Happy Fall from Arizona!!! | week 57

Helloooooo there familia!

As always I love to hear from you, it sounds like all is well. I love those words all is well. Because all really is well when we put things in the right perspective. Thank you for your words and updates! It sounds like Katie Hughes Photography is gonna go worldwide soon haha. I love how awesome it is going. I am so proud of my madre!!! Remember to take time for yourself as well. We can't run faster than we have strength. I have learned that alot on my mission. Missionary work is exhausting in every single way, so I have had to take times to slow down and make sure that I am not killing myself haha. Lunchtime naps have literally saved me out here. I know, tell Riley and Zach that they should email me more often!! It only takes 5 minutes :) I love all of you so much. I talk about you every single day. I can't wait to share with you guys the joy of being a missionary. It is not easy, but it is so joyful.

THANK YOU FOR THE PACKAGE! I loved it. I love the pants and the party in a box. Unfortunately I got it the day after halloween so we had a delayed halloween party with it.

This week was a pretty good one. I feel like a broken record on here sometimes. Alot of things just don't change alot in our work, but we had a great week.

D, our investigator is doing really well. He is going to be baptized on the 16th. One of the fascinating things about being a misisonary is that every single investigator is so different. They all have very different needs and we teach differently to each of them. I love the challenge that each person brings. D has such a pure heart. He really loves to just be with us, and be with the members of the church. The Holy Ghost is really a feeling, it is the best feeling in the world. That is what really brings people into Christ's restored church. I have learned that lesson alot. It really doesn't matter so much about how good we are at teaching the principles of the restored gospel. What matters so much more is if we have the spirit with us. That is what changes people. That is what has changed me and touched my heart forever.

We started teaching a lady named M this week! It was awesome. A member reffered her to us, which makes all the difference. She was recently divorced and she is facing alot of trials in life. The gospel and the missionaries seem to find those that are burdened down and heavy laden. We came in and got to know her and her daughters and then we started to teach. The spirit was so strong. It was amazing. There is such a difference when we are teaching someone whose heart is open and humble. We had a powerful lesson, and she came to church on Sunday. We are so excited to continue teaching her and her daughters. Teaching families is the best!

We are still visiting and teaching R alot. Her faith is so strong, but she continues to face intense trials in life. We had some more powerful lessons with her. One of them this week, was so good. She was struggling so much. There is really no one in her life who tells her that she is valued and loved. People must hear those things. It is so important. After the lesson we had to give her a hug (it is technically against the rules), but there was no way I wasn't going to hug her. She needed it.

We are have been continuing to find and teach some new people. I love this work. I have learned so much here.

Elder P and I have had some of the most amazing conversations about the gospel this week. He is an awesome companion I have learned so much from him. Yesterday we had one of the most emotional and powerful conversations that I have had on my mission. We discussed alot about missions and the hard things about serving a mission. Sometimes we don't have as much success as our high hopes would tell us. That can be so hard sometimes, but I have really come to learn that when we do our very best and we use the atonement every single day. All is well. The Lord is fitting us to be missionaries not just for 2 years but for our whole lives. In all of our lives we just continue to be transferred. Transferred home and one day transferred to the spirit world. I have a testimony of this great work. It is real, and we are all part of it. We have so much potential and power to touch others lives for good.

I love you all! Not a day goes by that I don't think of each of you. I miss you and love you.

LOVE

Elder Hughes

Happy Halloween!! I am thinking about dressing up like a missionary | week 56

Hey there family!

It sounds like all is well in the Hughes household! I love hearing all the news. It sounds like everyone is growing up! What the heck happened? Since when did everyone get so old. Zach man can never grow up!!!!!! Thank you for all the updates. I love getting your letters. That is good BYU news. GO COUGARS! President Killpack is a die hard ute fan, so us cougar missionaries tease him a lot and vice versa haha.

