Pictures

November 7, 2011

Hey fam,

hey hope yall are doing well and had a good first week of november.. the time is flying by.. its crazy that this week i will be hitting twenty one months.. i dont know where the time has gone and its definitely not slowing down.. so here goes my list for the week.. it was a really good week and me and my comp were really satisfied and happy after last week..

so on tuesday we had our meeting.. it went really well and a lot of what pres watts focuses on is giving follow up on what we learned in past conferences and meetings.. so its been good to have 3 things hammerend into us now for about 4 conferences/meetings.. i really agree with it though because if we focus on finding news.. comp study, and also working with members we will have a lot more success.. and why teach us something new if we still are doing the basics really well yet.. so it was really good and we felt the spirit really strong.. pres told us too that we are doing a good job but God is still not pleased with us completely because we havent reached our full potential yet.. it was awesome though and i realized that i need to focus more on my own area now instead of worrying so much about the zone.. because i am called to be a missionary and not a zone leader.. so i need to be more focused on my area and investigators.. also sis watts fed us bbq chicken.. orange jello, and twice baked potatoes..

it was amazing and yall dont know how much i miss real good usa food.. umm right after coming home from the cap the assistants came up with us and did divisions with us.. at first i wasnt too excited but they turned out to be great and just what we needed.. we learned a lot from them and had a lot of success.. we had 12 news last week and 7 that day we did divisions with them.. and i know those are just numbers but in those we found two families and 3 really good investigators that should be in church next week.. so we are really excited about that.. i learned from them too how to better use my time.. with contacting and teaching shorted lessons.. that way they are more powerful and we get more stuff in in one day..

we had 3 baptisms in the zone last week.. and that was good and we spent all day thurs. going around interviewing those people.. it went well and here is a pic of us and them and the missionaries who baptized them.. its neat to see how God is always preparing people for us to teach and baptize.. we just need to have the faith and patience to find them.. we found the fam villalobos and they are the good investigators.. its a couple and their daughter who is like 24.. they are going to go to church with us next week.. they are really receptive and have a lot of questions.. please pray for them.. your prayers helped out a ton by the way last week.. thanks for that!! we are going to visit them this weds with the bishop so that should be really good.. we now as a mission are eating lunch 5 times during the week in diners.. that is fine for us and really cheap and they have good food.. but one sister in our zone doesnt want to do it.. haha its ridiculous and i dont have time to tell yall the whole story but she is just a problem and just wanting to be dificult.. so on sat we had to go out to their area and find a diner for her and tell her she needs to eat there.. and she doesnt want to and yeah.. sister missionares cause a lot of problems and are dramatic.. i will not marry a ex misionera.. haha we didnt have investigators in church yesterday but we had a ton of less actives.. we are being really direct with them and sharing that one scripture i told yall last week about alma 5 27.. then yesterday i was reading in enos and thats what we need to do.. in verse 23 of chapter 1 it says they were really direct with the lamanites when teaching them.. and we need to be just like that too because we are teaching people of lamanite decent.. haha i thought it was funny but true because i am realizing that we cant beat people around the bush.. we are just frank with them and they are realizing that they need to change and go to church.. cause they arent well with God and if they died they would not be able to stand before Him with a clean conscious.. also me and my comp were talking last week and decided that these two years are the best two years for us and our future but maybe not necessarily the best two years of our life.. cause lets be honest.. the mission isnt easy.. its stressful tiring and really hard work.. yes its definitely worth it but we are talking about people salvation here thats a lot of pressure on us.. so anyway i have loved my mission but it hasnt been a walk in the park....it has though be just what ive needed to progress spiritiually and strengthen my faith and testimony.. we got a 76 year old inactive guy to church yesterday.. haha it was funny.. he kept hitting my arm and telling me all this things about what coban used to be.. then he danced in the street.. acted like he was being baptized.. haha and we have to yell when we talk to him because he cant hear at all.. haha it was fun experience.. then he like slept through church... church was good and we shared our testimonies.. that is always good and helps strengthen ones testimony.. we also cleaned up a kids thow up yesterday in church.. that was nasty but a good excuse to get out of the class cause it was boring!! haha yall dont even know how boring church is here sometimes.. yeah last week was good.. please pray this week too for fam tercero.. wendy and washington and yeah thats about it.. i love yall a ton and be thankful yall didnt have to eat fiambre last week.. i did and it has black sausage in it.. it wasnt good and i wont miss that next year on nov 1st for the day of the dead.. its a nasty food with like 10 meats in it with nasty flavoring.. i should of got a pic but couldnt.. here are some pics.. also last night we found a family who needed a place to sleep and the kid who i was on a division with let them stay in his house.. it was cool and i know later down the road that family will realize the truth about our church and how we really try to put into practice what Christ taught.. well i love yall a ton and take care.. i pray for yall too and fasted for yall.. be good and always do whats right and yall be showered with blessings!!thanks for everything elder hatch

October 24, 2011

Hey family!
well here goes my list of things.. so last monday we had a fun family home evening.. i taught the lesson about how God is our Heavenly Father and loves us.. then my comp was incharge of the game.. it was fun and we are motivating the family to get back going to church.. the game is that you strike a match and pass it around a circle and when it goes out that person gets there face drawn on with a eye line.. and the thing is you have to say a series of words when you pass it encendido me lo dieron encendido te lo doy..

anyway here are the pics of that or ill put them on the 2nd half of the email.. on tues night we visited a family that has a kid on the misison in peru.. the kid is doing good and comes home in december.. but the family kept talking about how worried they are about him and his well being.. i shared dc 100 with them that talks about being proteced as a missionary and also says that yall or missionaries families are in Gods hands and instead of sydney and jospeh we put theirs sons name.. it was cool and i think they like it a lot.. i heard ross read that scripture before we left and its given me a lot of comfort while ive been out.. to be honest i really dont worry about yall at all because i know yall are being blessed and taken care of while im here.. so like sean heard.. there have been a ton of landslides here recently.. so the conference was cancelled on tues because the roads were blocked.. but we had in on weds.. it was really good and elder amado talked about a lot of really important things and it was cool because he told us and focused on how he didnt want us to learn from him but from the Holy Ghost.. so we talked about important parts of a good lesson, obedience and a bunch of other stuff.. but honestly last week was the most crazy week of my whole mission and this is the list of the things we did.. organized divisions for 50 missionaries on tues when the conference was cancelled, reorder food for 70 people, get hotels and or sleeping arangements for 50 elders, i had to direct the conference so that was stressful kind of for me, then clean the chapel after, pay the money to the restaurant and hotel which was 5000 something quetz.. thurs.. recieve the 3 new sisters that came into our zone.. then we had to do 2 baptismal interviews for the zone just south of us because of the landslides we got assigned to that one.. then fix our shower so we dont have to shower in cold water, do weekly dats, and missionary needs list thing.. and meanwhile doing all of that we have to worry about our investigators and their spiritual progression and salvation!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! lol.. but for real it was ridiculously crazy for us and tiring...

