Size 11.5 is as big as they get here in Chile!

Feb. 1, 2010 (Working and studying hard)

Here in Paipote, we just finished an awesome week. We've been working hard and studying hard, and we've had a lot of success. I really love working with my new companion, Elder Christensen. He's struggling a bit with his Spanish, but I guess that's normal for being here in Chile for only 2 weeks! I recently recently read through my old journal entries, and it's amazing to see the many miracles that have taken place in my life. It's especially hard to believe that I can kind of speak Spanish -- who would of thought? I really do love my time here in the mission, and I know that I have been exceedingly blessed by my Heavenly Father.

Today, Elder Christensen and I went off to Copiapó to do some shopping for the things that were stolen. I found a nice suitcase (dufflebag style) for around $8000 CLP, or $16 USD. I went ahead and bought it, along with a pair of cheap tennis shoes for $15000 CLP, or $30 USD. It was pretty funny as we were looking for tennis shoes because there wasn't any place that had my size! I would say to the vendor, "Do you have any shoes size 46 (12 in the U.S.)?" And then they'd just start laughing, look down at my feet, and suggest another store to go check out. Finally, we found some shoes in Líder (Chile's Wal-Mart) that were size 45 (11.5), and though they're a little small, they're comfortable enough. Can you believe that they don't even sell my shoe size here? I didn't think I was that abnormally big... It must be from all the hormones in the food sold in the states. :)

So, after an exciting day of shopping and almost losing my jumpdrive with all my pictures, and then a miraculous save by Elder Kneisly, my zone leader, who found my jumpdrive, here I am with my companion writing this amazing email from the Internet café that our Mamita has in her house. (Excuse me, I mean our "Hermana del almuerzo." President doesn't want us to use terminology like "mamita" now, but it's alright). Here in Paipote, there is a lot of green. The only thing I kind of miss is the ocean -- I really love living by the beach! But, there are grapevines here, and it is all really beautiful. The people are wonderful. Sadly, everyone is leaving on vacation right now for the rest of the summer, and the work might slow down abit. But, it should pick up speed once school is in session, starting in March. I guess we'll see.


To answer some of the questions about the mission right now: I have had a mamita in every area. In every sector of our mission, members provide food and do our laundry (except for the assistents, who only have their laundry provided but have to cook for themselves). The members are always very loving and want to help and serve in any way possible. It makes the mission a lot more enjoyable, especially after a hard day of tracting and proselyting. The attendance in our little branch is steadily rising, and last week 36 people attended. Our goal is to make Paipote a ward instead of a branch before leaving! And don't worry -- we're going to make our goal a reality! ;)

Well, we're out of time again. I hope that all is well - you are all always in my prayers! Thank you for your emails today; they made me smile. I really enjoy reading and hearing about what's going on back at home. I still can't believe so much has changed in just 16 months... Is that crazy or what???

Robbed in Paipote!

Jan. 25, 2010 (Lost money, camera and shoes!)

Wow, can you believe I’ve been here in Chile for so long already? I know almost all the missionaries in the mission, and they all say that I’m about ready to go home! But it’s not true. I’ve still got a good 8 months left, which means that we’re going to get off to work like crazy!

I think I’ll start off with the sad part of the week, but it didn’t really get us down too much; it just means more work and that we’ll have to spend more money. :p The first week here in our new sector, our house was robbed! Here is what was taken: our cameras, 3 of my companion’s t-shirts, our tennis shoes, a little suitcase of mine (that I bought for real cheap in the airport in Provo), and about $50 USD from my wallet (my “Emergency Funds”). I think we were really blessed because they didn’t take anything that can’t be replaced, like our passports, photos (they are all on our jump drives), journals, or anything like that. But, it means that I won’t be sending any pictures for a while, at least until I buy myself a little cheap camera. I spoke with our mission president, and we’ll be changing our apartment shortly. We’re living in a little house right now, and I think we left the bathroom window open. The robber must have entered in by there after jumping our fence. But, it’s alright because we put protections on the windows, and we’ll be moving shortly. That was a bit of a bummer for my companion, who recently arrived from the United States! We’ll also be receiving an extra $40,000 CLP ($80 USD) to replace some of the things that were stolen, at least so that I can get a pair of tennis shoes and another suitcase. I think I’ll have to buy the camera with my own money, so could you let me know how much I have in my account? Thanks! :)

