Elder Hughes

Last Letter from Georgia

2011-11-07T11:25:00.000-08:00

The Final Epistle General Of Elder Hughes

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, I begin by saying thank you for all the love support and prayers that have been given in my behalf so that I could serve the Lord these last 2 years. As I have pondered and reflected upon the experiences I've have and the person I've become, I truly stand all amazed at the working of the Lord in our lives. Surely all things do testify of him, and he is involved in the details of our every day lives. As I have studied and learned and applied the teachings of the scriptures in my life, I have come to understand the power of repentance, and the true power of the Atonement in cleansing us from sin, and empowering us to overcome our fallen nature that results from the Fall of Adam and Eve. In that sacrifice of his Only Begotten Son, our Heavenly Father truly did manifest the depth and purity of his love for us, which exceeds all human understanding. But he did so that we might one day return to his presence, and have all the tools and power necessary for us to overcome the challenges of this life. As we exercise our Faith unto repentance we will come to a greater understanding of the Atonement in our lives. God lives. I have learned this through experience and revelation through the Holy Ghost. He is the father of our Spirits, and he loves us who are his Spirit children. Jesus is the Christ, the Holy Messiah, the Savior and Redeemer of the world. He came to this earth to suffer, bleed, and die for us, and he was crucified, and resurrected. In this act of Atonement he provided the means whereby all mankind might be saved through obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel, and on the conditions of repentance. As our Heavenly Father God wishes to converse with us, he knows however that we cannot endure his presence, and therefore communes with us through the Spirit. We all can receive personal Revelation to guide is in our lives, through challenges, and to fulfill and magnify our callings. The gospel of Jesus Christ has been handed down through the ages to Prophets who were repeatedly refected, and even the Savior himself was refected. But God knowing the calamity which should befall the inhaditants of the earth has restored in these latter days that same with the fulness of the gospel through a modern day Prophet by the name of Joseph Smith. After a diligent search for truth, the young boy only 14 years of age sought God's counsel, and was visited by God the Father and Jesus Christ himself, and later through series of angelic ministrations was able to translate the Book of Mormon by the Gift and Power of God, restore sacred Priesthood Authority with it's attendant Keys, and in short all other things which are expedient for the Salvation and Exaltation of God's children. This is true, we knew and sustained Joseph in the premortal councils in heaven, and rejoiced at the opportunity to be a part of his dispensation, and participate with him in preparing the world to receive the Redeemer once more. Those keys and that Authority have been passed down in an unbroken chain to President Thomas S. Monson today, and he is God's chosen Prophet to lead his Saints today. The Book of Mormon is True, it is the keystone of the restored gospel, and all who will in the sincerity of their heart read, ponder, and live it's teaching having Faith in the Savior can know of the truthfulness of these things for themselves by sincerely asking God our Eternal Father in the name of Christ if they are true, and by the Power of the Holy Ghost he will reveal the Truth of ALL Things. Of these things I testify and close these writings of this mission that I have been blessed to serve admonishing all to come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, that ye may stand spotless before him at the last day when he stands to judge the world, and reward all men according to their works. I love you all, and will see you soon. Farewell until we meet again.

Love,

Elder Craig Alan Hughes
Georgia Atlanta North Mission
November 4th, 2009 - November 9th, 2011

It's sinking in... the mission is almost over

2011-10-31T14:43:00.000-07:00

Dear Mom,
I think that I can actually fit everything now thank goodness. No I didn't get your package yet, but I'll watch for it. I was actually going to talk about my bike, you must be psychic. I'm currently in the process of packing it. Sounds like the hunt wasn't too good this year, but we'll get them next year. I also have a request, the last book of the eragon series comes out the 8th of november, and we need to get it so I can read it, hint, hint.....anyway, this week was a long one it just seemed to drag by. Between everyone reminding me constantly that I go home next week, and the lack of things to do, it just seemed like the week drug on forever. We did get a call from one of our top investigators, and we're excited to meet with her again and get to teach her. Hopefully we'll be able to commit her to baptism. I wanted to send a funny picture home. Since next week is my last week to write, I plan on writing my end address to the world there so I'm going to keep this letter short, but know that I love you, and miss you, and look forward to seeing you soon.

Love,

Elder Hughes

Short..but...Good

2011-10-24T12:25:00.000-07:00

Dear Mom,
This week was good, not much going on in the way of teaching but we did have one cool experience. We taught a referral that met us at the church building with our ward mission leader, and we taught her as we toured the church, and the spirit was very powerful. We ended at the baptismal font, and she actually asked us how long it took to join the church. It was the only time I think I've ever had someone ask me that question, but it was awesome. We also got to teach another lady about the plan of salvation and since she recently lost her husband we got to talk to her about the work that goes on in the Spirit World, and she got very excited aobut it, it was super cool. Other than that, we've pretty much just been doing lots of tracting, but I do feel like I'm continuing to learn, and as the time of my depature draws nearer I'm having to face reality and not liking it at all, but such is life ya know. I know that God lives, and loves us, that Jesus is the Christ, and that we can all receive personal revelation through the Holy Ghost.

Love,

Elder Hughes

Good News

2011-10-17T13:49:00.001-07:00

Dear Family and Friends,

This week was crazy, between a 2 day leadership training, an exchange with the zone leaders, and a stake service project, I think I actually spent more time outside my area than in. We were supposed to have a baptism on Saturday, but it actually happened on Wednesday, and turned out to be a double baptism, so it was super exciting!!! Both people got confirmed on Sunday, so it was a great end to a week of craziness. As the end of this mission draws near, I can't help but reflect, and as I've done so I've tried to think of the most important things I could share with people, and I'm drawn again and again to obedience. It is the first law of everything, and the basis of our conversion to the gospel. In short it is the key to making everything go around, without it there would be only empty dreams, and dead works. It truly is the most important thing we can be. Were it not for the Saviors' devotion to obedience, surely he wouldn't have carried on through the agonizing pain of suffering the wrath of God....Through our obedience we show our respect to him, and love to him as he himself stated, and as we learn in the scriptures, we were placed here to see if we would be obedient. I would hope that we all might evaluate our level of obedience and strive to increase it, so that we might enjoy the blessings of our loving Father in Heaven more fully in our lives, is my prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Love,

Elder Hughes

Just 31 more days to GO...

2011-10-10T13:22:00.001-07:00

Dear Family and Friends,

As I have been reflecting this week on the calling of a missionary, and the true importance of the Spirit in this work, I have had some neat experiences. First it was revealed to me that to feed the Lord's sheep we must do so spiritually which helped me understand why a testimony is so important in this work. Then last night we had a rather neat experience. It was late at night and we decided to stop at one last less-active families house, and as we sat there talking with them I truly felt the love the Lord had for them, and was able to invite them to come back after sharing with them how the gospel has affected my life. They weren't open to coming back immediately, but they definitely revealed that they do want their children to grow up in the gospel, and it really helped us understand what we can do to help them. It seems that the Lord must have had a great purpose in my being here, because I've really had to humble myself, and I've really noticed a difference in the level of my own spirituality. I realize that my time as a missionary is short, and so it with all the power of my conviction that I testify that Jesus is the Christ the son of the living God, the Book of Mormon is truly the word of God revealed to us for our day and time to guide and direct us in our life, and I invite all to drink deeply from the rich messages of it's pages and come to understand and experience the power it contains to help us draw closer to our Savior. He loves us, and wants to heal us, I tesifty of these thing in his sacred and holy name, Amen.

Love,

Elder Hughes

Owl's Are In

2011-10-04T13:04:00.000-07:00

Dear Mom,
Everything went well with the move, but I still do need to send some stuff home, hopefully only one box, but maybe two. That stinks that dad missed his deer. The week was alright, kind of depressing having to pack knowing that I'll have to do it again in 6 weeks, but the new area is cool. Funnily enough, I've actually been Christmas carolling in this ward, so it's not new. What did you think of General Conference? I think it was awesome. My 2 companions have been out for 2 and 1 transfer, and are from Utah, and Canada respectively. There cool, but they remind me a lot of me when I had been out that long, and it's hard to figure out where to start to teach them about things. We had a couple cool experiences this week with following the Spirit. A couple of times we didn''t really have anything to do, so we just followed the Spirit and we ended up talking to a ton of people, and actually found a couple that were interested they were really cool experiences. This area is a lot less affluent than Roswell, and the people here definitely seem much more humble. I'm really excited for the things that are happening, we currently have an investigator scheduled to be baptized on the 15th, so we're hoping that it works out. I have to admit when I first learned I was being transferred I was quite upset, but as I pondered about it, I realized that the Lord must have a purpose in it all, and as I prayed about it, I realized that the Lord needed me to do something. I know God lives, and that he loves us. I know Jesus is the Christ the Son of the Living God, the Savior, and Redeemer of the world. I know that God does inspire his children through the Holy Ghost. I know that Thomas Monson is Gods' chosen Prophet today, that the Book of Mormon is true, and that Joseph Smith was the Prophet through whom God restored the gospel in this final dispensation. I testify of these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Note for the Week

2011-09-26T12:35:00.000-07:00

Dear Mom,
This week brought a lot of interesting things. We met a bunch of new people, and have a lot of exciting things going on, and then I found out this morning that I wont be finishing my mission in Roswell. I'm being transferred to an area that is actually an adjacent ward to the one I started my mission in way back in the day. I'm really depressed about it, but such is life, it never goes the way you want it to, and I know the Lord must need me to do something there. So needless to say, It'll be a good measure for how much stuff I need to condense to get home. I did learn something cool this week though. I realized that repentance isn't about changing what you do, it's about changing who you are because of what you do. It seems so simple, but it was a major breakthrough for me. I want you to know that I know God lives, and that he loves us. I know that he is guiding and directing us, and that he wants us all to return to him. I also know that there are angels among us. I testify of these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Mail's Here

2011-09-12T15:29:00.000-07:00

Dear Family and Friends,
This week we heard some exciting news, the church is going to start their multimedia mormon.org campaign next month, so everyone in the mission is super excited. With the new mission president there are some changes being worked on, so it's pretty exciting to get to see how different people do things. Things are getting better for our investigator that had to have shoulder surgery, and hopefully she'll be able to be baptized soon. We had a neat opportunity Saturday to help out with a 9/11 memorial project so hopefully you like the pics of me and my companion. I have learned something this week through experience that I'd like to share with you. When we harden our hearts against the Lord, which is done in numerous ways, he withdraws the sustaining influence of the Spirit which then leaves us to kick against the pricks, and it becomes very difficult to see his hand in our lives, but when we humble ourselves, and as they say "count our blessings" we see that he never leaves. I know that our Father in Heaven loves us, and is always there to guide bless and inspire us in our lives. I know the Savior lives, and I know that through the Spirit we too can know of these eternal truths. I know that we are children of God, and that he has a plan for us in our lives. I testify that the Book of Mormon is true, and I know that it contains everything we need to return to the presence of God. I love you, and miss you. Know that I remember you in my prayers, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Love,

Elder Hughes

The Monday Holiday Slowed down Delivery

2011-09-09T07:37:00.000-07:00

Dear Mom,
Tyler just needs to understand that he can't beat everyone, and besides that it's only a game...Until he beats my record of 3 point or bigger for 5 straight years he has no room to talk. (Craig is talking about Tyler beating his high score on the Cabela's xbox Dangerous Hunts game- then dad beating both records two hours later, and the fact that he has to win in real life "deer hunting" as well) Anyway, couldn't email yesterday because of the holiday, the libraries were all closed. The baptism didn't work out, the lady decided she wanted to wait for her daughter, but that's not a problem. The weather last week was straight up hot, but it's been raining for about 48 hours straight, but most of it has been a very light rain so there's not a ton of water but everything is soaked. Today it's almost cold enough for a jacket on the bike. Nothing too interesting to report here, keep an eye out for a package that I'm going to send tomorrow, hopefully I wont need to send more than one more after this one. I have acquired a lot of stuff it seems, but I think I might be able to fit back into my suitcases now. I'm hoping that I'll be able to fit everything into one suitcase so I wont have to pay anything at the airport, but that'll really be a stretch. I still haven't decided what to do with my bike because I want a bike when I get home, but shipping it home is sooooo expensive, so I'm still not sure there. Just fyi, I've known my release date since I got here. I don't know what time I get home and all that stuff, but I figure I'll know when I need to know. Things are going well, we learned in District Meeting today about Faith and murmuring, it was a really powerful lesson, and it made me realize that I complain too much so I'm working on not doing it anymore. We noticed an interesting thing the other day, everyone that we're teaching currently has some kind of physical ailment that is preventing them from coming to church or getting baptized, but it's alright, we know it'll work out. I know the Savior lives, and that he loves us, and I pray that we might be obedient to his commandments so that he can truly save us from death, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. Love you all!

Love,

Weekly Good News

2011-09-02T07:02:00.000-07:00

Dear Family and Friends,

I must say thanks to all of you who've sent me letters recently, I'm working on responding, it's just taking a minute due to a lack of stamps. We had a couple cool things happen this week, we had our first zone conference with President Wolfert (which brought the awful realization that it was my last), and it was great. I feel like I'm really getting a lot better at listening to the Spirit so it was very powerful. Another cool thing that happened was Saturday, my companion and I decided to stop by an investigator that we hadn't seen in a few weeks house, and she let us in. After a short discussion we found out that she had felt a very strong impression earlier in the week that she needed to be baptized, and it was super cool. So, we commited her to be baptized this Saturday. Hopefully it all works out. This week was a great testimony builder to me as I've pondered over a lot of things and reflected on things I've learned recently. It has been amazing to see how the Spirit works in our life when we let him. It has strengthened my faith in and testimony of the Atonement, and the power it can have in our lives to draw us ever closer to God. I know he loves us and wants to help us in our lives. I know the Holy Ghost can and will tell us all things that we should do if we humble ourselves and accept the will of God. I know our Father in heaven loves us, and he wants all of us back. I testify of these things, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. I love you all, and hope all is well.

Love,

Elder Hughes

No Transfers this week

2011-08-15T11:38:00.000-07:00

Dear Family and Friends,
Thank Goodness the weather was a little cooler this week, and couple things happened....It's transfer week again, and I'm not getting transferred, and neither is my companion. This makes me believe that I'll be here in Roswell until the end of my mission. I went on exchange this last week, and for the 1st time in over 18 months drove a car. I was amazed that I remembered how, but having to deal with traffic (especially in Atlanta) made me grateful to be on a bike. Those were pretty much the highlights of the week. We did get to meet with M. Russell Ballard, but it wasn't anything special. JK, It was awesome!!!!!!!!! All the missionaries in the mission got to shake his hand, and we had a meeting with all the Bishops, Stake Presidencies, and Ward Mission Leaders. It was super cool. The work is going good, we met a bunch of new families that we'll hopefully start teaching soon, so we're pretty stoked about things right now. I appreciate all your letters, and prayers. I want to share one thought from Elder Ballard that really struck me. He talked about all those on the other side of the veil that are waiting and praying that one of their ancestors will accept the gospel and do their work, and it really helped me put in perspective just how urgent this work really is. I know that this is the Lords' work, and I love serving him. I know this is his true gospel. I love you all, hope all is well.
Love,
Elder Hughes

Letter for the Week

2011-08-08T15:57:00.000-07:00

Dear Family and Friends,
This week was pretty regular. The weather gave us a break so we didn't absolultely die, but I'm not looking forward to this week. We're at the point where everyone keeps saying "oh about three to four more weeks, and it'll start cooling off." I'm really doubting it based on how late summer started this year, and how hot it has been. We had a really cool lesson with one of our investigators who should've finished the Book of Mormon by now, she told us she'd like to be baptized as soon as she can get her arm out of her sling(just had surgery), so we're just waiting on the doctor. I feel like it's been one of those patience building periods that I'm supposed to be learning from so I'm trying to be more positive about things. It's hard to believe that the Lord will let us suffer, but sometimes he does so we can grow. He does it because he loves, I know he does, and he wants us to return to him. I testify that this is true, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Love,

Elder Hughes

Weekly Update

2011-07-26T15:48:00.001-07:00

Dear Family and Friends,
Aside from the crazy hot weather, and gallons of sweat pouring off us as we ride, this week was not the most productive in missionary work. We had an investigator that had surgery, but she's doing well we hear. We're really depending a lot on the members for help right now. I've been learning some cool things, and have come up with a neat little equation. Will = Desire which dictates Priorities which shape Choices = Agency. So following with that, the only thing we really have in this life that doesn't already belong to God is Agency, and we must sacrifice that to him to become who we need to be. I'm also really starting to understand the difference between a testimony and conversion. A testimony is understanding things physically, and experiencing the Power of the Holy Ghost, and conversion means undestanding things spiritually, and experiencing the Gift of the Holy Ghost. As we strive to help people become converted, it requires that we act so that our understanding sinks deep into our hearts. We heard a quote in church Sunday that said, "we need to understand and apply these principles" (talking about honesty), but I thought to myself, that's not true, we need to apply these principles to really understand them. It never ceases to amaze me how perfect the gospel is, and how everything is designed to lead us back to God, drawing closer and closer along the way. I know this is the gospel of Jesus Christ, restored in these last days to prepare the world for his coming, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Love,
Elder Hughes

A Quick Note...

2011-07-18T17:55:00.000-07:00

Dear Mom,

The new companion isn't bad, he reminds me a lot of me. I finally have a companion that is taller than me, thich is cool, but at the same time he might beat me at basketball. He's doing alright with biking, but we haven't had to do anything too crazy yet. He reminds me a lot of the time like a deer in the headlights, he's just trying to soak everything up. I can't believe I drew out for the elk hunt, that is AWESOME!!! Make sure to tell dad that he knows that my gun needs a new scope on it, especially after the last adventure....We were actually supposed to have a baptism Saturday, but it got cancelled on friday morning. But, such is life. We've not had too much exciting going on this week other than lots of biking. I did get my bike fixed, without buying new pedals though....The last thing I want to do is spend any more money on that crazy thing. Anyway, I don't have lots of time so I'm going to have to cut todays letter short. Love you, talk to you again soon.

News Flash

2011-07-11T16:19:00.000-07:00

Dear Family and Friends,
This week was a slow one, until the weekend. I got to help put some new toilets in, which was a refreshing change from the norm. We also are starting to prepare the Sister that just got baptized oldest son for baptism on the 30th. We also had one of our investigators tell us that she would love to be baptized, but wants to make sure she and her husband don't get spiritually separated. That was pretty exciting, and hopefully we'll have another one getting close soon. The work here is going great! We're getting very excited for next transfer when Elder Ballard is coming to do a mission tour. We found out today that my companion is getting transferred, and I'm getting a fresh off the plane new guy. I'm excited and scared all at the same time, and still trying to figure out in my head how I'm going to do everything that I'm supposed to. It'll be tough I'm sure, but I know the Lord will help us. I hope everyone takes the chance to check out my profile on mormon.org via the new button on the blog, I think it's pretty cool. We had a bit of an incident last Friday, we had to bike all the way around our area, and my companion wound up with some sort of heat sickness, and he's been goofier than a wooden watch for a couple days. I hope all is going well, thank you for your prayers in my behalf, and all your love and support. I miss you all, and I'll see you soon (too soon in my opinion).

Love,

Elder Hughes

News at LAST...

