From the Mission President at 5:50 AM this morning

Brother and Sister Hughes 

 

      I am pleased to report that Elder Hughes  has arrived safely in Hungary!  Sister Szabadkai and I welcomed his group at the airport and found all the new missionaries excited and eager to begin their service in the Hungary Budapest Mission. We look forward to getting to know each of them personally and know we will love Elder  Hughes as deeply as we love all the missionaries in our care.

     Within the next 24 hours Elder Hughes will be assigned to a proselyting area with a dedicated Senior Companion and Trainer that has been prayerfully selected to serve in this vital roll. Together they will participate in a brief training meeting at the mission office and then depart immediately to their designated area.

     Over the past several months, there has been much in the news about trouble and turmoil in many parts of the world. The recent terrorist attacks in Paris have put all of Europe on heightened alert. Under the direction of Church Headquarters and the European Area Presidency, we have taken and will continue to take measures to ensure that all of our missionaries are safe and kept from harm's way. At the present time, I can assure you that Hungary is secure and that our missionaries can safely perform the work they've been called to do.  

     Thank you for your sacrifice and support of these wonderful young people as they share the light of the Gospel and testimony of our Savior, Jesus Christ, with the people of Hungary.

 

     Szeretettel,

     Szabadkai elnök

     Hungary Budapest Mission

Utolsó Hét MTCben

The weeks fly by in the MTC. This week I tried to enjoy every moment of everyday. Lots of moments were easier to enjoy than others.

Monday Night: One of our three sisters in our district had to be rushed to the ER and found out she has a 7cm Sist in her Ovary and unless a miracle occurs she will have to go home and have surgery and recover for two months. There have been countless prayers for her offered this week and we've all grown closer than I thought was possible in 8 weeks. We held a district fast for her Sunday. Funny thing about that was that the food is getting so old that I actually went into the cafeteria to talk to our Branch Presidency while they ate and I went in super hungry and came out not hungry at all. I guess thats just what fruit loops and instant potatoes do to you after 8 weeks. They couldn't fit her in for a week so today is the day!

Tuesday: We had the opportunity to listen to Donald Hallstrom of the Seventy. He talked about how we need to become converted to the Lord not JUST the church and that we need to convert new members to the Lord and not JUST the church. He talked about how the only way to do that is to have or help others have a PERSONAL experience with Jesus Christ. Our branch president compared it to his experience with Elder Maxwell. He told us how he never could really read or listen or understand Elder Maxwells talks in General Conference. But once he was at a funeral and Elder Maxwell some reason came over and spoke with him for a few minutes. After that experience his complete perspective changed he read every single one of his talks, books, and devotionals he could find because of that one simple experience. He suggested that we ask Heavenly Father in Prayer two questions. 1. Are we okay? (Just figuring out where you are with your relationship. If theres anything you need to take care of.) 2. Am I on the path for exaltation? Exaltation is our goal. If we earnestly seek for a personal experience. Praying, Pondering, Reading we will have a experience through some form. And then we will become converted to the Lord. We will not need to become converted to every single new change or part of the Gospel. We will accept everything the Lord will reveal. And Life wont be easier because we will ALWAYS have trials but we will be able to get through them so much easier.

Wednesday: We had the opportunity to orient the 21 new Dutch and Albanian Missionaries. Their testimonies strengthened mine and it was so funny to see how scared they were. I know that sounds awful. But really they were terrified and overwhelmed I remember being them all too well. ONE out of the 17 Zustersand Motras that came in PLAYS THE PIANO! So now we both play in sacrament and our Hymn collection has been expanded!!

Thursday: We had our last lesson with one of our pretend investigators and it was surprisingly sad, but good. I studied a lot about faith and in result read a lot about Abinidi. Who is one of the best exercisers of faith I have read about. We also got to sit in on the Branch Presidencies orientation with the new missionaries. One of the Zusters from Northern Ireland bore a strong testimony of why shes here. She talked about how she came from a country where religion is used as a divider and used to break up families. She talked about her and her families conversion. Her Dad and his side of the family left and cut off complete contact with them when they were baptized 3-4 years ago. She talked about how that is not the role religion should play and that she wanted to help others who learn about this gospel that has brought her so much happiness (I was blown away by her faith) and then she told us about a miracle! that her Dad just called them last week before she left and she bore testimony about how God know us personally and loves us individually. How he softens peoples hearts when it is right and how grateful she is for this opportunity she has to serve and reap the blessings of serving a mission. (Keep in mind she is saying this all in a Irish accent hah that much cooler)

Friday: We had Skype TRC which is always much more humbling then it is uplifting hah! We skyped with a super nice Néni (old woman) for about 40 minutes and shared a message in our pretty terrible Hungarian about receiving revelation through scriptures study. At the end two missionaries showed up and basically all they told us was how cold it is there. That got us less excited to leave but luckily well get there half way through winter so It will warm up a few months in! We also got our flight plans which made leaving a lot more real.

