12/15/13 "I am in Iwamizawa. I am a zone leader. I am buried in snow."

(Note: when Braden's mom looked up the name of this city, she was surprised to see that while Nemuro has 14" average precip in December, Iwamizawa has 87")

Hey!!!! That's cool you got to see the transfer list again. I'm in a place called Iwamizawa. It means "boulder overlooking swamp." It's a branch as well, but the church is way nice and huge. My companion is named Elder Hatch and he's a boss. He's a few transfers older than me (he actually went into the MTC with Gandy E) but since we are zone leaders we are both SR companion haha. I'm ZL over Asahikawa zone which goes all the way up to Wakkanai which is the very top of Hokkaido. I really hope I can go because it is a recently opened area with a tiny branch just like Nemuro! I'm also excited to go on lots of splits all over the zone, but it is tough not having a lot of time to focus on your own area. The members here are way legit especially the branch president Adachi B. He is way strong and has tons of dendo fire. We actually haven't done any finding since we got here since he has taken us everywhere (which is nice because the snow was INSANE! Iwamizawa is known for being the snowiest part of Hokkaido). He has taken us to visit a lot of less active members and he also has been doing a lot of planning with us to help out our investigators. Since this area has been a ZL area for a while, there are not very many investigators, but the ones we have seem pretty cool. I'll tell you about how everything went since last week though.

On Monday in Nemuro I honestly spent a pretty good amount of time packing because of how sure I was about transferring. That day of dendo was visiting a few investigators and also doing some finding to give Morgan E more potential investigators to work with. On Tuesday we got our transfer calls. We found out that the next Nemuro missionary is Kina E, the former AP so I'm way stoked about that. We had a good DTM with testimonies and headed to an appt with Kunii. We ate sushi and he promised to read the BoM over his Christmas break! I ate a lot of sushi because it might be the last time I get to eat eastern Hokkaido sushi... T-T After that we tried to do finding, but it RAINED way hard. It wasn't effective/no one was home so we went home and got a call from Ozawa B and Okuchi S and went over to Ozawa family for a final party. It was way awesome. Kinda random, but Okuchi S pulled out her tablet and we skyped with Ishiga E! He is doing pretty great hahaha. Wednesday was eating my favorite food in the world (the chocolate covered cream filled melon bread from this store that's only in Nemuro) and then all day travel to Sapporo. We left at about 12 and got there at about 8:30. There was about an hour in Kushiro (where I said bye to my awesome, grown up bean, Morgan E) but yeah. Crazy. A bunch of members came to see me off. A bunch of other people were going to as well, but the train was too early. At the Honbu I practiced my song with Mecham E (Where can I turn for peace, yeah it should be on Youtube eventually. I don't remember when the performance is). I also found out that Andersen E became a trainer! Way happy for him. He is such a brother to me. I stayed up talking to him for a bit. The next day we had a way long music practice and met all the other missionaries. Stilson E went home which is way depressing. He is also like a brother. It was way awesome to see everyone though. We came back to Iwamizawa that night in time for Eikaiwa which was pretty good. Just like in Nemuro I teach the crazy kids class. Me and Hatch E are also district leaders. We just take turns doing district meeting. Friday we had DKK which is way different as a ZL because it was mostly planning splits and not as much planning for Iwamizawa. We also met a pretty cool non-attending member named N who is pretty nice, but has WoW problems :(

Then we tried to visit a member who sometimes comes to invite him to the Christmas party. It was the craziest blizzard ever :) But we made it there and back w/out any problems. When I first got here there was almost no snow. I send you a picture of outside the church. Saturday was the sweet Christmas party. We did a song with the Eikaiwa students and I played guitar (Silent Night) and a decent amount of people came (I was also Samuel the Lamanite in the play). There is also a deaf member here so I got to use my sign language again! Everyone was way impressed and they want me to translate for her in sacrament meeting... I'll see what I can do! Sorry the space bar on this keyboard isn't very good. This guy named Y came as well. He actually met missionaries 30 years ago and then some stuff happened in his life prompting them that he needed to meet again so he called the Honbu and met up with us. After the party we had a pretty good lesson with him. He really wants to believe and mostly does believe our teachings, he just also wants to believe buddhism at the same time. I think he really has a ton of potential though. We invited him to baptism and he seems like he wants to when he knows everything more fully.

After that we rode w/ Adachi B to another non-attending and it went pretty well. We introduced her to the RS pres so that we will be able to hand her off to the RS soon. Way good thing. Way too many non-attendings for just the missionaries. Sunday went good too! I gave a talk and I wasn't used to only having to give a 10 minute talk, hahaha. The members here are so so awesome. After church we visited another NA w/ Adachi B in a far off area who is 16 years old. He and his brothers got baptized and were way active, but since they moved it became hard to go to church. We talked to him and his mom and she really supports him going to church and worked out a way for him to come up to Iwamizawa more often for church! Pretty stoked for him. His name is Suzuki Kouta B. And that's about it!

I'm excited for all the cool things you are doing for Christmas! I hope everyone gets feeling 100% soon. I haven't written Adam yet, but I'll work on it. I'm glad Mya and them are doing great. That's cool how polite she is! haha Thank you for your testimony and love and support. You are so awesome!!! I love you so much!

Aishitemasu!!
Hutchinson Choro

Farewells at the train station

This time, see if you can find Yuka

FHE with Ozawa and Okuchi families

With Kanno Yuji

Hatch Choro, Braden's new comp and fellow ZL

Snow at the church in Iwamizawa

9/22/13 Somehow I knew that Morgan E's parents were going to find you hahaha!

Yeah! So it wasn't Sizilio E (referring to the bean he was supposed to train last time)! He did get to make it to Sapporo though, which is something that is really cool. I still got to meet him and tell him the whole story. When we went to meet our beans I saw him in the room and got mentally ready to not be surprised when they told me he would be my bean, but then all of the sudden I heard Evans Kaicho say my name (as Elder Morgan's trainer)! I was a little shocked at first, but I felt the spirit really strongly that Morgan E is the missionary who I need to work with for the next 2 transfers here. So not only did I become trainer, but District Leader! Also, they brought Sisters to Kushiro so the district is now 8 people. I'll get to go to Kushiro for splits quite a bit! I'm really excited though.

ANYWAYS I'll start from the beginning of the week. Last week on Monday... HUGE typhoon!!!! It started during email and we just thought it was a bit of rain and so we decided to wait and write letters until it died down so we could go shop, but it didn't! We eventually manned it out and barely made it to the apartment soaking wet. We called the assistants and told them and they said they actually heard about it too. They told us to not go outside for dendo that day. Crazy! There was a little part where it died down a bit and we went to have a birthday/bye bye party for Okuchi S since we knew one of us would transfer. She made us some Okonomiyaki (look it up) and we sang her and Yuka the song we sang at her baptism again. Super cool and she totally cried. We headed back to the apt and magically it wasn't too bad at all until we got back. We tried to do phone dendo and organize the area book. The wind and rain were so crazy, a big tree across the street fell down and the fire dept. came to clean it up!

Well, that night we got our transfer calls! Andersen E went to Hakodate as planned, and I got the trainer/DL news. That night/next day was lots of packing! We were planning on going on a 11:00 train to Kushiro, but got a call from Ozawa kaicho saying the trains weren't running because the tracks were flooded! Buses couldn't go either because the roads were bad too... We were way stumped, but then Ozawa Kaicho (he goes to Sapporo for business trips pretty often) offered to take us! We had a little bit of time, so a few members came to see Andersen E off. Then we got in the car with Ozawa K for a 9 hour ride to Sapporo! Yay!!! He had to take a bunch of mountain/back roads to get around the closed off places which took a little time. We stopped at a few cool places to rest. We also stopped in Kushiro to talk with Andrus Kaicho for a bit too.

