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