2/16/14 Music Night Number One

Hey! Thanks for all the cool news about your trip. Sounds crazy! Dad looks crazy good. You could've photoshopped Adam's head on that picture and I probably wouldn't have noticed! Sounds like he was being a boss missionary too! That's my dad :)

I hope you didn't eat too much southern comfort food. The members gave us so much valentines candy it's frustrating, haha. They also give us lots of tomatoes and lettuce. They actually give us a lot of really good, useful food as well actually. They are great ;D Also I hope to see all the rest of your pics after I get home. The adjusting to missionary life book doesn't really have any adjustments.... It's just about tips for overcoming bad habits or stress or other little things like that you can work on. I also heard about the crazy weather in New York. Tell Joseph hi if you see him! Here's the ridiculous week.

Monday was pretty much owned by music practice. Whoa. We went to Ebetsu that night for splits the next day. I bought some stuff for the guitar. Tuesday I had splits with Spurling E who is the district leader of Ebetsu now. He is fun and a great missionary. Because we had DTM and Eikaiwa on the same day there, splits were pretty short, but we found a pretty kinjin middle aged couple that let us in and practically fed us dinner. Awesome. Tuesday his comp Brackner E and I headed to Iwamizawa and worked. It was way fun and we taught Hayashi about prayer and faith. He told us more awesome stories about his life and how he was helped by going to church when he was younger. He also prayed for 15 minutes straight. We had some more fun finding and then headed home. After that was Thursday which was some weekly planning and Eikaiwa in Iwamizawa. Friday we went to Bibai and had a really good lesson with an NA about the celestial kingdom. We also contacted this lady we met in Iwamizawa. Kinda cool story. We were pinging a small apartment building when Dixon E accidentally pings a door that has tape over the mailbox (sign that no one lives there) and right as I point out that probably no one lives there, the apartment owner comes out! She actually lives in Bibai, but was super nice and gave us her real address. When we visited her, her and her husband, both way awesome and way interested. We also visited Yamashita afterwards and had a... interesting, but good lesson. He has a lot of concerns, but pretty much decided no matter what we say he doesn't want to change. I know he will someday, but it was kinda sad because there wasn't much we could do. He has problems forgiving people and stuff, but that just takes time and love :)

Saturday was owned by the music concert. Practice in the morning and performance. The music night was way fun and I performed a song that I arranged this time with a small group. My old investigator Nakagawa from Toyohira came and that was way awesome! Hopefully from that he'll meet with the missionaries there again. Sunday was good and I was insanely tired. We had to plan more for ZTM after church and that was pretty much it! Hopefully we can get 100% prepared for it today!

Thanks for everything! I love you tons and I'm grateful for all of your support and love. It is crazy Adam transferred so much already hahaa.

Aishiteimasu!
Hutchinson Choro

Picture that a member drew of me while giving a talk

Me and Nakagawa, investigator from Toyohira

2/9/14 Zone Conference

So I'll just start with the week. Monday was music practice at the Honbu again. Then we came back and tried to visit some old investigators. The next day I went on splits with the Japanese AP Asai E who is really cool and fun. We just did lots of finding. Even though we weren't able to teach many real lessons, I learned a lot from his style and example. We had pizza hut for dinner because it was half off day and so that was pretty good. The next day I went on splits in Ebetsu with Shoell E who is 6'7" and way cool. Super obedient good example. We did lots of finding and found some pretty cool college kids. He just barely transferred in and didn't know the area super well + it was crazy cold, but we found some good things to do. Next day was running all over. We went back to Iwamizawa, set up for Eikaiwa (some other missionaries came to teach it for us) ate dinner, and headed back to Sapporo for more music practice. Friday was Zone conference and the mental and physical health representatives came and did workshops that were pretty good. They have this new "adjusting to missionary life" book that is really great. Otherwise I was super tired, but I still got a lot out of it. That night we went to Yuki Matsuri (snow festival) and it was pretty disappointing compared to last year. There were still lots of giant snow sculptures and stuff, but maybe I'm just used to that already, haha. We stayed the night w/ Toyohira elders and that was pretty cool for me. I called up some of my old investigators there to encourage them to meet with the missionaries again, so that was neat.

