Grounded!!

December 29, 2015

Hello Family and Friends!!

I know I am emailing you on a Tuesday, but I will explain that why in a little bit. For now, I want to talk about my Christmas Eve and Christmas!!!!

I already told some of my family about my Christmas Eve, but not everyone. It was kind of crazy!! It snowed a whole bunch, and we don't have the best car.. So, we weren't able to get out of the parking lot of our apartment (the exit is a hill). We had Zone Conference, but we obviously couldn't get there ourselves. So, we called some other sister missionaries to give us a lift! They came and picked us up, and we headed to the mission office. The mission office/church building is on a pretty steep hill too, and THEIR car isn't the best in snow either. We decided to take another route through a neighborhood, and the driver took a turn that was a little too quick.. (keep in mind, this is the first time this particular sister has ever driven in snow). We slid, almost in slow motion, went right over a curb and hit a huge rock. Everyone was fine, but the car was definitely stuck and our bumper was definitely off. We called our Zone Leaders and them and a few elders in our district came out to help us. After about 20 minutes of trying to get the car off of the curb we managed to do it. Lets just say our district meeting was fairly quick after that. An Elder looked at our car and gave us the OK, and so we were off to the Trail Center. It was about 4:20 and dinner was at 5! So we start driving and keep hearing this grinding sound and soon as we get on the freeway. We pull over and one of the sisters gets out and holds up the broken-off hubcap! We start to drive again and the sound continues, so we get off the freeway and pull into a random parking lot. We were stranded there for a while.. The sister that crashed the car was taking stress-laps around the parking lot, the other one was just ticked-off, Sister Brower was calling people to come help us, and I was napping. We then decided to read in the Book of Mormon together to calm everyone down. Finally we were saved and taken to the Trail Center (at about 7:00). Everyone slow clapped when we walked in, it was funny. Then we ate, and the Senior Couples put on a Christmas Program for all of us. :) It all ended well. (ps. I was super sick too)

Christmas was fantastic!!! We had a lovely breakfast at the TC President's house to start off the day. Then, we went back to do our studies, opened presents, and then took a Christmas nap!! After that, I GOT TO FACETIME MY FAMILY. It was the best Christmas present in the world being able to see them. It was exactly what I needed. Dinner that night was great too! Sister Christiansen, member that fed us, made foods that our own moms would make! It was so nice and homey!! Then, she totally surprised my by playing "Uncle Jean", a tradition my family does. I just about died. I am pretty sure my abs were sore the next day because I laughed so hard. It was such a good Christmas.

The reason I didn't email yesterday was because our cars were grounded. It snowed all day, and there were about 4 accidents on Christmas eve, so the mission president didn't want to risk it. Long story short, we didn't leave our apartments once yesterday... We cleaned, watched 17 Miracles, slept, did facials, and just did busy work in our area book.

Our cars were grounded for a little bit today, but it cleared up, thankfully!!

I love you all so much. Thank you for all that you have done for me and for making this Christmas so wonderful. Happy New Year!!!!

Love,
Sister Hutchison

ps. Prepare for lots of pictures.

The Elders helping us un-stick our car. It reminds me of the pioneers pulling their handcarts out of the mud. 

Me and Sister Brower at the crime scene. You can see the rock in the corner.

Christmas pj's!!!!!

Me and Sister Brower at Christmas dinner

My Family's in Utah, and I'm in New York? (Nebraska)

December 21, 2015

Hellllllllooo from NE,

If you didn't understand the subject of my email today, shame on you. Just kidding, it's from Home Alone 2. So my family better have gotten my reference.

This week has been a good week, like usual. It was transfer week! Sister Brower and I were not changed though, so I am very happy :) But, we received new missionaries last week! I am not the newest anymore! Woot woot!! It was fun, Sister Brower and I got to take two of the new sisters out proselyting for their first time. We split up in a neighborhood and tracted. It was fun teaching someone how to do it, because that was me about 7 weeks ago!

Another fun thing with transfers... Since it is Sister Brower's very last transfer, she isn't allowed to drive. It is a weird mission rule. They think if it's your last transfer you might get a little rebellious on the road. But I get to drive now!! It was weird being behind the wheel again, but I love it! It's fun and weird driving in a different state.

Last week was full of tender mercies. Want to know why? I SAW 4 GOLDEN DOODLES. None of them are as cute as Charlie, but my heart ached a little bit when I saw them. I may have seen 4 of them, but sadly, I only got to play with 2 of them. That's okay though, I got my puppy-love fill for the week. (One of them was a black golden doodle. It was so cute!)

This week Sister Brower and I haven't had a lot of people to teach, so it became kind of discouraging. But, we called one of the Senior Couples and asked for blessings of comfort. Those blessings were so sweet, and exactly what we needed.

Christmas is this week! AHHH! The members have already given us so many presents and treats. So don't worry, I am being treated well. We will be spending Christmas Eve at the Trail Center having a dinner and a program that the Senior Couples came up with. Then on Christmas, we are spending pretty much all day at different members' homes. (For my family: I emailed mom the time I will be facetiming, so you can all figure it out from her)

I love you all so much. Thanks for all of the love I receive in my inbox each week!!!! I can't wait to hear how all of your Christmas's went!! AND I CANT WAIT TO SEE MY FAMILY THIS WEEK. IM FREAKING OUT HERE.

Love,
Sister Hutchison

The new missionaries we took out. The one next to me, Sister Parcens, is the one I took out! She is also going to the Trail Center. 

We did service at a member's home :) we made homemade donuts! 

We had another ward party. I am definitely in a party ward!

Music, Rain, and Miracles

December 14, 2015

Hello Friends and Family!!

