"Hey everyone!! Well I actually do have internet. They managed to fix the internet here and nobody knew about it. Now I need to explain..first of all, I would like to explain what happened this past week. Last Tuesday I got up at 3 AM and traveled with my temporary companion Elder Nielsen and the new sister missionary Sister King. We got a ride from the mission secretaries to the airport and got on the plane."
"The plane was small. There was space for the two pilots, the baggage, us three, and two other people. Fairly short flight duration. 45 min. Got some cool aerial photos. We landed and I met up with my companion. We were back in my area by about 10 am. This week we got a ton of work done. Visited a ton of less actives, got branch president work done, and taught some investigators. I still have a lot of hope for that teacher we found. She really liked the Plan of Salvation. On Saturday my companion Elder Cordoba finally took me to another village that is technically part of our area. Its called Aidirgandi and its an hour and a half walk up the coast on the sand just to get there. We taught a few less actives there and tried finding new investigators but few wanted to listen. sadly, we cant just start going up there, baptizing, and building a house to do sacrament. The area must have a few active families and priesthood holders before we could ever get a branch. The only way this would happen is if we had active members there making the 3 hour walk to attend church. But its something I could see happening in the future through hard work. It was a small area and I was surprised to see they actually had some cement homes. Nobody really spoke spanish there. Pure Dulegaya (kuna). I did my best and they seemed to understand more or less what I was saying. Im going to get better with Kuna. Aidirgandi was a really humbling experience for me. Made me realize I need to do more language study. Church went pretty good. I gave a 20 min talk again like I did 2 weeks ago. Giving talks is becoming so common now to me I just stand up and say what the spirit tells me to.I often forget to tell you all that I did one in church. I sit down after talking and my comp will ask me if I planned it out. By the time I sit down I will often not remember everything that I said wondering if it all made sense. I'm often told it went really well despite having no idea what I would stay when getting up to the podium. I'm grateful to see that all 3 of my converts in Ukupa attend weekly. Their pretty solid members and cool people. I feel strongly my convert Joan could be a future branch president in Ukupa rather than the missionaries. Last night it was 10:30 pm and I was already in my hammock trying to fall asleep and the phone rings. Our zone leaders called to tell us I had changes and that I needed to start packing my stuff to travel to an island called Carti Tupile. They told me that the area had no internet but it would be fine. They also said the missionaries there currently don't have a phone. haha! wow! So I got on last night with permission to tell my family I wouldn't be able to write any more. I then asked them to pass on the information to all of you. Luckily, it turns out that the internet got fixed this week and nobody but the missionaries here knew about it. ha! Well I'm happy to be able to still write and give updates. I got on a ponga this morning at 6 am. I was really sad because I didn't get to say bye to anyone in Ukupa. Pretty sad they didn't inform me earlier so I could. O well. I got to my new area at about 10 AM. My new companion is Elder Ricks. He's one of my buddies from the MTC. We came into the mission together. It will be fun here with him. Though I'm sad to leave my old area, this place is really cool too. We own a small wooden boat here that we row to smaller islands to preach the gospel. Supposedly on all these tiny islands they have some positive members. It will be a lot of fun getting around. Its crazy. Reminds me of the movie The Other Side of Heaven. If you haven't seen it you guys should. It reminds me of my mission sometimes. Oh..I killed another bat while in Ukupa this week and gave myself my 3rd injection (I recorded it on my camera haha!). Luckily there isn't any bats here. Oh..we have our own home here. Its a two story apartment and nice with one of the best views of the island. I love this place. As always..Ill try keeping these emails entertaining. Love you guys! Have a good week!"
-Elder Hawes
"One picture is the bat I killed this week. The other is a picture of me after giving myself an injection for the first time in my life. I look goofy but thought it was funny. Love you guys!"
"Two of the pictures here are showing an aerial view of Playon Chico. Another picture here is just showing how clear the water is. You can see the coral reefs under the water."
"The other pic is showing Aidirgandi from a distance."
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