Mon 11/30/09 9:30 AM
Well, I hope your Thanksgiving went well with all of the activities that you had planned! We've been eating like pigs since Thursday. We ended up getting fed two dinners on Thursday, two dinners on Friday, and a buffet lunch on Saturday, and a big dinner last night. The weird thing is that I actually lost a pound..? Maybe my body burned all the calories just trying to digest it all. It was cool going from hardly even getting fed by anyone, to this.
I am looking forward to the Christmas season here. In downtown Manitowoc, they have already decked out the main street with Christmas lights and stuff. When it starts snowing, those streets will look like a winter-wonderland! It is weird that it sill hasn't snowed here, at least that's what people are saying. I am looking foreward to the first snow.
This past week went pretty well with the work here. We taught more people and found more people to teach than last week, and we set a baptism date with one of our main progressing investigators, Nate. We have just had to wait for him to get married to the lady he lives with, so it will be a week after that, on January 31. Hopefully I'm still here when that happens! Zoua's date will be postponed once we see her again, since she hasn't made it to church yet. She found out she was pregnant last week, and she has been too sick to meet with us.
Yesterday, Elder Roberts and I spoke in Sacrament meeting about members' role in missionary work, and that went really well. Hopefully the members will apply what we taught. I would send you my talk, but I went about this talk in a different way. I gathered some quotes and other material, and I spent my personal studies last week learning about the topic. In the days leading up to my talk, I prayed that I would have the faith and humility necessary for the Spirit to direct my talk. And in the days leading up to it, this approach was much more stressful not being organized or feeling as prepared as I do when I have my whole talk written out, but on the actual day of my talk, I was completely calm and confident. It was a really cool experience. When I got up to speak, my whole talk was laid out for me as if I had it completely prepared beforehand. And this was through seeking to teach by the Spirit.
Well, that's it for this week! I love you guys, and I hope you have a great week!
Elder Vogan
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Saturday, November 28, 2009
"TOOJ KUB HANG"--A NEW HMONG NAME
Mon 11/23/09 1:32 PM
Happy Thanksgiving week family! This week’s emails were really good; I really enjoyed reading them. For Thanksgiving, we are having dinner with a less-active member of the ward and his family. I guess he has the missionaries over every year, so that will be fun. We might have another dinner on Friday as well. I hope we can play volleyball at ours too! Man, it sounds like your Thanksgiving will be a lot of fun! Congrats to Jordan getting asked to the dance! It’s good to hear that he and Sara are still friends after all these years. And I want pictures of Megan on the horse! And Jordan’s beard! Haha.
For Christmas, all the things you suggested sound really good – especially the fudge. (I haven’t eaten lunch yet). Also, I haven’t bought any warm winter socks yet, so if you want to throw those in with everything, that would be good. Or else I could just buy them. But yeah, the best part of getting mail/packages is the package itself. Coming home and seeing that we got something in the mail is the best.
My journal writing is decent. It consists on my daily planners, my study journal, my pictures and videos that I take (every now and then), my emails to you and the President, and my actual journal, which I write in every week. I know I should write more in there, but it’s really tough to do. By the end of the day I’m so tired that if there is any extra time after cleaning up, planning and getting ready for bed, I crash a little earlier and get an extra couple minutes of sleep that night. That is really cool though what the stake is doing. I am going to apply that more to how I study in the mornings.
It was really cool to hear about Dad’s trip to Chicago! I really liked those stories. We both drive the car now, but I think my companion during the winter will probably take over most of the time if he is from somewhere with snow. I’m not too worried about it though if I am senior companion and am the designated driver. I think I’ll figure it out soon enough.
