8-2-15 final letter

Hello,

Quote: "12 For there are many yet on the earth among all sects, parties, and denominations, who are blinded by the subtle craftiness of men, whereby they lie in wait to deceive, and who are only kept from the truth because they know not here to find it— 13 Therefore, that we should waste and wear out our lives in bringing to light all the hidden things of darkness, wherein we know them; and they are truly manifest from heaven— 14 These should then be attended to with great earnestness. 15 Let no man count them as small things; for there is much which lieth in futurity, pertaining to the saints, which depends upon these things. 16 You know, brethren, that a very large ship is benefited very much by a very small helm in the time of a storm, by being kept work ways with the wind and the waves. 17 Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed." Doctrine and Covenants 123:12-17

What a CRAZY last week! It was pretty good. Full of miracles, "lasts", and all sorts of other good stuff. Where to begin?!?ㅋㅋ Elder Gildea and I decided at the beginning of this transfer that we wanted to break my record of street contacting. We set it as a transfer goal and this week we decided to go for it. My previous high was 365 and we set our goal for 400! So this was it the 400 street contact week. Then one night as I was lying down for bed, I started thinking, why not just go crazy hard and hand out a ton of Book of Mormons and pamphlets and just give literally every last ounce of energy I have left to the Lord? So we woke up in the morning and during companionship study, our 400 contact week turned into an operation of kicking Satan in the bum! We went to the church and contacted the mission office to get our hands on as much material as possible! We went super hard and saw a lot of cool miracles from it. We met one guy who we picked up as a new investigator and he has a baptismal date (all just in this week). Although numbers don't mean everything or anything really, it was cool to see the figures and visualize just how many people we were able to give an opportunity to hear the gospel to. We were able to do 423 contacts, 359 pamphlets, 109 phone numbers, 55 Books of Mormon, 35 other lessons, and 3 new baptismal dates. This week was also officially my two year mark. THAT is a crazy thought. Lots of love from members and investigators this last transfer. I'm super grateful for the opportunity I had to serve in this area for my last transfer. I loved it and was able to see a TON of cool miracles with people. Kind of crazy to think that my mission is ending. I have loved being a missionary and the things that I have learned. So grateful for this experience and for my Heavenly Father, He loves us. My testimony has grown a ton and I am ready to go on to the next chapter in my life. Love and miss you all! See you soon! HOORAH! GO BRONCOS! The church is true!

-Elder Hobosn

3-23-15

Hello!

Quote: I can't remember exactly how it was phrased, but it went something like this. Excuse my paraphrasing. "We can never serve or repay back God more than He has already done for us. Even when we think we are serving Him, He is only serving us." -Elder Ballard from Our Search For Happiness

This week was really good and I feel like quite a lot happened. On P-day last week we hiked a mountain outside our apartment. Pretty fun as usual but it was a pretty smoggy day so that was a bummer. Our view of the city was a little blocked, but I still got some sweet pics of course!  It is also getting a lot hotter here (minus today where it feels like winter again because of the winds from China). But most of this week we have gone out in our suits jackets (because we have to until General Conference) and we have been pretty warm! The wind blows a lot this time of year. And the Koreans HATE it because it supposedly blows this so called "yellow dust" pollution stuff to Korea. Koreans always walk around with little face masks like doctors, especially older Koreans! Our investigator who's mom was opposing is doing really well. He told her about us meeting him and she was really sad but didn't freak out or anything. He thinks that if we give it some time (maybe a week or two) that she will let him get baptized! So that is looking really good! I love that kid! He is such a pure soul and understands and really loves the gospel. Our other investigator is doing well and got his baptismal interview and passed. I haven't told you a lot about him because we haven't done a ton with him. He is 10 years old and the son of a recent convert we work with. He was taught all but one lesson before I got here so we taught him the final one and now he will be getting baptized on Saturday this week! So that will be pretty cool! Always great to see families come together like that! So fun! This week was awesome though! We were able to pick up 3 more baptismal dates and one of them came to church yesterday! As of now he is looking like the only one that will sustain as a baptismal date but it was cool to see how when we work hard and invite people we can see those miracles.  Other than that all is going well over here. We have transfer calls this week! If Elder Killpack doesn't get transferred we will probably be together until June. If he does get transferred I will have a new companion in like a week and a half! So we will see!  The church is true! Thank you all for the prayers!