My new companion is Elder Benjamin Christensen, an awesome missionary from American Fork, Utah. We are working a lot to get the work going here in the little town of Paipote. Our goal is to have a ward here before one of us leaves! I know we can do it. The members here are few but are amazing. They are helping us a lot, especially in giving us referrals and showing us around the sector. It’s really green here, compared to the other cities where I’ve been. My companion is struggling a bit with the language; it reminds me of when I recently started my mission! The Chileans speak really fast, so it’s kind of fun to translate what they are saying for my companion. It's crazy how much I've learned in the past year and a half! I’m trying really hard not to speak any English with my new companion, but every now and then it becomes necessary. It is an amazing experience to train a new missionary! We had a lot of success this week, and I know we’ll be having a lot of amazing experiences here in Paipote.

I really do love this missionary experience. We have had some pretty crazy experiences, but the greatest part is becoming an instrument in the Lord’s hands to bring about His work here on Earth. I sure do love being here in Chile and working for my Heavenly Father! There are many wonderful people who are prepared and ready to hear the message of the Restored Gospel, and I sure do love sharing it with them! My companion is also working hard so that he can express himself, and I know that together, we’ll work miracle here in Paipote.

I love you all so much! Thank you for all that you do for me, your support and your love. I really do appreciate it all. If there is anything I can do for you, or something you’d like me to share in my next email, let me know!

Transfered and Training

Jan. 18, 2010 (Transferred and Training)

Wow, this has been an incredible week filled with changes and lots of new experiences. We were working like crazy in Antofagasta Centro at the beginning of the week. On Tuesday night, we received a call from the assistents telling us to go and buy a few bus passes, so that night we went to TurBus and bought the bus passes. We got back to the apartment, and handed the passes to the assistents. Elder Romero looked at the bus passes and told me to take one. He said: "Here's your next transfer!" I looked at the bus pass and didn't understand:

Antofagasta - Copiapó
Thursday, January 14th
9:30 am

I looked at the pass and said, "Thursday?" I was about to leave to Copiapó in one short day! I got all my things together quickly and got ready to get off. It turns out that I'll be opening a new area in the mission: la rama Paipote. So, on Thursday I was off!

I got to Paipote and started working a bit with Elder Bórquez, a missionary who's about to leave the mission this week but who's had a lot of experience working in Paipote. He tried to show me the house of all the members and investigators he new, but it was a lot of new information to take in!

This morning, monday, I got a call from the assistents -- I'll be returning to Antofagasta tonight to pick up my new companion. I'll be training a new missionary this transfer! So it should be really exciting. Last Sunday, only 16 members attended the branch, so that was really fun. I gave a talk, and I had the special musical number with the viola. It went really well, and I'm excited to work here in Paipote. When my son and I get through with this branch, it'll be a ward! That's my goal. ;)

Elder Eddenfield, my companion in the MTC, has been called as assistent to the president, along with Elder Cárdenas and Élder Lamprecht. It should be awesome. Both Elder Romero and Elder Galli, the past assistents, are leaving to work in the mission field. It'll be great. And, Elder Brandau will be working here in Copiapó with me! He's also training and opening up a brach.

The work is going really well. I'll have to get accustomed to not having a truck to drive and quick access to everything in downtown Antofagasta, but I'm really excited for the change. Thank you to everyone who wrote to me this past week, I really love reading everything! Hopefully on my bus ride back to Antofagasta I can write a few letters to send out. :) But, I should be really busy here in Paipote.

Just to let you know, you can continue writing and sending things to the mission office address, that's fine. If you want to know anything else, please let me know!

