Laughing about Jacob's wedding

June 15, 2009 (Almost 20)

I was just thinking how crazy it is to think that I'm almost a fifth of a century. How fast the time flies when we're living life to the fullest! If you want to know the best thing to send for my birthday, it's just money. I can buy almost anything down here in Copiapó because there are tons of stores that are based in the states. It's great. The only thing I really don't have is some good pictures of the family all together. That would be sweet. :)

I loved hearing about Jacob's adventures -- I was laughing so hard! I hope Jacob doesn't mind. It's something he'll cherish the rest of his life, all the stories for his kids. Tell him that when he gets a chance I want to see pictures of the wedding!!!!! :)


Hmm, so I hear that I'm the last one left to get married. How crazy. But, don't worry. I won't get married for a while. I'm too busy serving down here in Chile! We're having some great success right now in my sector. Our church attendance is hurting a little bit because of Sábanas and his many temptations, especially because the weather is starting to get a little bit colder, but I know that somehow we can get it back up. This is the work of the Lord, and where there is a will there is way.

What more is new? I'm sending a picture of me and Elder Rivas for you to enjoy. We are going to go to a conference on Thursday in Antofagasta where 2 general authorities are going to speak to us. Yay! Other than that, I'm just working like crazy.

Well, I'm off to teaching the gospel. Take care, and know that I love you!

Love,

Elder Hobbs

PS. Here's an exerpt from my letter to Presidente Urra. I hope my Spanish is getting better! ;)

Estamos compartiendo con una familia actualmente donde no todos son miembros. Creo que le conté ya un poco de como encontramos a esta familia. Tocamos puertas y entramos de inmediato. La Hermana Raquel es una miembro menos activa, y ella está lista para regresar a la actividad de la iglesia. También, sus hijos (Katherine y Max) no son miembros pero son muy receptivos al mensaje de la restauración. Tuvimos algunas lecciones con ellos esta semana, incluso una noche de hogar en nuestro barrio. Todo salió muy bonito, y ¡los hijos están progresando hacia el bautismo! La mamá tiene un testimonio fuerte de la iglesia y en realidad quiere entrar en el camino correcto y perseverar hasta el fin. A Élder Rivas y yo nos encanta enseñarles porque siempre el espíritu santo está en abundancia.

El único problema que tenemos actualmente es que hace frio los domingos y les cuesta a muchos levantarse de su cama, incluso a los miembros. Está semana, queremos hacer más para que haya más personas que puedan asistir y disfrutar las bendiciones de la reunión sacramental y la santa cena.

babelfish translation: We are sharing with a family at the moment where all are not member. I believe that I told him already a little how we found this family. We touch doors and we entered immediately. The Raquel Sister is a less active member, and she is ready to return to the activity of the church. Also, their children (Katherine and Max) are not member but they are very receptive to the message of the restoration. We had some lessons with them this week, even one night of home in our district. Everything left tuna very, and the children are progressing towards the baptism! The mother has a strong testimony of the church and in fact she wants to enter the correct way and to perseverar until the aim. To Élder Rivas and I enchant to teach to us to them because the spirit santo always is in abundance.

The unique problem that we have at the moment is that it does cold Sundays and costs to many to rise to them of its bed, even to the members. It is week, we want to do more so that there are more people than they can attend and to enjoy the blessings the sacramental meeting and santa has dinner.

Coat and Viola

June 8, 2009 (Coat, Viola, Blessings, Neo-Nazis update)

Hey, how is my incredibly fantastic, amazingly wonderful family doing in gringolandia?

Here in Chile, it couldn't be better. I'm sending a few pictures of my splurge last week in the mall here in Copiapó. I bought this nice looking jacket for $15,000 chilean pesos and a viola for $115,000 chilean pesos. I just couldn't resist the viola and the beauty of its sound! And, I think that was a pretty good deal, don't you? :) But, I'm interested in seeing how my balance is doing in regards to my checking and savings account. I have been taking money out of my savings account (supposedly), but I haven't been able to check it because I can't here in the mission. Dad, do you think you could send me a copy of my balance, just so that I can prevent any unneeded problems? Thanks! :)

Wow, Jacob is almost a married man... I can't believe it! It seems like just yesterday he left for his mission, and now he's an old man. How crazy. You need to send me some good pictures of the whole event! You just need to make them a litte bit smaller (like 100kb every one) so that my email account isn't overloaded.