This week was a long, but pretty great week!! Lets start with Zone Conference that was on Tuesday. So, me, Sister Brower, and a few other Trail Center sisters were the lucky ones chosen to go to the Sioux City Zone conference on Tuesday. They have to have people go to that one because if we didn't, they wouldn't have anyone on shift on the day of our actual Zone Conference. So we had to be at the mission office at 6 in the morning.. Woof. The drive was about an hour and a half long, but it was fun. We took the transfer van and it was a party. But it was an awesome Zone Conference all about the Savior. After that, there was a mini-Christmas talent show! Me and all of the Trail Center sisters did a dance where we taped glow sticks in the shape of a stick figure on our bodies, then turned off all of the lights. It was so fun, and it wasn't embarrassing because nobody knew us in Sioux City anyways!! But, Sister Brower and I did do a musical number as well. She is an amazing pianist, so she played and I sang "O, Holy Night". It was so fun.

Wednesday we were on shift at the Trail Center ALL DAY. But it was okay!! It wasn't bad at all. I actually got to sing for a tour that I took, and that was one of my goals that day! Sometimes music can bring the spirit on a tour when nothing else can.

Sister Brower and I actually set someone for baptism this week! It is this woman named Mel, and we gave her a church tour. As we were in the Chapel, Sister Brower out of the blue said "Sister Hutchison is going to sing Nearer My God To Thee for you, and I am going to play." That wasn't part of the lesson plan, but it worked out so wonderfully. The spirit was so strong as we started talking about the Sacrament. Then, Sister Brower gave me a look that said "go ahead, ask her". So, I looked at Mel and asked her if she would be baptized. SHE SAID YES. Man, it was such a cool experience.

We almost hit a dog this week... It just kind of ran in front of our car. After both of Sister Brower and I were done screaming I kind of jumped out of the car and scooped the dog up. I told Sister Brower I wouldn't be able to sleep or eat for the rest of my mission if I let that dog keep roaming, not knowing what would happen to it. So, we walked around to all the houses on the block, and luckily we found where it belonged. PHEW.

The ward Christmas party was on Saturday, and it was so much fun. It was a breakfast thing, and the food was so good. Santa even showed up too!!! But then on Sunday, Sister Brower did our musical number for Sacrament meeting. So it was definitely a week full of singing, but I wish every week was like that!!!

Some of the Trail Center sisters are going home this week. It makes me so sad!!!! I have gotten close to everyone so much already. But, I know that they will be doing amazing things when they get home :)

It has seriously been raining for like 3 days straight. It's crazy!!!

Alright, I think I talked your ear off a little too much. I miss and love you all so much. Thanks for everything!!! God be with you till we meet again!

Love,
Sister Hutchison

pic 1: Santa. duh.

pic 2: Our favorite Elder in our ward that is leaving this week. SO bummed about it. He's awesome.

pic 3: A cool tour Sister Brower and I took this week. They weren't members, but agreed that if they knew the Book of Mormon was true, they'd be baptized!

It's December??

December 7, 2015

Hello Family and Friends!!!

Another great week here in NE. I hope you all are doing well. I am still here, happy, and healthy (a little too healthy. They feed us too much, I'm going to be 400 pounds when I get home. Health tips are appreciated.) Also, if someone could come explain to my mission that my last name is HUTCHISON not HUTCHINSON, I would appreciate it... Just kidding. I'm used to it here now. I just act like it's my name. My companion gets a kick out of it every time someone calls me it. I just smile and act like I didn't notice.

This week started off kind of sad, but it ended up pretty great. I will start with the sad thing! Luca, the 9 year old boy that was going to get baptized last Saturday, wasn't able to get full parental consent. So, he was not able to be baptized. Sister Brower and I were sad. But, we knew that Satan was just letting us know that we were going to see miracles soon, so we didn't become discouraged.

That next day, actually, we received a call from the Assistants. When Elder Martino (of the 70) trained us a few weeks ago, he went teaching with the Assistants. They got a member referral and taught her in the member's home. Long story short, they set her for baptism the first lesson and the investigator is in our area!!! So she is ours to teach now!!!! We were so excited. Her name is Angie and she is a prime investigator. She LOVES the Book of Mormon, and has so many questions. The cool thing is, her husband is Less-active, but this is activating him as well. Angie is getting baptized on December 19th!

It was Sister Browers birthday on Saturday! I sneakily bought her a cute $10 watch at Walmart because she needed one, and decorated her desk for when she woke up that morning. A senior couple at the Trail Center took us to Village Inn for breakfast, and then a member took us to Famous Daves for dinner. It was so good!!!!!!

We were tracting one night and decided to Christmas Carol instead of start right off with our message. It worked!!!! Mostly everyone let us sing for them, and let us into their homes. We got 2 new investigators by doing it. :)

I also was able to hand out a Book of Mormon at the Trail Center this week. This woman LOVED the tour I took her on, and was so interested. I started talking about Moroni and she freaked out about his name and said "MY NEXT BABY BOY IS GOING TO BE NAMED MORONI NOW!" Then she took the Book of Mormon and said she would be done with it in 13 hours. I have her information, so I am excited to follow up with her.

Tomorrow is our Christmas Zone Conference. Sister Brower is amazing at the piano, so we are doing a musical number at it. I am singing "O' Holy Night". I am so excited to finally sing somewhere again!!!

Before I forget, I received a package this week with no return address. It was a kind of expensive yellow umbrella! Its adorable, so thank you! I just don't know who to thank!

I love you all, and I hope you have a good week!!

-Sister Hutchison

ps: The pic is when we had Zone Training this week. So this is our Zone after!!