Week 54: Lame Bull?

       Hey everyone!  This week I had my first "last" as I had my last 4th of July in the mission field.  With that in mind, I have had a great desire to keep learning and growing as much as I can while I am on my mission.  We were able to pick up some fun new investigators this week and we are really seeing some great progress in those that we are working with.  Amherst is a great area and I'm excited to be here.
   
     Some big news from Warwick:  Lydia, the last investigator we were able to pick up while I was there is going to be baptized this upcoming Saturday (July 15th)!  I was able to teach her two times.  She has been progressing so well and so quickly and I was very excited to here about her baptism.
   
     Here in Amherst, we have some great and exciting things coming up as well.  Our investigator, Amanda, came to church for the second time this week and she is looking on track for her baptismal date of July 22nd.  It has been so great to teach her because she has had a ton of trials and is now beginning to understand the reasons for them (which is no small task for anyone).  This week we were also able to set a baptismal date with our new investigator, Shyam.  He is such a great kid and I love teaching him.  He is pretty busy so it's hard to meet with him, but hopefully all will continue to go well.
 
     One of the great stories we have this week came from some media referrals we received.  A media referral is when somebody orders a Bible or Book of Mormon and we are notified to deliver it to them.  On Thursday, we received two media referrals, one for a man named Lame Bull and another for a woman named Rising Moon.  At first Elder Little and I thought that somebody was playing a prank on us.  But sure enough when we pulled up to the home of the address we received, there was a woman in the driveway all decked out in Native American clothing.  We started talking to her and she said that some sister missionaries spoke to her and her husband in a Dunkin Donuts in New Hampshire.  She told us that she was really interested in learning more about what we believe.  She said her husband wasn't too interested but we set up an appointment with her for Sunday!  On Sunday, we taught her the Restoration at a Dunkin Donuts and she loved it!  She told us that she grew up Episcopal and stopped going to church because she wasn't learning anything new.  She was excited to begin reading the Book of Mormon and learn new things from us.  She is not sure if she is Native American because she was adopted, but her husband is 100% Cheyenne Indian.  They make and sell genuine clothing and jewelry for a living.  She was very fun to teach and we are excited to see where things will go!
 
     Another new and interesting investigator we picked up this week was Al.  Al was taught by missionaries before about a year ago.  He doesn't really have a home and for the most part lives behind the local grocery store.  He's a great guy and has been to church many, many times.  A member we had dinner with invited him over and he told us that he has been thinking about being baptized.  We are going to meet with him this week and get things going on him being baptized!  I'll be sure to let you all know what happens.
 
     Funny story from this week:  Our ward had a super fun BBQ for the 4th of July and we were able to have two investigators come!  Amanda and Bob.  Apparently, they new each other previously because they lived in the same apartment complex.  While we were watching some fireworks, Bob asked Amanda out!  One of our investigators asked out the other investigator, it was so weird !!!!  She shut him down and then he leaned over to Elder Little and said, "I bet you'd have a better chance".  It was so funny, we were all laughing.

     Last thing, today for p-day, we were able to go to the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass!  It was a lot of fun and Elder Little and I even got our name tags signed by former NBA player, Sean Elliot.  When he was signing our tags, he asked, "How's the mission going?"  which was pretty sweet!  He's from Arizona so he probably know a little about the church.  Well it's been a great week and we are seeing exciting things happening.  I'm so thankful to be a missionary and to be in the Lord's service.  I'm very grateful to live in a country that has been prepared by the hands of God to be a free land so that I can worship Him.  We are all so very blessed and I invite you all to count your blessings this week!  Love ya!

Love,
Elder Gutierrez

Name Tags Signed by Sean Elliot

P-Day at the NBA Hall of Fame in Springfield, MA

Kevin Durrant #21

Ready for the Rebound Larry Bird

Boston Celtics - My favorite

Wall of Michael Jordan's Shoes

Hanging with Michael Jordan

Taller than Muggsy Bogues

Taking Over the UMASS Campus

Look what I found at the Ward 4th of July BBQ

4th of July BBQ

Chicken Roosting on my Head

Our investigator, Bob

Workin' with Elder Little in Amherst, MA

Thanks Bishop Hatch!

