Maybe she really did "kill" her
companion...

Aloha Everyone!
 My companion is Sister Robertson. She is Samoan and we came out together, so she has been out 6 months. Can you believe that I have been out 6 months? Pretty cool! She just turned 20, and she is from California, by Compto,n so she lives in really big gang areas. It totally sucked to kill my companion,(This just means that she was her last companion before she went home) and I hope that I never have to do it EVER again. It was so sad. I didn't realize how good of a friend she was. I really loved her and will miss her a lot. 

The hardest thing about this week was taking over the area. STRESSFUL!! I am in charge of everything, and have to do everything by myself. I have to plan the day and lessons because she doesn't know anyone. I just feel a lot of pressure, I want to make sure I go to the right places and talk to the right people. Our numbers were really low this week, and it made me nervous because I don't want to be a failure.  I know the Lord will help me, but it still has been really stressful. I was reading about Mormon and how he led his armies at 16, a
nd I imagine I feel a little bit like him...totally over my head! I got a blessing that said I would be able to do it, so I am trying to trust God, but it is a lot harder than it sounds...

But other than that I LOVE my ward so much. I am learning to love all of them. And I feel like they love me too! I have had so much fun at our dinners lately! I want to be here for Christmas so I can be with people that I love.

 We also had a really good lesson with an investigator this week. We taught her the restoration and she understood everything really well. We watched the Restoration DVD and she got a little teary-eyed. She told us that "I liked that movie...actually I liked it a lot! It really touched my heart." It was really cool. She also said that she sees baptism in her future! So hopefully we will get to teach her a lot and get her dunked! And Sunday was good because M got read into the ward. He will probably get the Priesthood in the next few weeks! 

This week should be better. We have our mission tour this week: that is when a member of the 70 General Authorities of the Church comes and helps train us. So that is on Wednesday, and it will be fun. I love when we get training from people higher up than our district leaders. Today for P-day we are going to hang out at a beach park and do nothing, so that will be fun. And there are rumors going around that we are getting I-pads at the beginning of next year. So that will be cool. We are still having to tract and do all the normal stuff, so we will see if it changes.  Anyway, I love you all.  If you leave the church I will kill you. Stay happy and healthy.

Love, Sis. Hoskins

Just a pretty picture of a hike that almost
killed Sister Hoskins, apparently.

Aloha Everyone!

I am staying in Kailua this transfer, but I have no idea who will be my companion, so that makes me a little nervous. I am not training. It is pretty hard with Sister Marshall leaving. I got a little more attached this time around, and she is talking about all the fun things she will do with her family, so that makes me a little homesick. But I am doing ok.

Companion love...

Amy and her companion

 I learned a lot this conference about how important this work is and I feel pretty determined to baptize EVERYONE! I have no idea what my favorite talk was. It was all super amazing. I loved it all so much. I liked Nielson's talk (Gifford Nielson) The only problem is that we did watch it at 6 am, so it was pretty hard to stay awake. I only struggled through the really soft spoken speakers-sorry Elder Scott.

 HAPPY BIRTHDAY SAM!! I LOVE YOU!!! And also happy Birthday to Nathan!!!

That is so funny that you guys noticed my hair-I commented that it's a lot lighter. Everyone comments on it. I did not do anything to it, I have just been out in the sun. One of our Members keeps asking me if she can dye my hair red, but I am loving the blonde.

 Investigators are pretty good. Not a lot of progressing at the moment. We need to go out and find more, I know what me and my new companion are doing! Knocking Doors! I am pretty nervous to take over the area. I just want to do a good job and make the ward proud. Our zone is being almost completely redone. It is really good. We are getting a lot of new Elders and 3 new Sisters. It is hard because some of my good friends are being transferred, so we have to start all over again. That is always hard, but I am hopeful. Hopefully I have some blessings stored up.

Thanks for being so great. I love you all very much. I know this church is true!

Love,

Sister Hoskins

Let's hope not!

Everything was pretty good this week. We have just been trying to visit everyone. Nothing really interesting happened until yesterday. Yesterday we went to a wedding on the beach. That will probably be the only time that I will touch the beach on my mission. So that was good. 

On the beach?  Yes, for a wedding.

We also had a baptism!  It was really good. M looked so happy the whole time, and he was so good. He walks up to us at church, all clean shaven, and gives us an Aloha Kiss* (which he has never done before), and he also bore his testimony at sacrament meeting. We cried. It was awesome!  And then we baptized him. I bore my testimony because there was a lot of non-members there, and I cried...It was really cool and I was really happy for him.

Amy and the new convert

The Baptism

 The next week is going to be pretty hard because we will be preparing for Sister Marshall to leave so we will be saying goodbye to everyone. They did her Aloha 'oe yesterday, and it was depressing. I had to leave the room. I also have no idea what is happening with transfers.

