Transfers Strike Again!!!

September 12, 2016

Hello Family and Friends!!!

From all of your emails, It sounds like you had a fantastic week. I had a great week, as well!! It was super crazy, though. As you can see from my subject line, yes, it was transfers. Yes, I got transferred AGAIN. This is now my 4th area and 6th companion in a little over 10 months haha. President likes to throw me around a little bit, but it is fine! Actually, on Monday night, I received a phone call from President Gardner regarding transfers! He has given me a new assignment! I am now a Sister Training Leader/Trail Center Leader!!!! A Sister Training Leader in our mission is pretty much a female version of a Zone Leader. I am able to work more with President Gardner, and give special trainings to my Zone every transfer. I have a stewardship of sisters that President wants us to work with, and I also get to take sisters on companion exchanges to help them out more with their missionary work! A Trail Center Leader works very closely with the Trail Center Directors. Now, I get to make the schedules for everyone, give trainings about the Trail Center every Saturday morning, and help/serve all of the TC Sisters as best as I can. I am very excited about these new assignments. Life is even more busy now, but I know that the Lord is mindful of me, and will bless my efforts. Also... My new companion is..... SISTER ORTON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so excited about that. We are having a blast together, and are best friends. It is nice having a brand new closet, too. Haha we share clothes like everyday.  It is the perfect combination of working hard and having fun. I am so honored for this opportunity.

My new ward is super fun. The bishop actually called me on Saturday and asked me to speak yesterday! It was a good way to introduce myself to the ward.  I am in the Winter Quarters ward now! The people are so cool and.. different! But, different is good, and a heck of a lot more entertaining. I really do love my new area/ward. Everyone is so nice and loving! Just don't look up the crime rates in Florence Nebraska/North Omaha.. Because that's my area. Haha :)

Like I said, this has been a super crazy and busy week. We haven't had a lot of time to be in our area, or to even breath. We have been working a lot with the brand new Trail Center sisters that came in this week. We had a evening where we all had dinner together, and Sister Orton and I had to show them this big slideshow of Trail Center Rules. Our days have been so booked, but, it is cool how Heavenly Father makes up the difference. We have seen lots of miracles already. We have a handful of investigators and people we are working with. One in specific is our investigator named Taylor. She is 21 and pregnant, but she LOVES the gospel. She has such a strong testimony of the Book of Mormon. Her only problem is her ex-boyfriend.. He broke up with her because she wants to get baptized, which definitely threw her through a loop. So, we are hoping to get her back on track and to work toward the waters of baptism again. Please pray for Taylor!

Sister Orton and I took such a cool tour this week. It was this woman who's a member of the church. Through the whole tour the spirit was so strong. We felt prompted to really focus on enduring through trials, and focusing on the simple ways to strengthen a testimony (prayer, church, scriptures). At the end of the tour, this woman started tearing up. In her words, she said "I didn't want to tell you this, but, I have been less-active for a long time. I needed some peace in my life, so I felt like I needed to come here. This is exactly what I needed". It was so cool, and the spirit was so strong. It is amazing how perfectly Heavenly Father knows each and every single one of His children. I feel so blessed that Heavenly Father trusts us enough to send us His troubled children, and try to bring them back home. Missionary work is so incredible. We receive a front row seat to how the Gospel truly changes lives.

This week will be fun! We have Zone Conference, and Elder Falabella of the 70 is going to come and train us. I am so excited. Also, afterwards, Elder Falabella is giving a special training to the leadership of the mission. President Gardner has asked me to do a musical number at that training, so I feel honored and am super excited. I am so ready to learn this week!!! I love Zone Conferences.

I ponder about how I was before my mission and think about how I have changed so far. Obviously I still am the same, but I am also so different. I have such a greater understanding of the Gospel. I have such a strong relationship with my Savior. I truly know what is important in life now. I kind of cringe thinking about how my life would be if I never decided to come on a mission. I am so grateful for this wonderful opportunity to be an instrument in the Lord's hands. This is the best thing I have ever done. I am so grateful that I have even more to learn with these next 8 months, and the progression will honestly never stop, even afterwards. For that, I am grateful.   The Lord is so mindful of every single one of us.

