Week 74: Thanksgiving 2017

     Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  Elder Warner and I had a fantastic week in Bridgeport (other than Tuesday when Elder Warner was super sick).  Our investigators are doing very well and I have some great people to update you on.
 
     I neglected to tell you all that during my last week with Elder Sprehn we picked up a new investigator named Vernice.  She had ordered a Bible online and had just moved to Bridgeport from the Bronx, New York.  She is a super nice lady and has shown some great progression in the last two weeks.  She has come to church the last two Sundays and accepted a baptismal date for December 9th.  It has been amazing to teach her and to see her faith motivate her.  We taught her the Word of Wisdom this week and she accepted it and said she would give up coffee and tea without question!  She struggles a little with anxiety in large groups of people, but this Sunday after church she said that she was a lot more comfortable and liked the service a lot.  Things are looking great with Vernice.  Everyone keep her in your prayers.
 
     We had the most legendary Jamaican Thanksgiving ever.  We got to spend Thanksgiving with the Harris family and along with the normal Thanksgiving foods we got to eat; curry goat, jerk chicken, jerk pork, potato pudding, ox tail, duck, and shrimp!  It was the best!  I've never seen so much food in my life.  We are currently teaching one of the foster daughters of the Harris family as well, her name is Yasenia Martinez (17).  Yasenia has shown a lot of progression in the past couple of weeks as well and she has come to church twice now!  We hope to set a baptismal date with her soon.
 
     I am very grateful for this week of Thanksgiving and that I was able to have a reminder to thank God for all that he has given me.  I am so thankful for the testimony that I have and the things that I know to be true.  I am so thankful for the greatest family in the world and for all the support they give to me.  I am so thankful for my Savior and for his cleansing blood, I know that He lives.  Thank you to everyone that has supported me thus far!

Love,
Elder Gutierrez

Winter is approaching!

Our Fearless District Leader, Elder Warner

Dinner with the Cleatons

Jamaican Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving with the Harris Family

Dinner with Christelle and her family

Week 73: Expect Miracles!

     This week has been one of the BEST weeks of my entire mission.  Honestly the best way I could describe this week is with this scripture.  "Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever."  Alma 26:12.  Last Sunday, Elder Warner and I set a very large and stretching goal with our zone of picking up 54 new investigators this week.  After much prayer, hard work, and faith we saw endless miracles from God in our zone.  I know without a doubt that God exists and that this is His work!
   
     Each companionship in our zone set a prayerful goal with the Lord asking him how many new investigators the Lord thought they could pick up this week.  Some of the companionships set some huge goals, which I'm not going to lie scared Elder Warner and I a little.  We were not sure if we could reach our goal, but we were determined to.  Weekly we average around 28 new investigators in the New Haven Zone.  We started off the week on Monday fairly slow only picking up 1/54, by Tuesday night we were at 8/54, Wednesday 18/54, and Thursday 22/54.  After having a zone wide fast on Friday we had 33/54, Saturday 40/54, and Sunday night the zone saw miracle after miracle and finished the week with 61/54 new investigators in the zone!  I'm not sure if I have ever prayed as hard as I did this week for our zone.  I cannot thank God enough for hearing my cries and for allowing my zone and I to be part of so many miracles.  Here are just a few of the miracles we saw this week:

1.  Elder Warner and I started off the week great by teaching an awesome lady named Andrea.  She was a media referral for a Bible.  The first thing we noticed when we got the referral was that she had a 801 phone number, which is the area code for Utah!  When we called her to set up our appointment, I immediately could recognize her accent.  She had to be Jamaican.  A Jamaican from Utah?  We were pretty confused.  After we had a fantastic lesson with her, we knew that she was a miracle and that God led us to her.  She told us that she was from Jamaica and likes to move around the country getting new jobs.  She had lived in Sandy, UT for 2 years from 2012-2013 and worked at Snowbird Resort!  Small world.  She had been to the LDS church in Utah and had even read the Book of Mormon before.  She accepted our invitation to be baptized and is very excited to learn more!

2.  Thursday night we were getting behind on our own goal and we really needed to pick up some new investigators.  We stopped by an old referral that we had and the lady at the home stuck her head out the two story window and asked what we wanted.  It was getting later in the night so we weren't sure if she would be interested in talking to us.  We told her that we were missionaries and that her sister who we tracted into had sent us.  She said that her husband had just gotten home and she would ask him if he wanted to listen to us.  Right there and then Elder Warner and I both started praying so hard that his heart would be softened and that he would be open to hearing our message that night.  She came back to the window and said that they would come down!  We were able to teach them both and pick them up as new investigators.