2011-07-05T15:22:00.001-07:00

Dear Family and Friends,
I PROMISE I'M ALIVE!!! I haven't had any time this last week, I've been trying to be a missionary and a District Leader, and a Ward Mission Leader, and had so much going on that we never had time to email, but we had a BAPTISM!!! WHOO!!! Long story short, we were busy busy busy, and had no time to think. We had some neat experiences surrounding the baptism though. One of our investigators that we've been teaching for a couple months came to the baptism, and felt the Spirit very powerfully. Hopefully she, and maybe her husband (we're not sure he's a member(he says he is)), will be getting baptized soon. Then Sunday night, we went to visit a referral, and they turned out to be awesome. This lady and her son were referred to us by her father who is a bishop out in Utah that converted 30 years ago, and we had a short lesson, and are very excited to start teaching them. In addition, we're going to teach the Sister that just got baptizeds' son, and he should be baptized very soon as well. Needless to say it's very busy right now, and we're loving it. I hope all is well on the home front. I need you all to know that I love you, and miss you, and that I know that through the Savior we can return to the presence of God. I know our Father in Heaven loves us, and has a plan for us all in our lives, and we can be shown the way by the Spirit. I testify of these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Love,

Elder Hughes

Message for the week

2011-06-20T14:50:00.000-07:00

(I know he was at the meeting- so look hard)

Dear Mom,
We're at a crowded library, and I couldn't get a computer for more than 15 minutes, so I may have to email you back tomorrow, or find a new computer.....I got the message about the gatorade, milk, and cheesecake. Thanks! You really are the best mom ever you know. I'm really starting to get depressed....I'm so used to having companions that have been out forever that having a fresh one that is still very focused on back home is making me wish I could just get there already, but I don't want to think/feel that way so it's very frustrating, but such is life. I guess it's just something else I have to learn to deal with right? I sure hope all is well. I'll also have you know that I totaled all my bike repairs up thus far, and I'm about to pass the $300 mark. Which makes me very angry, because there are missionaries that never even ride a bike out here. I'm not sure I want to keep it for going home, because sending it home is another $85, and I could probably resell it for most of what I've put into maintenance of the crazy thing. The saga continues, it is trying to break again, but I'm doing all I can to stop it. I keep forgetting that I did get your package with the jelly in it, thank goodness cause I was out. I let my companion try some, and he agrees that it's the most delicious thing he's ever tasted. Anyway, I'm going to move computers hopefully.

Ok, computer switch...So yeah, I'm hating this having to start thinking about what I'm going to do before I get home stuff. The heat is here, and I think to stay this time, it's hot and humid. Unfortunately with humidity the you sweat just as much in the shade as you do regularly. Humidity is such a pain. We had our last meeting with President and Sister King Thursday, and it was a sad yet spiritual experience. I'm sure gonna miss them. It seems like there's an awful lot of depressing things going on right now, considering that on top of that one of our investigators that was so close to getting baptized is moving to California. Not my favorite week overall, but I'll manage. I'm kind of terrified right now, because I'm supposed to go on exchange with all the missionaries in my District every month, and I've been putting it off, but I'm supposed to go with Sisters and I'm terrified.....Not very high up on my list of things to do. Anyway, other than that things are pretty same old same old. Lots of bike riding, and sweating, and crazy people. Oh, I need the password to my blog, because I want to put a link to my mormon.org profile on there so y'all can check it out. I think I'm gonna break from the norm, and just let this be my email, I need to get some personality in them. besides being stressed, tired, and terrified things are going well we have 2 investigators that are getting very close to baptism which is super exciting, and hopefuuly things will continue to pick up. Like I said I'll be going on exchange for the next couple days so that ought to be interesting I think. We're enjoying the new apartment. We went on an excursion today to the Kennesaw Mountain Battlefield which was pretty cool, but the hikes here are so short that you hit the top before you know what's going on. It was some good District bonding time, but was very hot and there was a lot of complaining. I've had some interesting experiences with things I've learned, and I'm excited to see where they take us. I hope that we can all strive to strengthen our testimonies, and I testify that we can know the truth of all things through the Holy Ghost, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen

Good News

2011-06-15T12:09:00.001-07:00

Dear Family and Friends,
We had a very crazy week this week, we moved apartments. On top of that we had lots of appointments, and a miraculous experience with one of our investigators. She was commited to come to church, but ended not sleeping much the night before, and was in a lot of pain due to a rotator cuff injury. So she prayed about being able to come, and told the Lord that if this was what he wanted her to do, he'd have to make the pain bearable, and it disappeared completely and never came back. I've felt so grateful to have witnessed such a miracle, and am still astonished that it happened. We also met a new lady this week that we commited to be baptized July 2nd, so hopefully things go well there. She also had a neat story. She just moved here from Alabam, and was looking for a church so she typed in an address on her GPS, and the GPS mistakenly led her to our church, and she loved it. With all the stress of moving and things going on, I was very grateful that the Lord would be so gracious to us. We are teaching some amazing people, and so many good things are happening, they just keep hitting these roadblocks that are keeping them from getting baptized. We'll get through though, I know we will. Heavenly Father will prepare the way. I realize it's been a while since I bore my testimony, and I'd like to share it with you today: I know God lives, and is our loving Heavenly Father. He has a plan for us that is centered around the Atonement of his only begotten son Jesus Christ, and desires our Exaltation. I testify that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, our Savior and Redeemer, and the only way we can return to the presence of God. I bear Witness of his Atonement, and the power it contains to change lives and hearts, and purify us through the power of the Holy Ghost, whose presence in our lives I testify of. I know that Joseph Smith is the Prophet anointed by the Savior himself who opened this last dispensation, and that he translated the Book of Mormon by the Gift and Power of God. I Bear Witness that the Book of Mormon is the Word of God, and will lead us back to him. I testify that Thomas S. Monson is a Prophet of God, and that this is the true and living church of Jesus Christ on the earth today, in his sacred name, Amen.

Love,

Elder Hughes

Short and to the Point

2011-06-06T09:08:00.001-07:00

Dear Family and Friends,
This week we had a scary experience, we lost the keys to our apartment, thankfully we were able to find them after some searching, and all turned out well. I must admit it scared me though. My bike has finally quit trying to fall apart (took some tlc), and is now doing very well. The weather is getting very warm, but overall isn't too bad yet. Our baptism has been moved, we're not sure when to yet, but hopefully not too far. We're getting ready for President and Sister King to leave, it's a sad time but I'm sure the new President will be great. We'll probably be moving apartments this week, so that will make things interesting, and hopefully help us be able to accomplish more. I know the Savior lives, and loves us, I know we can be a part of his great work, and I testify that this gospel is the key to Eternal happiness in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Late but....with a Reason

2011-06-02T10:48:00.000-07:00

Dear Family and Friends,

We had transfers last Tuesday, and had a giant service project monday which is why my email is late this week. I got a new companion Elder Horne, from Kaysville. He has only been out for 3 months, and hasn't been on bike yet, so I've been hearing a lot of complaints, and had to spend a lot of time waiting. Apparently I've gotten pretty speedy in the last year. It's been fun to work with him so far. They also changed the District boundaries so now we have the Portugese Elders, which is super cool. I thought the District would shrink, but it actually grew. We're all getting excited for President Wolfert to come in next month, but saying goodbye to President and Sister King is going to be really difficult. Everything is working out for our investigator that is preparing to be baptized, and hopefully the 12th will still work. We've had a big push in the mission lately on planning and goal setting, and it's really helped us change the way we look at things. I'm getting nervous about coming home, but I try not to think about it. It's hard with all the reminders we get all day long. I don't have too much to write this week, so in closing I testify that Jesus is the Christ, the Book of Mormon is true, and this is his church on the earth in his holy name, Amen.

Weekly News

2011-05-23T09:13:00.000-07:00

Dear Family and Friends,

Guess what? Transfers are tomorrow, and over half of my District is being transferred! (dun dun duhhh!!!!) But not me, my companion is, so as of tomorrow, I will officially have filled up my Preach My Gospel companion list. Crazy, but at least I have a few more areas to go before the other side gets filled up. We have had a strange week, we had a training with President King Tuesday in the District, then another training wednesday. Needless to say, it was a training week. I did learn some pretty cool stuff, and was reminded of how to be more effective in some other things. Hopefully in the future it helps us do better. The people we're teaching right now are making some good progress, but unfortunately we weren't able to see them last week excpet for one. Thankfully he has accepted the challenge to be baptized and is preparing for June 12th. It's pretty exciting considering it's been almost 7 months since we've had one. But I'm feeling very positive that more will come. We're doing a lot of work with the ward, and helping them do missionary work, and hopefully it starts to bear some fruit. Some of the important things we learned this week were about goals and planning. In life if we don't have goals, we'll never push ourself to achieve the things we want to. I've also been blessed to see some things that have happened over the course of the last 18 months in a different light, and it's really made me grateful for the Lord's hand in things. I know that he loves us, and he has a plan for us to become like him and return to the presence of our Father in Heaven. I testify of that, and that the fulness of the gospel has been restored by the Prophet Joseph Smith. Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer. He lives, and because he lives we too shall live! In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Love,
Elder Hughes

News for the Week

2011-05-16T08:22:00.000-07:00

Dear Family and Friends,

This week we had our last Zone Conference with President and Sister King. It was a really powerful conference, but a sad experience at the same time. I got to go on exchange with the other Elders in my District, and we had a lot of fun, but my companion goofed up and missed dinner one of the days, so we had to apologize. We had a couple really neat teaching opportunities, one with a sister that has been away from the church for a long time, and one with a young man that grew up without religion in his life. They were both powerful lessons, and we really tried to listen to the Spirit to help them know what Heaenly Father wanted them to know. The work seems to be starting to pick up, things are beginning to roll forth, and hopefully things start to happen pretty soon. We're trying to continuall improve, and really focusing on asking members to help us in seeking revelation about how to do the work of the Father in his way. The members here are great, they're a lot of fun, and I enjoy serving with them. Especially our bishop, he's such a great guy, and he loves to help us in any way he can. Since the Temple opened, it really seems like the Lord is pouring out his Spirit upon the people here, and softening and preparing hearts. It's such a funtime to be a missionary, the work is difficult, but it's so rewarding that all the effort is more than worth it. I would like to share some few thoughts this week about the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost is the Key to Exaltation! If you seek to live worthy of, listen to, and obey it, it will lead you straight back into the presence of the Father having accomplished all that you were foreordained to do, and there you will sit down on the right hand of the Father eternally, to go no more out. I can say nothing more straight forward, and simple than that, and I testify with all my heart and soul that what I just said is the truth. God bearing witness of it. We must do what is necessary to have the companionship of the Holy Ghost Always, in the name of the Savior Jesus Christ, Amen.

Mail Call

2011-05-09T09:16:00.000-07:00

Dear Family and Friends,

This week was a landmark in the mission field, I made my last call home....I'm not sure how I feel about that, but at least I wont have to worry about that any more. This week was another crazy one (they all are these days). We had a District Leader Council with President King, and I had a really cool experience there. I've been feeling that we really need to start working through the members of the wards, and loh and behold that's what President King told us to do. It made me feel like maybe I can recieve inspiration, and was cool. I also made a neat discovery in the scriptures that pertains to what we talked about. It says, "for ye have need of patience that, after ye have done the will of God ye might recieve the promise." (Hebrews 10:36) So in essence we need to seek the will of the Lord, and act upon our impressions with all diligence being patient when we don't see immediate results, and know that the promises of the Lord will be fulfilled once you've finished the course. This also illustrates something we were told by Elder Pieper when he was here, he said "miracles start by Revelation." Which would be true since you have to obtain the will of the Lord to do it. It was a perfect description of how I've felt about some of the things we've tried before, I got discouraged when things didn't happen right away, but now I understand, and am prepared for the future. I feel very positive about our situation right now, and am very excited for the things that are happening. I would like to share one experience that we had yesterday.... I spent a good amount of time praying to know where we could find someone prepared to recieve the gospel, and I didn't feel anything. Several hours later at church, I still felt nothing. As we walked out of Sacrament meeting and into Sunday school class, and young woman in the ward walked up and introduced us to her boyfriend who asked us to teach him the discussions. That never happens! Later as I was sitting in Priesthood class, the words of my prayer that morning came back to me, and I realized that had been the answer to my prayer. At that point I was filled with such gratitude that my eyes began to water. It was one of the coolest things that has happened on my mission. I know that Heavenly Father hears and answers prayers, that he knows and loves each one of us, and that he has a plan for all of us to help in this great work we are engaged in. He needs us, and we need to do all we can to serve him, and help him accomplish his divine purpose so that the earth may be prepared for the coming of our Lord. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Love,
Elder Hughes

Late News is Better Than No News...

2011-05-04T13:01:00.001-07:00

Hey,

Don't freak out, I didn't have time to email on Monday, my companion made an appointment without telling me, and we had to cut our email time short. I have had a bad week, a lot of crazy stuff happened. We got to see the Rededication of the Temple which was cool, and the cultural celebration, but there were a lot of strange things. I wrecked on my bike (bikes fault), and tore up my right hand. My bike got sabotaged while we were at dinner (someone cut the valve stem, bent the rim beyond repair, and ruined my chain), and then we had a fiasco trying to get it fixed. Some guy gave us a ride, and tried to tell us that we were being deceived while attacking our beliefs. And then in District Meeting, we almost started arguing over something. But, I'm doing alright. My hand hurts though. But, on the bright side, I didn't break anything, and I'm still going. We're really trying to change the way we do missionary work, so I'm imagining things are going to be pretty slow for a while, but I think that in the long run it will be a big help. Anyways, I just wanted to let you know so you wouldn't worry too much.... Talk to you Sunday! Love ya!

Love,

Elder Hughes
(send some mail...spread a little cheer)

Weekly Note

2011-04-25T11:01:00.000-07:00

(Atlanta Temple)

Dear Family and Friends,

This week has been interesting to say the least. We had interviews with President King this week in the Temple, which was super cool, but we also had an area 70 chewing us out for there being too many missionaries at the Temple. We got a few referrals from the open house, but nothing has happened with them so far. The sisters are having a mini-transfer since everything with the open house has been so crazy, so i may or may not be losing the sisters in my district which would be sad since everything else seems to be dieing on me. I've really felt like the Lord has been trying to teach me a lesson these last couple weeks, and today was a big step towards whateer it is I'm supposed to be learning. I wish I could turn back time, and that I had known what I know now when I left on a mission, but alas that's the problem with this life, we live and learn. I have a request to make, please refrain from telling me how little time I have left, it may seem harmless to you, but I don't like to think about it. Trust me I know that I only have a short time left, and I really want to focus these last few months so that I can do what the Lord wants me to do. I thank you all for you love and support, and I hope you know that I pray for you, that I miss you, and that I am excited to be with you again, but while I am here, I belong to the Lord, and that's what I want to focus on right now. I would also like to share some thoughts on missionary work, we are taught in John 6:44 that no man can come unto Christ unless the Father draws him, which makes tuning in to the Father's will all the more important, and I encourage all of us to seek the Lords' will in our lives, so that we know how to be better disciples, and help him to accomplish his work to bring to pass the imoortality and Eternal Life of his children. I know that Christ lives, that he loves us, and I pray that at this season of the year where we commemorate his resurrection, we may find renewed Faith in Christ, and a deeper devotion to his gospel si my prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Love,
Elder Hughes

Short and 2 the Point

2011-04-19T18:38:00.000-07:00

Dear Family and Friends,
This week was a lot of fun, we got to work at the Temple twice helping direct parking, which was insane because people were rebellious and didn't want to do what they were told, but we managed. Then we got to go through with a recent convert, which was a lot of fun. The Temple is very pretty, but I still prefer the St. George Temple. Other than that we haven't deen able to do too much this week, on account of spending so long there. But it's been a fun week, even though my legs hurt from standing so long. I do know that the Temple is the house of the Lord, and I admonish you all to make it a priority to get there, because our Heavenly Father wants us to be with our families eternally, I testify of this in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Lucky Us

2011-04-11T20:23:00.000-07:00

Dear Family and Friends, Well, you lucked out again, I'm not getting transferred, so you'll know where I am for a few more weeks.... Sorry to those of you whose letters I haven't been able to respond to yet, I've had a lot on my plate the last 6 weeks, and we're just getting into the thick of things, but I will write when I get some time. The Temple open house started Saturday, and everyone is stoked!!! All the reports we've heard about so far say it has been amazing. I can't wait to get to go through. The weather has been really wet here, but everything is so pretty right now with all the flowers and trees just blooming, it's a great time of year to be in Georgia. But I do miss my good old mountains. The work is kind of at a grinding halt right now, but I can just feel that something is about to happen. It's almost like the dam has finally been plugged, and now the water's about to blast it open. It's truly an exciting time to be a missionary. I would like to mention one thing this week, and that is sanctification. The pinnacle of Discipleship to Christ is becoming perfect in him, and this requires that we give our whole heart, and soul to him, so that we can become sanctified by the power of the Holy Ghost. Only by doing this can we stand spotless before the Father at the last day when we stand to be judged of our works. Only through Faith, and repentance of all our sin, and faithfulness to the end after being baptized by someone holding the priesthood authority of God. I admonish you to seek the refining power of the Holy Ghost that we may all stand together at that great and last day, and enter into the kingdom of God having fought the good fight, and won the prize by faithful obedience. I testify that this is the way, made possible through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, in his sacred name, Amen. Love, Elder Hughes

Weekly Update

2011-04-04T11:29:00.000-07:00

Dear Family and Friends, This week was a fast one. We got invitations to the Temple open house Tuesday from President King, and started handing them out. So far we haven't had too much success with it, but we're trying to be ingenuitive, and are coming up with some new things to try. Hopefully we can hand out all 300 quickly. I had an interesting experience yesterday in between sessions of conference where the sisters in my district took my companion and I to meet a guy they had talked to before. We stood in a gas station for an hour and a half, and compared Islam to Latter Day Saint doctrine. I noticed very early that I was the only one doing the talking, and no one else seemed to have anything to say. So we had 5 missionaries in a gas station on a sunday with people coming in and out, and me and this guy are having a long discussion about our beliefs. It was a fun experience, because the Spirit truly led me in what to say, and when and how to say it, and the guy really couldn't say anything against what we had talked, or explain how he knew any of it was true. We left him with our testimonies, and he told us we could come back, but I think we might not, on account of I could see myself talking to him all day. It was a good experience though, to see how the Spirit worked through me. Having the opportunity to listen to conference was very different to me than it has been in the past, I really felt as though the Lord was tellling me what to do, and I hope that all of us will take the time to study and ponder the messages shared, because I know that the Lords counsel is contained in them. I also know and testify that as we follow it, we will be blessed because I know that these men and women are inspired of God, and that Thomas S. Monson is his Prophet on the earth today. Please follow their counsel, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. Love, Elder Hughes

He's Found Again..