When we drove through Chitose it was pretty late at night and I noticed an airplane coming in. First thing I thought was "airplanes! that means my bean area is coming up!" but Andersen E pointed out it was probably the beans' plane! Turns out it was, hahaha. We got to Sapporo and stayed with the Odori Elders. One of the Elders there, Mecham E, really likes a lot of the local Provo music I'm into and I felt like he was my long lost brother. He's also way good at the piano. Maybe I found a band mate for after the mission...? Anyway the next morning had a little bit of study with Andersen E and then we headed to the Honbu! We mingled with a bunch of the missionaries there and then went in to meet the beans! Really nostalgic and cool presentation for Evans Kaicho. We also had some more training and way good food. We also got to have our first 1 1/2 hour of dendo in Sapporo around the Honbu! I remembered being impressed by Hansen E (his trainer) then and not knowing what was going on. We were able to get 2 phone numbers and pass a Book of Mormon to a way awesome guy! Morgan E was doing awesome at calling out to people and introducing himself. We'll have lots of work to do on learning Japanese, but he definitely is ready to work towards it! We slept in the honbu and the next morning had a great breakfast then got ready to go to the transfer spot! My first time in 4 transfers. It was way fun to say hi to so many missionaries and get pics with them etc. They were a little slow in bringing the luggage back, so we missed the bus we were originally supposed to go on. Because of that we had more time to hang out w/everyone and shizen dendo a tiny bit in the Eki (train station). Got to eat lunch with Andersen E and talk about stuff a lot. He's definitely one of my best friends I think. I'm way excited for him to be Sr. comp in Hakodate!

We got to ride a train to Kushiro and we were both pretty tired. Showed Morgan E lots of pics and told him a bit about when I went to my bean area. I'm so excited to be able to teach so many awesome things! We ended up sleeping over in Kushiro apt that night after attending their Eikaiwa. The next morning we caught a train at 8 am and arrived in Nemuro! Morgan E was super excited, but still so tired. We had a good planning session telling him about all the investigators etc. here. Then we went to get his bank card and teach Eikaiwa! I had him teach the advanced class and he did great from what I heard! He introduced himself to the members that came and it went great. I don't know how much you heard about him from his parents, but he is from Beaufort, SC. It's a pretty small town on an island! He was valedictorian and student body pres. He also played tennis and did lots of other awesome stuff. Not to mention there are 10 people in his family! He's great though. For real. Saturday was our first real day of dendo! Other than the fact we had no bikes. Haha. We were still able to get a decent amount of housing in and it was fun to introduce him to that. There was also a decent sized matsuri that day, sanma matsuri(refers to a type of famous fish here)and it was way cool. We got some decent shizen done there and got to get on a coast guard boat! I've been wanting to do that since I got here hahaha.

Sunday went awesome too. Morgan E's bike came the night before so that was a very happy thing! Van came to church and we finished teaching her the plan of salvation (almost). She was pretty blown away by people in the spirit world having another chance to receive the gospel/3 degrees of glory. It was a tiny bit tense and she said "that's not what it says in the bible..." but I was able to answer with a testimony about the restoration plus scripture in the bible that talks about 3 degrees of glory. It ended really strong and spiritual and Morgan E tied it up with his way awesome testimony!!! I was way proud of him jumping in on his own right there. I also gave a medium talk on the Atonement. After church Morgan E met with all the members and then we ate lunch before meeting up with Van again. Funny story. Since her job's only day off is Sunday, that's the only day she can shop. We taught her about keeping the sabbath day holy (which she understood in a sec cause it's in the 10 commandments) but it can't really be helped if there's nothing she can do right? She might actually be trying to have one of her friends go to the store for her though. That's how awesome she is. After that, we stopped at this little tiny park by the church to follow up on the Word of Wisdom we mentioned last week because we saw her drink green tea again. We had kind of a deep conversation about it, but I was able to answer her questions with scriptures (mostly Nephi being asked to get the plates from Laban) and it went really well. She pinky promised to keep the word of wisdom and we worked out a deal of buying her a present of the mugi tea that we are ok to drink. After that we went this other investigator named Hebikawa (snake river) who Andersen E and I found a while ago. We were worried since we didn't meet her last week, but I went with Morgan E and it turns out she read like 20 pages in the Book of Mormon! Way awesome. Afterwards we met Ayako S (Okuchi Shimai) and Morgan E shared a scripture he liked. We were both impressed by his good Japanese. Guess what!?!? She is speaking at District conference next week! It'll be just like when Haramai S spoke when I was in Toyohira. I'm way happy and excited and feel super blessed that I get to see it. She is seriously getting stronger and stronger everyday, it's so cool!

Anywho that's pretty much the week! I felt like not a lot happened because there really was SOOO much traveling time. There are a bunch of new little things to do, like having to hear everyone's numbers/other stuff so I have gotten a bit more busy, but I'm excited for the new responsibilities. I feel more and more how real it is that this is the Lord's work. Morgan E is a huge example to me of all the little things I forgot since I haven't been a bean for so long. Looking forward to lots of miracles and I know they're there!

Glad Mara's party went well and sorry I wasn't able to get any good recipes or messages in time for the missionary mom thing. It will probably be a little bit harder than that to get me to go!!! (Mom told him we think we'll have to drag him home physically when it's time to leave Japan) Hahaha but I know that the Lord knows when my time will be done and there are other important things afterwards as well... I hope they don't come too soon though!!!!!! Also I'm super glad that Lily is feeling better :) Have an awesome week and here are some great pics! Thanks for the Pics you sent. Mara is definitely looking like a high schooler. Crazy!


Aishiteimasu!
Hutchinson Choro

Coast guard boat with Morgan Choro

Ringing the bell on the boat

First meeting with Morgan Choro, w/Pres. & Sister Evans

Akkeshi on the way to Kushiro

Me and the (still alive) up til now comps (Ishiga E went home!!!)

Russia

9/1/13 Surprise visits from kaicho and surprise vietnamese girls coming to church

Glad everything went well with Adam at the airport! I sent him a quick note. As far as my card goes I meant to call the bank about it earlier, but I think I'll be good as far as getting it fixed from here. I remember having to call when I bought my bike because my draw limit was low and they were cool with it. The only thing I'm worried about is that I don't remember my social at all... :s We'll get it figured out though.

Glad the food for Adam's farewell was good too! OH MAN the kitchen looks SICK!!!! Do you have a before picture or two? I'm trying to explain to Andersen E the awesomeness.

Proud of Mara continuing to do awesome being involved in school. Glad the girls are still super cute. I heard from Lauren about Max being awesome on his belly as well. Fun stuff! In the meantime... Japanese kids make me melt. When housing, a lot of times kids come to the door with their parents and they are just the best.

The week was crazy awesome though. Monday we got an email from one of the Vietnamese girls we met saying that she really wanted to go to church even though we weren't able to invite her to church when she first talked to us. P-day was lots of catching up on journals/cleaning etc. We also went out to Sushi with the Okuchis. It's funny because they are picky eaters and won't eat raw fish so it was like reverse! The gaijins were eating all the Japanesey stuff and the Japanese people were eating all the American stuff. Oh man they want to come visit us in America so bad it's crazy. They are getting ok at English and way serious about saving up money to go to Disneyland while paying their tithing. After Sushi we had FHE at the Ozawas and played a fun game kinda like mad libs. Tuesday was a great DTM from Ishiga E and then we headed out to do a bunch of finding.

