Hola Familia | week 103

Hola familia!!!!

Thank you for your email! I LOVED that picture dad! How awesome is that?! I have never seen that picture of you. What an awesome day. I am sure we were all rejoicing in heaven on that day, waiting to come down and be a part of your family. I hope to be able to thank those missionaries as well. Gilbert is only 3 hours from me, so maybe after the mission when I come back to visit I can go see him sometime. That is so cool.

Elder G and I had another really awesome week! We have been so busy, and excited. The Lord is continuing to bless us so so so much. I marvel.

One unique experience from last week, I forgot to write you about it then. We gave blood last week, and it was the poor lady's first time doing it all by herself. She was very nervous, and she was being evaluated. So she goes to put the needle in my arm, and it hurt alot more than usual, but I didn't think much of it. So I sat on the chair rolling the ball in my hand, and then all these alarms go off on the machine, and all the nurses run over and start taking everything off, and asking me if I feel like I am going to pass out haha. I said no, and asked if something was wrong, they told me no (which was a totally lie) I kind of laughed about that. Turns out she hit my artery instead of my vein. Which is bad, and doesn't happen very often. That is why my bag filled up so fast. So needless to say I had one heck of a bruised arm, and a bag of blood they couldn't use :) 

The highlight reel of the week is full.

 It rained alot this week!!! HALLELUJIA! I think I can count on one hand how many times that has happened in 2 years (excluding brief thunderstorms). I was on exchanges in a walking area on one of those days and we got completely soaked. I thought of Tanner, because that sounds like his whole life lately :)

RS who we baptized in Nogales got Endowed on Saturday!!! That made me so happy. I am so happy for him. He is strong in the gospel. He was going to get endowed in the Gila Valley temple so that we could be there, but at the last minute they had to change it to Mesa. That was a bit of a bummer, but I am just so happy for him.

A is doing great. He is set to get baptized this saturday on my birthday (a great day for a baptism). He is doing so well. One day this week he was doubting if he should take this step, because it all happened so fast. I was able to sit down and talk to him. I merely asked him the simple questions of "Angel, is the Book of Mormon true?" He said "Of course it is!!" Then I asked him if this was the church of Jesus Christ? He said, "YES!". I thought about that and told him, well then, "Why wait for these blessings, if you know it is true?" Since then, he hasn't looked back. I am so excited for him!

M is also progressing well.

We started teaching lots of wonderful people this week. We taught to girls from Africa named L and P. They are so awesome! They are from the Congo and Zimbabwe. Wonderful people, and they know the bible very well. They asked some of the best questions I have ever gotten from investigators.

S is doing well. He dropped us for a bit this week. We were really sad about that, but he changed his mind all of a sudden. He didn't feel right about that decision. He has been having some good experiences with the spirit that are helping him alot.

The best part of the week for me was teaching S. She is doing so well. We had one of the most powerful lessons I have ever had as a missionary with her this week. We talked about revelation through Prayer. She all of a sudden opened up about receiving and answer for herselft that the Book of Mormon is true. As she began, the spirit washed into the room. it was powerful. I could not hold back tears of joy as she related her story. She has been reading every day. She said that as she was driving back to Thatcher from the reservation last weekend an overwhelming feeling of joy came over her. She said she has never felt anything like it in her entire life. She said she feels some of it every single time she reads and meets with us. She declared that it was a witness from our heavenly father that these things were true. We were left sitting there in amazement. I am so grateful that the Holy Ghost is the true teacher.

I finished the Book of Mormon again this week. It was the 7th time I have finished it on my mission. Oh how I love that Book. I hope that you all choose to read it every single day. It is true. I am grateful for the invitation it contains to ask God to know if it is true. It is important that we personally apply that promise often in our lives. I know it is true. It has blessed me, and I find wonderful new insights every time I read it!

I love you so much! I am holding on to every moment I have left on my mission. I am grateful for the opportunities I have been given.

I love you!

Elder Hughes

He is on the list to come home! 

Taylor's very bruised arm.