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

Dec. 2, 2013

Aloha everyone. I am doing pretty good. This week was pretty crazy! Overall I am feeling pretty good. The holidays make me a little homesick, but it is not snowing, so I cannot really tell the difference anyway. I forget it is Christmas time everyday. 

 Thanksgiving was good. I missed being with everyone. Nothing was too different except that there was rice along with everything else. We ate with a big Samoan family, and it was surprisingly really quiet. But it was fun because they had it at the church, so all of the missionaries ended up being there and we all played basketball with the family. Then later on this DJ guy came and they had lights and music (they apologized to us but didn't really care), so we kept playing basketball and I did the electric slide with them...I couldn't resist...I will repent. 

Anyway it was pretty normal, but this week I have learned that I am completely terrible at every sport known to man! I just could not show up no matter what we played. I did not play in the Turkey Bowl because it was pretty much NFL Status with non-member draft picks. It was crazy. My companion "played" and pretty much just stood there. It was all huge Samoan men with big tempers. They were all wearing cleats, and a University of Hawaii, and BYU tight end were playing also. So that was not a place for Sister Hoskins. Everyone here is good at sports so I kinda sit back and watch. I cannot even beat the 7 year olds.

 Everything else is pretty good. Most of our investigators just have silly things holding them back and we have one with a date for baptism. I already love this ward. They are really good and nice. It always takes a ward a while to get over the sister who just left, so things will be even better after that. And we are getting 20 lessons a week which is really good. President Warner just changed the approach when we talk to people, so we are trying to get used to that. It is pretty much what tracting used to be, but we can be a little more creative and we count the numbers differently.

 So this week we went to Pearl Harbor AGAIN!! I have been there 3 times in one month. To say the least I think that I could give people a tour now. But this time it was cool because there was a marching band there that we got to watch, and we got to go to the U.S.S Utah memorial which was really cool. This Senior Sister came to stay with us so she could go to the baptism for this family she found, and after the baptism she took us to Costco and let us get whatever we wanted. I also sang at the baptism. We had some good lessons that I think will go somewhere, our goal and the ward's goal is to get 4 more lessons by the end of the year, so we are working for that. I like teaching more, it makes missionary work a lot easier.

So today was pretty fun. We woke up and worked out and Al, our trainer, is trying to fix my back. Apparently I am not aligned correctly and it is causing me a lot of different problems, we practiced walking and standing up straight. Who knew I had a problem with that? So that was good, and he said I will be strong by the time I leave which will be cool. Then I got all dressed up and one of our investigators took Christmas pictures of me, so hopefully I will get those to you. After that we went bowling with our zone. I totally lost any skills
I had in that area, but it was fun. We got lunch, and now I am writing you.

Honestly, the only thing I want for Christmas is my phone call (o man that sounds like I am in prison Hehe) Anyway, I am happy and my testimony is growing everyday. I hope I can make you all proud. It is hard, but I am trying.

I love you all very very much and I don't know what I would do without you. You are my everything.

Love,

Sister Amy Sharleen Hoskins

Aloha Everyone!

 I have been transferred to....drum roll....Palehua Makakilo! It is on the opposite side of the island from Kaneohe, and I pretty much love it!  It looks nothing like Hawaii except that you can see the water a little ways off. It totally looks like the mainland! I thought I was home again. There are a lot more stores and industrial buildings. And it is really dry and HOT. The palm trees give it away a little. Another cool thing about it is that it is a walking area again! I love it. It is cool because we live with 2 other sisters- one of those being my Trainer, Sister Clayson :)- We share a car with them, so if we need a ride we have one. We also live really close to the church, so that is sweet! And the apartment is not a closet!!! It is so exciting! It looks almost exactly like Millie and Nathan's apartment. I am so happy to have a stove and a refrigerator that are bigger than a shoe box. We even have a couch! That is my first couch on my mission! And we have a deck, so I am a pretty happy camper.