Saturday & Sunday-- Were both so busy and full. Its funny because all the new missionaries have been complaining about how much free study time they have now and it took us all back to when we were saying the same thing and now it seems like we dont have nearly enough! Our teachers continue to amaze us-- they're the most patient college students Ive ever met hah. I dontreally like how I formatted this email at all so dont expect an organized letter like this ever again.

Pray and seek out a personal experience with Jesus Christ.

I love you all so much.

I pray for you daily.

 

--

Sok szeretettel,

Hughes Elder

thirteen szuper confusing grammar lessons later...

This week was great as usual. Short Short Short. Elder Fallabella spoke to us tuesday night and gave a great talk about teaching and baptising families. Then wednesday we had the first worldwide missionary broadcast in over 10 years. Im sure you've already heard all about it but Ill share a few of my favorite parts: Elder Oaks (legjobb apostol) taught that "The baptism we seek is the baptism that comes after sincere repentance. Elder Bednar taught that "We can bring the spirit unto the investigators heart but they must have the faith to let it into their hearts." And Elder Anderson taught the importance of testifying of Christ at every opportunity he said "Always have His name on your lips." It was incredible and very inspiring-- like a special general conference session centered on one specific group of people who all have the same purpose. 

The rest of the week flew by. We focused a lot on imperative tense which was, to be positive "fun".

Our teachers are amazing and there is not one day that goes by that I am not incredibly grateful for them. They always take extra time to help coach each of us individually for as long as we need. As well as give us feedback on our lessons and help us not stress out too much for when we get to Hungary not really knowing how to speak Hungarian. And the most amazing part is that they do it all in Hungarian; they're probably two of the most patient people in Provo.

Highlight of this weeks classes was TRC which was SKYPE with Robi who was in Szeged, Hungary. Each companionship got to talk with someone from Hungary and share a Spiritual message with them for thirty minutes. We went 20 minutes over with Robi as he tested us our knowledge on bizarre words like wolf and ball point pen. He also told us all about Star Wars much to my companions dismay-- even though it was in Hungarian and we could literally only understand every 20th word. It was a humbling experience that got us excited to go but motivated to not get trunky the last two weeks and really focus in class till the end!

I continue to play in sacrament meeting every week-- this week I really messed up the Sacrament hymn and they had to sing acapella for awhile and it actually sounded really good I was questioning if I should even come back in at all but I did anyways. We spent a lot of time with Csolity Nővér the Hun sister that's leaving tomorrow to serve in Mesa, Arizona. She was really nice to put to rest a lot of our unimportant fears and questions that we didnt have the vocabulary to ask our teachers in Hungarian hah! She told us all the gross Hungarian foods to avoid at all costs and ate at least 50 croutons every day just plain in a salad bowl without any salad. She claims that its the only food here which tastes anything like Hungarian food (which makes me super excited because I love croutons!) She also wrote two pages in my journal IN HUNGARIAN so translating that will be my activity on the plane ride. 

Our Branch President is so knowledgable I wish I could just have all his doctrinal thoughts transfered to my head. One interesting thing he explained this week was Nephis Psalm. We studied Charity Hope and Faith and he shared his insights and said that the reason Nephi went off and I guess lost his cool in a way is because he lost the power of Charity because he was just so frustrated with his brothers disobedience-- probably blaming a portion of the contribution his father died when he did because he had been through so much worry about his sons... Charity is a life long goal and he challenged us to try to understand that most people will probably just not understand. But to make sure they understand that we love them. And that we believe in Christ and know that He lives.

I love you all! Thank you for your prayers, packages, and support.

Szeretlek titeket,

Hughes Elder

Szuper week

Another incredible week. The MTC is a really special place.

2 fantastic devotionals: Elder Anderson and his wife surprised us and came and talked Tuesday night. They bore testimony of the Savior. Apostles testimonies are so powerful. They said, "If you dont know what to say to an investigator, if you dont know how to answer their question, or dont know the vocabulary in a new language your speaking then simply TESTIFY of Christ. The spirit will confirm your testimony" He also emphasized the importance of teaching simply. He said, "Life is not easy to live but, it is easy to understand." The second devotional was by Sister Janice Kapp Perry. She was so kind and the spirit was so strong as we all sang a medley of some of the childrens hymns she has composed:

Love is Spoken Here

I Belong to the Church

A Child's Prayer

I Love to see the temple

And we finished with the Sisters singing As sisters in Zion and the elders singing Well bring the world his truth at the same time. All songs she wrote.

