27 March 2008

My dearest family and friends,

It's so good to hear from many of you. I look forward to the emails and letters. They are a great strength to me.

As always, much has happened this past week. It is beginning to look more and more like Spring. We plan to take another trip to the city next week for the cherry blossom festival near the monuments. Sister Mukhlaash is doing much better. The medication has helped and she is in not as much pain. I can't imagine how scary it must be to come to a country that is so unfamiliar, new language, new food and culture, and develop shingles. She is so full of faith and we love her.

It has been a special week for many of us as we have celebrated the redemption and resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ. I remember celebrating Easter last year as a missionary and how it changed my perspective completely. This year at the VC Lex de Azevedo came with two choirs, soloist, and a guest violinist (Jenny Oaks Baker) to perform an oratorio he had composed called "Hosanna". It depicts the last week of the life of our Savior, very beautiful. It was a huge ordeal and as a VC trainer I was involved in much of the organization at the VC. It was very exciting and we were very busy, which is always good. Many members attended along with their non-member friends. There was a great spirit in the VC this past weekend. On Saturday many of our hearts were touched as we viewed the performance and feelings were very tender. I had the opportunity to give many tours on Saturday and as I did so I was often moved to tears and felt so much love for the people I met. I felt my gratitude and love for my Savior in great abundance, as did many of the other sisters. As I have prayed to center my heart on Jesus Christ, to have charity, and to be selfless, I have felt my heart change, especially during this Easter season. Granted, the change doesn't always come quickly and the feelings of peace are not always present, but when they are there they are special and wonderful feelings that I will never forget. As VC trainers, we are working to help all the sisters center their hearts on Jesus Christ. The center of our VC is Jesus Christ and we much make Him the center of our lives to bring others to Him. This will be the focus of the training meeting tomorrow morning.

Easter Sunday was a beautiful day! Sacrament meeting was completely focused on our Savior and on the Atonement. I am always grateful when sacrament meetings focus on our Savior because we come to remember Him as we partake of the sacrament. The significance of sacrament meeting has meant much more to me on my mission. We ate a delicious Easter lunch with ham, real mashed potatoes, asparagus, jello, rolls, and topped with strawberry short cake. Yum! The members know how to take care of their missionaries! After lunch we drove straight to the VC to spend Easter night there. We were surprised by many, many visitors, more than we were expecting. It was a wonderful day. I love that we can celebrate Easter every Sunday as we partake of the sacrament...definitely something to think about.

Funny story: Easter morning was the best part of the day. Sister Mukhlaash has never celebrated Easter. The night before Easter we dyed Easter eggs. She thought it was odd, but jumped right in and loved it! Recently, I received an Easter package from Grandma Buck (Thank you Grandma, love you!). I opened the package to find a cute, yellow Easter bunny. I told Sister Mukhlaash to come see what my Grandma send me and she thought I told her that my Grandma had sent her an Easter bunny. She got really excited, picked up the bunny and began throwing it in the air. I didn't have the heart to tell her that my Grandma had sent it to me, so I just let her be. We told her that she needed to name the bunny and she decided on the name "Whopper" (we had given her a box of whoppers and she loved them!) Sweet Sister Mukhlaash fell in love with Whopper and would even sleep with Whopper, it was so cute! Easter morning Sister Mukhlaash woke up to an Easter basket and a note saying, "Sister Mukhlaash, I hope you like the Easter basket I brought you. I also enjoyed hiding all of your Easter eggs. Happy Easter! Love, Whopper (your Easter bunny)" She was so excited and so confused! She told me to come look and I told her that we needed to find the Easter eggs. She was tickled pink and began running around the apartment looking for all of the eggs. She told us that next year she is not going to sleep the night before Easter so she can see the Easter bunny. We told her that he will not come unless she is asleep. I have never had so much fun! We've decided that Sister Mukhlaash's new favorite holiday is Easter and her new best friend is Whopper.

Last night we taught Neville. Neville is the non-member husband of Pauline. They are from Jamaica and Pauline has been a member for many years. Neville, bless his heart, is one of the most stubborn men that I know. We have been teaching him for about 3 months. He has had near death experiences which have created in him a greater urgency to be baptized. He has kidney problems and although he is doing much better, he is waitng for a transplant. We have struggled with him and his pride. However, last night his heart completely changed. Sister Mukhlaash softened him with her conversion experience and testimony. As she spoke the words were clear and the feelings of the spirit were strong and I knew that I was witnessing the gift of tongues. It was a beautiful lesson. We made a goal with Neville to be baptized April 26th. I have learned that one of the greatest ways to invite the spirit, even greater than testifying, is expressing sincere and heart felt love. I have seen hearts softened as our love for those we serve has been expressed. It is powerful.

The work continues to go on. I am having fun and I am heathy. I love you all and pray that you will continue to find ways to build the kingdom in whatever capacity you may be in...bloom where you're planted. There is much work to be done and the Lord is on our side!

Love, Sister Hogge