Week 68

I still do not know about the Christmas call as far as if I will be
able to use skype. I think that because the presidents main focus
right now is in helping us to avoid distractions he will probably not
tell us until the last minute so that we can avoid having our minds
wander too much.  As for the housing issue at BYU I have no idea what
my options are and what are the pluses or minuses and PRICES. Honestly
I am shooting completely in the dark. If you want you could send me
something next week with a little bit of an explanation or something
so that I could make the most informed decision possible and we can be
effective with our call..

I have not had that much time to respond to the people that I do not
even know that write me occasionally, it is a little strange but cool
at the same time.  It is good thought to get to hear a bit about where
you all are at.

Well this week was a little crazy and was not made any easier that I
have been fighting a pretty nasty cold.

We had two divisions this week and ever since the first one on
Tuesday, when I had to take a cold shower first thing in the morning
and then walk in the cold out to the train station, I have been
suffering some fevers and a sore throat.  I have not had too much of a
voice for a couple days even though I am getting better now.  Really
is tough to do missionary work when you cannot talk very well..

The divisions were pretty fun though, we were able to teach a lot of
people that have a lot of potential to be baptized and are starting to
progress and everything. One of the divisions when I was already
feeling sick was with Elder Soares who is my zone leader and was in
the Azores for a while as well. It is really fun to get to work with
him. He is a really aggressive little guy from Mozambique that teaches
really well and is a really good missionary that I have always had a
lot of fun with.  We had some real miracles happen and we were
teaching some people really powerfully and I could just see them
changing and having their hearts softened right before our eyes.

Ola Presidente
Este semana tivemos dois divisões.  O primeiro foi com Torres Vedras
B.  Foi bom.  Consigamos encontrar com various pessoas que eles possam
ensinar que tem potential e encontrávamos com algumas maneiras que
eles possam fazer uma trabalho mais eficaz. Espero que eles terão mais
sucesso como resultante destas novas estratagemas.

Mais tarde na semana também fizemos com os Lideres de Zona.  Eu tive
um tempo desafiadora com Elder Soares sendo que estava a lutar com os
efeitos dum febre e fracassa da saúde, mas realmente a sacrifício
valeu a pena porque colheríamos muitas bênçãos do céu.  A acumulação
de muito preparação e procura caiu com sucesso naquela dia.  Era muito
especial para mim começando com aquela divisão e continuando
especialmente durante as entrevistas baptismais  enquanto o Senhor deu
me a forca que era necessário para cumprir com os meus
responsabilidades e ensinar as pessoas que precisavam de meu ajuda
naquelas dias.  não foi fácil, nem sabia se tivesse forca suficiente
para ultrapassa-las mas realmente viu a ajuda divina na minha vida
esta fim de semana apoiando me quando estava o mais fraco.

I was blessed to get to teach a older couple that have quite a bit of
biblical knowledge and that are truly looking for the true church.  I
could really see the difference as we are teaching them I really think
that we are going to be able to help them come to the peace of heart
that they need because that is what an answer about the truthfulness
of the gospel brings to us.  I have really high hopes for them and I
am hoping that they will be able to make the changes in their hearts
to be able to accept the truth.  But becuase of the way that they look
to us as teachers you can see the humility in their eyes.

Have a wonderful holiday season.  I am happy and hopefully the healthy
will come back soon too!  But nothing is going to get in the way of
the Lord's work. Love you all!

MUITO AMOR E FELIZ NATAL
 Elder Hobson

Week 67

I got that christmas package and everything is in good shape.  Thank
you all very much.  I have not opened anything but I can already feel
your love.

To respond to your questions...
We have three Americans and one Portuguese elder in our house.  He
does also speak fluent English. The mission has been getting a lot
more português missionaries lately which is awesome, but we have been
losing a lot of our capo verdianos as well. So there is still a mass
majority Americans.  We have 2 portugueses, 1 Brazilian, and 5
Americans in our district.
yes we do have the Christmas video in Portuguese already. It is a good one.

Elder Collette and I were talking a bit about some deep doctrine and I
have a quick question that is not important at all but, do all
intelligences have free agency?

