Hi my family, Dang I miss you guys so much. Heavenly Father truly loves us.  Today is our P-day so I was not on yesterday. I needed your letter so he made sure I got it. Yay! We went to the temple today which is always good. 

This week was a very trying week for me. We don't have a lot of investigators and we are not getting a lot of lessons. It is stressful because when we are not busy I struggle with the natural man inside of me and I get a lot of mixed feelings about myself. I talked with another sister on exchanges this week, and she told me that maybe this transfer is not about the work as much as it is about my companion. So I have been trying to just let go of control and let Heavenly Father guide me with what I am supposed to do.  So I am working on that and it is a lot harder than it sounds! Being humbled and changed really is a refiners fire. I hope I will be in the cooling stages soon. 

But other than that. I am in serious investigator love! I love K, our golden investigator. I told her to call us anytime because she is trying to quit smoking. So I get a call Friday morning before we woke up. She said that she is trying to avoid her morning cigarette and she needed our help. So we went to her house and went on a walk with her. May I remind you that we have not even taught this girl the Word of Wisdom yet. So we go on walks with her now. On the walk she told me that she knows that the Book of Mormon and Bible are meant to be together and that she knows it is true. She wasn't supposed to quit smoking until this Friday, but she did it a week early! So awesome! I also had a nice experience with her. I bore my testimony about the Book of Mormon on the walk and I said "I really love the Book of Mormon" and she said "Yeah, I know you do. I get goosebumps every time you say it." I tried to give myself credit here and realize that maybe my testimony is my talent. I am grateful for that, it is way better than playing sports or something. :)

 Our only other investigator went to a baptism this weekend! So that was super awesome. She cried and totally loved it. She kept saying "right on!" under her breath, it made me laugh. And now she is going to the Ward temple day on Friday! I am excited for that. I love the investigators we have. I just wish we had a few more lessons.

 My companion got your package and she was happy. Thank you for doing that! We had a nice Easter. I had fun because Sister Matheus has never done Easter stuff so we dyed eggs and I got to play Easter Bunny! I was pretty excited. I just sat there eating my peeps and laughing as my companion tried to find all the eggs. I think she thought it was the weirdest things ever! Then we went over to our members house for dinner and we got to paint more eggs. and guess what they had for dinner? Roast Beef and Mashed Potatoes! YES!!! I was so happy! I missed my Jam and rolls though. And then we went to another members house and they made us eat more dessert and they gave us our own Easter basket...soo much candy...But it was a lot of fun. 

Our lovely Family came to church so I was a happy camper. Today at the temple this lady walked into the chapel and she said something about how there was a General Authority coming and we all got excited...nobody came. But I always love the temple it was great.

I also thought that you would be interested to know that I have been getting out of my comfort zone a lot. Because we are the only Sisters in the zone and my comp doesn't talk much I have to hold my own with choke boys! It has been fun to tease the Elders. There is a running joke that has carried over from my last area, that because I am so nice and quiet that I must have a dark past. So apparently before my mission I was a government assassin. So I have been playing along; it has been fun. When our companion goes home after we are their companion we say that you killed your companion so the elders have been saying how I am going to kill this Elder instead of his companion. It was funny. Also my companion has never driven a car, So I have had to drive everywhere! So in the last 2 weeks I have driven to Pearl Harbor and back and Honolulu and back twice. So I have fully experienced rush hour traffic and annoying people on the freeway! I still don't enjoy it much, but I did it! I especially hate parking. Not fun for me at all. So you can be proud of me. I am trying to be a big girl. I still miss my mommy and daddy but I think I might survive. 

I love you all and miss you so much. We get to talk in like 3 weeks! YAY! Thank you for the prayers I really need them. And P.S I have only got one letter in the mail this transfer from someone other than my parents...just so you know...

Love you!

Sister Hoskins

So, it was another crazy week! Some good, some not as good. It started out good because we had interviews with President Warner and I really loved talking to him. He made me feel really good. He was telling me how he can really trust me and that he feels like he can put me anywhere with anyone and I will do a good job.He told me that I am a really good missionary, It really means a lot coming from him. I am trying to feel worthy of all this praise. I feel like I am messing up so much and then a member or someone says how good of a missionary I am. I am trying hard to not do what I normally do and try to learn how to take a compliment, It is kinda hard, but Heavenly Father knows everything and he has such a sense of humor because I have found lately that I have been teaching people how not to do things that I do all the time. I told a lady the other day "Don't think that you have to be perfect that is not a requirement" and then I was like oh.... yeah....that applies to me too. Ugh! 

