Good morning everybody!
Well, from the weather the past week, it really does feel like Spring
is here. Upper 40's and lower 50's have had us cracking up the car
windows as we drive down the road and letting the cool air come in.
So nice. Valentine's Day was pretty nice this year - I was able to
put up all the decorations that Grandma Hughes gave me from last year
and this year. It was a lot of fun and my landlords loved it. Even
Elder Noll didn't mind it (he kept rearranging all the heart confetti
that we had on the table to make sure all the colors and sized looked
just perfect it was hilarious to watch him be OCD for once). We are
now driving a 2008 dark gray Chevy Malibu and it looks very nice.
Sadly, the steering, brakes, etc. are not that great and I had to
readjust entirely the way I drive to match. Also, we had an exciting
moment last week driving down the road and then seeing dark smoke
start billowing from underneath the hood. Plus the smell of smoke, so
we got to the next house as soon as we could and popped the hood.
Turns out the power steering fluid was leaking EVERYWHERE and it had
hit the hot engine which then started to burn through it and started
to smoke. Not good. So we took it into Big O and got a loaner
Corrolla for 2 days while it was in the shop. They finally got it
fixed and now it no longer smokes, but it still has other issues. Fun
times. Oh well.
Brian Viewheger is set to get baptized this Saturday and is so excited
for it. It is amazing to see the change that can take place in
people. Then Steve Wright is ready and excited for the next week.
Gavin Beckstead got baptized this past week and that was great.
Things have been really going well in this area, now we just need to
find more people so we can keep staying busy. Always the challenge.
Everyone we are working with has started to progress and is looking
forward to us coming over. It is such a joy to teach people that
actually want to be taught, haha, funny how that works.
We are working with quite a few less actives now too from tracting
into them. That is always fun. The one that is making the most
progress right now is Bobbie Noorda. She came to dinner one night
asking the people who were feeding us for a ride to the bank. She
then planned on taking the bus out west to visit some friends. But
her friend called and cancelled in the car and so Sister Cunningham
asked her to stay for dinner and to meet the missionaries. She
agreed. She walked in very apprehensive about what we would be like
but she just said she felt so comfortable and that everything just
felt so right. So she accpeted the challenge to start meeting with
us. Then she wanted to attend church, just sacrament meeting, but she
felt so comfortable and so loved that she stayed for the whole block.
Then she comes to every lesson we have with her and physically takes
notes of the things we talk about. She writes in the back all the
scriptures we studied together and what she felt and learned. She is
so excited. She is literally gobbling the gospel up and loving it.
What a miracle. She told us before she started to meet with us, she
kept praying for help and guidance and just had nowhere to go.
Nowhere to turn. She immediately took the dinner as an answer to her
prayers and quote a scripture from the Book of Mormon she had read
about how the Lord will answer us when we cry out in our afflictions,
another miracle to her. She is amazing and we love her so much and so
does the ward. Wards that welcome in and fellowship investigators or
less active people are so awesome!
Love and prayers!
Elder Hughes
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Another transfer...come and gone
Happy Valentine's Day! (well almost)
This past week has been really great. Another transfer is now over and a new one just started today. I am still with Elder Noll in Taylorsville, which is great because we finally have a lot of good work going and a lot of amazing people we are teaching! I love being a missionary! My district has changed a lot though. We lost the sisters to another district and picked up another set of Spanish elders instead. Elder Hernadez is now back in my district again with his companion Elder Parra. Elder Parra went to Mountain View High School with me and wrestled there. Cool, huh? The only problem is that Elder Hernadez and Elder Jolly do not get along and I am afraid that they might be back at each other's throats again as soon as we have district meeting tomorrow. We will see though, there has to be some reason the Lord made such a big change. Elder Hernadez's area is about 3 miles west of Elder Fordham and Elder Jolly which is about 3 miles south of us. None of us are close to each other or touch each other. I think we are the only district in the mission that does that. Go figure. I am still district leader and I have to say that I am excited to do it again and to keep giving trainings and really learning to love the missionaries in my district.
The Lord has blessed us with many miracles this past week and we are so excited that He has done so! Steve Wright is excited more than ever to be baptized and to start coming to church. We are trying to help him to get clothes lined up so he feels comfortable in going and that is all he needs. We feel the Spirit so strong everytime we visit with him, it is marvelous. I love teaching people that WANT to be taught, haha. Humility is a major requirement for gospel progression is something that I have really learned. Here is a quote that I wrote to President Miller but I wanted to share with you because of the limited time: "Then we have the baptism of a man named Steve Wright and his son Austin (hopefully). That is the one that I am most excited for of all. The gospel has really helped Steve to change and find purpose again in life. When we tracted into him, he was just separated from his wife of 10 years after they had both hit each other. Then he found out that she had cheated on him for the whole duration of thier marriage with various other men. To make matters more interesting, he tore his rotator cuff and his ACL as well that week and lost his job. Talk about a huge wallop. He was heavily contemplating suicide when we knocked on his door and he let us in. After meeting with us a few times, things started to change. He started to smile again, then came true laughter, then he shaved (for the first time in months) and now he is getting nice clothes again so to come to church with us. What a miracle. He has read the entire first half of the Book of Mormon already as well as a lot of the Bible again (he has been Southern Baptist his whole life). He said if all those things hadn't happened to him, he would never have let us in the house but would have just argued with us. Instead he was humbled and open, and the Lord has really changed his heart and brought him true peace and happiness again. This makes everything that we do in the mission field worth it and I love Steve so much and I know the Lord loves him too!"
That is Steve's story and it rocks! The Lord is truly amazing - He put us there (tracting of all things) and we got to his door on exactly the right day at exactly the right time with exactly the right message and words. Only He could orchestrate such an event and I am so grateful we have been living worthy of the Spirit to be able to take part in it.
All the other people we are teaching are doing really well and progressing, we are excited about it. Elder Noll might actually start liking missionary work for the first time in his mission! Sad news: my old camera finally and completely died. No way I can save it anymore, but I still have that other one that Mom sent up a few months ago, so no worries. I am still taking pictures and everything, just not on the camera that I have grown to love and enjoy.
The weather has gotten cold again! Bah! Oh well, we have a half car still, so I can't complain to much. Better to be driving half the time than not to be driving at all. Especially when it doesn't get much above freezing all day long. I am going to live another 6 weeks on a diet of potatoes and salad, wish me luck, haha. At least people try to make it differently and creatively every night so it isn't too bad. Plus we get fresh fruit a lot more often than I ever have on my mission before, that is a huge plus. Especially when they have raspberries, yum!
Well, here is a challenge that our mission president has asked us to give at every dinner appointment we have from now on and I figured I should probably give it to all of you as well. "The 21 day challenge: take the next 21 days to find someone for the missionaries to teach! At every individual and family prayer pray to be led to someone who needs the gospel right now in their life or pray for them to be led to you. Pray to be able to recognize them and to be given the words you need to say. Write down everyone your family can think of that might be interested in meeting with missionaries, then pray over the list by name and pick one to invite. Then invite them to meet with the missionaries in your home on the 21st day of the challenge. To truly show the Lord your faith, set an appointment with the missionaries far in advance and do all you can to have someone to be there to meet with them. The Lord will bless and guide you to those who are prepared for the truth. Your family will come closer together and there will be a spirit of love and closeness in your home that you have not felt before." There it is. I highly encourage everyone to do it, because it will work. I know the Lord answers our prayers and it really does bring the Spirit into homes and lives and families to do missionary work than anything else I have ever experienced. Please write me back if anyone decides to do this and what the results were. Also, ask Sister Moilon in the 18th ward about her experiences or Bishop Louden - they have enough stories to share about this principle and how it has blessed their lives.
I love you all and pray for you all constantly!
