Assignment and New Address

Dear Missionary Family,

Here are the pictures of your daughter extraordinaire.  .  I am sending two pictures, one of our new missionary, with Lyon in the background and one with the new companionship.  Aren't they wonderful?

Sister Hutchins trainer is Sister Layton, and their address is:

Les Missionnaires/Sœurs
Sœur Hutchins or Sœur Layton
39, Ave. Du Cran
F-74000 Annecy
FRANCE

Thank you,
Sister Jeppson

Wow – her companion is as tall as her, and looks like she could hold her own if they had to box each other out (probably a necessary skill as Naomi’s trainer)

The Eagle has Landed

Dear Parents,

We are happy to let you know your daughter arrived safely in Lyon.  She was met at the airport by President and Sister Roney.  After arriving at the Mission she had lunch, had her picture taken, took care of paperwork, and had an individual interview with President Roney.  Tonight she will have dinner with President and Sister Roney as well as the other missionaries that arrived today.  She will stay at the hotel in Lyon tonight.  Tomorrow she will meet her new companion who will be her Trainer. Then she will have training with President Roney and the Assistants to the President.  After the short training she will leave with her companion to go to her first area.  We will send you her address and companion's name tomorrow.

Please see today's photo in the attachments.

Thank you for sending us such a fine young woman.

Sister Jeppson,

Mission Secretary

Sister Hutchins with Pres and Sister Roney

Week Six: I'm Off to See the Wizard

     Only two days left at the MTC and what crazy days they will be! We have class today in between P day activities, so I just have to squeeze everything in. Tomorrow, of course, is the Missionary Broadcast, so we've got a crazy day planned out. I'll try to sit in the middle-ish next to the aisle. 

Here are my fun moments of the week: We went to the temple last Monday for the last time and when we came out of the session, Sister Huckstep passed me going down the stairs. Even in the temple, my competitive nature comes out. But before I put on my Speedy Gonzalez hat, I said to her, "You're really racing me? In the temple?" She said, "Yeah. And I'm winning, too!" Merci, Catherine.
     Wednesday I hosted new missionaries again, and of course the first girl I hosted, something goes wrong. Every. Single. Week. She came to the wrong campus, so I had to wait with her for the shuttle for thirty minutes. Il est bien. I went to In-Field Training this week. It is not as fun as people tell you. We sat all day and missed gym and only got fed a small salad in the 9 hours we were there. I did get some value out of it. Like I met Elder Christensen, from the District. And there was a Frenchman there who served in Lyon with my teacher, Frere Smith. When he introduced himself, he just said his name, he's from Paris, and Frenchmen don't actually laugh like: [Que (sp??) French laugh and mustache twirl here]. Later he said, "I know French people only shower once a month, but, don't worry, I showered today." Funny guy. I also learned the importance of referrals. Aka, very. 

We spent a lot of Friday focusing on how to teach the First Vision I, (First Vision II) since that's such an important lesson. It was the first time I actually enjoyed Zone Teach too. Il tombe! Later, we practiced teaching the First Vision again to Elders Lago and Herring. I did okay but I think Sister Swenson might have been out of it. At various points, she copied exactly what I said, announced we are prophets, and told them we all get visions like Joseph Smith for our answers. Yikes. 

I have also spent the time between 9:30 and 10:00 of the last few weeks preparing a poem of inside jokes for our district that was read several times yesterday and thoroughly enjoyed each time. For our last gym time, the Elders all had to set up chairs and tables because we are moving things around for Sunday. To all the General Authorities reading this, be aware, the MTC does NOT normally look like this. It's all a show for you. But I'd be surprised if you didn't know that. Anyhow, we did play a game of badminton and a game of volleyball. A good day, all in all. 

My favorite part of the week, however, is having interviews with my teachers. I love learning from the experiences and taking their insights. It's just so good. I joked around with them beforehand that we would need a long time to discuss my many problems, but we took fairly long just because I feel like I have so much to learn from them. Frere Smith and Soeur Judd are the best. 

Week Five: Watch and Pray

     What a week! Of course, they're all great and packed full of adventure. I mentioned last week my tooth randomly chipped. I think in reality, it chipped before and the part that came off was just the part that had been filled in from last time. I went into the real world for about 40 minutes to get it re-filled, if only for cosmetic/comfort purposes. Don't worry-Satan isn't pulling all my teeth out. Yet. 

