12.28.15 Merry Christmas Y'all!

Hey y'all!(: It has been another great week here in Big Shanty! I hope y'all had a wonderful Christmas! We are getting lots of rain and it's super dark! Tornado warnings coming our way!

Tuesday morning we had district meeting and I gave a training on how the Book of Mormon and Bible support each other, and how you can use the Book of Mormon to respond to objections. I invited Jocelyn to come bear her testimony and it was amazing. The spirit was so strong!  I just love that girl!  After district meeting we had lunch with Donna and her husband! It was so much fun!(: They call themselves our Methodist grandparents! (These are the people that run the food pantry where the LDS sisters serve).  How cute is that??(:

It was super foggy and very humid today! So gross! We had to walk to the branch for a lesson with Andrew and we were soaked by the time we got there. The lesson went well! We talked about hope and trusting in God, having patience in his timing. He is a bit of a roller coaster right now but he knows exactly what he needs to do, he just needs to do it. Then we had a lesson with Mario and his girlfriend Tiffany on the restoration. She had some questions but it was really cool because I was able to answer her questions so much better after the studies I had done for my training. There truly are no coincidences! It was a bit crazy with their 3 year olds running around, but it went well. I am excited to start teaching her!(: That night we had a wonderful lesson with Jocelyn! We taught her about the word of wisdom and her response was "ya that makes sense!" She is so elect its crazy! At the end she told me that she wasn't connecting with the missionaries so she had prayed really hard for a missionary she could connect with and then I got emergency transferred to this area. She apologized for yanking me from level creek but said how grateful she was I was here. It was so cool!  This is gods work. He is in the details of our lives. Sometimes things happen and we don't know why but it is all part of the plan. We have to put our trust in him! I am so grateful for this opportunity I have to serve in big shanty and teach Jocelyn!❤️

Wednesday morning  we had a lesson with Jocelyn and it was great! We talked about faith, hope and charity. It was a fantastic lesson! After that we made Christmas cookies with Laurissa to go deliver on Christmas! It was a lot of fun!(: Then we went and got hot chocolate with Colleen and shared a message about Christmas. It was awesome!(:

That night got a little crazy! It was pouring rain with really bad thunder and lightning! It messed things up a bit but we were able to go visit Elizabeth at work which was really good! Colleen offered us a ride home which was a tender mercy! We really didn't wanna walk 45 minutes in that weather to get home! God answers prayers!

Thursday was a wonderful Christmas Eve! We went and had breakfast with Andrew and his family! We made them pancakes and shared a message about Christmas. His sister had a few questions, luckily we were able to answer them. It was fun and good to get to know them better!(: We spent our afternoon weekly planning which was a bit rough since campus is still closed but it was good! That night we took Jocelyn to Carabbas for Christmas and it was so delicious! When we first walked in it was packed like wow! We thought there was no way we were gonna be able to eat there and then we saw 3 seats at the pasta bar first come first serve! It was perfect and we had so much fun! God cares about even the little things!(: After dinner we went and met up with the elders to get some less actives from their ward to come to the branch. It was a great lesson and they both promised to be there on Sunday!(:

Christmas Day was so wonderful! We woke up, got ready and then the Kennesaw sisters who are assigned to the family ward came over and we all opened presents together! It was so much fun! I was so overwhelmed with love. Thank y'all for the packages, letters, prayers and all the love. It means so much! After that we went to the Murdocks (branch president) and had a delicious breakfast! Sister Blair Skyped her family while I watched the grandkids open their gifts and then I got to skype. There are not even words. I am so filled with joy and love. I am so blessed and it was so good to laugh with my incredible family again! Miss them tons and couldn't thank them enough for all they do for me! Next, we went caroling at the nursing home! It was so much fun and reminded me of good times with grandpa Gordon!(: they were all so happy to see us and it was so much fun! We had some extra time before dinner and decided to check with the sisters that lived around there and they were about to head out caroling so we got to join them!  Sister Neff who I was in the MTC just got emergency transferred there so that was really fun to go with her! We got to visit some less actives and read the Christmas story with them and also sing a Christmas hymn! We harmonized since there were four of us and it was beautiful! Then we headed back to the Murdocks and had a yummy dinner!(: After that we sang to them, read the Christmas story and then talked about some things in the branch. It was a peachy Christmas!(:

