Dear Family, How I love you all!
First of all, Поздравлаю! (Poz-dra-vlay-you) That means
Congratulations in Russian. I am so proud of you, Michael and Rachelle for making this sacred covenant with the Lord. I know that it was the right decision, and many will be blessed for your decision. Just these last few weeks I have been thinking about the Plan of Salvation, and how it is taking place in our lives right now. These three stages in life are so critical, birth, marriage, and death. All of them are so necessary in the plan of Heavenly Father. Just hearing the news of these things has strengthened my testimony of this great plan of happiness. We were born here, to receive a body, be tested, and show our faithfulness to Heavenly Father. We receive the ordinances of salvation to bind us to our loved ones for eternity. Death is just a stage, so that we can be resurrected and return to live with our Heavenly Father, and with our families. I am so grateful for the saving ordinances of the temple. I know that this new spirit is an eternal part of our family, being born in the covenant. My brother's wife is now part of it as well, making that sacred sealing covenant. I know that my uncle is not lost. He is still part of this family. I am not sad, but so grateful for Heavenly Father's mercy and love to us.
This last week, we have talked to a lot of people of the muslim faith. These people come from places like Kazhakstan, and Ajer Baijan (The last one I have no idea how to spell, or even where it is.) They are very nice, and I really respect their beliefs. They are really devout to being faithful, making right choices, and serving to others. They believe in the Holy Ghost, which I never knew, and they also believe in the Bible. If I understood correctly, the Koran is the bible with writings added by Muhammad. It is definitely true that every single person has a piece of truth in them, and we hope to acknowledge that truth they have, and then expound and add even further, so that their truth becomes even more, to becoming full.
One man, who we met with, did not believe that we were Christians, because we don't celebrate Christian holidays. There are a lot of holidays in the Orthodox faith, and on that particular day, it is when the people pay their respects to their deceased ancestors. He said it was our biggest mistake. We just testified that we knew this gospel is true, that it his His church. He was a little taken aback by our testimonies, but wasn't willing to meet again, and he left. It just shows that no one can deny a testimony given in the Spirit. I have talked to a lot of people, asking how they knew it was true, and they say that their grandma believed, or they were taught to read the Bible when they were young. That is wonderful, but I could never get a concrete answer how they knew it was true. I would always testify that I prayed to God, and asked if it was true, and he would answer. That is the beauty of our message. We help others know from God, for themselves, that the Gospel is true. We can't prove anything, but God will prove it, because He loves us.
We met with a man named Andre, who came to English a couple times. He speaks very good English, and we talked about the restoration. He made a report about our faith for a class, and his girlfriend studying in Arizona met some members of the church who actually served in Barnaul! He said that maybe it was a sign. He has faith in prayer, and that they can be answered. He also talked about how every religion reads the Bible differently. We explained the Apostacy, and about the Book of Mormon. When I showed the book, he asked if he could see it, and we happily gave him the book. He wants to meet again, and we plan to teach him the Plan of Salvation. He believes that man was here to perfect himself, gain knowledge, which is exactly what we believe.
The branch had a branch family home evening, and the Branch President's wife made this movie about family history, and the blessings of it. It was very well done, and everyone loved it. This was a sign to us that we need to use family history as a finding activity. It is a perfect tool to teach people how to use family history, and the reasons we do it. It was spiritual, and informative. I was very impressed, and we hope to use this tool to find new people to teach about the church, and why we do family history. The end of branch family home evening was a talent portion, and all the missionaries sang Army of Helaman in Russian. The members liked it so much, they demanded us to sing it for sacrament meeting the next day. Everyone loved it, and it was really fun to sing. Being out over a year, it is amazing what I understand now, and what I didn't understand when I came here at the very beginning. The gift of tongues is literally a gift from God, and it has helped me strengthen my testimony that this gospel is true.
