Preston's Post

As many of you have probably heard by now about the massive typhoon that went through the Philippines. It was recorded as a 5 and the worst typhoon the world has ever seen. Leaving massive devastation throughout but one city especially wiped out. The city of Tacloban. Well here's a fun fact my cousin, Elder Preston Hughes, was serving his mission in the Tacloban mission. Now when I say cousin people don't think much of that.. Well this cousin, was more like the brother I never had but always wanted. All growing up he and his older brother were the only boys in the family. And Preston was always surrounded by the "younger girls" (even though I am older than him by a year!) Myself, my little sis, and our cousin Shelby. We were all extremely close growing up. Preston however went to the same high school as me and my little sister and it just happens to be the school my mom works at as well. I know tight weaved family. But it could not have been more fun. Preston's senior year he was the SBO president of the school, he is a very talented and hilarious kiddo. Always making us laugh. Preston is the first to ever serve a mission on that side of the family, only because like I said majority girls.. haha. Any who. The day he opened his call and said he was serving in the Philippines many many tears were shed. His mother is a native Filippino and we believed that is the reason why he got called there. My grandma actually guessed that is where he was going to serve and of course she was spot on cause grandma is always right. July 17 he reported to the MTC and The "Best Two Years" began!

 So there's a little background on this cool cuz of mine. So the typhoon right, ya well all the missionaries were to evacuate once they got a call from their mission president. For Preston, and his companion Elder Baker, that call never came. However the week before they were given 72 hour kits. Preston and his companion hunkered down in their apartment until the storm got so bad that they knew they could no longer stay there, they relocated to the church that was across the street and waited for the storm to pass. After it did, they set off on foot and walked forty miles to the next closest city. FORTY MILES!! That's like from here to the ranch and back! As soon as they were found they were taken to Cebu and are now going to Manilla to be transferred. But ya see here's the catch.

All of that is happening in the Philippines, but us back home, ya we know nothing besides what the news is saying. On Friday they announced all LDS Missionaries were safe and accounted for, hours later they said that of the 21 missions in the Philippines all were accounted for except one. The Tacloban mission. Preston's mission. Preston was missing. We were all lost in emotion for the next 48 hours. Flipping through every news station, looking online, posting to pray for the Philippines and spread the word. I sent out emails to a lot of my friends serving missions and asked them to pray as well. We fasted and prayed. I had never prayed so hard in my entire life. Begging and pleading with the Lord to keep Preston safe and have him found. We went and saw my aunt and uncle and a General Authority called telling us he was still missing. I hung out with the best-girl-friend, who is actually one of my best friends too so that has worked out nicely :) We did everything we possibly could think of. But the wait drug on. Saturday night was pretty much sleepless, as well as Sunday. I just could not believe this was really happening. Seeing all the pictures of devastation I just thought he is over there in that. Has he lost everything? Is he hurt? Does he have food and water? We were all worried absolutely sick. Sunday night around midnight I decided to stop watching the news and head to bed, even though I knew I would just be staring at the ceiling for the majority of the night. I got ready for bed, then got down on my knees and said one of the most heartfelt prayers of my life. I then climbed into bed and was looking at some blogs, when my phone lit up, I looked at it and it was my uncle saying. "They found Preston and his companion! The two of them were walking on the road from Merida to Ormoc. More news tomorrow." This was around 12:30 and I immediately broke down in tears. In that moment I felt Heavenly Fathers arms around me and I knew even more than I thought I knew about how much he loves us and how much he loves his missionaries. I sent out a bunch of texts telling my friends they had found them, I ran into my parents room and told them and then to my sister. It was as if a giant weight off my shoulders had been lifted. No I didn't know much about Prest at that moment, but I knew he was safe. As of now all missionaries have officially been accounted for and are safe.

This experience has been one of the most terrifying times of my life. But it has strengthened my testimony immensely. I know that The Lord protects his missionaries, I know that he listens to every single one of our prayers and that he feels what we feel. I believe that there is strength in numbers and without all the people praying and thinking about Preston as well as my family, it would have been a lot harder to get through this difficult time. And I will never be able to thank you all enough. I can not be more grateful this November. This church is truly amazing and I know that they are taking care of the missionaries in the Philippines. I can not be more proud of my cousin, for all he has been through in just a few short months that he has been serving it has proved that he has a true faith and testimony of this church. He is strong mentally, physically and spiritually. He has only been serving for almost 4 months and if this is what the first months of his mission life are like we can't even wait for what the next 597 days will be like for him!! All I know is I cant wait for Christmas to hear this kids voice!! I love ya prest!! And so do a whole lot of other people!! Please pray for the people of the Philippines during this difficult time. I hope everyone is having a good week!! Thanks for reading!

Love, Nessa

To watch Preston's 2 minutes of fame click the link below :)

http://fox13now.com/2013/11/11/utah-lds-missionaries-found-safe-after-typhoon-haiyan/