Mother,

 

Well, you are still my mom aren't you? ha. I should explain what I mean by that.  You worry a lot about me. I bought a nice winter coat a coulple of weeks ago, along with a hat, scarf, and gloves, so I am fine. Does that make you feel better? I did not get the Thanksgiving package, but these things can take time and I have found with the zone leaders that they do not worry to much about it. I am sure it came through though, as long as you sent it to the mission office (the temple address). You have it on my blog. I never told you but I couple of random girls found my address on there and sent me stuff. Some random girl from california sent me a pair of socks! What a score! So don't take my address off the blog please.

 

Moves are this week. It is crazy, it seemed to come so fast, but I do not think that my companion or I will be moving. I can't believe that Cami and Laura are going to be getting their calls. It is about the same time of year that I received my call though, which is pretty cool. I think that Cami will be staying in the states and she will serve in Austin, Texas, haha.  That would be great. Or of course I would love for her to come to England.

 

Things have been a bit slow here. we are starting over from scratch in a sense, so hopefully things will begin to pick up.  I have been feeling good though. I love that I get to be so immeresed in the gospel. I am beginging to understand the gospel a lot more fully. I have loved it. I am currently doing an indepth study of the Saviors ministry in the Americas. So good. And it is near Christmas! Weird. I think that we will be able to Skype you. We are going to a good family. 

 

Thanks for writing me mom. I love you so much! have a good week and merry Christmas!

 

Elder Hegerhorst

Mother,

 

Elder Sparks is a really good missionary. We get along really well. We tend to probably joke around too much. We have some nerf guns in our flat and sometimes those can cause epic battles when we are in the flat.

 

We actually got fed really well for Thanksgiving. Sister **** fed us. She is from Utah, so it was a proper American meal. Elder Sparks and I were very happy. For Pday today we are going to Orpington where there are some couple missionaries that are from America and they are making another meal. We are kind of spoiled. This ward is really good. We don't get too many member referrals, but it is something that President Millar is putting a large emphasis on. It is something that I need to improve on also. We get fed a lot here. I think we were fed 5 times last week, so that is really nice.

 

We have a really large conference this week. Elder Kearon of the 70 is coming. I think that they are going to be changing a lot of things. President Millar sent us an email telling us that we are going to be getting a bunch of new missionaries soon and we all need to be ready to train. It is going to be fun.

 

Elder Sparks and I were forced to do a lot of finding this week. It went well.  We have some calls to make now and see if we can start seeing these people. We have a 13 year old girl named **** right now that is preparing to be baptised. She went to mutual on Thursday, which is really good. She should be getting baptised on the 15 of December.

 

I will keep Jenny in my prayers. How bad is what she has? I don't really get it. I love you mom. You are the best! Have a good week.

 

Elder Hegerhorst

Mother,

 

The ***** are in Utah? Weird I didn't think that they went there for a like another month at least. I guess they decided to go early. They are great. Things are great here. Although it is quite different from Red hill. Red hill was just like a peaceful little town, but Maidstone is like a proper city and our area is huge. There are lots of places in the area that we can not even make it to because buses just don't go there. Elder Sparks is my new companion and he is a goof. He is from Lindon, he knows some of the same people I do. He went to PG high. So he is a lame viking.

 

There is not too much going on here if you know what I mean. We have one lady getting baptised this saturday, but she is really our only investigator. Actually that is not true, we met a cool guy named **** last week and we saw him yesterday, he is really cool. So now we have him as an investigator. The area has a ton of potential though. It has been so much fun contacting people on the street. There is a really big high street here, which means there is a really busy town centre. It is fun. Elder Sparks and I meet all kinds of people and we really have fun with it. It is really fun serving with someone from Utah because we have so many things in common.

 

We are going to a place called Leeds castle today which should be really fun. I have always wanted to go to a castle. A really cool youth from the ward is taking us. The ward here is awesome. They have a great fire for missionary work. I have been blessed to have really good wards on my mission. We ate at the ***** last night.

 

We had to go in early on Halloween, because apparently Halloween is a day for punk kids here. That is no fun. Anyway, I am good. the work is good. Things are getting cold here haha.The gospel is so amazing. Hope all is well for you.

 

Love you to death mom. Thanks for all that you do for me. you are the best

 

Elder Hegerhorst

Mother!

Yes ***** was baptised!! I will send you a picture if I get time. I have been getting your pictures by the way and Kate and Grace's stuff, I thought that I responded to Grace. I will try to respond to Kate if I get time. You should just let her get an email address, she is a teenager.  BUT HERE IS THE BIG NEWS. I am getting moved. My new area will be in Maidstone with Elder Sparks. He a missionary from Utah and he is in the same MTC group as Elder Fingerle. I am sad to leave Elder Fingerle, he is such a good guy. I am going to miss him a lot. We have become good friends.

