Happy Transfer week from Arizona!! | Week 86

Hello there family!

It sounds like you guys had a fun memorial day weekend planned!! That is great that you got to go to the temple. Oh how I love that place. Likewise, I can't wait to go with you when we get back!

I am still coming to you from Benson on this tuesday morning!!!! I am staying!!! I am very relieved about that. I really feel like I just got to know the people here, so I am glad that I have 6 more weeks here! Elder Teichert and I work very well together, so we are both excited for another transfer. Our zone changed very little this time. Which is great. I love the missionaries of our zone.

As for this last week, it was a very challenging one for us. Most of our investigators either dropped us, or flaked out. SO, we have regrouped, and are starting a new transfer with a clean slate :) I am so grateful for those opportunities. We have been giving it our all in trying to find people to teach, we have been talking to EVERY single person that we see. That has opened up some miracles for us. Yesterday we found some really promising new contacts and referrals. 

The work has been tough the last couple weeks, but we have been doing well. I have learned to just keep pressing onward, the Lord always uses us for his purpose's as long as we press onward. Enduring to the end, is a principle that continues on. I have learned alot about enduring as a missionary. There are many ways to endure. I believe that almost all people CAN endure. The thing that separates most people is HOW they endure. We must endure well, endure joyfully, and endure with faith. That is a whole new kind of challenge. 

The Lord has taught me much in the last week. I am grateful for that.

Of all of the people we were teaching we are going to keep teaching M, who is A's son. He is an awesome kid, and will be baptized soon. We are excited about a new promising week and transfer.

This coming week we have our last mission leadership conference with President Killpack. It should be very powerful. I am sad to see them leave soon, but I am excited for some of their parting counsel.

I have received many answers to my prayers this week. I am so grateful for a loving father in heaven who truly hears and answers. It is usually our end of the line that is busy, fuzzy, blocked, or not speaking at all. I am so grateful for those answers. They have strengthened me, and helped me to be better. Remember your prayers, and not just the vain repetition ones that we all spout off often. Remember the REAL ones, the ones that come right from our hearts. When we approach our father in heaven with our whole hearts, his answers flow in.

I love each of you so very much. I hope and pray that you have a great week! I plan on a great one here!

all my love

Elder Hughes

It's heating up in the desert!!!!! | Week 85

Hola Familia!!!!!

It sounds like all is well at home! I love to hear that! All is well here in Arizona as well, we have been very blessed this week. I second the motion on how special patriarchal blessings are. Mine has guided and blessed me every single time that I read it. It is truly a roadmap, and a guide that is so important. I always encourage recent converts to receive their patriarchal blessings.

My prayers will be with Aaron.

It is heating up here in Arizona, we had a hot week. The work of the Lord is heating up as well! We are excited about the future. The Lord has blessed us with more people to teach this week. I finished the week last night absolutely exhausted! We have been so busy, and sometimes I just get wiped out! That is why we have p day's to recharge and regroup.

We started to teach M who is A's son. He lives part time here in Benson, and part time in Tucson, so it has been hard to catch him. He is doing great! He LOVES learning about the gospel. I have never met a more spiritually in tune 9 yr old. He has a thirst for spiritual knowledge. It is truly so fun to teach people like that. It has been wonderful to teach him. He has a baptismal date, and is progressing well.

I went on exchanges this week with my good friend Elder P! It was a blast! We got a lot done, and we were able to see many little miracles. It is truly so fun to serve with friends. I have been blessed with companions who will be my friends for my whole life. I have been so blessed. We taught their investigator M who is getting baptized this week. He is one of the most fascinating people I have ever met. He is homeless by choice, he is 24, and he is incredibly smart. They have seen a complete spiritual transformation happen with M. He began as an athiest, and now is sharing the gospel with all of his friends! It has been a true miracle.

We had a really cool miracle this week. D who got baptized last transfer, had a friend of her's staying at her house for a short while. Her name is M, and she is a lost soul, who is really struggling. Her last name was Hughes actually. At first she was very argumentative, she wanted to debate a bunch of doctrines, and she wasn't making any sense at all. Then my inspired companion said the phrase "to return home to our Father in Heaven" That one line changed everything. The spirit touched her. Apparently she has always believed in a premortal life, but no one believed her, they just made fun of her. From then on she really opened up. The spirit was strong, and it led our words. We taught and comforted her. She soaked it all up, and wanted as much info as she could get. Everything totally changed. We gave her a blessing. She later called us and said that our meeting was life changing. She left the next morning to go back to Missouri. It was quite a miracle.

There are many more people who we have started to teach, and we are excited to see where it all goes!

