Verona is amazing!

Buongiorno!

Ciao everyone, I had an awesome week again. I am learning so so much each day here. Last Thursday, my companion and I went to Mestre, which is the city where Venice is! I didn't have a chance to go to Venice but I was close. We were trained by our Mission President on everything we need to know as a new missionary in the Milano Mission.

My companion and me

President Dibb is such an amazing man. He is so smart and I learned so much from him.  My trainer and I didn't have that great of a week last week as far as lessons go but the President challenge me, along with all of the new missionaries, to get 21 lessons this week so we have
been working extra hard.

The language for me is coming along. I am definitely not fluent at all but I see myself improving each day. We teach lots of Africans and English speaking people so I am not able to get all of the practice I need, but I make my companion speak to me in Italian as often as he can.  I know I don't need to mention how good the food is here but I will anyways... It's amazing. My companion and I are going to buy a genuine Italian cook book so we can learn how to make some of the best food on earth.

Today was Pday and we hiked the Tre Cime mountains which are the mountains outside Trento and they are Amazing! Half of the hike was in the snow so it was pretty cold but so so worth it. Italy is such a beautiful place! Now I am on a train with my zone leader going to Verona. I am doing an exchange in Verona for the day tomorrow and I am so excited! Verona is amazing.

Tre Cime Mountains: We got to the top of this peak!!!

At the summit

I don't have that much time to write because we taught a lesson during out writing Time so I'll end with one last thing. Today we had an amazing miracle. Anziano Mocellin(the elder I am doing
the exchange with) and I taught a family from a French speaking part of Africa. They are members of the church but have not been to church or seen the missionaries for a year. Anziano Yee and I have not been able to teach them because we don't speak French. After our hike today we decided to have Anziano Mocellin call the family because he speaks French! After he called them he said we are teaching them in the next hour so we ran to catch a bus to teach this family. Anziano Mocellin
taught them in French and I have never seen a family more happy in my entire life. I did not understand really anything because they were all talking in French but the spirit was extremely powerful. I bore my testimony to them and he translated it to them. At the end of the lesson, the mother of the family told us that she had said a prayer this morning that she would find missionaries to teach her family. This was a true miracle. Her prayer was answered and Heavenly Father used us to be an answer to her prayer. I am so grateful that I could be a part of a miracle as amazing as this one. This family is now reuniting with the church and they have never seemed happier.


Words cannot describe how amazing this mission is. Of course it is so much hard work, but when I have experiences like this, The joy I feel is indescribable. My mission has already changed my life and I have been able to grow so much closer to Jesus Christ and what he did for us. I have been able to grow so much closer to my Heavenly Father as I have seen miracles happen first hand. I know this church is true with everything in me. I love you all and I am so grateful to be here.

Anziano Hogan

I love being out here!

Email me anytime!  William.hogan@myldsmail.net

Buongiorno!!

Week 2 in Italy is out of the way. I am only one week into my transfer because the transfer started last Monday. This week was great. A lot went on! We had our zone training meeting last week which was awesome. We have a great zone up here in the North. I was able to do a scambio (exchange) in the city of Bolzano with an elder who has lived in Italy for 7 years and is originally from the Dominican Republic. His name is Anziano Sosa Correa and he is awesome! It was hard only speaking Italian for 24 hours but I learned so much! We taught 3 lessons in Italian and one of the guys we taught had no legs and only 3 fingers on each hand. He was an awesome guy and we talked a lot. I have been learning more and more of the language each day.  I am way better at understanding people but speaking is a totally different story. I'm getting there and I really can't wait to be fluent! I was able to bear my testimony in sacrament meeting here in my branch! It was scary to be honest but it felt so good! I was able to share what I wanted and the members loved that I got up and tried.

Beautiful Trento

In Trento, my trainer and I have been teaching mostly Africans which is always an adventure because their culture and way of speaking is so different from anything else. They are such great people. We have been teaching Italian people too and I love it!! Before I got out here, I thought that all the Italians would fight over who gets to feed the missionaries and we would be eating amazing food every night but I have learned it's a bit of the opposite. It has forced Anziano Yee and I to become professional chefs. I'm not going to lie, I have become quite the master at cooking.