3.  Friday night we arrived at our dinner appointment about 15 minutes early and I felt that we should get out and see if we could find anybody to teach.  We started walking down Barnum Ave and it was dead, absolutely nobody was on the street.  Elder Warner suggested that we should say a prayer.  We bowed our heads and prayed that we would come into contact with somebody that was open to hear our message.  As soon as we looked up, there were all of a sudden lots of people walking on the street!  The second lady we talked to had just barely walked out of a restaurant we were about to pass and said that she would be interested in hearing our message!  Her name is Mille.  We set up a return appointment with her for Sunday and she was very excited that we had talked to her.  We went by on Sunday and picked her up as a new investigator.  #MiracleMillie

4.  We were not able to be in our area all day on Saturday because we went on an exchange with the AP's.  Due to this, we were nervous that we were not going to reach our goal of 8 new investigators in the week.  We prayed, and prayed, and prayed that the Zone would reach the goal and by the end of the night we had 14/8 new investigators in our area alone and 61/54 as a zone!  Every single companionship experienced miracles this week and we have had our vision raised by the Lord of what is possible.  I cannot thank Him enough for all the amazing people he prepared for us and all the experiences we had.  We celebrated by eating my mom's banana cream pie made by Sister Mitchell with our district.

     No greater joy can be had in this life than by serving in God's work!  I love you.  All of our investigators are doing well and it would be great if everybody could pray for our investigator Jackie!  Thank you, love you all!!

Love,
Elder Gutierrez

My mom's banana cream pie made by Sister Mitchell

No better way to celebrate 61 new investigators in the New Haven Zone.

Delicioso!!

Exchanges with Elder Andersen

Boston Skyline

Exchanges with Elder Ferreira

Always a good time with Elder Ferreira

Mission Pie Accomplished!

     So this post is written by Heidi Gutierrez, Elder Gutierrez's mom.  Last year at Thanksgiving, Elder Gutierrez said that Thanksgiving just wasn't Thanksgiving without his favorite banana cream pie.  This family recipe was handed down from my Grandma Sandall to my mom.  After her passing in 2002, I started making the pies for Thanksgiving.  This year I wanted to surprise Elder Gutierrez with his banana cream pie.
     He is currently serving in Bridgeport, Connecticut.  In his ward, there is a sweet sister named Stacy Lee Mitchell.  Her husband is the ward mission leader.  Her son, Daniel (now Elder Mitchell) took Elder Gutierrez and Elder Sprehn to Boston for p-day the week before Elder Sprehn returned home.  They have watched General Conference in the Mitchell home.  Anyhow, I decided I would ask Sister Mitchell if there was someone in the ward that was a baker and would be willing to follow the recipe and make Elder Gutierrez a banana cream pie.  She responded, "Me and I will do it!"  I have been so excited for him to get this surprise this week.  You really don't get the excitement unless you have been a missionary momma.  The holidays can be hard. 
     Well mission pie was accomplished today!  Sister Mitchell surprised Elder Gutierrez at church.  Here is the video and picture she sent us.  I am indebted to her.  Come to find out, Elder Warner also loves banana cream pie.  This is one happy missionary momma and two happy Elders.  Happy Thanksgiving Elders and a big shout out to Sister Stacy Lee Mitchell.

Elder Gutierrez and Elder Warner Holding the Prized Banana Cream Pie - Happy Thanksgiving Elders!!!

Week 72: Exchange Week

     Hey everyone!  The winter has arrived here in Connecticut and it is COLD!!  Despite the freezing weather things are going so great in the work and I have some wonderful updates on our investigators.  Also I have a really exciting new goal to tell you all about!
 
     This week Elder Warner and I saw so many miracles happen with Jackie, who we just picked up as a new investigator last week!  Our first lesson with her we were able to notice 2 roadblocks that would keep her from getting baptized, her boyfriend Michael and maybe a word of wisdom issue.  We weren't able to see her this week until Thursday.  We were very, very anxious to see if she had read the Book of Mormon and if she had received a witness from the Spirit that it was true.  As we started talking to her, we found out that not only had she read from the Book of Mormon but that she absolutely knew that it was true.  As well as all the potential roadblocks of her getting baptized are fading away!  She loves the Book of Mormon and she was so, so excited to meet with us again.  She told us the most amazing story about how she used to be a heavy drug user, but God had answered her prayers and helped her to stop using.  She then told us that she is going to leave Michael because she feels that he is only dragging her down and she doesn't want his bad habits to affect her.  We were able to set a very powerful baptismal date with her for December 16th.  We then invited her to a Thanksgiving Dinner Party our ward had this Saturday and she came!  She loved the party and met so many members who fellowshipped her greatly.  She wasn't able to attend church this weekend and we aren't sure why, but things are looking great for Jackie!
 
     This week Elder Warner went on two exchanges, one with the Southington Spanish elders and one with the Southington English elders.  We are very excited about all the missionaries we have in our zone, they are all diligent and obedient.  Many of them are very young though so we are going on many exchanges to help the newer missionaries out.  Tuesday I was with Elder Perkes who is from Logan, UT.  He has only been in the field for 1 transfer and so we had a great exchange and we got to talk about a lot of ways he can see success and joy on his mission.  Friday I got to go with Elder Petersen who is from Santaquin, UT.  He too has only been on his mission for 1 transfer and has great desires.  We were able to talk a lot about how he can help the area that he is currently in and how to work effectively.
   