also we might have seen the next pres of guat..while we were doing the baptismal interviews.. well we should have a baptism this saturday which is really exciting.. its a pretty sure thing but still please pray for the kids.. jaime herrera.. we had some good lessons with him and he knows a lot and picks up things fast.. we had a good lesson too with a couple where the husband isnt a member.. he had a bad pain in his stomach but when we went in to teach him it went away.. coincidence.. i think not.. also the whole way we got into the appt was cool and not planned at all.. we talked about he BOM and how it is the difference in our church.. i read the isaiah script that talks about how Gods thoughts are higher then ours.. it was a really good lesson and the spirit was strong.. and we really taught them what they needed to hear.. please pray for them too.. haroldo and andrea.. i also got to give two blessings this week.. both were neat and i really enjoy giving blessings and fufilling with my priesthood responsiblity in that way.. also i got to bless the sacrament on sunday and that was good as always..

we had 2 investigators in church but hopefully we will have a lot next sunday.. we are also going to have a movie night and i think itll be a hit.. and a lot members are going to bring their friends.. please pray that that event will be a success for us.. then the baptisms will be sat.. also we did tamales last week.. they were pretty good.. then we ate caldo de pollo or chicken soup kind of yesterday.. it was really good especially because its been a little cold recently down here and weve be wearing sweaters.. its nice though to have it a little cold..

it makes sleeping nice and being outside really nice.. honestly that was the most crazy week of my misison.. well i love the liahona/ensign from october about the BOM.. its awesome and i love the talk by elder bednar.. its really interesting for us to think which group we are in.. are we clinging to or holding fast to the iron rod.. i want each of yall to read it and think about which group yall are in.. lets be constant so that we can recieve many blessings in this life like having the holy ghost constantly with us and so that we can recieve eternal blessing and the exaltation as a family and live in a state of never ending happiness like it says in mosiah 2 41.. love yall a ton and take care.. send me pics of the events that happen this week.. happy bday to all those i misssed or forgot to tell!! elder hatch

October 17, 2011

Dear Family,

Well here goes my list for the week... things here are well.. its been crazy though with the weather though.. raining a ton and the rivers all over guat have left their paths and are flooding places.. luckily since yesterday its kind of stopped.. we have been getting super wet though and its actually been pretty cold.. also recently their have been a lot of shakes.. or trembles or however you say that..i dont know if its the aftermath of an earthquake a while ago or something too come.. they leaders have been stressing being prepared now here for quite a while like ever since ive been on the mission..anyway the last pic is of me and my comp.. his name is elder nelson.. he is super tall and from salt lake.. he is cool and we get a long good and we are just trying to still adjust because thats how it always is with new comps.. he has 14 months in the mission and is a good missionary and really smart.. he was studying at GW before he came out to the mission... on monday night and tues i was with two other elders while i was waiting for changes and my new comp.. i was with elder fadel from my group and we went to teach a lesson in qeqchi.. it was legit hearing him speak that mayan language.. it was cool though because the lady starting crying and shared stuff that she wouldnt have shared with us.. its really cool and important that the gospel be preached to everybody in their own language.. with changes or transfers things went pretty well.. nothing too crazy happened.. it was stressful but in the end it was fine.. im just tired though because last weds and thurs we woke up early to help elders get on their way to new areas... anyway we put a baptismal date with a kid that is 9 years old..

and with another one we will put a baptismal date this week.. its been cool to see how the work ive done with less actives has paid off.. with helping reactivate families and also being able to baptize shortly two 9 year old kids.. please pray for them and their families.. jaime and his fam... fam herrera.. and then brandon and the fam tercero..

thanks! umm we just found out that 3 more sisters are coming to the zone.. thatll be 9 and way tooo many!! sisters are cool sometimes but usually not.. lol tomorrow we have zone conference and things are ready pretty much..the only thing is that i have to direct it.. itll be fine but im kind of nervous because a member of the 70 will be there.. i am going to need to study the agenda and make sure i got it down.. anyway itll be cool though to be instructed by him and pres watts.. that conference will be tomorrow at 10.. there will be like 65 missionaries there.. or 3 zones.. also me and elder nelson are really focusing on finding news.. we are going to do our movie night next week and it should have a really good turnout because we are going to publicize it well and hopefully have a lot of success with it.. please pray also this week that we can find news and the chosen and ready people this week.. anyway thats about it.. we are doing little things too like making calendars for everybody so that we are all on the same page as a zone.. anyway things are going well and still i fill like a chicken with its head cut off but im getting used to that .. haha take care and i love yall a ton.. i still have more time so write back soon if yall can or have ?s or something! elder hatch

October 10, 2011

Dear familia
Hey how are yall doing? guess what today i hit 20 months!! crazy huh? the time is flying and this last change was the fastest one i have had yet.. we got changes though and my comp is headed to the capital and im staying in the area.. it stinks but hopefully my new comp is good.. its just going to be crazy though cause i wont really have help from today till weds because i will be with out a comp who is also zl..

and just with get people to there bus stops and getting everything organized is just going to be crazy and a big headache that i am not looking forward too.. anyway i am going to start going down my list and i will send two emails because i have a ton of pics i want to send.. alright.. i was able to visit a few people in canalitos last monday and it was awesome!!! more then anything it was awesome seeing luis and his family..