Training is hard. I am especially struggling because she does not know English and I don't really know how to teach it to her. She gets frustrated sometimes and usually I just have her read the Book of Mormon in her language and then English. Suggestions are welcome. She is improving, though. She works really hard, so she will get it. 

 But a really cool thing happened. We went to lunch with this member and he gave us a referral. He said they called him and asked him to send the missionaries over, so we went over and knocked on the door and the Lady opened and said "I have been waiting for you!" She let us in and she was very emotional, She is going through a very hard time.  So she said she needs help and her extended family said we could help. She asked if we could help her and we said, "Yes!  That was only Tuesday and we are already best friends with her. She and her family came to dinner at a member's house and she came to one session of conference yesterday. She almost didn't come, but in between we ran to her house to get her to come and she did. She is really awesome. She has a lot to work through, and it is going to take a lot of work, but it will be great. I think her whole family is ready.

 I really love my ward though. I love the people that we are working with. Whenever I need a little boost they love me and make me feel better. I was feeling a little down yesterday, we went to a members house and I felt much better. Anyways I also figured out that my last ward no longer exists, they changed boundaries and took away Kailua 2nd ward. So that is kinda sad, but good.  The work will move a lot faster there. I also learned that President might be shutting down my first area, Kahala, because there is not enough work happening there. Kinda crazy!

I loved Conference! I don't really know which one is my favorite. I really liked one of the ones given by a member of the 70. The one who went right before the guy who sounded liked Dracula :) I think. It started with a C. I liked his because he taught all of the missionary lessons in his talk, very simply and beautifully. Our investigator was there for that one-it was awesome! I am going to read his talk over and over so I can teach like him. I would also like to mention that I have not got any letters in the mail for 2 weeks :) I am mostly OK but for those of you who have not written me for months, I could use a letter :) Also, I was wondering if the ward could write letters to Sister Matheus, she probably won't get many for most of her mission. She would love it. She also came with nothing to the mission. That is one thing president told me, if anyone wants to send he some things in a package that would be awesome. She really likes candy, and Ramen stuff. The ones with the different flavors. She could also use some fun things like pens, a notebook, earrings, a necklace. Maybe if the ward is in need of a service project that would be a good thing for her. Just get all the primary kids to draw her pictures. She really needs some love. Her parents are not active in the church and it is very expensive to send anything from Chuuk. Let me know if you can do that! Thanks

Love you all

The Church is true

Sister Hoskins

P.S My Comps name is Kayreen Matheus and you can send anything for her to the mission office.

The Mission Office address is:

1500 S. Beretania St. Ste. 416

Honolulu, HI 96826-1937

Aloha! Hello my family. I miss you and love you very much! I hope everyone is happy. Right now I am in large amounts of pain. We went on a hike today for P-day, and guess who got hurt? This girl! We were jumping on rocks to cross this river and my shoes were too we,t so I fell on the rock. There is a bump on my knee the size of a Golf Ball and it hurts a lot. And what did we hike to? A 2 foot waterfall! Yikes! But other than that everything is pretty good.

 We did have a baptism yesterday.  Her name is M. It was really nice.  She is such a sweet girl. The ward loves her and she will be great. I will send you pictures next week because there should be another baptism this weekend. I am trying to have faith right now for this next baptism because baptism weeks are HARD! Satan does everything he can to stop the missionaries and the investigator. This week was really hard for us because nobody wanted to talk to us. We have not got any solid investigators or appointments. But we recognized it was Satan so we got through it.

 Sunday was totally insane! So we start out the day trying to get these girls to church. So we wait outside of their house for like an hour and we missed sacrament but we got them there! It was like pulling teeth! And then at church we had to make sure they would go to class and do what they were supposed to do. So that was stressful. Then one of them didn't want to go to Sacrament so I sat out with her.  She really opened up to me and told me some things that she is going through and DANG! This girl is only 14 years old and she is going through things that you would not even believe. It makes me so sad. Jesus must be coming soon because this world is messed up! So that was stressful. And then The family that is fellowshipping M all got the stomach flu the day of the baptism so none of them could come! The dad of the family was baptizing her and the daughter was giving a talk, so we had to run around and get someone to baptize her and give a talk. We asked her if she wanted to reschedule and she said no. And then we had an Over-the-Phone lesson with J yesterday and there is a bit of a concern because she apparently didn't understand some very fundamental doctrine. So we are hoping she gets it before Sunday. We know that Satan wants so get her, so she needs prayers! 

