Mom and Dad,
I am so excited to tell you that just yesterday the 17
year old young man we met just a week ago from last Saturday
accepted an invitation to be baptized! We set a baptismal date for Mother's
day! I'm so excited that he's made the decision to begin down the Gospel path
back to our Heavenly Father. He came to church with us yesterday and he
said he enjoyed it. It was fast and testimony meeting, and he felt something
special during the testimonies of the members. We actually don't have General
Conference until this next
Saturday and Sunday - we watch the sessions on DVD at the
Church.
We had another investigator this last week accept the invitation
to be baptized. However, he's leaving for a few months because his job is doing
some sort of a transfer thing (I think he works in construction) and so we
weren't able to set a date. But I have a really good feeling about him. We are
going to refer him to the missionaries in the area he's going to be at (he said
he'll still meet with them). Another one of our investigators knows that she
needs to be baptized, but she's not sure about setting a date with us. She's
got a Jehovah's Witness friend she's been meeting for a year or so, and she says
she's split between being baptized with them or us. But, she's got a lot of
doubts about the Jehovah's Witness teachings and we feel confident and are praying that after
meeting with us another couple of times she'll feel the Spirit whisper to her
heart what's true. I really wish I could tell you the names of my
investigators, but we're not supposed to. Since these e-mails get forwarded
everywhere and to everybody, we're instructed to respect the privacy of our
investigators and not include their names.
I have felt so blessed these
last few weeks. God has allowed my companion and I to see successes. I
remember in the MTC a speaker talked about 2 types of success as a missionary.
The first is based on your commitment to be obedient and work your hardest. The
second is more about whether or not your investigators progress, getting new
investigators, baptisms, etc. The first you can control. But the second is
dependent on the agency of others - and while your actions may influence it,
ultimately success in the second sense is a gift. Only God can soften hearts
and bring about changes that effect the eternal salvation of a soul - and I feel
grateful that I've been blessed to see such success occur.
It's so
wonderful to hear about General Conference and I'm so tanoshimi!
(excited/anticipating) I love hearing about everyone being together at home for
conference. It's definitely makes me miss home a bit, but I'm super excited to
be able to experience General Conference in Japan! I'm not sure if they'll have
it in English for Elder Day and I. If it's in Ni Hon Go then I will ganbarou!
(do my best)
Philip is a father already?! Whoa...I sort of forgot that
Kari was pregnant. Gomenne. (sorry) But I didn't think it would be so soon.
Haha! Super taihen (worrisome) to hear about Uncle Troy. I hope everything
goes well for him, and I will not forget him in my prayers. Please tell him I
love him and wish I could be home to raid his pantry. Michael Moos is coming to
Kobe?! That's saikou! (the best) If I remember correctly, he was in my music
theory class. He's awesome!
Mom, to answer your question, we e-mail from
a gaijin (foreigner) lounge/center/place. It's kind of like a library...I'm not
really sure what to call it. But, we can use computers with internet access for
free.
Dad, to answer your question, we were...whitewashed? (I think
that's what it's called - don't really know or care). Elder Day was new to the
area as well. It wasn't too bad though since we had Nakatsuka Choro for a few
weeks. He had been here the whole time his visa had been delayed - so he helped
us get around and meet the investigators and things.
I love you so much
and always love to hear about things at home. Thank you for all of your
encouragement, support, and words of wisdom.
Love,
Elder Kyle
Hutchings
