November 7, 2011

CERROS, DELITOS, Y BAUTISMOS

Dear everyone that I love,

To start off I want to let yall know that I GOT THE PACKAGE from all the Arlington moms the day after I sent my last email!  It was SO awesome, because I recieved that and two other letters from Arlington, and a Dr. Pepper that a missionary sent me from the office (at my special request).  So yeah, I pretty much felt like a rock star when all the other guys in the Metepec Zone saw that haha!  Thank you SO MUCH Arlington moms!  I don´t know how I could exist without you... STILL.  Because I STILL need you all, and I haven´t lived in Arlington for awhile now! haha!  And Mom, I FINALLY solved the mystery of my package that has never gotten to you.  I gave it to the Zone Leaders to send by pouch, but it turns out that they don´t even let me send packages by pouch.  I was actually handed that very same package today right before we played fútbol...  I just thought "oh!  that could be problematic"...  It really frustrated me, because it has a LOT of letters for familly members inside of it, and by now they´re all old.  Anyway, I´ll try to solve that problem next p-day.

ANYWAY, I just need to tell you that this has been a pretty crazy week too.  I told you about the Velasquez family, and how much we love them and just how great things were starting to look in Tenancingo.  Elder Monroe and I were SO excited, because it trully is a very hard area, but we had gathered up enough faith and will to overcome that barrier.  We were FINALLY gonna baptize this week!  And then guess what happened.  On tuesday right after the Zone and District meeting in Metepec, Elder Monroe and I got a call from the Assistants  to the Presidents.  "Hey, Elder Hutchinson.  The Pres just told us that he was praying and all the sudden had the feeling that you and Monroe needed to go work in CHAMAPA.  So, pack your things up, because you guys are coming RIGHT NOW."  HOLY COW!  So, we packed up all of are stuff at the house (including the wet laundry), gave the other two Tenancingo missionaries the dirrections to our investigators, and in a couple of hours bid farewell to Tenancingo without too many goodbyes.

SO, I´ve been in Chamapa since last tuesday night, just to let you know!  I´ll let you know that this very area that I walk in is very famous for 3 things among the missionaries.  Big hills.  Crime.  And Lots of baptisms!  Haha!  Hence, the title.

The hills are VERY VERY steep, and ridiculously abundant.  What usually happens is that Elder Monroe and I will go up a hill that is steeper than 45 degrees, and after getting to the top (which is about 30 or 40 feet up if not more), we REJOICE because it is SO TIRING... That is until we walk a few more feet and see right in front of us a valley and ANOTHER huge hill equal in size to the one that we just finished going up.  Yes, this is on almost EVERY street in this place.  And to express my emotions, I have many a time used the wise words of my older sister Kamille, when I say "IS THIS A SICK JOKE?"  haha!  Yeah... But it will help me work harder, AND not get fat.  That´s importent.  (No, I´m not fat right now, by the way).

Crime?  Well, we saw a bunch of police men come and bust a bunch of guys wearing black masks near their white van.  What happened?  You got me!  We got out of there as fast as we could.  I´ve also, just by seeing the joints in the road cracks, discovered how much more popular Marijuana is here than in Tenancingo.  Yay!

Baptisms?  Well, I´m very proud and pleased to say that the wonderful Valasquez family was baptized by the other missionaries last week!  I feel so happy for them, and I hope to give them a call soon to congradulate them, and get their email address to stay in touch after the mission.  Now, here in Chamapa, we found a miracle.  We found an inactive member the day after we arrived in the afternoon.  She welcomed us in, gave us a soda, told us how she knew she needed to come back to church, and told us that we needed to teach the rest of her family.  WOW!  Oh, gee, I guess we´ll do it... haha!  But, she has been a REAL help for us, calling the Bishop and Relief Society president (who didn´t have a clue that we arrived this week) to help us with our horrible house situation.

So yeah!  I´m here in Chamapa, and I´m just ready to meet a TON of new people, because we´re basically opening it from scratch.

Ok, I´m running out of time, but one last thing before I go.  Today for shopping, we went to a place where you find a lot of RICH Mexican people.  What was that place you ask?  Walmart.  No, that is not a joke.  Walmart is one of the nicest places you will find as far as stores go around here.  Thought that was pretty funny.

ANYWAY, Dad, it sounds like your an AWESOME teacher with your David and Gollithe sling, and Tanner go beat the HECK out of Abilene.  Love you all!  Hasta la proxima semana!

Love,

Elder Christian Hutchinson

October 31, 2011

¿QUÉ ACABA DE PASAR?

Dear everyone I love,

Ok, what just happened??  Did I just get a pouring out of prayers from home or something?  This week has been QUITE different from the previous one.  Why?  I will tell you soon.  But FIRST shout out to Jeffrey Chatman!!  Woo!  It´s you´re birthday!  You are 20 you old man...  AND I got your email last week, and it was very appropriate and comforting for how last week was.  So, thanks a bunch, friend!  Mom, and Dad, thanks for all the updates from home.  I wish I could enjoy all of it with you guys (except for all of the terrible sports things that have happened), but I know that yall already know how much I love it out here too.

Anyway, here´s what happened first this week.  For some WEIRD reason, and I don´t know what happened overnight, but I can somehow speak spanish a LOT better this week.  A LOT better.  Maybe it´s because I haven´t eaten any bad tacos recently, but I have been able to have some pretty decent and substantive conversations with the other missionaries that only speak Spanish.  YES YES YES!  I think, Dad, that I am finally getting past the first stage of understanding Spanish.  You see, this week I was able to contact an entire BUS of people.  We had interviews with President Villarreal, and on the way back, 4 of us missionaries rode on a bus to Tenancingo.  Usually when we do that though, we don´t like to sit around casually like lame, timid missionaries; we talk to EVERYONE on the bus... at the same time.  Yes, and we have taken turns who stands in front and speaks to everyone.  So guess who´s turn it was then.  That´s right...  Now, if you know me, you know that I´ve never been one that is at all intimidated by public speaking, things in front of crowds, or even making a fool of myself.  And I knew what to say, but I was just hoping that my mouth wouldn´t stutter or that I wouldn´t forget a word or two.  So anyway, I got up, and I could feel my tounge just flow with the spanish words.  I announced with my powerful voice (and yes if you know me, you also know that my voice is loud and powerful) that we were missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and that we taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ which brings salvation and happiness to all.  Then I told then that whoever wanted to hear this message should raise their hand, and I would personally pass by, and teach them while we were on the bus.  4 raised their hand.  I taught all of them with fluent remembrance of the Doctrine and spanish vocabulary.  Of course, I slipped up a word here and there, but I KNEW that the Lord had helped me get to this point, because even when a lawyer tried to confuse me in my words (yes one of those 4 was litterally a lawyer, just like the stories from the scriptures), I still answered him back with confidence, and I knew EXACTLY what to say.  Wow. I felt like Alma.... it was FREAKING AWESOME!

