Bye Level Creek, Hello KSU and Big Shanty!

Hey y'all!  I hope you had a great week and fantastic thanksgiving!  It was one crazy yet wonderful week for me!(:

Monday night we had dinner with Emmah and the Williams family! After we invited Emmah to go check on a PI with us. Just before we were about to leave Emmah bore her testimony on the importance of coming to church. The spirit was definitely there and it was so cool. Emmah never ceases to amaze me and I know the Lord has a special plan for her.

Tuesday we got to go to the temple. It was wonderful! The spirit and peace at the temple really is like nothing else. It is such a beautiful temple and I am so grateful we were able to go! It was just what I needed. After we were able to have a great lesson with Michael and he is now praying to know if he should be baptized! So exciting!  He has grown and changed so much I am so proud of him. I love being a missionary and seeing a glimpse of how Heavenly Father feels about his children.  After we met a great new investigator named Tony. He was interested in the BoM and was excited to read it. It really was such an amazing day! I love doing the lords work!(:

Wednesday we had a great district meeting. Right before our plans for after the meeting fell through so we were worried but then an investigator texted us to see if there was anyway we could come help her. It was awesome! It's amazing to see how God makes the stars align. We were able to help her and teach her a bit more. After that we had a less active we have been trying to get in contact with ask if we could meet up with her at the church. Of course we said yes and hurried right over. We had an incredible lesson with her and her father. He and the bishop were able to give her a priesthood blessing and the spirit was so strong. It was amazing! The power of the priesthood is truly miraculous. You could tell it really impacted her and there was no denying the spirit that was there.

Thursday was a great thanksgiving! We were able to see lots of members, less actives and investigators. It was way cool! We were able to see lots of people we have been trying to get in with since I got here. I loved going around and hearing about what everyone was grateful for. We are so blessed! We also had 3 thanksgiving dinners and I felt like I was gonna die. We had fried turkey, salmon, normal turkey, lots of grits, corn bread, biscuits, pie and so much more! It was delicious!! I am so grateful for the level creek ward and the love they show to us.

Goodbye Sister Mathison

Friday morning seemed like a regular day. We woke up, got ready and started studying. When suddenly my whole world went upside down. We got a phone call from president who informed us that he needed my help with an emergency transfer. What?? It took a minute for me to process what he had said. I was being transferred to a college campus with a young single adult branch. I had to leave in 24 hours. My heart broke. I did not want to leave level creek. It was an emotional day as I had to say some last quick goodbyes leaving behind a piece of my heart. I feel so blessed to have served in such an incredible ward and know the Lord has a plan for me in Marietta. I am excited to see the adventure he has in store!(:

Saturday we got up early to finish packing and hit the road. I was overwhelmed with the love and goodbyes from the level creek ward. Oh, how I will miss them. Not to mention sister Mathison who I have come so close with and will miss her very much. We had some great memories in level creek. White washing together was the best adventure I could have asked for. We drove to the mission home and I met my new companion Sister Blair. She is from Provo Utah and has been out 8 months. She is great!  It was a bit of a drive back to the area but we made it! We had some lunch and u packed!(: after that she took me on a tour of campus! We didn't see too many people because campus is closed for thanksgiving but we were able to have a few contacts(: That night we had two great lessons with Andrew and Jocelyn. Andrew is a less active and a great guy! He is super funny and I am excited to start working with him. Jocelyn is amazing! She is our top investigator and we are planning on inviting her to be baptized this week. We have a lesson with her tonight and I can't wait! She loves the Book of Mormon and is just the sweetest girl.

Sunday was my first real day in Big Shanty! Jocelyn came to church with us and we also had 7 less actives there. It was wonderful! The sacrament was very fast and super quite but I loved the sacredness of it. The topic of the meeting was Alma 34:38. There were some great talks! A couple of my favorite points were

We need to stay within wifi zones of the spirit!

"When you are doing what you are supposed to life doesn't get easier but for some reason you can cope with it."

