6/25/2012

¡Familia!
This week was pretty awesome. I got to do two work visits, and guess which two wards i went to? Campodonico and Jose Balta- my first wards i was in. Campodonico has progressed a TON! The members are giving a ton of awesome referrals to the missionaries, and they´re baptizing a lot. We went to visit one of their converts who lives on a street that i walked down like a million times, she lives right in front of where our laundry lady lived, but i don´t think we ever knocked her door. She´s awesome and was so prepared to receive the gospel. It´s so fun to see people that the gospel has really helped! I only got to be in Campodonico for the morning, and didn´t get to visit any people i know, but then on friday i went to Jose Balta. That was the best. First of all, i got to eat in my old pension with hna Soccorro- she was so happy to see me and we talked for a while. Then later in the day we went to see the Floreano family! They´re all active except one, and Elio (the dad) is working on her. She was sick and he gave her a priesthood blessing, and she got better, so now she´s believing more in everything and coming back bit by bit. Visiting Elio and hearing him speak the gospel lingo, like all the mormon words, and having him talk about giving blessings to his children, how they´re fighting to activate their daughter so they can go to the temple and be sealed was like a dream for me. Afterward my face seriously hurt from smiling for an hour straight. But the coolest part of all is that Elio said he´s going to retire in a few years when his daughters finish studying and he and his wife want to move to Trujillo to be temple workers there!!!! wow. i´m so happy :) And that night we taught a lesson to a lady in their area, that was honestly probably the coolest lesson i´ve ever been in in my whole mission. The spirit was very strong, and this lady is truly trying to find out if the book of mormon is true. She asked amazing questions, and i felt the spirit guiding me to answer them. We all ended up crying, and i know she felt that it´s all true, she´s definitely going to be baptized soon.
Answering questions:
my zone (stake) is called Latina. Almost all the zones here in chiclayo cover one stake.
our ward, Cabrera, is in rough shape. The inactive people we´ve been visiting have no intentions of going back to activity, but we´re trying everything we can with the limited time we have. We went out with a 16 year old guy in our ward who showed us some of his friends, and one listened to the missionaries a few years ago, was going to be baptized, then moved here to chiclayo. He accepted to be baptized in the first lesson we had with him- last night! So we´re excited about that! It would be the first baptism here in the ward in 8 months. Elder Santos and i get along well. We live with two other missionaries too, and we have a lot of fun together.
So far, no bank cards.. here´s the story. I took out money and had my card in a little plastic card holder in my breast pocket of my shirt.. After i took out the money i´m pretty sure i put the card back, but now it and the plastic card holder are missing. If you want you can send me a new card. i´m reluctant to say yes, because i don´t want to find it after you send me a new one.. i´m sorry to be such a hassle! Second time i´ve lost the same card!
That´s nuts that ashley is getting married. it´s kind of sad when i hear people are getting married, but it´s a good thing!
Happy birthday dad, i love you a lot and have been thinking about you a ton in these weeks. I hope everything continues getting better. Here are my two favorite bits of advice you´ve given me that i always try to live by:
Don´t do anything stupid. It sounds funny, but it´s honestly a struggle for lots of missionaries! I haven´t done anything stupid yet, so i hope i can keep that up :)
Be Obedient. I think that´s the most important lesson to learn as a missionary. Obedience not only to the mission rules, but to God´s rules. It´s so simple. Obey- receive blessings, and be happy, forever.
Thanks for your great example to me dad, and i hope you have a fun birthday.
Love,
Elder Hatch 

This is of a baptism in pomalca this week. They´re 9 year old twins named Eliana and Julie that elder Lobato and i found. One of the perks of being a zone leader is that president Risso told me i could go to the baptisms of people i taught in Pomalca, and elder Lobato needed baptismal clothes so i took advantage of the opportunity and went. I gave a message in the baptismal program too!