Sister Missy Hutchison in Omaha, Nebraska: I LOVE MY MISSION :)

March 6, 2017

Hello Family and Friends!!

Wow, this week has FLOWN BY. Wasn't it Monday just yesterday? It feels like it!!

I had a really great week. I am loving being in the Walnut Creek Branch with Sister Willmore. I am probably going to have a 6 pack by the end of this transfer, because Sister Willmore and I laugh SO HARD together. It is crazy to think that we live about 10 minutes away from each other in Utah, but we probably would have never met! We spent like a half an hour saying random people that we knew, and we made so many connections, it was hilarious. A mission has blessed me in SO MANY WAYS, and finding best friends has been one of them :)

Almost 2 weeks ago, Sister Willmore and I prayed and asked Heavenly Father who we need to be searching for. As we paused and listened to the spirit, we felt prompted to find a woman named Shannon, who has a family of 4, and she owns a red blanket (random, but that is what the spirit said). We have been searching for Shannon EVERYWHERE!!!! No, we have no found her yet.. But we haven't given up hope :) We just have to have the "faith not to find". Yesterday in testimony meeting, this woman bore her testimony about a girl who came into the family history center because she wanted a copy of The Book of Mormon. This woman's daughter is a member, and recently went to her grandchild's baby blessing, so this experience made her curious. She doesn't want missionaries right now, but she is definitely soul searching and she lives in our area somewhere. The spirit testified to me and Sister Willmore that this woman is who we are looking for. We have no idea what her name is (probably Shannon) or which house she lives in, but we ARE going to find her :) If you all could start praying for me and Sister Willmore to find Shannon, that would be awesome :)

We have a 9 year old investigator named Dylan. He is so cute!! His mom is a less-active member, but is recently coming back. The Elders are teaching her boyfriend, but she said that "sisters are better with children" so she asked us to teach Dylan. We asked him to listen to the spirit during the closing prayer, and when we asked him how he felt, he said "I feel good. I have never opened my heart like that before!" It was adorable!!! It totally makes sense when the scriptures always say to be like a little child.

We were out finding families this week, and met this teenager named Ragina. She is so sweet and said we could come back and talk with her and her mom. We went back many times, but each time we would go over there, the mom wouldn't be home! I think we went like 4 times without much success. But, the spirit kept telling us to keep on trying. Last night, we knew that we had to go. So, we tried again! A little boy answered the door and he said his mom was home!!!!!!!!! She was on the phone for a few minutes, so we talked to the family a little bit more. The mom's boyfriend was there, and he told us that he knew we were there for a reason, because that family really needed to come closer to Christ. They actually lived in Salt Lake City for a year, so that was a super fun connection that we had with them. The mom got off of the phone, and was SO EXCITED to see us. I can honestly say she was jumping up and down when she walked into the room and saw us standing there. She hugged us and said that she was sorry that we kept missing her! By the time we got talking to her, we had to go home because it was getting late, but we set up a return appointment, and are really excited for it. Her name is Rebecca and she is such a sweetheart.

This week at the Trail Center, Sister Willmore and I were calling people who had ordered a Bible to confirm their requests and offer them copies of The Book of Mormon. We were talking to a woman named Barbara, and she was super nice. She said that she would LOVE a copy of The Book of Mormon, and would be totally fine with missionaries stopping by. I was about to end the call, but then something told me to ask if I could share a message with her. The natural man kept saying "she is probably busy", "you have more people to call" and "you'll just annoy her". But, the other voice told me that Barbara has potential and needs to know the message of the Restoration. All good things come from God, right? So, I ignored Satan's lies, and followed the Spirit. When I asked if I could share a little message with her, and was excited and said "of course!" So, I was able to share with her the restoration. As we talked about Joseph Smith, she started to cry and she shared some spiritual experiences with me. She was really feeling the spirit and said she KNEW that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that there had to be a prophet today. I invited her to be baptized and she said "Yes, of course. I really need to be baptized. Yes!" It was such an amazing lesson over the phone, and it wouldn't of happened if I would have listened to the adversary's lies. The missionaries in Georgia are so lucky that they get to teach Barbara!

This week my heart is so full of gratitude. I love my mission more than anything in the world. I am so happy every single day here, and there is nothing more rewarding than serving the Lord. I wake up every morning so grateful, and go to sleep every night so happy. I love my mission :)

Sorry this email is so long!! I didn't realize how large it was until I just read over it again. I love you all!!

Love,
Sister Missy Hutchison