Saturday we were back in Iwamizawa and we met Hayashi again! He is a boss for sure. He told us how 1 year ago in Taiwan, he met missionaries and gave them his information for his home in Hokkaido, but they never came. We taught him the rest of the restoration and about the BofM and challenged him to be baptized and he accepted! He's gonna be such a cool member. After that we headed to Bibai, but weren't able to meet anyone we wanted + it was basically too cold for us to do anything so we hung out in the eki to try to get the planning for zone training meeting done. Still lots to do. That'll be on the 18th. Sunday was pretty nice. Church went good and the stake president came. I gave a talk on the work of salvation and apparently the members got really pumped up by it so I was really happy about that. Basically what Pres. Evans wants us to focus on is not telling members "hey, we need you to do missionary work already!" or "do missionary work this way!" but to find out what kind of dendo they want to do and help them to do it. Also I'm getting a bit better at JSL (Japanese sign language) so that's been fun translating. After church we rode with Adachi Kaicho to visit some NA's and investigators of ours he has been wondering about. Nothing too special happened with any of them, but he was real happy to be able to work with us even just a little. We were too, especially because of the temperature. It's anywhere from -14c to -30c and there isn't much you can do about it clothes or hand warmer wise. You just have to do things in increments I think. It's completely different from last winter, but I'llbe able to make it through just fine :)

So anyways thanks for the pics! Where did you get the really bad pic of my face? The picture of the temple (construction) is way cool! To let you know, I don't get updated on that AT ALL. All I know is when I leave it still has like a year and a half before it gets finished. I haven't even seen the spot where it's being built. Your mini vacation is going to Sharon's wedding right? I hope that goes well. I want to live in Okinawa some day. The climate is probably similar, but I think there are a lot less dangerous storms.

Anyways. Yeah, Hokkaido needs way more missionaries. It is the smallest mission in Japan population-wise, but what I hear from other missionary friends in Japan is that basically every area in their mission has AT LEAST two elders and two sisters. Next transfer 14 missionaries go home and only 10 come in so we're going down a little bit more again. I:m sure the church has a plan for what they want to happen here, but I feel like it's pretty tough right now at least here... We did go up like 35-ish missionaries since this time last year so maybe they just have to do things more gradually. We'll see where things go by the time I leave. Thanks for your testimony about still being able to get all the important things done. I know that's true!
Mission leader council? I thought told you about it when I went w/ Hatch E, but it's just like a meeting with all the zone leaders, APs, and the 2 sister leaders. We talk about what the mission needs and then have a workshop from the APs.

I'm excited for all the great things happening and that is super cool of dad to lose weight! After new years here I have to work out more... But it's nothing really haha.

Love you tons too!!! Happy valentines day!

aishiteimasu!!!!!!
Hutchinson Choro


Some older photos taken by Elder Hatch:

I have no idea what this big thing is :)

Teaching via train window

A very large icicle!

Cool unidentified family (I hope he tells us next week)

Snow

Lots of Snow

And still higher Snow

4/7/13 "I Live In A House!"

I Live In A House!

HEY!!! Sorry last email was so short. I am way sorry. The sports activity made everything crazy. Also yeah, I did meet Daniel and his mom there!!! They were doing great and it was super good to talk to them. Thank you for the presents!! The CD is the best! The chocolate was delicious as well and I shared it with Stilson Choro. Also how did you know that I got transferred??? I am in Nemuro!!! There have been no missionaries here for 6 years and it is 7 hours away from Sapporo by train. My new companion is Inumaki Choro who was the Assistant to the President ever since I got to Japan. He is awesome!!! Also we live in a house not an apartment and it is pretty cool. A small house, but still cool. There are about 13-16 active members here and the church is very small too. It is a rented out building, but it is great. The members are way cool too. We are way excited to see a lot of miracles and baptisms here to make this area strong.

OK so I'll answer your questions (this was for another missionary going to Sapporo):
My backpack... I just use a regular backpack really haha the brand is dakine and it's made for laptops so it's really skinny. You can use any backpack really. The best is to just get one you like and then get a rain cover. I didn't buy a raincover when I was in the city and wish I did, but I'm doing ok as long as I put the stuff in my backpack in waterproof bags etc. Everyone also just uses completely normal sheets. No worries at all there.

