More pictures

Here are some people from Barnaul. When we were on our journey across the mission, we ran into these guys at the bus station late at night. The one on the far left I talked to on the bus for a long time. They were amazed to see Americans, and wanted our picture.
 

People from Barnaul

Elders Yagodin, Hoggan and Marian

Dimi

 

This is the Lord's work. He will provide a way.

Dear Family:

Yes in fact I did hear the message about the age change for missionary service. We were preparing for sacrament meeting, when the Zone Leaders shared a text with us that the age requirement was changing. We couldn't grasp our minds on the fact that missionaries will be younger, especially for the sisters. It was the strangest thing to hear. What I felt is that the time is getting closer. We need more and more missionaries to preach the gospel. Now young men don't have to worry about schooling or work. Just go and serve! President Gibbons didn't say anything more to us, but there is going to be a FLOOD of missionaries, and I don't know how we will take care of them. Well, this is the Lord's work, so He can worry about that. He will provide a way.

What can I say this week? First of all, this was a very easy transfer for us. I don't know how it turned out that way, but things seemed to work right, and all things went smoothly. It was wonderful to welcome all of the new missionaries personally. They are amazing, and they will do amazing things for this mission. Looking at them, and seeing myself, I sometimes wish I could start over. I have only so few months left, and I wonder what happened with the time. I wish I could have worked harder earlier in my mission, been more prepared, but I can't. This is the only mission I have, so any who are on the process of serving a mission, especially since there is greater opportunity to serve, do all you can to prepare. You do not want to have regrets on your mission.

It is definitely getting colder around here. Right now, it is incredibly wet, and it is raining. I am grateful for the coat that I have. Didn't I get that coat when I was about 14 or 15? I can't believe I still have it. The trees are so beautiful in Russia during the fall. Here is a picture of a park in Novosibirsk. Many people might think that Russia is dark and bleak. There are definite times, but Russia still is beautiful. I love it.

President Gibbons has given us new directions to carry copies of the Book of Mormon with us wherever we go. The Book of Mormon is our greatest tool for teaching people. I know this to be true, since during this crazy week, throughout all of the chaos that is transfer, I was able to personally give out two copies of the Book of Mormon, and we are meeting with one of them, Sergei, tomorrow. I just wonder, what good we could do if we had available copies of the Book of Mormon, church magazines, and other things? I remember reading a story of an area seventy, who asked a member barber why he didn't have church magazines at his salon. The barber promised that he would, and the area seventy returned months later. When he saw that there were still no church magazines, he questioned the barber. The barber said that he did put out church magazines, and that people would come, read, and ask to keep them. Some of those people were even meeting with the missionaries. All of this wonderful work, people becoming interested just by reading something left out by a member. I think I will want to keep a copy of the Book of Mormon with me at all times, even when I am at home. You never know when someone is in need of its enlightening words.

So here is the story with Sergei. We were in the metro, going towards our apartment, getting ready for the new missionaries to come spend the night. Our apartment is the biggest in the mission, and it is used to house all missionaries that are traveling to different cities, on a visa trip, or coming or going, I see this man look at my name tag, and I decide, "Why not talk to him?" I said hi, and he said hello back. In English. It was a little awkward, since, the metro was packed with people. The metro usually can have over 100 people per car, and people shove to get in. It is so much fun, especially in the heat of summer, everyone is stuck in this metal box, with barely enough room to bend your elbows. Anyway, I had little time to talk to him, before we had to get out. He actually stayed to talk even more, and before I could say anything else, he asks if we have a phone so we could call him. In surprise, I said yes, and I wrote down his number so I could call him. I had a Book of Mormon in my hand, and he saw it, and asked, "For free?" I was more than happy to give him this book, and I told him a little about the Book of Mormon, and I asked him to read it. The next day, I called him in hopes to set up a meeting, and he immediately recognized me, and he planned a meeting without me even saying anything. I didn't say anything about meeting, but he wanted to. He was really interested, and he actually read some of the Book of Mormon, even though he was busy on a business trip. I easily could have not said hi, but I am glad I did.