There is this one mom we met with 3 cute little boys and she is the smiliest person ever. She was really happy about learning about families and prayer and said we can come over anytime we want. The husband was really cool with us the first time we came, but he wasn't home the second time. We end up teaching a lot of people standing in their doorways because of that, but still fun. We got started on Okuchis AB lessons on the temple and told them we want them to have a goal there too (and to prioritize it over Disneyland haha) but they are pretty excited for the temple too. Wednesday was lots and lots of finding and some really good appointments! We actually broke our record for appointments in a week! We made 22. Sweeeet. All week there has been "senkyo" it is like advertisement for elections. Basically the people running for office drive around in vans speaking on microphones REALLY loud telling people to vote for them... It was ridiculous. Thursday we had a good DKK and more great finding. We made lots of plans to have more "Dendo Fire" Basically drive or morale or whatever you want to call it, but it makes everything we do feel more rewarding even if we're not seeing lots of results. Friday was good finding and organizing our records a bit because of the rain. We also had an awesome eikaiwa! Another new lady came with her son. She used to live in Pennsylvania and is pretty fluent. A lot of people didn't come, but I think we'd have well over 20 if everyone did! Saturday was another great day of finding and a great AB lesson with the Okuchis about missionary work! We are excited to have them team up with us in lessons/make friends with our investigators. Sunday the Vietnamese girl actually did come to church! So did Evans Kaicho! (The Mission President) It was a surprise, but a good one. A family from the Kitami branch came (3 people) and sacrament meeting was 28 people!!! Way awesome. The Vietnamese girl is Christian and has a way strong testimony of God and Jesus Christ. She said she felt so peaceful and separated from her problems when she came to our church though. It was tricky to teach everything to her in super simple Japanese, but she was super responsive. Her name is Van. After church she took us to her dorm where she lives and brought out some other friends that are interested in coming to church too!!! Also we found that night and it was crazy how many miracles you see while finding on an empty stomach.

This is such a great work and I LOVE it! I love you guys too and everybody loves seeing your pictures in my book. You are such a great example and light to me! Thanks always!

Aishiteimasu
Hutchinson Choro

8/19/13 First convert baptisms in Nemuro in 8 years!

HEY!
Awesome weekend. A little crazy, but way awesome! The Okuchis got baptized on Sunday! I don't know where to start, but oh man. Awesome week!

I'll just go from the beginning. We made hamburgers with our investigator and his wife because he is really interested in American stuff. It was really fun and afterwards we were able to talk a lot about what got us to come on missions/how the gospel has helped us/how his life might change if he were to join. Really cool. We taught the Okuchis tithing that night and it went really well ;) Yuka is especially looking forward to it with her allowance.

Tuesday was a good DTM with Ishiga E as the district leader! It was a blast from the past, but a really good DTM on showing love etc. We went and taught some lessons to people that we had found previously that are really nice, but might be slow to progress. We also did a practice baptismal interview with the Okuchis again and it went well, but they get really shy when they get called on to explain things in their own words so it was a little stressful for them at first. The next day I went on splits with French E who is on his third transfer. We found all day and found some way nice people! Then that night we had the baptismal interview and it went really well! Thursday we had DKK and music practice for the baptism. We played the Teach Me to Walk in the Light/Love One Another arrangement that I made. Friday we went to the place Tomoshiri that is a little separated from the city part of Nemuro. Way pretty beach. Some very nice country people. Eikaiwa that night also went decent. Not as many people as last week, but we can blame that on the weather. Saturday was a way awesome day. We did some set up of the baptismal font and then headed out to see lots of investigators to invite them to the baptism. We ended up having 6 good lessons that day. None of the investigators were actually able to come which was too bad, but anyways the baptism itself went super well! We had to wake up way early to go fill up the font with warm water. Church went super well too! Most people that have been there since I have been in Nemuro! Around 25-27! At the baptism there were some way awesome talks from two of the members then we did the service. Andersen E being awesome didn't make any mistakes and they were way happy. Ayako (mom) cried when Yuka went down like a champion not afraid of the water at all! After I gave them both the gift of the Holy Ghost and there was a lot more crying and strong spirit being felt there. To finish everything off, there was a big gathering with lots of food on the second floor. They have been able to make such great friends with the ward and I'm so excited to be able to stay here to see them grow. Emailing today is kinda late because we decided to go to Nosappu misaki this morning to move time around. After that we had a BBQ with the same investigator we met on Monday. He even introduced us to a friend that we might be able to meet and teach as well! Lots of fun.
Lots of details I couldn't quite fit in because we are kinda tight on time today, but yeah!

Also I found out a bit about my bean! I'll attach the pictures of what I know... :) (NOTE: this picture didn't come through)
(notice that the country is not America OR Japan!)
I will most likely be leaving early tomorrow to meet him in Sapporo, but we will see!!
I'm way happy and excited for Adam!!! I'm really happy our family has that connection of the temple as well. I'm grateful for your love and I do feel it often! I don't know if you've sent your package yet, but this time I will actually be pretty happy if there is candy because there are a few investigators/kids that really want to try some!

Love you and am always happy to hear from you and love this gospel and how it changes our lives!!!!
Aishiteimasu!
Hutchinson Choro

At baptism interview with Okuchis, Andersen, Ishiga and comp

Getting the font ready

Baptism day for the Okuchis!!

Visit to Nosappu Misaki

8/11/13 O-Matsuri!!!! And lots of other surprising stuff.

Hey!!! So guess what? I'm becoming TRAINER!!!!

BUT
not yet...

My bean apparently had to get surgery and is delayed 2 weeks!
I was kinda sad at first because I was really excited to train and go to the cool meeting at the honbu where they do orientation and everyone gets to meet the beans, but also really happy that I get to work here with Andersen Choro for a bit longer!
Actually kind of a miracle I think because it will be JUST in time for both of us to see the Okuchi's get baptized!
We got the transfer calls on Monday because trainers get them early and spent the whole day saying goodbye and packing. Okuchi even threw a big goodbye party/fireworks show for Andersen E. When we were about to leave from saying goodbye to them all of the sudden I get a call from the Assistant to the president (Hansen Choro, my trainer who died this week too....) letting us know about the transfer being extended. Okuchi's were so happy and it was awesome. We met them everyday this week again and have taught them all the lessons. We even did a practice baptismal interview and they are set to go! The new district leader here is actually Ishiga Choro which is neat. He will be coming on Wednesday to do the real interview and they will get baptized on Sunday after church. It'll be the first convert baptisms in Nemuro in 8 years I think! They only had one jumpsuit here for Okuchi to wear, so we were going to have someone from Kushiro bring us more, but Okuchi is pretty good at sewing and is going to try to make Yuka's baptismal dress! She even wants to pass it down to the Ozawa's so that their daughters can use it when they turn 8 as well. She is so cool.

Other than that this week was going to another far-outish area called Attoko (that is way small, but we met a bunch of really nice old people) and the third biggest matsuri in Hokkaido which was so crazy. We couldn't really do regular dendo so we just tried to start up conversations with people normally while they watched the parades/went back and forth to the bazillion food/game stands they always have set up for matsuris. It was really fun because so many people try to speak English to us/get WAY surprised when we can speak Japanese. We were able to do a lot of easy Eikaiwa advertising through that as well. All in all it was pretty cool and very Japanese culture-ish. Andersen E took so many pictures it's crazy. We didn't do Eikaiwa because of the Matsuri, but hopefully tons more new people will come next week!

