September 17

Familia,

  Yea, the week's been really good. We have 6 people with dates of baptism in our area now. I has finally decided to prepare for baptism. Also, we had 3 less active members show up to church, which totally rocks!

   Ok, time to answer questions: As of right now, there are 2 packages sitting in the ''other'' mail office, and due to Angolan red-tape, we need another document to pick them up. I'm pretty sure that one of them is the package with the debit card and pictures. I actually did NOT get your blank letters. I hope that they aren't lost in the mail! When it comes to voting, I'll  try to receive your ballot, but if not, the US embassy here has offered us a way to register and vote, we just need to get over there! Also, I need to know: you all mentioned that some of the files were empty last week... did you get all the voice recs and the pictures as well? I expect that some of the videos weren't working, but I'd like to know if you got the pictures at least... Also, could you please take some money from my acount and pay tithing? The mission handbook says that you pay tithing on any money you recieve from home. So if you could pay about 30$ (MTC money for that, and also grandma's money), I would be very apreciated!!! LOVE YOU!!!

   Alright, so I've got a pretty crazy story for the week. But first, I have to say to mom: I'm alright, and so are the other missionaries, so don't be scared. ;) So I was on division with Elder Kearney, and we were walking through a taxi ''praça'', a place where taxis pick people up and drop off, and also a place where like 1000 people come to sell stuff. It is called Congolênces, and is the 2nd biggest praça that I've ever seen. In the front of the praça, there is a mobile police squad trailer that is always there to keep the peace. As Elder Kearney and I were walking out, we saw about 10-15 people yelling into the trailer at 2 cops. I said to Elder Kearney, ''we have to go'' (mission rule to walk away from protests). So we started walking away. We looked back, and then half of the praça started chasing a police officer and charged into the trailer. ''WE NEED TO MOVE!'' I said. We got to the other side of the street, and saw the crowd scattering as the police walked out with some AK-47s. We were about 20 ft away when I looked back and saw one of the cops discharge a round into the air. Then, about a quarter of the praça started packing up to go home. It was AWESOME!!! We went back about a half hour later, and everything was back to normal. Victory Angola.

   But yea... that's my cool story for the week. As for other news, I got to have a group video session with President Kretly, the mission president of Mozambique. Apparently he's going to be a lot more involved here, and if he holds true to form, I'm going to like it. He seems really cool. Elder Renlund (an area 70 that came to visit us) called it ''double coverage'' like in football. That's exciting!

   We've started working a lot closer to our chapel. We need to strengthen the branch most of all here. Angola needs to start growing fast, and we need a strong base for that. So we need people that can get to church on time! haha.

   I'm really excited for this transfer (other than the fact that energy has started faulting a little bit more often), and we should be seeing some more baptism photos! It's looking good!

  I love you all a lot, and I miss you like CRAZY!!! I hope that you all are still doing good. Don't let the stress get to ya! (life sucks when you do... trust me haha)

 

Elder Alex Hobbs

 

 

Grandma and Grandpa,

  How are you?!! I haven't heard from ya in a while, and I haven't written either! Sorry about that, African mail and internet can be a little disfunctional sometimes!

   Are things going well at home? I hear that you've been sick lately. I hope that you're not too run down and that you'll feel better soon. Make sure to have lots of faith. Our God is one of miracles, and he is the same, yesterday, today, and forever.

Things here in Angola are going well. You should both know that I love it here. The children here are AWESOME! We have the chance to visit at an orphanage every 2 weeks, and they are just so happy! They know how to make anything fun, and make a soccer ball last twice as long as they do in the states!

   Thank you so much for the souvenier money. I'll make sure to find something beautiful and bring it home for you. My search will probably have to wait until I get out of the big city though. Most of the neat paintings and cultural items are found in the provincial areas. But the scenery is beautiful as well. Make sure to have my parents and brothers and sister to show you some of the pictures that I've sent home.

   I love you both very very much. I can't wait to see you again and you should know 2 things: First, that the work here in Angola is going very well, and that the people are very good followers of Christ. Second, that I love you with all my heart, and I thank you for all you've done to help me be the representative of Christ that I am.

