Thanksgiving was great this year. We had 31 people over for a grand celebration. Two of my brothers and their families joined us. Everyone from all three families was able to make it. It was pretty amazing. We also had some close friends join us. We set up 2 long tables in the family room to accomodate everyone. There was plenty of food for everyone. So many things to be thankful for, but as it is so elequently put, "Giving thanks is best shared in how we live our lives." So with that said enjoy the holidays and live your life with a heart full of gratitude.

LIFE IS GOOD

It has been several weeks since I have blogged. October was an amazing month. Gary, McKay and I were able to go pick up Zach. We had the privilege of meeting some of the good people he has worked with the past 2 years. It was truly a blessing to see him in that setting. The best news is that all of our children are home again. It has been a long time since we have all of them living in the same city. I love it.

Angela Neumann provided a place for us to call home for the 8 days we were there. She stayed in a beach cottage so we could have use of her home. It was truly a blessing for us to be able to stay in her home and get to know her and her family. The zone leaders from that area also live there, so we were able to see how their schedule. McKay loved being near the Elders and getting to know them. We hope we can repay Angela for her kindness in the near future.

Elder Doane and Elder Moncur were wonderful. They are the mission AP's and allowed us to spend time with them so we could see a little of the workings of the mission. They are very hard working, spiritual young men. Their parents should be proud. We also met the office staff for the mission, the Freemans and the Robins. They welcomed us with open arms and we definately have new friendships with them. President and Sister Dalton were wonderful as well. They shared experiences with us and included us in some very special opportunities while we were there. I know they touched McKay's life for good. We grew to love all of these people.

The Tongan ward was amazing. To hear these saints sing is a testimony in itself. You can really feel their spirit through song. I gave it my best shot singing in Tongan, needless to say I wasn't very good. The spirit in the meeting was strong and good. At the end of the meeting the whole congregation stands to sing aloha oye and then proceed to walk to the front of the building and draped Elder Hatch with leis, hugs, and kisses. It was a very emotional time. They even gave Gary and I leis. We were all a mess. The next night they had a luau BBQ at the park for us. Man there was a lot of food. The ward was so kind as to provide this going away celebration for Zach. We ate, laughed, talked, and they shared experiences they had had with Elder Hatch. It was a marvelous night. We didn't want to leave.

Some of the other tourist things we did: shopping at the swap meet, PCC, snorkeling, body surfing, Laie Temple open house, eating wonderful food, dole plantation, driving around and around the island, sitting on the beach, submarine ride, Pearl Harbor tour, and just enjoying the island spirit.

Life is good. We have been very blessed as a family. Thanks for all your love and prayers over the past 2 years. Now on to new adventures.

Hawaii in October

Mac's Eagle Project

McKay had great success with his Eagle Project. He collected about 30 bicycles. Thanks to all who supported him. Special thanks to his good buddy Jack for helping out.

McKay's Eagle Scout Project

McKay is working on his Eagle Scout Project. He will be collecting bicycles and bicycle parts to be donated to the Salt Lake Bicycle Collective.

http://www.slcbikecollective.org/

You can go to the website to see what it is all about. If you have a donation please let us know and we would be happy to pick it up. We will be collecting on Saturday October 9th.

Zach turns 21.

Elder Zachary Hatch

Erin's baptism

Silly Missionaries

Last Month

Week 98 Last Transfer

Well I don't even know where to begin with this week but I will do my best. Things were super crazy with it being transfer week, but transfer week is always crazy.

Monday 6th- We had to finish up a few things but we had a little time for p-day stuff. I got to introduce Elder Doane to the world of pawn shops. He had never been to a pawn shop before but he was looking fora cello so we went to see what we could find. Unfortunately we weren't able to find anything but it was ok we will look into it again and see what we can find. Then we went to this really cool members house and played volleyball and rugby right by the beach and the water. It was a lot of fun. I got a little burned. Whatever blood it is that is in me went right to work and I was tan the next day. Nobody ever believes me when I tell them that I will be burned one day and then tan the next.

Tuesday 7th- So we started off thinking that today would be just fine until we had to pick up the greenies, but there were a few things that came up that we had to take care of in order to get things ready. We had a few missionaries have some health concerns and such so we had to take another look at the transfer board and do some praying to see if we could figure out a way to make it all still work and have it the way that the Lord wanted it. We were able to get it figured out and when we finished we all felt like we had it the way the lord wanted and where the missionaries could get the help that they needed. So it came time to go and get the greenies and there were so many of them that we had to take 3 cars just to get them all in. It was a good thing that we took all 3 cars as well otherwise we wouldn't have been able to get all of their luggage in. It is always so fun to pick them up and to be able to give them their first impression of the mission. This group seemed like they were going to be a really good group. They all seemed really happy and really excited to be here. So we got all of their stuff and headed to presidents. When we got there we dropped them off and got them all situated and then Elder Doane and I drove to the tabernacle because we had to unload all of their luggage. Usually we wait until the night to unload their luggage but it just so happened that their was a baptism that night and we thought it would be a good idea to take the new missionaries to it so that they could get a really good idea of what our mission is all about. So we unloaded their stuff and headed back to presidents. We got there just in time for the last little part of orientation before we were to eat dinner. So we had a good dinner but we kind of had to eat fast just to make sure that we could get to the baptism on time. So we loaded the vans up once again and headed off to the baptism. We were running a few minutes behind so we were trying to get caught up. It was really suprising, usually there is bad traffic but for some reason that night there was hardly any and so we were able to make it on time. After the baptism we took them back to president's where we finished the orientation for the night and also did what we call the first call letters. This tells them who their first companion is going to be and where their first area will be. It is so fun to see the look on their face when they open it up. Generally they are very excited. Mostly because none of them know where it is that we are sending them it just sounds cool.

Wednesday 8th- Oh boy I don't even know where to start with trasfer day. This day is always just so crazy and so full of energy. So we went to presidents to have breakfast with the greenies and to pick them up to take them to the tab. We got them all and headed to the tab. It is funny being an AP you learn who everyone is and develop such a great love for them. It doesn't matter who they are you just know that you love them. I always make sure that I give every elder there a hug before we go into transfer meeting. Help them to know that I care about them. I make sure to take the time to ask each of them briefly how they are doing and if their is anything I can do for them. So transfer meeting started and it went really pretty smooth. Everything went the way it was supposed to. It was great. We got everyone all paired up and then got them ready to send them to their areas. It is always so crazy after transfer meeting is over because everyone is always asking us to do things and where certain thing are and if we can get something for them and do this favor for them and what not. We just do as much as we can and then let them do the rest for themselves. Then after the greenies are done with more orientation, before we send them to their areas we send them out on the streets to talk to people in downtown honolulu. It is kind of a fun thing to do to get them right into the the mission mode. It is fun to see their reaction when they come back from talking to people. So many of the greenies were flying off island to start so we had to take many of them right back to the airport. It was good to get them off to their areas. They were all very excited as well so we wanted to get them out as soon as possible. After we dropped them off Elder Doane and I had to go and clean up the mess of the hurricane of transfer meeting. We made sure that everything was put back together and put back in order. We had to get a few thing out to people before the day was over. I was so tired when we finally got home and were able to go to sleep. It always wipes you out and you answer about 1000 questions and get about 100 phone calls. Our phone rings off the hook all day. It was a good day though.

