MY FIRST REAL P-DAY IN 3 MONTHS!!

Mom,

Wow, that's terrible that you got some of your things stolen! Hopefully they do something about your complaint. And that's really cool to hear about Hannah's volleyball game - MVP!! That's exciting that I get to call on Sunday. I will call around that time that you suggested. Yeah, that was fun and unnexpected seeing Brady at the airport while we were waiting for the new missionaries! I though he was going to be in Milwaukee on Monday, so that was really cool! It was really funny just saying "hey, what's up! How's it going!.. alright see ya later!" President Jones didn't know who he was, and so after he walked away, I just said, "yeah, he's my cousin."

Things are going great here in Green Bay! The weather is warming up a bit, and everything is so green again! I new a couple people here already just from being around in the mission, and from being in Manitowoc, which is in the same stake. I got really close to the bishop and his family while I was in Manitowoc, and now he is in the stake presidency, so I'll be seeing him fairly often. My new companion, Elder Peckham, is awesome! He is from a small town near Ephraim and Nephi in Utah. Really cool guy and easy to get along with. He is in his last transfer, but he isn't trunky at all. It's awesome to go out and work and teach, both being experienced. We are working on our teaching pool right now, and we are starting to get members involved. We've talked with our bishop and ward mission leader and we are scheduled to have a sacrament meeting all centered around presenting the ward mission plan. We will have the stake president there and well, and he will be supporting and sharing the stake mission plan and how our plan will fit into that. A lot of thought and effort is going into this, so we are really excited.

Today will be fun! My first real P-day in more than 3 months! I hope you enjoy your trip, and I hope everything is well at home!

Love,
Elder Vogan

GREEN BAY NEXT TRANSFER

Family,
Happy Easter! I hope it was wonderful! I'm glad to hear things are going well at home, and it was good to hear about your talk in church, Mom. I love Elder Wirthlin's talk as well. That's something that every missionary should remember, that after being diligent in our work, we should have the attitude of "Come what may, and love it." Great to hear about Jordan's mission papers as well! Thank you so much for the Easter package! I love it!

I am getting transferred to Green Bay, so that's exciting! It will be a good area to finish my mission. I knew I was to be transferred since the beginning of April, so it's not a new idea for me. Green Bay is a good area, and I already know people up there, so things will be good! I finished up my time here on a wonderful note and the best Easter weekend I hoped for - Colleen was baptized on Saturday and confirmed yesterday in church! She had been meeting with missionaries for about 9 months, and during that time has gained a strong testimony of the Gospel. She is a naturally skeptical person, and somewhat stubborn, but when the Spirit influences and converts a person like that, "stubbornness" turns to "steadfastness". She is already a great asset to the single's ward. Many of the members didn't even know she hadn't been baptized yet. She is just beaming now and so happy!

The time here has been good, and I have grown just as I anticipated. I am definitely more humble, patient, loving, and much more sensitive to and trusting in the Spirit. It is definitely a real power and influence that we should always to seeking for and feeling in our lives. I know it's so easy to lose our "hope" and our eternal perspective when we are caught up with life and the day to day activities - I remember that from being home before. I can't believe how fast you can forget and slacken, just by not remembering to do the simple things everyday. I'm grateful for that experience, so now I know what to prepare for when I go home for real.

Well, I love each of you. I am grateful for your love, prayers, and support. And I hope you all have a wonderful week, especially Mom and Dad in Cancun!

Love,
Elder Vogan

EASTER ZONE CONFERENCES

Mom,

Okay, I'll be looking for the package and the pants! Thank you! I'm glad to hear things went pretty well this week for the family; Happy Birthday tomorrow for Kyle! That's really cool to hear about Jared's talk in church yesterday - Wow, I will try my best to live up to what he said about me. I'm so excited for Jared and Jordan to go on missions; it is the best experience! The reason sometimes it seems like I ignore questions or comments about home is because I don't want to think too much about coming home, I love it so much here. How awesome to hear that Charli is starting to crawl and pull herself up on things! I bet she's growing up a really cute little toddler. Speaking of which, I haven't seen any pictures of her since I left - maybe that's something to put in my box..? I hope there isn't anything too serious with Dad's knee. That's no fun.

This was a great week! Work-wise, we hardly did anything in our own area because it was zone conference week. We had zone conferences throughout the mission Tuesday through Friday, and they were the best zone conferences I remember going to. The training we did for each included an Easter egg hunt, and that got everyone involved. It was about finding new people to teach: "He that diligently seeketh shall find..." (1 Ne. 10:19) In order to get to each conference, we woke up really early each day to travel, so I am still a bit exhausted. After each, we spent time with elders from the zones where the conferences were held. Wednesday we were in Wisconsin Rapids and Friday and Saturday we got to spend time in Manitowoc. It was great to be back to those areas and see the people I love from those areas. Colleen was interviewed for baptism Friday night, and she is good to good for this Saturday! It is looking like I will be transferred a week from this Thursday. I'd be good to stay or leave - wherever the Lord wants me. President Jones doesn't want to have assistants "die" (go home) in that responsibility, and usually a one transfer area at the end of the mission isn't a good thing either.

