Week 34 New Companion Elder Taylor

February 29, 2016 Family, First off happy Feb 29th! Such a weird day. It feels like right now shouldn't even exist haha. Also it's sooooo weird that I am going to be turning 19 this week too. It's like I know it's not that weird, but it feels weird. It's pretty cool to think that only this week I would be 19, and without the age change I would maybe be leaving on my mission sometime in March or April, but now I have been out for almost 8 months! It's pretty cool and it really makes me feel so blessed that I have been able to have the experiences that I have had thus far on my mission. I wouldn't have been able to have if not for the age change. So that is pretty cool. On my birthday we happen to be having dinner with a recent convert in the ward who is this super cool black lady and she is making us some of her homemade fried chicken. Mmmmmmmmm. I'm so excited! It's been a while since I have had any of that. So on Thursday we went to do some service for a woman in another ward with her elders which went well, then we went to zone service in Davis which was good as always. It was a good bonding activity for everyone. We then taught our investigator, DeShayla, that can't be baptized, but we are teaching her all the lessons anyways because we feel that she at least deserves to know about it all. Later that night we had dinner with a cool family in the ward and they played a little prank on my new companion. Nothing too mean, but it was really funny. They had a guy from the members mission that played pranks on him come out and help with it, and they acted like a big meteor was going to hit San Francisco and that we needed to like evacuate the area. Hahaha they sent a text from like some fake random administration like when you get those flash flood texts and stuff. It was pretty good. That night we saw a family in the ward which was also good. Friday we had our zone meeting and that was really good. Kind of another mini slap in the face like it was with Elder Hamula, since he was the one that taught the MLC where they got the zone meeting material. So that was another good boost. We had our weekly planning that day and then went and had a killer lesson with our progressing investigator with the ward mission leader. It was pretty sweet. Saturday we did some service for some investigators and we are hopefully teaching them this week too. The rest of the day we pretty much did finding all day long with little to no success, but I have a rule where when I see any PAC-12 stuff in a yard or on a car or house or whatever, I have to stop what I'm doing and knock that door. . So I talked to this guy about the Warriors and the NBA and stuff for like 20 minutes. Other than that not much happened, we saw a less active at night which was also nice but she didn't come to church... But on Sunday, the same recent convert that is makings fried chicken and whose granddaughter we are teaching, brought her neighbor to church and she was really interested/prepared and whatnot. We gave her a Book of Mormon to read and set up a time to come and see her and her family. That was such a blessing and such an amazing thing to see that when we have a tough day or time, the Lord blesses us in a way that we weren't expecting. It was really cool to have that happen and I am really excited to teach her this week. That Sunday we had dinner with the Dennis's and I know he was FB messaging mom. It was funny, kind of weird. I always get a kick out of it when that stuff happens. Other than that it has been a good week. Elder Taylor is doing well, and he is a good kid. We are working well together. Anyways thanks for everything! Thanks for the birthday wishes, and thanks for the box mom! It was awesome! Love, Elder Hatch

