LETTER TO MOM AND DAD: Here is a quick update on our work here in Bagac. One of our investigators is on date for January 12. He slipped and drank alcohol on Christmas. It was heartbreaking when he told us he drank but we pray that he can have the strength to stop. We can see his desire to be baptized and I hope we can somehow help him. Our other investigator is doing awesome! He now has plans to get his marriage figured out so he is on track for Jan 12, but we will just have to see if the marriage happens before than. He really is so awesome and pays his tithing every week! I'm impressed by this fellow. Sister Jones and I have just been finding our little hearts out recently and we pray that those we find and teach will have the desire to make sacred covenants. This week is transfer week so I hope to stay and have 6 more weeks to do my part here. If for some reason I get transferred I will just have to trust in the Lord :) I love you mom and dad and hope you have an amazing New Year! I will see ya soon!
Love Sister Hughes LETTER TO FAMILY AND FRIENDS: Maligayang Pasko!!!!! Merry Christmas!! Feliz Cumpleanos! How is everyone doing?? I am just going to write a quick message so you all know that I am still alive and everything is well in the grand land of the Philippines! :) Christmas here is actually underwhelming and the only moment this whole Christmas season it has felt like Christmas was when I was wrapping a present.... SOOOO! I love it nonetheless :) I just want you all to know that I love you all so much and I hope you have a very Merry Christmas and holiday season. I love you all so so much :) Since I mentioned that it doesn't totally feel like Christmas I want to share something with you on how we can feel the Christmas spirit more :) 1-Visit the lonely 2-Go caroling 3-Look around before you look at your phone 4-Do some chores 5-Deliver some Christmas treats 6-Share a Christmas video “The Christmas spirit is the Christ spirit, that makes our hearts glow in brotherly love and friendship and prompts us to kind deeds of service. I love you all so much and miss you but I will see you before you know it :) Merry Christmas again!!! Love Sister Hughes
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LETTER TO FAMILY AND FRIENDS:
(THIS DESCRIPTION GOES WITH THE FIRST PICTURE IN THE GALLERY BELOW) Sister Panlilio and I :) She was one of my companions in the MTC and now she is one of my STL's. I got the chance to go on exchanges with her. It was super fun and the fact that we can both speak the language makes life easier hahaha :) never a dull moment with her! (THIS DESCRIPTION GOES WITH THE SECOND PICTURE IN THE GALLERY BELOW) This was one of the first days this transfer that Sister Jones and I worked without a member's help. We opened the area so we haven't really known what we were doing but we are slowly figuring it out. :) Also, if you can't tell I am wearing two different shoes... I got a blister on my heel so Sister Jones let me wear her shoe.. I thought we would just swap both shoes but nope... we walked around like that all day hahah! (THIS DESCRIPTION GOES WITH THE THIRD PICTURE IN THE GALLERY BELOW) This is our small but mighty branch. My entire mission I have been assigned in a branch and despite the fact that this is definitely the smallest, it is one of my favorites. This was at our Christmas Party on Saturday and we had 6 investigators there! :) We were so pumped to see so many show up (THIS DESCRIPTION GOES WITH THE FOURTH PICTURE IN THE GALLERY BELOW) EJ, Me, Princess, and Sister Jones. EJ asked if he could get a picture with me and then these other two popped up out of nowhere hahaha! EJ is one of our investigators, he is awesome and super intelligent. If he didn't live so far away from the church things would be easier to get him ready for baptism I hope you all have a great week! MERRY CHRISTMAS next week! I'm not sure if I will have time to email next week but I can't wait to talk to my family and I'm sure they will update you on how I am! I love you all :) Love Sister Hughes LETTER TO DAD: Hey there pops! Everything is going well here. Sister Jones and I are still doing all we can to help the little branch :) It is crazy how small branch is but I really love all the members and being able to serve here is such a blessing. Sister Jones and I are hoping to extend the branch a little more in January because we have extended two IBDs. Both of them are awesome and they are priesthood that the branch could desperately use. If you really want to come pick me up that would be fine, but I kinda want to have the whole "come down the escalator and run towards everyone" experience. I think you and mom would like it here but I would say we should visit when it isn't summer here! May would be too hot probably! And we would probably have to rent