Thursday 9th- So today we had few thing we could do before the missionaries going home came into the office. We were completely out of a few things and knew that we had a little bit of time so we ran to the store to get what we needed really quick. With all of the transfer stuff going on we didn't have a chance to go on Monday so we just took a few minutes in the morning to get it all done. Then we went back to the tabernacle and met the missionaries there. We had to make sure that all of their luggage was under weight and that all of their bags were good to go before we headed to presidents house. It is always just fun to spend time with them and to watch them reflect on the last two years and to talk about stories from their missions. One of the elders needed to mail his bike home so I took him to ups to send it and it was fun just to talk to him and to see that he had served a really good mission. There were so many good missionaries in this group that I knew that is was going to be hard to send this group off. So we took them to president and we had one last testimony meeting with them. It went really long though. We were running really late so we had to eat dinner really fast in order to make it to the airport on time for all of them to see the members that came to see them off. It was really hard for me to send this group off. I had so many good friends in this group. So many missionaries that I had served around. Some of my closest friends in the mission were in this group of missionaries going home. So it came time to say the final goodbys and I gave them all one last hug. I made sure that Elder Medeiros was the last one. I love that kid so much and got so close to him in the 5 months that we were companions together. He is such a great kid and I know I will miss him. Good thing I will see him in just a few weeks when he comes back on vacation. So we headed back home for the night.

Friday 10th- So today was like our driving/ moving day. I think in total we made 3 trips to the airport and drove almost completely around the island. I think in total we ended up driving like 200 miles. If not that many it was like 180? It was a lot whatever it ended up being. We started out with two seperate trips to the airport. We had a few of the missionaries that were finishing flying international so their flights didn't leave until the next morning but they were spead out by about 2 hours each so we just had to time it just right for each of them. Then we closed a few pads so we had to go and move a few people out of thier places. We also did what we were calling the mission commisary consecration. We knew that there was lots of commissary floating around out there that wasn't being used so we wanted to get it back into the mission office so that we didn't have to order more from salt lake. So we drove to a couple of the zones to pick all of that stuff up from them. We got back and realized that we had forgotten to take a few of the things to the zones that needed them so we got back in the car and drove the rest of the things around. I was so tired by the end of the day because I had driven the whole day. It was crazy, but it was a good time for Elder Doane and I to talk and decide what things we needed to do and how we could help the mission.

Saturday 11th- So Saturday was a pretty good day. We had a little bit more mellow day compared to the rest of the week. We had a little bit of office work to catch up on and things like that. Then we had some time in the afternoon and evening to actually do some prosyliting. It was such a great feeling to just get out and to talk to people and to see how our ward was doing. We found a few of our members houses and they are in the ghetto and the members kind of looked suprised to see us down in their part of the woods. It was funny though. That was pretty much it for the day. Nothing to exciting happened though.

Sunday 12th- We got to church and it was just great day as always. We showed up and it was great. It was in tongan as usual but the funny thing is even though it is in another language and although I might be able to understand all of it I can still feel the spirit. I can pick up a good portion of it but I can always feel the sprit strong and that is the important. Then we were supposed to teach our investigator Erin but she wasn't there so we left and we got a call that they were there so we went back. We went back and they still weren't there so we decided to leave agian. We were kind of bummed that we missed her because she is so solid. I am excited for her to get baptized here in a couple of weeks. Then one of the other set of missionaries needed us to do a baptsim interview for them so we did. I did the interview and the kid was awesome he is so exctied to be baptised. Then we went and had dinner with some of my favorite people in the whole entire world. The Freemans fed us and she cooked us some really good shepards pie. I hadn't had that stuff in forever. Anyway it was good to sit and chat with them and to spend time with them.

Anyway that was pretty much our week. It was a good week. I am glad that it is over though because it is so stressfull. I hope you all know that I love you a lot and pray for each of you every day. It is such a privilage to have a family like you. To know that I have someone back home rooting me one and is there to support me. Those are the missionaries that I feel the sorriest for, the ones that don't have that support from home. Well again I love you all a lot.

Ofa Atu

Elder Hatch

Sunday September 12th A taste of Heaven!!!

We were able to attend Elder Medeiros' homecoming on Sunday. He was Zach's companion for 5 months. They served in the office together and did a lot of the administrative stuff for the mission. They are very close. When we arrived at the church Elder Medeiros was standing outside as if he were looking for someone. We got out of the car and he looked at us and said I know exactly who you are. You're the Hatch Batch, with a smile on his face. It was so great to hug him and know that just 3 days prior he had been with Zach. I know why he and Zach have grown so close. His family was so gracious and welcomed us to their ward and thanked us for coming. They then had us sit with their entire family. (A taste of heaven.) Some of them are from Hawaii so they had seen Zach recently as well. Such a wonderful family. Then President and Sister Peterson sat next to us as well. Needless to say we got a bit trunky. It was so surreal being surrounded by people we barely knew but loved them so much. It was difficult to contain our emotions as we felt the spirit so strong and were surrounded by such incredible people. Gary and I both had a very spiritual experience that day and felt so blessed to have had Zach serve a mission. Words couldn't really describe how we felt.

Hatches, Medeiros', and Petersons

Hatches, Elder Medeiros, Petersons

Week 97 Last transfer before he comes home.

Elder Medeiros going home.



Aloha family,

So this week was really good. We spent lots of time in the office getting things ready for transfers. I will try and give you a briefing on what each day included

Tuesday 31st - We spent the whole day in the office spending most of our day doing transfers and getting things all put where they need to be. I don't think anything to exciting happened. Wednesday was pretty much just the same as Tuesday. There is so much paperwork that goes into doing transfers and so many things that you have to do to make sure that the transfer goes smoothly and that everyone gets to where they need to be with who they need to be with. It is always very stressful because if you miss just one thing it could all fall apart. Well not all fall apart but it could cause some problems. We have checklists we follow to make sure that we get eveything and when we go over the checklists we go over them like 3 different times just to make sure that we have everything.

Thursday 2nd- We spent most of our morning moving people around. We had some of the missionaries get offered new beds from their members, so we had to go and get their old ones and also go through the storage. We have gotten so much stuff from missionaries lately that our storage is just really full. There is so much stuff. Elder Doane and I are going to go through it all next week and see what can stay and what things just need to go that are really old. We have some things that have been in missionaries pads since Brigham Young. So we will see what we can do to get rid of the old stuff.

Friday 3rd- We spent lots of time in the office again. We wanted to get as much of the transfer stuff done as we could so that we could go to as many baptisms as we can on Saturday. So we got most of everything finished up that we needed to. It took us pretty much all day but we were able to do it. I thought I was going to go stir crazy sitting all day in the office but we were able to manage to get through it.