I really can't think of anything else to tell you besides that things are going great here, and I love you! Have a great week!

Love,
Elder Vogan

GLORIA GOT BAPTIZED!!

Date: Mon, 11 Apr 2011 Dad, I didn't get a letter from Mom yet, so I'll just reply to yours this week. Yes, he said the actual "F" bomb, haha. Definitely a classic teaching appointment. Thank you for your nice comments as well! And thank you for the money in my account - I only have one and a half suits that I have to wear (I forgot one of my suit's pants at home when I came back), so I might spend a lot of that money today on a new suit. Mens Wearhouse is having a "buy one, get one free" deal on suits and Elder Lester really needs one too. So, I hope that's alright! And congrats to Jason on the quick engagement! No, I won't be competing with anyone to see how fast I can get married when I get home. I do look forward to it though. My went was awesome! Gloria from Wausau got baptized! I feel like if that was the only thing I got to be a part of in coming back on my mission, I would be worth it. Elder Lester and I were scheduled to be on exchanges with the Wausau zone leaders anyway that day, so I worked out perfectly for us to be up there for it. She asked Elder Lester to baptize her, and the Spirit was very strong during it. We all had tears in our eyes when he stated her name as part of the ordinance. She has good friends in the ward from the Relief Society now, so that has really helped in her conversion. So after all those ups and downs, from discontinuing teaching her to having her call wanting to be taught - she finally had an experience that impressed her so much that she'll never be able to deny the divinity of the Book of Mormon, no matter what other concerns might come up. On one of her "down" days, the elders were teaching her from the Book of Mormon, and because she was not open, she help up her Bible and said, "I have a Bible! I have a Bible! I don't need any other bible!" After testifying, the elders saw her hardened heart, and they told her that she should call them again if she wanted to learn from them. The next day started out terrible, and she was feeling horrible. Even after being "dropped", the Lord guided her to read in the Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi chapter 29."And because my words shall hiss forth—many of the Gentiles shall say: A Bible! A Bible! We have got a Bible, and there cannot be any more Bible." And not only the words from the page that were almost her exact words the night previous, but the feelings in her heart chastened her intensely, and she knew she had made a mistake. She still doesn't know or understand everything, but through these experiences, she opened her heart to what her Heavenly Father wanted, and she knew she was supposed to be baptized. So, a former devout anti-Mormon is now a member of the Church! She told me, "Elder Vogan, the only reason I'm doing this is because the Lord told me that's what He wanted me to do. The same voice that has guided and directed me throughout my life, told me that I needed to do this." And it definitely wasn't easy for her! But I'm glad I got to be here for it. Since her confirmation, she has felt the peace we promised her and a greater abundance of the Spirit. I can't wait to her about her experience going to the temple! We had a great week otherwise. We were able to teach many lessons, and seek to find more people to teach. We have zone conferences this week, so that will be really busy. Tomorrow through Friday, we will be driving to different parts of Wisconsin for them. One of them will actually be in Wisconsin Rapids, and after our conference in Green Bay, we will get to spend the rest of the day in Manitowoc! It will be great going back to areas I've served. Well, that's all I have for this week. I hope all of you have a wonderful week! Love, Elder Vogan

HE WAS SO EXCITED, HE DIDN'T KNOW HE HAD SWORN

Mon, 4 Apr 2011 09:51:38 My family, I am really glad to hear that things are going well at home! I had a weird nagging feeling on Thursday night that something bad happened at home, so I was hoping that was just to help me remember how much I love my family and to express that: Dad, I am grateful for how much you love and support me as a missionary and family. For all of your effort to teach us righteously and provide for our needs. Mom, thank you for loving and serving us so much, even while I seemed so ungrateful. You are an angel. Whitney, I am so happy for you to be the cute mom you are. Thank you for being such a great big sister. I am excited to see Charli on her first birthday! And I am grateful for the wonderful father Kyle is and for the humor he has brought to the family. Jordan, you are my best friend. I am excited for all that you are doing to improve, and I'm excited to hang out with you again this summer. Hannah, I love you. It's so fun to see how much you are growing up through your emails and to hear about the fun you are having. And I'm grateful for Megan and the blessing she is in our family, to help us enjoy to small things and to grow in patience. And Jared, you are basically part of the family too now. You are awesome. Thanks for helping Jordan stay out of trouble. Overall, I had a very good week! Conference was amazing! There are too many good talks to say which were my favorites, but Elder Oaks, Elder Robbins, and President Uchtdorf from priesthood stick out in my mind and I took many notes through those talks. It sounds like I need to get married pretty quick when I get home, huh? We had an excellent zone leader council training on Friday about "finding", and the missionaries are getting excited. The weather warming up a little bit helps that too. Speaking of weather, 100 degrees is intense! We are just excited to be able to take off our coats. Our investigators are doing well. We had an awesome exchange with the Green Bay elders after zone leader council in which we were able to invite 2 people to be baptized, and they accepted. We also found 3 new investigators with them for them to teach. 2 of them were a nice couple who actually fed us dinner! They even had caffeine-free mountain dew. Who knew there was such a thing? One of the guys we invited to be baptized responded just the way the people responded in Mosiah 18:10-11. He literally clapped his hands for joy at the idea of having the Gift of the Holy Ghost. Except, instead of saying, "This is the desire of my heart!" he said, "@#$% Yeah!" So that was pretty classic. Haha. He was so excited, he didn't know he had sworn. Before that, he kept telling us that there was a presence or a spirit in the room, and it reminded him of an experience he had had several years earlier, which originally brought him to know God. Well the office sisters are anxious to get on the computer now, so I'll close this week's letter by once again saying that I love you so much! I love the Gospel and am so humbled to have it in my life and to have the amazing opportunity of sharing it with my brothers and sisters here in Wisconsin. I'll talk to you next week! Love, Elder Vogan

