Good morning Family!  This is Elder Hoskin on April 8, 2013 with my voice recording for this week.  I hope you guys had a great week, and that everything has been good for you guys.   This week was pretty crazy, like all the other weeks.  We started off with a Zone Conference on Tuesday.   We had to wake up at 3:00 in the morning, then take a bus to Marilla.  My second area.  And, so it was like a three hour bus ride.  I woke up at 3:00, we left at 5:00, and we got there around 8:00.   We had a really good zone conference.   It was nice to be back in my favorite city.  That’s my favorite are:  Marilla.  And,  I was talking to an elder that is serving in my old area, Palmital that I passed 6 months through.  The members that I helped and baptized are still going to church.  He says they talk about me and one other elder.   So, its really nice to hear that everyone still remembers me.   I wrote a little note to one person there, and I told them, “hey! My parents are coming to get me, so we are going to pass by your house and eat lunch during the end of Aug.  The 21 – 28^th.”  So, I am already kind of preparing for that.   They probably got real excited to hear that.   So, we got back on the same day.  We left at 7:00 and got home around 10:00.   Then, went to bed.  Then I woke up at 6:00 in the morning.   And, I had to travel to another city.   Called Tupa. T – U – P – A -  with a squiggly line above it.   That city is two and a half hours away.   So, I went with another elder.  We went in a division – or in splits.   We went to that city to help out the Elders there.   I got to work with one of my old friends, Elder Welling.   He was in the last zone that I was in.   He’s really cool.   Elder Welling, he is from Alaska.  He is one of the better friends I made on the mission.  You guys are probably going to hear all about him after the mission because we are going to hang out. 

So, we had a bunch of really cool experiences.   Then on Thursday, I came back to Presidench Prudenche.  On Wednesday I started feeling really sick.   I was afraid it was ‘Dinghy’.  I am not really sure what the translation is in Portuguese, but its like a sickness: its like a really, really bad cold but worse.   You have to stay at home for two weeks.  I thought it was ‘Dinghy’ but it ended up not being.  Its just a normal cold.   So that was good, I didn’t have to spend any time in the house or anything. 

So, Thursday, we were trying to find people to come to general conference, Because there was general conerence on Saturday and Sunday.   Then, Friday, I had to make a really tough decision.  We had some people that we needed to pass on Saturday, then, we needed to go to a different city.  That one city where our little group is.  We had to go there on Saturday to try to find people to go to conference on Sunday you know?   But, the only thing is,  if we did that, then I wouldn’t have been able to watch the two sessions of conference on Saturday.   And, conference is one of my favorite parts about everything.   So, I actually prepare a lot before conference.   And so, it was a really difficult decision.   And, my companion doesn’t really care that much about general conference at all.   He was already pursing(?) on it, so I had to kindof make a decision.  And, I was sitting in my room on Friday night, and I was writing all this in my journal.  And, I was writing, and I wasn’t really sure what I was supposed to do.  I was kind of bitter, I was kind of mad.   But then, I received a really sweet revelation when I was writing.  I remember I had a really nice experience.   I was writing in my journal and I was thinking about how I wasn’t going to be able to watch the conference,  and I was waiting for this for 6 months.   I wouldn’t be able to learn more or have personal inspiration, and it seemed like the spirit said to me, almost like a voice,  a voice that you feel, you know?... I just remember him saying really clearly, “you are not in this for you, but for them.”  And, I remembered in that moment that the spirit had to teach me again, that the mission is not at all about me, but its about the people that we are helping.  So, he taught me that message, again.  Heavenly Father is patient with me.  Because, I guess I had forgotten it in that moment.  And, so, it was hard still, but I just decided I was going to accept it, and we were going to go find people on Saturday.   And, so, then on Saturday, we left at 6:00 in the morning to go to our other city.  We traveled 2 ½ or 3 hours to get there.  And, we got there, and it ended up being a really successful day.  We got some people who wouldn’t have gone to church on Sunday if we wouldn’t have gone.  If we didn’t help them out.  And, so that ended up being completely worth it.  And, I still got to watch the sessions on Sunday.  Sunday was really cool.  Because, our ward mission leader here, is the best member I have ever seen, in regards to helping the missionaries in everything.  And, so we had lunch with him on Sunday.   So, here it starts at 1:00 and goes till 3:00,  and then starts at 5:00 and goes till 7:00, right?   So, we had to eat lunch early.  So, we went to his house at around 9 or 10 in the morning.  We helped him and his family finish making lunch.  That was really nice, then we all ate lunch. 