Saturday 4th- Today was like a miniature road trip. We started first by taking someone to the airport for president at like 7:30 in the morning, then we went back and went to the first baptism which was in Honolulu. Then after that one we caught the freeway and headed out to Mililani where there was supposed to be another one, but when we got there they forgot to tell us that is was cancelled so we called them and their investigator wanted to meet us, so we went and met them. We just went and talked to them for like 5 minutes and then Elder Doane and I were like well we gotta go. So we headed off to the next baptism which was down in Makakilo. We went to that one and just barely had enough time to get back to Mililani where they were having another baptism. We had to leave that one a few minutes early so that we could make it to another baptism. It was in Ewa Beach so Elder Doane and I were both excited to go to that one.(They both served there) So we went down and it actually started late so we just waited for a few minutes. There was one last baptism that we wanted to go to so we got back in the car and headed off. We got there like 2 minutes before it started so it was awesome. We made it to 5 total baptism that day. It was a really neat day. We headed home to eat some dinner and finish up a few other things. Then we had to go back to the airport to pick some people up for president. I think in total we drove 150 miles or something like that. It was a lot whatever it ended up being. It was a good day though and Elder Doane and I were glad that we were able to support so many missionaries at their baptisms.

Sunday 5th - Sundays in the Tongan ward are always good. We didn't have a chance to go to our sacrament because we had to teach a lesson to our investigator Erin. She is doing so well and she is very excited to get baptsied on the 25th. We are excited for her as well because we know it will be a great day for her. So after that we went to sunday school. They have started teaching a new sunday school class in english because so many of the tongans are marrying people speaking english now. It is great though. We have a really good teacher for the class. She does and awesome job and always makes our investigators feel comfortable. Then we went home and got all of the last things put together before the big week.

Well that is pretty much the wrap up of the week. I love you all and hope that you have a good rest of this week

Ofa atu,

Elder Hatch

Week 96 The Work Moves Forward

Well this week was pretty good. We did lots of traveling and did a little bit of flying as well. So I will just try and sumarize the best that I can the last weeks events and once again tell you if anything funny happened.

Tuesday 24th - So we were supposed to go to waipahu to do interviews with president, but we had a lesson set up with one of our investigators so we go to the house and we ask if they are there. The guy comes out and we sit down with him and start to talk with him. He is supposed to get baptised in like a week and a half. So we go over the baptism questions with him and everything is good. We got him all set up for next week Thursday. His name is James by the way. So we taught him and then we headed out to waipahu. We were out there doing interviews and stuff and they all seemed to go pretty well. Then that night we went on splits with our ward. It was really a good night with them as well. We started with a few visits and then we ended at one of the members of the bishopric's house and we taught his nephew who is not a member. It was a really good lesson. I couldn't understand everything that was going on but I did my best. The spirit was really strong and the members were bearing some really solid testimonies. It was good this kids name is Afele. He had been coming to church for a really long time and had been taught before but just had never been baptised. We asked him why he wanted to get baptised and he said because he knew that his family needed the blessing and because he needed to share the gospel with his wife back in Tonga. So it was really good and he got baptised on Saturday.

Wednesday 25th- We had to get up super early because we had to fly to the island of Hawaii. I love going there. I really like it there, but I really like it in a small town called Waimea right at the top of the island. Anyway we got there and had interviews with the missionaries there. We had to drive all of the way around the island that way we didn't waste as much time for the elders. Elder Doane and I took turns driving because there was just so much driving. We didn't mind though because President got a rental car and it was a dodge charger so it was kind of sweet to drive. Anyway we drove all around and caught a late flight back. We didn't get back home until like 9:30 So it was a really long day. It was really funny though president was running really behind schedule so we had to skip lucnh. Elder Doane and I were soooooo hungry so we took the rental car at like 5, we told president we went to put gas in the car but we made a quick stop and got some food because we were just starving. It was pretty funny though because president had no idea that we had even gone to get food.

Thursday 26th- So we were supposed to have another appointment with our investigator James, but when we tried to call and confirm the appointment the phone was disconnected so we were like that is weird? So we decide just to drive over there for our appointment and we get there and find out that our investigator and his wife Moni had been in a huge fight. She is a member by the way. So they got in a huge fight, moni kicked him out of the house and got a restraining order against him and they were going to like get a divorce. We were like holy cow what is happeneing . So we sit down and talk with her and come to find out he had ben lieing to us. He said he had been reading and stuff when he really hadn't been. She was so ashamed and embarrased. We sat down and talked with her and she just broke down. She has kind of been less active for a while so we started teaching her. It was really good she really opened up to us and told us that she wanted to get more active in the church again and she knew what she needed to do. So it was a really good thing that we stopped by. It is just amazing how the spirit works. You think you are meant to go to a place for one person when really you are going there to help another person. So we had interviews the rest of the day. Then that night we went to ur ward because we were having the baptism interview for our investigator. It was really good and he passed so we were really happy about that.

Friday 27th- So friday was a pretty crazy day. We had to go do interviews on maui, but we got word that the missionaries apartment on molokai had caught fire and that one of the missionaries things had all burned. They were coming to maui for interviews so president put us on special assignment to go and help him get all new stuff. President gave us some money to go and get it all with. So we spent like 4 hours shopping getting this elder everything that he needed. Man I just felt so bad for him. All of his clothing was gone. Everything else was ok just his clothes. They contained the fire to just one room so that was good. It was a pretty long day helping him with all of that. It was also really good to see Elder Medeiros. Man I love that kid. We spent some time together talking and reminiscing about the past and how much we missed each other. He will be one of my friends for life just like some of my other companions. But it was really good to talk to him and to spend time with him again. I am excited for you to meet him. Then we flew back home and had to get to our ward house again. Our ward was putting on a volleyball night and they had all of the youth invite their nonmember friends. It was really good and it was a good oportunity for us to get to know all of their friends better. There was a really great turn out. I wish that we would have been able to play a little bit more but they already had the teams set up. It was ok though we had a great chance to sit down with the bishop and talk to him about the missionariy work in the ward.

Saturday 28th- So we had our baptism this morning and it was really good. The baptism was super spiritual. Elder Doane had to give a talk on the holy ghost but they asked him to do the whole thing in Tongan. He did a really great job and I was really proud of him. The ward really loves him and so do I. He is a great companion and I learn so much from him. The ward was so impressed by his skills to speak the language. He is really goood which really helps me. Then the rest of the saturday we spent going to baptisms and other things like that. Nothing to terribly exciting happened.

Sunday 29th- We went to church and had our investigator get confirmed. It was really good. You could tell that he was really happy and that he was a changed man. We taught our gospel principles class like normal and it went well. Then after church we were able to sit down and meet with our investigator Erin. We taught her about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and it went really well. She could feel the spirit super strong just like all of the rest of us. We were able to invite her to be baptised on the 25 of September and she said yes so we were super stoked about that. She is just so solid and sees the need to change and how the gospel and the church just help to make you a better person. She was telling us about how things that she used to do she now realizes that they are not ok and that she needs to change. So it is really neat to see the change in her. Then later that night we went up to the Freeman's house and had dinner with them. They are such amazing people. They are just so happy and so full of life. They do so much to help us out in the office. I really don't know what we would do without them. Anyway they fixed us a really nice dinner and stuff. We were so grateful to them.

So anyway that is pretty much my week. Sorry I always try to make them shorter but it never seems to happen. This is kind of like my journal though since I don't have a whole lot of time to write in my journal. Anyway. I love you all so much. Have a great week.

Ofa Atu

Elder Hatch

FIFTY NIFTY DAYS LEFT

Week 95 The Weekly Round Up

Aloha family,

Yes it is that time of the week again already. I really can't believe how fast this comes around each week. It seems like I was just typing my last email home and here I am again. I don't think this week was as crazy as weeks past, but I will try to do my best to talk about a few of the highlights and a few of the crazy things that happened.