2011-03-28T15:14:00.000-07:00

Dear Family and Friends, Once again my industrious mother has succeeded in taking all the fun out of the guessing game, due to complications with my bike. So the secret is out, I'm now in the Roswell ward, and I think that this ward is definitely one of my favorites which probably means I wont be here too long..... This week was really strange, just about everyone we met was super nice, but not too interested in learning the gospel. We've now had to reschedule all of our baptisms, so nothings gonna happen there for a while. I had to go to Leadership training again this week, I really don't like 9 hour meetings, but this one was unique, so we got to break up the routine a little. With the Temple Open House starting next week, and General Conference and all the changes in missionary work going on, it's a crazy time to be a missionary, but it's also a good time. We really have to rely on the Spirit, and it's great. This week we had a really cool experience, where we just left the apartment, and were biking out to where we were going for the day, and the wind was blowing like crazy, so we were going really slow. Less than 100 yards from our turn off, we stopped to check the map because I wasn't sure where we were going, and this van pulls off behind us. A member steps out, and hands us a referral for a less active member that wants to take the lessons, and come back to church. It was so crazy to think that if the wind hadn't been blowing, we already would've been there, and she would've missed us. Then of course the wind died down the rest of the day, and everything went very cheerfully from then on. It definitely helped me see how the Lord's hand is in all things, and he really does work in mysterious ways, but it's all for the benefit of his children. I testify of these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. (I for one am glad he chose a shop called Roswell Bike Shop, and that I have access to his bank records)

The Weekly Owl (Hogwarts style)

2011-03-21T20:09:00.000-07:00

Dear Family and Friends,
This week in the Elder Hughes weekly mission newsletter, we are glad to report that something crazy has happened yet again. Don't worry though, no ones life was in danger or anything like that, it was actually a cool experience. A lady that has been in contact with the church through the years, ended up outside our church building Saturday and was invited to watch a basketball game. She came to church the next day, and we were invited to a members home to share a message with her, where we found out that she is very fond of the church, and as we were teaching her I had a feeling that I've never experienced before. As I was talking, I could hear words coming out of my mouth but it was like my mind and mouth were disconnected, but I was still teaching. As this was happening, a thought ran across my mind as clear as day, almost to the point that I thought I could see it running in front of my vision like you see in cartoons all the time. And I thought that this lady needs to be baptized, but I never felt impressed to invite her to. It was single handedly one of the most unique experiences that I've ever had teaching, because the Spirit was inspiring me about what to do and say the entire time, and she really seemed to understand. It was amazing to me to see how the Lord works through us when we're open. This probably happened because of an experience that I had earlier in the week that I'd like to share. I seem to have developed prayer insomnia, meaning I can't sleep until I've prayed at night. One night, my body was tired, it had been a long day, I was exhausted physically and mentally, but I could not close my eyes. So I crawled out of bed and fell to the floor where I had one of the most powerful prayers I've ever had, and I literally felt the Holy Ghost moving in my heart. Afterwards I was paralyzed by fear, and an impression quickly came to me that there was an evil spirit trying to overcome me in that moment, and I heard in my head myself commanding that spirit to be gone. After a moment, I repeated the words, and immediately the fear left, and as I layed back down I fell asleep immediately. I feel that in response to that prayer I've come just a little closer to the Lord, and the rest of the week, I have felt the Spirit moving more powerfully in me. I would like to bear the witness that I have received of the Holy Ghost that prayer is the key to opening the window of heaven, and invoking the power of God to help us in our lives. He will change our hearts, our minds, and help us to come unto him that we may become perfected in Christ. Of this I testify in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Love,

Elder Hughes

We still don't know where he is!! This week we guessed Matt (yes that is a town in Georgia), Bufford, Cummings, and Buffington.

Bonus.... Mail With Pictures

2011-03-15T08:55:00.001-07:00

He actually sent a few pictures with his letter this week. The first two pictures are from his last area. The Elders Quorum president and another lady that has helped them a lot.
The picture below is the family he is working with now.

Dear Family and Friends,

This week was a busy one, between trying to get to know everyone, and all the hustle of daily routines, I had to prepare a talk for Sacrament meeting. Unfortunately, they only gave me 7 minutes to talk about Personal Revelation in missionary work, with an introduction to myself so the ward could get to know me, so I didn't get to share all the things I wanted to, but if that's the biggest worry I have, then I must be doing pretty good all things considered. We unfortuately had to move our baptism that was scheduled for this week back to next week, but I feel that it will happen, so I'm excited for that. I'm still trying to figure out what the Lord is trying to teach me with my new companion, he's hard of hearing and has a personality that isn't too much like mine so working together is interesting. Unfortunately I do most of the talking, but maybe that's what I'm supposed to be learning, but it's fun to get to experience different things and face different challenges. Before I relay my next clue, I apparently need to clarify something I said last week that I didn't realize. I have now served in 5/8 of the zones in this mission, sorry for any confusion that may have caused. The clue for this week is one of the major roads in my last area runs through this area. This week I would like to talk about Faith. Faith is a gift from God that comes from the Spirit, it is an unfailing source of power in this life, but we must first seek to build it in our lives, and acquire it's two companions. The opponents of Faith are Doubt and Fear, these are counter acted by Hope and Charity, which explains the necessity of them accompanying Faith as explained in Moroni 7. We must seek to grow our Faith, and as we do all other things will follow, for with Faith comes Knowledge, Temperance, Hope, Charity, Virtue, Godliness, and in short all other attributes that help us become like Christ. We acquire these things through careful study of and obedience to the gospel, which is the key to recieving Eternal Life as outlined in 2Nephi31:20. I know that this is true, that we can become like the Savior, and that these 3 attributes are the keys to progressing towars Eternal Life while in the days of our probation. We are sons and daughters of God, Christ is the Savior. The Book of Mormon is true, Joseph Smith was the Prophet of God that translated it, and restored the gospel in this final dispensation. Thomas Monson is the Prophet chosen today to lead and guide us. I bear witness of these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Love,

Elder Hughes

Up to his old tricks..

2011-03-08T12:32:00.000-08:00

Dear Family and Friends,

This has been a crazy week, we had transfers wednesday, and the sisters we replaced didn't have a ride home for us, so I just about lost it there, and now we're in a totally foreign ward, living in somebody's basement, we haven't been able to meet some of the investigators we have that are getting ready to be baptized soon, and now I have a much bigger District to worry about. But it's fun, I almost forgot what it's like to be in a new area, it's so different. We've already biked just about everywhere in the ward, our ward members seem very helpful when it comes to missionary work, and they have some high expectations for us, so I'm excited to see what happens. Things are just as stressful as ever, but it's getting easier, hopefully meaning that I'm doing better. Well, I have to cut this one short, because we have an appointment to go to, but I'll write again next monday.....remeber, the church is true, the book is blue, and God's a Mormon:)

Love,
Elder Hughes

Ok, so the stinker is having us guess where he is again. His hint for this week is he's in a new zone, making 5/8 fyi. (I have no idea what that means!)

Packing Again...

2011-02-28T10:44:00.000-08:00

Dear Family and Friends,
If this email sounds a little scatterbrained, please forgive me, because I have a hundred things going on in my head right now. We had Zone Conference Wednesday, which was a lot of fun, and a very spiritually uplifting experience. Then I got sick that night, and was down until Saturday with the flu (not fun at all), then sunday we finally started to get things working with the bishop, who we have dinner with tonight. Then this morning we find out that we're both being transferred out of the area, and missionaries aren't coming back for a while, and there's some boundary changes being made in the mission, so we have to pack and clean, and we can't tell the ward, and I'm about ready to lose my mind. It's so hard because I love the people here so much, and I want them to know, but there's nothing I can say or do to change what the Lord wants, and I would never try that anyways. And, we just found out who our new Mission President is going to be. So needless to say, things are pretty exciting/confusing/trying right now, but I'm sure we'll get through it all somehow. I would like to share with you my witness that the Lord's hand is in all things, I know this with all my heart, and I absolutely know that nothing happens by chance in this life, God is the ruler of all things. I leave this with you in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Love,
Elder Hughes

A Note for the Week

2011-02-22T12:13:00.000-08:00

Dear Family and Friends,
As I have pondered this week, I think I'm beginning to see the workings of the unseen forces around us. I feel as though I can literally see the power of Satan working overtime to stop the work of Christ from going forth. But, with the opening of the Temple coming up, it makes sense. His power in the South is about to be strained, and with the power of the Spirit that the visitors will feel, a lot of people are going to want to know what they were feeling as they toured the Temple. It's amazing to me to see how the Lord puts things in place to thwart the adversary, but we have to be in tune enough to see it, and we need to do all we can to make sure the Lord's will gets done. We had the priviledge this week of being taught by Elder Peiper of the 70 this week, and it was a truly special day. To see and feel his love for the Savior and his work was just amazing. He taught us some very valuable things, that I hope will help us to elevate ourselves to where we need to be to accomodate the Revelation that President King has received, that the Windows of Heaven are beginning to open on this mission, and the vision of the South is about to unfold. As I have pondered these events, I feel it important to urge all of you to consider your readiness for the coming of the Savior, because it is not far away. I feel that we have a very short time left before he comes. We need to be prepared, and I testify that if we have the Faith, and are willing to follow the Lord's commands, he will help us to be prepared. We must ask ourselves if we could stand before the Lord, and tell him with an honest heart that we are worthy to return to his presence. I would also like to speak of the shortness of this life. In the vast expanse of eternity this life is but a small blip on the map, and yet it is one of the most important sections in that expanse, for it is what we do here that determines what we will spend the rest of eternity doing. We cannot afford to waste this life, or take it lightly, we do not have time to spend idling away while the Lord is trying to prepare the way for his coming. We must be anxiously engaged in the work of the Lord, doing all we can to help his work roll forth. I urge you to carefully study the words of the Apostles and Prophets, and follow their counsel, because President King feels, and I believe that Thomas S. Monson is the Prophet who's calling is to gather scattered israel to prepare the earth. I testify that he is the Prophet of God chosen today to lead us in this time. I know that we can be instruments in the Lord's hands if we will submit our will to his, and I know that this work will go on until the Great Jehovah shall say it is done.

Love,

Elder Hughes

Georgia Happenings

2011-02-14T12:25:00.001-08:00

Dear Family and Friends,

This week has been full of sick people. My companion was sick, a bunch of ward members were sick, and they told us all kinds of stories about everyone being sick. It is definitely the flu season around these parts, and I'm grateful I haven't gotten sick yet (knock on wood). We had to postpone our baptism this week. We met with our investigators father for the first time, and of course he'd been exposed to some very farfetched ideas that happen to make sense in our line of Doctrines, but he was very resistant, and rather unopen, so we decided it would be best to postpone the baptism so we didn't cause any problems with the family. I feel terrible about the situation, because as we were sitting there both the kids were with us listening, and when the father told us that he didn't want his son being baptized until he learned more, I saw the exitement drop out his sons face, and when we talked to him later, it was as if the light of the Spirit had left. I felt terrible afterwards, and I prayed long and hard. In my heart I felt like someone had just stuck a dagger right in me, and it strengthened my resolution to never let that happen again. As I pondered the situation, I realized how much I've come to love the family over the course of the time I've been here, and it amazed me. I'm glad the Lord is the one in control, because I doubt I could even attempt to fix what happened. We had Stake Conference this week, and it was funny because we didn't expect President King to come, but as we're standing there waiting for the family to show up, in walks President King. As he was walking by, he asks me: "How does it feel to serve in one area longer that the rest of your mission?" I told him I still wasn't sure. It was a good meeting, and the Spirit was very strong. I've really reflected this week on the importance of the Spirit in our lives, and I want to testify to you all, that it is the key, the very KEY, to the Lord's work being done by his servants here on earth (which is all of us), and we need to strive to do all we can to have it's companionship always. I know the Lord loves us, and will help us if we ask him, and do our best to be obedient to the subtel promptings of the Spirit, I know God lives, that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, our Savior and Redeemer. I know Joseph Smith was God's chosen Prophet who restored the gospel to the earth in this the final dispensation, and I bare you my witness that the Book of Mormon is the word of God, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Mail's Updated...

2011-02-08T05:54:00.000-08:00

Dear Family and Friends,
This was a rather long week due to a 3 day meeting we had with President King, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 10am - 4pm. It was long, but very good. We spent the time learning about the fundamentals of Preach My Gospel, the new missionary teaching curriculum, and working on improving our teaching skills, and it was very spiritual, and believe it or not, a lot of fun. This week was a very special one for me, because 2 of the most touching moments of my mission occured. Friday night we saw a family we've been working with since I got here, and we set a date with the son (12) for the 19th of February, which was very exciting. But then on the way home, I asked his mom how she felt about the church today as opposed to 7 months ago, and she told me that she believed it was true. Then 45 minutes lated while we were at dinner, she called to talk to me and told me a story. She said that recently she'd been kneeling beside her bed praying, and she started asking very specific questions for some reason, and she was amazed at how quickly her answers came to her mind. I wont quote the things she heard, but in short the Lord told her that this is his church, led by a Prophet, having been restored through Joseph Smith. As she shared the story with me, it touched my heart. Then Sunday I was sitting up on the stand waiting my turn to bear my testimony, and she came up and bore her testimony after I did, and again I was overcome with gratitude and love. It was so neat to see that one of Heavenly Father's children has been brought back to the fold. As I've been pondering this week, I'd like to remard about how much Heavenly Father wants to help us. When we meet the conditions laid out by Moroni in the final chapter of the Book of Mormon, Heavenly Father will answer our prayers so quickly that it will surprise us, and in ways we wont expect. For example when Joseph was in the Sacred Grove, he fully expected an answer to his prayer, and he had Faith, and as soon as he truly called on the Lord in sincerity, that instant he was delivered from the power of the adversary, and the Father and Jesus both appeared to him personally. We do have a loving Father in Heaven, and he does hear and answer us, of these things I testify in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Love,
Elder Hughes

Last Week's Mail (that I just received)

2011-02-08T05:52:00.000-08:00

Dear Family and Friends,This last week has been a good one, we had a lot of good opportunities to work with less-active members. We also had a good opportunity to talk with the entire ward about Mormon.org, and making profiles. I would encourage all of you that read this to make one, because it is the church's new direction with missionary work, and you could help someone become converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ through what you say. the ward is giving us a lot of resistance, and it's frustrating, but we all need to understand that this is direction given from the Prophet that he received through Revelation. Anyways, things are going well, and hopefully we should have a double baptism in February, so I'm pretty excited. I would like this week to share with you my thoughts about obedience. The entire plan of Salvation is contingent upon our obedience. God has given us a lot of guides such as Prophets, Scriptures, the Holy Ghost, Families, the Church, but all these things don't mean a thing if we don't choose to follow the counsel we receive. I would ask that we all please evaluate how obedient we are, and find areas where we can improve, because that is the very key to happiness and protection in this life. God has made so many promises, and the blessings are ours but we have to choose to keep the associated commandments. I testify that this is true, that God loves us and is waiting to shower down blessings upon us. Please follow the Lord, he is the key to joy, true everlasting joy. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

News

2011-01-24T13:58:00.000-08:00

Dear Family and Friends,
This week was a good one, it started to warm up again, only to find out that another storm is coming in Tuesday or Wednesday, so we might be snowed in again. We were able to have some good teaching opportunities with our top investigators, who are getting very close to baptism. We had an awesome experience in Gospel essentials class.... I was teaching since our Ward Mission Leader was out of town, and I was using the analogy of a scale to explain agency, and this one less active member kept making off the wall questions, and asking unrelated questions, and was completely disruptive, and the less active mother of our 2 investogators, who has come to church 4 times in a row, was trying to help me take control of the lesson again, and was even quoting from True to the Faith. It was really neat to see how much she's really studying, and wants to have a testimony. As I was saying last week, I've been looking at Charity a lot lately, and here are my thoughts.... The attributes of the Natural Man can be found in Proverbs 6, these are the 7 things tools that the devil uses to destroy us, and if we look in Moroni at the attributes of Charity, they all contradict those 7 things, and more. Charity at it's core is pure love like the Savior, and being filled with that pure love is like being filled with a refiners fire, it purifies and sanctifies us, and helps us to become like the Savior. In the end, love really does conquer all, because by having Charity, we've climbed the ladder through Faith, Virtue, etc. and have become like the Savior. Through love, we are motivated to follow Christ, keep the commandments, Repent, and we will be prepared to meet the Savior when he comes. I know these things are true, and that we should all strive to be filled with the pure love of Christ. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Snowed In

2011-01-17T09:09:00.000-08:00

Dear Family and Friends,
This week was a nice one, we were snowed in for 2 days, and the ice is still here. Everyone has been freaking out, and some people left their houses for the first time in a week yesterday. I turned 21 of Saturday , and it was hilarious. Sister King called me, and she said "whoo, you're legal, but I don't know what for." Later as I was thinking, I realized that I'm now the legal Mormon Marrying Age. Not suggesting anything by that, just making a statement. Then one of the Sisters made me my favorite cake (German Chocolate), so it was pretty awesome. Then we found out that I'm not getting transferred, which will make my time in this area more than the rest of my areas combined. Apparently there is something I'm supposed to do, and for the life of me I can't figure out what. This week was also good, because we have 2 investigators (little kids) that are getting close to baptism, and they've been to church twice in a row now. And on top of that, the Falcons LOST, so maybe we can actually get people to church now....Other than that, it's been a fun week, trudging through the snow, it was just like home, except more icy, and no one knows how to drive. I even slipped off my bike and landed on my behind. But, it's been fun, and I got lots of mail on my brithday, so I was very excited. That's about all for this week, I'd just like to ask you to study charity this week, that's what i've been looking at a lot lately, and I want to see if anyone gets what I've gotten out of studying it. The gospel is true, the book is blue, and God's a Mormon, Have a great week, love you all.

Love,
Elder Craig Hughes

Birthday Week

2011-01-10T11:41:00.000-08:00

Dear Family and Friends,
This week has been a crazy one, and it has all led to this crazy storm, and for the second time in a month it has snowed here in Georgia, which is unheard of. The ward has been going crazy making sure we're taking care of, but they just seem to think we don't know anything about anything, but at least they love us enough to care. I'm celebrating the big 2 1 this week, and man do I feel old. But on the down up side it's a big milestone for me, and I can officially be an adult. We have interviews with President King this week, so I'm pretty excited for that, but also scared since it's my first one as a District Leader. I've been thinking a lot lately about the why's of life, and I've come up with some interesting thoughts that I'd like to share. Everything about life can be related back to a tree, or trees. As parents God gives us the charge of supporting his children with the root system we have built, making our foundation in the gospel direly important, because if it isn't strong enough, then our children could fade or die altogether, and that is the worst thing that could happen to one of God's children. Furthermore, I've thought about why children tend to rebel when they become teenagers....and I believe it is because those are the years where they change, their environment changes, and they become the full natural man exposed to the full evil the world has to offer, and thus far in our lives we never have to face anything to hard, but when we hit that stage Satan unleashes his forces, and we have a whole new battle on our hands. This illustrates an important principle though, as it shows us how much God loves us, and how the church supports the family basis. God gives us the greatest gift we have to protect us before it hits, in time to learn how to be protected, and he gives us power against evil, which also has the power of the ministering of angels to protect us, and the church's goal for every young man to serve a mission, which requires careful preparation to lead us through the darkest of times, and when we finish, we've become a solid trunk ready for the road ahead, and able overcome anything we may face. Our Father in Heaven truly does love us, and he will help us as we rely on him. He has given us everything we need to succeed in mortality, of this I testify in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Love,
Elder Hughes

Happy New Years

2011-01-03T09:39:00.000-08:00

Dear Family and Friends,
This week was a slow one, everyone in the area was partying, and no one wanted to talk. We did however have a couple cool things happen. We had an less active member that we've been working with come to church for the first time in 6 months, and hopefully with the new church schedule she'll come regularly. We also had a member bring a friend to church that we are going to start teaching, so that was way exciting, and should be fun. We had a great testimony meeting, I got to bear my testimony, and it just felt so good to do it, and as I looked out over the audience, there were people crying all over the place, it was funny, but really cool to see the Spirit in action. I've made my new years resolution to do my best to have the Spirit with me more, and to listen to it more carefully. The reason I chose this is for two reasons, one because that's how the Lord guides us and I know that I need that guidance especially now, and if we have the Spirit with us, then we are justified (Moses 6:59). Which means that we are forgiven of our sins, or pure, and by that we can know that we are on the right path in life. I hope we all have taken the chance to make goals like this, because goals are important in our life, without them we aren't working towards somemthing, they give us direction and purpose. But, if you do make a goal please be sure to write it down, and remember it so that you can work towards achieving it. I love you all, and I want to you know that I know this gospel is true, that Heavenly Father Knows, and Loves us all, that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer, and that God answers prayers. I testify to you that by studying the Doctrines of the Gospel, we can change our hearts, and become born-again to be able to put of the natural man, and become true Saints Enduring to the End, when all the Saints shall dwell with God. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Happy Holidays from Georgia

2010-12-27T15:25:00.000-08:00

Dear Family and Friends,
This week has been an enjoyable one, in the Spirit of Christmas President King asked us to focus on serving people, to emulate the love of Christ in others lives, and as we tried to do so, it made the season a lot more special. At the Mission Christmas party that we had Tuesday, we talked a lot about traditions, and their importance, and it really got me thinking about how important traditions are in the foundations of families. They are the basis that we can use to invite the Spirit into our homes, and teach our children important gospel principles in ways that will help them learn more powerfully than just rambling on. They say that actions speak louder than words, and that is definitely true in the case of being an example of the believers. They say that the most important duty we have in this life, is to raise a family in righteousness, and no success can compensate for failure in the home. I would like to add my testimony to that truth, the righteous traditions that we establish our families on will be the foundations of gospel learning for generations to come. I've done a lot of reflecting this week, and as Iv'e done so, I've really become frustrated by the lack of care that seems to run rampant in the hearts of the children of men. Too many of us in this world are so caught up in this world, and the pursuit of joys that come from it, that we neglect of forget to search out the truly important things. If this pattern continues, the world truly will dwindle in unbelief, and God's Plan that he created for all mankind will be a failure. I truly cannot understand why someone would not be willing to obtain the blessings available from the gospel, simpoly because it sounds like a lot of work, or might require me to do something that I don't like. I never in my life wanted to serve a mission, because I was/am terrified of what I do every day, but to think of all the experiences that I've had since I've come, I cannot believe that anyone would not want to do this. I know we all have weaknesses, God GAVE them to us on purpose, and he promises that if we turn to him he will make our weaknesses strenghts. We have so many gifts given to us for our benefit and learning, so that we can reach Exaltation, and I think it's about time we give back to God. In the words of President Uchtdorf, we need to get back the basics, realign our desires, and get ourselves on the straight and narrow path to Eternal Life. May I remind you that anything short of reaching Eternal Life is failure to live the Gospel. The greatest gift we can give God is to Love him, and if we Love him, we will obey him, it becomes so natural. I ask you, Why can you not Love God with all you heart, mind, and soul? I testify that if you do this, he will lead you to Eternal Life. It wont be a burden, it will be a blessing. In the words of Christ, "Whosever will not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me." So lets try a little harder to take up that cross, and lets reach a little deeper to Love the Lord, because I Love you, and he Loves you, and he wants you to come back, but Justice cannot overpower mercy, we must obey. I hope we all can strive together to work towards exaltation, know that I pray for you, I love you, I miss you, and I hope you're all doing well.

