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| This is where I am going this week! |
Hello Family!!!!!
Oh it was so wonderful to SEE you and TALK to you this week!!!!! I loved every moment of it! I had a wonderful Christmas! I loved seeing all of your pictures from the many Christmas festivities, you all look wonderful, I am so incredibly blessed with so many wonderful family members. You are all amazing. I don't know what I did to be blessed with such a wonderful family.
It was a wonderful week of Christmas. The mission Christmas conference was amazing. The spirit was so so so strong. It inspired me to keep pressing forward with all that I have. What a glorious gospel and a glorious message we have for the world. Christmas was wonderful. We ate a TON. Way to much. I got to talk to all of you, which was SO GREAT! And we ended the night going around and delivering cookies and singing to lots of the members of the branch. It was a wonderful Christmas. This Christmas had a great feeling to it. I really love every thing about Christmas. It has the power to bring to our hearts an even greater understanding and love for the Savior.
As for the time after Christmas, it has been a bit slow. Here close to the border, ALL of our Mexican friends head back across the border for the holidays. SO.... we have had a bit of a slow week, all of our investigators were gone, and lots of the members. BUT they are all coming back home here in the next couple days which we are really excited about.
I have to tell you guys about some of the people we are teaching! I feel like I haven't had a lot of time to do that yet :)
First is M. I don't even know if we can even classify this as teaching, because M is completely Mormon already. This kid is AWESOME! He has investigated the church for 5 months now, and hasn't missed church at all since he started. He is amazing. He is teaching us, really, by his amazing example. The big hang up, is his crazy parents that won't let him get baptized. It is really hard for him. We have been going over and teaching his parents as well, to try and see if we can make any progress. It is quite a challenge. His parents are very confused people. But we are praying for a miracle.
We are also teaching this really old lady named L. She is a really sweet lady that investigated the church a couple years ago.
We have lots and lots of people we found right before the holidays that sped out of town so we didn't get to see them much lately. BUT we are excited for the upcoming weeks to get the work rolling full speed here.
We have been teaching a lot of members and less active members lately about goals and repentance, and change, and a vision for a new year. It has caused me to reflect a lot about the last year, and about the coming year. That is one of my favorite parts of the gospel of Jesus Christ is it is full of opportunities to do better and become something. Truly this gospel is about change. The life of Jesus Christ and his atonement and sacrifice are all about change. I remember a while back giving a baptismal interview to some kids in a family. The little boys kept calling their baptism their "second chance." I loved that so much. I love second chances. I have truly learned that as we embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ, second chances surround us on all sides. That is why it is so joyful. I love second chances, and third chances, and fourth. Those chances have changed my entire life. The gospel of Jesus Christ has changed me and my life forever. It has been a wonderful year. I can honestly say it has been the fastest year of my entire life, it has been the most challenging year of my entire life, and it has been the most joyful year of my entire life (so far). I love second chances.
My challenge to all of you is to ponder and pray about what the Lord's vision is for each of you. As we pray and ponder and learn, the spirit always teaches us more about who we truly are and who we can become. Then make goals and plans to make those things a reality into our lives. We have the power to become whatever we want to become. I love our mission's motto "choose to become" What are your vision's for yourselves? What are your goals and plans?
I want all of you to know how much I love each of you. I have a testimony of this gospel. I know the Savior lives. I know that he is real. His light and love and power is real. I have felt it personally and watched it touch the lives of others. I know that we are part of his church. I know that the Book of Mormon is true. It is truly the best book in the entire world! I wish everyone in the world would read it. I love you all so much! Discover the Lord's vision for you!
Love
Elder Hughes
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