Tuesday 17th- So we started doing interviews this week and they are always fun. The interviews are a great way for us to see how the missionaries are doing and get some one on one time with them while President interviews. It is really interesting sitting down with them and talking because you find so much out about them and who they are. Sometimes they tell you a little more than you want to know but it is all good. So after interviews were finished we had a few cars that needed to go a few different places and stuff. So we took a car out to waipahu and it was good. We had to hurry back though because our ward mission leader wanted us to go on splits with us. So we hurried back and we asked him who we were going to see. He said that he was taking us to a guy that the missionaries had taught before and when they had taught him he told them that he was already baptised. Well he hadn't and our ward mission leader was on a quest to go find this guy. So we drive out to kalihi and find this guy hangin out with his family. Our ward mission leader just goes inside because it is a tongan household so he can just do that and he finds the guy. So we sit down with the guy and Brother Fatongia is like, "James you lie to me!! You tell me you baptise, but you never baptise!!" We were both just sitting there like oh man what is going to happen and then the guy was like, "yeah I haven't gotten baptised yet but I have been thinking about it." Then Brother Fatongia says, "No time for baptise!! You been taking the lessons to long already!! You need to baptise" the guy was like yeah I know, then brother fatongia looks at us and is like elda what is two weeks from fursday? We were like uh sept. 2 and he was like good we baptise then. The guy was like alright cool. Anyway I know that was kind of a long story but Elder Doane and I had a good laugh about it after. We are going by to teach him a few times this week just to refresh him on everything and then we will get him interviewed. It was just funny the way it happened. Then after that we went to this super shady part of town down by china town if you know where that is. We drive down this dark sketchy alley in Bro Fatongias truck. We get to the end and it was sooo funny. There was like this old asian couple like dancing in the middle of the street, these two tongan guys sitting on the side and this other black guy just drunk out of his mind. I wasn't scared though because we were with Bro Fatongia and he knew the people. So we are sitting there talking to these guys and we can't get out of the truck because the alley is to narrow. The drunk guy on the side is just like sitting there and Bro Fatongia is like, "Hey you never like come fix my truck?" The guy was like, "you never call me?" come to find out that Brother Fatongia had hired the guy to fix his truck, he had come to the Fatongia's home, started fixing the truck got bored, left his tools and caught the bus home. So on the way home Brother Fatongia decided to take us to McDonalds. So we get to the drive through and he starts ordering but he has his tongan accent so the lady can't understand him. It was so funny listening to them trying to communicate. Then as he was finishing the order the lady told him how much and he was like ok sista. We start busting up laughing he starts laughing and the lady that took the order starts laughing into the mic thing. So we get to the window and he gives her the money and he is like, "Why you laugh?" and she just gets all serious and doesn't know what to say because she doesn't know if he is serious or if he is joking. Needless to say Elder Doane and I had a good laugh that night about the events that had happened that night.

Wednesday 18th- So we were in Laie today for interviews. So we had to take two different cars. They needed a car in Laie and we were also supposed to pick some furniture up from Laie and also deliver some to other parts of the island. So we decided that we had become HD. Meaning HD moving services, HD used cars, HD airport services, HD problem solvers and the list goes on and on. So we got to Laie and I felt like I was back home again. We started the interviews, and even though most of the sisters have changed, they all still seemed to know me. It is always fun to go up there. The sisters are so funny. So we spent some time there and we went to the kahuku grill, an all time favorite. Owned by one of my most favorite people in the whole world President Hanneman. So we go and he is there so I gave him a big old bear hug. I was so happy to see him and he like wise. It just made the trip to Laie so much sweeter to see the good friends that you have made while you are here. So after we did that we went all the way around the island to wahiawa. We took the way all the way through north shore because it is faster to get to wahiawa. It was also good because Elder Doane had never seen the north shore. So we got to waihawa, made a quick stop to drop off the stuff and then off we went, becuase we had to get to an appointment with our ward back in town. So we got back but we were a little late. It was ok though because the tongans run on what we call tongan time. They are always late. So we get there and they want us to share a message and for some reason the got the idea that right after we shared the message we had to leave. So we told them no no its ok we can stay for a little while. It was actually really good because there were some inactive people as well and some non members there that we were able to teach. It was a good night though.

Thursday 19th- This day was really really long. We had two zones worth of interviews to do. As we have been doing the interviews we have been checking the missionaries area books. So we checked about 25 area books in total. It was ok but after awhile you just feel like you are looking at the same thing over and over again. We didn't finish all of the interviews until like 6:30, so we came back had to run to one of our members houses for dinner and then we went straight home to bed because we were so tired.

Friday 20th- Well we got up this morning and flew to kauai. It is always kind of different to fly back there because it is my greenie area. We got there and we were able to spend some good quality time with the missionaries. It is a little bit harder out there for them because there are only 8 missionaries on the whole island so when we get a chance we like to talk to them and give them some comic relief. Nothing else really happened.

Saturday 21st- We spent some time cleaning today. We never have any time to clean so we decided that we didn't have anything going and that are pad really needed to be cleaned. So we took a couple of hours and deep cleaned it. We got rid of ALL old crap and made it so the only things that are in there now are Elder Doanes and mine. It was really great and our pad felt a lot better after. I think that is the only really major thing that happened.

Sunday 22nd - So we taught our gospel principles class as normal and it went really good. We really get some good involvement from our recent converts. So we taught the class and then during 3rd hour we spent some time with the young single adults. It is really good to talk to them because a few of the guys have been trying to decide whether or not they want to go on missions so we were really able to help them. Then after church we were able to teach our investigator Erin. She is so awesome. She has such a solid testimony already and she is not even a member yet. She said she gave up coffee already and she didn't even know why. She said she gave it up just because her fiance said that in the church they don't drink coffee and she really liked what she saw in him. We were teaching her about living prophets and I asked her, "Erin what would it mean to you to know that there was a living prophet on the earth today?" She took a second to respond and when she did she got really emotional and talked about how she knw it was really important. That God is the same forever and that she thought he would call a prophet again today. She told us that it would be really important in a world that has such ever changing values. She was still emotional as she talked about how she realized that things that she saw on tv are not ok and that she would have never realized that if she would have never met with us. She talked about the trails that we face in life and how satan throws so much stuff at us. I then was able to share one of my favorite scriptures Helaman 5:12 and I think it really helped her. It was just a really good lesson and the spirit was really strong. I miss being able to teach like that all day every day. But I have learned to cherish those opportunities when they come. Then we had to run to the airport to pick up President Dalton. We had to run a few other places and we were driving our truck and all of the sudden I look behind me and there is a cop with his lights on? I was like hmm thats weird I haven't done anything wrong? So he comes up to the window and like motab is playing and he asked for they typical stuff. I was like something wrong officer? He was like yeah your saftey inspection is expired and so is your registration. I was like oh ok? He was like does this vehicle belong to you? I was like no this belongs to our church. He was like ok just tell your church to get it fixed. I was like ok. It was really funny though. Anyway that was pretty much my week. Some funny stories this week. I hope that you all enjoy. I love you all so much and am grateful for the support that you show to me.

Ofa atu

Elder Hatch

BIG NEWS from Annie and Steve

A few pictures

Can't believe it is down to 2 months

Maddie is Home YEAH!!!

