10.31.16 God is in the details ❤️

Happy Halloween y'all! It was a wonderful week and the work is continuing on!  We have been so blessed and saw some fantastic miracles. I'm guessing most of you know about the curve ball this weekend but I'm feeling much better! This one is gonna be a long one but keep reading! I promise it's worth it... 

Monday night we went over to the King's house to teach Gloria. We taught her the plan of happiness, God's plan for his children. The spirit was so strong and it went really well. She was able to answer all our questions and the spirit truly took over the lesson. Before we knew it we were inviting her to be baptized and to our surprise she said yes! She accepted November 26th as a day to prepare to be baptized. Her lessons are always so funny because she has a hard time hearing. We seriously have to yell and speak very slowly. I'm so thankful that my grandpa taught me how to speak clearly! She talked about how peaceful and "light" she felt and we promised her that that was the spirit teaching her that our message was true. It was a wonderful night and I love Ms. Gloria so much! 

On Wednesday we had a lesson with Debra, who was a referral from the Canton Ward. (That is the other Ward that meets in our church building.) Debra is the sweetest woman and is so prepared. She is practically Mormon and knows a lot about the church. She has a sweet spirit and asked what she had to do to be baptized. She accepted the date of December 3rd to prepare for. It was awesome and a wonderful result of working with the members. 

Richard is doing great and we had some awesome lessons with him this week. He is still the smartest 9 year old I have ever met. At the end of a wonderful lesson on tithing we asked him his thoughts on baptism. Suddenly his mood changed and he seemed almost scared. As we talked with him and help resolve his concerns his mood changed. We promised him that he was ready and he accepted a date for November 16th! We are so excited! 

We had a lesson with Angi this week and Sister King was going to join us but it cancelled. Instead we felt like we should go try to see Arianna and it was awesome. Definitely meant to happen and goes to show that this is the Lords work. He always knows exactly where we should be and will make it happen if we are in tune with the spirit. Gods plan is always far greater. Sister King shared her conversion story and Arianna loved it. It was like it all became real to her. They were able to connect so well and it was amazing. She is so close to baptism and it has been wonderful to watch her grow. She has been through so much and her strength continues to amaze me. 

Friday was another great day in the service of God when our night had a serious plot twist! So when we came home from dinner Friday night, I wasn't feeling too good. And I realized that I was losing blood. After a quick call to the mission nurse, we were instructed to rush to the Emergency Room in Johns Creek. Being completely in shock, I obeyed and thus-the longest night of the mission began! (all nighters are not nearly has fun as a missionary) Before much of the craziness began, I was able to receive a priesthood blessing from two wonderful men in the Johns Creek Ward. They had just returned home from the temple that night where their son had gone through for the first time. When the blessing was pronounced upon my head, I was overcome with peace. It was promised to me that this will only be "but a small hiccup in the road and that I was here for a much greater purpose." After several frustrating hours in the Emergency Room, I was admitted in room 323. We stayed up most of the night explaining over and over again why we came to the hospital. Throughout our stay, we were able to meet many amazing people and share pieces of our message with them. But one nurse who stood out the most was Ms. Pam, our nurse for the day. Each time she would come and check up on me and my companion she would mention a different feeling that she felt or how she always got the chills when she entered our room. We were overwhelmed by the love and support of members and missionaries we serve along-side with. The Wall family who gave me the priesthood blessing were truly angels. They were there every minute to feed, clothe, love and support us. Every staff member that came into our room was amazed by the feeling of family that filled the room. It was hard for me to be away from my family through out all of this but in reality my family just got 10X bigger. Saturday afternoon I met the fantastic GI doctor and I could tell immediately that he was awesome. When I explained what was wrong and the reason I was in Georgia he said that "we had to get me better so that I could get back to the Lord's work!" He decided to do a procedure and left to call his staff and get it all ready. An hour later I was being rolled in my bed down the hallway to be knocked out by anesthesia. The doctor said "now I know we have to get started but before we do so, I have a couple questions for you." He asked the basic questions of what set us apart. I taught him the Restoration and the last part of the PoS which answers the question.. where we go after we die. That is really the last thing I remember before drifting off to sleep. When the procedure was over and we went back upstairs President Bennion gave him a Mormon.org and he also accepted a BoM. I have a follow up appointment with him in 2 weeks and he said he would be ready for his quiz on the book. It was amazing! The whole weekend was a bit scary but I know that everything happens for a reason. I feel so blessed to have a fantastic companion who was by my side the whole time. She is such a trooper! A couple of the Sister missionaries were able to come see me and it was such a blessing. Maybe I had to go through it all so that others could come to know the truth. If so, then it was definitely worth it! I am happy to be back in my apartment resting and hope to be back to the Lord's work very soon! Thank you so much for all your prayers and love. I love y'all so much! The church is true and the gospel really is good news! I love my mission and have never been happier. Even in the hospital I was able to share the gospel and it brought so much joy to my heart. Happy Halloween! Have a great night and be safe! Xoxo 

Love,

Sister Hosman🍑

Sister Hosman and Sister Nu'usa

"Gremmy" - Sister Hosman loves Sister Holmgren she was so happy to see her!

