3 Months Down!

January 25, 2016

Hello All!

This week has definitely been a draining one. We spent most of it cleaning our apartment so we could move. We ended up moving on Thursday! Even though we had 4 Elders helping us, it took about 5 hours to move everything. Woof.. But it's okay! We now live on the 3rd floor of a newly renovated apartment! We have new carpet, hardwood floors, countertops, appliances, and just everything! It is great!!!!! There is always a "but", though.... BUT, our hot water in our shower in non-existent. I can handle a cold shower, but the water that comes out is stuck on FREEZING cold. Trust me, I've tried, but I cannot get myself in that water. It gave me a brain freeze. So, the past few days have consisted of standing in the shower with a bucket of warm water, soap and a lufa, and washing our hair in a sink. I now understand why God didn't send me to a 3rd World Country. We are hoping someone comes to fix our shower today.

Something cool that happened this week is there was a World-Wide Missionary Broadcast! It was broadcasted to every mission in the world (some had to watch it the next day though because of the time differences), but I was able to watch it Live! A few of the Quorum of the 12 were there and spoke. It was really cool! I guess it was filmed at the Conference Center, so it was fun seeing sisters I became friends with at the MTC, that are serving in Temple Square, in the audience! The Broadcast was awesome, and I learned so much about being a successful missionary.

Courtney, our investigator, is doing great! This week was kind of difficult for all of us though. We met with her on Tuesday and had an AMAZING lesson. The spirit was strong, and it definitely confirmed to her that she was doing the right thing. She said that she felt great about everything, she just needed to make sure baptism was okay with her husband. So, we all were fasting together the next day for her husband's support. We stopped by for a little the next day, and the vibe was kind of weird. While Sister Brower and Thierry, her husband, were playing the piano (we received permission for her to take piano lessons from him, so he would like us more.. haha.), Courtney pulled me aside and said that Thierry has kind of been making fun of her for most of the day, and it was really hurting her feelings. Then, her friend from Utah was telling us that she is really overwhelmed with everything and needs space. So that is what we did. It really stressed us out because we had no idea what was going on in her head, but we had to trust in the Lord that she would get over this trial. Saturday night we received a text from her that told us she talked to her husband, and he is 100% supportive. Then she asked when we could have our next lesson! We were soooooo happy. We told her how big of a blessing and miracle that was. Then she said "It's been such a blessing for my family. And I have you two to thank so much for helping me bring faith and Jesus Christ in to my life and home." That hit me hard. Just that text made me realize why I am here on a mission. I am here to help families be together forever, and to help others have a strong relationship with Jesus Christ. It made me feel so good knowing that we have helped Courtney experience these wonderful blessings of the Gospel. We are hoping she gets baptized this Saturday. She told us she would pray about it! We are meeting with her today to figure everything out. Keep her in your prayers.

I love this Gospel so much. I love being able to see how it blesses others. Growing up in Utah, I always saw happy, Mormon, families! It is cool being on the other side, and actually watching in action the Gospel create a happy family.

I hope you all have a good week! You are in my prayers. I love you all. :)

Love,
Sister Missy Hutchison

My attempt to get a picture with a cute puppy.

Me and the Nebrasquad hitting 3 months in on the mish!

Machine Guns, Harry Potter, and Miracles

January 18, 2016

Hello Everyone!!

I had a great week this week, as usual. Today I am going to spend most of my P-day packing up my apartment because we are FINALLY moving into a new one on Thursday. So that will be fun! I like where we are living now, though. It's really sketchy and exciting. The other day a street was blocked next to our house, and there were about 15 cop cars. We drove past to get a better look, and there are tons of cops huddled behind the cars with huge machine guns, pointing them at a house, and yelling stuff out of a mega-phone. It was awesome!! I still have no idea what was going on.... Oh well.

