THE SPIRIT OF TEMPLE SQUARE

Mon, 16 May 2011
Mom,
What a great email to read from you this week! Thanks for being my "wingman" Mom, that will be fun to take her on a date. It is always cool and crazy to hear the news of all the weddings happening. I didn't even know Krystina was engaged, but that's awesome to hear! I also love to hear about the people leaving for their missions and hearing about their mission calls! It's great to hear about Jordan and Taylor. They'll both be able to speak Spanish together afterward, so that will be fun. I'll have my MRI on Wednesday at noon, but I'm going to just be praying for a miracle and maybe it will reattach itself and I won't need another surgery. So you can go ahead and schedule a fun vacation, I will much rather do that, and I am completely capable. Also, I have already been registered for my classes at BYU for a month or so, so I'm good to go! That's not fun that you were sick, but I'm glad you are feeling better now! So cool about Hannah's repelling story too!

This week had it's ups and downs. We found a family to teach and two of them committed to be baptized. They were preparing, along with two other girls we were teaching, to be baptized on the 4th of June. That would have been a big day! And it would have been great for Elder Peckham to be here for that - that's his last Saturday in the mission. None of them came to church though. We will need to help them prepare for a later baptism date now to help them understand the importance of church attendance as part of that baptismal covenant. So that was disappointing. We do have a lot of good work happening. We are teaching people like crazy, and we are working on being patient in finding the prepared people we know are here. Right now, it seems the people like us and will listen to us, but they do not keep commitments or take the gospel as serious as they need to.

There is a man named Rick who we are teaching, and he is awesome. He was a very well-to-do dentist, but after many years of work and after his four children were all grown and out of the house, his license was taken from him because he refused to do mercury fillings. He ended up broke and bankrupt. Trying to make a little money for he and his wife to live on, he traveled out West to a business opportunity event in Utah. He and a group of people visited temple square, and he thought it was beautiful. As they were leaving and walking out of the gates, he felt an empty feeling. He stopped, while his friends walked ahead, and he stepped back in through the gate and felt the Spirit very strong. He stepped out again and it left. After doing that a couple times and being amazed, he went to the nice sister missionaries and asked, "Why do I feel different in here than I do out there?" Rick is very logical and analytical, but he knows what he felt. He got in touch with the missionaries out here, and they have been teaching him for quite awhile now. His hold-ups are that he has never been one to make quick decisions - likes to think things through, his wife is against him joining the church, he is a faithful usher and a big part of the church he goes to, and he feels like he will lose a lot of the close friends that he has (he has some who are anti-Mormon). He told us on Thursday, after we asked what he was waiting for, that he doesn't know why he is waiting. He says he has just been expecting things to fall into place, almost waiting for it to be an easy and comfortable choice to be baptized. We explained that nothing that is truly worth it in life comes easy and that as this is the true Church of Jesus Christ, the devil will tempt and distract him from what he should do. He sincerely rededicated himself to focusing on what the Lord wants for him to do. It's so obvious to us how much God wants Rick in His church, but we need to help him see that. He will be such an asset to the ward here, and we believe that will open up the door for his wife and family to be taught the Gospel as well.

Thank you for all your love, prayers and support! Have a great week!

Love,
Elder Vogan

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Mon. 5/9/11
Mom,

I hope you had a wonderful Mothers' Day! It was great to talk to you! Since I talked to you yesterday, there isn't much to tell you.

Thank you for your prayers and support. I love you!

Elder Vogan

Ps. I emailed Dr. Sharpe the information for the doctor I'm visiting here, so he should be able to get the MRI results.