But sounds like stuff has been awesome there with mission prep, babysitting, and church activities etc. That's so sweet that Adam is going to the temple soon! What do you mean there is supposed to be a new movie? Hah? Have fun with all the farewells too! I'm super excited for Megan and new baby Brooklyn.

It definitely has been super awesome here. I feel like the email this week is really condensed, but it was just a bunch of little things and interesting people we met at the matsuri. Also being all over the place with the transfer mix up and not being able to do normal dendo because of the matsuri. It was definitely a full week though! I am excited to see what happens this week and I expect there to still be a lot of tricky things up until the baptism, because that is how the adversary works, but we'll make sure to follow the spirit til the end and not give up! Love you tons and am grateful for your support!!!!

Aishiteimasu
Hutchinson Choro

2/10/13 Yuki Matsuri ga arimashita

Today's title: Yuki Matsuri ga arimashita (closest translation Mom can get is "The time I went to the snow festival")

What is up!? Sounds like a pretty awesome week with the wedding shower and stuff! Mine wasn't too bad either. On Monday we went to the Honbu to play for this RM from Australia who served his mission here and was having a little party (with TONS of Tim Tams) so that was pretty fun. We played 3 songs and the guy just talked about how he met his wife so it was just awkward hahaha. It was cool to talk with all the other missionaries there though, that's the best part about gatherings. We also hung around at the eki (Sapporo train station... it is soooo HUGE!) and bought some guitar stuff and did this thing called purikura that is where you take pictures in a photobooth and the effects make your skin really clear and eyes really big hahaha. They are insanely popular in Japan. I'll scan it eventually and send you a copy. That night we dendo'd in Megumino a bit and I had to carry my guitar the entire time! Oh well!

The next day was a tough day not being able to meet people we planned on, but still got some good stuff done. Eikaiwa was way fun too! Since we divided into two classes I taught the beginner class by myself. Wednesday I went on splits with Elder Brown and it was a blast! We went to Shimamatsu which is the most northern part of my area and I haven't been there since my first few weeks so it was nostalgic! The people we planned to meet weren't really around then either, but we met a way nice dad and a guy who fills the gas tanks by people's houses who lived in America as a semi-professional guitar player! haha We also went to an area in Chitose to dendo as well and met a really funny guy that loved English. Maybe he will come to Eikaiwa eventually. That night we had a birthday party for a member who turned 87. She is a boss. Her name is Sugiura shimai and her daughter (Miwa shimai) is awesome too. She is giving us a ride to Lake Shikotsuko today for this ice festival which should be pretty cool. Anyways at the party Miwa shima's friend came, who we want to teach, so that was good. Also the Sugiura's are hilarious because they are way sarcastic and that's rare in Japan! We had some way good spicy food and apple pie. We also played a bunch of hymns on the guitar.

Thursday was zone taikai where we had workshops on mental and physical health. The mental health guy was Japanese, but went on a mission to San Francisco and for school to BYU Idaho and Provo. He was way chill. After that we had great workshops from Kaicho (President) and the APs on companionship goal setting and repentance. It was great to see everyone then too. After that was the SNOW FESTIVAL!!!! But... It was snowing way crazy so the sculptures weren't as recognizable. I got tons of pictures though! If you really want to see the statues well, I'd check online :) It was pretty great though. Friday was another day a lot like Tuesday.

Saturday was in Megumino again and we taught the plan of salvation to this guy I found a long time ago on the phone. He is not at the point where he is ready to act yet, but hopefully he will be soon. We also talked with a non-attending kid named Kanai Ryouta kyoudai who is way cool and likes kingdom hearts a lot so we talked about that a bit hahaha he is also going to college to study English and Chinese so he has come to Eikaiwa before.

Sunday was pretty much "take tons of pictures day." Since I have a really good feeling I will transfer on Thursday, I took pictures with as many of the members as possible (which is pretty much only guys because there is a rule that unless you're with your comp, and he didn't want to cooperate(as usual)). Anyways church was super good and we had a lesson on Adam and Eve in Gospel Principles. Haramai shimai is pretty much a genius and knows the gospel better than a lot of the members already. The stuff she shares in class always impresses me a ton. After church we tried to visit the people from Tuesday again, but they weren't around. Then we had dinner and a chocolate fondue party at Haramai shimai's house with the bishop's wife and kids too. The bishop got the flu so he didn't come. (The flu is a big deal in Japan right now, but I wash my hands so I'm all good ;)) It was way good though. She made a ton of awesome food and we shared a message on the commandments and challenged the dad to read the scriptures with his daughters because we gave them a challenge to read one verse a day.

Anyways, I love being a missionary. I don't want to leave this ward, but I am ready for change. I bet things are changing there a ton too! Livy walking and everything. I think that's awesome Mya talks about me. Thanks for telling everyone how I'm doing too. The worst snow was on Thursday and Friday. Well... Friday was mostly really hard wind with really icy snow. When we got to the church for Dendo meeting my hair was all blasted back and there was ice all over my face and in my hair. I wish I got a picture! It was actually pretty fun, no lie.

You are hilarious for talking to Rodenberg Choro's mom all the time. I get along with him way good. If I'm able to go to BYU it would be sick to room with him I think.

So if you are sending a package I only have one deodorant and toothpaste left. Plus did I tell you about a voice recorder? Other than that I am pretty good on stuff. I love you!!!

Mara's seminary sounds awesome. There is definitely protection and prepared people ready for missionaries. You just have to be righteous and ready yourself. Hearing that makes me think of missionary Mara someday hahaha! Crazy at the zone taikai we watched this video from Elder Nelson talking about the number of missionaries going from 59,000 to 70,000 and half of them being sisters. Also the chances of me becoming a trainer someday are way high. whoo!

Haha I remember making that thing for auto (a video we saw at the high school registration.) I didn't know I was in the Madrigals one though. Make sure Mara doesn't go too crazy with stuff in High School, but I'm excited for her! Also I wanna see a picture of the bookshelf. We have pretty much cleaned the apartment here so much I swear I know it better than my own room back home. Today I found all these really old flyers and For the Strength of Youth pamphlets from the 70's in Japanese.

I wish I could send you a real live hug too! You are the greatest and I know that through striving to find God's hand in your life more you will receive even more blessings :) I love you!
Aishiteimasu!

Hutchinson Choro

Me with the Fujitas (ward missionaries, they are my heroes)

Eniwa choros at the festival

Ise shrine sculpture - huge

Weird head at the snow festival

Dinner at Suguira's

Suguira family

Me and Ofuji kyoudai

Haramai dinner and fondue

2/3/13 My comp baptizes a kid in the ward and two in a row splits

Hey! You can call this message... My comp baptizes a kid in the ward and two in a row splits...

P-day was a chill p-day for once, which I actually really love. We just sat around and played guitar a lot. Rodenberg Choro is actually looking into the media music program when he gets back and we talk about making music together a bunch after we get home. We just had another good jam session just barely haha. Speaking of which I really want a voice recorder. He always records his letters and sends them and it is way faster and you can put so much more in! Plus he sends back songs he records too. Tuesday was splits with him and it was way fun to just talk with him, hear his advice, and just see a new dendo style. We also found an Adele CD attached to a tree... hahah we decided to keep it and it's just sitting on Rodenberg Choro's desk right now since we can't listen to it. I also taught a pretty cool lesson to this lady in her doorway all by myself and I was pretty proud of it haha. Eikaiwa that night was pretty crazy. Two new people came, one of them being Haramai Shimai's husband which is way sweet. We separated into two classes which is something we have been talking about doing for a long time so more people can come.