     Bishop Hatch sent some random pictures from Amherst since transfer day, June 21, 2017.  Mom's love to get these surprises!  The picture with Elder Little arrived the morning of transfers.  The second picture arrived on Saturday, July 1st.  He took them to Texas Roadhouse for a steak!  Elder Gutierrez was in heaven and so thankful since they don't eat with members in this area.

Elder Gutierrez and Elder Little - New Companion from Fort Collins, CO in Amherst, MA

Eating Dinner with Bishop Hatch at Texas Roadhouse

Week 53: Hump Day

     Elder Little and I had such a great week and we got do and see a lot of great things.  Also this last Thursday, I hit my year mark!  It has been very humbling to look back on the past year and to ponder all the things the Lord has taught me.  I have seen such great miracles and I am so thankful for the experiences I have had.
   
     About 4 weeks ago Audrey, an Amherst investigator, was baptized.  On Tuesday, we got to go to the Hartford Temple with her!  It was her second time going and she prepared 25 family names!  She is so converted to the Gospel and it really is amazing to see how on fire she is.  The Hartford Temple was so, so beautiful.  It was my first time there and I was amazed.  I had the opportunity of being baptized for a couple of her family names which was very special.
   
     On my year mark, Elder Little and I celebrated by catching fireflies!  A member the day before told us that they are only around for a couple of weeks and that happened to be now!  So on Thursday, we saw and caught our first fireflies.  They really are so, so, so cool and surprisingly bright.  It was tons of fun and a great way to celebrate one year on the mission.
   
     Friday was a very special day, Elder Little and I got to drive to Worcester to go to Bob Amoa-Awua's funeral.  Bob was one of the very first investigators I ever met and one of my favorites.  His funeral was pretty interesting because it was a traditional Ghanaian funeral with everybody dressed in black and red ceremonial clothing.  We had the great opportunity of speaking a little bit at the funeral which was great as we were able to share some of our memories of Bob and some parts of the Plan of Salvation with about 100 non-members.  His funeral was very interesting since there was a lot of singing and instruments.  Throughout the funeral, I could really feel that Bob was doing well and that God's plan truly exists and is real!  After the funeral, we also got to see Carline Lysonge and her 3 daughters who I was able to teach as well.  They are doing so great in the Gospel and are moving to Florida soon.  It was a huge relief to know they were doing so well.  We had a lot of fun with them and they were so excited to see us.
   
     It has been a great week and I am really liking it here in Amherst.  One of our investigators, Amanda, came to church this week for the first time and loved it!  She said that she wants to come to church every week!  We hope to get her baptized in the coming weeks.  Also, I have an update on Eddie from Warwick.  He is scheduled to be baptized on September 2nd so I am pretty excited about that as well.  Thank you everyone for supporting me as I have been on my mission for a year now.  I am so grateful to be a missionary everyday, this work is so fantastic.  Love ya all!

Love,
Elder Gutierrez

First visit to the Hartford Temple

Beautiful Hartford Temple

Elder Gutierrez and Elder Little at the Hartford Temple with Audrey, recently baptized member in Amherst.

June 29, 2017 catching fireflies on my one year mark

Amazing Fireflies!

Bob Amoa-Awua's Funeral - June 30, 2017 in Worcester, MA

Elder Gutierrez, Elder Little, and Worcester Elders

Carline, Alexus, Benita.  Recent Converts from Worcester.  (They let us write messages on their wall because they have to paint the walls before they move to Florida.)

The Bigger's from Worcester!

Week 52: Amherst, MA!

     It has been one heck of a week!  I had my last couple of days in Warwick and . . . . I arrived in Amherst, MA!  I loved serving in Warwick and I am so grateful for the experiences I had there and I can't wait to see all that will happen here in Amherst.
   
     The past couple of days in Amherst have already been amazing.  My companion, Elder Little, is such a stud and we get along SUPER well. We have had so much fun and we are seeing miracles.  Just to tell you a little about Elder Little.  He is from Fort Collins, Colorado.  He has been on his mission for 10 months, he loves sports, he has served in Worcester too, and his name does not describe him well.  Amherst is a very fun and unique place.  It is totally a college town.  There are five schools here including UMASS and when all the students come the place more than doubles in size.  It is also the most liberal area in the mission and has the largest population of homosexual people.  Northampton, a town in our area, is known as the "Lesbian Capital of America", so you could say it's pretty unique!
   