We then talked about the atonement in Sunday school. The miracle of the atonement is not just so that we can go home but that we can go home and feel at home. We will all be resurrected what we are deciding now is how happy we will be to be there. There is no better way to thank someone for their gift then to use it. We must use Christ’s gift of the atonement for everyday. By doing so we are showing our gratitude and love for him. We sang the hymn "Be still my soul" and it was incredible. That hymn has come to mean so much to me. Music brings the spirit in such a special way and it really did calm my soul. Someone showed me this scripture and I loved it.

1 John 5:14    "And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:"

This week has been a crazy one but I have confidence in him and that this is where I need to be. I know he hears and answers my prayers. I am so grateful for that blessing in my life. Big Shanty will be a big adventure but I know that through Christ I can do all things. I love this gospel and am so thankful for the opportunity I have to share it.

Thank y'all so much for you love and support. It means so much to me. I don't know what I would do with out y'all. I feel your prayers everyday. Love you all! Have a great week! (:

~Sister Hosman

This is sister neff we were in the same MTC district. Love her so much!

Black Friday! Emergency Transfer!

Rachael's new address as of Nov. 29th, 2015

4044 George Busbee Parkway #6208
Kennesaw, GA  30144


Friday morning I received several texts from members and investigator's letting me know that Rachael was being transferred and she was struggling with it!  I am so grateful for these sisters and their love and care - I asked Rachael to tell me a little bit about them.

This is Betsy and her daughter Isabelle

Betsy is one of our investigators. she saved me and I have no idea what I would have done without her. She is a saint. And should be getting baptized soon I hope to be able to go back for it. She gave me the nick name of sister sassy. 😂 I love her dearly. We always are doing service for her. She helped me pack and we cried together.

Cindy Williams picked us up the very first day and brought us to level creek. She cried when she found out I was leaving. She took us to say bye to Emmah and to the bishops to get a blessing. She took us to chick-fil-a after for lunch. Very sweet woman.

The Garfield Family

The Garfields are such a great family. I had my first meal the first day in level creek and my last night there. Funny how that works out. She too cried and was upset I was gone. That's where I was supposed to skype home and have Christmas Dinner. They have 6 kids she was pregnant but lost the baby :( the youngest boy is named Griffin. They are the sweetest family. I love them. He served in SLC

She texted me, "I am sister Garfield!  Your daughter Rachel is here tonight and I wanted you to know how much I love her!  She came to my house on her very first day in Georgia and she came on her very last night in the Level Creek Ward!  We love her and hat the she is leaving us so soon!"

And then there is Rhonda Watkins, a sister who has sent photos, picked of RX's, mailed packages for Rachael, spent her week between jobs tracking with the sisters, and fed them countless times.  Rachael wrote home, Sister Watkins is the one you got those pics from. She is a convert of

a couple years and takes care of us. We love her. She is a saint.  

I don't know who to thank for this act of service, "A woman in the ward went to the farmers market and got fresh honey..she said that if I ate some every morning it would help with my allergies because it was like a vaccine for my body with the pollen! It has totally worked! How cool and crazy is that"?

Or the Mom, who could hear Rachael was wheezing and took a nebulizer to her apartment and helped her until her lungs sounded better.  Then gave her a talk about using her inhaler regularly and explained why her allergies were bad (mold) in Georgia.  I am so grateful for these amazing women who have loved and taken care of my daughter!  Thank you Level Creek/Sugar Hill ward! 

11.23.15 Hey y'all!

Tuesday was a fantastic day! We had a great lesson with Michael on the priesthood and service. I am so grateful for the wonderful priesthood holders in my life! We also got to meet a guy in our apartment complex and started teaching him about missionary work and answered a few of his questions! That night we had a lesson with Kathy on the Plan of Salvation. Tasha who just got home from her mission a couple weeks ago came with us. It was a lot of fun and a little sneak peak at what being in a trio would be like!(: Now here comes the really cool part... We arrived at Kathy's house about 7 minutes early and were debating if we should knock a few doors or just go in a bit early. We decided to knock a couple doors and were led to a town home. We were trying to get a hold of PI but they went home, the lights were on next door so we knocked there! A woman answered the door and we explained that we were missionaries I asked if we could share a video before. (I have never done this but just heard myself saying it) I pulled out the Because of Him video and talked about Jesus Christ and how grateful we are for a Heavenly Father we can pray to. We shared with her the Book of Mormon and Moroni's promise. Tears came flooding down her face. She explained that she had had a horrible day and had been praying she knew someone was going to come to her door tonight and she had the feeling she should answer it!!! It was so cool! She said she would start reading the Book of Mormon and we have an appointment with her this next week! I am so excited!(: God really is preparing his children for us to share our beautifully unique message with! I felt God’s love for her and I can't wait to start sharing the gospel with her!(:

Wednesday morning we had a fantastic lesson with Emmah. She told us stories about living in Liberia and being there for the Ebola break out in her home town. It was fascinating! Her faith is incredibly strong! She is such a great example to me! I love teaching her, she is always so willingly and ready to do whatever God asks of us. Her story is so inspiring. We then were able to go help an investigator with some things around her house and teach her about tithing. We also talked about baptism and how important it is to follow Jesus Christ’s example and be baptized by immersion. It was an awesome day! That night it rained so hard and so much. It was insane! The biggest raindrops were coming down so fast! It was crazy! We went to the church after trying to see some potentials and less active. A less active was there at the church waiting for institute and we were able to teach her and talk with her about some of her concerns, which was great! After that we had a great lesson with a member referrals friend

Jenny! It was s great lesson and I am excited to start teaching her.  It is so cool to see people recognize the spirit and the lord has been in the life all along. It is promised in preach my gospel that has we teach it will be familiar it them and that is so true! We all chose this plan and I love it!(:

Thursday was super busy!(: It started off with a great district meeting! We talked about the Christ like attribute knowledge and about how important it is so get our investigators to church. Just like our physical body needs food,water and sleep so does our spirit. By coming to church and partaking of the sacrament we give our spirit those vital nutrients it needs to get through the week. After that we had our annual Mormon warriors assemble meeting with Robert which is always great!(: We were busy with lessons after with Mildrid, Michael, Frank and the Heftons!(: Mildrid is so sweet and always so funny to hear her same stories! Michael is doing good, finally reading the Book of Mormon and keeping his commitments. Frank is unfortunately moving but he is a great guy and I know the Lord has a plan for him! We have been trying to meet the Hefton’s since we got here! We had an incredible lesson with them and they are an awesome family!(: The Lander’s took us to dinner and we had a great time with them!(:

Friday was great! We were able to weekly plan, which always helps so much!! Then we had exchanges! Sister Yager (sister Mathisons trainer) came here for the weekend! Friday's highlight was our lesson with Kate and her cute family! We talked about how important it is to share the talents God has given us and read The Rainbow Fish book! The kids loved it and it was a lot of fun! We also felt prompted to go check on a less active family. They were struggling and it was great to be able to talk with them and leave a message.  It was an awesome night!(:

Saturday we spent the morning tracting in the trailer park! We weren't having too much success but saw a guy working in the yard so we decided to walk over there. When we first walked over he wasn't interested and didn't really say much we kept talking and taught him the restoration. We gave him the Book of Mormon and he read Moroni's promise. You could feel the spirit and Tony was amazed. He said he would read the Book of Mormon and follow Moroni's promise. He was so excited about it too! It was so cool!(: We met some more great people and then had a great lesson with the Friel's. That night we had the adult session of stake conference! President and sister Bennion came and spoke and it was awesome. They talked about what an incredible mission GANM is and I couldn't agree more. Their main focus was how important it is to work with the members. It makes such a difference! I feel so blessed to be in such a great ward! We can't do the work without the members.

Sunday was stake conference up in Cumming! We got a ride with the Adams and it was a lot of fun! It was a great Stake Conference with some incredible talks! One of my favorites was when they talked about the talk from the Priesthood session of conference "Faith is not by chance but by choice" what an incredible story of the Openshaw family!

