SLC Missionary Christmas - December 29, 2014

First of all I have to tell you that everyone compliments the warm head band Dad gave me and when I tell them, "my dad got it for me" they look confused and ask me if I have a mom. I say, yes, my dad just has really good taste, also. (:

It was so hard to hang up at the end of the family call on Christmas, but I am doing well and become more and better with each day. The Lord is helping me grow so much. Our Christmas was really awesome. We had a huge dinner donated to us so we could provide for this sweet old lady who said she has no family that comes and visits her on Christmas but when we told the ward council they said her son is the bishop in another ward in the stake and lives really close so we should probably double check on that - turns out she has a little dementia (haha) but it worked out because our investigator Martha really doesn't have family here so we got to spend it with her! It was really fun! She came to church on Sunday, which is huge! She really enjoyed it. Sister Britton and I spoke along with a return sister missionary, so it was perfect for her! It was my first talk so that’s pretty exciting. I got to talk about some of my thoughts from Elder Holland. The biggest take away I got from Elder Holland was that he pled with us to be faithful. He said the true meaning of Christmas is about being faithful. He told all of us "be faithful, be faithful, be faithful!" What if Christ had not been faithful? Without the Atonement, the birth of Christ would mean nothing today. I am so grateful that our Savior was faithful to the end and that we can look to Him as an example of faithfulness. I am so glad you got to see grandma Shirl and hear Colter’s talk. It was a missionary Sunday for sure.

Sister Britton has a huge family (12 nieces and nephews!) so it was a little crazy during her Christmas day phone call, but I did get to just introduce myself and it was really fun. Unfortunately, Christmas night Sister Britton got really sick so we have had a pretty slow week trying to get her feeling better. ;(

An update on my investigators: Ron Radcliffe is still out of town, his wife will call us after the new year and we haven’t been able to see Justin and Kris. They also said to try after the new year. 

My gift to Christ this year is based off of two scriptures: 2 Nephi 25:29 and D&C 4:2 and it is to SERVE and to WORSHIP Christ with all my heart, might, mind, and strength. Also, Moroni 7 is the chapter that Elder Holland said was one of the best in the whole Book of Mormon and that we need to know it, so that is why I used a lot of it. My gift to Christ is also part of my New Year’s resolution. I am really excited about it! 

*   With my heart: I am using the scripture in Luke 2 that says, "and Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart." I am going to identify my relationship with Christ by writing down how I feel Him in my life each day and also by just writing down my spiritual experiences and my struggles daily in my journal so I can keep them in my heart and remember how I felt and what I learned and also "pray unto the father with all the energy of heart" (Moroni 7:48).

*   With my might: I am using the end of 2 Nephi 25:29 that says, "and with your whole soul" because that sounds like might to me and that is my faith. Moroni 7:37 talks about how miracles happen due to our faith, so each day I’m going to note miracles that happen because I had FAITH that they would. Also each day I am going to make sure that I "confess by the power of the Holy Ghost that Jesus is the Christ. " (Moroni 7:44).

*   With my mind: I am using a quote given by President Kimball - we read it in our companionship study everyday: "of all the treasures of knowledge the most vital is the knowledge of God: His existence, powers, love, and promises." And, Moroni 7:19 where it says, "I beseech of you brethren that ye should search diligently in the light of Christ that ye may know good from evil". So, in my studies I am making sure I read the Book of Mormon everyday and finish it by my six-month mark. And, I will read the New Testament every other day - I am hoping to finish by Christmas, and read a General Conference talk every week.

*   With my strength: I am using a quote from Elder Holland’s devotional. Someone asked what advice he would give to a new missionary. He said to "work your head off...,  work harder than you have ever worked before." Each night I am going to report to the Lord whether or not I worked my hardest. And, I will "cleave unto charity" (Moroni 7:46) so I can be more bold.  

Elder Holland talked about God sending babies into the world whenever He needs a problem solved and it really hit me hard that I want to be a teacher and help and inspire God’s children to become what He needs them to be. At the end of Elder Holland’s talk it hit me that that is what I am doing right now! I AM a teacher and I AM helping God’s children to be what he would have them be. What a beautiful and sacred calling. It’s so hard, but I love it and it is so, so, so worth it. I am so grateful for this gospel and the light that it brings. I am so grateful for prophets and apostles who lead us and guide us to be better - to become more and more like our Savior.

I love you so much! I am so, so, so blessed!!

Happy New Year! mwah!

-Sister Hatch

An AMAZING week! December 22, 2014

LOL, Mom, you called me Elder Hatch :'D in your email to me this week - I love you so dang much! That reminds me of a funny story: So there is an Elder Hatch in our mission who is serving in the ASL branch so at mission meetings we get to sign a little and its really fun. President Eberhardt found out that I sign but there aren't sisters in that branch and so during transfers when he was deciding where to put people he told one of the elders he should just put Sister and Elder Hatch together in the ASL branch. hahah He is such a funny guy. I am grateful to be where I am at though, I LOVE it. Actually, one of our investigators, Teresa (she likes us to call her mother Teresa) she reminds me of you, but anyway she thinks its weird to have to close your eyes when we pray so I told her that of  course you would keep your eyes open in sign lauguage so when ever we are at her house now I say the prayer in sign language so she can look at me and not shut her eyes. (:

Thank you for all the fun pictures!! I am sorry I am not good at sending pictures. Cameras are complicated!

Mom, I just want to thank you for your big heart so full of love. I don't know if I have ever told you this but you are the least judgmental person I know and that’s why everyone loves you so much. You light up people’s life. I was just thinking about that the other day and I am so grateful for your example. I can't ever thank you enough for how much light you bring into my life.

Stephanie’s baptism sounds perfect. What an amazing girl and how special you could be a part of it. Ron Radcliffe had to go out of town after our first lesson because his son is not in very good shape. He has a drug problem and they are really concerned about him. Please keep Brook Radcliffe in your prayers. Other than that most everyone is doing pretty well. Pray for Justin and Kris and Michael that they will open their hearts. Martha is who is progressing but we haven't visited her for a while. We are planning to help her get baptized by the end of next month.

So this week was AMAZING because we had zone conference. Right now I am working on becoming the "Fourth Missionary" which is from a talk by Elder Lawrence E. Corbridge that was mentioned all throughout our zone conference and we have been asked to read. I am just getting started on it but you should look it up it is incredible. How cool that Dad got to be in zone conference just a day after me! Ours was exceptional. Sister Eberhardt talked about "soul delighting" and how we can find happiness and joy in many things that are good things, but it is only within the gospel and our Savior that our souls can truly delight. My soul delights in being a missionary. The assistants talked about unconditional surrender and how we need to put our future dreams and wishes in a box for a year and half and serve the lord. They compared it to the story of “The Three Trees” (an old folk tale, if you don't know it you should look it up it is amazing!) it shows that when we give ourselves to the Lord we see the reality of our dreams and wishes but in a way we could never imagine possible. My gift to Christ  this year is serving and worshiping Him with all my heart, might, mind, and strength (2 Nephi 25:29 and D&C 4:2). I want to tell you more about it on Christmas! (Thanks for setting up Skype! – YAY!)

