January 8, 2010

Hola mi Familia!
¿Como están todos? It`s good to have another chance to write everyone and say hi. This week has been pretty awesome. We`ve been going out to a place about 30 minutes away to work called Real del Padre. It`s a really tranquilo place as they call it. It is so beautiful out there and the people are way receptive. This Sunday, one of our investigators came to church from out there with a large portion of his family. They are from Bolivia and moved to Real del Padre not too long ago. All of his family was baptized except for him and we (or he for that matter) doesn`t really know why. He loves the lessons, he loved church yesterday and it really is only a matter of time before he and his wife are baptized. They have a little newborn about 20 days old now in the hospital, she`s getting better and he has a lot of faith that she will get better. He`s such a great humble guy.

This is a generalized statement, but it`s true a lot of the time, the Bolivians are so receptive to the gospel. They just accept what we teach up front and are really genuine people. They love listening. I`ve had the thought while teaching them at times that these people really are the direct descendants of the Lamanites. By teaching them as missionaries, we are being the instruments of God and fulfilling prophecy that the fullness of the gospel would go to the descendants of the Lamanites, that they would not be forgotten in the last day. It`s a humbling thought to be a part of fulfilling that Book of Mormon prophecy.

We also had another investigator come to church yesterday with his family. It was incredible. Antonio is his name. We found him doing street contacting. When we first started to talk to him, he really put on a hard face and told us that he did not believe in God. I asked him why and he, my companion and I started to talk. It turns out that he really does believe a lot in God, but is just frustrated because there are so many people saying they have the truth and he really just wanted to know what is the truth. We started going by his house and making friends with him, chatting about whatever with him. He really likes science and has a really sharp mind. He has a very strong character and when he gives his word to something, he does it. His wife and two of his kids came to church with him. The wife is a relative of the wife of the first counselor in our ward and it was pretty awesome. Antonio and his family came right in the middle of the sacrament and instead of treating them like complete strangers that disrupted the meeting, Marisol Montoya`s (the relative of the wife of Antonio) daughter went and greeted them and brought them to sit with her mom.

This helped me realize the importance of greeting everyone in church with love. I realized that no one is going to like church if they go and don`t feel loved. Let`s compare going to church like going to a party. If you go to the best party in the whole world, there`s everything there you could ever hope for. Chips, cheese the whole deal…EVERYTHING is there, but you go alone, no one greets you, a few people say hi, but no one wants to hang out with you. You are probably going to leave this party pretty soon. It`s the exact same with the church. It is the best church, it`s the true church, there is nothing else better on this earth, but if we go and no one says hi to us, no one wants to be around us, and we are treated as strangers, we will not want to go at all. So a little challenge to everyone back at home, wherever you are; school, work, the park, church, home, help people feel welcome and loved. This is really what matters.

Ok, this was such an awesome story. The Bishop yesterday in church, at the beginning of sacrament meeting stood up and help up 35 centavos (less than 10 cents) and said that a little kid came up to him before sacrament started, gave him the 35 centavos, and told him, “Here`s my tithing bishop.” That was definitely an example to me of exact obedience and of how Christlike children are.

Also during church yesterday the power went out. We were right in the middle of fast and testimony meeting and the lights went out, and we continued the meeting in darkness. Not to mention it was pretty hard to hear the people bearing their testimonies with hail and tree branches beating against the windows. Yet the meeting went on. I had the thought that hard as Satan may try to stop the church from going on, it will go on all the same. Also I had the thought that the church is a place of refuge from storms. Hail storms and spiritual storms. We are safe inside the church from the attacks of the world and also from the attack of giant-sized hail.

The hail actually did a lot of damage. The size of the hail was pretty large. Elder Ramirez and I were walking in Centro that night after the storm and there were tree branches all over the road and huge puddles and the police and emergency crews were out cleaning up the mess. The hail here can be pretty dangerous, not to mention that the hail kills the harvest. That`s how a lot of people make their living here. We`ll see what happens.
We have transfers this week, I think I am staying but I don`t know for sure yet. We find out about transfers in a few hours. I`ll let you know next week what happens, but I am pretty sure I am staying here. I`m excited to stay here and put this ward plan into action. We presented the plan in ward council yesterday and they loved it and are all on board to carry it out. I`ll send some photos next week of the posters we made, but for now, attached to this e-mail is a copy of the plan for the ward. This plan is inspired of God, and I am so excited to see it in action.
I forgot to write about the New Year! Happy 2010 everyone! For New Years we were in the house of a less-active member. There were about 30 members of their family there, it was quite the party. It also sounded like World War 2 when midnight hit…it might have been just as dangerous as well. Firework safety doesn’t really exist here. I`ll send some pictures, no worries . Anyway, I love you all!! Have such an awesome day bye!

