week 38- Its all real !

Another week come and gone! And the work continues! It's certainly been an exciting week here in the D.C. South Mission!

The week started with a pretty normal couple of days. We had lots of excitement this weekend though, for sure!

First off, I'm not sure if there's anything more exciting than a mission call that was made this week! Sister Rachel Hodgson received her mission call this week to the Hawaii Honolulu Mission! How exciting is that?! Another really cool thing about that is we both submitted our papers on the same day!! January 8th of consecutive years! Though, she got her call 2 days faster than I did..... grumble grumble.. haha except not. I'm way excited for her!

Wednesday night was another pretty exciting thing... I got a text from the Zone Leaders: "Hey, Elder Hodgson, can you come with Elder T and us to a meeting tomorrow with the missionary department?" Whaaaat? I was a little confused... Elder T is our District Leader.

So, Thursday morning, I hopped in a car with one Zone Leader and two District Leaders and went to a meeting with Brother Donaldson and Brother Wade from the missionary department. Upon arriving, I found I wasn't the only one there without a leadership position, so I felt a little more at home. haha It was a fantastic meeting. We talked about new ways to look at our role as missionaries and new techniques to teaching investigators and less active members. We also received some special training on how to conduct chapel tours and involve and prepare members to help with the work. We all feel very strongly that these new views of the "mundane" things we do will help our mission to get to places that it's never been before. It was a huge blessing to be able to attend that meeting.

This week, we've also had a push, led by our fearless Ward Mission Leader, Brother F to help us have more member exchanges, so we can cover twice as much ground, but only in cars. We're excited for that, too, because there are some areas here in Vienna that are, quite simply, treacherous for cyclists...

The last special story is that in church on Sunday, I was treated to a little surprise! We're sitting in the chapel, waiting for Sacrament Meeting to start, when in walks N and S!! N and S were in my first area, and N is the first person I was blessed to see enter the waters of baptism, and a lifelong friend. It was a huge blessing to have them join us for a bit. They were only able to stay for 2 hours, but it was fantastic to be able to see them :)

Finally, I just wanted to share something that has been on my mind recently. This gospel is real. Really, it is, it's real. We often say we know this gospel is true, but when I thought about it, and asked myself if I know it's real. My testimony grew. Think about all that entails. Prayer, is real. Fasting, is real. The scriptures are real accounts, written by real people, about real events. Alma, Nephi, Moroni, Ammon, the prayers they offered, the sacrifices they made, the stories they lived for us, they're all real. It all really happened. And it all really happens today like it did then. The prophetic announcement of the age-change for missionaries is a real revelation that a real prophet received from a real God. It's all real. And it strengthened me immensely when I finally admitted that to myself.

I hope everyone is well! God Bless You!

-Elder Hodgson

week 37- "called to Serve"

Another week gone by, and the O-Zone is hopping! We have been tracting like crazy to get those FHE invites out, and even have done member exchanges to help do it! We're REALLY excited about this! Some people ,even on meeting them once ,are getting excited to come and are really nice! It's funny, normally the tracting approach involves something along the lines of trying to get in to teach a lesson or teach one on the doorstep. But with the FHE invites, they crack the door all suspicious-like and we just "Hi! We only have a quick second, but just wanted to let you know you're neighbors are inviting you to a Family Home Evening! It'll be in about a month, and will include activities, desert and a spiritual thought, and we'll have a more formal invitation for you in about a week." Suddenly 1) the missionaries are not trying to bust in through the door 2) are inviting to something friendly and 3) they know we're coming back and are ok with it :) I can't wait to see what happens when we start bringing the formal invites! We have a lot of faith people will not just be cracking the door suspiciously. ;)

             Zone Conference was amazing. I learned so much and received some powerful personal revelation on what I can do to become a better missionary, companion, priesthood holder, person, and even husband and father. It's amazing how we show up to just "talk about missionary work" and we can come out so spiritually nourished. The Lord really doesn't have to stick to the confines of our expectations, and I'm so glad, because what I think I can become ,and what He knows I can become are very different haha. What a huge blessing.