 

Lots of love,

 

Elder Alex Hobbs

September 10

Família,

 

   Well, I hope you're all ready for the weekly letter of a lifetime:

   This week was a good one. We improved lesson count by 2 lessons, something that is very exciting for me. These past few weeks I've been doing a lot of divisions with the district to ''fulfill the district leader responsibilities''. Elder Hyde and I haven't had a ton of success with baptisms, but we are expecting 1, possibly 3 baptisms on the 22 of September. One that is certain is a girl named L. She's from Congo, and doesn't speak Português very well. She does speak French and Lingala however, which can be helpful. R is her age and also speaks Lingala, and so we invite her to lessons with us. This has been something very very VERY good for R. In the past, R had some self-esteem problems because she had to move around so much, and didn't speak Português. She didn't have all too many friends. We also worried about her because she didn't read scriptures all that often. But now, she's got L and is helping us testify to her of the truth.

 

   This week has been full of new investigators (which does present a problem, as we are supposed to start focusing on re-activation). We met a man named S, and he is very promising. He was interested in the Plan of Salvation, as he has a sickness. However, he is very very receptive, and we think that we'll give him a baptismal date very soon as well. We're also meeting many people close to the chapel, which will allow much more work to be done. (Taxis are getting old in this area :)

   Also, the week was full of what Elder Chandler and I used to call ''Victory, Angola''s. A ''victory Angola'' is a little difficult to describe, but I can give you some examples: when you see two men on a scooter driving at max speed, and the one on the back is holding a cell phone to the driver's ear: Victory Angola. . When you're standing at the street in front of the chapel, and two drunk men on the scooter drive into a parked car at 30mph. However, the one on the back saved the beer: Victory Angola. Yes, the best way I can tell you what Angola is: You will see things that you never thought you saw, smell things you never smelled, and see things that you knew you would see them, but you didn't think you would see them like that. :)

   Next I want to talk to you about a man named S N. He's an older man who's been investigating for quite a while. He's set to be baptized on the 6 of October. However, I think he's more ready than that. We had a lesson with him about the plan of Salvation, in which he asked about if the Earth would become the Celestial Kingdom, and he mentioned something about New Jerusalem. He's been begging us for a triple, but we've been out for a while. He sure as heck deserves it though!

   I got to watch the baptisms of more people from my last area, Cassequel. A and J were baptized (they were the family of C, H, D, and E P). That family is very special, and it's just another one of those little signs that Angola is getting better and better. I had a little tiny experience with that a few days ago. We got pulled over while we were on division (Elder Richter and I), and I did not have my seatbelt on. We were expecting either a ticket, or, more likely, a petition for a bribe. However, the cop just looked at me and said: ''you're not doing anyone any favors by not wearing your seatbelt.'' He asked us for documentation, and then let us go. WITHOUT A BRIBE OFFER!!! (ps we don't ever pay bribes). I know it doesn't sound like much, but in my eyes, it is a HUGE step for Angola. This country has a bright bright future!

   Things have been really fun this week. We had many activities: On Wednesday, we got to go to an orphanage and teach English to some kids. We also played some sports with them and watched them sing ''We are the world'' by Micheal Jackson. I also taught some of them how to play 4 square!!!!! It was a lot of fun. Another fun thing we had was that we went to a public basketball court and had a 3v3 game with some Angolans that were playing there:

1. They made me take off my glasses before we started.

2. I am terrible at basketball.

3.They swapped out players throughout.

4. White men can't jump.

WE WON!!! And not by a small margin. We played 3 games and won 2 of three, the last one at like 20 to 4 or something. It was a lot of fun. I learned a Português swear word that day. XD

 

All in all, I'm doing well. I love hearing your stories, and I'm sorry that I don't always write alot. (I usually forget a lot of stuff.) Also, it is very infrequent that I write girls. I know that that is a HUGE shocker for all of you, but, hey, I'm on a mission right? haha

 

Love you all,

 

Elder Alex Hobbs

 

PS ate some more funge this week.

September 3, 2012

Hey family,

   President Thompson finally arrived! We have a mission president now!!! It is going to explode here!

   So, this week was a slow one. It was elections week here, and no one was sure what was going to happen. Members have told us very scary stories of past election years. To avoid problems, we came home earlier. We were at home at 6:00 pm from 2 days before and after the election day. On the election day itself, we went into a lockdown. It was very boring. Nothing happened. Everyone on just sat in the street and drank beer. It was a very calm week.

   I hope that you all had fun up in island park! I'll bet Chris and Summer are loving the new job! It's good to hear that Jakers is doing better. I hope that the sodium inbalances aren't too bad. :(

   So, I still have not received the pictures package yet, but I wouldn't worry about it for at least 3 more weeks. Paciência é um virtude!

   I went on a lot of divisions this past week. District leading responsibilities can be fun! We worked and got in almost as many lessons as we usually do, which means that next week without elections, we'll be rockin hard! I hope that you all enjoy these voice recordings that I'm attaching. I've got family messages, some of us goofing around, voices of my district, and also of R and P, two kids that I love with all my heart! Plus, I'll try to send some pictures that I've taken. :)

Love ya all soooo much!!!!!

