Mon 5/24/10 10:16 AM
Happy Monday!
Haha, what did Sister Swearingen write on facebook? But yeah it's true; I will be transferring to Sussex/Parkway (Milwaukee North Stake), and I will be serving as zone leader with Elder Radle. That should be awesome - I love Elder Radle! Do you remember that picture of me carrying that really big guy from the beginning of my mission? That's Elder Radle. Being zone leader should be a good growing experience for me too. Milwaukee North is the most condensed zone and stake with members in the mission (more members per capita), so I imagine I'll be spending less time in cars and more time outside this summer. Elder Quinney will be staying in Rapids for at least one more transfer - lucky. Two transfers wasn't enough time to spend here. I'll be having my last dinner at the Swearingen's tonight. Something cool is that on Wednesday, the night before transfers, 2 of our investigator families (The Sigmans and the Gundersons) are going to have a going away dinner party for me. We are going to have a traditional Wisconsin cookout with burgers and brats, and cake and brownies!
That puppie is really cute. How old is he? I think Sully would be a good name. I can just imagine Megan saying, "So-ley". It's great to here about all the awesome things going on: the baby shower, the temple dedication, the Suns, and the shows. No one is following basketball that we talk to out here, so the only updates I get are from you. I'm glad Whitney is getting so spoiled with love!
So, the work has still been going great! We taught Cassie's brother, Ryan, but not her dad. We were going to set a baptism date with Ryan, but we chose not too yet because of his severe dislexia and less-accountable-ness. We feel like Bishop would need to okay that one. If Cassie's dad was also getting baptized with him, I would feel better about it too. Britney and Joe Sigman are still really solid! I'm sad that I won't be here for their baptism. They came to church again this week and loved it. The ward has done so well with fellowshipping them at activities they've been to that they fit right in and already feel comfortable. They follow through with every commitment right when we extend each one to them. One lesson this week, we left kind of a lot for them to read, and they had it all read that night before they said prayers together and went to bed. This is the kind of missionary work I love to be a part of!
Well, I will talk to you next week, and I'll let you know how I'm settling in to Milwaukee!
Love,
Elder Vogan
Monday, May 24, 2010
Friday, May 21, 2010
CASSIE'S BAPTISM WAS AWESOME!
Mon 5/17/10 11:40 AM
Hello,
Thank you for your prayers! I know they helped us this week. Cassie's baptism went awesome! She had so much support from family, friends, and members. She said her dad will probably want to take the lessons and join the Church too! Preston visited! That sounds like it was a fun time. I bet he had a lot of awesome stories to share with you. Crazy that dad got to visit Elder Molano! That is really cool how that all worked out. I'm glad you liked the movies! Yeah, I guess I am a tease, huh? haha.
But yeah, our week was really awesome! We taught a lot of lessons, found 4 new people to teach, and set 2 more baptism dates with a young couple: Joe and Britney. (See my email to President Barrett for more details on that story). Everything just seemed to work our perfectly with them. They were definitely prepared to receive the gospel. They quit drinking and smoking already awhile ago after having their son, J.J. (Joseph Jr.).
Well, I spent most of my time writing to President - Sorry! But I hope everyone has an awesome week, and I will pray that Megan will stay out of trouble.
Love,
Elder Vogan
Hello,
Thank you for your prayers! I know they helped us this week. Cassie's baptism went awesome! She had so much support from family, friends, and members. She said her dad will probably want to take the lessons and join the Church too! Preston visited! That sounds like it was a fun time. I bet he had a lot of awesome stories to share with you. Crazy that dad got to visit Elder Molano! That is really cool how that all worked out. I'm glad you liked the movies! Yeah, I guess I am a tease, huh? haha.
But yeah, our week was really awesome! We taught a lot of lessons, found 4 new people to teach, and set 2 more baptism dates with a young couple: Joe and Britney. (See my email to President Barrett for more details on that story). Everything just seemed to work our perfectly with them. They were definitely prepared to receive the gospel. They quit drinking and smoking already awhile ago after having their son, J.J. (Joseph Jr.).
