Elder Hoggan played nine holes of golf on Pday :) He hasn't played in a long time! He was a little rusty, but it brought back some good memories. Watch out Birch Creek, he'll be back to get you someday!
Elder Hoggan has been reminded of the importance of being obedient this past week. Rules can be thought of as what holds us back. Missionaries are obedient without even thinking about it. They get caught up in their reading and may go over bedtime by five minutes. Big or small, disobedience is still being disobedient. We receive blessings from being obedient. Elder Hoggan sees that he is happier, has the spirit more, and everything turns out a lot better when being obedient. He encourages all of us to try to be as obedient as possible.
In missionary work, it is said that obedience brings blessings, exact obedience brings miracles. All of us are missionaries which means that that quote pertains to each of us.
Elder Hoggan spoke in church on the topic of I Know That My Redeemer Lives. The writer of that hymn, Samuel Medley, grew up in a Christian family but wasn't a Christian. After a miracle, Samuel turned his life around. He really experienced a change of heart. Each of us should be able to say that I Know That My Redeemer Lives honestly and mean it. We should always be looking to strengthen our testimony of the Savior and try to be better through His Atonement.
Alex received the Aaronic Priesthood Sunday and passed the sacrament. He is shy and takes things one step at a time, but has surprised Elder Hoggan with his progress. It would be a great blessing if they could pass the sacrament together before Elder Hoggan gets transferred.
Elder Hoggan got to visit Neuschwanstein for a third time. He is excited and is always looking for opportunities to wear his lederhosen! :)
Jasmin, an investigator, had an awesome lesson and then two others were a little rough. She has a young son who is 3 or 4 and can be super loud when with a members daughter who is 1 or 2. The members are Jasmins friends and this time the children went to the playroom so they would not be a noisy distraction.
Jasmin isn't sure what to do, but is trying hard to find the way and has been praying to Heavenly Father consistently. The Elders have taught her about prayer, reading the scriptures, going to church, and how all of this will help answers come in addition to receiving direction in her life. One of the members shared their conversion story that was really touching. Jasmin has a ton of potential and will hopefully be in church next Sunday!!
Aaron is doing well and had a funny lesson occur. A skype with a member from Elder Hoggan's last ward was planned, but Aaron's phone is 3G so it wasn't working too well. Instead, the Elders began teaching some words in English. Aaron is a happy guy and seems to enjoy meeting with the missionaries. A better system needs to work out in order for him to be taught. Aaron went to church which means he rides his bike 10 kilometers to do so.
Tim Jager, a son in the Bossa Familie, met with the Elders. Sadly, Frau Bossa was sick and unable to take part in the lesson. Tim's dad owns an italian pizza place so they enjoyed free pizza! :) Awesome! Tim was taught about the restoration of the gospel and he committed himself to reading 10 chapters in the Book of Mormon before meeting next time. He can do it! He's headed to Italy for two weeks with his family. A lot of people are taking vacation time now, but there's always someone to teach :)
The apartment renovating continues for Elders Hoggan and Harvey. Their living room is now a light brown and the kitchen is a white/green color. Sisters from the ward helped clean the entire apartment while the Elders painted! They brought lunch. It was the nicest thing that anyone has ever done for Elder Hoggan! Members of the church are great! Don't worry, the apartment is kept clean...most of the time ;)
Elder Hoggan encourages us all to enjoy another week the Lord has given us all!
Elder Hoggan is seeing a lot of miracles! It is so awesome and he is thankful to be serving there!
Two members from Eritrea, Africa (north of Ethiopia) just moved to Kaufbeuren. They are soooo cool, very nice, and showed up to church Sunday. Unfortunately, they hardly understand English or German, but will begin learning English from the missionaries. The restoration film was viewed and they recognized it, but think they saw a longer version.
Elders Hoggan and Harvey had their first personal interviews with the new mission president. President Kohler has many strengths and weaknesses, is very different from President Miles, and he showed up randomly with his family to their branch on Sunday. Elder Hoggan walked into the chapel, put down his backpack, and turned around - BOOM! There was President Kohler with his wife. She's the sweetest lady ever. Elder Hoggan has good things to say about those two.