a vehicle because the transportation is something that would definitely make you throw up. Imagine riding on front runner for 4 hours backwards, crammed up against strangers... that is not totally what it is like but pretty close haha! Anyways! I can't wait to talk to you all next week and answer and questions that I have probably failed to answer in the past :) I hope you all stay safe and have a great week :) I love you dad!! Love Sister Hughes LETTER TO MOM: Hey mom! A lot has happened this week, but not a lot at the same time! Sister Jones and I are still doing are best to get everything going here and I can stay it definitely feels good to work hard again. Even though I am completely exhausted the majority of the time.. It makes getting to sleep easier though haha :) This week was good! Sister Jones and I extended 2 IBD's this week. One is in his 30s and has a great desire to be baptized. He has been an investigator for a while and has missed his baptismal date a few times because he is not yet married. In the Philippines it is almost hard to find people who are actually married. They tend to live together just don't do anything about marriage. It makes our job harder but at the same time it is all good. He needs to get married so he can be baptized so we will hopefully be able to help with that. The other man is probably in his 30s as well but his problem is WOW. He drinks alcohol on occasion so we committed him to follow the WOW so he can be baptized next month :) Both guys are super cool and they both came to church yesterday. It is exciting :) Our Christmas party this week was super fun. Instead of all of the members showing up late, we showed up late and it was done within 45 minutes of us being there. We missed almost everything - haha! We did get there in time for dinner though. Parties in the Philippines are always interesting. That is all from me right now :) I still haven't gotten Christmas boxes but they will hopefully be here by Thursday at Zone Conference. I love you all though and hope you have a great week! I can't wait to talk to you next week :))))) I love you MOM! Love Sister Hughes Hey there dad! Sorry about the lack of pictures. Half of the time I forget to pull out my camera - haha! If you have any specific requests of what to take pictures of just let me know. Thank you for the Top 10 list. I tend to not be very interesting when it comes to emailing so if there is something specific you would like me to talk about let me know also :) Here we go!
Q1) Will your zone/mission get to do anything special for Christmas? A dinner or conference? A1- We have our normal Zone Conference next week but it will be Christmas themed. It doesn't sound like anything too crazy. All I know is that each District has to do a 15 minute presentation about the experiences of those who witnessed Jesus Christ's birth. It'll be interesting. I got voted to be the Narrator so I guess I just have to talk and not dress up or anything... sounds good to me! Q2) Describe your new house/apartment. Is it just you and Sister Jones, or are there other sisters too? A2- Our new apartment is yet again haunted. I can tell you all of my ghost stories one day if you want :) Anywho, it is just this one level thing with a bedroom and then a big open area where we study and eat. Then there is a separate room thing for the kitchen and bathroom. I will send pictures of it next week. But Sister Jones and I are the only two so it gets kinda quiet sometimes... but that's all good! Q3) Has everyone in your group (Pau, Larsen, Panlilio, Pierce, Christensen) stayed healthy? Are they all doing okay from what you know? A3- All of them are doing great! I will actually see all of them at Zone Conference next week so that'll be fun. We have all had our fair share of weird health issues but nothing too serious. I feel like my batch is very obedient and hardworking. We are pretty awesome to be honest - haha. Q4) Are church members there talking much about the new “Come Follow Me” curriculum? I had to bore the entire ward today with a lesson about it, so I was just curious if the fever has hit the Philippines yet. A4-So far all that has happened with the Come Follow Me thing is that everyone got booklets. Since then it hasn't even been talked about so I don't know what is happening. Church in the Philippines is definitely an interesting experience. Q5) Is the official typhoon season over with yet? Is it hotter now or during typhoon season, or is it just always hot so it doesn’t matter? A5- I think typhoon season is over now. It feels hot all the time so I can't really tell if it is getting hotter. Summer is in March and April so those are the hottest months... CAN"T WAIT! But I am pretty sure the typhoons are done now, if they come they will be small. Q6) Have you noticed people treat you