Letter--September 23, 2008

This week has been wonderful! I seriously wish I had more time to tell you all my wonderful experiences, but I'll have tons of stories for you once I get back! That is, if I can remember english. It's already fading. Last week's devotional was Elder and Sister Hinckley, President Hinckley's son. It was amazing! He gave us 9 Be's for missionary work and told some stories about his dad. It's so wonderful to learn from the general authorities!Our teachers told us that a few years ago, they invited some people from the FBI and CIA who were learning languages to participate in the MTC language training with the missionaries. The people from the FBI and CIA only lasted a few weeks, and then gave up. They said that this language training program was too intense and they didn't have the motivation that the missionaries do. I have a lot of motivation to work 16 hours a day, with no breaks, because I'm not doing this for me. I'm doing it for the Lord. And He does His part, too. The gift of tongues is amazing!One of our teachers was talking about why we all are on missions. He asked each of us why we were here, and then said that there is another reason we're here that none of us mentioned. He said that what if, in the pre-existance, Heavenly Father pulled me aside and said that He was going to send me to a family that had the Gospel. But my best friends in the pre-existance wouldn't have that blessing, and they'd be send to Rome. In return for all of the blessings I would be given on earth, I promised Heavenly Father that I would go on a mission to Rome to find my friends. These truly are my best friends that I'm preparing to serve, we just don't know each other on this earth yet! I'm so excited to find them and reunite our friendship!This weekend we had Zone Conference, and a few of the teachers from our zone gave talks. Fratello McDonald (my teacher) gave a great talk about missions being hard. It's ok that it's hard- it's supposed to be hard so that it stretches me and helps me realize my dependance on my Savior. It's because it's hard that I can expect miracles! I've come to learn so much about miracles. I've learned that when I make promises to investigators, as long as I do so with the Spirit, the Lord will honor those promises. It's kind of scary, but I'm working on being more bold and having the faith that the Lord will do His part. Sorella Jones, a teacher in the other district, talked about how this is an individual gospel. Instead of planning lessons, plan how to meet the needs of the individual that we are teaching. She talked about when Christ leaves His 99 sheep to find the one. I am leaving my 99 (my home, friends, family, hobbies) to find the one that I promised my Heavenly Father I would find.On Sunday 12 of us from our Zone did a musical number- an arrangement of I Stand All Amazed that a sister in our zone arranged. It was incredible! She has such a great talent! We sang (and I played) at the fireside, in front of about 3000 people! (By the way, they record the musicals, and when I leave the MTC they'll send you a DVD of all the musicals I've done while I'm here) Afterwards, so many people came and asked us if the song was published and if they could buy a copy. I've been getting compliments ever since on the musical number. Sister Boone (the MTC President's wife) came up to us afterwards and said that the angels of heaven were singing with us. It's such a beautiful song and such a beautiful message- Jesus Christ died for me, and for each one of you. He suffered and paid the price for me! He loves me! I've gained such a greater understanding of my Savior and a greater appreciation for Him.I love you all so much! I'm so grateful for the support you give me. Sono grate per mio Salvatore e la Sua Espiazione. Io so che Padre Celeste risponde alle nostre preghiere. Io so che il Libro di Mormon e la parola di Dio.Vi voglio bene!Sorella Hawkey

Letter--August 16

Here is a letter from Breanna. She is NOT allowed to check her blog--so don't leave her a message there. She is NOT allowed to email friends--only family. She appreciates the letters she receives from you. You can send a letter yourself or go to www.dearelder.com and they can send it for you-free!