The week flew by and I cant believe that we only have three left! The Dutch leave this week. And we get 21 new missionaries next week. Our new Branch President is great. He and his wife just returned from being Mission Presidents over the West Indies mission in July. Theyre all about memorizing scriptures and testifying of pure doctrine. Its great that we have him before we leave hes less like a grandpa and more like a mission president!

Hungarian continues to get harder and harder which is good I guess because it helps us rely on the Spirit ALWAYS. This week Csolity Nővér came into the MTC for 2 weeks shes from Hungary and is so nice and funny. She tells us daily how bad our Hungarian is but then tells us not to worry because no one actually knows how to conjugate when they arrive in Hungary.That gives me hope. She actually served for 3 months in Hungary before coming here while she waited for her VISA and when we asked about President Szabadkai she said he was one of the most strict people shes met but that sister Szabadkai was the most kind women and a fantastic cook. Were all excited and scared to go.

Our service changed from devotional take down to cleaning Saturday mornings. So thats fun and I get to wear a Ghost-busters vacuum for a couple hours every week. I consider that a win. Except that I cant get the theme song out of my head.

This week included lots of memorization, reading the book of mormon (A Mormon Konyve) in both languages side by side and lots of prayers. Thanks for all your prayers. We also had a delicious guacamole night THANKS MOM.

I love the gospel. The atonement has changed my life and it can change yours daily as you access it. It is infinite it never runs out. 

Thanks Derick for smuggling in Taco Bell our district leader forgot to get the mail so It was one day old but I ate one for lunch the next day and later regretted it. Its the thought that counts thankyouthankyou or köszönöm in magyar.

I love you all.

I miss you.

And Im grateful for your testimonies.

Sok szeretettel,

Hughes Elder

Month mark

Cast not away your confidence by elder holland is one of the most powerful talks Ive ever read it I strongly recommend it to everyone.

Everything changed this week. Our branch presidency was released. They are amazing and our entire zone was rearranged. I bore my testimony in Hungarian and played all the hymns in sacrament meeting for our MTC Presidency who are the best. The Finns sang be still my soul in finnish and I cried just a little bit. Finnish is one of the most beautiful languages Ive ever heard. We found out this week that Tolken actually based the the elvish language off Finnish and guess what he used HUNGARIAN for a base of a language as well!!! Guess which one----the ORC'S!!... saw that one coming. Its pretty in its own way. At least thats what I keep telling myself. (You would not believe the amount of Lord of the Rings quotes are used by our branch presidency/zone its pretty awesome.)

Our new pday is on monday which is just the worst because the Temple Cafeteria IS CLOSED we found out today on mondays. But its okay I ate some nutter butter cereal out of a vending machine with chocolate milk. Hannah I heard your testimony you shared was really touching and I miss you a ton. New years was not as exciting as last year but I stayed awake till 10;55 in my bed so Im just gonna count it. Definetely the latest ive stayed up this entire time-- every night I am so tired its great! Mom I saw sister Freestone at the temple this morning Im not positive if she recognized me but its okay. Also does Sister Brown work at the MTC because I think I keep seeing her leading our music but Im never sure If its her. 

We had a mission conference yesterday by our MTC presidency yesterday. It was really great and there was a fantastic talk on the atonement where President Trost made an example of the judgement where God will maybe ask you if you served an honorable mission and you will remember the time on a bus where you  felt you should have talked to someone but you didnt and so you will begin to tell that to God and he WILL NOT remember that or I guess hold it against you if you repented it of it. I know that is true. That after we have sincerely repented, turned towards Christ, and forsaken our sins God remembers them no more. So much mercy and grace. I love this gospel.

The International director of the MTC's gave a fantastic devotional about giving your whole self to the lord. Putting everything on the altar and finding yourself by losing yourself. I love the MTC still. Ill miss my Branch presidency they really have been fantastic and made the MTC enjoyable. They are so personal and kind. Mark Rogers and his wife basically became our surrogate parents and it was sad to see them go (especially since they were going to a spanish branch). Pray for the Spirit search the scriptures with a question pray and THEN ponder/meditate-- that step is so crucial and if you do that the Spirit will comfort you, teach you, and inspire you. I love you all. Sorry my thoughts are everywhere I forgot my binder in my room and dont love you all enough to walk back up the five flights of stairs for the 6th time today. Have the most fantastic week. Share your testimony and you will keep it. If you dont share it you will eventually lose it.

