Missionary by day, Balut seller by night 8/25/13

Filipina ak na!!! It's official, I ate balut. Explanation to come later.

What a week. Time is flying, and it's actually starting to scare me. Harani na ha 6 months! Missionary work is pushing along. It's been hard work. Sister Pettijohn and I are loving our time together. It's so precious to us, because we feel like any second it will be taken from us. It's important not to get too comfortable, that's what I learned. We work every day like there's no tomorrow. Sadly, despite our hard work, our efforts aren't really showing yet. Waray success upod ha mga investigators. Waray nagsimba hira. It's so frustrating not to see their progress, and to have lessons fall through day after day. Someday's I come home so tired, despite our lack of appointments and I honestly don't understand why. It's hard not to get caught up in the numbers. I just want to be successful and teach and watch these people progress, but it's just not happening. But despite all of that, Sister Pettijohn are trying our hardest to continue and to enjoy our time here as missionaries.

Being a missionary is so much fun. It's so hard, even for us, to recognize the Spirit in our lives. Which is hard for me to understand. But we were talking the other day as we were walking to an appointment and Sister Pettijohn explained, "Sadly, I think it's because we really didn't do much in our lives that involved us desperately asking for the Spirit's guidance. Here, we need it in EVERY aspect of our work. And when we don't have it, we feel completely weak and incapable. So the Spirits presence, and absence is a lot more noticeable." I don't know how I survived back home doing things without desperately calling for the Spirit's help. We were given His guidance as a gift when we decided to follow Christ. What worth is a gift if we don't appreciate it and use it? It's useless. I encourage all of you, to use it. Constantly ask for the Spirit to be with your where ever you are, where ever you're going. You don't want to miss an opportunity to hear him, or to be led to do something. Former missionaries, you remember what it is like to be led by the Spirit. Don't lose it.

In the Philippines, there are Balut sellers EVERYWHERE! They walk around the streets yelling, "Baluuuuuutttt!!!", and I'm secretly a Balut seller. I can yell it better than all of them! Anyways, last week I challenged everyone to eat Balut. If you guys don't really know what that is, it's an unfertilized egg, a half grown baby chick. So when people eat balut, they're eating a little baby chick (with hair, a beak, blood, veins, brain and all). Wow, that sounds nasty when I describe it like that. Well, I ate it! And I got sister Pettijohn to eat it, along with a couple filipinos who have never tried it. Where is this coming from mom? Remember when I'd be the last one at the dinner table with a bowl of cold soup because I would not eat my soup? Or remember how I HATE fish? Yeah, now I'm the one egging (haha, that's ironic) people on, to try nasty food. It's so weird haha. It's so fun though :) It really wasn't even that bad. You drench it in vinegar and close your eyes so you don't see the baby chick staring at you, and you just eat it! Ahhh!!! Trying new food is so much fun :)

That's really about it for this week. Sorry there's not a ton to share. Like I said, being a missionary is so hard, but it's so rewarding. There is SO much I wish I studied before I came out here. I feel so much closer to my Heavenly Father, and I feel like my mind has been open to understanding so much that I didn't even care about before. It's really amazing what the Lord can work with. He's being very patient with me, and I am so grateful for that. Because there is so much to learn and I'll tell you this, "the time is far spent, there is little remaining", so "work with a will"!

I LOVE this gospel. I LOVE this church. I LOVE the Savior, and I LOVE that He loved me so much to die for me. I LOVE that my Heavenly Father trusts me so much to send me here among the Filipinos. I know that this church is true. I know that the gospel is the ONLY way that we will ever be able to truly live and be happy forever with our families. It makes bad people good, and good people better. I know that it truly is the gospel of peace and happiness. I know that through our actions, and through our desires to follow Christ, He will help us. I know that life is hard, I know that life is distracting, and I know that it's hard to just start. But I promise everyone who is struggling, that the only way is through this gospel. Is through faith in Jesus Christ, Repentance, Baptism, and then receiving the precious gift of the Holy Ghost to guide us to righteous choices and literally guide us back to Christ and our Heavenly Father. I can't even express my love for this gospel and this plan enough. Stop feeling alone, stop waiting, and just start from the beginning. That is all He asks :) NOW IS THE TIME!

Love you all! Pray for you all! Think of you all sparingly! Miss you all! And I'm working hard for you all! Continue doing what you're doing! It'll all be worth it, I promise :)

With love from the Philippines,

Sister Hogge

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So here's our Balut eating gang :) It was SO much fun, and not even nasty,

and this other picture just made me laugh. Yes, this guy is sweeping the beach. And Sister Pettijohn called him Gandalf haha, so I couldn't resist a picture

And us on top of a jeepney...yes, we top-loaded!!! It was so fun! :) better pictures to come in the future, maybe :)