-Elder Hobson

3-16-15

Hello!

Quote: "3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;

4 And patience, experience; and experience, hope: 

5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. 

6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 

7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. 

8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:3-8

"38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present,nor things to come, 

39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:38-39

I love these scriptures. I found them while studying this week. It helped me put in perspective how great Christ's love for us truly is and also how even if we wanted, we can't escaped that love. In essence Christ will always love every person, every time, no matter what circumstances!!! He died and suffered for us not as a group, but as individuals. even multiple people who suffer the same or similar trials, for example grief or guilt. He didn't undergo just a general "grief/guilt" suffering. But rather he suffered it each and every time for each and every individual. He knows what it feels specifically for our chemical make up, our thoughts, our feelings, and our circumstances. So grateful for His atoning sacrifice and love. 

This week was great! We had stake conference which was awesome! The Seoul temple president came and spoke to us. His talk was pretty fun!!!:) He bore really strong testimony and I felt the spirit very strong. I love what one speaker said about Nephi. If he hadn't have tried and failed to get the plates once before then he wouldn't have known Laban's voice and wouldn't have been able to command Laban's servant! That really stuck with me. Sometimes the Lord asks us to try and fail multiple times for a reason. Cool principle. Also, I got to go back to one of my old areas since it is where the stake center is and I got to see one of my recent converts! That was pretty fun!:) After stake conference a girl got baptized in our ward. That was cool! Our ward is doing really well! If all goes well we will have 3, maybe 4 baptisms this month in our ward and 5 in our zone! Which is pretty high for these parts! Exciting stuff!!!:):):) As for one of the kids with baptismal dates that we are teaching, we taught him the ten commandments yesterday and we were thinking this week that he is breaking two of them , honor parents and lying.... so we talked about needing to be keeping the commandments before and after baptism and also how his mom had to give him permission. We talked about it really seriously and really in depth. We even did a roleplay with him on how he might tell his mom. He was/is really nervous and scared but he said he would do it tonight. So Elder Killpack and I are fasting for him today. He doesn't think his mom will continue to let him meet with us, but we are just fasting that if now isn't the time for him to get baptized, that he will have the opportunity later in his life to accept it. Kind of hard. Seems like even when we find the most prepared of people we don't always get to see the end result in the process. But we have to trust God and accept His will. All will work itself out in the end. I am confident. It was probably the most my heart has ever ached for a human soul and definitely for an investigator. Kind of a weird feeling to truly gain a love for someone like that. But a great feeling as well. Hope to be able to continue teaching him, but if not we will accept God's will. Good week though! I am learning lots and having lots of memories! The church is true! Have a great St. Patrick's day this week! 

-Elder Hobson

3-9-15

Hello!

Quote: “Few men on earth either in or out of the Church, have caught the vision of what the Book of Mormon is all about. Few are they among men who know the part it has played and will yet play in preparing the way for the coming of Him of whom it is a new witness. … The Book of Mormon shall so affect men that the whole earth and all its peoples will have been influenced and governed by it. … There is no greater issue ever to confront mankind in modern times than this: Is the Book of Mormon the mind and will and voice of God to all men?” -Bruce R. McConkie

This week was great! We had our zone training this week!  Our new months focus (as maybe you have noticed from above) is the Book of Mormon! We talked about flooding the Earth with the Book of Mormon as President Benson talks about in his famous talk. Then we talked about applying it to ourselves and then applying it to our investigators. It was pretty good! We have already seen a lot of power and miracles in our work as we strived to use it more!!!:) Pretty cool! One miracle from this week was a guy that called us from off of one of our street contacting cards. We met him awhile ago and then just yesterday he met missionaries in another area and remembered us and how he said he would call us back. Well everyone says they will call you back so we didn't think anything of it and then he actually did! So that was pretty cool! We met him and while we were talking he said that he just felt warm inside. We asked him if he was happy and he said no. Which I was actually happy about. Kind of weird, I know, but if they aren't happy, it means that they are humble and willing to let the gospel take place in their lives to provide that happiness. So we see some decent potential in him! Hopefully we can keep meeting with him! Our other kid we are teaching regularly is doing great but his mom still doesn't know that he is meeting us. Getting a little worried. Keep praying for him! Anyways, great week! The church is true! Love you all! Be happy and have a great week!

