Week Three | from the EM TEE SEE

Hola Familia!!!

Thank you for your letters and dear elders! I loved them! It seriously cannot be expressed how much I love getting mail :) I am doing great! Life in the MTC is slipping into a blur of routine, but it is great! Yes, you heard the news right, Elder R and I got called as zone leaders, we were both in pretty much complete shock. We were not expecting it at all. It is alot of responsibility, but it will be great. We get to train all the missionaries that arrived in our zone tonight. Life here is going good. Spanish is coming along, it gets better every day. The biggest challenge isn't learning it, because I can learn everything pretty fine, the challenge is being able to actually speak it when you are in a lesson haha. We teach investigators in spanish every single day, and our lessons are getting better and better every time so that is good. I LOVE our teachers, they are both amazing and hilarious. Which we all need when we study for 10 hrs a day :) The spirit here is so strong. I feel it literally every single day. It is such an exciting time to be on a mission. The world is going to get alot more missionaries in the coming years, and it is exciting to be part of it. Saying bye to tanner on tuesday was really hard... probably the hardest thing I have ever done. I am going to miss him so much. I felt like I was saying goodbye to part of myself. I had a hard time that night, but I know that the Lord answers prayers. The spirit comforted me. I know that it is all part of the Lord's plan. I LOVE being a missionary, I feel that every day. It is hard sometimes, and it demands alot of patience and discipline, but it also is SO JOYFUL! There is nothing else I would rather be doing. We lost 5 people in our district to the guatemala mtc at the same time as tanner, which has been weird. We went from 11 in our class to 6. The brightside, we have alot more legroom, I was crammed in the corner so I am happy to have some more space haha.

As for your questions. I am so mentally exhausted every night that I literally fall asleep within  2 minutes of my head hitting the pillow so no problem there haha. The food is okay... it wrecks havoc on all of our stomachs haha, but we are thankful for it. As for things I need/want... not any candy we have a TON of it. ummmmmmmmmmm you know me, I can never think of things I want. I would say mints, but I got in trouble for eating them in the classroom haha. I am so bad at thinking of things I want.

Dad I am so glad you are feeling better. OHHH YEEAAHH for the giants! Thank you Riley and Zach for your letters they made my whole day. Yes, I got a bunch of Tanner's dear elders after he left for Guatemala, so you will all have to write him again. Thank you Grandpa Val and Grandma Tanya for your letter, I couldn't stop laughing. I am glad your golf game is being blessed grandpa haha.

Probably one of my favorite parts of being here is the devotionals. They are awesome! I look forward to them every week.

I love you guys so much. Remember to read the Book of Mormon, it is literally the best book in the whole world. It makes me better every single time I read it. Power is given to us when we follow it's teachings. If you ever want a glimpse of what we learn about ALL day and what makes us so happy as missionaries, read preach my gosplel. (Best manual ever made by the church)

I love you all so much, you are in my thoughts and prayers. Thank you for your prayers!

LOOOOOVE

Elder Hughes

** a note from mom . . . these will be the last pictures they take with each other for two years! they are extra special to us this week!

Week Two | Semana Dos en el CCM (Week two in the MTC!!!)

HOLA!!!

Hey Family! I'm so excited to email you!!

Wow, it is hard to think back on a week here at the MTC. I have been studying ALOT here, which is great. We are all mentally exhausted by the end of the day. I have learned SO much about the gospel. My testimony of this work is strengthened every day. Every day I am so thankful for my opportunity to serve the Lord. Spanish is getting better, slowly but surely, it is definitely a challenge for everyone, but we all are getting better. I can understand alot of spanish, and always know what my teachers are saying, but it is a whole different challenge to actually talk. We have continued to teach lessons pretty much every day, which is one of the most humbling things I have ever done. We have to rely so much on the spirit to help us teach. That is why they have the program set up that way. I have felt the spirit calm me down so many times. We continue to learn alot, I have been staying pretty positive about it. Sometimes my district gets super negative, and I have tried to always help us to have a positive view on things. We lose 5 people from our district to the Guatemala MTC this week which will be sad, and Tanner leaves this week :( I will miss him SO much, but it is also so exciting. We play sand volleyball in gym every day which is a blast! I have gotten alot better at volleyball.

Sundays at the MTC are amazing, they are peaceful, and relaxing. With all the work we do at the MTC we also have a blast too. The Elders that live next door to us, who are in our zone are super funny, and CRAZY. They made a full on slingshot from an exercise band and shot gummy bears at the whole hall. Another interesting game we played was that we realized that we don't know anyone's first names, so we all tried to guess each other's first names. I was especially good at it for some reason, haha. I guessed two people's names in 3 tries :) We had another amazing devotional this week, the spirit was SO strong and taught me so much. I KNOW this church is true with all of my heart and soul. I have felt it time and time again. The Book of Mormon is the BEST book on earth, read it everyday, and our lives will be blessed tremendously. Preach My Gospel is the most amazing manual that the church has.

