11 October 2007

Hello dearest family and friends,

It is a beautiful day in DC. From yesterday to today it dropped about 40 degrees! Thank heavens. The trees have been changing brilliant and beautiful colors, the leaves are falling, but the heat was still piercing, now it feels like Fall and I am aboslutely loving it! This is my favorite time of the year and it is a different experiece as a missionary, but I love it still.

First of all, General Conference was amazing! I have never felt so spiritually fed during the conference as I did last weekend. All of our investigators and recents converts watched at least two session, some watched all of the sessions and they all loved it! They all received answers to their questions and prayers. I also received answers to my questions and prayers. If I had to choose one talk that was my favorite it would be Elder Wirthlin's talk on charity. Never before have I felt the Spirit pierce my soul during conference as I did while I watched and listened to Elder Wirthlin. I was deeply touched by his remarks and by the charitable acts of Elder Nelson. The Lord answered most of my questions while I watched that experience. We must develop charity, we absolutely need to be charitable. I know that these men are called of God and I am grateful for their wise counsel and love. I hope that we will all apply their recent teachings to our lives and I know that as we do we will come closer to our Savior because we will be more like Him.

Lydia - She is getting baptized today! She is doing well and loved Utah. She was able to attend a session in the conference center and a session in the Tabernacle. In between sessions Brandon, her boyfriend, proposed! They will be getting married early next Spring. She also just received a new job, working for the government. Can you imagine...getting a new job, engaged, and baptized all in one week! This is a wonderful time in her life and we are so happy for her. I am excited for the day that they will be sealed. They are also looking forward to their sealing and would love for Sister Baxter and I to be a part of the blessed event. My heart is completely full! I love Lydia so much and I am happy for her exciting and joyful future with Brandon. We have realized that Satan can't get to us spiritually, so he gets us physically. The past two baptisms we have had together we have both felt awful. This baptism is just the same. We've both been feeling under the weather, but we hope to get some good rest today...the joys of P-Day!

Laura - She is so excited for her baptism she can't sleep! I have never seen someone smile so much! She is so cute and is very excited for her baptism Saturday. She went to every session of conference and loved it! We are already planning our future as close friends. I love her.

Teresa - She will not be getting baptized on Sunday. She has been having some family issues. We love her and we support her. We will hopefully reschedule her baptism for the end of October. She needs lots of love, prayers and support. She is strong and desires to do what's right. We love her and know everything will be fine.

Erica - We will be meeting with her after church on Sunday. She is still set to be baptized on the 11th of November.

Revi - Her boyfriend, Adam, came and visited her during conference weekend. We had the privilege of meeting Adam and we adore him. He is a wonderful guy and is perfect for Revi. If I haven't mentioned Adam before...he is a law student at Harvard and he is a faithful member or as Kate would say he is a "super mo" (Mormon). He has really supported and helped Revi. Revi and Kate have become best friends. They are both 3rd year law students. Revi has accepted to prepare to be baptized on November 11th. She is really hesistant, but she will be fine. She desires to do what's right and she loves the Lord.

Abraham - He loved conference and he even attended the Priesthood session. He is doing well and is recieving all of the new member lessons from his home teachers. He loves his new life as a member.

Courtney called while I was on shift at the VC. I hadn't heard from her in months! She is doing extremely well and she is very happy. She is looking into transferring to a BYU school or UVSC. She is reading her Book of Mormon and reading from the Gospel Principles Manual daily, and she is helping the missionaries in her ward with a young woman who is currently investigating. She has the family history bug and she is loving life. She will be visiting in a week and I can't wait to see her. Her testimony is growing every day. I am thrilled that she is doing well. She is wonderful!

Funny story: We were returning to our apartment after visiting a senior couple in our apartment complex. When we got to our floor, we got out of the elevator to our apartment. I tried to open our door with our keys, but the key wasn't even fitting into our lock. We tried for a few minutes, pushing on the door, wiggling the handle, but nothing! Finally, we heard a man's voice from inside our apartment tell us that it was locked. We realized that there shouldn't be a man in our apartment and looked at the apartment number and it was the wrong number!! The elders live right below and we had been trying to get into their apartment! We ran as fast as we could into the elevator hoping they wouldn't see us. The next phone call we got from them told us if we want to come in, just knock next time! How embarrassing! Usually it would never be that embarrassing, but it was the elders!! Ah! Also, the other day we were walking to Revi's appointment in DC and along the way stopped a man whom we invited to the VC. He motioned for us to come into a big, beautiful home that he was entering. We hesitantly followed him and soon we realized we were in the Embassy of Lebanon and the man that we had just GQ'd was a Diplomat. The joys of DC.

I am loving life and I am happy. We are so blessed. I love the Lord and this great work! I hope all is well with you.

With Love, Sister Hogge