Week 33 Called to Repentance

February 24, 2016 Family, Well it has been a weird week. Pretty strange. It’s weird to be training again but it should be a fun experience. My greenie is Elder Taylor from St. George, Utah. He is a really good kid and is really... enthusiastic! Not just because he is a greenie but that is just his personality. He is kind of strange but I love him. He is at least adjusting well and isn’t a Nazi so that is nice. We work hard together and hopefully I can show him a few things and in turn learn from him. But Monday night was good. Elder Hardy and I had one last good run together and set a baptismal date for March 11. Unfortunately since then it has been postponed, so we are disappointed about that but it was good in the moment. Tuesday we were in Santa Rosa all day for the transfers and for training meetings. It was really good to see some of the missionaries that I haven't seen in a really long time. We also had dinner at President’s house that night, so that was fun as well. We drove back to Woodland and didn't get back until like 9 or 9:30. Wednesday we had a lesson with a new investigator DeShayla and set a baptismal date with her, but now have since come to find out that she cannot be baptized because in short she doesn’t have parents’ permission. So that was good then as well, but disappointing now. It’s kind of been rough the last few days with both baptismal dates cancelling. But we will work through it. Thursday we had a bunch of finding, so it was funny. Elder Taylor’s first day we had a bunch of lessons and set a baptismal date, then the next day we did a bunch of finding. Friday we had a district meeting which I didn’t have to teach! It was soooooooo nice to sit back and relax in a district meeting. We planned later that day and then went to a Spanish baptism that night. It was cool, one of the Hermanas that just went home got to skype into the baptism so it was really cool to see that. Saturday we did service with some investigators in the morning that we are hoping to be able to teach soon. They are super, super cool and honestly prepared, but we just need to approach it in the right way. We are doing service there again this week. We had our PPI's with the zone leaders and a ward spaghetti dinner that night as well and played soccer with the Spanish branch too, which is always fun. Sunday we had the usual stuff and we were able to go out and take a couple in the ward to a lesson with us that night. Mom I think he is the one that you messaged. He is a great guy and he and his wife help a lot in the lessons with that one investigator. Ok so Monday was crazy. We had the conference with Elder James Hamula of the 70. He talked to us a lot about being "of a sober mind" and such. Like he pretty much threw down on the mission and said that we are too frivolous and not of a sober mind. It’s pretty true though. I recognize it in myself and others, so it was definitely inspired. He also talked about faith a lot and having the desire to have faith and see miracles. Pretty much he called us out and told us how to be better and not only how to be better but why. It was a great experience. He promised us many times that if we will cut the frivolity that we will be open to infinitely more revelation and blessings for ourselves and areas, and that there are some things that we cannot know or learn without removing excess frivolity and lightmindedness from our work. It was really great. That night we had a lesson with our investigator that told us she is postponing her baptism again. So that’s that. Yesterday was a good day, we had like 4 lessons, and we talked to this lady in the ward whose daughter had just died, but we didn't know that. We shared the video "Mountains to climb" and Alma 40:11 and I was tearing up during it. It was so cool. It has been a good week. I like my greenie, and my area, and the guys that I live with, so all is well. Thanks for everything! Love, Elder Hatch

Week 32 Training Again

February 15, 2016 Family, Well, the transfer is here and there is some cool news. So unfortunately Elder Hardy is going to go to Fairfield, so I am really sad about that. I love Elder Hardy. He is a great guy, and a really good missionary. He is going to be a District Leader there and he is going to be awesome. I get to stay here in Woodland and train a new missionary. He is gonna be brand new out of the MTC. It should be good. It will be a good experience, I think that I am much more prepared now than I was when I first trained, especially since I actually know the area this time. This ward is a really good ward to train in. It is a good ward, big area, and good work. It should be good. I hope that I get another good greenie. It should be a good experience. What is cool, is that Julander is coming to this zone, and Flinders is here still and will be follow up training, and I am having another son. So I will have 2 sons, 1 step son, and 1 granddaughter all in this zone. So I am pretty pumped about that. Anyways so last Monday was kind of lame for pday, but the night went well. We went and saw some good people that night. Tuesday we were on exchanges and I went with Elder Judd, who was in my first apartment in Crescent City. It was really good, I learned a lot of good stuff from him. That day we were able to see some of our potentials and set up appointments with them. They are some people that we have been trying to see for a long time. That night we had splits and we were able to see 2 families which was good. Wednesday we did service at the food bank then again in Davis for Graffiti Abatement. So that was good. That night we saw 2 more people that we have been trying to meet with the whole transfer. One is a couple of brothers whose mom is a member but not active. We are going to try and meet with them regularly now. Thursday was a good day too. We went and saw potentials in the morning, then during the afternoon we had a lesson with one of our investigators who is hopefully being baptized in August. We saw him on Sunday and he has been doing well with the commitment we left him. Later that day we saw a girl that is the granddaughter of a recent convert and is super interested and golden. We are going to start teaching her this week and hopefully her siblings too. We had dinner with a cool family in the ward that night then saw our RC Hunter that night too and it went well. Friday we went and moved a bunch of stuff for a senior couple from one sister apartment to another and that ate up most of our day. We had dinner with a cool family in the ward again, the dad of whom isn’t a member. That night we saw a less active family and it went pretty well. Saturday we all did a big service thing as a zone then had fish tacos at a member’s house, like the whole zone. It was awesome the fish tacos were super good. We had dinner with a member from Vallejo that night, then a lesson with a less active family that we met for the first time. That went well. We then had a semi party at the church waiting for the transfer news. Sunday there was a big multi stake conference for California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, and BC. It was good; there was some really good counsel. We found out that Elder Bednar is coming to the Woodland Stake Conference in April, so I hope that I am going to be here for that, It would be so great! We had this stake conference, then another one in March where we get a new Stake President, then that one in April plus general conference. So it’s a bunch. But it has been a really good week though, and I am excited to train, it should be a much better experience this time. Thanks so much for everything everyone, I love you all so much! Love, Elder Hatch