What a tender mercy, Sister Christensen from her home ward

Sister Christensen and Sister Neff came to visit - I think it's so cute Rachael is trying to be taller in this pic!  My little peanut!

10.30.16 A little "hiccup" and lots of miracles

Dear Family and Friends,

Sister Hosman spent 2 nights in the hospital and could use your faith and prayers.  She lost some blood from an intestinal ulcer last week and was taken to the Hospital Friday night.  They gave her IV fluids, potassium, a B12 shot and an iron infusion.  There is no question she was run down, but hadn’t slowed down!  She’s doing amazing.  She sounds happy and giggly and is surrounded by so many angels, I am taken back by the outpouring of service from total strangers. 

The bonus of all of this has been the opportunity to hear her voice and know how well she is doing. Some of you know that we have 3 members of our home ward serving in the same mission, it has been fun to see how they've come together and been there for Rachael this weekend.  She told me that the AP (McKay Woodwell) called and told Sister Christensen (Riley) that she had permission to call and go visit Sister Hosman.  When Riley showed up at the hospital Rachael asked, "what are you doing?”  Riley replied, “Val Verda 1st ward taking over GANM”.  What a blessing that she is surrounded by friends.  This has been such a blessing to have Riley and McKay in the same mission.  

She is still busy doing mission work.  The mission president said that she was working on converting the nurses and the Gastroenterologist is a Catholic who is curious about her mission and the details of what she is doing.  He asked her what the difference between her church and his was and so she shared the story of the Restoration.  She gave him a Book of Mormon and he promised he would read it and she could quiz him at her follow up in 2 weeks! 

She was discharged Sunday morning and will be able to rest Sunday, Monday and have a temple day on Tuesday. We are confident that this was just a “hiccup” and she’ll be able to finish the last 4 months strong!  

Thank you so much for your faith and prayers,

Tammie

*A little extra lovin never hurt, if you can please send her a note.  

Her email address is rachael.hosman@myldsmail.net

Her current address is 

Sister Rachael Hosman

8303 Walden Crossing Drive

Canton, GA  30115-9544

10.24.16 That's what Faith can do...

Hello y'all! 

Here are a couple stories from this last week! :) 

Monday night we had a great lesson with Gloria. She was one of the referrals we received after general conference. She is a mother of one of our favorite members, Sister King. She is so sweet and we have to literally yell at her so she can hear us. It is a different experience of teaching the gospel in these volume but it went so well. The spirit was so strong and you could see the lord had been preparing her. The Kings were a little concerned and didn't no how much miss Gloria would understand. But she got it and was able to answer all our questions. At the end of the lesson we sang "I am a child of God" and Sister King was in tears. We are going back for another lesson tonight and I am so excited! 

Angi Mendoza, one of our investigators has had a toothache for a while now. She has been in a lot of pain and was trying to get back to Mexico to get it fixed. On Tuesday night our appointment cancelled but we felt like we needed to go check on Angi. When we got there she was laying in her bed in so much pain. We told her that she needs a priesthood blessing and she said she would love one. So I  called the Elders and members in our Ward to come and give the blessing while Sister Nu'usa informed her on what a priesthood blessing is. It was really good teamwork! Anyway, Brother and Sister King brought the Elders and all three priesthood holders gave her a blessing. She felt the spirit so strong. The next morning she texted us and said she slept SO good. She felt no pain and she was doing great! It's so good to see the Lord create miracles through those who are sanctified. The power of faith is amazing. I'm grateful for the priesthood power and how much peace it brings people. 