Love

Elder Hughes

Monday Mail

2010-12-20T10:08:00.001-08:00

Dear Family and Friends,
Man this was an interesting week, Tuesday night I went and spent the night with the Zone Leaders down in Sandy Plains, because we had to go to another meeting in Lilburn Wednesday, and it was fun, but the couch I slept on was like a rock, and I didn't sleep much. The meeting was cool, and President taught us some cool stuff, and helped me understand what I can do to help the District I'm in charge of more. I also had the opportunity to ask him for a blessing, because I'd felt like I needed to, and it was such a cool experience, just thinking about it makes my eyes water. The Spirit was so powerful, I just felt so loved, and confident, and glad to be where I am that it made me cry, and President gave me a very powerful blessing that had helped me a lot. Then, we had to head home, and that's where things got hairy.... On the way home, we took the freeway route, which ended up being a very bad idea. The temperature dropped below freezing, and there was a light mist of rain falling, and very soon the traffic came to a screeching halt. We got on another freeway, and very soon the same thing happened, and 2 of the other missionaries in the car started making fun of the cars on the other side of the road, because they were driving 25 miles per hour of less, in no traffic at all, but they quit laughing when they saw the first suv sideways in the middle of the freeway.... Needless to say, the roads iced over very quickly, and getting home became quite a chore. Luckily we made it without harm or accident, but the hour long trip ended up taking 5 and a half, and to top it all off I had to use the bathroom the whole time. Anyways, the rest of the week was uneventful, just working with the members and teaching away. Our main investigator is getting much closer to baptism, but unfortunately I think he's going to be leaving before it happens, but oh well, onward and upward. I'm really starting to think this ward wants to get rid of me, on account of all the comments being made recently about how long I've been here, so I don't what that means, but oh well, I can't control that. Anyways, I'm so grateful for this awesome time of the year, and for all those of you who've sent cards of gifts, I extend my sincerest thanks, you're help is so much appreciated. I would like to bear you my witness of the reality of the Priesthood, it is absolutely real, and it absolutely contains the power to strengthen, and uplift us in our life, and help us accompish the Lord's will. I know that our Savior lives, that his life and example are the key to returning to the presence of our Father, and that his Atonement makes it all possible, I testify that this gospel is true, that God knows and loves his children, and that he wants to and will help us as we ask in Faith. I love you all, and leave this with you in the name of our Redeemer, Jesus Christ Amen.
Elder Hughes

Getting Ready for Christmas

2010-12-14T06:32:00.000-08:00

For Family Home evening this week Craig and his companion went to help a nice family put up a Christmas tree and make sugar cookies. They were nice enough to send me an email and share some pictures with me. (I'm sure the missionaries had NO problem eating those homemade cookies)

Mail's Posted

2010-12-14T06:28:00.000-08:00

Dear Family and Friends,
Brrrrrrrrrr, it's a blistering 34 degrees outside and there is some furious wind blowing. There is SNOW on the ground here in Georgia, and just in case you don't believe me, I sent pictures. But yeah, last night was the coldest night I've ever spent here, it was freezing, and the wind was howling. If it would've snowed very hard, it would've been blizzard conditions. Anyways, the missionary work this week has been slow, it seems like everyone is sick this time of year, and everybody's leaving town. But we're moving on, and hoping things get better. nothing too exciting happened this last week. We got to help a family decorate for Christmas, and clean up their yard. We also go to teach a lesson at mutual about the importance of mail to missionaries (I had nothing to say), and testimonies, and it was pretty fun. This week was a good week however for learning, I've really been impressed lately with how the scriptures can answer questions and resolve concerns. It seems like every time I have something come up, I open up to right where I left off last time, and boom, there's the answer. It's really cool to get to see the Lord watching over me like that, but it's saddening to think that people don't want that in their lives. I hope we all this wonderful Christmas season can take time to make a new years resolution to read the scriptures more, I know it will strengthen us, and bring us closer to our Father in Heaven. I also hope that we will all take the opportunity to invite people to feel the Spirit of the season throught the scriptures and trhough church, because this truly is a blessed time of year. I love you all, and I hope all is well. Thank you for your support, know that I miss you.

Love,
Elder Hughes

Big News From the Mission Field...

2010-12-06T13:14:00.001-08:00

Dear Family and Friends,
This week was an interesting one, we had a specialized training with President King Friday, and WOW is all I can say, I never would've thought the words he said would ever come out of his mouth. I'll quote him "I do not want you to tract anymore!" I (along with 74 other missionaries) was blown away. We're now going to be relying on referrals from the members to teach people, because (drum roll) we're now using Mormon.org as our primary proselyting tool. So, this is going to be interesting, because we're in a unique transition phase where we know what's going on, but the Bishop doesn't have a clue, but President King is working on training them. This is crazy, we are actually asked now to spend time learning everything there is to know about the site, and how to use it. If I may, I would like to encourage all of you to check it out, and create a profile on there. So that's the big shake up this week, that and we found out last night that my companion and I are staying together another transfer, which means, I'll have spent more time in this area than the previous 5 combined, which is just absolutely nuts, but it's fun. That's all the big news this week, nothing to exciting outside that happened. I hope you all are doing well, thank you for your support, love, prayers, and letters, they mean a lot to me. I pray for you, and I hope you all are doing well.

Love,
Elder Hughes

On Time Mail...(Miracle)

2010-11-22T15:22:00.000-08:00

Dear Family and Friends,

This week was a looooooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnngggggggggggggg one, Monday night we stayed with Shallowford, because we had to go to Leadership training Tuesday, and Wednesday, so we spent a lot of time sitting in a car, and then had a 9 hour meeting both days, which was insane, but I really enjoyed it, because the Spirit was very strong, and I got to learn all about being a better teacher, and how to help other missionaries be better teachers. I really enjoyed the opportunity, and then Saturday, we had a fireside with John Bytheway, which was pretty cool, but again, it was in Lilburn, making a total of 3 round trips this week. Then you add on District meeting, and all the planning we did, and our week was all but shot, but on the good side, we're hopefully now ready to get things done more efficiently, so I'm excited to see what happens. Then, Sunday was pretty funny, the High Counciler over missionary work was in our ward, and he was getting very animated about our wards' lack of help for the missionary effort, and he coordinated with us about what he can to do help us out, so hopefully things start picking up a little. We also heard from him a really cool story about one of our investigators that he knows. He told us that this mans house is usually surrounded by ravens, but the first time we came to meet him, he noticed that the ravens flew away, and there were songbirds singing all around, so that was pretty cool to hear. Apparently we have some flock of songbirds following us around, luckily they don't drop surprises on us, because that would be terrible. Anyways, I would like to talk about the importance of the holiday season, at this time of year, the Spirit tends to touch people more, because they remember the birth of the Savior. It is a great time to share the gospel, and will surely open doors for great missionary opportunities. They say that every new convert, or returning member needs a friend, so be that friend that could help someone come back to the fold, it truly brings joy to my soul to be able to share the gospel with others, and I can witness that it will do the same to you. One of the greatest joys in life, is giving others the blessings you enjoy. Contemplate for a minute if you will all the blessings that come from having the Atonement in your life, and then imagine your life without them. When I do this, I picture nothing but emptiness, and disappointment, now ask yourself, who can I bring those blessings to, and if you can't think of anyone ask the Lord to bring you someone, and I testify that he will, then just as the Prophet Nephi, go and do as the Lord commands and offer the greatest gift that can be given to mankind, the Atonement, and I promise you, that you will feel the joy of being a missionary in your life. I testify that our Heavenly Father needs our help, and he will do what he can to help us, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Love,
Elder Hughes

Last Week's Mail...

2010-11-22T15:20:00.000-08:00

Dear Family and Friends,
This week was rather uneventful, we did a lot of tracting. But, we got to have Zone Conference, and it was pretty cool. We also had an opportunity to go on exchange, so I had the new Elder in Woodstock come over here, and we got to work together for the day. It was cool, because we found another new member that isn't on the rolls, but unfortunately he may be moving soon because of his job. Then the ward chewed us out for not getting his information, because they expect us to interoggate everyone we meet, so we can tell everyone their life story, and I just don't like to do that, because then it seems like that's all we care about and it's just ridiculous. Anyways, the ward Primary program was this week, and it was so cool to see all the kids up there singing, and there were a bunch of visitors, but nobody told us who they were (there are still a lot of people in the ward that I don't know because they show up so sporadically), so we didn't get to talk to any of them. But at least they came to church, and hopefully felt the Spirit. I'm having a lot of fun, getting to work and learn, and I've definitely gained a testimony of Diligence, it seems like the more tired I am at the end of each day, the happier I am. I can't really explain it, but that's how it works. Overall, things are going good, and should only get better, so I'm excited. I hope you all are doing well, know that you're in my prayers. I hope we all can take an opportunity to really ponder about the meaning and power of prayer, and try to be more sincere, and by so doing, invite the Spirit into our life more powerfully, that we may become closer to the Lord, and more in tune with his will. I know that Heavenly Father loves us, and wants to hear from us, and is willing to grant us the righteous desires of our hearts if we ask in Faith, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Love,
Elder Hughes

Post is Here

2010-11-01T10:46:00.000-07:00

Dear Family and Friends,
How are you? It's a beautiful day here in Georgia, the weather has finally cooled down, I've got a new companion (meaning I didn't get transferred), and we got to confirm a new member of the church yesterday. All in all, it's just a great day here in the land of preaching the gospel. My new companion is Elder Christensen (2nd one in this area), he's from Fillmore Utah, oddly enough, and he's been out as long as I have. It's interesting being with him, because he doesn't like silence, and I quite enjoy it, so this'll be a good opportunity for me to work on my patience. This week, I get to go to Lilburn for a meeting with President King, and all the other leaders in the mission, so I'm excited about that to see what's going to happen. Elder Arnett wound up going to Athens, just in case anyone was wondering, and I'm stoked because my second companion is now one of my zone leaders, so I get to see someone I know again. Being at transfers was a very cool experience, and President King told us that he feels that the baptisms in our mission will get back to where they're supposed to be very soon, so I'm excited for that, but it's going to require a lot of work, and even more faith, so onward and upward. I think I am beggining to thoroughly enjoy myself being here, I seem to only be getting happier and happier these days, I truly can feel the gospel bringing light into my life. I also have the opportunity currently, to teach our gospel principles class, so that's fun, and I get to do that on top of everything else I do, so I'm staying pretty busy. We are trying to extend our range for finding, and we met some nice people in a new neighborhood, so hopefully we can get something going there, but as of right now, we're kind of in a building phase, but I'm confident that things will pick up. Anyways, I hope you are all doing well, know that I love you and I miss you, and missionaries always love mail......Ttys

Love,
Elder Hughes

Hello

2010-10-28T07:03:00.001-07:00

Dear Family and Friends,
This week was a long week, that had such a sweet and at the same time heavy ending.....We spent a lot of time working with one of our investigators, and Satan was really trying to mess with him, but he was baptized yesterday, and I must say it was one of the most touching baptisms that I have ever seen. I got to assist in the baptism, which was really cool, and it was a good thing I was there because I'm not sure the man baptizing him could have picked him back up out of the water. But, the Spirit was just so powerful, and everyone there was crying, and it was just amazing. The thing that made it really cool, was that the missionary that found him originally over a year ago got to be there, so it was so cool. Later that same night, we had transfer calls, and thankfully I'm not packing (yet), but it was an ironic night. My companion, and the rest of our district for that matter, has been telling me I was going to be a District Leader soon, so when the AP's called, my companion was laughing his head off, then something crazy happened.....President King called, and all of the sudden my companion quit laughing, because it was for him, and he's going to be a Zone Leader, so he's a little overwhelmed. So, needless to say it was a crazy day....The rest of the week was really fun, we got to see some investigators that we haven't seen in a while, we were super busy all the time, and we had another unique experience.... Saturday we had the opportunity to go to a Messianic Jewish service, and it was really interesting and different, but I much prefer being LDS if I do say so myself. The funny thing was that the Rabbi was talking about not being hypocrites, as he was taking stabs at our church and what we do as missionaries, but he acted like nothing was different afterwards, so I thought it was funny. Then after this service this lady comes up to me and starts telling me that I don't need to be going around witnessing to people, and I was on the verge of saying something really loudly, but I didn't, so I was proud of myself for making some progress on controlling my temper. I'm really excited to see who my new companion is going to be, and what's going to happen this week, it should be really fun. I hope you all are doing well....

Love,

Elder Hughes

Message for the Week

2010-10-18T13:01:00.001-07:00

Dear Family and friends,
This week was a lot of knocking doors, a lot of bike riding, and a lot of annoyance. We spent a good portion of most of ours days tracting very unsuccessfully, hopefully though we should have a couple baptisms coming up soon, but we'll have to see. One day in particular stands out in my mind, it was Wednesday. The first house we came to was abandoned, so we went to the next, and the guy came out the door and cussed us out while threating us, and told to get off his property (first time this has ever happened), thankfully I've gotten my temper under control a bit better, or things may have gone south really quickly, because this man was just plain rude.... So that was the first door we knocked that day, and the rest of the day was just terrible, until we got to the last door. We had a referral in the area, so we decided to go contact him, and thank goodness he was home. So we sat down on his porch and began to talk with him, and fairly quickly he told us of a dream he'd had the night before we first contacted him, and in this dream he saw the second coming, and the final judgement, and he was told that "the Latter Day Saints would lead the way." After he told us this, I didn't know what to say, but the Spirit bore witness to me that this man had received a witness that our church is Christ's church, and all I could think was how quick can we get this man baptized, unfortunately we soon found out that his family is not so receptive, but that didn't even matter to me. To think that the Lord had prepared such a miracle was so astonishing to me that I was speechless, and it humbled me to tears. I've been looking for something cool like this to happen my whole mission, and it seems all that's ever happened has been the crazy stuff, but I guess I was finally ready for it. It was really cool to see that the Lord really does have his hand in this work, and to get to know that he is preparing people for us. That's something I've struggled with ever since I came our, but I know now how much he loves us. The rest of the week was pretty uneventful, but I'm sure things will pick up. I love you all, and I hope you're doing well, know that I pray for you, and I am deeply grateful for your prayers in my behalf. I know that this Gospel is true. Take time to study it and learn, and I know that you can learn how to be happy and successful in life.

Love,
Elder Hughes-

Mail's Here

2010-10-11T09:19:00.000-07:00

Dear Family,
This week was kind of an interesting one. I went on exchange again, and got meet a very nice Catholic man who took us to lunch. It was cool, because he knew one of the Elders in my districts former Bishop, so he was real nice and loves the church, but he's a devout Catholic. Funny enough, my companion and I tracted into them last transfer, so it was quite hilarious. We had a new investigator come to church, and accept the invitation to be baptized, so hopefully things go well with him. Another of our investigators had surgery again, and we finally found out what exactly is wrong with him, but he has told that he would like to be baptized as soon as he can, but we have to wait since he can't physically get himself wet yet, so it should happen in a couple weeks. Our recent convert is doing very well, she has a calling in the relief society activities commitee, and is just having a blast with the church, but she is still adjusting to the lifestyle, so it's fun to see her growing. I had the longest day of biking thus far on my mission, and my legs have been killing me all week, but it's all good. We were having very bad luck with finding this week, then I made a joke during weekly planning about how we never get any referrals, and like 4 seconds later I get a call from the AP's who are trying to send us some referrals, and we ended up with 3 that same day, so the Lord once again showed me that he has a sense of humor. We are the pilot mission for a new advertising campaign, and as a result have some pretty sweet new pass along cards, and are giving them out like candy, hoping that it works, but thus far not too much is happening, granted it has only been like 2 weeks. Church this week was really interesting, we had members bearing their testimony about the Constitution, and I was really not too happy since it was our investigators first time to church, but there was nothing I could do. I did take the opportunity to bear my testimony, which was very refreshing, and fun. In the 3 months I've been here, it's been cool to see how much my testimony has grown. Before I leave I would like to share some of it with you: I know that we have a loving Heavenly Father that hears and answers our prayers, I know he loved us enough to send his firstborn son Jesus Christ to be our Savior and Redeemer, and I know that they live, and are waiting for us to return to them with open arms. I know that our Father in Heaven prepared the Holy Ghost as a way to commune with us since we cannot be in his physical presence. I know that Joseph Smith was called and annointed as the Prophet of this last dispensation before the foundations of the earth were lain, and that we refoiced when the Savior annointed him. I know that Thomas S. Monson is a Prophet of God that leads and guides us today, and I know that by obeying the laws and principles of the Gospel, and taking part in the ordinances thereof, all mankind may return to live with our Father in Heaven, with our Families, and have Eternal Life, and Exaltation, in the name of Jesus Christ, I bear you this witness, Amen.

Elder Hughes

Good Tiddings

2010-10-04T20:23:00.000-07:00

Dear Family and Friends,

This week has been a slow one, and hasn't been as productive as I would've liked, but at the same time it was a week to remember. I loved General Conference, it was so amazing to hear the counsel and guidance we've been given. We don't have any baptisms coming up too soon, but hopefully we'll be able to get things going. I really don't have any funny stories this week, it was pretty boring other than the debate I had while I was on exchange about facebook and how I'll never be on there. The weather has finally started to cool off, thank goodness. My companion is whining about it being cold now, but it feels sooooo good. I would like to express my heart felt thanks for all your love, support, and prayers while I've been out here, I really do appreciate all that you do, and I hope you all know that I pray for you as well. I thank you all for your encouragement and righteous examples, and I truly hope that we may be able to work at becoming more like our Savior. I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer, I know he lives and loves us, I know that we have a living Heavenly Father who loves and communicates with us through the medium of the Holy Ghost. I hope all of us may be able to ponder the messages shared in General Conference, and apply them in our lives. We truly have a great blessing being members of the true and living church of Christ, and we need to show our gratitude by living as righteously and we can. I know the Lord will strengthen and bless us as we strive to do so. I love you all, and I hope you're doing well!

Elder Hughes

life and times of missionaries..

