Monday, April 14, 2014

His Week

Elder Hoggan had a district meeting Tuesday in Augsburg and it was awesome! The Wright's from SLC are still there. They were his mission mom and dad while he served in that district for 6 months. Sister Wright's cooking is the best and has really been missed.

On the train home, Elders Hoggan and Evans noticed the bad weather, but decided to go dooring anyway. They chose a place after a lot of prayer and discussion for their Window to Heaven. Right from the start, they were met with tons of awesome conversations and people, but no one was interested. The rain finally went away and the last home belonged to Heinrich. He is SUPER COOL! They talked for 20 minutes and he liked Elder Hoggan's American accent. He's a family man and the missionaries will return later this week to see how Heinrich is reading in the Book of Mormon.

Bru. Rotter is the ward mission leader and is very personable. He has a way with people and gave a presentation about the church to 50 people. The Elders helped him prepare a slide show to be shown in a few weeks. He is a great member that is very involved with missionary work and truly believes in it.

Temple is a Nigerian investigator that had a Saturday appointment. He reminds Elder Hoggan of Victor in Ingolstadt. They react the same. His lesson was on the restoration of the gospel and the Book of Mormon. He's reading the old English, which is really hard, but won't give up. Temple made it to church on Sunday and goes on his own :)

Elder Evans and Elder Hoggan got to bless the sacrament together which made for an awesome experience on Fast Sunday. They fasted with a ward member who is preparing to receive the priesthood. They also fasted with their mission to reach a goal of setting a baptismal date with someone from the area book. The meeting was great and Elder Hoggan is so grateful for the chance to fast and listen to testimonies.

Then they were off to Augsburg for interviews with President Miles at another district meeting. He and Sister Miles return home to Utah in June. Elder Hoggan will miss them. They are great! Having one-on-one time with President Miles is so nice.

This week will bring an exchange to Ingolstadt and Elder Hoggan is SUPER EXCITED!

Monday, April 7, 2014

Kaufbeuren!

Elder Hoggan had a Zone Training Meeting last Tuesday on having the Spirit, having a good relationship with companions, and being obedient. He and Elder Quilter were asked to talk about Companionship Unity which they compared to marriage. There are similarities. It is really important to love your companion and to be patient with them. With good relationships, it is much easier to have the Spirit and enjoy missionary work.

Wednesday consisted of goodbyes. The Familie Madei made schnitzel for the Elders. Sister Madei is a great cook! It will be missed. Madeis are solid members and have been faithful in the gospel their entire lives. A lot of schnitzel was consumed and the missionaries left super stuffed. Bad idea. 

Another visit that day took them to the Familie Andjelkovic and they had lunch prepared. Hopefully their daughter, Angelina, will be baptized sometime this year.

The third awesome family visited was the Gimpls. Thankfully, there wasn't any food there, but the game of Uno was played instead. Elder Hoggan will totally have to go back to Rosenheim one day!

Thursday was transfers and the train took them to Munich. Old buddies were seen in the hour there. Then, Elders Hoggan and Evans were off to Kaufbeuren. That night they had an appointment with a LA and it went really well.

Elder Evans is super cool and is from Arizona. He just finished his second transfer which makes Elder Hoggan his first companion after his trainer. "Greenie Busting" is taking place. These two will have an awesome time together.

Kaufbeuren is a smaller city and has a branch with quite a few members. Usually about 50 attend church each week. These missionaries have a car, an Opal, and drive a lot of places. Elder Hoggan hasn't got his license yet. It involves some paperwork he will take care of.

Investigators are a struggle for now, but not for long. That's all about to end. 

The castle, Neuschwanstein, is in their area. It is the Disneyland castle and Elder Hoggan has been there before when he was serving in Ingolstadt.

For his first Pday in Kaufbeuren, the apartment was cleaned, shopping got done, and emailing takes place at the church. They have a washing machine and a keyboard thing!
Really? There isn't a dryer or dishwasher.

