Mom and Dad,
Hey Mom, pretty sure I forgot to tell you Happy Mothers Day!
on the phone. Sorry... It was absolutely wonderful getting to hear from all of
you. It was so nice to hear from everybody and hear that everybody is doing so
well. I'd be a liar to say I don't miss all of you and home. But if I don't
allow myself to allow my thoughts to dwell on home or on anything else but this
work for too long. Sure it may make me sad right now to not be with my parents
and family, but how would I feel if in the end - in the Celestial Kingdom - I
was with my family and my Heavenly parents and there were souls in lesser
Kingdoms who weren't able to be with their families and Heavenly Parents? Souls
I could have found and helped onto the path to Exaltation? Worse than how would
I feel - how would God feel that some of His precious children weren't in His
presence eternally? There's no time to be homesick - there are souls to
save!
I am very happy and healthy! I honestly can't think of anything
else besides toothpaste and razors that I would like to request for the
package. Oh, actually, maybe a pack of toothbrushes too. If you could get a
big pack at Sam's Club or somewhere that would be great.
Just to recap
some of the things I shared over the phone - as a missionary you truly do
experience some of the greatest joys as the message from the First Presidency
says in Preach My Gospel. But, along with that, you experience some of the
greatest disappointments and sorrows as well. This last week all was going well
for our 17 year old investigator to be baptized on Mother's Day. He had so much
faith and was accepting everything and reading the Book of Mormon and praying.
Last Sunday we ate dinner with him at the Branch President's house and had a
lesson. It was so great and the Branch President's family shared some really
good personal experiences and testimony. Through the week we weren't able to
contact him much, but we still had faith we could finish teaching what he needed
to learn, he would accept it and be ready for an interview on Saturday. On
Thursday he sent us an e-mail that changed all of that. He said that he thought
that meeting with us would be a really good experience, everything was new to
him, but that he's not the person we thought he was he's not able to change, and
he's not able to receive baptism. He asked us to forgive him and forget about
him. He deleted his e-mail account (we had our Zone Leader's try to e-mail him
as well as a member) and he also blocked our phone number. That day, Elder Day
and I got in the map book and looked up the area where he lived (we didn't have
his exact address) and found every house with his same family name. We went and
tried every one of those houses but unfortunately weren't able to find him or
his family. But we're not giving up hope. We're still going to try and find or
get in contact with him again. Even if we can't right now, we know whether it's
now or in 20 years he'll find his way back. We don't know what might have
caused it, but right now he's chosen to not accept the Gospel, as such he's
chosen to go without the blessings and help and comfort that come through the
Atonement of Jesus Christ. But we know God has a plan for him and that someday
he'll be able to enter the gate onto the path back to God.
It's been a
really saddening and heartbreaking experience. But on the other hand there was
a miracle this last week as well. One of our investigators who has been all
over the place with her testimony and has gotten into anti-Mormon literature has
committed to be baptized. She received the Conference Liahona and read it
around the beginning of the month. Just this last week she was having a really
busy and stressful week. She had the idea/feeling that she should read Boyd K.
Packer's talk. When she did she felt the Spirit strongly and felt comfort and
peace. Shortly after, I (unknowingly - undoubtedly orchestrated by divine
power) called her to see if she could meet for a lesson. We met Saturday
evening and after she explained her experience we asked her some questions to
see where her testimony was. She believes that the people who gave conference
talks are called of God, and since they are the leaders of this church, this
church is true. The member there at the lesson asked her if she'd be willing to
stop going to the Protestant church she goes to and she said she would. We set
a goal for her to be baptized on June 9th, and she was a little mad because she
wants to be baptized before the end of May - or as soon as possible. There was
truly nothing we could have done to cause her to change like that. We have been
blessed with this miracle, and now we're going to work very hard to make sure
she doesn't fall back into her old wishy-washy ways.
I'm so grateful to
be a missionary. The Lord has been teaching me so much and I've learned so much
in just the transfer and a half I've been here in the Japan Kobe Mission. There
is so much more for me to learn! The more I learn the more I realize I don't
know and that there is so much to learn. That may have been worded weird, but I
think you get the point. Anyway, I'm so glad I'm a missionary and I just wanted
to say thank you for all that you've done and are currently doing so that I can
be here serving the Lord.
Love,
Elder Kyle Hutchings