Since we are moving soon, PLEASE start sending letters to the Trail Center. Don't send them to the mission office. Chances are, I wont get them or I wont see them for about 3 weeks after I get them. The Trail Center address is:
 3215 State Street, Omaha, NE. 68112

So before I get spiritual, I need to tell you my embarrassing story of the week. (I tend to have quite a few because I am an awkward person in general). But, a nice, shy family fed us dinner this week. After dinner, we shared a message with them about sharing the gospel. During the message the spirit was strong and I was bearing my testimony. I started to talk about how much Heavenly Father loves each and every single one of us, and I accidentally said "Heavenly Potter". Yeah... So that happened. Sister Brower instantly started to laugh super hard, and my face turned bright red. The members didn't even laugh, which made it even more awkward, and made Sister Brower laugh harder. Speaking of which, RIP Alan Rickman. I just about bawled when I heard he died. You are the best Severus Snape ever, and I hope to have the privilege of doing your temple work one day. (lol, I had to pay a tribute)

Courtney, our investigator, is doing amazing. She is golden. We commit her to do things, and then she tells us she has already been doing them!! She reads conference talks every single day (and makes her kids listen to them if they are being rowdy), she has all of the LDS apps on her phone, and she is so close to the spirit. We see her quite a few times during the week, and I wouldn't have it any other way. She brings her boys to church every Sunday, and she already volunteered to help with so many things in Relief Society. She isn't even a member yet, but she is on fire! Keep her in your thoughts and prayers. :)

I love you all so much, and I hope you have a good week! Have a good Martin Luther King day. :)

Love,
Sister Missy Hutchison

ps. no pics this week, I always forget. But the temperature high yesterday was 0.

-2 Degrees...?

January 11, 2016

Hello Family and Friends!!!

I had another great week here in Nebraska. I hope you all had a good week. Today marks 2 months that I have been in Nebraska. Weird, right? Yes, my Subject line is correct. The other day we were driving to our apartment and we noticed our car said it was -2 degrees outside. With the windchill it was about -15. So yeah. The moral of the story is my blood is going to freeze in my body. No big deal. The other night a few of us were staying at the Trail Center Leaders' house, and we boiled water and then threw it outside. It turned into ice mid-air. It was so cool!!!! (literally, lol. I'm not funny anymore)

Here is my "out of my comfort zone" story of the week. This week we met kind of a crazy lady. She opened the door, immediately asked if we were Mormons, and then started telling us how much she hates us and thinks we are wrong. She kept telling us to "look at other people's sides". Kind of hypocritical.. But that's just me. Anyways, we were in awe because no one has ever been that rude to us before. She slammed the door and we started to walk away. I looked at Sister Brower and said "Dangit, we should have testified." Then, Sister Brower looks at me and says "You are right. Lets go back." So she turns around and starts walking back to that woman's house. I immediately turned into a scaredy cat and kept making up excuses like "she probably has a gun" and other stuff like that. Sister Brower said "Well, I'm going. You can wait back here if you want." I wasn't about to let my companion face that woman alone, so I went with her. The woman opens the door and says "Wow, you're back?" and we told her yes, because we wanted to tell her something. She said, "okay, talk." We bore our testimonies and she kept saying "I read all of this on the internet and I know your church isn't true." Then she started talking about how our church goes against the Bible. That's when I finally started to speak up (because I was so nervous and was letting Sister Brower talk the whole time). I just told her that we believe and read the Bible as well, and in the Bible it tells you that the spirit testifies truth, not the internet. I then bore my testimony about how the spirit has testified to me that this church is true, and that Joseph Smith is a true prophet of God, and that the Book of Mormon has the fullness of the Gospel. Although she still didn't listen, we made sure to leave a Plan of Salvation and a Proclamation to the Family pamphlet. We know she will never forget that experience, and one day her heart will soften. The pamphlet has our number on it, so we are expecting a call when she has her miraculous change of heart. :)

I don't know if you remember from my email last week, but I talked about how we are starting to teach this amazing woman named Courtney. I have kind of a girl-crush on her, no big deal. She is just so great. We taught her for the first time on Tuesday about how God answers our prayers. After the lesson we invited her to be baptized on January 30th, and she said "if I'm ready, then for sure!". So PRAY FOR COURTNEY. The next day she texted us and told us about an experience she had. She said that she was struggling, and so she sincerely prayed for the first time. After she prayed, her best friend from Utah texted her and simply told her she was thinking about her, and that she sent her a package that should be arriving that day. A couple hours later she received the package. She opened it and saw a beautiful picture of Jesus Christ on the top. She felt comforted and knew her prayers were answered. That day she went and bought a frame for the picture, and hung it up in her house. I JUST LOVE HER SO MUCH! AHHHHH.