I hope Dad is feeling better, I prayed for you :) Thank you thank you thank you to all of you who wrote me letters!! The Voges, thank you so much for you package it made me so happy, the bread was wonderful, expect some mail in return :) Jamie, I loved your letter, I sent the reply to your house in Rocklin. Sis. Harless and Zack thank you so much for your letters! and the Buxton's and Rachel, thank you so much, expect some mail too :)

Oh crazy small world, Grandma and Grandpa. An elder that lives next door to me is from Layton and we figured out he is from your ward! Elder Seth Christensen. Such a small world.

Mom, send me some family pics and my friends missionary letters preeeety pleeeeassee.

 Mom, Dad, Rilo and Z man I love you guys so much! I miss you and LOVE you. I love our eternal family. You are always in my prayers.

Love your missionary,

Elder Taylor Hughes

First P-Day Email | Week One

Hola! From the MTC!!!

Hey family!!!!

It is finally P day here in the MTC! I have to type super fast because of having only thirty minutes :) Hopefully you got my letter that I finally mailed, I had to wait until I got your dear elder because Tanner and I couldn't remember the new address haha. I am doing wonderful! Mission life is great, it is REALLY tiring mentally but it is great! The spirit of the MTC is real, I feel it all the time. The first day here was absolutely nuts, probably the most overwhelming day of my life, but it was great. I have an awesome companion Elder R, he is so great. He is from Salt Lake City and he and I get along great. We are all in awe that it has only been a week here in the MTC, it feels like it has been a month. Our teacher is Hermano Wadsworth, and he is super cool. They don't waste any time dumping you into spanish. Our teacher hasn't said more than 5 minutes of english too us in a whole week.. which is hard. They definitiely  humble you. We have already taught 3 entire lessons in caveman spanish as we call it. It is amazing how the spirit helps us as missionaries. Elder R and I always get super anxious before our lesson, and are usually stressed after, but the spirit comforts us and guides us every time we are IN a lesson. I am so grateful for that. Thank you mom for your letter and food, I was surprised to find it. I love the letter, I love reading it. My district is great, we have 5 elders going to Tucson, one to Roseville CA, and 3 Hermanas are going to Guatemala. They are all wonderful, I will tell you more about them when I have more email time :) I see lots of people I know here, Elder R can't believe how many people I know here. I saw Cheryl! I have seen Elder Fletcher, Eirik and I hangout and talk all the time since he lives next door to me. Jaelyn Hatch's cousin lives next door to me. Alyssa Johnson is in my zone so I see her all the time which is great! I play volleyball with her district and we all go to the temple at the same time. It's super fun. I have seen Elder Greenwood twice. Sister E in our ward, her daughter, Sister S I have seen alot too!! Conference was SO great! You should have seen the gasp/scream/shock that every missionary had when they announced the new ages. I think it is wonderful! How exciting for the sisters. The spirit of General Conference was great! I loved to hear so many inspiring words from our prophets and apostles. What an experience it is to sing called to serve with thousands of missionaries. The spirit witnesses so strongly. Our days are full of studying and working all day. It is tiring, but we learn alot! I have grown so much in just a week here. The food at the MTC is... not that great.. but it works, I cannot even think about 8 more weeks of it haha. I love being a missionary!! The spirit is with us. I have felt many times that the Lord is really with his missionaries, he does not leave us without help. It is his work. Elder Bednar spoke to us on Tuesday night at devotional. It was indescribably amazing. The only thing he said about the new missionary announcement is that "The Lord is hastening his work on the earth." pretty awesome. His talk was awesome. He talked about the way he an apostle of the Lord studies the gospel, lets just say its really cool :) The spirit was amazing. Ok, dear elder. For some dumb reason Tanner gets all of my dear elder mail.... so I talked to the mailroom people and they said that when you submit mine, you have to put an X or another letter in front of my name, so that get it. Tell lots of people to write me, give out my address etc. I LOVE getting mail, it is like gold in the MTC :) I know this church is true. I love you all SO much, I pray for you and miss you. I am wrapping up this letter so I have time to send pics! I love you all so much!!!

Love,

Elder Hughes

and here is his second email:

bad picture news . . . 

I tried my best to attatch some pictures, but I can´t figure out the MTC computers... bummer. I love you all. Oh, I got some shots, and they were expensive... I will have them send you an insurance paper to fill out. Shots was actually interesting because another elder passed out BAD and faceplanted it from a chair, scary but kinda funny 

LOTS OF LOVE

Elder Taylor Hughes 

"we'll see you soon.........."

Elder Hughes & Elder Hughes entered the MTC on October 3, 2012. I think it was one of the hardest days. I also know it was one of the best days. A day we had looked forward to for so long. I look back at these pictures and feel so much comfort as I see the smile on their faces and the way they were whisked away by such great young men. We didn't want to say "goodbye" just "we'll see you soon!"