MEMORIZING A BAPTISMAL PRAYER...IN FRENCH

Ciao ciao!

Another great week in the life! It was a great start with zone training on Thursday. Those are always really fun and spiritual. My companion gave his "dying testimony" which was really good but sad because he's going home so soon!. Im pretty lucky to have such a great and experienced missionary as my companion.

My companion after his final testimony

As for this week, our city just built a Burger King! So we went last week and it was really good haha.

Fridays are now Pizza Fridays, so Anziano Beaulac and I made some very good pizzas! I made the dough and everything so I was pretty happy and they tasted good!

Our AMAZING pizza!

Our mission President, President Dibb, came to Trento this weekend! He is really a great guy. He interviewed each of us and he came to all 3 hours of church which was kind of stressful but so great! President Dibb gave a really great talk about the Book of Mormon and how we should invite others to read it. It really motivated our members to help us with the work which was so great. After church we were invited to have lunch at a members house. It was amazing, especially because the grandma made it and Italian grandmas are known for cooking some pretty delicious things.
We did an exchange on Monday so i stayed in Trento and my companion went to Bolzano. It was so much fun!

The view from our members house

Our French/African investigator (soon to be member) is seriously the most amazing guy in the world. I taught him the other night while Anz. Beaulac was in Bolzano so it was up to me again to use my French. It all worked out and it was so spiritual. We showed him a General Conference talk on the Holy Ghost. He was so lit up and full of the spirit and he shared how much he is looking forward to his baptism this weekend. last week He had asked me if I could baptize him. I was seriously struck with so much joy when he asked me. I have been trying to memorize the baptismal prayer in French! which is really interesting and fun, I really hope I say it right. I am truly so happy
to be a tool in Heavenly Fathers work!

All you can eat sushi

The other night I felt like we needed to visit a lest active members house. He was home which was great! and we shared with him a powerful message about how Heavenly Father can give us the power to make difficult, yet necessary, changes in our lives. He has a problem with smoking and we are helping him come to know that Heavenly Father can give him the extra strength to quit. At the end he said he was very grateful for our message. We asked if we could help him with anything and he said he is hungry and doesn't have the money to by any food. So Anziano Beaulac and I went to the store and bought him enough food to last him for about a week. Our Branch President told us to do this and tell him it was from the Branch. I can't even describe the look on his
face when we showed up at his door just 15 minutes later with food. He was so grateful. We were so grateful to be in instrument in helping this great man.

I sound like a broken record because I say this every week, but I am truly so grateful to be a missionary. The most fulfilling and joyful things I have ever done! Its an honor to be doing this work. I can't wait to tell you all how the baptism goes! I am so excited for it all.
Till next week! Ciao Tutti!

Snow in Trento

Buoun Anno!!

Wow it is weird to think that its 2016 already! For New Years we had to be home early so Anziano Beaulac and I played some rounds of UNO which was pretty fun! ( Thank you Grandma) We both woke up at 11:55 to celebrate and it was pretty crazy and loud outside. To start the new year, for lunch we made some fresh pizzas in our kitchen while listening to Italian opera, so that was pretty fun haha. 

On Saturday it SNOWED! It was dumping snow for a good hour and it was super cool!! We were able to go to the refugee camp and have some nice hot chocolate and some great lessons. 

Snow!!

So our investigator who was going to get baptized this weekend decided that he wants to have his baptism after his birthday which is in a few weeks. Not this weekend but the one after, our French/African investigator is getting baptized! His name is Gerard and he is seriously one of the most amazing guys in the world. His testimony is so strong! Im bummed because I'm not really able to say everything I want to him (because he only speaks french) but I try and I'm always able to feel the spirit so strong when he shares his testimony. We have another new Investigators who is Italian, from here in Trento. He tells us that he wants to come to church and be taught by us more! When we met with him we found he smokes about 30 cigarettes a day. What is super cool is he is letting us make a plan and goal for him to help him stop. My fingers are crossed! We are trying to help him realize that through much prayer and effort, Heavenly Father can give him the extra strength to overcome his addiction. 

Yesterday on Tuesday, Anziano Beaulac and I made a BUNCH of doughnuts to give to our investigators, neighbors, and members. We thought it would be a good way to brighten up their day. Well so far its been a success but I've eaten too many doughnuts. 

My mozzarella creation

This week I seriously learned so much! Something I really thought about a lot was about prayer and receiving a testimony. Prayer is one of the most powerful tools in gaining a testimony. We constantly tell our investigators that we are here to teach them about Jesus Christ and the restored Gospel and also to help them build a relationship with Heavenly Father. We cant really persuade someone enough to believe, they have to receive a spiritual confirmation from God for themselves to know. Its also very important to know that Action is required to obtain a testimony or receive an answer. We have to search the scriptures, attend church, and do all the things we are asked and We will receive an answer.

