"In Christ Alone, My Hope is Found"

Hola!

It's been a little bit of a rough week but miracles continue! We have a few new investigators and found an awesome less active lady to teach.

Paula is in her 80's and has been married for years to an active member (kind of like Ron Radcliffe!) and she loves her husband and is ready to be sealed in the temple! She has never heard the missionary discussions but she knows a lot and wants to be baptized ASAP! HUGE miracle. She lives in Salt Lake but has a house here in Park City. They spend most of their weekends here, so there records are in this ward. So kind of hard to teach her, but we have special permission to go down to Salt Lake with our senior couple the McMullins to teach her two times a week!

Rachel grew up FLDS in a polygamist family but said she would love to hear the missionary disscussions! A few of her grown kids have been baptized.

Rebecca is someone who has been involved in the church for years and has said in the past she wants to 'eventually' be baptized but doesn't want to be pressured. Well, she has been to church for the last couple of weeks and is coming to General Conference with us and said she is ready to have the discussions from the missionaries!

Lora, our less active member, is the sweetest lady ever and just needs some love and friendship and I am excited that Sister Nelson and I can give that to her. (:

Okay, now for the answers to your questions ;)

• Send all my mail to the Family Tree Center : 531 Main St., P.O. Box 4620, Park City, Ut 84060
• Sister Nelson is so sweet and cute and we are getting along great and having lots of fun together! That's so funny that Mariah isn't answering her texts! She should be better at that since I'm not there, whenever she wouldn't answer Brenda's calls or texts, I would get one from Brenda ;) 
• No, I have not heard from Mariah or Cierra for a while. :(
• Being at the Family Tree Center is very different because some days it will be slow and I don't feel like a missionary! haha But, at the same time, the slow days are nice because I can do more of my own family history work and I am excited about the promise from Elder Bednar to be more spiritually protected by the spirit of Elijah. (: There are lots of opportunities there with non-members! It's really neat. Just last week we had people from Russia, New York, Georgia, Hawaii, Tennessee, and MESA ARIZONA -their family was from St. Johns (: - and many many more places! 
• Chat is really fun. We get some really interesting questions sometimes, haha. Sometimes people are just messing with us! But, we also get lots of wonderful opportunities. Just the other day we had some one in Wales searching for her own religion to join. She liked everything about our church but wanted more insight from people other then those who had been raised in the church. We were able to tell her that even long time members of the church have to seek answers for themselves. When we find people like her we are able to get their contact information and keep in contact online and they can become and "online progressing investigator" and we can send local missionaries to them!
• Park City is a lot different than Cottonwood in a lot of ways. Lots of people in the Salt Lake Valley say that this is a rough place to be a missionary because it's where people in Utah who don't want to be associated with the church go to hide, which maybe is true, but the environment is wonderful. The members of the church are really strong and faithful and very missionary minded. There are many opportunities.
• The i-pad is an AWESOME resource, but it is quite a development process. We have them now and can use them for teaching in our area. Next we are going through the training process to recive the online area books and records; after that we will add Facebook and other social things but that could be weeks away, maybe months. We don't really know the schedule, just that we will add and add little by little. I can still keep in contact with Sister Coleman and others by email on p-day
• There is one set of Elders in our district: our district leader and his companion. haha - we call that a "Sis-trict" and the Elders don't work at the Family Tree Center. 
• There is always one set of sisters at the Tree Center, so whoever is at the Tree doesn't have a car.
• We live fairly close to the Tree but everything here is spread out. There is just one stake here in Park City, we cover the Park City Ward and the Silver Creek Ward, which is like 15 minutes away! For comparison to the Salt Lake Valley: in cottonwood we were allowed to use 650 miles a month, here we are allowed to use 1700. 
• The weather is beautiful here, too! I'm so grateful! I came at the right time! 
• Yes, I got my package, thank you! (:

Well, I titled my email this week with my new favorite song because it's helped me a lot this week. Trials don't go away when you decide to dedicate your life for 18 months to the Lord. Sometimes I'd like to think they do! But, through the Atonement we can work through our trials. I am gratfule for the opportunity I have to understand the Atonement more in my life and find hope through it. I know I can find it in prayer, in my scripture study (which has become my FAVORITE part of the day) and in the example of my mission president, other mission leaders, and always, you, too. I was reading in my patriarchal blessing about how one of the greatest blessings I have is my parents who love me and love the gospel. Even though I am not with you, you continue to be an example and a strength for me. Thank you!

