Serving Can Be Fun!

Hello everyone! This week has been way fun. I am learning a new side of missionary work and it is to have fun while you do the work. My new comp has shown that to me. To be a successful missionary, you have to have fun with it or you will just not be successful. We have been so busy this week and it has been super fun! I have been on exchanges this week with a lot of other missionaries and it is going to be the same this week! Last Tuesday, we had the opportunity to help one of the members do a motor swap in an old Tahoe and well we got really greasy and oily so we couldn't ride in our car like that. So we road home shirtless and it was way funny to see some of the looks that we got. I don't think the black people of Syracuse have ever seen a couple of shirtless hillbillies before haha. We got some of the craziest looks ever! I don't think I have ever laughed so hard in my life! 

Then, me and my comp went exploring our area this week and we found some awesome places to go try tracting and best of all to go fishing. I am pumped about that, to go fishing again! I hope I can still catch some fish! This week we also had Zone Conference and it was on the atonement and how we can help others to understand it. The atonement is used in every little peace of the gospel and we really went in deep on this subject. When we can help others use the atonement there is no greater joy than that and I have been able to see it change so many people's live here in such a short little while! I am so grateful for this wonderful gospel and my Savior; Jesus Christ, for his atonement for all of us to be able to be forgiven of no matter what sins we have committed. I am grateful for the Book of Mormon and how with the atonement it is the most powerful thing we can share with others. I know that by the power of the Holy Ghost we can come to know for ourselves all things and to be able to testify of it. I love you all and have a wonderful week!

Syracuse with Elder Younger

Hey everyone, it has been a really good week. My new area is awesome and we are teaching a ton of people. We have 7 investigators on date for baptism, I am not sure how many will make it to that point, but we are finding and teaching a ton of people in this area. Syracuse is a really big city and I know the Lord has prepared people for us to teach here and I am so excited to find them. I am getting along really well with my new companion, his name is Elder Younger and he is actually from Syracuse, Utah, which is kind of funny. The people we are teaching are really awesome and I hope that they will be able to make it to baptism. The ward I am serving in is a pretty big ward. It is a lot bigger than the little branch I was at last week. I hope everyone had a Happy Father's Day and had a good day with their families. My new address is:

Elder Auston Hutchings

3183 Bellevue Ave., Apt A6

Syracuse, NY 13219

Sheerin' Sheep!

Hey everyone, I am getting transferred to Syracuse (west side)! I am pretty pumped about that. My new companion will be Elder Younger. I will be leaving to go there on Wednesday and it sounds like I will be there for quite awhile, probably 6 months or so. I am excited to go there I have heard it is a really fun area to serve in. We will be playing lots of basketball it sounds like with the ballers on the street playing street ball haha.

I would just like to wish all of you fathers out there Happy Father's Day and thank you for all that you do! This week, we got to go to one of the member's farm and help the Amish people sheer their sheep and build fence. It was quite funny. Me and my Comp have been sick this week so we have been dead for a couple of days now, but we are doing awesome now and we are both pumped for this next week. He will be training a new missionary and I will miss him along with my other companion when I leave for Syracuse. I probably won't see them again 'til I get back home. Both of them have less than 2 transfers left. I miss you all and have a wonderful week!

Me chasing after sheep lol!

Herkimer, New York -- Elder Covarrubias

Well everyone, this has been one crazy week. I have been from one end of the state to the other. I was really sad to leave the Albany ward. I was just getting to know the people and just knowing my left from my right, but I am glad to see some new country. My new companion's name is Elder Covarrubias. He is awesome and a great missionary. He has been doing a lot of good work in this area. We are serving in Herkimer, New York and this place is weird. The branch we go to only has about 30 active members so it is a really small congregation. We have about 5 investigators and a few with baptism dates. I am going to get transferred again next Wednesday but not sure where I will get transferred to just yet. Today, we had the opportunity to go hike the bald mountain trail and it was way fun. There is this giant tower at the end of the trail that overlooks a bunch of lakes. Upstate New York is a beautiful place. Then, we went to a members house and he BBQ'd for us. It was a really fun day. Well everyone, have a great week and love you all.

April Onley and her family.

Roberta Farrell

My new comp! Elder Covarrubias!

Upstate New York is beautiful!

Hiking bald mountain trail. 

TRANSFER!

Hey, everyone! So, this morning we got a call from our mission president and me and my comp are getting emergency transferred to an new area...so don't send anything to the address I have right now. I am sad to leave this area. I am just getting to know the area and then I get transferred. I am going up north to a place called Herkimer and then I will probably go to Syracuse in 2 weeks, so lots of moving in the next couple of weeks. So this last week we have been trying to find new people to teach and we have taught a few, but to no effect. The lady that wanted to be baptized I was telling you about last week, she probably isn't going to get baptized now. She changed her mind and we haven't come in contact with her in 2 weeks. I will give you all some more info next week when I get to my new area and tell you how it is. Love you all and have a great week!

Surprise!

Hey everyone, how are all of you doing? Well, this week has been a really long week. We had ZTM (Zone Training Meeting) this week. I learned a lot from President Rogers this week. The meeting was on the Doctrine of Christ and how we need to have it planted in our soul as missionaries. As members of the church, all of us have some knowledge of the doctrine, but all of us don't know as much as we need to know. Being on a mission, I have learned so much about the doctrine and how I can use it to teach others. It is incredible how the simple ones like faith can be so complex! This week we were teaching one of our investigators named Sara. Sara has been through a lot in her life, but the first day I was here on my mission I shared my testimony about the Book of Mormon combined with how church can heal the soul and that week she went to church. This past Tuesday, we went over to teach her and well right as we sit down she says," I want to be Baptized!" I was not expecting this at all and well she brought a friend and she says I want to be baptized too! So now we they are getting baptized on June 18. It was so exciting to hear her say that! Well, love you all and have a wonderful week!

Elder Hutchings

Lots of Service and Lots of Rain!

Hey everyone, this week has been going pretty good we have been doing lots of service still and we are struggling to still find people to teach, but are trying our hardest to find the people the Lord has prepared for us to meet. Not a whole lot has been going on out here, but we are having our ztm (Zone Training Meeting) this week and I am looking forward to that. The rains still have not stopped out here! The other day we were out walking in a monsoon rainstorm and had a broken umbrella...so lots of fun with that. President Rogers announced that if we live within 2 hours of a temple, we are allowed to go now! Unfortunately, I do not live within 2 hours, so I don't get to go in this area but that's okay. Love you all and have a wonderful week!

-Elder Hutchings