I'm constantly amazed at how much I learn each day. I am so grateful for everything that I have. This is truly the most fulfilling and most uplifting thing I have ever done. I love this work so much! I love all of you! 

Buon Anno Tutti!!

Anziano Hogan

The African "camp" where we go almost every day  And that's the famous football table.

It was some holiday in Italy today that I've never heard of.  It's like Halloween I guess  ha ha.

I made chocolate chip cookies!

A great suggestion on making goals this year, from Willy

Ciao!

I hope everyone had the best Christmas ever!

I made chocolate chip cookies

Anziano Beaulac and I had a super good Christmas. We woke up and opened the presents we had gotten each other and then we blasted Christmas music and made doughnuts. I don't think I have ever listened to more Christmas music in my life but I loved it.

Christmas Morning

We then went over to the Aliberti's house from Christmas lunch which was seriously amazing. I got to skype HOME!! and then we went to our Branch President's house to eat some pasta and watch FROZEN!! It truly was a successful Christmas as a missionary. The weeks leading up to Christmas have been full of teaching as many people as possible about the true meaning of Christmas which made this one of the most special Christmases I've ever experienced. There are lots of nativity scenes and things about Christ here which made me super happy to see. Being a missionary is awesome!
Church on Sunday was crazy because I had to translate all 3 hours so I was crazy stressed but it was pretty fun and great practice.

Christmas Eve Dinner

Tuesday was another day of miracles! When we were finding people to teach in the park near our house, we met a man named Alessandro! I totally felt inspired to ask him a question and he immediately denied us and said no, not to mention his huge German Shepard staring at us. My initial reaction was to keep walking and say buon giornata ( have a good day), But Anziano Beaulac and I felt like we should continue to talk to him. As we were persistent in talking to him he completely opened up to us and had us sit down next to him. I was seriously amazed! As we continued to speak to him, the annoyed look on his faced turned into a smile. In the end of it all he asked us when we can meet again! We are planning to see him this Sunday!

This bike has my name on it!  ha ha!

From this single experience I learned that many people need the gospel in their lives, they just don't know it yet until they hear it and feel the spirit. This is why I can't judge people and say "Oh they are smoking and have a 1 foot long beard and tattoos everywhere so he probably won't be interested" but sure enough, that guy is actually the guy that is willing to listen ( this really happened to me). So I've learned to talk to literally anyone no matter how scary or annoyed they look.

Right after this experience, one of our referrals emailed us and asked us when we can come over and teach them! We were seriously so excited because all the online referrals we have been getting haven't really been successful at all.

Yesterday, Anziano Beaulac and I also took a bus out into this city we have never been to find this man because we knew the man who contacted us his lost phone. Well, we had no idea where to go but we truly were led by the spirit because we got there and never were we lost. A man named Godwin from Nigeria walked with us and we were able to find the man's brother! Godwin wants us to bring him to church and also wanted us to drive a bus to the camp(where most Nigerians live) and pick up a bunch of them and bring them to church this Sunday. So that's in our list of things to do ha ha.

I can't believe the new year is already here! In district meeting we talked about how we shouldn't make some big new years goal (unless its good and realistic), instead we should make effective goals each day, week, and month and get ourselves actively involved in good things!

Well, many great things have been happening for us. We are having a baptism next weekend Jan 9th for our investigator Vihceslav!!! Seriously so happy. And we have another one for our French investigator Gerard the week after!

I had a super cool experience with Garard last week. I was able to bear my testimony to him in French which was one of the coolest things ever! It's always Anz. Beaulac who teaches him because he speaks French. I was pretty scared because I haven't spoken very much French since High School but I said what I wanted and it felt so good and the spirit was so strong.

Well things are great! Of course there are hard days but I know the good outweighs the bad by a lot. We are having tons of fun. The language for me is getting better and better each week! I am definitely learning how to make some gooood foods which I'm so happy about. I am so happy to be here!

I had to take another cat picture

The nativity scene we put together

Buon Anno Tutti!!!

Willy

True miracles were happening left and right!

Buon Natale e aguri!!

We won the gingerbread contest!

 It is so hard to believe that Christmas is already here. Last week we had a Zone Training with the President and His wife which was very fun. They had a "ginger bread house" contest at the end which Anziano Beaulac and I won! We were given a pandoro cake to add to the tons of desserts we already have. We had our ward Christmas party on Saturday night which was a great turn out.

Anziano Beaulac made his secret doughnut recipe so we brought tons of doughnuts to the Christmas party and everyone was going crazy over them. Our next door neighbor's husband passed away last week so we thought it would be nice to put some doughnuts in a Christmasy box with a note on the "A Savior is Born" pass along card saying "the Savior is always there for you and so are we". She felt so loved and was so grateful that we did that.

