Monday, November 30, 2009

My note for today...

So my first week has been pretty awesome, the mission president and his wife are really cool and apparently are doing a lot of crazy things with the missionaries down here. My companions' name is Elder Thacker, he's a district leader. Right now we're serving in the Lawrenceville 2nd ward which is a pretty small area. I got to start out in a car, but el presidente says he's probably going to split my area and put my companion and I on bike. I'm not gonna lie I like it here, the humidity isn't too bad yet, and it's not too cold. On the other hand the roads here and completely insane, and everyone drives like a maniac (including my companion) so i'm kinda scared to drive. There are like thousands of trees everywhere, like seriously every where you look you can pretty much only see trees with the occasional house. The people here are super nice, and friendly. I had to give a talk the first week I was here, so everyone could get to know me -I talked about gratitude- so everybody kind of knows me now. We've already found someone that might need me to change a toilet out, but it's not for sure yet so i'll have to let you know how that goes. Talking to people here about religion is awesome, you just start talking about it and they're super open and willing to talk with you, it's really cool. A lot of people here do smoke though so it smells kind of bad sometimes. Apparently they had a baptism the saturday before I got here, so I was kind of bummed that I missed it, but we should have another coming up soon. My companion is a total talker, he loves talking, and as a result we're late to everything, which as you know drives me crazy, so I haven't had a whole lot of time for much of anything yet. My P-Days are now on monday so that's why i'm emailing you today. So yeah pretty much it's awesome here, and I'm having lots of fun, hope you guys are ok, I haven't heard from anyone in a while so i'm kinda worried but i guess i'll get over it. Anyways ttyl.
Elder Hughes

Friday, November 27, 2009

Nov. 27th

Today we flew into Georgia, the flight wasn't too long but it was long enough. Our mission president met us at the baggage claim, he's a really awesome guy. So the first thing we did was of course go proselyting. We were on a train which was interesting but at the same time very cool. I tried talking to a few people but no one was interested. It was a good introduction to the work I'll be doing. I'm excited to meet my new companion and start working. I still don't know all the details, but everything is going great so far. Sorry I didn't have longer to talk this morning but I'll get to talk to you soon. Hope your having fun, be safe, I love you,
Elder Hughes

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

He is in Georgia

These are all of the new arrivals who flew with Craig yesterday, along with the mission president and his wife. I got an email from the mission president this morning with this picture, and a note about how well the first day went.

Monday, November 23, 2009

He is flying out

He called me for just a sec from the airport this morning at 6:30a.m. He said his flight was boarding so he only called to say hello. It was a quick chat.... but so nice to hear his voice.

Wow... it's a regular thing

Dad, Mom, Matthew & Tyler,
This week has been really eventful. In class we've been focusing on what it's going to be like out in the field. I can't believe I fly out Monday. I hope everything's going ok down there, and that you get an elk. I've set a goal to read the Book of Mormon 24 times on my mission, which breaks down to 8 chapters per day. I'm going to send one of my study journals home so that Brent can check it out and see what he's going to be learning. I didn't go to the temple today bacause I'm not feeling too good, and one of the other Elders in my district wasn't either so I stayed behind with him. I've actually gained weight while I've been here in the MTC, but I know it's not fat because my pants aren't fitting right anymore. The MTC asked my district to help with a service project today which is really inconvienient because it's during our laundry time, but the Lord will get us through it. If you haven't watched the Joseph Smith movie yet, you need to. I saw it and it really struck me to see our prophet suffering for us. So my companion and I got over our arguement just to get into another one. We were cleaning up from dinner, he was with our roommates and I was in a different line, and he left me in the cafeteria. I thought I had just gotten out before so I looked around and waited 15 minutes. At that point I decided to go back to my room, and there he is all dressed for gym and getting mad at me for being lost. Yeah, needless to say I wasn't very happy. On top of that, I keep telling him we need to be on time, but he still makes us late for everything except lunch. I'm kind of excited to meet my new companion and get to work. Well that's pretty much what's going on. Love ya,
Elder Hughes

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Yahoo Mail...

