Sunday, September 19, 2010

Baptism

** From email sent July 6 **

BAPTISMS!!!!!!!!!! GAH!!!!!!!!!! MY FIRST BAPTISMS SINCE JANUARY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Alleluia! Sister Gay got baptized last Tuesday! And so did her boys, Jason and Mondez! It was sooooooo great! And then Sister's Gay's daughter got baptized on Sunday. She was sick on Tuesday, so she had to miss it. But I looooove that family. The little 8 year old boy, Mondez, that got baptized is sooooo great! That little boy holds my heart, I tell ya. On Sunday he wrapped his arms around my waist and said, "Good-bye, Angel." I about lost it. I love that kid. So cute. And I about started crying when they got confirmed on Sunday. Bishop confirmed them and he gave some really good blessings.

We had a lesson with Sister May on Friday. She had pizza and salad for us. She's so great. We've just got to get that tea out of the house somehow.....Sister Savage and I are thinking of coming in in the dead of night and stealing it and leaving Crystal Light in it's place....somehow, I don't think that one would go over too well....But we might be having a power exchange later on this week with our Zone Leaders, that's when the Zone Leaders come with us and teach when we have a tough investigator...hopefully, she'll be able to feel the priesthood power. Pray for her, please. And we're hoping that we will be able to let her watch the Testaments and hopefully she'll dump that tea down the toliet.....

Not a whole lot new has happened....District meeting was this morning.....um.....yeah. We got pizza for dinner last night....There's a Little Ceaser's nearby! ALLELUIA! CHEAP PIZZA!!!!

I was sick on Friday and Saturday. I got a cold, don't know how since it's been dang hot....but yeah. I was pretty sick. We went home and Sister Savage gave me some Tylenol Severe Cold and it knocked me out for four hours. She came in to check on me a couple of times and said that I was completely out of it. And then that night I had a debilitating headache that made it so I could hardly see or think straight. Ugh. Not to mention I was completely drugged up. But I is better now! Yay!

Ummmm......ummmmm....Fourth of July was pretty boring. We sat around and painted each other's toenails....pretty exciting, I know. We listened to church music...listened to the drunk people running around in our complex and lighting firecrackers....yeah. I had a wild fourth of July. I did go to a recent convert's house and have grilled cheese sandwiches and watermelon.....Hmm. Not quite as good as steak and stuffed potatos. How I miss Mama's cookin'. I really miss Mama's cooking. Sister Savage and I are decent, but nothing's as good as Mom's dinners. And also, after having cereal every single morning, I really miss Daddy's pancakes....so I hope I get lots of good food when I get home! :D LOL.

So I figure Jason is either super busy or dead, considering I haven't received an email from him in forever....

But the Church is true, the book is blue and Mormons are Christians! (not everybody thinks so, but we are!)

"I gave you TEN Commandments....not nine....not eight....TEN!!!" Love, God

** From email sent June 28 **

Oh my heck!!! What a week! It has been a freaking emotional roller coaster ride. This past week was horrendous.....and looooong!!!! But Sister Gay is totally getting baptized tomorrow. And her three kids are as well!! HURRAY FOR ZION!!!!!!! Sorry, Milledgeville inside jokes are a part of who I am now.....:D But Sister Gay is so awesome! She totally got Antied by her mom....cuz her mom doesn't like us....but she is so solid! She totally didn't care and she knows that what she is doing is right. Satan can just EAT IT!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!

Anyways, Sister May is also doing very well, except she didn't make it to church yesterday....hmmmm. She's having a hard time giving up tea so please pray for her. But we went to dinner at her house on Friday. She made us barbeque ribs, potato salad, baked beans and turtle brownies....YUM!!!!

We also met a mom and her 10 year old son last week. Her son is hysterical!! He is so funny! He loves the missionaries. He's so cute. He says the most random things, such as: "When I see the blue smoke around me, I know it's good and when I see the red smoke, I know it's evil." We say: "Do you see the blue smoke now?" And he says: "yeah" so we say: "Then we're good." :D And he says, "I wanna be baptized every day!" And "God kicked Satan outta Heaven with his foot!" And "Someone needs to knock Satan out." I couldn't agree more, personally. :D And then, after his mom prayed, he said "I feel so good right now!" He is so in the water. We just gotta convince mom first. :D He was really excited to get the Book of Mormon. :D he said, "THE BOOK OF MORMON!!!!!!!!!! I finally have a Book of Mormon!!!!" It was really cute. He's a trip, I tell ya.

So, I learned how uncoordinated I really am this morning. Sister Savage and I were studying in our little study room and in between personal study and companionship planning, she got up to use the bathroom....so I leaned back in my chair, it's like a swivel office type chair that you see in business offices...but.......apparently I leaned toooooo far back and fell over backwards in my office chair. And not only that, I was stuck. So when Sister Savage walks in from the bathroom, the first thing she sees is Sister Hoggard on the floor, in her chair with her feet in the air. I heard her come in and then stop in her tracks. I look up at her and say, "I'm stuck!" Apparently we had a good laugh trying to get me untangled and out of that corner. Luckily, I didn't hit my head on the corner of the dresser. The last thing President needs to hear is that one of his beloved Sister missionaries (He truly does love the sisters) has cracked her head open due to her uncoordination and stupidity. But oh well. It's not the first or last time.