 But I really do not have anything to complain about. We have a few really good investigators, and I am really starting to love the ward. In church yesterday I looked at everyone and truly realized how much I love them. We also had a really cool experience with our less active member. He is going to the Catholic church right now, but we always go and visit his non-member mom, hoping that he will sit in. This time he did. He told us that he has cancer and that he is really scared, and he just kept talking about how great our church is and how terrible his is. We shared a message and prayed, and the spirit was really strong, and we got him to church!!! It was way cool. You could tell that he misses the church. 

Today we went fishing, and I caught  the first fish. It gave me a pretty good fight, so that was a lot of fun. Oh yeah, and on Saturday we did service. We painted for these people, and it was a lot of fun. They think that I am a really good singer, and that is funny. A lot of locals just blast the radio all the time so we hear a lot of normal music...way too distracting...They played it at the service, so that is how we heard my singing. Oh Hawaiians, and them not following rules .Mission rules are that "regular" radio-type music is off limits because it is distracting and may bring thoughts of experiences better left behind.  The members they are with are supposed to make sure they follow this rule by not having it on while they're around. It is so funny how laid-back it is here. Everyone just goes with the flow. 

Well I miss you all. 

Love You all.

Love,

Sister Hoskins

*The honi is a Polynesian greeting in which two people greet each other by pressing noses and inhaling at the same time. This is a very honorific as this represents the exchange of ha--the breath of life, and mana--spiritual power between two people.

Hello

They built a fort for planning time.

So interesting story, A few weeks before Sister Clayson (her first companion) left, she asked me if she thought that I could take over the area. She had no idea that she was leaving, but she felt like she needed to ask me that. So I thought about it and prepared myself. This week, my companion paused and said, "Do you think that you will be ready to train?" I don't know if it is the same thing, but it was a little bit of Deja Vu.  She also said that she would request for me to train. So, I might be training next transfer. I kind of want to, and kind of don't at the same time. It is a lot of pressure, but it also forces you to learn and grow because you have to be the example and the strong one. Being on a mission is definitely fun, and an amazing experience, but it is also very draining and hard.

 Investigators are really hard to work. We have one investigator who loves us coming over and likes to be taught by us, but he won't keep any of his commitments. We are starting to think that he just likes our company more than anything else. T has not been coming to church, but other than that she is ready to be baptized. M is the one with the baptism date, and he is ready and really excited. I am excited too. It is interesting with him because he is pretty much a member, so I have to remind myself that he has not been baptized yet. He is great, and he will be a great member of the ward.

A pig bone from the Luau.

 We still have a little interaction with Elders.  We can be inside church buildings with them on p-day and for meetings, but that is about it. It kinda stinks because we don't get to create as many friendships, but it does help with obedience and making sure everyone is working hard. 

We have been working really hard, we get at least 20 lessons a week, even though we walk. We had a dinner a couple days ago where the member invited his friends. We got one new investigator from that. She is really nice and very prepared to receive the gospel. She said we could come back and talk to her, so that is awesome. We have also been teaching MA and she is moving forward really well. We taught her the Plan of Salvation and she loved it! I didn't know how interested she was, all her family members have a different religion, but she thinks everything is true! She told us that we are the best things that have happened to her in a long time and that she really likes what we teach. When she prayed, she said that no other religion has interested her more. One thing I love about being on a mission is when the investigators pray and they pray about how thankful they are for us. Almost all of our investigators have thanked God for sending us. I love that.

 

A family at the Luau

So there is a member of the bishopric Bro. Rovner, and he is in charge of assigning talks, and they call it being Rovnered when he approaches you to talk. I didn't understand that until I got Rovnered. It is crazy.  He makes eye contact with you from across the hall, and then he just moves in like a shark and you can not help it. Everyone even moves and makes a path for him. So yeah, I am speaking on Sunday. I think I am going to talk about loyalty. I have been reading all of the past conference talks and I have noticed a theme of how we need to be loyal to God and his church. It is not the time to be worrying about little things like being offended in church because there is a bigger war going on. Satan is trying to get all of us, and if we are not loyal to God, we are not going to be strong enough. We need Gods power to survive right now and to stay strong. We need God's help especially now. Anyway, I guess what I have learned this week is that we need the gospel more than we know and that nothing is worth more in the whole world. So please don't forget to do all the things you need to to stay strong.

Ok and here is the Climax of this Email...for me anyway...Drum roll...ELDER HOLLAND IS COMING TO TALK TO OUR MISSION!!!!!!!!! I am so excited I am going to die. I am like Justin Bieber excited! Everyone on Oahu gets to go and listen to him speak at the Tabernacle! I might even get to shake his hand! He is coming September 21st! So yeah, I am beyond excited for that and I will tell you all about it. And Mom, I will try to tell him that you are his biggest fan. I am just super curious about what he is going to say, because he is only talking to the missionaries. Plus the senior missionaries are giving us a ride and they are always early to things so we will probably get really good seats. 

