Transfers

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELDER HUNTER HUTCHENS!!! Enjoy your last birthday in Australia for a long time :) haha

Well last week we had transfers early. Usually they would have been today but we have a mission tour happening this week so our mission president did them early. I have gotten transferred.... But don't worry it wasn't the big of a transfer hha. As I mentioned, there were 3 companionships (6 sister missionaries) in this ward but since this transfer they pulled out a companionship and now there are only 2 companionships or 4 sister missionaries. They didn't make any big changes, all that were here stayed. The big change that happened is that we were moved to the other half of our ward boundaries. Sooo we are in a new area but in the same ward. We have all new investigators. We have a family of 3 women, a mother and her two daughters, another family with the same situation of three women, a girl of 26 years named Cristal who will be getting baptized te 28 of february, a older gentleman named Jesus who we are planning for the 7 or march and there a quite a few more. There is a lot of work in this area which I am really happy about BUT our new area is so much bigger than our last so we are trying to not get too lost. 

This last week was full of just a lot of patience because we didn't move into our new house until today. We were travelling a very long distance everyday. It was 30 minutes to get to our area. We have to take buses. However, we are finally all settled in so we will be working a ton....but still not this week haha. Because of our mission tour thing we will be spending two full days in meetings. Then stake conference in this weekend so we will be there a lot as well. It's quite interesting our next week but we will do all that we can.

I feel like this email sounds weird and I just want to make it clear that I think I am sick again. I have been having stomache problems again and I am not sure why. I have to start tomorrow morning not eating to see if I can calm my stomache down so we will see what happens. 

I am so sorry you guys but I haven't been taking as many pictures as I would like because it is a rule that we aren't allowed to carry our cameras around anymore. Our mission president doesn't want us to look like tourists or trouble makers with the circumstances of Mexico right now. We are only allowed to take them with us for special events. We are having a family home evening tonight with a family in our ward so I will be taking my camera to take a picture with their huge dog named Penelope... oh and the family too! hahaha

Love you guys so much! Miss you all!

Hermanaut

An end to the drought!!!!!

I had to do it :)

SHOUTOUTS!!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my AWESOME and VERY YOUNG ;) Bishop Uncle Lynn! Thank you for being such and example to me and showing me the way to the gospel!! ALSO! Happy birthdayyyyyyy POPPA HUCTH BROTHER HUTCHENSSSS!! You too are so very youg and have so many years in front of you! I LOVE YOU BOTH!!!!
 So FINALLY! We saw an end to the three week drought that we had of not having any investigators at church... It was so freaking hard. I am not going to lie, it was so hard. A lot of trials came in this time. But last week we found a lady named Mari. She is incredible!! The day we contacted her I felt this crazy feeling that I already knew her! She has had an unreal amount of trials in her life but she desires with all that she has to do what the Lord wants of her. We go to see her every other day. She loves learning is so very smart! She reads a ton, does the additional study in the pamphlets we give her, and prays. She came to church and looked just like she belonged there. I just love being around her. She is so damaged for her life but also tries so very hard to be the person that God wants her to be.

This is what sleeping in the living room looks like... Last night we
tried to go to bed early because we had stayed up late for the
detector incident... but we couldn't sleep.... So for
20 minutes of the hour early we planned on sleeping
we took pictures instead :) ENJOY

I also completed ONE YEAR in the mission. In only 6 months I will be home. The time has gone by so fast but I just love it here. Sometimes I still can't believe it. I can't believe that I am living in Mexico, speaking Spanish every single day all day, and that I am a missionary. It's so wonderful!

We had a really funny experience Saturday night/ Sunday morning. Our gas/CO detector went off. It's a new thing that the mission has given us, these detectors... and it turns out that nobody knows what to do when it goes off. Haha so after about 2 hours of phone calls between us and our district leader and zone leaders... we ended up pulling out our matresses at 2 in the morning to the living room and sleeping in there for the next two nights. That is the consensus that we and the elders came up to. We are pretty sure the detector just malfunctioned but to be safe this is what we did. It was super awesome haha. 

Anyways, thank you all so much for the kind words that you gave me for the incident that happened. It is comforting to know that you all love me so much to take time to say these things to me. I am doing so much better. I have been studying a lot and learning so many things. I know that this gospel really is the key to the everylasting happiness that we all look and desire for.

I hope you all have a great week!

