Dec. 9, 2013

This week was pretty good, other than empty mailbox syndrome...no letters. Anyway, it wasn't too bad. But on a happy note, on Tuesday I will be on my mission for 8 months! 

This week was different because my companion was sick on Thursday, so we didn't have that great of a week. We have been trying to figure out how to love our area more and find new investigators. We decided that we would walk around our area and talk to anyone we saw outside of their houses. That led to a few cool experiences. We talked to this boy who is friends with one of our ward members and he talked about how he wanted to go to our church, so he might be coming to church next week. After we talked to him for a while, we were walking away and this other boy ran towards us saying, "Are you the Mormons?!" Obviously we said yes and were very excited! He was a Jehovah's Witness and he said he wanted to know what our ministry was like. So we talked to him a little and he talked to us a lot. But he said that he would like to talk to us sometime to see what we believe and he accepted a pamphlet which is a Miracle! The only problem is that he is 13, and his dad is really hardcore Witness, so I don't know if we will be able to talk to him. But I am really feeling stronger in following the Spirit because the day we decided to walk around, I felt like we needed to switch our schedule a little so we did,and we went and tried to find some former investigators. It turns out that both of them moved, but a less active lady just moved in and she didn't move her records and she might have just stayed less active if we didn't knock on her door! So that was awesome, and we told the ward about her and it turns out that they all knew her from like 10 years ago before she got really less active and they are so excited and proud of us for finding her. And if that wasn't awesome we felt like we should go tract across the street and as we were going to the first door, this guy was like, "Hey are you sisters?" and again we said yes! And after talking with him, we learned that after 30 years of being away from Hawaii, he moved back from Idaho 3 weeks ago. He said he has been less active for a very long time, and he just got married to a girl who has been less active forever. He said that he would love to have us over for dinner and that we could come by. It was awesome! God did not want those people hiding anymore! So that was way fun.

So our investigators...There is A, and he is this full on Samoan guy. He comes here off and on from Samoa for a few years at a time. He plays rugby and is a super goof ball. He is getting baptized on the 21st and he is really excited. We had a really good lesson with him this week. It is hard though, because he is really attached to the last sister who taught him. I know he likes me but I don't really feel like this is my baptism. I am happy for him and the numbers don't matter, but I just feel like the other sister should be here for his baptism. But I am happy to be here either way. We also have J,and she is awesome.  We don't see her much because she doesn't live in our area, but she wants to be taught by sisters. Her only problem is smoking. She really wants to stop but she is really stressed at work so that doesn't help. She is amazing; she really wants to get baptized. Whenever we say something that really hits home to her, she is always like, "See! I needed you guys!". And she always tells us that me and Sister Haws are a perfect team. She says how good we are and how she loves us. It makes me feel really good. We also teach these twins girls who are 10 and they are totally ready to get baptized, but their mom will not let them because she thinks that they are too young. So we are working on that. This little girl came up to me the other day and whispered in my ear, "You are my favorite missionary...My 10th favorite." I guess I am just the 10th missionary she has liked. That was funny...I don't want to tell you everything so I can tell you some stuff on Christmas, but I hope that was good.

It does not feel like Christmas here at all. But it is OK-it makes the homesickness less. It is just super hot and there are a few decorations up. They do a lot of parades-none that we can go see, but the Christmas devotional really helped and I am focusing my studies on Jesus Christ so I can celebrate Him more this year. He is really becoming something more to me. He is more like my friend. I love him a lot. Everything else is really good. I love my comp and the other sisters. Every night after we all get home we always laugh and have tons of fun. One of the sisters is from Pompeii and she is teaching me how to hula! I am gettting pretty good! I miss you guys all the time and there is a dog abovoe us that has a bark just like Liesl, but I know why I am here and that I have a purpose here. I can wait 10 more months to see you again. 

Have a good week, read your scriptures and remember Jesus loves you

Love,

Sister Amy Hoskins