Something really cool we do is English class. We do it every Wednesday and Saturday. I have about 8 students and they all love it so much. It is definitely something to look forward to.

Trento has been pretty awesome. It rains almost everyday and it is starting to get colder but it is still an extremely beautiful place. We are trying every day to do as much as we can to fulfill our purpose.

I learned something very valuable last Sunday as we were teaching a man named Brother L.  I learned was that we really are our first convert on the mission. When you teach someone the gospel and they say to you, "you are wrong, it is this way we are supposed to do things" you must be truly converted to the gospel in order to look someone in the eyes and testify that the things you say are true. Anyone can testify of things but not everyone can testify of things with the power of the spirit. And the spirit is our best friend when we teach. I know that I will have investigators who will have strong beliefs and hard hearts. With people like that, I need to be ready to testify with everything in me that what I am telling them is true. And I do know that I have given up my life at home for 2 years to teach others about the gospel.

I know that the true church was restored on the earth 200 years ago. I have spent a lot of time on my knees praying out here in the mission and I really do know that this church is true. I have had some of the most satisfying and enjoyable days of my life here in Trento. When I get back to the apartment feeling exhausted and tired, knowing I put everything I had into sharing the gospel, I am so extremely happy. I love being out here! I love being a missionary. I have seen it bless many people's lives including mine. The best thing we can ever do for ourselves is read the Book of Mormon and pray about it. I promise anyone who does this will find out for themselves that it is the word of God and another testament of Jesus Christ. I love you all and I love this work. Till next week.

 

International Lake Garda Marathon

Ciao!

Willy in Trento, Italy

Buongiorno tutti!!!


Here I am in Italy!!

Email address:
William.hogan@myldsmail.net

My Trento address is:
Via Fogazzaro 3
38122 Trento TN
Italia

 Mission Home:
Via Antonio Gramsci 13/2
20090 Opera MI
Italia

My companion Anziona Yee and me

These last couple weeks have the most exhausting and most exciting weeks of my entire life. I am finally a real missionary serving in Italy. My dreams have come true. I have a million things to talk about but I don't have a ton of time so I'll do the best I can to tell you all about it!

Last Tuesday all 19 missionaries and I left early in the morning for the airport. We had so much fun being in the real world as new missionaries. All of the traveling went super well except for our flight to Frankfurt which was delayed 3 hours and we were forced to wait and sit on the plane. That all thankfully worked out and we got to Frankfurt just fine and hopped on a plane to MILAN!!

We arrived at the Milano airport and were greeted by our awesome mission President and his wife. We were pretty late so we didn't have a chance to proselyte at the Duomo which was kind of sad. After some orientation meetings and an interview we had the most amazing dinner ever. It was an awesome day but a very, very tiring day because we all basically didn't sleep for a total of 28 hours! We got some great sleep thankfully and a few hours after we woke up we were assigned to our new area and trainers!!

I was the last one to get assigned which was so brutal because I was so anxious. Sure enough I get assigned to Anziano Yee (who has been out for only 6 months) in the town of Trento! Trento is a medium sized town with lots of fairly quiet and devout catholics. The members here, which number to about 35 are some wonderful people. We are located very far up North near Austria. I hear it can get pretty cold here and it snows here sometimes. I don't really like the cold that much but I imagine this place gets sooo beautiful when it snows. I haven't seen that much of Italy but, too me, Trento has got to be one of the most beautiful places in the world. I got so lucky to serve here!

 I was able to watch conference! But mostly in Italian and only 3 sessions. I loved how they emphasized the importance of the family. The family here is such and important topic to the Italians. We live just outside of the downtown part of the city. Our apartment is super nice and big! There used to be 4 missionaries in the apartment but they reduced Trento to only 2 missionaries so we got lucky. The food here is AMAZING!! It is absolutely unreal. We have the
best snacks from the store and not to mention the gelato we get about once a day. I am in food heaven here. It's a good thing we walk a lot because I would be a fat missionary if we didn't.