Elder Hughes
This past week has been really great. Another transfer is now over and a new one just started today. I am still with Elder Noll in Taylorsville, which is great because we finally have a lot of good work going and a lot of amazing people we are teaching! I love being a missionary! My district has changed a lot though. We lost the sisters to another district and picked up another set of Spanish elders instead. Elder Hernadez is now back in my district again with his companion Elder Parra. Elder Parra went to Mountain View High School with me and wrestled there. Cool, huh? The only problem is that Elder Hernadez and Elder Jolly do not get along and I am afraid that they might be back at each other's throats again as soon as we have district meeting tomorrow. We will see though, there has to be some reason the Lord made such a big change. Elder Hernadez's area is about 3 miles west of Elder Fordham and Elder Jolly which is about 3 miles south of us. None of us are close to each other or touch each other. I think we are the only district in the mission that does that. Go figure. I am still district leader and I have to say that I am excited to do it again and to keep giving trainings and really learning to love the missionaries in my district.
The Lord has blessed us with many miracles this past week and we are so excited that He has done so! Steve Wright is excited more than ever to be baptized and to start coming to church. We are trying to help him to get clothes lined up so he feels comfortable in going and that is all he needs. We feel the Spirit so strong everytime we visit with him, it is marvelous. I love teaching people that WANT to be taught, haha. Humility is a major requirement for gospel progression is something that I have really learned. Here is a quote that I wrote to President Miller but I wanted to share with you because of the limited time: "Then we have the baptism of a man named Steve Wright and his son Austin (hopefully). That is the one that I am most excited for of all. The gospel has really helped Steve to change and find purpose again in life. When we tracted into him, he was just separated from his wife of 10 years after they had both hit each other. Then he found out that she had cheated on him for the whole duration of thier marriage with various other men. To make matters more interesting, he tore his rotator cuff and his ACL as well that week and lost his job. Talk about a huge wallop. He was heavily contemplating suicide when we knocked on his door and he let us in. After meeting with us a few times, things started to change. He started to smile again, then came true laughter, then he shaved (for the first time in months) and now he is getting nice clothes again so to come to church with us. What a miracle. He has read the entire first half of the Book of Mormon already as well as a lot of the Bible again (he has been Southern Baptist his whole life). He said if all those things hadn't happened to him, he would never have let us in the house but would have just argued with us. Instead he was humbled and open, and the Lord has really changed his heart and brought him true peace and happiness again. This makes everything that we do in the mission field worth it and I love Steve so much and I know the Lord loves him too!"
That is Steve's story and it rocks! The Lord is truly amazing - He put us there (tracting of all things) and we got to his door on exactly the right day at exactly the right time with exactly the right message and words. Only He could orchestrate such an event and I am so grateful we have been living worthy of the Spirit to be able to take part in it.
All the other people we are teaching are doing really well and progressing, we are excited about it. Elder Noll might actually start liking missionary work for the first time in his mission! Sad news: my old camera finally and completely died. No way I can save it anymore, but I still have that other one that Mom sent up a few months ago, so no worries. I am still taking pictures and everything, just not on the camera that I have grown to love and enjoy.
The weather has gotten cold again! Bah! Oh well, we have a half car still, so I can't complain to much. Better to be driving half the time than not to be driving at all. Especially when it doesn't get much above freezing all day long. I am going to live another 6 weeks on a diet of potatoes and salad, wish me luck, haha. At least people try to make it differently and creatively every night so it isn't too bad. Plus we get fresh fruit a lot more often than I ever have on my mission before, that is a huge plus. Especially when they have raspberries, yum!
Well, here is a challenge that our mission president has asked us to give at every dinner appointment we have from now on and I figured I should probably give it to all of you as well. "The 21 day challenge: take the next 21 days to find someone for the missionaries to teach! At every individual and family prayer pray to be led to someone who needs the gospel right now in their life or pray for them to be led to you. Pray to be able to recognize them and to be given the words you need to say. Write down everyone your family can think of that might be interested in meeting with missionaries, then pray over the list by name and pick one to invite. Then invite them to meet with the missionaries in your home on the 21st day of the challenge. To truly show the Lord your faith, set an appointment with the missionaries far in advance and do all you can to have someone to be there to meet with them. The Lord will bless and guide you to those who are prepared for the truth. Your family will come closer together and there will be a spirit of love and closeness in your home that you have not felt before." There it is. I highly encourage everyone to do it, because it will work. I know the Lord answers our prayers and it really does bring the Spirit into homes and lives and families to do missionary work than anything else I have ever experienced. Please write me back if anyone decides to do this and what the results were. Also, ask Sister Moilon in the 18th ward about her experiences or Bishop Louden - they have enough stories to share about this principle and how it has blessed their lives.
I love you all and pray for you all constantly!
Elder Hughes
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Happy Groundhog Day!!
Good morning everyone!
Well, the weather up here in Utah is dead cold! Yesterday we were walking and I don't think I have ever been so cold my whole life - even with thermals, wool socks, jackets, sweaters, you name it. My face was definitely the coldest part of me and I think my nose would have fallen off eventually, haha. But we survived and were able to get rides for most of the night so that we were not out during the coldest part of the day. The weird part is that it was so bright and sunny yesterday, it looked like it could have been in the 80's because there was no snow or any real sign of winter. But go outside and it was like getting smacked by an ice wall. Utah can be so deceiving. I hope that if it stays this cold, it will snow! Cold without the snow is so pointless to me. Defeats the whole point of winter, lol.
Another transfer is almost over, that also blows my mind. It feels like I just got to this area yesterday and now I have been here for almost 3 months. We are finally having a baptism this Saturday! It is for a 9 year old kid named Chance and we are hoping to get a baptism for every weekend after that throughout February. We have people on date for baptism and they are sincere in their desires to work towards baptism so we are praying everything works out and that nothing monumental gets in the way. Something always does though, without fail Satan always has to rear his ugly head at some point in the battle. No baptism has ever been easy yet and I don't expect it ever will be in the future. Too much is at stake that we constantly fight against everyday.
Last week I had a baptism in my old area! It was the Reese family - Tina (45), Bailee (14), Dylan (11), and Cassidy (9) and it was probably the most powerful baptism I have ever been to. The family has been taught since July of last year and has been on date and off date for baptism since then. They have always attended church though and have always had a testimony of the gospel, they were just all waiting for each other to get there. It finally happened and it was amazing! Most of the Draper Mountain Point 4th ward showed up and the talks and the prayers and everything was perfect for the family. Everyone there had a great love for this family and had been praying for them to succeed on their various problems and it was a miracle for finally see it happen! It was nice to see them again and Tina tried to give me a hug afterward, which I had to refuse. Sometimes being a missionary is really hard that way. I had to give the talk on the Holy Ghost and I could barely make it through the Spirit was so strong. I an not normally ever a crier, trust me, but I was crying at this baptism. The whole family was just radiant and smiling and everything was perfect. It blew me away.
We got to give talks at church in Sunday too and I forgot how much I love speaking about missionary work. We are going to have to talk more often! I didn't get very much time either - they had a youth speaker, our visa waiter, then a rest hymn, then Elder Noll, then I was last. Turned out I had about 5 minutes and I took about 7 and only got through about 1 1/2 of the5 points I wanted to make. Everyone was laughing though and I was quoted in the closing prayer that the whole ward would become those "crazy smiley" people that bring others into the gospel. That was fun!