Con Muchisimo Amor,
Elder Hoglund

No power to the Pulpit. January 1, 2010

Hola mi Familia!¿Como están todos?

It`s good to have another chance to write everyone and say hi. This week has been pretty awesome. We`ve been going out to a place about 30 minutes away to work called Real del Padre. It`s a really tranquilo place as they call it. It is so beautiful out there and the people are way receptive. This Sunday, one of our investigators came to church from out there with a large portion of his family. They are from Bolivia and moved to Real del Padre not too long ago. All of his family was baptized except for him and we (or he for that matter) doesn`t really know why. He loves the lessons, he loved church yesterday and it really is only a matter of time before he and his wife are baptized. They have a little newborn about 20 days old now in the hospital, she`s getting better and he has a lot of faith that she will get better. He`s such a great humble guy. This is a generalized statement, but it`s true a lot of the time, the Bolivians are so receptive to the gospel. They just accept what we teach up front and are really genuine people. They love listening. I`ve had the thought while teaching them at times that these people really are the direct descendants of the Lamanites. By teaching them as missionaries, we are being the instruments of God and fulfilling prophecy that the fullness of the gospel would go to the descendants of the Lamanites, that they would not be forgotten in the last day. It`s a humbling thought to be a part of fulfilling that Book of Mormon prophecy.

We also had another investigator come to church yesterday with his family. It was incredible. Antonio is his name. We found him doing street contacting. When we first started to talk to him, he really put on a hard face and told us that he did not believe in God. I asked him why and he, my companion and I started to talk. It turns out that he really does believe a lot in God, but is just frustrated because there are so many people saying they have the truth and he really just wanted to know what is the truth. We started going by his house and making friends with him, chatting about whatever with him. He really likes science and has a really sharp mind. He has a very strong character and when he gives his word to something, he does it. His wife and two of his kids came to church with him. The wife is a relative of the wife of the first counselor in our ward and it was pretty awesome. Antonio and his family came right in the middle of the sacrament and instead of treating them like complete strangers that disrupted the meeting, Marisol Montoya`s (the relative of the wife of Antonio) daughter went and greeted them and brought them to sit with her mom. This helped me realize the importance of greeting everyone in church with love. I realized that no one is going to like church if they go and don`t feel loved. Let`s compare going to church like going to a party. If you go to the best party in the whole world, there`s everything there you could ever hope for. Chips, cheese the whole deal…EVERYTHING is there, but you go alone, no one greets you, a few people say hi, but no one wants to hang out with you. You are probably going to leave this party pretty soon. It`s the exact same with the church. It is the best church, it`s the true church, there is nothing else better on this earth, but if we go and no one says hi to us, no one wants to be around us, and we are treated as strangers, we will not want to go at all.

So a little challenge to everyone back at home, wherever you are; school, work, the park, church, home, help people feel welcome and loved. This is really what matters.Ok, this was such an awesome story.

The Bishop yesterday in church, at the beginning of sacrament meeting stood up and help up 35 centavos (less than 10 cents) and said that a little kid came up to him before sacrament started, gave him the 35 centavos, and told him, “Here`s my tithing bishop.” That was definitely an example to me of exact obedience and of how Christlike children are.

Also during church yesterday the power went out. We were right in the middle of fast and testimony meeting and the lights went out, the power to the pulpit (that sounds like a good band name by the way, power to the pulpit) went out and we continued the meeting in darkness. Not to mention it was pretty hard to hear the people bearing their testimonies with hail and tree branches beating against the windows. Yet the meeting went on. I had the thought that hard as Satan may try to stop the church from going on, it will go on all the same. Also I had the thought that the church is a place of refuge from storms. Hail storms and spiritual storms. We are safe inside the church from the attacks of the world and also from the attack of giant-sized hail.The hail actually did a lot of damage. The size of the hail was pretty large. Elder Ramirez and I were walking in Centro that night after the storm and there were tree branches all over the road and huge puddles and the police and emergency crews were out cleaning up the mess. The hail here can be pretty dangerous, not to mention that the hail kills the harvest. That`s how a lot of people make their living here. We`ll see what happens.

