Dear Family and Friends,
This week has been nothing short of miraculous and we are panning
to baptize four people from different families this coming sunday,
Andrea, Anie, Tais and Jose. If you could keep my companion in your
prayers that we can help these people have the faith and courage to be
baptized.
However I decided to make this email different and answer a few
questions so here it goes...
How are you? I am doing absolutely amazing, the language is getting
easier to speak, more and more every day. I am truly learning how to
lose my self in this work and the weeks are flying by like they are
days as I forget myself, my aches and pains and help others care for
their aches and pains by helping them receive the restored gospel.
What is the weather like in Paranagua? Right now it is the
beginning of spring in Paranagua, it is insanely humid, as Paranagua
and my area is surrounded by water, and it is slowly starting to heat
up here, and the majority of the days I walk outside to begin
proselyting and my clothes and body are damp and sticking to me due to
the warm humidity. I hear from the locals that December, January and
February the only thing to look forward to here is the afternoon rain
because it is 100% humidity and in the 90´s and low 100´s.
How big are the families there? The majority of families outside of
the church have about two or three kids and the younger members have
three or four kids generally, whereas the older members have 5-10. The
thing that is different is the majority of couples with kids we come
across are not married but rather living together because it is really
expensive to get married and get in divorces, so it is easier for them
to just live together and act like they´re married.
What is the housing like there? The housing here is a lot different
than the US. Practically every house have a tall fence or a brick wall
surrounding it. The locals build their own houses and add on whenever
they like, they really have no building permits or rules that they
follow. The houses are made with a cheap brick, that you can step on
and it breaks, and hand made and mixed cement. they rarely build
houses out of wood because bugs will eat the wood. Generally, most
houses in my area are about as big as the front bottom level of your
average house on Kerrisdale.
What amenities to the people have in their homes? Generally
everyone has a fridge, washer and stove. Dryers and dishwashers are
extremely rare. All clothes are hung out to dry and dishes are washed
and dryed by hand.
What is the activity rate like, active vs less actives? There are
about 100 active members in our ward and 400-500 inactives that we
have on record.
What are the members doing to help in the work? We are helping
members realize the importance of home and visiting teaching and we
are always asking for referrals and the members are staring to gain
confidence in us missionaries after about 6 months of missionaries
that slacked off.
What do you eat for breakfast, lunch, dinner & snacks? Breakfast-
2 slices of toast with a ``fake`` strawberry jam, two eggs with ham,
cheese and tomato and a fresh banana, strawberry shake. Lunch (Our
biggest meal)- Generally consists of white rice, black beans, chicken
or beef, potato salad, a ´´salad (of lettuce and vinager or brocolli
and beets), Guaraná and a passion fruit pudding, cake or a banana,
orange or watermelon for dessert, Dinner we usually don´t eat- usually
a small snack of friut juice and french bread with butter, cheese and
meat. The craziest thing I´ve eaten is chicken heart
How many missionaries in your district, zone, & mission? 4 elders
in my district, 8 elders and 2 sisters in my zone and about 190 soon
to 230-40 missionaries in the mission
How many baptisms is your district, zone, & mission averaging each
month and year? In our district about 3, zone about 12 and mission i
don´t know
How is the church leadership in Brazil? The church leadership is a
lot more laid back with not as many callings, meetings and activities.
I think the bishopric is the only presidency in our ward with all
members completely active
What is Paranagua like? Paranagua is filled with super outgoing
talkitive people, especially the drunks and homeless with us. It is a
port city, so the majority of the people work in the port where they
ship out a lot of corn, soy and salt.
What is your lodging like? Our hosue is quite small, anout as big
as your bedroom, with a room to sleep, a room to study, a small
kitchen and a small bathroom with an small electric shower head to
heat the water, the only hot water we have in our house
How often do you eat with just you and your companion vs with
members? Generally every day except for p day we have lunch with the
members
What holidays will you be celebrating in Brazil? They celebrate
christmas, new years, mothers days and fathers day is in August
What do the Brazilians spend their free time doing? The brasialians
spend their free time flying kites, playing soccer, listening to alot
of american music and they are always in their home or a bar on the
corner wathing soccer or UFC
What are the major industries and employers in your region? The
port and hospital are the largest employers. The majority of people
though have their own bar, salon, church or seamstress businees to
make money.
How much is the average wage for a Brazilian? The average brazilian
wage is about $2000 a month if you earn over $3500 a month youy are
considered rich
How big are the branches and/or wards in the area? What about the
size of the primary and youth organizations? We had about 110 people
at church yesterday, there are about ten young men and ten young women
and 20 in the primary. That is about noraml for our zone. I think in
Curitiba it is bigger.
What is a typical day like in the mission from a schedule
standpoint? eat, study prepare til 1030 and 1030 to 900 pm proselyting
1030 bed
What do you spend your time on Pday doing besides writing letters?
sleeping, cooking lunch, shopping and hiking hills near the beach
. How are you finding people to teach? Member references, less
active 50% and door to door street contacts 50%
My letter next week will be a lot more detailed and I will include
pictures. I love you all, have a great week!
Love,
Elder Hokanson
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