So to answer your questions, Sister Haws has been here longer so she will most likely be leaving and I don't know what will happen with me. I think I would be happier either way but I would like to get off the rock and experience a different Island. I would really like to experience more of the Hawaiian culture. I could see them white washing our area but you never know. There is still a chance that we will stay together because we have been really successful together. This last week I have really felt like I needed to prepare all of the books and papers for new people. I have no idea though, so this will be an interesting transfer.

Please pray for J, and I hope you have a good week

I love you all very much!

Love me

O my heck I miss you all so much! That was a really fun letter! I am so excited to be at BYU-I with Katie, Millie and Alivia! And Porter is Amazing! I didn't think I was that great of a missionary but I am getting mission blessings out of the wazoo! I only wish I was there to participate in them but I guess that defeats the purpose. 

Well, this week was pretty good. We still have 2 people set for baptism. They are starting to announce it in church! We are so excited. So far J has not smoked. She called the other day and told us that something really stressed her out at work so she said that all she wanted to do was smoke. So she walked outside where all her friends were smoking and she really wanted to get some stress off, but she said she just walked away because she knew Satan was just trying to stop her and that it was a test that she passed! It was so good.

This week we also had a fun experience. We got to go to Activity Days. Because we are the only sisters in the stake, another ward called us and asked us if we could talk to their girls. It was a lot of fun. They asked us questions and now they give us hugs when we see them at church. Dang...I am running out of time... But we met with W and P again and they really like what we are teaching. I saw them later in the week and they were telling the girl that I was on exchanges with that she thinks we are doing a great job and that she always feels so good when we come over. And Exchanges was awesome.  I went with a girl who I served in Honolulu with and she is my leader and she told me that I have nothing to worry about and that I am a great missionary! That made me really happy coming from someone else.

 We also got to have a pancake Breakfast with the mission president because we hit all of our goals 2 weeks ago. We were the first ones in the whole mission to do that! It was pretty awesome! We also had a super cool miracle this week. Yesterday we were going to a lesson with two of our members and when we got there the lesson canceled. So we prayed to see where we should go and we just could not come up with anything! a few minutes later this car pulls up right next to us and they start loading boxes into their car so the members got out of their car to help.  One member said "Well here they are now let's teach them!" So he told them that we were praying for someone to teach and they were it! So we helped them with their boxes and loaded them into their house and they let us come in and teach the Restoration! So we taught them, and they said that they would be baptized and read the Book of Mormon! It was so cool! God sure knows what he is doing. 

Our Investigator D came to church this week! He really wanted to and pretty much invited himself. It was fun. Hopefully he liked it, because Fast Sunday is sometimes weird for investigators.

Last night was crazy because we pretty much had 2 dinners! And they were both with Local families. So I had to eat a lot! Here is a list of what I ate within 3 hours yesterday. Rice, stew, chicken wings, nachos, cookies, banana, Ice cream, ox tail soup, roast beef stew, Mochi, and Banana Pie! It was insane. I am easily intimidated by the locals who tell us that the Elders eat way more than us. I really don't want to be fat, but it might happen. dang...You might want to renew that Lifetime membership before I get back. I am going to need it...especially if you ever want me to get married ! Haha!

I'm sorry I don't have anymore time. I love you. I think I told you the most important stuff. We are playing Apples to Apples today for P-day.

Love you

Be happy

Sister Amy Hoskins

Well hello, That was not exactly the email I was expecting. Dang. Why does Grandma have to have cancer!? That is so dumb! She is the last person in the world that deserves that. But for some reason I am not too upset right now. I think the Spirit is telling me that everything will be OK. But I am in a room full of Elders and cannot exactly be emotional right now. Tell her I love her very much! I will try to send her a package or something.

 And I am so grateful that Liesl did not get eaten! (This is Amy's little dog who had a run-in with a coyote right in our back yard!) You should put a pot and a spoon by the door so you can make a lot of noise. Is there anything we can do to block things from getting under the deck and attacking my puppy? I would prefer to have her there when I get back. Or here is an idea...Send her here! She would totally love the weather! And we don't have any nasty evil animals here. (we do but they are in the ocean.  

The young men prank called us this week. It was pretty funny. They were pretending to be this lady who wanted to baptize her 9 kids. It was pretty funny, I totally believed them for a while. And we have been trying to figure out what we can do to get them back to where it is still mature. Have any ideas? 

