General Conference, Dragging a Car Out of an Intersection and Helping Ruth Receive an Answer to Her Prayers

This weekend was quite the experience. For the first time in my entire life I watched all five sessions of general conference, took notes and stayed awake. I know quite the accomplishment. Oh yeah did I mention ALL 5 SESSIONS OF GENERAL CONFERENCE WERE COMPLETELY IN PORTUGUESE (With the exception of the choirs singing). I don´t know if I have ever felt the Spirit so strongly in a generall conference than I did this past weekend. The highlight was: Elder Richard G Scott, one of the modern day apostles of Jesus Christ, made a recording of his talk in Portuguese beforehand and so we got to listen to his voice instead of a portuguese translator like all the other talks. It truly is a testament that he is an apostle of God, he is in 80´s and he can still speak fluent Portuguese and English. I was filled with the Spirit this weekend and gained the desire from Presidente Monson Elder Nelson, Elder Christofferson, Elder Holland and Elder Bednar´s talks that I need to ask myself if I truly love the Savior every day then go out into the world and prove my love through my thoughts, words, and actions.

Aside from an amazing portuguese filled general conference, Wednesday was a great day. While we were talking to Jose, our recent convert, a broken pickup that was getting dragged by a semi, came unhooked and got stuck in the middle of the intersection. Being quick to act, energetic young men we ran to the intersection and with the help of two other men picked up this pickup dragging it to the side of the road with the two wheels that were left on the car. We then helped the men lift the pickup so they could tie it up to the the semi and drag it away. To say the least I felt like a super hero, picking up a car and saving the other cars on the road from an accident.

Lastly, Wednesday night, Ruth, one of our investigators told me that on Saturday the 29th of September she was praying to feel the spirit to know if the Church was true. She then told me that as I confirmed Anny in sacrament meeting the 30th. She was overwhelmed with the Spirit and began to cry because of the words I had said. She then told us she knows the church is true from this experience. I know that the Lord answers our prayers and many times it is through the words and actions of others. Follow the promptings of the Spirit...you won´t regret it. 

I love you all, thanks for the letters, emails and prayers of love and support!

Love,

Elder Jonathan Hokanson

Miracle - Oct 1

WOW!!! The Lord´s hand is truly commanding this missionary work that I am a part of, and as a result I witnessed more miracles these past seven days than I think I´ve witnessed in the past 19 years of my life. 
I don´t even know where to begin...this past week my faith and testimony were tried more than they ever have before in my life. As a result of truly working with all my heart, might mind and strength and trusting in the Lord, putting my faith in him and praying with real intent, we witnessed miracle after miracle this week. 
When September started, Elder Funk and I prayed to know how many people we could baptize during the moth of September. When we finished our prayer that first week of September, it became very clear that the Lord wanted us to set the goal to baptize 4 people during the month of September. The four people that had baptismal dates marked were: Andrea, a mother, in her 40´s, of 3 young men who are members, and the oldest son is serving a mission in northern Brasil; Jose, a father, in his 40´s, and husband of recent converts, his wife, Shirlei, being the third person I helped baptize 2 months ago in this area of Guarani; and Vera (a street contact that Elder Evans and I made three months ago), a single mother in her 50´s, and her 20 year old daughter, Tais.
However, as the first couple weeks of September passed, all four of the people we had plans to baptize were progressing very slowly and Vera told us in the middle of September that she didn´t want to be baptized anytime in the near future. At this point, in the second to last week of September, I began to start to feel helpless because we only had 3 people to baptize and we wouldn´t be able to meet our goal of 4 baptisms. However, after stying firm in the faith and contiunually praying to be able to encounter a 4th person, our prayers were answered of Tuesday, the 18th, at the end of our district meeting. We received a reference of a 18 year old young woman, named Anny, that the Elders in the neigboring area Samambaia gave to us and said that she was a golden investigator ready for baptism. Since, we receive so many references we put it to this side and told ourselves that we´d visit her in a couple weeks. The Lord, however, had other plans. That same afternoon we ran into a less active member and he said that his non member sister was planning on coming to church. At that moment, we asked who this sister was...he responded that her name was Anny. we then looked at the reference and low and behold it was the same Anny who we´d received as a reference that morning. This less active member, Erinaldo, told us he´d taker her to church on Sunday the 23rd and we could start teaching her a few days after. To our amazement, Erinaldo brought Anny to church and that is when we realized that we had one week to accomplish our goal of 4 baptisms. Without hesitation we marked an appointment with Anny for Wednesday the 26th. 
On Wednesday, I did a division with Elder Haycock, a new elder of 3 weeks in the field and we taught Anny a summary of all the lessons and reviewed the questions to be baptized. During this lesson, the next miracle occured, she was obeying all the commandments and had a firm testimony of the gospel and Book of Mormon. To make a long story short she decided to be baptized on Saturday night and on Sunday the other miracles occured, Jose, Tais and Andrea were all baptized. Our goal was met and miracle had occured.

What is My Mission Like??? Amazing!