So yeah that is my life: I go get brown and try to teach people about Jesus.

Love, Me

 P.S I love the church! And Jesus! SOOO MUCH!!! 

Ward Members at the Luau

Hello Everyone! 

So there has been a lot of drama around the mission lately, because President is changing A LOT of things in the mission. He is pretty much cutting off the interactions between Sisters and Elders, which makes sense, but it makes everyone sad because we are all becoming good friends, but now we cannot see each other. They are having a council today to decide more on it, so I hope we get to see everyone a little bit.

 We didn't really know it was Labor Day until a few days ago, but it doesn't mean much to us anyway right now. We have done absolutely nothing today. We woke up and did our studies and then went back to sleep. Then we watched the Joseph Smith movie and Legacy, and wrote letters, and now I am here writing you. It is hecka weird that it is already 8 where you guys are.(4 o'clock her time.)

 Investigators always drive me crazy, some of them just will not cooperate, but M is great, and he is going to be baptized.  We worked on his Baptism program last time we talked to him. T is good and wants to be baptized, but she cannot get to church or lessons because of stupid basketball. Her son plays 6 games a week. She says she would love to go to church, but really cannot because of her schedule. It stinks. We have been praying and fasting for her. 

So there are two things on a mission that get you as excited as going to Disney Land, and those are: going to the temple and General Conference. I am so excited that General Conference is coming up, I could DIE! I know crazy huh? I think about it coming and I get little excited chills. I kind of feel the same way when the conference Ensign came out. The only sucky thing about it is that it is broadcast here at 6 am, but I am so excited just to soak it in! I might even cry when it is over. I have been reading the conference Ensign and there is one that you guys should read for your family home evening.  It is Stand Strong in Holy Places by Robert D. Hales. It is sooo good and really helped me. You guys should read it. I was also thinking that we should read the Book of Mormon together next year. I will probably be done by November, but it would be fun if we read the Book of Mormon together and kept going together when I get home. The other day we didn't have time to do our studies, and I thought that i was going to die! The next day I almost hugged my scriptures because I missed them so bad. I totally did not feel like myself when I didn't get to read. I was kinda grumpy because I just wanted to go home and read my scriptures. I love the Book of Mormon, It is my best friend right now. Everyone should keep reading it.  It is so worth it. I totally didn't believe people when they talked about how they need the scriptures. Now I know. It really is like being hungry when you don't read, and once you open it up, it is like eating your favorite food after being starving. Ok I am done with my cheesy Missionary moment. 

Shredding the pork-in a skirt!

So this weekend we had a luau! It was pretty sweet! They did a real Emu where they stick the pig in the ground. They open up the pig and take out all his insides, and then they stick lava rocks inside to cook him inside out. Then they wrap him in tea leaves and burlap bags and light a fire and cook for six hours. It was a 400 pound pig. So we got there to get the pig out, and then we helped shred it. We took his ribs and shredded his meat with his own bones...in a skirt. It was pretty awesome, and I wasn't grossed out either. Even when the tongue was hanging out of it's mouth. And let me tell you! He was Delicious!!!! I also played the Ukulele for the Young Women. Six of them did a hula, and some of us played and sang. I stunk it up, but it was fun. I wore that mu mu we got at Goodwill and made it all cute. I will send a picture. And all of the men did the Haka -including our investigator. He is already a member-he participates in everything!

The Goodwill Mumu
looking cute.

To answer your questions: YES IT IS HOT!!! September is apparently the worst month of all. I have never sweated so much in my life!  If you want to see something I have seen lately look up China Man's Hat. We played Frisbee there. 

China Man's Hat

I love you all very much you are the best. Have a good week. Don't do anything stupid.

Love ME

P.S Don't forget about me, there was a lot of empty mailbox moments this week. 

Hi everyone! 

Today was our P-Day because we got to go to the TEMPLE!!! It was AMAZING!! I love the Temple so much and I just want to go back and do another session right now..but I have to wait another 12 weeks 

Tomorrow is transfers, and I don't have to go for once! I am staying here with Sister Marshall and I am killing her here. This does not mean that there is a prison term for Amy in the future.  This means that Amy will be her companion when she goes home. That means I will probably be here for another transfer after that, unless I train, and that will probably be 2 to 3 morem so we will see. I am happy to stay. I am going to get even more tan and maybe get in shape a little. 

Olives!

