How exciting sam left!

We had an exciting and interesting week yet again... it is always an adventure in my life.. especially this transfer. haha. We had some little problems with our water at the beginning of the week and we were locked out of our apartment cause the guy from the offices to fix it had our keys. We had divisions with the Hermanas from Ado Bonzi. I was there with Hermana Claros! We visited a lady they were teaching, made pancakes (well really crepes but they call them panqueques) then we spent two hours washing all of her dishes. In the end we were able to set a baptismal date for her! haha its always through charity that we can warm the heart. Then on Saturday we had a talent show in the ward it was really fun! There were skits from the movie night at the roxbury, then two bands from members here, and we sang two primary songs with one of the members that plays the guitar! There was a friend of Lucas that came who we have taught in the past. He is about Jake's age and has a hard life. speaking of Lucas, he received the melchezdic priesthood last week.

We had a funny thing happen on Sunday. We share our building with the ward Ciudadela and they have their sacrament at the last and ours is first. Alejandro and Beatriz brought a friend from Ciudadela that stayed with us during the block and then we thought we would pass his address to the elders afterwards. When we went to talk to them they had someone for us! They said a lady came for the last block, it ended up being Mary, the lady that her daughter was a member, we met her last week!! We hadn't been able to contact her during the week cause she had changed her work schedule.... but she came on all her own. haha so we had switched investigators for the day with Ciudadela.

My little companion is doing great! She is a little shy but she works really hard and is always helping. I really do appreciate her! We have our fun moments everyday, and the language has improved a lot... but there is always room to improve right?

Well i love you all and hope the best with this new year of school, it's always refreshing to start over new. We just recently shared with Sara about the Sabbath day. The importance of partaking of the sacrament and how we can really apply the atonement in our lives. What refreshing hope it gives to each of us individually to be clean and renew our covenants. Have a great week!

1- me and Hermana Isla!
2- Andres with his ctr ring
3- Alejandro painted this picture ahahaha
4- the baptism of Nahuel and Andres

Wow - End of August

Hola mi familia!!!
Today it has been 11 months since I have left and how time goes by so fast! We had some adventures this week and found some great new people! We received one from the stake president, a lady who had a daughter that was a member but she passed away a couple years ago from cancer. So that's all we knew about her that she had interest in the church. so we went to visit her on Saturday and she explained this to us, that she recently had a dream that her daughter was unhappy with the mom. and wanted her to change something in her life. so the mom began to pray to one of the her santos in the catholic church, but she explained to us she didn't feel good during her prayer so she stopped. Then came one day she felt really depressed and sad. Her other daughter called to see how she was and she explained how she was and the daughter told her ¨mom! you need to contact the mormon church!¨ she recently talked to a member and wanted her mom to learn more as well. We were able to explain to her the plan of salvation and that the church of christ has been restored! It was amazing how strong the spirit was.

OH and i received the package from the Parslow fam! Most of it is gone already! hahaha. we ate the mac and cheese the other day and the idaho potatoes! it was delish! we are going to open on the ramen noodles... I never thought I would miss them but its nice to have a little taste of home. haha. It was really nice of them to send it! Give Leslie a big hug for me!

Sara is progressing really well! She bought a cute little dress for her daughter to come to church on Sunday! She loves that they talk a lot about the family in the church. Last week we ate at our apartment for lunch and I shut the door without the keys! The door knobs here are different, they dont have a handle to open from the outside so you always have to have your keys to open the door no matter if it's locked or not. I locked ourselves out of the apartment... we called a locksmith later that night to come rescue us. haha. I never fail to show that I am just human.. this morning as well we had a little problem with water everywhere on the floor... good thing we only have tiled floors.

Sunday was so amazing to see Alejandro bless the sacrament and to watch Nahuel pass it around. I am blessed to be here and see their progress. I wish I could just bring them all to Utah and live with us.... its a blessing to be a part in the lives of these people. and how important it is to have the spirit! Sometims you wonder if the people really listen to you or if they understand. It reminds me of the talk by Elder Anderson from general conference in April commented how the son of Alma remembered what his father had said and how Enos remembered the words of his father talking about a savior! The sacred name of our savior contains much power and the importance to talk about Christ! We must always be anxious to share what we feel and know! thank you for all!
I love you!!

HOBBS FAM!
This week went by so fast! it was good. We had divisions this week with the Hermanas from Aldo Bonzi. Hermana Urdapilleta came here with me! We also had a new investigator come to church! She lives a couple blocks down from the church and we found her last week cleaning the sidewalk ( which practically every person does here when the sun is out) . She is from Bolivia and lives with her sister and her two kids! I'm going to color her sister's hair tomorrow for some service... haha. I have decided it is a good way to get into these houses here cause where we live a lot people live in fear or are very cautious of us! They like me being their own personal hair dresser haha.