Saturday morning was Marietta miracles! In the Marietta zone this transfer every Saturday we go out and find every Saturday morning from 10-12. It is way cool! Since campus is closed we went to the mall parking lot and started contacting! So many people with Christmas money and returns! We were able to talk to lots of people and it was great! No one has contacted yes yet but I have faith we will hear from someone!(: After contacting we went and visited Jocelyn at work since she was right inside the mall! That was fun and she is doing great as always! She was worried because they were very busy and she was going to have to stay until 3 which meant she wouldn't be able to come see a baptism with us up in Hickory Flatt that afternoon. We went home for lunch, praying she would get off and anxiously awaiting her call. At 1:15 she called and said she got off! Wahoo!! We were able to go to the baptism and it was so amazing!(:

Sunday was another beautiful day!(: Numbers were a bit small but we had a great meeting. Sister Blair was asked to bear her testimony and it was great! Sister Murdock gave a wonderful talk about being the young adults of the noble birthright. Then me and Sister Blair got to teach gospel principles! It was a lot of fun and actually went really well! Being in a YSA we end up teaching and speaking quite a bit!  After church we had some meetings and then a great lesson with Elizabeth. We talked about the Plan of Salvation and it went really well. She is doing great and loving the branch!  That night we went over and made dinner with Jocelyn and had a lesson. It was fun!  When we got home we went and checked on the sisters. One of them is really sick so we stayed and talked for a bit. It is nice being in the same apartment complex and getting to bond with them. They are great sisters and I love them both very much!(:

There has been a lot of talk about the new year lately and I have been thinking about it quite a bit. I feel very honored and blessed that I get to be a missionary for all of 2016! Why is Christmas at the end of the year?? If you think about the Christmas season like Sunday, Sunday is a special time we have to reflect on our Savior and to prepare for our week. Christmas is a special time we have to reflect on our Savior and his birth. It is at the end of the year to help us prepare for a new year! I hope y'all had a wonderful Christmas and have a Happy New Year! Think about how you can involve Christ more into your life and make 2016 the best year yet! I love all of you and am so grateful to know each one of you!(:

12.21.15 - Blog email gone, just fun pictures this week.

Somehow the email Rachael typed up was suddenly gone and she wasn't able to find it, but here are a few tidbits and pictures she emailed home.

Hey mama I have no idea what the heck happened to my email. I am so crushed. It was another great week here! We were able to have some great lessons! Jocelyn is still doing great and we are really looking forward to her baptism! She is so ready!(: On Saturday we went to the food pantry and it was so much fun. I got so many hugs as I handed people their Christmas dinner and wished them a Merry Christmas. I was having a hard time really feeling like it was Christmas with no snow and being away from family but this really brought me into the spirit of Christmas. I am so grateful for this special time of year and the opportunity I get to be a missionary and wear his name every day. We are all inn keepers deciding if there is room for him in the inn. Go out and serve someone this season share this wonderful unique message we have. It is not too late! I hope you have all had time to feel your saviors love this Christmas. He loves each of you so much. He lives. I
am so grateful for y'all and your love and support you give to me. I love y'all so much! I have you have a wonderful holiday! Merry Christmas!(:


The pics of the country club is Mrs Donna who owns the food pantry took us out to lunch before sister Kafoa got transferred. It was tons of fun! Her and her husband are the sweetest!(:

We met a recent convert named Elizabeth this week and she is great I am super excited to get to know her better! It was really hard for me to come to level creek but this week the Lord really revealed to me why I am here. I have been able to relate and connect with so many here and feel so blessed. It was so humbling. I have really come to love big shanty!