On Wednesday we went to this way far out area on a bus and it was WAY covered in snow because the snow removal doesn't really go out there. It was fun though. Thursday was splits with Fukuyama Choro and it was way bomb. He is from Okinawa and is going home in four weeks. We talked a ton and he gave me a bunch of advice. Okinawa sounds like an amazing place and I want to go wayy bad haha. It is the warmest part of Japan in the very south. We also taught a pretty awesome lesson that day as well to a lady I found the time I went on splits with Davis Choro. Friday was planning and visited some prospective investigators in Megumino.

Saturday was the day that Ishiga Choro baptized the kid in the ward who turned 8 named Kei kun. We went to his birthday party and played some games with the kids and ate a ton of food. Then at the baptism we had one investigator come, but Ishiga Choro didn't tell him that it was a baptism, just an activity so we had to explain everything to him as it was going. Haha oh well. He is still pretty cool and we went out to eat afterwards. Sunday was way fun too. It was fast Sunday and the lesson in gospel doctrines was on the creation. I love gospel doctrines by the way. Do you have the book? You should read it. I really love the Lorenzo Snow book too. He is a way cool guy. Also two gaijins from Russia (from USA living in Russia) came to church because they were on vacation. We also got Yuuta kun (Hatanaka Shimai's kid) to come to church too. At testimony meeting Haramai Shimai bore her testimony and it blew me away. She is so strong it is crazy. I felt the spirit a toooon. I'm so excited for her and her family as always haha. Have you found any recipes for her? This is probably my 2nd to last p-day in Eniwa. Crazy. Also that night we had a party at one of the member's houses for this Japanese tradition called mamemaki where you throw beans at people with ogre masks on to bring fortune into your house. I won the rock paper scissors tournament, so I got to throw the beans. It is a pretty cool thing hahaha. Also I decided to give "taking my camera around anywhere just because" a try, and took a ton of pictures.

So things sound awesome back home. The girls are cute as usual. Have I told you about the bishop's family? Way cute kids. The littlest one finally talks! haha Sounds like Adam and Mara are having a good time too. So crazy Jameson is out already and Mara is doing the talent show too. Caitlin is going to Romania I think - haha I dunno. That's way scary about Jacob's accident, but I'm glad he didn't get hurt. Definitely protected. Speaking of which I've been reading this book called Our Heritage about the early saints, and it has a ton of stories about people being protected.

We are actually singing a bunch of stuff today at the honbu for this party for a previous missionary. Ahhhh.... I don't want to get transferred, but at the same time I do because I love this ward and area so much, but I want to see what the rest of the mission is like. We will see what happens next week on the 14th! So it is way icy here. It was super warm for a few days and then just all frozen again. That sounds way tough the lights are frozen though hahaha. The Snow Festival is starting today, but we are going to see it on Thursday after zone conference! I love you tons and am grateful for this work and for the testimony and strength I am receiving!!!

Aishiteimasu!
Hutchinson Choro

The Eniwa Choros with Kei kun

Our apartment building - we're on the first floor

Snow

More Snow!

YM from the ward at Kei's party

Two of the bishop's kids

1/27/13 Good news

If you want a heading for this email you can call it "good news, the caps lock button is fixed!!!!"

Thanks for the email as always you fantastic family you. This week has been pretty rad actually. Glad work is normal and I still think it's sweet Adam gets to ride a train because it makes me think of here hahaha.

I'm way stoked for Cassie! She wrote me a few letters and one of them was about how she got the confirmation to go on a mission. That is way sweet! That's cool it's pretty close to where Alyssa served as well. I'm excited for Alyssa's wedding too. Way cool! Congrats to Taylor too! Way sick for Jacob too. He is the man. Does he still have that Camaro? Hahaha

Freezing rain sounds way interesting!!! I wish I could've seen it actually. There is some weird snow here too once in a while. One day was like raining slush and another day the snow was like sand. It's hard to describe, but yeah... i am kind of tired of it.

Cool that Mara is going to theatre conf already and WHOA! That's way crazy that a year ago today is when I opened my call. How awesome is that? I forgot what day it was so thanks for letting me know. Thanks a ton for the letters and pics from Joseph, Josh, Ferrin, and Connor! Way sweet! Josh and his comp look way young and Ferrin looks exactly the same hahaha.

I'm sorry again about not getting lots of pictures, but it makes me want to try harder maybe when it gets warmer. That is a way awesome stake theme (Come Follow Me). I forgot that Grandpa told you that before he passed away. I actually thought about him quite a bit this week. I really love having the picture of him after my patriarchal blessing and reading that in your letter makes me want to read it again.

So this week's events were, last p-day we kinda lounged around the apt. Practiced some guitar and ate at the Toyoshima's again. We had shabu shabu which is the same thing we had last time which is ok because it's delicious! Toyoshima shimai put pictures from it on facebook because I told her I had one and she probably tried to become my friend there too hahaha. We shared a pretty cool message about the Atonement and the sacrament.

Tuesday was a cool zone training meeting (ztm) where we had interviews with Pres Evans and some great workshops on Christlike attributes and reading the Book of Mormon together with investigators. I also shared a little talk in the Christlike attributes part. In my interview, president gave me a lot of encouragement about working with my comp and told me to learn as much as I can for when I become Sr. comp and IF I become a trainer... hahah! Also that my time in Eniwa is probably up, but that is ok even though I love it here! After that we ate out at a teishoku place which means "set meal" which is like rice, cabbage, and a meat thing but it was good. I don't remember what kind I got. We went to talk with Yuuta kun who is a recent convert (Hatanaka shimai)'s son. He is a great kid, but having a tough time with school and getting along with his mom. He plays video games too much haha, but we talked with him and helped him clean his room and talked to him about prayer. He is almost 12 but didn't convert with his mom so we are working together with her to help him get interested and see how the gospel can help him. Then that night we had Eikaiwa as usual and it was awesome. We want to work harder to get more people to come so we are making plans to advertise more!

Wednesday was deep cleaning day and we spent the whole day cleaning the apartment hardcore! It was pretty fun actually and we finished early because there are 4 of us.
Thursday was planning session and trying to visit some non-attendings, that didn't work out too well, but that morning I felt a prompting to visit Haramai shimai. The cool thing is that she was actually having a hard time that day and prayed that we would come visit. Way cool experience for us. She also told us about a dream she had recently where a friend called her and said she was meeting the missionaries. She asked her what she thought about Joseph Smith and in the dream she couldn't answer so when she woke up she took it as a prompting to gain a stronger testimony of Joseph Smith! She is so crazy strong. Her husband wants to come to Eikaiwa now too so I'm excited for that.

Friday was more housing and looking for non-attendings/old investigators. We also taught a short lesson to the kid who is turning 8 pretty soon and it went way good and he is so ready. Hopefully we can get some investigators to his baptism.
Saturday was a lot like that too. Tons of searching and walking around. Pretty tired that day haha. Sunday was another great day at church too. We sang There is a Green Hill Far Away in sacrament meeting and it went super well. After we were done it was just so silent and the spirit was so strong. Even the kids stopped crying and stuff! haha We got tons of compliments on it. That day we went to a pretty far out area that I hadn't been to before and looked for another non-attending that ended up living in the same apt building as a member! I also found a Scottish guy and had to contact him in English which was way awkward for me! hahaha He was way nice though. Kind of an eye opener. Well,

That's it for me this time! Love you tons and am proud of you always :)
Aishiteimasu!
Hutchinson Choro

1/20/13 More from Eniwa

(the caps lock is broken on this keyboard now so unless i hold down the shift key then EVERYTHING IS LIKE THIS so i have to type in all small letters - edited by Mom)

Sounds like Jameson's farewell went awesome! It is so crazy that people are growing up so fast plus the new age limit makes it possible to be one year earlier! I'm glad it got Adam excited too. Lauren sent me some great pictures of Richie, Xela, Ron etc and they were really fun.