2010-09-27T13:10:00.000-07:00

Hello,
This week was really slow work wise, not much seems to be happening, but we're working hard and trying to get things done. We found out that our main investigator is afraid of being baptized, since someone has to lean him backwards, and he isn't to prone to trust people. But, we're going to keep working with him. None of our other investigators were available this week, so it was a rough one, but hopefully this week is better. We had an interesting experience, last week a member was telling me that my backpack looked like it was about ready to die, and Tuesday night, as we were biking home I had it packed full of stuff, and it was quite heavy. So as we're biking home, I hit a bump and hear this tearing sound near my right shoulder, so I started asking myself, what was that, and then I heard it again, and I realized that the shoulder of my backpack might be tearing, so I reach back and sure enough it's almost gone. So I start freaking out, and I think to myself if that strap breaks, the other wont be far behind, so I determine in my mind to be as close to home as possible before it happens. Then I start thinking that my companion is probably going to think I'm crazy, but I had no choice, there was no way I could carry all the stuff in my backpack, and we're a mile and a half from home, and it's almost curfew. So at the conclusion of these thoughts in my mind, I start shifting the gears and I take off. I must really have been cooking, because we made it through the door in about 10 minutes (mail stop included), but anyways we get to the mailbox in our complex and my companion pulls up and he asks "What was that?" so I showed him my backpack and he was pacified. Then later, I find out that he'd been thinking of scary stories when I'd taken off, so he'd been thinking something had scared the snot out of me or something, so it was hilarious. On the other side of the spectrum, as we were studying, I ran across something that really impressed me, and made me truly look at life a little differently. If we look at the account of the Saviors' crucifixion in John, it says that after he had died, a Roman Soldier stabbed him with a spear, to make sure he was dead, and an interesting thing happened, Blood and Water came out.... Now, normally if you stab someone, just blood comes out, but if blood comes out mixed with water, it means that the chest cavitity had already been filled with blood, and that the blood had mixed with other bodily fluids. This has happened on a few occasions, where nothing actually physically caused someone to bleed internally, yet their body is filled with blood, so what it means is that some vessel within the Savior must have broken in order for this to happen. It has also been scientifically proven that when a person is subjected to enough physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual torment, it can actually cause the walls of their heart to rupture, which brings us to an interesting conclusion.... The actual physical cause of Christs' death was a broken heart! When I learned this, it truly pricked my heart, and made me realize just how crushing the Atonement must have been for the Savior, he felt so much pain, that it literally caused his heart to break. That is quite astonishing to me. The other thing that really hit me, was that hatred is not actually the opposite of Love, indifference is... Hating someone requires you to still have strong feelings concerning said person, whereas indifference means you have lost all feeling regarding whatever the object of your desire is. Anyways, those are my thoughts for the week, I know that Jesus is the Christ, the Savior and Redeemer of the world, and that he gave everything he had for us, so that we could inherit all that his Father has. I am so grateful for the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and I pray that we may all use it more fully in our loves, and express our Love and gratitude to our Father in Heaven for the matchless gift of his Son, In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Sincerely,
Elder Hughes

p.s. his new back pack got mailed last week

Mail Please

2010-09-21T14:09:00.000-07:00

Hello,
This was a rather strange week, we had as usual a lot of ups and downs, but there were quite a few cool experiences. ONe of our investigators had acool experience with praying about the Book of Mormon, he said that after he had asked, he felt this odd peaceful feeling, and all his troubles seemed to disappear, it was really cool. He was also able to come to church, so he is making some good progress. Hopefully we'll be able to get him baptized soon, right now we're shooting for the 9th of October. We also had a good time working with a family that we're working with, they're super cool, and they're making a lot of progress, so hopefully they can start coming to church soon (stuff keeps coming up) so that we can get them ready to be baptized. We also found out that one of our other investigators had a wild party this weekend, and has been kicked out of his previous residence so now he is no longer an investigator, and we're trying to work with his ex-girlfriend. Really interesting stuff there, because the lady we just baptized can totally relate, so we're going to see what we can do. Anyways, we also had some good times tracting, but no one was able to/wanted to talk when we came back, so that was kind of a bummer. But overall it was a good week, I had some fun times studying, and I really feel a lot better. I've been studying about how the Spirit works as I've read the Book of Mormon, and it has been quite astonishing to see how much the Spirit really does. I would encourage ya'll to try it sometime, it really is amazing. I would like to leave you with my testimony, I know that Joseph Smith is the Prophet of God that was instrumental in ushering in the Dispensation of the Fulness of Times, I know that Jesus is the foreordained Savior and Redeemer of the World, I know that we have a Father in Heaven, that knows us to the thoughts and intents of our hearts, and that he loves us all unconditionally, and that his entire Purpose and Plan for our lives revolves around us returning to live with him for eternity with our families. I know that this life is our time to prepare to meet God, I know the Gospel of Jesus Christ will prepare us for eternity if we live it, I know that God has prepared a way for our etermal progression and happiness, and that we consented to follow this plan, I know that we rejoiced when Christ was chosen as our Savior, and that we all sustained him whole heartedly, I know that Thomas S. Monson is a the Prophet of God called and chosen to lead Gods' children at this day time, of these things I testify in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Weekly Message

2010-09-13T10:49:00.000-07:00

Hello,
This week was an up and down one, we had the opportunity to see an investigator get baptized, but I also realized how much I hate when that happens. I love to see someone come unto Christ, and enter the path to Eternal Life, but that means I don't get to work with them anymore, and that is extremely hard. It was interesting, because during her confirmation I felt how much I had loved working with her, but at the same time the emptiness of knowing that she was now in the wards' hands. But, it was a neat experience to get to be a part of it all. Last night also happened to be transfer calls, and we found out that our entire District is saying the same, which is extremely surprising since this will be our 3rd transfer together, which never happens. I think my companion is probably tired of me by now, but he's stuck with me, so hopefully he doesn't go crazy. This week one of our investigators had surgery, and told us he wasn't coming to church because of it, and our other investigator who is supposed to be baptized mysteriously wasn't home when we came to pick him up for church, so things have hit a wall for now. But, we'll get everything sorted out I hope. This week has also been a humbling experience, everything we've tried to do has fallen through, and I spent a lot of time being chastened, but on the bright side, I think I know what we need to improve on, so hopefully things start to get better. This week, I've really been impacted byt he importance of really talking to our Father in Heaven, I realized that I wasn't being as sincere in my prayers as I should, so I started to really put my heart into it, and I must say it was quite a difference, I would urge all of you to try to be more earnest and sincere in your prayers, because in the time that we have with our Father in Heaven, we really are able to receive guidance from him about what to do, and as we sincerely pour out our hearts to him, he will be able to speak to our hearts, because he'll know that we truly want to know. I know that our Heavenly Father lives, and loves us, and that he is waiting to pour out his blessings upon us, but it's up to us to show him that we truly desire them, and I know that if we do that, he will help us in every aspect of our lives where we may need his influence. Prayer truly is one of the most important things we have in this life. I leave this with you in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Love,
Elder Hughes

Mail

2010-09-07T18:28:00.000-07:00

Hello,
This week has been another busy one, nothing too crazy has happened though other than the weather has finally started to cool off, I think we dropped below 90 for the first time in llike 4 months or something, it was glorious, and I must say there was much rejoicing. This week was kind of the week I didn't want to happen, but it did anyways. We had a lot of appointments fall through on us, and a number of things combined to discourage us, but the work goes on. We did have a cool lesson with a less active member that we've been working with who is now exctied to come to church, and wants us to teach her kids. we also got the sister that is getting baptized this Saturday interviewed, so we're excited. She was able to attend a child of record baptism yesterday, so she's all excited now. We also had a chance to give her a Priesthood blessing, and she was pretty awestricken with what she felt happening as we blessed her, so she's just having all kinds of cool stuff happen. Unfortunately, the other people we have with a date weren't able to make it to church, so we may have to push them back, but I'm still confident that things will work out. Apparently the Bishop seems to think that the ward is really happy with us trying to work hard, so people are starting to try and help us out, but again it takes more time than we have. But, it's good that they trust us, we're pretty exctied about the future. Transfer calls are coming up next week, so I'll find out if this becomes my longest standing area, or just another blip on the missiom map of Elder Hughes. I'm so ready to just not get transferred again, but it's just not going to happen, anyways, we'll see what the Lord has in store. This week I would like to talk for a minute about a unique experience I had while readin the scriptures, I was reading a chapter in the Book of Mormon that I thought didn't have anything too cool in it, but the Lord proved me wrong. It was in 2Nephi 1, I was reading near the end where it talk about rising from the dust and shaking off the chains of Hell, and putting on the armor of righteousness. When I read it I had to do a double take, because I was like "whoa." It was cool, because it emphasized the importance to me of continuing to endure, rising from the dust, no matter what happens, and doing our best to always recommit ourselves to do better (shaking off the chains), and striving to follow the Lord and walk in his ways. It was also cool, because I see myself as a missionary as part of the Lords' army, and it was like a call to me to wake up and get to work. I know that as we try to do these things, the Lord will bless us, and will help us to draw closer to him. I love you all, thank you for your support, know that the Lord will bless us as we strive to live righteously.

Elder Hughes

Things are going good!

2010-08-30T11:32:00.001-07:00

Hello,
With fall right around the corner, I must shout Hallelujah, the temperature is finally starting to go down, and biking is becoming bearable (except the plague of my bike always wanting to break down on me, I think it's tried of having to carry me around everywhere and is trying to tell me it needs a break of something). I think the "crazy" parts of my mission may have seen their end, and I'm now stuck in the busy busy busy part, but I don't know, I'm just doing what I can. I keep running in to people that think they're related to me, which is weird, but it makes sense since southerners settled southern Utah, but I don't know. The work only seems to get crazier and crazier, so we have to bike more and more and more, but it's a welcome tradeoff. This week was so strange, it seems like a dream of some sort. We had several appointments that seemed to take way too long, and we just couldn't seem to find time to do all the things we needed to, so we just did what we could, and somehow it all worked out. We now have 3 investigators with baptism dates(the 11th, the 18th, and the 25th), which is super exciting, and we are working with a less active lady that is starting to show interest in coming back to church. We had an extremely rare opportunity to have our investigators meet Elder Hinckley of the 70, and Elder Burns of the 70, and our Mission President in a special meeting before Stake Conference (they re-did the Stake Presidency), and it was awesome, we had quite a few people there, and they loved it! It was so cool, I was soooo excited and we worked like crazy people all week trying to get people to go, and in the end it all worked out. Now it turns out that Elder Posey of the 70 is coming here this Tuesday for a special meeting, so the entire mission is going to be at the office, and it's going to be insane! I'm super excited about the work, everything is going great and we're staying busy enough that I can't see straight, so we must be doing something right. I want to briefly touch on the power of the scriptures, I know that when we truly study them, not just read them, but study them, and try to apply the principles they teach, the Spirit of the Lord will reveal unto us his will for us in our lives. What a great blessing it is to know what the Lord asks of us as we go forth trying to serve him faithfully and diligently to the end. I know that God lives and loves us, and that he sent his Son to die for us. Thank you all for your support, I hope to hear from ya'll soon, I love and miss you.

Elder Hughes

Weekly News

2010-08-23T12:44:00.000-07:00

Hello,

This week in Georgia has been an interesting one, we had Zone Conference this week, and it was pretty awesome besides being almost 9 hours long. We got to learn a lot of cool stuff, and start working on learning the new missionary curriculum that the church has come out with. We also go to see the new Preach My Gospel DVD's, the District 2, which are pretty awesome if I do say so. It was a really good week, we didn't get a lot done it seems like, but at the same time we did. We found a new family that we've begun teaching, who seem pretty receptive. I'm excited to teach them and see what happens. We have an investigator going in for back surgery this week, so prayers would be appreciated. He apparently has a cist on his back that he has had multiple surgeries for, but they've never been able to fix. We have a baptism coming up in 2 weeks, which is really exciting, and we have started working with a couple of the part member families in the ward, so overall last week was a good week, but we rode a lot and sweated a lot and it didn't seem like anything was happening, but the tender mercies of the Lord have taken care of us. I finally feel like I might be getting the hang of this missionary thing, but we'll see. I haven't had any crazy experiences lately, so I don't have any cool stories to tell, but I'm sure there's something around the corner. Thank you all for your love, support, and prayers. I hope everything is going well at home, I love you all and I miss you. Know that the Lord will take care of us all, and that he is just waiting to help us if we will ask him. (Mormon 9:21) I know that our Father in Heaven loves us, and that he wants us all home, so lets try a little harder to do what we can to get there.

Love, Elder Hughes

Check him out....

2010-08-16T14:23:00.000-07:00

Craig sent a few pictures of some of the new friends he's made...
They seem to like them tall in Georgia.

Weekly Update

2010-08-16T14:17:00.000-07:00

Hello Family and Friends,
This week was an odd one, it was like one of those insanely hard weeks that seems like it was only a dream, but then something crazy happens at the end and everything just goes topsy turvy and you forget all the craziness. I spent Tuesday and Wednesday in Woodstock on exchange, we did some service and a ton of walking in the blistering hot sun with who knows how much humidity, then we spent the rest of the week biking all over our area from Heavens to Betsy, it was crazy. We had a lot of good lessons, one of our investigators wants to be baptized as soon as he can get away from his current church (he teaches primary), then another we finally got to teach him with his family, and they all agreed to read the Book of Mormon, but there was no clear commitment on coming to church. Then we gave our other investigator that just got back in town a date for next Friday, but it got cancelled because her Dad couldn't be there, so last night we had to reschedule, and it's now the 11th of September. It was weird, but I remember the first thing I thought when we set that was wow, what a day to have a baptism....I'm sure it'll be really cool. Anyways, we got a referral from some other Elders about a former investigator who came to church yesterday, it was awesome, and he wants us to teach him and his family so we're excited about that. We also met a new family last night that want to get back into a church and were happy to have us come back. The man that I mentioned last week who had been in the wreck, came to church with his family, and is hoping that his wife and daughter can be baptized soon, so that was really cool to see. In all we had 7 people at church yesterday (the record for my mission thus far). It was a touching experience, because we weren't expecting that many people to come. I truly felt like dropping to my knees and just giving gratidtude to my Heavenly Father, which I did later, but it was just amazing. I've been studying lately in 3Nephi, the account of Jesus Christ, and it always amazes me how many things he asks us to do, but then I always remember the scripture that we all know so well from the 3rd chapter of the book. I really have grown to love the scriptures, there's so many great things we can use to improve the qality of our lives, and work towards becoming perfect. I love the personal ministry of the Savior, he's just such a great teacher. I've really been trying to thinkg of the types of questions he used and apply it to my teaching, because our Mission President is really pushing asking inspired questions, and it definitely does work. I've also found it interesting as we studied the Christlike attributes in companionship study this week, that the whole time I was trying think of how to apply them, but all I could seem to think about was their role in the afterlife. It was weird, but cool at the same time. Then when I was on exchange, I found out that the other missionaries in our district just so happened to be studying the same thing, it was crazy. I have really been focusing on letting the Spirit lead, and it has been amazing to see some of the small miracles and things that the Lord has done, even in so short of a time. We're still having a hard time with finding, but things are starting to work somehow, so I'm just trusting the Lord and continuing to press onward ever onward, and I hope you are too. May we all try to remember the Lord and the influence he has in our lives, and strive to notice the small miracles that happen everyday to help us accomplish all the things we are able to. I know that as we do that, we will truly be able to feel the Love of God more abundantly, and will be able to know more about how much we have to be grateful for. I love you all, and I hope all is going well.

Elder Hughes

Mail Call...

2010-08-09T08:18:00.000-07:00

Hello,

After yesterday, I'm beginning to think that I'm some kind of joke to the Mission Presidency...President Alba one of President Kings' counselors was at church, and he told me how sorry he was that I was being picked on and how he had told President King to leave me alone for a while. The day before that, another missionary told me that he had told him the same thing, so I'm really starting to think there's some kind of conspiracy going on...But anyways, the comments must have worked because I'm still here in Allatoona (But I haven't made it to a full transfer here yet so ya never know). This last week was weird, Tuesday we had a meeting that lasted until 4pm, and Wednesday we had to go to transfers, so half of our week was pretty much shot. Then everything we tried to do just tanked, except for Saturday. It made no sense to me, we got more accomplished on Saturday then the other 6 days combined. But, we had a couple of really cool experiences...First was Tuesday night, we have started playing basketball on Tuesdays, but no one showed up last week, so we were walking home, and on the way this girl pulls over and starts talking to us. She was really nice, and agreed to meet some other time, so later in the week we met her at a fast food restaurant, and taught her the first discussion. It was really weird because she said she doesn't usually pull over for strangers, but she felt inclined to so it was cool, I'm not sure how well the discussion went since she was pretty argumentative about some things, but hopefully she's reading and praying. We also met a member who has been inactive for years, and had not let missionaries into his home for 10 years. Apparently a member about to go on a mission told a lie about him that cost him a 6 figure job, and was still able to go on a mission, so he figured he didn't want missionaries anywhere near his home anymore, and hasn't let them in since. But, recently he got in an accident where almost every bone in his body from his neck down was broken, and he actually died, but he never lost consciousness (or his Spirit never left), and he heard a voice telling him it wasn't his time, that he still had work to do. The Doctor in the ER sent him to another Hospital becuase he was proclaimed dead, but when he got to the other hospital he woke up. Not only did he wake up, but he started moving around and pulling himself up and things. After several months, he started physical therapy, and everytime he hit a roadblock, something would prompt him to keep going. For example the nurses wanted him to walk, but he didn't think he could, but he felt something hit him in the back of the head, and tell him to stand up. So he did, and he started walking. Then just a couple of days ago he was depressed about never being able to walk by himself again, and he heard a voice tell him to let go of his walker, so he pushed it away from himself, and then walked to it. As he was telling us his story, I could feel tears in my eyes, and as I stood there listening I felt like this man should be teaching me about the gospel not the other way around. But, he now knows what he's supposed to be doing and is determined to get himself back to church, and it just so happens that we are the first Elders he has welcomed to his home in 10 years. I don't know what this has to do with me, but for some reason I got to be here to see it happen, and be part of this mans' story, and I'm truly grateful for it. On top of that, yesterday our investigator that has been out of town told us in church that she would like to set a date to be baptized, so we should be able to do that soon, and it just so happens that our ward has a Temple trip coming up the day we want to baptize her, so we're going to try to do it early so she can go. I'm pretty excited about that. The Lords' work continues to roll on, I hope you all are doing well, I love ya, and I miss ya. One last thing, We talked this sunday about gaining a Testimony, and how we do it. I would like to challenge you all to try this with any aspect of the gospel. First, you learn about it, second you desire or hope to know that it's true, then you act on that desire, and you will receive your witness. I know that by doing this we can strengthen our testimonies of the principles of the gospel, and I hope you'll all take an opportunity to do so. Until next week,

Elder Hughes

Things are lookin' up..

2010-08-02T08:54:00.000-07:00

Hola seniors and seniores,
This week in Allatoona has been a scorcher, and it has also been the week where I spent more time tracting than anything else. We also had an interesting experience at church, where one of the members bore his testimony to an investigator that was with us. It was a new experience to me, and I wasn't sure how it was going to be received, but it seemed ok, so it was cool. On the bright side, the work is starting to look up. we have a LOT of people to see this week, and aren't quite sure how we're going to do it. There's a lot of potential in the next couple weeks, we're just hoping that we can get things going. This tranfer has been a struggle, but the next one should be pretty rewarding. We have some investigators that are reallly looking good, and should be ready for baptism soon. I am also extremely relieved that as far as I know I don't have to pack for once (although, we still have to go to transfer meeting since Elder Christensen is leaving us(I'm praying for a car). I'm pretty excited about that, I'm just not excited about the fact that this has been one of the hottest summers on record so far, and they say it's going to get hotter. I'm not sure how that's possible, but they say it is. Trying to learn and implement the churchs' new missionary curriculum has been quite the task, and is definitely going to take time, but I can definitely see how it will have some long term benefits. It really focuses on getting the members involded in missionary work, and us doing everything we can to help them feel comfortable doing it. I would encourage you all to read the article in the July ensign about sharing the gospel, it's really good. I've been very impressed this week by a passage in the Book of Mormon, Alma 59:11. It says that Captain Moroni, the man that it says could shake the very powers of Hell because of his righteousness only a few chapters earlier, got discouraged. But what is extremely important to remember is that he was in a war, and could not afford to be discouraged, and that he never quit or gave up. He was up against an innumerable foe, and the government had seemingly turned its' back on him, but he continued to lalbor in all diligence, and he was delivered by the Lord, and went on to conquer his foe and retain his liberty. This was a very encouraging discovery to me, and I hope it is for you as well, may we all press on, trusting in the Lord with steadfast Faith in Christ. I know that if we do that, the Lord will deliver us. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Elder Hughes

Dear...

