Last Week of the Transfer

Family and friends,

 

Its cool/weird/awesome knowing that this mendocino trip is the last one that I am missing. Boy does time really fly. I hope ya'll people are having fun camping and chilling. (Just a word of caution: do not become over-zealous in attempts to roast the perfect marshmallow or else you may get a meteor-marshmallow to the face hehe).  I cant say that I have ever had over-powering senses of missing home on the mission, but tantalizing thoughts of mendocino can make it quite an experience. But I have decided that its not exactly the place that draws on my emotions, but the people and experiences that are there with me. Good thing families can be together forever! Booya!

 

Things over here on the mission front have been pretty darn normal. There have been a few ups and downs throughout the week, but nothing too extremely out of the ordinary. I feel bad because there isn't a whole lot to talk about this week. Well, I guess one cool thing is that our district of missionaries combined with one other district is going to be putting on a community fireside. We are pretty excited about that. The name of it is "For God so loved the world". It will be about the ministry and life of Jesus Christ. We will have a few musical numbers mixed in with some bible videos and testimonies from church leaders. We hope that there is a great showing there. I know that this could be many peoples first time that they truly feel the spirit. For some odd reason I was selected by the missionaries to do a musical number. I'm working with one of the sister missionaries to make a medley of "There is a Green Hill" and "Our Savior's Love". The fireside is on August 4th and we still havent figured it all out so hopefully it will turn out well haha. Throughout the mission I feel like I have been getting better and better at arranging hymns n stuff. I'm excited to explore this maybe talent of mine. We shall see. I'll let you all know how the fireside went in next email.

 

As far as investigators go, we have been meeting with quite a few people off and on. Its really tough here. We struggle to really find people devoted to progressing. The older I get in the mission, the more blatantly obvious it becomes to me that members really are the key to missionary work. We are going to make a big push to get all the missionaries in our ward to be visiting all the members more frequently. We talked to our district leader about that last night and we truly believe that as we improve our relationship with the members, we can help them see how their relationship with non members will be strengthened through sharing the gospel with them. That will be the big focus going into next transfer.

 

This is the last week of the transfer. Transfer meeting is a week from tomorrow. I find out on Saturday if I am staying in Woodside or out. With only two more transfers after this, if I stay in Woodside, it will almost definitely be till the end of my mission. I have mixed feelings about if I want to leave or not. I think the only reason I would want to leave to a different area for these next two transfers would be to train a new missionary. I would absolutely love to train one more time before ending. And I definitely think that would help me to stay going strong through the end. But it is in the Lord's hands. I really am cool with whatever haha. You all will know next monday :)

 

Thanks for all the support and love. It is felt through the emails, letters, and packages I receive from you all. (this is a shout out to grandma buck for the awesome dear elder package. thanks gramma!!) It sure is comforting knowing how blessed I have truly been. I wouldnt have it any other way.

 

Love, Elder Hogge

Pioneer Day

Family and Friends,

 

This has proven to be quite the week for me in missionary work. We were only able to teach a few lessons but It was awesome.

 

MOM!!! Happppy birthday this week! Turns out the whole ward is getting together to celebrate your birthday on the 24th! They said something about pioneers as well or something like that... But I'm glad you can finally be hitting the big 29. You must be excited haha :) Sounds like you had a really good time last week.

 

Today for p-day, we are going to Outback Steakhouse. Nope, I'm not joking haha. My dear friend Elder Ibarra, now Marc Ibarra, has come back after his mission to visit NYC and couldn't help but to treat my companion and me to a nice lunch :D So I'm really excited to be able to spend some time with my former companion.

 

So on tuesday, we had a good lesson with a family. Their names are marcia and jorge. They have two adorable children named melanie, 6, and samuel, 2. We had taught them a couple months ago but they kind of dropped off the face of the earth for a while because jorge had a lot of work. Long story short we got back in contact with them and were able to watch the restoration with them. We talked a lot about the book of mormon and how knowing that joseph smith is a prophet would truly bless their lives. So we left them with those commitments, as well as to come to church, and said fairwell. Well, Sunday rolls around and after highly anticipating their arrival, they show up!! (just about forty minutes late, but still!!) Yesterday was the first time in my whole mission that a full investigator family came to church. They couldn't stay for very long, but promised to come back for the full three hours next week. Elder Heagren and I were absolutely loving it!!! I had never had the experience previously of having an entire family come to church so I felt truly grateful to the Lord for providing us with the opportunity to be a part of it. Tonight we have a lesson with them, and a super solid couple in the ward will be coming with us. I know that they can receive an answer and truly be blessed by the gospel.

