9/17/2012

Hi!

This week was great. I probably say that like every week, but it´s true. I wouldn't be happier anywhere else in the world. I am coming to realize how well the Lord knows each one of us, and how everything that happens to us is for a wise purpose. Last Sunday we had a ward activity where we went out visiting less active members with other members of the ward. After the activity we received a referral of a woman who another missionary and member had contacted. We visited her this week. She told us she had lost her job because of a sickness, but didn't really want to tell us what sickness. After a little bit she gathered herself and told us she is trying to face her problem and decided to tell us she is epileptic. I could tell she was embarrassed about it and definitely in the "why me?" phase of her trial. We shared our testimonies with her and some scriptures came to me that I had forgotten about, that honestly probably strengthened me more in that moment than her. We all finished feeling the spirit, and she said she wants us to come back and keep visiting her. God knows what investigators need us, but He also knows what investigators we need! I love teaching, because when I really focus on the investigator and what they need, not just sharing a lesson, we all end up being taught by the Spirit. 

We're also teaching a 40ish year old lady named Leila who has a long story with the church. Basically everyone in her family are members of the church except her, and when i jokingly said to her that she escaped the missionaries before, she started thinking and said to us that it just wasn't her time before, but that she knows that now it is! She wants to be baptized soon, but wants her semi-rebel son to be baptized with her.. so, we're trying to trap him and catch his interest so they can both be baptized! She's gone to church three consecutive weeks now! 

Other great moments of the week: In our ward mission activity this week we had a family feud activity! I kept score and changed the team names from team a and team b to "team Gadianton" and "the Nehores" Only a few of them actually got it... I was secretly testing them to see if they are reading the book of mormon... :) 

We have had some problems with the computer system of the church when we do transfers for missionaries- they show up in wrong areas, so we spent a lot of time calling support people in the area, and i ended up talking with a guy in Provo! In English! It was so hard and awkward- I have gotten so used to talking on the phone in Spanish (that's basically all i do anymore) But after all we got the problem figured out and everything is working now. 

I am now the unofficial chorister in our ward.. 

We did an exchange with the zone leaders from the Dorado zone here in Chiclayo, and i got to work with elder Insaurralde! He was my second companion. It was awesome to be back together and remember the good old days, and see how much we have both progressed in this last year. I now have officially worked in every single zone of the mission! 

Sunday i played prelude music for sacrament meeting, directed the hymns (a sister missionary plays the piano-she's better than me :) and gave a talk. I talked about preparation- how the purpose of life is to prepare ourselves for eternity, and the church's key role in that process. It didn't turn out how i wanted it to, but it went okay.

Thursday we did a leadership training meeting for all the zone leaders and district leaders in the Chiclayo area. there were 60 in all, and that turned out great. I always got bored in those meetings when i was on the other side, so i try to make things more exciting for them. I like doing interactive activities and relating them to something. This time i thought of another game and related it to how we as leaders can help the other missionaries focus on their goals and achieve more than they would alone. We assigned other zone leaders to teach about district meetings, companionship exchanges, and reports. It's just a basic training meeting we do every three months mainly for the district leaders.  

And the best part of the week... I FINALLY got the card from mom and dad!! the second one with dad's name on it. Thank you so much for all the work that went in to that just for my silly mistake. But i love the pictures and scripture mastery cards too! I think i'm going to give one of the cards to Anthony, who we baptized a few weeks ago. 

A thought for the week from my talk on Sunday:

This week we received an email confirming that Elder Pino of the 70 was going to visit our mission, and that he was going to come to the office and also inspect some rooms as part of his tour of the mission. I immediately thought about how dirty our room is (six elders in a room is bad news) and i thought of how i need to read Elder Pino's talk from the last general conference and maybe fix up some other things to be ready for his visit. President Risso commented that a visit from a general authority really isn't any different from a visit from the Savior Himself. When he said that i started thinking about how i would feel if Christ were coming to visit the mission next week. And then, what would we do if we knew His second coming was next week? Would there be people to forgive, plans to change, last minute hopes of getting to know Him better? After meditating for a while, i realized the importance of ALWAYS being prepared for whatever comes. We don't know when Christ will come, or when it will be our time to pass from this mortal life, but we do have the church and the gospel to constantly keep us prepared so that in those great days we can be ready! I hope we can all live in such a way that we truly become the sheep of the Good Shepherd, and in the day that He calls us we can recognize the name by which we are called and be accepted into His fold forever. (Alma 5:38) Oh, and after all, Elder Pino isn't coming this week. It's going to be in October or November. So we're going to Cajamarca tomorrow with president and sister Risso!! Road trip! :) 

I love you, 

Elder Hatch 

PS I want to send pictures of Anthony's baptism but they're on elder Chuiz' camera and he's not here right now, so I'll see if i can next week!