As for our house situation we should finally be getting in our things
from the other house and from the office today.  Hopefully that will
actually happen today becuase it has already fallen though several
times. I am super ready to get on the nice mattress that I have up
there.

Jair is an investigator that we are working with right now that is
showing a lot of potential and really enjoyed church and everything.
It  was a good time

Ola Presidente
Esta semana começamos com um amigo que está a progredir rapidamente a
cumprir com compromissos e a fazer sacrifícios para ajuntar com a
igreja.  Ele vai ser baptizado está mês acreditamos que temos
encontrado um dos eleitos que o Senhor nos preparou. E continuaremos a
procurar para mais.

Torres Vedras está a passar por muito dificuldades nesta momento.  É
raro que eles tem alguém para ensinar. Mudou os planos de divisões
para que puder ir lá e tentar a ajudar. Acredito que sejam boas
missionários obedientes e vou tentar fazer os possíveis para ajudar
lhes começar a ver sucesso.

Com Amor
Elder Hobson
This week I taught the Gospel principles class.  I was asked to teach
it right as it was starting so I had not even read the chapter yet.
Thankfully it was about the final judgement a subject that I really
like.  Unfortunately I think I took it a little too deep for the
investigators and members that we had there. I touched a bit on
transfiguration, requirements for being in the presence of God, and
also the differences in glory in resurrected beings. But for the most
part it went fine haha.

Well I am happy and healthy and the work is going along.  I would love
to tell you more but I am out of time. Have a nice week.

Love Elder Hobson

Week 66

This week was full of confusion and moving.  Right now I am still
living out of the suitcases because I do not have anywhere to hang up
my clothes yet in this house.  So basically in our area one of the
houses is really close to the chapel in one of the giant
neighborhoods, and then the other is about a 40 minute walk from that
in another neighborhood that has not been very successful ever as far
as missionary work.  So we got into our area and we did not know which
house we were supposed to be in.  So we went up and lived in the house
that is a long way away at first.  But then after having to
communicate with a ton of people about how we could do it we moved
back down into the other house, but the house that we are living in
with the other elders here does not have some of the things that you
need for a 4 elder house.  Anyways we are getting closer and closer to
getting it all organized and set up how we need it to be.

So I have figured out how I can keep up with what is happening on the
island.  Sister Broderick is responsible for receiving and
distributing the references that we get as a mission to other
missionaries and other missions.  So every time I get a reference for
a different area I get to call in and talk with her.  References are a
little more frequent here in Lisbon. then on the island.  So I have
gotten to call in twice already and Catia is progressing really well
towards baptism.  Also we got an announcement in presidents letter
today that missionaries can no longer have callings unless they are
the branch president.  besides that we are not allowed to have any
sort of calling.  So that is interesting I wonder how it will be out
in the Azores now with that rule.

Tenho sido a pensar esta semana bastante em baptismos.  Eu e Elder
Collette estão a falar sobre a baptismo muito e estou a sentir muito
animo e desejo para fazer a trabalho por causa disto.   Também os
membros aqui são incríveis. Em nossos esforços para conhecer a área
estamos a encontrar com muitos membros que querem trabalhar connosco e
também estamos a encontrar com familiares a amigos dos menos activos
que vamos começar a ensinar.

Estamos a morar na casa de cacem juntos com os outros elders para que
pudermos trabalhar mais perto de capela onde tem a maioridade dos
membros e onde a trabalho está a ser feito neste momento.   As
mudanças necessitarias para fazer isto tem sido um pouco desafiador
mas estamos quase sem problemas por causa de ajuda de algumas membros.
Tem sido a orar mais sobre onde devemos focalizar nosso trabalho nesta
área e estou a sentir bem que estamos no lugar certo. Vamos trabalhar
o mais possível com os membros especialmente os missionários recém
voltados a casa para pudermos completar as famílias deles e também
ajudar muitos dos amigos deles conhecer a Igreja e ser baptizado.

this thanksgiving we did not have thanksgiving dinner, but we did have
a really nice and large meal with the stake patriarch here.  It was
fun to sit down in his house and have him chat with us a bit.  It made
me feel more at home to be on a comfortable couch and talk to a more
elderly person.  He is a fun guy and is always really making very
revalatory statements in almost common conversation.  We get fed quite
a bit here form the members.  It is a very fun very young ward that
has a ton of recently returned missionaries that have all sorts of
desire to baptise all their family and friends.  It is going to be
really fun to get to work with all of them and helo them have their
family in the chruch as well.

