August 25

ahh good luck to all those who start school!! haha so happy for your new escuela mama, i bet the kiddos are just super happy about having such a new school. que bueno. welcome home jacee for me with open arms.. love her so much! i can´t wait to hear how everything goes for here and the hancock fam. sounds like a busy week for ya´ll!

wow this week. hahah so many funny things I could tell you! i wish that i had one of those gopro´s so i could record everything and send it to you all! i now understand the analogy everyone uses about being born again in the mision and having a mom and cosas asi. for the most part everyone treats me like i am two. we had study session this week with a nonmember who needed help with english to pass a test to get a scholarship. so me and my comp were helping her learn which was really fun! one of the days we were there the mom brought in these little fruits that were the size of a cherry. they are green and have a hard shell that you pop open and then its a pink fruit inside. (muy muy rica) so they were trying to explain to me how to eat it becaues the seed inside is huge!! of course i couldnt really understand what they were saying. something about a seed in the middle and to be careful so i plop the thing in my mouth and the mom start having a panic attack screaming at me and my comp was freaking out too and i start getting super worried and scared becaue i have no idea what they are saying to me. i thought the seed was poisenous or something so i spit it out. they wouldnt let me have another one after that.. hahah later when it was me and my comp she explained it was because the mom thought i was going to swallow the massive seed and choke... haha i thought it was super funny :)

this week has been really good but really rough as well.. tania is having a hard time feeling the spirit and her husband comes home on wed from his work. he only comes home 2 a month. she found out he has been having an affair with other ladies. she has invited us over thurday to talk to him.. she still has her baptism set and is still working towards it.

It has been hard finding people to teach. a lot of the member referrals aren´t in our area because our ward is split into 3 different areas. hardly anyone was home this week because it was the last week of summer and most people were in centro getting ready for school so a lot of our appt. fell through. we are trying to keep a positive attitude, we are setting goals to contact more in the streets and find different ways to find the prepared. it´s been hard work this week but really rewarding as well. its been my job to initiate the contacting. haha so that has been fun! i have made so many mistakes but im starting to get the hang of it. one of the times i was introducing our iglesia and forgot to say jesus christ. so i only said we are the saints of the latter days. hahah my comp is so patient and loving with me.

One of our other investigators, Genny her two daugthers accompanied us to a baptism on thurs. of Elder Bahr and Echeverria. Baptisms are my favorite here. We haven´t had one yet, but we will soon!! my comp. plays the flute and we all sing as missionarie. its really powerful. the members are so funny too haha they record us on their phones and take pictures of us. they love the missionaries and take such good care of us! i know your schedules are busy, but seriosly take the opportunity to go with the missionaries to their appointments! or feed them one night in our house. I wish i would have done more of that before my mission, because now i see how valuable it is. EVERY MEMBER A MISSIONARY!

We had stake conference this week which was amazing. Our visiting general authority was Elder Jesus Tirada. He spoke as well with our mission pres. Garcia & his wife on saturday ALL about missionary work. we had the opportunity to sing in the choir the medly of armies of helamen and sisters in zion. i could hardly sing because i was so full of emotion.. that has always been one of my favorite songs, and to sing it in spanish with my fellow missionarie and with the youth who are the future missionaries was so powerful! its a privlidge to be a missionary and to represent my savior. in the meeting they talked a lot about missionary work and the goal of the temple. seek out and PRAY for opportunities to serve. concentrate your prayers and seek for inspiration on who to help and god will always alway answer and provide opportunities for you. the works great! thanks mom for your uplifting words always. i love my family so much. keep pushing along!!

con amor

hermana hobbs

August 18

ahhh familia!

So much to say.. this week was really great. the work continues to get better better. but like the subject line, i am truly grateful for speedbumps. 1) because busses here in merida are insane and if it wasnt for the speedbumps, i would have probabaly been thrown from them by now. i think the goal of the drivers is to see how fast they can go in between them. 2) because this work is challenging & hard. there are many obstacles placed before missionaries. but the speedbumps are humbling. they make you realize that this work is not possible without the help of our god. 