After the food pantry I couldn't stopped smiling!(:

From Rachael on December 21, 2015 (the lost email)

Tuesday morning we had district meeting and I gave a training on the Book of Mormon and bible support each other. Also how you can use the Book of Mormon to respond to objections. I invited Jocelyn to come bear her testimony and it was amazing. The spirit was so strong! I just love that girl!(: After district meeting we had lunch with Donna and her husband! It was so much fun!(: They call themselves our Methodist grandparents! How cute is that??(: it was super foggy and very humid today! So gross! We had to walk to the branch for a lesson with Andrew and we were soaked by the time we got there. The lesson went well! We talked about hope and trusting in God, having patience in his timing. He is a bit of a roller coaster right now but he knows exactly what he needs to do he just needs to do it. Then we had a lesson with Mario and his girlfriend Tiffany on the restoration. She had some questions but it was really cool because I was able to answer her questions so much better after the studies I had down for my training. There truly are no coincidences! It was a bit crazy with their 3 year olds running around but it went well. I am excited to start teaching her!(: That night we had a wonderful lesson with Jocelyn! We taught her about the word of wisdom and her response was "ya that makes sense!" She is so elect its crazy! At the end she told me that she wasn't connecting with the missionaries so she had prayed really hard for a missionary she could connect with and then I got emergency transferred to this area. She apologized for yanking me from level creek but said how grateful she was I was here. It was so cool! This is gods work. He is in the details of our lives. Sometimes things happen and we don't know why but it is all part of the plan. We have to put our trust in him! I am so grateful for this opportunity I have to serve in Big Shanty and teach Jocelyn!❤️

Wednesday morning  we had a lesson with Jocelyn and it was great! We talked about faith, hope and charity. It was a fantastic lesson! after that we made Christmas cookies with Laurissa to go deliver on Christmas! It was a lot of fun!(: Then we went and got hot chocolate with Colleen and shared a message about Christmas. It was awesome!(: That night got a little crazy! It was pouring rain with really bad thunder and lightning! It messed things up a bit but we were able to go visit Elizabeth at work which was really good! Colleen offered us a ride home which was a tender mercy! We really didn't wanna walk 45 minutes in that weather to get home! God answers prayers!

Thursday was a wonderful Christmas Eve! We went and had breakfast with Andrew and his family! We made them pancakes and shared a message about Christmas. His sister had a few questions, luckily we were able to answer them. It was fun and good to get to know them better!(: We spent our afternoon weekly planning which was a bit rough since campus is still closed but it was good!

Christmas Day was so wonderful! We woke up, got ready and then the Kennesaw sisters who are assigned to the family ward came over and we all opened presents together! It was so much fun! I was so overwhelmed with love. Thank y'all for the packages, letters, prayers and all the love. It means so much! After that we went to the Murdocks (branch

president) and had a delicious breakfast!(: Sister Blair Skyped her family while I watched the grandkids open their gifts and then I got to skype. There are not even words. I am so filled with joy and love. I am so blessed and it was so good to laugh with my incredible family again! Miss them tons and couldn't thank them enough for all they do for me! Next we got to go caroling at the nursing home! It was so much fun and reminded me of good times with grandpa Gordon! They were all so happy to see us and it was so much fun! We had some extra time before dinner and decided to check with the sisters that lived around there and they were about to head out caroling so we got to join them! Sister Neff, who I was in the MTC just got emergency transferred there so that was really fun to go with her! We got to visit some less actives and read the Christmas story with them and also sing a Christmas hymn! We harmonized since there was four of us and it was beautiful! Then we headed back to the Murdock's and had a yummy dinner!(: After that we sang to them, read the christmas story and then talked about some things in the branch. It was a peachy Christmas!(:

