Crazy Week! Trip to Utica / Baptism

Hey everyone! This last week has been crazy! We have had so much going on. We had a baptism on Saturday which went really well. It is awesome how quickly people can change when they have the gospel in their lives. The girl that got baptized has been a great example to her family. Now, all of her family members have been reactivated and are going to church every week. She and her sister are going to the temple next week for baptisms for the dead. 

On Thursday, we had to go return and report up to Utica and it was really nice to see all of the people I came out of the MTC with and see how they are doing. When we got to Utica, we were surprised to see our zone leaders there. Come to find out, one of them started to have some heart problems and had to go home. It was a really sad moment when we first heard this, he was a really good friend and a great missionary. It was awesome to be part of the blessing that President gave him before he got sent home. Having 10 missionaries and the mission president as part of this blessing was awesome. It was such a powerful blessing, the spirit was so strong. He did serve a good mission and I know our Heavenly Father knows that, too.  He will be blessed for it. I am looking forward to another baptism this week and hopefully more to come. Love you all and have a good week.

Sincerely,

ELDER HUTCHINGS

Power and Testimony of the Book of Mormon!

Weekly Letter from President Rogers:

Preach My Gospel chapter 5 teaches us the role of the Book of Mormon in missionary 

work. We learn and are able to testify to those we teach that the Book of Mormon is the 

Keystone of our religion. It testifies of Christ and is indeed “Another Testament of Jesus 

Christ”. The book answers questions of the soul and it draws people nearer to God. We learn

how the Book of Mormon and the bible support each other and how to use the book to 

respond to objections to the Church. The Book of Mormon, combined with the Spirit, is our 

most powerful resource in the conversion process. We must use it as the main source of our 

teaching of the restored truths of the gospel.

Reading, pondering, and praying about the Book of Mormon are critical for an enduring 

conversion. I have so much enjoyed placing a Book of Mormon in the hands of those I have 

taught, explaining that they held in their hands the “evidence” that what we are teaching is 

true. Those that read, ponder and pray will receive an answer that Joseph Smith is a prophet 

of God and that the true Church has been restored. 

In our ZTM we passed out an article by Pres Benson entitled, “Flooding the Earth with 

the Book of Mormon”. This talk was presented in General Conference (long before any of you 

were born) and its principles ring as true today as when it was given. I hope to be able to 

flood our mission with the Book of Mormon. We need to learn to use it better. We need to 

learn how to “place it” with people such that they will have a strong desire to read it and ask 

the right questions. We need to use it in all our teaching. We need to quote from it. We need 

to answer “questions of the soul” from it. In short we need to make the Book of Mormon the 

basis and backbone of all our teaching. We certainly need to help those we teach read it 

better and read more of it. I would hope that all those that come into the waters of baptism 

have read “much” of the Book of Mormon, and certainly all must have a testimony of this 

great volume of scripture before they can be baptized. 

The Lord promised Nephi and all of us at that day when He shall proceed to do a 

marvelous work among the children of men that “my words shall “hiss” forth unto the ends of 

the earth, for a Standard unto my people” (2 Nephi 29:1-2). What are these words.....the 

Book of Mormon! Let us go forth and HISS which means to proclaim and testify of the Book 

of Mormon. We should be hissers and testifiers of this great volume of scripture. Let us flood 

the NYUM with this great evidence of the restoration, the Book of Mormon. Have a great 

week.

Love, President Rogers

Hi Everyone,

This is the weekly message that we got this week from President Rogers. I think it is appropriate to share this with you all! As being a missionary you have to understand the power and the Testimony of the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon is the truth to all things about the gospel. I would like to invite you all to read it, ponder it, pray about it, and most of all use it in your life. I just started over reading the Book of Mormon and I have been marking all things that show Christ-like attributes. You can look up some of Christ's attributes in D&C Chapter 4. When you read, also look for the word (seed) = the word of God and it is crazy how many times you will see this word. 

Love you ALL, 

Sincerely, ELDER HUTCHINGS

​Me and Moses

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Six Investigators to Church!

This week has been a really good week. I went on my first exchange with the other elders in my district. It was really fun to meet their investigators and help them get pointed in the right direction. Well, I am so blessed to be able to be out on a mission and it is awesome to be able to walk these streets and be the only light that these people see. I don't think I have seen so many people so grateful just for the little things in their lives. Most of the people where I teach are super poor and they would give their right arm just to help the missionaries. I love every one of these people even the ones that as we walk the streets flip us off and swear at us. I wish I could just stop some of them and help them get pointed in the right direction.

This week we had every one of our six investigators show up to church this Sunday! It was so awesome to see them and they want to keep coming! We are teaching this one family, they are super poor and are so grateful just for us to stop by and say hi! The mom's name is April and she has been baptized already, but she wants to be the example to her kids and go to the temple. She is taking every step to get there and it is awesome to see her change and how the gospel can bless people's lives!

 

This is one of my favorite quotes from conference: " if a man can restore a completely destroyed and ruined city, how much more capable is your Heavenly Father in restoring you?" -Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Love You ALL!

Auston

Grateful for Conference!

I cannot say how grateful I am for conference! When you are truly looking for questions to be answered and inspiration to keep feeding our Heavenly Father's sheep, he WILL answer your question! This past weekend, as I watched conference for the first time as a missionary, I have never felt the love of MY Savior so much! With every talk, I was able to just keep receiving answers from what should I do tomorrow! or what lesson should I teach my investigators tonight. I am so very grateful for our prophet, Thomas S. Monson and how he is the example to all of us. He was not able to give a long talk, but in the simple and powerful talk he was able to give you could just feel his love for us. Remember Elder Holland's talk and keep remembering the feeling all of us had yesterday and strive to keep it with us 'til next conference. I loved all of the talks on Temples and how they are so important to us and how we should always be worthy to go there, be worthy of the temple, and have that blessing with us always. I am so very grateful for everyone's prayers. I cannot describe how when you can hear someone say, "please bless the missionaries" you can truly feel the love and blessing from every prayer that is said and heard. Thank you so much for all the love and support! 

I would like to give every one a challenge that we were taught by one of the members here the other day. I would like to share that with you...as everyone goes throughout their days, remember this one question. How/when have I seen the hand of the Savior in my life today? Write it down and when you end your day, ask yourself that question and think about it or even write it in your journal.

-Elder Hutchings