June 10, 2013

Família,

   THAT IS SO CRAZY! I had a prompting this week to ask you guys for Aunt Tania's adress so I could write them a letter! I think the Lord is speaking!

   This week was great! Elder Harper and I are finding a lot of new families to teach! We've set a goal to baptize 5 families in 9 weeks! It's going to take some work, but I'm excited for it! President Kretly is from Brazil and will be here until President Merrill arrives. I think things will turn out well.

   I got to see R and P again! I went on a division to Viana, and we stopped by their house. It was so much fun. My love for those two kids is so strong, and I hope that they'll keep strong in the church. They've gone through some really REALLY rough times. But Viana has been good for them I think. They're in school now, and they LOVE it. The homework gives them something to do, as well as they get to meet some friends. Luckily, the branch there has been very supportful to get them the right kind of friends!

   Well, I took Elder Harper to the praça today. He's going home soon, so he's got to get some cool Africa stuff! I also got some cool stuff for all of you! I hope you're excited!

   Alright, so I have a cool investigator to tell you all about: his name is Zu, and he is SICK! He speaks every important language in the world: english, spanish, portugues, chinese, french, russian... everything but italian! He's very smart. He's been through about 3 or 4 churches, and has some very strong faith in Christ. He loves sitting with us. He says that he's seen a difference in his life since we started passing by, and he had great feelings in church. He always tries to give us a ride because he can feel the difference when we leave. His only hold up is the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith. It's something ''completly new'' he says, and it's a little hard to accept... for now. He'll get it. I'm positive!

   Well, I hope that you're all doing well. Mom, I'm healthy. I actually have a story for you about my health. Well, the brazilian food strikes again! We had a zone conference with President Kretly. Everyone also got sick. However, on the same night, we went to H and A wedding and ate some cooked caterpillars! Elder Harper and I were fine! I guess the caterpillars have anti-bodies in them! haha

I love you guys. I hope that your summer is great! 

Elder Alex Hobbs

June 3, 2013

Família,

  This was just a great week for everyone! Reliefs from stress, you guys sent great letters, and I just was plain old happy this week! I can't believe Weston got dumped before he even got into a relationship. He should have sent another text that said: ''yeah, me too.'' haha

   Well, let me tell ya about this great week I had: H and A got married and baptized! It was so cool. Their baptism was really cool because they were baptized and also a man from my first area named J L was baptized as well. He's the one that has just been waiting for marriage since the first missionaries arrived, and he's cool enought to walk like two miles to church when he runs out of money. It was a very spiritual baptism.

   Also, I got to go to a really good motivational talk. President Kretly has been here for a few days just running around doing some cleanup work until President Merril arrives on the first of July. He gave a fireside talk based on the ''7 habits of highly effective people'' (he worked for that company). It was nice. The best part was seeing a bunch of people from my old areas. It's nice to know that people will remember my name.

   So, three quick things: first, I knew an Amy B that was in my class, but I didn't know her all too well. I'd be interested to hear what she thought of me, because I was a strange child in High School. haha. Also, I would love to know where that family lives. If they're just waiting for us. Just tell Kolby that I need the name of the ''bairro'' (pronounced 'by-ho') and a phone number and I can find em.

   Now, I have two quick tasks for weston and owen to do. Owen: Keep practicing for soccar man... my goalie skills are growing... fast... and also to update my facebook. There's been a lot of people tell me that they sent an invite. You rock man!

   Weston: Who is brittney? and also see if you can get a hold of that matlock girl. If you can, see if you can get a pic of her baptism and tell her to come to my homecoming. I'd like to talk to her. :)

   I love you guys. I'm getting pretty excited to come home as I watch other missionaries go. But I'm doing great. It's starting to cool down a little. I love you all so so so much!

Elder Alex Hobbs

May 27, 2013

Família,

   This week was a great one. We worked our guts out and got a lot of lessons in. We also found a bunch of families that I think have some great potential. Plus, the house I live in is so much fun. Things are good. Things are good.

    Zone Leading so far has been pretty much the same as other missionary work, but maybe things are going to change now that we're getting a new mission president. President Kretley will be here in Angola for about three weeks doing some trainings and such, and then there will be about a month of no mission president time until President Merril arrives on July 1st. The Abdos are the office couple here in between.

   But yea, things are good. I'm part of the 2nd Zone, (there's only 2) and I'm lovin' it. I'm thinking that Elder Harper and I will see a lot of success as long as we rely on the Lord. I hope I can be a better zone leader than dad's were!

   I think it's so funny that Pokemon is cool again. We'll probably be able to sell our collection for bank here pretty soon. Haha. But it sounds like school being out has everyone happy, which is great. Tell Weston that he needs to kiss a girl once before coming out, but after that: DEIXA or DROP in english. They are scourges to the missionaries here! haha.

   So, I'm feeling great. I feel like the Lord is blessing me a lot, and I'm learning to just be a better person now. Elder Harper is the man.

   Well, no new news, but I'll keep you all posted on everything else.

Love ya! Elder Alex Hobbs

May 20, 2013

Alô famíla!