 So my companion and I have been doing quite a lot of work and we are busy almost 100% of the day. There are a few refugee camps here with lots of Africans so most of our investigators are African! They are some of the coolest, nicest, loving people I have ever met. A lot of them speak broken English or pigeon so I have had to learn some terms to make gospel messages and principles more clear. It is so awesome. Right now, we really don't have any pure Italian investigators because they can be very hard to teach. Trust me we try every day as we go tracting and do casa in casa (knocking on doors). We do have many Italian speaking Investigators from different countries who are so
great!

The language for me is coming along. When I was in the MTC I thought I knew a good amount of Italian, but I was so wrong. They speak 1,000mph here and It is really hard to understand. My companion is super patient and very  hard working so he helps me every second with the language. I learn more and more each day and the language is coming along!! He has made me in charge (most of the time) of contacting people on the streets so I can practice my introductions. He has also told me that ever since I got here, he has seen a lot more tender mercies happen. For example, He was teaching me how to do casa
in casa and the very first house we buzzed, and someone opened the gate and someone came out  to talk to us. He said that never has he ever seen or heard of that happening. I Love being a missionary!! Working all day, bring the light of this gospel in to peoples lives is the most amazing experience ever.

This city is so beautiful and amazing with so much potential for the gospel. It really is not easy being a missionary in a place where the Italians are pretty tough to budge when it comes to discussing the church. We constantly get rejected but we keep on moving just waiting for that one person that will be willing to talk to us. Heavenly Father has blessed me so much with so many things. I hope this email wasn't all over the place. I love it here so much. It
gets hard at times but Heavenly Father helps so much. I know that this is the only and true church. Seeing the gospel change the lives of the people I teach is absolutely priceless. Till next week everyone,
Ciao!!

WILLYS LAST WEEK IN THE MTC. HE LEAVES NEXT TUESDAY! william.hogan@myldsmail.net

Ciao a tutti!!

This is my last email to you all here at the MTC. Things are winding down pretty quick here and I'll be in Italy before I know it. I have experienced many challenges and even more spiritual experiences. I have learned so much about myself and about my purpose as a missionary. Each day as I learn more and more Italian, I grow closer and closer to Italy because I know that Heavenly Father has prepared people waiting to hear me teach them the truth. 

This past week, my companion taught a woman over Skype who lives in Milan, Italy! It was the most amazing thing being able to teach a real Italian about the church! This last Sunday was such a treat for all missionaries. We had Brother Newell from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Music From the Spoken Word come to the MTC to broadcast live. It was the first time in history they have gone to the MTC in to broadcast Music and the Spoken Word, and I was in the choir!

 

One thing I don't think I have mentioned is how amazing our teachers are. Fratello Gessel, Sorella Miles and Sorella Russel have all served in Italy and they are amazing people. Without them, I don't know if my MTC experience would be the same. I forgot to take a picture with them so I'll try and send one when I have my next Pday in Italy! 

 

My Zone

 

That reminds me, We got our flight plans last Friday!! Probably the best moment ever. We leave the MTC at 7am this Tuesday and fly out of SLC airport at 12:30pm and get to Chicago at 4:34pm(chicago time) Then we Fly from Chicago to Frankfurt, Germany and arrive at 9:45am(Germany Time) Then off to Milan and we get to Milan around 12:30pm in the afternoon on Wednesday! I was told that when we arrive in Italy, we get amazing Italian food and go straight to the Duomo to start handing out copies of the Book of Mormon! The next day we meet our new trainers, get our new area assignments, and off I go to some amazing place in Italy. That will be the most exciting part of my mission yet.