Well, as for life here in Copiapó, this week we found a really awesome family. The mom is an inactive member, and her children are really receptive to our message. We found them just be knocking on doors, to tell you the truth. Whoever says that this is ineffective should take a look at the success we've had! It's pretty crazy... Anyways, when we were teaching, the spirit was present really strong. I asked if the mom believed that God answered prayers. She said yes, and then she started going into some stories about her life. Here in Chile, dreams and visions are common among all the people. However, this less active mom started telling us more about how her daughter, Catharine (who was present during the lesson) had fallen as a child. She received a priesthood blessing at the door of the airplane before leaving to a hospital in Santiago, and she was miraculously healed. When my companion, Elder Rivas, heard this, he had a look of shock on his face and asked a few more details. Then, he said, "This isn't the first time I've heard this story." It turns out that a former bishop of our ward was the one who gave the blessing and told my companion what happened. How we found this specific door I don't know. The sister asked us if someone had sent us to teach them this message (her aunt is a member of our ward), but we just looked towards the heavens and thanked our Heavenly Father for guiding us to this family. It was pretty amazing.

Also this week, we had a funny experience when we found out that one of the inactive members we are working with is the Leader of all the Neo-Nazis in this region of Chile! He's a great guy, and we didn't believe him at first. But, when he insisted that it was true, we could see that it was. We then told him about the assault the other week (mom, it really wasn't bad at all. Don't even worry about it. It was more just an experience to tell my grandkids. We only had to go to the hospital so the doctors could fill out paperwork and the police could arrest the neo-nazi. We didn't even have a scratch to show to the doctors...) and gave him the name and description of the guy who attacked us, and the inactive brother told us he'd take care of it. I thought that was pretty neat. It's great to have allies high up on the food chain. :)

Well, the mission is definitely the greatest experience ever. I'm loving every minute, and I'm grateful for a Mission President who receives revelation to guide and help us. This is an amazing work to be a part of! I'll try to keep you up to date more!

Teaching Pro Soccer Players from Peru

June 1, 2009 (Teaching Pro Soccer Players from Peru)

Can you believe it's already June? We're just starting to have winter here in Chile! Here in Copiapó, it's actually quite cold. I'll probably go buy myself a nice jacket today with my tax refund. :) I'm also thinking of getting a violin for relatively cheap, but I need to ask permission from my mission president. We can't call him right now because our cell phone service is really lame and we don't have any coverage right now. I hope he says yes! While my companion and I were in the center of Copiapó, we saw some violins and violas for pretty cheap (like 80,000 pesos). I'll have to test them out today if we can call President Urra...

Well, I'm really loving life here in my new sector, Los Pimientos. The members are great, and my companion and I had great success this week as we worked really hard. I'm trying to focus on improving my teaching skills, and I've learned a ton. My companion, Elder Rivas, is an amazing teacher and missionary, and I'm learning lots from him. As we've worked together, we have literally seen hundreds of miracles in our ward. Last week, we taught 8 lessons in all with hardly any investigators to teach. This week, we found 14 new investigators and taught 18 lessons! It was truly miraculous. Man, I love the mission! Heavenly Father really knows how to take care of His children. :)

This week, we started teaching 2 professional soccer players from Perú. We met them only after every single one of our set appointments failed and we resorted to do the only thing we could do: knock on doors. These young men are really spiritual and ready for the message of the gospel. As we taught, the spirit guided our discussion, and both of them (Jean Carlos and Juan Hernesto, aka Coco) told us they felt pure joy in their hearts. They told us that our visit was an answer to their prayers, and they were crazy excited to receive the Book of Mormon and start reading. They are truly golden! However, the only problem is that soccer is their life, their job, and everything. On Sunday, they were really excited to attend church, but at the last minute they were called in for an un-scheduled practice. So, this week we need to focus our teachings on sanctifying the sabbath day, and I can only hope and pray they will have the faith to speak with their coach and choose the right.