So I am not sure how much time I have because we are with the zone leaders right now and we have to go to the temple to meet up with Elder Sparks and switch companions kind of thing. It is so weird to be leaving Red Hill.  I have been there for my whole mission, which is one fourth of the way done! These kind of things get me really stressed haha. It is just so weird. Do you get stressed a lot? I think that I do. Ha.

Man, Tanner is such a good guy! I think he surprised me on a number of occasion. The time when I had my collar bone broken and he came over and talked with me meant a lot. I remember seeing how much he really cared. He is going to be an amazing missionary. I am glad to hear that he saw me as an example. I always think it is weird when people say I was a good example. It is something that I want to improve because you are right, we never know when someone is watching.

Your pictures are so funny! I just showed Elder Fingerle and he thinks that you guys are so cool. I told him that dad loves to get dressed up and that Halloween is way bigger in the states. I was trying to explain to him yesterday about how people will go all out to decorate their homes. He wants to come visit after his mission and I want to go visit him, so I am going to need to come up with some major cash.  Laura is a punk. Tell her good luck with all of that if I do not get the chance to. I can't believe all these people are coming on missions. Have you seen the statistics of how many people have been putting in their paper recently? It is crazy.

We had a good last week in Red Hill.  We were blessed to meet some really cool people. Hopefully Elder Fingerle will be able to work with them. It was really hard to say good bye to the ward. I have really come to love those people, they are so strong in the gospel. The Epsom ward is awesome. I love them. I hope it will go as well in my other area.

Well I should go. Sorry this isn't my biggest letter. remember "faithless is he that turns back when the road darkens" JRR Tolkien. A great quote. It is one that has helped me. When times get hard we need to press on. Ether 12:6. I love you very much. Have a great week.

Elder Hegerhorst

Mom,

 

Wow, you are right, conference is like a whole new world when you are on a mission. It reminded me of why I am out here. Some times I tend to get bogged down in the stress of it all. Am I working hard enough? why aren't these people progressing? we need to find new people, am I being a good companion? do I have the spirit enough? these things all get me stressed, but conference kind of just brought it all down to the basics. I do this because I love the Lord and because of all the things He has done for me. I love conference, each talk kind of falls under two categories for me. 1. the ones that chasten me and want me to become a better person and missionary. 2. the ones that just make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside and get me to say "wow, the church is so true". I don't think I comprehended the meaning of the phrase the church is true until I got out here and saw all of the different denominations. Just in our area someone told me that there are 77 different organized churches! That is crazy.

 

Cami is going to go on a mission! Man, how great is this. Our whole family is going to be on a mission. ha. Oh that brings so much joy to my heart. What did you think of the announcment. I expected the boys one, but not the sisters. How wierd to think that there are going to be girls in the mission younger than me. Weird.  Tell Cami to write me please, that punk never does.

 

We had a pretty fun day yesterday. We all went to Crawley, which is the stake center and watched conference with like ten missionaries. It was really cool. Afterward the members of our district came and spent the night in our flat because they were going to get home at like 10:30 if they took the train and that is quite late for us missionaries. It was fun, we made a huge dinner with all of the random things that we had left over in our flat. (it was not the best meal)

 

We had a really cool experience this week. We were walking on the road and met this guy named ****, and we gave him a Book of Mormon and were able to talk to him about it. Then we said a prayer right there in the street and we are seeing him tomorrow.  Those are the moments we live for as missionaries.

 

I love you so much mom. Have a great week and enjoy being with the family.

 

Love Elder Hegerhorst

Letter Sent September 30th

Mother,

 

Our week was great. It was a really busy one as always. We had a total of 25 teaches which is the best I have had my entire mission. Our investigators are all really cool but a lot of them are not really progressing which is a little frustrating at times. We have a really hard time getting them to church  because they ask "where is your church?" then we have to say Epsom which is a thirty minute drive and there is no way to get there by public transport. So that is not the most fun because coming to church is such a key part in coming closer to Christ.

 

Man, It sounds like you were in paradise last week. I am extremly jealous. did you look at the weather here in England and think to yourself " wow, we have it good" haha kidding, but the weather has been pretty bad this week. I have bought a suit and a good jacket so no worries. I stay nice and warm. That is a crazy story with those weird break off people.

 

We had a really cool experience with **** this week. we have been trying to give him a date to be baptised on for a while, but haven't been able to because he thinks that baptism can kind of be put off. We were able to talk to him about how important it is to come into the church as fast as possible and not to procrastinate baptism. In the end he finally received a date and all went well. He is scheduled to be baptised on the 27.  I love teaching people from all over the world. This week we taught people from Pakistan, Romania, Hungary, Brazil,  and England.  That is all I can think of right now, but it really has opened my mind up to things.