We have transfers this week, I think I am staying but I don`t know for sure yet. We find out about transfers in a few hours. I`ll let you know next week what happens, but I am pretty sure I am staying here. I`m excited to stay here and put this ward plan into action. We presented the plan in ward council yesterday and they loved it and are all on board to carry it out. I`ll send some photos next week of the posters we made, but for now, attached to this e-mail is a copy of the plan for the ward. This plan is inspired of God, and I am so excited to see it in action.

I forgot to write about the New Year! Happy 2010 everyone! For New Years we were in the house of a less-active member. There were about 30 members of their family there, it was quite the party. It also sounded like World War ll when midnight hit…it might have been just as dangerous as well. Firework safety doesn’t really exist here. I`ll send some pictures, no worries!!

Anyway, I love you all!!

Have such an awesome day bye!
Con Muchisimo Amor,

Elder Hoglund

Barbequed goat for Christmas Eve dinner. December 28, 2009

Just watching my Goat cook on Christmas Eve! :)

Elder Rimeriz wih "The Goat".

My Dear Family,

It was SO good to talk to all of you!!! It`s amazing what it does just to hear your voices. Thanks so much for all the e-mails! I love reading them from every one of you!

So this e-mail is to send a couple of photos and to do a quick recap of what is going on here. This week has been a week of parties for the people down here. On Christmas night we were in the house of a member having a Christmas Dinner and it sounded like we were in a war! With all the fireworks going off on all sides of us it really sounded like a war! By the way, the fireworks that I`ve seen here are so illegal in the United States, but here, people use them like there`s no tomorrow.

As you know, I ate goat this wonderful Christmas Eve as well. Included in this e-mail is a picture of the goat we ate while it was cooking.

Right now we are working on a plan for the ward...honestly I am SO SO Excited for it!!!!! I was taking a 5 hour bus ride one day...as it seems we frequently do as of late...pondering and thinking about what in the world we could do to help the ward here. As I was praying and pondering ideas started to flow to my mind of what we could do. I got so excited and started to write and the ideas just kept on flowing! We are doing what`s called a Revolucion Espiritual...A Spiritual Revolution. Cambiarà su vida en 2010.

This is a plan that is going to last for the whole year, not only while me and my missionary companions are in this area. The goal is to change the whole Spiritual Environment of the ward here and help us move forward Spiritually. This plan consists of having the people do a few things every day

1. Read 10 minutes in the Book of Mormon Every Day
2. Pray 2 times daily (morning and night)
3. Do one act of service for someone every day
4. Smile every day!

Especially with that last one, this gospel is a gospel of happiness and we have no reason to walk around with a glum (yes that is a good word) face all the time. We have every reason in the world to be happy and rejoice because of the comfort and knowledge we have of the atonement of Jesus Christ. We may have troubles, we may not be perfect, but if we are trying our hardest, being obedient, and as Hermana Blackham said, putting the Lord as our first priority, everything else will turn out how it should. I have a firm testimony of that! I am so excited to see this plan get put into action!

Anyway, I love you all so much!

Happy New Year! It`s already 2010, wow!

Love,Elder Hoglund

Long bus ride for investigators December 21, 2009

Hi Familia!

Well, it`s the week of Christmas and it`s still hot. :) It`s different but I really like it a lot! So I`ll have to make this short because Spent a lot of time figuring out the whole phone call thing, but I want to say that I am so excited to talk to everyone!I am allowed to talk for about 30 or 40 minutes so we`ll make the most of our time!

This week has been pretty incredible. Elder Ramirez and I have been taking trips out to a barrio called Real del Padre that is about a 30 minute bus ride from the city. There we are finding tons of people who are ready for the gospel in their lives. The problem is going to be how to get them to the chapel. The bus hours will definitely work with the schedule of the meetings so that`s definitely an option. It is a time committment and a money issue for them to come as well, but I know that somehow, they will have a way to get there if that is what they really want.

The baptisms for the 26th are still good to go and we`re getting them ready for their baptismal interviews this Wednesday. It`s way cool that they are going to be baptized so close to Christmas!Ok I should probably go, but I love you all and we will talk on Friday! I am so excited!!!