It never ceases to amaze me how much the Lord loves people or how many miracles we see everyday. We were visiting with Steve Wright last night and he is now on date to be baptized on February 26 and he told us the whole story of why we were let in the house. He and his wife had just had a bitter separation from each other after 10 years of marriage because of a domestic violence charge against both of them. Before they ever got into that fight though, he found out that his wife had been cheating on him throughout the entire marriage with various other guys. So he felt down in the dumps and he was contemplating suicide. The only thing that was holding him on was his two sons. Then he tore his rotator cuff and ACL and had to quit his job. So he felt even more worthless. That was when the Lord brought us back to his door and he allowed us in to share the message of the Restoration. Everyday since then about a week and half ago, his smile gets bigger and bigger, he has started laugh again, he has found new purpose for life and he loves the Book of Mormon and is so excited for baptism. Talk about a change! I am so glad that we have this gospel and church that gives us so much hope and optimism and can even light up the darkest lives at the darkest times! He plans on going to church this Sunday for the first time (the only time in his life he will have set foot in another church besides a Baptist one) and he is looking forward to it. He said if we would have come before all the pain started, he never would have opened the door or at least would have slammed it in our faces. But the Lord knew him and he said that the Lord gave him what was needed so that he would join our church. His entire outlook on his life and his trials has changed and it amazes me. I don't think I could do what he is doing and put it all behind me, but he is and he is being so blessed for it. I am so thankful we have a loving Heavenly Father and a loving Savior who atoned not only for our sins but for every heartache and depression and desertion we have to go through in this life. Steve has clearly shown me that the Atonement covers everything and he has allowed it to change his life.
We started to teach the Garcia family as well and I don't think I have ever had a more powerful first lesson. It was short, about 30 minutes. But the Spirit was so strong and spoke to both Br. and Sis. Garcia in such powerful and moving ways. They too have been very prepared because of their circumstances to hear the gospel and were so excited to read and pray about the Book of Mormon. Br. Garcia gave one of the most humble, moving closing prayers ever - and the first he has ever offered out loud that wasn't a rote thing from the Catholic church! We are so excited for them, they are also on date for February 26 and are excited for that. They are struggling to get church clothes, we think, but are going to try the best that they can.
Another miracle happened as well, we got Brian Veiwheger on date for February 19 and all the supplies that he needs to quite smoking about a week before then! He originally only wanted to get baptized in May and wasn't williing to move it up. But we were praying really hard that the Lord would soften his heart and help his faith to grow and it did! When we extended the date, he at first denied it. But then he thought about it, prayed about it and accepted it with all of his heart. Then his mother told us that it would be the perfect day because it was her older son's birthday and he had past away many years ago. It would be a fitting tribute to him and the only way to bind the family together forever to have Brian get baptized so she was all for it and then Brian got even more excited about it and everything moved forward! AMAZING!
Well time is short and I actually wrote people letters today so something should be coming in the mail later this week! I love you all and pray for you everyday, I hope for all the greatest happiness for you!
Elder Hughes
Well, the weather up here in Utah is dead cold! Yesterday we were walking and I don't think I have ever been so cold my whole life - even with thermals, wool socks, jackets, sweaters, you name it. My face was definitely the coldest part of me and I think my nose would have fallen off eventually, haha. But we survived and were able to get rides for most of the night so that we were not out during the coldest part of the day. The weird part is that it was so bright and sunny yesterday, it looked like it could have been in the 80's because there was no snow or any real sign of winter. But go outside and it was like getting smacked by an ice wall. Utah can be so deceiving. I hope that if it stays this cold, it will snow! Cold without the snow is so pointless to me. Defeats the whole point of winter, lol.
Another transfer is almost over, that also blows my mind. It feels like I just got to this area yesterday and now I have been here for almost 3 months. We are finally having a baptism this Saturday! It is for a 9 year old kid named Chance and we are hoping to get a baptism for every weekend after that throughout February. We have people on date for baptism and they are sincere in their desires to work towards baptism so we are praying everything works out and that nothing monumental gets in the way. Something always does though, without fail Satan always has to rear his ugly head at some point in the battle. No baptism has ever been easy yet and I don't expect it ever will be in the future. Too much is at stake that we constantly fight against everyday.
Last week I had a baptism in my old area! It was the Reese family - Tina (45), Bailee (14), Dylan (11), and Cassidy (9) and it was probably the most powerful baptism I have ever been to. The family has been taught since July of last year and has been on date and off date for baptism since then. They have always attended church though and have always had a testimony of the gospel, they were just all waiting for each other to get there. It finally happened and it was amazing! Most of the Draper Mountain Point 4th ward showed up and the talks and the prayers and everything was perfect for the family. Everyone there had a great love for this family and had been praying for them to succeed on their various problems and it was a miracle for finally see it happen! It was nice to see them again and Tina tried to give me a hug afterward, which I had to refuse. Sometimes being a missionary is really hard that way. I had to give the talk on the Holy Ghost and I could barely make it through the Spirit was so strong. I an not normally ever a crier, trust me, but I was crying at this baptism. The whole family was just radiant and smiling and everything was perfect. It blew me away.
We got to give talks at church in Sunday too and I forgot how much I love speaking about missionary work. We are going to have to talk more often! I didn't get very much time either - they had a youth speaker, our visa waiter, then a rest hymn, then Elder Noll, then I was last. Turned out I had about 5 minutes and I took about 7 and only got through about 1 1/2 of the5 points I wanted to make. Everyone was laughing though and I was quoted in the closing prayer that the whole ward would become those "crazy smiley" people that bring others into the gospel. That was fun!
It never ceases to amaze me how much the Lord loves people or how many miracles we see everyday. We were visiting with Steve Wright last night and he is now on date to be baptized on February 26 and he told us the whole story of why we were let in the house. He and his wife had just had a bitter separation from each other after 10 years of marriage because of a domestic violence charge against both of them. Before they ever got into that fight though, he found out that his wife had been cheating on him throughout the entire marriage with various other guys. So he felt down in the dumps and he was contemplating suicide. The only thing that was holding him on was his two sons. Then he tore his rotator cuff and ACL and had to quit his job. So he felt even more worthless. That was when the Lord brought us back to his door and he allowed us in to share the message of the Restoration. Everyday since then about a week and half ago, his smile gets bigger and bigger, he has started laugh again, he has found new purpose for life and he loves the Book of Mormon and is so excited for baptism. Talk about a change! I am so glad that we have this gospel and church that gives us so much hope and optimism and can even light up the darkest lives at the darkest times! He plans on going to church this Sunday for the first time (the only time in his life he will have set foot in another church besides a Baptist one) and he is looking forward to it. He said if we would have come before all the pain started, he never would have opened the door or at least would have slammed it in our faces. But the Lord knew him and he said that the Lord gave him what was needed so that he would join our church. His entire outlook on his life and his trials has changed and it amazes me. I don't think I could do what he is doing and put it all behind me, but he is and he is being so blessed for it. I am so thankful we have a loving Heavenly Father and a loving Savior who atoned not only for our sins but for every heartache and depression and desertion we have to go through in this life. Steve has clearly shown me that the Atonement covers everything and he has allowed it to change his life.
We started to teach the Garcia family as well and I don't think I have ever had a more powerful first lesson. It was short, about 30 minutes. But the Spirit was so strong and spoke to both Br. and Sis. Garcia in such powerful and moving ways. They too have been very prepared because of their circumstances to hear the gospel and were so excited to read and pray about the Book of Mormon. Br. Garcia gave one of the most humble, moving closing prayers ever - and the first he has ever offered out loud that wasn't a rote thing from the Catholic church! We are so excited for them, they are also on date for February 26 and are excited for that. They are struggling to get church clothes, we think, but are going to try the best that they can.
Another miracle happened as well, we got Brian Veiwheger on date for February 19 and all the supplies that he needs to quite smoking about a week before then! He originally only wanted to get baptized in May and wasn't williing to move it up. But we were praying really hard that the Lord would soften his heart and help his faith to grow and it did! When we extended the date, he at first denied it. But then he thought about it, prayed about it and accepted it with all of his heart. Then his mother told us that it would be the perfect day because it was her older son's birthday and he had past away many years ago. It would be a fitting tribute to him and the only way to bind the family together forever to have Brian get baptized so she was all for it and then Brian got even more excited about it and everything moved forward! AMAZING!