I love you all! I hope you have a fantastic week :)

"13 And it came to pass that the voice of the Lord came to them in their afflictions, saying: Lift up your heads and be of good comfort, for I know of the covenant which ye have made unto me; and I will covenant with my people and deliver them out of bondage.
14 And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions." -Mosiah 24:13-14

Love,
Sister Missy Hutchison

The new team. Me and Sis. Orton, getting down to business. 

There was a cool sunset, so of course we took artsy (awkward) pics!

Another picture of us... There will be a lot of those. 

The Lord's Timing

September 5, 2016

Hola Familia and Amigos! ( I asked President Gardner to send me full-proselyting/spanish speaking. He just laughed in my face and walked away. I think I am prepared, though.)

This week went by very quickly!! It was a super great week, though!!

I want to start with sharing a cool miracle! There is a man in my ward that has been investigating the church for 40 years that us and the Elders have been working with. His wife is a faithful member, and he attends with her each week. The bishop even said he is the most faithful tithe payer in the ward! No one really understood why he wouldn't get baptized because he truly felt like a member of the ward.This week, something clicked with him. No one knows what it was, but he decided to get baptized last week!!!!!!!!!!!! It was so cool!! He is shy and very private, so the only people he invited was us, the elders, and a couple other missionaries who worked with him. It was a beautiful service. He asked me to give the talk on The Holy Ghost, and I also was able to do a musical number for him. It truly does show that we CANNOT give up on people. It may take them 40 years, but God has his own timing. Such an amazing experience.

I took a cool tour this week! It was a non-member couple. They were fairly interested in everything about the gospel. They asked so many great questions. It was so cool because I didn't answer their questions; the spirit did! It was a powerful tour. They asked me why I decided to go on a mission, and I was able to share my experience with them. They started to cry and told me that I reminded them of their granddaughter, whom they haven't seen in a long time. After the tour, I shared with them my testimony and offered them a copy of The Book of Mormon. They accepted quickly, and already committed to read it. I asked them if they would be interested in learning more, and they said yes! When I mentioned having missionaries in their area visit them, they wife looked so sad!! She said "But, what if I want to learn from YOU?" and asked if I could teach them. I told them that I only cover a certain area, and can only cover that specific one. Then, she told me that she is in the process of moving, and doesn't have a current residence. She told me that the friends she lives with wouldn't appreciate the missionaries coming over. We decided that we would keep in touch and that I would teach her online until she has a current residence, so we can send the missionaries in her area. It was such a cool tour. It is amazing how the Lord sends prepared individuals to the Trail Center. I love being a Visitor Center missionary. This is the perfect mission for me.

We met an African refugee family yesterday! It was so neat. The dad didn't even hesitate to let us in. At first, his heart was pretty hardened. He kept telling us that he was happy being catholic. But, as we shared the message of the restoration, we saw his heart soften. He told us we could come back, and we set a specific time to teach him and his wife. Then, as I was going to say the closing prayer, the dad asked me to pray for some specific things happening with their family. The spirit was so strong afterwards, and we knew that everything would be well with them.

Words cannot even explain how much I love my mission. My heart has never felt so happy and at peace. This week about 5 sisters are going home from the Trail Center. This is the last group going home from the Trail Center until I go home, which means my group will be the oldest! So weird!! I am glad that I still have a while until I go home. There is so much work I need to do here in Omaha. :) I love you all! Have a good week!!!!!

" 16 And he said unto me: Knowest thou the condescensionof God?
 17 And I said unto him: I know that he loveth his children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things." -1 Nephi 11:16-17

Love,
Sister Missy Hutchison

On the first Saturday of the month at TC Training, they like to embarrass and sing to everyone who has birthday's that month. #BIRTHDAYMONTH

since transfers are this week, it was the last district meeting with this specific district!

