Dear All.
Well, guess what I did this week.... Yup! More service!! The work continues here in New York. People are still in need and we still get to help them. I'm kinda sorry but this week its going to be a kinda short email considering we have been doing the same thing for a month now haha.
That's actually pretty weird to think about. The storm hit almost a month ago. But these past four weeks have been some of the most impacting times of my life. This week we worked in Broad Channel, Coney Island, and Staten Island. I have to say, working in Broad Channel is my favorite because everyone there has kind of claimed us as their own family. Its pretty darn cool. We have been clearing out backyards, basements, first floors, taking out sheet rock (which I have actually gotten pretty decent at if I do say so myself), ripping up floorboards, and a bunch of other odd jobs. This has given me some pretty good life experience.
Something pretty sweet is that members from all over have been able to come out here to help. Yesterday we worked with members from Pennsylvania and Texas and I have met members from Boston, New Jersey, and Connecticut. In fact, the New York North missionaries even came down from the Bronx to help out. I'll send a picture of who I ran into while working in Broad Channel. Pretty cool!
As far as missionary work goes, we haven't had much time to go out and proselyte. We usually get back to our pads around six or seven and then we still have to shower and get ready! It's tough stuff. But I truly believe that the Lord will really bless us because of this service.
Thanksgiving was super super fun.Luckily, President mandated that we all played football on Thursday. (It helps that President Calderwood played college ball for Northwestern) It was good, no one got inju...... seriously injured. I got a nice scrape on the knee from the turf we were playing on but nothin bad. I made a few good touchdown throws so that was fun haha. Of course we ate a tooooooon of food. Those Hispanics really like to fill ya up. So we had a couple good turkey dinners. It was a really nice holiday.
As Christmas approaches it reminds me of all the family traditions we have. Its super super suuuuuper weird to think that this is my last christmas in the mission. Being over the year mark hump its going to be full of a bunch of lasts from this point on. Obviously I miss you all a ton but I am super excited for my first and only Christmas out in the field (considering my last one was in the MTC). I know that as this holiday approaches we will be able to turn the hearts of these people to the Lord.
I love you all and miss you all!! I am really doing well. I absolutely looooooove the mission. Sorry, but I'm at the point where I'd rather be here than home right now haha. I know that I am changing soooo much and it feels really good. Thank you for all the support and love!
Love, Elder Hogge
Monday, November 26, 2012
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Leaving Riverhead - August 3, 2012
Sooooooo.... Im getting transfered!
Seems like the family is all hunky dory right now. I think one of the weirdest feelings on my mission has been knowing that I missed Mendocino. Its a hard feeling to explain given that I've never experienced it before... But it appears to me that you all had a blast! :) That makes me so very happy. Although from the pics that mom sent I've noticed that Willie and Bubs had absolutely zero fun there... haha. I hope no one has walked in my footsteps and decided to light themselves on fire with burning marshmallows. But it seems like all was well.
This week has been a great week. Its been so much fun working with Elder Verhagen. He truly taught me how to be a harder worker. Today is our last day together. I have absolutely no idea where I'm going. (by the way did you like my little teaser and the beginning of the email?) Could be the island, could be the city. Hey, it could even be Bermuda... ok so there's no chance I'll go to Bermuda. An elder can dream tho, right?? But I'll for sure let you all know where I'm headed next P-day.
Everything has been going pretty good here. We've been able to meet with Susan a couple times. Tho she was not very happy that they've decided to ship me off somewhere else. But she is really starting to warm up to the message. She talks about Robert a lot. She's very open about it. I just know that the message of the Restoration will change her life eventually. We are just taking it really slow with her. So its hard to leave her behind, but I know that I've done all I could with her. Fernando, Karla, and Patrick are doing well. It's going to be suuuuper hard to leave them behind. I'm really sad, but I trust that the Lord is putting me in the right place at the right time.