Time to run!

Love You all
Elder Hobson

Week 65 - Off the island - back to Lisbon

Well I am officially being transferred off of the island. I am
honestly really sad. We have had such an amazing week and I am really
going to miss working with these members and the Brodericks, plus this
beautiful island is going to be hard to say goodbye to.

This week I we had just day after day filled with miracles. We were
able to get all sorts of lessons taught to the point where we were
just running around town the entire day trying to get all of ouf stuff
done. I didnt want to have to teach alone, neither did I want to have
Elder Pickrell lieing to people anymore telling them that he believes
something that he really dosent anymore so basically I always had
Elder Broderick with me or a different member so that I could have a
good comp to teach with and Elder Pickrell could stare at the wall or
pick his nose or whatever. And I really had a really amazingly
spiritual week because of that decision. I worked really hard and we
actually were able to set up two investigators with baptismal dates.

That lesson that we were looking forward to last monday night went
really well, and the friend named Lisandra really was interested in
the church and is planning on being baptized. But I was right to be
really cautious of Debora the member because she ended up really
throwing herself at me and I heard that it is not the first time that
she has created problems. Anyways lisandra seems like she is
genuinely interested and the Brodericks will continue to follow up
with her so that there is no chance that she will get mixed up with
some more of the confusion from Debora and elders.

The other investigator that is planning on being baptized is Cátia.
she is someone that we have been trying for for quite some time now
and we just barely were able to go and teach her for the first time.
But after that we have been able to teach her several times and she is
really beginning to make the commitment of baptism. She was very
comfortable and active in the classes in church and everything. She
is planning on being baptised on the day after christmas hopefully
that will stay strong and she will be baptized on that day. I will
call the Brodericks to see if they are able to get it done. 

 Ola presidente,
Sendo que não consigamos fazer email ontem com os transferências e
temos muito pouco tempo para gastar enquanto pudéssemos estar a
conhecer nosso área vou ser breve hoje. Sou muito feliz com os novos
desafios que o Senhor tem me dado neste momento na missão, dos
missionários no distrito que já consigui conhecer parecem ter muito
desejo para baptizar e trabalhar com o espírito. Sei que teremos
sucesso nesta área com estes missionários. 


On the flight out we had a girl that has never left the acores with us
and we were able to help her around a little in the Lisbon airport
which was really fun. It made me think about how different everyone's
reality is. she had never been in a place where you can drive for
more then an hour in one direction and not run into the ocean and had
also never gotten out of super humidity. Talk about an eye opener
getting off the plane in Lisbon. I will definatly not miss that
humidity and it is still pretty stinkin humid in lisbon. But it is a
little better. 

 Well I am in my new area now. And I am really excited to get to work
with the missionaries in this district. I am the district leader now
and it is going to be interesting because my comp is also new in this
area so we are totally lost out here in the middle of lisbon. I am
serving in Cacem and we live in massama I think. haha it is going to
be interesting to try and learn this area together. Elder Pickrell was
sent to be babysat at the office, so hopefully he will be able to get
it figured out there before long. when missionaries get sent to just
sit in the office it is not a good sign for their "life expectancy" in
the mission, so hopefully the many prayers for him will help. I am
serving with Elder Collette, he is from new mexico and until now he
has only ever served with Elder Beeton my comp from the MTC. So far
he is awesome and a really fun guy, we have a lot in common and he has
a ton of desire to work and be obedient which is such a blessing. I
am really happy with the missionaries that I have in my district after
getting to meet most of them this morning I can see that despite the
various weaknesses that they may have they all really want to work and
will be great missionaries. I have one from Brasil and two from
Portugal and the rest are Americans. Should be all sorts of fun. 