Keisha in Buenos Aires? That sounds perfect for her!!! I'm way happy she is going out to serve and she is going to do so amazing I think! Tell her congrats for me and that she is way rad. Lauren thought she was in labor? Sounds tough! Still wondering when he'll come. Probably going to steal my birthday huh? hahaha You better get some sleep though! The hospital is an interesting place to watch conference! Funny that it is the room by where I was born too haha. I still don't know if I'll even be able to see conference in English because I am the only person this half of Japan that needs it. I might just print it all off from the internet and read it. Sounds like a good challenge from Bishop! I have been reading the issue you sent me quite a bit lately as well :) I'm way happy for Adam getting his papers pretty much done!!! Cedar City Temple?!? Whoa!!!!

Yeah Elder Stilson told me he wrote that letter. I'm glad you got it. He is way cool. (Note: this was a way cool letter Braden's comp wrote to his family thanking us for his great example. Made us cry, okay well mom at least ;) ) His new companion is Elder Harper my comp from the MTC. He'll do great there!

So since last Monday (I'd start from before, but I don't have my journal and can't remember) not a ton has happened. Of course we had the sports activity, that was not too bad plus I got to meet the Gandys. I don't really remember what we did for dendo that day, but it went pretty well. The next day at district meeting we had a way powerful testimony meeting and everyone shared way awesome experiences from their missions etc. After that I got my transfer call and was so surprised! I went home and waited at city hall for a few hours to get my residency card ready for me to transfer (it was very busy) and after that we tried to visit lots of members and investigators to say goodbye, but not too many were home. I got really close to the members in Toyohira even though I only had a short time. That night was lots of packing and getting other things ready, plus telling people that I was transferring. The next day was more of the same things. One of the members was really excited to celebrate my b-day with me - she brought over a cake and a bunch of other stuff. Probably one of the kindest letters I've gotten in Japan as well. That day we also tried to visit lots of investigators and members. Somehow when you tell everyone you are transferring everyone makes time to meet you. That was really nice. I'm really glad we still got to find some neat people on the street that day too. For dinner we went out to eat tonkatsu with an investigator and some members. The investigator gave me a tie and was really sad about me transferring, but excited for me too. He is way cool (Nakagawa). He has come to church twice and reads and prays every day. Way strong already actually. Then they came with us to Eikaiwa as well. The lesson went great and I announced my transfer to everyone at the end and took pictures and gave out my cards to them. They are great. One of them told me *every moment I spent with you is a treasure* in English. Hahaha way funny he is super cool. Next day was transfers. Went to the transfer spot and met Inumaki Choro and got going on my 7 hour train!!! I studied the whole time and talked with the guy sitting next to me. We arrived in Nemuro and the branch president met us and took us to eat and shop (there was hardly anything in the house when we got there, today our plans are mostly buying stuff for it haha). He is way cool and has 6 kids. They are most of the branch, but very strong. Next day was trying to organize the house etc in the morning and dendo like any other day! Nemuro is right next to the ocean. Literally a one minute walk from our house and you are there. It is a port town. Quite pretty. Hilly as well. Not very many people out on the street. When there are though, they are great people! Next day was pretty similar actually. We found some really awesome people already and have decent investigators already. The records the old missionaries left were not in good shape at all, so we have spent a lot of time organizing them! That's actually what most of Sunday was, after church (which was really moving in such a small place with the few people that were there). It was raining and windy WAY bad. (Another reason church was special, everyone got there anyways.) We tried to dendo for about an hour, but it was impossible so we returned to the house and organized and called people from the old records like crazy! Found some awesome people that way as well! It is way great to be here especially with Inumaki Choro. He is such a great and skilled missionary. He's great at English too! We mostly speak Japanese though. I have learned a lot about being humble, yet bold and realistic, yet faithful. There are so many blessings within the hard things that come to us as long as we show faith and search for them. I'm grateful to be here and grateful for my awesome family and this amazing restored Gospel! I know Jesus Christ is our Savior even stronger and know that He loves every single person in this little town. I love you and am excited for the miracles in your lives as well! Not to mention Max! I want to write a real letter soon.

Aishiteimasu!
Hutchinson Choro

Early birthday cake from a member in Toyohira

Eikaiwa group in Toyohira

With new comp, Inumaki Choro - (he says excuse the glasses)

Church building in Nemuro

3/17/13 "The blessings are literally too many to handle"

Hey! This week was pretty fun as well. A bit hectic though. We are having so much success it's overwhelming haha. We have 7 people with baptismal dates. I want to tell you about 'em all, but it'll be long! I'll try to say a little about each of them.
We have Arai who is an 80+ years old man, but one of the most energetic and happy people ever. Elder Stilson found him housing and he has a huge desire to follow God and go to a good place after he dies. He said that when we meet with him he knows we're from God. He reads the Book of Mormon every day until his eyes hurt and he has to stop (which is usually just 2 or 3 pages, but still!). He is a boss.