Last week, Elder Verhagen and I taught the workshop at the weekly district meetings. I had the opportunity to teach about the principle of desire and action. I've really come to realize that the best way to become the best missionary I can be is to want to become it. Thats putting it very simply, but I've been doing a lot of self reflection on where my true desires stand as a missionary. I feel like I've been able to actually change some desires to become better. For example, I have a desire to be an exactly obedient missionary. One of the mission rules is waking up at 6:30. Well, you all know how much I love to sleep. So I've decided that I'm going to start waking up at 6:15 so that I dont have to worry about waking up late. My desire to be obedient has overridden my desire to sleep, and therefore I act in the manner according to God's will. Our life is full of cause and effect situations-- our desires being the cause and the point of action being the effect. This has been a very powerful lesson for me. I am so glad for the commandments that our loving Heavenly Father has given us because they give us a righteous cause, or righteous desire, which leads to righteous action, which brings us the blessings of heaven. Elder Oaks has given two magnificent talks on this concept of desire and action:
The Challenge to Become:http://www.lds.org/
I hope you enjoy these talks as much as I have. This self reflection on my status as a missionary and as a disciple of Jesus Christ has truly changed me for the better.
Oh y tambien por todos que entiendan espanol se puso en espanol el sitio de web por mormon.org con videos y todo!! Entonces por favor compartanlo con sus amigos y vecinos. Es un gran oportunidad misional. Muchas gracias! I love you all so very much! Have a fantastic week :)
Love, Elder Hogge
Transfer - August 6, 2012
Hello Family and Friends!
I bet you really wanna know where I am right now.
Well, I'm in......... deed grateful for the package that I just recently received from Mother. That was such a special treat!! I feel like the west coast just got sent to me where I am currently living. And where I am living is... in great shape! We cleaned up a bit last night so that we could live in a greater abundance of the spirit. Now that I have moved to this area of......... course we will be working so very hard. I'm so excited for this transfer!!
Bushwick is exactly what I remember it to be. Its kinda weird tho because I'm serving in a different part of this branch. I was born into the area of Greenpoint and Williamsburg. After a three month stay in the island, the Lord has seen it fit to return me to the branch of Bushwick. Except this time I'm going to be working Bedford-Stuyvesent, East New York, and Brownsville. Cool, huh? We get to serve in some of the most famous projects in the world. I'm super excited! So my new companions (yes thats plural) are Elder Roberts and Elder Holbrook. Yup, I'm in a trio. The reason being that Elder Roberts actually finishes his mission a week from today. You wouldn't be able to tell that he is going home so soon. He's such a hard worker and is so focused on bringing others to Christ. Elder Holbrook and I were actually padmates for the last three months in Riverhead so we got to know each other very well. Its really weird/cool that we are companions now. Elder Roberts is from Utah (West Jordan) and Elder Holbrook is from Oregon (Portland area). They have great support from back home. So now ya know. I certainly was not expecting this at all.
As for investigators, we are going to be working with a lot of cool people. I dont have very much to say, but that we are doing all we can to find new people. Fearlessing here is soooooo much fun. Theres a lot of black people in the area that we work. Sometimes we will get the occasional "Yo whaddup brudda?" and a fist bump. A lot of people recognize us as servants of the Lord. Makes it a lot easier to talk to them. I'm happy to say that I can see an improvement since when I first arrived in the field. I remember when I was scared to death to talk to random brooklynites on the street. Now, its become much more of an enjoyable activity. I feel my spanish has improved as well. I recall first hearing Dominican spanish and just have a feeling of dread overwhelm me. Well, they're still hard to understand, but I've gotten much better at pretending to understand everything and keeping the conversation going. I reckon that over time my spanish will steadily improve and become a true strength of mine.
So thats the update! I'm so stoked to be here. I know the Lord is just waiting to pour out his blessings upon the people here in Bushwick. Please pray for us here. We need all the help we can get to bring others unto Him. I'm trying so hard, but I know I cant do it alone. Thank you for all the support back home. Y'all are the best!
Love, Elder Hogge
P.s. Bradford, get that summer work done! and write me!
P.p.s. Mom I am so excited for my new apron and shirt. One of my padmates has already tried to steal the Mendocino shirt cuz he likes it so much haha
I bet you really wanna know where I am right now.