Saturday morning was Marietta miracles! In the Marietta zone this transfer every Saturday we go out and find every Saturday morning from 10-12. It is way cool! Since campus is closed we went to the mall parking lot and started contacting! So many people with Christmas money and returns! We were able to talk to lots of people and it was great! No one has contacted us yet, but I have faith we will hear from someone!(: After contacting we went and visited Jocelyn at work since

she was right inside the mall! That was fun and she is doing great as always! She was worried because they were very busy and she was going to have to stay until 3 which meant she wouldn't be able to come see a baptism with us up in Hickory Flatt that afternoon. We went home for lunch, praying she would get off and anxiously awaiting her call. At 1:15 she called and said she got off! Wahoo!! We were able to go to the baptism and it was so amazing!(:

Sunday was another beautiful day!(: Numbers were a bit small but we had a great meeting. Sister Blair was asked to bear her testimony and it was great! Sister Murdock gave a wonderful talk about being the young adults of the noble birthright. Then me and Sister Blair got to teach gospel principles! It was a lot of fun and actually went really well! Being in a YSA we end up teaching and speaking quite a bit!

After church we had some meetings and then a great lesson with Elizabeth. We talked about the Plan of Salvation and it went really well. She is doing great and loving the branch!(: That night we went over and made dinner with Jocelyn and had a lesson. It was fun!(: when we got home we went and checked on the sisters. One of them is really sick so we stayed and talked for a bit. It is nice being in the same apartment complex and getting to bond with them. They are great sisters and I love them both very much!(:

12.14.15 Hickory Flatt & Elder Holland!

Hey y'all! Hope all is well in Utah! I keep hearing about this crazy snow and I can't believe it! Here in Georgia it was 80 degrees on Saturday! People say come January it will be freezing and lots of ice storms! For now I am enjoying the leaves still falling and it staying in the 60's or 70's!(:

Tuesday was a wonderful day! I had my first Marietta zone meeting!  We have a great zone and I am excited to be in a part of it!  We had a great training on working with less active members. That is our next transfer focus.  We read 3 nephi 18:32. We can't forget about the less actives. We are bringing salvation unto them, as well. Getting them to come to church is like getting them on date to renew their covenants. It is our job to minister to them, then the savior has the opportunity to heal them! We know not when they will return and repent but God does. We need to love them and treat them as our golden investigators. People don't care about what you know until they know how much you care. It is so important to love our brothers and sisters! We have been promised by the Lord through president Bennion, that as we focus on less actives we will find more people to baptize! We also talked about how each of us are here for a reason. I am so grateful to be serving in the Georgia Atlanta North mission and know I am here for a reason. As hard as it was to be emergency transferred I am already seeing so many blessings and know this is where I need to be. After zone meeting  we had a couple great lessons! We had one with Jocelyn about services and the priesthood. The spirit was so strong and it was such a great lesson. I know that the priesthood power has been restored through Joseph Smith. I am so grateful for the power of the priesthood in my life and to serve with so many great, worthy young men.

Tuesday night we had exchanges! I spent the night and Wednesday with Sister Kafu in Hickory Flatt. It was a totally different part of the mission. Very country and very southern! For breakfast we stopped by a little stand and had fresh boiled peanuts and a pickle. The biggest pickle I have ever seen! It was delicious! We also had homemade peanut brittle that was fantastic! It was a great start to a wonderful day! We got to go help a woman named Scarlet. She is 72 and owns a farm! We got to help her feed the horses and the chickens! We had so much fun! I learned a lot about what it would be like to be a country girl! We shared the new Christmas video with her and she loved it! She is such a sweet woman and is now investigating the church! I am so excited for her. After that we had a great lesson with Angie on the word of wisdom. She is an amazing woman and the spirit was so strong! Her testimony is growing and it is so cool to see her make these changes in her life. She came to church this past Sunday and loved it! Just talking about it she started crying trying to describe the peace she felt. It was an incredible experience, and I am so grateful I was able to meet her and share my testimony with her!  Sister Kafu is a fantastic missionary! She is from Sacramento California and has one more transfer to go! We had tons of fun and I learned so much from her! Hickory Flatt was a beautiful part of Georgia and I am so glad I got to see a glimpse of that part of the Lord's vineyard.

