Week 76 The Emotional Rollercoaster

Sorry about the last couple of weeks but things have been pretty hectic. I think the last week was one of the most emotional roller coasters I have been on. From becoming assistant, to getting ready for greenies, to picking them up, to transfer meeting seeing all my mission buddies, to going to presidents house with the missionaries going home, to the testimony meeting with them, to taking them to the airport to say goodbye to members, to sending them through security and waving them off, to taking more missionaries from other missions to the airport at 4 in the morning things have just been crazy and they are not going to be any better this coming week. We have interviews this week so we go around with president to those and do activities with the missionaries. Then next Monday is ZLC again so this time I will have to train at that and be apart of it rather than just go and learn. I have to prepare my training and stuff like that. Then the next week zone conferences start and we will be flying to the big island and from what I hear I will be able to go to the temple so I am pretty stoked about that.

Well not to say that I haven’t loved Sunday night before on the mission but now I really love them. We always go to presidents for dinner and do what we call the Sunday night wrap up to the week. It is so amazing it feels like just being home with family and eating with your family it is so amazing. Like all of you I am looking forward to conference and if I am not mistaken I get to watch it at presidents house. I am not positive on that but I am pretty sure that is where we will end up for it. I know that we will spend part of conference weekend with our ward because being in a Tongan ward, if there is an event it gives them a reason to get together and have food so we will go eat with them.

Other than that I don’t think there is anything that is really new since I emailed on Thursday. I look forward to conference this week end and can’t believe that I am almost at 18 months. Man how time flies. Sorry this is so short but there is nothing else to write about. Well I love you all so much and will talk to you again whenever I get a chance.

Ofa lahi atu

Zig

Week 75 Transfers, Greenies, and Cottage Meetings

Holy crap another week down and the stress level is still up haha. This week has truly been crazy. Well I guess I haven't filled you in for like a week and a half so I will back up little bit. Last week was insane as well. We had to get all of the transfer instuctions, needs preparations,new leadership packets, greenie info, greenie packets, rosters for housing, checklists and everything else that goes into transfers prepared so that this week would go smoothly. We spent a lot of time with Pres. making sure that everything was in order for him as well. Last week we had what we call a "cottage meeting" which is were people from the Kaneohe, Honolulu and Hon-west zones invite their investigators to come to the Presidents and he has a couple of recent converts speak to all of the investigators. It is really neat but it is some work for us to make sure that the program is ready to go and that all the chairs are set up at his house and that everything is ready to go. It is always so neat though and the speakers are always so good. I am pretty sure a majority of the people who go to those get baptised. Anyway enough about that back to the crazy week. Sorry I didn't email on Monday but we spent the whole day making preperations with President for the upcoming transfers as well as for the transfer meeting today. It was good we actually got a lot of things done and were able to get a bunch of things in order.
Then Tuesday came and we had to make sure that all preparations were done and then go pick up the greenies. Man that was an interesting experience going back to the airport and seeing those brand new missionaries come out and look so excited and so ready to serve. It brought back lots of memories for me from the beginning of my mission. Then we took them to President's house and had sort of a devotional. President did some orienting and some other things and let us train them a little bit and give them some words of advice and some council. It was kind of neat to be in that spot and be able to share some of my thoughts and some of my wisdom per say. Then we watched a baptismal dvd of baptisms from the mission which was very powerful and made me emotional of course and the last picture of the dvd was the picture of me and the 8 people that got baptised that one day in Wahiawa.Pres turneed to me and asked me, Elder Hatch how does it feel to baptise 8 people in one day. I told him it is indescribable and an amazing feeling. The whole group was crying it was very spiritual.
Then this morning we picked them up at Presidents, had breakfast with them and brought them to transfer meeting. It was really good to see so many of my mission friends again and be able to feel their love again and feel their trust for me as their new assistant. I didn't have any one give me crap just their love and expressed how grateful they were for me. It was great to know that the mission supported me and that they stood behind me. We had a transfer meeting and then after we trained the greenies a little bit more we sent them on their way to their areas. Things finally started to calm down a little bit and I had a second to write you. So that is pretty much what has been going on. Now for the rest of the week. We will go meet with the missionaries that are going home tomorrow. We will take them to the airport and send them off which is weird because the sisters that are going home are the sisters that I came out with. WEIRD!!! But it should be fun. Then we will run around like crazy for the rest of the week making sure all preperations are made for this coming week when interviews start. Man it just never ends the days just fly by so fast and we are constantly going. Well I think that is it for now. I will try and write on Monday and I should be able to. I love you all