So yeah things are good. I am feeling much better. Sister Haws and I are having a lot of fun. I am just tired of trying to figure out how to help our investigators with their one serious problem. All of them have one problem that usually involves another member of their family. Ugh! if they only knew what they were missing out on. This week was just trying to teach people and get them going. A lot of our investigators are really struggling right now. Sometimes I feel like it shouldn't be so hard for them, it will only bring joy and happiness. But I did learn a good lesson this week...OK, lies, this is an ongoing lesson, but I have learned how important just relying completely on God and the Spirit is. When we rely on ourselves, the lesson does not go as well when we let God fill our mouths. Man, the church is so important. I wish everyone would understand. We watched the Joseph Smith movie with our investigator and it was really awesome because I have seen that movie a thousand times and I was filled with the spirit so strong. I just know that Joseph Smith was a prophet. I was having a hard time holding in my emotions because it was such a solid answer from the spirit.

We have one investigator who looks really promising. Her name is M. She is 13 and her mom is less-active. She has been to church and mutual! Her mom would totally be OK with her being baptized, so we are excited! We have our first lesson with her tomorrow! And I guess I got super defensive in a lesson this week when this guy told his wife that she couldn't learn from us. She is so ready, but he was being cynical and rude, and I guess I wasn't much of a happy camper with him!  OOOPS!  But I think we are going to try to go back. It is so hard not to get frustrated when someone has such a hard heart and is stopping someone else from happiness! Well,  I guess I am not a good as Jesus yet! If you mess with my beliefs I am not ready for you to put me to death, I am still a fighter. I'll work on that. I guess that comes with humility that I do not have yet.

 Well I love you all, and miss you sooo much. Please keep my grandmas and puppy safe. I love you

Sister Hoskins

P.S. I will be writing you a very angry letter next week if you don't write me ASAP! Love you! 

12/16/13

HOLY COW GUYS!!! So I was so excited when my nice little package came with the tree and everything and a few gifts I even cried I was so content and happy! And then I come home yesterday to another huge box!!! You guys are crazy! I am so happy! I feel really loved! Thank you. I love the ornaments and the tree. I have looked forward to reading some everyday and I have been surprised with the people who have written to me. I love all of you.  Thanks so much.

 Anyways, I have some awesome news are you ready?......are you sure...............are you positive....you might want to take a seat.....OK here it is.............................................................................................................

The Christmas Tree with messages from
family and friends on the ornaments.

WE CAN SKYPE ON CHRISTMAS!!!!!!! President just surprised us at zone conference! YAY!! I have been so excited. The only sucky part is that we can only talk for an hour, but I am so happy! I am not sure how we are going to be able to do it. I think I might have to call you to figure out times and stuff but I actually get to see you! YAY!!! Just tell me what would be best for you and we will work it all out! I would throw every present out the window and never hear another Christmas song if it would mean that I could Skype with you guys on Christmas, but the Lord really loves me and blessed me with that. I prayed that maybe President would do it so we could talk for 2 hours instead, but he made it all good with being able to Skype!

Also some good news is that A is getting baptized on Saturday at 11! I am so happy. I was a little unsure about how sincere he was, and then we had an awesome lesson with him this week. We usually see him on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and Tuesday we get a call from the elders saying that their member wanted to take us out for dinner with A. They are good friends with him, so it was us, the elders, this Samoan family, and A. It was so much fun! And Samoans love it when you eat so they let us order whatever we wanted, and dessert. All the boys had 2 different entrees. We really had a lot of fun and I made better friends with A, so I feel like he likes me, and I feel better about being at his baptism. I felt bad because he really liked the other sister, but we are good friends now, so I am happy. And on Thursday we had a lesson with him and it was so good! He was so happy! We asked him if he prayed about the Book of Mormon and he said, "Yes". We asked if he got an answer and he said, "Yes". Then we asked what the answer was and he looked at us and said, "After I prayed, I felt something really good. But don't tell anybody!" It was so funny-I told him sorry, but everyone is going to know that you felt something because you are getting baptized, and he said, "Dang"! He is so funny. We asked him if he knew all of this was true and he just smiled and said, "Yes". He told us how it was changing him, how he wanted to be better now, and it was easier to be better. I could have cried.  Then we showed him the Restoration DVD, and after we watched it, he said (about Joseph Smith), "I can trust him now." It was probably one of the best lessons EVER. The whole ward is really excited for his baptism. He is too. And me :)

A's Baptism

So this week totally had it's challenges, like my comp being sick again, but I will just tell you all the good stuff. I have been studying Christ this week and I have really grown to love him even more.  We had a really good lesson on Him yesterday, and I was just filled with the Spirit. I know He loves me and that He is real. I love him so much. 

