Mission Reflection!

Mission Reflection Thoughts!

About my mission president…

My Companions…

Areas where I served…

What I learned about myself on my mission…

What I learned about my Savior…

What I learned about His Atonement…

How my mission helped me be a better priesthood holder…

How my mission prepared me to be a good father and husband...

The hardest part of my mission…

The best part of my mission…

I never want to forget…

My Testimony…

Doctrine of Christ / Train Track Analogy

Hey everyone, I hope all of you got to watch some of conference over the weekend, it was so good! I love how there were many talks on the doctrine of Christ, this is found in the 31 chapter of 2 Nephi and it outlines what we need to do to live with our Heavenly Father again. The doctrine of Christ is like this train track, it will guide us to where we need to go and what we need to be doing in this life to receive eternal life. We may not be able to see the end or even where we are going, but it will guide us to where we need to go. The train tracks also outline the straight and narrow path that we need to follow. As long as we stay in the tracks, we can live with our Heavenly Father again. Love you all and have a wonderful week!

Love, Elder Hutchings

My Companion, Elder McKeachnie, from Vernal!

MY ZONE!

Never too late to find the Gospel!

Hey everyone,

This week has been a really good week. We have been struggling finding some new people to teach, but all is well. The Lord is blessing us for trying. We have one investigator that is progressing to baptism, her name is Christine. She is pretty cool, she has been investigating for over 20 years and now she says it is time to do it. She is super excited to do it. She came to church yesterday and has to come 3 more times until she can get baptized, so she should be getting baptized around the 1st of November. The sisters in our ward have been teaching this guy named Greg. He has severe cancer and only has weeks to live. It is sad that he is going to be passing soon, but his story will make anyone humble themselves before the Lord. He was raised up around the church, but his dad told him all of this anti stuff about the the LDS church. Then, he got cancer and some of his family members asked to have the missionaries give him a blessing. He felt the Spirit so strong that he started asking questions. This past week, he was told that he only had weeks to live and so our mission president told the sisters that he needs to get baptized and so now he is baptized! I know that Greg will do tons of work in the spirit world. I am so glad that he had an opportunity to find the the restored gospel before he passed. It is NEVER too late for anyone to find the gospel! The gospel is for EVERYONE, not just the elect! I hope all of you have a wonderful week and love you all!

Elder Hutchings

The ELDERS!

"WHAT DO I HAVE TO SACRIFICE TO GET MY PRAYERS ANSWERED?"

Hey everyone, this week has been a wonderful week of finding the people who the lord has prepared for this wonderful gospel. I have seen the hand of the Lord in my life so much this past week, it has been crazy! This week has just been awesome! I love this gospel.  The subject I want to talk about for this week is the power of prayer and how when you think you are asking too much from the Lord he still will answer your prayers. We had a member talk to us about prayer and how he has learned to get his prayers answered. The question I want to ask is: WHAT DO I HAVE TO SACRIFICE TO GET MY PRAYERS ANSWERED? If you think about it, this gospel is all about sacrifice, but most of all the one that got sacrificed for us. 

When we say our prayers, we close in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen, have you ever wondered why? It is because as human beings we are mortal and mortal bodies are subject to sin. We say that our words are worthy to reach Heavenly Father through his Son. Think about that for a minute. Then, think about the Atonement. If we didn't have the atonement, we couldn't even pray to our Heavenly Father, cause we wouldn't be worthy to. The atonement is everything in this gospel!! There is not a part of this gospel that the atonement is not a part of. Think about it in John 3:16 ''God gave the world His only Begotten Son'' just so we could even talk to him! Remember that when you are praying. Heavenly Father wants to hear from us all as much as we can, He loves talking to us! Use the atonement, it is truly the best thing in this gospel, it make this whole thing spin and keeps the church true!  

The next thing I want to talk about is the Book of Mormon. In our mission, we have a goal to hand out almost 5000 Books of Mormon. We are truly trying to flood the earth with the Book of Mormon and help others gain the knowledge of the restored gospel through the Prophet Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. The District I am in has a goal of 140 and we are praying every day to reach our goal and share the blessing of the Book of Mormon with as many people as we can! I would like you all to share your testimony with someone who is not a member of the church or with someone who is struggling with the gospel. Love you all and have a wonderful week!