Haha!  Anyway, another good thing that happened this week is that we had 7 investigators attend church this week!!  No,  Meli and Amparo were still not among them (and I´ll talk about them some other time), but 4 of them was a WONDERFUL family that I met about a week and a half ago called the Fuentes Valasquez family.  Wanna know how great they are?  They have followed through with EVERY committment (in reading the Book of Mormon, attending chruch, praying, etc.), and they thought that the church experience was so beautiful.  Plus the kids DIDN´T want church to be over.  Now, I don´t know about you, but I think that they´re CRAZY.  Because when I was a little kid, even I was SO TIRED after church.  But no, they were really wonderful about everything, and it looks like they will be baptized this coming Sunday!

This week has really been a miracle, and it´s due to two more factors that I´d like to mention.  I have felt your prayers, and I´VE been praying diligently, and fasting more frequently.  Thank you so much for all of that.  This just all just illuminates how true it was when Jesus said that certain miracles cannot be done exept it be done with "much prayer and fasting" (Matthew 17:21).  Secondly, I was REALLY inspired to work when I got out of my interview with the Pres.  I´m not gonna lie, before this Thursday, I was actually pretty scared of the man, but this time I finally got to know him, and talk to him much better than before.  One of many things I remember me telling me is " I know that you are feeling pretty down because you and Elder Monroe haven´t baptised in awhile... but you can´t get down.  We need you, Elder Hutchinson.  You have to be INVIGORATED by it.  You have to be motivated by it."  And then he put my as senior comp for the rest of this transfer... Yikes!  The responsibility.  That´ll get you REALLY motivated haha.

Anyway, I´m out of time.  I love you all!!  I´m praying for you, and I´ll write next week!  Hasta luego!

Love

Elder Christian Hutchinson.

October 24, 2011

Dear everyone I love,

COSAS APRENDIDAS

Alright, this week has been SO CRAZY!  I spent Monday and Tuesday in my area, and then wednesday and thursday in Metepec, and Friday and Saturday in a city called Atlatlhauca.  Two of the missionaries in our area broke their feet on monday and tuesday respectively, and so we had to do a series of CRAZY exchanges with the Zone Leaders and within our district.  Why did they fracture their feet?  Well, the first one was a little bit of my fault... ONLY A LITTLE BIT of my fault I clarify.  I was being crazy, myself, and jumped down about 7 stairs.  Well, that would have been alright if my friend Elder Pereida wasn´t holding on to my backpack strap (why´d he do that?  I have no clue).  Anyway, I´M fine, so don´t worry, and Elder Pereida is in a walking cast now, so don´t show too much compassion on him.  haha!  And the next Elder?  Well, let´s just say that this other one was running really fast... faster than his overweight body could handle.  He tripped, he fell, and he fractured his foot.  Poor guy.  But he´s in a walking cast too now.

ANYWAY, with all of this crazy stuff going on, I learned a couple of things, and I´d like to list them for you below so that if you happen to go on a mission in Mexico, by chance, it may help you some day.

1.  You are more likely to be chased if you are on a bike.

I love dogs.  I really do.  You can just ask anyone in my family, and they might tell you of the time that I ran in front of a car to save my dog with I was in Elementary (if they remember that that is).  But this mission hasn´t really increased my love for dogs.  They bark A LOT at us, and a lot of them are just on the street chilling without an owner.  Well, I haven´t had that many problems with dogs CHASING me... untill I when to Metepec, an area where they ride bikes.  Well, I never got caught, but there were two times their where the "flight" part of my "fight or flight" instincts were activated, as I sprinted away from some angry shephards.  But, I still love dogs!  Just not those two.

2.  "Gaurdaos de los tacos de la calle...  por los efectos después conoceréis"

This is a little bit from the scriptures that I have personally changed to fit a lesson that I learned.  In the scriptures it´s "Beware of false prophets dressed in sheep clothing... but by your fruits, ye shall know them."  Well, the frase I have is "Beware of the street tacos... by the after effects ye shall know them."  Yeah, the sunday before this past, some members gave us a BUNCH of tacos to eat.  They were DELICIOUS!! Some of the best that I have ever had, no doubt.  However, I did not know that they were unclean ones from the street... uh-oh.  Yeah, about half of this past week, I felt the... um... after-effects of these tacos.  My digestive system was not too happy with me.  I guess it was a symbolic lesson for me to search only the GOOD FRUITS (or tacos)  and if I find BAD FRUITS (or tacos) to stay away.  That´s spiritually speaking AND physically speaking.

3.  The mission is HARD.

Please don´t get me wrong; I never thought that the mission was going to be easy, neither have I thought that it was easy during my time here.  In fact, if I did think it was easy, I would deserve to be hung from my toes, because that would mean that I wasn´t doing enough work.  Rather, I have discovered that the mission is hard.  REALLY HARD.  I´ve been under stressful situations in my life, and I´ve had to do a lot of homework in my time in school.  (Just ask any of my friends or family).  But this is completely different.  Yesterday, I laid in my bed at night, thinking of all the thinks that had not been so great this week.  I then thought about all of the investigators I love with all of my heart, and not a single one of them came to church that week.  It really brought me to tears to think about how many times Elder Monroe and I have bourn testimony to them that what we are teaching them WILL change their life for the better and for always.  They have felt the spirit of God testify true to these thinks, and some still don´t understand.  I then thought about the struggles I´m still having with the language, my physically exhausted state, and the family and friends that I still miss back in Texas and BYU and all other places.  I love this mission.  I have never felt the spirit so strong and loving in my entire life.  But, I will not lie to you when I tell you that this is the HARDEST thing I have ever done in my life.