     This area has always been know as a slower area in the past, which is not accurate at all.  The reason it has been "slow" is really just because of some lazy past missionaries.  We are currently working with 10 investigators and I'm still trying to get all their names down. Haha!  The work here is booming and we are teaching some amazing people.  One of our investigators we picked up this week is named Shyam.  Shyam is an 18 year old man from the Congo.  He grew up really poor and because of that has had a really hard life.  Even though he has had a rocky upbringing, he is so, so nice.  He loved the Restoration message and hopefully will continue to progress well.
   
     Well it has been a very busy week with a lot of transitioning.  I am very grateful to be able to serve in Amherst and I know this is where the Lord needs me at this time.  Thank you to everyone who supports me!  I love you all.

Love,
Elder Gutierrez  

Chillin in the Trio

Last Lesson With Eddie

Patricia's Antique Shop Where We Would Have Lessons

Saying Goodbye to Saroeuth, Sam, and Leon

The Trio Splits Up - June 21, 2017

UMASS Campus - Amherst, MA

Amherst Falls - Elder Little

Amherst Falls - Elder Gutierrez and Elder Little

New Companion, Elder Little from Fort Collins, Colorado

Week 51: Farewell Warwick!

     This week was full of exciting stories and experiences!  The biggest news of the week though is that I am being transferred on Wednesday to Amherst, Massachusetts!  My new companion's name is Elder Little.  I don't know much about him other than he served in Worcester after I left.  I am pretty excited to go back to Massachusetts and serve in Amherst, but it is going to be tough to leave Warwick.  So many great things are happening here and I've grown to love the people very much. The Lord needs me elsewhere though!
   
     This week on Tuesday we had a new companion dropped off to us!  Elder Blum is a great missionary and we have already had many great experiences in our trio.  Just to tell you a little bit more about Elder Blum; he is from North Salt Lake and has been on his mission for a little over 12 months.  He is Elder Scoresby's twin!  Seriously, they look so much alike.  He is very excited to be here in Warwick and we are lucky to have him.
   
     All our investigators are doing very well and it has been amazing to see all of their progression.  Eddie is doing incredible.  We had several great lessons with him this week and on Saturday to Sunday we fasted with him so he could receive heavens direction in his current situation.  He knows the church is true and will be baptized as soon as he and his girlfriend move out from each other.  It was so awesome to speak to him after our fast and to hear the answers he received.  He was pretty sad to hear that I was leaving and I will definitely find a way to come back for his baptism.
   
     Elder Blum must be a good luck charm because after not seeing Patricia and Dot for about 2 months, we finally saw them this week!  Both of them are still very interested in the church and life has just gotten a bit busy for them.  We had a great lesson with them and we read President Monson's last talk about the Book of Mormon.  On Sunday, both of them came to church and had a great experience.  Hopefully the Elders can continue to meet with them and help them come closer to Christ.
   
     This week we had a great lesson with just Dakota so we could resolve any concerns she had.  As we were talking with her, she told us that she now believes that there is a God and we helped her to recognize all the times she has felt the Spirit in the past couple of weeks and that the feelings she has been having is God reaching out to her.  She has been praying almost every night and is understanding the Book of Mormon.  We are going to bring up baptism in our next lesson and hope for the best!  There is a lot that she is still trying to understand.  We are going to meet with Dakota and all her friends tomorrow and hopefully we have a great lesson on the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
   
     Something very exciting happened this week during church in the YSA Branch.  One of the summer salesmen that is here was getting ready for church in the morning and his neighbor asked him what he was doing.  He told her that he was going to church.  She asked what church he went to and he answered, "The Mormon church, but it's just a congregation for 18-30 year olds."  He continued getting ready and she went back to her apartment.  Right afterwards, he felt the Spirit tell him to invite her to church even though she is in her 60's.  He knocked on her door and invited her, she agreed to come and loved church!  Her name is Lydia.  She is a traveling nurse and is in Rhode Island for a couple of months.  During the second hour of church, we were able to teach her the Restoration and set up another appointment for tonight!  It is so exciting to see all the people the Lord is preparing in our area right now and I'm a bit bummed to leave it all!
   
