September 30

Can I just say how much I love the mission?? This week was great in so many ways.

glad to hear that you guys in good ol utah had a couple of rainy days, got to experience my life for a bit :) 

So glad you had the chance to go to go to the womens broadcast!! It was seriously SO amazing, exactly what I needed, especially one of our investigadores, Ivonne. She was the only one who could accompony us, but im so glad she went. The spirit was so strong there - it always is when we talk about temples. Its funny because all this week, antes de la conferencia tambien there has been such a theme of temples. I was able to watch in English thanks to Rubi one of the mas poderoso miembros I´ve ever met. she has an ipod thing I borrowed. I loved the talk by Sister Marriott (i think her name is) the second counselor in the YW. she spoke to us in the MTC as well, loved her anology of the little boats growing into great ships :) Pres. Uchtdorfs talk was exactly what I needed to hear as well. It relates really well with one of pres. Bednars talks about doctrine. Its so important to realize the DOCTRINE behind the principles and applications. doctrine always answeres the questions of WHY. why do we do visiting teaching? why do we attend chruch? why am i serving a mission? if the reasons are for numbers, or for the approval of others, kneel, offer a prayer, and open the scriptures and think of the doctrine, think of the life of christ, the eternal perspective. I loved his stroy of the visiting teachers, really powerful and made me think of my own work here in the missionary and why I need to find people to teach, ask for referencias, be worthy of the spirit, todo.One of the many is because each soul is precious in the sight of God. and in mine as well.

We had a little miracle this week. tuesday we got a phone call from tania saying she was on her way home back to Merida!! she is here with us and so is her husband. her faith is so strong and her desire to go to the temple as well. We are working a lot with her husbadn right now, he defintly is a good seed. Ivonne right now is our only progressing investigador. We have had so much help from the barrio with her. MEMBER MISSIONARY work is SO important. With alegandra things are going slow, we can only teach her on saturdays and domingos because she works and goes to school and doesnt return hasta 9:30 in the night or sometimes mas tarde, but I think she truly has a real desire to change.

We found bien potente personas this week, but a lot were not in our area. haha we were pretty bummed about that, but one of them was a referencia de la esposa de el obispo (this family is ecactly how i want my family to be when i return) her name is Alejandra tambien. She has 3 children, 1 from her previous marriage and 2 with the man she is living with right now. He is in the military and is only home for 28 days every 4 or 5 months.. so basically she is a single mom. but she is soo good and her little children are so cute. She lives a lot of principles of the evangelio already, is very catholic but realizes that some things done in the catholic church are not right - like worshipping saints. haha its funny she has a very strong sense of what is right and what is wrong. we had a really powerful lesson with her the other day when we were reading out of the LDM. she has lots of questions about everything. we started talking about the temple and her face lit up and was so excited to talk about it. it was a really cool experience for me. we were only reminding her of our HOME. of where we can return. wow i miss the temple so much.. 

We had the most amazing activity in our ward this week where we were able to have so many investigadores in the capilla! It was a night all about the book of mormon. the YSA put it on, they decorated each room in the church about a different story of the book of mormon, moroni, king benjamen, the savior vising americas, arbol de vida, lots of good things and in each room there were the youth as the people. The 6 missionaries in our ward we were the tour guides through each room. We took groups of about 5-6 people and would explain each story. it was soooo beautiful and the spirit was so strong. Everything focused on the Savior. I was so excited too because I could speak Spanish enough for my groups to understand me or a member to understand me enought that she could add whatever I missed in explaining :) mom you shuold suggest this for an event for the youth, it was so awesome and all the members brought some one who didnt know the church, or investigador! 