Ofa Lahi Atu

Zig

Midweek Message

Aloha family,

Well I had a few minutes and figured I would drop you a quick line to let you know what has been going down for the last couple of days and to answer a few of your questions. It has pretty much been the craziest couple of days of my mission from extreme headaches trying to figure out transfers from missionaries jumping all over me for finding out I became AP to no sleep to being all over the island to deliver things to people, it seems that it never ends. It has been a lot of fun but when my head finally hits that pillow every night I just crash. I really love working so close with president and learning from his wisdom. You really get to see a different side of him and get a different feel for him than any of the other missionaries do. He gets so close to us and we help him with anything that he needs. I also love working with the other 2 ap’s. I am learning so much from them and I am just trying to be a sponge and soak up as much as I can for the time that I am with them. You really get to see a different side of the mission and the work we do here is completely different form the work that we did out in the field. It will take a little bit of getting used to but I am sure I will adjust as time goes on. Pres said that I will be the go to guy once the new pres gets here because I will have the most experience in the office out of anybody here. I really have some big shoes to fill over the next couple of months. It is going to be and already is a lot of responsibility

Well to answer a few questions that you had. I will try and get a picture of the truck this week and send it out. I haven’t named it yet but it might already be named I don’t know I will have to ask the other elders. Sister Peterson is just like the mission mom. You call here if you need something and she is just there to help in any way that she can. I love this assignment although it is probably one of the hardest things I have ever done in my life. So much to remember and so much to do all the time you are staying constantly busy. It is funny pres. is still holding me accountable for what happens in the Waipahu zone because I was supposed to set it up for success even after I left. Elder Malan will be fine though and I am sure he will get a great comp to help him out down there in Ewa Beach. I think that is all the questions you had but if you had any others let me know I will try and answer them. Well I know this is short but like I said time is really short now and this next week will be insane with transfers and the greenies coming in and all of that. This week is going to be really hectic and really busy getting things ready. Next week email should be full of experience to tell you. One last thing I am back with my brother Elder Eteaki. It is so good to be so close to him again and be able to work so closely with him again.

Well I love you all so much and am grateful for all of the support that you give to me and all that you do for me. I couldn’t do it without the support of my family. I will talk to you agaon as soon as I can but I am not sure when that will be.

Ofa Atu
Zig

Week 74 Zach moves into a trailer

We didn't get an email from Zach today. He told us he will not be emailing on a consistant basis anymore. With his new assignment he really doesn't have a p-day and will send us information when he can.

This is what we do know. He will be living in a trailer in the parking lot of the tabernacle. He is back in a Tongan ward again and loves that. He gets to drive a truck now which he is so excited about. Squeezing into a Corolla was a bit difficult. His new companion is Elder Medeiros. Zach thinks they will be together for quite a while. Zach has been referring to the AP's as his buddies since he served in Honolulu. So he is excited to be comps with Elder Medeiros now. He was called on Saturday, but the rest of the mission won't find out until Tuesday. So they are keeping him in hiding. He said he isn't to easy to hide though being as big as he is. He is really looking forward to working with President Peterson and the other senior couples. He is also excited to meet with the missionaries throughout the mission. He said that because of the schedule they keep that many of the standard mission rules are a bit flexible for him. He still will have to be a good example and serve with love and dedication.

An Important Phone Call at Rite Aide

It was 11:57 a.m.,we were picking up some medication at Rite Aide when my phone rang. I looked at caller ID and it read Pres. Peterson. I knew it was a call from Hawaii. President Peterson called to tell us he had called Zach to be his assistant. He will be working closely with President Peterson and the office staff much like a couselor to a bishop. He will be helping with the transition of new mission presidents in July. I think his companion will be Elder Nalu Medeiros. Zach has a lot of respect for Elder Medeiros. With his new call he will be required to fly to all of the islands to facilitate zone conferences. Can you say "Big Guy in a little plane?" He has not been to the Big Island yet,but it will be a new adventure for him. We are very proud of his service so far. He has shown great humility in serving and has really grown to love the people of Hawaii. Well now he's on to a whole new set of challenges and blessings.