Transfers came in and I am staying here for another transfer, which I am so happy about. I love it here. I have felt everytime I have been transferred that I had completed what I needed to in the areas I was in. I haven't felt that here yet, so I am really excited for a new transfer. I love this work. I love my district. I have had an amazing district this transfer. All of us have become wonderful friends. On P day we would just go out to eat and have a blast talking for hours. Truly we all need good friends. Sis U who is in my district is from granite bay, and she is awesome. She goes home in December from the mission, and she said she wants to take you out to lunch mom! You will love her.

Elder B who I trained last transfer got his visa to go to argentina!!! He left yesterday! I am so happy for him! We became good friends.

One sad note this week. I regret to inform you that my precious backpack was stolen :( I am really sad. Mostly because it had all of my scriptures in it, the ones that I have had since I was 8. It was in the bed of the truck when we got out to get sonoran dogs, and the other elders were still sitting in the truck, so I didn't move it inside the truck, and it got stolen. :( It was a mega bummer. Some thief is going to get really disappointed that all he got was scriptures haha. SO I don't have any scriptures anymore, so I was wondering if we could figure out some early birthday present situation so that I can get some scriptures again. It taught me some lessons, one of which is how much I love the scriptures. They are so important. I love them, and I love reading them. My life has literally changed as I have feasted on the words of Christ.

As for this week. It was a good one! Really busy as always. We are doing everything we can to get our investigators to progress. Sometimes that seems like such an obstacle. In out Spanish zone, getting people to church is the hardest part. D came to church this week, which was awesome. He is doing great. We have had some good lessons with him. He has true desires to be a good man. He faces some pretty crazy family issues, him and his younger brother are basically raising him.

We have had a lot of great experiences this week. I feel like there are so many, I have a hard time expressing them haha. That it always the problem, there is really no way to convey to you all of the things I have experienced.

The spirit has blessed me this week a lot. I have felt his guiding influence. I have felt of your prayers. There is truly no better feeling in the world than to be the answer to someone else' prayers. I love this gospel.

We were able to help out a man this week, we has been homeless for 6 months. He had just given up alcohol after drinking for the last 40 years. We have been teaching him, and we took him to the er to get the help he needs. His family is actually investigators with the sister missionaries. It has been awesome to be able to help him. I have learned so much on my mission about hope and about how there truly is hope for every single person. No matter what. I am so grateful for that. That is made possible because of Christ.

Another quick experience. We were visiting a less active family this week. The less active lady's friend was there with her. The friend was asking us tons of questions and we taught her about the gospel. As we got up to leave, I had the thought to sing them a hymn. Elder P and I sing to people all the time, so it wasn't that out of the ordinary. We decided to sing I know that my Redeemer lives. I love that song, because it is a testimony. As we started the spirit was so strong, it was so powerful. We all felt it, and we all were blessed. I am grateful for the spirit that helps me do the things that the Lord needs.

We are pressing forward! I love you guys. I love this work. It is interesting that Tanner talked about prayer this week. I had some powerful experiences with prayer the last couple days. Truly the Lord answers prayers. He truly does. I have seen it, felt it, and experienced it over and over again. He answers when we truly have faith and we truly pour out our souls to him. I issue the same challenge that Tanner gave. To make all of our prayers meaningful. We can call down the powers of heaven every day. It doesn't matter what kind of problems or joys we are facing.

I love each of you, and I pray for you every day!

LOVE

Elder Hughes

Taylor shared this link. A great story! The Elder they are talking about is Taylor's companion. Take a minute to read it, it's worth it!

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865583277/LDS-convert-experiences-miracle-while-shopping-for-missionary-clothing.html?pg=all

Mi Familia Marvillosa!!!! (y amigos tambien) | week 55

Decidi que ustedes no han visto que puedo hablar en espanol. ENTONCES, voy a escribir un poquito en espanol. He aprendido mucho desde el tiempo que llege a nogales y tambien aqui en Tucson. Necesito mejorarlo mucho mas para que pueda hablar muy bien con Tanner cuando regresamos.