Feliz Navidad!

Love,Elder Hoglund

Baptizing Elias~ Monday, December 14, 2009

This is the view from the upper window of Ben's pench.
It's nice and cozy.
When it rains it doesn't rain directly on Ben,
it drips just off to the side
of his bed and there is a little bucket there to catch the drops. :)





This picture is at the Baptism of Elias. Here we have good ol`Elias, his girlfriend and the mom of his girlfriend.












Dear Family and Friends,

Going back to Colonia Bombal to baptize Elias was quite the experience! It was so fun to see him all dressed in white and know the baptism is a new beginning. That he is clean of his sins and that he is at peace. Just looking at how happy his is in this photo says a whole lot more than I can describe. Anyway, the trip was really tiring, but well worth it, something I will never forget.

Ok ,to answer some questions, I have only received one package of spicey crackers up until now but this question that mom sent me makes me think I will be receiving more which really brightens up the day! I have not gotten the pictures yet...to answer the question if I am saving the spicey crackers for Christmas....well, they are already gone. My missionary friends and I decided to eat them...I actually finished off the bag this afternoon in a bowl of cereal...what a GREAT treat! Thanks so much! My missionary friends loved the little spicey crackers, which I thought was great. Most times people think I`m pretty strange for eating them...I don`t blame them really, but it was fun to see that they liked them.

This week has been absolutly incredible. My Spanish is coming along so well with the Latin Companion. My accent is improving and I am able to Speak and understand much more quickly. Understanding others is stillthe hardest thing for me to do but I know that it will come along with Practice.

This week we spent a lot of time verfying contacts and having them not be there or them telling us to come back another time. We were trying as well to contact our progressing investigators this week too but a lot was falling through. If there is one thing I have learned on the mision is that when things get hard, it`s time to get excited because with a little more hard work there is a blessing lying just around the corner. This definitely happened. When I was in Colonia Bombal on Sunday, my companion went out with another missionary and there were three people that made it to church!! Maria...who is going to get baptized the 26th of this month. David...her 14 year old son with a mind as sharp as a tac, and Camila, a little 10 year old girl who has been coming to church with another member family because her parents are inactive. Blessings come, we just need to keep working hard.

Christmas is fast approaching and here it just keeps getting hotter. The first official day of Summer is, I think, the 21st of December. It is a little different to see the Christmas trees and the plastic Santa Claus in front of store in all of his snow gear when it`s not exactly the climate for that kind of stuff.

I have dropped a little weight in this area. I think it`s because I am controling how much I eat...ok, I haven`t done so well in the past two days, but we`ll get better....and my companion and I are trying to go running every morning. Throw in some ab workouts and hopefully things turn out all right.

I love you all, I`ll write next week! Talk to you all soon!

Love,
Elder Hoglund

BIG RAIN! Soggy bed. Tues. December 8, 2009 10:00 AM

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My Dear Family and friends,

I number one, feel blessed beyond measure to have a family that loves me as much as you all do. I never will be able to thank my Heavenly Father enough for giving me a family where there is so much love. I…really am speechless. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TIFF!!! Way to be born!

I`ll just keep on writing. So yesterday we had Zone Conference and it was incredible! We learned about having companionship unity and I am excited to apply that in my companionship in our work in Pacifico.

I am getting used to my new area still, and I absolutely love it. The ward mission leader here is 21 (we just celebrated his birthday) and is SO willing to help us. The members are incredible! I really don`t know where to start. I have tons of things on my to-do list that I want to do…wow this week has flown by! It really seems like yesterday that I was e-mailing everyone.

Hey, AMAZING news, I am going to be able to make the trip back to Colonia Bombal this Sunday and baptize Elias! I asked President today and he gave me permission to make the trip. I am so excited and I WILL send pictures and let you know how it goes.

So this week it rained here for the first time in about 11 months and boy did it rain!! I was just about to go to sleep and I heard the sound of dripping water next to my bed, the roof was crying because it was raining so hard. So we put a bucket and some rags next to the bed and that took care of tha!! No worries!!

Oh, and I got the package of Spicy Crackers this week!!! Thank you so much!!! Oh man I am excited to eat those!!

Ok, so I need to go, I am so sorry this was such a scattered e-mail, but I love the work and miracles are happening here. Spanish is coming along very rapidly and I am going to work very hard in this next little while to the get Spanish down, get the accent down and be able to speak like a native. I really want that and I know it can happen. I love you all! Thank you all again for the thoughts and prayers!

