Heavenly Father is always there for you, because you are His.

Dear Family

 

I am sad to hear that Harold had passed away, but I am also glad because he is a faithful man, and we will all see him again. I was really grateful that he was there for my endowments, as that was a special time for me. Send my love, and know that my prayers are with you. I am also sad for Becky and Rusty. Please tell them that Elder Hoggan is thinking about them and praying for them.

You really see as a missionary situations that you cannot deny that there was a higher power behind it. Such as Tolia, one of our investigators, who you might remember. He was looking for some guidance in his life, and we were there at the exact moment he needed us.

Then this week, we have three new investigators. We only expected to have one new investigator, as we called a former investigator named Pavel, and planned to meet with him. He is working on a remodeling of an apartment, and we met in the apartment. Just picture in your mind, scraps of wallpaper everywhere, plain white walls, and we sat in our suits and ties on buckets...yep that's missionary work! We only thought we would meet with him, but he had a friend named...this is hard to type... Бахтияр, or Bach-tee-yar. He was actually interested as well. He is from Kazhakstan. (Oh yeah, mom, could you send me pictures of our house? Since they do remodels, they were really interested in our house. They really liked the picture. So maybe ones on the inside and the outside. I dunno, just snap some photos.) Then we went again, and another worker, Anatoli was there. While they would take breaks, Anatoli read the brochures we left, and he accepted a Book of Mormon. So we committed them to have formal lessons with us, and they accepted, and they even hope to come to church. I would never think of a miracle like that. We go for a meeting, and come out with 3 new investigators. They are really chill guys, and you might think it was awkward with us in nice suits and they were in work clothes, we were sitting on building supplies, but it wasn't awkward at all! It was very comfortable, and they are really nice.

What else happened? Oh, we are going to have a music night tomorrow, and that will be really fun. To advertise this event, we have announced in Church, English Club, and we even spent time outside singing and inviting. Bear in mind when we did this, it was the coldest day in the week...But it was awesome. We didn't just sing hymns, we sang Disney songs, and I even sang Defying Gravity. Some people tried to give us money for it, but we just gave them an invitation instead! Elder Patton will be playing a violin at the music night. He is really good, especially since the last time he played was about two years ago.  That is something I have found as a missionary. All the talents you have ever accumulated, Heavenly Father saves them and intensifies them. You are pretty much a super hero with super talents. It's crazy.

Butterfly Museum

Today, we went to a Butterfly Museum, and it was really fun! The word for Butterfly is бабочка (Bah-bok-chka) Not to be confused with Бабушка (Ba-boo-shka0 which is "grandma", or "old ladies" I was a little confused when the sisters said we were going to watch "grandmothers."

I will not know until Saturday my transfer, and the AP's have told everyone that they are going to be really strange, so be prepared...I don't know what that means, but I will keep you posted.

I have heard that you have been focusing as a family on reading the Book of Mormon. That is great! I have been reading it, and every day I am grateful for its counsel.

Really this has been a wonderful training. My companion, Elder Patton has done some amazing things. He is an amazing teacher, and I really have appreciated his support. This has been a really difficult two transfers, I am not going to lie to you. We started with literally no one to teach. Now we have 5 amazing investigators, some with baptismal dates, and things are really good. I really was worried that the area wouldn't be improved when I left, but I feel grateful that Heavenly Father has given me the blessings to be able to help where ever I serve. Remember, that Heavenly Father is always there for you, because you are His, and He loves you, and you are important to Him. He knows your weaknesses, and He gives you opportunities to grow and become better. If you trust Him, he will show you ways you never thought possible. He is there. I have no doubt.

I love you all!

Elder Hoggan (The Siberian Messenger)

P.S. For my birthday, could you send me all the good music you think would be allowed to listen to? Not mo-tab, but orchestral music, to listen to while studying, fun religious music, just whatever music you think is good to listen to. I trust Michael with the selection. Just send me a burned disk or two. That would be a lovely gift for my birthday...in two months, I will be 20...ух ты (ooch-tee) that is Russian, for like "Whoah", or "Wow"