We had an awesome zone training this week. It was about being bold with our commitments. I was able to sing for a musical number, so that was fun! The next day we remembered to be bold with our commitments, so that's when we invited Courtney to be baptized. Then, after that, we invited 4 more people that night.  1 said "I don't know", and the others said that they wanted to, but certain problems were holding them back. We are hoping to have 5 baptisms within the next few months. Being bold is awesome. :)

Sister Brower and I are doing this "Charity Challenge" thing that she made up. It is from Moroni 7:45-48. It talks about different ways to show charity. So, we picked a charity attribute for each day of the week. The first day was "Suffereth long", yesterday's was "kind", and today is "envieth not". So what we do is we study, ponder and reflect on the attribute each day. It is cool how the Lord has tested us on those certain things each day. I would invite you to do the same. :)

Alright, I love you all! Thanks for all the emails. You are the best, and are in my prayers. :)

Love,
Sister Hutchison

ps. we didn't take any pictures this week, so we took one right now. So this is a picture of us emailing... haha. That's what I look like this very minute. Soak it up guys. I know you miss me.

"45 And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
 46 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have not charity, ye are nothing, for charity never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail
47 But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.
48 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen."
-Moroni 7:45-48

Happy New Year from NE!!!

January 4, 2016

Hello everyone!!!

I hope you all had a fantastic New Year celebration :)

My New Years Eve was pretty good. We baked cookies for a lot of the part-member and less-active families in our ward. Everyone was so welcoming to us and nice! :) I know you are all curious, but I totally went to bed at 10:30 that night. Sleep is so much more valuable to me right now than staying up, saying "woohoo" at midnight, and then being dead tired waking up at 6:30 the next morning. Technically I could have though.. I think I have mentioned how loud the neighbors that live above us are. Man, New Years Eve was a whole new low for them. Their music was so loud we could literally hear every word, beat, and our room would shake when the bass dropped. They were screaming, drinking, partying, and I choked a few times from the smoke seeping through our vents. We called the apartment security, and we heard them stop by. The neighbors stopped.. For a half an hour.. Then started again. So, we called a second time. They stopped.. For a half an hour!! Then the next morning they were on their balcony when we went outside. The two men that live there just gave us the creepiest look. It's one thing to give someone a "funny look". But the way they looked and smiled at us was like a lion stalking his prey. Definitely an "Uh Oh" feeling moment. I guess the moral of the story is Yes, we were up at midnight, and Yes our Mission President is having us sleep at the Sister Training Leaders' house until we are moved (hopefully this weekend).

So that was my kind of crazy story for this week. I should share some spiritual things now :) We stopped by to see this inactive family this week, and the man opened the door and let us right in. It was a miracle because he NEVER lets missionaries in. We talked to him about temples, and he said he wants to go back so badly. He said "don't give up on us. We will come back" when we were getting ready to leave. Then he texted us after and told us that I looked almost identical to his daughter and he had to take a second look. But, it touched his heart, and he wants to set up another return appointment with us. That was so reassuring that I need to be in the Rockbrook ward.

So about a month ago, we were teaching a 9 year old boy and just fell in love with his step mom. She would sit in on all of the lessons, and take him to church. On the week of Luca's baptism, his father (who is against organized religion) had a talk with him, and Luca decided not to be baptized. It was so sad. But, we still served that family and kept in touch with the mom. This week we took them for a tour of the Trail Center and it was a great experience. The feeling was so strong. They have an 11 year old boy, Alec, in the family who is severely autistic, and he HATES religion. He would have to be locked up in his room when we would come over or else he would have panic attacks. But, he loved the Trail Center. We decided to be bold with Courtney, the mom, and straight up asked her if we could continue teaching her. She said she would love it!!!!! So we let her know about church on Sunday (yesterday) and made an appointment with her for Wednesday. She then told us that Luca and Alec (!!) wanted to come to church with her. So that was huge!!!!!! Alec ended up getting really sick yesterday morning, but Courtney and Luca were at church. Let me tell you how amazing it is, sitting next to investigators in church and watching them take the sacrament. It is such a peaceful feeling. I truly believe the Trail Center touched their hearts. That is such a sacred place.

I love you all so much. Thanks for everything you all do for me. I hope you have a great week!!

Love,
Sister Missy Hutchison

The sunset behind the Winter Quarters Temple in the TC parking lot.

Wishing you a happy New Year!!