This fantastic missionary thought that General Conference was AMAZING!! He really enjoyed Jeffrey R. Holland's talk on Courage and President Uchtdorf's talk about Gratitude. Every talk was great, but those were his favorites. Elder Hoggan got to take a train to Augsburg to view General Conference. Lucky!!

He's ready for a terrific week ahead :))


Wednesday, April 2, 2014

New Area, Same Zone

Elder Hoggan will be transferred to Kaufbeuren, Germany. It is located in his first district and he got to know a couple of the members of the church while he was living in Ingolstadt. Kaufbeuren is in the Munich Zone which is where he has spent his entire mission thus far. Elder Evans, from New Mexico, will be his new companion.

For his last week in Rosenheim, Elder Hoggan enjoyed it. He went to Neuotting where two members of his district are. At his last district meeting as DL, everyone  shared their favorite conference talks and discussed them. 

A finding day was held on Tuesday and Elders Hoggan and Worthin worked together. They were MTC missionaries and caught up on what the other had been doing since last year. These two may get to work as companions again soon in the near future. After a train ride that night, they had a dinner appointment with a member and schnitzel was served :) Elder Hoggan's favorite! He will really miss the members there. Thank goodness for Facebook.

Wednesday was super cool for Elder Hoggan. Angelina, age 12, is interested in the gospel. She belongs to the Familie Andjelkovic. She was asked about learning more and agreed! The first lesson went very well. Sadly, Elder Hoggan won't have a chance to teach her much more. She has a ton of potential.

Saturday brought the journey of a thousand miles ;) Not really, but it seemed far. Elders Hoggan and Quilter decided to take a personal touch to a member of the church. That means doing something nice for someone. For instance, bake cookies, write a nice note, anything really. They are to do at least one personal touch a week. It was decided to take cookies and bike to this house. Their home was actually about twice as far than the missionaries thought. This member lived quite a ways North, but were still considered part of the city. These strong Elders had a nice time biking their hearts out :)

Sunday in Rosenheim was sad. Elder Hoggan bore his testimony to the ward that has been sooooo good to him. Now he must say goodbye to more people, but he enjoyed the Sabbath and always sees the positive. That entire day was spent with members. After church, Elders had a dinner appointment (eating appt.) and then were off to another member's home. Elder Quilter got to skype home, because it was Mother's Day in England. That was a lot of fun for he and his mom.

Elder Hoggan's new address will be:

Kirche Jesu Christi
Elder Steven Paul Hoggan
Alte Post strasse 10
Kaufbeuren 87600
Deutschland or Germany

This great missionary has been on exchange in Kaufbeuren, too.

For Pday on March 31, 2014, the Elders got to visit a "Schloss" or a castle. It is located by Lake Chiemsee and seemed more like a mansion. The pictures are amazing! A boat ride was needed to get to it. 

Elder Hoggan was sporting a Starbulls jersey from a hockey team there in Rosenheim. He hasn't been to a game, but he sure looks good in green! What a guy!


Monday, March 24, 2014

One Year!

Elder Hoggan has officially been a missionary for a year! Time has flown for him. He celebrated this anniversary and experienced miracles last week!

Tuesday was a finding day for the four missionaries in Rosenheim. Elders Hoggan and Kroes served together after lunch. They went by on five people, but no success was to be had. This didn't get them down. After leaving an apartment building, Elder Hoggan noticed a store, "Byll Y Byll". This triggered his memory. He had seen that name before on their home teaching list. Kodjo Byll. The missionaries had not been able to contact him, so they walked in to see if this was the same person. It was!!!! He had been found and a discussion was held for about an hour. He is not your typical LA, claims to not belong to any church, and doesn't need a church to worship God. It has been a while since Kodjo has had any contact with the church, because he didn't have a Book of Mormon. One was left with him and next week the Elders will call on him. Kodjo Byll is cool and has an amazing knowledge of the Bible. The missionaries were led to him by the Lord working in mysterious ways!

