8.29.16 Are you a disciple of Jesus Christ, or not?

Hello y'all! It was a busy week filled with miracles as always! We are so blessed!! We had so many lessons and met some wonderful people. A couple super cool things that happened this week... As you know we have been teaching Kieren for quite some time and she is still doing great! We had a lesson with her on Monday and her parents came down to eat cake with us for my birthday. They are never home and the family is always busy doing their own things when we are over. But this time they stayed for the lesson! It was so awesome and we were able to have a really good discussion with them. We talked about families and answered their questions. They are coming to church next week and we are so excited! Such a cool tender mercy!

Michael, who I talked about last week is doing wonderful! We had an awesome lesson with him this week and the spirit was so strong. He read from the BoM all on his own! He is really starting to get it all and his faith is growing so much. We invited him to be baptized and he accepted the day of October 1st. We are so excited! He came to church again this week and loved it! We also had an amazing lesson with Jarree. She was really progressing but kinda fell off for a bit. We were able to see her on Saturday and she had some experiences that made he think again. She is ready to commit and knows this is what she wants to do. Everything happens for a reason! We got some awesome referrals and met some golden people this week. I'm anxious to see how things go when we start to meet with them this week. It is amazing how the lord is always preparing people and placing them in our paths.

The trio has been awesome and we are having so much fun! Getting to know Sister Housel as been great and she is such a wonderful missionary. She has so many great ideas to help those we are working with and is an amazing teaching. She is such a great example to me and I've learned so much from her already.

Spiritual thought.. Are you a disciple of Christ or not? We had the most amazing sacrament meeting and this thought really stuck out to me. We are here to become like him which means we will go through hard things. Just as he did. If life is easy for you it means you are doing it wrong. Think of the apostles, did they ever go fishing on a quiet pleasant day? No, but when the storms did come and the waves crashed they knew where to turn and that was to Christ. He was either on the boat with them or he came to them. Turn to him. He knows how to help us. He knows and loves us individually. He can make more of our lives then we ever can by ourselves.

"Some blessings come soon. Some don't come until heaven. But for those who trust in the gospel of Jesus Christ they do come."  I know this gospel is true and It changes lives! Jesus Christ is our savior and he lives. This is his church that has been restored through his power back to the earth again! The Book of Mormon and Bible are both testaments of him! I promise you will get closer to him by reading them. Whatever you are going through he knows. He experienced it. It will all be alright in the end. If it is not alright then it is not the end! Keep pushing through! Keep believing and keep trying! Love y'all so much! Have a blessed week!

Love, Sister Hosman❤️🍑

The Trio! 

A member took the whole zone to a really nice restaurant.  Someone did this for him when he was on his mission, so he wanted  to do the same!

8.22.16 Goodbye to the teenage years🍑

Hey y'all! Another great week here in Georgia! Thank y'all so much for the birthday packages, cards and emails! I was overwhelmed with love and feel so blessed!

One of the miracles of our week was Michael. Michael was a bible referral when I first came to this area. We went to deliver his bible taught him a few lessons but it wasn't really going anywhere. The spirit was so strong in the lessons but he just wasn't ready. We didn't make him a top priority and when we became a trio and things got crazy his name got a little lost. Well, he reached out to us and we decided to go visit him. We retaught him the restoration and it was like teaching a different person! The same strong spirit was there, but he was ready this time. He accepted the challenge to read the BoM and even came to church. It was so amazing! I know it's the Lord's work and it is all done in his timing. It was incredible to see how Heavenly Father had been working on him and preparing his heart for the gospel. He has already changed so much and is so happy!

I had an awesome birthday week filled with laughs and love. On Friday night we decided to try to go see a formal investigator named Tavis we had seen driving earlier that day. She was so happy to see us and we had an awesome lesson with her. Again someone who we hadn't seen in a long time and at that point wasn't quite ready but Heavenly Father has been preparing. She is now reading from the BoM and is really starting to progress. There was a little birthday drama when we thought Sister Stauffer was going to be sent home. She was feeling pretty sick again but they got it worked out and she is still here! Wahoo! However we did have an emergency transfer and are now in a trio! Sister Housel is our new comp and she is from Kamas Utah. She has been out 7 months and is super sweet! We are excited to get to know her better! Thanks again for all your love and support! I feel your prayers everyday. I love y'all so much and you are in my prayers! Don't forget to read and pray this week! Xoxo

Love, Sister Hosman❤️🍑

This cute girl in the ward named Ava made me my first cake!

Birthday celebration with the Cato Family 

Makayla Buckner made this darling cake!