Next is Akimoto who is a girl in her 30s that a previous missionary found on Christmas by saying Merry Christmas!! when they found her housing. She wants to get religion to help bless her family and do know how to be a better person. She is way funny and nice and really interested in what we have to say.

Aoyama is a guy around 45 that the last missionary found housing who has read the Book of Mormon 3 times. He has a problem with the word of wisdom, but he wants to do all the things God commands. He is trying hard to overcome alcohol and tobacco and in the past kept it for 2 weeks.

Aida is amazing. He 22 and is a self referral which means that he came to Church on his own because he has a friend at work who is a member he looks up to. He is really interested in God and being a better person and loves playing basketball with us on Friday.

Ueda is awesome and I think he is an old investigator that we revived. He really looks up to Jesus Christ and reads the bible and prays everyday. He is in his 30s as well and is really chill, but way nice. We are working on getting him to read the Book of Mormon on his own and understand the importance of the restoration.

Kunii is a way nice 19 yr old girl that we found housing an apartment. She has a 4 month old baby and loves her like crazy. She is really interested in strengthening her family as it grows and having a relationship with God.

Last is Tsuruya who is an older lady who is really nice and thinks what we are doing as missionaries is really impressive. She has really strong faith that people need to trust in God to become better people and she wants to help her family know it as well.

We have quite a bit of other really strong investigators as well! The only thing that is kinda tough with just about everybody right now is that it's hard to meet consistently with them, but otherwise they are all amazing. If we could just meet and get good lessons with them I am pretty sure they would have baptismal dates too. We want to make Eikaiwa stronger and get better relationships with the members too, but our hands are super full! I'm way sure Toyohira will become a 4 man area next transfer.
It's kinda hard to write everything in just the time we have, but there are TONS of miracles it's not even funny!

Sunday school sounds like you did a great job! Was it fun? I think it seems like a WAY fun calling. Make sure to have fun and that's when it will become easy I think :) You have been doing lots with work and chores and all that great stuff! There is a phrase in Japanese called Otsukaresamadesu and it means "you are a hard worker". I wish there was a phrase like it in English hahaha. Sounds like a fun baby shower and Lauren looks like a mom already :D In a good way of course. I can't believe David's birthday is coming up so soon already! That's awesome. Doing anything fun? Glad that the car is getting fixed. I'm just worried that one of the other parts would break as well because it's just getting old in general. I want to hear about the missionary activity that Mara had!

I did hear about being able to email friends, but I honestly have no time. I don't even have time to write any letters. A couple people emailed me already. The recorder has no possible way to connect to computer. I still don't know if I should send it back. I can deal with not having one I just think it'd make it more efficient to tell you all the things you want to hear about the week plus make it easier for me to keep a journal which I am not very good at.

Mike Connelly and Marquie are out this week??? NICE! I'm way stoked. I'm glad people are thinking about me and I'm really happy for them as well. The missionaries are coming over? Feed them something really healthy. Stuff with grease doesn't give you that much dendo energy. You need like really wheaty stuff and vegetables and lean meat. Yeah.