Well, I'm in......... deed grateful for the package that I just recently received from Mother. That was such a special treat!! I feel like the west coast just got sent to me where I am currently living. And where I am living is... in great shape! We cleaned up a bit last night so that we could live in a greater abundance of the spirit. Now that I have moved to this area of......... course we will be working so very hard. I'm so excited for this transfer!!
Bushwick is exactly what I remember it to be. Its kinda weird tho because I'm serving in a different part of this branch. I was born into the area of Greenpoint and Williamsburg. After a three month stay in the island, the Lord has seen it fit to return me to the branch of Bushwick. Except this time I'm going to be working Bedford-Stuyvesent, East New York, and Brownsville. Cool, huh? We get to serve in some of the most famous projects in the world. I'm super excited! So my new companions (yes thats plural) are Elder Roberts and Elder Holbrook. Yup, I'm in a trio. The reason being that Elder Roberts actually finishes his mission a week from today. You wouldn't be able to tell that he is going home so soon. He's such a hard worker and is so focused on bringing others to Christ. Elder Holbrook and I were actually padmates for the last three months in Riverhead so we got to know each other very well. Its really weird/cool that we are companions now. Elder Roberts is from Utah (West Jordan) and Elder Holbrook is from Oregon (Portland area). They have great support from back home. So now ya know. I certainly was not expecting this at all.
As for investigators, we are going to be working with a lot of cool people. I dont have very much to say, but that we are doing all we can to find new people. Fearlessing here is soooooo much fun. Theres a lot of black people in the area that we work. Sometimes we will get the occasional "Yo whaddup brudda?" and a fist bump. A lot of people recognize us as servants of the Lord. Makes it a lot easier to talk to them. I'm happy to say that I can see an improvement since when I first arrived in the field. I remember when I was scared to death to talk to random brooklynites on the street. Now, its become much more of an enjoyable activity. I feel my spanish has improved as well. I recall first hearing Dominican spanish and just have a feeling of dread overwhelm me. Well, they're still hard to understand, but I've gotten much better at pretending to understand everything and keeping the conversation going. I reckon that over time my spanish will steadily improve and become a true strength of mine.
So thats the update! I'm so stoked to be here. I know the Lord is just waiting to pour out his blessings upon the people here in Bushwick. Please pray for us here. We need all the help we can get to bring others unto Him. I'm trying so hard, but I know I cant do it alone. Thank you for all the support back home. Y'all are the best!
Love, Elder Hogge
P.s. Bradford, get that summer work done! and write me!
P.p.s. Mom I am so excited for my new apron and shirt. One of my padmates has already tried to steal the Mendocino shirt cuz he likes it so much haha
Zero Time - August 12, 2012
I'm really sorry but we have very little time to email this week. The computers here at the library are acting up so I'm gonna sacrifice my minutes to Elder Holbrook cuz he hasn't been able to write his family in over two weeks. The work is going well. Elder Roberts is currently on the Tour d'New York with his family. So now its just Elder Holbrook and I. Neither of us really know much about the area still, so this is going to be an interesting transfer. Luckily, we aren't alone. The Lord is always willing to help us out. We just gotta go to him for help. There's this saying that I've heard on the mission that I've really taken to heart. "Pray like it all depends on the Lord, work like it all depends on you." I think last night after planning I prayed four separate times. I love praying so much. I wish I had some really cool updates on investigators but the reality is that we haven't been finding very many people. Missionary work is so much harder when we have to do all the finding. Its been really tough. But I know that we can and will see success. Its just a matter of diligence and dedication. I feel like I'm on the brink of a breakthrough as far as how I view my relationship with my Heavenly Father. This work is mentally and physically exhausting. Salvation was never easy. But the Work will go forth. Thank you for always supporting me. I miss you. And I know that what I am doing does bless you back home. That makes me so happy! Please keep praying for me. I pray for all of you. I love you all so very much!!
Love, Elder Hogge
Happy Thanksgiving
Dear friends and family,
I'm famous!!! I knew this time would come. Granted it was only about thirty seconds and granted I was only in the background but still! Pretty cool, eh?