Then we went to the first session.  I actually learned a lot in these two sessions that I really liked and I thought I would share some things with you.  Some things I learned:  I really liked the talk by L. Whitney Clayton about a strong Celestial marriage.  I know that I’m gonna have to keep that one in my back pocket for the next 4 ½ months, but that talk was freaking awesome!  And, I am going to have to use that talk, near in the future.   And then also, I learned that the prophet does not choose the line of the talks.  He doesn’t even like,  get inspiration for them, someone just chooses them and gives them to him.  Cause when he was talking he was like, “I am grateful for the privilege that was given to me to talk.  I’m like, ‘who’s choosing those talks?’

And then, in the second session,  I am just going really quick, I don’t have too much time.  I really liked Elder Holland’s talk, of course.  He talked about not acting or relying on the faith that you don’t have, but be true to the faith that you do have.   I really liked that concept.  Because, some people, especially missionaries, they really think that they have to lie about how much faith they have, or try to overestimate their faith.  They need to just work with the faith that they actually have.   Elder Oaks taught me that Christ baptized people.  That was freaking awesome!  And then, that Seventy named Christoffel Goldman taught me: The one that’s the Father and the Son, is not only theirs,  but want it for each of us.  (??) That’s a pretty cool concept.  I liked the one that talked about finding acceptance of the Lord.  And then. Bruce Porter taught me that good cheer follows from an abiding trust in the Savior.  That was basically the revelation I was looking for this week.  I wanted something for how I could be happier.  Its been difficult for me my entire life to be happy, I am not sure why.  Its just who I am.  But, I really liked that talk that said that, Good cheer follows from abiding trust in the Savior. 

That was a really good week, and I will talk to you next week. 

Okay, Bye. 

Hello mom and dad!  Joseph, Alayna, Desmond, Grandma, Grandpa.

So, this is the voice recording that ended on the 31^st of March.  The month of March is officially over.  Which means that next week is general conference.  Woot!  I am really excited.  This week was a pretty crazy week.   I don’t know if I told you this in the last voice recording or not, but like Dad, I consider myself pretty much a road warrior now.  Call me a road warrior.  Because I spend so much time, traveling on buses, that its almost ridiculous. 

We went to a city this last week, it was an hour and a half outside of our city.   Because we got a member reference.  The member reference was from the apostle, Neal A Anderson.   So, it was a pretty heavy member reference.  What is was, is, there’s an international law professor who lives near our city.   He is fluent in English and everything else.  He was invited to give a seminar at BYU about international law and international religious freedom, and stuff like that.  So, he went there, spent some time there, then he had lunch.  But, when he had lunch, all the seats were pre-arranged,  and he said that he sat right next to Neal A Anderson.  And, they talked the whole time about the gospel.  And then, I guess he took his address, and he gave it to us.   This professor, his name is Algier.  This professor, I don’t know how to say it in English, But he’s an Adventist.  Its that religion that Ellen White made whenever she left the church.  The one that says that the Sabbath Day is still Saturday.  He’s one of those, and he has been that since 1994.   So, we went to his house on Saturday, to talk to him about the Book of Mormon, and our message and everything.   It was pretty awesome.  He is really rich, really wealthy.  The thing is, it doesn’t really matter if its our religion, or his religion,  or any religion, he is not really into the whole faith thing.   Its more, like, the biblical proof, or the logic behind it.  And, I learned a really interesting story this week, in regards to all that.   WE have him, right?  Who has had years and years of education.  He showed us his library, which has 1,000 books, and he has read all of them.  Crazy educated, all that stuff.  But, he didn’t have the prerequisites in order to grow his faith, which is humility and receiving the word.   He doesn’t feel like he needs to read the Book of Mormon to know its true.  He’s like, No, I need to know Joseph Smith is true to read the book.  Or, we said, you need to read and pray about the book to know its true.  He said, ‘no, I can just read it, and if the teachings are the same as my church, then it’s the right book.’  So, he lacks the prerequisites in order to exercise faith: including a desire to even receive a response.   He told us that other missionaries had talked to him,  and other people had talked to him and told him that a response will come in the form of a feeling, right?   That’s the way we explain it, because we have no other way to explain it.   Its really hard to explain.   He told us that, ‘I don’t believe your feelings, your heart, is what guides your responses from Heavenly Father.  Because it says in the Bible that you shouldn’t follow your heart, you should follow Heavenly Father.  ‘  So he didn’t understand, I tried to explain it to him, but he didn’t feel like praying is that necessary.  He felt like the response that we that we always talk about was a good enough of a response. 