The progress of tania is going so well! she is our only progressing investigator right now. we have tons of future investigators but it is really hard to get people to commit to things here. they like to listen to our messages, but they won´t do things for themselves which has been hard because we can talk all day, but if they don´t act they wont know the truth for themselves. we teach tania almost every other day. she is scheduled to be baptized the first week of sept. which is great!! on thursday i had a really humbling experience during the lesson.. during the lessons i don´t say much. haha. i mostly testify and try to explain things and usually my comp. fixes or tries to translate what i am trying to say. this lesson we were teaching about the atonement and having our burdens lightened. i think i maybe said two words because she had tons of questions and i couldnt understand what she was saying. as my comp was talking about yoking ourselves to the savior i was thinking of how much i personally have needed my savior and his powers..and how much i have relied on him to help me through this and help me understand. pretty soon it was the end of the lesson and my turn to bear my testimony. the cool thing about being the only white girl and not speaking the language is people really listen to you and give you their attention 100 percent. so as i was starting to bear my testimony of my savior i told her how i was truly feeling. i started crying and i couldnt control myself because i realized myself how much i NEEDED my savior in this life. how much i needed his power of the atonement because i can´t do any of this on my own. i can´t even tell you the spirit i felt there.. that was the strongest witness i have felt of my saviors love. we had the bishops wife with us in that lesson and as she said the closing prayer she began to cry as well. through my broken spanish, tania understood how powerful the saviors power and love can be. she just hugged me and cried with me. haha. it was really a special moment. it´s funny how we think we are the teachers, but we are actually the ones being taught instead. 

Being out here has made me realize just how much i have needed these people in my life. these people who are so different yet so similar. i am in love with them. it makes everything worth it. the bugs that are everywhere, the chicken i have to rip apart with my hands because there is no silverware, the scorching hot sun, the sweat on my face, it is all worth it because these people are my brothers and sisters. they are god´s children and he loves them just as much as he loves me. and i KNOW that he loves me and i KNOW how important that knowledge is to me. i want nothing more than for others to recognize that same love from him. i´m so grateful for the opportunity to be a missionary and to be here in merida. it´s so humbling to be apart of this great work!! 

This morning we had a multizone conference and boy was it sooo cool! i can´t tell you how much i love my mission pres and his wife. they remind me so much of you mom and dad. Pres. Garcia has such an unshakable testimony and is so calm and quiet and his wife is the definition of a spicy latino woman who is so LOVING. so so so loving. they have made me feel so at home and so cared for. we started by eating breakfast in a way nice hotel in merida. we had to wake up at 4:30 to get to the conference on time but the breakfast made it worth it :) our AP´s are literally some of the most amazing powerful missionaries i have ever seen. they taught all our break out sesh´s and the president spoke to us at the end and beginning. i feel like they planned everything around me because everything that was said today were things i needed to hear and apply into my work. it´s so crazy how perfect the spirit is, how perfect this church is!! us as human beings may never be perfect and may fall short a lot of the time, but this gospel will always be perfect. 

I got some sad news that my companion from the MTC went home last week. please keep her in your prayers if you could. 

PAZ AFUERA

hermana hobbs

August 11

MAISIE ARRIVED IN MERIDA MEXICO!!!!

ahhh bienvenidos mis amigos!

well so much to say about so much. haha. first, i love mexico!! it is everything i imagined it to be yet so different at the same time. especially the heat, i had no idea what was ahead for me. it literally feels like im in a hot steamy dishwasher 24/7. the humidity is real. i will start from the beginning.

the plane ride over here was awesome! so so so pretty. we arrived at like 8ish right when the sun was setting and the sky was a burning red pink color. the sunsets here are amazing and so beautiful. everything here is beautiful. especially the vegetation, it is like living in a jungle! and basically that is what i am doing. i am in an area called Kanasin. its on the outskirts of Merida. its a pretty calm town. the people live in cement houses and are very poor. but so nice! the ward im serving in has 6 missionaries because its so big!