2010-07-26T09:35:00.000-07:00

Dear Family/Friends/Those who may or may not know me who read this anyways because it's semi-interesting/Everyone else,
This week was action packed, Monday night we gained a new companion (who I didn't meet until Tuesday, becuase I was on exchange in Woodstock), we are now a trio in Allatoona with Elder Brent Christensen. He's really cool, I was with him in my first area (not as my companion but in my apartment), and it's really nice to get to learn from a more experienced missionary again. I feel extremely inadequate to be trying to teach another missionary what he's supposed to be doing, but I am trying my best. Wednesday, we got to go on a split, and I wrecked on my bike on the way home, but luckily the only thing hurt was my bike and my pants. But, all those years in Home Ec. finally paid off. My pants look really funny, but at least they're not holy anymore (buh dum, ch). We had one of our investigators leave town for 2 weeks, so we're praying like crazy that she comes back the way she left. Because the night before she left, she agreed to set a date to be baptized when she gets home. We have also started teaching a Former investigator, and are making good progress with him, but he has a long way to go. We are still struggling with some of our investigators, but if they would ever make up their minds, we could baptize a ton of people. But, we can't force anyone to do anything since they still have their agency. The humidity here seems to be picking up, and it is absolutely nasty, I think I sweat more than I could have ever thought possible. We are still not having a ton of success finding, but we're trying some different methods so hopefully things pick up. I don't think I'll ever get over my being shy, it seems like no matter how hard I try it just never works. I'm really staring to feel like I just don't have a missionary type personality, because I'm just too laid back apparently, but I figure the Lord called me here for a reason, I just can't seem to figure out what it is. Transfer calls are coming up in 6 days, so I'll see if my streak keeps going. I'm guessing it will since there are a lot of things on the horizon here, it's about time for me to get transferred. President seems to think I wont, but I'm not going to take his word for it. I've been really impressed this week with the importance of reading the scriptures, it seems like every time I do I find something else that I need to do to be a more effective missionary, and occasionally person. So I would admonish you all to read them daily, but not just read them, ponder and pray about them and do all you can to apply to what you're doing in your life. I know that if we do that, the Lord will show what we need to do to further our progression, and to grow more like our Savior Jesus Christ. I truly appreciate all the support and love that you guys have been for me, and I hope the Lord is watching over you in all that you do. Love,

Elder Hughes

Mail's Here...

2010-07-19T08:21:00.000-07:00

Hello,
This week was a hot one, and a wet one. We got caught in a couple big rainstorms while tracting, and I ended up getting soaked to the bone.But it was nice to get a break from the heat for a little while. We did manage to find a new investigator that came to church this week, and meet some of the less active members of the ward, who are all super nice, they just don't come to church for one reason or another. Things have been tough getting going here, because we don't know anybody and everyone seems to think we should by now. They keep telling us to do stuff, and I feel like it's impossible since they aren't trying to help us out all that much. Our Ward Mission Leader has been great, he's helping us out a ton, but he's really new to his calling so he's learning just like we are. The work hasn't really started to pick up yet, but it's definitely starting to look more promising. We have a lot of potentials, and follow up visits to work with this week, so hopefully things go well. We're going to try to start visiting other churches, and improve our relationships with them since there seems to be a lot of hostility due to previous experiences with missionaries. A lot of Pastors are preaching against us, so we're going to do all that we can to fight that and trust the Lord to make it work. This week has been a good testimony builder of the importance of hard times in life, we all face them, and we never know what to expect of them. Some are more trying than others, and some help us grow more than others. But the one comforting thing to know is that Christ has descended below all things, and knows the pains that we feel, as well as our stress and discomfort, and is willing to help at any time in our lives. But, what I want to talk about it being a disciple of Jesus Christ. As a disciple, we have a responsibility to help those arounds bear one anothers burdens, but as with any of the commandments or covenants we make the Lord has attached a promise. He tells us that if we lose our life to the service of others, we will find ours. This rings true in the case of our trials, when we help others face theirs, it helps us get through ours. Thus creating a mutual support system that strengthens and enlightens and uplifts both parties. This truly is a great part of the Lords plan for us in our lives, and he truly wants us to have help and support along the journey of our life, and since he can't do it himself, he asks us to do it for him. I know he does it because he loves us in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. I hope ya'll r doing well, and staying out of trouble. Ttyl
Elder Hughes

Adjusting in Allatoona,

2010-07-12T09:13:00.000-07:00

Bonjour,

As you all know, I was moved again last Monday, and I'm now in the Allatoona ward. Things here have been kind of tough since the last missionaries didn't keep very good records of anything. It has made things extremely difficult since we can't find any of the people that they were teaching. But we're doing our best, and trusting that things will all work out. My new companion is Elder Arnett, he's a good missionary, and a hard worker which has been a nice change. This area isn't too fun, due to its' monstrous hills, and the fact that we're on bike, but hey at least I'm getting a good work out now. I feel like a fish, I've been drinking close to a gallon of water a day, but I think most of that is probably being sweated out of me. I often wonder what it must look like to see 2 white guys in white shirts and ties pouring sweat with backpacks on standing at your door, from the sounds of it it's not very appealing if you ask me, but what do I know. There have been some crazy changes going on in the mission world around the church, and I don't know much about it, but we're having interviews this week so we'll find out what's going on. I have a feeling that I may be here for a while since I need to get my behind in shape I guess. The work in this area seems to be going alright though, and the ward seems to be really good about reaching out to people they just keep hitting road blocks in the work. But, overall things are going alright, we're hitting lots of doors and hoping we can find the people we're supposed to. Anyways, love ya'll, hope to hear from ya soon.
Elder Hughes

Moving AGAIN...

2010-07-05T12:21:00.000-07:00

Hello,

Well, this is officially my last letter from Shallowford, turns out I'm being emergency transferred to the Allatoona ward. I think this is probably due to the fact that for the last week my companion has had to stay in our apartment, and so the President is moving me and taking him to the Office so they can take care of him. Which means, I have set my speed record for serving in an area, making it not even 2 weeks here. We're leaving our current apartment at 6 o clock tonight, and I'll be heading on to my new area. My short lived stay here was quite a productive one, we got a lot of good things going in this ward, but unfortunately after we leave there wont be any Elders in the ward and I'm not sure how they feel about that. I think a lot of them will be hurt, but there's nothing we can do. This is a perfect example of how important it is for us all to know that no matter what happens, it's for our good. I'm not exactly sure why the Lord sent me here, but it ties into his plan somehow I'm sure. Needless to say, I think I now hold the record for the number of areas served in in 8 months. My bike has also had a lot of trouble this week, I've had 4 flat tires and a blowout, I have no idea why, but I hope I've got it all sorted out. Anywho, the work goes on. I've been very impressed this week with the topic of enduring to the end. We all face trials in life, we know we're going to, it's part of Gods' plan. So we should expect it, and do all we can to prepare for it. But there are times in life where we get thrown a curve ball, and it's those moments where we don't know what to do that we are truly tested and learn. It's at those points in life where we really have to dig in, do what we can, and lean on the Lord, and I know that if we do that, he'll carry us through. I've also been impressed with the importance of Obedience, it's the most important Christlike attribute, and is the basis for all blessings we receive. But my challenge to you would be to study the difference and importance of Strict Obedience, and Exact Obedience. I love you all, and I hope you're doing well.

Elder Hughes

Moved Again

2010-06-28T09:00:00.000-07:00

Hello People,

Now coming to you live from the Shallowford ward, Elder Hughes gives you his weekly report of awesomenessess. My new companion is Elder McBride, he's pretty cool, except for the fact that he is allergic to gluten, and so has a very strict diet. That makes it rough on the members to feed us, but they're being very helpful and we're very grateful for they're support. It turns out, that I've actually served in this area before (on exchange) so I kind of know what's going on. But on the down side, since I left, a lot of bad things have happened and a lot of ward members have been very offended by the previous missionaries. On top of that this is the hardest area in this mision to find people to teach, due to the fact that everyone here is rather well off. So, this area is really going to be a challenge, but we're moving forward with Faith and Trust that we can do what we need to. We're workig on setting up a lot of things right now so it's kind of hectic, but in the end I think it will all work out to be a great benefit and help to the work. This week I've been really impressed by the latter chapters in Alma, particularly the ones about the stripling warriors, and I've been think a lot about the difference between strict and exact obedience and why they're both important. I've also been studying a lot about finding people to teach, and I've been tryign to figure out what we can do in this area, but unfortunately it takes time to get all these things gong so right now we're just in a building stage. I would like to express my appreciation to all those of you who have sent me supplies and assistance, they are much appreciated and you will be blessed for it. That's about all for this week Love ya!

Elder Hughes

Letter for the Week

2010-06-22T07:36:00.000-07:00

Hellllllo,
Breaking news in GANM, Elder Hughes is being transferred yes again. This will make 4 transfers in a row, having only spent 6 weeks in 3 areas in a row. I think this has to be some kind of record, but I do not know. I'm beginning to be scared about what the future may hold, since this is supposed to be preparation for life, apparently I'm never going to stay anywhere very long. But, the work goes on, and I have other people to teach. I found an interesting scripture in my studies this week, and since most of you wouldn't look it up, I'll just tell you what it says...Proverbs 25:25 "As sold water to a thirsty sould, so is news from a far country." I'll let you figure out what that means. Well, I doubt anyone has heard the breaking news in Dahlonega, but last wednesday, a Tornado touched down, and ripped through town. It touched down near our apartment, and knocked down quite a few trees, knocked out the power, but as far as I know no one was injured. We were at a members house for dinner while it happened, so we had no idea until we came home and saw the clean up crews all over trying to cut up all the trees that were blocking roads and such. Beyond this nothing too interesting has happened lately, other than missionary work. I did get to go on exchange with the Zone Leaders, and then in Dawsonville. I spent less time in my area that week than I did in other areas which was quite odd, but it was good to get to see how the work is going in other areas. The gospel topic that stuck out to me most in my studies this week was Revelation. Sister Julie B. Beck talked about it in General Conference, and made an interesting statement. She said that learning how to Prepare for, Receive, and Follow Revelation is the most important thing we can learn in this life, and I believe she is absolutley right. If we want to be guided by the Spirit we have to know how to listen to it, and that is what we call Revelation. This made me think of how pre-occupied we are today with technology, and I now understand why the Prophets are counseling us to detach ourselves...Technology is one of the ways satan distracts us from Revelation, he uses something that is not technically evil to dull our sensitivity, so that he can lead us carefully away from the Lord. As an emmisary for the Lord, I would encourage you to take time out of your day, to put all these things aside and focus on obtaining from the Lord the necessary Revelation and direction we need in our lives. I know that if we will do this, we will be blessed with guidance to know where to go, what to do, and what to say. The Lord will be better able to help us along the path, and will be more fully able to guide us. I can promise you from personal experience, that if yo put forth the effort and the time to focus on the Lord, you will be blessed. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. I love you all, and I hope to hear from you soon.

Elder Hughes

News from Dahlonega, Georgia

2010-06-07T08:21:00.000-07:00

Hello,

Last week I realized that I forgot to tell y'all where I am, so just so ya know I'm now serving in Dahlonega. Anyways, the work here is very different, and challenging for me, but I think it's all part of the Lords' plan to help me grow into who he wants me to be. There are a lot of struggles in this area that are quite unique. The churchs' here are small, and so are very tight knit communities and trying to get some one to leave one and come to another is very difficult. We have one investigator for example, that believes that our church is true, but refuses to leave his because all of his friends are there. It makes it difficult, but the Lord prepares who he will, and makes a way for all those thta truly want it. I had the opportunity to bear my testimony in church yesterday, and it was really interesting because I was only there for maybe 30 seconds, and I have no idea why I said what I said, but it was really neat to feel the Spirit testifying through me. I would that all of you are continuing to study the gospel, and learning the principles that will help us to imrove in our lives and prepare for eternity. I would like to leave with you some of my testimony...

I know that Jesus is Christ, and that he is our Savior and Redeemer. I know that Joseph Smith is the Prophet that restored the Lords' church in this dispensation with all of it's teachings, and the Authority to administer the ordinaces thereof. I know that our Heavenly Father has a plan and purpose for all of us in our lives. I know that he knows us individually, even to the thoughts and intents of our hearts. I know that he has provided Jesus Christ as the way for us to return to live with him for eternity, and enjoy all the blessings and privileges that he now enjoys. I know that we are all sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father, and that he loves us more than we can comprehend. I bear you this witness in the Name of Jesus Christ Amen.

I love you all, and I hope you're doing well.
Sincerely,
Elder Hughes

News from Georgia

2010-06-01T20:16:00.000-07:00

Hello,
This week has been full of lawn and garden service, we've planted a ton of trees, and I've rather enjoyed it. I can't believe anyone in Georgia is crazy enough to plant (as if they don't already have millions), but to each his own. I had a cool experience talking to a rather nice lady this week, where I'm pretty sure she could feel the missionary spirit that we carry with us. It was really cool, because I've never really seen that before, and it truly helped me see just how much the Lord does for missionaries. I've decided that I'm giving up on the mail thing, because nobody in this world (besides my parents) seems to have time to do anything anymore, and I'd rather you spend the time it would take to write a letter doing Temple work or studying the gospel. I've been reading the conference Ensign quite a bit, and President Packers' talk about the necessary development of the Power of the Preisthood continues to draw my attention to the importance of living righteously. This week I also was pondering the blessings that we have in this dispensation that were not in the previous ones. We may not have the Savior himself, but we have the records of his dealings with two nations, and a complete record of his teachings at our fingertips simply waiting for its' mysteries to be uncovered. In this dispensation I feel we all take the gospel for granted, we have the sum total of thousands of years of sacrifice on the part of people that didn't ever see the blessings we've seen, and yet we can't find the time to learn about it. I would be willing to bet that in Moses' day, if people would've had the scriptures we do, there would have been no need for a Prophet to be constantly reminding them about their duty to God. I would hope that we can all focus on being more studious when it comes to the gospel. The mysteries of God will be unfolded to all those who deligently seek, that is a true statement, I have seen the fulfillment of it in my personal studies. I know that we all can, if we will but search. We should all remeber that these things are there to bless our lives, not be a burden. We should not look at studying as a task to be done everyday, we should look at it as our personal time with God. Where he can teach us the things we need to know to improve our lives, and the lives of our families. The greatest gift God can give us is knowledge, but we have to work for it! How blessed will we be to take as much knowledge as we can with us when we return to our Father in Heaven? I would ask that we all try to do a better at learning about the great and eternal sacrifice that our Savior has made for us.
Sincerely, Elder Hughes

Weekly Hello....

2010-05-24T07:52:00.000-07:00

Hello,
My dearest amigos, things here in my latest area are going pretty well. i have remembered some important details that I thought might like to concerning this area, and the configuration of my mission. In the last transfer meeting, the Georgia Atlanta North Mission was split into 8 zones instead of 7, and it just so happens that I am in the Newest Zone that was created. The actual size of the mission didn't change, but some of the wards redid their boundaries, and the splitting of the zones was to make things more efficient. I have heard rumors of complaints and allegations against my methods of distributing information, but I would like to point out that the reason for said methods is due to the slothfulness of those from whom the information is withheld. Not much is going on here, lots of service and such, but very little misionary work due to the lack of people to teach (seriously, there are hardly any people around). But we're doing our best with what we have, and I'm sure the Lord will bless us.

I've been thinking a lot lately about President Packers' remarks in the last General Conference, and the phrase "there will come a time when all that stands between your homes and the adversaries mischief is your Priesthood," has really made me think about how important the Priesthood is in our lives. I've also been thinking about how living righteously makes us more powerful in the Priesthood. At first this confused me, but I soon realized what President Packer meant, and I came up with this analogy. If you think of the source of the Priesthood as a battery (God), which has a switch next to it that can turn the current off and on (Gods' will), and then you have a lightbulb connected to the end of the circuit which represents the effects of the Priesthood such as healing. Now if you place a resistor inbetween the switch and the lightbulb, then the amount of energy getting to the lightbulb decreases. That resistor would be us in our imperfect states. But as we live righteously, we are sanctified/purified, and the amount of resistance we put up decreases. Resulting in more power reaching the lightbulb, and the light burning brighter. As I reflect on the first statement, I would encourage all of you to prepare yourselves to be that protection to your families, and would hope that we can all try to lift the Power of the Priesthood to where it should be.

I hope you're all doing well, and may the Lord bless you in all you endeavors. I love you all, and I hope to hear from you soon.

Elder Hughes

Update for the week

2010-05-17T16:17:00.000-07:00

Hello People,
It's been a couple weeks since my last letter, and some exciting things have happened. First of all, I got to talk to my parents and brothers on Mothers' day, which was very exciting. I would like to make a formal apology to my Father for not including his name in the list of people that are still writing to me, it was implied just not stated, but I'm sorry dad. Secondly, my companion did not have surgery on his hand yet, but it is in the works. Last but not least, I have been transferred.....again.....making 3 in a row. But this time was a little different, my companion and I were both transferred, and they brought sisters into my old area. I am now in the Redneck capitol of my mission, which also happens to be one of the areas my Trainer served in. My companion has an extremely ironic name, but I've decided that I'm not going to tell anyone (except my family and aunt Jaimie since they were the only ones cool enough to figure it out last time) so good luck figuring out where I am and who my companion is. The work here is very different, and so are the people. But so far I'm liking the area. We have a senior couple that serve here with us called the Greenhalghs who are conveniently from Fillmore. I like them, they're pretty nice people. We do a lot of service here, I think I've spent more time in my service clothes than proselyting since I got here. I'm supposed to be the senior companion, but my companion has been out longer than I have so I'm not really sure why that is. I hope you're all doing well, and I would encourage all of you to read over the last ensign, as I have I have definitely felt the power and comfort in the counsel we've been given. How lucky we are to have a living Prophet in these days. I love you all, and I'll talk to you soon.
Elder Hughes

Mail Stop

2010-05-03T08:50:00.000-07:00

Hello People of the Family that are related to me and such as may know me,
This week has been pretty tame, not too much exciting stuff going on. All of the college kids are getting ready for finals right now, so nobody has time to talk, which is making things a little crazy. But on the bright side after next week they wont be busy anymore so they wont have any excuses :) (evil laugh). Last week, during basketball, I made the mistake of driving on 3 other guys to shoot the ball playing 21. While in the air I was knocked to the side by one of the 5 flailing arms I was going through and landed at a terrible angle on my ankle. So for about 4 hours I could only limp and I still can't walk like I'm supposed to, but, I made the shot so it's all good. Then, about an hour later my companion broke his hand. He was chasing a loose ball and someone slapped him, and his ring finger snapped down by his wrist. So we have to go in Thursday to find out whether or not he needs surgery. So injury wise it's been an eventful week, but teaching wise not so much. I have had some pretty interesting experiences in my studies though, as I've been studying in first and second Nephi. Some of the things in there are truly amazing, and as I've studied I've been trying to think of how I could apply them to my life, and it's really helped me understand just how much we can all do to bring ourselves closer to the Savior. In church yesterday we talked about the Priesthood, and how to become a powerful priesthood holder. While we were talking about that I was thinking to myself, that it makes sense that we have to work at it, because that's how the Gospel works in every aspect line upon line. So I would urge all of you who may hold that Priesthood to make it a goal to work on becoming more powerful in it. I also had the opportunity to go to a Bible study this week, and we talked about how we could employ our talents over the summer. I think they brought up some good points about dedicating time to go out of our way to help others. I know that if we all were to try that, we could spread some Charity in the world. I'm starting to get used to the ward finally, so now I'll find out next sunday whether or not I'm staying or going. If anyone would like to make a prediction, You can let me know or not it's up to you. Anyways, I hope you're all doing well, and that you are trying to improve your relationship with your Savior. Love you all,
Elder Hughes

The Life & Times....