With the last paragraph, I want to let you know that I LOVE LOVE LOVE being out here, and I´ve been having such a great time with all of the investigators (and the other missionaries that I played futból with in Metepec).  The Lord puts us through trials and tests us so that we can become stronger and learn virtues of his son, Jesus Christ.  So, I want to let you know that I am very thankful that this mission is hard.  And I´m thankful for all of the love that I´ve felt from the people, from the missionaries, and all of you.  Pray for me, just as I pray for you!

I love you all!  Untill next week!

Love

Elder Christian Hutchinson

October 17, 2011

"ES QUE ESTOY BAÑANDO MI BEBÉ"

Dear Everyone I love,

First, I want to say that Dad, you´re experience visiting Chile sounds so cool!  I do love being here right now, and while I am, I want to build relationships with the people just like you did! I´m glad to hear that the Wan and the Vikings are dominating.  Once again the Universe is in order.  Oh, and how ´bout them RANGERS!

Second, I would like to acknowlege my Older brother´s quote of the week.  "What´s with Hish´s junkie emails?  THEY´RE TOO SHORT!"  Ouch.  Haha!  Not gonna lie; Zander´s quotes always make me laugh.  Yeah, I know, the last one was really too short, but like I told you, whenever you get a short email from now on, it´s not because I´m too lazy to right a good one.  It´s because sometimes we have to travel A LOT  on P-Days.  (Actually everyday in general).  We live in Tenancingo which is about 1 hour to Metepec where we have Zone conferences, district meetings, soccer games, etc.  But this LAST P-Day, we went to an awesome city called Malinalco to see some ancient Mayan pyramids.  It´s not quite as far as Metepec, but it took us an hour to get there by bus too, because, well, we´re in Mexico in the middle of the wilderness.  Unfortunately, we weren´t able to see the pyramids (they´re closed only on Mondays), so we weren´t too lucky.  Unfortunatley, we also took about 3 hours in that town trying to find something to do, but nothing really happened.  Sometimes P-Days are like that, so sorry, everyone!  So, I guess, just like any man would do, I´m putting the blame on something else.  I guess I´ll have to just follow the advice that a wise man once told me in my life: "GET YO´ FEET MOVIN´!"

Anyway, this week was pretty crazy, but I loved it.  We did 2 exchanges this week were I was with 2 different missionaries for 2 different days.  Oh, yeah, and did I mention that they were from Mexico and Argentina?  In case you didn´t know, those two countries DON´T speak English.  And neither did these two missionaries!  Woohoo!  So, mom, you wanted to know how my Spanish is doing?  Well,  let´s just say this.  I taught the lessons as much and as fluently as these two lessons when we were with investigators.  However, when one of them asked me if I wanted to be a soldier, I had NO IDEA what he was saying.  We don´t use "soldier" too much when we´re teaching baptism as it turns out.  Haha!  However, I´m improving.  For example, when the Argentina missionary, Elder Robledo, was interviewing Manues (one that went to church last week) for baptism, I was teaching the REST OF THE FAMILY an ENTIRE lesson BY MYSELF.  Looking back, I could NEVER have done that when I first arrived here.  Well, I could´ve but it would´ve taken me 3 hours.  But this time it only took me 30 minutes!  The gift of tongues is real, baby!

Our investigators are doing great.  Sofia and Manuel got interviewed for baptism, and it looks like they´ll be able to do so soon!  And Meli and Amparo, well, it´s kind of a long story with them.  This is the family we found by knocking the tiny door next door that happened to be a closet.  Do yáll remember them?  Anyway, they´ve been having A LOT of trials lately financially and spiritually.  We keep on telling them that we don´t have a sure promise of blessing until after the trial of their faith, and that although something new keeps on coming up to prevent them each Sunday, that they NEED to go to church so that they can RECIEVE the blessings from that and baptism.  But this Saturday and Sunday, they needed to move out of they´re house.  So, what do you think ElderMonroe and I did?  That´s right, we spent ALL of Saturday, packing, moving, and carrying heavy objects for these two women and Amparo´s daughter, Fernanda.  It was such a good experiece doing service for these 3 people that we love so much, and I never thought I would spend so much time talking to a little 6 year old that reminded me so much of Mantha.  Ultimately, we got everything packed and out of the house by 8, but the man that was GOING to drive the moving truck for these women (who don´t know how to drive, btw) decided to go to a bull fight instead.  Just saying, I know that Jesus taught love, forgiveness, and patience, so I´ve had to practice some of that for THAT man when that happened.  They couldn´t go to church with us (because it was in Metepec), but they now know how much we care about them.  We both have a love for each other, and I think that they´re already feeling the spiritual blessings from this gospel.

To close, a funny thing we hear in Mexico about everyday.  See the title?  It´s called "Es que estoy bañando mi bebé" .  It means "Oh, sorry, I´m bathing my baby."  Ok, so what do you think that is?  That, my friends happens to be the sorriest (and most frecuently used)  excuse that we missionaries get here in Mexico when we tell a family that we want to share a message with them.  Usually it´s in about 12, 1, or 2 in the afternoon when NO ONE WOULD EVER ACTUALLY BE DOING THAT.  However, we hear it so much that you would think that EVERYONE in the country had a baby to bath.  Hmmm, why don´t my companion and I have one?  We should get one at the market! haha!  Just some advice for everyone.  Whether you´re a member or not, please don´t lie to us missionaries.  We know when you are not telling the truth.  And if you actually do have a baby that you have to bath, please do so in the morning or at night.  Not mid-day.  Thank you!

Well, hope that this email pleases!  I love you all!  Thanks for all the emails!  I remember you in my prayers everynight!

Until next week!

Love

Elder Hutchinson.

October 16, 2011

SANTIFICARÁS LAS ¿QUÉ?

Dear Everyone that I love,

This week we´ve been seeing some more success finally!!  We got 3 people to attend church!  Now, you may be wondering, "Wait, you´re in Mexico. You´re supposed to be baptising every single week, and you´re excited about getting a few people to come to church with you?"  Yes.  And let me explain why.

Here in Mexico, there is pretty much a party every single day of the year.  Those parties happen to be THE BIGGEST on Sundays for some reason.  As missionaries, we teach how important it is to keep the 10 Commandments. The fourth one is this "Thou shalt remember the Sabbath day, to keep it Holy."  Ok, so in this very Christian country and community, you´d think that they would know that that means to attend church on Sunday, right?  Well.....  The thing is that I have discovered that most of they "modernized" Bibles say that the 4th commandment is something else.  This is not a joke.  It says "Sanctificarás las fiestas."  Which means "Thou shalt sanctify the parties."  WHAT??  Haha!  So you can imagine why they think partying is so important.