Fun Fact of the Week: Elder Don R. Clarke is in our ward and I got to shake his hand yesterday! He is who did our i-pad training, as well.

For mom: Sister Nelson likes essential oils, too and she showed me this scripture Alma 46:40 - And there were some who died with fevers, which at some seasons of the year were very frequent in the land—but not so much so with fevers, because of the excellent qualities of the many plants and roots which God had prepared to remove the cause of diseases, to which men were subject by the nature of the climate— ;)

For dad: We had a Relief Society activity and a joke was told that I thought you would enjoy: A Relief Society president sits down on plane next to a man and works up the courage to ask him the "golden question"... RS president: Do you know much about the LDS church? Man: Yes, ... a little. RS president: Would you like to know more? Man: YES! I am a stake president and I could use all the help I can get!! ;)

-XOXO, Sister Hatch

An ADVENTUROUS week!

It has been an adventurous week! So, I had a hard time leaving my area and all the people. Lots of tears were shed; it was really hard to say good bye, especially to Billie, Kenneth, the Minors, the Montelongos, and Karina, who I was able to get in contact with before I left and say goodbye - it was so good to see her again. She is struggling right now and said she really misses "her angels". Please keep her in your prayers. Everyone was so sweet when I left, giving me cards and sweet things. It really felt like I was leaving another home. It was really hard leaving Sister Coleman as well. We both went to transfers really wary of new companions.

Transfer meeting was CRAZY because there was a HUGE snow storm. Anyway, I found out I was going to PARK CITY and my companion is Sister Nelson! Because of the snow storm, no one from Park City or Wyoming was able to make it down to the meeting, so I had no idea who Sister Nelson was or when I would meet her. But it was really fun because the area I am in was Sister Coleman’s first area! It was really hard to say good bye to her, but I was very excited to be going to my dream spot while on my mission (: It took everyone from Park City 2 hours to get to SLC, but I finally met Sister Nelson from GILBERT AZ (I now make 4 of the 8 missionaries in Park City from Arizona) and she is awesome. It was funny, on the drive home we told each other our first names and later that night she said "you remind me SO MUCH of this girl I was in choir with in high school and her name is Mariah, too!" haha She was meaning Our Mariah, Mariah Tanner, so that was fun! (Mariah, if you still read my blogs, Megan Nelson says hi ;)) Also the other Sister from Arizona is Sister Greeley who was roommates with Jocee in Idaho. Such a small world!

So, Adventure 1 of the week started the night before transfers when Sister Coleman and I decided we needed to learn how to make the "food of the culture" from our missions and asked Sister Holtby (awesome RS pres, I skyped at Christmas from their house) if she could teach us how to make Jell-O. Turns out she has never actually made it before because their family thinks it is disgusting, but she agreed that it was important for missionaries serving in UT to learn how to perfect their Jell-O making skills ;) haha, so we went to their house for a Family Home Evening on p-day and had fun with their family making Jell-O.

Adventure 2: Being in Park City, do you want to make any guesses as to the kind of place where  live....? Well, you guessed wrong, I live in a hallway of a barn! haha It’s really cute and cozy but it’s just funny. So you walk in, There’s a dresser and a couch on the left side of the hallway and the sink, fridge, and table on the right side of the hallway. The bathroom is at the end of the hallway right next to the ladder that brings us to the loft, where the beds and closets are. It’s pretty snug but I actually really like it!

Adventure 3: Here in Park City I am a half proselyting-missionary and half visitor-center-sister! We work 30 hours a week at the Family Tree Center on Main Street helping people from all over the world with their family history! Its pretty ironic, just the other week, we were helping a lady in my last area with her family history, but really Sister Coleman was, and I said, "Wow, I know nothing about family history, I’m probably going to be sent to Park City next transfer.” And, here I am! I really love it though. I have already learned tons! So, half of our shift we are down on the main floor just waiting for people to come in and help them with their work or find names or give them a tour, etc. and the other half we chat with people all over the world who have any questions. So you know on Mormon.org where you can "Chat with a Mormon" - that's me! (:

Adventure 4: On Friday night we were leaving the “Tree” and someone backed into our car and our radiator was punctured so now instead of sharing two cars with three sets of sister missionaries, we have one car, which has been quite the adventure because we cover most of Park City. The other day we had to walk from where we dropped our car off to the nearest bus stop, which was all the way on the other end of a freeway - pretty scary, but we made it! It’s pretty nice being in a spread out place though because we only cover two wards! Before I was covering four wards and in Salt Lake City that's like the least amount you are EVER assigned to. So, two wards will be a piece of cake!