Well, I spent most of my time writing to President - Sorry! But I hope everyone has an awesome week, and I will pray that Megan will stay out of trouble.
Love,
Elder Vogan
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
GREAT TALKING TO YOU YESTERDAY
Mon 5/10/10 10:13 AM
Hi family!
It was awesome to talk to you last night! Now I don't have much to say. I hope you enjoy those movies tonight! I think you guys will think they are pretty funny. Thank you for your prayers for our investigators and struggling members!
Today, we are planning on going down to Adams/Friendship and meeting up with the missionaries down there to have a BBQ and go hiking. Cody has a friend down there, so he's excited. He went to prom with her. So, he's driving us.
But yeah, thank you again for everything, and I hope you have a wonderful week!
Love,
Elder Vogan
Hi family!
It was awesome to talk to you last night! Now I don't have much to say. I hope you enjoy those movies tonight! I think you guys will think they are pretty funny. Thank you for your prayers for our investigators and struggling members!
Today, we are planning on going down to Adams/Friendship and meeting up with the missionaries down there to have a BBQ and go hiking. Cody has a friend down there, so he's excited. He went to prom with her. So, he's driving us.
But yeah, thank you again for everything, and I hope you have a wonderful week!
Love,
Elder Vogan
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
COPIES OF THE BOOK OF MORMON DISAPPEAR
Mon 5/03/10 11:24 AM
Hello!
I am excited for Sunday at 5PM your time, when I get to talk to you! Congrats to Hannah with her dance concert; I wish I could've been there! And I am glad Jordan got the letter I sent. It's easier to correspond more meaningfully when I sit down and handwrite, rather than emailing where I don't have a ton of time to write. So yeah, I will take some time to write Hannah a letter too. I am excited to hear about how her patriarchal blessing goes! I hope her experience strengthens her as much as mine did for me.
This past week went pretty well. We continue to teach tons of lessons, and they seem to just be falling into our laps. More than half the people we contact for the first time will allow us to at least share a simple lesson with them. It's funny, every time I refill my backpack with copies of the Book of Mormon, they disappear. haha.
We are still working with Cassie alot; our most progressing investigator. We are still waiting on her mom, but she is confident that her mom will soon be supportive of her desire. Her dang relatives keep telling her garbage about the Church though, and she seems to be an easily swayed person. But her dad looks at it logically as something that will at least give his daughter something good to do with her life. We still haven't been able to meet her family yet, but hopefully we can this week.
Well I really can't think of anything else to write. I love the Gospel and I love my mission. I know that the things we teach are true, and the Gospel is real. It's not just something interesting to talk about, but it is something that everyone must choose to live in order to have true happiness in families and in life. It brings clarity and perspective that nothing else can. Sorry I don't share my testimony with you enough.
Hope you all have a wonderful week, and I'll talk to you on Sunday!
Love,
Elder Vogan
Hello!
I am excited for Sunday at 5PM your time, when I get to talk to you! Congrats to Hannah with her dance concert; I wish I could've been there! And I am glad Jordan got the letter I sent. It's easier to correspond more meaningfully when I sit down and handwrite, rather than emailing where I don't have a ton of time to write. So yeah, I will take some time to write Hannah a letter too. I am excited to hear about how her patriarchal blessing goes! I hope her experience strengthens her as much as mine did for me.
This past week went pretty well. We continue to teach tons of lessons, and they seem to just be falling into our laps. More than half the people we contact for the first time will allow us to at least share a simple lesson with them. It's funny, every time I refill my backpack with copies of the Book of Mormon, they disappear. haha.
We are still working with Cassie alot; our most progressing investigator. We are still waiting on her mom, but she is confident that her mom will soon be supportive of her desire. Her dang relatives keep telling her garbage about the Church though, and she seems to be an easily swayed person. But her dad looks at it logically as something that will at least give his daughter something good to do with her life. We still haven't been able to meet her family yet, but hopefully we can this week.