           Saturday was the Stake Breakfast. President Wheatley of the Oakton Stake hosted President , and all the missionaries, Ward Mission Leaders and Bishops of the stake to have breakfast, socialize and coordinate/report missionary efforts. It was way cool! I'd never seen anything like it before.

          Yesterday, for dinner, the activity day girls from our ward fed us and four other missionaries dinner. We came in and tables were set with centerpieces and handmade placemats, and they had dinner all ready with soup, salad and dessert! It was fantastic! They did such a great job! Afterwards, as they were cleaning up, we sang "Called to Serve" for them. It was way fun :)

Singing "Called to Serve" is a tradition we have when anyone feeds a group of missionaries. It's always been a fun thing to do, but last week at Zone Conference, it hit me in a way I never thought before. As I was looking around the room, I saw dozens of missionaries singing our missionary national anthem a capella, all dressed in suits and something just clicked. It had been a long week with a sick companion, and not many people home when we were able to get out. I was starting to feel like we weren't getting anything done. But as we were singing, I realized that we're a lot more than just the people who go out and teach. We're a symbol to others out there. President  talked at Zone Conference about how we are ALWAYS teaching no matter what we're doing. As long as we're around somebody, we're teaching them something... What we teach them is up to us, but we're always teaching.

        Suddenly, that just made sense when we were singing. Even if nobody is home and we're just out knocking on doors all day, we're still teaching. We teach that this gospel is important to us. We teach members of the ward that we're willing and ready to work hard to serve our God. More than that, we teach that - as prophesied by Joseph Smith - the truth of God will go forth nobly, boldly and independent until the great Jehovah shall say the work is done.

     You see, as a missionary, we're not just out walking around. We're part of a force that is moving forward, with more haste now as more missionaries are coming to the field. We're part of prophecy, we're part of history. We're part of a team. And with the Savior at the head, it's a pretty good team to be on.

Love you all! Talk to you next week!

WEEK 36- This is the night we've waited for...( sung with Vigor)

HELLO!

So, lots to update people on! I'll do this as quickly and as efficiently as possible. December 20th was transfers. I stayed in Vienna with My new companion Elder O. L. N (He goes by L) from Folsom, New Mexico. Elder M moved to B with Elder C. That first weekend, I showed Elder  N around the area, tried to have him meet everyone, etc before Christmas hit. Christmas Eve was a "super p-day" because it was p-day with a "no proselyting" rule in the evening. The B family had us for dinner on Christmas eve, and the H family was there, too (the family that the Hargadons know).

Christmas was similar. We were told to treat it like a P-Day. We went to skype in the morning with family at the P family home. The Ps are an awesome family of four who homeschool and are very friendly. Their second son, J  got a stuffed Buffalo for Christmas and has named it "Hodgson." He also says that when I'm done with my mission I need to come back and go camping with him because all those "dumb mission rules" won't let me do that now haha. They're a great family.

Christmas Dinner was with the L Family. Sister L is a single mom, so she invited the P family to come join. Brother P said he couldn't come, so she suddenly got worried because she didn't have an adult man to be there during the dinner. When 6:00 came and she still didn't have one, she walked outside and invited a passerby to dinner! That is how we met MR B. Brother P  actually ended up showing up to dinner, so I see the whole thing as a little miracle to get us to meet MR B. Over dinner conversations (which was mostly in spanish, with participants from Guatemala, Bolivia and Honduras), Byron agreed to take the discussions and we set an appointment for that .  We are hoping to see him again soon.

The next week we stayed busy, but it seemed like everyone was out of town. I guess those days between Christmas and New Years are considered "vacation" or something like that... haha

New Years eve, we watched "Up" and "Brave" for our two movies and had a blast. That was another "super p-day" due to the "no proselyting after 5:00" rule.

On my birthday, President Riggs called to sing, and since it was Zone Leader Council, I got sung to by all the ZLs!  That was pretty exciting. Elder Newkirk took me to breakfast at ihop and made a cake, and our district went to Cafe Rio for lunch, AND we taught a lesson! People are starting to be home again!!! haha It was exciting.

