So Saturday we went to the temple! It was a spectacular trip. We went with 4 new converts: J, N, S and L. There were also about 30 other converts there with their families and missionaries. It was an amazing opportunity to go and see these new converts partake of the joy of the temple. President P was there and gave a great devotional before the baptisms started. He gave it again with translators since there were a lot of Spanish and Portuguese people there. It was really cool to see baptisms and confirmations being done in three different languages. It's really something to see the gospel being shared to people in their own languages, as in talks about in the scriptures. Everyone in the whole world can accept the gospel in their lives in their own language. Everyone loved the trip and it was amazing to see these people I'd been able to teach in the temple, performing baptisms for those who didn't have the chance to do it when they were alive. We tried really hard to get names ready for them to take, but we ran out of time. N and J were able to do their own names though, which was great. It was also, hands down, the most stressful trip to the temple I've ever gone on, but I would do it again. We had a lot of help from the amazing members here, with rides and temple recommend interviews. Somehow it all came together and we made it there and back without any major problems.
After we got back from the temple, we went to a branch Father's Day activity. That was a lot of fun! We played volleyball and frisbee and soccer (although my companion and I left before that part). The funny part is that my companion and I were playing in our skirts because we didn't think to bring other clothes. Hahaha playing volleyball in a skirt was amusing. It was a fun branch activity. The temple missionaries were also there with the new temple project manager. He served his mission in Peru so he knows spanish. He wanted to come to the activity and meet everyone. It's so exciting that there's a temple being built here! I really want to come back for the dedication.
So Friday was Friday the 13th and it proved to be an unlucky day. The city of Hartford does a lot of silly things. They're in the process of repaving a lot of the roads here (which is good, the roads here are TERRIBLE) which is great, but the way they do it bewilders me. First, they take all the old and cracked tar off the road and then they wait about 2 or 3 weeks before they pave it again. I don't know, maybe I just don't know anything about paving a road, but I feel like this way seems silly. The problem is with all the tar off the road, all the man-holes and drains stick up above the road and create quite a hazard. They spray-paint them orange and put up signs that say "warning: raised structures ahead" but it doesn't make it any easier to drive on these roads. We were driving back from our District meeting on a rainy Friday afternoon. I was swerving like a drunkard, trying to avoid all the "raised structures", but there was a particularly bad one that I didn't quite miss. Aaaand I blew a tire. For a second I thought I'd screwed up the axle too because the car was trying to swerve to the left, but luckily it was just the tire. We stopped and called the elders to come save us. They came a helped us change the tire in the rain (I observed them as best I could, just in case I need to change a tire in the future). Then we went to pepboys to get a new tire. But then Chile beat Australia in soccer that night, which made it all better. Vamos Chile!
Well are you ready for transfer news?! I'm staying in Hartford!! Sister H is getting transferred to Cambridge though! She's excited, but sad to say bye to her first area. My new companion is..................I don't know, because she hasn't gotten to Boston yet--I'M TRAINING!!! I'm so excited!! President P makes "leadership calls" before T-texts to those who have been called to be trainers, sister training leaders, district leaders and zone leaders. So he called Friday morning before T-texts and said, "Sister Hutchinson, the Lord has called you to be a trainer!" I am SO stoked! It was great to finish Sister H's training (pft, she was basically already trained when I came in), but my new companion is going to be fresh off the plane! I'm excited to help her adjust to mission life and learn how to be a great missionary! In other transfer news...the elders are being taken out of Hartford! For the last year there's been a set of Elders and a set of Sisters in Hartford, but because our mission has too many missionaries, they're not sending us as many missionaries as are going home. So we're losing a lot of missionaries and a lot of areas. The Hartford Spanish Elders was one of the areas chosen to be closed. So not only am I training, but we're now the ONLY missionaries in the Branch. It's going to be weird because my whole mission I've shared wards with other companionships. This will be the first time we're going to be by ourselves. I'm kinda nervous, but a whole lot of excited!
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