LETTER TO FAMILY AND FRIENDS: Hello everyone!! So I got transferred! I am in Orion and my new companion is Sister Tafisi. She is half Tongan and half Samoan and she is from California. So far things are going well! I can't lie and say that I was excited to get transferred though. I was honestly less than thrilled. Having to say goodbye to everyone, especially Maybelle, was so hard. But that is all part of the mission experience!
Orion is beautiful though. It is a totally different world than San Felipe was. Sister Tafisi and I like to experiment and "tao po" at the big fancy houses, usually the people hide from us haha! We have had a lot of fun together so far though. It'll be a good transfer. But one thing about Orion is that it is HUGE!!! There are only 2 sisters here again and we are trying to take on a massive area. When I got here she informed me we only have about 3 progressing investigators... Great. We are gonna be FINDING everyday. I hate finding.... haha! Oh well, I am excited for the change but still getting used to everything will take a while. Sorry this email isn't super interesting but yeah... I love you all!! I can't wait to get this area going because not much is going on. Anyways, thanks for everything y'all! Love Sister Hughes LETTER TO MOM: Hey mom!!! So I am in Orion with Sister Tafisi. She is really sweet and we get along really well. I didn't know Sister Lacanienta was taking pictures of me so I have no idea what I was doing in the picture you saw on Facebook! They always secretly take pictures of us and it stresses me out haha! Anyway, the new CTR bag you saw me holding is new. I bought it because the other bag I was using was hurting my back. This one is a lot better for proselyting. I totally know Corrine!!! That is crazy that she was called to Olongapo! Maybe I'll train her... that would be weird. Anyway, that is awesome for Sariah to be on her mission in Dublin! I got Madison Germer confused with Sidney Germer for a second so I had a slight heart attack that she was getting married- haha! I can't believe I have been out for 6 months.. it blows my mind! I love serving but I hate having to get transferred. Learning to work with new companions gives me stress but I am excited to be with Sister Tafisi! I serve in the Orion branch now and it is really small and will take a while to get used to. One good thing is this church building has air conditioning. Our apartment is just alright. I liked our little house in San Felipe better, but that's okay. The biggest thing to get used to is that we only have two fans here, so we just sweat all night long, pero okay lang! The store with my name is called a "tindahan" and they have them everywhere. You can just go there and buy soda or cheap snacks. The monkeys were in Linasin, one of the areas I had never proselyted in until I said I wanted to find some monkeys. Maybelle announced there are some over in that area so we went to find new investigators and monkeys. They were funny! Anyways, I love you mom! Thanks for all you do! Tell the boys to leave the house if there is too much testosterone. Haha love ya! Love Sister Hughes LETTER TO DAD: "New Beginnings" was always the worst activity in Young Womens, so thanks for bringing up that getting transferred is a new beginning - HAHA joke language. I am still trying to figure out Orion because I really miss San Felipe, but I'll get used to it here and love it just as much. I forgot to tell everyone else that Sister Christensen took over for me in San Felipe!! If I have to leave my area to anyone I am glad it is my batch mate. Sister Tafisi is cool. I think we will get along pretty well this transfer. The hard part will just be getting this area going. It seems like the work has been hard and the area is kind of struggling right now. I might get to see Sister Pierce down here sometimes because she used to be in this district, so that will be fun. Her and Sister Pau are the two I don't ever see. I will try to keep myself out of trouble - haha! Sometimes when you are a missionary you gotta entertain yourself a little though! Love you Dad! Sister Hughes
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LETTER TO FAMILY AND FRIENDS: Hey everyone!! This week I have probably felt everyone single human emotion on earth.. That's a mission for ya!! We have been working hard still to find new investigators and get people on date for baptism.
One experience we had this week was with one of our investigators. She is either in late 30s/early 40s and is the nicest lady ever. We found her last week and was more than willing to listen to us. When we came back this week we taught about the BOM. The Book of Mormon is where your testimony starts. It is what you need to have testimony on to know that everything else about this church is true. So we shared that with her and then invited her to pray about it. She said the closing prayer and got very emotional during it. First, because she was feeling the spirit. Second, because this is probably the first time she has prayed to her Father in Heaven directly and could feel his love for her. She is awesome. We also extended an invitation to be baptized to a sweet girl who is Maybelle's cousin. She was kind of nervous to say yes, but eventually did. She is only 10 so we will have to work with her to help her have a true desire. Yesterday before Sacrament meeting we got a text from one of our investigators saying that she won't be coming to church anymore and won't be baptized. When you hear that from someone you love so much and care about you feel true heartbreak. It just means it isn't her time. I know that she will be baptized. If I don't get to be there for it, that's okay. She has the faith, the testimony, and the knowledge. She just has to put all of that into action. That may be in 10 years from now but at least that is another sister making her way home. Anyways, this week was good, hard, fun, hot, amazing, crazy, etc. That is the definition of a mission pretty much. I love you all. I pray for you always. Thank you for your prayers for me and your love. Till next week! ~Sister Hughes Hello everyone!! This week was a pretty good one if I am being honest. At the end of the week we taught over 40 lessons and found about 20 new investigators. WE WORKED SO HARD. I want to see this area progress so bad just because not much is happening for is as of right now. Our goal each month is 5 baptisms and not having any for this month is discouraging but that just makes me want to work even harder.
