Yo Hablo Espanol

May 20, 2013

Sister Hoggan left the Provo Missionary Training Center last Monday (5/13/2013), and is now in the New York New York South Mission. Think Long Island, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, etc. In short, she has been shipped to a different planet to wait for her visa to Brazil! Her new mailing address is below. It should be good for at least 6 weeks, maybe longer if her visa is still delayed.

-------- Original Message --------

Subject:	Yo hablo espanol
Date:	Mon, 20 May 2013 13:31:13 -0400

Sister Rebekah Hoggan

85-69 60th Dr.

Elmhurst, NY 11373

Dear Mom and Dad, 

I feel super limited on time, I have an hour to write, but the library computer only goes for half an hour so I have to log off and get back in line to use the computer. So I'm not in Brazil, I'm in New York. I have no idea when my visa will come, they'll let me know when it does though. I think the new policy is that we finish whatever transfer we are on before we leave, so I'll be here for at least 6 weeks. I'm about to hit my 2 month mark for being on a mission. That is so crazy to me. The address listed about is the mission home address, all mail goes there and I pick it up whenever I am in the area.

So my first day here started at the top of the Brooklyner, this super tall building that looks over much of New York. We ate dinner at the top, there's a room you can rent out/reserve with a huge deck on top of the building. We went up, looked out over the city, wrote about what we hoped to accomplish on our missions and learned more about this mission and what it's goals are. 

We spent the night at president's house. The next day we got assigned companions. As we were assigned companions, I noticed that there were a significant number of Hermanas and not very many of us that speak Spanish. Yep, that's right, I'm serving in a Spanish ward! Half the people in this town (I'm in Richmond Hill by the way) don't speak English. I make do with my Portugues, usually they understand what I am trying to say.  My trainer, Sister Mortensen is from Bountiful, Utah. We get along pretty well.

I don't have "an area" like most missionaries do. Rather, I work in something call an elliptical. There are 2 districts of missionaries in the Richmond Hill area. So, 12 of us that all have church in the same building. We teach lessons, like other missionaries, but during the day, if we don't have an appointment, we do activities as an elliptical to bring the church out of obscurity here and find people to teach. We do things like singing on buses, service projects, playing games with people on the street, and many other things, all to help create opportunities to talk to others. President started using ellipticals in our mission a few months ago. It's different than what you typically expect missionaries to do, but we still teach and we still share the gospel. I definitely had culture shock when I got here. In part because we use public transportation ALL the time. I ride the bus and the metro several times a day. Before I got here I think I'd ridden a bus 3 times in my life. The metro is huge and looms over the street.  New York (at least this part) is pretty dirty, at least compared to San Jose and Rexburg. Everything is dense here too. Dense, dirty, noisy, and not in English. Don't get me wrong, I love it here, but this is not the atmosphere I am used to.

My first Sunday was stake conference so I haven't met many members yet, except for the ones we've gone to visit. 

Audrey is so tall in the photographs you sent me. I thought she was going to stop growing until I got back. Just kidding. Oh, I opened the red scarf the first day that I got here. Thank you so much! I loved it and was so happy that you found. I was not expecting to find one wrapped up in my suitcase. I was seriously so excited. I think my companion was confused a bit, but that's ok. Thanks again, I love it!

Quick quirk: they call apartments "pads" here, I'd never heard that before. 

I love you both so much! New York is different, but I am learning to love it. I love the gospel, I love my Savior, and I am still excited to serve.

Com muito amor, 

Sister Hoggan

May 7, 2013

Dear Mom and Dad,

     Thank you so much for the cinnamon rolls, they were delicious! I was definitely not expecting those  to arrive in the mail. They were well timed too. Our district had a rough couple days and last night was our final night of class having any elders left in our district. We celebrated with delicious, sticky rolls. I think there might be rule against having MTC teachers accepting things from missionaries' packages because we always offer to share with our teachers when we get a package and they always say no. Oh well, more for us...