9/10/2012

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.

9/3/2012

Family, 

This week the letter is going to be short because i don't have much time! The Monday of transfers is always crazy here in the office! All the missionaries who were finishing up their missions were here in the morning, then they ate lunch in the mission home and at four we sent them off in the airport and now they're in Lima! It's weird for me sending off missionaries, knowing that each time is a little closer to my time... But i still don't feel the need to go home. There are some missionaries who obsess with going home, all they think about is how awesome it's going to be to be finished, but i feel bad for them! They don't realize how important this work is and how valuable the time we have here is. Tonight we receive the brand new from the MTC missionaries here, take them to the mission home and have dinner with them. Tomorrow in the morning are the transfers for the whole mission and we're hoping everything turns out well with the missionaries who are coming here from far away areas, etc! And President Risso and we made some last minute changes to where missionaries are going, so i hope we didn't mess anything up and that we informed everyone, and that the zone leaders don't forget to pick up the missionaries we assigned them to pick up in the middle of the night from bus agencies! There's lots to think about for transfers! Then, tomorrow after the transfer meeting we have the meeting where we assign the 13 new missionaries to their trainers and then have 2 hours to give them an introduction to the first 12 weeks program for new missionaries. It's a crash course on how to be a trainer and how to be trained, it's the second time i'll have done it now. 

Saturday was Anthony's baptism and Sunday was his confirmation- everything went perfectly, i even played the piano and sang a special musical number in the service. It was cool. A returned missionary who accompanied us to teach Anthony all the time baptized him. Sunday we participated in the confirmation, and a member family we're really good friends with asked us to participate in the blessing of their grandson, that was a first for me! 

After all, Elder Hooker didn't end up coming last week, but this weekend he's scheduled to come. It's going to be another busy week with lots of planning and thinking with my companion about what we should talk about in the Zone leaders' council.  

I love you family! 

Elder Hatch

8/27/2012

Family!

I don't say nearly enough how grateful i am for you. I love so much the emails i get every week from mom and dad, and from the sisters too. It makes me so happy to hear from you and know that everything is going well at home, and to know that so many prayers offered for me. I can honestly feel them. This week i had some cool experiences with that. And all i can say is thank you, and keep praying for me- i need it! 

The package was awesome and yes, there was enough to share! The debit card is still mysteriously absent.. I really hope it comes soon! We've been getting a TON of mail lately because the strike ended, but no debit card.. 

This week we did the two multizone conferences and an exchange with a missionary who's in his training, and his companion. Teaching 80 missionaries for two and a half hours is crazy! I'm learning lots about teaching and being in front of large groups of people. We did practices and some cool examples so they wouldn't get bored. One thing we talked about was how to study more effectively. As part of that i asked for a volunteer. An elder came up and i told him to do a handstand. He was caught off guard and said he couldn't do it, so i told him to sit down. Then (we had this planned) i asked Elder Karl, a gymnast, to come up. I told him to do a handstand and he did one for like 30 seconds, spun around, it was awesome. I asked him why he could do it and the other elder no, he said because he had practiced for 10 years. We talked about how we need to practice teaching in our companionship study. All the missionaries know they should do it, but a lot of them don't. The meetings went well, we ate pizza hut after and everyone likes that :) But no mom, i didn't sing or play the piano, some other missionaries did for special numbers though that were amazing. 