Our Ward Christmas Party was on Saturday and that was a lot of fun. We took a picture with Santa, and we gave him a Book of Mormon. There was also this Hawaiian guy singing at the party, and he was really good.  Yesterday was the stake musical fireside it was pretty good.  My favorite part was the Tongan choir.  They sang so great! That less active couple from Idaho came to the ward party, so that was sweet! 

Our only issue is getting people to church, but we get pretty good lessons, and we are working really hard to get new investigators. It was was cool because we went on exchanges while my comp was sick.  We were in our area for a while, and we were going to visit this family. While we were walking to this house there was this girl walking near us, and she ends up stopping by the stairs we were going up, so I just talked to her and asked if we could come back and she said, "Yes". I didn't think a lot about it because we went to go see that other family, but then my companion went back there with the same sister I went on exchanges with, and the girl was totally golden! They said that she loved them and wants to learn, and she already calls us her friends. It was really cool. I was kinda jealous that I wasn't there, but it was so cool and I cannot wait to teach her.

I love you all so much!

Have a good week, and remember to think of Christ more than the other stress Christmas may cause.

Love Sister Hoskins

12/30/13

Hello everyone!

I loved seeing you all too. I am so mad, because the minute I got off I thought of a thousand more things I would have liked to talk about. I honestly just think that I was in shock. There was so much to say, I guess I just couldn't say it all. But I loved seeing all of your faces. I miss you all so much.  I hope you all know how much I love you.

 We got transfer news, and I am staying here in Makakilo with Sister Haws! The crazy thing, though, is that because the Sisters are leaving, they are white washing their area with Elders...so we are going to be the only Sisters in the zone. We are going to live in this huge apartment, just the two of us, and we are getting a car. I am not sure how I feel about it yet.  It is going to be a lot more lonely, but I get my own bathroom!  The best part of this is going to be our new zone leaders! I am so excited. They are two of my favorite missionaries EVER! It is going to be Elder Faitau-my district leader in the MTC, and Elder Fuhrman-he was my zone leader my first transfer in Kailua. They are both really solid missionaries, and it is going to be so fun since I am already good friends with them. 

 This last week was really weird, but we ended up with 29 lessons! Christmas Miracle! I also feel a lot closer to the Spirit, and we have been able to talk to a lot of prepared people. So far, we think we are going to have 6 baptisms in January (one of them is a family of 5) We are teaching this other girl named R and she is 17. She is so cute and we are all BFFs now.  She went to church yesterday, and really liked it. I love her a lot. I hope her parents let her. It was so fun because last week we had a lesson with her, and we were giving her a chapel tour. The whole ward was there cleaning (which was highly distracting), but is was good because A came and joined us for the lesson. He told her that she needs to pray and read the Book of Mormon if she wants to know it is true, and that he knows it is true, and that it is worth it. He also passed the Sacrament on Sunday. I felt like a proud mother seeing my little boy make good choices. He is such a different person. He is doing great, and he is very active. 

So, my whole mission, so far, I have really liked my mission, but I have not loved it like some people do. I didn't understand why people would cry leaving their missions, and not just be super excited to go home. Now I understand. I am officially in love with my mission. I love the people here so much. And I am happy that I am here right now. I love God and introducing people to him. Who knew Amy Hoskins would be going up to random people telling them about Jesus? If you would have shown me this life I have 5 years ago, I would not have believed you. It is so weird that I only have 11 days until I am halfway done with my mission. AMAZING!

To answer your questions: My companion really likes to be obedient, and she is a lot of fun. She is really into heath and fitness...so we are different there.  She plays the violin so amazingly! She is very talented. I also learned last night that she can do the worm! She always surprises me. I loved being in a four person apartment this transfer it was so fun. It went by too fast. I wasn't homesick much because we were having so much fun. I loved being with them.

OK I love you and miss you. Thanks for loving me and being so supportive. I hope I will come back a better person. I love you and miss you. I love you one more than you will ever say everyday!