   My new area is great! It has a lot of potential for some really strong family baptisms. Elder Harper is way cool. He's what you call a ''dying'' missionary, and he is very Christlike. He turned 21 yesterday.

   The branch is cool. I still go to the same chapel because it's a shared one, and things look bright as to branch organization. I still don't know a whole lot about everyone, so I'll have to keep you all posted.

   Well, President Thompson flies out here in two days. I hope I can help. 

   It looks like you're all doing well. Jello in a straw? That's just weird man! Weston, get your homework done and enjoy your Sundays! I love Sundays. They're way relaxed and have good lessons, plus Pday is tommorrow! Wooo!

   Sorry that don't have a lot of news other than that, but I'm doing well. I'll give you more news as I learn more about Benfica! Love you all!

Elder Alex Hobbs

May 13, 2013

Família,


   Wow! Skype was so much fun yesterday! I liked it a lot. It looks like Luxana is getting REALLY tall.
   Well, I got transferred. I'm going to Benfica, the branch that split off from ours only 2 transfers ago. I'll be serving in the 'A' area with Elder Harper... and I'll be serving as a  Zone Leader.     I'm a little sad to go. Our area was finally starting to see a LOT of potential. We've been meeting some really cool people, and more are starting to progress. But Benfica should be nice. They seem really organized, and I hear that the branch President is awesome. Plus it will be nice to have a companion with more experience than me to teach me just a little bit more before I become the oldest. But the house isn't as nice as the one I'm in now... sigh... hahaha
   But Skype was way good. You should all know: I took those parasite pills quite a while ago. As far as I know, I should be parasite free. I haven't eaten anything off the street since I took them, and my trips to the bathrooms are much more pleasant now.
   Also, I think I might try and buy some CDs with Angolan music on them. They'll be a little more expensive, because I've decided not to buy street music anymore... I'm going all legal from now on. hahaha no more limewire for me!
   But things are still going good here in Luanda. I'm about 99% certain I'll never see a providence while I'm here. But, I'm about 75% sure that I'll get one more area before the end of my mission. I really REALLY want to go to Viana. It'll be the last place in the city I haven't been, plus R and P are out there. It would be the perfect end to the mission. :)
   Well, I love you all so much, keep on keepin on!

Elder Alex Hobbs

May 6, 2013

Family!


  Well, mom, I made it! I now live in the nicest possible place for a
missionary to live in the entire city. Water and power never fault,
and it's nice. So I thought you would like to hear that. We moved on
Saturday, and it was way fun.
    It was a harder week. Low lesson count, stress in the house, and a
few other things, but I'm better now. Mother's day this week! I'm way
excited. I'm scheduled to skype at President Thompson's at 6pm Angola
time, which should be 11am Idaho time. If that's wrong... well, you
know what to do. :) But it's going to be so much fun. I'm at a
member's house right now. Her name is B, and she is the funniest
person you will ever meet. She's what you call a 'Mae grande' or a Big
Mama. It reminded me of her when I read Jake's story. But she's very
loud and demanding, and she's pretty much my Angolan mom. She'll laugh
at everything, and you can never make a visit with her without eating
something. Her and her two daughters are pretty much the same age on
the inside though. None of them can wake up until about ten o'clock.
  We had 2 baptisms. T and B got baptized, and it was nice.
I'll try and get pics the next time I'm at a trustworthy location.
Bibi came late to his confirmation, so he'll get confirmed next week.
But he came to watch us play some soccar today, so I think he'll be
strong as long as the missionaries walk with him.
  I wrote my talk today. It is going to be AWESOME! I really hope
that some hometeaching comes out of it.
  I got your letter! Thank you so much for the priesthood line of
authority as well. I've been wondering about that for a while. I also
really liked the story about Grandpa Earnie. And big thanks to mom for
the encouragement. Luxana: YOU ARE AN ARTIST!
  Well, I'll see all of you on Sunday! I'm excited!


Amor,


Elder Alex Hobbs

April 29, 2013

Família,



  It was a long week. It was pretty hard just because I was feeling a
little overloaded.
  We were a little low on money, so I had to
supplement, but most of the money I pulled out was for personal items
and souveniers, and I plan on not pulling too much more out for a long
long time... let me know if it gets to be too much! But I'm better
now. I had some good talks with people, and I feel great and excited
for the coming week. Mom: thank you so much for all the stuff you
helped me with and cleaned for me. I get it now. :) Weston: you owe
mom something for help on your election stuff! Haha! But seriously,
congratulations broski! You are more popular than I was haha!
  Success story for the week: H and A finished all of their
documentation for marriage! They delivered everything to our branch
marriage counselor, and they plan to get married on the 31 of May, and
they'll get baptized the next day. Á final!
  But other than that it was a slow week. We watched conference,
which was nice, but I didn't get a lot out of it. We were in the back
and couldn't hear, so I'll have to wait for the Liahona to come out to
us. Plus, Moçambique straight up stole our spotlight! haha just
kidding.
  Well, I love you all very very much, Owen, you can totally use my
rubic's cube. Á vondade!

Elder Money says hi!