So this week was Monday; shoveled snow for a non-attending for 2 hours! Made piles and piles higher than my head. He was way cool and we are going out to eat ramen another day. Before that we cleaned the apartment and I tried to organize stuff. Tuesday was a DTM where the AP's came so I got to practice with Hansen Choro a bunch which was pretty nostalgic. It was a great workshop about using the Book of Mormon. After that we got home and had a lesson with Aoyama. Then we did a bit of dendo, actually a lot. Wednesday we met with Arai in the morning and after him we had to run to the church to make it on time to Aida's lesson at the church. After that we went to eat all that you can eat Indian food with an Eikaiwa student who is a boss. After that we had a lesson with Aoyama scheduled, but he ended up not being able to come so we chilled with the soon to be missionary who was going to team up with us. Then we had Eikaiwa which was pretty fun, but not as energetic as usual. A new person came who found the Eikaiwa online. From a member we found out that Toyohira's Eikaiwa used to be 40+ people! I wish we could make it like that again. Thursday we had DKK and lots of calling investigators to try to make appointments. Then we went out to dendo for a bit. Friday we had a lesson with a member referral named Nakagawa who is way cool. About 30. Has really good taste in music and clothes. He really loves how the church is like a big family. He actually has a bit of a social illness where he is not good at making connections with people, but we have done pretty well with him so far. We also met with the Shimai in the area for a bit and exchanged some investigators we thought would be better being taught by them. After that we ate and went to the sports activity where I ripped on of my pairs of pants way bad, but it's all right because no one noticed :) That night I went back to the apartment with Elder Stout on splits. His bean area was Eniwa and his 2nd companion was Hansen Choro so we had a ton to talk about hahaha. We had a blast teaching Tsuruya and doing a bunch of finding. I also found out that next weekend I get to go to Hakodate on extra long splits! It's the southernmost part of Hokkaido and way famous for being fun, pretty, and delicious. I'm crazy stoked. Yesterday was Stake conference and it was AWESOME!! Guess who spoke??? Haramai Shimai!!! She did way good and talked on her conversion and I was way moved. She is crazy powerful. It was also mega fun to see all the people from Eniwa again. After that we visited Ueda in the hospital and then went and had two meals in a row with members. The Tanjis and the Oouchis. So good. So stuffed. Oh man. Great though! Today we have music practice and not tons of time ;( Should still be an awesome day though!

I love you tons and know this gospel and work is God's! Nothing can stop it from progressing quickly and filling the whole Earth. I used to think that prepared people were impossible to find, but as we believe it happens and the blessings are literally too many to handle! :D

Aishiteimasu!
Hutchinson Choro

3/10/13 Teaching people about BAPTISM! :D

So this week was a blast! By the way we made and ate the pizza yesterday and it was crazy good. (Elder Stilson used to work at a pizza place and loves it a ton) It didn't bring me into a craze to want to eat more American food or anything, but it was really fun to make and eat. I wish you could taste the food here. I have been eating this one food called natto for breakfast almost everyday. Raw fish are also some of the most delicious things ever. The other food was great too especially the candy eggs. I'm usually pretty loaded with candy by the people here though so don't go too crazy if you want to send candy again ;)

I didn't even realize that it was time change time. The snow here is just getting taller and taller :D What do you mean you want extra hours? (Mom wished for more hours in the day) If that's the case I'm way happy you're liking your job! Sounds like stuff is way busy over there. I didn't know both plays were going on. Glad everyone did well though! Also I'm probably forgetting English or something, but "He was supposed to be a doofus windbag and the play was a farce" didn't make any sense to me... :s Not really, but that sentence made me laugh! Congrats to Alyssa! I'm looking forward to the photos. What shower invites were you getting ready? Max? I'm glad you were able to make it through all that busy-ness though! That's exciting for Lauren's new car and I don't know what to say about Mr. Miyagi (his old car) still... haha. I wish I could've seen how your first lesson went! I bet it was way good! I'm learning about teaching so much it's crazy. My advice is to get the class involved as much as possible and do discussions and stuff. Your missionary experience sounds so cool too even though it's small! I'm way happy and have been praying for you to be able to find little things like that. I read in True to the Faith this morning under missionary work and it describes our duty as members way simply and good I thought.

Kurashige Shimai who made the calligraphy is a member in Eniwa. I felt like she was my grandma while I was there; she is way awesome and strong. That's insane that the Gandy's are visiting! Whoa!!! I'll be excited for that package if things work out. Thanks for all the cool missionary news too! 8 missionaries? Championship! That's all I have to say haha :D

This weeks dendo was super great. Monday was a lot of busy people that couldn't meet, but we got a referral from a member that's way strong who we are going to teach on Tuesday. We met him at an activity and since we're both kinda new we didn't know whether he was a member or not, but afterwards he told his friend he wanted to learn about the church from us. Tuesday we had district meeting and then taught some awesome lessons. We also visited some way cool members and just had a great time. There is a family in the ward called the Oouchis and they are way fun. 3 little boys with lots of energy. This ward is so cool I can't get over it. Wednesday was Eikaiwa and visiting a bunch of cool appointments and making new investigators. Thursday we got a little sick, but it was ok because we had weekly planning so we stayed in and did that and dendo'd for just a little bit outside, but took it pretty easy. The next day we felt a lot better and dendo'd a bunch. We met some way funny little kids that talked to us a bunch and were way funny. Saturday was back to Kiyota that was pretty fun. We also helped some members shovel snow, ate lots of food with them, and then repeated with some other members. Sunday was a lot of fun too. At church we had some way good lessons and then after church put lunch and dinner into 2 hours right after church in order to have more time to visit some investigators that night. That's also the only way we would've been able to make pizza too.

