I will email more next week when I find out where I am and who my companion is. I am a little worried. I can’t believe Sister Coleman and I were only together one transfer! We connected so much and she is truly one of my best friends. But I feel so grateful that I get to leave this beautiful place in her hands. No matter how hard! Dang. Can you believe I have been out 6 months?! I can't, and I don't want to start over in a new place, but here comes a new adventure.
The Lord knows what is best for each of us. Sometimes it is hard to do it His way, but I am grateful for the peace of knowing God is in charge. That is definitely how I am feeling with this transfer. I wish I could stay here but I know the people I love won’t progress in the gospel as much if I stay because now they need some one new, and that kills me, but I am so grateful to be so close to them.
I will let you know my address as soon as I can, but for now you can just send any packages to the mission office and my zone leaders will get it to me. And, yes, Sister Coleman and I are both fashionistas so we borrow each others clothes quite often ;) - but my pink sweater is new, we went to Target last p-day.
Thank you so much for the beautiful family photos; Lily is an absolute doll. I was thinking about the blessing all day on Saturday. I know it will bless Heather and Braden’s lives so much.
Easton’s soccer story killed me! gosh I miss that kid! I am so happy he loves church, I am praying Heather finds the strength to go with him every Sunday; I know it will bless their whole family.
This week has been full and exciting! Kenneth was baptized, we had a fun volley ball activity with all the people we are teaching, and we had both a mission-wide and stake-wide fast for missionary work - I can already see the blessings coming from it!
Kenneth’s baptism was a huge success, we were worried about who would be there because he hasn’t made lots of friends, but the ward support was HUGE. Kenneth could not stop smiling, he said he has never felt happier in his life and the ward just fell in love with him, everyone was coming up to him and asking if they could get a picture with him even though they just met that day. The spirit was so strong; lots of teary eyes.
Funny story of the week was at Kenneth’s baptism. So, his good friend Victoria (she is Sister Minor’s daughter) is at hoot. She is this big black woman, missing a few teeth, and she is very boisterous and always makes us laugh. She was baptized exactly 2 years before Kenneth, which was fun, but after Kenneth gets dunked under the water the spirit was so strong and people were crying and Victoria screams, "AMEN!" and then everyone started clapping - it was too funny.
Ron is out of town for 10 days and I am heartbroken I don't get to say goodbye to him, but he postponed his trip to see the baptism and he really enjoyed it; Sister Coleman and I are planning on him being ready soon and I will be able to come back to attend the baptism.
Our volley ball game was awesome. Our friend and recent convert, Billie, came as well as our friend Laura, an in-active return missionary, as well as Kenneth and the Minors who are ALWAYS the life of the party and our district came as well. Billie is incredible and has just blossomed in the gospel. If you met her today you would think she has been a member all her life; she has had some amazing experiences and her testimony shines inside and out of her; she is the best missionary and is always just glowing! Well she and Laura clicked at the activity and we think that friendship will really help Laura out with where she is at. Laura is probably one of the best ladies I have ever met. She has a really strong testimony, too, but has been through some rough things. She always gives us great life advice about how to live so we won’t make the mistakes she did and hold fast to the iron rod. I am really sad to leave her.
Our fast was amazing. We attended two fast and testimony meetings, one was Kenneth’s confirmation and the spirit of missionary work was fantastic! I am sad to be leaving just as the miracles start. But this week we were able to find two new investigators and I know it was a result of everyone preparing for the fast.
Oh, another exciting thing is that we got our i-pad training - it was really neat! We will get the actual i-pads on Friday. This whole i-pad thing is different than in other missions with i-pads before, they are now doing it completely new, it’s a pilot program and we are the first mission to do it! All of our books are "DRAFTS" - its way exciting. They emphasized that we are not "social media" or "i-pad" missionaries; we are the same missionaries as always, but with a new resource - to further the work with a new tool. It just like it has always been, the scriptures were at one point a new tool, the Liahona, the radio for conference, and it continues and its all about the Work of Salvation. We will have Facebook and Skype with our new converts and so forth, and there will even be a training for switching back into real life mode after our missions. It will also be used as soon as new missionaries get their call: the newly called missionary will be in contact with his or her MTC teacher. It’s incredible. I am so excited to have this resource!
I love being a missionary. My heart is so full of joy each day. Some days I am so tired I can barely keep my eyes open; fasting while doing missionary work is physically exhausting; people canceling appointments or not keeping commitments or not answering the door is emotionally exhausting. I shouldn't be so happy, but I am. This church is true and the love of our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ is real. I feel it when I pray for my earthly family at home and as I serve my mission family here. I don't know the people who I will be serving next, but, I already love them because I DO know my Father and my Savior love them. I love all of you and you are always in my prayers.
xoxox, Sister Hatch(:
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