Well I really can't think of anything else to write. I love the Gospel and I love my mission. I know that the things we teach are true, and the Gospel is real. It's not just something interesting to talk about, but it is something that everyone must choose to live in order to have true happiness in families and in life. It brings clarity and perspective that nothing else can. Sorry I don't share my testimony with you enough.
Hope you all have a wonderful week, and I'll talk to you on Sunday!
Love,
Elder Vogan
Friday, April 30, 2010
WE ALL NEED OUR 'OWN' RESTORATION
Mon 4/26/10 11:01 AM
Hey family,
Yes, I got the package; Thank you so much! The pictures were awesome! I can't wait to see Whitney's cute little baby in a couple months! I am sad to hear that you guys had some sicknesses last week. I hope everyone is over that, especially Jordan and Hannah with their "big weeks".
That's awesome that Nyal is reporting soon to the MTC! He is going to the same mission as the three elders I roomed with in the MTC: Elder Butikofer, Elder Duthie, and Elder Cranney. That's crazy to hear that everyone is leaving Las Sendas. I hope none of the families were too devastated by it. "Come what may and love it" is all we can do, after all we can do. Hmm, I don't know if you should get a dog... I'm pretty sure I know what the outcome would be. (Megan eats dog poop) Although I have grown to like Labs out here. It seems like everyone has one of those in Wisconsin. Haha yeah, Mandy and Saige told me that they added Jordan on Facebook. They are both really cool. Mandy is Cody's younger sister.
But yeah, this week went really well! We had zone conference on Wednesday, and that, of course, was uplifting and motivating. We learned about each investigator needing their own "restoration". They each need their James 1:5 and they each need their sacred grove. And ultimately, they each need to kneel humbly, and sincerely pray with a desire to know and to do what God wants them to do. So, we had a training from President Barrett and setting the stage so that our investigators will pray. It was sweet.
Cassie Wills (Star and Eli's friend) is still progressing well. Mid-last week her parents told her that they had changed their minds, and that she would have to wait to be baptized until she was 18. But then on Sunday, after hearing that she told the young womens class that she may be getting baptized on the 8th of May, we asked her about it. She said that her dad had changed his mind and would convince her mom to let her be baptized if she can show that she is doing it for the right reasons, and not just because Star and Eli were baptized. So that's where we are at with her. We actually have two other girls (Stephanie and Tanisha) in that same boat: wanting to be baptized with parents unwilling to give permission.
So that's pretty much it for the week! I look forward to hearing from you next week!
Love,
Elder Vogan
Hey family,
Yes, I got the package; Thank you so much! The pictures were awesome! I can't wait to see Whitney's cute little baby in a couple months! I am sad to hear that you guys had some sicknesses last week. I hope everyone is over that, especially Jordan and Hannah with their "big weeks".
That's awesome that Nyal is reporting soon to the MTC! He is going to the same mission as the three elders I roomed with in the MTC: Elder Butikofer, Elder Duthie, and Elder Cranney. That's crazy to hear that everyone is leaving Las Sendas. I hope none of the families were too devastated by it. "Come what may and love it" is all we can do, after all we can do. Hmm, I don't know if you should get a dog... I'm pretty sure I know what the outcome would be. (Megan eats dog poop) Although I have grown to like Labs out here. It seems like everyone has one of those in Wisconsin. Haha yeah, Mandy and Saige told me that they added Jordan on Facebook. They are both really cool. Mandy is Cody's younger sister.
But yeah, this week went really well! We had zone conference on Wednesday, and that, of course, was uplifting and motivating. We learned about each investigator needing their own "restoration". They each need their James 1:5 and they each need their sacred grove. And ultimately, they each need to kneel humbly, and sincerely pray with a desire to know and to do what God wants them to do. So, we had a training from President Barrett and setting the stage so that our investigators will pray. It was sweet.