     I also met Oscar, the head of security here so he could fingerprint me for my EMT certification, because they lost my fingerprints. He was nice and funny. Old guys have good stories to tell. I see him all the time now, but I don't think he remembers who I am. A downside of old age, I suppose. He was in charge of the stampede of missionaries crossing the street on Tuesday for Devotional. (Which, contrary to the rumors at the MTC, was NOT Elder Holland. Bummer. Still good, besides the tiny chairs at the Marriott Center.) But I heard there may or may not be a picture of me crossing the street on the Church website. Check it out. 

     Next Sunday, June 23rd, is the World Wide Leadership Broadcast on missionary work that I'm singing in for choir. You will either find me wearing a yellow shirt near an aisle or, I will be the one screaming in pain in the middle of a row. I literally cannot fit into those chairs. And if the people in front of me lean back, it's bad news bears for everyone. Also, we have been reminded several times that we should wear AT LEAST blush and lip gloss everyday, but especially to this devotional. Ask me if I brought either of those things? No. No I did not.

Garbage Duty on P-day

      Missionary work is a lot of forgetting about other things and focusing on the Lord. So when I get letters from people, it's a nice reminder that you're still breathing. And I mean that literally, especially for Grampy, whose last words went something like this: "Hopefully I'm alive when you get home." Hm. Yeah, hopefully. We heard Elder Kueck's first kiss story this week-and it's a crazy one. He started dating this girl and went over to her house to watch an extra credit film for history in 10th grade. He parents gave them lots of beverages and trays of food. They chatted for a while and he drank like two bottles of Coke. See where this is going yet? They cuddled on the couch and five minutes in he was asleep. Having the urinal dream. He woke up before there was a puddle persay, but to distract her so she wouldn't notice, he started kissing her for half an hour until he figured the spot on his khaki shorts had dried. Yikes.

     We built a Chateau out of extra mattresses this week and slept in it. That was a good night. I hosted a Spanish sister this Wednesday and, like last time, it was a huge hassle. She was in the wrong class, so we had to go change her books, move her luggage to a different room and hand her over to a new teacher. Don't worry-I still made it to gym on time, but I may or may not have sprinted back to my dorm to change out of a dress. We taught an adorable old lady at the TRC who served her mission in Paris many years ago. She started coming to brush up on her French, so we were on about the same level. As missionaries here, we have a program on the computer called TALL lab, which is like interactive language help online. And by that I mean nap time since it's so repetitive and boring. This week, I started memorizing scriptures during that time instead and it has been so great. I have to learn them in French and English to remember them. I talked with Jake Coulson, a friend from Glenwoods who teaches the Tahitians in our Zone. We forgot to go to our Zone meeting this week, so he had to come get us. Whoops.

     Sunday was a rough day. You may recall me complaining about how we are all supposed to write like a three minute talk every week and they announce the speakers Sunday after Sacrament. As per usual, my last class of the day got out late, and I had little time to work on this talk. So I did it quick. It helps that I actually know French now though. Anyways, so I get to Sacrament and it is blistering hot. The A/C is broken and so all of us are sweating bullets. I wore my hair down so we could take pictures that day. My eyeballs hurt, so I didn't wear my contacts. Obviously, I get called to give a talk. I think I would have been less nervous if I could actually read my talk, but it was in green and, like I said, no contacts. Needless to say, it was rough. The best part of it was when I quoted our Objective and some scriptures. But rough. I forgot this was the last week we could give talks, so I probably should have been more prepared since I knew they would pick me. I am fluent, after all.

If you don't know by now, Tad R. Callister is my favorite. I told my dad and Grampy that if they had connections to help me meet this guy, to call them up ASAP. And last week, I did meet him, although my district was confused about why I liked him so much because the talk was mediocre. Well they all came with me to a viewing of an old talk on the Apostasy he did at the MTC and they now know. Ahhhh yeah. 

     On another note, I got my travel plans this week. The Lyon-ers leave next Monday at 6 am and arrive the following day at 11 am due to layovers and time changes and such. I'm gonna be a real missionary! Yay! But really. The MTC is great, but you just don't feel like a real missionary here. It's just like a school.