This was another good week. We found some more new people and set a baptism date! We did more contacting this week than I’ve ever done in a week. I’d much rather be teaching lessons. Zoua Yang is the person we set a date with. She is one of the daughters of the Hmong family we found. They are all really sincere and seem like they all will accept our message. Missionaries out here get Hmong names and I got one from them: “Tooj Kub Hang”. “Tooj Kub” means solid gold, or solid block of gold, and Hang is their last name. They named me that, so I can be like a brother to them. Also, this week we got a call from a lady who was just baptized in Dallas, TX, and she wants us to teach her parents who live in our area. We will be visiting with them later this week, while she is here for Thanksgiving.
Well, I love you. Happy Thanksgiving again. And I will talk to you next week!
Elder Vogan
Happy Thanksgiving week family! This week’s emails were really good; I really enjoyed reading them. For Thanksgiving, we are having dinner with a less-active member of the ward and his family. I guess he has the missionaries over every year, so that will be fun. We might have another dinner on Friday as well. I hope we can play volleyball at ours too! Man, it sounds like your Thanksgiving will be a lot of fun! Congrats to Jordan getting asked to the dance! It’s good to hear that he and Sara are still friends after all these years. And I want pictures of Megan on the horse! And Jordan’s beard! Haha.
For Christmas, all the things you suggested sound really good – especially the fudge. (I haven’t eaten lunch yet). Also, I haven’t bought any warm winter socks yet, so if you want to throw those in with everything, that would be good. Or else I could just buy them. But yeah, the best part of getting mail/packages is the package itself. Coming home and seeing that we got something in the mail is the best.
My journal writing is decent. It consists on my daily planners, my study journal, my pictures and videos that I take (every now and then), my emails to you and the President, and my actual journal, which I write in every week. I know I should write more in there, but it’s really tough to do. By the end of the day I’m so tired that if there is any extra time after cleaning up, planning and getting ready for bed, I crash a little earlier and get an extra couple minutes of sleep that night. That is really cool though what the stake is doing. I am going to apply that more to how I study in the mornings.
It was really cool to hear about Dad’s trip to Chicago! I really liked those stories. We both drive the car now, but I think my companion during the winter will probably take over most of the time if he is from somewhere with snow. I’m not too worried about it though if I am senior companion and am the designated driver. I think I’ll figure it out soon enough.
This was another good week. We found some more new people and set a baptism date! We did more contacting this week than I’ve ever done in a week. I’d much rather be teaching lessons. Zoua Yang is the person we set a date with. She is one of the daughters of the Hmong family we found. They are all really sincere and seem like they all will accept our message. Missionaries out here get Hmong names and I got one from them: “Tooj Kub Hang”. “Tooj Kub” means solid gold, or solid block of gold, and Hang is their last name. They named me that, so I can be like a brother to them. Also, this week we got a call from a lady who was just baptized in Dallas, TX, and she wants us to teach her parents who live in our area. We will be visiting with them later this week, while she is here for Thanksgiving.
Well, I love you. Happy Thanksgiving again. And I will talk to you next week!
Elder Vogan
KNOCKED 4 DOORS--TAUGHT 3 GREAT LESSONS
Mon 11/16/09 11:32 AM
Hey family,I am glad to hear that everyone is healing from their sicknesses and heartaches, and it’s good to hear about all the fun things that will be happening this week! That’s cool that Dad is going to Chicago for a training, that’s like a two and a half hour drive from here. So, he’ll be able to see how it is climate-wise out here. That will be good for you to send out some pictures of the family to me. Elder Robberts wants to know what my family looks like, and I don’t have any pictures. And I’m still working on getting some pictures to send you guys too.
This was another great week, and in many ways even better! We didn’t get quite as many lessons as last week, but we were able to find several more new people that want to investigate the Church. We found 10 new investigators this week total, and several of those came from finding families who want to learn more. On Saturday we were planning on contacting some new people to see if they would be interested in our message, and we ended up only knocking on 4 doors because we were able to teach 3 great lessons.