Love,
Elder Hoglund

Transfer to the Province of San Rafael! New companion: Elder Ramirez from Cali, Colombia November 30, 2009

Hola Familia,

I am so sorry I did not write to everyone last week. I had a mix up with the internet and only had about half the time I normally have to write and it ended up just not working out. I am so sorry.

These last two weeks have been quite the blur. Getting transfered to a new area, getting a new native companion, moving to a pench with 4 Elders in it. Quite the experience, and I am loving it! Having a Latin companion has already helped me improve my Spanish a ton. I learn new words and phrases every day and my mind is getting more accustomed to hearing the Spanish and I don`t get lost near as often now. It is a huge blessing to have this opportunity and I want to learn as much from it as I possibly can.

An experience ihad (I wrote it like that the first time I wrote it, then I corrected it, then I decided to leave it like that because it lookds like iPod) right before I left Colonia Bombal was incredible. Elias is an investigator we have been working with the whole time I had been in Colonia Bombal. About a week and a half before I left, we left a challenge with him and the Familia Chapana to read a little section, a little part of the Book of Mormon, every single day that week and after each time to pray and ask Heavenly Father if the Book of Mormon was true and if Joseph Smith was a prophet. We told them that we were going to do the challenge as well and come back in a week and see how it went. We wrote them little reminder notes and everything. We came back the following week and I asked Elias how it went, he said that he hd been reading in the mornings before he went to work (he works a ton, this was defnitely a sacrifice and an act of faith for him). He said that he felt good about it. I asked him about if he wanted to get baptized and he he feels like he needs to but was still unsure. I asked him if he believed that God could answer his prayers right there and right then. He said yes, we both and everyone really believed that God could answer his prayer right then and there. So we all kneeled down and Elias prayed to know if he should get baptized and then we waited on our knees for about a minute to wait for the answer to come. After we had sat ourselves down again I asked him how he felt. He started to cry and said that he knew he had recieved an answer. He was praying with real intent, and really wanted to know if he should get baptized and if these things were true and he got his answer. We were all very emtional and I asked him if he wanted to get baptized the 12th of December. He said yes.

This is a miracle!! Things like this don`t just happen. He is not the only person that week who we kneeled down with together and people got their answers. We did this two other times and each time they recieved their answer. It was a week of miracles. Absolute miracles and I testify of that.

Elias wanted me to come back and baptize him and I would absolutely love that! He is one of my most beloved friends, but I don`think that distances being what they are it would be doable. I live about 5 hours away in a bus from him now. Oh, if I could recieve permission I would LOVE to go back and baptize him on that day. But the thing that is most important is that he is getting baptized and I absolutely love that!!

The bus ride to my new area was long but it was on a DOUBLE DECKER bus and was way fun! I am now in an area called General Alvear in the Province of San Rafael I think. The area is called Pacifico. My companion is Elder Ramirez from Cali, Colombia. I don`t know if that is where you served your mission Dad but it`s way awesome to be a companion from the land where Dad left his tracks. This area is MUCH different than Colonia Bombal. My eyes were a little opened when I got here to how campo Colonia Bombal was. I`ll definitely be sending some photos, but its a whole lot smaller and we share the area with the Hermana`s. We are doing English classes every day during the Siesta in our church with the Hermana`s so our companions can learn English a little better.

We are in a district of 6. Elder Ramirez (Colombia) and I (Good ol`Lindon, Utah), Elder Mendoza (Honduras), Elder George (Portland) who is in just his second transfer), Hermana White (Utah), and Hermana Arrierez (I think).

Anyway, I`ll send this e-mail, then some pictures, then another e-mail if I have time. But I love you all and cannot wait until Christmas so I can talk to all of you. The work is going so well here and I absolutely love you all!!!!! Brady...I am so happy to see how you are playing! Keep working hard! I absolutey admire your hard work and dedication! Stay focused and remember your brother is really praying for your success.

Bye Family!

Love,
Elder Hoglund

P.S. For Preparation Day we had an Asado, a big Argentine thing. If you like eating tons of meat with lots of juice and fat, this is the thing for you. So, I really don't like it. It tastes really good, but I really do not like to eat that much fat. :) So, Bye for now!