7.18.16 Sweat & Tears!

Hey y'all!
Wowzer, it was a crazy week! Sweat and tears describes it in a nut
shell! One of the if not the busiest of my mission! But also one of
the funnest and most rewarding! It has been amazing and I just
absolutely love being a missionary! The trio has been a blast and we
are loving it.

Tuesday morning we had an amazing lesson with a guy named Tabaris. He
was a friend of Kierens that we were briefly introduced to a while
ago. We saw him again at Glenda's  house and got talking to him. It
was last week and we set up a time to meet with him on Tuesday. So we
went over and he was home! We taught him the Restoration and he loved
it. He already has such a strong Faith and was excited to learn more.
The spirit was so strong and it was an amazing lesson! I'm really
excited to continue teaching him. We spent the afternoon setting up
and getting everything ready for the wedding. It was so much fun and
looked so good. Then we had a great lesson with Kenny. He is doing so
good and I'm so proud of him. We taught him about the sabbath day and
he loved it. We visited some less actives and then got Kieren ready
for the wedding. I got to do her hair and makeup, it was easy and so fun! She
looked beautiful and was so happy! The spirit was so strong at the
wedding and it was amazing. That night we saw the Tapia family and put
the kids on date for August 6th. They are so sweet and have such a
strong desire to be baptized. Then we went to see Tommy and taught him
about service. We showed him the "Lift" video and he loved it.  He was
so excited for his baptism and said it wasn't coming fast enough. He
is incredible!

Wednesday we had zone conference which was fantastic! I know I always
say that but I really loved zone conference! This one we really
focused on repentance and I learned so much. As missionaries we are
called not only to teach repentance but to live it. Daily repentance
is so important! Progression is what the gospel of Jesus Christ is all
about. The atonement is real. It covers everything, for everyone. If
you're stuck on sin in the past move on. Pray to forget it and keep
moving forward it. He has forgotten it because he has that power. It's
never too late! Each and every day is a blessing and can be a fresh
start. All we have to do is try our best and it's enough. Our best
might not be the same as someone else's but that's okay. He
understands and he loves you for you. After zone conference we went to
teach Hazel and her daughter named Jasmine. We have been wanting to
teach Hazels sisters for quite some time now but it's never worked
out. But we got to meet her and teach the plan of salvation. She loved
it y'all and was so excited! At first she was hesitant to listen
because her head hurt and she was tired from work. But when we got
done she said " I feel different, my head don't hurt anymore!" It was
amazing and the spirit was so strong. Testifying to her they what we
said was true. That night we had dinner with the Polston family which
was delicious. They told us they might not be moving anymore and I was
so happy! We taught them the 10 commandments with the hand signs, they
were so into it! The kids loved it and it was a much fun! I have come
to love that family so much. Then one of our investigators named
Austin really wanted to make us dinner. He is so sweet, bless his
heart! He made us the most interesting spaghetti I've ever eaten in my
life! Lol Before we headed home we stopped by Tommys and went over the
interview questions with him. He aced it, of course! It was a
wonderful day!


Thursday we went to Roswell for a doctors appointment which took up
the morning and most of the afternoon. But I got to see Gremmy!! We
went to lunch with her and it was so fun! She is doing so well and it
was so good to see her! I've missed her so much. On the way back we
were stuck in traffic so it took us forever! When we got back we
stopped by Glenda because we haven't seen her in a while. She has been
going through some hard times so we talked about having faith through
our trials. She was supposed to be baptized on Saturday but her
husband wont let her. It was so sad but she has been so strong. She
has been reading and praying everyday. I know everything happens for a
reason, we are praying her husbands heart will be softened. That night
we went to visit Adam and Andrea, a less active couple in Loganville.
They are so funny and I love them! Adam is so stubborn and he knows
exactly what he should be doing. We talked about the atonement and it
went pretty well! They promised to be at church on Sunday and made it!
Wahoo!


Friday was mostly taking up by FISH but we had load of fun of course!
We saw some great people that afternoon. We had a really good lesson
with Jeremiah. He is 9 years old and in a part member family. He is so
cute and preparing to be baptized on Saturday!