Well time is short and I actually wrote people letters today so something should be coming in the mail later this week! I love you all and pray for you everyday, I hope for all the greatest happiness for you!
Elder Hughes
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Good afternoon everyone!
Can you believe it? January is almost over....and all the sisters that came out the transfer before I did are now going home. We are going to miss Sister Johnson in my district quite a lot, she was a great missionary and was a lot of fun to be around. The district that we have right now is AWESOME, completely awesome. All of us are so connected to each other and we all care and pray for each other and everyone loves each other. And it helps the work to move along and stay strong quite a bit. We all help to motivate each other and and are all concerned about each other's investigators and seeing them progress in the gospel. Even the senior couples seem really involved. It is the coolest feeling and the best.
I did get the box from the family and it has a lot of great stuff in it, so thanks so much! The grapefruit and oranges have also been a lifesaver because right now we all have this stupid cough/cold thing that none of us can get over. I think I have had it for a week and half now and there is no improvment, but we go into the doctor tomorrow and at least we are trying to get our vitamin C as much as we can. Funny thing is that no one else seems to be used to getting sick, I don't feel it is any big deal and that work can continue on as normal. My companions don't feel quite the same way and haven't been sick in years and never with a cough before. How does that work? I seem to get the same cough every year around January and it sticks around for awhile and I get sick fairly frequently throughout the year from various things, but then these people never get sick. Oh well, Heavenly Father has something for me to learn from it I guess.
You are getting a job Mom? Doing what? Playground aid? or crosswalk guard? or what? That is cool! I will be sure to pray for you on that and know the Lord will bless you.
Right now, Chance Johnson is progressing rapidly towards baptism on February 5 and we are so excited for that. Everyone else that seemed so solid for this upcoming weekend has now fallen off date thanks to no church attendance this past Sunday. I don't see how it can be such a struggle to get to church in this area, but it is. No matter how many times you invite or call or do whatever, the people just don't come. It is kind of frustrating sometimes, but we keep trying and the Lord grants us many sweet spiritual experiences for our efforts in trying to do what is right. We have been picking up a ton of new investigators lately, many of which seem very sincere and want to learn the gospel and we are so very excited.
We had interviews with president last week and he said something that was an answer to my prayers and that I really needed to hear. A lot of people in my district are struggling right now with various things and I have been trying my hardest and praying my heart out to help them, all to no avail is what it seems like at the time. But when we were in the interview President made me go through and report on everyone in my district and where thay are at right now and then he thanked me for all the hard work I had done. He said he really took a gamble when he called me as a district leader because he didn't know me at all or what I would do with it. But the Lord prompted Him to do it and so He did. He said he prayed often about that choice he made after that and that the Lord confirmed it every time and that my hard work and the changes that he had seen in people had also shown him that it was truly the Lord's will that I be a district leader at this time. If that wasn't enough, my training yesterday wasn't the best - I was losing my voice and coughing through most of it. But two missionaries ended up in tears by the end of it and said that from the things we had discussed they had received an answer to their prayers and that they now knew what the Lord wanted them to do. I had prayed so hard to know what to train on and where to go with it and I got some answers but nothing seemed to fit together, but thank goodness for the Spirit taking over and really helping missionaries with what they needed. It really touched my heart and made me grateful. I don't want to sound like I am boasting or anything, but as soon as I was praying for understanding about my calling, the Lord answered in so many wonderful ways that were what I needed. Plus He answered the prayers of the other missionaries in my district for their needs, He is amazing!
Well, I am running out of time because we are at a library and only get 30 minutes to do all the emailing we need to do, but I love you all and pray for you all!
Elder Hughes
Can you believe it? January is almost over....and all the sisters that came out the transfer before I did are now going home. We are going to miss Sister Johnson in my district quite a lot, she was a great missionary and was a lot of fun to be around. The district that we have right now is AWESOME, completely awesome. All of us are so connected to each other and we all care and pray for each other and everyone loves each other. And it helps the work to move along and stay strong quite a bit. We all help to motivate each other and and are all concerned about each other's investigators and seeing them progress in the gospel. Even the senior couples seem really involved. It is the coolest feeling and the best.
I did get the box from the family and it has a lot of great stuff in it, so thanks so much! The grapefruit and oranges have also been a lifesaver because right now we all have this stupid cough/cold thing that none of us can get over. I think I have had it for a week and half now and there is no improvment, but we go into the doctor tomorrow and at least we are trying to get our vitamin C as much as we can. Funny thing is that no one else seems to be used to getting sick, I don't feel it is any big deal and that work can continue on as normal. My companions don't feel quite the same way and haven't been sick in years and never with a cough before. How does that work? I seem to get the same cough every year around January and it sticks around for awhile and I get sick fairly frequently throughout the year from various things, but then these people never get sick. Oh well, Heavenly Father has something for me to learn from it I guess.
You are getting a job Mom? Doing what? Playground aid? or crosswalk guard? or what? That is cool! I will be sure to pray for you on that and know the Lord will bless you.
Right now, Chance Johnson is progressing rapidly towards baptism on February 5 and we are so excited for that. Everyone else that seemed so solid for this upcoming weekend has now fallen off date thanks to no church attendance this past Sunday. I don't see how it can be such a struggle to get to church in this area, but it is. No matter how many times you invite or call or do whatever, the people just don't come. It is kind of frustrating sometimes, but we keep trying and the Lord grants us many sweet spiritual experiences for our efforts in trying to do what is right. We have been picking up a ton of new investigators lately, many of which seem very sincere and want to learn the gospel and we are so very excited.
We had interviews with president last week and he said something that was an answer to my prayers and that I really needed to hear. A lot of people in my district are struggling right now with various things and I have been trying my hardest and praying my heart out to help them, all to no avail is what it seems like at the time. But when we were in the interview President made me go through and report on everyone in my district and where thay are at right now and then he thanked me for all the hard work I had done. He said he really took a gamble when he called me as a district leader because he didn't know me at all or what I would do with it. But the Lord prompted Him to do it and so He did. He said he prayed often about that choice he made after that and that the Lord confirmed it every time and that my hard work and the changes that he had seen in people had also shown him that it was truly the Lord's will that I be a district leader at this time. If that wasn't enough, my training yesterday wasn't the best - I was losing my voice and coughing through most of it. But two missionaries ended up in tears by the end of it and said that from the things we had discussed they had received an answer to their prayers and that they now knew what the Lord wanted them to do. I had prayed so hard to know what to train on and where to go with it and I got some answers but nothing seemed to fit together, but thank goodness for the Spirit taking over and really helping missionaries with what they needed. It really touched my heart and made me grateful. I don't want to sound like I am boasting or anything, but as soon as I was praying for understanding about my calling, the Lord answered in so many wonderful ways that were what I needed. Plus He answered the prayers of the other missionaries in my district for their needs, He is amazing!
Well, I am running out of time because we are at a library and only get 30 minutes to do all the emailing we need to do, but I love you all and pray for you all!
Elder Hughes
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Good morning everybody!