     This Sunday Elder Warner and I as well as the District Leaders in our zone worked together to set a huge goal.  We realized that if we want to see a lot of success in December then we need to pick up a lot of new investigators this upcoming week.  We had each of the District Leaders call the members of their districts and ask them how many new investigators they thought they could pick up this week.  After they answered, the District Leaders had them pray over the phone asking the Lord how many new investigators HE thought they could pick up this week.  The total New Haven zone goal came out to 54 new investigators!  This is a very stretching goal and we know that with God on our side that we cannot fail.  We are excited to see many miracles happen!
   
     That's about it for this weeks update!  I would like to share with you my new favorite couple of scriptures which are quotes from Isaiah found in Mosiah 14: 4-5  verse 4, "Surely he has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.  Verse 5, "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed."  I cannot thank my Savior enough for what he has done for me, because of his pain and suffering I can be healed and made happy, no matter what happens in my life.  I love my Savior.

Love,
Elder Gutierrez

Jackie, our investigator, at our ward Thanksgiving party

Exchanges with Elder Perkes from Logan, UT

A days work, finding change on the street.  #DateFund

Exchanges with Elder Petersen from Santaquin, UT

Morning Workouts with Elder Warner

Longmore Jamaican dinner!  "Al-de-bes"

Last weeks P-day soccer

Week 71: 50 Baptisms Goal

     Another week has past and gone so quickly.  Elder Warner and I were able to do so much great work and we are having a fantastic time together.
   
     We started off this week by seeing a huge miracle!  A couple of weeks ago when Elder Lewis was here I contacted this lady named Jackie.  We were leaving an apartment building after a lesson and I saw her sitting on the stairs of the building next to us.  We walked up to her and had a very short interaction.  She said that she would be interested in hearing a message about Jesus Christ and we got her phone number.  Finally we were able to meet with Jackie Monday night and it was such a powerful lesson.  Her fiance, Michael, joined us in the lesson and we thought for sure he was going to "Bible Bash" us the entire time.  But surprisingly after we explained to him our purpose and answered all his questions, he began to listen to our message.  Jackie then told us that she had been struggling for a while and that she had been praying for a long time that God would send her the truth.  She said that when we contacted her she knew God had sent us and that we truly had the truth.  As we began to share the account of the first vision with her, she cried.  It was awesome!  Then as we gave her a copy of the Book of Mormon she anxiously took it from us and held it close to her chest and smiled.  It was such a great lesson and Michael's heart had definitely been softened.  We are hoping to see them again tonight.
   
     Tuesday was such a great day.  I got to go on an exchange with Elder Warner (a different one), our District Leader.  Elder Warner is such a fun missionary and we had a great time together.  He has been on his mission for about 5 months and is from American Fork, UT.  During our day together, we had some great discussions about how he can better help the district and I was also able to train him a lot on planning.  We were able to pick up one new investigator.  It was a great exchange.
   
     Wednesday we were able to drive all the way up to Weston, MA for our Mission Leadership Council meeting.  I always love being around President and Sister Miller and we received some great trainings.  One of the highlights of the meeting was when President Miller extended a goal to have 50 baptisms across the mission in the month of November.  I am very, very excited about this goal.  When our mission is unified in a common goal, there is almost nothing that is impossible.  We are hoping to see great things this month in the MBM!
 
     The rest of the week went by very quickly and it was very productive.  Elder Warner and I have recently been going through the entire ward list trying to find those that are trying to come back to the gospel and also trying to find part-member families to teach.  We've seen some success already and we can't wait to see what else the Lord has in store for us here in Bridgeport.
   
     By far the highlight of this week though was when Patrick, our most recent convert, bore his testimony in sacrament meeting.  Alma 36:25 says, "The Lord doth give me exceedingly great joy in the fruit of my labors."  I know what Alma was talking about when he said this to his son.  As Patrick bore his testimony, I was smiling ear to ear the entire time and I really couldn't be happier.  He started off his testimony by saying, "I know that the church is true and that the Book of Mormon is true."  There really is nothing that could make a missionary happier than hearing one of his converts say those words.  Patrick is such an amazing young man and he has such exceedingly great faith.  I know that he will forever be close to the Lord.
   
     It really was a great week!  Thank you to everyone that supports me.  This world is a crazy place and it keeps getting worse, but I know that there is real and lasting peace that is available to all of us and that it can only be found through faith in Jesus Christ.  I know that He lives and has a plan for each of us.  Turn to God in prayer each and every day and I know that He will direct you where you need to go.  I love you all!!!

Love,
Elder Gutierrez

Exchanges with Elder Warner, District Leader

Hermana Pederson's Birthday Party

City View!

Eating Mexican Crickets . . . . 

Lunch with Keith Moon