We also met a lot more people this week who are just amazing! I am excited to work with them this week and start challenging them to keep their commitments. I love being a missionary!

Thanks for writing, for your love and your support. Tell me if you want to hear anything more from me. It's a bit tough because we don't have much time, but that's okay.

I love you all! Take care, and send my love and appreciation to everyone back at home!

Sam and Companion are assaulted!

May 25, 2009 (Zone activity, barbecue, ultimate Frisbee, etc.)

I have had quite the exciting week. I'm really loving the mission! First of all, I'm sending some pictures that I took today at our Zone Activity. We went to a park that is the border of our area and had a barbeque. Also, there is a little zoo in the middle of the park, so we went and saw some of the animals! It was really fun. We played some ultimate frisbee (which is nice because we gringos have a chance against all of the latinos, unlike when we play soccer), looked at the animals, got spit on by a bunch of llamas, and the like. It was great.

Oh, before I forget, my companion, Elder Rivas (he's from San Salvador, El Salvador in Central America) wants to see pictures of when we went to Japan. Do you think you can send him some neat pictures? Especially of all the statues and things. I don't know why, but he's really interested in things like that. It would be kind of neat to show them to him.

Also, my credit card for Sandia National Laboratories is starting to fall apart, and I'm not sure if I can use it much longer. Dad, is there a way that I can receive a new credit card in case of emergencies (ie. when I want to buy extra food and don't have enough money)? That would be really awesome.

This week, we had some great success in our sector. We found a few new investigators and left to work a lot with the members in our ward. It's a bit tough to get to know a new ward, all the members, investigators, street names, etc, but I think I'm finally feeling a little bit more comfortable. Here in Copiapó, there is actually a ton of green. It's getting cold in the night and in the morning, so I'm having a big coat sent to me from the mission office in Antofagasta. I guess Arica is the only city of Eternal Spring! :)

Yesterday was really exciting. Mom, you might not want to read this part... After a really successful day, we were walking back to our house (oh yeah! We're living in a really small, cute little house right now. It's fun) in front of a supermarket called Deca. As we were walking, a crazy looking guy with a mohawk and gauge earing walked out in front of us and started asking if we were from the US. It turns out he was a neo-nazi. My companion said he was from El Salvador and I told him I was from Chile. He then started yelling obsenities in English, and my companion stepped in front of him and told me to go into the store. As I went, the neo-nazi slapped my companion really hard in the face. We went into the store, and the crazy guy followed us and hit me in the head. However, the security guards stopped him from coming into the store. We called the police (los carabineros) and the like, and we had to go to the hospital to fill out some paperwork in order to arrest the neo-nazi. The crazy thing is that my companion and I don't have even a mark from where the guy hit us. It didn't hurt at all, and I can tell that we were really protected by our Heavenly Father. It was a neat experience, one to tell the kids. ;) So don't worry, mom. I'm okay. We're being as careful as possible, especially with people who are anti-USA.

Well, I'm feeling a bit lazy so I'll let you go at that. The mission rocks and I'm loving every minute! I love you all, and take care! Thanks for writing!

Love,

Élder Hobbs

PS. Here is an excerpt from my letter to the mission president this week. I don't know, maybe you'll enjoy reading it!

Esta semana pasada fue excelente, y tuvimos mucho éxito. Si, un neonazi nos asaltó, pero sé que Dios nos protegió para que no recibiéramos daño. En realidad, esta experiencia va a ser muy graciosa por mis hijos algún día. No obstante, quiero que nada mal nos pase a mí ni a mi compañero. Si hay algo que nosotros podemos hacer para prevenir una situación así, estamos dispuestos a escuchar.

Aprendí esta semana mucho más paciencia, fe y humildad. Mi compañero Élder Rivas es buenísimo y estoy aprendiendo mucho de él. A veces me sentí triste (como ayer en la mañana) y no sé porque. Pero, pedí el consejo de mi compañero y me recordé que sólo necesito olvidarme a mi mismo y enfocarme en las necesidades de los demás. Para mí, esto es muy difícil. Pero, estoy aplicando este consejo en la obra y puedo testificar que es cierto. Si me siento deprimido, tengo que encontrar a cualquiera que tiene más problemas que yo y ayudarla a sentirse mejor. Y, en el proceso, me siento mucho mejor. ¡Qué milagro!