here is a pic of us.. all of them got there early to see me then they gave us food.. and luis and his sister carmen gave me a few little things so id remember them.. it was really cool seeing them and honestly almost like seeing familiy again.. i talked to other people and both luis and carmen are still going to church and doing really well in seminary.. this time there were no tears shed though but it was nice to see and talk to them and to see the difference i made in their lives by bringing them the gospel.. it was really exciting to see how well they are doing and when we come down next summer we need to see them so whoever is with me can meet them.. our meeting with president was really good.. i learned a lot and here are some pics of that too.. all the zls and then pres and his wife and the assistants.. then the next is with me and the elders from my group who i was with in the ccm... i just wanted to telll yall about my favorite part of the meeting/counsel.. we talked about prayer and how we should be conversing with God instead of just talking really fast then hanging up.. we talked about how it helps us out invidually then also how we can recieve revelation for our investigators and for our zones.. we also talked about how we need to pray with all the energy of our hearts.. which is something hard to do but that we should all work towards being able to do that someday.. read moroni 7 48.. anyway i am going to go and finish on the other email now!....so here are just some other pics.. my sweet aggie fleece thing costed me one dollar and its in perfect condition!! umm so elder rivera my last comp.. ran away on tues morming and went to the cap to find his girlfriend.. he stayed a night who knows where then got caught or turned himself in on weds.. and got sent home to belgium on sat.. he is a retard.. but i still am praying for him so he can find the things that really matter in life so that his life doesnt go completely down hill once now that he is already home without honors.. anyway we had another good lesson this week with nelson and vilma.. they are reading and trying to find out the truth for themselves by prayer.. oncle again the lesson was a little difficult with hna pati the member but i definitely know the spirit was there because they themselves said they understood everything perfectly.. so definitely the spirit helped them feel things because once again she wasnt on the same page as us.. haha the family cucoy was doing good but then after two months of being sober.. the husband fell again and now has 4 days of being drunk :( please pray for him and the family.. we had a really good lesson with him on weds and he said he was starting to realize the difference between our church and the leaders and how they dedicate their lives to serving.. and just when he was coming around satan stuck his foot in there again and made him fall.. like honestly our lesson was amazing and the spirit was there and we were really straightforward about how we are called of God and the things that were happening werent by coincidence or chance.. then two days later he fell.. we have been over there twice now with him drunk and he is soooo dumb.. it is so sad to see the mom and kids around him like that.. and he gets pretty violent too.. the first night he threatened his wife with a knife and hit one of his kids hard.. the next night before he got home we prayed with them and asked God to protect them and He did! also we told hno cucoy to go to bed and not touch his family.. it really was an answer to our prayers that nothing has happened since then even though he is still drinking.. i know God answers our prayers and loves us and in always there watching over us.. anyway so please pray for them and we found out they arent married either so we have a super long ways to go before they could be baptized but itd be worth it! anyway i dont have much time left but im doing good and will find out who my new comp is on weds.. next tues we have a giant zone conference with almost 70 missionaries from three zones and we are incharge of food and hotel reservations.. i feel like a chicken with his head cut off quite frequently.. anyway i love yall a ton and thanks for everything yall do.. take care and have an awesome week.. always remember that when yall pray its a conversation and God wants to talk too.. we just need to give Him the chance and learn how to listen better! take care and thanks for everything!!love, Elder Hatch

October 3, 2011

Dear family,well i am in the capital again because tomorrow we have our meeting as zone leaders with pres and the assistants.. we left today at 2 o clock from coban and got here at six.. i am really tired but excited because after this i am going to go visit people in canalitos!! like luis and other members there so thatll be a lot of fun.. so here goes my list.. this last week was crazy.. we had 3 training sessions with the assistants and president in coban with each one of the three districs we are over.. each session lasted about 4 hours and we gave a 30 min part in each one of the sessions.. so pretty much on tues and weds we didnt work.. we were just in the church helping out with that and then we were also interviewed by president.. it went well though just tiring sitting there for a total of 12 hours.. it was fun teaching our part though about leaving commitments with people and then promising blessings .. i think we did a good job and each time we did it we got better.. we also learned about obedience the importance of companionship study finding new investigators and other stuff.. it was really good and with the part we taught and obviously studied it has helped us out a lot..the commitments we leave now are a lot more straight forward.. then we promise blessings, then share testimony and then the next time verify to see if they completed what we asked them to do.. i know that as we focus on that we will have more success and our investigators will progress faster.. so on tues night i went on a division with on the assistants.. we taught a reference that a sister gave us.. it went well but she kept trying to teach the plan of salvation while we were just trying to get to know them and follow the spirit and teach to their needs.. i have never been in such a stressful lesson.. trying not to offend the member but at the same time trying to teach the couple what they needed to hear.. i dont know how we did it but it turned out well..they said after that they were interested and are going to read the bom and pray to know if its true.. it was pretty crazy but we felt the spirit at the end and all was good.. i really saw with that the importance of following the spirit and using members only after you have prepared them so that they help with the lesson and dont destroy it! we have another lesson with them on weds night..there names are vilma and nelson..we spent thurs and fri just inviting pepole to the conference... it was good and we ended up having 6 investigators attent.. they liked it and felt the spirit.. bro cucoy went with his oldest boys and they all learned something.. this week we are going to have some really important appts with them where we have to be really straight forward so they can feel the spirit and know we arent just their by chance.. please pray for them to see and feel the difference! then sat and sunday we had conference so we only worked like 3 full days last week.. it was a pretty crazy and tiring week.. but fun and good at the same time.. i loved conference and was able to learn a lot.. i really liked how they focused on the book of mormon a lot and how it is the cornerstone of our religion.. i am trying to read it one more time before i come home.. i liked the examples with the circles and how with the bible and the bom all the doctrines are cleared up and understandable so we dont have a doubt of what we should do here on this earth.. i also like the talk about decisions and how we only have two eternal decisions.. to follow Christ or not.. we cant be in zion with one foot and in babylonia(??) with the other.. also the talk about prayer and how God answers even the smallest prayer to find 25 cents to eat some fried chicken.. haha and as always Pres uchtdorfs talk was good and it was cool that he was in texas for a bit.. then Pres monson was really good and direct in his talks and funny at the same time.. also i liked the talk about time and how we need to prepare ourselves to meet God and that we should and must use our time wisely because we will have to give a report to God on judgement day on how we used the time that He gave us in this life to progress..anyway we missed Elder Hollands preisthood talk so if somebody could get that and email it to me id be happy.. well thats pretty much about it.. this change has gone by super fast and next sunday we will know about changes.. the time is going by so fast.. i am having fun though and learning a lot.. and really trying to become a better missionary, son of God, and leader.. its hard and tiring but i know i can still do better and bring more souls to Christ.. please pray for he familly tercero this week so that they can come to church and that we can help brandon learn the lessons and get baptized this month.. also pray that we can find new families to teach.. well i have some pics but wont be able to send them until next week.. well i love yall a ton..take care and yall are always in my prayers too! i still have 10 minutes left so write me back if yall have time!love,elder hatch