Monday, September 13, 2010

"Satan doesn't like this work.......bless his heart." -President Bowman

** From an email sent June 21 **

"Satan doesn't like this work.......bless his heart." -President Bowman

Oh my gosh! What a freakin awesome week!!!!!!! Ok, first off, Sister Patty is getting baptized on July 11. Only, she's going down to Florida to do it. But she'll be back here for her confirmation!!!! Alleluia!!! She is so wonderful! Every time we see her, she has something for us. She sells Avon so she's given us chapstick, lotion, mascara and stuff. And she gave us a candle from the consignment shop that she works at. Also, we went to her shop last week cuz I saw a shirt there that was really cute and only 6 dollars, so we went to buy it and I bring it up to the register and she say's "let me get this one for you." And I say, "Sister Patty!" And she's like, "I'm serious!" And I'm like, "Are you sure?" And she says "yeah!" So, she bought me a shirt that I will always remember her whenever I wear it.

Sister Belinda still wants to get baptized! We had the most amazing lesson with her last week! We'd taught her the word of wisdom and she was totally cool with it. Said she'd smoked her last cigarrette this morning and she was gonna be done! What a cinch of a lesson, eh? But then, here is the amazing thing. After we prayed, she turned and looked at me and said, "I have something else to tell y'all too." At that moment, I was like "Oh no, what?" Especially considering we'd just taught the word of wisdom. And she says, "I did that thing you told me to do." She was still looking at me and my first reaction was "Oh dear. What did I say?" Apparently a few days ago, when we had taught her study the scriptures, I had told her that whenever she had a question, that all she needed to do was hold the Book of Mormon in her hands and say a little prayer and ask God in her prayer, her question. (That's something that Adam Bezzant taught me to do in Mission Prep.) Well, she had done just that and had the question of whether or not all this (the church, the Book of Mormon, everything) was true. She had randomly opened up to Alma 45:22, which reads: "Therefore, Helaman and his brethren went forth to establish the church again in all the land, yea, in every city throughout all the land which was possessed by the people of Nephi. And it came to pass they did appoint priests and teachers throughout all the land over all the churches." And then she looked at me and said, "It's true." And she was trying not to cry as she said it. Well, more than one conversion took place in those few precious moments on porch steps in South Georgia on a sweltering June day.....mine. It was so amazing and later in the car, Sister Savage says, "She is solid because of you, Sister Hoggard. She gained her testimony because of you!" And I was like, scared senseless, because I was a big part of her conversion. It was amazing. All her kids that are of age, Shantell, who is 12, Jason, who is 11 and Mondez, who is 8 are all on for baptism. HOW COOL IS THAT!!!!???? So, maybe I'll actually have a baptism for reals!!!

We have also started working with a lady named Sister Grant.....not quite sure how solid she is.....but we'll see. I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!!!!!

Oh! I wanna let y'all in on a little quote that I got from Sister Child that is so great
"When we obey as Adam did, endure as Job did, teach as Paul did, testify as did Peter, serve as did Nephi, give of ourselves as did the Prophet Joseph, respond as did Ruth, honor as did Mary and live as did Christ, we are born anew. All power becomes ours, cast off forever is the old self, and with it, defeat, despair, doubt and disobedience. To a newness of life, we come----a life of faith, hope and charity, courage and joy. No task looms too large, no responsibility weighs too heavily. No duty is a burden. All things are possible." -President Monson Isn't that sooooo awesome!!!!!?????

Oh my goodness, oh my goodness!!!!

** From an email sent June 14 **

SO GUESS WHAT!!!!????? Milledgeville couldn't take it anymore so they shipped me off....or rather, I flew south for the summer. I am now in Valdosta, Georgia. Clear down on the border of Georgia and Florida. Had to take the longest drive of my life to get here. We left Milledgeville at 8 in the morning and drove to Macon. Then, the assistants drove us to Statesboro, cuz Sister Child was going to Savannah and then the assistants drove us to Tifton and THEN we had to drive another hour to our area. I love it though, but it's freakin hot though! MAN!!! It's made me sick, but luckily I have a great companion that is taking care of me and President told us not to do too much tracting during the day and to drink at least a gallon of water each day. My companion is......*drum roll, please*.......Sister Savage!!!! I get her again. Remember, she was my MTC companion? She is so great. We've opened Valdosta to sisters....can you believe it? We've only been out here six months and already we are opening an area! I can't believe it! The elders left us so pretty amazing people for us to teach....so maybe I'll actually have a baptism that goes through....maybe they'll get baptized for reals this time! We are teaching a woman named Patty...who actually called the church and wants to learn and be baptized. She had taken the lessons years ago, but her husband wouldn't let her be baptized. But she's getting divorced and what's the first thing she does? Calls the church and wants to get baptized!!! Can you say golden? She already knows it's true for crying out loud. She told us so! She's so amazing! I love her. We are also teaching a lady named Belinda and her 11 year old son Jason....(Good name, I think :D ) So, they wanna get baptized and they are so great.

Our ward here is AWESOME!!! And so far, our bishop doesn't seem to be breaking any rules. He's really young though. He's probably only about Lori's age or so. So...like 22? No, he's like Lori's real age. :D So, he's pretty young, but super nice. The ward was all excited to see Sisters.

Our apartment is soooooo nice!!! Dang, the church treats us good. But Elders lived in it last, so I open up the cupboards on the first day and guess what I find? Ramen noodles, nesquick, and corndogs!!! Yummy! NOT!!!! Elders need to learn how to cook a little. Just kidding, I love elders!!! I've been going through Elder withdrawels from my last area. LOL!!! But luckily we get to go get our groceries today, so we can get some more real food.

I got heat exhaustion on Friday. Sister Savage was so worried about me. She looked at me while we were standing on a door step. She said I was white as a sheet and was shaking. So she gently pulled on my arm to move me away from the stairs cuz she was scared I was gonna pass out on her. So we got back in the car, turned on the cool air and she made me drink lots of water. So I'm slowly getting used to this heat. Ugh. Thank goodness I am only here for one summer!