This week has been packed to the brim of service. We have had plenty of volunteers from the northeast coast come and participate over the weekend. Just in Broad Channel there were about 25 missionaries and 60-70 other volunteers for Saturday and Sunday. These member volunteers are coming anywhere from within the mission limits, Manhattan, and even Boston. Being the "locals" of the group, us missionaries got to be team leaders for the individual parties that went out and cleared the houses for people. It was a very interesting experience. Most of the time, Elder Wilkinson and I were the youngest of the group. There were bishops and stake presidents out there volunteering. So we got to tell them what to do haha :D But in all seriousness, it helped me understand a very interesting principle about the church. The Lord is no respecter of persons. We are all God's children and it really doesn't make one better than another to have a "higher up" calling in the church. When it all comes down to it, no matter who we are we must put our shoulder to the work and serve.
I had the wonderful opportunity to help remove a pigeon coop. Now this was no ordinary coop. It was a very poopy coop. A very poopy and soggy coop. I dont know if you understand what happens when bird poop (especially from pigeons) mixes with salt water and sits for a week or so. It becomes very smelly. No, thats an understatement. I felt like Alma and his sons when they encountered the Rameumptom because when I got a whiff of that poop I was astonished beyond all belief. I used to thing wet dog, soiled diaper, and rotten eggs smelled bad. I was wrong. After holding back tears and stifling a gag, I put my shoulder to the shed and went to work. Through these past few weeks I have gotten pretty decent with a crow bar. We have been doing a bunch of demolition. And I must say it is terrifically fun to absolutely demolition something that caused my nose to shrivel up and nearly fall off. But the coolest part of this entire experience wasn't getting back at that darn coop.
As we talk to the lady who owns this house and backyard, she explains to us that her dad had recently passed away and left the house and everything else to her. Once Sandy hit, her entire backyard, basement, and first floor were ruined. There was no way that she could have possibly been able to fix this by herself. I've come to understand that what we are doing blesses people so much more than we can understand. We are doing things for people that they cannot accomplish on their own. And that gives me one of the most gratifying feelings I have ever received. It truly reminds me of the Atonement. We cannot accomplish perfection on our own. Its just impossible. But through Christ's service, charity, and sacrifice, there is a way! It has been a slow but powerful realization to me that through this disaster relief God is teaching me something very important that will stick with me for forever. The more I serve others, the more I feel the powerful emotions that Christ must have felt as well. My testimony has only significantly strengthened as I have lived through this. I know that the church I represent is different. Through us, Christ's love has been able to touch so many people. And I know that each and every one of us can be that example to others. I love you all so much!!!
Warmly, Elder Hogge
I'm famous!!! I knew this time would come. Granted it was only about thirty seconds and granted I was only in the background but still! Pretty cool, eh?
This week has been packed to the brim of service. We have had plenty of volunteers from the northeast coast come and participate over the weekend. Just in Broad Channel there were about 25 missionaries and 60-70 other volunteers for Saturday and Sunday. These member volunteers are coming anywhere from within the mission limits, Manhattan, and even Boston. Being the "locals" of the group, us missionaries got to be team leaders for the individual parties that went out and cleared the houses for people. It was a very interesting experience. Most of the time, Elder Wilkinson and I were the youngest of the group. There were bishops and stake presidents out there volunteering. So we got to tell them what to do haha :D But in all seriousness, it helped me understand a very interesting principle about the church. The Lord is no respecter of persons. We are all God's children and it really doesn't make one better than another to have a "higher up" calling in the church. When it all comes down to it, no matter who we are we must put our shoulder to the work and serve.
I had the wonderful opportunity to help remove a pigeon coop. Now this was no ordinary coop. It was a very poopy coop. A very poopy and soggy coop. I dont know if you understand what happens when bird poop (especially from pigeons) mixes with salt water and sits for a week or so. It becomes very smelly. No, thats an understatement. I felt like Alma and his sons when they encountered the Rameumptom because when I got a whiff of that poop I was astonished beyond all belief. I used to thing wet dog, soiled diaper, and rotten eggs smelled bad. I was wrong. After holding back tears and stifling a gag, I put my shoulder to the shed and went to work. Through these past few weeks I have gotten pretty decent with a crow bar. We have been doing a bunch of demolition. And I must say it is terrifically fun to absolutely demolition something that caused my nose to shrivel up and nearly fall off. But the coolest part of this entire experience wasn't getting back at that darn coop.