You can pretty much send any and everything to Sister Haramai if you want. I know they can't really get peanut butter normally, but there is a Costco here where you can buy all sorts of crazy things. (It's not in my area though so I've never been, but we sometimes order stuff from it through the honbu choros) also of course she has a microwave. She loves sewing, but I'm not 100 percent sure if it's sewing in general or just certain types. I think it might be cross stitching? I don't really know. She's also really into patchwork quilts and stuff like that. They actually have good FHE materials in Japanese, but if you find something really good then go ahead and send it. I actually translated Phase 10 to a family in the ward yesterday. I'll explain that later.

Her little family is doing great though. Her two daughters come with her to pretty much everything and are way good in primary and reading scriptures and stuff. It has definitely been a good influence on the dad, but he is already such a good guy that he kind of doesn't see how the gospel can improve his life. He is just happy for his family and works as much as possible to help them out. One thing is that Haramai Shimai is shy about talking to him about things like that, but we are doing what we can to provide opportunities through activities FHE etc.

The Kit Kats here are exactly the same as in America haha, Snickers too. I don't know if I will ever get a chance to see or read the YSA fireside. I really want to though!! We don't get the Liahona or anything. I think i have to order it myself? We'll see how that goes.

I'm glad you have been guided by the spirit as well in teaching or having conversations with us as kids. I think you could get that help from the Holy Ghost in anything when you really need it and I'm going to try harder to just open my mouth. It's tough with a native companion who talks really fast. It was kinda like that with my trainer too, though. When you think you have an opening to talk you take a breath and get ready to talk and your comp beats you to it haha.

Mochi tastes way good. I don't know how to describe it. It's really gooey. It just tastes like rice, but you put all sorts of stuff on it. I will see about getting pictures from one of the other missionaries or something. I've told you before, but I can't just carry my camera around especially in the snow. The one time I did my camera didn't work for a few days and I thought it was broken. Also there are rules about not looking like a tourist so I have to look for opportunities, plus I'm just not good at taking pictures or remembering that kinda stuff. Are there any pictures of Eniwa on the internet? I have pictures of where I live so don't worry about that. Of course we have music in the apartment; I would be dead if we didn't haha. Lately I jam a lot with Elder Rodenberg.

That's way exciting for Alyssa! Please give her my best. I'm excited for Jesse and Doretha and will keep praying for Uncle Merril.

What do you mean up late for two nights in a row for Adam's improv shows? Wait, what? Whose birthday was it? There were two birthdays in my apt this week so that was pretty fun.

Yeah sure Adam can use the suit, just remember that my branch president in the MTC made me send it back.

So this last week p-day was pretty much just me buying a sweater at a recycle shop and getting my haircut. It took forever because Ishiga Choro wanted to go to a nice place, but the haircut is really good. They actually cut it how I asked and got it right. I'll put a picture on.

"Before" Hair

"After" Hair

The day after was district meeting, dendo in a place close to the apartment. There we met with an old investigator who has problems with commitments but he wants to be better. Ishiga Choro really wants to work with him so we'll see how it goes. He has a baptismal date at the beginning of next month. We were going to meet with him today to help him clean his apartment, but he hasn't mailed us back. We also had Eikaiwa and it was pretty fun as usual. Elder Rodenberg pretty much takes the Eikaiwa for the most part, but I'm trying to start a beginner class to get more members and new people to come. There is one guy from Eikaiwa who is in the j=tai (Japanese army - there are tons of them in Eniwa) who is way awesome and good at English and has made pretty good friends with me. He came with us to the Messiah and sat by me and talked the whole time. When I asked him how his new year's was he said hanging out with us was the best part! He has been having a hard time getting divorced, but is going to move actually pretty close to the church. We really want to pick him up as an investigator. He actually met with missionaries lots in the past so we'll see how that goes. Wednesday was lots of housing. It was also Elder Rodenberg's birthday. I gave him the extra guitar I got from a member and put new strings on it haha. We also met with this non-attending named Kazuki who is way awesome and he is starting to want to come back to church. He is seventeen and a way nice kid, way smart two (number two in his whole high school, number one is another girl in the ward haha).

Thursday was dkk (dendo in Chitose) and dinner with the Kurashige's again. We played this game with her grandkids where the leader reads old Japanese proverbs and in the middle are all these tiles with the proverbs written in way old style. Most Japanese can't even read them, but anyways when they read the proverb you try to be the first one to pick it up! It's pretty intense. Her grandkids were way good. She is the only member in her home, but her two grandkids have told her before they want to get baptized and go on missions when they grow up! Hopefully that example will continue. She also gave us more calligraphy things! I have a good collection now. Friday was straight housing and looking for old investigators. We also went to this little old American antique shop because it was Ishiga Choro's birthday the next day and he really wanted to go. There was some waaayy nostalgic stuff. He bought a Batman shirt and this America puzzle that I remember playing with in elementary school. On his birthday the next day, I gave him a ton of chocolate. We also went housing that day and decided to check out this area that was kinda on the outskirts on the north side of Eniwa. At one of the houses a random high school girl who was way nice gave us a ton of candy too! Elder Ishiga was pretty stoked. We also met with one of the members whose birthday is the same as his and he gave her a card. He gives everyone cards that he makes and he's pretty good actually. She invited us over for dinner the next day after church. Church was way good and afterwards we housed and went to the member's house. She has six girls so it is a pretty awesome family. They are all really quiet though! We had a ton of cake and played some pretty awesome games including Phase 10 that I translated.

I have been thinking a lot about Christ and what kind of person he was lately and it has affected our dendo style a lot. Please do what you can to try to find out more about him and become more like him. I know you will have his help always and be guided to the things you need to do! I love you so much and pray for you always!

Aishitemasu
HUTCHINSON CHORO

AHH, MY PINKY IS SORE, GOOD LUCK READING AND SORRY ABOUT THE CAPS LOCK KEY!

Here's the puzzle they found that Braden had as a kid

1/13/13 Seven Months Out Today

Hey! This week was good. Sounds like work is complicated, but good! Sounds like there has been a ton going on there!! A You've Got Mail party, huh? That's way funny hahaha. Sounds fun though! How is Mara going on personal progress?? That's pretty cool.

It actually hasn't been snowing very much lately here at all, but it is way frozen and icy. The roads are covered in inches of ice, but I have been doing fine. Just have to be careful when I walk around. I haven't seen any car accidents or anything, but there are some funny drivers now and then. I'm way sad to hear about the car getting damaged, but at least it was the oldest of the cars eh? I hope you can figure out what to do with that whole situation. That's cool about Richie and Xela's reception! You said hi for me right? I heard the Jordan River temple was closed for a long time, but that's good to hear dad is back and working there again. I miss the temple lots. It is really interesting to talk about it here and teach about it to the new converts, etc.