 

The thing I am most grateful for about the MTC is how I have been able to strengthen my testimony. The more I read the Book of Mormon, the thinner the veil gets. In these last 5 weeks, I have said countless prayers asking for help, comfort, guidance, and strength. Every single time Heavenly Father has answered my prayers. I cannot wait to begin my journey in Italy because I know that Heavenly Father assigned me to serve in this mission for a reason. Who knows, maybe I will get assigned to the Genoa area which is where some of my family's blood relatives live. Like my dad, I have such a love for Italy and for the people - even though I have not met them yet. I know that this church is true with every part of me. I have seen miracles here. I cannot wait to share the truth. I have left my family and friends for two years so that other families can live together for eternity. 

 

(I may not have a P-day right away when I get to Italy so there is a chance my next letter wont be for a week or two) .

 

I scripture that I came across this week that I love is 1 Nephi 17:3

 

Till next time.

 

I found a cat!!

 

 

Ciao!!

-Anziano Hogan

Week four from William.hogan@myldsmail.net

Buongiorno e Tutti!!!

Sono multo emozionata per Milano!!!! Week 4 is out of the way! After being here for a month, the MTC has become a lot more comfortable. It is really not that bad because we get to study Italian all the time and I seriously love Italian SO much. It is the most amazing language out there- I think.. And I'm so lucky that I get to learn it! The 3 elders and I in my district have started doing this thing call Speak Your Language. We go a certain amount of time where we are only allowed to speak Italian and nothing else. So far we have gone a whole entire day and a few half days doing SYL. Now that we only have like 12 days left here, we have decided that every day as we speak to each other, we will first say what we know in Italian( which is surprisingly a lot) and say the rest in English and write down what we don't know so we can study it.

Our district has the best teachers in the world! They make the 10 hours of class each day bearable. So far, my companion and I have taught somewhere up to 45 or more lessons- Only in Italian. Most of them are taught to our teachers playing the role of an investigator they had in Italy so the situation is fairly realistic. Some lessons are also taught to Italians who live in Italy. This week my companion and I are teaching a 30 minute lesson over Skype to a member living in Italy. So cool! Seriously nothing in the world makes me happier that to help someone come closer to Jesus Christ.

 

 

On a slightly different note, something that I am devastated about is that I am turning white!! You know when you're a missionary when you skin tone is one shade away from the glowing watch tan. At least I haven't lost anymore weight. I lost 6 pounds since I came here. Its weird though because I still look the same. Every morning I go super hard in the gym because If I don't I would probably get chubby from sitting all day. After the gym, the elders and I will play spike ball instead of Frisbee. Spike ball is way more fun because everyone would play it at the beach and it makes me feel at home. Every night before we go to bed we will play a game of horse with the basketball hoop we have and that is super fun and it gets pretty intense. Every Sunday and Tuesday, the Elders and I have been doing choir which is so amazing. Elder Eggit, the director for the Tabernacle Choir, is our director!! There are 1,070 missionaries in the choir so you could imagine how awesome we all sound when we sing.

The twins sent me a package.  Thank you!

  Knowing that our time here at the MTC is winding down makes me pretty happy because Italy has been calling my name for a VERY long time. We get our flight plans this Friday which will be like Christmas!! We all cannot wait!

 Brody Earnest and Me

 

Justin Sterner and Me

 

On a slightly different note, Last week a sister in my district lost a family member and she asked me to give her a priesthood blessing. I gladly did so and when I placed my hands upon her head I had absolutely no idea what to say. It was when I began the blessing when words filled my mind. Heavenly Father was speaking to this Sister through me and I know that to be true. The spirit I felt in that moment was almost tangible. I felt as if a tunnel of fire was surrounding all of us it was that powerful. I am so grateful to have been given the opportunity to perform that blessing.
Just one more P-day here and after that I'll be writing you from some beautiful town in Italy. I have already started to grow so much love for the Italians. I know that Heavenly Father has people there who are prepared for me to teach them the truth. I love sharing the gospel more than anything because it is true. I have seen it change lives as it has changed mine so much. I have seen real miracles happen here almost every single day. I have come to the knowledge that this is the true church because I have read the Book Of Mormon and have prayed about it. I want to share with you some of my most favorite scriptures: 1 Nephi 3:7   1 Nephi 9:6   D&C 90:11   D&C 58:27
I love you all. I am so so happy to be a missionary. A mission is very challenging, yet so very rewarding. Till next week! CIAO!
-Anziano Hogan

AN ANSWERED PRAYER (william.hogan@myldsmail.net)

Buongiorno everyone!!!

