Lots of Exchanges

Well this week was crazy and exciting we got a ton of work done and had some great experiences!! It was pretty busy and I ended up being in Jacksonville for our exchange and now this week I will be going to Hampstead. It will be fun, also we have an exchange with the assistants this week so that should be fun! 

Monday- We ended up going out to the beach which was tons of fun. We got a batchi ball, that one game where you throw the little ball out and then throw your two out and try to get closest to it. It was pretty fun on the beach!!  We threw the Frisbee around which is always pretty fun on the beach! After that we zoomed home really quick and headed out to our dinner which was with the African family who is moving to South Dakota and another member of the ward. It was fun.  We had pizza and we helped them communicate which is always super hard! Then we spent the rest of the night tracting but it was fun, you always meet the most interesting people while knocking on doors!!

Tuesday- We went around and met a bunch of less actives in the ward. Some of them were super friendly, like this one lady who wasnt interested in coming back and was super suprised that we knew where she lived but it was funny and good. We found this old guy, and sadly he wasn't interested but he was really nice and talked all about his life with us for a few seconds. Then he said his neighbor would talk to us and that was when we met Annette.  She is this sweet older lady who was agreeing with everything we were teaching her about according to the restoration! It was pretty great! We spent most the rest of the day tracting again, but then we went to see the African family that is moving with the bishop so he can see what he can do to help them.  We got just about everything squared away! That ended up taking up most of the night but it was definitely needed!!

Wednesday- We woke up and then headed up to the Jacksonville district for their district meeting. Which the drive up there went great, not much traffic or anything and the meeting was really good as well!! Then I stayed up there with Elder Rowley. He was super cool, he is a pretty big guy like football player looking guy but I had a ton of fun with him. We ended up teaching this group in a car, the contact was really scary. I just like saw them and pulled a card out and motioned that I wanted to give it to them. Then while they sat in the car we taught them the restoration, which was super funny because they were like cracking jokes in between stuff. It was really funny and they all said they were interested in learning more so we set up a time to go back and teach them. It was a ton of fun and just funny the whole time I was in Jacksonville!

Thursday- we exchanged back and that is always nice. Then we did all of our planning for the week when we got home which was exhausting like always but we got it done fairly quickly so that was nice. Then we found this awesome little family out tracting. We shared with them the restoration as well, and they were like thrilled by it! They were like you definitely need to come back! So that was really awesome! Then we had a meeting with one of our investigators Karen, and this girl has worked with the missionaries for like 4 years, and keeps backing out super close to baptism.  We had a great lesson with her and we showed her this awesome video which really got through to her.  We set a date for her to work towards and I think it will actually happen this time!! Then we met with the African family to drop off a suitcase which we were fixing for them! 

Friday- We worked really hard and it was hot and not to much happened, we tried following up with some people but it didn't really work out but we found some one else so that was great!!

Saturday- This day was the bomb! We went and met with this guy who was super funny his name is Joe.   He kept telling us to stop calling him sir and what not.  It was a pretty great lesson with him on prophets and how that all works! Then we went and visited with a recent convert named James who is the sweetest old guy who was baptized not to long ago, he is the best!! Then that night we went and taught this other African family.  They are super elect and we found them because they were using wifi from another complex and were out on the side walk hahah!! It was funny but we had a great lesson with them. We taught them about faith and repentance which went great, considering the father was like I know the Book of Mormon is true!!  Then he told us that we  teach the word of GOD and that he wants to come to church!! It was so amazing!! Then the sad part came in, because we were like can you come this week and next week? And he was like this week yes next week no, this Saturday we are moving to Ohio!!!  Ughhhh  it was heart breaking!!!! But that's alright we will send them as a referral to the missionaries there!!!

Sunday- we had a boat load of Africans refugees there, and then the other really awesome thing happened!!!  Will, my recent convert here in the second ward asked me to give him the Arronic Priesthood!! It was really awesome I am so excited for it!! Then that night all of the Africans sang and danced for us it was really cool!! They are amazing people.  Definitely a super cool experience!! 

Love

Elder Hutchings

Temple Trip

This week has been pretty interesting, I wont give any spoilers because those are just the worst. It has been a really good week. A lot of interesting things happened and I was all over the place, well all over the zone!

Monday- We got to go have dinner with the YSA branch president, that was interesting. He doesn't really like missionaries or doing missionary work, so that makes it tough. But we had a great dinner to be honest. They had this really good roast thing and some potatoes. What was really awesome was they live super far down at the bottom of our area, and it is like right on the beach!!   We had a great view of the ocean while we ate it was really scenic! Then that night was really interesting, we went and taught this couple and this is my first lesson with them and they are living together and what not but of course it is the law of chastity lesson with them. It went really good, we started by showing this one video and then talked to them about what it was and why its important! It was a good lesson, and they both committed to live it. He is a member also so we were hoping they were living it!! They are super interesting people.