This week, We had Zone Training Tuesday, then we have Zone Conference tomorrow, then Zone breakfast Saturday! So, lot's of zone things in the morning times. It's cool though, the O-Zone is awesome :)

The big event in missionary work is our upcoming Family Home Evening. Bro F(our Ward Mission Leader) brought this amazing card into play. We found a family in our ward who is willing to host a FHE and we're going around their neighborhood inviting their neighbors to come. Bro F has done this before and has a whole system worked out where we essentially tract the neighborhood four times in a month (only returning to promising houses) and by the end of it, some people come! It's a very safe thing, but it shows that the people who come are 

 1) ok with going somewhere to a neighbor’s house 

 2) ok with knowing there will be a spiritual thought

3) ok with the Mormon missionaries being there

 4) they still come. We're really excited and have a lot of faith that it will be a good way to find some people who want to know about who we are and what we believe.  We feel it is so important in our lives we want to share it.

That's basically the update... .. there's been lots of other little lessons and doors knocked, but that's the  news! I hope everyone is well! There's like 5 pretty intense bugs going around. Missionaries are dropping like flies (there's a reason I'm emailing on Thursday this week).

Luckily I have avoided them…swat , swat…..

Everybody say no to drugs and say yes to daily scripture study!

And never refuse homemade brownies or prayers on your behalf. :)

-Elder Hodgson

Weeks 34 and 35 Quick Catch up

Hey everyone! Sorry this is going to be so short. Everywhere with computers was closed last week for Christmas eve, and this week, New Years shut them all down... I'm actually in Staples now, using a computer that's on display. Apparently, you're allowed to do that! haha.

    Anyways, just a quick update. I'll fill you in more next week when we actually have time at a place like our apartment office. So, here goes, the lightning update.

    So, transfer calls came, and Elder M got moved, which was a bummer, but we're still doing well here! He got moved to Brambleton, right next to Ashburn/Belmont Ridge and is serving with Elder !!  ( from his Trio)

I'm still in Vienna, and I'm serving with Elder  N. He served in Brambleton for a transfer when I was there, and then was in the office until now. He's way cool, from Folsom, New Mexico (one of two from the state) and is headed towards med school.

      My district is soooo awesome! I've loved my districts in the past, but I usually don't know at least a few people in the district. Now, I literally know and love everyone in my district, having served near each of them at least once! We've got a killer lineup here with A, H, H, K,, M, N, and R, with T as our stalwart District Leader! It's so much fun serving near such amazing men, and the unity is awesome.

Christmas was good. The P family fed us breakfast and let us use their computers to Skype. It was way fun to talk to my family and update so much faster! It was great to see your smiling faces and feel of your spirits. I love you guys!

Christmas Dinner was at Sister L, and through a fun miracle we had, we found a new investigator on Christmas! :)

     Saturday the 29th, we had the parking assignment at the Temple VC. It was way fun helping people get settled in and seeing all their smiling faces. The temple was beautiful and the lights were stunning! It was way cool.

      New Years Eve was movies again, and we watched Up and Brave. Both very good movies! Kind of strange though, we had a recent RM who lived in the area and his mom show up to hang with us... Very interesting/slightly awkward dynamic that was created. Move nights are our twice a year night to hang with the entire zone and unstring our bows a bit, but then with them there, we wanted to look a bit more refined like missionaries should, maybe they kept us in line a bit.

     Now, here we are, one day into 2013. We made it through the year that never should have ended, and we get to start again once more! I'm way excited for the opportunity to make some resolutions and continue improving as a missionary, a priesthood holder and a human being. What a great opportunity!

    I'm excited to be here, and hope you all are well. Sorry again for the brevity. Know I am safe, I am healthy, I am happy, I am feeling the spirit, I am growing, I am working, and I am almost 20 (how the heck did that happen?!?) And I love you all.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!! :D

-Matthew