 

It's good to hear that Alex is doing well. Yes, I go to the public library to email so that is nice, but we only get an hour which is why I have to be hurried at times.  Well I love you guys. I am sending Kate something for her birthday but it is going to be late so tell her that it is coming. love you mom.

 

elder hegerhorst

September 17th Letter

Mother,

It is moves this week. Not sure that I will be moving though. Due to the fact that I willl most likely finish training good old Fingerle. I hope all is well in good old AF. You are so lucky to hear from an apostle! That is like my dream on my mission, for one to come and I get to shake his hand. I have never shaken an apostle's hand. Have you?

It has been nice and busy in Redhill. I am tired. Training and being a district leader has just worn me out, but the Lord is sure helping with that. I could not do this work without him.

How are things for you mom? your calling going okay? You have so much to do as a working mom, relief society president. At least you have one less kid to worry about. Oh, we had a blast at Eastbourn. Most of the zone came, it was really fun. Hopefully I can get time to send you some of the pictures. I wonder if I am changing. I can't wait to see what you guys think of me at the end of the two years.

I don't want to live in England, don't worry about that. I am much more open to living in New Zealand or some thing like that. How awesome would that be? Do you have any big plans this week? I can't beleive Eric is already getting married. Seems like he just got back from his mission.

Elder Hegerhorst

Letter to Steve, September 3rd

Dad,

 

I think that it is quite funny that you guys had the missionaries over. I don't know why. I just can't remember a time when we had them over when I was at home. That dinner sounds heavenly though. The food here is good, but it is just not the same as moms cooking. I also miss fast food in America, namely things like IN N OUT and JCW'S. those places are like little peices of heaven on earth. The closest thing you can get to that out here is Mcdonalds and it isn't even quite the same as it is in America. Oh Tyler, he is such a good kid. I am really glad to see that he is going on splits with the missionaries. It would be so much different to be on a mission in Utah. 

 

You need to tell me the story of uncle Jaime. I find your mission so interesting now. I can't wait to come home and talk about our missions. Eliane is doing great! She is officially getting baptised on Saturday! She is so prepared. I can't wait to see the difference the gospel will make in her life. Things are going great here. We met some solid families this week and I am really excited to meet them and hopefully help them work towards coming into the church.

 

You will school me when I get back. I am definitely in the worst shape of my life and it is only going to get worse.  That is a really cool dream. I need to get better at writing down spiritual impressions also. I think it is something that can be very special. Imagine looking back at our spiritual impressions in a coulple of years. It also shows the Lord that we hold the revelations he gives us very special.

 

My ankle is doing really well it is almost perfect but not quite there. I think I will just be one of the old guys that is always wearing an ankle brace. haha. I hope all is well with you. You are a the best dad that I could ever ask for. Take care of the family. I have been conteplating a lot on faith recently. We met this guy recently and had a long convesation about faith. I had him read Alma 32 and he has such an issue with the fact that "faith is a hope for things that are not seen, which are true."  It is something that brings happiness and peace. Faith dispels fear and doubt. It is the most important thing that we have on this earth.  Hold it close to you dad. We have a knowledge that can change the world, we need to share it.

 

Elder Hegerhorst

September 10th Letter

Mom!

This week was really nice. We kind of have to go to the drawing board in a sense. A lot of the investigators that we have are not really progressing so we need to figure out what we need to do to help them progress towards baptism. Also we are in the hunt for some new investigators, as we should always be. The baptism was great! Eliane loved it. I will send you some pictures. I have to be quick today because we are about to drive down to Eastbourne. You can look that up if you want. I have the AP's in my district so we are all going down together, which is nice, because they have a car! ha

 

I love you very much mom. Take care of the family. I think you have to be the best mother in the world and I mean that. I don't want to get sick while I am out here because I don't know how to take care of myself. love you. bye.

 

Elder Hegerhorst/Cole

Cole went on splits with the APs

Hmmm...
 

Hello mother,

 

Things are really good here. We have been working very hard to build up Red Hill, a lot of work has been going into it. I just want to leave the area feeling good about what I put into it. Elder Fingerle is getting really into the work, he is one hard working missionary. This last week we went on exchange with the zone leaders and the AP's. Not sure if you know who they are, but basically they are the big guys in town. :) ha  I was really nervous to go on exchange with the AP's, but all went well. Elder White, the one I went with is a really funny and relaxed guy so it was a good experience. We went to the temple yesterday for P day!! It was awesome. The temple is in our zone, so we are some of the very few missionaries who get to go there often. It is such a great blessing. I never realised how much I missed the temple, I would challenge you to go there as often as possible. The weather has actually been quite nice. We have had very little rain of late, so that is nice. I kind of enjoy the rain in a way now.. weird.