differently when you’re paired with an American comp instead of a Filipina? Does it seem more stressful/dangerous at all, or just the same as always? A6- To be honest it isn't too different. No matter who I am with I get yelled at by people on the street and stuff, but now we are both white so I can't tell who they are yelling at. It might be a little bit more dangerous but we almost always have a member with us so I feel safe. People here are funny though. They ask her and I if we are twins and sometimes we will say yes to be funny... but then they ask why one of us is prettier than the other so it is a trap. Q7) Is there an area in your mission you’ve never served but where you’re hoping to serve when/if you get transferred again? Do sisters serve in Olongapo city? It seems like you’ve never really served in a big city. A7- If I could pick I would want to serve in any area that is a ward. I have been in branches my whole mission and I just want to have the experience of working in a ward. Sisters are assigned right in the heart of Olongapo City but that is one area I don't think I want to go to! I don't like big cities so if I stay in a province my whole time I wouldn't be mad. Q8) Do you usually walk, bike, trike, bus or jeepney around Bagac? Have you ever gotten used to the traffic and getting around? A8- We almost always walk here but if we have to travel farther we have a Tatay drive us around (he is a branch member). If we have to go super far we will take a jeep or bus, it just kind of depends. I feel like I can get myself around anywhere in the mission just because I have touched every single part of the mission. The one place that is still a mess though is Olongapo. They have specific jeep systems and stuff and I just don't know any of it. When I go to Olongapo I just hope my companion knows how to get places. Q9) What goals have you set for your final 5 months? My main goal is to use the Come Follow Me book every week which will help me understand the New Testament better. A9- I do have some goals for my remaining time. I want to be in tune with the spirit more often. Sometimes I tend to be a goof at the apartment or something so I wish to feel the spirit all the time. I also want to be so used to the Book of Mormon that I can't go one day without it. Some days get too busy with meetings or other stuff so I can't always read, but I want to be more converted by the Book of Mormon. I also want to take mom's advice and "Don't be a hypocrite". I always think about that and make sure that I am doing what I need to be doing even others aren't. I also just want to "Make Disciples" meaning that having people fully converted to the gospel is more important to me than getting 40 more baptisms. I feel like my job is to plant the seed and I will let other people harvest :) Q10) I don’t know if you’ve received and/or opened your Christmas boxes already. It’s hard to believe were down to 5 months and since it takes forever to get things to you, we don’t have too many chances to send packages. Do you have any requests? A10- Well honestly I know you love sending me packages but I think after the Christmas one (and if you could send contacts) I will be good :) I need to start giving stuff away and if I transfer again I really can't keep taking so much stuff with me. It get's difficult, but if you want to send stuff that doesn't take up room in my suitcase that is fine :) But yeah! Hopefully that is good :) ASK QUESTIONS AND REQUEST PICTURES. I will do my best for my last few months to send good stuff! I love you dad! Love Sister Hughes LETTER TO MOM ON 11/11/18: MOMMM! How are you?? Things are going well here. We are slowly starting to build up our investigator pool and we are actually having people come to church which is amazing! Despite everything that is going on I'm grateful that Heavenly Father still gives out blessings and tender mercies. Our goal next month is to have at least 3 baptisms and maybe a few more if people cooperate haha! And NO, still no boxes haha! The last shipment must have sunk in the ocean or president ate all of the food out of it.. not sure! But by now I hope they wait until next week just so I don't have boxes to transfer with... if I transfer! I'm not sure what will happen next week but people always talk. It is a 50-50 chance that I will stay or leave. We will see! But it sounds like everything is going well for you there. Work and primary responsibilities must be fun! I don't know what to think about Relief Society here, but I love the Sisters anyways. Sometimes our activities start about 2 hours late which causes my American body stress... STILL GOTTA LOVE EM! But I really like that quote, thank you for sending it to me. It is a good reminder that you always have someone there to save you in your hardest times. But thank you for the prayers and the love! I hope you all are doing well and will have a great week! I love you!! Love Sister Hughes
