This was quite an exciting week in the mission field.
Seems like there is a ton of great stuff going on back home. I am sooooooo excited for Neal!! How wonderful it is to see him take that great step in his life. I wish I could have been there to support him. I cant believe he leaves so soon for his mission! I know he is going to do great. Mom it was awesome to see that picture at the baptism. That family looks so happy together! I can tell that those two missionaries are hard workers just from their appearance. I cant wait to be able to be able to apply what I know here and help out the missionaries back home with the work. Also, I got the package with the giant bag of beef jerky!! I was in heaven when I opened that up. Good choices mom ;)
So this was not a very typical week for missionary work here in New York. The reason for that is that two men came and visited the mission from wednesday to saturday. Their names are Brother Watson and Brother Droubay. And it just turns out that these two brothers were some of the principal writers of Preach My Gospel. That really caught my attention when it was announced that we were going to receive workshops from those that have taken such a deep part in the work. What they taught has changed my mission and my life. They focused on the doctrine of Christ. As a missionary, I had the small thought in the back of my head that I already had a good enough understanding of the gospel. But what these workshops did not only enlarged my understanding, but deepened my conviction to such a great degree. It is simple to explain what they taught, but how it affected me I cannot describe. Its one thing to read Preach My Gospel, but it is another to hear the principles explained by those who wrote it. I have learned so much from PMG but to hear it from the mouth of some of the best missionaries on the planet is truly amazing. They focused on how simple but powerful the lessons must be in order to affect the hearts of these people. So Elder Ibarra and I have tried out this principle. We started that weekend in teaching people. Amazingly enough, that Saturday we had the highest number of lessons than any other day. And we got return appointments for all of them! I know that as we apply what we have been learning we will see great miracles.
One of the things these brethren taught us was a door approach that missionaries have used that has brought them great success. When we talk to people at the door, we offer to come into their homes and leave a blessing on their house and family. It seems really simple but it is a great way to gain these peoples trust much quicker. We have been able to get into the homes of a few people this way already. The Lord has provided such a great blessing on the mission by bringing these two brethren here.
This is Elder Ibarra's last week in the mission. We are going strong and its sad to see him head back to Mexico. But we have a lot of great appointments set up this week. I really hope to see the work really progress in this area. I have no idea what next transfer will provide but I'm sure we will see miracles. I love you all! Have a great week!
Love, Elder Hogge
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