Six months

This week has been really good.  This transfer has flown by.  And this six months doesn't even feel like six months.  I can't wait for conference.  We will watch it a week after you guys, so don't tell me any thing about it.  I might transfer at the end of the transfer.  Next pday will be on Wednesday.  By then I will know if I am transfering.  Marshall is training already.   We had ward conference this Sunday.  We had a lot of Less actives come.  It was really cool.  I am teaching a lot.  It is really starting to be fun.  I am trying to loss myself in the work.  I am having more and more fun in the work.  Not much has happened this week.  Lots of exchanges.  We go over the Elders in Acacia and UH, they are a lot of fun.  We play cards.  Its a good time.  We have a lot of investigators.  The problem is none of them come to church.  I don't know what to do to help them to come to church.  If you have any ideas let me know.  Love you all.

Love
Elder Hatch

Bowling

Sorry I don't have a lot of time so this email will be about the questions.  We went bowling as a zone today so no time.

The sacrament prayers depends on who ever is blessing likes English or Tagalog better.  Most of the time it is in Tagalog.  We always sing in English.  The only time we sing in Tagalog is when we meet with president and we sing Called to Serve and it is only the second verse.  Found a few, but we are trying to set up a teaching schedule so the families know when we will be there, so we don't get punted as much.  Punted is a missionary term meaning: the appointment is not there or they say next time.  With lessons it all depends.  Sometimes I lead some times he leads.  I am starting to lead more and more.  The food was a Sunday dinner we made.  Fish.  The red things are Salami.  Yes we still sleep on the floor but we might move the bunk beds down stairs.  While I am in the city I can buy eye solution and razors but if I get transferred I will need you to send me some.  The bag is working great.  I really like it for working.  We will probably watch conference the week after you guys.  Sorry for the short email it will be longer next week.

Love Elder Hatch

Learning Tagalog

What? We are getting a new bishop?  That is crazy!  I kind of wish
Bishop would stay till I got back, but oh, well.  My guess is Brother
Garbonati.  Make sure you tell him I said so.

Sister Beth has been busy but we are planning on eating out with her
this week.  My companion is good.  I have gotten to the point to where
I can understand most of what he says, and I can respond in Tagalog
most of the time.   At first I didn't know how he was going to be: if
he was going to be weird or if he was going to be cool.  He is a weird
cool.  He is way funny and we work really well together.  We just have
different likes.  I have fun though.

We taught a lot of people this week.  We also found some new less-
actives.  The hard thing about addresses here is that they don't
really work. Only the people that live in the house actually know their
address.  No one else does.  Some of the members know where people
live, the hard part is getting them to work with us to show us where
they live.  I have planned a few members to work with us this week.  I
have no idea who my ward missionaries are.  That is one thing that I
have learned that I will always fulfill my calling in the church.
Right now, I am trying to strengthen the ward and bring less-actives
back so my baptism numbers are low, but I am happy with where my focus
is.  In trying to strengthen the ward we have gotten more
investigators.  Most of them are progressing but they just don't come
to church.  That is the biggest thing here is going to church.  It is
probably the hardest thing is to let people have there freedom of
choice.  I know that if they would just come to church, a lot of their
problems would go away or they would be able to endure them.  That's
been my week.

Is there no snow in Cache Valley?  I looks warm and cold at the same
time if that makes sense.  I miss grass.  All I see every day is
concrete and black water.  I posted some pictures on the blog so take
a look at them.

I'm glad to hear that you are all doing good and having fun.  Keep
reading the scriptures and praying.  If you do those two things you
will always be happy.

Love Elder Hatch

More Mission Pictures

A family that we had FHE with

Sunday dinner

It was really good

Elder Ata, Hatch and Brother Art

Sister Adriano, Brother Juancho, Younger Sister Adriano, Brother Adriano, Popoy, Michael Adriano (Baptized)

District T-shrits

A planner after one transfer

My Favorite Jeepny

My Apartment

Bear Hunt

With the package whatever you send me will be nice, but the one thing I thought of was pudding packets.  I have been thinking about how Trevor always made it and now with this email he is still eating pudding.  I think that is it with things that I want.  It is more fun to just wait for the package and get the suprise of what is inside.  It is really nice to here stories from home.  Tell Trevor good job and ask if he was shooting with both eyes open.  That picture you have of Treveor and me, from the last day on the farm is one of my favorites.  I almost forgot about that day.

Sounds like Whitnee is having fun in socail dance.  It was fun, of course I had Stu.  The Short that is my age is Tanner, Trenton graduated just before me.  Issac is probably a crazy kid if he is like his brothers.

I think Whitnee told me in an earlier email that you were planning on going to Long Beach.  Its fine and the funny thing is all the other Elder's families are going on vacations too.  I think there are a few things that every missionary experience, pretty much all.  They get dear johned, their family goes on vacation, their car gets sold, and their brother or sister moves into their room.  It is funny we all joke about it happening but don't expect it to happen.  Just make sure to take lots of pictures.

I'm good on shrits.  We found a store here that sells a whole bunch of different shirts for cheap.  I have bought a few.  I am going to try not to pull out any more money until I start buying thing to bring home.  But thanks its good to know that there is a charge.

With the vitamins, the church gives us centurm, in every mission, so tell Sue and Derek that they don't need vitamins.  Tylenol or Ibuprofen are really good things to have, and something for upset stomches, just in case.  He is going to Guatemala.  Also He is going to Levi's mission so you can ask the Bassetts what Levi wished he would have taken.  That's probably the best.

Church is in Tagalog mostly, we sing in English.  I have  a lot of quiet time at the house, I am really getting the moneys worth of the iPod and speakers.  I am learning a lot from the scriptures, sometimes my personal study is not long enough.  My Tagalog is really taking off.  Some of the members are really suprise at how much I know and how much I understand.  But then they mess with me and start speaking Bisayis or Ilicano.  We have some good times with the ward.  There are some members here that remind me so much of members in our ward, it is really funny.  I am in the ward choir.  That is a really good time.  It is nice to just relax and build relationships with the members.  This week we are planning on contacting a lot of referrals from the members.  This week is going to be a good week.  Oh last week we had family home eveing at a members house and I was put in charge of the games.  I did not know any so guess what I did.  The "I'm going on a bear hunt" from the Murri family reuion the one Jason always does.  It was so much fun.  Right now I am working on translating it to Tagalog.  The family we did it at know a lot of Engilsh so we had a good time.  Once I get it translated I will start doing it at other FHE.  That is the most exciting this this week.  I am trying to step up a time that I and the ward can play basketball.  The national sport is basketball.  They love it.  They are a lot of fun to play ball with.  On Saturday there was a ward activity so we went.  I played basketball with the kids we mostly just took turns shooting, then some of the priests and elders from the ward came and I started playing with them.  It was way fun. We played for a good 40 minutes.

There are some stories from this week, I will have more for next week, and hopefully some pictures.

I love all of you.

Love Elder Hatch