As we talk to the lady who owns this house and backyard, she explains to us that her dad had recently passed away and left the house and everything else to her. Once Sandy hit, her entire backyard, basement, and first floor were ruined. There was no way that she could have possibly been able to fix this by herself. I've come to understand that what we are doing blesses people so much more than we can understand. We are doing things for people that they cannot accomplish on their own. And that gives me one of the most gratifying feelings I have ever received. It truly reminds me of the Atonement. We cannot accomplish perfection on our own. Its just impossible. But through Christ's service, charity, and sacrifice, there is a way! It has been a slow but powerful realization to me that through this disaster relief God is teaching me something very important that will stick with me for forever. The more I serve others, the more I feel the powerful emotions that Christ must have felt as well. My testimony has only significantly strengthened as I have lived through this. I know that the church I represent is different. Through us, Christ's love has been able to touch so many people. And I know that each and every one of us can be that example to others. I love you all so much!!!
Warmly, Elder Hogge
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Una Semana de Sandy
Posted a week late:
Family and Friends.
Well, I dont even know where to start. This has probably...... well definitely been the absolute craziest week of my life! But I and all of the other missionaries are safe and sound.
New York got hit. Hard. The four points most affected by Sandy were Lower Manhattan, Staten Island, Coney Island, and Far Rockaway. So the Sunday before last we received news that Sandy was headed our way. We were told unexpectedly that starting Sunday in the afternoon we would go into a complete lockdown. So by Sunday night all of us were in the pad. We didnt come out till wednesday. Thats right. We were on lockdown for threeeeeee daaaaaaaaays. It was a long three days. The good news is that our part of brooklyn was completely unaffected by the storm (besides some pretty harsh wind). So no damage was done to any of us or the members here.
On Wednesday we recieved a call from the AP's that we were going to start doing service. So by Wednesday noonish we were out to an area called Broad Channel. I could not believe the destruction. Luckily (most) houses were still standing. There was (key word being "was") a Yacht Club in this town. But there were boats in the most random places. Some were parked out on the street, other boats were leaning on houses. I overheard a pretty funny but sad conversation from the locals. It went like this: "Hey Jimmy, Bob finally found his boat. It was in John's yard four blocks down". As more and more of us with the yellow mormon helping hands shirts stared piling into this town, people started questioning who we were. Every single person in this community had a house in shambles. As we started just getting to work by knocking on doors and offering assistance people began to be absolutely astounded by what we were doing. Our main efforts were concentrated on getting all the junk affected by the flood out of the house so that sanitation could come and remove it. At a time like this these people felt absolutely helpless. Then we were able to come in and do something for them that they had no way of doing for themselves. We went into this one lady's house to help her out and she just burst into tears. She expressed such deep gratitude for what we were doing and it turns out that she was a writer and wanted to make sure people knew what we were doing. On Thursday we were able to return to Broad Channel. By this time EVERYONE knew who we were. Being such a tight community, word got around that the mormons were here to help. One person said "in this moment of need, everyone has failed us but the Mormons." Every single person we helped out said that they would be honored to have us back sometime when the circumstance wasnt so bad. These people's hearts are turning!!! President Calderwood told the mission that we are planting fields and fields of seeds right now. And I know it.
