hallo there

Family and friends,

Last week was quite a whirlwind. Lots of stuff happened, good and not so good. But thats the life of the missionary.

Unfortunately, Zaida didn't get baptized on sunday. Its such a long story. But basically theres just more stuff we will hafta work on together. She has a testimony but there are some things impeding her progress. Its sad to see, but through the Atonement we can overcome any of our troubles. I have faith in that. But its been tough here. The more I learn as a missionary, the more I realize I need to change in order to bring blessings to others. Its so hard. At times I feel like i am inadequate to be a servant of the Lord. Wearing the nametag is such a big responsibility and I am just starting to realize what I have to do and who I have to become in order to be a true disciple of Christ. Its going to be quite the process learning how to truly consecrate my heart to the Lord.

Mom thanks for what you shared in your email. Sounds like it was a great week. We have district conference on sunday so I hope to hear some awesome talks. I liked that quote about the apple seeds. That will definitely stick with me in my mind. I love how my nieces and nephew are growing. They are so adorable! And I know that they will be truly happy growing up in the Gospel.

Last week you got the email on tuesday cuz we did some stuff that I wasnt planning on so we didnt have time. Letters that are sent to the mission office are forwarded by one of the people there to our pads. So it doesnt take much time to get here. And Its going to take a long time for me to reply snail mail. There is not very much time to write on the mission. So I truly will try my best but it might take some time. I'll try sending my SD card soon so that you can have it by the 16th. I dont really need anything in my package. I'm grateful for whatever :) Oh and I got my st. patricks day package last week! I LOVE my ninja turtle pajama bottoms!! I wear them every night now :)

So.... I figured that colton got his mission call but i dont know where he is going!!!!! He's leaving on wednesday!?!? Thats ridiculous! I'm so proud of him. Its so cool to see all my friends going out on missions. They are such an awesome example to me. So an update on investigators. We met this really cool kid named Rudo last week. He was pretty interested so we went over to his house last sunday and had a short lesson with him. (he had to leave soon after we started) But he really liked it and wanted to learn more. So saturday we were able to chat with him and set up a time to meet before church at 10 am at the chapel. So we were there waiting for him when we got a text message from him saying that his dad didn't want him to talk to us. He said he wanted to, but he was going to listen to his dad. The weird thing is we had even talked to his dad last week and he said he wanted us to help out Rudo. So now its sounding like we aren't going to be able to meet with him anymore. It sooooooo frustrating. I dont like it when people hinder other peoples spiritual progression. That happens a lot here in New York. Makes me so sad :( But there is this other guy named Antonio that we hope to teach a couple times this week. Had a great lesson with him at the church last tuesday. He had a lot of questions that the Gospel answers. He is forty and working at a bakery supporting his family who still lives in Puebla, Mexico. I see a lot of potential with him. Here in New York its sooooo difficult to get return appointments with people cuz everyone is sooo busy. Thats usually what hurts the work most here. But I will keep praying and keep being diligent in finding and teaching.

This work is not easy. But its very rewarding to those who will listen. I love this Gospel so much. My life has drastically changed over the past four months and I know that the Lord will continue blessing those I serve. Thank you so much for all your support.

Love, Elder Hogge

P.s. you would make that joke dad ;)