Hey Family!!!
Happy Monday again. What awesome news from the homefront. Jordan and Scottie: same mission same day!!!! HOW AWESOME. Holy cow, that is crazy. The Lord puts us right where we need to be. Give them both a big hi five for me and tell them I am SO pumped for them.
Yay for school being out. That is really exciting! As you and Dad always told me when you get older and are in the real world it doesn't have the same significance haha. As a missionary it is all the same to me!
If it makes you feel any better it is quite toasty here in Nogales as well. I have finally now started to get accustomed to sweating my brains out in church clothes. To me it is just normal now.
You are going to girls camp this week!!! Have FUN! I know that it will mean alot to the girls to have you there. I think that you are pretty awesome so.... they are pretty lucky to have you as their leader. One cool way I have seen how to make those experiences awesome is to go in prayerfully looking for the reason why the Lord has us serving specific people. I know there are no coincidences in life and especially not in the church. You are going to girls camp to strengthen someone that needs you. I have had to apply the same principles here :)
I like normal as well. Although as a missionary nothing is ever normal.
We had a really good week. Finally we are starting to see our investigators start to progress. It sometimes feels like a never ending battle, but the Lord is blessing us. We had alot of meetings this week in Tucson. We had a trainer meeting and a district leader meeting as well. Both were awesome. I learned a TON. Especially at the DL meeting. President and Sister Killpack taught us, and it was so great. It was great to really learn by the spirit how I need to step up as a missionary and be the leader that the Lord needs. Sis Killpack taught and amazing training on rising to our full potential. Sometimes we are all satisfied with something that isn't our best. The Lord has so much more in store for us than we ever thought possible. I have seen that. He shapes us in ways that we never would have imagined. It is quite a process. I was uplifted and inspired alot through the words of many others this week.
As for the work. We are still working alot with I. We had another astounding lesson with him this week. He is reading a chapter of the BOM and the bible every night. He also discovered the epicness of the church's videos and general authorities. Could it get any better than that? We had a powerful lesson with him this week on the plan of salvation. He literally teaches us more than we teach him. The Lord has prepared him so much. I literally get giddy like a little kid when we go to teach him. He was on vacation again this weekend so he didn't make it to church.... BUT we are going to make that happen this week. We have stake conference this weekend and a member of the 70 is coming, so it should be awesome. We are still planning on his baptism on the 29th.
R, we also have taught alot this week. He is the biggest puzzle of an investigator that I have ever had. We have really amazing moments where the spirit guides us alot, and then there are moments when he gets defensive and everything falls apart. The miracle is that the spirit always comes in and saves the day. Words really do come into our mouths. I have never experienced that more with someone than with him.
We are teaching a bunch of people in one family. We have kind of found them all seperately but they are all in the same family. C, her son O, and her two brothers O and E. They are all really cool. E came to church on Sunday (thank goodness) and we taught him there. He has just recovered from a really bad drug addiction, and has started a whole new life. Little does he know it is going to get even better with the gospel. I love how the gospel has the power to do that. It literally takes us and changes us in ways that we never could have imagined. We feel joy that cannot be described. I sometimes wish I could just GET that feeling into people, but the Lord doesn't work that way. He waits for us to open up. We are really pumped to keep teaching all of them. E is hilarious and he loved church so much that he said that he is going to force all of his family to come to next week. We like the sound of that haha.
There are many other people we are continuing to work on. Yes we are staying super busy. Just the way I like it.
I went on splits with the ZL's here in Nogales this week. It was great. I learn so much from the missionaries around me. We all have something to learn from everyone. I went with Elder W. He is an awesome guy, we have become good friends here as well.
You are exactly right on feeling the spirit. We have to take a step back and find a quiet place to listen. I have seen that more than ever here.
I have been reflecting alot this week about submitting our will to the Lord. That is what life is all about. That is when we receive power. When we look outward to others and think less about ourselves the Lord comes in and blesses us. He gives us power to help others that we never thought possible. I have realized that more than every. The last week or two I have tried to step up my game as a missionary. It is easy to flatten out and get caught up in all the things that are going on. The Lord has blessed us so much here.
Dad I want to say an early Happy Father's day. You are the best dad in the world. I am the man I am today because of your example of true fatherhood. I cannot express how grateful I am for you.
The work goes on. There is nothing else I would rather be doing than this. I fall short all the time, but I am grateful that the Lord can use me even if I am weak. The same principle applies to all of us. I love you all. I miss you and think about you often. I love this work, and I love you. I feel like the writers of the Book of Mormon who said that they could only write a hundredth part of what happened and what they felt and witnessed. That is how these emails are. Only about a thousandth part of what I have learned can be expressed here. Read 3 nephi this week. I am loving reading it right now.
I love you all so much.
Elder Hughes
It looks like they are having a great time!
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