 

I am half way done with the MTC and in just 19 days I depart for Milano! We are all so anxious to get out there and serve the Italians. The Italian has gotten so much better!! At times it can get hard, but with the spirit and faith, anything is possible here. I have taught about 20 lessons already- all in Italian of course. It definitely gets frustrating at times because I am unable to fully express myself but I a can at least get a meaningful lesson across which is great! Here I have learned that we cant just expect to receive the gift of tongues because we are set apart missionaries, we have to study intensely and learn as much as we can. I have been working so hard each day because I know that Heavenly Father will make up the rest if I try my best. And I have seen that so many times! 

 

My comp next to me, next to him is elder esmay, and next to him closest to the camera is elder Anderson.,, the famous youtube cat kid. 

     This week was a week of many challenges and also miracles. So on Thursday of last week, I woke up and both of my eyes were SUPER red. I seriously looked like a zombie. Later that day I decided to go to the medical clinic there and ask if they could tell me what was wrong. They said it was a side effect from the cold I had last week. They ordered me a prescription which I was so thankful for. Nothing is worse than having to teach a lesson in Italian with both of your eyes looking like the eyes of zombie. My companion and I went to pick up the prescription which helped a ton!

 

When we got back to the classroom I could not find my wallet anywhere!! I ran back to the travel office to ask if I had maybe left it in the shuttle and they said no. So I ran back to the clinic at BYU to see if I had left it there and I could not find it anywhere! I was devastated because I had everything important in that wallet. The next few days were full of phone calls to home(pretty happy about that), the bank, and the DMV(I was on hold for 2 hours). I was able to replace almost everything accept for the $90 in my wallet. I prayed over and over again. I fasted for 24 hours on Sunday and prayed even more. By Tuesday I had accepted that maybe I wouldn't ever find it. Well, this morning while at the temple, I said a prayer and thanked Heavenly Father for helping me get all of the important items replaced. After the temple I had read a letter from my mom saying that my little brother, Jack, had fasted for the first time last Sunday so that I could find it. Sure enough, the front desk called me up and they had found it in one of the VANS!! I couldn't believe it. I know that fasting and prayer works. Although most everything in it was cancelled( because I thought it was stolen) I am still grateful for having it. My mom told me that maybe this was Heavenly Father's way of telling me that I need to be careful in Italy because something much more valuable could be stolen or lost and I should be more careful. 

 

     This week, Bishop Causee ( the man who handles the finance of the church) spoke to us. His brother-in law is the mission president of the France Paris mission! That made me think of my cousin Jamison. He told us that we need to be bold missionaries and never forget to open our mouths to people. His wife told us that it is okay for us to feel inadequate as long as we rely on our Heavenly Father. That is so very true. We all have inadequacies and weaknesses but only to make us stronger. In Ether 12:27, it reads " I give unto men weakness that they may become humble" And if we humble ourselves He will make the week things become strong unto us. 

 

 

  Before I end, I just want to say how grateful I am for all of you. I am so happy to be serving a mission. I have found out already that it is and will be the most difficult thing I will ever do but the most rewarding thing I will ever do. 

 

 

I started reading the Book of Mormon last may and I fisished it yesterday! Evertime I read it, I know that it is the most true and correct book on this earth. I am not sure how many of you read my emails but if you have time, do yourself a favor and read it and pray about it. It will change your life as it has surely changed mine. I miss you all and love you so much. I would not want to be anywhere else. Till next week! ( read: Moroni 10:4 Ether 12:6 and 3 Nephi 11)

-Anziano Hogan

 

Thank you grandma!!!!

