1st Week W/New Son

Elder Hoggan's new companion is Elder Harvey from St. George, Utah. He is super cool! After meeting in Munich and staying over night, they caught a train to Kaufbeuren. They sat next to a lady who accepted a Book of  Mormon and they visited with her about Joseph Smith. After their hour on the train was up, she left her email address with the Elders.

Elder Harvey was introduced to the ward mission leader after he got settled in. The missionaries went over to his house and did some racing on his race track in the basement. He is a cool, fun loving guy and that was tons of fun.

A ward activity took place on Saturday. Miniature golf was played on a cement course. Putting was super, super hard, but a lot of fun. Elder Hoggan enjoyed playing golf for the first time time in years and thinks his swing has stayed in good shape :) It was an awesome opportunity for Elder Harvey to get to know the ward and reminded Elder Hoggan of past summer days at home.

Sunday was awesome. No, there weren't investigators in church, but there will be next week. After going by on a potential, the Elders gave a lady at a bus stop a Book of Mormon. She said that she would read it, pray about it, and contact the Elders. Sadly, she didn't leave any information. Maybe she will call after all.

A couple from Bosnia approached the missionaries and said, "And these two men probably have a book for us. That's how it works, right?" Elder Hoggan was holding a Book of Mormon and responded, "Well, yes actually!" They chatted for a while and made an appointment for Tuesday to meet at the church. Hopefully, they will come :) Elder Hoggan has a really good feeling about them.

Next to the church is a soccer field, a track, and a basketball court. It is a park area. As the Elders passed, they offered to take on a couple of individuals playing basketball. They agreed and played pretty decent. One is a German and the other was from China. The missionaries were in their church clothes and played for about 15 minutes. More games were planned and a teaching opportunity may come from this.

The Elders are doing their best to talk to as many people as they can. Miracles are coming their way! The Lord is answering their prayers! Next week will be another miracle week, too :) Elder Hoggan knows it!

Seed

Elder Hoggan sends his greeting and is grateful to be a missionary everyday. He has the advantage over us here at home. Transfer calls came and Elder Evans left for Austria.

Now Elder Hoggan is bearing a son and the seed continues. He will be taking a train with Elder Stuart, also from Smithfield, and going to Munich together. They will both be trainers and finding out who belongs with who.

Elder Evans was a great companion. Change is always good and exciting. There is always something to learn, but it will be a bummer to say goodbye to Elder Evans.

On Tuesday, Elder Hoggan was in Ingolstadt. There were some train complications due to construction. This made switching back very hard.

Wednesday a new investigator was picked up. her name is Sonja and her husband is LA because of his job. He works for the police and can only attend church one Sunday a month. Sonja is super cool, too. She likes the church and the Book of Mormon, but has a few concerns that the missionaries will help her get over.

Saturday was a heart wrenching day. It was a zone training meeting and a goodbye conference to President and Sister Miles. The whole thing was super awesome! A lot was said about patience and motivation. Pictures of the new mission president and his family were shown. he will be coming in around June 27th. After the Miles last teachings, hugs were given and pictures were taken. They are amazing people and will be missed sooo much. But what happens, happens. The new president will be just as awesome. It can be sometimes hard to say goodbye to good friends.

Later, the Elders took a train and visited with one of Elder Hoggan's favorite families from the Ingolstadt Branch. There son had just been baptized after turning eight years old. 

Elder Hoggan has met many awesome people on his mission as he serves bearing testimony that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true. 

Great Week, No Time

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Great week, No time!

Elder Hoggan visited the Neuschwanstein Castle today and has absolutely no time to send a longer email. His week was amazing with many highlights.

Saturday was cool, because they helped Herbie move into his new apartment. He's an investigator that had things in a storage unit and his new house is now only 5 minutes away from the church :) He made it to church again, but was only able to go to Sunday School due to a headache.

Solomon, a member is the coolest guy ever! He reads the Book of Mormon every day and is trying super hard to be a good example to his roommates. He loves meeting with the Elders, loves the gospel, AND you can tell that he has a super strong testimony. When his friends begin drinking, he leaves for a walk to not face the temptation.  The missionaries recently took him a white shirt that he could wear on Sunday and think he's cool!

