What are we doing to strengthen our relationship with our Heavenly Father?

Well today we went to get groceries, and we went to this place called Lenta...I have found a Russian Walmart! I have never seen so much food and other things in Russia thus far in my mission. It was HUGE!
What happened this week? Well, we met with two famous groups of people in this mission, Jehovah's witnesses and Baptists. They are famous in our mission for liking to meet and debate doctrinal differences based on the Bible. They are wonderful people and they have great faith in Christ. First of all, NEVER argue with people about the gospel, it is not how missionary work should be done. The best way to teach is share your testimony. I found many times that I would share my testimony about our Savior and people would listen intently, but then argue about some other point about the Bible or something. Our message to people is not to believe in the Book of Mormon, or to believe in Joseph Smith. Our purpose is to help people come fully unto Christ through faith, repentance, baptism by His authority, receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and then being faithful unto the end. People can have relationships with Christ outside our church, but in order to fully come unto Christ, the only way is through His Church. No one can deny my testimony of Christ, and the Book of Mormon and the revelations of Joseph Smith only strengthen my relationship with Him.



Novosibirsk Zone Conference

For my study of the Book of Mormon, I have a journal which I write about every single point in every chapter a day. I now have a greater understanding as to who king Zedekiah is and what the kingdom of Judah is. This has just shown me that the Book of Mormon is true, because it has fit accurately with the Bible. There are no contradictions. I just think about Laman and Lemuel, and how their greatest disadvantage which led to their cursing was their lack of a relationship with their Heavely Father. They were commanded by Nephi and their father to pray, but they didn't pray of their own accord. Nephi even said that they did not counsel with the Lord. What lesson we learn is how we need to pray every day, constantly! Our greatest possession is our relationship with Heavenly Father. We can either strengthen it or weaken it. So, are we doing things to strengthen it, or weaken it? Elder Ortner is such a fun, goofy guy! He is a really strong Elder. He was born in Israel as a Jew, but his family moved to Florida. Yes, he is from the tribe of Judah. His mother died of cancer 6 years ago, and it made him question whether there was a God. He became Atheist. Then he moved to Boston for school, and he had friends there who were members. He saw their shining examples and wanted that kind of life, so he investigated the church. He went to the temple grounds and prayed to know if it was true. He received that answer. His father is against it, but Elder Ortner knows it is his duty to God. That is an example to all of us.

There is this holiday in Russia, I can't remember the specific date, but they celebrate the baptism of the Savior. What do they do? They jump into freezing cold water! I didn't hear about it, until people were actually talking about it, and if we celebrated it...maybe we should...Boy Scouts Polar Bear?
Our apartment is really nice, with really open windows. I don't have a closet, so I hang my clothes on this plank that is suspended over a small cupboard. The washing machine handle is broken, so we open it with a screwdriver. It is awesome! Really I love living in Russian apartments. We really have all the comforts of home, electricity, hot water, did you know that they have pipes with hot water that are connected to the towel racks? You can have warm towels in the morning?
The branch in Barnaul is pretty big, about 50-60 people come regularly. They are actually making plans to remodel this other building to make into their new branch. They are planning to have a separate room you can reach from the outside to reach the family history center. (Could you send me any stories about our first ancestors who were part of the church?) I have seen the plans, and they are legit. The branch has two floors, and it is sometimes really cold. They have HUGE pipes with hot water flowing through them. People here use hot water to heat their apartments, and the houses usually use coal. I never knew that coal stunk when burned.
I am not really sure where the Holmes are from, but Elder Ortner says that they live in Utah. It is funny to talk about living in Utah, because so many missionaries are from there. It is more interesting to hear about a missionary from Ohio, or from Las Vegas, especially from Israel.
So really, I am really loving Barnaul. They are really nice people here, and I hope to do some good here. I love you all, and I pray for you every day. You guys are definitely worth serving a mission, even though I receive more blessings than what I sacrifice.
I love you all!
Elder Hoggan (The Siberian Messenger)

Tell Michael, "Nothing much, you stud!" and Aaron Jones:, "Go get 'em, Siberian Tiger, thank you very much..." And about the last Eragon book, that will be the FIRST book I read when I am released, so keep it in the car when we come home from the airport...but don't think about that for at least a year!