I'm still here in Duncan!!!! | Week 20

HOLA FAMILIA!

 

Yep, I am staying in Duncan another transfer! We got transfer calls on Sunday, Elder Z is gone back to Tucson to train another missionary and to be a district leader. My new companion is Elder L, he is from Ogden Utah and he is a super nice guy. He is almost done with his mission, he only has 2 transfers left so I will have to keep him going to the end! I love Duncan so I am totally cool with staying here another transfer. Missionary work has lots of changed involved in it, but I am excited for what the future holds for us here!

 

CONGRATS to Jamie and Jeffrey for your mission calls!!!!! You guys are gonna be AWESOME missionaries. YAYYYYYYYY Our ward is really cranking the missionaries out!

 

That's awesome mom on your new calling!!! I LOVE working with kids so much, they truly have the joy and love of Christ in them. You will do awesome. That's great to hear that everyone in the family is doing well including Aaron and Grandpa Cahoon! RILO is a priest, THAT is crazy. That makes me feel old. Elder Z and I would go in with the young men in the wards here all the time because we still don't feel old enough to be in Elder's quorumn haha. I'm so pumped for you Riley. Being a priest is awesome. Now is the time to start really preparing to be a missionary. Tell Bro Pulsipher hi for me!

 

This last week was a really good week for us here, It was great. Elder Z was finally feeling back to normal (thank goodness) I couldn't handle one more day stuck in our house haha. On Monday we went and visited a spanish lady named H who we have contacted before and nothing every really worked out. We finally were able to talk, and she is facing alot of trials in life. She has a tough job and her car broke so she never gets to go anywhere. We are working to figure out some ways we could get her to church and to some lessons. I realized talking to her how bad my spanish is. I need so much more practice, and I really never have the opportunity here. BUT for the most part I am able to express myself. We also have been teaching E & M R, I can't remember if I have told you about them. They are very poor and have overcome some pretty crazy addictions. We teach them every week. A member family have worked with them for years to help them improve their lives. We know that it will be a slow process, but this week our lesson was really good! And they came to church! So we are excited with continuing to work with them.

 

I got a haircut this week, which is a really unimportant detail, but sometimes getting a haircut just makes you feel better haha.

 

Wednesday was an awesome day for us. We found a new investigator S! We had gotten her referral many times from members, and we were working with members to help us to make the transition to her taking the lessons. Well... we could never get the members to do it, so we just went over and asked her ourselves haha. She said yes and we had a lesson with her and her husband on Saturday! Then on Wednesday we had our last lesson with A before his baptism. It was soooooo amazing. The spirit was so strong. He told us how we were the missionaries that were meant to teach him. I was amazed at the hand of the Lord in bringing me here to Duncan. They are excited to get married in the temple in a year, and Elder Z and I will be able to come back to the Gila Valley temple and see it!! If your investigator goes to the temple while you are still on your mission, you get to go with them to the temple! SO awesome. I can't wait. Days like Wednesday are really our pay days as missionaries. I was SO happy.

 

One thing we talked about was reaping and sowing. Sometimes as missionaries we reap (like with A) and sometimes we sow (like with them M's). I have to remind myself of that all the time. Sometimes we want results right now, but usually the Baptisms we have have had other missionaries that have sowed for us.

 

One scary thing. There is a senior couple in the area next to ours who had an emergency this week. Sister S had something go wrong and she had to get airlifted to Tucson. It was a bit scary... we have been praying alot for her. From what we have heard she is doing okay now.

 

Thank you thank you thank you for the Valentines package. It was perfect. We gave out many of the valentines and now we have enough muffin mixes to last me for my whole mission haha.

 

Our lesson on Saturday with S was great. It was a bit complex. Sometimes being a missionary is not always straightforward haha. She is a really spiritual and religious person, but she has lots of concerns and past history to work through. Sometimes lessons have the tendency to get really complex, but I have to remind myself to keep it simple. The gospel really is simple and beautiful. With the witness of the spirit through the Book of Mormon, most everything else falls away and is much simpler. So we are gonna focus on that with her this week.

 

I learned how to cut huge logs and stumps with an ax this week. And Elder Z and I were sore for many days after haha.

 

A was baptized on Saturday. From what we have heard it all went great. We haven't been able to visit him yet and hear about how it was. I am really looking forward to that this week.

 

The last couple days have been about getting Elder Z all ready to get shipped off. We were so busy going around and seeing all the amazing people I have grown to love so much. I wish you guys could meet some of the amazing members here. We also had some fun with one of our recent converts K. She is awesome, she is pretty much our best friend haha. It has been a long standing joke that we were gonna spray paint her goat pink. She never though we would actually do it. But we did. It was awesome. So she has an orange/pink goat. She thought it was the funniest thing ever.

 

One cool experience I had. We were sharing a message with a less active family that we visit alot. I usually share one of 5-6 scriptures that I usually use. For some reason without thinking I shared the account of Joseph Smith when he is in liberty jail. It seemed pretty normal, until Sister H started crying and she told me how that was exactly what she needed to hear. I am always amazed at how the spirit can lead us without us even knowing it.

 

Transfers were today. Elder Z had to go to Tucson a day early because he is training so I spent the night in Silver City. I stayed at an elder's place. Which is actually a mansion. No joke. Some Elder's there live with a member in an enormous mansion. The member is a single guy and so the elders live in his mansion with him. It is AWESOME. Complete with heated bathroom tile floors and yeah... it was awesome. It is famous in the mission. Definitely a big difference from our humble pink house in Duncan.

 

So as you guys know I am a worrier. It has been like that my whole life and guess what nothing has changed haha. Transfers sometimes can be crazy heading into new situation with new people. I am so grateful for the spirit. It helps me see clearly and focus on what is important now and to not worry about the future. I truly felt peace last night as I began a new transfer. Truly the Savior is all that matters in the end.

 

My time with Elder Z was awesome, we had a great time together, but I am excited to see where my mission takes me. Elder L is great as well.

 

I love you guys so much. I pray for you lots. Thank you for your prayers. I LOVE YOU ALL!

 

LOVE

 

Elder Hughes