Hello Family!!

Well i have some exciting news, but before that i will respond to everyone´s emails

Grandma and Grandpa, that is really sweet that you are going down to nevada for a month and a half. its nice to hear how you guys are still so close to them after sharing the gospel with them and everything! Its nice to hear that idaho got to have a caucus! i really hope that i can vote this time around, i dont know if itll just be counted after the fact, but still its good to vote. thank you for the emails!

Mom, speaking of 6th ward, the missionary that was training here in my house ended up being in the mtc group of zach caine! small world. im fine with the answer to moving being ´no´ because i honestly would like more coming home and not having everything completely different haha, but whatever works. i like what you said about priestcraft. i watched a devotional in the MTC by Elder Bednar, and he said that any missionary that works to try and draw attention to himself in any way, is commiting the sin of ´priestcraft´. he said some other things like unto that, and it was just really good. a good pointer to keep in check is that you (as a missionary) will never convert a person. only the holy ghost will.

Dad, is charlotte nice right now? it sounds like the derricks are hanging in there! one thing that people need to remember is that the church is always true, its always the only true church on earth, but sometimes the people in it arent. basically, we just need to remember why we will go to church, for God and Jesus christ. that baptism sounded like a nice experience, i cannot believe he already is 8 years old!!! thats just crazy, now it feels like ive been out here longer. thats great that the devils are doing well, itd be nice if the penguins went back into another 20 year slump, but oh well. i completely forgot about college basketball, go tarheels! let me know how it works out. i will not do it, but how many missionaries in the world do you think are filling out brackets right now?? i hope not too many.

So onto everything else

Well ill start with the most interesting, transfers! i will be staying in palmital (city of marilia) for 2 more transfers because.... i am going to train! WOO! im going to train a new missionary, and thus become a senior companion from now on as well. im really excited! i have to leave on a bus today at 2 pm for londrina, where ill stay the night, and then the next day go to the mission presidents house to find out who exactly im training, and then return to here. its going to be sweet i think. im honestly really excited, and i think its going to work out really well! i will let you know how it goes

this means that i will be here in marilia for my birthday, for the mothers day call, for easter, general conference, and when i leave here after 2 short transfers i will have 11 months, almost a year already! can you believe it?! things are just moving along for sure

so this week the assistants to the president showed up in marilia, and i got to spend a day with them in a division. one of them is an elder who i lived with in ouro branco (since the assistants live there) and it was really nice to see him. we found 2 people out of the blue almost to be baptized that week!

the first was the son of a recent convert. he was baptized 1 year ago by elders, and he said that he was baptized because the missionaries insisted (mom, priestcraft?). so he admitted that he didnt have a testimony or anything. but we have been working with him for the time that he has been here, and his testimony has grown now, and he brings his whole family to church, and his son diego wanted to be baptized also and all, and its just a nice story of conversion!

the other is a young woman named tamyris, who is the sister of livia, the young woman who we baptized my 3rd week in this city. she has been there for all the lessons and everything, but has had difficulties going to church. but she ended up finally going, and since she is only 19, they are going to call her as a yound womans leader to be able to be there with her sister and more people in her sort of group, because our relief society has almost only people over 40. so she has been a good story too!

we had another activity this saturday, it was a talent show. people from all over the stake showed up, including our investigators, and it actually went really well! i got to do something absolutely ridiculous. there was a young woman (i dont know how this happened in brazil) who, when we got there, was desperately trying to find someone to sing a song that she was going to play on the guitar. what song? last kiss by pearljam. and who knows all the words? i do hahaha! so i ended up singing in the talent show while she played, and it actually went really well. haha it was ridiculous. but the whole thing went real well

so im sad to see elder borges go, he is a really goos missionary. but i am really glad to stay in this ward! ive gotten to know the people here really really well, and its going to be easier because of this to have a new missionary here and help him get into the mission. ahh im soo excited!!

so since i am staying here, do you think that you guys could send a package with some things for me, both of which i need and possibly want? all it is is really an institute manual for the book of mormon, a jump rope (one of those with the plastic chord, because i already ´made´ a jump rope but it got destroyed) maybe even some classical music cds? that black light jacket i have with the grey hood and pockets in front (its hanging up in my bedroom closet) and, if theres room, easter candy, because im sad that i wont be around for the themed easter candy, but if you cant thats fine! i understand its sort of a burden. but if you feel like doing it, just send it as soon as possible beacuse itll come right to my house instead of the mission. i will give the address here for you to mail

So here it is progressively getting little and a little bit colder, and i am loving it. as of now, the mornings and nights are nice and cool, but the day with the sun is still ridiculous. but its a good change! when i leave here in may it will be ´winter´ until august or september, and before you know it im basically off the mission haha!

i get to have 2 four hour bus rides with this whole training thing, which means that i get towrite michelle haha! i hope i wont get carsick, but i doubt it, and regardless it is worth it. also, at least one of the videos is already sent michelle! so mom and dad forward is toher ( i hope you have been in the past too, im sure you have) and i willtry to get the second one as well

so ihave to go now, but i love you guys! im way excited to be a trainer slash senior (ps ami spelling train right? i know train is like trains plains and automobiles, but i dont know if the verb is the same. let me know!) thank you all for everything! and i will talk to you next week, and let you know how it is going. i love you guys, have a great week, general conference is coming up, talk to you later!! bye!

-Elder Zachary Paul Hoskin