Life is amazing! This past week has been one of the fastest and busiest of my mission! I don't know where all these blessings came from, but I am eternally grateful for them and the experiences they have given me. We were able to find quite a few familes to start teaching this past week - all of which are honest, sincere seekers of truth. No more of these bashing, hating on Mormon people! We started to teach Chance Johnson. He is an unbaptized 9 year old who has been attending church regularly with his aunt for the past 3 months. His mom is currently in prison and finally gave her consent for him to be taught and baptized, which is his heart's greatest desire. Teaching him is like teaching a nursery class though - very little information, a lot of repeating, and everything is as simple as we can get it. He is mostly deaf and has a hard time speaking. He also suffers from severe ADHD and so it is very hard to keep his attention focused on anyone thing for more than 3 or 4 minutes. It has been fun though to try to teach as simply as possible, get down to the bare basics of the doctrines needed to understand for baptism. He also suffers from short term memory loss - he very much reminds me of Dori in Finding Nemo the way that he acts and speaks and does things. It's not bad, just different than anything I have ever done on my mission. We really love him a lot though and he is set to get baptized on February 5 after his uncle gets back from Surprise, AZ so he can baptize him. Another family is the Garcia family. They are both not members but walked up to the bishop while he was shoveling his sidewalk and asked to be taught about the gospel. We were so excited but it took us so long to find them! They live in a mostly Hispanic home and there has to be about 30 people living there - 5 or 6 families. Everyone that lives on the top floor where the front door is had no idea what we were talking about. Finally we got someone and pointed to the bishop's house and asked for who wanted to be taught - they led us to a door in the backyard and we finally met Sister Garcia. She and her husband have been very prepared for the gospel and really want God and the church in their lives right now. Both of them were soaking in the scripture we shared on Sunday and were excited for us to come back this evening. They are amazing! We also starting teaching a Native American lady named Juanita and her two daughters. Juanita has been meeting with missionaries for over the past 20 years before she moved into the apartments that she lives in now. I don't know how she has managed to not get baptized for so long - the Spirit was there so strong last night as we bore our testimonies and shared about the Book of Mormon. She gave us a little test though asking us why we were on our missions. We all answered truthfully and apparently passed the test because she set up a return appointment. She said she hates "fake" missionaries and that you can always tell the missionaries who lie about their testimonies and who aren't out for any of the right reasons. We all bore simple, humble testimony though and apparently that was what she was hoping for. She broke down in tears towards the end of the lesson and agreed that she deserves to be in this church and to get an answer about the gospel. She doesn't feel worthy of it though or that other people in the church will accept her - she doesn't trust anyone. She barely trusted us after feeling the Spirit so strongly last night. We are excited to keep teaching her and working with her, but she has some major struggles ahead of her, I fear so we will see what happens.
In other news, Sherry Thomas has finally managed to get Sundays off so she can attend church this Sunday and shooting for baptism on the 29th of January. She is so excited for baptism and has a strong testimony of the gospel and Book of Mormon. It was great to finally see her put her faith in God and ask for Sundays off and have the belief and promise that she will still be provided for in the future. It took her a long time to get to that point, but it was a miracle and blessing to watch her get there.
The Beckstead family is doing great as well. They are loving the scriptures, praying, coming to church, you name it they have turned around 180 degrees and are now accepting and embracing it. What a miraculous change! We hope to be able to get Gavin - their unbaptized 9 year old - baptized this Sunday after church is over. Then to keep working with the whole family to help them get to the temple sometime in the next year. They are amazing and we love them as well.
We are also meeting with a man named Steve Wright. He is from Texas and a Baptist. But when we went over the Restoration of the gospel last week, I really think he was struggling to hold back tears. He accepted the Book of Mormon and was excited to start reading it and praying to find out if it is true or not. He believed everything we went over with Joseph Smith and where the Book of Mormon came from and was so happy to finally learn the truth that Joseph Smith didn't write the Book of Mormon but translated it. His face lit up when we read that from the Introduction page and he got excited about it.
Jennifer Golson, a less active member, is excited to attend church this Sunday. She fed us dinner on Monday night because she wanted to give us something in return for helping her find the gospel again. She has been praying constantly for the past few weeks and her face has really started to change and light up. That is one of the coolest parts of being a missionary is seeing that transition on people's faces as they start to swith from dark to light and the smile that comes with it.
In other news, I got the fruit box from Sister Hord. Boy, was that a surprise when she called me, haha. She just dropped the fruit off at my apartment and I got it later in the evening last night. I was so excited to open it and see what was on the inside! I am going to be pigging out on grapefruit for as long as I can! And oranges! Delicious! No more of these cheap supermarket oranges that taste so nasty, but the real stuff! We were also having a heat wave with temperatures in the 40's the past few days, it was great because we didn't have the car. Today though, it is snowing and snowing quite a bit so as always Utah proves to be bipolar and shift back and forth between weather patterns. Biking the past week though was really great and we are all sore from it, we have also been working out pretty good in the mornings. I do 100 situps, 500 crunchies, and about 20 minutes of running or jumping rope or doing stairs. I don't think I have sweat so much in my life as I have the past week from doing all those things! Swimming was so much easier and you never felt gross, haha. But I am enjoying it and it has made a big differnce - I have more energy throughout the day and can sleep a little bit better at night. Also throw in some lunges and shoulder workouts as well. I still can't do a push up - my shoulder kills me after doing 3 and it hurts for the whole next day and half. So I stopped doing those and just do stuff that doesn't hurt. I am ready to never eat sherbert again in my life! Every dinner appointment we get more sherbert because that is about the only dessert that Elder Noll can eat, which is fine and great. But the family doesn't ever want to eat it, so they make us finish the whole half gallon before we leave, lol. So after my mission, I will avoid sherbert at all costs. That and I have discovered how much I truly love eating meat and how much I miss it. But at least lunch and dinner I can get a protein kick from making my own food. It is not bad, but I could never be a good vegetarian, or at least a happy one haha. That is still crazy to me that everyone is starting to come home and the difference it makes. I am so not ready for that moment yet - there is way to much work still to do! I hope everyone is doing well and loving life!
Much love and prayers,
Elder Hughes
Life is amazing! This past week has been one of the fastest and busiest of my mission! I don't know where all these blessings came from, but I am eternally grateful for them and the experiences they have given me. We were able to find quite a few familes to start teaching this past week - all of which are honest, sincere seekers of truth. No more of these bashing, hating on Mormon people! We started to teach Chance Johnson. He is an unbaptized 9 year old who has been attending church regularly with his aunt for the past 3 months. His mom is currently in prison and finally gave her consent for him to be taught and baptized, which is his heart's greatest desire. Teaching him is like teaching a nursery class though - very little information, a lot of repeating, and everything is as simple as we can get it. He is mostly deaf and has a hard time speaking. He also suffers from severe ADHD and so it is very hard to keep his attention focused on anyone thing for more than 3 or 4 minutes. It has been fun though to try to teach as simply as possible, get down to the bare basics of the doctrines needed to understand for baptism. He also suffers from short term memory loss - he very much reminds me of Dori in Finding Nemo the way that he acts and speaks and does things. It's not bad, just different than anything I have ever done on my mission. We really love him a lot though and he is set to get baptized on February 5 after his uncle gets back from Surprise, AZ so he can baptize him. Another family is the Garcia family. They are both not members but walked up to the bishop while he was shoveling his sidewalk and asked to be taught about the gospel. We were so excited but it took us so long to find them! They live in a mostly Hispanic home and there has to be about 30 people living there - 5 or 6 families. Everyone that lives on the top floor where the front door is had no idea what we were talking about. Finally we got someone and pointed to the bishop's house and asked for who wanted to be taught - they led us to a door in the backyard and we finally met Sister Garcia. She and her husband have been very prepared for the gospel and really want God and the church in their lives right now. Both of them were soaking in the scripture we shared on Sunday and were excited for us to come back this evening. They are amazing! We also starting teaching a Native American lady named Juanita and her two daughters. Juanita has been meeting with missionaries for over the past 20 years before she moved into the apartments that she lives in now. I don't know how she has managed to not get baptized for so long - the Spirit was there so strong last night as we bore our testimonies and shared about the Book of Mormon. She gave us a little test though asking us why we were on our missions. We all answered truthfully and apparently passed the test because she set up a return appointment. She said she hates "fake" missionaries and that you can always tell the missionaries who lie about their testimonies and who aren't out for any of the right reasons. We all bore simple, humble testimony though and apparently that was what she was hoping for. She broke down in tears towards the end of the lesson and agreed that she deserves to be in this church and to get an answer about the gospel. She doesn't feel worthy of it though or that other people in the church will accept her - she doesn't trust anyone. She barely trusted us after feeling the Spirit so strongly last night. We are excited to keep teaching her and working with her, but she has some major struggles ahead of her, I fear so we will see what happens.