Normally the Elders don't take buses, but one day in Munich they needed to in order to be on time getting home after attending a meeting. They ran for a bus, but it wasn't there. A guy told them that it hadn't come yet. This stranger asked them about being Mormons. He could tell who they were and he requested a Book of Mormon. Alexander has been to SLC and his address, phone number, and other information was given to Elders Smith and Worthin at a later date. Elder Hoggan's prayers were answered as he prayed for this golden investigator. A miracle happened, just not on the day Alexander crossed paths with Elder Hoggan. Other elders will teach Alexander. He looks amazing!

Elders Hoggan and Smith got to have an exchange together and enjoyed serving as they had in the past. They are roommates, but what fun to work side by side again. These two did a service project for a member. Gardening. Elders Quilter and Kroes had a lesson with a new investigator, Dominik. He's only 15 and has had a hard life. He looks to be 19, but now Elder Hoggan is excited to get to work with him.

A giant party was held for Elder Hoggan's year mark in the mission field. This went on for a couple of days and why not? A place was found that served all-you-can-eat Schnitzel! It was delicious!

Sundays are always awesome for Elder Hoggan! No investigators were at church, but the Familie Berka had the missionaries over for dinner. They cooked the best food ever and then the Elders were off to catch another train. Elder Quilter yelled quickly that they needed Gleis 5. That is a platform for trains, but they actually needed Gleis 3. It's okay, because they still made it even though it was super close. A priesthood meeting was held later by the Stake and Victor was there! Elder Hoggans buddy from Ingoldstadt :)

Such an awesome week for Elder Hoggan. Transfer calls are coming. Our favorite Elder has been in Rosenheim for four transfers now. Will his time be up?

Monday, March 17, 2014

GRUBEUCH!!!!!!

Elder Hoggan has hit his one year mark this week. Today, St. Patrick's Day, is the anniversary of his mission farewell. Time is going fast. He was left at the curb of a strange building on March 20, 2013. Thankfully, Elder Noble, one of his best friends, was their to receive him.

Elders Hoggan and Quilter taught the Familie Andjelkovic last Monday. It went awesome! This family was baptized the previous summer, but struggle to get to church sometimes. Their daughter, Angelina, has been challenged to find out if the church is for her or not. She sits in on many lessons and has gone to church a few times. Matthias, the Ward Mission Leader, asked Angelina if she would like to take the lessons as her parents did. She agreed and the missionaries can now begin teaching her this week. The entire family is great!

A zone training meeting was held Tuesday and this month the mission will fast for a baptismal date with someone in their area books. An area book has a ton of records of those investigating the church and for whatever reason, stopped meeting with the missionaries. Elder Hoggan is pretty excited to go through that book and see what can be found. This week the district will meet in Rosenheim and go by on a lot of people. Expect a miracle :)

The Elders met with the Familie Bagurdo Wednesday and it was super awesome! "Man, maybe every day was just great," says Elder Hoggan. The mama of this family is LA and is married to a non-member from Italy. The lesson was focused on the papa. Discussion centered on the Family Proclamation to the World. Near the end, this gentleman asked golden questions. "Why are there so many churches? Why does it matter which church I belong to?" The missionaries will meet with this family again in a few weeks and look forward to answering more of his questions.

Hu needs our prayers to be found again by Elders Hoggan and Quilter. Hopefully, they will run into him again soon.

Church was great as usual. Class was full :)  Tatiana, an investigator, walked to church with her son, Max, and the missionaries. Ioanan, an investigator that Elders Smith and Kroes are meeting with, also came. Elder Hoggan was able to teach Ioanan previously when he and Elder Smith were companions. There were also less actives in their church class.

Elder Hoggan loves being in Rosenheim! It isn't always easy, but it is worth it. The church is true!