 

Bongiorno!!!

Io so che la chiesa e vera!! This week has been such a roller coaster. Dallin H. Oaks spoke to us all last night which was so amazing! I can't believe I was able to hear an apostle speak to us! I really want to share what he said so I'll do that near the end.

We started this week off on such a high when we discovered that we are allowed to play the pianos whenever we have free time (which is super rare). I can't even describe how happy I was to know that because I love playing the piano. Now whenever I get super stressed and when I have free time, I'll make my companion go with me so that I can play. He just has to sit there and listen to me but he says he likes it so I'm glad.

 

The next day was really bad, though. I came down with a fever of 100.2 and I felt so sick. I had no energy and had to miss class so that I could sleep and try to recover. It was horrible because I had a bunch of down time to worry about home. Its not fun being super sick in a place that is not home. Before I went to bed that night, the MTC said that I had to go to the urgent care in the morning. I was totally okay with that because I needed to get better so that I wouldn't have to miss class! On my way back from the front office, I decided to stop by my classroom and say goodnight. While I was there, I felt prompted to ask my companion for a blessing. He willfully said he would- It was the first blessing he has ever given. It was extremely powerful and so uplifting. He said that I will be blessed with a speedy recover and the knowledge that Heavenly Father with answer my prayers. When I woke up in the morning, I walked over to the urgent care and sure enough, my fever had completely vanished. I didn't feel 100 percent better but I sure felt like something other than my own body healed my sickness. I knew that Heavenly Father blessed me to be healthy enough to attend class and teach investigators. The night I was sick, I said a prayer and asked Heavenly Father that I would be just healthy enough to teach and learn. I was blessed with those things and I know that this was a miracle. 

Despite any of the challenges we face, our district is seriously a big happy family. Sometimes when we get super restless or stressed out, we will have a push-up competition or a wall sitting competition. It is so much fun!! I am so lucky because all of the elders I live with are pretty healthy guys- for the most part. They all like doing super hard work outs which I love because I don't want to get fat here. I have actually lost like 4 pounds for some reason. I have been eating a lot and working out a lot too. After we do our hard workouts, we always run over to the huge field and play an intense game of frisbee. We are getting WAY too good at Frisbee. I'm starting to feel like one of those old creepy guys who play in their speedos at the beach.( I hope that wasnt too graphic) It is so much fun though!! Oh and something I want to add is that one of the Elders in my district, named Anziano Anderson, Is the SAME exact person as Kramer from Seinfeld!!! He is hilarious! The things he says are priceless. I've made a list of the things he has said. I'll share that another time maybe. He is also my favorite because he got 40,000,000 views on a cat compilation video he made on you tube!!! I have probably seen it a million times before I came here. 

Ill now end with what Elder Oaks taught to all of us. He spoke mostly about Preach my Gospel and very important teaching tips. His wife said that as we grow closer to Christ, we will have more light! Which is so true. Elder Oaks taught that the Spirit is the real teacher in all lessons and to all investigators. Because this is true, we, as missionaries must keep ourselves clean and focused so that we can have the spirit testify to the investigators that what we teach is true. We need to be instruments in the hands of our Heavenly Father. Not just me as a missionary but all of you. If we ever had a challenge, something that will always help you is to loose yourself in the service of others. As Elder Bednar once said. "By loosing yourselves in the service of others, you will find yourself."

Of course times get stressful and tough here, but I have learned that prayer really does work. Many times I have prayed, asking that I can get through a tough moment and I have seen over and over my prayers being answered. I love where I am. I have never been more happy in my entire life. I have learned so much about Jesus Christ and my purpose as a missionary. The language is going great! the gift of tongues is so real! I cant even believe that I have been able to learn so much Italian. I can now hold a conversation and teaching has gotten way easier!! I love this church and I know that it can bless our lives. Any burden, sorrow or pain can be taken away if we follow the Savior. I love you all!!

Ciao

-Anziano Hogan