The miracle and best news of this week was our mission Christmas devotional. Sister Britton was asked to come up with a choir for it and eight of us have been rehearsing for the last month. At zone conference, the day before the devotional, Sister Eberhardt comes up to us and says "not to make you more nervous about performing, but you will be singing for one of the Twelve! We just had the most amazing devotional by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland! But wow, what an experience.  ahh wow I don't even know how to type about it. He asked to shake all our hands (200 missionaries) and it reminded me of when Christ came to the Americas and took the time for each person in the to come and feel the wounds in his hands. I can't wait to tell you more about it at Christmas! 


 Christmas at home sounds like it is filled with the spirit! I can't wait to meet Lexi when I call home! yay I am so excited. I am also just really happy to be here though. As much as I love you, this season has not been as hard as I thought it would be. I feel so much love around me and am so focused on my savior. I think a mission is the best place to be on Christmas and I am so happy that your Christmas is filled with the light of Christ as well. It is the only way. I wish I could be serving a mission every Christmas! But I am so so so so soooo excited to see your beautiful faces on Christmas. (: 

(We only get 45 minutes, btw...eeep) 

I love you, see you soon! (: 
I miss your laugh. <3

Love, SISTER Hatch ;) 

Best day, best lesson, best companion, best district... December 15, 2014

Hey!

Life is good because the gospel is good. I am so grateful to be a missionary. It is hard work and this week has been a roller coaster but I am grateful for every moment! The snow finally came last night but today is another sunny day! It's crazy!!

Sister Britton is awesome as always! She has really become one of my best friends. We have been companions for much longer than the norm. I am actually the longest companion she has had out of her five. We have lots of fun together and lots of miracles are happening in our area. I love her because she is an exactly obedient missionary which was one of my goals. Lots of sisters say, she IS the white handbook! haha but she is also super crazy and fun. We are a good balance. Today we are taking pictures to make a Christmas card! We have 3 sets of Elders in our district and one set is our zone leaders and we split the stake with them: Elders Kelly and Holden. They are both super awesome. I don't know Elder Holden super well yet, he just replaced Elder Gray, this funny elder from North Carolina with the thickest southern accent with lots of sass. :p The other elders are Elder Bently, who has just been out one transfer more than me. Lots of missionaries call him Elder Sunshine becasue he is so kind and smiley. Elder York is his companion and he is a champion. He is a convert of just a few years and is an awesome missionary. He has had a pretty crazy past. Elder Conn who was my district leader in the MTC so it has been fun to keep him in my district in the mission, and his companion is the district leader, Elder Todd and he is the best district leader EVER. He is a wonderful example of th type of missionary I hope to be like. He is a great leader and a great friend. He is the biggest goof ball and a spritual giant. We also have 2 sets of senior missionaries: the Larsons and the Hunts. The Hunts live in our stake and take such good care of us. They are amazing and mom would be best friends with Sister Hunt! I can't wait for mom and dad to meet them, they finish their mission in February, but serve from their home so you should meet them when you come for conference! So that's our district. The best district in the mission - and we know that because at transfers we all stayed exactly the same in our district except for Sister Bates leaving. We are like a little family.

This week I had the best day and best lesson of my whole mission, so far. It was with a man named Ron Radcliffe. He has been married to an active member for 45 years and has never really belived in God. But he is ready now. We taught him a lesson for 3 hours - just answering questions and bearing testimony. He told us about all these spritual experiences he had throughtout his whole life but is just now connecting the dots with how it has prepared him for this moment and that he thinks his experiences are from God. He had 4 members there for the lesson including his wife, a good friend whose husband was recently the mission president in Ohio and they just returned a month ago, one of the converts of just a few months from the Ohio mission, and his friend who he feels deeply connected to and who literly looks and acts exactly like Stratton. Sister and President Eberhartd and Elder and Sister Haws (car coordinators for the mission) all know him well and so many peole have just kept him in their prayers for years! It is so exciting to be a part of! Keep him in your prayers please and pray that we will be inspired to teach him because we feel lots of pressure because so many people we care about have been waiting for this moment! We know the spirit is the teacher though. I am so filled with the spirit just thinking about that lesson! yay, I love being a missionary.

And please just know how grateful I am for you all. Sister Britton was just asking me if I was doing ok because this is the point in a mission when most missionaries get home sick. I am not home sick and I know it is because everyone is so supportive and encouraging. Thank you for talking with me about my investigators and praying for them each. I love you so much. I can't even express how grateful I am for you!

x0x0 Sister Hatch

Hi!!! <3

First of all thank you for letting me know about Karen's passing. My heart hurts so much for her family. What hard news to hear. It brought me lots of tears. But I am so grateful for the Lord and His plan of happiness. I have learned this week how important it is to trust in the Lord. Sometimes it is easy to think, hmm, are you sure that's right Heavnly Father? Because I'm experiencing lots of sadness and pain! But, He is always right. We see the blessings eventually if not right away. I'm most happy to see that Bridgette is doing well and herself again. My heart aches for her. I love her so much and miss seeing her bright face. Please send her all my love! If I wrote her a letter could you get it to her? It already looks like there have been miracles from this hard adventure. How lucky our ward family is to have Bishop Miller. Joe is amazing and I can only imagine how wonderful of an experience the blessing Bishop Miller gave to Karen must have been for all of them. I wish i could have been there for the funeral. I know it was beautiful. Please give their family all of my love and support. I wish I could express my self better. My heart really hurts. I love their famiy so so much. The real question is, who will take care of all the stray animals? ;) At least we know that any pets who have the passed away are now being taken care of really well! haha I will miss that sweet spirt of Karen's so dearly. <3

On another note, thank you SO MUCH for calling Karina annd for the wonderful package! My scriptures are beautiful and my companions and I have had so much fun with all the fun treats. <3 We are having a haircut party with one of my favorite ladies, Kimberly Andelin. She is this amazing single mom who faught in the army and is just way too much fun. She has the best kind of personality and has been through sooo much. She recently had her records removed from the church and we are not sure why but she loves to have us over and share messages with her two little boys. Anyway, we are bringing the biscoff spread you sent so it can be a real preparation day party! ;)  

And Karina just loves you, Mom! I showed her a picture of you and she just thinks your gorgeous as well (p.s. I showed the cute picture of you, dad, and Lily to everyone and soo many people asked if it was your baby!) I'm so glad you got to chat with her. I just knew you would get along so well! And thank you for my chirstmas present! I'm so excited to wear it! (: I know you are really helping her out as well. She is moving out of our area but she is going to be across from the Walmart where we shop at on preparation days so we have a plan to meet up there every week!