Love, Sister Hoskins

P.S Mom and Aunt j. should look up PaperCraftDreams.com we went to her house and saw all of her crafts! They are amazing

1/6/14

Hey everyone. Everything is going pretty good here in Hawaii-nothing to really complain about. It is really weird after the sisters left .It is strange to be in this big apartment by ourselves,and it is weird to not have anyone to talk to. I think we might get sick of each other after a while. It is fun to be the only sisters, because they don't like to have fun without us. On New Year's, we got to stay up until 2 in the morning. It was really fun. We all got together and played games, and then we got a whole bunch of the sparkling cider and we shook them up and made them explode at midnight. The best part is that the church parking lot is on the top of this really big hill where you can see over a bunch of the island. It was super awesome because you could see every firework that was going off all over the island. It was amazing. Fireworks are technically Illegal here, but nobody listened, but it was super cool. it looked like a lightning storm, there were so many.It was all pretty good. On New Year's Day we played games at the church and one of the Elders dislocated his knee, and is was Nasty! I didn't really know I was squeamish until now. 

--OK,  just now this guy just came up to me and started talking to me about how Mormons are a cult and something about area 51, Amish people, and a bunch of "top secret stuff".  I think maybe I am a spy for the government or something. Who knew, right?--

 Anyway, we got a brand new Chevy Cruz 2 days ago. It is pretty awesome. We switch off driving. A lot of missionaries in our zone got a new car. I love our zone leaders. They are both my buddies and we have fun, but they also work very hard.

 The only sad part about this week is that I got zero letters.

 We are just trying to work and find people who need the gospel. This week, I had a really cool experience where the Spirit was really working through me. We were walking to an appointment, and we were kind of on this time crunch, but we passed these people.  I thought that maybe I should talk to them, but we were going somewhere and I wasn't so sure, so I kept walking.  The member of the 70(one of the governing bodies of the church) that came told us that you have about 5 seconds to respond to a prompting, so I thought that I lost my window. But then a voice came into my head and said, "5 seconds doesn't matter with the salvation of my children."  I have never felt the Spirit like that before, because I could not move forward at all.  It was almost like someone was pushing me to go back. So I told Sister Haws, and she gave me the extra strength to move forward, and then we talked to them. We told them that something told us to come talk to them, and she said "Oh it was probably my Guardian Angel." We prayed with them and learned that they have been to church before, and they said we could come back. That was a pretty powerful experience for me.  We also figured out later that they were the parents of one of our former investigators. Pretty cool how the Lord works.

 We Also committed our Investigator R to baptism this month. It isn't all that solid, so I am not totally sure, but I think that she will be baptized soon. We also were trying to find A, but we found his niece instead and we taught her a lesson. She also committed to baptism, So that was awesome. She is not all that solid either, but we have some pretty good options. 

Do you know what is crazy? I am going to be "half dead" this week! YIKES!! Can you believe that I am half done with my mission?! So CRAZY!  

I love you all I hope you have a great week.

Love

Sister Hoskins

  

Here there is a letter that I can't find. In it, she says that she feels the need to figure out what she's doing after her mission..  

Gorgeous Hawaiian Beach photographed
by our own Sister Hoskins

1/20/14

Hello, I am doing much better this week for sure. I just got excited about maybe figuring out what I could do with myself in the future. I actually already received my answer that that is not what I am supposed to be doing, and that I need to be going to college at first. If that is an option afterwards, then I will take it. My answer came from a scripture that said something about how if your work is for money and does not help build up Zion, then it is in vain. So I figured that me just fulfilling all of my worldly wants won't exactly build up Zion. I feel like my future lies in Rexburg, Idaho and I am totally OK with that. I know that as we are righteous, God will fulfill the righteous desires of our hearts. So, maybe there will be a way that me and my mom can travel the world together someday. 

Anyway, this has been one of the CRAZIEST weeks on my mission. There were very high highs, and very low lows. We have a new really good investigator, her name is J. I really like her and her approach to learning. She is afraid of change, and is a little unsure, but she is open minded. We had a great lesson with her yesterday. She understood everything and didn't have any questions, but she says that she feels like she is understanding more. She prayed and said how she feels closer to God because of what she is learning.

 The hardest part of the week was one word....Satan....He is working our investigators like you would not believe. That family we have been teaching has been going through so many hard things and they just keep coming. The house that they were so blessed to rent might be going into foreclosure, and they have only been there a month. They have not been handling the stress very well. It is no coincidence that this all started happening when they were really starting to feel happy and good.  They were freaking out and I said "Do you believe that God can do all things? And they said, "Yes". And I told them that my mom told me that you can always pray for a miracle if you need one.  I said that I know that if we want something to happen, God can make it happen if we ask and have faith. I have never had that much faith in my life. I honestly didn't doubt anything that I said to them. It was really cool. I honestly felt the Lord speaking through me and I knew that I could promise them things only God could. 