My compañera is from Mexico city, so.... I am being forced to learn the language. hahah.i absolutley love her! her name is Hma. Martinez and she reminds me so so much of jacee! its been so comforting. during our interview pres. garcia asked me what i wanted in a comp and i told him someone who is hardworking, loving, has a passion for the work and who can help me catch on to the vision of the mission- i got everything i asked for. i have been so impressed by her and her positive attitude. she is so patient with me and it has been so fun with her! she is what gets me through the discouraging times. its been fun to because as she teaches me spanish i teach her english. she actually knows a lot and has such a desire to learn so i havent had too much of a problem talking with her. its been good for me too because i talk in complete spanish. if i would have had an american i know that i would have just talked in English, so its been good. its pretty hard too.. the first day here we had our interviews with the mision pres. and his assistants gave us the deets of the mission and i was feeling pretty confident because i could understand everything. thats because they were being nice... the people here speak sooo fast! even my comp here sometimes can{t understand because they have a yucatan accent. its nuts and kinda frustrating at times because i feel helpess. something that jacob said to me has been ringing in my ears about how it is more important how we make others feel than anything we could ever say. and that is what i{m striving to do. i have gotten used to the weird looks i recieve when walking down the streets. hahah i kinda enjoy being the minority. we were walking home yesterday and a little girl ran up to me and said something (which i didnt understand because the kids speak lots faster than the adults) so after i asked my comp and the little girl told me i looked like a barbie. haha it was cute.

The members here are very strong. me and my comp knew nothing about the area when we first started. we had no cell phone, no records of where members lived, basially no information about anything. we both opened this area, there havent been sister missionaries here for about 10 years, so we are both going in blinded. there are 2 other sets of missionaries, elders, serving in this ward as well. so we cover three different areas. there are lots of inactive members as well. thats mostly who weve been trying to target to work with. we met the bishops wife the second day we were here. the bishop is working on the temple in tux right now and is going to be returning in a week or so. she is awesome!! she is a RM as well and has been going to the lessons with us with one of our investigators named tania. tania is awesome. she has a 2 year old little boy who is CRAZY!! he reminds me a lot of Ty when he was a little boy - full of energy. haha. so in the lessons is basically become my job to be the babysitter and keep him entertained. she came to church with us yesterday and me and hma martinez were running around the capilla trying to get him to go to primary. he wouldnt. so basically we didnt really attend sunday school or relief society because we were in and out with him hahah. it was funny because earlier that week me and martinez were talking and saying how much we loved kids and how many we wanted. i told her i wanted 5 and then after that i told her that maybe i will only have one and see how it goes. hahahah it was funny. but i was really happy to do it and tania really enjoyed church so it was awesome. also paulio (the little boy) loves us now and always wantes to play with us so thats been good! 

The members feed us really well. weve had lots of people sign up to feed us or just while we are teaching lessons will buy us food or give us things. i only eat lunch usually and maybe a banana in the morning and night because they feed ya so much! and all i want is water all the time. haha. i dont think i have to worry about gaining weight because you just sweat everything off. the people here are so kind and so happy with what they have. it is so humbling. this is exactly what i needed in my life. this has honestly been the hardest week of my life. full of ups and downs, doubts and fears, but when it all boils down to it, it comes to the Savior. this is why i am here. i may not be able to understand everything that is being said but it is crazy at how strong my desire is to help them understand. basically all i do in lessons is testify. testify testify testify. and i am happy to do that because i want them to know the same things that i know. one of the other boys from the MTC, elder bahr is in my district and ward here and that has been such a comfort. he is such a nice kid and so happy all the time. its nice to see him to speak english with him and to know that we are both struggling together. you forget that other people feel this way or have felt this way before, but the most comforting thing is praying and using the atonement. my savior knows how i feel and for that i am so grateful. i could not do this without him. i love the work and i love learning. even though i don{t feel like my spanish is improving, today during our zone conference during practices sister manning (shes been out for like 8 months) was saying dont even fret because i speak well. hahah oh goll. i am just waiting for the day i wake up fluent. :) 