Tuesday- We went and met with this investigator Shea, she is really awesome. We found her last week tracting and went back this week. We just mostly went back over the restoration because we only taught her on the door.  She remembered a ton though. She was like yea it all makes sense and she was like I was looking forward to getting the Book of Mormon as well!! So she committed to read it and pray.  She said if she received an answer that it was true should would be baptized, which was cool. Then we had the member with us bear his testimony on the Book of Mormon. It was a great lesson! Then we spent most of the day tracting.  It was a good day though and we found quite a few people. We also took the car into the shop to get an estimate so that went well. It was a great day!

Wednesday- We woke up at about 4 so that we could be ready to go up to Raleigh because we had a temple trip. Which was awesome by the way!! It was also mashed up with the zone conference, in which I was the one who was asked to conduct. That was some pretty scary stuff, but it went well and it was a great one.  The instructions at the Zone Conference were really good and the temple was the best! After that I went down on exchange with the tabor city elders, which is the farthest west part of the zone, and the drive down took forever. We rode with this one senior couple and to be honest it was so scary!! We didn't get home till about 7 so it was a nice long trip for sure! Then we went out and worked that night which was a ton of fun.  The elder I was with is super tall and really funny! Then while we were out we found these 2 guys and they thought I was older then the missionary I was with it was crazy funny because I think he looks a ton older then me!!

Thursday- the morning was going great, until I got a call from Elder Rawlins saying that we had some emergency in the zone.  That meant our exchange back needed to be pushed to a later time in the day.  We eventually exchanged back and then we needed to exchange again with some other elders.  I can't go into the detail on everything but it was crazy. Everything ended up going super well, but I spent the day in Wallace which was a ton of fun that is for sure!!  We tracted all night long which was fun!! I ended up feeling pretty sick that night but I powered through it and made it so it was all good!! While out tracting we found a bowling ball and I threw it in the air trying to make it sink into the ground... I don't think I threw it high enough!!

Friday- We exchanged back that morning and did a ton of planning stuff and then I'm not to sure what happened that night but it went well I'm sure of it!!

Saturday- we spent the morning knocking doors all day and it wa so hot, then we knocked more doors and more haha!!  It was spent all day knocking. But we got some rain which cooled it off that afternoon which was a blessing. Then someone gave us a gallon of water that day it was weird. That night was amazing, we went and taught a lesson in full Swahili, it was crazy!! But they are like really interested and want to read the Book of Mormon. We are going back this Saturday to teach them more!!!

Sunday- we went to church and then we had a small bit of a break in between but we had to use that time in which  to be finding out where a recent convert family was moving. The ones from Africa to be exact!!  It was the saddest news that morning!! But we got it all figured out and what not. Then after sacrament meeting for the YSA ward we booked it to go help this part member family move which was the bomb!! Then we had an awesome dinner with these really nice members! It was great then I don"t really remember what happened that night!!!

Great week this week, 

Love Elder Hutchings

Happy Fourth!!

Hey everyone, I hope this week was good for y'all and that it was a good 4th of July. It was pretty interesting here. I had had a pretty great week myself, I will tell you more about it!

Monday- We had a zone activity and it was tons of fun! We had most of the missionaries from in the zone gather together and we played this like lacrosse but with milk jugs.. Elder Rawlins found them by various means.. (in recycle bins) hahah It was a ton of fun. (Dont worry we washed them.) Then we played some soccer, it was a really fun day for sure. Then I went on an exchange with an Elder named Elder Cox, he is super funny and we mainly just tracted that night, but we found a few new people to teach. It was pretty great!!!

Tuesday- Was the Fourth of July, and we started it right by going to the ward breakfast. It was really good - tons of pancakes and sausage!! Then since it was Tuesday we did our accounting and by We, I mean I, and man was that exhausting!! It is so hard to do by yourself its crazy.. but I lived and its all worth it. Then it was a regular day basically. We had a few appointments that we went to and visited some less actives but it was a pretty basic day. We found a few more people to teach so that was awesome.  I was a bit skeptical because it was the Fourth but it all turned out good!!  That night on the way home we were able to see some of the fireworks going off over the tree line. Sadly though we mostly just got to hear them!

Wednesday- That day was crazy. We picked up Elder Rawlins and his companion for the day and then headed down to Shallote for their district meeting. Then I stayed in Shallote with a new missionary while Elder Rawlins took his trainer back to Wilmington for the day for an exchange. Yeah, I like wasn't with Elder Rawlins most of the week it was pretty funny!  Shallote was fun, it was hot and of course their car was in the shop so we were on bikes. It was pretty warm.. but it made me think of Chance since this missionary was the same age in the mission as Chance would be... but it was fun and it is weird to be around a missionary that young again!