September 26, 2011

Hey family!here is me eating some good ol chili i bought on a piece of bread.. i am going to do my list and news again but in two emails.. if yall are on or have questions i still have 15 min so yall can write me! so here it goes.. also the next pic is us and our missionary mom in our area.. she washes my clothes and gives us food a lot and takes care of us.. her daughter left today to the las vegas nevada mission.. the other pics are of me and semuc champey again..

we went there today with the zone and it was fun but stressful organzing it and yeah its fun being a leader but stressful too.. and we got back late so thats why im writing now instead of earlier.. anyway umm those kids are from my group and we have 5 up because thats how many months we have left.. and no that wasnt my idea.. okk last monday a fam gave us 3 corn tortillas each with salt on them.. they werent very good but then i asked them for a drink and they threw two uncooked tortillas in a pitcher and stirred it around and then put a little sugar in it and gave it to us.. let me tell yall it was not good.. oh the nasty drinks of this country and of qeqchis.... we found a less active fam this week and they have a kid that turns 9 this sat.. so hopefullly we will baptize him next month.. thatll be really exciting and they went to church yesterday even the parents and they hadnt been for a year.. it was super exciting and they want to go to church now every sunday.. so yeah and they have 4 kids that are really cute and that want to go to church and be in primary cause they like it a lot!! please pray for them that theyll be able to meet their goals and desires.. they are familia tercero..

also although ive only been here a few weeks i feel like i really have been blessed with having a light about me with the people.. they seem to open up to me and my comp..like pres prior blessed me with when i was set apart.. its been cool to go back and study what he blessed me with and how its all come to pass.. also we did division twice again last week.. it was fun and also ive realized not to judge.. because i went with a kid from my group and when i started the mission i thought he was really weird. but we did divisions and i really had fun and i am definitely not such a punk now and i like talking to who ever now even if they arent sportsy like i am.. also we sometimes share a movie with the investigators thats called only a stone cut out.. or only a stonecutter.. it talks about a temple worker who helped with inscribing things into the temple in salt lake like holiness to the Lord.. yall should watch it or look for it because it talks a lot about sacrificies we should make and how we should not just complete with our callings but magnify them all the time! id reccomend it.. its also been raining a ton and like every afternoon.. two times this last week i got almost completely soaked.. its better then heat but not when it rains so hard that you get soaked!

so with the fam cucoy.. we had a really good lesson with them about family: a proc to the world.. it was really and thats exactly what they needed they told us.. but the thing is they think its almost like luck or coincidence that we always share exactly what they need..they still have realized the importance of our message.. they didnt go to church yesterday.. but we have a really good lesson plan to teach them tonight about getting an answer.. we thought really hard the other day and couldnt think of what to teach them.. then i told my comp lets pray and see what God wants.. so we did and after about 20 seconds.. we figured out what we were going to do.. it was really cool and just another little thing that shows me that God answers prayers and fast too and that He really cares about His children.. both their physical and spiritual needs.. also its been crazy to see how hard satan is working against that family.. friends neighbors church members.. he doesnt want them to be members of Christs church..
yesterday though we had 3 or 4 other less active families come that i hadnt told yall about the week before.. it was really cool and we taught them again a lot this week but we are seeing results and changes in them.. and like mom you said.. leave the 99 and look for the lost 1! ive found a lot of joy working with inactives in my mission because its just as important that they go back to church just like investigators getting baptized.. well thats about it.. the zone is doing well and we had fun today.. this month we have had more then 10 baptisms in the zone which is really good.. our missionaries are good and they are working hard and being obedient for the most part as we know.. anyway i love yall a ton and get ready for conference itll be great! and try to get to all 5 sessions because they are important and the words we hear arent mans words but Gods and we need to hear them to know what we can do to change and become better and prepare ourselves for things to come! love yall and take care!elder hatch

September 19, 2011

Dear Fam

well last monday we had a good fhe with a family who hasnt been going to church very consistently.. we did the hymn thing where everyone shares there testimony and then we sick the hymn they pick..it was good and i felt like with that lesson and another one we had we were able to get them to go to church with us on sunday.. well atleast three of them.. then one of those references i was telling yall about last week is really cool and wants to find the true church.. we had to really good lessons with him last week.. i felt a need to bring a bom with me because usually i dont and so i brought it.. then we taught him and he needed one.. it was something small but i knew the spirit helped me remember to bring it.. but anyway his name is reuben.. he notices a difference in our church and when he went one time he felt the difference inside and could feel the spirit and a peace that he hadnt felt in other churches.. he is very interested and is understading everything very clearly.. also he told us he hasnt been baptized before which is good because that is usually a problem that people dont want to get baptized for the second time.. he even asked why the brass plates werent on the earth anymore.. like he has really good questions and understands well.. he couldnt come to church yesterday though and we found out that he isnt married and supposedly doesnt want to get married even though he has two kids with his wife!!! aahhhh dumb guats and not wanting or getting married.. anyway i still have hope for him though.. please pray for him though and that we can get things worked out with his marriage and more then anything that he can get a testimony about the church and want to have a change of heart.. with janet and estrella they are ok and want to get involved with the RS and YMs so we are trying to work on that.. we taught them about baptism and they think its necessary but they dont realize the need of priesthood though or proper authority.. umm the fam cucoy.. they had a lot of good questions the first time we passed by with them..we clarified a lot of their doubts and we taught part of the plan of salvation.. the spirit definitely helped us and led us to the scriptures we needed and wanted to share with them.. because i just started flipping through my bible but was able to find what i needed to share with them..we talked about the fall of adam and infant baptism and they understood and it went right along with what they thought because they know that God is just.. then sat night we passed by and.. their dumb friends started saying mean things to them for recieving us.. and so has their family members and neighbors.. it was crappy but even though they werent going to recieve us they did.. and they were down and discouraged but we had a good lesson with them and got them happy again and feeling the peace that only the holy ghost can give.. we talked about trials and how all the important ang d good things arent super easy to do always. .we talked about the trials of Paul in the new test and about joseph smith in the jail.. they liked everything we shared and we definitley saw a differnence in them when we left.. it was cool and they want to move houses and get away from the problems they are having so we are looking for one a long with some of them members in our ward who were with us in ward council.. i am going to finish the email on another one! and the pics are me and a monkey in our area and me with part of the family cucoy and with atol shuco... the rotted corn drink.. mmm yum yum

