Perfect love casteth out fear...

President and Sister Allen did this to my bed.  Ha Ha!

 

Once again, I can say that it was an awesome week. I've really loved the long drives we take each day to our area. It is so green and full of life everywhere with rivers and streams. It's very beautiful where we get to work. Today we visited the famous Milano soccer stadium which was so rad! As always, we kept working hard, keeping things afloat in the mission. We had the "grand opening" of our english class that we publicized for a few weeks with rad flyers. It was so awesome because a good amount of people came and all of them stayed to watch the new Easter Video called PrincipeDellaPace. Everyone loved it, and I'm not surprised because it teaches mostly about peace and the Savior. I hope you can at least watch #PrinceofPeace and share it with someone. The follow-up videos that go along with the video are amazing too. Let us remember why we celebrate! Because He is risen and He is the Prince of Peace.

 



Visiting the famous Milano soccer stadium where AC Milan and Inter play

 

 

 

 

 "Perfect love casteth out fear," were some of the words spoken by Elder Ughtdorf in last weekend General Conference. This week I reflected a ton on the words spoken by our prophet, apostles, and other leaders of the church. They always speak of things that directly go along with our changing lives and new worldly trends. I specifically was touched by Elder Ughtdorf's talk about how the power of love supersedes that of fear. He said that "One of the ways Satan wants us to manipulate others is by dwelling upon and even exaggerating the evil in the world." In reality there are so many acts of kindness and love all around the world that sadly go unrecognized.

 The more I look for the good and love that's in the world, the less fearful and more peaceful I become. Have an awesome Easter egg filled week! Don't forget to share the video!

 



 

 

 

 

 Love,
Anziano Hogan

Brand new car

Hello everyone!!!

So I've decided not to write home for the rest of my mission...

APRIL FOOLS!!!! Happy April 1st everyone. Sister Hoopes, who works here in the office, made us brownies except they were literally cut out brown cardboard E's hahaha. This week I was able to visit, in my opinion, the most beautiful place on earth. We worked a ton on moving apartments, spreading the word about our new english class, and working with the awesome people of Lodi. These last few days have been tender for me because they mark a year since I returned home. I am so extremely grateful for being able to return back here so quickly. It honestly has been the best time of my life, all these months in Italy.

Don't worry...we didn't touch the water.  We were just tanning.

 

The Liguarian coastline

On Tuesday we took a train to Bergamo where we picked up the brand new mission van and drove it back to Milano. The next day we had to move a missionary apartment so we drove the new mission van to a city called Imperia and Sanremo which are cities in Liguria that lie near the border of France. It was one of the coolest drives of my life just gliding along the Ligurian coast passing along Genova, Savona, and all the other little beach cities. It reminded Anziano Simmons and I so much about California!! It was a special moment for me because I know that our biological ancestors are from Liguria. Ever since I have arrived in italy I have waited to visit that area.

The moving squad

Friday was such an awesome experience for Anziano Simmons and I because we taught a high school class all about who we are and what we believe. A young member from Lodi got us this opportunity. It was the coolest experience to have the attention of about 20 teenagers, telling them for an hour, the things that we believe. At the end of our presentation, we showed the new 2017 Easter video which almost had the teacher in tears.

A world cat convention here in Milan

 As many of you know, this is the weekend of General Conference! I hope everyone gets the chance to watch it. I liked what Elder Nelson said about having our focus on our Savior. He said "If we look unto Him in every thought, our doubts and fears will flee". I know that is very true because He is our perfect example. I love what I am doing here and I love you all!

A church with thousands of bones!

 

Real human skulls!

 Anziano Hogan