Cassie Wills (Star and Eli's friend) is still progressing well. Mid-last week her parents told her that they had changed their minds, and that she would have to wait to be baptized until she was 18. But then on Sunday, after hearing that she told the young womens class that she may be getting baptized on the 8th of May, we asked her about it. She said that her dad had changed his mind and would convince her mom to let her be baptized if she can show that she is doing it for the right reasons, and not just because Star and Eli were baptized. So that's where we are at with her. We actually have two other girls (Stephanie and Tanisha) in that same boat: wanting to be baptized with parents unwilling to give permission.
So that's pretty much it for the week! I look forward to hearing from you next week!
Love,
Elder Vogan
Saturday, April 24, 2010
AWESOME WEEK!
Mon 4/19/10 10:31 AM
Hello family,
Yes, Elijah's baptism went great! Everything worked out perfectly, and the Spirit was very strong throughout the service. The Swearingens were in charge of the music, and that added alot to the spirit of the meeting. Cody led, Sister Swearingen was the pianist, and Mandy sang a great musical number between my and Elder Quinney's talks. Many people came to support Eli, and we had a nice potluck dinner after it was over. The confirmation on Sunday went great as well.
One cool thing that happened the morning of the baptism: As we walked into Star and Eli's apartment, they had a friend over (Cassie), and the first thing that she said to us was, "I want to join too!" Elder Quinney was caught off guard, and he looked at me, and we both said, "Okay, sweet." haha. She is 16 years old and has already asked for permission from her parents if she could learn from us and be baptized. We are trying to expand the circle and include the rest of her family in the lessons as well. We asked her why she decided that she wanted to join, and she said it was because of the way she has seen Star's life change, because she is so much happier now. And she has also seen the changes that Eli was making in his life to prepare for his baptism, and she wanted it too. Interesting though, is that she is mostly the friend of Star and Eli's sister, Rea, who hasn't been that interested in the Gospel. So, we told Rea that if she decided that she did want to learn, that she could be baptized on the same day as her best friend. She didn't commit to anything yet, but hopefully she will choose to do that! Right now, Cassie's baptism is scheduled for May 8th.
The rest of the week also went well! We were able to teach a lot of really good lessons, and things just seemed to fall in place, for the most part, for us this week.
Thank you for sending that package; I look forward to receiving it! Happy Birthday, Kyle! Hope everyone has a great week!
Love,
Elder Vogan
Hello family,
Yes, Elijah's baptism went great! Everything worked out perfectly, and the Spirit was very strong throughout the service. The Swearingens were in charge of the music, and that added alot to the spirit of the meeting. Cody led, Sister Swearingen was the pianist, and Mandy sang a great musical number between my and Elder Quinney's talks. Many people came to support Eli, and we had a nice potluck dinner after it was over. The confirmation on Sunday went great as well.
One cool thing that happened the morning of the baptism: As we walked into Star and Eli's apartment, they had a friend over (Cassie), and the first thing that she said to us was, "I want to join too!" Elder Quinney was caught off guard, and he looked at me, and we both said, "Okay, sweet." haha. She is 16 years old and has already asked for permission from her parents if she could learn from us and be baptized. We are trying to expand the circle and include the rest of her family in the lessons as well. We asked her why she decided that she wanted to join, and she said it was because of the way she has seen Star's life change, because she is so much happier now. And she has also seen the changes that Eli was making in his life to prepare for his baptism, and she wanted it too. Interesting though, is that she is mostly the friend of Star and Eli's sister, Rea, who hasn't been that interested in the Gospel. So, we told Rea that if she decided that she did want to learn, that she could be baptized on the same day as her best friend. She didn't commit to anything yet, but hopefully she will choose to do that! Right now, Cassie's baptism is scheduled for May 8th.
The rest of the week also went well! We were able to teach a lot of really good lessons, and things just seemed to fall in place, for the most part, for us this week.
Thank you for sending that package; I look forward to receiving it! Happy Birthday, Kyle! Hope everyone has a great week!
Love,
Elder Vogan
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
"FUTURE MISSIONARY" BADGE FOR ELI
Mon 4/12/10 11:32 AM
Happy Birthday Megan! I will be sending her something today hopefully. Well it's always good to hear from you, and I'm glad things are going well! That was an awesome story about Jordan's volleyball game! Wow, I wish I could've seen it! We did get to eat tuna cassorole like two days after she talked to you about it. And it tasted just like home! haha. You can send oranges if it is convenient for you.
