Christ's Love and Unique

8/24/15

Dear Family,

Ya, Elder Shepard is a weirdo. He even admits it. That is how he wants to be remembered! Every time the Mahna Mahna song comes on in the car (don't ask me why that song is permissible) he taps the beat with the brakes. WITH THE BRAKES. It is so annoying! I will never be the same when that horrible song comes on. So guess what I figured out? Yosemite National Park is in my mission. Next week for Preparation Day I'm going!!! How cool is that??? I hope school is going well for everyone!! I'll admit, it is really weird seeing all the school kids. Interesting fact of the day: schools in Modesto don't have hallways, all the classrooms open to the outside! All the walkways are just covered. Isn't that weird? And then they just put a fence around the whole school. Crazy. Our third investigator, who I didn't mention in the big email, is named Janice. She is actually a great grandma, and the majority of her family is LDS but her and her son aren't and they smoke a ton. Anyways, Janice also speaks 7.3 million miles an hour. Her son smoked us some fresh bacon! I cooked it today and, despite getting burned all over from the excessive amounts of popping grease, ate a fantastic breakfast. Dad-apparently Modesto had a 2.9 earthquake two days ago, but I couldn't feel it at all. Mom-I sent you a card in the mail, can we pretend it came like 3 weeks ago? Sarah-I can't believe you are a Junior!!! Hey, at least not a Squashmore... Mary-still can't find the quarter collection? I found a quarter I don't have, I can send it if you find it. Christian... Just kidding buddy! How is the big third grade?? (again, just kidding) Hope soccer is going good! I'll send a few pictures of my companion Elder Shepard, my apartment, and a California sky next week. Love you all!!

-Elder Hawkes

Brothers and Sisters,

Well I'm certainly not in Centerville, Utah! Modesto is a great place though and I love the people. Good news! We have an investigator named Sister Singh who called us two days ago and asked to be baptized!!! I mean, she had already expressed the interest and has been taking lessons from missionaries for over two years, but she actually called us! Just like in all those crazy stories you hear! Unfortunately, she just got out of jail and has to take a bunch of classes before she can pass the baptismal interview questions, but she is totally willing! She is Hindu and has an absolutely crazy ex-husband. His new wife is even crazier and even beats Sister Singh up every once in a while. But Sister Singh can't fight back because she will go back to jail. Kind of a weird situation. Anyways, Sister Singh talks 7.3 million miles and hour and is in every way a crazy Hindu. She cooked us her Hindu curry recipe that still had bones in it. She said she wouldn't make it spicy, but by the end of the meal my mouth was on fire and I swear I broke every tooth in my mouth. Sister Singh is incredible though. She has a willingness to follow God that she developed in jail, and has patience like I've never seen before. It may not be before I leave Modesto that she gets baptized, but I am so happy that she has decided to take this essential step in her life.

Cultural Experiences:

-Spanish Elders are crazy. Elder Moreno and Elder Lopez make us pick them up and drive them to zone soccer every morning at 5:30

-We have a car

-Elder Shepard is a crazy driver

-Tiwi yells at us if we drive too fast, and Catherine yells at us if we take a wrong turn

-Elder Beck, my district leader, speaks like an inner-city black mobster except he is tall, skinny, and pale white

-I have never seen so many shirtless men walking around town

-I have never seen so many tattoos

Unique is another one of our three investigators. She is about 18 years old and has a 3 year old daughter. As expected, the father left her. She lives with her grandma and takes care of her child as well as two or three of her sisters who are under the age of 10. Her daughter, Unity, has more energy than Jeremy Harms at 3 in the morning after drinking caffeine. And to top it off, she lives in a sketchy part of town and has to work all day to support herself. When we stop by, she comes out exhausted and sits in the chair on the porch, watching her little daughter run around the front yard. She is very quiet and hardly talks. Even when we talk, she can't listen for very long because her daughter will do something to distract her. We keep trying to get her to attend church, or even read a verse out of her scriptures. She is interested in the church, but her life is just too crazy. I feel so horrible for her. There are times I wish I could just trade her. Take her place. Give her rest. But I can't. Only one person can. Christ is the only person that can ever truly understand how we feel. Like I wish I could relieve Unique of her overwhelming challenges, there are times I wish I could help Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane. Take away just a portion of that pain so he doesn't have to bear it. But there is no way to do so, he has already done it. And the best part of it? He was willing. Because he loved us, he suffered for all our pain, all our sins, and all our weaknesses. That is why I am here. The majority of the world doesn't understand His love for them, or at least to it's full capacity. Like homeless Bob from last week, if I can just help people get a little bit closer to Christ, my mission is a success. May we all study the life of Christ and come just a little bit closer, step by step.