Love this Georgia Peach!

2 0 !!!

Jocelyn came to visit for her birthday!

At the mission office for Emergency transfers and got to see Sister Blair, she's going home in a couple weeks!

8.15.16 The Spirit of God, like Georgia is burning!!

Hi y'all!! It's been a wonderful week here in Georgia! Somedays it even got a little cooler at least in temperature or maybe I'm just getting used to it! It is so hot here y'all!

Tuesday we had a great zone meeting! The spirit is always so strong and I learn so much. I loved Elder Joseph's training, he talked about bearing testimony and the power in it. We should be bearing our testimony like "a dying missionary!" Like we don't know if we will see these people tomorrow but we want them to know what we know. Not just believe but truly know. No one can argue with a sincere heartfelt testimony. Sometimes I think we overthink it and worry about how to word it but when we open our mouths the spirit will lead us. I have truly seen this on my mission and my testimony grows more each day. There was a new rule for the Athens Zone announced but it's a pretty exciting one. We are now allowed to go to the temple with our recent converts and watch them do baptisms for the dead their first time. So amazing and I'm so excited to be able to be there for such a special occasion! After zone meeting we went to see one of our less actives just to check up on her. While we started talking to her we realized she was chewing Tabacco! We invited her to spit it out right then and there. She thought about it but was a little reluctant because it was helping with her stomach. We asked if she would receive a priesthood blessing and stop right then and there for good. She said yes and it was so cool! It was an amazing experience and I know she has been and will continue to be so blessed for her faith. When we went to see her a couple days later she was happier then ever and doing great. I'm so proud of her!

Wednesday morning we got to go to AA with one of our investigators. It was a really cool experience and I learned lots. I'm so grateful for the Word of Wisdom and the knowledge that we have. We had our last lesson with Julie that afternoon and it was so sad. She is moving to South Carolina but we are so excited for her. I know there are missionaries there waiting for her and I can't sit to see her continue to grow. I'm so grateful for the chance I had to meet her. She had an incredible testimony and so much faith. It is only going to grow from here. She was so happy and definitely not the same person I met a couple weeks ago on the side of the road. The gospel is incredible and it truly changes lives.

Thursday we started volunteering at the FISH thrift store in Loganville. Such a great program and it was a lot of fun! That afternoon we had a great lesson with Janelle and taught her the plan of salvation. She loved it and is loving the BoM as well. The spirit was really strong and we were able to help her understand that she had received her answer to know if the BoM was true. We invited her to be baptized on September 17th and she said yes!

This weekend was crazy and we had lots of lessons. I also got to help Sister Stone make lots of cupcakes for a wedding she was catering! We had an awesome lesson with Henry who is a 9/11 firefighter survivor. We were teaching him pretty regularly but when he got a new job we didn't see him for awhile. We went over the plan of salvation with him and it was so great! The spirit was so strong and at one point he stopped us to say " I absolutely love when y'all come! I just feel so good!" We were able to teach him about the spirit and that he was testifying of truth. Henry came to church yesterday and loved it. We were a little nervous when the Sunday school topic was the Word of Wisdom but he asked great questions and it ended up being awesome. He had already started working on quitting some of his issues. I know Heavenly Father is always working on our investigators even when we aren't teaching them. Austin was also able to come to church and really enjoyed it! Sunday night we went to check on Kenny because he has been really sick this week. Luckily he was feeling better and was so excited to tell us about his cool experience with prayer. That he wasn't feeling well but when he prayed he felt so much better! It was so cool and amazing to see how much he has grown.

I love this gospel with all my heart! I feel so blessed to be a missionary and do the lords work. I know this church is true and I'm so grateful for it in my life. I'm so thankful for my Savior Jesus Christ and the wonderful gift of the atonement. I'm so grateful for the Restoration and our living day prophet and apostles. I know they are men truly called of God and will never lead us astray. I love the BoM and know it can change your life. I'm so thankful for each of you and love you so much! Have a blessed week! :) Love, Sister Hosman ❤️🍑

Love this Sister to pieces🍑

Bye bye Julie, we will miss you!💗

Zone Meeting - Bull Dawg Nation!

We were so excited that they had fry sauce!

8.8.16 Pneumonia = many companions

Hi y'all! It was a bit of a crazy week but a great one. We found out Monday that Sister Stauffer has walking pneumonia. She was put on bed rest but I was instructed to go out with different Ward members and continue to teach. I had lots of different companions this week and we saw so many miracles!