Maddie has been on a pharmacy rotations for school in St. George. She has been gone for a month. We are so glad she is back and making us laugh again. We all missed her, especially the dogs. They were so excited to have her back. Little Ruby keeps snuggling up to her on the couch and follows her around. It is always great when one of the family comes back home.

Week 93 Review of what has been going on. July 28th thru Aug. 8th

Aloha Family,

So it is that time again to send yo another email. I figured I would send it now because this is about the only time that I will have over the next week with the crazy schedule that we have this week. So I will try and recap the last two weeks of events since I wasn't able to email last week with the busy schedule that we had.

So starting with the first week. So I can't remember if I wrote about this week or not but it is always super stressful because this is transfer week and there is so much going on and so many things to coordinate. You have to make sure that no one misses any flights and that everyone has a ride to transfer meeting and that everyone has a cell phone and everyone knows how to get back to their pad and so on. There is always just so much to keep track of thank goodness for excel. So we got the greenies and got them all oriented the first night. Actually it went pretty smooth for it being President's first time. He did a really great job and with such a great learning curve. He kept a very level head and just stayed calm through most of the process. So Tuesday night we finished with the greenies a little early which never happens and make the preperations for the next day.

Wednesday July 28th - Transfer day!! This day is always fun and always crazy. I always sweat soooo much this day because I am just running around like a chicken with my head cut off or something. haha It is always good though. So we got the greeenies to the tab and it was wierd because I had to conduct this time. I felt really inadequate again. It seems like I should still be sitting down in the group with all of the other missionaries waiting for my asignment. It made me remember the feeling and emotions that I had every time that I found out that I was being transfered and the anticipation. I felt so bad for President though because he was trying so hard to pronounce the names of all of the places but he was struggling. My heart went out to him and I just wanted to be a bug in his ear and help him be able to say it right. I also felt bad for him because he said a companionship that I knew was not right, he had just accidenlty looked at the wrong line and when I heard it I knew it wasn't right. So I walked up really quick and just told him hey they are supposed to be with so and so and he got really embarrased but he handled it really well and just took it and made a joke about it and moved on which I was really impressed by. This day always feels so long. By the time 3 rolls around it feels like it should be 8 already. It turned out to be a good transfer day with no problems which was really good.

Thursday July 29th - This day was really good, I was hoping that it wasn't going to be to tough but I don't know who I was kidding knowing that I was going to have to send two of my best friends in the mission, home. So we had a somewhat normal morning with studies and what not and then it was time to start preparing the diers. So we met them all at the tab and President gave some of them their final interviews. It is always interesting to see the faces of the missionaries, becuase you can see in their faces who didn't do all that they wanted to and you can also tell those who did exactly what they wanted to. It makes me happy to know that I will be able to have that satisfied look on my face and being able to say that I know that I did all that I could in the time the Lord gave to me. Anyway, we went back to President's house and had the last testimony meeting with them. This is always tough because you hear some pretty powerful stuff in that meeting. We always have one last good dinner with them as well before we take them to the airport. So it came time to take them to the airport so we took them and I just spent most of my time sitting and talking to Elder Eteaki and Elder Fredrickson. It was good just to talk to them for a few minutes and to reminisce with them about the last months that we had been around each other and the good times that we shared together. Oh let me back up just a second, we got to the airport and usually this member girl helps us out but when we got there I couldn't remember her name so I went up to the counter and just started to as if there was a member that worked there and they said yes Eta worked there and it clicked with me that was her name. So they went and got her and I started to work everything out with her. It was crazy. She said that they used to email the info to her and she would get everything ready so once we got there we could get the bags done quick. So I got her information for the next time that we go. So I just started to do them one by one with her and got everyone checked in. So then it came time to take them to the security check. I was doing fine not crying until it came time to say goodbye to Elder Eteaki. Man I love that kid with all of my heart. I gave him a hug and started to let go and he just kept holding on and would not let go. He started to cry and it made me start to cry. I knew that I was really going to miss him once he was gone. He is one that I will go home and find right away. He and I will be life long friends for sure. So we sent them through and I just sat and watched them until I couldn't see them anymore and then I picked myself up and went back to work because I knew that was what was expected of me and I knew that they wouldn't want me dwelling on them.

The rest of the week was pretty much the same, not to much exciting going on. We did a lot of preperations on the weekend for all of the training that we would be doing this week. So we made all of the preperations and them we were actually able to do a little bit of procelyting. It was great. It felt great to be able to teach a little bit and to be able to go and knock on a few peoples doors and talk to people.

Monday Aug. 2 -It was ZLC which I just absolulty love because it is just like a brotherhood. We get so close as zone leaders and form a bond like none other and we just really all understand each other. It was kind of hard because there is so much stuff that goes into it and there is tons of planning and preperations, but everything went really well. All of the zone leaders took all of the training to heart and were all really excited to have it implemented into their zones. We were really glad that they took it so well, because it could have gone either way and they took it the right way. I wasn't really to worried about it though because the zone leaders are so good and I knew that they would take it the right way. We spent most of ZLC just teaching them all about the new stuff and everything that we would be training them on. But after ZLC we took some time for ourselves because we knew that we wouldn't have much time the rest of the week to do anything. The Kauai zone leaders were going to be staying with us for the next couple of days so we took them to costco and we stocked up on a few things to hold off for the next couple of weeks. It was a pretty good pday, finished laundry and headed home for the night.

Tuesday Aug 3-This was the first day of training and it went pretty well. We got everything all set up and ready to go and the training went smooth all day. It was really long though. It was like 7 hours so it took lots of concentration and we had to stay very involved. After about 6 hours of it I was pretty much cooked for the day. After that we were able to go and teach a few people and to have dinner with one of our members.

wednesday thru friday Aug 4-6 - All of these day were just full of training. It was crazy to have all of the leadership on Oahu all in one place. It was kind of scary in a way to think that all of the leaders had been taken out of thier zones for the week. It all turned out really well. It actually turned out that all of them went back to their areas and were applying the things that they had been learning for the last week so that was really good to hear. We were so excited that they were taking it to heart and applying the things that they had learned. It was cool as well because we were able to watch the new segments of the district.

Saturday Aug 7 - So today we had a baptism for 5 people. It was a really good baptism. It was a family that had 4 teenage daughters that were active in church but just had never gotten their daughters baptised. Then also a samoan lady that is married to a tongan guy. Her name is Jesse and she just has the sweetest spirit ever. She knew it was true and she really wanted to be baptised so it turned out good. Then we had a party with our ward at the park. It was really great because they had brought a few nonmembers so we were able to talk to them and hopefully we will be able to teach them. It was just good to build some trust with our ward. Elder Doane is really helping me my tongan, he is more fluent than I. The people just love him. I am trying to get better so that he and I can teach together in tongan. That would be really neat to be able to do that. After that we had some time so we started going and visiting some of the formers in our area book and were able to start meeting a lot of tongans that lived around. We were able to set up a few lessons with some of them for next week so that will be really good. It was a really good day though.