Hermanaut

Broken hearts and contrite spirits

This email will probably be rather long. I am grateful that our mission president allows us 2 hours to write. I will have to admit that this was probably the hardest week for me in the mission. Harder than even the first month or so when I wanted to go home. I am not really sure how to start this email. On Tuesday afternoon, in a meeting that we had with other missionaries I was informed of a very tragic accident that happened in my last area. I was informed that the oldest son of a family that I worked with there killed himself on Sunday afternoon of last week. I knew that he was passing through some problems but the news still caught me off guard. I love this family so very much. The mother and her daughter accompanied us often. I had talked with him a few times about his mission experience. I could feel the pain in his eyes. As I was told this news, millions of feeling rushed through, around, and into me: saddness, guilt, regret, confusions, hope... There were two occasions in which I felt the impression that we should visit them more often, and not because I didn't want to but because the other requirements of missionary work eventually absorbed these feelings. I will be honest, I lost it. I felt very guilty. Later I came to a very clear understanding that there probably wasn't much that I could have done. I would have wanted to share experiences with him and talked to him about other things that maybe could have helped but I as a missionary certainly would have never been found one on one with a male in those kind of circumstances. I could go on and on about what I felt but it truthfully would distract from the things that I learned. I will tell you though, I truely feel that what happened to me in the time after knowing this information was a very humbling experience. I truthfully compare what I felt to what Alma felt when the angel came unto him.  

"Oh, thought I, that I could be banished and become extinct both soul and body, that I might not be brought to stand in the presence of my God, to be judged of my deeds."

I know that that sounds really dramatic but I had never in my life felt the way that I did. I realized that I knew nothing. My whole body hurt. I got a grip of myself. The mission president was aware of the situation and so his wife came to speak with me. She really helped me out. I still worked that day, I never took any rest days. BUT my body felt so very sore and weak for the next two days. I felt tired. And in the next week I was faced with a lot of challenging people and a lot of experiences that helped me learn. I tried writing down all the things that I had learned but I couldn't. I have been on a pondering spree. I pondered so many things this week. I studied so many different subjects. I wanted to understand so many things. I feel as if there are two things that I really learned this week and I would like to share them with you all.

1. How we choose to react to situations will either free us or bind us.

I will start with my reaction to the news that I recieved. Although it was necessary because it gave me a taste of something I had not tasted before, it also was very unnecessary. As we are fronted with "news" we have the choice to react or ponder. Reacting is a very dangerous thing. I will give two examples. With a boaconstrictor (I think that's how you spell it, but those huge snakes that squeeze their pray to death), for what I understand if the prey of the snake struggles when it finds itself in the grips of the snake, the snake begins to squeeze faster not allowing the animal to have a chance to escape. It's the same concept with quick sand. The more that you struggle in reaction to it or in desperation in the quicksand the quicker it pulls you down.

For the last 4 or 5 years I have found myself so very "bound" with anxiety. In one point of my life, I allowed my anxiety to bring me to a very dangerous situation. As I have grown in these years with it I realize the my anxiety is a purely spiritual problem primarily because I react instead of ponder then act. When a difficult situation enfronted me I reacted with frustration. God had given us the beautiful gift of free agency. This agency allows us to 100% choose in every single situation. He has given us this agency "to act for (ourselves) and NOT to be acted upon." (2 Nephi 2:26) If we allow ourselves to ponder with an prayer in hearts to the situations that we come to we ultmately will be more free. We will be ably to glory in this liberty that we have been given. If we simply react to situations we will be bound by the consequences of them and find ourselves in a very deep hole that we can not get out of ALONE.

2. Love is THE MOST POWERFUL source that is on this planet.

I would like to share the story of Lehi and his dream first with you guys. In a story in the Book of Mormon, a prophet named Lehi had a dream. In his dream he saw a tree that had fruit that was the most desireable and most delicious of all fruit. When he partook of the fruit it filled him with the most happiness he had ever felt. The tree was called the Tree of Life. Lehi told his children about this dream. Later on, one of his children, Nephi wants to know what the whole dream meant so he asks the Lord. This is what the angel that spoke to him said about the tree and what it represented:

 21 And the angel said unto me: Behold the Lamb of God, yea, even the Son of the Eternal Father! Knowest thou the meaning of the tree which thy father saw?

 22 And I answered him, saying: Yea, it is the love of God, which sheddeth itself abroad in the hearts of the children of men; wherefore, it is the most desirable above all things.