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

Learning to Lead

Dear Family and Friends,

 

This past week I got my first look at what it´s going to be like without my trainer and first companion Elder Evans, as he is finishing his mission here this week. On Friday, I showed the new missionary and zone leader, in the area next to us, our area and I for my first day ever was leading the conversations with the people we were meeting with and teaching the majority of the lessons. I realized how much I´ve relied on Elder Evans the past eight weeks and that this next week when he leaves, I´ll be relying on the Lord to help strengthen me and be an example to help my new companion, that I´ll get next week, adjust to the area. More importantly, I´m learning to put my faith in the Lord that he will help me completely understand all the people we talk to and I´m learning that the Spirit, if we live worthy of it, can be a great help in understanding, speaking and teaching. Yesterday I think I ate the best dessert I´m had here yet, it was a bowl of fresh tropical fruit, with sweet condensed milk and chocolate, coconut ice cream. That dessert we had for lunch, then we went to another members house and a recent converts house and they fed us more food. The members here and the people of Brazil love feeding us, so we are never hungry, which is great and I don´t have any problem with it since I love food.Trials are occuring here in my life and in my area, but I´m learning that if we rely on God we can do all things and help those that are in need.

 

I love you all and I hope you have a great week!

 

Love,

 

Elder Hokanson

Feeling the Joy of Missionary Work

Dear Dad, Mom, Liz, Kirstie, Ashlynn, McKay, Family and Friends,

 

When I was preparing for my mission and when I arrived here in Brazil, I had no idea how hard this work would be. I also never had any idea how much joy I would experience and how much I would love the people here. I can say now, after only being on my mission for almost four months, that missionary work and serving a mission is the only time you can truly work with all your heart might, mind and strength. This past week I was struggling a bit because I still can´t speak the language like I would like and I was getting frustrated. That is when my amazing companion sat down and talked with me and told me to be patient, rely on the Lord, be willing to learn when you make mistakes and don´t forget to smile. After that night I have changed my attitude and I have truly seen that with the Lord and a positive attitude, all things are possible. Sunday we witnessed a miracle as I performed my first Portuguese confirmation on Gustavo, who was baptized two Sundays ago and Shirlei, the Mom of a recent convert,was baptized after putting her faith and trust in the Lord. The gospel is true and with faith and prayer, the darkest day can be made bright.

 

On a side note, the food here is great. Rice, Chicken or Beef, Pasta, Beans and Soda for every lunch is great, I am definately staying well fed. The weather here is like Oregon one day it is pretty cold and the next day it is hot and humid. Regardless of how much I get fed or what the weather is like I am striving my best to serve with all my heart, might, mind and strength.

 

I love you all and thank you for your letters and emails of support.

 

Love,

 

Elder Hokanson

July 23

To describe this week is one word, it would be miraculous! After
trying to meet with the dad of Gustavo, a fourteen year old boy who
lives with a family in our ward, for the past few weeks to get his
signature of approval, so gustavo could be baptized we had a miracle
occur yesterday. When I woke up yesterday I was holding out a little
hope and praying that Gustavo would get his dad´s signature before
church. However when we met him at church, he had a sad look on his
face and said that he didn´t get ahold of his dad to get his
signature, so he thought he wasn´t going to get baptized. If that did
occur that would have been the second week in a row that he would´ve
passed his baptismal interview, only to not be baptized because of a
missing signature. Elder Evans and I knew that if we had faith that
the Lord would answer our prayers anything was possible. So we called
the adopted mom of Gustavo to get permission,as sacrament meeting was
going on, and she said that she couldn´t sign the paper since she´s
not his actual mom, but that if Gustavo called his Dad and invited him
to his baptism after church, we could go ahead with the baptism since
she is the legal guardian of Gustavo right now. Gustavo called his Dad
who lives a couple miles away from the chapel, he signed the paper an
hour and a half before the baptismal service then he left to a lunch
appointment. He then returned as the opening song for the baptismal
service was being sung to witness his song enter the waters of
baptism. It truly was an amazing spiritual miracle. The day ended with
another miracle as the mom of a recent convert for the first time told
us with conviction that she will be baptized this coming Sunday after
a month and a half of teaching her. The Church is true, miracles do
occur and the Lord answers prayers in his time and in his own way.

Thank you all for your love and support, Have an amazing week because
I know I will.

Love,

Elder Jonathan Hokanson

Attached is the picture of the Elder Evans and I at the baptism of
Gustavo, he´s the shorter one with shaggy hair

July 9 - Learning the Ups and downs of Missionary Work

Dear Dad, Mom, Liz, Kirstie, Ashlynn, McKay, Family and Friends,

This past week was one of the most emotionally up and down weeks that I´ve had on the mission. Aside from being mentally, physically and spiritually drained at the end of each day, this past week I experienced my first blisters on my feet during the mission and my whole body was aching and sore from a ward family home evening that Elder Evans and I gave a lesson for. We gave a lesson on the Atonement of Christ and we decided to do an object lesson. I acted as Christ as my companion gave a piece of candy to everyone in attendence, which was about 70 people. For each piece of candy that was given out, I had to do a push up. After doing 70 push ups, Elder Evans proceeded to give more candy to all those that wanted more, so I ended up doing over 200 pushups. To say the least I was dead tired when all the candy had been given out. We compared this to the Atonement because the redeeming power of the Atonement is sweet and we receive the blessings regardless of if we ask for them. Jesus Christ payed the ultimate sacrifice and sacrificed for the sins of all mankind and I am exceedingly grateful for that. For the next few days after our lesson, my arms and body were extremely sore and I grew to really appreciate the Savior´s sacrifice for me.
Yesterday I gave my first talk in Portuguese to the ward here in Paranaguá. I talked about the sacrifices that we make every day and the sacrifices the pioneers and Christ made. It truly was a miracle because all the ward members said they could understand me. The lord does workl miracles.

I love you all

Elsder hokanson