Mormons were at the Neuschwanstein Castle and Steve is glad that LDS are everywhere!

Cruisin'

Elder Hoggan is back on the streets! After 14 months, he is now the proud owner of a German drivers license and soon his sister will obtain hers, but in America. Go Heather!
Driving has helped Elder Hoggan learn the area better. Transfers are in a couple weeks and Elder Evans will most likely be leaving Kaufbeuren, but they don't talk about those things.

Driving on the Autobahn was incredible! No speed limits, except for missionaries. It was a super cool experience! Some Germans drive way too fast :) Elder Hoggan went 120 km.

Wednesday brought exchanges with the Ingolstadt Elders in Kaufbeuren. The missionaries met with Herbie and he is doing super well!!!! He had questions about the Book of Mormon. Really good questions. Not ones trying to prove the Book of Mormon wrong, but questions that helped him know more about it. Herbie wants to learn more before committing to baptism. He knows that is the goal and went to church on Sunday. This week the Elders will help him move into a new apartment. Herbie is really changing his life for the better. Nine months ago, he didn't own his own place and was having problems with alcohol. Elder Hoggan and Elder Evans are excited for him and are so glad that he is doing really well.

A man from India visited with the missionaries and has a super strong relationship with God. He's got some very strange concepts and doesn't believe that we have our agency as to worldly things. This guy doesn't see the importance of belonging to a church or reading from the scriptures. He seems to be pretty stuck in his ways and not willing to progress with the Elders, but can tell the future. Super weird. He predicted five or so things that night and three came true. Creepy....

Elder Hoggan had a s'more on Thursday! It was amazing! He hasn't had one in the longest time!!!! It was like heaven! The Elders were with members for a German holiday and those that had never tried s'mores before, loved them. A s'more shop could make billions over, says  Elder Hoggan. It was a fun day. Later, they met with Solomon. He's doing super well and went to church on Sunday! Temple came, too! Another meeting with those two is scheduled for this week :) Solomon is doing some missionary work with his roommates and maybe something cool comes from that!

Saturday was the best day of the week! There was a musical fireside and the missionaries played a huge role. Elder Hoggan strummed his guitar :) They played Follow the Prophet with a choir of missionaries singing. Another guitarist was Elder Quilter, Elder Hoggan's previous companion. Elder Worthin, DL, also played along. It was sooo cool and a recording was made. The entire fireside was what you would call the first lesson, but taught all with music. They sang Praise to the Man, I Know That My Redeemer Lives, Oh How Lovely Was the Morning, I Am a Child of God, and A Child's Prayer. Elder Hoggan had a blast! At the conclusion, Sister Miles was given flowers. She and President Miles will be leaving soon for home. At the end of June, the missionaries will meet their new mission president.

Elder Hoggan closed with wishes to all to enjoy the summer and with his testimony that the Church is true and the Book of Mormon is as well!

SERVUS!!!!!!

Elder Hoggan can hardly believe another week has gone by. Time is passing fast. Ridiculous! Each week is super cool. Sit back, relax, and keep your arms and hands inside the vehicle at all times.

Tuesday was the day to laugh about. The Elders took cookies to LA's, old investigators, and members. They were so excited, began driving, but their GPS was broken. Getting to the giant city was easy. From there, they located a tourist information place and a map was obtained. This enabled the missionaries to deliver all of the cookies.

That evening, Elders Hoggan and Evans met with Carolina from Columbia. She speaks awesome German and is an active LA. Hannes, her boyfriend, is German. He doesn't have much interest in the gospel, but he isn't against it. They live together. Carolina prays and reads the scriptures. Hopefully, more appointments will follow.

Wednesday was a district meeting with the ZL's. The "purple cow" statement was given which means that the Spirit is helping people see that missionaries are disciples of Jesus Christ. "Ich bin ein Missionare meiner Kirche" or "I am a missionary from my church." "Ich bin von ein Prophet Gottes berufen worden, die Menschen der Deutschland das wiederhergestellte Evangelium Jesus Christi zu belehren" or "I have been called by a Prophet of God to teach the people of Germany the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ."

