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This week has been a roller coaster! It's really easy to get discoraged here in the MTC and I had a couple not-so-good days. I prayed and prayed asking for help to be uplifted. The thought of coming home crossed my mind. It wasn't a major though, but it was there briefly. I was looking forward to Sunday because it's always a spiritutally uplifting day. The break from classes are nice. I was hoping for some spiritual uplifting, but I never got it. It wasn't a bad day, but I was still feeling discouraged and nothing was really helping. Then we had devotional in the evening. Devotionals are probably my favorite days. I hadn't heard of the woman who spoke before, her name is Mary Ann Edmunds. Have you heard of her? Anyway, I know that her talk was for me. Every word she said resonated with my soul and calmed my troubled heart. Not to mention she was downright hilarious. She told a story about a mother mouse with her baby mice walking through the grass when suddenly a menacing cat came. The mother mouse proceeded to bark at the cat and scared it away. The mother turned to her babies and said, "Now I know why my mom wanted me to learn a new language." I don't know if that's very funny to you, but being in the MTC trying to learn a new language, it was hilarious. She was also talking about how there were two different plans in the pre-mortal life. She referred to Satan's plan as the 'dumb' plan and said, "All those who went with Satan's plan are no-bodies!" and she said she likes to call Satan 'Mr. What's-his-no-face....because it annoys him." Holy cow, she made us laugh so much, it was great. She also talked about loving your mission and making the most of it. She said, "Everyday when you wake up, say YES to your mission." It was exactly what I needed to hear. The last couple days have been great! I wake up and say yes to my mission every day. Tuesday we had another devotional. Elder Nash of the seventy spoke. I feel like his name is familiar. Did he speak at a recent conference? Anywho, him and his wife both gave wonderful talks. I just love the opportunity we have to listen to the servants of the Lord. It's powerful and uplifting.

 

I don't know if I mentioned this in my last letter, but I love my district! and my zone. I'm pretty sure we have the best district and zone in the whole MTC. In my district we have Elder N our district leader, Elder H, Elder S, Elder F, Elder J, Sister H, Sister T and my companion Sister S. Last week the Elders were itching to give us all blessings. It was such a cool night. Elder J had never given a blessing before so I made sure he gave me one. He was nervous, but he did a good job. I'm really grateful for our Elders and their willingness to serve the Lord and exercise their preisthood. Funny story. So the MTC gave us these waterbottles that filter water, like the lady at the distribution center told us.  Well, Elder N wanted to put it to the test. hahahaha so he took it to the bathroom and peed in it.....and yes, he drank it. The amazing thing...it came out water! And he said it was good! Oh man, I love having Elders that are both hilarious and spiritual. Elder S always makes funny noises when he tries to speak Spanish. Elder F is short and, bless his heart, is just really terrible at Spanish...for now. Elder H is pretty quiet, but he has a really strong testimony. And the Hermanas are all awesome. We've gotten pretty close. Hermana H is super atheletic and Hermana T is just super sweet. And I think I told you about Hermana S in my letter last week.

 

Our zone is awesome too. Our district leaders are Elder N and Elder B and the Elders in their district are crazy. It's a district of all Elders. And they're all crazy! They like to have 'challanges'. Let's just say meals are always entertaining. One of the challenges they like to do is the orange juice challenge. The orange juice at the MTC gives you the runs, it's a known fact. So they see how many orange juices they can drink before they have to run to the bathroom. I wanna say their record is 6. It's hilarious though.

 

I also love my teachers. I think I told you about our investigator Matias? Well he ended up being one of our teachers, he name is really Brother L. He's pretty cool. And then there's Brother S. He is AWESOME! He's been our teacher for longer so we know him a bit better. He is so passionate about the gosple and Chile, where he served his mission. He loves Spanish and he pushes us really hard, but in a good way. They're both really awesome. I'm grateful for them both. I feel like I got the long end of the stick here at the MTC. With only a couple bumps, everything has been going great. I'm grateful for my oportunity to serve. Last night, Elder N was telling us that we are making history right now. I imagine if there is a heavenly history book, there will be a whole chapter devoted to this time in history when we flooded the earth with missionaries. I'm happy to be a part of it.

 

Hermana Hutchinson

First Letter

 These last few days have been a whirlwind! Our days have been so jam packed, its felt like a few weeks have already gone by. We didn't even get to catch our breath. Friday we taught our first lesson in Spanish and today (Saturday) we taught our second. Our investigator's name is Matias, he's not a real investigator but we're treating him like one. We've taught him the Restoration and the Plan of Salvation. The lessons are pretty stressful because our Spanish is limited but they have been telling us to focus on bringing the Spirit and teaching specific to Matias. It's really hard to do but it works. Today's lesson was a testament to that. A sister in my district read a scripture to me that really helped. It's D&C 11:21 which says,

Seek not to declare my word,

      but first seek to obtain my word,

and then shall your tongue be

   loosed; then, if you desire, you

shall have my spirit and my

word, yea, the power of God

unto the convincing of men.

After she read that I felt overwhelming comfort about learning Spanish. Its been easy to get discouraged, especially when you have to give lessons, but I have to remember to focus on the Spirit and the doctrine and the Lord will help me with the rest.

The people in my district are great! We haven't been together very long but we've started bonding.
There's one other sister companionship in my district. One sister is leaving, she is very excited. I'm bummed to see her go. She's been a great help  with Spanish. She's really patient with us and answers all our translation questions.

I"m really excited for the rest of my time in the MTC and my mission. Keep me in your prayers so I can learn Spanish! 

Guarden la fe!

Hermana Hutchinson

p.s. Since writing this letter we had a Relief Society meeting. Janice Kapp Perry was the speaker! She had us sing a medley of primary songs she wrote. Then she had us sing a song she rewrote the lyrics to. She rewrote As Sisters in Zion to The Sisters in Zion. We were the first group to ever sing the new lyrics. Basically everyone in the room was crying. I don't remember all of the lyrics but my favorite I made sure to write down was "we go forth enlisted with Helaman's Army with numbers much greater than ever before" I can't wait for tonight's devotional!