All is good in mexico, i love it so much. I dont think ill ever be used to the heat, but im learning to live with it haha :) I still feel like I'm standing in front of a fire hydrant that is exploding. There are so many things I want to learn and so many things I want to change muchas cosas. but I know I need to be patient, use the atonement, give my best, and little by little I will continue to progress into the missionary the Lord wants me to be. thats what is so great is that there really is no ending, there is no destination. its a never ending journey, and its along the way that we progress. once we accomplish one thing, theres always something else to look forward to. always something else we can do to reach our diving potential. life is great isn't it? :)

hope you all have a wonderful week! 

con amor, 

Hermana Hobbs

prayer list: Tania, Daniel, Alejandra, Hermana de Alejandra, Alejandra, Ivonne, Juan Carlos, Lorena, Edwin, Monica, Rosaura, Ceaser. 

September 22

Hola mis vidas,

gwoah donde debo comenzar? Earlier this week I was reading the Liahona, and found this little piece of gold that Id like to share.

"The struggle to break out of the cocoon develops the butterfly so it can fly. Without the adversity, the butterfly would never have the strength to achieve it's destiny. It would never develop the strength to become something extraordinary." Joesph B. Worthland

I love this a lot. Last week I was really nervous with the cambios, a new companion and me having to take the lead in showing her the new area and everything, but just like the quote says, the adversity is was develops us, what gives us strength. Hermana Arriaga has been such a blessing! Her personality reminds me a lot of Saren, very loving, patient, kind hearted, and wouldnt say one bad thing about anyone. She is 22 and is an elementary teacher, and is a muy muy buena misionera. 

Last Monday was the day of independence for Mehhico so our barrio had an activity Tuesday morning. It was a "swimming" activity so we couldnt really participate, but we went because the members were bringing their friends so we could contact them. which was a HUGE success. The ward is seriously so great and so enthusiastic about missionary work. One funny thing, me and hermana arriaga were talking with a joven and eating lunch meanwhile one of the hermanos in the ward was singing on stage. Hes part of one of those typical mehicano bands like of of nacho libre and has a really pretty voice. So he was singing, i wasnt paying much attention, but slowly started to realize that everyone was staring at me and chucking.. haha i look up to see the hermano serenading me and singing about my "blue eyes" hahaha it was super funny but at the same time felt super uncomfortable. :) but next week we have another actividy the YSA is putting on about the LDM, theyre acting out stories of it and describing what the LDM is. its a bring your friends kind of night tambien so we are super excited about it. Kanasin reminds me a lot of West Weber. A lot of the people here as well. The ward is like a big family, everyone looks out after everyone, especially the missionaries. 

We've been working a lot with Ivonne this week and her family, but mostly with her. Its been hard because shes the only one progressing, but the family is our goal. we are hoping for a baptism soon and for it to be an example. The other day we went with a member, Angela, to contact one of her neighbors. she wasnt in her house, but another one of her friends was walking by so we decided to contact her. She{s gold. Her name is Rosaura. The first lesson was really and we felt the spirit a lot. We taugt about dios and the LDM and invited her to read chp. 37 of alma. the next visit we had she had read 15 more chapters in alma and said how the way we pray is so beautiful and she felt something really special when she prayed. Her husband drinks and smokes but is super nice. he was a little drunk when we went and taught the second time but promised he would be sober for the next. he loves to cook and wants to feed us so i can taste mexico. hahaha im really excited about this family. 

Things are great here in mexico, I have so much to learn, and so many things I want to learn sometimes its hard to find time! but that has been my favorite thing is learning. spanish, doctrine, this culture, everything. I love the people here. I had an immigration appt. on wed. and went into the main part of Merida where there is a walmart. WALMART. i felt like I was in america. We had to take photos for my visa. but that part of Merida is beyond beautiful.. holy moly. I told my comp. im moving here after I return home. I love everything, especially the people. 

So great to hear about the temple.. i miss it so much. I hope you and dad had a great birthday!! I was thinking about you both all day. In fact, Saturday when we ate with one of the members, it was her birthday as well and we had a cake. so in a way I celebrated your birthday too dad. :) love you all so much. sounds like everyone is doing spendid!! continue to do the little things!!