 

You are feeding the missionaries? now that is weird. I don't think you have ever done that. Well at least not that I can remember. Did I tell you that Bro. ? is going to be emailing you soon? He wants to email you to tell you that he and his wife are going to be there in December because their daughter is getting married. You should feed them some of your delectable food. They are such a good family. They feed us once a week.

 

Ali should do MATC! I think it would be good for her. She is a lot stronger than I was at that age. Kate's team is doing good?  Very good to hear. How are you doing, mom? Things going well at work and in Relief Society? Oh, by the way, I had a lady in my ward add you on facebook.  I told her that you two are quite similar. She has a really hard life, so try to talk to her sometime if you can.

 

I am doing great though mom. Elder Fingerle is becoming a really good friend of mine. I feel like I am getting old though. haha. Thanks for everything that you do for me. I love you very much.

 

Elder Hegerhorst

A visit from our friends the Poulsen's

Mom,

I am doing great and yes I am super busy. There is absolutely no free time. If I have free time I think I will go crazy. I realize now how much time I wasted when I was at home. I could have spent that free time developing talents. I could be such a skilled person if I would have just applied myself. I could easily speak like three languages if I would have studied those rather than sit at home and watch tv or play video games.

Elder Freeman used to always say, " happiness lives within those who share it."  How true that is! It is the ultimate way to become happy. I heard you had to do a bunch of visits last Sunday. the Poulsen's were great.  We met them in a park then they drove us to the flat because you gave us so much stuff! Thank you for it all. It was perfect. The peanut butter was probably the best. Kate's letters were hilarious. She said some way funny things. Did you get to read those? She dissed on your sewing skills. It was really funny. It's weird that they said I am getting an accent.

I love you mom. You have a really strong testimony. Hold onto it. It will be tried and it will be the only thing you have to hold onto. Thank you for your example. Love you. Take care.

Elder Hegerhorst

Cole's new companion



Cole by the beach with the zone leaders

Cole doing...who knows what? :)

Sent August 5, 2012

 

Mom,

Hello! man this week has been absolutely crazy so far! I'll give you the low down on the life of Elder Hegerhorst the last few days. On Sunday the Zone leaders picked up Elder Freeman and I at our flat and took us to their flat where we waited for some of the other elders going home.  We talked to them for awhile and went to bed.  In the morning Elder Freeman and all the other leaving missionaries left to go to the temple where they would spend their dying days in solitude.:)  So for the next couple of days I was in a tri with the zone leaders. It was really fun. I never want to be a Zone leader, they just have to worry about everybody elses problems. no good. They are both really fun guy though so we tended to have a good time.  But here is the big news................................................................ I am training! I am so scared. But the Lord will provide a way. I honestly don't know why I am training. It will be okay though. He is a great missionary. He is from Germany! How cool is that? You must tell Grandpa. We were able to do a little bit of work yesterday and it went really well. We stepped out of the flat and the first person we talked to was a woman with a family and she said we could probably come teach her sometime! The first person we talked to! NICE. He must be a righteous missionary if the Lord blesses him like that. I am also district leader now which is a little crazy. I am happy though. It will be a learning experience.

 

How are you though mom? Are the girls doing well? how is everyone? Is Xander getting back into the swing of normal life? I hope you are all doing well. You guys are always in my prayers. Take care of them. I love you so much! The gospel is so important. I know it to be the way to find the greatest joy in this life and in the life to come. Jesus is our Savior and Redeemer. Joseph Smith did see God the Father and Jesus Christ. The Book of Mormon can bring us closer to God than anything else. Love you. take care. bye

 

Elder Hegerhorst

Sent July 29, 2012

Hey mom,

The funny thing about the Olympics here is that not that many people are too into it. I can't believe it! The cycling event just happened about 5 miles away from where I am. In a place called Dorking. London is a nice city. I really hope I can serve there. It is Elder Freemans last week as a missionary! I don't know how he is going to go back into normal life. He is such a great missionary. I am going to have to step up to the plate when he leaves, because the new missionary will not know the area at all, he won't know any of the people, so that will be a learning and a growing experience.

One morning I prayed that we would find a family that day who we could teach about the gospel. It happened. I prayed that the family would have a husband and wife with at least two kids and it happened! we taught them last week. It was so great. The husband is from Texas! Oh he makes me laugh! hah. The family is so special. You know those people you feel like you just click with? That's how these people are. I loved it. We are going to there home tonight for pancakes, no one here makes them right. I hope they do, with a bit of American influence.

Good to hear the family is so well. I love them so much. I think that is one of the thing that gives me the drive to be a missionary. I can so clearly see the blessing of a gospel oriented family. I love all of you. Tell gran and gramp that I love them. I can't believe grandma got called to Tonga! Why does she have to wait so long?  I also can't believe that she will be getting home after me. What does her mission consist of? like jobs and things? I love you mom. You are the best there is.