Adventure 5: I was able to start of the transfer by speaking in church about the atonement. I have really developed a love for giving talks! I learn so much from preparing them and I LOVE bearing my testimony – it’s the best part of being a missionary. I love the wards we are in - they are very welcoming.

So, its been a pretty filled week and its been pretty hard to be in a new place with new people out of my comfort zone, but I am very grateful to be where I am with Sister Nelson. I don't think I could have gotten any luckier.

We have lots of work to do this transfer. We don't have any progressing investigators, but only because they were all recently baptized and they are all super solid! They just baptized a 17-year-old girl named Ally, who has wanted to be baptized for a few years but her parents wouldn't let her; but they finally softened their hearts and she was baptized last Saturday. Another guy just baptized was a man named Gaetano and he loves the gospel and is an awesome missionary! His brother is one of our two investigators, but he is a little less interested, so we will see how that goes. They also just baptized a set of 40-year-old twins from New York and they are a hoot! And, last but not least, they baptized an awesome guy from Rwanda named Philemon. He is such a sweetheart, the first time I met him was on his 3-month anniversary of being baptized and he was so excited he gave us all thank you cards. He even made one for me and bore his testimony and thanked me for doing what I am doing. It really made my week and made me feel like I am where I need to be. There is another man from Rwanda who we are teaching named Yosouff. He is a Muslim, but is super interested in the church. We just have a hard time meeting with him because he works alllll the time - he usually only gets three hours of sleep, then goes to work all day. Pray that we will have time to meet him more this transfer! Our miracle of the week was being able to teach him the first lesson because he was given a whole day off, which hardly ever happens!

Well,  that's the week! I love you so very much! Thanks for your prayers and all that you do. I love this gospel and I love my Heavenly Father and my savior Jesus Christ. The Book of Mormon is true and the spirit I get from reading it truly leads and guides me each and everyday.

xoxox, Sister Hatch 

Transfer time!

It's been a rough morning. We received transfer news and I am leaving my first area and all the people I have truly grown to love and care for so much after a short short 6 months. I have been praying all week to feel at peace with what ever happens and I do. I know the lord knows me and the people who are in need of me next, but I don't want to leave! I feel like am leaving home all over again!

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(:

Love being a missionary!

Our senior couple, the Hunts finish their mission on Tuesday :( We are so sad but grateful that they are serving from home. They said, “Even though we won’t be missionaries, we are still members, so PLEASE use us!” And of course we will. They are the best! Couple missionaries don't come much better than the Hunts. I told them that you’ll be here again in April for General Conference and Sister Hunt is already anxious. She really really wants to meet you! I can’t wait for you to serve, Mom and Dad. The Hunt’s gave there departing testimony today and it reminded me of both of you. They said one of the greatest things of serving their mission as a senior couple is that they get to have their eternal companions as their mission companions and they love spending so much time together everyday. What wonderful example they are!

We had fun singing last week and this week we got to sing again and give talks in Ron Radcliffe’s ward. We spoke about faith and prayer again, so it was perfect for him. GIVING talks is not my favorite but I LOVE preparing for them because I learn so much and am reminded of the many and wonderful experiences I have had concerning the topic. I talked about prayer. Prayer has always been so important to me and the easiest commandment to keep I think! I love being able to communicate with Heavenly Father so personally and so quickly and easily! I connected to the love of God and the Savior and how we most understand and feel through prayer. Sister Coleman talked about gaining faith through trials. It was so beautiful - she has such a powerful testimony. She used the talk, "That We Might Not Shrink," by Elder Bednar. It is awesome, you should find it! 

The song we sang was the primary song, Gethsemane and it is my new favorite. We are singing again for Kenneth’s baptism on Thursday! 

What a miracle Kenneth’s adventure has been. We went to see Meet the Mormons with him on Friday and he loved it! And also it was probably the most entertaining night if have ever had! Oh, he and the Minor family are too much! They crack us up! We took Trax down to Temple Square and laughed the whole time. 