Well this week went really well for us too. We found out that both Elder Quinney and I will be staying for another transfer, so that will be good. We will be able to celebrate our year mark together! We had a lot going on this week. We went down for a baptism for a lady named Tammy on Friday, and we brought Eli and Star with us. She is from the area right south of us. And afterward, President Barrett was there, so he was able to have a really good (long) interview with Eli. Eli has been so motivated ever since. It also helped that he came with us and the ward on a trip to the St. Paul temple on Saturday. He could go in, but he spent a lot of time studying scriptures in the waiting room, and he walked around the grounds with others who didn't go in. The Khang family was sealed on Saturday, so they had family members come that didn't go in the temple. It was so cool to see a family sealed together. The Khangs are a Hmong family, and they were baptized a year ago, and they have 3 young daughters. During that, Star was able to go on with another group of people (who she didn't know, but she didn't care) and she did baptisms for the first time. It was a really fun trip for everyone. After we took pictures and left the temple grounds, we went to an LDS bookstore, and Eli bought a "future missionary" name tag, which he wore the rest of the day Saturday and to church on Sunday. I asked the lady at the counter if she sold too many of those to non-members, and she said that was her first time.
So, after Eli's interview from the zone leaders on Thursday, he will be set to go for his baptism on Saturday. Please keep praying for him though, and thank you for what you have done already! We have been doing a "seminary" type thing with Eli and Star each day in the mornings, so we have been seeing them at least once a day for a couple weeks now, and they love it. Star's little girl, Dezaray (Ray Ray) is the cutest little 15 month old girl, and she gets really excited to run and shake our hands when we go over. And she will throw a fit if we don't shake her hand before we leave.
So that's about I'll I will write for this week! Talk to you next week!
Love you!
Elder Vogan
Happy Birthday Megan! I will be sending her something today hopefully. Well it's always good to hear from you, and I'm glad things are going well! That was an awesome story about Jordan's volleyball game! Wow, I wish I could've seen it! We did get to eat tuna cassorole like two days after she talked to you about it. And it tasted just like home! haha. You can send oranges if it is convenient for you.
Well this week went really well for us too. We found out that both Elder Quinney and I will be staying for another transfer, so that will be good. We will be able to celebrate our year mark together! We had a lot going on this week. We went down for a baptism for a lady named Tammy on Friday, and we brought Eli and Star with us. She is from the area right south of us. And afterward, President Barrett was there, so he was able to have a really good (long) interview with Eli. Eli has been so motivated ever since. It also helped that he came with us and the ward on a trip to the St. Paul temple on Saturday. He could go in, but he spent a lot of time studying scriptures in the waiting room, and he walked around the grounds with others who didn't go in. The Khang family was sealed on Saturday, so they had family members come that didn't go in the temple. It was so cool to see a family sealed together. The Khangs are a Hmong family, and they were baptized a year ago, and they have 3 young daughters. During that, Star was able to go on with another group of people (who she didn't know, but she didn't care) and she did baptisms for the first time. It was a really fun trip for everyone. After we took pictures and left the temple grounds, we went to an LDS bookstore, and Eli bought a "future missionary" name tag, which he wore the rest of the day Saturday and to church on Sunday. I asked the lady at the counter if she sold too many of those to non-members, and she said that was her first time.
So, after Eli's interview from the zone leaders on Thursday, he will be set to go for his baptism on Saturday. Please keep praying for him though, and thank you for what you have done already! We have been doing a "seminary" type thing with Eli and Star each day in the mornings, so we have been seeing them at least once a day for a couple weeks now, and they love it. Star's little girl, Dezaray (Ray Ray) is the cutest little 15 month old girl, and she gets really excited to run and shake our hands when we go over. And she will throw a fit if we don't shake her hand before we leave.
So that's about I'll I will write for this week! Talk to you next week!
Love you!
Elder Vogan
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