So transfer news came this morning. Sister Bates is leaving and Sister Britton and I are staying! It was such a relief to know I am staying. I am starting to feel so at home and I love everyone in the area so much and I am just finding my way around! Working with 4 wards is crazy and I'm just getting the hang of it. On the other hand, it was CRAZY to find out sister Britton is staying! This is her SIXTH transfer in this area. By the end of this transfer she will have been here for HALF of her entire mission. She is incredible and I know she is staying so she can be Sister Traing Leader her for another transfer and also be here for so many that need her. She is the best trainer I could ever ask for. We are sad Sister Bates is leaving, but she is the only one in our district being transfered. We are beccoming such a little family! I love my district leader and everone in the distric!

This weekend was amazing because it was stake conference and the First Presidency Christmas devotional! We got to eat with Elder Evans from the Seventy before the adult session and it felt funny because normally we are there helping out for the dinner! - Not that I did that much, but it felt weird to be on the other side. Elder Evans was wonderful. In the adult session he talked about the beautiful He is The Gift video and asked us to think about WHEN we discovered the gift, HOW we have embraced it, and challenged us all to SHARE it. Sister britton was called up by him to bear her testimony, it was amaizng. 

I am so excited and grateful to be a missionary during the Chirstmas season. I am feeling the true spirit as I represent Jesus Christ and share His message to all. Be able to be at the Conference Center for the First Presidency Chirstmas devotional was a neat experience for Martha. (Billie got super sick :( but was able to watch it with her friend on tv. It was so cute, she was like: "I really don't want to miss this experence but it will be nice to see it at home with Andrea, and I really just want some peppermint tea! I can't remember if that's allowed!"  haha  We told her it was and I said I would bring her some of that yummy chocolate pepermint tea you sent, she was so excited!) I was worried about Martha because she was sleeping for most of the talks during the devotional, but when President Eyring spoke it was like he was talking directly to her! She loved it so much and felt the spirit so strong! She said she was filled with peace and joy just like he talked about; she said she would remember that night forever.

We haven't been to see the lights on Temple Square yet but Justin and Kris are taking us on Friday! We are so excited!! Every year in this area they hold a service called the Inter-faith devotional and there is a committee of all the leaders from the different churches. Each year they switch off the church where it is held and choose who the speakers will be. We just had it and it was so beautiful and unifying! The churches included ours, Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Muslim, Jewish, and so many others! It was soo so cool! You should talk about doing something like that in Holbrook! 

Fun tid-bit of the week: the people of Utah love my style. So far I have been told I look like a girl on the inside of a snow globe, an American Girl doll, and a Christmas cookie! lol  It's the small things in life that make me excited.

Anyway I hope your Christmas season is staying full of Christ and not too stressful. I love being able to celebrate Christ everyday and know it can be extra special for all of us this Christmas season. I love you so much. I love love love you! (: I hope you're feeling Christmasy and sharing the He is The Gift video with lots of people. Pray for people who are prepared and the Lord will provide! xoxoxox te queiro muchisimo!! 

p.s. Hopefully I will be able to write Karson soon but let her now I am so grateful for the letter she wrote to Michael! xoxox

oh another p.s. Karina said she approves of both mom and dad as true Spaniards! 

Holidays and Miracles - 1 December 2014

Hello, I love you all!! I loved all the pictures! I'm glad you have the Facebook page and the kind people here who send you photos of me - cause I am so bad at it! But there just isn't enough time!

I have to tell you that I had the most amazing Thanksgiving. I thought it would be a little rough being my first major holiday away. (Can you believe it was LAST Thanksgiving that I had just made the decision to serve a full-time mission for sure?!) But it was wonderful! The word "joy" stuck out on every page of my studies that morning as I was reading Preach My Gospel! The gospel is sooooo full of joy! I am so GRATEFUL for the gospel and to be using this time in my life to spread the joy! It was a day full of happiness even being away from home because I know we are an eternal famiy and I am here as God's daughter to help our spiritual family all return. It brings me so much happiness to know that! (:

Billie is awesome! She is coming with us three sisters as well as our investigator Martha (YAY!) to the First Presidency Christmas Devotional next Sunday at the Conference Center!!!! She is so solid and Martha is progressing leaps and bounds! She is such a fire ball. I love her so much!

The 20-minute find miracle turned out to be kind of sad. The couple broke up and Allen, who was really the interested one, moved out of the area but we have hope that missionaries will find him where he is at. We actually teach a couple of people who are formally FLDS and I have run into a couple others besides them. I know a couple who still belong to it, they just don't live in the community. It's really interesting. One is named Walter Dickons. He is this tiny old-as-dirt man who wears huge khaki pants held up with suspenders and he can't hear anything. He lost his hearing aids so he just cups both of his ears the whole time he's talking and smiles. HAHA Unfortunatly we aren't teaching him anymore because we haven't made any progress with him. But he is so cute! One of the former FLDS we teach ran away with a few of his brothers when he was 18 and was baptized LDS while in the military. We are teaching both him and his girl friend who has no religion. They have amazing stories.

Anabel and her sister Jasmine are both doing awesome and we are continuing to teach their dad, Nacho! He is too good. He always compliments each of our outfits and says we are "kinda cute" in his super thick mexican accent. (:

I haven't recieved your package yet but I'm sure it will be here soon!

I LOVED all the Thanksgiving pictures! We have such a beautiful family! I did miss your food. We had FOUR dinners. Stratton would be proud, but if I wasn't a missionary being blessed by the Lord I would have puked - or died. I have never been so full in my life. It was painful, but we survived. haha And we even had a Thanksgiving miracle! The mom of a less active family we went to see, Tina, was very sick. We were able to call the Elders over and they gave her a blessing. She has been better since then.

Temple Square lights bring another miracle. Our investigators, Justin and Kris invited US to go see the lights with them, so that will be soon.

I actually was just able to see the He is the Gift video a couple of minutes ago! BEAUTIFUL! We are doing a survey weekly for the campaign in our area.

I am so excited to be here for Christmas! I know it will be a time I can truly reflect on the true meaning!

Happy Thanksgiving! I miss you lots but I am doing so well! I can't believe it has already been 3 months! In just one week I will be done with my new missionary training! And then transfers. I am excited to see what happens and praying I stay in my wonderful area! But I trust the Lord to put me where He wants me and doing what He needs me to do. I love you soooooo much!

x0x0 Sister Hatch! mwah!! 