Anyway. I loved your letter and pictures as always. The Hughes family is as busy as ever. The new York trip looked AMAZING. I love that place. That is so awesome for Megan Hodgson that she is going to New York on her mission. Tell her congrats from me!!!! How awesome. I love this gospel so much. It is such a wonderful time to be a missionary. Rilo speaking for the Stake! How awesome. What a stud. I wish I could have been there to witness it. I loved being on Stake youth committee. I didn't know he was doing that. I loved it. It is such a great opportunity to serve and lead. You will use those skills every day out here as a missionary. Your photography stuff looks awesome mom. How amazing how far it has come. I brag about you all the time to people here. Oh since when did you get a MacBook pro?! That's way awesome! Grandma and grandpa looked wonderful in new York. I laughed really hard at the Obama picture. SO funny. I love you all and miss you so much. The primary program sounds wonderful. We have such a wonderful ward in Rocklin. I hope you guys remember how blessed you are. It is a whole different story here in the Los Reales branch. I think a lot about Elder Uchdorf's talk where he talked about how some church units are like fighter jets, they are efficient, stocked with faithful and converted members. There are also Piper cubs, that just barely make it along. BUT the joy of serving is still the same in each of them, just in a different way. Your primary program made me think about our primary program that they are preparing for. There are only about 5 kids in primary. My companion is the primary pianist. It is a whole different experience, but the joy is truly the same. I have seen that a lot here in Los Reales. We get many many opportunities to serve. We bless, prepare, and pass the sacrament. Lead and play the music, and talk in church every couple weeks. I know the Lord has big things in store for our branch. It has been wonderful to be able to help them a lot. The 6 missionaries who serve here have the ability to help the branch a lot, and I am grateful for that.

As for the week. We had a really good week here. Unfortunately none of our investigators came to church, which is the story of our life here in the South Zone. For some reason it is really hard for our Mexican friends to come to church. We are going to really focus on that with all of our investigators this week.

We found some amazing new people to teach. I love when we find people that are truly prepared, and who truly want to learn. We found this lady named M this week. She is an awesome mom of three kids. She truly just wants the best for her family, and she has big desires to teach them more about God. THE PERFECT STORM. I love it. I love teaching families. I haven't gotten to teach as many families as I would have liked on my mission so far, I love how much the gospel blesses families. It is one of my favorite principles that we teach. We are going by and teaching her every day. I am excited for the future for her and her family.

We also found some other really cool investigators that we are going to start working with a lot this week. 2 guys were working on their car, and we ended up teaching them a lesson about the book of Mormon. It turns out one of them had read the whole book of Mormon when he was in jail, so that is a good start. I have learned so much about talking with everyone as a missionary. Elder P is a master at it. He has absolutely 0 fear talking to people. It is so awesome. I have learned a lot from him.

E, R's daughter is doing great she is set to get baptized on the 9th of November. We have had some wonderful lessons with her. Raquel is doing wonderful. I love her and her family so much. I have seen a literal change in her. It is the most amazing miracle to see.

We have been teaching a lot of inactive members in our area as well. I love being able to go to the rescue, just like president monsoon taught us. It is such a fulfilling work, because it is truly the work of the Lord. It is what he would be doing if he were here. We are teaching this lady named R who is super cool. She was baptized a couple years ago, and fell away. We have been teaching her a lot and she is doing so well.

We did a lot of service this week as well, which I love. We volunteered at a food bank. It was quite an experience. It is kind of a sketchy operation of a food bank haha. it was really fun though. The people that worked there were hilarious. I think they should make some kind of reality tv show out of it, because there are some of the most insane personalities there. From the insanely bossy, do not cross her, boss lady. To the hilarious Mexican lady. The whole lineup. It was pretty awesome. Somehow the Mormon missionaries fit in there too haha. Also us and about 40 other missionaries in Tucson set up a big clothing section for a big welfare event in Tucson. That was pretty cool. And every week we clean up parks on sat. morning. If you go to Midvale Neighborhood park association or something like that on facebook. The guy puts up lots of pictures of us.