     A large part of the last couple days being rough for are district was losing half our elders to their reassignments. We lose the rest tomorrow morning. Also, this week alone, we will have had 5 teachers. In total, I think we've had 10. We had the same two teachers for most of our MTC stay, but we've had a fair amount of substitutes. Well, we lost both of our regular teachers last week and received a new one who stayed for 2 days and then went on vacation with his wife. He got substitute to fill in until they could find us a new teacher. Finding a new teacher was complicated though because the online scheduler said that our district had already left the MTC! Wait, wait, I'm still here! So this week we have 3 teachers taking turns teaching.

     However crazy this may have all sounded, it's okay because they all have different teaching styles, which means they can all teach me something new! Yesterday we did an activity where each companionship took on the role of investigators. We shared about ourselves with the companionship that was going to teach us, they prepared a lesson, and then taught us. I used to think role playing made me feel silly. But, if you come to the MTC, you will learn that role playing is truly an amazing learning tool. Even thought I was still a missionary, I could feel that the missionaries teaching loved me. I also learned a lot from the perspective of the one being taught too...I think most importantly, the need to teach simply. I didn't quite realize how confusing I could be until I was the one receiving the lesson.

     We've also been able to review some of the more confusing grammar concepts with our new teachers. It's really helpful to see different teachers teach the same thing. I understand a bit better with every teacher.

      One of the elders (who left for his reassignment yesterday) heard from his mom that his visa was on its way. He was so excited last week and was telling everyone. Well, we're sitting in class and we receive an intercom call from the Travel Office. Elder.... we need you to come to the Travel Office. Of course, we all start cheering thinking his visa has come. They had actually filled out his reassignment paperwork again because I think there was a mistake the first time. They just wanted to make sure he knew he was going to New York. He was a bit bummed, but it was really funny and he laughed with all of us about it.

     The MTC is seriously amazing. I love my district, I love my companion, I love the Spirit that is felt here, I love the devotionals, my branch, my branch presidency (they're pretty awesome), and I love learning.

   A quick tidbit more: I attended my first mission conference this week which was a great experience. The mission president, his wife, and some of his presidency addressed us. They always have great wisdom to impart. I was surprised though, because the mission president started his talk by calling on two missionaries from the audience and inviting them to come up and share their testimonies with us. The two missionaries that shared were really surprised, they had no idea they were going to address the entire MTC, what a great experience. And, what a great way for our mission president to show how much he admires and appreciates his missionaries.

     Well, I'm about out of time, I love you both. Again, thank you for the cinnamon rolls and the letter you sent me. Eu sei o Livro de Mormon e a palavra de Deus e Jesus Cristo vive. Eu tenho fe em Cristo e desejos para servir. Eu estou animada compartilhar meu testamunho com todo mundo.

Com muito,

Sister Hoggan

April 30, 2013

Hi Family!

     I bet you didn't expect to here from me today. It's ok, I didn't expect to write you today. Our schedules changed because it it is the beginning of a new semester for our teachers. Their schedules changed and our did too, to match theirs. My day now starts at 6 am, breakfast at 6:30 and then class, study time, devotionals, etc. until we go back to our rooms for lights out at 10:30. It's different, but wonderful. We got a new teacher this week too because. Instead of Irmao Mummey, we now have Irmao Taylor. He had us practice street contacting for the first time yesterday which was an adventure, but went ok. Our regular teacher, Irmao Weatherby had us practice street contacting last night as well. Funny story about that...

So our teacher gives us directions on how our street contacting exercise is going to work. He says he's going to go outside and that we should wait 3 minutes before we come and talk to him. So we wait 3 minutes and go outside to look for him; we look for him, and look for him. After a few minutes we go back in and grab a dupla (companionship) of elders that looks for him too. After about 10 minutes we find our teacher sitting at a picnic table a couple buildings away from us. Half of the duplas talk to him and then he gets up and walk away. The remaining duplas find him and we finish the exercise. Apparently we all missed the part about "finding" people on the street. When we practiced in the morning with Irmao Taylor he was near our building and easy to find. But Irmao Weatherby wanted us to work to find our contact and work we did. It was pretty funny, we were so confused.

     We get reassignments on Thursday unless our visas come before then. I'm excited for either one. I don't know when I'll be leaving, so you might not receive an email from me next Tuesday. If I'm in transit and you don't hear from me, I promise I still love you and I'll let you know where I'm going as soon as I can.