Sunday Aug 8 - Well today was ward conference and we showed up expecting the normal and found out that they were changing all of the meeting around. So instead of having sacrament first it was going to be last. We had priesthood first then sunday school and then sacrament. It all worked out. We taught the gospel princlples class and it was going really good. We had only been teaching for like 15 minutes and then bishop told us we needed to end because they were going to start sacrament meeting early because it was the ward conference. So we go in to sacrament and it is just packed. Which was good because I haven't seen our ward that full in a long time. Then after just like any other tongan event they had food at the end of ward conference. I love the tongan food now. It tasted good the only bad part is that it is not very helathy for you. Then after church we did some studies and then we went to this one senior couples house for dinner. The Freemans they are so awesome. I love them so much and they are such a strength to us in the office. But we went up and ate with them and it was great. Then we taught a lesson and that was pretty much our day.

So sorry this is so long but I felt like I should recap on the whole week. I love you all so much. I will email you next week when I get back from the big island and tell you all about my adventures there.

Ofa atu

Elder Hatch

Week 92 (a bit late)

Aloha Family,

I am so sorry that it has been so long that I have had a chance to write so I will try and tell you what has been going on for the last two weeks.

So Starting on the 13th through the 18.

We had the rest of the interviews this week and we were able to introduce President Dalton to all of the missionaries and have a chance to meet with each of them. Man I always get so tired when we travel so much....anyway so we were on Big Island, Maui and around here in Honolulu. We spent lots of time hearing the same thing over and over again so Elder Medeiros and I always tried to find things to do while they did the meetings. There always seemed to be something that would come up or something that needed to be done. So we finished the interviews on Saturday just in time to go to a baptism of a Samoan fellow I taught while I served here in Honolulu with Elder Eteaki. It was so neat to finailly see him take that step and be baptised. He had been investigating the church for like 9 years or something like that. It was also good to see Elder Eteaki finally help this family as well right before he went home. He has been working with this family the whole 9 months that he was here and was able to get some closure on them. Well after the baptism we went to another baptism. So we are driving and it is back up in Mililani my old zone and we get there, and one of my favorite samoan guys from my old ward was there. I got really close to his son while I was there and now his son is out on a mission. Anyway so I gave him a big old hug and he said how much he missed having me around and I told him that I missed he and his family a lot as well. It was just so great to see a familiar face again and it flooded back so many memories and emotions from when I had served in that ward. I am not going to lie it kind of made me area trunky. So after the baptism Elder Medeiros and I rushed back because we still had so many preparations that needed to be made so that we could start the transfer process the next day. I never realized how complex the transfer process was until I became an assistant. So we made most of the preparations that needed to be done and at about 10:30 we finally called it a night and went back down to our pad. It was a really long day to say the least. So Sunday came and we had church in the morning. Man have I told you lately how much I love the Tongan people and the wonderful spirit that they have about them. It is just so amazing to just feel of their love right as you walk into the chapel. Anyway so we had church and then came the big moment. It was time to go and pick up my new companion. So for those of you who don't know we went and picked up Elder Doane. I love this elder. He is just such an amazing missionary and you can just feel the spirit so strong within him he will be a great companion to have for the next 3 months. He is from Salt Lake and went to Highland High. He loves playing lacrosse and he loves to go skiing. He and I have served around each other before so it was so great to be back around him again. So we picked him up and brought him back to the tab so that we could start the transfer process. Man let me just say I am so glad that I paid attention for the couple of times that I had the privilage to do transfer plans with President Peterson. It truely paid off. As we sat down to do the first one it was a little different because President is so new and doesn't know the missionaries very well yet. Elder Medeiros and I were just so unified though and had the spirit and had good notes from the last time we did transfers, that he and I would just start going with things that we knew needed to happen. We let the spirit work through us and we were able to know companionship changes. It was funny a few times he and I would throw out scenerios of things that could be done and we would both understand what the other one was talking about and could complete the others sentence, and then President would be like wow wow you just lost me there. Go back and tell it to me again? It was kind of funny. It made Elder Medeiros and I feel good though because we knew that the Lord was using us as a tool to move the work forward and to know what would be best since President is so new. Anyway back to the week..... So after transfer plans we had dinner with one of the senior couples and then we had a meeting with president and by that time it was time to call it a night.

Monday 12th- So we go up to the office and spent pretty much the whole day just doing transfers. It is such a long process and so draining. You are always just so tired by the time you get done because you are just focusing so hard on what needs to be done and what will be the best for the mission and so forth. We had sort of a p-night were we were able to do a little bit of shopping and some laundry but that was about it. All and all it was just a long day with nothing to exciting.

Tuesday 13th- It was amazing how the lord blessed us this time as we did the transfer plan. Were able to get all done with them by Tuesday afternoon which is just amazing and it left us so much time to be able to do all of the paper work and the hard part of the transfers. Making all of the packets, getting things ready for the new missionaries, making sure that everyone had a car that needed one and a cell phone that needs one, and so forth. There is just so many things that go into transfers it is jut not even funny. So for the next couple of day we pretty much just spent most of our time doing all of that stuff. Oh yeah on Wednesday we had a cottage meeting at president's house and it was really great one of the people that I taught down in Ewa Beach got baptised and then came and spoke at the cottage meeting. It was a really great meeting with some really solid testimonies born. I always love going to those things and being able to feel of the spirit so strongly. Especially being an assistant because you don't get to teach nearly as much as you would like to so you have to do you best to have those really spiritual high moments.

Thursday and Friday 15th and 16th -So nothing really exciting happened on Thursday so I am going to skip right to Friday. So as we were getting all of the logistical things figured out for transfers we figured out that we are going to have to move a few people and going to have to buy some beds and things. So the whole morning was spent just moving furniture around and stuff. We went to one of the mission storage sheds and it was just packed with crap ( Which was kind of frustrating because I had just cleaned the shed like a month ago) but anyway someone else had put more crap in there. So you knowing me I didn't put up with that for more than about I don't know 30 seconds. I loosened my tie and just started pulling crap out. Looking at stuff to see if it was even worth keeping organizing it so that things would fit better. Oh I guess I should tell you we were doing this because we found out there was some more stuff that needed to be put in there. SO I just start pitching old desks that have seen better days and old chairs and nasty stuff just getting rid of it and loah and behold there was room to put the things we needed to in. I am going to have to change the lock on that door though so no one else will put crap in there haha. So after we finished that we went and stole some beds from this one pad because we had to take their bunk beds to put into another pad. So we got them torn apart and in our pad. Then we went and bought new beds with one of the senior couples and took them to the missionaries that we had stolen them from. Then it was time to take a trip out to beautiful Laie. Man I love taking that drive it is so pretty and is always so fun to go there. So we ran out there and delivered the stuff. It was so good to be out there and to feel of the spirit out there again. I felt like it was home. I loved that area so much and I miss it all the time. It was such a great area and had such great people to serve with out there. Anyway any chance I get I always love going out there. Anyway that was pretty much our day.

Saturday 17th - So today was pretty boring just did more transfer stuff. It was good though we were able to go to a few baptisms as well. Alright I don't have anymore time tonight because it is like 9:30 at night so I will finish in the morning and send the rest love you.

Elder Hatch

I was waiting for the second half of the letter but never got it. But I will share what I know.

Tuesday 27th the new missionaries arrived in Hawaii. Zach always loves it when they come. They are so eager to get started and bring a great spirit with them.