umm i am studying Jesus the Christ and mary after she gave birth to Christ stayed in bed for 40 days and that was a tradition of the jews or part of the mosaic law.. and the qeqchis still do that.. or like they are ancestors of the lamanites and they still are following the wicked traditions of their fathers.. haha i dont know if thats how it is but thats what id like to think so they.. umm as zls we have to do divisions with every missionary in the zone so last week i did it twice with the elders in carcha.. it was good and im learning a lot from the others missionaries and hopefully teaching them a thing or two.. also we have been working our tails off with less actives and we had 4 or 5 fam of less actives come yesterday.. it was legit and even though we didnt have invest. there we had a lot of less actives there! also something im really excited for is general conference.. we are getting everybody ready for that.. its fun and we are telling people to make their lists of questions so that the leaders of the church can answer them in their talks.. im so grateful to have leaders called of God here on the earth to guide us and tell us of what is to come! i know they are called of God and if we give heed to their words we will be blessed and protected even though many crazy and bad things are going on in these last days before the second coming of Christ.. well i love yall a ton.. take care and start getting ready for conference.. love yall take care be safe and always remember me and my comp and investigators in yalls prayers please!! and ill do the same!elder hatch

September 12, 2011

Hey family!well i have a lot of stuff to tell yall but not a whole lot of time so we will see how this goes.. our meeting with president and the other zls on weds was really good.. we talked about a lot of stuff and i could definitely feel the spirit and we definitely recieved revelation on how to better the mission and our zones.. we listened and discussed topics such as divisions companionship study how to have success and help others have success and we talked about obedience.. it was really good and fun to see some of the elders from my group like elder lusty winkle dixon and fadel.. or elders that i knew in the mtc but hadnt seen for a long time.. umm this last week was so tiring .. on monday i woke up at 2 tues at 430 and weds at 400.. i am almost back to normal now though on energy cause during lunch hours and at night i have been able to take naps or go to bed earlier then 1030.. our meeting too was good because i feel like i am getting to know pres watts .. i can really tell how much he loves us and wants us to have success as missionaries and after the mission.. he really is called of God and recieves revelation to help us out as missionaries in this great work.. he talked to me for a second after and complimented me on my spanish and said it was good then today he emailed me and said it was good to get to know me a little better and that he says ill do a great job.. he is a really good guy.. also his wife is and she made us some pork sandwhiches after the meeting that were amazing and also that pie mom you make for thanksgiving with whip cream and pudding.. that was the first legit meal ive had in a while with fruit vegtable grain desert dairy and yeah its good to eat something else then spaghetti and beans and eggs..also as yall can see i bowled a 175.. it was legit and my comp said something jacqui always says.. elder hatch only does stuff that he is good at.. haha that made me laugh.. this week we found a new family and two other new investigators.. that was really exciting and we think that all of them are very accepting and could progress.. one told us about how her husband left her and how she is looking for peace and Christ.. tomorrow we have a lesson with her.... also there is a lady in our ward that was less active and then got reactivated and is giving us a ton of references.. she is really good and we are going to contact a reference tomorrow and teach them in her house.. also another guy gave us a reference that we are going to teach tomorrow and both of them should be good because they have member freinds and an interest in the gospel and book of mormon and family..a scripture i really like that i heard in the meeting was moses 6 1 and 2.. it talks about being humble.. i really recently have been trying to thank God for the trials i face because i know they are helping me become a better person.. and i try to look for His hand in my everyday life and the miracles he does..we also had a good lesson last week with a recent convert.. she told us about her problems and we shared scriptures with her about trial and how if we are faithful God will bless us after the trial and in the next life.. it was really good and the spirit was strong.. we said and its really true being a member of this church and active doesnt make our lives easy...its actually harder because satan wants us to fall.. but God always is with us and if we are faithful even through the hard times we will be rewarded and blessed.. so yeah i am doing good and working hard.. this week should be normal so we hope to have a lot of good lessons with our investigators and the fam cucoy and the references.. yesterday we couldnt leave the house after church because it was voting day..so i got to write letters and study all day.. but nothing happened in the streets so it was a chill day but boring..umm anyway thats about it and im out of time.. i love yall a ton and keep praying for me.. have a great week and always try to be humble and let Gods will become yours.. love,elder hatch

September 6, 2011

Hey family,well this week the email wont be very long because we are in a mall and they wont let us use an hour and fifteen minutes like we should have.. so i only have an hour to write yall and president watts.. but yeah i am in coban now as a zone leader.. i am excited because my comp elder jensen is really cool and ive known him for a while.. we are having fun and working hard.. my area borders carcha.. haha so i am not too far away just like 10 min.. its cool though because i see people from carcha that i know in coban all the time.. and i will see all the members for general conference next month.. so anyway right now i am in the capital because we have counsel tomorrow with the other zone leaders and assistants and pres watts.. we have counsel every month so i will be coming down here every month now until probably the end of my mission.. its fun but the bus ride is terrible.. it was maybe the worst two hours of my life.. on a bus without a c and i could not sleep and the road is super windy.. i thought i was going to throw up and at the same time i was sweating like crazy.. it wasnt fun but looking back a good story..sorry i dont have pics this week.. next week ill send yall some.. so i have a cell phone as a zl and also we have a queen sized beds.. its legit.. haha umm its crazy though.. last week we had to send elders out to polochic peten and the cap and baja verapaz.. so one night we had 15 elders in our house.. we had to wake up at 1 to send one to the cap.. then four in the morning to send some off to polochic and peten.. in all i havent slept hardly at all this last week... also today we played ball with the assistants and other elders in a court inside a church.. it was legit besides we woke up at 430!! i was playing really good though and everybody was impressed with my hang time and how i can finish.. haha it was fun and the elders we played with were really good too. like one is going to play d1 at utah valley university when he gets back.. anyway so i am dead tired.. umm what else.. i still dont know a lot of the investigators in our area but we had a family go to church for the first time on sunday and its a family of 8 with 6 possible baptisms.. we fasted for them last weekend.. and we had a lesson with them.. they had a lot of ?s which is good.. then we invited them to church and they said theyd come later at 10.. so we were just about to start and then guess who showed up.. they did and even before we had started sac meeting.. it was really cool and they liked it a lot and i know it was answer to our prayers and fast..if they go to church again this sunday we are going to put baptismal dates with them!! anyway please pray for them.. and yeah thats pretty much it.. nothing else has happened.. we are going bowling as soon as we finish this then to chilis to eat.. but yeah thanks as always for yall prayers.. keep going forward with faith and God will bless yall not only with temporal things but also spiritual things which are the most important things we can have..anyway have a good week and i love yall a ton!!elder hatch