well. i love you all so very much! i loved seeing jacob. it was the best thing ever.. so glad i had that opportunity. dont worry about me because im doing great and loving it, even the hard times. ive had such wonderful parents who taught me how to  work hard and how to love the lord and those two things are carrying me through this. I LOVE YOU ALL. keep praying and keep reading your scriptures!! also thanks for all the love and support! yall are great.

con amor,

hermana hobbs

July 23

ahhh I can't believe it. jacob comes home today!! please squeeze him extra hard for me until I can do it on sunday.. i am still so humbled and grateful that my branch pres. is letting me see him. such a tender mercy. so congrats to him and please send me some pics of the airport greeting! also wish eddy the best for me! im glad he had a good farewell and temple experience. he is going to make such a great missionary. the lord takes special care of his missionaries. 

oh boy. sooo clap your hands together because i'm heading to mexico on monday!! i fly out at 12:35 at SLC and then go to Houston, then straight to MERIDA. woot woot. I've been having dreams about flying so I can't wait to see what it's actually like. I still can't believe it, it's gone by sooo fast here in the mtc, but when i look back at this past month i have learned so much and grown in so many ways that it doesn't seem possible, with the language and the gospel.  i have learned more about myself this past month then i have my whole life. everyday I see the hand of my savior in this work. even in the mtc. there is no way i could be doing what i am doing without His help. This is HIS work and he promised all of us missionaries that he would never leave us alone, and he is doing exactly that.

so this past week here are some of my highlights: 

on sunday i gave a talk about baptism - they call on random speakers so you always have to have a talk prepared, and i gave it all in spanish. i didn't even have to use my notes so i was super excited about it! i'm not sure if what i said made any sense at all or if i pronounced anything right, but hey I did it and I was excited :) another cool thing - Sunday before sister fowers left to richmond we were able to sit by each other in the devotional!! it was so fun! we caught up for the past month we have been away. I could have talked to her for 50 more hours but the short while we were together was enough for me. it was so fun seeing her and hearing how much she has loved the mtc as well :) she is going to be such a great missionary. 

my favorite thing here has been TRC which is basically teaching progressing investigators or members about the church and all. This past week me and my comp were able to SKYPE a lady from panama! how cool is that! she was sitting on a balcony in panama city at night so she held up her laptop and gave us a grand view of the city. it was beautiful! also it was so exciting being able to actually understand her and feel the spirit so strongly! her name was alejandra! i can't wait to teach the people of mexico.. i already have such a love for them. even with our teachers when we "commmit" them to baptism I always just want to jump up and down with excitement because I know how much it's going to bless their lives! it will be fun to actually have real life experineces like that. I know that this gospel truly blesses our lives. 

I know this church is true and that it truly blesses lives. Heavenly father truly loves all his children and wants nothing more than for them to be happy and return to live with him. life is hard.. muy deficil, pero yo se que con el evangelio, is possible sentira gozo en nuestros almas. yo se que jose smith fue un verdad profeta y hoy thomas s. monson guia la iglesia. yo estoy muy agracido por mi bendiciones y mi familia. yo amo mi familia much y tambien mis amigos. yo estoy muy agracido por la oportunidad a servir un mision en Merida Mexico. 

well i love you all. remember to think WWJF - what would jesus feel + to read the scriptures every day, especially the book of mormon. that is the fastest way to feel closer to christ is by reading his words. continue to do your best, that's all the Lord asks for. i love you all so much and i'm so grateful for the love and support that i've felt! 

con amor,

Hermana Hobbs

July 23

happy july 16th! the day that officially marks my 1/2 mark through the MTC! i can't believe that i have already been here this long!! i am loving it still, and working hard through the hard work. this past week has been the hardest week yet, but again, there are always blessings that follow the prueblas. 