In other news, Sherry Thomas has finally managed to get Sundays off so she can attend church this Sunday and shooting for baptism on the 29th of January. She is so excited for baptism and has a strong testimony of the gospel and Book of Mormon. It was great to finally see her put her faith in God and ask for Sundays off and have the belief and promise that she will still be provided for in the future. It took her a long time to get to that point, but it was a miracle and blessing to watch her get there.
The Beckstead family is doing great as well. They are loving the scriptures, praying, coming to church, you name it they have turned around 180 degrees and are now accepting and embracing it. What a miraculous change! We hope to be able to get Gavin - their unbaptized 9 year old - baptized this Sunday after church is over. Then to keep working with the whole family to help them get to the temple sometime in the next year. They are amazing and we love them as well.
We are also meeting with a man named Steve Wright. He is from Texas and a Baptist. But when we went over the Restoration of the gospel last week, I really think he was struggling to hold back tears. He accepted the Book of Mormon and was excited to start reading it and praying to find out if it is true or not. He believed everything we went over with Joseph Smith and where the Book of Mormon came from and was so happy to finally learn the truth that Joseph Smith didn't write the Book of Mormon but translated it. His face lit up when we read that from the Introduction page and he got excited about it.
Jennifer Golson, a less active member, is excited to attend church this Sunday. She fed us dinner on Monday night because she wanted to give us something in return for helping her find the gospel again. She has been praying constantly for the past few weeks and her face has really started to change and light up. That is one of the coolest parts of being a missionary is seeing that transition on people's faces as they start to swith from dark to light and the smile that comes with it.
In other news, I got the fruit box from Sister Hord. Boy, was that a surprise when she called me, haha. She just dropped the fruit off at my apartment and I got it later in the evening last night. I was so excited to open it and see what was on the inside! I am going to be pigging out on grapefruit for as long as I can! And oranges! Delicious! No more of these cheap supermarket oranges that taste so nasty, but the real stuff! We were also having a heat wave with temperatures in the 40's the past few days, it was great because we didn't have the car. Today though, it is snowing and snowing quite a bit so as always Utah proves to be bipolar and shift back and forth between weather patterns. Biking the past week though was really great and we are all sore from it, we have also been working out pretty good in the mornings. I do 100 situps, 500 crunchies, and about 20 minutes of running or jumping rope or doing stairs. I don't think I have sweat so much in my life as I have the past week from doing all those things! Swimming was so much easier and you never felt gross, haha. But I am enjoying it and it has made a big differnce - I have more energy throughout the day and can sleep a little bit better at night. Also throw in some lunges and shoulder workouts as well. I still can't do a push up - my shoulder kills me after doing 3 and it hurts for the whole next day and half. So I stopped doing those and just do stuff that doesn't hurt. I am ready to never eat sherbert again in my life! Every dinner appointment we get more sherbert because that is about the only dessert that Elder Noll can eat, which is fine and great. But the family doesn't ever want to eat it, so they make us finish the whole half gallon before we leave, lol. So after my mission, I will avoid sherbert at all costs. That and I have discovered how much I truly love eating meat and how much I miss it. But at least lunch and dinner I can get a protein kick from making my own food. It is not bad, but I could never be a good vegetarian, or at least a happy one haha. That is still crazy to me that everyone is starting to come home and the difference it makes. I am so not ready for that moment yet - there is way to much work still to do! I hope everyone is doing well and loving life!
Much love and prayers,
Elder Hughes
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Good afternoon everybody!
Well, time is really short today. The library is packed and we did not get a computer until 5:15 so I don't have very much time left to write because we have an appointment at 6. Life has been very busy and full this past week. We picked up a new missionary on Saturday - Elder Abbott. He is a visa waiter waiting to go to Mexico, so his visa should come sometime in the next two months. Until that time we are trying to fit in Spanish language study and other things to help him to keep the language while at the same time helping our area to work hard. Should be interesting. He has a strong testimony of the gospel and loves talking to people, which is great. He hates the cold though, more than I thought anyone ever could. So much that it doesn't allow us to get all the work done that we need to, but we went and bought warmer clothes for him today like thermals and wool socks so we will see if that helps at all or changes anything. It is interesting as well to watch someone go through the exact same thing that I went through a little over a year ago - wondering if you are really supposed to be where you are at. Amazingly, miracles still happen everyday to confirm to me that everything is alright and that things will keep heading in the right direction. I hope the same things are happening to Elder Abbott, he gets easily discouraged when we knock on so many doors and everyone rejects us, but the Lord has blessed us with quite a few appointments with new investigators this week so we will see how that goes. I have faith that things can and will work out for the best! In other news, we had leadership training almost all day the past two days. Went over Mormon.org (every missionary is supposed to be using it weekly now), obedience, how no missionary in the world can teach the great apostasy well or correctly, how to do better role plays, better district leader councils, etc. Lots and lots of discussion and debate and trying to figure out where the mission should go. Lots of awesome spiritual experiences as well. It was good, but an information overload for sure. Our area looks like it should hopefully be picking up this week and we have had no trouble finding ways to keep busy. We are working hard and truly being blessed as a result - although Elder Noll still refuses to see it but we are working on that. This past week was actually nice and sunny! No more of that terrible nasty plague that has been labelled "the inversion". I think a better title would be called the "fog of death", but whatever works. It finally snowed this week and cleared out all the pollution and we finally got some nice sunshine to break up winter. It was a treat. Hopefully, it keeps snowing frequently so that the inversion does not come back to stay but the air remains clean and safe to breathe. I find it really hard to believe that Elder Gibson is now home - that is just crazy!!! It feels like he just left and it means that I am coming home sometime soon, very weird. Also, everyone else will be getting home soon, also weird and hard to believe. Tell him that he is awesome from me and hopefully in the next few weeks I will be able to respond to the letter that I just got from Brazil from him - except now to his home address, that will be different. Life continues on in the mission field at an ever faster pace. I don't think time ever slows down for anyone, sometimes I wish it would. But oh well. Life is great and I am loving it!
Lots of love and prayers,
Elder Hughes
Well, time is really short today. The library is packed and we did not get a computer until 5:15 so I don't have very much time left to write because we have an appointment at 6. Life has been very busy and full this past week. We picked up a new missionary on Saturday - Elder Abbott. He is a visa waiter waiting to go to Mexico, so his visa should come sometime in the next two months. Until that time we are trying to fit in Spanish language study and other things to help him to keep the language while at the same time helping our area to work hard. Should be interesting. He has a strong testimony of the gospel and loves talking to people, which is great. He hates the cold though, more than I thought anyone ever could. So much that it doesn't allow us to get all the work done that we need to, but we went and bought warmer clothes for him today like thermals and wool socks so we will see if that helps at all or changes anything. It is interesting as well to watch someone go through the exact same thing that I went through a little over a year ago - wondering if you are really supposed to be where you are at. Amazingly, miracles still happen everyday to confirm to me that everything is alright and that things will keep heading in the right direction. I hope the same things are happening to Elder Abbott, he gets easily discouraged when we knock on so many doors and everyone rejects us, but the Lord has blessed us with quite a few appointments with new investigators this week so we will see how that goes. I have faith that things can and will work out for the best! In other news, we had leadership training almost all day the past two days. Went over Mormon.org (every missionary is supposed to be using it weekly now), obedience, how no missionary in the world can teach the great apostasy well or correctly, how to do better role plays, better district leader councils, etc. Lots and lots of discussion and debate and trying to figure out where the mission should go. Lots of awesome spiritual experiences as well. It was good, but an information overload for sure. Our area looks like it should hopefully be picking up this week and we have had no trouble finding ways to keep busy. We are working hard and truly being blessed as a result - although Elder Noll still refuses to see it but we are working on that. This past week was actually nice and sunny! No more of that terrible nasty plague that has been labelled "the inversion". I think a better title would be called the "fog of death", but whatever works. It finally snowed this week and cleared out all the pollution and we finally got some nice sunshine to break up winter. It was a treat. Hopefully, it keeps snowing frequently so that the inversion does not come back to stay but the air remains clean and safe to breathe. I find it really hard to believe that Elder Gibson is now home - that is just crazy!!! It feels like he just left and it means that I am coming home sometime soon, very weird. Also, everyone else will be getting home soon, also weird and hard to believe. Tell him that he is awesome from me and hopefully in the next few weeks I will be able to respond to the letter that I just got from Brazil from him - except now to his home address, that will be different. Life continues on in the mission field at an ever faster pace. I don't think time ever slows down for anyone, sometimes I wish it would. But oh well. Life is great and I am loving it!