Here's the high point of the week: Our investigator, Anthony, accepted a baptismal date!! He's already gone to church four times, goes to all the young single adult activities, etc. His baptismal date is this Saturday, September 1st.  A few days later we taught him the law of chastity in a members' house, that member is the pensionista (lady who cooks for the missioaries) of the sister missionaries in our ward, and just in that moment the sister missionaries got to the house to eat- in the same room where we were teaching. It was kind of awkward to have them there listening, but that part of the lesson went perfectly. After he accepted to live the law of chastity we asked him how he felt about his baptism for this Saturday. He said, "I've been wanting to talk to you guys about that. i'm not going to get baptized anymore." i was thinking NOOOOOO! He explained that his family and friends (bad friends that invite him to go drinking all the time) had told him that he needs to think about his decision more and should wait a while. When he said that i just prayed in my heart to be able to help him change his mind. In the next five minutes we saw a miracle! Ideas and what he needed to hear came to both of us, and when we had talked a little while everything went silent. In that moment a kind of weird, but inspired question came to my mind. I said, "So Anthony, what do you need to do to progress?" He said, "I need to be baptized" He said he wants to do it this Saturday like we had planned and now he's more sure than before. It was so scary and so cool. Those are the coolest moments as a missionary. I love it! The promise in d & c 84:85 is true! When we do our part to be prepared, the spirit tells us in the exact moment what each person needs!  So hopefully everything goes well and we'll have a baptism this week! The assistants haven't baptized since March, so it's time! 

Low moment of the week: While President Risso was talking in a multizone conference i fell asleep (Elder Chuiz and I are exhausted lately), and just in that moment he asks me to talk about Thomas Edison (long story) in front of everyone. I kind of pulled it off, and i don't know if he realized i had been asleep, but some other missionaries did.. that was funny. 

There is so much to do in these next few weeks. It's going to be nuts. Here's a rough outline. 

Wednesday we are doing a training for the missionaries that are in their first 12 weeks in the field and their companions.

Saturday Elder Hooker (an area 70) is going to visit the mission.

We're opening three new areas next week (we have to visit the areas to search for members, house, pension, etc.)

This week we have to plan everything for TRANSFERS! (transfers are next tuesday, i can't believe i've been in the office a whole transfer!) 

Tuesday are transfers and a training for the brand new missionaries and their companions

Thursday is Zone Leaders Council. 

Two weeks later Elder Pino of the 70 is coming to tour the mission! I'm going to be with a member of the 70 for like a week! And i have to train missionaries with him there!??! I'm nervous but it'll be cool. 

That's all i can think of now. But all that plus exchanges with other missionaries as always, reports, visiting district and zone meetings, and working in our own proselyting area and Anthony's baptism.. There's a lot to do. I'm not bored. :) 

I love you! Have an awesome week!

Elder Hatch

Here are the elders that are in the office. Left to Right: Elder Samamé from Panama, Elder Chero from Peru, Elder Chuiz from Peru, me, President and sister Risso, Elder Hemsley (yes i've come across him, i've lived with him for a month and a half!) and Elder Navas from Costa Rica.

Oreos and Pepsi in president Risso's car. We ate tuna sandwiches and it reminded me so much of our family car trips!

Elder Cuba is who you can see in the picture. This is in Cajamarca from a few weeks ago, their proselyting area is pure hills!

8/20/12

Hi Family :) 

First off, yes i got the package from mom! Thank you :) The cookies are so good, and i had completely forgotten that taffy exists, and how much i love it! You're the best! I still haven't gotten the debit card. I hope it comes soon! 

This week we went on our second trip to do the zone conference. To answer mom's question of if we talk in the conference, yes! We have a two hour part for what we teach. This conference President Risso asked us to give the missionaries some ideas of new things to do in their areas, and as a second point, how to study better. We teach for a little while, do practices, put the missionaries in groups to read certain parts of scriptures, etc. This week in Jaen it went a lot better than in Cajamarca. So the first day was the conference, and in the afternoon we revised the area books of each companionship. that gets old really fast. But we have to do it every few months to motivate the missionaries to update their area books! Jaen is a pretty big city on the edge of the jungle- it's super hot there and it was rough to sleep! Worse because Elder Chuiz and i had to sleep in the same bed!  Saturday we went into the wilderness/mountains/jungle to Chachapoyas! Aka my new favorite place in the world. the road on the way there is so picturesque! We drove along and between HUGE super green junglish mountains three hours into nowhere to get there. I don't know if i just haven't seen Utah mountains in a long time, but these mountains seemed way bigger. Chachapoyas is awesome. All the houses there are built in colonial style, the roads are really narrow, there are hills (there are none here in Chiclayo), and it rained like crazy when we were there! 