Tuesday night brought an appointment with Alex. He's going to be receiving the priesthood in two weeks :):):) Elders Hoggan and Harvey are so happy for him! Alex has changed and he met with the missionaries three times last week.
Friday was one of the coolest days ever. The Elders received a media referral from a missionary from their ward. The lesson went super awesome to Yvonne and her three kids. She's married to Luigi, an Italian owner of a pizza company. Tim is their son and the best friend of this missionary that referred them. The plan of God and the point of life was taught. It went super!!!! A return appointment was made and pizza will be included next time :) Another referral arrived in the mail. We need to pray that that one goes well, too.
Saturday was spent renovating!!!! The apartment is going to look awesome. Just in time for Elder Hoggan to leave. Hopefully not, but maybe. The study room is now yellow on one wall and white on the other three. The bedroom is blue, white, and light blue on two walls. The bunk bed will be assembled this next week.
Sunday was awesome!!!! The Geiger Family came to church and look just like members! It is soooo cool! Pday was spent with them. They went go-kart riding and had a blast. Ice cream was enjoyed after with Ralf, the father, and Jakob, the son. Pictures will be coming of these professionals drivers :)
Aaron, an investigator with a baptismal date, went to church for the first time! He is the happiest guy ever and the missionaries love working with him. Many cool things are going on right now with the gospel in Kaufbeuren!!!
Mission life is really the best life. Elder Hoggan is thankful for this chance he has to serve for two years :)
Elder Hoggan just had another awesome week filled with exciting experiences :) He asked for responses as to how he has changed on his mission and really appreciates all of the emails sent his way. He is learning a ton of new things and hopes to be who the Lord wants him to be. He's learning a lot about his potential as a Son of God and the potential each of us has as children of God. Elder Hoggan knows that prayer isn't one-way communication, but it is a conversation. God talks back! And He's always talking if we are willing to listen.
Alex finally had an interview with the Branch President in regards to him receiving the priesthood!! Things look awesome :) They will meet again in the coming weeks. It's been so awesome to see how Alex has grown!
A cool miracle occurred on Thursday. Elders Hoggan and Harvey were at the store and ran into a guy they knew. As they talked, he told them that there are two members of the church that just moved in! They live super close to the church, but have been out of town in Munich. The missionaries are excited to meet them upon their return to Kaufbeuren and look forward to two more members there :) Coincidences don't just happen!
Saturday was the highlight of the week! During a previous weekly planning session, the topic of referrals was discussed and how to get more of them. A prayer was said, when usually that subject would've been passed by and mentioned briefly. The Elders prayed to receive a referral of some sort which didn't come that week, but it did this week :) Inside the mailbox, was a referral! Heavenly Father has blessings that He wants to give. We just need to ask. The Lord will answer our prayers, in His own way, in His own time, but he will answer :)
They stopped by on the Familie Bossa, the referral, got to the door and Frau Bossa answered. "No, no, no, not interested!" But the Elders said, "Wait!!!! Wait!!!!!" Luckily, she did :) An introduction was made with an explanation of how a friend, a missionary from Chicago, wanted this referral to happen. Frau Bossa changed her attitude :) Her next appointment will be Friday and hopefully, all will go well :)
Saturday brought a meeting with Aaron, an investigator from Senegal, who is super nice. He lived in Spain for ten years and his French is only okay. He understands Spanish and watched the Restoration DVD about Joseph Smith, understood it perfectly, and loved it! He was then taught about baptism, but the language barrier is pretty huge. Elder Hoggan can't remember his Spanish very well, but google translate helped a lot and a baptismal date has been set for the 6th of September!!!
Aaron understood through the Spirit what the Elders had been trying to teach him. He is a unique situation, because he was never taught to read. Thank goodness for technology! Aaron has the Gospel Library app and that reads the scriptures out loud to him! How awesome is that? :) Skype will probably be used in the future so Aaron can speak Spanish to others and learn more lessons in his language. It's an awesome time to be a missionary!
Elder Hoggan looks forward to this week and to more miracles :)