2010-04-26T19:40:00.000-07:00

Hello,

This week has been a rather interesting one, we had a fairly slow week, but it had it's ups and downs. For District Meeting this week we talked a lot about how much God must have loved his children to call another Prophet. It really made me think about how much God really does love us. I think the scripture John 3:16 is often taken lightly, because it is so commonly used. But if we take time to think about the blessings we have in our life because God loved us enough to restore the truth about the gospel, it gives this scripture a whole new light. This week I've tried some interesting food, that has really been difficult to manage, but somehow I've survived. I taught my first Jehovah's Witness that actually listened to what we have to say, and was engaged in the conversation. A lot of people here view the Jehovah's Witnesses as bad people that have really far out beliefs, but they really don't. A lot of their beliefs mirror ours, they just lack the understading of Jesus' life and the scriptues that we have. It is really interesting to talk with them though, becuase they really truly believe they have the truth, the only problem is they don't ever ask God if it is. He wouldn't accept a Book of Mormon, but at least he was open to learning about our religion. We seen to also be running into a lot of people that have been taught never to associate with Mormons, so that has been really interesting. I'm still learning how to deal with situations like that. The highlight of the week to me, was definitely yesterday. Church was super good, it was all about enduring to the end, and how we can't just endure, we have to do it well. That really hit me considering my present situation, and I felt chastized for not doing a better job, but it has strengthened my resolve to work things out and try to do my best. Later in the evening time, we were talking to a Pastoral candidate that claims we dont' truly know what the Bible said. It was a very difficult conversation for me, because he made several remarks that grieve my heart. He told us that God was a respecter of persons, and that Jesus Christ suffered because of Gods' wrath, and that he didn't suffer for all people, only some. That hurt, but the part that hurt worst of all was when he looked me straight in the face and told me that Joseph Smith was a false Prophet. While we were conversind with him, you may imagine that a hard time not interjecting and rebuking this man, but I remained calm the entire time. The Lord guided me about what to say and when to say it, and I confounded the man several times, and he couldn't answer any of the questions I asked. Then right after he had talked about Joseph Smith, I was prompted to stop the man so I did, and I leveled my eyes into his and seemed to peer straight into his soul, and I bore my testimony that the Book of Mormon is true. The man had nothing to say to that, but he would not accept anything we said, so we left him but before we left my companion said "in the after life, just remember to say yes." We talked a lot about that one later, and what we could have said, but I think we said exactly what we were suppposed to. This last week I've been studying a lot in the Bible, and I've been looking specifically for scriptures that support the lessons we teach. It's been really amazing to me to see that everything we believe really is in there, people just don't see it the way we do. Another funny story that I forgot to tell you guys occurred last week, and the week before. On the 14th, we were coming home for the night, and as we rounded the corner we noticed that my bike had been stolen. I was devastated. But, I prayed and asked Heavenly Father if I was going to be able to get it back. He told me that I would, so I tried to wait patiently, but it was hard having lost something so important to me. As the days past my faith that I had heard him right was beginning to shake. But then on Monday, we got home from basketball and got ready to head out, and lo and behold my bike had been returned, on the bad side my companions had been stolen. This really helped me strengthen my faith, and has prepared me for the days ahead. I want to leave you all with my testimony again, that I know beyond doubt that the Book of Mormon is true. Love you all, and hope to hear from you soon.
Elder Hughes

Mail

2010-04-19T14:31:00.000-07:00

Hey y'all,
How's it going? Things in Kennesaw are pretty repetitive right now. We have a lot of people in our potential teaching pool, but it's extremely difficult to get a hold of them because they're always busy, or at school and finals are coming up andverything. So we don't get to do a whole lot of teaching, mostly walking around and knocking on doors. We are teaching a couple people, and we should have another baptism or 2 coming up pretty soon. We are just trying to get people to church, which is as always a challenge, but the ward here is very helpful for getting people rides and helping out. This last week I had to give a talk in the singles branch, about prayer, and it really made me see the imoprtance of taking prayer seriously. I think as people we all tend to slack in this department sometimes, meaning not taking prayer as seriously as we should. One thing that I've found helps me is imagining that I'm literally talking to my Father in Heaven, it really helps me focus. I had my first experience with struggling to talk to someone this week, it was really funny because I got all shaky and I couldn't breathe and everything. I think the person probably thought I was hyperventilating but my shy side just came out. Hopefully I'll figure out how to fix it, because we're going to see said person tomorow so that'll be interesting. We had interviews with President King this week, which was cool. He gave me some advice on following the Spirit when it comes to certain situations, and it was really good. My companion and I are not gelling quite as good as we could, but I'm trying to work it out. It's hard though becuase he's on a really high horse and likes to argue with me about everything. But I'm trying hard to make it work so I'm sure the Lord will help me out. Basketball today has been cool, other than getting punched a couple of times and having a fat lip. We had a zone P-day so we have like 20 missionaries here balling it up. I've been studying the Old Testament a lot lately, and it's been really cool to see how things all got started so I can actually know what I'm talking about when I tell people stuff. Over all, I'm having fun and I continue to learn everyday. I miss you guys and I love. Hope to hear from you soon.

Elder Hughes

Mail's Here...

2010-04-12T18:50:00.000-07:00

Hey all you peoples of the not Atlanta area,
The weather in Atlanta is heating up, pollen is everywhere (thank goodness I don't have allergies), and the work is going well. My companion and I have started to work together a lot better. This last week has been pretty eventful, we went on a team-up with a less active RM and the original guy wasn't home, so he was like "who are we going to go see?" So Elder Lee and I decided to go visit this past media referral we had that we've been trying to get in contact with. So we call him up and he's like sure I'm at the cemetery just come on over. That should've been a sign but you know how 20 year olds are.... So we get to the cemetery and Elder Lee stops us before we get out of the car and we pray. We approach the guy, and before we even say anything he says "I can't talk to you guys yet, all you are is androids to me, you don't have any symbols." So he pulls up his shirt and he has all these tattoos of different symbols of Gods, and I was kind of freaked out, but I stayed cool. He starts talking about different dimensions and how he's from Saturn, and how we don't even know what we are gender wise. He gives us a dollar bill, and says that's my symbol -referring to the eye on top of the pyramid- and then he starts talking about how he's into -and on- drugs like meth and shrooms and stuff, and then he starts talking about how he's been to jail a bunch of times and knows the cops really well. Then he starts talking about how he's a Mason and his wife called the cops on him once because he was floating, and about this time he gets to this point he starts foaming at the mouth, and he starts getting really fidgety and touching Elder Lee and he was getting worked up. Then out of the corner of my eye, I see this cop car come creeping past this tree down into the graveyard. It pulls up, and has 3 behind it, one of them was unmarked. So the guy just walks backward, and says don't worry I know these guys real good. They walk up, and start talking to him and Elder Lee starts to leave so one of them flags him to stop. Then the seargant comes over to us, and pulls us aside. Out of the blue he starts asking us about our missions, and it turns out he's an RM. I was like "huh?!?" so he asks for our ID's and he runs them, then tells us not to mess with this guy cause he's crazy. So we leave, and the member was freaked out, but I felt like I should've done something, I just don't know what. Apparently run ins with cops are quite frequent on the mish, or at least mine. Earlier in the week, I was threatened to be escorted out of an apartment complex by the police if we didn't leave so it's been a scary week. Anyways, the other big event that happened was we had a baptism this week, of an 84 year old lady who's son was converted a year ago. That was pretty cool. I also had my first lesson where the law of Chastity was being broken in another room of the house by the girl we were teaching's roommate. That was awkward! Other than that though, it's been a good week, we had some really good lessons with some of our newer investigators, and have found a lot of prospects so things are really looking up. I love you all, and I hope you're doing well. I want to bear you my testimony that I know that when we're in dangerous situations, the Lord will send his angels to watch over you. So weirdest part about our police encounter, no one called them in, 4 police cars just so happened to be in the exact same spot at exactly the right time. I don't know what may have happened, but it wouldn't have been pretty so never think for a second that you're ever alone.

Love, Elder Hughes

Transferred...So Mail on Monday again

2010-04-05T11:07:00.000-07:00

Hello,
I was thinking about playing the guessing game again to see if anyone could figure out where I am, but since my companion doesn't like to check mail it would be completely pointless. I would like to thank you all for your love and support, I can't tell you how much I appreciate the letters that I have gotten. I'm now serving in the Kennesaw Ward/Big Shanty Branch in the Marietta zone. From what I've heard in the short time i've been here, I'll probably be transferred again in 6 weeks, so I'm living out of my suitcases right now because I'm straight up sick of packing. Things here are interesting, there happens to be a college campus included in this area. However, we aren't allowed to proselyte on the campus so unless someone talks to us first we can't talk about the gospel. The members here are very cool, most of them are YSA and are returned missionaries that like to help with the Work, and know how much we appreciate it. There is a bad reputation for missionaries in this ward, because of past transgressions that has shaken the wards trust in us, and caused this area to be shut down for a while. It was opened the same time as my last area, and as such we have a small teaching pool, but we're working hard to try and get things going here. My new companion is Elder Lee, He's from DC, but was born in Germany. He's been out slightly less than my last companion (starting to notice a pattern there), and has a very strict way of doing things that I don't necessaryily agree with. I'm not saying I don't like him, just that I don't agree with some of his methods. I hope and pray that all of you had the chance to watch General Conference, I thoroughly enjoyed it. A lot of great advice was given about the most sacred calling in the church, that of a Mother or Father. I hope that all of us may learn from these things and follow the counsel we have been given, so that we can fulfill our sacred responsibilities. As a missionary those things are obviously a long way off for me, but it's never too early to start preparing. I would also hope that all of us will study these talks when they come out in the next Ensign. I think I liked the last piece of advice given the most, turn to the lighthouse of the Lord. What a powerful statement, we know that we can always trust in the Lord to lead and guide us, and we also know that as we seek his light we shall find it. As I thought about the Savior and his Atonement, it really sparked my desire to live a more righteous life, and I hope Conference has done the same for you.

This week has been pretty much me following my companion and trying not to get lost. There are so many people, and I'm back in the city and we're on foot, and things are crazy, but it's been fun thus far. I can't believe I have been away for 5 months already, it seems like only yesterday I left. I hope this finds you all safe, happy, and knowing that I love you all. I pray the Lord will watch over you all.

I would llike to leave you with my witness that Jesus is the Christ, that his Atonement was the ultimate sacrifice of love, that he gave up his life and was resurrected for us, that he lives today, and that he loves us all and wants us all to strive to follow his example, In the name of Jesus Christ Amen, God Bless

Love, Elder Hughes

mail

2010-03-30T13:23:00.001-07:00

Hello,
I must admit it has been a loooooooooonnnnnnnnnnggggggggggg week, but some cool things have happened. I got to baptize my first person ever on Saturday, and confirm her sunday. I was way excited, and nervous at the same time but it was super cool. I also got to go on 2 exchanges this week, and both times I got to take over the area and both times we found a ton of new people. Elder Shapiro is having a hard time keeping up with all the new people we're finding.We found out that our Bishop is moving to Utah (go figure), so our ward is going to be bishopless until the Stake President calls a new one. He had a meeting with all the auxiliary heads and had a "Come to Jesus" meeting, which basically meant he was trying to get the ward excited about missionary work, because it's become more tedious than fun because of all the meetings and such. Then I found out that I'm being transferred again, so I'm all packed and ready to move again. I think I'm just going to not unpack from now on, because I finished unpacking last week finally, and now I've repacked everything, and since President King likes to move me around, it makes sense just to keep as much as possible packed. Elder Shapiro's birthday is today, so it's been a pretty fun day. We had a super cool district meeting today, that I really enjoyed. As far as I know I'm not becoming a senior companion or anything, so nothing to worry about there. I'm being stalked by a Jehovah's Witness that we talked to while on one of the exchanges, she really wants me to come to their celebration of Jesus' death, but I don't really want to go, so.............yeah. I'm really going to miss this ward, it's such a nice place, but I guess the Lord needs me elsewhere. Well, have a good week, be safe, and may the Lord watch over you.
Love, Elder Hughes

.....Hello...

2010-03-23T12:39:00.001-07:00

Hello World,
I am sorry for the delay, but I have recently mailed out responses to almost all of the letters I have received so you shold get them soon. This week was pretty good, we did a LOT of service. We dug a drainage ditch for one of our investigators, and helped another one put up a fence. I fixed a water heater for some members that live in town, so it was a busy week. We didn't get to do much finding, but we did get to spread some of Christs' love in Monticello. Our investigators that we've been trying to get to church forever came, so we get to baptize them on Saturday. I'm super excited about that, and I'm actually on exchange with the District Leader, and we're going to do the interviews as soon as I'm done emailing. I get to be in charge of my area for a day since my senior companion is up in Covington, so I'm kind of nervous but at the same time excited. We had district meeting today, and we got a chance to ask questions and talk about them together. I brought up a question that someone asked us recently which is: How could Satan talk to God like it says in the Book of Job? My companion realized that he was talking to Jehovah, and that cleared things up. Though I still don't understand it here's the answer I came up with: Jehovah had not yet received a body, and had not inherited his Celestial Glory so Satan being cast out of God's presence wouldn't affect the situation, and would allow Satan to communicate with him. This isn't doctrine, it's just what I came up with. Things here continue to go well, but we're trying to do better always. I love you guys, and I hope all is well. I pray for you all the time.
Love, Elder Hughes

Finally... We KNow Where He Is!

2010-03-16T11:10:00.000-07:00

Hello,
Greetings from Monticello Georgia, Jamie figured out where I was, so I can tell everyone now. But I must say it took ya long enuff yall. So yeah, I'm in Monticello in Jasper County and this is the southernmost point in this mission, and conveniently used to be in the Macon mission (I was hoping my someone would get the reference to that since I have a cousin that served there). It's a cozy little town of about 2400 people, but geographically is ginormous. We cover all of Jasper county, which is like 6 times larger than my last area, and we do it on 900 miles a month (which is straight up ridiculous because we have to drive 53 (one way) to get to Zone Conference, and 30 (one way) to get to District Meetings and Interviews and such). So things are really interesting. But, we have some good things going for us here. We're really well known in the community, and the town really likes us, and we actually just started a Q&A news paper article that covers the entire county. So we have a lot of resources, and we do a lot of teaching and service, but I love it. This week we had Zone Conference, and it was all about obedience and putting forth the effort to create the miracles rather than wait for them to happen. We also talked about safety since it's Tornado season now. It has rained here quite a bit, but the weather has been very nice off and on. We had a district P-day yesterday, and I got to try and teach 2 other missionaries how to golf, which surprisingly went well. I got to go on exchange up in Covington, which was sweet. I taught 2 of the wackiest lessons I've ever taught, but had fun doing it. One was just a random discussion, and the other was about the Plan of Salvation which transitioned into the Restoration, then went back it was super long. But it was fun. Thank you guys for the mail, I got back from exchange and I had like 8 letters (more than I've gotten in the last 9 weeks) so it was really nice to get some updates on what's going on in the real world. I have interviews tomorrow, so I wont sick President King on anybody....Yet....But you better stay on your toes. We didn't have as eventful a week as last week, but I'm sure the next one will be great. Thank you guys for all your love and support, and I want yall to know that I'm doing fine, I've adjusted to being a missionary really well, and I'm enjoying myself a lot. I have learned how to eat more foods, but I'm still working on that. The people here are super nice, and it does bug me that they don't keep their commitments, but that was another thing we talked about in Zone Conference so we'll see how that goes now. I miss you guys too, but not as much as you miss me I'm sure, because I'm focusing on the Work, and I love you all and I'm praying for you too. I wish I could tell yall everything I've learned since I got here, but I don't have enough time to type it. I may rescind my ban on personal letter writing, but that's not for sure yet. Have fun, and take care.

Sincerely, Elder Hughes

Do you know where he is yet?

2010-03-14T08:35:00.000-07:00

I just realized I didn't tell anyone my guesses from last week. They were supposed to be characters from a book:
Bogart
Jasper
Hancock
Pembrock
Tucker
Covington
I put Covington on the list because it was on his bank statement. That is why he said I was cheating.

Mail;

2010-03-09T15:07:00.000-08:00

Hello,
First of all thank you for the news, it was very refreshing to actually have an email or two to read. You're all doing rather well at guessing where I am, but I must admit my mother is cheating. She is using illegal information gathered from inside sources to calculate the location. Unfortunately for her, she can only get close because since I know what she's doing, I'll make sure to avoid it. I would've thought that someone would've figured it out by now, but I had no idea there were so many ironic places for me to be in this mission. Anyways, your clue for this week: If you took a map and found a place called the middle of nowhere, I'm right in the center of it. No, but seriously that's true. That was a joke people, the real clue, is that this area used to belong to the Macon mission, but was recently re-opened in this mission. This should be a significant hint as to the geographical position of this place, and fyi, my mother has included the City and County in her guesses, but doesn't know for sure which ones they are.

Anyways, back to the Lord's work. Things here are going well, we had a really good week last week (for this area). We miraculously found 7 new investigators. Which is interesting, because I've never baptized anyone on my mission that I found, but the average is 1 in 100. I'm almost there, so we'll see if that really holds because as you all know, I'm definitely not your average type of person. We found a new family, that came to chruch sunday, and is loveing everything we teach. they've already been receiving answers to their prayers, but they hadn't prayed about what we had asked them, so during one of our lessons, we knelt down with them at the end, and started to offer up a prayer to know if these things were true, and as soon as we started, the phones rang, and someone knocked on the door, and we were angry. Satan won that round, but luckily, we know he can't win the war. We have a bunch of new people that we recently started teaching, and are excited to visit again to find out where things go with them. Last week, during weekly planning we made a list of all the people we needed to see this week, and we have no idea how we're going to accomplish it all (that's a good thing for missionaries) so we're pretty stoked. Funny story about that, we were at a member's house, and an unknown number called us so Elder Shapiro didn't answered the phone, and no one was there. So a couple minutes later it called again, so the wife offered to answer the phone, but Elder Shapiro decided against it. So he answers the phone and I here "Hello Elder Shapiro it's President King," Boy let me tell you I just about had a heart attack. We've been speculating a lot about what would've happened if we would've let her answer the phone, but man it wouldn't have been pretty that's for sure. Anyways, he was excited to hear that we're doing well, but had some bad news that the church isn't quite ready to set up a branch yet. So that's kind of a bummer, but the work goes on. Another first, we've been doing service for a carpenter in town, and he had us replace the sewer line to his house, so saturday we dug it up, and today we put it in. So I've officially ran a sewer by myself. So, overall this week has been pretty sweet. On a more serious note though, Friday was one of the weirdest days of my mission. We got to dinner, and everyone got there, and we were chatting, and they finished dinner so we said the blessing, and we started to dish up. Well I just sat down to eat, and a kid comes running towards the house screaming, and within a matter of seconds, the house was empty, cars were peeling out of the driveway (we were out in the woods with dirt roads and such), and Elder Shapiro and I were left standing on the porch not knowing what to do. So we said a prayer and tried to follow, but got lost and just decided to go back. As we were getting back to the house all we could see was a cloud of dust, 2 ambulances, and a police cruiser. We pulled up and one of the women filled us in about what had happened. The kids had been riding around with one of the adults on one of those big ranger things (losing my memory of anything but gospel topics) and it had flipped over. One of the passengers was a little girl, and her arm was crushed, but luckily there were no other serious injuries. We found out at church, that she had to have surgery. We did get to give her a blessing before she left in the ambulance, but if you could pray for her I'd appreciate it. I'd tell you her name, but I'm not supposed to use names, but the Lord will know who she is. Anyways, I was really touched by how fast her parents reacted, and how well they took care of her. If you would've been there you probably would have been to, but it was a real testament to me of the love that parents really have or their children. Anyways, I love you all, and I hope you figure out where I'm at soon, because i'm running out of clues.