Unfortunatley, our golden investigators, Meli, Amparo, Jesús, and Emiliana, weren´t able to attend church this week (oh, don´t worry, Elder Monroe and I have a few things up our sleeves to see that they do progress this next week.)  However, we did get to see general conference this week (when the Prophet and the 12 Apostles speak to the church, worldwide via sattelite.)  I just loved attempting to understand the Spanish translater, but I did get the gist of the messages.  Many of these general authorities gave powerful testimonies about the Bible, the Book of Mormon, Jesus Christ, and many other things.  Also, the Prophet Thomas S. Monson (ironically enough) spoke on the 10 commandments.  "As it says, these are the 10 commandments, and not the 10 ´creative suggestions´"  We got a kick out of that.

Honestly, I am really loving it out here.  I learn so much about the culture, language, and about humillity each day.  Each time I see a person recieving our message and following through with committments like Sofia, her daughter, and Manuel (who attended church), I can see more light come into their life and their eyes.  I know that the Lord has me doing this for this very reason.

Honestly, we were cut short of internet today, and we have to go do our shopping, but I love yáll!  Thank you for all of your emails, stories, and abundant sports updates (especially for the recent college football rankings Jeffrey.)  Hope everyone is doing well, and I hope my family get´s my package soon!  Love yáll!

Love

Elder Christian Hutchinson

October 4, 2011

VIENEN LOS MILAGROS... CADA DÍA.

Dear everyone that I love,

As usual, thank you very much for all of your letters, even when it´s hard for me to respond personally.  I really REALLY love it.  Like I said, I´ve found that looking up these emails kind of like the new facebook for me, except for I can only use it ONCE a week.  So, I am very grateful for them.

Anyway, I´ve noticed that I´ve really said very little about some of my investigators so, I´d like to tell you about a few of my favorites that we are teaching here in Tenancingo.

First, Jesús Salvador.  Yes, this man´s name directly translated is "Jesus Savior".  We found him last week on tuesday, and it was really quite amazing.  We knocked on his door, and after he opened it, I only had time to say "Hello, how are you doing sir?  We´re missionaries--"  When IMMEDIATELY he said "Pasense!"  (Come in).  This man was certainly ready to hear the gospel.  He is very humble and very much a family man. His wife just recently cancer, and in that moment when we knocked his door was when he was really distressed the most about the whole situation.  We were happy to tell him that we brought the perfect message about God´s perfect plan for us and for our families to be forever.  We meet with him again today.

Second, Emiliana is a woman in her late 20´s who we contacted by knocking doors also.  The first thing that we taught her was the baptism of Christ, and when we asked if she wanted to follow the example of Christ and be baptized as he showed us, she immediately said "yes" and asked if we could help her prepare for that.  "WELL, I GUESS we could do that..." haha.  I really liked meeting her for 2 reasons.  1.  She was VERY nice, very excited about the gospel, and very friendly.  2.  My companion and I were ONLY in her neighborhood because we were trying to avoid an ENORMOUS cross-dressing parade that went through the city.  Talk about only being in HOLY (non-perverted) places to feel the spirit!

Third, are two women named Meli and Amparo.  Now, this TRULLY was amazing how we met them.  Elder Monroe and I had just had a long day of contacting, and many of our appointments fell through that day.  It really wasn´t too fun.  We we´re walking up a hill to an appointment (which was also was likely to fall through, because the people were almost never there.)  Anyway, my companion and I were looking for just about anything to cheer us up (something shiny, a butterfly,etc.).  We just needed SOMETHING to entertain our spirits just a little bit.  At that moment, I saw this TINY door, not even as wide as I am, that looked like it belonged to a house. So, I showed my companion, and we we´re both like "Wo!  Cool!!  Let´s knock it!"  So, we took pictures with this super tiny door, and after playing around with it for a little bit, we had sufficiently entertained our simple minds enough to knock it.  Then, from next door came these two women laughing at us.  "That´s not a house, Señores"  "It´s not?"  i said.... "Oh.... WELL, allow us to introduce ourselves!  We´re missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ, and we´re sharing a message of Christ´s teachings and how we can return to live with him."  "Sí pasense!"  Wow.  Ok...  We taught them of the baptism of Christ, and it turns out that they had JUST gotten off the phone with a relative that was soon about to die.  They were JUST asking and wondering what they needed to do to "be saved" or what happens after this life, when all of the sudden they heard these 2 "Jovenes" knocking on a little door next door.  We have now taught them about the Restauration, and the plan of Salvation, and they want to be baptized.

It´s amazing how God works.  David A. Bednar one time gave a speech that answered a very widely asked question "How do I know if it´s just me thinking these things or if it´s just the  spirit?"  His answer.  "Quit worrying about it!  As long as you are following the commandments and rules, the Lord WILL guide you by the spirit, even when it may not seem like it."  I know that we were guided to find these people by the Lord.

Alright, I´ve gotta go, but this work is moving forward, and I can see the Lord´s hand in everything we do.  I know that this is his work.

I love you all!  Until next week!

Elder Hutchinson

September 26, 2011

POCO A POCO

Dear Everyone I love,

I was very pleased to recieve sports updates from ABSOLUTELY EVERYONE that wrote me, so thank you VERY much for feeding my hunger for sports info.  To begin this letter, I`d just like to start out by giving some shoutouts/responding to some of the questions that I need to answer.  First of all Mom, I was very pleased that my last letter was good again.  When I really focus on it and actually have the time, I´ll for sure be able to do that for almost every week from now on.  I´ll make sure that they´re letters that only a true Renaissance man would write (shoutout to Zander)!  Mom and group of moms (and anyone else who would really like to), if your going to send me a package go ahead and send it right to that mailing address that I showed in the first email that I was here.  Just make sure you use FedEx, because from what I´ve heard just about everything else is super slow.  Btw, I believe within the next week I´ll be able to send the family something too.  And finally, one special shout out to MANTHA!!  Sami, you got Primary program in 2 weeks right?  I´m guessing that your gonna have to talk.  Well, just remember that I want you to give it just like I would.  Don´t worry too much about all the fancy church words, just go up and be yourself and bare your true testimony of the gospel, and I can promise you that everyone in that congregation will learn from you!  I want to hear how everything´s going for you, ok?  Love you and miss you!