The first door was a Chaplin for Salvation Army, and he was awesome and spent at least a half hour talking with us and encouraging us in what we are doing. He said he would call us if he heard of any service that we could help with. The next door pleasantly declined our invitation. And then both the next two doors were families who invited us in, wanting us to teach them. The first of the two was a large Hmong (Asian) family, and they asked us at the end of our lesson to pray for their home because they were seeing ghosts and feeling evil spirits. So, we dedicated their home for them. Three of the kids said they really wanted to come to church with us, but when we went there the next day, nobody answered the door. The second of the two I was actually a little bit weary of knocking on because it said “no soliciting” and “no trespassing, trespassers will be shot…” on the door. And even though we aren’t soliciting, those people tend to be angrier with us than doors without those signs. But it ended up being the nicest family who had already had contact with missionaries and members of the church, and they were excited to invite us in. The two daughters, Christine and Angela, came to church with us the next day, but the mom couldn’t because she had to work.
We met another nice young family yesterday evening as well who wanted us to come back and teach them this evening at 7:00. So, if you would like to pray for us to teach well tonight and that it can be a successful lesson, we would appreciate it.
Well, I’m out of time. So, I love you, and I will talk to you next week!
-Elder Vogan
Hey family,I am glad to hear that everyone is healing from their sicknesses and heartaches, and it’s good to hear about all the fun things that will be happening this week! That’s cool that Dad is going to Chicago for a training, that’s like a two and a half hour drive from here. So, he’ll be able to see how it is climate-wise out here. That will be good for you to send out some pictures of the family to me. Elder Robberts wants to know what my family looks like, and I don’t have any pictures. And I’m still working on getting some pictures to send you guys too.
This was another great week, and in many ways even better! We didn’t get quite as many lessons as last week, but we were able to find several more new people that want to investigate the Church. We found 10 new investigators this week total, and several of those came from finding families who want to learn more. On Saturday we were planning on contacting some new people to see if they would be interested in our message, and we ended up only knocking on 4 doors because we were able to teach 3 great lessons.
The first door was a Chaplin for Salvation Army, and he was awesome and spent at least a half hour talking with us and encouraging us in what we are doing. He said he would call us if he heard of any service that we could help with. The next door pleasantly declined our invitation. And then both the next two doors were families who invited us in, wanting us to teach them. The first of the two was a large Hmong (Asian) family, and they asked us at the end of our lesson to pray for their home because they were seeing ghosts and feeling evil spirits. So, we dedicated their home for them. Three of the kids said they really wanted to come to church with us, but when we went there the next day, nobody answered the door. The second of the two I was actually a little bit weary of knocking on because it said “no soliciting” and “no trespassing, trespassers will be shot…” on the door. And even though we aren’t soliciting, those people tend to be angrier with us than doors without those signs. But it ended up being the nicest family who had already had contact with missionaries and members of the church, and they were excited to invite us in. The two daughters, Christine and Angela, came to church with us the next day, but the mom couldn’t because she had to work.
We met another nice young family yesterday evening as well who wanted us to come back and teach them this evening at 7:00. So, if you would like to pray for us to teach well tonight and that it can be a successful lesson, we would appreciate it.
Well, I’m out of time. So, I love you, and I will talk to you next week!
-Elder Vogan
Friday, November 13, 2009
KEY TO SOLVING LIFE'S PROBLLEMS--THE ATONEMENT OF JESUS CHRIST
Mon 11/09/09 1:39 PM
Well, I just got booted from the computer here at the library after writing a really good email, so hopefully it will still be pretty good for you. We had a really great week this week here in Manitowoc, Wisconsin! Both the weather here and the work we were able to do were awesome! For the past few days, it’s been surprisingly warm – up to 70 even on Saturday. I guess that’ll give me a little more time to grab a few more things for winter, like gloves and ear muffs. Mom, you can just send my letters and surprise packages to the Mission office. That’s where they prefer to have us tell people to send things. Just in case I get transferred or something, nothing will get lost.
