22 August 2007

Hello my lovely family and friends...

Sister Baxter always says "lovely" with her beauitful English accent and it's rubbing off on me. ; )

Life couldn't be better. I have never felt so much peace and happiness. Courtney went to the temple this past week with some friends to do some baptisms. She loved it and she had a friend do her father's work. I am so happy for her. She is leaving today for college. I hope to get her address soon to stay in contact with her. She has fallen in love with family history and she is progressing well.

I am currently living in Kensington House which is where all of the senior couples live and many other companionships. "K House" is located 2 minutes from the temple and the VC. It's wonderful! I am absoultely loving it! The senior couples spoil us with love and food. It's basically the ideal life for a missionary.

The Chevy Chase building which is where we attend church is just inside the Distirct. It's beautiful. I have never seen such a beautiful, colonial style church building. This area is wonderful and huge! Our leadership is amazing. The past 3 stake presidents have been Fortune 100 CEO's. They are wonderful men of God and well-respected. I am just amazed by the prestige and kindness of these men.

Kate is doing well. Her baptism is scheduled for September 2nd. Please keep her in your prayers. She is strong and I love her. We taught her about the law of chastity and the word of wisdom (the two big commandments). During relief society on Sunday we discussed reverence. She commented that she understands now why she must follow these commandments...to show her reverence and devotion to God. She is amazing! She began classes for law school this past week. She is very busy and Satan loves to work on her, but she is solid and I admire her for her humility and diligence. This past Sunday we taught her about prayer, scripture study, and obedience. These commandments always bring peace and comfort to our investigators. It gave Kate the "how" of living the commandments. It's by small and simple things in which great things come to pass. I know this is true in all of our lives.

Abraham is doing well. We gave him a baptismal date for September 16th. He is amazing and also very humble. Last night we taught an investigator at the church and afterwards went upstairs to have her meet some of the YSA's attending Institute. To our surprise Abraham was there! We were so excited to see him involved in the ward. The ward does a wonderful job of fellowshipping. He leaves for California for one week on Saturday. Keep him in your prayers because we know Satan will try to work as hard as he can on Abraham. We love Abraham.

Sister Baxter and I are loving life together...it's the perfect companionship. We are progressing so much together and we are working hard to help others progress. When a companionship doesn't have any problems, it's much easier to focus on others. The Lord is blessing us and we are so grateful. I have never felt such peace. She will be a friend forever. I am so grateful for her and for the love and example she gives me. It's simply lovely.

We have been enjoying some cool "Mendocino" weather. It's refreshing! Both Sister Baxter and I love the weather because it reminds us of wonderful memories. It reminds her of England and it reminds me of my heaven on earth, Mendocino and the northern Cali beaches. We hope that the weather will continue to be beautiful.

We are currently working with some amazing elders. In the ward there are two sets of missionaries, us and the elders, who are also our zone leaders. We work well together. We will be starting a Bible class within the next few weeks. We hope that this class will bring many YSA non-members. We will be strictly teaching from the Bible...I need to brush up on my Bible knowledge. I'm excited for the challenge. One of the zone leaders is Elder Cottrell. The other day I found out that he is cousins with Stacy Rogers!! He has been to Elk Grove many times. His mom and Stacy's dad are siblings. Crazy, huh! We thought that was a pretty funny connection. I am impressed by all of my leaders. We are very blessed. We have been invited to a brunch at the mission home with President and Sister Mansell. They are so wonderful and I have never felt so much love from my leaders.

Funny story: During our planning session the other night the phone rang and it was a telemarketer. After getting to know him we made a deal. If he gave me his phone number and address to receive a Book of Mormon, I would take his two minute survey. It was great! The Lord puts people in our path all the time!

Well, I love this work. I love serving the YSA's of the DC area. I am so blessed to be serving in half of the mission. We have been privileged with such great knowledge and it's our responsibility to share it with everyone! My heart is full.

With Love, Sister Hogge