Me and Sister Tucker at Chili's after district meeting last Friday with our district and the APs
Spring at our apt complex!

Spring is Here! (I think)

Hey Everyone,

So I think that spring is here! Last week, on p-day Sister Tucker and I noticed that all of a sudden the dead trees had blossoms on them that had blossomed. It seemed to have happened over night. It's SO weird to watch the seasons change, since you don't see that in San Diego. I did see it in Rexburg, but I don't remember seeing spring so suddenly. Anyway, kind of fun! It was 80 the other day, and it's supposed to be 86. Yesterday was BEAUTIFUL! It was such a good day for tracting because it was warm, like 70 or 75, but not super windy. Anyway, I am a little worried about summer because it's going to be SO hot. But I'm grateful for the spring right now. :)

First things first... our baptism with Johanna has fallen through. :( She still wants to get baptized, but she feels it's too soon. Honestly, it's understandable because I think we've only been teaching her for 2 weeks. Luz feels the same way about her baptism, although Luz was willing to still have it this weekend if that was what we had decided. Also, Don Chepe's baptismal date fell through too. Again, he still wants to get baptized, but he wants to wait because of some things that happened.

Luz hasn't been coming to church. :( And she said yesterday that she thinks she might not be able to. Between her and Rosa and Pedro on the weekends, things aren't good. It's really sad. I don't really know how to help her. She wants to go, but she can't because of what happens. Hopefully, things will change so she can come to church. She still is planning on moving out at some point, but not sure when.

We have a fairly new investigator, Maria Pena. I can't remember if I've mentioned her. But she was a referral given to us from the english sisters. We went to her house to contact her, and she told us she wasn't interested. Then we stayed in that same area to check up on another referral. On our way back to the car, we passed her house, and she stuck her head out the door saying she wanted us to come back. This has NEVER happened, where someone changes their mind in a matter of minutes literally. We went back, and she was there! We've taught her twice, lessons 1 and 2. She accepts everything we say and she wants to be baptized. She used to be Catholic, but she doesn't like it because she says they're hypocrites. People have told her bad things about us, but she says that she can't believe that. Because when we come over everything we teach is good, she said. Anyway, the sad part is that she is going to move. :( BUT I hope that we can teach her and maybe even set a baptismal date, so she can be baptized before she moves. She doesn't know exactly when she's going to move, but that's the plan.

Sister Tucker and I had a fun encounter with a couple of dogs the other day. Get this... it was Sister Tucker's FIRST dog experience. I bet you miss hearing stories about me and animals. Honestly, I don't miss having them happen. BUT... on Sunday we were tracting, and we got to this house that was set deep on this plot of land. There was a fence around the yard, and then a carport. We walked through the carport to where the gate was. There were probably like 5 "No Trespassing" signs. I'm not even kidding! (We ALWAYS see no soliciting signs and no trespassing, but we always ignore them. Nobody has gotten mad at us for knocking. Not yet anyway...) So, I go to open the gate, and I see dog toys in the yard. I told Sister Tucker not to close the gate, in case we needed to make a quick escape. I really felt like there was at least one dog in the yard. It's so weird though because SO many times it would seem like there would be a dog in the yard, but there isn't one. This time, I really felt like there was. So, I kind of crept slowly into the yard. Then all of a sudden, I see this HUGE dog just lying there, chilin' in front of the house. I turned around, and I saw Sister Tucker's face. It was PRICELESS! She looked SO terrified! Then out of nowhere there is another good size dog. We ran out of the yard, and we closed the gate right before they could get us. We were both so shaky and felt like we had just spared our lives. Haha! It was funny! Not in the moment of course, but after. But wait... it gets better...

We start walking away, and then we hear the gate open. This man is walking towards us, so we turn around and start talking to him. His name was John. He said that he used to go to church, but doesn't because he has his own religion at home. We shared a whole first lesson with him, and after he said that he has made up his own religion with different Bibles. I had specifically said that Christ came to the earth and established His church. Then after His death and the death of His apostles, His church was no longer on the earth, and people began to form their OWN churches WITHOUT the permission from God to do so. I guess that didn't really click. We left him a BOM. He was english and wouldn't accept a return appt, but we left him the english sisters number anyway.