Here's my spiritual epiphony of the day. First off, I love the Plan of Salvation.

P-Day 

      I've never really studied it in depth, but what they say about that familiar ring is a real occurance. Anyhow. I was thinking about the premortal existence and the war in heaven. According to Jesus the Christ, the valiant fought against Satan in the war, but those that fought against him AND those that refrained from fighting all recieved bodies and the opportunity to come to earth. Supposedly, this world contains the most wickedness, which I think is why Jesus Christ had to come here personally. Therefore, this world would be the hardest to succeed in and so I think it was mainly the more valiant people who got sent here. Isn't that awesome? We all fought in that war and wanted this chance so bad! I hope I got to ride a unicorn or a dragon or something. But it puts things into perspective a little differently, especially investigators. I love it.

I am writing a poem for my district, so if anyone knows rhymes for gospel or companion, let me know. I don't have access to a rhyming dictionary here and those are toughies.

Week Four: Level Up

Tad Callister

     Highlights of the week: Meeting Tad R. Callister. He came to a devotional and you should have seen me sprint down to say hi and shake his hand. Oh baby, oh baby. He's a lawyer and just lays everything out so plainly for you and I love it. He's given some great BYU Devotionals on Integrity and Divine Potential. Highly recommended reads. Things to look forward to: Elder Holland's visit for devotional this week and the Worldwide Leadership Training Meeting on June 23rd, where yours truly will be singing in the choir with the Quorum of the12 themselves. Look for me. 

     Turns out Rachel May knows Elder Herring from my district. Small world. He says hi and that you're 'sick'. Isn't that so Elder Herring? He's great though. I hosted new missionaries this week, meaning I escorted them from their cars to get all their stuff, put their bags away, and took them to their classes, where they get a companion and their teacher takes over from there. I ran into Michael Hueffner's brother Kevin (?) who apparently is a Japanese teacher.

 And I found out that Elder Anderson, one of my favorite Elders in our building, heading to Montreal this week, is the victim of a popular YouTube spoof.  (By the way He got 40,000 hits overnight and almost went on Good Morning America for it.)

Sister Swenson and I get along great and she's been participating a lot more in lessons, which is so helpful. Our companionship inventories are pretty much just us complimenting each other. Which, believe you me, is not something I need in my life. I am on a mission to learn humility and I feel like it's coming in full force soon. A lot of other companionships have problems they are dealing with that they have to solve, but as Sister Swenson put it, "We're like the Sacred Grove in a world of trouble."

 And that we are.

 Elder Lago complimented my humor this week, saying it's perfect missionary humor. There's a few things I think he's referring to when he says that, my favorite of which is when everyone starts chatting about dumb things for a few minutes and then I say loudly "OKAY, I'M STARTING PERSONAL STUDY NOW." And then they all shape up and realize, oh yeah, we have stuff to do. Or when they use slang or whatever and I say "Whoa, whoa, whoa. We're missionaries." It's a good reminder and the only way I can think to make obedience cool. There you have it. I don't like being a stickler, but I'm here to work. As Elder Leavitt quoted, "You can't leave footprints in the sands of time by sitting on you bum all day. And who wants to leave bum prints in the sands of time?" Not I, said the little red hen.

   

     During class, we often enjoy laughing like the typical evil Frenchman and twirling invisible mustaches. One day, Frere Smith came in as an investigator for another class with what little mustache he could muster over the weekend. We saw him, so he had to explain. He loves the mustache. It's so much power on one lip. What dictators do you know without a mustache? Not many. Think about it. Makes sense.

      I gotta thank all the people who sent me packages. We have nightly parties where we try to eat all the food we have between the 10 of us and all our packages. The PB Captain Crunch comes to breakfast every morning and is passed down the table. I think everyone asked for a box or something. But it's delicious-almost as good as the eternal Life they have here. One day, Elder Leavitt kept accidently calling me Elder Hutchins on accident and a few different people called him Sister Leavitt, so we kept joking around that we switched genders for the day. But the funny thing was-at the end of the day, I got a package slip addressed to Elder Hutchins. We cracked up. Taped that in my journal. 

     When they converted the MTC to hold more sister missionaries, they just changed the signs on some of the bathrooms. A bathroom in our building has two stalls and a urinal because it used to be the men's room. Let's just say I crossed one more thing off my MTC bucket list.