Wherever we go we usually do a conference or something, then work with a companionship in the afternoon. I went out with Elder Carranza, from Argentina. He felt like we should go visit the lady who used to cook for them, because she hadn't been going to church lately. We got there and they told us she was in her bed and needed a blessing! We went up to the second floor and her foot was totally purple and yellow and swollen. The fair was in town and she was playing on a slide and fell and messed up her foot and ankle pretty badly. She said she had been hoping we would come but was to embarrassed to call the missionaries. We gave her a blessing and it was a really special experience of being able to be where the Lord needed us. We went to a baptism they had in chachapoyas too. It was in a river nearby. Sunday we went to church there in Chachapoyas, because it's a branch and belongs to the mission. They had their branch conference and president and sister Risso spoke in sacrament meeting. I feel so blessed to get to work with President Risso all the time, and to get to do exchanges and learn from so many different missionaries. I feel like as assistant i'm learning more than i'm teaching. It's a blessing and a big challenge. 

This week we have two more multizone conferences in Chiclayo on Tuesday and Thursday. each one will be with about 70 missionaries from here in the Chiclayo area. It'll be the same conference we've done in Cajamarca and Jaen with a few changes and improvements Elder Chuiz and i will plan tonight. 

It's awesome to hear that Cameron is back and how awesome his mission was. i can't wait to be able to talk about the mission with all my friends when we're all back. 

I'm learning a lot through experience about how trials make us grow. It's sad that sometimes we need trials to help us draw nearer to God, but i think that's a big part of why missionaries grow so much during the mission. Just when you get comfortable or feel confident, something changes- either your companion, your assignment, area, or some other type of challenge comes your way and you learn so much through it all. I just hope i can meet the challenges well and become who i need to be. I love this work, and I have felt through the Spirit so many times that it is true. I know that the Savior loves all of His children, and that love is what motivates me every day. 

I love you and hope you all have a great week! 

Elder Hatch 

Photos: Mom asked about the flag we're holding in the picture from last week, it's the flag of Uruguay

sorry most of the pictures are from the car window, but this is how the people dress in Cajamarca!

The sweet catholic cathedral in cajamarca. Each of the bricks is carved with designs!

This is Elder Huntsman baptizing in Chachapoyas in a river! It was awesome.

We stopped the car by the side of the road to take pictures by this sweet waterfall coming back from Chachapoyas

8/13/2012

This week was awesome! We went to Cajamarca with President and Sister Risso from Wednesday to Friday night, and had a great time.Wednesday afternoon we worked with the zone leaders, and Thursday morning we did a training for the district and zone leaders there in Cajamarca. It was cool for me because Elder Hurst was there, the Elder that i trained! He's district leader now and i always hear great things about him. Friday we had the special zone conference where we gave them some ideas of new things to do in their work areas and trained on how to study more effectively. We get to do the same meeting three more times in the next two weeks. That afternoon we went out to work with a companionship in Cajamarca and it was so amazingly beautiful there! I don't have my camera right here to put the pictures of the Cajamarca trip on, but next week i'll send some. There the ladies wear traditional clothes, cool sombrero type hats, and have their babies in fabric backpack things hanging on their back! It's what i imagined peru would be like. We trekked up hills and i felt weak and short of breath because it's up in the mountains! it was really cold too, and i had to sleep with three blankets and the beanie with a built in beard that Lindsey and Casey gave me! We also revised the area books of all the elders in the zone to make sure they're filling out all the teaching records right, etc. And after we finished everything we packed up everything in the car and went back to Chiclayo. The car trips were some of the most memorable parts though! President Risso used to be a drummer in a band, and really likes music. he always sings along to music, he gave us all the updates on the Olympics, told us all about when he was called as a mission president, his interviews over video conference with Elder Holland and Elder Uchtdorf etc. It was awesome!

This week we are going to the other far away zone, Jaen, which is borderline jungle region. We'll be there for a day, then we're going to an area that's three hours away from there in the middle of nowhere, Chachapoyas. Everyone wants to go there, and i finally get to see it!! I'm excited. It'll be a lot like the trip to Cajamarca, we're doing the same conference and we'll do exchanges with other missionaries, etc. Oh, and i heard from Austin Saguibo this week! He's assistant in the Paris France mission! haha i was excited when i heard that. 