I'm so grateful I have the knowledge of the one and only true church of Jesus Christ. It's hard for me to understand that people don't agree with our message because I've known these truths my whole life. What a blessing that is and continues to be! That I never had to search for this. Sometimes I wish people understood the way I understand. With SO many churches, especially here in Oklahoma, it's easy for our church to seem like it's just another church. I try to share our message in a way that lets people know that we aren't simply another church, but sometimes that is difficult.

I think that's about it. I hope that it will suffice this week! All the days blur together, and I talk to so many people all the time that it's hard for me to pick highlights or things y'all would enjoy hearing about. Anyway, I love and miss y'all (yes, I'm a Okie now :) ) lots. I hope all is well with each of you and all that you're doing!

Love,

Hermana Christina Hogewoning

PS The attached photo is a pic of the house with the dogs. Hopefully the visual helps envision what happened!

Hna. Tucker and I

Elder Dominguez, Elder Romero, Elder Searle, Elder Reed, Elder Mortensen, Elder Riggs and Hna. Tucker and I in front

the 5 of us spanish hermanas, Hermana Xiques, Hermana Moss, Hermana Alas, Hermana Tucker, and me
Sister Houston, Hermana Tucker, Sister Glenn, and I bundled up to go out in the cold!

1st Baptismal Date!!!

Hey Everyone,

I have some exciting news! Johanna, Luz's granddaughter (adopted daughter since she was 6 months old), is getting baptized on April 3! We're SO excited! This kind of came out of nowhere. We hadn't been teaching her, and then I was thinking about how she's been to church like 4 times and hasn't been taught a single lesson. Anyway, we've taught her lessons 1-3 and parts of lesson 4. We only have to teach a few more things, and then she'll be ready. I'm so excited!

Mission conference was AWESOME! Elder Costa is amazing and funny and everything you would expect a general authority to be! Again, I got the opportunity to listen to him twice while he was here. Once with all the missionaries and once with the stake. (That's a perk of being here in the south.) Anyway, he said SO many things that I loved! I didn't take as many notes because I just wanted to listen and not worry about writing it all down like I usually do. One thing he said that I really liked was, "To love others is exactly dependent on how much you understand the Atonement of Jesus Christ." That's so true. No wonder sometimes I struggle, because I don't understand the Atonement like I should. He also talked about Christ suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane for us. He said that when Christ said, let this bitter cup pass from me (see Matthew 26:39), He wasn't saying, I give up, I can't do it, but rather, Be with me, asking the Father to not leave Him while He took upon Himself all the sins, pains, and afflictions of the world. But Christ had to be alone without the Father's presence to know how to succor us (Alma 7:11-12) and how we feel when we go through times of spiritual weakness with the Holy Ghost. (Elder Holland gave a great talk in general conference almost exactly one year ago about this. "None Were With Him" is the title I believe from the April 09 gen conf.) Anyway, Elder Costa was great. Oh, and he also spoke specifically to me saying that we need to move on and not keep teaching the families who won't get baptized. At the conclusion of the meeting, Pres. & Sis. Gee were asked to bear their testimonies. In Pres. Gee's remarks, he said my name and then that when Elder Costa said that it was a confirmation to me that I'm doing what I should be. I've had a hard time with knowing when to stop teaching people, and I was grateful for Elder Costa's confirmation to me and then President Gee's confirmation to me, personally, by name.

I don't know what else to say. Man, I hate it when that happens. All the days just blend together and I forget what I've told y'all, and I don't know what you want to know. It's weird to be in a district where I'm now one of two, Elder Mortensen, who are now the ones who have been in this area the longest. It's also weird being around so many missionaries who are as old as me in the mission or younger. Elder Buys, our district leader, is awesome! And Elder Soto, one of the brand new missionaries, is pretty great too. Elder Soto is from Mexico, so he's learned english just from being in the MTC 9 weeks. He said he took a year of english in school, but I know that that really isn't where he's learned to speak english so well. I think Elder Soto's english is better than my spanish was coming out of the MTC. Elder Riggs said that's because english is easier, but that couldn't be further from the truth. Haha! Elder Buys is from Eagle Mountain, Utah, and he will go home at the end of this transfer.

