yours! But how blessed you will be for enduring those trials, even more so with a smile on your face, and making it to the finish line! I love the people of Taiwan, and I am so excited to share God's word with those that are ready to receive it. The other thing the speaker did at the devotional was bring up a missionary he had never met before. That missionary was the son of his first convert baptism in Guatemala. His point was that we never know the extent of the effect our actions bring about. Converting just one of God's children could mean bringing thousands into the fold. And this isn't just true in the mission field! What thousands can you bring? All my love and prayers go out to you guys as you remember the sacrifice of Joseph Smith and celebrate the anniversary of this incredible country's independence. Stay Strong!

-Elder Hawkes

P.S. the pictures aren't working out too well, I'll hopefully get a bunch sent next week but it's being grouchy. Nobody here is able to send pictures. I got to meet my mission president again! He is awesome. Send me some current events in the mail too if you could, I don't know what is happening in the world. 9/11 could happen again and I wouldn't know, so just a little bit of news would be awesome without distracting me too much. The more words I memorize in Mandarin, the more similar they sound and the harder it is to speak. Kinda ironic. Oh! My language teacher is amazing. She does the perfect balance of language and teaching us how to teach. Her name is Sister Woolsey. We actually have two teachers named Wu Jie Mei. There are only like 100 last names in Chinese so it gets pretty confusing when all of us have the same name. Tell Ian McKay I found Elder Stratford and talked to him!! I'm just trying to write till the last minute, we only have an hour on the computers. Love you guys!