Love, Elder Hutchings

History of the Book of Mormon - What a blessing!

Hey everyone,

This week has been an okay week. We had ZTM (Zone Training Meeting) this week and it was on the history of the Book of Mormon and how it came to be. Did you know that after they lost the book of Lehi, they made a double copy of everything that got translated so it took twice as long as it needed to. Joseph had to read every word; word for word and on the urim and thumim, new words wouldn't change until they had it exactly right. Today, I had to go to the hospital again and this time I had to get an x-ray on my foot. I thought I broke it, but luckily it is not broken. I am on crutches for a little while to help the swelling go down; it is super swollen! So this week I get to take it easy.  (: I would invite all of you to study the history of the Book of Mormon cause it is truly the greatest blessing we have to guide us in this life. Study the Book of Mormon, it is what keeps me going day to day. Love you all, have a wonderful week!

Elder Hutchings

Ultimate Tie Trade!

Hey everyone, this week has been a good week. We have found a few new people and they are awesome. We met Dave and his family, he wants to get his family into a church and wants to be an example to his kids! So, we are looking forward to teaching him the true gospel of Jesus Christ! Then, we met a few less actives that we are hoping to reactivate. Today, we had the ultimate tie trade and I got some really nice ties! This week we have Zone Training Meeting and I am looking forward to getting to learn more about this wonderful gospel. Good luck to all of you that are out hunting this week! Hope you all kill a big one! Love ya all!

Elder Hutchings

Fisher of Men!

Hey everyone,
How the heck is everyone doing? Sorry I didn't send an email last week, I ran out of time to write one! These last few weeks have been rough! But when you keep enduring, it will show you what you are made out of.

Me and my comp have really been struggling with finding people, but we are slowly finding new people everyday. The other night, we were up walking around this pond that isn't too far from our apartment and I see this guy fishing and I knew I had talked to him before. So, I am like ''Do I know you?'' and he is like "I have seen you somewhere, too". Then I remember I talked to him there before and showed him how to catch a fish. Then, I go grab my pole and we teach him and fish at the same time haha!!!

Friday, I had to spend the day in the hospital, it was rough, but I am doing good...no problems now! I know my mom loved talking to my mission president! Well, love you all and have a wonderful week!

Love, Elder Hutchings

BEST DISTRICT IN THE WORLD!

New Companion - Elder McKeachnie / Testimony

Hey everyone, this week has been one heck of a week! We ended up getting bed bugs! They are the most evil little bugs ever! Their bites hurt way bad and they will never leave you alone! I got a new comp, his name is Elder Mcheachnie. He is from Vernal and he loves hunting and fishing, just like I do, so we get along really well. I have been lucking out these last couple of transfers on getting good companions! Last night, we had this guy come up to us and start talking to us saying we are crazy for what we believe and how the devil has a hold of us, but don't worry it is never to late to be saved! I am getting so sick of people like that and telling us what we need to believe in. He was literally quoting the Book of Mormon and the D&C and using it against us. It was kind of impressive that he did that much research to try to prove us wrong. I cannot wait until judgement day when I get to say, "I told you so" to some of these people like that! 

I would just like to bear you all my testimony that "I know this church is true and no matter how many people keep telling me it's not, I am still going to keep reading and learning about this incredible gospel! I know that Joseph Smith is the prophet that did restore this true church today! I know that Thomas S. Monson is his living prophet today and he is guiding this church. I know that the Book of Mormon is true and that one can come closer to God from reading from it! I know that the priesthood authority is now once again restored and worthy men can act in God's name. I know that the power of the Atonement is real and that one can repent of their past sins and with this power anything is possible! I know that my Savior lives and he was guided by the Father to do His will! I know that He died for ALL of our sins, no matter how big or small! I know that by enduring to the end one can have eternal life. I know that with the power in the temple, we can have forever families! I love this wonderful gospel and the happiness it brings not only to me, but to others also! I say these things in the name of my brother and Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen!''

LOVE you all and have a wonderful week!

Love, Elder Hutchings

Marcus' Baptism!