Everyone who helped with Brother Griffin's baptism!! (at least within this year)

Just the sisters :)

It was Sister Svensson's bday last week, so we went out to lunch! 

Nebraska Storms!

August 29, 2016

Hello Family and Friends!

It was another good week here in Nebraska! The weather is calming down a little bit, so that is nice! We had a couple 75 degrees days, which was amazing!! It made tracting and street contacting a lot easier!!

The Trail Center is getting slower, so I have been taking less tours, which is sad. I love taking tours :) But I did take a couple interesting ones this week. The first one I took was a couple of non-member, old ladies. They came in strictly for the "history". As I took them in the film, I explained that the pioneers weren't just US History, but there was a lot of church history. They seemed to be fine with that, and they enjoyed the film. As soon as I started to take them around the gallery, they immediately asked a lot of questions about Nauvoo. One of them asked if the pioneers were anywhere before Nauvoo, and I told them Ohio. Then, they asked if they were anywhere before Ohio. I told them that they were in New York, and they seemed puzzled! It was the perfect way for me to slip in the restoration. After I shared the First Vision and bore my testimony, one of the ladies turned away for me and demanded a self-tour, without me. I was kind of thrown back! But, I respected their wishes and told them to let me know if they had any questions. At first, my feelings were pretty hurt! But then the spirit reminded me of the Savior. His testimony was rejected all of the time, but he kept doing what he knew was right. I then felt an overwhelming amount of appreciation. We, as missionaries, are called to find the "elect". Again, we, as missionaries, are called to help others come unto Christ, by helping them receive the restored gospel. The spirit testified to me that I did exactly what I was supposed to, and fulfilled my purpose in that tour, even though they didn't accept it. I am rejected all of the time while out in my area, but that is normal. So being rejected at the TC was new! I am glad it happened though. It was a great learning experience.

I gave another, happy, tour! It was a single woman. She and her husband sold their house, and have been RVing since March. Her husband is not a member, but she makes him stop at all of these sites so she can go to the temple. I asked her where he was, and she said "He is in the RV. I invited him to join me, but he rejected." She then proceeded to tell me that her only child fell away from the church when he was a teenager, so she was the only member in her family now. Her faith amazed me. We just were able to sit and cry together about the blessings of the temple, and how mindful God is of all of our situations. Towards the end, she wept and said "every time I do sealings, I just pray and ask Heavenly Father that I can one day have my turn, without me acting as proxy". I received an overwhelming feeling of peace, and was able to promise her that if she continues to go to the temple, then it will happen. It was a neat tour.

There was a cool storm this week!! There was never-ending thunder roles and lightening. I have never seen anything quite like it! It took mine and Sister Janson's power out of our apartment, but it was fun sitting in the dark with the window open!

I hope you all have a good week. I know that God loves all of you, and is so mindful of you. We are so blessed to have the knowledge of this gospel. What are you doing to show God you are grateful for it? Just something to ponder. :) Love you all!

" Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God; and if ye do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day." - Alma 37:37

Love,
Sister Missy Hutchison

This woman, Sis Woods, is in my ward. She LOVES the Sisters more than life, haha. 

Those who live near the TC work out there in the morning. We made a music video during our workout, and this is the album cover... Haha

our delayed 10 months picture!

^same. Sister Irwin has talked about doing this 10 month pose since our 1 month picture.. Haha. She is so funny. 

Nebrasquad

I'm Polynesian

August 22, 2016

Hello Everyone!

Another week has passed, and I am sitting her at the computer again! I hope you all had a good week, and that you were able to see the Lord's hand. I definitely was! I hit my 10 months since I left for the MTC yesterday! We were going to take our 10 month picture on Saturday, but Sister Irwin had lice.. Hahahahaha, sucker. So we will take it this week and I will send it next Monday.

I will start off talking about last Monday! All of the senior couples have a dinner together once a month, and the theme was a Hawaiian theme. So, I was able to Hula dance with a few of the other sisters. It was so fun!! I wont lie, it was kind of awkward having to shake my hips in front of President Gardner. His face the whole time was priceless. He shook my hand afterwards, so everything is fine.