Dad, Mom, Matthew & Tyler,
Thanks for the letters, I really appreciate them. I'm glad things are going well. I'm sorry my first letter took so long, I accidentally mailed it to myself. Shows you how good I am at this. But don't worry I've got it figured out now. I probably won't sent any pictures home until next week, but don't worry I promise I'll send lots. I got to go to the temple this morning, it was really amazing and the spirit was so powerful. I've been reading a lot lately in the new testiment about Christ and it's awsome to find the corrrelations between Matthew, Mark, Luke , John and 3rd Nephi. My teachers really are amazing, I love being in class with them. I also love the referral center, it's where people call to get all the free DVD's and bibles and stuff. People also come on and chat to learn more about the church. I love being able to help people while I'm still here in the MTC. I leave for Georgia a week from Tuesday, and I'm really excited, but at the same time I'm trying to enjoy the time I have here. The food here is really good, so I am surviving just fine. I'm finally starting to get better at talking to random people walking by, which is a good thing. Some of the missionaries here are kinda crazy and really loud but we deal with it. One of the teachers just had a baby this week so he missed a couple of days, and while he was gone one of the other teachers in our distric taught our class about Christ and everything he did for us, and it was awesome. I've gotten so used to wearing a suit now that it feels weird to be in normal clothes. We got our flight plans yesterday and I think it's a 7 hour flight, but I'm not sure. If you can I'd like you to mail me my patriartical blessing. It was in the center shelf of the computer desk. If you would that'd be awesome. My companion nd I are kind of in an arguement right now, and it's not because we don't agree with each other. He just thinks that when we teach we should only use the Book of Mormon, and I keep telling him we need to be using the bible as well. When I asked our teacher about it, he said we should be using both, but the balance between the two depends on the investigator. I think we're both right, but he seems to think I'm wrong so I don't know what to do. He's also getting on my nerves, because all he talks about is what he's going to do when he gets home and we're still in the MTC. The worse part about this whole arguement thing is that I said something about it to one of the other Elders in our district, and the Elder agreed with me. So he told our roommates something and had them chew me out so I'm on a non-speaking basis with them for now. Not because I'm mad just because I don't want to agrue about a question with no right or wrong answer. Anyways you guys be safe and have fun. I love you all,
Elder Hughes
P.S. this now qualifies as the longest letter I've ever written.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

I got mail..

Mom, Dad, Matthew and Tyler,
So far the MTC has been good, I'm getting used to the schedule. My companions name is Elder Johnson, he's from Wyoming and he's alot like me so we get along pretty well. I'm learning a lot of stuff, and I've found out that I kind of have a knack for teaching with the spirit, but I still have a long way to go. The food here is pretty good except for the beverages that give evryone gas. Being here has also helped my testimony grow a lot already, and I'm making tons of friends. Tell dad he was wrong about alot of stuff. I get to play basketball for an hour 5 times a week, and they served us cheesecake yesterday. My teachers are amazing, they both really know what we need and I'm learning a ton from them. Being here is a lot like college, you just don't have "free" time. We get to walk around the temple on Sundays, and Tuesday nights a general authority comes to speak to us. Ice cream nights are on Wednesday and Saturday. They keep us well fed but we don't get a lot of sleep. There are 12 missionaries in my district- the largest district in the MTC currently- and they're all cool guys. 3 are from Canada, and as you can imagine we joke about that a lot. 5 Elders are going to the Vegas mission, 2 to Houston, and the other 4 are going to Georgia with me. Tell Bree her letter was cute and thank you for the picture. I hope everythings ok and that you don't miss me too much. 2 years will fly by like nothing and before you know it I'll be back. I love you guys and I'll write to you again on Friday since that'll be my p-day until I get to Georgia. Hope to hear from you soon,
Elder Hughes
(yes it actually is Elder Hughes now)
p.s. Please send me 5 pairs of white socks and my grey shoes I left in the truck- I know I'm an airhead- Thanks

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

...and He's OFF!!


They were serious when they said curb side drop off. As he got out the missionaries waiting asked him his name, where he was going, and then said "Say goodbye, let's go." One of the missionaries waiting was from Atlanta, Georgia. (maybe he will get some helpfull advice) We will post all of his letters for everyone else to share with us.