Herbie is doing very well. He met twice with the Elders last week and made it to church on Sunday! A baptismal date may be set this week :) Herbie likes what is being taught, but staying on topic is tough. The missionaries are thrilled with his progress.

Solomon is a LA from Nigeria and just moved from Switzerland to Germany. He is sooo cool and has a strong testimony. He hasn't made it to church due to his job, but changes in his weekends are coming. He and Elder Hoggan love basketball and golf!!

Suzanne met with the missionaries on Thursday. She is the lady who called the week before at the end of sacrament meeting and is a super nice Lutheran. She quoted Martin Luther. Another member was brought along and helped with the discussion, because some of Suzanne's beliefs are a little off. The Elders enjoyed learning more about the Lutheran religion and set up an appointment for this Friday. They will hope for the best! :)

More service was done on the farm! :) Memories of the Smiling H remind Elder Hoggan of home. He and Elder Evans pruned trees and did other jobs.

 A member invited the missionaries to play basketball weekly with he and his friends. The guys are super cool. It was so fun. Elder Evans didn't know the rules and wasn't sure what to do. It was his first basketball game, but handled this new experience with a good attitude. Elder Hoggan's explanation of the rules weren't quite understood, but added to their fun :) This will be a great way to share the gospel with these friends and potential investigators. 

Happy Birthday to Tyrel Wilde on June 1! Happy Birthday to Grandma Turner, Grandpa Turner, Austin Kleven, and Heather on June 5!

Liebe GruBe or Liebe GruSSe 

Birthday Week!

Elder Hoggan had an awesome 20th birthday and could feel ALL of the love from the other side of the world. He bought LEDERHOSEN and loves it! Now he is a true Bavarian and a true German. He really loves Bayern a lot :)

Elders Hoggan and Evans were on trains forever last week. They went to a district meeting in Augsburg and then went to find LA's who live at the very bottom of their area. Contact was made with those the ward knew nothing about, but the branch president must have remembered them. Phone numbers were obtained and it was agreed that the missionaries would stop by monthly to meet. Distance keeps members of the church away sometimes. The area is absolutely GORGEOUS and is home to the Alps :) Germany is the best! SO AMAZING!

Herbert Fischer, Herbie, is a new investigator that met with the Elders three times last week. He's an alcoholic, feels the Spirit, shows interest in the gospel, and wants to be part of the ward. Herbie is a former investigator that seems to be ready this time to receive help from others and says that his problems with alcohol are gone. He missed church, but made it to the Lern Fest!

Lern Fest is put on by the city and a whole bunch of different businesses, schools, etc., come together to teach about what they do. The church is located right next to the fields where booths are built and where the festival takes place. Geneology was introduced and offered to help others learn about their ancestors using Familysearch. It was a super cool day :) The missionaries handed out invitations about a presentation and helped people set up accounts and begin their family tree. Eighteen or so came and it was a success! Herbie, Temple, and Solomon were there and loved it! Elder Hoggan did, too. He printed out a fan chart of his family :) It's so awesome! He totally loves family history now! He's new at it, but can't get enough of it. It was a great time for everyone there.

Sunday was typical. Temple came to church and Elder Hoggan translated for Americans that were there visiting. After the closing song, the cell phone began vibrating due to an unknown number. Elder Hoggan was on the back row and left to answer the call. It was Suzanne. She attended the Lern Fest and accepted a Book of Mormon. She excused herself for missing church, but asked if she could meet with the missionaries and have them tell her more. That is the golden question :) An appointment was made for Thursday and it will be exciting :):):)

Melanie, a newly baptized member, made Elder Hoggan a birthday cake. She is sooooo cool and sooooo excited about the gospel. More service on the farm was performed last week by the Elders and ended with an eating appointment. They had lasagna with Andy, a member, who may be marrying Melanie. He invited the missionaries to play basketball with he and his friends every Friday night :) This will be a new tradition!!!! Elder Evans doesn't really like basketball much, but Elder Hoggan hopes to change that!

Love is sent from Germany to all here at home. The church is true and there are miracles every day! Elder Hoggan is grateful for the birthday wishes he received last week!