     Well it's been a great week!  I just wanted to give a huge thank you to everyone who supports me and especially my father.  I've been so blessed to have always had a worthy priesthood holder in my home growing up.  My dad has always been such a great example to me of a loving and genuinely nice person.  I love you all, have a great week!

Love,
Elder Gutierrez

P.S.  My new address is 390 Northampton Road Apt # A, Amherst, MA  01002

Elder Gutierrez and Eddie!

Elder Gutierrez and Estavan Rosales

Huge Pictoral Bible

Elder Gutierrez, Eddie, Elder Phillipsen, and Elder Blum at Church

Week 50: TRIO

     Hey everyone!  Elder Phillipsen and I had a pretty good week and we have some exciting news . . WE ARE GOING TO BE IN A TRIO TOMORROW.  The lower part of New Hampshire used to be part of our mission, but starting this week it will no longer be in our mission boundaries.  It will be in the New Hampshire mission so all the MBM missionaries serving in New Hampshire are being moved into other areas and we are one of the areas.  Elder Blum is going to arrive in Warwick tomorrow and for at least a week until transfers on June 21st we will be in a trio!  Elder Blum had served in one of my past zones, but I don't know him too well.  We are super excited to have him for the week.
   
     Tuesday I got to on an exchange with Elder Schrader in Newport.  The last exchange I went on with Elder Schrader was the day I got super sick so it was great to have a full exchange with him and serve in Newport for the day.  We had dinner with an older woman in the ward and she invited 5 non-member friends!  It was a great day and the dinner was so funny because they were all talking about their grandchildren and great grandchildren.  They thought we were great and hopefully some future teaching appointments will come out of it!
   
     Our investigators are doing very well.  We had such a great lesson with Eddie on Thursday.  We taught him about our modern-day prophet, Thomas S. Monson, and showed him his last General Conference talk.  Finally, Eddie told us that he knows the church is true and that the Book of Mormon is the word of God.  He wants to be baptized, but first he needs to either move out from his girlfriend or get married.  We know that God is going to help him work it all out and he is learning so much and has finally found what he has been searching for.
   
     Wednesday we had another lesson with Dakota and her friends and she invited another friend to hear our message!  So we are now teaching Dakota, Annie, Ali, Meghan, and Cosette.  We taught them all the Restoration and extended the invitation to read from the Book of Mormon.  Only Dakota and Ali were able to come to church this week but they loved it and we are hoping they will all want to keep learning.  We know almost all of them have a lot of concerns, but it has been so amazing to see how open they are to learning.  Dakota's mom, Lisa, could not be happier with all that is happening.  We are planning on teaching Dakota tonight and hopefully we can resolve any concerns and answer any questions she has.
   
      Also I have a little bit of sad news.  A couple of weeks ago, I found out that one of my recent converts, Bob Amoa-Awua, from my first area, Worcester, did pass away.  His funeral is going to be on July 1st.  Though it is sad that he passed away, I have such a peaceful feeling in my heart that he is doing very well.  He found the Gospel and he is surely enjoying all the blessings in the Spirit World.
   
     We are excited to have a great week in a trio, hopefully all will continue to go well!  Thank you everyone for your support.  Saturday we got to go to an awesome parade to celebrate Gaspee Days, which commemorates the first violent act of the Revolutionary War where some Americans burned down a British ship in the harbor not far from our house!  It was a ton of fun and I will send a video of the parade.  We are headed to Newport Beach today for P-day!  This Gospel is true and I know there is nothing I could be doing that is more important with my life right now.  It is so amazing that Christ allows very imperfect young whipper-snappers like me to share, teach, and proclaim his Gospel to the world.  I am so grateful to be part of his sacred work.  Love you all!!!