Take care

Elder Hegerhorst

Mom,

I am doing good. Just trying to work hard! we are having much success of late. It is a good feeling when you start to see the fruit of your labors. Yes, ????? is getting baptised! he passed the interview on Saturday. He has asked me to preform the baptism. My first time baptising someone and I have to give a talk on Sunday! Usually I would be all stressed about things like this, but now there is just no time to be stressed. ha. I think it is so fun being a missionary. It is so cool meeting people from literally every walk of life.

Tanner got his call? I didn't even know he put in his papers. Man, that is so exciting. Korea.  I am blessed to be in England. Not sure I could handle Korea. Rain boots? haha. No, I have never seen a missionary where rain boots. That would be really funny to see. I think I might be buying a suit today though! So that will be some fun. We are going to Sutton again.

I think it is so awesome that grandma is going on a mission. She will see so many blessings from it. She is such an awesome lady. How is things over there? you guys are living the summer life. ( there is no summer in England) ha. Was the fourth fun?  It was weird to think that you guys were having the barbeque without me. I hope it is all going well. My ankle is getting way better. I wore a shoe to church yesterday. It was really weird, I hadn't had a shoe on that foot for 8 weeks. How crazy! I can't believe it's been that long.

This week was awesome! we taught 19 lessons! That is really busy. I am getting so many miles on this boot. The pad on the bottom is starting to wear through. Sometimes when I step down I can hear the plastic hit. We had a number of miralcles. One really cool one was on wednesday. We were walking and we had been behind this woman for quite sometime when she stopped to get something out of her bag. We asked if she was alright and she said yes. Normally we would have just kept walking, but we both just sat there. Eventually we told her we were missionaries. Once we told her that it seemed like some thing clicked in her head. She started to tell us how bad her family life was and how she wanted it to be better. Then she told us that when she stopped she was praying for help, at that time she heard our voice. She said she thought it was God speaking to her! It was pretty cool:) now we see her everywhere( I think God is telling us something).

Hope everything is good there. Enjoy the beautiful weather. Tell everyone that I love them. I write Richard quite a bit, he seems well. I guess I am due for a weird compaion though.  Part of the missionary experience! Yes, the new pres is here. President Millar, I get to meet him on Friday. Love you mom. Be safe. John 14:27-28

Elder Hegerhorst

Letter sent July 2, 2012

Hello mom,

As always we are super busy. Just too much to do all of the time. We are probably going to Haywards Heath today to play futbol. haha. It will be great fun for me. Kidding. Everything is going very will in the work. I am pretty sure that ????? is going to get baptised on the 14, which wil be very special. Hope everything goes well this week. Pray for him. He needs all of the help he can get.

Thanks for writing me. It was good to hear from you. I am becoming an old man. I let Elder Freeman cut my hair today! it is really short, I look all military like. So I guess that answers the question of if I got a new companion or not. Usually you have a trainer for at least 3 months. I get the privilege of killing Elder Freeman. That is what missionaries call it when you go home. Which also means that he is my missionary dad. Missionaries have a funny way of doing things! I like them though. They make me laugh. Tell dad that I will miss watching the tour with him. I won't get to see any of it, but some one told me that they come really close to where I am for the time trial in the olympics, so that could be cool. I got some post from Richard! We can communicate pretty easily. The ankle is doing a ton better. I do exercises everyday to help it.

I love you mom. You are the best mom out there. No one can compete. Tell everyone that I miss them and love them. They are all punks. Try to give them a hug from me, punch Lar, kick Cami, flick Avery, and tackle Carter all from me.

I love you, mom. have a good day. hope you had a good sunday. For family home evening teach the Gospel of  Jesus Christ. See if the girls know what it is. It is the third lesson in PMG, but I have found not too many people know it. Mosiah 17: 2-3 considering you just had fast Sunday. Oh and read the story of Ammon. What a man/missionary.

Elder Hegerhorst

Letter to Grandma DeeAnn sent June 27, 2012

Grandma!

 

Why did you have to go to that training? that sounds really crazy! but yet kind of fun. It wasn't for becoming a missionary was it? It sounds like you had a bit of an adventure. I am kind of jealous, but I would say everyday that i am here is a new adventure. I am learning so much. Wait until you become a missionary. There is so much to learn in so little time. I am down right exhausted. haha. I think the Lord finds so may ways to bless us.

 

Boston! that just isn't fair. All of you guys out having a blast without me. kidding. I am glad to hear it was such a good time. Ali told me that she really enjoyed it. I can't believe Cami is old enough to be graduated. I still have a hard time believing I am old enough. I still feel like I am a kid sometimes. What things did you guys do? I love reading about what everyone is up to. It makes me feel not too far from home.