Anyways in all of that we got 4 investigators to commit to prepare for baptism and I'm pretty excited for all of them! I'm so happy about this work and how full of miracles and amazingness that it is. The coolest thing is that it's all about what we do. We decide to be happy and we decide to be successful. It's really that simple also long as we have the Lord on our side holding us up. You are the best!

Aishitemasu!
Hutchinson Choro
Here we have mordor tower (in Atsubetsu)

SNOW

Pizza

Stilson Choro

Yukio san, the cool kinjin who moved to Kobe

3/3/13 Having fun in blizzards...

Having fun in blizzards, splits again, and kinjins moving to Kobe

So that's my title for this email I guess. Livy looks like she had the most spoiled party ever hahaha. That picture of the table? I thought it was someone's wedding at first! Crazy haha. For some reason I thought she was 2 but that's awesome she is 1! I feel like time goes by faster where you are than here. Thanks for the pictures and speaking of which the package came right as I got to the honbu! The picture chain you made is awesome! It is kinda funky and really big so I don't know if I'll be able to hang it up. Great pictures though! If you have any others you can just send them over email please. Thanks! Also the recorder you got me seems really spiffy, but I don't think it can connect to the computer... :( The food looks really great too especially the pizza and cake stuff that will be a blast! There is tons of hot cocoa here and more handwarmers than 30 missionaries could ever use so if you want to send a package again we're probably good on those. :) You are so awesome and eventually I will figure out how to send packages to you. Kurashige shimai back in Eniwa made you a "eternal families" Japanese calligraphy thing that I need to send eventually. I still haven't even gotten my American money changed to yen haha.

That is way crazy about Lily! I can't imagine that at all, but I'll pray for her to be all right. I'm way glad for Brian Koji. That sounds awesome. Lots of other parties sound fun. Doesn't anybody study around there? hahaha just kidding. Adam's play sounds interesting and not going to lie, but the pictures are a little funny. Glad he's doing great though. Super exciting for Lauren. Every time I think of Max I think of how he's probably going to steal my birthday... Haha.

So this week! Yeah! Monday was just music practice at the honbu. That day dendo was just walking through lots and lots of snow and not being able to meet with anyone. Snow here is crazy, but it is not that cold. Really. Tuesday was Zone Training meeting where we learned about study in the morning and how to make it more effective. It was pretty good actually. I got to see the Eniwa Elders again and it was pretty fun. Afterwards we ate at a Chinese buffet and I talked with the new Eniwa people and heard about some people that I found there that are starting to make progress which is way awesome. That day I went on splits with one of the zone leaders Olsen Choro and we had a pretty good time getting lost because I still don't know the area at all hahaha. We talked lots and shared lots of advice. We also taught this kinda crazy old lady who actually came to church yesterday. Wednesday was visiting some non-attendings, finding, and teaching this awesome family we have named the Matsumotos. The mom is way awesome and way interested and wants to be baptized, but only if she can together with her family. The husband really likes us, but isn't really interested in the gospel at the time, but we know his heart will soften as we keep going and don't push too hard. They have a 7 year old daughter named Haruka who is also really interested and loves hearing about God and praying. Then we had Eikaiwa and it was awesome. Then I met up with the district leader and his companion and went on splits with him. He is Finnish and named Palomaki Choro. It felt like I was dendoing with Andrew hahaha. That was way fun and I got to sleep in Atsubetsu's apartment which is way huge. I also taught their Eikaiwa which was interesting teaching two days in a row haha.

