Family and Friends...

Sorry for the long wait but these past few days have been quite an adventure haha.

So, to answer right off, Angelo and Rosa did indeed get baptized :) The attatched file is of Elder Warhurst and me with Rosa, Angelo, and Andy (the five year old). Angelo asked me to baptize him so I was in the water on sunday. Cool, huh? Rosa asked a member in the branch to baptize her. Sunday was so much fun! They are doing really great and.....

And I am no longer in Bushwick! On Friday, Prez came to the Bushwick chapel to interview missionaries. He didn't call Elder Warhurst or me for an interview, but we were there for a meeting. During his interviews, he saw me and told me to come talk to him. So he and I spoke for a bit. Well, he told me that on Tuesday I would be transfered out to Riverhead!!! I could not believe it! He let me know that he was sending me out there because he needs some good hard workers in that area. So lemme tell ya a bit about Riverhead.

First off, it is not Bushwick. Not in the slightest. It is literally as different from Bushwick as the mission can get without going out to Bermuda. Bushwick is smack dab in the middle of the city and riverhead is the very last area of Long Island. We are in a car area. (And when I say we, I mean Elder Lunt and I. He is a very awesome missionary. He has been out for about a year and a half and he is the District Leader. A very hard worker and I love him so much already.) Elder Lunt is red dotted, which means he cannot drive. Which means I will always drive. Ok. I think I was the most stressed out I have ever been yesterday. Not because of the transfer, but because it was my first experience driving in New York traffic. All the drivers are CRAZY!! All of em!! Oh man that was torment. But eventually we got out of the city and made our way up to the Island. It is so gorgeous out here. It reminds me of the foothills of the Sacramento Area, except much greener and much wetter. I loved the city, but I am loving the island just as much.

So yeah, here I am in Riverhead. We live in a house.... thats right, a house. It's divided into three living spaces. There's us, the other Riverhead elders, and a hispanic family. But each of the three spaces is divided so its basically your own little section of the house. So we are having fun here. Today, I went to Walmart for the first time in over half a year. It was so cool.

The branch here is really small... Tiny in fact. From what I hear, at the start of sacrament meeting there will be an average of ten members there. So we get to work really hard here. Our area is HUGE though. By the time you reach the end of long island, it forks into the North Fork and South Fork. Us four Riverhead elders cover the entire North Fork and farther in as well. I still dont know much about the area, but I'm learnin :) I hope I get to be out here for a while.

So thats the update on the mission. Sorry it was so belated, but we had a lot of stuff happenin haha. Sounds like Hilary had a wonderful burfday. (by the way hil, Im confused about that email.... but ill take your word for it). I hope Bradfords allergies calm down a bit. Seems like that kid is always havin trouble haha. (By the way, Willie, I haven't gotten a letter from you in a while!) Mom, I'm excited that you get to head up that service project. By the way, if there were a chance I could get one or two of those beanies you made me that'd be great. Everyone loves the one I have and Elder Warhurst wondered if he could get one somehow haha. That green and blue beanie is one of my prized possessions, no joke. I wear it every night and p-day.

I'm excited for sunday. I've been so busy that I haven't had much time to think about it, but Mother's day is a lot closer than I remember haha. It's going to be fabulous.

I love you all so much. This mission has changed my life more than I could have ever imagined. I know my Father lives, and that Jesus is the Christ. We WILL be together forever because of the love of God. Talk to ya soon :)

Love, Elder Hogge

P.S. I sent pictures of my district in Bushwick, and of a cardinal. cool huh?