   Elder Alex Hobbs

PS KFC is open now... good things will come. :0

PSS Did I ever tell you guys about what an Angolan funeral is like?

6 Attached files| 7.1MB

August 27th

Família,

  Home sounds good. I was very happy to hear that Jake is doing
better. That picture had me worried because it was the first email I
opened! But I'm happy that he's doing better.
  My companion is doing well. He is very cool. He doesn't say much,
but he is very funny, and is very hardworking. He's learning the
language well, and likes the culture very very much. He is allergic to
chicken, however, which does present a little problem... that is about
90% of what people cook here for us! haha. Luckily, there is usually
something to substitute, and he's not a very big eater.
  Elder Hyde is a very nice missionary. He's from Salt Lake, and has
a girl waiting for him at home. He also has an adopted brother (I
can't quite remember from where), and his family sounds very funny.
  Things are good here. We've started commiting more people to
baptism. We now have 4 marked. I. missed her baptism though. She
isn't quite sure that it's what she needs right now. Although she is
very spiritual, she's really swamped a lot. She has two kids and works
a graveyard shift at a bar. Also, the father of the kids told her that
if she ever wanted a chance with him again, she could not be baptized.
He's a chump. But she's told us that she would pray and fast to learn
of what she should do. She's unfortunately falled away a little bit.
We'll keep working with her though.
  The branch could use some work. We have the most dysfunctional one,
haha. But the District President told the companionship before me: "do
anything you can to keep this branch from falling apart!" So, we kind
of have free reign to do what's necessary, haha. I've been personally
trying to train our branch mission leader. He's a 12 year old in a 25
year old's body. He's a great guy, but he's a lazy one too! haha.
  Our branch President is amazing though. I came to him with a member
who doesn't have a job and needs money in 2 months to pay rent. The
branch's fast offerings are empty. But, he went and found 2 or 3 job
options, and bought her family some food. President Pedro Batista is
awesome. Please pray for him!
  I've been eating... alright. haha. This branch hasn't established a
missionary feeding schedule yet (but it has come up multiple times
these past few  correlations and they're going to start one in a week
or two). Also, I've been a little low on cash since the card change we
had. I used $103.50 of personal money when we went without cash for a
while, and I may need to use just a little more. Don't worry, I get it
all payed back to me, and I should be fine with money this next week.
(Don't stress about this, I'll be fine mom!)
  I pretty much always have water and electricity now. It's election
week, and so the government has worked hard to make sure that nothing
faults. It will be an interesting week. 2 days before and 2 days after
election day, missionaries will come home at 6 pm as a safety
precaution, and we will not work on election day itself. We are the
first missionaries to be here during elections, and so no one is sure
about what will happen. We do know that tomorrow, Cuca, the main beer
here, will be 1/2 off for the President's birthday (campaign tool!).
That means a bottle of beer will cost 30kw. That is basically free.
Hmm.... Well, I guess we'll talk with more drunks! haha
  Our typical day is filled with a lot of walking. I've felt really
bad because I've only been hitting about 15 lessons a week, when 20-22
is average. We split the area, and all of the people we contact drop
through on their appointments and disappear. We've been working hard
at getting more people. Our current investigators are mostly pretty
far from baptism, or just live VERY far away. We've been given
instruction to work close to the chapels, because if someone who is
very faithful and ready to be baptized can't find the funds to get to
church, they can't be baptized. So we've been working closer to the
chapel to find more people.
  Sorry, the pics and voice messages won't upload here... this café
prohibits them. :(
  As for the pickpocketing: that's ancient history. It was just some
money and a phone card. Não faz mau. :)
  Yes, I got the package. The pen and blacklight are cool, but...
why? haha. I'm also very excited for my camera charger. THANK YOU
THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!!! Packages are taking about a month to get
here now, and no one has lost anything in the mail, so I think just
about everything is safe to send. :)

  I hope that that letter was sufficient for you guys this week. You
have to make sure to tell me everything about home in the next one.
Hey, how are Owen and Luxana? I have not gotten a letter from them in
a very long time! Que isso?!
  Weston, you rock man. You ROCK. Take it easy on the Xbox though, ok?
Mom and dad, I hope that school starting will be good for you all. I
hope that everything in your lives runs smoothly. Stay well, and
patient!!!

I love you all so so so so so much.

