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