Wednesday 28th- Transfer day. This is when all of his hard work for the past two weeks really comes together or not. Making sure all of the missionaries make flights, and get their cars and phones, and have what they need in their new pads. The exiting missionaries all come to the President's house and spend the night there. He had to send his wonderful companion Elder Medieros to Maui. They got along so well and it was a great experience for Zach to serve with him. Elder "Nalu" Medieros goes home in 6 weeks so he was grateful to go back out to teach for the end of his mission.

Thursday 29th- The exiting missionaries do a bit of traveling around the island before they head home.

Friday 30th - I think the missionaries flew home on Friday but it could have been Thursday. This is getting harder and harder for Zach because these are missionaries he has spent most of his mission with. There were several missionaries that Zach has gotten very close with that he had to send through security at the airport. He tells us it is very difficult to say good bye. He said the only thing that makes it better is knowing that he will see them in a couple of months.

Life Lessons

This past weekend we had my family reunion. By parents, brothers, sister, and their families met at Mammoth Creek for the weekend. A good time was had by all. We usually rent a house that we can all fit in. This one was a cabin style on Mammoth Creek. It was a beautiful setting with the creek running right behind the cabin. We ate good food, played games, walked, talked, laughed, watched movies, hiked, and enjoyed each others company.

I was able to complete one of my bucket list items this year. There is a bike trail from Brian Head to Panguitch Lake that my family has ridden in the past. This is a ride that I have wanted to attempt for a long time and just never felt like I could do it. Well this year my brother, Jim, took me and my two sister in laws on the ride. Jim is an experienced rider and gave us pointers along the way. As I thought about his pointers they made a lot of sense in our daily life. I thought I would share some of my insight.

Rule #1: If the trail gets too difficult to ride it is okay to get off and walk. There was no shame in recognizing the trail was too difficult for my abilities and I needed to get off and walk through a particular section. Sometimes in life I think we need to get off and walk.

Rule #2: Whatever you focus on, on the trail, you will hit. So if you focus on a log or a big rock in your path you will utlimately hit it. Life is much the same. Wherever we put our focus that is what we will hit. Wow, so important to be focused on the right things.

Rule #3: Don't cross the chain. Meaning it is very difficult for the chain to work when it is small on front and big on back or big on front and small on back. The chain has difficulty functioning properly. The same goes for life. We have to live our lives in harmony with what we believe. It is important that our words and actions are in sinc with one another.

Rule #4: It is easier to go through soft sand quickly. When I was riding the trail and came to soft terrain it was so much easier to go through when I was going fast. The slower I went the more I got stuck and lost my balance. When we find ourselves caught in doldrums get out. Move through them quickly and get on to what is important.

Rule #5: It helps to have some guidance and encouragement along the way. As we traveled the trail my brother would stop and inform us as to what we could expect ahead of us. He would give us some pointers from his experience as how to best complete that leg of the trail. He would also give us encouragement and tell us what we were doing well. So it is with life. There are people put in our lives to guide us along the way. These people may have more life experience or knowledge and are there to help us avoid lifes pitfalls. They are also there to give us the encouragement we need to continue on when the journey gets tough.

Rule #6 Well this could have been rule #1 but none-the-less....one should would protective gear. I never knew if or when I might crash along the way. Wearing the appropriate gear is so important. As it worked out I did crash and was grateful to be wearing a helmet so as to protect my head. We are given many opportunities in life to put on our protective gear. Our testimony is something that should be a great protection to us all of our lives. If we truly believe and follow what we know we will protected beyond our understanding. There are other things that will give us protection as well...prayer, scripture study, good friends, paying tithes, service...the list could go on.

Rule #7: Enjoy the journey. As we went on our ride it was so amazing to enjoy the journey and to take time to see the grand views, to observe nature, to learn to respect the elements, and to feel God's love. Life is a journey. We can get so wrapped up in the everyday tasks that we forget to enjoy the journey.

Rule #8: Take it at your own speed. My brother is an accomplished mountain bike rider and could ride the trail quite quickly. My sister in law has also ridden many trails and was more comfortable with the trail. I am a novice mountain bike rider and my skills were quite challenged. It was quite alright for me to go at my own pace and complete the ride. The other riders would go at their pace and then wait at a point in the trail for the rest to arrive. Then we would rest, get a drink, talk and then move on with the next leg of the trail. I learned I need to take life at my own pace. Even though there may be others who are speeding past me it is okay for me to take life at my own pace. It is good to take a break, get a drink, and regroup before going on to the next task before me.

Thanks to Jim, Lisa, and Tammy for a memorable ride. I learned so much that day. More about life than about riding a bike.

Week 91 Some pictures from the past week

Elder Hatch, Sister Dalton, President Dalton

Elder Doane (Zach's new comp), Elder Hatch, Elder Medieros (Outgoing AP comp)

Elder Eteaki the Missionary in the white clothing, is said to be Zach's brother from a different Mother.
Not quite sure who this is but I will find out.

Annie and Steve are moving

Annie and Steve will be moving into a house next month. We are so excited for them. It has been completely remodeled and is in a great Taylorsville neighborhood. It has 4 bedrooms, 2 baths, large kitchen, and a family room. There is a big back yard for toys and several sheds for storage.

3 months, 3 months, 3 months

Yeah I know I just posted 100 days. But I'm keeping up with the monthly countdown also.

The Count Down Begins

THAT'S RIGHT, TODAY THE COUNTDOWN BEGINS. TOMORROW WE BREAK INTO THE DOUBLE DIGITS.

Weeks 89 and 90 Could his life get any busier?

Disclaimer: I am making this blog into a book to remember our year. This entry is quite long but I feel it is important for the book. So I apologize for putting the whole email in.

Alright I will do my best to recap the last couple of weeks events.

Monday 28th- So it was p-day, but we had some things so get ready for the last zone conference as well as some final things to help President Peterson before he went home. He told Elder Medeiros and I that he wanted to interview the both of us one last time before he left and he wanted to give us some advice for the future. So I was able to sit down with him one more time face to face and heart to heart and have a good conversation with him. It was really great. He is such a wonderful man and I have learned so much from him. He has been like my father away from home. Anyway he gave me a temple recommend interview and he also just talked to me about my mission and the things that would take place after the mission. He gave me some great words of counsel and advice that I will take to heart and use. In his last interviews with the missionaries before they go home he asks them about their favorite companion and their favorite area and so on and it was great to tell him what my favorites were. He said it was very interesting to him to hear what the missionaries say. Anyway we did that and then we went and taught a lesson in our ward and it was a good day.

Tuesday 29- Today was the last Zone Conference for President and Sister Peterson. It was going to be perfect and we had it all planned out and then we got to the church where it was going to be held with all of the missionaries on Oahu and Elder Medeiros and I were setting up and realized that we had forgotten out jump drives back at the office. We were like oh no so we told President, then Elder medeiros and I got in the car and went back to the office as fast as we could. They started without us and we luckily got back just in time to do our part of the zone conference. We really lucked out. The Zone Conference went well though. I think it was really hard on the Petersons knowing that is was their last one. At the end of the zone conference I got asked to present this book of tributes to them. It was a book we had all made of our feeling towards the Petersons and what they had done to help us. It was a really neat experience to present it to them. But after it was over, all of the polynesian missionaries did the haka for him and they asked me to help them do it since I had been around most of them my whole mission. It was really cool and President loved it. Then all of us that did the haka sang to President his favorite Tongan song while we were down on one knee. We really wanted to give him the best before he went home.