so i'll start off with today-

it's p-day which you think would be the most relaxing day of the week, but that's false! there is so much to do, but i love having a full day. :) we woke up at 5 to do our laundry so we could get it over and done with. we finished around 7, so we went back to the apartments to get ready for the day and catch the bus at 7;30. we planned to eat breakfast as a district up on main campus and then head over to the TEMPLE!!! finally! it's been closed for 2 weeks! i think i was the most excited of everyone to go. i have really learned to love the temple. so i's about 7;29 and we still haven't left the apartment, so we sprint to the bus stop to make sure we make it because it only comes every half an hour. we get on the bus and i realize that my temple recommend isn't in my wallet like it usually is. which was weird because i checked right before we left the apartment to make sure i had it and it was in there. i was really devastated because that meant i wouldn't be able to go! one of the amazing hermanas, hermana mcnaught said she would go back with me to our apartment to retrace our steps and everything and sacrifice getting breakfast. haha. i felt sooo bad. so we go back, look everywhere and cannot find it. i was so frustrated with myself because i knew i just barely had it! we checked everywhere, the lost and found, our apartment, i was staring to get worried too because my visa was with it.. 

so there was about 20 minutes until the next bus came so me and hma mcnaught decided to go get breakfast. she went to the bathroom before we left and while she was in there i prayed that i would find is someway or that some way they would let me go in the temple with out it. I knew heavenly father would help me because i was doing what he wanted me to do. so we went to breakfast and one of the sweet new elders in my zone had my visa!! he found it in a dirt mound by the bus. which i still don't understand how it got there. so i asked if he saw my temple recommend too and he didn't but he said he'd take me to check. soo.. it was there!! it literally was the craziest thing! i don't understand how it flew out of my wallet out of my purse into a dirt mound that i wasn't really even by.. so lesson for all - satan really will do anything he can to keep you from doing the Lord's will. I really had the best experience in the temple. the celestial room always blows me away with it's beauty and peace.. i could hours in there. they had the beautiful picture of christ with his hands outstretched in the clouds. that is one of my favorite pictures of him. 

so another cool thing about today, it was the day that miss kaycee fowers, or sister fowers, came in! she's only in the mtc for 12 days so i have been praying that i will get a chance to see her.. while i was in the celestial room i just said a little prayer for some way to see her and to help me through these hard times.. so i walked out of the temple and a butterfly literally flew into my hands. the big yellow kind that look like a monarch but not. I kid you not, it was straight out of a movie. I felt like heavenly father was giving me a big hug and telling me not to worry about my difficulties, or how hard the language is,but to be still, and know that I am God, and that I love you.. I started thinking of the song "i like to look for rainbows whenever there is rain, and ponder on the beauty of the earth made clean again." we too can be made clean again when we take upon Christ's sacred name.. I felt so at peace. As we were walking out of the temple there were so many new missionaries with their families taking pictures! it was so exciting to see them. it definitely gave me flashbacks. my comp was taking a picture for a family right by the gate into the temple so I was waiting for her when all of a sudden a car started to slow down, and I thought wow, that really looks like Stan (kaycee's dad) and then it clicked. I don't know if i started running to the car or crying first but before I knew it I was out in the middle of the road opening the car door. hahahah. i attacked kaycee with my tears and hugs and was blocking traffic. hahah. we were both in tears while tauni was taking pictures and recording us. it was such a tender mercy. what are the odds that her and her family would drive by right as I was walking out of the temple? God truly does know us. and what's important to us become important to Him because he loves us that much. it was so fun to see her and wish her luck. :) 

i love my savior. my relationship with him has grown so much.. he truly is my best friend and i know i can turn to him with anything. without Him and his atonement, i wouldn't be able to do anything here. the work is hard, but so rewarding. i need the enabling power of the atonement daily. my favorite part of the day is putting on my badge over my heart with my name and his name so close together. i know that he lives, and loves each one of us. i know that he suffered for our sins and whatever it is that we are going through, whatever trials, hardships, and joys - he knows exactly the feelings of our hearts and exactly how to help us. I invite you all to turn to christ. use the atonement. not only for repentance, but also for power. when we take the sacrament each week, we are literally taking his name upon us and are entitled to his power. i know that he can make more out of us than we can ourselves and what a powerful thing that is! i know this church is true and I am so excited to go to mexico! i love you all more than you know and pray for you daily. straight is the gate and narrow is the way!