      And a piece of my tooth fell off this week. It's not really noticeable and I think it was a dead part anyways that just finally fell off, so I'm not really worried about it, but at the same time, I'm worried about it. I can't have all my teeth falling out all the time-then what will I floss? I will have Brother Kitley know I floss my teeth AT LEAST once a day. Usually twice.

      We had a substitute guy in charge of service this week, so we requested trashes again. We got to pop a bunch of  bubble wrap and then we got Sister Berge and Sister Huckstep and pushed each other around in the trash cans. Hey, someone here has to have fun and it might as well be me. We also cleaned water fountains and he forgot to give us gloves so I may or may not have gotten a blister on my hand from chemical exposure. Oh well.

     Let me just mention that language is a beautiful thing. There are different phrases you get in French that give you a different perspective on things. D&C 18:21 in French says "Prenez sur vous le nom du Christ et dites la verite avec simplicite." BTW-busted that out from memory. The difference is that you teach the gospel with simplicity instead of soberness. Also, God speaks to our spirits instead of our minds. And in the hymn "Now Let Us Rejoice"

, the last line says, "A tout Israel, Jesus offre un foyer", which means to all Isreal, Jesus offers a home. I had a Lauren Bellon reaction here: That's so cute.  

     

     Ann Clegg talked to us in Relief Society and told us to BE BOLD and EXPECT MIRACLES, which are two things I recommend as missionaries. These are some of my goals to constantly work on. I also listened to a talk on recognizing the spirit by David A. Bednar. If you're wondering how you tell if that voice in your head is the spirit or just you, STOP WORRYING ABOUT IT. Does it really matter if the voice is telling you to do good? David A. can't even tell! You know afterwards when you see the effects of what could have happened. He told the story of when he was a missionary and handed Elder Packer some money in Germany, detailed in Elder Packer's talk "20 Mark Note". It reminded me of a few times, but mostly of when I told mom I didn't want to drive to a basketball tournament one weekend. I'll leave you with two thoughts. One, quoted by President Mangum. He said "Faith in God can move mountains, but don't be surprised when he hands you a shovel to do it." The second, is from Preach My Gospel, and a tidbit I gleaned while preparing a district lesson yesterday. It says the gift of the spirit is a "foretaste of eternal joy". I challenge anyone reading this to think about how true that statement is. And get to work sharing that with others.

Week Three: A Snail on a Speedboat

Sister Swenson and Sister Hutchins

Anyone who hasn't been on a mission needs to go. This is seriously the best time of my life. Last Monday for P day, we found out the sack lunch line didn't open until like an hour after our lunch started (we have the earliest meal times) and you have to wear skirts to eat at the regular cafeteria. You know me. Pulled a skirt over my shorts and put a button down shirt over my t shirt and walked right in. My district thought it was hilarious. Heaven knows why. They should know me well enough by now. 

We were visited by Craig Zwick this week as a whole MTC and Elder Hamilton (I think) came to visit our district personally. Like most visitors we get, he was very impressed with our French skills. Our teachers are awesome and are trying to get through it as fast as possible so then we can have practice sorting everything out and using it. I think we only have one tense left to learn or something. I told my Branch President the language is coming along like a snail on a speedboat. At the time, I was too tired to think about what that meant, but retrospectively I think the Spirit must have been directing my thoughts because it actually makes sense. Now President Mangum thinks I'm wise. Haha. Well, joke's on him! Anyways, so think of the MTC/Spirit as the boat and the snail as me. Which is also funny because I'm going to France where they eat snails. But I digress. Here's me chugging along, doing what I can, and I get on that speedboat and BONJOUR! CE DE QUAFF! I don't know how to spell that, but apparently that's the equivelant of 'that's amazing'. I decided if total immersion is the way to go for baptism, it's a good method for learning a language too.

Our first investigetor, Christophe, aka Brother Maines, another MTC teacher came back to visit our class and help us out during additional study time. We laughed about our poor French in our first lesson (the second day here!) and asked him what he thought. He said we got a lot nicer as we learned more French because at first we could only command him to read or pray or whatever. And also instead of asking him if we could come back for another visit, I asked him on a date. Woopse. But he said yes-to the date and baptism. And our lessons are so good and I love to teach! It's all Sister Swenson can do to keep up with me. We make a lesson plan and can just change it and talk about what our investigators need and the spirit is there and it's wonderful. 