The doughnuts we made for our activity and our next door neighbors

So I had one of the most amazing weeks of my mission yet. My city has apparently received 1/4 of the whole missions referrals from a "Savior is born" but there was something wrong with it all because none of the referrals were at all interested. But while we were attempting to contact all of our referrals true miracles were happening left and right.

Sunday was a true miracle day for me and Anziano Beaulac. It all started in the morning at church. Our new investigators Viacheslav from Romania and Gererd from the French speaking part of Africa both came to church! I remember in the middle of church I said a little prayer in my head asking for some help from Heavenly Father because I was feeling a bit down.

Well after church we were going to skype the missionaries from Romania so that we could have a solid lesson with Viacheslav but they never responded so we taught Viacheslav the best we could because he is still learning Italian. He said he has studied every single religion and has decided that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day saints is the true church on the earth.

Later in the day we taught Gerard (all in French) and in the end he said that he wants to be baptized and knows the church is true! After Gerard we headed to Meano( a small suburb outside of Trento) to stop by some of the referrals. On the bus ride there we met a man named Leandro who said he has a Book of Mormon and went to church a few times in the years past. He told us he wants to meet with us and talk about the Book of Mormon so we are meeting with him today(Wednesday) after English class!

The first referral we stopped by had no interest in us, but we knocked on the next door neighbors house and she answered and let us share "A Savior is Born with her" she told us to come back and teach her family!!! We then crossed the street and rang up a house and they let us inside!!(my first time being let inside from doing casa) It was a father and his son. We shared "A Savior is born", a brief restoration and we gave him a Book of Mormon and challenged him to read it and he said he would. He invited us to return after the Holidays so that we can teach more to him and his Family!!
On our bus ride back towards our next referral we met Leandro again with his mom! We talked more to him and his mom and he is very excited to meet with us(what are the chance of this.. .seriously)!!  On our way to the next referral we found a super cool nativity scene by this church. Two people came up to it and as we were walking away we felt inspired to talk to them. We showed the "A Savior is Born" right in front of this nativity scene! It doesn't get cooler than that.

Nativity Scene by a church

Well, the next referral was not interested either, but we decided to ring some apartments in the complex and sure enough a lady opened up the door and we walked up to her apartment. She said she didn't have a whole lot of time but she will share the "A Savior is born" video with her daughters. On the way home from this amazing day, we were at the bus stop and a man named Aldo started talking to us. He said he is totally interested in meeting with us and hearing our message and he offered us free haircuts when we want!

I am so grateful for Heavenly Father for placing us in the path of those whom he has prepared for us. As long as we do our part, Heavenly Father will make up the rest. Not only was my prayer answered but we were able to experience so much joy as missionaries. There is truly no other place i'd rather be or any other thing i'd rather be doing around this Christmas time than to see miracles wrought and to teach others about Jesus Christ.

I really do miss you all, but I know this is where I am needed and this work is so wonderful. I am so grateful for my Savior Jesus Christ! The greatest gift we could ever give Him is to try and be like Him and follow His footsteps.

Buon Natale!

A lake 45 minutes from our house





Another picture of the super cool lake near Trento

Small Mountain Village

 Love,
 Anziano Hogan


Our Verona Zone












 

 



I really love this work so much!!

Ciao buongiorno!!

Such a crazy awesome week. We had transfers on Thursday and I got my new companion! Anziano Beaulac from Montreal Canada. He is in his last transfer with me so he's been here for a while. I got very lucky because he is a very hard working and experienced missionary.

My new companion from Montreal, Canada:  Elder Beaulac

Together, we work all the time. When we are on the bus or have 30 minutes in between lessons we work! I love working this hard because it is so fulfilling.

We bought a Christmas tree today and a bunch of ornaments which we will try and set up tonight! I am going to try and make cookies this week so we'll see how that all goes haha.

I am so grateful for this time of year. I've seen so many hearts open up to us. We have been able to share the "A savior is born" videos with so many people and we have gotten so many great responses from it. I really hope everyone can try and share these Christmas messages with other people.

So I learned a lot this week. I thought a lot about how important Faith is with missionary work and just life in general. For me, I learned that it is important to have the faith that Heavenly Father will bring prepared people into our paths. But we can't just sit and wait for it to happen, we have to put in our part and Heavenly Father will make up the rest. We have working very very hard lately and we have seen so much come out of it. We have set 3 baptismal dates and we also have 2 new investigators! I really love this work so much.

I am also finished with the Book of Mormon and it just gets better and better. I love 3 Nephi 13 and 17 so much. I hope everyone can read those chapters about the Savior Jesus Christ. I love where I am and I love you all!

Ciao!

Transfers...But I'm staying in Trento.

Ciao my friends and family!

My new apron.  I'm the real deal now!