We had our last interviews with President Killpack this week. It was hard to come to grips with that. We had a great interview, and we discussed many things. He is truly a man of God. His example and leadership have blessed my life immensely. He gave me his wise counsel about returning home from a mission, and we talked about the blessings that come in the service of the Lord. The great thing, is that service carries onward throughout our whole lives. I truly feel so blessed. I am so grateful for all that my heavenly father has given me.

Yesterday we had a mega ward council. We went through every single name on the ward list. We actually didn't finish, but it was amazing to be a part of. The Lord is very concerned with the one. He is concerned about every single one of his children. His love, gospel, and work spreads forward one person at a time. That is happening all over the world. I hope that each of us can take the time to focus on the one. On a friend, on a family member, or on a lost soul. In the world we live in, we are constantly being divided. Our time and attention can be divided between many people at the same time. I believe that this saddens the Savior of the World, who always took time for the one. He loves each of us, one by one. We will return to his presence one at a time.

Thank you for all your love and support. It means so much to me. I feel it. I love you all so very much!

Have a wonderful week!

love

Elder Hughes

Mother's Day | Week 84

I loved seeing all of your smiling faces yesterday!!!!! I love you all so much. It fills me with energy and excitement every time I get to talk to you guys! I cherished being able to just sit 'across the couch' with you! Thank you for all that you do for me! Have a great week!

love

Taylor

Taylor sends his love from Arizona and shares this message:

Happy Cinco de Mayo | week 83

These are all of the twins at MLC. I love all these missionaries, and they are all twins too!

Hey there family!!

I hope you each had a great week! You have been in my thoughts and prayers as always.

As for Elder T and I, this week has been another week of hard work. We are slowly seeing the fruits of that effort. It was a very busy week. Sometimes I look back on the week and I wonder how we were supposed to have time to do all that we want to do!  I know each of you share those feelings with us sometimes. Time is always slipping away!

We have been working alot with the A family that I have told you about before. We made alot of progress with them this week. They have started to open up more about their true feelings, and trials. We had a really good lesson this week with them about prayer. The principle of prayer is really so simple, yet sometimes we take it for granted. We are looking forward to a new week helping them come closer to Christ.

We have spent alot of time this week trying to find new investigators. We always meet some very interesting people in that process. It isn't boring, lets just say that. We met a descendant of Joseph Smith this week! Unfortunately, she did not inherit his kindness, she was quite rude to us, but it was still cool nonetheless.

I am grateful for small, and simple opportunities to serve others. We had quite a few of those this week. 

I don't think I have talked about D in a while. But he is the inactive member that we have been working with who is a recovering Heroin addict. He is doing so well. In the couple months I have been here, I have seen amazing changes in him and in his life. It has been a miracle to witness. I am grateful to have been able to see it. We celebrated his birthday with him this week.

Speaking of Birthdays! Happy early Birthday Dad!!!!! I love you, and wish I could be there to celebrate with you! Elder T has the same birthday as you! So we will do some celebrating.

Alfred and his family are doing well. We are going to start teaching A's son. I got to ordain A a priest last week, which was way cool.

We had many meetings this week. First we had zone trainings where we received instruction from President and Sister Killpack and the Assistants. It left us with much to ponder. President recently returned from a conference with Elder Bednar. He shared with us the things he was taught there. We learned alot about teaching by the spirit. I have a LONG way to go as a gospel teacher. It was a very inspiring training, and has helped me apply myself more as a teacher. There is so much yet to learn. Then later on in the week we had MLC in Tucson. It was another spiritual feast. I am so grateful for opportunities to learn.

Our week kind of had a bummer ending. I got really sick on saturday night with some bad bug. I spent the whole night laying on the bathroom floor giving back my last meals. It wasn't too much fun. I felt bad for Elder T that I kept him up all night! So Sunday I slept most of the day, and I feel alot better today. Apparently quite a few missionaries had the same thing I had. It had been a very long time since I had gotten sick like that. The last one I could remember was our infamous food poisoning drive from Utah back to Cali haha. I don't think any of us will ever forget that! I have a renewed gratitude for my health. I am so grateful for it.

I am looking forward to SEEING you on Sunday!!! I will give you a call on Saturday to get the time stuff set up! We are going to skype from the Garner's, so you will get to meet them! I can hardly believe that this is the last call til I get to give you each a big non virtual hug!!!!!

I love you all! and I will SEE you soon!

love

Elder Hughes

Happy Birthday Dad!!!

PS Keep Elder P, my dear friend, in your prayers. His Dad will die very soon, and he is flying home to see him.

I forgot about this, until I saw the picture again. Last week we were eating lunch on P day at a kfc, and this random guy came up and threw a 100 dollar bill on our table and ran off before we could give it back to him. We were in shock. So naturally we took pictures with it 

best doormat I have ever seen.