LETTER TO FAMILY AND FRIENDS FROM 11/11/18: Hello everyone! I'm only sending this to a few people because this computer is stressing me out! I hope that you all had a great week and are doing well. My week was an interesting one. I want to apologize in advance if this is a boring email :)))) I LOVE YOU ALL AND APPRECIATE YOUR PATIENCE WITH MY NONESENSE. Okay but this Tuesday we had District Council. We talked about how we can have more of a sense of urgency when it comes to the work. I shared about how when I was a trainee I had a crazy urgency inside of me to go out there and teach the whole world... After a few cycles that urgency left me... It wasn't intentional but it happened. Having a sense of urgency in the work is so important though. I always say that everyone deserves to know the truth so if I want to tell everyone.. I gotta be urgent. It's an essential thing in missionary work! Thursday- We had written down a few names of people we were planning on finding. As we walked around the area we noticed this Nanay sitting outside. My companion and I both had the impression to ask her if she knew the people and as we got there a young girl walked out. She walked right to us and introduced herself. It turned out to be a recent convert who we weren't intending on finding that day but just happened to show up at her house. It is crazy how Heavenly Father will lead you to people that you didn't intend on being led to. We soon were also guided to the girls that we were originally looking for. I'm grateful for Heavenly Fathers guidance and help and I'm also grateful for spiritual impressions. :) Sunday- we had 4 investigators at sacrament meeting, but not only sacrament.. the full 3 hours! I kind of feel as if I don't deserve this... But I was so grateful nonetheless! They are all amazing and we hope to have them get baptized next month. One of them has a Law of Chastity issue but it will be easily settled when she marries her boyfriend.. who is a member! It is the perfect situation... for the most part haha. But yeah I am honestly so grateful to my Father in Heaven for blessing me and helping me out this week. I love him. I love each of you and I hope you all stay safe and out of trouble ;) Love Sister Hughes PS one more thing!! I got to see a baptism in the river.. it was just for a branch members kid but it was still cool to see! you don't see that much :) yan lang LETTER TO DAD FROM 11/11/18: POPS! How are things going in the lovely towns of Layton/Centerville? Hopefully all is well and the responsibilities in the Bishopric aren't too stressful.. who am I kidding they are probably very stressful.. I can never tell when I am stressed anymore because I am always stressed. I feel as if I'm not a little stressed than I am doing things wrong, other missionaries think that stress means you're doing it wrong.. I'm not sure who is right. Anyways! Things are going just fine here. I only got in one argument with my companion #progress but her and I are fine. We most likely won't be together for another cycle, but I can't make guesses because they are always wrong. We had a good week though and I am super grateful for the heavenly help that we can receive. He will guide you to people and he will prepare those who are willing. I love how missionaries have a lot bigger of a team then we can even see with the physical eye. Thank you for these scriptures, I will have to look them up during my personal study. I hope you have a great week and if you could do a 10 question thing sometime it would help me stay focused during email time haha!! I love you though dad! Love Sister Hughes By the way- we are allowed to skype call on December 26 to us so it would be Christmas for you. It would just kind of be like how Mother's Day worked so it might be another late night. let me know if that works and I can figure everything out when it gets closer! Anyways, I love you again LETTER TO MOM FROM 11/18/18: Hey there mom! My email to dad explains a lot more of all the insanity going on but yeah! I am happy to hear that your anniversary went well! I was thinking about you yesterday because my yesterday is your today haha! But yeah! I finally got a package, I was my Halloween one so I hung up the spiders and have been eating the food as fast as I can before transfers. Oh my goodness I am transferring again momma! I am kind of tired of always moving but President told me that when he needs to do something crazy he thinks of me because I am a strong sister and can handle it. It was flattering and terrifying haha! But yeah I am just getting ready for that. I am currently in Iba with Sister Regodos, Sister Morales, and Maybelle. It is kind of bitter sweet being with them because