A baptism, a major miracle, and a funny story! 24 November 2014

Hello my beautiful family(: 

I am just so grateful for alllll of you and being able to hear from you especially this week with Thanksgiving coming up. Let me just tell you a little about Utah missionary life. We have 3 scheduled thanksgiving dinners at 3, 5, and 6. One with the Pickerings, one with a single mom named Barbra who has kids who aren't members of the church, and then the family who signed up to feed us, the Fankhousers. She has a granddaughter who wants to be baptised so we are excited to hopefully get to meet her and start teaching her soon. Kinda funny, her name is Myriah and she is living with her aunt Karen Hatch! So crazy. Anyway, I hope I don't die after 3 Thanks giving dinners. Stratton's voice is constantly speaking to me at dinners telling me i need to eat everything and not offend people. 

haha (:

Well this week was AWESOME! We had Billie's baptism and it was beautiful. Billie is amazing and on fire and is going to bless so many peoples lives. I can't wait to see what amazing things she does. This baptism was really special for me because she is the first person I have taught from the beginning. She has been taught before but has expressed to us that we were the three missionaries and personalities she needed to take the steps she has taken. But holy cow she really is just golden. She bought a study journal because she was so excited to know we would be teaching her the new member lessons and she wants to make sure she takes notes to understand everything. She talks about how excited she is for her 5 year old son, Andrew to serve a mission and how she is a pioneer for her posterity and she is so excited to be that example. I wish you could have seen her face light up when we told her about the temple and baptisms for the dead. (I loved that cool statistic by the way, Dad!) Oh my goodness. It is just way to fun to be a trio of sister missionaries with a young single mom, it involves lots of squealing and jumping up and down and crying together. haha  I love her so much!  Sister Britton and I sang at her baptism. It was such a wonderful baptism she had lots of support from her friends that have been through her side in the rough life she has had. Most of them are not members and she is so excited to share the Gospel with them. She told us she is going to bring one of her friends with her to her new member lessons. Also the first missionary she ever met was Elder Quinton who is now an Assistant to the President and so she wanted him to come and be the one to baptize her - even thought he only taught her like once and she wasn't really interested at that time, she remembered him immediately and wanted  him to be a part of it. It was really neat. 

Major miracle of the week:

So we have been having trouble finding new people to teach. At the end of the day on Saturday , after the baptism, we saw our zone leaders for a couple minutes to drop off a church key. They asked, as always, what they could do for us and we said, "pray for us to find a new investigator!" Elder Gray looked at his watch at said, "you've got an hour and 20 minutes - go find them." So we prayed and went to the non-member's house we had planned to visit, said a prayer, and realized that wasn't where we were supposed to be. We felt we needed to be at the apartments. So we went there and remembered a young couple that our investigator Martha had mentioned a few times who ran away from the FLDS community. We walked to his door just the same time he was walking out. We talked to him a little bit and found out about his background and he invited us to come teach him and his girlfriend! We are seeing them tonight and we are so excited! I am so grateful for prayer! 

My companions are doing awesome. We have all become really good friends. (: I actually LOVE having Sister Britton be a Sister Training Leader because it means she goes on exchanges every week. So not only do we get to work with all the other awesome sisters in the zone, but I get the chance to be in charge of the area and its really preparing me for next transfer. I don't know what will happen but Sister Britton has been here for 6 months now, so I feel like I will be taking over the area. I am super nervous, so her calling was for both us, I think. It's scary when she leaves but I learn a lot. 

Funny story of the week:

We were teaching Anabel one of her new member lessons and her whole family was there so we were going around asking her siblings what the Holy Ghost feels like to them and when they feel it. We got to cute little 11-year-old Anabel and she says, "I mostly feel the Holy Ghost when I go the dentist." She said she was sacred to get her teeth pulled so when she was waiting to have the dentist pull them she said a prayer. "Right after I prayed they put this mask on me that made me feel all happy and warm, I think its called laughing gas, but i was thinking that it should probably be called the Holy Ghost gas." :'D haha it was too good. 

I love you all and hope you have a happy Thanksgiving! i am grateful for each one of you! Thank you for your prayers and support! I will try and send some random pictures that i just haven't sent yet. (: 

-Hi Easton(:

-Have you figured out how to send videos of my choir yet? If its on YouTube you could probably just link it from there. Tell those cuties I love them!

Love,

Sister MaRiah B Hatch

Quick and Wonderful Letter - 17 November 2014

It was so good to hear all about the Phoenix temple dedication! I love the temple so much. There is a lady we just had dinner with who was less active when Sister Britton first got here. She really wanted to be sealed to her husband who died a few years ago. She just got her recommend and we are hoping to get permission to accompany her for her first time to the temple because she has no one else to go with, all her family is inactive. I hope we can go! We have seen her family's heart change so much - all because we serve them in their yard every Saturday. They just made us the most delicious meal to thank us, its the grandma, Donna, who is going to the temple. Her daughter's name is Tina and Tina's 23-year-old daughter is named Ashley. We are hoping to get Tina to church soon. (:

Soooo, on Saturday, Billie is getting baptized!!! She is a single mom with a little 6-year-old son named Andrew. She has truly been prepared! We started teaching her about 3 weeks ago and she just soaked everything in. She has had a crazy hard past and has been through some horrible things. But she is literally the most kind, down-to-earth, easy-going person I have ever met. We put her on date to be baptized the middle of December when we taught her the second lesson and later decided she was going to be prepared way sooner, so the next lesson we expressed that to her, trying to be really gentle because we didnt want to freak her out and as we began to bring it up she just started shaking her head YES, really big! She was like, "YES! December 13th just seems so FAR OUT THERE! I am EXCITED To be baptized! I know this is right!" She looked at a calender and chose with in seconds the same date we prayed about, November 22! So this week has been crazy full of marathon lessons to teach her everything she needs to know before Saturday. She is so excited and is already talking about how she is a pioneer for her posterity and they will have the truth becuase of her decision now and she has talked about how she sees Andrew as a missionary every time he gets dressed for church. AH she is so READY! I LOVE HER!! I can't wait for Saturday!

Also we have two new investigators! Marlene and Antonio. They have been married for 19 years and do eveything together. They say they are like gum. We told them about the priesthood and eternal marrige; you should have seen their faces light up! Marlene looked at Antonio and said "double gum!" - it was way too cute. 

I love you all! Sorry this a quick one today. Things are good and I love you. Happy birthday again dad! And, mom YES you can send me the videos. I can't watch you tube at a members but if you email me them I can watch them. Also, I am sending a package home. I have a blanket for my tiger Lily. This lady in our ward is in her late 80's and she makes quilts ALL DAY. She makes like 5 a day and send them all over the world! She said I could have one for Lily. Also we teach this lady, Teresa, who collects hats. They are on her wall from floor to ceiling in her bedroom. Anyway, she let us all pick one to keep, so I have this gorgeous pink rose hat from the late 1800's that I am also sending. 

Keep being awesome. You are all the best!! LOVE YOU!! 

Pray for Our VETERANS

Things are going great here. I always have fun stories and many miracles through the week - life is good. I am learning everyday, which I am so grateful for because I have much to learn! I love people though. I love making a difference in the lives of people I love. I love becoming a part of their life and knowing I had a role in making it better. 

We have been meeting with the cutest, bubbliest, funnest, most amazing single mom. She just heard that she removed her records from the church and we are not sure why yet. But she loves hanging out with us and praying with her and her kids and sharing scriptures. She has especially been having a hard time this week because of Veterans Day coming up. She was in the Army and has really sad experiences. She has lost lots of friends due to PTSD, not from actually fighting in the war. Please pray for Kimberly and also John this week as we remember our veterans tomorrow. I'm so grateful for our soldiers who sacrifice more than we know so we can live the lives we do. They are a lot like our Savior.

