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