-Elder Hobson

3-2-15

Annyeonghasaeyo!!!:)

I have been thinking a lot recently about just staying positive and making the best of things! So that is why I put this song (see bottom) there today for our quote. Well February is long gone! Welcome, welcome March!!!:) Should be a great month! This week we had our temple P-day. I went through a session in Korean. For two reasons, one because I thought it would be interesting to do it in Korean and two because they have been showing the new temple video in the Korean session but not the English session recently so I really wanted to go see it because I heard it was sweet. I have been debating whether to go through in the Korean session because i feel like I obviously would get more out of the English session. but I finally convinced myself to go and just not worry or be scared about it... and guess what?!?!?!? They showed the old video in the Korean session and the new one in English!!!:(:(:( Kind oif a huge bummer... but it was whatever. Going through in Korean was really cool actually because in Korean they have lots of different forms of speaking when used to a king or to a person of low rank. So the dialogue between all the people in the video was really cool. They way that Satan tempts Adam and Eve is interesting. He starts by speaking to them in the middle form (kind of friendly and nice) and then when he gets them he starts speaking to them in low form (disrespecting them and what not). Pretty interesting. So that was a fun adventure. We have one investigator right now who is doing really well!!! The only problem is that he is meeting us in secret because his mom is against our church and she will not let him meet with us if she finds out. But we have talked it over quite a bit and really feel like she needs to know, so we have really been pushing him to do it, no matter what the consequences might be. We fasted with him yesterday and got the ward in on it too. No news yet, but we are putting our trust in the Lord. Hopefully that will turn out in the way we like, but regardless, it will turn out in the way the Lord would like. Everything seems to be doing okay. We are working hard and doing our best and letting the rest go to the Lord. This week week we also set up an appointment with this guy and were really excited to meet with him as a new investigator. Well he came to the church and we started to give him a tour and he said, "hmmm, this feels familiar. I think I have been to your church before." Well we were of course stoked and up further investigation and sparking his memory, we learned that he was baptized like 50 yrs ago in a different ward. So crazy! So he really wanted to find his record-ship number. So we told him how to do that and what not. Anyways, hopefully we can start meeting with him again and re-teach him the gospel:) haha. Great week though! Thanks for all your prayers on my behalf! The church is true!!! Love and pray for you all!

-Elder Hobson

Song

Quote: 

1. "1. Improve the shining moments;
   Don't let them pass you by.
   Work while the sun is radiant;
   Work, for the night draws nigh.
   We cannot bid the sunbeams
   To lengthen out their stay,
   Nor can we ask the shadow
   To ever stay away.
2. 2. Time flies on wings of lightning;
   We cannot call it back.
   It comes, then passes forward
   Along its onward track.
   And if we are not mindful,
   The chance will fade away,
   For life is quick in passing.
   'Tis as a single day.
3. 3. As wintertime doth follow
   The pleasant summer days,
   So may our joys all vanish
   And pass far from our gaze.
   Then should we not endeavor
   Each day some point to gain,
   That we may here be useful
   And ev'ry wrong disdain?
4. 4. Improve each shining moment.
   In this you are secure,
   For promptness bringeth safety
   And blessings rich and pure.
   Let prudence guide your actions;
   Be honest in your heart;
   And God will love and bless you
   And help to you impart." Hymn No. 226

2-23-15

Hello!

Thought: I was listening to a talk this morning and the speaker talked about Abraham! "Why do you think the Lord made him go through all that emotional and physical distress if he never actually had to sacrifice his son?" It was because Abraham needed to learn something about Abraham. I thing that applies to us all. Sometimes we go through hard times and we just have to be willing to submit and let God teach us and make us what we need to be and learn what He needs us to learn. So don't get discouraged. Accept God's will and try to understand that there is a reason the most precious of creations are put through the refiners fire.