So we received our transfer news last week and I will be staying In Trento for another 8 weeks with Anziano Bullock who is from Montreal Canada!  I haven't met him yet because he comes up tomorrow; but I've heard he is a great hardworking guy. His last transfer In the mission is with me so I'm interested to see how it will all be haha. I'm sure we'll have a blast.

Our friend Riccardo.  He goes to the university her in Trento.  He bought us lunch today!

This last week we were able to have a few dinner appointments with people because Anziano Yee(my trainer) is transferring out of here on Thursday. Our English class took Anziano Yee and me out to a nice dinner which was awesome. The Italian culture is seriously so great. They love to eat and talk and laugh- all great things to do. 

Our English class took us out to eat at "The Green Tower".  It was soooo good!

 

 

We had a nice dinner with Brother and Sister Bolt, who are from Switzerland serving a service mission here in Trento. We talked a lot about trying to turn our small branch here in Trento into a ward! We were able to come up with some good ideas which we can hopefully implement into our work. 

 

 

We finally got our water turned back on last week but.... We have a leak in our bathroom so we have to get the plumber back into our house again haha...

Outside of the Trento Christmas Market!

 

 

 

I pulled some muscles in my ribs so that's not very fun. I'll be all good though! 

 

Everyone who lives here in Trento says that this is the city of Christmas and I really believe them.  This city is amazing around this time of year! They have lights everywhere and a big Christmas market with lots of handmade knickknacks which are super cool but kind of expensive. It's really awesome to be here in the city of Christmas!

This is our main Piazza!  They project this on the castle every night and it's absolutely amazing!!  All Trentini's say that Trento is the city of Christmas.

Marco, Christina, Anziano Yee, and me at the piazza!

 

So last week We taught about 10 people and they were all great! Like I've been saying so much recently, Christmas time is so great because it's an opportunity to share with people the TRUE meaning of Christmas!! My love for my savior has grown so much as I continue to read about Him and teach others more about Him. 

Last Saturday and also tonight we showed/ are showing Conici i mormoni (meet the mormoms) in Italian. It's a great opportunity for us to get some nonmembers into the church and also show them who mormons really are! We had a great turn out on Saturday and Hopefully we get a great turn out tonight! 

 

We are continuing to do everything we can with using this time of year to our advantage. I hope everyone can go onto Christmas.mormon.org and watch all the videos and share them with other friends and families!

 

I love you all! Till next week! 

-Anziano Hogan

Willy and the Italian cats

Ciao miei amici!

Eating at the best Gelateria in the whole world.  La Romana

 Another great week for me. Thanksgiving wasn't anything too crazy for me and Anziano Yee and me. Although, we did make a pretty delicious meal to celebrate. I was able to find some slices of Turkey which I breaded and fried and it came out really good! I love Thanksgiving because it's an opportunity for us to reflect on all the things we are thankful for. I am truly Thankful for so many things!

Thanksgiving Dinner

On Friday, I was able to do an exchange with the Zone leader in Verona which was so much fun! We had a couple super great lessons. One of them was with this super awesome Italian family who had like 5 cats! I was clearly in heaven. I am so happy that there are so many cats out here because I love cats.

 The next day, I went back to Trento and we found out that they had to shut our water off because there is a plumbing problem... So we have had no water for a few days haha oh well...

On Monday I did another exchange with Anziano Baraclough who is in my district. We had a great time and we had some powerful lessons with great people. One of the lessons was with the African/French family who has just started coming back to church! We played them the "Savior Is born" video and they asked us to keep replaying because they felt the spirit so strong and they loved it so much!

On Tuesday, we were able to take some much needed showers in Bolzano! While I was taking a shower, the Anziani thought it would be funny to pour freezing cold water on me. The first pot of water they poured slipped out of their hands and almost nailed me in the foot hahah. And then came another pour of freezing cold water. It was super funny. The Elders in my district are super fun people.

 Today we spent our Pday in Verona! We walked around the markets and got some Good old fashion pizzas. I will never get tired of pizza. Something that I am just so excited about is Christmas! We just received our new pass along cards for the "A savior is born" and "He is the gift" videos, which we have been sharing with so many people!

Verona

Verona at night

Huge Star in Verona (see it at far right)
 

 Sharing with other people about the true importance of Christmas has really made me grateful for Jesus Christ and how He really is THE gift. I hope that we can all take time to study more about him and learn more about how we can use the gift has given us. This is such a special time of year and I hope we can all remember the true importance of Christmas.

 I say this every time, but I am so happy to be a missionary! Time really goes by fast. The people who said time flies out here weren't kidding. I hope that I can make the most out of each day and that I am able to do everything I can.

 If you have the chance, visit: https://www.mormon.org/christmas and share the message with other people!

 Love you all! Ciao!

 -Anziano Hogan

Christmas tree in Bolzano

A mazza ball

Riva Del Garda