I apologize for not giving you more details about my companion last week: his name is Addam Robberts, 20 years-old, Alpine, UT, graduated in 2007, went to a year of college at BYU, he has a cute sister, major is mechanical engineering, musical/guitar/songwriter, dated a redhead before his mission, he is 5’9 – 5’10, average/thin build, hazel or brown eyes (he says they change), he is somewhat preppy in style, he is not too athletic, easy to get along with, has been out for about 17 months.I will be sending home pictures and such hopefully soon, when I take some.
That’s sweet to hear about Jackson’s mission call! Stateside missions are the best, I’m convinced. Chris is already coming home, that is pretty crazy. I’m sure time flies even faster for missionaries! Missions are the best! I have learned so much out here and have grown so much in my knowledge, faith, and personality. It’s an awesome feeling to know that I can teach people the key to solving all of life’s problems and healing all pain – through the application of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. That topic cannot be studied too much. I have been in so many situations and lessons in which I personally have no idea what the person is going through, but I am confident in showing them the way and promising them that whatever that thing is, it can be made right. Just to be able to take these two years to get out of “my world” and to be able to have the happiness of others as my top priority is an awesome experience!
And this week is one of those weeks that make it worth it. We were teaching one lesson right on top of another all week long, inviting all those we come across without fear, and with loving boldness. I am feeling like I’m settling into my new area(s) now, and I am getting to know many of the active members.
Well I don’t want to get “booted” again, so I will send this before that happens.
Thank you for your prayers, and I hope you all have a great week!
Love, Elder Vogan
Well, I just got booted from the computer here at the library after writing a really good email, so hopefully it will still be pretty good for you. We had a really great week this week here in Manitowoc, Wisconsin! Both the weather here and the work we were able to do were awesome! For the past few days, it’s been surprisingly warm – up to 70 even on Saturday. I guess that’ll give me a little more time to grab a few more things for winter, like gloves and ear muffs. Mom, you can just send my letters and surprise packages to the Mission office. That’s where they prefer to have us tell people to send things. Just in case I get transferred or something, nothing will get lost.
I apologize for not giving you more details about my companion last week: his name is Addam Robberts, 20 years-old, Alpine, UT, graduated in 2007, went to a year of college at BYU, he has a cute sister, major is mechanical engineering, musical/guitar/songwriter, dated a redhead before his mission, he is 5’9 – 5’10, average/thin build, hazel or brown eyes (he says they change), he is somewhat preppy in style, he is not too athletic, easy to get along with, has been out for about 17 months.I will be sending home pictures and such hopefully soon, when I take some.
That’s sweet to hear about Jackson’s mission call! Stateside missions are the best, I’m convinced. Chris is already coming home, that is pretty crazy. I’m sure time flies even faster for missionaries! Missions are the best! I have learned so much out here and have grown so much in my knowledge, faith, and personality. It’s an awesome feeling to know that I can teach people the key to solving all of life’s problems and healing all pain – through the application of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. That topic cannot be studied too much. I have been in so many situations and lessons in which I personally have no idea what the person is going through, but I am confident in showing them the way and promising them that whatever that thing is, it can be made right. Just to be able to take these two years to get out of “my world” and to be able to have the happiness of others as my top priority is an awesome experience!
And this week is one of those weeks that make it worth it. We were teaching one lesson right on top of another all week long, inviting all those we come across without fear, and with loving boldness. I am feeling like I’m settling into my new area(s) now, and I am getting to know many of the active members.
Well I don’t want to get “booted” again, so I will send this before that happens.
Thank you for your prayers, and I hope you all have a great week!
Love, Elder Vogan
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
DETERMINED TO WORK HARD WITH ELDER ROBERTS IN MANITOWOK
Mon 11/02/09 11:37 AM
Thank you for your emails this week! Everything is going well here in Manitowok. It is a beautiful city, and our apartment is probably one of the nicest in our mission – 5 minute walk from Lake Michigan. Our apartment is in Two Rivers, but includes Manitowok and Chilton, and all the little towns in between. (big area) So, we still have a car – luckily. I was actually very… displeased when I heard that Muskego got their car taken. Those are my investigators that that is hurting. Elder Stevens and Johnson won’t be able to see them as often anymore, but hopefully all will still work out okay. And if there are any baptisms down there, I will hear about them, and there is a slight possibility that I would be able to attend.