     You both shocked with your letters about Brother Markley, I was not expecting that. I forgot to visit him before I left to fill the remaining space in my suitcase with wooden toys he had made. I really wish I had done that. If you could give Kitty a big hug from me that would be much appreciated.

      You both sound like you are doing wonderfully. I love you both. Talk to you both when I leave the MTC!

Love,

Sister Hoggan

My companion Sister Casperson and I

 

Just the sisters in green 

 

All of the sisters in my district and the other Portuguese district that came on the same day as us

 

My first Sister Training Leaders and I

 

My district all wearing green...one of the elder's moms sent 6 identical ties for the elders so we all coordinated and took this picture this morning outside the Provo Temple.

April 26, 2013

Dear Mom and Dad,

     Can you believe I've been here for a month already!? It's definitely interesting how the days are long, but when clumped together they fly by. This week started off without a teacher. Our teacher's wife is pregnant and her due date was Sunday. Monday comes around and he doesn't show up (he warned us this might happen, of course), so we all assume he's at the hospital. We had a substitute teacher on Tuesday, who sounded like he had served in Portugal because he says Manaush, instead of Manaus, but had not, he served to Brasil. Yesterday our teacher returned, bringing with him pictures of one of the world's cutest babies.

       Devotional Tuesday was given by Elder Evans, of the quorum of the 70. I love when general authorities speak because their wives always speak first--I love their wives, they are truly examples of righteous daughters of God and always have wonderful things to say. Elder and Sister Evans both started by talking about the principle of "non-distraction". Essentially, as Elders and Sisters, what we do, what we say, and how we dress should not be distracting to others. We are here to serve the Lord and should focus on just that. I thought they were going to talk about this principle for their rest of their time but instead, Elder Evans talked about repentance! 

      Last week during my planning time, I focused on what I could study this week that would help both me in my life as well as those I will teach in the future come closer to Christ. What could I study that would help us both? There are lots of answers, but the one I chose was repentance. After two days studying repentance in the scriptures, Elder Evans gave his talk. It's wonderful when the topic of your personal study and the topic the speaker chose go hand in hand. I used the scriptures he gave in his talk to further my study.

      This week, my district set 4 goals (well, reset the same ones as last week because they were effective). They are: to make 18 contacts (talk to 18 people in Portugues about the gospel/share our testimonies), learn 60 vocabulary words, read in the Portugues Book of Mormon for 60 minutes, and to speak only Portugues for half of every day (starting yesterday) until we leave the MTC. The hardest one for me right now is contacting people because I tend to get caught up in the day, going from class to class, and simply forget. But, last night, my companion and I found a whole district going back to their residence halls, stopped them and shared our testimonies will all of them at once; there was about 12 people. I started with (in Portugues, of course) "I know you won't understand what I say because it's in Portugues, but it's okay"...they thought that was my whole testimony and started clapping and then turned to go. We were fast though and grabbed them before they walked off and were able to bear our testimonies for real.

       We haven't had anyone in our district receive a visa yet, so we'll be getting re-assignments next week. I'm excited to serve anywhere the Lord needs me. We talked about this during devotional too: it's not about where you serve, but that you are serving. We are each giving the Lord 18 months to 2 years of service, and that can be wherever he needs me. I look forward to finding our where I'm going when I leave the MTC in a week and a half.

I love you lots,

Sister Hoggan

April 19, 2013

Brazil-bound sister missionaries at the Provo Temple fountain--with an unexpected elder who snuck into the picture!

Sis. Hoggan (L) and companion, Sis. Casperson (R)

Dear Family of mine,

Each Sunday and Tuesday evening we have devotional; they do a pretty good job at not announcing who the speaker is beforehand...So this week, we're all sitting in the auditorium waiting to start and in walks...Elder Richard G. Scott! Yep, that's right, Elder Scott. Who would have imagined that? It was a wonderful surprise to hear from him. He spoke about receiving revelation from the Lord, specifically through prayer. We heard a talk a week or two ago which was also about revelation, which focused more on being careful to how you receive guidance from the Lord because we often confuse his words with our own desires or the desires of others. I think we all left that talk uplifted, but a bit concerned about how we receive answers to our prayers. Elder Scott's talk however was much different. He spoke about how the Lord want's to help and how we can receive great guidance from the Lord as we pray and seek to do his will. I felt very uplifted when I left. Something I've noticed the last few devotional speaker's have said in their talks is that the Lord does not call us to fail. It's interesting me how much I've hear that lately, but it's true, and important that we remember that. Sometimes we feel inadequate or discouraged, but the Lord really does call us for a specific work. He calls us and then uses our gifts and talents to do the work he needs us to do. He really is there to support us and we really can receive direction from him.