 So far we have met a member here that is 94 and has two Persian cats
that are ridiculously furry pure breads and everything. I got covered
in hair but I have to say they were some pretty sweet cats. He is a
really energetic dude for 94 years old. Anyways I plan to be pretty
lost for the rest of the week trying to get used to the apartment
building jungle again. Time to really trust in the lord to protect us
and lead us where he wants us! Have a great week! And this
thanksgiving be thankful that you know where you are :) It is the
small things that count. 

 Com amor 
Elder Hobson

Week 64

Well this week went by really quickly. With the trip to Sao miguel and
some other administrative things that we had to do it just really felt
like we basically skipped a week.  It was really exciting though and
we did stay really busy.  It was really fun to get to see some of my
buddies for the first time in a while including Elder Thomas while we
were over on sao miguel.  It was a good little trip even though it
left us all a little hung over from the lack of sleep.

Big news out here on the island is that they have a Burger king now.
It is rediculous to see them all soo excited for it and just the crazy
lines and family outings to go get some really overpriced BK.  Funny
how perspective really is everything.

We have a little bit of an interesting situation tonight.  We have
this one less active that I decided to try and contact the other night
that really told us off pretty strongly at first.  Saying some stuff
about how she had fallen for an Elder in the past and because of that
mess she does not want to do with the chruch any more.  But then I
cracked a quick joke and told her that the next time we get some
really ugly elders in here I will leave them a note to let her know
that she can come back to church..  That got her to be open to haveing
us give her a visit.  But I got scared and had absolutely no plans to
actually go and do it until she started calling up with some non
member friends that claim to be interested and apparently she needs
some help as she is going through some tough times right now, I dont
really believe any of it.  So I am really nervous for this one but it
will definatly be interesting.  hopefully i will not have to live up
to my biblical story related with my name and Joseph of Egypt.  But I
am playing it safe and we will be bringing Elder and Sister Broderick
just to be safe.  haha

Ola Presidente

Ainda ficou na mesmo com Elder Pickrell então sinto me que não é vala
pena bater mais na mesmo teclo e explicar de novo. Vou continuar e
orar por ele.

Esta semana passou-se muito rapidamente por causa dos viagens.  Foi
muito bom para receber os treinamentos da conferencia, ajudou me a
identificar algumas áreas em que Eu preciso melhorar e voltar a
focalizar.  Tenho certeza que ao fazer isto vou encontrar com muito
mais sucesso na missão.  Estou grato por cada oportunidade que Eu
tenho para ser chamado a arrependimento  e melhorar.

So I have been learning a lot in my studies about the atonement still
as I just finished reading the book Believing Christ.  It is a really
good book and I sure am grateful for the things that my saviour went
through for me and for all of us.  I feel like there is really never
enough that I can do to that is enough to show him my gratefulness,
and I know that there is no way that I could ever repay him.  I am so
grateful for the plan of mercy that we have and that we truly will get
all that we really truely desire.  I am also glad that I have the
chance to change myself and learn what are the things that truly
matter and what will bring me the most happiness.   I know that God
loves us, I know that we can trust in him and I know that we will
always be best off in following his commandments.  I hope that I as I
go to him prayer looking to recieve forgivness for my weaknesses and
strength to get better I will be able to slowly improve and keep my
covenants so he will be able to keep his and bring me home with all
you wonderful people into the kingdom of our father.

Have a great week!

Com amor
Elder Hobson

P.S.
Here is a quick picture of lunch at quinta dos acores it was
fantastic.  and also me with a crazy member paulo jorge that we helped
write a talk the other week.

Week 63

Dad, We are in the madrid spain temple district.