con amor,

hermana hobbs

July 16

wow what another great week here in the mtc, full of blessings, challenges, & a whole lot of love!

i'm not even sure where to start.. everyday kind of blurs into the other. i'll start out with the 4th of july. it was so awesome!! we got 2 new investigators this week - jaime and cristofer. the real kicker is that they are OUR TEACHERS. jajaja. it's way fun though. the people we teach here are usually just teachers, but their stories are always real & so is the spirit. me and hma. facer taught jaime on the 4th. it was a fun way to start the day off. i'm getting comfortable with teaching in spanish now. i can actually maybe 15% express the way i'm feeling. i think that is what i love about being here. watching the progress of not only myself, but everyone in my district. both with spanish and el evangelio. it's so nuts. last week this time was when i was basically saying how are you and now i'm inviting people to be baptized. i know it's because of the Lord, la expiacion, y el espirtu santo. It's so crazy. nooo sadly i didn't get to hear carrie underwood at the stadium, but i did watch 17 miracles and i would soooo much rather watch that any day. every time i watch it i love it more and more. my favorite part in the whole movie is one saint is saying how they would often look behind them to see who is pulling their handcart, but see no one. but then in the movie you see the angels who are helping pull the wagons. I know that without a doubt there are angels here pulling my handcart up the hill.. which leads me into the next thing i want to talk about.

this week was a real rollercoaster. meaning, one of the hermanas in my district, hermana mcnaught, (all 4 of us sisters are basically like companions because we are all so close) her grandpa passed away this week. it was super hard. but i was truly amazed at how strong she was. it was right in the middle of class and we got a phone call saying she needed to go meet with our branch pres. we all thought it was because she was going to be the new sister missionary training person. she came back and was bawling... it was heartbreaking. it took me back to when i lost my own grandpa and how hard it was. i literally only saw her cry that once though, the rest of the week you wouldn't have  known that had happened. the next day mi companera recieved a dear elder saying how her own grandpa is really struggling with health and how their family ahd done a fasting for him.. she took it really hard. she only met her grandpa this past year because of being a convert her mom never let her see any of that family before. so she was really upset. i couldnt even talk to her or comfort her because she was so upset. it was really hard on me because i felt helpless and didin't know what to do. later that night in our apartment after the day we heard a knocking on the door and low and behold it was the elders from our district. one of them, elder jones, was prompted that hermana facer needed a blessing. they didn't even know she was struggling. she has never before recieved a blessing of comfort. we had to shut the door and change because we were all in our pj's which you know what that means and me and her went back into our room and she was bawling in my arms. she said she didn't want one and i asked her why. she thought getting a blessing meant giving up and that you weren't strong anymore. i wanted to cry for her. all my life i have been so blessed to have the preisthood in my life.. it was a really humbling experience for both of us. i explained to her that it was not that at all and that blessings are literally from our heavenly father to comfort us. she finally decided she wanted one and our amoroso elderes came in to give her a blessing. it was the best thing ever. i love my district so much and i'm going to be really sad not being with them in just a short couple of weeks. our elders are such wonderful men. they are all sooo different too. one is also a convert of 1 year, another was inactive up until a couple years, one has been in the church is whole life, and one has a really really hard family situation. i feel like my little sheltered west weber bubble is starting to pop as I realize how much i have taken for granted in my life. I have learned so much from these amazing people.. i think that has been one my favorite parts of the  mission is meeting all these insanely amazing people!!!

