Moved Again

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

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

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

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....

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

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

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