I have a new food addiction. SONORAN HOT DOGS. Look them up. I am obsessed.

A really exciting thing last night was a girl in the branch opened her mission call. We are all really good friends with her. She got called to...........ROSEVILLE CA mission!!!!! IT WAS AWESOME. Sister U. and I made complete fools of ourselves. We got really excited and jumped up and down and it was pretty funny. I will try and get my hands on the video because it was pretty funny. We have some norcal pride.

Also Do you remember Iv from Nogales? He is investigating the church again!!!!!!!!!! I couldn't stop smiling for about 6 hours when I found out. It makes me so happy.

I love you guys. I can't say that enough. I am doing so well. My message this week comes from the wise words of President Killpack. He is a powerful man of god. I love him so much. "One evening, an elderly Cherokee Chief told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people.
He said, "My son, the battle is between two 'wolves' inside us all. One is EVIL. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.The other is GOOD. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generousity, truth compassion, and faith." The grandson thought for a minute and then asked his Grandfather: "Which wolf wins?" The old Cherokee chief simply responded, "The one that you feed."

Lets feed the good wolf this week and every day :) It starts every morning with prayers and scriptures.

LOVE

Elder Hughes

I have no creative titles for emails so I have written this boring email title | week 54

HOLA FAMILIA! (That is my favorite thing to say)

The Hughes clan is on quite a slew of adventures! How fun! I am sure grandma and grandpa and Riley are having a great time. It is always a blast to go on vacation with them. I remember well eating more than I ever had before haha. We got ice cream every single night! Good times. It sounds like everyone has been super busy, which is good. This week has flown by like all the rest of them. For her baptism I sang This is the Christ. Which in Spanish is "El Cristo Es"

That is crazy Spencer comes home so soon!!!! That is awesome. Time flies. It really does. No surprises about Mathew, he is such an amazing guy. It doesn't surprise me at all. I am honored to be his friend.

Elder P and I had a really good week. We have been really blessed here. We are still on the search for some new investigators. That is the huge challenge here. Sometimes we can find a lot of people, but almost all of them we have to pass off to the English missionaries, because we are looking for Spanish people!!! But it has been really good. We found this awesome guy from Africa named P. He was just outside weedwacking and we went up and talked to him. He was blown away by the fact that we would come out and leave our families to spread the gospel. We had one of the coolest lessons with him. I have 'holy envy' for the lucky missionaries that get to teach him. It was so cool to find him.

R is doing really well. She got confirmed this Sunday, and everything went great. I am so grateful for her. We are now starting to work even more with her daughter E. I have no doubt she will get baptized as well, she is just really shy so it will take a little more time. Not only that, but R is SUCH a good missionary. She invited almost all of her neighbors to her baptism, and she brought one of her friends to church on Sunday. It is so awesome. We all have a lot to learn about missionary work from the recent converts. They are the best missionaries.

We are teaching a guy named D and his little brother J and their mom L. We are super excited about them. D has been taught a lot in the past, but his big hold up was drinking. We could not get him to stop drinking. He really wanted to be baptized, and he loves the church, but that was the last hurdle. We stopped teaching him for a while, and one day he called us again after a couple of weeks and wanted us to come back and start teaching him again. Timing is so important. Now this time around, it has been so great teaching him. He is doing really well and he has a baptismal date for the 9th of November. Him and his brother are so fun to teach, because they are kind of like teaching kids. We teach really simply. I have come to see and learn that simplicity is so important. The gospel of Jesus Christ is really not that complicated, it just requires application. It has to be part of us. We cannot just talk about it, we must live it.