Friday we were assigned to work in Staten Island. And the part we worked on got the brunt of the hurricane. People's basements were completely flooded, first stories were destroyed, and in most circumstances, the water level went up at least four feet into the second story. Everything here was destroyed. I could tell by the people who lived there that it must have been a nice neighborhood, but it looked like a third world country. This is probably my favorite experience yet. The first man we went over and helped out had water still completely surrounding him in the street. Us missionaries had to wade through knee deep water to reach his house and help out. He had no idea where we came from and was in disbelief that we were here to help him. his yard was completely trashed and had been out all morning trying to throw everything in a junk pile. He hadnt even made a dent into the work. But then twenty of us missionaries came over and helped out. We came to find that he had been a very lonely man that wishes he had more company in his life. Just us being there made him so happy. I got to talk to him for a while. His name was Dan Boyd. He had grown up in Brooklyn but moved to Staten because he thought he'd like the peacefulness. We helped him out and were able to clear out his entire yard in under an hour. He was so joyous that he just gave me a great big hug! He said he had never seen this type of service in his life and that what we did had convinced him that he wanted to start coming to our church. This is just a miracle. And this isnt even rare. These people are beginning to realize who we are and that there is definitely something special about us.
I dont know if you heard but there is currently a drought of gas in New York. The Oil companies havent been able to get gas to the coast because of all thats been going on. So friday night we found out we were stranded in Staten Island. SOOOOOOOO it was a giant slumber party of elders at the Staten church. That was pretty cool. I got to sleep on the floor of the primary room. Just like old times haha. But the church was able to get gas from members going all the way to Philadelphia to fill up tanks. So we did some more service in Staten on Saturday. While working on people's houses, I got into a conversation with this one fellow. He was so grateful for all that we did. He expressed that he didn't even know that people willing to give such extreme service like us even existed. And it turns out that he is the Student Body President for Wagner University. He said he was so impressed with what we were doing that he wanted the missionaries stationed in Staten Island to come to his school and give a presentation about what we are doing. HUUUUGE windows of opportunity are opening up for us here in this mission. I am incessantly amazed at how much this service is affecting these people. Finally Saturday night we were able to get back to Bushwick. Sunday was good. A nice sacrament service. Most of the other missionaries went to the english branch to be able to head out sooner but I stayed back to be able to tend to the spanish branch.
And that puts us at now. All is well. We are all suuuuper tired. But we are so thrilled because President calling all missionaries to provide service this entire week. So our week is lookin pretty good right now.
Now to other stuff.
I am soooooooo excited for Rachel!! She is going to do great! It was a surprise, but not at the same time, that she is going to Thailand. And I am so happy for Adam! Give him a congratz for me.
So last friday I hit my year mark. Oh man that was weird. I absolutely cannot believe that I am more than halfway done. I really try to avoid talking about time here on the mission but I am starting to realize that two years is not that long. I gotta work harder!! haha.
Ernesto, that one guy I fearlessed on the street, has come to church three weeks in a row! He is a stud. Even tho he's not in my area I am still so excited for him. He has been committed to baptism for next sunday but because of the hurricane itll probably be pushed back.
So being a district leader, I had the opportunity to interview someone for baptism. His name is Victor and he is from Buenas Aires, Argentina. It was such a special experience. I cannot wait to be able to interview more people. I could tell that he was truly converted and I felt such a powerful confirmation from the Lord that he was ready to be baptized. He was able to receive baptism right before we all had to go into lockdown before the storm. It was fantastic!!
Things that I need... Well I dont need anything haha. But there are some things that I want. 1. Hot chocolate. 2. New jeans. My old ones aren't in the best shape after all this service. 3. Christmas music. Tons and tons of christmas music. Its the Holiday season!!!!! (hilly if you could please send me a mix with modern christmas music while still being spiritual that'd be fantastic. please include relient k haha)
Whew. That was a long email.
All is well. This mission rocks. I'll include pics. I have nice socks.
(sorry thats all i could think of that rhymed with rocks)
Love you all!!!
Love, Elder Hogge
Family and Friends.
Well, I dont even know where to start. This has probably...... well definitely been the absolute craziest week of my life! But I and all of the other missionaries are safe and sound.
New York got hit. Hard. The four points most affected by Sandy were Lower Manhattan, Staten Island, Coney Island, and Far Rockaway. So the Sunday before last we received news that Sandy was headed our way. We were told unexpectedly that starting Sunday in the afternoon we would go into a complete lockdown. So by Sunday night all of us were in the pad. We didnt come out till wednesday. Thats right. We were on lockdown for threeeeeee daaaaaaaaays. It was a long three days. The good news is that our part of brooklyn was completely unaffected by the storm (besides some pretty harsh wind). So no damage was done to any of us or the members here.