"I KNOW THAT MY REDEEMER LIVES...."

Mon. 3/28/11 Family, It's always great to hear from you each week, although the weeks are going by way too fast. I don't even want to think about you already having my flight plans, I just got back out here! But yeah, I can just fly again, it would be a really long drive. I'll need to have some money in my account in July to pay to ship my bike home and souvenirs I want to keep. That's great to hear that you are going back to school, Mom! (By the way, I never mentioned what I decided I'd major in: Physiology and Developmental Biology. When I read that as an option for a major, I got excited, so I'm going with it. I can go almost every direction I've considered with that degree.) And good to hear Dad has a lot of work lined up for the week! I'll be praying that Megan feels better soon and that no one else gets sick. 106 degrees is scary high.. What a great week this week! We had a specialized training for all the sister missionaries in the mission and that was a lot of fun to be a part of. We got to sing "As Sisters in Zion" - one of my favorites. We also even got a Cuddly Cousins stuffed animal from one of the sisters who did a training! All my expectations of a sisters conference were met. Haha. It was really one of the most spiritual trainings I've been apart of though, which is probably because of their greater maturity and love. Also, we had a great day on Wednesday: We taught two sisters, Tia and Takira. We had a member bring them down to the church and we had a chapel tour lesson with them. We had originally planned to teach them about the Plan of Salvation, but we couldn't seem to start into that. The Spirit was there and lead us to teach about Jesus Christ. At one point, we walked into the chapel, and talked about the Sacrament meeting being the most important meeting in the Church. Our member, Richard, started to bear his testimony of the hymns, and as he did so, I picked up one of the hymnals and flipped it open to show them. I flipped right to "I know that My Redeemer Lives". I felt impressed to ask Tia how she felt about the Savior, and she confessed she wasn't sure she believed in Him. I then read the first verse, and the feeling when I read "..My hungry soul to feed" was intense. I knew for sure at that time that she was hungry, and that she felt like something was missing in her life. And I told her of that, and each of us testified of how her void would be filled by the Gospel and through developing her relationship with Christ through prayer and repentance. When we got to the baptism font, we discussed what it means to be baptized, and we invited both of them to prepare for that day (April 16th), and they accepted that date and commitment. Both of them were at church yesterday and loved it! We also taught a young Hmong single adult girl who had been less active, and she came to church yesterday as well! Also yesterday, the two other people we are teaching who are preparing for baptism (Akilah and Colleen) both made it to church as well! Akilah had driven 18 hours straight coming home from a vacation in Florida, and she still made the decision to come to church despite how incredibly tired she was, and that she was an hour drive from church. She loved it and felt very comfortable. We have a lesson to see her today with our friend Jared from the ward. So there's some highlights from the week! I hope you all have a wonderful week! Love, Elder Vogan

TRANSFER DUTIES--ALL WENT WELL

Date: Mon, 21 Mar 2011
Family,
This past week was intense, but everything is going great for us! Having Elder Cottle transfer so soon, I was a little bit anxious for how transfers would go and all the other "beginning of the transfer duties". He was very in control and on top of everything, so I wasn't sure I knew how to do all the tasks, but all went well! Elder Lester is a fast learner too, and he's starting to get the hang of the different things we do.

Wisconsin is starting to thaw! We can hardly see any snow down where we are, and we had our first non-freezing rain of the year yesterday. It looks like Spring is almost here! Not quite 80's yet though. That's nice you were able to go to Las Sendas ward and be there for Austin Maxwell's homecoming. And it's great to hear things are going well at home!

This transfer we got in some amazing new missionaries. We take out the new missionaries to teach people on the streets nearby the University of Wisconsin campus here in Milwaukee, and we have two new missionaries assigned to speak Hmong who are incredible. They cleared "the bar" by a long shot. Contacting with them, they didn't seem at all like new missionaries in the way they taught, but they had the excitement and fire of a new, "green" missionary, and they were actually jogging to catch up to talk to people. It's easy to tell when a missionary understands and has a testimony of the Gospel, and how much love he has, by how urgent he is to share it with those around him. It was really motivating to see them work, and I'm excited to see the miracles they perform out here.

Well I love you! I hope you have a wonderful week, and I hope you fill your days with not the "good" or "better" things, but the "best" things.

Love,
Elder Vogan