Week 29 Look for Missionary Opportunities

January 25, 2016 Dear family, Well another week has passed, and we are already half way through the transfer! Pretty crazy. It seems like no time at all has gone by but here we are. Cool stuff. We had a pretty good week this week. As for some questions you guys have, my comp is from Orem, Utah. He went to Timpanogos High School and played football there. He is the oldest of 3 kids and has lived in Orem his whole life. He just graduated this summer with me and has been out one less transfer than me, so since mid august. He is a really great guy and a hard worker. Also thanks mom and dad for the awesome food package. It was all there in good condition. Me and 3 other elders ate the ribs the night we got them, and they were soooooo good. Thanks a bunch. The cheesecake is amazing too along with all the other food. I am also enjoying the new Utah blanket and especially the Rubik's cube. It is actually slightly harder than the regular one so it was a new challenge. Fun stuff. As for the weather, it has been raining a ton. We get rain it seems like almost every night and often during the days. Unfortunately we wont be going to the temple this transfer. The mission dept. for the church is changing some things up so i don't know when we will go next. I am hoping to go to the Sacramento temple at some point though. Monday was a pretty insane day. We had P-day and lately, we have been having 2 dinners every Monday night, because there is a family in the ward that has us come over really late for dinner and a lesson, as the wife is investigating the church. So the background is its a man and his Vietnamese wife, and her sister all living together in one apartment. Anyways she is investigating the church,and her sister kind of is. Her sister sits in on the lessons and stuff. So we were eating this crazy Vietnamese food, like catfish, shrimp, and squid soup of some kind. Really weird stuff but it was good. So we are eating that, and in the middle of dinner, the table breaks and the soup spills all over mine and Elder Hardy's pants. It wasn't hot or anything but really messy and we smelled like fish the rest of the night. Not to mention that it broke some of their dishes and spilled soup everywhere. So that was fun. Also I cant give details but it sufficeth me to say that before, during and after dinner the couple told us some really crazy like confidential stuff that they are going through and dealing with right now and we ended up being at their house for a long time after dinner. So it was awkward before dinner, then we spilled the soup, and it became even more awkward. Then we were there helping them after all this for a long time after dinner too. It was a really crazy night. Super weird, one of the weirdest ones I have had on the mission so far. Tuesday we had district meeting which went fairly well. I hate having to teach district meeting but the Hermanas in my district were very nice afterwards and told me that they really enjoyed it. So that helped out a lot. The rest of that day I was on exchanges with my zone leader, Elder Warnick. He has previously served in my area that I am in right now, in fact he trained someone that came out with me in this area, but anyways he came up to Woodland with me and it was great because he knew some people to go see and he was really familiar with the area. We had dinner with a super cool family that night, the Stowells, then went on splits that night. We do splits 3 times a week in this ward. Its so much but its really cool to see the members of the ward getting so involved in the work. Wednesday we had a missionary broadcast from members of the 12 and the missionary dept. of the church, for every missionary in the whole world. It was really cool, there was great counsel given by Elder Oaks, Anderson, and other members of the 70 and general auxiliary leaders of the church. Cool stuff. Later that day we went and did service in Davis. We did "Graffiti Abatement" so basically we walk around Davis and look for graffiti to clean up. Its pretty fun, very chill service that still gets stuff done too. We ate dinner with this super cool family in the ward that showed us a bunch of their huge guns, and I mean HUGE. It was super cool. The dad isn't a member but is a hilarious guy. They have a daughter on a mission too so they appreciate missionaries and they were really good to us. We gave blessings to the mom and son after dinner and it was cool to see that things said in the blessing were really applicable to the situations. Like the mom had just gotten a new church calling and in the blessing was said something along the lines of being calm and knowing purpose in church callings or something. It was a neat experience. I have seen a lot lately the power of blessings and the amount of revelation that can be received while giving them. It was awesome.That night we went on splits again so that was fun. Thursday we had a lesson with our investigator that is super cool. He has a baptismal date for august that we hope that he will be able to make it to. We then did service at the food bank and while we were there we talked to these two guys about the church and word of wisdom and stuff. They were cool guys. Later that night, we went over and gave a blessing to a member that we hadn't met before. She and her husband were super nice and it was an awesome experience. That night we were going to go on splits but that cancelled so we brought our investigator to the church and played soccer with the Spanish branch and Elders for that ward. It was super fun. I am so tall, white, and not good at soccer haha. All the Hispanic people were super good. Friday we did our usual weekly planning. We had dinner then went off to see the family of the little girl that was just baptized. It was super fun. We had a lesson with them then had some fun with them after. It was awesome they are a super funny and nice family. Saturday we did a bunch of finding and also had a lesson with a recent convert in the ward who has had a really amazing life. She is super awesome and strong in the church. Later that night we saw our investigator and set a baptismal date with him for Feb 6th. So it is official and it is happening then. We are really excited about it. Sunday we had church as usual then went out to Knights Landing about 20 minutes away. Unfortunately nobody we wanted to see was there so it was just a waste of time and gas and miles. But later that day we saw a less active member that is the crazy cat lady. She has 10 as of right now and while we were there the animal shelter or something dropped off 3 of them that had just been neutered and they were all drunk from the procedure. They were tipping over sideways and stuff. Super funny to watch haha. We then had dinner with members and we were going to bring them to a lesson but it cancelled last minute, which was super disappointing. We had our usual Sunday night meeting that night and now we are here. Thanks so much everybody for all that you do! I appreciate all of your love and everything you all do for me and I hope that you guys are all involved in the missionary effort in your areas wherever you are. I would challenge you all to look for missionary opportunities and make sure that you are living the standards of the gospel because people watch and see the things that we all do. People know we are members and we need to represent Christ always. Love, Elder Hatch

