Colby's April 23, 2007

Alright, so it is the first P day here and it is way rad out here. I left the MTC at 4:00 in the morning on Monday. I said my good byes and departed from Elder Shaw, my MTC companion, and all of the other elders who were going to other places than Montreal. I saw everyone, my family, at the airport. We then flew to Chicago, and were at the airport for 45 minutes and then we arrived at Montreal. After we flew in, we went to the president's house and just chilled. It was actually a nice relaxing time. Then we had dinner, then we had FHE and then we went to bed.
The second day was way awesome. It started off with some initiatory things like training and whatever. Then we met with the president. We then went on some exchanges with a bunch of different elders. I went with Elder Applegate. We went to a question and answer meeting with a 20 yr old Hatian girl and that lasted quite a while. Towards the end of the meeting, her mom came out with two bowls of soup for Elder Applegate and me. So we started eating as she continued to ask questions. Elder Applegate answered the questions and I just try to keep up with the conversation trying to translate in my head. Translating is very exhausting and my head hurt quite a bit. Back to the girl, she went out of the room for a second and Elder Applegate pulls something out of his mouth and said, "I will tell you what that is in a while." So I continued eating my soup and it was way delicious. She kept asking questions and he answers them, while I try to translate in my head while eating the soup. Then it came time for us to go and so we left the apartment. On the way to the bus stop, I ask him what he pulled out of his mouth and his response was, "well my friend that was a cow's toenail...yes you just ate Cow Foot Soup." I mean how awesome is that...I ate Cow Foot Soup on my first day and it was so good.
My area is really sweet. My trainer is Elder Welker of Idaho Falls. He goes home in two months, so I think he is a little trunky, but whatever. The work is still moving, and my area rocks. We have a family, the Draou, that were Muslim but they are really close to baptism. They are amazingly nice and it will be fun working with them. By far the coolest part is a recent convert and his wife that we are still teaching and then another couple in the ward, the Cantan family. (So I am going to go off here for a second. Let me tell you about my first area in Canada, I am on the Island of Montreal. Speaking French and learning French is really difficult, with contacting and teaching etc...) So back to the RC (recent convert) and his wife and then the Family Cantan both couples are deaf, so now I get to learn French Sign language also. How cool is that!!!! Oh, I am so excited. It is so much fun to see and pick up different signings here and there, it is just awesome. We also have a ward member Martine that does most of the signing. She is very good at signing and that helps out a ton. She teaches us sometimes too.
The only thing I can think to tell you is that we had a meeting with a 7th day Adventist. That was very difficult because he was there to bible bash with us. There was just a lot of contention in the room and so I ended up saying, in my broken French that the meeting was ridiculous, and we were here to share with him the Book of Mormon. We invited him to pray about it. He went off again. He was bringing up scriptures in the Bible and trying to convince us that we are going to hell because we worship on Sunday, because if you break one law, you break them all. So he was saying that we will be among the murderers, rapists and other stuff like that in the last day. So it was kind of interesting. That is about it. I will have to catch you all later.


Much love,
Elder Hutchings

Colby's letter April 30, 2007

Well this week has been way rad. We got two new investagators. One is a Haitian lady that is really busy with school. Elder Welker has been trying to get a hold of her for quite some time now and then we taught her an awesome lesson. The other investigator was more of a pass off but we are very excited about that. One day Elder Welker and I talked with this self proclaimed prophet for quite some time. He told us a story of how he was saved at this huge convention and these different stories about what he has seen. He went on for some time, but then we introduced the Book of Mormon. We taught him about it and while we were teaching about it he starts mumbling stuff. We asked him what he said? He then gave us the response, "Oh nothing. I was just praying in tongues about that book there, and the Holy Spirit is telling me it is of the Devil." So that was pretty interesting. It was fun talking to him though. He was a very nice guy and knew his bible very well. Oh yes, he made a prophesy of what Elder Welker is going to do when he grows up. But good old george is awesome.
Like usual we went over to Magdey and then also the Family Cantan's houses. We taught them with Martine (the member that knows sign language really well) and that is always fun, and i am slowly picking up on signing.
I had zone conference this past Saturday. Right after, we went on splitz with the zone leaders and that was really fun. I went with Elder Bradshaw and he is from Sugarhouse. He is way cool. I actually ended up trading a tie with him because he had a worthy collection to trade with. I think that is about it for this week. I don't think i have anything else.
Much Love,
Elder Colby Hutchings

Lordy, Lordy, Look who is ? FORTY SIX!!!!!!!

Well, it has been a long time since anyone blogged. I guess it is another important date to our family. Who could it be?

This person is a male. He was born of "Goodly parents". He loves his parents. He has graduated from High School, and has graduated from College. He loves to ski, ride motorcycles, golf, fish, playing sports. He loves work, computers, cell phones. He loves cameras, taking pictures, working on pictures with adobe photoshop. He loves his friends, his co-workers, his neighbors and family. He is loved by his wife and his 4 children. We love him and respect him.

He has the personality of driving down a dirt road and won't turn back until he reaches the end of that dirt road, he doesn't want to miss out on anything. He brings happiness through his words to his family and his friends. He is a leader. He is the 7th of 8 kids. He is the youngest son. He has visited 44 of the 50 states. He has travelled to many different countries. His favorite is the Eastern Asia countries. One of his favorite movies is Young Frankentstein. He and his wife were engaged on two different days in two different states.

Many people love this man, but mostly his wife and his children. He is turning 46 this year. We love you very much. He is my "babe", he is my friend, he is my husband, he is my confidant, he is my love. Happy Birthday, Babe.

Hey Dad,

Well this is a shout out for my pops. HAPPY BIRTHDAY. Well it has been a good time, you are the greatest. Well as I come closer and closer to approaching half your age it is a good time to reflect on the good times of the past. I have such fond memories of my Dad, even if the event you first blogged about, the one in the church bathroom, has eluded my memory. I have great memories of camping and fishing roadtrips and the ever famous manifold roast (even if Colby couldn't hold it down). Well I have learned a lot from you Dad, you have always been a great example of how to treat others and how to take responsibility for what we do. I have learned a lot and had a good time doing it. Thanks for always being there to talk to after the late night dates. It has meant a lot to have you there and interested. I have to thank you for all the love and support, whether it was having you there and interested at night or writing me weekly in Thailand you have always been there. Dad there is so much that I admire about you, thanks for your example. Here's to you pops. Have a good one this year. Happy Birthday. Tribute.

Much Love,

Yo' Baby Boy

Tyler

hola daddy!!!

Happy birthday! I love you so much. So how old are you?35? 36? Wow you're getting really old, but I will always love you at any age. I can't wait to go on another daddy daughter date. It has been so long since we had one I really enjoy them. I just want you to know of that you've been such an example to me. Ever since I was a little girl you've always been the one I would talk to, expecially when we went shopping. haha. I will always remember the nicknames that you gamv me, like Lyser, princess, magoo, pumkin, lys, etc. One thing that I remember when I go to bed you always say: " love" (me)"I love daddy". So I love you so much daddy!!! Happy Birthday!

your loving daughter,

Elyssa

Dad
Once upon a time…Happy Birthday old man. I hope this is a good one for you. Man you are old, but you know what they say about age and wisdom. There is virtually no connection. Thanks for everything you do. I appreciate all the opportunities we have to talk and spend time together. You are the best Dad a guy could ask for. So I understand this is a tribute to you. I hope you know that you have always been a model for me both in fatherhood as well as a person. I have always looked up to you. I appreciate more than anything the example you have set for us. So here’s to you. I love you Old Man. Happy B-day.

Bryson