Heat Wave

Merry Christmas!
Well, the way things are turning out, Utah might be having a very green Christmas. The temperatures have been shooting up to the upper 40's and lower 50's and almost all the 2 feet of snow that used to over everything has melted away. Feels like spring again. Only problem is that everything is dead instead of blossoming. Oh well, it is nice to have warmer weather at least for a little while until winter hits again.

Ok, to answer all the questions. No, I didn't find the stamps. But now that I know they are there I will certainly find them. I haven't done anything at all to the box so they should still be right there. The razor is definitely helping a lot, so thanks so much. I got quite a few nice things from the Lyon family today and I want to tell them "THANK YOU" from the bottom of my heart. Also, got the package from you and a present for Christmas. It will go underneath the small tree that Grandma sent me last year that I put up again right next to Grandma's presents. For the protein diet - we have a lot of salad bars, a lot of potato bars, and a lot of vegetables and fruits. We still eat with members every night but he has to tell them ahead of time what he can eat and they are gracious enough to feed us anyway. Lots of sherbert for dessert. Last night, we had a curry and potato soup, it was delicious! I absolutely loved it! I really, really like Indian food. So, we still get plenty to eat but it just happens to be more healthy than before. Plus it helps me to try vegetables I have never tried before like parsnips. They were pretty good. Also, a lot of people make some part of the meal with meat still for their families and allow me to eat some of that. No, there is nothing else that I need. Everything else is good, I have more than enough stuff. Trust me. As for the phone call, I do not know what the rules are yet. No one has said anything. We will have to wait and see. I had Costa Vida a few weeks ago from a very nice ward mission leader's wife! Costa Vida happens to be up here as well, plus I have discovered the tastiness of Cafe Rio. Sweet pork burritos are simply the best. The one thing Utah doesn't do is Tia Rosa's. Nothing even comes close. But that's ok, they have plenty of restaurants up here that Mesa doesn't have and that I have found myself enjoying.

This past week we have been working really hard. At least Elder Noll lets me know that he thinks so. Appartenly, I have way too much energy because I am all go, all the time. I seem to tire everyone else out, all my companions so far at least when they didn't have any other problems with anyone else. I still don't find myself too tired though, so I don't know what to do. The missionary work in general though has been going fairly slow. Everyone is sick or extememly busy. Nice, but too busy. In some ways, Christmas is great and in other ways it kind of hurts the work. We have been able the watch the church movie "Joy to the World" with several of our investigators and several new less actives we have picked up. We started to teach the Golson's on Monday night. Jayden is about 11 and was baptized about a year ago and has not been back to church at all since. His mother stopped going to church about the same time and picked back up her smoking habit. We knocked on their door and they immediately invited us in and wanted a message. They have very fond memories of the missonaries that taught Jayden and so we shared a message about the true meaning of Christmas and the blessings of the Atonement in our lives. Both the kid and the mom were riveted the whole time and bore very sweet testimonies about the gospel. We are excited to teach them and work with them and they are very excited to be reconnected with the Spirit as well. Hopefully in the next few weeks we can them back out to church and then start working on the smoking habit. She really wants to and so does he. It is amazing how much the Lord truly prepares people and how the gospel can arrive at just the perfect moment to help them out.

Logan Margetts got baptized last Sunday. It was an awesome experience. He was truly prepared by the Lord as well and was very ready for baptism. I have never seen someone so excited to pay tithing in my life. That and fast offering. He was jumping at the occasion. Wayyyyy excited. He gets confirmed this Sunday and is looking forward to it.

Now that he is baptized, all of our prospects have been shot. No one else is really progressing towards baptism at the current time and things have really slowed down.

We are praying hard though and trying to do what we can to help things pick back up. The Lord will bless us. We are excited for Christmas and for everything that is coming up, it should be awesome!

Much love and prayers,
Elder Hughes