Hello everyone!!! This week was an interesting one considering we were out of work because of an infection on my foot but Saturday and Sunday we were able to go out. I was so excited to finally be able to teach again after so long of not being able to.
On Saturday we taught this really awesome 12 year old with the companionship of his mom, 2 aunts, his great grandmother, siblings, and cousins. Four of them are non-member but they were SO SUPPORTIVE of the idea of him being baptized. We extended a baptismal date to him this August. Considering he comes to church he will be able to be baptized. He is a unique kid and you can tell he really wants to be baptized. He has come to church two times by himself already which is something I don't see too often! And when we gave him his own copy of the Book of Mormon he was genuinely so excited! He is awesome! We are doing our best here and hopefully considering that I can walk now, we will be able to do a lot more! I love serving here and I love the Lord! Thank you for your love, support, and prayers. Email me when you have the chance! I would love to hear from you all! Love Sister Hughes
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"True disciples love to serve. They know that serving is an expression of true love and a covenant they made at baptism. Regardless of their callings in the Church or their role in the community, they feel an increasing desire to love and serve the Lord and one another. True disciples love to forgive. They know that the Atonement of the Savior covers all sins and mistakes of each one of us. They know that the price He paid is an “all-inclusive price.” Spiritual taxes, fees, commissions, and charges related to sins, mistakes, or wrongdoings are all covered. True disciples are quick to forgive and quick to ask for forgiveness. True disciples love to submit themselves to the Lord with peace in their heart. They are humble and submissive because they love Him. They have faith to fully accept His will, not only in what He does but also in how and when. True disciples know that the real blessings are not always what they want but rather what the Lord wants for them. True disciples love the Lord more than the world and are steadfast and immovable in their faith. They stay strong and firm in a changing and confusing world. True disciples love to listen to the voice of the Spirit and of the prophets and are not confused by the voices of the world. True disciples love to “stand in holy places”4 and love to make holy the places where they stand. Wherever they go, they bring the love of the Lord and peace to the hearts of others. True disciples love to obey the Lord’s commandments, and they obey because they love the Lord. As they love and keep their covenants, their hearts are renewed and their very nature changes."
I love you all. I hope you have a good week. Love Sister Hughes LETTER TO FAMILY AND FRIENDS: Hello everyone!! I hope everyone is happy and doing well. I know I am! This week was a good week. My faith was definitely put to the test a few times. This Saturday our branch was having an activity for the investigators of the missionaries. We invited all of our investigators a week prior and then reminded them throughout the week. We went to pick them up the day of but they all informed us that they couldn't go... We were all so discouraged. Then on Sunday the exact same thing happened when trying to get them to come to church... I have never longed for the investigators to go to church more in my entire life. In that moment I realized how much I truly care about the people here and how badly I want to help them come closer to Jesus Christ. I want to save them but they have their agency. I wish I could take it away from them sometimes but that's not really how it works. Only you can give away your agency but nobody can take it away. I have faith though that they will have the softened heart and opened mind soon enough. It is only a matter of timing and when they are more prepared. Everyone is prepared but some more than others, so we gotta focus on the ones who are ready. :) I learned a good lesson about agency this week. When I entered the mission I was told that if you want to be a consecrated missionary you have to give your agency to Heavenly Father. Let him do WHATEVER he wants with you for 18 months to 2 years. If he wants you to stand in the blasted heat, talking to an old man on the side of the street, when you don't even speak the language, you do it. There are just those instances where you "just do it";. Not out of duty but because you love the Lord. Despite the discouragement and occasional heartbreak I am SO HAPPY. I am a better person already because of my mission and I am excited to learn new lessons and grow even more.. Not physically (that was over 4 years ago) but spiritually!! I love you all. I love the Lord. I trust that in his timing the investigators will come to church, feel of Heavenly Father's love, and then want to make change! I love my mission and am soooooo grateful for it. I am grateful for you all. Have a great week!!!