Sister Tucker is good. I was her companion the first 5 days I was in the MTC. But just in case, y'all have forgotten and don't want to look for my first e-mail, she's from Ogden, Utah. It's fun finally getting to serve with her. It's weird though because we're the same age in the mission, so we both know just about the same. And this will be our first baptism, which we haven't had one yet, so we're learning how to prepare someone for baptism and everything we need to do, together. I love her! She is great! It's a little rough because we're both still learning spanish. And also, she doesn't know the area, so I have to figure a lot of things out without her help, but eventually she'll be able to help me more.

How could I forget!?!?! It SNOWED! SURPISE! Yeah, so it was 71 degrees on Friday, and everyone was saying it was going to snow on Saturday, and I didn't believe it. Because there have been SO many times when they say it's going to snow and then it never does. But sure enough on Saturday it snowed and it stuck! Saturday morning the roads had snow, so the four of us sisters (Sister Houston, Sister Glenn, Sister Tucker, and I) decided to walk to our appt because it was fairly close. (The same distance as the apts we walked to to tract during the last snow storm.) So, we finally are ready to go, and we start walking only to see that we could be driving because the roads are clear. But we just decided to walk. Then Pres. Gee drives by with Elder Riggs and Elder Buys, and he pulled off to the side of the road. I felt SO stupid because we could have been driving and we weren't. President Gee asked where we going. I told him we weren't going to far. Then they drove off. Saturday night I talked to Pres. Gee after the fireside with Elder Costa, and he said the elders felt so badly because they were in a car and we were walking. I just told him that I felt silly walking when we could have driven. The APs told us not to drive if there was snow on the roads, but there wasn't. It was pretty much just water.

But then it started snowing again Sat night. By the time we left the fireside, the snow was sticking to the roads, and I got to drive 20 minutes in it. Luckily, I lived in Idaho and had driven in the snow, and it wasn't too bad. Then the snow froze Sat night, and so Sunday morning there was ice. The english ward was cancelled, even though they didn't have church til 1pm. But the branch still had church. So we called and got a ride from Astrid since we can't drive when there's ice. Just walking to the car was a little scary because it was solid ice on the ground. Luckily, Hna. Tucker and I didn't fall. But one of the members did, Hna. Dominguez. That's one reason they cancel church when the weather is like this, to prevent injuries and accidents. Anyway...by the time church was over it had all melted. Pretty crazy, right?!? From 71 degrees to 29 degrees in less than 12 hours. Oklahoma has crazy weather!

Well, I gotta run! But I love you all! Thanks for everything!

Love,

Hermana Christina Hogewoning

4th transfer!

Hey Everyone,

So tomorrow is transfer, and my 4th transfer will begin. I feel like I should be saying it's my 7th or 8th transfer, but yeah. We got transfer calls last night, and sure enough I'm staying here in the south of the city (SURPRISE!) and Sister Tucker will be my comp, which means I'm not training like Pres. Gee had originally told me and like a bunch of people thought. That also means Hermana Alas is training two brand new missionaries. Crazy! But we get to take the one of the two new sisters out tonight. (Like the first night I was here, Sister Tucker went tracting with Hermana Alas and Sister Lamb and I went tracting with Hermana Whiting.) I'm excited, but it will be weird.

We're getting a new AP (Elder Olsen is coming to take Elder Searle's place), a new Zone Leader (Elder Chun, still pretty young in the mission, is coming to take Elder Little's place.), and two new elders in our district, one being the District Leader (Elder Romero is leaving for Spanish 4 East-the spanish branch in the north of the city, and Elder Mortensen is staying and will be training a brand new elder. Then Elder Reed, current DL, is going to Wichita Falls, TX, and Elder Bies is coming in his place. Elder Riggs is staying.). Sister Houston and Sister Glenn are staying. Elder Downs is leaving and so is Elder Anderson. They are in the english district with the english sisters. I know this paragraph pretty much means nothing to most all of you because you don't know who I'm talking about. But missionaries that are already home that I've served with wanted these details.

We went to Alma's yesterday because her mom, Hna. Segura is back and she's living with Alma because it sounds like she's going to sell her house. We don't know how long she's here for because she wants to go back to Chicago. It was good to see her, but she asked why we haven't been visiting Alma and Juana, and that was hard to explain to her in my imperfect spanish. Alma wasn't home, but Tokyo and Destiny were. Honestly, it was SO good to see them! I really miss them, but we can't visit them. It's not time yet. I know we'll go back, but I don't know when.