Week 31 He knew Elder Foster

February 8, 2016 Dear Family, Well it was a pretty good week here in Woodland. We had a busy week and I can’t believe that there is only one week left in the transfer. The two transfers before this were so long, and this one went by so quickly! It seems just yesterday that me and Elder Hardy became companions. Our time together is rapidly closing. I am thinking that he will leave and I will stay here. I am really hoping that I don't have to train again. That would be rough. But anyways this last Monday we went bowling and it was super fun. All of the sudden I am way better at bowling than I used to be. I bowled a 159, then a 154, which are both my highest scores ever. So I don’t know what is happening. But it was super fun. Tuesday we had exchanges and I went down to Winters with Elder Kay. It was pretty fun, because Elder Kay was living with Nick Foster in his last couple of transfers and saw him die. So we had some good conversations about that. We were at this family’s house and their kid was like throwing up all over the floor. It was nasty haha, but not too bad. Wednesday we exchanged back and went to find some part member and less active families in the ward. It wasn't super successful but not too bad. Thursday we went and gave a sister a blessing then did service at this hoarder house, and it was like crazy hoarder. Like we were walking through trails in the house and backyard. In the process we threw a couch off of a balcony. It was pretty rad. That night I did my first baptismal interview and it was with a 9 year old girl. She was baptized by one of the sets of Spanish Elders and her dad who was baptized in December baptized her on Friday. It was super cool. Friday we had a lesson with our investigator Sean, who is hopefully being baptized in August. We hope he makes it to that. It’s a long ways away but he has some difficulties he has to work through before he can be baptized. That day we did weekly planning then had Hunters baptismal interview, then Lisset’s baptism that I just mentioned. Saturday we did service helping clean up the crèche festival stuff for a member in the ward who is in charge of it. She is super cool, we had a bunch of the zone there and it took like the whole morning, but it was fun, because we rode in the back of a moving van to put the stuff in storage, which was super fun haha. This member is crazy, she loves the missionaries. So that was fun. Later that day we had a lesson with two recent converts, then had dinner with this random member from Vallejo who knows Elder Hardy. So that was fun. That night was Hunter’s baptism, which went very well! It was really cool to see him be baptized. He has changed a lot in the past month, he comes to church every week and goes to young mens every week as well. Sunday we had church, then we went to find some people. As we were in a lesson with some members in the park, there was a lady sitting by herself in the park, because her daughter was off playing with the member’s kids. So we invited her to come and read with us. Unfortunately she was Spanish so the communication was off but luckily we had a Libro on us so we gave it to her! It was cool, the Hermanas’ are going to try and find her later this week. So that was pretty cool. We were reading 2 Nephi 9 and about 20 verses in I decided to act on the prompting I was getting to invite this lady, because it was getting stronger and stronger. I am glad that I did, afterwards one of the members we were with said that she was getting the prompting too but didn’t act on it. So it was cool to see a prompting in action work out for the better. That really helped my testimony of the spirit grow, and know that its promptings are real. Other than that, not much happened this week. I’m mad that the broncos won the super bowl of course but I will get over it. We tried to visit people Sunday afternoon and night but everyone was either not home or was mad that we interrupted the super bowl, so that was annoying. But anyways, thanks for everything everyone. I love you all and pray for you all every night. Love, Elder Hatch

Time Flies

WOW the time is flying and I am so behind on my blogging. I will try to catch up this weekend so we can see how Elder Hatch has been doing for the months of February and March. Watch for upcoming pictures and messages.