I have this terrible feeling I might not see them for a long time or ever again... That is one of the hardest parts about being a missionary. I get attached to people... it's a curse haha! But yeah! We had 3 people at church this week and now are just preparing for Wednesday.. wish me luck! I love you mom and hope everything goes great this week!! "Don't be afraid to trust an unknown future to an all knowing God" - I saw this on a wall while riding the bus this morning :) that's all!! I love you! Love Sister Hughes LETTER TO DAD FROM 11/18/18: Hey there dad! I will probably just email you for today because things are kind of busy! But things went well this week. We have two new people we are teaching and they are so awesome!! They are sisters and they are really good friends with the people in the branch. One comes to church all the time because her boyfriend is in the branch and last week she brought her siblings with her. Her sister is the most receptive of her siblings. This week were able to teach them about the Restoration and Plan of Salvation. The lessons went SO WELL! They asked questions and answered the questions we had, I was honesty so happy the whole time we were teaching them. Then come Sunday, we had our District Conference in Santa Cruz and they were there!! I was SOOO HAPPY!! They stayed the whole time and seemed to enjoy it. They probably paid more attention then me haha! But they are so good. I was hoping to be able to extend an IBD to them this week but things got hectic and we didn't get the chance. Hopefully tonight when we teach again we will be able to extend, but yeah! Everything is going well and I love being here. But here is the gossip of the week- President told me on Saturday that I will be transferring again and opening an area again. Then the STLs told me that night that the area I will be opening will be an Elder's area and it might possibly be the new STL area!!! So that means I might be an STL soon and I might be opening an area again... HAY NAKO! But anyways, I will survive and make the most of it! Thanks for everything dad, I love you and tell everyone hi for me!! :) Love Sister Hughes LETTER TO EVERYONE ON 11/25/18: Hey everyone!! I hope you had a good thanksgiving!!! I forgot it was Thanksgiving actually so that's pretty cool hahah! This will just be a short and sweet email because I don't have a ton to say ;) THINGS I AM THANKFUL FOR: -My family -Atonement of Jesus Christ -A loving Heavenly Father -Book of Mormon -Missionary Work -My best friends -Gospel of Jesus Christ -Trials and challenges -People with open hearts and minds -THE PHILIPPINES Here is a short list of the things I am most grateful for this year. I love you all. I am so grateful for each of you and all you have done for me :) LETTER TO MOM AND DAD FROM 11/25/18: Hey mom and dad!!! So since you are both curious about everything that has happened this week I will just email you at the same time! Laziness? Maybe a little but hopefully you will forgive me hahah!! But this week was quite the adventure and maybe one of my favorite weeks I have ever had, despite all the stress of transferring again. But yes! On Tuesday I was informed that I would be transferring to Bagac. It was just an Elders area so my companion, Sister Jones, and I are opening the area. It is sooooo beautiful here and when we got here we were instantly greeted with open arms by the members. The Relief Society president and a sister preparing for her mission have been working with us almost everyday. They showed us around the area so we could meet investigators, members, and less actives. The people here are some of the nicest people I have ever met. I came into this area and had an immediate connection with a lot of people. That has only ever happened in Pilar and now again in Bagac (they really love having sisters here). Long story short I love it here already. The fact we are opening the area has been a little bit of a challenge though. We aren't starting from a lot just because the Elders didn't do much and it is super stressful. We are excited for the challenge though and President promised we would see miracles here so I can't wait to see what this transfer has in store. And Sister Jones is super cool by the way! She is from Reno and was actually part of the batch that replaced mine in the MTC so I go home a transfer before her. She is my "twin" in the mission. Everyone mixes up so now that we are companions it'll really confuse people. But everything has been great! We are just trying to get things going here and I love it! I love you both and want to say thanks for everything! I love you and am thankful for you :) (BTW- my thanksgiving was uneventful because we were new to the area and kind of forgot it was even thanksgiving... oh well!) That is all! LOVE YOU Love Sister Hughes |