On Wednesday we recieved a call from the AP's that we were going to start doing service. So by Wednesday noonish we were out to an area called Broad Channel. I could not believe the destruction. Luckily (most) houses were still standing. There was (key word being "was") a Yacht Club in this town. But there were boats in the most random places. Some were parked out on the street, other boats were leaning on houses. I overheard a pretty funny but sad conversation from the locals. It went like this: "Hey Jimmy, Bob finally found his boat. It was in John's yard four blocks down". As more and more of us with the yellow mormon helping hands shirts stared piling into this town, people started questioning who we were. Every single person in this community had a house in shambles. As we started just getting to work by knocking on doors and offering assistance people began to be absolutely astounded by what we were doing. Our main efforts were concentrated on getting all the junk affected by the flood out of the house so that sanitation could come and remove it. At a time like this these people felt absolutely helpless. Then we were able to come in and do something for them that they had no way of doing for themselves. We went into this one lady's house to help her out and she just burst into tears. She expressed such deep gratitude for what we were doing and it turns out that she was a writer and wanted to make sure people knew what we were doing. On Thursday we were able to return to Broad Channel. By this time EVERYONE knew who we were. Being such a tight community, word got around that the mormons were here to help. One person said "in this moment of need, everyone has failed us but the Mormons." Every single person we helped out said that they would be honored to have us back sometime when the circumstance wasnt so bad. These people's hearts are turning!!! President Calderwood told the mission that we are planting fields and fields of seeds right now. And I know it.
Friday we were assigned to work in Staten Island. And the part we worked on got the brunt of the hurricane. People's basements were completely flooded, first stories were destroyed, and in most circumstances, the water level went up at least four feet into the second story. Everything here was destroyed. I could tell by the people who lived there that it must have been a nice neighborhood, but it looked like a third world country. This is probably my favorite experience yet. The first man we went over and helped out had water still completely surrounding him in the street. Us missionaries had to wade through knee deep water to reach his house and help out. He had no idea where we came from and was in disbelief that we were here to help him. his yard was completely trashed and had been out all morning trying to throw everything in a junk pile. He hadnt even made a dent into the work. But then twenty of us missionaries came over and helped out. We came to find that he had been a very lonely man that wishes he had more company in his life. Just us being there made him so happy. I got to talk to him for a while. His name was Dan Boyd. He had grown up in Brooklyn but moved to Staten because he thought he'd like the peacefulness. We helped him out and were able to clear out his entire yard in under an hour. He was so joyous that he just gave me a great big hug! He said he had never seen this type of service in his life and that what we did had convinced him that he wanted to start coming to our church. This is just a miracle. And this isnt even rare. These people are beginning to realize who we are and that there is definitely something special about us.
I dont know if you heard but there is currently a drought of gas in New York. The Oil companies havent been able to get gas to the coast because of all thats been going on. So friday night we found out we were stranded in Staten Island. SOOOOOOOO it was a giant slumber party of elders at the Staten church. That was pretty cool. I got to sleep on the floor of the primary room. Just like old times haha. But the church was able to get gas from members going all the way to Philadelphia to fill up tanks. So we did some more service in Staten on Saturday. While working on people's houses, I got into a conversation with this one fellow. He was so grateful for all that we did. He expressed that he didn't even know that people willing to give such extreme service like us even existed. And it turns out that he is the Student Body President for Wagner University. He said he was so impressed with what we were doing that he wanted the missionaries stationed in Staten Island to come to his school and give a presentation about what we are doing. HUUUUGE windows of opportunity are opening up for us here in this mission. I am incessantly amazed at how much this service is affecting these people. Finally Saturday night we were able to get back to Bushwick. Sunday was good. A nice sacrament service. Most of the other missionaries went to the english branch to be able to head out sooner but I stayed back to be able to tend to the spanish branch.