Well, there are many reasons that I was sent to this mission I have found out.  I´m thoroughly convinced that one of them is so that I appretiate all the things that I had at my house back in the US.  My companion and I spent 3 whole days without water (including p day) and 2 other days without electricity.  Man!  That was exciting!  I think the Lord just has his own little ways of making us thankful for stuff like that.

I CANNOT BELIEVE that I have been here for over a month!  It´s true what they say about how the time flies when your focusing only on the work.  I´ve already witnessed miracles big and small throughout my entire time here, and I´m making sure to write them down daily as they occur.  One of the miracles is that when we are talking about spiritual stuff in Spanish, there is usually very little that I don´t understand.  Also, I´ve been doing somewhat better with the other vocab too.  I learned from a good missionary named Elder Valasquez how to be more friendly and casual with the spanish language with the people that we meet.  I´ve been able to actually joke around a tiny bit, so I love that.  If you know me, you should know I´m not too serious of a person unless I need to be.  Of course, the gospel is not a joke, but when you can be FRIENDS with the people too and not only talk about gospel stuff, I like it a lot better.  And bit by bit (poco a poco) I´m learning that.

Sorry, Mom, don´t kill me, but I don´t have more time left.  I love you all!  I will make the next letter SUPER extravagent, telling you about some of the miracles and the second baptism that I had.  Love you all!!

Love

Elder Hutchinson

Also, Mom, tell Jeffrey that I personally thank him SO MUCH for his email.   Love you!

September 19, 2011

Dias de fesitvas... ¡Vamos a tener una fiesta!

Dear Everyone that I love including my Dearest worrying mother,

It has been awhile since I´ve gotten the chance to write an actual LEGIT email, and as much as I don´t really like starting out emails and letters with apologies, that`s what I have to do right now.  I came to Mexico thinking that I would have almost the entire p-day to write emails.  Little did I know that that was VERY wrong.  We´re limited to about 1 hour of emails here, which is more than in the mtc, but I can´t save time by printing off the emails here. Also, I THOUGHT that I would be able to write Friday, but everything was closed on that day September 16, because too many people were tired/hungover from partying the whole Mexican Independence day (the day before).  Also, my companion only spends like 30 minutes on the computer, but he´ll have to be patient, that´s all haha.

Anyway, I´m sure everyone is dying to know what the heck this place is like that I´m in (if you haven´t already given up on my letters that is haha).  Well, here in this town of Tenancingo, they have some things that are modernized (like cars, the computers at the public internet places, and electricity everywhere).  However, at the same time, there are some things that are just like..... "what?  are we Amish here?"  (no washers or dryers or dishwasher except your hands, supermarkets under tents, fabulous buckets used as showers).  Also, have you ever thought of inventing a certain breed or mix of Dog before?  Too late, because it´s already been made here.  I see hundreds of dogs roaming the streets that, and I promise I thought I saw a Chiuaua/German Shepherd mix... yikes!  And apparently these roaming animals mostly belong to people, but they just kind of let them go wherever.  Yep!  This is not America folks!

I´ve told you how much I love the people here, and I truly do.  I have never met so many humble, friendly strangers in my life.  It is a really different culture here in that aspect:  the fact that contacting a random stranger and having a good conversation with him isn´t so weird around here.  I love it.  It also really helps with the work.  Now to master the language... grrr haha.

The group of members here is called a branch (smaller than a word), and well... I´m not gonna lie it needs some work.  In Mexican culture (contrary to what that one Mexico City girl told me in the MTC) you are on time if you are approximately 15 minutes late.  Thus, I am now one of the most punctual people in the country.  Especially since my companion and I show up REALLY on time to church meetings and mission meetings.  The Branch President usually doesn´t get to church until about 30 minutes after it´s supposed to start, and most of the congregation just a little before that.  I think my companion and I will be telling them very soon how the culture of GOD is (aka, we´re gonna try to make sure everyone shows up on time so that the investigators that we bring to church with us aren´t bored out of their minds waiting for church to start).

Anyway, enough about that.  I haven´t told you about some of our investigators!  Well, I just had my first baptism yesterday.  It was a man named Aldofo who lives about half-way up the mountain that overlooks the city.  Satan tried tempting us to quit when we were looking for him up there by reminding us how DEAD TIRED we were, but we just threw it right back in his face.  BAM!  It was the first time that I had actually baptized someone, and well, that was an interesting service.  I had to redo the prayer like 4 times because it was in Spanish, and when we sang the hymns, the congregation was SO OUT OF TUNE (and I kid you not) that they accidentally harmonized sometimes without even trying.  But despite all of that, it was still a baptism. A sacred ordinance.  And I felt the joy of Aldofo as the spirit was present that meeting.  Aldofo will be confirmed next week.

Ok, I´ve got to go shortly, but I have a few things I need.  First of all, WHERE ARE MY SPORTS UPDATES???  Jeffrey Chatman, or Tanner, or Zander, or somebody PLEASE HELP.  I get quick ones from Grandma that I love at least!  LOVE YOU GRANDMA!  I´m gonna try to write more hand letters but there are two things.  First, I need American stamps sent to me.  Second, I don´t know how well it´s gonna work.  Why?  Well, I just received an AWESOME post card from Claire from Spain this week.  Problem?  For those of you who don´t know, Claire left Spain over a month ago... Yikes mail system!

I´ll do my best though!!  Love you all!  Especially you Mom!

Elder Hutchinson

Mexico-Week 1

¿DÓNDE ESTOY?

Dear everyone that I love,

Voy a contestar la pregunta en el título.  ¡Estoy en la cuidad pequeñito de Tenancingo!  Holy stinking cow!!  So, as you already know, I got my visa on time, and I was shipped out to Mexico Citylast Monday.  The only problem with that is the fact that now my P-days are on Monday, so I haven´t gotten to write anyone for quite some time now!  All of you that anxiously awaite my letters each week, change the highlited day to monday! (aka my mom).  And to everyone else who casually reads my letters if they feel like it, first GET excited about my letters, highlight the date on the calendar, and then read them!  Because, guess what?  I´m in stinking Mexico!!

The unfortunately, because of complications here, I once again have a limited time to write this email.  I´ll quickly put the crazy things I´ve been discovering here.