Those last words from the letter from his mother reminded me so much of my wonderful mother. Who would always remind me as I went out the door "remember who you are and what you stand for." He spoke of the greatness of remembering, remembering our great divine nature as sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father. Satan tries to distract us so we forget who we are and why we were put here on this earth. Out here people are constantly trying to question and tear down our faith.  When I am faced with something I don't understand rather than letting my faith be shaken I remember the hundreds of spiritual experiences I have had. He loves me. He is aware of me and he has a plan for me. I am representing Him and he is on my side. If we remember this we can overcome the power of the devil.

After conference we had lunch with the Adams! We then had 2 great lessons with the Heftons and the Ramirez family!(: That night we went to one of our investigators Thanksgiving feast for her church. It was a lot of fun and we were able to talk to lots of people about what we believe. Many seeds were planted!(: when we got back to our apartment we had an email from president informing us about December 12th! On

December 12th ELDER HOLLAND will be speaking Georgia Atlanta North

Mission!!  I am so excited to both come together as a mission and hear Elder Holland speak! What a perfect ending to another incredible week!! 

*in her letter home she said how excited she was for this gathering on the 12^th.  Everyone in the mission will be there, so she’ll get to see Riley, McKay and Luke!

Hope y'all have a fantastic Thanksgiving and remember who to be grateful for!(:  I am so grateful for my savior and the opportunity I have to represent him. I am so grateful for this gospel and all the peace and joy it has brought into my life. I am also so grateful for all of you and your love and support! Love and miss y'all! Have a blessed week!❤

This is Mildrid, the sweet lady Rachael loves visiting!

11.16.15 Limo rides and Santa Clause!

It was a beautiful week here in Georgia! Here are a couple highlights..

The week started off great with zone meeting! We had some very inspiring and spiritual trainings. I love gathering together as missionaries. It is so powerful! A recent convert named Sandy came and spoke to us and it was amazing. She has an incredible story and radiated with the spirit. The lord really is preparing people for us to teach. All of us. This is the lords work. I feel so honored to be apart of it. After the meeting we went out to lunch as sisters! A woman paid for all us which was so nice! We actually also got to meet someone who was interested in the church and we will be starting to teach her next week!(: we had a great lesson with Michael! He has been taking lessons for over a year and he has finally started to read the Book of Mormon! We are so excited! The Book of Mormon is such a powerful book and so essential to conversion! We also had a great lesson with Kathy that night about the word of wisdom.

This is Mary

Wednesday and Thursday are a blur! Haha we had our annual meeting as Mormon warriors on Thursday! We actually got to see Mary which was great!(: On Wednesday we were helping someone with some projects around the house and there was a spider crawling up sisters back. I didn't know what to do so I grabbed him well he bit me :( but at least I saved I sister!(: Thursday the Adams took us out to dinner! we went to the diner and it was SO good! He had us wear his hats from WWll it was so much fun(:

Friday was a great day started off with weekly planning! Then we went tracting and met some great people!(: I love the south so much! We went back to Tommy! Crazy that that was a month ago! But anyway I think I told you that he looks just like Santa clause well he really is Santa clause! He really has been to Santa school and everything!!!  I didn't even know that was a thing! He learned sign language and all this stuff! How cool is that?!(: who knew you can actually go to Santa school?! That night we had a great lesson with Kate and Emmah! We ended getting to ride in a Limo and it was so fun!(:

Saturday morning we had a lesson with Emmah. She is so incredible! I admire her so much. I wish every one of you could hear her testimony.  She told us stories about back in Liberia and bore her testimony to us. It was truly amazing. She has such strength and the spirit is so strong when she testifies. I am so grateful that she is apart of my life.

This is Emmah

Sunday was the primary program! It was so fun! Those kids are so cute! The songs are such a great reminder to us of the basic fundamentals that are important! I was pleasantly surprised that i still knew every word!(: We had some meetings and then a recent convert and her family wanted to come out with the missionaries. They made rice crispies and we went out and delivered them to some of our investigators! It was so fun and they all loved it(: It was great day!

Overall it was beautiful rainless week here in Georgia!(: It is getting chilly and and all the leafs are falling :( Thank you all for your love and support. I am so grateful for each one of you. Lots of love!

~Sister Hosman

Apparently, a recent converts husband owns a limo!  How fun for them!