Luz is good! We started teaching Joana finally, and she wants to be baptized. The next time we teach her, we want to try to set a baptismal date with her. And I just realize that we've taught Luz everything from lessons 1-4 except obey and honor land and baptism and confirmation. So, we want to go over the baptism interview questions with her, and see when she's going to move out. I still don't know if she's completely quit smoking. But we know that she's stopped taking three different medications and she's only on one, and hopes to stop taking that too. I think they're for depression, but I'm not sure.

We dropped Roxana. That was sad, but it was kind of mutual. She kind of dropped us and just told us she needs to think about things. She's so close and yet so far.

I don't know what else... my mind is drawing a blank. Sorry!

Well, like always... I love you all so much! I miss you! Thank you for your love, support, and prayers!

Love,

Hermana Christina Hogewoning

6 Months!/Happy March!

Hey Everyone,

Today marks exactly 6 months that I've been on the mission. Crazy! Time really is flying by! I can't believe that Corey and I will be home in a year. That's just weird! I also can't believe it's already March. Sometimes I still think it's Janurary.

Honestly I really don't know what to write today. There is SO much on my mind, and we have lots of things to do. The work is good though. We are continuing to find more people to teach. It never ceases to amaze me how Heavenly Father works and how He puts people in our path.

A bit of sad news... Javier, one of our GOLDEN investigators, got deported. We went to visit him last Friday with Evelyn (Hna. Martinez's sister), and one of his roommates told us he had been deported. It was really sad. But he told us that Javier is going to try to come back. I was wondering how, but I guess it just depends on a lot of things and it's possible, but I don't know how likely.

So, it POURED rain yesterday! There was thunder too. It was SO dark! It was ridiculous! I think yesterday was the darkest I've ever seen it here in Oklahoma. Oklahoma's weather is so bipolar though because today it's all sunny and nice. It's been in the 50s and 60s lately, so spring is coming! I'm excited to leave the cold weather, but I'm not too excited for the summer. I heard they're pretty hot and humid here. Good thing I have a couple of months I think!

We went bowling again this morning with the APs, the four elders in our district, two elders from the english district and a member from the branch. It was so fun! I bowled an 88 and then 107. I actually broke 100, which was a miracle. Last time we bowled I think I got 50ish. I don't remember because it was way bad. Anyway, it was fun! I'm sad to be saying by to one of the APs, Elder Searle. He became AP right after I got here, like literally a day later. Anyway, he's awesome! I'm going to miss him! But that's the mission, always saying bye to people and making more friends and meeting more people.

Sorry this e-mail isn't very eventful. I don't know what to write. I feel like nothing happened this week.

We just found out last week that we are having another mission conference on March 20. It's so soon! So it's going to make next transfer seem really long, but that's okay. Elder Costa is coming. I think he's in the presidency of the 70, but I'm not sure. (Look it up on lds.org) Anyway, I'm pretty excited to have another general authority coming and to get to see all the missionaries again.

Corey is doing well. He sounds pretty busy with being district leader and all, but he sounds good. Sometimes I wish he and I had more time to tell each other what's going on in the mission, but it's all good. I've been keeping a journal, and so he can just read it like a novel some day. :) I'm so glad he and I are on missions at the same time. It makes me feel really good knowing he is doing the same thing and he understands everything I'm doing and going through.

Well, I love you all! Thanks for everything!

Love,

Hermana Christina Hogewoning

Happy March!

Hey Everyone!

Well, it's been a crazy week! And there are only 2 more weeks left in the transfer, which is CRAZY! Really, this transfer (6 week period) has flown by so fast!