exchanges with Sis Kafu in Hickory Flatt

Thursday morning we went and volunteered at the food pantry! It was so much fun! After that we had lunch and a lesson with Jocelyn. She is doing so great and loving this gospel more and more each day. It is hard to watch the power of the adversary work on her but she is so strong! She is thinking about serving a mission! How cool is that?? She has such a powerful testimony and I know she would be an incredible missionary! After that we had a great lesson with Justin! He has come along away and is really starting to progress. He is the sweetest guy and has such a big heart! I love him so much and know he is definitely part of the reason I am here. We got to go help a less active with yard work and then he took us to dinner! His name is Mario and he has the cutest 3 year old boy! That night we had a really good lesson with Andrew and Alfie. The spirit was so strong and it was so cool! Andrew is working on being temple worthy and it is an everyday struggle for him but he has come so far. I am so proud of him! It was another great day!

Friday morning we had a lesson with Candice and then went to institute with her and Jocelyn. Institute was so great, I loved it!  We studied Matthew 25, the parable of the 10 virgins. The bridegroom being Jesus Christ. We need to make sure that we have enough spiritual oil or light. Is your testimony and relationship with our savior is burning bright? V12 how well do you know Christ and how well does he know you? Are we spiritually ready now? We can't be running to get oil at the second. After Institute we did some contacting with Andrew and it was a lot of fun! Everyone is headed home and campus is closed for three weeks! It's going to be rough! :/ Then we went and met Ben who is amazing! He has been dating a girl and knows pretty much everything about the church. He is in Mosiah 17 and loves the Book of Mormon! He is going home for Christmas but I am so excited to start teaching him when he gets back!(: That evening we had a great lesson with Brandon on the importance of coming to church and feeding our spiritual bodies! We are hoping and praying he will come this Sunday!(: 

Now comes the cherry on top! We had a devotional with the sisters of Georgia and Elder Holland! It was incredible! There are not even words. Elder Holland has no script or talk written he just talk to us. He was so real and I loved it.

Saturday we spent our morning with Jeffery R Holland! We came together as a mission joined with the Georgia Atlanta Mission and had a special devotional with Elder Holland. It was amazing! I got to sit by Sister (Riley) Christensen, which was way fun! We all lined up and got to each shake Elder Hollands hand!!! We all got to say hi, our name and where we are from. Sister Christensen when went after me and he said, "two bountiful girls, wow!" It was so cool! Elder Holland talked with us and explained that we are all diciples of Jesus Christ. Sometimes we ask, why is this so hard?? Because salvation is not a cheap experience. We can't expect to be disciples of Him and not go through some of what He went through. We have to feel that rejection and disappointment just as he did. But we are not to be discouraged because the best person who ever lived knows exactly how we feel. I love that! We are all God's investigators we can't expect them to read, study, pray and come to church if we are not doing that ourselves. The last half of the meeting it was like institute with Elder Holland he asked to get a white board and we all opened our scriptures. He called on us and we had an open discussion on John 3&4. Nicodemus and the woman at the well see two different people or investigators but they both deserve the gospel of Jesus Christ. We need to talk to everyone. It is not our choice who deserves the gospel of Jesus Christ and who doesn't. It was an incredible meeting and the spirit was so powerful. I know he is an apostle called of God. I am so grateful for the opportunity I had to hear his council and shake his hand. I will never forget this last weekend.

Elder McKay Woodwell, Sister Hosman, and Sister Riley Christensen, all from the VV1 ward!

This is Rachael's childhood friend Lucas Whitmore, they haven't seen each other since his farewell in May

They were "Joy School" buddies when we lived on Bainbridge Island & have been like cousins ever since!

Sis Mathieson, her trainer ~ she was so happy to see her!

