chillin' on P-Day


teaching or something at distict meeting

 
         lookin cool in my shades


Eliza and Me
 
    a P-1 oh joy!!!


long day ready for a nap

   
  my little collection

Feb 29th - March 6th


Monday - Not a lot happened. We went to Exeter for district P-Day and sister Evans gave us haircuts! She's awesome haha and after, we had a great time at family home evening at sister Whitney's house. After that, we went to bed haha

Tuesday - Today, we went and saw Sister Bock and didn't stay long because she wasn't feeling very good. We stayed home and did a lot of office work because we have a lot to put in our area books and we are running out of time before we get in trouble haha. We went and shared a quick message at the Kings and it went okay. It's been cold so we only stayed out for about 15 min. before we were starting to freeze haha. After we went to the Hafens and had a great dinner with their family!! I love them!! They are so nice to us and they really love having us over!! Eliza (about 3 years old) took a plethora of selfies and I got one of us smiling together haha super cute!

Wednesday - We had district meeting and we had a great time! I gave a training on working with the ward council and we discussed other topics and role played situations that helps us a lot! Later, we came home because we where not feeling to well so we cooked and did some more office work. We stopped by a couple people's houses and no one answered. We also went to Walmart and got some essentials. "The Only Exception" by Paramore came on the speaker radio in the store and we rocked out to that in the store for about 4 minutes haha the simple and little things make missionary work fun!

Thursday - Mark went to the hospital because he wasn't feeling good, so we missed our appointment. Hope everything is okay, I guess strep throat is going around here in Portsmouth. Better be careful haha we later had a great lesson with Shelly and we talked about her smoking and we clarified Georges question which was "Why is it that Joseph Smith went and prayed to a tree and he saw God and Jesus Christ?" Lol and Shelly said "You idiot he prayed in a grove of trees... Not to a tree, what kind of crap are you looking at on the Internet!" Lol that was super funny! After that, we saw Vinnie and talked to him about staying in the lines of temple worthiness and how he can be an example. Later, we went to the Gogans for dinner and a meeting with the sisters.

Friday - Planning day, not a lot happened but we did see Chris and talked about Patriarchal Blessings because he just got his Sunday and he's completely mind blown haha. He shared his experience and what him and the Patriarch talked about after his blessing. RAD STUFF!!!!! Made me want to go read mine and see what else has happened and where to go from here haha.

Saturday - Today has been the craziest day on my mission so far. This morning we where at the baptism of Logan Clark (who's 8 years old) and that was super sweet to see all his family and friends there and it was such a sweet baptism. Right after, was Sister Mary Ritzos funeral. Boy, the spirit was super strong the whole day, but felt differently, never experienced that before. One second we are happy and joyful and the next, we are all mourning over the loss of a dear friend. Sitting in the back of the chapel, brought me right back to when Brother Aurich passed... The feelings were not quite the same because I didn't know sister Ritzo very well, but the feelings were still there. It was awesome hearing about her life and seeing how many people loved her and cared for her. During the talks, I couldn't help but remember the song "Picture Perfect" - (Escape the Fate) and singing the lyrics softly and remembering that she's not gone. She's home, and we can all paint the picture perfect image in our minds when we shut our eyes and eventually, we will see her again. Awesome. After that, we came home because we where just complete exhausted. At the church all day, on our feet all day, it was a lot haha we tried taking a 30 in nap which turned into a 3 hour nap.. Whoops

Sunday - Today is fast Sunday and it has been a wonderful day!! Sister Grey shared her testimony about conquering fear about being a adequate member missionary! That was awesome. Elder Peterson and I joined choir not to long ago and her testimony spoke to me as "You better go to choir and sing boy" in my mom's voice, haha so we went. Brother Franzen and I where goofing off, laughing and having a great time with each other haha. It was almost like my dad was there and messing around in the days my mom directed choir haha. Sister Grey, gosh I love her, was saying funny jokes and harassing all of us haha like "I'm going to separate you two" after she separated me and Elder Peterson haha. Boy that was awesome! Loved it!!
Then we had a dinner with the Narramores and they are such a awesome family!! Love them, love who they are and their Mexican dinner was super good!!!!
This weekend I also had the chance to meet a lot of people from Washington state haha so close to my home, their kids actually went to Rogers High School!! What a small world. I never thought I'd meet people from Washington, let alone the same school district! Haha amazing how the lord works!!