Our miracle this week is that we have a new investigator in a ward that hasn't had any investigators for at least six months! We came in contact with this AWESOME less active man, John who wants to start coming back to church. He is this hard core military guy in the army who just has the most beautiful heart and the most beautiful testimony. His girlfriend, Andrea, is our new favorite person. She is just the most real, down to earth, coolest girl you will ever meet and she has been through a lot. She said she has never know how to grow spiritually and she wants to learn. So we are teaching them both now and we are sooo excited.

Also teaching people truly is fun. Oh my goodness I love teaching little kids! There is this family we teach - their mom is a single mom, she has 3 kids - they are recently reactivated but there mom just doesn't really know anything. So every couple weeks or so we come and have them act out a scripture story. This week we are doing Nephi getting the plates. They are so fun! And they always get so much out of it! It's amazing to see their testimonies grow just from learning the scripture stories. Also there is this cute little girl named Maloo, her 12-year-old brother Christian is a recent convert who we still teach, and instead of calling me "Sister Hatch" she calls me "Mister Egg." haha She is the cutest. The best part about being a missionary is being a friend to so many who you wouldn't get the chance to meet, unless you were a missionary! Oh, so awesome story. So the grandpa of this family is a composer from Brazil and he just created this beautiful piece that he wanted to send to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, but English isn't his first langue so Sister Britton and I got to help him with it! Like putting the syllables of the lyrics in the right places with the music. Anyway, he had a meeting a man from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and the man LOVED HIS SONG!! So it is going to be shown to Mack Wilberg soon and hopefully they will sing it someday! So special. I love Utah. 

I am doing well. I'm so grateful everyday for the spirit that guides me, for knowing that the lord knows and loves me and everyone I teach, and the Christ is my savior. I am trying to understand his atonement better each day so I can be a better missionary.

SOO happy to hear about LEE!! [BYU residence hall friend from China who will be baptized this month] - Yay!! Send her my love and congratulations!

That’s amazing about the Allen twins! So cute! Love Lindsey’s email. They are amazing. That whole situation is just so happy. I love their family and Braden and Heather’s family and the beautiful unity they share.

You are a champion, mama! Always doing so much and blessing so many! Tell Scott thank you for being with my beautiful family while I am gone and I wish I could feel his sweet spirit of joy and love! I hope he works out going to school here in the states! ...or maybe.. BYU?? haha He's such a cutie!

I just sent you Karina’s card so you could call her and talk about it. She would love to hear from you and you would LOVE to talk to her. She is doing amazing by the way. She has truly seen the hand of the Lord in so many aspects of her life and her heart has opened so much to us. She calls us her angels and thanks Heavenly Father for sending us everyday. Things like that make all the hard things here worth it. I love her so much!

I love hearing from everyone! I am going to send a letter home today so tell everyone who has sent me letters I have not forgotten them - especially Karson and Amy. I LOVE their letters and I will write back as soon as I can. We just don’t' have a lot of time.

I can't believe how quickly time goes. I have so much to learn and so many people I need to help. I am so grateful for this experience and for your prayers. Thank you for you're example. <3

Sorry I don't have lots of time today. Today is one of the elder’s birthday , so for preparation day we are throwing him a little party. Our zone activity is going to be capture the flag but instead of normal tagging we are filling up panty hose with flour so when you whack each other the flour flies everywhere. So for all those who think missionaries are boring.. we have real life fun. (: haha.

I love you and I can’t wait to hear from you next week!

XOXO Sister Hatch

Baby Lily is PERFECT!

Family! 

I have been anxiously waiting to see my sweet niece! Thank your for the pictures!! She is so beautiful I cried! Heather and Braden do good work! I can't wait to see her when she is a year and a half old. Keep sending me lots of updates! I love that Easton is already so protective of her. He will be the best older brother, Lily Maelynn is a lucky girl. haha Easton is a crack up ;) Give them both lots of love for me! Its only been 2 months sinceI last held a baby and I'm already dying! So many cute little ones in this area, I just want to hold them and love them!! It's so fun, I actually found my "mission baby" twin - we have the same birthday because she was born the same day I entered the MTC, she is one of our ward missionary's babies, so today is both of our 2-month birthdays!! So sweet ;)

I love hearing about the choir and all the fun things going on in happy Holbrook! Mom, I'm am so grateful for your love and willingness to help all, you are such an example. Love love love you!!! Tell choir I love them - both my select choir kids and my swing thing choir that I still feel like I am in ;) Tell Demi she's a champ and to email me when she is stressed. I know that life! 

I'm glad the Petrified Forest marathon turned out! Speaking of Mike doing that; I miss the McClellans! Tell them I would love to hear from all of them ASAP! ;) Also glad to hear about our amazing stake conference lead by our amazing stake president ;) I LOVE your challenges, dad! I am definitely going to do that [highlight and study when prophets quote prophets at General Conference] when we get the Ensign. I have been reflecting on my testimony a lot lately and how to make sure I am always continuing in my conversion. Your challenge and notes on what you learned from Elder Holland will be helpfull in my studies! Thank you mom and dad for your amazing example! And Karson thank you for the letter, I will hopefully have time to respond today. You are amazing and I'm so excited about your calling! - I hope your studying lots from Preacg My Gospel, especially chapter 13. Ward missionaries and ward members in general are SO important! "How Great is our calling." 

Sister Bates is our 3rd sister! She is from Rocklin, California!! But she doesn't know the Passeys. She is a sweetheart and looks like Velma from Scooby Doo. haha. 

And yes you are right the COLD has finally hit. I'm glad I get to use the excuse "I'm from Arizona" because I look pathetic all bundled up compared to what everyone else is wearing. ;) The Lord is really blessing me because I am as far south as our mission gets. I am SOOO grateful to not be in Wyoming right now! God is good. 

We have had a bit of a slow week this week but lots of good things are happening that will show results soon. We have this golden investigator named Billie Jean and we are working with her alot. She is a single mom with a 6-year-old son and we have only met with her a couple times and she is preparing herself for baptism. She is actually in the Elders area but requested sister missionaries. She is so fun and has definitely been prepared by the Lord. I love teaching her. 

Thank you for praying for some of my investigators! I specifically told Karina that you pray for her and she was so touched. She said she can feel everyone's prayers working. We get to have dinner with her tonight! 

Halloween was AMAZING!! It was the first time I got to go inside the Salt Lake City Temple! I loved the live session!! And I love learning more in the temple each time I go and receive personal revelation. It was a special experience. It astounds me know that the temple was built in the 1800s and that it took 40 years to build. I always knew that, but being inside just gives you so much more of an appreciation. It is so beatiful. Also, being with our entire mission was a blast! The talent show was so fun and President and Sister Eberhardt just make my heart happy. I love them so much!

