Life is Great in NYC

Dear family and friends,

Life is great here in NYC.

The weather has been pretty odd. I guess odd in a good way. It feels more like autumn than winter here. I was told that winters in New York was killer, but for me this has been a walk in the park (obviously not Central Park cuz thats out of mission boundaries). There have only been a few days this winter so far when we needed more than just our suitcoats. Pretty strange. But hey, I ain't complaining.

Mom, though AriZonas come in a variety of tea flavors, they have other great non-tea beverages such as mucho mango, watermelon, and my personal favorite cherry lime ricky soda. Its good stuff and only a buck for a big can so super nice when we are always on the go. Also, I got the package. That was awesome! I think jerky is quickly becoming my favortie snack. (too bad it costs so darn much haha) The ipod and speakers work great. (Nice music selection! We were groovin to Gladys Knight and the Pi.... I mean..... Gladys Knight and the Saints last night. Good stuff.)

To answer your question Mom, the interesting experiences usually come well after reciting the First Vision. I've noticed that Hispanics in general are more accustomed to hearing stories of modern day heavenly visitations (for example, the Virgin of Guadalupe) so it is tough to help them understand the magnitude of the First Vision. I think the thing that helps investigators most is seeing the example of other people that have been changed through the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Once these people starting living how God wants them to, through the gospel, the First Vision takes on a whole new meaning. I think the "Ah ha" moment can come during the recitation of the First Vision, but from what I've seen, the true "Ah ha" moments come from putting faith in the fact that Christ did indeed restore His church and seeing the promised blessings come into fruition, as experienced by our current investigator.

Bruno is doing really well. He wasn't able to be at church yesterday because he wasnt feeling well but we were able to teach him a few times last week. One cool experience happened during a lesson. When we first met him, we noticed that he always played around with a lighter. Thats a big hint to missionaries that there is some sort of Word of Wisdom problem involved. We decided we better get on that quick so on Saturday we had the Word of Wisdom lesson with him. As we went through the things that the Lord commmands us not to partake of, he was in complete agreement with everything we were teaching (which felt kind of odd to the judgemental me that I was being). So we asked him if he would forsee any problems and he began relating to us his feelings on the subject. He tells us that he has never liked tea or coffee; he recognizes the damage of alcohol and stopped a while ago; he never has cared for illegal drugs; aaaaaand since taking the lessons from us and coming to church, he felt the need to quit smoking so he stopped three days before we gave that lesson. Wow. That was awesome, and a great humbling experience to the judgemental me. Being a part of the conversion of Bruno has been an amazing blessing in my life.

As for transfer gossip, I am finally getting transfered out of Bushwick! Its tough to believe. On tuesday at transfer meetings I will find out where my next area will be. President talked to me on Friday and he told me that I will be only the second companion of my next companion, so I will be continuing the 12 week program with him. I'm so excited for this opportunity.

I love you all! Thank yous so much for the support and love I recieve.

Love, Elder Hogge