So, there was another person we were teaching this week, his name was Alichandree.  We found him last Saturday, so a week and two days ago.   We taught him the second lesson, because his Dad had passed away, about 2 or 3 years ago.   And, he was 14 years old.   He’s just a really simple kid.  He stays at home playing video games a lot.  And, he doesn’t really have a desire to do anything, one of those really lazy kids.  But, we taught him the second lesson, and he’s like, ‘yeah, I’ll go to church!’   So he went to church with us last Sunday, and we gave him a book of mormon.  We told him to read and pray, like we do to everyone else.   And so, he started to do it, he started to read, and started to pray.  And, he received a response on Tuesday.   And, he already wanted to be baptized.   And, we asked him, ‘how did you feel when you were reading the book?’  He said, ‘I felt like the spirit was by my side.’  And, he prayed about it.  And, he said, ‘I never felt that feeling before whenever I prayed.’  It was a really good spiritual experience, a really spiritual kid.  He got baptized yesterday. 

And, I wanted to share both their examples today, just to show the difference.  Because you have one guy who is really educated.  Who is an international Law professor.  He has gone to other countries besides the United States to give discussions and lectures and all that,  and then you have this humble kid, who doesn’t really want to do anything in life right now.  Doesn’t even like to go to school.  But, a humble kid that has almost no experience, he chose to humble himself, and to read the book, and to pray with a pure heart and real intent.  And, he received his response.  And, the Adventist guy didn’t, because he chose not to believe that he could receive a response.  It is a really good life long story that I will definitely keep with me about the difference that makes.  And that, you really just need to humble yourself, and be open to what Heavenly Father has to say, and not to what you think you can find.  Faith is a process, right?  So the beginning of Faith is just when you want to know, then you pray to know.  Then, you get a response.  The faith that Algier, the international Law Professor, wanted, is the faith further down the road, where you can actually see the fruits.  Whenever you use your faith as a principle of power.  He wanted to see a sign almost.  He wanted to see actual manifestations if the things we were talking about were true.  You have to use your faith first. 

So, that was really cool, that was a nice story.   Also, I met someone named, Guy this week.  There’s a lady in our Branch named Bianca.  She’s like 60 years old.  She has a husband who is 70 years old, and he’s an American.  And, he’s been living in Brazil for 8 years now, and doesn’t speak ANY Portuguese.  And, they are really, really rich, and we went to eat lunch with them on Friday.   He’s really cool.  He is a huge Glenn Beck Fan.  I was telling him how you guys are really big Glenn Beck fans and he got really excited.  He told me about some bracelet that they were trying to get the kids studying in America to use.  It like, tracks them, right?  And he says that Glenn Beck is talking about it all the time.   Basically, he told me he was a huge Fan.  I told him you guys went to the rally in Washington DC.  He says he definitely want to talk with you and meet you when you come out to get me.  So that will be a really cool experience because he’s a straight up American, so you will be able to talk to him in English and everything. 

