10 May 2007

Dear Family and Friends,

Last P-day I went to DC again. We had a wonderful time visiting the monuments. We visited the Lincoln Memorial, Korean War, WWII, Washington Monument, and Jefferson Memorial. I think that my favorite was Jefferson Memorial. It was beautiful and the feelings were sacred. It was fun to walk around the city. Two weeks in a row of DC fun is about all I can do. It's tiring! I was so exhausted this past week! I'd like to take a trip to the city at least every transfer!

This past week we visited a less active and she loves cats!! I found out the painful way that I am allergic to cats! Although it was miserable, it was quite funny too. I started coughing and my nose was running and I was completely stuffed up...then my eye swelled up! It was hilarious! I couldn't see out of my right eye. Anyway, funny story for the week.

We had some ambassadors from all different countries visit this past Friday. It was quite the event. They came for the BYU Wind Symphony performance. I'm sure that we'll be having many more ambassadors come withing the next year. One ambassador was from Lesotho, pretty cool huh!

We met an Italian man this week. I was really excited to talk with him about Italy and to tell him that my dad served a mission in Italy. He was nice and I loved his accent, but he didn't want to talk about religion. He told us that he was 105% Catholic. He was born Catholic and he will die Catholic! Dad, I don't know how you did it in Italy!

A few days ago some reporters from the church magazines came to the V.C. They are working on an article for the Ensign about the DC temple and the V.C. They begin working on articles 18 months in advance of its publication. I just happened to be on shift when they interviewed some sisters. They interviewed two other sisters along with myself. They only interviewd three sisters out of 36! I was so nervous! It was a fun experience to share with them my thoughts about the temple and the VC. They asked me to share with them one sentence about the VC that they could quote. I don't even remember what I said, but it felt good. It will be interesting to see the results in a year or so.

The work is slowly progressing in Olney. We are still looking for new investigators and we're planting seeds all along the way. The work is hard, but I love Olney and the people. Funny story...We accidently drove out of the mission and into the Baltimore mission. I'm sure the Lord will forgive us for getting lost.

A good man in our ward had a heart attack this past week. It was really bad and he was unconscious for a few days. He is in his early 50's and he is healthy and active. I have never seen a ward pull together so quickly and so easily. We had a ward fast and pray and hope for the best. He is still in intensive care, but our prayers are with him and his family.

Sister Gilbert (a wife of a senior couple that works in the office) died a few days ago. They were scheduled to go back home for the completion of their mission this next week. She had cancer before her mission and began to have pain in her stomach a few days ago. She finally went to the hospital with her husband at 9:30 Tuesday morning and died Tuesday night. Our prayers are with Elder Gilbert and his family. I know that Heavenly Father loves us and he has a specific plan for each of us. He is personally involved in our lives. My thoughts have been directed towards my Heavenly Father's plan of happiness these past few days. I know that it is only through this plan and through Jesus Chirst that we can find peace and hope.

Family, I am so excited to talk to you on Sunday!!

Love, Sister Hogge

p.s. Hilly - How was the party?
I would love to talk with all the family on Sunday! I will call and then you can call me back!
Mom - Yes, they can be names from anywhere in the world when Galena comes!

There's so much more I want to say, but it'll have to wait until Sunday!!! Ah! I'm SOOOO EXCITED!