Wednesday 30- So today was pretty much just a normal day. Nothing to exciting happened. We pretty much just made ourselves available to help President with whatever he needed. He had us help him pack and get the transfer board ready and stuff. It ws a pretty laid back day. We made sure that the office and the cars were clean before we went to pick up the Daltons.

Thursday 1- Wow today was pretty crazy. So today was the day that the new president flew it. We went with the Petersons to greet him at the airport. We got there and were waiting and then all the sudden here they came. We greeted them and said our hellos. President Peterson told them that we would go grab their luggage and asked how many bags they had and they said the had 11!!!!! We were like wait what?? Your kidding right? They were like no we brought 11 suitcases so we went over and pulled off all 11 bags. Lets just say that is was a good thing that we brought the van otherwise there wouldn't have been enough room to fit it all in. So we loaded it all in and while the Petersons took them to lunch Elder Medeiros and I took all of their bags to their house. Then after that we went and got a quick lunch. We went back to the office and just waited for them to come because we were going to have to show them around the office and do whatever they wanted. So we waited for them and they came and we spent some time getting to know them and showing them around the office and stuff like that. He also wanted to meet with Elder Medeiros and I briefly to talk about a few things. So my first impression was pretty good. He was a vey happy and pretty laid back guy.

Friday 2- President Dalton had a few things that he needed to do around town and knew that we knew our way around town and asked if we would help him do them. So we picked him up in the morning and took him places to do his internet stuff to get it set up, we helped him get a bank account set up and we helped him get his whole phone situation figured out. It took a good portion of the day to get it all done but it was a great opportunity t get to know him a little bit better on a personal basis. He has a pretty high tech phone that took some time to figure out. Then after that it was time to go with the Petersons. They wanted to have dinner with us one last time and wanted us to be the ones to take them to the airport and to send them through security. So we picked them up back at the tabernacle and we went to the Spagetti Factory with them. We had already decided that we didn't want them to have to pay for dinner so we got up and told them we had to go to the bathroom when really we were going to pay for the food. So we went and paid for it and then we were sitting there waiting for the bill and President was like why isn't the waiter coming we need to get out of here. We were both like it's ok we can just go. President was like no we can't we have to pay before we leave and the two of us were just like no it has already been paid for. He was like you two are going to get it from me when you get home. Anyway after dinner we took them to the airport and they had a few people that came to say one last goodbye to them before they left. Then came the hard part of sending them through security and now it was Elder Medeiros' and my turn to say our final goodbyes. This was kind of wierd since we had been watching the rest of the mission do it for the last two weeks and now it was our turn to do the same. So we said our goodbyes which was a lot easier than I was expecting but I think it was because we knew that we were going to see them in just a few months. We drove back home and let me tell you it was a pretty quiet ride back.

Saturday 3- Well we woke up to our phone ringing and some of the released missionaries calling and telling us that President and Sister Peterson had made it home safely. So we were glad to hear that. Today was kind of a day to drive the Daltons around and get them used to some of the places around as well as to have them go and teach with a few people. SO we made a few phone calls and told the missionaries that the new president would like to go and teach a lesson with them. Some of them were really freaked out but my man Elder Eteaki pulled through and jumped at the opportunity to go and teach with him. So he went with them to a lesson which gave Elder Medeiros and I a chance to work on our training for Monday. After they came back from their lesson we had to go straight to a baptism that was out in Ewa Beach. It was really good for him to see a baptism on just his second day here. After that we went back with them to their house and spent a couple of hours helping them unpack and getting their computers and their phones and their electronics all put together.

Sunday 4- We had church. I always love going to the Tongan ward because you never really know what is going to happen. So we got to church and they always have us bless the sacrament so we were sitting there and then all the sudden guess what they came back and asked us to bless it again this week. We agreed and went up and did it. Then after we were teaching our gospel principles class and one of our ward members were in there and we were talking about repenting and he was asking a question about something he had done but was trying to make it sound like a general story that wasnt about him. It was really funny because he started out just by saying thingsd like what if a person did this, and then it turned into I tried to do this and so forth it was so funny. We made our progress record as usual and gave it to the ward. We thought that we were going to have meeting but it turned we didn't. Then after church we spent a good chunk of time working on our trainings again because we knew that we had to get them done before tomorrow. Then we went to a 4th dinner at one of the members in the Manoa Ward with President. It was really great and we were able to get aquanted with a few more people around in the area. We collected the numbers as usual that night and then called it a night.

Monday 5- Today was ZCL (Zone Leader Council) This was the meeting that we wanted to make just perfect for President Dalton. This would be the first opportunity that he would have to meet all of the zone leaders and to get a feel for his leadership. So Elder Medeiros and I got everything all set up and ready to go. We had the meeting going and it was a really great meeting. He was able to get a good feel for his leadership and then he was also able to talk about a few things that he had on his mind as he came into the mission. We had all of the zone leaders account and explain what was going on in each of their zones so that he could get a really good feel for the mission. We were a little worried because we had never had to run the whole show before but it went really well. I think that the leaders really liked him and got a good feel for him as the new president. You could definately feel that the mantle had switched over to him and that he was the new president.

Tuesday 6- Today was the first chance that we had to go around and meet a few of the districts with president. He was able to meet a few of the first groups of missionaries. It was really a good thing for the missionaries I think because they are able to sit down face to face with him and meet him. That night after all of the meetings were over and he had met all of the districts he had dinner with the stake president. Elder Medeiros and I got stuck at the chapel without a car for a couple of hours so we decided to walk around and talk to a few people. We were supposed to have dinner at our member's house but he was running so late that we had to cancel and just had to run by later that night and pick up the food from their house. It was ok though it wasn't that big of a deal.

Wednesday 7- Today we went back to Laie and you all know that this is one of my favorite places. I have always loved this place and it has a very soft spot in my heart. So we went there and had their meetings up there and went and got lunch with a few of the elders. It was good to spend a little time with them and to talk with them . We had to take a fridge to some of the elders there so we asked for all of their help in getting it into their pad. We did the second group meeting and they were able meet all of the missionaries there. Daltons were having dinner at the pcc with a few of the stake presidents so, I decided to to go to one of my favorite members grill and have dinner there. I love this family so much and knew that they wouldn't mind if we just showed up. Sure enough we showed up and they were just so happy to see us. It was good to see all of them as well.

Thursday 8- So today we had to go to Kauai. We knew that it would be a really quick trip. So we got there at about 1:30 and President was really hungry so we got a quick bite to eat and then we went to have the meeting with the missionaries. Then we had dinner with a few of the missionaries while president was at dinner with the stake president. Then we went back to the airport. I think we were there about a total of 6 hours or something like that. All I know is that it was a really fast trip. It was funny though because President was just there with his whole family 3 weeks ago on vacation before their mission started. They had this vacation planned long ago and it just happened that they got called here on their mission.

So that pretty much sums up what happened in the last two weeks. I hope that this email doesn't bore you too much but hope it gives you some insight of what I have been up to for the last couple of weeks. It has been a crazy few weeks. This week is going to be pretty crazy as well but I know that it will be good. Well I love you all. Thank you all for your support.

Ofa atu

Elder Hatch