I love you all so much, but I already ran out of time on the internet! You all mean so much to me and are always in my prayers. Thank you for your thoughtful emails and notes of encouragement. I really enjoy staying in touch. Until next week!

Baptism of Lyha and Phya

Jan. 11, 2010 (Happy middle of January 2010!)

Wow, this year's already going way too fast. In just one week we'll have transfers in the mission. 18 new missionaries are arriving, and 12 are leaving the mission. Also, this past Saturday, the new missionary couple arrived here in the mission - Elder and Sister Richardson! It's been lot's of work getting their apartment ready and starting to train them in the office, but it's is a great blessing to have them here in the mission. We are really excited to start working with them and having them here with us. :)

So, how's everyone doing back at home? How's Jessica doing with a new little life in her? Is she still getting nauseous a lot? That is so exciting! And how's little Mario doing? Is he talking a lot now? Whenever there are little kids here in the mission, I love talking to them and thinking of my little nephew that was just a baby when I left -- he's going to be HUGE when I get back!

Here in the mission, I'm getting ready for my transfer next week. There's still a lot of work we have to do here in the office, and I only hope that everything goes well! I spoke with our mission president the other day, and he told me that the financial secretary is the most stressful assignment in the mission. He said that after next week I'll be sent somewhere where I can relax a little bit more and focus entirely on missionary work -- so I'm excited to see where I'll be sent! I'll let you know on Saturday (or Monday, depending on how much work we have in the office).

This past weekend, we had an awesome baptismal service for Lyha and Phya, two sisters who received strong testimonies of the restored gospel. They are the David Vasquez's sisters, a recent convert. And, the rest of the family is now coming to church! Almost all of the adults are members of the church, but they stopped coming for many years. It is amazing to see the progress in this beautiful family and feel the love of God working miracles in their lives. I was going to send a bunch of pictures today, but I forgot my camera in our apartment! So, I'll just have to send double the number of pictures next time. :)

Well, I want you all to know how much I love you and think about you. You have all made such a difference in my life, and I am who I am because of your examples. I hope we can all stay strong and firm in the gospel of Christ and firm to the faith of our fathers. It is a wonderful time to live, and I love every minute I have to learn and grow! Take care, and have a wonderful 2010!

Happy New Year 2010

January 2, 2010 (the start of a new decade)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! ¡Feliz Año Nuevo! Wow, I still can’t believe it’s 2010 already! Can you believe that this year I’ll already be coming home from the mission? It’s all passing by way too fast. But, I’m enjoying every minute and learning a ton! This mission has been and is the greatest experience of my life. I am excited for the upcoming transfer, though I have no idea what’s going to happen. I guess we’ll see in a couple weeks!

How is everything going in Albuquerqueville 2010??? Here in Antofagasta, for the New Year, we had a great and spiritual baptismal service for our investigator Javiera Jamet. On Sunday, after her confirmation, we had a Family Home Evening with all the family, and the spirit was really strong. Leah, one of Javiera’s cousins, has also decided to be baptized in 2 weeks, and the family is just blossoming. It is amazing to see the fruits of the gospel in families like the Jamets!

For New Year’s Eve, we went to the Mission home and again ate a huge Turkey dinner. It was great, and afterwards we enjoyed watching fireworks from our apartment’s balcony. Then, for New Year’s Day, we went to the mission home again and had an awesome lunch: steak, lamb, chorrizos, and more meat, all cooked on the grill! I really love President Urra and Hermana Urra; they are great examples and are such wonderful people. During our dinner on New Year’s eve, they served us wasabi, and you know what happens with missionaries and wasabi! We had a wasabi contest, and it was really funny. We got it on camera too. I’m not sure who won, but President’s son Marcelino left running to the bathroom after about 10 seconds with wasabi in his mouth. He said that he laughed while it was in his mouth, and it started to go up into his nose… Poor guy. :) Anyways, that was pretty funny for a New Year’s Eve game.