Ayer (domingo), tuvimos una lección dividida con Elizabeth, una menos activa en nuestro barrio. Fuimos a la casa de su tía y ¡entramos altiro! Enseñamos la primera lección, y salió muy bien. Esta tía (Mariela) es muy receptiva al mensaje de la restauración. Nuestra lección era como una del CCM donde todo sale bien. Estoy muy animado de verla otra vez y verificar como le fue la lectura en 3 Nefi 11. Oro que ella reciba una respuesta a su oración, y ¡espero que ella ore!

Here is the babelfish translation:

This past week was excellent, and we were much successful. If, a neoNazi assaulted to us, but I know that God protected to us so that we did not receive damage. In fact, this experience is someday going to be very graceful by my children. However, I want that nothing badly passes nor companion to us. If there is something us we can make to prevent a situation thus, we are arranged to listen. I much more learned this week patience, faith and humility. My companion Élder Rivas is best and I am learning much of him. Sometimes I felt sad (as yesterday in the morning) and I do not know because. But, I requested the advice of my companion and I remembered that only I need to forget to me same and to focus me in the needs of the others. For me, this is very difficult. But, I am applying this advice in the work and can testify that it is certain. If I feel gotten depressed, I must find to whatever I have more problems than and help it to feel better. And, in the process, I feel far better. What miracle! Yesterday (Sunday), we had a lesson divided with Elizabeth, one less active in our district. We went to the house of its aunt and we entered altiro! We teach the first lesson, and came out very well. This aunt (Mariela) is very receptive to the message of the restoration. Our lesson was like one of the CCM where everything comes out well. Very I am animated to see it and to verify again as Nefi 11 were to him the reading in 3. Gold that it receives an answer to her oration, and I hope that she prays!

New Area! Lot's of dirt! Desert!

Transferred (May 18, 2009):

I don't have much time to write, just want to tell you that I love you and that I'm doing great! I'm sending some pictures from my 18-hour trip from Arica to Copiapó. I'm not sure mom would like to make the journey since she likes the green, rolling hills. You have to get used to the dirt if you live in a place like the Atacoma desert.

My new companion is Elder Rivas. He is amazing! A great teacher and a great missionary. Our sector is called Los Pimientos, and the work is a little slow. About 70 people attend church regularly, and we don't have many investigators. But, I'm super excited to get to work and help this ward grow! The chapel is really neat also. It has 2 stories, even though it's really small. We have Sacrament Meeting upstairs. There's also a ping-pong table upstairs and a tiny kitchen. It's fun! :)

I really love the members in my new ward. They are really great, and feel especially blessed with a gift of words to speak, understand, teach, and everything! It's still pretty crazy to think that I can speak Spanish. It's a true miracle, even if the Spanish I speak is filled with the slang from Chile and tons of non-existent words in other countries. All the more crazy!

I don't know if I've told you this before, but there are always a bunch of earthquakes here in Chile! It's really fun. Yesterday, we had an earthquake before church. It was actually pretty strong, and my companion and I were laughing because we said that God was waking up our investigators so that they could come to church!

Well, not much more to say. Thanks for sending me the email from Dillon -- I'll write him as soon as I can! But can you tell him for me that I can't email him? Still, he can see all of my emails and my blog if he wants! He can email me also; I just can't email him back. :p

Day after Mother's Day (May 11, 2009)

Two Baptisms! (May 11, 2009):

Wow, this week was amazing. I just want to tell you guys that I have the most amazing family ever. And, I'm loving every week of the mission! Today I received a phone call from our zone leader. I'm being transferred to Copiapó tomorrow! That means I'll have to take a bus ride for 18 hours to go to the middle of the desert with no beach or anything. It will be awesome. My companion said that he saw rain over there a couple of times (not anything huge, just little drizzles), so maybe I'll see rain in the near future! That would be neat. :)

This week was amazing. We had 2 baptisms on Saturday during a "Noche Blanca" -- Maritza and Oriana. My companion baptized Oriana (in the photos, she is 12 years old but looks a lot older...), and Ricardo, Maritza's son, baptised his mom. This day was one of the greatest days of my life, to feel the spirit of God so strong during the baptism and to see the pure joy in the face of Maritza and Ricardo when Maritza came up out of the water. It was something I will never forget. I also had the opportunity to confirm Oriana a member of the church and give her the Gift of the Holy Ghost. My Spanish was almost perfect, which is a true miracle because I was speaking in "Tu," and I usually only use "usted" in the mission. I'm so grateful for the chance to be a missionary and be a part of the many miracles that were wrought in my sector, Simón Bolívar. I will always be thankful to my Heavenly Father for the many miracles I have seen here in the mission field!