Thursday was an interesting day. Taught some non-attendings and found a new investigator, but Stilson Choro was having a bit of a hard time so we came home a bit early. That night we went to sports night in Atsubetsu and played ping pong with a cool investigator named Aida. Did I not tell you about Stilson Choro? He is a boss convert who is 22 I think. His parents are divorced and he has various step parents who aren't very supportive. He is awesome though. It's hard to just talk about him, but he's insanely funny and dendo has become a lot more fun since becoming his comp :D Saturday was great. Also insane blizzard. We taught a new investigator, did lots of finding, and walked through the crazy blizzard to eat sushi with our kinjin Matsushita. Unfortunately last week his son died and stuff was way crazy so he has to move to Kobe, but he is still super interested and we had a really good talk over sushi. The missionaries in Kobe will continue to teach him. He is the guy who is fluent in English and lived in America. He is great and we miss him a ton. Yesterday was a baptism for the sister missionaries here and it was way awesome. The super old lady also came to church and had a blast. The lady who got baptized was super nice and had a crazy strong testimony. It was a great meeting and the spirit was really strong. 10 missionaries plus Evans Shimai came to visit as well so that was cool. I bore my testimony about why I came on my mission and the power of the priesthood in priesthood meeting and it was awesome. The rest of Sunday was our weekly planning that we usually do earlier in the week, but it ended up getting moved to that day. So that's my week! Way fun.

I love you and there are miracles happening here faster than I can count! It's all because of hard work so I know the same can happen for you at home! Don't forget it! See ya next week!
Aishiteimasu!
Hutchinson Choro

2/17/13 I'm in TOYOHIRA now!!! AND IT ROCKS!

HEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!!!
I left Eniwa :'( but I'm in TOYOHIRA now!!! AND IT ROCKS!
So it was a pretty intense week. On Monday we went to Lake Shikotsuko because they have a festival there called Hyoutou Matsuri and it was SOOOOOOOO good. It was way better than yuki matsuri not gonna lie. They made these huge caves out of ice that they poured little by little over these frames so everything looked like a frozen waterfall. So amazing. Look up pictures because I forgot my camera so you should look up pictures online until next week. It was awesome and the lake was really cool. We went with Sugiura shimai and then the rest of the p-day we just chilled. Tuesday was transfer calls and they came really early but I found out that I was going to Toyohira with STILSON CHORO who is the coolest guy ever. He is a convert from Seattle Washington and super strong. He is 23 and super buff. Probably the buffest missionary in Hokkaido haha. He played football and tons of sports and is probably also the nicest guy ever as well. The members and investigators in Toyohira are super cool as well and I am just super excited about everything. I will probably say lots of cool stuff about Stilson Choro and the ward as I go.
So on Wednesday we met a few non-attending members named Adachi and Katou shimai and they were super funny. I made a paper with our favorite scriptures on it and we are handing it out to a lot of people to help them read the Book of Mormon more. I also met another non attending that morning at the church (which is 3 stories tall!!!!) and we also taught him a way powerful lesson about the Book of Mormon and the importance of it in your testimony. Way good lesson and he is really into music too, so he was really interested that I studied guitar and stuff.

The time went by really fast actually and I don't have my planner or journal so I don't remember a ton of stuff, but dendo here is crazy different. Probably 4x the amount of people talk back to you than Eniwa plus there are tons tons more people here. We have met some crazy cool people on the streets haha. So we also went to a couple members' houses (the Kurami's and the Yasutani's) who are super awesome and they love me a ton. I helped Yasutani kyoudai with his application to BYU. He is fluent at English and just a way cool guy. There are a ton of people here that speak English by the way!!! Way surprising. On Sunday we went to church and it is such a fun ward! Everybody is way nice. They were excited to meet me too. There are seriously so many awesome people in the ward though I don't know if I could tell you about them all and I have only met them like once! Anyways we had our golden investigator named Yukio come to church (he is also fluent in English) and he liked church a ton. The lessons were all about missionary work and the spirit and so were the talks in sacrament meeting. After church we taught him a lesson (all in English so I was a bit nervous at first, but because of the spirit it ended up being really good and powerful) and he said he was looking forward to praying about the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith and he wants them to be true. He is pretty much getting baptized no doubt. Elder Stilson found him last transfer on the street because he was wearing a Raiders jacket. He played football at a college in America for a while and that's why he knows English. All around awesome week. I'm at the honbu now because that's where we do email from now on. Fun stuff.

I'm way stoked for you as Gospel Doctrine teacher! Have lots of fun because I think you will be a great teacher. I think as you get better at it it will become more simple. That's tough your uncle passed away. Where was the funeral? I'm excited for Cassie too! Glad Mara's grades were better than they seemed haha.

Valentine's day was transfer day, but I still got some valentines earlier from members and one Eikaiwa student who saw me off at the train station. But anyways I've been distracted this whole time and ran out of email time, but I'll see you around and I love you!!!!!!!!

Aishiteimasu!!
Hutchinson Choro