I love being a missionary even when it's hard and I am so greatful for the love and support all around me. I am so blessed and am grateful for you, my wonderful family, for raising me in the the gospel and being an example of love, light, and truth. Thank you for all you taught me and blessed me with. I know that it is because of you that I have the strength to be here now, doing what the Lord needs me to do. I love the Lord for giving me you and for giving me our Savior. He lives and His atonement can heal us all. I love seeing the atonement work in the lives of others as I visit and teach them. I'm grateful for the spirit and know He can be our best friend as we listen and follow his promptings. I'm know we can get strength, direction and peace from reading the Book of Mormon and other scriptures. And I know that missionary work is the LORD's work! He will help us as we trust and follow Him. I'm so blessed to be able to share my testimony everyday. I love you. 

-sister hatch 

p.s. my invitation this week is for all of you to pray for a specific person you want to share the gospel with and ask how you can bring them closer to Christ and then DO IT! The Lord helps us when we ask.

There are people here that I need to help!

Hello Family!!

It's been a crazy week! Having Sister Iniguez with us was so fun! Her flight left this morning for Cancun! Sister Britton and I both cried on the way home! :( She brought so much power in our companionship. But some good news: Transfers are tomorrow and we found out 1) Sister Britton and I are BOTH staying in the Big Cottonwood stake! SOO HAPPY! She has been here for 4 transfers (about six months) and lots of people thought she might be leaving. 2) Sister Britton is our new SISTER TRAINING LEADER!! I'm being trained by the training leader!! She is perfect and is so excited!! 3) We are permanently getting a 3rd companion for this transfer!! We pick her up tomorrow! So much power in 3s! (: We have been dancing with joy all morning!!

I  feel so blessed to be in this area. I know there are people who need me.

One of those people is Karina. She is going through some hard things and has had a hard past. I feel so much love for her. Please keep her in your prayers. The miraculous thing is she has already had 3 miracles happen because of the power of prayer and she recognized them. Her gratitude for the Lord is so beautiful. She is still in need of a few more miracles, but I know the Lord is taking care of her. 

We had a wonderful lesson with Michael yesterday. The spirit was so strong. He prayed at the end and asked God if He was there and that he hoped he was! It was beautiful! I love Michael so much and pray that he will see God in his life.

I'm also here for Donna. She is the coolest old lady I have ever met. She is a less active member but loves us to come over. We had a wonderful lesson with her last week. 

Martha is doing so well. She has wonderful friends in the church and her eyes are being opened everyday. I love Martha so dearly. I also feel like I am here for her. I know she can be healed through Christ and I feel I can help her come to know and understand that. Mom, you would love Martha. She is this spunky blonde lady in her late 50's and she is just fabulous. 

Teresa is another person I feel I am here for. She reminds me of mom. 

It is sad to be a missionary sometimes. You learn about so many people with these horrible trials. I am grateful every day that I was able to be born into the gospel and have the blessings that I have. I know I have them because of Heavenly Father and Jesus christ and knowing and living His gospel! 

Being a missionary in Utah also means, however, that we are celebrities. Haha, we get honked at everyday, and every member whose house we stop at thinks that, because we are missionaries we probably need as much sugar as we can get.  

Just last week we got a Christmas bag full of a whole package of licorish, toffee, carmel, two bags of carmel popcorn, 4 pieces of pie, a box of muffins, choclate covered twinkies, and I don't even know what else... at ONE MEMBERS HOUSE!! We couldn't stop her, it was ridiculous. We literaly just asked for a glass of water! We gave it away every chance we could get, but giving just means you get more. Donna has king size candy bars by her door and makes us take two every time we leave, usually along with some insanely delicious baked goods, like cashew cookies with butter cream frosting! Needless to say, it was a blessing to give up sugar to help Gina this week. Gina, by the way, is doing awesome. She gave up smoking, drinking, and coffee cold turkey! It's been 9 days and she is still going strong! 

I love my mission president, President Eberhardt so much and I am looking forward to getting to know him better! He is the kindest funiest man! I love the new Know - Do - Love: Be youth challenge!!! 

Sorry this is kind of scatter-brained. I am doing well and love hearing from you all. Thank you for your prayers and your love. I am so grateful for you! 

Oh, I just want to add a funny story: There must be something about Hatches that make us seem not American. SO many people think I'm from Europe and I don't know why. It's not like I am speaking in a foreign language really well like Braden did in Spain. Sister Britton says it's because of how I dress. I don't know what that means. haha I'll take it though. 

I LOVE YOU ALL!! keep on keepin on.

p.s. Everyone should watch Meet the Mormons. Invite everyone, it's so well done and so entertaining and also Sister Britton's home town is in it. She knows the football coach from the Naval Academy and his family in the movie! 

God is good, the Church is true!

XO Sister Hatch

Hola Familia!
It has been such a fun week! Sister Iniguez, (she reminds me of Jess) has joined our companionship! She was called to the Mexico Cancun mission, she is from Tijuana but was born in San Diego so she is a visa waiter. We came out together and we became really close just from all the new missionary trainings and such. Anyway, she was assigned to a Spanish-speaking branch in Wyoming but becasue she had to go to the Mexican embassy in SLC on Saturday, she gets to stay with us until the end of transfers! She is teaching us Spanish as we help her with her English. She has only known English for about a month. She is a convert of 3 years and her testimony and spirit is SOO STRONG!! She has already brought many miracles!

Gina (Anabel, Jasmine, and Angelo's mom) began her quit-smoking program!! She is SO scared but ready to do this. She said she needs our prayers and our strength, so she has invited us to visit her EVERYDAY this week! We asked when we come if we can teach her the lessons and she said YES!! Her testimony is growing each day, even though she is the grumpiest, funniest, human EVER right now because she hasn't been smoking. She carries around her grapefruit juice (it washes out the nicotine) like it's a bottle of strong liquor. It's so funny!

And, Martha is ALMOST on date to be baptized! She is praying about it! Sorry I don't have a lot of time today but I love you and I love being a missionary!

James Self and Caleb Layden sound like they are doing wonderful! And tell Micah and Levi they are my heros and I miss and love them!! I can't believe that the Phoenix temple is already built! You will have to send me pictures! I'm glad you got to see it! Easton is SO cute, tell him I miss and love him soo much! And that I am having fun and he will have fun like me when he goes on his mission!

We had dinner with a member who has a pumpkin patch and they said we could pick a few! It was so fun because I love doing that every year with you in Snowflake!

I am SOO EXCITED to go the SLC temple and see a LIVE session! All the members here go on and on about how wonderful and special the SLC temple is, both the members who just moved her and have only visited once or twice and the members who go and work there two times a week! I can't wait! Also, Sister Britton and I are singing a fun jazzy version of There is Sunshine in My Soul for the mission talent show. Elder Funfa from Brazil is a crazy good guitarist (he has plans to go to Juliard after his mission!) and he will be accompanying us! I'm so excited.