On Friday, for the New Year, we also went to the beach again, like last week. This time, we had another great day as Elder Galli, Elder Mortensen and I got a little lost in some caves down by the shore. It was an awesome little adventure. Then, we again played volleyball, and Elder Galli sent out a boat with a pamphlet of the Restoration out to sea. It was great fun.

Anyways, I’ve got to get going already! I love you all so much and hope that all is well! Let me know how everyone is and what some of your New Year’s goals are. :)

Have a wonderful 2010, and let’s make it the best year of our lives!

Chistmas 2009

December 26, 2009 (The Day After Christmas)

Since we got some good talking in yesterday, I’ve decided to send you a ton of pictures today and just let you know what’s going on here in Antofagasta. Just last Saturday, we had an awesome baptismal service. As a mission, we had a goal to have 4 baptisms for every companionship within the last three months of the year (October-December). In Antofagasta Centro, we reached the goal last Saturday and had our 8th baptism (there are 2 companionships working in Antofagasta Centro). I had the wonderful chance to baptize one of our converts, Paola Vega, who is from Iquique. She has developed a really powerful testimony of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ, and I am very grateful for the privilege I had to help her find this joy in her life. Today, in just 2 short hours, we’re also going to have a baptismal service for Javiera Jamet, an awesome and smart 11-year-old investigator who we have taught for a few months now. The field really is white, ready to harvest. I love being a missionary and having such awesome experiences!

On Monday, I got a call from our mission president with a special assignment for the morning – to drive some of the sister missionaries to their Christmas activity at “La Playa Escondida” (The Hidden) near Antofagasta. I went along with Elder Madrigal, Marcelino (the President’s son) and the mission president’s wife (Hermana Urra). When we got to the beach, I miscalculated the density of the sand along the shore, and sure enough, the little Ford Ranger I was driving got stuck in the sand! So, while the sister had their Christmas activity, we also had a fun activity digging the truck out of the sand! At the end, we finally got the truck out. We ended up tying rope to the hitch of the truck and hooking it up to the President’s Explorer. When this didn’t work, we found out we just needed a little more lift in the back, so my companion drove as I lifted up the back of the truck with all my might. It was lots of fun. :)

On Christmas Eve, for the “Noche Buena,” we had an awesome Turkey dinner and ate until we could hardly move. Then we opened up gifts from our Secret Santa. Elder Romero was my Secret Santa, and he gave me a great little leather wallet and pocket notebook with my name burned into it, along with pictures from Antofagasta. It was great! Later that night, back in our own apartment, we all opened up the gifts we received from our house and from members. It went really great! Thank you so much for the package that you sent, the sweet backpack and awesome shoes, and all the treats and socks and love! It really was everything I could ever need as a missionary – thank you!

On Christmas day, we went out teaching, caroling, and visiting with members and investigators at our Ward Christmas Party. That also went awesome, though we were again given a ton of food. It seems like we have enough goodies now to last until the end of next year! We are really blessed in the gospel and as missionaries here in Chile.

Today, we had a fun activity at the beach as the office staff. We went and played with water guns, volleyball, soccer, and all that jazz. Please forgive me for the picture that’s a little scandalous, the one of me almost diving into the water at the beach. I was really just washing all the sand off my face after playing volleyball... :)

Well, I have had an amazing week. I’m now off to teach and preach again! Thank you for always being so awesome; we really do have the greatest family that I could ever ask for. We have been blessed exceedingly by a loving Heavenly Father. Let’s all live in Thanksgiving for what we have been given, remembering always the pure and simple truths of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and I know that we’ll be able to live together forever in love and happiness. This is the greatest blessing we could ever ask for!

Christmas News Letter from Sam

Beloved Friends and Family,

I still can’t believe we’re coming to the close of another incredible year. It has been one of the greatest years of my life, and even though I miss being with all of you, I know I am where I am meant to be.

At the start of this year, I was still with my trainer here in the Mission Chile Antofagasta, Elder Cañellas.

