Week 85

This week we had a good time.  We had a zone meeting that was a good
amount of work for us right off the bat to get done. We have a cool
zone and we were really happy to see the results of the meeting.  We
had a huge spike in our results from the day because of the meeting so
I guess it was worth the time.  We went out to eat with the
Assistentes when we got done with the meeting.  They took us over to a
Subway which I didn't even know that they had here in Portugal but it
took me on a major flashback to the river days getting Subway in
Salmon.  I have mixed feelings about those memories being that
anything associated with Salmon, Idaho, probably my least favorite
town in the world, cannot be all that great.

We got the new Bibles from the church that have some footnotes and
headings and things, as well as some corrections and stuff that make
this portuguese bible officially endorsed by the church.  It is pretty
cool and is a nice tool to help with studies, but the english
scriptures still have way more helps and nifty things.  I need all the
help that I can get to get to know the scriptures better so I was
really happy.

Tenho sido a pensar um pouco sobre arrependimento e como é que
funciona.  Para ser um juízo comum de Israel é uma assunto um pouco
assustador para mim.  Durante o tempo que eu tenho sido um missionário
já tive various oportunidades  para entrevistar pessoas para o batismo
e em various destes ocasiões foi preciso uma entrevista especial
quando cheguemos a pergunta 4. Nesta ultima entrevista em particular
foi um pouco difícil para mim sendo que tinha que pedir um pouco mais
informações para saber se uma entrevista especial fosse precisa.  Em
fim meus sentimentos foram basicamente que era mais difícil para mim a
perdoar ela do que era para ela a receber perdão de nosso Salvador.
Faz me a pensar como eu preciso alinhar meus sentimentos mais com o
espirito em todas as coisas.

Eu aprendi de Elder Moreira que esta vida é o tempo para misericórdia
e por meio de minhas experienciarias pessoais com arrependimento já vi
que muitas vezes O Senhor perdoa-me mais rápido do que consigo fazer
para mim mesmo.  Sou grato para ter estas experiencias com tantas
outras pessoas a ajuda-las neste processo durante a missão para puder
ser um juízo mais justo no futuro.

We are teaching a single mom that is pretty awesome.  It was cool to
see how well she was getting the message that we were teaching about
the restoration.  She just really understood.  It really blows me away
how confused some people can get about the things we teach because of
the barriers that they put up and the other beliefs that they have
that are blocking receiving any further instruction or inspiration.  I
find it sad that so many people are not even willing to open up their
hearts and give it one shot.  But with her she was just getting it and
taking it all in like a sponge and then basically spitting out the
next things that we were going to say.  It was an awesome experience.
I think that it will be what was needed to be able to get her to make
some sacrifices and especially finally have the courage to go out and
look for another job that will allow here to live a healthy lifestyle.
Right now she is working from 3am until the afternoon when she has
just a little time before she has to go and get her kid and take care
of her for the rest of the night  giving her the opportunity to sleep
for about 4 hours a night.   But we are already working with her to
get her to walk away and get something that will be more reasonable
and allow her to go to church.

My main thought right now is just on how much a difference the gospel
really does make in people's lives.  Being a missionary, which I think
basically automatically makes you more sensitive to the spirit, as we
go around house to house we can feel the difference in the homes of
these people.   We feel all sorts of levels of love and peace and
comfort in the houses of these people, but when you go to the house of
a strong family in the church it is completely different.  I see a
major difference in how family members treat each other in their
relationships when they are members or not.  As a general trend the
people that we meet that are truly living the gospel are much more
positive about life and their situations, more confident, more
supporting, happier and much more confident.  It is not that these
people have perfect problem free lives, or even close to that, most of
the members here struggle immensely financially, are immigrates a long
ways away from their family and culture, and usually have many other
struggles as well, but with the help of our Lord and Savior, their
burdens are lifted a little to make them possible to overcome and they
have hope because of the knowledge of the eternal plan that we are in
right now.  I wish that everyone could see the effects of the gospel
in the way that I have seen them and am continuing to see right now,
because if everyone saw this they would know that there is really no
better way to live life, that these things have to be true and will
only enrichen their lives if they put them into practice.  I hope we
can all be able to get this same vision and feel and see the
difference in our own lives.  I love all you and I am so grateful for
the wonder family that I have.  I truly hope and pray that we will all
stay together for eternity because that is the best thing that I could
think of having and I know it is possible

Love
Elder Hobson

Presidente Tavares is having us choose and read a scripture to our
comp ever single night right before we go to bed and then report those
scriptures to him.  This is my list from this week, thought I might as
well share them with you all as well.
Salmos 16: 10-11
1 Pedro 2:6
D&C 20:38
Moisés 6: 32-34
D&C 25:15
3 Néfi 17:3
Alma 20:17