 

The ankle is healing very well. I go to my first physio ( physical therapy) appointment today, so we will see how that goes. I can walk without the boot on or crutches now, not super fast though. I am hoping I wont have to have the boot on for too much longer. I have yet to be given a final date as to when my ankle should be back to 100%. So where do you hope to get called to?  Will your mission be an 18 month or 6 month? Either way it will be wierd for the family not to have you and I not there. The missionaries will love you wherever you get called.

 

The members here are so strong. When you grow up in an area where there are almost no other members around you, it either makes you stronger or weaker. The geographical size of the ward are pretty big. We get a ride with our bishop to chruch and it takes around thirty minutes. We don't get fed a ton, but there is this one family, the Leppards, that feed us every Saturday. It's delicious. Yes! send me some pictures! I would love that. I think my companion takes even more pictures than you do. haha.

 

I hope you are doing well. I love you grandma. Thank you for all that you do for me. Tell the Agles Hello and have a few of them write me some letters. I would love to hear from everyone of them, same goes for the Smiths and Hafens. Also if you could give the temple address to Amy that would be great. She said she wants to be pen pals. My mom has the temple address if you need it.

 

love you. bye

hello mom,

 

Well this week is crazy for me too. President Shamo is leaving and it is moves, so that is quite the week in a missionaries life. But it is really exciting I am getting used to being a missionary. It is becoming natural for me to just talk to people. I am going to be dad times a thousand when i get back. Sorry for not writing you last week. I thought you were just super busy. Any way I don't know if Ali told you, but i have physio on wednesday this week, so hopefullt that will strenthen the ankle. It is really stiff! It stays in the boot all day. I can sleep with it off now, which will be very nice. I don't have a load of time today considering it is not even p day. P days land on Wednesdays during transfer week.

 

I am doing great though. I can't believe I have been gone for 2 months already. We had a really cool experience the other day. So we were walking on the side walk and were about to cross, but we felt we should go straight and talk to this guy. We got talking, he wasn't super accepting, but took the book of mormon. Then we asked where he lived and it just so happened that I knew one of the members from our ward worked there so I asked him if he knew her. It turns out they are really good friends!! It was awesome.  Then he told us that he had been walking and was thinkin to himself "God what am i supposed to do? I want an answer right now, not tomorrow or next week, but now."  Then we walked up to him. He was laughing the whole time. We eneded up getting an appointment. I am very excited.

 

It sounds like it will be a fun week though. I miss all of those people, so give them my love and tell them to write me letters. I am glad dad will get better too. I hate seeing him in pain. he is the best dad. Tell the girls that I love them. I love you mom. Enjoy the Utah weather!

 

Elder Hegerhorst





I guess this is his Brad Pitt/Matt Damon look. :)

Hi mom,

I miss you too mom. I miss everyone there. It is funny the things you start to miss. I have come to have a lot of pride in Utah. It is such a good place to live. England is a good place, but it isn't home. Dad told me a pretty funny story about Grace, the one with Josh. Tell Pat, Bishop, and Josh to write me. I would love to hear from them. There are so many good people in the ward.

I always think of so much I have to tell you throughout the week and then my mind goes blank. That picture of Ali is crazy! she looks five years older than the Ali I remember. Tell her to lose all that make up. She didn't write me this week, that punk. I am so jealous that she got to go to a Red Sox game that would be so awesome. I am glad she is having so much fun.

So this week a couple of things happened. The first and foremost is that a man told me I look like a mix between Brad Pitt and Matt Damon, couldn't be a better compliment in the world. :) It made me laugh. These other peoople we are teaching call me Matt Damon. It is pretty funny. There are so many cool people. We teach this 18 year old named Milan and we are already good friends. Also we taught this really cool guy ????? yesterday. He made us dinner (fish and chips), it was so good. He was a chef for 30 years. Probably the best meal I have had since I left. The dessert was apple pie with ice cream, yeah, he spoiled us. I will try to send some photos. My companion is way into photography, so it should be easy. He has a canon 600d. Don't know if that means anything to you. This week was really good for the work. We had 14 teaches (lessons). Which is really good. Elder Freeman said he wants to get the area to 20 a week by the time he leaves. 

The ankle is doing well. I saw a doctor today, but it was usless, he just referred me to the hospital, so now I have to go there. I can easily walk without crutches now which is nice, but the boot is become a pain. I bought a rain jacket. It works great. It is not like a winter coat though,because it is so warm. I am going to try and send Grace a card and dad a letter for fathers day. Thanks for being such a great mom. I will get excited about your food again when i get back.

Love you.

Elder Hegerhorst



First Trip to the London Temple

Asleep on the bus :)

Cole's first field companion
Elder Freeman

Sent Monday, June 4th, 2012

Mother!

I am so sorry. There is absolutely no time. 

I have had a great week, so busy though. I went on two exchanges one with the zone leaders, who is Elder Oscarson, he knows Richard they were in the same mtc group. How are things in the biking world?  Dad said Bean is in Italy?  That is awesome. Ali is going to Boston, that lucky duck. haha.