We worked hard and had much success, even though I still didn’t have much control of the Spanish language. We worked in a ward called Simón Bolívar in the beautiful coastal city of Arica: La ciudad de eterna primavera (The City of Eternal Spring). I felt God’s hand in my life every day as I struggled to learn a foreign language, as I became accustomed to a new culture and felt the love of the Chilean people. It was a time of miracles and great joy for me. The greatest miracle that I witnessed wasn’t the gift of learning a new language, as I thought it would be before leaving to serve here in Chile. It was the simple gift of love that came as I lost myself in the service of these wonderful people. I was also blessed to serve with two extraordinary missionaries: Elder Cañellas (from Asunción, Paraguay) and Elder Knackstedt (from Seattle, WA).

After talking with my family on Mother’s day, I had been in Arica for 6 months. I received the dreaded phone call informing me that I was to be transferred to the city of Copiapó, an 18-hour bus ride from one side of the mission to the other. It was there that I met my new companion and great friend, Elder Rivas (from San Salvador, El Salvador). We worked hard in our little ward, Los Pimientos, and saw many miracles as we grew together spiritually and physically: Spiritually as we learned to follow the whisperings of the Holy Ghost, and physically as the loving members gave us mountains of food and as we came to adore Chilean sweets (including alfajores and manjar... Mmmmm). 

However, after just one transfer (1.5 months) in Copiapó, I found out once again that I was to be transferred. But I know there was a purpose in my short time in Copiapó. Before I left, one loving member of my ward told me in the sincerity of her heart that she felt I was called for that short time to Copiapó just to help her and her family in a time of crisis. I know that I was meant to go to the beautiful city of Copiapó and that there really were many people waiting and ready to hear the message of the gospel from me. What a great blessing it is to be an instrument in the hands of God!

Arica

When the transfer in Copiapó ended, I received an unexpected phone call from the mission president. He extended to me my first assignment in the mission – to be the financial secretary. For me, the mission was about to change dramatically. I made the 8-hour bus ride up to Antofagasta from Copiapó and began to learn my role as financial secretary. In the mission office, I was blessed to work with some of the greatest missionaries that I know. The greatest blessing was to be close to our mission president, Presidente Urra, and to feel of his wisdom and genuine love for all of us.

Copiapó

As I worked in the mission office with Elder Hansen (my financial secretary trainer from Las Vegas, NV), Elder Brandau (secretary from Talagante, Chile), Elder and Sister Steed (Commissary and Historian from UT), Elder Shirley (AP from CA), Elder Galli (AP from Argentina), Elder Romero (AP from Chile), and later, to my great surprise and joy, Elder Rivas (Commissary and Historian), I learned more than I have ever learned in such a short period of time. I have not only learned economy, finances, and accounting (all in Spanish!), I also learned about families, patience, service, and love. I have enjoyed every moment of my service as the financial secretary, even with the many difficulties we have had. We have also worked hard in our proselyting sector, Antofagasta Centro, and have had much success in bringing souls unto Christ. It is a great blessing and privilege to be a missionary for the only true and living God and His son, Jesus Christ. I love the work here in Chile! 

I have recently begun to train a new financial secretary after 6 months of service here in Antofagasta. My new companion, and the new financial secretary, is Elder Mortensen (from Salt Lake City, UT), an amazing missionary who was in my group in the MTC! We are working hard and having much success, as well as a great time together. I know this is God’s work, and I know that He loves His children. I have come to love the people in every sector that I have been, and knowing that I will shortly be leaving Antofagasta Centro hurts me, but I know the Lord is preparing people and opportunities for me in other places here in the mission. I don’t know where I’ll be after this transfer has ended, nor do I know what I’ll be doing. But I do know that I’ll be in the service of my God, and that is exactly where I want to be.

I love this Christmas Season here in the hot Atacama Desert – the same spirit of love and rejoicing is in the air. Though my only wish is that I could be with all of you this Holiday Season, I know I am where I am needed. I send you all my love and a Merry Christmas to all! Thank you for all your support, your love, and all that you do for me. Each of you has had a great impact in my life.

With all my love this Holiday Season,

Elder Samuel D. Hobbs