Saturday morning we got to the church and realized we didn't have a
jump suit! We were driving and calling but couldn't find one anywhere!
Finally we got one and the baptism was so wonderful! Kieren sang
amazing Grace and it was absolutely incredible. She has the most
amazing voice! Tommy Raybon was officially baptized on his birthday!
His lessons were always my favorite and filled with the spirit. He was
so prepared for this gospel and it's been incredible to watch his
change. I will never forget his face when he came out of the water,
just pure joy! He is so ready to receive the priesthood and continue
to progress. Sister Swancey took us out to lunch at Butt Hutt in
Athens! It was delicious! She then kidnapped us and wouldn't take us
to the stake center. Haha It was so funny and we were laughing so
hard. We were late of course but had the opportunity to sing for youth
conference. It was so cool! We did some weekly planning that afternoon
and then Joce came to we me! Oh my goodness. It was so good to see her
again! I have missed her so much! It felt like old times and we had so
much fun. We went to dinner at Chilis and then taught some lessons.
Her boyfriend Braden came too and it was great! We had a lesson with
Maw- Maw and Charles. They are both doing better and I just love them!
Charles is praying about a day to be baptized and told us he knows
it's what he needs to do. Then we went to see Kieren and this story
carries into Sunday! Kieren is wanting to stop smoking too. Nothing
has been helping her to stop so she came up with a plan that we needed
to find something that she loved more than smoking and we would take
that every day she smoked. We thought of everything but nothing was
working. Then it came to this... Her makeup. Every day she smoked a
cigarette we would take all of her makeup and she would have to go
without it. When she went a day without smoking, we would give it
back. It was a good plan, except she was having an anxiety attack
while we were driving away with all of her makeup and she paced up and
down the hallway for two hours after we left. The next day we looked at
our phone and saw that we had 5 missed calls and 20 texts from her
(more than we ever get in a week from her) telling us that she
absolutely NEEDS her makeup back. Right. Now. So we call her back and
she swore at telling us to give her make up back!!! "Well Kieren, did
you smoke today?" "Yes! Four cigarettes" ..... This is ridiculous. So
we go to her house that night, we were all scared out of our mind
because we don't know to what extremes she will go to to get her
makeup back. We go inside, she sits down and has another anxiety
attack. To make a long story short, we gave in and gave her makeup
back after we had role played all the situations she may be in to
where she would want a cigarette and what she could say. We also made
her chain smoke 3 cigarettes that had been soaked in curdled milk
(celestial soup) which obviously tastes disgusting. Watching her smoke
those made everyone cry though. After her last cigarette she throws up
and tells us she is never smoking again, the tears in our eyes were
enough to make her stop. It was an emotional night, but if I learned
anything from this I learned to never EVER take away her makeup..

Tommy was confirmed on Sunday and it was amazing! He brought a
notebook for us to write about it in and was so excited. He is just
the greatest!

This morning was a little crazy with cleaning checks, having two
apartments. We were in a hurry and were driving down the road when we
saw a car pulled off to the side of the road. Immediately the spirit
told me to stop and at first I second guessed thinking all we had to
do. The spirit promoted me again and so I pulled the car over to the
side of the road. We walked down the road to her car and she had run
out of gas. We went to the gas station to buy a gas tank and get her
some gas. We came back and she was filled with gratitude. We starting
talking with her and her name sounded so familiar to me. We began
teaching her about the BoM and a smile came over her face. She had to
get going to work but we got her information and set a time to go back
tomorrow. When we got in the car and looked at area book she was a
former investigator. A bible referral but hadn't been taught or
anything. It was so amazing! I know the lord is ALWAYS preparing
people and placing them in our paths. This is his work and I'm so glad
I get to be a part of it. Nothing makes me happier! The church is true
and the book is blue!

Thank y'all for you're love and support! I love each and every one of
you so much! Have a wonderful week! Xoxo

Love,
Sister Hosman❤️🍑

 Rachael was so happy to see Sister Holmgren!

This picture came from Riley's email - she said, "It's always a joy to see this ray of sunshine!"