This is us with Brother Adams. We went out to eat with them and he made us wear his hats from WWll.
I'll talk about it in my email. They are the sweetest couple and just love the missionaries!

11.14.15 Service Saturday

Service Morning!

We made this for Scouts!

11.9.15 Update from your Georgia Peach

Hey y'all here is just a couple highlights from my fantastic week!  The field is white and work is progressing!

Tuesday was a great day! We started off with an awesome district meeting! We talked about how we really use these Christ like attributes and become like Christ. If you think about it after spending all our time and energy with one person like our best friend or our companion. We start to become like them. We pick up little habits and traits. My mama always told me "you are judged by the company you keep." So if we put all our time, energy and focus in Christ we will become like Him and pick up His traits/attributes.  After the meeting we had an amazing lesson with Michael! The spirit was very strong and we were able to connect with him. He has been taking the lessons for almost 2 years but we are really seeing some
progress! We also got to meet with a less active we have been trying to get in with since we first got here and she brought her friend who was interested and became a new investigator!  It was a great start to a fantastic week!(:

Another great day in the peach state! Thursday morning we had an awesome lesson with Emmah! She is so incredible and the spirit is always so strong in our lessons! Her strength and fire faith amaze me!  We then got to have our annual Mormon warriors meeting with Robert!  We decided to drop by on Mary and thank heavens she is feeling better!


There has been a rain streak here and it seems it's carried through the flu and bronchitis with it! :/ Next we had a lesson with Mildrid she is seriously the sweetest lady! She doesnt remember our names or the last time we came but she lights up every time she sees us! We just talk with her for a bit and read the Book of Mormon with her! She has such a sweet heart! We had some time for tracting before dinner and decided to stop by a guy we met when we first got here. He was home and happy to see us! We got to teach him a bit and commit him to read the Book of Mormon. It was super cool! He had the missionaries visiting him over 20 years ago but now was interested! It was a super busy but fantastic day in the Lord's vineyard!(:

Friday we had weekly planning of course! Then we had a great lesson with a woman named Elyce who was actually a referral! We were able to answer her questions and clear a few things up for her. Her husband was home too and he decided to sit in which was awesome! We meet some pretty cool people tracting and then were able to meet up with some
less actives! After dinner we went to ice cream with Kathy! It was a lot of fun and we had some great discussion!(: A good start to an amazing weekend!(:

Saturday was a roller coaster of a day! We went tracting in the trailer park and met this amazing southern woman. She refers to herself as the black, fat Mariah Carey! She started singing the Lord's Prayer to us right there on the front steps! It was awesome and she has a great voice! We tried to hurry back and beat the rain but got stuck in the middle of it! It was super fun sliding down the hills though!(: We went to call Mary to make sure she was feeling better and was planning on coming to church with us when there was a plot twist. She explained that she no longer wanted to come to church. She had her reasons and they made sense but wow it was hard! I couldn't help but cry. She was my first investigator and I have come to love her SO much. I know this is just not her timing and that the lord has a plan for her. We will stop by occasionally and keep her in our prayers.Donna took us out for dinner to Mexican food and it was delicious!! After we had a great lesson with Kate and her family and it turned out to be a good night!

What an amazing sabbath! We had a girl in our ward just return from her mission in Mexico speak! She talked about the lords vineyard and like the master of the vineyard the lord cares about every tree. No matter what shape,size,color or personality he knows each one of us and takes time to carefully prune us. "He shows into men their weaknesses that they may become strong." (Ether 12:27) She did a great job! Then we had an incredible musical number with violins and the
piano playing the song "How great thou art" it was truly amazing. So beautiful and the spirit was so strong! Music just has a special way of bringing the spirit and I love it! After church we had a great lesson with Michael! He is really starting to progress and it is so exciting!  We had another great lesson with the Ramirez family who are getting ready to go to the temple!(: It was an awesome day!

Overall I am loving being a missionary in the lords vineyard! I know this is his work and feel so blessed to be a part of it. Hope y'all have a blessed week! Thank you so much for the love and support you give me!

Love y'all!
~Sister Hosman

Biking in the rain!