Hey, everybody!I hope everyone is doing great and is having a fabulous December thus far. I can't believe how fast time continues to go and how Christmas is just a few short weeks away already! They already have Christmas lights up here and we sing Christmas songs in class and for the devotionals and firesides and stuff and you can hear a bunch of people practicing Christmas music to try out for devotionals or firesides or the Christmas talent show they are planning here. Sadly, all the copies of "O Holy Night" are checked out and I just wanted to copy down the words because it is not in the hymnbook but is one of my all time favorites. But oh well, I will probably here it from a bunch of special muscial numbers and it will sound amazing! So last week was Thanksgiving as you all very well know and Thanksgiving here at the MTC was great! We had a devotional where Elder Holland came and talked to us and answered questions people had sent in about various topics. Such as broken sealings, why life has to be so hard, and the foreknowledge of God not being us bound to fate. There was a lot of good stuff I learned and the Spirit was there so strong. His wife had the strongest, coolest testimony about the divine worth of each and every one of us. And how Heavenly Father truly has a plan set up for each of us to be able to become the happiest and greatest that we can be - we just have to rely on Him and submit to His will and all will work out. Later on that day we got Thanksgiving dinner (for lunch so that was like normal being back home) - they gave us some turkey, mashed potatoes, and stuffing with gravy and then pumpkin pie for dessert. I love pumpkin pie, it was way good. I did miss the green bean casserole though and the sweet potatoes with marshmallows on top and some of the other things my family does for the holiday. But it was one of the best meals they have served here so far so it was nice. After that we got to watch a huminatarian video about all that the church does for huminatarian work around the world with clean water, measle shots, food, wheel chairs, and neonatal resusication - it was awesome and very touching. We are truly blessed to be here in America where we have access to clean water, food, medical care, and lots and lots of opportunities to have the best standard of living possible on this earth. It made me look back on my life and be grateful for how much I have. After that we got to go color in game packets that the church passes out to children after natural disasters in their area. They said ours would probably end up going to the Pacific for children who dealt with the tsunami a few months ago and do not have any toys or games left because they were all washed away. It was some of the best service ever - coloring! I haven't colored since I was like in 6th grade so it was way sweet! After that we had another fireside where President Smith had set up a bunch of muscial numbers to play and then for people to share what they are thankful for in between. It was very touching and the Spirit was there so strong as people described what they are thankful for and how it has blessed their lives. People have the coolest stories! Also, he went over a brief history of Thanksgiving and it was nice to have that review and for what Thanksgiving truly commemorates with the Pilgrims those hundreds of years ago. Last Friday was good. We taught the Law of Chastity to each other and our teachers because no visitors where allowed with it being a holiday weekend. It was really nice to be able to be taught in Mongolian and be able to understand a lot of it and to feel the Spirit bearing witness of the truth of it. Other than that, not much went on. Just a whole lot of study time and translating time and trying to keep working on Mongolian to get it the best we can get it here at the MTC. Saturday was more Mongolian practice all over again. One of our teachers was out of town and the other one was having knee problems and couldn't stay long so we got in as much review with them as we could and as much translating of the law of tithing as we could before they had to leave and we were on our own again. For service that day, we laid out bacon again. It is crazy how much bacon is consumed here at the MTC - I swear everytime we do it we lay out thousands and thousands of bacon strips and then they are all used in one day for breakfast and then for sandwiches and then for whatever else. The MTC just goes through bacon like crazy.Sunday was the first day Elder Sessions and I had to get a sacrament meeting program ready and find people to lead the music, play piano, and give prayers. It was fun though and everyone agreed to do the assignment they had been given. The Spirit was there really strong as always for all the meetings and the topic was on the "promptings of the Spirit". So people had really great stories about how the Spirit has guided their lives and how it has helped them and blessed them. Way powerful testimonies. Monday was great - lots of Mongolian. Tuesday is one of the best days here - balance of class time and the RC and a devotional. The RC wasn't too great this week - no one really wanted to talk on the phone, they were all too busy. But I tried my best and taught what I could and bore testimony where they would let me. The devotional was really good though with the primary general president being the speaker and her husband being the first speaker (opposite of normal haha). He spoke about the importance of reverence and how it was an attribute of Christ that we all must stive for. "Without reverence, you are nothing" was one of my favorite quotes from him. He spoke about how reverence is more then just being quiet but thinking about our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ and all he has done for us and keep our thoughts and actions and words elevated to a plane on that level. Very good. Sister Lant then spoke about the need to have faith, not fear and to be obedience with exactness and to be just like the 2000 stripling warriors. That was most of her talk was comparing missionaries to the 2000 stripling warriors and how we must have the same attributes and faith and courage that they did in the war they we wage against Satan for people's souls. It is a wonderful analogy and I loved it - it is one of my favorite scripture stories and one of the best examples in the scriptures that I try to follow. From them we know that if we put our trust in God and obey everything that He tells us with exactness that He will not let us fall. He will help us to overcome all our trials and hard times and to rise above them better than ever before. What a cool blessing that is. It made me think of that "Footprints" poem about us walking side-by-side with the Savior for our lives and then we look back at all the hard times and we see only one set of footprints instead of two. The person in the poem then asks where the Savior went during those hard times and the Savior answers that those are the time that He has carries us and lifted us up to overcome those hard times. He and our Heavenly Father will never leave us and will always be there for us. They truly do lift us up and carry us during our hardest and saddest times and do not let us back down until life gets better again. I know that they are there and they comfort us and stand ready to help us. We just need to pray for that help and to feel that love and comfort and it will be there faster than we can comprehend. Dang time goes fast! Well, Wednesday was the first day we had to go get our new missionaries as zone leaders and give them the first half of instructions for being at the MTC. The new district all seem really cool - they are ten elders all going to Washington D.C. South English Speaking. They seem to have strong testimonies and their faces were already glowing with the gospel and the Spririt just from having been here a few hours. It never ceases to amaze me how much the Spirit can light up a person's face when they are doing their best to heed to the counsel given to them and to follow His promptings. Their whole face just radiates with it.Well, time is basically out with only a minute left to go. So Sherrie if you read this - I only have your Texas address so hopefully my letter gets to you somehow. Thanks for all your letters and thoughts and prayers, they mean so much to me! I hope everyone is enjoying the joy and miracle that is the Christmas season!Lot of love,Elder Ryan Leroy Hughes