Ron is progressing slowly but surely, He is digging deep and diligently searching for answers. He is really taking the time to be prepared for this step in his life; so, I don’t think the baptism will be for another month or so, which is really good for him. He is such a wonderful man. He brought his grandson, Charlie, to church this week, which was great. What a cute kid. This week will be mostly getting things together for Kenneth’s baptism. It will be a wonderful experience. It just all happened so quickly so there is lots to be organized! Can't wait to write you all about it.!

Thanks for the prayers!

Sister Coleman is feeling much better! Now we just need our investigators to be better! :( 

Glad to hear mom and Karson are finally better too!

Thanks for the updates. I can't wait to visit David and Holly and family in Texas someday! That will be fun and I already miss them being so far away! Poor Jenna.

I can't believe Jocee is having a BABY. Tell her congrats. But, to be honest, I'm a little freaked out. I don't even really know Kevin and by the time I’m home she'll have a husband and a 6-month old baby! haha but I am excited for her, she will be a wonderful mother.

Jordan Simpson will be a great missionary!

Laughing so hard imagining Jessica and Stratton at the Select Choir mystery dinner theater. And how I love Mrs. Faith Caffey - if anyone can make sure Stratton gets on his way to fame, its that woman. haha What a saint. Tell her I say, “hi”.

I was thinking about Tuck the other day, you better tell him to write me! I miss him too!

Cierra has written me, she sent me the cutest "box of sunshine" for my birthday! It was so sweet of her.

Things are going great and flying by, next week I will have been out 6 MONTHS!! I love being a missionary.

Love you mucho grande;)

Love, Sister Hatch xoxo

"Let us all press on in the work of the Lord!" ~ February 16, 2015

Things here are going great! Our week was a little slow because poor Sister Coleman was sick, but she is doing much better now and our week was still very eventful. 

Wednesday I had my first Exchange OUT of my area. It was a challenge. I felt so useless because I didn't know anyone and I was so sad to miss all of the lessons with the people I love in MY area.  But it was great to be with Sister Dodd, Sister Britton’s new companion. She has been in my zone for the past few transfers and I love her. I learned a lot from being with her. She is so service oriented and always wanting to help people. (even me, she made me raspberry pancakes and vanilla honey tea in the morning (:) She has a very powerful testimony and the best laugh! So exchanges are definitely inspired but I am grateful to be in the Big Cottonwood stake with Sister Coleman. 

On Thursday President and Sister Eberhartd asked Sisters Coleman, Britton, Dodd, and I to serve dinner to the departing Senior missionaries at the mission office and also sing for them! We had a lot of fun. We sang an a capella version of our mission song, Brightly Beams Our Father’s Mercy, and we were excited that we made Sister Eberhartd cry ;)  Sister Britton’s trainer, Sister Bowman was also there visiting the mission so I got to meet my mission  "grandma" (because she trained my trainer).

Valentines Day was fun. Sister Coleman was resting in the morning to feel better so I made valentines for people in our area and then we delivered them in the evening. We shared scriptures with the valentines, 1 Nephi 11:22 and Moroni 7:47.

Sunday we got to sing in one of the elder’s wards. I love singing with Sister Coleman! And we also had the best meetings!

We went to Sunday School in the 2nd Ward with Kenneth and it was on the role of the Holy Ghost. We were reading scriptures and sharing what truth the spirit can bear witness of in correlation with the Spirit. Kenneth read the promise in the end of the Book of Mormon -  Moroni 10:5 >> "and by the power of the spirit you may know the truth of all things." And then he bore his testimony to the class about how he did what Sister Coleman and I invited him to do and pray to know if this was the true church and if he should be baptized and he said he felt the best feeling of peace and serenity and he knew everything he has been learning is true. He said he has prayed other times to God and asked him questions before in his life and has never felt before what he just described. It was so special for me  to hear that he received that witness because of an invitation we had given him. The spirit is so powerful, but I, as the lords servant get to help deliver that spirit and this true message.

We went to the 14th Ward Sacrament meeting with Ron and a new young couple, the Hansens, spoke. Sister Hansen’s talk was on faith and it was literally exactly what Ron needed to hear. It was so powerful and simple and I could not have been more grateful. Brother Hansen’s talk was on prayer and it was exactly what I needed to hear. I lovvvvve going to church! 

Ron is so amazing, we are meeting with him tonight and rescheduling his baptism for the 28th. We just have a lot left to teach him. He and his wife Judy are also just having a hard time right now because their son Brook is not doing well. He is not making good choices and he has just lost all hope. Judy is worried he may not make it. Please keep him in your prayers. I know everything will work out though. I have so much love in my heart for Ron. He is an incredible person and I feel very connected to him. I know the Lord is watching out for him and his family, and I am praying that he can just recognize it. 

