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
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