Love,
Elder Gutierrez

Teaching Dakota and her friends including her new friend, Cosette, and Estavan from the YSA Ward

Dinner before the teaching appointment

Gutierrez Barber Shop in Cranston, Rhode Island

 

Week 49: Uncle Elder Gutierrez

     Definitely the most exciting thing that happened this week was when I got a text message from Estavan on Thursday saying, "Hey, Uncle Gutierrez"!  My brother, Nate, and his wife, Ashley, had their first child this week!  I could not be more happy and excited for them and to be an uncle of course.  Welcome Bradley to the Gutierrez family.  I can't wait to meet you in a year.
   
     Other than the exciting news from home, Elder Phillipsen and I had a pretty exciting week in Rhode Island as well!  We were able to pick up 4 new investigators and we had Stake Conference.  Elder Zwick of the Seventy came for the Providence Rhode Island Stake Conference and I loved everything he had to say.  Also for the past couple of weeks we (all the missionaries in Rhode Island) have been preparing to sing in a missionary choir for Stake Conference, which went so great!!!  Funny thing is I have never enjoyed singing or have ever been good at it, until I came out on my mission.  There's a lady in our ward named Elaine Vivenzio who was a professional singer in Italy and now gives voice lessons from her home.  After a couple of hours working with her, she made a group of 20 terrible sounding missionaries look like a mini MoTab, just kidding, we weren't too bad though!  I love singing now,  A while back, I started doing this thing where my companion and I sing a hymn every morning in companionship study.  It's amazing how singing a hymn can invite the spirit so strongly into a room.
   
     Eddie is doing so great.  This week we taught him about tithing and he was so excited to pay it!  Usually investigators aren't too excited to start paying tithing but Eddie was excited to.  Eddie lives with his girlfriend and has for the past nine years.  He expressed to us this week that he will be baptized as soon as he is spiritually ready.  He knows that he cannot be baptized until he is married, (which is awesome because we haven't taught the Law of Chastity yet) and he wants to make sure that he truly has repented and left all his past mistakes behind him when he is baptized.  The problem is that he and his girlfriend do not have a good relationship at all and I'm guessing that they don't want to get married.  Also, we think that they are financially dependent on each other, so it would be hard for them to split up.  Other than that, Eddie is doing great.  We hope to find a way for everything to work out so he can be baptized soon and receive all the blessings of entering into a covenant with God.  Also Eddie introduced us to his friend, Jerome, on Wednesday.  We taught him the Restoration and he loved it!  He agreed to be baptized if he knew that our message was true.
   
     We have super, super exciting news about Dakota.  After our first lesson with her last week, she was talking to a couple of her friends about what we shared with her.  She began to tell them about Joseph Smith and the First Vision.  She said she wasn't doing it justice and invited them to our lesson on Thursday so we could tell them!  (Already doing missionary work after the first lesson!)  So on Thursday, we had a fantastic lesson on the Plan of Salvation with Dakota, 3 of her friends, 2 solid YSA members, and Lisa her mother.  Her friends weren't quite sure what to expect at first, but after they met us and we talked a while they were very open.  As we shared with them God's loving plan, the spirit filled the room.  It was such a powerful lesson and they were all very interested.  Their names are Annie, Meghan, and Ali.  After we left, Lisa sent us a text saying, "All the girls were in awe with how they felt after you left, they loved the message and want to do this every week!"  It was such a great lesson and all four of them should be coming to the YSA Branch next week!
   
     It really was such a great week . . . .I got to go on an exchange with Elder Ferreira again, but this time he got to be with me in Warwick.  Which was really funny to see him working in an English area compared to his experience in really ghetto Portuguese areas.  Elder Phillipsen and I are really excited about all the work happening in Warwick right now and I love serving the Lord.  Never have I been able to learn so much from the Spirit so often and feel so much love towards God's children.  I'm SO grateful to be part of this work.  I love you all and appreciate all the support I receive so much.  Have a great week everyone!

Love,
Elder Gutierrez

My Nephew, Bradley Steven Gutierrez, born June 1, 2017 

P-Day at Rocky Point State Park, Rhode Island

Rocky Point State Park Rhode Island

Elder Gutierrez and Elder Ferreira in Warwick, Rhode Island

Our lesson with Dakota, Meghan, Ali, and Annie

Real Men Love Jesus

Providence, Rhode Island

We made ribs on Saturday!