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
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