September 16, 2013

Family and Friends,

 

This week just flew by!! I can't believe it.

 

Mom and Dad, I am jealous that you were able to go to the "Noche de Hispanidad" without me. Over here in New York, the multi-cultural Hispanic night is a big big hit. Last year in Bushwick we had over 250 people attend. It is a great missionary opportunity for the members. I was also jealous of all the great food you got to eat without me. Tamales, atole, ceviche, horchata, enchiladas... man that just makes my mouth water. I remember before the mission how worried I was about being called Spanish speaking because I would have to eat all this weird Spanish food that I assumed I wouldn't like. Now just the thought of having to leave it all behind really makes me sad to the stomach.

 

As some of you might have seen on Facebook, I was tagged in a photo of me standing under a booth that said "Meet the Mormons in Queens". Well in Woodside every summer there is a street fair and the church bought a plot to put up a booth. That happened last Saturday. We had pictures of Christ, all the service we've provided to the community and during Sandy, and a big canvas in back that said "Family is _____." We had people in the street fair come into the booth and sign the canvas with what family means to them. It was a great opportunity to get out of obscurity in the community. We met a lot of great people and had good discussions with them.

 

Speaking of Facebook, it is going well. President wants us on for an hour each day. It is at times difficult to fill the hour with meaningful activity but we are reconnecting with less actives and non members. There was a really cool experience that happened last week actually. One of my friends from BYU facebooked me and told me that she had a brother that was living in my area!! He hadn't been to church for a while, and she was excited at the prospect of us going and visiting him. I was able to contact him and set up an appointment for last Saturday. Unfortunately we had a leadership meeting so I wasn't able to go visit him, but the English elders stopped by and visited for a little while. The next day (yesterday) he came to the singles branch!! So we are already seeing how facebook will be a real strength to the work. If any of you ever have anyone that would be interested in chatting with me on facebook or skyping to learn more about what we believe, please let me know. We have nothing to lose!!

 

I got an interesting call last Friday. President informed me that I will not be in Woodside next transfer. He also informed me that I will not be a Zone Leader anymore. He is giving me a special assignment to be with a young missionary that has had some rough patches so far in the mission. We will be blinded in (lingo for both of us going into a different pool together) and Prez said that we will be out in the "country". Now anyone who knows New York south mission geography would also know that there are but a few places in the entire mission that could be considered "country". Turns out Riverhead is one of them. Could it be???? I am thrilled at the prospect of returning for my last transfer. We shall see tomorrow. (and I will be updating my "current location" on facebook to wherever I move so you will most likely know a lot sooner than next Monday)

 

I cant believe my mission is coming so close to an end. Six rapid weeks await me. I am so excited!!!! I know that this work is real and that through the atonement of Christ all men may be healed from sin and affliction! Love you all!!

 

Love, Elder Hogge

September 9, 2013

Shout out to JOE HOGGE!! WOOT WOOT!! Happy birthday big bro!! You are basically an old geyser now hehe. Anyways....

 

Family and friends,

 

Wow. This week has been something else. Definitely one of the craziest, most spiritual, different weeks I have ever had in the mission.

 

Sounds like all is well back home. I loved mom's email. She always fills me with so much joy due to her love for helping others understand the gospel. I'm glad everything is going well with Isabel. Its great to have good fellowshippers, but good friends are what these returning members truly need. And I can see that mom plays that role for her.

(mom, as for the package:quarters, burts bees chap stick, beef jerky, oreos and whatever else your heart desires... or feels that my heart would desire haha)

 

I couldn't help but notice on facebook that a certain brunette sister of mine got signed by a literary agent or something like that? I dont think I truly understand what that means, but it sounds pretty darn cool haha. When do I get to read that book sarah??

 

This is the last week of the transfer. I have a small feeling that I might have to get packing for next transfer, but knowing how good I am at guessing these sort of things I'm probably wrong. So with that logic I could probably safely say that I am staying haha. (obviously I have no idea) But I would absolutely love to finish my mission here with elder heagren. He and this area have been so good for me.

 

So about this past week. Each month we have a meeting called Zone Training Meeting (ZTM). Because we are the zone leaders, we get to prepare these ZTMs for the zone. Its one of my favorite meetings in the mission. Usually these meetings are derived from what president teaches us zone leaders in the prior week's mission leadership counsel. And we got to teach on the Atonement. Oh boy was that an experience. I've noticed that usually the best insight comes not from those giving the workshop, but all the others participating. This workshop was a spiritual feast! Elder Heagren and I helped everyone get a 360 degree view on the Atonement. Thats what prez had taught us. So as we were talking about how they felt about the atonement, we could feel the spirit enter the room. As we dug further into how Mary, mother of Jesus, must've felt, emotions stirred. Then as we spoke of how Christ and even Heavenly Father felt everyone's hearts in the room just completely melted. There were very few dry eyes in the room (darn allergies haha). This experience gave me such greater appreciation for what our Lord has done for us. I will forever have a better outlook on what the atonement means to me and to others.