Funny mission moment haha so this is a mild situation, I'm a Seahawks "Bred" out here in New England haha. Being here and saying I'm from Seattle (Because no one knows where Puyallup or Tacoma is) is like Nephi going back to Jerusalem to get the plates from Laban some days. haha You know, being in a place where you don't fit and no one wants you here. haha.
Last month we went on an exchange with the zone leaders in Exeter and I was with Elder Young, who btw is an awesome missionary. Anyway, we went to a part members home (The wife was LDS, husband wasn't) and the patriots game was going on. So we go up to the door and ask if we can share a message and the lady kindly let us in. As always as a missionary you are constantly saying where you are from and she asked me where I was from. I paused and looked at the tv for a sec and the Seahawks where playing the patriots... And they were winning!! Lol and I kinda looked at the game, then back at her and softly said "Seattle". She got all big eyed and looked at her husband, who, out of 100% pure patriots fan, was glaring at me with a look that said "You better get out of here" haha!! So as we locked eyes for what seemed like the longest staring contest in the world, he screamed "JIMMY!!!! get the gun!! I don't want any bird SH** on my floor!!! after that, we hauled it out of there house, in the car and far far away faster than Ken Block in his rally car, haha we where gone!!! dying laughing the whole ride home haha

Daniel Orozco leaves for his mission in Santa Fe Argentina Thursday! What a great soul!! He's so humble and he's going to have a great mission!! He's a champ and I hope one day, when I am home, I can hopefully return for his homecoming! That would be awesome!! But we will see what the lord has planned for that time!


What I learned this week, Death is not the end. If it was, there would be no purpose for life, for marriage, for kids, for anything. We have such a loving Heavenly Father who knows us by name. Knows our interests, dislikes, weaknesses and loves us so much that he wants us to return home with him. Earth is a test and it's our job to listen to the spirit and allow him to guide us in the right direction so we can go home and see our Heavenly Father and his son Jesus Christ. Without him and his loving sacrifice, there would be no plan to follow. Without him "Loosing the bands of death" (Alma 7:12) we couldn't return with them again. we would be completely lost in our sins and mistakes and regret.
How grateful I am that through this gospel, I know I'm being watched over, helped, guided and loved, even when I don't feel anyone is there, this gospel has given me so much comfort. I can't believe that one person's sacrifice 2000+ years ago, could give me so much comfort and joy today. I use to think that my guitars helped me cope with stuff, and they did, but only temporary. It masked the pain, but didn't get rid of it. Without my guitars here on my mission, I've had no other option than to take it to God. No screaming guitars or crazy music here to help mask the pain. As a missionary, you need to be completely rid of it. And that's what the Atonement has done for me, it took all my masked pain away and now I have no pain, no worries, just a smile on my face and moving upward. As the green arrow put it "The island never changed who I was. It scraped away all I wasn't and revealed who I really am." (Arrow Season 1 - Stephen Amel) The mission is scraping away what I'm not, what I tried to be and is now revealing who I really am and who I'm going to become. The finished product will be when I return home November 8th 2017!! Such a short time to be someone completely different!

Portsmouth is something special. From the fierce, Atlantic Ocean coast with supercars, collage girls, bone snapping wind that freezes your face, to the wide open pastures for horses and rednecks, Every member has grown a huge spot in my heart and it will be hard leaving them When that time comes. As a missionary, you see the deep details about the church, you know some stuff about people that teenagers really shouldn't need to know about people, but in a time when they needed each other the most, they really pulled through. They all love and care for one another and I don't know why at this moment, the lord would send me here to Portsmouth New Hampshire, but I can tell it was inspired and I love every single person here. I will definitely visit again after I return home because each week I'm still here, it feels more and more like home.


With much love from Portsmouth New Hampshire


Elder Vogel