 Ok here is another Library experience for me. This guy next to me searched our church and the first two things on google was our website, and a website that that said that we are false and not christian, and he totally believed the Anti stuff.  I am trying to explain to him that we have to ask God if it is true, not the internet. I kinda want to cry. Very hard-hearted. I am trying to think what I can say to him to help him see, but he is not really having it. Ugh, people and their agency.

 We also had a really cool experience with the guy who works us out in the morning. We sat him down and just really taught him.  It was so cool! He said that he knows everything that we teach him is true, and he even committed to baptism. His only problem is going to be his wife, he doesn't want to cause friction.

 We have had a few people tell us this week that our eyes tell them that we believe in God, and know that what we are teaching is important. We had a lot of really cool experiences, I couldn't list them all but we really had a good week. I know that my Heavenly Father is really looking out for me and his children that have wandered. 

I have heard so much about the Broncos, I asked random people who won! YAY! That is so cool people love the Broncos here. I guess I just needed to leave the state so they could win. Also if they win, I would like you to send me a t-shirt so I could brag. I also only got 1 letter this week in the mail. 

Also, I got to go to the Disney resort yesterday and it was AWESOME!! 

I Love you all stay strong. Sorry I couldn't tell you everything

Sister Hoskins

.

1/28/14

Hawaii Temple

Hello Everyone. I am super tired. We had to wake up at 4:45 this morning so we could leave to the temple. Also, I got an infection this week. My tonsils were huge, and the whole time I didn't feel very sick, mostly tired, but I think it might be catching up to me now. I don't feel so great.

The amazing Pineapple Drink

Today we went to a taco place for lunch and it was delicious. II got a pineapple drink and got to drink straight out of the pineapple. It was THE BEST Pineapple EVER. The Dole Plantation is just down the road, so I think it must have been pretty fresh. I will never like any other pineapple ever again. It was totally worth the 8 bucks, and it was worth it just to see the Elder's faces when I brought it to the table. Hecka funny.

It was definitely an interesting week. There are so many ups and downs on a mission. We are teaching a former investigator named J, and he is super awesome! I guess the missionaries didn't come by after some transfer, so he wasn't progressing, but he is totally ready. He has been on a search for the true church for a really long time, He was about to join another church and had a dream that he shouldn't, so he didn't. We told him that there was a prophet on the earth today, and he was so happy. He called us the other day just to say hi, but in that conversation he also said that he believes all that we teach, he just wants to convince his family. We set a date for him for February! He is way awesome, we have only really had 2 lessons with him but he just wants to follow God and do whatever he needs to do to do that.

 But yeah, I didn't have time to write you about everything last week. On P-Day we went to Ko'olina and it was awesome.  We just laid on the grass by the beach, and then walked to the Disney Resort.  It was really nice. We saw one of the Pro-Bowl players there, and we almost got a picture with him. I really wanted to see Mickey Mouse or Stitch for Alivia, but they were not there. It was sad. 

Disney Resort with friends

Apparently, she and Stitch are pretty
close...

One problem that we ran into this week was that one of our Investigators got offended at church, so she is really turned off. It was really sad, I saw it happen, but I did not act fast enough. I hope they will be OK.  I really love them. That was in that family I was telling you about. We went over to their house to check my tonsils, because one of them is a nurse, and the next day they called and left a message asking me if I was feeling OK and that they loved us. It was so cute. I really love them, and I hope things are OK with them. We have also been having some luck with Less-Active families. A few of them want us to come back and re-teach them the lessons. I am pretty excited about it because these are really good families the ward really needs.

Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you what happened to that guy sitting next to me at the library last week. He ended up telling me that the true church is gone and that he is bringing it back. He wanted to study with us, but I knew he was just going to bible bash, so I told him that I know God's Church has been restored and that if he would like to learn more he could call us. I hope he finds the truth.

Another sad thing happened this week. We had to say goodbye to A. He left to Samoa and we will probably never see him again. All I want is to look at Facebook in a couple of years and see his wedding picture at the temple. But we also had a good lesson with the lady who is trying to stop smoking. She is soooo close. God has really been opening up doors for her. She told us that the store she gets her cigarettes at stopped carrying her brand, and she cannot find anything that she likes. So she says now she thinks twice before she smokes because it doesn't taste good anymore. She is so grateful for that, though, because she really wants to stop, but she didn't know where to start. So she is pretty on track. 