 But here is the craziest thing of all, which I know you are all going to laugh at, but in this area we have a personal trainer!  He is not a member, but he trains all 4 of us at 6 in the morning everyday. He is a boxer, I think, and he has trained his sons. We run up and down the street and then we work out in his garage. Here is the really weird part...I kind of like it!! I know! I know! Sorry Dad for almost giving you a heart attack...I should care more about your aging heart :). But yeah, I have only been once because we don't work out on the weekends, but it was fun. He is really good at not making me feel weak and lame. I have never been so sore, but it was way cool, and everyone says after 6 weeks I'll be in shape, so sweet! He also noticed that I walk on my left foot weird and that I over correct on that side too much. He said it could be a cause of a lot of back pain and stuff, so he said he will help me fix it! It will be nice not to have a sore back.

 My companion is Sister Haws. She came out a transfer after me. She is from Kaysville, Utah and she is a few months younger than me. We have had a lot of fun so far. And she is an AMAZING violinist! You can give her any song and as long as she knows the tune she can play it, and she makes it a different arrangement. I played name that tune with her and she made up new arangements for everything and it was AMAZING! So yeah, that is way fun. I wish I had a cool talent like that.

I really like the people so far. There are a lot more locals. There are a lot of apartment buildings in our area and that is usually where you will find locals. It is cool because we walk around and little kids come running up to us, and it is way fun. Our ward is very missionary minded. The Ward Council always asks us specifically how they can help! I love it! I did cry on my own when I left Kailua. Everyone was really sad and they gave me big hugs. I will always love those people, but I am not really homesick for the area so I am OK here. I can see a lot of things I can help with here, so that will be nice. I also like it because I am actually teaching here. I actually feel like a missionary! I get to tell people about the Book of Mormon before they shut the door in my face-it is marvelous! I really like teaching people. We had a great lesson this week with a lady who is super excited to get baptized, she just needs to work on the Word of Wisdom...and she is totally willing to stop. She even told us that it would be good to stop smoking so she can pay her tithing better! She is so good! I also loved that lesson because I really felt the Spirit.  Stories quotes and scriptures kept popping into my head that made her light up. Almost everything I said she was like, "Wow I never thought of it that way. That makes sense. I needed that!" So that made me feel really good. And we have these two 10 year old girls who want to get baptized, we just need to get mom's approval which is the problem right now. I just love how much I am feeling the Spirit here. 

For Thanksgiving we are going to play in the Turkey Bowl and eat at the church with a few of the families in the ward! I am excited for that. It was cool because yesterday Steven, my marine investigator from Kailua, got baptized! I am so happy for him. I am totally half-way counting him. I was sad I couldn't be there. He is such a good person.

So yeah, that is mostly what happened this week, and I am loving it! I am having so much fun. And what is crazy is that I am going to be 8 months in in a few weeks! Crazy! I tell people that I have been out for almost 8 months and they are like "Wow You are not new at all!" That makes me feel good.

There was something else, I will tell you next week I don't remember

Love you one more than you will ever say

Sister Amy Hoskins

Nov. 11, 2013

This is Josephine whom Amy loves.

Hi Everyone! As of yesterday I have been on my mission for 7 months-11 to go! This week was not a lot easier, but it was better. Some cool little things happened. I wasn't sure if we should go see this lady because she is out of our way a lot and she isn't home when we go by, but we did it anyways and she was HOME!! It was pretty good because she let us in and we got to talk to her. She just needs a little more heart-softening and she will be ready. Also, I was just trying to decide where to tract and I decided on this street, and the first house we prayed with this lady.  After we were done praying, we looked up and she was crying.  It was cool because I really felt like I followed the Spirit on that one.  I got to look her in the face and tell her how much her Heavenly Father loves her. She has a busy schedule so I hope we will get to talk with her. We also got to go see that family I told you about and it was NOT good. They were not interested, and they cornered me with some really deep doctrine questions and they got me very confused so I fumbled all over myself.  They thought I was stupid. So it was really hard but I am getting over it. I hate when your testimony starts shaking and you cannot do a lot about it. I know Heavenly Father loves me even though I might mess up at teaching.