Here is the letter from today:

Could you tell Allison thank you so much for the card and gift!!So I'm going to apologize in advance- studying Italian 12 hours a day is completely screwing up my english! I'm having trouble spelling in english, so forgive me if I sound retarded.Thank you for the letters and card! I love hearing from you all. Also, there's one person who hasn't yet written me. I won't mention any names, but you know who you are!! Pictures are coming soon- I'll send them today.So funny story- one of the elders in my district said, "Sorella Hawkey, you're kind of like our big sister. You're bossy and kinda crazy, but we're always glad when we listen to you because you're always right." Then another one said, "Yeah, we don't even need our moms here, we have Sorella Hawkey!" Apparently I'm bossy. Who knew? :)So to the good stuff- the gift of tongues is AMAZING!!! I never really thought it was real, but it is! It's amazing how much I've learned and retained in such a short period of time, and I know there's no way I could do it without Christ's help.Me and a few people from my zone are doing a musical number next Sunday at our Sunday night fireside. It's a gorgeous arrangement of I Stand All Amazed that one of the sisters in our zone wrote. Sister Boone, the MTC President's wife, said that she'll probably be using my piano skills more often. My branch also found out I play, so I've been accompanying quite a few musical numbers lately.Every Tuesday night we have a General Authority devotional. Last Tuesday President and Sister Uchtdorf came! It was incredible! Sister Uchtdorf is adorable. She doesn't speak great english, but she isn't shy to try to speak. She said, "Anyone learning a language in the MTC remember me. I make a lot of mistakes but still I brave to try to speak!" President Uchtdorf's talk was amazing. He talked about the power of our call as missionaries and literal representatives of our Savior Jesus Christ. He said that every morning, the First Presidency prays for each of us and our families. What a blessing to know that our Prophet prays for me! And a huge sense of responsibility. He also said that our Prophet promises each missionary more happiness than we could ever know as we serve our missions faithfully. He said that missionary work is the responsibility of the Quorum of the Twelve, but 12 people can't do it by themselves. So they call missionaries to be an extended arm of the Twelve Apostles. Wow! It was such a wonderful experience to hear from an Apostle of the Lord, to hear his testimony, and for him to promise us beautiful blessings as we serve faithfully.Another highlight of my week was going to the RC, which is where people call in when they get pass-along cards to order copies of the Book of Mormon or the Church videos. We were doing follow-up calls this week, to make sure people who ordered things receieved them. I called a lady who ordered a Bible, but hadn't yet receieved it. We were talking about the Church, and she started telling me about how she's suffering from schizophrenia, and can't find anything that helps her relieve her suffering. She seemed completely overwhelmed, which I probably would be too in that situation. She said, "I just want to find Jesus and know He loves me." I was able to bear testimony that Christ does in fact love her and know her and her trials. He is ready and waiting to help her and give her strength. After I bore my testimony, I asked if she would like the missionaries to come over to tell her more about our Savior. She was crying, and said that she would love to hear more of this message. What a blessing to know that Christ lives and loves me! And to be able to share that knowledge with others. I can't wait to go to Italy to share these truths with the people there.I love you all so much! I'm so grateful for this opportunity I have to be here and to dedicate myself to the Lord. I'm working on letting go of myself and letting Heavenly Father take over. I've never been more exhausted and had more humbling experiences, but I've also never been closer to my Savior. I know that He knows me as an individual, and knows each and every one of you. He truly does care about each of us. I know that prayer is real.Vi voglio bene!Sorella Hawkey

August 9, 2008

9-9-08

Buon giorno tutti!

I’m seriously having a great time here! I’ve never been so exhausted and never learned so much in a short period of time. But, I’ve also never had to depend on my Savior so much and never been so close to Him. All of Church was in Italian. I bore my testimony in Italian on Sunday. I can also pray and have a decent conversation in the language.

Yesterday we taught our first lesson. There’s a building full of mini “living-rooms”. We have to go “tracting”; then talk to our pretend investigator for 15 minutes in Italian. We have to tell him or her who we are, what message we have, get to know him, and then set up an appointment to teach him the 1st lesson—all it Italian. And if that’s not intimidating enough, there are cameras in our room so our teachers and other missionaries can observe us in another room! Then a few minutes alter, we come back for our “appointment” and teach a 40 minute lesson. My companion, Sorella Leckie, and I were super nervous, but before we went in we knelt to pray. As we prayed for the Spirit to be with us, a calm feeling came over us and we were able to speak clearly and give our lesson.