We did have a lesson earlier in the week with Francis that was difficult. As Aaron said in his letter, lessons over an hour long are less than productive. It was rough because he started asking all these questions that weren't easy to answer in English, let alone French, and Sister Swenson has a hard time understanding so she just spaced out the whole lesson and didn't really help at all. It was all me. And it was rough. I think she's scared of him, because she talks a lot in our lessons with Eloise, but rarely with Francis. The next lesson with Francis was amazing, but she still didn't really help me out at all. During companionship inventory we discussed how she needs to talk more, so it's been better since then.

Another thing we talked about during inventory was not talking to me after 10:30 because I need my sleep. Sometimes she'll whisper Good Night or something. But one night at like 11:30 she asked if I was okay. I grunted at her and said good night. And I couldn't get  back to sleep for hours so I was really tired. Turns out she thought my snoring sounds like crying. Go figure. Sometimes Sister Swenson says weird things to me, like she's trying to figure me out. Once she told me she thinks I'm secretly stylish and don't want anyone to know. For anyone thinking this-I'm decently stylish and too lazy to get dressed. Glad we got that figured out.

 The Sister Training Leaders in our room were moving out this week, so we had a sleepover and put a bunch of mattresses on the floor. Don't worry-it was an obedient sleepover. But we had fast Sunday the next day and we always have the latest dinner time on Sundays, so we were supposed to fast for 26 hours-which is against the missionary handbook. They say that obedience brings blessings and exact obedience brings miracles. So to be exactly obedient, we ate lots of snacks at our sleepover to avoid fasting for over 24 hours. Take that, Satan, you clown. We also had a lightsaber fight, but they're sending me the pictures once the get to Vanuatu. The MTC does 6am workout classes for sisters and one of them is kickboxing, which sounded kind of fun. I might be more inclined to go if we didn't have the earliest breakfast time here. Since the STL's were leaving, I agreed to do that kickboxing class once with them. Bad idea. Less kickingboxing and more jumping and I had jump roped the day before and my calves were burning. Also lot's of marching in place, which makes me feel like a pansy. I need to actually go somewhere. And, funny story, Lauren's friend, Sister Beagles came to the MTC this week and is in my zone!

Elder Leavitt in our district is so funny. He's this spazzy 18 year old kid headed to Congo and says the funniest things. This week's winner was, "I bought these shoes with 1/2 inch tread so that when I'm walking through the mud in the African jungles, my shoes won't even notice." Later in the week, Elder Herring, our DL, tried to shove a whole piece of pizza in his mouth and had to have the heimlich. Yikes. That may or may not explain why we have a new DL. I may or may not have told this next story. Frere Smith spent six months of his mission illegally living in Switzerland. His Mission President has a nasally monotone voice and would tell him, "Elder Smith. The Church is very wealthy. If you go to jail, we will bail you out. The Kingdom of God has no boundaries." For our devotional last night, Ted Gibbons gave us an account of the martyrdom of Joseph Smith from the perspective of Williard Richards. I learned a lot and I felt like Dad would've appreciated it since he has a secret crush on JS. But, let's be honest, who doesn't? That guy is the bomb. Anyways, so Williard is telling us about one of the times JS and about 14 other men are taken to prison and the bail is set at $500 a piece-which is 2.5x the legal limit, and they were prepared and paid it immediately. At this point, Sister Huckstep leans over and says, "The Church is very wealthy

Where have all the elders gone?

. If you go to jail we will bail you out. The Kindgom of God has no boundaries." Elder Johnson called our district to repentance this week-saying that we have been decreasing in our efficiency and work ethic. And I very much agree because this is something Sister Swenson and I talk about often. According to Elder Johnson, however, we're the example to look to for diligence, but don't let him fool you. There are always improvements to be made and we need a LOT of work before we can handle THAT responsibility.

Our next lessons are about prayer and Enos and then the Plan of Salvation and 2 Nephi 2. Great Chapters. Also, I recommend reading Jesus the Christ. The spirit is strong, the work is progressing, and the French is coming. Also, I am the master memorizer of le Livre de Mormon. Booyah.