Happy Monday! | week 94

Hey there familia!!!

Happy P day to you all! We are coming to the close of a very busy week here. Lots has been going on. Elder H and I are looking forward to this week, a week of a normal missionary routine!! We have been very busy and very blessed here. Thatcher where we serve is pretty much like serving in Provo haha. I learned this week it is 90% members of the church, and that there are less than 600 non members living in our area. That is what is so fascinating about our mission, is that it is full of so many unique places. I have learned so many different things in so many different places.

This week we started off training our zone in a zone meeting. It went well. There are ALWAYS more opportunities to learn as a missionary. There is so much we can learn and apply in our work. I am grateful for those many chances, and the teachers always learn more than the students.

President Passey spent the night with us on Tue night. It was great to get to know him better. He is sooooo awesome. He is a very special man, and he has truly been called of God to be in our mission at this time. We had some great conversations with him, and he told us some hilarious stories from his adventures working for FEMA. He has seen some pretty intense things. Most importantly he is truly a man of God. We got to have interviews with him the next day, which were wonderful. I left feeling inspired, and excited. He gave me some wonderful counsel and insights.

As for this week, we have been spending lots of time trying to find new investigators. That is the huge challenge here. Especially once college starts here things really progress quickly, but for now we are pushing forward. We taught a girl this week named M. She is so 'pila' as Elder Hughes (Guatemala version) says it. She is golden. She has amazing questions and perspectives. We are passing her off to some other Elders, but it was amazing to teach her the first time. The spirit was strong, and it led the lesson well.

We have had some really cool experiences with inactive members this week as well. Many of them came to church on Sunday. In the young single adults there are many that fall away in that age period. It is truly the decade of decision, and so it is crucial that we reach out to rescue those of our age group who have stayed a bit. One sister named Q, got baptized this previous winter. She has a pretty amazing story. She is a native american, from the Apache reservation near here. She faces some very interesting challenges and family issues that are very unique to that culture. We have had some really good lessons with her this week, and she came to church on Sunday!!! It made my whole day to see her walk in. It has been amazing to teach her. The Book of Mormon was truly written for her people. It is pretty amazing to witness the gathering of the descendants of Lehi right in front of your eyes.

This weekend was the pioneer day celebration here in the Gila Valley. And oh boy do they go all out. They don't mess around with their pioneer day celebrations. The weekend was full of shows, pancake breakfasts, parades, fireworks, booths, food, and festivities. The entire community was there, so we all got to help out with some of the things and participate. Elder H and I were in the Parade, which was fun. It is quite rare to be treated like a disneyland character as you walk down the streets. We joked, that in Tucson it is quite the opposite, and yet Thatcher isn't like most places haha. We got some good pictures. We pulled a handcart for most of it, and sweated like real oxen. It has been very very hot this week.

I have been thinking this week alot about temples. First of all because we can almost see the temple from our apt complex, which is so awesome. I love everything about temples. They are so important. They bless our lives in every single way. One of the talks on Sunday was from a return missionary who reported on his mission, and he talked about setting a vision with the investigators of the temple. Oh how I love the temple. I hope each of us can make it a priority in our lives. It should be, as it is the house of the Lord.

I love you all so very much. I am happy and excited about the work that is before us here. I hope that this email finds you all happy and well!

all my love

Elder Hughes