First of all, they all think I´m Mexican here.  Even with my Utah white skin, they STILL think  I´m Mexican.  That is until they here my speak.  And the lanugauge is SO HARD to listen too!  Like my dad says, I´m picking up words here and there, but it´ll definitely take some time until I´m fluent.  I don´t know what else those people did who built the tower of Babel, but whatever it was, it must have been pretty stinking horrible.  Not being able to undertand a language isn´t fun.  However. learning and trying to speak it has been SO MUCH fun.

Everyday when I lived at home my mom would tell me that I took showers that were way too long.  But I kind of ignored that, and have taken showers like a girl my entire life... Well, I guess Got just gave me justice.  My residence where Elder Monroe and I live is uncomfortably ghetto-fabulous.  So I litterally shower with a bucket every morning.

There´s SO MUCH more I want to tell yáll, but I have to wait until next week.  I LOVE you.  Mom, it was my favorite talking to you!

Send me emails, but if you need to, here´s my new address.

Misión México Oeste Ciudad De México

C. Sierra de las Vertientes No. 310

Col. Lomas de Chapultepec

Delg. Miguel Hidalgo

Méxcio, D.F. C.P. 11010

Love you!  I´ll write next week!

Elder Hutchinson

Week 5

Dear everyone I love,

 

First off, I'd like to start off by congratulating my dad on obtaining one of the HARDEST and MOST REWARDING jobs possible:  Seminary Teacher!  For those of you who are not familiar with seminary or don't know what it is, seminary is a class over scriptures that we members of our church in High School attend.  In Utah and parts of Arizona where there are tons of Mormons, it is taught by paid teachers and it is easily worked into the High School schedule during the day.  However, here in Texas, we do not have that priviledge.  To be able to go to seminary, the teacher AND the high school students must be at a small church building to learn from the Bible and/or Book of Mormon every school day at 6 in the morning BEFORE school starts.  It is NOT an easy thing to attend or teach seminary, but my dad is one of the most capable people that I know for this task.  Good luck Dad!  Hope you love reading the Old Testament this year!

 

Anyway, now about me!  Well, class has been going GREAT and I'm learning a ton of Spanish and Scripture each day.  I've especially gotten pretty good at saying spanish prayers outloud.  Now, you may be wondering, "He shouldn't be boasting like that, should he?"  Well, usually I wouldn't, but I only said that to point out the fact that for the past 2 weeks I everybody in the entire class has had ME say the opening prayer everytime, probably just to frustrate me.  One time I said it about 7 times in a row (we have class twice a day).  Now, here in Provo, it's a much different culture than most people are used to (including me).  But one of the things I like is a saying that they have:  "everytime you say a prayer your future wife gets hotter!"  (I think they just say that to get volunteers to say the prayer.)  But if that IS true, then if you see any girl that has been getting significantly attractive and look about as pretty as my sister, Kamille does, then that just might be my future wife.  Haha!

 

Anyway, I've also been loving my gym time here, but unfortunately, ever since it's gotten a little hotter, most of the people went inside instead of playing sand volleyball outside (Utah people think 80 degree dry weather is hot).  Unfortunately, with that, the quality of vball games has been going down.  I tried to play a game yesterday with a bunch of guys and two girls.  However, the guys were so girl-deprived that they focused on flirting with the girls using 2 methods: 1. Acting like idiots.  And 2. Acting like SUPER idiots.  Punting the volleyball and stuff.  Grrr.  Hopefully a real competition is on next time.

 

I'd like to mention how gratefull I am for my parents and the lessons they taught me while I was in High School.  One of them is to not be overly sarcastic ALL THE TIME.  At the time I didn't understand, but I know a couple Elders who, through there sarcasm, have caused some contention or bad feelings.  Pretty sad, because I HATE drama more than anything (unless it's in theatre.)  The next one is how to iron shirts.  It turns out that my "non-iron shirts" are the worst non-iron shirts of all time.....  Sooooooooo, I have to IRON them!  At least I know how to, though!

 

Anyway, I'm running out of time, but I'd like to close with a couple of spiritual thoughts that I got from a recorded devotional by apostle Jeffrey R. Holland.  We missionaries are just about 19 to 21 years old.  We're not scholars or very learned or biblical experts.  So, why and how can WE teach people about the Lord's message?  Holland quoted D & C 42:14-17 "If ye recieve not the spirit, ye shall not teach."  And that's a COMMANDMENT he said.  Without the Holy Ghost guiding us to teach the truth, we cannot and will not teach with effectiveness.  Because the spirit of God knoweth all things and will not lie.  Not to anyone.

 

I've got to go, but I know that this work is of the Lord, even Jesus Christ.  I'm having a blast here, and I hope that all of you are learning while I'm gone too!  Love you!

 

Love

 

Elder Hutchinson

 

ps Luke 15:4-7

Week 4

ASI ES LA VIDA!

 

Querido todo que yo amo,

 

Mi computadora no esta muy buena ahora.  En facto, espero que no se rompa en el medio de esta carta!  Why did I just write that in Spanish?  Because I CAN!!  Still loving it here in the MTC, and I've learned more here in the 3 weeks that I've been here more than I learned in the 3 years of Spanish that I took!  However, it still takes me awhile to translate in my head and I'm on a limited time scale, so I'm definitely NOT writing anymore on this letter.  Especially with this ghetto computor that might break down... I don't want to take anymore chances!

 

Anyway, I'd like to begin this letter by thanking EVERYONE that wrote me a letter this week!  Not only did I recieve a letter from EVERYONE in my immediate family, but I also recieved many others.  That includes the thoughtful one the Lisa Van Gemert wrote me, which also was my first source of the recent good news:  ZANDER AND REBECCA ARE ENGAGED!!  Woohoo!!  I'm so happy for you two, and I know that you're both looking forward to December 16th!  I'm slightly sad though.  Not because you two will be perfectly married and happy in the temple, but because now certain jokes won't make you two feel uncomfortable anymore.  For example, when you two asked for Dad to pay for a trip for you two to go to New York, and Dad replied, "Oh, I'll buy you a trip, but I'm only gonna pay for ONE room!"  Hint, hint.  Nudge, nudge.  Get married, much?  Haha!