Last week I think I mentioned that I set a goal to speak only Portuguese for a day, and well, I almost did! They try to have us "fala sua lingua" (speak your language) as much as possible because we tend to learn the most when we have to come up with the words rather than resorting to our English comfort zones. My whole district decided to join in on the goal, but after about 2 hours they were done. So it was just me, Sister Hoggan, trying to converse with 11 other people who really just wanted me to speak English. It was a bit frustrating because you feel like the odd one out (which technically, I was) when everyone is speaking one language and you are trying to speak another. There were a few times when I resorted to  English because people who don't speak Portuguese don't know what you mean by "Eu nao falo English" (I don't speak English). I pushed on though and made it until about 6:30 and class started and the whole class was in English. I got almost the whole day; I was just alone for most of it which was discouraging.

My companion and I have been teaching a young man for almost two weeks now. This week we were able to teaching about the Restoration of the Church, God's plan for families to live together eternally, and the whole plan of Salvation. At the end of our Plan of Salvation Lesson, we asked him if would be prepare to be baptized. It was amazing to sit there and talk with him of God's love for us and the eternal blessings that come from enduring to the end. You really do come to love the people you teach, even after only after a couple weeks. As you sit there teaching, helping their search for truth, you feel in part of the love God must have for his children. Every soul is great in the sight of God.

On a much lighter note, the Elders in my district are really funny (but you can't tell them that because they won't listen to such nonsense). They have been learning the Portuguese terminology for telling jokes and add commentary to as much of the lesson as they can. They have "assigned" us each personalities. The only sister in our district going to Manaus, she is also the quietest sister, has been deemed as really mean. The Elders talk about how she is always out to get them and tell the teacher all about it. She never does anything to provoke them, they just like teasing her. I have been deemed as the one that always cries. I'm never upset or in pain, they just make me laugh so hard I cry. Every time I starting laughing they tease "Elder, your going to make her cry again. Pull yourself together woman" or once I'm crying, their favorite phrase is "She gone". Each sister has been assigned something different and the elders love to tease us for the stereotypes we have been given. It's pretty funny. We all definitely get along though. We have been blessed with a district that learned to love each other fast.

I'm writing this letter from the laundry room, where there are 3 Polynesians singing Hawaiian music with 3 part harmony. They sound beautiful.

Well, that's about all of my time, I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Com muito amor,

Sister Hoggan

P.S. The first picture is of some of the sisters if our district, with a silly elder who decided to sneak in. The second is of Sister Casperson (my companion) and myself outside the Provo Temple.

April 12, 2013

Dear Family,

     This week has been another wonderful one at the MTC, or in Portuguese, the CTM. The week started out with our Sunday night devotional speaker as....Vocal Point! I don't know if that means anything to anyone else, but they are one the best acapella groups at BYU. I didn't think I was going to be able to watch them sing live, because the main auditorium fills up fast with  missionaries wanting to see, sending us to overflow seating. Overflow seating broadcasts the devotional into other large rooms at the MTC (it's not quite the same when people are singing). We had resigned to sitting in overflow seats due to the line of missionaries who arrived more than an hour early to get a good seat. Mostly they just study in line. We decided just after the door had opened to see if we could grab seats, and incredibly, we did, close to the front actually. It was great. They performed their favorite hymns, had us sing along with them on a few songs, and bore their testimonies. It was especially great to have a musical devotional because we don't really listen to music here. Usually we are studying and don't have time to listen to music; most of what we here are hymns we sing at the beginning of meetings. I loved it.