I love that baby Emma has the middle name Kate becasue there is this adorable young family here with three little girls who soo remind me of the Millers, they are about the same age, the one Lucy's age is also named Lucy and the older girl about Bella's age is KATE! It was so cute, Kate was going to eat at her grandmas and their mom said, "Grandma is going to have missionaries at her house for dinner!" But it was in a different area, so her mom told us Kate was pretty dissapointed when they weren't "her" missionaries. And then before Anabel's baptism Kat'es mom said the missionaries are going to be at the baptism and Kate said "are theeese ones 'our' missionaries?" (: They're such a sweet family. Their Mom, Sister Cutler is in the primary presidency for Anabel's ward and her and her husband did so much to make the baptism wonderful. So anyway, they just really remind me of the Millers (: I miss my nusery kids, I was just realizing the other day how BIG they will be when I return home!

Help out the missionaries in your area! You are the Lord's best tools! I love you mucho grande! Hhave a beautiful week!

Love, Sister Hatch

Anabel's baptism weekend - 13 October 2014

This week was full of miracles! I can't wait to tell you all about them! But first I’ll respond to your emails that I am sooo grateful for! Mom and Dad, you are such a blessing to me and I love hearing from you every week.

Mom- THANK YOU for the photos! (: Kelcie sent me some of beautiful Winona as well.

Oh and Kris Black's home always makes me think of you and Dad, the home is so beautiful! And she is just a beautiful lady, I wish she didn't have to move.

Tell Karson to remember to chew gum immediately after getting her braces tightened, then they won't be sore, spacers and getting your braces on are always the most painful part of the whole experience. Swishing hot water feels good also.

I love that my Select choir kids are looking better. Tell them I love them!

LOVED hearing from some of the primary kids! Especially sweet Amy! I am planning on writing back to all of them today.

SOO Excited about Scott’s and Karson’s duet at Nicole Lozano’s "Show Your Spirit Showcase"!!

On Halloween our mission is going to the SALT LAKE CITY TEMPLE!! I’m so excited! And, we are having a huge talent show afterwards, Sister Britton and I are planning on singing a song together. (: I love how often I get to use my voice on my mission.

I love the pants, Mom! Perfect! Thank you for all the fun treats as well! And, so grateful for Uncle Dale, I should be able to pick up my watch this week.

I hate to make you send me more things but its that awkward cold time where I’m kinda freezing but there isn't snow yet, so I was wondering if you could send me my brown boots, also I would love some fuzzy socks and my striped skirt just as soon as you can. Thank you so much for all you do!

AND, THANK YOU for your efforts with the whales. It makes me feel so good, I can't talk about them because I’d be talking about political stuff, so all I can do right now is pray for them ;)

Thank you for the conference quote. You are such an example to me of loving everyone no matter what!

Dad - To answer "is it starting to cool down"? YES!! Yikes, I’m going to freeze! But on a good note, I get to start wearing my beautiful coat ;) and up until now (besides the week of rain) it has been 75 degrees and sunny so the Lord has been blessing me! Many people have said that I brought Arizona with me and they were ready for Fall! So, the Lord is taking care of them now and I can't be selfish!

Also, I have been so blessed with not getting sick from eating meat, I haven't had any problems at members houses, although I think I’m gaining weight quicker because now I do have meat pretty much every night and that’s a big change for my body, but I’m so grateful I haven't had any problems as far as it being appetizing!

Our Spanish friend, Korina, is not doing well. She just found out a week ago that she has to move by the end of this month and she isn't sure where she will go. Please keep her in your prayers. But, she is an amazing Spanish cook! And, she recognized the necklace you gave me from Spain! She told me the whole history about it! They only make it in a certain place in Spain and she said they are very rare! I love her so dearly. I know the Lord does, too. Please just pray that everything will work out how it is supposed to for her.

Sister Britton just hit her 11-month mark today! So, you may be seeing her at the dinner table before you know it! She is so awesome!

I DID get to see the Meet the Mormons movie! The football coach’s family that is highlighted from Maryland is in Sister Britton’s home stake! The wife was her stake Young Womens president and she knows their family really well! The movie was so wonderful! Many people we teach have been going to see it! I loved seeing Uncle Wiggly Wings! It was funny because after we saw the movie, Sister Britton told our mission president, President Eberhardt, that her home town was in the movie and he said, "mine too!" haha - it was great.

Ok and now for this wonderful week!

Anabel was baptized! The spirit was so strong and she was glowing brighter than ever. When the bishop asked her why she wanted to be baptized, she said, “so Heavenly Father and Jesus can stay with me always.” She is going to be such a bright example to everyone around her! The primary and ward members did so much to make it beautiful and it was a full house! Standing room only! The ward was so welcoming and the spirit was amazing! Her whole family came to the baptism, which was a miracle and they were all so proud of her.

Angelo, her less active brother, gave the talk on the Holy Ghost and it made me cry. It was so simple and so powerful. His testimony was so genuine and the spirit was felt so strongly.

Afterward, I asked the dad, Nacho, what he thought. He said it was good and he was so glad that all of his children have chosen to be with God, no matter what church they have chosen. He said he was proud of all of them for making their own decision. And then I told him that he and his wife were a little out numbered now! They laughed and the mom, Gina, said, " I know, I know, HINT, HINT!" But, I assured both of them I loved them so much no matter what, but I have truly seen their family blessed through the gospel of Jesus Christ and I know their kids are going to be such an example to the both of them.

Yesterday, Anabel was confirmed in sacrament meeting, which was a really special day. Her ward has sacrament meeting last, so Sister Britton and I went to Primary and taught Anabel’s class about the Holy Ghost. Anabel said receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost was what she was most excited about. All the children in her Primary class shared experiences they had each had with the Holy Ghost. Sister Britton and I sang them the song we sang at the baptism, which was extra fun because they loved it so much. I sat with Anabel in sacrament meeting. She received a beautiful blessing along with her receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost when she was confirmed a member of the Church, but the most spiritual experience for me was after the confirmation when she came to sit back down. I could literally feel the spirit radiating off of her. It was AMAZING! She already has the sweetest spirit, so receiving that gift was so special. It was a testimony meeting and probably half of the testimonies shared were about Anabel. It was beautiful. I got to bear my testimony as well and I’m so grateful I did because that feeling was overwhelming and I had to share it.

After she was confirmed, she ran down the aisle in the chapel to give her dad, Nacho, a hug because he was sitting in a different spot since he came late. It was so beautiful to see him there. I asked how she felt and she just look at me and said so quietly with a big grin " happy" - the sprit was exploding!!!! AHH, I wish I could describe it better, it was just such a good day.

Another miracle of this week is that we got 2 new investigators! We have been praying for several weeks for them and then all at once - two! And, Karson - one of them is David Archuleta’s cousin, so that happened. ;) Haha, really its been such a wonderful week! I love being a missionary and I love you all! Keep smiling!

xoxo 

-Sister MaRiah B. Hatch

Missionary Miracles September 6, 2014

Conference was AMAZING!! I’m glad we got to share that experience together of being in the same session even though I didn't see you, Mom and Dad. I had to respond quickly when Caleb said "do you want to tell me what balcony your parents are in? I was like NO! but tell them I love them ;)  It was amazing and so fun to see him and James. I also saw John Lane and Maggie Thature from BYU, that was fun. 