 This week was interesting but pretty good as usual!!! We have an investigator right now that is doing really well. We were able to give him a baptismal date for the end of March and as of now he seems really sincere and really solid. We will keep working with him of course though. The only problem now is that his mom REALLY dislikes our church and he is basically meeting us in secret. The other problem is that he won't be able to come to church for the next three weeks because of a new school program he is starting. But hopefully we can still meet him! Really excited about him. Cool thing is that he and I have the same name in Korean which is sweet because it isn't a very common name as it is!!!:) This week it was Solnar, or the lunar New Year. It is the biggest holiday in Korea so almost the entire country goes to their hometown and visits their parents and family. So there weren't a ton of people up in Seoul. However, we had a big zone/mission conference on that day. We went to one of the churches and watched a really cool documentary on the Book of Mormon and then we got to watch Meet the Mormons. It was pretty fun and pretty interesting I suppose. It made me REALLY miss football and that atmosphere!!! haha Then since Solnar is like a 3 day holiday, there weren't a ton of people out and about the day after our conference either. So we had a big "clean day" where we deep cleaned our houses. We had kept ours relatively clean, but it still had its spots and areas for improvement as we really dug deep and cleaned some stuff up! It is really nice now:) haha That night our ward mission leader got an activity together with the missionaries, a bunch of our investigators, and some less-actives and we played some fun traditional Korean games. I'll send some pictures. Anyways, fun week! We also had a baptism in our ward this week, but he slept in on Sunday so he will have to get confirmed next week. haha Anyways, the work is going forth strong as usual! Keep up the good work at home! Love and miss you all! The church is true!

-Elder Hobson

                             My area

                                My mission

        Some korean sisters I served with in my last area!

     Me being a boss at the game we were playing!!! haha

     The game night with our WML (Ward Mission Leader)

2-16-15

See quote of "Rev'rently and Meekly Now" at bottom of letter

I was reading this hymn the other day during personal study and I love how it is written as if Christ himself were speaking it. So much love and care for us. This week was great! It was a little bit warmer and felt pretty nice the last couple of days. All those summer feels and smells are starting to flood back into our heads. I am super excited. Elder Killpack on the other hand prefers winter. Speaking of him, we will stay together for another transfer! This lasts weeks transfer call was outrageous!!! haha Our companionship and one other in our zone stayed the same and then everyone else split. Not to mention that one of the districts in our zone got moved to a different zone and our current district here in Sang Gae got split into two six man districts. My house is now my district. No sisters!!!:) haha Thats kind of fun! Should be an interesting transfer, but fun!!!:)  We found a really cool family this week to teach. Except the mom is opposing the church and the Dad leaves to Dae Jeon for work soon. But the boy is very interested and pretty sincere. Our only problem right now is his mom. He came to church secretly yesterday (obviously not the best). So we are praying and wondering how we can help them the most. We met her once and she seemed nice, but from what our investigator tells us, she really does not like our church. He said he couldn't take a Book of Mormon home or else he would have to hide it. So sad. We are working there. But the cool thing about that was that we were praying for someone to find, someone to come to church this week and he came! Interesting to see how the Lord answered our prayers. This week I was trying to notice the smaller miracles more and write them down and what not. We had a lot of cool things where members showed up and were able to give us rides home or to our next appointment when time was crunched. The Young Women gave me chocolate on Sunday which made me feel like I could actually celebrate Valentines Day the Hobson way even though I wasn't home. Just lots of fun cool little things like that. I got to go up to the military base this week and do a baptismal interview for a soldier up there. So prepared and such a good kid! Loved it! It is really fun up there! Lot's of African people and they are all so nice!!!:) haha Anyways, good week! The church is true and the Lord's work is real. It. All. Makes. Sense. Love and miss you all! Pray always!

-Elder Hobson

Song

1. 1. Rev'rently and meekly now,
   Let thy head most humbly bow.
   Think of me, thou ransomed one;
   Think what I for thee have done.
   With my blood that dripped like rain,
   Sweat in agony of pain,
   With my body on the tree
   I have ransomed even thee.
2. 2. In this bread now blest for thee,
   Emblem of my body see;
   In this water or this wine,
   Emblem of my blood divine.
   Oh, remember what was done
   That the sinner might be won.
   On the cross of Calvary
   I have suffered death for thee.
3. 3. Bid thine heart all strife to cease;
   With thy brethren be at peace.
   Oh, forgive as thou wouldst be
   E'en forgiven now by me.
   In the solemn faith of prayer
   Cast upon me all thy care,
   And my Spirit's grace shall be
   Like a fountain unto thee.
4. 4. At the throne I intercede;
   For thee ever do I plead.
   I have loved thee as thy friend,
   With a love that cannot end.
   Be obedient, I implore,
   Prayerful, watchful evermore,
   And be constant unto me,
   That thy Savior I may be.
5. Text: Joseph L. Townsend, 1849-1942
   Music: Ebenezer Beesley, 1840-1906