This week we made a lot of hospital visits which was kind of cool. The VA hospital is in our area so we get called in to go visit people there every so often. An inactive guy named C was there preparing for surgery. We had the opportunity to visit him a couple times. It was awesome. He is a changed man because of the trials he is facing at this time in his life. It was so cool to go and teach him and give him a blessing. He is truly changing his life, his perspective has changed. That is the key to life. Sometimes it takes big trials for that to happen, but we can learn to have that perspective change on our own. ALSO we got a call to go see Bro R who just had open heart surgery to remove a tumor from his heart. The R's are some of my favorite people of all time. They live in Duncan and I love them so much. It was awesome to go and visit him and his family. It was a surprise for them. Sister D was the one who called the mission office and sent us to go see them. It was so cool. It is a true miracle that Bro R is alive. Their family is so full of faith and love.

We have a lot of fun out here as well. In missionary work it is so important to learn how to laugh. Sometimes the situations we are in are pretty ridiculous especially when you knock on doors. We laugh a lot. One time this week, we knocked a door and all of a sudden I heard Elder P gasp and I look right to my left and there was a fake snake that looked SO real. I almost had a heart attack, because it was right next to me. We laughed for a long time about that one.

The work moves forward! We have been working so hard to find those that the Lord is preparing. I know that they are just waiting. I know that as we keep pressing forward we will find them.

The Gospel Principles class we have at the branch is the BEST sunday school class I have ever been in. I have been touched by the spirit so many times in that class. This week we talked about sacrifice. It has caused me to reflect a lot on why we make sacrifices and how grateful I am for the sacrifices that others have and are making for me. Ultimately, it has lead me to think about the sacrifice of the savior. He truly sacrificed for us. The greatest sacrifice of all time. We naturally come to love those who have sacrificed for us and those who we sacrifice for. That is why the Savior loves us so much, and that is why those who have used his atonement love Him so much. I thought of each of you on Sunday as we talked about this. Thank you for the sacrifices you make to make this possible for me. Thank you. I can never say that enough. Sacrifice is how we receive power. My life has been blessed by the sacrifices of others. When I am tired, when I want to take a break, I think of those who are and have sacrificed for me. Then I have the strength to keep sacrificing for the Lord. THANK YOU for your love and sacrifices for me. That has made all of this possible.

I love you all so much!

Adelante y Arriba (onward and upward)

LOVE

Elder Hughes

Happy Monday once again!!! | week 53

HOLA FAMILIA!

It is great to hear from you guys as always! I always love getting your emails. It sounds like you guys are all doing wonderful. That is what I love to hear. It sounds like life is as busy as ever. The week FLEW by for me as well. I would pay alot of money to get some more hours in the day. I feel like that is the limiting factor sometimes is TIME. We all get the same amount though :) Rilo is cracking me up. I like your shirt. I love hump days. Have a BLAST in New York. I love that place. I am 

jealous, I want to go with you, you will love it. Tell grandma and grandpa I say hi! I love you guys so much. I love hearing about all of your adventures.

As for us this week it was a wonderful week! I LOVE BAPTISM WEEKS. They really are the best. Everything with R's baptism went wonderfully. It could not have gone any better. The spirit was so strong. She was so happy, and the branch came and supported here alot. It was great. There is something so special and so wonderful about baptisms. From a carnal mind, it seems like something so simple, but to us as members of Christ's restored church it means so much, and the Holy Ghost is always so powerful. I sang a musical number for her baptismal program as well, which went great. It was a wonderful day. She is such a special person. She is the elect of God. Now we are working on her other family members alot more. The gospel is a family affair, and it unites and blesses families so much. There is no better experience than to talk with a recent convert about how they feel after they are baptized. She said "I feel so clean, I feel so good. A burden has been lifted from me!" There are no more beautiful words than these. It was a day I will not soon forget.