Our district is 10 Anziani (Elders) and my companion and me. The Anziani are amazing though! The whole Italian zone – the 31 of us – eat together at the tables that the Italians have sat at for 8 years! Any time one of the Sorelle come to sit down, all the Elders stand and wait for us to be seated. They always clear our trays and open our doors, too. They take great care of us.

I’ve had so many amazing experiences here already. I could write a whole book to you. All of the firesides, meetings, and classes are incredible. I’ve gained such a deeper love for prayer. I think we pray here more in one day than I used to in a week. What am amazing gift to be able to literally talk to Heavenly Father and know He listens. I know He hears us. I know He cares about each of us individually as his children. Lo so che il libro di Mormon e la parola di Dio. Lo so che Padre Celeste risonde alle nostre pragniere.

Vi voglio bene!
Sorella Hawkey

Our first email!!!

9-9-2008
Hello Mia Famiglia-How are you? Sorry it's taken me so long to get to the computer today. But I didn't know if I'd have time to email, so I also handwrote a letter this morning. It will be longer than this letter.We just got back from the Temple a little while ago. It was great! I'm absolutely loving it here! The Spirit is so incredibly strong, it's amazing. Tonight we have a devotional, which I'm really excited about. The MTC President and his wife have spoken to us a few times, and they're incredible people.Italian is coming along pretty well. I have a much stronger testimony of the gift of tongues. Before it was something that I kind of took for granted but never really thought was real. But I can tell you that it is! It's amazing how much I've already learned, and that I retain it all! I've only been here 6 days, and I've already learned almost as much as I learned in one year at BYU. It's pretty awesome!Also, our MTC President told us that starting our first day in the MTC, millions of people were praying for me and for all of the missionaries. What a blessing to be the recipient of millions of prayers around the world! I feel so honored to be a representative of my Savior and wear His name on my nametag along with mine. I feel a great responsibility to work hard every second of my mission, to live up to what the millions of members around the world expect the missionaries to be and to represent Christ as He would want.Anyways, I love you all so, so, so much!!! My other letter is longer, and tells you pretty much everything I have to say. You are all in my prayers every day and night.Vi voglio bene!Sorella Hawkey

Letter from Breanna

Here is the first letter that my mom got from Breanna. She was so excited that she typed it up for all to read.

September 3, 2008

I got to take my dork dot off tonight!

Caro Mia Famiglia--

The MTC is AMAZING! After you left, I got all my books and a huge bag full of stuff I'm supposed to learn…like I am here to learn to speak Italian or something J . Then I went to my room to unpack. Three of us girls going to Italy checked in at the same time. The other 3 came a few hours later. All 6 of us share a room. The 4 Italian Sorelle that came 6 weeks ago live next door. They made us a big welcome sign and left us treats. Mom--the girl we saw in the temple yesterday, who you said you bet she's going on a mission, is in fact going to Italy! Small world, huh? My companion is amazing. Her name is Sorella Leckie. She's from South Carolina. I already love her!

After unpacking we had an orientation with the MTC presidency. 74 sisters reported today of 503 missionaries total from 18 countries. The talks were so inspiring. Then we ate dinner-yum J Then we met with our Branch Presidency. Our branch is all Italian missionaries--26 who reported today and 5 who reported 6 weeks ago. We had an orientation and then each had interviews with the Branch President. I was made Senior Companion. Starting this Sunday, we have to be prepared to be called on to give talks in Italian in Sacrament Meeting. Whoever is conducting announces 2 speakers who then have to speak. Crazy!

I won't be able to write until next Tuesday. We normally only get to write on P-day but the first day is an exception.

I love you all so much! I am so excited to be here. There's nowhere else I'd rather be right now. The Spirit is so strong here-I love it! You boys be good and send me letters!

Vi Voglio behe!

Sorella Hawkey

PS--Bryce--Happy 16^th Birthday!!!

PSS-Give Gizmo hugs from me.

The Missionary Training Center

Here are pictures of Breanna both at the MTC and at the Salt Lake Temple.