Other than that, everything is going really well here.  I am getting to know the Branch really well.  Whenever I got the call to go to this city, I thought, no we don’t have to go there with my parents, because we already have it all kindof planned out.   But now that I’m here we might have to make plans to pass here, maybe one day.  There’s a lot of people here you can talk with, and it will be really cool. 

But, that’s all for now, I hope you guys are having a great week.  I am having a great week, and I will talk to you next Monday, bye!

Hey mom and Dad:

This is your son Zach, woot! Elder Hoskin.  This is the sound clip from last week.  Tell you what happened last week.  ‘Cause there was a virus on my voice recorder, because of the Lan Houses here.  They had to delet everything to clean out the virus, so I am doing another sound clip.  So, it should all be good now. 

Things are going pretty well here in Prudench Prudench.  Theres a city called Presidente Epitachio, its about three hours away from our city.  We have a group there.  You know, Ward, branch, group.  We have a group of about 25 people.  And, its really, really cool.  It’s a city right on the border of the state of Sao Paulo, and the state of Mattau Grosso, which is another mission.  And, its right on the shore of the Parana River.   That is a really big river that divides the two states.  We went up there last week.  And, President gave us permission to sleep at a members house, which is also kind of weird.   That was weird that happened.   We slept there, and we did some visits.  And, its really cool, it’s a really nice place.  Its about 40,000 people.  There is one building, that’s a relatively tall building.  All the other buildings are one or two stories.  Its really neat, its right next to the river.   And, theres a lot of really great people there.  So, we’ve gone to that area to start helping people but it’s kind of far away and it uses a lot of traveling money.  I’ve never taken the bus so much in my life/mission than I have here in this city.   We take the inner city but every day just to get to our area.  And then, on top of that, we have to take the bus to go to lots of other areas that are like three hours away.  But, its all worth it because there are some really good people up there.

Last week we had leader’s council, which was really good, because I got to see my good friend Elder Hutchings again.  But the coolest part about last week was that city we were opening up.  I’m really excited to start working there.

Things are going really well.  I started reading some of the Lectures on Faith.  I’m not sure if mom or dad has heard of them or read them before.   Someone gave me the Lectures on Faith along with an institute curriculum so with every lecture I have bunch of talks and stuff to read so its actually really neat.

So things here are going really well and we are working hard.  The branch President here looks exactly like dad.  I’m serious.  He’s got the hair, or lack thereof, he kind of has a similar face, and he works in a jail.  I know dad used to work in a juvenile center.  Also, the branch president hates garlic and dad hates onions.  So its coming together that the branch president is a Brazilian version of dad.  It’s pretty cool.  I’ll take a picture of him and I’ll send it to you.  I told him I would do the same thing with a picture of dad.

I’m starting to get worried/nervous/excited for the whole after mission thing but I try not to think about it too much.  When I think about coming home, I kind of get sad because 1) the mission will be over and 2) I won’t be coming home how I thought I would be coming home.

I got the package.  Thank you very much mom and dad for the Easter package.  The water bottle works great.  I use it every day.  I also really enjoy the little Preach My Gospel you sent me.  Also, the shirts are always nice.  I have a lot of white V neck shirts and that’s how I like it.  Also, thank you for the candy.  Candy is always way good.

I’m sorry I’m kind of tired in this sound clip.  We just got back from a four hour bus ride and so I’m kind of spaced out but I’m going to make the other sound clip now for this week.  Actually, I have more to say.  In my zone there are 2 main cities, President’s Prudente and Tupa.  We went to Tupa on Thursday.  We left about 6:30 in the morning and got there about 10:30 and then, on Wednesday (?) we took the bus back to President’s Prudente and then, that afternoon we took another three hour bus ride to President’s Epitachio so we have been traveling alot.

I met a really cool elder named Elder Bateman.  His family owns a giant dairy farm in Utah called Bateman Farms.  I saw a bunch of pictures and its huge.  I don’t know if Grandpa and Grandma know them?  It’s right on the edge of lake Utah.  But he’s really cool.  I was very interested that Grandma and Grandpa have a cabin in Island Park. 