August 29, 2011

Dear Family,Well something i forgot to tell yall last week is that we had our first ward council since ive been in carcha.. it went well and we presented a plan that L Tom Perry made for missionaries and how the work we do should be intertwined with the ward and what they are doing.. it went well and hopefully the missionary work and the excitement to do it will go up if the leaders take it to heart and give the example to all the others..recently i really have been trying to ask a lot more questions in the lessons.. its really good though because i have seen that the more they talk the better they understand things.. and also that when i ask questions i then can feel the spirit more and know what to say in response to their questions.. the spirit is really amazing and is essential in missionary work to have success. because only the spirit can convert somebody and its really important that we learn how to recognize the spirit and the promptings he gives us..those are pics of us cleaning the baptismal font..it had spider webs in it and was nasty.. but then as yall saw further on the water that the kids got baptized in was supppper nasty.. and fyi that is what i showered with yesterday morning.. i dont know if i left the bathroom feeling more clean or more dirty? but the water is like that because its been raining a lot recently and when it rains a ton the water turns brown.. yuck...

we passed by with eugenio again for the first time in a while.. he said that had missed our visits.. i kind of felt bad but we had taught them for a while and they werent keeping the commitments we were leaving them.. it was good though because he went to institute on tues night for the first time in a long time.. and he said next year he isnt going to take a job where he has to work on sunday because he is going to put God first in his life.. it was a cool lesson...also we taught a ten year old kid last week about propets.. he and his mom and sis have been going to church recently.. it was a good lesson and he asked us a lot of questions about how the priesthood is given.. who has it.. who are the leaders in guat.. like the seventy.. it was fun teaching him because he was really interested.. him and his mom and sis might get baptized this next change.. well we divided the areas again.. they are completely different now.. itll be better though for the sister missionaries though and for the other elders.. tomorrow will be pretty much a full day of packing and showing the elders and hermanas where our investigators live.. and by the way i am out of carcha! i dont know where ill go yet but all i know is that im staying outside of the capital..and elder rivera is staying in carcha.. the other night we had a good lesson with a single mom and her kids.. she talked to us and started to cry when she told us how much she loves her kids and how it disappoints her when they dont go to church.. and how sometimes her patience is pushed to the edge.. it really made me think how much our Heavenly Father loves us and how we make Him sad when we dont obey and do His will.. i am really trying to do His will and know that what He sends my way is what i need to grow and become a better missionary and person..im really grateful for the patience ive learned in carcha..the hermanas or sis missionaries. had a baptism.. it was neat and on sunday morning before the meetings.. it went well and i think it kind of animated the ward a little bit to help us doing more missionary work and do it more effectively (by means of references and other stuff)..
anyway the water as yall saw was sick and hopefully we dont die from showering with that water.. and just so yall know we dont drink that water.. we have to buy pure water in big ol jugs to drink everyweek..anyway also yesterday i gave the gospel principles class.. i was suppose to give a talk in church but at the last minute i didnt have to.. but i did get asked to give the gospel principles class.. i wasnt prepared but it went really well.. i taught about the atonement and then a guy translated what i said into qeqchi..it was cool.. i have really learned so much about Christ in the 18 months and how important and amazing the atonement is.. it went well and i enjoyed teaching it and it was fun because the usual teacher is kind of boring but i got the class involved by questions and i wrote stuff on the board and i think they learned at least a little bit from my class.. well thats pretty much it.. next week i will tell yall what area i am in..thanks for all yall do and thanks for the emails and support.. thanks always too for the prayers. they help out more then yall can imagine.. please always remember me and the people i am teaching.. love yall a ton and take care.. hope all yall kids are doing well in school!love yall,elder hatch

August 22, 2011

hey fam.. well here goes my email for this week.. ahh i am sooo tired.. we played soccer today on a synthetic court then played basketball.. it was fun but i am dead now.. anyway i was gonna take a pic of that but forgot.. so my comp realized last week that i am trying to help him.. i emailed to of his ex comps and told them to write him and encourage him.. he saw the email though but just the phone part.. he didnt realize that i was trying to help though and thought i just told them that i had found a phone.. i then told him that i wrote them that and told them just so that they would help him.. he then felt like a retard... and apologized.. but then he threw it in my face that night and left the house and went to the center of carcha to call somebody on a payphone.. i woke up at 4 with arrigamortis and found he wasnt there so me and elder bishop went to look for him.. we found him and then yeah.. we had interviews the next day and pres talked to him for a long time about things.. it sucked though and if i am not out of carcha next change i dont know if i can have more patience with him.. and 7 months has been sufficent for me too in carcha..
but anyway our zone conference went good and and we learned about obedience and how to up our faith and work with the members.. it was good.. also last week i went on divisions.. elder ware and i were led and found a family.. i asked if they needed help and they said yeah.. our son just tried to kill himself and yall should go talk to him!! it was crazy.. then a sister led us up into the mountains where he was.. with his vains bulging and crying and we shared a message with him.. i have never desired to have the spirit and his guidance then ever before.. at first he didnt talk so we just sang i am a child of God.. then prayed and shared scriptures with him about Chirst and our purpose in this life.. then i felt a need to have him pray at the end.. i asked him and he said no.. then i asked again and he said yes.. it was short but good.. then he opened up to us about his wife and how she left him because he drinks a lot and has been drinking for over ten years.. we helped him out though and now the elders in that area are visiting him.. it was crazy but a really cool experience..