Week 28 Picking Lemons

January 18, 2016 Family, Well it was a great week this week. We are doing some good work here and having fun doing it. It is a great area and a really missionary minded ward and ward council. The bishop is very missionary minded as well. It's cool. But we have to earn his and the ward councils trust. Anyways Tuesday we had zone meeting which was good to have the whole zone together. That night we went on splits and I went with a member of the ward and had an interesting lesson with an excommunicated member that doesn't want to come back but is really nice still. So that was cool, I haven't been on splits for a while Wednesday we had zone conference with President and Sister Wright, the AP's and the Tech Elders. It was good to see the people from my old zone and President and Sister Wright again. That night we had a lesson with a 14 year old investigator that is going to be baptized soon. He is a punk but he is from a rough situation so we work with him and we know that he understands what we say. Unfortunately he wasn't at church so he can't be baptized next Tuesday like we thought. He has to come 2 times in a row so we will have to push the date back. Thursday we went and did zone mulching service again. It was cool to see everyone so many days in a row. That night we went on splits again and one guy didn't show up but it was ok. Unfortunately we didn't have much success but at least we tried. Friday was planning but that morning we had a lesson with an investigator that wants to be baptized but has a lot of stuff to work through first, but he really wants to and we think that later in the year he will definitely be baptized. That night we had another lesson with our 14 year old investigator and it was the best lesson we have had with him so far. He was like fully engaged and stuff which was amazing for him cause he has crazy ADHD and stuff. Saturday we did this cool zone service where we picked fruit for these random people in Winters. I learned that lemon trees have huge spikes on them. So unfortunately we were all getting stuck by them. But it was fun anyways. I have some pictures from it. After that we went to a baptism out in West Sacramento which was cool. We were like almost in another mission. Super crazy. That night we had a lesson with this lady that is super stubborn and it was way frustrating. But it was like the busiest day in the mission so far. A bunch of missionaries all went and ate at the stake mission leader or something like that in west sac after the baptism. Sunday was good. The bishop met with one of our investigators and she is ready to be baptized now! We are going to set a date with her tonight. So that was awesome. Unfortunately that day when we went out on visits nobody was home. But it has been a really good week. It went by so much faster than weeks past. I have really learned that we are always in an area, with a companion, or serving around or serving certain people for certain reasons that we may not know. And not only on the mission but always. No matter where we are, we are always in a place where the Lord has put us to both bless others but also be blessed by others. Thank you all so much for everything and I love you all Love, Elder Hatch