So things are going really well.  I’m really tired.  I’m learning a lot in regards to the gospel and growing my testimony.  Yesterday was the 27^th of March which was exactly 20 months which I have been on my mission which is a lot of time. 

But, I love you guys.  I want you to know that you guys are always in my prayers.  I’m grateful for everything you guys do for me and I’m doing as much as I can for the last 6 months of my mission.  I’m doing well.  The closer to the end I get, the more feeling of satisfaction I get.  I know there is always more I can do everyday but it I keep trying to do more and more, I know I will be really satisfied with my mission. 

I love you guys and I’ll talk to you later.

hello!

so my voice recorder got a virus, and i have to get it formatted for it to work again. which means, sadly, that ill have to get rid of the clip i made, but now it will work next week, so i am sorry! i will actually send two next week, one from this that i do today, and one from next week. 

i always wanted to go to phipps! thats cool that you guys got to go.

mom, i know what you mean about teaching and helping them to feel the spirit. thats something thats talked about often here, is eliminating distractions and making an environment where the spirit can testify and everything. it is indeeed difficult! i already figured the plan b in being an institute teacher is a must, so dont worry, i most certainly will! haha. also, it looks like ill have to get married quicker than i thought. we will see how it goes, but talking about getting interviewed and all the stuff it requires just makes me more excited slash determined to do it well. so yes! ps, i did the scholarship questionairre

dad, i have that talk by elder maxwel! i printed it out about a month ago, and have read it twice. i made a wallet out of pass along cards, and inside i have all the attributes we need to develop named in that talk, the ones we should be like, and their respective "not ___, not __". i read it multiple times daily, and measure how i am doing. that talk is truly the best dad! i agree. also, i am currently reading the lectures on faith., and a bunch of other talks that a professor put into a cirriculum with the talks. with every lecture there are scripture passages as well as other talks to read, and it is really helping out my general understanding of everything. but i will also go back into other talks! the olive press by truman g madsen, thats one of my favorites. march madness! i completely forgot about it to be honest. i will fill out a bracket with desmond next year. for each machup, i will put out both my hands, each representing one team. the hand desmond touches is the winner. i put it in the bracket, and do likewise for the entire bracket. he will win! 

its funny that as i write, my companion is freaking out to himself about his computer being slow. but things are indeed going well with us, we are helping eachother out alot, and we are finding alot of success. we have had some really good experiences this week, and i will tell you about them in full detail this next week when i send the email full of sound bites.

so just to say it quickly today, we have started a group in presidente epitácio, which is a really nice small town on the border of a big river that ends our mission boundaries. you should look it up on google maps! we had to travel 3 hours by bus to get there. the thing about the buses here is that they stop in all the little cities, so it takes way longer than it would by car



but just to let you know, im going to have to take out a little bit of money today, because i am waiting to get reimburced on all the bus travel we have to do, and that takes like 2 weeks to go through! im sorry.. it wont be too much either. 

i love you guys, and im grateful for all that we have as a family. i loved the pictues of desmond! i cant wait to see him. i hope you guys have an excelent week, i will send you two voice recordings next week to make up for the hiccup that happened today

have a great week! remember easter, and the lord and all that he did for us in those garden walls

Elder hoskin

hello everyone!

so i was completely overjoyed to hear that everything went well with alayna and the birth and DESMOND! let the name be known in all of hoskintown. anyways, so i cant wait for more pictures! the internet house i am at stinks, so i cant even save the pictures you sent me this week. joseph, if you havent sent the pictures yet, is there anyway you could do a favor for me? could you send me as well 2 ctr rings, size 11? if you could, that would be awesome! and if you cant, that is also completely fine. those kinds that are like silver and all that. 

so i also got very excited to hear that alayna and joseph and desmond will be in pittburgh when we get back! so ill be able to see him real quick. he looks adorable in the pictures! the photo joseph sent me makes him look like he´s going to be a boxer. 

i just want you to know, that i learned in psyschology that if you talk to toddlers and babys normally, instead of the "cooochy coochy coo", they will develop alot of communication skills more quickly, that eventually will pay off when he is serving a mission, and proclaiming the restored gospel with clarity and power, SO i will talk to him like that, and we will read preach my gospel together, and the pearl of great price. 

