Funeral Parties, Sock & Shoe Sisters and Ninja Moves

October 11, 2016

Hey hey hey, 

     Week 6 down and out! 

     So last tuesday we had a devotional from Linda K Burton, general Relief Society President.  Of course, the guy saying the prayer said, 'please bless the speaker, so that he can know what to say'...greaaatt. 

     Our teachers gave us a mock lesson in English, which was an exaggeration of what we do in hmong in our lessons. They walked in, asked how our day was, and then proceeded to ask us to say a prayer right away. Then after the prayer, they said 'um' and 'so' about 50 times. And then they just said, "I know repentance is important. It will help us. God told us to do it, so we should do it. We need to repent. I know we should repent, because it gives us blessings. Will you repent?" 

     It was super funny!   I really was laughing uncontrollably, while they were doing it. They told us afterwards that our lessons aren't like that, but its just to prove a point, that we in English wouldn't say and do certain things, so in Hmong we have to remember to not be so awkward. 

     Apparently there's 8 Hmong elders coming in, 2 weeks after we leave. Even our teachers are surprised, especially because as the number of missionaries coming in keeps dropping this time of year, there are so many for Hmong. Its been years since the numbers have been so high...maybe they'll open a mission in China, who knows. 

     We also learned about Hmong food this week. I'm surprised, there's like a secret Hmong underground society, and I'm ready for the food. The teachers said their life is their food.  And at a funeral, they'll kill up to 20 cows, and have a GIANT party...its a funeral and all, but still sounds like a grand ole time to me. 

     We had a skype lesson yesterday with a hmong native, it went well.  She was second generation, so she knew English way better than Hmong, but it was nice to teach and get feedback. 

     There were two sisters who were companions for like 2 days, while one had a delayed flight, so she could get her visa.  One was named Sister Sok and one was Sister Zapata...--Sister Sock and Shoe.   HA!   Good one MTC president. 

     Our entire zone got a cold-like sickness this week, which was a bummer, but once again soap is a real thing. 

     Lastly in other news, I kicked a ceiling this week. In gym I tried to kick as high as I could, and I surprised myself.   So in the residence hall at night, I jumped up, kicked the ceiling and landed on my feet. It was about 8 and a half feet, so like a normal ceiling in our house.  But yeah, I guess you could say I'm a ninja now. 

Living proof that Ninja Hutchins has left his mark in the MTC

 It really happened. I have witnesses. I AM american ninja warrior.

     Hmong is coming along better.  When we learn grammar principles things start to click together, and come out smoother. Only problem is remembering everything.

     Thank Mimi and Grampo for the letter.  I enjoyed hearing from them.

     Trevor--I workout hard every day, but I never wake up sore...because I eat a banana at every meal!...potassium is key.

     Funcle Aaron--he is my new favorite uncle, I enjoy reading his letters every week...he might even be more consistent than my own dad.

     Funny story:  Trevor put up a picture of me singing in General conference on his snapchat and Bethanie saw it.  So she watched conference to try and see me, and she watched the whole thing--of the Saturday morning session.  And then all of the afternoon session when she figured it out--haha tricked her into watching it.  She said Elder Utchdorf seemed pretty cool.  Trev should follow up with that.

     Cannot wait for chicken wings stuffed with noodles 

Yes, that's real

Lil man, 187 pound, 6 foot 6, lanky-armed, ceilin-kicking, booty-whooping, hmong-speakin

Elder h

Like Rats in Tunnels

October 4, 2016

     Hey!  So week 5 down, and it was a week of highlights for sure. I'll just give it to ya quick. 

      I'm a zone leader and 50% of my zone left this week...so awkward. But Saturday we got to go to the Conference Center...Best experience ever. 

     We missed all but the first talk of the morning session, because we were riding up. (There were 7 coach busses, but ours got canceled, so we rode up in MTC vans...why me?) We sat in conference, and looked out at over 20,000 church members, and sang to them.  The spirit was STRONG.  Not to mention you could see apostles poking their heads up over their chairs to look at us, which was cool.

      I loved how Elder Eyring did the sustaining votes, any opposed........far off "opposed!".....please manifest it.  I think my favorite talk this conference was the one by President Nelson about Joy.   But also, Elder Rasband about if you felt to sing the song of redeeming joy, I would ask can you feel so now? 

     I think people forgetting spiritual experiences is a big factor in why people leave the church.  We got to eat lunch, and dinner at the conference center in a little theatre place.  They must have plays or operas in there, which is cool.  And we got to go in secret rat tunnels through the conference center...okay, they were normal tunnels, but it was cool to walk under and around the building.  

     Also the organ on the screen looks HUGE, but in real life it looks a LOT smaller, its weird. I got to touch the organ, didn't play it, but its basically the same thing. 

     On the way back we had to ride in a prison bus, or so the driver called it.  It was a schoolbus bus, without ac, but it did have seatbelts, and we had to wear them---uggghghg!...

     I couldn't take notes on Saturday, because we couldn't take anything, and we got back just in time to see priesthood, so we had to go straight there. 

     Sunday was SWEET!  I loved the messages that were shared. Also, the devotional that night was by BYU Vocal Point, and they sang the 'Come, Come Ye Saints' song we listened to all the time, among other cool songs. 