First of all, Поздравлаю! (Poz-dra-vlay-you) That means
Congratulations in Russian. I am so proud of you, Michael and Rachelle for making this sacred covenant with the Lord. I know that it was the right decision, and many will be blessed for your decision. Just these last few weeks I have been thinking about the Plan of Salvation, and how it is taking place in our lives right now. These three stages in life are so critical, birth, marriage, and death. All of them are so necessary in the plan of Heavenly Father. Just hearing the news of these things has strengthened my testimony of this great plan of happiness. We were born here, to receive a body, be tested, and show our faithfulness to Heavenly Father. We receive the ordinances of salvation to bind us to our loved ones for eternity. Death is just a stage, so that we can be resurrected and return to live with our Heavenly Father, and with our families. I am so grateful for the saving ordinances of the temple. I know that this new spirit is an eternal part of our family, being born in the covenant. My brother's wife is now part of it as well, making that sacred sealing covenant. I know that my uncle is not lost. He is still part of this family. I am not sad, but so grateful for Heavenly Father's mercy and love to us.
This last week, we have talked to a lot of people of the muslim faith. These people come from places like Kazhakstan, and Ajer Baijan (The last one I have no idea how to spell, or even where it is.) They are very nice, and I really respect their beliefs. They are really devout to being faithful, making right choices, and serving to others. They believe in the Holy Ghost, which I never knew, and they also believe in the Bible. If I understood correctly, the Koran is the bible with writings added by Muhammad. It is definitely true that every single person has a piece of truth in them, and we hope to acknowledge that truth they have, and then expound and add even further, so that their truth becomes even more, to becoming full.
One man, who we met with, did not believe that we were Christians, because we don't celebrate Christian holidays. There are a lot of holidays in the Orthodox faith, and on that particular day, it is when the people pay their respects to their deceased ancestors. He said it was our biggest mistake. We just testified that we knew this gospel is true, that it his His church. He was a little taken aback by our testimonies, but wasn't willing to meet again, and he left. It just shows that no one can deny a testimony given in the Spirit. I have talked to a lot of people, asking how they knew it was true, and they say that their grandma believed, or they were taught to read the Bible when they were young. That is wonderful, but I could never get a concrete answer how they knew it was true. I would always testify that I prayed to God, and asked if it was true, and he would answer. That is the beauty of our message. We help others know from God, for themselves, that the Gospel is true. We can't prove anything, but God will prove it, because He loves us.
We met with a man named Andre, who came to English a couple times. He speaks very good English, and we talked about the restoration. He made a report about our faith for a class, and his girlfriend studying in Arizona met some members of the church who actually served in Barnaul! He said that maybe it was a sign. He has faith in prayer, and that they can be answered. He also talked about how every religion reads the Bible differently. We explained the Apostacy, and about the Book of Mormon. When I showed the book, he asked if he could see it, and we happily gave him the book. He wants to meet again, and we plan to teach him the Plan of Salvation. He believes that man was here to perfect himself, gain knowledge, which is exactly what we believe.
The branch had a branch family home evening, and the Branch President's wife made this movie about family history, and the blessings of it. It was very well done, and everyone loved it. This was a sign to us that we need to use family history as a finding activity. It is a perfect tool to teach people how to use family history, and the reasons we do it. It was spiritual, and informative. I was very impressed, and we hope to use this tool to find new people to teach about the church, and why we do family history. The end of branch family home evening was a talent portion, and all the missionaries sang Army of Helaman in Russian. The members liked it so much, they demanded us to sing it for sacrament meeting the next day. Everyone loved it, and it was really fun to sing. Being out over a year, it is amazing what I understand now, and what I didn't understand when I came here at the very beginning. The gift of tongues is literally a gift from God, and it has helped me strengthen my testimony that this gospel is true.
I love you all, and I pray for you. I know you pray for me. This gospel is so true. I am so grateful for the blessings that I receive every day thanks to the fact that I am a member of The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It is truly His church, again restored upon the earth.
To Michael and Rachelle, I love you, and I congratulate you! Cherish each other, and I know that God will bless you. It is weird, now that I am the only bachelor in the family. Well, I still have a little less
than a year to worry about that.
I love you all!
Elder Hoggan, The Siberian Messenger
P.S. We will be skyping on the 13th of May here about 6:30 in the morning, so I don't know exactly when that will be in your neck of the woods.
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