We had to drop Martha :( We haven't been able to meet with her and she is just showing less and less interest. One day she will piece everything together and remember the power of the light over the darkness, but she just isn't there yet.

We are headed into the last couple weeks of the transfer and working towards reaching our goals. Missions have lots of rough patches and lots of joyous ones. "Let us all press on in the work of the Lord!"

Tell Idalia I love and miss my Mexican grandma. ;) SOO excited to hear about my girl Saretta! Tell her congrats and send my love. I am so glad to hear about all the missionary efforts in happy Holbrook! Oh how I love my home town, (by the way I wore all of my turquoise and silver on Valentines day because it was also Arizona’s birthday! I love the Utah mountains but I’m missing the sunsets <3 Sister Coleman was showing me pictures of the Georgia green. I love all the beauties of the earth around the world

Love love love you!

-Sister Hatch

The 24-hour Challenge - February 9, 2015

Hey and Hi!

This week was really good! We are reaching more of our goals, and Sister Coleman and I are really seeing the stake grow and having lots of fun doing it! She is my best friend! I love teaching people about the gospel and feeling my spiritual knowledge and testimony grow! 

We started this month as a mission to study charity. Charity literally is everything. It pops up everywhere in my studies. Without putting my whole heart into my mission and without love, my mission would mean nothing! I might convert people, because the gospel is true no matter WHAT, but the PURE love of Christ is why the gospel matters to me. There is nothing better than feeling Christ’s love and that is really what I want to share. I am grateful for the opportunity I have this month to understand it more! I would invite everyone to study charity more this month! I promise you feel the spirit more in your life. 

Our zone has been doing the “24-hour” challenge. It is super hard. The scripture for it is Ephesians 4:29 and it’s this:

1. Go for 24 hours without criticizing anyone for any reason (including yourself)

2. When you make a mistake, and you will, you must start the 24 hours over

3. If you think a critical thought & control it within 30 seconds you don't have to restart

4. You have until the millennium to complete this challenge (:

We have started over a bunch, the criticizing yourself has been the hardest in the morning because it's when we are getting ready! :/ But, it really help to train your mind to think of everyone as Christ would.

Ron has been super sick so we haven't taught him much this week but he came to church and we stopped by to drop off a card for him and we chatted and shared a scripture. We are really trying to help him understand just how prepared by the Lord he has been. He has more faith than he understands and we feel so strongly about him being baptized on the 21st. We are praying so hard that he feels for himself that his testimony is strong enough. He is such a caring and genuine man, I know he just wants to give everything he can and feel really sincerely that he should know and feel enough to be baptized . 

Kenneth is probably the most fun lesson of the week. We just laugh and laugh! He is so solid though. He came to church and is excited to be baptized on the 26th! We taught the commandments yesterday. When we were talking about the Word of Wisdom, we got to “no tea” and  he goes, "OHH, I CANNOT do tea! That stuff is just NASTY. Its got this freaky wine-y taste and when I drink it i feel like something is ga-rowing on my tongue!" haha

Martha still hasn't met with us :( She is going to church with her friend in a different stake still but she has been really busy.

I am so sorry to hear everyone is so sick! :( Something has definitely been going around. Lots of the missionaries here got sick at Christmas time, so I was living off essential oils and vitamins and made it though, but its coming around again, I just got a cold but I am feeling better. I hope you all do soon!

It's pretty cool that Lily will be blessed the weekend of February 28th, because that is the Sunday that Kenneth gets confirmed! A baptism and blessing weekend (:  Those are always the best Sundays, so the 28th will be extra special. <3

It's so nice that you had Elder Chipman in Holbrook for such a long time, 5 months! Can you believe that’s how long I have been out?! I can't!  I still feel like a brand new missionary, it kind of scares me thinking about how quickly this experience goes by, sometimes I wish I could be a missionary forever! But anyways its nice to be in an area for so long. I love my area and I hope I get to stay until Sister Coleman goes home in May. or at least just before that. I love everyone here and I love having time to build relationships with all of them.

Gram told me about the Hatch’s move to Houston. I’m so happy for their family but will miss having everyone in Az! but Tay and I can have fun at the Y, I hope she gets in! Man, I have grown to truly love the mountains, but I was talking with a member here who used to live in Az and we just went on and on about the sunsets, I miss those, especially with Arizona’s birthday coming up!