Saying Good-bye to a Good Friend

Tribute to Greta Adamson

Most of you won't know this good lady but she had a great impact on my boys. Greta would have my boys help her clean her porch in the summer. It seemed like such a small thing but it meant a lot to my boys. Talking to elderly adults can be a bit scary for young boys but Greta made it enjoyable. She would always ask them about what they were interested in and what they had done for excitement in their lives. She always had chocolate for the boys to finish off their visit. It was the expensive stuff too. I am so glad my boys had the opportunity to meet Greta and do a little service for her. The world will miss this cheerful little lady. Good-bye Greta. You will be missed.

Week 73 Waipahu is Progressing

Well this week was pretty uneventful but I will give a brief report and then try to answer some of your questions. This week was a little bit slow for our area but really good for our zone. We have 24 people with a date right now so that is good. Elder Malan and I have 3 of them so we are trying to do our part even in a really slow area. We committed those 3 this week and they are scheduled to get baptized on the 20 of March so we will see what happens. It has been really windy this past week and kind of rainy which is weird for Ewa Beach. Usually it is really dry and hot but it has been a nice change. My comp says he is freezing which I just can't understand because it is still like 85 degrees and at night like 70. I lay in bed and sweat and he is in a hoodie and sweatpants bundled under a blanket. I still think its bloody hot but that's just me. We are looking forward to this coming week though. We are having zone conference and I always look forward to zone conference. It is such an amazing experience and I learn so much everytime we get to go. It is also good to see my buddies the assistants and president. I love seeing them and feeling of their spirit while they are here. Other than that things have been pretty typical. Just still at the grind stone doing my very best to build up this zone and this area.
To answer a few of your questions yes I have eatin at Hukilau and it is really good. The missonaries always eat free there. I haven't had poi in a while but I do love tarrow which poi is made out of. Actually I like tongan tarrow the best. I did meet one of grandpa's friends President Wantanabe and he took me to see grandpa's old neighborhood and house. It was kind of funny to be at his old house and to think that a lot of the family had been there. It is an amazing view from where he lived it overlooked Pearl Harbor. Really neat. I also found out which chapel he went to and stuff so it was pretty cool to see it. I think that is everything for this week I am going to try and send some more pictures home soon. I need to take more so that is one of my goals to take more pictures. Well I love you all so much and hope that you have a good week.

Ofa atu

Zig

Week 72 Tsunami Update

Well hello there family,

Well it was a pretty eventful week. We had the big tsunami that turned out to be nothing. It was a crazy day though. I got the first phone call at 3 in the morning from some missionaries who were scared and so I called the assistants and got a call back from them that pres was having a phone conference in half an hour. So at about 4 in the morning we were all on the phone with pres, well at least all the zone leaders. It was crazy. He told us that we need to get our missionaries moving to a safe place so we started packing things and getting the missionaries informed so they could get moving as well. We really had to get moving in the morning so it was like a hurry up and wait because the thing wasn't even going to come until like 11 in the morning. So we got the missionaries safe, did some studies and other activities with them and kept them occupied. We were finally able to leave at like 3 in the afternoon which pretty much shot our whole day. I was so exhausted that I went back to our pad and slept for a little while so that I could at least function. All in all it was a pretty crazy day.

Well yesterday we had Zone Leadership Conference and it was really good. We talked about the needs of the mission and a few other things. It lasted all day but it was good to see so many of my mission friends. We also had the pres of BYU Hawaii come and speak to us so it was really good. He talked about the liahona and how all blessing are predicated on faith, obedience, and dedication. So it was really good. That's about it for zlc though. If I told you the rest it would just bore you. Oh well pres did have me sit next to him which I thought was kind of funny. I love that man though so I didn't really mind. He talked about the new pres a little bit and how he wants to get things all set up for him so that when he comes things are all ready to go.

My comp and I are still doing pretty well and are still trying to get things going in our area. It is a little bit difficult because things have been really slow but I don't get discouraged I just keep going. I am pretty sure I know why I am here now. There are some of missionaries that are struggling and I feel like I can help them out. I just work my hardest all the time and help out where I can. I think I can really help this zone. I still don't know how long I will be here though. We will see though it will be interesting. Well I think that is all for this week. I love you all so much and hope that you have a good week and I will write again on Monday.

Ofa atu,

Zig