We have seen quite a few miracles this week! On Saturday night, we weren't seeing too much success. We had about 5 minutes left of the night, and so we said a prayer to find someone to teach the restoration to. As we were walking to our car, a couple was getting OUT of their car. So, of course, we ran up to them. At first, they were pretty annoyed haha. We asked them what it would mean to be with their family forever, and they said that they already knew that. Then, kind of boldly, I brought up their wedding vowes. I mentioned how they said "Till Death Due You Part", and that doesn't mean forever. This sparked their interest. We were able to teach the restoration and give them a copy of The Book of Mormon. It was just amazing that their hearts were so hardened at first, but then the spirit was able to soften them.

At the Visitors' Center, we take online chats and teach people over phone. I have recently been emailing this man named Lee, he is from England and he is very interested. He came onto mormon.org out of curiosity, but I let him know that it wasn't a coincidence, and that Heavenly Father wants him to find out the truth. Lee has been progressing like crazy. He doesn't want to meet with local missionaries yet because his wife wouldn't approve, but we assured him that if he continues to read The Book of Mormon and pray, then his wife will come around. Over the phone, he started to cry. He felt like as a 43 year old man, he was inadequate to be baptized, especially with all of the wrong he has done in his life. I assured him that if there were perfect people on the earth, there would be no need for Jesus Christ. I was able to testify of the Atonement, and how it is sufficient for everyone, especially him. The spirit testified truth to him, and he wants to be baptized. He is now going to try and visit the London Visitors' Center, and he travels to America a lot and is dedicated to going to Temple Square. He also prayed for the very first time. I can't even count how many times he said the word "brilliant", while telling us how he felt afterwards. Even though we don't have too many investigators in our area, it is so amazing being able to still teach people online and over the phone. I love being at the Trail Center.

Our less-active, Karen, is progressing! She came to church AGAIN, and even brought her other Less-active friend. As we met with her yesterday, she had a new light in her eyes. She told us that she is going to start preparing for the temple, which is amazing. I am so happy for her.

I hope you all have a wonderful week. I miss you all, but I know I am where God needs me to be.

"31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us,who can be against us 32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword 36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the daylong; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. 37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present,nor things to come, 39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." -Romans 8:31-39

Love,
Sister Missy Hutchison

Hula dance!!! Plus the Haka dudes. 

We tried "star fruit" this week!

Saturday morning training

Me and Sister Cope :) 

Another Week Passed

August 15, 2016

Hello Family and Friends!!

Wow, it is Monday again!! Kids in Omaha started school last week, and that was insane to me. I cannot believe the summer is pretty much over. I am not much more tan, but I am ready for the heat to calm down! If you are curious, no, people don't let you in their houses if it is over 100 degrees. They just want you to leave so they can shut the door. Haha. :)

This week was kind of a blurr, so this email may be a little short!!!! But something that happened this week was Zone Conference!! I always love Zone Conference. Then, we all played baseball afterwards together! It was so fun. I actually hit the ball when it was my turn to bat! I was so proud of myself!

I feel like this week we didn't see too many different people. Our investigators all didn't make it to church, which is a bummer. But, we had 2 returning members yesterday! It was such a neat experience. While they were in church, you could truly see a difference in their eyes. One of them, her name is Nadine, and she was kind of standoffish. But, as she is coming back to church, she is so excited about the gospel. It is neat to see her change. The other less active is a woman named Karen. She has PTSD, so it makes it really hard for her to leave her house. But, each day of last week she did things to prepare herself to make it to church. She said she was having a hard time on Sunday morning, but she said a prayer and was able to walk out the door. It was a miracle! She even made sure to let us know that we can expect her at church again next week. Even though our investigators weren't there, less-actives were. The whole idea is to get people to the temple, so whether it is an investigator at church or a less-active, they are both rewarding and important in the eyes of our Heavenly Father.