Okay, this past weekend we had branch conference. It was great because a bunch of the leaders from the stake came and spoke to the branch. It was great! The branch needs a lot of help, and I feel like the stake leaders kind of helped point out what the branch can do differently. Also, President and Sister Gee were there! It's always so fun to see them! Being in the south of the city, I guess I'm a little spoiled because I get to see a lot of people in the mission more regularly than missionaires not serving in the south of the city. Seeing Pres and Sis Gee are just a couple of the people. Pres. Gee pulled me aside and asked if he could talk to me after church. I said sure. So, after all 3 meetings, he pulled me aside again and asked how I would feel about Sister Tucker being my companion. I was just like, honestly before this transfer (Pres. Gee kind of told me at the beginning of the transfer that I would be training next transfer, meaning my comp would be the brand new spanish sister coming from the MTC), I thought that's who I would be with. I just told him that I was willing to train or be with Sister Tucker, so whatever he feels and wants, I'll do it. Not that I really have a choice, but I really am willing to be comps with Sister Tucker or train Sister Moss.

Also, we finally were able to meet with Luz on Saturday and she came to church on Sunday! Elder Reed, my district leader, suggested we just drop by unexpected sometime. So, we did, and she was there and we got to teach her! We talked to her about Elder Bednar. She said she could feel when he spoke, his power and authority as an apostle. That was pretty cool to hear her bear testimony of Elder Bednar as an apostle. We haven't taught her since though. :( But she's been working a lot so she can move out.

Oh, and when we were there Luz told us about Rosa. I guess Rosa has been telling Pedro that we're hypocrites and saying other negative things about us. She also accused Luz of stealing her purse. Anyway, Luz said she wasn't going to tell Rosa when we come over any more. And I finally got Rosa's phone number and address, so we could maybe try to visit her at her house. Also, she was interested in getting a blessing from the elders. The elders said that when they contacted her that she said she would tell us when she wanted them to come over. Well, I called her the other day, and she couldn't tell me when she wanted us to come over. I told her to call us when she wants us to come over. But I think this means we probably won't be teaching Rosa any more. It's really sad because she seemed so interested, but I don't know what happened.

We never got that huge snowstorm here, and I'm grateful. It hasn't snowed for a week or so, but it's still been pretty cold. The car says it's like 30 or 40 degrees, but it feels colder because of the humidity. Can't wait for the summer! ;) (Just kidding! I'd rather be cold than hot any day!)

So, during the last big snow/ice storm when Sister Whiting was still here, we went and tracted some apts close to where we live. It's technically in the elders area (it's right on the line of our area and theirs), but we found some women, and we all figured it would be easier for us to teach them. So, we've been teaching this one lady, Roxana. She has two kids, Eric and Ashley, and she's so humble and kind. We've taught her the first three lessons, and she keeps letting us come back, but she has a lot of reservations for us. She's Catholic, and she doesn't understand how there's only one true church. She actually explained to us the 7 sacraments in the Catholic church, which was new to me (I'd never heard this). And I was intrigued because it's very similar to what we believe. I told her that, but I also told her that she is lacking one big thing-authority! The priesthood, the power to act in God's name and perform saving ordinances. I think she began to understand because she said she was going to investigate where the pope got his authority. She is awesome, but she doesn't understand a few key things. I'm hoping that she will pray and read the Book of Mormon. Because really that is all anyone needs to do to know it's true. She has started reading the BOM, but she hasn't prayed. She has pondered, but not asked directly to Heavenly Father if the things we've been teaching her are true.

We have stopped teaching a lot of people because they aren't progressing. It's really sad, but I don't know what else to do. Maybe next transfer we'll try them again, but a lot of our investigators have been taught for a long time and they know it's true, but they lack the desire to act-to pray, to read the BOM, to go to church, to be baptized, etc.

We continue to find more people though somehow! I am always amazed with Heavenly Father's tender mercies. I am so blessed to have this knowledge of the gospel. I keep thinking about everyone back home who knew I was "Mormon," but I never shared the gospel with. I want so badly to share the gospel with all those people back home after the mission! Because I know this is the only true church on the face of the earth, and I know this is way to true happiness. I'm so grateful to be serving a mission!

Just to let y'all know, I haven't really heard from Corey in a couple of weeks, but he's good. When his mission closes he will be assigned to either the Kobe or Fukuoka Mission and continue the rest of his mission there. But I'm guessing that the Hiroshima mission will get divided in two and be added to the Kobe and Fukuoka missions. Hopefully that makes sense. So, he won't be coming home, and he won't be leaving Japan.

Okay, gotta go! I love you all so much! Thank you for your prayers, love, and support!

Love,

Hermana Christina Hogewoning