So the reason we got to go to that session was because of a conference miracle of accompanying a WHOLE FAMILY who are all sorts of places in the gospel. They were so excited to go and our Zone Leaders had two extra tickets for that session with them so we planned to meet them their. Unfortunately Satan is working hard on them and they weren’t able to make it and called to tell us just upon arriving at the conference center. It was really sad but the two girls  were at least able to watch it on TV the next morning. This family really is amazing, and their 11-year-old daughter Anabel will be my first investigator baptized on my mission! The mom and dad, Gina and Nacho (yes, his name is Nacho, he's just that cool) are not members, but after Anabel, all their kids are.

Their son Angelo was baptized about 6 years ago, but has been in active pretty much ever since. Their daughter Jasmine (17) was baptized just before I came into the area and is doing AWESOME! It was at her baptism that Anabel felt the spirit so strongly and let Sister Britton and Gilmore know that she wanted to be baptized, too! She is sooo sweet and progressing so well. Agh, she is just so filled with light, I love teaching children! We have really clicked, her baptism is next weekend and she asked me to give the talk on baptism!

There have been so many miracles in her lessons these last couple of weeks. The first miracle is that her brother, Angelo, sat in on one of the lessons a couple weeks ago. He was just on the computer in the same room, but as the lesson progressed he slowly turned around and became fully engaged, at the end he gave the most beautiful prayer! He is really excited for Anabel and has been talking to her about coming back to church! Last week we were planning out the baptism with Anabel and telling her all the things she needed to ask people to do, and as we were listing some of the things Angelo VOLUNTEERED to give the talk on the Holy Ghost!!!

Another miracle is about the mom Gina. She's not a member but has been more supportive than her husband concerning her kids being in the church. She is proud of them and wants to be an example to them. We didn't know she smoked, but she happened to sit in on the lesson for Anabel about the Word of Wisdom! She expressed how she has been praying for a long time for strength to help her quit smoking and drinking - for her kids’ sakes! She is going to do the missionary 7-day-quit-smoking program and we are hoping from there we can start teaching her!!

Nacho is a little more hesitant but that’s where miracle #3 comes in, Nacho tries really hard not to like us, but he actually loves us. He has been struggling with feeling like his family is leaving him out and not respecting him as the head of the house. When we went to drop off the conference tickets for the kids and Gina, he poured out his heart to us and we were able to say a prayer with him and comfort him and then get a ticket for him as well! He was really grateful for us. The Lord is preparing their hearts and I know the gospel will bless their family. Gina and Nacho keep having disagreements though, which is making it hard. Please pray for their relationship to strengthen with each other so we can help strengthen them in Jesus Christ! So many talks from conference made me think of them, I pray we can help them hear those messages since they weren’t able to make it! 

We asked the ward YW president, Sister Ricks, to invite Jasmine and Anabel to watch with her family at her house Sunday morning. Later we got a text from Sister Ricks that said Jasmine told her they weren't coming because their mom decided to make breakfast for the family so they could watch ALL TOGETHER! It was amazing that that was even a thought, even though Gina and her husband ended up getting in a fight and not watching, Anabel and Jasmine still got to watch and they loved it! And Gina asked us to pray for her and her husband, so we know good things are going to happen. The Lord is preparing them!

Here are a couple more miracles I remembered: Kris Black, is a lady in her fifties who decided to remove her records from the Church back in her twenties. She has her doctorate in theology and did her dissertation on the LDS religion and has just decided to be re-baptized!!!!

Also, we just got in the door of a potential investigator who we have been praying about for weeks! She invited us to come back on Tuesday! So many miracles! 

We have three people who are considered investigators: one is Anabel, one I haven't met, yet, because she is so dang hard to get a hold of, and the other is Dr. Quinn who is an 80-plus-year-old retired botany professor, who introduces him self as an "advanced thinker" and a "agnostic atheist". He LOVES learning but has no interest in actually practicing what we teach him. He is so sweet and we are really sad that we're going to have to drop him as an investigator because he doesn't follow his commitments. He is also "close to perfection" so he doesn't feel he needs to. HE IS A CRACK UP! But, please also pray for him that his heart will be softened and he will recognize the need for the atonement and the plan of happiness. We are still searching for new investigators so hopefully I will have more to report on soon - (hopefully Gina and Nacho!)  OH! Martha is hopefully soon going to be a progressing investigator who I guess was dropped a while ago. She is single lady in her fifties who suffers from PTSD. She has lots of mental and depression problems, but is considering her spiritual journey. We have been serving her since she broke her shoulder and loves hearing our messages, it really helps her calm down. Oh, love her to death. She has these crazy episodes some times but always loves us, so she keeps life exciting and a little funny. ;)  

Sister Britton continues to be the best trainer ever! We are so alike. Also, she is a foodie just like our family so that’s dangerous, together we are working on temperance. She said she is grateful for me because I’m the first person she has met on her mission who doesn't think its weird to put jam on grilled cheese and apples on pizza. We are soul sisters – haha – also, she has 8 months left so she will be home for Thanksgiving 2015. I often talk about our Thanksgiving meals - so don't be surprised when she shows up next Thanks giving. ;)

Back to General Conference: I LOVED Elder Scott’s, Elder Bednar’s, and Elder Kacher’s talk! I agree, there was so much inspiration in this session and it gave me lots of comfort and answers to things and people I have been praying for. Oh, Elder Bednar is perfection. That was a talk I’m sure ALL MISSIONARIES were praying for. When he got us and said I’m going to speak directly to people who are not members of the church, I was like, YESSSS!!!!!! So Im sure we will be using that lots!

When I was preparing for conference I was hoping to get clear direction on how to balance strengthening my testimony for myself and focusing on my investigators as I teach. I leaned they go HAND IN HAND and it's ok to focus on my own testimony, especially as a new missionary, because as I do, my desire to share will grow and as I share, my testimony will grow. Its scary to be a missionary. A focus we have in our mission is to invite people to be baptized in the FIRST LESSON! It's crazy but I know it works and that my fear to invite God’s children the first time I meet them will disappear and strengthen my own testimony and come to better understand the effect it has in my life. I know any fears we have to be missionaries in every stage of our life will become small as we recognize our purpose in life and the effect the gospel has in directing us personally! Not only will our fear disappear, but we will be EAGER to share it with EVERYONE!

Thanks for your testimony and your prayers! I would love to hear some of your favorite insights and quotes from conference! Actually, I would love to hear EVERYONE’S insights and conference! Tell everyone to comment on my blog or Facebook or Instagram about their favorites! Oh, and that they should share their favorites also with someone needing love and encouragement... let us ALL press on in the work of the Lord!  (:

Have a beautiful week!! (: LOVE YOU!!

Love Sister Hatch!