We were helping the Sommer family (recent converts) build a new fence in their back yard this weekend. I went inside to get a drink of water and saw that Angi was struggling. She was working on a homework assignment and was getting really frustrated. She gave a big sigh and mumbled some word under her breath. I asked her what was wrong and she began to tell me how this assignment made no sense. Before I could even think the words "well, have you said a prayer?" came out of my mouth. She kinda looked at me funny but I went with it and said "come on, I'll say a prayer with you!" I knelt down beside her and just said a simple prayer. Asking Heavenly Father to clear her mind and help her understand. As soon as I got down she quickly answered the next four questions and I said "see! Prayer is magic!" Her response was "let's see if I got them right though!"  Sure enough she did, there was silence and then she looked at me and said "thank you!" I love the simple truths of the gospel. Never forget that he is just one prayer away. He is always there waiting and loves us more than we could ever imagine. I'm so grateful for the power of prayer and the love he has for me. It gets me through the good and the bad times. 

This week I have been studying about the brother of Jared and the amazing faith that he had. I'm so grateful for the stories in the scriptures and the examples they are to us. Their faith is in incredible and they have so much trust in the lord. I know that no matter what is going on in your life, the most important thing is that you are child of God and he loves you. I promise that if you put your faith and trust in Him, it will all work out. He has a perfect plan for us and won't let anything get in the way of our enteral joy. The gospel is incredible but it doesn't promise that we won't have hard times in our lives. However, it helps us cope with them and enables us to find peace. Our faith is like a seed and continues to grow everyday. As we continue to nourish it, it's the little things! I love y'all so much! Have a great week and don't give up! Stay peachy🍑

Love,

Sister Hosman❤️

Sister Nu'usa and Sister Hosman

Fall in beautiful Georgia!❤️

Amen!

Super fun! Little Ward sister party! Silly Caitlin shut her eyes🙈

Hey y'all! 

It was a tough week but we had a great zone meeting! I love when we get to together as missionaries and help each other grow. The spirit was so strong and it was wonderful. Don't have much time today but here is a bit about my week...

We had several families that we have been teaching "drop" us this week. Meaning they told us they were no longer interested and for us to not come back. It really hit me, I have come to love these families so much. I know that the lord has a plan for each of them and pray they will accept the gospel some day. This life can be hard. The mission can be hard. But that is when we learn and grow. Trials bring us to Christ. We are here to find joy and that is what the gospel brings. I'm so grateful for my testimony and the joy I get when I share it with others. When times get hard and trails come, if we turn to him and his gospel we can find joy. 

The Frias and Huetero families are still doing great! We are hoping to work with them more and excited to watch them continue to grow in this gospel. 

We have been working with a less active named Sister Tye a little bit. She is wonderful and served a mission herself, she also has two sons out on missions. Over the years she has become less active and her testimony is struggling. She doesn't attend church because of her anxiety. We had a little bit of time on Friday afternoon and felt promoted to stop by. We had a great discussion with her about the atonement and fasting. She confided in us as missionaries and poured her soul out to us. The spirit was so strong and we were able to testify how much God truly loves her. We promised her blessings if she would just come to the first hour of church on Sunday. When we walked out of our meeting Sunday morning, smiles came over our faces as we saw her walk in with her sweet family. We had an incredible testimony meeting with so many messages she needed to hear. All about temples, families and missionary work. She cried during the whole thing and was overwhelmed by the spirit. She snuck out during the closing song and we knew we needed to go give her a hug. So we followed her out and she just threw her arms around us. As she continued to cry and say "thank you sisters!" It was such a special moment. Even though none of our investigators who committed to be at church actually made  it, Sister Tye was there. That was enough for us and for the Lord. I know this that less active work is such an important part of missionary work. Heavenly Father misses his lost sheep and needs us to help bring them back to the fold. 

I love y'all so much! Thank you for your love and support. Couldn't do this without you. Don't forget to find joy in the journey! 😀

Love,

Sister Hosman🍑

Sisters in the zone! So short on sisters in GANM right now! 

The Marietta Zone

The gospel blesses families ❤️

Happy Fall y'all!! 

It is so beautiful right now here in Georgia! The leaves are starting to change and we finally got a bit of cooler weather. It was a fantastic week here and we are so blessed!! As I'm thinking about what stories to tell I realize y'all should have just been here!  ;) Haha 

Brandie and her son Noah are doing great! We had a wonderful lesson with them this week and taught them the plan of salvation. They both loved it and the spirit was so strong. I absolutely love the plan of salvation. It is one of my favorite things to teach. It shows Gods love for us so strongly. Noah said the closing prayer at the end of the lesson and he did so good. It was the most sincere prayer I have ever heard a 9 year old say! He is so smart and has such a strong desire to learn. His prayer was so simple and sincere has he asked Heavenly Father to know if the PoS was true. We put them on date for baptism for the end of October! So exciting! 