So as far as my comp..  not a bunch has changed.  I haven't been
updating yall because it is not really all that fun to hear about but
since you asked... He is having serious struggles with his faith and
desires to be doing this work. he regularly has special interviews and
communication with president.  As I have spoken with him I have come
to realize a really sad truth that he is very materialistic and is out
for the wrong reasons.  I understand now quite clearly why Christ
taught that it is difficult for a rich man to enter into the kingdom
of heaven and the saddest part is that he is not even what I would
consider truly wealthy..  I have learned from talking to him that if
you are thinking it may be a good idea to just grin and bear it to
push through something to get a few of the side effects you desire,
but the actual ordeal is not something that is important to you then
you best change your mind and figure something else out.  To sum up
his problem he when talking about future careers told me what he was
considering being because he thinks it would be a bearable way to get
the money and toys that he wants.  I find that just so horribly stupid
it is unbelievable. Pursue your passions and work on your talents, do
not waste away miserably far from your potential because you are
looking for the praise of man.  The mission is not fun if you are in
it to get a better college and marriage application and to please your
parents (to keep your financial support coming).  Those reasons will
certainly bring nothing but misery if that is all that you are looking
for.  I am immensely grateful that you all helped me to get ready and
get my head straight so that I would be out here for the right reasons
having some of the most amazing experiences in my life. I have been
very impressed as I have read the letters that i receive, especially
that my siblings have written me, over the weeks how well you all have
found out how to be happy and find joy in the gospel, or as president
uchdorf said, make the gospel work for you. I am so grateful to have
been raised in such a way that I have been able to find that as well
and I am so grateful as well for all of your wonderful examples to
help me try and keep improving.

Ola Presidente
Meu colega está a ter grandes desafios com a fé dele e a desejo para
continuar.  Ele não está muito interessado em estudar e está
basicamente a passar tempo.  Tenho medo para pedir lhe para testificar
porque já tem dito a mim vários vezes que tudo parece falso e de mais.
Eu vou continuar com paciência e amor porque mesmo quer ajuda-lo mas
estou confuso em o que ele necessita quando ele nem quer esforçar-se
para ganhar fé.

Estou a pensar muito na necessidade de ter a orientação do espirito
santo em nosso trabalho, e como nós veremos o sucesso segundo nosso
fé.  Tem sido a procurar me para ter o mais fé possível mostrando o
Senhor que realmente tenho pro meio dos meus obras obedecendo todas as
regras e mandamentos com o mais exatidão que eu consigo com a ajuda do
espírito.  Eu sei que no tempo dele serei abençoado por causa disto.
Espero que rapidamente o Senhor vai fazer que consigo transmitir o
espirito santo para as corações das pessoas que precisam.

Estamos a trabalhar com familiares de recém conversos esta semana,
temos uma visão de famílias eternas.

We finally were able to do something right in sacarament meeting as I
helped a man prepare a talk that went over perfectly.  which made me
really exctied that something finally worked out in sacrament meeting.

This week has been pretty awesome because we have been able to begin
teaching some of the family of Joel and of Fatima ponte.  We are
teaching Joel's older brother Elson, who is really awesome and already
enjoys coming to church because of the peaceful feelings that he gets
here, and that he really is looking to have God in his life and to
make a better life for himself and be able to be with his daughter
again that is in the united states right now.  Fatima's son Bruno is
very different.  Like I have said before he is good with talking to us
because of the friendship that I have slowly built up with him  and we
finally managed to get a good sit down lesson in with him and begin
teaching.  We found out that he has all sorts of crazy beliefs based
off of science and the history channel including a bunch of stuff that
he got from a show called ancient aliens or something...  It was
really like talking to a hippie that was a little hazy already that
day.  But he is a really nice open guy that is totally willing to
listen and consider our ideas as well so it was still a very good
experience.  A few things that I have learned about the typical
atheist on my mission is for one, it is a lot easier for them to
believe that science can explain everything than to say that there is
a God.  And interestingly enough it is quite normal to hear that they
believe that we are not alone in the universe and that there have been
extra terrestrial beings that have come to earth and caused things to
happen.  The interesting thing is that if it is an alien then it is
plausible, if it is an angel, then it is unrealistic.  Another common
thing that I have noticed is that the main reason that I have heard
that has driven people to stop believing in religion is that it is
just too restrictive and controlling. they are constantly looking to
"free their minds" and "think outside of the box of restricting or
traditional religious beliefs"  The part I think is funny is that the
plan of salvation is literally based on the principle of free agency
and choice and that the commandments of God are given to us to try and
protect us from destroying our freedom by making horrible mistakes.  I
feel that if people like him just take the time to learn about what
the Gospel really is and to try it out in their lives they will
quickly begin to love it because it is the most exciting and freeing
thing ever.