Love, Elder Alex Hobbs

August 20th Use Google Translate

o my family,

  Esta semana correu muito bem. Estavamos a trabalhar muito para
achar pessoas. Infelizmente, muitas delas escolheram para faltar em
nossas lições. Mas, encontremos três pessoas novas. Um deles é um
pessoa de polícia. O nome dele é Gabriel. Nós ensinamos uma lição a
ele, e no fim ele disse: ''posso removar uma coise no meu bolso para
que posso orar?'' Dizemos: ''Sim, claro.'' Ele tirou uma pistola de
bolso dele. haha foi ingresado. Vitoria Angola!!
  O Chris e Summer parecem muito feliz, especialmente com o novo
trabalho dele. Desculpa para ouvir sobre Jake. Espero que ele vai
melhorar embreve. Vou fazer um jejum por ele. Têm que ter fé no
Senhor. Ele sabe o que é certo por ele.
  Escola, escola, escola! Boa sorte para toda a família por isso.
Espero que este ano vai passar suavemente! (Inclusive de você Pai!
Continue e não perde fé, ´ta bom? Você é muito intellegente. Vai
consegir!)
  Meu sinal não é muito bom hoje. Então infelizmente eu não posso
entregar mensagems de voz para vocês. Mas, tenho. Também, não recebi o
packote. Espero que ninguém roubou! :)
  Muito de amor, (boa sorte com o tradução),

Elder Alex Hobbs

P.S. O President Thompson deve chegar esta semana que vêm. YAY!!!!

August 13, 2012

Minha família,

   Wow. Chayden and Jordan are back? School starts in two weeks? Geeze, your guy's time in America sure is going fast! Things here seem to be slowing down! haha. I'm glad to see you all hiking again. You should all skip a baseball game or two and go up to Yellowstone! But I also hope that things will also calm down for you all as well. I miss you all and having fun with you all like that. I also miss the temple very much. I can't wait when other people see me with you there and call me skinny and happy! haha

   Things have been a little slow this past week. We're short on our investigators right now, and are doing some finding. It's coming really well. We should be back up to a full pool very soon. The training is also very nice. Elder Hyde is a blessing, and is teaching me more than I am teaching him. Thank goodness! I need it! We do have a baptism set up for next Saturday. Her name is I and she's really cool. She has a job as a bar tendor and she works very late nights. She gave up alcohol, and came to church very well, even after working the entire night before! She's missed church the past 2 weeks, so I hope that you guys will see some white pictures in 2 weeks. Cross your fingers! (and pray... in fact, if you have to, don't cross your fingers, PRAY! leave behind vain traditions of our fathers!) ;)

   We've been having a lot of fun though. Our district is full of very cool people, and our zone leader is doing much better than before, stress-wise. I also think that my language might be improving, as less and less people are going ''huh?'' when I speak. :)

   I'm having a hard ! I hope that you all stay super happy and enjoy life to the fullest and learn from your trials!

Love,

Elder Alex Hobbs

August 6, 2012

Malembê!

 

   I figured that the robbing thing would freak someone out, haha. Yea, about 2 or 3 pdays ago, Elder Chandler and I were riding some taxi trains home. I had some groceries in my hands and we were waiting at a big taxi stop. Some drunk guys came up and asked us for 10kw. We told them no and then proceeded to catch the taxi next to us. Some guy came up to me and stuck his hand into my pocket and stole my cheap wallet from the MTC. It had 40$ and a Saldo card in it (phone minutes). Then we caught the taxi home. Elder Chandler didn't lose anything, and no one got hurt (although, if I had yelled ''bandito'' when he stuck his hand in my pocket, the crowd would litteraly have ripped off the guy's head. Angolans hate theives.)

   That's the story. No more, no less. The only reason I told you was because I'm supposed to. But let's get to the good stuff:

 

   Elder Chandler went to Huambo, a province that held the past capital of Angola. He is so lucky. Provinances are so cool! But let's be on the same page: Elder Hyde is very cool! He is speaking Portugês better than I did when I came here. He's very nice and ready to learn. I'm just happy that I can be an influence in mission culture. It is going to be a great blessing.

 

   I'm very happy to hear that all is well at home. Keep praying Owen. He listens. Also, we will so totally watch Falling Skies in 17 months! But only if we hike table rock the next day!

   Weston is finally done with Boy Scouts eh? Time to move to Man Scouts! (Aka use your Eagle card to get out of car tickets and to get a job! haha) Good job bro. Scouts is a big acheivement, and it was always worth it in my life.

   I hope you all stay as happy as I am, and keep doing the primary answers alright?

 

   Amor,

 

Elder Alex Hobbs