Monday, March 10, 2014

Come What May & Love It

Elder Hoggan had another great week that flew by. An awesome miracle occurred last Pday. A young man was walking by and was stopped at the last second by Elder Hoggan. The missionaries explained about the Book of Mormon and this gentleman, Dominik, said that he had heard of the book from a friend. He wondered where he could get one. WHAT? The Elders got his number and set up an appointment to meet.

Another miracle happened when Elders Hoggan and Quilter came upon Ulrich. A goal had been set to find two potentials that day and Ulrich became the second. The Elders asked him about the point of life and Ulrich replied that he would love to talk about it at a later date. An appointment was made right there on the spot. Ulrich met with the missionaries last Thursday and learned about the Plan of Salvation. It was comforting and sounded good to him. He agreed to pray and accepted a Book of Mormon. Another appointment was set for tonight. Hope all goes well :)

Hu watched the Finding Happiness DVD on Tuesday. Afterward, King Lamoni's story of finding God was discussed. Hu agreed to a return appointment, but he didn't show. Contact may have been lost again or maybe he was confused on which Thursday to meet at the church. If only Hu knew how many people were praying for him. Maybe this week he will be present.

Sunday was a great day at church in Rosenheim, Germany, because the theme was faith and repentance. We should never be afraid to repent and never afraid to turn to the Lord. He loves us and wants us to be happy. After church, the Familie Lederer had Elders Hoggan and Quilter over for dinner. The missionaries rode bikes to their home and on the way there, Elder Hoggan's front tire popped :) He rode the rest of the way with a flat, but got it fixed and had a nice time with their family. Elder Hoggan loves adventures :)

A mormon message from Joseph B. Wirthlin was loved and studied by Elder Hoggan. It's at: https://www. lds.org/media-library/video/2009-01-03-come-what-may-and-love-it?lang=eng. Come what may and love it!

Monday, March 3, 2014

All is Well

Things are going great for Elder Hoggan, of course. His week flew by with exchanges, changes, and other happenings.

His washing machine problems are almost over. Price checking was done and the new one should be delivered on Wednesday. No more going to the laundromat.

Exchanges took place in Neuotting so Elder Hoggan could conduct his first baptismal interview. It was a cool experience! Tanja was baptized last Saturday and that was very special. Baptisms always are. Elders Hoggan and Quilter were in attendance on her big, extraordinary day.

Elder Hoggan had his first district meeting in Rosenheim with zone leaders. It was a review of their last zone conference and went really well. Elder Hoggan was pleased with how it went and he has a great district. His exchange was with Elder Morril, his zone leader, from Logan. They know some of the same people in Cache Valley. An appointment with a LA was missed due to getting on the wrong train, but they managed to set up a new one in that area with someone else. Who knows? Maybe something cool will happen there?

An MTC moment or movie experience took place on a different day with a member of the church who invited a friend over. They sat in a circle, taught this individual about the restoration, and he asked all of the right questions. He wants to meet with the missionaries again and wants to read the Book of Mormon. That day got even better! The Elders went to the church building to email some investigators and "just happened" to run into Hu, their chinese investigator. Contacting him has been hard due to Hu's technical difficulties/trouble with emails. An appointment was set up and this is another miracle!

Elder Hoggan's mission fasted on fast Sunday for the youth of the church to stay strong and that more would come to the fold. There were a ton of people, including non members, to Sacrament meeting due to a baby blessing. "If only we had this many every Sunday," thought Elder Hoggan. One day! One day!

Elder Quilter is super funny and always has a joke to tell. He grew up in Smithfield, Utah, but moved to Wales when he was 5 years old. Welsh is the craziest language ever and is super old, one of the oldest in the world. Elder  Quilter loves missionary work and Elder Hoggan loves him as a companion!

Elder Hoggan's last piece of good news was that his release date is 3/4/15!!!!!! WOW!!!!!