Sunday we had our Christmas program! Campus is closing for the next three weeks and everyone is headed home for Christmas so they do their special Christmas program a little earlier. We had two of our investigators come and it was a beautiful program! There is something special about hymns, they bring the spirit in such a special way. I love this time of year and all the beautiful hymns that go along with it! The choir was a bit smaller then I am used to but they did great!  President Murdock ended the meeting and something he said I had never thought of before. Mas means more so Christmas is just more Christ! I love that! We should remember Christ everyday but we have this special time of year to honor him and think about him just a little bit more. He gave us the greatest gift we could ever receive.


That night we went to dinner with Mrs. Donna. She is the one we work with at the Methodist food pantry. She is so sweet

and her husband is an amazing cook! That night we went with them to their Christmas cantata! Their church is big and beautiful! There are different wings for nursery, youth and adults. They gave us a tour and it was very cool!  The program was very impressive. Both their choir and orchestra were incredible snd lots of the Same songs. There just was something
missing. You could feel it. I am so grateful to have the knowledge of the fullness of the gospel in my life. And so honored to have this opportunity to share it with my brothers and sisters! After the cantata we had an amazing lesson with Jocelyn as always. She is doing so well and her testimony gets stronger everyday. She asked me and sister Blair to sing at her baptism and I can't wait!(:

I hope y'all are having a great Christmas season! I am so grateful for each one of you! Don't forget the reason for the season and ponder about what gift you are going to give to your savior this year. I love y'all! Have a blessed week!❤️

~Sister Hosman

I'm so glad her 12 days of Christmas arrived in time! 

Just in time for Star Wars, teaching R2D2 on campus!

Just a guy on campus, Rachael loved his suit!

Sister Blair and Hosman

The Marietta Georgia Zone (Rachael on the right)

12.7.15 ~ the news from KSU

Hey y'all!(: 

This is Jocelyn, she's going to be baptized Jan. 9th!

I can't believe it is already December! Hope everyone is having a great holiday season! It's been a wonderfully busy week here in Big Shanty!

Wednesday was a wonderful day in Big Shanty! I had my first district meeting here, and it was great! Sister Blair gave a great training on setting goals. As a missionary I have learned how important it is to set goals. It gives us purpose and holds us accountable for something! If we show God that we are willingly he blesses the efforts to take to achieve them. When we try our best God makes up for the rest. After that we had lunch with some interesting guys on campus! We were able to answer their questions about missionary work and the gospel. Eating at the commons makes me feel as if I am back at the MTC!(: We had the most incredible lesson with Jocelyn. We talked about fasting and the hope of God's light. She has decided to be BAPTIZED on January 9th!! The spirit was so strong and it was truly amazing!(: We have been able to teach her almost everyday since I got here and I know she is so ready! We asked her to say the closing prayer for our lesson and you could tell she was so nervous. (She had never prayed with us or anyone out loud before) but she decided to do it! Her prayer was beautiful and you could feel God's love for her!(: wow! What a fantastic lesson! I love being a missionary!(: But wait the day isn't even over yet! Then we went contacting! My first time really walking up to college students and stopping them on their way to class. Little do they know how this can change their lives forever! It was actually a lot of fun and we met some great people! Next we had a great lesson with our investigator named Justin! He has cerebral palsy and is the sweetest guy! He has such a big heart and I just love him! It was rainy all day and so we had to go back to the apartment to get our coats before our next lesson. When we got to the apartment we realized our keys were in Sister Blairs coat, which she left in Woodstock from the meeting this morning. We borrowed the car and had a super fun adventure back to Woodstock to end our wonderful day!(:

Thursday was a cold day here on KSU! The humidity really does bite. No matter how many layers you wear it gets to your bones! It's crazy! On Thursday mornings we get to go volunteer at the food pantry. It was so much fun!(: we got to sort lots of food that had come in and pack bags for families. After that we had lunch Jocelyn, she is doing great and I am so excited for her! After that we had a great lesson with Andrew about temples. He is great guy and is growing so much. We are working on getting him temple worthy. It's so great!(: That night we had lots of fun at dinner with a member of the branch named Justin! He took us to this really good pizza place and it was amazing!(: We had one last great lesson for the day with a girl named Haley. She is the sweetest girl! It was another great day here on the campus!(:

Friday was a crazy day! We had a lesson with a guy named Robert. He brought two of his friends and luckily we had Justin and Hanson with us. They came loaded with ammo and tons of questions. It was an interesting lesson and I think stressed everyone out a bit. After that we had a great lesson with Andrew on prophets. I am so grateful to have a living prophet here on the earth today to help lead and guide us. That afternoon we got to go visit Mario. Who got baptized and never came back to church. We had a good lesson with him and he is planning on coming this Sunday. We ended the day just perfectly with an amazing lesson with Jocelyn! We read the talk called "Music of The Gospel." (Such a great talk!) she is learning the dance steps and rhythm of the gospel and doing so well! I love her so much and feel so blessed to teach her!(:

Saturday we did our weekly planning! We also got to have lunch with our awesome branch president and his wife. They are so sweet! That night we went to the commons and met with Jocelyn, Justin and Hansen for dinner! It was a lot of fun and we had a great lesson with them after. We talked about the atonement and how grateful we each are for it in our lives. Jocelyn's testimony is getting stronger and stronger every day. It is incredible and I am so grateful I get to be apart of it. After that we got to have a great lesson with Miles, a less active. We talked about the true spirit of Christmas. When you drop that last syllable everything changes. It becomes the spirit of Christ. Which is what it should be. I am so grateful for this beautiful Christmas season and the message of Christ I get to bring to my brothers and sisters. It was another great day!(:

Sunday was a gorgeous day!(: We had an incredible fast and testimony meeting. The theme seemed to be the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Jocelyn came and she bore her testimony! It was so amazing! She talked about how much she loves this gospel and how she knows it's true! For Sunday school the institute teacher came and taught. He is fantastic! We read and discussed in Revelations chapters 2 and 3! In chapter 3:16 we discussed how we can not be Luke warm. No fence sitters. He would rather us be totally wicked or totally righteous. He wants us to use the gift of agency. I challenge you with the same challenge he gave us. Do a temperature check. What temp are you to God? I love in chapter 3 verse 20. He is there knocking we just have to open the door! He will then come in and sit down and have dinner with us. That's how friendly he is. I love that so much! He wants to help us so bad he is just waiting for us to let him in.

After church we had break the fast! The theme was Christmas morning and it was delicious! Definitely a pro to being in the YSA branch(; After church we had a lesson with Nigel who is searching so hard for the truth but doesn't know it is right in front of him. We gave him a Book of Mormon and we are Praying for him. It is through the Book of Mormon he can find the truthfulness to our unique message. That night we took two of our investigators Justin and Jocelyn to the broadcast of the Christmas devotional. One of our less actives named Andrew wasn't planning on coming but then we told him President Uchtdorf would be speaking. (We actually had no idea and just took a leap of faith.) He said he would come and you can just imagine our relief when President Eyring announced that he would be the concluding speaker. I loved his talk so much! We need to remember the generous one. The reason for the season. I am so grateful for my loving Heavenly Father and savior Jesus Christ. I am so honored to wear his name everyday and be an instrument in his hands! A savior is born! If you haven't had the chance yet please check out the new Christmas video. It is so powerful! I love being a missionary especially at this wonderful time of year! Thank you all for everything you do for me! Your prayers and love keeps me going! Let us remember if we just drop that last syllable it becomes the spirit of Christ. It is because of him we are here and can have eternal life! I love this gospel and I love this season! Hope y'all have a blessed week! Love you all!❤️

~Sister Hosman🍑

That awkward handshake when you want to hug an old friend from you home ward, but you can't...

McKay Woodwell lives just a few doors down in our neighborhood.  They were called to the same mission, but Elder Woodwell was called to speak Spanish and has been there 6 weeks longer than Rachael!

Feeding a llama for FHE!

Sunset on KSU campus

Where the YSA branch meets on campus

It looks like Sister Blair is lots of fun!