guess who i listend to last night?? an apostle of DIOS! neil l. anderson spoke to us last night for our tuesday devotional, and wow was the spirit there in abundance. i sang in the choir for the first time and it was such a fun experience. also a tender mercy that we sang my favorite hymn, be still my soul in such a unique way. elder anderen spoke of the holy ghost and i think my favorite part of the whole meeting was when his wife said "the holy ghost means more to me now then it did when i was confirmed as a little girl." it took me back to my fathers words of saying how his mission continues to mean more to him more and more every day. i love my dad. and my mom. and all my siblings. i miss you guys, but i also would rather be no where else in the world. my mission continues to mean more and more to me every day. but all the small little steps i did previous to my mission do as well. i love that i took my own scriptures. i love looking at everything i marked up in seminary and institute because i feel like i'm starting to understand and appreciate the scriptures more than i ever have in my life. I LOVE PERSONAL STUDY. every time the hour is up i want to cry a little because it flyyyys by. there is seriously so much to learn and i just want to fill my head with everything! 

we also got some sad news.. our maestros brother pemberton y rasmassun are taking like two weeks of for family vacations. it's like they actually have lives outside of the mtc and our little district or something ;) no, i am super happy for them and excited. they work so hard and love us so much. it just stinks because i love them so much and two weeks is a big chunck of my time here. they have already impacted my life soooo much it's insane. they are so gentle yet so powerful. true men of god, exactly what i want in a husband like 4 years from now.

also p-days are pretty much awesome and the sports here too. my volleyball & basketball skills have increased tremendously. i think it's because i have the spirit with me and i'm not focused on winning... at least not all the time. also i just discovered main campus and their food. holy cow. i don't know why people ever complain about the food on main campus because it was literal heaven compared to what we have here at W.C. jajaja. 

well. i love my mission. i love this gospel. i love my savior. i love teaching. i love learning. i love life. :) i also would LOVE to get mail. i finally feel bad for never sending my siblings letters or dearelders because it really stinks when everyone in your district gets like 7 letters+dear elders+packages.

Sister Maisie Ellen Hobbs

AUG04  MEX-MER

2023 N 900 E Unit 849

Provo UT 84602

con amor!! 

hermana hobbs

July 9th

wow what another great week here in the mtc, full of blessings, challenges, & a whole lot of love!

i'm not even sure where to start.. everyday kind of blurs into the other. i'll start out with the 4th of july. it was so awesome!! we got 2 new investigators this week - jaime and cristofer. the real kicker is that they are OUR TEACHERS. jajaja. it's way fun though. the people we teach here are usually just teachers, but their stories are always real & so is the spirit. me and hma. facer taught jaime on the 4th. it was a fun way to start the day off. i'm getting comfortable with teaching in spanish now. i can actually maybe 15% express the way i'm feeling. i think that is what i love about being here. watching the progress of not only myself, but everyone in my district. both with spanish and el evangelio. it's so nuts. last week this time was when i was basically saying how are you and now i'm inviting people to be baptized. i know it's because of the Lord, la expiacion, y el espirtu santo. It's so crazy. nooo sadly i didn't get to hear carrie underwood at the stadium, but i did watch 17 miracles and i would soooo much rather watch that any day. every time i watch it i love it more and more. my favorite part in the whole movie is one saint is saying how they would often look behind them to see who is pulling their handcart, but see no one. but then in the movie you see the angels who are helping pull the wagons. I know that without a doubt there are angels here pulling my handcart up the hill.. which leads me into the next thing i want to talk about.