We had a conference this week for all the new missionaries. I always love to hear different ideas of what we can do and what we need to work on more. There is always something to work on or better.. and there was a returned missionary that came to visit her converts here with a friend that served awhile ago, she is from West Haven, just around the corner of Kanesville where you taught mom. Her last name was Zaugmaister I think?.. it was cool to hear their testimonies. It has been 2 years since that they returned from their missions. They both knew my comp from the Hurlingham! We also had a family home evening on Saturday with the family Colque!

I love Sam's scripture that he chose for his plaque. President Benton always tells us we are in a spiritual war here and its so true. We are not fighting against the people but against the powers of satan. Sometimes it may seem like hope is lost, but we have the promise when we obey that we will be shielded from the things of the world. its so true! Those little things everyday protect us and our tesimonies. I love you all and enjoy your last week of the summer! It is such an adventure to be here! It's more than I could have ever imagined.. hahaha i love you all! be safe and read your scriptures! the church is true!

A New Week

SO!! i have my little mini missionary with me! she is from Hurlingham, it is in the stake! Originally she was going to be in her own ward with Hermana Scott but we changed it! She's 19 years old and comes from a family of 4! She´s a good little worker and really helps me out! I am so grateful for the companions i have had! We had a great week to start out with and I'm excited to work with her this transfer! She served a mini mission in Mercedes... and now in the big city of Ramos! so she will be with me here for 5 weeks! We have some great investigators and some new ones! We have this man from the street that has come a couple of times to church so far. and he loves it! He told us he feels so loved and exactly where our heavenly father wants him to be.

I am in an amazing ward with tons of help from the bishop and the members, I can talk enough Spanish to find the bus we need... soo we are all good! hahaha. We are very blessed, where much has been given much is required.
The grandma of Lucas passed away last Sunday, the one they recently found a place for. we went and visited them on Wed and thats when we found out. We had the Liahona with us with the talk that President Monson gave about the resurrection in the Sunday session. I was able to bear my testimony to them about how special it is to me to know the plan that heavenly father has for us. Marisa was crying with me... then on Saturday we went with our mission leader to visit them... I think this is what we have been praying for them to prepare to receive the gospel in their home.

I am grateful to be here... no matter if most of the people tell us no in the streets. when we find that person who is looking for the truth everything is worth it! I just marvel every time we visit Beatriz and Alejandro! he is going to be the secretary in the young men! I have learned a lot here the importance is that we do look forward with faith in the lord and in the future. Mistakes we make are there to build us up and to learn from them!

It sounds like you all have had a great summer! Is the sweet corn on that is one treat I do miss..
I love you all and have a great week! Keep sending the emails from Sam, I love reading them!

New companion

Hola mi hermosa familia!!
So we had such a great week to end off the transfer! My last days with Hermana Salazar here were very special, she has been my anchor and we have seen so many miracles here in the big city of Ramos. You would all love her, she´s so funny! Alejandro proudly baptized his two sons on Saturday! It was a very special to see Alejandro reach this point in his life. He is a very spiritual man and loves to learn more about the savior. Andres the 8 year old, received the gift of the holy ghost that night and then Nahuel who is 12, was able to receive the holy ghost on Sunday and so did Maria Angelica. For testimony meeting Hermana Salazar bore hers and so did Maria. It was a very spiritual meeting. We had some new investigators that we found during the week to work with. One of them is this 16 year old girl from Peru, she is amazing and so is her family. She came with us on Saturday to the youth Super Saturday... with sports and food and games. Then she came on Sunday and really enjoyed the church. She wrote Hermana Salazar a goodbye note thanking us for answering her prayers... that she had always questioned if god was listening or watching over her.

Today was our new day of transfers... and guess who is my companion...... I DONT KNOW YET! Its a new hermana coming in. I'm going to be training AHHHH! I'm excited... but a little nervous. I'm with hermana scott right now. She is going to have a mini missionary! She is the other cosmetologist in the mish... so we are going to have a hair cutting party tonight!

July was a very good month here in the mission. Today the president was talking about how the mission is growing more and more. We are seeing many miracles day by day, focusing on others' needs especially in this world of challenges, difficulties and trials. Im grateful for the gospel, that is my anchor and my armor. I know it is true. Everytime I have a chance to bear witness of it I feel a confirmation in my heart. There is no coincidence in this life, everything and everyone has a purpose and it is my job right now to awaken those who already accepted the plan of our heavenly father before coming to this existence.

I received all your letters today but I still need to read them! Thank you for everything and I love you all with my heart! We are a part of so many rich and wonderful blessings! There is no reason to be sad and discouraged because Christ lives and through him we have the hope for a better life. It is a goal to work for... eternal life!
Have a great week my family!