      Also there have been 3 cases to date, where a missionary in our zone had pink eye, in both eyes..nasty!  We have soap for a reason.  

     Our companionship changed.  Now I only have one companion, because the other one is companions with a Thai elder who couldn't leave for medical reasons.   He'll be going in 2 weeks, and we'll be a tripanionship again. 

     Happy removal day to Derek!!! 25 years since you were removed, keep em coming, am I right? 

     Have A great week everyone!

Elder H

Also, the other day, this mans Xander, maybe you've heard of him, wore light brown dress shoes, navy pants, a black shirt and a PINK tie to school!! Pray for that kid.  I thought it was hilarious!   Just know we all prayin for ya, Xander. It sounds like he's followin in dad's fashion footsteps, which are hard to fill, but he's doing a great job.

This is me being sad.  We couldn't take cameras to the conference center to snag a picture with President Monson, (Tommy boy).  But this week was great anyway.

What Time Is It?

September 18, 2016
Side information about Kevin's middle name:
     Remember we talked about your middle name, and that I named you after Benjamin Sanderlin Battye.  I have always thought that He was named after someone (and that it was someone’s last name). Well— Benjamin Sanderlin Battye was named after George Washington Sunderland. George was married to Margaret Ann Girton whose sister was Margery Lee Girton (Hannah named after her).  [and side note here—their parents were not very original with the names of their daughters—I mean so many to choose from and one is Margaret and the other is Margery??/ Really???]  So Margery Lee was married to Thomas Joshua BAttye.  Margery Lee and Joshua had Benjamin Sanderlin.
Now George Washington Sunderland was born 1833 and died 1905.  He enlisted in the Regt I 215 Pa infantry on 27 April 1861.  He injured his left leg on 4 July 1861 from "a fall at point of rocks”—(whatever that means exactly).  He was discharged with a disability on 16 July 1861.  He lived in Newtown, PA.  His illustrious career was a little less than 3 months—bummer.  But his sister in law thought him great enough to name her son after him…So there you have it!  Now you know the ‘rest of the story’!
     I find it interesting that I was texting my dad on a totally different topic and he answers with “other info Sanderlin comes from…”  That was even before he answers my questions.  Must be the Spirit.  So I am passing on that tidbit.  If I find out more then you know I will share with you.—Go get ‘em—and may your mission career be longer lasting than George’s military career!

Now from the MAN...

     Well this week was interesting. I'm in a tri-panionship, and our companionship is the only one in our district, so the district leader only leads us...

     anyways the other two of us just got called as zone leaders, so now we all have leadership roles in our zone, which is great, I guess, but now there's even more going on. 

     This week we started practicing singing for general conference, every morning at 7, which means we have to get up earlier...not fun, and we have 10 days to learn and memorize 4 songs. I'm the tallest in the choir, so I'm in the far back right corner if you really want to find me, or actually I'm one seat in cause there's this readhead kid who took the end.

     This week we learned about the Hmong holiday, that's coming up in Novemeber and December, that we'll be in the field for. Its called noj peb caug, or eat thirty. --like What time is it? Eat THIRTY baby!   They start out east, and celebrate for a few days in a major hmong city, then every few days they'll move west, untill by december they're in California, and they have the international hmong celebration. Its a week long, and there's about 17-20 thousand that come every day, they eat, they sing, and they eat  some more, so it sounds like my kind of holiday. 

     Oh, and they play a game where a line of boys will throw a ball to a line of girls (kind of like you would in a waterballoon toss).  Anyways, its a dating game, and basically if you throw a girl a ball you're flirting with her...needless to say missionaries are not allowed to play. 

     Also, Hmong people will ask you to marry them, if they think you'll be a good match.  They'll say something like, 'I have 3 daughters and you can marry any one you want'....greeaaattt!   All my teachers were asked multiple times.  Kinda reminds me of Ammon when he goes in to King Lamoni, and he's like 'let me be your servant', and the king is like 'hey marry my daughter', and Ammon is all like...'ummm I'm just gonna serve, if thats okay with you'. 

     This week I kept reading how we can be instruments in the Lord's hand.  I thought it was interesting, so I went deeper. A general authority recently said in a devotional: "on a mission you come to know the Lord, but more importantly the Lord comes to know you".  That's really cool, because especially with instruments you can't just pick it up, and learn how to play it right away, you need to practice and make mistakes. The Lord needs to practice with us, and get to know us, so we can be better missionaries.  We'll make mistakes, but we just need to keep practicing. 

     Cool note for trevor, there are elders here who wear, white shirt, tie, pants, and crocs. That is their dress code. They're going to Thailand, and there's like 6 months of rain and monsoons, so they have to wear shoes that won't get destroyed. Also, they don't wear suits, cause its too hot.   Just pray you get called there, and you can wear crocs every day!

nothin else,

Elder H

This asian guy in the middle is HILARIOUS. On a choir survey we did, he said he was 'in auditioned college choirs', and so he made it into the general conference choir. He felt bad, so he went to talk to the lady in charge, and said basically 'I lied about my credentials', or whatever. She said to him, 'well elder you need to repent, but the church likes to show its diversity, so even though you lied, you'll still get more screen time than your white companion here'....HA!!   Plus he's just a funny guy, and when he actually laughs, it will make you laugh, no matter what mood you're in.