Love, Elder Hughes

P.S. Due to library complications, I'll be emailing on Tuesday the remainder of my time in this area.

Just to Let You Know

2010-03-02T16:06:00.000-08:00

Craig is keeping his new location a big secret as you can tell from his letter. I got out my atlas and looked through all the town names. Here's what I Found...
Aragon (one of his favotite movies)
Bulloch County (we live in Bulloch Circle)
Monroe (great hunting spot)
Monticello (sister lives there)
Panthersville (mascot from high school)
Pineview (name of high school)
Temple (just sounded good- he's a missionary)
Washington City (we live in Washington City too- diferent state obviously)
Washington County (Duh)

He told me to keep trying... but my guesses were funny.

A Day Late is Better than NO Mail

2010-03-02T16:04:00.000-08:00

Dear Peopleagenesses,
It has recently been brought to my attention that some of you think that my withholding the knowledge of my current location is rather cruel, but I would like to make a few comments on this issue, and explain my reasoning for doing so.... So first of all, I have given and will continue to give hints, second of all, I get like no mail at all, because apparently nobody loves me, so this is was one of my ideas to give people a reason to write to me, thirdly, it's really sad when your Mission President has to offer to get involved with your family, because you have no idea what is going on in their lives. Next, there are a number of you (and you know who you are) that told me you would write to me, but have not yet seen fit to do so, so this is a perfect opportunity and reason for you to want to. I was really tempted to sick President and Sister King on you guys, but I was nice enough not to so I would appreciate it if you would eliminate the need for such drastic measures. The next time he asks me how my family is doing I would like to not have to tell him "I have no idea". So this is your official warning...and yes, I'm being serious. President King does not like his missionaries to be left in the dark.

So as for this weeks news, same old same old, no one comes to church, still haven't met all of our investigators, still being frustrated by the adversary, and of course still wishing people would keep commitments and such. I'm really trying to think of new ways to find people to teach, and it's been interesting, but there is still a long way to go. I've been reading in the Bible a lot lately, and man I can totally understand all the interpretation errors, sometimes that book is soooooooo confusing it drives me crazy, but on the bright side I know what most of it means. We do a lot of service here, which is really fun. I had to crawl under someone's house and change their hosebib this week, which was really interesting. Plumbers in Georgia do things really weirdly if you ask me. We also got to help a carpenter clean up his shop, and build some stuff for him. Overall, it was a pretty good week, other than the lack of people keeping commitments.

On the bright side, I did get to play golf yesterday, and did fairly well. I have definitely gotten rusty though, because my entire side is sore from swinging. It was fun though, and the weather was beautiful. As for my hint this week, the city is located inside a county that shares a name with a character in a book series. Anyways, hope things are cool out there, sounds like the weather is terrible, but it is here too so don't feel bad. Anyways, Love ya'll, and dont' forget to cut the lights on.

Elder Hughes

Monday news

2010-02-22T09:58:00.000-08:00

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........

2010-02-15T17:12:00.000-08:00

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...

2010-02-01T10:03:00.000-08:00

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

Yahoo!! Mail..

2010-01-25T08:29:00.000-08:00

Well, it's definitely cool that it rained, but I bet we got more yesterday than y'all did all week. We got like 2 inches, it was crazy. How bout them Colts eh, from what I hear they're rocking the house. I'm glad that everything is going well with you guys, things have been kind of crazy here. We were blessed with a bunch of new investigators this week, and things are really staring to look up as far as building our teaching pool. We've been using our area book, and finding a lot of people that still want to learn, the Elders before just couldn't get in with them so we've been blessed in that aspect. We have had some awesome lesson this week with 2 couples that are really close to being ready to be baptized, and we'll probably give them a date soon. This transfer has started out a lot better than the last one, and Elder Thacker and I are finally learning how to teach together, so everything seems to be picking up. We have been blessed with some really good people to teach, but are having a hard time getting some of them to church. We're trying to figure out how to fix that, but it's difficult. The ward is willing to help, we just have to figure out how to work things. We have seen some less actives that have started coming again, which is really cool. I really feel like we're finally starting to accomplish things in the area.Biking has been really enjoyable so far, our area isn't crazy difficult to bike, and to be honest me companion isn't the fastest biker in the world so he's not too hard to keep up with. We have had a rather interesting incident this week, as I'm sure you know we have 4 Elders in the ward now -if you didn't know that you do now- and so we sometimes have to meet up for dinners and things and they'll give us rides while we're biking and what not. Anyways Friday night, we had dinner with one of the families in the ward, and they had some non-member friends over so it was really cool. Afterwards, we loaded the bikes on the car and set out for home, and lo and behold, one of the other Elders tries to make a 3 point turn and backs into a mailbox. His companion immediately started trying to blame us (still is) by saying that it was our responsibility to back the driver up, when in truth it is the co-driver/companion of the driver/person in the passenger seat, and on top of that the rear windows were all fogged up, so we couldn't see anyways. Anyways we jumped out of the car, and found out that my bike had some scratches and the bike rack was bent anlong with the trunk of the car, but the funniest part was that the cast iron mailbox had snapped clean off. So Elder Christensen had to go tell the guy that he just demolished his mailbox, and it was a very interesting conversation. Needless to say, he is now in the category with Grandpa Ziegler, as far as making jokes about hitting things while driving, but his target couldn't move. My bike is fine, just a little traded paint so nothing to worry about there. Elder Thacker's bike however, has some more serious issues, which is weird since mine was the one that hit the box. But anyways, that's been interesting to deal with.Other than that, thing have been really good. I calculated my journal expectancy, and I should finish my first one by sometime in August - September area (yeah I know I'm a nerd, just deal with it) so that's when I'll publish that for y'all to check out. It's quite a bit more detailed than my emails, I just have limited time to write these.Hope all is going well there, you're in my prayers as well. Elder Hughes

Monday news...

2010-01-18T11:25:00.000-08:00

Hello, Things have been kind of rainy in Georgia, but it hasn't been too bad. We've been riding the bikes, which is actually really fun. Besides the rain though the weather has been pretty nice. Things are pretty interesting with another set of Elders here in Lawrenceville, but everything is going well. Elder Thacker and I have noticed a substantial change in the amount of people we've been finding as we've tried to follow the council of our Mission President. We've found some good investigators rescently, and have begun teaching quite a few, and are still working on beginning the teaching on some of them. We're starting to get excited about the mission tour coming up from Elder Hafen, which is the reason we've been doing this Book of Mormon reading challenge. We're trying to prepare as a mission for him to come here and instruct us. We had an amazing Zone Conference this week where we discovered the importance of actually planning vs. scheduling. We went out and proselyted for 3 hours, and found 52 new investigators in the area which is more than the entire mission usually finds in a week. Crazy!!! but it was amazing, and Presdent King was very straightforward with us and told us we were basically not working hard enough, then he had us prove it with that activity. I think pretty much everyone walked away stunned needless to say. I thank you all for your birthday wishes/cards/letters, they were all very nice. I hope you all are doing well, ttys Elder Hughes

We got mail...

2010-01-11T09:21:00.000-08:00

This week has been a really cool week, we've had some great experiences. Transfers were this week, and we got a little surprise. So now we have 2 sets of Elders here in our ward, so things have been a little crazy with trying to get them oriented to what's going on here. Some of the experiences we've had this week include: We had some random maintenance guy on a golf cart drive up to us and just start talking about Jesus, so we taught him about our church and the Restoration, and he agreed to learn more. It was really powerful to me to see how he was literally sent to us.We went to a call back, and got in to teach this lady we contacted at the Post Office, and came to find out she lives with like 8 members of her family. It was really cool because they all listened as we shared the first lesson. They all agreed that they would like us to come teach them more, and when we asked who would like a Book of Mormon they all raised their hands so we gave them the 5 that we had with us. Our team up even committed them to be baptized when they come to know the truthfulness of it. We went and checked on them Saturday night and found out that they had all been reading and praying about it, and we were super excited. We invited them to church, but due to health restrictions they were unable to make it. But we're confident they'll come in the future. This family is really amazing, because they're already spiritual and have tons of faith.We also went to try and teach an investigator that we had never been able to get in with, because he was always out of town. We knocked on the door, and ended up teaching his brother and his brothers' wife which was really cool. They don't speak very good english, so we had to teach them very simply, but it made the Spirit so much stronger. They even described what the Spirit felt like to them which was really cool. We went and taught them again last night, and they're really enjoying what we teach, and are very open. We're looking forward to getting to teach them more. So as you can see it's been a very interesting week. It's been extremely powerful to me to see how the Lord has prepared these people. We should always be looking for opportunities to share the gospel, because it really can bless lives. People need the happiness that comes from the gospel, and only we have the truth so we should always try to share it with those around us. I hope you're all doing well. Elder Hughes

Weekly News

2010-01-04T14:19:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone, So first off this week has been freezing.... But on the bright side we have found a good number of new investigators. I found out last night that I'll be staying in Lawrenceville for another transfer so I'm happy about that, because I really enjoy it here, and there's a lot of good work to do. I hope you've all had a good holiday season and are getting ready to get back into the swing of things with school and all that fun stuff. As the new year begins, a lot of people make their resolutions about things they would like to do, and I would like to encourage all of you to set a goal to be better missionaries. There are a lot of little things that we can do that will help bring the light of Christ into people's lives. I know that it's hard sometimes to share the gospel and we don't always feel comfortable doing it, but I also know that the Lord will bless us for doing it, and we never know what the results of our actions may be. Plantings the seeds of the gospel is just as important as reaping the harvest, so never fail to plant a seed when an oportunity presents itself. As a missionary I can't tell you how grateful I am when members tell us about the missionary work they do, because it makes missionaries like us more effective, and helps us keep busy which is our ultimate desire, to always be busy. The church is really emphasizing the principles of the gospel, which I believe is to help us as members know how to share it better, so I exhort you all to study these things. The prophet wouldn't direct us to study something if it wasn't important. I also encourage to try to read the scriptures more, because the Lord will bless you as you do so. I find that my favorite thing to do these days is study the scriptures, because through them I learn how to be a better missionary, and I draw closer to the Savior. I also continue to encourage you all to strive to get to the Temple often. As I study my testimony of the importance of the work we do there continues to grow. For any of you that haven't been or don't go I would plead with you to make the necessary preparations to get your self there, because no other place on earth can help be as close to our Father in Heaven, and we need the guidance and council we receive from the blessings of the Temple Covenant. I hope you're all doing well, and I look forward to hearing from you.
Love, Elder Hughes
I would also like to bear you my testimony of these things... I know the gospel of Jesus Christ is back on the earth in its fullness, and I know that it was restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith. I know that this gospel can bring our families together, and bring untold blessings into our lives. I know that our Heavenly Father lives and loves us all. I know that he has given us all the families we have, because we were meant to be with these people. I know that anyone who reads the Book of Mormon will be able to feel the Spirit of the Lord testifying to them of the truthfulness of the teachings within it. I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer, and that he suffered and died so that we might live. I know that that the gospel will sound to every nation, kindred, and tongue, and that only through the gospel of Jesus Christ, and obedience to the laws and ordinances thereof can we be saved, and return to live with our father in heaven, and I also know that the day when Christ shall come to reign in his Eternal Glory shall soon come, and I pray that when it arrives we will all be ready for the coming of the Savior. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ... Amen

I love Mail..

2009-12-28T15:36:00.000-08:00

Hello, In case you haven't heard there was recently a plane crash in Jamaica, and I would like to tell you a little bit about it. The plane apparently overshot the runway, due to the terrible rain storm that occurred that night. The plane broke into 3 pieces, and lost an engine. Most of the passengers were covered in jet fuel, but luckily nothing exploded. On top of that the plane stopped only a few feet from a cliff that dropped into the ocean. This past week we had a number of missionaries fly home so they could spend Christmas with their families and be home on time to get to school this spring. One of those missionaries was on that flight, and it is currently believed that she is the reason that the passengers on that plane aren't all charred remains at the bottom of the ocean. So if any of you ever worry about me, you shouldn't because this just goes to show you that the Lord watches out for his missionaries.In happier news, Chrsitmas was this week, and I would like to thank those of you that sent me cards, and presents, and what not. It really helped me to feel the love and support of all of guys. Christmas eve we spent the night with a family that loves missionaries, and it was a lot of fun. Christmas day we spent the day at members' houses and got to call home which was really fun. Thank you again for all your love and support.So one of the Elders that went homes' companion is now with me and Elder Thacker, so we're covering 2 wards which is making things really interesting. On the bright side we have met some new people in the other ward. But it makes things really tight with miles. We finally got back in with out investigator that dropped off the face of the earth, and we found out what his problem is. Apparently he believes that Adams' fall couldn't possibly be part of Gods' plan, and that we should all have been born into the Garden of Eden. His problem is that he thinks the Book of Mormon is trying to contradict the Bible in this situation. Our problem is that the Bible doesn't even support his beliefs, and we know that his belief comes from the Jehovah's witnesses. So it's really tense right now, but we're going to try and fix it Wednesday night. So if you could pray for us that'd be great. We currently have some new people that we're trying to get in with, but we're not having much luck. On the bright side though we're making a lot of headway with the less actives we're working with and the part member families we're working on. We had like 6 less actives come to church yesterday which was great. So for the next 2 weeks while we have the extra missionary with us, we get to go to 2 churches which was really crazy yesterday. It was sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo long, but I can't say I didn't like it because it was cool to get to see all the different stuff that happens in different wards.Today we're taking some pictures so I should be sending some home very soon.Love you all, Ttys
Elder Hughes

Christmas in Georgia

2009-12-27T13:02:00.001-08:00

Some of the members in Craig's new ward invited the missionaries over for breakfast on Christmas morning. They were nice enough to send me this picture. It looks like they had a great time.

Christmas email

2009-12-21T08:53:00.000-08:00

Hey guys,
I hope this holiday season is going well, and you're all enjoying the special spirit that is felt during this time of year. As we continue to learn about the Savior and the things he's done for us, the Spirit will continue to testify of his love for us. I continue to urge all of you that can to take this wonderful opportunity to get to the temple as often as possible. Things are going well here, it was a bit of a rough week this work, but the work here continues to move forward at an ever increasing rate. We did have a baptism Saturday, which was my first official investigator to be baptized :) it was awesome. The best part though was that I got to confirm her yesterday, and I've been told I did good, so I'm super excited about that. We have another investigator Paul that is so golden it's ridiculous, he'll probably be baptized around the end of January or the beginning of February. The members here are taking really good care of us so don't worry about me, i've got plenty of sweets, and a stack of presents surprisingly. Surprisingly I haven't gained any weight yet, so i'm pretty happy about that especially since i'm in a car. One of the Elders in the Lawrenceville 1st ward is going home tomorrow so we get to have his companion until transfers, so we have to cover two wards which is going to be interesting with our severely limited miles. A missionary got home two days ago here, and it was really cool to get to see what it's like (even though I doubt it'll be anything like it was here in Utah). Christmas will be awesome. The ward is really staring to like me and Elder Thacker so it's cool to see them getting really involved with the work. Thank you to everyone that is supporting me, you guys don't know how much it means that you're behind me. I love you all, and hope you have a wonderful Christmas.
Elder Hughes

Emails are GREAT too

2009-12-14T11:20:00.000-08:00

The pictures were cute, thank you. That's crazy that it's been snowing there, it's been raining like non-stop here (it doesn't usually snow) but overall it hasn't been too bad. So the mail thing is pretty much retarded, the mission home has my mail address correct, the mail man just wouldn't put my mail in the box. So I got my christmas card and a letter from Jaimie which i think was written before I left the MTC so yeah i'm kinda mad about that. If you could tell her that i'll write as soon as I can that'd be great. But yeah Georgia is pretty awesome, and we are meeting a lot of people, which is good for me because it helps me get over being shy. Thanks for the christmas presents, I haven't opened them yet but i'm sure they're awesome. So we had interviews this week, and it was pretty cool to get to meet with President King and have all of ours leaders teach us. This morning me and my companion had our first doctrinal disagreement, which was totally not related to anything we teach, but it was just funny because he grew up in the church and I proved him wrong. So we were talking about the plan of Salvation, then we started talking about sons of perdition and the war in heaven, and he thought that when Satan and all his spirits were cast out they just went to earth, but i showed him that that happened before the earth was created, then we started talking about the Millenium and he thought that Satan being sealed up just meant that people would be so righteous that Satan wouldn't be able to tempt them, but I proved that Christ would actually seal up Satan and his spirits in a prison just like it says in chapter 20 of Revelation so yeah it was sweet. We have a baptism coming up this saturday which i'm excited about, but pretty much after that we don't really have anyone that's too close, but we do have a lot of new people to teach so that's good. The bishop here is pretty cool, and he's really missionary minded which really helps. The ward loves me and Elder Thacker so yeah things are going great and we have lots of good stuff going on. How's it going with getting to the Temple? I wish we could go, but the temple wont be open until like next november. Well I hope everything is going good, and I'm sorry you miss me but there's not much I can do about that. Ttyl
Elder Hughes

Weekly Note...

2009-12-07T13:09:00.000-08:00

Hey guys, as you know it's december, and that means we need to work out a time for me to call on Christmas, I think it'll be sometime in the afternoon so fyi. I'm still not sure how it all works. This week was awesome, we had my first zone conference, which was awesome, because President King is an amazing leader. We committed 2 of our investigators to be baptised on the 19th, which was awesome, but we're still not sure about one so we'll see how it goes. Did you see the Christmas devotional? it was awesome, because of course it was about the Savior and his love for us. I encourage you to be going to the temple, because the spirit there allows us to feel Christs' love for us even stronger. Georgia has like the weirdest weather ever, when they say it's going to snow it's sunny, and when it's supposed to be sunny it downpours. We had the cooloest rainstorm ever, you could literally see the different sheets of rain coming and going. It makes it so much easier to see why it's flooded here, because it doesn't just rain it like drowns you. I'm going on my first exchange this week, so that'll be interesting, but i'm sure it'll be great. I found my first new investigator this week which was totaly awesome, and I got to go to a baptism (not for an investigator or anything it was an 8 year old) and they let me and Elder Thacker be the witnesses which was awesome. We're supposed to start teaching a less active familys' son so that he can be baptised soon, so we'll hopefully get them re-activated and get him baptised. Another family we're teaching wants us to baptise their daughter, but they don't want to come to church so we just teach them, but we don't really plan on baptising her because it would just be pointless. I also got to give 3 blessings this week which was cool, I did the annointing on 2 of them and sealed the other which was totally awesome. We're doing this scripture study as a mission that President King challenged us to, because Elder Hafen of the seventy is coming in a few months to do a mission tour, and we finish right before he gets here. I'm trying to learn to play the piano (which i'm terrible at by the way) and it's going ok, I can play half of the right hand stuff but i'm not coordinated to do both hands. This week we also started tracting, which is super scary, but super fun at the same time. We haven't gotten any new investigators out of it yet, but we've talked to a lot of people. Last night we tracted into a guy that looked like he could rip me in half, it was like "yikes." But I'm loving it here, it's really fun. I hope everything is going well back home, sounds like it is but ya never know. Ttyl Elder Hughes

My note for today...

2009-11-30T11:59:00.000-08:00

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

Nov. 27th

2009-11-27T16:28:00.000-08:00

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

He is in Georgia

2009-11-24T06:04:00.000-08:00

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.