Hello New York!!!

Hey family and Friends!!!

Well, I'm safe and sound here in Brooklyn. I always knew I'd serve in this part first haha. And I absolutely LOVE it here. Its so awesome. Been a crazy week of firsts. Mom, I really dont need an electric blanket so far. Maybe later, but for now Im nice and cozy just with the super thin but warm blanket you sent. Sister Shepherd is super nice haha. But yeah, the area is great! I'm serving in the Bushwick 2nd branch. Its in Brooklyn and covers the suburbs of Greenpoint, Williamsburg (live in this part), and part of Bushwick. Just send everything to the mission office. theyll forward it to me in my area. (dad if you havent already it would be nice if you put the mission office address on my blog. Hil, if you could post the mission office address on facebook that would be fantastic!) Sooooooo diverse here its crazy. The northern part of my area is mostly white people so we dont go there very often haha. I call it hipsterville because theres hipsters EVERYWHERE in this part. We live in the south end of this area. Everyone here is so Indy. (Have one of the kids explain what that means haha). So thats pretty funny. As far as fast food goes, theres subways here we can eat at. Most of the food places here are local eateries. Its pretty awesome. Theres some legit Chinese food here haha. so sending some money just for eating at places like that would sure be a real treat :) The southern part of the area has all the african americans and hispanics. Most of the hispanics live on the south streets so we spend a lot of time there. Also, tons live in the projects. Not sure if you all know what the projects are, but its the epitome of the ghetto area. Its just a few blocks of MASSIVE run down apartments. Im talkin like twenty stories tall. but there are so many good people living there. Definitely a new experience going there. oh yeah, for all the younger generation reading this, Im serving in the area where Jay-Z (the rapper) grew up. He got his name from the JZ train that we actually ride on every day. So thats pretty cool haha. yesterday was my first sunday in the field. it was all in spanish!!! Testimonies, classes, everything. i could understand a lot of it but once people started talking about anything besides the gospel i got really lost haha. Still gotta get all the un-gospel related vocab down haha. The members are great tho. Its a really small branch, about 40 people at sacrament meeting, and there arent many priesthood holders. So thats a real struggle. I have an absolutely fantastic trainer. His name is Elder Jeffery Lewis haha. I've heard that name before. He doesnt treat me like a greenie but he has helped me get accustomed to mission life so much. He is such a great missionary and I am priviledged to be serving with him. In the past, this area has really struggled with missionary work. But I really feel like we can pick it back up again. We've got three solid progressing investigators right now. I know that with hope and faith the Lord will really help us strengthen this branch as we bring others unto Him. So Im having a blast here! All is well and I know the Lord will bless the people here through missionary efforts. I hope to hear from you all soon! either snail mail or email mattereth not. Just as long as I get to communicate with you:)

Love, Elder Hogge