Week 27 Good Bye Healdsburg...Hello Woodland

January 11, 2016 Family, Well, I have got to say, that I am pretty pumped for this transfer. It has been a really good week on the mission so far and me and my companion both get along great with each other and are willing to do the work to see cool things happen. My companion has had a bunch of lazy companions so far on his mission (his first and only 2) so I feel bad for him but I am so grateful that the Lord put the two of us together, because we are both willing to work and are wanting to be good obedient missionaries. Its disappointing, so many Elders in my mission are either lazy or are not obedient. Its too bad, its like why are you even out then? Anyways all is well with me and my companion so I am happy. So monday was crazy. We picked up Elder Hardy from the mission office and he was with Julander and I for the rest of monday. We had dinner monday and Angie Hand's house, who is the lady that spoiled us like crazy. She surprised me and had a bunch of people that usually come after dinner for FHE there for dinner too so it was a party. They all signed a journal and gave it to me so that was really cool. Elder Hardy was able to be there with us and get a small taste of Healdsburg that night. So he stayed with us that night, and then tuesday morning we headed out to Santa Rosa again to drop off Julander, say whats up to some missionaries that were also at the office, then head out to Sonoma. We had to pick up an Elder and take him to his new area which happens to be in my district. We then headed out to Woodland and started working in our area! Wednesday was a pretty good day. Unfortunately we had service cancel but it was ok because we went out and did area book finding, which I did a bunch of in my last area so I am used to it. We had a meeting with the WML later in the day and that night we took out 4 of the priests in our ward and we went over to the ward mission leaders house and the young men pretended to teach him as if he was a new investigator. It was really cool. Some of them didnt take it so seriously, but some did and it was cool to see them trying at least. Thursday was good, we did service at the YOLO county food bank and that was pretty fun. Just me and my comp but it was still cool. Later that day we went down to Davis and did some service there with the whole zone. We also have a massive zone. Like 24 missionaries I think which is bigger than some zones combined. SO that was really fun. I got to see some missionaries that I served around in CC, and also I am now in the same city as Elder Flinders, my son! I am so happy about that, getting to serve around him again. It seems to be a really good zone and we should all have some fun together. Later thursday night we went over to see a family whose daughter got baptized on Saturday! They were an extremely less active family as of like 6 months ago and they were having a lot of financial struggles but they have persevered through it and their 9 year old daughter was able to be baptized b y her father on saturday! So it was cool to see them that night. They were all sick so we gave them blessings. Well, Elder Hardy did 3 of them and the dad did the 4th one so I didnt have to but it was funny because it was the first time Elder Hardy had ever given a blessing before and he was freaking out! Plus he had to do 3 of them! He was literally shaking hahahahaha so funny. but he did a really good job too and they were all great blessings. Friday was weekly planning and that was actually pretty effective. Still boring as usual but it was good, we were able to set up some solid lessons and make some really good plans. That night we went over to the same family's house that we were at the night before, and we had to do a few last lessons with the little girl before her baptism. It is so cool, the whole family sat there and participated with us. They are seriously like the coolest family ever. It was strange, Thursday night when we were there for the first time, It felt like I had known them from somewhere or something, and as we were leaving that night the mom was like oh my gosh I feel like we have known you forever or from somewhere else or something. Like me and Elder hardy just get along with their family so well and they are so fun/funny that it is a blast every time we are there. Saturday was the baptism!!!! Super super super super super cool to get to see that happen. Her father baptized her and they were all so happy it was awesome to see. A really cool moment as I was able to sit back and see something really cool happen. We also had an extremely good night that night. We decided to say a prayer before we left our apartment that we would be able to find people and that we would be able to teach them. Long story short we taught 4 door lessons, gave away 3 copies of the Book of Mormon, and we set up like 6 or 7 return appointments. All in about 45 minutes. It was super super cool. That combined with the baptism made it probably the most successful night of my mission so far. It was truly amazing. Sunday was really good too. We had ward council bright and early at 7 AM, and then church at 9:30. I had to give a talk in church so that was fun, but I think I did ok. Not my best talk but thats all right. That day we went out to this little Hamlet like 20 minutes north of Woodland called Knights Landing, and taught this guy and his daughter. He is no longer a member but is a really great guy going through a tough financial trial similar to the one with Bruce. So I feel bad for him. His daughter is still a member, but its cool cause this guy is so awesome and he knows what he needs to do he just has troubles doing it. So we are working with him to see if we can get him re-baptized. That afternoon we had a meet n greet with all the missionaries in the zone and the stake president, who is actually going to be a mission president in Brazil starting June. So thats cool, plus he is super young. President Cuvelier i think. That night we had our sunday night meeting and that brings us to now! It has been a really good week this last week. I am excited for the rest of the transfer and am so glad to have a change of area, companion, basically everything. Its a scary but really exciting new adventure that is going to be really fun! I love all of you and am so very grateful for everything you all do for me. Love you! Love, Elder Hatch