Love Sister Hughes All my pictures are old and random. I am the worst and don't take pictures anymore.... FORGIVE ME! Next week I will send 1 million, I promise :) LETTER TO MOM: Hey there mom!! How was the homecoming? Did you party? When did Elder Lloyd get home? I swear he had like 18 months left when Connor left.... I am also amazed that Allyssa is home now! I swear she just left on her mission. Time really does fly! It'll be weird next year seeing her again and then being like "your best friend and I were MTC companions, weirdddddd". But it seems like a lot is going on and changing, all is good change though. Also, Landon told me that you all leave for San Diego next week! What are your plans while you are there? If you go to church there, I would highly suggest the ward that my branch got turned into... I forgot the name haha! Anyways, I haven't gotten anymore boxes yet. I think they hold onto them for a while before giving them to me to be honest haha! So the box for any event coming up might come way after, oh well! But mom I love you so much!!! Thank you for all you do! In every email from grandma jean she talks about how grateful she is to have you, I'm so grateful for you too! You don't even know how amazing you really are!!! I love you mom! Have a good week :))))))) Love Sister Hughes LETTER TO DAD: Hey there dad!! This week wasn't really full of anything gross or weird. The dog that lives by our apartment tried to bite me though. I'm pretty mad at him right now haha! He is a good dog so don't worry. The worst that could happen is rabies shots.... :))))) But guess what President Lacanienta told us today. We are only getting in 6 new missionaries so that means he has to close 10 areas!!! I honestly think that I might be getting transferred again but I will have to wait to see tomorrow. The visa thing is so discouraging but I can imagine it is even more discouraging for him. I hope that I train a visa waiter so we can relate on some level!! People keep telling me that I will train in the next couple of cycles which is a terrifying thought. Mainly because my Tagalog isn't where I want it to be right now. Not too much I can do other than keep working hard and studying. I really do want to train though. It would be a good/ slightly uncomfortable experience. Plus I want an anak (child). She'll be the cutest little one there haha! Anyways, it will be interesting to see what tomorrow has in store. I wish I had one more cycle with my companion in Pilar but I have a feeling that "the time is far spent". Missions are crazyyyyyyy! I love them! But yeah that is all from me! I haven't heard anything about that Face to Face but maybe we will get permission from President. I'm sure word will get around soon. But I love you dad!! Thanks for everything! Love Sister Hughes LETTER TO FAMILY AND FRIENDS: This week was interesting to say the least!! I will get the random/funny stuff out of the way first then, I will get to the even better part of the week! :)
So this week was the 4th of July! Apparently the Philippines doesn't celebrate the 4th of July so my kabahay and I all did our best to be patriotic. We ate otter pops and sang all of the patriotic songs in the hymn book! It was strange but fun! The only thing that would've made it better would be fireworks but oh well. Explosives aren't allowed for missionaries. Also this week we had fun de-licing our apartment. I apparently brought it with me from my last area.... oops! It is hard to avoid because almost everyone here has it. It was bound to happen sooner or later! Anyway, that was all random and irrelevant :) This past week we taught one of our investigators and my companion and I were amazed by her progression. The last we taught her (about 2 weeks ago) she was in 1 Nephi, now she is in Mosiah! She also had a WOW problem but no longer drinks coffee and she doesn't like the taste of cigarettes anymore! I was totally amazed while sitting in the lesson. Her whole demeanor seems different. We are still working to get her to church but she is progressing so much better now. I just want to tell you all that the Book of Mormon is such a powerful book. When you read it everyday and apply its teachings it can change your life. The Book of Mormon has changed my life and my testimony is so much stronger because of the Book of Mormon. I would encourage each of you to READ THE GOOD BOOK. Even if you just read for 5 minutes a day, do it! I know that it makes a difference. I know that the Book of Mormon can convert people with the companionship of the Holy Chost. I love you all! I hope you enjoy this week and I really hope that you take the time to READ. Thank you for your love and support always! Love Sister Hughes LETTER TO DAD: Hey there dad!! It sounds like you are all enjoying your lives.. hahaha! We need to lock mom in a padded room so she will stop hurting herself. Lilly needs to go to anger management classes so she will stop biting Landon. Connor just needs to simmer down with his love life. Landon needs to go out and play in the dirt. And you dad... just keep being you!!! It sounds to me like your 4th of July was just as exciting as mine. We had splits with the STL, then Sister Panlilio and I sat