The members’ pictures are as follows. The woman is Zina, a member from Barnaul. We helped her clean her daughter's grave, and she asked me to bless her daughter's grave. I said a prayer that it would be protected from evil and that it would be a place of comfort and love. It was an honor to me to give the prayer, and I definitely feel the spirit. The other picture is some members of Novozuznetsk. The man and the blond-haired woman are a married couple, Ivan and Irina. Ivan is the branch president in Novokuznetsk. The other woman is Valia, who was a recent convert when I came to Russia. The branch is small in Novokuznetsk, but I hear that the work is booming there. They are really building up the branch there. I was glad to see them again, during the big district conference.

Zina

Irina, Elder Hoggan, Valia, Ivan

I love you all, and I pray for you. Read the Book of Mormon, say your prayers, and keep the commandments.

Elder Hoggan (The Siberian Messenger)

Conference is like Christmas

So here is the crazy of THIS week.

Conference is like the Christmas of a mission. It is a time of happiness, joy, and gathering with those you love. Shouldn't that be what Conference should be for everyone? I am sort of sad that I didn't take conference so seriously as I do now. I know for a fact that during General Conference, you WILL receive the answers to all of your questions. They are called men and women of God. If we listen and heed their guidance, you will be following the direction of our Heavenly Father and you will find happiness and joy in life. This is my spiritual thought for this week- Follow the Prophet. Heavenly Father wants to help us, and one of His channels of communication to us is through His ordained leaders, His prophets. They are given the priesthood keys to lead the saints of the church, and to administer in the ordinances. They help us know the will of God. We are given many sources for the answers to our prayers-scriptures, church services, blessings, friends, and especially the prophets. Remember President Monson's talk. Heavenly Father is active in our lives, and what may seem insignificant acts, are answers to prayers. How important they are, to attentively listen and apply what they teach. I love our leaders, and I feel their love every time they talk to us. I also know that it is the love of our Heavenly Father as well. How much He loves us.

So talking about conference, here is our adventure this week! It was really slow this week, and then all of a sudden, we receive a package-it was the conference disks! This was Thursday, and everyone in the mission was planning the following Saturday to watch. the mail system would be too slow, how to get all of the disks to the cities? The Assistants were going to Omsk and Kazakhstan, so they took them there, the Gundersens went to Krasnoyarsk and took the disks, but what about Barnaul, Novokuznetsk, Kemerovo, and Tomsk? Can I say Road Trip? The fastest way for us to take all of the disks to the cities was for us to take busses and visit all of the cities. Me and Elder Harper left Thursday afternoon, and got into Barnaul about 8:00. We met the elders there and waited for our bus at 10:00 to leave for Novokuznetsk. While waiting, we decided to play this crane game, and this man walked up to us asking for 20 rubles (about 50 cents in our money), since he was a little short on cash for his tickets. We decided it was okay, since we were wasting it on a game anyway, and he was really grateful. He asked why we were here, we said that we were missionaries, and he felt that God led him to us to help him. He asked if he could meet with missionaries the next day, before he would be leaving. We gave him the address of the branch in Barnaul, and we hope that they met. It was just good to help this man. 

It was a 7 hour bus ride to Novokuznetsk, and we got there about 5:30 Friday morning. We went to the Elders' apartment, and we slept for a little while until we left 8:00 for our bus to Kemerovo. We went to my old apartment in Novokuznetsk, and I was very nostalgic. I wonder if my brothers ever felt that way if they returned to a city they previously served. I really liked that apartment. I wished we could have stayed in the city longer, but we had no time. We left, and took the bus to Kemerovo. Remember, the shortest bus ride is about 5 hours. We get to Kemerovo, and it is a beautiful place. All missionaries who served there say that it is the cleanest city in the mission, and they are absolutely right. We had a long time in Kemerovo, until 6 that evening, so we helped some missionaries move into their new apartment. Their landlady decided to sell their apartment, so they needed a new place to live. We helped them move, and a police man comes over. We thought he had other business, so we let him pass us as we carry furniture and baggage up the stairs of the building. Then he stops at our door, and I think, "Oh no." We open the door, and he tells us that this old lady called in some strange unfamiliar people wearing strange clothes, carrying strange items in the apartment. Elder Harper and I had a taxi waiting for us, so we left hurriedly, leaving the other elders to take care of the situation. Later, all was okay. The police man was just checking the situation, and of course there was nothing wrong. All was okay.