Check the drop box by the way it should be getting a lot of new pics.
A family like ours shows how well the gospel works in our lives. thank
you!

Com Muitissimo amor.
Elder Hobson

Week 62

I would love to have seen that buck as well, glad that jesse stayed
positive with the hunt and had a good time.  yeah they have been going
on the rome temple for a really long time now.  Hopefully things will
go more smoothly for the lisbon one.

So I have got good news about the situation with our branch mission
leader's wife.  We went there last night and I had a really long chat
with her and studied the bible with her to help answer her questions
the best that I possibly could.  In my first transfer my comp was
really into Jehovah Witness stuff and had one of their "bibles" that
is not even legal to call a bible, and a big letter that was written
by a general authority about Jehovah being Christ. So anyways he broke
that down into a table of about 40 scriptures that show quite clearly
that the Jehovah of the old testament is Christ in the new and I made
a copy of that and stuck it in my bible and haven't used it since, but
yesterday I had it to give her a good study to clear up that doubt.
(it is a lot clearer when you use one of the JW versions of the bible
because is is much clearer from their substituting the word Jehovah) I
also talked to her about all of her other questions and showed her
plenty scriptures that confirm the doctrine that we have in the
church.  I was not trying to bible bash or tear their church apart,
but she really needed to see that the fullness of the gospel which we
have is only found in our church.  I also really emphasized the
importance of modern revelation and actual communication with God that
is where the base of our doctrine comes from and not from the study of
the scriptures because that leaves room for human error instead of
having the Church, as we do, run by Christ.  She really enjoyed the
lesson that we had and wants to continue to meet with me to study and
get rid of her doubts. So we are on a much better path already with
her and hopefully I can get her to commit to give up talking to the
JWs before transfers or basically thanksgiving.

Começamos a ver algumas mudanças em nossos amigos naquela nova área.
Sou feliz para estar a ver progresso e para estar a ensinar novas
famílias.  Também estou enfático com algumas mudanças na comportamento
de Elder Pickrell nos estudos e no trabalho.  Acho eu ele esta perto a
virar a esquina que mudará tudo.

Tivemos uma divisão esta semana em que ele ficou na área e tinha que
assumir mais responsabilidade e foi ali que ele começou a mostrar as
maiores diferencias em desejo e animo.  Ficai muito feliz com aquela
divisão com os resultados de meu colega e também porque eu sempre
tenho experiências maravilhosas com Elder Pitcher.  Eu adoro a maneira
em que nos consigamos a ensinar juntos e espero que posso ter a mesmo
união com colegas meus no futuro sendo que facilmente faz que a
trabalho torna se rapidamente para nem parece como trabalho. Em fim
estamos animados e continuaremos a estudar, ensinar, e aplicar a
capitulo 4 na nossas vidas e nas vidas dos outros.

We had a branch Halloween party that was pretty crazy we had sooooo
many little kids there (most of which I have never seen before) which
was fine, but the sisters also invited 3 guys that are known (to
everyone but them apparently) thieves, deportees, one an accused
pedophile, and general trouble makers to be there.  They came mostly
for free food, but I had to spend quite a bit of time on crowd control
making sure that nothing bad happened while they were there but a
sister's camera still is missing right now.   So that was pretty
stressful, but besides that it was a good time for the branch.

We taught a lesson to several new families this week which were quite
fun and varied. We had one that has 5 children and twin 3 year olds
that are little demons which made it the most difficult teaching
environment that I have ever had to deal with on my mission.  Then
another family that was completely different and was quite well
behaved and interested in learning more. Also Fatima ponte is getting
us some pretty awesome references right now and her oldest son is
warming up to hearing the lessons now because of the friendship that
we have been able to build with him.

I had a divison with Elder Pitcher my district leader this week that
was really fun.  We were talking about the idea of rooming together in
BYU when we get back (since we will be going back into school at the
same time) Crazy to think about how fast that is coming. I am loving
every second of my opportunity to serve. Next week we are going to be
flying back over to São miguel which will be a good little adventure
once again so all in all life is good, the chruch is true and the
mission is amazing.

Com amor
Elder Hobson