Peach My Gospel: 9.6.16 A new adventure, here I come Hickory Flat!

Hi y'all! It was a crazy week but a really good one! Lots of stress but lots of miracles too!

Right after district meeting ended on Tuesday our phone rang and it was the mission office. Our housing coordinator was calling us to tell us that our lease was up and we needed to move that day!
What?? It was a little crazy but we then spent all day Tuesday and Wednesday cleaning and moving. The Ward was so great and very helpful, we couldn't have done it without them.

Wednesday after we got done we finally got to go teach a little bit. We went to see Hazel and we're having a great lesson with her standing on the porch. All the sudden she passed out and fell right off the porch into a tree! Y'all it was so scary!! Oh my goodness. She was just lying there looking up at us in shock. We helped her help and took her in to get some water. So crazy! We also got to teach Debi. I had a thought to show her the Mormon message "Sanctify Yourselves" and talk about the priesthood. She loved it and asked so many great questions. The spirit was so strong and it was an amazing lesson. One of those everyday reminders to always follow your promptings! :)

Friday night we had just finished an awesome lesson with a referral. We had a team up from the Ward out with us who is great. It was dark and she was driving down the road when she turned to me and said "I'm not quite sure where I am or where I'm going." Half serious and half joking my response was "Well just let the spirit guide you." She drove a bit down the road and turned into a library near by. When she parked the car we saw a woman sitting against the wall under the light. As we were trying to decide if we should talk to her we decided that four people getting out of the car might scare her a bit. So Sister Stauffer and I jumped out of the car and began to talk with her. She had just been kicked out of her friends house and was praying for help. She was waiting for another friend who was on his way to get her from Tennessee. We got to know and taught her about the BoM. She loved it and said she knew we were sent there to find her. She was so excited to hear that there were missionaries in Tennessee that could continue to teach her more. She promised to read the BoM while she waited for her ride. It was so amazing and I know the spirit really does guide us. Although we haven't been able to follow up with her yet I know that it was in God's plan for us to find her and that he will continue to prepare her.

Saturday, we were supposed to go to the temple with our recent convert named Tommy for baptisms. We arrived at the church early Saturday morning and our recent convert was not there. We drove to his house and he was home. He told us he had been sick all night and didn't feel up to going to the temple. We tried to convince him for 15 minutes to no avail. We told our bishop we could no longer attend. Then he said there was another recent convert going for his first time, the only problem was he just past his year mark of being a member so he wasn't technically a recent convert. Not quite sure about the rules, we called the Sister Training Leaders and asked if we could still attend and they asked us how we felt about it and counciled us to pray as a companionship. We prayed and felt that we had more work to do in our area. We were sad because we really wanted to go to the temple, but we followed the prompting of the spirit and told the bishop we would not be at the temple. We ended up having a super successful day. We were blessed with team ups all day, and we were able to teach families we hadn't been able to teach for over a week. That was one of our most successful days this week.

Sunday we had the most incredible fast and testimony meeting. Kieren and her parents came which was such a cool little miracle. Kieren went up and bore her testimony about Jesus Christ and the Atonement. The rest of testimony meeting was super spiritual and many members got up and added their testimony to the one our investigator just gave. One member got up and bore his testimony and told Kieren "welcome home, you belong with us." The spirit and the love felt in church today was so powerful. Everyone was crying including Kieren and her family. It is so powerful to see the power of the Atonement working in our lives and to see people reach out and welcome with open arms just as our savior would. We ended the meeting singing all 7 verses of "How Firm a Foundation" it was wonderful and one of the strongest meetings ever.

Last night we got transfer calls and I am leaving Monroe. I feel so blessed to have been able to serve here for these last 6 months and have loved every minute. Just when I think I won't love this area as much as the last it always happens. I am definitely leaving a piece of my heart in Monroe. I am headed back to the Marietta Zone to a beautiful place called Hickory Flat. I have been there several times on exchanges and love it. I'm excited for the new adventure and know it is where I need to be. Even though it hasn't quite hit me yet and it will be hard I know I can do it as I rely on my savior Jesus Christ. This is truly his work and I'm excited to see what he has in store for me! I love y'all! Thank you for all you do! Have a blessed week! :)

Third verse of How Firm A Foundation
Fear not, I am with thee; oh, be not dismayed,
For I am thy God and will still give thee aid.
I’ll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand,
Upheld by my righteous, upheld by my righteous,
Upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand.

Love, Sister Hosman❤️🍑💗