Hello everybody!
Well, this week has been a lot of fun! We just got back from going to the Sandy Fun Center and that was a blast. There are great perks to serving in Utah sometimes because we can get in free to certain places on P-day. So today we played laser tag and I won as the Dark Knight. That was tons of fun. Plus we got to use the skating rink (I just chose to use a scooter to go around on because it is VERY hard to biff hard on that compared to roller blades or skates). And all the inflatable toys - giant slides and obstacle courses. It was quite a work out and the time went by fast, much too fast. I also found out I am now a champion at the whac-a-mole style games. You know the ones where the things pop up and you hit them with a little foam hammer. I set the record and so got to get a disco ball necklace with my tickets that came out from the game. Don't know when I will really get to wear it, but it was awesome. Oh, I also managed to roll my ankle earlier in the week, so I had to wrap it up all week long but it is now almost all the way healed so no worries about that. It did get fairly big for a while, about 2 to 3 times as big as normal. Had a hard time fitting on a dress shoe, that is for sure. But life goes on. Not nearly as bad as having to ride a horse out of Havasupai
because my ankle was mega-huge at the time. Another crazy things happened too! I got another wedding announcement, good to know people are keeping those temple sealers busy, haha. Melissa Crandall is happily engaged and set to get married this month. That blows my mind! I will have to find a completely new group of friends when I get home because there will be no one left, but I don't mind it. I find it amusing to see all these things start to happen. I still haven't really gotten over the fact that Drew and Samuel are back home now too. How did that happen. I swear that they just barely left the other day, turns out two years went by. Go figure.
Steve Wright got baptized this week and that was an AMAZING experience. I don't think he has stopped smiling since that time or that he plans on doing that anytime soon. Also, he has sets on his sights on getting everyone else in the whole world baptized now, particularly his family. He hopes to baptize his son in about 2 to 3 weeks and already has a countdown going in his head for it. When his son voiced the concern that he wanted to learn a lot more first, Steve just told him that all he needs to know is that the church is true, he can learn everything the church teaches for years after he is baptized, haha. We didn't even have to do everything, Steve pretty much taught him the doctrine perfectly and then bore his powerful testimony. He is already such a good missionary, the members in his ward could learn a thing or two from him, lol. Thomas John attended the baptism for Steve. He is another investigator that we tracted into in that ward. He is from Sudan and is pretty excited to get baptized now himself. He loved all the people that he met and was excited to come back to church again this next Sunday. We plan on giving him a date on Friday when we go teach him again. Also, we plan on giving our Native American investigator Walter a date. He finally is back in town and we were finally able to get an appointment. Missionary work, I feel, is about 90% chasing these people down, 9% teaching, and then 1% baptizing. But it makes it all the hard work and frustration worth it when someone does get baptized. Everything just feels so much better and goes so much better after that.
I sent out letters yesterday that I wrote a week ago. I forgot I still had them, sorry. But hopefully you will all get one in the next few days. I am trying to write better now, at least a little bit. Writing is so much harder now though than it used to be, I don't know why. My thoughts don't flow as easy and it doesn't sound nearly as good as it used to. Probably because I have only been reading the scriptures the past year and a half and haven't read my good ol' classics books so my vocabularly and grammar usuage have gone down. But oh well, I am sure they will come back after the mission.
We had an amazing stake conference this past week. The theme was on Proverbs 3:5-6 : "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct they paths." The adult session was the most powerful church meeting I have ever attended in my life. They had people speak who have had truly difficult lives and how those trials have helped them to get to know the Lord better and to put all their trust in Him. There was a lady in her 20's who was a cancer survivor, then a lady in her 40's who has 10 kids and had to go through a rough divorce and then suffered a stroke and a heart condition right after that, then a quadraplegic elder's quorum president, and the list could go on. I was so touched by these people who had every reason to hate life, be miserable, give up, etc. But they pressed on and they came out of their trials happier, stronger, and more successful people than before. Each and everyone of them testified to that. The Lord truly knew them and knew exactly what they needed and made sure it happened and then when they put their trust in Him, the blessings just flowed. It was incredible! I don't think I can ever complain about anything in my life now, nothing has ever been that bad or ever been that hard. Some of my favorite quotes: "If we trust in the Lord, we can know that our INDIVIDUAL sorrows can be for our INDIVIDUAL good." "Without meekness and childlike faith we risk being broken by our trials, rather than strengthened." ""How can we trust someone that we don't know? We can't. If we are to trust in the Lord with all our hearts, we must love the Lord with all our hearts." "As a potter knows what technique to use in pottery, the Lord knows what technique to use on us." "No matter what our situations are in life, Heavenly Father will give us ALL the blessings of eternity if we follow Him and keep His commandments." It was spiritually overwhelming to listen to these people's testimonies and stories and to also look back at my own life and how the Lord has guided my footsteps as I put my trust in Him. Man, it was just so powerful. I don't even know how to describe it.
Well, I think that pretty much sums up this week. The weather has been great, spring is on the way! Some of the buds have started to shoot forth little greens leaves and the blossoms of the flowers cannot be too far behind! Soon, all the pretty tulips will be up and all the trees will be covered in the most gorgeous blossoms and I won't mind being in Utah again. Not one bit. Can't wait for that. I have been using the bike quite a bit recently, but it is still so cold. It will be nice to bike without gloves and scarf and hat sometimes. And to be wearing no suit coat but a short sleeve shirt.
Much love and prayers!
Elder Hughes
PS Thanks for the box! and thanks for the letter Grandma Hughes, I enjoyed it! And you too Great Grandma Anna! If you get the chance to go to Melissa's reception anyone, tell her congratulations from me!