Hello family!

Grandma and grandpa, thank you very much for the letter! i got the
second one there today. i am going to write you a nice full letter
today and send it to you, which youll get through the email address
that you usually send me things here. i love you guys, and i am glad
to hear that it is beautiful in the cabin! i cannot wait until we can
all meet back there again after my mission, and just be together
again. it will be a very happy time. i love you guys, and i am
grateful for all the time you take to write me letters, i will respond
today i promise!

mom, thats news that abby got braces! how long is she going to have
them on for? and i remember the expander, it was very painful, but i
loved cranking it because it felt like the whole braces process was
getting along. the faster, the better for that. i remember the mental
health days during school. im not going to lie, they were not only a
help to get a break and take a breather from school, but alot of times
i got sick of the people in school, more often than not for how their
conduct was contrary to our standards. so know that it was more than
just a day off of studying and all. i think it helped me, because
whenever it got to be too much i just wanted to get away from it, and
i think that the days helped me to not just get lazy and accept that
kind of stuff around me. woo mom! well to indexing, i just read the
talk of Elder Bednar on family history and vicarious work, and while
you are very much up in other religious things, its great dad is doing
that because i have been learning this week alot about those sort of
powers we have here on earth, and how it is important. alyssa is
getting married!? what!? tell her and them that i said congrats! im
stoked for her, but am also excited because now i KNOW that i am next
in the hoskin family to be marrried, woo! haha but that is really
exciting news, tell her i said congrats!

Dad, i am very happy to hear about the success the devils are having.
it sounds like the devils are really kicking it up right as i leave
the country, but i am glad for their success. keep me posted. thats
awesome that you got to see President Benson, that is similar to how i
felt about Elder Cook. i think that one of the sweetest parts was that
it was the most specific audience ive ever been in while getting
instructions from an apostle of God, he was telling us what we as our
mission needed to do, and that was a big spiritual experience for me.
i will give the update on the mothers day call in a minuto. im glad
things are going so great, its just what Elder Cook said about how our
loved ones will be blessed more than we will for our missions, so im
glad to hear it!


so this week i have gotten sort of fancy with my flash drive. i pulled
off about 10 talks i thought could really help me out from general
conference in the past few years, put them on my pen drive, and now i
listen to them at night before i go to bed! one of which being jeffery
r holland´s testimony on the book of mormon, which leads me to my next
topic.

so this week, the theme in my personal growth has been the book of
mormon. i know its the word of God, and are the revelations selected
for our benifit in these days, but i came into this week just wanting
to strengthen my testimony in it more, and with fasting and prayer,
and reading it happened! i went up and bore my testimony at church,
and it was probably the most powerful feeling testimony i think ive
ever born. it was a great spiritual experience to draw closer to the
book of mormon, because at the same time we draw closer to christ.

in regards to my flash drive and music, there is a song that the
Mormon Tabernacle Choir does that is now my favorite church/motab
song. it is called ´homeward bound´ and even though i have been
listening to it these entire almost 10 months on the mission, just
recently its become one of the best songs that i like. you can
interpret it for a mission or the plan of salvation, either one that
you would like (although the ladder 2 are comparable also) and its
just really good for inviting the spirit.

this week, for personal reasons, i have been studying alot about the
prophet Elijah. i have been startin there in 1 Reis 17, and using the
portuguese old testament institute manual and everything i can find,
and i can now easily say who my ´favorite´ prophet is. Elijah. He is
the epitamy of faith, which is also the epitamy of magnifying the
priesthood, and i think he is a great example in many many ways to us.
one of the more generally applicable is that when he was challenged by
the priests of baal to see which God was the true God, there was only
him and 450 priests of Baal. its a good lesson because one of us
members can stand against any adversity with the lord on our side.

so i had a crazy mission story this week that was a great spiritual
experience, of how the lord will always prepare a way for people to
come unto the gospel, leaving out the importance of time (1 Nephi
9:6). we found a man 2 days ago through a member reference named
Mauro. so we showed up at his house, taught him, and it ends up he had
the book of mormon already. how? well he told us this story. 12 years
ago, he was sitting on a bus going to work like every other day. and a
missionary sat next to him, and begand to casually converse with him.
then right before the missionary left, he asked mauro if he would like
a present. he accepted, and the missionary gave him the book of
mormon. so this member referencew only had where the street was (´the
street in front of the bigger market´) so we knocked on all of the
doors looking for a mauro, and after over 50 houses (and finding many
other people to teach, side blessings) we found mauro. he had not had
any contact with missionaries since those 12 years ago in that bus,
but he had read the entire book of mormon cover to cover, gotten
married, had a kid, and then we showed up at his house. he accepted
everything we had to teach him, and right now he is in the process of
recieving an answer through prayer, but it is na amazing story about
how the lord will never forget about anyone, and no matter what time
frame he will always provide a way.

so i have to go now, but i love you all! i am super excited to talk to
you on sunday, so just remember 4 oclock, and i love you all, i cant
wait! have a great week

Elder Hoskin