Lots of love and prayers,
Elder Hughes
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Last year of the mission?
Happy winter everybody!
Well, life here in Utah has been very cold and very wet this past week. Lots of snow and very cold temperatures to ring in the new year. As always, whenever the biggest snowstorms seem to hit, we did not have the car. So we were trying to stay as dry and warm as possible while running around visiting everybody. Quite a feat. Thankfully, Aunt Kara and Uncle Blair were driving by once and picked us up and took us to an appointment. Other people have been very nice as well. We also have been doing a bit of bike riding in the snow and that is quite a workout. Like moutainbiking but with a whole lot less traction and a whole lot colder wind in your face. But I haven't biffed yet or anything thanks to Heavenly Father, I am sure He has been watching out for us and taking care of us this past week. The temperatures are still staying below freezing so the snow is still on the ground everywhere and ice is always covering everything. I have slipped walking a few times on black ice in church parking lots. I didn't know those could be so vicious, normally you think of church as a nice, peaceful place to visit. Oh well, life goes on and everybody can't wait for summer.
As people seem to remind me in almost every letter I got today, this week marks the start to the last calender year I am serving a mission and that is a very weird thought. It is also weird this will be my last winter where I try running around in the freezing cold in a suit coat and pants and not something a little bit more practical, haha. I am so not ready to return home at all so the fact other people are already reminding me is so weird. I have so much work left to do and not nearly enough time to do it in.
Sadly, this week has been kind of up and down. Ups are awesome, but the downs are always terribly hard. One of our main progressing investigators - Kimberly Dance - is now in jail. After taking verbal abuse from her ex-fiancee for so long, she finally had enough so she keyed his car. He caught her doing it and called the cops and she is not awaiting trial for vandalism. She was finally seeming to get the gospel too and the spirit was so strong in our lessons. That phone call about her was a real shock and disappoinment. We are praying hard for her though and the ward is showing great support - her fellowshipper, the relief society president, and the bishop have all been down to visit her and work with her. We are hoping for the best. In other news, the Beckstead family showed up for church this week! That was a miracle! Not only did they show up, but they enjoyed it! The only thing holding the family back now is tithing and the word of wisdom. He isn't very excited abou giving up coffee, not at all. But he said he would at least try to give it a shot. So we will see what happens. Jennifer and Jayden Golson should hopefully be attending church this week. They are less actives that we are teaching. Jennifer is really excited to attend church and to turn her life around. We committed her on Monday to quit smoking and coffee and she accpeted. We worked out a smoking plan and she is excited to finally be rid of her addiction. Thank goodness that Elder Ballard gave that talk on addiction last conference, it has been a huge source of inspiration and help to a lot of people that we have been teaching. So that was awesome meeting with them again! Sherry Thomas is still "trying" to get work off on Sundays. She has a great desire to be baptized, but struggles with the faith necessary to ask for Sundays off or to get a new job. We have committed her several times to do so and maybe she will finally do it. When the Spirit is there in the lessons, she will be all gung ho about it, but as soon as the lesson is over and the time comes for her to act, she loses faith and chickens out. It is kind of frustrating because we know the Lord will bless her if she will take this leap of faith, but we keep praying and working. Cioni and Lei are from Samoa. She is a convert to the church and he is a Seventh-Day Adventist. Wow, do are they quite stubborn and love to bash in that religion. We tried to share the first lesson with them and got most of the way through it just fine, but when we came to the Book of Mormon, he had a fit and would not accept any of it anymore. Plus he believes we worship on the wrong day of the week. So he started shouting at us (and he is from Samoa so it is quite intimidating) and trying to get us convert to his beliefs. Needless to say, we don't have a return appointment, but at least by the end of the meeting we were able to commit him to at least read and pray about the Book of Mormon asking if it wasn't true. According to Moroni, "ask if these things are not true" and so he is asking just that and we will see what happens. That was crazy. Absolutely crazy. We are also now teaching Steve. He is a Southern baptist from Texas, but at least he was opened to what we have to say. I don't know if we will ever manage to get him to church, but he has now started to read from the Book of Mormon and really wants to find out for himself if it is true. So we have faith for him there. He was a really nice man though, believes deeply in that "Southern hospitality." We should be seeing him again tomorrow. All these people came from tracting out an apartment complex about the size of the Groves in our ward. About as shady and sketchy as the Groves apartments are too. Luckily, God protects His servants and we have never had any problems but we here crazy stories about all the stuff that happens in there after dark and police always seem to be patrolling around the buildings in the complex whenever we visit. There are still good people in there too and we are excited for the prospect and blessing of having new investigators to teach and more work to do. We keep praying for more stuff to happen, but we will have to waith and see. It seems missionary work is 90% of being disappointed with cancelled appointments, angry people at the door, etc. and 10% success from people who are really searching. But that 10% is more than worth it and makes all the difference. I feel so at least. My companion disagrees though so we are working on trying to boost his spirits somehow. Winter is just so hard a season to do that in is the problem. But I keep praying for him and doing whatever I can.
I had an amazing day yesterday, I went on exchanges with Elder Jolly. He is one of the Spanish missionaries in my district and has been out about a transfer and a week. We had a blast together - he is 100% obedient, has that new missionary fire, and we both talking to people and doing missionary work! It was the perfect night! Granted, we had to teach a few lessons in Spanish so that was impossible for me, but he did great on his own. Surprisingly, the gift of tongues works when you are on exchanges and I was able to understand everything that was said - even though it has been years since I had Spanish in high school and that was pretty much worthless Spanish at that. I couldn't say very much in return, but I could still understand. It was a huge blessing and I have been thanking Heavenly Father ever since. We were blessed with an amazing lesson last night, the Spirit was so strong. People that want to be on missions and so are obedient and want to work hard are the people I want for companions. Some reason, I never get those people. But for exchanges it helps to boost up my spirits and remind me what missionary work is really all about. Elder Jolly was totally touched by it as well and said it was the most fun he has had on his mission so far and why couldn't I just switch to the Spanish assignment and be with him. It was good for one night though and now I know what I can work on to help my companion and the other Spanish elder be more obedient and actually want to work. The sad part about all this was that I finally got to hear how really disobedient most of the missionaries are in the mission from attending a district leader council yesterday and it is not pretty. Not one bit. It feels like I am fighting a losing battle, but at least I have Elder Jolly with me I guess for now. He is determined to stay obedient as well and I have high hopes for him.
Oh, New Year's Eve was a blast! We had another mission wide activity and had Elder L. Tom Perry come and speak to us about missionary work. It was quite a treat. Being in this mission sure does have some benefits. After he spoke and shared the most powerful testimony of the Restoration I have ever heard, we got to have some fun times. We were allowed to change into P-day clothes and then they had volleyball, basketball, and board games going. Plus we could watch Toy Story 3, which I found to be a riot. Good movie. The games were fun too and I am finally holding my own in volleyball in every position - I can serve, set, bump, and spike as good as anyone else. It was a blast! Basketball is another story and something I don't think I will ever be blessed to love or understand, but it is fun to watch at least. Apples to apples is always a good game too, even if I can never get one single good card. It was still fun to get to know some missionaries better and enjoy their company.