We get into Tomsk about 11:00 at night. The bus was so bumpy, it was like riding the Indiana Jones ride for five hours straight. Not very comfortable for sleeping. We go to the district leader's apartment, and we spend the night, we leave about 7:30 Saturday morning for Novosibirsk. We get in Novosibirsk about 1:00 and they already finished the first session of Saturday morning General Conference. We quickly got cleaned up, and went to the branch building to watch conference. All in all, the experience was fun, tiring, and something I will never do again.

It is crazy to think that we were in five cities in two days and all of them about 5 hours apart. We had a very quick trip of the mission, so  that all could enjoy conference and receive the blessings from modern prophets. That is the sacrifice we are willing to make.

May we all take a page from the book of Peter, and be willing to drop our "nets" and follow Him. Missionaries across the world have dropped their worldly nets of family, friends, career, education, and other pursuits to follow the call of the Savior, so that we can confidently say to Him, "Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee." From conference, I felt a need for personal conversion. We all have a testimony, but are we all converted? If called, will we be willing to serve? What are willing to sell our soul for? I would like to give my soul to my Savior, "for whoso loseth his life shall find it." For our souls are worth "great in the sight of God", and if we give Him our souls, we will receive "all that the Father hath." It is worth it. The struggle is worth fighting for, because we will win.

Elder Hoggan (The Siberian Messenger)

An eternal family is a praying family.

Dear Family:
Well, since it is the beginning of the month, I read the Book of Mormon for the FIFTH time in Russian. I am right on schedule to read it 12 times before I leave. I am also right on schedule to finish the rest of the standard works in Russian by the end of this month.

To couple with scriptures study from last week, I would like to talk about prayer. I am so grateful for your examples of prayer and how you teach your children to pray. Sometimes I definitely feel their pure prayers in my behalf. It is easy to teach children to pray, but how can we teach our children to listen? I have found this to be the most difficult part of receiving answers to prayers. I remember one day, I was very discouraged, and I said an evening prayer that I bet never made it past the ceiling. I think that many of our prayers can be like that. I still felt horrible, and as I was going to sleep, I thought, "Why am I not getting an answer? They say that God always answers prayers, and here I was with one not answered. Immediately a voice said to me, "Because some are not ready to listen." I realized right then and there that the reason that I was not receiving an answer was that I wasn't listening. I had to humble myself, and be willing to accept the will of the Lord in my life. Listening is a skill that we all need to develop throughout our lives. We can always get better at it. I am trying to pause and assess what I feel in my heart while I am praying. That gives me time to ponder my words, and also gives time for the Holy Ghost to come in and give me direction. Another challenge with prayer is like the analogy that Elder Bednar gave with receiving revelation. I always feel like it is a foggy day when I pray, and I just try to make the best of my feelings and judgments. But one thing that I know is that Heavenly Father answers prayers...always. Sometimes I think the best answers He gives me is silence. He trusts us to use our gifts to solve our problems, and He will silently lead us, unknowingly until we find the answer. Also with silence, it is Heavenly Father saying, "You are not ready." That is when our faith has to come in. We need to have faith that all will be okay, because Heavenly Father loves us. He knows when we are ready for the answer. Even if I don't receive answers, I always feel His love, and sometimes that is answer enough for me. In this, I pray that we can focus a little more on listening to our prayers, and acting on those thoughts and feelings. Many of our commitments given to investigators includes the whole family. Will you pray with your family, kneeling, every day? What could be a greater way to start the day, with a family kneeling in prayer together? Then what could be a better way to end a day, with prayer again as a family? Thank you for your examples, Mom and Dad, that we prayed together. An eternal family is a praying family.