Conference was also SO AWESOME. Oh I loved it so much. The spirit was so strong. I love the opportunities we have at conference to be taught from prophets and apostles and more importantly for the spirit to teach us. I felt it in abundance. It is truly the guide for our lives. What an incredible time in history that we live in. I felt the urgency of our message. The world is changing, and clouds are rolling in. We need to be prepared. Thank you for your quotes dad I loved all of those as well. Some of the feelings that touched me is our responsibility to minister, love, serve, and spread the love of Christ throughout our entire lives. I was so touched by Elder Uchdorf's talk in priesthood session. We must all rise up and become something more and something better. Truly Thomas S. Monson is a living prophet. My testimony of his prophetic calling was strengthened alot. As the choir sang. I truly felt I am thankful for a prophet to guide us in these days. What a wonderful blessing it is to be part of the Lord's church on the earth. Conference is such a spiritual feast. I am excited to study the talks more. Most importantly the spirit witnessed to me again of the truthfulness of this work. I know it is true without a doubt.

Alot of this week was spent getting R ready for her big day. Now we are moving into a new week. We are on the search for new investigators!! We are teaching some people, but alot of them are having a hard time progressing. SO we are going out to find some new people.

The year mark was this week! Holy cow! It was weird to think about. What was really awesome is that Elder R and I were on exchanges on October 3rd. So a year later we were companions again on the same day. It was a blast. We had a great time reflecting on our first year and talking about the upcoming one. I know that the Lord has alot in store. I can't wait to see what adventures and miracles he has waiting in year 2. The first one went by so fast, I can hardly believe it.

We had a couple cool miracles this week.

We got our apartment inspected by the housing missionaries. After that was done, they took us out to In n Out (it always reminds me of cali) and we had just finished our lunch. We were getting up to leave and this lady comes up to us, and with tears in her eyes started talking to us. She explained that she and her family are from pheonix and have taken the missionary lessons before. She said that when her husband and her saw us walk into in n out they both had a powerful, overwhelming impression that they needed to talk to us and begin taking the missionary lessons again, and get baptized. She was so emotional. She called us "mi angeles" or her angels. It was so powerful. It blew us away. All we did was walk into in n out and order a burger, and the spirit used that to guide one of God's children back to him. It was so powerful. Truly this is the Lord's work. We got her information, and sent a referral to the missionaries in Phoenix.

Another cool experience we had. One night all of our appointments had dropped, and we weren't sure how to spend our last 45 minutes of the day. We drove by a baseball park, and saw a bunch of people, so we decided to go out and contact some people. We did, and the first lady we talked to we shared a message about the Book of Mormon. Everything was pretty normal, very usual, until we were about to leave, and she said that we had just answered her prayers. That she has been praying for help, and that she believes that we are part of the answer that god has given her. I have learned over and over again, that if we just go about doing good, doing everything we can the Lord will put us in the right places at the right times. I love this work. I love it so much.

Elder P and I are excited for a new week with new opportunities. I am so happy to be here. I love the gospel. Always nourish your testimonies every day, we all need that. We all need daily nourishment. Have a wonderful week. I miss you all and love you!

LOVE

Elder Hughes

Bowling with the District on P-Day!

from your 20 your old son/brother/grandson/friend | week 52

HEY FAMILIA!!!

How are you guys doing?!  I hope you are all doing great!

I had a great birthday week here in the great ATM! It has been a great week. Full of learning and growing and watching the Lord's work blossom here in the desert. I have reflected alot this week. THANK YOU THANK YOU for the birthday box!!! I loved it. It actually came the day after my birthday, so we had a second mini birthday party with the stuff you gave us. Thank you for everything. I love the tie and I am currently rocking my new khaki pants. They fit perfectly. Thank you so much. I loved it all. I loved the t shirt too! That was a pleasant surprise, I had no idea that there were Heidi 

t-shirts. I love it. Thank you!

Thank you as well for your help with the drivers license stuff! I am glad it all got figured out!