 23 And he spake unto me, saying: Yea, and the most joyous to the soul.

All of the problems in this world are caused by our misunderstanding or lack of love. Love is freely given without expecting anything back. I could have easily hid myself up in our apartment waiting for the pain to go away. As a missionary came up to me to see what was wrong I could have shunned her away but the only have found the happiness and peace that I looked for was by allowing others to help me through the process because in others, whether they are good or bad, is where we will find the love of God. The best cure for what I was going through that day was to go out and love and let people help me as well. We came to know a lot of people who are certain the the humanity is so awful and that God doesn't love them so why should they love others... and they are miserable. But they will never be able to taste of the love of God if they do not allow Him to love them through others. As I have suffered with anxiety the number one thing I would do in my attacks was shut everyone else out. We can literally feel the love of God as we let others in and love them despite their imprtfections. And I testify that I know the love of God. I have felt it in very small but powerful occasions. We do not find love in cars, money, our job, or anything else. We find love in the people that sell us that cars, that lend us money, that we work with in our job. We find love in loving others without expecting anything back. We find love and happiness when we allow others to enter our lives without jodgement. We find love in being humble and understanding that God put us here TOGETHER to love one another despite our differences. We find love when we understand others and put their needs before ours. AND WHEN WE FIND LOVE WE FIND THE MOST RIGHTEOUS HAPPINESS IN THE WHOLE UNIVERSE.

I invite you all to ponder before you act and to love someone you never thought you could love. I love you all so much. I hope that this made sense. Everything is really good.

Hermanaut

Changes

I HAVE SHOUT OUTS!!! Yaaaaayyyy!! haha I would like to give al of my love to two very special people! Happy birthday to my cousin Warren Smith and to the beautiful Raxanne Wise!! I seriously hope that you guys are/were so happy on your special days and that you can feel all the love that Heavenly Father has for you guys! Love you!

SO these are some freaking delicious bananas that they
do here. They like cook them in the fire with the peal and all
and are so delicious! It's like banana boats but better! We have
eaten healthy that day so when we were walking back to
our house we decided to buy one to stop such healthiness! haha

These are soy burgers... and I ate them all.... haha 

just kidding but they were super good too!

Today the six of us went to one of our houses and 

made some good food! I made tortillas by hand! 

We made empanadas and for dessert my cinnamon 

chocolate chip (in this case nutella spread because 

there aren't chocolate chips here) banana pancakes! It was super fun!

Well we got some awesome news yesterday in ward counsel after our church services! The stake in which I serve right now is trying to divide our ward! We have about 300 active members so the stake wants to split us! BUT that means we, as missionaries, need to work super hard! We are working with the ward leaders and members to really get more converts! We talked honestly yesterday about getting some more strong members so that we can make this awesome chagnge! I am excited! I know that this is evidence that the Lord is pressuring His work in this area so I KNOW that there are people here in our are who are ready to listen to our message. It really excites me! I was feeling pretty down the other day because we haven't really been able to find a bunch of people but I KNOW that this is an answer to us that as we continue to diligently work to find people the Lord will provide. But we will not recieve a witnes until AFTER the trial of our faith! So we just have to keep going! I already feel skinnier from walking so much! ;) haha!

Well i also wrote changes as the subject because I have a not very exciting announcement to make.. haha. Well, last week I was really worried about my BYU stuff. Well, school in general. In one of my last interviews with my mission president he gave me permission to think about my school and what I will do after the mission because we are coming close to deadlines and what not. I was and am super excited about BYU. But the thing is that sometimes I just didn't have the time to put all of my effort into my application. And I hated thinking about it. But really, I started praying the other night. I was honest with God with my desires (as if He didn't already know haha) and I just told Him that I will do what He wants me to do. I just needed to know where I need to go after the mission. He made it very clear to me and so I am following it. I am not sure what He has planned for me. I know that my plans to go to BYU RIGHT after the mission weren't pure, or in better words, going to BYU is a good idea but for my reasons it was the wrong time. I am going to stay back in Reno for at least another 6 or 7 months after the mission. I feel so very content with this decision. The Lord told me very clearly that I should. I know what I want to happen after the mission ut if the Lord would guide me in another direction I should follow it. I feel so happy about it. I feel relieved. And really, I promised Him that for a year and a half I would serve Him and only Him. As I was thinking about BYU I was trying to serve my other desires. I was called to do this so I am going to put all of my efforts into it. I feel so content with the work that the Lord has had me do thud far. I feel different, changed. I don't want to do what I want anymore because what the Lord wants is better. So, I will be seeing all of in you in Reno for a long time after the mission. I know that at least my family is happy haha. Sorry if I sound dramatic and lame but if there is something that I want you all to know, it's the the Lord knows best. Sometimes we make plans to serve what we want, but when we choose to do what the Lord wants He makes betters plans for us. 

