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

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