Monday news

Well, It's monday yet again, so here I am, sending you my letter, again,
Anyways, it's been kind of a slow week, I got transferred (obviously) and I'm enjoying my new area, but it's not as cool as the one I just came from. There are 1/3 as many people, in like 5 times as much space so things are pretty spread out. I do get to be in a car, but we cover an entire county and we only have 900 miles a month minus the 300 we use for interviews and district meetings and whatever else. Then you consider the fact that we cover and entire county, and we pretty much have no miles. So our car is parked....A LOT...but it's a blessing to have it when we need it. I'm not going to tell you where I am though, that information will be distributed on an individual basis, but I will tell you that it's quite ironic that I'm here. I don't feel quite as bad being here, because Elder Shapiro (Sha-peer-o) doesn't mail either, so we both get to be neglected by our loved ones, but at least we get to do it together. Anyways, as you can imagine this week has been kind of up and down. I'm still trying to learn everything I need to know about the area, and trying to figure out how to do anything, because the nearest place to go contacting is 8 miles away and we have 9 miles a day so I'm still scratching my head on that one. Unfortuantely biking in this area is only possible in the towns in the county, and not between them because there is no such thing as a shoulder and we'd be on the side of a highway, and I don't know about you, but I would rather not end up as road kill...Anyways, Elder Shapiro and I are getting along really well surprisingly. We're currently working on some secret projects that I'll have to tell you about later. But don't worry they're nothing bad, just things to help us teach little children a.k.a. object lessons and we've got some good stuff coming down the pipeline. We're currently in the process of publishing a news article that we're going to use to let people ask us questions about the church and what we believe and so forth. We're expecting a lot of anti, but we were inspired to do it so we know that the Lord will accomplish whatever he needs to through it. Needless to say, I'm pretty excited about this transfer, I think it's going to be pretty amazing. Interviews are this week, so we'll see what Presidente has to say about what's going down. I think that just about sums up what's going on, other than a whole lot of missionary work and stuff, but that's boring stuff that we don't talk about right ;) But yeah anyways, have fun, be safe, don't do anything that I would, and know that Heavenly Father Loves ya.

Sincerely,
Elder Hughes

Mail........

Hello,

This week has been very interesting, the other Elders finally moved out of our apartment, we had an amazing Zone Conference with Elder Bruce C. Hafen, and I found out I'm being transferred.

Tuesday, I was on exchange with Elder Oyler, which was surprisingly fun. We tracted pretty much all day, and the only people we talked to were a Muslim Masque Instructor, 2 Jehovah's Witnesses, and a non-demoninational guy that was raised Baptist. On top of that it was raining, so it was pretty much a bad day.

Wednesday, and Thursday, Elder Thacker and I didn't really do anything, because Elder Thacker was trying to figure out how to split the area (still hasn't decided) and he got into an argument with the other Elders that I just stayed out of.

Friday was Zone Conference. Which was interesting, because it snowed all day, and we had to take 4 extra Elders home with us because the roads were blocked off and they couldn't get home.

Saturday we had a couple good lessons one with a newer investigator and one with a family we're teaching. We did some tracting again, but were unsuccessful. It was very windy, and we had to ride our bikes so it was a pain in the Bum. The other Elders moved, which was exciting.

Sunday we had a few investigators at church, but again all of our big people let us down and made up some excuse. Then I found out I was being transferred, and I have no time left to pack and I can't do it tomorrow, so I'm pretty much dead in the water. Sorry for the short letter, but I'm tired and I need all the time I can get to pack.
Ttyl,
Elder Hughes

It's Monday Again...

Hello, I hope everyone is doing well, none of you need to worry, the ice didn't make it this far. This week has been very interesting, we have found some good people to start teaching, and have had a lot of appointments stand us up. We had Stake Conference this week, and Elder L. Tom Perry, and President Eyring spoke to us. It was pretty awesome, they talked about a lot of subjects, but President Eyring focused on Faith and Families. He talked a lot about our responsibility to our family members that need the gospel, and that if we put forth the faith, the Lord will give us opportunites to share the gospel with them. It really was an amazing talk, and it I learned a lot from it, that I hope will help me in the future. Elder Perry focused mainly on standing for righteousness in these dark and dreary times. He counseled us to always be ready to stand fast, because the adversary is crafty and comes at us when we least expect it, and he knows our greatest weaknesses so we should always be ready.
There has been a lot of contention between the two companionships here in Lawrenceville, due to the lack of communication and quite a bit of pride, but luckily we were able to sit down with each other and the Zone Leaders (who are amazing btw) and work things out. We had an appartment inventory, and just opened the floor for discussion, and we worked everything out, and gave each other counsel and it was really helpful for getting everyone back on track.

Like I said we've had a lot of appointments cancel, so we didn't get to see some of our main people this week, but we know it was because we weren't ready to teach them. The contentious conditions really drove the spirit away and the Lord had to humble us to show us the error of our ways. We did get to see some of them though, and we were able to teach them, and extend some commitments that will hopefully continue to help them to progress. We're working with a couple Seventh Day Adventists that are really giving us a hard time about the whole sabbath thing, and I was really beginning to be frustrated with that until... One of our team ups this week provided us with the answer. So now I can't wait to show it to those people, and see what they have to say about it. However, I don't want to offend them or impede their progress in any way so I'm only going to do it if the Lord prompts me. We were blessed this week with a lot of new people, we found a total of 10 which makes 36 in the last 5 weeks. I'm super grateful that the Lord has seen fit to give us all these people, and we're trying to get them all going. There weren't any baptisms this month, but I believe there will be lots in the next couple months. Friday we had to take this bill to Lilburn, but luckily one of the ward members was willing to take us. The mission recently switched all of it's systems, so things have gotten really goofy lately. But everything is finally getting sorted out and getting back to normal. Saturday morning we got to help someone move, which was really cool, and it helped us get in contact with one of the people we're trying to start teaching.My favorite part of this week though was surprisingly during a lesson we had last night with a less active member. He has a lot of self esteem issues, but I was able to make him a promise that if he would truly study the scriptures he would become better, and I pointed out to him that there was no difference in what I was saying and what the Lord would say, and I closed the promise in the name of Jesus Christ. I could feel the Lord prompting and directing me about what to say, and sealing the promise to him. It was a powerful testimony to me of being a tool in his hands.Well I hope everyone is doing well, and that you're all trying to be like Christ, I know he's our one true example of how to return to the Father, and that only through him can we accomplish it.Know that I Love You All, and that you're in my prayers.

Love, Elder Hughes