England is so... different. I don't know how to explain it. Everything is more expensive and smaller. But it is so much fun. When we have a successful day we both just feel like we can do anything. The other day we handed our 8 book of mormons and taught like 3 lessons, which is a busy day in England. We have to do a lot of finding here, because the area is brand new. It is getting me good at talking to people so when I get home I will be like Dad. ha.

The ankle is doing a lot better. I can walk around without crutches. I don't go out without them because that would be slow and I want to take it easy. I think I  am more tired than I have been in my entire life. The Leppards cooked us a huge breakfast on saturday, eggs, bacon, sasuage, cereal, beans, hash browns. For some reason english people think it is good to have beans for breakfast, how dumb.

It is the queens jubilee tomorrow so everyone is celebrating. Does grandma still have that map of my mission? I am in the crawley zone and if you see epsom I am just south of that. Well I hope you are well mom. Thanks for everything.

Love you. Be safe

Elder Hegerhorst

Sent Monday, May 28th 2012

Mom,

Thank you so much for the parcel you sent! The food is always good to have since everything over here is just ridiculously expensive. I didn't get the star wars fruit snacks that you talked about in your letter, which really stinks. I was happy to see you sent me something. You should send me some ideas for what i can do for cheap, good meals since I have no idea. With the brace i am not sure. I am supposed to set up and appointment to see a doctor soon, but i really haven't had the time. I will let you know. I am still in the boot for another two weeks at the least, so I'll deal with it. I am almost able to walk without crutches. I think i will be able to do that around wednesday. We travel with our feet. Not many areas have cars, only the really big ones.

So here are some of the cool experiences of late. we have had a lot so I will try to just talk about my favorite ones.

On thursday of last week Elder Freeman and I were street contacting and a man came up to us and said, " I have a couple minutes, tell me what is different about your church". Where to begin!? So we told him about the restoration, which he didn't take too well, but then he told us he was in charge of a methodist youth group and asked if we could teach them that night, ( it was a such a hard choice;) but we said yes. So we went and taught them about the plan of salvation.  At the end this guy, Raz, told this group of like 7 that we were mormon missionaries. Then he asked them what they thought the difference between us and them was, and this was their answer " well, they know the bible a lot better than us and they have the Holy Spirit".  I was so shocked.  I just wanted to yell out BOOM! The best part of this story is Raz called us on Saturday and told us that he wants to meet with us, so we are seeing him tonight! awesome! nothing better. Ok that took too long to type.

I love you mom. Thank you for supporting me while I am out here. I will definitely keep all of you in my prayers!  Thanks mom.  Tell Lar that I sent her letter.

Elder Hegerhorst

Hello mom,

I will try to write you a decent sized email. I am not the fastest typer which also creates a problem. The city is very hilly (not sure if that is a word). I am in Red Hill it is this small little city, lots of old people:) funny fact about old people here, they are not like the ones at home. I know I know i shouldn't say it, but they are pretty bitter. They are the hardest ones for me to talk to. We live in a pretty small flat. It is so humid! Everything is damp, it takes my towel two days to dry unless i put it on this heater thing in the bathroom.

The food is good! Never enough of it though. My stomach is going back to the way it was in college. haha. Some people are so nice though. The second day I was here we had dinner with this Phillopeano family. They are not members, but they treated us like family. They were having this big party and they invited me and my companion in and fed us a feast. It was great. There is this family in the ward, the Leppard family. I already love them. The father is the ward mission leader so we work pretty closely with him. We had corelation at his hous on Satutday where his family sat us down and fed us lasagna for lunch.(wasn't as good as yours). Me and my companion usually make sandwiches for lunch. If we make dinner it is always pasta. He has this thing where he likes to put sweet and sour sauce on it with some cheese. It is acually pretty good.

My companion has to be the best missionary. He talks to literally everyone! Not only that but he is so good at it. I feel so overwhelmed with the task of trying to become like him, but he is patient and tries to teach me. He is smaller than me which is a little surprising. He is really into photography so eventually you with get a lot of pictures.

The ankle is doing a lot better. It was huge and swollen for most of the week, but yesterday it came down and now i am able to put a little wieght on it. I have to be in the boot for another three weeks at least. Not to happy about that. They told me i can get rid of the crutches in a week.