Week 26 Moving to Woodland

January 4, 2015 Family, Well, it has been a pretty long week, but I am to the end of the transfer and I have officially ended my tenure in Healdsburg! I am being shipped off to Woodland 1st ward, which from talking to a couple missionaries just barely, seems to be one of the best areas in the mission as far as members, being busy, and just a cool place to be. They say it's awesome. So I am excited! My companion will be Elder Hardy, who is one transfer behind me but has been in that area for 2 transfers now. We are in the Woodland 1st ward which is apparently a really good area. So that should be fun! I am actually with him and Elder Julander today and will be leaving for our area tomorrow in the morning sometime. But, as for this week, it was an interesting and fun filled week with some weird stuff. Monday was a good P-day, I got a new suit because my other one from when I sang in conference is getting a little small. So that was fun. We had dinner with some members and recent converts, which was good. The recent convert is hilarious. She just talks and talks and talks so much it's hilarious. She gets up every fast Sunday and has like a little acronym poem or something like that to share every month. That night we did FHE at Angie's house and her relatives from Mexico were there that mostly only spoke Spanish. Luckily Angie speaks both and some of the kids spoke good English but there was some Spanglish going on for sure. Tuesday we had district meeting, and I did like a big basketball game and likened it to the plan of salvation. I like changed scriptures and stuff like that it was pretty funny. After that we actually had successful day of finding and we were able to make contact with a bunch of people that we had been trying to see. At one point we were looking for a young family, and they ended up being out of town but his dad was there and we taught him on the porch and gave him a BoM. He doesn't live in our mission but it was still a really cool experience. That night we got a call from a member in a ward north of us that we had never met, and she asked us to come give a blessing to one of her friends that had requested it. It was really cool. Wednesday we did our library service and we were able to go out and see some members and talked to some recent converts. We found out that the funny recent convert and her returning LA husband want to go through the temple and be sealed eventually, so that is good. That night we had dinner with the ward mission leader and his wife which was a good time. Thursday we did our usual food bank service, and afterwards we had a lesson with a guy that we found and we had a lesson with him in Safeway. It was a weird place to meet but it was cool that we had a lesson with him. We then had dinner with a cool family in our ward and had to be in early for the night. Friday we did our weekly planning then went to dinner at the bishops then a lesson with our recent convert Nate Legakis, which his power was off and his fireplace was on so that's what we used for light and heat for the lesson. It was very strange. Saturday we did service at the Windsor town green, like a park place, taking down trees from a Christmas festival thing. We did hat, then found some more people, then we had dinner with a cool member family. That night we were in a lesson with a guy on his porch and after we got a certain way through, he was like, "ok, I've heard enough" and walked inside. It was really weird but makes a good story. Sunday was church and we went and saw some members and had dinner with the Carnations. At a always a good time. I have some good pictures from visiting members and with the carnations, though I think mom and dad got the carnation ones already. But it was weird saying bye to everyone. Today has been weird too. We picked up my companion for next transfer and he is with us. I am really excited for next transfer and it should be really fun! From what I have heard it is an awesome area and should be fun. I'm just ready for something different. Anyways I love you all and am so grateful for all of you! Love, Elder Hatch