My birthday was a good day! We celebrated with cake for lunch. Our district all came over and we had a little celebration. The night before we didn't have anyone signed up to feed us so Elder P and I celebrated early with sushi. It had been FOREVER since I had sushi, and I forgot how much I love it. It was a good day. I was reminded of what you used to say mom, that when we get older birthdays become normal days haha. I reflected alot on the first 20 years of my life and how blessed and amazing they have been. I have been incredibly blessed. Sometimes I don't really know how or why. Truly living the gospel brings us so much joy and happiness. Not just believing the gospel but living it. Arizona gave me the best birthday present of all, cooler weather!! It was 85 on my birthday. I don't think that I have ever been so grateful for 85 degrees in my whole life. It FINALLY is starting to cool down a bit here.

It was a great week. We have some exciting news! R is getting baptized this Saturday between conference sessions!!! I am SOOOOOOOO happy! I really know that she was one of the reasons that I had to come here to Los Reales. She is very very special. I feel like she has taught me much more than I have been able to teach her. She has an incredible amount of faith. We have been able to have so many powerful lessons with her. It has been a miracle to watch how the gospel has strengthened her. She truly has a testimony of the restoration. She has faced more trials and tribulations than any other investigator I have ever taught, but through it all her faith has prevailed. She is super ready for her baptism. I can't think of a better weekend, general conference AND a baptism! He daughter Emily is starting to progress too. She is going to take a little bit more time, but I know that the Lord will bless here as well. I am so excited for R, I have always felt a special connection with her from the very first time I met her. It has been a miracle to witness the process with her. Truly every single conversion to the gospel of Jesus Christ is it's own miracle.

That has been the really exciting part of our week. Other than that we have struggled to meet with alot of our investigators. Alot of them are out of town, or we haven't been able to find them. Sometimes that is tough, but we keep pressing forward. Finding new investigators is all about faith. I have learned that lesson alot on my mission. Actually life is all about faith.

We had an awesome conference this week. We had spanish missionary conference, which they do pretty rarely. It was wonderful. It was probably my favorite missionary meeting I have been to on my mission. The spirit was so powerful, and it was like a big family reunion. I have made so many friends here on my mission, and sometimes we never get to see any of them. It was awesome. Elder D, T, R, and I were all able to catch up. It was the first time in the year that we all 4 had been in the same room. It was fun. We are all still good good friends. We learned some news about the new technology things that are happening. We are going to start using facebook in proselyting in the next month or two. This winter/early spring we will get ipads and iphones! Which we are all pretty stoked about. Pretty awesome!

Elder P and I are pushing forward in the work! It is such an exciting time to be a missionary. I love it. We have seen miracles here, and we are excited to see more. Truly when we just apply correct principles with faith and diligence, the Lord can use us to accomplish his purposes. We have seen some really sad situations this week. Sometimes as missionaries we help and council people that are facing immense trials. We have been working with an inactive boy in our branch who is 13 and is heavily involved in drugs and has major depression. He has been in and out of the hospital. With him and some other people we have worked with, I have reflected alot on why there is so much opposition in this world. Ultimately, we don't have all the answers for that. The answer we DO have is how it can be changed and transformed through the atonement of Jesus Christ. Of that I DO know. I am so grateful for that.

As we go into conference weekend I am so excited. I have always had a love for conference. I truly know that if we bring our questions, our doubts, and our problems prayerfully to conference weekend, the Lord will answer our prayers. He can send a message directly to us individually. What a blessing that is. The spirit is a perfect teacher, and through the words of our prophet an apostles our lives can be changed! So watch conference with a purpose! I will be doing it with you! I love you all so much. I miss you, and I was sad I could not celebrate with you. I am grateful for where I am and what I get to do every day. I am excited for a new year of life. If it was anything like the last year, I will never be the same.

I love you all so much!!!!!!

LOVE

Elder Hughes

A Missionary Birthday Party!

I hope this is what Elder Hughes was able to do for his birthday!

Your last email from your 19 your old son!! (don't worry I think the 20 yr old version still emails too) | week 51

Hola Familia!

Como estan?!