 

Later on Sunday we had a bit of spare time so we decided to go try to knock on Edgar and Jelena's door. They had stopped answering our calls and were never home when we had went by so we kind of gave up on them. So I ring their bell, and Jelena answers the door. As soon as she sees us, her face brightens up and gets super excited. She goes on to expain to us that she had lost her phone with all her contacts and had no way to get in touch with us. She and Edgar even tried looking for the church on their own to try to find us!! (Now that shows desire.) She talked about how comfortable she had felt when we were stopping by and invited us to come back the next day (today) to visit them. So now we have an appointment with them as well, right after Marcia and Jorge.

 

These past couple weeks in the mission had been really tough. Elder Heagren and I had been doing all we could to bring people to the knowledge of the truth, but it seemed to no avail. But as we endured well, the Lord blessed us with two solid families to work with. We will be working harder than ever to bring these children back to Heavenly Father. I really am experiencing the joy described in D&C 18 of bringing souls unto Christ. Thats the true secret I have learned on the mission. If you want to be happy, you must be in the service of others in bringing them into the fold. It is my hope that all of you are doing the same.

 

I love you all so dearly. Thank you for all the tender love that you have for me.

 

Love,

Elder Hogge

Trying Week

Dear family and friends,

 

This week has been a trying week, but I feel like I am learning an awful lot.

 

Poor Alice!! I can just imaginge that sequence of events in my mind. One time at byu, I was waiting in line to get to the BYU v. SDSU basketball game. We waited in line for hours and it was freezing cold and super snowy. It being so cold, I pulled my arms out of the sleeves of my sweater and into my chest. Not one minute later, I was walking in line and hit a patch of black ice. Next thing i knew, my feet were up in the air with the rest of my body, and having inhibited the use of my own arms within my sweater, I hit the ground back first. Luckily it was for the most part and I got a good laugh out of it, but I can relate with Alice in that moment of pure helplessness.

 

This was a very odd week in the work. Elder heagren and I have been working our hineys off but that blessed thing called agency seems to be holding these people back. We had a solid ten appointments set up throughout the week, had members ready and willing to come with us, but every single one of the appointments fell through. We weren't able to teach a single investigator. I could not believe it. Its like a weird missionary nightmare. And the thing was, I couldn't really feel sad for me. I felt bad that all these people were missing the blessed opportuinty to hear the gospel. Now granted, its not like they were all choosing to not meet with us. Here in new york i've noticed that it can be very, very difficult to prioritize.

 

The bright side is that we have some great appointments set up for this week. Today at three we are going to stop by the house of this guy we met yesterday. We are just going to drop off a plan of salvation pamphlet, but he seemed genuinely interested in knowing what God's plan is for him. On Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday we have more appointments set up with people that have accepted to let us come. So there definitely is a great bright side. And we really feel like we are putting in all our best efforts.

 

Today for p-day we will be having our zone activity. On of the District leaders offered to make pulled pork sandwiches and we are going to be playing some volleyball. It will be a pretty relaxed pday, but I am excited. I really think this week is going to be fantastic! Well I love you all and hope that your week is fantastic as well :)

 

Love, Elder Hogge

Woodside Update

Dear family and friends,

Hope you all had a fantastic fourth of july week. Over here in woodside we had plenty of fun. The ward put on a nice barbecue with 100 pounds of meat. It was pretty awesome. Those hispanics sure know how to make loads of food. We played a bunch of volleyball, ate a bunch of food, and talked to a bunch of people. I was able to talk to a non member family for a while and hopefully we will be able to do an FHE with them this week. But overall it was a great 4th. It was a bummer that we had to be in before fireworks came out, but I'll live. :)

This week has definitely had its ups and downs. We weren't able to meet with Pedro, Luis, or Edgar and Jelena. It was very sad to have all this great stuff set up and have none of it actually happen. I hate to say this but you kind of get used to it as a missionary. I'm just glad that Heavenly Father is helping me develop the divine attribute of patience. I just want everything to happen now now now. But the Lord knows best, and His timing is the best. I have definitely acquired a sense of urgency. Everyone around me is continually saying that I do not have very much time left. Thats just a great reminder that I must work hard till the very end.