I must say that the best thing that happened this week was that, at the Doctors office the nurse guy who is a local thought that I was a local! It made me so happy! He said my accent was really good, and he was surprised I was from the mainland! So I guess I am officially Hawaiian! Wahoo!! 

It was also awesome because yesterday we went to have a lesson with our personal trainer, and he is really catching on. He seems to be understanding better. It was fun because his nephew came in the middle, and we were able to teach him too. It will still take work with coach, but it is looking up. He also figured out how NOT flexible I am, so we are working on that now, so that will be nice. Maybe Ill be better at sports soon.

Next transfer is the 12th, and Sister Haws is most likely leaving, but we have no idea. 

I hope that everything is good with you guys. I miss you a lot. Sometimes I just feel straight up crazy with all of the emotions I feel in a week, but I know God is looking out for me. Don't forget to be happy and rely on God. And remember to always ask the missionaries about their investigators. Also, If people could send me a note with their favorite conference talk (not from this last one)  and their testimony, that would be awesome, I just feel like I could use some extra strength right now. I love you all SOOOOOO much.

Love, Sister Amy Hoskins

P.S I have been craving fruit by the foot if you would like to send some of those.

2/4/14

Aloha, Family, We almost had a terrible thing happen. I almost couldn't email. I almost died of sadness, but I am good now, but it might be a shorter email because of it. 

The hike

If you look closely, you can see the seal.

Today we went on a hike, and it was 2 hours all the way down the coast. It was pretty cool, we saw a seal and got really close to it. One Elder touched it, and it was not too happy. It was pretty fun. It rained, so we were wet and cold, so I guess I was feeling you a little bit.:) But what is really sad is that 60 degrees is getting cold to me. I am going to die in October.

This week pretty much stunk.  I was sick for like 1 and a half days. I don't know what was up with the tonsils, but I was pretty sick. And let me tell you, on a mission it is sooo much worse to be sick. At least at home you can watch TV or something, but there are not a lot of ways to keep you from cabin fever, so that was not fun. I apparently didn't take care of myself enough because i got sick again a day after I got better. It was not fun. 

We have been meeting with J, He is good. He wants to be baptized, but he cannot because he works on Sunday, so we will work on that and pray for that. We are seeing him in about an hour, actually. 

Football is HUGE here. Pro bowl and Super bowl caused us problems. It was so funny, every  time something good or bad happened we just heard yelling through the entire neighborhood. I kept up with the terrible game pretty well. It was pretty obvious, and everyone let us know. I asked everyone how the game was going-it was a good conversation starter and it kept me updated. I was so sad they lost because I was giving the young men a hard time because they were going for Seattle, and I told them I would bring them tissues later. I was so sad I couldn't rub it in their faces.

 Sadly, I have seen a little of Frozen because a lot of people have the pirated version and their kids watch it ALL the time. We do our best not to watch it, but I am for sure excited to see that one. I don't want to see right now anyways it will be way more fun with my family and when I am allowed to.  

To answer more questions, the guy at the doctor said it was my accent and I was totally not trying. So yeah, I feel pretty awesome that I seem local, best thing ever. 

A woman in our ward, Sandy Skousen, has family in Hawaii who live in Amy's ward.  She had dinner with them, and they sent us a picture of her.  That is so funny that Sister Skousen Emailed you. We took that last night. I told him that day I knew her. I totally love her Brother's family. I love being with them. 

I really understood the Work part of missionary Work more this week. We have good investigators, but getting them to progress is HARD WORK. A, our trainer, is doing really good. We had an awesome lesson with him this week. He loves it all. He is loving the scriptures too, we just need to get him to church. So we are working on that. Our other family has been sick and stuff, so we have not seen them much, but we will keep trying, I really love them.  I just want to see them be happy. I hope they will get back on. People just have these really small issues, but they seem so hard to overcome. That is the hardest part, the waiting and the praying and the anxiety over your investigators and how they are doing. We are also teaching a 15 year old girl and I  am hoping that would be good. Our other investigator, J, is doing well too. She just has one issue we have to work through. Seriously, for everyone it is just one little problem. 

I am so happy that Heavenly Father is blessing our family! I love mission blessings! 

Love you guys and miss you so much. 

Love Sister Hoskins

Gorgeous sunset captured by Sister Hoskins