This month is the start of new missionaries coming in, missionaries transferring, missionaries leaving, leaving me with a headache. I am resolving this time to be more relaxed during the transfer, and we shall see if I am successful.

President Gibbons just came back from Estonia, Finland, and Kazakhstan, and we just met him out on the street while we came back from getting haircuts. With the new visas, we don't have to stay outside the country very long, we could leave an hour immediately after arriving. I don't know fully what will happen, but it will make the work easier and more efficient. I am not sure if I will get the three-year visa. I also figured out that the visa is a religious visa, so I probably couldn't use it for vacation or business. Sad.

I am really excited for Conference. Since we are such a different time zone, we just receive disks of copies of Conference. General conference is such a marvelous time. We can listen to the words of living prophets! A modern-day Moses is in our behalf, and we should treat the event as such.  Elder Harper and I even listen to general conference talks in Russian every once in a while, and they always inspire me. I want to make conference such an important time in my life, because we can receive all our desired answers. It was so cool to hear that Dad will be in the choir for priesthood session! It reminds me right before I left for my mission, I sang in the choir. I that was my first time seeing President Monson that close, and I just felt his spirit fill the room. His love permeated the room, and I felt a few tears fall.

The tiny girl is Irina. She was recently baptized into our branch. She is so tiny, especially compared to two giant missionaries! She is very humble and nice. She is learning ballet.

I will continue to share pictures, and share stories. These people are wonderful, and they have such strong spirits. These people are truly blessed, and I am grateful to be able to serve them. I love being a missionary, and I love my Savior, and I want to do my priesthood duty to serve Him. This is His church, and there is no other way to return to our Heavenly Father, but to follow the Savior and follow His restored Gospel, which was restored by Joseph Smith. I love you.

Elder Hoggan (The Siberian Messenger)

The importance of reading the scriptures

Dear Family,

What can I say today? I think what would be good to say is the importance of reading the scriptures. You know about my goals to read the standard works of the church in Russian every three months, with the Book of Mormon every month, and I can honestly say I am still attacking my goal, and the future looks bright. I have never read the scriptures this much in my life, and I am just beginning to understand their importance. Every single day I have to read over 40 pages of scripture a day in order to make my goal. Remember this is including the work I do as a missionary in the office, which is the reason I am so late in writing, AND it is in Russian. It takes dedication and prioritization. Sometimes I get up earlier in the mornings so that I can catch up on my studies. What place do we put scripture study? I am not saying that you have to make the same goals as me, but what place are they on? One important thing is also family scripture study. A commitment that we give investigators is that they have daily scripture study, personal, and as a family. Are we being diligent in that? In order to help investigators on the road to conversion, scripture study is crucial. If we want to convert ourselves, we need to do the same. I remember in my senior year of high school, I really wanted to take early morning seminary, but that would conflict with family scripture study. I decided that family scripture study is more important, but I didn't fully understand why. I understand now. That was a very difficult time for all of us, and though I had no new insights in the scriptures, that very action brought us together, and strengthened our relationships with each other and with our Heavenly Father. The scriptures are so precious to me, and that is why I want to read them so often. Even if I am having a bad day, I can start reading the scriptures, and I don't read a passage that is the answer to my problems, but the very act allows the Holy Ghost to come, comfort, inspire, and edify. It is a conduit of revelation. I pray that we all are serious with the scriptures, because think of how many people suffered for those records to be kept, both saints in the ancient past, as well as in the early beginnings of the church. President Gibbons wants us to really use the Book of Mormon in our contacting and teaching, to have us carry the blessed book in our hands as we go our ways. In time, people will come to know that missionaries carry around the Book of Mormon. They will associate us with another testament of Jesus Christ, evidence of the Restoration. May we all read the scriptures, and feast on the words of Christ.

