mom, i am drinking lots of filtered water, dont worry! the truth is that the water bottle they give everyone, mine broke last week, got a hole in it because i was squeezing out water too much to make juice, but i am getting a replacement soon, so that is a-o-k. jennys sickness sounds like just a part of school, that all of the hoskin children have passedthrough.it sounds like your new doctor is more specific in his opinions than others in the past, which is a good sign. im sure alayna and josephs talks were great! i wish i was there. also, the new testament will be great with seminary, its gooood stuff. and yay for dad getting his passport! dad said you guys didnt have chelseas contact info, but now that you do just talk to her. 

dad, go ducks! 49-0, #2. yess. also, this is my last football season away from home, so if they loose its no big deal as well. i love sweater weather, and thus fall is my favorite season as well. mom said that she doubts ill have problems with the heat again, and that is the honest truth. sweater weather is nicee. thats going to be a big change for when i get home to see the front steps! im excited. also, i think usually mission calls delay at the minimum like a week and half or two weeks, so it should be sooooon! i cant wait to hear. also, congrats for amanda murray, i didnt know she was going to serve a mission? i really really pumped for general conference, in fact! haha. things you could use.. hm..  know the book of ezra has a good scripture for preparation for a conference, but i cant remember the reference. one thing out mission president always tells us is that if we prepare enough, we ill get exactly what we came to get in any conference, general conference, ect. i think thats a good idea for the ensigns! on the mission i ahve started studying the talks in between the next conference, so yes!

michelle, congrats on sending out your papers! now its just the waiting time :). oh, some news that is not the best, but out of our control so its not like we can change it: the mailmen in brazil are on strike, just the mailmen, which means that the mail is wayy slower, i think even stopped in most cases. mine will probably delay a little, and yours as well. just keep sending letters, because i will eventually get them! the last one i got was the day before you started classes, with this mailstrike being the reason, but thats ok :). i bet that everything is busy but still great there in rexburg! i love you :) and i cant wait to hear where my missionary is going to serve! until next week!

family!

so this week i had a problem that i had to fix, to start out the letter. i went to go reveal some photos last week, and the guy told me that my pen drive and chip for the camera have a big virus, and there is no way to save the photos. so i got sad, and then i went to another photo revealing shop that was a little cheaper, that didnt have a problem revealing my photos. so, i revealed about 200. as of now, i have 900 on the mission, and i will cut that in half of the ones i keep, but i have to reveal them to save them, but that is ok because they are basically 30 or 35 cents (in dollars here), just wanted you to be let in on it.

next, we had a conference with Elder Godoy this week, the whole mission! (divided in half, so our day was just the people in the cities more near us). it was just like when i saw Elder Cook, but i learned alot more this time, as opposed to just a spiritual experience. we had a meeting with him in the morning that was just for zone leaders, and i learned a ton during that. i was very grateful!

so it hadnt rained here in a long long time, and this week it just poured for one day straight! it was wonderful, and the change was so drastic that it even got cold after (cold for me, thus the fleece in one of my pictures). just a random fact

my bishop left this morning for rio de janeiro. he was the most missionary work oriented bishop ive had on the mission, and i was really sad to see him go. but, the work will continue on, so we currently do not have a bishop, and the ward has already sort of slown down a little. were going to try and help as much as possible!

another experience that i had this week, is that while i was in londrina for that conference with Elder Godoy, i ran into my very first bishop, when i was in londrina! i got to talk to him, and he even remembered my name, which i thought was sweet, and i was way happy to see him. 

we have a couple that we are working with, their names are paulo and yara. paulo has been a member since birth, inactive for 7 years, and yara is a member of the christian congregation, which is like the most (high tense) church to put it in the only way i remember, except for our church, what i want to say is that they are really faithful to all of their standards and all, and never change churches, and all that. but! she is reading the book of mormon, and they were planning on marrying in may, and now they are going to get married in november for her to be baptized! she is way smart, and has had really good quality questions about what they read together (she is in 2 nephi, reading the whole book!) which means that she is really comprehending as well. also, he is officially reactivated now because of the whole process, and she is going to have a baby around the same time as joseph and alayna. so its basically just a lot of happy things going on! haha

thats all i can give for this week, i love you guys! and i will talk to you next week. next week is transfers, and probably me or my companion will leave, the likeliness is equal since the next transfer is his last, and usually you dont change areas the last transfer, and also because he has 4.5 months here already and i only have 3, so we will see what happens! until next week, with all this news! bye!

Elder Hoskin