 

As September comes to an end, so does the three month baptismal goal of our district. Lets just say we have a ways to go. Our wonderful District Leader Elder Rogers comissioned a fast for the past sunday that we may receive divine help to accomplish this promise we have made to the Lord. Basically, I know that fasting works!! In previous weeks, our district has averaged maybe 1 or 2 investigators at church. Last sunday, 7 nonmembers came to church, 2 being people that had come on there own. One was a lady named Norma. Apparently, she has a friend in Argentina that told her that she should go to church. So she found the closest one and came here!! That was no coincidence that it happend on our day of fast. Our lovely sisters will be teaching her.

 

I have seen such great miracles on the mission. I cant believe I only have little over a transfer left. This has been so good for me.

 

I love you all. Hope your week is fantastic!!

 

Love, Elder Hogge

Facebook Mission

Hey friends and family!

Sorry this email has taken so long.... its going to have to be quick too haha. There have been some crazy cool things going on here in our mission. The reason why I havent sent the email yet is that I've actually been on facebook all morning. Nope, that wasn't a joke. President has recieved the OK for our mission to start implementing facebook in our proselyting efforts. This doesn't limit to just my confined geographical area either. Through facebook and skype, we will be able to teach anyone in the world that is willing to learn more about the gospel. So say I have some friends back home that are interested in learning more, well I can facebook them and start up a conversation. But what if YOU have a friend that wants to learn more about the gospel? Well I can be in communication with you (through facebook) to set up online appointments and you can even be present in the online lesson. The objective is for me and my companion to help them gain enough of an interest and knowledge in the Gospel for them to want to meet with the missionaries in their own area. So elder Heagren and I have been pretty overwhelmed this morning with changing our facebook profiles to meet the new standard. We will have about an hour a day to do online missionary proselyting. basically, everything is free game as long as I can answer well this question: "Is what I'm doing fulfilling my missionary purpose." We will be getting mini Ipads october 29th. Yep, thats the day I end my mission. Haha I'm excited. Well, sorry for the abruptness and shortness of the email. My mind is still spinning a hundred miles an hour. Love you all!!

Love, Elder Hogge

Creative Mission

Family and Friends,

 

As far as outward success goes, Elder Heagren and I have seen absolutely none of it. It has been a very baffling time of my mission. I feel like I have really hit my stride as a missionary. I can speak the language decently well, I am very (perhaps overly) comfortable with talking to strangers, and I have developed a sincere love for teaching. But after all we can do, we are seeing no lessons to teach. Its really weird. The zone as a whole had one of the best weeks i have seen on the mission. there were a lot of very solid people at church from all the other companionships. But the mission goes on. Nothing can or will stop Elder Heagren and I from working ourselves to the ground.

 

The mission is taking really cool strides in how we work with the people in New York City. We have been doing a lot of service here in woodside with the districts of english and spanish missionaries working together. There is this woodside icon named Dave Rosasco that is kind of the vigilante of service here. He goes around painting over graffiti and planting and cultivating the flowerbeds in his free time. So we have been working very closely with him to make Woodside a prettier place. This has caught some attention and the New York 1 news station came and interviewed one of our district leaders. Also, we have been doing flash mobs as a zone on the trains. Our entire zone of missionary will dress up as regular people and get on a subway car together. One missionary will start singing a childs prayer and more and more missionaries will jump in until there is an entire chorus of seemingly random people in the train singing a primary song together. It is soooooo cool!! After we finish singing the train errupts in conversation and all of us get to talk to most everyone on the train car. Talk about an ice breaker haha.

 

I am thoroughly convinced that mine is possibly one of the most creative missions in the world. The work is just amazingly different here. But that is why I love it. At times it can be very tough, but I really feel like all this has been refining me. I absolutely love the mission. It is very strange to think that there are only a few more of these emails left for me to write. Time is just all out of whack for me right now haha.

 

Well, I love you all. Here's to a great week!!

 

Love, Elder Hogge

Blessings

Dear Family and Friends,

 

This has been one of the best weeks for me in my entire mission. Its tough to explain how I truly feel, but I know that the Lord is doing some serious refining for me at this point.

 

First off, I had no idea Brock was going to Ghana!!! That is so cool! I bet he is so excited. Sounds like he will be fine with sleeping on the floor for sleep overs when he gets back ;p But seriously, that will be such a blessing to him in his life. The coolest things about missions is that they are so unique. Each missionary has a completely different experience. Its a bit like snowflakes. Each individual snow flake has a completely different design and plan, but they all come together putting a beautiful touch on the world.... Wow I can't believe I just compared missionary work to snow. haha the mission really does change you :)

 

Mom, I am so glad that you have been able to see the blessings of doing missionary work. You are that fellowshipper that we all dream of here in New York. And the greatest thing is that you will get just as many blessings as Isabel because of your labors. The gospel is so cool!!