The investigators are good,We have been asked to not put names of investigators out in public for their privacy, so hereafter this person will be known as M. M is getting Baptized!!! He will be baptized on September 29th! YAY! Also T is super super Golden! She is doing soo good. She loves and believes everything we say, and she is amazing. The only problem is still her schedule because it stops them from getting to church. So, hopefully she figures out that she needs to get to church. Also, cool fact, the head basketball coach of the University of Hawaii is in my ward. I knew he was into basketball, but I just learned this week that he is the head coach. So that was cool, and I also met a member who flew the president's Helicopter (for Bill Clinton) and he had some dirt on him! And, apparently Obama is going to be here during Christmas so hopefully I am not here then, or I convert him...those are the only 2 options (or kick him in the face but...yeah).  We are also teaching this old guy named J. He has lived alone for 20 years, and he forgets almost everything we teach him, but he loves us! He has been meeting with the Jehovah's Witness for a few years and he said that nothing they ever taught him made him feel the way we make him feel. He stops us all the time and says, "I like the way you two girls talk!" We told him it was the Spirit. I think he was a bit of a womanizer in his past, so he is silly around us, so we asked him if he wanted us over because of what we teach or because we are cute. He says he likes what we teach too, so that is good, and he is progressing. 

Ok, so crazy story of the week. We were teaching our investigator MA, (she is really sweet and she always has food for us), so we were visiting her and it went really well. To preface this a little bit, on my mission I have learned a lot about the reality of God, but I have come to also be very, very aware of Satan. It was a miracle because we showed her the Restoration Video without any technology problems or disruptions, which never happens. The spirit was really there, and it was super awesome, and we were about to invite her to be baptized, and then CRASH!!! There was a stinkin' car crash right in front of her house! If that wasn't enough, it happened to be her sister-in-law! Coincidence? I think not! It wasn't too bad, so before she was going to leave to go see if she was OK, we asked her if we could say a prayer for her sister-in-law. I said the prayer really fast, but when we looked up everyone was gone! You would not have even known. I guess it was just a little rear ending accident so they didn't need to call anyone. She was all like "Wow! that prayer really worked!" So what I learned from this experience is, that even though Satan tries all his stuff, God can still help if we have faith. He can make a situation that could have been bad into something good. 

But everything is pretty good, except the heat! I have never sweated so much in my life! But yeah, I am doing better and hopefully we will get some good baptisms. 

I love you all, stay active or I will Beat you!

Love Sister Hoskins

Hello everyone,

First of all I wanted to say that we are at our members house emailing and the girls are really cute, and it made me happy because they are watching the Bible Videos on the I-pad! I was so happy!  I was like, "My brother made that App!"  It made me all proud. 

This week was okay.  Nothing really amazing happened. Being on a mission is definitely the hardest thing I have  ever done. I am trying to be stronger. It is just hard when people are not really listening. Plus, we had 2 exchanges this week, and I do not really like those. My companion is a Sister Trainer, so she goes to everyone else's area and I have to try to figure out what to do there...which is hard. But it works out OK, and there will be 2 more this week. Anyway,Toni did not come to church. We only had one at church. Mark wants to wait to be baptized in April. These people we were teaching before I even got here. We have not really found anyone new. We have a couple of potentials that we found during a Zone Flood. 

This is the fish she caught last week.
Her dad was teasing her about the
not so impressive size.

We went fishing again today with the zone leaders and caught 3 fish in the first hour and then nothing after that. I did not think that my fish from a few weeks ago was very impressive. It was tiny, but it was legit because it is a tropical fish. The guy next to us today caught a really big fish and a puffer fish. While we were waiting for the fish to bite, I taught everyone how to dance the Hoedown Throwdown-that was pretty fun. 

I am not improving in basketball because we hardly play it. I liked playing volleyball, I have yet to become very good at that game. I still think that rugby is annoying.  There is no way I can run fast enough to get past everyone. We have 2 Polynesian elders in our zone. They are really good and the rest of us stink. One of the Elders was in my first zone, so I have seen how good he is. 

So it is really funny because there are 3 cars here that are really popular and I see them a lot: Previas, Tercels, and Lexus ES 300s.  It is not because they are all our cars, they really are everywhere, especially in Honolulu. 

One of Kailua's main roads

I hope everything goes well for the wedding, I just don't even know what to think it has not hit me yet. It might not for a while...Oh, and do you know what is crazy? I hit my 5 month mark on Saturday! Strange eh? It felt like 5 months but didn't at the same time. I have been out longer than a semester at college. Please tell me as much as you can about the wedding, I want to be able to envision it as much as possible. 

Well, if you want something spiritual you should read Alma 26, it has really helped me. I do know that this church is true and I hope all of you remember that.  We would be so miserable without it. Take it from me, I have seen people who had the gospel and then the threw it away for stupid things like party life and because they were offended. Do not do that-it isn't even close to worth it. 

Good Luck with everything, I love you all.

Love, Me

P.S I am actually kinda jealous of Meshya because she gets to be Sister Hoskins, and I will lose that name someday. I pass the torch to you Meysha.  Take good care of it! It is the best name ever!