also when i was on the division we taught a less active.. it was fun and he asked us questions.. i really have developed a love for teaching especially when people want to learn and they ask questions.. he went to church yesterday so that was cool.. well as for norma and virgilio some retard went and changed their mind about everything we had taught them.. they didnt want to listen to us.. they dont want our help with getting married... they said we were obligating them when they themselves have asked us to go by and help them with their marriage and they asked us what they needed to do to get baptized.. it was crappy.. we were going to put baptismal dates with them but our lesson turned into telling him whats up and how important it is to ask God.. i know a pastor neighbor or somebody went and brainwashed him.. it made me mad and i went off on him.. it felt good though and he said i was born catholic and i will die catholic.. then he started saying stuff about the european conquerers and how they messed with his ancestors.. then i went off on its their fault he is catholic because they obligated them to be catholic.. then he didnt think we were sincere when we had offered service.. then i went off on him again and said we dont just say that.. look at my hands.. you can see the scars of blisters i have from doing service!! anyway we put an appointment with him for yesterday in the morning before church but he left so we may never teach them again.. with rogel and dominga.. we put the baptismal dates again and he pretty much promised hed go to church then didnt go.. so yeah i am hanging in here but i got to get out next week of carcha.. i have worked my butt off and tried so many things and just havent seen that much success.. anyway ill finish my email on the next one... well so yeah.. umm 10 girls from san diego california came to church yesterday.. it was super random but they came down here to do service.. they came and talked to me and my comp.. there were some pretty cute ones.. and i didnt flirt or do anything like that but one wanted to take a pic with me and send it to her bro thats on a mission because i reminded her of him.. haha what i am really wanting to tell yall is that white girls are really pretty and i will be excited to date some when i get back..haha anyway so yesterday we went to a villiage far away from carcha to contact a reference.. thats what those pics are from.. it was fun and relaxing to go out there.. we gave out a ton of pamphlets to the qeqchis who quickly surrounded us.. it was pretty crazy and i wish yall could of seen how fast they came running over to get a free pamplet.. then a taxi driver gave us a free ride back to carcha.. anyway i am hanging in here and just trying to make it through this week.. hope all of yall are doing well.. good luck to all those that are starting school.. remember to ask yalls dads for a blessing.. it really does help and they really do hold the power of God.. love yall a ton and take care.. please continue to pray for me and my comp and our investigators.. love yall and take care,elder hatch

August 15, 2011

ok i hit 18 months last week!! pretty crazy huh? umm also its president election time down here.. its way crazier then the states with a ton of parties signs and dumb buses that drive around all day playing campaign songs!!

haha anyway.. i grabbed a lady the last week right after a car hit her.. it was pretty crazy! it was just he mirror that hit her but she was an old qeqchi lady and i probably saved her from falling.. it was scary and the retarded taxi driver didnt even stop to see if she was ok.. we also found a new family last week.. it was cool because we prayed to find a new family and we found one and they were just waiting outside for us kind of.. it was cool and one of the their kids called us to go to them.. so we did and the parents accepted us and told us to go in.. it was cool.. we had one baptism in my distict last week and hopefully this sat we will have 3 more! with norma and virgilio and their papers it shouldnt be too hard to get them married.. they just will need her parents signature but with the papers it shouldnt be too hard..

we dedicated a home last week too.. it was cool and the first time that i had done that during my mission.. on sunday we had 3 investigators there.. it was kind of crappy but 3 families are coming now consistently that we have reactivated!!! :) we helped a lady too last week who is really logical learn about faith and realize the Book of Mormon in many cases explains things better then the bible especically dealing with the plan of salvation.. it was cool to see things click in her mind and realize that faith is a lot more important that logic..

also a lady and her kids realized blessings last week for having gone to church..it was really cool.. they realized that by going to church that had recieved many blessings.. but they didnt go yesterday.. i guess they figured those extra blessings would last them all this week too.. lol haha but hopefully they come again this sunday.. we did an activity yesterday though like i said.. we talked about visiting and home teaching.. the members and leaders and youth felt the spirit and realized how inviting people can start a change in one person and be a chain event.. we watched a cool movie about youth in some state.. a preist started out being the only member in the preists qurom but after he had 26 members just because he invited one friend then the friend invited a friend/family member.. it was really cool and all of the kids were black.. i miss black people and the way they talk and how funny they are.. there are no black people down here.. anyway so hopefully we have change and better times ahead in carcha.. we have interviews tomorrow and zone conference on weds.. so thatll be good to be instructed and talk to president.. we have 2 weeks left in the change.. well i am doing pretty good and just trying to push through and be positive and find out what the Lord wants and not do what i want because thats not always whats best for me ive learned.. anway we went to caves again today.. here are some pics.. well love yall a ton and take care.. write me back please when yall have time!!
adios y les amo!
elder

August 8, 2011

Hey fam.
today i dont have a ton of time but here goes my email... well last pday after internet i got sprayed by a car with nasty water.. it was special and got my shirt really dirty.. here is a pic.. umm after being in my area for more than six months now i feel like i know everybody or atleast contacted them once.. but we got free chocolate pineapple last week because of that so it was good and by the way who though pineapples grew out of the ground? i didnt but turns out they do and dont grow on trees :P Virgilio and Norma are doing good and he came to church yesterday and she couldnt because she didnt feel well and is 7 months pregnant.. they are really liking our messages though and church movies we leave with them.. they are learning really fast and hopefully will have prayed and obtained a testimony on friday when we visit them again.. he even answered the ?s in the back of the pamphlets and nobody does that! also marriage will be interesting because she is almost 17 and doesnt have papers yet. but we will figure it out.. here is a pic of them.. we had another good lesson with perdomo lemus family but they didnt come to church yesterday.. tomorrow we have a lesson planned though that should be really good.. she asked us last time if we were afraid to die.. and we explained it and shared our testimonies how not really because we know where we are going! it was cool and she felt the spirit strongly.. i did divisions this week with one elder and they went good except he is really weird and annoying.. it was special.. we also did service this week and yeah it was good and i have a sweet giant eagles jersey huh? umm also luis and his mom and sis sent me a letter last week.. those were my converts and fam from canalitos.. they are good and he told me how is blessing the sacrament everyweek and they are still going to church and doing good.. man i love that fam and they want me and elder allen to go eat with them some day after our missions.. haha that made me really happy to hear from them.. also sherrie i got your package.. thanks a lot! i loved the pics and letters.. i am going to try and write yall a letter back soon and send some pics.. umm so on friday night i found out my comp had gotten a cell phone and was talking to his girlfriend he had in the mission.. i had to take the phone from him.. call the zone leaders and he had a phone interview with pres today.. so from fri till today its been special and also on fri night i woke up at 4 and he was outside talking to her.. i am learning a lot though on not getting angry and really trying to listen and help him out.. i am not gonna lie it made me really mad but i tried to and think i handled it in a good way.. supposedly he is doing better though and pres helped him out and we had some good talks.. he just has lost his focus though and wavered a little bit in his faith and testimony.. please pray for him and me.. that he will be more obedient and that i will know how to help him out more.. but yeah umm a lady was having trouble with her husband but after seeing our last movie night she wasnt so mad.. she said it was like an answer to her prayers.. it was cool and it was a little miracle she had and that we heard about.. umm jonathon is doing well and went to chruch and other activites.. rogel and dominga have to go to church now.. satan is working hard though so that they cant on sundays.. please pray for them and their papers and baptism.. umm yeah yesterday we had 13 investigators in church!!! it was awesome and the attendance was 117 up 35 from the week before.. we didnt do that activity cause the crap with my comp so we will do it th is sunday.. we played ball today and i did really well.. yall like our paca jerseys we bought? theyre tight huh.. umm and yeah thats about it.. i am doing well just trying to help my comp and work hard and follow the spirit! enjoy the pics and have a great week everybody! i love yall and take care and always follow the Holy Ghost and partake of the sacrament every week cause thats the most important part of our weeks!!
love yall and thanks for everything especially yalls prayers and support! write me back when yall have time cause yalls emails are great too
elder hatch