 

As for my week, It has been an unusual one at that. 13 of our 14  investigator appointments fell through, the only person we actually taugh lives outside of our area so we will have to hand him off, none of our once progressing investigators are answering the door or phone, and we didn't have anyone come to church. I think at the very beginning of my mission that would have been so tough. The super weird thing about it is that Elder Heagren and I feel like successful missionaries. We have worked our absolute hardest. We have been the most obedient we can be. We feel like we are lifting and supporting our members in their work. We talked to as many people as possible on the street and got the most contact infos from people in one week ever in my mission. It is only a matter of time until the Lord pours His blessings upon this area. Whether I am here to see it or not it doesnt really matter. I just cant wait to see this ward flourish and prosper. I truly feel like the Lord is teaching me an awful lot right now. I feel like because of these past few weeks I am becoming a better missionary and person in general. I dont feel frustrated in myself at all. What makes me truly sad is that the people here dont know what they are truly missing. But I didn't come out on a mission for it to be easy. One of my missionary friends explained what it feels like to be a missionary like this: "Imagine you are a life guard, and everyone is drowning". I know that as soon as someone is ready to be saved and come into the fold, these past experiences will make me more effective in bringing them to Christ.

 

I know this work is real and the gospel provides true blessings. I love you all and hope that you can have a fantastic week.

 

Love, Elder Hogge

Friemly

Dearest Friemly. (sorry, that was a sore attempt at a friends/family hybrid word....)

 

It sure does not feel like summer here any more. This past week the average was probably about 75 with a nice breeze and occasional rain. Besides the humidity, this was possibly the nicest week in weather I've experienced on the mission. I dont know what it is like back home, but I was loving it here. Seems like fall has jumped the gun and taken a head start. Not that I am opposed to that at all...

 

Mom I really liked your comments on obedience. I really appreciate the quiet but enduring example of Hyrum Smith. Seems like he was always in the background of church history but was an unshakeable demonstration of faith and obedience.

Stephanie must've seen Elder Ah Quin at the temple. He has been one of my closest friends on the mission. I'll have to mention that to him.

How was the meteor shower? One of the downsides of serving in the city is that looking up into the night sky, there are practically zero stars. I think one time I saw one, but it might've been a plane haha just kiddin...

 

We are really anxious for the rest of this month in missionary work. Elder Heagren and I have been working very diligently to get the members on board. And it is working!! Right now, we have six different families that we are workign with. Each of them has commited to a day by the end of this month to invite us and non member friends or family over for FHE's.  The members here are really grabbing on to the work of salvation. Yesterday morning we had ward counsel. The bishop has left a standing invitation for us to come each month and participate. We followed up on the 20 names the counsel came up with to start working with within the ward. Members have gone to these homes and invited them to participate in the missionary lessons. Hopefully soon we will be able to go teach these less actives and non members. Members truly are the key.

 

I am excited for this transfer. Everything is headed up hill. The members are becoming a force to be reckoned with in the work. I expect to see many great things come of this in the rest of my time here.

 

Thank you all for your support. I love you and hope that all is well.

 

Love, Elder Hogge

Staying in Woodside

Family and Friends,

 

This is the moment you all have been waiting for!! The big news!! I am............ staying in woodside this transfer!! Wooo! I am pretty excited. Looks like elder Heagren and I will be rocking at least one more transfer together. We have some really good plans for this upcoming transfer.

 

It looks like mendocino was an absolute BLAST! I'm semi jealous... but I have two mendo trips under my belt on the mission already. This time next year I will be rockin a tye dye-hogge clan-traditional mendo shirt whilst chilling on the beach. Booyah! ( Yep, mom sent me the tye dye picture. I must say, you all are looking great!!) Its weird though..... Mom had told me that the mendo trip was last week, but I dont even remember thinking about it during the week. 'Twas a miracle that the lord helped me stay focused and keep my mind off of the beach.

 

We had the musical fireside last night. It was amazing!!!! There were about 140 people there, which was on the high end of what we were expecting. Sister Franklin and I were able to perform the "Green hill/ Our saviors Love" medley. It was really humbling experience. Many people came up to me afterward telling me how great we sounded. It was really cool. I am so glad that I have figured out a way to use my musical capabilites to help others feel the spirit and come closer to Jesus Christ.

 

Elder Heagren and I have been going strong with getting to know all the members better. We have been diligently working with our focus members in the ward to help them feel more confident in their missionary ablilities. We have set dates in august with four of the families we are working with for them to invite family and friends that arent members over to their home for an FHE. We are so excited to see how all of this pans out. Elder Heagren and I have been very diligent in trying to find through our own efforts, but we realize the more emphasis we put in working with our members to find, teach and baptize the greater we can help the ward.

 

I am excited for this next transfer. Only 3 months left in the mission. Its pretty weird to think about but I plan on going all out. I hope to be able to bring about much good being led by the hand of God. I love you all!!

 

Love, Elder Hogge