Tuesday morning we had to go to the doctors. Sister Stauffer has had a cold but her cough had been getting worse and so we went to get it checked out. They took some X-rays and told her she had walking pneumonia! Not good at all! Then we went to district meeting and had interviews with President Bennion. I gave a training on how to help our investigators recognize the spirit. We have a lot of new missionaries in our district who had a lot of great insight. It was awesome! After the meeting and interviews we went to dinner with Sister Stone. That night we had an awesome lesson with Jarree who is an investigator in Loganville. Her husband is a member and she is so sweet. We talked with her about fasting and also her baptism. She is on date to be baptized on the 13th but starting to feel a little nervous. We made a plan to all fast together. It was a great lesson!

Wednesday morning was a little crazy! Sister Stauffer was super sick so a member stayed here with her while I went out with another member and taught lessons. We stopped by the t-shirt shop and helped Debi for a bit and then shared a message with her. Then we had a great lesson with Tavaris. We taught him the gospel of Jesus Christ and it went really well. He shared a lot of cool experiences with us and has such a strong testimony. After that we went to meet a referral named Janelle. She was so sweet and loved the Restoration. We taught her how to pray and the spirit was so strong. She said she knew it was true and was excited to read from the BoM. Sister Stauffer joined me and we went to teach Katie. (Kierens twin sister) We taught her the PoS and answered more of her questions. She loved and said it made so much sense. They were answers she had been searching for for a long time. She is so humble and teachable, it's amazing. That night we had correlation and Kenny had his baptismal interview.

Thursday Sister Christensen came down from UGA and we were companions for the day. Oh my goodness y'all! She is so incredible and such an amazing missionary. She is such a fantastic teacher and has such a strong testimony. Her love for the Lord and the work show through her loving smile. It was a terrific day! We had the most wonderful lesson with Julie. Sister Carter came with us and it was so amazing. The spirit was so strong and it was one of the very best of my mission. Teaching with Sister Christensen was such a cool experience. We taught Julie about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and she loved it. I feel like usually the most spirit filled lessons are when we teach the Restoration or Plan of Salvation but this was with the Gospel of Jesus Christ and it was awesome. Julie was so into it and asked such great questions. She was so happy to hear that the Savior will forgive us as many times as we repent. She couldn't stop smiling and we were all crying at one point or another. She said her very first verbal prayer and just said how warm she felt inside. Starting our day off like that was wonderful. That afternoon we did some service for Sister Canchola and sang her a song. Then we taught the Bureau family and it went well! That night we had an awesome lesson with Adam and Andrea. We read Mormon 9 because that is where the spirit led us and we all got something out of it. I love the BoM!

Friday we did weekly planning which was great! Then we went to visit Katie and taught her the Restoration. She is doing so well and has changed so much even in these last couple weeks. She asked great questions and always is just so ready to learn. That night Sister Stone came out with me which was so fun! She has been an amazing companion to me these past few days! We had a great lesson with Tommy and then an awesome last lesson with Kenny before he was baptized. We watched The Hope Of Gods Light and talked about how God needs him on his side. He is so strong and I'm so proud of him. I feel so blessed to have been able to teach him and watch him progress since day one. After that we went to see Myra and met her sweet son Josh. He is deaf and I was able to sign with him for a bit which was so cool. We showed Myra the Mountains to Climb video and she loved it. It brought her a lot of peace and comfort. It was an awesome day!

The highlight of Saturday was definitely Kenny's baptism. The spirit was so strong and he was so happy. Most of the priests came to see him and it was so awesome to see so much love and support. The talks were amazing and the bishop gave him some incredible advice. For a 17 year old who is the only member of his family. Brother Stratford talked about how it's cool to be good! Something is cool because it's hard to do. Just like the olympics everyone loves to watch it because they are doing things that not everyone can do. They are hard. Being good is not easy therefore it is cool because not everyone can do it. Then the bishop talked about how important it is so stand in holy places and not just physically. It was an awesome meeting.

