Family!
This week was nuts. Monday and Tuesday we were in the middle of all the transfer stuff, and when we finished that we had to plan the zone leaders' council. That took an entire afternoon, but after all it turned out well. One of the things we talked about was the area book, where the missionaries write down all the information about their investigators, etc. Elder Chuiz and I have been checking the area books of a lot of companionships when we visit different zones, and we've realized that a lot of missionaries aren't updating anything in their area books.. so, I thought up a cool example. I got a box and put a bunch of random little objects from all around the office inside. When the zone leaders were going into the meeting i had some of them look at what was in the box for ten seconds and immediately write down what they had seen. Others had to look at what was inside the box for ten seconds, but i told them not to write anything down, just remember what they saw, and other missionaries didn't get to see what was inside the box. When it was time to talk about the area book later in the program, i had the missionaries who had only seen-and not written down what they saw, write what they could remember. Obviously it was less than the people who had written in the moment they saw what was in the box. Then we did an example. the first group of missionaries who saw and wrote down immediately are like the missionaries who update every day what they do. the second group are like missionaries who update their book every week or so, and obviously some things get left out. The third group are like missionaries who get to a new area and don't know anything that has been going on before because the missionaries before them didn't update the area book. then we talked more about it, but it was a cool example- i remember doing something like that in elementary school, and that's where the whole idea came from.
Friday we went to one of the kind of far away zones, Chepen. It's about an hour and a half in bus south of here. We went to their zone meeting, had a killer lunch of octopus and onions in lime juice (yes, i ate it) and then went another hour south to an area called Pacasmayo to work with a companionship there. We slept over and in the morning came back to chiclayo.
Sunday was awesome. when we got to church, Elder Hooker, the area 70, was there! A sister missionary in our ward is really good at the piano, so she played the electric organ we have there, and i led the music. elder hooker gave an amazing talk that answered a question I've kind of had on my mind for a while. he taught that when we take the sacrament we renew ALL the covenants we have made. I wasn't sure if it was all the covenants or just the baptismal covenant. That was cool. And he also talked about one of the devil's tricks. He said that the devil tries to make us think there are three options in our choices: What God wants, what the devil wants, and what I want. he tries to make us think that we can neither follow God nor Satan, and find the middle ground. That´s one of his many little tools he uses. He said that every choice we take either makes us a slave of God or a slave of the adversary. (I had never thought of being a slave of God..) But he used awesome imagery and i was very, very edified.
Sunday afternoon we went out to rescue some less active members with members of the ward. I went to a house where a little boy was sick and whining in his mother's arms. His dad (an active member) anointed and asked me to give the blessing. While we were giving him the blessing he went quiet, and i felt that he would be healed. When i finished the blessing i looked down at him and he was smiling and totally calm. The parents were amazed at how quick he had calmed down, and it just felt so good to be there. I love seeing the Priesthood authority working. I'm so grateful to have that authority and see it work to bless others. I know that God is watching over all of His children, and when we need it most, His tender mercies are made apparent in our lives.
I love you!
Elder Hatch
PS. My clothes are holding out really well! Some of the shirts are coming unsewn slowly, but i think they'll make it!
And as for school... If i can hold out until October to make the decision, i think i'm going to wait. I'm praying and thinking about it, but i still haven't felt anything very strongly either way.
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