August 1, 2011

Dear Fam,
Alright so here goes my email this week.. and fyi i played bball today cause they took the no sports rule away last week.. it was pretty fun but i am rusty and cant shoot well or dribble to amazingly anymore but eh it was fun to play and ill get it back..
im just going to be really tired and sore these next couple of days cause i am getting old.. haha anyway so tomorrow we are going to finalize the activity we are going to do with the ward next sunday.. we were going to focus on references and investigators but we changed our minds and decided it was more important to strenghten the ward first then the next activity focus on investigators.. so we are going to talk about home teaching and visiting teaching.. watch a movie with them and talk about why its so important that they do their visits.. then after we are going to leave with them and visit people.. its been really good here in carcha because i am learning how to work better with the ward and members.. and if i would have done that in my other areas i would have had more success.. its fun though planning with them and trying to figure out best to help the ward and the missionary work.. also last tuesday we had an awesome lesson with an investigator.. we taught her about the plan of salvation and she asked us some reallly good questions about stuff.. she asked us about prayer and how we should do it because it says in the bible that God knows what we need even before we ask.. then she asked us about Christs life and what He did between between ages 12 and when he started His ministry and she had some good questions about the fall.. it was really good though because me and my comp were able to help her out a lot by using the scriptures and after ever answer she didnt have that doubt anymore.. she told us how she doesnt feel comfortable in her church sometimes and how she wants to go with her family to ours sometime like maybe this sunday.. she likes our visits a lot and she really feels like we are helping her and its not just like going to her church and hearing a pastor preach but we answer her questions.. also having read part of Jesus the Christ helped me out in answering her questions and it makes me want to start reading it again and actually finish all the way through.. the district seems to be doing good and in every area there is atleast one baptismal date.. and people are being pretty obedient so thats good and they are working hard.. we were able to put a baptismal date with jonathon the 16 year old kid.. its not till sept 11 but he is excited and left to visit a fam with us the other day, he is going to english class, and getting more involved with the young men.. we are really excited and so is he.. and itll help him out a lot as a person and it will help motivate his family to keep coming to church.. my studies recently have been really good too.. i am study the new testament and Christs earthly ministry and all the things He did.. Then i am reading the general conference talks.. its really interesting and helping my testimony grow about Christ and about our modern day leaders and how they are truely called of God to lead us.. Here is a quote that i like a lot, no pain that we suffer, no trial that we experience is ever wasted. It ministers to our education, to the development of such qualities as patience, faith, fortitude, and humility.. it is though sorrow and suffering, toil and tribulation that we gain the education that we came here to acquire. also i did service last week cutting fire wood and my hand got destroyed.. if i can change computers i will send yall a pic.. in about an our i had like 5 blisters and they hurt like no other.. also we had another really good lesson last week with some less actives.. we watched a new testament video about the armor of God.. then a kid who is about 17 told us how he has slipped up a few times but he knows the church is true.. and he is so gratefuly for Gods mercy and willingness to forgive us.. he started crying and the spirit was super strong.. it was really cool and it made me think how amazing Christ and our Heavenly Father are.. and how that they let us repent of our sins because we sin everyday but through Christ and His atonement and mercy we can be saved and recieve peace and happiness if we only humble ourselves before Him and repent.. our last movie was a success. we gave out sandwhiches and we had 15 investigators go to it.. also during my studies this week i felt like i needed to invite a family to the movie night.. i didnt know who though.. then as the week went on i never saw or felt a prompting to give it to somebody.. then sat morning we went to go visit a family that we had contacted.. her husband wasnt there though so we couldnt enter but i felt prompted to give her an invitation to the movie night even though we hadnt even taught her or met her husband yet.. so i invited them.. and they came! and they loved it and wanted to learn more and see other movies about Christ.. so we visited them yesterday and we told them how our message centers on the family and Christ.. they told us they want us to help them have more peace in their lives and families.. then we talked to them about Christ and they said they wanted to follow Him.. so we invited them to be baptized and they didnt officially say yes.. but they wanted to know what they needed to do to be baptized in our church after they get married. so this friday we are going to teach them and get their marriage set up hopefully and put baptismal dates with them.. they told us they had just moved to carcha and are looking to see what church to go to.. i dunno it was amazing though and i know that the spirit help guide me to invite them to the movie night and then look where things went after that.. hopefully their marriage situation wont be too hard so they can get baptized like they want to do.. pray for them please.. its virgilio and norma... anyway i need to do a better job of looking for Gods hand in my everyday life.. sometimes i pass things by as by chance or coincidence but really things happen for a reason and God is always helping us and watching over us.. sometimes we just have to look a little harder to see how.. anyway like i said the district is good and the work is progressing in carcha and tanchi.. i am really trying to be better leader and get better everday..

thanks for all yall do for me and especially for the prayers for me and my comp..we are starting to do better now and so is the work and our investigators.. anyways i love yall and i still have 10 min left so write me something short if anybody has time!
love,
elder hatch