 We also went to Pearl Harbor again (they double booked us) So that was fun. I got to see more of the ship this time. I even kind of know my way around it. 

Not Pearl Harbor, but some other beautiful place.

There is no longer a baptism for the 17th.  She is just not ready. I really don't know what she needs, but I'll keep praying to see what we can teach her. I don't think that we will see a baptism this transfer, but it is OK. I also had a very humbling experience this week,but I realized that the Spirit was speaking to me and I wasn't listening. It could have just helped a lot of things if I listened.

Anyway, I feel like I will be leaving. A few things have happened that make me think that I might be leaving. I want to and don't want to. I always feel like saying goodbye to people, though, which hasn't happened before.  Last night we ate with a family and I said I might be leaving, and she was like "No Sister Hoskins, you are not leaving!" It made me feel really good. We tried to get this guy to church-I was naughty and made him swear on the Book of Mormon-because he always promises to come to church but never follows through, and he didn't come! So now I am going to get struck by lightning! Awesome! 

Anyway, we also had President interviews and that was awesome and tons of fun, I hung out and talked with Sister Warner-it was the best. The BEST part of the week is that we learned that we are getting I-Pads!!!!!!! It is going to be so awesome. They are taking $100 out of our 400 a month and getting us all I pads, hopefully by January! But we don't know for sure. And the awesome thing is that we will get to keep them once we go home! We get to be on chat on mormon.org for 2 hours a day. I might not need my camera after all because we can take pictures with the i-pads. That also means that we get to use facebook, I don't know how that will work yet, but I do know it is on our own account. It is going to be amazing for missionary work.  It is going to work so much better.  So yeah, we are super excited! 

How is everything at home? Anything interesting happen? Hows the weather? It is raining non-stop here. We get a flash flood warning everyday...nothing yet. I think everything is going to be OK with me,  Thanks for your prayers.  I love you all.

Love, Me

Amy

Oct. 27, 2013

Thank you for all of your letters. I am so grateful for all of you.  You're amazing!

So this week was very different from the last one. We did A LOT of work. We got 6 new investigators this week! It was pretty AWESOME! We went on exchanges and that is where me and the other sister got most of them. We have at least 2 that seem solid enough to teach them consistently. So that is great. I have been pretty stressed, but it is OK because things have gone pretty good. We lost S, our marine, as an investigator because the Elders took him. But I will still count him, and as long as he gets baptized, I guess I cannot get mad about it. But AH set a date: NOV 17!! So that is awesome, and her husband quit smoking Cold Turkey yesterday. I talked to him, and he is doing good. He says baptizing his wife is enough motivation to quit smoking, so WAHOO!! I am so excited for them. They are the best!  We taught a lot of lessons this week so that was great. We are teaching a new family. When we first met them they let us into their house, and the kids showed us their rooms and pets, and they totally loved us, so I am excited to start teaching them. We are also a teaching a 16 year old girl and she is really cool too, and her parents let us teach her, which is a total miracle!

So, funny story, we keep having interesting run-ins with the Jehovah's Witnesses. We were doing one of our normal visits to this old lady with Dementia, and while we were with her there was a knock on the door and is was the Jehovah's Witnesses, and the lady said that she wanted them to meet us, and let me tell you... AWKWARD!  It was really funny because once they noticed it was us, they got really uncomfortable, but they were nice for the most part.  We also were walking down the street and a car of them pulled over, and they were like "Oh, we thought you were Witnesses! You are Mormons?" We got to talk to them for a while.  They were really nice. And here is another funny story. After we got done teaching a lesson, our ward mission leader was like "There is a video you have to see! It is about missionaries." So we were watching it, and it was in New York where missionaries started singing on a subway. Well as we watched, here comes Elder Rogers on the screen! That threw me for a loop! It was really fun to see someone I knew like that...super random but awesome!