And that puts us at now. All is well. We are all suuuuper tired. But we are so thrilled because President calling all missionaries to provide service this entire week. So our week is lookin pretty good right now.
Now to other stuff.
I am soooooooo excited for Rachel!! She is going to do great! It was a surprise, but not at the same time, that she is going to Thailand. And I am so happy for Adam! Give him a congratz for me.
So last friday I hit my year mark. Oh man that was weird. I absolutely cannot believe that I am more than halfway done. I really try to avoid talking about time here on the mission but I am starting to realize that two years is not that long. I gotta work harder!! haha.
Ernesto, that one guy I fearlessed on the street, has come to church three weeks in a row! He is a stud. Even tho he's not in my area I am still so excited for him. He has been committed to baptism for next sunday but because of the hurricane itll probably be pushed back.
So being a district leader, I had the opportunity to interview someone for baptism. His name is Victor and he is from Buenas Aires, Argentina. It was such a special experience. I cannot wait to be able to interview more people. I could tell that he was truly converted and I felt such a powerful confirmation from the Lord that he was ready to be baptized. He was able to receive baptism right before we all had to go into lockdown before the storm. It was fantastic!!
Things that I need... Well I dont need anything haha. But there are some things that I want. 1. Hot chocolate. 2. New jeans. My old ones aren't in the best shape after all this service. 3. Christmas music. Tons and tons of christmas music. Its the Holiday season!!!!! (hilly if you could please send me a mix with modern christmas music while still being spiritual that'd be fantastic. please include relient k haha)
Whew. That was a long email.
All is well. This mission rocks. I'll include pics. I have nice socks.
(sorry thats all i could think of that rhymed with rocks)
Love you all!!!
Love, Elder Hogge
Broad Channel
Dear Everyone,
Words just do not suffice. This week has been a once in a life time experience. We did service the entire week. We focused our efforts on broad channel. The locals here daily refer to us as "heros" "angels" and "rockstars". I wish I could just throw all of my experiences into this email so that you could get a taste of what we are experiencing.
Bit by bit Broad Channel is improving. But it is a slow bit by bit. There's only about 3000 people in this community but absolutely everyone knows who we are and loves us. Us yellow shirts feel famous here. But the weird thing is that this experience has only made us more humble. I have really began to understand a bit better the pure love of Christ. We are able to do things for people in an afternoon that would take them months to complete. For example, with the terrible flood that came crushing through Broad channel, every single basement has been thrown into shambles. There are quite a few old people that live here by the way. (in many ways this community reminds me of John Day). These people would have no means of cleaning up everything by themselves. But once we come in, the work gets done. I think I have heard the quote "many hands make light work" at least a thousand times. These people are so very grateful. And it is the absolute best feeling in the world knowing that we contributed to their happiness. As a missionary I have never been hugged by so many women haha. I'm excited for next summer because all the locals say they want us to come back and visit them. Its going to be fantastic!
I dont mean to brag or anything but my child, Elder Wiklinson, is on the front page of LDS.org. How cool is that!! I've raised him well haha. Mom I was so happy to hear that Donna wanted to take us out to lunch. We kind of really have our hands full right now but that was so sweet of her. Oh and that email was from Elder Lunts parents. I'm so sad that he goes home in December. As does two other members of my district. Makes me realize more and more how little time I truly have. Judging by how fast the past year went, I have barely any time at all!! I got the package! I heard audible oohs and ahhs from my padmates when I opened it. I think I have enough hot chocolate to last me the rest of the mission. And I thought the gloves was an excellent idea. Now all I need is some good spiritual Christmas music and I am absolutely set for this holiday season. Ernesto is doing well. He has been to church every week. He is so prepared it is amazing. Even we aren't the missionaries teaching him we still feel involved in his conversion.
Well. This week has been fantastic. Full of amazing awesomeness. I know that what we are doing will drastically change the lives of these people. I love you all so very much!!! Have a fantastic week.
Love, Elder Hogge
Well. This week has been fantastic. Full of amazing awesomeness. I know that what we are doing will drastically change the lives of these people. I love you all so very much!!! Have a fantastic week.
Love, Elder Hogge
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