So updates on investigators... Pedro will actually have to move out of his apartment from his family. It's sad to hear. From what it sounds like, he hasn't been in the wrong, but he is doing this to prevent any serious problems. He will be moving just a few blocks away so we will still be able to meet with him. We hope to have a couple lessons with him this week.

Luis has been sick this week so he hasn't been able to do much.

Edgar and Jelena... Well they were supposed to come to church yesterday but never showed up. We have called them a few times but haven't been able to get contact with them. Kind of a bummer but we will keep trying.

Not exactly the smoothest week so far but there have been some bright points. On saturday there was a huge fair in Woodside. It happened just a block away from the church! So taking advantage of the situation, all the missionaries that attend that building got together and we set up a table to give out free cold water at the fair. We must have had three hundred people stop at the table. It was a great finding opportunity. Every companionship was able to get people's info and we were able to give a few church tours as well.  It was a fantastic experience.

Our ward counsel has been stepping up their game. They have a list of twenty names for people that they want us to start working with. Mostly less-actives, but there are some of our investigators on the list as well. Each auxilary has responsibility for a few people on the list. The concept is that the auxilaries will invite them to listen to our lessons, and then we will go and teach them with strong members support. I am very excited to see how this is going to develop.

Seems like everything is slowly but gradually going uphill. I think eventually we will get the ball rolling and there will be nothing that can stop this ward from doing missionary work. I'm very excited to see how all of this turns out.

Thank you all for your support and kindness. Have a great week!

Love, Elder Hogge

Happy Fourth!

Family and Friends,

 

This week has been filled with great experiences. Transfers always bring a much needed, power sense of newness that aids the missionary work. From what I hear good ol' Danny Heaps is back home livin the RM life. Dad you should really figure out that connection with your old companion and my old companion haha. I suppose that you all would like to know about my new companion. His name is Elder Ian Heagren from Copperton, Utah. He has been out ten transfers now and he is a fantastic missionary. We are both energized for the work and I already know that we will see great things here. It just so happens that Elder Heagren was trained by the one and only Elder Heaps haha. Like father like son I guess. But I can already tell that the next few transfers are going to be fantastic.

 

Mom, I got your package! What a wonderful explosion of red, white and blue haha. I, along with many members of my district, truly appreciated all the sweets and snacks you sent. Those peanut butter chocolate covered granola bars are just heaven. I really enjoy receiving those treats :) Turns out Elder Heagren is allergic to peanuts (poor guy) so next package we would really enjoy some peanut free healthy snack that he can stuff in his backpack and eat whenever :)

I also enjoyed your comments on all that happened this sunday. I love the concept of learning by faith. Elder Bednar has a great talk on that concept that really helped enhance my ability to learn and comprehend spiritual knowledge.

 

Today Elder Heagren and I are headed to a department store to buy ourselves some awesome comp unity ties. I'm pretty stoked. Then after that I think we will just chill, rest our selves up to prepare for this upcoming week. This thursday our ward has a fiesta for the fourth of july. We are going to be eating food, playing games, and just having some good ol' fashioned fun. I am really excited. We hope to be able to get some of our investigators over there.

 

Speaking of investigators, the work has been going very well in our area. This week Elder Heagren and I were able to teach a few very solid lessons. We have begun teaching a wonderful man from ecuador named Luis. He is very solid and so prepared for the gospel. He has accepted to start preparing for baptism in July. We will be working closely with him to help him progress toward that date. We have been making good contact with Pedro. He called me last night to inform me that everything is good with his family now! He will not have to move after all. We are really hoping to get in to the home to be able to unite the family for ever. The only reason we have been able to hang on to Pedro is because he has become very close friends with a brother in our ward. They have been talking on almost a daily basis and Brother Arrascue has helped him keep his sights high. In other news, we have begun teaching a young mexican couple named Jelena and Edgar. They are very sweet and open to learning more about Christ and His doctrine. We have an appointment set up with them for wednesday so we are very excited to go back.

 

It really feels like everything is going right. I can testify that a dedication towards obedience pours out amazing blessings! My testimony in this concept has strengthened me so much over these past couple weeks.

 

Thank you for all the support. I have been getting great letters from friends and family that really strengthen me and give me the added push to keep going. I love all of you and I am so proud of the people that have made me who I am. Thank you so much!!

 

Love, Elder Hogge