Hey, how is everyone doing? Sounds like everyone is doing all of the fun stuff without me, what the heck! This last week we had the opportunity to baptize Marcus, this little guy is so awesome. He showed up late to church on Sunday, so he will get confirmed next week, but I am really looking forward to doing that and use my priesthood power a little bit. We are starting to slow things down a little bit. We are starting to slowly run out of our investigators, so that means it is time to go find some to teach. We should have another in the next couple of weeks. My comp, Elder Younger, is getting transferred, so I am going to be getting another new comp. I will miss Younger, he has been a really fun comp to serve with! Well everyone, have a wonderful week.

Love,
Elder Hutchings

July 2016 - Elder Younger, Marcus, Me! 

Elder Hutchings - Syracuse, NY - July 2016

Really Good Week!

Hey everyone this week has been really good. We are going to be having a baptism this Saturday the guy's name is Marcus is a really small short black man and he is super excited to get baptized! My comp is going to baptize him and i am going to confirm him on sunday. Then next week we are going to be having another baptism too his name is Bill morgan he is super awesome. The work is going really well in this area we are teaching a ton of people here and it is awesome, this last week we had a meeting with our president and he taught us about faith and it was awesome! something so simple as faith. Faith is in EVERYTHING in the gospel! so i want everyone to see how they can increase there faith these next couple of weeks! Love you all and have a wonderful week.😉

Worldly People

Hey, how the heck is everyone doing? This week has been a pretty good week, We have been doing lots of work here on the west side. We have about 4 really promising investigators, 2 should be for sure getting baptized at the end of this month so we are really looking forward to that. On Saturday, we had this one guy come up to us and just rip into us about how if we had money we would be so much happier in this life. It was an eye opener for me to see how people can just get set on the worldly things in this life and see what really matters to them. He had a little kid backpack and he was telling us that there was 10 grand in there, so why would he need our money? We almost end up getting in a fight with him, but we just finally told him to leave and wouldn't talk to him any more and he just left.

Then, on Thursday, we had this guy tell us that we have no clue what we believe in and I was an exchange with this new missionary and it was just awesome to see him take things over. He said, ''excuse me but sir you can't tell me what I know to be true and have a good day''. I am thankful to be able to testify of the truth and people cannot argue with your testimony. When we testify it is the truth, it makes them think or just leave us alone. I know that when we testify, the Lord truly will bear witness to them that this is His wonderful gospel!

I just want you all to know that if you are struggling with anything, and if you start taking the baby steps, the Lord will help you along the way. ''It is by the small and simple things that great things come to pass!" Love you all and have a wonderful week!

Love, Elder Hutchings

4th of July - Religious Freedom!

Hello Everyone! How are all of you doing? Are you having a good 4th of July weekend? This last week has went by super fast. We are still doing a lot of exchanges with the other elders in our district. We only have one more left, so that will be over with for this transfer finally! We had an opportunity to go fishing this last week. I got to catch some large mouth bass, but none of them were very big. Syracuse is such a crazy place to go teaching. We have had the oppurtunity to meet so many people and tell them about this wonderful gospel that we have. The good thing about living in such a populated area is that you will always have a lot of people to teach. I love serving here and to be able to help others strengthen their testimonies. Today has been fun, we have have gotten to play basketball a bunch of the other elders that serve around here. Then, we got to go to the ward party that was going on and we are going to be having a BBQ with some of the other missionaries. 

As we celebrate this wonderful July 4th holiday, our hearts turn to the Lord’s blessings in

helping our forefathers obtain their freedom and create our nation. As one ponders all that

had to happen for the United States of America to take its place in the history of the world’s

nations, one can see the hand of the Lord in every step of the way. Much has been written

about this choice land and our founding fathers. Miracles occurred in many places and in many

ways for this nation to take its place on the stage of world history. We know that a country

had to be established founded upon principles of righteousness, law and religious freedom

before the Lord could restore His church and His kingdom upon the earth. The Lord has

secluded, protected and prepared this land from the creation of the earth for this wise

purpose. This was all revealed to Nephi years ago, “And inasmuch as ye shall keep my

commandments, ye shall prosper, and shall be led to a land of promise; yea, even a land which

I have prepared for you; yea, a land which is choice above all other lands.” 1 Nephi 2:20

I love you all and have a wonderful week!

Elder Hutchings

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