I was at the Trail Center quite a bit this week. I met a super cute couple, on the way to their mission! They were from Murray, too! The older man worked at Viewmont AND Riverview. Such a small world!

Anyways, I love you all! I hope you have a fantastic week this week :) You are in my prayers!!!

" And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves: for to morrow the Lord will do wonders among you." - Joshua 3:5

Love,
Sister Missy Hutchison

The sisters I serve with got in the habit of calling me "Hutch", so of course I had to get a picture with this store. 

On our way home from service, we saw this because of the Swim Trials were held here. 

Nebraska's nature

We love when balloon artist come into the TC

Sister Chappell and I are true baseball players

SQUAD

Week of Miracles!!

August 8, 2016

Hello Family and Friends!!

Wow, this week has flown by again. The days seem like weeks, but the weeks seem like days. Mission time is so weird!

This was a pretty great week. Sister Janson and I saw so many miracles. I will start by telling you about "Finding Night". On Thursday, President Gardner asked us to clear our schedules so we can have a "finding activity" as a whole entire mission. He asked us not to have a dinner appointment that night, and to not have any appointments from 6:00pm-9:00pm, because those 3 hours were dedicated to finding people to teach. We had a big conference call as a mission a couple hours before we went out for the night, and President Gardner set goals for us all to teach the restoration 3 times, hand out 2 copies of The Book of Mormon, and set 1 person for baptism. He ended the conference call giving us all a blessing. It was neat. At about 5:30, the tornado warnings started going off and it looked like it was about to storm. I know it totally was Satan, because why in the world would he want over 300 missionaries out working hard? When we first got out in our area, it was pretty rough. It was pouring rain, we didn't have a car, and everyone was pretty rude to us. I felt like I was on a sad movie when I was soaking wet and no one was listening while slamming the door in our faces. We were able to teach the restoration within that first hour, but that was about it! Then, in the second hour, we met a nice man who didn't have time for the restoration, but he accepted The Book of Mormon and agreed that we could come back. Earlier that day, we prayed about where we should go and we thought of a specific apartment complex, so, that is where we ended our night! For the last hour, we weren't having too much success. It was about 20 minutes before we had to go home, so we said a prayer and knew that the Lord would help us. We met a nice gentleman, named Jessie, taking groceries out of his car! We asked him if we could help, and he said no. We asked him about his faith in Christ, and he went on about how when he was 12, he became addicted to drugs. He told us how Christ was able to help him become sober. Again, this man didn't have time for us to share a message with him, but we set up an exact return appointment to teach him more, and gave him The Book of Mormon. As we were walking the complex, hoping people would be outside, we saw a cute couple getting out of their car, so we ran up to them, taught them the restoration, but they weren't interested. We had about 5 minutes left in the night, and we still had to teach the restoration 1 more time and set someone for baptism. As we were walking back to our ride, we saw a man walking his dog, and the spirit told us to talk to him. We literally started to run and chased him down. When we got closer, we realized this man was Jessie, who we talked to earlier! We stopped him and told him that God told us to talk to him This through him off, but he let us share the message of the restoration. It was powerful. When we were finished, we invited him to be baptized and he said yes! It was amazing how God truly helped us accomplish our goals that night. He is so mindful of all of us.

I took a cool tour this week at the Trail Center! It was 4 non-member women. They were all really nice, and had a lot of questions. It was really cool how I was able to use so many resources on the tour. They asked about temples, and I was able to give them a "families and temples" pamphlet. They asked about the angel Moroni, and I was able to testify of the Book of Mormon and give them each a copy. They asked if we had a faith in Christ, and I was able to show them the Hallelujah video. God has given us so many resources, and they truly work. They weren't interested in meeting with local missionaries, but I referred them to mormon.org if they ever had any more questions. They even said they would watch Meet the Mormons! As they were leaving, I noticed one of them take a couple more pamphlets about the discussions as they were walking out. Such a neat experience.