Saturday night President and Sister Risso invited all six office elders over to their house to eat food from Uruguay. We ate sandwiches that are like hamburgers but have a steak instead of ground beef! It was really good, and we had a good time there in the mission house. i'm sending a picture of that too. 

In our ward we're really only working with a few people, one is an inactive lady named Diana. She's 24 and finishing up her education to be a nurse. She asks us ALL the difficult questions. Why couldn't the blacks have the priesthood? Why does the church discriminate against homosexuals? etc. It's really fun to teach her, because we never know what she's going to ask us! We've had some good lessons with her, but the best part was that she went to church this week! 

yes, there are tons of food stands in the streets! And shaved ice too, but you never know if the water is sanitary... I've had it a few times. they give it to you in a plastic bag instead of a cup. 

I'm out of time, it's late and we need to get to work in our area! I love you and i love this work! I'm working hard to contact all the taxi drivers we meet every day. That's about the only chance we get to teach some days, so i'm improving on that. 

Elder Hatch 

The first picture is of our apartment! It's awesome with three rooms, a kitchen and a big bathroom with heated water!! And the second picture is of my desk, my animal crackers spilled!

More pictures: I cut a ton of onions in a members' house and i was crying!

The other picture is one Elder Chuiz took of me from behind while we were walking in our area..

8/6/2012

Family!

I don´t have too much time today, we´re doing some last minute preparations for the meeting we have tomorrow with all the zone leaders in the mission. today we played a bunch of games outside with a zone of missionaries and ate mcdonalds after! Just a month ago the first mcdonalds came here to Chiclayo. 

As for the letters and packages, i haven´t gotten anything. The mail system workers are still on strike.. Everyone is going crazy here with no mail! And i have good/bad news!!! haha today i was looking for something in one of my suitcases and there in the open was MY DEBIT CARD!!!!!!! Oh my goodness, i had honestly searched through my bags four times each, took everything out and put it back in twice, i looked EVERYWHERE. And today when i saw it sitting there i just started laughing. So this is the second time i´ve told you my card is gone then found it while the new card is en route to Peru. i´m sorry, but i seriously couldn´t find it before. 

The Rissos don´t have any children living here, they´re all older and married with kids. the family just came here to visit last week. 

President Risso came back from lima, now he´s using a back brace, and they told him that his spine is basically shot. the area doctor of the church said that if President Risso were a horse he´s shoot him! So he´s a little bummed that he just has to live with it and take pain pills, but he´s excited to be back here working like normal again. 

All week we couldn´t find anthony. He´s looking for a job and studying now, so it´s going to be almost impossible to teach him. The nice part about being assistant is that we have basically unlimited minutes to call people on our cell phone, so we can keep in touch even if we can´t visit people, and anthony went to church. In our area we´re mostly working with members trying to get referrals, because knocking doors and getting in is almost impossible in our area, and not very effective for the little time we have there. 

Wednesday elder Chuiz and I pack up and load into Pres Risso´s car with him and his wife, and we´re going to Cajamarca, a zone that´s six hours away from here, to train district leaders, have a special zone conference, and work with the missionaries. We´ll be there three or four days. Everyone says Cajamarca is so beautiful, it´s in the mountains! you should google it! 

As for my coming home... I´m leaning toward coming home january 8th. Here are my thoughts on the living situation: if i live by campus i wouldn´t necessarily need a car, but if i live at home i think i would. So either way i´ll have to spend money that i don´t have! haha 

Everything´s great with me! Thanks so much for all the prayers and love. I´ve been super healthy my whole mission, and the only reason i can think of is all the family that must be praying for me to be healthy! So keep it up because i don´t want to get sick :) 

The gospel is true and makes me so happy! I´m reading John in the new testament, and had a fun time comparing scriptures to prove that Jesus is Jehova and that the Godhead are 3 different beings. Before the mission i would have never done that much less enjoyed it! I think it´s like the 10th time i´ve studied the same thing, but i have to polish up my skills just in case. 

I love you! 

Elder Hatch