 

Anyway, enough about them.  Now, about ME!  I got a haircut today!  I was REALLY nervous because I know that all of the haircutters here are volunteers, and that can get pretty risky.  I WAS gonna write a request that Heather come in for a day to do my hair because I didn't really trust anyone else, but I my hair had really gotten too long.  Even the branch president commented on it (luckily I already had an appointment set up by then, so I wasn't in trouble.)  BUT I got lucky, because the guy who cut my hair is a third generation barber in his family, so he's got some experience.  Missionaries have to get quite a few haircuts to keep their hair short enough for the standards and it can be pretty nerverecking that the person cutting your hair MIGHT not know what their doing.  I just gotta hope it's good every time!  Asi es la vida del misionero!  (I lied about no more spanish).

 

Well, my solo in church definetly went well too.  I sang one of my favorites: "I Stand All Amazed".  It's a song that describes how amazing the act of Jesus's atonement for us really was.  And I sang it better than anything I had sung in my life! It wasn't just a simple, basic arrangement, but I tried to keep it as reverent an inviting of the spirit as possible so that I didn't focus the song on myself, but on Christ.  Fortunately, it worked, because the branch president told me that I did so.  I'm not sure that that's incredibly exciting to everyone else, but as a missionary in the MTC, it was definitely one of the most adreniline pumping things that happened to me this week outside of teaching lessons and Gym time.  Asi es la vida del misionero!

 

Also, I'd just like to take this time of the email to tell of a very spiritual experience that I had here.  On tuesday, we had a devotional given by a member of the seventy, or one of 70 general authorities that take part in leading the church along with the 12 apostles and the prophet.  Anyway, this was a devotional JUST about Christ and his life.  When they described the suffring he did on the cross for us, I just could not fathom the amount of pain he went through for ALL of our sins and suffrings in the garden of Gethsemane which made him bleed from every pore.  Our message is focused souly on JESUS CHRIST.  And we hope to tell that message to the world.  Asi es la vida del misionero.

 

Anyway, I'm running out of time, but I'll try to answer everyone!  Remember, I can ONLY write on P-day (once a week), but you can send me letters anytime! (i know, I'm selfish, right) 

 

Love you all!

 

Elder Hutchinson

Week 3

Dear everyone that I love,

 

I hope I can answer the questions for everybody who is wondering how I'm doing here.  Just to let you know, I'm learning A LOT here!  This is definitely the time in my life where I have studied the most, and I know it's paying off with scriptures AND in Spanish.  I know, because I taught the first lesson to some Native Speakers yesterday in COMPLETE Spanish!  Although I sometimes had to sit and think about what word was correct every few minutes, it was STILL an accomplishment in my eyes.  My district also spoke ALL spanish yesterday.  We were NOT allowed to speak any English.  Needless to say, we were a bit silent yesterday, but it was definitely good practice.  Next week we have 2 completely Spanish days, and then after the 4th week, we speak ALL Spanish ALL the time.  Woo, I'm a bit nervous, but I know it will be necessary, especially since I STILL won't be able to understand the Mexicans when I actually get out there.  But my vocabulary in spanish is expanding A LOT.  I'm thankful that we have the oppurtunity to make a lot of stupid mistakes while we're here rather than while we're with strangers in Mexico.  What's an example?  Hmmm, well let's just say I had to make a Note To Self:  "'Yo estoy embarazada' does NOT mean 'I'm embarrased.' It means 'I'm pregnant'."  Not gonna make THAT mistake!

 

So, I had a pretty different experience around the 4th of July.  We actually celebrated it on the 2nd of July and did absolutely nothing on the actual 4th of July.  (Don't ask me why.) ACTUALLY I got everybody on our floor to sing the "Star Spangled Banner" on the 4th, so that was something.  But anyway, I have a story about that day.  So, I so that my Texas flag, which proudly hangs in my room, still had creases in it from it's packing.  And I was like "man, I wish I could get rid of those."  And then Elder Richards was like, let's iron it!  Sweet!  So, we did, and it worked!  But WHILE we were ironing it, I was like "oh, man, I wish I had an American flag so that I could have it in time of the 4th."  And he said jokingly "Eh, you Texas people don't care about THAT! You just care about the Texas."  And then I had an AWESOME reply and I have never thought of it this way.  I said, "No, we Texans believe in America AND Texas.  It's kind of like the Bible and the Book of Mormon.  They go hand-in-hand."  We then both paused and marveled at what I just said.  IT'S THE TRUTH, BABY! Go Texas!  And America!

 

Well, as you may know, we have class all day, and because of that, you have to get up for a bathroom brake a couple times a day.  Unfortunately, if your companion has to go, but you don't, you STILL have to go with him (not inside the bathroom, just outside the room to the bathroom door.)  Anyway, there sits what is called "La silla del ba~no" or in other words, the bathroom chair.  Some very smart elders must have put that out there awhile ago, because sometimes, you have to wait a loooooong time for your companion while he's in the bathroom and you DON'T want to stand the whole time while he's in there.  Well, that's missionary life for ya.

 

Like I mentioned before, I love the guys in my district.  We can joke about things so easily, but we also support each other in trying to focus on the work as much as possible.  One of the things that I find pretty funny is that sometimes they call me John Stamos because they all think I look like John Stamos from "Full House".  I don't think I really remember what he looks like, but I'm assuming he's a rather attractive man, so I'm alright with that. Haha!  Also, yesterday, the Zone leaders came into our room and asked who had musical talent.  Immediately EVERYONE in the room pointed to me, because I sing all the time.  Soooooo, now I'm singing a solo on Sunday at church!  Haha!  What can I say?  I'm just a Renaissance man!  And really humble too!...

 

Anyway, I've gotta go soon, but I'll leave you with a scripture that really applies to me right now.  Doctrine and Covenants 58: 27-28 "Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness.  For the power is in them wherein they are agents unto themselves.  And inasmuch as men do good they shall in nowise lose their reward."

 

Thank y'all SO MUCH for your letters!  And MOM thank you SO MUCH for my package with all of the sweets and pictures in it.  I LOVE it!  If I haven't written you back yet, I'm sorry, but I will try!  And if you haven't written me yet, please do, because I really miss ALL of you that read this.  Anyway, hasta luego!