I think that is pretty much everything that happened this week. Lots of things are going really fast right now and it is getting hard to keep up. We are doing our best though and have faith for the future. I love doing this work and I love being where I am at. I love the people that we serve and I love our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. This is truly amazing!
Much love and prayers,
Elder Hughes
Well, life here in Utah has been very cold and very wet this past week. Lots of snow and very cold temperatures to ring in the new year. As always, whenever the biggest snowstorms seem to hit, we did not have the car. So we were trying to stay as dry and warm as possible while running around visiting everybody. Quite a feat. Thankfully, Aunt Kara and Uncle Blair were driving by once and picked us up and took us to an appointment. Other people have been very nice as well. We also have been doing a bit of bike riding in the snow and that is quite a workout. Like moutainbiking but with a whole lot less traction and a whole lot colder wind in your face. But I haven't biffed yet or anything thanks to Heavenly Father, I am sure He has been watching out for us and taking care of us this past week. The temperatures are still staying below freezing so the snow is still on the ground everywhere and ice is always covering everything. I have slipped walking a few times on black ice in church parking lots. I didn't know those could be so vicious, normally you think of church as a nice, peaceful place to visit. Oh well, life goes on and everybody can't wait for summer.
As people seem to remind me in almost every letter I got today, this week marks the start to the last calender year I am serving a mission and that is a very weird thought. It is also weird this will be my last winter where I try running around in the freezing cold in a suit coat and pants and not something a little bit more practical, haha. I am so not ready to return home at all so the fact other people are already reminding me is so weird. I have so much work left to do and not nearly enough time to do it in.
Sadly, this week has been kind of up and down. Ups are awesome, but the downs are always terribly hard. One of our main progressing investigators - Kimberly Dance - is now in jail. After taking verbal abuse from her ex-fiancee for so long, she finally had enough so she keyed his car. He caught her doing it and called the cops and she is not awaiting trial for vandalism. She was finally seeming to get the gospel too and the spirit was so strong in our lessons. That phone call about her was a real shock and disappoinment. We are praying hard for her though and the ward is showing great support - her fellowshipper, the relief society president, and the bishop have all been down to visit her and work with her. We are hoping for the best. In other news, the Beckstead family showed up for church this week! That was a miracle! Not only did they show up, but they enjoyed it! The only thing holding the family back now is tithing and the word of wisdom. He isn't very excited abou giving up coffee, not at all. But he said he would at least try to give it a shot. So we will see what happens. Jennifer and Jayden Golson should hopefully be attending church this week. They are less actives that we are teaching. Jennifer is really excited to attend church and to turn her life around. We committed her on Monday to quit smoking and coffee and she accpeted. We worked out a smoking plan and she is excited to finally be rid of her addiction. Thank goodness that Elder Ballard gave that talk on addiction last conference, it has been a huge source of inspiration and help to a lot of people that we have been teaching. So that was awesome meeting with them again! Sherry Thomas is still "trying" to get work off on Sundays. She has a great desire to be baptized, but struggles with the faith necessary to ask for Sundays off or to get a new job. We have committed her several times to do so and maybe she will finally do it. When the Spirit is there in the lessons, she will be all gung ho about it, but as soon as the lesson is over and the time comes for her to act, she loses faith and chickens out. It is kind of frustrating because we know the Lord will bless her if she will take this leap of faith, but we keep praying and working. Cioni and Lei are from Samoa. She is a convert to the church and he is a Seventh-Day Adventist. Wow, do are they quite stubborn and love to bash in that religion. We tried to share the first lesson with them and got most of the way through it just fine, but when we came to the Book of Mormon, he had a fit and would not accept any of it anymore. Plus he believes we worship on the wrong day of the week. So he started shouting at us (and he is from Samoa so it is quite intimidating) and trying to get us convert to his beliefs. Needless to say, we don't have a return appointment, but at least by the end of the meeting we were able to commit him to at least read and pray about the Book of Mormon asking if it wasn't true. According to Moroni, "ask if these things are not true" and so he is asking just that and we will see what happens. That was crazy. Absolutely crazy. We are also now teaching Steve. He is a Southern baptist from Texas, but at least he was opened to what we have to say. I don't know if we will ever manage to get him to church, but he has now started to read from the Book of Mormon and really wants to find out for himself if it is true. So we have faith for him there. He was a really nice man though, believes deeply in that "Southern hospitality." We should be seeing him again tomorrow. All these people came from tracting out an apartment complex about the size of the Groves in our ward. About as shady and sketchy as the Groves apartments are too. Luckily, God protects His servants and we have never had any problems but we here crazy stories about all the stuff that happens in there after dark and police always seem to be patrolling around the buildings in the complex whenever we visit. There are still good people in there too and we are excited for the prospect and blessing of having new investigators to teach and more work to do. We keep praying for more stuff to happen, but we will have to waith and see. It seems missionary work is 90% of being disappointed with cancelled appointments, angry people at the door, etc. and 10% success from people who are really searching. But that 10% is more than worth it and makes all the difference. I feel so at least. My companion disagrees though so we are working on trying to boost his spirits somehow. Winter is just so hard a season to do that in is the problem. But I keep praying for him and doing whatever I can.
I had an amazing day yesterday, I went on exchanges with Elder Jolly. He is one of the Spanish missionaries in my district and has been out about a transfer and a week. We had a blast together - he is 100% obedient, has that new missionary fire, and we both talking to people and doing missionary work! It was the perfect night! Granted, we had to teach a few lessons in Spanish so that was impossible for me, but he did great on his own. Surprisingly, the gift of tongues works when you are on exchanges and I was able to understand everything that was said - even though it has been years since I had Spanish in high school and that was pretty much worthless Spanish at that. I couldn't say very much in return, but I could still understand. It was a huge blessing and I have been thanking Heavenly Father ever since. We were blessed with an amazing lesson last night, the Spirit was so strong. People that want to be on missions and so are obedient and want to work hard are the people I want for companions. Some reason, I never get those people. But for exchanges it helps to boost up my spirits and remind me what missionary work is really all about. Elder Jolly was totally touched by it as well and said it was the most fun he has had on his mission so far and why couldn't I just switch to the Spanish assignment and be with him. It was good for one night though and now I know what I can work on to help my companion and the other Spanish elder be more obedient and actually want to work. The sad part about all this was that I finally got to hear how really disobedient most of the missionaries are in the mission from attending a district leader council yesterday and it is not pretty. Not one bit. It feels like I am fighting a losing battle, but at least I have Elder Jolly with me I guess for now. He is determined to stay obedient as well and I have high hopes for him.
Oh, New Year's Eve was a blast! We had another mission wide activity and had Elder L. Tom Perry come and speak to us about missionary work. It was quite a treat. Being in this mission sure does have some benefits. After he spoke and shared the most powerful testimony of the Restoration I have ever heard, we got to have some fun times. We were allowed to change into P-day clothes and then they had volleyball, basketball, and board games going. Plus we could watch Toy Story 3, which I found to be a riot. Good movie. The games were fun too and I am finally holding my own in volleyball in every position - I can serve, set, bump, and spike as good as anyone else. It was a blast! Basketball is another story and something I don't think I will ever be blessed to love or understand, but it is fun to watch at least. Apples to apples is always a good game too, even if I can never get one single good card. It was still fun to get to know some missionaries better and enjoy their company.
I think that is pretty much everything that happened this week. Lots of things are going really fast right now and it is getting hard to keep up. We are doing our best though and have faith for the future. I love doing this work and I love being where I am at. I love the people that we serve and I love our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. This is truly amazing!
Much love and prayers,
Elder Hughes
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