Szeretettel,

Hughes Elder

p.s Mom thanks for the TimTams we had a TimTam slam party with our district one night after studying. It was a great stress reliever and a life changer for some people that havent done the tim tam slam!

pps The first vision is officially memorized in hungarian! thanks for your prayers!

Half way

This week was pretty great. This email is going to be very disorganized just a disclaimer. 

Tuesday we were able to teach our investigator who just got back from Italy. Shes really neat and we taught her about faith and invited her to be baptized. Our teachers really got us though cause in the middle after I invited her to be baptized she began to talk really fast and with a vocabulary that none of us had any idea of what she was saying. Luckily were pretty good at charades. A talent that is irreplaceable when speaking a foreign language especially if you've only known it for 4 weeks. We found out through lots of different charade actions that she hates smoking but she doesn't think she can stop. Our vocabulary at that point did not include anything from the word of wisdom. But what do you know the next language lesson we had with our teachers was on the word of wisdom. They definitely planned the lessons with investigators to humble us to the point that we will pay CLOSE attention the entire lecture. 

Bishop Dean Davies came and spoke to us Tuesday evening. He gave a fantastic talk about putting your entire trust in the Lord. He challenged us to 'go in our might' and reminded us that if we want to bring about miracles in the lives of our investigators--we need to STOP thinking that we are the ones bringing about the miracles. His wife gave a great talk as well.

My prayers have been long. I have so much to be grateful for. The gospel, my family, the atonement, friends, chocolate milk-- all make it into my prayers daily. Also I have never prayed as many times before in my life as I do here. Its pretty insane and I'm grateful God doesn't ever get tired of hearing from us. Because if he did-- he'd think our companionship was just the worst hah. Thanks for the donuts Rochelle and Dan and Amy!! They were delicious and we ate every single one of them even though they all came on the same day!

Thursday was one of the best days. Our teacher worked with each of us personally and went over some cases which are 'legrosszabb' (the worst). Everyday I leave class confused but some days like Thursday, a little less confused than usual! The best part was definitely that evening though when we finally did our first TRC-- where we share a spiritual message with Hungarian members (previous missionaries). THEY TALK SO FAST. I picked out every 20th word. But that's okay because the spirit was there even though I couldn't understand them and they sounded like Orcs. I loved it and learned a surprising amount for not being able to communicate. It was fun to hear how much each of the missionaries loved Hungary and I cant wait to be able to sincerely express my feelings and bear my testimony.

Our meetings Sunday were great. Elder Brent H Nielson of the seventy came to teach the elders about seeking personal revelation. Then we had sacrament meeting where a talk was in Hungarian it was neat to be able to understand it. I also wrote my first talk in Hungarian. And had a ton of meetings all day which ended up being good cause our companionship got to know the new branch presidency really well. That evening we watched the Joseph Smith movie and that was great I hadn't seen it in a while. You should all watch it again I love Joseph's mothers testimony.

The Finns left this morning which means were now in charge of organizing our secret bootleg guacamole parties in residence every Thursday. I had a great session today at the temple and am so grateful that we can go for a couple weeks before we get to Hungary. Only 4 weeks left! It feels like we just got here!

Quick spiritual though sort of. Sorry this email is so long, feel free to cut it in half or something. This week I watched a talk given by Elder Bednar in the MTC some years ago. I wish you could all watch these talks but I guess you have to go on a mission if you really want to hear them. Anyways Elder Bednar addressed the question I've heard a lot in seminary classes, sacrament meetings, and Sunday schools that is "If I get a though how do I know if its just my own emotions or a spiritual prompting." I love his answer. He said this. "Don't worry about it. Stop worrying about it. Get over yourself. Keep the commandments and covenants you have made, do your best and you will be guided." He explained that in culture of the church not the gospel but the culture we have come to think that we will and must know if a promptings of the spirit. He went onto explain with fantastic stories that the overwhelming majority of spiritual promptings you have you will not know they are from the spirit. But not to worry about it. To keep the commandments and covenants and you will be guided.

I love that. Keep your commandments and covenants and you will be guided. Learning to teach the gospel in a foreign language has forced me to think about how simple this gospel really is. Its a gospel of love. And I bear my testimony that it is true.

I love you all.

I pray for you lots.

Have a stellar week.

Sok Szeretettel,

Hughes Elder

More pictures from this week