Sunday we had a spectacular testimony meeting. We also had a wonderful Sunday school class and Relief Society lesson. The spirit was so strong and I felt so renewed. We talked lots about service and not giving up! I kept thinking about the Mormon message called My Burden was made light and I didn't know why. We were going to see the Muehlheauser's and weren't sure what to share so we decided to share it. I'm so glad! It was just what they needed to hear and the spirit was so strong! I'm so grateful for the gift of the Holy Ghost and those little inspired thoughts that come to our head. That night we went to the Carter's and had dinner with the Polston Family. The home teachers came by and we had an awesome discussion on eternal marriage and families. I was able to learn so much and it was really neat. Dinner went so well and the Polstons had so much fun! I made some cookies while Sister Stauffer rested and then we went and delivered them. We stopped by Sister Noyes (Jeremiah's mom) and she is getting surgery on Tuesday. Please keep her in your prayers. Then we went to see Kieren and it was so good to finally see her. She has been sick and going through a hard time. She was doing so well but fell into a bit of a rough patch and wouldn't see us. We just showed our love to her and said no matter what we would always love her. That we know falling is part of life and we were here for her. That we would rather her talk to us and let us help then just hide from us. On the way home I just realized how this is how our Savior and Heavenly Father feel. They will always love us no matter what and would rather us talk to them and ask for help then hide. It's crazy to me to try to even imagine the love that they have for us. I'm so grateful for this time I have to be a missionary and just feel a piece of that love. To be able to see a little peek of the potential they have. I know the atonement is real. It covers everything for everyone and I'm so grateful for it. My testimony grows of it everyday. I know Heavenly Father loves you and that whatever you may be going through it will get better. He has a plan for you! I love y'all so much! Have a blessed week!

Xoxo Love, Sister Hosman

Pictures from Kenny's baptism 8.6.16

8.1.16 Just when I thought it couldn't get no hotter!

Hey y'all!! First of all, Welcome Home Elder Mack!! I'm so proud of you and know you blessed so many lives in Madagascar!

How is it August already?? I really didn't think it could get any hotter or I could sweat anymore but then came August! It is going to be one hot month here! Haha

It was a good week here with lots to do! We are a bit overwhelmed and still trying to figure out how exactly to take over the whole county! There are so many wonderful people here and I just love them all. I don't have much time here but wanted to give a little update on a few of them!(:

Kenny is doing so amazing! He showed up to church yesterday in a white shirt and tie, he looked so great! We had a wonderful lesson with him after church and he has changed so much. We have been teaching him for a couple months now and he will be baptized on Saturday! I am so proud of him and the wonderful guy is becoming.

The Polston family is still doing great. We had a delicious dinner with them on Thursday and a very powerful lesson. We watched the patterns of light video series and talked about the different ways God answers our prayers. Finley still wants to be baptized and went to scout camp with the boys this weekend! So cool! We are fasting with their family on Sunday in search for Nikki's answers. The kids are a little nervous to fast but I know it will be an incredible experience for everyone. The power of fasting is real and I have seen so many miracles from it in my life and the lives of those around me. 

Kieren is doing great! We were finally able to meet her twin sister named Katie this week. She is in jail and Kieren has been asking us to go visit her for months. I was a bit nervous at first but it was such a cool experience! We were able to answer her questions and the spirit was so strong. She is so prepared and has the strongest desire to change. She is so much like Kieren with the same amazing personality and laugh! I love her so much already and am excited to watch her grow. We are currently trying to figure out some way to sneak her a BoM!(; haha

Charles came to church yesterday and loved it! He is still reading and praying this everyday and doing great! He still feels unsure that he is ready for baptism but I know when the time is right he will be. Keep him in your prayers!(:

Julie is the one we met a couple weeks ago on the side of the road because she ran out of gas. She is so humble and very prepared. We taught her the Plan of Salvation last night and it went so well. She is very into it and the spirit was so strong. When we asked her if she had a chance to read from the BoM yet she said yes and opened her book mark to the book of Omni! I had to blink a couple times and couldn't believe it! At the end of the lesson she told us she is moving to a different county in the next couple weeks. I was so sad but I know that the missionaries in that area are there for a reason. It has been so incredible for me to teach people I knew I was meant to teach here in Georgia. I hope she will have the same experience with the missionaries there and will continue to progress!

We also did lots of service this week! It was the last week of FISH for kids which made me so sad! We went several times this week and had lots of fun. It had been so humbling to be able to help so many sweet kids! They made almost 2000 lunches everyday this summer. How cool is that? We were also able to meet some really cool people. It was so powerful to come together with all different faiths and help the community! We are looking forward to a busy week with lots to do! Thank you so much for you're love and support. I'm so grateful for each and every one of you. Serving a mission is the best decision I've ever made and I am loving it more everyday. I hope all is well for you and your family! You are in my thoughts and prayers. Have a blessed week and stay peachy! :)

 Love, Sister Hosman

Sweet Sister Merritt! This was a hard goodbye on Tuesday! Even though we were only companions for a couple weeks I felt like we have been companions for the whole time we served in the Monroe Ward together. She is an incredible missionary and I learned so much from her. We became great friends and I will miss her dearly. She has such a light about her and was a great example to me.