dad, the reason why some people come to get their kid in the last week is because of the plane ticket. SO if the church can change my plane ticket to one week after, (in the situation where we would stay the week AFTER my mission) that would be better, and if chelsea says its better, then we follow her! also, that recent news of the last date being the 21st instead of the 28th makes it work out perfectly. so do it like she says then! 

so i am really liking my new area, its always sort of stressful the first week or two getting settled and all, but that is always the way it is. i love the state of são paulo, the only time i was in this state on the mission before was Marília, my favorite area. so i already knew i was going to like the people here, because people from são paulo are just a better fit for me, i dont know why. 

my companion is good, he is brazilian, from the north, he has 0 patience in anything, but thats not me complaining, just me saying that i already have some idea of why heavenly father put me with him, now i need to figure out why he put him with me, and what i have to learn. woo!

i am going to londrina this week for leaders council, so that is always fun! from my new area its babout a 3 hour bus ride.

im sorry that i didnt get a voice recording, i will next week, i love you guys!

CONGRATS AGAIN TO JOSEPH AND ALAYNA (moreso alayna, she giving birth) and DESMOND! i am already planning uncle nephew activites for the next 18 years of childhood development. i will not be able to live far away.. 

until next week! i love you guys!

Elder Hoskin

Good Morning Mom and Dad.  It is March 11, 2013

Its like 6:35 in the morning.   And, today is the day of transfers.  Yeah, this week has been a pretty crazy week.  We went out on divisions again, and we’ve been working a lot.  Its been raining a lot, which is a good thing.  Things have been able to go pretty well in our zone.   Everyone seems pretty excited to work and everything.

 I sent you guys a letter from mission ties.  It has a little more detail on how the trip will be.  As it gets closer, I will give you more detailed information.  But, yeah.  (Big yawn)  Any more questions you have about that, please tell me. 

Today is transfer day, so at 11:00 is the time we will get our transfer information.  I think I might get transferred, but I am not sure.  But, we have a lot of people here who are really progressing!  So, even though I will probably get transferred, I would like to stay, because we have so many people here who are doing so well. 

Yesterday was a pretty big adventure.  (Laughs) Yesterday was a pretty crazy day, in regards to helping someone be baptized yesterday.  There was a douple, a companionship,  in a place called America that hadn’t baptized in a couple of weeks.  So, they told us they had someone who was going to go to church again, for multiple times.  And, that she was living all the commandments, but that she was not ready for baptism; just because she was scared, you know?  So what happened is, I slept at their house,  we did a division Saturday night, I like slept at their house.  Then I woke up and went to church with one of them.  She was there at church, so I was like, hey, can I talk to you for a minute? And, I did the whole, like, baptizimal interview thing.   And, that ended up lasting like an hour.  Maybe an hour and a little bit.  By the end of the interview she was like, ‘okay, I am going to go home today, and I am going to pray about it, and if I get a response, then I’ll get baptized today.’  I was like, okay!   We will pass by and see how your prayer was.  We had lunch afterwards, then we had to get a bus just to go to her house cause she lives really far away.  And, so we show up there around 4:00, or 4:30.  And she was like, ‘I said a prayer, and I felt good!  But, I don’t really know if that means I should do it today or not. “ She was kindof sortof being soft about it, like a lot of people are.  So we sat there, and we talked with her about what her response is, and what her response means, I used scriptures and stuff, so we were there for like another hour and a half at her house.   And, by the time we left, which was around 6:00, she was like, “okay, I will get baptized today.” So we took a bus, and ran to the chapel.  Then we had to fill up the font.  But, the only thing is, it takes a while to fill up, right?  And, it was already 7:00 when we got there.  And, the baptism was set for 8:00.   So, we had to get buckets and everything… We turned on the baptismal font, but at the same time we would fill up buckets, and like, keep throwing in the buckets, you know.  Just so we could fill up the baptismal font faster.  And then, around 7:50, it started raining ridiculously hard.  Like, crazy, ridiculously hard.  She called, and was like, “yeah, I just missed the bus, so we will catch the next one and be there around 8:30.  She said, ‘no, but its like raining, and maybe that’s a sign that I shouldn’t!  blah blah blah  So, we had to find a member, frantically, and he had to give us a ride through pouring, pouring rain, just to get to the bus stop where she was.  And, we got them, her and her sister I think it was.   We got them, finally around 8:10.  And, we went to the chapel.  And, it was still raining really hard, but it got a little bit better.  Then, we got the chapel, and it just happened, she got baptized.  Then, the baptismal service ended at 9:10, then we had to run to our house.  Cause we were in another chapel, which Is not our chapel, which is 20 minutes away from our house.  So, it was a pretty crazy day.  But it ended up being really good.  She was excited and really happy about the whole baptism thing.  I was one of those days that was like,…..  it was just crazy.  But, it was really worth it.  So, I’ll let you know if I get transferred or not, .  That’s kindof how my entire week has been, just running around like that. 