We have also been working with the Huetero family. The mom, Maria is a less active. Her 9 year old son is name Noah and he is great too! I just don't know where all these amazing 9 year olds came from! Haha He too has such a strong desire to learn. We taught him the restoration and he loved it. The other sisters taught it to him almost a year ago but he remembered almost all of it. He would tell us what came next and would quote part of it word for word with us. Richard also has a desire to be baptized and is the sweetest kid. 

We went back to the Cagle family who we stopped by several weeks ago. We had a great lesson with his girlfriend Jennifer. She was so excited to read the Book of Mormon. We will be going back to follow up with her this next week! 

This week we were really able to work on building our teaching pool. It is so exciting and we are staying busy! Not only with people to teach but families. Thank you so much for all your prayers and support! 

When I got to the area I remember a "golden" investigator named Monica,  that I taught here long ago on an exchange. I looked back in the records and she was being taught 3-4 times a week. Had been to church several times and was on date for baptism. However her record had been deleted so all her personal information was gone. I had kind of forgotten about it all the craziness but as I was studying one morning this week, I couldn't get her name out of my head. I prayed and the only idea that came to mind was to have a member reach out to Sister Barben (the missionary I was on exchange with back then) to ask her about Monica. So we did a little while later we got a response. She didn't remember many details but knew the apartment complex and that it was on the bottom floor. She had told the sisters to stop coming by because of her struggles with the word of wisdom. So that day we went to the apartments determined to find Monica. We started knocking every door with no success. Then we ran into a woman named Pam. She was super sweet and we got talking with her for a bit. She said she was new in the area and was trying a church near by, but really wasn't liking it. She said she was looking for something more "traditional" and "family oriented." Smiled came over our faces as we promised that this is just what she was looking for. We now have an appointment with her for this week and we are really looking forward to it. We really think that she might have moved into Monica's apartment, and that maybe Monica has moved. But all we know is that the Lord sent us there that day to find Pam. God works in mysterious ways! 

We had the most wonderful stake conference this weekend! I felt the spirit so strong and the talks were incredible. It is always great to hear from President and Sister Bennion. The whole focus was on member missionary work! An answer to so many prayers. 

So after Stake Conference ended on Sunday, we went to lunch with King's family. We shared a spiritual message and asked for referrals. We received 2, one of them being Sister King's mom who lives with her. We set up a time to meet with her and she will be taking the lessons soon. Fast forwarding to dinner with the Parkers-we had a great dinner with them! At the end of the dinner we shared Helaman 5:12 and asked for referrals. We received 3-their neighbor (non-members who are really big in family history), the Confiado's and the Tencza's (less-active members). We had planned to go see the Tenzca's right after dinner. So we go and see them and lo, and behold, they were home. After getting to know them for a few minutes, the daughter said, "I want you to meet my boyfriend." So she texts him to come over and he came. We talked about his religious background. He doesn't really a religious background but he's super open-minded. We introduced the Book of Mormon and set up a time to come back and share more. Katelyn, the daughter, says, "actually there's a couple of people that I know would love to join us. I'll invite them too!" I know that member-missionary work is essential and we have received counsel that it will help this work to grow tremendously! We cannot do this alone! 

Make the gospel a part of your vocabulary! Share it at every opportunity the Lord blesses you with! I love y'all so much! Have a blessed week!(: 

Love,

Sister Hosman🍑

* (from Tammie) we have been very blessed during this transfer to hear from several friends and friends of friends who live where Rachael is serving.  Here is one text that we received...

Hey! My name is Cydnee and I live in Georgia! Your sweet Sister Hosman is serving in my area :) I've gone out with her 3 times since she got here about 2 weeks ago. She is so awesome. We had dinner with the sisters tonight and then I went out with them! My sister just left on her mission 4 months ago. I miss her a lot and wish that people in her area would let me know how she's doing, so I thought I would share with you guys that she is doing well! The area is struggling, but she is amazing and I think she can do so much for this area with the help of the Lord! I never really went out with the sister missionaries until this companionship came along. Going out with them has blessed my life a lot. Sister Hosman has the sweetest spirit and the best laugh. She's beautiful inside and out and my life has been so blessed by her serving a mission! It's like I have a little piece of my sister here. Thank you for giving her up for a little bit. I am so thankful for her!! ❤

Happy October Y'all

Bubbles

Our District 

10.3.16 God is good❤️

Hello y'all!! 

It was an awesome week filled with tender mercies! I hope y'all enjoyed general conference weekend! We are so blessed! 