Well, this is why I was so late in my writing.

First of all, there is a new senior couple in our mission, the Gundersens. I don't have a picture of them right now, but I will. What is really cool is that they are good friends with the Webbs, who are the senior couple working with us in the office. Just think, being able to serve with your good friends, in the same city, in Russia! This was definitely no chance, and the hand of the Lord is in it all. They are wonderful people, and they will do an amazing job lifting the saints here in Russia. They have had serious problems with their apartment, and we had to help them as we tried to set up the internet, new furniture, and fixing the water. It was a merry welcome to Siberia, but they are wonderful. That took up all of Monday for us, and Sister Gundersen asked us what is the best thing for senior missionaries to do in this mission. What Elder Harper and I said was that they need to love the people. I remember the Huffakers, and their amazing example. They couldn't speak a word of Russian, but the people loved them nonetheless. They would hug the people, and that is what they needed. They needed love. It is hard when you might be the only member in your family, or none of your friends support the same standards. Everyone needs love, and the senior couples can give love that missionaries can't. We leave, but senior couples stay. One of the biggest things I miss here is a hug from Mom. (I am not homesick, mind you) But you can't feel so much love in a handshake, and a man hug doesn't cut it. Paternal love is so precious, and it really makes a difference.

We are on the final stages of building a stake of Zion here. Elder Harper and I are working feverishly on getting the final touches done. What we are doing is creating a chart that records all of the priesthood holders in our mission, and the number of actual members, which means getting rid of old records of people who moved and other things. It is a difficult process, and I really appreciate the gifts that we have. I remember in the movie "The Other Side of Heaven", and the mission president getting angry because there were not records made. I felt a little enmity towards him. But now I realize the importance of record keeping. His attitude was wrong, in accusing the missionary of not working hard, but the reasons were important. There is many times written in the Book of Mormon, that those who united themselves with the Church of Jesus Christ, their names were "written down". Records help us better assert the needs of our members, and how to attend to them. Poorly kept records make the administration even more difficult. I guess it is a problem everywhere, which it shouldn't be. It is the easiest thing to do, to keep records organized. You just have to do it. We are now helping the branches update their records, to better visualize our readiness to become a stake.

Members of the US embassy came to the office to evaluate our abilities to obtain visas for our missionaries. They told us great news, that we are now able to obtain 3-year visas, which means we would not have to leave the country at all! President Gibbons also got this news at a conference in Estonia. That saves the church millions of dollars, and keeps the work even progressing. We still have to leave the country, but now we will immediately return and not stay in Finland. No more visa trips. If all works well, that means that I will get a 3-year visa on my last visa trip, meaning I could easily visit Russia after my mission almost up to 3 years in the future. (I am crossing my fingers)

On Tuesday, we were in a meeting with President Gibbons while he was in Kazakhstan, about working harder as missionaries, finding, teaching, and baptizing. It is really hard, as an office elder, to listen to them talk about finding and teaching. It is so difficult to even talk to people out on the streets, because we wouldn't be able to meet with them. I bet my letters seem more boring, because I am just talking about office stuff, but Heavenly Father needs me to work in this office. I don't know why, because I have no special skills in an office at all, but I know it is for a reason. All I can do is cheer the other elders on as they find the Lord's chosen.

This next week is also visa trip for other missionaries, so we have to take care of them. They are coming in right now, as I am typing. It is so stressful, but it has to be done.

This man is named Lev, which means Lion in Russian. He is such a wonderful member of the church, and he is talented. We did a step dance together, and we performed for the Huffakers when they left. I will see if I can share that little film.

I really don't have very much else, but I love you and I pray for you. I hope all is well with your families. Remember to be faithful to the gospel, because all of the greatest blessings are from the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Elder Hoggan (The Siberian Messenger)
Старейшина Хогган (Сибирский Посланник)