I’m getting really excited till you guys come out and stuff.  I only have four transfer now.  So, I have to make the best use of my time, but I’m getting really excited, and having a lot of success in the mission.  So, I have been able to really help people a lot.   And, that’s a good thing. 

And, I love you guys, and I hope you have a great week.  I will let you know more about transfers and everything. 

If Dad could find my priesthood line of authority, I think that would be pretty cool.  I have seen other missionaries with like, who gave this person the priesthood, who gave that person the priesthood, it goes back to Joseph Smith and Jesus Christ, right?  I have never seen that before, so maybe if dad could try to find that. 

Oh, and also mom, could you please send me your bread recipe?  I have kindof had the desire to make bread recently,  So just send me that recipe, and I will be able to make bread a lot.  I will be able to make food a lot cheaper. 

Okay! Bye!

hello everyone!

well i was really excited to hear about how alayna is basically having a baby as i write! you dont have to call my mission president if you dont want, thats fine, but i will want to hear all about it slash see some pictures of him next week! 

i am getting transfered! i will be continuing as a zone leader in a different city, called presidente prudente. its the hottest, and hardest city in the mission. but that, of course, wont get me at all unexcited. i am going to try to make that place the best! haha. i will tell you more about how that goes next week. you guys can look it up on google maps, see it in relation to the other cities in the mission, and where ive passed. actually, you can go on lds.org and go to maps, and make on of the layers "missions" and you can go and see my mission boundaries and all. just go for it! 

my companion is elder Mendes, a brazilian, he is really good. so im really excited for that, its been a while since ive had a brazilian companion, so im glad to have that oppertunity!

i dont have that much time to talk this week, because of transfers, but im way excited for the baby and all! also for this next part of the adventure, that is the mission. i have now only 4 more transfers, or 6 months. its only going to get better and better! woo.

i love you guys!

Elder Hoskin

Hey Mom and Dad!  It’s the fourth of March, 2013, Monday.  I just got done scrubbing all the collars of my white shirts, in the morning.  So, that was pretty nice.  Yeah, this week has been pretty good, pretty crazy, pretty good.  I did a lot of divisions this week again, but it was a good thing.  The month of March has now started, my companion goes home in April.  That will be interesting.  There’s going to be transfers next week.   So, not this Monday, but next Monday is the day we all receive the information, if I am indeed getting transferred or not.  And, I’ll probably be getting transferred.   Because, my companion will be ending his mission.  I will either get transferred, or stay here another 6 months.   Or stay 6 months in another area.   So, I’m pretty sure I’m just going to get transferred…. Please!  But, here is going really well.  I am enjoying the area where I am working.   I have been having a lot of personal progress these last couple of months…. Well, a year and 7 months.  On the mission, in regards to spirituality.  Its really nice.  Its cool because, every month, I grow more spiritually, but, it makes it so that I have the capacity, the next month, to grow even more spiritually  .

