July 19, 2010 "No lights, no power, Help me Elder Hoglund"

Hello Family!

A broken wrist!? Oh no buddy, I'm so sorry to hear that! That's a bummer, you will be out of the swing for a few weeks then I guess. It sounds so good to hear that overall everyone is doing well. It seems like the Super Salad Summer Social went really well for you Mom. I am happy to hear that the yard looked nice! I would love to see some pictures of it to see the wonderful work Dad and Brady did on it. I loved hearing about Sister Walker's talk on service and mom, that quote you sent me from President Hinkley was wonderful. I absolutely love your quotes! Please keep sending them. I got your package the other day and I absolutley loved it. The New Era ad is so true. We need to live life unplugged. Life is so much more wonderful like that. Part of preparation day is to visit historical sites and other culturally significant places and I have very much enjoyed doing that and have adquired a hunger and thirst to learn about things. When I grab a book I hunger and thirst after what there is to learn. I love taking notes when I learn because it helps me retain knowledge better and learning is just fun.

Ok anyway, that was a little sidetrack, but this week was fun! I am learning my new job and little by little taking it over from Elder Figueroa. I am learning a ton from him and still have tons to learn. I love asking myself, "what more can I do?" because there is always something more to do in the job.

This week we went and visited all of the penches in the Guaymallen zone to do an inventory, to see if anything was broken and what they needed from us. It was fun to go around and take a look at what different situations the Elders live in and how I can help. I want to do a lot of improvements to the penches and help the Elders out so they can more focus on the work. The days are really busy and I love it.

To give you an example situation of what might happen, we're sitting here tranquilo waiting to go to a ward mission activity we were going to have later that night when all of the sudden an Elder calls and says, "Elder Hoglund, we have no light, our power just went out and we're talking to the landlord right now, we want to move!" I am really grateful for Elder Figuroa in these types of situations because he knows what to do, not only that I am grateful for these types of situations because it gives me the chance to grow! This has been a valuable situation to learn from and I am learning to be more firm and to be more confident. It truly is a blessing the Lord has called me to serve here and I know I am here to learn for a reason.

This week I have been learning a little bit about humility. A little while ago my good friend Elder Andrew Blackham who is serving in the Belen, Brazil mission sent an e-mail in the which he described humility. He described it as thinking, "you're just as good as the next, but not better." I think this was a quote from a general authority or someone else who visited his mission. I LOVE this description of humility because many people would have you think that humility is walking with your head down, and a sullen expression on your face. In Preach My Gospel, notice how much it talks about confidence going hand in hand with humility and you will find that humility has everything to do with being confident in the Lord and in doing his will.

What else happened this week? Well, I've been running in the freezing cold every other morning and I LOVE it! It snowed the other day here. I don't have my camera cord with my so I won't send the photo this week, but next week I'll send in on over to you. It doesn't snow very often here. I arrived in Argentina nearly a year ago and I remember that my first night here it was snowing. It hasn't happened again until now. I find it fun that it snowed almost exactly a year later on my year anniversary in Argentina.

I pray that everyone is well. I think about you. Thank you for everything you do! I love you!

Love,
Elder Hoglund