That is awesome to hear about Scott Tibbetts’ mission call! Wow, that will be a great experience in Thailand. Yes, thank you for the extra money from home for winter gear! I do have that credit card that I can use, but Dad I am not sure if you changed the address for where the bill will be sent, or do you still check the Las Sendas’ mail box too? That’s great that the nice, retired people are giving you business!
That’s crazy about all the sickness going around! I think there was a case or two of swine flu among the missionaries out here, and there are several other people out here who say they are just getting over it. I sure hope Megs gets better soon! And hopefully Kyle does too. It is cool to hear about your Halloween parties and costumes! It sounds like it was fun. We dressed up as “normal people” and deep cleaned our house all day, since we aren’t allowed to work on holloween. I hope Jasmine gives the Book of Mormon a fair chance; let me know if she does! And also let me know how Megan likes riding the horses. Haha, I can just imagine it will be fun for you to watch her do that.
I’m settling in pretty well to the new area so far. Elder Roberts and I have worked well together this past week, and we have determination to work hard and do some good here. There are a lot of part-member families who are very nice to us and who we are working with. So, we should be seeing those people progress well. Our goal now is also to find and teach families too, so that will be fun.
Well, I need to wrap it up here. So, I hope everyone has a great week!
Love,
Elder Vogan
Thank you for your emails this week! Everything is going well here in Manitowok. It is a beautiful city, and our apartment is probably one of the nicest in our mission – 5 minute walk from Lake Michigan. Our apartment is in Two Rivers, but includes Manitowok and Chilton, and all the little towns in between. (big area) So, we still have a car – luckily. I was actually very… displeased when I heard that Muskego got their car taken. Those are my investigators that that is hurting. Elder Stevens and Johnson won’t be able to see them as often anymore, but hopefully all will still work out okay. And if there are any baptisms down there, I will hear about them, and there is a slight possibility that I would be able to attend.
That is awesome to hear about Scott Tibbetts’ mission call! Wow, that will be a great experience in Thailand. Yes, thank you for the extra money from home for winter gear! I do have that credit card that I can use, but Dad I am not sure if you changed the address for where the bill will be sent, or do you still check the Las Sendas’ mail box too? That’s great that the nice, retired people are giving you business!
That’s crazy about all the sickness going around! I think there was a case or two of swine flu among the missionaries out here, and there are several other people out here who say they are just getting over it. I sure hope Megs gets better soon! And hopefully Kyle does too. It is cool to hear about your Halloween parties and costumes! It sounds like it was fun. We dressed up as “normal people” and deep cleaned our house all day, since we aren’t allowed to work on holloween. I hope Jasmine gives the Book of Mormon a fair chance; let me know if she does! And also let me know how Megan likes riding the horses. Haha, I can just imagine it will be fun for you to watch her do that.
I’m settling in pretty well to the new area so far. Elder Roberts and I have worked well together this past week, and we have determination to work hard and do some good here. There are a lot of part-member families who are very nice to us and who we are working with. So, we should be seeing those people progress well. Our goal now is also to find and teach families too, so that will be fun.
Well, I need to wrap it up here. So, I hope everyone has a great week!
Love,
Elder Vogan
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
TRANSFER TO TWO RIVERS
Mon 10/26/09 8:29 AM
Thank you for writing this week Hannah! I didn't get anything from anyone else, so you will be getting my weekly email. I am really glad to hear that you are having such a good time in orchestra; that should help you want to practice on your own so Mom doesn't have to nag you to do it, huh? Man, that rockband booth at the tailgate party sounds like alot of fun! I hope everything else is going well for you and for the family! I heard Megan tried to run away last week. Sounds just like back when we used to live there, and Megan would do that. Scary!