     My roommates, aside from my companion, are all serving Spanish speaking missions. Most are going to Spain and one is going to Arizona. They are a week or so ahead of us in their time here, so just coming up on the end of their third week. They decided not to speak English this week, which is an adventure for us because we speak Portuguese and English. They seem to be doing pretty well, but I have caught each one of them speaking English at least once. I say something along the lines of "Sister, what happened to only speaking Spanish?" and they quickly switch back to Spanish and continue on as if nothing had happened. It's kind of sweet actually. I think they're doing pretty well. It's a tricky business learning a foreign language...you think you know a lot (which you do), but you don't realize quite how much more you have to learn until you  stop having the option to comment in English.

      I found a few more people I know here. Sister Sandberg from the San Jose South stake, and three of my Home Evening "siblings" from school. Also, a few people from BYU-Idaho who have recognized me.

    My companion and I have set a goal of only speaking in Portuguese next Thursday. We have smaller goals that support our preparation to accomplish this and we're excited (well, at least I am, I don't know about my companion). Most of our Portuguese is centered around Gospel topics, so if I can't ask for more food or time studying, I can still talk about the Restoration of the Gospel and the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Next Thursday will be the early part of week four here, so I have confidence we can do it. I hope you have a wonderful week. I feel as though I should type something in Portuguese, but I can't figure out how to add symbols and the words look incomplete with out the proper pronunciation symbols. I love you!

Com muito amor,

Sister Hoggan

April 5, 2013

So we can send emails while at the MTC, which is awesome.

I sent you a snail mail letter, so hopefully you got that. I mentioned my companion is Sister Casperson, she's from Washington/Utah. She's really nice. We have been joking lately about the amount of candy lately in the MTC from all the Easter packages parents have sent. Mine got here first though, so we all enjoyed the chocolate eggs. The bunny was delicious too, even if it wasn't a my spot at the breakfast table where it usually shows up...Thanks!

Today is my first p-day. I didn't know this but, my first 4 days at the MTC counted as one of my weeks here. We were able to attend the temple this morning and get to do laundry and write letters.

At the end of my first week I have taught 4 lessons, shared my testimony, and prayed, all in Portuguese. It was a bit of an adventure though teaching an investigator on our second or third day. We did not feel confident in our abilities to speak the language. But, with the help of our Heavenly Father, we were all to communicate with our investigator pretty well. Our teacher is Irmao Wetherby. We also just got Irmao Mummey as well; we are his first district at the MTC. He got off his mission in December. Almost all of my branch is Brazilian Portuguese speaking missionaries. I think we just got one district going to Portugal. I have about 6 hours of class on any given day, personal study, more language study without a teacher, and and hour or so using a computer program to learn Portuguese.

We a member of the 70 come and give our devotional on Tuesday night. He had some great remarks about how the "most important work we will ever do is within the walls of our own homes" and then relating how going on a mission will help us accomplish that work.

My cough has started to calm down, thank goodness, I felt really bad for everyone getting to listen to me all the time.

There a ton of sisters here and the numbers increase each week. It is truly exciting to seem them come. I have seen a few people from school; two sisters I worked with on Get Connected Council, Sister Porter and Sister Moser, as well as one of my first FHE brothers. A few sisters in my district are going to start at BYU Idaho when they return, including my companion, so I took the liberty to tell them about what an amazing place it was.

I played four square during gym yesterday after a reminder from Alena that I went to Majestic Way Elementary for a reason. I'm a bit rusty and know way too many rules for my own good, but it was really fun. Ahhh, the memories.

When Ben dropped my off, the elder that greeted me on the curb, helped get me organized and escorted me to the check in desk was assigned to the same mission as me, which I thought was exciting. My whole district is going to the same mission. My whole branch is going to Brazil, except for one district that just arrived and is going to Portugal. I think it makes a difference on Sundays because then everyone speaks Brazilian Portuguese. When we pass Spanish speaking missionaries, they see our name tags and say "hola, come esta" and we respond with "bom, e voce?". We get some funny looks and some "what language are you speaking sister?". It's pretty funny. I think they just see the Jesus Cristo and assume we speak the same language. But, we do not.

Well, I think that's about all of my time. I love you and hope you have a wonderful week! Try not to miss me too much.

Sister Hoggan

P.S. In case you missed my address it is:

Sister Hoggan

MTC Mailbox #123

BRA-RIB 0507

2005 N. 900 E.

Provo, UT 84604-1793

Sister Rebekah Hoggan (and her dad) after officially beginning her mission, March 24, 2013.