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