I love this work so much. There is nothing in the world like it. Serving the children of God isn't just a work for a year and a half or two years, it's a daily things 24/7. Love is the most powerful weapon that we possess. And I KNOW that God answers our prayers. I love you all so very much! Have a great week!

Con todo mi corazón,

Hermanaut

Mission Field Double Days

Hi everyone!

So I don't have a lot of time today. This last week was very mentally, spiritually and physically tough. There were two days straight where literally every single one of our appointments fell and there wasn't a single member home. SO we walked. And walked some more. And walked even more. Friday from 10:30 in the morning until 3 in the afternoon we walked. Then From 4 in the afternoon until 7 we walked. (We are now entering our houses before dark if we don't have a member with a car accompaning us for security.) Then Saturday we had a lesson at 10:30. Then from 11:30 until 3 and 4:30 until 7 again, we walked and walked and walked. I literally was sore on Saturday after Friday. We did the best we could but we can't make anyone do anything. And for some reason, today we decided to go back to Tepotzlan! Remember, the HUGE mountain with the pyramid on top?! Well I loved it all over again and we actually climbed up to the pyramid and one of the little animal creature things climbed up my leg. It's so beautiful! 

I am going to add a bunch of pictures this week because I haven't for two weeks. Sorrrrrry. And without captions because I don't have time. But I seriously love missionary work. I love this place and these people. I feel the Lord more in my life. I am making changes. I just want to be the person that the Lord wants me to be. 

I love you all so much. Until next week :)

Hermanaut

Me with that animalito
IT IS NOT BITING MY FINGER!
MY FINGER IS IN IT?S MOUTH! hahaha

Just happy :)

Well, I feel like I have a ton to say. I love my new area and my new companion. The weather here right now is PERFECT which is awesome because we have A LOT more hills and mountains in this area than I have ever had in the mission. Honestly, there are a ton. I am looking forward to losing to pounds haha. Honestly, I am just really happy. My companion and I are on the same page. We stick to 100% obedience. We have the same goals, the same thought process, and we are both OK with a little bit of healthy silence. We have expressed our desires for this change and I know that we will complete them. We saw a lot of miracles in the last week. We had new people every day to teach and all were very accepting of our message. We are working with a part-member family, the Gomez family. The mother is less-active and her two children, Monica (15)  and Abraham (18, almost 19) are very willing to build their faith in Jesus Christ. Hermana Canales and I have decided that we want to work a lot in activation. The ward is seriously huge and we are in the part that is the least cared for. It seems that we have a lot of less active families who live here. BUT the best thing is that we have the ex bishop in our area. Brother Martin (the ex bishop) worked very hard in his 5 years to expand the members in what was his small branch to a ward, then from a ward sharing a building with another ward, to having their own building. His succeeded a lot in his time. He loves missionary work. His son is the mission. And more than that, he is just a great man. His wife is suffering from a very difficult health problem. Her kidneys have completely stopped working. In the last 3 years her body has completely decayed. She can't walk, has a very strict diet, and it's just a very difficult situation. But I have never seen such a loving husband. He is very faithful in Christ and understands the Atonement and that the GOSPEL is true and real. But anyways, we are working with him because he knows the members in this area and so we want to activate a lot of people and we know that if we just work hard and be obedient and just love and have the best intentions the Lord will bless us. I