I hope you guys are all doing well. What a week it has been here. We have seen many miracles, and the work continues to roll forward! I feel like every single week the time just flies faster and faster. I have truly learned that as we lose ourselves in this work the Lord opens doors that we could never have imagined. Elder P and I had an awesome week. It takes a bit of time to get settled in, but we saw so many miracles this week. I am really really excited about this transfer. We have seen the miracles that come through faith and opening our mouths. Thursday was a day full of miracles. That morning we had prayed to know where we should go to find someone who was prepared for the gospel. In missionary lingo it is called an appt with the Lord. Each of us pray and then we pick 3 streets, and then whatever streets we pick that are the same we go and knock doors on. We both picked the same street Melody st. and we went to go find on that street. The very first person we talked to was this guy named Is. It was so awesome. He immediately invited us inside (which is pretty rare haha). He is a 20 year old guy, and he happened to be studying the scriptures when we he saw us walk by. He is looking for a church to go to. It was such a miracle. We then proceeded to have such an amazing lesson. One of the most powerful lessons that I have had on my mission so far. The spirit was so strong, and he really felt it. He kept describing it to us. There is truly nothing better than that. It was the start of many miracles that day. We also found a family to teach, they are also "looking for a church." Those are magic words for us to hear. Then later that night we taught R. It so happened that her daughter Juliana just got out of jail that day. It was so awesome getting to teach her. It was a lesson I will never forget. She was so emotional, she has been through so much in her life. We were able to teach her simply about repentance and about the wonderful opportunities that Christ's atonement gives us. He truly gives us the chance to start again, to start new, and to leave all the things in our past behind. It was a lesson that I really have a hard time describing. We are continuing to work with R. She is SO CLOSE! We go and see her everyday. I really wish you guys could meet her. She is huge example to me. I cannot even describe the trials that she faces. We were able to have so many amazing lessons with her this week. Just last night we watched the Restoration movie. Afterward instead of us teaching, she bore her testimony to us about the truthfulness of this gospel and of the restoration! What a miracle it is to see that. There is truly nothing better.

We are pressing forward with alot of new goals as a district here. The branch that we cover needs lots of help, and we have united alot more as a district to help this branch accomplish it's goals. We have set some pretty awesome goals. One of them is that we are going to contact 15 people a day. Which has made us go out of our way to talk to every single person we pass. It has been a huge blessing. We have made it into a kind of a competition, and we CANNOT let the sisters beat us, we are tired of that haha. It has been amazing to be part of helping our branch and district come together. We have some amazing missionaries here.

I was thinking I need to tell you guys about some of the awesome just cultural things here. What is really funny about South Tucson is that it is literally the exact blend of American and Mexican cultures together. I didn't really understand the term spanglish until I got here. People literally use both languages simultaneously. They use about half english and half spanish in many of their sentences. It is really hilarius sometimes. We all about died laughing the other day as the super mexican sister who fed us dinner introduced dessert as "cakey". It is really bizzare sometimes haha. One thing I love about the people here is that they all love to laugh. We had an FHE with the branch this week and we played one really simple game, and they thought it was the funniest thing ever. Then we laughed so hard because they thought it was so funny.

The Lord has blessed us alot. What an opportunity and a miracle it is to be part of this work. I really try and cherish every day. It goes by so fast. I cannot believe that I have almost been out for a year. It has truly been the most challenging and the most rewarding year of my life. I wouldn't trade it for anything. I cannot really but into words all of the things that I have learned. I am so excited for a new year. I have been reflecting alot as I have come up on my birthday on my life. I cannot believe that it has gone so quickly. I owe so much to each of you. Your love and teaching has made me who I am. I am so proud to call you mom and dad and brothers. I miss you guys so much, but know that I am doing well. I know that this is where I am supposed to be at this time. Thank you for your love. Always remember the Savior. I have learned here that he is truly the source of all that is good in the world. He is truly the Light of the World. The closer we come to him, is in direct relationship to our ultimate happiness.

I love you guys so much!!!!!

EAT A BUNCH OF CAKE FOR ME! 

LOVE

Elder Hughes