Welll i hope this was long enough for you. I'm doing good, but it is really hard. It will take time to get used to. I love you very much. Since being out here i have come to appreciate the way you raised me. Thank you for implementing the gospel so well. It makes all the difference I can see it so easily out here. I extetened a baptismal date! It was so spiritual! and she accepted. Her name is Pauline she is preparing to be baptised on June 16. I really hope it happens. I know it will bless her and her families life so much!

love you

Elder Hegerhorst

Mom,

Ok, so much is happening all at once i don't know what to even do. Basically we had to hurry and pack up and leave the mtc. I didnt have time to write because we were so packed for time. sorry. I have my trainer! hahah. heres the story:

So we left the mtc wednesday at like 6:45, it was like a 5 hour drive on a coach (bus). I sat by some of my favorite people from the mtc. We got to our mission home which is on the London temple grounds. We had some time with Pres. Shamo and his wife who are just amazing. You can tell they love us all so much. Everyone there was asking all of these questions about my ankle. Anyway, then they did this orientation with all of the new elders. It was boring. After that they brought the trainers in and assigned us. My trainers name is Elder Freeman, he's english. :) President Shamo told me that he is the work horse of the mission and in the top three best missionaries in his mission. Basically he is like dad on steroids. We went to the temple this morning, then they shipped us off to our areas. It's weird. I went in my first flat today. On the way here we talked to this couple. They are so prepared! When Elder Freeman recounted the first vision the sister started crying. It was... amazing, crazy, unbelievable. We are in this town called Red Hill. It is in an area that has not been open for 15 years and they just reopened it. Elder Freeman says it is golden. I feel bad that he has to put up with a cripple.  He is very nice and patient though.

Tell everyone else hi and sorry that I cannot write them.There really is just no time! It is making me stronger.  Let the family read this. I love you guys! Remember that this really is Heavenly Fathers church and that Christ is still at the head of it.

Elder Hegerhorst

Leaving the MTC

Cole with his new boot

Elder Hegerhorst on Crutches!

Weird Crutches!

Elder Hegerhorst had a small accident on Saturday night while playing basketball.  He came down from a rebound, landed on another elder's foot, and completely dislocated his ankle.  He said, "I knew something was wrong when I looked down and could see the bottom of my foot."   It was completely turned around and facing up.  Gross!  They had to call the ambulance.  The medics gave him gas just so they could take off his shoe and examine the ankle, he was in that much pain!  They transported him, by ambulance, to the local hospital where they completely sedated him to reset his ankle.  Luckily the X-rays didn't show any fractures.  Looks like he'll be in a boot, and on crutches, for the first 6 weeks of his "official" mission.  We'll see if that affects his first area assignment.  He leaves the MTC on schedule tomorrow (Wednesday).  Hope he's less clumsy on crutches!

May 8, 2012

These are some pictures most of them are on the church history tour.  I am calling on sunday at 9:00 am your time. The pictures of Wadham road is where Pres. Hinkley stayed on his mission.  The really big river is the Ribble River, it is where the first baptism happened in England.  The cool Japanese looking garden is where trees were dedicated to remember members of the church who died going to america.  The cool little town is where Heber Kimball had a bunch of baptisms.  I hope you are all well.  The elders are awesome. This elder mafubelu is from South Sfrica. he is so funny. He's going to my mission, hope he's my companion. 

Love you guys

May 1, 2012

Family,

k, I have some more time now. We just got back from Chorley. It was cool. all of the towns here are so old.  I took some pictures, but I just figured out there computers don't have a card reader. The weather is rainy and cold basically all of the time. our schedule here is packed full every minute of everyday. I'll have to find an elder with a cord. I ended up flying out of salt Lake with like 9 elders, then like 20 in atlanta. I can't type well on these computers because the keyboards are different. I guess crap is like a more offensive word in England, so I am having my companion punch me everytime I say it. I say it a lot. It is hard getting used to being inside basically all day everyday. An elder came here late because he didnt get his visa on time, so he had to stay in the prove mtc. He didn't like it at all. He said it is like a university feeling and this MTC is much better. I like it. I am becoming friends with basically everyone here. There is 46 missionaries in our whole group and the presidents says it's one of the bigger groups, so that kind of gives you and idea of how small things are. I can only write on p days which are on tuesdays. I love you guys. The classes are so cool. I am learning so much about teaching. It's not so much that you learn a lot about the gospel, but more about how to teach it effectivley. I love it. It will make me a much better missionary. tell every one hello. like Laura, Jake, and Shelb. tell the punks to wirte me. They can send it to my mission home when i leave the mtc. well good luck. love you.

Elder Hegerhorst

MTC letter

Things are so weird here. its weird to finally be a missionary, its weird to be in the mtc. the food is weird. My companion is awesome he is a 25 year old enlglish man and these englishmen have a ton of pride. There are people here from all of the world England,USA, South africa, New Zealand, Malasia, France, Scotland, the country of Georgia, Germany. It's cool. it really opens your eyes up to things. I am being very humbled. A german teacher made fun of me for the way i pronounced our last name. Wel i have to go, sorry. love you guys. I know the church is true. Rely on God. He will be there.

Elder Hegerhorst

Arriving at the England MTC 

Elder Hegerhorst with President & Sister Walker