Tell Stratton i am so proud of him for being excited for Disneyland-  eat a churro for me and try and make it on the peter pan ride(:

Tell aunt vicki I love her!

The new boots are fantastic!  And so adorable (: Crazy though, its been in the 60's and yesterday it was in the 70's! So I haven't touched my boots for a week! I guess Sis. Coleman and I brought the Az and Georgia sunshine with us.

I love the different stories about how people are brought in to the church. Music is so powerful! I am so grateful that I have been able to use music so much on my mission, it truly opens doors and I love singing now more than I ever have before in my life.

MwaH! Love, Sister Hatch

Heart, Might, Mind, and Strength - February 2, 2015

I love you all and am doing so well! I have learned so much about trusting in the Lord and being changed for the better, yet I still feel so much like me! The Lord does amazing things for us as we give him our heart, might, mind, and strength. I am working on doing that. I want to give him EVERYTHING. I am trying to learn how I can do that. 

Everything is going so great here! I am kind of holding my breath because this has been the best transfer ever! I love my area and my companion and my district, and all the people! It seems too good and I am just nervous it might change! I am just trying to show the Lord that even though I feel so comfortable here I can still work hard everyday. But, I know He knows what is best and I will enjoy it while it lasts! 

We do have district meetings every week and they are wonderful! That’s what I love best about my district, we are all like best friends and we have lots of fun together on p-day but they are also the most spiritual group of kids and I am so edified each week from Elder Tidd’s trainings. Zone meeting is once a month so that will be this Friday. Our senior couple in the stake is the Hunts. I think I have mentioned them before - they are the BEST. Truly our secret weapon. They finish their mission the end of February, which I am heart broken about, but they are serving in their home stake so when they are done they will still be here and we will DEFINITELY utilize them! 

We have had tons of miracles from dropping investigators this past week! Martha went to church and we are hopefully meeting with her this week. She is still a little sad I think but I feel so much that she is ready to take this step of faith and be baptized.

Also Ron. Man, his lessons are my FAVORITE. I really connect with him. He is preparing to be baptized on February 21st but isn't very sure he can get all his answers by them. Please pray for him. Sister Coleman and I feel sooo strongly that February 21st is when he is supposed to be baptized. 

Sister Coleman  and I prayed about a goal for people to be baptized this transfer and we both felt strongly we could get three. I know it will happen as we press forward with faith and LOVE, WORSHIP, and SERVE the Lord with all our heart, might, mind, and strength (Mark 12:30, 2 Nephi 25:29, D&C 4:2)

We found a NEW investigator this week who is SOLID! His name is Kenneth. He was at the home of a family where we were teaching a lesson to some kids. It was the lesson on the plan of salvation. He loved it and had lots of questions and contacted us so we could answer his questions. We did and he said , "Perfect! That makes sense. Ok, I am ready for another lesson." It was amazing!!! We taught him about the restoration and when we told the story of Joseph Smith, the first thing he said, before we even asked anything, was "Oh ya, I believe that! There is no other way!" AH, soo, we invited him to be baptized and he said yes. We are praying to know if we should put him on date this week for the end of February. Sis. Coleman and I feel like we are really here for him. We connected really fast. 

Our stake is lacking a little in missionary work. They have a desire but no direction. That is one of our goals this transfer: to get the stake excited and to correlate with them more fully. There is so much potential here and I feel that is key for helping us reach our goal of 3 baptisms. Sister Coleman came from a really strong stake in her last area; she is just what this area needs. I love hearing about the work going on in our stake at home. 

Oh, I am heart broken also about Bishop Miller leaving, :( I was so looking forward to being a part of the ward under his direction for a little bit when I got home since I never really got a chance. He is such a wonderful man and a wonderful family. They are going to bless the whole church, which I am sure is why he is being asked to move around. He is going to touch so many people’s lives. I am glad I got the chance to be touched by him in seminary for 3 years. 

Well, I love you so much! I love all of you who are taking the time to read my emails. I truly appreciate the love, support, and prayers. Thanks for all the fun news! Karson is so stinkin’ adorable and I promise I will write her soon! It’s kind of hard to find time to write on p-days… I can't believe how quickly they go by! But. if anyone is sad I haven’t written them back, tell them I haven’t forgotten about them and I am grateful for their letters. I am soooo excited about Lily's blessing!

God is good.

Love, Sister Hatch