this week was a real rollercoaster. meaning, one of the hermanas in my district, hermana mcnaught, (all 4 of us sisters are basically like companions because we are all so close) her grandpa passed away this week. it was super hard. but i was truly amazed at how strong she was. it was right in the middle of class and we got a phone call saying she needed to go meet with our branch pres. we all thought it was because she was going to be the new sister missionary training person. she came back and was bawling... it was heartbreaking. it took me back to when i lost my own grandpa and how hard it was. i literally only saw her cry that once though, the rest of the week you wouldn't have  known that had happened. the next day mi companera recieved a dear elder saying how her own grandpa is really struggling with health and how their family ahd done a fasting for him.. she took it really hard. she only met her grandpa this past year because of being a convert her mom never let her see any of that family before. so she was really upset. i couldnt even talk to her or comfort her because she was so upset. it was really hard on me because i felt helpless and didin't know what to do. later that night in our apartment after the day we heard a knocking on the door and low and behold it was the elders from our district. one of them, elder jones, was prompted that hermana facer needed a blessing. they didn't even know she was struggling. she has never before recieved a blessing of comfort. we had to shut the door and change because we were all in our pj's which you know what that means and me and her went back into our room and she was bawling in my arms. she said she didn't want one and i asked her why. she thought getting a blessing meant giving up and that you weren't strong anymore. i wanted to cry for her. all my life i have been so blessed to have the preisthood in my life.. it was a really humbling experience for both of us. i explained to her that it was not that at all and that blessings are literally from our heavenly father to comfort us. she finally decided she wanted one and our amoroso elderes came in to give her a blessing. it was the best thing ever. i love my district so much and i'm going to be really sad not being with them in just a short couple of weeks. our elders are such wonderful men. they are all sooo different too. one is also a convert of 1 year, another was inactive up until a couple years, one has been in the church is whole life, and one has a really really hard family situation. i feel like my little sheltered west weber bubble is starting to pop as I realize how much i have taken for granted in my life. I have learned so much from these amazing people.. i think that has been one my favorite parts of the  mission is meeting all these insanely amazing people!!!

guess who i listend to last night?? an apostle of DIOS! neil l. anderson spoke to us last night for ourtuesday devotional, and wow was the spirit there in abundance. i sang in the choir for the first time and it was such a fun experience. also a tender mercy that we sang my favorite hymn, be still my soul in such a unique way. elder anderen spoke of the holy ghost and i think my favorite part of the whole meeting was when his wife said "the holy ghost means more to me now then it did when i was confirmed as a little girl." it took me back to my fathers words of saying how his mission continues to mean more to him more and more every day. i love my dad. and my mom. and all my siblings. i miss you guys, but i also would rather be no where else in the world. my mission continues to mean more and more to me every day. but all the small little steps i did previous to my mission do as well. i love that i took my own scriptures. i love looking at everything i marked up in seminary and institute because i feel like i'm starting to understand and appreciate the scriptures more than i ever have in my life. I LOVE PERSONAL STUDY. every time the hour is up i want to cry a little because it flyyyys by. there is seriously so much to learn and i just want to fill my head with everything! 

we also got some sad news.. our maestros brother pemberton y rasmassun are taking like two weeks of for family vacations. it's like they actually have lives outside of the mtc and our little district or something ;) no, i am super happy for them and excited. they work so hard and love us so much. it just stinks because i love them so much and two weeks is a big chunck of my time here. they have already impacted my life soooo much it's insane. they are so gentle yet so powerful. true men of god, exactly what i want in a husband like4 years from now.

also p-days are pretty much awesome and the sports here too. my volleyball & basketball skills have increased tremendously. i think it's because i have the spirit with me and i'm not focused on winning... at least not all the time. also i just discovered main campus and their food. holy cow. i don't know why people ever complain about the food on main campus because it was literal heaven compared to what we have here at W.C. jajaja. 

well. i love my mission. i love this gospel. i love my savior. i love teaching. i love learning. i love life. :) i also would LOVE to get mail. i finally feel bad for never sending my siblings letters or dearelders because it really stinks when everyone in your district gets like 7 letters+dear elders+packages.

Sister Maisie Ellen Hobbs
AUG04  MEX-MER
2023 N 900 E Unit 849
Provo UT 84602

con amor!! 

hermana hobbs