Oh, and the funny story I told dad on the phone: we were teaching Maritza about the Word of Wisdom, we asked her if she had any problems with this commandment. She told us that one time she used to smoke cigarrettes because she was working in the home of a governor and sweat a lot. Also, she couldn't really afford to buy deodorant, and since cigarrettes were much cheaper in Bolivia at this time, she smoked to cover the smell of her body odor! How funny, huh? She also told us that it was easy to stop smoking after she quit her job. She is the funniest lady! One day, you will have to get to know her. I really do love the people that I am working with, so it will be hard to leave them tomorrow. But hopefully I'll keep in touch with all of them!

Well, I don't know what more to say. I love the mission. I'm looking forward to serving in my new sector tomorrow, after the 18 hour bus ride. I'll tell you what it's like next week! I love you all -- write me!

Wow, another week is gone, and I'm flying high!

May 5, 2009 Visit to Chungara (4500 m = 14,764 ft)

I'm back! I'm betting you thought that I forgot to email you, but don't worry. I'm still alive. Today, we had an activity where we drove in a bus for 4 hours, visited the lake Chungará, and then we returned 4 hours. It was fun. ;) It reminded me of all our trips to Idaho where we drove one day, stayed a day, and drove back. Ah, the memories...

Chungará is at an elevation of 4500 meters, which is really high. Especially since we started at sea level. There were a lot of sick missionaries in the bus, and one missionary (my good friend) fell on the ground when we left the bus and started convulsing. And he's not epileptic. But, all is well, and no one died. We just took pictures, walked around for a while, and played with the llamas. In the bus, we watched Remember the Titans and Narnia. It went great! But now, we really don't have much time before we have to go to our first appointment. So, wish me luck!

This week was really tough, but there has to be trials in this life, especially after all of the blessings my companion and I have received. We had 8 people ready to be baptized the 9th of May, but 4 of the baptisms fell through. One didn't recieve her permission to get married when she thought she would (so we just have to postpone the baptism), one man still has a few doubts and doesn't feel the tranquility that he wants (though we know he will also be baptised soon), and two young boys that we are teaching lost permission from their mom. The worst part about the last case is that the mom is also a member of the church, inactive, who once worked in the temple! And now, she doesn't even remember how to pray! She told us that she will not allow her sons to be baptized until they are 18, or if we can somehow teach their father and help him accept the gospel too (he doesn't live with them). This made my companion and I really sad, especially to see the disappointment in Estéfano and Jovani, the two sons. But, we know that we did all that we could, and we'll keep on working with these children (Estéfano is 11 and Jovani is 9). And, maybe we can help their father!

But still, even with the disappointments that come in this life, I will never be disappointed in myself. I know that I did all I can, and everyone in this life has their agency to choose. I just pray that the people I teach will remember the spirit they felt and return to learn the truth again someday!

Still, there are tons of miracle in this great missionary work every day. And, we still have 4 people who are going to be baptized on Saturday! One of the miracles that my companion and I witnessed is when we were teaching Maritza, the mom of Ricardo (a 28 year old convert of 3 years who just returned from a full time, 2-year mission). We were teaching her months ago but saw no progress. Right when her son returned, we saw her understanding of the gospel increase along with her testimony. Though she was a little fearful of accepting a baptismal date, last week she did! She now tells us that she is SO happy and excited to be baptized this Saturday by the hands of her son, Ricardo. Wow, it was a true miracle! And, this past Saturday, we had a barbeque (asado) at their house, and it was incredible! Mmmm, the blessings of being a missionary... :)

Well, I guess that's about it for today. I love you all, and I will talk to you on Sunday!!!!