We have a new rule in our mission that a family in our Ward can only feed us once a companionship. Unless they have a nonmember, less active or recent convert there. There is a family in our Ward who loves to feed us. They were sad to find out they "couldn't anymore" but we explained and invited them to have someone over. On Tuesday night they invited a less active and nonmember family over for dinner. It was so great and an awesome success. We shared a spiritual message with them and they loved it. They asked great questions and said they were looking for a new church to join. We have already seen so many great blessings from following this new counsel from President Bennion. Our Ward is more willing to get involved in the work and it helps us use the Lord's time most effectively. 

Thursday I went on exchanges with Sister Foster to Allatoona! She is awesome and we had a lot of fun. She was actually supposed to come out with me but broke her foot and had to wait a couple months. We did some awesome service in the morning and met great people. That afternoon we had a great lesson with the Roberts family on the BoM. We talked about a story in the BoM about the tree of life. How we need to stay on the straight and narrow path to find happiness. We also want to help our friends and family so they can experience the goodness too. They are a family Sister Christensen worked with so that was really fun. That night we got to help out with activity days. All the 8-12 year old girls come and learn a lesson as well as play an activity. We talked about prophets and the importance of them. It went really well and was a lot of fun!  

Friday we had an awesome lesson with Brandie. She is super sweet and her son Noah, who is 9 joined us too. We read the BoM with them and they loved it. The spirit was so strong from the start and they could really feel it. The power of the BoM is so real. It was really cool to read it out loud and all together as well. They said they would continue to read as a family and they really want to come to church. They have really been prepared and are the cutest family.

Saturday morning we went to help a family in the ward with their yard sale and contacted as many people as we could! Then we had wonderful general conference! President Uchtdorf was the first speaker and just a few minutes into his talk our phone rang. I wasn't going to answer since we were in general conference and Uchtdorf was speaking. But I got a firm prompting from the spirit to answer the phone call. I stepped outside to take to the call and my companion followed. On the other line was a sweet woman named Betty Jo. She had met with missionaries quite a few months back and had felt impressed to call us. Her life had took some crazy turns and as she prayed she felt that we would be able to help her. It was hard to understand everything she said through her tears but we made an appointment to come by later that evening. We went back to finish watching general conference and I was in shock at how fast the time went by. There were so many beautiful messages shared and such a strong spirit. I love the way our leaders bring it back to the simplicity of the gospel. The plan of happiness was talked about throughout the whole weekend. It is real. God has a perfect plan for each and everyone of us. 

The afternoon session was also wonderful and I loved the choir of missionaries. There was also a common theme of missionary work through out this session. Every member is a missionary. We can not do this work alone. Sharing the gospel truly is our lifelong duty. Elder Dallin H. Oaks gave us several ways that we can share the gospel. I hope this inspired each of you as it did me to be a better missionary and assist in the Lord's great work! I am so grateful for this sacred time that I have to wear the Savior's name and to be a full time missionary in Georgia. But I am also grateful that my mission doesn't have to ever end. I can continue to share the gospel forever. 

Sunday was another fantastic day! We made breakfast for our recent converts and less actives. We also invited lots of nonmembers. Ariana came which was so great! She took lots of notes and loved it. When she left she told us "I haven't felt this good in a really long time." It was so sweet! 

I loved the story that was shared about Helen Keller. She has been someone I have admired since I was really young. I love the relation of her teacher Ann and Jesus Christ. We have to gain trust and a relationship with them but when we do we are so blessed. He also can see our potential and even when we are settled with where we are he continues to help us grow and stretch. Just as Helen's teacher, Ann helped her to grow and stretch. After conference I was able to receive a much needed priesthood blessing. The spirit was so strong and I was really able to feel God's love for me. I'm so grateful for Joseph Smith and that the power of the priesthood has been restored. 

I know this church is true and I'm so grateful for the blessing of it in my life. I know the BoM is true and there is power in reading it every day. It is so powerful and has truly changed my life. I know it can do the same for you if we will just take 10 minutes a day to read it. I'm so thankful to have a living day prophet who is called of God. It was so great to hear his counsel and testimony even if it was just for a few minutes. I love y'all so much! I hope you have a great week and continue to ponder the messages that were shared. If you didn't get the chance to watch they are on LDS.org, please go and see! I promise and testify that they are from the lord and it can change you. 

Love,

Sister Hosman🍑

Going on Splits

A cute family I got to teach in Alatoona :) 

Thanks for the flowers Daddy!