This week we found a new investigator. Well we didn't really find her, she is Maybelle's cousin. We knew about her and knew she wasn't a member so we were just like "let's teach her!". We have taught her a few of the lessons already. She loves it every time we come over and she loves praying. She is a cutie. She will most likely be baptized at the end of May. Also we had Zone Conference this week which was really good. I got to see Sister Panlilio and we had a few really good workshops. The STLs talked about how we can receive personal revelation in 8 steps 1-Increase our purity 2-Be exactly obedient 3-Earnestly seek it 4-Daily scripture study 5-Be reverent 6-Be humble 7-Listen 8-Act on the answer given It was a really good workshop! These steps are essential in everyday missionary work. If you aren't obedient, humble, a good listener, etc then you can't fulfill your mission duties. Anyways, that was my week! It was a good hard working week and I came home completely exhausted everyday. The fact it is over 110 degrees might contribute to that but who knows?? I love you all! Thank you for your love and support! Love Sister Hughes Hey everyone! I hope you are all doing well and had a great week. I got to watch General Conference for myself this past weekend and just have to say it was amazing from beginning to end. Sustaining President Russell M Nelson and hearing him speak just is a testimony builder for me that no matter what our church is always going and growing. The work never stops! Being a member of the one true church is the greatest blessing in my life. As members we all need to follow the words of the prophets and apostles. One thing President Nelson said is "It will not be possible to survive spiritually without the guiding, directing, and comforting influence of the Holy Ghost". Since being a missionary I can testify that this this so so so true. I need the guidance of the Holy Ghost to go through everyday. Without it I can't possibly be an effective missionary. My goal is to apply this more into my life.
So my week was a little stressful but that's what happens when you have to lead. We are shifting our focus from here on out because we realized we were focusing on the wrong people and spending too much time in the wrong places. Our zone is only going to have 15 baptisms this month and the goal was 50... I can't help but feel a sense of responsibility because we haven't been working as hard as we should've to find the elect. This week is going to be different. We are going to work harder and pray harder so that San Felipe will start progressing. This work is sometimes so so so hard, but I love every minute. The disappointments and mistakes aren't fun, but all you can do is learn from them. Giving up now isn't on the agenda, that's for sure. Anyway, here is the funny story for the week. We were walking towards one of our new investigator’s houses and when she saw us she ran for her life. Apparently the truth is scary for some people hahah! Well that is all from me for now! I love you all. I appreciate everything you do for me and all of your prayers that come my way. :) LETTER TO FAMILY AND FRIENDS: I can't believe I have been gone for 5 months already! It has flown by but also I feel like I have always been a missionary. It is the best thing ever, for sure :) Also I got the news about the temple in my hometown of Layton!!! I might've sat here in tears of joy for a moment... maybe not. I am so excited though!
So this week was really interesting because it was Holy Week (kind of a scary holiday in the Philippines... that's okay though). Nobody really wanted to talk to us or they just weren't home. The majority of San Felipe was at the dagat (ocean) celebrating their Catholic traditions. The best lesson thing that happened this week was on exchanges. Sister Plowman and I went to teach Vilma. She is my investigator who just needs her husband’s permission before she can get baptized. We finally got to teach her husband and had a pretty good lesson with him. We shared with him how we believe in baptism by immersion and how it'll only be a blessing in her life. I have faith that he will have a change of heart and let her be baptized. It might be a process, but the time will come. Leading hasn't gotten any easier but I am getting more used to the stress - haha. I am grateful that I am receiving help from my Heavenly Father because I would really have no idea what I was doing if I tried to do it on my own. Funny story for this week. In the Philippines it isn't an insult to call each other fat. So I have been told by a couple of people that I am getting fat... haha it's true. It is all the stinking rice they make me eat. But I am to the point where I need rice everyday... I am slowly turning into a Filipino... hahah! Anyways, that is all from me. I love you all!! Missionary life is the best life. It is the hardest life, but the best. The church is true! Sister Hughes |