Anyway, I am IN LOVE with my ward right now. They are the best. I have been talking to them a lot about our less-actives and how we need to work with them more, and everyone is totally on board!  Everyone has been visiting and helping us a lot with our investigators...I love them. And this Sunday President and Sister Warner spoke in our ward, so that will help the missionary work pick up a little. We also just had our Trunk or Treat, it was really fun! I loved seeing everyone. We also got to go Trunk or Treating which was awesome. I am eating candy like a fat kid just because this is my first candy stash is a couple of years. 

Today we went mini Golfing for P-day and it was fun. I did not win, but I did not lose either. For Halloween, we are probably going to go to a haunted house (which is surprisingly not against the rules) and we are going to play games, cook chili and roast marshmallows! So I am looking forward to that. They told us to do couples costumes, so me and my companion are going to be our mission president and his wife. It is going to be hilarious.

I love you all and miss you so much you are the greatest! Sorry I ran out of time I would tell you more!

Love, Sister Hoskins (did you know that nobody in Hawaii can say Hoskins? Weird.)

P.S Will you hate me if I come home fat?

P.P.S Pray that I don't die of heat.

P.P.P.S I love the gospel!  

Oct. 20, 2013

Hi everyone.  Everything is going pretty good. It has been a pretty hard week, but really good at the same time. It is hard to take over the area because our success relies on my revelation. So I do feel a lot of pressure, and we are not exactly having a lot of lessons right now. But I am trying, and I know the Lord will keep helping me. 

But a few really good things have happened this week.  We had the mission tour which was really good. Most of the mission was there, so it was fun to see everyone and we heard from the member of the 70, and that was really cool. That was one of those days where you are just so full of the Spirit that you do not want to leave and go back to normal. It was Elder Schwitzer. He is really cool. But it was terrible because I was sitting there, just minding my own business, and they announce the closing prayer, and they are like "Sister Hoskins!".  Yikes! Nobody asked me to say the prayer!  Do you know how nerve racking it is to pray in front of your whole mission, your mission President and a general authority?  Yeah it was pretty scary, but it was cool because I shook his hand. So I have shaken the hand of 3 general authorities so far...I am pretty much famous now. :) 

We also had a really good lesson with AH this week. She is doing really well, we are finally talking about baptism with her and she is willing to stop drinking coffee. Her husband who is less-active is quitting smoking, which is really surprising and happy! I think they are finally starting to realize that they want this in their lives and I am so happy for them. They are even reading the Book of Mormon with their kids! So yeah, that is awesome. And then yesterday we were preparing to teach our 19 year old marine, and we both felt that we needed to change the lesson to the Atonement and just focus on that. It was such a cool spiritual experience because we were both filled with peace and we knew what we had planned was right, even though it was not going in order of the lessons or anything. We sat there and taught completely from the Spirit and he committed to be baptized!!!! It was super great. I really felt like a missionary yesterday. He set a date for November 21st. That is the day after transfers, so we are going to try to move it up in case I leave the area. But it is super great and our whole zone is doing well, and we are getting really close to meeting our goals. So we might have two baptisms this transfer...we will see. We have not found anyone tracting yet, so it is hard because our teaching pool is low, but I am hoping for the best.

Me and my companion are doing pretty good.  We have had a lot of fun so far, so it will be good. 

The weather is good. It is starting to cool down a little bit more into the 70s :P I am getting pretty acclimated to the weather because if it gets much under 75 I get chilly. It is going to be so much fun to go back to Rexburg. It is pretty weird to see Halloween decorations, but I like it because it reminds me of what season it is. It would be impossible to tell otherwise. We do have to stay in after 5, I think, on Halloween, so our zone is going to hang out at the church and play games. Halloween is such a big thing here. People have tons of decorations.

I am surviving, and more than one night this week I counted my blessings and was filled with a lot of love and gratitude.  It was wonderful.

Love, Me

P.S Did I tell you we had bed bugs a few weeks ago? Yeah. They exist and I have never been so itchy in my life! Don't get them!

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.