 I am getting really excited for Dad to come and pick me up!  That’s going to be awesome!   I am already trying to plan it out a little bit, with the members and stuff.  Its going to be hard, because we’re not allowed to write members inside the mission area that we didn’t baptize.  So, I’m going to have to figure out how to coordinate that.   But, I can just talk to other missionaries who are serving in my old areas to set it up for me. 

I read a talk called, The Olive Press, by Truman G. Madsen, this last week.  That talk was awesome!   I recommend it for Dad or Mom or Joseph or Alayna, anyone!   The Olive Press, by Truman G. Madsen.  You can find it on BYUspeeches.com  or .org, or something like that.  But, its crazy.  He talks about, before he went to Jerusalem, he didn’t really think the setting was important of the atonement.  He thought the atonement was important.  But, when he got there, he learned that everything has a symbolism of what Jesus had intentionally done.  And, I really liked that talk.   So, Dad, you should definitely read it. 

Oh, yeah, there was a missionary who got his hand bit by a dog about two weeks ago.  But, he went to the health-place to get the vaccine for not having rabies or whatever.   And, he didn’t know how to speak good Portuguese, so he left without getting anything.  So the mission president’s wife called us,  and freaked out.  She’s like, “Its been one week since he’s been bit, and he hasn’t got a vaccine yet!”  I was like, Oh no!  Then, she said, “Elder Hoskin, you need to go there with them.  And, you need to make sure he gets a vaccine.”  The way she told it to me, she said I couldn’t leave the hospital until he gets his vaccine.  Ha ha!  So I had to go there with them.  And, like, talk with the people and communicate and everything.  And, it was all right, although we were there until 6:00 in the afternoon.  I guess that was interesting. 

Also, we had an investigator that got baptized this last Sunday that makes ridiculously good ‘natural juice’.  One thing that Dad will realize when he comes out to Brazil, is that here they are all about the Juice.   Whether its natual or artificial juice,  it’s the best juice.  So she made us this really crazy natural grape and pineapple juice: like a mixture.   And, it was really good.  There is a place to buy juice in the bus station in Londrina, and it’s the best juice ever!   I’ll take Dad/Mom there cause its gonna be awesome! 

We have been having some really good investigators recently, that we have been finding.  Theres this young couple….  There is a church called the Christian Congregation of Brazil,  which is the enemy of all churches.  With the Catholic Church everyone is like,   ‘I’m Catholic!’  But the Christian Congregation, they are way intense!   They tell their followers that they shouldn’t even talk to us in the street.  If we say, “Hey! Good Afternoon!” They are supposed to ignor us.  So you can always tell who is from that church because people just straight up ignore you.   Anyways, we have been teaching a family of them that have been really receptive to us, they have really been liking the book of mormon.  So, that’s been a really positive experience.  Because it shows that, who the Lord prepares, the Lord prepares. 

I have been having dreams, like every single night, about baptizing.  I had a dream Thursday night that I was in Marumbee, that city outside of Apucarana that we were opening, and they were like, ‘you are going to baptize right now!’  And, I got really excited to baptize, but I didn’t have a white tie.  Which, you don’t really need, but in my dream I was running around trying to find a white tie to baptize.  It was really cool.  All my dreams have been about baptizing this week.  That’s probably just showing that, that’s my focus now.  Its funny because in the beginning of my mission I would have all these dreams about me and Michelle, just doing normal things, but now its just about baptism.  So, its obviously better. 

I got to go to another place in the middle of nowhere, called VillaHayes.  It’s a little part of the city that about half an hour out.  I went there on a division,  and it literally reminded me of Island Park.  Its like houses in the middle of the woods, hundreds of yards apart from the others, and we were just prosyliting.  It was pretty cool.  We visited some recent converts they had there and everything. 

So, things are going pretty well… pretty excellent.  I can tell I am getting a little more tired every single day, a little more tired.  But, that’s not a problem, that’s natural. 

I was thinking that maybe I want to send a package home with some stuff.  So, let me know if that is something feasible.  Just a little package with some things. 

But, I love you guys, I have to stop with the recording before it gets too big.  I am excited to be an Uncle.  But, I will talk to you later, I love you, Bye!