Good luck with whatever your new calling might be! I am having a hard time remembering what it's like to not be a missionary, but I remember that I really loved being in the Elder's quorum presidency at USU and in stake YSC etc. and I wish I did more for those callings then. That is funny about Lauren and her stomach too. (That is, us trying to tell if Max is moving) The pictures of her you sent last time were pretty good!

I am praying for you to find missionary opportunities too, but the main thing you need to do is look for them. Remember that prayer is just the first step. There was a plaque one of my roommates had at USU with a quote from Gordon B Hinckley that said "get on your knees and pray, then get on your feet and work". It's just like that out here too! I'm glad to hear you are doing better with scripture study! What kind of things are you trying? I also want to hear about how FHE is going. Hatanaka Shimai and Haramai Shimai want to know more about it so if you had any cool ideas that'd be awesome. Also Haramai Shimai made a new years resolution to learn to make candy at home just like you do at Christmas so if you could send me a bunch of recipes she would be really happy. She reminds me of you a lot in a lot of ways actually. She has said before that you sound cool and she wants to meet you haha. If you have any patchwork, stitching, etc. things that you think she might like let me know.

Let me know how the YSA fireside went! I am jealous you get to see it! I am glad Adam is doing great in institute and German sounds way fun too! That trax thing does sound like something I would do. How is he liking riding the train??? I think it sounds fun and I want to try it when I get home.

I hope church was awesome! I gave a talk in sacrament meeting yesterday on the sabbath day and focused on the Lord's rest, because in Japanese the Sabbath is "rest day." It actually went really awesome and I spoke for almost 20 minutes which is double what they asked, but they were okay with that haha. It felt really good to be guided by the spirit and be able to expand on the things I planned to talk about. My Japanese has been getting a lot better I think, but the tough thing is always being led by the spirit to know how and what to say. Really the secret is just opening your mouth. The time that is the most tough is when you don't even know how to say it in English and you somehow pull it out in Japanese.

So the cool things about this week are that on Monday I bought a sweet new backpack in the mall in Chitose and on Tuesday we started Eikaiwa again with Elder Rodenberg and it was way fun and energetic. Then on Wednesday was straight housing and going to Brother Katanuma's house for dinner. He used to be the area Seventy and spoke at the Sapporo Temple groundbreaking. He is also good friends with Elder Holland and a few other general authorities. He recently wrote a book about Christianity in Japan focusing on our church and it has actually gotten a lot of high up people interested and it is way cool. He is an awesome guy who has gone all over the world, served several couple missions in Japan, and speaks English pretty much fluently. He also taught at BYU for 3-4 years. At the end we watched this movie called "home" that was from 1992 (one of those cheesy seminary ones) but it was really good and afterwards we shared scriptures and testified about the hope from the gospel. It is pretty cool to testify to someone who used to be a general authority! haha

Thursday we planned and visited Haramai shimai. Friday was visiting a lot of people in Chitose and one of them was a girl that Elder Hansen got almost all the way to baptism, but went on vacation and got protested by her parents so he had to drop her, but she sent us a new year's postcard and when we visited her she said she talked to her parents and everything is good! Her name is Miyashita and she is pretty much a kinjin. She came to church on her own because she said it seemed like a warm place and she could feel that it was full of love. Literally. She has still been reading the Book of Mormon everyday. We will see how that goes :)

Saturday was amazing too!!! We had the mochitsuki activity which was tons of traditional Japanese new year's games and toys plus making mochi!!! Mochi is rice turned into this doughy stuff. To make it like that you... Smash it with a giant hammer!!! It was so awesome. I didn't get pictures, but lots of other people did. It was way great plus we got a few investigators to come too. It was a great way to make better friends with the ward and feel closer to Japan. Haramai's husband came too! We are trying to help her a lot to share the gospel with him. We also did a song there with me on the guitar, Brown Choro on the keys, and Rodenberg and Ishiga Choro singing. It was kinda loud with the mochitsuki going so the beat got a little funky, but it went great!

Well that is what has been going on in a nutshell. I am getting my haircut today because I need it really bad. Who cuts my hair?? Some Japanese dude. Not my companion. Haircuts here are expensive by the way and there are probably more hair salons than any other building. Literally.

Anyways I love you tons and and am so grateful for you! Jesus Christ is my Savior and He lives and loves us! Keep showing good examples and do your best to become more and more like Him!

Aishitemasu!!!
Hutchinson Choro

Funny things seen at the mall:

1/6/13 "I'm starting to get the basics, I think"

Hey! That is tough that your first letter didn't work out, but I'm glad this one still got to me :)

The Messiah was pretty good, but I didn't participate in it. I sat with an investigator and had a decent time watching though. I do appreciate that kind of music a lot. I don't know how fun of a date that would be... hahaha! I'm way glad you got to see the Christmas Devotional too! That's crazy school has started again. Most of the students in Hokkaido have a pretty good break in January till the 17th or 22nd depending on the school. Cool that Adam is taking the train too! Trains in Japan are one of the main ways to travel anywhere. I'm so glad he's taking Institute too. One of the most important parts of college for sure! That's neat Lily (our dog) had a birthday! That is super nostalgic hearing about all the silly stuff she does. Happy birthday to Andrew too!!! It is Elder Rodenberg's b-day on the 16th and Elder Ishiga's on the 19th so those are pretty exciting.

What kind of project did you have at work? Have you always been on salary? Good luck and I will be praying for you to do awesome there! Haha don't leave the Christmas stuff up too long, ok? If you just do it little by little it'll be easy I think. I'm super excited for the other missionaries coming out! Please tell 'em all good luck etc. for me. I am staying healthy, but everyone back home better be careful with that stomach flu. I pretty much ran out of vitamins yeah, but I think I am just going to order some from the Honbu when they go to Costco. I can actually buy sweaters here pretty easy and cheap at recycle shops so I wouldn't worry about those actually. Some new CTR socks would help I think. Plus I want some cool music CDs if you find or know of any (not Motab, stuff like Mindy Gledhill or Alex Boye that has religious themes etc.).

Do you see Mya and Olivia weekly lately? That's crazy! Good luck with 1:00 church. I like our 10:00 church the best. Doctrine and Covenants is way good! I have been thinking about starting it over again soon. There is so much good stuff to read and so little time to study when you're on a mission! ah!!!

I'm very proud of Adam giving Mara a blessing. I still remember the time a girl in my ward in college needed a blessing and only one of her home teachers was around so I went and gave the blessing and it was a really good experience. So cool. It has been even cooler to be blessed with opportunities to participate in blessings here every once in a while.

Elder Rodenberg is way boss. We just got finished making a way sweet song in the other room in the church. How often do you talk to his mom? I still think that's way funny. I have been doing a bit better with Elder Ishiga too. The apartment went from all Japanese to probably half and half and it has been a huge change. I did draw out a bunch of money, but I haven't bought anything with it. I'm for sure going to get a dictionary when we have a chance to go to this recycle shop where I found a cool one, but I'm thinking I might buy a new backpack today or something.

Thank you so much always for the prayers and encouragement!!! It helps more than either of us can understand I think.

So for the summary of this week we ate a lot of Japanese new year's food. It was almost just all time with members and hardly any normal dendo. Really yummy though. Elder Ogata transferred on Thursday and on Friday I went on splits with the APs. I went with Elder Davis and it was incredible. We talked to EVERYBODY and had so much success in just one day and it was really all about attitude, no fear, and being happy as you dendo. I hope I can apply it more with Elder Ishiga and get all the people I found with Elder Davis that day to progressing. Yesterday at church was testimony meeting and Elder Rodenberg, Ishiga, and I bore our testimonies and it was a way powerful meeting and I talked to almost everyone after church! I have grown a lot as a missionary and even though I still have a long ways to go and lots to learn I'm starting to get the basics I think.