I have made some huge changes in these last few weeks. Well, I have tried. I say I have tried because I really haven't done anything but the Lord has done everything. I feel very different. I have been trying so very hard to put all of my confidence and faith the Christ. I have asked Him to give me strength to do things that I never thought that I could. He has blessed me in so many ways. I only have 6 months left. I have looked back at my time in the mission and feel very content. I see errors and imperfections. But I also see the huge change that the Lord has made in my heart. I know that I could have given more at some points or that I could have done something better at other points but I just feel grateful because this whole time I know that I was just giving the best that I could in those moments. And I see now that my best is still getting better, that although it's been up and down, it's always been going up. I have been blessed so much. I feel so grateful. I actually know what gratitude for blessings feels like. I realized a while ago that I was so prideful that I didn't even feel grateful when something happened. But now I just feel such utter gratitude. I have made changes here in the mission that I could have not accomplished in any other place. Maybe my reason to go on a mission in the first place wasn't so great but the Lord works in very odd ways to help us go where we need to go. He is so loving. God and our Savior Jesus Christ love us so very much. His plan is a plan of pure love to help His children come back to Him. I am really not sure what waits for me when i get back in six months. I know what I would like but I am giving up my wants and just letting God do what He wants with my life. I have made some decisions to help me let Him make of my life what He wants. They are small changes and decisions but are things that I think will help me put my life in His hands. I just feel different. I am just so grateful.

So I guess with that said I just want to leave my testimony. I know that this Gospel is real and true. I know that the Book of Mormon is pure and simple and testifies of simple and small restored truths that are one hundred percent necessary to be able to give our lives up to God. I know that what waits for us is what should motivate us to work harder every day. I know that Christ IS THE ONLY WAY. I love this Gospel. I know that as we come to understand it line upon line, precept upon precept, we learn things that we never thought that we would and it changes us in a way that we never thought we could change. I know that the happiness of our lives depends on the love that we do or do not choose to give to every single person in this world whether "they deserve it" or not. BUT EVERY PERSON IN THIS WORLD DESERVES LOVE. And if God loves us being the sinners that we are then why should we choose who does or doesn't deserve our love? I testify that Christ live and that He works in our lives daily. He is waiting to receive us with arms opened very wide. In the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen.

I love every single one of you. Thank you so much for supporting me in this time in my life.

Hermanaut 

Cuernavaca!!!

Well I have two great announcements! One, today I was transferred to a new area IN CUERNAVACA!!!! This city is where the mission home is and I have wanted to be here since I got to the mission and it finally happened! I am in the Cuernavaca Zone in an area called Burgos C. There are THREE sets of sister missionaries in this ward! AND this is where my trainer finished her mission! I am stoked to be here and have this new start. Really, the area is pretty new. We don't have many investigators but I am super stoked to get things going! The other anouncement is that TODAY I complete 11 months in the mission! Whaaaat?! In one month I will have ONE YEAR. The time is going by but not too fast and not too slow.

Last week we went to the Lima familes house for New Years Even dinner. We ate Pozole with is this DELICIOUS soup dish thing. It's truly to die for. The Lima's lived the farthest away from our area and out house so we got to stay with the other sisters in that ward for the night. We really enjoyed it and we were able to start off the new year well! 

On Saturday we enjoyed the baptism of Roberta (10) and Frida (8). These beautiful girls and their parents came to us from another ward. The girls had beed waiting to get baptized for a long time. Their parents are not members still. They like to do a lot of worldly things still. They finally let their girls get baptized. I must say, this baptism was one of the most special and I am not sure why. Although they were both very young they worked incredibly hard to be able to get to this point. Frida, the younger one was very shy. In the beginning of the lessons with them if we asked her a question she would get nervous and scared and start to cry. We worked with her a ton to get rid of her fears. Yesterday was fast and testimony meeting where everyone who wants to can go up to the microphone and give their testimony. Well, as I sat next to Frida I suggested to her that she should go give hers. Well it took a bit but she finally told me that should would if I went with her. So we went up together. She held me hand the whole time and I stood next to her as she said "I know that this church is true. I know that God listens to our prayers up there in the heavens. In the name os Jesus Christ, amen." Well you all know me and know that I had tears in her eyes. As we sat back down with her dad he just looked at his daughter in amazement and kissed her on the forehead. Frida's parents had commented to us several times that she lacked a lot of confidence and was afraid to be away from her parents but as we have been able to teach her she has been a lot better. I feel so blessed to have seen this miracle. I know that Christ is merciful with all those that believe in His name and even with those who have hope for something better. He loves us and give us the courage we need to grow and be strong.

I am grateful for this new year. I am grateful to be in this new area. My companion just got done with her training. I am excited to work with her. I have been blessed with another Mexican companion, Hermana Canales from the state of Durango. I always get excited to wrk with sisters that have just gotten our of training because they have so much life, love and excitement for the work. I know we are going to continue seeing miracles.

Love you all and happy new year!

Hermanaut