This week I was able to go on exchanges with Sister Orton! It was so much fun. It is neat to see how both of us have grown spiritually since the MTC. Teaching with her was a blast, and it was super nice to talk about how our missions have strengthened us both so much in these past 9 months.

Yesterday was a great day! Heavenly Father blessed us. We were able to find quite a few potentials, and we even got 2 investigators! We were trying to find a part-member family, but we didn't have their apartment number! So, we started knocking on all of the doors in the complex. We came across a woman named Angela. As we talked about Christ, she said "I have really been going through a hard time. It is actually really ironic and meant to be that you are here today. Come on in!" And she let us in. Her and her roommate are going through bad breakups, so we were able to teach them how much comfort this gospel brings, and that Christ knows how they feel. They agreed to read the introduction to the Book of Mormon, pray about it, and agreed to let us teach them more. Later that night, we had a lesson with a Less-Active woman. We were reading 3 Nephi 18, and discussing the importance of the Sacrament. Without us even mentioning church, the spirit touched her heart, and she told us that she really should have been at church because she needs the blessings of the Sacrament. She committed herself to go next week, and we were able to create a game plan with her about how she will accomplish that. The spirit is amazing.

Sorry this email is so long, but it was such an amazing week. I am so thankful for the gospel in my life. I know that as we show God how thankful we are for our blessings, he will shower even more blessings upon us. I have really been working on being better with gratitude and gratitude prayers in particular, and this is what I have learned from it. That is why I am here on a mission. God and Jesus Christ has given everything for me. I can give 18 months for them.

I love you all. Have a great week!!

Love,
Sister Missy Hutchison
"And he who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious; and the things of this earth shall be added unto him, even an hundred fold, yea, more." -D&C 78:19

Exchanges!! We found a creepy statue

Exchanges again! A cool mural (is that the right word?)

We were going to use bikes for finding night, but the rain was too hard. So, we took pictures with them instead. 

same ^

Sorry, mom, another mosquito bite.  

P.S. I forgot to send this pic of me and Sister Janson!

Transfer Week is back at it.

August 1, 2016

Hello Family and Friends!!!

Yes, it was transfers this week, and yes.. I did get transferred. This will be my 5th companion in the 7 transfers I have been out, which is kind of unusual. But, that's fine! I am just too much for one person to handle for more than 6 weeks ;)

But yes, I am in a brand new area. I am in, what is called, the "Old Mill" ward, and my companion is Sister Janson. She is very hard working, which is great! She has been out about 3 months, and just got finished being trained.

My new ward is so fun! It is weird, it feels like a mixture of my last two areas. But, I am excited to serve here. It covers some very wealthy mansion areas, and also some very ghetto dangerous areas. It will be an adventure for sure!!!

We found out about transfers on Tuesday morning! Sister Slater and I were studying, and we usually find out about transfers through members, because we ask them to check the ward roster. They texted us back and said we were staying the same, so we were happy and went along our merry ol' way. Then, our Sister Training Leaders called us and said "you guys really haven't heard yet?", and we told them we heard we were staying together. Then, they said the rosters haven't been updated yet, and I was getting sent to Old Mill. It was such a surprise!! So, I packed for a couple hours on Tuesday, then Wednesday was the big switch!

We have a couple investigators we are working with in Old Mill. We met with Terell on Saturday, and had an awesome lesson with him. It was super powerful and he was set on going to church. But.. He exercised his agency and didn't show up. That is okay, though. He'll come around. :) We have another investigator named Tonyia! I haven't met her yet, but I hear she is an amazing woman, and that she is so prepared for the gospel!

Every time I get transferred, I feel such a sense of peace. I know that this is exactly where Heavenly Father needs me to be at this time. :)

I am sorry this weekly email was lame! Hopefully I will have more to talk about next week. Love you all!!

"Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me." - 1 Nephi 21:16

Love,
Sister Missy Hutchison

CARNNNN

Sister Slater and I had to take a cheesy Nebraska picture to end the transfer.

My ward mission leader in Bennington made me this to say goodbye.. haha

Me and my new companion, Sister Janson!