I love you tons and I know that this gospel is true!!! I have been able to know it more and more fully through all of the big changes and miracles that I am able to see here, even when we aren't having tons of investigators and stuff. Sometimes the Lord just wants us to be right where we are for the time being you know? I'm really grateful I get to be in Eniwa one more transfer too since it is such a lucky thing.
Heavenly Father is watching out for you and answering your prayers. Please be ready and he'll provide opportunities for you to share the gospel.


Aishitemasu
Hutchinson Choro

What rice cooker...?

Ishiga Choro with the cereal we sent him

Braden with a Christmas present (speakers?)

Christmas cake

Christmas present (suit jacket)

Holiday decor (Lauren, recognize the tree?)

12/31/12 Akemashite Omedetou Gozimasu (or in other words, Happy New Year!)

Hey! Akemashite Omedetou Gozaimasu!

That's what they say on New Year's in Japan which is a ridiculous affair. No one (almost) in all of Japan does anything for about 4 days. On the way to the church was pretty much a wasteland. Yesterday I spent the entire day fasting (until 6) and reading the Book of Mormon. I could only get to page 330, but I tried my best! Today we are eating lunch and dinner with members and trying to find a place that is open to buy stuff.

Also sorry that the email is a day late. This weeks P-day moved to Tuesday. And I have lots of pictures, but today is crazy and I forgot the camera again... :(

It was so great to talk to you on the phone too! I wish I had prepared better, but I was especially grateful to hear how family things and scripture study are going. I'm also glad I could hear Andrew and David's mission advice and hear about Adam's mission preparation.

Christmas Eve we had a really awesome party in the Kotoni church in Sapporo. There were some fun games and great food and we got to watch the Christmas devotional which was incredible. Did you watch it??? Then a group of missionaries did a presentation of the Christmas story from Luke which was great too. We also practiced for caroling which we did that night in Odori park in Sapporo. The second half of which was in the subway where we got in trouble by the guards and had to leave early... But it was still a good experience! While we sang other missionaries contacted those listening and when we got stopped lots of people got mad at the guards because they wanted to keep listening! hahaha Christmas back home sounds like it was wonderful. I miss pizza. It's 20 bucks for a plain medium size here. Glad everyone liked their presents and stuff! Good luck with your new computer haha be careful with it! I can't believe there is a windows 8!

I am probably fine on sweaters since I don:t know where I'd pack them, but I do use them everyday and only have 2...

Christmas day was supposed to be normal dendo, but ended up being lots of service and visiting with members. We sang carols at a day service place in Sapporo and "heart attacked" (Ishiga Choro is really into stuff like that) a few members' houses and then ate dinner in the igloo we made.

Adam's court of honor sounds like it was awesome. I feel really honored that he is saving the pin for me. I'm glad it went smoothly and I bet he looks great in the uniform. I have been getting a few emails from Dan Hansen lately too.

So I feel really bad too because today is another short email day (the other elders have a bunch of stuff they want to do) and I feel like I have way more than usual to talk about. The Japanese elders don't really email much.

I want to tell you more experiences, but they're really scarce as of late. Last Saturday the area put on the Messiah concert that was really good. We got Nakamura shimai, a guy from Eikaiwa, and Haramai shimai's family to come and it was a blast, plus tons of missionaries were there. We have been getting fed by members a ton lately, yes. The Christmas party was on the 22nd and this random guy I housed one day came and brought a friend. That friend sent me a picture of Mt. Fuji in the mail the other day and it was really funny because I didn't suppose that giving someone my meishi (business card) would lead to that. Remind me next week and I'll tell you more about the stuff this week.

I love you all and I'm grateful for this work and the support you give me!!! Stay safe and warm and share the light of the gospel as much as possible!!!

Oh yeah, we got transfer calls early. I:m staying in Eniwa with Ishiga Choro and Brown Choro's companion is becoming Rodenburg Choro who sang with me in the music thing.

Aishitemasu!!!
Hutchinson Choro

12/16/12 I've only fallen once, haha

Hey! Glad that the mail came in time. I also wanted to let you know that I got the package this Tuesday! I was super happy and Elder Ishiga was pretty happy about the Lucky Charms too. He said *this is probably the happiest I've been all year* hahah. The jacket is perfect and the speaker is amazing too! The hand warmers are good, but I don't think they are Hokkaido strength haha. We ate the Reeses pretty fast with the four of us. I brought pictures, but I forgot my camera cord... Sorry! ;( Please tell the Gardners thank you as well! The hot chocolate is delicious and their Christmas card was awesome too. Everyone is so big! I will do my best to write Mara back soon!

Today is P-day and Elder Ishiga needs new shoes. He has been borrowing my spare pair for this last week so we are going to this big mall. I want to get presents for everybody back home, but I'm not sure how much sending costs etc. or what even I should get hahaha. I will look around though.

Sounds pretty there! It is just the same snowyness here. I guess I'm used to it already. It is pretty much ice everywhere so you have to get really good at walking on it. I've only fallen once. haha

I'm surprised that the Christmas tree has taken this long, but I'm glad it's up. Can you send a picture next week? That's nice of Mara's friends to help and I hope Dad got the lights fixed without too much trouble. That's awesome Dave's team won too! I am trying to picture him as a coach etc and it's not very hard. What kind of Japanese ornament did you get for me?? I'm really sorry about your knee! What did you do? I will pray for it to get better fast.

That's neat that Adam's finals are going well! I didn't know he was taking a vocal class, but that sounds cool. Sounds like a perfect mistake too hahaha. What other classes did he have? The train sounds cool! It'll be like Japan hahah everybody uses the trains here it is crazy.

I'm so glad Kyle's farewell happened as well! I wish I could've heard the song and stuff. I hope everyone is doing awesome. It always makes me super happy to hear about missionaries leaving too!!! :D Speaking of which, do you know of any that have come home since I have left besides Dallin? Tell Adam *what Hobbit??* haha

That's funny Sister Nordgren was surprised about me being out of the MTC! I did not do anything to commemorate that (being out 6 months). If you say I already have one fourth down it makes my stomach ache... Hahaha. I'm way way glad that people are reading the blog! A lot of people write in letters *tell me everything that is going on!* and all I can really do is say go to the blog because of time so it helps me out a ton.

I'm way excited for Lauren and Andrew too!!! (and Max) Where is their new home at? Please send a picture too. I'm so proud of you for getting a work promotion too! Wow!!! I will be praying for you to be able to do your best in that as well. I know Heavenly Father is especially there for us when things are busy and tough.

This week has been following up with people that we've found, Eikaiwa (English class), introducing Ishiga Choro to more members, and splits two days in a row with Brown Choro and Ogata Choro! Oh yeah plus tons and tons of walking in the snow. I'm not too cold as long as I wear my gloves and awesome ear things. Communicating is still tough some times and I'm still working on adjusting to his dendo style too, but I know that it'll be for my good and help me to learn more and more. In 3rd Nephi I'm reading right before Christ comes about the people that were inspired of God to stand up and preach righteousness when almost everyone around them was choosing wrong. The Book of Mormon is really one of the things I enjoy the most in this work. I just wish I could get to introduce it to more people.

Thank you so much as always and sorry again about no pictures. I'm looking forward to the Christmas call and sharing my testimony with you! I love you so much and know that the Lord will bless you in all the things that you need to do.