Thursday- Elder Rawlins and I were finally back together in our area. it was pretty great, but it was funny we had this weird lesson with a recent convert and he got talking about some worldly things which was pretty funny!!  Then we met this lady who was like the government in controlling the weather hahaha!! It was a fun day, and I don't remember much because we were both so tired!!

Friday- Honestly, I don't remember much other then the fact that that night we ended up getting in a car accident. It was so crazy and awesome. Okay, so it would have been really bad. So we are driving straight down College Roadd going about 45 headed back home because its 9.  As we come up to this intersection this guy decides that he thinks he can shoot the gap.. well he didn't have enough time, so we slam on the brakes and turn the steering to the right.  We went into a drift and instead of T boning him like we should have we just ended up nicking the back right side of his bumper. It was a crazy miracle and it was amazing everything was in slow motion. The good news was everyone was okay and no one was hurt, which was really good because he had kids in the car. It was an interesting night so we went and got slushies after that - We needed it!! 

Saturday- spent most of the day filling out our accident report from our accident and some other stuff. We met with this guy named Mario!!  We were talking to him and idk how but he some how was like yeah man I smoke to much weed hahaha!!  It was super interesting.

Sunday- we got 2 people to church which was a huge sucess and we were happy about that. One of them was one of the Africans that we are teaching. His name is Sumili he is so cool and he said that he loved church it was really awesome! Then he also invited us to come and play soccer with him so I am pretty excited for that!!!

This morning we went fishing and I caught a crab it was exciting!! Fun week this week I was ecstatic!!

Love Elder Dylan Hutchings

Making some smores!!

Yummy!!!

Elder Rawlins making a double smore!!

The fender bender

Catching a crab!!!

Deadly Chinese Food

Monday- After emailing we played this nerf game called zombies it is really fun and kinda crazy, but it was really enjoyable. Its a lot like raptor or ghosts in the grave yard but you have nerf guns and your hunting the zombies.  It gets pretty scary to be honest! That night we went and visited some less active members and tracted around where they lived. It was a quite night not to much happened. Then being a zone leader we account with President James, kinda scary (haha) but not really it went really good and was quite fun! 

Tuesday- we did a ton of less active hunting and knocking the houses around them. We also met this lady who was totally a member of the church, we walked up and I tried starting the contact like with a regular person, then she like got all hostile. She was like grrr basically it was funny and it was totally her.  We called the number on the directory and she answered, but she tried telling us it wasn't her and we were like yea sure! Then that night was really awesome, we had a lesson with a couple named Travis and Katelyn, they are characters. They aren't married but have a kid together and what not, the sisters gave them to us.  Their lesson went way over and we had to teach them all of the basics of why we were there and what we wanted them to do and recommitted them.  It was interesting and lasted a long time, but it made everything work out! That placed us perfectly to intercept Nick!!  He is the nicest guy and he is going through a hard time, and he is ready for the gospel! It was amazing! We got to give him a Book of Mormon and share a ton about the plan of salvation, mostly on the atonement of Jesus Christ!

Wednesday- I went to the Wilmington 2nd ward for an exchange it was so much fun!! We mainly just tracted all day, but it went really good. The best was that I got to go and teach someone I had found when I was there. Her name was Marlyn and she is super cool.  She remembered me and everything. It was a great lesson and Brother Grishman came with us. It was like the best blessing ever! Brother Grishman also took us out to eat that night it was really awesome, just a great day in the Wilmington 2nd ward!!

Thursday-everything fell through and we were suppose to have like 4 appointments it was kinda sad but it was all good, we tracted a ton and followed up with some people it was a good day!

Friday- This is the day that the deadly food came in, and not for me I'm totally fine!!!! So we went down to the bottom of our area and worked there all day, and it went really well!! Then to save miles we were like well we will get something to eat that is cheap and stay down here.  Well Elder Rawlins is allergic to nuts. We decided to get Chinese food... well long story short the sauce that we ate had peanuts so we spent most of the night in the urgent care.  He is doing great and I didn't even freak out!!!!  The nurses thought that we were like pretty chill... so we get Elder Rawlins all treated but while in the urgent care we taught the nurses the restoration lesson, it was awesome!! Then we left as Elder Rawlins was high on benadryll , it was so awesome!!!

Saturday- nothing really happened!

Sunday- we got 2 people to church and it was exhausting, but they came even after we thought that they weren't!! It was the best, then we had church for the rest of the day, it is great I really like it!! 

That's my week in a nut Shell hahha!!!!!

Love Elder Hutchings!