Yes, I am leaving Muskego Lakes tomorrow :/. I was expecting it, but it's been a bummer. I am going up to Two Rivers (pronounced "trivvers" and the place where the ice cream sundae was invented), which is south of Green Bay, and in the Green Bay zone. I'm sure Packers' season will be fun up there! Maybe I'll even get to go to a game. My companion will be Elder Roberts who used to serve with Elder Caldwell when he was in Brookfield. We used to do service with them at the food pantry, so I know him pretty well already. Elder Johnson served right next to us in Oak Creek, and he is coming to replace me. Elder Stevens is excited about that because they get along well. Thank you guys for sending out my ipod! It got here just in time so I can have some good stuff to listen to before I go far from the office. Yesterday in church, Bishop Fannon told the ward that I was leaving and asked me to get up and bear my testimony - that was a surprise! It made it easy on me, so I didn't have to tell everyone individually.
On Saturday, we were invited to Zak Keir's "welcome home" party. That was a very good opportunity for us to teach Zak's friends and family who weren't members. They were all asking us questions, and Sister Keir would point us out to everyone and say, "Look, those guys are doing what Zak did!" It was a really good time! Some of the most tasty chicken I have ever had, and an awesome bon fire. Also what was crazy was seeing Zak's pictures of when he was in Mesa, and seeing him in a couple of them next to Justin Miller (Kyle's brother)! That was cool.
Today should be an awesome last P-day here. We are planning on going to the Sprecher's brewery/factory, which is the best root beer ever. I haven't been yet, but I've heard it's 3 dollars for a tour with unlimited root beer!
So yeah, that's what's goin' on here. I hope you all have a great week, and I will tell you about my new area next week!
Love, Elder Vogan
Thank you for writing this week Hannah! I didn't get anything from anyone else, so you will be getting my weekly email. I am really glad to hear that you are having such a good time in orchestra; that should help you want to practice on your own so Mom doesn't have to nag you to do it, huh? Man, that rockband booth at the tailgate party sounds like alot of fun! I hope everything else is going well for you and for the family! I heard Megan tried to run away last week. Sounds just like back when we used to live there, and Megan would do that. Scary!
Yes, I am leaving Muskego Lakes tomorrow :/. I was expecting it, but it's been a bummer. I am going up to Two Rivers (pronounced "trivvers" and the place where the ice cream sundae was invented), which is south of Green Bay, and in the Green Bay zone. I'm sure Packers' season will be fun up there! Maybe I'll even get to go to a game. My companion will be Elder Roberts who used to serve with Elder Caldwell when he was in Brookfield. We used to do service with them at the food pantry, so I know him pretty well already. Elder Johnson served right next to us in Oak Creek, and he is coming to replace me. Elder Stevens is excited about that because they get along well. Thank you guys for sending out my ipod! It got here just in time so I can have some good stuff to listen to before I go far from the office. Yesterday in church, Bishop Fannon told the ward that I was leaving and asked me to get up and bear my testimony - that was a surprise! It made it easy on me, so I didn't have to tell everyone individually.
On Saturday, we were invited to Zak Keir's "welcome home" party. That was a very good opportunity for us to teach Zak's friends and family who weren't members. They were all asking us questions, and Sister Keir would point us out to everyone and say, "Look, those guys are doing what Zak did!" It was a really good time! Some of the most tasty chicken I have ever had, and an awesome bon fire. Also what was crazy was seeing Zak's pictures of when he was in Mesa, and seeing him in a couple of them next to Justin Miller (Kyle's brother)! That was cool.
Today should be an awesome last P-day here. We are planning on going to the Sprecher's brewery/factory, which is the best root beer ever. I haven't been yet, but I've heard it's 3 dollars for a tour with unlimited root beer!
So yeah, that's what's goin' on here. I hope you all have a great week, and I will tell you about my new area next week!
Love, Elder Vogan
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)