Week 2

Dear everyone I love (including my loving mother who keeps on checking her email every 5 minutes for a letter),

 

It's been a whole 10 days here at the MTC, and man, does it feel crazy!  Sometimes I feel like I've been here for like a month, and other times it seems like I just got here yesterday!  Does that really make since to anybody?  haha!  Well, I'm definitely LOVING it here still.  My district has grown very close already, and as we learn the gospel and attempt to speak spanish with each other, we continue to support each other with things that are hard and things that are fun.

 

To all of you who sent me letters, THANK YOU SO MUCH!  I kind of knew that missionarries liked letters before I came out here, but now I REALLY know what they meant when they told me that.  Think of how addicted every living young adult and I was to facebook.  Now take that and multiply it by about 6 billion.  Yeah, THAT'S how much I love getting letters!  So, I'd love to here from you, friends!

 

Ok, so one of the awesome/weird things about the MTC is all of the familiar people that you run into AND the people with random connections to your relatives.  First of all, I keep on running into a ton of people from each of the 3 wards I was in at byu.  It makes me feel pretty popular, so I kind of like it, but I hope it doesn't annoy Elder Oldroyd too much.  The big personallity sometimes is all one can handle sometimes. haha!  Also, I ran into 3 other people.  First, you may have heard of a certain Sister Brinkerhoff who left from the Arlington 1st ward a few weeks before I did?  Well, I saw her, and I was so surprised that I almost hugged her!  And then I was like "oh yeah..... dang it"  (That's probably my only problem about being a missionary.)  I also ran into Sally, Kamille's good friend who goes to BYU.  And not to mention my teacher Hermano Lewis who served in Williams mission, AND today in the temple, I ran into a worker who's name was Bryce Walker (or something like that) who apparently was a good friend of Uncle Ted when he was growing up!  Yep, it's a small Mormon world around here.

 

Classes continue to get more challenging and more involved so that we can start using the language as soon as possible.  We now have to speak in ONLY Spanish during classtime, and if you slip up and say something in English, you have to carry this HUGE rock that I like to call "La piedra de shame"  (I don't know how to say "shame" in spanish).

 

I've learned that Gym time is probably my favorite 50 minutes of the day.  It is SUCH A RELIEF because when you do 12 hours of class and study a day, you need something to shake it all off.  Fortunately, the people around here are not NEARLY as terrible at volleyball as the people were at Heritage Halls.  So, now, the games are actually challenging and fun!  Also, I've discovered how magical (yes magical) P-days are!  Today was my first P-day, and it has been so cool.  It's only one day, but as a missionary, it really does feel like I'm on vacation.  It's wonderful.  Plus, I had such a great experience going to the Provo temple for the first time today!  Before, I made fun of that temple because I thought it always looked like a cupcake.  However, now that I've gone inside and seen how beautiful it is in there, I probably won't be doing that anymore.

 

Well, I'm running out of time, but I'd just like to leave off with a scripture.  2 Corinthians 5:6-7.  I came across this while studying, and I loved it so much.  We trully do walk by faith and not by sight when we exercise our love for God.  I love you guys so much!!  EVERYONE OF YOU reading this right now (yes, even you, Tanner).  haha!  I'll email nexy Thursday!  Buenos dias!

 

Elder Hutchinson

 

PS. Mom, do you have my pictures?  I'll send you and grandma another letter this week!

Week 1

Holla Familia y todo que yo amo!

 

For those of you who did not take a year of spanish in high school, that says hi family and everyone I love!  I titled this email as "How crazy!"  because that's all I can think of at this moment!  This is just my 4th day in the MTC, and I've already begun to learn so much here!  I'd like to start off by apoligizing to my wonderful mother who I told I would email the day I entered the MTC.  The problem was that I actually had NO CLUE when I would actually be able to email her, but I'm doing it now, so hopefully you're happy now, madre!  For those of you who know me, you probably know I like to talk a lot.  And for those who know me even better than others probably know that that is an understatement.  But it's true! haha!  So, I'd really love to tell about each and every experience that I've had here, but since I only get a total of 30 minutes of computer time a week, I'll have to restrain myself from writing a novel every time.

 

Anyway, I'll get on with it!  My companion's name is Elder Oldroyd, and he's not as talkative as I am (surprise), but he's pretty relaxed and definitely a very great and sincere guy.  When I saw his name, I for some reason thought that he was gonna be some huge guy who played football and could eat me for breakfast (the "royd" part of his name reminded me of "steroids").  But it was quite different when, instead, I was greeted by a 130 pound dude from Utah (sound familiar, Dad?).  We are a district of 12 and when we all get together is can get a little bit crazy.  In a good way, though, of course.  Just as crazy as a group of Elders following the Missionary Manual can get.  We're all Spanish speaking and going to mostly all different missions around the U.S. and Mexico.  However, one elder is Spanish speaking in Australia!  What the heck?  Yeah, it sounded pretty crazy, but I think it kind of helps testify that the leaders of the church know what they're doing and they know where to put missionaries so that every person has the oppurtunity to hear the message of the gospel in their own language.  Even for people you wouldn't think about, like the hispanics in Australia!

 

On the first night I was here, all of the missionaries with dorky orange dots on their tags (signifying that we're complete newbs) we're gathered for an "Investigator Activity."  I was sitting with Elder Oldroyd and we were all waiting for this thing to start, when suddenly some random dude who had a Tanner beard and was wearing shorts and a T-shirt asked if he could sit next to me.  I told him "Sure, man!"  and asked him what his name was.  This guy, Steve, had apparently had been invited by his member friend to come to this thing.  Steve agreed that he would go if that friend could beat him in a pickup game of basketball.  Needless to say, he lost.  Haha!  Surrounded by missionaries, though, he seemed a bit freaked out, so I just started having a good conversation with him about basketball, and when I told him I was from Dallas, Texas, he was like, "oh no!  I HAD to sit next to a Mavericks fan!" That was pretty funny, but I was still wondering what he and a few more non-member people were doing with us missionaries.  Well, to cut the long story short, we kind of taught them as a huge group by getting to understand their personal needs.  When we as missionaries teach people, it should be for their sake.  We don't teach to get more members in the church.  We do it because we know what is true, and we want to bring happiness into the lives of others.

 

I have to go now, but I love y'all!  I'll email soon!

 

P.S.  this is my mailbox number

 

ELDER CHRISTIAN PATRICK HUTCHINSON

MTC Mailbox #118

MEX-MEXW 0822

2005 N. 900 E.

Provo, Utah 84604-1793