in the apartment and sang all the patriotic songs that we could think of while our companions tried not to go crazy. We were celebrating America's birthday before America was celebrating America's birthday, hahah it was an adventure! But this week was pretty good! Some interesting stuff happened..... I may or may not have given everyone lice in the apartment.... We may or may not have let maggots go wild in one of our cooking pots.... and we may or may not have felt the after effects of an earthquake. It was a crazy weird but good week. We did good work. Found quite of few people with really good potential, taught really good lessons, and smiled/laughed our little faces off. Being a missionary is the most rewarding thing on earth if I'm being honest. There are still days I wish I could come home but this crazy place is beginning to become home for me. I love it! I love you! Love Sister Hughes LETTER TO MOM: Hey mom!! We are fighting this battle on our knees and using our spiritual gifts from God. I think we are winning!! Haha, but I'm glad you all had a great 4th. Sister Panlilio and I sang patriotic songs and ate Otter Pops to celebrate. We were going to do the Pledge of Allegiance but neither of us had a flag so we decided not to . Our companions thought we were crazy but at the same time they knew the songs just as well as we did so they joined in haha! We had 4 investigators come to church this week. The hard thing is that they are all kids.... they are really astig (amazing, impressive, etc) but we are just worried about how to baptize kids and not have them go less active soon after... STORY OF MY LIFE. On average we have about 80ish members in church each week. It is a really small branch, but the members who do come are really strong in the church and very impressive. I love the members in this branch they are so nice.. We don't get to teach any classes usually. I have only ever been asked once in San Felipe. I wish we could teach classes because Sunday School can be a little bit boring, but oh well. STOP FALLING DOWN MOM. I WILL FLY OUT THERE IF I HAVE TO. Joking, but please be careful and take care of yourself. Make Landon massage your ankles haha :) Anyways, I love you mom. I am doing my best each day and loving life. :) Love Sister Hughes LETTER TO DAD: Dad! How are you? I'm happy to hear that your conference went so well. Isn't rain and humidity the best? Your hotel room is a slight improvement from my haunted dungeon of an apartment but that is fine. (I will send you pictures next week, we have the smallest apartment in the mission). But it is true! The distance definitely makes me appreciate the little things that you all did for me. It makes me love you all a lot more than I already did. I can't believe that I have lived away for 8 months already but it is honestly the best thing to do! I love every minute of it, even when I really miss home. Also my main goal is to not get dengue yet half of the time I forget mosquito repellent... SORRY! I will try harder!! But yeah, dengue I heard is the absolute worst so I really don't want to get it. I will go home after P-day is over and follow Presidents recommendations :) Anyway! Thank you for everything dad, I love you and appreciate you much! :) Also, I don't know what happened with my time but I sent a lot of individual emails and don't think I can send a big email today! SORRY!!! But my week was good! The work is getting better and my companion and I are happy are all the same! I love everyone and will be better and sending an email next time!!
Love Sister Hughes LETTER TO MOM: Hey there mom!! I don't know if you realize this but I've been gone for 8 months!! Crazy huh?? August 1st will be both my 9-month mark as a missionary and 6-month mark being here in the Philippines. It will be a crazy day. Anywho! It sounds like you all had a crazy, hardworking, but fun week! How old is Olivia's brother? Are him and Landon homies now? I wish that people were more helpful to grandma and grandpa. They need to sell the property but at the same time I want to hang out there when I get home! It is honestly one of my favorite places to go with the family. But if they sell it, it would probably be for their own benefit. But how was your week? Mine was pretty good. We had Zone Conference and taught some pretty good lessons. Our investigators biggest problem is honestly getting to church. Even when we go to pick them up they just don't want to, but we are trying. I'm super excited to celebrate the 4th of July here. Sister Panlilio and I are planning on making our companions party with us. We will make ourselves some mac and cheese that you sent and wear red, white, and blue. It'll be a good day -haha! The holidays here are kind of scary so I don't really get involved in them. They had their Independence Day a few weeks ago but it was anticlimactic because I didn't even realize. Anyway! I love you Mom!! Thank you for you support always! I will wear my permethrin because I really don't want to get dengue. Sister Panlilio thinks Elder Larsen got dengue but I don't really know how she would know sooooo... yeah! That's all from me! I love you! I miss you! I will talk to you later mom! Love Sister Hughes |